Chinese Products

China is a rapidly developing country and it supplies large number of products to the global market. In recent years Chinese products, especially the electrical and electronics items had invaded the Sri Lankan market. Chinese products are cheaper than the products of Japan or USA therefore the sellers as well as the customers are now interested on them. However the quality and the safety of these products are not clear. This article is intended to help you to select the best Chinese products.

Mainly 3 types of products from china are available in our market

Original products of renowned brands made in China

Many world famous companies such as Nokia, HP, Sony have their factories in China under their supervision Since these products use the original technology and the quality standards they are similar to products of the originated country although sometimes they mention “Made in China” or “Product of China” on the product. These products are not very cheap and you can easily feel the quality. The product and its functions are similar world wide. Usually the buyer gets an original company warranty. There is no harm of purchasing these products.

Unauthorized copy cat products made in China

These products are produced in China by different manufacturers and look similar to the original product. However these products do not use the original technology and the quality is not maintained. The product can be changed in function. Although they are made in China the product may display the name of the country of the original product. They are comparatively very cheaper and usually do not issue a company warranty.

Please be careful when purchasing these products as the quality, safety and durability issues are not known. In case of mobile phones we don’t know the level of radiation of these products.

The below shown (1st picture) is the Apple iPod Shuffle, a product of USA, which is sold for Rs. 8000/= by the authorized dealers in Sri Lanka. The 2^nd picture shows a Copy cat product from China which is commonly available from Rs. 900/= – 3000/= in the Sri Lankan market. Although they look similar they have functional and quality differences.

http://www.apple.com

http://www.favordeals.com

Products originally from china

China has the technology to produce anything. There are products made in China using technology available to them and carry there own brand names Although the brand names are not popular there can be high quality products as well as bad and unsafe products. Please search well before purchasing these items. By testing it before purchasing you may be able to understand its quality to some extend.

Finally ask the seller about the originality; a good seller does not hide

Buddhism in Sri Lanka

Lets protect Buddhism through correct practice

Buddhism is a very practical religion. The Buddha taught how to train our mind to be happy. It is quite different from the happiness we generally expect. As an example “If someone wants to have a car, he will be definitely happy once he owns one. But since we cannot get everything we need it is difficult to be happy. Even though we get them the happiness from the materials does not last long.

But the Buddha taught how to be happy (or not to be unhappy) at any situation by training our mind to accept the nature. With that training we can stay without being worried during an illness or death of a loved one. We know that the Buddha renounced all his property and family but he was happy. He only owned few robes and a food bowl and he always encouraged his disciples to renounce and train the mind to attain the constant happiness (or Nirvana). He always expected and encouraged meditation.

However today it seems most of the Buddhists do not at least understand what Buddhism is. For most of them it is just a chanting religion to relieve a problem. It is a tragedy to see some monks malpractice the Buddhism. Very popular examples are

• ·         The Vishwa Shakthi Monk Ven.Dr Delduwe.Gnanasumana and
• ·         Monks who engage in astrology and black magic like Shobitha Hamuduruwo, Ruwanwella.

The Buddha prohibited these types of practices for monks as it damages the Buddha Sasana and also hampers the development of the mind.

The Buddha was believed to have lot of supernatural powers, but he never used them to cure diseases. He advised his followers to contemplate on the pain you feel from diseases and understand the nature and to renounce from the desire for your body which is getting older, painful and uncertain. (for more information Please read http://www.blogs.lk/2011/08/happiness-in-buddhism.html)

Today the essence of the Buddhism (mind training, observe precepts, stay away from evil) has been masked by less effective practices like “Chanting for every thing” The chants are the discourses of the Buddha or Maha Sangha. To get an effect you have to practice them, just chanting them has a minimal effect and that was not indented by the Buddha. Just think that you listen and chant “Karaneeya Metta Sutra” daily and twice a day to get rid of your problems but kill cockroaches, mosquitoes and place rat poison to kill rats. Will that work?

We always blame other religions for converting Buddhists to their religions. But the harm is immense when the Buddhist monks and lay people themselves doing the wrong practice for sake of the Buddhism.

Ministry of Buddha Sasana & Religious Affairs and other Buddist organizations have a huge responsibility to protect the Buddhism. They can take an action against the monks who break the rules. Also they can aware people about the correct Buddhists practices.

Stock Market Invesments

Investment decision at Colombo Stock Exchange 

www.cse.lk

Investing in the share market is generally accepted to be profitable. However the risk is not totally avoidable and it does not occur always by chance. Therefore the investment decision should be made carefully to minimize the risk and maximize the profit. Following are the points to be considered before investing in the stock market.

Trade history

Trade history plays an important role in making decisions. Shares that continuously fluctuate largely have a good potential for short term investors they can buy during the lowest price and sell when reach the peak. All time highest and lowest price are another parameter. You can buy shares at its closest to the lowest and sell closest to the highest. However subdivisions, right issues and consolidations may affect the all time values. Past data on subdivisions, right issues etc. can be found under the announcements of each company on www.cse.lk

Twelve months trade history gives you a better understanding about the seasonal fluctuations.

Invest for IPOs

IPOs of well reputed companies have a good potential to rise several times than the initial price although it could be a gradual process. Further it does not involve broker fees. In Sri Lanka IPOs of the financial sector companies usually rise several times.

Higher dividends

Some companies pay higher dividend against the initial offering/listing price. CSE daily and weekly reports provide the dividend announcements and you have to own the share by XD date to be entitled for the dividends.  

Liquidity

Some shares had gone up to its maximum and liquidity is very low for the prices above. Avoid purchase of those shares unless you require them for something other than gaining profits.

Links to trade history

Trade history can be viewed by several stock information web sites

• www.cse.lk- shows a brief graph up to  for 12 months and  detailed history is available for charge
• www.colombo-stock-exchange.com provide a very user friendly history analyzing environment with sorting facilities and related news. http://www.colombo-stock-exchange.com/#!activePage