Celebrating ties between China and Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka-China Journalists Forum in collaboration with Embassy of China will present China Nanjing Little Red Flowers Children’s Art Troupe for the first time in Sri Lanka as ‘Red Flowers on Stage’ on 30 September and 1 October at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre. The exclusive ...

Although the Asian region is better prepared for economic turmoil than it was a decade ago, high levels of financial, trade and investment integration with the Western economies ensure that no country is immune to the effects of the Eurozone debt crisis. While most of the European Union (EU) economies struggle to design new austerity measures to ...

With the rejection of the Cabinet decision proposed to resolve the problem of university academics, the issue seems to be dragging without a settlement. The lecturers’ main demands are a salary increase, increase in Government funding of the education system to 6% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), end to political interference in education, and establishment ...

World-famous Amanresorts Chairman Adrian Zecha has expressed his bullishness in post-war rebound in Sri Lanka’s tourism, which has encouraged him to explore fresh opportunities for expansion. “The post-conflict economic development process is visible everywhere in Sri Lanka. Our resorts in Sri Lanka were not economically viable during the pre-conflict period. But thanks to the peace, ....

The WTO in its annual World Trade Report for 2012, in addition to analysing world trade, has dealt in detail on Non Tariff Measures (NTMs), which has gained an important place in international trade today. In a world of trade liberalisation and free trade agreements which deal mainly with tariff reductions, which are clearly spelt ...

UNITED NATIONS(Reuters): President Barack Obama will say on Tuesday the United States will “do what we must” to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned against threatening attacks whose consequences would be devastating. Preparing to take the podium at the United Nations six weeks before the US presidential election, ...

Reuters: Chinese university teacher Zhu Haibin wept softly as she and other Communist Party cadres stood in rows before a mass grave of Communist fighters in southern China. Ignoring light drizzle, the group listened to a party instructor tell the story of Zhang Longxiu, a “hero mother” from the early days of China’s Communist revolution ...

The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Tokyo organised a high profile “Sri Lanka Promotional Seminar” consisting of over 150 officials and personnel engaged in the sphere of tourism and travel trade, leaders of corporates and industry of Japan, senior bureaucrats and technocrats of the Government of Japan and select invitees.  The said Seminar was held ...

A number of articles which appeared in print media in the recent past signify the volatility in the economy. High volatility leads to vulnerability. Volatility and vulnerability are reflections of the haphazard nature of the economic policies and poor economic governance in a country. What is volatility? Volatility is the severity and the frequency with ...

Reuters: A deeply divided and unproductive Congress wrapped up its final business before November’s elections early on Saturday as the US Senate passed a stopgap measure to fund federal programs and avoid an 1 government shutdown. The 62-30 vote on the funding bill, which now moves to President Barack Obama’s desk to be signed into ...

Previously observed proceedings of Sri Lanka’s Fonseka and Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim   Here to observe proceedings re Rishad Bathiudeen M.P. Acted as Counsel on world’s longest sea chase incident FV Viarsa 1 The Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) observer, Australian Queen’s Counsel Mark Trowell has arrived in Sri Lanka today morning. “I am here on behalf ...

In tough economic conditions, cutting jobs in a business may appear to be the simplest solution to reducing expenses. However, layoffs present many disadvantages for employer, employee and customer. Globally, be it financial services, healthcare, media, technology or retail, all of them have thrown hundreds upon hundreds out of the workforce in the last 36 ...

Reuters: Schools, shops and government offices were shut in some states on Thursday as protesters blocked road and rail traffic as part of a one-day nationwide strike against sweeping economic reforms announced by the government last week. The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), joined by smaller parties from both the political left and right, ...

The Silvas are at it again. A week dominated by news of political brats on the rampage once more, this time directing their rage at an Army Major, ended with the soldier recanting his story and the two main suspects in remand being transferred to prison hospital on “medical” advice. The whole incident smacked of ...

SINGAPORE: Business sentiment among Asia’s top companies fell for the second straight quarter, dragged down by export-orientated economies such as China and Japan, while domestic spending helped boost Southeast Asia’s outlook, a Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey showed.  Concerns over global demand are hurting Asia’s export engines, with autos, technology and shipping sectors am...

Commendable achievements Over the years Sri Lanka has gained a considerable reputation for its achievements in social development. It punches above its weight on the UNDP’s Human Development Index. It has also performed very well in meeting the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which focus on indicators related to poverty, health, education and gender ...

It is with great sacrifices that Sri Lanka brought about a victory against ruthless terrorism, which is certainly a feather in the cap of Rajapaksa family. No one can dispute the fact that President Rajapaksa provided the political leadership and ensured that the LTTE was decimated at any cost. The Tamil diaspora and the pro-separatist ...

Maersk plans to hike freight rates: CEO Company needs to cover costs on lower volume Maersk looks to maintain market share, not boost it MADISON, NEW JERSEY (Reuters): US and European debt crises are paralysing consumer demand for goods exported from China and putting downward pressure on some shipping rates, said Nils Andersen, chief executive ...

NEW YORK (Reuters): Comparing the Federal Reserve to a rehab clinic offering addicted investors a synthetic high has been a favorite of Wall Street wags ever since the first round of Fed stimulus nearly four years ago. The punch line is that you always need more and more to get the same high and each ...

The new US Ambassador Michele J. Sison presented her credentials as Ambassador to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka yesterday to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.    Ambassador Sison is a career member of the United States Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor. Michele J. Sison, a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, was ...

The place isn’t a paradise for minorities but the economy is recovering By Sam Baker Asuasentinel.com: The Government of Mahinda Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka has probably botched its dealings with the United States, the European Union and the United Nations. Still, the disenchantment with Colombo may be overblown three years after the end of the ...

By Saman Gunadasa World Socialist Web Site: A scandal over the manipulation of shares on the Colombo Stock Exchange has erupted in recent weeks, after former Sri Lankan Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Thilak Karunaratne accused Government ministers of acting in league with speculators. Karunaratne was pressured by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to quit his position, ...