Says true relationship between parents and child is key to develop a citizen with confidenceText and pix by Harsha Udayakantha Peiris “The true relationship between parents and children in our society should be exposed and expressed under realistic cultural standards in order to develop a citizen with confidence who could productively shoulder the development of ...

FRANKFURT (Reuters) : The European Central Bank will resist pressure to do more to fight the euro zone crisis when it meets in Barcelona on Thursday, holding fire despite calls to restart its bond-buying programme to help austerity-hit Spain. Financial markets are clamouring for the ECB to step up its efforts to fight the two-year ...

The highest oversubscription ever seen for a Sri Lankan international bond in April and KPMG’s latest positive Change Readiness Index ranking for Sri Lanka show the growing international investor confidence in the country, which prefers patient investments to hot money. “Sri Lanka has entered a new era of development thanks to the visionary leadership of ...

The need for an integrated program on a war footingIn 2008, eight prizewinning economists were asked to list the type of projects which would do the most good for the most number of poor people, if they had an imaginary $ 75 million to spend. Half of their proposed projects involved nutrition. There has been ...

MANILA, (Reuters): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Friday funding for its concessional loan facility for low-income countries may increase by about 6% to around $12 billion despite economic and fiscal constraints faced by donor countries. The final amount of the Asian Development Fund (ADF) for a four-year cycle ending 2016 will be finalised ...

VESAK is the festival of light. Yet this year it seems that the lights will have to be dimmed to reflect the reduced lustre of the country’s economy. As the Power and Energy Ministry organisers raffle draws for people who save electricity during the upcoming religious season there are many other efforts happening behind the ...

Reuters: Companies are planning for a two speed Europe, devising strategies to take advantage of growth in the northern part of the continent while plotting more corporate austerity for the moribund south. Dismal overall European sales were a recurring theme among big U.S. and European companies reporting first quarter results in the past fortnight. But ...

Reuters: Crime generates an estimated $ 2.1 trillion in global annual proceeds – or 3.6 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product – and the problem may be growing, a senior United Nations official said on Monday. “It makes the criminal business one of the largest economies in the world, one of the top ...

What is the combination of heart and mind? This combination creates the ability to identify, use, understand, and manage your emotions in positive and constructive ways. It’s about recognising your own emotional state and the emotional states of others. Recognising and understanding comes from the mind whilst emotions/feelings come from the heart. This combination is ...

HNB Pathum Vimana, the biggest deposit draw in Sri Lanka, has rewarded countless Sri Lankans with amazing prizes over the last twenty years. The lucky winners of the Pathum Vimana 2011 draw received their prizes at a ceremony organized by Hatton National Bank. The prize presentation for the winners was held at HNB Towers on ...

Reuters: The International Monetary Fund’s bid to win a big boost in funding to handle the euro-zone debt crisis hit a speed bump on Thursday when Brazil demanded more power at the IMF for emerging economies as a condition for lending it extra cash. Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega laid out the terms for a ...

The Colombo stock market yesterday produced a late rally following the removal of the 10% price band by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The market’s value swelled by Rs. 41 billion whilst main All Share Index gained by 2% or 111 points as sentiments of investors and brokers got a boost following the regulatory ...

Reuter: The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday it had raised $320 billion so far in a bid to boost its firepower to deal with the euro zone debt crisis, with Poland and Switzerland joining the effort. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she had received commitments of $34 billion on Wednesday, including $8 billion ...

REUTERS: Global growth is slowly improving as the US recovery gains traction and dangers from Europe recede, but risks remain high and the situation is very fragile, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday. Another flare-up of the eurozone sovereign debt crisis or sharp escalation in oil prices on geopolitical uncertainty could disrupt a world ...

Vanguard Management Services Ltd., which produces Lanka Business Report (LBR) and Lanka Business Online (LBO), together with HSBC has launched an online resource centre that allows readers to engage with prominent business leaders. The LBR LBO CEO online portal enables readers to reach over 50 senior corporate executives, academics and researchers who will serve as ...

The challenges Sri Lanka has to face in its march towards development are manifold. Although the war has ended the wrong political ideologies, the proposals and timetables it created are still in operation. By Government Information Department Additional Director General Chandrapala Liyanage Similarly, various social activity groups and individuals and organisations operating under the advice ...

Reuters: Federal Reserve policymakers on Monday signaled little appetite for further monetary steps to stimulate U.S. growth in an economy that is gradually strengthening. “With my current outlook, I think our policy stance is still the one best suited to foster steady gains in output and employment and to maintain stable prices,” Cleveland Fed President ...

By Cheranka Mendis Even if the status of the world economy seems to have found a rather fragile equilibrium with Europe over the past six weeks, the world is no closer to being immune from the risks that have cropped up as a result of the European and USA led recession and changes in world ...

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters): Global stocks and the oil price dipped on Thursday as disappointing U.S. data continued to temper risk appetite and analysts said the effect of a potential accord to release oil reserves would take time to filter through to the broader economy. In Europe, shares fell to a three-week low and peripheral ...

Reuters: Brent crude fell for a second session on Wednesday, breaching $125, on the possibility of a release of strategic oil reserves by the United States even after crude stockpiles in the world's largest oil user rose more than expected last week.  Oil remained supported by supply concerns on rising tensions between Iran and the ...

TOKYO (Reuters): Asian shares drifted lower on Wednesday, after rallying the previous session on hopes for further stimulus from the Federal Reserve, as investors waited for more clues on the state of the U.S. economy.  European equity markets were likely to follow weaker Asian peers, with financial spreadbetters predicting major European markets   to open down ...

The combination of heart and mind creates the ability to identify, use, understand and manage your emotions in positive and constructive ways. It’s about recognising your own emotional state and the emotional states of others. Recognising and understanding comes from the mind whilst emotions/feelings come from the heart. This combination is what we call ‘Emotional ...

By Cheranka Mendis The volatility in Middle Eastern markets, coupled with the increasing issue of low quality due to competition and increasing costs, has placed the local tea industry in a big fix, which could, if unattended, immediately mark the end of a Sri Lankan legacy in four to five years. Despite Sri Lankan tea ...

Intelo Networks (Pvt) Ltd., has developed the first ever digital Tourist Information Kiosks (TIKs) launched recently by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau under the aegis of Ministry of Economic Development. To identify the locations of the Tourist Information Kiosks, Intelo has planned to up TIK directional signs at the discretion of the state regulations ...

Reuters: Asian shares gave back earlier gains on Thursday after data showed China’s factory activity shrank for a fifth successive month, underscoring concerns about a growth slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.  The MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan index was nearly flat, falling sharply from a 0.6 percent gain before the Chinese data. Still, the ...

The Saudi Kingdom has offered financial aid worth SR 225 million (approximately Rs. 7.6 billion) for the upgrading of road networks in Sri Lanka. The draft agreement for the financial assistance was finalized in Riyadh on Monday during a meeting between the Vice Chairman of the Saudi Fund For Development (SFD) Yusuf Al-Bassam and Dr. ...

Capital Alliance, a full-service investment bank will be hosting one of Asia’s foremost Investor Relations experts, Jonathan Zax, in Colombo this week. Zax’s investor relations efforts have been frequently recognised by the international financial community through top rankings in polls by Asiamoney, Finance Asia, Lafferty Group and Investor Relations Magazine. Last year, he received a...