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 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...

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 ...

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 ...

The global escalation of commodity prices in the latter part of last decade impacted Sri Lanka’s rice market, with retail prices showing sharp increases for the consumer. The regulatory forces with a ceiling on consumer prices and guaranteed price for paddy did alleviate this problem to some extent. Today it has taken a different turn ...

On Friday (7) afternoon, the eve of provincial council elections in three provinces, a certain gathering took place at 101, Rosmead Place, which houses the corporate offices of Democratic National Alliance (DNA) National List Parliamentarian, Tiran Alles. Consultations that lasted for hours, took place between Alles and UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa and a few ...

24th August 2012 Dr. P. B. Jayasundera, Secretary to the Treasury, Ministry of Finance & Planning The Secretariat, Colombo 1. Dear Dr. Jayasundera, Establishment of a Financial Services Authority and a Banking and Finance Commission I suggest for your consideration that you duly evaluate the long-term national economic benefits of enhancing effective fiscal management capability ...

A historic battle took place in the Kande Uda Rata Rajadhaniya, in the course of one of the many invasions by the Western colonial powers who once occupied what was known as the Maritime Provinces of Lanka, at the site of the ford at Wagolla village, a crossing point of the Mahaweli river on one ...

Shares thoughts on sustainability in volatility and the way forward The Guest of Honour, Dato’ Charon, President and Members of the Professional Bankers’ Association, my dear friends, first of all, let me thank the Association of Professional Bankers for inviting me this evening to your 24th Convention and giving me the opportunity to share a ...

UNP MP Karu Jayasuriya yesterday exposed various ills of the Government, its ulterior motives in going for Provincial Council elections as well the failure to restore law and order in the country. “The attempt of the Government has come to light, to win the forthcoming Provincial Council Election by whatever means and to show that ...

Ever since the first aircraft was conceptualised by Leonardo Da Vinci, the dream of flight is still continuously evolving. The latest aircraft is known as the dream liner Boeing 787. There has been no end to the technological advances in aviation. The global aviation industry has since been enlarged into a multibillion dollar business and ...

Reuters: China’s economy is set for a soft landing even as global headwinds increase, the International Monetary Fund said in a report on Wednesday that urged further reform and currency appreciation to rebalance growth and reduce risks. The report said economic reforms so far had substantially reduced external imbalances, but at the cost of significant ...

Reuters: Asian shares slid and the euro hovered near multi-year lows hit earlier on Monday, as Spain sparked concerns about its ability to stave off a sovereign bailout after two indebted regions sought financial assistance from the central government. Fears the euro zone’s fourth largest economy will be forced to follow Greece, Portugal and Ireland ...

REUTERS: Little more than a dozen years after the region’s crippling financial crisis, Southeast Asia is looking more a safe haven than a risky bet, with foreign investors souring on China and India and pouring money into markets proving resilient to the global gloom. Short-term investors in Southeast Asian stocks and bonds are being overtaken ...

Reuters: Asian shares slid on Thursday as a surprise rate cut from South Korea and an unexpected slump in Australian employment deepened worries about global economic growth. The news weighed on sentiment already hurt after minutes from a Federal Reserve meeting in June showed conditions may need to worsen before policymakers possibly buy more bonds ...

LONDON(Reuters): Unemployment in advanced economies will remain high until at least the end of 2013, with young people and the low-skilled bearing the brunt of what is by far the weakest economic recovery in the past four decades, the OECD said on Tuesday. The jobless rate in the 34-country OECD area will still be stuck ...

There were some interesting bits of news in the papers about a week back, with some stories having a certain thread running through them.  The US Ambassador Patricia Butenis visited the Coca Cola plant in Biyagama. The British High Commissioner John Rankin visited Unilever Sri Lanka’s newly built factory in Horana and the new Chinese ...

Reuters: China, Europe and Britain loosened monetary policy in the space of less than an hour on Thursday, signalling a growing level of alarm about the world economy, although suggestions of coordinated action were played down. Of the three, the surprise move was from Beijing which lowered its lending rate by 31 basis points to ...

LONDON (Reuters): Gold prices eased a touch on Monday after a sharp rally the previous session, surrendering gains along with the euro and other commodities as a bounce lent to the financial markets by European Union plans to tackle the debt crisis petered out. Gold surged 3 percent on Friday, its biggest one-day rise since ...

Reuters: Asian shares jumped and the euro surged more than 1 percent on Friday after European leaders agreed that euro zone banks could be recapitalised without adding to government debt, soothing fears over growing credit strains in Italy and Spain. As the dollar retreated on the back of the euro’s sharp rebound, dollar-based oil, copper ...

Case study Middle East   Sri Lanka is one of the most sought-after tourist destinations in the world. It is surrounded by the Indian Ocean strategically located between West Asia and South East Asia and has been an important stop on the silk route or the Silk Road. It has all requirements to be one ...

The Standard and Poor’s (S&P) Rating Services assigned a score of 8 (very high risk) to the Sri Lankan economy and banking industry last week. The role of ratings agencies in the lead-up to the global financial crisis (2008) was certainly highly questionable. There are also issues related to their accountability. Despite this, and setting ...

A solution for loss-making SOEs? In the USA, a new corporate entity referred to as a Benefit Corporation (B-Corp) has been brought into being. The states of Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, California and Vermont have legislation which permits companies to combine the profit motive with the purpose of making a positive impact on society and ...

Reuters: Myanmar's Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi halted her news conference in the Swiss capital Bern on Thursday evening after vomiting and excusing herself saying "I'm so sorry". Suu Kyi, 66, who minutes before complained of jet lag and tiredness, had arrived in Geneva late on Wednesday at the start of her ...

Historically, capital markets have played an important role in the development of market economies and therefore the development of efficient regulation of securities too has become increasingly important. While fostering the development of the economy, the capital markets also play an important equalising role. Viz – it attracts the participation of a large number of ...

The NSB/TFC deal and the General Recent events in Sri Lanka have reconfirmed that though seemingly power may be unlimited, there are in reality constraints which limit the options those in power have. As proof of this fundamental reality, the first event is the purchase by the National Savings Bank (NSB), a State-owned entity, whose ...