Reuters: The World Trade Organization (WTO) clinched a landmark reform of its government procurement agreement, opening $100 billion of government contracts to foreign competition and paving the way for more countries, including China, to join the pact. “It’s an extremely positive development for the parties to this agreement, for the organisation and for the world ...

The Colombo stock market saw a dull day’s trading with turnover recording Rs. 664 million and the All Share Price Index falling 0.52% to close below the psychological support level of 6,000 at 5,965 while the Milanka Price Index lost 0.05% to register 5,228. The top turnover contributor list was dominated by fundamentally sound counters ...

International Consultants Chairman Ranjiv Goonawardena had kindly invited the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau to participate by showcasing the great opportunity that Sri Lanka has to offer, at the Islamic Real Estate Finance (IREF) Summit and Gala Dinner Awards Ceremony of which it was a sponsor. International Consultants sponsored for the second year the ninth ...

Reuters: Asia’s economic growth looks set to stumble over the next few months, prompting a flurry of interest rate cuts and a spike in stimulus spending that may ultimately pave the way for a strong recovery in the second half of 2012. “The catch-phrase for 2012 is the Asia yo-yo,” said Rob Subbaraman, chief Asia ...

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Asia’s economic growth looks set to stumble over the next few months, prompting a flurry of interest rate cuts and a spike in stimulus spending that may ultimately pave the way for a strong recovery in the second half of 2012. “The catch-phrase for 2012 is the Asia yo-yo,” said Rob Subbaraman, chief ...

Reuters: China’s annual rate of export growth slowed in November versus October, vice commerce minister Chong Quan told reporters on Wednesday, confirming market expectations that deteriorating external conditions are dragging on the world’s No. 2 economy. “Export growth in November was even slower than October,” Chong told reporters on the sidelines of a news conference .....

ABC Radio Networks collected five awards at the e-Swabhimani Awards Gala 2011, becoming the first radio station to ever win an award in the history of the ceremony. The e-Swabhimani Awards Gala hosted by the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) recognises the creativity and innovation in digital content and applications by ...

Last week my phone beeped and the text message read ‘The Chairperson of the Security and Exchange Commission Indrani Sugathadasa had resigned citing reasons of values and principles for her resignation’. My mind went back to the time when this lady when she was the Board Director at EDB. Whenever tough decisions had be taken ...

IN 2010, the boost for Sri Lanka tourism was being named the top travel destination by the New York Times. As the dawn of 2012 emerges the plus point is being among the top six of National Geographic’s best global destinations. Upbeat on tourism, the Government is considering a target of 950,000 arrivals for 2012 ...

By Ian The President in his speech at the opening of the Southern Expressway said that this could be the beginning of building a modern society. He also mentioned that had there been such an expressway linking the north with the south the extremists would not have succeeded in capitalising on the mistrust among communities. ...

Having launched Sri Lanka’s first-ever equity investments and financial information portal, Sri Lanka Equity Analytics (www.srilankaequity.com) recently celebrated its successive second year of operations by reaching the milestone of 5,000 registered online memberships and over five million hits. Sri Lanka Equity Analytics is a financial portal designed to address varying needs of the invest...

The Arab League approved by a majority vote on Sunday sweeping economic sanctions on Syria over its crackdown on protesters and the Qatari foreign minister said if Arabs failed to contain the crisis, other foreign powers could intervene. Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani has previously said Arabs wanted to ...

After the recent Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, critics found three new words for the acronym ‘CWG’ – Corruption, Waste and lack of Governance. The Chairman of the Indian National Olympic Committee, who was Chairman of the Organising Committee, is presently in Tihar Jail, in Delhi with many of his acolytes, on charges regarding ...

No unanimity on exchange rate movement A front page headline news item in this paper on last Saturday had reported on an apparent division of opinion between the two top policy makers of the country, namely the Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera and the Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, on the depreciation of the ...

Reuters: France and Germany agreed on Thursday to stop arguing in public over whether the European Central Bank should do more to rescue the euro zone from a deepening sovereign debt crisis. President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel said after talks with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti that they trusted the independent central bank ...

DHAKA (Reuters): Bangladesh on Wednesday unveiled moves to shore up the plunging stock market, including allowing banks to invest unlimited funds and waiving tax on gains from share trading, after a series of price crashes pushed thousands of small investors to the verge of bankruptcy. The measures were announced by the Securities and Exchange Commission ...

DUInvest an arm of DirectFN, a Dubai-based ICT company which specialises in capital market based software and, a leading financial portal in the Middle Eastern, East European and African regions commenced its services to Sri Lankan Investor Community recently with the launch of http://lk.duinvest.com. The portal deployed by DirectFN for the Colombo Stock Exchange acts ...

The Free Dictionary defines impunity as ‘exemption from punishment or loss or escape from fines’. In the context of the international law of human rights, it refers to the failure to bring perpetrators of human rights violations to justice and, as such, itself constitutes a denial of the victims’ right to justice and to bring ...

Economy minister advises against buying foreign cash, gold Dollar rush pushes forex price 23 pct above official rate Struggling to control rate, cen bank names new forex head TEHRAN (Reuters): The Iranian government has asked its citizens not to buy dollars, in an effort to stem a rush for hard currency that has sent the ...

The Colombo stock market plunged further yesterday prolonging the misery as panic selling picked up heightening investor fears. The market saw Rs. 25 billion in value wiped off bringing the total to over Rs. 150 billion since 3rd November. Reinforcing market’s pulse, Reuters said mainly due to negative sentiment created by an expropriation bill amid ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters): The sun’s abundant energy, if harvested in space, could provide a cost-effective way to meet global power needs in as little as 30 years with seed money from governments, according to a study by an international scientific group. Orbiting power plants capable of collecting solar energy and beaming it to Earth appear “technically ...

HONOLULU (Reuters): China will play by the rules of international agreements that it has been party to negotiating, a Chinese official said on Sunday. His remarks were a clear rebuttal to U.S. President Barack Obama who earlier said that China must act like a “grown up” and play by the rules of the international community ...

DUBAI (Reuters): Emirates airline placed a blockbuster order for 50 Boeing 777 jetliners at the Dubai Air Show on Sunday, underscoring the confidence brimming among fast-growing Gulf airlines despite growing fears of stalling global growth. The Dubai government-owned carrier, expanding its role as the world’s largest operator of Boeing’s most profitable plane, said the deal ...

Following is a statement on the Expropriation Bill by UNP Deputy Leader Karu JayasuriyaThe might of numbers in Parliament steamrolled the plight of the private sector albeit the nation last week. Notwithstanding widespread protests, the Government has placed in the statute books the draconian Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilised Act. That 37 business enterprises, ...

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Asian shares rebounded on Friday and the euro clawed higher, with European stocks also expected to make gains after brighter corporate news lifted U.S. stocks and debt-laden Italy was able to fund itself at a bond auction. Commodities mostly rose as investors’ appetite for riskier assets was boosted somewhat by signs of a ...

Will the big issues be discussed at International Convention in Colombo in February 2012? The International Tea Convention to be held in Colombo in February next year is named Exclusivitea.  I learn from the remarks of one of the key organisers that this alludes to the special attributes of Pure Ceylon Tea and the Sri ...

TOKYO (Reuters): Japan looks set to commit itself to talks on a U.S.-led free trade pact at the Asia-Pacific summit in Hawaii this weekend, to help ties with the United States and tap into the region’s strong growth to revive its sluggish economy. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has signalled he is leaning toward joining the ...

Minister of Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi will be arriving in Colombo on 23 November on a three-day official visit amidst renewed bilateral trade efforts between the two countries, Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen announced. News of the visit was announced yesterday at ...

Discussion on the validity of non-military engagements of the military The war or internal armed conflict in the north and east is over; the Emergency is no more; but still the military is everywhere. The military is now engaged in peacetime police-work, whale watching, selling vegetables, agriculture, cleaning, constructions and many other non-military activities. Yet, ...

Environmental trends threaten global progress for poor, warns 2011 Human Development ReportDevelopment progress in the world’s poorest countries could be halted or even reversed by mid-century unless bold steps are taken now to slow climate change, prevent further environmental damage, and reduce deep inequalities within and among nations, according to projections in the 2011 Human ...