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 ...

Prospects for the global economy are slowly improving again, but growth is expected to be weak, especially in Europe, and unemployment in many advanced economies will stay high, according to the IMF’s latest forecast. Although action by policymakers in Europe and elsewhere has helped to reduce vulnerabilities, risks of a renewed upsurge of the crisis ...

Reuters: India successfully test-fired on Thursday a nuclear-capable missile that can reach Beijing and Eastern Europe, thrusting the emerging Asian power into an small club of nations with intercontinental nuclear weapons capabilities. Footage showed the rocket with a range of more than 5,000 km (3,100 miles) blasting through clouds from the Wheeler Island off Odisha ...

Commodity broker John Keells Plc said yesterday that the global production of black tea was heading towards a shortfall in the first half of 2012 due to the prevailing dry weather in major tea producing countries and this will help stabilise prices at remunerative levels. It said worst ever drought in fifteen years in North ...

Sri Lanka’s embassy in Russia has completed an innovative project to further promote Sri Lanka as the preferred tourism destination among the Russian people. Under this project, which was ably supported by Sri Lanka tourism, they have compiled a Tourist Guide Book on Sri Lanka in the Russian language and two audio CD’s containing details ...

WASHINGTON: The World Bank’s directors meet on Monday to decide who will be the powerful institution’s next chief, with all expectations that the US will maintain its unbroken lock on the position. While the US nominee has faced a challenge for the first time in 66 years, from two solid developing country candidates, there was ...

Reuters: A global cyber arms race is engulfing the Internet and the best way to counter the rapidly escalating threat is combining the efforts of US agencies, private firms and international allies, cyber security officials said. Cyber experts from across the US government, speaking at a conference at Georgetown University, said organised crime, espionage and ...

ISTANBUL  (Reuters) : After a year of sanctions and sabre-rattling over Iran's nuclear programme, negotiators from Tehran and six world powers finally resumed talks and found at least enough common ground to agree to meet again next month. With threats of war hanging over an already unsettled Middle East, U.S. and other Western diplomats welcomed ...

Hillary Clinton spoke bluntly about Syria, North Korea and the death of Osama bin Laden at the U.S Naval Academy Tuesday, where as the keynote speaker at the close of a foreign policy conference she revealed that none of those watching the operation that killed the al Qaeda leader last year “could breathe for 30-35 ...

The heads of state of BRICS countries met for the fourth time at their annual summit, this time held in Delhi. The original BRICS countries are Brazil, Russia, India and China with South Africa joining later on. These countries belong to the category now described as emerging economies. The BRIC countries together represent over 40 ...

David Parker, a leading global expert on prepaid payment cards will be visiting Sri Lanka on 18 April as the guest of MTI Worldwide, a leading Sri Lankan payments consultancy, to run a workshop for banks. He has forecasted that prepaid payment cards in Sri Lanka will soon see explosive growth. “Prepaid cards are Visa/MasterCard ...

BEIJING: China is now the world’s largest food and grocery market, having overtaken the US in terms of sales in 2011, a market research firm said. British food industry analysts IGD also noted thatBRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – will make up four of the top five grocery markets by 2015. China’s ...

Several days after its original announcement of suspension of flights during off-peak season, SriLankan Airlines retracted saying services to Rome, Milan and Moscow will continue uninterrupted. “SriLankan Airlines’ services to Rome, Milan and Moscow will remain uninterrupted as per the present schedule. The flight frequencies to these three destinations will also remain the same,”...

Deals worth $ 12.1 m under negotiation “An invaluable learning curve for Sri Lanka’s international trade scheme,” says Rishad The recently-concluded Expo 2012 was a successful event, coming after a lapse of 15 years. “Expo 2012 garnered confirmed orders to the value of US$ 66,090 and currently orders under negotiation amount to US$ 12,110,315. There ...

News Butterfly, the unique TV programme from the US’ FOX news network, is now filming in Colombo for an exclusive segment on Sri Lanka’s new upswing. News Butterfly Market Place (NBMP) is described as a ‘unique women’s movement on TV’. According to NBMP, ‘the programme is a TV Channel venture for beautiful and talented women ...

Sri Lanka thanks all Muslim countries which supported the country at the UNHRC sessions in Geneva by voting against the resolution and by abstaining from voting. President Mahinda Rajapaksa is a true and long time friend of Islamic nations, Technology and Research Deputy Minister Faizer Mustapha said yesterday. Mustapha said that 15 countries that voted ...

SriLankan Airlines yesterday announced certain capacity adjustments to its European route network, taking into consideration the rise in fuel and operational costs and economic indicators in the EU region. It said taking current travel trends into consideration, the airline will cancel flights to Zurich, Switzerland during the off-peak from 1 May to 26 June and ...

Novo Nordisk, the reputed multinational Danish company, a world leader in diabetes related products, launched a new drug – Victoza – for treating adults with type 2 diabetes in Sri Lanka recently. Victoza (generic name: Liraglutide) which has multiple benefits was launched at an event on 31 March attended by well known specialist physicians and ...

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has once again been adjudged Sri Lanka’s Best Bank by Global Finance magazine, giving the bank the distinct honour of winning this prestigious award for 14 consecutive years. The US-based magazine has named its ‘Best Emerging Market Banks in Asia’ rankings in an exclusive survey to be published in the ...

BOAO, China (AFP): Outgoing World Bank president Robert Zoellick on Tuesday gave his backing to a new development bank proposed by the leaders of the BRICS emerging countries. Zoellick said the World Bank would be prepared to work with the new financial institution, which was discussed by the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and ...

Reuters: FIFA’s long-awaited reforms quickly came under fire on Friday and soccer’s governing body also risked igniting a new conflict with clubs by forcing them to release players for the Olympic Games. FIFA president Sepp Blatter proudly announced that his executive had approved proposals to strengthen the ethics committee, which investigates wrong-doing within soccer’s corrupt...

Reuters: Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska used her wits to defeat world number two Maria Sharapova 7-5 6-4 to win the Sony Ericsson Open final on Saturday and once again deny the Russian.  Sharapova has now lost all four finals she has featured in at the Miami tournament and all three she has played in this year. ...

Dubai International’s monthly passenger traffic surpassed the 4.5 million mark for the second consecutive month this year while freight volumes witnessed an upturn after months of flat growth, according to traffic report for February issued by Dubai Airports.  The passenger traffic surged 19 per cent in February – a 16 month high – to reach ...

Expo 2012, organised by the Export Development Board, provided an ideal opportunity to Sri Lanka Tourism industry to promote its product to the international market. At the end of the event, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) had been able to achieve its targets successfully. The stall of the SLTPB was one of the eye ...

By Kanwal Sibal Daily Mail, UK: Many arguments can be made against our decision to vote against Sri Lanka in the Human Rights Council in Geneva, a decision highly questionable from the foreign policy point of view. Domestic compulsions seem to have outweighed foreign policy considerations in this case. India and the West have been ...

Reuters: The BRICS group of emerging market nations will look at ways of pressuring the West to redress global economic imbalances amid growing frustration at the pace of change in institutions such as the IMF at a meeting in Delhi on Thursday. Brazil’s Trade and Industry Minister Fernando Pimentel told Reuters on the eve of ...

A new Air Services Agreement between Sri Lanka and the Russian Federation was signed at the Ministry of Transport of Russia in Moscow on 26 March. Sri Lankan Ambassador in the Russian Federation Udayanga Weeratunga signed the Agreement on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka while Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation ...

UAE businessmen are rushing to Sri Lanka as the country opens up its doors for competitive trade. More than 50 business personnel from Dubai and other emirates are camping in Sri Lankan to explore business opportunities. President Mahinda Rajapaksa inaugurated Expo 2012, where over 370 exporters are showcasing a wide array of goods and services. ...

The Expo 2012 show that commenced yesterday highlights Sri Lanka’s export products across more than 20 sectors. “Expo 2012 is a viable platform for UAE to identify the export product portfolio of Sri Lanka. In fact, we did not know that Sri Lanka has such a huge export portfolio until today,” said Rashid Al Telaji, ...

Reuters: The BRICS group of emerging world powerhouses – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – is expected to launch plans this week for a joint development bank and measures to bring their stock exchanges closer together. Officials say the initiatives will take time as they need to sort out details. But they herald ...