NEW YORK: Warren Buffett, the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, said he’s pursuing more opportunities in Asia after boosting reinsurance sales and expanding the Iscar Metalworking Cos. unit on the continent. “Korea, Japan and you name it,” Buffett, 81, said May 5 at Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire’s annual meeting. Buffett visited South Korea, Japan and India ...

Vista Advertising and Business Consultants (Pvt) Ltd was given a special recognition award for its outstanding contribution, to build technology giant Hewlett-Packard’s Personal Systems Group brand in the Sri Lankan market. Over 20 years of growing brands gives Vista Advertising a unique edge in providing a whole array of services to clients. Vista’s innovative style ...

Reuters: Australia’s MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner powered back to the top of the overall standings by a single point on Sunday after fending off Spanish rival Jorge Lorenzo to win in Portugal for the first time. The Honda rider, who won the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez last weekend, dominated the race at Estoril ...

By Uditha Jayasinghe The Government has launched an investigation into the display of Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) flags at the main opposition May Day rally, a top minister said yesterday. Cabinet spokesman Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardana told media that the flag was outlawed since the LTTE are a banned organisation within the country. ...

Former Pakistan paceman Mohammad Asif was released from a British prison on Thursday after completing half of his one-year sentence for spot-fixing, his lawyers said. Asif, 29, was jailed in November after he was found guilty of conspiring to cheat and conspiring to accept corrupt payments over deliberate no-balls bowled during the Lord’s Test against ...

By Patricia A. Butenis The 20th century American politician Thomas “Tip” O’Neill once famously said that “all politics is local”. That was often true of the news in the last century as well. With the advent of so many technological changes, however, the truism for information in the 21st century has become “all news is ...

Reuters: Winning the title in four major European nations might never be repeated and the fact Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has overcome the great Barcelona to achieve the feat makes his success even more remarkable. Real, who have smashed the La Liga scoring record, clinched their 32nd league crown and their first in four ...

By Cheranka Mendis Come winter this year, Sri Lanka will be ready to welcome 4000 up-market tourists from Austria, Germany and Switzerland with the first ever regular cruise liner sailing in to the Colombo Port. The cruise liner, FTI Berlin will make its maiden voyage to this part of the world in December starting off ...

iPhonik Pvt Ltd., a converged communication solution company providing solutions based on Voice, Data and Video last week launched its flagship hospitality solution Chameleon at the Kamikaze Lounge and was well received by hospitality industry experts, architects and consultants. Chameleon has three main components and can be procured separately. In-room entertainment portal, room control system ....

Sri Lanka spent Rs. 56 b on above-the-line advertising in 2011 Taking wing to India for meetings is a usual routine for any business leader attached to a multinational in Sri Lanka as most such organisations have their regional offices in India. During a recent visit to India, the hype surrounding IPL – 5th edition ...

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 ...

Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajpaksa declared open the newly built Green Paradise Agro Eco Hotel in Dambulla on 29 April. Total investment for Green Paradise Agro Eco Hotel is Rs. 1,200 million.       The Green Paradise Resort is located in Dambulla, in the central province of Sri Lanka. Nestled in the jungles of the cultural triangle, the re...

Reuters:  Barcelona kept Real Madrid’s La Liga title celebrations on hold for a few days at least with a crushing 7-0 victory at Rayo Vallecano on Sunday after Real had cruised to a 3-0 home win over Sevilla. Two days after Pep Guardiola announced his decision to step down as Barca coach at the end ...

Reuters: Rafa Nadal became the first player in the open era to win two tournaments seven times when he fought off tenacious Spanish compatriot David Ferrer 7-6 7-5 to win a thrilling Barcelona Open final on Sunday. In a repeat of last year’s title match and 10 years to the day since he made his ...

Reuters: LG Electronics will steal a march on its rivals by bringing forward the launch of a 55-inch flat TV using next-generation technology, raising the stakes in a cut-throat battle for the living room between Asia’s top tech powerhouses. The South Korean firm will introduce its organic light emitting display (OLED) TV in several European ...

By Cheranka Mendis Postgraduate Institute of Management Alumni (PIMA) Platinum Honours 2011 held on Friday recognised the contributions of Ramal Jasinghe, Anura Siriwardene and Dr. L.J.A. Peiris for their outstanding performance in their respective careers. Jasinnghe is the Director/CEO of Asian Alliance Insurance, and Peiris is the Managing Director of Royal Fernwood Porcelain whilst Siriwardene ...

Reuters: While most attention in the gadget world is on the breakneck pace of innovation in mobile phones, tablets and computers, another device has resolutely refused to die: the camera. Despite the onslaught of camera phones – the iPhone 4 has this year become the most popular device for posting snaps to the photo-sharing website ...

Reuters: Cristiano Ronaldo struck his 43rd league goal of the campaign to set Real Madrid on their way to a 3-0 home win over Sevilla on Sunday that put them within a whisker of a first La Liga title in four years. It was a much-needed return to winning ways for Jose Mourinho’s side after ...

JEREZ, Spain, (Reuters): World champion Casey Stoner held off a determined challenge from Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo to claim victory in the second race of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez on Sunday. Stoner started from the second row after Saturday’s rain-affected qualifying but the Australian Honda rider took advantage of the drier ...

Reuters: A Mexican woman is pregnant with nine babies – six girls and three boys – the country’s main broadcaster Televisa reported on Thursday night. The woman was identified as Karla Vanessa Perez of the northeastern state of Coahuila, which borders Texas. She is currently being treated at a hospital in the state capital Saltillo, ...

REUTERS: A smart and savvy dragon, an aged vampire and a Beverly Hillbilly are among the richest fictional characters, according to a new ranking. Smaug, a hyper-intelligent, short-tempered dragon and the star of the upcoming “Lord of the Rings” prequel whose estimated worth is a hefty $62 billion, headed the list of Forbes’ “Fictional 15” ...

The Independent Television Network’s (ITN) first Tamil Radio  channel Vasantham FM organised 6 a side cricket tournament to mark the  5th anniversary of the Vasantham FM at the Waber Stadium, Batticola recently and Kattankudy Akrams Sports Club became a champion. Here captain of the team M.I.M. Irshad receiving champion trophy from Chairman of the ITN ...

Reuters: Real Madrid and Barcelona’s powers of recovery will be tested against awkward La Liga opponents this weekend after the two favourites were painfully dumped out of the Champions League in front of their own fans. Nine-times European champions Real return to the Bernabeu on Sunday to play Sevilla (1000 GMT) after falling to bogey ...

By EMMA STONEY New York Times: WELLINGTON — When you think of Sri Lanka, rugby is not generally something that springs readily to mind. The island nation is certainly better known for cricket, tea exports and its recently ended civil war. But Sri Lanka’s British colonial forefathers left behind more than cricket as a sporting ...

Reuters: In an incredible turn of events few could ever have predicted, the world’s two best players fluffed their lines at crucial moments this week to help send Spanish heavyweights Real Madrid and Barcelona crashing out of the Champions League. Bayern Munich’s goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (C) salutes next to his team mates after their arrival ...

HDFC Bank held its New Year lucky draw which was organised for the first time at the Bank’s Head office recently. HDFC Chairman Siromi Wickramasinghe was the Chief Guest at the draw and HDFC Acting CEO/GM S. Dissanayake and Bank’s Senior Management and other officers, an independent panel of judges attended this event. The promotion ...