The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has honored Jetwing Sea with a PATA Gold Award in the category of Environment – Corporate Environmental Program, as a part of the PATA Gold Awards 2012. This year’s Awards attracted 180 entries from 79 organisations and individuals worldwide, and the victory stands testament to the consistent commitment shown ...

By C. Bryson Hull MALE (Reuters): It was an ordinary blue felt pen, and not a bullet, that killed Mohamed Nasheed’s term as the first democratically elected president of the Maldives. After rising to acclaim as a champion of democracy and action against climate change, Nasheed is now back on the streets where he led ...

Reuters: Manchester United scraped into the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday, narrowly avoiding a humiliating elimination after being outplayed and losing 2-1 at home to Ajax Amsterdam. Not even a sixth minute opener from Javier Hernandez could inspire United as Aras Ozbiliz levelled eight minutes before the break and Toby Aldeweireld’s late ...

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court ordered the news directors of four television channels that the video footage of the UNP led protest held in front of the Fort railway station be handed over to the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) in order to trace persons who behaved in an unruly manner. Filing a ...

  Bollywood singing sensation and heartthrob Sonu Niigam will arrive today for a mega musical extravaganza tomorrow night at the CH and FC. Star Event Management is the brainchild of Sudharma Nettikumara, the lady credited with bringing Niigaam down for Sri Lanka’s first live concert.  The award-winning Niigaam has sung for many box office films ...

Park Street Mews came alive with music on 29 January as it presented another unique, once in lifetime experience by hosting two international greats – Ken Stringfellow (of R.E.M fame) and Dr. Eugene Draw – a Canadian electric violinist; along with brilliant local artists Out of Time and the Beat Drummers. Ken Stringfellow – a ...

Reuters: Japan’s ailing electronics giant, Sony Corp (6758.T), warned investors on Thursday it was heading for a worse-than-expected $2.9 billion annual loss, revealing the daunting task ahead for its incoming chief executive, Kazuo Hirai. The company, overtaken by more innovative rivals such as Apple and Samsung over the past decade, gave the forecast in its ...

The market was jam-packed. A tuk-tuk overloaded with huge bunches of green bananas almost ran over my foot, knocking me off balance. Intense aromas and stenches invaded all our senses. Bicycles and the tiny motorised carts vied with jostling shoppers and merchants for space in the frenetic and frantic Pettah bazaar in the heart of ...

Text and pic by Harsha Udayakantha Peiris Malaka Dewapriya a young cinematographer with a determined  mission  towards a cinema with  a richer conception  to uplift the social bases of the communities has launched fieldwork for his first  feature on  silver screen for the local and international audience, namely, ‘Bahuchithavadiya’  which narrate...

REUTERS: The Los Angeles Lakers have unseated the New York Knicks as the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) most valuable team with an estimated worth of $900 million, according to a Forbes report released on Wednesday. The value of the Lakers, who won NBA titles in 2009 and 2010, soared 40 percent from last year due ...

Effects first major move to become a self-made entrepreneur; his new venture N Capital acquires 70% stake Aspires to make iconic 35-room resort luxurious with Rs. 500 m investment to add 50 more rooms under a new wing and plush refurbishment Says deep south will be centre of economic, tourism and recreation boom with air ...

Last year when I got the opportunity of attending the summer programme at Harvard, one of the sessions that really got my attention was a session titled ‘Corporate Athleticism’. Coming back to Sri Lanka I was eager to bring to life this new theory called ‘Corporate Athleticism,’ which in actual fact was practiced by many ...

‘The Artist’ won the best feature film award at the PGA Awards Saturday night, cementing its frontrunner status for the Academy Award. “We never knew we’d get a taste of the American Dream,” said Thomas Langmann, producer of the nearly silent black-and-white film, after rushing up to the stage at the Beverly Hilton to accept ...

By Cheranka Mendis Construction work for the 350 metre iconic Lotus Tower commenced yesterday following the foundation laying ceremony at the auspicious time of 10:28 a.m. The tower, which will be the tallest tower in South Asia, is located down D.R. Wijewardene Mawatha, overlooking the Beira Lake and is budgeted at an estimated cost of ...

MUMBAI (Reuters): The India test side’s continued freefall in Australia has infuriated the media and angered fans back home but advertisers and broadcasters are refusing to give up on cricket, given a lack of alternatives and the fickleness of local supporters. Since the euphoria of a 2011 World Cup victory on home soil in April, ...

Despite being the presumed subject of an ongoing rap beef between Drake and Common, Serena Williams insists her love life isn’t very exciting. The American tennis star is in Melbourne for next week’s Australian Open and answered questions about her relationship status at a Thursday press conference. “I haven’t been on a date in forever,” ...

Kenyan Laban Moiben and Netsanet Abeyo of Ethiopia yesterday respectively won the men’s and women’s contest in the 9th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, rated Asia’s most valuable. A record 2,475 Indian and global athletes including Sri Lanka’s Rueina Deepani and Indika Ratnayake vied for the popular event, which has received IIAF Gold label status. However, ...

Asia Digital Entertainment formally commenced operations on its cinematic production, Vaishnavee, at a special muhurath ceremony. The movie is the first ever Sri Lankan production that will be filmed with the use of the world’s most advanced digital camera, the Red Epic. Directed by Sumitra Peries and based on a story by Dr. Lester James Peries, Vaishnavee is ...

LONDON (Reuters): World heavyweight champion Vitali Klitchsko says he is preparing for next month’s title bout with Britain’s Dereck Chisora as if it were his last. Not that the 40-year-old Ukrainian expects it to be anything of the sort. Chisora, whose promoter Frank Warren could be accused of considerable understatement in describing the confident 28-year-old ...

A story of how advertising has changed from when Chairman and CEO of Bates Strategic Alliance Nimal Gunewardena first started to work in the industry over 35 years ago, and what those changes mean for advertisers today – both marketers and agencies. Gunewardena affirms that we need to move from pure broadcast advertising to looking ...

A one woman show performed by UK actor Alison SkilbeckBritish Council in partnership with the Sunera Foundation presents Alison Skilbeck’s hilarious and heart-breaking one woman show, Are There More of You? directed by Jeremy Stockwell. Critically acclaimed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, with five star reviews, and with a residency at the King’s Head Theatre that prom...

While the clouds of economic woe gather overhead, cinema may be the best place to shelter in 2012. My most eagerly-awaited film of the year is the first part of The Hobbit, but I’ll have to wait until next December for that. In the meantime, there are lots of reasons to be cheerful.   Winter Steven ...

Reuters: AT&T has dropped its controversial $39 billion bid for Deutsche Telekom’s US wireless unit, bowing to fierce regulatory opposition and leaving both companies scrambling for alternatives. AT&T will have to find another way to address its shortage of wireless airwaves while Deutsche Telekom has to go back to the drawing board on what to ...

Ministry of Crab is the first restaurant in Sri Lanka dedicated to serving export quality Sri Lankan crabs, as well as the island’s best seafood, locally. Co-owned by Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Dharshan Munidasa, the restaurant is housed inside the newly opened 400 year old Dutch Hospital, in Colombo Fort. The best of Sri Lanka’s ...

Seylan Bank recently re-defined the concept of savings, in an initiative hitherto not seen in Sri Lanka’s banking and financial services industry, by literally ‘dropping’ Rs. 1 million from the skies and parallely supported by a door-to-door campaign. On Saturday 22 October helicopters hovered over different parts of Sri Lanka and dropped thousands of coupons ...

AFP: India’s Virender Sehwag was on Friday hailed as a “genius” by teammates and opponents after smashing the highest individual score in one-day cricket with a scintillating double-century. Sehwag hammered 219 off 149 balls in the fourth one-dayer against the West Indies in Indore on Thursday, joining compatriot Sachin Tendulkar as the only batsmen to ...

By Marianne David The perfect place to have a wild and wonderful time while wallowing in the lap of luxury, Elephant Corridor is a paradise of pleasure and pampering. Offering complete privacy given its secluded location in the heart of the jungle and guaranteed to satisfy the most demanding guest, the hotel is a sight ...

After seven successive and successful forums, the Accounting Forum 2011, organised by the Accountancy Students’ Association University of Kelaniya (ASAK), is to be held for the eighth consecutive time on 8 December at Ceylon Intercontinental Hotel Colombo from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Accounting Forum 2011 is an annual event organised at a grand level, ...

The best way to make the benefits of ICT to reach all the people, especially the disadvantaged as envisaged by the President is to develop local e-content talent, said President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga. The Presidential Secretary said so while participating as the Guest of Honour at the e-Swabhimani Awards 2011 held in Colombo recently. Speaking ...

OYAMA-CHO (Reuters): Toyota Motor Corp unveiled a highly anticipated sports car that it hopes will trigger the rebirth of the company as a maker of “fun” cars that it hasn’t been in years. Japan’s top automaker took the wraps off the compact, rear-wheel-drive model at the Fuji Speedway circuit at the foot of Mount Fuji ...