Abu Dhabi, November 24, 2011 (AFP) – Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq is hoping to win the Twenty20 match against Sri Lanka on Friday to lift their rankings and give them a clean sweep of the series after their Test and one-day victories. Pakistan, the 2009 World Twenty20 champions, have lost 13 of their last 24 ...

Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. (LBSI) – the local office of creative giant Leo Burnett Worldwide – won the highly acclaimed ‘Commercial of the Year’ award at the prestigious Sumathi Awards, the biggest festival of the country’s television industry held recently at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium. Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. Managing Director Ranil De Silva at ...

Arrenga Capital Research takes a deeper look at Budget 2012 and impact on select listed companies 1. A challenging deficit target – 6.2% of GDP in 2012 I. Government revenue targeted to grow by 20.2% YoY to Rs. 1,126.1 b (14.7% of GDP) II. Total Government expenditure to rise 14.1% YoY to Rs. 1,594.9 b ...

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 ...

Following are the brief key suggestions that came out at the groundbreaking pre-Budget 2012 brainstorming session held recently under a joint initiative by the Daily FT and the MBA Alumni Association of University of Colombo with Secretary to the Treasury Dr. P.B. Jayasundera as the Chief Guest Apparel sector: Brandix CFO Hasitha Premaratne • Apparel ...

Reuters: The Iranian army is conducting a four-day training exercise to test its defences, state TV reported on Saturday, amid rising international tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme. Press TV said the war games started on Friday and were taking place over 800,000 square km in the east of the country. “The initial stage of the ...

DTV (Dialog Television), a subsidiary of one of Sri Lanka’s largest telecommunication service providers Dialog Axiata PLC, is extending its sponsorship of the Mercantile Rugby Sevens for a record ninth consecutive year. The Mercantile Rugby 7’s, one of the most anticipated events in the mercantile sporting calendar, will kick off from 18 to 20 November, ...

Nihonbashi was one of only two Sri Lankan restaurants selected to feature in the 2011/2012 edition of The Miele Guide, published earlier this week. Known as Asia’s first independent restaurant guide the much respected Miele Guide ranks the top 500 restaurants in Asia.  To be recognised by it as one of two restaurants in Sri ...

A leader in Sri Lanka’s hospitality trade, the Mount Lavinia Hotel (MLH) is known throughout the world for its scenic beauty and first-rate services. Although a historic hotel aged beyond two centuries, MLH moves parallel to the 21st century hospitality trade practices and innovations, and its values are very much in par with ethical practices ...

New craft inspired ‘in-flight collection’ of fashion, accessories and jewellery to be launched at Sri Lanka Design Festival 2011The national carrier that has bridged the nation with the world for over three decades is soon to launch an in-flight collection that will carry the message of Sri Lankan craft heritage internationally. These collections will include ...

Reuters: Italy’s president appointed former European Commissioner Mario Monti on Sunday to head a new government charged with implementing urgent reforms to end a crisis that has endangered the whole euro zone. After a frenetic weekend during which parliament passed the reforms and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi stepped down to the jeers of hostile crowds, ...

By Chamitha Kuruppu The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna claims spending Rs. 265 billion on an 11-day extravaganza is intolerable for an economically ailing country like Sri Lanka. Addressing a media briefing the JVP warned that the aftermath of hosting the 2018 Commonwealth Games would not be rosy as the Rajapaksa administration predicts According to JVP Propaganda ...

Sri Lankans artistes signed under major labels Sony and Universal MusicBy Cheranka Mendis The Sherifs are the new wave of Euromerican influenced Asian singers, songwriters and producers. Made up of Azlan Sheriff and Dirk James, they are the only Sri Lankan born producers/artists to have produced an album scheduled for release under major labels Sony ...

Coats, which has raised the bar and set industry standards in the area of sewing solutions, has joined hands with Sri Lanka Design Festival to project the many capabilities of the local apparel and fashion industry to the world. In order to share Coats’ global expertise in the apparel vertical integration sector, the company has ...

PARIS (Reuters): France announced 65 billion euros of tax hikes and budget cuts over five years, as President Nicolas Sarkozy seeks to protect the country’s creditworthiness in financial markets without killing his chances of re-election in six months time.  The main goal was to protect a top-notch credit rating that allows France to fund itself ...

Range of exhibitions, forums and workshops for students and general public For the third consecutive year, the Sri Lanka Design Festival is preparing to provide South-Asian region with a rare opportunity to witness and learn from the creative talent and expertise of globally renowned creative industry professionals. SLDF 2011 has invited a group of elite ...

nSriLankan Airlines partners with Sri Lanka Design Festival: launches luxuriously designed flatbed at SLDF this November SriLankan Airlines, Sri Lanka’s national airline, in a bold attempt to enhance its products and services to drive the country’s ongoing boom in tourism and economic development will launch its latest addition: The luxury flatbed on Business Class. Partnering ...

The forum will be held on 18 NovemberThe South Asian Apparel Leadership Forum, conceptualised by Sri Lanka Design Festival (SLDF) as one of its main highlights of 2011, is already participated by apparel manufacturing leaders and their key partners promising to be a great platform and networking opportunity for apparel industry’s backward integration sector and ...

The inaugural show of the two day Pakistan Film Festival 2011 was held yesterday at the National Film Corporation auditorium. The main feature of this film festival was the screening of ‘Khuda Khay Liye’ (In the name of God), a Pakistani Urdu film with English subtitles, written, directed and produced by Shoaib Mansoor. Member of ...

The South Asian Apparel Leadership Forum, conceptualised by SLDF as one of its main highlights of 2011, is to be held on 18 November and will see many key apparel experts and high profile international press gather to provide their insights on topics that are crucial for Sri Lanka’s campaign to lead South Asian apparel ...

Joins as the Pinnacle Sponsor for the second consecutive yearSri Lanka Telecom has come forward as the Pinnacle Sponsor of Sri Lanka’s flagship ICT Expo Infotel for the second consecutive year. Infotel 2011 will be held from 2 to 5 December at the BMICH and is organised by the Federation of Information Technology Industry of ...

Lives by the quote “Live to eat! Life is cooking” Chef Carlos Gomez Melendez is a true Latin American in “every sense” . You will hear him miles away” loud and full life” with a zest to produce the finest culinary pieces that can even impress the greatest dignitaries such as US Presidents Barak Obama ...

Airline, unions appear again before govt-ordered labour tribunal Qantas says 447 flights grounded, 68,000 passengers affected since Sat PM calls for end to dispute World leaders at Perth meeting among those affected Rival airlines put on more flights MELBOURNE, Oct 30 (Reuters) – Qantas Airways and its unions appeared before a labour tribunal on Sunday ...

Reuters: Greeks greeted the latest European Union deal to rescue their debt-choked country with deep scepticism on Thursday, fearing further painful belt-tightening and years more of recession. EU leaders struck a deal with banks and insurers early on Thursday for them to accept a 50 percent loss on their Greek government bonds under a plan ...

The courage the Government has demonstrated in cancelling the CATIC deal and yet feeling secure, rather than embarrassed by it, must be recognised. It is a responsible step, a prudent decision, which will have enduring benefit both in terms of national policy and FDI strategy. This step will also earn the respect of the indigenous ...

Nenasa TV, the satellite based television channel developed to bridge the education gap between urban and rural Sri Lanka is expanding its reach to connect another 1,000 schools into the programme with the aim of making education accessible to all. The new MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) to expand Dialog Nenasa TV was signed yesterday between ...

U.S. presidential election all about the economy First bin Laden, now Iraq Obama shows he can answer the “3 a.m. call” WASHINGTON  (Reuters): President Barack Obama delivered on another foreign policy promise on Friday with plans to pull the last U.S. troops from Iraq. But in a re-election campaign all about the weak U.S. economy, ...

The Sri Lanka Design Festival (SLDF) 2011 is conceptualised by the Academy of Design (AOD), Sri Lanka’s leading design campus. AOD organises the festival in close association with industry leaders and the Government. The festival will be held this November at Mount Lavinia Hotel and the event is to take place under the theme of ...

The International President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), Professor Alan Waller is making his first official visit to Sri Lanka from 27 to 30 October. This is the first visit of an International President since 2002 when Sri Lanka hosted the International Convention. Professor Waller will be in Sri Lanka at ...

Sri Lankan represents global team of entrepreneursAspirations Edu-cation’s General Manager Deepamala Abeysekera became the only Sri Lankan to represent a group of 30 entrepreneurs in the world from, USA, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa, to read for her postgraduate studies in entrepreneurship at the University of Cambridge. Cambridge has acquired an international reputation as an ...