The promising Sri Lanka Peace Collection has successfully garnered the US Government’s nod. ‘Sri Lanka Peace Collection’ is the Government’s initiative to provide livelihood support for war widows through the country’s handloom sector. “The Sri Lanka Peace Collection has very high potential,” US Ambassador Patricia Butenis said after a special presentation...

KARACHI, Reuters: Mohsin Khan will continue as interim Pakistan coach for next month’s test and one-day series against England in the United Arab Emirates. “There will be no change in the team management or national selection committee for the England series,” Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf told a news conference in Lahore on Monday. ...

Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia yesterday announced the first two milestones of their recently approved alliance: new international and domestic routes to Darwin and the launch of frequent flyer programme co-operation. As part of a joint plan to increase services to northern Australia, Singapore Airlines’ regional full service airline, SilkAir, will begin a four-times-weekly service ...

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 ...

Fortunaglobal (Pvt) Ltd. won this year’s e-Swabhimani award for the country’s best e-content applications in the m-Content category for its mobile application for the iPhone and Android. The prestigious e-Swabhimani awards presentation is organised annually by the apex Government body for ICT in Sri Lanka, the Information & Technology Agency (ICTA). Derana Macroentertainment Accoun...

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 ...

Violence against women is taking its toll and finally women are speaking upBy Cheranka Mendis This is the 21st Century. This is the day and age of gender equality, or so they say. It is a topic that is brought up in conversation, at forums and conference and business seminars. Books are written on it, ...

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. ...

The Pathfinder Foundation, true to its name is ready to continue its quest for innovative, homegrown solutions, while benefiting from relevant international and regional collaboration. By the first quarter of 2012, the Pathfinder Foundation is planning to launch a few new initiatives i.e. ‘Towards Reconciliation and Development,’ ‘Track Two Initiative for Closer Economic and Othe...

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...

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 ...

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) last week in a statement said it was deeply concerned over the recent attempts by State authorities to arbitrarily block identified websites and the proposed compulsory registration of websites that publish content on Sri Lanka. On 5 November 2011, the Director General of the Department of Information required all websites ...

Reserve Bank of India, State Bank of Pakistan and Maldives Monetary Authority to participateThe first ever Governor’s Challenge Trophy- global commerce quiz will be held on 13 December in Colombo. The quiz has taken an international dimension with three major regional central banks participating along with the Sri Lankan corporate, banking and other sectors for ...

MUMBAI (AFP): Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar’s failure to make his 100th international century left fans in Mumbai deeply deflated on Friday, with supporters leaving the stadium in their droves after his dismissal for 94. In contrast to the previous three days, when crowds were thin on the ground, supporters flocked to the Wankhede Stadium to ...

Reuters: His surname may not be Tata, but Cyrus Mistry is as close as an outsider could come. Announced on Wednesday as the heir apparent to Ratan Tata, the group’s long-standing chairman, Mistry will become head of one of India’s most storied business groups. A five-man selection team – which included the 43-year-old Mistry himself ...

Gulf News: Sharjah: With Sri Lanka having lost the Test and one-day series in UAE, their skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan’s future as the captain is now uncertain. He was a shattered man after the defeat in Sharjah against Pakistan. Since the 2011 World Cup, Sri Lanka has lost to England, Australia and now Pakistan. When asked ...

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 ...

NEW Zealand is a stronger country brand than Australia, an international survey shows. FutureBrand’s country brand index, which is run in association with BBC World News, assessed 113 countries. The latest annual index released at the World Travel Market in London on Thursday (UK time) rated Canada the overall strongest brand, with Australia dropping three ...

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 ...

Aitken Spence’s port efficiency enhancement and terminal management services arm, Port Management Container Services Ltd., was one of the three short listed finalists for the Investment in People award at the inaugural Containerisation International Awards held in London recently. The award attracted 90 applications from companies worldwide. The other two finalists were Port of Salalah ...

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 ...

WASHINGTON: The Sri Lankan Congressional Caucus and Embassy of Sri Lanka sponsored the 2 November screening of the video “Lies Agreed Upon,” – a rebuttal of allegations made about the end of Sri Lanka’s conflict against terrorist by a British news program. The screening included a panel discussion of Sri Lanka’s 26-year conflict against the ...

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, ...

Muttiah Muralitharan, the most successful bowler in the history of cricket, is to play a key role in Sri Lanka’s Hambantota 2018 bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Now retired from international cricket, Murali (39) seemingly has one more special delivery up his sleeve for Sri Lanka. He is part of a delegation travelling ...

 Butt, Asif and Amir given jail sentences Judge says image and integrity of game has been damaged LONDON (Reuters): Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were jailed on Thursday for their roles in a spot-fixing scandal which the judge said had damaged the integrity of a game renowned for its fairness. Former ...

This is the seventh article in the Daily FT’s fortnightly series titled ‘Business of Sports,’ focusing on the back office of the various sports administered and played in this country. Readers are invited to share their views and express their opinion via email to editor@ft.lk on the features carried in this column so that a ...

Confidence, the most critical element of the business climate Need of the hour Investment needs to increase from 28% (2010) to 34% of GDP to attain the Government’s growth target of 8%, as Sri Lanka’s incremental capital output ratio is 4.2. Public investment has been capped at 6%-7% of GDP. This means that private investment, ...

Following is the address delivered by Senior Minister for International Monetary Cooperation Dr. Sarath Amunugama at the fourth South Asia Economic Summit (SAES IV) Plenary Session: In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, there has been a noticeable shift in economic clout, moving from the USA and the debt-plagued countries of the Eurozone, to ...

DNH Financial Ltd. last week said that corporate earnings released so far look impressive but the bourse has not performed compared to strong earnings generation. The broking firm also suggests time is right for investors to go bottom fishing. Here are excerpts from DNH’s Weekly Report: The Colombo bourse ended the week on a relatively ...