Dubai has further consolidated its position on the global tourism map with an impressive all-round performance in 2011 registering a 10 per cent growth in visitor numbers which soared to 9.3 million, said a senior official. The hotels and hotel apartments in Dubai have registered solid occupancy levels during the year besides posting an impressive ...

Reuters: Losing two grand slam finals in the past nine months has been bitter-sweet for Maria Sharapova as she continues her bid to return to the game’s pinnacle from injury.  The former world number one has not won any of the sport’s blue riband events since being sidelined for seven months after a shoulder injury ...

Geneva: The United States Wednesday submitted the draft resolution against Sri Lanka to the United Nations Human Rights Council at its 19th session in Geneva. The draft resolution submitted to the UN body notes the report of Sri Lanka’s domestic Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and its findings and recommendations while acknowledging its possible ...

NEW YORK (Reuters): Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim retained his position atop Forbes magazine’s annual list of the world’s billionaires on Wednesday with an estimated worth of $ 69 billion, while his Mexican rival Ricardo Salinas Pliego enjoyed the largest increase in wealth. Microsoft Corp cofounder Bill Gates ranked second at $ 61 billion and Warren ...

Reuters: Forget austerity in the supercar zone at the Geneva Auto Show.  Lamborghini and Ferrari flaunted some of their most expensive models to date, confirming the recession-proof appeal of ultra high-end cars to the world’s wealthy.   Supercar Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) unit Bentley, boasting a rich heritage of super-expensive sedans, coupes and ...

Thousands of women in the apparel industry deserve respect for being partners in Sri Lanka’s highest foreign exchange earning sector By Uditha Jayasinghe Sri Lanka’s apparel industry clothes the world and earns the largest amount of foreign exchange but is struggling to retain its workforce as an estimated 30,000 vacancies remain open in hundreds of ...

Reuters: Global private sector activity grew at its fastest pace in a year last month as a strong improvement in the United States offset a drag from the euro zone, survey data showed on Monday. The Global Total Output index, produced by JPMorgan with the input of research and supply management organisations, was 55.5 in ...

Reuters:  HSBC (HSBA.L) has agreed to sell its general insurance businesses to AXA Group and QBE Insurance Group for a cash consideration of $914 million, as Europe’s biggest bank moves ahead with its plan to divest non-core assets.  The deal, the latest in a series of cost cut initiatives under the new HSBC CEO Stuart ...

Reuters: Thousands of protesters chanting “Russia without Putin” took to the streets of Moscow on Monday to challenge Vladimir Putin’s victory in a presidential election which international monitors said was unfair.  Putin, who secured almost 64 percent of votes on Sunday

OIL seems to have returned to the headlines as reports indicate that India may be pressurising Sri Lanka to allocate it blocks in the Mannar Basin. An article in The Hindu remarks that India is persuading Sri Lanka to allocate oil exploration blocks in the waters that separate them, as it considers the location too ...

The Unilever global media pitch is believed to be under way, the brief having been divided between strategy and buying. The RFP documents were made available mid-February, separating Unilever’s estimated US$4.65 billion media business into two assignments: strategy and buying. The pitch is being led by Luis Di Como, senior vice president of global media ...

Reuters: Vladimir Putin triumphed in Russia’s presidential election on Sunday and, tears rolling down his cheeks, called his victory a turning point that had prevented the country falling into the hands of enemies.  Putin’s opponents complained of widespread fraud, refused

Geneva: The United States says the report of the Lessons Learnt and reconciliation Commission (LLRC) Sri Lanka’s domestic body that probed the country’s armed conflict does not adequately address the issue of accountability. Addressing the 15th meeting of the 19th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva yestedray, the US delegate ...

Pune: Ashok Leyland is looking for overseas partners to grow its exports, the Managing Director Vinod Dasari, has said. The company which recently began exports to newer markets such as Latin America, Ukraine and Russia has exported 11,200 units of till end of February 2012 and expects

REUTERS: Roger Federer ranged from imperious to effective as he beat Michael Llodra 6-0 7-6 in the Dubai Championships on Tuesday but Britain’s Andy Murray was made to fight for his spot in the second round.  Federer raced through the first set in only 17 minutes, breaking his opponent three times in a ruthlessly dominant ...

In June 2007, the US and the Republic of Korea signed a Free Trade Agreement (KORUSFTA). In December 2010, they concluded new agreements reflected in letters signed in December 2011, providing market access to US auto manufacturers and workers. Once the agreement comes into force on 15 March 2012, nearly 95% of bilateral trade in ...

The first Government University of Australia that has set up in the country, the Ballarat University, staged an interesting evening last week under the banner ‘The Ballarat Debate,’ to a select club of professionals at the City Campus that discussed some interesting ideas on Sri Lanka’s economy. One of Sri Lanka’s award-winning marketers and former ...

Benito Mussolini, the fascist ruler of Italy, during World War II, said that his brand of fascism ‘should be more appropriately called Corporatism, because it is a merger of state and corporate power’. Compare this with the dictionary definition of capitalism: ‘A system in which a country’s business and industry are controlled and run for ...

Reuters: Global trade rules for finance, telecommunications and other service sectors have failed to keep pace with changes in technology and are “modest and flimsy” compared with trade rules for manufactured goods, said a report released on Friday. “Services trade policy reform can be both a basis for long-term growth and a way to bolster ...

At a time when some major global apparel buyers are shifting their sourcing to low-cost countries like Cambodia, Bangladesh and Vietnam, Sri Lankan garment manufacturers are not only able to retain their current buyers but have also succeeded in luring new buyers. In fact, the Sri Lankan apparel industry has crossed its US$ 4 billion ...

The United States  has said it expected the Sri Lankan government to announce a detailed action plan to address the reconciliation and accountability issues when the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission was released but to date it has not seen any plan from the government on how the recommendations made by the ...

Popularly known as the father of insurance in Sri Lanka, Chandra Schaffter is a multi-dimensional person with disarming humility and an outspoken view of life. His 60-odd years in the profession has defined the entire industry and the outspoken risk-taking dynamism of Schaffter in many ways epitomises the home grown entrepreneurial spirit.   He describes himself ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) : Brent crude oil rose to a nine-month high above $123 a barrel late Wednesday morning as supportive Iran-related tensions and supply worries outmatched weak economic data in Europe and China that cast doubt on the global growth outlook. U.S. crude futures were stuck in negative territory after the new front-month April ...

Toronto, ON: A new poll conducted by global research company Ipsos for What Makes You Happy Magazine finds that while eight in 10 (77%) citizens in 24 countries generally say they are ‘happy’ in their lives, one quarter (22%) report they are ‘very happy’ — a key measure that identifies comparative depth and intensity of ...

The Sri Lankan ministerial delegation attending the 19th sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council beginning later this month has left for Geneva, Switzerland yesterday. The ministerial delegation led by the External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris includes Plantation Minister and President’s Special Human Rights Envoy Mahinda Samarasinghe, Ministers Nimal Siripala De Silva and ...

growth economies, found that Brazil, Russia, India and China were no less susceptible ...

Reuters: Iran, facing sanctions that could cripple its oil exports, has told world powers it wants to resume long-stalled talks with “new initiatives”, and France said it might be open to addressing suspicions about its nuclear programme. Tehran made the offer in a letter to the EU’s foreign policy chief obtained by Reuters on Thursday, ...

Reuters: The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly ratcheted up the pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday by overwhelmingly approving a resolution that endorses an Arab League plan calling for him to step aside. “Today the U.N. General Assembly sent a clear message to the people of Syria — the world is with you,” U.S. ...

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), the foremost business chamber in Sri Lanka, caters to the business needs of over 3,000 establishments through its direct and indirect membership.  The service needs of these organisations are met by the CCC in numerous ways. They include, introduction of local and overseas business links, facilitation of export/import procedures, ...

Nearly half (48%) of the 1,258 CEOs polled worldwide believe the global economy will decline even further in the next 12 months, according to PwC’s 15th Annual Global CEO Survey. Just 15% said the global economy will improve during 2012. However, nearly three times as many CEOs are confident in their own companies’ growth prospects ...