Asian Alliance Insurance PLC was adjudged a winner in the category of ‘Best Social Marketing Campaign 2011’ at the Global Awards for Brand Excellence, in recognition of its contribution towards the community through strategic CSR projects carried out by the company. Asian Alliance AGM Marketing Nadi Dharmasiri (centre) accepting the award from Dr. Alok Bharadwaj, ...

The Central Bank released its latest educational publication titled ‘Analysis of Basic Economics Principles,’ authored by P. Samarasiri, Assistant Governor supervising the financial system stability cluster of the Central Bank. This book has been compiled based on key topics

By Chamitha Kuruppu The JVP yesterday described the Government’s move of not increasing the salaries of over seven million private sector workers as “taking vengeance” on them for going against its private pension bill. The party states that the government’s failure to grant a salary increment for the private sector is clear evidence that they ...

Expolanka Holdings PLC recently appointed two top professionals Shantanu Nagpal as Head of Strategic Planning and Business Development and Paddy Weerasekera as Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications. With nearly two decades of experience in asset management and equity research, Shantanu Nagpal joins Expolanka as Head of Strategy and Business Development. He was Managing Director ...

Following is the speech by Dr. Harsha de Silva read out at the Zonta Club International Day Forum on 9 November 2011Good evening. Before I begin let me sincerely apologise to Lilamani for having given false hope that I will be by her side this evening! I am sure the women in the audience are ...

TOKYO, (Reuters): Japan’s economy rebounded from an earthquake-triggered recession in the third quarter by expanding 1.5 percent, a pace that is likely to slow down though as a strong yen and weak global growth darken the outlook. The growth — the fastest among major industrial nations — was fuelled by robust exports and consumption after ...

COLOMBO (Reuters): Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ruled that the government’s controversial legislation to acquire so-called underperforming enterprises and under-utilised assets is consistent with the country’s constitution, parliament was told on Tuesday, despite some opposition. The government act, which was presented to parliament on Tuesday, will see the state acquiring 37 pr...

November is the month to specially remember those who departed. One such important soul draws our attention today. He was born and died in November. To be precise, born on November 19, 1909 and died on November 11, 2005, eight days before his 96th birthday. We are referring to none other than Peter Ferdinand Drucker, ...

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, ...

The Mr. Earth Pageant conducted in Central America – Guatemala city recently brought fame and honour to Sri Lanka in the form of Milinda Wickramasinghe who was crowned Mr. Water – second runner up in the contest. The pageant is an annual event that draws in a participation of many countries around the globe. Despite ...

Harvard University may be America’s top-ranked national university, along with Princeton University, in US News and World Report’s latest best colleges rankings, but a competitor across the pond is now stealing some of that thunder. For the second year in a row, the United Kingdom’s University of Cambridge topped Harvard in the U.S. News World’s ...

Occupy Wall Street, occupy the London Stock ExchangeThe frustrations caused to the unemployed, the poor and the marginalised by the international and national economic crisis has spilled out onto the streets in the capital cities of the world’s leading and emerging economies. It has spread at the last count to over 900 cities in over ...

The Institute of Policy Studies or IPS has once again issued its annual assessment of the Sri Lanka’s economy in 2011 six months before the Central Bank of Sri Lanka would do so in March next year. Though the report contains a fair, constructive and elaborative assessment of the state of the economy, no adequate ...

Reuters: The euro zone’s debt crisis might already have pushed the bloc’s economy back into recession, according to business surveys that showed China’s economy taking a stride forward in October. Purchasing managers’ indexes (PMIs) on Monday only served to underscore why Europe’s leaders are scrambling to identify substantial and lasting measures to contain a soverei...

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 ...

Small and Medium Enterprise Developers (SMED), the SME arm of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL), which was established in 1989, presents its monthly high-level policy forum – The Key Person’s Forum, to be held at the Galadari Hotel on 25 October 2011 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. ...

Reuters: G20 finance chiefs and central bank heads meet in Paris on Friday urgently needing to find a convincing solution to a deepening euro zone debt crisis that has fanned fears of a global slide into recession. A source at the French finance ministry — which is battling to flesh out the bones of a ...

The Young Entrepreneurs Sri Lanka (YESL) and the Ladies’ College Department of Vocational Studies (DVS) entered into a collaborative agreement last week for bilateral expansion of activities in the field of human resources development. YESL is a Not for Profit Company by Guarantee, Member/Franchise Holder of Junior Achievement (JA) Worldwide (commenced in 1919 in USA, ...

By Harsha Udayakantha Peiris  A new book in Sinhala on strategies of Foreign Trade in Sri Lanka by B.A.H.P.Sumith Peiris was launched at the Cargo Operations Centre of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) in Peliyagoda recently with the initiative of the Minister of State Resources & Enterprise Development Dayasritha Thisera. The newly published book ...

MP charges that Government is focusing only on physical infrastructure and adopting a top-down development approach instead of a more inclusive and participatory humane political futureUnited National Party Parliamentarian Eran Wickramaratne asserts that the Government is depleting the resources of the municipality on an election extravaganza. In a candid interview with the Daily FT, the ...

Reuters: Anyone hoping that recent falls in commodity prices would provide a boost to powerhouse Asian economies and help lift the developed world out of recessionary danger will be disappointed. The region’s focus remains firmly on inflation. Commodities from crude to corn have slid in the last quarter, with many showing the most dramatic losses ...

Leif Lybecker Eskesen, Chief Economist for HSBC India and ASEAN will visit Sri Lanka this week. During his visit, he will address the Bank’s corporate customers on ‘Asia’s Inflation – Growth Tango: who’s dominating the dance?’ at a special Power Breakfast, scheduled to be held on 7 October 2011, at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel. Leif ...

With the World Bank announcing that the world economy is teetering on “a new danger zone,” it is of paramount importance for governments and financial power-houses to restore confidence through concrete policies and systematic financial planning. This is the order of the day, given the recent pessimistic report on the world economy delivered by Morgan ...

THE Monetary Board, with the concurrence of the Finance Minister has promoted three Assistant Governors, the Central Bank announced yesterday. They are Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe and B.D.W.A. Silva with effect from 27 September and C. Premeratne with effect from 1 January 2012 to the posts of Deputy Governor. Details of their careers are given ...

Global Economy is once again going through turbulent times. The possibility of the United States economy suffering another recession is increasing. The economic outlook of Europe looks grim. Middle East is in turmoil. All these developments raise many concerns. Where is the world heading? How would these developments affect Sri Lanka, specially its export sector? ...

Rotary International president Kalyan Banerjee called for renewed co-operation between countries in South Asia, to make the most of the opportunities presented by what he called the age for South Asia, in a rapidly and drastically changing world. “This time, more than ever, we need to bring our countries closer together, strengthening the many bonds ...

LONDON: Here’s a bold prediction to feed Western worries that power is shifting inexorably to the East: China’s yuan could overtake the US dollar as the world’s principal reserve currency as soon as next decade. Beijing has been promoting the use of the yuan beyond its borders since 2009 to settle trade transactions. The resulting ...

Herayamila Securities Ltd. (HSL) announced yesterday the appointment of Ruwan Keino Wickrema as Head of Research, to further strengthen its research operations. HSL has been operational for over a year in Sri Lanka and is a subsidiary of Heraymila Investments Ltd. (HIL) UAE. HIL directly manages over 285 million dollars of private and public investments ...

Top professionals Professor Malik Ranasinghe and Dhara Wijayatilake have been appointed to the Board of Directors of Sampath Bank. The Non Executive Independent directorships have expanded the Sampath Bank Board to 14 and with an alternative director it is 15. Several senior members of Sampath Bank Board will be relinquishing their posts later this year ...

JACKSON HOLE: Central bankers gathered at an annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, this weekend had a message for political leaders: monetary policy alone can’t keep the global expansion going. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke urged adoption of “good, proactive housing policies” to reverse the depressed US real estate market and warned lawmakers to ...