UNP MP and party’s chief spokesman for the economy Dr. Harsha de Silva this week reminded the Government of the fall of Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s regime after her unprecedented nationalisation failed to achieve desired benefits. “The original nationalisation effected in the early 1970s by the then Premier Sirimavo Bandaranaike didn’t bring about the expected economic benefits...

ST PETERSBURG, Florida (AFP): Czech Republic tennis star Petra Kvitova’s astonishing year ended with her being voted by the press the WTA player of the year on Monday. The 21-year-old – also voted Most Improved Player – won six titles in all including Wimbledon, her first Grand Slam crown, and the end of season WTA ...

Countries to identify targeted goods over the next year Plan to cut tariffs to 5 percent on list of goods APEC pledges to eliminate domestic content requirements HONOLULU (Reuters): Asia Pacific leaders, including the United States and China, committed on Sunday to slash tariffs on environmental goods and services in a bid to boost trade ...

Reuters: Asia Pacific countries pressed Europe on Thursday to act more forcefully to quell its debt crisis, setting the tone for a summit overshadowed by growing alarm over the fallout from euro zone upheaval. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and other APEC finance ministers agreed to shore up their own economies against Europe’s troubles, warning ...

The Group of 20 heads of state met in France in early November launching an annual group meeting of the heads of State. The G20 is made up of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the EU, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, UK and the US. ...

Reuters) – The head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Wednesday that Europe’s debt crisis risked plunging the global economy into a “lost decade” and said it was up to rich nations to shoulder the burden of restoring growth and confidence. Christine Lagarde told a financial forum in Beijing that European plans to bolster ...

The World Travel Market 2011 Industry Report released on Monday has included Sri Lanka among a group of countries which are second best for tourism in terms of attraction and growth whilst BRICs have been rated the best. The grouping carries the acronym SLIMMA with WTM experts choosing SL of Sri Lanka for it. Others ...

SUN FM presents Arash live in concert at the Excel World Open Air Arena on 9 December, keeping its promise of uplifting the quality of entertainment in Sri Lanka, and once again proving its prowess, by bringing down not just yet another star, but his entire seven-man band and his stunning female vocalist, Rebecca – ...

PCL Solutions won the Dealer of the Year 2010 award for its outstanding sales of medical waste incinerator, Mediburn, produced by Elastec American Marine. The international award was presented to PCL Solutions Health Care Sales Manager Sampath Kularatne, at an event in Illinois, USA. Being the sole agent in Sri Lanka, PCL Solutions secured the ...

Global business activity grew in October at the slowest rate since the end of the last global recession in August 2009, thanks to sagging output and new business, according to a new business survey. JPMorgan’s Global All-Industry Output index, a measure of global private sector activity, fell to 51.4 in October from 52 the previous ...

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Russia, holder of the world’s third largest foreign reserves, gave a vote of no confidence on Monday in Europe’s handling of its debt crisis as the head of the International Monetary Fund visited Moscow to seek support. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin faulted the construction of the euro zone’s ...

MILAN (Reuters): Agricultural commodity markets are set to remain tight with high and volatile prices despite improved supply and weakening demand, the United Nations’ food agency said on Thursday, raising its estimates of global grain output this year. Food prices grabbed the attention of world policy makers after hitting record highs in February and helped ...

Four demining machines worth around Rs. 302 million were handed by the Russia Federation to Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa this morning at the Ministry of Defence. Russian Ambassador in Sri Lanka Vladimir P. Mikhaylov and Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya were also present at the occasion – Pic by Pradeep Dilruckshana

Bribing public officials when doing business abroad is a regular occurrence, according to a survey of 3,000 business executives from developed and developing countries. Transparency International’s 2011 Bribe Payers Index, released this week, ranks 28 leading international and regional exporting countries by the likelihood of their firms to bribe abroad. Companies from Russia and China, ...

One of the world’s leading oil companies, Russia’s oil giant Gazprom will send a a group of technical specialists to Sri Lanka to explore gas drilling in the off the northwest coast of the country, government media reported. Gazprom has expressed its intention to join the gas drilling in the Mannar Basin earlier this year. ...

NEW DELHI (Reuters): Alternation of circuits and team personnel could be the way forward for Formula One to add new races to a crowded calendar without losing existing ones. Speaking at the weekend’s successful Indian Grand Prix, the latest new venue, some team bosses suggested commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone might not have to wield the ...

Reuters: The indifference shown by the majority of India’s deep-pocketed corporates towards Formula One has baffled team bosses who expect them to warm to the sport following the success of last weekend’s inaugural Indian Grand Prix. Ferrari Formula One driver Felipe Massa of Brazil (C) poses with models during the after-party of India’s first F1 ...

We have to ensure that we develop sufficient spaces within our own economies so as to be able to comfortably face the inevitable complexities in the face of global challenges, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said. “In our view, individual policy interventions or ad-hoc measures which target just one or two outcomes are often flawed and almost ...

Amidst trying times for the tea industry, exports had crossed the US$ 1 billion mark faster this year than 2010 as overall performance remains mixed. Asiya Siyaka Research quoting Customs data said that Sri Lanka has earned approximately US$ 1.088 billion from exports during the first nine months of the year. This is said to ...

ISTANBUL (Reuters): Caroline Wozniacki will end the year ranked world number one although her hopes of applying icing to the cake by winning the WTA Championships suffered a blow when she lost to Russia’s Vera Zvonareva in her second round-robin match on Wednesday. The 21-year-old Dane was locked in combat with Zvonareva when news filtered ...

Reuters: New investors who have shown interest in Sri Lankan oil and gas exploration await the results of Cairn India’s drilling of a second well in the Mannar Basin before committing to anything, Sri Lanka’s Oil Minister said on Tuesday. Petroleum Industries Minister Susil Premajayantha confirmed that Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom, Malaysian State oil ...

Plans to double coffee production at plant by 2015 Follows Nestle’s Russian coffee plant extension Russian coffee market grows ahead of E. Europe MOSCOW,  (Reuters) – Kraft Foods Inc said it would invest more than $100 million into its Russian coffee plant until 2015 to double production and meet growing demand for the beverage in ...

Lumia 800 and 710 to go on sale by Christmas CEO Elop says “new dawn for Nokia” nAlso unveils four new basic phones, new services LONDON, Oct 26 (Reuters) – Nokia unveiled two sleek new Microsoft Windows phones on Wednesday, a first step in the ailing cellphone maker’s fightback against Apple and Google . The ...

CHANGWON, South Korea (IPS) : The window to limit global warming to less than two degrees C is closing so fast it can be measured in months, a new scientific analysis revealed Sunday. Without putting the brakes on carbon emissions very soon, large parts of Africa, most of Russia and northern China will be two ...

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, ...

Reuters: Pakistan, Morocco, Togo and Guatemala were elected on Friday to the 15-nation UN Security Council for 2012 and 2013, and Islamabad’s envoy said he looked forward to working with fellow council member India. In the most competitive council elections for years, only Guatemala ran unopposed within its region. Pakistan scraped through in the first ...

Following is the speech delivered by Deputy Minister of Technology and Research Faizer Mustapha at the SLIM Brand Excellence awards held early this week What better time than this to discuss your theme, ‘Impossible is Nothing’? We’ve done it! You may ask what I mean by this statement. We fought the ruthless LTTE and defeated ...

GENEVA (Reuters): Global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is slowing sharply in the second half of 2011, with M&A and greenfield projects both declining after a relatively optimistic start to the year, according to a UN report published on Tuesday. “The sudden worsening of the debt crisis in Europe and the United States in the second ...

Reuters: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin laid out his case for a return to Russia’s top office in a televised interview on Monday, casting himself as the best guarantor of a bright future in a country haunted by upheaval in the recent past. Putin also offered hints of the foreign policy he might pursue during his ...

Despite being a regional leader in enforcing standards, Sri Lanka still has a long way to go before reaping the full benefits of having its exports globally accepted. Studies have shown that a country can add as much as 1% to its GDP by proscribing to international standards. Daily FT met up with International Standards ...