Top apparel exporter Brandix partnered with banking giant HSBC to assist more than 600 families facing severe hardship in Sri Lanka’s dry zone due to the prevailing drought. Working with local councils and officials of ‘Grama Niladhari’ Divisions, the two corporate entities have funded the transport of water to needy families in six villages in ...

Reuters: A visibly shaken Kofi Annan admitted defeat in his attempts to bring peace to Syria on Thursday, but – perhaps keen to protect his legacy from the taint of another genocide – laid the blame for the failure on the big powers that claim to back him. Syria was the best chance for Annan, ...

By Shanuka Tissera Sumit Ganguly is a Professor of Political Science and holds the Rabindranath Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilisations at Indiana University, Bloomington. He has been a Fellow and a Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington DC and serves on the editorial board of numerous boards ...

Reuters: The International Monetary Fund on Thursday called for a “policy game changer” in the euro zone to arrest the spread of the debt crisis it now says is clearly engulfing the entire currency bloc and its smaller neighbors. An IMF spillover report that looks at how the economic

Reuters: Asian shares and the euro fell on Friday as investors shunned risk after the European Central Bank took no immediate action and only hinted at future steps to tackle the euro zone’s fiscal woes, following similar inaction from the U.S. Federal Reserve. Investors also have reasons to be more cautious ahead of a key ...

In the global public relations business, Asia is also rising. The flow of Western talent and treasure into the region is well known in our industry, but less visible is the advance of many powerful Asian consultancies with international ambitions which are rising fast. On my 10th anniversary here I would like to share 10 truths ...

Reuters: When Peregrine Financial collapsed earlier this month, a nagging question resurfaced. As in the implosion of Lehman Brothers, the fall of Bernard Madoff and other cases in recent years, many asked: Where were the accountants? That this question still arises could be seen as an indictment of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley law, enacted 10 years ...

SINGAPORE (Reuters): The sanctions reducing Iran’s oil exports have played in the favour of major producers such as Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela which now export about 21 percent more crude to Asia’s biggest buyers compared to a year ago. Iran’s exports to China, Japan, South Korea and India have fallen by a third in ...

Reuters: Discord in Southeast Asia over how to deal with Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea comes as the region struggles to overcome competing national interests and form a European Union-style economic community by 2015. Political leaders and officials say the row may not directly affect plans by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ...

It is reported that the European Commission has requested approval from its 27 members to commence negotiations with Japan for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The once all powerful bloc, which is now having to cope with many a crisis, has sought this agreement as part of a broader effort to boost

Reuters: Over the past couple of years, Europe has muddled through a long series of crunch moments in its debt crisis, but this September is shaping up as a “make-or-break” month as policymakers run desperately short of options to save the common currency. Reuters: Over the past couple

WASHINGTON (Reuters): Economic growth slowed in the second quarter as consumers spent at their slowest pace in a year, increasing pressure on the Federal Reserve to do more to bolster the recovery. Gross domestic product expanded at a 1.5% annual rate between April and June, the weakest pace of growth since the third quarter of ...

MILAN (Reuters): The chances of Greece leaving the euro in the next 12-18 months have risen to about 90 per cent, US bank Citi said in a report on Thursday, saying Athens was most likely to quit the single currency within the next two to three quarters. The report, dated July 25 but distributed in ...

by Sarath De Alwis The crisis is not in our system of higher education. The crisis is in not knowing what higher education is. Arrogance of presumed superior knowledge of the policy makers and dogmatism of the teachers has precipitated a debate that reflects a pedantry of crisis proportions. We do not seem to have ...

LONDON (Reuters): Britain’s economy shrank far more than expected in the second quarter, battered by everything from an extra public holiday to government spending cuts and the neighbouring euro zone crisis. Finance minister George Osborne said figures released on Wednesday showed Britain

This is a day quite dear to some 300 million plus people in United States of America. Irrespective of their land of origin, the day is celebrated as the day of independence commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence and the Founding Fathers remembered. The fourth of July this year is also important for ...

Reuters: Asian shares fell and the euro wobbled above multi-year lows against major currencies on Wednesday as soaring borrowing costs deepened worries that Spain might need a bailout, while Greece appeared unlikely to meet conditions of its aid package. European stocks were seen slipping and US stock futures were down 0.2 per cent, indicating a ...

Reuters: China’s economy is set for a soft landing even as global headwinds increase, the International Monetary Fund said in a report on Wednesday that urged further reform and currency appreciation to rebalance growth and reduce risks. The report said economic reforms so far had substantially reduced external imbalances, but at the cost of significant ...

Sri Lanka needs a new wave of reform to avert a possible balance of payment (BoP) crisis, stressed Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman Susantha Ratnayake.