Let’s learn the right lessons from the Geneva outcome, not the wrong ones. It is not the case that a small country such as Sri Lanka cannot fight a diplomatic battle with the mighty USA and win. Minutes after the Sri Lanka vote at the HRC this time, the Cubans moved a resolution on the composition ...

Reuters: Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo are set to make the first concerted challenge to the U.S. grip on the top job at the World Bank, according to sources.  The two globally respected economists and diplomats will be nominated for the World Bank presidency by South Africa ...

Reuters: A counteroffensive of sorts may be underway this year in what has seemed like a one-sided “global currency war” as developing economies slow, western money-printing pauses and the heat comes out of pumped-up emerging market currencies. The three-year-old “war”, as Brazil dubs the devaluationist policies of developed nations seeking relief from home-grown credit cru...

Amid mounting speculation of potential oil reserves in Sri Lanka's seawaters, Indian media reports have suggested that India might be looking for a greater involvement overstepping China and Russia, who are also believed to be interested in oil exploration deals with the island nation.

India, China and Russia are interested about Sri Lanka's potential oil reserves, reports say.

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: 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

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 ...

Thousands of jobs at risk By Indika Sri Aravinda The  tea industry, the country’s second largest net foreign exchange earner is facing a potential crisis as a result of the economic sanctions imposed on Iran by the US government, the Sri Lanka Tea Board said. Tea Board Chairperson Janaki Kuruppu told The Sunday Leader that ...

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: China will continue to invest in euro zone government debt, the country’s central bank governor said on Wednesday, while calling on Europeans to produce more attractive investment products for China. Zhou Xiaochuan admitted that China and other emerging nations like Brazil, Russia

Following are some responses from three economists to the guest column by Chandra Jayaratne titled ‘Important issues’ for Sri Lankan legislators, the Executive, policymakers, Central Bankers, economists and thought leaders to ponder over published on 2 February 1) I disagree with the Stiglitz-Krugman line. My diagnosis is that Europe is in this mess for two ...

Some important issues for Sri Lankan legislators, the Executive, policymakers, Central Bankers, economists and thought leaders to ponder over: Stiglitz believes that the austerity plans in the EU nations, especially by the debt ridden poorer nations of the group is akin to a collective suicide pact and is an act madness promoted and enforced by ...

Reuters: Kremlin clan in-fighting spilled into the open this week when government officials sympathetic with Russia’s fragmented opposition warned the country’s ultimate leader Vladimir Putin he may soon lose power if he doesn’t undertake sweeping reforms. Putin, Russia’

ZURICH: Consumers in emerging markets currently buy a broad mix of local and foreign products, but rising affluence will ultimately benefit overseas brands, Credit Suisse has argued. The investment bank and ACNielsen surveyed 4,000 adults in eight fast-growth nations, finding that a majority of consumers there still buy unbranded products. In all, 62% have purchased ...

Reuters: The International Monetary Fund is seeking to more than double its war chest by raising $600 billion in new resources to help countries deal with the fallout of the euro zone debt crisis, but the United States and other countries are throwing up roadblocks. The United States and Canada said on Wednesday Europe must ...

Reuters: Sri Lanka may be a minnow in the oil world, but a near total reliance on Iranian crude imports means it has more reason than most to find a way to avoid being caught in the clutches of US sanctions. The island’s only refinery – the 50,000 barrels-a-day Sapugaskanda refinery – is almost entirely ...

MOSCOW (AFP): Russia’s growth ticked up to 4.2 percent in 2011 from 4.0 percent in 2010, making it one of the three best-performing major economies in the world, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday. “Russia is in third place among the major economies of the world

Below is an interview with Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleke published in the French Diplomatic Review – La Lettre Diplomatique (The Diplomatic Letter) Two years after the end of a three decades conflict, the lifting of the emergency rule in late August 2011 confirmed the beginning of a new era for Sri Lanka. With the recent discovery of ...

Reuters: Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will meet this week after more than a year of deadlock in peacemaking, officials said on Sunday, but both sides played down prospects of any imminent resumption of talks. Yitzhak Molcho of Israel and Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat will meet on Tuesday in Jordan alongside representatives of the Quartet of ...

10 events and trends that were overlooked this year, but may be leading the headlines in 2012 Foreignpolicy.com: What events and trends flew under the radar in 2011 but could erupt into massive headline-grabbers in 2012? Foreign Policy rounds up the top 10 “stories you missed” this year. 1. India’s military buildup China’s new aircraft ...

PM’s and United Russia’s ratings falling Putin draws parallels with turmoil in Europe Says parliament majority needed to deal with crisis NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia (Reuters): Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that if his party lost dominance of parliament in the Dec. 4 election, as a poll

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 ...

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

to resolve its own troubles without support from Russia and fellow BRICs countries. As ...

In the previous two ‘My Views,’ the following five popular fallacies of appreciating the exchange rate were discussed: Fallacy One: A Government can fix the exchange rate at any level it wishes. Fallacy Two: An appreciated exchange rate is a symbol of a country’s strength and prestige. Fallacy Three: The appreciation of the exchange rate ...

LONDON(Reuters): World stock markets will recover next year from a nightmarish 2011 that has wiped trillions of dollars off share prices, according to a Reuters poll that showed almost all major stock indexes ending 2011 in the red. Darkening economic prospects and fears the euro zone debt crisis will unravel into financial catastrophe sent global ...

The gem mining sub-sector grew by 7.9% in 2010. The gem and jewellery exports too reported 1.56% positive growth in 2010. Even in the first-half of 2011, increased earnings from mineral exports were led by higher exports of gems which increased by 35.5% in the first half of 2011, according to the Central Bank. The ...

Reuters: England piled more misery on India with a thrilling six-wicket victory in a one-off Twenty20 match at Old Trafford on Wednesday. After losing the test series 4-0, India started brightly in the shortest version of the game and racked up 165 all out, only to see England reach their target with three balls to ...