SDB holds 2016 Lakdaru award ceremony

SDB Bank organised a special award ceremony for Lakdaru account holders who have qualified the Grade Five scholarship examination in 2016, G.C.E. O/L examination in 2015 and Facebook art competition winners. The grand felicitation was held at the Kularathne Hall, Ananda College, Colombo 10, recently.

DOK Solutions Lanka achieves ISO 9001 and OHSAS 18001

DOK Solutions Lanka (Pvt.) Limited, one of the leading record management and document archiving companies in Sri Lanka, achieved ISO 9001 Quality Management System Certification and OHSAS 18001 for the management of occupational health and safety in provision of record management services and its convergence including physical and digital archiving of documents. 

Dialog customers support Lady Ridgeway Little Hearts Project via Star Points

Dialog customers have donated Rs.15 million for the Little Hearts Project at the Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital in Colombo, for the construction of a 10-storey cardiac and critical care complex for children.

Hayleys Puritas Sath Diyawara gives 2,200 children brand-new start to school year

What started off as the group’s flagship corporate social responsibility (CSR) endeavour, Puritas Sath Diyawara, which provides 110,000 litres (daily) of drinking water to over 25,000 people in 16 villages, in areas with high prevalence of the chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Sri Lanka’s North and North Central Provinces, has now evolved into its extension ‘Going Beyond’. 

Lagarde meets Lankan delegation

The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde held discussions with the Sri Lankan....

EDEX Expo 2017 kick-starts

EDEX 2017, Sri Lanka’s largest education and job fair exhibition was launched at the BMICH by Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister....

Hammond says Britain open to brightest migrants

Post-Brexit Britain will keep its doors open to skilled foreigners who attend the best universities, finance minister Philip Hammond...

Japanese entrepreneurs keen on investing in Sri Lanka

Japanese Entrepreneurs are ready to invest in development and business activities in Sri Lanka, said Chairman of the Japan-Sri Lanka...

China’s largest chip company to build US$30 bn semiconductor factory

China’s largest chip maker has announced it will invest US$30 billion to build a new semiconductor factory, as the world’s...

China data boosts Shanghai but Asia traders on edge

Shanghai stocks jumped yesterday after China’s economy enjoyed its first growth pick-up in two years, but traders....

Shares end higher on foreign buying

Sri Lankan stocks closed higher yesterday led by financials, after hitting a more than one-week closing low.....

Cockrell Fringe Festival fosters, showcases young talent

Created with the aim of celebrating the many faceted talents of emerging young artists from Sri Lanka, The Cockrell Fringe Festival in Galle was all about anarchic fun without the guilt and brought to the forefront innovative, diverse and daring new works that provided a forum for artists in which they honed their craft while making important professional and audience connections.

SriLankan unveils Speculo 2017 painting, visual art competition

SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier, inviting the country’s talented youth to artistically elaborate their perspective on the airline, unveils its ultimate creativity inspiring endeavour, Speculo 2017. This painting and visual art competition brings together artists across the country, ranging from school children, university students and amateur and professional artists.

WBTMC to conduct Speechcraft Programme #7

The Word Blasters Toastmasters Club (WBTMC) presents a Toastmasters experience of a lifetime with the seventh Speechcraft Programme conducted by the club, which would take place at the Royal College Union Skills Centre (RCUSC) on Saturday, January 28, 2017.

Suren Cooke Agencies introduces Sure Green Eradicator to fight bed bugs

Suren Cooke Agencies, a pioneer in the pest management industry and renowned for utilizing the latest and most innovative pest control solutions, has introduced the Sure Green Eradicator, based on steam superheated at 180C to eliminate bed bugs, instantly.  

Get house in order before worrying about FTAs, says top economist

Sri Lanka should first worry about the barriers to trade inside the country before entering into far reaching trade pacts with other countries as bureaucracy and administrative and information inefficiencies among other things have put a cap on the progress of the country’s exports, opines a top economist. 

Shortlisted bidder for SriLankan charges bids being rigged

PeaceAir Pvt Ltd, one of the three shortlisted candidates of the bids for the management of SriLankan Airlines (SriLankan) yesterday held a press conference to express its frustration over the bid evaluation process, which they charged was not transparent.

LB Finance 3Q net profit crosses Rs.1bn

LB Finance PLC (LBF), a Dhammika Perera-controlled licensed finance company, recorded higher profits exceeding Rs.1 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2016 (3Q17), supported by higher loans and leases extended during the period, which in turn improved the company’s margins.

AIA Insurance announces Rs.48 per share interim dividend

AIA Insurance Lanka PLC yesterday announced an interim dividend of Rs.48 per share payable by February 08, 2017 for the financial year 2016.

Grain Elevators to acquire poultry processing plant from related party for Rs.272mn

Sri Lanka’s leading poultry manufacturer, Ceylon Grain Elevators PLC (GRAN), has entered into an agreement to acquire land and a poultry processing plant from related party Ceylon Agro-Industries Limited for Rs. 272 million.

Rupee falls on importer dollar demand

REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee traded weaker yesterday due to dollar demand from importers while moral suasion by the Central Bank prevented a further fall in the currency, dealers said.

Exporters’ chamber chief pleads with politicos to do away with ‘yes & no’ policies

Sarada De Silva, the outgoing President of the National Chamber of Exporters (NCE), pleaded with the country’s  political masters to do away with the ugly habit of ad hoc policy changes, which he termed as the “yes and no” style of policies, which have hurt the progress of the country’s economy and the export trade in particular.  

SEC clamps down on Swarnamahal Financial

In what appears to be the biggest clamping down on a listed entity in recent times, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday imposed several restrictions on Swarnamahal Financial Services PLC (SFS) as the entity is said to have violated several mandatory corporate governance requirements. 

Govt. fiddles with leasing ratios to put off three-wheeler, small car purchases

The loan-to-value ratios (LTV) of vehicle financing stipulated in the 2017 budget will go ahead as planned after the Central Bank advised the banks and financial companies to follow the Finance Ministry regulations.

Japan’s Takima Tech launches solar energy technology in Sri Lanka

Takima Tech, the Japanese innovation solar energy technology was officially launched in Sri Lanka recently, during which they also announced the opening of their showroom in Battaramulla next month.

EMP secures export deal with Maldives’ Fenaka Corp

Electro Metal Pressings (Pvt) Ltd recently secured an export agreement with Fenaka Corporation, the government-owned utility service provider of Maldives. 

Bureaucracy seen among key reasons for poor export performance

Sri Lanka’s complacent bureaucracy has caused exporters to give up or move their businesses to other countries, which has mainly accounted for the country’s abysmal export performance, the Colombo-based think tank Verité Research said, yesterday.

Sri Lanka borrows US $ 125mn from WB to modernize agriculture

Sri Lanka has borrowed US $ 125 million from the World Bank (WB) to modernize its agriculture sector, as the country aims to make the sector more efficient and attractive as a modern business,

SriLankan Cargo sets new record for cargo handling

SriLankan Cargo, the freight handling arm of SriLankan Airlines, set a new record for the amount of cargo handled at the Cargo Centre of Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) with a massive total of 239,636 tonnes in 2016, a remarkable growth of 12.88 percent over the 212,277 tonnes in the previous year.

Power regulator allows instalment payments for new electricity connections

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), the electricity sector regulator, has introduced a guideline