Tri-party collaboration for new concept at Orion City

A tri-party collaboration laid the foundation for a new concept at the Orion City IT Park to bring energy, ideas and people together. Orion Development, in partnership with the British Council and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, launched an inspiring new space on 1st July for occupants of the park as well as visitors. 

Rayban promotion at Eric Rajapakse Opticians

A much-awaited promotion and launch of new Rayban products is on at the moment at Eric Rajapakse Opticians branches. Dilanka Herath, Rayban Product Manager of Global Vision is seen in the picture introducing some of the latest eyewear designs to Rajeev Rajapakse, Director and to staff of Eric Rajapakse  

Commercial Credit powers ‘Future Minds 2016’

Commercial Credit has extended its patronage to ‘Future Minds 2016’, a much sought after education exhibition, as the Official Financial Partner for the 6th successful consecutive year. 

CIC partners with Ashland to host specialty additives seminar

CIC Holdings partnered with the principal supplier of the Industrial Solutions Division, Ashland Inc to host a seminar on ‘Specialty Additives’ at Taj Samudra hotel recently. 

Ravi meets Japanese FinMin

On the sidelines of the Committee Meeting for Economic Cooperation and Development held recently in Kyoto, Japan, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake met with his Japanese counterpart Taro Azo

CAA conducts more than 10,000 consumer protection raids

Sri Lanka’s Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) hit more than 10,000 raids in the first half (1H) of 2016 – and increased its fine collections by a strong 55 percent, the latest data showed.

Fonterra signs landmark MoU with Peradeniya University and Coconut Research Institute

Fonterra Brands Sri Lanka yesterday signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Peradeniya and the Coconut Research Institute (CRI) to help build a more productive and sustainable Sri Lankan dairy industry. 

ComBank adds crosscurrency transactions to Online Banking

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has added a new dimension to its Online Banking platform by enabling foreign currency account holders to carry out fund transfers between accounts maintained in different  currencies other than Sri Lankan rupees.

Nawaloka Hospitals opens ‘Nagai’ elderly care centre

As a joint venture between Nawaloka Hospitals and Social Welfare Corporation Koushikai General Welfare Facility Rengesou, Japan, ‘Nagai’, a luxury elderly care centre, was opened recently at the hospital’s seventh floor.

Triumphant civil society vows to maintain pressure

Good governance activists and economists praised the government’s decision to allow democracy to prevail through the ordeal of appointing a governor to the country’s Central Bank and said that such levels of engagement should continue in the future.

Rimoe Saladin appointed to CIC board

Corporate personality Rimoe Saldin was appointed as a Director of agrochemical giant CIC Holdings PLC last week.

March exports down 11%; trade deficit shots up 20%

Sri Lanka’s trade balance in March worsened from a year ago as the deficit rose by as much as 20.2 percent to US $ 621 million due to a protracted slump in exports over imports, but an increase in tourism earnings and worker remittances buttressed the current account, the data released from the Central Bank showed.

Top blue chip appoints more women to its boards

A number of female directors were appointed to the company boards of the country’s largest conglomerate John Keells Holdings PLC last month, contributing to a diminishing of gender inequality at top managerial levels.

Ceylon Cold Stores joins CSE to open trading for July

Ceylon Cold Stores (CCS) rang the opening bell to commence trading at the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) for July. The market opening ceremony was organized to mark the first trading day for the month of July. 

Green Climate Fund approves US$ 38 mn for Sri Lanka

The 13th Board Meeting of the Green Climate Fund ( GCF), the main international funding body for climate action approved US$ 38.1 million  in funding for Sri Lanka for  its proposal titled ‘Strengthening the resilience of smallholder famers in the dry zone to climate variability and extreme events in Sri Lanka’.

Venture Engine draws to a successful close

The 2016 edition of Venture Engine drew to a close recently, with a gala awards night at the Kingsbury Hotel. 

OPA to hold annual conference under ‘Good governance’ theme

The Organisation of Professional Association’s (OPA) together with UNDP recently  announced association’s 29th annual conference under the theme, ‘Good governance the way forward’ and the second national Apex awards 2016, that will be held in October. 

Pathfinder inks MOU with United Service Institution of India

The recently established ‘Centre for Indo-Lanka Initiatives’ (CILI) of the Pathfinder Foundation (PF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The United Service Institution of India (USI) based in New Delhi, founded nearly one and half centuries ago in 1870. 

Niroshana Seneviratne wins IPM People’s Leader in Finance Award

Chief Internal Auditor/AGM Audit – Hatton National Bank PLC was honoured with the ‘People’s Leader in Finance 2016’ award by the Institute of Personnel Management (IPM) at a ceremony held recently in the sidelines of the annual National Human Resources Conference.

Ceylinco Life policyholders on dream holiday in Germany

A sensational four-day tour of Germany has just ended for the families of five policyholders of Ceylinco Life – the lucky winners of the grand prize in the life insurance leader’s ‘Family Savari 9’ mega promotion.

Strathspey Estate celebrates Environmental Day

Strathspey Estate, situated at Upcot, managed by Maskeliya Plantations PLC, which is owned by Richard Pieris Group of Companies, celebrated the World Environmental Day on June 5, 2016 for the fourth consecutive year.

Oil prices up as global markets recover post Brexit

AFP:  Oil prices rose in Asia yesterday as traders welcomed assurances from Central Bank around the world that they were ready to step in to prevent a global rout following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. After the initial shock of last Thursday’s referendum sparked a freefall, this week has seen a broad recovery across all asset classes. South Korea has promised of $17 billion in stimulus and speculation swirls that

Asanga attends ‘Shangri-la Dialogue’ defence conference in S’pore

Asana Abeyagoonasekera was invited by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) to attend the 15th Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore recently.

Havelock City Phase 3 construction begins

The groundbreaking ceremony to commence the construction of the Super Structure for Havelock City Phase 3 residential towers was concluded recently. 

One week rupee forwards edge down on importer demand

REUTERS - Sri Lankan rupee one-week forwards eased slightly yesterday on mild importer dollar demand while nervous investors awaited the appointment of a new Central Bank governor, dealers said.

Oracle told to pay HP $3 billion in chip dispute

AFP - A California jury on Thursday ordered business software giant Oracle to pay Hewlett Packard Enterprise $3 billion dollars for backing off a promise to support data servers powered by Itanium chips. Oracle said it had acted properly in the situation and that it planned to appeal to a higher court.  “Two trials have now demonstrated clearly that the Itanium chip was nearing end of life, HP knew it, and was actively hiding that fact

S&P cuts EU credit rating after Brexit

AFP -  Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s cut the credit rating for the European Union by one notch on Thursday saying that the bloc had grown more uncertain after Brexit. “After the decision by the UK electorate to leave the EU as a consequence of the June 23 consultative referendum, we have reassessed our opinion of cohesion within the EU, which we now consider to be a neutral rather than positive rating factor,” the agen

OCBT Campus offers HND in Business Management leading to BA (Hon) Degree

OCBT Campus, the university for innovative business and technologies in Asia, is part of an international collaboration with links to a wide range of reputable universities, colleges in the UK, the USA, India, Sri Lanka and Australia. OCBT’s principal focus is to provide higher education of international standard to local and international students with a view to producing globally competitive graduates who will meet the demands of the mode

Eurozone unemployment falls to near five-year low

AFP - Eurozone unemployment fell to a near five-year low in May, official data said yesterday, in a rare positive sign for a sluggish European economy struggling to return to solid growth.

Asian markets end week on a high

Asian stocks ended the week with another rally yesterday on optimism that central banks globally will step up to support growth in the face of uncertainty caused by Britain’s vote to quit the European Union.