One must emphasize that the state has a crucial role to play in a modern economy.  It should maintain macro-economic stability; address market failure; design a well-targeted safety net to protect the poor and vulnerable; and provide important p

The first tyre prototypes obtained from natural latex from Guayule and Russian Dandelion plants have been presented. The production of the first prototypes is a clear indication of the technical performance and economic potential of the rubber extrac

Can extreme poverty be eliminated in the next 20 years? Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono may well be pondering this question as he and other heads of state gather in New York for the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Generally speaking, income from stock investments comes from two sources: Increase in the market price of the stock or capital gains and dividend payouts.

I have known Jagath as an enterprising young man for a number of years. He had a degree in management but his career choice was marketing. After qualifying himself in marketing, he joined a small local trading company as a sales manager. Recently I f

I had heard about the miracle mineral make up but it was while on a holiday in Italy recently that I discovered the all-natural perfection of mineral...

Rubber ( Hevea brasiliensis) has retained many features from it’s Amazonion origins as an environmentally-friendly forest tree, although it has been cultivated as a plantation crop for latex with wood as a side-product and now for carbon credit

Business sentiment among Asia’s top companies fell for the second straight quarter, dragged down by export-orientated economies such as China and Japan, while domestic spending helped boost Southeast Asia’s outlook, a Thomson Reuters/INSE

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank yesterday decided to keep the key policy rates unchanged amidst decelerating credit and import growth.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) undertook an Airport survey of Departing Foreign Tourists from Sri Lanka from January to June 2011 and the results were published last week.

The employees of any workplace establish a kind of relationship among each other that keeps a diplomatic approach but usually does not go beyond personal level.  Since everyone has to work towards a common goal, the departments too are interrela

Seylan Bank recorded an impressive 1 H performance with a Profit after Tax of Rs 1.021 billion for the 6 months ended 30 June 2012.  This is a strong testament and proves beyond doubt that the strategies adopted and operational improvements are

For most women-owned (or otherwise) small businesses, the startup phase is often considered the most critical. Yet, as most have found later on, the critical phase actually commences when the business enters the phase of growth. The growth stage can

Maliban Biscuit Manufactories (Pvt.) Ltd. recently announced the relaunch of one of its flagship brands, Maliban Lemon Puff. Bathiya Jayakody and Santhush...

The recently debated burning question as to whether foreign medical specialists have a right to work in the private hospitals in Sri Lanka leaves an open-ended question.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), which is the third largest equity/stock market in the world, with a total market capitalization of US$ 3.3 trillion, has expressed interest to have Sri Lankan listed corporates in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) to be

In the past two years, rarely has a week passed without a news item which highlighted the losses, poor quality of products and services, inefficiencies and possibly corruption in the electricity and petroleum sectors.

From the many discussions with various executives, I found we share a common curiosity of the many lofty mission statements which many companies are known to have come up with.

When you are making an attempt to analyze securities and make investment decisions, the strategies you use will most likely find themselves in two very broad categories:

Emirates and Qantas yesterday announced a new global aviation partnership that will give customers a seamless international and Australian network...

Global tea prices are set to stay strong through 2012, with demand driven by growth in Asia, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

It is encouraging to learn, through various statements made by representatives of Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA )  on their prolonged strike, that  university academics are keenly interested in getting themselves 

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us — Oliver Wendell HolmesInterestingly enough, ancient Greek mythology creates an archetype for a present day social phenomenon with an artist named Pygm

Even if you are new to investing, you may already know some of the most fundamental principles of sound investing.How did you learn them? Through ordinary, real-life experiences that have nothing to do with the stock market. For example, have you eve

Munchee, the flagship brand of the Sri Lankan confectionery powerhouse, Ceylon Biscuits Limited was awarded the prestigious title, the ‘Best Employer...

Palm oil was once touted as a social and environmental panacea — a sustainable food crop, a biofuel that could help to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and a route out of poverty for small-scale farmers.

In the recent past I read with great interest a project initiated by the government encouraging people to speak English. Saw the ‘Master Blaster’ Sanath and the Sprint Queen Susanthika on TV giving encouragement to the concept: Speak any

Sri Lanka’s stock market, once a darling of investors, has seen its value plummet 26 per cent in the past year and now faces a crisis of confidence after its regulator quit in a storm of controversy.

The price-earnings ratio (P/E) is hands down the most popular ratio among investors. Value investors have long considered the price-earnings ratio a useful metric for evaluating the relative attractiveness of a company’s stock price. Made

The concept of ‘managing your team’ is not intuitive for many managers and for some it even cuts against the grain of what they think they should do as bosses. A high-functioning team can’t be created by decree. Real teams - on