David Pieris invests in Dubai-based Navire Logistics View(s):The David Pieris Group continues to strengthen its international presence with the acquisition of 50 per cent ownership in Navire Logistics Services L.L.C, a reputed logistics company based in Dubai and Oman. In Sri Lanka, the group’s logistics arm, DP Logistics (Pvt) Ltd (DPL), has already established itself as a comprehensive logistics solutions provider — covering warehousing, transportation, freight forwarding, project logistics, inland distribution and custom house brokering. Ltd, the shipping arm of Expolanka Holdings PLC to expand its Logistics & Shipping Cluster into ship agency, husbandry services and marine logistics. Leveraging this strong domestic foundation, DPL has now extended its capabilities to the international stage through its partnership with Navire Logistics Services L.L.C. The company’s expertise in custom house brokering, freight forwarding, cargo consolidation, warehousing, and transport solutions will be integrated into Navire Logistics’ operations, enhancing service quality and efficiency across the Middle East and South Asia.

Kandy MC budget passed by majority of 5 L. B. Senaratne View(s): View(s):The 158th budget of the Kandy Municipal Council was passed by a majority of 05 councillors. The voting was 25 for the ruling party and 20 opposing, while one councillor abstained from voting. Mayor Chandrasiri Wijenaike presented what was his maiden budget outlining the income and expenditure for the year 2026. The traditional dinner following the budget was not held, considering that a massive amount of taxpayers’ money is spent on food and drinks. Share This Post FacebookTwitterEmail × Send Email to FriendSend Please enter valid email WhatsappDeliciousDiggGoogleStumbleuponRedditTechnoratiYahooBloggerMyspaceRSS

Santapaws X’mas x’travaganza ends on a seasonal high View(s):The much-anticipated Santapaws X’mas x’travaganza returned this year on December 8 and 9 despite the dire situation in the country. The two-day charity Christmas Bazaar, held at the Atrium Lobby, Cinnamon Grand, and organised in aid of Rescue Animals Sri Lanka (RAS), combined festive shopping and a renewed commitment to animal welfare. This year’s Bazaar brought together resilient small businesses who featured an extensive range of Christmas gifts and seasonal offerings. The event provided a vital platform for small businesses and independent entrepreneurs, many of whom rely on the Santapaws Bazaar for strong year-end sales. Share This Post FacebookTwitterEmail × Send Email to FriendSend Please enter valid email WhatsappDeliciousDiggGoogleStumbleuponRedditTechnoratiYahooBloggerMyspaceRSS

A Christmas offering from the De Lanerolles By Chandani Kirinde View(s): View(s):White, gold and champagne hues adorned the Colombo Hilton’s ballroom as the De Lanerolle brothers put on an electrifying show themed ‘ Can’t Wait for Christmas’ on November 24. They sang to a full house with Christmas songs reverberating through the hall with crowds joining in clapping and singing along. The crowd was entertained to a vibrant selection of pop hits and timeless festive classics such as Mary’s Boy Child, Jingle Bells, White Christmas, Silent Night and many more. The icing on the cake was Rohan’s son Yohan and Ishan’s daughter Khalia joining their fathers to wind up the show with a beautiful rendition of the Christmas favourite Feliz Navidad. Kumar de Silva compering with his customary flair added to the entertainment to make it a memorable night.

WADA names India worst doping offender for third straight year Anti-Doping View(s): View(s):New Delhi, India, AFP: India tops the rankings of global sports drug cheats for a third straight year, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said, marking a dubious hat-trick for the country. Athletics (76) had the highest number of doping cases last year followed by weightlifting (43) and wrestling (29). India, the world’s most populous country with 1.4 billion people, was also ranked number one doping offender in 2022 and 2023. French athletes accounted for the next highest number on the list in 2024 with 91 positive cases, while Italy were third with 85. “In recent years, India has witnessed a significant strengthening of its anti-doping framework,” it said in a statement Wednesday.

Visioning 2026: The year of Financial Break Through View(s):As professionals and business leaders prepare to face growing economic and organisational challenges, Visioning 2026, one of Sri Lanka’s longest-running personal and professional development programmes, will be conducted in English medium on 3rd January 2026 at the Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo. Visioning is a structured, one-day strategic workshop designed to help participants pause, reflect, and plan intentionally. The theme for this year, “The Year of Financial Breakthrough,” focuses on developing financial clarity, discipline, and strategic thinking, helping participants align their financial goals with their personal values and professional direction in an evolving economic environment. The model emphasises that sustainable success requires balance across five essential aspects of life—physical, mental, financial, social, and spiritual. Over the years, many past participants have reported enhanced leadership effectiveness, career advancement, business expansion, and improved financial discipline following their attendance at the programme.

Positioning Sri Lanka as a Regional Knowledge Hub View(s):Why is this the right moment for Sri Lanka to rethink its education sector? A renewed, integrated approach can strengthen national competitiveness, retain foreign exchange, and project Sri Lanka as a hub of intellect, innovation, and opportunity. Sri Lanka must market itself as a safe, affordable destination with high English proficiency and strong cultural appeal. Reverse twinning pathways, where international students spend part of their degree in Sri Lanka, further diversify campuses and generate economic benefits. The idea of Sri Lanka as a knowledge hub is entirely achievable with coordinated effort and consistent commitment.

Mohomed Iqbal wins national award in Hanoi View(s):This year marks 55 years of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Vietnam. The 11th National Award for External Relations organised by the Government of Vietnam was held in Hanoi on December 12. The song ‘Sing songs of love, peace and friendship’, written and sung by Mohomed Iqbal of Sri Lanka, won an award at this ceremony.

Extent of oil discharge spill near port investigated View(s):By Nidarshani WickramasingheThe Panama-registered vessel, MT ASP Avana, which was also responsible for a recent oil spill near the Colombo Port, was released following a fine of Rs 15 million, Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) chairman Samantha Gunasekara said. But investigations regarding the oil spill related to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) have yet to be completed. The spill was reported around 3:30 a.m. on December 14 when crude oil was being offloaded from the vessel to the CPC’s crude oil discharge buoy near the Colombo port. In a situation involving oil spills in which compensation claims are sought, air pollution must be considered,” she said. The relevant authorities in Sri Lanka must take into consideration such air pollution concerns referred to as ‘hidden exposures’,” she stressed.

Worker voices matter in Sri Lanka’s apparel strategy, union says View(s):Recent calls by industry leaders for Sri Lanka’s apparel sector to move away from volume-based production toward differentiated, high value manufacturing reflects an important strategic shift, a key union has said. He noted that trade unions had repeatedly proposed strengthening backward linkages, particularly in textiles, yarn, accessories, and finishing processes connected to the apparel industry. These proposals emphasised reducing dependence on imported raw materials, improving lead times, and building supply chain resilience without eroding labour standards. While these proposals closely aligned with the differentiation strategy now articulated by employers, they had not been systematically incorporated into national industrial or trade policy,” the statement said. Although employer representatives had increasingly acknowledged weaknesses in supply chain verticality and Sri Lanka’s limited access to free trade agreements, meaningful social dialogue on industrial strategy had remained limited.

‘Coming home’ to Barefoot By Yomal Senerath-Yapa Nostos: Art from the Island, opens with nine artists including veterans and old friends of the gallery S. H. Sarath, Tissa de Alwis and more exhibiting their work View(s): View(s):Nostos: Art from the Island is a unique exhibition at Barefoot, chiming in the season with work that is home-grown and vernacular. It features artists from veteran S. H. Sarath, with his allegorical paintings with local gods like Ganesh and Kataragama and his rather Sri Lankan cubist art, to young Sanath Herath, whose botanical, bird and butterfly studies are known to be vividly colourful, capturing the myriad hues of paradise. In between you find others – from Koralegedara Pushpakumara with his deep abstract, to Tissa de Alwis whose plasticine figures from our island’s military history smack of days gone by of Lascarins and British soldiers. Sophia Sansoni of Barefoot Gallery, elaborating on the title ‘Nostos’, explained that it is a “kind of a homecoming for old (and not so old) friends of the gallery”, the ancient Greek word having connotations of ‘coming back home’, and ‘nostalgia’. The exhibition, featuring nine artists altogether (the others being Bandu Manamperi, Chaminda Gamage, Chamila Gamage, Channa Ekanayake and Saman Liyanage) will be on at the Barefoot Gallery, till January 10, 2026, from Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. till 6.30 p.m.Share This Post FacebookTwitterEmail × Send Email to FriendSend Please enter valid email WhatsappDeliciousDiggGoogleStumbleuponRedditTechnoratiYahooBloggerMyspaceRSS

The masterstroke that defined the Ashes series By Matthew Henry cricket View(s): View(s):England may well have lost this Ashes anyway. Australia needed an opener in Perth when Usman Khawaja was struck down by back spasms and up went Travis Head’s hand. In striking his second hundred of this series on day three of the third Test in Adelaide, Head all-but confirmed the home of the urn until the next Ashes in 2027. They witnessed the birth of Head’s reinvention as an uber aggressive batter in 2021 when he crashed a 148-ball 152 in the first Test of the last Ashes series down under. Australia may well have won either way but Head’s promotion was the masterstroke from which England have been unable to respond.

Bondi Beach and the ripples of conflict: why local violence can never be global justice View(s):The salt air of Bondi Beach, usually a symbol of Sydney’s laid-back vibrancy, was shattered on the evening of 14 December 2025. It was a calculated strike aimed at a specific community, likely fueled by the burning grievances surrounding the conflict in Gaza and the Palestinian cause. When people witness the protracted suffering in Gaza—the humanitarian crises, the military operations, and the stifling blockades—they feel a righteous indignation. Violence of this nature fails to understand a core moral principle: human suffering is not a zero-sum game. The Bondi Beach attack is a stark example of “conflict spillover.” We live in a hyper-connected era where digital media brings the frontlines of war into our living rooms in real-time.

Hatch launches Sri Lanka’s first Innovation District View(s):Hatch, the nation’s award-winning start-up hub and a driving force behind Sri Lanka’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, is advancing its boldest initiative yet – the creation of the country’s first Innovation District in Colombo 1. Since its founding in 2018, Hatch has operated on the belief that collaboration fuels innovation, and entrepreneurs are catalysts for economic growth. Today, a majority of Sri Lanka’s active entrepreneurs have been positively impacted through Hatch’s programmes and services whether it’s an innovation event to its focused accelerator programmes. The forthcoming Hatch Innovation District is the next leap in this journey, an ambitious development set to empower over 3,000 entrepreneurs, SMEs, creators, and innovation-led businesses by 2027. With regional expansions underway in South Asia, the UAE, and Singapore, Hatch is amplifying Sri Lanka’s footprint on the global innovation map.

Allianz commits €200,000 for Sri Lanka recovery View(s):Germany-based Allianz SE is donating €200,000 to support disaster relief efforts in Sri Lanka. In addition, Allianz SE is also extending its support to Thailand and Indonesia, contributing a further €400,000 to aid disaster relief across Southeast Asia. Torrential rainfalls have triggered severe flooding and landslides across Southeast Asia, leaving more than 1,100 people dead in a week of devastation and complicating rescue efforts for hundreds still missing. In a media release, Allianz SE said it will allocate €100,000 to the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) to deliver immediate assistance to those most affected and €100,000 will also be provided for post-disaster support, implemented in collaboration with Allianz Insurance Lanka Ltd and selected local partners, focusing on disaster prevention and climate resilience, helping communities rebuild and strengthen their preparedness against future events. Renate Wagner, Member of the Board of Management of Allianz SE, responsible for Asia Pacific, Mergers & Acquisitions, People and Cultures said: “Through immediate relief and long-term resilience support, we aim to help families recover, strengthen local communities, and better prepare for future climate-related events.”Share This Post FacebookTwitterEmail × Send Email to FriendSend Please enter valid email WhatsappDeliciousDiggGoogleStumbleuponRedditTechnoratiYahooBloggerMyspaceRSS