Category: Daily Financial Times

Cathay officially kicked off its ’80 Years Together’ anniversary celebrations at a special event, hosted by Cathay Group Chief Executive Officer Ronald Lam (fifth from right), Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau (fifth from left), Chief Operations and Service Delivery Officer Alex McGowan (fourth from left), and Chief Financial Officer Rebecca Sharpe (fourth from right)

Special aircraft livery unveiling pays tribute to Cathay’s enduring legacy while heralding a new chapter ahead

Stepping into 2026, Cathay on Tuesday launched its 80th anniversary celebrations, marking eight decades of moving its home city, people and global customers forward since 1946.

To usher in this milestone year and honour its legacy of bringing people together, Cathay will be hosting a series of special events, initiatives and activations throughout 2026 – all anchored by the unifying theme of ’80 Years Together’.

As a prelude to its ’80 Years Together’ celebrations, Cathay was delighted to unveil a special aircraft livery on one of its long-haul Airbus A350 passenger aircraft at a launch event today. Adorned with the airline’s iconic ‘lettuce leaf sandwich’ design as well as the 80th anniversary year mark, the livery pays homage to the much-loved green-and-white striped paint scheme, echoing Cathay’s storied legacy while symbolising its continued growth and progress. A second ? ‘lettuce leaf sandwich’ livery on one of Cathay’s Boeing 747 freighters will also be revealed in the coming weeks.

Cathay Group Chief Executive Officer Ronald Lam said: ‘Today marks not just an important milestone for Cathay, but a celebration of our ’80 Years Together’ with Hong Kong. Guided by our purpose to move people forward in life, Cathay and Hong Kong have grown together over the past eight decades, supporting each other through thick and thin. From Kai Tak to Chek Lap Kok, whether it’s studying abroad, conducting business, exploring the world, reuniting with family, or delivering vital supplies at critical moments, Cathay has always stood with the people of Hong Kong through countless shared journeys and memories.

‘Looking ahead, through our investment of well over HK$100 billion into our fleet, cabin products, lounges and digital innovation, Cathay will continue to elevate the customer experience as we strive towards our refreshed vision to become our customers’ most loved service brand. At the same time, we remain steadfast in our commitment to strengthening Hong Kong’s status as a leading international aviation hub.

‘With the continued support and encouragement of our people, customers and partners, I am confident that Cathay, as an iconic Hong Kong brand, will soar to even greater heights in the years to come.’

Cabin crew donning Cathay Pacific’s vintage uniforms through various design eras also made a special appearance, paying tribute to the generations of people who have defined the signature Cathay service in the skies. Throughout 2026, around 1,000 to 2,000 of Cathay’s cabin crew and ground employees will wear and showcase these vintage uniforms at work, bringing the evolution of the Cathay brand to life in true Cathay fashion. ?

In addition, customers can look forward to a thoughtfully curated collection of merchandise inspired by the special liveries and iconic designs from different eras in Cathay’s storied history. The collection reimagines these elements across aviation, travel and everyday lifestyle essentials.

As the brand embarks on this milestone year, Cathay will be announcing many more exciting happenings and initiatives throughout 2026.

Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts is strengthening its commitment to gender inclusion across its portfolio, with female participation now at 19.5%, marking a healthy trajectory toward its 2030 goal of achieving 30% workforce representation. Women currently hold 22% of leadership positions across the group.

In Sri Lanka female participation in hospitality is barely making 10%, careers in tourism for women often carry significant social stigma, creating misconceptions that the industry is unsafe for female employment. As a leading hospitality brand, Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts aims to challenge these outdated perceptions by making hospitality a sector where women can excel and prosper, reinforcing the message that the industry is a safe, secure, and empowering place for women to work.

A key milestone in this journey is the appointment of Thanuja Mudiyanselage as Resort Manager at Trinco Blu by Cinnamon, a strategic move that not only increases female representation in leadership but also leverages that leadership to uplift and inspire others.

Thanuja, the group’s second female Resort Manager, rose to influence from humble beginnings in Welimada. Her admission to the Ceylon Hotel School in Colombo marked a pivotal shift, requiring her to adapt to the pace and demands of city life, worlds apart from her village upbringing. ‘I learnt very early on to embrace changes that came my way,’ she reflects.

A graduate of the Ceylon Hotel School and a scholarship recipient in Germany, Thanuja has advanced through Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts’ leadership pathways. She firmly believes that ‘honesty, commitment, and a positive attitude are the keys to success. Women are more than capable of excelling in this field.’ Her initiatives echo this ethos. During her tenure at Hikka Tranz by Cinnamon, she championed sustainability and community programmes, from the Turtle Hatchery Project to the EmpowerHER Network, fostering skill development and local engagement.

For Thanuja, ‘leadership is about nurturing talent. It’s about providing the right tools, knowledge, and environment for individuals to thrive. It’s about believing in their potential and empowering them to achieve their best.’

She champions open communication and mentors colleagues, supervisors, and managers, instilling agility and confidence. At Trinco Blu by Cinnamon, she focuses on empowering her team by addressing their diffidence through a series of workshops designed to overcome habitual shyness, a trait common among many.

These workshops engage staff from colleague to managerial levels across housekeeping and operations. Yoga for Female Colleagues, EmpowerHER Meetings encourage dialogue and collaboration, and recreational programmes to strengthen teamwork and balance.

These efforts are helping young women including single mothers to build confidence, develop leadership skills, and unlock new pathways for career progression, positioning Trinco Blu by Cinnamon as a model for inclusive hospitality.

Thanuja’s journey forms part of a wider mission within Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts, to build workplaces where women lead, talent thrives, and inclusion drives performance.

The Maha Bodhi Society of India has made a financial contribution of Rs. 10 million to the ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ Fund, established to restore livelihoods and rebuild the country following the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.

The relevant cheque was formally handed over at the Presidential Secretariat to Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, by the local representatives of the Maha Bodhi Society of India Sudhammika Hewavitarne the Chairman of the Anagarika Dharmapala Trust and Amita Wijesekara.

Former MP and Finance Minister Ali Sabry has criticised the Government’s decision to abolish pension entitlements for former Members of Parliament, saying the move has no real economic impact and is driven by political optics rather than policy substance.

‘The amounts involved are negligible. Saving this money will not fix the economy, reduce the deficit, or improve public services. Not even marginally,’ Sabry said in a post on X.

He warned that the decision would have tangible social consequences, particularly for former legislators who served without personal financial gain. ‘Removing it does not punish corruption, it punishes those who did not enrich themselves in office,’ Sabry said, adding that he personally knew former MPs who relied on the pension ‘as the only means of securing a dignified retirement after years of public service.’

Sabry said the abolition sends a broader signal about who can realistically participate in politics. ‘Politics is now effectively reserved for the ultra-rich, those with inherited wealth, or those permanently maintained by party machinery,’ he said. As a result, ‘talented, capable, independent citizens who are not financially privileged will simply walk away from public life.’

He argued that the move amounts to exclusion rather than reform. ‘That is not reform, that is exclusion,’ Sabry said, warning that such decisions could narrow Sri Lanka’s political space and encourage a one-party-dominant culture.

‘If reform was the true objective, the solution was obvious: make it optional, subject to application and scrutiny, not a blanket abolition driven by populism,’ he said.

Referring to Sri Lanka’s democratic history, Sabry said reforms should strengthen institutions rather than undermine them. ‘Reform should strengthen democracy, not quietly hollow it out. Justice should be targeted, not theatrical. And governance should be guided by reason, not applause,’ he said, calling for ‘serious public debate, not blind celebration.’

In a postscript to the post, Sabry said he has never applied for a Parliamentary pension and noted that he is not entitled to do so, as his term in Parliament was less than five years.

LB Finance PLC earned distinguished recognition at the 4th International Conference on Sustainable and Digital Business 2025 (ICSDB 2025), organised by the SLIIT Business School on 11 and 12 December 2025 at Waters Edge.

At this prestigious international platform, LB Finance was honored with two awards in recognition of its contributions to sustainable and digital business practices:

Merit Award – Journey Towards a Low Carbon Future

Bronze Award – Digital Personal Loan Granting Scheme

The Digital Personal Loan Granting Scheme, enabled through the LB CIM mobile application, leverages AI-driven decision-making algorithms to assess loan eligibility. This innovation significantly reduces paperwork and manual intervention, offering customers a seamless, efficient, and fully digital loan experience while reinforcing the company’s commitment to responsible digital transformation.

The Merit Award was conferred in recognition of LB Finance’s comprehensive initiative to calculate its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including financed emissions, and to obtain independent assurance for the same-marking a key milestone in the organisation’s journey towards a low-carbon future.

These accolades reflect the company’s continued focus on sustainability-driven operations, environmentally responsible practices, and the acceleration of digital innovation. The recognition further underscores the company’s role in supporting the national agenda of enhancing digital literacy while actively reducing its environmental footprint.

ICSDB 2025 is a flagship international conference that celebrates organisations demonstrating measurable progress in sustainable and digital business, recognising those that create lasting value through innovation, responsibility, and forward-thinking business models.

LB Finance PLC remains committed to advancing digital inclusion, strengthening environmental stewardship, and building a future-ready financial ecosystem that supports Sri Lanka’s sustainable development goals.

Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from his planned Australian Open warm-up tournament as he is ‘not quite physically ready to compete’.

The Serb great, 38, was set to play at next week’s Adelaide International as he gears up for his latest bid for a standalone record 25th Grand Slam singles title.

Djokovic has won 10 of his 24 majors at the Australian Open but lost in the semi-finals on his past two appearances.

He has scaled down his playing time in recent years to attempt to be fresh for the Grand Slams.

‘I was really excited about returning as it truly felt like playing at home,’ Djokovic wrote on Instagram.

‘My focus is now on my preparation for the Australian Open and I look forward to arriving in Melbourne soon.’

World number four Djokovic has not won a major since the 2023 US Open but was one of the most consistent players at the Slams last year.

He reached the semi-finals of all four Slams, losing to Jannik Sinner at the French Open and Wimbledon and Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open.

He was forced to retire with injury from his last-four meeting in Melbourne against Alexander Zverev last January. Djokovic also won two ATP Tour titles last year, taking his overall tally to 101.

The Australian Open runs from Sunday, 18 January-Sunday, 1 February.

Cabinet Spokesman Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa announced this week that the Government plans to lease 24 bungalows and official residences formerly used by Government Ministers to private investors and international organisations. Based on recommendations from a special Officers’ Committee, these prime properties will be repurposed for embassies, diplomatic missions, international organisations, and high-end boutique hotels or restaurants, Dr. Jayatissa announced.

The properties will be offered on a 30-year lease basis under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

There is no clarity what these bungalows are, but it is easy to guess they will mostly be those located in prime locations in Colombo where most of the official residences are.

The JVP-led ruling NPP is averse to any kind of lifestyle they feel is too extravagant and hence the obsession with doing away with salaries, pensions and official residence etc. After doing away with the pensions and official residences of the former presidents, there is a bill pending to do away with the pensions of Members of Parliament.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake obviously feels safe and comfortable lodging at the JVP’s head office in Pelawatta and that is his personal choice but official residences which belong to the State and not to any political party, are there for high ranking officials, elected and in the bureaucracy, military etc. to reside in while they hold office. There is a reason for this, particularly the security of such persons as well as providing them with lodging that is befitting of the position they hold. Not every person who becomes the country’s president or prime minister or a minister in the future can live in their party headquarters so handing over officials residences for a 30-year

period by a party that has been elected for five years and has only four more years in office is not a wise or right decision.

Look at the plight of MPs under this Government. Many in the ruling side, a majority first time MPs, are forced to share lodging at the Madiwela MPs hostel and have been denied an official residence where they can live with their families. There are many former JVP MPs drawing pensions and with the Government plans to abolish that, many will be left with no income. The hypocrisy in all this is that the

current President and many in his Cabinet who were MPs were all drawing salaries and pensions all these years. For all its preaching on austerity, never has any one of the JVP MPs said no to a salary, pension, duty free vehicle permits or the official residences at Madiwela when in Opposition.

Now this decision to hand over official residence to private sector entities. These are some bungalows which are over 100 years old and hence come under the Archaeology Act. Hence there could be legal issues regarding these. Some houses are located in high security zones where senior military, police, judicial and administrative sector officials reside and hence there is the need to be mindful of such concerns as well.

The NPP, so far, is a Government that is missing the wood for the trees. After more than a year in office, it is still dragging its feet on repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Online Safety Act. Talk of a new Constitution gets dangled before the public from time to time as a distraction. Its education reforms are a mess while the health sector is struggling. Electricity price hikes are on the cards while there has been no reduction in fuel prices despite promises. And amidst all this the public are expected to be happy because the new set of ministers don’t live in an official residence.

Asia’s third best performer, the Colombo stock market, yesterday suffered the worst humiliation in its 130-year history with trades and orders up to the first 24 minutes cancelled after questionable maiden transactions of shares of a new listing.

In a statement, the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) said it observed unusually high prices of certain transactions of Wealth Trust Securities Ltd., due to market orders being matched with these unusually high sell orders.

The CSE further observed that those clients who have sold the shares at unusually high prices had used the buying power through the sale of such shares and purchased shares of other listed entities.

‘Since this will result in a significant systemic risk to the market, the CSE with the concurrence of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) imposed a market halt at 9.54 a.m. and cancelled all orders and transactions carried out on 7 January 2026 in order to ensure a fair and orderly securities market,’ the statement said.

The CSE said these steps were taken in order to ensure investor protection and maintain a fair and orderly securities market while preserving the integrity of the securities market. ‘As a preventive measure, the CSE has taken steps to disallow market orders on the first day of trading of securities of new listed entities in future,’ it added.

The fiasco was triggered by a pre-opening trades of 6 million Wealth Trust Securities shares at Rs. 25,000 each for Rs. 150 billion. With the trades on Wealth Trust Securities going through, turnover at the time of the trading halt was a staggering Rs. 162.8 billion via a 51.7 million share volume. The sell order was by Lanka Securities, which also occupies a seat on the Board of the CSE.

Wealth Trust Securities had a stellar Rs. 500 million Initial Public Offering (IPO) in December (71,548,244 Ordinary Voting Shares at Rs. 7 per share) being oversubscribed by 15 times and drawing over 10,000 applications.

After the trades of Wealth Trust Securities was cancelled, turnover was down to Rs. 4.5 billion owing to Lanka Realty Investments buying 70% stake (18.2 million shares) of Lee Hedges for Rs. 3.9 billion from Chairman/Managing Director S. Vamadevan. Due to the cancellation of all trades, this transaction is still pending.

Prior to final suspension at 4 p.m., the market was expecting trading to resume no sooner all transactions were cancelled and all orders which have been placed after 9 a.m. on 7 January 2026 had been purged. Since orders have been purged, orders had to be re-entered to the Order Management System (OMS).

The CSE said the market will resume trading as usual today with all eyes likely to be on Wealth Trust Securities debut trading proper. Brokers said that the CSE had initiated an inquiry over the matter.

Brokers and analysts were furious over yesterday’s fiasco. Some claimed the Wealth Trust Securities sell order price was due to ‘human error,’ whilst others ruled it out saying a five-digit selling price cannot be linked to human error. The latter view sparked speculation whether it was intentional causing chaos. Analysts also blamed that being a pre-opening order, surveillance staff at the CSE should have detected the bizarre price in advance and taken corrective action. While the CSE system has restrictions on companies which have previous closing prices, there are no similar restrictions on IPO shares without a trading history.

Separately, some brokers and analysts also questioned the very decision by the CSE and SEC to cancel the questionable trades of Wealth Trust Securities as there was no provision in trading rules, and whether the SEC and CSE were under undue influence to do so. The transactions went through amidst the existing T+1 regime.

The fiasco was also raised in Parliament by Opposition MP Dayasiri Jayasekera calling for the resignation of the CSE and SEC officials. In response, Labour Minister and Finance and Planning Deputy Minister Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando said the CSE and SEC acted swiftly to ensure a fair and orderly securities market and action will be taken against anyone responsible for the original transactions.

Analysts warned that yesterday’s unprecedented fiasco will have a far greater impact on foreign and local investor confidence over the credibility and the reliability, as well as the safeguarding measures, of the CSE.

The Daily FT learns that the SEC has identified the investors who placed orders at excessive prices and has summoned them to appear today for a comprehensive inquiry into the matter.

The Colombo bourse with a 42% gain was the third best performer in Asia last year behind South Korea (+76%) and Pakistan (+45%). The active S and P SL20 index gained by 26.6%. The history of the Colombo stock market dates back to 1896, whilst the present-day CSE was formed in 1985.

National Freedom Front Leader Wimal Weerawansa yesterday warned that the Government is preparing to replace the existing Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) system with a pension scheme that would disadvantage workers, accusing the ruling coalition of reviving a policy it had vehemently opposed in the past.

Addressing a media briefing at the party’s headquarters in Battaramulla, Weerawansa recalled the 2011 protests against a proposed pension scheme to replace the EPF, during which a young worker, Roshen Shanaka, died and more than 400 workers were injured. He said those protests, led by trade unions affiliated to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), ultimately forced the Government at the time to abandon the proposal.

Weerawansa alleged that the same policy is now being reintroduced by a Government led by the JVP, describing the move as political opportunism. He claimed the proposed changes would scrap the current EPF framework in favour of a pension scheme that benefits the State while offering workers lower returns, and called on private-sector and semi-government employees to oppose the move with greater resolve than in 2011.

Separately, Weerawansa criticised the Government’s foreign policy stance in relation to recent developments in Venezuela, accusing it of failing to take a clear position. He described the official statement issued by Sri Lanka as ambiguous and alleged that the Government had avoided explicitly criticising the United States over the reported abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

He further asserted that the National People’s Power and the JVP are effectively the same political entity and said a ruling party cannot maintain separate positions as a party and as a Government. According to Weerawansa, the Government’s response to the Venezuela issue demonstrated a departure from its previously stated anti-imperialist stance.

Dr. Ray Jayawardhana, an accomplished academic leader and renowned astrophysicist who currently serves as provost of Johns Hopkins University, has been named Caltech’s next President, the tenth in the Institute’s 105-year history.

Jayawardhana’s appointment by Caltech’s Board of Trustees, announced today at a community-wide gathering on the Institute’s Pasadena campus, was the result of a months-long international search.

‘Ray is a leader of exceptional distinction who brings a complement of qualities-as a pioneering astrophysics researcher, respected university administrator, and compelling science communicator-that together will ensure Caltech builds on its legacy of transformational research and exploration to benefit humanity,’ says Caltech Board of Trustee Chair David W. Thompson (MS ’78). ‘The Board’s unanimous decision reflects our confidence in Ray’s ability to chart Caltech’s future-advancing our mission, inspiring our community, and elevating the Institute’s global impact.’

Jayawardhana will assume his new position on July 1, 2026.

‘I am deeply honored to have been selected as Caltech’s tenth president and to join this remarkable community of trailblazers,’ says Jayawardhana. ‘For more than a century, Caltech has achieved extraordinary and enduring impact from a deceptively simple formula: empowering brilliant minds to explore important questions with imagination and courage and making bold commitments to efforts others might consider too risky or far-fetched.’

‘My commitment is to stay true to Caltech’s North Star of fundamental research and exploration integrated deeply with education, while strengthening this community’s ability to pursue, share, and apply knowledge and innovations that serve and inspire humanity.’

At Caltech, Jayawardhana says he will partner with faculty and other stakeholders to advance bold, catalytic investments in innovative ventures on campus, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and across the Institute’s suite of global observatories; enrich the experience of undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows; and expand the Institute’s engagement with the public.

At Johns Hopkins, Jayawardhana oversees the university’s 10 schools as well as an expansive portfolio of interdisciplinary programs, academic centers, and core administrative and operational units. He partners closely with the president, deans, faculty, students, and staff to advance the university’s research, education, and outreach missions, and has been instrumental in launching and shaping major initiatives, most notably the Data Science and AI Institute and the School of Government and Policy, as well as elevating the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences through the expansion of select departments.

As a scientist, Jayawardhana investigates the diversity, origins, and evolution of planets and planetary systems, as well as the formation of stars and brown dwarfs. Using the largest telescopes on the ground (including the W. M. Keck Observatory, which Caltech co-manages with the University of California) and in space (especially the James Webb Space Telescope), he and his collaborators characterize planets around other stars, or exoplanets, with an eye toward assessing the prospects for life beyond Earth. He is a core science team member for the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRISS instrument, and his research group has led Gemini Observatory large programs on high-resolution spectroscopy of exoplanetary atmospheres.

He has co-authored 180 refereed papers in scientific journals, with over 10,000 total citations.

Jayawardhana’s interest in public engagement with science is deeply personal, stemming from a sense of wonder and curiosity about the universe that first sparked his imagination in childhood in Sri Lanka.

‘Some of my earliest memories are of walking around with my father at night, looking up at the sky,’ Jayawardhana recounts. ‘It was in those moments that my lifelong fascination with space took root, and with it my deep belief in human curiosity and audacity to reach for what once seemed beyond our grasp. That sense of awe and teeming possibility has guided me ever since.’

Jayawardhana is an acclaimed writer and science communicator who has published widely in leading outlets, with articles in The Economist, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. His popular science book Strange New Worlds was the basis for The Planet Hunters television documentary on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. His book Neutrino Hunters won the Canadian Science Writers Association’s Book Award. Jayawardhana’s picture book for children, Child of the Universe, published by Penguin Random House, is meant to spark the same fascination with the universe that inspired him as a child. He has also delivered dozens of public lectures and made hundreds of media appearances over the years.

Among Jayawardhana’s many awards and honors are a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Radcliffe Fellowship from Harvard, the Rutherford Medal in Physics from the Royal Society of Canada, the Nicholson Medal from the American Physical Society, and the Carl Sagan Medal from the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences. Asteroid 4668 Rayjay is named after him.