The Sri Lankan share index ended slightly firmer on Wednesday with trading dominated by Browns Investments PLC, but the market activity was lacklustre ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates due later in the day.

Tilko Jaffna City Hotel - which is hailed as the first star-class hotel in Jaffna, celebrated their five year anniversary.

Nawaloka Hospitals PLC, has opened a state of the art Skin Care and Cosmetic Center which is equipped with the Gold Standard Acu Pulse, a safe, simple CO2 laser, manufactured in USA, which is the Industry standard, that delivers outstanding results.

Sri Lanka’s newest super-luxury condominium project, the Astoria, is well on target to reach completion by 2017 with construction already having crossed the third floor according to developers, AVIC International.

After completing a landmark restoration of its historic North Wing, Galle Face Hotel is launching history tours this month for in-house guests. The half-hour tour unveils hidden art from a famous painter, ushers guests into storied spaces not normally open to guests, and shares numerous tales of famous visitors.

Fashion Bug, one of Sri Lanka’s leading fashion retailers with over 16 retail outlets island wide, marked yet another milestone in their groundbreaking CSR initiative Sisu Dirimaga which is the long term CSR platform of the company, when they organized the very first ever Peer Counseling programme for selected school going students in Sri Lanka.

Chinese internet giant Alibaba will pay HK$2.06bn ($266m; £175m) for Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post.