Sometimes referred to by its species name, Withania somnifera, or in some circles as Indian ginseng, poison gooseberry or winter cherry, ashwagandha is a plant of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family. Typically identified as a short shrub sporting small green flowers and orange-red ripe fruit, ashwagandha tends to be cultivated in many of the drier regions of India and is commonly used as a herb in Ayurvedic medicine.

The palm oil industry is nothing if not controversial, and on the whole gets a bad press. Apart from its traditional use in cooking, palm oil is today found in a huge range of food and other products from cosmetics to biodiesel, for which it has been found particularly suitable. World consumption of palm oil is rocketing: compared to levels in 2000, demand is predicted to more than double by 2030 and to triple by 2050. Over 70 per cent ends up in food, but the biofuels industry is expanding rapidly.

For more than 20 years (since 1993 to be exact) Royal Arctic Line has been a premier provider of specialist services and skills to customers in Greenland and the wider Arctic region. Wholly owned by the Government of Greenland, Royal Arctic Line and its vessels hold an exclusive concession for the transportation of general supplies by sea to and from Greenland, and between the various Greenlandic towns and settlements.

Showing no sign of slowing down, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars  has reported record breaking results for the first half of 2014 with a 33% increase in worldwide car sales. 

China broke away from the US for the first time to take the lead for volume, with Europe showing the fastest growth with a 60% increase in sales. Asia has also performed well with 40% gains. With the predicable middle eastern market pushing 30% increases in sales.

Global capital project and infrastructure spending is expected to grow to more than $9 trillion annually by 2025, up from $4 trillion in 2012, according to a new report from PwC, Capital project and infrastructure spending: Outlook to 2025.

The company has struggled to retain its market share against competition from rivals such as Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, and growth in high-end smartphones has generally declined. However these second quarter results showing a net income of NT$2.26 billion ($76 million) are ahead of analysts' predictions, showing that HTC's turnaround strategy has indeed begun to have an impact on declining sales figures.

With up to a hundred people applying for each job he advertises, entrepreneur Daniel Thomas sees the same CV and cover letter mistakes repeated over and over again.

For Daniel, who set up his hot tub business DanzSpas eight years ago, it’s all about the cover letter.

He never looks at a CV until he has shortlisted ten applicants and believes you can convey more in this one letter than you can in a two page CV.

He wants to see that an applicant cares about the business they’re applying to and the job they’re applying for.

A high-performance culture is the heartbeat of any successful organisation however managing business performance levels effectively can be challenging. As the business adage goes: “You can’t manage what you can’t measure” and this has never been truer – especially when it comes to the performance of field service organisations. A field service operation is extremely dynamic and often unpredictable. Each day, managers are faced with complex issues which require fast action.

Last year we published an in-depth report on the Caribbean's leading O&G company, looking at Petrotrin's business models, vision, people strategy and environmental aspirations. There can be no doubt that this is a company that is pivotal to the development of the nation and indeed the region as a whole.