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Gifts worth Rs. 3m presented :

Ratthi 'KiriSarai Sarusarai' winners awarded"

Lumbini EDIRISINGHE

Gifts worth Rs. 3 million were presented at the "Ratthi KiriSarai Sarusarai 2008" contest at Cinnamon Grand last Thursday with 90 winners walking away with the prices.

The Chief Guest, Director Marketing Fonterra Brands Lanka, Fernando Bueno awarded Rs. 300,000 to the grand winner, Sonali Silva from Ja-Ela.

The other seven winners of the final draw were P.M. Deepika Gomas, H.D.A Premakumara, Sumith Nishshanka Rajapaksha, C.M.M. Anwer, Chameera Nadeeshani, Anoma K. Sangasekara and P.M. Deepika.

The 90-day non-stop promotion was launched in October 2008 offering consumers an opportunity to make a Smart Choice and be a Smart Daily Winner.

Draws were held every Wednesday and the winners names were announced on TV as well as in print media. Each winner walked away with an array of household appliances worth up to Rs. 40,000 at the weekly draws held initially at the Fonterra Brands Lanka premises in Biyagama and subsequently at regional locations in Badulla, Kandy, Matara, Kurunegala and Wadduwa.

"We are happy to reward our loyal smart consumers who made the right choice by offering a host of gifts that would delight housewives" said Managing Director of Fonterra Brands Lanka Achyut Reddy.

The propaganda truck visiting towns and villages helped to disseminate the message of this fabulous promotion.

Fonterra is a multi-national dairy company and one of the world's leading suppliers of dairy ingredients and consumer businesses.

Fonterra is the world's largest exporter of dairy products, with an annual turnover of around US$8.5 billion.

Its consumer dairy business, Fonterra Brands, operates in 40 countries.

OLC selectes Oracle

OLC (Lanka ORIX Leasing Company PLC), has selected the Oracle E-Business Suite including financial management, inventory management and purchasing modules to support it's new project 'INSIGHTS' across the entire group.

The applications will help LOLC meet demands of its back office expansion and it's information management requirements.

It will enhance business and employee productivity, provide timely management of assets and liabilities through appropriate decision-making tools and also help create a paperless office.

Through the 'INSIGHTS' project LOLC will increase disclosure and transparency for regulations and information for all stakeholders. Lanka Orix Information Technology (LOIT) is managing this project.

Eagle Insurance enhances call cost efficiency with Dialog

Eagle Insurance PLC recently connected to a superior total voice communications solution provided by Dialog Enterprise.

Dialog Enterprise, an integrated business division of Dialog Telekom PLC, has provided Dialog7 Fixed Voice Solutions with state-of-the-art communication facilities at the Eagle Insurance Head Office thus enhancing service delivery.

This solution provides a speedier and cost effective answer to all outgoing calls taken by staff at Eagle Insurance's Head Office in Colombo to all mobile numbers via the Company's fixed lines.

The Eagle Insurance communication facilities, the solution has also drastically reduced the cost of calls to mobile numbers substantially.

In real terms, this translates to more than 30% overall drop in the billing cost, thus exemplifying the ideal challenge for Dialog Enterprise to demonstrate its capability to deliver totally cost effective fixed mobile integrated connectivity solutions for Sri Lankan enterprises. CEO Dialog Fixed Telephony and Broadband Services, Kavan Ratnayaka said, "This is yet another triumph for Dialog Fixed Line CDMA Telephony and our ability to cater to the changing demands of our customers. We are firmly convinced that our advanced technology resources enable us to meet these diverse demands. We are undoubtedly very happy to partner Eagle Insurance on this project, and are positive that our ICT solutions will not only deliver value results to its thousands of customers, but also be totally cost effective in the long run".

Managing Director Eagle Insurance PLC Deepal Sooriyaarachchi said, that a very cost effective, yet totally technically superior solution is probably the wish of any corporate in this day and age in Sri Lanka. We have found both these in Dialog's ICT solutions, and this will definitely enhance our information communication infrastructure facilities and contribute towards achieving our corporate objectives."

Sri Lankan Platinum American express card launched

Ramani KANGARAARACHCHI

The Nations Trust Bank in partnership with SriLankan Airlines, is to reward its customers with a number of privileges and benefits through the SriLankan Airlines Platinum American Express Card which was launched for the first time in Sri Lanka.

"We welcome the SriLankan Airlines Platinum American Express Card members by offering upto 10,000 Bonus FlySmiLes miles with the first Sri Lankan ticket purchased on the Card -enough to redeem for a flight with SriLankan. said the Chief Executive Officer Sri Lankan Airlines, Manoj Gunawardena addressing the media conference held at the Cinamon Grand Hotel on Wednesday.

He said that Card members would earn double FlySmiLes miles for in-flight purchases and when they book their travel online through the SriLankan Web site. In addition they would enjoy benefits such as Lounge Access and priority check in Colombo, whether they fly economy or business class.

The cardmembers also will earn up to 3 FlySmiLes miles for every Rs.100 spent and 2 FlySmiLes for SriLankan Airlines tickets purchased at Platinum Travel Partners as well on all purchases made overseas. For all other purchases, Cardmembers will earn 1 FlySmiLes for every Rs.100 spent.

The accumulated FlySmiLes could be redeemed for flights on SriLankan Airlines.

The CEO, Nations Trust Bank ZulfiQar Zavahir, said that the co-branded Platinum card, leveraging the combined strengths of SriLankan Airlines.

American Express and Nations Trust Bank, delivers exceptional value to customers who deserve recognition and demand the highest levels of serving standards. Senior Vice President American Express Kula Kulendran said that this launch marks a new milestone in American Express strong track record of success in developing best in class airline cobrand cards and hoped to bring more innovative global programs to customers in Sri Lanka.

Russia, Ukraine energy chiefs hold first crisis talks

Russian and Ukrainian energy chiefs held talks in Moscow overnight Thursday for the first time since the start of a gas crisis that has seen gas supplies cut off across Europe in a bitterly cold winter.

The two leaders, Alexei Miller, head of Russian energy giant Gazprom, and Oleg Dubina, head of Ukraine's Naftogaz, were set to meet again later on Thursday at an emergency EU-brokered meeting in Brussels. "Tonight in Moscow talks took place between Alexei Miller and Oleg Dubina during which they discussed ways to end the intensifying crisis situation," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told Russian news agencies.

No further details were immediately available but Dubina and Miller had last met on December 31 for talks that failed to find any agreement. Russia has subsequently cut off gas supplies to Ukraine and later to Europe via Ukraine after accusing Kiev of blocking the transit of gas to Europe. Announcing the EU's hastily-arranged crisis talks, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said Wednesday the meeting would focus on the use of monitors to verify the flow of Russian gas through Ukraine to European clients.

The organisation of the Brussels talks brought some badly-needed focus to a chaotic dispute that began as a commercial disagreement between Gazprom and Naftogaz and has mushroomed into a full-blown international crisis.

MOSCOW, Thursday (AFP)

Gateway College offers conversion course for students awaiting OL results

The conversion course is specially designed for students who have sat the Sri Lanka GCE O'level in December 2008. Students taking this course would make a head start to be ahead of the late starters and be better prepared to take courses of further study.

Students completing the conversion course have the following options:

1. Join the June 2011 GCE London Advanced Level programme of study at Gateway College.

2. Join the Foundation Programme of the Gateway Graduate School that will gear you for the Degree level programmes of study.

During the conversion course, the student will be coached for the London IGCSE May 2009 examination in Mathematics and the Intermediate and Upper Intermediate Level examinations of English Language conducted by NCC Education UK. In addition, students intending to follow the Science stream will be afforded with the opportunity of doing practical work and coursework related to Biology, Physics and Chemistry.

Students who are to pursue studies in the Commerce stream will do field work and coursework related to Economics, Business and Accounting.

A comprehensive computer training programme too is included in this phase to enable the student to qualify for the prestigious International Computer Driving Licence issued by the ECDL Foundation at the end of the course.

A short course on 'Study skills' that is included would also be useful for future higher studies. In the second phase, following the completion of the conversion course, students will be coached for the London GCE AS June 2010 and A2 June 2011 examinations. Students entering Year 12 GCE (Advanced Level) in June 2009 will have three options:

* Offer 4 GCE A Level subjects

* Offer 3 GCE A Level subjects and International Diploma in IT

* Offer 3 GCE A Level subjects and International Diploma in Business.

The Diplomas mentioned above are equivalent to the first year of a British Degree.

The International Foundation Programme is available at the Gateway Graduate School for students who wish to join our Degree pathway after Sri Lankan or London GCE O'Levels. Having completed the Foundation Programme, students are able to join the first year of the Degree in 2010.

The programme in addition to raising students' English level will also provide a firm grounding in Business and Computing along with other important skills. Details of our Degree courses can be obtained from the Gateway Graduate School.