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Cinnamon Grand - Best Five Star City Hotel again

For the second consecutive year, Cinnamon Grand Colombo was presented the award for the Best Five Star City Hotel at the recently held Presidential Awards for Travel and Tourism 2008.

The significant expansion and booming popularity of a three year old brand paid considerable dividends through the recognition of its ever increasing standards of hospitality, service and cuisine.

"While we celebrate this award today, we are already looking forward to tomorrow," said General Manager Rohan Karr. "We assured our customers that we would not rest on our laurels following our success last year at the Presidential Awards, and we continue to strive towards our long term vision" he said. The award is made all the more momentous by the sheer quality of Cinnamon Grand Colombo's competition, matching an indigenous brand against internationally renowned hotel chains.

Through this emphatic repeat win, the Cinnamon Grand has solidified its position as Sri Lanka's revolutionary hotel brand with a strong focus on innovative features, products and services that always stay true to its powerful theme of 'indulgence for all ages'.

Since its inception, the Cinnamon Grand Colombo has amassed a multi talented team of associates who endeavour daily to further its success and guard its position as market leader. Training at the Grand is a primary focus, emphasizing the growth of the employees that make the hotel what it is today: an exemplary venue that dares to think differently and believes in indulgence above all.

IBS International launches Global MBA

IEL Sri Lanka with IBS International launched Global MBA, at the Taj Samudra recently.

Head, ICFAI International Division, India K.V. Iyer, outlined the Global Management program and the career opportunities available in a globalized business environment.

Companies today need to employ people with a deep understanding of different world markets to compete with the growing competions, he said.

The emerging Sri lankan multinationals too need "Mutinational" employees. However, there are very few MBA programs in Sri Lanka that provide such a global orientation. Therefore, to acquire these strengths, many students from Sri lanka choose to pursue their management education at business schools outside Sri Lanka. For such students, the International campuses of IBS offer a two-year Global MBA program with the advantage of international exposure and a degree from an international participating university in addition to that from IBS.

A one-year Global Executive MBA program is also offered. IBS International has set up campuses at four centres of business and commerce, Adelaide in Australia, Luton near London, in the United Kingdom, Neuchatel, near Geneva in Switzerland and Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. The participating universities are University of Southern Australia, University of Bedfordshire (Luton), University of Neuchatel and the University of Wollongong in Dubai.

He also outlined the advantages of doing the Global MBA from IBS International with regard to the Dual Degree, curriculum, international corporate internship and global placements. IBS International is a part of IBS, a leading Business School in India. IBS ranks among the top 10 Business Schools in India. IBS has a reputation for innovative program design and delivery, quality courseware, personalized instruction, strong industry interface, and research, consultancy and publications.

EDEX website powered by NDB Bank

NDB Bank, the 'Official Banker' of EDEX 2009, launched the EDEX website at the education fair's inauguration held recently at the BMICH. The website was launched by Chief Executive Officer of NDB Bank Eran Wickramaratna.

The bank believes in empowering Sri Lankan youth to be globally competitive through education and skills development.

The EDEX website, a one stop shop designed to cater to the education needs of Sri Lanka's youth, will feature information on both local and international universities, colleges and institutes, give career guidance, financial counseling and even advice on how to apply for educational institutes, advice on visa processes and even how to upgrade CV's.

The EDEX website's offerings will be accessible not just to the urban youth but also to the youth living in rural areas through the Government's Nenasala programme.

The education and career guidance portal aims at giving limitless choices and countless options for the youth to become viable products of Sri Lanka not just locally but internationally as well.

Ceylinco Life opens building to mark 21st anniversary

Ceylinco Life celebrated its 21st anniversary by opening an office for its operations in Kalutara, a town in which the company has had a presence since it commenced business.

The three-storey, 12,000 square feet office at 423 Galle Road, Kalutara costing Rs 65 million will be an operational nucleus and training centre for its branches in several towns in the vicinity.

Speaking at the inauguration of the new Kalutara branch, Ceylinco Life Chief Executive Director R. Renganathan recalled that Ceylon Insurance, the predecessor of Ceylinco Life, had opened a branch in Kalutara in November 1942. When Ceylinco Insurance began business in 1988 after the private sector was permitted re-entry into the field, Kalutara was one of the first places at which a branch was set up. "Today, Ceylinco Life has more than 175 branches, and has achieved a growth of over 20 per cent in 2008, becoming the market leader for the fifth successive year," Renganathan said.

Pears 'Safe Hands' gives safe start to Hambantota children

The local community, hospital and Unilever staff participated in a shramadana on January 10, after the ceremonial unveiling of the children's wards of Hambantota Hospital which had been renovated through funds provided by an ongoing program of Unilever Sri Lanka's baby care brand, Pears.

The project launched in 2002 on World Children's Day, diverts 25 cents of each Pears product sold to the Pears Safe Hands Fund, from which 12 children's and maternity wards have been renovated and refurbished, benefiting over 350,000 children in six provinces to date.

The hospitals are selected on the recommendations of the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians and included the Lady Ridgeway, the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, the Puttalam Base Hospital, the Nuwara Eliya District General Hospital and the Dehiaththakandiya Base Hospital to name a few and Hambanthota being the latest recipient of funding through this program.

The Pears team, the hospital officials, villagers and members of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka, comprising over than 150 persons participated in the shramadana held after the ceremony to mark the handing over of the renovated wards by Director Marketing, Unilever Sri Lanka Ramani Samarasundara to the DMO, Dr. E. H. H. G Nanayakkara.

DMO Dr, Nanayakkara said that renovation of paediatric wards would create a more conducive environment for young patients to recover quickly.

He felt that private companies such as Unilever that have undertaken to extend support to uplift the community by helping underprivileged rural areas deserve recognition and appreciation.

Brand Manager - Pears Wathsala Aluthgedara said The philosophy of Pears is to care for the mothers and children of Sri Lanka across social bands irrespective of their choice of baby care brand. In serving a greater purpose Pears Safe Hands by design will stretch beyond the business boundaries that the brand operates within.'

Lanka Bell bills with American Express

Lanka Bell has announced a partnership with Nations Trust Bank PLC to facilitate online card payments for all Lanka Bell bills, through the company's web portal www.lankabell.com.

American Express, the Credit Card acquired and issued in Sri Lanka solely by Nations Trust Bank PLC has a very vast recognition in the island as a highly valued personal and a corporate credit card.

Online payments have quickly replaced traditional modes and are fast, easy and efficient. American Express Internet Payment Gateway (IPG) comes with the highest possible internet security with a 128-bit SSL (Secure Socket Layer) VeriSign Verified connection. Online payment gateways supported by American Express cards are also available for movie tickets, insurance payments, channeling doctors, airline tickets with SriLankan, Phone bill payments with Suntel and SLT as well as Keells Super shopping.

Lanka Bell also offers bill settlement through the branch networks of 12 other banks, including the Commercial Bank, Bank of Ceylon, Sampath Bank, Hatton National Bank, People's Bank, HSBC, Pan Asia Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Seylan Bank, National Savings Bank, NDB Bank and DFCC Vardhana Bank as well as 350 plus Singer Sri Lanka outlets.

The only 100 per cent Sri Lankan owned company in the telecommunications sector, Lanka Bell is the second largest 'fixed line' provider in the country with more than a million subscribers.

Lanka Bell continues to make substantial investments to take its technology and services to all geographic regions and all segments of the market in Sri Lanka and has 60 of its very own fully fledged business offices islandwide.

Union Assurance - continuously striving for quality

Union Assurance PLC (UA) is a composite insurer transacting both Life and General business, in operation since 1987. It is well placed to provide a caring and efficient service to its clientele, which include many of the largest trading and industrial organisations in Sri Lanka as well as individuals from all walks of life, through an extensive network of 49 branches strategically located throughout the country.

UA was recently commended with the prestigious 'Overall Award For Best Presented Accounts' award at the recently held South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) Awards in India. Union Assurance is the first and the only insurer in Sri Lanka to win this 'Overall Award'.

Having bagged this award for the second consecutive year, UA Deputy Chief Executive, Dirk Pereira said: "We won this top award twice and also won the topmost award in the 'Insurance' sector, competing with some of the largest and well-established companies from the South Asian region. The South Asian Federation of Accountants takes into account the financial reports as well as disclosures related to corporate governance, performance management and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). One of the main things they look into is transparency and the extent to which we disclose our information - financial or otherwise."

"Being an insurance company, we deal with public money. In the case of life insurance, we have a Life Fund, where we collect life premiums from our customers. When managing such funds that belong to our customers, we have to act in utmost good faith; in their best interest. We also have internal investment experts who regularly watch the market.

They are well qualified, ensuring safe custodianship of policyholders' funds," he added.

Metropolitan goes to Wattala

M Centre, the retail arm of Metropolitan Computers, opened its latest showroom and service centre at the heart of Wattala town recently.

The new showroom will sell a range of products such as cameras, laptops, scanners, printers, air-conditioners and consumables like paper, toners and cartridges while providing after sales service.

"Now Wattala customers don't have to waste time coming to Colombo and being stuck in the traffic, this new branch will give our customers easy access and convenience because we will also have a Canon and Acer service centre at the premises," said Business Development Manager of M Centre, Chaminda Rajapaksha.

'M Centre' will also be offering a loyalty card called the "m Powered Club" to reward regular customers and have introduced "M centre Express", the special delivery service, which delivers goods to your doorstep anywhere in the island" he said. M Centre and Metropolitan have always believed in customer convenience. M Centre will also continue to cater to every IT need of customers in the years to come.

M Centre was set up to provide end-consumers access to hi-tech and advanced technology products from world renowned brands such as Acer, Lenovo, and Canon at convenience. Over the last two years, the range of products as well as the customer base has continued to grow.

EPSON professional printer from Debug

Debug Computer Peripherals launched the EPSON Stylus Photo 1390 A3 + printer. The professional dye based ink jet printer incorporates cutting edge features and bears Epson's expertise in large format digital imaging.

Targeted at the demands of design houses, small businesses and photography enthusiasts, the EPSON Stylus Photo 1390 represents the next generation of high quality yet affordable A3+printers.

EPSON Stylus Photo 1390 is capable of maximum print resolutions of up to 5760 x 1440dpi (dots per inch). This is coupled with Epson's advanced Variable Sized Droplet Technology (VSDT) which intelligently dispenses five different ink droplet sizes according to image requirements. VSDT uses bigger ink droplets to cover large colour blocks with minimal details, while the smallest ink droplets of only 1.5pl are capable of providing unfettered smooth gradation between colour tones needed in gallery quality prints.