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Richard Pieris Tyre Company felicitates dealers

The 2008-2009 Excellence Awards ceremony was hosted by the Richard Pieris Tyre Company recently. The Chief Guests at the event were Group Chairman Dr. Sena Yaddehige, Deputy Chairman, Paul Ratnayake, Chief Operating Officer, Pravir Samarasinghe and Director/General Manager of Richard Peiris Tyre Company, Pushpika Janadheera.

The event is convened on an annual basis to judge and appraise the service excellence of the Company's 1,300-strong islandwide dealer network.

The most coveted award went to H.M. Wasantha Kumara, the proprietor of Asiri Tire Traders, Negombo. The second and third prizes went to A.M. Kithsiri Bandara of Supiri Tire Works, Kandy, and Managing Director, M.H.T.J. Shanthiratne of Shanthi Tire Mart Pvt. (Ltd) in Dickwella. A new award for the best sales performer was presented to Sales Manager Sarath Wickramasinghe of the Kandy factory.

'Regional Excellence awards', 'Active Excellence awards', 'Most Innovative Excellence award', 'Excellent Trade award' and a 'Skills award' were presented on the occasion.

Ten dealers were also felicitated for their excellence in selling Richard Pieris Tyre Company's leading product lines, which include Birla, and Corsa tyres and Arpico tubes and flaps.

Arpico Chairman Dr. Sena Yaddehige said, "we are committed to maintaining the highest manufacturing standards" and, added that the Company has invested Rs. 200 million in the construction of a rubber mixing plant.

Director/General Manager Pushpika Janadheera said, "The last year was an extremely challenging one, a period during which many organisations had to shut down due to the adverse effects of the prevailing economic climate, but we operated with the same strength and stability because we read the pulse of the dealers and took managerial measures including price reductions on tyres." "Our attention to upcoming trends, coupled with our technological know-how, has led us to introduce Arpiradial, which are retreads for radial trucks - a product line that has become hugely popular."

NTB -first private bank to partner NHSL

Nations Trust Bank recently partnered with the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) to extend their services for the doctors and staff of the hospital as well as its visitors with the opening of an ATM. Located at the entrance to the Doctors' quarters and opposite the Bandaranaike Building, the ATM will offer cash withdrawals, payment of utility bills, checking account balances and transfer of funds within the account.

American Express Card members also have the facility to obtain cash advances at the ATM. In addition to the host of services provided by the ATM, this will also facilitate services for cards connected to the cirrus and maestro network.

Opened by Nations Trust Bank Chairman Ajit Gunawardene with the National Hospital Director Dr. Hector Weerasingha, the ATM will fulfill a much needed service in being a quick and convenient way to access funds for staff, visitors and patients within the National Hospital premises.

Nations Trust Bank Chairman PLC Ajit Gunawardene said, "We are pleased to partner the National Hospital of Sri Lanka in providing this much needed ATM machine.

Through our partnership, we are glad to extend our services through the special tailor-made financial solutions packages specifically for the Doctors and support staff at the Hospital. "Gunawardene also affirmed the Bank's support towards doctors in the provinces and outstation areas, as an extension of this partnership.

As a mark of solidarity towards this partnership, the Bank further assisted the NHSL in upgrading the facilities at the doctors' lounge as well as the crŠche used by the children of the staff working at the hospital.

The National Hospital of Sri Lanka Director Dr. Hector Weerasingha said, "This is a significant moment as the first private Bank steps in to be of assurance to the medical community. We are delighted to partner Nations Trust Bank and look forward to a continued relationship."

The Assistant Secretary of the GMOA Dr. Upul Gunasekara said, "As the first private bank to open an ATM within the country's largest and premier institution for medical care, this is truly a historic event. With 12,000 doctors registered with the GMOA and more than 1000 working at the NHSL, this partnership with the Bank is bound to be of immense benefit and value."

X-ONT Software awarded CMMi V1.2 certification

X-ONT Software (Pvt) Ltd received the Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model (R) Integration (CMMI) Maturity Level three rating recently. This accomplishment highlights X-ONT’s commitment to performance excellence and delivering value to its customers by improving business processes.

This rating confirms the results of earlier formal assessment in June 2009 when X-ONT’s processes were thoroughly examined for compliance to CMMI’s requirements (CMMI) for Development v1.2 Maturity Level 3) in selected projects by a CMMI appraisal team.

Today, CMMI is definitely one of the most widely recognized models of organizational quality systems for companies involved in software development. CMMI is an internationally recognized process improvement model that provides organizations with a framework to build and continuously improve effective processes. The benefits of implementing CMMI-aligned processes include improved schedule and budget predictability, improved cycle time, increased productivity, improved quality, increased customer satisfaction, and increased return on investment.

X-ONT has been using CMMI practices since its inception, in 2008 it launched an initiative to achieve full compliance with CMMI Maturity Level three requirements. The Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is an initiative of the Carnegie Melon University USA’s Software Engineering Institute (SEI). The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Standard CMMI(R) Appraisal Method for Process Improvement (SCAMPI) V1.2 method was used for the appraisal of X-ONT. International CMMi consulting company CyberQ Consulting, India provided the consultancy services and performed the appraisal.

Preparation for the appraisal began in September 2008, with milestones met throughout the process leading to the on-site appraisal in June 2009. For an organization to achieve CMMI certification, the external appraiser must test whether their processes and systems comply with the process areas prescribed by the standard. The appraiser also check the management system to ensure whether there is any ongoing monitoring, review and improvement in the system.

Less than five companies in Sri Lanka have been awarded this certification which is a recognition for the software industry itself said the Managing Director of the company Fazeem Farook. “As the pioneering market leader for CRM and Sales Force Automation solutions in the country, X-ONT pays significant attention to continuous improvement of its Design, Development, Implementation, R and D and Support Services processes with a purpose of raising its operational efficiency and ensuring outstanding level of service for its customers.

This rating clearly demonstrates to our clients we are committed to continuous improvement and the highest level of service quality and excellence, which are hallmarks of X-ONT”.

“It also validates the processes, support systems and engineering capabilities we leverage every day to deliver high quality services to our valued customers,” he said.

The X-ONT Project Manager for the Implementation of CMMi Pubudu Samaranayake said “The information gleaned from the appraisal will serve as a baseline for future process improvement and development efforts as we expand our business process. It will also enable us to develop a roadmap to align our capabilities with those outlined in the next levels of CMMI”.

This quality intuitive was sponsored and partly funded by the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) under the ICBP program to raise the competence of Sri Lankan software development companies.

X-ONT is a wholly Sri Lankan owned software company specializing in the design, developing and implementing CRM, ERP, Mobile Applications, Business GIS, Asset Tracking Solutions and Dash Board & BI Solutions.

In Business since 2000 X-ONT has justly earned a solid reputation for quality, reliability and commitment to service. X-ONT enjoys long-term business relationships with Multi National Companies, Local Bluechips, Family owned large companies and Small to Medium companies.

‘Virtualization for your Business’ :

KBSL and VMware seminar

KBSL Information Technologies Ltd, with their business partner VMware recently held a seminar at the JIAC Hilton under the theme “Virtualization for your Business”.

The main speaker at this event was VMware Software India Senior Partner Consultant Dwarakanath Rao. In his presentation, Rao detailed VMware Virtualization Solutions and Technology, and stressed on how VMware would help customers do more with less and achieve high Return on Investment. KBSL Information Technologies Head of Marketing Silmy Ahamed said the event was focused on helping customers understand the concept of Virtualization, and how Virtualization Solutions can help increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of IT operations in any business environment.

He also stressed on the need for new and innovative solutions such as virtualization to improve a company’s bottom line by reducing the number of physical hardware residing in a company’s IT environment, and cutting back on energy consumption and technology maintenance costs, while optimizing the use of IT Hardware.

KBSL has been serving the IT community in Sri Lanka for over 20 years, and a distinguished gathering of IT professionals from the corporate sector were present at this event.

Microsoft MCB appoints Sri Lankan CFO

A Stanford and Oxford graduate, Sri Lankan Tivanka Ellawala has been appointed CFO for Microsoft MCB.

The newly appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Mobile Communications Business(MCB), Tivanka Ellawala has spent over a decade at Microsoft working in various Corporate Development roles, the most recent of which was General Manager for Corporate Development at Entertainment and Devices (E and D), as such Tivanka lead the acquisitions, investments and joint venture discussions for Microsoft’s Mobile, Xbox, Game Studios, Music, Video, TV and Hardware businesses.

Over his extensive career at Microsoft, Tivanka has executed over 80 acquisitions, investments, restructurings and joint ventures across the globe in the business applications, wireless, internet, media and advertising, games, cable and IT services sectors.

Tivanka made Partner at Microsoft in July, 2007 and he is also the recipient of’ Gold Stars, which is Microsoft’s recognition of an employee’s outstanding performance during each year of employment.

Having read for both his BA - Double Major in Quantitative Economics and Public Policy and MA in International Development Policy, from the University of Stanford, California, he has also completed his Masters Thesis at the Oxford University, Oxford.

Emerging markets:

Singapore firm invests in coal mining and power plants

Singapore - JL Emerging Markets (Pve) Ltd plans to increase its coal reserves holdings across Indonesia to at least two billion metric tons to supply its planned coal power plants in the emerging markets.

The company has been actively sourcing and acquiring coal concessions across Indonesia over the past year to secure an uninterrupted supply of thermal coal for use in its coal power plants. The current economic condition has provided us with an opportunity to acquire these coal concessions at bargain prices compared to a year ago following the decline in coal prices in 2008.

Investments in the coal sector can be viewed as a safe haven as it is a necessary resource for many developed and developing countries for use in power generation. Our ability to bank on these resources at current price levels will detrimental to our future success and profitability said JL Emerging Markets Managing Director Johan Luhur.

“To create a tight downstream integration with our coal mining operations, we saw an opportunity to participate in the power generation business. Emerging markets such as Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Cambodia are experiencing severe power supply shortages, as a result of the demands of the large populations.

The company is currently pursing talks with a number of governments with regard to the development of private public partnership coal power generation projects.

These countries have a specific and ongoing need for power supply to continue to develop but may lack the necessary funding and technical expertise to do so,” said.

IIHS launches diploma programs

The International Institute of Health Sciences (IIHS) will commence three diploma programs which include General Nursing, Physiotherapy and Pharmacy this month.

IIHS Managing Director Dr. Kithsiri Edirisinghe said that this campus offers students the opportunity to pursue their careers in health education. IIHS has introduced several healthcare related programs that have a great demand locally and internationally.

The campus which focuses on training their students to fill the demand that exists in the international market, offers standardized healthcare programs that suit the international requirements.

Dr. Edirisinghe said that IIHS is a green campus that is built in accordance to the green concept using recycled materials which creates a conducive environment that supports the students’ educational needs. The students are provided with well-equipped lecture halls with computers, demonstration and stimulation rooms, a well-stocked library and an e-library for their convenience.

According to Dr. Edirisinghe, IIHS has a highly qualified lecture panel with years of experience and international exposure behind them. The team includes doctors, consultant specialists, senior nurses and paramedical tutors.

The academic staff is headed by Dr. Nihal de Silva who was a former professor at Stanford University USA. Dr. Nihal de Silva has over 40 years experience in the industry.

The vibrant management team is headed by Dr.Kithsiri Edirisinghe who has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry.

“the curriculum for these internationally recognized programs has been formulated in collaboration with several foreign universities.

“For an example the curriculum for general nursing has been formulated in conjunction with the Pacific Union College, California,” Dr. Edirisinghe said.

People’s Merchant Bank relocates

The People’s Merchant Bank PLC, a public listed company celebrates 25 years of success this year whilst commanding the highest quoted price in the merchant banking sector of the Colombo stock exchange. The bank recently moved to its own premises at Navam Mawatha.

The new building was opened by the Chief Guest, Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal.

Cabraal said, “It is encouraging to note that at a time when there is turmoil in the financial world, the People’s Merchant Bank with their main shareholder the People’s Bank had taken a bold decision to develop and shift to its own premises at a prime business location. This, he said, was a positive sign to the industry and he hoped that more development would take place in the prime 110 perch location for the benefit of customers and the industry as a whole.

The new office complex offers enhanced facilities in customer care and includes convenient parking. A spokesman for the company said, “Our core business values, innovative products and superior service standards have made us a preferred financial partner. Working closely with our customers to tailor their financial requirements to their satisfaction has meant the rapid expansion of a loyal customer base. We welcome new customers as well to visit our purpose built modern office complex at Navam Mawatha and avail themselves of enhanced leasing, real estate, trade finance and corporate finance facilities.”

PMB is an associate company of People’s Bank and its major shareholders are the People’s Bank and LOLC.

Aims at greater service:

FCCISL Secretariat restructured

The FCCISL Secretariat was restructured recently with the trimming of thirteen divisions to five divisions to ensure greater service to its members and the entrepreneurial community. This restructure which was originally addressed over a year ago has now been fully implemented taking into consideration the current and immediate operational scenarios.

FCCISL which brought honour to the country by being the first Chamber to win a world award for its Back to Business Project has built a reputation of achieving set project objectives ahead of schedule.

With many donor funded projects currently being handled by the Secretariat in addition to normal functions, the new structure has clearly addressed the human resource requirements and the capacity needed to improve on the project management trends already set.

Just over a month of operations under the new structure, the projects are very much on track than before, there is much greater coordination among divisions and members and more importantly has ensured the sustainability of operations. This restructuring initiative was discussed and appreciated by the chambers at the meeting of the Executive Council held on September 1 at which forty-one representatives from member regional chambers and associations were present.

The Board of Directors has appointed former Director of the Special Projects Division and Project Director of the Back to Business Project Sam Stembo as the Assistant Secretary General to handle overall operations of the Secretariat reporting to the Board of Directors.