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ComBank helps Sandasirigama

An underprivileged community of 105 families in Mathugama has been given new hope by the Commercial Bank of Ceylon which recently completed several projects to improve the living conditions and aspirations of its members.

People in Sandasirigama, a model village situated seven kilometres off Mathugama received assistance to improve livelihoods while their children received an IT lab, a shrine room and bank accounts with initial deposits under the Bank's initiative.

"The project, conducted under the Village Development Program funded by the CSR Trust of the Bank, was aimed at developing infrastructure and uplift the economy of the village by identifying the best economic activities for the area," Commercial Bank's Senior Manager - Development Credit Delakshan Hettiarachchi said. The Mathugama project involved the provision of loans to 58 villagers at low interest rates with easy repayment methods to develop their cultivations. Among them were 43 tea smallholders.

Others were cultivators of betel and pepper for which the soil condition of the village was found to be perfect.

"Tea cultivation was the main source of income of this village but since the tea industry faced a crisis in the recent past, cultivators found it difficult to repay their loans. That is why we encouraged villagers to try other cultivations," Hettiarachchi said.

The project also involved setting up an IT lab comprising two computers and a printer for the Galleniya Kanda primary school which is the only school in the village.

"The new IT lab has attracted more pupils to the school. Earlier there were only 29 pupils but once the lab was established the number increased to 44," Hettiarachchi said.

He said a syllabus on IT is to be provided to the school and exams will be conducted by IDM Computer Studies. "The best performing students will be given a chance to follow a further course in IT at IDM at the end of which they will receive valid certificates that will be helpful in their career prospects," he said.

Commercial Bank also built a shrine room for the school to encourage children in their religious activities. Forty three children in the village were presented with Commercial Bank Arunalu accounts with initial deposits of Rs. 500. These children were given tills to collect more money that could be deposited into these accounts. "We hope these activities will inculcate the savings habit," Hettiarachchi said.

The Bank also renovated the prajashalawa of the village, repairing its roof and installing grills and gates. This Prajashalawa is used for community meetings, religious purposes and as a nursery.

The Bank also provided chairs and tables for the nursery.

An Eye clinic was conducted with four doctors under this project and a dental clinic is to be conducted in the future.

Kumar Sangakkara to partner Viva

Viva, a brand of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare - Sri Lanka, (part of, GlaxoSmithKline PLC.) recently renewed its partnership with Sri Lanka cricket captain

Kumar Sangakkara, at a media conference held in Colombo. Sangakkara was retained in his role as Viva brand ambassador for the fourth consecutive year, as his persona and image drive an affinity with Viva, a malted food drink that embodies energy, stamina and vigour, to suit the lifestyle needs of active adults who are always on the move.

GSK Consumer Healthcare Sri Lanka Managing Director Sachi Thomas said: "Viva is a brand synonymous with sports, fun and adventure, therefore for us, no other personality embodies these values better than Sri Lankan cricketing hero, Kumar Sangakkara. His continued and ongoing success on the field, is a symbol of his energy and passion for the game of cricket and therefore was a natural choice for us. Kumar's iconic personality and achievements will no doubt help us to better communicate the brand promise of Viva, that offers energy and a great start to the day.

Together, Viva and Kumar will continue to energize the Nation."

Viva Brand Ambassador, Kumar Sangakkara, said: "I am very excited at the opportunity to be a part of Viva that apart from a great taste, offers me the energy I require for my active life. Viva offers me just the right nutritional balance that enables me to do more, feel better and improve my game all the time."

According to GSK, Sangakkara's role as brand ambassador will be personified by a series of promotional involvements in communicating with Viva users and Sri Lankan consumers at large, as he distinctly embodies the dynamism and energy of the brand.

Ambiente Fair, Frankfurt:

Dankotuwa's new duo shape well received

Dankotuwa introduced the new DUO shape in white porcelain at the Ambiente Fair Frankfurt, last month. The new shape was designed by Prof Wolf Karnagel the famous tableware shape designer of Germany.

Prof Karnagel has designed two other shapes for Dankotuwa earlier and both have been very popular.

The Ambiente Fair is the most important fair for tableware manufacturers and this year there appeared to be a slight improvement in the number of visitors and most were optimistic regarding the future of the market. The new DUO shape introduced by Dankotuwa with colour decorations, was well received especially by the German market. The majority of Dankotuwa's exports go to the European market.

Ceylinco Life home delivers annual bonuses

Ceylinco Life will home deliver Rs 1.39 billion in annual bonus payments to more than 290,000 policyholders from the surplus generated by its Life Fund in 2009, the company said this week.

The company said it will deploy its 5,000 strong sales team in a massive islandwide operation to home deliver bonus certificates to policyholders whose policies were active as at December 31, 2009.

These deliveries will commence on March 15 and continue till April 30.

This year's bonus payout matches the bonus payout made in respect of 2008, despite the multiple challenges faced by the local insurance industry in 2009, and demonstrates the financial stability and resilience of Ceylinco Life, the company's Deputy Chief Executive Director Thushara Ranasinghe said.

"A substantial bonus payout year on year reflects the company's continuing momentum. Ceylinco Life has consistently ensured that policyholders' investments in life insurance yield more than the promise," he said.

These bonuses are in addition to Ceylinco Life's Avurudu cash bonuses paid out during the festive season every year.

This year too, such cash bonuses are to be home delivered to long-standing life policyholders in April.

Privileges for HSBC credit cardholders at Arpico Supercentres

HSBC cardholders are offered special discounts of up to 10 percent on everyday purchases, home appliances, kitchenware, giftware and furniture when they shop at Arpico Supercentres from March 1 to April 30.

The promotion also entitles customers to a further 10 percent savings on Arpico family products including washing and cleaning aids, jams and sauces, sugar and many other commodities.

"We are pleased to partner with HSBC on this new promotion initiative, by offering their valued card members a chance to avail themselves of super deals at Arpico Supercentres", said Richard Pieris Distributors Ltd Marketing Manager Avanthie De Zoysa, "We've got exciting deals and activities especially for the Avurudhu season with our aim being, to ensure that all our shoppers are well rewarded," she said.

Head of Cards and Consumer Assets Nadeesha Senaratne said, "We believe in continuously rewarding HSBC cardholders with benefits and privileges that they deserve in life".

Union Assurance opens in Mannar, Thambuttegama

Union Assurance opened two new branches in Mannar and Thambuttegama. The Mannar branch is situated at Pallimunai Road, Uppukulam North, Mannar and the Thambuttegama branch is situated at 319 Rajina Junction, Thambuttegama.

Union Assurance entered the Northern market in 2002, and was the first private sector insurer to commence operations in Jaffna and Point Pedro.

With the opening of the Mannar and Thambuttegama branches, Union Assurance will further strengthen its position in the North and North Central regions.

With the opening of the Mannar Branch, Union Assurance covers all corners of the island.

Marketing and Distribution, General Manager Rukman Weerarathne said during March they have opened three new branches in three key regions, and this will be one of the expansion strategies to penetrate the market and take forward the promise of trust.

"We're looking forward to expanding our branch network in potential areas of the island," Weerarathne said.

"Union Assurance is proud to have been involved in helping customers to meet their financial needs for more than 20 years and is committed to continuously improve our service and facilities," he said.