Advertorial

At Majestic City, Bambalapitiya:

Commercial Bank to open Holiday Banking Centre

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has chosen Bambalapitiya as the location for a unique Holiday Banking Centre with extended working hours and no ceiling on transaction values.

To be located on the third floor of the Majestic City mall complex, the new banking outlet to be inaugurated on April 27 will stay open from 10.00 am to 7.30 pm on most days of the year, including public, bank and mercantile holidays, and will cater to corporate, trade and retail customers, a communique from the bank said.

The bank's MiniCom supermarket banking counter on the ground floor of the complex will continue to operate on all days that the host supermarket stays open, offering deposits and withdrawals of up to Rs 200,000.

"Our research indicates that there is demand for higher transaction limits and extended hours, which will be provided by the second Majestic City counter," Commercial Bank's Deputy General Manager Operations Sanath Bandaranayake said. "It will substantially enhance our presence in the Colombo West area, and raise the bar in terms of service to our customers," he said.

Besides the Commercial bank's 'MiniCom' counter at Cargills Food City at Majestic City, the Bank's customers in the Bambalapitiya area are also served by two other branches, at Milagiriya and at Thummulla.

The Majestic City Holiday Banking Centre would be linked to Commercial Bank's 175 other branches and supermarket banking counters and its 360-strong ATM network in Sri Lanka, offering customers the full benefits of seamless IT integration.

Signal introduces Active Micro-Calcium

Unilever's Oral Care brand introduces the technology of 'Fluoride + Micro Calcium' - a novel anti-cavity technology which delivers effective fluoride and 50 percent more calcium that helps re-mineralize the early carious teeth.

Recent discoveries in caries research highlight that Fluoride and calcium concentrations are essential for effective anti-caries action and both calcium and fluoride are essential for the re-mineralization of tooth enamel.

According to Dental Health Services in Sri Lanka Deputy Director General Dr. J.M.W. Jayasundara Bandara 'Our country should ensure appropriate use of fluorides for prevention of dental caries. The optimum fluoridization of toothpaste - meaning if you optimally add the fluoride to the toothpaste - is the best option as brushing teeth is a grooming behaviour and everybody does it.

So if the toothpaste contains fluoride then it works best for prevention at early stages.

Fluoride a breakthrough technology uses calcium prevalent in the mouth and saliva to re-mineralize tooth enamel. New Signal Strong Teeth toothpaste uses differentiated technology, containing 1000ppm Fluoride - clinically proven for anti-caries protection.

Star points ties up with FlySmiLes

Star Points tied up with FlySmiLes, the loyalty program of SriLankan Airlines, to host a joint promotion for Priority, Club Vision and Roaming Customers. Five customers won return air tickets to the Maldives.

New hope for liver disease patients

An increasing percentage of Sri Lanka's population today suffers from some form of liver disease. In its more serious form, liver disease is a life-threatening ailment, which if diagnosed or treated too late, could be fatal.

As the incidence of liver disease increases, the demand for liver transplants becomes an urgent one, especially for those at the end-stages of the disease.

In the face of a worldwide shortage of cadaveric livers (those harvested from brain-dead patients), especially acute in Asia due to religious and cultural barriers, Living Donor Liver Transplantation (LDLT) is a vital live-saving procedure, in particular for those suffering from acute liver failure and liver cancer.

The Asian Centre for Liver Diseases and Transplantation (ACLDT) of the prestigious Gleneagles Hospital in Singapore is a pioneering state-of-the- art facility, and the first in South East Asia to perform a successful living adult-donor liver transplant.

The Centre is also the first private medical centre in Asia to perform 160 living donor liver transplantations.

Operating in conjunction with Singapore's Parkway Health, the parent company of three of Singapore's most prestigious hospitals - Gleneagles, Mount Elizabeth Hospital and Parkway East Hospital, the ACLDT, offers patients the first fully integrated treatment centre for adults and children with all types of liver disease, including those most common in Sri Lanka - Hepatitis A and B, liver cancer and fatty liver disease.

Established in 1994, the Centre is headed by Dr. Tan Kai Chan, one of the most distinguished and respected liver transplant surgeons in the world.

Highlighting the early symptoms of liver disease such as jaundice, progressive fatigue, lethargy, swollen legs and distended abdomen, Dr. Tan stresses the importance of early diagnosis and care to the success rate of treatment.

Performing an average of 150 LDLTs annually, with 90 percent of the patients being from overseas, including Sri Lanka, the Centre has an 85 percent success rate.

LDLT is a ground-breaking medical procedure which uses a portion of liver from a living donor, usually a relative, to replace a diseased liver in a patient.

The process is advantageous as it eliminates the risk of irreparable liver damage and death, as patients wait for a cadaveric liver, as well as increasing the likelihood of a matching donor. There is virtually no age limit for the procedure, with patients between the ages of 10 months and 72 years having undergone LDLT, said Dr. Tan.

ASB Freight ventures into freight forwarding

ASB Freight, formally known as Air Sea Brokers (Pvt) Limited that was in operations since 2002 as a custom house broker for both imports and exports ventured into freight forwarding under the name of ASB Freight (Pvt) Limited recently. ASB Freight is currently backed by Rajiv Perera, Nishantha Nanayakkara and CL Synergy (Pvt) Ltd.

Rajiv Perera is the founder of the Air Sea brokers (Pvt) Limited and has been in the industry for more than 20 years. Prior to this he has been at Hayleys, Bogawanthalawa Plantations and Cargo Plan. In addition, he has also shared his experience amongst many in the industry in the capacity of a consultant. Perera said that he has been awaiting to step into the freight forwarding market and he strongly believes the new alliance would be very successful in creating a new wave in the freight forwarding industry.

The joining of Nishantha Nanyakkara to ASB Freight would enhance the potential of expanding into the freight forwarding market. He was the Head of Commercial at Damco Sri Lanka formally Maersk Logistics. He has been with the A.P. Moller - Maersk for more than 10 years and prior to that he served 10 years with Sea-Land Inc USA. During his time at A.P Moller-Maersk he became the Best Sales Person of the year for western and central Asia. This has been one of the highest awards won by a Sri Lankan within the A.P. Moller-Maresk Group. Nanayakkara said that he is committed to develop some tailor made solutions through his vast experience where there would be some serious value additions to the clients.

The support of CL Synergy brings strength to the ASB Freight. CL Synergy is a fully fledged freight forwarding entity established in 2004 and is a member of SFFA and FIATA. CL Synergy for its contribution to the industry was recognized with the winning of silver award for best exporter support service large category 2008 by the NCE. CL Synergy also has got CLS Transport, CLS Investments and CLS Technologies under their wings. Eagle Logistics Colombo (Pvt) Limited, that started as a joint venture has become a real success.

CL Synergy Managing Director Roshan Silva said that ASB Freight is a great combination of true strengths and he believes this would reach its potential in the near future.

Nokia launches two promotions

Nokia recently announced an attractive offer for consumers enabling them to win two return tickets to Paris. All consumers have to open up an Ovi Mail account or send email from their existing Ovi Mail account to a given email address mentioning their name, contact number, model name of the Nokia handset they use and the IMEI number.

The winner will be selected through a lottery and will be notified through Ovi Mail. The promotion will run till April 30. Only consumers with valid IMEI number (handsets purchased from an authorized dealer in Sri Lanka) will be considered. (It's open to all NOKIA GPRS phone holders).

Ovi Mail is an email solution, free to set-up right on your mobile - no PC needed. More than 5 million people have activated an Ovi Mail account in its first year, exceeding the first-year user totals for Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Hotmail. For first-time email users, Ovi Mail provides an internet identity, as well as cross access to other Ovi services like maps, media sharing and application store. Ovi Mail is developed especially for consumers who have difficulty getting access to a PC. Ovi Mail is supported on more than 100 device models worldwide.

According to extensive Nokia consumer research, nearly half of the emerging market customers say that they would rather connect to the Internet over a mobile phone than a PC. Sri Lanka has one of the lowest Internet penetration rates in Asia and with very low PC penetration, the access to Internet through mobile phones is the most feasible and affordable option.

"The mobile device and the Internet are a powerful combination in connecting people with each other, accessing information, news, entertainment and sharing. Services like Ovi Mail bring powerful solutions that can be the gateway to knowledge, entertainment and people" said, Sales Manager for Sri Lanka Shiblee Shakik Ahmed.

"Ovi Mail has the potential to be the first digital identity for many people in emerging markets. Unlike most other email services, an Ovi Mail account can be created and used directly on a Nokia device without ever having to use a PC," Ahmed said.

To add to the Avurudu festivity, Nokia simultaneously launched another promotion titled "Nokia Season Gifts."

Consumers purchasing a Nokia handset from Softlogic, during the Avurudu season can enter into a lucky draw and win an Alto Sports car and nine motorbikes. The offer is valid till April 30.