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CDB opens in Jaffna and Vavuniya

The Citizens Development Business Finance Ltd (CDB) recently spread its wings to the North with two fully fledged Service Centres in Jaffna and Vavuniya.

Situated on Stanley Road, the Jaffna Service Centre has a staff strength of 14 while the Vavuniya Service Centre is on Kandaswamy Kovil Road has a staff strength of 10. Both Centres are now fully geared to extend CDB's wide range of products and services to the people of the North.

The Jaffna Service Centre was inaugurated by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal. Present on the occasion were also the CBSL Deputy Governor K.G.D.D. Dheerasinghe, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Department of Supervision of Non Bank Financial Institutions Director S.S. Rathnayake and Advisor to Director the President on Banking, Rani Jayamaha together with the senior officials of the Central Bank, Directors, Management and the staff of CDB.

The Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said that the key to the development of the Northern peninsula was strong lending facilities which the community there needed to develop their livelihoods. He said that the development of the overall Sri Lankan economy will be boosted with the development of the northern peninsula.

As part of this expansion drive to the North, new leasing facilities were given to entrepreneurs to support their business operations.

CDB's GM/CEO Mahesh Nanayakkara said, "Through our presence in the Jaffna region, we are committed to supporting the business community and the general public of the region with our innovative financial solutions. We will also focus on fulfilling the financial needs of the community.

The CDB has evolved as a key player in Sri Lanka's banking and financial services industry and is currently ranked within the top seven institutions registered under the Finance Companies Act, under which the CDB is regulated by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka".

Delmege to distribute Sanitarium range

Delmege Distributors (Pvt) Ltd., has been appointed to distribute the entire range of Sanitarium products in Sri Lanka. Comprising Weet Bix and Corn Flakes in the cereals category, So Good Soy Milk in the soy products category, and Peanut Butter in the spreads category, the Sanitarium range is aimed at consumers who demand delicious and healthy foods.

The Sanitarium range is brought to Sri Lanka through a strategic partnership between Delmege and Ozific Lanka (a wholly owned subsidiary of Ozific Marketing, Sydney). Ozific Marketing, Sydney has the marketing rights for Sanitarium in Fiji, Samoa, India and Sri Lanka. "We decided to appoint Delmege Distributors to market Sanitarium in Sri Lanka due to Delmege's strength in FMCG distribution within the traditional trade, modern trade and food service channel" said Ozific Marketing, Sydney Managing Director, Sundip Patel.

"We are happy to be associated with C.J. Patel and Co. Ltd. of Fiji and Sanitarium of Australia to make these product offerings accessible to the Sri Lankan consumer," said Delmege Distributors (Pvt) Ltd., CEO, Dinesh Nalliah.

IPM launches UK degree program

The Institute of Personnel Management (IPM) launched the IPM/Northumbria University-UK degree program in Sri Lanka. IPM takes the necessary measures to develop HR Professionals to compete with the current challenging business environment. Its strategic partnership with Northumbria University will benefit Sri Lankan students who were looking for an option to get an international recognition.

IPM launched B.A. (Hons) Leadership and Management degree pathway last week, with the participation of British Council Sri Lanka Country Director Gill Westaway.

Through this partnership IPM will launch a degree pathway for all PQHRM and NDHRM passed finalists in their professional/academic career.

There are two specific pathways that students can follow in order to qualify themselves to become Professionals in HR and other streams.

One is the path created for those who have already completed the Professional Qualification in Human Resource Management Stage I and II. They will get exemptions from years I and II of the Degree BA (Hons.) from Northumbria, and will go onto the final year.

The other path is for those students who have completed local A/Ls and London A/Ls, and who opt for studying full time. They will have to take the qualifying course for PQHRM (QCPQHRM) which will be conducted within six weeks at IPM. Thereafter, they will have to take the PQHRM Stage I and II as usual, and then go onto the final year of BA (Hons). Once through the BA, the candidates can opt for the MBA or any other postgraduate course available at Northumbria University.

There are other options for prospective candidates such as degrees that cover different business disciplines with emphasis on Human Resource Management.

IPM President, Mr. Lalith Wijetunge said, "this partnership between IPM and Northumbria University will help Sri Lankan students to validate their local qualification at an International level".

As the regional centre for Northumbria University, Business Management School [BMS] Colombo also will work together with IPM to reach these goals.

LG Pop phone exceeds one million in sales

The LG Pop GD510 phone had topped one million mark in worldwide sales in just 100 days after its European and CIS launch, LG Electronics said. This phone, which is now available through Abans, the sole agents for LG Mobile Phones in Sri Lanka, has become one of the most fast-selling and popular models of full touchscreen feature phones.

With a three-inch WQVGA touchscreen framed by a super-slim 4.8 mm bezel, the LG Pop has become very popular with customers looking for a compact phone that has all the features that they need built right in. With access to social network sites on its home screen, the LG Pop allows users to update their status on sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter on the go at any time.

"From the start we based the LG Pop on customer needs, leading us to create a compact and intuitive touchscreen phone that wasn't weighed down by useless features," said LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company President and CEO Dr. Skott Ahn. "LG Pop offers most of the benefits of a smartphone without the steep learning curve. There's still a huge market out there for phones that do everything right out of the box," he said.

The LG Pop has won plaudits for its innovative use of green technology.

With the optional solar battery cover, every 10 minutes the phone spends in the sun generates over two minutes of talk time or 180 minutes of standby time. With the phone's Eco-tree and Eco-calculator applications, users can even calculate exactly how much Carbon Dioxide has been cut by using the solar battery cover.

LG Pop GD510 is now available at Abans Showrooms and Authorized Dealers islandwide and Dialog Franchise Showrooms.