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Ceylinco Life opens in Jaffna

Ceylinco Life has opened two new branches in Jaffna and plans to open five more in the near future to service the longterm insurance needs of the people of the peninsula.

Ceylinco Insurance Managing Director/CEO - Life R Renganathan (fourth from right) opens the new Achchuvely branch. Director/Deputy Chief Executive Officer Thushara Ranasinghe (third from right) and officials of the company look on.

The recent opening of new branches at Achchuvely and Chavakachcheri took the number of Ceylinco Life branches in Jaffna to five.

The company's first branch in Jaffna opened in May 2002, and was later supported by branches that opened in March 2005 at Chunnakam and Nelliady.

Ceylinco Life Managing Director R. Renganathan said the company would open its Manipay branch within two months and also plans to open branches in Chankanai, Kodigamam, Point Pedro and Thirunelvely in due course. This phase of rapid expansion would result in Ceylinco Life's presence in the peninsula growing to 10 branches.

"This will provide further opportunities for youth in Jaffna to pursue a career in insurance," Renganathan said.

The company now has 36 Agency Supervisors and 126 Sales Consultants in the region.

The branch openings coincided with the handing over of classrooms built by Ceylinco Life as a CSR initiative to three schools in Jaffna, the Mattuvil Maha Vidyalayam in Chavakachcheri, the American Mission School in Chunnakam, and the Chettikulam Government Tamil Mixed School in Velani.

Ceylinco Life had previously constructed a well at the Nuffield Deaf School in Kaithady and conducted free medical camps in the Jaffna, Chunnakam, Nelliady and Chavakachcheri areas.

Thilina Tharu:

HDFC Bank organizes art competition

Harshini PERERA

UN Habitat Prograrm Manager for Sri Lanka Luxman Perera presenting a gift to a student at the launching ceremony of “Thilina Tharu “Art Competition. (From left) A.G.M. (Business Development and Marketing) D.V.Pathirana, Project Coordinator “Thilina Tharu” Art Competition Deepani Priyanka Aponso, Director Aesthetic Education Ministry Thushara Gunathilake, HDFC Bank CEO/GM Suresh Amerasekara and HDFC Bank DGM(Finance) S.Dissanayake look on.

The HDFC Bank is organizing, "Thilina Tharu", an art competition for school children for the second successive year in 2010 to coincide with the United Nations World Habitat Day. The World Habitat Day falls on the first Monday of October every year. The theme of the competition for this year will be "Better City Better life".

The objective of the competition is to promote the importance of protecting the environment and at the same time increasing the awareness of basic human rights on adequate shelter among younger generation and through them to give a message to the society on their responsibility to protect the environment.

The HDFC Bank is the sponsor for this event as one of its CSR projects for the financial year 2010 and to provide an opportunity to develop the creativity and innovative ideas of children on the current theme. Schoolchildren above grade six will paint on the above theme while schoolchildren below grade six will paint on free topics.

The winners of the art competition will be selected, recognized and rewarded by the HDFC Bank at an award ceremony that will be held in Colombo in October 2010 with an exhibition of the selected works of participants. The event is conducted with the prior approval of the Education Ministry and in collaboration with the UN Habitat office, Sri Lanka.

The competition is open to participants from all parts of the country including the Northern and the Eastern provinces.

Etisalat launches App Zone

Charumini DE SILVA

The Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry together with the telecommunication industry have grown rapidly during the past decade. At present these industries are the fastest evolving industries by introducing novel products to the world.

Mobile applications have become very popular and it has helped the mobile manufactures as well as the service providers to capture a large market share in the global arena.

People are keen on convenient products such as mobile applications as they are much easier to access rather than logging into a computer.

Etisalat initiated the App Zone to provide better services and products in a convenient method with the touch of a finger tip. This also provides a great chance for the public who are capable of developing an application for mobile phones, Etisalat Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Riyaaz Rasheed told Daily News Business.

The Etisalat App Zone is open to everyone and the inventor of the particular mobile application gets 70 percent of the revenue the service provider receives for using the application. If the App Zone applications have a good demand in the local market the next step will be the international market.

The opportunity given to the public of developing mobile applications entitles them for an earning and employment while the App Zone helps to reduce the unemployment rate of the country. The inventors need not have professional qualifications to create a mobile application on topics which are useful for the public but an innovative application is the key factor, he said.

"The younger generation should take this opportunity as the industry provides endless opportunities. Mobile applications have a commercially viable market.

High competition among service providers requires new products and services therefore we expect that the Etisalat App Zone will be successful," he said.

Rebranding of the company has created high brand equity. The performance of the first half of the year was commendable. Etisalat will introduce 3G for its customers by the end of this year by taking the advantage of having a big parent company, Rasheed said. "The company also initiated BlackBerry for everyone from Etisalat. The responses we gain from the customers are admirable. Earlier BlackBerry phones were only seen with Company CEOs and high business class people, but we wanted to offer this product to all our customers for a reasonable price, he said.

"The number of BlackBerry sales has increased. The use of a sophisticated phone like BlackBerry helps customers to use data and in the meantime will help the App Zone.

Etisalat wants to become active in the competition and not to become the big player in the market. Our intention is to provide enhanced services and products while contributing to the country's economic development, Rasheed said.

Lucky Lanka holds Sith Pibiduma

At the Lucky Yoghurt dealer convention

"Lucky Yoghurt", a product of the Lucky Lanka Group of Companies received the SLS certification, for yoghurt for the first time in Sri Lanka.

Lucky yoghurt holds the "Sith Pibiduma" Program for retail dealers in different geographic areas of the country.

This program emphasizes and educates them on 'how to develop and manage their small business to face the challenges of the existing competitive socio-economic context, how to develop self confidence and positive attitude towards the business and how to develop entrepreneurial skills'.

This program series has been conducted in more than 80 areas of the country by now. "Sith Pibiduma" dealer convention for the retail shop owners in Minuwangoda, Gampaha, Negombo and sub-areas was successfully held recently at YMCA Hotel, Katunayake with participation of 500 dealers.

CIMA - The driving force of an organization

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) qualification has become the driving force in an organization. Over 40 percent of the top heads are CIMA qualified. In Fortune 500 companies more than 180 companies have five or more CIMA members, CIMA Business Development and Communication Regional Manager Radley Stephen told Daily News Business.

The CIMA qualification is a next generation qualification and a trendsetter. There is a growing demand for this qualification around the world. It is well recognized where a number of international professional bodies accepted CIMA qualification in their study courses. Many countries even consider this qualification in their skilled migration programs, he said. The CIMA UK reviews its syllabus every five years to incorporate skills required by modern day management accountants in the business world.

This year the institution carried out research investing Rs 100 million involving 12,500 employers in 4,500 companies around the world to ascertain skills and knowledge the youngsters should posses. The research was conducted by the Bath University UK on behalf of CIMA.

The CIMA qualification is basically focused on management and gives individuals a wide spectrum on three pillars namely performance, enterprise and finance. It is futuristic in managing and forecasting the future. This professional qualification contributes substantially for the growth and sustainability of the company. CIMA Sri Lanka is working closely with the North and the East provinces where there is a growing demand. It has the Kandy branch to facilitate outstation coordination and has a close relationship with tuition houses in main cities which act as liaison offices.

The demand for Sri Lankan CIMA qualified is extremely good and is a strong force in the global arena. The teaching methodology that is focused and result oriented is a plus point for local students, Stephen said.

There are over 12,000 CIMA students in Sri Lanka with 1,524 pass finalists and 2,662 members. The number of Sri Lankan members working overseas is 3,929 at present.

VEET unveils nation's finest women

VEET partners Derana TV on the Miss Sri Lanka for Miss World program. The event promotes pursuit of purpose and discipline, and supports the strengthening of character.

The finalists

Miss Sri Lanka will achieve its mission by training and unveiling the nation's finest women through an annual national beauty pageant. This pageant will incorporate months of intensive grooming, coaching and preparation that will culminate with the coronation of a goodwill ambassador for Ms Sri Lanka and as VEET Brand Representative, who will represent her country in international pageants, promotional events, and charitable endeavours.

One such contestant who has done Sri Lanka proud is Gamya Wijayadasa who was named Derana VEET Miss Sri Lanka 2009 on Wednesday July 22, 2009 . Gamya also won mini-titles such as Veet Miss Beautiful Legs, Miss Personality and Veet Miss Beautiful Skin at the Derana Veet Miss Sri Lanka 2009 beauty pageant. Gamya Wijayadasa was ranked 22nd in Miss World 2009, which is the highest ranking any Miss Sri Lanka has reached in Miss World so far. For dance performance at Miss World in 2009 she was ranked in top 20. Gamya Wijayadasa, the brand representative for VEET said, "Winning Derana Veet Miss Sri Lanka 2009 is not all about beauty or looks but having the right intelligence and determination to use your brains when it comes to representing the beautiful country of Sri Lanka especially now that we have peace". She was instrumental in conducting the IDP welfare appeal which raised US$7,400 and $5000 worth of goods. Wijayadasa was appointed as the United Nations Goodwill ambassordor for Sri Lanka in recognition of her ten years of community service. Reckitt Benckiser Marketing Director Zakaria Ahmed said "RB and VEET will always be committed towards empowering the new generation of women with confidence to reach above the set standards, an ideal model being Gamya Wijayadasa, the brand representative who has surpassed the standards being held by any Ms Sri Lanka in Ms World while reading for her MSc"

The grand finale will be held on August 10 at Mt Lavinia hotel.