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New appliances in the kitchen:

'Frigidaire' from Abans

Frigidaire - America's No.1 home appliances, has been introduced to the market by Abans.

Owned by Electrolux since 1986, it has a history which dates back to 1916 when it introduced the first self-contained refrigerator and then year after year produced innovative new features in refrigerators, air conditioners and washing machines.

Backed by a highly experienced and qualified research team, Frigidaire spends millions of dollars each year to develop innovative new features and products that bring more convenience and less work to housewives the world over.

Apart from their range of internationally acclaimed electric and electronic home appliances, Frigidaire also manufactures a range of sturdy and durable kitchen aides such as blenders, mixers, grinders, toaster oven, coffee makers, cake mixers, pop-up toasters, steam irons and rice cookers which conform to the high norms and quality standards that the company has built a reputation for. The Frigidaire coffee maker has a 1.5 litre capacity and comes with a built-in coffee grinder. It is very convenient because of the built-in grinder which permits even fresh coffee beans to be used.

The Frigidaire toaster oven is compact and ideal for a couple or a single person. It can be used to grill and bake and is ultra energy-saving due to its compact size. Frigidaire pop-up toasters are available in two slice and four slice models. Frigidaire rice cookers are available in 1.8 litre and 2.8 litre capacities with non-stick base and glass lid and a 1.8 litre capacity model is also available with steamer.

The Frigidaire cake mixer is unique in that it has a solid steel bowl unlike other mixers which have plastic bowls. It also has five speed levels for various requirements. The Frigidaire hand blender is versatile in cutting and chopping and can be used as an egg beater.

Abans showrooms now has the latest range of Frigidaire kitchen aides.

PMB goes to Anuradhapura

People's Merchant Bank PLC (PMB), an associate company of People's Bank, as a part of its expansion plan, opened its tenth branch last week at No. 9, Maithreepala Senanayake Mawatha, Town Hall Place, Anuradhapura. People's Merchant Bank Managing Director/CEO Anura Wickremasinghe opened the branch.

Wickremasinghe said the opening of PMB's tenth branch in the historic city as a symbolic achievement in the bank's 27 year history. The strategy of the bank would be to use this branch to expand into the northern region next year.

The new branch will offer leasing, hire purchase facilities and short term loan business where the target market would be the agricultural sector and other industries in the surrounding areas. As PMB's market is essentially in the Small & Medium Enterprise sector, branch offices are presently situated in Kurunegala, Matara, Matugama, Gampaha, Avissawella, Elpitiya, Kandy, Negombo and Trincomalee.

'The Future of Air Transport 2010':

Oman Air CEO to speak

Oman Air Chief Executive Officer Peter Hill has been confirmed as a major speaker at this year's The Future of Air Transport 2010 conference, to be held at Le Meridien Piccadilly, London on November 29 and 30.

Hill will speak about the role of in-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) as a factor in customers' choice of airline and the evolution of IFEC to meet the changing needs and expectations of travellers.

Hill was invited to speak at The Future of Air Transport 2010 following Oman Air's recent introduction of a new fleet of Airbus A330 aircraft which offer each passenger audio video on demand, live satellite TV and the world's first combined mobile phone and Wi-Fi connectivity package.

Peter Hill said, "The Future of Air Transport is acknowledged as one of the aviation industry's leading events. I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak to some of the industry's leading figures and to promote the debate on how we can continue to meet and surpass customers' expectations when it comes to IFEC and other in-flight technologies."

Having first entered the airline industry in 1961, Peter Hill has worked with a number of different airlines, including BOAC, Gulf Air, Emirates and Sri Lankan Airways, where he was CEO. He was appointed as Oman Air's CEO in 2008 and has since led the transformation of the airline into a respected luxury international carrier.

In the last year, he has overseen the introduction of a new fleet of Airbus A330s, with new cabins, seats, IFEC systems, menus and staff uniforms. He has expanded Oman Air's network of routes to include new destinations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia and introduced new three-class services to a number of existing routes. Hill has reorganized and enhanced Oman Air's management structure, signed new deals with technical support partners and ordered five new Embraer 175 aircraft for delivery from 2011.

Worldwide Aviva Group shows good growth

Aviva Group Chief Executive Andrew Moss announcing the worldwide insurance group's positive half year financial results said: "This was a good half year for Aviva. We achieved a 21 percent increase in operating profits, grew sales for the third consecutive quarter and improved the group's margin."

"The combination of our leading positions in life and non-life insurance has proved of great benefit yet again", he said. "In Asia Pacific, underlying profits increased, supported by strong economic growth and increased profitability of our existing business. The worldwide general insurance combined operating ratio was 97 percent," he said.

Aviva NDB Insurance Managing Director Shah Rouf said: "The strong pick up in UK and Europe sales may well be an indication that fears of a worsening global recession are overplayed. This bodes extremely well for us in Sri Lanka as we become more and more plugged into the global economy."

"Aviva NDB has been able to draw on the global strength of the Aviva group to bring our customers world-class products which are proving as popular in Sri Lanka as they are around the world," he said.

Aviva group delivered good profit growth in the UK and Europe which account for more than 80 percent of Aviva's regional operating profit. Together these two regions comprise the world's largest life and pensions markets.

In the Chief Executive's Review in Aviva group's half yearly report, Andrew Moss said, "Aviva's customer focus is creating value for shareholders and the benefits of our migration to a single, global brand are already emerging. Our global research which measures customers' likelihood to recommend Aviva, has improved significantly relative to our competitors which is a key driver of the profitable growth of our business."

With more than 50 partnerships in place, Aviva continues to be a bancassurance leader in Europe and this expertise has enabled the group to deliver a 20 percent increase in sales through banks.

HNB helps Medagama Viduhala

Medagama Viduhala, a primary school in Kekirawa, achieved a 100 percent pass rate in the year five scholarship examination last year.

Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) bringing this school under its CSR umbrella, invited the four students from Medagama Viduhala who passed the year five scholarship examination to Colombo for a specially organized day of sight seeing and opened 'Singithi' minor savings accounts with an initial deposit of Rs 10,000/= each.

HNB also donated a computer to the school on that occasion as the first step in setting up a computer centre at the school.

HNB's first school computer centre and 159th school library was handed over to Medagama Viduhala recently. Human Resources and Administration General Manager Mancius Paiva, North Central Region, Regional Head Milroy Perera, Deposit Mobilization Manager Supun Dias, Dambulla HNB Manager Rohana Premachandra, HNB Kekirawa Extention Office, Officer in Charge Indika Gunawardena, North Central Province Chief Minister's Private Secretary Sugath Dharmakeerthi, Provincial Council Minister Arunashantha, Provincial Council Minister Karunaratna, Zonal Educational Director S.S. Wegolla, Medagama Primary School Principal P.M. Thilakaratne Pathiraja, teachers of the school and parents were present at the occasion.

HNB plans to set up ten such centres before the end of 2010.

Little Lion wins 'Best Bakery' Award

The annual award presentation of the 'Best Bakery' of the year conducted by the Colombo municipality, Public Health Department was held at Colombo Hilton recently.

Little Lion Associates Pvt Ltd, awarded the 'Best Bakery' in the Colombo municipality council area for the year 2009 - 2010. This award presented taking into consideration H-800 criteria of food production such as standard of food safety, hygienic environment, quality of ingredients used, the quality of food samples and also the good health conditions of staff working etc.

At present, Little Lion Associates Pvt Ltd produces a range of cookies baby rusks, cakes, biscuits and pastry products and caters all over the country through about 45,000 outlets.