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Ceylinco Life honours top achievers

Ceylinco Life recently celebrated its seventh successive year by felicitating 144 top achievers who contributed to the company's growth in 2010.

The glitzy 22nd Annual Awards of the company was followed by five-star dining and entertainment after each of the company's high flyers had been rewarded with trophies, certificates and 95 overseas trips to Bangkok and Singapore including Star Cruises. The family members of the top four achievers will also be given the chance to join their respective tours, the company said. Insurance Ombudsman Dr. Wickrema Weerasooriya who was the guest of honour said he was happy to commend Ceylinco Life as a company that conducted its businesses ethically and responsibly. "I have not had any problems with Ceylinco Life. That is a credit to the company and to its management," he said.

Ceylinco Insurance PLC Chairman Godwin Perera congratulated the achievers and said he is proud to be a part of a company that firmly believes that hard work must be recognized and rewarded in the most appropriate manner.

He said Ceylinco Life's formula of doing the hard things well is a tried and tested formula that must be adopted by all who seek success. Ceylinco Life Managing Director and CEO R. Renganathan said the company was recently adjudged 'People's Brand of the Year' in the insurance category for the fifth consecutive time.

"Businesses around the world spend a lot of money to build brands, but sometimes forget that money does not buy reputation. Our success is built on a commitment to integrity, professionalism, passion, determination and deep-rooted empathy with the community we serve," he said.

Branch Sales Heads, Unit Heads and Sales Consultants from all districts in Sri Lanka participated in this year's Annual Awards. A notable aspect of the awards ceremony was the strong representation of branches in the Jaffna peninsula and the Eastern province in the company's honours list.

The top award winners were: Best Branch Head - Platinum Category H M J Banda (Kaduruwela Branch); Best Unit Head - Platinum Category P B R N Prasad (Kaduruwela Branch) and Best Sales Consultant - Platinum Category A I P Manjula (Ambalantota Branch) and Gold Category T Sasikumar (Achchuvely Branch). Ceylinco Life achieved a Gross Premium Income of Rs 8.78 billion in 2010 and sold 157,523 new life policies while paying Rs 2.7 billion in customer benefits during the year.

Hameedia selects Microsoft Dynamics ERP

Sri Lanka's men's wear specialists and retailers, Hameedia Mens Fashion, joined the exclusive and elite corporate segment of Microsoft Dynamics ERP and LS Retail users. The new IT business solution offers Hameedia's a deep level of integration across point of sale, store management, supply chain, merchandising and financials to address business productivity while enhancing customer service.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 has been used by 70 or more customers in Sri Lanka for the past four years since its inception in the region in 2005 Microsoft Dynamics is a fully integrated business system solution which carries the capability of cutting across areas of finance, manufacturing, trading, supply chain management, inventory management, service management and many other business critical functions.

On the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 ERP and LS Retail Hameedia Deputy Managing Director Hussain Sadique said, "Being in business for over two decades we faced various challenges with concern to incorporating an ERP solution which suited our needs best. We believe that bringing in an ERP system to our venture would assist us in a faster decision making process and help achieve the best out of our employees. Our necessities revolved around a global system which required minimum customization. Hence, we chose Sundaram Infotech Limited and Jinasena Infotech (Pvt) Ltd since they had best understood our needs and were equipped with the best set of skills to meet our requirements."

Through Broward College:

Transfer to over 4000 US, worldwide universities

In recognition of the eminent role played in delivering the US style of higher education in Sri Lanka for over sixteen years with the academic collaboration of Broward College, Florida, USA, the US accrediting Commission on Colleges, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) has approved the American College of Higher Education (ACHE) as an International Center of the Broward College. This new recognition of the ACHE marks a significant milestone of its extensive service in becoming the first ever Sri Lankan higher education institute approved by an US accrediting agency.

The academic partnership took over during a long period between the American College of higher Education and the Broward College resulted in promoting American style of education islandwide through its network of five branch campuses. A large number of students trained under this program have found placement in reputed universities in US and other countries like the UK, Australia and Canada. Almost all of them have successfully completed their studies and gainfully employed in different parts of the world. Some of them have proceeded to further education to pursue their postgraduate education.

Established in 1959, Broward College, Florida is the largest and oldest State College in Florida county which serves over 70,000 student population on three campuses in South Florida.

The major benefits of this recognition and elevation of ACHE as an International offshore campus of the Broward College are for the students and they automatically become Broward students who take part in same US curriculum (as Florida students) while attending BC classes in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, ACHE students will be entitled to gain many other benefits.

Students will be issued a Broward transcript and a Broward degree. The Broward degree is recognized worldwide and students can now transfer to over 4,000 universities and colleges in the USA and other countries, to pursue their higher studies.

The American College of Higher Education is inviting the students who seek higher education prospects in USA and their parents to attend a seminar conducted by eminent professors from Broward College on April 1 at 1 pm onwards at Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel, Colombo.

Dr. David Moore, Vice President of the International Education Program of the Broward College, Prof. Patrick Smith, Faculty Coordinator for International Education Program, India and Sri Lanka, and Prof. Mary Diaz, Coordinator of the English Education Program will provide valuable information useful for planning higher education prospects in USA.

Also opportunities are available for both students and their parents to meet these experts individually to consult on selecting their major or specialization area, entry qualifications, scholarship programs and so on.

Advance reservation is necessary as seats are limited.

FedEx among top ten

FedEx Corp. is once again among the world's most admired companies, according to a survey published in Fortune magazine.

The annual "World's Most Admired Companies" report recently released listed FedEx as the #8 ranked company, up five positions from the organization's rank in 2010. The survey measures nine attributes related to financial performance and corporate reputation.

"Recognition on the Fortune Most Admired Companies list is evidence of our team members' hard work and commitment to helping the business emerge from the economic downturn stronger than ever," said FedEx Corp Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Frederick W Smith.

"We credit this year's performance to our 285,000 FedEx team members worldwide who enable our company's success by delivering outstanding experiences every day," he said.

Since 2001, FedEx has ranked among the top 20 in the Fortune Most Admired Companies list.

FedEx also earned accolades for its reputation and culture among numerous regional rankings throughout the world and was recently named one of the "Best Companies for Leadership" by the Hay Group.