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ACBT students graduate with globally recognized qualifications

As a leader in Australian education, ACBT which offers university and postgraduate degrees from Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia ,recently held their graduation ceremony at Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo, where 104 students received their Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Science Degrees from Edith Cowan University Australia, 35 students received the Master of Business Administration International from Edith Cowan University Australia, and 140 students received their Diploma of Business and Diploma of Computing .

At the graduation

The chief guest at this occasion was Professor Ron Oliver Pro; Vice Chancellor Teaching and Learning of Edith Cowan University Australia , along with the guest of honour the Associate Professor Helen Vella Bona Vita, the Associate Dean of the Edith Cowan University Australia, while the special guests at the ceremony were Dr. Anne Harris Acting Associate Dean Faculty of Business Law, Edith Cowan University Australia and Liz John, Business Manager, Faculty of Computing Health and Science, Edith Cowan University Australia.

The other dignitaries who attended the function included, College Director Pubudu Alahakoon, Academic Director Colleen Kent, Deputy Academic Director Sunimal Wickramasinghe and Academic Faculty Academic Services Manager, Geetha Chandrasiri and the senior management staff from ACBT also participated in this event.

ACBT was also awarded their five best students for 2010, in recognition of their consistent, exceptional academic achievements. This consisted of Fathima Rizna Bishri for the Master of Business Administration (International), Bachelor of Business, Rayendra Karunarathne, Bachelor of Science, Harshan Chamindanath Fernando, Diploma of Business for Chrishan Thivanka Smith and Diploma of Computing, to Hashan Chaminda Sirisena. The graduation ceremony was an emotional moment for the family members of the students as their loved ones went on stage to receive their certificates.

It included students that come from diverse backgrounds and situations, who have made a significant commitment to improve their lives through the ACBT degree, often juggling work, family and finances to realize their dreams, which also highlights the flexibility offered by the institute.

This year over 300 students and their parents attended this graduation, which also included many foreign students, making the number of graduates who received their degrees and diplomas nearly double that of the year before.

This was a proud recognition and testimonial of ACBT's qualification that goes beyond not only a Degree or a Diploma, but also provides their students the necessary tools to prepare them to face the challenges and complexities that await them in their professional careers and provide opportunities for employment both locally and internationally through their connection with the Navitas Group that offers quality university pathway programmes.

The College Director, Pubudu Alahakoon said that this was indeed an event for celebration. He congratulated and commended the graduates for their significant achievements and also mentioned that this was only the first step and milestone in their journey to success, where they will be able to reap the benefits of having a truly valuable qualification that is globally recognized and have the confidence that they posses the talent and the necessary skills, to utilize their knowledge to be leaders in their chosen professions.

He said that ACBT was proud of the fact that every year they have had the privilege to nurture and produce. graduates, who can compete with the best in their fields in Business Administration, IT and marketing.

Alahakoon also thanked the Edith Cowan University, Australia for the support extended by them throughout the years, for bringing Sri Lankan students the much needed access to a quality Australian education, that is available to a wide cross section of students at affordable prices.

He pointed out that ACBT strives to provide first class learning opportunities for their students and this is evident from the caliber of this year's graduates.

Founded on safety, efficacy commitment to quality:

Link Samahan achieves success

Link Samahan, one of Sri Lanka's most sought-after remedies for upper respiratory viral infections and allergic symptoms, has achieved phenomenal success within a short space of time. The product's safety and efficacy, as well as the company's commitment to quality are the crucial factors contributing to its success. New research will focus on the immunologic basis for the product's well-established prophylactic and preventive benefits.

Link Samahan

Fundamental to any medicinal product are its safety, efficacy and quality. In Link Samahan safety and efficacy are assured because the 14 herbs used in its manufacture have had their efficacy and safety established not only through several centuries of use, but also through independently conducted modern scientific research. The formulation of these herbs in Link Samahan has been supervised by an expert team comprising Ayurvedic physicians, research scientists and technologists.

Link Samahan is available in over 30 countries including India, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, USA, Latvia and Ukraine. And recently, the Healthcare Authority in Canada has permitted the import of Link Samahan into that country after two years of exhaustive independent quality assurance tests.

The strong commitment of Link Natural Products (Pvt) Ltd to the wisdom of traditional Ayurveda is another major contributory factor towards the efficacy of Link Samahan. Link Natural Products has drawn knowledge and experience from the age-old traditional Ayurvedic methods in formulating Link Samahan. These Ayurvedic principles have been perfectly integrated with modern science and technology, ensuring quality at every stage of manufacture. The entire manufacturing process is regulated by a series of quality assurance checks at strategic points, from the selection and storage of raw materials, to packaging in triple-laminated impermeable sachets, local distribution and international marketing.

Flood victims in North, East:

SLT, Mobitel and public donate Rs 5 m

Sri Lanka Telecom and Mobitel, the nation's leading integrated communications service providers handed over a cheque worth Rs. 5,000,000 to aid flood victims in Sri Lanka's Northern and Eastern districts.

The cheque being presented to the President by SLT Chairman Nimal Welgama, SLT CEO Greg Young and Mobitel CEO Suren Amarasekera

The cheque was presented by SLT Chairman Nimal Welgama, the SLT CEO Greg Young and Mobitel CEO Suren Amarasekera to the President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Also at the event were the Communication and IT Minister, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya and Permanent Secretary to the Minister Nimal Athukorale.

The funds were raised by the company and its employees with the aid of the public who all made contributions through an SMS campaign to aid those affected by the floods. This donation follows a series of fundraising efforts by SLT and Mobitel to help assist those suffering most as a result of the floods. SLT and Mobitel worked in close co-operation with the Telecommunication and Information Technology Ministry to aid the flood victims.

The severe flooding of the northern and the eastern regions has had a devastating impact on SLT employees and customers alike. In an effort to provide relief and support to fellow Sri Lankans in need, SLT worked closely with government officials to provide aid to areas in Sri Lanka most seriously affected by the floods. This donation follows prior efforts by SLT and Telecom to provide relief for flood victims. The company also offered free of charge calls via their Regional Telecom Centres and Maintenance Centres for those living in the affected regions and provided camps that housed the flood victims with CDMA phones with access to free calls to enable communications.

Earlier this year, SLT called upon all employees to help raise money for dry rations to assist those dealing with the barrage of constant floods experienced in the North and East.

The public, and employees of both SLT and Mobitel joined together to raise Rs. 1,000,000 worth of dry rations, in addition to this, SLT and Mobitel initiated an SMS campaign that matched every Rs. 10 donation made by the public.

SLT Chairman Nimal Welgama said, "SLT and Mobitel have come together to support those affected by this year's devastating floods. We are happy to see our customers and members of staff uniting in an effort to help fellow Sri Lankans through hardships brought on by the floods. We hope this donation serves to provide the necessary assistance to those suffering the most in the affected regions."

Telecommunication and IT Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said, "It is a wonderful testament to the spirit of Sri Lankans, to see large blue chip companies such as SLT and Mobitel and all their employees uniting to assist in the rehabilitation of flood victims. It is encouraging to see industry giants such as SLT and Mobitel stepping forward to assist members of the community who are facing great challenges due to the destruction caused by the recent floods."

Sierra Global first in Mullaitivu

Sierra Global Network Private Limited, one of the leading telecommunication infrastructure development and managed services companies has established its latest regional office in Mullaitivu to cater to the growing needs of the newly liberated area.

Sierra has been proactively working in the Northern Province assisting telecom operators to expand their networks. Amongst many telecommunication infrastructure development projects, Sierra has successfully constructed the fibre optic cable network of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) from Jaffna exchange to Vavuniya exchange in the past which will give a seamless broadband connection from Colombo directly to Jaffna. Further, Sierra has successfully completed the 3G/GSM expansion project in Jaffna Peninsula for Mobitel at the beginning of 2009. Through this project Mobitel has managed to provide the coverage to the entire Jaffna Peninsula even before the end of the war. Further, Sierra is maintaining the Suntel CDMA network as well as Airtel 3G/GSM network in the Northern Province as part of company's managed services portfolio.

"Sierra Global has been a strategic partner of Huawei since we set up the company in Sri Lanka. We are pleased to see Sierra Global extending its regional office network across the Northern Province providing a more efficient service towards its clientale. Since launching of Airtel's 3G/GSM service to the Northern Province last year, Sierra Global has been maintaining the Airtel base stations located in Jaffna, Mannar, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Mullaitivu through Huawei. I wish all the best in opening of Sierra Global's new office in Mullaitivu, and hope this will reinforce our working relationship particularly in the Managed Services Project covering the North region" said Huawei Technologies Lanka Limited CEO Austin Wang.

"Establishing a regional office in Mullaitivu would enable Sierra Global to serve Suntel better" said Suntel Limited Managing Director Jeremy Huxtable appreciating the good work undertaken by Sierra Global by maintaining the CDMA base stations of Suntel in the Northern Province over past 12 months.

"This is the first office to be set up in Mullaitivu from private sector which shows our commitment to the development of newly liberated areas. It is significant to note that we were the first to move in to Kilinochchi too back in September last year. Sierra has been actively serving the North region over the past three decades and maintained its permanent office in Jaffna where construction of towers, fibre optic cable networks as well as the new Court Complex, Technical College, road constructions were successfully undertaken.

Adding the latest office in Mullaitivu will further strengthen Sierra's ability to pioneer in forthcoming developments in the region which are planned under Uthuru Wasanthaya and number of various other programs" Director and CEO Dr Arosha Fernando after his recent visit to Mullaitivu.

LOLC Factors goes to Jaffna

Lanka ORIX Leasing Company PLC., has brought working capital financial solutions to the people of Jaffna. At a ceremony held at the LOLC Jaffna branch, LOLC Factors Ltd CEO Graham Lawrence, participated as chief guest and handed initial transactions to customers.

LOLC officials with customers at the launch of working capital financial solutions to the customers of North. LOLC Factors Ltd CEO Graham Lawrence. (far right second) with LOLC Jaffna branch Manager Nadarajah Ramanathan (far left) and LOLC Jaffna branch Marketing Executive Rasiah Suthaharan (far left second)

Lawrence said, "At LOLC we get closer to the hearts of the people through our widespread branch network. We have been able to understand the minds of the people we serve. Hence, we have been able to successfully formulate products and services which meet their working capital financial requirements."

He said that by providing new financial solutions to businesses in this area the company has attracted a strong client base from the Northern region. "Clients in the North were not able to access any source of working capital funding over the last few decades. With the cessation of the war and the opening up of this market, the demand for such flexible products has seen an exponential growth. Northern clients who have been utilizing these products since late last year have shown strong credit and repayment values. We were able to understand their financial requirements and provide solutions that best address their requirements," he said.

"Since our formal launch of working capital financial solutions in the North, we have received an enormous response from its fast developing business community." said Lawrence. He expressed his confidence that with LOLC's presence in the North, the SME sector of this region is set to experience an upward development.

Dining specials with American Express cards

A couple dining.

American Express, the Credit Card acquired and issued solely by Nations Trust Bank PLC recently launched the Dining Specials Campaign - a culinary adventure offered in partnership with a select range of 18 cafes and restaurants exclusively to the American Express Cardmembers.

Chief Manager American Express Cards Lewie Diasz said, "We are delighted to bring forth a promotion of this nature designed to fulfill and enhance the dining experience of our Cardmembers. We hope that Cardmembers will make full use of this offer to treat themselves to the wide variety of cuisines available at our partner restaurants."

Cardmembers can enjoy up to 50 percent savings at a wide array of restaurants from Japanese, Indian, Arabic, Seafood, Italian to Thai in addition to popular hangout spots and coffee houses. The Dining Specials programme features the popular 1 for 1 dining offer at Alhambra restaurant - The Ramada, Cafe Che, Coco Citrine, Naniyori, Park Street Mews and Siam House.

A 25 percent savings at the Commons Coffee House and a 20 percent savings at Burger Blast, Jack Tree and Train spotter - Global Towers, 15 percent savings are at Bollywood Express, HVN - Casa Colombo, Eastern Wok, The Golden Mile, Lemon Grass, Prima Taste, Soprano's and at the Tandoor - Ceylon Continental Hotel. The special savings are available until the May 31, 2011.