Biz Briefs

A legend moves on . . .

After almost 48 years at the helm of the organisation he founded in 1968, Mineka P. Wickramasingha retired from the position of Chairman of Ceylon Biscuits (CBL) Group.

The current Deputy Chairman, Ramya Wickramasingha was elected by the Board as the new Chairman of the Group. Mineka Wickramasingha will continue to mentor the group in his new role as President Emeritus. He transformed the business he created in 1968 to a food conglomerate that today employs over 5,000 people.

PIM pioneers MBA-T

The Postgraduate Institute of Management with the Department of Inland Revenue, recently launched its newest program, MBA in Taxation (MBA-T).

Finance Ministry and Treasury Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga was the chief guest and Commissioner General of the Inland Revenue, Mrs. Kalyani Dahanayake was the guest of honour.

Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga expressed his satisfaction over the decision taken by the Inland Revenue Department to enhance the skills and competencies of the officials of the Inland Revenue Department through the MBA-T program. Mrs. Kalyani Dahanayake said that the time has come to enhance the managerial abilities of the officials of the Inland Revenue Department.

Indigenous healthcare expo

The three-day Ayurveda Expo 2015 at the BMICH, Colombo, concludes today. It is conducted by the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medicine with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Export Development Board, Board of Investment, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and Department of Commerce.

The exhibition is being conducted for the fifth time. Public seminars on ayurveda and indigenous medicine is also a part of the exhibition. Foreign delegates including visitors from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Japan and China visited the exhibition over the past two days.

Infotel 2015 in November

The Federation of IT industry Sri Lanka will organise INFOTEL 2015 on the theme 'Connecting Citizens' from November 20-22 at the BMICH, Colombo.

The IT exhibition, one of South Asia's oldest expositions, is expected to attract over 100,000 visitors. There will be over 200 stalls covering nine sectors including software, hardware and digital devices, telecommunications, cloud computing and computer gaming. The key objective of this year's exhibition is to mobilise the resources available for the creation of a knowledge hub and position Sri Lankan IT products, so as to showcase their technological advancements and innovations.

Etisalat hosts IT forum

Etisalat Lanka recently hosted the Enterprise IT Forum for enterprise customers on the theme 'Future Enterprise Business with Total Mobility' at The Kingsbury, Colombo.

IT heads of key corporate establishments, national and government institutions and corporate clients were present.

Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Lanka, Wail Salman outlined the significance of mobility and the current trends in the Sri Lankan telecommunications industry.

"The workplaces of tomorrow are all about the progressive technology of mobility," he said.

Bearings and Spares turns 26
 

Bearings and Spares (Pvt) Ltd., importers and islandwide distributors of Japanese and French SNR roller bearings, celebrated its 26th anniversary recently. The company opened a branch at the BMC building, Sangaraja Mawatha, Colombo 10 to mark the occasion. Leading Sri Lankan and foreign industrialists were present. Group Director of the company, Dilhan Perera said that a special feature of the new outlet, in that it is a 24-hour, 365 days service, the first of its kind in the island's bearing industry. The main branches of the company are at Kandana and Mt. Lavinia. Here Managing Director, NTN Bearing, Singapore, Mathiev Ollier, lights the oil lamp. Manager, NTN Bearing Singapore, Greg Tan looks on.

Akbar Brothers wins IFS quiz competition

The quiz team of Akbar Brothers (Pvt) Limited emerged winners of a tightly contested IFS Mind Masters Quiz competition at the Dutch Burgher Union recently. The competition was organised by IFS as an evening of friendly competition and fellowship to bring together the large community of customers and users using IFS Applications in Sri Lanka. The competition featured five rounds covering sports, entertainment, current affairs, business and technology which was conducted via an online quiz portal. It was hosted by IFS staff . Here winners receive the IFS Mind Masters Plaque. Standing from left: Zainab Abbas, Fasly Munawwar and Anson Krishan Fernando of Akbar Brothers, President and CEO, IFS Sri Lanka, Jayantha de Silva and Hussain Akbarally of Akbar Brothers.

Huawei P8 smartphones in Lanka

Huawei's latest smartphone, Huawei P8 will be available only in limited qauntities in Sri Lanka and consumers should pre-book them to avoid disappointment. The smartphone will also be available with selected authorised Huawei retail partners in the country.

Country Head, Huawei Device Sri Lanka, Henry Liu said, "Combining technology, fashion, humanity and art, the Huawei P8 is the best light painting camera on a smartphone. A perfect balance between technology, sleek style and usability, the smartphone is set to make a stunning debut in the country soon." Marketing Manager, Huawei Sri Lanka, Stanley Mascarenhas said, "The P8 can be described as the world's first four-colour imaging camera including dark light capturing and light painting features and is supported by good connectivity with dual antennas and knuckle-sense technology."