BIZ Briefs

SriLankan wins Gold award

SriLankan Airlines was awarded the Gold award for 'People Development' at the SLITAD Awards Ceremony 2014 organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Training and Development, at the Galadari recently.

The ceremony brought the leaders of people development to a single platform where their outstanding achievements in Human Resource Development were recognised and rewarded.

The award is a testimony to the results-oriented people development initiatives the Airline practices to harness and hone the professional skills of the employees.

Mobitel partners Jaffna IT Week

Mobitel will be the Official Mobile Communications Partner of 'Jaffna IT Week 2014', a youth-friendly initiative to boost the IT and BPM sector in the Northern region. Organised by SLASSCOM with the Export Development Board (EDB), Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), Ministry of Education, University of Jaffna and the Yarl IT Hub, It will be held from December 3-6.

There will be a line-up of career programs, entrepreneurship workshops and export fora. It will conclude with the biggest IT Conference to ever be held in the Northern region.

The program would showcase a wide range of opportunities available for youth who would receive the rare opportunity to be mentored and counselled by leading IT professionals and industry thought-leaders.

LG partners Google

LG Electronics of Korea has tightened its ties with Google in a patent cross-licensing agreement that is set to last for at least a decade.

The two companies will enter into a "long-term patent cross-licensing agreement."

In a statement released on LG's website, the Korean company confirmed that the agreement would cover "a broad range of products and technologies" and would apply to all patents and patents to be filed over the next 10 years - a significant timeline in terms of product releases.

Tea production drops

The national tea crop for October, 2014 saw a decrease of 2.5 million kilograms over the corresponding month last year with the low elevation showing a marked drop in production, followed by a less sharp decline in medium elevation harvests albeit the marginal increase recorded from high elevations.

October recorded unprecedented rainfall with most areas in the Southern and Sabaragamuwa provinces experiencing wet weather for almost twenty five days and sometimes more. Such conditions coupled with the lack of sun light appear to have had its impact on growth and tea production.

The crop of 283.9 mkgs produced from January to October, 2014 is 4.9 mkgs higher than what was recorded during the corresponding period last year.

Abans entertains children

To coincide with Universal Children's Day, Abans conducted a program for children aged 6 to 12 at its Kollupitiya Elite Showroom recently.

The theme of the program was 'Go Green with Abans' .

The program began with the game 'Name Train' which was an ice-breaker where the children introduced themselves in a fun way and got to know each other.

This was followed by a short educational video presentation on the environment. The main event was a handicrafts competition where the participants used only recycled materials displaying their creative talent.

A drawing competition was held using pastel colours to depict the theme 'Go Green' and the environment. This competition and the handicrafts competition was judged in two age groups, 6-8 years and 9-12 years.

Prizes were presented to the winners and runners-up of the three competitions.

BoC launches tree planting campaign

The Bank of Ceylon (BoC) launched an islandwide tree planting campaign recently as part of the Bank's 75th anniversary celebrations.

Under the Thuru Mithuru tree planting campaign 10,000 samplings were planted. The BoC planned this campaign under three categories.

Under the first category, a kilometre strip of roadside was selected in each province and chosen types of saplings were planted and will be maintained for three years.Second, saplings were distributed to schoolchildren in selected schools where BoC savings units operate.

Third, saplings were presented to customers of the Bank of Ceylon through its branch network. The main event of this program was held with the patronage of Banks' chairman Air Chief Marshal Harsha Abeywickrama and General Manager D.M. Gunasekara.

Petro Lanka Car Audio turns 30

Pecto Lanka Car Audio (Pvt) Ltd celebrated 30 years of service recently. Petco Lanka sells a range of vehicle audio equipment to installation and after sales services, Petco Lanka was a pioneer in marketing products and services that are in demand and innovative.

DFCC Vardhana Bank launches remittance service

DFCC Vardhana Bank (DVB) recently launched the Lanka Money Transfer (LMT) service.

The remittance service allows customers to transfer and receive money with ease, using only the banks that they trust.

Deputy Governor,Central Bank, P. Samarasiri, CEO, DFCC Vardhana Bank, Lakshman Silva, , CEO, DFCC Bank, Arjun Fernando and senior management of the LMT partner banks were also present.

To facilitate the LMT service, DVB partnered with a network of leading banks including the Regional Development Bank, Lanka Orix Finance PLC, HDFC Bank, Sanasa Bank, Amãna Bank and Union Bank PLC.

Pan Asia Bank honours long service employees

Pan Asia Bank, recently felicitated 42 of its long-standing team members who have been with the bank for over 15 years. The ceremony was held at the Bank's head office recently to honour those who have contributed to make Pan Asia Bank the dynamic and innovative organisation.

Tanzanian HC visits NCCSL
 

High Commissioner of Tanzania exchanges souvenirs with National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka President Sunil G Wijesinha (2nd from left), Senior Deputy President Thilak Godamanna (right) and Secretary General and CEO Bandula Dissanayake (extreme left) look on.

The Airline Academy held its 72nd awards ceremony at the Grand Oriental Hotel recently. Here a student receives an award from the chief guest Kuwait Airways District Sales Manager Sudesh Rupas-inghe. Airline Cabin Crew Instructor Mayoni Perera looks on