News in Brief

Nayana Mawilmada joins Megapolis

Nayana Mawilmada joined the Western Region Megapolis Planning Project as Head of Investments on Tuesday. The Megapolis project is the flagship project of the government aimed at a fundamental transformation of the country's Western region.

Mawilmada will function as the primary interface between the Megapolis project and potential local and international investors. He will also spearhead efforts to finalise and launch the critical investments envisioned in the plan.

AISEX from June 9-11

The Apparel Industry Suppliers Exhibition (AISEX) will be held from June 9-11 at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre (SBMEC).

It is organised by Lanka Exhibition and Conference Services (Pvt.) Ltd (LECS) and supported and endorsed by the Sri Lanka Apparel Institute and the Joint Apparel Association Forum.

AISEX hopes to provide the garment industry with the complete solutions to forge ahead. In an industry where productivity is the key to success; the impact of new innovations and inventions play a vital role in determining the success of the manufacturer.

Durdans laboratory services in Colombo 4

Durdans Hospital extended its diagnostics arm Durdans Laboratory Services to a conveniently located spacious location in Bambalapitiya recently.

The centre which functions as a sample collection centre for the hospital is in close proximity to the Bambalapitiya Flats on Galle Road.

Executive Vice President, Durdans Hospital, Upul Tudawe said, "Durdans Hospital has a proud history of 20 years in laboratory diagnostics. "Throughout this time our emphasis has been to ensure that patients and clinicians get accuracy, reliability and convenience through Durdans Laboratory Services," he said.

MyDeal.lk among top five start-ups in SL

Mydeal.lk, an e-commerce platform in Sri Lanka, launched operations in November 2011 and was conceptualised based on the group on deal concept with substantial improvements to suit the Sri Lankan market.

MyDeal.lk (Pvt) Ltd., is the parent company that holds other companies such as Mystore.lk, Myaccount.lk, My.lk, Mydeal.in, Myfare.lk and Shopping.lk. CEO Kumar Melvani, MD Damitha Ginigaddarage and Group Director - CMO Mehraj Sally are the creators of this business.

The company ranks among the top five start-ups in Sri Lanka on startupranking.com and was ranked among the top e-commerce companies in Sri Lanka on alexa.com, a website that monitors online traffic on websites and ranks them based on the daily page views per visitor, bounce rate, daily time spent on site and other factors of online traffic.

NDB’s Shilpa wins runner-up award

NDB won the runner-up award for Effectiveness in the Retail Touchpoints and Merchandising Category at the ACEF Awards in Mumbai, India recently.

The award was received on behalf of the Bank by its Assistant Vice President – Marketing, Sanjaya Senarath.

Senarath said, “We are honoured and humbled to be recognised by CEF. NDB’s brainchild. Shilpa began as a result of understanding that every parent’s dream is to give his child the best education.”

“The Bank worked hard to take this product across and reached out to parents and children island-wide. We are continuing our efforts to take this forward,” he said. Shilpa is not merely a children’s savings account, but a comprehensive financial proposition that provides for a child’s education throughout his/her childhood while instilling the savings habit in them.

Cargills Bank appoints new MD/CEO

Cargills Bank recently appointed Prabhu Mathavan as the new Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer. Mathavan is a Chartered Accountant with extensive professional and commercial experience. Having commenced his career at PWC, he worked in local and multinational environments before joining Cargills (Ceylon) PLC where he was the Finance Director for several years before taking up office as Deputy CEO/CFO of Cargills Bank in 2014. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce and is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK.Mathavan serves on the main Board of Cargills (Ceylon) PLC and several subsidiary companies.

The Board of Directors of Cargills Bank Ltd comprises Chairman L. R. Page, Deputy Chairman V. R. Page, Managing Director and CEO P. S. Mathavan and Directors E. M. M. Boyagoda, W. K. F. de Silva, M. O. F. Salieh and R. A. Ebell.

Effie Awards: Lowe Sri Lanka - Agency of the Year

Lowe Sri Lanka was recognised as the ‘Most Effective Agency of the Year’ on the back of its impressive awards tally at the Effie Awards ceremony at the Water’s Edge, recently.

Lowe bagged metals for Marmite, Knorr and LOLC and finalist awards for Fair and Lovely Max Fairness, Vaseline and Vim.

Chief Executive Officer, Lowe Sri Lanka, Hari Krishnan said, “Creativity has only one purpose in advertising and that is effectiveness. And no agency network believes in that more than Lowe. The proof of that is the fact that we have been the highest ranked in the Global Effie Index consistently for the past few years.”

“It is a matter of great pride and honour that we have been recognised for effectiveness in Sri Lanka as well,” he said.

ComBank signs agreement with Bank Muscat Oman

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon recently formalised its tie-up with Bank Muscat Oman to facilitate remittances to Sri Lanka via its new mobile banking app, with the signing of an agreement in Muscat.

The mobile app makes it possible for users to send cash remittances to recipients in Sri Lanka or transfer money to accounts at Commercial Bank 24/7. The agreement between the two banks was signed by Deputy General Manager, Institutional Sales and Product Development, Bank Muscat, Abdullah Tamman Al Mashani and Assistant General Manager, Operations, Commercial Bank, Palitha Perera.

Browns Agriculture clinches four awards

Browns Agri Division retained the President’s Trophy at the TAFE International Distributors Business Conference in Chennai, India recently.

The conference also acts as a platform to recognise star players in the agriculture industry. The Chairman’s Trophy takes a holistic view of the overall performance of a distributor; marketing, systems, customer service, distributorship, team strength and after sales service, a company press release said. The company also bagged the Best Sales Performance Trophy, New Product/Eco System and Performance Trophy, Long Association Award and was first runner-up for Service Excellence.

Institute of Hospitality and Banking launched

Minister for Tourism John Amaratunga recently launched the Swiss Institute of Hospitality and Banking amidst a gathering including Swiss Ambassador Heinz Walker-Nederkoorn, Chairman, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Samantha Ranatunga, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, Paddy Withane, industry veterans Prema Cooray, Chandra Mohotti and Malraj Kiriella. Here Bart Ferwerda, Head of Operations Swiss Hospitality Management Academy Lucerne, Prof. Sebastian Wörwag, Chairman, Academic Council and President, University of Applied Science St. Gallen, Swiss Ambassador Heinz Walker, Nederkoorn, Michael Bardon, Deputy CEO Swiss Institute, Andrea Kuhn-Senn, Head of International Business Development at BBZ Academy for Banking in Switzerland and Chairwoman of IWMSDB, and Dr Rohith Delilkhan, CEO Swiss Institute.