January 2018 - Lanka Business News

January 31, 2018

Solanra Pvt Ltd has met their target of contributing to the national electricity grid with 1000 kilo watts power within one year using German made Jurawatt solar panels. Solanra commissioned in 2012 is the sole agent in Sri Lanka for Jurawatt solar panels, world’s number one German solar panel for tropical countries and geographical locations with desserts.

Solanra Pvt Ltd recently held a felicitation ceremony at Grand Monarch hotel, Thalawatugoda to appreciate its loyal customers towards the object of adding 1000 kilowatts electricity to the national grid before end of 2017. The event was graced by Solanra Company’s CEO Mr. Kingsley Jayawardene, who is a senior electrical engineer and an experienced consultant in renewable energy for European countries.

Each Jurawatt solar panel installed by the Solanra has a 35 year warranty. These solar panels are the most suited ones for extram climatic and geographical conditions that prevail in Sri Lanka.

Jurawatt solar panels have many unique attributes that other solar panels being used in the country do not have. Its core competency is it has 125 centigrade Maximum Absorb Temperature. Usually in Sri Lanka absorbed solar panels temperature increases above 80 centigrade. Solar panels with the capacity to absorb higher temperature fail in functioning as a result and reduce their lifetime by years.

In addition, the Austrian made Fronius Inverter used with Juarawatt solar panels has the ability to generate power even at a time when there is very little sunlight. It generates power from 6am to 6pm. Thus it is super flex design and perfect answer to irregularly shaped or different roof orientations and Fronius inverter has WLAN or Ethernet internet connection to monitor remotely..

Jurawatt solar panel also has ‘self-cleaning’ mechanism to clean bird droppings and dust plus the strength to safeguard its components against animals like monkeys that intrude. All components are made in Germany and the frame around the solar panel is made with special Aluminium alloy material with a warranty. In addition Jurawatt panels generate 30 percent more power when compared with common solar panels in the market.

Mr. Shirley Jayawardene, Managing Director, Solanra Pvt Ltd commented, “Jurawatt solar panel sold by our company is the best product for tropical countries and it is already endorsed by our loyal customers and service providers who are being felicitated today”.

He added, “We constantly receive new orders for Jurawatt solar panels due to referrals by our existence customers. They spread the good news about our product amongst their peers. Our CEO, Mr. Kingsley Jayawardene who is the founder of the company is a senior electrical engineer and a senior consultant in renewable energy for European countries, UK ,Germany ,Sweden, India and China. He is an expert in the sphere who knows what product is best for Sri Lanka. Hence our customers could rely on Jurawatt solar panels and they could consider themselves as winners.”

“Common solar panels in the marketplace could absorb only a temperature of 85 centigrade. But in many seasons we experience temperature rising to greater levels. You can experience that by touching the body of a vehicle parked in the hot sun. Hence a solar panel that has the capacity to absorb temperature up to 125 centigrade is the ideal one for the Sri Lankan context. Less powerful solar panels malfunction within a short period of time. There has not been a single complaint by customers on Jurawatt solar panels to date. Jurawatt solar panel generates more power and has the strength to defend itself against any climatic conditions, winds and intruding animals”.

January 31, 2018

Nadina Fernando (Centre Left), Marketing Manager for Elephant House Beverages handing over the sponsorship to MCA President Roshan Iddamalgoda (Centre Right). Looking on is P.K. Abeygunasekera, Asst. Manager Technical for Ceylon Cold Stores PLC, Nalin Wickremasinghe, General Secretary of the MCA, Rohan Somawansa, Executive Committee Member and Sponsorship Committee Member of the MCA, and Sujeewa de Silva, Chairman of the Tournament Committee of the MCA.

January 31, 2018

The Fairway National Literary Award competition reached a successful conclusion on the 26^th of January at the Fairway Galle Literary Festival. The award ceremony took place at 5.30 pm at the Fairway Pavilion in the Galle Fort. Present at the event as chief guest was the Honorable Minister of Finance and Media, Mr. Mangala Samaraweera. Several other Cabinet Ministers were also present as guests of honor.

The Fairway National Literary Award is the only competition of its kind that accommodates all three main languages of Sri Lanka. The panels of judges selected a total of 13 novels for the shortlists – five from the Sinhala language category and four each from the English and Tamil language categories. Each shortlisted novelist in each language category received a cash prize of Rs.100,000, while the eventual winner of each language category received a cash prize of Rs.500,000. The winner of the Sinhala category was Pandaka Puthra Wasthuwa by Anurasiri Hettige, while Theniyaan the author of Ethanam claimed the prize in the Tamil category. The winning novel in the English category was The Other One authored by Amanda Jay.

The judges for the English language category are; Ranjani Obeyesekere – academic, literary critic and translator in the fields of literature, and theatre and performance, ‘Jolly’ Somasundaram – retired civil servant, writer, playwright, and film and literary critic, and Arun Welandawe–Prematilleke – actor, playwright, director and specialist in immersive theatre.

The shortlisted novels in the English language category –

‘Dutugemunu: Prince of Destiny’ by Rukmani Samaranayake,

‘Song of the Sun God’ by Shankari Chandran,

‘Wrath of Kali: The Dark Side of God’ by Mario Perera

‘The Other One’ by Amanda Jay.

The panel of judges for the Sinhala language category comprises of Gamini Viyangoda – writer, translator, social activist and political columnist, Buddhadasa Galappaththi – poet, writer, award winning columnist and stage drama make-up artist, and Prabha Manuratne – academic and literary critic championing feminist theory, Marxism and psychoanalysis.

The novels that have been shortlisted were –

‘Handha Paluwa Thani Tharuwa’ by Nishshanka Wijemanna,

‘Yakada Silpara’ by Wimal Udaya Hapugodaarachchi,

‘Garunda Muhurthaya ‘by Keerthi Welisarage,

‘Pandaka Puthra Wasthuwa’ by Anurasiri Hettige

‘Nikini Kaluwara’ by Deepthi Mangala Rajapaksha.

The Tamil language category’s judging panel comprises of V. Maheswaran – academic and award-winning writer, Sumathy Sivamohan – academic, award winning film-maker, writer, performer, playwright and poet, and M. S. M. Anes – academic, writer and translator in the areas of philosophy, culture, music and folklore.

The four shortlisted novels were –

‘Thazhumbu’ by M. Balasingham,

‘Kulaimurisal’ by J. Wahabdeen,

‘Ethanam’ by Theniyaan

‘Neenthik Kadantha Nerupparu’ by N. Yohendranathan.

The primary purpose of the Fairway National Literary Award competition is to recognize, encourage and reward excellent creative writing in Sri Lanka. Organized, sponsored and presented by Fairway Holdings, the competition has become increasingly popular and the announcement of the winners for 2017 was eagerly awaited.

January 31, 2018

Life insurance leader launches new awareness campaign to promote family bonding; plans mega Family Fun event in Colombo

Ceylinco Life’s continuing emphasis on the importance of families spending quality time together has found new expression in the latest communication campaign launched by Sri Lanka’s life insurance market leader.

Building up to another mega family fun event conceptualised, organised and funded by the company, the two-month long campaign seeks to create wider awareness of the harmful effects of parents and children being obsessed with education to the extent where the wellbeing of the children becomes secondary.

Themed ‘Children First, Education Next,’ the awareness campaign is to be carried out in print, electronic, social and digital media throughout February and March, and will underscore the importance of giving children the time, space and freedom to think freely, spend time with family and to enjoy their precious childhood.

Going beyond mere messaging, Ceylinco Life has announced it will back the campaign up with a signature event for 300 families in Colombo in August to demonstrate the value of wholesome family fun.

“As a company that is engaged in a relationship for life with close to a million families, Ceylinco Life has an insight into society’s pressing issues,” the company’s Managing Director Mr R. Renganathan explained. “One issue that is of increasing concern is the intense pressure on children to perform at examinations. This is depriving them of the chance to be children and to spend time with their parents and siblings. The ‘Children First, Education Next’ campaign is designed to address this issue.”

In order to select families for the ‘Mega Family Fun Day’ in Colombo in August, Ceylinco Life will conduct a draw for all new policyholders who purchase life insurance between 1^st February and 30^th April 2018, the company said.

The event will comprise of magic shows, rides and slides, bouncers, a merry-go-round, trampolines, face painting, games and many other fun activities for the entire family.

One of the highlights of the event will be a draw at which one participating family will win a visit to Universal Studios Singapore courtesy of Ceylinco Life, and four other families will win weekend packages to a star-class hotel in Sri Lanka.

Adjudged Sri Lanka’s Best Life Insurer in 2017 for the fourth consecutive year by World Finance, Ceylinco Life has been market leader in Sri Lanka’s life insurance sector since 2004 and has close to a million lives covered by active policies. The company is acknowledged as the benchmark for innovation in the local insurance industry for its work in product research and development, customer service, professional development and corporate social responsibility.

January 30, 2018

Commercially launched just 2 years ago, PAYable has established itself as the service provider of choice for cashless transaction solutions. Having ended 2018 on a high, with over Rs. 1.5Bn worth of transactions processed, PAYable kicked off 2018 with a relocation to a new facility in the heart of Colombo.

Located on the 4^th floor of the Huejay Court, Colombo 03, the location was chosen for the PAYable offices based on the need for a central location easily accessed by customers and banks, as well as to offer space for the company’s growing team.

Currently facilitating a central team of almost 70 employees, the PAYable office was designed to combine the look and feel of a high-end start-up with the latest technology and security solutions, making for an inspiring and motivating environment for employees and visitors alike.

Designed to empower Micro, Small and Medium sized enterprises (MSME’s), PAYable provides solutions that effectively minimize all barriers to the adoption of credit and debit card acceptance. Since its inception, the company has empowered over 8000 vendors with the ability accept credit and debit card payments and grown the acceptance of credit and debit cards by merchants across Sri Lanka by over 30%.

January 30, 2018

Thayalan Bartlett, Chief Executive Officer of MullenLowe Sri Lanka

January 30, 2018

Members of the Association of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ACAN) at the IFRS training programme in Colombo organised by CA Sri Lanka. Also in the picture are; ACAN President Mr. Hari Kumar Silwal and CA Sri Lanka's President Mr. Jagath Perera, Vice President Mr. Manil Jayesinghe, immediate Past President Mr. Lasantha Wickremasinghe, CEO Mr. Aruna Alwis and resource personnel Mr. Tishan Subasinghe, Ms. Shakila Perera and Mr. Rajith Perera

January 30, 2018

Mahaweli Reach Hotel (MRH), reputed as the first hotel to achieve 5-star status in Kandy, recently marked another milestone in the Hospitality and Tourism Industry of Sri Lanka by becoming the first hotel to be certified as a CarbonConscious^®, WaterConscious^® and WasteConscious^® Hotel. The certifications were awarded to MRH by The Sustainable Future Group (SFG) – a leading sustainability validation, verification and certification services provider, as a result of the Hotel committing to a long-term programme of measuring, managing, and mitigating their overall environmental footprint.

The Conscious^® range is part of a proprietary, diverse range of certifications developed by SFG following internationally accepted standards and protocols to measure, manage and mitigate/enhance key environmental impact areas such as carbon, water, waste and biodiversity. In obtaining the certifications, MRH partnered with The Carbon Consulting Company (CCC) for expert assistance in first identifying specific areas the Hotel should focus on that would be directly aligned with the business’ sustainability and corporate goals. Subsequently, in-depth audits were conducted to assess MRH’s impact baseline, and relevant Environmental Data Recording and Monitoring Systems were also implemented. As part of the certification requirements, an internal Sustainability Team was formed to brainstorm ideas and to drive footprint mitigation initiatives whilst tracking progress through comprehensive management plans.

Commenting on their latest achievement, Mr. Jayantha Panabokke, Managing Director of Mahaweli Reach, said, “The efforts of our staff and management team, with the help of The Carbon Consulting Company, have made our vision of becoming a sustainable business entity a reality. We can now uphold our founder’s vision of providing an unforgettable Sri Lankan holiday experience to our guests, whilst at the same time mitigating our impact on the planet. Our commitment to provide excellence and quality is strengthened as we begin this journey of sustainability and bring Mahaweli Reach and the tourism industry of Sri Lanka into the 21^st Century.”

Sanith De Silva Wijeyeratne, CEO of CCC, stated, “We’re proud to have Mahaweli Reach join the esteemed ranks of sustainable hotels in Sri Lanka, showing that tradition and caring for the environment are not mutually exclusive. Marking a turning point for the tourism industry in Sri Lanka, this new milestone for this prominent hotel is a testament to the openness of its management to adapt to pressing global changes and requirements whilst maintaining the intrinsic values of the founders of the Hotel. Their commitment to the community and environment will go a long way in achieving sustainability in the country, bringing Sri Lanka one step closer to achieving a more sustainable future.”

MRH is no stranger to sustainability however, with the Hotel organising several initiatives annually. Their activities are focused around five key themes – investing in people; providing additional support to members of staff; educating local youth; preserving the environment; and promoting well-being amongst the community. Special attention has been given to employing sustainable and ethical business practices within the Hotel’s operations as well. As a responsible corporate citizen engaged in the hospitality business for over forty years, and having realised the magnitude of influence this industry can have on our society, MRH has prioritised sustainability as a vital component of their business strategy.

January 30, 2018

DFCC Bank opened a new branch at Nivithigala thereby growing their network to 138 fully-fledged branches across the country. Centrally located at Ratnapura Road, Nivithigala, the newest branch will boast weekend banking on Saturdays from 1 am to 9 pm, offering convenience for residents in the area to access retail banking products and services even on weekends. The CEO of DFCC Bank, Lakshman Silva, performed the formal inauguration ritual on the momentous occasion and the branch opening was conducted in the customary manner in presence of senior management of DFCC Bank, the staff of the new Nivithigala branch and a warm gathering of loyal customers and well-wishers.

“We remain committed to expanding our geographical reach by opening branches in important townships which reflect the demand for DFCC’s signature products and services. Nivithigala is a thriving city with an immense economic promise and we believe that the new DFCC branch will help residents in the city to realise their aspirations by taking advantage of our commercial and development banking expertise,” said Lakshman Silva – CEO, DFCC Bank.

The new fully-fledged branch in Nivithigala provides customers with unparalleled service ranging from savings and deposit options based on their personal financial priorities, as well as current accounts, personal loans, leasing facilities, foreign currency remittances, funds management through NRFC/RFC accounts, credit cards and pawning services. Corporate customers can access multiple fund management options through DFCC Bank’s diverse financial services, and also access loans and leasing facilities to grow their business.

The Nivithigala Branch can be contacted on the following telephone numbers: 0452279292, 0452278610 and 0452278611 (Fax).

January 30, 2018

Monday 29^th January 2018, Colombo: As part of its annual CSR project, the charitable foundation, My Friend, distributed school packs to students from eight schools around the country. Inspired by the idea – “Proper education is the key to overcome any challenge in life’, My Friend stepped forward to donate much-needed school packs to ensure children stay in school. On 30^th December 2017, students from Kandawala Navodya M.V; Kothalawalapura M.V; Rathmalan Hindu College; Dehiwala Tamil M.V; Darmarama M.V; Aththadassi Vidyalaya; St. Anthony’s School and Thelawala Rahula M.V joyously received school packs handed over by My Friend. The school packs consisted of School Bags, Shoe Vouchers, Exercise Books, Water Bottles and Lunch Boxes.

Commenting on the event, Fouzul Hameed – Founder of Myfriend foundation & Managing Director, Hameedia, said, “There can be no doubt that only a proper education can help the nation’s youth overcome any challenge and My Friend has taken on the responsibility to keep children in school by donating essential school needs, just so that students do not drop out because they cannot afford these basic supplies. Now that My Friend has looked after these needs, students can now turn their focus on studies. Committed to ‘Helping Kids Stay in School’, My Friend currently works with many schools in helping needy children obtain a decent education to become responsible citizens of the future. The My Friend Project sponsors, supports and encourages children to learn and educate themselves.”

My Friend is a project that solely focuses on providing an education to the underprivileged and marginalized children of our society, regardless of cast, creed or religion. The project is the brainchild of Sri Lanka’s premier menswear designer and men’s fashion consultant, Fouzul Hameed, who takes his parents legacy of helping the needy one-step further with the My Friend project.

In the past, ‘My Friend’ has funded thousands of less-fortunate school children, helping them overcome financial obstacles to pursue their schooling. It has also conducted many sustainability and environmental initiatives. It has also made positive contributions to schools, Ayurveda hospitals and elders homes to enhance the facilities for the residents. Its projects have helped to achieve social integration and infused new hope for the beneficiaries. My Friend” Foundation has always been on the forefront of expanding its reach to less fortunate children, and will continuously do so in the future.

Older Posts

Solanra Pvt Ltd, the sole agent for German made Jurawatt Solar panels contributes to the national electricity grid with 1000 kilowatts power in 2017

15th ‘Elephant House Lemonade’ Trophy kicks off

The Fairway National Literary Competition Concludes in Tremendous Success

Ceylinco Life urges Sri Lankans to put ‘Children First, Education Next’

PAYable launches new corporate facility

MullenLowe Attributes 2017 Success to “Pure Growth”

CA Sri Lanka takes lead in educating Nepal’s Chartered Accountants on IFRS implementation

Another First for Iconic Hill Capital Hotel

DFCC Bank opens a full service branch in Nivithigala

My Friend’s empowers underprivileged students to stay in school