business Sri Lanka

28th September 2021, Colombo: Eric Rajapakse Opticians, Sri Lanka’s leading eyecare specialist with over 100 years of expertise, is marking World Children’s Day by informing parents on measures they can take to safeguard their children’s eyesight in today’s pandemic-hit world where online learning has led to children staring at screens excessively on a daily basis.

Staring at screens for long hours can cause what is medically known as Digital Eye Strain or Computer Vision Syndrome where symptoms include changing of vision from time to time, eye fatigue, headache, dry eyes, body fatigue and pain in the shoulders and neck areas. Additionally, Myopia or shortsightedness is also widespread among such children. The blue light emitted by all screens can also cause retinal detachment in children with aging and impaired vision and affects the body's sleep cycle resulting in poor sleep and exhaustion.

As a parent, you can address this issue and ensure that your child's eyes will be protected by taking your child to an eyecare professional for regular eye examinations. Computer glasses are generally considered to be the ideal solution for this eye condition as they block the harmful blue light emitted by all digital screens. All Eric Rajapakse Opticians branches will offer free eye check-ups for children during the month of October and 10% discounts on Kid’s Computer Glasses till 14th October.

Eric Rajapakse Opticians provides comprehensive eye examinations that are carried out by qualified optometrists using high-tech computerised equipment in order to identify any conditions that affect a person’s eyesight and recommend the best course of action. They offer high-quality products at affordable prices at all their modern showrooms where professionally qualified staff serve customers of all age groups. Customers who step into Eric Rajapakse Opticians branch will be able to choose from a wide array of top global brands for frames for computer glasses, reading glasses, spectacles, sunglasses, contact lenses and hearing aids. All showrooms provide a safe and secure environment by operating strictly in accordance with the health guidelines given by the authorities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sarvodaya Development Finance further strengthened its leadership ranks with the appointment of high net-worth investor on Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) S.N. Senthilverl as a non-executive, non-independent Director, to the Board of Directors. Being an extremely active investor at the CSE, Senthilverl who has earned his MBA from University of Southern Queensland Australia, brings over 18 years of corporate experience having previously served on the Board of Pan Asia Power PLC and as the Chief Executive Officer of Dollar Corporation. Senthilverl’s addition to the Board follows a significant investment into SDF by Senthilverl Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, becoming the third largest shareholder in this social enterprise.

Sarvodaya Development Finance, one of Sri Lanka’s strongest social enterprises, has continuously supported village based and rural entrepreneurs across the country.

Sarvodaya Movement is well known for working with over 5,000 villages across the country, with a client base exceeding 175,000 clients.

People’s Bank has been offering a wide selection of financial services for six decades.

Especially, to cater to its over 14 million customers, People’s Bank has been offering a wide selection of savings accounts for all age groups from infants to senior citizens. As a result of its true value product offerings, currently People’s Bank has the country’s largest Children’s Savings portfolio.

Under its Children’s Savings portfolio, People’s Bank offers two distinct product offerings. ‘Isuru Udana’ is a savings account for children from birth up to 5 years of age, while ‘Sisu Udana’ account caters to schoolchildren from 5 to 18 years of age. Both products were designed with attractive value additions to inculcate the habit of saving from a child’s early days.

For several years, the Bank has been encouraging parents to open Isuru Udana accounts by providing an initial cash deposit for every single baby born in the country. From inception, the Bank has made it a point to provide these children the highest interest rates together with attractive gifts and benefits in order to help their education.

Deputy General Manager (Retail Banking, Process Management and Quality Assurance) of People’s Bank Renuka Jayasinghe - shared her views on this.

Children are the future of a nation and they remain a country’s lifeblood. Therefore, it is the duty of the parents/guardians to provide them with the best education and proper guidance in order to ensure that their future is secure.

Saving is an investment for the future and children should be taught the habit of saving from their childhood years. To further support this cause, People’s Bank has established Sisu Udana School Banking Units in schools across the island thereby helping students to understand the concept of banking and providing them with the means to conveniently make deposits.

In addition to the various gifts and benefits these children receive, since the year 1997 children who successfully passed the Year 5 Scholarship Exam have been presented with Scholarships that help to realize their educational dreams.

With the aim of introducing digital banking experience to schoolchildren, People’s Bank has established several School Banking Units with CDM and NFC technology across the island.

The goal of this initiative is to introduce digitalisation to the schoolchildren while promoting the saving habit. Additionally, supporting sustainability and the Government’s vision to uplift local manufacturing, the Bank has taken steps to boost the clay industry in Sri Lanka while encouraging children to save by providing specially designed clay saving tills as one of the gift items.

When a child reaches the age of 18 years, the Sisu Udana savings account automatically converts into a YES account, giving the child a solid platform to dream big and achieve future goals.

In addition to the financial benefits of the Sisu Udana accounts, we also contribute towards programmes that develop the creative talents of children.

People’s Bank also joined hands with the Sri Lanka Inventors’ Commission to strengthen school inventors’ clubs through Sisu Udana accounts.

People’s Bank is celebrating World Children’s Day with a Children’s Saving Trimester from 1 October to 31 December 2021 and during this time attractive gifts are offered to those who make qualifying deposits to Children’s Savings Accounts.

AIA Sri Lanka has been recognized as #1 for the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) in Sri Lanka, with163 qualifiers from their Agency Distribution and 50 from Bancassurance, totaling 213 in 2021.

This is the sixth consecutive year that AIA Sri Lanka has topped the MDRT membership list in the country. AIA Sri Lanka was also ranked No. 77 in the world for MDRT which is an incredible achievement that reiterates the company’s world class credentials.

In 2016, AIA crossed the 100 members mark, making it the first and only insurer in Sri Lanka to do so.

Since then, the company has maintained its top spot and grown from strength to strength each year, with undeterred commitment to recruiting and retaining the highest caliber of advisors who in turn provide the best protection, financial planning and savings solutions to Sri Lankans.

MDRT is internationally recognized as the standard of excellence in the life insurance and financial services business. Its members are required to generate a certain high level of premium, commission and income and demonstrate exceptional professional knowledge, strict ethical conduct and exceptional client service.

This ranking is therefore a fitting recognition of the high level of professionalism shown by AIA’s advisors who are undoubtedly of international caliber and standing.

AIA Sri Lanka CEO Nikhil Advani said, “2021 was a challenging year as we grappled with the pandemic and being able to develop 213 MDRTs was no small feat. I am incredibly proud of our Wealth Planners from Agency Distribution and Financial Planners from Bancassurance who have gone above and beyond their call of duty in providing superlative services to our customers.”

Deputy CEO and Chief Agency Officer Upul Wijesinghe added, “This recognition validates that we are in fact doing the right thing with the right people for the right results. Our advisors are renowned for providing the highest standards of professional service and we continue to support their development by offering high quality training programmes, hiring and retaining top talent and providing the most advanced tools for enhanced efficiency and productivity. Even during the pandemic, we were able to maintain our standards by adopting diligent processes when recruiting to ensure we have the very best joining our team.”

Senior AGM Partnerships Senaka Rajapakse commented, “We currently work with two of the leading banks in Sri Lanka to help provide greater value to their customers. We prioritize specialized training and development for our Bancassurance Financial Planners, who are armed with seamless, state-of-the-art, point-of-sale technology to help them carry out their business in an efficient and customer-friendly manner.”

Kalinga Jayantha, Assistant General Manager of Distribution, handing over computers to Minister Namal Rajapaksa - Minister of Youth & Sports, Minister of Development Co-ordination and Monitoring and State Minister of Digital Technology and Enterprise Development, Susil Premajayantha - State Minister of Education Reforms, Open Universities and Distance Learning Promotion, Dinesh Gunawardena - Minister of Education and Leader of the House of Parliament, and Piyal Nishantha - State Minister of Women and Child Development, Preschools & Primary Education, School Infrastructure & Education Services at the Ministry of Education in Battaramulla, Isurupaya.

Union Assurance Sisumaga+ lived by its ethos of providing uninterrupted education for every child by supporting an initiative to upgrade the facilities for online learning in child care centres located island-wide.

Tablets and desktop computers were distributed to 397 child development centres which accommodate 10,632 children throughout the country under the combined sponsorship of Union Assurance and seven other companies.

The pandemic has widened the gap in education for children especially with the digital adoption of learning activities. Many children have limited or no access to a tablet or desktop computer, putting their futures at risk.

Union Assurance contributed 50 devices to the Department of Probation and Child Care Services in line with the series of events in this year’s National Children’s Day programmes conducted under the theme, ‘Children Before Everything’.

Sisumaga+ by Union Assurance is an insurance solution that helps parents plan for their children’s future, promising an uninterrupted education for every child.

Bandula Egodage has been appointed to the Board of Commercial Credit and Finance PLC as a Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director effective October 1, 2021.

Egodage has extensive wide-ranging experience in the private and government sector at Senior Management level and Board level in Sri Lanka. Egodage presently serves as the Vice President of Nestlé Lanka PLC (Corporate and Regulatory Affairs), the Chairman of the board of the Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology Lanka (Pvt.) Limited (APIIT), and as a Non-Executive Director of Ceyline Holdings (Pvt) Ltd.

Egodage also currently serves in several government and semi-governmental organizations, industrial associations, and councils. He is a Director of the Sri Lanka Coconut Research Institute, Vice President of the Sri Lanka Maldives Business Council and Chairman of the Industrial Association of Sri Lanka, an Executive Member of the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and a member of the Swiss Business Circle.

Positions held previously by him include a Non-Executive Independent Director of Trade Finance and Investment PLC, Chairman of the Export Development Board, Chairman of Development Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd, Director of the Sri Lanka Coconut Cultivation Board, and Director of the National Gem and Jewelry Authority of Sri Lanka. Egodage also led the Presidential Trade Delegation to Kenya, Bahrain and Belarus and was a member of the Ministerial Delegation of Commerce.

B.G. Investments controls 50% and Group Lease Holdings owns 30% stake in Commercial Credit and Finance PLC.

DIMO, a leading diversified conglomerate in Sri Lanka, constantly striving to play a significant role in the local agricultural sector as a productivity improvement partner for farmers to enhance their household income, introduces Veera, a hybrid silage maize seed variety to the Sri Lankan market through its subsidiary Plantseeds, with an aim to uplift the local dairy industry.

Veera produces healthy plants that can be fed to dairy cows to improve their milk production and is an ideal solution for the shortage of animal feed in the industry. Plantseeds is a provider of hybrid seeds in the local market. Plantseeds is the market leader in the watermelon hybrid seeds category and the second largest seed paddy supplier to the nation.

This new maize variety will assist dairy farmers in providing a healthy diet for their animals and improving the quality of the milk production, as dairy cows require a diet that supplies the adequate nutritional requirement to yield a higher output. As an economical solution, Veera will assist the farmers to reach the maximum milk production potential of their animals.

Sri Lanka’s dairy industry has tremendous potential to contribute to the country’s economic development. “We believe that the industry needs to focus more on nutritional animal feed and increase the supply base to improve the productivity of the dairy sector in Sri Lanka. Identifying this dire need, DIMO Plantseeds took the initiative to introduce Veera to the local market”, stated Priyanga Dematawa, the Chief Operating Officer of DIMO Agribusinesses.

Companies who are concentrating on silage production are able to easily cultivate Veera variety, targeting Sri Lanka’s dairy farmers on a mass scale.

Hemal Atapattu, the Deputy General Manager of DIMO Plantseeds stated, “plant of this variety is used as cattle feed and with its high resistance to any weather condition, entrepreneurs who seek new income avenues can grow this variety in dry zone areas where one can find an ample number of lands for farming, to successfully meet the animal feed demand in the dairy industry. Plantseeds also expects to collaborate with these entrepreneurs to facilitate them with the technical know-how on cultivating Veera for commercial silage production”.

Veera is a high yielding forage maize variety which provides 80 ton/ha and can be harvested within 75-80 days after seeding at milk ripening stage. Veera is also the only maize seed variety that has been approved by Veterinary Research Institute in Sri Lanka.

Soon after Sri Lanka’s decision to ban synthetic fertilizers and other agrochemicals with immediate effect in view of achieving a healthy and sustainable nation, A. Baur & Co. (Pvt.) Ltd., widely known as Baurs, contracted a senior team of scientists and researchers from two world renowned research institutions in Switzerland specializing in organic agriculture who visited the country on a 10-day diverse study during early August.

This timely initiative, to assess the situation in Sri Lanka and provide solutions to manage the transition to organic farming, from Baurs was welcomed by various stakeholders in the industry including academics, research institutions, industry experts and related government heads.

During their visit, they observed numerous possible sources of organic waste that could be utilized for fertilization and was impressed by many activities and studies carried out in crop management and compost production which are however presently only at a niche, experimental stage, hinting that their large-scale implementation has a long way to go.

They encountered a set of complex issues, especially to do with the type of crop. Some crops such as spices or rubber for instance will relatively have an easy and quick growing in an organic system whereas crucial crops like rice and tea would experience more difficulty to adapt to a production system without usage of mineral fertilizers, citing particularly due to their high nitrogen demand, stressing that it is the fertilization of this element (N) that is the bottleneck in a system without synthetic fertilizers.

‘We are making great progress in taking the lead on putting together scientific and professional expertise and knowledge in the organic fertilizer challenge through meaningful strategic collaborations. There is a lot to expect in the coming weeks with this ongoing study and experts are convinced that if the transition is managed well it could open up sustainable prospects for the future of the country both ecologically and economically,’ said Rolf Blaser, Managing Director/CEO of A. Baur & Co. (Pvt.) Ltd.

Baurs Deputy MD/Director Agriculture Janaka Gunasekara said that ‘the findings stressed on the importance of managing the system change effectively without implementing too hastily as it could impose a higher risk of failure, suggesting a list of numerous accompanying measures to support farmers and producers during the transition, including prioritizing training and knowledge-sharing initiatives among farmers, which are more specific to the crop, location, and situation. The report also added that farmers be given reassurance of utmost support and clear direction without changing policies and rules time and time again.’

We need to enhance our knowledge and skills. With the internet as a vast ocean of knowledge offering a variety of informal learning approaches, learning has become a part and parcel of our lives.

Unfortunately, we visit the internet to find “figures” instead of “facts and figures”. Sharpening ourselves with cutting-edge knowledge is an absolute must in facing competition. As Socrates said a long time ago, we learn from “the womb to the tomb”. Let us enhance ourselves from today.

For the first time US-Bangla Airlines, the leading premium airline of Bangladesh will fly to Colombo from November 1.

Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunge said that with the successful COVID vaccination drive and the drastic reduction of deaths and infections, Sri Lanka Tourism is once again picking up and this is the reason for new airlines to fly to Sri Lanka and the country being removed from the ‘COVID Red list’ too has helped towards new airlines patronizing Sri Lanka.

AEROFLOT airlines will launch flights from November 4 and the frequency is two a week. In addition Russia’s largest Charter airline AZUR Air, will fly to Colombo from October 11.

Neos airlines is an Italian leisure airline that has included Colombo to their radar and will operate flights from November 1. AIR FRANCE too will add Colombo from November 1. Minister Ranatunga said that in addition the second largest airline of Israel, Arkia Airlines is in talks to operate flights to Colombo this year. In addition Swiss Air Lines, the flag carrier of Switzerland, too would touch Sri Lanka at the end of the year.

Currently Colombo international airport is serviced by 16 international cargo and passenger airlines. The Minister also said that in addition to Colombo, four airlines are expected to operate flights to Mattala as well. Meanwhile SriLankan Airlines too will announce several new destinations commenting from the end of the year.

Successive governments have taken ad hoc decisions without seeking the views of plantation stakeholders and these have a major negative impact for the industry, said Planters’ Association Chairman Bhathiya Bulumulla.

He said that these included sudden salary increases, banning of fertilizer imports, glycoside ban and palm oil cultivation ban and several other similar decisions. He said that these damage the smooth flow of over USD 1.2 billion export revenue to the country from tea sector alone and other plantation export income.

“Due to the glycoside ban we have lost the Japanese market. With an immediate halt to use of fertilizer or agro-chemicals, the consensus is that there will be severe crop losses, and as a result, a reduction in export revenues by as early as the end of this year,” he said at a virtual press conference.

At the 167th Annual General Meeting of the Planters’ Association of Ceylon he said that while there were initial concerns that estate communities would be among the most vulnerable due to the C-19 fortunately this was not the case. This was the first-ever Planters’ Association of Ceylon AGM hosted on a virtual platform, given the prevailing pandemic situation.

Over the past year, there have been tremendous achievements made by all RPCs in the face of unprecedented challenges. Just as the industry was dealt a difficult blow with the arbitrary increase of wages through the Wages Board, following the rejection of multiple proposals by RPCs for alternative and more effective wage models.

RPCs are among the world’s leaders in organic tea, rubber and spices. “Sadly, we are not being consulted for our expertise in the subject, and our concerns are not being heard. Expert opinions are being disregarded.”

“Rubber planters have for many months been sounding the alarm over the spread of the fungal infection Pestalotiopsis affecting over 20,000 hectares of Sri Lanka’s rubber cultivations.”

One of the key issues in addressing Pestalotiopsis is the lack of necessary fertiliser and the required agrochemicals.

“On the subject of oil palm too, we have continued to face an uphill battle. RPCs invested Rs. 26 billion towards the expansion of oil palm cultivation up to 12,000 hectares – just over 1% of the total area planted with tea, rubber and coconut, producing nearly 48,000 MT of palm oil annually and saving much needed foreign exchange, by reducing Sri Lanka’s requirements for edible oil imports.

“A Presidential directive has since been issued calling for a complete halt to the expansion of cultivation of this most lucrative crop. To date, there has been no credible scientific rationale provided for this decision.” (SS)

United Airlines Holdings Inc. is moving ahead with plans to terminate close to 600 employees who didn’t meet its COVID-19 vaccination deadline, company officials said Tuesday.

United United Airlines in August said it would require all of its 67,000 U.S. employees to be vaccinated, the first major U.S. airline and one of the first large U.S. companies to do so. Now the September 27 deadline has passed, and the airline is starting the process of firing 593 employees who didn’t get the shots, company officials said. Those workers can still save their jobs if they opt to get vaccinated in the coming days before their official termination meetings, airline officials said Tuesday.

“We know for some, that decision was a reluctant one,” United Chief Executive Scott Kirby and President Brett Hart wrote in a letter to employees Tuesday. “But there’s no doubt in our minds that some of you will have avoided a future hospital stay, or even death because you got vaccinated.”

The potential terminations apply to United employees who chose not to get vaccinated. Another roughly 2,000 United employees have sought exemptions for religious or medical reasons, company officials said.

Asia Capital PLC, at its Board Meeting held yesterday, unanimously appointed a new Board of Directors led by veteran business leader, Thilanga Sumathipala.

Commenting on this dynamic and strategic new direction for Asia Capital, controlling shareholder, Malaysia based Investor Dato Sri Vijay Eswaran said, “We both have, since the beginning of the millennium, built bonds of friendship beginning with our common experience in corporate social responsibility. I truly believe Thilanga will provide inspiring and catalytic leadership and be at the helm of directing our common new strategic direction for Asia Capital, thereby creating the platform for Asia Capital for the next decade and post-pandemic era.”

“Asia Capital PLC is a reputed, diversified conglomerate recognized across Asia, and I look forward to working closely with the leadership team to formulate and engage a strong, sustainable growth trajectory for Asia Capital PLC which will pivot and position us as a reputed Sri Lankan brand”.

Lanka Credit & Business Finance Limited (LCB Finance) will create history by being the first Finance Company from the Southern province to be listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange on October 25.

Rated by ICRA at [SL] B+ Stable, LCB will also raise Rs 500 million through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) issuing 1.25 million shares at four rupees each and promoting the IPO as 7.7% discount to the upper limit to strengthen its balance sheet and fund future expansion. Financial advisor for the IPO is NDB Investment Bank.

“Firstly this amount will be used to increase our branch network from 8 to 23 covering the North and East in one year,” said CEO/Executive Director, LCB Finance, K.G. Leelananda.

“Our branch expansion plans include the opening of four branches in Akuressa, Tangalle, Deiyandara, Kuliyapitiya and Tangalle by the end of the year. The company has offered several moratoria to their customers and would relook at extending them further.

We will also offer additional credit facilities to tea small holders, farmers, dairy and agricultural sectors. In addition to supporting low income earners we will also introduce new micro finance products.”

Recalling the past Leelananda said they commenced business as a company registered under Companies Act, under Lanka Credit and Business Limited on April 18,2016 and thereafter opened their first office in Galle in May 2016.

“We acquired City Finance Corporation limited defunct for 8 years subject to a Conditional approval granted by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and infused Rs. 1.5 billion to it within one month. It had 2,800 depositors with Rs 543 million deposits and we settled all of them within one year under three trenchers.

We are proud to say that LCB Finance to date is the only Finance company to take over a defunct financial institution, settle all their depositors and even pay interest for them during settlement!”

Chairman Prof. Abeyratne Bandara said, “LCB Finance, a licensed Finance Company under the supervision and regulation of Central Bank is listing on the CSE to meet the dual objectives of fulfilling its regulatory core capital requirement and financing. “LCB hopes to invest a sizable amount from this IPO funds toward a digital roll out taking the banking sector to the customers especially in unbanked areas and also have seamless digital connectivity between clients and the LCB branches.”

Posting a steady performance, LCB Finance Ltd recorded a profit before tax of Rs. 31 million for the first quarter of the financial year 2021/22, indicating a growth of 68% in comparison to the corresponding period in the previous financial year.

The company’s net operating income for the same period increased by 52% to Rs. 93 million.

Total assets for the period stood at Rs. 3.6 billion in comparison to Rs. 3.2 billion recorded during the corresponding period in the previous financial year. “Despite the prevalent pandemic, we continue to pose complex economic challenges, remain confident of our ability to pursue sustainable growth and create value for all stakeholders,” he said.

“We cater to the needs of individuals across all categories of the economy, the overall logic of operations is strongly inspired by and flavoured with the idea that challenges are best met collectively and that such an approach adds value to individual effort,” he said.

LCB was recognized as the Emerging Finance Company of the year 2019 and awarded “Fastest Growing Non-Banking Financial Firm in Sri Lanka 2021” at the Global Economics Awards 2021 in the UK.

LCB has 8 branches and has a customer base of over 26,000 and assets worth of Rs. 3.7 billion as at end of F/Y 2021. Total shareholders’ funds amount to Rs. 2.1 billion with 4.75% returns over equity. LCB has grown considerably with Business Loans, Micro Loans and Leasing, Gold Loans, and Savings products. (SS)

Sampath Bank announced that the Sampath Bank Payment Gateway, the only online solution which provides the most cost-effective and secure payment authorization and processing service, now accepts UnionPay credit and debit cards.

This new development in the eCommerce industry of Sri Lanka will further empower merchant websites and consumers alike, with a wider range of customer experiences.

UnionPay International (UPI) focuses on the growth and support of UnionPay’s global business. In partnership with more than 2,400 institutions worldwide, UPI has enabled card acceptance in 180 countries and regions with issuance in 70 countries and regions. UPI provides high quality, cost effective and secure cross-border payment services to the world’s largest cardholder base, and ensures convenient local services to a growing number of global UnionPay cardholders and merchants.

As a result, the acceptance of UnionPay cards will benefit many merchants who transact online through Sampath Bank’s services.

“As a key financial intermediary, with thousands of merchants depending on our services to keep their eCommerce operations running, the acceptance of UnionPay cards through our portal will further enhance the service experience of both our merchants and their customers,” said Darshin Pathinayake, Assistant General Manager Card Centre, Sampath Bank. “UnionPay is much honored to co-operate with Sampath Bank and we are confident that Sampath Bank will open up new doors for Sri Lankan merchants who wish to partake in eCommerce activities. This partnership will benefit us both. UPI’s presence in Sri Lanka will become even more diversified, and our large number of global cardholders will bring more business to local merchants,” said Michelle Shao, General Manager, UnionPay International, Hong Kong branch.

The acceptance of UnionPay cards through the Sampath Payment Gateway addresses the need of the hour as the number of customers who use UnionPay cards keep on increasing due to the growing number of Chinese expatriates in Sri Lanka as well as Sri Lankans who obtain the UnionPay card from local issuers.

This development also opens up new avenues for businesses in Sri Lanka to sell their products to online buyers in China. Chinese consumers will now be able to purchase sought after Sri Lankan products that include spices, tea and gems online from their home country, using their very own UnionPay card.

Sampath Bank Payment Gateway’s acceptance of another international card brand means that merchants in Sri Lanka will become more familiar with UnionPay as it gets rolled out across multiple platforms island-wide.

ASUS unveiled three new laptops and desktop models in Sri Lanka designed to meet the need of business and professional users in the country.

Falling under the new “Expert Series”, the four new models include ASUS ExpertBook B1 (B1500CEA), ExpertBook B5 Flip (B5302FEA), and ExpertBook B9 (B9400CEA) laptops as well as the ExpertCenter D7 Mini Tower (D700MA) desktop. In keeping with the need to adhere to the health guidelines in the country, the four models were launched online recently. The virtual launch event was a great success due to the enthusiastic participation of a large number of ASUS fans and prospective customers who got a first-hand experience of all four models from ASUS experts.

ASUS ExpertBook B1 is tailored for business, making it the smart choice for ambitious startups, established education organizations, and growing firms of all sizes. Boasting high performance, military-grade durability and extensive customization, it provides an advanced 11th Gen Intel Core processor and NVIDIA GeForce discrete graphics, delivering the powerful performance together with up to 48GB of memory and capacious storage.

ASUS ExpertBook B5 Flip laptop is built for business success in style, with a precision-crafted and minimalist chassis that pushes the limits of lightness – plus a 360° flippable design for ultimate flexibility. The third laptop to be unveiled is the ASUS ExpertBook B9 which delivers a sleek, precision-crafted, and minimalist chassis due to its Magnesium Lithium Alloy built that pushes the limits of lightness for ultimate portability while giving it unparalleled toughness.

Rounding off the new ASUS models is the ASUS ExpertCenter D7 Mini Tower, a high-performance desktop PC with enterprise-grade security and management designed for business. All ASUS desktops use world-renowned ASUS motherboards while ASUS is widely known to be the only desktop vendor in the market to use 100% solid capacitors in their motherboards, resulting in a top-tier MTBF rating.

The D7 Mini Tower’s compact, modern and versatile design accommodates different workspaces and usage scenarios.

The four new “Expert series” models are available through the ASUS partner network islandwide.

vivo recently unveiled its new self-designed Imaging Chip V1 which has been under development for 24 months by over 300 R&D personnel and imaging lab experts at vivo.

V1 is a fully-customized integrated circuit chip dedicated for imaging and video applications with leading edge visual quality, marking a key milestone as vivo’s inaugural breakthrough in independent R&D and chip design.

In line with vivo’s imaging system design, the Imaging Chip V1 can better serve user needs by optimizing smartphone application scenarios such as view finder look and video recording.

Enhancing the visual aesthetics and imaging effects of vivo products, the Imaging Chip V1 also aims to bring unparalleled experiences to users by channelling emotional resonance through visual expression.

vivo is staunchly committed to long-term investment in the four strategic tracks to create industry-leading technology and innovation, which will undoubtedly satisfy even the most demanding high-end smartphone users.

vivo’s approach towards spearheading innovative image processing (IP) technology at the chip level will mainly revolve around four strategic tracks: image system, operating system, industrial design and performance. According to Hu Baishan, Executive Vice President and COO at vivo, “vivo will only consider developing chips with partners when there is a lack of supplied capability on the market that are suitable for vivo’s product and technical needs, along with substantial demand for fully-customized chips to support these long-term strategic tracks.”

DFCC Bank has launched the DFCC World Mastercard Credit Card which is now available for new customers.

The card is perfect for professionals, entrepreneurs and businessmen who are looking for new opportunities to enhance their purchasing power.

Cardholders will be entitled to a wide range of benefits, ranging from a 1% to 1.5% cash back on all and selected transaction types, having access to specialized insurance schemes with a nominal annual fee covering repayment protection in the event of any unforeseen circumstances, possessing the ‘wallet guard’ insurance to protect against the fraudulent card use due theft, loss or both, locally and overseas.

It also assists with the recovery of other lost or stolen valuables such as a passport, driving license, keys, NIC as well as cash loss incurred and includes a further abundance of local and overseas Mastercard benefits. Customers can now apply by requesting for a new card with a standalone limit or by splitting their current credit limit as they see fit.

Speaking on the launch of the new credit card, DFCC Bank CEO Lakshman Silva stated, “The new DFCC World Mastercard Credit Card is a momentous step forward in line with our vision to truly position ourselves as a digitally enabled customer centric bank. We are proud to bring Mastercard into our product range thereby giving customers a variety of cards from which they can choose the best that suits their financial needs.”

Explaining the rationale behind this move, Rajesh Mani, Country Manager, Sri Lanka and the Maldives for Mastercard said, “We are currently experiencing an unprecedented rise in digital payments in Sri Lanka and forming a new, strategic partnership such as this will help further accelerate the same, which is also in line with the Central Bank’s Digital 2020 Vision of paving the path towards an less cash society.”

Vidullanka recently had the distinction of being awarded with the coveted Great Place to Work title for 2021/22.

With this sought-after recognition, Vidullanka became the first of its kind to be bestowed and certified as a ‘Great Workplace’

A global authority on high-performance workplace cultures, the Great Place to Work institute provides the benchmarks, frameworks and expertise needed to recognize outstanding work environments.

The positive employee morale fostered at Vidullanka is a result of a high-trust experience that enhances productivity and places great value upon employee happiness and well-being, and these vital aspects were recognized by the Great Place to Work.

Commenting on the momentous occasion, Vidullanka Chief Executive Director Riyaz Sangani said, “We take great pleasure in being one of the great workplaces in the country. Great Place to Work is a fine testament to the tireless efforts of our employees who are driven by a shared passion to develop. The strong culture we have cultivated at Vidullanka has enabled the employees to flourish immensely even during these difficult times.”

Vidullanka takes great pride in being a driving force in the nation’s power and energy sector. For the past two and a half decades the company has placed itself as a premier renewable energy developer whilst being a ‘change agent’ in the Power and Energy Sector in Sri Lanka.

Over the last two decades the Company’s capacity has steadily grown and is presently at 37MW with a total energy supply exceeding 140GWh annually to the national grids. Leveraging on this success, the company also raised additional capital Rs. 253 million by way of a rights issue of non-voting shares to invest in the development of solar power projects.

Whilst Moneragala Solar power project undertaken by the subsidiary Orik Corporation, set to add an additional one megawatt of capacity to the group’s generation capacity, the company is in the process of finalizing the installation of three more rooftop solar power plants, which would add further one megawatt of generation capacity to the company’s generation portfolio.

The group also has two more power plants in progress, namely Horana Solar Power Plant with 2MW capacity developed through a wholly owned subsidiary and Vavunathivu Solar Power Plant with 10MW installed capacity, jointly developed with Windforce PLC and Hi Energy Services Limited.

Cemex HRM is spearheading its commitment to help companies reduce carbon footprint (CFP).

Cemex HRM’s software supports HR teams in multiple ways to drive the future of the workplace by enabling greener organizations.

Offering a product that is 100% cloud hosted, the digitalized HR system helps automate routine human resource functions, leave, work from home, attendance, recruitment, payroll, appraisal processes and more.

Speaking about how the software helps clients in their CSR initiative and environmental strategies, Yasanthi Bandara, Chief Operating Officer, Cemex HRM said, “Our software reduces heavily paper driven processes as it offers a central point for all HR data, hence cutting down the need for hard copies. We believe that if all companies switch to e-payslips and store all their employee related data digitally, we could contribute towards the go-green initiatives of our clients.”

In addition to reducing the need for paper, Cemex HRM software offers workflow based leave management systems, where both line managers and employees can enter data into the system directly ensuring that there is no need to fill any physical paper forms.

“With Cemex HRM we implemented e-payslips and digitalized HR functions in 2019 and since then we’re able to save at least 100,000 printed sheets per year,” said Revan Fernando, CIO, Tropic Fishery.

Jehan Fernando, Managing Director, CareKleen stated, “Onboarding Cemex HRM’s software was a smart move in achieving our CFP targets. The library of employee information and document library helped us cut down the need to maintain physical files saving us time, space and most importantly reduced our carbon footprint. This is an important component in our CSR strategy, and we are happy that we were able to bring this to our HR department as well.”

Cemex Software is a Microsoft cloud backed digitized workforce collaboration tool that is helping businesses to be able to streamline their routine HR functions and focus on their core business.

Ceylinco Life recently conducted the sixth and final draw of the 14th edition of the life insurance leader’s Family Savari mega promotion.

A policyholder from Manippai in Jaffna won the grand prize of Rs 1 million in gold, while winners of the other prizes were chosen from around the island, including Nuwara Eliya, Matugama, Kalmunai, Gampola and Negombo.

A total of 103 Ceylinco Life policyholders were selected for the Rs 5 million to be awarded at this final draw, taking the grand total value of gold won through Family Savari 14 to Rs 30 million.

At each of the six bi-monthly draws conducted, one winner received Rs 1 million in gold, two won Rs 250,000 each, five received Rs 100,000 each, 25 received Rs 50,000 each and another 70 received Rs 25,000 each.

The decision to present policyholders with gold instead of the customary overseas holidays and local excursions of the ‘Family Savari’ promotion was on account of the travel restrictions and safety precautions necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Standard Chartered Sri Lanka has appointed veteran professional Yamuna Silva as its Head of Legal with effect from 13 September 2021, the Bank announced recently. By way of her appointment, she also becomes a member of the Bank’s Country Management Team.

A 25-year veteran of the industry, Yamuna is a Legal Counsel with extensive exposure to Banking Law, Business Advisory on Banking, Labour Tribunal, Conveyancing, Trademark, Securitisation and Company Secretarial work.

Yamuna served renowned law firms before entering the banking industry and will bring to bear her experience in various fields of Law to provide unique and valuable perspectives as she supports Standard Chartered Sri Lanka’s business strategy.

Yamuna joined Standard Chartered from Nations Trust Bank (NTB), where she served as Vice President Legal. During her tenure at NTB, she led the bank’s legal team in the formulation of its digital banking platform – FriMi.

“Dare to dream, dare to act, dare to fail, dare to succeed”. So goes an old saying. Everything begins with envisioning. As Walt Disney said, if you can dream it, you can deliver it. Unfortunately, we see more “daydreams” in Sri Lankan workplaces, especially after lunch.

The need of the hour is to be more growth-oriented in terms of working towards long term goals. Let us envision more from today.

In a world recovering from the economic downturn of the pandemic, the direct selling industry remains a robust sales platform that reaches customers in over 170 countries. With a year-on-year increase of 5.8% and as an industry worth USD 179.3 billion, the direct selling industry has grown despite COVID-19 conditions, due to its swift changing of business mechanisms to online resources.

According to statistics of the Direct Selling Association, the Asia Pacific with a 44% share of the global direct selling segment leads the world with 46 million people engaged as direct sellers; markets in Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, Philippines and Indonesia consist of billion-dollar markets with tremendous growth potential, as industry experts point out.

In South Asia, India, with over 5 million direct sales personnel, leads its pertinent to note that 60% of them are women. Across India, estimates show that the industry is experiencing growth with 800 entrepreneurs involved in this industry daily.

Analysts believe that the exponential growth of the direct selling industry is due to the way it empowers direct sellers and promotes engagement. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) notes that in India for example, the industry is expected to reach Rs. 15,930 crore this year.Globally, the direct selling industry is recognized as an entity with an established presence across some of the world’s most advanced and highly regulated markets.

The industry started in 1855 when the first Southwestern Company was established in the USA. The most famous and trusted direct selling company based in the USA is Avon, the cosmetic company that empowered women with economic independence.

Ranking high at No 1 on the list of the biggest direct sellers is Amway, which pioneered the Multi-Level Compensation structure which has been emulated by many companies across the world.

Nagarro SE, a global leader in digital product engineering and technology solutions, completed six months in Sri Lanka, announcing substantial expansion plans of building a team of over 500 top-tier technology professionals.

Nagarro SE chose Sri Lanka as its first international addition since its debut as an independent, publicly traded company in December 2020 at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany. It is the 26th country to Nagarro’s rapidly expanding global footprint.

Nagarro serves customers across 13 business verticals, including automotive, banking and financial services, insurance, energy and utilities, life sciences, healthcare, telecommunications, retail, travel and logistics. Nagarro offers solutions built with deep expertise in AI & ML, big data, cloud, ERP, embedded systems, IoT, quality & test engineering, security, and DevOps.

Even before the pandemic, Nagarro always gave its employees the option of working in diverse remote environments, believing that virtual remote teams are the future of work. With its mission ‘to make distance irrelevant between intelligent people,’ Nagarro believes that intelligent people will bridge the distance between themselves, making distance irrelevant when dealing with clients, partners, and colleagues.

Nagarro hopes to bring this same belief to Sri Lanka by promoting and encouraging hybrid working models, allowing Nagarrians complete freedom of choosing the most convenient mode of work based on the needs of their team and clients.

“Although we are a large organization, our primary focus is to be agile and swift by bringing together small high impact teams with a highly technologically driven, flexible, and collaborative approach. And this is where Sri Lanka will play a major role in Nagarro. We find an incredible talent pool in the country and the boutique nature and culture it possesses to build world-class technologies and innovation”, said Manas Fuloria, Custodian of Entrepreneurship in the Organization (CEO) of Nagarro.

Nagarro emphasizes gender equality, with many steps taken to ensure that females make up at least one-third in the management level. The company also has uniquely designed hiring programs for women, including its collaboration with ‘Women In Technology’ (WIT).

Nagarro takes a special pledge for working moms and hopes to be the first-choice employer among them.

Upon the request of Director /CEO Mahinda Saranapala of Kelani Cables PLC, Ivor Vancuylenberg, a Sri Lankan living in Fulda ,Germany sent two ventilator machines to theKelani Cables recently.

Director /CEO Mahinda Saranapala said that one of the machines was handed over to the Colombo North Teaching Hospital, Ragama to use in Ward 21 where Covid 19 patients are being treated. Further he said the other one will be sent to the Kiribathgoda Regional Hospital by this week.

A simple handing over ceremony took place at Kelani Cables premises on September 27 with the participation of Ivor Vancuylenberg and representatives from the Ragama Teaching Hospital .Later they have handed over the ventilator machine and some hospital equipments and hospital aid to the health authorities of the Ragama Teaching Hospital

The total value of the donation was Rs.500, 000. Kelani Saviya CSR coordinator Jayantha Wijesinghe coordinated the donation.

Professor Arjuna Premawardena VP and representatives from the Ragama Teaching Hospital were present to take over the donation.

Arimac Digital launched its journey ten years ago in the digital industry as an up-and-coming innovative tech company.

Arimac today, is spearheading digital solutions for customers around the world and is dominating the Asian region markets, moving from strength to strength with disruptive solutions in web and mobile development, immersive technologies, robotics and cognitive sciences and game development to cater to the rapidly changing dynamics of global technology.

Since its inception, Arimac has expanded to several countries, including UAE, Caribbean Islands, Fiji, and Australia serving global industry behemoths, such as Dhiraagu, Ooredoo, Etihad, Visa, and Emirates over its ten years of operations.

Arimac’s eco-system of products and services also support a star-studded local client base, which includes Dialog Axiata, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, MAS, Hemas, SriLankan Airlines, Brandix, 3M, Lowe LDB, Nestle, and Unilever.

“Surpassing numerous challenges and marking remarkable milestones, we are very proud to celebrate our 10th anniversary at Arimac Digital. During these last 10 years, our passion for technology, the distinctive competences, the skills of our people, and our deep roots in agile innovation have been the driving force behind our daily efforts to invest in new capabilities and continuous innovations for our clients,” stated Chamira Jayasinghe, Founder and CEO of Arimac Digital.

Marking their decennial with a symbol of powerful innovation, Arimac Digital launches NERO, Sri Lanka’s first fast-paced, stealth-action game developed end-to-end by Sri Lankan talent at Arimac’s Game Design Studio. NERO marks the commencement of Sri Lanka’s foray into the global stage of gaming showcasing the immense talent of Sri Lankan game developers.

International School of Western Australia (ISWA), Sri Lanka’s pioneer Institute to offer the Australian Advanced Level programme is an extension of the renowned International Institute of Health Sciences (IIHS).

ISWA curates the course content to enable students to gain a sound Australian secondary educational qualification while preparing them for life in Australia.

Providing students with a clear pathway to Australia, the course further enhances student experiences through a thorough orientation programme on the Australian education system helping them to fit right in, thus relieving them of the cultural shock that most students face when exposed to overseas education.

IIHS has introduced key factors to ensure the course fits the Australian standards in every aspect giving the students the real experience of a studying culture similar to the one in Australia.

Working closely with the Western Australian Government, ISWA maintains an up to date curriculum following a student centric delivery methodology, providing an aesthetic experience and instilling solid values.

IIHS’ newly appointed long standing international education industry figure, Carl Jones, Director International Marketing and Development, sharing his thoughts stated, “Students can immensely benefit from Australia’s high reputation for academic excellence particularly at tertiary level which is naturally transferred to secondary education too.”

There is a prominent advantage in following the Australian curriculum as the values of openness, tolerance, willingness to try different things, respect and equality are instilled in students encouraging the development of soft skills based on teamwork and communication.

ISWA further enhances and encourages the values of respectful relationships, democracy and equal rights, positive education through collaborative learning environments and community engagement.

“The benefits of an Australian education is that students are guided and molded to be “job ready” at the time of graduation,” Carl Jones elaborated further.

Having the highest livability index makes Australia one of the best places in the world to live and study, which directly translates in to life in Australia for students following the Australian curriculum.

Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) offered by ISWA is a two-year program covering Year 11 and 12 where students sit for the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) examination at the end of Year 12.

The programme will commence in January 2022 and students are currently being enrolled. Students are also eligible for scholarships awarded by the Western Australian Government through which they can gain direct entry to study in top well recognized Universities in Western Australia.

SLT-Mobitel comes with an abundance of exclusive free gifts when you pre-order the new sleek, fashionable and powerful Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G or Z Flip3 5G smartphones.

Customers who pre-order are eligible for amazing data benefits from SLT-Mobitel Mobile including one month free anytime data of 100GB for the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G and 50GB for the Z Flip3 5G, in addition to attractive offers of a free special gold category number along with a Master unlimited voice and data package.

Further, Consumers pre-ordering Galaxy Z Fold3 5G will be eligible to receive a free UV Sterilizer, Wireless Charger Trio, Smart Keyboard Trio and Galaxy SmartTag.

On pre-ordering Galaxy Z Flip3 5G, customers will be eligible to receive a free UV Sterilizer, Wireless Charger Duo and Galaxy SmartTag.

Consumers will also be eligible to receive a one-year Samsung Care Pack valued with screen replacement for free for both products. With Samsung’s third generation of foldable devices, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G and the Z Flip3 5G customers can truly enjoy the next chapter in mobile innovation.

Both devices are equipped with an improved foldable screen with the revolutionary Hideaway Hinge, which allows the screens to stay in place at any angle while in its flex mode.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G boasts of an uninterrupted 7.6-inch Infinity Flex main display with the new under-display camera. It is also the first foldable device to be compatible and fully optimized with the S Pen, allowing on-the-go multi-taskers to take notes on the wide main display while having other apps open.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G comes with a bigger cover screen for easier reading of notifications and messages, with apps accessible even when the phone is folded. For entertainment lovers, the device has upgraded stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos for a much clearer sound and a more immersive experience.

The not-to-be-missed offer is only until September 30, 2021 and customers can pre-order with ease via https://www.mobitel.lk/samsung-galaxy-z-pre-order.

Singer, being the national distributor for ZTE brand, announced that it will soon showcase a complete range of ZTE smartphones from entry level to mid-range and flagship.

During the virtual launch, Singer unveiled the ZTE V30 models including ZTE V30 and ZTE V30 Vita packed with cutting edge features and stylish designs.

ZTE is a leading technology solutions provider, which boasts a rich history of providing innovative technology solutions offering a revolutionary user experience powered by strong performance.

Its core strengths are 5G infrastructure, data centres and smart devices segment including smartphones, wearables, audio devices, IoT devices, etc. The brand ZTE is committed to upgrade smartphone technologies to suit the modern consumer needs with more focus on speed, performance and camera.

ZTE showcases a complete range of smartphones offering seamless access to a smart life. ZTE’s smartphones consist of entry-level to mid-level smartphones under the ZTE Blade series, flagship 5G devices from ZTE Axon series and its high-end gaming smartphone under RedMagic series.

Commenting on the newly launched ZTE smartphone brand, Mahesh Wijewardene, Group CEO, Singer Sri Lanka PLC said, “We are indeed proud to bring a world-class smartphone brand to Sri Lanka which offers more choices to our customers. ZTE’s new smartphones prove a leap-forward improvement in all their aspects whilst smartphone users will see unappalled changes in terms of speed, performance, build quality, camera innovations, etc. With the launch of ZTE smartphones, Singer enables the latest technology to be accessible to all consumers at very competitive prices.”

All ZTE smartphones are backed by the trusted Singer warranty, which can be claimed through island wide dealers. Singer is highly renowned for its islandwide retail and dealer networks that cater to the increasing demand for tech related products.

“At ZTE, we are focused on continuous innovation in integrated communications to make people’s lives better. Smartphones being a primary segment in our technology solutions, we are committed to deliver future proofed devices with advanced features. We identified that Singer is the ideal partner for us to enter the Sri Lankan smartphone market.” said ZTE Lanka CEO, Yang Min.

Singer’s partnership with ZTE as the national distributor will see the local retail giant continue to unveil top of the line ZTE devices in Sri Lanka.

SriLankan Airlines, the National Carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld alliance celebrated its 42nd anniversary by planting 42 trees across some of the airline’s destinations, international airport premises worldwide including airports in Sri Lanka and its office premises in Katunayake and Colombo.

The first batch of the trees that were planted in celebration of the Airlines’ anniversary can be seen on the Airlines corporate social media channels through the link https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1460287457652806 and the initiative will continue throughout the anniversary month.

Congratulating SriLankan Airlines’ novel initiative in a message, oneworld CEO Rob Gurney said, “You are about to embark on a wonderful initiative, which is planting 42 trees, representing each year of operation for SriLankan. It is a very important symbolic statement for your commitment for sustainability.”

Under the prevailing circumstances, where celebrations are kept low key, in the absence of opportunity to gather and share the joy, the Airline has not only decided to opt for this meaningful and mindful manner of celebrating the anniversary, whilst sharing the joy and anticipation for better days ahead, with its social media followers across the globe.

As we know, empathy is getting into others shoes and walking like them. In other words, it means having the ability to look at a problem or an issue from the other’s frame of view. Sri Lankan managers and administrators can improve vastly on this.

Rather than jumping to conclusions merely looking at one side of the story, a mature broad approach of being empathic is required. Let us be empathic from today.

While congratulating the Government on the recent opening of the PCR testing facility at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), private hospitals appealed to the Government to consider local partners for initiatives such as this, taking into consideration the expertise already available in Sri Lanka. The press release by the Association of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes (APHNH) noted that significant investments have already been made to strengthen PCR testing facilities and infrastructure in the country.

In a letter to Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella, APHNH Secretary Dr Sunil Ratnapreya noted that private sector laboratories performed approximately 60% of the total PCR workload of the country, and almost all the PCR requirements of the tourism industry, BOI (Board of Investment) and quarantine centres in hotels, with results being released within 24-36 hours. “At the onset of the pandemic, our member hospitals have invested in equipment and infrastructure based on the understanding that we continue to work with the Government to support the country’s pandemic response. However, the partnership forged with a foreign company to establish the laboratory at the BIA comes as a surprise to us,” APHNH Secretary Dr Ratnapreya said. “It is our humble request that the government prioritize and consider local healthcare investors as a partner in efforts such as this, given the expertise and international standards upheld by our member hospitals over the past two years,” he added. APHNHs’ appeal comes when members are awaiting approval from the Ministry of Health (MOH) to establish additional private hospital laboratories catering to PCR testing at a regional level.

The association noted that a request has been made to the Minister of Health, to expedite the procedure for approval of new PCR laboratories in the ministry, as there are fully equipped private labs already awaiting commencement testing.

“We sincerely hope that the government will consider our request and take necessary action to invite the private healthcare sector to be part of the initiative mentioned above.” Dr Ratnapreya concluded. Established in 1972, the APHNH represents all the country’s private hospitals and nursing homes.

Airport Aviation Services says that they would invest to build a PCR testing facility at the Mattala Airport.

State Minister of Aviation and Development of Export Zones, D. V. Chanaka said that since many airlines have expressed interest to fly to MRIA they will build this facility and it would be opened in three months.

“Then we will be able to conduct PCR tests from this laboratory for tourists visiting Sri Lanka as well as local passengers. This lab will issue a PCR test report in under three hours.” Commenting on the BIA facility he said that the facility has a capacity of conducting 500 tests per hour, with a total of 7,000 tests during one day.

“This is the first time such a high-quality PCR laboratory has been built near an airport in an Asian country.”

Although a private company has invested to set up the laboratory, it is wholly owned by the Airport & Aviation Services Sri Lanka Private Ltd.

The laboratory operates under a two-year management contract. The lab charges $ 40 for a PCR test for travellers.

The PCR testing facility has been established at the airport to end the mandatory hotel quarantine process which was earlier introduced by the Government.

(SS)

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) benchmark All share Price Index (ASPI) reached an all-time high of 9339.63 points today the first time in market history.

Cancer diagnosis and treatment is a stressful and difficult event in life. Cancer treatment is complex and it must be taken care of by trusted professionals with confidence. However, finding a trusted and the right medical expert can be a challenging task. Addressing this concern, MedExpert offers a great network of world-renowned cancer specialists for patients, individuals or families to gain access to a second opinion on the medical condition. The panel of cancer specialists helps in understanding the cancer condition and offers comprehensive guidance to the patient/user through the difficult time.

Jayomi Lokuliyana, Founder and CEO of Mymed stated that “MedExpert was created to not only help cancer patients with treatment plans but to provide them with moral support and empathy to face the challenge and to improve patients’ odds of success against cancer. The team ensures that the whole process will make the patient’s wish for recovery a reality”.

MedExpert is all about ensuring that the cancer patient receives an optimal treatment plan via the most up-to-date medical advice, therapy inclusive of all the available cutting-edge therapy. The platform will connect the user to medical experts from the US and UK who each has 20+ years of experience treating and managing specific types of cancer. The panel offers confidence and comfort by comprehensively reviewing the submitted medical reports and by addressing all questions/ concerns raised. Besides offering an expert second opinion, MedExpert will also work with local oncologists to successfully carry out the treatment plan ensuring each case will be treated with utmost confidentiality, priority, urgency and patient transparency.

The key services delivered by MedExpert include finding the right medical expert by optimally matching the patient with the right expert based on the patient’s diagnosis, comprehensive case review of the patient’s cancer medical history including current cancer care plan and prescription medications, medical consultation with the medical experts to discuss a treatment plan and future course of action, written expert opinion outlining a recommended treatment plan and follow-up and next step facilitation for enhanced treatment options with newer medication and access to US/UK cancer facilities. – Kushala Silva, Founder of MedExpert.

Anyone who is interested in getting an expert second opinion on your cancer treatment visit: www.medexpert.mymed.lk or call on 078 566 4576

Some of the Experts

We are looking for an experienced Tech Lead who would like to become a part of the team that builds real solutions for European clientele and works with the latest technologies & frameworks!

Requirements:

5+ Years of industry expertise.

Ability to motivate and manage your team members. Ability to control the quality of your team's work and targets. Great communication skills.

Salary / income offer: LKR 300,000++

Send in your resumes to: jobs@360development.net

Visit us at: 360development.net

So What is a Tech Lead?

A tech lead is the right hand to the project manager. A project manager focuses on the client’s overall vision and coaches clients through investment decisions such as priority, implementation order, depth of execution, etc. As a tech lead, you act as an advocate by weighing and discussing options, clearly communicating the state of the project, and thinking about the next steps for the project architecture. As decisions are made, the tech lead works with team members to break down the vision into actionable work that can be executed.

A tech lead is measured by the success of the team. While you are an individual contributor, your focus is often on individual features, on a narrow

focus. As a tech lead, your scope is more broad, focusing on the outcomes of the team and how the pieces fit together. This can be a hard adjustment as we attempt to enable others rather than solve problems entirely on our own.

A tech lead is regularly describing the technical vision. A tech lead must be able to both zoom in and zoom out on a project. You need to be able to look in detail into a technical need but also see the bigger picture and how that need fits into the greater vision. As the tech lead changes vantage points, they are continually reiterating the vision.

A tech lead is a model for “how we work together.” For better or worse, when you are given a title with the word “lead” in it, your actions carry more weight. In this, you will be responsible for modeling what working together well looks like since others will be modeling after you.

To sum it up in one thought, a tech lead empowers and unlocks the team through communication, leadership, technical skill, and impact.

Skills of a Tech Lead

When making the leap to a tech lead position, consider what you need to be successful in this new position. Here are a few traits we look for here at 360development.

Technical Skill

It goes without saying: you have to be good at what you do. To be a tech lead at 360development, it’s important that you be a “go-to expert” in at least one area of the codebase while also having an awareness of and empathy for other facets. This is important as you look to mentor team members, assist in diagnosing problems, and help guide implementation details.

Similarly, you must be looking to create “seams” in your architecture to allow the team to be productive and collaborate effectively. For example, software design and architecture patterns can allow multiple team members or even multiple teams to build features that integrate without blocking one another. Gary takes on some of these concepts in his video “Decouple Delivery from Release to Enable a Fast Continuous Integration Feedback Loop”.

“Building the right thing” is hard work in software development. One of the most valuable assets you can give the team to help them collaborate on solutions and navigate toward a successful outcome is a robust build and

delivery pipeline. As a tech lead, you must be able to advocate for this pipeline and leverage the tools at your disposal to create feedback loops.

Communication and Leadership

Leaders should always be focused on creating new leaders.

In the tech lead role, you are expected to help others achieve their goals. Taking opportunities to clearly and convincingly present ideas, vision, and architecture is a great way to build this skill. Another skill is being able to mentor and teach other developers.

Managing Projects

As right hand to the project manager, a tech lead needs to care about things like backlogs, planning efforts, and budgets. These are the tools you will use in partnership with the client and the project manager to navigate the project to success. And as a tech lead, this deep understanding and empathy around

constraints, budgets, and timelines give you a vantage point to provide guidance and forecasts as inevitable change appears.

Managing Self

A tech lead must deal effectively with pressure. This means staying positive, empathetic, and persistent when issues arise in the project. But being an effective leader also means being transparent and maintaining healthy relationships with users, clients, and team members. Make sure you frame feedback constructively. And be able to receive feedback from your team throughout the project.

Impact

When you take on a leadership role, it comes with opportunities for you to impact both the projects you are on and the people you work with. Impact comes in many forms, but for 360development, the tech lead helps create the technical strategy, architecture plans, and diagrams as well as support team growth and the growth of individuals.

Growing

If you are looking to become a tech lead, make a plan for yourself. Ask your manager the skills and experiences you need to be a tech lead and then find ways to improve and create your own growth. Spend time supporting your team members. Or ask your manager to hold you accountable or give you growth opportunities. And don’t forget to build allies and mentors inside and outside your organization. It’s also good practice to create a brag sheet where you can visually share your growth over time.

Making the Leap

While making the leap to tech lead might look intimidating, consider the steps you can take now to prepare for that role. Investigate what makes a great tech lead at your organization and make a plan to develop your skills in those areas. Be proactive and willing to both grow yourself and encourage others to grow. That’s what makes a great tech lead!!

- Santhush Ratnasinghe