President, Agriculture, Industrial
Development Ministers faulted

Land promised for agriculture
development not given

Government's broken promises a stumbling block to develop the agriculture sector, an agri-businessman said on Friday.

Sarath de Silva, Chairman, National Agribusiness Council (NAC), said that recently a report that dealt with the delineation of State and temple land for agriculture development at the instigation of the President was prepared. But nothing has happened since.

This report was prepared by the private sector in collaboration with Presidential Adviser Lakshman Jayakody. The lands identified were either unutilized or under-utilised land.

Those lands were to be given on short term lease to the private sector for agro-development. But nothing has happened since.

De Silva said that he wasted 30% of his working time in preparing this report.

Recapitulating other instances of broken promises by the government, de Silva said that last year the Agriculture Minister promised to allocate two plots of ministry land for the private sector to set-up model farms. But nothing has happened since.

Those lands promised were located at Rahangala and Meepilimana.

Similarly, the Industrial Development Ministry had promised land in Puttalam for agro development, but no land has been released thus far.

"We don't have the support of the public sector," he said, whilst at the same time absolving the concerned ministers of blame.

De Silva was speaking at the inauguration of the Pro-Foods, Pro Packs exhibition that took place in Colombo.

He said Sri Lanka was still dependent on food imports.

De Silva said that 90% of red chillies, 95% of big onions and virtually all of the country's pulses requirements such as green gram, chick peas and dhal were still imported.

This was also so with regard to condiments like garlic. But countries such as Malaysia and Thailand which have similar climatic conditions, and neighbouring India produce such crops, why cannot we? he asked.

NAC Project Chairman Mario De Alwis in his speech said that if Sri Lanka had used technology and better varieties for its rice production, it could have cashed in on the global shortage of rice by being an exporter.

IP violations, threat to foreign investment

Sri Lanka has the world's sixth highest software piracy rate last year, an international study revealed.

"That means nine out of 10 software applications used in Sri Lanka last year were pirated software," Roland Chan of the Business Software Alliance (BSA), whose members include software giants such as Microsoft told reporters here on Wednesday.

Chan who is based in Malaysia valued the economic loss caused by this piracy at US$ 93 million.

He said that the legitimate cost of a software application could range from between "nought" (free) to US$ 100,000. However, most of the pirated software belong to the bottom of the range products, said Chan.

Dr. D.M. Karunaratne, Director General National Intellectual Property (IP) Office in Colombo told The Sunday Leader that a study done in 2006 had further shown that the loss incurred by local software developers alone due to piracy was US$ 86 million, implying that most of the victims of software piracy are local software solutions providers.

He said that such a situation was bad for foreign investment as investors may harbour fears whether their IP rights (IPR) would be protected if they come to Sri Lanka.

Though Sri Lanka has the necessary legislation to prosecute IPR violators, further buttressed by the Computer Piracy Act (CPA) and the Electronic Transmission Act that came in to force recently, the problem however was with regard to enforcement.

The enforcement agency is the Police Department, while the regulator is the National IP Office in Colombo.

Steps have been taken by that Office to train policemen on IP law, while the CPA allows local authorities to even get down experts from abroad to give evidence.

A bright spot in the protection of IPR recently was where an offender who was infringing on the copy rights of lyricist Sunil Ariyaratne and singer Nanda Malini's songs was fined Rs. 500,000 by the Maligakande Magistrate and was sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for 10 years, said Karunaratne.

This was the biggest punishment meted out to an offender of IPR thus far, he said.

Meanwhile, Chan coming out with further statistics said that software piracy in the Asian region was estimated at 59% last year, resulting in an economic loss of US$ 40 billion.

The world average was 38% which translated to an economic loss of US$ 478 billion.

Market wants graduates with communication skills

An academic exploded the myth that English was sine qua non for graduate employment in the private sector.

Ajith Medis, Head of the Career Guidance Unit of Kelaniya University told reporters on Wednesday that what the corporate sector requires is a student who has good communication skills and leadership qualities and not necessarily English.

Medis, speaking ahead of an undergraduate convention said that he knows of a recent case, where a student at Kelaniya University who knew no English was recruited by one of Sri Lanka's top two garment industries because of his leadership qualities.

He said that in the marketability of a graduate, communication skills play a bigger role than English.

He further said that some of the Arts courses that do not have a market, such as Pali, should, however not be abolished from the university curriculum.

What needs to be done is to limit the enrolment of students to follow such courses, said Medis.

But he said that the imposition of such limits was not within the powers of the academia, but in the hands of the policymakers of this country.

Head of the Career Guidance Unit of Colombo University Dr. Prasad Wimalaratne said that internship in industry, now formed part of their degree programme.

Outgoing Head of the Career Guidance Unit at Wayamba University, Dr. B.P. Jayaweera said that that which was required of the student was an attitudinal change to be made employable.

Citing an example, he said that the numbers two and three of a top insurance company were an Agriculture graduate and a Geography graduate respectively.

Meanwhile the undergraduate convention, an annual event sponsored by Carson Cumberbatch PLC, will see 1,200 undergraduates from universities islandwide meeting at the BMICH on September 4, listening to speeches made by leaders in the corporate sector, about what the market requires from graduate employees.

Jayaweera said that such large undergraduate gatherings generally take place either at sports events or during times of student agitations.

"But this is the only time they get together in a spirit of camaraderie, he said.

Bennett Patternott, General Manager Group Human Resources of the Carsons Group said that Ruhuna University wanted to send 300 undergraduates to this convention, but they had to limit that number to 75 due to space constraints.

Chemanex's PAT up 269%

Chemanex PLC in the first quarter (1Q) ended June 30, 2008 saw its profit after tax (PAT) increase by 269.3% year on year (YoY) to Rs. 131.2 million.

CIC's PAT up 223%

CIC in the 1Q ended June 30, 2008 saw its PAT increase by 223.4% YoY to Rs. 186.3 million.

United Motors PAT down 27%

United Motors PLC in the 1Q ended June 30, 2008 saw its PAT decline by 27% YoY to Rs. 31.2 million.

Kahawatte's PAT up 377%

Kahawatte Plantations in the 2Q ended June 30, 2008 saw its PAT increase by 376.9% YoY to Rs. 110.3 million. The company in the first half (1H) ended June 30, 2008 saw its PAT up by 1,768.3% YoY to Rs. 189.6 million.

Lanka Tiles PAT up 2%

Lanka Tiles PLC in the 1Q ended June 30, 2008 saw saw its PAT marginally increase by 1.6% YoY to Rs. 47.1 million.

On'ally's PAT up 20%

On'ally Holdings PLC in the 1Q ended June 30, 2008 saw its PAT increase by 19.9% YoY to Rs. 10 million.

Mahaweli reduces losses

Mahaweli Reach Hotels PLC in the 1Q ended June 30, 2008 reduced its losses by 10.5% YoY to Rs. 13.2 million.

N'Eliya increases losses

Nuwara Eliya Hotels PLC in the 1Q ended June 30, 2008 increased its losses by 134.3% YoY to Rs. 6.6 million.

Commercial Dev. PAT declines

Commercial Development in the 2Q ended June 30, 2008 saw its PAT decline by 23.9% YoY to Rs. 7.9 million. The company in the 1H ended June 30, 2008 saw its PAT marginally up 2.8% YoY to Rs. 19 million.

Parquet reduces losses

Parquet Ceylon Ltd., in the 1Q ended June 30, 2008 saw its losses reduced by 70.4% YoY to Rs. 2.1 million.

Ceylinco Insurance's PAT up 48%

Ceylinco Insurance Co., Ltd., in the 2Q ended June 30, 2008 saw its PAT increase by 47.8% YoY to Rs. 109.4 million. The company in the 1H ended June 30, 2008 saw its PAT up 18% YoY to Rs. 214.1 million.

Sathosa Motors' PAT down 45%

Sathosa Motors PLC., in the 1Q ended June 30, 2008 saw its PAT decline by 44.5% YoY to Rs. 14.9 million.

Sigiriya's losses increase 2%

Hotel Sigiriya PLC in the 1Q ended June 30, 2008 saw its losses increase marginally by 1.9% YoY to Rs. 7.7 million.

Serendib reduce losses

Serendib Hotels in the 1Q ended June 30, 2008 saw its losses reduce by 12.5% YoY to Rs. 15.6 million.

Stafford Hotels' PAT down 62%

Stafford Hotels in the 1Q ended June 30, 2008 saw its PAT decline by 61.8% YoY to Rs. 3.2 million.

Seylan's PAT decline 33%

Seylan Bank in the 2Q ended June 30, 2008 saw its PAT decline by 32.5% YoY to Rs. 309.7 million. The Bank in the 1H ended June 30, 2008 saw its PAT decline by 33.7% YoY to Rs. 444.9 million. (Source: John Keells Stock Brokers)

Malaysia's No. 1 on local roads

Unimo Enterprises Ltd., a fully-owned subsidiary of United Motors Lanka PLC (UML) launched its latest model-Perodua 'VIVA' at an introductory price of Rs 1.45 million (upwards).

This is complemented by an "incomparable" after sales service by Unimo Enterprises.  The 'VIVA' is positioned as 'the most irresistible and desired small car' and is marketed in a range of models such as the VIVA 660 CC Standard, VIVA 850 CC Standard, VIVA 1000 CC Standard (Manual and Automatic) and VIVA 1000 CC Premium, (Manual and Automatic). 

UML Chairman Ranjith Fernando, who joined CEO/Executive Director Chanaka Yatawara at a recent media conference held in this connection said, "This newest addition to the Perodua range launched today rides on the success of the previous model Perodua-Kelisa, which was marketed by the company.  This is one of the most popular vehicles in our product portfolio and since its launch in 2004, we have seen over 1,500 vehicles take on the roads of Sri Lanka."

Perodua Malaysia Senior General Manager Katsumi Yoshida said that while all Perodua vehicle components are Japanese, "the vehicle is assembled at our state of the art Perodua factory in Malaysia.  The roots of Perodua stem from the time tested Japanese brand Daihatsu, ensuring reliability, handling and ability to amaze the user with superior performance.  VIVA is currently the No 1 car in its category in Malaysia."

Unimo Enterprises Ltd is a fully owned subsidiary of United Motors Lanka PLC and has an extensive product portfolio ranging from mid-sized cars comprising Perodua cars from Malaysia, Zotye SUV, JMC commercial vehicles and agricultural equipment from China, Yokohama tyres from Japan, Apollo tyres and Farmtrac tractors from India.

Supported by an extensive islandwide dealer network, Unimo's penetrating branch network is strategically located in Kandy, Matara, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy Anuradhapurapura, Kurunegala and Nugegoda with plans being made for the appointment of more service agents and dealers in Gampaha, Ampara, Dambulla and Badulla.

Unimo Enterprises Ltd., management is confident that the Perodua VIVA which comes with many "unbelievable" options including DVVT (Dynamic Variable Valve Time) technology that enhances fuel efficiency and available in a variety of colours will create a demand and be a winner in the small car category.

"Basket of groceries"

NDB Bank (NDB) has launched an exciting promotion for its savings accounts holders tiled "Badu Malla" giving its customers the chance to save and win every weekday.

It's the first time in Sri Lanka that customers have the chance of winning a Rs. 5,000 Cargills Gift Card monthly for six months.

The winners will be selected through a draw that will be held every weekday. "Badu Malla" winners do not have to worry about spending for their groceries for the next six months-through "Badu Malla" NDB will provide you groceries amounting to Rs. 30,000 for a period of six months from Cargills Food City (CFC) outlets.

To be eligible to take part in the NDB Badu Malla draw, customers have to deposit Rs. 5,000 in their savings account. A draw will be held every weekday from now upto February 17, 2009, where a selected winner will receive a Cargills gift card worth Rs. 5,000 from NDB for six months.

In addition, 10 other winners will receive a gift card of Rs. 1,000 each, entitling them to groceries worth Rs. 1,000. The "Badu Malla" promotion is carried out by NDB in conjunction with CFC and all prizes are offered through CFC outlets Islandwide.

All new and existing accountholders who maintain a balance of more than Rs. 5,000 in Regular, Vishmitha, Flexi or Special Savings Accounts throughout the period of August 2008 to February 2009 are eligible to participate in the draw. Customers with multiples of Rs. 5,000 will have increased chances of winning.

Sleek mobile phones

If you have not yet visited Abans Office Automation's Mobile Phone Showroom, then you have missed out on the widest range of genuine mobile phones from the world's best brands, LG, Sony Ericsson, Philips, Nokia and Motorola.

 Camera phones with video feature, MP3, E-mail, you name it, you will find phones with every possible feature, in colours and shapes to suit your fancy.

You've got to see this ultra slim phone in "Luscious Red" or "Swift Black" to fall in love with it. The Sony Ericsson C902 is only 3.8 ounces, that's just 107 grams.

The screen is 240x320 pixel with 262,144 colour TFT QVGA. It has 160MB phone memory and Memory Stick Micro (M2) support (upto 8 GB). It also has a 5 magapixel camera with auto focus and Digital Zoom upto 16x. It also comes with Image Stabilizer, Photo Flash, Picture blogging, Video record and Video Stabilizer.

The phone's musical features include Album Art, Bluetooth stereo (A2DP), Media Player, MegaBass, Music Tones MP3 and AAC. It has Internet Access NetFront Web Browser and RSS feeds. As for entertainment, there is 3 D Games, Java, Media, Radio FM radio RDS, Video Clip and Video Streaming. This amazing phone also has a long list of features from Email and MMS to Alarm, Calculator and Calendar.

One of the most unique mobile phones is the LG KU990 which comes with a free 1 GB Memory Card. The phone has a TFT Touch Screen, a 5 mega pixel camera with auto focus video, MP3/MPEG4 Player, FM Radio, Bluetooth, Micro SD Card Slot, Document Viewer and you can also send Emails. This phone is a must for every businessman and professional.

The Philips Xenium 9@9w is a smart and elegant high end phone for the sophisticated user. It has Dual SIM Card capability, MP3 playback and 64 polyphonic ringtones, 2.0 mega pixel digital camera, microSD memory card slot, Bluetooth with A2DP and mini USB connector.

Abans Office Automation is a part of the prestigious Abans Group with its main showroom located at Abans Arcade, Galle Road, Kollupitiya and also at showrooms and authorized dealers islandwide.  All mobile phones sold by them carry a one year warranty and an excellent after-sales-service.

HNB at Bibile

Keeping to its reputation of venturing onto ground that most profit-oriented private commercial banks fear to tread, Hatton National Bank (HNB) recently opened its 172nd Customer Centre in far-flung Bibile-an extension office of HNB's Monaragala Customer Centre.

The Customer Centre at Bibile was declared open recently by Chief Guest at the event, HNB's. AGM International Reshanka Abayasekara.

Holding its own through paddy cultivation and other agricultural activities, Bibile has thus been out of reach of absolute urbanization. This is probably the reason why most private commercial banks have thus far shied away from taking their services to the locality.

Abayasekara in his speech spoke about the importance of banking services for the people of the area; especially for the families of locals working abroad as housemaids, for those in need of pawning services, the Moneygram service and more. "We are perhaps the country's most seasoned bank when it comes to providing banking services in rural areas, and Bibile's Customer Centre is part of our efforts to take banking services to all of Sri Lanka-especially the rural masses who have thus far been deprived of such facilities."

Today, HNB provides its expertise and services through a large network of customer centres across the island. It is also the only bank to have not forgotten the more rural villages, taking banking to the provincial areas, when for the first time in the commercial banking history of Sri Lanka, the Bank introduced a barefoot banker named 'Gami Pupuduwa Upadeshaka' through its Gami Pubuduwa Village Awakening Programme.

HNB is well-accomplished in the sphere of corporate finance and offers services such as housing loans, savings & current accounts, fixed deposits, NRFC/RFC accounts, children's savings accounts, credit cards and trade finance. The Bank's loan portfolio includes industrial loans, GP loans, working capital, short-term loans, medium and long-term loans, variable rate loans and fixed rate loans. Continuing to uphold the No.1 position among banks in leasing, HNB drives on the cutting-edge of technology with an island wide ATM network, online banking and tele banking facilities.

Incremental deposit rates

Seylan Bank, the bank with a heart now offers upto 14% p.a. interest on "Seylan Ihalin Ihalata," a tier based savings account which offers a higher rate of interest for higher balances.

The initial deposit to open a "Seylan halin Ihalata" account is Rs. 5,000. Overnight balances between Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 50,000 attract an interest rate of 12.5%pa and from Rs. 50,001 onwards an interest rate of 14% pa would be applicable.

Interest would be calculated on the end-of-day balances at the applicable interest rate and credited to the account on a monthly basis.

Customers could transact business as usual and any number of withdrawals are allowed.

Those who maintain a minimum balance of Rs 20,000 in their "Seylan Ihalin Ihalata" accounts for a continuous period of six calendar months immediately preceding the event would be eligible to apply for "Seylan Merit Rewards" benefits, as well for grants covering life style benefits such as marriage, child birth, surgery and winning international events.

In addition, depositors would be issued with a Seylan VISA International Debit Card free of charge for the first year, free SMS Banking facility and free Internet Banking facility too would be on offer for the first year.

"Seylan Ihalin Ihalata" balances could be used as collateral for borrowings over the counter for upto 90% of the account balance.

Account holders also have the freedom to access their accounts from anywhere in the world with internet banking, telephone Banking, SMS banking and through the Visa Electron international debit card.

Seylan Bank with its islandwide branch and ATM network and the "Anywhere, Anytime Banking" concept has provided convenience to its

customers, who could use their international debit card for purchases at any VISA accredited merchant, directly debiting their accounts.

Seylan Bank's customers can also enjoy 24 hour 365 day uninterrupted banking at Millennium branch, Ceylinco Seylan Towers, Galle Road, Colombo.

As per its Founder Chairman Deshamanya Dr. Lalith Kotelawala's initiative, Seylan Bank's Savings Account holders can have banking brought to their doorstep with the "Palm Top Banking" concept, which, coupled with the above benefits, is an unbeatable combination, being the envy of other financial institutions.

Rs. 37 mn., VRS

Two hundred and seventy Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) employees between the 50 to 55 year age range had applied for the company's voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) in June.

This package costs the company Rs. 370 million. SLT's subsidiary Mobitel (Pvt.) Ltd., in the first half (1H) of the year ended June 30, 2008 made a net profit after tax (NPAT) of Rs. 582 million, a 1,593% year on year (YoY) growth. Its subscriber base during this period grew by 100% to 1.9 million.

SLT's fixed line customer base which was over 1.5 million by end June 2008.. During the 1H of the year nearly 50,000 new CDMA connections were given out, increasing the CDMA customer base to about 600,000.

The Group's NPAT in the period under review grew by 25% YoY to Rs. 3,163 million and revenue by 13% to Rs. 23.4 billion.

100% sales growth

Oracle recently announced that Oracle Partner Network members have reported being able to generate up to 100% incremental revenue from Oracle Technology and Applications implementations in Sri Lanka over the last two years.

Oracle partners including Millennium IT, DMS, Interblocks Ltd. and Informatics (Pvt.) Ltd. are some Sri Lankan organisations that have witnessed incremental sales as a result of Oracle's expanded product portfolio.

Inflation declining

Inflation, which became a global concern over the past year with the unexpected surge in world fuel and food prices, has shown signs of deceleration in Sri Lanka from July 2008, the Central Bank (CB) in a statement said.

It further said:" Since reaching a peak of 28.2% as measured by the year-on-year change in the new Colombo Consumers' Price Index (base=2002) in June, inflation has indicated a turnaround, as expected, by falling slightly to 26.6 per cent in July.

This decline was supported by improvements in domestic supply side factors and the containment of demand pressures. With the easing of commodity prices in international markets, external price pressures on domestic inflation are likely to further abate in the months ahead.

In terms of the CB's policy of restraining from investing in new Treasury bills ( T Bills), the Bank had exhausted its stock of T bills available for open market operations.  Hence, the Bank has moved to issuing its own securities to mop up excess liquidity and contain reserve money growth to the target level.

CB's tight monetary policy stance has enabled it to successfully maintain its operational target, namely, reserve money within the targeted path during the first half of the year as well as thus far during the third quarter.  This, in turn has checked the high monetary expansion which has been on a decelerating trend since early 2008.

 Accordingly broad money growth decelerated from 16.6% at end 2007 to 13.6% by end June. Credit to the private sector which was on a higher than desired growth path and remained a concern of the CB, also decelerated to 12.7% by end June, from the higher growth rates ranging from 20-26% in 2007.

As such, the tighter monetary policy stance has yielded its desired impact on monetary aggregates, decelerating the expansion in aggregate demand. The favourable impact of this deceleration in aggregate demand coupled with healthy developments on the supply side is expected to be observed during the forthcoming months in the form of moderating inflationary pressures in the economy.

The release of the next regular statement on monetary policy will be on September

15,  2008.

SriLankan to invest in A320s

SriLankan Airlines Group's financial performance for the year 2007/08 was affected by the steep rise in the price of aviation fuel, resulting in an operational loss of Rs. 588 million.

The airline spent an additional Rs. 6.538 billion for fuel in 2007/08, with the fuel bill increasing by 27.64% to Rs. 30.196 billion from Rs. 23.658 billion the previous year.

This was the result of the average price of jet fuel reaching USD 101.81 per barrel in 2007/08, as against USD 87.09 in 2006/07.

However, the sale and leaseback of three Airbus A340 aircraft resulted in a Group Nett Profit for the Year of Rs. 4,899.66 million. In the previous year, the Group recorded a Nett Profit of Rs. 862.18 million.

The Group consists of SriLankan Airlines Ltd. and its fully-owned subsidiary SriLankan Catering (Pvt) Ltd.

Reflecting the one off gain from the sale and lease back of the three A340 aircraft, the airline itself recorded a Nett Profit of Rs. 4,428.23 million for the year under review compared to Rs. 568.04 million in the previous year.

Revenue from Passenger Sales recorded a significant increase at Rs. 63,808.34 million, up from Rs. 53,862.32 million, an increase of 18.46%.

Group Chairman Dr. P.B. Jayasundera said: "The quantum of funds raised through the sale of the aircraft will be utilised towards re-fleeting of the A320 narrowbody fleet, and planned refurbishment of cabins on the widebody fleet."

The airline's management changed hands last April, with the expiry of the 10-year agreement with Emirates. The Government owns a 51.05% shareholding in the airline, with Emirates owning 43.63% and employees 5.32%.

Group Revenue was Rs. 80,031.47 million, up 16% from the previous year. Group Operating Expenditure increased by 18% to Rs. 81,794.32 million. The airline carried 3,196,106 passengers during the year under review, an increase of 0.65% over the previous year's 3,175,583 passengers.

Market resists lower rates

Central Bank (CB) seemingly prevented rates of 364 day Treasury Bills (T Bills) going up at last week's auction, accepting under a tenth of the bids received for this parcel.

Bids received for this parcel was Rs. 5,226 million of which only Rs. 436 million was accepted at a weighted average yield (WAY) per annum of 18.65%, 2 basis points (bp) less than the WAY fetched at the previous auction.

Similarly, the CB accepted under a third of the bids received for T Bills of 182 day tenure which saw that WAY slip marginally by 7 bp to 18.30%. The value of the bids received for that parcel was Rs. 8,601 million of which only Rs. 2,623 million was accepted.

Likewise only a third (Rs. 1,025 million out of Rs.3,143 million worth of bids received) was accepted for T Bills of 91 day tenure, which saw its WAY fall by 27 bp to 16.43%.

This auction was for the reissue of Rs. 8.5 billion maturing T bills of which Rs. 4,084 million was accepted from the market and the balance (Rs. 4,416 million) rejected, a term interpreted by the market that the CB got captive funds to invest in the same at rates lower than that which the market was demanding.

Islamic Finance qualification

The growing demand internationally for Islamic finance has resulted in CIMA being the first professional accountancy body globally to offer a 'Certificate in Islamic Finance' that covers Islamic commercial law, Islamic banking and Takaful, Islamic capital markets and instruments and Accounting for Islamic financial institutions.

Amana Investments Ltd., Managing Director/CEO Faizal Salieh spoke to a cross section of members and passed finalists of CIMA  on "Islamic Finance & Banking: The First Principles ' at a programme organised by CIMA Sri Lanka Division's Management Information and Resource Centre.

Salieh who counts over 30 years of  banking experience including conventional commercial banking, development banking and Islamic financial services elaborated on the principles of Sharia law  and explained how  Islamic banking and financial services  have developed  in keeping with those principles. He also spoke on Islamic financial  products and introduced several key technical terms  used in the industry. His presentation was followed by a discussion.

Islamic  Banking has a 40 year history since its origination as an organised practice in the '60s. Today it is the fastest growing segment in the global financial industry evoking encouraging responses from a cross section of customers, markets, conventional banks, regulators and policy makers across the world. It is no longer confined to the traditional boundaries of Islamic nations and is spreading in European countries including the UK.

The Certificate in Islamic Finance from CIMA is the first global qualification of its kind to be offered by a professional accountancy body in collaboration with the International Institute of Islamic Finance (IIIF) Kuala Lumpur, a  leading provider of  Islamic educational products.

Rs. 750 mn., tax liability

Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has placed Lanka Marine Services' (LMS') tax liability at Rs. 750 million.

However, John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) LMS' parent company said the supply of bunkers to foreign vessels is an export and therefore income is liable for tax at 15% as provided in the Inland Revenue Act (IRA).

At the 15% rate, the additional tax liability is Rs. 384 million against IRD intimation. A further Rs. 137 million of income tax at 15% falls due for the year 2007/08.

Additional customs duty, asset impairment (if LMS does not continue in

business) and other costs associated with the vacating of the premises is estimated at Rs. 187 million.

Based on the foregoing, in our view, the impact on the consolidated income statement and/or reserves of the group as a result of the additional tax liability, additional customs duty, asset impairment (if LMS does not continue in business) and other costs associated with the vacating of the premises is estimated at Rs. 704 million (consolidated at 99.44%), JKH in a statement said.

If LMS' export status is not immediately accepted, then a further Rs. 606 million will have to be treated as a contingent liability till the matter is finally resolved in terms of the IRA.

Kalaignar TV on Dialog TV

Dialog TV, Sri Lanka's premier Direct to Home (DTH) Satellite Television service provider has introduced Kalaignar TV; a Chennai based Indian satellite TV channel to its portfolio of international television content.  Kalaignar TV, now aired on Dialog TV, consists of a diverse array of programmes ranging from entertainment to educational programmes. It features the "best" of Kollywood's popular cinema stars like Kushboo, Ramba, Devayani and Pooja, as well as producer Bharathi Raja and dance master  Kala as hosts.

Mega serial dramas, women's programmes, comedy shows, musical shows, dance shows, popular Tamil movies, children's programmes, English and Telungu (dubbed) movie previews reviews and interviews are some of the programmes that are broadcasted on Kalaignar TV.

Dialog TV Chief Executive Officer. Nushad Perera said, "We launched Dialog TV with the vision of delivering the best in high quality and affordable programming to every segment of society.  In that aspect we assure that Kalaignar TV will provide fine entertainment to all our Tamil speaking viewers. Kalaignar TV will feature an exciting line up of programmes for our Tamil viewers in addition to the progammes that are broadcasted on TBO and 'Star Vijay' TV. I believe that this will enhance the bond between Dialog TV and our Tamil speaking viewers." 

Kalaignar TV has captivated its viewers with its programme line up. 'Maanada Mayilada' ranked first amongst the reality dance shows in India, 'Ellame Sirippu thaan' comedy show,   'Logic illa Magic' children's magic show, and 'Rasikan'-a popular show hosted by Sri Lanka's veteran announcer Abdul Hameed. Dialog TV has in the past strived to customize the concept of Pay TV to suit the tastes of a diverse Sri Lankan viewership. With the launch of channels such as TBO, Star Vijay and Shruthi, Dialog TV has tailor made its channel content to enthuse the Tamil community.

Refurbishes dental clinic

Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC's Corporate Social Responsibility Trust (CSR Trust) recently refurbished Deniyaya Base Hospital's Dental Clinic, converting it to a fully equipped facility.

The project was coordinated by the Bank's Deniyaya Branch under the supervision of Branch Head Jayantha Samarasinghe with financial assistance from the Bank's CSR Trust.

The Clinic serves dental patients of surrounding areas including Pallegama, Viharahena, Kotapola and Beralapanathara, in addition to Deniyaya.

Commercial Bank's Social Responsibility Trust empowers communities and individuals to help communities become self-reliant and independent, to motivate people, to encourage individuals to think out of box, to reward artistic endeavour and to capture and preserve heritage and folk wisdom.

The Trust began with a startup capital of Rs 25 million and the Bank contributes upto 1% of its post tax profits yearly to it. Recent CSR initiatives by the Trust include presenting scholarships for undergraduates, donating equipment and essentials to the Colombo National Hospital and building homes for the Tsunami affected in the South.

In Brief

Short Takes

Rupee, rates, appreciate

Foreign banks selling US Dollars in the local market, probably to capitalize on the prevailing high interest rate regime, resulted in the dollar-rupee parity coming down to the Rs. 107/60/65 levels on Friday, as opposed to a level of Rs. 107/70/75 the previous day, Thursday.

However, due to a liquidity crunch, with liquidity coming down to Rs. 19 million on Friday, overnight call money market rates (the rates at which commercial banks lend to each other for a day) went up by as much as 200 basis points (bp) to the 16-17% levels on Friday (even going up to 17.50%), as opposed to the 14-15% levels that prevailed on Thursday.

The Central Bank did not carry any open market operations to mop up excess liquidity either on Thursday or Friday.

Market sources expected rates to be maintained at those high levels in the week beginning tomorrow and the dollar-rupee parity to be in the Rs. 107/70/75 levels.

"Garments without Guilt"

Apparel industry's "Garments without Guilt" campaign emerged as a finalist from among 628 entries from the Asia-Pacific region and now will compete for the coveted prize of 10 Gold, 18 Silver, 20 Bronze and 1 prestigious Platinum awards offered by the Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards 2008.

To be selected as a finalist against some very tough competition is a great accomplishment, especially when historically the awards have been dominated by top global brands like Coke, P&G, Microsoft among others.

Violence hits bourse

With mounting election violence taking its toll on the bourse, it returned a lowly Rs. 136 million turnover on Friday, complementing the Rs. 147 million turnover made on Thursday.

Average turnover in the week ended Friday reported a figure of Rs. 152.4 million, lower than the low Rs. 207.6 million average daily turnover figure returned the previous week. The benchmark ASPI in the week ended Friday, week on week (WoW) lost 17.44 points, while the more sensitive MPI lost 28.39 points. The market, WoW lost a market capitalization figure of Rs. 5.7 billion, registering a market capitalization figure of Rs. 785.4 billion at the week-end.

25 airlines go bust

Oil prices are re-shaping the air transport industry. In recent months at least 25 airlines have gone bust and airlines could lose as much as US$6.1 billion this year.

While prices have come down from their peak, oil is still trading above US$110 per barrel (Brent).

"Thirty-two million people and US$3.5 trillion in business depend on an air transport industry that is safe, secure, environmentally responsible and financially sustainable. In this perfect storm of rising costs and falling demand growth, the courage to change will be the key to survival and to fulfilling this important responsibility," said International Airport Association Director General Giovanni Bisignani.

Paki apples

Pakistan, well known for its apple varieties, export those worldwide.

The variety named "Kaja" is grown in "Kalat, Mangocher, Mastung, Quetta and Pishin" in the Balochistan Province.  Kaja apples have high mineral content and organic acids, known for centuries to have potential health benefits.