Top insurer joins AAI

The newest member to join Asian Alliance's group of professionals as General Manager Non Life Division is Nimal Perera; a veteran with more than 35 years of experience in the insurance industry both in Sri Lanka and overseas.

Expressing his pleasure at the appointment, Perera said "Having revolutionized the face of Sri Lankan Insurance in the impressive span of nine years, Asian Alliance is now one of Sri Lanka's leading players in the insurance industry. Renowned for employing many of Sri Lanka's best insurance professionals, it is with pride that I become a part of the AAI family and work with them towards achieving new levels of success."

A Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute as well as the Insurance Institute of South Africa and a member of the Asia-Pacific Risk and Insurance Association, Perera's industry portfolio boasts of impressive handling of underwriting and claims of the Miscellaneous and Fire departments of the then Insurance Corporation of Sri Lanka (ICSL).

Perera was also ICSL's Manager-Reinsurance department for 5 years. He was later CEO/General Manager of the now defunct National Insurance Corporation Ltd., and Fid‚ Insurance Ltd., Malawi and HNB Assurance Ltd.

 He had earlier joined Union Assurance as General Manager Risk Management & Reinsurance in July 2004.

"It is with pleasure that we welcome Nimal Perera to Asian Alliance. At Asian Alliance every individual is unique-this stands testimony to their strength as a group of people committed together as one team and one family. With Perera's clear passion for excellence and his high level of experience and professionalism, he personifies the Asian Alliance mission to do great things with the work that we do," said Asian Alliance Insurance CEO Ramal Jasinghe.

Asian Alliance began operations in December 1999 and is a truly Sri Lankan organization that displays the national flag on the table of every staff member.

The company has grown from strength to strength to become a formidable operator in the insurance industry and attributes their success to touching the hearts of customers with outstanding levels of professionalism and success, and to the employees who make it possible by emulating passion, enthusiasm and a zeal for inimitable brilliance.

LMS' departure threatens Colombo's hub status

Colombo's status as a transshipment hub and as a centre for the provision of bunker fuel services to ships may allegedly be threatened after the recent court order that directed the country's principal bunker service provider to vacate the premises at Colombo in which it had its oil storage terminals, informed sources who did not want to be named said.

Lanka Marine Services (Pvt.) Ltd., (LMS), the service provider has to hand over those premises to its former owner, the state owned Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA)on that court order, by Wednesday.

They alleged that in the absence of proper bunker services in Colombo, that may induce vessels to seek this service elsewhere, in ports such as Salalah-a competitor port of Colombo.

SLPA plans to use those bunker stores as a common user facility for all ship bunker service providers.

But sources alleged that such a working was not feasible as different bunker operators' stored different types of bunker fuel as against storing a common type of bunker fuel that could be used by all.

LMS is a John Keells Holdings plc subsidiary.

LMS allegedly use to supply some 275-300 ships with bunker fuel monthly, including all the feeder vessels that used to call in at Colombo to take in/out transshipment cargo to and from the Indian Sub-Continent.

They however alleged that in the absence of a fixed, land based premises to hold bunker fuel, it would be difficult to do this business.

The absence of onshore bunker storage facilities would mean that the bunker operator would have to wholly depend on holding his bunker fuel in ship bunkering tankers, they said.

That is unsatisfactory for two reasons-due to capacity constraints in bunker ship godowns, and the need to import bunker fuel relatively more frequently (in the absence of onshore storage tanks), an activity that may suffer during periods of bad weather, they said.

LMS recently chartered a vessel to take the bunker oil that has been stored in those onshore premises at Walls Lane, Colombo (which formerly housed its operations)  as per that court order.

The vessel Hai Soon 16 belonging to an Indian owner has been hired at a chartering cost of US$ 75,000 for 15 days. There are some 4,000 metric tons (mts) of ship bunker fuel valued at US$ 5.2 million and belonging to LMS that are lying on those godowns at Walls Lane.

In addition, LMS owns two vessels, Lanka Marine Kelani and Lanka Maduru Oya to carry out its ship bunkering services, while having had earlier taken another ship, High Sea Passage, before the court order, on charter, for ship bunkering work.

LMS' bunkering services used to generate a turnover of between Rs. 275-300 million monthly.

LMS which used to employ around 113 workers for its ground handling work, will see those employees being absorbed by the SLPA after it vacates those premises.

Meanwhile, JKH upped their stake in South Asia Gateway Terminals (Pvt.) Ltd., Colombo's private terminal operator to 37.97%, by buying a 4.22% stake in it from ADB for US$ 4.41 million.

JKH is the single biggest shareholder of SAGT. ADB originally had a 7.5% stake in SAGT, and it disposed of its balance shares to AP Moeller Maersk Group, SAGT's second biggest shareholder, which now has a 29.53% stake in the company.

When The Sunday Leader asked JKH sources who did not want to be named why they further invested in the terminal, considering the seeming instability that has been created in the bunker business after the court ruling, they said that they expected things to settle-down in time.

Asked about the common user facility for bunkering, they said that that's a pickle.

Foreigners shun bourse

The market, hit by an investor perception that Colombo is saddled with an investor unfriendly government, coupled with the downturn in global markets, returned a lowly Rs. 173 million turnover at Friday's trading.

The day saw a net foreign outflow of Rs. 14.7 million, with foreign purchases recorded at Rs. 11.1 million and foreign sales, Rs. 25.8 million.

There are no foreign investors to drive the bourse, market sources said. It's currently being driven by retailers and high networth individuals who cannot afford the volumes that foreigners can, they said.

That does not create the herd instinct which generally drives the bourse to "highs" when it is fuelled by foreign investments, the sources said.

Among some of the seemingly top stocks in which there was investor interest on Friday was LIOC, Ceylinco Insurance, CIC and Dialog.

Meanwhile, overnight call money market rates which hit a high of 17.75% on Thursday, came down by 112.50 basis points (bp) to peak at 16.625% on Friday, due to the market becoming liquid on account of Treasury Bill settlement money entering the system.

The rupee weakened slightly to close the week at the 107/85/90 levels, as opposed to Thursday's close at the Rs. 107/80/85 levels.

Corruption in SL is across the board

A corporate lawyer alleged that business integrity here has a cost.

Arittha Wickramanayake, former Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission was disputing a claim made by a foreign accountant, now turned an advocate of Transparency International (TI), a German based NGO that fights against bribery and corruption, that a company that is ethical stood to gain.

"That may be applicable in your part of the world, but not here," he said.

Wickramanayake was speaking at a seminar organized by TI Sri Lanka chapter on Wednesday on the topic "Building Integrity and Transparency in Business Relationships."

Officials have to be bribed to win a tender here, alleged Wickramanayake.

Corruption is across the board, be it the public or private sectors, politicians or the regulators, Wickramanayake, responding to Jermyn Brooks of TI said.

He further said that there is no level playing field vis-…-vis listed and non-listed entities.

"For example listed banks in Sri Lanka are regulated by three or four authorities, but no so unlisted banks, giving them an unfair advantage," he alleged. Unregulated banks have no guidelines, alleged Wickramanayake.

"While others violate those laws, you are expected to comply," he said. "So you have to create a level playing field to implement standards. We have a long way to go."

Wickramanayake also said that he saw no sin in the private sector trying to maximize their profits.

He further said that the country does not have sufficient independent directors so as to be consonant with the recent corporate governance requirements of the Central Bank. Meanwhile, Brooks said, that in Norway, it is mandatory that 40% of the directors in a listed company should be women.

Learning curve

The Finance Director of a leading private sector conglomerate which was recently buffeted by an adverse court judgment in regard to a state venture which was sold to it, imputed that his company had lost several contracts because it played the game straight.

Ronnie Peiris, Finance Director John Keells Holding PLC (JKH) addressing a seminar on transparency on Wednesday. said that his company's governance code was something that he could be proud of.

"There is a cost of governance, but then there is a reward. I know of organizations that have lost contracts because they haven't greased the wheels," Peiris said.

Meanwhile, the privatization of Lanka Marine Services Ltd (LMS) to JKH was the subject of a recent Supreme Court judgment, which reversed certain decisions made in regard to that privatization such as LMS' BoI status and state land that was sold to it.

Peiris however refused to comment on the court judgment on the LMS deal, other than saying that there were lessons that JKH has learnt from that case.

Peiris further said that with the breakdown of the family and church system, the onus on inculcating ethics had fallen into the hands of the private sector.

He also said that an individual should be governed by one set of ethics, whether it be at home or in office, and not by different sets of values to fit into each of those separate functions or activities.

Jermyn Brooks of Transparency International, a German based NGO that fights against bribery and corruption said that companies that shun bribery and corruption should be rewarded. One way of doing this is by offering them loans at lower interest rates, he said.

Remain an economic power

Despite the emergence of new economic power blocs, USA will still remain a predominant economy in the 21st century due to its superior tertiary education system, a US envoy said.

US Ambassador Robert O. Blake addressing undergraduates at the BMICH on Thursday in an event sponsored by the Carsons Group said that because the USA's tertiary education system was privatized, it was ahead of the European and Japanese university systems which were state controlled and hence bureaucratic.

Higher education is USA's best industry, he said.

The USA invests 2.6% of its GDP on education, higher than either the EU or Japan, said Blake.

He further said that the USA was away ahead over the rest of the world in the fields of nano and biotechnologies. USA earned a revenue of US$ 50 billion from bio-technology in 2005, which was over 70% of the world's bio-technology revenue.

Outsourcing has also strengthened the USA. "iPods" may be manufactured in China, but value addition is by Apple at California, he said.

India may be annually passing out 35-50 PhD scientists, but in the case of USA, that number was 1,000.

Thirty per cent of foreign students globally are in the USA.

The USA is also ahead of Europe in population growth, assuring that there is indirect funding for pensioners.

By 2030 USA's population will increase by 60 million, while the EU will suffer stagnation. This means fewer workers to pay higher taxes to support pensions, Blake said.

He said that this population growth in the USA was because it was an immigrant nation. But Europe was afraid of taking in new immigrants because of the threat of Islamic terrorism.

He also said that there is a global war for talent.

NASCOM, India's apex ICT body has said that India, one of the new emerging economies would suffer from a 500,000 shortfall of ICT professionals by 2010. Similarly, China, another emerging economy needs 70,000 corporate leaders, but has a pool of only between 3-5,000 of those.

He therefore urged undergraduates to take advantage of these opportunities, equipping themselves especially in English.

Fighting corruption

Corruption could be tackled if there is a concerted effort by the private sector, an accountant said.

Citing an example, Jermyn Brooks of Transparency International, a German based NGO that fights against bribery and corruption told a seminar in Colombo on Wednesday, that in the past, it took two hours for a passenger to check in or out from the Baku International Airport at Azerbaijan.

This was due to corrupt police and customs officers at that airport, he said.

This compelled three international airlines, namely British Airways, KLM and Air France to write a joint letter of protest to the Azerbaijani President, threatening to withdraw their flights to Baku as those inordinate flight delays were affecting their schedules, said Brooks.

That effected the necessary change.

The President then transferred the Customs and Police officers serving in the airport within 24 hours which resulted in check ins and check outs at the airport being effected in a mere 10 minutes, he said.

Speaking further on corruption, Brooks said that formerly he was serving in the PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) office in Russia as one of their clients was involved in oil exploration.

In the first year of PWC's operations, they made US$ one million, but was landed with a VAT of US$ 10 million by the authorities. On principle PWC does not pay bribes, said Brooks.

This matter dragged on for 10 years, with PWC ultimately having to pay a much reduced bill of some US$ 100,000; he said. Corruption is rampant in Russia, said Brooks.

He said that former Russian Premier Vladimir Putin is supposed to be the richest man in the world, much richer than Warren Buffet.

He further said that if the world's 12 major banks insist that their partner offshore banking units come down hard on money laundering, this crime could be stopped. However, a problem in resorting to such an action is the stakeholders' view that combating money laundering is the duty of governments and not banks, he said.

Corruption cuts across countries

Corruption cuts across countries, whether they be rich or poor, an accountant said. Jermyn Brooks of Transparency International, a German based NGO that fights against bribery and corruption told a seminar in Colombo on Wednesday, that Siemens, Germany, whose business interests also include the manufacture of electricity power supply material, was recently found to have given a six million euro bribe to an Italian company to win a contract for the supply of power turbines.

Siemens which did a management shake-up after this exposure, incurred a cost of 600 million euros as at end of last year as investigation costs.

Further, Siemens which is listed in the USA stands to pay fines totalling between US$ 1-3 billion to the US authorities because of this misdemeanour, said Brooks.

He said that the birth of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the USA after the Enron scandal et. al was also due the fact that it was found that some CEOs were massaging their quarterly accounts, as their survival in an organization was linked to their companies' performances.

This Act encourages whistle blowing.

Brooks further said that former British Premier Tony Blair was instrumental in closing the investigations on BAE Systems, a defence company, after it was accused to have had made pay-offs to third party country agents, including those in Saudi Arabia, to obtain defence contracts.

Path to medical degree

Belarus is located in the Eastern Europe, bordering Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine and is less than 10 hours by train to Germany.

It is probably one of the safest environments for foreign youth to study. The country is categorized and reported as the place with least amount of criminal activities in Europe, said a statement. Under President. Alexander Lukashenka, Belarus, the government and the people have made a culture where there is no room to develop racism towards Asians.

Today Sri Lankan youth have been exposed to one of the best opportunities by Pathe Academy-Medical Education in Vitebsk State Medical University (VSMU). The education in Belarus is one of the best where standards are on par with the best in the world and affordable, coupled with a relatively low cost of living which makes it an ideal choice for your higher education.

VSMU ranks the best of its kind (Health Ministry, Belarus) in  Belarus. The University has 426 lecturers of whom 69 have a Doctor's Degree, 176-a Master's Degree, 40 are Professors and 141 Associate Professors. The staff is classified into  four main Faculties and 58 Departments and they are expected to undertake refresher courses for Continuous Professional Development. Within these 58 departments, where necessary, each department is equipped with automatic apparatuses for training, sets of plastic models and complex medical-diagnostic paraphernalia.

General Medicine - MD Degree: Which is higher qualification than MBBS is recognized by Sri Lanka Medical Council, and also by UK, USA, Australia including WHO & 58 other countries.

Belarus has one of the lowest tuition fee structures together with an easy payment scheme. You are prioritized and treated on par if not better than the Belarusians them selves. Hostel accommodations are provided within the campus of the universities. Each room includes double occupancy, an attached kitchen, a bathroom and "WC."

The hostels are of block type, with separate blocks for boys and girls..Hostels in Belarus are relatively cheap and of are of excellent quality. For those who require apartments, the university administration will fix such nearby the campus. To suit the tastes of international students, there are various types of restaurants, from Indian, Western, Arabic to Sri Lankan. All universities in Belarus are equipped with gyms, concert halls, international clubs, canteens, caf‚s, and hotel complex. There are over 1,000 foreign students from over 78 countries studying in Belarus.

Visas to Europe are easy for foreign students to obtain due the fact that all students have one year student visas. The application process for visas in embassies is hassle free. You can travel to most EU countries by train or by boat with tickets ranging from Rs.2,000 to Rs.20,000.

All medical universities in Belarus are state run and are attached to hospitals managed by the government which mean access to unlimited number of patients. Most private medical universities today find the problem of giving practical training to their students. Some countries who have traditional medicine or non western medicine also face this problem. The Medical education in Belarus is a mix of theory, practical and clinical training, with over a total bed fund of 4,200 beds spread across Belarus.

Pathe has made arrangements for Sri Lankan students to get their entry visas sent by post directly from the relevant ministry on a special arrangement facilitated by it and the Belarus government. Apply today and Pathe will confirm the admission status in 2-3 working days. Pathe also guarantees your flight within 20 days of the admission confirmation.

Launch of 3.75G services

Dialog Telekom, Sri Lanka's leading mobile communications service provider, will launch its 3.75G High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) service on a trial basis, at the 29th GSM Asia Pacific Conference in Colombo tomorrow .

 With 3.75G, customers could experience uplink speeds of up to 5.4Mbps, and the trial run would also feature at Dialog Future World.

The service supplements download speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps, empowering Dialog customers with mobile data speeds that are unparalleled. The enhanced upload speed will be available in selected areas and extend to all 3G coverage areas with network upgrades over the next few months.

In addition, Dialog also introduced the latest mobile broadband terminals to the Sri Lankan market which are capable of delivering downlink speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps. This includes a wide portfolio of Vodafone mobile broadband terminals such as the E220, E800, E172, and the E270 with an unlimited mobile broadband package.

Dialog's 3rd Generation network provides the widest 3G coverage in Sri Lanka with a 500 base station infrastructure footprint spanning Greater Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Nuwara Eliya, Monaragala, Ampara, Trincomalee, Jaffna and many other towns in Sri Lanka.

Dialog Telekom has placed Sri Lanka's mobile sector well ahead of regional counterparts with the launch of its 3G service in August 2006. Committed to revolutionising the mobile telephony landscape in Sri Lanka, Dialog 3G supports a range of cutting edge services for enterprise as well as consumer segments including but not limited to Mobile TV, Mobile Video Portals, multi party video conferencing, mobile video surveillance and 3rd Generation Roaming across 40 countries and 70 operators.

Embezzlement

A former China Southern official was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for embezzling $220 million between August 2001 and April 2003; another received a five-year prison sentence.

Three people were accused in the case, which included bribery and theft related to transactions with Hantang Securities, reported Guangzhou Daily. (Washington Aviation Summary)

Hans, TMI's Group COO

Telekom Malaysia International (TMI) announced that Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, who is currently the Group Chief Executive of Dialog Telekom PLC has been additionally appointed as its Group Chief Operating Officer (Group COO) effective from this month.

TMI has a significant presence in Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Cambodia. In addition, this Malaysian holding company has strategic mobile and non-mobile telecoms operations and investments in India, Singapore, Iran, Pakistan and Thailand.

Listed on Bursa Malaysia, TMI is among the top 10 public-listed companies in Malaysia by market capitalisation, and the first listed pan-Asian pure cellular service provider in the region.

The Group, including its subsidiaries and associates has about 50 million mobile subscribers in Asia, putting it among the largest mobile telecoms providers in the region by turnover. The Group employs 13,000 in 10 countries.

"TMI is currently strengthening its organisation by bringing in world class talent at all levels", said TMI President and Group Chief Executive Dato' Jamaludin Ibrahim. "We are in a unique position as we also have access to talent from within, developed over a decade of operations in the Asian region. Wijayasuriya's appointment as Group COO falls in line with our philosophy of providing opportunities to our internal talent whilst bringing in external talent into the Group.

He will add an invaluable dimension to the TMI management team, having a wealth of operational experience behind him. Wijayasuriya will focus on driving superior performance across all operating companies through rigorous performance management and operational improvement processes. It reflects our new strategy where we need to shift our focus significantly to drive organic growth and in-country performance", added Jamaludin.

Wijayasuriya has been Dialog Telekom PLC's Chief Executive since 1997 and together with a founding management team, who head the multiple facets of Dialog's business, has seen the company evolve from being the 4th entrant to Sri Lanka's mobile sector to the position of market leader and largest market capitalized company on the Colombo Stock Exchange.

An experienced and long standing management team has been a key strength of the Dialog Telekom Group enabling it to expand from mobile-centric foundations to a quadplay formulation. The organization is currently very well positioned to adapt to Wijayasuriya's additional role as TMI's Group COO, with a robust management team already in place at each individual business unit-mobile, TV, International, Fixed/Broadband and Tele-infrastructures, being headed by their respective CEOs.

Within his role as Dialog's Group CEO, he will continue to focus on managing the strategic and tactical initiatives of the company to enhance its leadership position in Sri Lanka's telecoms sector. Wijayasuriya will continue to be based in Colombo.

 Wijayasuriya, a chartered engineer and Fellow of the Institute of Engineering Technology (FIET) and an alumni of Cambridge University, holds a PhD in Digital Mobile Communications from Bristol University UK and an MBA from Warwick University.  A past Chairman of GSM Asia Pacific, Wijayasuriya counts over 15 years in mobile communications.

Beats national averages

Union Bank in the first half (1H) ended June 30 2008, saw a 30% year on year (yoy) deposit growth to Rs. 9.99 billion while advances in the period under review grew by 42% yoy to Rs. 7.7 bn., whereas, this sector, nationwide, grew by only 12.5% for both categories.

Further, the Bank's net non performing loan (NPL) ratio is the lowest in the industry, at 1.16%.

Commenting on these exceptional results, the Bank's Director/CEO, Mahendra Fernando said, "All our lending activities have been evaluated with the Bank's ultimate safety in mind, and not in the interest of short term gains, Union Bank is able to declare the lowest non-performing ratio amongst all commercial banks. We are especially proud of this because not too long ago when we took over the management of this bank, its NPL ratio was hovering around 32%."

He also said: "We are pleased with the growth in the two main categories of business development which has been achieved against the backdrop of a perceptible slowing of the financial services industry due to the prevalent policies which have been prompted by high inflation and borrowing costs."

The Bank's assets and liabilities were grown in keeping with a business model which is pivotal in not exposing the bank to significant risks in a market which is now encountering much higher incidence of NPLs compared to the same period last year (according to CBSL, NPLs for the entirety of 2007 amounted to Rs.5bn., whereas for the first six months of 2008, it has already reached Rs. 16bn).

The Bank's Pre-Tax profit increased by 50% over the corresponding period last year, and reached Rs. 54.83mn, which was facilitated by a 49% growth in net interest income and a16% growth in other income. Post-tax profit at Rs. 16.58mn., was marginally down by 0.66% due to provisioning on taxation.

Non interest expenses recorded a 27% increase over the corresponding period last year, reaching Rs. 182.2mn., which was mainly due to the significant increase in business volumes.

The Bank's income in 2008 1H grew by 50% to Rs. 870.27mn. Earnings growth has been mainly due to interest income increasing to Rs. 788.63mn., compared to Rs. 511.41mn., in the previous period.

Total shareholder funds increased by Rs. 535.81mn., from Rs. 863.63mn in 2007 to Rs. 1,399.44 mn., in June 2008 and the Bank's capital adequacy ratio is at 14.95% despite the growth in loans and advances.

"We are very alive to the particular challenges that the market poses at this time, since the debt servicing capacity of borrowers in general are strained by high inflation and high borrowing costs, and the savings capacity of people are also greatly reduced due to inflation and the resultant high cost of living, but we are firmly committed to the business plan that we have for this bank. Our new branches which have come on stream late last year and early this year, have proven through their quick successes that Union Bank holds a distinct appeal for the customers to which it markets. We look forward with zest to meeting the inevitable challenges that are ahead in these turbulent times," Fernando concluded.

Another slim TV

LG Flatron the world's first Digital Flat Television is the undisputed best selling TV in the world.

The innovative research and technology team of LG Electronic's, Korea developed the Flatron TV after years of painstaking research and planning, from which all other brands of flat TV's have been fashioned.

LG Flatron Television's flat picture tube eliminates outer light reflection completely. This prevents light shining directly into your eye making it comfortable for you to watch TV even for long periods without eyestrain.

With a radius curvature that's infinity, you can view the best picture quality with true-to life images from any angle anywhere in the room with minimum eye strain and maximum comfort.

LG's latest innovation in the Flatron range is the Super Slim Flat TV which has 40% less protrusion at the rear and slim enough to fit into corners of your room and places other TV's wont fit.

And here's the best part of the deal, when you buy a 21" LG Super Slim Flat TV

( 21FS4RGE), Abans give you a free LG Super Slim DVD Player (DV286).

Abans, the sole agent for LG home appliances in Sri Lanka are offering a mammoth five year warranty on every LG Flatron TV purchased from them. This is the highest warranty presently offered for any television set in the market. 

LG Flatron Digital TVs are available in 15," 21" and 29" models and LG Super Slim Flat TV's are available in 21" and 29" models from all Abans Showrooms islandwide and A-World showrooms in Welisara and Crescat Boulevard. 

Abans offer interest free easy payment terms on all their products, including LG Flatron TVs to make the world's best brands affordable and within reach of every family.

All LG Flatron TVs sold by Abans carry a guarantee of quality and efficient after-sales-service by Abans service centres and authorized service agents islandwide.

Lamda exams

LAMDA Examinations, the Awarding Body arm of The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, has taken steps to improve and widen its services to Sri Lankan schools, teachers and students by appointing a new Sri Lanka representative. LAMDA exams have been growing in popularity in Sri Lanka over the last few years. In 2009, LAMDA exams will be held in February and August but plans are made to hold exams in August and December in the subsequent years.

The new arrangement, in addition to providing more support to those who are already involved with LAMDA exams, will provide opportunities for more teachers and pupils island-wide to develop their communication and dramatic art skills.

LAMDA is recognised worldwide for being one of the leading drama schools in the English- speaking world and for conducting an eminent set of public exams in its sector.

In British theatre and television, many cast lists include LAMDA alumni. Many students studying in independent schools, state schools and private performing arts schools in the UK have the opportunity to take LAMDA exams, including Grade 8 exams which are recognised for entrance to UK universities. In fact, UCAS points areÿavailable for exams atÿGrade 6, 7 and 8, to assist in entering UK universities.

LAMDA has become the largest Speech and Drama Awarding Body in the UK.

"LAMDA Exams are accredited as an Awarding Body by The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and the corresponding regulatory authorities in Wales and Northern Ireland.

Among many initiatives planned for Sri Lanka are teacher workshops by visiting British specialists, curriculum support to schools, new qualifications and two examination cycles a year. LAMDA has also launched the LAMDA Teacher's Certificate in Communication which has been designed to develop the skills, knowledge and understanding required to teach introductory communication skills and speech to young children and adults.

Ceylinco Sussex runs 20 schools

Ceylinco Sussex Educational Services Ltd was established in January 2004 with a view to taking English medium education, especially to educationally disadvantaged areas of the island

This is the vision of Ceylinco Consolidated Chairman Deshamanya Dr. Lalith Kotelawala which was translated into action by Ceylinco Sussex Educational Services Ltd. Deputy Chairman K.A.S. Jayatissa.

"We have already established 20 schools covering eight of the provinces. Incidentally we were the first to establish a professionally designed school for children with Autism.  The distinct feature of our schools is that students of any religion, ethnicity or cultural background could study in any of them which contributes towards peace and harmony and also the development of the country.

Our schools have received ISO 9001:2000 certification which is considered a rare achievement. A number of National Productivity Awards have been won. So also in sports and Aesthetics at the Divisional and Zonal level competitions conducted by the Education Department. 'Today' we will be launching another important project where Ceylinco Sussex Educational Services will sign a memorandum of understanding with British Council to conduct classes leading to Cambridge ESOL exams in all major cities of Sri Lanka for our students as well as other students and this is an excellent opportunity for Ceylinco Sussex Business School students to improve their business communication skills too through Business English Certificate exams conducted by Cambridge University. These exams are aimed at improving the proficiency of English of all Sri Lankan students enabling them to fit into varied careers and to pursue higher education both here and abroad. In addition to this they will receive a recognized qualification from one of the prestigious universities in the UK, the Cambridge University.

As a result of this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), British Council will even go to outstation branches of Ceylinco Sussex College Network to conduct Cambridge ESOL exams and also under this important MoU all English teachers of Ceylinco Sussex College Network will be trained by professional British Council trainers and British Council will do the awareness programmes for both our teachers and parents providing more benefits to Sri Lankan students."

Lowest mobile cost ownership

In a recent study done by Nokia across 80 emerging markets, it had concluded that Sri Lanka has the lowest total cost of ownership for mobile services at a rate of around US$ 21/2 -3 a month, as against an average of US$ 13.16.

As Sri Lanka's mobile telecoms industry rapidly approaches the 50% per-capita milestone penetration (38.2% as at 12/2007: TRCSL), incumbent mobile operators (Dialog, Hutch, Mobitel and Tigo) cited fair and consumer centric competition, progressive regulation by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL), long term and committed investment and accompanying stewardship of the Board of Investment (BoI) as key drivers to their achievement.

While Sri Lanka's mobile operators through decade long investments have achieved 70% geographic coverage and 90% population coverage, in the very near future one in two Sri Lankan's would own a mobile phone.

Per-Capita adoption alone outstrips neighbouring India by nearly two fold-per capita adoption in India being 20.5% as of 12/2007 (Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India).

This signifies the giant strides made by Sri Lanka's mobile sector in terms of affordability enhancement.

A fair playing field, healthy competition and a regulator with foresight have contributed in no small measure to industry growth. Sri Lankan consumers have benefited from the competitive landscape in the island's mobile sector. Competition has been healthy and delivered not only successive reductions in pricing levels bringing mobile telephony within reach of all segments of Sri Lankan society, but additionally quality services and advanced technologies well ahead of the region.

On this backdrop of a near two decade long tradition of healthy competition, the mobile sector is left perturbed by alleged references to anti-competition attributed to new entrant Airtel, India.

Mobile operators in a statement dismissed as misleading and distracting comments attributed to a senior Airtel official. In the opinion of mobile operators, references to anti-competition distract the Sri Lankan consumer from the larger issue of the readiness of the new entrant who allegedly obtained the 5th mobile operator license on April 12, 2007 (Source: TRCSL).

Interconnection is a regulatory construct which forms the cornerstone of competition and certainly not anti-competition. The interconnect rules of 2003 derived and gazetted (Gazatte no 1278/18 dated March 7, 2003) by TRCSL contain an Interconnect rate of Rs 1.50 per minute at peak time trailing to 38 cents during the discount time band. The interconnect rate is specified to ensure fair compensation for the use of the terminating (receiving party) network infrastructure by the network originating the call. The rate applies in both directions and hence represents parity and fair bilateral compensation.

Sri Lanka's mobile operators started charging each other these gazetted rates (pending a new cost study) in advance of the launch of the 5th operator in order to provide a level playing field for the new entrant. The new entrant would be paid the same rate for all calls terminating on its network. The implementation of this bilateral and parity interconnection charge as well as an ongoing exercise to re-evaluate this rate in the wake of cost escalation since 2003 is being conducted under the stewardship of the TRCSL.

Sri Lanka's TRC has in fact succeeded in ensuring that cost of owning a mobile (total cost of ownership) in Sri Lanka is among the lowest in the world.

HNB opens 173rd branch

Infusing new savings opportunities into the lifestyles of the people of Kekirawa, Hatton National Bank (HNB) opened its 173rd Customer Centre recently at. Thalawa Road, Kekirawa

The Kekirawa Customer Center was opened by AGM Recoveries Lasantha Fernando.

Kekirawa, although still amongst the more rural areas of Sri Lanka, is now, slowly finding its footing through the flourishing business opportunities created by the setting up of the economic center.

The opening of the new Customer Centre is bound to help fulfil the need for competitive banking services. Today, HNB provides its expertise and services through a large network of customer centres islandwide. It is also the only bank to have not forgotten the more rural villages, taking banking to the provincial areas too, 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 provides facilities 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, The Bank Continues to uphold the No.1 position among banks in leasing. HNB drives on the cutting-edge of technology with an islandwide ATM network, online banking and tele banking facilities.

Back to business

Commercial Bank of Ceylon recently announced that services resumed at its Panadura Branch following a fire in the early hours of August 15 which damaged the front of the building.

The Bank set up three banking counters for front office operations and moved its back office departments back into the building by Monday. Additionally a mobile banking unit equipped with an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) had been stationed at the premises to supplement services.

The Bank made arrangements, the day the fire took place, for Panadura customers to be served at the Bank's Moratuwa and Wadduwa branches and at the 'MiniCom' outlets at the Cargills Food City Supermarkets in Panadura and Moratuwa.    

In Brief