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Toshiba e-Studio dealers win JKOA rewards

John Keells Office Automation (JKOA) held its annual Dealer Convention recently. The excellent performance of Toshiba e-STUDIO dealers from Sri Lanka and the Maldives for the 2007/2008 financial year was recognised and rewarded in an event that celebrated a year of outstanding achievements.

Taking centre stage were the winners in eight awards categories that included sales performance, highest sales growth, showroom quality, territory coverage, and spare parts revenue.

Members of the senior management of TSP (Toshiba Singapore's (TSP) International Operations, Jun Kanamori, Senior Manager, Christopher Lee, Sales & Marketing Manager and Willie Koh, Country Manager, graced the event with their presence.

Whilst congratulating the winners on their excellent performance, they set out TSP's vision and operational direction for e-STUDIO business for the current and succeeding years.

Sujiva Devaraja, Sector Head, IT, John Keells Holdings (JKH), and Chandima Perera, CEO, John Keells Office Automation (JKOA), in their addresses to the gathering, appreciated the dedication and commitment of the dealers in attaining e-STUDIO's current market position despite strong competitive forces and adverse market conditions.

Winners and participants utilised the Convention as a forum for sharing ideas and experiences with dealer colleagues Toshiba e-STUDIO celebrations continuing late into the night, celebrated a victorious year and heralded a fresh start to another challenging year ahead.

Eagle completes short listing process for N.S. Awards

Eagle has completed its short listing process for the applications received for the National Safety Awards 2008. Twenty-three companies have been short listed. The site visits for these companies have commenced and will be completed by the first week of September.

This year a total of 17 awards will be presented to the safest workplaces of the country. The awards structure will consist of nine Islandwide Awards and eight Sectoral Awards.

The National Safety Award evolved and sponsored by Eagle is held in collaboration with the Department of Labour and Employees' Trust Fund Board. It has become the benchmark of organisational commitment towards an accident-free workplace, leading to enhanced organisational and national productivity.

The awards are presented once in every two years. Since its inception in 1994, the event has become a prestigious and much anticipated one in the corporate calendar.

"In order to win this coveted award, organisations do their utmost, to improve the safety standards at their workplaces to qualify for participation. This has resulted in safer workplaces and enhanced safety awareness across the nation," commented a member of the judging panel.

The information relating to safety is obtained through a detailed questionnaire comprising 98 questions on Safety Organisation, Maintenance of injury records and investigations of accidents, premises and house keeping, mechanical, electrical and personal safeguarding, and fire protection and prevention.

The questionnaires are carefully scrutinized by a panel of judges who visit the workplaces of those who meet with the required criteria.

The panel of judges comprises health and safety professionals and includes the Commissioner of Labour (Technical) and Chief Factories Inspecting Engineer, Deputy Commissioner of Labour and the Senior Research Officer of the Department of Labour, two former Chief Factory Inspecting Engineers and Risk Managers from Eagle Insurance.

The NSA is an extension of Eagle's very comprehensive and focused CSR strategy designed to positively affect all stakeholders and the nation.

Eagle's CSR is consistent, comprehensive, and consciously impacts the country with a profound commitment towards building a better society", commented Managing Director, Deepal Sooriyaarachchi. Eagle's CSR platform on Safety was selected at the inception.

Through consistent concentration, Eagle recorded many successes through far-reaching initiatives to reduce accidents, by inculcating safety-awareness on maintaining high-safety-standards at home, in school, at work and on the road.

Z-World launches online library, "Z-Library"

Sri Lanka's first web-based advertiser, Z-World today launched "Z-Library", an online library offering a range of books, magazine and other reading material by local authors.

Z-Library (available on www.thezworld.com) allows users to either download a PDF version of their favorite book or magazine, or make an order online for a hard copy of the product.

The library currently contains three books of Carl Muller's collection. The first chapter of each book will be available for download free of charge. The works of more authors and locally-published magazines will be added in due course.

Z-Library is the latest addition to Z-World's portfolio of viral marketing services which include Z-Mail and Z-Entertainment, the most popular services. Z-World is also in the process of adding bigger and better services to its range:

Sri Lanka's first web cast (online radio) and Z-Locator, an online service of locations of key hospitals, schools, restaurants etc. in Sri Lanka.

Pioneer in viral marketing, or web-based advertising in Sri Lanka, Z-World hit the world-wide-web in July 2006.

Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness, through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to spread a message.

It can often be word-of-mouth delivered and enhanced online; it can harness the network effect of the Internet and can be very useful in reaching a large number of people in a swift manner.

Takaful ambassadors honoured

Amana Takaful Insurance Annual Awards Night :

Amana Takaful Insurance (ATI), recently held its annual awards ceremony, recognising ‘Takaful Ambassadors’ who contributed to its continued leadership in Takaful insurance.

Themed ‘Rewarding those who challenged their limits’ the ceremony saw many excelling performers walking away with many awards from sales excellence to operation and service excellence.

Director/CEO of Amana Takaful Insurance Ehsan Zaheed pointed out the many obstacles that the company has faced and successfully overcome over the years, and that have added to its resilience.

“The environment around us has changed, continues to change almost on a daily basis and poses many challenges,” he said. “Our staff will be the key driving force in ATI’s success and their continued personal, as well as career development will be a priority”, he added.

CEO/General Manager - Amana Takaful Life, Reyaz Jeffrey, expressed his pleasure at the company’s emergence as the market-leader in Takaful insurance in Sri Lanka.

“Although we can be proud today for the in-roads we have made in a fiercely competitive industry, we do not take it as a milestone to stop and celebrate. It’s a milestone that will help us take the next step forward, and that is to establish a more superior status in Sri Lanka’s insurance industry,” said Jeffrey, who heads the Company’s Life Insurance operation.

Managing Director of The 7th Frontier (Pvt) Ltd., Dinesh Watawana, the brand strategists for ATI, in his keynote address, spoke of how ATI’s team of insurance professionals can strive to become ‘walking-talking commercials’ for the Takaful concept and in the process expand their own limits.

He further stressed the incredible potential presented by the uniqueness of the Takaful concept.

The importance of ‘Living the corporate mission’ was stressed upon by HR Consultant of Amana Takaful Insurance Munshif Hussain who pointed out that the Corporate Mission had to be practised everyday and reflected in the thoughts and actions of each and every staff member to achieve the Mission successfully.

The thought-provoking presentation discussed the uniqueness of the ‘Takaful Mission’ and its role in the company’s present and future success.

Key award winners for General Insurance were M. G. M. Ansari for Overall Best Production - Account Managers Category with Thasleen Ammon and Omar Mustafa coming in as the runners-up. In the Senior category Shabeer Sherifdeen (Pettah) won Overall Best Production and Luqman Nizam (Pettah) the same in the junior category.

Award for the Best Life Insurance collections was bagged by H. M. M. Irshad (Pettah) with Shakir Mohomed (Metro) and M. J. M. Jehan (Matale) emerging as runners-up.

The awards for Highest New Business Life Insurance were bagged by I. B. Chaminda of the Kalutara branch, whilst M. Z. M. Rushdi (Metro) bagged the award for Highest MCFP.

The award for Best Outstation Performance went to Mazad Mohamed of the Kandy branch and the award for the Best portfolio mix to Riyaz Madani (Pettah).

The Best Branch Manager for the Year 2007 was clinched by M. L. Basheer (Puttalam) whilst the Best Branch for the Year 2007 went to the Puttalam Branch.