Janashakthi Life, a leading name in the insurance industry and a subsidiary of JXG (Janashakthi Group), is pleased to announce the appointment of two distinguished leaders to its executive team. Ms. Namalee A. Silva joins as Chief Business Officer, and Shankar Dharmaratne assumes the role of Chief Digital Officer.

These strategic appointments mark a significant milestone in Janashakthi Life’s commitment to accelerating business growth, enhancing market presence and driving comprehensive digital transformation across the organization.

Ms. Namalee A. Silva is an accomplished marketing and business professional with over 36 years of experience in the Banking, Finance, and Insurance sectors. She has held various senior leadership positions at renowned institutions, including Commercial Bank, Nationwide Building Society (UK), Lloyds Bank (UK), Seylan Bank, People’s Bank, and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, where she last served as Chief Business Officer. Her extensive expertise and strategic insight are expected to be instrumental in steering Janashakthi Life towards new heights of success.

Shankar Dharmaratne joins Janashakthi Life with more than 25 years of experience across Banking, Telecommunications, and Technology. He has held key leadership roles at Dialog Axiata PLC, Royal Vision Singapore (Pvt) Ltd and Hatton National Bank, where he most recently served as Head of Digital Services. He has also contributed to national-level digital initiatives through his work with the National Payment Council and the Digital Roadmap Committee of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. His expertise will play a crucial role in advancing Janashakthi Life’s digital strategy, enhancing customer experience, and fostering innovation.

Emirates has announced a landmark partnership with the world’s No. 1 tennis player, Aryna Sabalenka, who becomes the airline’s first tennis ambassador.

The milestone builds on Emirates’ longstanding commitment to tennis as the Official Airline of all four Grand Slams worldwide. To mark the occasion, Sabalenka unveiled an Emirates A380 aircraft adorned with a special tennis-inspired livery celebrating its sponsorship of the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open.

Sabalenka and Emirates both share a passion for excellence, innovation and a winning spirit. Dubai serving as a hub for Sabalenka’s training and preparation over the years, positions her as a natural fit for Emirates.

The partnership caps a dominant period for the 27-year-old, who is now a four-time Grand Slam champion after claiming a second US Open in September last year. Sabalenka, who won back-to-back Australian Open titles in 2023 and 2024, before finishing as runner-up at AO25, has also been crowned the WTA Tour Player of the Year for the past two seasons.

Reflecting on the announcement, Sabalenka shared:

“In tennis, every little detail counts – so to align with a brand which matches my ambition and attention to detail makes this feel like a natural fit.

‘Travelling in world-class comfort with Emirates has been key to my preparation. But this partnership represents much more than that – because it also highlights what we, as women in sport, can achieve on the world stage.

‘’Stepping off this Emirates A380 in Melbourne I feel ready to make 2026 another year to remember.”

Boutros Boutros, Emirates’ Executive Vice President for Corporate Communications, Marketing & Brand said:

“Aryna is not only a champion on the court but a global icon who inspires millions through her determination and professionalism – qualities that resonate strongly with our ethos at Emirates. With Dubai as our shared home, we already have a strong connection with Aryna, and this partnership allows us to elevate our engagement in a truly meaningful way.

‘’Together, we hope to create unique opportunities for fans to experience the Emirates journey, both in the air and at the heart of the sport. Whether it be by offering live tennis through our ice entertainment system, or a taste of Australia through our in-flight menu. Emirates can’t wait to see what Aryna can achieve at the Australian Open and beyond in 2026.”

About Emirates and tennis

Emirates’ extensive portfolio of global sports and cultural partnerships connects millions of people through shared passions and world-class experiences. The airline’s tennis portfolio includes some of the highestprofile events on the ATP and WTA tours, including the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships as well as all four Grand Slams (Australian Open, Roland Garros, US Open, Wimbledon).

Beyond tennis, Emirates’ commitment to connecting fans across the globe through shared sporting moments spans horse racing through the Dubai World Cup and Team Godolphin; golf via the DP World Tour; cricket across all major ICC events and the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires and Lancashire County Cricket Club; sailing with Emirates Team New Zealand, SailGP and Emirates Great Britain Sail GP team; basketball through the NBA, Real Madrid and Beirut Basketball club; cycling with UAE Team Emirates XRG; and Australian rules football with Collingwood FC. Emirates’ iconic “fly better” branding appears on the jerseys of leading football clubs including Arsenal FC, Real Madrid CF, AC Milan, S.L. Benfica, and Olympique Lyonnais. Emirates also serves as Platinum Partner to FC Bayern Munich’s first team. Emirates has been the title sponsor of The FA Cup for nearly a decade. In the UAE, the airline supports the Pro League and appears on Al Ain FC’s training kit during the 2025/2026 season.

As social listening evolves from basic brand monitoring into a strategic driver of business growth, Mark and Comm (Pvt) Ltd, Sri Lanka’s leading boutique public relations and communications agency, is positioning Sri Lankan businesses at the forefront of this transformation through its exclusive partnership with Hootsuite and Talkwalker.

The global social media listening market is projected to grow from $9.61 billion in 2025 to $18.43 billion by 2030, reflecting how central these capabilities have become for modern marketing and communications.

“The digital conversation is happening whether brands are listening or not,” said Thanzyl Thajudeen, managing director of Mark and Comm. “What we’re bringing to Sri Lanka isn’t just software. It’s the ability to transform how businesses understand their customers, respond to reputation threats, and make data-driven decisions that directly impact revenue. With over 12 million active internet users, Sri Lanka’s digital landscape is evolving rapidly, yet most brands continue to struggle with fragmented monitoring tools, reactive crisis management, and an inability to connect digital activities to measurable business outcomes.”

Traditional social media monitoring has evolved into sophisticated consumer intelligence that analyzes sentiment, identifies emerging trends, and predicts customer behavior patterns. Research shows that 62% of social marketers now use social listening tools, with listening ranked as the second-highest priority for organizations on social media. Companies using social listening effectively achieve up to 10% faster revenue growth compared to their peers. Today’s AI-powered platforms can understand context, detect sarcasm, analyze visual content, and surface insights across 30 social networks and 150 million websites—capabilities that go far beyond simple keyword alerts.

The Hootsuite-Talkwalker partnership brings two complementary capabilities to Sri Lankan brands. Talkwalker provides comprehensive consumer intelligence with real-time sentiment analysis, visual recognition technology for brand logo detection, predictive analytics for trend forecasting, crisis detection with automated alerting, and competitive benchmarking. Hootsuite, used by over 25 million professionals and 800 Fortune 1000 companies, offers enterprise-level social media management with unified scheduling across 35 networks, team collaboration workflows, advanced analytics, and over 100 tool integrations. G2 recently recognized Hootsuite as the number one platform for Social Media Listening, Social Media Analytics, and Social Media Suites.

“These aren’t just operational tools—they represent strategic advantages,” Thajudeen explained. “Consider a financial services company monitoring customer sentiment around service changes, detecting potential reputation risks before they escalate. Or a hospitality brand analyzing guest experiences across all review sites and social platforms in real-time, responding to service issues immediately. Every day without proper social listening is a day of flying blind in your market.”