Business
HSBC Sri Lanka wins three international awards

On the backdrop of completing 129 years of operation in the country, HSBC Sri Lanka continued its leadership position as the best International Retail Bank of the year, at the Asian Banking & Finance Retail Banking Awards 2021 for the fifth time, since 2016.
This year over 140 exceptional banks from 31 countries were recognised for their continuous drive to grow and provide services to customers amidst several uncertainties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Winning banks were judged for their resilience and ability to adapt and leverage digital technology amidst the crisis, and cater to the ever-changing customer preferences and increased comfort with digital products and services, to benchmark themselves against market competition.
Nadeesha Senaratne, Country Head of Wealth & Personal Banking HSBC said, “We are truly humbled to be recognised as Sri Lanka’s best International Retail Bank of the year given the challenging environment faced by many businesses and the impacts of the pandemic on local communities. This award is a testament to the dedication and commitment of our Wealth & Personal banking team in Sri Lanka and the customer confidence in HSBC. It further proves that our strategy to invest in technology and help customers adapt to the new normal with digital banking products and services, and making banking fast, easy to use and secure, is paying off.”
He further said, “I take this opportunity to thank all our customers for the trust placed in us, and to our staff for their continued commitment to supporting our customers and the wider community that we serve.”
This year HSBC rolled out several digital banking channels for customers to be able to bank from anywhere, anytime. Customers, who had been slow to adopt digital in the past, were forced to embrace technology during the pandemic. More than 80% of the bank’s clients now use digital channels including mobile banking, e-wallets, real-time cash deposit machines and other digital services.
The same applies to corporate banking where HSBC has a 90% digital penetration rate and 70% mobile penetration for the client group. HSBC was able to bring clients on board remotely using technology and was the first to introduce LiveSign in Sri Lanka, and provide access to credit cards, loans and customer service.
Earlier this year, HSBC Sri Lanka was also named International Bank of the Year by Asiamoney in the Best Bank Awards 2021 for the fifth consecutive year and was awarded the same title by Finance Asia in its Country Awards 2021, for the sixth time.
These awards further reinforce HSBC Sri Lanka’s longstanding commitment to the country and customers, as well as recognises the bank’s overall dominance in Wholesale Banking, Wealth & Personal Banking and Global Banking and Markets.
Business
Share investors worried over Wealth and Heritage tax

By Hiran H Senewiratne
CSE trading kicked off on a positive note yesterday but the momentum could not be sustained for long owing to investor worries that the government is planning domestic debt restructuring involving the imposition of a wealth and heritage tax on citizens, market sources said.
Amid those developments both indices moved downwards. The All -Share Price Index went down by 131 points and S and P SL-20 declined by 46.8 points. Turnover stood at Rs 3.4 billion with four crossings. Those crossings were reported in Agalawattte Plantations, which crossed 45.3 million shares to the tune of Rs 1.5 billion, its shares traded at Rs 35, CTC 420,000 shares crossed for Rs 269 million and its shares traded at Rs 640, Cargills 100,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 24.5 million; its shares traded at Rs 245 and Hayleys 300,000 shares crossed for Rs 24 million; its shares traded at Rs 80.
In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were, SLT Rs 234 million (two million shares traded), Hayleys RS 121 million (1.5 million shares traded), Lanka IOC Rs 106 million (115,000 shares traded), Softlogic Capital Rs 69 million (5.6 million shares traded), CTC Rs 65.3 million (101,000 shares traded), Sampath Bank RS 54.7 million (one million shares traded) and Commercial Bank RS 52.5 million (801,000 shares traded).During the day 164 million share volumes changed hands in 20000 transactions.
Business
Brandix ‘RightToRead’ initiative gains momentum enriching Sri Lanka students and transforming learning

Inspired by the challenge to provide Sri Lankan children with better access to learning materials and the transformative power to read and comprehend English, Brandix launched the ‘RightToRead’ project in 2018 in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.
Accordingly, Brandix introduced the ‘ReadToMe’ English learning tool, created by English Helper – India, to improve reading and comprehension skills of Sri Lankan students. Last Monday, Julie Chung, the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, visited Susamayawardhana Vidyalaya in Borella, to observe progress of the project and experience how children and educators in Sri Lanka engage with educational technology.
Brandix Lanka Limited, Director, Ajit Johnpillai, said: “Education is the most powerful tool to enrich communities and futures, and Brandix is committed to build a strong foundation for transformational learning for students across Sri Lanka. The progress we have made with RiteToRead over the past two years is promising, and the potential for change in the education sector harnessing such digital technologies is immeasurable. Brandix will continue its commitment to deliver Inspired Solutions for the people of Sri Lanka.”
Business
Dialog TV Boosts Resilience and Capacity with Norsat Satellite Earth Station

Hytera, a leading global provider of professional communications technologies and solutions, is proud to announce the successful deployment of a new backup satellite station for Dialog TV, Sri Lanka’s No.1 satellite Pay TV service provider. The project was fulfilled in 2022 by Hytera and its subsidiary specialized in Satellite Communications (SatCom), Norsat International Inc. The new station enhances the resilience and capacity of Dialog TV’s existing system and ensures continuity of service in the event of damage due to natural disasters.
Dialog TV provides coverage over the entirety of Sri Lanka through the Intelsat 38 Ku-band satellite. As the business expanded, it opted for a backup solution to support its existing satellite station and to strengthen the network’s disaster tolerance.
Hytera and Norsat provided an end-to-end satellite earth station solution that includes the installation, integration, and setup of satellite antennas, a transmission and receiving system, a new network management system (NMS), and a carrier monitoring system (CMS). The NMS makes routine work easier and simpler for on-duty staff, as equipment status, parameter monitoring and configuration, and remote control of the devices can be viewed and accomplished via a single interface. The CMS monitors the carrier spectrum status of satellite signals in real-time and ensures stable signal transmission and receiving.
“We are excited to have been able to work with Dialog TV on this important project,” said Kevin Sun, Sales Director for Hytera South Asia, “Our ability to seamlessly integrate our new equipment and software with Dialog TV’s existing systems has helped to ensure a stable and reliable service for their millions of customers across Sri Lanka.”
-
News6 days ago
Sri Lankan recognized as a Fellow by Society of Architectural Historians
-
News6 days ago
New orchid species discovered in Walankada Forest Reserve
-
News5 days ago
Geoffrey Bawa exhibition opens in New Delhi
-
Editorial7 days ago
‘Shree Anna’ and Sri Lanka
-
Features5 days ago
A tribute to a great leader
-
Breaking News7 days ago
Arrest warrant issued for Putin over alleged war crimes
-
News2 days ago
Decorated gunship pilot blacklisted for appearing on political stage
-
Features15 hours ago
Happy Birthday dearest Mrs. Peries !