Business
LAUGFS Supermarkets partner Visa to offer discounts on cashless payments during the Avurudu season

Striving to encourage safe and secure payment methods to retail customers, LAUGFS Supermarkets has tied up with Visa to offer 10% discount on the total bill value for Visa contactless transactions on weekends during the Avurudu season. Accordingly, customers can shop up to LKR 5000 to enjoy this offer on Saturday and Sunday during the month of April at any LAUGFS Supermarket outlet. The offer is applicable for both Visa Credit and Debit cards on contactless transactions.
“Contactless payments provide speed, convenience and above all safety during the COVID – 19 era to customers. In August 2020, we carried out a similar initiative with Visa to encourage customers to shift to digital payment methods in a bid to facilitate a safer and hassle-free alternative to cash payments. Following its success, we wish to offer the same incentives to customers during the upcoming festive season,” commented, LAUGFS Supermarkets Senior Marketing Manager, Peshala Wijewardena.
Designed to replace the use of cash in busy retail environments, contactless payments proved to be particularly appealing during the COVID – 19 pandemic, which called for extra precautions and minimal contact to keep the spread of the virus at bay. Contactless payment method helps retail companies such as LAUGFS Supermarkets to improve hygiene protocols and standards.
“World over and in Sri Lanka we have witnessed significant consumer shift towards digital payments, particularly in non-discretionary categories such as groceries. This is even more pronounced in contactless payments with many Sri Lankans now keen to take advantage of the new limits for contactless payments up to LKR 7500. The convenience and security of contactless payments clubbed with the exciting discount on offer for LAUGFS supermarket consumers will prompt more Sri Lankans to use their contactless cards and embrace digital payments this festive season,” commented Anthony Watson, Country Manager, Sri Lanka & Maldives, Visa.
A pioneer brand in the supermarket concept in Sri Lanka, LAUGFS Supermarkets introduced the chain of 24-hour supermarket retailing concept in Sri Lanka. The company currently manages 37 supermarket outlets in Colombo and its suburbs, including Kurunegala and Chilaw. The company’s flagship brands, LAUGFS Super and LAUGFS SuperMart, cater to over 1,000,000 shoppers monthly. The supermarket chain also features its very own Crimson Bakeries and Medz Pharmacies, while catering to a broad spectrum of everyday customer needs such as utility bill payment facilities, providing continued convenience to its customers.
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.”
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