Sangakkara ton helps Sri Lanka crush England by 7 wickets at The Oval

Sri Lanka crush England by 7 wickets at The Oval

 

Champions Trophy 2013

Kumar Sangakkara smashed a brilliant unbeaten 134 off 135 balls as Sri Lanka registered a thumping seven-wicket win over England to keep themselves in the hunt for a semifinal berth in the Champions Trophy 2013 group A match played at the Oval.

England posted a formidable total of 293/7 thanks to half-centuries from Jonathan Trott (76), Joe Root (69) and Alastair Cook (55) apart from a terrific cameo of 33 from 13 balls by Ravi Bopara. 

Now Sri Lanka level with England on two points each, one behind group leaders New Zealand. Australia, the fourth team in the group, has one point. 

Sri Lanka takes on Australia at the Oval on Monday.

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OMAN Air Sponsors the Gulf Flight Safety Committee AGM

OMAN Air Sponsors the Gulf Flight Safety Committee AGM

OMAN Air

Oman Air hosts the Gulf Flight Safety Committee on 10 June, sponsored by Oman Air, NEXUS Flight Operations Services and MedAire/International SOS.  The Gulf Flight Safety Committee (GFSC) was originally founded in Oman in 2004 by a group of Gulf based Safety Professionals from various aviation companies located within the GCC region.  This group is made up of over 250 members representing 80+ organizations within the region.  The group meets quarterly to promote safety improvement initiatives, including coordination with international organizations and bodies such as ICAO and IATA.

New elections during the GFSC Annual General Meeting held here in Muscat resulted in the following Executive Board; Chairman, Capt. Mohammed A. Malatani, Co-Chairman, Capt. William Mermelstein and Secretary/Treasurer Capt. Mark Trotter. “We are very pleased to have the support of Oman Air and the city of Muscat to host our Annual General meeting, and participation by the Royal Air Force of Oman and the Police Air Wing” says newly elected Chairman Capt. Malatani.  As a result of this annual meeting the membership agreed to a slight name change as the Gulf Flight Safety Council to better reflect the mission and goals.

                                              

Capt. Malatani also extended his thanks to Janab Al Sayyid Capt. Manin Al-Said, General Manager Quality & Safety of Oman Air for their hospitality in hosting the GFSC in Muscat, Oman.

The meeting comes one day before another important regional safety event.  The International Civil Aviation Organization and International Air Transportation Association (CAO/IATA) events come as an initiative under the Regional Aviation Safety Group (RASG-MID) to enhance safety in the Middle East. The purpose of Safety Management Workshop is to; share best practices and lessons learned for Safety Management Systems (SMS) and State Safety Programs (SSP); provide break-out sessions for sharing of safety data and SMS/SSP implementation; and promote safety data tools and enhance safety culture.

“The Gulf Flight Safety Council is pleased to partner with ICAO & IATA in our mutual goals of promoting safety in the region” added Capt. Mohammed Malatani, General Manger Safety of Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA) and the new chairman of the GFSC.

About Oman Air

Oman Air is the flagship carrier of the Sultanate of Oman and an Official 4 Star Airline (Skytrax 2011). Founded in 1993, the airline has since witnessed massive growth and has played a major role in making Muscat an important traffic hub in the Middle East, supporting the commercial, industrial and tourism sectors.

The airline currently operates direct international flights from Muscat to Gulf destinations, such as Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Tehran and Kuwait, as well as Cairo, Beirut and Amman within the wider Middle East region.

In addition, Oman Air flies to ten destinations in India (Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Delhi, Lucknow, Bangalore, Kozhikode and Jaipur), Chittagong in Bangladesh, Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore in Pakistan, Kathmandu in Nepal and Colombo in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, Oman Air flies to the Maldives, Bangkok in Thailand and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and operates services to Zanzibar and Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. Its European destinations are London, Milan, Munich, Frankfurt, Paris and Zurich.

Oman Air has also codeshare partnerships with Emirates Airlines giving travellers better connectivity and an extended range of services between Dubai and Muscat as well as with Qatar Airways allowing Oman Air’s customers to book flights from any of the 42 departure points within its network to Doha, the capital of Qatar.

Oman Air’s fleet currently consists of four Airbus A330-200s, three Airbus A330-300s, 17 Boeing 737-700s/800s, four Embraer E175s and two ATR 42s. Oman Air will be taking delivery of 6 new Boeing 737s as of 2014, as well as 6 Boeing 787s Dreamliners, which are scheduled for delivery starting in 2015.

Oman Air’s outstanding aircraft interiors include its First Class Mini Suite, which provides each of the six First Class passengers with direct aisle access and converts to the longest lie-flat seat in the skies. The A330’s 20 award-winning Business Class seats each provide direct aisle access, ample storage space and the latest technological amenities. Economy Class seats offer adjustable head and leg rests, together with surprising amounts of leg and elbow room.

A state of the art in-flight entertainment system features individual seatback screens, audio and video on demand and live satellite TV. In addition, Oman Air has pioneered both mobile telephony and Internet connectivity on board its flights and this is available in all three classes. 

Superb new First and Business Class lounges have been opened at Muscat International Airport, featuring elegant and tranquil relaxation areas, complimentary spa treatments and à la carte dining. A lounge-to-aircraft limousine service has also been launched for First Class passengers at Muscat.

Oman Air’s commitment to quality, comfort and a seamless passenger experience has resulted in international acclaim, including: Best Business Class Seat in the World (World Airline Awards 2012); Best Business Class Seat in the World and Service Excellence, Middle East (World Airline Awards 2011); Best Luxury Airline, Middle East (Business Destinations Awards 2011); Technological Innovation of the Year (Aviation Business Awards 2010); as well recognition in the TravelPlus Amenity Bag Awards 2010 (three Gold, one Silver), the Cellars in the Sky Awards 2010 (Silver), the KLIA Awards 2011, the 2009 Vision Awards (one Silver, one Bronze) and the Travel Industry Club Awards 2010 (Silver), TTG Travel Award 2011 as Commended Airline of the Year, Best In-flight Connectivity & Communications award in The 2011 Passenger Choice Awards in Seattle USA, The Airline of the Year Award at France's Lauriers d'Or du Voyage d'Affaires, Top Resa 2011 in addition to the Best First Class Female Amenity Bag and the Best Business Class Unisex Amenity Bag at the TravelPlus Airline Amenity Bag Awards 2011. Oman Air was awarded The Best Business Class Airline, Middle East at the Business Destinations Travel Awards 2012.

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Sri Lanka and Slovenia ready to strengthen trade and economic relations

Sri Lanka and Slovenia ready to strengthen trade and economic relations

Strengthen trade and economic relations with Slovenia

Sri Lanka and Slovenia have agreed to further strengthen the bilateral trade and economic ties between the two countries at the conclusion of an official visit under taken by Sri Lanka's Minister of External Affairs, Prof. G.L. Peiris to Ljubljana on Monday. 

According to a statement released by the External Affairs Ministry, the Ministers resolved to conclude agreements relating to investment promotion, avoidance of double taxation and air services. 

Minister Peiris also invited business leaders from Slovenia to attend the Commonwealth Business Forum, on the fringes of the Commonwealth  Heads of Government Meeting, which will be hosted in Sri Lanka in November.

During the visit, the Minister met with the Mayor of Bled and made a proposal regarding a twinning agreement between the cities of Bled and Kandy.

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Coca-Cola celebrates World Environment Day 2013

Coca-Cola celebrates World Environment Day 2013

“Give Back Life”

As part of Coca-Cola’s global commitment to sustainabilityof resources, Coca-Cola Sri Lanka celebrated World Environment Day on 5 June 2013. The companyplanned its celebrations around environmental conservation and protection by organising a PETcollection initiative, a debate competition for students and creating awareness on climate protection.

The Company commemorated World Environment Day 2013 by handing over 33 PET collection binsto the Kaduwela Education Zone, to encourage students to collect and recycle plastic waste. Coca-Cola Sri Lanka began the ‘Give Back Life’ project five years ago on World Environment Day in 2008 to support plastic recycling. The project which is being worked out in partnership with the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), the Biyagama Education Division and Kalhari Enterprises, Coca-Cola is taking the mission one step further by inculcating the habit of recycling amongst school children.

Students of the schools in the Biyagama Education Division

The first bin was handed over symbolically to W.L.R.K. Wijerathne, Principal - Munidasa KumarathungeVidyalaya, Kaduwela by Abhishek Jugran – Country Manager Sri Lanka and Maldives, Coca-Cola FarEast Limited. Also present at the event were Palitha Gamage – Programme Officer - National PostConsumer Plastic Waste Management Project - Central Environmental Authority, Aruni Premathilake,Assistant Director - Central Environmental Authority, P.H.C. Manel, Divisional Environmental Officer -Central Environmental Authority,Kaushalya Rajapakse, Managing Director - Kalhari Group and NeelikaTillekeratne, Public Affairs and Communications Manager, Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka Limited

Speaking at the event, Abhishek Jugran – Country Manager Sri Lanka and Maldives, Coca-ColaFar East Limited, stated” Coca-Cola believes in giving back to the communities in which it operates.World Environment Day gives us an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to sustainability andenvironment protection, outlined in our Company’s  Vision 2020 statement as well as our ‘ME-WEWORLD’ sustainability framework. The PET recycling project “Give Back Life” was designed to managethe growing quantity of PET bottle waste in Sri Lanka. I hope that through our efforts in Kaduwela,Biyagama and other parts of the country, we are able to raise awareness and make some difference to the communities in Sri Lanka.

”Coca-Cola also partnered with the Biyagama  Educational Division to organise an Environment Day Debate Competition for students for the second consecutive year. The commencement of the debatingcompetition was graced by Duleep Wijesekara, Deputy Minister of Disaster Management in thepresence of I. Chandralatha, Divisional Director of Education, Biyagama, Abhishek Jugran – Country Manager Sri Lanka and Maldives, Coca-Cola Far East Limited and Ruwan Kumara, SHEQ Scientificand Regulatory Affairs Manager, CCBSL and Neelika Tillekeratne, Public Affairs and CommunicationsManager, CCBSL. . Students from grades 6-11 participated in the competition with the  themeof ‘Rakimu Api Parisaraya’ (Let’s Protect the Environment), to win the World Environment Day Trophy.

One of Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka Ltd.’s associates, Praneeth Mendis, who was part of aninternational expedition to Antarctica earlier this year with Sir Robert Swan, presented a first-handaccount of his excursion. Detailing his view of the deteriorating conditions caused due to climate changeand the negative effects of global warming, Praneeth discussed ways in which school students couldplay a part in impacting the environment by recycling waste, turning off electrical equipment, plantingmore trees, using water conservatively etc.

Coca-Cola Sri Lanka has  designed various sustainability programs under  the Coca-Cola Company’s global sustainability framework of ‘Me We World’, with an emphasis on Water and sanitation, Climate Protection and promoting Healthy Active Living. Coca-Cola Sri Lanka has a long standing partnership with UNDP and work with them on water and sanitation programs including the Every Drop Matters’ Project, the Kattankudy revitalization project and the conservation of the Kelani River basin. Coca Cola also partnered with Habitat for Humanity, to undertake a revitalization project in Batticaloa in 2011after the devastating floods by revitalizing wells and schools in the area. The Company also promotes grassroots level cricket through the ‘Coca-Cola Cricket Pathway’, a series of cricket camps organized with the Aravinda de Silva Cricket Foundation and Sri Lanka Cricket.

Coca-Cola in Sri Lanka

Coca-Cola in Sri Lanka refreshes thousands of consumers throughout the country with an exciting range of beverages including Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light, Sprite, Fanta Orange, Fanta Portello,Fanta Cream Soda, Lion Soda, Lion Tonic Water, Lion Gingerale, Lion Ginger Beer, Schweppes Tonic Water, Minute Maid Orange, Minute Maid Mango, Minute Maid Apple and Minute Maid Mixed Fruit. The Coca-Cola System in Sri Lanka employs more than 700 people. Coca-Cola undertakes a number of community development and sustainability projects as part of the Company’s Vision 2020 Sustainability agenda.

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UNP-JHU ready to discuss draft constitution

 UNP-JHU ready to discuss draft constitution 

13th Amendment

Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) said today that it would start discussions with the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) tomorrow regarding the 13th Amendment to the constitution and the national constitution proposed by the UNP.
UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said that the JHU had requested for the meeting with the UNP and the UNP had accepted the invitation. 

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said the UNP would discuss the draft constitution with the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), government political parties as well as the Mahanayaka theros.

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GREY GROUP Sri Lanka appoints new creative head

GREY GROUP Sri Lanka appoints new creative head

GREY GROUP new creative head

In a move to further boost its creative offerings, Grey Group Sri Lanka has appointed creative veteran, Ambar Prakash as its new Creative Director. Reporting to country head, Rachita Dutta, Prakash will be responsible for the overall quality, development and execution of the agency’s client creative agendas. The appointment is effective immediately. 

Prior to joining Grey, the 13-year industry veteran has worked across numerous global creative agencies including Hakuhodo Percept, TBWA/India and DDB Group. During his tenure, he has worked on some of the biggest brands such as Panasonic, Mitsubishi Motors, Yamaha, Henkel, Citigroup, Volkswagen, Schwarzkopf, Future Group and Reliance, just to name a few. Some of his noteworthy campaigns include leading the creative execution for Panasonic’s VIERA launch, WWF’s Earth Hour Campaign in 2010 and 2011, launch campaign for the new brand identity of Crompton Greaves in 2009 and Future Group’s ‘The Great Indian Shopping Festival’. The campaign went on to win ‘Retail Campaign of the Year’ at the Asia Retail Congress Awards, during his stint at DDB Group (then, Mudra Communications).

“Ambar is a seasoned creative whose professional career covers a wide range of brand experience including conceptualizing award-wining brand launches and digital campaigns,” said Rachita Dutta, country head, Grey Group Sri Lanka. “We are very pleased to have him on board and I am confident that his experience and talent will only further boost our creative offerings to our clients,” she continued. “Grey offers an exciting prospect of working with some of the best brands in the world,” said Prakash. “I am looking forward to working with Rachita and the team to produce famously effective campaigns that will take the agency to the next level.”

About Grey 

Grey is the global advertising network of Grey Group. Grey Group ranks among the largest global communications companies. Its parent company is WPP (NASDAQ:WPPGY). Under the banner of “Grey Famously Effective Since 1917,” the agency serves a blue-chip client roster of many of the world’s best known companies: Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, Diageo, Pfizer, Canon, 3M, Boehringer Ingelheim and Allianz. Grey was featured in FAST COMPANY magazine’s “50 Most Innovative Companies in the World” issue in both 2010 and 2011. In Asia, Grey Group covers 28 cities in 16 countries and manages branding for some of the biggest brands: Mercedes-Benz, Dell, Volkswagen, Qatar Airways, Microsoft, Lenovo and Honda. For information on Grey Group Asia Pacific, 
please visit: www.grey.com/asiapacific.

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New Zealand beat Sri Lanka in Champions Trophy 2013

New Zealand beat Sri Lanka in Champions Trophy 2013

Champions Trophy 2013

New Zealand scraped home by one wicket in a thrilling low-scoring Champions Trophy contest against Sri Lanka Group A match at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.

After winning the toss Sri Lanka opted to bat first but failed to put a respectable score as they were bowled out for 138 in 37.5 overs(K.Sangakkara 68, M.McClenaghan 4-43).

Malinga’s range of yorkers and full tosses proved Sri Lanka’s best weapon and he removed Kane Williamson as well as the McCullum brothers, who looked to be taking their side towards victory, and then Daniel Vettori.

However, Southee was able to see off the remainder of his spell, with a little luck, and then when Tillakaratne Dilshan bowled a wide with two runs needed, the pair capitalised by taking the extra run to register New Zealand’s first win over Sri Lanka since 2009.  

England and New Zealand lead the Group A table whilst Australia and Sri Lanka have lost their first matches. Today’s match will be between Pakistan and South Africa contesting within Group B whilst Sri Lanka’s next match is on Thursday with England.

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