At a lunch hosted in honour of Virtusa, Ambassador Robert Blake congratulated Keith Modder, Managing Director of Asian Operations, Madu Ratnayake, General Manager Virtusa-Sri Lanka, and the entire Virtusa-Sri Lanka team for being selected as a finalist for the U.S. Secretary of State’s 2008 Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE).

Virtusa was one of only eleven companies selected by the Secretary of State from nominations made by U.S. Ambassadors around the world. Virtusa and its employees were recognized for their significant time and resource contribution to the "Sahana" disaster recovery system, "Virtusa Campus Reach," "Virtusa Digital Reach," and IT advocacy programs aimed at improving IT skills and curriculum in Sri Lanka. 

The ACE award recognizes the important role U.S. businesses play abroad as good corporate citizens.  Since 1999 the U.S. Secretary of State has awarded the ACE to deserving American businesses operating overseas for advancing good corporate citizenship, innovation and democratic principles.  The Department of State is committed to working with businesses to further these best practices worldwide, and to recognize efforts to improve lives at home and abroad.  ‘Grand Hotel is full’ – GM Palaka Perera

Nuwara Eliya ready to celebrate festive season with a surge of visitors

With Christmas around the corner, salubrious Nuwara Eliya has witnessed a surge in the local tourist traffic, with most of the hotels packed with Sri Lankan holiday-makers.

"We are full", beamed Palaka Perera, General Manager of the Grand Hotel, the colonial landmark of this upcountry destination popularly known as ‘Little England’.

"In addition to locals, we have a fair share of foreign visitors as well", he said. "The turnout is very encouraging".

Most of the hotels in Nuwara Eliya are doing well with scores of Sri Lankans making use of the holiday season to make a bee-line to salubrious climes, Perera noted.

"As a whole, foreigners have also arrived here in considerable numbers", the veteran hotelier said. "As a result, occupancy in all the hotels is high".

The count down to Christmas traditionally begins at the Grand Hotel, the oldest colonial landmark, which has now been declared a National Heritage. It kicked off on December 13 with a Kiddies’ Party for the underprivileged children in Nuwara Eliya.

Several other hotels also followed suit to offer these poor children a free treat as part of their social responsibility.

Some of the events lined up at the Grand Hotel are the singing of Christmas Carols which enlivens the spirits of all those present and becomes more charismatic when the log fires are lit up.

Nuwara Eliya, which is also known as The City of Lights, is a hive of activity with all the hotels and guest houses spruced and trimmed for Christmas. The aroma of cypruss trees is more profusely felt than during other days as, in addition to hotels, even shops and homes are decorated with the traditional cypruss tree for the festive period.

Stepping out of a vehicle after a 4 ½ hours’ drive from Colombo, one could feel the heat and stress ease up gradually and rejuvenated. The climatic conditions definitely set the right mood for one to enjoy the chilly and breezy nights. The temperature drops to a degree you really feel that you are in Europe and it is for this simple reason that the British in the good old days tried to re-create a typical English Village in Nuwara Eliya.

A train journey to the hill country is a breath-taking for those who would love to experience the phases of climatic changes augmented with the rhapsody of geographical differentiations. The recently commenced Inter City Express train service up to Nanu Oya from Colombo Fort is a convenient one-stop journey which is ideal for the holiday lover and explorer.

No standing passengers are allowed and seats are reserved (the Hotels in Nuwara Eliya have got their allotment of seats on this train, should any of their guests need to reserve them ), so one could enjoy a very comfortable railroad experience.