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Two new internationally-valid affinity credit cards, MasterCard Gold and MasterCard Standard, were last week launched by Sampath Bank for the exclusive use of members of the Royal College Union (RCU).
Sampath Bank will contribute Rs. 800 and 500 respectively for each Gold and
standard card issued to the RCU annually. Further 0.1% on each transaction value will also be donated to the RCU, a union statement said.
This income will boost fund raising efforts of the RCU to support infrastructure development and sports activities of Royal College. Picture shows the first Gold Card being handed over to Lakshman Gomes, Principal Royal College (left) by Edgar Gunatunge Chairman, Sampath Bank.
P&O Nedlloyd has been appointed global ocean carrier for the 2002 Winter Olympics which has commenced in Salt Lake City, Utah by Schenker Stinnes Logistics. Schenker is the official supplier of customs and freight forwarding for the event, following its successful performance of Sydney Olympics in 2000.
As a global carrier partner, P&O Nedlloyd participated in the delivery of team and individual sporting equipment, as well as media equipment, from 85 participating countries to Salt Lanka, where Schenker customs cleared and delivered to various sporting venues.
P&O Nedlloyd is a lead line in the world's largest shipping consortium. P&O Nedlloyd was recently voted Containerisation International's Shipping Company of the year 2001. P&O is represented in Sri Lanka by the John Keells group.
Who says eggs is rich in cholesterol and chicken meat contains hormones?
Sri Lanka's chicken and egg industry met together last week to allay what they called "misconceptions" and devise strategies for the promotion of consumer confidence in chicken meat and eggs.
Experts including an Indian geneticist, brought together in a seminar organized by the Peradeniya-based Sri Lanka Veterinary Association, spoke on a range of issues including the status of the poultry industry, the nutritional value in meat and eggs, genetic advances in the industry, feed additives and marketing constraints.
Dr Pushpa Wijewantha, asst. director, poultry development at the Department of Animal Production and Health, said the poultry industry has turned into a mega business with 30,000 farmers across the country compared to a backyard operation and mainly for home consumption in the 1950s.
She said the protein content from chicken meat is high and next to small fish and is also a cheap source of protein. Sri Lanka's per capita consumption of chicken meat is 3.4 kg and 53 eggs per year while the Asian average is 6.7 kg and 127 eggs and the world average, 10.8 kg and 130 eggs.
She said chicken per capita consumption here is likely to rise to eight kg and eggs to over 60 per year by 2020. "Chicken and eggs would be among the main foods in terms of food security because of its high protein content, it is cheap and is accepted by all ethnic and religious groups."
Prof Sunethra Athukorala, a biochemistry specialist at the Colombo University, said the theory that eggs caused cholesterol is myth and was not the reason for heart attacks. She said eggs was an important source of nutrition particularly in the estate sector.
Geneticist T.S. Thiyaga Sundaram, who works in an Indian poultry-breeding farm, said designer eggs with less cholesterol were being produced by a Bangalore farmer. "For health conscious consumer, the Omega 3 egg – though double the price of the normal egg – is popular particularly among the expatriate population."
Dr. S.P. Gunaratne, senior lecturer at the faculty of Vetirinary Medicine & Animal Science, University of Peradeniya, rejected the view that hormones were being used to fatten chickens. "Only a few countries in the world use hormones and Sri Lanka is not among them," he said, speaking on the use of additives in feed and nutrients for chickens.
In Sri Lanka, a few additives are permitted but this list is reducing by the day, he said suggesting there should be a shift to more safer alternatives like natural and herbal additives.
Travellers from Sri Lanka can now book flights with Emirates on-line, through the airline's own web-site, www.emirates.com .
The airline said Colombo is the latest station on the Emirates network to receive the on-line booking facility, which also allows travellers to check seat availability on all Emirates flights and obtain fare quotations. On-line bookings have to be completed three working days prior to flight departure and tickets for on-line bookings will be delivered by Emirates to
the passenger at no extra cost. Delivery will initially exclude the northern and eastern provinces of the country, the statement said.
Multinational GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) recently reviewed its local talent pool in an effort to strengthen its organisational capability.
The company said the review is part of GSK's Global People's Development strategy. At this review the talent retention and development strategies were reviewed. This annual review is an important part of GSKs global strategy and is done to ensure continuity within GSK's leadership pipeline.
The Industrial Technology Institute (ITI), coming under the Ministry of Economic Reform, Science & Technology has just announced the 50-day progress of the 100-day revolution program.
Projects are underway on a water quality monitoring programme with universities in the north and east to assess the quality of surface and ground water for domestic use that may be contaminated, a good governance project on a computerized cost management system for budgetary discipline and better control of expenditure that can serve as a pilot model for state institutions and a training programme for manufacture of bakery products in Matale is in progress.
Other programmes include one already held on confectionery products for Samurdhi recipients and a workshop on dehydration of vegetables conducted.
To improve health and nutrition, an iron rich soup mix that contains 20 mg iron in 200ml of soup that can be reconstituted with hot water has been developed on a laboratory scale. For the standardization of raw material for ayurvedic preparations, 10 ayurvedic preparations containing a total of 180 raw materials have been selected and the standardization of raw material has commenced.
With regard to services to industry, approximately 750 testing services in the areas of water, agro and food products chemicals and materials for maintaining and improving quality of industrial products and processes have been completed and approximately 250 services have been undertaken and completed on calibration and repair of equipment and industrial measurements.
Civil construction of the new modern laboratory for chemical residue analysis and pollution control activities could be completed by mid March if the balance of an allocation of Rs. 17.8 million is released by the Treasury, an ITI statement said.
Chambers support peace
Joint Business Forum says peace through talks
The joint Business Forum said the latest peace deal between the government and the LTTE is a " courageous and farsighted initiative and the best chance for peace."
It said in a statement that it firmly believed a resolution of the conflict and lasting peace was possible only through committed and sustained negotiations in a spirit of give and take.
Thousands of people have died, thousands more displaced and hundreds including top professionals have fled the country due to this war. "Malnourishment among children, and the breakdown in law and order in the whole country are some of the other adverse impacts of this war on our people," it said, adding the loss to investment from local and foreign sources was also immense.
FCCISL hails peace pact
The Federation of Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL), the largest representative body of the private sector, has commended the efforts of the government in signing a ceasefire agreement with the LTTE.
"The FCCISL strongly believes that this agreement will create an enabling environment for a negotiated settlement to the national issue, which will bring long lasting peace to our motherland," it said in a statement.
The federation recently organised a trade delegation to Jaffna soon after a ceasefire was announced, the first chamber to initiative this dialogue with the business community in the north. After the visit FCCISL promptly took up the grievances of the Jaffna business community and the suggested remedies with the relevant authorities in Colombo including cabinet ministers. FCCISL was able to persuade a number of Colombo-based companies to visit Jaffna and explore possibilities of extending their business operations to the northern peninsula.
National Chamber welcomes ceasefire
The Ceylon National Chamber of Industries (CNCI), in a statement supporting the ceasefire agreement, said it always believed that peace could be achieved only through "a give and take" at negotiations.
"The industrial community represented by this Chamber has watched helplessly as trade and investment passed us and went into the waiting arms of adjacent countries. The resulting deterioration in our economy has enmeshed a large proportion of our population in deprivation and poverty and the time has come to see an end to this," it said.
NCCSL salutes peace effort
The National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) has praised Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe and the government on the MoU leading to a permanent ceasefire with the LTTE.
It said the people in Sri Lanka should give their fullest support to transform this ceasefire arrangement into lasting peace and a permanent settlement to the ongoing conflict.
"This is the time to make constructive comments, if any, to facilitate the process of achieving a lasting solution. NCCSL would urge all political parties to play a positive role and become partners in this process. Both sides to the conflict have carried the burden of war far too long. Peace would enable us to rebuild the economy to make Sri Lanka a vibrant nation," the statement said.
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