Category: General Services

The latest threat to Colombos privileged is small, pesky and deadly. Municipal authorities reveal that Colombo citys better off are under attack by dengue mosquitoes.rnrnThe Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) says that 70 percent of all reported dengue cases in Colombo now come from upper and middle class families.rn rnldblquote Four to five years ago 60 […]

Twenty five per cent of Sri Lankan households now have some form of motorized transport up from 15 per cent in 1996. 28 percent have refrigerators, up from 16 per cent.Television usage had gone up to 68 per cent.The latest consumer finance survey by the Central Bank shows a big jump in living standards around […]

Accounting experts say local companies should invest more in voluntary social and environmental reporting, since indifference could be costly. It is cheaper for companies to clean up their act and behave in a socially and environmentally responsible fashion now, than wait for the government to enforce regulations, say experts.rn rnldblquote The (international) markets will soon […]

Investment in teacher training in Sri Lanka is paying off with signs of improvement in both teaching and learning, says the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) office.Recent studies show that over 70 per cent of primary school teachers in the Central Province now use learner centred teaching compared to 11.6 per cent 3 years ago.rn rnThe […]

Ten flood damaged rural health centres in the Matara district were reopened for patients on Thursday, with a US$18,000 USAID aid injection for rehabilitation. The rehabilitation of the health centres were initiated by a US$ 18,000 grant to the SouthernProvince Health Sector Authority of Matara, a US Embassy statement said.rn rnThe grant also provided for […]

As a last ditch attempt to preserve dwindling water reserves, the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) rolls out a pilot project on Thu. to fix a meter on each City toilet.A senior CMC official said that: ldblquote Given the huge wastage of treated, drinking quality water in Colombo city being used to flush toilets with, dblquote […]

Old age is catching up with Sri Lanka but taking it slow and easy in comfortable retirement is just not an option available to this islands 19 million people. Sri Lanka needs to post 10 per cent economic growth over the next 15 years to nurse its fast aging population.Sri Lankas lost years of economic […]

Sri Lanka is drumming up support for an annual regional export sector exhibition, kicking off its campaign with a 4-day local event in November 2004. A regional event is expected to foster greater inter-Asian trade and push down trade barriers, while giving local exporters an opportunity to attract regional investment partners.rn rnThe South Asian Association […]

The HSBC Group on Friday finalized plans to pump in US$ 25 mn to set up its seventh group service centre in Sri Lanka, generating over 2000 jobs. The call centre will be the largest such project in the country taking Sri Lanka into the big leagues of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).rn rnThe project is […]

Sri Lankas national accounting body is pumping more money into spreading the gospel of good accounting practices throughout the country.The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL), the countrys auditing standard setting body, will spend millions of rupees this year to improve its educational services.rn rnAs it is, the institute caters to a student […]

The advertising industry is riding the spending wave from the last two years of economic growth and the SLIM awards organisers are looking at maintaining momentum despite new food advertising regulations coming in on April 1st.Advertising agencies say that most clients loosened budget strings last year and became more adventurous with advertising messages and methods […]

Although once lucky with SARS and twice lucky so far with the Avian Flu the next outbreak of a new infectious disease could push luck beyond its limits – but at this point Sri Lanka has very little but luck to count on.Sri Lanka is a high-risk candidate for foreign infectious diseases but the countrys […]