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Children in RPC estates get free dental treatment

The Planters' Association of Ceylon successfully launched an islandwide program to provide free dental treatment for families living in Regional Plantation Company (RPC) estates.

The program on 'Improving dental hygiene of children and adults in the estate sector,' focuses mainly on children and is implemented by the Plantation Human Development Trust (PHDT). Developed by Dr. V. Vijayakumaran, Head of Paediatric Dentistry at the Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Peradeniya, the program was initiated by the Youth Empowerment and Socio Economic Development Minister, Arumugam Thondaman, and is supported by the RPCs.

"The program has had a very good response since we started it as a pilot program in December 2009. In fact, the response is so good, we are actually finding it difficult to cope with the demand. Estate communities fully appreciate the program because dental health facilities are more difficult to access in plantation areas than other health facilities," said the PHDT Health and Women's Programs Director Dr Ravi Nanayakkara. Oral health standards among Sri Lanka's estate communities are lower than in other parts of the country. This is mainly because estates find it difficult to attract qualified dental practitioners to work full time in estates. The lower earning potential for dental practitioners and the lack of facilities for the provision of dental treatment, are the main reasons. Therefore, the current dental program responds to a pressing need in the estate sector.

The RPC managed formal estate sector is home to nearly one million people. By targeting this large population the dental program also helps to contain a ballooning health problem that could impact overall health standards of the country in the future.

The dental program initially targeted three RPC estates each, in the five regions of Hatton, Badulla, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy and Ratnapura. It will now gradually be extended to cover the entire formal plantation sector including the regions of, Kegalle and Galle.

Kamsins opens in Colombo

Kamsins, situated on Galle Road, Wellawatte, the latest fashion boutique in town is now open to customers offering a whole new shopping experience - catalogue shopping. Exclusive creations by India's top designers, with the uniqueness of Indian colour and embellishments come alive at Kamsins. The choice of attire available to discerning customers range from hand-made saris and shalwars to gents' wear and children's wear in both party and ceremonial collections. And if you want to accessorise your exclusive Kamsins outfit, a wide prepared variety of high-quality shoes as well as accessories also available in store complete the Kamsins shopping experience.

"The store offers unique collections for ladies, gents and children" said Kamsins Director R. Raja. Experienced in the changing trends of the textile industry, he envisioned a store that would provide a one-of-a-kind shopping experience to an exclusive clientele.

"I have been in this trade for the past 20 years. I initiated this venture through wholesale markets and thereafter moved into retail markets ten years ago. Through my experiences in the trade for over 20 years, I can assure that the shopping experience at Kamsins will be definitely exceptional," Raja said. So what's unique about catalogue shopping? All you have to do is simply flip through the pages of the extensive range of catalogue books and experience the convenience of selecting and being presented with the outfit of your choice.

NOLIMIT in Ratnapura

NOLIMIT launched its 17th fashion-store in Ratnapura at No. 36, Senanayake Mawatha last week with the objective of offering shoppers from Ratnapura and its environs, an enjoyable and unique shopping experience. The new fashion store in Ratnapura is situated in the heart of the town (in front of the Seevali playground) providing easy accessibility and convenience to shoppers.

NOLIMIT carried out special promotions on the opening day offering a 10 percent discount on the total invoice to NOLIMIT's customers who visited the fashion store whilst each child was given a free toy. Special promotions from February 13 to March 21 are on offer for shoppers purchasing leading brands such as MBRK, Oprah and NLM which are NOLIMIT's flagship in-store brands, and on popular brands such as Emerald, Triumph, Oxemberg, Rasasi, Enchanteur, Topller/Brex/BHS and Nature's Secrets.

"Our new fashion store in Ratnapura is complete with international, ethnic and western fashion items specially handpicked by fashion experts, catering to shoppers who have different tastes and styles," said NOLIMIT Marketing Manager A. L. M. Akeel. "We are expanding our network of fashion stores to areas outside of Colombo as we believe that there is a fashion conscious clientele in these areas who are satisfied only with the best," he said.

Unilever retains Mindshare

After a six-month review process, Unilever has retained Mindshare to handle its business in South Asia, including Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand, as well as the US, Canada, Western Europe and South and Central Europe.

Mindshare Asia-Pacific's leader Ashutosh Srivastava was instrumental in the pitch and led the agency to victory in Asia.

"Unilever has been one of Mindshare's most important business partners for more than a decade - a relationship that began in Asia - and we are very pleased that we will be able to continue that relationship," Srivastava said.

"Mindshare has always appreciated the opportunity to help a world-class company like Unilever achieve its marketing goals around the world, and we're thrilled at this vote of confidence from Unilever," he said.

"We were informed upfront in the review that consolidation of media service agencies was not the end objective, and that Unilever were seeking diversity among their media agency partners. Given the sheer scale of their investment, it's reasonable to expect them to want a diverse point of view. We're proud and happy that we will remain the leading partner in that mix going forward," he said.

North and East:

DFCC Bank and DFCC Vardhana Bank expand branch network

The DFCC Vardhana Bank (DVB) and the DFCC Bank opened new branches recently in the Northern and the Eastern provinces of the country.

DFCC Bank and DFCC Vardhana Bank branches were opened in Jaffna by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal. Branches in Batticaloa and Ampara were also opened recently.