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DFCC Vardhana Bank, Gateway enter partnership

DFCC Vardhana Bank (DVB), the everyday banking unit of DFCC Bank recently signed two Memorandums of Understanding with Gateway Graduate School and Gateway Centre for ICT.

The partnership paves the way for a number of educational benefits to Vardhana Junior account holders.

On turning 13 years eligible Vardhana Junior account holders will receive a computer course sponsored by the Bank which will be offered at over 35 Gateway centers spread across the country.

Two computer courses have been recommended considering the age of the eligible account holder namely the, International Computer Driving License (ICDL) and International Foundation Program.

However the account holder will be allowed to select any other course if they wish to follow a different program which will be sponsored by the Bank up to the maximum allocated amount under the Vardhana Junior Savings scheme.

The MoU also means that a new loan scheme titled the 'Gateway Graduate School Loan Scheme' under the 'Vardhana Nenasa' students' loan scheme will be offered for undergraduate level students who seek financial support to proceed with their studies at the Gateway Graduate School.

Established in 1986, Gateway offers educational programs that have been certified or endorsed by leading training providers in the UK. Gateway Group has one of the largest branch networks with over 35 centers islandwide.

The Vardhana Junior savings account has many other added benefits designed to encourage the habit of saving amongst children by way of providing them with fantastic tangible and life time sustainable intangible gifts.

High competition benefits customer:

Boom in paint industry

Harshini PERERA

The Sri Lankan paint industry once overtaken by multi-national companies is now turning towards indigenous companies.

The demand for paint in the North and East areas is increasing as construction is taking place at a rapid pace.

Multilac Paints adopted the newest technology from Europe and stepped in with environment friendly Green innovation in paints, Macksons Paints Lanka Managing Director Mizver Makeen told the Daily News Business.

Multilac Paints under the Macksons Paints Lanka (Pvt) Ltd., holds 25 percent of the domestic market while it has a 10 percent international market share.

Multilac Paints set up a factory in India and the products that are being manufactured in the Hirana factory are exported to India, Maldives, China, Australia, Myanmar, Middle East countries and several African countries.

Keeping with the target of being self-sufficient, Multilac Paints expanded to manufacture packaging materials and plastic containers with an investment of Rs 25 million.

"There has not been a growth in the Multilac paints in terms of liters of paints manufactured last year due to the economic recession.

But in value terms we were able to match what we did with the previous year with a marginal growth.

"Our target was to keep to the previous year and expect a growth this year as the construction is taking place fast in Northern and Eastern areas," Makeen said.

The healthy competition in the paint industry has resulted in reasonable price for the consumers.

There are around 200 different products introduced by Multilac paints including decorative wood care, water-proof sealer and white enamel paint.

"The raw materials are imported from Europe, France, Germany, Taiwan, China and India and we expect an aggressive market for paints in Jaffna where we have already opened 20 colour banks in the area. Multilac has a store in Vavuniya and our focus is to improve our presence in the North," he said.

The company expects a bigger market share in the local market in the future.

Janashakthi puts up signboards

Janashakthi Insurance recently completed a project where over 100 sign boards were installed at vantage points of the Hospital following a request made Colombo Eye Hospital Director Dr. Sisira Liyanage.

Around 3,000 to 4,000 people come to the Colombo Eye Hospital everyday. The absence of proper signage has been both confusing and of inconvenience to these people, both patients and visitors. Apart from the main Name Board of the Hospital, the new signage directs people to counters and wards and other important locations in a very methodical and easy-to-understand manner.

Both patients and visitors have reacted positively with favourable comments all round. Colombo Eye Hospital Director Dr. Liyanage thanked JIPLC for coming forward to facilitate the Hospital's service levels with this installation. "It has made movement within the hospital premises more organized," with patients and visitors spending far less time asking around. My staff and I are grateful to JIPLC for this very magnanimous gesture which tangibly benefits a few thousand people day in and day out."

In a similar manner JIPLC recently installed nearly 100 name boards on the main and sub roads in the Matale Town thus making vehicular and pedestrian movement smoother. Other projects include signage at the RMV in Narahenpita and St. Anthony's Church in Wahakotte.

Janashakthi's permanent Road Guide signs installed in Anuradhapura, Kataragama and Sella Kataragama last year enabled devotees to follow the correct route to reach their destinations.

Mobitel supports Mobile World Congress

Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan joined the GSMA to announce the 1GOAL: Education for All mobile campaign, the world's largest cause-related campaign ever undertaken.

1GOAL is an initiative to ensure that every child in the world has the opportunity to go to school by 2015.

Today, 72 million children in the world are denied that chance, and do not have access to basic primary education.

From the GSMA's Board, founding operator supporters of the mobile campaign include: AT&T Wireless, Axiata Group Berhad, Bharti-Airtel, Hutchison 3 Group, KT, MTN, NTT DOCOMO Inc, Orascom, SingTel Group, Smart Communications, SOFTBANK MOBILE, SK Telecom, Vimplecom and Zain Group.

Additionally, operators including Batelco Group of the Middle East, CSL of Hong Kong, Mobitel of Sri Lanka and Umniah of Jordan have joined the 1GOAL mobile campaign in recent days.

NOLIMIT Arapaima winners in KL

NOLIMIT- the biggest fashion chain in Sri Lanka - conducts promotions exclusively for its Arapaima loyalty card holders annually. The winners of the Arapaima promotion 2009, which was held last November, were offered a tour to Malaysia as their prize and 16 winners participated in the tour. The winners enjoyed the visit to Kuala Lampur where they visited many places of interest, national monuments and shopping malls.