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Driving a global cause:

Mobitel supports ‘Education for all’

Mobitel is associated with the 1Goal ‘Education for all’ for a global cause.

Presently, over 75 million children around the world have been denied the opportunity to attend school. In many poverty stricken countries, education is over burdened, thereby depriving these children of the chance of becoming potential next generation leaders and professionals.

In a bid to address this, in conjunction with the Millennium Development Goals introduced by the United Nations in year 2000, world leaders pledged to provide every child in the world an opportunity to be exposed to quality education by the year 2015.

‘Education for all’, is a global initiative under the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) aimed at ensuring every child in the world receives quality education. Spearheading the campaign in Sri Lanka for this global cause, Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel, strives to gather plenty of support from its subscribers and the public in general as 1Goal attempts to emanate its presence throughout the island, creating an unique opportunity for all Sri Lankans to be a part of this credible global cause.

The 1Goal initiative by the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) has taken strides to ensure that the 2015 pledge will be fulfilled. Its primary objective is to accumulate names and support from the public, sport figures and celebrities to generate a united plea to all Governments to meet their target on ‘Education for all’.

The petition with millions of names will be delivered to Governments ahead of the next UN Millennium Development Goals Review meeting in September 2010.

It will comprise guidelines to ensure the education goals are met by the 2015 deadline.

The 1Goal campaign will be endorsed alongside the FIFA Football World Cup 2010 in South Africa, the second largest sporting event in the world. The campaign attempts on reflecting 1Goal as the official legacy of the tournament.

‘1Goal’, while being an obvious reference to the sport also portrays people in unification for a worthy cause.

Alongside the key campaign, the GSM Association, which unites some 800 of the world’s mobile operators, is heading the ‘1Goal Mobile Campaign’. This campaign aims to garner support for 1Goal globally through the wide reach of mobile phones.

Mobitel, firmly believes that ‘Education for All’ can alleviate poverty and elevate our country to greater heights and potential. Thus, Mobitel has pledged its fullest support for the 1Goal campaign in driving this global cause forward. The campaign was officially announced at the GSM Association Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on February 16 while the global 1Goal consumer campaign was launched yesterday. Mobitel will be sending out an SMS to its subscribers to create awareness about 1Goal locally on this day.

An official press conference and launch event has also been planned in the weeks ahead with the participation of members of the global 1Goal committee.

LG unveils LED 3D TV

LG Electronics of Korea, has unveiled the world’s first LED 3D Television.

The LG LX9500 LED 3D TV, a part of LG’s INFINIA 3D line, is illuminated by innovative panels of LEDs directly behind the screen for local dimming, with the 55-inch model alone having 1,200 of the semiconductor light sources.

The LEDs help the TV to achieve a 10,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio while having an ultra-thin 22.3mm (less than one-inch) deep body with a stylish 16mm super-narrow bezel. This TV also features full HD 1080p, TruMotion 400Hz (480Hz), NetCast Support, Wireless AV Link and HDMI 1.4 amongst many other high tec features. Video Calling using Skype is also possible with an optional video camera.

Virtusa introduces Cloud services offering for SmartPaaS

Virtusa Corporation a global IT services company that offers a broad spectrum of business consulting and outsourcing services, last week unveiled its Cloud services offering for Pegasystems’ BPM in the cloud platform - SmartPaaS’.

Virtusa’s new package combines consulting, implementation services and management to help customers who are interested in developing, testing, and running their BPM initiatives in the cloud.

Virtusa’s approach includes three steps:

* Consulting - Virtusa consultants work with stakeholders to assess needs, develop a business case with clear ROI, provide cloud education for BPM, and create an implementation roadmap and checklist. This stage creates a solid foundation for cloud-based BPM success.

* Implementation - Virtusa’s experienced architects design and deploy the BPM application on the cloud as part of a comprehensive setup that includes security and policy management, load balancing and performance tuning.

* Management - Virtusa’s comprehensive management strategy involves infrastructure monitoring, disaster recovery, ticket management and performance and load monitoring. Aggressive service level agreements (SLAs) and regular reporting ensure continuous optimization.

“Cloud-based BPM isn’t just a lofty prediction any more.

As evidenced by some of the world’s largest financial services and healthcare firms adopting Pegasystems’ SmartPaaS - it has become a core part of the BPM infrastructure,” said Virtusa Vice President and BPM Practice Leader Vinaykumar Mummigatti. ‘We will leverage our cloud services offerings, our deep history in BPM, proven experience in building and managing BPM solutions and our technology expertise to help customers take advantage of SmartPaaS,’ he said.

‘Virtusa and Pegasystems have been close partners for many years,’ said Technical Solutions Group, Senior Vice President Frank Palermo, Senior Vice President, Technical Solutions Group.

‘Cloud computing is an excellent platform to address a significant number of project challenges while accelerating business issues. Virtusa is excited to bring both Pegasystems and cloud computing based technologies to the market extending our BPM solutions portfolio,’ he said.

New generation ‘blood thinner’ drug:

GSK launches Arixtra

A new-class injectable antithrombotic drug for the treatment of Acute Coronary Syndrome and Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) has been introduced to Sri Lanka by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Pharmaceuticals.

GSK Sri Lanka Medical Director Dr Lucian Jayasuriya (left) and Professor Alexander G. G. Turpie at the Arixtra launch. 1946

The new drug Arixtra (fondaparinux sodium) is a completely synthetic, single chemical entity available in the form of a disposable, pre-filled, single-dose safety syringe, and has an efficacy and safety profile that is superior to conventional anticoagulants, the company said.

Because it is completely synthetic and does not contain any animal-sourced component, Arixtra reduces the risk of contamination and ensures batch to batch consistency. It is the first of a new class of antithrombotic drugs to treat venous thromboembolism the blocking of a vein with a blood clot.

“Arixtra represents an exciting new advancement in the treatment of cardiovascular disease which accounts for 16.7 million deaths a year globally, 29 percent of all deaths,” said GSK’s Managing Director in Sri Lanka Stuart Chapman.

“It is also very convenient to administer, as it is a once a day dose, and does not have to be adjusted by body weight as in the case of currently available treatment options,” he said.

Arixtra was launched to Sri Lankan cardiologists at an event in Colombo, at which the keynote address was delivered by McMaster University, Ontario, Canada Professor of Medicine, Prof. Alexander G.G. Turpie.

In the USA, Arixtra has received 1A recommendation across all of its Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) approved indications, from the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP). A 1A recommendation signifies a strong recommendation based on high quality evidence.

Emirates Holidays showcases top global destinations

With over 120 destinations across 33 countries, Emirates Holidays, the tour-operating arm of Emirates airline, has unveiled its new A World of Choice 2010-2011 brochure.

Capturing the A to Z of the top global destinations, the near 500-page brochure is a must for anyone looking to book a holiday. Offering everything from family holidays to cultural getaways, the brochure, for the first time, includes a new section on recommended multi-city breaks. This section provides travellers’ flexibility to combine different destinations in one holiday.

Emirates Holidays’ A World of Choice 2010-2011 brochure

Emirates Holidays, Senior Vice President John Felix said, ‘Nowadays, people appreciate more the value of taking a break, and for them, a high quality holiday is more important than ever. This is exactly what we give our customers. Working with Emirates airline we promote tailor made holidays to more destinations than any other operation from the UAE, and extend that quality experience people get in the air to the ground.

‘We have done all the hard work, so you can sit back and relax, and pick the destination of your choice whether it is a beach holiday with the children during the school holidays, a culinary break for two or a cultural getaway. Emirates Holidays offers personalised solutions for all your holiday needs, and we have something to please everyone”, he said.

In addition to the main brochure, which will be distributed to Emirates Holidays shops and travel agents across its international network, there is a dedicated brochure on Dubai. An Arabic-language brochure for exclusive distribution in the Middle East and North Africa is also available, as well as a tailored edition for Russia.

To mark the launch of the A World of Choice 2010-2011 brochure, Emirates Holidays will be hosting Emirates Holidays World, a three-day interactive travel event at the Event Centre, Intercontinental Hotel, Festival City, Dubai from April 30 to May 2.

Following on the success of the past events, Emirates Holidays World aims to bring the brochure to life by allowing consumers and travel agents to explore Emirates Holidays’ A to Z of destinations for themselves.

The event will feature each of the types of holidays offered in the brochure family holidays, city breaks, beach holidays, tours, safaris, cruises, adventure holidays, theme parks, spa breaks and honeymoons. Some 30 countries will be represented, from Europe, the Americas, Middle East, Africa and Indian Ocean, Asia and Australasia.

Felix added, ‘The Emirates Holidays World event offers a unique opportunity for travellers to investigate a range of holidays with the people who know the destinations best. We encourage anyone thinking of taking a holiday, but who might remain unsure about where they want to go, to come along. Each year we get overwhelmingly positive feedback from people who found the event useful, informative, fun and exciting for themselves and their families.’