ADVERTORIAL

CBL - Ritzbury to spearhead awareness campaign on wetlands

CBL-Ritzbury, is partnering with the Central Environment Authority to spearhead an awareness campaign on the importance of conserving ‘Wetlands’ in Sri Lanka.

This is the first time a Sri Lankan company has extended its corporate social responsibility assistance towards this cause.

CBL-Ritzbury has always gone beyond its regular business practices and got in social causes.

In taking this approach a step further, Ritzbury has extended a Rs two million sponsorship to conduct an all-island inter-school quiz competition with the objective of creating awareness on the importance of protecting ‘Wetlands’ which are considered as very rare, yet very important and sensitive eco systems in the world.

The Central Environment Authority and the Wildlife Conservation Department are planning to celebrate the World Wetlands Day which falls on February 2, in a grand scale next year and the school quiz competition is a part of this commemoration programme.

The competition will be conducted at zonal, district, provincial and national levels and will encompass 2800 government schools. One student representing grades 10 to 13 from each school can participate in this quiz competition.

The overall winners will receive their trophies and certificates during the World Wetlands Day commemoration national event next year.

The objective of celebrating World Wetlands Day is to raise public awareness on the importance of conserving wetlands due to their high water retention capacity, bio diversity and the positive impact they have on tourism. The wetland protecting ‘Ramsar Convention’ was signed in Ramsar, Iran and dates back to 1971.

The wetlands that are classified under ‘Raamsar Convention’ in Sri Lanka are; Bundala forest reservation, Madu River eco system, Kumana forest reservation, Anavilundawa in Chilaw and Vankalai reservation in Mannar.

Ritzbury Senior Brand Manager Nilupul de Silva, said, “We at Ritzbury have taken it upon ourselves to educate our children about the importance of wetlands, which are a rare eco system that has a high environmental impact as part of our CSR programme.

“In addition to this we have also been sponsoring a TV programme for the past six years aimed at children, called ‘Ritzbury Journey Day’ that showcases forest reservations, historical places, traditional industries places of scenic beauty, with the objective of educating our future generation on places of importance in Sri Lanka.”

In addition to the quiz competition, Ritzbury is also planning to conduct a lengthy awareness programme to educate the masses on the importance of conserving wetlands in Sri Lanka.

KOICA helps medical improvement in Sri Lanka

Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and Association of KOICA Fellows in Sri Lanka (AKOFE) jointly held a donation ceremony of medical equipment and supplies at Nawagamuwa Division Hospital, Kaduwela District in the presence of Regional Director of Health Service Dr K Siriwardena, District Medical Officer Dr H Nimalasiri, Resident Representative Cho Sang-Woo and President Kumarasinghe and committee members of AKOFE.

AKOFE was founded in July, 1999 as an association of ex-participants who have been invited to Korea for their participation in scholarships and training programmes under KOICA’s technical cooperation programme. AKOFE annually organizes and conducts charity activities such as donation of equipment and supplies to local orphanages, schools and hospitals, membership building activities and year end get-together of members of KOICA, AKOFE members and Korean community in Sri Lanka by support from KOICA.

As part of AKOFE’s charity activities, this medical equipment including electrocardiogram, nebulizer, glucometer and sterilizer, etc, were donated to the hospital for its better healthcare to the local people. In addition, AKOFE members presented gift packages to patients in the hospital.

The AKOFE’s charity activities contribute not only to enable more grassroot level approaches of KOICA’s programme but to further strengthening the two countries’ relationship in many aspects for years to come.

ODEL Wattala opens

Wattala came vibrantly alive when ODEL opened its new five storey store to cater to the fashion and lifestyle needs of this busy suburb.

A characteristically bright and entertaining opening inclusive of video mapping of the building drew large crowds to No. 350 Negombo Road, Wattala, the location of this latest outlet in the ODEL chain.

Comprising 12,000 square feet of trend-defining shopping synonymous with the ODEL brand, the new Wattala store offers casual and formal wear for men, women and children, as well as office wear, lingerie, bags, shoes, and toys and has its own ‘Embark,’ ‘Backstage,’ ‘Souvenir’ and ‘Delight’ departments. The store is open seven days a week from 10 am to 8 pm.

Five shoppers at ODEL Wattala to be chosen at a draw, are to be rewarded with gift vouchers worth Rs 5,000 each.

NDB Group signed an MOU with Singapore’s DBS Bank recently to form a strategic alliance in investment banking. Here, Russell de Mel NDB Bank CEO presenting a memento to DBS Bank Capital Markets Head Eric Ang.