ADVERTORIAL

Finco to provide Green Energy Solutions

Renewable energy is becoming the fastest growing energy resource around the world. In Sri Lanka too there are many projects being implemented with the use of renewable energy resources. It is reported that 16% of the global final energy consumption is derived from Renewable.

The Finco Group of Companies considering this potential, made a strategic decision to incorporate a new company, viz, Finco Green Energy Solutions mainly to enhance the use of renewable energy resources in Sri Lanka. Established in 1965 Finco Group is one of the pioneering organizations in Sri Lanka with diversified business activities. Heading this new venture is the Finco Group Executive Vice President Nishan Weerasooriya.

At present most of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels. When fossil fuel is turned into useful energy through combustion, it often produces environmental pollutants that are harmful to human health and greenhouse gases that threaten the global climate. Resources such as wind and solar which are widely available and on the other hand not harmful at all.

The primary objective of the Finco Green Energy Solutions is to enhance the use of alternate and renewable energy resources in Sri Lanka.

The newly formed company will engage itself in this endeavour considering the opportunities such as long-term economy in harnessing renewable energy; green concept and eco-friendliness; possible government and regulatory assistance for non-fossil energy resources; world trends, particularly in the tourist, leisure and travel sector for non-polluting energy resources; rural electrification.

Harnessing wind power is no more a novelty to Sri Lanka when considered in high volumes or capacities such as wind farms. Unlike the sun which is unconditionally available in Sri Lanka; the wind climate is primarily determined by the monsoon seasons. The wind in Sri Lanka is very seasonal and not consistent, and is limited to certain areas such as Kalpitiya, Mannar, Jaffna and the East Coast.

Finco Green Energy intends to market small to medium-scale high efficiency wind turbines which will generate a reasonable power even at minimum wind speeds. This is a vast potential area which is yet untapped in Sri Lanka which Finco Green Energy intends to make an opportunity, as the future is more into greener concepts.

Finco’s solar solution is also very attractive for residential customers. Best in class solar modules that comes with 10 years manufacturing warranties are available at very competitive pricing. An investment on solar system for residential sector has never been more attractive.

Finco Green Energy Solutions aims to promote their solar and wind products to hotels, garment factories and other large to medium-scale businesses which incur a high cost for electricity. Finco Green Energy will supply and install these systems for a very competitive price.

HSBC Premier MasterCard:

Empowering Cardholders with limitless benefits

The HSBC Premier MasterCard credit card empowers holders to experience the best the world has to offer by opening the door to experiences and offers, upgrades and preferred access to complement their lifestyle, with the flexibility to explore the places and pursuits that mean the most to them. This will be their invitation and their inspiration to experience a whole new world.

The combination of worldwide acceptance means that Cardholders have the freedom to do exactly what they want, whenever they feel like it. It could be a round of golf, a day at the spa, a choice table at a sought-after restaurant or tickets to a major event. Whatever they are in the mood for, HSBC Premier MasterCard makes it more satisfying.

It also provides safeguards, designed to minimize hassle and travel specific features and benefits that guarantees the exceptional service that they have come to expect from their cards.

“HSBC Premier is relationship banking without boundaries, designed to give customers the service they deserve whether at home or abroad, and we are honoured to partner with MasterCard, since we are now able to delight our customers on a global platform with even better privileges compared to our local Premier Credit Card benefits,” said HSBC Premier, International Banking and Wealth Management Head Aasiri Iddamalgoda.

Other services include round the clock assistance in case of any emergency, regardless of where a cardholder is at the time, through personalized services. All a cardholder needs to do is get in touch with the 24 hour Premier Call Centre to request for these services and the new branded HSBC Premier MasterCard will be replaced with the automatic renewal of the existing card.

Furthermore, from purchases to personal safety, cardholders are assured of protection at home and abroad against life’s little inconveniences, with a suite of wide-ranging insurance products.

Lint rollers in market now

“I have been battling with lint ever since I started washing clothes in the washing machine. I didn’t know how to fix it. A friend of mine who lives in USA suggested using a Lint Roller but it was not available anywhere. Recently, I saw it at a super market and bought it. All my worries are now gone. My life is easy with a Lint Roller around.”

Many people find this lint roller, useful and convenient. Lint roller is a popular household item in other countries but relatively unknown in Sri Lanka.

Lint rollers can also be used on sofas, beds, couches, pillows, tables, drapes, lamp shades, pet beds or even stuffed animals for a quick and perfect clean. It picks-up paper shreds and other fuzzy bits and pieces from clothes. Lint roller is an ideal tool to clean food particles and crumbs on tables, car seats without spilling on the floor and carpet. It can also help cleaning glass breakage from the floor which a normal broom cannot pick.

Lint rollers consist of several sheets of adhesive paper attached to a hand-held roller. Remove the outer layer, exposing the sticky tape-like paper. Lightly roll over the fabric or any surface in short strokes, ensuring all areas have been covered to remove all debris.

Unlike other cleaning tools, electric supply or water is not required. It is non-poisonous and odourless. The cleaning will be handled easily without risking damage to the item. Consistent use of lint roller keeps clothing and other fabrics looking new and fresh.It is a safe, affordable way to quickly clean most of your daily-use items which kills your time and ruins your happiness. The product is now available at all supermarket chains.

DVB relocates Panadura branch

DFCC Vardhana Bank (DVB), the everyday banking unit of DFCC Bank recently relocated its Panadura branch to Galle Road, Panadura. The new location is in a far more convenient location for customers and has better parking facilities.

Customers can avail the benefit of a wide range of products and services including demand and savings deposits, fixed deposits, foreign currency deposits, personal loans for housing and higher education, gold-pledge loans and remittance services through DVB’s new branch in Panadura.

Aspirations Education represents IMU, Malaysia

One of the leading student placement centres for Malaysian universities, Aspirations Education said that the International Medical University, one of the leading Medical Universities in Malaysia has appointed them as a representative.

The International Medical University was established in 1992 as the International Medical College, or IMC, Malaysia’s first private medical college. It attained university status in 1999 and has remained true to key elements of the IMC vision, which are to widen access to professional healthcare education, and to use innovative, integrated and student-centred means in providing that education.

This vision required strong links to be forged, from the outset, with reputable partner medical schools committed to excellence and who share our educational philosophy.

“It was our progressive, systems-based, integrated medical curriculum that first caught the imagination of our partner medical schools, and today we collaborate with Medical Schools in Australasia, North America, Ireland, the United Kingdom and China,” a spokesman for IMU said.

IMU’s pure medical courses are highly sought-after. In recent years, the courses offered have evolved to meet Malaysia’s growing need for healthcare staff in multiple disciplines.

IMU now offers undergraduate programmes in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, pharmaceutical chemistry, nursing, nursing science, medical biotechnology, nutrition and dietetics, psychology, biomedical science as well as postgraduate programmes by research in the fields of medical sciences and community health.

In 2010, IMU saw the first intake of students for the chiropractic programme, which is the first and only complete chiropractic educational programme in Malaysia, as well as in all of Southeast Asia.

In February 2011, the IMU offered the Chinese medicine programme, the first such programme launched in a medical school. The curriculum content of the course has significant emphasis on anatomy, botany, medicinal chemistry, physiology, biochemistry, statistics, genetics, immunology, microbiology, pharmacology and pathology to give the student a good foundation to understand the body functions and disease processes from the western point of view.

IMU has more than 4,500 students and that number is steadily growing. Most students are from Malaysia and the international students hail from Singapore, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, South Korea, the Maldives, Australia, Canada and Egypt.

There is more than 200 highly-qualified and experienced teaching staff from Australia, the United States, Europe, Japan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and many more. Most of them are involved in supervising undergraduate and postgraduate research and dissertations, conduct workshops and actively involved in their own research.

Key areas of research include bioactive molecules, building-related illnesses, molecular carcinogenesis, pharmacogenomics and pharmaceutics, environmental health, clinical research and medical education.

At IMU, students enjoy state-of-the-art facilities including the Learning Resource Centre which combines the resources of the library, the e-learning portal and the medical museum. The university is actively pursuing the development of educational innovation in both areas.

So far, more than 1,600 students have graduated with degrees from IMU. More than 1,800 students have graduated from its partner universities overseas. Graduates can look forward to careers in Malaysia’s public and private healthcare institutions, or to opportunities to undertake postgraduate studies locally or overseas.

SLT strengthens position

Provider of consistent, uninterrupted, high-speed broadband services:

SLT Broadband, with its consistent, uninterrupted, high-speed broadband services, is rapidly revolutionizing Internet usage in the country. SLT’s high broadband speeds coupled with its affordably-priced broadband packages has commenced to take Internet islandwide. SLT Broadband offers both Volume-Based and Unlimited Packages, consisting of a range of different categories that users can subscribe to according to their convenience and requirement. Moreover, customers can also avail of exciting Value-Based Services to make their Broadband experience a high performance one in every way.

More significantly, SLT Broadband delivers constant, uninterrupted, high-speed Internet even through the worst weather conditions of rain to provide uninterrupted broadband connectivity. Importantly, speeds in the day or night do not vary or fluctuate, which means that SLT Broadband customers do not have to inconvenience themselves by staying up late into the night for faster Internet speeds.

The superior network ensures that customers are not disconnected by unclear signals leading to frequent disconnection. SLT Broadband ensures you are connected without any disturbances from weak signals.

As is apparent from the various benefits that customers enjoy, SLT Broadband is leading the way as the preferred choice for broadband users around the country. As the national telecommunications provider, SLT has taken the lead to offer attractively priced broadband packages to suit a range of budgets and usage needs, enhancing broadband usage across the country.

SLT is also spearheading the ‘i-Sri Lanka’ project, which will enhance and upgrade the existing fixed network lines and expand the fibre network closer to its customers, resulting in reliability, quality and broadband data speeds. SLT has endeared itself to customers with unparalleled focus on customer service and continues to put the customer at the heart of its transformation plan.

SLT is poised to drive growth through a series of targeted investments and strategies that will shape exciting new developments in the telecommunication sector.

Visit www.slt.lk for more details.

Ravi helps revitalize coir extraction

A new wholly locally-designed and fabricated semi-automated fibre processing mill that integrates several stages of the process of extracting fibre from coconut husks has been unveiled, significantly enhancing efficiency, product quality, safety and earning potential.

Researched, developed and fabricated by Engineer A. P. S. Luxman Wijesinghe, the new machine has been installed at a Fibre Mill at Nattandiya, following an intervention by the Hayleys Group’s Fibre sector subsidiary Ravi Industries, which supported its inventor by purchasing and leasing out the new machine.

The Hayleys Group’s Fibre sector has also pledged to support the manufacture and roll-out of the new machine for the benefit of the local fibre industry, by purchasing five machines and leasing them to fibre suppliers.

In acknowledgement of the importance of this new machine to the industry, the formal commissioning of the first machine at the Nattandiya Fibre Mill was attended by two ministers — Coconut Development and Janata Estates Development Minister Jagath Pushpakumara and the State Resources and Enterprise Development Minister Dayashritha Tissera, the Coconut Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Sudath Handunge, other senior government officials and local government representatives.

Minister Jagath Pushpakumara presented Engineer Luxman Wijesinghe with a plaque in recognition of his invention at this event.

Hayleys Fibre sector Head Prasanna de Silva said: “As a business group that had its origins in value addition to coir 133 years ago, Hayleys and its Fibre sector companies have played a pioneering and enduring role in the development and mechanization of the industry. This latest innovation, which enhances incomes and working conditions of fibre industry employees, and improves the quality of their output, is further evidence of the Group’s commitment to the industry.”

Ravi Industries Limited, Chief Executive Officer Anuruddha Dias said the company had undertaken to promote the new machine as a community project under the aegis of the Ravi Foundation for Community Development because it addresses several serious issues facing the bristle fibre industry, including the scarcity and high cost of bristle fibre, the inferior quality of fibre extracted by existing machines and the lack of skilled labour due to safety concerns associated with the operation of traditional hand-fed fibre extractors.

A Presidential Export Award winner, Ravi Industries Ltd., has been one of Asia’s leading brush and broom manufacturers since 1962. The first brush manufacturer in Sri Lanka to obtain ISO 9001, 14001 and FSC certifications, the company has over four decades of combined experience in the industry, together with its partner, B.V Borstelfabriek VERO of Holland. It currently exports an extensive portfolio of brushes and brush blocks to customers in the U.K, Japan, Europe, Middle East, the Netherlands, Australia, the USA and Canada.