Sri Lankans to enter the UK Health Care Sector

 The High Commission of Sri Lanka in London in partnership with Care England, the leading representative body for care providers in England held a Briefing and Networking event on May 19, 2022 at the High Commission premises to explore opportunities for Sri Lanka to provide care givers to the UK adult care sector.

Delivering the Welcome Address, the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom Saroja Sirisena noted that vocations in the care sector have been added to the shortage occupations list of the UK, paving the way for recruitment of caregivers from overseas.

This has generated a great deal of interest in Sri Lanka which already provide trained professionals in the care sector to other countries. It is with this in mind that the High Commission brought together stakeholders to understand the needs of the sector, and forge partnerships for mutual benefit.

Addressing the gathering, Chief Executive of Care England Professor Martin Green OBE stated that overseas recruitment from countries where the UK has a long, and established relationship can give a real opportunity to refresh the UK social care workforce.

He added that it will provide an opportunity for Sri Lankans to use their skills in the UK and to acquire further skills that can be used upon return to Sri Lanka. He believed that Sri Lankans possess not only the required professional skills but the soft skills which are much needed in a profession such as caregivers.

Additional General Manager/International Affairs of Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment Mangala Randeniya who joined the event virtually from Colombo presented the role played by the Bureau in providing competent resources for overseas health and care sectors as well as to ensure the welfare of Sri Lankan migrant workers in general. He expressed the readiness of the Bureau to allocate one of its training centres to train Sri Lankans as care givers specifically for the UK care sector.

Speaking at the event, Group Director of Hemas Holdings PLC Abbas Esufally explained how Hemas, as one of the leading private Health Care companies in Sri Lanka can meet the needs of the UK care services sector with their resources in Sri Lanka.

On behalf of AMRAK Institute of Medical Sciences Colombo, which is the training arm of healthcare professionals of the Durdans Hospital, Dr. Hiba Khan shared information on the nurses and healthcare professional training undertaken by the AMRAK Institute.

 Sri Lanka is on the verge of issuing digital identity cards with the most sophisticated security features available in the world, Secretary to the Ministry of Technology and Chairman of the Director General of Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) Jayantha de Silva said.

“Base work is mostly completed. We will be incorporating ten fingerprints, iris and face recognition soon, De Silva told the Digital Lanka, Green Tech, Huawei Digital Congress 2022, held in Colombo on Monday (25).

Noting that the requirement of connectivity became more and more important with the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, De Silva stated that under the ‘Gamata Sanniwedanaya’ Project, 10,250 state schools across the country will be connected with fibre -optic capability in another 12 months time.

“Moreover, a small country like ours is currently following the British legal standards and the challenges that we face are immense. We decided to automate all the courts in this country. Accordingly, all the court proceedings including voice, images and videos will be recorded. Within another 2.5 years, it will revolutionise how the court works. With the implementation of the project, the courts will be able to work independently and in a transparent manner.”

Speaking on other projects undertaken by TRCSL, De Silva said that techno parks would be built in five different locations such as Kurunegala, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, Galle and Habarana with the objective of providing exposure and opportunity to Sri Lankan youths in the field of information technology.

Source: Dailynews

 

SPC to purchase 10 m doses of AstraZeneca vaccine

Sri Lanka will purchase 10 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from India, officials said.

In January, under India’s neighbourhood first policy, Sri Lanka received 500,000 doses of free vaccines. They were administered as a priority to frontline health workers and members of the Armed forces.

The State Pharmaceutical Corporation has signed the order with Serum Institute of India (SII) for 10 million doses, officials said. This agreement has been approved by the Attorney General on Monday.

Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield is being manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute. The SII has collaborated with Oxford University and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for making the vaccine.

Earlier this week, the vaccination was extended to the general public and MPs. About 250,000 out of 500,000 Oxford–AstraZeneca Covishield vaccines have been administered so far, General Shavendra Silva, the Army chief who heads the COVID-19 prevention operations said.

He said the WHO has assured Sri Lanka that it would provide vaccines for 20 per cent of the local population free of charge. He added that China and Russia had also agreed to donate vaccines to the local population.

The Indian Army and the Russian military have also agreed to provide a quantity of vaccines to the Sri Lankan military.

Sri Lanka has recorded 78,420 cases by last night with 71,000 of them having recovered. At least 430 deaths have been recorded since the outbreak in mid-March last year. (Live Mint)

Eco bricks – rediscovering the old

The search for housing that is healthy, affordable and environmentally responsible has increased over the past few years, leading to a growing number of people taking a fresh look at old building techniques long shunned by the modern construction industry.
Dharshana Ranatunga, Managing Director Eco Ceylon Holdings Ltd, makers of 'eco brick' an environmentally friendly and flexible building material, says the demand for such products are on the rise with old methods catching up fast with more and more people.
"The eco brick's unique interlocking design eliminates the need for the traditional mortar preparation used in building construction," he told the Business Times, settling in for a long chat at his house at Thalawathugoda, which was also built using these bricks.


Ancient technique


When the Business Times observed this building, the first thought that crossed the team’s mind is that perhaps the best reason to build with these brick earth is the boost it can give to the health of the planet. Earth is an unprocessed, widely available building material with virtually no side effects associated with its harvesting or use. Explaining further, Mr. Ranatunga said that earth construction is an ancient technique which has been refined over time. "The bricks once laid with a sludge made of cement and soil looks and feels better than traditional brick work eliminating the need for plastering," he explained.
When asked how he came across the idea to develop this brick, he said that his passion for the environment and wanting to build his house with earth had led to him for discovering this method of construction. "When I was researching to build my house, I came across this technology," he added. He noted that this technology was acquired from South Africa and that these bricks had a unique feature of interlocking. “This makes it sure that sand is eliminated when bonding two bricks together,” he explained, adding that a hydraulic machine using South African technology is used in the manufacturing process.
Apparently the plusses for using these bricks rather than the traditional ones are many.
“Since an earth-walled building saves construction and energy resources, doesn't pollute, and lasts practically forever, it is a wise investment," Mr. Ranatunga explained.


Cuts bills



He noted that the ability of an eco brick wall to store energy for long periods of time results in interior temperatures that change very little from day to night. Earth walls absorb solar energy during cold days and then re-radiate that energy to offset night time heat losses within the building. In the hotter months, the mass of the walls absorbs excess heat generated during the day, keeping the inside spaces surprisingly cool, then releases that stored heat to the clear night sky. In a properly designed and oriented building, this can mean significant savings in heating and cooling bills. And because the energy that controls the temperature inside the building radiates directly from the mass of the walls, the quality of the comfort inside is noticeably different than in a space regulated through mechanically altered air.
He noted that the ability of an eco brick wall to store energy for long periods of time results in interior temperatures that change very little from day to night.
Also the bricks are high quality with high strength, uniform size and shape, while they don’t require any non-renewable resources for production. "They are eco friendly and utilise wastes and local resources. The structural performance can be engineered as per application," Mr. Ranatunga noted.


Decentralized production



He said that these eco bricks also allow both factory and on-site production. The machine production provides smooth finish which offers savings on further cement plaster, he noted, adding that this helps turn out a better product and a better investment
One of the most appealing aspects of a house with thick eco brick walls is the indescribable feeling you get just being inside. There is a certain calmness that simply can't be duplicated with lightweight building materials, no matter what the architecture. Whether it is simply the energy of thermal mass, the healthy air of a natural environment, the quiet that results from the sound absorbing nature of the solid earth, or some other less identifiable quality, makes it something. Mr. Ranatunga added that houses constructed with interlocking eco bricks will cost slightly more than a comparably designed house with cement blocks.
How much more they cost will depend on one’s site, the height and complexity of the wall system, the available soil, and the seismic safety factors. Mr. Ranatunga added that the company also proposes to venture into environmentally friendly material to augment its current offering to the market.


Source: Sunday Times

සැර කුළුබඩු යෙදූ ආහාර වලින් ලුණු භාවිතය අඩුකර ගත හැකිලු"?

සැර කුළුබඩු යෙදූ ආහාර වලින් ලුණු භාවිතය අඩුකර ගත හැකිලු"?

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මෙම තත්ත්වය මත ජනතාව අධික ලෙස ලුණු පරිභෝජනය කිරීම අවම කරලීමේ විකල්ප ක්‍රියාමාර්ගයන් පිළිබඳ අධ්‍යයනයක නිරත වූ චීනයේ අධි රුධිර පීඩනය පිළිබඳ චොන්ග්ක්‌වින්ග් ආයතනයේ හෘද රෝග පිළිබඳ මහාචාර්ය සීමින්ග් සු හා ඔහුගේ සහායකයින් විසින් මෙම සැර කුළුබඩු වර්ග, ලුණු පරිභෝජනය අඩු කරලීමේ හොඳ විකල්පයක්‌ බව සොයාගෙන තිබේ.

 මිරිස්‌ ඇතුළු සැර කුළුබඩු වර්ග ආහාරවලට එක්‌කර ගැනීමෙන් අධි රුධිර පීඩනයට හේතු කාරක වන ලුණු පරිභෝජනය අවම කර ගත හැකි බව 'හයිපර්ටෙන්ෂන්' (අධි රුධිර පීඩනය) නමැති සඟරාවෙහි පළ කර ඇති අධ්‍යයන වාර්තාවක දැක්‌වේ.

 ලෝක සෞඛ්‍ය සංවිධානය විසින් ප්‍රකාශ කර ඇති පරිදි ලොව පුරා ජනතාව ලුණු අධික ලෙස පරිභෝජනය කිරීම හේතුවෙන් අධි රුධිර පීඩනය, හෘද රෝග හා ආඝාතය (ස්‌ට්‍රොක්‌) වැනි රෝගයන්ට ගොදුරුවීමේ අවදානම වැඩි වෙමින් පවතී.

 මෙම තත්ත්වය මත ජනතාව අධික ලෙස ලුණු පරිභෝජනය කිරීම අවම කරලීමේ විකල්ප ක්‍රියාමාර්ගයන් පිළිබඳ අධ්‍යයනයක නිරත වූ චීනයේ අධි රුධිර පීඩනය පිළිබඳ චොන්ග්ක්‌වින්ග් ආයතනයේ හෘද රෝග පිළිබඳ මහාචාර්ය සීමින්ග් සු හා ඔහුගේ සහායකයන් විසින් මෙම සැර කුළුබඩු වර්ග, ලුණු පරිභෝජනය අඩු කරලීමේ හොඳ විකල්පයක්‌ බව සොයාගෙන තිබේ.

 මහාචාර්ය සූ ට අනුව අතීතයේදී පවා සැර කුළුබඩු සහිත ආහාර වර්ග නිරෝගී හෘදය වස්‌තුවක්‌ පවත්වා ගැනීමට උපකාර වී තිබේ. 2015 වසරේ දී සිදුකරන ලද අධ්‍යයනයකට අනුව දිනපතාම පාහේ සැර කුළුබඩු සහිත ආහාර පරිභෝජනය කරන්නන්ට ඉක්‌මනින් මරණයට පත්වීමේ අවදානම සතියකට එක වරකටත් අඩුවෙන් සැර කුළුබඩු සහිත ආහාර පරිභෝජනය කරන්නන්ට වඩා සියයට 14 කින් අඩුය. මෙසේ අධික ලෙස සැර කුළුබඩු සහිත ආහාර පරිභෝජනය කරන්නන් දියවැඩියාව, පිළිකාව හා හෘද රෝගවලින් මිය යැමේ අවදානම ද අඩු බව පර්යේෂකයෝ පවසති.

 මහාචාර්ය සූ විසින් සිදුÊකළ අධ්‍යයනයකට සැර කුළුබඩු යෙදූ ආහාර වර්ග පරිභෝජනය කරන්නන් හා අධික ලුණු සහිත ආහාර පරිභෝජනය කරන්නන් යොදා ගෙන ඇති අතර අධිකව සැර කුළුබඩු යෙදූ ආහාර වර්ග පරිභෝජනය කළ අයගේ රුධිර පීඩන මට්‌ටම අඩු මට්‌ටමකින් අධිකව ලුණු පරිභෝජනය කළ අයගේ රුධිර පීඩනය ඉහළ මට්‌ටමකින් පවතින බව අනාවරණය වී තිබේ.

 මෙහිදී සැර කුළුබඩු යෙදූ ආහාර වර්ග පරිභෝජනය කළ අය ලුණු පරිභෝජනයට ද ප්‍රියතාවක්‌ දක්‌වා ඇතත් අධික ලුණු සහිත ආහාර පරිභෝජනය කළ අය සැර කුළුබඩු යෙදූ ආහාරවලට අකැමැත්තක්‌ දක්‌වා ඇතැයි පර්යේෂකයෝ පවසති. කෙසේ වුවද මෙම අධ්‍යයනයට අනුව සැර කුළුබඩු යෙදූ ආහාර පරිභෝජනය කළ අයගේ රුධිර පීඩනය අඩු මට්‌ටමක පවතින බව පර්යේෂකයෝ පෙන්වා දී ඇතත්, එම කුළුබඩු යෙදූ ආහාර පරිභෝජනයෙන් රුධිර පීඩනය අඩුකරලන බව ඔවුන් සාධක ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇති බව වැන්ඩරබිල්ට්‌ අධි රුධිර පීඩන මධ්‍යස්‌ථානයේ වෛද්‍ය චෙරිල් ලාµaර් පවසන්නීය.

 ඇයට අනුව දෛනිකව භාවිත කරන ලුණු ප්‍රමාණය අඩු කිරීමෙන් රුධිර පීඩනය ද අඩුකර ගත හැකිය.

 සැර කුළුබඩු යෙදූ ආහාර හා රුධිර පීඩනය අතර සම්බන්ධතාව පිළිබඳව තවදුරටත් අධ්‍යයනය කළ යුතු බව වෛද්‍ය ලාෆීර් සඳහන් කර සිටින්නීය.

 ඇමරිකානු හෘද සංගමය

'Govt to review motor import tax in 2017'

Chairman Stassen Group and Aitkin Spence, Harry Jayewardene and Dilmah Tea Chairman and Founder Merrill J. Fernando strongly criticized the move by the government to import tea to the country subsequent to the Budget 2016 proposals.
Speaking at the Business Forum on budget 2016 organized by Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation at Waters Edge yesterday, the duo said that this move would have severe negative impacts for the local industry. "It would dilute the quality of the Sri Lankan brand name of tea which we have strived for years to create."
Minister Ravi Karunanayake said that there had not being an increase in the size of the tea industry and this move was to inspire the local industry. He also said that Sri Lanka also needs to innovate.
However both Jayewardene and Fernando disagreed and said that the decision on import of tea has to be re-looked.
Responding to a query by Chairman of the Sri Lanka Vehicle Importers' Association, Indika Sampath Merinchige the Minister said that they needed to balance the budget with fuel prices and this was the reason for them to increase the tax of electric vehicles. "We request the industry to bear with us for about one and half years in this regard."
Managing Director, CEO of Caltex Lubricants Lanka Limited said that there is an imbalance by default Sri Lankan Human Resources. "Sri Lanka is exporting house maids and importing Senior Managers, CEO's. This must change."
John Keells Group Deputy Chairman, Ajith Gunawardne said that tourism industry is well positioned to move from US$ 2 billion industry to a US$ 10 billion industry in five years.
He said that though some points may not directly involved in the budget, Sri Lanka must strive to get the right tourist to the country. "For this, standards should be maintained in service standards and also when building high rise hotels in coastal areas."
Dharma Dheerasinghe, Chairman Commercial Bank said that they saw two key issues in the macro economic background in which the budget was presented. "One is the fiscal imbalance that prevailed in economy and those issues relating to the fiscal sector that needs to be fixed. And also we have a growing balance of payment deficit and this too has to be addressed."
National Chamber of Commerce, Chairman, Tilak Godamanne said that most of the features were accepted by them.
"The proposal to set up a venture capital and give them a tax holiday for five years is welcome."
Minister of Finance, Ravi Karunanayake said that it is a very good idea to send suggestions to the Government mainly through Chambers without going behind politicians.

Source: Daily News

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