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In Brief

Aussie aid for good governance
The Australian Overseas Aid programme plans to give around $11.4 million to Sri Lanka to promote good governance and sustained growth, reduce poverty and protect vulnerable sections of society.

Top priority would be given to a "partnership" between Australia and Sri Lanka, Brian Achland, second secretary of the Australian High Commission said. He told a recent seminar on 'Utilisation of Foreign Aid in Sri Lanka' conducted by the Society for International Development that Australian funds would also be used to promote gender equity by giving women equal access to education and healthcare and the prevention of discrimination against women. (RC)

Theme tourist zones in the South
The Ceylon Tourist Board is planning to set up seven "theme zones" in the southern province to attract more visitors to the region. The aim of the zoning concept is to develop parts of the region with a theme based on major attractions in the area, Tissa Warnasuriya, Director General of the Tourist Board said.

The zones would be based on themes such as beach and river-based tourism, beach and coastal village tourism, lagoons, rain forest tourism, tea estates and waterfalls. (TM)

Ceylinco Life seeks applications for Pranama scheme
Eighty-five scholarships will be on offer at the second successful year of the 'Pranama' scheme, Ceylinco Life's community programme to groom future leaders through scholarship endowments, the company announced last week.

Calling for applications from the hundreds of thousands of eligible Ceylinco policyholders' children, the private sector's leading insurer said applications would close on November 30 for scholarships to be awarded in January 2003.

The four-tiered Pranama scholarship scheme recognises academic achievements at the Year 5 government scholarship examination, the GCE Ordinary Level, GCE Advanced Level, and also rewards accomplishment at national level in art, drama, cultural activities, inventions and sports.

The first round of Ceylinco Pranama scholarships awarded by Ceylinco Life last year benefited 76 recipients selected from about 3,000 applications islandwide. Funded by an initial allocation of Rs. 16 million from Ceylinco Life, the Pranama scheme awards district level scholarships with a cash value ranging from Rs. 36,000 to Rs. 72,000 per scholarship winner. Achievers at national level receive lump sum payments of Rs. 25,000 each.

EC support for rubber, plastics industries
The European Commission is to provide support for the rubber and plastics sector with the aim of improving quality, productivity and business skills. The project, under the European Commission's Asia-Invest Programme, aims to foster links between European and Sri Lankan companies in this sector.

It will provide support to the European Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka and the Plastics and Rubber Institute. It will also create a databank of EU and Sri Lankan companies in the rubber and plastics sector that will help to easily identify potential business partners, a European Chamber statement said. The overseas partners of this project are the Belgian Plastics and Rubber Institute and the German Rubber Association.

Trade delegation from Taiwan
A 20-member delegation from Taiwan will be visiting Sri Lanka on a trade promotion mission next week. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said it was arranging one-to-one meetings on October 14 at the Taj Samudra, Colombo, between delegates and interested Sri Lankan businesses.

Workshop on "Six Sigma" quality
Global Conventions (Pvt) Ltd is conducting a two-day workshop on Six Sigma Quality Improvement at the Colombo Hilton on October 18 and 19.
It is to be conducted by Rakesh Sharma, Chief Training Manager of Karrox Technology, Mumbai. He will also conduct a seminar on Time Management at the JAIC Hilton on October 17.

Varsity entrance low in terms of literacy rate
Sri Lanka's rate of literacy may be among the best in the world but the number of youngsters who go to university is among the lowest, a government minister said.
Kabir Hashim, Minister of Tertiary Education and Training, said Sri Lanka's literacy rate of 93 percent is one of the highest in the region but only two percent of the population receive university education in Sri Lanka against 15 percent in Thailand, 18 percent in Malaysia and 32 percent in Singapore.

"In countries like Japan and Korea more than 60 percent of the population receive higher education. So it is time we change these statistics in Sri Lanka," he told the bi-annual convocation of the CIMA Sri Lanka Division held recently.

"We have realised that many graduates who are unemployed come out from the university system as against CIMA qualified graduates who are grabbed by employers, even before they complete their final examination."

Some 38 recently elected Associate and Fellow members and 179 members who passed the May 2002 examination received their certificates.

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