President’s Poson Message

The greatest homage we could pay to Arahat Mahinda who laid the foundation for spiritual and intellectual development of our people is to create a peaceful environment for them to live without violence, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a message on the occasion of the Poson festival.

The message:

“The arrival of Arahat Mahinda in Mihintale, Anuradhapura from India in 236 B.E. marked the advent of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. It is a historic occasion, which opened vistas of a new culture.

“The spiritual development that accompanied the conversion of King Devanampiyatissa to Buddhism is ingrained in the hearts and minds of the Buddhist people.

“Our ancestors who gave pride of place to the culture of “the tank, the stupa and the temple” not only laboured to make our land self-sufficient but also defended it at the cost of their lives.

“It is the cultural heritage we derived from the advent of Arahat Mahinda that made it possible to build great tanks, built enormous stupas and achieve prosperity. It is a pleasure to note that a grateful public is commemorating this historic event.

“The greatest homage we could pay to Arahat Mahinda who laid the foundation for spiritual and intellectual development of our people is to create a peaceful environment for them to live without violence.

“King Devanampiyatissa who gave up deer hunting for pleasure after listening to Arahat Mahinda showed us the value of life.

“Similarly, Emperor Asoka was the first among kings to realize that peace is the sole relief, elixir and solace to all living beings. That is why he chose the conquering of the dhamma over conquering lands.

“All fear punishment and similarly death. Nobody should be harmed taking one’s self as an example”.

“On this Poson eve I appeal to all to unite irrespective of racial, religious, caste and party differences to create in this land well defended by our ancestors, an environment where all could live peacefully without fear.

“I wish all Sri Lankans a happy Poson”.

Powered by Post2Blog Express

JCI Sri Lanka instills leadership skills in youth

“We believe:

That faith in God gives meaning and purpose to human life;
That the brotherhood of man transcends the sovereignty of nations;
That economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise;
That government should be of laws rather than of men;
That earth’s great treasure lies in human personality;
And that service to humanity is the best work of life.

The Junior Chamber International Sri Lanka or JCISL as it is known better in its strive to create leadership among young people held a training programme on youth empowerment recently.

By Jeevani Pereira

Led by JCI Senator Rukmal De Silva who is also part of ‘Unleash Talent Inc’, the training programme organized by the Kollupitiya Chapter focused on the concept of a hero through the leadership view.

“People say that a hero should be a leader,” De Silva said. “But the real question is that can you create a hero? A real leader is someone who can create heroes,” he reiterated.

With nearly 20 people aged between 18 and 40 from all spheres of management taking part in the programme, unique methodology and interaction was used to create awareness and impact.

“Everyone is trying to be a hero and often you find Managers of company’s hugging onto their work trying to do everything by themselves. In actuality getting other people to do the job is where the real skill lies,” he continued.

The Junior Chamber International which was established in 1914 in the United States came to Sri Lanka nearly 53 years ago. “We are not a charity organization,” spoke Ruwan Senanayake JCISL President of 2007 adding that they were totally dedicated to empowering youth and giving direction to young people between the ages of 18 and 40.

“We have four different spheres we focus on business, community, individual and International,” he continued. “Mostly working on training programmes, we also do projects mainly regarding community and when it comes to business we do programmes for entrepreneurs and HR people.”

During the ceasefire in 2002 the JCISL visited Kilinochchi a largely LTTE controlled area and donated spectacles to the needy. “We won the JCI Community Award that year,” Senanayake said.

Furthermore they had also done a training programme at the Welikada prison female ward as well as donating spectacles for the Opanayake eye centre. The TOYP awards for young entrepreneurs are also an annual event organized by the JCI.

The whole concept for the training programme on empowering youth was suggested by the national president on the same theme, something the JCISL believes is of extreme necessity for the youth of today in order to ensure confidence and improvement of skill. (YM)

Powered by Post2Blog Express

Sri Lanka’s GDP grew by 18.4 per cent in 2006

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country grew by 18.4 per cent in 2006, in nominal terms, reaching 2,484 billion rupees (US$22.27 billion) with per capita income amounting to 126,306 rupees ($1,132), the Central Bank said.

The distribution of the GDP among provinces shows that contribution to GDP at provincial level was largely concentrated in the Western Province with a slight decline from the year before. During the year, the Western Province recorded a growth of 16.8 per cent in current terms, contributing 50.1 per cent to the total GDP compared to 50.8 per cent in 2005.

The dominance of the Western Province in the country’s economic activity is the consequence of presence of major infrastructure such as ports and airports, financial houses, major import and export organisations and other service providing establishments, including telecommunication.

Taking into account the size of provincial population, per capita value addition in the Western Province was 1.8 times the national average. In contrast, per capita value addition in all the other provinces was below the country average, ranging between 0.8 in the North Western Province and 0.5 in the Northern Province.

The four neighbouring provinces to the Western Province, North Western, Southern, Sabaragamuwa and Central Provinces jointly grew by 21.7 per cent, more than the growth in the Western Province, while maintaining a share of 34 per cent in the national GDP.

This region was responsible for 59 per cent of the total agricultural value added of the national economy. As in the rest of the country, the growth in the region was largely driven by the expansion of the services sector contributing around 55 per cent to the growth in the region, while the agriculture sector contributed a quarter of the growth and the industry sector contributed 20 per cent.

Of these four provinces, the North Western and Southern Provinces contributed 9.3 per cent each to the national GDP, while Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces added 8.8 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively.

The outermost four provinces from the Western Province, namely, the Eastern, Uva, North Central and Northern Provinces, contributed less than 5 per cent each to the national economy. These four provinces collectively recorded a growth of 17.0 per cent, of which contribution of service sector stood at 67 per cent, followed by industry and agriculture sectors at 27 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively.

The data reveals the continuing income disparity in the provinces, which needs to be addressed through concerted efforts by the provinces.

Some of such efforts are attracting foreign direct investment into the provinces, developing infrastructure, establishing activities that would attract both international and domestic tourists and generate opportunities for higher degree human capital development. -The Island

Powered by Post2Blog Express

Is Google Poised for a New Push into the Information Industry?

Leigh Watson Healy, Google as Publisher: Is Google Poised for a New Push into the Information Industry? Outsell, May 2007. The report is not OA and not even close (it costs $1,295). But the thesis is interesting. From the press release:

by Peter Suber

A new Outsell, Inc. report on Google’s technology reveals that Google can enter the publishing industry at any time with the “flip of a switch.”

“News publishers and providers, book and magazine publishers, and directory providers are all in Google’s line of fire,” said Leigh Watson Healy, Chief Analyst, Outsell.

[The report]…looks at how Google’s technical infrastructure, patents and agile development processes give the company the readiness to enter the publishing segment, whether accidentally or intentionally. A unique feature of the report is a comprehensive list of Google’s publishing-related patents, which can be “powered up” under the right circumstances. Google has also assembled technologies that extend along the entire spectrum of publishing’s core functions—-from content acquisition to e-commerce and royalty payments.

According to Stephen E. Arnold, GGReport’s technology analyst, “Pundits focus on Google’s search and advertising business. Google has developed powerful content acquisition and publishing tools under the radar of most Wall Street analysts and publishers. Combined with Google’s Checkout, a payment system similar to eBay’s, Google can become a one-stop shop and disintermediate anyone between the author or content creator and the buyer.”

The Outsell report analyzes:

• Google’s content creation engine.
• The cost and automation advantages of Google’s “intelligent” publishing system over a traditional publisher’s operation—which represent formidable barriers to entry.
• Essential actions for existing publishers and information providers that want to remain competitive should Google make a move, such as quickly adopting an agile publishing platform.

Powered by Post2Blog Express

Jaycees “Empowering Youth”

JCISL Kollupitiya has organized a training programme “Empowering Youth ” today at the Hotel Janaki Colombo at 6.00pm.

This will be conducted by JCI Sen. Rukmal De Silva who is the Chief Visionary Officer of Unleash Talent INC and a Jt. CEO of Wild Drift. He’s a dreamer and an explorer who enjoys living on the edge and has a 33, passionate, creative, and an inspiring personality.

The training programme will coincide with the National Presidents theme for this year. JCISL Kollupitiya organizer training programmes on a monthly basis.

This programme will cover “Who is your HERO?”

Thanks to few heroes (compared to the total population), the world has moved. What would you like to be? A hero, is not it? But what is true leadership? Is it becoming the HERO or creating Heroes?

At the end of the program the participants will be able to: Understand definition of HERO from a leadership perspective; learn three simple strategies in creating Heroes in your day to day life.

(FT)

Powered by Post2Blog Express