GS HEALTH DONATES TEST-KITS WHICH DIAGNOSES DENGUE FASTER TO THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH

George Steuarts Health recently donated Rs. 2 million worth of new diagnostic test-kits to the Ministry of Health in order to support the ongoing Dengue research work conducted by the Epidemiology Unit. The test-kits which were donated by GS Health, a subsidiary of George Steuart & Company Ltd., are manufactured by SD Diagnostics, Korea and is called the SD Bioline Dengue Duo – the world’s first and only product available which detects both the Dengue virus (NSI Antigen) as well as the antibodies of the Dengue virus (Dengue IgG/IgM) whether in human whole blood, serum or plasma.

According to Erandajith Ranasinghe, Executive Director of GS Health, “These kits are donated as the latest offering from our portfolio to ease the burden of the common man. Further, they would facilitate conduct of the test with large throughput screening for management of the disease,” he noted. “It is going to be a handy tool in screening of patients on a large scale basis in an affordable manner. GS Health is committed to tap the growing opportunities in the sector and making a solid community intervention such as this - to make tests of diseases accessible and affordable - we will extend more facilities to the Government in the future as well.”

The new test will help diagnose dengue even during the “window period” - within the first day after symptoms of the illness appear, which is when most people are likely to see a health care professional and the dengue virus is likely to be present in their blood. The test can identify all four dengue virus types and can be carried out in any hospital/diagnostic laboratory setup with results being obtained within 15-20 minutes.

As per the published data of the Epidemiology Unit at the Ministry of Health, 16,052 Dengue cases have been diagnosed within the year 2012 alone, out of which 76 cases resulted in the death of the patient. As per the national guidelines, published by the Ministry of Health Sri Lanka, on the management of Dengue fever and  Dengue hemorrhagic fever, it is said “the course of dengue infection varies from individual to individual and even in the same individual from time to time.  This guideline includes new concepts, based on scientific evidence, on the management of Dengue Fever (DF).  It emphasizes the early detection of plasma leakage and prevention of shock, early detection of shock, treatment of shock, management of special situations and the place of adjunctive treatment in patients with Dengue.” “As such, the need for the new dengue diagnostic test was high,” says Priyankara Attigalle, Manager Diagnostics of GS Health. “Patients will be diagnosed sooner than before, and public health laboratories will have a clearer picture of the true number of dengue cases. Dengue is now a reportable disease in the Country, and the availability of state-of-the-art dengue diagnostics will improve patient management and the public health response to dengue. GS Health is pleased to be a part of this cause.”

GS Health is also the marketer and distributor of Dengue Antigen and Antibody Rapid Test-Kits, all manufactured by SD Diagnostics which are widely used by all leading private hospitals and laboratories in the country.


Caption:
From Left  Dr. Jayantha Weeraman (Consultant Epidemiologist), Dr. Hasitha Tissera (Consultant Epidemiologist – project in charge), Mr. Erandajith Ranasinghe (Executive Director - George Steuart Health), Dr. Nihal Jayathilake (Secretary – Ministry of Health), Dr. Paba Palihawadena (Chief Epidemiologist ), Dr. Sarath Amunugama - Deputy Director General (PHS) and Mr. Priyankara Attygalle – Manager Diagnostics, George Steuart Health.

BASNAHIRA CRICKET DUNDEE LAUNCHES OFFICIAL TEAM JERSEY

Colombo August 9th, 2012: Basnahira Cricket Dundee (BCD) today launched their colourful team jersey at a press conference held at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo, a glamorous event attended by the team owners, sponsors and the Basnahira Cricket Dundee team.

The official team jersey was handed to Basnahira Cricket Dundee captain Tillekeratne Dilshan by the Team Manager and Director of the BCD franchise Duleep Mendis, himself an iconic figure in Sri Lankan cricket.

Also attending the launch were representatives of the team owners; Indian Cricket Dundee, along with representatives of the sponsors; TVS Infrastructure, NOLIMIT, American Water, BDM and whyITonline, as well as Team Coach Kepler Wessels and Team Mentor Rameez Raja.

Speaking at the launch Charaan Shetty, Managing Director of Indian Cricket Dundee said, “We are very happy and proud to have launched the official jersey of the Basnahira Cricket Dundee team today. Given the talented pool of players we have, together with the outstanding leadership of Tillekeratne Dilshan at the helm and the experience of the coaching staff, Basnahira Cricket Dundee will be a force to be reckoned with in this inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League. We have big plans for team BCD, starting with winning this tournament.”

The Sri Lanka Premier League runs from August 11th to 31st, 2012 and will see the participation of 7 teams battling it out for supremacy in Sri Lanka’s most prestigious domestic competition to date. The Basnahira Cricket Dundee team comprises a healthy mix of local players as well as international superstars including Marlon Samuels, Brad Hodge, Clint McKay, Dirk Nannes, Robin Peterson and Tim Southee.

The schedule for BCD is given below:

11th August 2012 Basnahira Cricket Dundee vs Kandurata Warriors at Colombo (RPS)
12th August 2012 Uva Next vs Basnahira Cricket Dundee at Colombo (RPS)
17th August 2012 Basnahira Cricket Dundee vs Nagenahira Nagas at Pallekele
19th August 2012 Wayamba United vs Basnahira Cricket Dundee at Pallekele
21st August 2012 Uthura Rudras vs Basnahira Cricket Dundee at Pallekele
25th August 2012 Basnahira Cricket Dundee vs Ruhuna Royals at Colombo (RPS)

Headtable: (From Left) Rameez Raja, Team Mentor; Duleep Mendis, Team Manager and Director, BCD franchise; Charaan Shetty, Managing Director, Indian Cricket Dundee; Tillekeratne Dilshan, BCD Captain and Kepler Wessels, Team Coach.

75TH MADRAS/COLOMBO REGATTA HELD IN CHENNAI

The 75th regatta in a 114 year history of rowing between the Madras and Colombo Rowing clubs was held in Chennai on the Adayar River last week.

Lead by the captain Maheel Gamage over 33 members representing the Colombo Rowing Club (CRC) in the Men’s and Women’s events traveled to Madras on the 18th July 2012 for this historic event.  The team from Colombo was later joined by the President of the Colombo Rowing Club Mr. John de Niese, several Committee members of the CRC and a few senior oarsmen involved with the Madras/Colombo regatta since the 1970’s.

As per tradition the Madras Boat Club who played host this year, invited the Deputy High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in Madras, Ambassador RKMA Rajakaruna to grace the occasion as the Chief Guest. Contrary to the recent incidents where official visitors from Sri Lanka were turned back from Tamil-Nadu against politically motivated protests, the large contingent of members from the Colombo Rowing Club received a warm welcome from time they set foot in Chennai.

The association between the Madras Boat Club and the Colombo Rowing Club which developed over a century ago weathered many ups and downs and held solid not to be swayed by petty political bickering on the current accusations against Sri Lanka by some politicians in Tamil-Nadu.

The Colombo Rowing Club emerge victorious at the 75th Madras Colombo Regatta concluded on 21st July, by winning 6 out of the 8 races in the men’s category including the trophy for the prestigious boat race as well as the Deepam trophy awarded for the overall winners. However, in the ladies category the Colombo Rowing Club Girls won only two Sculling events loosing the “pairs” and “fours” events to the Madras ladies.

The men’s Single Scull A was won by Sajeev de Silva CRC beating Karn Rao MBC and B won by Shehan Muthugala CRC beating Hassan Khaleeli MBC. Double Scull A won by Shehan Muthugala (B) Sajeev de Silva (S) CRC beating Lakshman Satish (B) Hassan Khaleeli (S) MBC and Double Scull B was won by Suwin Karunaratne (B) Dhanushka Jayanetti (S) CRC beating Vinay Vennkatraman (B) Karn Rao (S) MBC. Coxless Pair A was won by Arvind Natarajan (B) Joshua (S) MBC  beating Shehan Muthugala (B) Sajeev de Silva (S) CRC and B won by Chamal Jayanetti (B) Zydhney Fazal (S) CRC beating Sharan Sanjay (B) Niranjan Padmanabhan (S) MBC. B Coxed Four was won by Sharan Sanjay (B) Inan Diwan (2) Niranjan Padmanabhan (3) Darshan (S) Rohit Balaji (Cox) MBC beating Ashan Pittiarachchi (B) Nilusha de Alwis (2) Siriwanth Kotalawala (3) Suneth Abeyratne (S) Binura Gamage (cox) and the Men’s A Coxed Four rowed for the prestigious boat race trophy won by Manilka Guneratne (B) Sajeev de Silva (2) Shehan Muthugala (3) Pradeep Maddumabandara (S) Peter Christy (cox) CRC beating Arvind Natarajan (B) Joshua (2) Sidarth Sunil (3) Janeshwar Raja (S) Anirudh Sanjeev (cox) MBC.

The ladies coxless pair won by Aditi. S (B) Ashwathy Nair (S) MBC beating Anisha Gunasekara (B) Anishka Gomez (S) CRC. Single scull won by Ishika de Silva CRC beating Iha Diwan MBC, double scull won by Ishika de Silva (B) Amani Tissera (S) beating Sankavi Puhazhendhi (B) Iha Diwan (S) MBC, coxed four won by Ditika (B) Roshini (2) Iha Diwan (3) Sankavi Puhazhendhi (S) Sahana (cox) MBC beating Amani Tissera (B) Anisha Gunasekara (2) Anishka Gomez (3) Shiyanka de Zylva (S) Shiloh Sumanthiran (cox) CRC. Ladies Double Scull exhibition race which carried no points was won by Deshika Herath (B) Samaakhya Gajanayake (S) CRC.

Masters coxed four was won by the combined Colombo & Madras oarsmen of John de Niese (B) Ashwin Chesetty (2 )Lushantha De Silva (3) Sriram (S) Pasan Ranaweera (cox) beating the combined crew of Mouli (B) Maheel Gamage (2) Raghu Varadarajan (3) Dhanushka Jayanetti (S) RadhaKrishnan (cox).


The day’s racing was followed by a colourful prize distribution event where in addition to awarding the trophies to the winners, both clubs exchanged goodwill souvenirs underlining the strong friendship between the two rowing clubs across the Palk-strait.

Mr. T. Sumandiran, Member of Parliament representing the TNA was a surprise visitor at the regatta to witness his daughter rowing for the Colombo Rowing Club ladies team against the Madras Boat Club. At the prize distribution ceremony several speakers from both clubs including the Chief Guest, Ambassador Rajakaruna, Honorable Sumandiran and the President of Sri Lanka Rowing Mr. Rohan Fernando underlined the century old friendship between the two clubs and emphasizing the importance of sports diplomacy to sooth current political tension between Tamil-Nadu and Sri Lanka.

The traditional regatta night went on till the early hours of Sunday with music and dancing enjoyed by team members at the well maintained function hall of the Madras Boat Club. In 2014 the Colombo Rowing Club will turn 150 years. With the fine sportsmanship and the winning streak displayed by the oarsmen and oarswomen of the Colombo Rowing Club, rowing in Sri Lanka could look forward to good times ahead.

GEORGE STEUART GROUP LAUNCHES GS ENGINEERING

Colombo, August 10, 2012: The George Steuart group today launched its engineering division, George Steuart Engineering at a ceremony held in Colombo. Formerly known as Lanka Creative Constructions (Pvt) Ltd, a key player in the local engineering sector, GS Engineering will focus on civil construction solutions for large and medium scale construction projects.

With a history of over 10 years, George Steuart Engineering will continue to specialise in power sector development, building construction, the telecommunication sector, road development and water supply and drainage sectors.

Speaking at the launch Prof. Krishan Deheragoda, the Chairman of George Steuart Engineering said, “Sri Lanka is currently undergoing the Post War phase of our development, with three challenges to be addressed, namely Reconstruction, Resettlement and Reconciliation. The process to meet them is called the ‘Triple R’ approach to the development. Two ‘R’s’ of the ‘Triple R’ refer directly to the construction industry, which is Reconstruction and Resettlement. Both these processes require a proactive and dynamic involvement of the construction Industry.  In this perspective, the launching of George Steuart Engineering is a very timely and relevant initiative to strengthen the post war nation building process of our country.”

Noteworthy projects undertaken by the company in the past include the construction of 2 31.5MVA transformer foundations, current and auxiliary transformers, security fence and gates and a three storeyed GIS control building at the Kotahena substation and erection of towers of 132KV double circuit transmission line from Rantambe to Mahiyangana grid substations. The company is also involved in the construction of 150 rooms and staff quarters of a resort hotel in Waskaduwa and was involved in the internal and external road construction work at the Katunayake free trade zone. They were also responsible for the construction of several telecommunication towers.

Over the years the company has also successfully formulated and enhanced a safety effort to create a culture that meets the demands of customers, employees and stakeholders. “With comprehensive staff training programmes, the strict adherence to safety measures and investments in research and development, we continually offer services of an extraordinary quality, at the most cost-effective rates,” Prof. Deheragoda added.

George Steuart Engineering, formally known as Lanka Creative Constructions (Pvt) Ltd was established in 2002. With a history of over 10 years and understanding the need for sustained excellence in the sphere of engineering, GS Engineering combines a wealth of experience with cutting edge technology in crafting perfection at the highest level. The company was also bestowed with the ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System Certification for its continued commitment in delivering cutting edge solutions in the construction of buildings and associated infrastructure development.

GEORGE STUARTS AGENCIES OFFICIALLY RE-LAUNCHES AS GS HEALTH IN SRI LANKA.

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