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Virtusa Celebrates International Women’s Day with Engineering Equity Hackathon
Sixty five female coders participate globally, $10000 in scholarships awarded to Sri Lankan students
Virtusa Sri Lanka celebrated International Women’s Day at Shangri-La, Colombo as part of its global campaign to close the gap in gender equity across the IT industry and STEM fields.Virtusa, a global provider of digital strategy, digital engineering and IT services and solutions, hosted the global Engineering Equity hackathon, to spur innovation in tech solutions that advance gender equity while nurturing female talent. Over 65,000 female students from nine countries including Sri Lanka registered for the hybrid event, which offered built-in mentoring along with job opportunities, scholarships, as well as cloud and technology certifications.
Scholarships worth USD 10,000 was awarded to female participants through partner universities around the world, including a number of universities in Sri Lanka, namely the University of Colombo, University of Jaffna, University of Vavuniya and the Open University of Sri Lanka.
Ahead of the hackathon, Virtusa organized a week of hands-on learning for registrants, from coding basics to understanding the challenges with gender equity in technology. This was also an opportunity for participants to meet and speak with powerhouse female talent, and gain exposure to global personalities and interests.
The Engineering Equity hackathon aimed to address and solve societal problems by encouraging participants to develop apps, platforms and programs based on four identified challenges. These included a chronic STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subject gender gap at schools and universities, a shortage of female role models, the perception of technology careers for women and a lack of understanding of how technology can enable women to change the world.
“At Virtusa we believe that equity is about understanding unique requirements and providing the exact resources for a person to succeed,” said Sundar Narayanan, Chief People Officer at Virtusa. “Women will never reach gender equity in the STEM field, unless we apply the same rigor to solving gender equity that we apply to the most challenging engineering problems. The Engineering Equity hackathon aims to do just that, providing a platform to create solutions and training for women by women.”
To cap off the events, Virtusa hosted a number of virtual panels and fireside chats with female leaders, including a panel discussion in Sri Lanka, with the participation of several inspiring women across technology and other sectors, who shared their experiences and learnings on how to navigate the gender equity gap, and how to succeed in an ever-evolving career landscape. The panelists included Virtusa’s very own Senior Director of Finance – Dinoo de Mel and Associate Director of Delivery – Rangika Perera, alongside CEO and Co-founder of Hatch Works – Brindha Selvadurai, and Advocate and Educationist on Environmental and Human Rights – Anoka Abeyrathne. The panel was moderated by Hirushi De Silva, Associate Director – Business Consulting at Virtusa.
A livestream of the panel discussions will be available on Virtusa social media channels following the event to engage the broader public in the conversation.
Virtusa helps clients grow their business with innovative products and services that create operational efficiency using digital labor, future-proof operational and IT platforms, and rationalization and modernization of IT applications infrastructure. This is achieved through a unique approach blending deep contextual expertise, empowered agile teams, and measurably better engineering to create holistic solutions that drive the business forward at unparalleled velocity enabled by a culture of cooperative disruption.Virtusa is a registered trademark of Virtusa Corporation. All other company and brand names may be trademarks or service marks of their respective holders.
The Panelists (From L to R: Hirushi De Silva, Brindha Selvadurai, Anoka Abeyrathne, Rangika Perera and Dinoo De Mel)
Institute of Hospitality Sri Lanka
The 32nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the UK-based Institute of Hospitality’s Sri Lanka Chapter was held recently at the Ramada Hotel Colombo,.The event provided an evening of camaraderie , reflection of the past and present achievements,setting new benchmarks for the future
The AGM had the presence of two distinguished guests, the Chief Guest Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, and the Guest of Honour British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Andrew Patrick. Their inspiring speeches were lauded by all hoteliers who were present at the occasion
A special thanks was extended to Robert Richardson, CEO of the Institute of Hospitality UK, along with his team, sponsors, committee members, and all attendees for making the event memorable.
Dr. Harsha Jayasingh, Past President of the Institute of Hospitality (UK) Sri Lanka Chapter, emphasised the Institute’s longstanding history and the strength of its Sri Lankan branch. “The Institute of Hospitality (IH) UK has a history of 86 years, and we are proud to be the Sri Lanka Branch. IH Sri Lanka is much stronger now with many members from all areas of the hospitality industry,” he stated.
Dr. Jayasingh highlighted the significant role of tourism in Sri Lanka’s economy,. He said tourism it is the third-largest source of revenue for the country. “Tourism accounts for about 13.3% of total foreign exchange earnings and employs 450,000 people directly and indirectly. The hospitality industry in this island of pearl holds tremendous potential for economic growth, job creations, and cultural exchange,” he added.
He also pointed out more women should be attracted to the industry and advocated for the use of technology in hospitality sector to attract the younger generation.
The newly appointed Chairman Ramesh Dassanayake spoke about the challenges faced by the industry, including the reluctance of youth to join the sector. . Dassanayake expressed concerns over the migration of staff between hotels and the overall ‘brain drain’ in the sector. ” We must maintain high standards in the hotel We must try to attract tourists to Sri Lanka, we must have with many facilities Hence, hotel schools and other professional institutions involved in skills development mustincrease their intakes,” he pointed out.
Chief Guest Sajith Premadasa emphasised the importance of eco tourism and said “We need to have an environmental policy related to tourism in place,” . .
The 32nd AGM of the Institute of Hospitality UK, Sri Lanka Chapter, was a testament to the strength and potential of Sri Lanka’s hospitality industry. The insights and commitments shared during the event set a new benchmark for the future.(ZC)
Pix by Thushara Attapathu
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He recognizes human identity beyond boundaries of gender, race, nationality and religion.
Visit of Sri Gurudev to Sri Lanka
Humanitarian, spiritual leader and Global Ambassador of Peace Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Sri Gurudev) was in Sri Lanka on a three day tour on the invitation of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Dinesh Gunewardene. Gurudev who inspired a wave of volunteerism and service to moot one of the largest volunteer-based organisations in the world – The Art of Living – visited the various projects under the aegis of the foundation and launched twelve vocational and technical centers around the island. He was accompanied by thousands of followers from Sri Lanka and around the world.
Gurudev who visited Sri Lanka for the sixth time also had a first day cover launched in honour of his visit. He is a strong proponent of spreading happiness, using the unique Sudarshan Kriya, yoga, meditation and practical wisdom to unite people, empower individuals and transform communities. His programmes provide techniques and tools to live a deeper, more joyous life, while his non-profit organisations recognize the human identity beyond the boundaries of gender, race, nationality and religion.
The Art of Living which has more than 30,000 teachers and over one million volunteers across 180 countries has touched in excess of five hundred million people around the world. CNN called it “Life Changing” and The Washington Post headlined it, “Fresh air to millions”.
In Trincomalee, Gurudev met with war victims and had a heartwarming engagement with the children from the children’s homes run by the Foundation. He also visited the Koneswara Temple in Trincomalee and graced the Kumbhabhishekam at Seetha ecogPnize the human identity beyond the boundaries of gender, race, nationality and religion. Amman temple at Nuwara Eliya. He held discussions with the trustees on the progress of the foundation’s social service projects, while also holding a special event – Ekamuthuwa – attended by a large number of dignitaries and his devotees from around the world.
His time with the Prime Minister was spent discussing the prospects of unity in diversity and uniting Sri Lanka by adding happiness into the formula of living. In addition he had discussions with the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, prominent business stewards and civil society leaders.
by Zanita Careem
Envison your dream wedding day come to life at the Epitome Hotel, a prestigious city hotel in Kurunegala offering an unrivalled luxury rendors experience for weddings.
The venue is designed to embody opulence and luxury from all quarters for a spectacular wedding in kurunegala,Thier ballroom is the largest banquet facility in Sri Lanka It can be divided into six luxurious pillarless wedding halls on the ground floor and 25pax smaller banquet halls.
It can be easily named as a five star heaven in the heart of the city contributing to a myriad of immense experiences tailored to inspire and delight wedding experiences.
From opulent décor set up to exquisite table decor, lavish food, every detail is meticulously curated to spark your imagination and ignite creativity for a perfect wedding. The previous prestigious wedding shows season one and season two attracted large crowds
were unique events which gave the wedding vendors and potential clients had an opportunity to connect and interact with each other. Beyond being a showcase it was a chance for the wedding vendors to unite and contribute to the vibrancy of the wedding industry. The wedding show covered all area of the bridal industry providing a comprehensive variety of bridal supplies from Sri lanka and became the most popular bridal exhibitions in Kurunegala.This bridal exhibitions allowed brides and grooms to experience first hand the products and services available from suppliers in Sri Lanka
These wedding shows held at The Epitome created a benchmark and gave an opportunity for vendors to create connections to the utmost satisfaction said Harshan Lakshita Executive Director. of the magnificent Hotel
Our wedding shows featured experts and professionals in every field‘ It covered all areas of the bridal industry provided a comprehensive variety of bridal supplies from Sri lanka and became most popular bridal exhibition in this region.We are always open to everyone to join us at our wedding shows in the future. It is an opportunity to discover the incredible talent within our local wedding and bridal vendors to make meaningful relationships and plan thier special day at our breathtaking hotel The Epitome said General Manager Kavinda Caldera
The Epitome Hotel’s bridal show which will be held end of June will buzz with great ideas,advice and inspiration for all those who plan thier dream wedding
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The Hotel Epitome’s Wedding Season 3 will marked excellence, celebration and inspiration for those in the wedding industry. The exhibition halls will resonate with ideas on exquisite bridal wear to decor, florists , photography etc and showshowcase the rich tapestry of talent within the local wedding industry. .
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