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Friday, September 30, 2011

Elders Homes in Sri Lanka

The International Year for the Elders falls on 1St October. Let us give a little thought on this day, remembering our aged parents and elders who are suffering in silence in our country.

When we are young and healthy, we never for a moment gave serious thought that we will one day grow old and feeble and that we would need the assistance of someone to look after us in the autumn of our life.

In Sri Lanka prior to World War II children were very attached and loved their parents and although they were married and had family responsibilities and settled down in life, they never neglected to look after their parents in their old age, whether they had wealth in abundance or otherwise.

World Heart Day: 'One world, one home, one heart'


World Heart Day was created in year 2000 to inform people around the globe that heart disease and stroke are the world's leading cause of death claiming 17.1 million lives each year, with 82 percent of deaths occurring in low and middle income countries.
World Heart Day falls on September 29 each year.
Together with its members, World Heart Federation spreads the news that at least 80 percent of premature deaths from heart disease and stroke could be avoided if the main risk factors, smoking, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, high BP, high blood cholesterol and diabetes are controlled.
National activities such as public talks and cardiovascular screenings, walks, runs, concerts or sports events are organized worldwide by members and partners of World Heart Federation.
In Sri Lanka public seminars are being organized by Nawaloka Hospital and Lanka Hospitals in Colombo in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Heart Association to commemorate World Heart Day for public awareness.
World Heart Day 2011 theme is 'One world, one home and one heart'.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Children and Pets

Dr. B.J.C.Perera MBBS(Ceylon), DCH(Ceylon), DCH(England), MD(Paediatrics), FRCP(Edinburgh), FRCP(London), FRCPCH(United Kingdom), FSLCPaed, FCCP, FCGP(Sri Lanka) Consultant Paediatrician

KEY POINTS

* Pets can make a world of difference to the life of a child.

* Having a pet is a great learning experience for a child.

* Pets can also cause or transmit certain diseases.

* It is essential to provide appropriate vaccines for pets.

* Children should be taught the "dos and don’ts" about caring for pets

Children by nature are gentle creatures and one of the joys of childhood is to have a pet at home. Caring for a pet offers a tremendous learning experience for children, teaching them responsibility, gentleness together with respect for nature and other living beings. Like adults, they can benefit from the companionship, affection and relationships they share with their pets. In return, many animals reared as pets by a child get tremendously attached to the child and may even be a constant companion. They would try to give back the love that a child showers on them. The lessons that a child can learn from caring for a pet are very many and are always of benefit when the child grows up.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Tragic sense in Sinhabahu


article_imageCourtesy - The Island By Ariyawansa Ranaweera

Prof. Ediriweera Sarathchandra’sSinhabahu, easily the crest gem of the Sinhala theatre, has been understandably subjected to various interpretations, since it was first staged fifty years ago. A good creative work is not a one-way track with a bland ‘message’ at the end of it for all and sundry to imbibe like the gospel truth. It should have many layers, many ramifications and many subtleties and should create ‘endless wonder’ when one discovers such new and unexpected byways and pathways.


For some it is a mother’s dilemma. For some others it is a father’s lament, when the children assert themselves and ultimately leave the benign and protective custody of the paterfamilias to seek their own world. Some see a Freudian, ritualistic element where in his description of totem and taboo, the son kills the father to assert the right over the clan. Yet again some say that whatSinhabahu brings forth is the eternal confrontation between the older and the younger generations, where predictably the latter triumphs. The most recent interpretation is of a Jungian nature. Dr. Siri Galhenage with very convincing arguments, avers that the Sinhabahu legend is steeped in the ‘common consciousness’ of the Sinhala community, which gives its validity.

Monday, September 26, 2011

The Tree of Life…When Cinema, Life and Poetry Meet

By Sumaya Samarasinghe - The Sunday Leader

There is always an air of mystery that surrounds a film directed by Terrence Malick. He is after all, one of the least prolific directors of our time, think about it, five films in 38 years! A record.In addition to this, he shies away from publicity and no one really knows what Malick looks like today. He never even attended the 2011 Cannes Film Festival where his fifth film The Tree of Life won the Palme D’Or.

For those who are into clear cut, linear stories with conventional characters and actions, it would be best to avoid this film as it resembles more a philosophical essay about life and death through the eyes of the Universe as a whole and a Texan family whose members often question and converse with God directly. Whispered voice overs ask God “Where are you?” or “What am I doing here”, certainly not your usual and predictable dialogue in feature films recently produced.

Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Terrence Malick studies philosophy at Harvard University and after being a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, he eventually taught philosophy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). So, it should come as no surprise that Malik takes us during nearly 15 beautiful minutes, thanks to director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki, through the formation of planet earth, the ice age, the dinosaurs (very sweet by the way), and back to Texas in the 1950’s, where Mr. and Mrs O’Brian a young couple living in Waco, are enjoying the joys of parenthood for the first time with baby Jack; two more little baby boys will follow.

But we have met the couple before, at the very beginning of the film when Mrs. O’Brian played by the beautiful Jessica Chastain whom they seem to have forgotten to make up despite time passing by, receives a telegram informing her about the death of her 19 year old son. She calls up her husband and tells him the sad news. From this initial scene, it is evident which parent was the disciplinarian and which one was the loving caregiver. Brad Pitt is outstanding in his rather unpleasant role of a father who loves his three sons but is trying to inculcate in them values which will help all be more successful than what he became in life. Though the O’Brian’s don’t look like they are in any financial dire straits, it is understood that the father works in a factory and has regrets of never having become a famous musician. He is also a wannabe inventor who travels around the world, attempting to sell his inventions. So he is a man with a few chips on his shoulder and unfulfilled dreams which make him a mix of aggression and love, all mixed into a messy bundle. While he is away, his authoritarian rule is lifted and light and happiness just seems to seep through the entire household. The mother becomes a playmate to her three boys who smile and behave just like kids of their age should be.The cinematography throughout the film is absolutely gorgeous and one can nearly smell and feel the love Terrence Malick has for nature. Impatient viewers, abstain. The Tree of Life takes its time, rivers will flow, planets will explode, and plants will grow, while often not a word of dialogue is pronounced for over ten minutes.You may hear faint murmurs and think that one of the characters is making a clear rational statement but no, be ready to hear sentences such as “ There is a way of nature and there is a way of grace” and then nothing for another ten minutes!The haunting music by Alexandre Desplat is not overshadowed by the likes of, Brahms and Berlioz and Couperin who make up the rest of the soundtrack.

Interpret as you wish, that is the beauty of The Tree of Life. This is the type of film, movie lovers will discuss right into the night, or people seated at a Parisian Café drinking shots of expresso will offer their version of the film. An endless task indeed because can life and its meaning ever be explained?

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Hanna — Pretty Little Killing Machine

By Sumaya Samarasinghe - The Sunday Leader

Once upon a time, a lovely slim teenage girl is seen running through beautiful woods in Finland, the setting is fairly tale like but not for long.

Her blonde hair flows in the wind and suddenly she pulls out a bow and arrow and kills an enormous deer, larger than herself. While she is emptying the carcass of the animal she shoots out of his misery, a bearded man dressed in animal skin appears, attacking the young girl from behind after yelling “You are dead”! They end up tussling violently, the man overpowering the willowy teen and telling her that she needs to be more cautious next time.

We are soon made to understand that Erik, the Robinson Crusoe like muscular hero played by Eric Bana is Hanna’s father. He has kept his daughter Hanna (Saoirse Ronan from Atonement and Lovely Bones) in complete isolation since she turned two. Their home is a small wooden house hidden in the midst of Finland’s forests. They live “simply”, with no contact whatsoever with the outside world, and nothing but each other and some battered Grimms Fairy Tales books.

සිහිල් සුළඟක දැවටුණ ආදරය

ආදරය ස්පර්ශ කළ නොහැකිය. එය කොහේ හෝ තිබේ. කායික ස්පර්ශයෙන් තොරව මනෝ ලෝකයේ සැරිසරන ආදරය පිවිතුරු ය. සුන්දරය විචිත්‍ර ය. හමන සුළඟක, දිය ඇල්ලක, ගලන ගඟක, මිටියාවතක, ඒ පිවිතුරු ආදරය රැඳෙයි. එය සුළඟක් වගෙයි. නොපෙනෙයි. එහෙත් දැනෙයි.

එන්න, අපි සුන්දර කඳුකරයේ කඳු මුදුනකට ඇවිද යමු. අපි පුංචි ගලක් උඩ වාඩි වෙමු. මෙන්න සීතල සුළං රැල්ලක්, හඳුනනා හෝ නාඳුනනා කෙනකුගේ සුපුරුදු හෝ නුපුරුදු සුවඳක් ඒ සුළං රැල්ලේ දැවටී තිබේ. හදවත කිතිකවා සලිත කිරීමේ ජීව ගුණය ඒ සුළං රැල්ලේ රැඳී තිබේ. එන්න ඒ සුවඳ ස්පර්ශ කරන්න. ඒ තමයි ආදරය. එය දැනෙන්නට හරින්න. අතින් අල්ලන්න එපා.

සිහිල් සුළං රැල්ලේ ඔබේ සුවඳ මුසුවේ....

මා මේ ගීතය ශ්‍රවණය කළේ මගේ පාසල් සමයේ. ආදරය පිළිබඳ ව අත්දැකීම් නොතිබුණත් රත්නපුරයේ කුඩා කඳුගැටයක් මතට වී මා මිතුරන් පිරිසක් සමඟ මේ ගීතය ගායනා කළ බව මට මතකයි. එදා හමා ආ සීතල සුළං රැල්ලක නුපුරුදු සුවඳක් තිබුණ බව මට තාමත් සිහි කළ හැකියි. නොතිබුණු ආදරයක් මේ ගීයත් සමඟ එදා හොඳට ම දැනුණා. ඒ අතීතය තාමත් මතක ඒ තරම්ම සුන්දර නිසයි. මේ ගී පද අමතක නොවෙන්නෙ ඒ නිසයි.
සුදු වැලි කතරේ
පිපුණු මල වගේ
ලොව්තුරු රස ගංගා
ඔබේ ආදරේ වරුසා වැහැලා
කතර දෙව් ලොවක් වේ

ආදරය වූ කලී වැලි කතරට සෞම්‍ය පුෂ්පයක් මැයි. දිවිකතරට එය මල් වරුසාවක් මැයි. ජීවිතයේ දාහය නිවාගෙන දෙපා දොවා ගලායන ගංගාවක් මැයි. මරු කතර දෙව් ලොවක් කරන සුන්දර කවියක් මැයි. මට ධර්මසිරි ගමගේ ශූරීන් ගේ පද පෙළක් සිහි වෙයි.

මගේ තනිය ළඟට වරෙන් තුරුළු වෙලා නිදාගන්ඩ...

පිලේ පහන නිව්වා මං
ගොම්මන් අඳුරේ...
තනිකම වරෙන් ඉදිකඩ පැන
මං නිදි පැදුරේ...

පෑලවියේ හීතල හඳ ඇවිත් මගේ තනි රකින්ඩ
දොළේ හඬට උණ පඳුරේ වැනියං මට බලා ඉන්න
කාගෙත් දුකට හූමිටිලන උලලේනෝ හඬා යන්න
මගේ තනිය ළඟට වරෙන් තුරුළු වෙලා නිදාගන්ඩ

කාටත් එකට උණුහුම දෙන ඉර පිපුණේ ඉරි මාවක
මගේ සතුට පෑල දොරින් යන්න ගියේ හැන්දෑවක
බොල් ඉපනැලි පුස්‌ඹ ඉහෙයි පිපී සුසුම් මල් යායක
මගේ දුකට දෑස හඬයි කඳුළු හලා ගංගාවක

පද රචනය - කුමාරදාස සපුතන්ත්‍රී
සංගීතය - රෝහණ වීරසිංහ
ගායනය - සුනිල් එදිරිසිංහ

ජීවිතේ යාත්‍රාව හැමදාමත් තනිකඩව පැදයන අය අනන්තයි. අප්‍රමාණයි. ඒත් ඒ අය නොවේ අනෙක්‌ අය තනි නොවී ජීවත් වන අය, හරිම කැමැතියි ඉඳලා හිටලා පැයක්‌ දෙකක්‌ නැත්නම් දවසක්‌ම තනිව ඉන්න. තනි වෙන්න. හුඟාක්‌ දුරට මෙහෙම තනි වුණාම තමයි ආදර හැඟුම් මෝදු වෙන්නේ. ජීවිතය ගෙවෙද්දී විඳපු සුන්දර වගේම අසුන්දර සිද්ධි විරහව... එක්‌වීම්... වෙන්වීම්... මේ හැම දෙයක්‌ම තනිකම එක්‌ක අප ඉදිරියේ චිත්‍රණය වෙනවා.

Planters and elephants


article_image
By Jayantha Jayewardene - The Island

Planters in Sri Lanka have had a long association with wild elephants. This association started with the pioneer planters who moved to the upcountry areas to open up land for the cultivation of coffee and cinchona. Unfortunately those early associations were always confrontational and detrimental to the elephant. The jungles that were inhabited by the elephants were cleared at a rapid rate to be replaced by coffee and cinchona plants. The elephants that had lived in those jungles were shot indiscriminately if they got in the way of those clearing the jungles.

There is a belief that the elephants that inhabited those jungles went down to the low country when their habitat was invaded by man. This is not true. They were killed! Later when those pioneer planters settled down on their estates they went after the wild elephants to shoot them, in what they called a sport! Books by writers like Sir Samuel Baker, Alfred Clarke, Harry Storey, D. J. Hennessey, and Sir Emerson Tenant are replete with accounts of shooting elephants for sport.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Sri Lanka to Launch Pension and Housing Schemes for Journalists: TV Digitalization to complete by 2016


By K.T.Rajasingham
Colombo, 20 September, (Asiantribune.com):

Sri Lanka President in a bid to lift the welfare of the country’s journalists and media workers, has decided to include a comprehensive pension scheme, as well as a housing scheme in the forthcoming budget proposals for the year 2012.

Minister For Mass Media & Information Dr. Keheliya Rambukwella disclosed that at the pre-budget discussions for the year 2012 of his Ministry with the Minister of Finance, incidentally the President of Sri Lanka, it has been proposed to launch a Pension scheme for journalist and a housing scheme for journalists and for all the media personnel.
Mass Media Minister revealed at the discussion this proposal has been agreed upon and it will be included in the 2012 budget and votes would be allocated for the implementation in the year 2012.
Minister Keheliya Rambukawella said President Mahinda Rajapaksa has shown a keen interest in the welfare of the journalists and the media workers and welcome the Ministry’s proposals.
He added at the pre-budget discussion, a 'Presidential Award Scheme' was also agreed upon and money has been allocated.
Presidential Award will be the highest honor that will be bestowed annually on journalists, writers, poets, novelists, short story writers, film artistes, TV and broadcasting personalities. To sum it up, it will be Presidential Awards for different individual talents and would be considered as the highest honor in the country.
Digitalizing Broadcast – TV, Radio
Minister said, “We are starting the digital TV and Radio broadcast system by the end of this year. It will take two years – 2014 to start the digital broadcast for the Northern and Western Provinces. Digitalization will be completed by 2016 and by then the whole island would go digital.

When social media becomes anti-social

By Ong Soh Chin

Many governments mull imposing restrictions on social networks for security reasons.

It is enough to make George Orwell do a backflip in his grave. Until recently, a BlackBerry was just another ordinary smartphone. Few people knew that messages sent on its network were also impervious to interception by the authorities, thanks to its user authentication requirements and employment of the Internet rather than the mobile phone network. Its BlackBerry Messenger service, in particular, is a closed network that allows instant messages to be exchanged securely between users.

This has made some governments leery of the device. Since May 1, the United Arab Emirates has blocked the use of BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), the company’s most secure system that moves all data via servers located outside the country. Saudi Arabia has also pressured BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) to channel its communications via a server inside the country which the authorities can access with a court order.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Benefits of prenatal communication


Through a child’s eyes the world is such a beautiful and wonderful place. Though a child lives in a silent rural village or a busy urban area, the world which they see is new to them. They try to build up their self confidence through their new experiences.

Mother listening to rhythmic music
They use their childhood experiences to see the world as a mature person. It is a responsibility of all parents to create a peaceful environment for them. There is no doubt that parents love their children and they want to see their children growing up with good habits. They want to make their children’s life beautiful. Parents should plan their children from pregnancy to make their children’s life successful.
Parent’s relationship with an unborn baby is very powerful. Especially a mother cannot hide her feelings about her unborn baby. Mother’s emotional experiences have a direct impact on baby’s brain development. Prenatal bonding provides a better environment filled with love, safety and many other things for a baby before the birth and after the birth.
“It is necessary to teach parents how to communicate with their unborn child as it brings long term benefits for the child. Most of the parents in Sri Lanka have a poor knowledge about prenatal development. Parents can build physical capacity and mental capability, intelligence of a child when he or she is in mother’s womb. Parents can even start learning before the baby enters the world.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

මේ නගරය මා ඔබ මුණගැසුන නගරයයි


මගේ මතකය මීට වසර නවයකට ඉහත දවසක් වෙත දිවයයි. කළුතර මුහුදු වෙරළේ මර්වින් පෙරේරා සහෘදයාණන් ද මා ද ගායන ශිල්පී නිමල් ගුණසේකර හා තවත් කීප දෙනෙක් සම්භාෂණයක යෙදී සිටියෙමු. එතැන දී ගිටාරයක් වයමින් විසිල් හඬ නඟමින් සංගීතය සපයමින් මර්වින් පෙරේරා මේ ගීතය ගායනා කළා මට මතකයි.

එතරම් මිහිරක් මී ගීතයට ගුවන් විදුලියෙන් සවන් දී හෝ මා තවම අත්විඳ නැත. මුහුදු රළ වෙරළේ හැපෙන හඬ පරදවමින් මුහුදු හුළඟට එකතු වූ ඒ ළයාන්විත හඬ හදවත පිරිමදිමින් ගලා ගියේ ය. මහනුවර නගරය පේරාදෙණිය සරසවිය ඇස ගැටෙන හැම විටකම මේ ගීතය මගේ සිහියට එයි.

ජීවිතය බොහෝ විට පිරී තිබෙන්නේ අහඹු සිදුවීම් වලිනි. ඒ තුළ හමුවීම් වෙන්වීම් බහුල ය. සරසවිය වූ කලී එබඳු සුන්දර මතකයන් හි තෝතැන්නකි. මේ ගීතය වස්තු වී තිබෙන්නේ ද එබඳු සරසවි පේ‍්‍රමයකි.

ඒ පේ‍්‍රමය දිග්විජය ලද පේ‍්‍රමයක් නොවේ. කුමන හෝ හේතුවක් නිසා ඒ සෙනෙහස සරසවි බිමෙන් එපිටට ගමන් කර නොමැත. අතීත මතකයන් කාලයේ වැලි තලාවන්හි සැඟ ව ගොස් තිබේ. 
එහෙත් එබඳු මතකයන් ජීවිතයේ විවිධ අවස්ථාවල නැවත අනුස්මරණය වීම වැළැක්විය නොහැකිය. මට අජන්තා රණසිංහයන් ගේ ගී පදමාලාවක් සිහි වේ.

“මේ මැයි ගහ යට
දවසක් දා වැස්සට අපි උන්නා
රතු කැට වාගේ මැයි මල් පිපි
අපට සෙවණ දුන්නා”

මැයි ගස දකිද්දී මේ පුද්ගලයාට අතීත මතකයේ සොඳුරු තැන් අනුස්මරණය වූවා සේම මහනුවර නගරය දකිද්දී මොහුගේ හදවත තිගැස්සෙයි. ඒ නගරයත් සමඟ බැඳුණු අතීත මතකයන් ඔහු ඉදිරියේ පෙළ ගැසෙන්නට පටන් ගනී.

“මේ නගරය මා ඔබ
මුණගැසුන නගරයයි
මේ නගරය මා ඔබ
වෙන් කෙරුණ නගරයයි”

මලක්‌ වුණේ ඇයි නුඹ මට ජීවිතයට සුවඳ සලන

මලක්‌ වුණේ ඇයි නුඹ මට
ජීවිතයට සුවඳ සලන
එනමුදු සිප ගන්නට තහනම්...
විලක්‌ වුණේ ඇයි නුඹ මට
ජීවිතයට සිසිල ඉසින
දිය දොතක්‌ බොන්නට තහනම්...

පහන් තාරකාවක්‌ සේ
ජීවිතයට මඟ කීවද
ඒ එළියෙන් මහද පහන්
දල්වනු කෙළෙසින්
කියන්න

මලක්‌ වුණේ ඇයි...//

සහන් ගීතිකාවක්‌ සේ
ජීවිතයේ ගිම් නිව්වද
ඒ ගීයේ සොඳුරු වදන්
මුමුණනු කෙළෙසින්
කියන්න
මලක්‌ වුණේ ඇයි...//

පද රචනය- - සමන් අතාවුදහෙට්‌ටි
සංගීතය - කළණි පෙරේරා
ගායනය - අමරසිරි පිරිස්‌

මලක සුවඳ විඳින්න කවුරුත් කැමැතියි. මලේ සුවඳ වඩාත් හොඳින් දැනෙන්න නම් ඒ මල සිපගන්න ඕනෑ. ඒකට මලෙන් අවසර ගන්න ඕනෙත් නැහැ.

සුවඳ මලක්‌ සිපගනිද්දි ආදර හැඟුම් මෝදුවන බව දන්නවද. සමහරු මලක්‌ සිප එහි සුවඳ විඳිනවා. තවත් සමහරු මල දෙස බලා සිට මිහිරක්‌ විඳිනවා. මේ දෙපිරිසම මලට ආදරෙයි. ගොඩක්‌ ආදරෙයි. දවසක මේ මල පරව යන බවවත් මතකයට එන්නේ නැහැ. ඒ තරමටම මලට ආදරෙයි.

මලක්‌ වුණේ ඇයි නුඹ මට
ජීවිතයට සුවඳ සලන
එනමුදු සිප ගන්නට තහනම්
විලක්‌ වුණේ ඇයි නුඹ මට
ජීවිතයට සිසිල ඉසින
දිය දොතක්‌ බොන්නට තහනම්

ඔයා මගේ ජීවිතේම සුවඳවත් කරන මලක්‌. ඒත් මට සිපගන්න අවසරයක්‌ නැහැ. සිපගන්න තහනම් නම් ඇයි ඔයා මලක්‌ වෙලා මගේ ජීවිතේට සුවඳ සලන්නේ. ඔයා මගේ ජීවිතයට සිසිලස ගෙන දෙන විලක්‌. ඒත්... ඒත්. මට දියබිඳක්‌ බොන්නවත් අවසරයක්‌ නැහැ. ඇයි එහෙම වුණේ.

Gamani - Sarath Weerasekera's unceasing waves

Courtesy - The Island By Dr. Prasanna Cooray

The career sailor, Member of Parliament, Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera fought the war with a purpose. Even at a time when the political authorities of the country were at sea with regard to their stance on war, SW, the officer and the gentleman, was well grounded. Weerasekera’s enemy was the LTTE terrorists and the Tamil people were his brethren. He always uttered this to the men under his command and proved his words by deeds. This I knew as his subordinate in the Navy. I still remember his very first assignment for me as a young Surgeon Lieutenant attached to the Elara naval base in Karainagar in late 1993 to move out from the base and to go to the people living in the islands on the outskirts of the Jaffna peninsula. That was very much a troubled time and travel (by a dinghy) was neither easy nor safe. Yet, soon, for a young doctor it turned out to be an immensely memorable adventure. First, he had to carry out the command of the boss. Secondly, it came with a lot of empathy and affection to the Tamil civilians who were caught in a brutal war, for a fault that was not theirs.

In the battlefield, apart from the usual duties, Weerasekera had a mission that was far reaching. His sense and taste for ‘art’ as a binding factor to bring together two seemingly drifting away ethnic groups – Sinhala and Tamil – was evident from his undertakings as the CO Elara. He took steps to renovate Hindu temples in Karaitivu and nearby islands and revive their important festivals. This I am sure was much to the joy of a war battered people at a time when celebrating cultural events was a rarity as security took precedence over other aspects of social life. Within the garrison, he took all steps possible to keep the morale of the men under him high. Here again ‘art’ was one of his major armaments. On Saturday afternoons, post-lunch, Weerasekera organized lectures on Sri Lankan history and other matters pertaining to social well-being, which were well received and attended by the young officers and the rank and file. Then on Sunday mornings, were the multi-religious observances where even the citizens mingled freely with the men in unies. However, the pinnacle of his ‘academic’ approach to war, as I see, was the publication of ‘Sayura’. Weerasekera pioneered the birth of this monthly magazine, the first of its kind among the armed forces. This soon turned out to be a platform for the servicemen and their kith and kin to express their common concerns. All this I place on record for one to grasp a sense of his continuing commitment to the well-being of the citizenry of this country, regardless of caste or creed. And with the production of ‘Gamani’, indisputably, Weerasekera’s unceasing waves are forging further ahead.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Our hero, Anagarika Dharmapala

Ven. Walpola Piyananda, Chief Sangha Nayaka of America

One hundred forty-seven years ago Anagarika Dharmapala was born into a wealthy and influential family in Sri Lanka. At the age of 20 he chose not to enter the family business renouncing the life of a householder and dedicating his life to the revival and dissemination of the Buddha’s teaching.



Two thousand six hundred years ago while sitting beneath the Bodhi Tree, after six years of strenuous practice to discover the path that leads to the end of suffering caused by greed, anger/hatred and ignorance, Prince Siddhartha became the Buddha, attaining Full Enlightenment.
In 1891, Dharmapala visited the Buddha Gaya temple and the Sri Maha Bodhi Tree and seeing the neglected condition of the temple made a vow to rescue the holy place, to preserve it for the posterity.

He spent the rest of his life to preserve the historical sites in India where the Buddha taught and lived; to protect the Buddhasasana in Sri Lanka that was under siege by Christian missionaries; and to disseminate the Dhamma throughout the world.
Buddhist education

Beginning in 1886 Dharmapala worked with Colonel Olcott, travelling throughout Sri Lanka to raise funds for Buddhist education to counteract the destructive effects that Christian Missionary schools had on the noble aspects of the national character.

They established many schools, such as Ananda College and Nalanda College in Colombo, Mahinda College in Galle, Dharmaraja College in Kandy and Rahula College in Matara to name a few.

Working with Buddhists of China, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Chittagong, India, Nepal, Tibet and Arakan he founded Buddha Gaya Maha Bodhi Society in May, 1891 with the Most Ven. Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Maha Nayake Thera as its first President.



The noble objective was to draw attention the Buddhist world to the state of affairs at Buddha Gaya temple.

The Maha Bodhi journal was established in 1892 to publish Buddhist Literature in English and Indian languages.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

‘Aussies still love dumped ex-PM Rudd’

AUSTRALIA: A year after the Labor Party removed Kevin Rudd as Australia’s prime minister, his popularity is so high he would be able to reverse the party’s failing fortunes if reinstated, a poll showed Monday. Rudd was dumped as leader in a surprise Labor Party coup led by his then deputy Julia Gillard in June 2010 and the party’s standing in opinion polls has plunged ever since.

But a Nielsen poll published in The Sydney Morning Herald reveals that the party’s support would jump to an election-winning position if Rudd was prime minister again.

“The poll is fresh evidence that Labor made a mistake of historic proportions in unseating Rudd for Gillard,” political editor Peter Hartcher wrote in a front-page commentary.

As Gillard the nation’s first female prime minister battles plummeting support blamed on a policy failure on asylum-seekers and a backflip on the introduction of a pollution tax, Rudd is seen as a potential saviour for Labor.

With Rudd reinstalled in the top job, the party would reclaim the lead and overtake the conservative coalition led by Tony Abbott 52 percent to 48 percent, the poll found. Under Gillard, Labor attracts only 42 percent.

“The poll does not tell us why but we can reasonably suppose the main reason is legitimacy,” Hartcher wrote.

“In the eyes of the people, Gillard never had it. Rudd never lost it.”

The poll taken over the weekend confirms that the Mandarin-speaking Rudd is overwhelmingly the preferred Labor leader 44 percent compared to Gillard’s 19 percent.

Sydney, Monday, AFP

Speed limit for the Southern Highway

Courtesy - The Island
by Ananda Ranasinghe President-Elect
Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka

The construction of the Southern Highway has made a significant change to our road network system. We never dreamt of having a dual carriage highway in Sri Lanka at least for the next decade. However, with the change in the government along with the resulting end to the ongoing conflict, a vast development programme has taken place with the prominent Southern Highway project taking pride of place.

However, I am quite sure that our drivers are not used to driving on a highway as we still have people who continue to drive on the right side of the road instead of the left. Quite often cyclists have taken it for granted that they could ride any way they like even on a highway. Sometimes I have noticed people doing these mistakes even in the presence of traffic police who do not take serious note of such violations.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Effective prevention and treatment protocols for animal envenomation


The executive director of the Animal Venom Research International (AVRI)Roy Mallaeppah (Bsc) and chairman, Snakebite Expert Committee SLMA Dr. Kolitha Sellahewa delivered two lectures at the Sri Lanka Association For the Advancement of Science (SLAAS) auditorium recently on effective prevention and treatment protocols for animal envenomation.

Dr. Sellahewa mentioned that there are some species in Sri Lanka which are deadly venomous. Spectacled cobra, Common Krait, Hump-nosed viper, Saw Scaled viper, Green pit viper, Russel’s viper are among them. Mostly the farmers in rural areas are bitten by snakes and other venomous species. To save the life of a victim, he or she should be rushed to the hospital. Never cut or suck the affected place and do not apply tourniquets. People can avoid snake bites by carrying a torchn a stick with them when walking during night time or evenings. Also they have to be very careful and should wear foot wears.

“There is a procedure to identify the venom and to treat the patient. Today it is not needed to bring the animal to show the doctors, because there is a method to find out the animal without seeing it. Do not kill snakes and other venomous animals, because they are also a part of the nature. So we should let them live in their own way. But it is very important to establish more effective medicine to save the lives of poor people who are affected”, said Dr. Sellahewa.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Friends With Benefits…Why Bother With Love When There Is Sex?

Courtesy - The Sunday Leader By Sumaya Samarasinghe

Two films in one year with the exact same theme: Is it possible to have sex without falling in love? In “No Strings Attached” starring Nathalie Portman and the dim looking Ashton Kutcher, two ill suited adults jumped around in broom closets and went on one disastrous date where for the first time some, talking took place, and that of course led to a temporary break up!

Friends with Benefits is the second film this year to ask whether it is indeed possible to have sex with someone you are deeply fond of without falling in love. Answering this question in a purely practical way, of course it is, but in the rom com formula, the answer is ‘no’ because no one wants to see Ashton and Nathalie part nor do we want to watch the very cute ‘friends with benefits’ Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake break up at the end of the movie. Plus box office wise, it is pretty obvious that a more realistic and sad ending would not help pile up the dollars.
So perhaps the existential question to ask is if love today is really necessary to go along with day to day life. In Hollywood yes because happy endings are essential to take away the bleak and boredom of routine. And let’s face it, even if they don’t admit it, the worst cynics,do enjoy a nice little happy ending from time to time.
In Friends with Benefits, Mila Kunis’ character Jamie and Justin Timberlake’s Dylan are dumped by their respective partners ten minutes into what are possibly two of the funniest moments of the film. Hats off to Emma Stone who comes as Timberlake’s slightly highly strung and hysterical ex girlfriend.

Referrals

Referrals: Referrals

Saturday, September 10, 2011

බුදු බව ලබනා පියවරු

කරදිය ගැඹරේ
තුන්යම ගෙවුණේ
නුඹගේ දෑතට දිරිය වඩන්නයි
සුහුඹුල් අත් පා යදඬු කරන්නයි
කිරිකැටි පුතුනේ //

අව්වට වැගිරෙන දාඩිය වැස්සේ
කළුගල් කඩලා මහ මං තැනුවේ
නිවහල් ලොවකට නුඹට වඩින්නයි
කිරිකැටි පුතුනේ //

දුම්රොටු අතරේ කම්හල් ඇතුළේ
දැති රෝදෙට ගත ජීවය දුන්නේ
නව මිනිසෙකු නව ලොවට
පුදන්නයි
කිරිකැටි පුතුනේ

පද රචනය - පේ‍්‍රමකුමාර ජයවර්ධන
සංගීතය - රෝහණ වීරසිංහ
ගායනය - එඩ්වඩ් ජයකොඩි


මගේ මතකය අසූව දශකයට දිවයයි. එකල අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා වූ රණසිංහ පේ‍්‍රමදාසයන් ගේ උදාගම් ව්‍යාපාරය ඇරැඹුණු සමයයි. උදාගම ජනතා අයිතියට පවරන දින මහා සැණකෙළියක් පැවැත්වීම එතුමන්ගේ සිරිත විය. මේ සැණකෙළියේ පවත්වන සංගීත සන්දර්ශනයේ අනිවාර්යයෙන් ගැයෙන ගීයක් ලෙස මේ ගීතය මට තවමත් මතකය.

එක්තරා දවසක මේ ගීතය ගායනා කළ එඩ්වඩ් ජයකොඩි කලාකරුවාට දෙවරක් ම මේ ගීතය ගයන්නට සිදුවූ බවක් මට මතක ය. ඒ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයාගේ ඉල්ලීම මතයි.

පියකු සහ පුතකු අතර පෞද්ගලීකත්වය ඉක්මවන ආකාරයේ නිර්මාණයක් බවට මේ නිර්මාණය පත්වන්නේ දුක් විඳින පියවරුන් ගේ දාඩිය කඳුළෙන් ගොඩනැඟෙන අනාගත පරපුරකට ම මේ නිර්මාණය තුළින් අමතන බැවිනි. “කිරිකැටි පුතුනේ” යන යෙදුම එබඳු අනාගත පරපුරක් නියෝජනය කරන්නා වූ යෙදුමකි.

පියකුගේ සිතුවිලි ආශ්‍රයෙන් වැඩ කරන ජනතාවගේ ශ්‍රමයට වැඩි වටිනාකමක් ලබා දෙමින් ඒ ශ්‍රමිකයන් කෙරෙහි වඩාත් සංවේදී ව සිතන්නට ජන සමාජය පෙලඹවීමට මෙහිදී රචකයා උත්සාහ කරයි. ධීවරයකු, කුලීකරුවකු සහ කම්කරුවකු යන ත්‍රිත්වය ම නියෝජනය කරන වැඩ කරන පියකු ගේ සහ පියවරුන්ගේ හඬ රචකයා තම නිර්මාණයෙන් ඇසෙන්නට සලස්වමින් වැඩ කරන ජනතාවගේ ප්‍රාර්ථනයක් අප හමුවේ තබයි.

අහිමි වූවා... ප්‍රථම ප්‍රේමේ... කඳුළ පමණි... උරුම සෙනෙහේ...

සඳ එළිය ගලා එන රාත්‍රියයි
ඔබ මගෙන් සමු අරන් යන්න ළඟයි
තව ටිකක්‌ ඔබේ ළඟ ඉන්න හිතයි
ඒ උනත් සමු අරන් යා යුතුමයි...//

ඇඟිලි පටලා... සිටිය කාලේ
අපිව දුර නෑ... කියා දැනුනේ
තනුව උදුරා... සොඳුරු ගීතේ
දවස ඇයි මේ... නපුරු වූයේ

කඳුළු පිරුණු... දෙනෙත ඔබගේ
බලන්නට බෑ... දුකයි දැනුනේ
අහිමි වූවා... ප්‍රථම ප්‍රේමේ
කඳුළ පමණි... උරුම සෙනෙහේ..
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පද රචනය-සංගීතය - රොෂාන් ප්‍රනාන්දු
ගායනය - අසංග ප්‍රියමන්ත පීරිස්‌

කුලුඳුලේම කරන ආදරය... කෙනෙකුට අමතක කරන්න බැරි අත්දැකීමක්‌... කුලුඳුල් ආදරය ජයගත් අයට වඩා වැඩියෙන් ඉන්නේ එය බිඳී විසිරුණු උදවියයි.

සමහර විට මේ දෙදෙනාගේම කුලුඳුල් ආදරය වෙන්න පුළුවන්... එහෙමත් නැත්නම් පෙම්වතියගේ... හෝ පෙම්වතාගේ කුලුඳුල් ආදරය වෙන්නත් පුළුවන්... ඒ කොහොම උනත් මේ දෙදෙනාටම මේ ප්‍රථම ප්‍රේමය ඉතාම වැදගත්...

නොමැකෙන ලෙසින් හැදවතේ පැළපදියම් වෙන්නේ මේ ප්‍රථම ප්‍රේමයයි... ඒ නිසාම තමයි පළමු පෙම බිඳී යද්දී පපුව පැලෙන්න තරම් දුකක්‌ වේදනාවක්‌ හදට දැනෙන්නේ... පළමු පෙමයි... කඳුළයි අතර තියෙන්නේ පුදුමාකාර බැඳීමක්‌නේ....

SANCHI Home of Arahats and Where Buddhist art bloomed

By Upali K. Salgado (The Island)

An ancient seat of Buddhist culture and learning, Sanchi survives the best preserved monuments, apart from those of the Indus Valley. Its history goes back as Emperor Asoka’s region in the 3rd Century BC. and continues up to the 12 century AD. It is one of the most revered centers of Buddhist art in the world that has the specimens of almost all kinds of Buddhist architectural forms, stupas. Once known as Vedisagiri, Chetlyagiri, Kakanaya from ancient time Sanchi is a serene hill (91 meter in height) crowned by stupas and pillars that represent the climax of perfection in Buddhist art and architectural modes. Sanchi has won an international fame through its remarkably well-preserved monuments. Here the stupas, monasteries, pillars temples chaityas are archeologically called the Buddhist monuments and listed as a WORLD HERITAGE MONUMENT. The site is located 45 km from Bhopal, connected by rail on Jhansi -Itarsi section of Railway and also by road.

Sir Alexander Cunningham, the first Director -General of the Archeological Survey Of India, has described the Sanchi monuments in his reports. Famous archeologists like General Taylor (1816AD) General Johnson, General Cunningham, Captain Maissey, Major Cole and Sir John Marshal had done archeological works of excavation and conservation at Sanchi from 1822 to 1919. Sir John Marshal had also founded a museum- Archeological Museum, located at the Sanchi foothill near the main entrance.

Miraculous Statue of Our Lady of Matara

By Primus Bandara Moratuwa (The Island)

The Miraculous Statue of Our Lady of Matara is about 400 years old. Several experts in Europe have pronounced that it belongs to the 17th century Portuguese type of sculpture . It is cut out of one solid piece of ash wood.

Mystery

This statue has a story intertwined with the sea. Legend tells us that a huge wooden-crate was hauled out of the sea by some fishermen of Weligama, a town between Galle city and Matara. When it was opened, this beautiful statue of the Mother and child was found inside, untouched by the sea water. They handed it over to the Parish Priest of Matara and it was subsequently placed in St. Mary’s Church, Matara. The statue has come on its own over the waves given itself to the care of the Catholics of Ruhunu Rata (Down South of Sri Lanka)

Cholera epidemic

It gained it’s miraculous nature through an incident which occurred a few years later. At a later period during a cholera epidemic which raged through the District and claimed hundreds of lives, the Catholics rallied round this statue and prayed to be delivered from the terrible disease.

The statue was taken in a solemn procession through the streets of Matara. Non-Catholics too participated. After a few days the area was declared safe by the health authorities. There were no fresh cases and no further deaths.

Hambantota 2018 welcomes CGF Evaluation Commission report



Leaders of the Hambantota 2018 Commonwealth Games Bid yesterday welcomed the report by the CGF Evaluation Commission which describes the Sri Lankan proposals as the most compact Commonwealth Games concept design ever developed.

The report says Hambantota's unique and ambitious plan ensures short travel times between venues for the Games family with an integrated park hosting 90 percent of the competition venues and all of the non competition venues.
Hambantota Bid CEO and Director Nalin Attygalle said: "We thank the Evaluation Commission for producing such a thorough report which covers over 20 different topics and concludes that we fundamentally meet all the technical requirements to deliver the Games.
"We know there is still a great deal of hard work to be done in the final race to the finishing line but we welcome the finding that we meet every single technical requirement.
We are particurlary encouraged that the commission report says that the environment and sustainabilty elements of the proposal are sound, underpinned by a solid organising committee framework."

Friday, September 09, 2011

Grief turns sweet

There is a Sinhala saying which goes as 'a grief that comes in the way may turn sweet'. A certain elderly villager once asked me a question: "Do you know the tale behind it?" I was unaware of such a tale. Then he narrated the story.
This happened long ago in a remote village. A certain young man who used to live in the forest had several friends. His main preoccupation was always hanging around with them. He treated them quite well. He gave them food whenever he could. His weakness was he was overly treating his friends.
One day his mother called him and said: "You treat your friends too much, and one fine day they will take you for a fool."
But he disagreed with his mother.
"My friends are friends indeed. They will never let me down. I am sure of that." 
"But how do you know? Have you tested their loyalty?" 
Mother's words pierced his heart. He wanted to test the loyalty of his friends. So one day he came out of the forest, rather tired. He met his friends in the usual place that evening. 
"You look so tired," said a friend. 

Thursday, September 08, 2011

BIRTH MARKS in Children

Dr. B.J.C.Perera MBBS(Ceylon), DCH(Ceylon), DCH(England), MD(Paediatrics), FRCP(Edinburgh), FRCP(London), FRCPCH(United Kingdom), FSLCPaed, FCCP, FCGP(Sri Lanka) Consultant Paediatrician

Birthmarks are marks that are present on the skin of a lot of newborn babies and they get the distinctive name of birth mark for one simple reason. A baby can develop birthmarks either before being born or soon after birth. Newborn babies often have temporary pimples or blotches that soon disappear as they adapt to life outside the womb. It is also quite common to see birthmarks on their skin at birth or shortly after. Birthmarks range from hardly noticeable ones to disfiguring entities and no matter how large or small they are, they can be quite upsetting to everybody around the baby.

KEY POINTS

* Birth marks are abnormalities on the surface of the sking that is present from or around the time of birth.

* There are different types of birth marks.

* Most are harmless and do not indicate an underlying disease.

* The psychological impact of birth masrks can be quite considerable.

* Many birth marks can be treated with modern therapeutic measures.

Birthmarks can be flat or raised, have regular or irregular borders, and have different shades of colouring from brown, tan, black, or pale blue to pink, red, or purple. The two main types of birthmarks are differentiated by their causes. The first, pigmented birthmarks are caused by an overgrowth of the cells that create pigment or the dark colour in the skin while the second, vascular or blood vessel birthmarks, are due to collections of tiny blood vessels of the skin which do not form properly. In the latter case, either there are too many of these blood vessels they are wider than usual.

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Grandmas Love: Honoring Our Grandmothers

To My Beautiful Child,

Before you and I came into this world, there was a mother’s love that was waiting for our arrival:

Grandmas love.

Grandmas love is a powerful, patient, unconditional, wise, mother’s love.

One that helps us to remember where we’ve come from and gives us a window for what’s to come.

It is eternal and is handed down the generations.

Her love smells of freshly baked cakes and feels like light kisses on your nose.

Grandmas love has guided daddy and me as we learn to be parents for you.

On Saturday, daddy, you and I visited the grave of your daddy’s grandmother in central Victoria, Australia.

We went with Pop. At age 92, he drove us to the cemetery in his 1989 Toyota Camry which has done all of 114,000 kilometres (70,000 miles) in the 22 years that he has owned it.

Grandma left her physical body from this earth, 4 years ago, two days before our wedding.

Her loss was very sad for daddy. But, rather than being far away from him in her nursing home bed -

She chose instead to be close by in spirit, taking front row seats at our Celebration Day of Love.

“We met at the dance at the Parish Hall,” Pop said as we stood on the patches of green grass around Grandma’s grave.

“I saw this lass. I went up to her. She pointed her finger at me and said, “You’re mine”. I said to her, “You’re mine too.”

Yes, It Was Love At First Sight, Pop gleefully admitted.

Unrestrained media,a threat to democracy

(Professor Vipin Tripathi is Professor of Physics at the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi. He is one of India’s leading Nuclear Physicists and is a visiting Professor at several international Universities.

Professor Tripathi founded the Sadbhav Mission, a non-government, non-political organization committed to develop nonviolent resistance against sectarianism 20 years ago. This movement is based on Gandhian principles and has engaged itself in changing India towards improving Governance with responsible hands on action and upright conduct.

Professor Tripathi was the keynote speaker at the last Mahatma Gandhi celebrations organized by the Mahatma Gandhi Centre Colombo on the 2nd of October 2010)
by V.K.Tripathi

What an irony, imperialist nations had free press. One would expect TV channels and print media, enjoying the fruits of freedom, to value the freedom of their people and sovereignty and freedom of other nations. But they have seldom done so. Britain has a long history of free press and parliamentary democracy but its press and democratic polity stood for colonization and enslavement of nations, including India. The US media, taking pride in its tradition of freedom, has been ferociously offensive against the developing nations and their governments, be they Mosaddaq’s elected government in Iran, Allende’s in Chilli, Lumumba’s in Congo, Ho Chi Minh’s in Vietnam, Saddam’s crippled government in Iraq and so on. Media demonized its target governments, projected them as security threats and created situations for the state to militarily intervene and overtake.

Monday, September 05, 2011

Australia (2008)

Australia PosterAustralia is big and bold and brash - although one wouldn't expect less from director Baz Luhrmann, whose vocabulary doesn't include words like "restrained" and "low-key." A would-be epic on a grand, David Lean-inspired scale, Australia falls far short of intentions and expectations. (One wonders whether rumored studio meddling has anything to do with this.) The problems are numerous - a meandering screenplay, a too-long running time, an uneven tone, and a lack of real emotional punch. It looks great, but the same comment can be made about Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor, which shares more than a passing resemblance. Both are fictional melodramas that play out against an historical backdrop where the invented characters and circumstances are dwarfed into insignificance by the real events that establish the setting.

The movie opens in 1939 and is told from the point-of-view of the half-caste boy Nullah (Brandon Walters), who becomes a central figure in the story that unfolds. Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) has arrived from England to manage a cattle ranch that has fallen into disarray following the death of her husband. Her early attempts to set things right are thwarted at every turn, and she earns the enmity of King Carney (Bryan Brown), who is trying to corner the local beef market, and Neil Fletcher (David Wenham), whom she dismisses from his position on the ranch. When Nullah's mother drowns in an accident, he is orphaned and it falls upon Sarah to act as his guardian lest he be taken by the Law. Meanwhile, Sarah finds aid with the ranch from Drover (Hugh Jackman), who helps her drive the cattle across vast stretches of land to where they can be sold to the army. The first segment of Australia concentrates on these early events and the local politics of who comes out on top in the cattle business. The film's second half focuses on Australia's preparations for war after Pearl Harbor is attacked. Mixed into all of this is a tepid love story between Sarah and Drover and the unconventional "family" they set up with Nullah filling the role of the son.

Fined for posting revealing pictures of ex-girlfriend on FB


A Sri Lankan student in Singapore was fined $2,000 and fined another $20,000 for having 287 obscene films stored in his laptop. The Straits Times reports that the accused had posted revealing pictures of his ex-girlfriend on Facebook and called her a slut. Under the law, this is criminal intimidation. The ex-student of the Singapore Institute of Management admitted to threatening to injure the reputation of his ex-girlfriend with his homemade video.He had taken the photographs with her consent during their relationship. After the break-up, he weaved these images into a video clip on his laptop and uploaded it on Facebook at 8am on Sept 28, 2010, with a title that included her name and the words 'slut in Singapore'. (Source: Straits Times) DM

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) or obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is the most common type of sleep apnea and is caused by obstruction of the upper airway. It is characterized by repetitive pauses in breathing during sleep, despite the effort to breathe, and is usually associated with a reduction in blood oxygen saturation. These pauses in breathing, called apneas (literally, “without breath”), typically last 20 to 40 seconds.

The individual with OSA is rarely aware of having difficulty breathing, even upon awakening. It is recognized as a problem by others witnessing the individual during episodes or is suspected because of its effects on the body (sequelae). OSA is commonly accompanied with snoring.

Symptoms may be present for years, even decades without identification, during which time the sufferer may become conditioned to the daytime sleepiness and fatigue associated with significant levels of sleep disturbance. Persons who sleep alone without a long-term human partner may not be told about their sleep disorder symptoms.

Air conditioning compulsory for all pharmacies

All pharmacies and drug stores islandwide are being ordered to have air conditioned premises for protecting the quality and the effect of the drugs sold by them, according a Health Ministry spokesman.

He pointed out all medicinal drugs should be stored below 24 degrees Celsius so as to protect its quality. Since Sri Lanka's temperature is above 24 Celsius the Ministry has decided air conditioning pharmacies compulsory.

He revealed that subjecting a drug to a higher temperature will cause to reduce the efficacy of the drug.

Further the lifespan, and the quality will also be affected.

Temperature can cause chemical reactions in the contents of the medicine, he added.

Therefore air conditioning will be compulsory for all pharmacies.

Hereafter licences will only be issued for new pharmacies only if they are air conditioned whilst pharmacies which already have receiver licences but without air conditioning should comply with the new regulation within six months.

Failing to do so will result in licences not being renewed for next year the spokesman added.

This is being done with a view to protecting the quality and the effect of the drugs, he pointed out.
Daily News

Sunday, September 04, 2011

International Literacy Day on Thursday: Literacy and peace : An inseparable bond

Courtesy - Sunday Observer
By Pramod DE SILVA

You are reading this because, well, you can read. But 800 million others around the world, nearly two-thirds of them women, cannot do that. Yes, nearly one-seventh of humanity cannot read their own native script. And that excludes the nearly 150 million children who have no access to education.

If you cannot read, the window of knowledge is permanently closed for you. Television and radio can only do so much as the bulk of our knowledge is still in printed form. Even Internet access is of no use if you cannot read. Countries are eager to open this window for their illiterate citizens.

There is a day on which such efforts are highlighted and redoubled. Called the International Literacy Day, it is traditionally observed annually on September 8, focusing attention on worldwide literacy needs. Why September 8? In September 1966 the World Conference of Ministers of Education on the Eradication of Illiteracy was held in Tehran, Iran. September 8, the opening date of the conference, was proclaimed International Literacy Day.

Punarukthi : Meandering between fiction and biography

Courtesy - Sunday Observer
By Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

Candid in expression and plain in diction, Punarukthi, a biographical novel by Anoma Janadare, reveals gory aspects of domestic life in an impoverished Sri Lankan family where under the facade of a patriarchical society, women’s rights to a decent life have been brazenly violated at the hands of male members of the family.

Bedevilled by the polygamous relationship between her mother and an uncle and the passive reaction of her father and brother, the protagonist takes her own course in searching for personal liberation in a male-dominated Asian society.

The story is told from the victim’s perspective. Though Punarukthi is disarmingly candid in its expression, much of its literary value, if there is any, has been diminished by its rather blunt and crude diction which disqualifies it being categorised as fiction or a novel at all.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Observer, the author of Punarukthi, Anoma Janadare spells out the background and the circumstances which prompted her to come out with the biographical novel.

Q: You are a professional actor and you have not tried your hand at fiction writing even for pleasure. But Punarukthi reveals your writing ability. Can we interpret you writing the novel as your entry into fiction writing?

A: It was during the period I learnt Marxism that I learnt that the fountain of creativity lies within the oppressive socio-economic conditions. The writer in me may have been stranded among my thoughts. My writing ability was sharpened only when I tried to write the novel.

5879 elephants in Sri Lanka - Survey

The final result of the Elephant Survey 2011 has revealed that there are 5879 elephants living in Sri Lanka. Among them 1107 are calves. "Through the survey not only we counted the number of elephants but information such as their health conditions, population structure were also collected in order provide a long term solution to elephant conservation while mitigating the human-elephant conflict," Wildlife and Agrarian Services Minister S.M. Chandrasena said.

The large number of calves present in the Sri Lankan elephant population is a positive sign of its health as well as its long term survival, Wildlife authorities said. Among the elephants, 122 were found to be tuskers.

The highest number of elephants is recorded from the Mahaweli wildlife region which is 1751. The lowest number is recorded from the Central wildlife region which is 47. The Northern region reported 233 elephants and 1573 are recorded from the Eastern region. North Western wildlife region records 1189 elephants and the Southern region recorded 1086. DY

Bad Teacher… Not So Bad After All

Who does not want a bad teacher
who looks like Cameron?
The Sunday Leader - By Sumaya Samarasinghe
I have to admit, I was at first dreading the idea of watching Bad Teacher not so much because Cameron Diaz who despite being stunningly sexy, beautiful and probably one of the few Hollywood actresses to not shoot botox up her face to hide her wrinkles, is getting a little old to play leads in raunchy comedies. No, I was just afraid that Bad Teacher would be an overdose of crude jokes and pimply teens thinking about how to bed their girlfriends.I was wrong, the film which is crude and nasty at times, is actually rather funny thanks to a fantastic cast starting with Diaz.The film begins with her character Elisabeth Halsey bidding farewell to her job at John Adams Middle School in Illinois. She is going to get married to her “rich meal ticket” as she calls him, a fiancé whose birthday she does not even remember and considers worthy only for the millions in his bank account. She clearly loathes her job, her colleagues and her students none of which she attempts to hide.The only issue is that when she goes back home, her future mother in law to be has managed to convince her son to break up with Elizabeth.She is forced to return to a school and a job she detests,even more this time around!

The thing is that Elisabeth is not a nice person. She swears at her students and shows them videos in class while she sleeps nursing a hangover or smokes marijuana in her car within the school premises; much to the horror of her dedicated colleague Amy Squirrel played by the brilliant Lucy Punch who was already a treat to watch in Woody Allen’s You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger.

Saturday, September 03, 2011

බලාගන්න සෙනෙහස තව ඔබටයි මා හද තුළ හැම වේලේ...

රන්තරු පායන අහස බලාගෙන
ඇයි ඔබ තව හිනැහෙන්නේ
මගෙ හද දිනූ ආදරය සොරාගෙන
වෙනෙකෙකු නොවැ අද ඉන්නේ
මිහිර සොයා ගිය මගෙ ජීවය දැන්
කඳුළැලි හා ලත වෙන්නේ
සමාවෙයන් සොඳුරිය තවමත් මා
අතමයි වරද තියෙන්නේ

කුඩා රුවල බැඳ තනිව සයුර මැද
ඈත අතීතය දෙස බැලුවේ...
කොහේ සිටන් කොයි බට මා යාවිද
මට නම් නෑ වැටහෙන්නේ...

පලා දෙපලු කළ හදවත දැන් නම්
කාට එකතු කළ හැක්‌කේ
බලාගන්න සෙනෙහස තව ඔබටයි
මා හද තුළ හැම වේලේ

පදරචනය/සංගීතය : ස්‌ටැන්ලි පීරිස්‌
ගායනය : කීර්ති පැස්‌කුවෙල්

පෙම්වතුන් අතින් එකිනෙකාට එරෙහිව වැරදීම් ඕනෑ තරම් සිද්ධ වෙනවා. මේ වැරදි සමහර විට දළුලා එන පෙම කැඩී බිඳී සුනුවිසුණු වෙන්නත් බලපානවා. ආදරවන්තයින්ගෙන් පමණක්‌ නොවේ විවාහකයන් අතින්ද තම බිරියට හෝ සැමියාට එරෙහිව වැරදි කෙරෙනවා. වරදකරු බොහෝ විට ඒ ගැන ලතවෙන අවස්‌ථා තිබෙනවා. ඒ තමන් අතින් ඇයට හෝ ඔහුට සිදුවූ වරද ගැන සිතමින්

Friday, September 02, 2011

Land of the pot of gold


The old farmer was ailing. He wanted his three sons to come closer to him and listen to what he was waiting to tell them.
"Now I am too old to farm the land. But I want you to take hold of what I was doing all my life." Said the old farmer in his feeble voice.
The three sons were too busy to hear what their father wanted to say.
"Are you all impatient to give me a hearing?" Asked the father.
"No, we have come here to listen to you, dear father." Said the eldest son, a clerk in a state ministry.
"I am happy that my eldest son has come to see me. But I thought you will do a better job as a farmer. Never mind, you are still too young. You may become one in future, I am sure."
Then the chance came for the second son.
"Dear father I have also come to see you."
"Oh I am quite happy to see you here."
The second son was a driver serving for a businessman in the city.
"One fine day you are going to be a farmer like your father." Said the ailing father of the second son, who was eagerly waiting to hear what he has to say.
"Where is my youngest son?"
"I am here."
"Oh, how nice to see you."
The youngest son was jobless. He also failed to continue his higher studies due to his own fault. He was hanging around with a group of youngsters who were merrymakers all the time.
They had ample time to enjoy with music, dance and other forms of entertainment. "I am sure you are going to be a better citizen one fine day." The ailing father touched his son's hands.

World class status for six universities


The Sri Lankan higher education system will be converted to the most cost effective education hub in Asia, said Higher Education Minister S B Dissanayake yesterday.


Minister
SB Dissanayake
As the first step to reach this goal, moves are under way to convert six universities to world class university status. The Higher Education Ministry allocated Rs 100 million each for the six universities aiming to upgrade academic, infrastructure and other education and research related facilities.
The minister was addressing Vice Chancellors and deans of faculties of the six universities at a workshop held in Colombo on conversion of six universities to world class status.
In accordance with world rankings, only the Colombo University is placed among the world's 1,000 universities. Therefore, the university system has to be subjected to radical changes so as to reach world class status.
Accordingly, at the initial stage Ruhuna, Colombo, Moratuwa, Peradeniya, Kelaniya and Jayewardenepura Universities will be upgraded to meet the status, the minister said.

The minister further added that, certain programmes such as CIMA, CIM, AAT and a few more professional courses will be conducted at universities in the future. These programmes will definitely be a value addition for university pass outs. The courses will be offered at discounted rates through a loan scheme. It has been noticed that the employment rate of those passing out from the university is around 60 percent. But if these graduates have undergone professional courses, they would definitely be at a higher position when entering the job market.

Thursday, September 01, 2011

Now, Sri Lankans seek UN intervention to secure asylum in Australia

(PTI Aug. 31) Four Tamil asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, who were denied visas in Australia after being assessed as a potential security threat, are among a group of immigrant detainees who are seeking UN intervention into their case
The men who are in immigration detention have been assessed as genuine refugees, but had their visas knocked down after being declared security threats by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), an ABC report said.
They are part of a group of 38 immigration detainees who are directly petitioning the United Nations to be immediately released into the community.
The men said they left behind their lives, family and country in 2009 because they were harassed by the Sri Lankan military and paramilitary forces.

Behaviour patterns in the infant


article_image
Babies under one year have different behaviour patterns.

Disturbances in some of these behaviours are important pointers towards certain problems.

Persistent inconsolable crying and marked disturbance in feeding need to be medically evaluated.

The passing of urine and opening of bowels could vary widely among different infants.

Certain norms have to be followed in growth and development during the first year of life and any gross deviations need to be medically evaluated.

Safety at home should be assured when they sit up, crawl and stand.

Dr. B.J.C.Perera MBBS(Ceylon), DCH(Ceylon), DCH(England), MD(Paediatrics), FRCP(Edinburgh), FRCP(London), FRCPCH(United Kingdom), FSLCPaed, FCCP, FCGP(Sri Lanka) Consultant Paediatrician

The newborn baby goes through a very rapid period of development in the first few years of life. Out of this, infancy is of utmost importance. During this vital period of a baby’s life, he or she is not able to vocalise the needs of the body. The baby grows quite markedly and there is an orderly achievement of certain functions and milestones during the first year of life. It is also a period when the baby is vulnerable to develop certain illnesses. In both these respects, the patterns of behaviour are of tremendous importance in assessing the need for further action.

Crying is a significant feature that is of some importance in assessing an infant. There are very many reasons for a baby to get into bouts of crying. There are some trivial causes such as wet diapers, feeling too cold or too warm etc. These of course need attention, are easily dealt with and the baby is happy when they are dealt with. Some babies cry because they need the warmth of being held, the attention of the mother or just the comfort of being close to the mother. In such situations, it is a mistake to allow the baby to cry it out and the baby should be cuddled and comforted.