Meteorological Department upgraded

A new Global Telecommunication System worth Rs. 2 million has been installed at the Meteorological Department as part of its recent modernisation programme. The system is expected to accelerate (quicken) the Meteorological Department's disaster warning system.

The new system, received from the US Government, will speed up the time taken to receive data from the World Meteorological Union Centre in New Delhi, India.

Earlier, it had taken nearly six hours for the Meteorological Department to receive the latest data from the New Delhi Centre. With the installation of this equipment, this time has now been reduced to one and a half hours.

Climatic data for Sri Lanka is calculated only after scanning a wide area around Sri Lanka; this area extends to parts of Africa and Asia. Every country is not capable of scanning such a wide area for calculating this data.

The World Meteorological Union had set up a centre in New Delhi as a solution to this problem; so that the climatic data received from each country in the region could be calculated every three hours.

This data is systematically processed by the New Delhi Centre and re-transmitted to other countries in the region, enabling them to issue their forecasts correctly.

Fresh milk for Hambantota students

The benefits of fresh milk are many; it is nutritious, delicious and healthy. It is extremely good for people, especially children. But, today, the habit of consuming fresh milk is not very widely prevalent(in existence) as most people have got used to drinking powdered milk. But now, there are many programmes to promote the consumption of fresh milk.

The programme launched recently in Hambantota by the Development Fund of the Cooperative Development Department is one such project.

Five schools in the Hambantota district were selected for the initial stage; each child from these schools will get a glass of fresh milk. The schools were selected on the basis of the students' low nutrition levels.

The pilot project was implemented in Hambantota, and based on its success, it will be spread to the other districts.

Museum for Sigiriya with Japanese assistance

The Japanese government has provided a grant of 170 million Yen (Rs. 153 million) to Sri Lanka towards the new Archaeological Heritage Museum at Sigiriya.

The assistance provided to the World Heritage Site comes under the Japanese Cultural Grant Aid Programme and will be utilised to supply essential display equipment for the museum.

The installation of modern presentation and display equipment will help the dissemination of information to visitors and enhance the unique archaeological and cultural significance of this Fourth Century monument.

The museum is currently being constructed, again with the assistance of the government of Japan, and will be complemented with this new project. The construction work is expected to be completed by the end of March next year and is estimated to cost around Rs. 220 million.

Japan has also provided financial assistance to improve the access roads to Sigiriya; improve the fresco gallery, observation platform and steel stairway leading to the rock summit; construct visitor conveniences and safety facilities; and improve the landscaping of the site.

The new project will be carried out through the Central Cultural Fund under the supervision of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs in close collaboration with Japanese consultants.

Making the best of rain water

Have you heard of rain water harvesting? It is a process where the water that comes down to the earth as rain is collected and used for various purposes without letting it go waste. This is a procedure that is used in many countries to make the most of the rain water that would otherwise be wasted.

This is a process that we in Sri Lanka could also use, considering the fact that there are many areas in our country without adequate access to water. Now, the government has introduced amendments to the Urban Development Authority Act to promote and improve rain water harvesting techniques in Sri Lanka.

Although most people settle in dry areas due to fast development and urbanisation of such areas, these areas

 suffer from water shortages.

Thus, it is essential to improve rain water harvesting techniques to fulfil their needs. This could be considered as the only option for people living in the dry zone, coastal areas with hard water and mountainous areas in the island. Sri Lanka receives an average annual rainfall of 1,700 mm (this could vary between 900 mm and 6,000 mm depending on the province).

However, a large portion of this rain water flows to the sea without being made use of, or being absorbed to the ground as most of the ground is covered by pavements, tarred roads and buildings, especially in urban areas.

Only 60 per cent of the rainfall is used, while 40 per cent flows to the sea. This is around 100 billion cubic metres of water per year. The average rainfall in the Colombo Metropolitan region is 2,000 mm. If this rain water is collected, it is estimated that one person can collect 196 litres of water per day.

If rain water is thus harvested at domestic level, using a rooftop with an area of 100 square metres, 136 cubic metres of water can be collected. Accordingly, each family can get 372 litres of rain water, which is half of the daily water requirement of a family with five members.

Off to Cyprus

The National Drama Institute, which is affiliated to the Children Skills Development Programme (CSDP), sent a delegation to participate in the Greek Drama Festival which is being held in Cyprus.

This is the fourth time that this Institute would be taking part in this event. The delegation comprised Director, CSDP, Rathna Pushpa Kumari, Mahesh Lakmal and the child actress Nayumi Oshini, who starred as Antigone in the Greek drama Antigone, which was staged by the organisation this year.

The next international event the CSDP would be taking part in, is the children's concert which would be held in Singapore in connection with the forthcoming Children's Day.

Those interested in taking part can get further information by writing to the Children Skills Development Programme, No. 51, Sri Dharmarama Road, Dematagoda, Colombo 9 or calling 011-2672718 or 011-2689536.