Successful solar power project

Solar power has long been recognised as a viable(practicable) and clean source of power. On the long run, it is said to be cheaper too.

Sri Lanka has also seen its fair share of solar power projects over the years. Such a project is the one being successfully implemented in the Central Province with financial assistance from Finland.

Projects numbering 151 have already been completed in the Matale district and have encompassed(encircled) many rural schools, health centres and temples. Several drinking water projects in the area have also been completed with the help of solar power. The majority of these projects are being carried out in the district's dry zone.

This programme is being implemented in selected areas of the island with Rs. 3,500 million been estimated for it.

Number of world millionaires up

The number of millionaires in the world in terms of dollars rose from 7.2 million in 2005 to 9.6 million in 2006, according to the findings of a new study published by the Boston Consulting Group, a Paris-based management consulting firm.

The United States is classified in the first position followed by Japan, Britain and Germany, according to the study, which is entirely based on financial assets placed under asset management firms, therefore excluding real estate(landed property) and other forms of investments.

Xinhua

Scientists use magnets to tune magnets

British-led scientists have created a technique to switch a material's magnetic properties from "hard" to "soft" and back again.

The researchers, led by scientists at the London Centre for Nanotechnology, said the discovery might lead to new ways of controlling electromagnetic fields "Whether a magnet is hard or soft determines what you can use it for," said University College London Professor Gabriel Aeppli, director of the centre.

"Typically, you would use a permanent magnet to fix a note to the door of your refrigerator because you want it to stay there for a long time. On the other hand, you might use a soft magnet in a motor or transformer because it would be better at adapting to the rapid changes in alternating current and would dissipate (spread) much less energy than a hard magnet."

"It is very rare to be able to continuously tune wall pinning in a magnet," he said, "but we have now shown how it can be done in a model magnet at a low temperature."

United Press International

School equipment distributed in Jaffna

You may have read the news item about the government distributing school books and equipment in the Jaffna Peninsula. At the request of the Ministry of Education, UNICEF took part in the project to ensure the distribution of school kits to every school student in the area.

Head of UNICEF's Education Section in Sri Lanka, Ita Sheehy said the distribution had been carried over a one-month period and had reached an estimated 140,000 primary and secondary schoolchildren who are affected by the ongoing conflict.

It had been considered as a challenge since Jaffna had been cut off from the rest of the country due to the conflict. Many of the schools were in difficult-to-access high security areas. However, each of the 404 schools was visited by a team from the Education authorities and UNICEF through this project.

The support of the military, the Government Agent, the Commissioner General for Essential Services and the teachers and students themselves was fully extended towards the success of this project.

The scarcity of school material had prompted many schools in the area to recycle material in order to keep children supplied. The materials which were distributed included notebooks, drawing pads, pencils and pens, rulers, erasers and sharpeners.

The Festival of Lights

Our Hindu readers will be celebrating Deepavali on November 8. Deepavali, the Festival of Lights, is celebrated by Hindus the world over with much gaiety whether they are young or old, rich or poor as they believe the festival dispels the darkness and lights up their lives.

In India, the festival is celebrated over four days. It marks the vanquishing (defeating) of the demon Narakasura. It is celebrated by lighting clay lamps, decorating their houses, lighting firecrackers and inviting loved ones to their households for partaking in a sumptuous feast.

The lighting of lamps is a way of paying obeisance to gods for attainment of health, wealth, knowledge, peace, valour and fame.
 

National Green Month

A National Green Month has been declared, from October 15 to November 15, by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.

The programme got under way with the celebration of the National Tree Plantation Day on October 15. All State sector organisations are expected to conduct environmental activities and programmes during this period.

Ministries have already received instructions from the Ministry of Public Administration to plant trees at their respective premises. A number of environment-related programmes have been organised by the Central Environment Authority to mark this special month throughout the country.

These include tree planting ceremonies, composting, solid waste management awareness programmes, water quality upgrading programmes and air quality testing programmes.

Environmental damage during armed conflict

The whole world talks about the human and material costs of war and armed conflicts, but the effects on the environment have been largely neglected. But this doesn't mean that it doesn't happen or that it should be forgotten.

The effects of war and conflicts on the environment include polluted water, air and land; unregulated plunder of natural resources by warring parties; and the negative impact of mass population movements on water, biodiversity and other ecosystem services.

These effects are long lasting, affect a large part of the population, sometimes even from neighbouring countries, and are reversible only in the long term. With more advanced and harmful weapons being used nowadays, the effects are on a much larger scale than they used to be.

An example for the above occurred during the 2006 conflict between Israel and the Hizbollah guerillas in Lebanon; fuel weighing more than 15,000 tons was released from a power station south of Beirut, Lebanon, affecting the Lebanese and Syrian coastline, polluting beaches and coastal waters and damaging the fishery and tourism industries.

The UN General Assembly, through its UN Environmental Partnership (UNEP), declared November 6 of each year as the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict, on November 5, 2001 to highlight the adverse effects of war and conflict on the environment.

It has been realised that though such effects are sometimes unavoidable, most often they could be prevented. Parties involved in wars and conflicts have a responsibility to observe international laws such as the Geneva Convention, which have certain guidelines pertaining to the environment. However, environmental concerns have been overlooked in most international laws and conventions.

The day was celebrated for the first time on November 6, 2002 and is now in its fifth year. It reflects on the fact that the exploitation of nature as a tool in armed conflicts is nothing new in human history. Returning to normalcy will be difficult for people in such situations if the environmental aspect is neglected. The day calls for the response and action of the international community to make these objectives successful.

Now, more governments are asking the UNEP to conduct post-conflict environment assessments. Such groups are already active in Lebanon, Sudan and Iraq. The team working in Sudan has found widespread and severe environmental damage in most parts of the country especially deforestation and desertification.

The conflit has resulted in environmental degradation (damage), competition for resoures and regional climate change in Darfur, Sudan.

The UNEP is also helping the government of Iraq to restore and manage its marshlands and rehabilitate its environment and infrastruture. The marshlands of the Euphrates and Tigris Delta were drained during the conflicts of the 1980s and 1990s as part of the deliberate targeting of ecosystems to achieve political and military ends.

2008 - Year of the Potato

The United Nations officially launched the 'International Year of the Potato 2008', an initiative mocked in private by some diplomats, but enabling governments to raise much-needed funds for agricultural research.

The move to "increase awareness of the importance of the potato as a food in developing nations" was proposed by the UN's Rome-based Food and Agricultural Organisation and adopted by the General Assembly in 2005. Throughout 2008, the International Year will seek to underline the humble spud's role in improving food security and poverty alleviation (lessening).

AFP