Upgraded railway signal system

Some of you may be familiar with the country’s railway system, travelling by train on a daily basis. They would know the difficulties they face due to the many technical problems associated with the system.

As a means of minimising such problems, the Railways Department has now upgraded the signal system on the coastal railway line. The signal system was installed with the assistance of the Netherlands government at a cost of Rs 80 million.

According to the new technologically advanced signal system that was set up, signals will be controlled under the direct purview of the main control room at Maradana. Up to now, signals had been controlled by the respective railway stations.

The system upto Wadduwa has already been connected to Maradana.

The new centralised signal system will increase the efficiency of train services and enhance the safety of commuters by enabling engine drivers to communicate directly with the main control room in Colombo.

This will enable the controllers in Colombo to monitor all train operations on the coastal line without difficulty.

New museum at Kataragama

Many items of historical, archaeological and religious value, each with stories of their own, have been discovered over the years from Kataragama. How nice would it be if we could see all these things at one central location?

Although there is already an old museum in this sacred town, it has been decided to set up a modern, fully-equipped museum at Kataragama so that these important items could be conserved, preserved and exhibited to the public.

The historical, archaeological and religious artefacts that have been dug up from various places in the vicinity, as well as archaeologically important items found at the Kataragama Devala will be deposited at this museum and exhibited for the benefit of the present and future generations and for the benefit of those who want to study these objects further.

The estimated cost of the museum project is around Rs 69 million. The government of the Netherlands has agreed to fund this project.

Don’t let drugs control your life

‘Do drugs control your life? Your life. Your community. No place for drugs’ is the slogan being used by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for the anti-drugs campaign it will launch on the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, on June 26.

This special day is used by the UN to create worldwide awareness about the drugs menace. It is used by governments, organisations and people all over the world to support the anti-drug cause.

This slogan will be used for three years to highlight different aspects of drug control: in 2007 it focused on drug abuse; this year’s main theme is drug cultivation and production; illicit drug trafficking will be highlighted in 2009.

Its main aim is to raise awareness about the problems illicit drugs pose to society - to individuals, families and communities.

Drugs control the body and mind of users; drug cartels control farmers; while illicit trafficking and crime control communities. The goal of the day is to inspire people and mobilise support for drug control.

The special day was declared for June 26 by the UN General Assembly on December 7, 1987 as an expression of its determination to strengthen action and co-operation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse.

It followed the recommendations of the International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which on June 26, 1987, had adopted the Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Outline of Future Activities in Drug Abuse Control.

On February 23, 1990, the General Assembly adopted the global programme of action to combat illegal drugs and stated that the day was to be observed as part of the efforts to raise public awareness about fighting drug abuse and to promote preventive measures.

It is estimated that there are over 200 million drug users all over the world. In Sri Lanka too, there are believed to be about 100,000 heroin users and over 200,000 ganja users. What is even more worrying is that a substantial number of these are children and youth. Also, it has been found that 50 per cent of prisoners are in jails due to drug-related offences.

Although there are laws to control the drugs trade and many preventive drug education programmes have been organised to protect the people, the drug scourge won’t be totally wiped out without the commitment of the public, especially the youth of the country.