News & Views

Sri Lanka commended for reduced child deaths

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has commended Sri Lanka for managing to cut child deaths by half since 1990, despite a long-running conflict.

In the UNICEF’s flagship report, the State of Asia Pacific’s Children Report 2008, Sri Lanka was also commended for standing out as a country that has budgeted well for children.

As the world has moved past the half way mark and into the final lap towards the Millennium Development Goals’ 2015 target line, what is needed now is political will and sound strategies to dramatically increase investment in public health services that specifically target the poorest and most marginalised, UNICEF said.

The report also said the global achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals (the MDGs) depends largely on India’s success and on China accelerating progress even further.

South Asia is also the only sub-region in the world where female life expectancy is lower than male life expectancy (except for Sri Lanka) and where girls are more likely to be underweight than boys. Pakistani boys are more likely to be immunised than girls and have better access to health care, the report said.

A Little bit of HUMOUR

Two carpenters were working on a house. One was nailing down planks on the windows. He would reach into his nail pouch, pull out a nail and either toss it over his shoulder or nail it in.

The other, figuring this was worth looking into, asked, "Why are you throwing those nails away?"

The first explained, "If I pull a nail out of my pouch and it's pointed toward me, I throw it away 'cause it's defective. If it's pointed toward the house, then I nail it in!"

The second carpenter got completely upset and yelled, "You idiot! The nails pointed toward you aren't defective! They're for the other side of the house!"

At the airport for a business trip, a man settled down to wait for the boarding announcement at Gate 35. Then he heard the voice on the public address system saying, "We apologise for the inconvenience, but XYZ Flight 570 will board from Gate 41."

So his family picked up their luggage and carried it over to Gate 41. Not ten minutes later the public address voice said that Flight 570 would in fact be boarding from Gate 35.

So, again, they gathered their carry-on luggage and returned to the original gate. Just as they were settling down, the public address voice spoke again: "Thank you for participating in XYZ's physical fitness programme.”

"If you're going to work here young man, " said the boss to the new recruit, "the number two thing you must learn is that we are very keen on cleanliness in this firm. Did you wipe your feet on the mat as you came in?" "Oh, yes, sir." responded the young man. "And another thing, the number one thing we are very keen on is truthfulness. There is no mat," said the boss.

A man went to a couple of car dealerships. At the first one he stopped at, nothing caught his eye, but the price was right. Then he went to another dealer, again nothing really caught his eye, but he looked anyway. Then he went to the third dealer, and saw one that he liked.

The dealer showed him over and popped open the trunk. Disappointed, he looked at the dealer and said, "Well, there's something missing". The puzzled dealer asked "What"? The man said "at the last dealership I checked out, they had a new pair of shoes in the trunk of every car"! Smiling the dealer said, "That's because they can walk home"!

A carpenter was giving evidence about an accident he had witnessed. The lawyer for the defendant was trying to discredit him and asked him how far away he was from the accident.

The carpenter replied, "Twenty-seven feet, six and one and a half inches."

"What? How come you are so sure about the distance?" asked the lawyer.

"Well, I knew sooner or later some idiot would ask me. So I measured it!" replied the carpenter.

One girl said to another, ''Excuse me, but each time I sip my coffee, my eye seems to hurt.''

The second girl said, ''Well, maybe you should take the spoon out of the cup.''

Proposals for energy saving

The Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority is awaiting the final approval of the Cabinet for three proposals it has made to the government with regard to saving energy.

Chairman, Sri Lanka Energy Authority, Ananda S. Gunasekera described the three proposals as the banning of the import of normal bulbs below 40 watts, providing tax concessions to import CFL bulbs and implementing a mandatory labelling system for bulbs.

He said the objective of the ban is to discourage the use of normal bulbs which consume more energy and provide tax concessions to import CFL bulbs.

CFL bulbs are currently not affordable for most members of the public due to their high prices.

The mandatory labelling system of CFL bulbs is also expected to protect consumers. The Authority has introduced a star system, running up to five stars, for these bulbs, where five star bulbs are the best.

The government recently imposed a new environmental tax for the use of normal bulbs at Rs. 3 per point each to save energy.

Scientists move closer to invisibility cloak

Scientists at the University of California - funded by the U.S. Army and the National Science Foundation - are a step closer to developing an invisibility cloak, the team reports in Nature and Science.

According to AP, the researchers have demonstrated the ability to cloak 3D objects using artificially engineered materials that redirect light around objects.

People can see objects because they scatter the light that strikes them, reflecting some of it back to the eye. Cloaking uses materials, known as metamaterials, to deflect radar, light or other waves around an object, like water flowing around a smooth rock in a stream.

Metamaterials are designed to bend visible light in a way that ordinary materials don’t. Scientists are trying to use them to bend light around objects so they don’t create reflections or shadows.

- AP

Display facilities for local craftsmen

The Janakala Kendraya Craft Village, which would be jointly set up by the Rural Industries and Self-Employment Promotion Ministry and Tourism Ministry, would provide display facilities to craftsmen through 40 stalls.

Craftsmen from around the island would get the opportunity to exhibit and market their products at this craft village.

The Tourism Ministry would contribute Rs. 4.3 million towards the project, while the Rural Industries Ministry would contribute Rs. 2.4 million. The total project is expected to cost over Rs. 6.7 million.

The construction of the art theatre of the village is expected to be completed by next month. It would be open to both local and foreign tourists, which would enable local craftsmen to market their products.

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Clean and Green

Seen is a student from the Environmental Brigade of Bentota Gamini Maha Vidyalaya taking part in the tree planting project titled Clean and Green Campaign. The project was launched recently by Sri Lanka Tourism along with Bentota Pradeshiya Sabha at Bentota Resort.

The plants were provided by the Forest Range Office, Elpitiya.