Name changes in public enterprises

Ceylon to be replaced with Sri Lanka:

by Rohana JAYALAL

The Government has decided to change the names of all public enterprises that commenced operations as "Ceylon" to "Sri Lanka", the Government Information Department sources said.

Currently there are several public enterprises such as the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, Ceylon Tourist Board and Bank of Ceylon using the name by which the country was called during colonial rule.

Following the Cabinet decision to make this change the Ministry of Finance and Planning has been instructed to take up this matter with the Legal Draughtsman and to prepare the legislation in a single Bill to change the names of all such Statutory Boards and Public Corporations, the Department sources said.

In ancient times, Sri Lanka was known by a variety of names, Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobane and Arabs referred to it as Serendib (the origin of the word Cerendipity). Ceilao was the name given to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese when they arrived in 1505, which was transliterated into English as Ceylon.

As a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon, and achieved independence under the name Dominion of Ceylon in 1948.

In Sinhala the country is known as Sri Lanka and the island itself as Lanka. In Tamil it is Ilankai. The name is derived from the Sanskrit Sri (venerable) and Lanka (island), the name of the island in the ancient Indian epics Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

In 1972, the official name of the country was changed to Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka. In 1978 it was changed to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

Neanderthals cooked and ate vegetables

Neanderthals cooked and ate plants and vegetables, a new study of Neanderthal remains reveal.

Researchers in the US have found grains of cooked plant material in their teeth.The study is the first to confirm that the Neanderthal diet was not confined to meat and was more sophisticated than previously thought.

The research has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The popular image of Neanderthals as great meat eaters is one that has up until now been backed by some circumstantial evidence. Chemical analysis of their bones suggested they ate little or no vegetables.

This perceived reliance on meat had been put forward by some as one of the reasons these humans became extinct as large animals such as mammoths declined due to an Ice Age. But a new analysis of Neanderthal remains from across the world has found direct evidence that contradicts the chemical studies. Researchers found fossilised grains of vegetable material in their teeth and some of it was cooked.

Although pollen grains have been found before on Neanderthal sites and some in hearths, it is only now there is clear evidence that plant food was actually eaten by these people. Professor Alison Brooks, from George Washington University, told BBC News: "We have found pollen grains in Neanderthal sites before but you never know whether they were eating the plant or sleeping on them or what."But here we have a case where a little bit of the plant is in the mouth so we know that the Neanderthals were consuming the food."

One question raised by the study is why the chemical studies on Neanderthal bones have been wide of the mark. According to Professor Brooks, the tests were measuring proteins levels, which the researchers assumed came from meat.

"We've tended to assume that if you have a very high value for protein in the diet that must come from meat. But... it's possible that some of the protein in their diet was coming from plants," she said.

This study is the latest to suggest that, far from being brutish savages, Neanderthals were more like us than we previously thought.

- Courtesy:Internet

Eureka International and IYMC 2010 - Lucknow , India:

Colombo City College bags bronze medals

Students of Colombo City College, Saranankara Road, Dehiwala have succeeded in bagging bronze medals at the International Young Mathematician's Competition (IYMC) and Eureka International held recently. They were led by their Principal Mrs. Kshanika Weeratunga and two teachers of Colombo City College.

"The knowledge and experience we gained from these competitions was immense. We learned many things like time management, team work and how to live in peace. Though the competitions were complicated we managed to compete in them successfully" said the students who returned to the country.

The students are as follows - Kaif Anfas, Thipiya Kirupakaran, Azaam Asmi, Eran Randika, Charith Dilshan, Sajaad Aiyoob, Bhashini Amarasinghe, Maththaath Faheem, Sunath Perera, Thasaini Rasakulasingam, Jenifer Gnanasegaran, Thanuka Fernando and Shafkhan Fassy.

Eureka International is a series of competitions organised for students of primary and junior classes under the theme "Living in green - at peace with the environment" from November 25-28.

Eureka drew together many young talented minds of the world and around 1500 students from different countries and various states of India participated in this event. It was organised by City Montessori School (CMC), Lucknow.

CMS is one of the world's largest and recognised schools . It was awarded by UNESCO for the spread of peace education. The competitions organised in Eureka included pop art-an event which extends the student's artistic capabilities and made them aware of the destruction of nature, Page to Stage- where they had to perform a nursery enrichment about nature and Merry Queries - where the students were given a general knowledge written paper.

The students chosen by this round were then sent to the final round where they had to answer a series of oral questions asked by the quiz master.

Under the topic ,Ttouch my shadows, a competition which enhanced the knowledge about computers, a presentation had to be made on the theme, destruction of nature. These competitions for the primary section, were followed by the events of the junior section which included foot loose - where the students performed a dance, radio play writing where the students had to persist a conversation on a chosen topic of their own, in the form of g a radio programme and Zero Carbonocity where a presentation had to be done on how to save the environment under the topic - shrinking water bodies. "At certain moments in human history, education must also act as a powerful instrument of profound social transformation. Education is a continuous and creative process. Its aim is to develop the capacities latent in human nature and to coordinate their expression for the enrichment and progress of the society, by equipping children with spiritual, human and material knowledge. That is why we organise such competitions", said Mrs. Abha Anant, The principal of CMS.

After Eureka ended IYMC began the 4th International Young Mathematicians' Competition from December 2-5.

Around 1,000 young mathematicians' from 14 countries namely - England, South Africa, Russia, Bhutan, Philippines, Nigeria, Korea, Thailand, Iran, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Qatar, Taiwan and various states of India participated.

The competitions were conducted by globally known mathematical wizards on international pattern.