Education of street children to be improved

by Ananda KANNANGARA

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena recently said that Government has paid special attention towards the uplifting of the education of street children and also the living environment of a large number of their families.Addressing the prize-giving ceremony of a school in Nittambuwa, the Minister said it is the duty of schoolchildren who have better financial and living conditions to help this needy segment of society to uplift their educational activities.

The Minister said it is disheartening to see many children who are of school-going age have disrupted their education half way due to poverty and various other problems in their families.

"Such children must be encouraged to resume their educational activities and this could be easily done by others in the society."

In addition to schoolchildren, the Minister called upon all other elders in society to take measures to help under privileged children without considering their social status, caste or religious backgrounds.

On the directive of the Government, the Education Department has started several welfare programmes such as providing meals, books and sports equipment. for 4.1 million schoolchildren in the country.

In addition, the Government has started vocational training courses for school leavers as well as increased the financial assistance provided for their university education.

Today is World Environment Day:

Act now to save the world

World Environment Day(WED) is held each year on June 5. It is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations (UN) stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. World Environment Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.

World Environment Day is celebrated in many ways in countries throughout the world.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)announced in February that India, with one of the fastest growing economies in the world that is embracing the process of a transition to a Green Economy, will be for the first time ever, the global host of World Environment Day this year.

The theme 'Forests: Nature at Your Service' underscores the intrinsic link between quality of life and the health of forests and forest ecosystems.

The WED theme also supports this year's UN International Year of Forests.India is a country of 1.2 billion people who continue to put pressure on forests especially in densely populated areas where people are cultivating on marginal lands and where overgrazing is contributing to desertification.But the Indian Government has also found solutions.

World Environment day will be celebrated in our country too with a multitude of events organised by the State and private sector.

Most schools also hold various programmes to mark this special day which is closely tied to our lives.

What have you planned to do on this day ?

You can contribute even in a small way to make the world a greener place by planting a tree, protecting the existing ones and also by creating an awarenss among your friends at school and in the neighbourhood about the importance of keeping the environment clean.

Leaves may help create a fossil fuel free future

The drive of hydrogen atoms to combine with other atoms is as impressive as it is versatile: hydrogen atoms maintain the shape of our DNA and are used as a fuel to lift rockets to the moon.

One day, hydrogen could even replace fossil fuels in modern society, creating only water vapour in its wake. But to create it, we have thus far needed to use fossil fuels to power the reaction that isolates the hydrogen atoms from the other atoms they perniciously bind with.

Using a catalyst, plants separate hydrogen from oxygen powered simply by sunlight.

Inspired by this amazing capacity of leaves, humans have for the first time now mimicked this reaction in an 'artificial leaf.'- When placed in water under sunlight, the artificial leaf generates hydrogen gas which coursed through a fuel cell produces an electric current, the only waste product being clean water.

The technology is currently under trial at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Courtesy:Internet

An ice cream dansala by Junior Higlanders

The Junior Highlanders Club of the Gemunu Watch held an ice cream dansala on May 18 at Havelock Park. Over 3000 people participated in the dansala organised under the guidance of the President of the Seva Vanitha Branch, Gemunu Watch supported by its members.