New Harry Potter book to be published on July 21

LONDON - 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows', the last of seven instalments of the boy wizard's adventures, will be published on July 21, author J.K. Rowling said. Rowling announced the publication date on her website.

Bloomsbury, her British publisher, said it would publish a children's hardback edition, an adult hardback, a special gift edition and an audio book on the same day.

Bloomsbury noted that this year is the 10th anniversary of the publication of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', the beginning of the phenomenally successful series.

The Potter books have sold 325 million copies worldwide and been translated into 64 languages, Bloomsbury said. The last book, 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' sold 2,009,574 copies in Britain on the first day of its release, Bloomsbury said.

The Potter franchise is so important to the company's earnings that it announced the publication to the London Stock Exchange.

AP

Water for irrigation

The newly built Weheragala reservoir is expected to start flowing this month. The project launched under the purview of the Ministry of Irrigation, Land, Agriculture and Livestock Resources, is estimated to cost Rs. 1,822 million. The reservoir project, when completed, could release water for the cultivation of 25,000 acres of abandoned paddy lands belonging to 12,000 farmer families.

There are five small tanks which come under this project.

It is unique as the construction work of the Weheragala reservoir project is handled solely by local engineers. This was the same in the Mau Aara reservoir project.

Day to celebrate mother language

A language is a means of communication and an expression of culture and identity. Over 6,000 different languages are spoken around the world today. Although some of us may speak several languages, we all have a mother language. Not only that, there is a special day to celebrate this language.

February 21 is observed around the world as the International Mother Language Day. The Day was proclaimed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in November 1999, and was first commemorated in 2000. Since then, the event had been observed by UNESCO headquarters and its member states annually, to promote linguistic and cultural diversity.

With this day, UNESCO hopes that linguistic diversity and multi-lingual education will be encouraged, fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions will be developed throughout the world and solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue will be inspired.

The International Mother Language Day is said to be mostly international recognition of the Language Martyr's Day, which had been commemorated in Bangladesh since 1952 when many Bengali-speakers were killed.

Tsunami pre-schools in Hambantota

Two new pre-schools sponsored by the Overseas School of Colombo (OSC) were opened in Nonagama and Kattakaduwa in the Hambantota district. OSC led and coordinated efforts from international schools around the

 world to help children affected by the tsunami of December 26, 2004.

The schools' efforts led to the funding and construction of ten pre-schools in the Hambantota district at a total cost of Rs. 12 million among several other tsunami relief projects.

These pre-schools were two of those that had been arranged through the Janasuvaya programme. They were constructed on temple land donated by the local chief priests. The OSC is involved in building and supporting schools in Hambantota, Batticaloa and Galle at present.

The entire project financing comes from donations channelled through OSC, while the teachers, parents and students that are involved in every aspect of this endeavour are all volunteers.

The two schools were opened by Head of OSC Laurie McLellan and MP Sajith Premadasa.

Yapahuwa restoration programme

The restoration programme of the historical Yapahuwa Raja Maha Viharaya was launched on the Navam Full-moon Poya Day of February 1.

This follows the declaration of the temple and its surroundings as a sacred area by a Special Gazette Notification.

Yapahuwa is frequented by tourists both local and foreign due to its historical importance and archaeological value; it was the fourth kingdom of ancient Sri Lanka.

A sum of Rs. 60 million has been allocated by the Government for this reconstruction programme which includes a vehicle park, a trading area, an Information Technology centre, a pilgrim's rest, a monastery, water supply system, latrine facilities and landscaping.

The programme to develop the sacred area will be planned and implemented by the National Physical Planning Department under the advice and supervision of Yapahuwa Raja Maha Viharadhipathi, Meegammana Siriratana Nayaka Thera.

Projects to upgrade Galle city

The Dharmapala Park in Galle may not be unfamiliar to those of you hailing from the southern areas of Sri Lanka. This park is situated opposite the Galle Railway Station. Now, there are plans to upgrade this park and convert it to one of the most beautiful in the island.

Over Rs. 325 million has been estimated for this project, which is expected to be completed within a period of six months.

As part of the plans to upgrade the city of Galle, the government has agreed to provide a 15-acre land to dump garbage and to implement a garbage disposal and management project. This project is expected to be funded by a non-governmental organisation.

A USAID-funded project would also be launched to set up a water pumping unit at Pettigalawatta to prevent floods in the area during rains.