Protecting our sacred cities

Some of you may have visited the sacred cities of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa during the Poson season.

 You may have noticed the mountains of garbage left by the visitors; in fact, you may have contributed to this ugly scenario yourself. Did you realise what an eyesore and a health hazard it is?

Garbage should never be disposed like that, not only in sacred cities, but anywhere else for that matter. But, it's specially so in places of historic and religious importance.

However, all is not lost. An environmental development plan which includes a garbage disposal programme is soon to be implemented in the sacred city of Anuradhapura; it will especially focus on the Mahamevuna Uyana and Jaya Siri Mahabodhi premises.

A tree planting campaign has already got under way as part of this plan. Another important part of this plan will be an awareness programme on environmental protection for tourists and devotees who visit these sacred areas.

First Milk Super Centre in Colombo

We have already made you aware about the 'Milk Super' programme launched by the government. The first such fresh milk wholesale and retail distribution centre was set up at Vauxhall Street, Colombo recently.

The project has beeen initiated under the 'Colombata Kiri Gamata Salli' theme, which will carry out wholesale and retail distribution of milk produced by dairy farmers to consumers in Colombo and suburbs.

The programme falls under the co-operative concept. Steps will also be taken to set up milk-super retail outlets in all schools. Once these centres are established, they would be provided with a deep freezer, a refrigerator, a boiler and other equipment needed for the sale of milk to schoolchildren and parents.

Each school is expected to receive a capital investment of Rs. 200,000 from the co-operative fund, under this programme.

Conserving archaeological treasures

Sri Lanka boasts a rich culture and heritage and the thousands of monuments of archaeological interest found

 in different parts of the country are ample proof of this. But sadly, most of these monuments have been neglected over time and some have been completely destroyed.

But for those that could still be salvaged, there's still hope left. 'Uruma Aruna', which is a project of the Archaeological Department, eyes the conservation of 10,000 archaeological monuments. The project is to be carried out under the instructions of the National Heritage Ministry and will be implemented under five stages within a period of five years.

An important part of this project will be preparing the priority list for the conservation. The project has already been implemented at the regional level.

The research report for the conservation of the 441 artifacts in 250 locations of the Western Province and 1,851 monuments in 451 locations of the Central Province has already been completed.

Conservation will begin in the first quarter of next year.

Providing textbooks to students

A sum of Rs. 1,890 million has been allocated by the government for the printing and distribution of free school textbooks required for the year 2008. Arrangements are being made by authorities to have them sent to schools within the next two months.

The government has requested all zonal educational authorities to forward their textbook requirements so that they could make the necessary arrangements to provide adequate stocks of textbooks to all schools.

Every effort is being made to provide textbooks to schools on time. Some of the lapses that had occurred in the distribution process had already been rectified, cutting down the delays in handing over textbooks to students.

Upright walking may have started on trees

Tree-dwelling apes may have been the first to begin walking on two legs, a new study by British researchers say. This questions the current theory that more recent human ancestors were the first bipeds.

The study, published in the US journal Science says apes may have walked on two feet with support from their arms to traverse (travel) thin branches to collect food.

"If we're right, it means you can't rely on bipedalism to tell whether you're looking at a human or other ape ancestor," Robin Crompton of the University of Liverpool, one of the authors, said. "It's been getting more and more difficult for us to say what's a human and what's an ape, and our work makes that much more the case."

Crompton and colleagues of the University of Birmingham observed wild orangutans in Sumatra, Indonesia for their study. Thorpe spent a year living in the rainforest. Looking at 3,000 examples of orangutan movement, the team found they were more likely to walk upright, with the help of their arms, on thin branches.

They tended to walk on all fours only on the largest branches, the researchers said. They decided to observe orangutans because they spend their lives in trees and could serve as models for how human ancestors moved millions of years ago.

AFP

Better life for gypsies

You would have seen and met members of the gypsy community at some point. They are basically people that

 don't have fixed abodes and wander from place to place, doing things such as telling fortunes and staging animal performances.

Gypsies live, not only in Sri Lanka, but in other countries as well, especially in places such as Romania.

Gypsies including those in Sri Lanka face much hardship and harassment as the public has no respect for them. They are marginalised communities in society with not even the basic facilities being provided to them. They are also a tribe that is on the path to extinction.

Now, on a concept of the Social Services and Social Welfare Ministry, a special programme is to be initiated to upgrade the living standards of the local gypsy community.

The programme is to be launched with a cultural festival based on the lives of this community, to be staged at Kekirawa. The programme will be sponsored by the International Social Services Organisation.

Essay competition

The Sri Lanka-Thailand Society in association with the Royal Thai Embassy will hold an essay competition in the English medium to mark the 80th birthday of the King of Thailand and the 10th anniversary of the Sri Lanka - Thailand Society.

The competition on the theme 'Cultural Heritage of Sri Lanka and Thailand' is being conducted for schoolchildren under two age groups - 10-15 years and 15-20 years. The competition has been approved by the Education Ministry.

The essays should be between 1,200 and 1,500 words. The completed essays should be sent by registered post through the heads of schools (age and name of student should be certified) to: Upali S. Jayasekera, Hony. Secretary, Sri Lanka-Thailand Society, P 7, Government Flats, Bambalapitiya, Colombo 4. The closing date is August 24.

The students coming first, second and third will receive cash prizes of Rs. 25,000, Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 10,000 respectively, trophies and certificates.

The winner will also be presented with a computer by the Royal Thai Embassy. The schools of the two winners will also receive trophies while 12 others from each age group will receive merit certificates.

The winners will be notified by the end of August and the awards presentation will take place on September 14 at the Thai Residence, No. 10, Sir Ernest de Silva Mawatha, Colombo 7.