Mobile distribution of textbooks

The Educational Publications Department of the Ministry of Education has organised mobile services throughout the country to distribute school textbooks. The first of these mobile services was held at the Zonal Education Office, Mawanella recently.

The service has been started as a solution to the problem of textbooks shortage in schools throughout the country. There were many reports throughout last year that students, especially in remote areas, hadn’t got all their textbooks and that many had to share books with colleagues.

This year, the Educational Publications Department has started this service to ensure that every student receives his/her textbooks at the beginning of the first school term itself.

Before commencing the mobile service, the Department distributed the required number of textbooks to Divisional Educational offices through the relevant Zonal Education offices. However, the Department had been requested for more textbooks by several principals.

Now, principals wouldn’t have to call over at the Educational Publications Department in Colombo for book requirements, spending time and money, as the mobile service would reach every Educational Zone.

Celebrate your mother language

Did you know that thousands of languages are spoken by different people in our world? In India alone, close to 200 languages are used. This diversity of language is celebrated on February 21, when the world observes 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.

Languages are at the heart of UNESCO’s objectives and are powerful instruments of preserving and developing the heritage of a country.

It hopes that the moves to promote dissemination of mother tongues will encourage linguistic diversity, multi-lingual education, develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.

The 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.

Pinnawala Zoo to open in December

Through the Junior Observer, we have already updated you on Sri Lanka’s second zoological garden which is to come up in Pinnawala. Now there’s news that this zoo, which is being constructed on a 53-acre land, is due to open in December.

It is expected to be completed in two stages by the Sports and Public Recreation Ministry. The project is estimated to cost around Rs. 2,500 million. Most animals are expected to be brought in from the jungles of India and Africa.

The Pinnawala zoo would be organised as four zones including the Sri Lankan Zone and Foreign Zone.

In the Sri Lankan Zone, different species of endemic reptiles, birds, elephants and various other animals would be displayed, while in the foreign zone, animals such as tigers, giraffes, gorillas and species of Indian monkeys would be displayed.

The high point of this zoo would be that it gives an opportunity for local as well as foreign visitors to observe wild animals and birds in their natural habitats.

Another novel element would be ‘Stage’, which would be open to the public as a night safari, and where visitors could view local and foreign nocturnal birds and animals.

Several acres of land have also been allocated to plant over 6,000 species of local and foreign plants. It is assumed that some of these plants have never been seen by local visitors before.

Blue the hue of creativity? Red for detail?

We learn from toddlerhood that red means danger - so should we use red ink for medication warnings? And if blue signals the freedom of open skies, how about brainstorming in a room painted blue?

Maybe so, says new research into how the brain reacts to colours: Red seems to improve attention to detail while blue sparks creativity."People are not aware of this effect at all," marvels lead researcher Juliet Zhu of the University of British Columbia, who studies how environmental cues affect behaviour.

The subconscious effect of colour is a hot area of psychology research, in part because marketers try to use colour to hook us on whatever they're trying to sell.

And the newest research, published by the journal Science, suggests they'd better be careful - because red or blue can spark very different brain reactions depending on the task involved.

The study put college students through a series of cognitive (understanding)tests, most involving computer screens coloured either red or blue.

Both colours could enhance performance, but in very different ways. Students memorised more words when the list was on a red screen, for instance.

Told to think of different uses for a brick, those shown a red screen listed practical things like "build a house" while those who saw blue got more creative with "make a paperweight' and "build a pet scratching post."

When they rated ads, those who saw red backgrounds focused on what to avoid - they liked toothpaste that stressed cavity-fighting over tooth-whitening - while those who saw blue went for the creativity of a camera ad that showed travel images instead of touting the zoom lens.

Because we learn early that red means danger, maybe it's slowing us down in detail-oriented tasks so we can do them better - things like memorising, proof-reading, reading warning labels, concluded Zhu, an assistant marketing professor, and co-author Ravi Mehta.

But people associate blue with sky, freedom, peace, maybe sparking a feeling of exploration that in turn enhances creativity.

"It's really this learned association with these colours that drive these different motivations," Zhu said.If the findings are right, the creativity discovery could be a big advance.

- AP

Filming of Tintin gets under way

Steven Spielberg has begun filming The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, based on the famous comic book reporter. The movie is scheduled to be released across the world in 2011.

Actor Jamie Bell plays the lead role of the bold reporter whose search of a good story leads him into a world of high adventure. Bond star Daniel Craig is cast as the sea pirate Red Rackham, the main villain.

Bell and Craig are joined by an international cast that includes Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Gad Elmaleh, Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook in the joint venture by Parmount Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

The screenplay by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish is being produced by Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy. The iconic character created by Georges Remi, better known by his pen-name “Herge” has been embraced by readers of all ages.

- PTI

Birth and death anniversaries from February 15-21

February 15

* Galileo Galilei, physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and the inventor of the astronomical telescope, was born in 1564.

February 16

* Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, national leader, was born in 1907.

February 17

* Col. Henry Steele Olcott, American Theosophist and leading propagator of Buddhism, died at Adyar, Madras in 1907.
* W. B. Makuloluwa, Sinhala musician was born in 1922.

February 18

* Martin Luther, German Reformation leader, died in 1546.

February 19

* Nicholas Copernicus, Polish astronomer, was born in 1473.

February 20

* Robert Peary, American explorer and the first to reach the North Pole, died in 1920.

February 21

* Nikolai Gogal, Russian writer, died in 1852.
* W. H. Auden, English poet, was born in 1907.
* Robert Mugabe, the first and current President of Zimbabwe, was born in 1924.

Special events which took place in history, from February 15-21

February 15

* The Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation was inaugurated in 1982.

February 16

* The Royal Botanical Gardens of Peradeniya was instituted in 1822.

February 17

* Kosovo was declared as an independent state in 2008.

February 18

* Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, the last king of Kandy, was captured by the British at Bomure in 1815.

* The Laxpana hydro-electricity scheme inaugurated in 1940.

February 19

* The first open air theatre at the Viharamaha Devi Park opened in 1961.
* Mrs. Chandra Ranaraja became the first woman mayor in Sri Lanka in 1990.
* National Transport Day

February 20

* Double-decker buses were brought to Colombo for the first time in 1946.

February 21

* Egypt became an independent state in 1922.