Why English is superior to other languages
There has been a raging debate for some time now in the Sri Lanka print media on the use of English as language among sport personnel. This was begun after some opinions were expressed in the media relating to the press interview of Sri Lanka’s new cricket star Ajantha Mendis at the end of the Asia Cup. He used an interpreter to express his views, which was very rational and mature way to conduct the proceedings when the medium he was forced to communicate was not familiar to him.
In my view, his course of action is commendable to many other people who insist on speaking in a language in which they are not comfortable or skilled in. What is ridiculous is somebody struggling and stuttering in a language with which he is not conversant and thereby confusing his intentions.
The complex position of speaking in English is unique to Sri Lanka, specifically for the Sinhala-speaking people. People speaking in languages other than their mother tongues are as old as civilization itself. At different times in different geographical areas, different languages had taken pride of place as the prevailing lingua franca. At one time, it was Greek or Latin in Europe and Sanskrit and Persian in Southern Asia. Arabic is the common currency in the Arab world even today.
When necessity demands the use of a particular language through force of circumstances, in trade and commerce over a wide area, it becomes the link language or lingua franca. It is not out of a preference for a particular language from an emotional point of view, but because of its utility value over that area. Thus you either use it for your own advantage or lag behind the rest of the world.
A common argument people bring against Sri Lanka using English language at home for commercial and other purposes as well as on the international stage is to point out that in the case of Japan and China, they stick to their mother tongue on all occasions.
What we fail to notice is that these two languages have gained such status quo as they each have a large population and have been engaged in considerable foreign trade for some time. That has given those languages an aura of dominance though nowhere near the ubiquitous English language, which may be considered the world’s link language by its use by the international community. To put Sinhala on such a pedestal is sheer tomfoolery, if not downright idiotic.
In Sri Lanka in this post-colonial milieu, English should be a tool for communication skills. It should not enjoy celebrity status or invest those who speak in English with an aura of distinctiveness.
However, unfortunately among Sri Lankans, English is used as a tool or weapon to add value to social status in the same manner as wealth, attire, power, etc.
As it as been aptly termed the ‘Kaduwa’ or sword to keep at bay the perceived hoi polloi by striking them down when they become a threat. That is a flawed view of the use of the English language.
Of course, there is a historical bearing for our use of the English language. It was bequeathed to us by our British colonial masters. But what a happy coincidence it was English, not Portuguese, Dutch or French. They may be international languages, but English opens a readymade wide vista on the world - be it the humanities, commerce, science, math or technology.
That is an argument difficult to counter.
Wilfred Fernando
The Island, News Paper
Monday, August 18, 2008
Why English is superior to other languages
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Take care of our cascading beauties
Take care of our cascading beauties | |
By Malaka Rodrigo - The Sunday Times | |
“Sri Lanka has perhaps the largest number of waterfalls of any country in the world in comparison to its size,” said Prof. Mahinda Rupasinghe, head of the Natural Resources Department at the Sabaragamuwa University highlighting the importance of another natural asset Sri Lanka is blessed with. But visit any waterfall and you will be dismayed by how this natural beauty is tarnished by visitor misbehaviour.
This and other reasons are why a group of enthusiasts have banded themselves together as the Sri Lanka Waterfall Council and are now working to protect waterfalls by promoting, what they call, a waterfall observation culture in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is indeed blessed with nearly 400 waterfalls, the heighest being Bambarakanda with a height of 241 metres. There are 100 waterfalls that are over 5-10 metres according to the studies, but to date, only few waterfalls have been officially measured by the Survey Department. Big or small, all waterfalls perform an important task. To protect them, it is necessary to identify where waterfalls are located. “That is why the Sri Lanka Waterfall Council started recording the waterfalls spread across Sri Lanka as the first step,” President of the Waterfall Council Anura Nellugolla told The Sunday Times. To date they have recorded 382 waterfalls across the country. Most of these waterfalls are properly documented for the first time and Mr. Nellugolla fears there may have been many small waterfalls that have dried up unnoticed. The Waterfall Council believes there may be at least 50 more unexplored waterfalls in the country. The threats to waterfalls are many. Forest cover clearance, gem mining on river beds, sand mining and damming the waterfalls are among the reasons for the thinning of the veils of water. Visitor misbehaviour is another problem. “Bopath Ella” is probably the most affected in the country. “The decline of fresh water fish is an indicator of the pollution of Bopath Ella,” said environmentalist Jagath Gunawardene who has witnessed the degradation of the Bopath Ella environs where visitors throw garbage into the water and disturb the habitat causing damage to the fragile waterfall ecosystems. The Sri Lanka Waterfall Council’ has already published several books illustrating the waterfalls in Sinharaja, Knuckles and even in Colombo. The council also organizes study tours to many waterfalls under the guidance of experts. Those interested could contact the Waterfall Council - email waterfalls@sltnet.lk or phone 0115648151. For more information, visit http://srilankanwaterfalls.info/. |
Another Sinhala newspaper launched -- Lankaloka ' The first Sinhala newspaper
| Another Sinhala newspaper launched | ||||
Gaveshaka records significant events in August after Independence The Sunday Times | ||||
The history of Sinhala newspaper history dates back to 1860. 'Lankaloka' has been recorded as the first Sinhala newspaper. Not much is known about the paper. A hundred years later, a new Sinhala newspaper was born on August 14, 1961. That was 'Dawasa' published by M. D. Gunasena & Company – well known in book publishing at the time. The new company established to publish the newspaper was the Independent Newspapers Ltd.
The idea of a new Sinhala newspaper was born in the mind of D. B. Dhanapala, who had by then established a name for himself as a most dynamic journalist. Having had a stint in the 'Daily News' as a writer, he was instrumental in promoting the Times of Ceylon group to start a Sinhala newspaper to compete with the only other daily Sinhala newspaper, 'Dinamina' published by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd (ANCL) popularly known as Lake House. (Started on December 17, 1909, 'Dinamina' was bought up by ANCL founder D. R. Wijewardene in 1919). Dhanapala succeeded in giving new vigour to Sinhala journalism with his innovative thinking through the 'Lankadipa' launched on October 29, 1947. While Dhanapala did the planning, the well-known scholar Julius de Lanerolle was editor. Dhanapala took over the editorship in 1949. After resigning from the Times group, Dhanapala was keen to start yet another Sinhala newspaper and approached several businessmen. Though a Sinhala weekly was started ('Divaina' was its name) it did not last long. Sepala Gunasena, a director of M. D. Gunasena & Company showed interest and thus was begun the third newspaper company in the country – the Independent Newspapers group. 'Dawasa' was its first publication. It was soon followed by a Sinhala weekly, the 'Rividina' on August 20, 1960. (Its name was changed to 'Riviresa' in January 1963). An evening weekly 'Sawasa' was also begun the same year. Dhanapala again succeeded in giving the Sinhalese reader a newspaper with a difference. A new look was given in the presentation of news, features and photographs. 'Dawasa' soon became popular with the readers who accepted the newspaper as one with independent views devoted to voicing the aspirations of the people. The new company continued to break new ground and within six years had 16 regular publications to its credit. These included two English newspapers – 'Sun,' a daily and 'Weekend,' released on Sunday. Early days of English newspapers By the time the first Sinhala newspaper appeared in 1860, several English newspapers had been published in Sri Lanka. The 'Colombo Journal' (1832) was the first to be launched when Robert Wilmot Horton was the Governor. It was followed by the 'Observer and Commercial Advertiser (1834). The 'Ceylon Chronicle' was the next launched in May 1837, with the ' Ceylon Herald' starting publication in September 1838. These newspapers were short-lived as was the 'Ceylon Advertiser and General Intelligencer' which lasted just eight months – September 1845 to April 1846. A few European merchants started the 'Examiner' (January 1846) which, after several changes in ownership, passed on to a syndicate of Ceylonese lawyers and its name changed to 'Ceylon Examiner.' It was recognised as the organ of the Ceylonese and had considerable influence on the Government and the bureaucracy. It was also regarded as the first English newspaper in the country that gave something to its readers other than commercial and administrative news. 'Ceylon Times' came into being in July 1846, to further the interest of the mercantile community. It became the 'Times of Ceylon' as an evening daily in 1883. The 'Ceylon Independent'(July 1888) claimed to be the paper with the largest circulation. It was selling 3,270 copies. It continued to be published for fifty years till 1937. The 'Ceylon Standard' was started in January 1898, which continued until 1907. While these newspapers were being published in Colombo, several newspapers appeared in the outstations. The oldest newspaper outside Colombo was the 'Ceylon Freeman' founded in Jaffna in 1862. Two more weekly papers were started in Jaffna – the 'Ceylon Patriot' (1863) and the 'Catholic Guardian' (1876). In Kandy, the 'Kandy Herald' was started in 1868, but was in existence for just over a year. |
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Friday's remote solar eclipse will be on Internet
Friday's remote solar eclipse will be on Internet
By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer Mon Jul 28, 5:16 PM ET
WASHINGTON - A total solar eclipse will darken some of Earth's skies on Friday, but geography, weather, the economy and even the Olympics are combining to make it a hard and expensive for people to see it.
The total blotting out of the sun, which occurs when the moon's dark inner shadow falls on parts of the Earth, can only be seen in mostly remote places: the northeastern edge of Canada, the tip of Greenland, parts of Russia, China and Mongolia, including the famed Gobi desert. For those who can't be there, it will be shown live on the Internet.
Some of the areas where the eclipse will last the longest — including parts of the Arctic — have a 75 percent chance of bad weather that will make it tough to see. This eclipse at its peak will last for 2 minutes and 27 seconds.
Yet eclipse chasers can't wait for the sky to darken, animals to howl and people to stare in awe.
"It's so rare and unusual, it's unfortunate to pass up any chance," said NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak, who has been chasing eclipses since 1970 and has his own Mr. Eclipse Web site and a NASA solar eclipse Web site. Espenak will be in northern China to watch the eclipse with a tour group.
The Olympics, which start a week later in Beijing, are making it expensive and difficult to get plane tickets and hotel rooms, Espenak said. And the world's economy and fuel prices are making it even tougher, so fewer people are going, said Richard Fienberg, editor emeritus of Sky and Telescope magazine and spokesman for the American Astronomical Society.
Past eclipse tours cost around $1,000 to $2,000, but many of the China tours are $3,000 to $6,000, plus airfare. To join Fienberg on a Russian icebreaker that includes a North Pole stop costs about $23,000.
There is a a cut-rate closer to home option.
"The northeastern part of Maine will see a little bit of this eclipse right at sunrise," Espenak said.
And the eclipse can also be seen remotely. Museums, such as the Exploratorium in San Francisco, will have eclipse events. NASA, the Exploratorium and others will broadcast the eclipse live on the Internet. It reaches its peak at 7:09 a.m. EDT.
Next year's total solar eclipse — July 22, 2009 — will be more southern and last the longest of the 21st Century: 6 minutes, 39 seconds. But it will be during monsoon season and can be seen, only if the weather cooperates, in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, China and the Pacific Ocean.
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On the Net
NASA's 2008 solar eclipse web site: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/TSE2008/TSE2008.html
Monday, July 28, 2008
Ancient Rituals in sri Lanka‘Gam Maduwa
Ancient Rituals in sri Lanka‘Gam Maduwa’
As the name suggests, a ‘gam maduwa’ is a village affair. It is performed in a temporary shed erected for the occasion. It is of special interest to the farmers, for whom a ‘gam maduwa’ would bring in blessings of the gods for success in their agricultural activities. Others too believe that it would bring a lot of good to the village. It falls into the category of rituals known as ‘shanti 
The Sri Lankan village is very much connected with agriculture. Thus folk rituals centre round customs, traditions, beliefs and other practices related to agriculture. The first portion of the harvest is offered to the gods and rice is used to offer alms thanking the gods and asking them for the protection of the next crop. Boiling of milk is also another way of hoping for a bountiful harvest.
The shed or hall built as the ‘maduwa’ is generally around 60 feet in length and 20 feet in width. It is gaily decorated with ‘gokkola’. A pandal adorns the entrance to the ‘maduwa’. Hung on it are different kinds of fruit. The erection of the hall begins at an auspicious time when a vow is made to the gods promising to have the ‘gam maduwa’ on a specific date.
The central figure in the ‘gam maduwa’ is goddess Pattini whose symbolic emblem is kept on a special dais in the centre. In front is the ‘mal asanaya’ where flowers are offered with paintings of the goddess on either side.
During the nightlong ceremony verses invoking the blessings mentioning these gods are sung and numerous forms of traditional dances are performed to the accompaniment of drums.
The ‘pandam paliya’ or the torch dance is of significance where the torches keep burning throughout the night. ‘Bali’ is a less elaborate form of ritual than ‘gam maduwa’ and is basically a sacrifice to the deities. It is closely related with astrology and often a ‘bali’ ceremony is held when someone is having a bad time or is suffering from a serious illness. ‘The bali adura’ officiates using a whole heap of paraphernalia including ‘pol mal’ (coconut flowers), ‘puwak mal’ (arecanut flowers), stems of plantain trees, flowers of at least five different colours, betel, coconuts and lime. Although a ‘bali’ ceremony is held for an individual or a family, sometimes it is also planned to bless a whole village. Lots of chants are recited while offering many types of food to deities, spirits and demons. These are all done with the hope of getting some favours. It may be an appeal to cure an illness or to improve a business, which had collapsed.
The ‘bali’ ceremony begins in late evening in a specially decorated pavilion where images of deities and others are exhibited. If it is held to cure a sick person, he or she will sit or lie down in a corner. A cock is generally kept tied to an image. Dancing, chanting and drumming continue throughout the night and towards the end there is frantic dancing by the ‘bali adura’ or chief official who falls flat on the ground as the climax is reached. His assistant would quickly get near him with an ash pumpkin, which is kept on his chest and cut in two. The departure of the evil spirit is marked by the somewhat rash behaviour of the ‘adura’ who runs about pulling down the decorations and other stuff. The breaking up a branch signals the end of the whole episode. The ‘aturaya’ then leaves quite exhausted yet with the fervent hope that he would be cured.
Pics and text from Internet
---------http://www.lakbimanews.lk/education/edu2.htm
The versatile jackfruit
The versatile jackfruit
The mulberry family contains about sixty general and over 1,500 species of trees and shrubs, found mainly in the tropics. However, only a few, including the fig and mulberry, are used as fruit. Others, including the breadfruit, jackfruit, and champedak are used both as a fruit and as a vegetable. The jackfruit is thought to be native to the rainforests of India, spreading to Sri 
Jackfruit family
Cultivation of the fruit has taken place in India since ancient times, as well as in Southeast Asia, Africa, and tropical regions of America and Australia. The jackfruit is one of the largest fruits grown in tropical Asia. It is often three feet long, twenty inches in diameter, and may weigh over ninety pounds; although they usually average about forty-five pounds. Next to the pumpkin, jackfruit is the largest fruit in the world. A general distinction is made between soft jackfruits, which can be broken open with the hands, and the hard ones which require a knife to open them. Strangely, it is the latter that is preferred, but there are many varieties that do not fall into either category. Some believe that the best variety of all is the peniwaraka (honey jak) from Sri Lanka.
The jackfruit is the largest of all tree-borne fruits, but is really a collection of fruits which fuse together as does another relative, the fig. These large, irregularly shaped oval fruits grow directly from the trunk of the tree on a short stem. Considered to be a composite fruit, it has a structure similar to that of a pineapple, but not as tidy, with sections clustered in irregular clumps and covered with spikes. When the jackfruit is ready to eat, the skin will be stretched out enough for each of the spikes to stand clear of one another. Although the smell of the fresh fruit has a disagreeable musty odour, the flesh inside has an aroma of pineapples and bananas. Inside the fruit and under its green shell are a number of fruit compartments or segments arranged like a wheel. Each fruit contains a few, or upto 500, large starchy edible seeds, which are sometimes called breadnuts, although the true breadnut belongs to a different species. It is the chempedak that is usually the source of the true “breadnuts”. When the fruits are cut crosswise, the individual segments are easier to remove. The fibrous covering can then be carefully peeled from each segment to expose the smooth yellow flesh. The seeds are then removed from each segment.
The jackfruit is very large in size - about 30 to 40 inches in length and 12 to 20 inches in diameter. Only about 30% of the fruit is edible. The fruit has a green to brownish yellow rind and it has numerous small spines in its skin. Edible, very tasty, sweet yellow bulbs are embedded in fibrous interior. It has one and a half to two inch long and 3/4 inch thick seeds.
Courtesy dailyfruits.blogspot.com
FACT BOX
Nutritional Value
Very good source of potassium and vitamin C.
Health Benefits
Jackfruit is rich in potassium which may help to regulate blood pressure.
Varieties
India is the leading jackfruit producing nation. Black Gold(Australia) Cheena (Australia), Cochin (Australia), Dang Rasimi (Thailand), Gold Nugget (Australia), J-30 (Malaysia) and J-31 (Malaysia) are some cultivars available in the US.
Botanical Facts
Jackfruit is an evergreen, 30 to 70 ft tall tree. Humid tropical and near tropical climates are well suited for jackfruit.
Select and Store
Ripe jackfruits are very fragrant. The fruit colour changes from green to yellowish brown when ripe. To remove fruit bulbs, apply cooking oil on hands and utensils to free from gummy latex.
>>> >Make a reality of SAARC
Make a reality of SAARC
By K. Godage
www.nation.lk
The 15th SAARC Summit is taking on the proportions of an MGM production. Let us all hope that President Rajapaksa and his advisors undertake a reality check and use this opportunity for him to go down in history as the SAARC Chairman who transformed the organisation from a pious talk shop that does not comply with conventions and agreements, creating an organisation which has meaning for the people of South Asia, as was conceived at its inception.
It was way back in 1980 that the idea of regional cooperation between the countries of South Asia was conceived. Thereafter, in 1981, consultations were held in Colombo by the foreign secretaries of the seven countries. This meeting was followed by the first meeting of foreign ministers, who met in Delhi in 1983 and adopted the Declaration on South Asian Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
They also launched the Integrated Programme of Action, which covered five areas for cooperation. The five areas for cooperation they agreed upon were agriculture, health, meteorology, telecommunications and rural development. The first meeting at heads of state level was held in December 1985.
It was at this summit that the SAARC Charter was formally adopted. Twenty-two years have elapsed since then and 14 times, the heads of state have met and it is perhaps pertinent to even briefly examine what has been achieved in terms of the objectives the leaders set for themselves and for SAARC.
The principal objectives they set for themselves and for SAARC were as follows:
1. To promote economic, social and cultural development of our peoples and to improve the quality of their lives.
2. To promote collaboration in economic, social, cultural technical and scientific fields.
3. To promote mutual trust and understanding among the peoples of South Asia.
4. To promote collaboration among themselves in international forums in matters of common interest.
5. To promote and strengthen collective self reliance among the countries of South Asia.
It had also been decided that all SAARC decisions be arrived at by consensus and, most important of all, that bilateral and contentious issues would be excluded from the deliberations of SAARC.
Institutional set-up
The institutional set-up established (no doubt the work of the foreign secretaries) could not have been bettered. It was comprehensive in terms of achieving the goals the leaders had set for our countries. They were as follows:
The highest authority of the association would rest with the heads of state, as with ASEAN and the EU. There was to be a Council of Ministers who would be responsible for the formulation of policies, reviewing progress and deciding on new areas of progress. The Council was expected to meet twice a year.
The next important institution was to be the Standing Committee, comprising foreign secretaries of the member states. Their responsibility was to monitor and coordinate programmes. It was to meet as often as was deemed necessary and to report to the Council of Ministers.
Seven Technical Committees were also established in terms of the work involved with regard to the ‘Integrated Programme of Action,’ which was launched at the first meeting of the foreign ministers, which was held in Delhi in 1983. It was also decided to establish the following Regional Centres, with each such centre to be managed by a Governing Board;
1. Regional Agricultural Information Centre
2. SAARC Documentation Centre
3. SAARC Human Resources Development Centre
4. SAARC Tuberculosis Prevention Centre
5. SAARCC Meteorological Research Centre
All important committee
An all important committee to institutionalise regional economic cooperation was established. This Committee on Economic Cooperation was to comprise of the secretaries of commerce and trade of the member states. The task of this Committee was to strengthen and enhance inter-governmental cooperation in the fields of trade and economic relations.
From this Committee emerged the SAARC Preferential Trade initiative, or the SAPTA. The framework agreement was signed at the Dhaka Summit and came into operation in 1983. I am reliably informed that hardly any worthwhile progress has been made due to the huge differences in the levels of economic and industrial development of the member states.
Despite the lack of progress in SAPTA it was decided at the 10th summit in Colombo in 1998 to set up a committee to draft a comprehensive treaty to create a free trade area within the region. Quite ambitious indeed!
It has also been proposed by the Standing Committee to adopt an Agreement on the Promotion and Protection of Investment in the region, a most laudable initiative to promote confidence, which is vital if foreign direct investment of any significant magnitude is to take place.
Valuable initiatives
A number of other similar valuable initiatives we also taken, such as the need to support the enhancement of the financial systems of SAARC countries through building institutional capacity and the need to establish a network of researchers on global, financial and economic issues and developments, to help analyse and assist member states of SAARC to face global financial and economic developments.
If this network is indeed functioning, it should prove a boon to the member states. That would be one of the few positive achievements of SAARC. The only other two initiatives worthy of mention to my mind are the Social Charter and the Poverty Alleviation project.
It had been decided at the 10th Summit held in Colombo to establish a ‘Social Charter’ for the SAARC countries to accelerate social progress and promote active collaboration among member states. The securing of the rights of women and children has been the foremost consideration and has received the highest priority.
Much useful work appears to have been done by Technical Committee on ‘Women in Development.’ The Committee has been concerned with the trafficking of women and children within and between countries and member countries have signed a Regional Convention on Combating the Crime of Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution when they met at Kathmandu in January 2002, but as to whether domestic legislation has been enacted by all member states in line with this Convention is not known.
Though the development and well-being of children within our countries has been considered a priority area for SAARC and has been on the agenda at a number of ministerial meetings and an MoU has been signed with UNICEF, it is doubtful as to whether our countries have been implementing the decision of the ministers or acting in terms of the MoU.
Elimination of poverty
The other important SAARC initiative was one championed by President Premadasa, at the sixth SAARC Summit in Colombo in 1991, namely the elimination of poverty. It had been decided to establish an independent South Asia Commission on Poverty Alleviation.
The Summits that followed welcomed the initiative and expressed their commitment to eradicate poverty in South Asia through an agenda of action which would include a strategy for social mobilisation, a policy of decentralised agricultural development, village awakening (Gam Udawa), small-scale labour intensive industrialisation and last but not least, human development.
After the passing away of President Premadasa, it appeared that only lip service was being paid to the programme by member states; the Poverty Alleviation programme is now apparently being implemented by the UNDP. Any national poverty alleviation programmes don’t appear to be in operation.
SAARC has also a number of agreements which our countries have entered into but as to whether these agreements have had impact on the peoples of our countries is another matter; among them is the Food Security Reserve.
It was decided to establish the Food Security Reserve in 1987 and agreements were signed but I doubt whether it is in existence today. The Regional Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism was signed in 1987 and has been ratified by all member states but as to whether the member states are abiding by its commitments is another matter.
Meanwhile, I understand that a ‘Comprehensive Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism’ is being contemplated! There is also a Convention on Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and the Conventions referred to earlier, relating to women and children. All this is, no doubt, an impressive record on paper but as to whether these Conventions are being implemented is another matter.
Talk shop?
The question today is whether SAARC is a mere talk shop which has provided officials, ministers and heads of state an opportunity to gather every year and exchange pleasantries. After 22 and 14 Summits, I do believe the peoples of our countries have a right to demand an audit and take remedial action to make the regional association meaningful to the people.
It has been pointed out by no less a person than our present President that the asymmetry within SAARC has not been helpful. President Rajapaksa’s description of South Asia was as follows: “A region of contrasts with significant disparities in gross domestic product, income levels, national resources and population.”
Yes, India’s towering presence is seen by some countries as a threat, but then as Professor G.L. Peiris recently stated, India can do nothing about its size, resources and population. He stated that this should be seen more as an opportunity than a threat.
Most unfortunately, this threat perception exists in the minds of many as would be seen from recent statements by the JVP, which has accused India of seeking to make Lanka a state of India. There is nothing that can be done about that, other than perhaps for India to include the Gujral Doctrine in its constitution.
The Gujral Doctrine
For the sake of record, permit me to set out the five cardinal principles of the Gujral Doctrine. In the words of Gujral himself, “India does not seek reciprocity but gives all that it can in good faith and trust. Second, no South Asian country should allow the use of its territory against the interest of a fellow country in the region. Third, that all of us in South Asia must respect each others’ territorial integrity and sovereignty. And finally, we should settle all disputes through peaceful bilateral negotiations.”
These were the five principles of the Gujral Doctrine. As he himself stated, “These five principles, if scrupulously adhered to, are bound to achieve a fundamental recasting of the regional relationships, including, I venture to state, a radical change in the tormented relationship between India and Pakistan, in a friendly and cooperative mould.”
Most unfortunately for the countries of South Asia, this doctrine was abandoned after Gujral left office. I venture to state that had the Gujral principles been followed by India, SAARC would have today been more than a reality, for India would then never have been perceived as a threat, but as an opportunity.
Considering SAARC’s tremendous potential, India, which is bigger in every respect than the rest of us put together, has indeed a role and a responsibility to move SAARC forward.
From the record set out above, it would be seen that though SAARC has an impressive record of ‘achievements’ on paper, it has had little impact on the people of South Asian countries, unlike ASEAN or the EU.
Lack of progress
The lack of any serious commitment to cooperate, even on the vital issue of terrorism, despite the much touted SAARC Convention on Terrorism, arms smuggling, the narcotics trade, human smuggling, and money laundering is evidence of a lack of real progress.
My colleague Ambassador Rodrigo has in a speech recently referred to the fact that South Asia as a region cannot develop in isolation, particularly in a globalised world. As a regional grouping, we need not only to endeavour to reach common positions on global issues commonly affecting us, but also to reach out and open up to the rest of Asia and the world beyond.
Therefore, inviting countries such as Japan, China, the US and the EU as Observers is indeed a step in the right direction. Let us hope that at least these ‘Observer Countries’ would be able to assist us to make a reality of regional cooperation and make a success of SAARC.
------------- http://www.nation.lk/2008/07/27/newsfe3.htm
“The Anaconda of Ceylon”: Derivations and the myths
“The Anaconda of Ceylon”: Derivations and the myths | ||
| By Richard Boyle -- The Sunday Times | ||
Since the birth of the 20 anacondas at the Dehiwela Zoo there has been an extraordinary flow of newspaper reports on the subject. With it has come references to the possible derivation of the name anaconda from the Sinhala henakandaya — garnered from Webster’s and elsewhere - but no proper explanation. Readers with good memories may remember I wrote an extended article on the subject published in The Sunday Times of June 25, and July 2 & 9, 2000, and those who possess my book Sindbad in Serendib (2008) will have access to that article in chapter-form. The first reference to the name anaconda in English is by R. Edwin (probably a pseudonym) in a letter to the Scots magazine concerning an encounter with a tiger-devouring serpent in then Dutch-held Ceylon. This was published in the 1768 issue under the discursive heading, “Description of the ANACONDA, a monstrous species of serpent. In a letter from an English gentleman, many years resident in the island of Ceylon, in the East Indies.” (See Sindbad in Serendib for the contents of this fascinating letter.)
The incident recounted, which occurs on the outskirts of Colombo, is a figment of the imagination, full of the popular misconceptions regarding constrictors in an age of limited scientific knowledge of snakes. There is, for instance, the supposed ability to hang from high branches by the tail, first disseminated by Pliny many centuries earlier when describing African pythons. Then there is the anchorage of the tail to the trunk of a tree during constriction and eating. Many writers of the time state such anchorage is a prerequisite for constriction or consumption of prey. This is not generally the case, although I’m told pythons occasionally exhibit such behaviour. Edwin’s most imaginative description is how the snake drags the tiger to a tree and then proceeds to wind itself round both its victim and the tree in order to crush the victim’s bones. The loud cracking of bones during constriction is another common misconception, along with the slavering and vacuuming mentioned. Its veracity accepted, Edwin’s account became popular after 1768. Thus the myth of the Anaconda of Ceylon evolved. The 1796 Encyclopaedia Britannica based its entry concerning the anaconda on the account. In 1808 it was reprinted, without crediting Edwin, in the Lady’s Museum Monthly as “An Account of the Anocondo, a Monstrous Serpent in the East Indies, and of the Manner of its Seizing and Managing its Prey”. It was also turned into a short story, “The Anaconda”, by ‘Monk’ Lewis, in Romantic Tales (1808). That the myth of the Anaconda of Ceylon had taken firm root is evident from the works of early and mid-nineteenth century English writers. Robert Percival remarks in An Account of the Island of Ceylon (1803): “I had heard many stories of a monstrous snake, so vast in size as to be able to devour tigers and buffaloes, and so daring as even to attack the elephant. I made every inquiry on the spot concerning this terrible animal, but not one of the natives had ever heard of the monster. Probably these fantastic stories took their rise from an exaggerated account of the rock-snake (python).” James Emerson Tennent writes in Ceylon (1859) of “the great Python, which is supposed to crush the bones of the elephant, and to swallow the tiger”. (The use of the name tiger in relation to Sri Lanka is not in error, for prior to the late-nineteenth century the country’s larger cat species were referred to by this name.) These authors probably knew of Edwin’s account. Others mention the name anaconda in relation to the python. J.W. Bennett, in Ceylon and its Capabilities (1843), gives a list of the Sinhala names of thirty-one snakes found in the island, number twelve being “the Pimbera and Anaconda”. He adds: “The Pimbera or rock snake, is said to be the Anaconda or Anacondia of ancient writers.” (Pimbura is the Sinhala for python, from pimb-, to hiss or blow.) Henry Charles Sirr notes in Ceylon and the Cingalese (1850): “The largest of the serpent tribe in Ceylon is the anaconda (belonging to the genus Python) and is far from being uncommon in the island.” But physically the henakandaya is in complete contrast to the anaconda. It is the colloquial name given to the Brown Vine Snake (Ahaetulla pulverulenta), which grows to a maximum length of five feet and has a very slender body, large eyes, and long snout. An arboreal species, it eats lizards, frogs, toads and similar prey. According to P.E.P. Deraniyagala in A Coloured Atlas of Some of the Vertebrates From Ceylon, Volume Three (1955): “Although the Brown Speckled Whip-snake (Brown Vine Snake) is only mildly venomous, its bite is believed by the Sinhalese to be so virulent that it paralyses victims and causes them to wither up as if struck by lightning.” Hence this snake is known as the henakandaya - a compound of the Sinhala for “lightning” and “stem” or “trunk” (-ya being the masculine nominal termination). Some suggest that “thunderbolt snake” is a fair translation. The most comprehensive entry regarding anaconda is not, as might be expected, in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) or Webster’s. Instead it can be found in the little-known Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases (1886). The compilers, Henry Yule and A.C. Burnell, carried out the initial investigation into the derivation of anaconda. Indeed, most dictionary derivations of the word, especially the one in the OED, have relied almost exclusively on their findings. The opening sentence of the entry for anaconda in Hobson-Jobson sets the tone of any inquiry into the word’s history. “This word is of very obscure origin,” the compilers caution readers. Originally, they supposed the name to be of South American origin. However, a trawl through antiquarian books drew a blank. In South America, with its multifarious languages and dialects, there are many names for the anaconda, the main being sucuriu or sucuriuba. Having disposed of the idea of a South American derivation, Yule and Burnell reveal: “The oldest authority that we have met with, the famous John Ray (referred to as the father of English natural history) distinctly assigns the name, and the serpent to which the name properly belonged, to Ceylon. This occurs in his Synopsis Methodica Animalium Quadrupedum et Serpentini Generis (1693). In this he gives a Catalogue of Indian Serpents from the Leyden Museum (Holland).” The catalogue was transcribed at Leyden by a physician, and Ray reports that No.8 on the list reads in Latin: “Anacondaia Zeylonensibus, id est Bubalorum aliorumque jumentorum membra conterens” - “the anacondaia of the Ceylonese, i.e. he that crushes the limbs of buffaloes and yoke beasts”). Having found no discernible Sinhala connection, Yule and Burnell suggested a Tamil interpretation, “anai-kondra (anaik-konda), ‘which killed an elephant’”. As already discovered, both Percival (1803) and Tennent (1859) claim that pythons overcome not only tigers and buffaloes but elephants as well. Furthermore, in the adventures of Sindbad the Sailor, the King of Serendib entrusts Sindbad with the task of conveying, among other things, an enormous snakeskin of “the serpent that swalloweth the elephant” to the Caliph of Baghdad. During their research, Yule and Burnell discovered that Edwin’s account contained the earliest reference to the word in English. In their entry they put forward a convincing argument regarding the origins of Edwin’s account: “The whole thing is very cleverly told, but it is evidently a romance founded on the description by D. Cleyerus (of a Reticulated Python of the Dutch East Indies) which is quoted by Ray.” It was Donald Ferguson, the Ceylon-based antiquarian researcher, who suggested anaconda was derived from henakandaya. His hypothesis is contained in the Oxford-based Notes and Queries, August 14, 1897, headed “The Derivation of ‘Anaconda’”. In Leyden Museum catalogues of 1697 and 1698 Ferguson found three titles: Hoenacandaja/Hanacandaja/Henacandaja Zeylonensibus”. He comments: “It is evident that the form anacondaia is due to an error” (in transcription by Ray’s helper: a classic example of how research can become derailed). “With the restoration of the initial h, and the correction of hoena- and hana- to hena-, the origin of the word is at once revealed. It is simply henakandaya, the Sinhalese name for the whip-snake (brown vine snake).” The last piece of the puzzle, why the colloquial name for a small vine snake of Sri Lanka was transferred to a large constrictor of South America, is provided by the OED entry. This is the revelation that the French naturalist, François-Marie Daudin, appears to have either wrongly identified a specimen or its source. In naming the large South American water snake Boa anaconda, it seems that he, rather than the Portuguese, was responsible for the transportation of the name across continents during the early years of the nineteenth century. Richard Boyle is the Sri Lankan English consultant to the Oxford English Dictionary |
Mars lander has trouble getting sample in oven
Mars lander has trouble getting sample in oven
PASADENA, Calif. - A sample of icy soil collected by the robotic arm of NASA's Phoenix Mars lander is apparently stuck in its scoop, foiling efforts to analyze it.
The arm picked up 3 cubic centimeters of material Friday night and lifted it over an oven designed to heat samples for analysis, mission officials said Saturday. The arm tilted its scoop, ran a tool motor to try to sprinkle the sample into the oven, and finally inverted the scoop directly over the oven's open doors.
But the science instrument, called the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, detected that not enough material fell inside and so the oven doors did not close.
The lander then transmitted images Saturday morning showing soil stuck in the scoop.
"We believe that the material that was intended for the targeted cell is the material that adhered to the back of the scoop," Phoenix project manager Barry Goldstein, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said in a statement.
A short-circuit occurred weeks ago when shaking was used to try to get a previous sample into another of Phoenix's eight tiny test ovens and there had been concern that the vibrating action might cause a short-circuit again this time, but that did not occur.
"The good news here is TEGA is functioning nominally, and we will adjust our sample drop-off strategy to run this again," Goldstein said.
Mission officials planned to command the lander to take pictures on Sunday to determine if any more of the soil fell out of the scoop later on.
Saturday marked the lander's 60th Martian day, known as a sol, on the Red Planet's northern arctic plain.
The $420 million mission hopes to find out whether the icy Martian soil contains the chemical ingredients necessary for life. The results from the heating test that was carried out several weeks ago showed water vapor and carbon dioxide, but no signs of carbon.
JPL is managing the Phoenix Mars project. The mission is being led by chief scientist Peter Smith of the University of Arizona in Tucson.
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