This Hidden Arctic Chamber Could Be All That Stands Between Human Civilization and Extinction

The seed vault stores life-preserving food crops in the event of world destruction.

By Alexandra Rosenmann -June 29, 2017

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened nearly a decade ago after a year of construction totaling $9 million, paid for by the Norwegian government. Now run by a U.N. body, the vault protects food crops in case of an emergency of cataclysmic proportions.

"In the event that the world destroys itself... through some sort of terrible catastrophe... there is one insurance policy," Vox Borders correspondent Johnny Wharris explained on his tour of Svalbard.

"The seed vault is a place where the world has stored the genetic information of thousands and thousands of plants and crops," he explained. "In some scenario that the world is not able to facilitate the growth of past crops, they will come to the seed vault." 

The seed vault houses 135,000 different genetic deposits.

"[But] it's not just a deposit of seeds," noted Wharris. "It's actually a deposit of genetic information; it's ingredients that scientists could use to engineer new strains of plants, new strains of DNA that could be suitable for whatever state the world's in."

Last fall, the Norwegian government-led organization Statsbygg upgraded the repository after unseasonably high temperatures caused water to leak through its entrance.

“It was not in our plans to think that the permafrost would not be there and that it would experience extreme weather like that,” said Statsbygg spokesperson Hege Njaa Aschim of the additional $4.4 million cost. 

"A lot of water went into the start of the tunnel and then it froze to ice, so it was like a glacier when you went in,” she told the Guardian.

Climate change has forced experts to reevaluate how best to monitor the vault going forward. 

“To be sure, and to take precautions in case something happens, we are [implementing additional security] measures [24 hours a day] now to protect the seeds from anything," Aschim said of the facility, which had been constructed to operate on its own.

"The lesson from this flooding drama," concluded Wharris, "is that as this whole region warms two times faster than the rest of the world, it has these crazy consequences that happen seemingly overnight." 

Painless flu jab patch for people scared of injections

GEORGIA TECH-The patch is a few centimeters in diameter and has tiny, hair-like needles in the centre

ROB FELT/GEORGIA TECH-Most volunteers said the patch was entirely painless

By Michelle Roberts-28 June 2017

A 'painless' sticking plaster flu jab that delivers vaccine into the skin has passed important safety tests in the first trial in people.

The patch has a hundred tiny hair-like microneedles on its adhesive side that penetrate the skin's surface.

It is simple enough for people to stick on themselves.

That should help more people get immunised, including those who are scared of injections, experts told the Lancet journal .

Bye bye injections

Unlike the standard flu jab, it doesn't need to be kept in the fridge, meaning pharmacies could easily stock it on their shelves for people to buy.

Volunteers who tested it said they preferred it to injections.

It offers the same protection as a regular vaccine, but without pain, according to its developers from Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology, who are funded by the US National Institutes of Health.

The patch punctures the uppermost layers of the skin, whereas regular flu injections go all the way through and into muscle.

Lead researcher Prof Mark Prausnitz, who is also part of a company that wants to license the technology, said: "If you zoom in under the microscope what you'll see are microscopically small needles. They puncture painlessly into the skin."

His team tested the patch alongside flu injections. Some of the 100 volunteers got the regular shot in the arm, while others applied the microneedle patch to their wrist for 20 minutes.

Most said using the patch was painless, but some experienced mild side effects - redness, itching and tenderness in the area of skin area where it had been applied. These symptoms got better on their own over days.

Easy to use

Experts say the patch could revolutionise how flu and other vaccines are given, although more clinical tests over the next few years are needed to get the patch system approved for widespread use.

Dr Nadine Rouphael, from Emory University, said: "We could envisage vaccination at home, in the workplace or even via mail distribution."

The patch can be thrown in the bin after it is used because the microneedles dissolve away.

And because it can be safely stored for up to a year without refrigeration, it could prove extremely useful in the developing world.

Experts from Public Health England said it might also be good to use in young children, who tend not to like needles, although the UK has already introduced a nasal spray flu vaccine for them.

John Edmunds, an expert in infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "This study is undoubtedly an important step towards a better way to deliver future vaccines."

Other researchers have also been looking at pain-free skin delivery. A flu shot syringe that uses a microneedle has already been approved for use in the US.

Scientists in Australia have been designing a nanopatch with even smaller needles.

Follow Michelle on Twitter

Certainty of approaching uncertainty

A political muddle looms in 2020

The batting side; 0 for 3, all lbw

The howling, sorry bowling side

by Kumar David-July 1, 2017, 5:24 pm 

Unless one is a head in the sand ostrich it is possible to discern the contours of the emerging 2020 landscape. I am no soothsayer and know predictions go awry, but when a configuration is taking shape one is obliged to sketch it. I am aware that protagonists on both sides will challenge me, alleging I am biased against their side; I have faced this in many conversations. By sides I mean what you may call government supporters of various hues (green, purple, pink), on one side, and on the other Gota-Mahinda, the Joint Opposition (JO), BBS etc. The former include Tamils and Muslims to a man (notwithstanding Wijedasa Rajapaksha a civilian version of Gota) and most Catholics (notwithstanding MR fan Malcolm Ranjith). Instinctively, everyone is hostile to inconvenient truths about their side but upon reflection most people, I think, will concede that what I say is more right than wrong.

At this point in time I see the most likely scenario in 2020 as rather a mess; a stable presidency and a parliamentary working majority for either side seem unlikely. The purpose of this piece is to set up a pendulum which we can recalibrate from time to time. The corner stones of my thesis are grouped into four; the first is Public Perceptions.

Public perceptions

* The big gain of January 8, 2015, the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR), ended rights violations, authoritarianism, white-vans, unhampered abuse of power and corruption. This victory I continue to salute even as I fault the government on other things. This core achievement remains in place.*

* Corruption continues but government supporters say it is not as bad as before. Others ask. "Have we exchanged Basil for Mahendran?" The big picture on corruption seems not as bad.

* Is governance somewhat better? Well not having Mervyn, Namal, Bandula, Wimal and such scoundrels is a blessing. But what the heck, this is a pretty low hurdle!

* Is governance somewhat worse? The government is not in control – strikes, stoppages, doctors shifting from Hippocratic to hypocritical oaths and inciting student mobs. Ranil and Sirisena are seen as a weak-kneed duumvirate, humiliated at every turn, whose writ runs nowhere. The GMOA for one has got Sirisena cringing like a whipped puppy. MR would have imposed an emergency on the health sector by now; I am noting the difference, not making a suggestion.

* [* I may have to eat my words. After this piece was drafted Wijedasa panicked Lakshan Dias into fleeing the country (dbsjeyaraj.com); Gnanasara is running free again; we had the fusillade from Asgiriya].

If you ask me to grade the government on this set of considerations I will give it 50% where 40% is the pass mark. How will the electorate grade it in 2020? I think 40 to 50%.

Constitution and stability

The second group relates to Constitution, Stability and minority concerns.

* Ranil and Sirisena have successfully reached a modus vivendi giving each other space and recognition. The relationship is stable; the effort of the plotters in the Rajapaksa kennel to drive a wedge has come to naught. It is obvious the UNP-SLFP contract will be renewed in December and it is likely that the coalition will run its full parliamentary term as neither dare pull out.

* Nobody knows what will become of the new constitution – nobody includes Ranil and Sirisena! If you are irate at being in the dark, spare a sigh for our dear directionless leaders. Sirisena is foresworn to repeal the executive presidency. What’s holding him back? Why all this talk of options (retain exec pres, semi exec pres, powers and selection PM)? Murky waters run deep. His reluctance to issue firm instructions to ‘Throw out the exec pres’, is, to say the least, curious. Does he harbour residual ambitions for after 2020?

* Primitive provisions on religiosity and language will stay in place. Lanka is culturally too backward for secularism and pluralism. The native hoi-polloi will rejoice and the UNP, SLFP, JO, Dead-Left, JHU, JVP, the entire bunch, will collect votes. This one is a zero sum game.

* Unitary, unified, united, univocal and uniflow verbal gymnastics will be retained to fool the aforesaid hoi-polloi. How about: Sri Lanka will be unitary, unified, devolved and decentralised! My contempt for constipated nationalists and religious quacks shouldn’t surprise you.

We can’t see this early the electorate’s response in 2020 to whatever constitutional jack rabbit is pulled out of the hat. Furthermore there is the dilemma of a constitutional referendum and its outcome. Come hell come high water Tamils and Muslims will shun anything with MR or Gota odour. Politicos in the south will all hedge their bets and play Sinhala-Buddhism, so we can safely conclude the constitution will not be a significant swing factor in moving Sinhalese votes.

Inability to bring villains to justice

The third item is prosecuting and convicting scoundrels, and law and order in general.

* The overwhelming public perception, justifiable or otherwise, is that that this administration has failed to prosecute and punish rogues, abusers and murders of the Rajapaksa era. Come 2020 this will be a damning indictment in the eyes of the electorate. Last minute convictions will leave a taste not of justice but victimisation.

* Law-and-order under the aegis of this administration is judged negatively by the public at large. Police, prosecutors, prison authorities and the machinery of state are seen as ambivalent, disloyal or incompetent. The Joint Opposition has an effective fifth column within the state at large.

The inveterate teacher in me wants to assign a grade to the government on these points. That grade, I am afraid, is Fail. I think the 2020 electorate will concur.

The Economy

The final consideration is the Economy, by far the most important. This is not the place for analysis; that needs a whole essay and I have done it before. What I should do here is to judge to what degree the government’s plusses and minuses on the economy will help or hinder its re-election. However I cannot plunge in without a few comments on policy and absence of policy.

It is clear the government does not have a functional economic orientation. What is less clear, but more important, is why. Think-tanks, business and financial supplements in the press, conventional economists, columnists and bourgeois pundits bray a monologue. Encourage foreign investors, let the private sector lead, offer tax breaks to capital (the rich), export-orient, be coherent, pragmatic, effective, consistent and committed – wow these guys have access to a fine thesaurus. The secret cipher word is reforms, code for easy firing, slashing employment protection, axing welfare, and sinking the share of the economic pie to the less well off. Do these pundits imagine that Ranil’s old style, like themselves, team – Charitha, Eran, Paski, Harsha and two ex-finance ministers – is not committed hook line and sinker to just this? Sure the SLFP Ministers know as much about economics as I know about knitting stockings but this is not the decisive obstacle though some policy U-turns are attributable to conflicts in the political milieu.

The barrier lies elsewhere. Why is traditional economic policy not getting anywhere? That’s the question. It is not working not for want of effort, but due to a negative global and domestic environment. Global capital is reluctant to invest in production not only in Lanka but everywhere, its heartlands as well; the post-2008 syndrome lingers. (Finance capital and e-marketing is a different game). Lanka’s domestic seeni-bola capitalists are not gung-ho about investing in production and employment creating ventures – with a few exceptions. Local capital has no dynamism at this juncture. If the much canvassed tax and anti-labour concessions are granted, the response will be: dunnama kannang, kala duwannang. It is not that capital, foreign and local, is not offered a fair break; it is that for well understood reasons it won’t take it. Liberal-bourgeois economics is in the driving seat but getting nowhere. Does anyone in his right mind imagine that a government with an economic programme further to the right of this UNP-led one will materialise? No way.

There is an alternative to neo-liberalism - a state-led dirigisme strategy mimicking South Korea and Deng. I suspect Ranil sees it but is powerless because the mindset of his team is stuck in the stone-age. (I am puzzled why the two November 2016 planning Bills never saw the light of day in parliament). Increasing exports, disposing of some SOEs, targeting debt and above all increasing output, all this is in everybody’s workbook. How to get it done? State negotiated trade agreements with China, Singapore, and India (ECTA), government underwritten or directed joint-ventures etc. can bring quick results. Technical education and technology parks are imperative for productivity enhancement in the long term.

I must cut this digression into policy-space and get back to my theme. What are the prospects that between now and 2020 the UNP-SLFP alliance will have sufficient economic accomplishments under its belt to persuade the electorate that it deserves a second term? The frank answer is prospects aren’t good. I don’t see much coming to fruition in the next two years.

At the same time it is astounding that the Joint Opposition, Gota-MR and GL’s funny party all have no economic programme whatsoever! This will be forcefully driven into the public mind in 2020.

Love and hate of the Rajapaksas

The government’s strongest suit is that MR and Gota more so, are poison to minorities, liberals, democrats and non-dead leftists. Eighty percent of minorities plus a third of Sinhala-Buddhists is a shade over 45% nationally. On the other side there is a core Sinhala nationalist war-victory inebriated lobby embracing the opposition. Unless the Rajapaksa clan’s butts are firmly parked in the cooler, up to 60% of Sinhala-Buddhists (40% nationally) will stay loyal. This is a ceiling near impossible for the JO to crack since it is denied the use and abuse of state power. Its only hope is a three cornered fight; not impossible.

It seems the 15% swing-voter is king.

My storyline is a projection of visible trends; perhaps a bit linear. The factor I have omitted for want of space is foreign influence, which will, China included, oppose a Gota-MR ticket. Readers, I hope, see a rational thread in the flow of ideas in this essay. It gravitates towards the view that year 2020 will bring uncertainty, possibly a hung parliament, very likely a disoriented president and a muddle. We do live in interesting times, don’t we?

Dangers of unseemly ministerial outbursts to free speech

 

Sunday, July 02, 2017

However much they may genuflect to the concept of free speech, Sri Lanka’s politicians are quite unable to shake off a constitutional dislike of that theory in abrasive practice.

 

Remarkably clever traits of politicians

‘Yahapalanaya’ Ministers appear not to be different to their predecessors in office in that sense, excepting of course the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime (in its second term) which stood in a distinct and crude category of its own. But if one takes those aberrant years out of the equation, the current politicians are certainly as ridiculous in their fury as those of say, the Kumaratunga Government, for instance.

 

By itself, that is little surprise. Many familiar faces cling like limpets to political office through the years regardless of the change of guard in Colombo. Their ability to skillfully switch sides as soon as they get a whiff of the political winds of fortune changing is nothing short of remarkable. It appears to be the one thing that Sri Lankan politicians are really good at. This is true also of relatively new entrants to the political arena whose skills in learning the tricks of the trade from their disreputable elders are pronounced.

 

So our politicians strut and pontificate as if they are the final authorities on any given subject under the sun and woe betide anyone who challenges that authority. This disagreeable trait is evidenced across a range of portfolios, ranging from sports to justice. Last week, this column ventured on a topic rather different to its usual theme, namely the Minister of Sports’ unseemly public outbursts that the paunches of Sri Lanka’s national cricketers were responsible for their poor performances at the game.

 

Crucifying of the outspoken

Even if the kindest interpretation is given to the ministerial outburst and the concerns stated are justifiable, are these questions that should be publicly ventilated? Are these not matters to be resolved internally without demoralizing the national team? In what conceivable scenario can sportsmen or sportswomen play at highly competitive games under the glare of millions when there is such blatant political undermining of their performances?

 

The crucifying of those who are outspoken is not unique to the game of cricket. We see this in other sports, professional fields or public administration. In turn, there is the rise of the grotesquely mediocre whose only skill is in pandering to political whims and fancies. The impact of this gradual deterioration is now being felt. Certainly it will worsen in time to come.

 

Indeed, there is a larger question in issue. Cricketer Lasith Malinga’s punishment for stating that monkeys should not enter the nests of parrots to mess around (impliedly referring to the Minister of Sports even though no direct reference was made therein) was reportedly based on his making statements to the media in breach of his contract with the Sri Lanka Cricket Board.

 

Constitutional protection ‘trumps’ unjustifiable restrictions

This leads to an interesting question of freedom of speech by itself. A recent judgment of Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court may be instructive here. In Pelaketiya vs Secretary, Ministry of Education and others (SCM 28.09.2016), the Court (per Anil Guneratne J) ruled that the Constitution ‘trumps’ the prohibition in the Establishments Code that “the mass media should not be used as a means of criticism of the Government or other Government Institutions or to ventilate departmental grievances”.

 

The case concerned a female teacher who had been sexually harassed by her superiors and who had, in the absence of any other relief, spoken to the media regarding her travails. She was then interdicted on the basis that she had given an interview to the media and aired her views regarding an official inquiry contravening the Establishments Code. Rejecting this view, the Court opined that freedom of speech is essential for the proper functioning of the democratic process, pointing out that public opinion plays a crucial role in modern democracy and is of great importance.

 

It was obvious here that the predicament of the teacher, trapped in a desperate plight as it were, occasioned the empathy of the Court. The circumstances exemplified in the case are of peculiar application no doubt. But the principle judicially articulated therein is of general importance. A law or a contractual document which unjustifiably denies freedom of speech to an individual will not stand up to the constitutional test.

 

Right of legitimate criticism

This is not a new principle in our jurisprudence. Reflecting on the Pelaketiya case in these column spaces some months ago, I pointed to the norm-setting decision in the mid nineties when the arbitrary stopping of a state radio programmme on the basis that it ‘caused public unrest’ was declared to be unconstitutional by the Court. In the words of (the late) Justice MDH Fernando declared “…it is well to remember that the media asserts, and does not hesitate to exercise, the right to criticise public institutions and persons holding public office…such criticism must be deplored when it is without justification, (but) the right to make and publish legitimate criticism is too deeply ingrained to be denied.’

 

Unfortunately these ministerial outbursts are becoming more and more common. The Minister of Justice’s threat to disbar a lawyer, Lakshan Dias who had referred to attacks on Christian places of worship during a televised programme is another such instance. The more sensible among us would probably agree that attacks on religious places generally leading to inflamed tempers are not casual matters to be airily and flamboyantly tossed around before television cameras. Greater caution may have been in order.

 

But that does not mean that the Justice Minister’s intemperate outburst can be tolerated. In the first instance, the Minister should be asked to look at his law books and understand the importance of the separation of powers. The disbarment of lawyers is a peculiarly judicial function, not within executive powers.

 

Indeed ‘Yahapalanaya’ politicians would do well to listen to their own flowery assurances when they campaigned to come into power more than two years ago. Hopefully they might feel slightly ashamed if they did.

Bias in the Dias affair: A reflection

BISHOP DULEEP DE CHICKERA on 07/01/2017

The initial shock at the response of a high ranking minister to comments made by a citizen on a recent talk show, soon shifted to the realisation of its seriousness.

During the show Lakshan Dias, an attorney at law, presented some data on violence against some Christians and their places of worship. He named the source that had documented these incidents; many of which were on record at police stations where complaints had been made.

Sensible governance-expected and prevented   

One would have expected persons in authority, on hearing these remarks, to have demonstrated indignation and contrition that these incidents had taken place under their watch. Further information should have been sought from the IGP, and if found to be substantial, duly investigated with appropriate action taken, to protect those harassed and deal with the perpetrators. This is what good and sensible governance is all about; doing the right thing now, before too many wrong things pile up tomorrow.

If, on the other hand, the remarks were proven to be unfounded, Mr Dias should have been responded to in accordance with the law.

Sadly none of this happened. To the contrary Mr Dias was subject to a public and arbitrary threat without an opportunity to explain or defend himself and is said to have fled the country out of fear. All this from one who heads a ministry, responsible for upholding the rule of law. Even a child senses, that intimidation is unacceptable, and that we are innocent till proved guilty. In a moment the message was clear; Mr Dias had no business to talk about violence against a minority religion. The question is why?

It is impossible to believe that the information on religious violence was news to those in authority. Representative governance, media briefings, advisors, cabinet meetings and Parliamentary debates are all about having an ear to the ground; an absolute requirement of those holding public office. The number of incidents quoted though high, is not the main issue. In matters of religious intolerance and harassment ten are as bad as a hundred and one as bad as ten. If ten or one are heard this should be enough to raise a legislators’ eye brow and stir conscientious governance.

Bias and denial-failed governance

The bias in the Dias affair is therefore not ignorance, but denial. Religious extremism in today’s world of freedom and rights is a political embarrassment. If it cannot be contained it has to be denied.

If there is no official recognition that minority religions are being harassed, then they are not being harassed. When now-and –again the system is activated, it moves and does not. When now-and-again officials act, they do and do not. When now-and –again the law is implemented victims are protected and they are not; perpetrators restrained and they are not.

This explains the reaction to the talk show remarks. The words of one at a given time convey the attitude of the many all the time. And this is why there will be no peer group reprimand, no explanations or resignations, no questions by those in the Opposition. None will consider it their responsibility to put things right; to ensure Mr Dias of his safety on returning home and restore the confidence of the people in responsible, representative governance.  This includes those who whisper that they stay on to influence change. Their hands are also stained for waiting, waiting and waiting.

The irony of this episode is that those endowed with authority by the people to care for the people, have chosen to look away from those very people who need their understanding and protection the most. Those harassed are not far away fictitious fantasies. These are real living citizens of this country, children, women, and men, with the right to organise themselves for religious purposes. Most belong to scattered and vulnerable Christian groups, and many meet in houses or make shift halls. With little socio-political influence, they fear going public on their plight, and depend on others to voice their grievances. These are the ones subject to bias and denied the governance of compassion, without which there can be no good governance in countries like ours steeped in cultures of caring hospitality.

Denial prevails because our governments either fear extremists and the layers of dormant sentiments that they arouse, or count among their own ranks those who surreptitiously champion the cause of extremists. This explains the collective bias shaped by a shared fear and prejudice that lies behind the lines that divide our political parties. Indeed the worrying signs of impunity and complicity of the past regime have not been buried. They remain the unfailing baton change that regime change never changes.

Inter-religious reconciliation-the work of the people

The picture is consequently becoming clearer that reconciliation and healthy co-existence among the religions cannot be left primarily to our governments. It is increasingly a task for sensitive and sensible people of all religions, open to introspection and mutual learning and growth alike.

When people like this come together to talk with each other they inevitably discern that life together in plural religious societies, calls for an abundance of generosity. Generosity of space; for the religious other to live by her convictions, and generosity in judgement, that respects the choices for life made by the religious other. From here self-realisation follows in three phases as so many in this country have experienced;

1. that it is both possible and necessary to cultivate life-giving friendships with the religious other, and be faithful to our own tradition at the same time,
2. that we all have an understanding of truth and that the highest quality of life in inter-religious societies is in absorbing aspects of each-others understanding of truth, so that we can all grow in our respective traditions,
3. and that when the first two phases fall into place the other can never be suppressed or eliminated since, “I become because the other is”.

Of course there will still be tensions in our communities from time to time. But when this happens our response will be different; we will spontaneously seek reconciliation. Wise friends representing the different religions from within the community will step in to listen, clarify the different positions, restore trust and make life together possible again. Here too the numerous examples of such reconciliatory interventions are both an encouragement and challenge to us all.

When these methods fail on the other hand, and some will, the last resort is to seek a legal remedy. But a closely knit society of religions will ensure that under no circumstances will this process accommodate, tolerate or condone with bias, threat or violence.

Where these trends in reconciliation become part of our life together our society will be better placed to stand together to demand our common rights and freedom, and defend each other when these fundamental provisions are threatened by incompetent or inactive governments. In this dual dynamic of advocacy and resistance there will then be no place for the weapons of hatred, hostility and self-pity, specially when provoked or under pressure, as a friend will always be around to caution and restrain us from these life-denying reactions.

With Peace and Blessings to all

Bishop Duleep de Chickera

The disparity of development in Sri Lanka

by Victor Cherubim- Jul 2, 2017

Jul 1, 2017

( July 2, 2017, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) Over weeks we notice a change in approach, the need for policies of balanced regional development, with new and fresh initiatives being taken by the Yahapalanaya government to remedy this disparity. At long last, it has become necessary to consider the development of the whole of Sri Lanka is more important, than adding more to the populated Western Metropolis, while the latter has deserved attention.

This realisation it seems has come in the wake of lessons learned after much destruction and devastation since the earth slips and unexpected flash floods in the outlaying regions and other factors in climate change and drought, leading to the formation of future deserts in the arid zones.

The vision of sustainable development

Balanced regional development has become an important condition for the harmonious and smooth development of the country. It may not imply equal development of all the regions of the country. The benefits of overall economic growth are necessary to be shared by all the people of the different regions to avoid glaring regional disparities.

It would seem viable that backward and poorer regions of the nation should aim for a higher national growth than the present developed areas, if only to attain regional balance. There is an understandable reticence. But, this can change with government assistance, perhaps, through the exploitation of the natural resources, by the development of fishing, agriculture, industry, infrastructure, trade and commerce, productivity, self sufficiency and self reliance, best suited to each region. Regional economic advancement has to be created by planning at least for the better utilisation of capital and human resource, if nothing else.

Urban and rural advancement

Whilst regional development in Sri Lanka has drawn attention after the long drawn war, through necessity, this development has been piecemeal without an overall rural strategy or planning. It was easy for planners to accommodate the spill from Colombo to outlying areas and districts with more housing units constructed?

Dwellings and buildings were created without infrastructure planning and risk assessment in regional areas which were prone to disaster. Flood plains, river valleys, hill slopes, in proximity to modes of transport were the first areas for homes and settlement and the first to be affected by floods.

Besides, there was a desire to convert the rural landscape into a macadamised jungle for ease of transport access, as if Sri Lanka was a vast continent. The project was commissioned taking cost, distance and time factors as determinants. Perhaps, hydrological surveys, topography, and landscape geography too may have been considered. If drainage was one of the weighted considerations in construction, the removal of topsoil by the earth moving machinery during road infrastructure could well have upset the equilibrium. The unexpected and unprecedented rain, causing mud and earth slides, was an uncalculated cost.

Why metropolitan development?

Over the past six or more decades, the drivers of economic performance have increasingly been capital and labour mobility towards big cities. Geographical proximity often has represented the necessary setting for other forces to occur favouring development. The compensating benefits of urban location in terms of cost reduction, output, or utility gains did mitigate other social and environmental factors.

But limitations on city size, the external effects of urban environment, land values and transport costs with high population densities, air pollution from vehicles, potential disease, in essence “the quality of life” perhaps, was un-priced. The available evidence does not conclude that urbanisation is necessary for the development process, although it has been unquestioned.

Why the regions now?

The regions have been “starved” of funding, other than the minimum provision of road and rail infrastructure. How many of us know the percentage of Sri Lanka without electricity?

Will we be able to turn back the North and North Central Provinces of Sri Lanka from becoming desert in 30 years time? Can something be done to make farming with irrigation a reality, without the use of artificial fertiliser to produce crops, rather than kill people?

The North of Sri Lanka was a world apart from the rest of the country, yet we called it Sri Lanka. The region is gradually emerging from its long years of isolation and the painful process of rebuilding of homes, shattered towns and villages, demining fields and sustainable living.

Planning for awakening of rural economy

Regional development helps to converge and complement the government’s efforts.The country’s path to development must now change. Instead of making Colombo, a Singapore or a Dubai, we should be different and promote growth at regional level. We need to re-think and support policies and strategies that move economic prosperity, social infrastructure facilities and future growth over the long term, to the eight other Provinces. The Western Metropolis will develop whether we like it or not. But the awakening of the rural economy must be our sole objective in the immediate to long term.

AMB ROBERT BLAKE ON SRI LANKA: “OUR SECRET PLAN WAS NOT TO SAVE LTTE BUT TO RESCUE IDPS “

02/07/2017

The United States had “a detailed coordinated plan” with the Indian and Sri Lanka Governments for its Navy to rescue trapped displaced persons in Puthukudiyiruppu during the final stages of the separatist war, according to Ambassador Robert Blake, then Washington’s envoy in Colombo.

AMB ROBERT BLAKE ON SRI LANKA “OUR SECRET PLAN WAS NOT TO SAVE LTTE BUT TO RESCUE IDPS “.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Dismantling Elitism – A Panacea For All Ills

By Afreeha Jawad –JULY 2, 2017

Afreeha Jawad

I was not more than 12 when one day I was going past the Philip Neris Church with my father at the wheel. Suddenly he exclaimed,”look child there goes Lord Soulbury‘s son.” Obviously I was looking out for sartorial elegance in that motley crowd. My father pretty well knew of the lounge suit clad personality that I was looking for and  observing my failure to spot the man said,”look that’s him in white vetti.”

With his thick bronze curly hair knotted at the back and a brown file tucked under his armpit, he walked at lightning speed, an unusually lanky, stately figure till he moved out of my sight only to get lost in that sea of humanity. Much water has flowed under the bridge since that day but his image remains ever green, so very vivid to this day with time not taking its toll on that impressive and indelible impression.

Ramsbotham Swami I learnt from my father later preferred splendid isolation in the wilds of his Batticoloa ashram to his luxurious London manor and chose a lifestyle contrary to that of his father that upheld the system as representative of the British monarch in Ceylon in colonial times.

Soulbury’s son is not alone in the company of great men that chose the simple, unostentatious way when they could have fully well led the luxurious trappings that entice many in the modern social order. José Mujicais, the former President of Uruguay lived in his dilapidated farm house and was seen hanging his clothes on the line when the BBC reporter walked in for an interview. His wife was cooking and Manuela his three legged dog was seated on a rickety old chair. His old Volkswagen beetle was parked outside – the one he opted for instead of his official bullet proof limousine. Addressing the UN on global poverty Mujicais asked the delegates who a poor man was. None dared answer and he said,” well, a poor man is he who is always wanting more. “Certainly Muzica drove home a strong point to the international pecking order gathered there on that day. While global economic and political power fosters the need for greater power, a steady rise in inequity results in international terrorism. Mujicais has underscored the need for these elite groups within nations and outside to lead austere, simple  lives if they are to move in the direction of world peace.

Talking of bourgeoisie simplicity, it brings to writer mind the late VP Menon one of India’s most celebrated diplomats that used London transport instead of his ‘official chariot.’ He refused the plush surroundings of a palatial home in Kensington gardens and chose a one roomed abode, drawing only a token monthly salary. Menon fasted for days and lived the life of a complete vegetarian whereas others of his tribe are hell bent on frivolous social gatherings gormandizing the sumptuous food their palettes are strangers to, perhaps never even set eyes on before.

Giving equal weightage to national policy and individual importance was Ambassador Kalil – one time India’s representative in Rome during whose tenure an Indian woman was widowed. She approached a junior officer requesting redress. He said it did not come within the preview of the Indian embassy. Ambassador Kalil hearing this summoned the guy and the telling off he gave brought out the best in Kaleel. “Look, this lady has been widowed. She is one of our nationals. It is the Indian embassy’s duty to look after her interests. However trivial it may be, it must be given  the  same respect and treatment we give for any national policy. I disapprove of your conduct,” he said with firm intonation the occasion demanded.

Kalil’s  grandeur and exalted spirit, his ability to nullify elite trappings and release himself from the petty potty fetters of elitism is a role model for those that are found wanting in the culture of humility. Certainly if such elegant and eminent diplomatic skills were at Sri Lanka’s disposal, Rizana Nafeekwould be still amongst us. Magnanimity and graciousness are hall marks of a luminous diplomat which Sri Lanka has failed to show case as in the case of Rizana Nafeek where diplomatic bungling instead of effective diplomatic handling was evident.   

Talking of the need to avoid naive  king sized arrogance as did Ambassador Kalil it brings to writer mind today’s papal humility where the present Pope Francis is a great celebration to the Catholic church. Emphasizing on the need for a poor church, he disowns his papal residence and even prefers public transport to the papal limousine.

On the subject of humility, we in Sri Lanka can be boastful of the only intellectual in the most authentic sense, this country ‘s great privilege Dr. E.W. Adikaram, who is not even remembered today. He was far removed from the highbrow of mundane living. His elevated mindset enabled an enhanced his thought process. He saw in the nationalist a lunatic and the world’s trappings, lunacy.  Despite the reservoir of intellectual depth, he led a life of unbounded simplicity. Unfortunately his intellectual stature failed the attention of both politician and media men opting for ‘elite meat ‘ rather than moral eminence.

Having disoriented themselves from the external emotional baggage of customs, traditions and rituals, these men have striven to fall in line with moral congruence which incidentally is what religion is all about. We see this in the Buddha when he reached the highest level of existence on the 7th day of meditative power under the Bo tree in fact the nonexistent state, where he did not label  that supreme realization as Buddhism nor did the prophet when he saw the light of truth in  the cave on Mt. Hira necessitate him into perceiving it as Islam, not to forget Jesus that fell down in a swoon on Mt. Olives see his finding  as Christianity. They were far removed from the sociological theory of labels and to restrict them in that territory is to underestimate their greatness in whatever be the contributions they made for the benefit of humanity.

Read More