News in brief

Five-day meditation programme at Medabedda MV

A five-day meditation programme was very successfully accomplished at Medabedda Maha Vidyalaya recently. Assistant Director of Buddhism of Galewela Education Zone and Pallepola Divisional Director Ven. Lenadora Soratha Thera organised this program, which was inaugurated on July 30.

The main objective of this residential meditation program was to help the students to calm down their minds, to build-up self confidence and self respect through individual discipline and also to build up the personality with a capacity to face the challenges of life.

Thirty students from Medabedda Maha Vidyalaya and ten from each school namely Madipola, Millawana Maningamuwa and Pallepola Maha Vidyalayas and Kobbebevehera Junior School and 20 teachers teaching Buddhism in their respective schools participated in the program.

Under the instructions of Ven. Kammattanacharya Nauyane Ariyadhamma Thera, Ven. Maggona Athula and Erawwala Pannasara Theras residing at Ambalangoda Gadoowa forest hermitage led the meditation.

P. G. Navarathne, Principal of Medabedda Maha Vidyalaya and his staff, School Development Society and patrons from the neighbourhood provided food and other facilities to make this mental and intellectual development program a success.

Merit certificates were distributed among the participants at a brief ceremony.

Deraniyagala post office lacks staff

Several shortcomings prevail at the Deraniyagala Post Office which the Postal Department has failed to remedy, allege the Public who call at this Post Office.

The Post Office has only the Post-master and two female counter clerks. The counter clerks travel from a distance of 14 miles from Yatiyantota. When the bus service is not normal they are unable to report for duty at the scheduled time. In their absence the Post-master has to attend to their duties along with his official function. A communique locale (post shop) opened about one year ago by the then government, has still not been staffed. This shop too has to be maintained by the Post-master.

There is no privacy in the transmission of telegrams. All messages are overheard by the public waiting to be served.

Although this PO has around 50,000 Tamil speaking people around its administrative area, there is no Tamil Officer to serve Estate workers, who are not proficient in Sinhala. Between the hours of 9.00 am to 10.30 am the Public cannot conduct any business at this PO as the PM and his counter clerks are engaged in Despatching mail to outstation Sub PO's served by this PO. The situation is same between 3.00 pm to 4.30 pm when the same staff is engaged in despatching mail to Colombo and outstations.

This PO is controlled by the Kegalla D.P.M.G's office but they have failed to take remedial steps, despite public complaints, allege the public.

Rural bank robbery thwarted

A gang of robbers who attempted to break-open the main entrance door of the Pallama Rural Bank using an oxy-acetelene welding equipment, have fled the scene leaving behind the welding equipment, when several villagers intervened.

According to these villagers, they have arrived by a van with two oxygen cylinder units in the dead of the night. They have failed in their robbery and the Rural Bank is safe.

On the following day the owner of a welding plant close by, has complained to Pallama Police, that this two units of welding equipment at his workshop are missing and that he believed that somebody has stolen them.

U.K. Munidasa O.I.C. Pallama who took into custody the two oxygen cylinders and other welding equipment found at the Bank premises, is conducting further investigations with a team of his officers.

Sparrows missing from their natural habitat

The common 'housesparrows' which were present in all localities in kegalle area have disappeared from these habitats, Their birds were once seen in abundance in all enviers or homesteads.

The rural folk used to place white spotted pots or pans at a certain height on the walls of their houses to attract these birds where they built their nests.

The families of Sparrows lived in their nests inside these pots or pans, kept for their habitation and for the last several years not a single housesparrow is observed in their natural surroundings. Even in the premises of the temple at 'Kurulu Kelle' the famous bird sanctuary in Kegalle, the housesparrow is not to be seen. Both young and old, specially the bird lovers in these localities often querry of the fate of these innocent and lovely creatures which were the pets of most young men and women just over a decade of years ago.

Has the housesparrow gone into extinction? This is the question posed by the bird lovers and all. Nobody exactly knows so as to what caused these birds to go into oblivion without being noticed so long.

Whether the housesparrow or its eggs and the yougones become prey to some other unobserved creatures or to some ravenous migratory birds in an issue after debated by bird lovers in this locality. This is an issue that hundreds from the public eagerly looking forward to hear from the ornithologists both of here and abroad.