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Give a boost to indigenous beverages like iramusu, polpala, belimal
and ranawara. They are good for health.
Unlike tea and coffee they contain health hazard elements like
tannin, caffeine and alkaloid. They are the traditional drinks of the
people of this country. They boil them and drink with kitul jaggery or
sugar.
They have medicinal value to make us healthy, strong, young and
disease free. Polpala purifies urine and good for urine connected
sicknesses too.
Belimal drinks make digestion easy. Iramusu is good to purify blood
and ranawara to keep the whole body healthy. And we should remember
these drinks are no way injurious to health like tea and coffee.
In some hotels and cool spots, belimal, iramusu, polpala and ranawara
boiled beverages are for sale. They are cheaper than tea and coffee.
D.M.P.B. DISSANAYAKE,
Kegalle
An Air Force officer of high rank recently expressed the possibility
of a weak and ailing Prabhakaran badly injured due to aircraft
bombardment now unseen in the war front thereby making us to think that
he is now well protected deep down in a safe bunker.
Some others from the ranks of the common citizen think of the
possibility of his stealing away by ship to his friends in Tamilnadu.
The JVP spokesman recently expressed in Parliament to bar all doors
that will possibly be open for a UN Peace Keeping Force to enter and
step in our soil reminding us of a comparison to the IPKF activity and
later agreements etc.
The proposed joint naval security exercises in the Palk Strait and
our own territorial waters and also of the seas of Indian or regional
countries with their navy vessels appear to be just as much a problem as
above.
We should be able to provide security for our own territorial waters
without spoiling the soup with too many navies appearing to be cooks in
that context.
Y. AMERASENA DE SILVA,
Ahungalla
When I receive letters from females I wish to know whether they are
unmarried, because whether they are married or not, they use the
abbrevation M/s. Therefore if they continue to use the reference (Miss)
if unmarried and (Mrs) after marriage, it will avoid much confusion
especially amongst the young ladies.
A BACHELOR
The two bus halts for outward bound traffic on the Kandy Road in the
Kiribathgoda town gets inundated with every shower causing immense
hardships to commuters. Commuters are compelled to stand and wade
through the muddy pools of water and run the risk of getting splashed
with the muddy water.
The lack of sufficient space at these halts for the large number of
people who use these halts especially during peak hours adds to their
woes. Moreover as the short distance buses are kept halted for sometime,
the long distance buses are prevented from parking alongside with the
result that those who want to board long distance buses have either to
rush to the centre of the road at risk of life and limb or risk missing
the bus.
Furthermore, it often happens that several buses halted at the bus
halt near the HNB, block the road from the Housing Scheme to the Kandy
Road.
It is hoped that the authorities concerned would take prompt action
to remedy these shortcomings and alleviate hardships that the commuters
are undergoing at present. It would be feasible to provide two separate
points at these halts for short distance and long distance buses.
D.A.C.H. TRIMANNA,
Wattala
The Roman Catholic Church (the Church of the majority of
Christianity) has always maintained that the Holy Bible is a relative
Word of God; relative in a sense that Christ did not find a necessity to
write any of his words in any absolutes, but relied on the vast spectrum
of the human mind to pass on his message: "faith for all defects,
supplying, where the feeble senses fail," as in the ancient hymn of
adoration.
Throughout the centuries, the hierarchy of the Church has rigorously
upheld that the Bible is a guideline and reference of divine inspired
human interventions and together with the doctrines prescribed by the
Vatican, the Roman Catholic Church has strived to re-create throughout
the centuries what was preached by Christ - the Kingdom of God on Earth.
Unlike the Quran which is considered the absolute word from one major
and concluding prophet, the Roman Catholic Church formulated its beliefs
out of the popular religious culture of the time, and incorporated into
it the customs and traditions of the old Roman religions. Christianity
was first founded as an official religion in Nicaea (part of the Roman
world), 300 years after the birth of Christ, in 325 A.D.
With certain of human minds' seeming ability to comprehend the vast
spectrum of human thought and interactions, the Bible or any other book
written by inspired and intelligent persons, can at times, make an
attempt to predict the future.
End of the world predictions made ever since man made the attempt to
comprehend his thoughts, and together with a horror of the discord of
certain of human undertakings, predictions have come and gone throughout
the ages - a necessary step, however, to halt human fallibilities (Sr.
Marji Fernando's article of Dec. 13).
With the human minds' ability to delve into deeper understandings of
himself, and his surrounding world, the basic qualities of loving
kindness, compassion, joy and peace, should then surpass the platitudes
that religions with greater manifestations of metaphysical encumbrances
can infuse into the soul - platitudes that have seen wars, torture and
intolerances and injustice; unnecessary discords due to the fear of the
ultimate of the 'Biblical and Quranic nether-worlds'.
RAMONA THERESE FERNANDO,
USA
This refers to the notice published by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB)
in the Daily News of February 2 and a letter written by H.W. Gunasekara
on February 21 on the same subject.
The first part of the CEB's notice (Domestic purposes) divides
consumption into 7 blocks and clearly states that each block of units
consumed during a month will be charged at a specified gradually
increasing rate.
Example: Up to 30 units - Rate Rs. 3.00
In excess of 30 units up to 60 units 5.00
In excess of 60 units up to 90 units 7.50
In excess of 90 units up to 180 units 12.00
In excess of 180 units up to 360 units 18.00
However, a footnote states that the consumers in higher blocks will
not get the benefit of lower tariff rates of lower blocks.
This statement in itself is contradictory since the first part of the
notice says that the higher rate will be applicable only to the number
of units consumed exceeding the previously stated block. Secondly, a
perusal of the table (and Gunasekara's letter) indicates that a consumer
using a single unit exceeding a stated block has to pay a staggering
amount for that particular single unit. see table 2
Table 2
31st unit (Rs. 276 - 198) Rs. 78.00
61st unit (Rs. 639 - 450) Rs. 189.00
91st unit (Rs. 1,400 - 846) Rs. 554.00
181st unit (Rs. 3,782 - 2,682) Rs. 1,100.00
361st unit (Rs. 13,086 - 7,866) Rs. 5,220.00
601st unit (Rs. 31,848 - 21,690) Rs. 10,158.00
After the proposed revision of electricity tariffs, it is amazing to
realise that the difference between the amount payable by a consumer
using 361 units and a consumer using 360 units per month is a staggering
Rs. 5,220. In other words, the consumer using 361 units has to pay an
amount of Rs. 5,220 for that single 361st unit and the amount payable
for the 601st unit is Rs. 10,158.
It is not understood if the special committee appointed by the
Government to make recommendations regarding revision of electricity
tariffs envisaged the above situation and the hardships the consumers
would have to face as a result of the proposed revisions.
A grave disparity of this nature could have been avoided if the first
600 units consumed are divided into about 60 blocks of 10 units each
instead of the present 7 blocks and the rate per unit is worked out with
smaller margins.
K.M. GUNARATNE,
Moratuwa
Akuamboda Central College in the Matale District was established in
1941 as one of the first Central Schools in the island.
It was started even before the Free Education Bill was passed by the
State Council, as an experiment, laying more stress on practical
subjects.
Its first principal was S. M. Pragnaratne and later in 1942, it was
converted into an English Medium High School on the line of
comprehensive schools in England by A.G.G. Perera. And still later it
was improved by Charles Godage, A.F. Jayasekara, E.C.K. Abeysekera, P.P.
Mantilaka etc.
But unfortunately, it was closed in 1985 to house an Army Camp in the
premises, despite strong protests of past pupils and parents.
Later due to repeated appeals and agitations, it was re-opened in
1990. The college was slowly but steadily progressing and doing a yeoman
service to the area. But unfortunately from the beginning of 2007, it
has gone headless. Even the deputy principal has refused to act as the
principal.
So another assistant teacher is acting as the principal, though
unwillingly. So we the past pupils of the College like to appeal to the
authorities to send a permanent qualified principal to this institution
before it is too late and things go beyond repair.
We hope Matale District Parliamentarians Minister Janaka Bandara
Tennakoon and Ranjith Aluwihare will also come forward and render their
full support to this important institution which has done a great
service to the under-privileged pupils of the Matale District for all
the scholarship holders who receive Government assistance are housed in
the college hostels.
Also we should like to make a special appeal to the Minister of
Education Susil Premajayanth to pay more attention to this college which
suffered much when Ranil Wickremesinghe was the Minister of Education by
closing this college and making a large number of poor students to
curtail their education.
We remember only Akuramboda and Madampe central colleges were closed
though alternative places were available to open army camps.
A.W.G. MUDIYANSE,
Matale
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