Kataragama - a multi-religious site

Kataragama Deiyo is depicted in human form in an illustration in the front curtain of the shrine at Kataragama Devala; here, he is seen riding on a peacock, his vehicle of transport, and accosted by his two wives.

Kataragama Devala in 1950

He was once believed to be a real flesh-and-blood person, but became a mythical figure later. Thus, Kataragama Deiyo is believed to be a combination of two spiritual gods - Kadira Deva and Skanda Kumar - and is worshipped as one god.

Since the decline of the ancient Sinhala kingdoms on account of non-stop clashes among royalty and the vast destruction and ruin brought about by frequent attacks, especially by the cruel Chola invader Magha, both the Kingdoms of Ruhuna and Anuradhapura ceased to exist. The roads and byways disappeared within a short time.

The country was swallowed up by the jungle, which blotted out everything on its path, rendering the areas the abode of wild animals.

Entrance to the Devala.

Sinhalese kings confined themselves to rule from Dambadeniya, Yapahuwa, Kurunegala, Gampola, Kotte and Kandy. The remains of the ruined cities of Anuradhapura and Ruhuna were gradually covered by the jungle and remained hidden from human view for over four centuries.

It was the last of the foreign conquerors, the British, that directed their interest towards preserving the remaining traces of Sinhalese civilization. The wild jungles of Ruhuna had by then almost approached the precincts (limited areas) of the Tissa Dagoba built by King Kavantissa.

During the dark era of Kataragama, the existence of the ancient shrine was known only to a few villagers who lived there amidst great difficulty. They continued to worship at the shrine, holding on to the faith (on God Kataragama) of their ancestors. Pilgrims of the day had to walk to the shrine as there were no proper roads.

The place where coconuts are dashed.

Some Catholics and Christians are also attracted to Kataragama by the pooja performed at the shrine. Milkrice is offered to God Kataragama at the shrine by Buddhist and Hindu devotees; they also take holy water in their cupped hands and drink it with bowed heads in utmost respect, very much like at a Catholic Mass.

However, these rituals and practices had been conducted long before Christianity was introduced to Sri Lanka.

Muslims too have their own mosque at Kataragama, where they perform religious rites, at the grave of a Muslim dignitary, Saul Palkudi Bawa. Millions worship at this multi-religious shrine, irrespective of their religious beliefs.

At this Devale, there are no arches or figures of gods and idols seen in Hindu temples elsewhere.

The Holiest of Holies, or Maligawa as it is called, is hidden by a curtain, and contains a portrait of God Kataragama. No one is allowed to go into the Maligawa except the Chief Kapurala. He has taken an oath not to reveal a word about what happens inside. It is believed that it is not right to talk about it.

Kataragama deyiyo

Kataragama is an attraction for all time. With the march of time and with modern road constructions, the place is now urbanised. Hotels, guest houses, pilgrims' rests and commercial buildings have invaded upon the boundary of the Menik Ganga, which flows close to the Devale.

The river flows placidly and is shaded by giant Kumbuk trees as old as time, on either bank. The Menik Ganga is venerated by the Hindus as well as Buddhists. Earlier, there was only a suspension bridge across the river.

Now this has been replaced by a narrow concrete bridge, which is not meant for vehicular traffic. According to Saranathissa Thera, the Kataragama Devala premises are a blessed place. Those who have faith in the god will have their wishes come true.

Annual checklist for dog care

It seems only yesterday that your canine friend had its veterinary check-up. But today, once again, you have received that familiar reminder to see the veterinary surgeon. Is another veterinary examination already due?

Here is a checklist of some of the ways you can help ensure your dog's good health throughout the year: you can maintain it round the year and make sure that your dog is healthy and happy.

* Do make an appointment for a veterinary check-up. Even if your dog is not sick, visits to the veterinary surgeon are critical for detecting subtle changes in your pet's physical health. Ideally, dogs should be seen at least once a year, or more frequently if they are elderly or have special medical needs.

* Be sure your dog's vaccinations are up-to-date. Annual vaccinations should include distemper, leptospirosis (new variants of which have prompted development of updated vaccinations), parvovirus and rabies.

* Ask your veterinarian for current recommendations about vaccines against Lyme disease and Bordetella ('kennel cough').

* Whether your dog gets its heartworm preventative year-round or only during mosquito season, its blood should be tested annually for heartworms or their immature microfilaria.

* Discuss flea and tick control with your veterinary surgeon. Products that work against these parasites are updated quickly and frequently. Remember that fleas, or at least their pupae (at the stage between a larva and complete adult), will live year-round in your home and yard!

* Is it time for a dental cleaning, under sedation or anaesthesia, for your canine companion? An annual examination will help determine whether (or when) dental preventative cleaning will be needed.

This is also a good time to evaluate your at-home dental care programme and perhaps demonstrate how you brush your dog's teeth.

* Bring a small sample of your dog's stool to the veterinary clinic, where laboratory technicians will examine it for the presence of parasite eggs. Ask your veterinarian for help with identifying tapeworm (cestode) segments, which are not easily detected in a stool sample.

* An annual assessment of your pet's behaviour will help identify newly emerging problems - perhaps before they become serious. Whether your dog is barking excessively or destroying shoes in your absence, its misbehaviour can usually be controlled if caught in the early stages.

* If your dog is elderly, discuss its special needs with your veterinarian. Just like people, senior dogs may suffer from various organ system problems, osteoarthritis, loss of vision or hearing, and even memory loss or dementia (also known as cognitive dysfunction syndrome).

Luckily, many problems can be successfully controlled with medication or simple lifestyle changes.

Gadaladeniya Temple:

Place to see the best stone carvings

Stupa of the Gadaladeniya temple

Entrance

Some of the carvings

Gadaladeniya Temple, which is situated at Pilimatalawa on the Kandy-Colombo Road, just passing Kadugannawa, is famous for its beautiful stone carvings. This temple was built on a flat rock at Diggala in the 14th Century.

Faded paintings from around that time provide many clues as to the manner in which the temple was built. The art is South Indian, so the general belief is that the workers were also brought down from abroad. The chief architect of this temple had been a South Indian called Ganesvarachari. Therefore, this temple is essentially a South Indian design.

The genius of the Kandyan master craftsmen is very obvious in this region; whereby Gadaladeniya Viharaya is built of stone, the nearby Lankatilaka Viharaya and its Devale are built of clay bricks with a unique architectural design; Embekke Devale is built of wood while the mysterious Galengolla Potgul Viharaya with its valuable ola leaf manuscripts has a cover-up in the style of Florentine rebirth and its interior resembles a Christian basilica with cupola (dome) and octagonal pillars.

The Gadaladeniya Temple also contains a beautifully painted giant wooden chest holding paintings and sculptures of great historical and artistic importance. The entrance to Gadaladeniya features large stone pillars, which support a roof of huge stone slabs.

Within the vihara, an ancient stone and plaster Buddha image looks down upon milkrice pots that have been collecting food offerings for centuries. The 638-year-old jak-wood doors still exhibit their original paintings.

According to an inscription there, this temple was built by King Buwanekabahu IV in the year 1344. The main shrine room has a seated (in Vajrasana ) Buddha statue under a Makara Thorana and four standing Buddha images. The Makara Thorana is decorated on both faces with gods such as Brahma, Suyama, Santhusuta, Natha and Maithree, and two attendants.

The chamber within the Sikhara (dome) has had a Buddha image, which had been destroyed by the Portuguese. Next to the shrine room is a Devale dedicated to God Vishnu.

According to the Mahavansa, the great chronicle of Sri Lanka, it was 'Upulvan Deiyo' (Vishnu) that was selected as the guardian to protect the land of Sri Lanka and Buddhism within it at the time of Buddha's passing away. Therefore, this deity holds a special place among Sri Lankans.

By the side of the Vishnu Devale is a stupa made on a rock. This is believed to have been constructed by King Parakramabahu V. This stupa has a roof built over it, held by four pillars. Four smaller satellite stupas are built on small shrine rooms around the main stupa. This structure is called the Vijayothpaya or Vijayantha Prasada after the mythical palace of god Indra.

This temple had been neglected for some time and then had been handed over to Velivita Saranankara Thera by King Viraparakrama Narendrasinha (1707 - 1739); it had been looked after ever since by his pupils in succession.

Though this temple is known as Gadaladeniya today, an inscription identifies it as 'Dharma Kirthi Viharaya', which is the name of the founding monk. 'Nikaya Sangrahaya' identifies this temple as 'Saddharmathilake' and 'Saddharmalankaraya' identifies this as 'Gadaladeniya Viharaya' after the village in which it is located.

Gadaladeniya is one of the best places to view the original stone carving designs; there are many carvings on the pillars. So, next time you visit Kandy, don't just return after visiting the Dalada Maligawa, visit Gadaladeniya too. You'll be amazed by the beauty of this temple

Spices make your food delicious

Every one of you is sure to have heard about spices. Your mum uses them in her cooking and they add extra flavour to your food. If someone you know cooks yummy food, that is because he/she knows how to use spices properly.

Today, we are going to tell you some facts about spices. Spices are the main 100 per cent natural ingredient people use to add flavour and colour to the food they cook. Chilli, turmeric, pepper and condiments (thuna-paha) are the main spices we use everyday.

Spices not only add flavour to food, but they also have herbal components that kill harmful bacteria or prevent their growth, therefore keeping us away from illnesses. Do you know what properties are found in these spices? Let us explain them a bit to you.

Cardamom

Chilli is the fruit of the plants from the genus Capsicum, and helps add the hot flavour and colour to curries. As you may know, people in Asia love to use chilli in their curries as they want their dishes extra 'hot'. People mostly make chilli powder by drying the capsicum and grinding it.

Turmeric is the rhizome or underground stem of a ginger-like plant. It is usually available as tubes or ground into a bright yellow, fine powder. It is used in dishes to give them a nice yellow tinge and also successfully masks the odour of fish and meat. It is also said that turmeric fights harmful bacteria.

Pepper is another popular spice. We usually use dried fruits, known as peppercorns, to make pepper powder. Depending on the harvest time and the method of processing, peppercorns can be black, white, green or red. Black pepper is most commonly used in our kitchens.

Pepper is used in almost every kind of dish to add them flavour.The next variety is the famous thuna-paha. People choose three or five different spices to make mixed curry powder; for example, coriander, cardamom, cumin, cinnamon and fennel are some of the spices which may be used to make thuna-paha. Now you know about some of the commonly used spices. But you should also be aware about their quality as they are used in food. After all it concerns your health.

Cinnamon

Fennel

As you may know, some people adulterate (make something impure) spices by mixing them with various other things. They do this to increase the quantity of spices they sell so they can make more profit.

People mix sand, salt, flour, straw, poonac, sawdust and chaff (the layer which covers grains) with the spices. Because of the adulteration of spices, the quality of the spices goes down and the flavours they infuse into food become different; most importantly, this could badly affect your health. To find out if salt has been added to your spices, you can taste any of the spices you have bought. If it tastes like salt, then you know that salt has been added.

It is very common to see papaw seeds being mixed with peppercorns. To see if this has been done, place some peppercorns in water and keep for a while. If you find any seeds floating, they are papaw seeds and not pepper. Obviously, they wouldn't taste like pepper too!

Intelligent marine mammals

Today we feature yet another unique marine mammal which is facing serious problems due to us humans. It is the lovable dolphin, a cousin of the famous dolphin

named Flipper in the popular TV series which was telecast sometime ago. Let's check out the lifestyle, habits, and physical features of these cute-faced marine creatures who are known to be very intelligent when compared to most other marine animals,These intelligent mammals are found in our country too. There have been several reports of dolphins being caught in the nets of our fishermen and being injured or killed, eventually.

Dolphins belong to the family Delphinidae, which is the largest and most diverse family of the cetacean order and include 26 living species. Several species of dolphins are found in the Hawaiian waters. However, it is not only in this area that they are found. Dolphins inhabit the oceans worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves. The family Delphinidae is considered a relatively recent addition to the cetacean family, having evolved more recently than the others of its family. Most species of dolphins are larger than porpoises, with the males usually being larger than the females.

The name is originally from the Ancient Greek word (delphs; "dolphin"), which was related to the Greek word (delphys; "womb"). The name can therefore be interpreted as meaning "a 'fish' with a womb.

Dolphins are extremely social creatures and they depend on their social relations even while hunting as well as in reproduction. Unlike the humpback whales and other species of baleen whales, dolphins live in tightly knit groups - smaller groups are called pods which range between two to forty members, and larger groups called schools or herds. These groups can include more than one species, because each species has its own niche. Spotted and Spinner dolphins are constantly found living in such groups. Researchers believe that this is possible because spotted dolphins usually prey on larger creatures closer to the surface, while the Spinner dolphins tend to feed in deeper waters on smaller prey.

They are carnivores, maintaining a diet of mainly fish and squid.

Dolphins are some of the most intelligent animals, and their playful behaviour and friendliness have made them very popular among humans.

Dolphins are adapted extremely well to the sea. Even though their hind limbs have disappeared, their front limbs have developed into flippers. Their powerful tail is the main instrument for them to move forward. Dolphins possess a distinct beak. Their teeth are conical in shape Dolphins usually breathe through what is called the blowhole on the top of their heads. They can empty their lungs and refill them in one fifth of a second. As they breathe, the air leaves the blowholes at speeds of over 100mph. But how do they know when to open their blowholes, because if they open them in the water, they could die?. Well, as we know by now, all creatures are built with special features needed to help them survive in the habitats they live in. So, dolphins too have such special features and they know exactly when the surface is near so that they could open their blowholes. Water in a dolphin's blowhole will definitely drown it, therefore powerful muscles close the blowhole as soon as it dives under the water after taking in a breath of air.

Its eyes produce a slippery liquid which protects the dolphin from unknown substances as well as the water. Like whales the dolphin can only sleep with one brain resting at a time or else it can drown. Dolphins take short cat-naps, floating just below the surface, and then slowly rising to breathe, because breathing is a voluntary procedure for the cetaceans. Often dolphins are very active during night time, and for some, this is their main feeding time.

The skin is completely smooth unlike that of most other mammals, and this allows the dolphin to move faster in the water.

Their bodies are built in a way they could swim at high speeds through the water, and an example of this is their ears. Dolphin's ears are barely noticeable marked only by a small hole just behind the eye. In a bottlenose dolphin, the ear is about 5-6 cms behind the eye and only 2-3 mm in diameter.

Because dolphins feed on schools of prey, most species have developed communal and cooperative hunting practices, as searching for food as a group is more efficient than searching individually. The exception to this rule is the river dolphin who usually feeds on individual prey on the river bottom. They are often found living alone or in very small groups.

Sri Lanka, a tourist paradise

Sri Lanka is a very popular tourist paradise in the world. There are many interesting places in this country. Tourists come here for holidays and for sight seeing.Tourist attractions in our country include ruins, water falls, forests, botanical gardens and sandy beaches. Ruins represent our great old history, our heritage. They are testimony to the times of our ancient rulers the kings. Tourists who are interested in history, sculpture, and art visit these ruins.

There are also many colourful religious festivals in our country such as the Kandy Perahera which attracts many tourists. It is a spectacular event in our country with traditional dancers, drummers and many others including elephants parading the streets. The fire walking ceremony in Kataragama is also eye catching and tourists are fascinated by such religious events.

National parks also play role in the tourist industry. Yala, Wilpattu, Wasgamuwa and Kumana are some of the famous natural parks in our country. Yala is famous for deer, peacocks and elephants while Kumana is famous for birds. In Kumana one can see thousands of birds in their natural habitat. There are may indigenous and migrant birds in this park.Tourists especially, animal lovers never forget to visit these parks and also the elephant orphanage, Pinnawala.

There is also a very interesting place which shows the architectural feats of our great kings. It is the rock fortress Sigiriya.The coral gardens at Hikkaduwa are another feature that increases the natural beauty of our country and attract tourists.

We as Sri Lankans should try to protect and preserve ou

Trees are very important for the existence of human beings. Trees take in carbondioxide and give out oxygen which is essential for humans to survive. Plants also produce food for humans and animals.

The leaves of trees absorb water which evaporates into the atmosphere. When the evaporated water is condensed it falls back to the Earth as rain. In turn the rain water is absorbed by the roots of trees and again evaporated through the leaves to the atmosphere. That is why people say that trees make rain.

Trees are grown in a number of places. Some are grown in jungles like Singharaja. Others are grown in man-made gardens like Peradeniya Botanical Gardens. Certain trees are planted in home gardens. There is a popular tree planting campaign named “Ruk Rekaganna” initiated by Irangani Serasinghe, the famous actress.

People clear jungles for construction purposes and also cultivation. As a result, when the human population increases, the plant population decreases. This is a big problem to fauna and flora of the country.However, there are several programmes to protect trees. The Government has also set up a separate department called “Forest Conservation Department’ in order to protect these jungle resources. Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) too have introduced several programmes to conserve forests. But they alone can’t protect jungles unless they get the co-operation of other people.

Re-forestation programmes are organised by the “Forest Conservation Department” annually with the assistance of several organisations.

Now that we are aware that trees are a part and parcel of human life, it is our duty and responsibility to conserve trees for the benefit of the future generations.

A talented folk poet

She has gone down into history as Gajaman Nona. I doubt whether even one per cent of the Sinhala population knows her true name Dona Isabella Perumal Cornelia. That was how her parents named her. Her parents were Don Franciscu da Senaratna Kumaraja Perumal and Dona Francina Grero. Her father was the Gajaman Aarachchi, an officer in the elephant department. (Gaja is a synonym, word with the same meaning - for elephant.) In course of time, the daughter came to be known as Gajaman Nona.

Dona Isabella Cornelia was born in 1758 in Bambalapitiya not far from Milagiriya Church. Her mother was a teacher in the church school. At that time, the Dutch were ruling the low-country (pahatha rata) of Lanka. The family came to reside in Weragampita in Matara, after her father was made the aarachchi (officer in charge) of the Matara Thombu. Now, what is Thombu? It is the registrar of births, marriages and deaths and of land owners.

Coming to Matara was a step up for little Isabella too. It helped her inborn talents to blossom. Her uncle, Don Daanchi de Silva Abeygunasekera took Isabella under his tutelage. Don Daanchi was known as Paltaayamay Lekam. (Paltaayama is granary). Paltaayamay Lekam was a well-known poet, one of the reputed poets known collectively as the ‘Matara Poets.’

Paltaayamay Lekam taught Isabella, Sinhala, Pali and the art of writing poetry. Later under Karatota Dhammarama, a learned bhikkhu, she studied Pali, Sanskrit and ‘Chandas - alankara.’ Chandas is metrical verse and ‘alankara’ figures of speech like similes and metaphors. She learned how to compose verses in a variety of meters and to use similes, metaphors etc. to make the verses more colourful and add to the meaning.

She had an inborn ability to composed kavi-verses on the spur of the moment. It is said that she did this even as a child. Once when she found the pot she had kept on the ledge of the well missing, she burst into verse requesting the culprit who hid the pot to return it at once.

She developed this inborn talent under the tutelage of her teachers, Paltaayamay Lekam and Karatota Dharmarama thera. Soon she was composing Kavi on various occasions and became known as a poetess.

At the age of 22 she was given in marriage to Merrennage Gardias Aarachchi who was the officer of the Talpe Pattu in the Galle District. It was a happy union as he was a lover of poetry and appreciated her poems. But their happy marriage didn’t last long. The aarachchi died very soon after their son was born. The young widow was left forlorn with a baby son.

Many wanted to marry her. But marriage had no attraction for Gajaman Nona.

However, after much coaxing and advice from her father she consented to a second marriage and Gajaman Nona became the wife of Muhandiram Gabriel Hendrik Siriwardana Wimalasekera of Uyanwatta, Matara. She had three more sons.

Gajaman Nona was not destined to enjoy a happy wedded life. She was widowed a second time and left to bring up four sons by herself.

Life was hard. Her father helped her as and when he could and he was a tower of strength, but feeding and bringing up four small boys was not easy. She earned a little money teaching girls of well-to-do families.

This was a time when people of learning and of positions like Mudaliyars and Muhandirams were corresponding with each other in verse - wishing one another on special occasions, complimenting the receiver, asking for help etc. Gajaman Nona composed such verses on request from friends and relations for which she was paid. These payments helped her tide over difficult times. She herself wrote to well-known persons wishing them well and telling them of her plight. They too sent her gifts in cash.

Although she was down and out Gajaman Nona was not downcast. She had tremendous courage was outgoing and witty. She had many admirers. They sent her verses expressing their love for her. She kept them at arms length. But one man corresponded with her regularly. He was Elapatha Mudali.Dayananda Gunawardana’s play Gajaman Puwatha is based on the love lyrics exchanged by these two - Gajaman Nona and Elapatha Mudali.

In 1796 the Dutch gave up that part of the island they ruled, to the British. The British divided the land into districts and appointed agents to manage them. John Doyle who knew some Sinhala was appointed Agent for the Matara District.

With her father gone - Gajaman Nona was unable to fend for herself. She took courage and addressed an appeal to John Doyle. In four very moving verses she told him that her sons were demanding food and she didn’t have the means to give them a square meal. In one line she says, ‘with hands raised in reverence, I am telling you my sorry state to get some help.”John Doyle gave her a land to maintain herself and her sons. This land and the area surrounding it is known as Nona Gama. It is on the Tangalla-Hambantota road and is now an important junction town. At Nona Gama a road branches off to Wellawaya in the Moneragala District.

Here you find a statue of Gajaman Nona, set up by President Premadasa. She is dressed in the popular style of the day - ankle length skirt and long sleeved blouse.

The six verses she addressed to John Doyle are among her well-known compositions. The best known and most popular is her poem “Denipitiye Nuga Ruka” the banyan tree in Denepitiya, a village a short distance inland from Weligama. This tree stood there by the stream, well into the 1960s, when a storm felled it down. Another tree grew from the trunk, which I saw in the 1980. I was told recently that this tree has been cut down to make way for a cultural centre, What a pity!!

Denipitiye Nuga Ruka is a very special poem. It is the first poem on a single subject, written in Sinhala, and its form, with short rhyming lines is also an innovation. Elapatha Mudali wrote a poem Nugapitiye Nuga Ruka, imitating Gajaman Nona’s poem.

Another well-known poem is that which she wrote on her father’s death. In six verses she gives vent to her grief, sadly recalling the love and help he gave her.He was killed by an elephant in 1801 near Kasagala Vihara.Gajaman Nona wrote a long narrative poem of 206 verses titled Dedi Soka Malaya. Written at the request of Amadoru Samaraweera Aarachchi of Matara. It tells how five Sinhalese men including the aarachchi were exiled to India on the orders of the Govt. Agent for some offence and of their subsequent escape from India.

Pinkam Waruna an account of a pinkama was written on the request of Mudaliya Tilakaratna Disanayaka of Matara.Besides these, very many verses she composed on various occasions have been preserved.

Numerous stories about Gajaman Nona have come down by word of month. One such story told to me by a friend who spent her early childhood in the deep south is about her dressing up as a man and attending classes in English because these classes were only for men!!

Aussie scientists find coconut-carrying octopus

SYDNEY- " Australian scientists have discovered an octopus in Indonesia that collects coconut shells for shelter," unusually sophisticated behaviour that the researchers believe is the first evidence of tool use in an invertebrate animal.The scientists filmed the veined octopus, Amphioctopus marginatus, selecting halved coconut shells from the sea floor, emptying them out, carrying them under their bodies up to 65 feet (20 metres), and assembling two shells together to make a spherical hiding spot.Julian Finn and Mark Norman of Museum Victoria in Melbourne observed the odd activity in four of the creatures during a series of dive trips to North Sulawesi and Bali in Indonesia between 1998 and 2008. Their findings were published recently in the journal Current Biology." Finn, a research biologist at the museum who specialises in cephalopods who was amazed said. "I mean, I've seen a lot of octopuses hiding in shells, but I've never seen one that grabs it up and jogs across the sea floor. I was trying hard not to laugh."Octopuses often use foreign objects as shelter. But the scientists found the veined octopus going a step further by preparing the shells, carrying them long distances and reassembling them as shelter elsewhere.That's an example of tool use, which has never been recorded in invertebrates before, Finn said."What makes it different from a hermit crab is this octopus collects shells for later use, so when it's transporting it, it's not getting any protection from it," Finn said. "It's that collecting it to use it later that is unusual."The researchers think the creatures probably once used shells in the same way. But once humans began cutting coconuts in half and discarding the shells into the ocean, the octopuses discovered an even better kind of shelter, Finn said.The findings are significant, in that they reveal just how capable the creatures are of complex behaviour, said Simon Robson, associate professor of tropical biology at James Cook University in Townsville."Octopuses have always stood out as appearing to be particularly intelligent invertebrates," Robson said. "They have a fairly well-developed sense of vision and they have a fairly intelligent brain. So, I think it shows the behavioural capabilities that these organisms have."

There is always debate in the scientific community about how to define tool use in the animal kingdom, Robson said. The Australian researchers defined a tool as an object carried or maintained for future use. But other scientists could define it differently, which means it's difficult to say for certain whether this is the first evidence of such behaviour in invertebrates, Robson said.Still, the findings are interesting, he said."It's another example where we can think about how similar humans are to the rest of the world," Robson said.

Snowball, the cockatoo keeps the beat

The idea for a science experiment can come from an unusual place. After watching a YouTube video of a dancing bird named Snowball, a scientist in California decided to study the ability of animals to keep the beat. Bird lovers have long claimed that their pets have rhythm, and there are many videos of dancing birds online. Until now, scientists have suspected that humans are the only animals that can accurately keep rhythm with music. "Scientists have claimed that this capacity is uniquely human for several decades," says W. Tecumseh Fitch, a psychologist at the University of St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland.

Thanks to Snowball, that scientific opinion is changing. Snowball is a cockatoo, a kind of parrot, and his favourite song is "Everybody" by the Backstreet Boys. When he hears the song, he stomps his feet and sways his body with the tempo, or pace of the music, as though he is the only bird member of the boy band.

Aniruddh Patel is a neuroscientist, or a scientist who studies how the brain and the nervous system contribute to learning, seeing and other mental abilities. He works at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego. After seeing Snowball's dance moves online, Patel visited the cockatoo at the bird rescue facility he's called home for two years. The scientist played "Everybody" for Snowball and also played versions of the song that were sped up or slowed down. Sometimes, Snowball danced too fast or too slowly. Often, when there was a change in tempo, Snowball adjusted his dancing to match the rhythm. In other experiments, scientists have observed the same abilities in pre-schoolchildren.Patel isn't the only scientist who has studied Snowball's moves. Adena Schachner, who studies psychology at Harvard University, also wanted to know more about the dancing bird. Schachner's team played different musical pieces for Snowball and a parrot named Alex, as well as eight human volunteers. The scientists observed that the birds and the humans kept time to the music with about the same accuracy.

Schachner and her team didn't stop with the birds. She and her colleagues watched thousands of YouTube videos of different animals moving to music.

Multivitamin corn

In a triumph of nutritional enhancement, scientists in Spain and Germany have genetically engineered South African elite white corn to produce high levels of three vitamins in its kernels. The modified corn appears orange due to beta carotene, a vitamin that gives carrots their orange color.

Cereal grains like rice, wheat and corn lack essential vitamins and minerals. Fruits and vegetables supplement nutrients lacking in grains, but in poor areas of the world with reduced access to fruits and vegetables, a monotonous grain diet poses a health problem. About 40 to 50 percent of the world's population suffers from a disease caused by vitamin or mineral deficiency, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

One solution is to generate corn that contains vitamins normally found in fruit. Scientists have genetically engineered plants to contain higher levels of a single nutrient - beta carotene fortified rice or lycopene rich tomatoes - but this ignores deficiencies in other nutrients, such as ascorbate (vitamin C) and folate (vitamin B9).

Shaista Naqvi, Changfu Zhu and Paul Christou and their colleagues have raised the bar by adding five genes and gene fragments from two different bacteria, barley, wheat, rice and a different variety of corn to white corn, essentially introducing new assembly lines for 3 vitamins, beta carotene, ascorbate and folate, normally absent from white corn. The added genes provide the machinery allowing the corn to produce these nutrients.

It's like taking the Porsche automobile plant in Stuttgart, Germany, which produces the sleek and small 911 sports car, and modifying it so that it also produces the large and boxy Cayenne sport utility vehicle. The Cayenne is so different from the 911 that it is produced in a separate factory in Leipzig - which should give you an idea of how amazing it is to be able to add the machinery to produce three new vitamins in corn.White corn is the predominant food corn in sub-Saharan Africa. A typical 100 or 200 gram portion of the new, vitamin-rich corn would provide the recommended daily intake of beta carotene (the source of vitamin A), an "adequate" level of folate (undefined by the authors) and 20 percent of the recommended levels of ascorbate.

Scientists hope that their work leads to the development of cereals "loaded with vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, providing a nutritionally complete meal without the need for artificial supplementation."

Cost-benefit analysis and other policy studies must be examined before introducing such crops locally. But it's clear, according to the authors, that the results from genetic engineering are better than conventional breeding.

The best fortification strategies will likely involve genetic engineering and conventional breeding.

The animal kingdom comprises a wide variety of animals that are fascinating and we like to introduce you to as many such creatures as possible. The animals found in various parts of the world differ from one another, with some animals being endemic to certain parts of the world.

Today we feature an animal that is rather cute in appearance and bears a very unusual name - Potto or Perodicticus potto going by its scientific name. A strepsirrhine primate from the Lorisidae family, it is believed to be the only species in the genus known as Perodicticus.

If you are wondereing how the animal ended up with such a strange name here is an explanation. Researchers are of the view that this name probably comes from the African word pata, which means tailless ape.

The Potto is also known as Bosman’s Potto, after the person who is said to have discovered the species. There are other animals too that have “potto” in their name: the two golden potto species (also known as angwantibos) and the False Potto.

These nocturnal (active by night) and arboreal (tree dwelling) animlas are found in the rainforests of tropical Africa, from Guineato Kenyaand Ugandainto, the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The wooly, koala-bear like pottos grow to a length of 30 to 40 cm and weigh about 1.5 kg. They have short tails which are only 3 to 10 cm in length. Colour ranges from brownish grey to a rich, dark reddish brown.

The underparts are slightly lighter. So basically the woolly fur coat is grey brown in colour. The hands and feet are different in that the third and fourth fingers are connected to each other by a slight skin fold, while the third to the fifth toes are joined at their bases by a skin web that extends up to the proximal third of the toes.

The index finger is small. They have opposable thumbs with which they grasp branches firmly. They also have fine claws at the second toes of the hind legs which is typical for strepsirrhines. The vertebrae of the neck are very long and project above the general contour (outline) of the flesh in this area.

Three of the vertebrae in the Potto’s neck have sharp points that are used as defensive weapons. As both male and female Pottos are territorial, they have large scent glands under the tail (in females, the swelling created by the glands is known as a pseudo-scrotum), which they use to mark their territories and to reinforce pair bonds. Pottos have a distinct odour (scent)that some have likened to curry.

Pottos are slow moving animals and are known to be very careful when travelling from one tree to another, always gripping a branch with at least two limbs. They are also quiet creatures. Communication includes various vocalisations such as a high pitched “tsic” between mother and young, a whistling call by females, a threat groan, and a high pitched distress call. Their commonest call is the high-pitched ‘tsic’.

And what do you think these animals survive on? ‘Studies have revealed that they eat mostly friut. Typically the Pottos diet consists of about 65 per cent fruit, 21 per cent tree gums and 10 per cent insects.

Pottos have also occasionally been known to catch bats and small birds. Their strong jaws enable them to eat fruits and lumps of dried gum that are too tough for other tree-dwelling animals to consume.

Pottos are famous for keeping themselves well groomed, especially to attract a mate. It is said that they often meet for short periods of mutual grooming. This is frequently performed while they hang upside down from a branch. Grooming consists of licking, combing fur with the grooming claw and teeth, and anointing with the scent glands.

The females typically give birth to a single young after a gestation ( pregnancy) period of about 170 days, but twins are also known to have occurred. The young weigh 30-52 grams at birth, and clings to its mother’s belly for the first few days of its life.

They are usually carried around clasped to the belly of the mother, but later she carries them on her back. Sometimes she also hides her young in the leaves while searching for food. After about four to five months they are weaned and are fully mature at about 18 months.

Who are the enimies of these tiny, cute creatures that remind us so much of the loris or uluma as we call them in Sinhala, found in our country? According to researchers, Pottos have relatively few predators, because large mammalian carnivores cannot climb to the treetops where they live, and the birds of prey of Africa where the Pottos live, are diurnal (daytime) animals.A species of chimpanzees living in Mont Assirik, Senegal, had been observed to eat Pottos, taking them from their sleeping places during the day.

However, this behaviour has not been observed in chimps elsewhere. Pottos living near villages are hunted by humans as bushmeat. They are sometimes harassed by African Palm Civets, although African Palm Civets are largely frugivorous animals.

However, these animalss have their own defence devices. For instance when threatened, a Potto will hide its face and neck-butt its opponent, making use of its unusual vertebrae. Pottos can also deliver a powerful bite. Their saliva is known to contain compounds that cause the wound to become inflamed.

Long-distance migration shapes butterfly wings

A University of Georgia study has found that monarch butterflies that migrate long distances have evolved significantly larger and more elongated wings than their stationary cousins, differences that are consistent with traits known to enhance flight ability in other migratory species.

As part of a National Science Foundation and UGA-funded study, researchers in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and the Odum School of Ecology examined the size and shape of monarchs from migratory and non-migratory populations using sophisticated computer imaging that was able to measure precise details about the insects' wings.

Warnell doctoral candidate Andy Davis and Odum Associate Professor Sonia Altizer compared migratory monarchs from the eastern and western U.S. to those in Hawaii, Costa Rica, South Florida and Puerto Rico that do not migrate.

They also measured the wings of lab-grown monarchs to rule out environmental causes of differences in size and shape, and to demonstrate a genetic basis for variation in wing traits among individual monarchs.

Altizer and Davis' findings were recently published in the online edition of the scientific journal Evolution.

The findings in monarchs were consistent with previous studies comparing migratory and non-migratory bird species, which indicate that the best shape for long-distance flight involves long wings with a narrow tip to help reduce drag.

In addition to their findings on wing size and shape, the team also found that monarchs from the two migratory populations in the U.S. differed in body size, suggesting that each population could have adapted to the demands of migration in subtly different ways.

Larger bodies might help eastern monarchs, with their much longer migration, carry fat deposits to fuel the long journey and five-month overwintering period in Mexico.

Monarchs in eastern North America, famous for migrating the longest distances of any insect species in the world, face a number of threats, to the point that monarch migration is considered to be an "endangered phenomenon."

Davis has published previous research indicating that female monarch butterflies are on a 30-year decline in the eastern U.S., a troubling pattern that paints a dire picture for population recruitment.

Furthermore, monarchs from this population are prone to periodic population crashes from storms at the Mexican overwintering site. Although monarchs worldwide are not threatened, Altizer said, those with the larger wingspan are.

"Our study shows that we would lose an evolutionarily unique population if the migration of eastern monarchs were to unravel," she said.

A fish that crawls and hops

In January 2008, divers swimming off an Indonesian island saw an unusual fish. To try to identify the strange-looking swimmer, they took pictures and sent them to fish expert Ted Pietsch of the University of Washington in Seattle. Pietsch has been identifying fish species for 40 years. He studied the pictures and came back to the divers with an unexpected answer: That this fish didn't have a name.

He quickly figured out that the fish was a frogfish and he should know, since Pietsch has been studying frogfish for decades. Pietsch also figured out that no one had ever described that particular kind of fish in scientific terms before. One year later, he became the first to do so. The first scientist to describe a species gets to name it. Pietsch named the fish "psychedelica" (Latin name Histiophryne psychedelica).

Psychedelica, about four inches long, is unlike any fish in your local aquarium. What's the strangest fact about this fish? After reading about it, you decide. They hop: If you saw one underwater, you probably would think it wasn't swimming. The fish moves along a coral reef by squirting out little jets of water, so it appears to be hopping, rather than swimming. Its hops are irregular and strange, as you can see in videos at http://uwfishcollection.org/psychedelica/No frogfish had ever been observed hopping before.

They crawl: On either side of the fish's body are fins that work more like legs. The fish seems to prefer strolling along a reef to swimming through the water: crawl-hop-crawl-hop.

They see the world differently: The face of psychedelica is flat, and its eyes face forward. While eyes that face forward are common on humans, most fish have an eye on either side of their head. As a result, the two eyes see different views. Not so with "psychedelica," Pietsch says he's never before seen this trait in an frogfish.

They don't change: psychedelica's swirls and stripes stay the same regardless of where it is. Most frogfish are able to change their colours, depending on the environment in which they're swimming. But psychedelica's stay the same in any situation. Perhaps the most bizarre(unusual) thing about psychedelica is that Ted Pietsch had seen it before 2008. When he first received the new pictures from Indonesia, he thought they looked familiar. He went through his fish collection and found two specimens of the same fish, though those were faded and damaged. They were sent to him by the Dallas Aquarium," 17 years ago.

'Green bombers' from the deep sea

In the latest proof that the oceans continue to offer remarkable findings and much of their vastness remains to be explored, scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and their colleagues have discovered a unique group of worms that live in the depths of the ocean.

The discoveries feature worms nicknamed "green bombers" that can release body parts that produce a brilliant green bioluminescent display.

The discovery is described in the August 21 issue of the journal Science and is led by Karen Osborn of Scripps Oceanography.

The researchers introduce seven previously unknown species of swimming worms in the annelid phylum ranging from 18 to 93 millimetres (.7 to 3.6 inches) in length.

They were discovered by the scientists using remotely operated vehicles at depths between 1,800 and 3,700 meters (5,900 and 12,140 feet).

The first species described in the paper has been given the scientific name Swima bombiviridis, referring to its swimming ability and the green bombs.

Osborn says one key aspect of the discoveries is that the newly found worms are not rare. Opportunities to witness such animals and collect and study them, however, have been extremely rare.

"We found a whole new group of fairly large, extraordinary animals that we never knew anything about before," said Osborn, a post-doctoral researcher in the Marine Biology Research Division at Scripps.

"These are not rare animals. Often when we see them they number in the hundreds. What's unique is that their habitat is really hard to sample." Largely transparent except for the gut area, the worms propel themselves with fans of long bristles that form swimming paddles.

"The depths between 1,000 and 4,000 meters (3,280 and 13,120 feet) form the biggest habitat on Earth and also the least explored," said Scripps Professor Greg Rouse, a coauthor of the paper and curator of Scripps Benthic Invertebrate Collection.

"With fairly limited time on submersible vehicles, mainly off California, we've picked up seven new species.

It goes to show that we have much more exploration ahead and who knows what else we'll discover?" Each of the species features a variety of elaborate head appendages.

Five of them are equipped with luminescent structures, the "bombs," that are fluid-filled spheres that suddenly burst into light when released by the animal, glowing intensely for several seconds before slowly fading.

Due to the bright lights of the submersible, scientists were not able to witness bomb-casting in the worm's natural habitat, but rather on ships after the animals were captured.

While the scientists speculate that the bombs are used as a defensive mechanism against potential predators, more studies are needed to fully understand the process.

Rouse says the green bombers in the newly discovered clade, (a common ancestor and all its descendant organisms), are fascinating from an evolutionary standpoint. Looking closely at their relatives that live on the seafloor, it appears the bombs were once gills that evolutionarily transformed over time.

"The relatives have gills that appear to be in exactly the same places as the bombs," said Rouse. "The gills can fall off very easily so there's a similarity of being detachable, but for some reason the gills have transformed to become these glowing little detachable spheres."

Osborn continues to probe many of the various adaptations the worms have made since evolving into swimming species. The challenges faced by animals living in a three-dimensional open water habitat above the seafloor are very different than those faced by animals living on the seafloor.

These include locating new food sources, finding ways to maintain optimal depth and grappling with predators that come from various directions.

"I'm interested in how animals have evolved in the water column," said Osborn. "These worms are great examples. How does a worm transform into a wonderful glowing animal?" In addition to Osborn and Rouse, coauthors of the Science paper include Steven Haddock of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Fredrik Pleijel of the University of Gotteborg in Sweden and Laurence Madin of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

The research was supported by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellowship, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, NOAA, WHOI and the National Geographic Society.

The many uses of flowers

Flowers' are reproductive organs of plants. Basic parts of flowers of any kind are the same. The petals and sepals of plants usually come in beautiful colours.

Flowers have been admired and used by people all over the world, from ancient times. In the modern world too flowers are used for many purposes. It has become very dear to humans. It is a token of happiness, goodwill and pleasure.

When people are happy they always like to have flowers around. At a wedding or at any other special function, flowers are used to express happiness and to beautify the place. Also flowers are grown in houses to beautify the surrounding. When we visit a patient in hospital we sometimes take flowers to cheer that person and to express our goodwill.

There are many public places that have been demarcated as flower gardens. These are there for our pleasure. People visit them to spend their time among the flowers and relax.

Most devotees offer flowers whenever they go to the temple to pray. The fragrance of flowers and their beauty helps to relax the mind. This habit is seen mostly among Buddhists and Hindus. Hindus put garlands round the statues in the Kovils.

Many women especially brides use flowers to beautify themselves by wearing floral headwear and carrying bouquets. Some people wear flowers pinned to their costumes. On sad occasions such as deaths floral wreaths and bouquets or posies are sent to the bereaved family members or placed on the grave.

On memorial occasions especially war memorials, wreaths are laid down as a mark of respect.

Flowers are special because they are used for various purposes.

Peace, a lighthouse to our lives

Peace hath her victories, not less renowned than war.' This is a famous wise saying by a learned philosopher. This reveals that peace wins always even if there are wars taking place everywhere. What does real peace mean? It doesn't mean only absence of war, but also the freedom from anxiety. All the human beings long for peace even if they can not live in peace. Peace leads to joy, long life and also development of standards of living.To live in peace all should be treated equally and their human rights should be protected by law.Has anyone of the religious leaders ever taught us to fight over race or religion? No, never. Instead everyone of them has asked us to live in peace and harmony, co-operating with others.They have specially asked us to forgive and forget the wrong things done to us by others.

The wars prevailing in our country and in the world, have led to the untimely death of youth in millions. Many people have been orphaned or handicapped as a result. Some soldiers are traumatised. Many people who were living in war zones are now living as refugees in camps. They have lost their beloved family members and hard-earned wealth. All live sorrowful lives without any peace.

When there is peace in the country, the government can utilise the money spent on war for the development of our country. There will be more employment opportunities and finally Sri Lanka will even be able to transform herself as a queen of the world, being a developed and top class country. Also many valuable lives of our youth, especially soldiers will be saved.May the light of peace shine upon us and guide us as a lighthouse which guides ships in darkness because 'United we stand, divided we fall.'

Then, all humans can live a life bound by peace, forever.

Caring for elders

We are all aware of the seven ages of man. It has been said 'All the world is a stage and we are all merely players on it. So, each person in his lifetime plays several parts.

Our life is cyclic and our roles in life keep changing in a cycle. When we first appear on this Earth we have our loving parents to take care of everything we need. They continue to shower their love and affection throughout life; through thick and thin.

At every stage of our growth or development in life they are beside us. They take it as their bounden duty to see to everyone of our needs, from the beginning of our existence until we can take care of ourselves. However, when we are no longer dependent on our parents and can look after our own affairs, we forget what we owe our parents. Many do not look after even the basic needs of their parents who provided everything for them, when they were small. In some cases they are sent out of their homes, sometimes to end up in the streets. This can be the most inhuman act that challenges the claim that man is superior to all animals, in respect of his relations with one another.

The homes for the aged in most countries are full of desperate, lonely and miserable elderly people who are left in the lurch by their children.

Bereft of all their muscular strength to eke out a livelihood, all sorts of diseases only add to the sufferings and misery of these heroes of the past.

As aged people, they are in their second childhood. What they need is love and affection and the means to spend the rest of their twilight years in peace.

This is not a problem of the poor and downtrodden only. There are many old people living in palatial houses leading lonely lives. They have everything, but no one to love or care for them. Their children are living luxurious lives in foreign countries and even in the same land, but their old parents are left alone without any assistance. They cry in their old-age homes.

Social service organisations have identified the problems of the elders and have introduced several programmes to help them. But what they are doing is not enough. The children must realise their responsibilities towards their parents because they too are going to be parents some day. We reap what we sow. It is comforting to have a day for the elders to remember and pray for them.

A country I would like to visit

A country I would like to visit is England. The capital of England is London which is the biggest city in the country. England belongs to the European group of countries.

There are many wonderful and interesting places in England such as Buckingham Palace, Kew Garden, Piccadilly, Trafalgar Square, London Aquarium, London Eye and Old Kent.

The Queen of England is Queen Elizabeth. When the flag is hoisted outside Buckingham Palace we know that the Queen is inside the palace.

I have heard that when a ship passes through the River Thames, the bridge opens and closes. We can go on a boat ride in the River Thames.

The biggest clock tower in London is called the Big Ben. The world's busiest airport is the Heathrow Airport in England. The tallest building in England is the Canary Warf.

Greenery which is called the green belt is maintained around England.

The historical Museum in England is also an exciting place. We can see real skeletons of dinosaurs and mammals.

England experiences the four seasons; spring, summer, autumn and winter. We can travel by underground trains called the "tube" which travel very fast. Apple trees grow well in England.

Many people visit England to do their higher studies and for employment. Many foreigners visit England because of its historical places. England is a developed country.

England's finest export is the English language.

I wish I could visit England and hope my dream comes true one day.

Importance of learning English

English is an international language. There are over 750 million people speaking English around the world. A person who knows English well can communicate with foreigners easily. It helps us to learn about foreign countries too.

Most books on different subjects are published in English. We can read them if we have learnt the English language well. This makes us more educated.

If I have to travel to a foreign country for my studies in the future and if I know English well it would be easier for me to develop my knowledge with a proper understanding and obtain good results.

English is also an interesting subject, especially because the phonetic sounds are different to those in our own languages. There are twenty six letters which are called the 'alphabet'. All the words of the English language are presented through these letters.

I like the English language and hope to learn it well in the future.

Sri Lankan elephants

Sri Lankans have been associated with elephants for many centuries according to history. This largest living animal walking the Earth has been very important to our little island nation. During the reign of the ancient kings, over 2,000 years ago, elephants were caught, tamed and used in large numbers for construction work.

Sri Lankan elephants were also used by our ancient kings in the various wars they fought during that time. Large palaces, temples and vast reservoirs had been built with the aid of elephants. Originally elephants roamed the forests all over the country.

One of the significant facts about Sri Lankan or Asian elephants is that they are used for ‘ceremonial’ occasions in our country and are kept in temples too. Elephants are always seen at religious peraheras or processions islandwide.

The famous ‘Dalada Perahera’ and the ‘Maligawa Tusker’ closely associated with Sri Lanka for a very long time is a part of our rich heritage. It has become a tradition that our elephants bear the Dalada Karunduwa’ which enshrines the Sacred Tooth Relic. Raja who first carried it became a legend.

Yala sanctuary has a large number of elephants. At the ‘Pinnawela’ Elephant Orphanage too many of the orphaned and injured elephants are well looked after.

Elephants as the largest mammals that walk the earth need to be protected , but there are wild elephants who have become a threat to the lives of many innocent people living in remote areas of the country.

The electronic and print media often reports of situations where elephants have harmed people. Precautions have been taken by the authorities to overcome this elephant-man conflict, but they have not solved the problem.

Sri Lankan elephants are also gifted to other countries .

I enjoy the music of birds

Birds are very interesting animals and they are also very attractive. They are very useful to our environment. If not for them the environment would be a very boring place and people will miss the opportunity of listening to the music they make.

Enjoying the music of birds is a very interesting hobby. My family members and I love to do it. My sister and I use binoculars to watch the birds make nests in our garden.

As we love listening to their music during our leisure, we go to the garden and hide behind the trees and observe the way they sing. Sometimes I hear the nightingale singing in a sweet voice in the night. It keeps me relaxed and happy and I have pleasant dreams. Even when I wake up in the morning, the memory of its melody refreshes my mind and helps me to do my work, in a pleasant mood.

My sister always says it would be nice if we too were birds. She says that she likes to be a bird and sing sweetly like they do.

Birds can sing more sweetly than most humans and we can enjoy their songs better than some songs played over the radio..

Clean environment, a must

The environment is everything around us. It includes the atmosphere, waterways and the landscape. Clean air and pure water is essential for humans to lead a long and healthy life.

The air is mainly polluted by factories and old vehicles which give out dark black clouds of smoke and gases called 'carbon monoxide'. This gas is poisonous and unbearable to humans and also damages the ozone layer.

Another main source of pollution is the dumping of garbage in public places, roadsides and unauthorised places. As a result these places have become breeding grounds for deadly mosquitoes and various other insects.The filthy water diverted from homes and toxic waste from industries released into nearby rivers, channels and thereafter the sea also leads to pollution and is a big threat to the environment.

Sometimes due to unexpected explosions and other accidents of oil tankers in the middle of the seas, tons of oil is released into the sea. The recent oil spill in the Gulf as a result of some damage to an oil rig led to a large area being polluted.

Millions of sea creatures are affected by such oil spills, threatening biodiversity.

Therefore, everybody must regard the environment as a part of their lives and do everything to protect it. Otherwise, all living beings will perish in the near future.

Why Earth is hotting up?

Global warming is defined as the increase of the average temperature on Earth. As the Earth is getting hotter and hotter, disasters such as hurricanes, droughts, cyclones and tsunamis are getting more frequent. Over the past 100 years, the average temperature of the air near the Earth's surface has risen by a little less than one degree Celsius.

This shows that even an increase of just one degree Celsius makes the Earth warmer than what it was over a thousand years ago. Out of the 20 warmest years on record, 19 have occurred after the 1980s.

Global warming is a great 'disadvantage to this world because in the future their will be hardly any form of life left on Earth. Because of the rising temperature. Many species of animals and plants are becoming extinct.

So, to prevent or lessen the effect of global warming, we must plant more trees (afforestation), stop cutting down trees and also reduce the use of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas etc.) We can use solar power or hydro power instead. I think we must all extend a helping hand to lessen the effects of global warming.

Sri Pada to be declared a World Heritage site

The Ministry of Cultural Affairs and National Heritage has initiated action to proclaim Sri Lanka's sacred mountain Sri Pada,well known over the world as Adam's Peak, as a world heritage site, the Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi told the Junior Observer.

According to her, the proposal to this regard is to be submitted at the conference of the UNESCO to be held in Brussels, Belgium next month.

Sri Pada is located in the Samanala mountain range in Sri Lanka's hill country, in a unique natural environment. Thousands of Sri Lankans of many faith as well as foreign tourists visit the place annually. The Ministry has decided to do this taking into consideration its importance to Sri Lanka and the world, the Minister added.

Seven historical sites; Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Kandy's ancient cities, Sigiriya Rock Fortress, Dambulla Rock Temple, Galle Dutch Fort and Sinharaja Rain Forest have been named as World Heritage sites under the International Convention on Protection of World Culture and Environmental Heritage which was passed by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, (UNESCO).

Meanwhile The Central Cultural Fund source said that UNESCO entered Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya (in 1982), Galle Fort, Kandy and Sinharaja (in 1988) and Dambulla (in 1991) to its historical site list.

At present five historical sites, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Kandy, and the ancient cities, Sigiriya Rock Fortress and Dambulla Rock Temple are being managed by the Central Cultural Fund.