Radioactivity in Europe, no public risk: IAEA

The Sunday Times

VIENNA, Nov 12 (AFP) - The UN atomic agency has said “very low levels” of radioactive iodine-131 had been detected in the air in the Czech Republic and in other countries, but presented no risk to human health.
The Czech nuclear safety office said the source of the contamination was “most probably” outside the Czech Republic, and that its information suggested the cause was not an accident at an atomic power plant.
Poland, Slovakia and Austria also said that they had detected abnormal but still very low levels, with Poland saying they had been “100 times higher” in March afer Japan's Fukushima nuclear accident.
According to a spokesman from Poland's National Atomic Energy Agency there were also “unconfirmed reports” about a possible incident at a nuclear power station in Pakistan.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it had received information from Czech authorities “that very low levels of iodine-131 have been measured in the atmosphere over the Czech Republic in recent days.
“The IAEA has learned about similar measurements in other locations across Europe,” it said, without saying which other countries were affected.
“The IAEA believes the current trace levels of iodine-131 that have been measured do not pose a public health risk and are not caused by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in Japan.”The Vienna-based agency said it was working with its counterparts to determine the cause and origin of the iodine-131, which has a half-life of around eight days, and that it would provide further information as it became available.
The Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety (SUJB) said “trace amounts” had been registered in the air in the past two weeks. The country has two nuclear power plants. “The source of the contamination is not known at the moment,” it said.
“We have not detected any increase in the concentration of other artificial radionuclides, which suggests the cause was not a nuclear power plant accident.”Dana Drabova, head of the Czech nuclear safety office, told the CTK news agency: “With probability bordering on certainty this is not from a Czech source, and definitely not from our nuclear plants.”In Poland, which has no nuclear power plants, a spokesman for the atomic energy agency told AFP: “We detected trace levels of radioactive iodine-131 over Poland during measurements taken October 17-24. It was a very low level.
“Readings were 100 times higher in late March in the wake of Japan's Fukushima nuclear accident,” spokesman Stanislaw Latek said, adding that Ukraine had also detected “trace levels” between October 10-20.
He also said: “Unconfirmed reports suggest there may have been an incident at a nuclear power station in Pakistan but this requires further confirmation. ”An IAEA spokesman said he had no information about any such incident, however.
On October 19, Pakistani authorities reported an emergency at the almost 40-year-old Karachi nuclear plant (KANUPP) when workers were forced to repair a leak. In Slovakia, Vladimir Jurina from the public health authority said levels of iodine-131 were “just about measurable levels.”The values are basically the same as those in Austria, the Czech Republic and other countries. The source is a mystery to us. It's not from our nuclear plants though -- we have checked with them,” he said.
In Austria, the environment ministry said “miniscule” levels of iodine-131 had been detected in the east and north of the country, posing no risk whatsoever to human health. In Bulgaria, nuclear watchdog chief Sergey Tsochev said no traces of iodine-131 had been detected. “Air samples remain normal,” he said.

GMOA Seeks Health Ministry Intervention

By Nirmala Kannangara, The Sunday Leader
The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has sought Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena’s intervention to find schools for the children whose parents are working in the peripheries.
Dr. Saman Abeywardena of the GMOA told The Sunday Leader that six children whose parents are working in periphery hospitals are waiting to get schools in Colombo although 11 months have elapsed in the year.
“The general procedure is to send letters to the Education Ministry Secretary through the Health Ministry Secretary and they would be forwarded to the relevant school principals. Although the same procedure was followed in 2010 for 2011 school entrants, principals of most schools have not admitted these children. As a result children whose parents are working in the North and East and many other periphery hospitals are still waiting for schools although almost one year has passed,” said Dr. Abeywardena.
Meanwhile, the GMOA on behalf of the doctor parents had met Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena on November 1. “When we met the Educatioin Minister he gave an assurance that he will speak to his officials but we are still waiting to get a favorable response. These doctors are working in remote areas but the Education Ministry has failed to provide schools for their children,” claimed Dr. Abeywardena.

SAITM’s Fake Medical Degrees

By Nirmala Kannangara, The Sunday Leader

SAITM Campus and Dr. Sameera Senaratne

The Private Medical College (PMC) in Malabe – the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine’s (SAITM) failure to provide clinical training for its students have not only irked the parents/ students but it is also criminally liable for deceiving parents.
Established in 2009, SAITM through newspaper advertisements called for applications from prospective students to obtain a foreign medical degree promising a MD (Russia) after successful completion.
Although they stated that SAITM is the off shore Campus of Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy (NNSMA) of the Russian Federation, the Medical Ordinance does not permit the existence of offshore campuses for foreign medical schools for the purpose of conferring a foreign medical degree in Sri Lanka.
However, Director SAITM Dr. Sameera Senaratne refers to SAITM as the Sri Lanka campus of NNSMA where students have been given the opportunity to obtain a prestigious medical degree in Sri Lanka from a reputed Russian state university confirming the foreign degree after successfully completing the first four years in Sri Lanka and the fifth year at NNSMA Russia.
SAITM, meanwhile, promised clinical training in government hospitals although no clinical training in government hospitals has been permitted so far.
It is also learnt that the University Grants Commission (UGC)’s decision to give its recognition only to the fifth batch onwards was to ensure that these students have the necessary qualifications to follow the medical course.
“We have found out that this institution has enrolled students who do not have enough qualifications to follow a medical course. That is why the UGC imposed certain guidelines for SAITM. From the fifth batch SAITM has to enroll only students who have the necessary qualifications,” the UGC confirmed to The Sunday Leader.
Speaking on condition of anonymity a leading medical doctor, who too enrolled his son at SAITM, has taken his son out from SAITM. He told The Sunday Leader that he did not want his son to continue at SAITM, which is not recognized by the SLMC (Sri Lanka Medical College).
When asked as to why he failed to check whether this university is recognised by the SLMC and UGC before his son was enrolled, he said that he was not aware that the SLMC does not recognise twin programmes.
“There are many countries that award degrees where the students study in more than two countries. It was too late when I understood that the SLMC would not give its recognition for twin programme courses and that was why I immediately sent my son to a foreign university without wasting more time at SAITM,” he added.
However, he complimented SAITM for giving his son a good education during the first year.
“My son studied for one year and three months at SAITM and received a good education during the first year. Although he once again had to start from the beginning at his present university, he was told that he will be promoted to the second year, since he has scored more than 80 marks for each paper and the gap between the first and second is more than 40 percent. This was because of the good lectures at SAITM,” he said.
He also said that he is not against Private Medical Colleges in the country but added that these medical faculties should get all the required facilities before enrolling students.
He further said that it was not professional for this PMC to deceive parents and students by promising clinical training in government hospitals.
“In the paper advertisements they clearly said that they have SLMC recognition and the students would receive clinical training in government hospitals. They have put the innocent students in jeopardy,” he added.
The doctor father also said that he has written to SAITM asking them to refund his money which he paid in advance. He says he will initiate legal action if his money is not refunded. “Although my son studied for three to four months in his second year, I have paid the second year course fee in advance. I sent a letter to SAITM two weeks ago requesting them to refund the money. I will give them a few more weeks and if they fail to refund the money I will initiate legal action,” he said.
Meanwhile, yet another parent whose child is still studying at SAITM told The Sunday Leader on the basis of anonymity that they have been told that any questions with regard to administration issues are not relevant for the parents.
According to him, the UGC’s decision to recognise the new entrants was to ensure that these students have the necessary qualification to follow the medical course.
“Whenever we raise questions with regard to SLMC and UGC recognition which have caused us pain of mind, there are many instances when Dr. Senaratne has shouted at us. He says that it is not relevant for us but to leave it for the administrators. How can he claim that these are not relevant to parents? It is the parents who have given them money so we have a right to find out what is happening,” he said.
“By this time four students from the third batch have already left SAITM after realising that they have been misled. When we raise these questions, Dr. Senaratne (who too has studied in Russia but has not sat for Act 16 conducted by the SLMC to be recognised as a doctor in Sri Lanka), says SAITM has the Russian degree awarding status. But he has never shown the relevant documents,” he alleged.
He further stated that Director National Accreditation Agency of Russia in an email dated September 22, 2011 has notified Minister of Higher Education that the medical programme conducted at Malabe is not accredited to Russia.
“Although the SLMC has recognised the degree awarded by NNSMA for the course conducted in Russia for a six year period, they will not recognise any other twin programme conducted by the NNSMA. Therefore SAITM cannot exist as the offshore campus of NNSMA Russia,” he added.
He further said that most of the lecturers who are foreign qualified doctors have either failed the Act 16 examination or have not sat for it.
“It was the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) that first revealed this. Can these doctors who do not have sufficient knowledge to pass the Act 16 exam even after several attempts, guide our children to get through the exams? Why couldn’t SAITM employ highly qualified doctors to lecture our children?” he asked.
According to many parents, SAITM has dishonestly and fraudulently obtained millions of rupees from them making false representations.
“A criminal complaint ought to be lodged with the relevant authorities,” they said.
Meanwhile, Director SAITM, Dr. Sameera Senaratne told The Sunday Leader that SAITM is having discussions with the SLMC.
“We will get the SLMC registration very soon,” he said.
When asked as to what would happen to the students in the first four batches as they will not be recognised by the UGC, Dr. Senaratne said that there are no provisions for the UGC to exclude the first four batches.
“We have always followed UGC criteria when enrolling students,” he said.
However, Dr. Senaratne failed to give a proper answer as to when SAITM would provide clinical training for its students.
“We have spoken to many private hospitals including Nawaloka Hospitals. Very soon our request will be granted,” said Dr. Senaratne.
Director/ General Manager Nawaloka Hospitals Prof. Lal Chandrasena, when asked whether his hospital would provide clinical training to SAITM students, replied that it is not a Teaching Hospital.
“Clinical training should be given in Teaching Hospitals. Nawaloka Hospital is not a teaching hospital nor has SAITM contacted us. We cannot give clinical training for SAITM students,” Prof. Chandasena told The Sunday Leader.

Savitri sums up

November 12, 2011, 4:33 pm

I always read Dayan Jayatilekes newspaper articles with interest. I sometimes agree with his views, and sometimes I don’t. I am sorry that he thinks that my use of quotation marks for the word paramilitary created a wrong impression, and was an unfair distortion of his views. I did not take this word from his article. He has given a full text of the relevant passages in his response, and the reader can decide whether I distorted his views. Rajiva Wijesinha is entitled to his views on what is right about the current university system, as I am entitled to mine. I would like to clarify that I was not in the university system at the time of the referendum of 1982, when he says he resigned from his post. I joined the Open University in August 1983.We had just returned after six years working overseas, and we had means of our own. My husband is a professional, and I did not need, as he suggests a university salary for family survival. My rationale for employment in a university, like for many others, was a matter of personal choice.

Working in a university at this time was a challenge. The horrendous violence I described in my article occurred in Peradeniya when I was Dean of a Faculty in the Open University (OUSL). We as university academics and administrators received death threats in anonymous individual telephone calls, and or written documents of "sannadda"(armed) groups. And yet some of us, including the late Rajini Thiranagama could meet as members of University Teachers For Human Rights (UTHR) on our own OUSL campus. The Vice Chancellor and the Chairman UGC at this time respected our right and our freedom to do so. We worked together as a team, with the academic community, to keep the University functioning, and this I believe contributed to our collective survival.

I do not wish to respond to the flourishes of Rajiva Wijesinha’s poison pen, his personal invective, and his misrepresentation of a casual conversation five or six years ago. Ironically this was a time when I as Chairperson, and he as a member of a Committee of the National Commission on Education, worked together with other colleagues on a draft of a new University’s Act which gave more rather than less autonomy to State Universities!

Savitri Goonesekere

Bravo Law Professor Savitri Goonesekere!

November 12, 2011, 4:33 pm

by Carlo Fonseka

When the history of university education in Sri Lanka in the early decades of the 21st century comes to be written, law professor Savitri Goonesekere should surely figure on a peak of resplendent courage. Having sat next to me at fortnightly meetings of the University Grants Commission for several years, Prof SG knows my favorite quote from Ernest Hemingway : " If people bring so much courage to this world, the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them…" Her love for Sri Lanka is no less than that of any son of a Bandaranaike      (creator of the SLFP and the Sri Lankan epitome of liberal patriotism) and her patriotism has manifestly impelled her to run the risk of paying the price of courage by making public her cogent critique of our contemporary university system (Sunday Island, 30th October 2011). The risk was imminent and the predictable assassination attempt came swiftly in the Sunday Island of 6th November. Two highly articulate political academics in our university system, both liberally endowed with incisive prose resource capable of vanquishing any "hard talker" from every quarter, went for her jugular. But Prof SG will survive the onslaught because she has immense inner reserves "which passeth show".

Diagnosis & Therapy

 Unlike Doctors Rajiv Wijesinha and Dayan Jayatillake, I –  by self-proclamation ‘the permanent  member’ of the UGC during the relevant period – must confess to a guilty conscience induced by Prof SG’s forthright indictment against the UGC. I am sorry to say, however, that I cannot concur with her diagnosis of what went wrong with our university system in our country which never dedicated even 3% of its GDP to education. Prof SG knows that good education in the modern world is expensive and that the acquisition of this weightless thing called knowledge has turned out to be one of the dearest pursuits in the present world. Currently with 4 million children to educate out of resources derived from less than 3% of the country’s GDP, it is surely unrealistic for us to aspire to become the "the knowledge hub of Asia" as the political rhetoric picturesquely puts it. Yet, as an academic lawyer, Prof SG’s diagnosis seems to be that our university system reached its present state of crisis not mainly because of under funding, but because the Universities Act No.16 of 1978 as amended, has not been duly implemented. This is implied in her judgment that "our university system cannot gain any kind of recognition that will make us ‘the knowledge hub of Asia’ unless we recognized the importance of intellectual freedom, thought and expression and realize the promise of these Constitutional guarantees in our universities" ( p.17, Sunday Island, 30th October). In line with her diagnosis lawyer SG’s main therapy for our financially ailing university system is a legal one, namely, implementation of the Universities Act to the letter! As Mark Twain truly said, "if your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like nails." It looks as though to law professor SG all problems are legal in nature and therefore remediable by law.

Economics & Politics

I submit that the crisis of university education in our country is not fundamentally a problem of law and order but one of perceived inequalities in educational opportunity. The visible breakdown of law and order is only the symptom of a serious malady in the body politic which Prof SG herself unerringly senses: "…Much of the violence [in our university system] can be traced to deep insecurities felt by those who will perhaps (emphasis added) not be able to access fee levying institutions or fears that graduates from the state systems will have to compete for employment with peers who will have acquired superior skills in better resourced private institutions…" Prof SG’s use of the word ‘perhaps’ in the paragraph I have just cited, prompts me to parody Hamlet’s famous response to his mother: "Perhaps madam! Nay it is. I know not perhaps". For the violence generated by socio-economic inequalities, law professor SG’s knee-jerk reaction is rigorous implementation of the law. But law is not the answer to our university crisis because law cannot and will not cure a felt sense of social injustice. You don’t have to take my word for it. Here is what The Economist (the most conservative newspaper in the world which commenced publication in 1843) opined in an article titled: "Democracy? Freedom? Justice? Law? What’s all this?" published in its Millennium special edition dated 31st December 1999: "…The institutions of law exist almost everywhere. Yet much of the globe remains literally lawless. For billions, lawyers, binding contracts and courts to enforce them remain out of reach. Property rights and civil rights are the preserve of a small elite or even pure fiction. At best, civil law is often what a corrupt judge says it is, and crime what such judges say poor men have done but rich ones not. And the biggest threat to life and liberty is often the very government that poses as the guardian of both. Remember this the next time someone tries to raise a chuckle by quoting the line: Let’s kill all the lawyers."  The line is, of course, from Shakespeare and it might be wondered why even in his time lawyers were not popular. I suspect that even at that time the law, at least as it was practised in England was not widely perceived to serve the public interest. After all, the law merely regularized the rule of the powerful who made the law. As it was then in England, so it seems now to be in Sri Lanka.

What to do?

 What then must we do? My answer will be old hat to my friend Prof SG. Inequality, gross inequality, in the distribution of wealth is the root cause of the basic conflict in our society. This conflict has been aggravated by the exponential growth of our population since Independence (7 million in 1948, over 20 million today). In addition, what economists call ‘the law of scarcity’ (i.e. most things people want are available only in limited supply) has continued to operate. So there has been an inevitable struggle by all for a bigger share of the scarce resources; a struggle for existence; a struggle between the classes. The universities have been the open theater in which the struggle has been enacted visibly and vociferously. The principal weapon exploited by the academic underclass for promoting the struggle in the universities has been the activity called "ragging". Covert and overt violence has been a constant feature of the rag administered by the malignantly aggressive members of the underclass. The (submerged) aim of the rag has been to cut down to size members of the privileged class and establish a sort of "equality of degradation". The rag disrupts academic life, fouls the intellectual environment and discourages serious scholarship. Over the years the academic staff (including me and even Prof SG) tried hard but failed dismally to effectively control vicious ragging let alone eradicating it. The pernicious spirit of the rag persists throughout the period of university life of students. In recent decades ragging gradually transformed itself into a species of political terrorism perpetrated by a particular group of political activists. The current Chairman of the UGC, Prof Gamini Samaranayake, whose academic specialty happens to be political violence, has publicly identified the campuses as "uncleared areas". The terrorism in these "uncleared areas" was beyond the power of the academic staff to control by constitutional means. In that context the political authority in the country was obliged to try non-academic strategies for dealing with the phenomenon of endemic political violence in our universities. The current Minister of Higher Education by virtue of his own university experience is admirably equipped to understand the underlying reality prevailing in our universities. And now he has been obliged to undertake the Herculean task of attempting to clear these "uncleared areas". Given his proven political skills he will predictably do it his way. One of his first steps has been to introduce the leadership training programme on campuses, which some academics (I think, mistakenly) see as an erosion of academic freedom. For my part, I wish him well and fervently hope that he will succeed in doing what people like me pathetically failed to do in our time.