.GMOA THREATENS STRIKE IF NO REPLY

Dailymirror

The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) yesterday threatened to resort to countrywide trade union action if it did not receive a favourable response to a letter sent to President Mahinda Rajapaksa weeks ago outlining the grievances of the medical profession in the country.
The letter addressed to President Rajapaksa from 40 medical organisations requested an urgent meeting with the President to discuss critical issues pertaining to the medical profession which needed to be immediately addressed.
The letter which was handed over to the President’s office on December 6 received an acknowledgement from Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunge but there were no visible signs of receiving an official response on the matter, GMOA Assistant Secretary Sankalpa Marasinghe said.
“We were prepared for an all-is-

“There are so many other parties that are also concerned about the problems. They will also respond appropriately. We are getting ready for any eventuality. The ball is in their court. We will response accordingly, land strike when the government failed to address our concerns over a private medical college during which time we were assured that a five-member committee would be appointed to inquire the issue in two months. However there is no sound of it now. If they continue at this rate and ignore our appeals we have no option but to go on strike,” Marasinghe said.
He said the GMOA General Committee would meet at the end of the month at which time a decision will be made on the next step to be taken by the association. “There are so many other parties that are also concerned about the problems. They will also respond appropriately. We are getting ready for any eventuality. The ball is in their court. We will response accordingly,” he said.
Some of the issues stated in the letter to the President are attempts to transform the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) to a public enterprise and remove SLMC chief Dr. Lalitha Mendis, the setting up of private medical colleges and measures taken to change the cut off marks for Act 16 examinations among many other concerns.
“The SLMC is the sole authority that is vested with the responsibility of assuring that the public is given a safe medical service by all medical professionals in the country. The SLMC is an autonomous body run with its own funds. However there are certain individuals who attempt to influence or undermine the powers of the SLMC. We are appealing to the government to respond urgently,” he said.

Colombo Uni dons want ragging stopped

December 16, 2011, 9:17 pm , The Island.

Teachers of the Arts Faculty of the Colombo University have come under pressure from pro-government student activists to deny that there is ragging on the campus, The Island learns.

Although the government tried to eliminate ragging by means of a leadership training programme conducted at military camps for prospective university entrants, first year Arts students at the Colombo University undergo severe ragging at the hands of students affiliated to the ruling party, according to sources. This newspaper recently published a letter by a victim highlighting their traumatic experience.

The Island has secured a copy of a statement Arts Faculty teachers have prepared but not yet released to the media due to pressure from the pro-government student groups.

Full text of the teachers’ statement:

The Arts Faculty Teachers’ Association, University of Colombo (AFTA-CU) vehemently condemns the reported ongoing ragging of first-year students at the Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo.

Ragging is reportedly carried out by senior students as well as by first-year students living in hostels, under cover of a so-called ‘probationary period’ imposed on first-year students. Hostel students ragging of non-hostel students pose the threat of clashes developing between these two groups of students.

According to reports, senior students are:

* Enforcing a dress code on first year students

* Demanding that first year students make themselves easily identifiable to seniors by always carrying a special cardboard file with their assigned nicknames

* Ordering male students to cut their hair and beards

* Directing verbal abuse at first-year students, and carrying out many other acts of harassment.

These are clearly violations of the bodily and mental integrity of new students.

AFTA-CU strongly believes that the newcomers to the University should be treated with respect and dignity. They should be encouraged to engage in the University’s academic activities with full freedom and without any fear of being intimidated and harassed by any other student, senior or peer.

Women constitute the overwhelming majority of Arts Faculty students. We recognize that any harassment or verbal abuse directed at female students can be open to the charge of sexual harassment. We vehemently condemn such acts.

AFTA-CU strongly recommends that:

* Senior students stop ragging first-year students,

* First-year hostel students stop ragging first-year non-hostel students

* First year students take the initiative to voice their anti-ragging sentiments openly in order to bring an end to ragging.

FUTA threatens trade union action again

December 16, 2011, 9:17 pm , The Island.

by Dasun Edirisinghe

The Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA) has written to Higher Minister S. B. Dissanayake expressing its displeasure at his ministry’s failure to sort out its members’ salary issues.

FUTA Secretary Dr. Terrance Madujith told The Island yesterday that his association had suspended trade union action three months ago following an assurance given by the government to solve university teachers’ problems.

FUTA wanted the salary proposal implemented in three steps, to which the authorities agreed. As per the consensus reached, the basic salary of university academics should be raised by 20% by January 2012, he said.

In addition, Dr. Madujith said that at the time of suspension of FUTAtrade union action, Secretary to the Treasury had, in his letter dated 21.07.2011, clearly stated that the Treasury had no objections to the implementation of the proposals submitted by FUTA such as increasing the rates for setting question papers, marking, supervision, visiting lectures etc.

"It was also promised in his letter that low interest housing loans would be given through banking institutions," he said.

FUTA also requested the government to consider allocating approximately 6% of GDP for the education sector.

Dr. Madujith said that FUTA was of the view that the government had made no genuine effort to address the issues raised by university teachers.

FUTA would be compelled to resume its trade union action unless the government honoured its promises, he warned.

Examination Dept. asked to prepare Z score in three different ways

GCE (A/L) results imbroglio:

December 15, 2011, 10:09 pm , The Island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

The Examination Department may be able to issue the much delayed results of the GCE (A/L) examination (2011) next Monday, Commissioner General of the Department of Examinations Anura Edirisinghe says.

He told The Island last evening that the University Grants Commission (UGC) had requested the Examinations Department to submit results with Z score prepared separately on the basis of marks obtained by students who sat the examination under the new and old syllabuses and a common Z score for both categories.

The required data would be handed over to the UGC on Friday, Edirisinghe said.

The UGC appointed a committee of five experts to devise a formula to prevent injustices being caused to students who sat the examination under the two different syllabuses, as regards university admissions. The panel comprising five professors of statistics was expected to go through the lists of Z score prepared by the Examinations Department and to give their opinion as to which one would be the most suited, the Commissioner General of Examination said.

"If they give us the go-ahead on Friday evening, then we can release the results on Monday," Edirisinghe said, adding that the results had been finalized a week ago but their release had been delayed in view of possible problems in admitting the students, who had sat for the same subjects but answered different papers based on two syllabuses, to universities.

About 250,000 candidates sat the GCE (A/L) examination in August this year. The Examinations Department initially planned to release the results by the end of the Third school term on Dec. 9.

 

Wanted u’grads identified

December 14, 2011, 9:50 pm , The Island

by Cyril Wimalasurendre

KANDY – The three undergraduate suspects, wanted in connection with incidents of inhumanly ragging a new entrant to the University of Peradeniya, have been identified, Senior DIG H. N. B. Ambanwala said.

The trio will be arrested at any time.

Many of the suspects in the case of alleged ragging have been traced according to sources but they are yet to be arrested, they said.

The victim from Beliatta, as well as the suspects are from the Arts Faculty of the University of Peradeniya.

Food price shocks threaten a billion people with hunger

* Climate change and food security:

December 14, 2011, 9:07 pm , The Island.


Recent food price shocks threaten some 1 billion people with hunger. Meanwhile, there is growing evidence that climate change, along with rampant commodity speculation and lack of social protection are contributing to widespread food insecurity, resulting in hunger, poverty and even increased child labour. Marva Corley-Coulibaly and Uma Rani Amara, senior economists at the ILO International Institute for Labour Studies talk about the growing concerns over food insecurity, and what urgent actions are needed to address the crisis.

Q; There are many factors contributing to today’s food security crisis. For example, how is climate change having an impact?

A: Climate change is certainly having a negative influence on food prices and food security. Irregular or insufficient harvests due to weather-related conditions fuel price instability and the income and food security conditions of small scale farmers, pastoralists, and rural and urban net buyers. This leads to increased poverty that can quickly afflict the entire local community. This is why we need to invest more in sustainable agriculture and take into account the social dimension of adapting to climate change. This includes social safety nets for dealing with short term shocks, as well as longer term initiatives that can better help to improve livelihoods and manage risk. Unless such measures are introduced to limit the consequences of climate change, the situation is likely to further deteriorate.

Q; What is the impact of rising food prices on farmers and producers?

A: Our study shows that the positive effects of rising food prices have been limited mainly because gains from higher prices have accrued disproportionately to large scale farmers, intermediaries and operators in financial markets rather than small producers. Also, because food prices are so volatile, any increase in agricultural income is seen by producers – especially small ones – as temporary, and does not lead to additional investment. Food prices were twice as volatile during 2006-2010 than during the preceding five years, and here adverse weather conditions related to climate change played a significant role as droughts and severe floods, particularly in developing countries, lowered yields of important staple foods and reduced the amount of arable land. As a result, producers lack the stable horizon they need to invest their gains, perpetuating food shortages. Evidence suggests that the gains from higher food prices mainly accrue to high-income groups while most low-income groups are net losers.

Q; Is there a clear connection between higher food prices and the rise of poverty?

A: Higher food prices definitely threaten the achievement of poverty reduction goals and affect the development prospects of many countries. An increase in food prices reduces purchasing power since higher food prices reduce total household spending for other essentials, and can lead to increased poverty. For example, the World Bank estimates that the rise in food prices between June and December 2010 pushed an additional 44 million people below the US$1.25 extreme working poverty line.

Also, higher food prices could lead to a reduction in real wages. To make wage adjustments necessary to neutralize losses from price increases, households in many developing countries make their children available for work, thus increasing child labour. Our analysis shows that a further 30 per cent increase in food prices may increase poverty rates by 3 percentage points in countries with chronic food shortages such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malawi, Nepal and Vietnam. Also, we estimate that a 30 per cent rise in food prices will require low-paid workers to find one additional week’s employment every month to maintain their standard of living.

Q; You say that food commodities have become a major financial product. In what way?

A: The amount of money invested in commodity index funds rose from US$13 billion in 2003 to US$192 billion in March 2008, which means that the volume of index fund speculation increased by 1,900 per cent during the same period. It is clear that there is a growing use of commodities as investments, largely due to the high short-term gains that are expected and because they are considered as an attractive vehicle for portfolio diversification. Several studies show that there is increasing evidence that financial speculation in the commodity markets has been one of the driving factors behind rising food prices and volatility.

Q; You mention quinoa in the Andes as one example that shows how turning a local crop into a financial product may be detrimental to the health and wealth of local communities?

A: The case of quinoa shows how local communities have seen their access to nutrient-rich food reduced because of financial speculation. The development of quinoa, the "miracle grain of the Andes" into a major Bolivian export crop led to improved income for farmers. However, it also brought steep local price increases that reduced or prevented access by the majority of the Bolivian population to this highly nutritious traditional food source. One policy consideration could now be to implement price controls on the domestic market for quinoa.

Q; Your study includes a series of proposals to curb commodity speculation. What are they?

A: First, impose position limits on commodities traders. Such limits are currently under review both in the US and the European Union. Imposing a tax on such transactions is another option. An interim solution could be the introduction of a position management system, whereby once a trader reaches a predetermined limit they would have to provide further information before being allowed to go forward.

Secondly, reduce speculation in food staples. In India, an outright ban on speculation in wheat commodity futures market was introduced since the onset of the food crisis, leading to a reduction of domestic wheat prices.

Thirdly, improve the timeliness, reliability and coordination of agricultural data. Better transparency would also help to reduce reliance on price forecasts by large investment banks, which have a vested interest in market outcomes because most of the undisclosed data available refer to privately held stocks.

Q; Finally you insist that insufficient investment in the agricultural sector coupled with the increasing number of land grabs is also responsible for the worrisome food security situation. Why is that?

A: We definitely need more government investment in agriculture. It can be by building up commodity reserves since holding stocks for emergencies (as in China and India) made it possible to mitigate the worst price increases. Grain reserves can work in a similar way as strategic oil reserves and can be used both for food security and for signalling to the market.

For the medium and long term, there is also a need to improve the ratio of food crops to cash crops (including biofuels), increase productivity and stimulate employment. As we mentioned earlier, it is also about mitigating the consequences of climate change, addressing water shortages, expanding irrigation techniques and creating incentives for farmers to switch from non food to food crops.

Another area where policy measures can be taken relate to unequal access to land and the necessity to limit foreign acquisition of agricultural land (especially for biofuels and cash crops) in many of the less-developed and developing countries which are already food scarce or insecure.

Finally as recent food price shocks have led to nearly a billion people facing hunger, it is essential to focus on immediate assistance for the most vulnerable by developing social protection, for instance through the provision of cash transfers targeted at poor women and young children. Support programmes such as food stamps or vouchers can also help to shore up consumption while meeting immediate food needs, particularly during times of crisis. Simultaneously, efforts should be made to ensure minimum wages are implemented for all workers and adjusted to reflect changes in food prices.

(Courtesy ILO)

Chemistry Graduate-ship programme to commence in January

December 14, 2011, 10:05 pm , The Island

The four-year Graduate-ship Programme of the Institute of Chemistry, Ceylon which produces over 40 per cent of the Special Degree Level Chemists, will launch its next programme in January.

The Institute will take in the 34th batch of students for the new programme on January 7th 2012. Professor Roshan Perera, who is a graduate Chemist of the Institute and is presently Assistant Professor in Chemistry at the University of Texas in Arlington, will be the chief guest at the Inauguration ceremony.

Professor J. N. Oleap Fernando, Honorary Rector of the College of Chemical Sciences, which administers the programme, states in a media release that registration of students is now in the final stages.

Further information can be obtained by attending orientation sessions that will be conducted every Saturday at 10.15 am at the College Headquarters at Adamantine House, 341/22, Kotte Road, Welikada, Rajagiriya or calling over on any day or by downloading from web site www.ichemc.edu.lk.

‘Employees must recognize that education is insurance for a better future’

December 12, 2011, 9:01 pm , The Island.

Dinesh Weerakkody MD HR Cornucopia says the current educational system in our country, from kindergarten through university, does a poor job of equipping people for continuous learning. Therefore, to engage Generation Y, there needs to be a wave of innovation in future education, particularly online, that will cater to this need in a more flexible, personalized way than the traditional degree or postgraduate courses are delivered.

By Chiara Tissera

Q: There is a perception among some of our employers that there is a lack of skilled talent to fill positions at management levels?

A: Yes, some employers say to me they have difficulty filling positions. Some of the complaints about skill shortages simply could be that employers can’t get top candidates to join their companies because they do not have a solid  reputation as an Employer of Choice or the wages they offer is not competitive. Then that becomes essentially an attraction problem, not a skill shortage. A skill shortage to me would be when employers cannot find candidates at market-clearing wages.

Q:If it is affordability issue what should they do?

A: When companies cannot afford the people they want they need to drop the idea of finding perfect candidates and look for people who could do the job with some training, on the job coaching, mentoring and on the job practice. There are plenty of ways to get staff up to speed without investing too much time and money, such as putting new employees on extended probationary periods with lower pay until they get up to speed with the requirements of the job, also on the job coaching and relying more on internal hires would help.

Q:If candidates don’t have the skills the industry needs, what should the industry do collectively?

A: The industry as a collective unit should make them go to a technical school and get the skill before they are hired. Technical Colleges should be motivated to join with employer groups and business chambers and run targeted course work to fulfill the specific needs of employers. Candidates who complete the course will then qualify to be hired. They can pay for themselves or could share the cost with the employers supporting the technical school. For instance, a Bank might require that prospective job candidates first pass a basic elementary course in banking before they are hired as trainees. This strategy should not be limited for new hires only; it should be actively promoted for internal candidates.  Employees must recognize that education is insurance for a better future.

Q:What other options do the industries have to grow the right kind of people for their companies?

A: Apprenticeship Programs are very good options. This is a very popular arrangement in many professional firms.  Apprentices are paid less while they are learning skills. Audit firms, law firms, motor companies and consulting firms have operated long time this way, A properly structured apprenticeship program, with exams, testing and certification at different stages of experience would work for most industries to create a pool of talent to hire from.

Q:Should employers as far as possible make internal candidates the first choice to fill jobs higher up?

A: Employees have organizational knowledge that no outsider would have. So they should be given priority over an external candidate. However if there is no role fit companies would need to look outside.

Q:How do you make employees ready to take on senior jobs?

A: Companies need to put employees with high potential on tough projects, help them learn new skills. That would over a period of time build an internal talent pipeline that can vastly expand the supply of talent that the company can tap into, making it both easier and cheaper to fill jobs within the company and group.

Q:How do we as a country we move up the skills ladder like in India?

A: The solution lies in education. People should be trained in areas where jobs are plenty. There are probably many jobs that go elsewhere because people don’t have the expertise. Therefore, post-secondary education should become more affordable so that people have the opportunity to move into fields were skills are in high demand. Also there needs to be a wave of innovation in future education, particularly online, that will cater to this need in a more flexible, personalized way than the traditional degree or postgraduate courses are delivered.

Toilet cleaning chemicals in your shampoo

December 11, 2011, 7:40 pm , The Island


By Dr. Channa Jayasumana
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Rajarata University,
jayasumanalk@yahoo.com,

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and its close relative Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) are inexpensive detergents commonly used in cosmetic cleansers, hair shampoos, bath and shower gels, soaps shaving creams, mouth washes and toothpastes. It is probably the most dangerous ingredient used in skin and hair-care products.

In the cleaning industry SLS is used in toilet cleaners, garage floor cleaners, engine degreasers and car wash soaps, it is very corrosive and readily attacks greasy surfaces. Far from giving "healthy shining hair" and "dirty less skin", soaps and shampoos containing sodium Laureth sulfate can lead to direct damage to the hair follicle, skin damage, permanent eye damage in children and even liver toxicity. Hence recently its use in health care products has been banned in many countries. But still it is a main component in shampoo, bath gels etc available in the Sri Lankan market.

Sodium lauryl sulfate is used throughout the world for clinical testing as a primary skin irritant. Laboratories use it to irritate skin on test animals and humans so that they may then test healing agents to see how effective they are on the irritated skin.

A study at the University of Georgia Medical College indicated that SLS penetrated the eyes as well as the brain, the heart and the liver and showed long-term retention in the tissues. The study also indicated that SLS penetrated young children’s eyes and prevented them from developing properly and caused cataracts to develop in adults.

SLS dries skin by stripping the protective lipids from the surface so it can’t effectively regulate moisture. In the same way as it dissolves the grease on car engines, SLES also dissolves the oils on skin, which can cause a drying effect. It is also well documented that it denatures skin proteins, which causes not only irritation, but also allows environmental contaminants easier access to the lower, sensitive layers of the skin.

Another extremely serious problem is the connection of SLS with nitrate contamination. SLS reacts with many types of ingredients used in skin products and forms nitrosomines (nitrates). Nitrates are potential cancer-causing carcinogens. Because of the alarming penetrating power of SLS, large amounts of these known carcinogens are absorbed through the skin into the body. Once it has been absorbed, one of the main effects of SLS is to mimic the activity of the hormone oestrogen. This has many health implications and may have contribute for a variety of health problems from post menopausal symptoms and menopausal symptoms to dropping male fertility and increasing female cancers such as breast cancer, where oestrogen levels are known to be involved.

Not only synthetic products, most common brands of "Natural" or "Herbal" shampoos and cleansers still use these harmful chemicals as their main active ingredient. It is known that whether it gets in the eyes or not, skin application does lead to measurable concentrations in the eyes of children. This is known to affect eye development, and the damage caused in this manner is irreversible. If you have children with hair falling problem or a skin problem, you had better not use products containing SLSE or SLS. Moreover, since Sri Lankan law and regulations pertinent to use of this kind of hazardous chemicals are outdated, they must be amended to meet the current world standards.

 

Timely warning to minimise casualties

December 11, 2011, 6:58 pm , The Island


Welcome

Welcome to the sixty eighth edition of this regular column. Here, we discuss a wide range of topics around Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), many aspects of Business, SME Development, Agriculture, Education, Entrepreneurship, Creativity, Innovation and the Society at large.

ICT and Weather Reporting

Gale force winds and storms destroyed property and many human lives in Galle and Matara districts in Sri Lanka a couple of weeks ago. What was sad was that there was no proper warning from the Sri Lanka Meteorological Department which could have minimised the number of casualties. I checked the news the night before just to double check and it didn’t sound any alarms at all.

Due to these sorts of events, people’s confidence in the Sri Lankan Meteorology Department will be lost. One thing that I have noticed at times is that ‘weather reports’ are worded somewhat vaguely so that it almost appears as if the reports try to cover all possible bases. Secondly there is no feel of cutting edge technology being used. Not just for the forecasting aspects but also for distributing the information.

The technology aspect is more apparent by the fact that the Met Department website at http://www.meteo.gov.lk/ is in a pathetic state. And I thought it’s worth discussing using it as a case study for the general benefit of improving ourselves.

The Met Department website has not been updated since 2011.10.21. And for an ever changing phenomenon like the weather, that is pretty unacceptable. There is a section on the website called ‘Warnings’, but it is not linked to anything at the time I checked.

The state of the website indicates that probably even the other technologies are weak. Usually web and ICT (information and Communications Technology) should be a part and parcel of the rest of the infrastructure rather than a separate disconnected entity. Things like SMS alerts, email notifications to key audiences, news, organisational information etc should be connected. This is what we call as an Information Architecture in an organisation. In that architecture, a website is only one part but has to be well integrated with the rest of the information architecture components.

Features of a good web facility are that it has to be clear, easy to navigate, provides correct information and very importantly the information has to be relevant, timely and accurate.

The world is in fact moving (or has moved) towards a web 2.0 society.

What is web 2.0?

Web 2.0 is considered as the second generation of the internet or World Wide Web (WWW). It is focused on the ability of people to collaborate and share information online through internet media. Web 2.0 basically refers to the transition from static web pages to more dynamic websites and facilities that are more organized. It has a key component in serving the users using various Web applications. Other improved functionality of Web 2.0 includes open communication with an emphasis on Web-based communities of users, and more open sharing of information. Blogs, Social Media, wikis, and Web services are all seen as components of Web 2.0.

The concept of Web as a participation platform captures many of these characteristics. Bart Decrem, a founder and former CEO of Flock, calls Web 2.0 the "participatory Web".

You will notice by the applications that have become popular in recent times such as Facebook are more participatory. Many websites today allow users to contribute with information, knowledge and comments. Users today are not just about consuming knowledge but they are also about contributing knowledge. So, the web facilities should be flexible to that level.

So, it is not about just having a website for an organisation. But it is about having a relevant, flexible and informative website that provides timely, relevant and accurate information. To do that, it can’t be a disconnected entity from the rest that is maintained by some disconnected set of people, but has to be a well integrated part of the organisation’s information strategy.

That is the only way to make a website attractive and popular and that is only when people will continue to visit it regularly and more importantly, that is only when it will be useful.

Content Management System

Content is the heart of today’s websites. The content has to be rich and a rich level of content can be managed by using a system that is called as a Content Management System which should be closely linked to the web facility. That is where all the data and information that is to be displayed on the website are stored and managed.

Eventually key elements of an effective website are things like appearance, content, functionality and usability. Content and functionality alludes to relevant, timely, accurate as well as participatory features that we discussed before.

A Comparison

Although I am not about advocating everything that other countries do, it’s not a bad idea to borrow good things from them and tailor it to our needs, after all there is no point in re-inventing the wheel. At least it will improve our standards.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology web homepage provides the Australian community with access to weather forecasts, severe weather warnings and all other relevant information. The website is at www.bom.gov.au. The site is clean, clearly separated into each state as well as the main cities. It gives the high level weather detail in the home page and when you click on a specific area, all the current weather details are provided. Importantly it is updated very frequently, for example the current temperature is updated every half an hour, and if there are extreme weather conditions then the frequency of updates would be about every 15 minutes. The good thing is that people actually go by the forecasts given. Whether they need to take an umbrella and how they choose cloths (due to heat/cold situations) are well guided by the weather forecasts and what’s provided in TV/Radio and website are consistent.

Then for those who make a livelihood at the mercy of the elements such as fishermen, the warnings become a life saver. It also provides emergency workers such as fire fighters and rescue workers time to plan and be ready for any extreme weather events. On their website there is a warnings section and that is well up to date. Graphical map viewers of forecasting temperature, rainfall, weather, wind, waves and more are provided, and people can understand it for themselves. Radar and Satellite pictures are also available on the web, meaning it’s integrated to the rest of the organisation’s technology. During bushfire seasons, regular updates on the situation are provided. It even has a section about water storage so people know what level of water they have in storage for the community.

Now compare that with a website that has the last weather details from October 21st when we are now in December! A website that doesn’t have any page linked to ‘warnings’! So many other broken links with no pictures etcetera.

I think Sri Lankan Met Department has a long way to go. Web, other ICT tools, mobiles applications, SMSs etc are novel, quick and cheap ways of interacting and communicating with people. These have to be embraced and utilised effectively. It’s not about having a website to tell people about ‘About Us’. It’s about providing what really matters to them in a way they understand.

ICT For Modern Day Diplomacy

Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS - http://www.kadirgamarinstitute.lk/) is a ‘think tank’ in the area of international affairs and it functions under the Ministry of External Affairs. They are organising a Discussion Forum on ICT for Modern Day Diplomacy.

The forum will discuss how ICT can be utilised to make Sri Lankan Foreign Relations better. It will discuss aspects such as ICT Strategy for foreign relations, ICT for communication, information dissemination, social media and legal aspects. The speakers at the forum are Chanuka Wattegama, Kithsiri Gunasekara, Vasana Wickramasena and myself.

It will be held on 15th Dec (Thursday) at 3pm at the Kadirgamar Institute at 24, Horton Place, Colombo-07. I invite those who are interested to attend this session.

Get in Touch

If you have any feedback, please drop a note to yva@lankabpoacademy.lk

See you next week!



The Columnist

Yasas Vishuddhi Abeywickrama is a professional with significant experiences. In 2011 he was recognised as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) in Sri Lanka. Yasas has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from University of Colombo and a Masters degree in Entrepreneurship & Innovation from Swinburne University in Australia. He has worked in the USA, UK, Sri Lanka & Australia and being trained in the USA & Malaysia. He is currently involved in the training organisation, Lanka BPO Academy (www.lankabpoacademy.lk). Apart from this column, he is a regular resource person for ‘Ape Gama’ program of FM Derana (Sunday 3-5pm). Yasas is happy to answer your relevant questions – email him at yva@lankabpoacademy.lk .