PGIHS-RC 2017

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A comparative study of curricula based on plato’s republic and the pirivena system in sri lanka
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-21) Pushpakumara, S.K.N
Curriculum is a fundamental element in an effective teaching and learning process. The design, the aim, objectives and Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) of any curriculum reflect the philosophy of the education system of a country and they also need to comply with the socio-political and socio-cultural requirements of a nation. Plato was a recognized Greek philosopher and educationist in western education. Plato proposes an outline of a curriculum for an educational system in the Republic where the goal is to produce able citizens who are responsible for their community. But, Plato’s system was never implemented. The education system of Sri Lanka on the other hand, developed from antiquity aiming at educating mainly the Buddhist monks in monasteries. The Pirivena education also follows a curriculum that reflects the development of an education system that was native to ancient Sri Lanka. The curriculum proposed by Plato in his Republic, and the curriculum in the Pirivena system of education naturally adhere to the basic needs of their societies. Scholarly attention was laid on studying the Platonic system of education and its influence on the modern education in the west. Even various aspects of the Pirivena system of education have grabbed scholarly attention. Yet, no attempts were made to undertake a comparative study on the two curricular proposed in this study. The objective of this paper is to examine the content of the two curricula and their aims, objectives and Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) in order to understand the rationale and diverse circumstances that may have led to fashion the content, aims, objectives and the ILOs of their respective curricula. The study paid close attention to Plato's Republic along with commentaries on this work and secondary literature as appropriate. In studying Pirivena curricula, Pirivena Education Act of 1979, inscriptions and secondary literature were used besides visiting selected pirivenas in order to use the information in their archives and libraries. The gathered information on Plato's curriculum and Pirivena curriculum were studied closely and independently with an analytical mind prior to comparing and contrasting them. The two curricula contain some similar subject content such as literature and mathematics. In certain cases, the course content and methods are different from each other. But interestingly whether the course content is similar or not the concepts, aims, objectives and ILOs behind including those courses appear identical in the two systems of education because the course contents of these curricula attempted to comply with their socio-political and socio-cultural requirements.
An unseen perspective of rural development: rise of rural elite and implications for education in Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Udayanga, K.A. S.
In spite of modern and ever-changing values, caste division plays a significant role both in regular social interactions and in the ideal scheme of values in rural Sri Lanka. Therefore, the so-called rational interventions for rural development have long been struggling with inescapable socially defined obstacles which are thought to be rather irrational. Due to its fundamental functionality, caste has a strong socio economic dimension, and particularly interwoven with the rational social institutions such as education, health etc. The objective of the study is to understand how different caste groups in rural Sri Lanka are engaged in accumulating wealth of any kind in line with modern values and their mutual association with education. Employing guidelines provided by phenomenology, a case study was conducted. Walapne Division in Nuwaraeliya District is selected as the research area, and is composed of five cases. Focus group discussions and Interviews were used as data collection methods. Collected data were analyzed using narrative and thematic approach. Rural sector in Sri Lanka has undergone a transitional turmoil towards an unprecedented value system while preserving some traditional institutions. The so-called lower caste groups have used education as a way towards their material growth. Aristocracy appears to be a strong obstacle to the mobilization of the high caste people, particularly of women in terms of their educational progress. Because of the modern economic value system, some of the functions performed by lower castes have become market oriented, thereby giving rise to a new rural-economic elite. Life of the lower caste elite then became stable and it has inspired them towards a high societal platform; education has provided the necessary means for the lower class to achieve stable economic status, and education has reinforced the rise of lower caste people to an elite class, resulting in accumulation of wealth. Migration of resourceful persons from lower caste due to inner rural unrest, in return contributed to the sophistication of caste enclaves in rural areas. Suppressed caste identity and life would have adopted a new identity through modern values. Acquired prosperity, therefore, is subjected to sustenance congruent with outcomes of the school education. On the other hand, bonding social capital, both among men and women in any lower caste group was strengthened because of the school education. In conclusion, the rural sector in Sri Lanka has no exception from globalization, and subjected to unprecedented changes with many challenges. It has changed owing to rational interventions such as education. Although, the so-called irrational caste system still thrives, it is clear that education is a strong institution which has contributed to the rise of rural economic elite class that upholds a new value system in developing rural Sri Lanka.
Disaggregation of annual GDP to quarterly figures: the case of Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Padmasiri, R.C.P.; Dayaratna-Banda, O.G.
The high frequency monthly or quarterly data are widely used in macroeconomic policy analysis in the short run and the medium term. In Sri Lanka, quarterly data are available only from 1996. It often poses a difficulty in analyzing several series jointly if their observation frequencies are not consistent. Instead of aggregating all other series to a yearly total, which leads to a considerable loss of information, it is more reasonable to disaggregate the annual time series data into quarterly figures, which would enhance the quality and efficiency of data. Quarterly data are highly useful for policy analysis. Long quarterly GDP series are often required for econometric modeling and forecasting. Although a number of univariate data interpolation methods are readily available in some computer packages with a little extra effort, we can produce more reliable interpolations based on related series. The research problem of the study is: What is the most appropriate procedure to convert annually GDP data to quarterly figures in Sri Lanka? There are no recent studies on this issue that examine univariate interpolations methods for Sri Lanka. The objective of this paper is to present a practical procedure that can be adapted to estimate quarterly GDP values from annual GDP values for Sri Lanka. This study generates quarterly GDP values by sectors from quarter 1 of 1977 to 2007. Sri Lanka began publishing quarterly GDP by sectors only since the quarter 1 of 1996. The paper uses these series to compare our estimates with univariate interpolations. The annual real GDP series in Sri Lanka is selected for illustrating various disaggregation methods using Econometric Computer package “ECOTRIM”. These are the NAIVE procedure, the LS procedure, the BFL-FD (Boot, Fedus and Lisman Fist Difference) procedure, the BFL-SD (Boot, Fedus and Lisman Second Difference) procedure, the SW (Wei Stram procedure) and Chow-Lin procedure. The yearly observations from 1977 to 2007 are listed in the Central Bank Annual Reports in various years. The procedures described in the previous section are applied to the dataset, and their results are compared with the actual quarterly figures for 2000-2004, which are available in the Central Bank Annual Reports in various years. The results of the estimated quarterly values are reasonably close to the actual figures in all procedures except for the AR 1 Max, AR 1 Min and NAÏVE methods. The BFL-FD, BFL-SD, Denton, Fernandez and Litterman min SSR methods give satisfactory disaggregation results in this example. Finally, the study selects the BFL-SD method to derive quarterly values. This method shows the smallest value for both MAE and RMSE.
Mindfulness, buddhism and its therapeutic aims
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Ariyasinghe, H.V.S.
Buddhism has properly analyzed the human nature, suffering and emancipation of our world. Psychopathological and Neuropathological problems are drawing increasing attention. Mindfulness is the core practice of Buddhist Psychotherapy; inclusive of writings in Abhidhmma. The therapeutic bases of mindfulness practice are twofold. Formal mindfulness meditation is an opportunity to experience mindfulness at its deepest level. The exercise that leads to the present moment with acceptance cultivates mindfulness. Informal mindfulness practice refers to the application of mindfulness skills in everyday life. Human consciousness and Psychotherapy are the key areas of the research. Mental health is very important and goes beyond the boundaries of general Science. H.S.S Nissanka (2005) deals with the therapeutic value of Buddhism, referred to as the Physician and Surgeon of Psyche.(Bhisakkõ Sallakattõ Anuttarõ) The method of treating mental patients is drawn from Meditation and Buddhist Psychotherapy.The Dhammapada refers to as “The mind is the forerunner of all phenomena” (Dh, 1 & 2) Therefore to obtain a clear understanding of mindfulness and its impact on Buddhist Psychotherapy, it is considered necessary to do a research of this nature. Research done in this field is limited as far as the validity and adequacy are concerned. The average human being is constantly confronted by the need to regain and maintain a psychosomatic balance. Some believe that new theories are required to assess the contribution of Buddhist teachings. The new way of analysis, emotions and human problems make an attempt to assess the mindfulness, its effectiveness and the therapeutic aims. This study is on mindfulness and Psychotherapy from Buddhist perspective. It is based on information collected from both Buddhist and Psychological texts for comparative purposes. Psychotherapy is a fast developing discipline in the modern world. This research uses primary textual sources, library materials and interpretations of texts. This will be a comparative and analytical study and related discussions in literature. Buddhist Psychotherapy has become a favorite subject all over the world. It has undertaken to answer the burning psychosomatic problems of today. The systematic investigation of mindfulness is not to create a replicable model of reality that holds up to scientific scrutiny. Mindfulness has been proved to be effective and applicable to solve human problems. The concepts of love, compassion, and appreciated joy have to be spread to develop mindfulness and peace in every organization in the world.
Why the pali text rasavāhinī needs to be re-edited?
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Rajapaksha, S.
The Rasavāhinī is a13ᵗʰ century non-canonical Pāli text which contains one hundred and three narratives 65 of which are of Indian origin and the rest Sri Lankan. The stories are in prose interspersed with verses. The text remains less edited despite its wide popularity and the large number of manuscripts. All available printed editions are almost identical versions of the Saraṇatissa Edition (1891-93) that has evidently consulted a very few manuscript(s) with less editorial touch. The edition does not seem to be the best representation of the Sinhalese script Pāli manuscript tradition. The collation of the manuscript witness (s) is seemingly careless as some textual portions are lost randomly. The Saddharmālaṅkāraya, the Sinhalese version of Rasavāhinī composed around the turn of the 14ᵗʰ century which is identical with Rasavāhinī structure and is quite useful in the reconstruction of the Rasavāhinī recension. The verses are quoted and placed as in the Rasavāhinῑ structure with a few exceptions. The corresponding translation of the Pāli work is found almost word for word in the Saddharmālaṅkāraya. The South East Asian Pāli manuscript tradition has been very slightly touched given the fact that it bears remarkable corresponding affinities to the Saddharmālaṅkāraya translation both of which presumably have been scribed from a copy which is very near to the original. Thus both are immeasurably useful in the reconstruction of the original. Though this popular text has been scribed in Burmese, Khmer and Laotian scripts, very little is focused on the consultation of the vitally important witnesses besides Sinhalese tradition. The South East Asian recension is seemingly closer to the hyparchetype of the Rasavāhinī as corresponding variant readings found in the Saddharmālaṅkāraya which are not found in most of the Sinhalese manuscripts. Since the Sinhalese recension is widely prevalent and heavily copied over and over again, it is hard to find a stemma codicum closer to the original. On the contrary the South East Asian tradition is coming closer to the original given the fact of relatively less distribution of the manuscript tradition. No major scholarship with the combination of South East Asian manuscript tradition and the Saddharmālaṅkāraya recension has been studied in entirety of the text as of now though some portions of the text are dealt occasionally. This paper investigates the necessity of the re-edition of the Rasavāhinī pointing out the drawbacks of the existing editions and also necessity to consult the South East Asian Pali manuscript redaction.
Similarities and significance of the first Sri Lankan novel in Sinhala and Tamil
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Lareena, A.H.
Novel is a very important genre in literature. In Sri Lanka the first Tamil novel “HasanBay Sariththiram” was written by M.C. Siddi Lebbe in 1895 while the first Sinhala novel “Meena” was written by Simon De Silva in 1905. M.C. Siddi Lebbe (1838-1898) was one of the pioneer Muslim scholars during the 19ᵗʰ century, who contributed a lot to reform the Muslim society. Also, Aluthgamage Simon De Silva (1876-1920) was one of the prominent writers, who also contributed to Sinhala Buddhist renaissance through his writings at the time. ‘Hasan Bay Sariththiram’ is a story of a young pious Muslim youth Hassan, who is kidnapped from his parents and adopted by a couple, who did not know the real story of his birth. Hasan fell in love with an English lady Falin and the story describes how his adventurous life come to a joyful end with finding out his real parents and getting married to his lover. The first Sinhala novel ‘Meena’ is also a simple love story by Simon Silva, that focuses on the inner workings of the heroine’s mind, revealing a gift for character development, and bears other characteristics of the novel as a genre. While having the same historical, social and cultural background in Sri Lanka, how the two pioneer novelists created their first novels so innovatively, especially the creation of characters, how ‘Thousand and One Nights’ stories may have influenced both of these novels and how the first novels impact on Sri Lankan literary field in both languages? These are very important questions to rise. Although this paper takes in to account of those questions, it mainly focuses on the similarities and the significance of above novels. According to Liyanage Amarakeerthi, “the major challenge that the pioneer novelists faced in that period of time was, to make the readers familiar with the new literary genre” (2008:314) while W.A. Silva addressed that “Sinhalese language is not yet developed to write ‘Novel’ and it is necessary to format the language” (Swadesa Mithraya: 26.03.1930). On other hand Martin Wickramasinghe (1992:58) and Chandrasiri Palliyaguru (27.03.2012) argued that the Sinhalese readers are already familiar with ‘Prabandha Khath’ through ‘Umagda Jathakaya’ etc. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the core fact in between these statements. Moreover, Ediriweera Sarathchandra pointed out that the first Sinhala novel has been influenced by both Thousand and One Nights stories and “Ramayana” (1951:43,59). Hence, it is important to see how much they were influenced by them simultaneously in order to identify the aspects of originality of the native soil. This research is conducted by using comparative and theoretical analysis methods.
A comparative study of personality disorders referred to in dsm-5 and buddhist jataka stories
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Ven. Wimaladhamma, K.; Ven. Arunasiri, T.
Personality refers to individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Dysfunctions of personality which are called ''personality disorders'' have become a major topic in Clinical Psychology and Abnormal Psychology. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) lists several mental disorders related personality. Buddhist Jātaka tales are a voluminous body of folklore concerned with previous births of the Buddha consisting of five hundred and fifty stories having a past story and a corresponding present story. When Buddhist Jataka Stories are deeply examined we can identify that in some of these the personality disorders mentioned in DSM-5 had been depicted by the characters involved. Here, an attempt is made to examine the concept of personality disorder in DSM-5 and Buddhist Jataka Stories and the mental disorders depicted in Buddhist Jataka Stories. Many Personality Disorders are described in the Jātaka Stories. Personality disorders involve patterns of behavior, mood, social interaction, and impulsiveness that cause distress to one experiencing them, as well as to other people in their lives. People with a personality disorder display an enduring, rigid pattern of inner experience and outward behavior that impair their sense of self, emotional experiences, goals, capacity for empathy, and/or capacity for intimacy. DSM-5, identifies 10 personality disorders. Often these disorders are separated into three clusters. One cluster, marked by odd or eccentric behavior, consists of the paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal personality disorders. Another features dramatic behavior and consists of the antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic personality disorders. The last features a high degree of anxiety and includes the avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders. The symptoms of these personality disorders can be easily identified in Jataka Stories. The Kshanthivadi Jātakaya depicts a character that bears psychological criteria which are similar to the Antisocial Personality Disorder mentioned in DSM-5. The Antisocial Personality Disorder is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood. Lack of remorse, poor behavior control, tendency to violate the boundaries and rights of others, aggressive violent behavior, are more common in Antisocial Personality Disorder. The Ummaga Jātakaya shows several personality disorders such as Paranoid Personality Disorder. Psychopathic Personality can be seen in Chulla Suthasoma Jātakaya. The Borderline Personality Disorder can be seen in Kuti Dushaka Jātakaya. These personality disorders can be easily identified in DSM-5 and this paper will discuss them mentioned in Jataka Story book with reference to DSM-5. Further, the difference between the methods of identifying the DSM-5 and Buddhist Jataka will be discussed.
Lady philosophy against the muses: a philological reading of Boethius’ de consolatione philosophiae
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Ekanayake, S.W.
The conflict between Art and Philosophy, where the philosopher challenged and ultimately claimed the poet’s position as the educator of the society, played a predominant role in the field of Greco-Roman literary criticism. Here, the philosopher pointed out two fundamental issues regarding art. On the one hand, Art is far removed from reality. On the other hand, it shrouds the mind from the truth. Such a view found its fullest expression in Plato’s dismissal of all imitative art. However, manifestations of this idea in different degrees are to be found in many classical Greek and Latin literary works. In such a context, the present research has explored certain reflections of this conflict in Boethius’ De Consolatione Philosophiae and its role in the wider context of the work. Thus, the study involves a close reading of Boethius’ De Consolatione Philosophiae in its original Latin. The views of modern scholars on the subject were also given due consideration for the purpose of comparison and analysis. Upon synthesising the Latin text and modern scholarship on the subject, it could be deemed that from the beginning Art (as represented by the Muses) is seen as a counter-force to philosophy. Thus, once Lady Philosophy comes to console Boethius her first task was to dismiss the Muses who had taken a firm grasp on him. The manner in which Philosophy dismisses them clearly shows that philosophy has no tolerance for art. Here, her reasons for the dismissal of them deserve equal attention. It is apparent that art is seen as a drive that distracts the mind from the reality. It indulges the mind with idle fancies thereby offering momentary pleasure and happiness. However, real remedy for sorrow or consolatione is only to be found in philosophy, which induces the mind to comprehend the true nature of things. Thus, it is imperative that the influence art holds on the mind should be removed before it could perceive the remedy prescribed by philosophy. For, art not only deviates the mind from the reality but also strengthens the emotions, which constitutes the lesser part of the human psyche. This is also the position of philosophers such as Plato. Accordingly, in conclusion it could be stated that Boethius’ work manifests the salient elements of the ancient clash between art and poetry and offers an interesting perspective on it from the point of view of literary criticism.
Political participation in a multi-cultural context: a study of Ampara district of Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Withanawasam, A.
The literature on political participation is voluminous especially examining the pros and cons of political participation. However, there are a few studies on political participation in Sri Lanka they have not paid much attention to political participation in a multicultural context. The major objective of the present study is to fill the above gap in the Sri Lankan scholarship on politics. The study was carried out in the Ampara District. The rationale behind selecting the area was that it has been a multi-cultural space from the demarcation of the administrative district in 1961. The relevant information and data had been extracted from literary sources as well as from the field. The qualitative data gathering techniques such as key informant interviews, focus groups discussions, indepth interviews and observations were used. The data were descriptively analyzed. One of the key limitations of the study is the non-comparativeness. The study found that the ‘patron-client relationship’ of the political culture works as a mobilizing initiator for electoral turnout among the three major ethnic groups in the district. However, Muslims of the coastal area of the district had established their own political party marking a major departure point of the community’s pattern of the political participation. This development has to do with the ethnic conflict between the two ethnic groups of the country, i.e. Sinhalese and Tamils. There is a different pattern of political participation between Traditional inhabitant Sinhalese and settlers in colonization schemes of the government. The Traditional villagers are less interested in politics in and around elections, while Sinhalese in the colonies have been very active in electoral politics. This is a shared feature of both Muslims and Sinhalese living in the colonies. The reasons behind this commonality have to do with the high dependence on political patronage due to particular historicity of the two groups. Tamils living in the area tend to amend the political orders of the Tamil political elite based in Colombo and Jaffna. They tend to isolate themselves from other political parties. It is concluded that until Sri Lanka finds a lasting political solution to the larger ethnic issue, segregation and fragmentation in multi-cultural context remains the pattern of electoral politics and building an overall Sri Lankan identity is next to impossible.
The impact of it investments on firm performance: an analysis of Sri Lankan commercial banks
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Abeygunawardane, D.G.S.
This paper investigates the impact of IT investments on a firm’s performance with reference to commercial banks in Sri Lanka. Information technology used by banks influences the degree of customization and speed at which banks can respond to customers’ requirements. Moreover, adoption of IT in providing banking services has become a strategic objective to reduce costs and provides an additional delivery channel. This study investigates the existence of the IT productivity paradox – defined as the absence of positive impact of IT investments on productivity among Sri Lankan banks, by examining the impact of annual IT investments on firm’s performance as measured by return on assets (ROA). It has been concluded that information technology may affect negatively on efficiency and reduce productivity which is supported by empirical evidence. IT investments demonstrate the highest marginal product among the five input factors to generate output in terms of net sales revenue. For the current study, data analysis was carried out using panel data pool regression methods on data extracted from the published annual reports of five commercial banks listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange for the 2006-2015 period. This study considers new investments on hardware and software as a ratio of total assets to represent the independent variables. Debt to equity ratio (Lev) and natural logarithm of total assets (lnTA) were utilized as the proxies of the two control variables, which are firm’s leverage and size, respectively. The dependent variable is ROA. The findings show that there is a negative relationship between software investment and ROA which is significant at 10% level. The hardware investments do not exhibit a significant relationship with ROA. The findings are in line with the literature which also indicate a negative or no impact of IT investments on ROA of banks. The above results indicate that the productivity paradox exists in the Sri Lankan banking industry.
Socio-economic status of female sanitary labourers in Colombo district, Sri Lanka with special reference to private sector cleaning services
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Prakash, T.G.S.L.; Ranaweera, R.A.J.N.; Somerathna, K.M.S.
Sanitary labourers can be identified as one of the marginal communities in Sri Lanka. State and private organizations outsource their sanitary and cleaning services. Hence these services are provided by private service providers as well. Sanitary labourers employed under them are with minimum wages, facilities, and labour rights. The main objective of this study is to identify the socio-economic status of female sanitary labourers employed by private sanitary service providers in Colombo district. A sample of 31 female sanitary labourers was selected by random sampling method who works under 4 different service providers. Pretested questionnaires were used for data collection and data analysis was done using Microsoft Excel 2010. The age of sample range 32 – 72 yrs. 8(26%) below 50 yrs. 23(74%) above 50 yrs. 10(32%) above 60 and 1(3%) above 70 yrs. Service experience range 1 – 23 years: Mean 6.4, Median 4, Mode 4 yrs. 27(87%) attended school and range grade 2 – 10. 4(13%) did not. 8(30%) bellow grade 5 and 19(70%) grade 6 – 10. 18(58%) married, 7(22%) widows, 3(10%) unmarried, or separated. 7(39%) husbands are employed. 11(61%) husbands unemployed: 4(37%) elderly and unable to work, 2(18%) staying at home due to lack of proper job, or disabled, 1(9%) suffering from chronic illnesses, or drug addicted, or lazy or idle persons. 28 respondents have children: Mean, Median, and Mode equal to 3. 19 have married children: Mean 3, Median 2, and Mode 1. 14 have unmarried children: Mean 2, Median 2, and Mode 3. However, 7 have both married and unmarried children. Average income is SLR 18,000.00. Dependents status: 7(22%) respondent, husband, and unmarried children, 6(20%) respondent and husband, or respondent and married children, 4(13%) respondent only, 3(10%) respondent and unmarried children, 2(6%) respondent, husband, unmarried children, and parent, 1(3%) respondent, husband, married and unmarried children, or respondent, husband, and married children, or respondent, parent, and siblings. 28(90%) of respondents’ neighbours know respondents’ occupation and 3(10%) hide it. 28(90%) are involved in this job because there are no adequate qualifications for any other job. 3(10%) bankrupt persons, 1(3%) for additional income or as an easy way of income. Perception about life: 4(13%) very happy, 8(26%) happy, 8(26%) patient, 9(29%) sad, and 2(6%) very sad. The findings of the study show that the largest set of female sanitary labourers are over 50 years old, married, husbands unemployed, earn for them - their husbands and unmarried children, and lead a sad life.
Deity worship and sinhala –tamil relations in post war Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Weerakoon, W.M.U.
The cult of worshiping Gods and Goddesses is a common practice among both Sinhala Buddhists and Tamil Hindu communities in Sri Lanka. This study explores how this practice influences Sinhala-Tamil relationship in the post-war society. The study was conducted in Vavuniya district in the Northern Province. The study population was identified through purposive and snowball sampling methods. Qualitative methods were used and data were collected through key informant interviews, direct observations, group discussions and visual data. The objectives of the study are to find out the religious significance of God and Goddess cult for Hindus and Buddhists, to identify the specific religious needs of the devotees from both the communities and to understand the scope for promoting inter-religious dialog, multiculturalism and mutual understanding between the two ethnic communities that practice the worship. The findings revealed that there were different Gods and Goddesses to whom the people turned for meeting their religious needs. God Pulleyar is mainly related to farming cycle. God Aiyanar and Murugan are seen as multi-purpose deities who can help laymen in any matters. Goddess Nagapusini Amman and Palaadi Amman are appealed for curing illnesses and redressing family problems primarily experienced by women. Goddess Muththumari Amman and Kannai Amman are appealed for protection from insecurity, especially mothers of both communities. The invocation of Goddess Baddrakali Amman is for seeking divine intervention, particularly when the victims feel justice being denied by secular authorities. According to the specific roles of the God or Goddess, both Sinhala and Tamil people meet in the shrines and share their experiences; sometimes in sign language as they do not necessarily speak each other’s languages. The conclusion is that even though there was a three decades of protracted war between the two communities, there is a core of religious beliefs shared by Tamil Hindus and Sinhala Buddhists. Therefore, contrary to the views of Sinhalese and Tamils nationalists that tend to treat Sinhala Buddhists and Tamil Hindus as discreet and mutually exclusive ethnic communities, the religious beliefs and practices in these “border areas” are mixed and characterized by shared heredity, which can be further promoted for establishing ethnic reconciliation and harmony in the country.
Amity or enmity: India-Sri Lanka boundary resolutions
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Ekanayake, E.M.T.K.
Relations between Sri Lanka and India have been tense since the beginning of the written history of Sri Lanka. At various occasions, the relations had positively and negatively affected the functioning of the two countries. Being geographically and historically in close proximity to each other, there is an unbreakable bond between the two countries. There are notable features that both the countries share: Maritime boundary that divides the two nations is a good example. However, this study is aimed at finding out whether India-Sri Lanka boundary resolutions reflect peace or hostility. Further, the study explores the legal background behind the demarcation of the boundary and the issues that have arisen due to the boundary. A qualitative content analysis using secondary sources was utilized mainly to carry out the study which encompasses three major cyclical processes as describing, classifying and connecting. The agreements of 1702, during the Dutch colonial times, Sri Lanka maintained a threemile territorial sea which was within the reach of a cannon shot, the 1921 demarcation of “Fisheries Line”, the agreements of 1974 and 1976 that had legally demarcated the boundaries between the two countries were instrumental in defining the relationship between the two nations. Both countries have signed bilateral agreements on the maritime boundary as declared by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. (UNLOS). However, three major boundary-related issues were identified: the ownership of the Kachchathivu island, poaching of fishermen and refugee problem. But what was evident during the analysis was that India-Sri Lanka boundary resolution has gone beyond an issue between the boundaries and turned into a political contest between the two countries. The problems created due to the boundaries have been aggravated by geo-political tension between the countries. Results further affirm that, there is a clear legal demarcation of territories between the two countries. Yet, India-Sri Lanka boundary resolutions show enmity due to the very issues created by the boundary demarcation. With the political interferences, it has now taken a political dimension which has hindered the amicable relationship between the two countries.
Cultural landscape of Jaffna: a geographical study of housing structures and their distribution patterns
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Amarasooriya, W.G.I.M.; Dissanayake, D.M.L.; Hennayake, N.M.
The objective of this paper is to study the housing structures and their distribution pattern in Jaffna Municipal Council area, in order to understand its cultural landscape. Carl Sauer (1925) in his morphological approach to landscape identifies housing as one of the forms through which a natural landscape evolves into a cultural landscape over time. Thus, housing functions as a sample of a particular cultural landscape. Jaffna, predominantly populated by Sri Lankan Tamils has evolved into a highly unique urban cultural landscape from pre-colonial to post-colonial period. This cultural landscape signified by its traditional social structure and cultural values has remained relatively intact in spite of the protracted civil war. This study explores this cultural landscape focusing on its housing characteristics. Carl Sauer’s morphological approach uses various characteristics of forms to identify particular housing structures and their distribution pattern. Following this theoretical approach and inspired by Kniffen’s study on Lousiana Housing Types in 1936, this study uses the radial network of roads as the basic sampling framework. A total of fifty houses were selected for this study through a systematic sample based on the distance units (3 km) of four major arteries from the center of the city to the outer boundary and the main artery along the coast line. Then, specific features of these houses such as type of roof, hood, windows, veranda, gable and gates were recorded through direct observation and photographic evidence. Further information about these houses were obtained through interviewing the residents. The sample of fifty houses was then classified based on the specific characteristics of the houses. Based on the above classification, four clusters of houses, namely, traditional court yard houses (Natsar), European houses (Portuguese, Dutch, and British architecture), modern houses (one storey and two storey houses), and semi-permanent houses were identified. These clusters were mapped along the selected arteries in order to identify the distribution patterns. Thus, this study reveals a clear pattern of regionalization of different housing clusters in different parts of the city and this pattern reflects the class and caste differentiation of Jaffna.
Identifying the relationships between budget deficit and the selected macroeconomic variables: a study of Sri Lanka during the post-liberalization era
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Dissanayake, D.M.S.B.
From1980 to 2014, the Sri Lankan government budget deficit averaged 8.75% of GDP, and recorded the highest ratio of 19.2% of GDP in 1980. This study examines the association between budget deficit and the selected macroeconomic variables in Sri Lanka, using annual time series data for post-liberalization period; 1980-2014. The selected explanatory macroeconomic variables are inflation, interest rate, exchange rate, debt, and real GDP growth rate. Specifically, the study seeks to ascertain the relation between selected macroeconomic variables and the budget deficit with a view to making appropriate recommendations to curb its negative effect to economy. The secondary data used in the time series analysis study for budget deficit and selected macroeconomic variables will be obtained from Central Bank annual reports in Sri Lanka from 1980 to 2014. The literature implied that the above selected macroeconomic variables have closer cause to budget deficit, when compared to other macroeconomic variables. The short-run dynamic was examined using the ARDL Granger-Causality test. Further, the Granger Causality test was carried out to determine the causality between selected variables and budget deficit, whether the impact was uni or bidirectional. In this study uni-directional relationship was confirmed between budget deficit and debts. The budget deficit causes debt. Additionally, a uni-directional relationship was also identified between budget deficit and inflation. The budget deficit causes inflation. Moreover, this study confirmed that there were no uni or bi direction causality between Budget Deficit, and other selected variables; Interest rate, Exchange, Real GDP growth rate. Furthermore, the findings show that budget deficit has a significant effect on inflation, and Debts. The paper recommends that the Sri Lankan government should take actions to reduce its sustained sizable budget deficit which has been maintaining since 1957. The reason was this sustained sizable budget deficit has repercussion on controlling inflation and minimizing debts. This research contributes the idea that there are dimensional and dynamic factors involved between budget deficit and macroeconomic variables, which require comprehensive knowledge to increase productivity, improve living standards, and to ensure stability of the economic system in Sri Lanka.
Effects of tourism on employment generation in Sri Lanka: an econometric application
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Padmasiri, R.C.P.
Tourism has become the world’s largest industry and creator of jobs across national and regional economies. In Sri Lanka, tourism contributes to a large proportion of the national income and generates employment opportunities. Tourism creates direct, indirect, and induced employment in regional and national economies. Direct Employment refers to the type of employment provided in tourism facilities, such as accommodation, transport, entertainment, travel agents, management, finance, and health care. Indirect Employment covers the employment in other sectors that receives income from expenditure done in touristic relations. Induced Employment refers to the additional employment in economy arising from re-spending of the income which has been gained through direct and indirect employment methods. The multiplier effect of tourism plays an important role in the emergence of induced employment. In Sri Lanka, the ratio of jobs generated, both directly and indirectly, to the number of tourist arrivals for the year is 1:5.6. Due to increased arrivals and the use of new technology in tourism establishments, this ratio has increased to one job for every four arrivals. The research problem of the resent study: What are the effects of tourism on employment in Sri Lanka? There are no recent studies on this issue that uses the multiplier effect model for Sri Lanka. The objective of this study is to test whether there is a long-term effect of the tourism sector on employment according to the multiplier effect model. This paper also investigates the integrated relationship between tourism and employment in Sri Lanka for the period from 1970 to 2015. The data for all the variables were taken from annual reports of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for the years from 1990 to 2015. This study utilizes ARDL bound test analysis, the long run model, and the error correction model to estimate the effect of tourism on employment. The ARDL bound test results show that there is a long run co integration relationship between the variables of tourism revenue and employment. The ARDL test results suggest that there is a positive, long run and simple relationship between the tourist revenue and employment. The results of the short run dynamic coefficients (ECM) show that tourism revenue has a positive, statistical and simple significant impact on employment in the short term and a fairly low speed of adjustment to equilibrium after a shock. These results suggest that tourism creates multiplier effect to generate employment in Sri Lanka.
UN convention and social policy for persons with disabilities in Sri Lanka – in search for a pathway to justice
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Gamlath, S.
“I do not want to depend on others; I do not want decisions to be made for me; I do not want to be pitied and treated differently; I only want opportunities to learn and to demonstrate what I can do.” These few verses from an anonymous person with disability succinctly but so movingly narrate everything that persons with disabilities want to communicate to us. They demand quality of life equal to that of all others; freedom to make decisions for themselves; education so they can learn to become independent, productive and happy in life. They ask to be accepted for what they can do. In essence, they ask to be treated like everyone else and be included in all aspects of life - home, school, community, workplace etc. This requires a change in attitude and expectations of our society today; changes in educational practices; an open-door policy to include persons with disabilities in every aspect of community life. We already have “fancy” policies but, nevertheless, the anecdotal evidence shows that the facts about the lives of persons with disabilities in the country are still “ugly”. We have even recently formally ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRDP) and declared our full commitment to implement all what it recommends. There seems to be some work happening but very much “isolated activities” with only some “isolated impacts”. Therefore, it is felt that we still require a concerted holistic effort to establish policies and systems to ensure social justice for persons with disabilities as equal citizens in the country. With this fact in mind, with a social work perspective, this paper examines the existing policy in Sri Lanka against the recommendations set out in the UNCRDP. How the National Disability Policy (NDP), as the primary policy instrument in the country, facilitates implementation of the UNCRDP recommendations presented in the convention under 50 different articles was examined. The desk-research method was employed to collect information from the available materials including NDP and UNCRDP. In the analysis, rationale social policy analysis technique was applied, and mainly, four key areas of concern, rights recognition, access and opportunities, service monitoring, and prejudiced social attitudes, were subjected to comparative scrutiny. The paper discusses and concludes that even though some considerable work has happened, the current pieces of legislation are significantly fragmented and scattered. Therefore, the most important requirement is to have one powerful piece of legislation in terms of a national Act, incorporating again all the pieces of legislation that we currently have. It should have a careful and systematic response to the UNCRPD recommendations one-by-one and authorize and facilitate implementation and monitoring mechanisms at all national, provincial and local levels. We still have a long way to go.
Language and contingent axioms of relative knowledge: a comparative study on Nagarjuna’s Sūnyatā and Derrida’s deconstruction
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Kumara, J.D.A.
One of central teachings of Nāgārjuna (c. 150 – c. 250 CE) is Śūnyatā, which is a doctrine that asserts the transcendental nature of Ultimate Reality. It declares the phenomenal world to be void of all limitations of particularization and eliminates all concepts of Dualism. Hence, the concept of “emptiness” does not mean nonexistence, but rather it denotes interdependent co-arising, impermanence, and non-self. As per the Śūnyatā doctrine, no phenomenon has an eternal substance. According to Nāgārjuna’s teaching no objective reality lies outside language. Hence, past, present and future do not operate coevally. Nāgārjuna categorically demonstrated that there is no reality prior to language; reality has to be understood as a linguistic construct. The knowledge people produce should be understood in a relativistic framework and Nāgārjuna rejects the atomistic view that single words bring pieces of reality. Nāgārjuna’s thinking also paves the way to reject structuralistic and logocentric view of the language; putting signs or words as the centre of a system is inherently flawed as there is no universal truth to a signifier, no meaning outside of the signs and their perceived meaning by the user or context. Jacques Derrida (July 15, 1930 – October 9, 2004) who developed a form of semiotic analysis known as deconstruction, rejected the binary structure of language, and explained that meaning goes beyond the simple opposition of signifier/signified. Jacques Derrida's critical outlook over the relationship between text and meaning claimed contradictions are neither accidental nor exceptions; they are the exposure of certain "metaphysics of pure presence", an exposure of the "transcendental signified" always-already hidden inside language. Derrida wanted to deconstruct polarities that are derived by the language. Derrida came up with a concept named Différance which is the systematic play of differences, of the traces of differences, of the spacing by means of which elements are related to each other, that takes into account the fact that meaning is a question not only of synchrony with all the other terms inside a structure, but also of diachrony, with everything that was said and will be said, in History, difference as structure and deferring as genesis. Derrida is critiquing of Western thought as it is based on a hierarchy of binary oppositions: man/woman, birth/death, good/evil/ speech/writing, etc. In all such binaries, the left side of the slash Derrida sees as superior, favored, or privileged over the right, which is relegated to an inferior or subordinate position. Both Derrida and Nāgārjuna pointed out that meaning given derived by the language is contradictory and not bring pieces of reality. Views of both Derrida and Nāgārjuna are not logocentric, not ‘absolute. All in all, both of them resort to the fact that language is limited to conventional truth and cannot represent ultimate reality.
Reconciliation in post -war Sri Lanka: an analysis of the implementation of the report of lessons learnt and reconciliation commission
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Baskaran, S.
Sri Lanka is multiethnic in character, comprising a Sinhalese majority and three substantive minorities Sri Lankan Tamils, Muslims, Indian-origin Tamils. The country had been experiencing a large scale war over 26 years due to the prolonged nature of ethnic conflict, which finally concluded in 2009 after defeating the LTTE. Soon after the military victory over the LTTE, tasks have been undertaken by national and international initiatives, either bottom up or top down, to rebuild the country thereby constructing long-lasting peace in the nation. Fostering reconciliation is one of the main focuses to bridge the divided ethnic relationships. In order to implement this endeavor, as a prime national level initiative, the government of Sri Lanka started to establish various measures. In this context, establishing structural measures and constructing institutional changes for reconciliation in Sri Lanka are highly needed. Reconciliation is understood as a way for transforming conflict, and structural approach of reconciliation is viewed as a measure that can facilitate psychological change and thereby contribute to constructing a framework for stable peace. With those considerations, this research focuses on the newly formed commission of LLRC and its report as well as recommendations for promoting reconciliation in Sri Lanka by incorporating the major structural issues, stemmed directly for reconciliation and obstacle to implementing. Though this report still considered as an important document to provide an impetus to the ongoing reconciliation process, still there has not been adequate engagement put forward effectively on implementing those respected recommendations on the ground. The objective of the research is to evaluate the reconciliation progress of implementing the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in six key structural issues. This research is a qualitative study and aimed to evaluate the recommendations of the LLRC in six key structural issues and its implementation deficits. There is probably a large amount of literatures on reconciliation in the postconflict society. The study results show a strong correlation between security and reconciliation, which has not been closely focused by the school of thought of reconciliation. The study also found that feeling of insecurity associated with structural elements will not engineer and guarantee a genuine reconciliation. Therefore, this study proved that imposing structural measures to ensure the feeling of security has an efficacy to achieve the task of reconciliation. The structural issues are still observed in a greater degree as a legacy of the prolonged nature of the unresolved conflict.
Social responsibility and employee commitment in banking industry in Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) De Silva, H.T.M.
Nowadays Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the most significant and debatable topic among corporate citizens and it is associated with organizations’ survival and success. CSR is about ethical behavior towards organization’s stakeholders, and employees are the crucial internal stakeholder group of organizations. Their commitment leads organizations to their success and CSR is one of the strategic tools to enhance the commitment level of employees. The key objective of organizations is to maximize the profit and in the case of CSR, organizations avoid that key objective and try to minimize the gap between organization expectations and stakeholders’ expectations. This study implements to recognize the real context of CSR and employee commitment of banking industry in Sri Lanka and thereby objectives are set to identify the effect of CSR on employee commitment to banking industry in Sri Lanka. In order to achieve objectives of the study, quantitative approach has been used to analyse the data and data collected through a questionnaire. Employees of banking sector participated as respondents of the study and the selected sample was 100. However, only 77 employees made responses and response rate is 77%. The correlation analysis is adopted to achieve the first objective of the study and to achieve the second objective, implemented the coefficient analysis. Results are indicated that there is a positive relationship between CSR and employee commitment of banking industry in Sri Lanka and that CSR has a positive impact on employee commitment to banking industry in Sri Lanka.

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