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.
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.
Agro-well development in the dry zone tank cascades and its impact on tank reservations in the north central dry zone of Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Perera, M.P.
With the inadequacy of rainfall and irrigated water for agricultural activities in the dry season of the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka, farmers are motivated to extract groundwater through agro-wells. The emergence of agro-well based agricultural systems has been significant in tank cascades due to easy access of shallow groundwater in the dry season. It has been very rapid in the recent years and this has been discussed among the research community as well as the regional resource planners. Currently, there is a common belief that the agro-well based land development has drastically changed the overall land use pattern in the tank cascades recently. Especially the tank reservations are one of the most important components in the tank cascade land use pattern and they are contributory towards hydro-ecological services. Accordingly, this study was conducted to examine whether there are impacts on tank reservations due to agro-well development and whether such impacts are significant. The study was conducted covering 20 tank cascades in the North Central Dry Zone. An agro-well survey in the tank reservations, a tree survey in reservations, maps interpretations (Geo eye 1 satellite images and GIS maps) and significant tests were used for the study. It was revealed that although there are relevant regulations to monitor development activities, agro-wells have been constructed in tank reservations. The results have shown that there is a positive relationship between the agro-well density in tank cascades and the number of agro-wells in tank reservations. Further, it was revealed that “Gasgommana” (strip of large trees located around the tank, serving as a windbreak to reduce the evaporation losses) area has been damaged more than the “Kattakaduwa” (reserved land strip located between the tank bund and the paddy field, acting as a salinity interceptor belt) area within the sub category of tank reservations. Different types of damage to tank reservations, including the removal of the forest patch, physical damage, agricultural land development within the reservations, and reducing the tree density of reservations have been recorded. Furthermore, according to differentiate mean T test, agro-well availability in tank reservations has been significant (P value = 0.0447) when compared with the low agro-well density cascades.
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.
An enhancement of universally applicable human communication from the buddhist perspective
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Ven. Wanarathana, R.
With reference to the Cambridge English Dictionary: Communication means to share information with others by speaking, writing, moving, your body or using signals. Are humans the only creatures on earth who communicate? What purpose does communication serve in our lives? Answer to these historical, and social-science questions provide part of the diversity of knowledge that makes up the field of communication studies. Communication as a subject, is divided into many parts: Interpersonal communication, Group communication, Public communication, mass communication etc. We all know that humans are communicative being by the birth. Therefore, the history of communication is as old as humanity. It is impossible to talk about progress of the human society without communication. In the present world the subject of communication has become a vast and highly developed topic. The purpose of this paper is to point out the applicability of Buddhist teachings to wholesome ways of communication. The Kītāgirisutta Sutta of the Majjhima Nikāya depicts that right communication is conducive to decreasing unskillful qualities and to grow skillful qualities in human mind. According to the Sumańgalavilāsini, whoever engaging according to Buddhism, the adorned faith they are with enriched knowledge. It contains deep meaning, it is pleasant to the ear, it comes from the bottom of the heart, it doesn’t despise others, it helps to discipline listener, it makes the listener to be inquisitive, it is beneficial all round. That is what is said by commentators. In the Aggivaccagotta Sutta, it is said that the communication which doesn’t lead to acquiring real knowledge is not appreciated. On many occasions the Buddha firmly advised to refrain from improper ways of communicating e.g. (The story of Lāludāi thera). Accordingly, Buddhist teachings are really useful to enhance human communication.
An epistemological inquiry into the concept of prejudice in relation to reconciliation in sri lanka
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Wasalathanthrige, E.L.
The civil war of Sri Lankan has created destructive prejudices among the ethnic groups in the island. The present author’s involvement with students in various institutions of higher education has convinced him of the fact that these deep-seated harmful prejudices, as epistemic errors (wrong knowledge claims), are huge obstacles for genuine reconciliation. This awareness motivated him to undertake an epistemological inquiry into prejudice because prejudices have a direct influence on knowledge claims which lead to formation of attitudes and patterns of behaviour. There are many approaches to this issue of reconciliation in Sri Lanka. However, an epistemological approach will provide the necessary philosophical foundation for reconciliation by identifying the origin, the process and extent of genuine knowledge and prejudice. Restoration of relationships among the ethnic groups in the island, based on proper knowledge of affairs, is a must for long lasting reconciliation. For this reason, a re- evaluation of prejudices that hinders reconciliation process is the need of the hour. The Father of the modern British empiricism, John Locke (1632-1704), in his classic An Essay Concerning Human Understanding made a substantial epistemic inquiry into knowledge and prejudice. He identifies ideas as the basic building materials of human knowledge. According to him, ideas are formed through perception and they are associated with one another through the intellectual faculties of understanding and reason. He systematically rejected the concept of innate ideas while affirming the intellectual innate capacities. The association of ideas can be of natural or of voluntary (Chance or customs). It is through the natural or right association of ideas that genuine knowledge is formed. However, through the voluntary association of ideas two fundamental states of mind are formed: dubitable state of mind (doubts, opinions and beliefs) and erroneous state of mind which is prejudice. It is through ‘wrong association of ideas’, that prejudices are formed. However, the irony of prejudice is that the prejudiced are not aware of their erroneous state of mind. Without doing their epistemic duty they consider prejudice as genuine knowledge and allow them to influence their attitudes and behaviour. The author strongly argues that habitual or customary violent responses to conflict can be replaced with intelligent and transforming choices. For that all involved in ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and beyond, must re-evaluate their fundamental knowledge claims and restore mutual relationships. Along with other efforts, an epistemological re-evaluation of the prevailing prejudices and preventing further formation of prejudices through proper education, are necessary. We will place the thesis in the context of post war realities in Sri Lanka. All the available literature related to the thesis will be analytically scrutinized, possible objections / critiques will be identified and research findings will be synthetically presented.
An introduction to the palaung-yuan buddhists tradition of paritta-chanting in myanmar with special focus on driving away evil spirits
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Ven. Nanda Cariya, A.
The Palaung is an ethnic group in Myanmar. They are a Mon-Khmer speaking people in northern Shan state and sparsely in other parts of Shan state as well as southern Kachin state of Myanmar. Most of them are Buddhists who belong to two sects or groups; Yuan Buddhist School and Burmese Buddhist School. This research is to introduce the Paritta-chanting tradition of the Palaungs who follow the Yuan Buddhist School. The main objective of this paper is to discuss the Paritta-chanting of Buddhist cultures in Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Although this topic will be primarily based on the Palaung-Yuan Buddhists tradition, it will comparatively present some Burmese and Sinhalese traditions related to the Paritta-chanting. In addition, some historical facts shall be included in this topic. The most interesting arguments in this topic are; do monks in Myanmar appreciate the Paritta-chanting of Sinhala Buddhists tradition? Do Buddhists in Myanmar significantly tie the Pirit-nûl and sip the Pirit-water like Sinhala Buddhists? Whether the Paritta-chanting can help people to drive evil spirits or not? Of them, the last fact will be the heart of this discussion and it can probably elevate the deepest faith in Paritta-chanting. To understand the way in which Paritta work, one has to probe into the deep devotional psychology of the Palaung Buddhist. Historically, Myanmar and Sri Lanka had a long standing relationship concerning Buddhasâsanâ. Buddhist sects that come from Myanmar can be still found in Sri Lanka so it could be said that their great mutual solidarity is still alive today. However, it is very rare to see that scholars try to write or discuss Buddhist traditions related to both counties. Therefore, this investigation will be an attempt to fulfill the gap of Buddhist traditions between Myanmar and Sri Lanka for their religious and cultural relationships.
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.
Ancient greek athletes: amateurs or professionals?
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Ranasingha, K.G.B.B.
Until the 1970s, Olympic Games were only for amateurs and hence professionals were not allowed to participate. For, it was the Ancient Greek Olympics that they were constantly referring to when devising the above rule for the Olympics. With such a legacy, it is essential to clarify whether ancient Greek athletes were really amateurs or professionals. "Amateur athletics" is considered as a concept that was developed in the 19th century AD. "Amateur” is a French derivation of a Latin word amator, meaning ‘lover’. Thus, it is defined as ‘a lover of’ indicating someone who does something because he/she loves it. ‘Professional’ is someone who does something for money. These are the two extreme perspectives with which modern critics look at both modern Olympic athletes and ancient Greek athletes, trying to categorize them as either amateurs or as professionals. Going through the legacy of athletics in ancient Greece it is obvious that they were not either amateurs or professionals. It is apparent, that at an initial stage the geographical division of Greece has marked it an essential necessity for them to engage in athletics, further, the double motive of religion and sport, their epic models and legendary heroes have further inspired the agonistic spirit of the whole nation to crave for honors and personal distinction through athletic prowess. Later, we also see that ancient Greeks treat athletics as an essential component of their traditional education system. Moreover, the reception of the society on victors of athletic games and the immortalization of athletes through sculptures and art would have obviously induced the contemporary and future athletes of ancient Greece. Thus, more than their love for the athletics it is the geography, religion, society and their agonistic spirit which made them athletes. In conclusion, this study shows that Greeks were neither amateur athletes nor professional athletes since they did not have such idea of praising only the virtues of uncompensated athletes. Hence, the ancient Greeks were simply athletes in a setting where honour along with winning of a valuable prize was considered as an important part of being an athlete.
Buddhist soft skills as management techniques for better performance
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Chandrasekara, S.
Buddhist soft skills were introduced to the world by the Buddha 2600 years ago in India. Today they can be used as management techniques for better performance in any given situation without any discrimination. They basically focus on understanding yourself, motivating yourself, managing your emotions, your goals, intentions, responses and behavior. Similarly, given attention to understanding others, recognizing other people’s emotions and managing relationships are of primary concern. The main research aim is to find the adequate Buddhist soft skills used as management techniques. In the present world, there are conflicts in every country. Therefore, different methods need to be used to find ways in solving the problems in the world, and the Buddhist soft skills will be useful management techniques to solve various problems. This is a literature-based research with reference to Buddhist scriptures. Main findings of the research are that Buddhist soft skills can be effectively used for better performance in the field of management and related problem solving. It is clear that the world is full of conflicts, among individuals, societies and countries. In addition, international problems arise due to various reasons. Therefore, we should find the root causes of the problems. Main Buddhist concepts explain the problems in detail, identifying greed, anger and delusion as their main roots. Buddhist soft skills demonstrate how to respect others and live together in harmony. This is an original study attempting to uncover Buddhist soft skills Management Techniques for problem solving and sustaining harmony. Western Psychologists have also conducted some research in relation to soft skills but not in relation to Buddhist soft skills. The research finding can be applied to any institution in the world to develop a peaceful environment, to solve contemporary problems, as well as to encourage human actors to perform better in achieving the goals envisioned in relevant contexts.
Challenges of translation of a canonical text: observations based on some previous attempts
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Herath, H.M.M.
Canonical texts are translated for a variety of reasons. The Tipitaka is translated with the intention of spreading the Dhamma or as a part of scholarly work. When the translator is focused on literal translations he/she is concerned with Pali Grammar and when a free translation is attempted he/she is aiming his work at beginners of Dhamma Studies. The aim of this paper is to identify the problems faced by translators when they translate the canon into any language. Confidence in the accuracy of the translation invariably rests primarily on the translator’s own confidence in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. However biased translators who are not themselves convinced of the validity of the teachings may be influenced by their own religious translation extremes consciously or unconsciously. Language skills, knowledge of language usages, patterns, idioms, syntax, similes, metaphors, etc. of both languages, Pali language and target language are very important in the Translation. In this context, the translator faces difficulties regarding how to translate technical terms inherent in the Tipitaka. The translator often has to resolve whether technical terms can be accurately translated or whether to retain them in their original form. Here, at least, the translator needs to understand the distinctive characteristics of both languages. Understanding Buddhist teachings plays a vital role in this process. Such a translation should not be a word by word translation but an idiomatically meaningful one. The message of the Teacher should be communicated to the listener or reader as authentically as possible. The translation should be close to the reader as a native speaker. In this context, the translator needs to see that the language, as well as the doctrine, norms, culture, setting and tradition are consistent in both languages. Sometimes the translator is preoccupied with one’s personal views and violates the original meaning. Translating the Tipitaka presents major challenges; these include: finding capable unbiased scholars qualified in both languages, establishing a scholars’ group to discuss complex issues arising from the translation, the validity of the translation and confirmation of the accuracy of the translation.
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.
Decent housing for decent living: the discourse of slum free city in Colombo
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Rasnayake, S.; Silva, K.T.; Herath, H.M.D.R.
In fact, the urban poor are seen as a serious development pathology in the process of neoliberal reconstruction of city. In this exercise, demolishing slums and resettling the displayed in high-rise apartments is widely approached by urban architects and planners. However, studies note that high-rise housing is still a controversial resettlement option since many such alternatives have either failed or had limited success. In this background, this examines the discourse on slum demolition and highrise housing with reference to an urban housing project, implemented in Colombo under the city beautification project (CBP) during the 2009-2014. The study reveals that the state used various discursive fields to support construction of high-rise housing and legitimatize its anti-slum policy. While labeling the slums as undesirable and unliberated areas, the project leaders strongly claimed that the slum community will be assimilated into middle class through high-rise living. Their main slogan was that 'the decent house will bring a decent life to the poor'. Facilities of new housing apartments such as attached bathrooms, commodes and comfortable bedrooms are used as nonverbal symbols to communicate that the re-housing project will bring upward social mobility to the urban poor. Moreover, the global policy discourse of MDGs has been a popular discursive field the state used to legitimize its anti-slum policy. Finally, the project leaders have used strategies such as creating emotions, a hypothetical future, rationality, voice of experts and altruism to create the discourse of 'slum free city'. Though the project has brought social mobility for some poor families, it has increased housing dissatisfaction among the majority of the re-settlers. Many residents face the issue of inadequate space in new apartments. Break up of communities and destruction of their livelihoods are serious adverse impacts that dragged the poor from frying pan to fire. The study concludes that upgrading living standard has become an attractive slogan for the state to implement its market oriented urban restructuring policies in the name of ensuring social sustainability.
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.
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.
Duty of confidentiality in international commercial arbitration: a lesson for Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Karunatilaka, K.M.C.R.
Arbitration refers to an extrajudicial dispute resolution mechanism where the parties to a contract agree to forward their dispute to a private justice system. One of the reasons why the parties in global business context prefer international commercial arbitration over other methods of dispute resolution is confidentiality. The simple meaning that can be attributed to the concept of confidentiality is that a party or an arbitrator has an obligation to keep all the information, documents and evidence submitted in the process of arbitration in private and not to disclose this information without the consent of the relevant party. Though the Institute for the Development of Commercial Law and Practice (ICLP), recognizes the duty of confidentiality, regrettably, this is a mere institutional rule. Since the Arbitration Act No.11 of 1995 of Sri Lanka had failed to address the need of confidentiality, it is essential to study whether Sri Lanka needs to identify confidentiality as a statutory duty of every arbitration agreement, in the process of becoming a hub for international commercial arbitration. A comparative study was conducted based on a collection of literature resources on foreign jurisdictions such as Australia, United States, Sweden and England in order to understand the significance of the principle of confidentiality. The English common law has continuously identified an implied obligation on the parties to not to use the documents or information obtained during arbitration process for any collateral purpose. By a Judgment of the High Court of Australia in 1995, it was held that an implied duty of confidentiality is not accepted in Australia. Due to this common-law rule, the commercial community has made an assumption that Australia is a less arbitration friendly seat. But identifying the significance of confidentiality, Australian International Arbitration Act was recently amended and the reforms brought the Australian Law in line with the international standards identified by the UNICITRAL model law. Both United States and Swedish Courts have held that duty of confidentiality should be included as an express duty under the agreement and in absence; an obligation should not be imposed on parties. The foremost outcome of this study indicates that the application of the principle of confidentiality in different jurisdictions has created a lack of uniformity. Further it is an accepted notion that complete confidentiality cannot be formulated, but a certain degree of confidentiality is vital for the purpose of protecting sensitive information of commercial community brought forward in International Commercial Arbitration. In the process of developing Sri Lanka as a hub for International Commercial Arbitration, a precise and stable background for the duty of confidentiality is a timely requirement. In summary, it can be stated that the prospective development of Sri Lanka as a seat of arbitration can be supported with the recognition of the concept of confidentiality as an implied duty in every arbitration agreement.
Educating the youth on social cohesion through physical education
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Nanayakkara, S.V.; Embekke, S.K.
Education can be a catalyst of the recovery process for children who lived through armed conflicts. Thus, education can protect children in conflict affected situations and contributes to more stable post conflict situations. In order to reconstruct the social and civic integration in post conflict societies, the concept of social cohesion performs an important role. Therefore, carefully planned educational programs can help enhance students’ humanistic thinking about social cohesion. Such educational programs need to explore how learners can be challenged to develop a strong sense of social responsibility, humanity and social justice based on social cohesion. In order to develop a strong social responsibility and social justice both within and beyond the classroom, educators can create new strategies to teach social cohesion within different subjects at the beginning of the primary school level. Physical education may be a curriculum area that presents many opportunities to overcome ethnic hatred and could contribute to building harmonious relationships between different people in the community. Therefore, it is required to investigate whether the learning and practical applications of physical education and school sports can contribute in promoting social cohesion in the post conflict societies in Sri Lanka. This study investigated the ways in which Olympism values could strengthen secondary students’ social cohesion competencies through learning and practicing physical education. A qualitative research method was used and data was collected by using semi-structured interviews. The research sample consisted (n=41) predominantly of 21 Singhalese (10 girls and 11 boys) and 20 Tamil (10 girls and 10 boys) year seven students from two randomly selected state secondary schools in the Kandy district, Central Province, Sri Lanka. The study has developed an integrated Olympism education and social cohesion curriculum model which were subsequently taught in above mentioned selected two state secondary schools in a six month intervention program. Data obtained from this study was analysed according to thematic analysis. Results of the study indicate that the integrated Olympism education and social cohesion curriculum intervention model improved students’ social cohesion skills regardless of their gender and ethnicity. Results also indicate that the practical strategies of the intervention model improved students’ and people’s knowledge and social reasoning ability. The outcome of this study strengthened not only the students’ learning of social cohesion in a post conflict community setting, but also their social living competencies to be valuable future citizens.
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.
Environmental changes in the middle Malwatu Oya basin based on the archaeo-palynological evidence from Jetavanarama settlement site at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Ranaweera, D.C.; Chandraratne, R.M.M.; Senanayake, A.M.P.; Perera, G.A.D.
The Archaeo-palynological evidence provides much information on the influences of palaeo-climatic and anthropogenic activities around the middle Malwatu Oya basin, North Central Sri Lanka. The Jetavanarama, that is the largest and the tallest brickbuilt historical Stupa in the World, is one of the main historical settlement sites located on the left bank of the middle part of Malwatu Oya. The research excavation, near the western gate of the Stupa was carried out in 2013 with a view of reconstructing the palaeo-environment with emphasis on Palynology as a multidisciplinary exercise. Six samples from the stratigraphy covering eighteen sediment layers have been collected on the basis on their prominent archaeological records. Identification was conducted referring to the basis of available type slide collection at the Department of Botany, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. The identified fossil pollen grains were from Poaceae, Fabaceae, Cyperaceae, Meliaceae, Apiaceae and Fabeceae. Pollen grains from Poaceae, Meliaceae, Apiaceae and Fabeceae found from the layers are comparable to pre-Jetavanarama period while the samples from the two sediment layers are comparable with the post-Jetavanarama period and carry a higher number of pollen from Poaceae, Fabaceae and Cyperaceae suggesting a relative reduction of forest taxa, e.g. Meliaceae. Respective sediment layers provide evidence of the presence of lakes or swamps and occurrence of frequent flood in or in the vicinity of the studied area. Further, there is evidence to prove the presence of habitation sites and some palaeoenvironmental differences related to the anthropogenic activities have occurred at the site from during the early historic period to present day. Those transformations were identified through palynological studies and radiocarbon chronology.
Examining reactions to refugees and migrants using the is-ought problem in moral philosophy
(University of Peradeniya, 2017-03-31) Thowfeek, M.I.M.
This paper explores the is-ought problem in moral philosophy by applying it to understanding the real world issue of refugees and migrants. The ‘is – ought’ problem which was articulated by David Hume (1711-1776), is considered a central problem of moral philosophy. Hume believed that what is the case and what ought to be the case look different. G. E. Moore (1873-1958) and Karl Popper (1902-1994) subscribe to similar views. However, others like McInerny (1929-2010) and MacIntyre (1929) propose a different position. They suggest that there should be no ‘gap’ between is and ought. In other words what is, is also what should be (ought). Thus far this disagreement has remained largely in the realm of conceptual analyses. In this paper the ‘is – ought’ problem is used to understand real world issues. The focus of this paper is the muchdiscussed issues surrounding refugees and migrants in Europe. When this problem is applied to understanding reactions against refugees and migrants it leads to two questions; one, about how refugees are treated (is) and two, how they should be treated (ought). The paper examines statistical data from organizations working with refugees and migrants as well as the utterances of key political and civil society figures, especially in Europe. To understand the ‘ought’ such documents as the UNHCR Refugee Convention is analysed. The analysis shows that a gap exists between is and ought on this particular issue, on several fronts. The paper will also explore how the issue of refugees and migrants might be tackled by using moral philosophy.

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