Wednesday, November 29, 2017

dailynews.lk DailyNews_lk

The inauguration of the National Inven-

tors Day was held on 26th October 2017 at the BMICH with the patron-age of the Hon. Minister of Science Technology and Research Mr. Susil

Premajayantha. This day was dedicated to honor a noble scientist and inven-tor from Sri Lanka, fi rst Commissioner to the Sri Lanka Inventors Commis-sion Mr. A. N. S. Kulasin-ghe on his birthday.

The celebrations con-sisted of a host of exciting events for the benefi t of the inventors. The main event was the apprecia-tion of the outstanding inventors who won the ...

The Global Research Council is a virtual or-

ganization, comprised of the heads of Science and En-gineering funding agencies from around the world, dedi-cated to promoting the shar-ing of data and best practices for high- quality collabora-tion among funding agencies worldwide.

National Science Foundation, Sri Lanka (NSF) is organizing the Asia Pacifi c (ASPAC) Re-gional Meeting of the Global Research Council (GRC) in November, 2017. There will be a back-to-back Workshop on ‘Research Management’ on 28th November and the...

The week from Nov 10th -17th had been declared as

the ‘National Science Week’ by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research. Accordingly several programs have been organized within

the week, for the betterment of the fi eld of Science Technology and Research by the Ministry of Science Technology and Research and its subordinate institutions. The theme of the World Science Day this year

was, ‘Science for Global Un-derstanding’ A signifi cant event among the several programs was the National Science Day Walk...

The new offi cial website of the Ministry of Science Technology

and Research (www.monstr.gov.lk) has been launched recently with the Minister of Science Technology and Research Susuil Premajay-antha presiding over. The website

consists of latest technological fa-cilities and convenient access for anyone in need. The purpose of this valuable cause is to achieve sustainable develop-ment goals...

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(www.mostr.gov.lk)Ministry of Science, Technology and Research

To read Vidya as an Paper visit www.dailynews.lk /vidyaMinistry of Science, Technology and Research

To read Vidya as an Paper visit

2Wednesday, November 29, 2017

National Science Foundation is the premier science funding

body in Sri Lanka which acts to promote the international exposure of the local scientists by opening up avenues for them to interact with the scientists abroad, thereby utilizing the maximum potentials towards the promotion of their scientifi c research and related activi-ties. Following are some recent activities under MoUs on Bilateral Scientifi c Coorperation by the NSF Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Scientifi c and Technological Coop-eration between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Pakistan Sci-ence Foundation (PSF)

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Bilateral Scientifi c Cooperation was signed between the National Sci-ence Foundation , Sri Lanka (NSF) and the Pakistan Science Founda-tion (PSF) on 05th January , 2016, during the visit of His Excellency Nawaz Sharif, the Honorable Prime Minister of Pakistan to Sri Lanka. The fi rst Joint Committee Meeting under that MoU was held on 18th November, 2016 in Sri Lanka with the participation of the offi cials from both institutes. As agreed at that meeting, the fi rst Joint

Call for research proposals in the history of the NSF was

launched during mid-Feb-

ruary, 2107. The second Joint Com-mittee Meeting on the MoU was held in Pakistan on 15th September, 2017 where both parties jointly selected and recommended six collaborative research projects between both coun-tries for joint funding. The activities related to the awarding of these grants are in progress with the auspice of the Government Treasury and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the National Sci-ence Foundation, Sri Lanka (NSF) and the National Science Founda-tion, China (NSFC) on Science and Technology Cooperation

The NSF signed the second MoU with the National Natural Science Founda-tion, China (NSFC). The signing took place at an offi cial ceremony on 8th April, 2016 during the visit of Honor-able Ranil Wickramasinghe , Prime Minister of Sri Lanka , to China. As a result, the First Joint Workshop between scientists of Sri Lanka and China was held from 4th to 7th July, 2017 in Beijing, China on themes such as Health, Water and Climate Change. A delegation of 24 Sri Lankan scien-tists headed by Hon. Susil Premajay-antha, Minister of Science, Technology and Research participated at this event. The Joint Workshop enabled them to have in depth discussions towards initiating joint research programs. As a follow up to that, the First Joint Call for Research Proposals was launched on 29th September, 2017 and the collaborative research proposals on Health, Water and Environmental Sci-

ences will be accepted from the scientists by both parties till 29th of December for selection for joint funding.

Memorandum of Cooperation between the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and the National Science Foundation, Sri Lanka (NSF)

Thirdly, a Memoran-dum of Cooperation (MoC) on Bilateral Scientifi c Cooperation was signed on 02nd October, 2017 at the ‘STS Forum- Japan’ event held in Kyoto, Japan between the NSF and the Japan

Science and Technology Agency (JST). This was initiated at the ‘NSF Global Part-nerships’; a series of meetings organized by the NSF on 6th and 7th September, 2016 with the aim of strengthening the interna-tional scientifi c cooperation. The signing of the MoC was attended by a Sri Lankan delegation of offi cials from the Ministry of Science , Technology and Research and the NSF, and this delegation was headed by the Hon. Susil Premajayantha, Minister of Science , Technology and Research. As such, the NSF is striving to increase the international exposure of the local scientists and thereby to upgrade the sta-tus of the science in our motherland. The bumping harvest of the present efforts is to be reaped in the years to come.

Thilinakumari Kandanmulla Scientifi c Offi cer,

International Liaison Division,National Science Foundation

The Collaborative Institutional Train-ing Initiative (CITI) program for Sri

Lankan Researchers and Ethics Review Committee members has been intro-duced by the National Science Founda-tion (NSF), Sri Lanka in collaboration with the University of Miami, USA. The CITI program is a web based educational program that has trained more than 10

million researchers across the globe, including members of Research Ethics Committees, students and academic staff. The Collaborative Institutional Train-ing Initiative (CITI) program site offers web-based training in multiple areas of research compliance and ethics. The site of CITI Program includes courses in animal subjects research, human

subjects research , responsible conduct of research , biosafety and biosecurity , confl icts of interest, export control and information privacy and security. NSF has paid an annual subscription fee of USD 3,000 to make this program avail-able for Sri Lankan Scientifi c Community. The courses are offered completely free of charge to Researchers and Ethics

Review Committee members in Sri Lan-kan institutions. Those interested should contact the Ethics Review Committees of relevant University or the Manager IT Unit, National Science Foundation [madhawap@nsf.gov.lk]

Mahesha NadugalaScientifi c Offi cer,

International Liaison Division,National Science Foundation

3

Dulip NayanapriyaMedia Unit

Ministry of Science Technology & Research

Dulip Nayanapriya

which was held on the 11th of November with the participation of Minister of Science Technology and Research Susil Premajayantha and State Minister Lakshman Senevirathne. The purpose of organ-izing the walk was to make people aware of the responsibility of the fi eld of Science Technology and Research in achieving sustainable development

goals. The walk was organized from the ITI premises Colombo 7, to Vihara-mahadevi Park. A large crowd including scientists, researchers, academics, govern-ment offi cials and school children participated at the walk and several exhibitory vehicles had adorned the event.

of the country to the level of upper middle income with the contributions of school children, minor and middle scale entrepre-neurs, self employers, university students, scientists, technologists, researchers, and the academics. Currently several well planned and important programs have been organized by the Ministry of Science Tech-nology and Research. The Ministry of Sci-

ence Technology and Research invites the people who are interested in the fi eld of Science and Technology to join them via the website, www.monstr.gov.lk, in order to create a research culture in the coun-try with an invention based economy, in the country’s journey of achieving sustainable development goals.

Continued from page 01... Science Day Walk...

Continued from page 01... Asia Pacifi c...

Continued from page 01... Science Technology & Research...

Regional Meeting is to be held on 29th

and 30th November. The New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment will be Co-organizing this meeting along with the NSF. The Ministry of Science, Technol-ogy and Research of Sri Lanka is also giving its full cooperation to organize this event. Usually, at every Regional meeting, two topics are considered for discussion. The outcomes of the discussions (on same topics) of all regional meetings are con-sidered fi nally at an annual meeting of the GRC, in order to come up with the

joint statements of policies to be prac-ticed among the granting agencies world-wide. The discussion topics at the Asia Pacifi c Regional Meeting that the NSF is organizing would be; ‘Peer Review’ and ‘Science Diplomacy’ During the ASPAC Regional Meeting to be held on 29th and 30th November, the two discussions topics (i.e. Peer Review and Science Diplomacy) will be dis-cussed respectively. Dr. Prudence Wil-liams, New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and Prof. Sirimali Fernando, chairperson, NSF will co-chair these meetings. Around 40 for-

eign participants and 20 local partici-pants are expected for the Regional Meeting.

The concluding session of the meet-ing will be held on 30th November and the fi nal meeting summary will be pre-sented with the concurrence of the Co- Chairs, Executive Support Group (ESG) members as well as the participants from the GRC.

Thilinakumari Kandanmulla (Scientifi c Offi cer,

International Liaison Division, National Science Foundation)

- Minister Susil Premajayantha -

Continued from page 01...

awards at “Sahasak Nimewum 2017” National Inventions Exhibition. The awards were presented in 14 categories to winners at the school, open, and commercial levels.The award for the best inventor in school category won by G. W. Thimith Nawodya of Gurukula Vidyalaya, Kelaniya. He was awarded the junior “Dasis” Award for the Rolls Machine and won two special awards at the Indian Innovations Association and the Indonesian Innovation Association. Best Inventor of the Open Section was Dr. B. W. K. M Bhopaththa for his invention of “Acces-sory Device of Nebulization for Intubated Patients” and Mr. Prince Chandrasena won the award for his “Dipping Cooler” as

the best inven-tor in the commer-

cialized inventions.

Mr. B.W.K.M. Bhopaththa

was also awarded a special award from the World Intellectual Property Organization. ‘ we have a reality to be achieved no matter who rules the country. That is to bridge the technological gap between our country and the developed countries. To achieve this goal we should properly utilize the human and natural resources in the country to in-vent and to bring those inventions up to the international market. We need to add value and to improve the quality of our products via researches of the fi eld of Science and Technology. Accordingly 1% of the gross domestic product should be reserved for the re-search and develop-

ments. We possess an accurate vision and a well planned schedule for the betterment of the fi eld of Science and Technology in the country. We are currently reaching towards it..’ stated the Minister, addressing the ceremony. In addition to the “Sahasak Nimawum” Award Ceremony, the inaugural ceremony of establishing 3 pilot laboratories as incuba-tors for support startup for new inventors to conduct their research and operational func-tions was also initiated. These incubators are to be established at the Uni-versity of Peradeniya, Jaffna Univer-sity

and National Engineering Research and Development Center.Hon. State Minister of Science Technology and Research Mr. Lakshman Seneviratne, Secretary to the Ministry Udaya R. Senevirathne, Sri Lanka Inventors Commission Commissioner Ma-hesh Edirisinghe, state offi cials, inventors and school children were also present at the event.

‘We should bridge the technological gap between

our country and the developed countries’

The opening ceremony of the “Vidatha Haritha Kadamandiya - 2017”, a mar-

ketplace to promote the products of small entrepreneurs was held on 26th Oc-

tober 2017 at the ITI premises with the patronage of the Hon. Minister

of Science Technology and Re-search Mr. Susil Premajayan-

tha and Hon. State Minister of Science Technology and

Research Mr. Lakshman Senevirathna. The main objective of the Vidatha program imple-mented by the Ministry of Science Technol-ogy and Research is to strengthen the rural economy by providing scientifi c and techni-cal knowledge to rural areas of the country. Under the direct su-pervision of the Minis-try, around 270 Vida-tha Resource Centers have been established in Divisional Secretari-at level in this country.These Vidatha Re-source Centers will provide technical knowl-edge and guidance to people who want to cre-ate products with the natural resources more

abundant in the rural areas at grass root levels. This

will create small and medium scale entrepreneurs. By now,

the Vidatha program has been able to generate nearly 3000 small and medium scale entrepre-neurs across various sectors.The Vidhatha Green Marketplace is annually organized by the Ministry of Science, Technol-ogy and Research with the objective of encour-aging and empowering local producers to pro-duce quality products without poison. Vidhatha Green Marketplace was being able to hold with the participation of 80 persons who had been successful in the small and medium scale pro-duction with quality products. Food products, handicrafts, garments, ornaments, liquid clean-ers, electronic accessories and various products were sold.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

4 5Wednesday, November 29, 2017 Wednesday, November 29, 2017

The National Science Foundation (NSF) was estab-lished in 1998 by the Science and Technology De-

velopment Act No. 11 of 1994 as the successor to the Natural Resources Energy & Science Authority of Sri Lanka (NARESA). NARESA was established in 1981 as the successor to the National Science Council (NSC) set up in 1968. In 2008, NSF celebrated its 40 years of dedicated services to Science and Technol-ogy in Sri Lanka. The National Science Foundation is presently operating under the purview of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research. The NSF is committed to generating, disseminating and transferring knowledge and to ensuring the effec-tive utilization of knowledge, for the greater benefi t of the people of Sri Lanka. It is the leading institution for supporting science based research and development technology promotion, science and technology policy research, International liaison and popularizing sci-ence among school children and the general public.

NSF brings different segments of the S&T community together through workshops, seminars, committees and several other interactions. These collaborations provide benchmarks and leadership for Research, De-velopment and Innovation (RDI). The NSF also fosters strategic collaborations with key national and global counterparts that address national and international science and technology priorities. The vision of the NSF is “To be the nation’s premier driving force in promoting Science, Technology and Innovation for economic and social prosperity of Sri Lanka”. The missions of the NSF include, Initiate , Facilitate and Support Research, Development, Innovation and Technology transfer through funding, knowledge creation, capacity build-ing, partnerships , information dissemination and popularizing science so as to; create a knowledge driven economy and well in-formed society effi ciently and effectively, and contribute to improve the quality of life and standard of living of our people, by nurturing a competent staff and ensuring transparency , accountability , fairness, equity

and principles of sus-tainability. The prime roles of the NSF are to initiate, facilitate and support ba-sic and applied scientifi c research by universities, science and technology institutions and scientists, with a view to: strengthening scientifi c research potential, including research in the Social Science, and Science Education programs ,developing the natural resources of Sri Lanka ,promot-ing the welfare of the people of Sri Lanka ,training research personnel in Science and Technology to foster the interchange of scientifi c informa-tion among scientists in Sri Lanka and abroad, to award scholarships and fellowships for scientifi c study or scientifi c work at recognized Science and Technol-ogy institutions, to maintain a current register of scientifi c and technical personnel, and in other ways to the availability of, and the current and projected need for, scientifi c and technical resources in Sri Lanka, and to provide a source of information for policy formulation on science , technology and other fi elds, to popularize science amongst the people by funding and executing pro-grams for the purpose.

* The operations of the NSF in popularizing Science? NSF are dedicated to uplift and popularize science technology and research, sup-port innovations & inventions and eventu-ally have them contribute to the economic development of the country. Accordingly a separate division has been established for popularizing of science among the general public and many activities are carried out by this division to achieve this goal. The

committees for popularizing of science and uplifting of STEM education function for this purpose. Under the theme of ‘Science for All’ these committees are dedicated to popular-ize and promote science throughout the country. It is important to focus on the groups such as the school community, the univer-sity community and the general public here. Currently around 848 schools throughout the

island have been registered at NSF under the school science society programme. Ac-cordingly we have created a national platform in the field of science for them. We publish and provide the ‘Vidurawa’ magazine which consists of scientifi c knowledge in all three languages to school science societies free of charge. Further when we receive requests for science programs from school science socie-

ties, we employ scientists from the universities and research institutions as resource persons.

* The contributions for the National Science Day Celebrations? We organize inter school science society competi-tion concurrently with the National Science Day. Accordingly, this year, win-ners of this competition will

be felicitated at a ceremony sched-uled for the 4th of May 2018. The best teachers will received the na-tional awards for promoting of sci-ence; Prof. M.T.M.

Jiffry Memorial Award for popularzing of science is also awarded at this ceremony. The Sri Lanka science and engineering fair is also scheduled to be held concurrently to the event. The first three winners of this competi-tion, are to be sent to the USA for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) .

* Procedure of providing financial contributions?

NSF is the leading institution which provides funding for scientific research projects in Sri Lanka. Accordingly when we receive re-search proposals, we analyse them through the committees assigned for the respec-tive fields and eventually provide them with funds. The funds are usually for research projects and equipment. Furthermore when the research papers are presented for the international conferences, we provide funds for registrations and air fare. In addition we employ foreign scientists for local workshops and seminars and the requirements of those institutions, teachers and the students are fulfilled by the NSF.

* What are your plans for 2018? 2018 is a very special year for us as our 50th

anniversary falls on May 2018. Accordingly we expect to recognizeand award people under two main categories. People who ren-dered long term service, from different levels at the organization and local and international doctors and professors who are strongly con-nected with our institution. Special Golden Jubilee editions of the NSF Journal and the Vidurava Science Magazine of NSF are scheduled to be launched as well. We expect to include all in our celebration, including school students, teachers and scientists etc. to mark our anniversary in a grand manner. Furthermore the launch of the Sri Lanka Bio Technology Institution at Pitipana, over 50 acres of land, is another milestone for the year. The institution consists of 15 floors and a special fund is initiated concurrently with the construction process. Thus with those new propensities we expect to carry out the duties of the NSF more effi ciently than ever before.

* NSF as a leading institution in con-tributing for research projects?

This institution was established in 1968 as National Science Coun-cil, wit h the prime purpose of developing and encouraging the field of Science and Technology in Sri Lanka. Later this institu-tion was converted to the Natural Resources Energy & Science Authority (NAR-ESA) as an institution with separate powers. The National Science Foundation (NSF) was established with the Science and Technol-ogy Development Act No.11 of 1994. This institution is operated by a Board of Man-agement under the chairman

as per the Act of

Parliament. At present NSF consists of around 150 staff members. The deci-sions we take as the board of directors, is are executed by the staff under the Director General. We possess around 150 active committee members from outside to support us Our main activ-ity is providing financial assistance for the research projects. Accordingly, NSF has become the first institution to provide fi nancial assistance for re-search projects. We started funding for research projects in 1972 and we have been engaged in funding of projects since then. The fields such as Agri-culture, Medicine, Engineering, Social Science and Science Education etc. have benefitted greatly by our research grants. A researcher presents his/her proposals for a scientific research then we assign a committee for further study of the project. Accordingly we discuss the concepts of the proposal and con-sider its importance for the society.

* What is the method of funding for research projects?We receive financial aid for the re-search projects from the General Treas-

ury. Thus we have the responsibili-ty to utilize those contributions

properly, rendering a great service to the

society we live in. We car-

ry out a

progress review, six months from the date of having provided funding for the project. We acquire a research report from the researcher and further inspect whether they have used our funds in a productive manner. At times we call the researchers to NSF to measure the progress of the projects, or else we visit their institutions to check up on them. We always train the scientists to think. Usually a research is carried out to look at a problem and find a scientific solution for it. Accordingly a researcher has to think independently. There-fore, there is a less chances in getting results which are useful for the country and essential for the industries. Hence we have prepared a separate plan as a solution. Accordingly we have taken steps to gather as the board of direc-tors to discuss the problems persisting in the country and assign the research-ers to find solutions to those problems,

through research projects.

* Have you focused your research projects to meet the current needs of the country? We have selected themes such as Food Security, Water Security, Energy Security etc. and identify the current needs in those fields. Then we invite researchers to initiate research projects in those respective fields. We not only fund projects which researchers are already working on but we also as-sign them with research which needs to be carried out based on the current needs of the country. We have called for research proposals in the fields of Food Security, Water Security, Climate Change and Medicine. In the field of medicine we focus on carrying out research projects on Cancer, Dengue, Diabetes, and Kidney related diseases. The process hasalready started. We provide financial assistance, equipment and we pay for temporary research assistants considering the duration of the project. All these things are carried out according to a MoU signed between the researcher and NSF, based on the research proposal. The results

of the research project should be useful to the country, and it should be socially, financially and environmentally signifi -cant. Further we look at how innovative the concept is, its contributions to our future and the capacity of the research group to carry out the project success-fully. We decide on making financial contributions having studied their exist-ing resources, demands, their back-grounds, the process of utilizing them in the research, their contributions in fulfilling our expectations and whether their results can be implemented in society. Twenty three (23) out of 100 research projects deliver successful results. It is the average for research projects. In any country, we should let people to think in order to improve their

knowledge. We at NSF are dedicated to drive them to achieve productive results in their research projects.

Prof. Sirimali Fernando, Chairperson - National Science Foundation

W.A.S Nisansala Kumari Photograph- Sarath Peiris

Dr. Jayantha WattevidanageDirector General (Acting) – NSF

Pramitha Randali Pabasara Photograph-

Thushara Fernando

6 Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Moringa

15 timesmore

Pottasiumin Banana

25 timesMore

Iron inSpinach

4 TimesMore

Vitamin Ain Carrots

17 TimesMore

Calciumin Milk

A Remedy for Multiple Diseases

Murunga (Moringa oleifera) is one of the most useful tropical trees. It is a popular vegetable in the country and heavily grown in the dry zone region. Moringa has been used in traditional ayurvedic medicine since in ancient times as a rem-edy for variety of diseases such as ane-mia, skin infections, blackheads, anxiety, bronchitis, catarrh, chest congestion, asthma, blood impurities, cholera, glan-dular, swelling, headaches, conjunctivitis, cough, diarrhea, eye and ear infections, fever, abnormal blood pressure, hysteria, pain in joints, pimples, psoriasis, respira-tory disorders, scurvy, semen defi ciency, sore throat, sprain, tuberculosis, for intestinal worms, and diabetes. However, very recently it has been rediscovered as a multipurpose tree

with a tremendous variety of potential uses. Leaves of this plant are highly nutritious and a signifi cant source of vitamin A, β-carotene, vitamin C, protein, iron, potassium and calcium. Numerous scientifi c reports highlighted that leaves contain more vitamin A than carrots, more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach, more vitamin C than oranges, more potassium than bananas and more protein than milk. Moringa leaves can be eaten fresh or can be used in prepara-tion of various delicious dishes and a variety of herbal preparations. Further, the dried leaf powder can be stored for many months without signifi cant loss of its nutritional value. Therefore, during last few decades it has received enormous attention as the ‘natural nutrition of the tropic’ to combat malnutrition especially among infants and breast feeding women

in many developing countries, particu-larly in India, Pakistan, Philippines, Hawaii and many parts of Africa.

ITI Research on Moringa

Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) as a pio-neer multidisciplinary research institute in the country has initiated research on Murunga at Herbal Technology

Section of ITI in early 2011. This re-search was funded by Sri Lankan Treas-ury and several researchers including Dr. G.A.S Premakumara, Ms. W.P.K.M Abeysekera, Dr. W.K.S.M Abeysekera and Dr. P. Ranasinghe was involved in the project. Our initial studies of this plant were able to identify diverse nutritional and functional properties in the leaves.

Moringa Leaves and Value Added Products

With that basis we developed several Moringa leaf based value added prod-ucts since to date scientifi cally proven such value added Moringa leaf based products are not in the local market. The developed value added products included nutritionally and functionally en-hanced Moringa tea and leaf powder and skin whitening and anti-aging Moringa cream.

Since the developed products such as Moringa leaf pow-der and Moringa tea are nutritionally rich with many biological activities, consump-tion in daily life may be useful to combat malnutrition particu-larly among children and breast feeding mothers in the coun-try. The developed Moringa cream exhibited skin whitening and anti-ageing properties mediated via anti-tyrosinase, anti-glycation, antioxidant and matrix metalloproteases

enzymes (anti-collagenase and anti-hay-aluronidase) inhibitory activities. Further, this formulation complied with the SLS requirements and a novel product to the cosmetic industry. Since synthetic skin whitening and anti-aging cosmetics have many side effects this novel product may be useful to consumers. However, further clinical studies are necessary for thor-ough understanding of its potency and stability on skin whitening and anti-aging.The technologies of developed Moringa based value added products can be obtained as a technology transfer from ITI to the customers. The technology of preparation of Moringa leaf powder was transferred in 2014. The fi ndings of the research have been published interna-tionally and locally. Currently, further research is going on in developing more value added products from leaf, pod and seed of Moringa.

A web –based crop forecasting system

developed under the project NTRP/2012/FS/PG-01/P-01 conducted by Dr. R M Herath and his team, Department of Agriculture with technical expertise from the University of Colombo School of Computing, has been accepted by the Ministry of Agriculture and the system is accepted to be used by the Ministry after doing minor modifi ca-tions, for monitoring food production island wide and to implement the fertilizer subsidy scheme. The program was de-ployed by HE the president.A Mobile based Agriculture Information System which could disseminate crop information to farmers has been developed and deployed as an outcome of the project NTRP/2012/FS/PG-01/P-02 of Prof. G.N

Wickramanayake, University of Colombo School of Computing. Another project on Home Garden was awarded to Prof. G Mikunthan, University of Jaffna. A model home garden was established at the Fac-ulty of Agriculture at Ariviyal Nagar, Kilinochchi

to demonstrate the importance of the different components of the home garden and its diversity by this project. Resettled people in fi ve districts in Northern Province were assisted with developing their own home gardens.

The journal of the National Science

Foundation of Sri Lanka (JNSF) publishes the results of research in all aspects of Science and Technology since 1973. Four issues of the journal are published per year in March, June, Sep-tember and December. Contents of the journal are peer reviewed and are currently indexed in Thompson Reuters Science Citation Index Ex-panded, Chemical & Bio-logical Abstracts, BIOSSIS Previews, Zoological Re-cords , SCOPUS, TEEAL, Ulrich’s, AGRICOLA and EBSCOhost. The Impact

Factor of the JNSF for 2017 was

0.42.

The JNSF is published both online and in print form. The journal has a wide circulation both lo-cally and overseas and the full text of JNSF can be accessed through the Sri Lanka Journals Online (SLJOL) website (http://jnsfsl.sljol.info/) free of charge. More informa-tion of JNSF can also be reached through http://

www.nsf.ac.lk/index.php/nsf-science-

magazine.

50%More

Vitamin Cin Oranges

Did you know that the asteroid 2012 TC1 has slated

dangerously close to the Earth?

On the 12th of October 2017, the asteroid 2012 TC1 has slated above the Southern Pacifi c coastal line, in a 50180km proximity to earth. The dis-tance from the earth to moon is around 384,400km. Thus it appears that the asteroid has been slated even closer than the moon to the Earth. The magnitude of the asteroid is around 13 diameters and it has been fi rstly found on the 12th of October 2012, by the PanSTARS 1 telescope.

2017 Nobel Prize for Physics

Three people have been awarded with the Nobel Prize for researchers on grav-ity waves in 2017. Albert Einstein was the fi rst to predict about these gravitational waves 100 years ago. He had spoken of this, in his theory of Relativity. If he was alive today, this era would undoubtedly be extraordinary for him. The Nobel Prize of this year was received by the physi-cists Rainier Weiss, Kip Thorn and Bary C.Barish.

The 9th Planet

In January 2016, the scientists Michael E. Brown and Konstantin Batygin dis-covered a new planet which belonged to our solar system. It was introduced as the 9th Planet. It was believed that it existed in the Kuiper belt, which is very far from the Sun. According to research carried out by the scientists, Michael Brown and Konstantin Batygin, it was confi rmed that the 9th Planet defi nitely existed and that belonged to

our solar system. 9th Planet was discov-ered through numeric calculations. It is located at a distance 1500 times of the distance of the Earth from the Sun. The predicted planet could be a super Earth, with an estimated mass of 10 Earths, a diameter two to four times that of Earth and a highly elliptical orbit with an orbital period of approximately 15,000 years. Thus one year on the 9th Planet is similar to 15000 years on Earth. Five analytical evidences have assisted in the discov-ery of these facts. Konstantin Batygin stated that, if the existence of 9th Planet became doubtful, fi ve problems would be left unanswered. If you’re interested in the fi eld of astronomy, you will be able to know more about the 9th Planet soon.

The Great ScientistAlbert Einstein

4th Group Meeting on the Establishment of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi

Sectoral Technical and Economic Co-or-poration (BIMSTEC) , Technology Transfer Facility (TTF) was successfully concluded. The meeting was held on 21-22 November, 2017 in Colombo. 08 members from the BIMSTEC Member Countries (Bangla-

desh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand) had participated for this meeting. The meeting was inaugurated by Hon. Susil Premajayantha Minister of Science, Tech-nology and Research. BIMSTEC meeting was headed by Sri Lankan delegation Prof. Jayantha Wijerathne, Chairman, National

Science and Technology Commission. Mrs. S.M Nazmul Hasan the Director of the BIM-STEC Secretariat also participated. After deliberations the Memorandum of Associa-tion to establish the TTF was fi nalized.

7Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Editor Zahrah Imtiaz

Translator Nirasha Karunarathne

CreationsDanushka Bandara / Ashani Jayawardana

Photo EditingLake House Production Graphic Department

Printing Lake House Printing Department

Coordination/ Graphics and Creations Supervision

Samantha KarunasekeraManaging Editor – Government Relations

(Lake House)0112 429297 / 077 3493785

Government Relations Dept.

Advice Udaya R. Seneviratne

SecretaryMinistry of Science, Technology and Research

J.M. Mangalatissa State Secretary

Ministry of Science, Technology and Research

H.M.B.C. HerathAdditional Secretary

(Technology & Research Development)

Nandanie SamarawickremaAdditional Secretary

(Administration & Finance)

Guidance

P.M. DharmatilakeDirector

(Science and Research Development)

Himali W. K. AthaudageDirector

(Technology and International Relations)

Nazeema AhamedDirector (Planning)

Nimali KulathungaDirector (Planning)

K. Arunu Prabha PereraDirector

(Sri lanka Planetarium)

A.K.P. PeirisChief Accountant

M. C. GamageChief Internal Auditor

Co-editingMahesh Samarasekera

(Media Secretary)0112-372288

Dhammika RathnayakeMadhuka Subhashini Amarasinghe

L.D.I.U. Kumara(Technology and Research

Development Division)Offi cial PhotographsDulip NayanapriyaMinistry Media Unit

8

The 10th of November of 2017 has been designated as the “National Science Day” and the week commenc-

ing 10th to 17th November has been designated as the “National Science Week” coinciding with the “World Sci-ence Day” fallen on the 10th of November 2017, under the theme “SCIENCE for GLOBAL UNDERSTANDING”. This “National Science Day” and “National Science Week” Ministry of Science, Technology and Research necessary steps taken to implement various programs island wide to raise the awareness of the practical and productive use of Science and Technology applications among communities in the country.World Science Day Programs1. D S Senanayake Vidyalaya – Colombo2. National Institute of Fundamental Studies3. “Science Walk – 2017”4. Science Film Festival – more than 100000 viewers including school children university students and general public were attended.

Printed & Published by The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd., at No.35, D.R. Wijewardene Mawatha, Colombo 10 on Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Wednesday, November 29, 2017