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Thursday, 15 October 2009 |
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Guyana officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and previously known as British Guiana, is a state on the Northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. It is the only state of the Commonwealth of Nations on mainland South America. Guyana is bordered to the East by Suriname, to the South and southwest by Brazil, to the West by Venezuela and on the North by the Atlantic Ocean. Historically, the region known as 'Guiana' (Land of Many Waters) was comprised of the large shield landmass North of the Amazon River and East of the Orinoco River. Five sub-regions were carved out of the landmass by colonial powers in the late 17th and early 18th Century; Spanish Guiana (now Eastern Venezuela), Portuguese Guiana (now Northern Brazil), English Guiana (Guyana), Dutch Guiana (Suriname) and the present French overseas department of French Guiana. At 215,000 km2, Guyana is the third-smallest independent state on the mainland of South America (after Uruguay, Suriname). Its population is approximately 770,000. It is one of the five non-Spanish-speaking territories on the continent, along with the countries of Brazil (Portuguese), Suriname (Dutch), French Guiana (French) and the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands (English). Guyana can be divided into five natural regions: a narrow and fertile marshy plain along the Atlantic coast (low coastal plain) where most of the population lives; a white sand belt more inland (hilly sand and clay region), containing most of Guyana's mineral deposits; the dense rain forests (Forested Highland Region) in the middle of the country; the grassy flat savannah in the South; and the larger interior highlands (interior savannah) consisting mostly of mountains that gradually rise to the Brazilian border. Courtesy: Wikipedia[Agriculture not only gives riches to a nation, but the only riches she can call her own. - Samuel Johnson ] World Food Day tomorrow: Boost local food production driveDear Children,
The National Farmers' Week is being held from October 11 to 16 by the Agriculture Development and Agrarian Services Ministry to encourage and appreciate the contribution made by farmers to the national economy. Sri Lanka is after all an agricultural country and most of us love to eat rice. The event is specially significant tomorrow (16) being the World Food Day. The World Food Day theme for 2009 is 'Achieving food security in times of crisis'. President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Api Wawamu Rata Nagamu program aims to make Sri Lankans a self-sufficient nation. Farmers need guidance, technical know-how and financial assistance so that they can increase their production capacity. We too can contribute to the local food production drive by growing vegetables and fruits in our back garden. As you all know dear children the vegetables and fruits we buy from the market may be contaminated with chemicals. So it's always better to grow your own vegetables and fruits; for example leaves like Gotukola, Tampala, Kankun. We can enjoy them with confidence since they are fresh. Nutritional benefits are numerous. Furthermore growing our food will also help us save money. Let us give a helping hand to the local food drive program by growing more and more vegetables and fruits in our garden. World Standards Day This day is celebrated internationally each year on October 14. The day honours the efforts of the thousands of experts who develop voluntary standards within standards development organizations such as the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC), International Standardization Organization (ISO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The aim of World Standards Day is to raise awareness among regulators, industry and consumers as to the importance of standardization to the global economy. October 14 was specifically chosen to mark the date, in 1946, when delegates from 25 countries first gathered in London and decided to create an international organization focused on facilitating standardization. Even though the ISO was formed one year later, it wasn't until 1970 that the first World Standards Day was celebrated. Each year, the ISO determines a theme based on a current aspect of standardization. This year's World Standards Day theme is 'Tackling climate change through standards'. Around the globe, various activities are chosen by national bodies to commemorate the date. Deepavali Festival Deepavali, also known as the Festival of Lights is on this Saturday (17). Let me wish our Tamil friends a happy Diwali and a prosperous new year. Bye for now. - Aunt Anji'Our life depends on this...' - Part 58
Pramodaka departs with Ruwi, a pixie, to recall a book of spell to cast off the spell while Nalaka, Champika and the dog remain behind with Sachi, a gnome who updates them on the life of mythical creatures. Shamilka, a friend of the mythical creatures joins in and they begin hunting for Pramodaka and Ruwi as there is no sign of their return. Just as they were coming to terms with the fact that they were lost six rabbits scamper along the way. The rabbits take pity upon the children and agree to guide them part of the way. Meanwhile Sulo, the goblin who is always trying to make trouble for the mythical creatures, grabs a basket of goodies from a gnome named Russell and makes off. Scooby scents her and attacks. Ruwi senses that Russell is in danger but she also gets the strange feeling that there is a mysterious link between Pramodaka. Suddenly a storm breaks out and Pramodaka, Nalaka and Champika are blown away with the wind. As they make their way back to their friends Sulo notices them and comes up with a nasty plan. She rushes off gang up the rest of her pack. There she reveals a secret that could hold the key to all the goblin's troubles. There is a sudden break of trouble in the pixie camp as one of the pixies, Dina, develops weird symptoms. Emida, a middle-aged gnome goes in search of peace and stumbles upon a discovery. Now the friends have to find each other and the only way for them to get through is through the 'Mythic Scope'. But first they have to find a way to deal with HE...
"Who is that?," she asked. "It's HE," Pramu whispered. Zira gave a grunt but decided to remain silent and observe what kind of amusing scene would unfold before him. Though his intentions were good, HE gets carried away with his duties and the mythical folk in the woods spent many a cheerful hour discussing about his latest escapades. Sachi and Ruwi were able to join in the merriment after they had bid adieu to the 'Mythic Scope'. "Have you come back to create more trouble for me? What have you all been up to parading around here?" HE asked. Surprisingly the nastiness seems to have left his voice. In fact he asked it in a light, almost friendly tone. Ruwi cast a look at Sachi's direction and shook her head. Sometimes she could never quite make out HE! "Err... We need to insert a piece in the 'Mythic Scope'. It wouldn't take us a minute..." He was interrupted with HE's howl of displeasure. "How many times have I told you this...? You think you can just stroll here and...." "This came at last moment and it's very important to make sure that everyone gets this news on time..." Ruwi spoke up hastily. HE sighed. "Ruwi, we can't do that. As you can see we are very busy. There is no time to dally around and change things. Why it would take us hours to get everything straightened out. Do you have any idea..." Sachi groaned inwardly. How many times has he heard those words from HE over and over again? He looked towards JVK and was not surprised to see that the gnome who had been sprawling lazily on the chair was now adding some finishing touches on the sub oracle. "It is them who are doing all the work..." Zira sniffed, pointing a finger at a separate room at the west end. Shamilka noted that the gnomes who were ripping off paper from the walls of the room were taking them to six brownies: four males with long beards and two females with long white hair. They were all busy chanting lines with their quills poised over the paper. The process seemed difficult as with each mispronounced word the brownies had to re-repeat the sentences all over again. "It does seem tiring," she though, fascinated as the quills seemed to follow every breath they took and even jotted down the 'ouch' that one brownie uttered as one of the gnomes trod on his foot in his haste to get the roll of paper to another brownie. HE stiffened and clenched his jaw. Oh dear, it was a sign that he was going to be stubborn, Ruwi thought. "I wouldn't stand any cheek from you..." HE retorted, glaring at Zira. "But this is important..." Ruwi argued. "So is our work," HE shot back, his pale face slightly turning beet red. Ruwi felt like shaking some sense into him. How will she make him understand that their life and many others' depend on this? (To be continued)Sujathians show their coloursIt was an evening of dance and music as students of Sujatha Vidyalaya, Nugegoda presented Nipuna Prathiba 4 at the BMICH on Saturday. From the Vadi Dance to the Latin Dance, from Pan Neleema to the Mudra Dance, the event was a Kalidescope of colour with every event holding the breath of the audience. The event had a mixture of Sinhala, Tamil and English dances adding variety to the evening. Here some attractions at the event.
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The
story so far... 
Shamilka
noticed a tall and fair gnome standing at the entrance to the room with
his hands on his hips, frowning. 
