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Tuesday, 20 March 2012 |
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Albert Einstein once remarked, “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” All the same, counting and measuring many factors help make sense of our complex world. Counting people is one: it is needed to find out just how many of us are there, and how do we live? Such demographic data helps governments in policy planning and to be more efficient in delivering citizen services. India recently finished a countrywide census. Sri Lanka is currently in the midst of one. Sri Lanka’s Census of Population and Housing 2011 (CPH2011) is culminating in March 2012. Conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS), it is the 14th scientific census of the country. While data collection rounds are scheduled from February 27 to March 19, 2012, the actual Census Day is March 20, 2012.
We lead off today with a few questions on the history of censuses in Sri Lanka. 1. Sri Lanka has the longest history of Census takings among South Asian (SAARC) countries. Census taking in Sri Lanka goes back to the late 19th Century. Prior to 1871, estimates of population had been made from time to time on the basis of counts made by village headmen. But the first scientific census in Sri Lanka was conducted on March 27, 1871. Which arm of the British colonial government carried out that Census? 2. Since 1871, censuses have conducted in Sri Lanka usually once every 10 years. But there have also been certain exceptions. The 1941 census was conducted in 1946 because of the Second World War (1939-45). This was also the first census taking by the Census Department, established in early 1940s. Even though the next was intended to be held in 1951, it was postponed to 1953 because of a logistical reason. What was it?
3. Islandwide censuses were conducted in post-independent Sri Lanka in 1953, 1963, 1971 and 1981. The census in 1991 was not carried out “disturbances [that] prevailed in northern and eastern parts of the country”. The last census of Population and Housing was therefore conducted in 2001 – the first in the millennium. What date in 2001 was the actual Census Date when the final head count was taken? 4. The last census of Population and Housing was conducted in 2001 was the first census after a lapse of 20 years -- which is the largest time gap reported for an inter-censal period in Sri Lanka. However, due to the conflict at the time, no enumeration was done in Jaffna, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts, while four other districts were enumerated partially. The enumeration of the 2001 census was carried out completely in 18 districts. These include 17 districts in Western, Central, Southern, North Western, North Central, Uva and Sabaragamuwa provinces and a certain district in the Eastern province. Which district?
5. Sri Lanka’s censuses provide a snapshot of how the human numbers have been increasing over the years. The first scientific census in 1871 revealed a total population of 2,400,380. This slowly increased, and by 1946, it was 6,657,339. By which census year had the population gone beyond 10 million, and reached 10,582,064? 6. Who was he? He was an Egyptian nationalist leader who lived over a century ago. A conscript in the Egyptian army, he rose to the rank of colonel in the Egyptian-Ethiopian War (1875–76). In 1882, when Britain and France intervened at the request of Khedive Tawfiq, by bombarding Alexandria, he organised a resistance movement. The British defeated him and exiled him to Ceylon, where he spent 19 years and contributed to an Islamic cultural and educational revival in the island. Sri Lanka's first school for Muslims, Zahira College, was established under his patronage. He returned to Egypt in 1901, and died a decade later. 7. Debiddo is a popular Sinhala stage drama currently in performance. It is an adaptation of Italian dramatist Dario Fo's satirical play Trumpets and Raspberries. It was first performed in 1981, under its original Italian title, Clacson, Trombette e Pernacchi (Claxons, Trumpets and Raspberries). Name the Lankan dramatist and film maker who directed Debiddo.
8. We know that Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin were the first humans to land on the Moon in July 1969. On a later Apollo mission (Apollo 15), which two astronauts became the first humans to drive a vehicle on the Moon, a battery powered four-wheeled one called the Lunar Rover, on July 31, 1971? 9. In Greek mythology, lotus eaters were a race of people living on an island near North Africa where lotus plants grew widely. The lotus fruits and flowers were the primary food of the islanders. These were narcotic, and made the people to sleep in peaceful apathy. In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus mentions how his ship landed on the island and he had to prevent his sailors from eating the lotus. Name the 19th Century English poet who wrote a long and famous poem called The Lotus-Eaters based on this story. 10. Who was he? Born in Germany, in 1911 he was trained Bonn and Berlin, and later at the universities of Oxford (England) and Columbia (USA). While he also dabbled in journalism, farming and business, he was better known as an economist and statistician, and became one of the most influential economic thinkers of the 20th Century. His 1973 book, ‘Small is Beautiful: A study of economics as if people mattered’ has been included among the 100 most influential books published since World War II. His basic development theories have been summed up in the phrases ‘Intermediate Size’ and ‘Intermediate Technology.’
11. Punyakante Wijenaike, one of Sri Lanka's best-known English writers, wrote the novel Giraya which was later adapted into a teleplay starring Peter Almeida, Vasanthi Chathurani and Trilicia Gunawardana. Who directed this teleplay, based on script written by veteran writer Somaweera Senanayake? 12. Name the Colombian novelist, short story writer and journalist who once remarked: “It seems to me that if you give a writer the choice of living in heaven or hell, he chooses hell – there is so much more literary material there!” 13. The official aim is to provide electricity supply to all parts of the country by end 2012. Electricity coverage has certainly improved in recent years. According to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2009/10, conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics, what percentage of households in Sri Lanka used electricity for lighting purposes in 2010? 14. The United States (US) Interior Department has designated as a national landmark the home of legendary rock star Elvis Presley. It is so well known and attracts over half a million visitors every year that it is sometimes called the ‘second best-known home in America’ after the White House. What is the name of this estate in Memphis, that Presley bought in 1957 for US Dollar (USD) 103,000 with earnings from his first hit, Heartbreak Hotel? 15. The Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a leading symbol of the Olympic Games. It originated in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the Olympics, and was reintroduced during the 1928 modern Olympics held in Amsterdam. The practice of a torch relay – from Greece to the Games venue – was introduced a bit later. At which Summer Olympic Games (year and venue) was the torch relay first introduced? Last week’s answers1. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates |
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