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By Gomi Senadhira
Sometimes, we can learn important lessons from the humblest people. That is what I did when I met Neelasiri, a few days ago. Actually, I didn’t meet him, physically. I only saw him on TV. Yet, I managed to learn an important lesson from him. He is one of those people who collect waste, in his case plastic waste, for a living. And, last month, he handed over 600 kilograms of plastic waste, to a recycling company, and earned 42,000 rupees. Even with a highly depreciated rupee, it is a good income for a person like Neelasiri. In addition to that, Neelasiri also helps to protect Sri Lanka’s environment as he collects discarded plastic waste that litters our roads, waterways, and beaches. If not for people like him, more plastic waste would end up in huge garbage dumps across the country.
To get a better insight into what I learned from Neelasiri, I spoke to the company, to which he supplies his plastic waste collection. That company has a few collection centres to which people like Neelasiri supply their daily collections. They informed me that they pay around rupees 45,000 per metric tonne of plastic waste. The company process around 250 metric tonnes of plastic waste, a month, and turn them into brushes, or other plastic products, and those even include yarn that is used by our apparel industry to produce Sri Lankan Cricket T-shirts. The recycling companies, like these, provide employment for thousands of people, like Neelasiri, and help to reduce environmental degradation.
But then I am aware Sri Lanka also imports plastic waste and have written a number of articles on the subject. According to the data available on the International Trade Centre website, in 2021 Sri Lanka imported 6,813 tons of plastic waste (HS3915) and had paid US$ 3.7 million. That is, on average, US$ 555, or Sri Lankan rupees 200,000 per ton! Neelasiri could have supplied it for rupees 70,000, or less! In addition, freight charges also add up to the import price! We also know in many countries the exporters are paid handsomely for recycling waste and some of it is also passed on to the importers! It is clear that something is terribly wrong in this operation. Not only do we import garbage, but do so at an exorbitant cost. In the process, Sri Lanka is getting fleeced.
Interestingly, it is not easy to import plastic waste into Sri Lanka. You need a license from Sri Lanka’s Central Environmental Authority (CEA), the government institution that is responsible for protecting our environment! The CEA has a responsibility to consider environmental impact before issuing a license! Then there are other agencies involved in this business, including the customs, the BOI, Trade and Finance Ministries, and the Department of Commerce. Remember, until recently, there was a clandestine garbage dump, to store imported garbage, within the Katunayake EPZ! So it is clear that some of the imported plastic waste ends up in local garbage dumps. The imports also take away job opportunities from some of the poorest people of the country.
More interestingly, 40 percent of Sri Lanka’s imports of plastic waste, that is around 3000 tons, came from China! Before 2017, China was the major importer of foreign garbage. In 2016, it imported 7.3 million tonnes of plastic waste, accounting for 56 percent of world imports. In 2017, China banned the import of plastic waste and, by 2021, its imports had stopped totally. China’s notification to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), on the ban, stated that China would stop accepting shipments of rubbish, such as waste plastic, as part of a campaign against “foreign garbage” as China “… found that large amounts of dirty wastes, or even hazardous wastes, are mixed in the solid waste that can be used as raw materials. This polluted China’s environment seriously. To protect China’s environmental interests, and people’s health, we urgently adjust the imported solid wastes list, and forbid the import of solid wastes that are highly polluted.” Unfortunately, those concerns do not apply to China’s exports of plastic waste to countries, like Sri Lanka!
Of course, the protection of Sri Lanka’s environmental interests and people’s health is not China’s responsibility. The government of Sri Lanka is responsible for those things. But the relevant government agencies, including the Central Environmental Authority, and the customs, are silently cooperating to promote the imports of “foreign garbage.” Since, China announced an unprecedented ban on its import of most plastic waste, in 2017, recycling processors, in countries like Singapore, are scrambling to find new markets, or garbage dumps, for plastic waste. And Sri Lanka, slowly but surely, is emerging as a potential prime destination, because it is a very lucrative way to make money and also to siphon out black money through over-invoiced imports!
(The writer can be contacted at
se***********@gm***.com
)
LPG does not fall under category of essential imports
Can Dodgy Medical Research be Spotted
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by Eng Parakrama Jayasinghe
Those who saw the newspapers today may heave a cautious sigh of relief, based on Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe’s assurances. The Governor is optimistic that the inflation of Sri Lanka may not go as high as 70% as feared. Also, the view has been expressed that the dire shortage of foreign exchange also has eased, to be able to import our essentials, such as food, medicine and fuel.
In this context, while being thankful for the glimmer of hope for the future of Sri Lanka, I hope that this message will not be considered as a signal to go back to our wasteful and profligate practices of the past, which reduced Sri Lanka to the beggar status. As such, it is important for Dr Weerasinghe, and the Central Bank, to remain cautious, and vigilant, and not release any foreign exchange expenditure for import of any thing that cannot be recognized, strictly, as essential, and for which there is no ready indigenous alternative. He is also wisely considering limiting the recently introduced open account imports, as well, which he feels is not the reason for the recent positive signs of improved supplies of food items, and some reduction of prices.
It is the unfortunate reality, that there is no short-term option but to remain nearly 100% dependent on fossil fuel for our transport needs. The nation’s gratitude is due to the Hon. Kanchana Wijesekera, Minister for Power and Energy, for the near miracle he performed by getting rid of the miles long fuel queues, all over the country, with the introduction of the QR system. There may be some improvements, and changes necessary, to address the sectors, such as fuels supplies for agricultural machinery, the fishery sector, and the construction equipment, which are strictly not transport related, but are equally important for the economy, in no small measure. I am sure he would address these improvements needed, if not already in place. He has also taken the important step to ensure the operation of the refinery, at full capacity, which is a most important decision to further reduce the expenditure of the inescapable draining of the foreign expenditure.
It is heartening to read that the monthly drain has already been halved from the predicted $ 500 million to $ 235 Million per month. Those who use the limited quantities of fuel, issued, will now be compelled to be frugal in their usage, which is now forced on Sri Lankans, who were driven in the direction of living way beyond their means, by successive governments.
However, I would like to bring to the kind attention of the Governor that uncontrolled import of LPG, which costs $ 350 million in 2020 as per the CBSL data and now likely to exceed $ 400 million, if allowed the freedom, does not in anyway fall into the category of essential imports merely for the purpose of cooking. This is due to fact that unlike in the case of transport fuels, we do have acceptable indigenous alternatives. I have previously tried to get this message across to the authorities, and people of Sri Lanka, which appears to have fallen on deaf years, considering the recent action to use borrowed Dollars to import large quantities of LPG.
Obviously, the government would have considered this being necessary for political expediency, instead of recognizing the emerging trends of innovative Sri Lankans, introducing very acceptable alternatives, both for the domestic sector and the restaurant sector.
But this unwise and short-sighted action, has all but destroyed the nascent industry of manufacture of wood and wood charcoal-based cooking stoves, which were being readily accepted by the consumers. The authorities failed to recognize this trend, evidenced by the fact that while there were queues of empty LPG cylinders at all outlets, people had decided to go back home and adopt alternatives when absolutely no LPG was available for nearly two months.
The present practice of trying to get back to the use of LPG, using dollars borrowed for consumption, for which we do have a viable alternative, and the daily news items that Sri Lanka is defaulting on payments of all the past loans, and is considered unsustainable, is nothing short of deception of the public. The consumer themselves, if not the authorities, should recognise the following to which they contribute with every purchase of the LPG Cylinder…
* The import of LPG is possible, only through loans which will have to be paid by our children and grandchildren
* Continued dependence on LPG is a never-ending problem and will need more and more loans, with no chance of the LPG usage leading to any foreign exchange earnings
* The loans taken have to be re paid by the entire country, while the benefit is enjoyed by only a limited section of the society, which is morally unacceptable
* For those fortunate to get even a cylinder of LPG, adopting the already available options of stoves, using either charcoal or wood for the cooking of the main meals, would substantially reduce the monthly expenditure (as shown). This would preserve the LPG cylinder, bought with difficulty, to be available for any limited usage, in between, and for any emergencies, for many months.
Therefore, it is no sacrifice by the consumers, as they stand to gain substantially by at least halving the annual cost of cooking energy, for accepting perhaps a minor inconvenience. (See graph).The consumers can be the drivers of the change which would reduce the demand for LPG and thus save the country millions of dollars year after year.
This would create a significant indigenous industry whereby the millions of dollars sent out would flow to the local industrialists and rural communities,supplying the charcoal and wood. Even a 50% reduction of the imports could result in a local industry worth over Rs 80 billion annually.
Our appeal to you, as the Governor of Central Bank, who has taken on the Herculean task of salvaging the economy, and the pride of the Sri Lanka nation, is to demand at least a 50% reduction of the drain of dollars for this non-essential import which had been foisted on unsuspecting consumers by aggressive and fraudulent promotions for commercial interests alone. The potential of a very vibrant industry with majority of the benefits flowing to the rural economy of over Rs 80 billion annually cannot be ignored any more.
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By LISA BERO
If you are suffering with chronic pain, diabetes, heart problems or any other condition, you want to be confident that your doctor will offer you an effective treatment. You certainly don’t want to waste time, or money, on something that won’t work, or take something that could do you harm. The best source of information, to guide treatment, is medical research. But how do you know when that information is reliable and evidence-based? And how can you tell the difference between shoddy research findings and those that have merit? There’s a long journey to the publication of research findings.
Scientists design experiments and studies to investigate questions about treatment, or prevention, and follow certain scientific principles and standards. Then the finding is submitted for publication in a research journal. Editors and other people in the researchers’ field, called peer-reviewers, make suggestions to improve the research. When the study is deemed acceptable, it is published as a research journal article. But a lot can go wrong on this long journey that could make a research journal article unreliable.
And peer review is not designed to catch fake or misleading data. Unreliable scientific studies can be hard to spot – whether by reviewers or the generaleightpublic – but by asking the right questions, it can be done. While most research has been conducted, according to rigorous standards, studies, with fake or fatally flawed findings, are sometimes published in the scientific literature. It is hard to get an exact estimate of the number of fraudulent studies because the scientific publication process catches some of them, before they are published.
One study of 526 patient trials, in anesthesiology, found that eight percent had fake data and 26 percent were critically flawed. As a professor in medicine and public health, I have been studying bias in the design, conduct and publication of scientific research for 30 years. I’ve been developing ways to prevent and detect research integrity problems so the best possible evidence can be synthesized and used for decisions about health.
Sleuthing out data that cannot be trusted, whether this is due to intentional fraud or just bad research practices, is key to using the most reliable evidence for decisions. The most reliable evidence of all comes when researchers pull the results of several studies together in what is known as a systematic review. Researchers who conduct systematic reviews identify, evaluate and summarize all studies on a particular topic.
They not only sift through and combine results on perhaps tens of thousands of patients, but can use an extra filter to catch potentially fraudulent studies and ensure they do not feed into recommendations. This means that the more rigorous studies have the most weight in a systematic review and bad studies are excluded based on strict inclusion and exclusion criteria that are applied by the reviewers. To better understand how systematic reviewers and other researchers can identify unreliable studies, my research team interviewed a group of 30 international experts from 12 countries.
They explained to us that a shoddy study can be hard to detect because, as one expert explained, it is “designed to pass muster on first glance.” As our recently published study reports, some studies look like their data has been massaged, some studies are not as well designed as they claim to be, and some may even be completely fabricated. Our study provides some important ideas about how to spot medical research that is deeply flawed or fake and should not be trusted.
The experts, we interviewed, suggested some key questions that reviewers should ask about a study: For instance, did it have ethics approval? Was the clinical trial registered? Do the results seem plausible? Was the study funded by an independent source and not the company whose product is being tested? If the answers to any of these questions is no, then further investigation of the study is needed. In particular, my colleagues and I found that it’s possible for researchers who review and synthesize evidence to create a checklist of warning signs.
These signs don’t categorically prove that research is fraudulent, but they do show researchers as well as the general public which studies need to be looked at more carefully. We used these warning signs to create a screening tool – a set of questions to ask about how a study is done and reported – that provide clues about whether a study is real or not. Signs include important information that’s missing, like details of ethical approval or where the study was carried out, and data that seems too good to be true.
One example might be if the number of patients in a study exceeds the number of people with the disease in the whole country. It’s important to note that our new study does not mean all research can’t be trusted. The Covid-19 pandemic offers examples of how systematic review ultimately filtered out fake research that had been published in the medical literature and disseminated by the media. Early in the pandemic, when the pace of medical research was accelerating, robust and well-run patient trials – and the systematic reviews that followed – helped the public learn which interventions work well and which were not supported by science.
For example, ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug that is typically used in veterinary medicine and that was promoted by some without evidence as a treatment for Covid-19, was widely embraced in some parts of the world. However, after ruling out fake or flawed studies, a systematic review of research on ivermectin found that it had “no beneficial effects for people with Covid- 19.” On the other hand, a systematic review of corticosteroid drugs like dexamethasone found that the drugs help prevent death when used as a treatment for Covid-19. There are efforts underway across the globe to ensure that the highest standards of medical research are upheld.
Research funders are asking scientists to publish all of their data so it can be fully scrutinized, and medical journals that publish new studies are beginning to screen for suspect data. But everyone involved in research funding, production and publication should be aware that fake data and studies are out there. The screening tool proposed in our new research is designed for systematic reviewers of scientific studies, so a certain level of expertise is needed to apply it. However, using some of the questions from the tool, both researchers and the general public can be better equipped to read about the latest research with an informed and critical eye.
(The Statesman/ANN)
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June Greiner (nee Boralessa) came from Sri Lanka to Schwaebisch Hall, Germany 41 years ago, where she still teaches English in the Institute for Languages. Written by Sonja Alexa Vollman for the local paper “Haller Tagblatt” Schwaebisch Hall in Germany. Translated by Nimka Udapola.
On her 80th birthday, a city official from the Town Hall came to congratulate her (which is normal) and asked if her mother was at home. June Greiner didn’t look 80 at the age of 80 and five years later her age is just as little noticeable. It is in our genes, she says almost apologetically, we just don’t get as many wrinkles in addition we are more relaxed.
In addition to her genes and the relaxed life age does something to neither feel old nor look old. She whose name corresponds to the month in which she was born, goes for an hour’s walk with a friend every day, does exercise at home and goes to the gym once a week. Of course, she pays attention to a healthy diet and keeps a close eye on the scales.
June Greiner still likes to wear the traditional saree of her homeland on special occasions in Germany, where she feels comfortable. This is where her personality lies, as well as her language English. German has never become a really familiar language to her. That was also the reason when she went to Schwaebisch Hall in the early 80’s she didn’t dare to go into her old job.
Before that, she worked in different areas. First as a Music Teacher at St. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia, then as a Music Producer at SLBC and finally at the Goethe Institute in public relations. My work was my life. She proudly shows off the good references her superiors gave her. They bear witness to the work of a talented energetic young lady.
She met her husband at the Goethe Institute in Colombo Sri Lanka, Dr. Dietrich Greiner, who was the head of the Institute. Because of his two sons, he wanted to go back to Germany and of course his wife came with him. Starting again in her mid 40’s wasn’t easy. The first winter was a rude awakening for an islander and she didn’t understand Swabian language. In the church we say, I give my life to Christ.
The vivacious lady drew strength from her faith. As a child she gave her life to Christ. I put my life in God’s hands. She took every valley, like every mountain in her life trusting God.
My life was exciting, she says. As soon as she came, she gave English courses. At the Adult Education Center, she started with four or five courses and has not stopped with this beloved activity to this day. Now there are still two courses but they have existed for a good ten years with loyal participants.
Although she could hardly speak the language when she came, she dared to lead the male choir in Hessental, she twirled her hands and feet and her good mood there for four years.
Her husband died two years ago. It was a difficult time for her who is used to living in a family setting. She is in regular contact with her siblings in Sri Lanka and in July she will fly home again for six weeks. And if a bouquet of flowers is handed over again today, then you can be sure that this sentence will be spoken ” She really doesn’t look like 85.”
The couple went to Togo for four years as he was posted as Director in the Goethe Institute and came back to Schwaebisch Hall where he worked in the Goethe Institute as a Lecturer. June Greiner gave English Courses in the VHS, conducted the Male Choir and gave cookery courses. She has no children of her own.
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