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Perspectives of the Muslim community on Sri Lankan Muslim marriage and divorce law reform
Get PDFThe Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act No. 13 of 1951 stands as a pivotal personal
law governing the familial affairs of Sri Lankan Muslims. It delineates a
comprehensive legal framework encompassing marriage, divorce, polygamy,
guardianship, court proceedings, and maintenance, among other facets. Over time,
the evolving sentiments within the Muslim community necessitate a reevaluation of
this legislative edifice. Against this backdrop, this study endeavours to scrutinize the
perspectives of the Muslim populace regarding the proposed reforms to the Muslim
Marriage and Divorce Act. Upon a thorough analysis of the study's findings, many
favourable opinions emerge, underscoring the urgent imperative for amending the
Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act of Sri Lanka. These proposed reforms entail the
appointment of women as Qadis, the elimination of legal provisions at odds with
Islamic shari’ah, the imposition of stringent legal prerequisites for polygamous
unions, the inclusion of a provision for the woman's signature in the marriage
register, the abolition of dowry-related statutes, the revision of laws encroaching
upon women's rights, the safeguarding of Muslim autonomy through the Qadi court
system, Passah, the provision of divorce compensation to women, the maintenance
of madhaan succession, the appointment of proficient Qadis in Qadi courts, the
specification of specific legal criteria for appointing women as Qadis, the
consideration of legal viewpoints from other madhhabs in the reformative process,
the appointment of female counsels in Qadi courts and the Council of Qadis, the
limitation of unilateral authority vested in the marriage victim, typically the woman,
the eradication of coerced marriages, the enforcement of mandatory marriage
registration, the assurance of dowry entitlements and overdue payments in
alignment with legal and Islamic principles, and the establishment of a
marriageable age commensurate with contemporary standards. Furthermore, while
other issues may evoke minimal contention, the proposals collectively signal a
substantial consensus within the discourse
Optimization of processing of star fruit (averrhoa carambola) cider
Get PDFFruits are generally considered to be highly nutritious. They are excellent
sources of essential vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants. Fruit based
cider is an excellent solution for extending the shelf life of fruits. The main
objective of this study to optimize of processing of starfruit (Averrhoa
carambola) cider and to evaluate qualities of the fermented starfruit cider.
The cider was prepared with different fermented temperature conditions with
three (03) replicates and stored in tightly closed brown coloured glass bottles.
Physiochemical properties, sensory attributes and microbial count were
analysed at once a week. The data were analysed using SPSS software and
they were interpreted at 0.05 significance level. There were significantly
differences between treatments of pH value, TSS, alcohol, ABV (sig<0.05).
The PH was increased, while the TSS and ABV were decreased by week.
Significant changes in the alcohol were observed. Furthermore, the SG,
titratable acidity and volume were constant throughout the aging.
Considering the quality performances, T3 had the highest scores for overall
acceptability and it had lowest total plate count in two weeks’ fermentation
compared to other treatments. Based on the evaluation, T3 was best sample
under fermented temperature condition
Design and fabrication of a solar-powered electric bike
Get PDFElectric bikes have experienced significant growth
due to several factors, including price reductions
and increased climate and environmental
awareness. This trend presents a promising
solution for replacing fossil fuels, with batteries
emerging as a new power source. However,
limitations such as limited mileage, extended
charging times, and the scarcity of charging
stations persist. Renewable solar energy also
significantly reduces the carbon footprint of urban
transportation. The research objective is to
enhance the driving range of electric vehicles
using solar power. This project aims to design a
market-ready solar-powered electric bike using
flexible solar panels and a foldable, adjustable
solar panel mount for on-the-go charging. This
design enables the bike to charge for free when
parked in the sun, reducing dependence on
traditional charging stations, waiting time
reduction and lowering operational costs.
Calculations, analyses, and various tests are
conducted based on technical specifications,
energy consumption requirements, and vehicle
movement using the proposed method
A study on the performance of broiler reared under different litter materials
Get PDFPoultry products are viewed as fundamental food items providing animal
protein at a relatively low cost in Sri Lanka. The demand for chicken meat
and eggs in the country is satisfied through local supply. Kandy district is an
area where poultry farms are run on a large and small scale. Among them
Karandagolla poultry breeder farm is more contributes to poultry production.
On the other hand, if farm conditions are more acceptable can be reached
good poultry performances and production. So, in poultry houses litter is
used to keep the birds comfortable, absorb moisture, remove droppings, and
keep the floor dry enough to provide some insulation underfoot and it also
provides the birds with a suitable environment for feeding watering and other
maintenance. The objectives of the study is to evaluate the performance of
Cobb 500 broiler parent reared under different litter materials and determine
a suitable litter material for Cobb 500 broiler production. The finding of this
study could be useful in choosing the best litter with more performance. The
study used four treatments as different litter materials (wood shavings, rice
husk, sand, and chopped straw) with two replications in each treatment
sample. The study found that the most suitable litter material among the four
types (wood shavings, Rice husk, sand, chopped straw) was rice husk. This
study can be extended to include the economic aspects of the materials in the
future
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No full textRice is a highly consumed staple food in Sri Lanka.
From farming phase to distribution phase of
paddy, classification of paddy is becoming vital as
it provides efficiency to the planning, production,
sales and consumption. In Sri Lanka, the
evaluation of the classification of paddy varieties
is typically overseen by the Rice Research and
Development Institute (RRDI). Traditionally,
paddy identification is done manually by human
inspectors, ensuring some level of accuracy but
requiring significant manpower, time, and
subjective judgment. This research seeks to
transform the categorization of paddy varieties in
Sri Lanka. This paper provides an approach to
identifying and classifying paddy variety in paddy
sample with the help of image processing and
CNN model. For this approach, 10 varieties of
paddy samples were collected from Rice Research
and Development Institute. With these samples a
dataset of more than 10,000 images were captured
and used in this research. Image preprocessing
involved cropping, scaling, and noise removal to
standardize the data. Experiments were conducted
with nine different CNN models, iterating through
various architectures and training parameters to
optimize performance. The experiment was
performed on ten rice categories to evaluate the
suggested solution. The accuracy of classification
is of 93.69%
Fixing the legal age of marriage in the MMDA of Sri Lanka: an Islamic analysis
Get PDFDefining the age of marriage has been a controversial issue in Sri Lanka because of
the feminist’s lobby. However, Islam explicitly establishes maturity as the dividing
line to define the majority and minority while the man-made laws worldwide
consider diverse ages according to traditional, cultural, ethnic, and geographical
diversity. Thus, this study aims to analyse the discourses on defining the minimum
age of marriage in the MMDA (Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act) of Sri Lanka.
Subsequently, it explores the opinions of the classical and modern jurists as well as
the discourses between the All-Ceylon Jam-e-athul Ulama and the women activists
in Sri Lanka based on the data collected by the expert interviews and the secondary
data. Consequently, this study endeavors to enlighten the Islamic perspective on
defining the age of marriage to bridge the gap between the jurists and the feminists
Impact of inbreeding on growth and leaf anatomical traits in selected elite traditional maize (zea mays l.) accessions of Sri Lanka
Get PDFInbred maize lines (Zea mays L.) play a crucial role in creating novel hybrids.
However, there is a lack of understanding regarding the growth and leaf
anatomical traits of the inbred collection derived from elite traditional maize
germplasms in Sri Lanka. The objective of this study was to quantitatively
estimate the variations in growth and leaf morphological characteristics
attributed to inbreeding depression within the selected maize germplasm.
Three elite maize accessions, namely SEU2, SEU10, and SEU16 seeds of
S1, S2, and S3, were established in the plant-net house facilities in soil media,
and the plant response was compared with the variety cv. Bhadra, which
served as the control. The results of our study indicated that significant
variations among the tested maize accessions in terms of traits related to seed
germination, growth, and leaf morphology. Our findings showed that the
number of days taken to tasseling (56–62 days) and silking (64–68 days),
plant height (75–125 cm), number of leaves (17–20), flag leaf width (2.2–3
cm), and length (21–38 cm), as well as stem girth (4.3–4.7 cm), exhibited
significant variations. Furthermore, variations were also observed in leaf
vein density (17.5–18.8 in 2mm width) and stomatal density (215–232 in
10x10 magnification) among the selected maize accessions. Based on our
analysis, plant height, leaf length, and width declined progressively, while
stem girth did not vary. Flowering dates increased and had a negative impact.
In contrast, leaf stomatal density and leaf vein increased significantly with
the inbreeding process compared to the variety cv. Bhadra
Prevalence of anaemia among adolescent girls: a case study based on sandilipay medical officer of health area, Jaffna District
Get PDFAnemia is a significant health concern among adolescents, as the rapid growth and
development takes place in this stage. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence
of anaemia among adolescents in Sandilipay Medical Officer of Health (MOH) area of
Jaffna district. Socio-demographic information was collected with an interviewer
administrated questionnaire during household visits. Ethics review committee, Faculty
of Medicine, University of Jaffna gave the ethical approval for the study. Blood samples
were collected from 92 adolescents for the analysis of red blood cell indices by
cyanmethemoglobin method. Among the adolescents 54 were females (58.7%) with the
mean age of 18.07 (±0.8) years. The mean haemoglobin (Hb) concentration among
female adolescents was 12.05 (±1.8) g/dl (range 7.4 to 15.3 g/dl) and that of the male
adolescents was 15.69 (±1.4) g/dl (range 13.9 to 18.5 g/dl). Among the adolescents,
37% (n=20) were anaemic (Hb levels <11.9 g/dl) and all were females. Mean hematocrit
(HCT) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) of the female adolescents were 36.4 (±4.1)
% and 80.8 (±9.8) fL, respectively. Among the female adolescents, 44% (n=24) had
HCT level below 36%, and 37% (n=20) had MCV below 80 fL. Both indicated the
prevalence of anemia. The prevalence of anemia among female adolescents in the
Sandilipay MOH area is in significant number and the type of anaemia needs to be
studied in detail
Iron deficiency anemia in pediatric children at Kalmunai North Base Hospital, Sri Lanka
Get PDFObjective: This study’s aim was to estimate association between the
iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and associated risk factors among children at
Kalmunai north in Sri Lanka during COVID-19.
Material and Methods: During the pandemic, 101 children aged between
1and 14 years were involved in the cross sectional study. Hemoglobin levels,
serum ferritin and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured to determine
anemia. Additionally, dietary intake, socioeconomic status, and demographic
information were collected through interviews with the caregivers. Chi-square
tests and Pearson correlation were used to investigate connections between
IDA and other factors such as demographic characteristics and eating habits.
In addition, a multivariate regression analysis was performed to identify
independent predictors of IDA.
Results: 7.9% of children were found to be anemic at Kalmunai Base
Hospital. Low dietary iron consumption was revealed as a significant risk factor
for IDA. Meat, liver, fish, chicken, fresh milk, dark green leafy vegetables, and
black tea were found to be independent predictors of IDA, explaining 57.7%
of the variation in IDA frequency (R2 value = 57.7%; P< 0.001). Consuming
dark green leafy vegetables, poultry, liver, beef, and fish are linked to a lower
incidence of IDA in children. On the other hand, a higher risk of IDA appears
to be associated with increased consumption of fresh milk and black tea. In
conclusion, this study focuses on Dietary factors, especially the consumption
of particular foods, were found to be significant contributors of IDA, even if
demographic parameters did not differ significantly from IDA. Strategies to
increase iron intake and dietary diversity, particularly among young children,
are critical in the fight against IDA
Macroeconomic variables and initial public offerings in Sri Lanka: a principal component analysis approach
Get PDFactivities and macroeconomic factors in Sri Lanka.
Design/methodology/approach– This study uses principal component analysis (PCA) and
autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) techniques to examine the relationship between IPO activities and
macroeconomic factors. Ten macroeconomic variables are transformed into principal components (factors)
using PCA. Then, ARDLisapplied to investigate the long- and short-term relationships between IPO activities
and the transformed macroeconomic factors.
Findings– Theempirical investigation identifies three principal factors from the ten macroeconomic variables,
of which twofactors have a significant long-run association with IPO activities: “return on investment (RTOI)”
and “economic and market development (ECMD).” In the short run, “trade openness and banking sector
development (TOBD)” and RTOI are significantly associated with IPO activities.
Research limitations/implications– The study was based on 30 years of observations, which passed all
diagnostic tests but may be insufficient for generalizing the findings. Future studies could use high-frequency
data (monthly or quarterly) to increase the number of observations and repeat the method and analysis. Also,
while the symmetricalARDLmethodwasusedinthisstudy,anasymmetricalARDLmethodmayprovidemore
insightful results and interpretations.
Practical implications– The study highlights the importance of considering both long- and short-term
associations when analyzing the impact of macroeconomic variables on IPO activities.
Originality/value– This study is the first to comprehensively examine the relationship between IPO activities
and macroeconomic variables using PCA and the ARDL technique. The study provides insight into the
macroeconomic factors that influence IPO activities in Sri Lanka and highlights the importance of considering
long- and short-term associations