Ode to Geneva! Spare me, O ye mighty glistening pots Free of every taint, Spare a poor little kettle Black all over, smothered in soot. And slacken that jackboot pressing against my throat, Just a little That I may breathe a little, and croak out a reply Before I croak. A reply to your accusations [...]

Plus

Letters to the Editor

View(s):

Ode to Geneva!

Spare me, O ye mighty glistening pots

Free of every taint,

Spare a poor little kettle

Black all over, smothered in soot.

And slacken that jackboot pressing against my throat,

Just a little

That I may breathe a little, and croak out a reply

Before I croak.

A reply to your accusations of grave crimes

Of manslaughter, of genocide, of ethnic cleansing

And the biggest crime of all

Winning the war against terrorism!

Perhaps we had no right to win a war,

Roundly declared as unwinnable

By the powers that be, in their wisdom.

When the end was near, with victory in sight,

You rushed in your men,

The peace makers, the negotiators

To negotiate a peace, and set the losers free

That they may regroup, and fight another day!

When told to their faces, “Go fly a kite!”

It really did hurt

And rankles to this day, doesn’t it?

Isn’t that really the beginning

Of all this persistent hostility

That grinds me between two grindstones

Of Excessive Power and Inordinate Pride?

 Vasantha Lunuwila  via email


Hybrid bread maybe answer to ever-increasing price

The price of bread is going up daily and this is a serious concern. One of the solutions is to mix wheat flour with rice flour to make a hybrid bread.

Such a hybrid bread has been prepared successfully by a group of scientists from the Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Jaffna and the Food Research Unit, Horticultural Crop Research and Development Institute, Gannoruwa. The relevant publication – ‘Study on preparation of rice-wheat bread using premix’ by P. Mahalingam, S. Velupillai and S. Ekanayake appeared in the Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 2014, Vol. 9, No. 1.

Quoting from the paper:

Bread making: Wheat flour – 800g; rice flour – 200g; yeast -7g; sugar-20g; salt -15g; margarine – 40g; bread improver – 2g and water – 600g.

The bread was prepared by the straight dough method and baked in an electric oven at 235 degrees centigrade for 15 minutes.

The authors concluded that “the bread premix (wheat flour, rice flour, yeast, and bread improver) was consistent in quality in bread making in terms of nutrition and sensory characters over a period of two months; that is the RWB (Rice Wheat Bread) can be prepared using premix stored upto 2 months with the qualities equal to that of RWB made from fresh flours.”

At a time when we are trying to save foreign exchange and improve the nutrition of the people in general, it would be useful to follow the guidance of Sri Lankan scientists working in the relevant sectors.

M.D.H. Seneviratne  Nawala


Power vehicle batteries with solar panels

It is high time that someone thought of using solar panels for body covers (tops and sides) of motor vehicles to energise the battery. If it can be achieved – sooner than later – it would have a welcome impact on the cost of charging the battery and the time taken for it.

Further it will ensure a hassle-free journey. It will be environmentally friendly  too.  It could be used for other transport services as well.

Don D. Abeyaratne  Kottawa


 

 

Share This Post

WhatsappDeliciousDiggGoogleStumbleuponRedditTechnoratiYahooBloggerMyspaceRSS

Searching for an ideal partner? Find your soul mate on Hitad.lk, Sri Lanka's favourite marriage proposals page. With Hitad.lk matrimonial advertisements you have access to thousands of ads from potential suitors who are looking for someone just like you.

Advertising Rates

Please contact the advertising office on 011 - 2479521 for the advertising rates.