Symposia & Conferences
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Item Energy Poverty in the transition from a Lower Income to a Middle-Income Country with special reference to Sri Lanka(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Musafer, N.; Kularatne, M.G.The Paris Climate Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals of 2015 have clearly identified energy access as a pre-requisite to achieving broader development goals. Sri Lanka, having a per capita GDP of USD 3,835 (2016), and a national poverty headcount ratio of 6.7% (2012/13), is a lower middle-income country, with significant progress in human development, and social indicators. This paper investigates into the shifts in energy consumption behaviour with the transition of Sri Lanka to a lower middle-income country, and the presence of energy poverty in the country using secondary data. Poverty and energy deprivation go hand-in-hand. Energy poverty yet to be clear define with a consensus, it is ill defined, complex and multidimensional concept and not adequately captured or measured in a single quantitative indicator. Energy poverty is hard to compare between two nations due to heterogeneity of the inherent characteristics. In Sri Lanka, per capita consumption of household cooking fuel has increased from 171kg to 252 kg of LPG equivalent from fuelwood, LPG and kerosene from 2003/04 to 2012/13, while per capita domestic electricity consumption has been maintained around 226 kWh and 210 kWh respectively. Using per capita threshold values for cooking fuel as 35kg of LPG or equivalent and 120kWh of electricity to be energy poor. In the meantime, Sri Lanka has maintained lower levels of energy intensity compared to other similar nations. As for electricity consumption by the domestic sector, the per capita household electricity consumption for lighting and other general purposes has also declined from 226kWh to 210kWh per capita from 2003/04 to 2012/13 respectively. One major reason for the reduction could be the use of energy efficient appliances, but this behavior is contrary to some other studies. In conclusion, considering a threshold of 120kWh of electricity per capita to define energy poverty, again Sri Lanka demonstrate that she has not been an energy poverty nation during latter part of it being a low income developing country.Item Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Osmania University Post Graduate College, Siddipet Telangana State India(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Yadav, R.C.Developmental processes have several contradictions and poses difficult questions to different sections of society. The Telangana state in India, formed after a prolonged agitation, witnessed a particular discourse, strongly opposing dominant form of development process as was witnessed in united Andhra Pradesh. There is opposition to mega projects involving massive displacement and focus was more on tank irrigation in agriculture sector with active people’s participation. The characteristic features of discourse during Telangana movement are nondispossession and non-displacement. The incumbent government has ignored these aspects and has planned several mega, medium and small irrigation projects on various rivers, involving massive displacement and this has attracted widespread resentment, in particular with the construction of Mallannasagar, a lift irrigation project in Medak district. This paper examines the contestations over the project, with government arguing in favour and people, non-party organizations and political parties strongly opposing the way government is going ahead with developmental projects displacing farmers and landless farmers. How these contestations of various parties are being portrayed in media needs to be looked into? Media should indulge in objective reporting in coverage of development projects and has it done that is what needs to be examined. How media represented the movement and what are the politics involved in the representation are studied. Coverage given by the media about the displacement issues are studied over a period of two years and does it have an impact in changing any policies as far as providing rehabilitation is concerned is also pondered upon?Item Land Acquisition Policy and Social Violence: A Study of Kakinada Special Economic Zone, Andhra Pradesh State, India(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Muralikrishna, G.The social violence unleashed by developmental projects has reached unimaginable proportions in the developing societies like India with land acquisition, displacement, dispossession, loss of livelihoods being the main consequences of it. Projects undertaken in the name of development are posing a serious threat to millions of people attracting widespread protests from them. Development related violence is manifest in the form of land acquisition, displacement and violence is sought to be camouflaged in the name of development. The setting up of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) is an important initiative in this process. This study critically examines the development induced violence by taking up the case of special economic zones launched in India which have resulted in the displacement of thousands of families through the acquisition of their farm lands and rendering them landless and homeless and thereby contributing to their distress. Through the case study of the Kakinada Special Economic Zone in the state of Andhra Pradesh State, India, which has witnessed large scale rural unrest mass protests, this paper attempts an in-depth analysis of displacement, dispossession and violence thus induced on various sections of society and the resultant disarray in the social fabric of villages effected by itItem From reconciliation to National Development through PModel Tourist Zone in Eastern Province of Sri Lanka(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Liyanage, A.; Seneratne, P.; Herath, B.After experiencing an ethnic based civil war for 30 years and unfulfilled promises by authorities after that, Eastern province of Sri Lanka is still far behind the national development efforts. While being forced back by inadequate infrastructure facilities, lack of service industry oriented vocational training and underemployment, the province consist of enormous amount of historic and natural tourist attractions. The main problem identified for this research evolved in this back ground of having no sustainable model to reap the benefits from tourist attractions in the war affected areas in eastern province. The primary objective was to address the aforesaid issue by developing a Model Tourist Zone; a self-sufficient supply chain model with resources supplied from and within the region and minimized negative aspects related to tourism industry in Ampara district mainly Pothuvil, Lahugala and surrounding areas, which can be implemented in the other parts of the country as well. The secondary objective was finding out circumstances of tourism industry in this area. A group of 25 Tamils who were former rebel groups’ members who have entered into small scale tourism and/or politics, 15 Sinhala and/or Muslim tourism related business owners, local government members and government officials were considered for a series of focus group discussions and key informant interviews to gather information for the research. The key findings are distrust among majority of participants regarding government related development & reconciliation initiatives, inadequate infrastructure facilities, lack of tourism oriented vocational training facilities and favouritism towards corporate giants and maltreatments for small scale entrepreneurs in tourism. In conclusion, it is necessary to regain the trust of the underemployed former rebel members by skilling them on tourism and channelling their unity and strengths combined with the natural tourist attractions in the area towards national development through making them stakeholders of Model Tourist Zone.Item A Study on the Effect of Urban and Rural Divide on Youth Development Index (YDI) in Sri Lanka(. 3rd National Research Conference on Applied Social Statistics (NRCASS – 2017), 2017) Kotigala, T.K.Youth development has become critical for young people worldwide, in order to realize their capabilities to pursue decent employment, education opportunities, health and wellbeing, as well as civic and political empowerment. As a result, Commonwealth YDI was built as a tool to measure relative youth development across countries. This study investigates on the effect of urban-rural division on a young person in determining their YDI level, as those have divergent facilities levels that clearly differentiate each sector. Hence, the study attempts to identify the difference in between the level of Youth Development in both identified sectors of Colombo district, within the age bracket of youth in between 18-34 years. A representative sample of 299 urban (Kolonnawa DS Division) and 86 rural (Homagama DS Division) youth were chosen using stratified sampling with proportionate allocation. Primary data collection method of survey questionnaires was used to gather data. Secondary data were obtained from Census of Population and Housing (2012), National Youth Survey III (2013) and UN Statistics on Sri Lanka (1990-2014). The sample data was tested for reliability and validity by using Cronbach’s Alpha (above 0.7) and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity (P-value=0.00, KMO=0.927). With 95% confidence it can be stated that there is no population mean difference in YDI (T=-1.11/ P-value= 0.268) between urban (Avg. YDI=0.803) and rural (Avg. YDI=0.818) sectors. According to the results, the sector difference has not affected the YDI level of youth. Yet examining further, Colombo district has wide opportunities available for youth more than any other district, thus, this similarity presented in urban and rural YDI may not be seen in other districts. Thereby, the study provides strategic suggestions for Sri Lanka to improve on its youth development island-wide, by presenting recommendations for government and policy makers, civil society and youth, and finally for further researches.Item The Impacts of Economic Development by Multinational Corporations on Developing Countries.(1st International Studies Students’ Research Symposium-2017 (ISSRS 2017) ,Department of International Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Mallawaarachchi, R.P.In today’s global economy Multinational Corporations (MNCs) are playing an important role especially in emerging markets. The simplest definition of a multinational corporation is an enterprise which possesses at least one unit of production in a foreign country .These Transnational Companies are referred to as “big business” and “engine of economic growth” where social welfare or human right concerns are purposely ignored. MNCs are subjected to changes in international exchange rates, tariffs, duties, and restrictions on trade. Previous research has identified the impact of MNCs on the economic situation of developing countries. Especially on the basis of Solow model, the positive effect on economic growth of all tested samples has been identified, but the economic growth in very poor countries tends to be less affected by the presence of Foreign Direct Investment than in middle income economies. The economic role of MNCs is simply to channel physical and financial capital to countries with capital shortages. By improving the efficiency of capital flows, MNCs reduce world poverty levels and provide a positive externality that is consistent with the United Nations’ (UN) mission. This is critically important for emerging markets as the sole purpose of their policy framework is to achieve increased levels of economic development for their county. The research has gathered secondary data through reports, books, online magazines, online videos and journal articles which have been analyzed using the case study method to express the researcher’s opinions on the given incidents. Therefore signifies the role of developing states’ policies towards MNCs and has suggested suitable recommendations for the review of policy changes. The findings from the case studies of Coca-Cola in India, Shell in Nigeria, Uniliver in Pakistan and Nike in Indonesia highlight the MNCs’ involvements into the internal situations in developing countries and how MNCs discourage the development of developing countries in present.Item People’s Participation in Development Projects in Sri Lanka (With special reference of Kalthota village)(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Piyasena, M.L.U.K.; Fernando, R.L.S.The strong people’s participation in development projects enhances the greater possibilities for project efficiency, effectiveness, cost recovery, social accountability and sustainability. Since development is a participatory process, meaningful community participation must be there. Project has four stages named planning, implementation, beneficiary and evaluation. People’s involvement is essential for each four stages . The research was implemented to measure the level of people's participation in each stages of development projects and to find reasons for lower level people's participation in development projects. Kalthota village was the study area. Among the 290 families, 100 were selected as the sample. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected by using interview administered questionnaires. Among the 100 persons in the sample, 20 family respondents gave their opinions as lower level participation in development projects. The people’s participation is at a very lower level in each project stages. About 58% of respondents’ participation is at a lower level in planning stage and about 62% of respondent’s participation is at a lower level in implementation stage. In beneficiary stage about 41% of respondents’ participation is low. About 75% of respondents’ participation is at a very lower level in evaluation stage. The reason for lower level participation in development projects was the lack of information provided by the government.Item A study of the contribution of Rural Tourism as a development strategy to develop the household economy of rural areas in Sri Lanka(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Perera, A.The key objective of this paper is to analyze the contribution of rural tourism as a preliminary instrument of development of the household economy of rural areas in Sri Lanka. Potentials of Rural Tourism are very high as a household economic development strategy compared to other tourism related development strategies. As an island with rich natural resources and human capital, Sri Lanka has also been using Rural Tourism as an economic activity in rural areas like Meemure, Dambulla, Heeloya & Lakegala. However, using derived results the study has reviewed that the current contribution of those activities is not sufficient to eliminate various crucial economic matters of those households. The study used primary & secondary data which gathered by field trips, interviews with villagers & private tourist agents, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, Department of Census & Statistics Sri Lanka & Ministry of Finance Sri Lanka to derive results using of Regressions & Correlation Co-efficient. Therefore the paper has discussed the importance of deriving a goal-oriented Rural Tourism frame work to accomplish the goal optimization of Rural Tourism activities as a household economic development strategy which has especially defined for Sri Lanka. Similarly the paper includes about other limitations which are existing at the moment regarding Rural Tourism activities such as matter of less attention of the government towards Rural Tourism as an economic activity, matter of intervention of multi-national organizations to organize Rural Tourism activities, difficulties of promoting Rural Tourism activities, influence of less developed infrastructure of rural sector on Rural Tourism and lack of a specific policy frame work for Rural Tourism in Sri Lanka with various methods to overcome these identified matters, which lead to improve the significance and the contribution of rural tourism activities as an economic development strategy to develop the household economy of rural areas in Sri Lanka.Item Urban Land and Property Markets in Colombo, Sri Lanka: Its way through Past Decades(University of Kelaniya, 2005) Ariyawansa, R.G.Sri Lanka practices market-oriented economic policies concerning its’ development for nearly three decades. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the country’s experience of the market system and its impacts even on property development. The main objective of this paper is to review the evaluation of land and property markets in the country in general and in the city of Colombo in particular. This study is based exclusively on secondary data and a theoretical exercise. This paper discusses in detail about the historical context of property development, new experiences in the recent past and the current challenges in the sector. The study realizes that the Colombo case provides a valuable experience for the global body of knowledge regarding “urban real estate markets in developing countries”. In fact, massive economic reforms have already established the market system in the country in general and in the capital city of Colombo in particular. However, frequent political instability, and civil disorder prevailed in the recent past prevent the market system from smooth and rapid growing. In addition, state vision on more advanced real estate development seems inadequate. State mere belief is handing over the responsibility to the private sector as a panacea. Research & development, internationally accredited professional practices etc are lack in the state attention. As in many developing countries, even in Sri Lanka, mostly valuation and planning professions are still used as statutory and some legal purposes. Therefore, the land and property market in the city of Colombo is growing slowly due to such social, political, and professional constrains, which keep the market still in less efficient and immature. Therefore, higher property price and unsatisfactory demand and imprudent private sector land development have become serious consequences in Colombo city and suburban land and property markets.Item Investment Policies of the Development of Road Network in Sri Lanka During the British Colonial Period and it’s Impacts to 21st Century(University of Kelaniya, 2005) Caldera, R.K.L.P.The theoretical economic background of the British colonial administration in Sri Lanka is an observable component. The mercantilism and laissez-fair policy was the sprit of British rulers and, their investment policies were based on classical economic theories. To achieve the objectives of mercantilism and laissez-fair policies, the British rulers followed the policy of state patronage for creating imports for Sri Lankan market and capital exports for Great Britain. To achieve this objective, British rulers invested considerable amount of capital in Sri Lanka to develop our road network. A hundred years of British government activity in Sri Lanka resulted in providing islandwide useful road transport network. During the British colonization period, export based plantation agriculture was the most important economic sector in the country. Therefore, developments on the transport network came to play a very important role in Sri Lanka. During the British colonial period, entire administration of the road network system was done by central government and it was not decentralized. But presently, A and B class roads are under the Road Development Authority (RDA)of Sri Lanka and remaining road networks are under local governments and other public and private institutions. The entire rail track network of the country is still managed by Sri Lanka Railway Department (SLRD). The present national transport network of Sri Lanka includes nearly 100,000 Kilometers of roads and 1,463 Kilometers of rail track network. This study is an attempt to analysis of British colonial economic policies and infrastructure development policies in Sri Lanka in comparison to those of the 21st century. Therefore, this study is mainly focused on past and present economic policies, objectives, impacts and factors leading to economic development in the country. This study is focused in particulars on the capital raising methods of British colonial administration for road development and construction, and its economic impacts on 21st century in Sri Lanka.