Participatory budgeting in a Sri Lankan urban council: A practice of power and domination

Drawing on Bourdieu’s triad, i.e. field, habitus and capital, the paper aims at unfolding the practice of participatory budgeting (PB) in one Sri Lankan urban council, which we have referred to as the “Costal Urban Council (CUC)”, and in this process explores how such practice is framed and constrained by the structural and relational aspects of various forms of capital. The PB practice in the CUC has failed to achieve its fundamental objective—public participation in a manner of equality, justice, and transparency, or at least best partial success in some areas such as rates collection. We have demonstrated how PB has become a practice of power and domination rather than a means of fostering political emancipation in the CUC. The field-specific organisation of various forms of capital has allowed the chairman of the CUC to become dominant and take control of the whole budgeting process and PB, which is aimed at impeding such political practices, has become dominated by the same political dynamics. We argue that PB in the specific field of less-developed countries can have far greater effects than simply revitalising local democracy, including providing personal gains and potentially posing a threat to democracy

Lifestyle and occupation risk factors for poor semen quality: a cross sectional study in Sri Lanka

Background: Infertility is a major problem all around the world. According to WHO, the rate of infertility is approximately 15% worldwide and it differ from geographical location, ethnicity and social status. Lifestyle habits, environmental and occupational hazards, physical parameters can be recognized as major risk factors which may affect male infertility. The objective of this study was to determine factors associated with male infertility in Sri Lankan context.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 299 individuals participated for an infertility clinic at Castle Street Teaching Hospital, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Socio-demographic, occupational and environmental characteristics were collected using interviewer administered questionnaire. Semen samples were collected from each participant for laboratory investigations. Sperm concentration and motility were measured.Results: Out of total participants, 30.1% of participants had a sperm concentration of <15×10⁶ and the sperm motility was <32% in 34.7% participants.  Older age, tobacco smokers, using tight under wears and individuals exposed to either heat or chemical hazards were identified as risk groups with low sperm concentration and low semen volume. In addition, older age, individuals using tight under wears and individuals exposed to either heat or chemical hazards were significantly associated with low or abnormal sperm mortality. Individuals having diabetes showed a significantly higher non-motility rate of sperms. Alcohol usage, betel chewing, mumps, special radiation exposure, body mass index and waist circumference were not significantly associated with semen parameters in study population.Conclusions: Older age, tobacco smoking, wearing tight underwear, occupational exposures, and diabetes mellitus has shown a risk for the generation of poor semen parameters, which can lead to male infertility. Furthermore, it is very important to carry out extended studies regarding this problem to establish the effect of above factors