What Matters Poverty? An Explanatory Study Based on Siyambalanduwa Divisional Secretariat (DS) in Monaragala District, Sri Lanka

Poverty is still evident in Sri Lanka with regional disparities. Monaragala is one of the poorest districts for over many years and Siyambalanduwa is the poorest Divisional Secretariat in the district. Even though the situation of poverty is much serious in Siyambalanduwa Divisional Secretariat, very limited research is available on poverty incidents related to the selected area. This study examines significant factors affecting poverty in the selected Divisional Secretariat in Monaragala District of Sri Lanka. The research used quantitative research methods. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from a sample of 329 families based on a convenient sampling method and analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. Based on the quantitative analysis, this research identified that poverty is caused by lack of government intervention, threat from natural factors and through the debt trap. Based on the findings, policy measures are suggested to reduce the level of poverty in Siyambalanduwa Divisional Secretariat in the Monaragala District of Sri Lanka. Accordingly, poverty could be alleviated by protecting people from the debt trap and proper intervention of the government and mitigating natural threats. Examining the mediating effect of the debt tarp on poverty is the novelty of this study and the relationship has been confirmed with empirical data. The findings of the study could be applicable to other similar contexts. Keywords: Poverty, Significant factors, Siyambalanduwa Divisional Secretariat, Sri Lanka

Human Resource Management Practices and Organizational Performance in Public Sector Organizations: with reference to Development Officers in the Colombo District in Sri Lanka

Human resources management concerns how people are employed, utilized, and maintained effectively and efficiently in achieving organizational objectives.   The performance of any organization largely depends on its human resources. Among the human resources management practices, recruitment, and selection of the right pool of employees, proper training and development, performance appraisal, and compensation directly affect achieving organizational objectives. However, these Human Resource (HR) practices in the public sector, especially in relation to the position of Development Officers (DOs) of Sri Lanka have not been practiced in an effective manner. Recruitment of Graduates as Development Officers has been a major reason for increasing the growth of public service in the country. Since the 1990s, the government of Sri Lanka has practiced bulk recruitment of graduates without having a clear and formal duty list, service minutes, recruitment procedures, training and development programs, promotion policy, and salary scale. The main purpose of this study is to discuss the existing Human Resource Management (HRM) practices, identify strengths and weaknesses of the existing HRM practices, and examine how these weaknesses affect the performance of the public sector organizations in relation to Development Officers in the public sector in Sri Lanka. The study used a qualitative research method with the inductive approach. Data were collected through in-depth interviews from all 13 Divisional Secretaries in the Colombo District and the data were analyzed narratively. The study revealed that the existing recruiting, training, and performance appraisal practices negatively affect the performance of the public sector due to some weaknesses in these practices.  Finally, this study proposes policy recommendations for improving the effectiveness of these practices for enhancing the public sector performance in Sri Lanka. Keywords: Human resource management practices, Development officers, Public sector, Sri Lank

Best foot forward, watching your step, jumping in with both feet, or sticking your foot in it? - the politics of researching academic viewpoints

This article presents our experiences of conducting research interviews with Australian academics, in order to reflect on the politics of researcher and participant positionality. In particular, we are interested in the ways that academic networks, hierarchies and cultures, together with mobility in the higher education sector, contribute to a complex discursive terrain in which researchers and participants alike must maintain vigilance about where they 'put their feet' in research interviews. We consider the implications for higher education research, arguing that the positionality of researchers and participants pervades and exceeds these specialised research situations.15 page(s

Food Security in Urban Households: The Role of Women in an Asian Context

Assuring food security is one of the challenges in low and middle-income countries with their rapid urbanization. The role of women has been identified as a key to food security in rural societies, however, yet to make conclusions in an urban setting. Hence this study tries to analyse the role of women in urban households while addressing the context-specific social and cultural differences of women’s role in Asia. The study uses data from Sri Lanka Household Income and Expenditure Survey-2016 and estimates the impact of women's role using the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method. The relative status of food security of each household is measured using the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS). The study finds a higher level of food security is associated with a higher level of female education. Similarly, households are more food secure when women are more responsible for household income. Further, it reveals that the economic burden on women being the single income earner has not affected on changing the level of food security in their households

THE EFFECT OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE TOWARDS ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION IN SRI LANKAN HOSPITALITY OPERATIONS

The article examines the relationship between the organizational culture and the entrepreneurial orientation in the Sri Lankan hospitality sector. The data for the study was collected from 215 managers occupying senior positions star class hotel sector. The analysis was performed based on CFA SEM techniques using AMOS 21 software to identify the relationship. The quantitative data analysis revealed there is a significant relationship between organizational culture and entrepreneurial orientation. In the research entrepreneurial orientation was reflected with three dimensions proactiveness, risk taking and innovativeness. The organizational culture was reflected with four dimensions organizational climate, flexibility or the support to change, team work and employee empowerment. This study develops a better understanding of elements of organizational culture and entrepreneurial orientation.  Article visualizations

Evolution of COVID-19 Disease Using a One Prey-Two Predator Model

Mathematical modeling is used to understand the dynamics of transmission of infectious diseases such as COVID-19, SARS, Ebola, and Dengue among populations. In this work, a one prey-two predator model has been developed to understand the underlying dynamics of COVID-19 disease transmission. We considered the infected, recovered, and death populations with the fact that an infected person can be transformed into the recovered or death group assuming that the infected ones are the prey, and the other two populations are the two predators in the one prey-two predator model. It was found that the proposed model has four equilibrium points; the vanishing equilibrium point ( ), recovered and death-free equilibrium point ( ), recovered population-free equilibrium point ( ), and the death-free equilibrium point ( ). Stability analysis of the equilibrium points shows that except  all the other equilibrium points are locally asymptotically stable. Global asymptotic stability of the recovered population-free equilibrium point and death-free equilibrium point are also analyzed. Moreover, the existence and uniqueness of the solution were proved. The parameters for the model are estimated from a data set that consists of the total number of infected, recovered, and dead populations worldwide in the year 2020 using the Nelder-Mead optimization method. When the time approaches infinity, the infected population converges to a constant value, the recovered population declines and reaches zero, and the death population attains a constant value. However, some modifications to the system are needed. In future work, measures such as health precautions, vaccinations are needed to be considered for the formulation of the mathematical model

Safeguarding community-centred global health research during crises

Global health researchers encounter challenges in conducting research during crises, including pandemics, natural disasters and humanitarian conflicts.1 2 External crises often arise without prior notice and disrupt well-planned research. It is difficult to continue research activities under these circumstances, particularly when researchers and communities are at risk.3 Furthermore, community engagement and involvement (CEI), a crucial element in decolonised global health research,4 can become particularly difficult, as the community members’ primary focus may be on survival and acquiring basic needs, which must be a priority above commitment and participation in research. Conducting research in a context of crisis imposes concerns about ethical, credible and equitable research.5 6 The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on global health research, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Both funding acquisition and scholarly output in LMICs were affected.2 Collaborative research relied on virtual communication platforms, and alternative data collection mechanisms, such as online questionnaires and telephone interviews. However, the validity, reliability and generalisability of such datasets are still subject to extensive discussion.7 Populations without reliable internet access and electronic devices were often excluded from participation, which further exacerbated social inequity, particularly in disadvantaged rural communities.8 9 Here, we share the experience of the Sri Lankan team of the multicountry global health research programme ECLIPSE. We highlight three aspects that will inform the global scientific community in safeguarding research during crises: (1) positioning the research within the crisis context; (2) using CEI for ongoing research and (3) innovating methods and moving beyond the virtual mode

Nanomaterials for smart energy systems: from led to Supercapacitors and solar cells.

It has been forecast that there will be a severe impact on world economics and ecology in future by energy consumption/production that rely on the combustion of fossil fuels. Therefore more sustainable and more environmentally friendly alternative energy/power generation sources are currently under serious consideration. One such alternative is electrochemical energy production. Systems for electrochemical energy storage and conversion include batteries, fuel cells and electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs). Although the energy storage and the conversion mechanisms are different, there are “electrochemical similarities” of these three systems. Electric double layer capacitors, also known as supercapacitors or ultracapacitors, have tremendous potential as high energy high power sources for use in low weight hybrid systems. Commercial applications for such devices include uninterruptible power applications, telecommunication and transportation. The total energy stored in a conventional capacitor is proportional to both the number of charges stored and the potential between the plates. Essentially the former is a function of the size of the electrode while the later is determined by the breakdown of dielectric between the plates. Different voltages, hence energy stored, can be generated when different dielectric materials are used to separate the plates. Materials can be optimized to produce high energy densities for a given size of a capacitor. In contract to conventional capacitors, supercapacitors do not have a conventional dielectric. Instead, two layers of the same substrate and their electrical properties are used in order to effectively separate the charges despite vanishingly thin (on the order of nanometer) physical separation of the layers. Higher energy storage density can be achieved in supercapacitors when nanomaterials or materials with nanoporous structure are used because such materials offer enormous surface to volume ratio. Activated carbon is a material with unique properties especially in relation to its nanoporosity and can therefore be used in supercapacitors. Sri Lanka is one of the worlds’ best coconut shell based activated carbon producer. Besides, carbon nanotube (CNT, either MWCNT or SWCNT) can also be used in supercapacitors as electrode material where charge storage capacity can be increased to a much higher value. Ceylon vein graphite is a good source for the production of CNT. Further, the use of nano-TiO2 in conjunction with light absorbing material in cost effective solar cells is a well established process. The charge carrier generation process in solar cells mimics natural photosynthesis (green energy). At present such solar cells have efficiency nearly 11 %. Again Sri Lanka inherits a vast naturally occurring TiO2 deposit, the range of benefits of which is yet to be explored and harvested to produce nano-TiO2. Therefore nanomaterials in Sri Lanka has a wide spectrum of application and in this presentation, the opportunities to develop smart energy systems using Sri Lankan nanomaterials will be presented