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Venerable Balangoda Ananda Maithriya Thero The Most Venerable Aggamaha Panditha, Abidajada Maharattaguru Balangoda Ananda Maithriya Thero was born at Bulathgama in Balangoda . Since the day he became a novice monk. He was dedicated and enthusiastic to study the Profound Philosophy of Buddhism. While he was living at Balangoda Udumulla Nandaramaya as a scholar he spent much time studying various Languages and obtaining a clear and deep understanding of the Philosophy of the Lord Buddha. He was fluent in 18 Languages, as a result he was honored with the title ‘Aggamaha Panditha’ by the government of Burma.(Myanmar) He not only dedicated his whole life to the enlistment of the shasana worldwide the service he renderedto his hometown is also unforgettable. He was the pioneer in establishing some schools such as Balangoda Buddha Jayanthi Vidyalaya and The Balangoda National School which was the most essential requirement of the students at that time. His service to the improvement of religious and educational fields was greatly appreciated Vice Chancellor of the Vidyalankara. University and was the profounder of Nalanda College In recognition of his profound knowledge of the great Philosophy of the Buddha and the service rendered for the enlistment of the Buddha Susana he was honoured,with the title ‘Abidajada Maha Rattaguru’ .
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Duwili Elle, which is a marvelous creation of nature, cascades from a height of about 63 feet. It is located about 4 k. m. from Balangoda at Tanjantenna a little to the inferior.This magnificent waterfall, which is a creation of the Walawe River cascades, down a rock during the rainy season and is known as Punchi Duwili Elle. The water, which flows down from about 30 m below, is called Maha Duwili Elle. The flow of water forms a wonderful creation.
Duwili Elle breaks up into two and coming down forms a pool of water below, the depth or size of which none have found out 50 far. From there the Walawe River flows up to the kaltota dam. The dust like drops of water emanating from the spray is the origin of the name Duwili Elle. For, ‘duwili’ in the sinhala language is dust. This waterfall and its natural beauty is a paradise, which attracts tourists from all over the world.
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With the intention of promoting the use of IT in the rural areas of the country, the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Presidential Secretariat launched a pilot e-Village Programme, ‘Secondary Education Modernization Project II’ (SEMP II), and funded by the Asian Development Bank.
The programme comprising many activities was, initially launched in the Sabaragamuwa, Uva, Central, Wayaba and Southern provinces. In order to further enhance the quality of project outputs, the managers of the five pilot projects had been given the opportunity to attend a conference held in Baramati, India. The conference on ICT and Development that commenced on the23rd March concluded on the 30th.
India is a large country with a large population. Ten days is too short a period to explore and study such a vast nation as India. But this is a report on observations made during ten days of touring into a few of its regions. There were about 200 delegates attending the conference from India and various countries in the region including Sri Lanka. Among the key note speakers were, Sharad Kulkarni, Chairman of the Vidya Pratistan Institute for Information Technology(VIIT), Sri Subash Pani, Indian State Official, John Davies, Intel, Asst. Director, and others.
In order to observe how ICT was used to meet development objectives we visited a community radio station in Baramathi.
A team work at the Baramathi hospital telemedicine centre
Health :- Telemedicine
Hospitals visited were either managed by the state or privately owned. Among these was the State hospital
in Baramathi Town where we were able to observe how computers were used to diagnose illnesses. Here, we saw
computers, cameras, scanners and printers used for the purpose.
After the conference the Sri Lankan contingent arrived in Chennai city in India and remained at the for Indian Institute Information Technology (IIT) in Madras from the 26th to 30th February. During this period many places were visited and the observations made are reported as follows:
Education:-
It seems the Indian government pays little attention towards improving the educational system of that country.
For example, there is a low level of participation of children in the school education system in rural villages. Those who
attend are very weak in reading and writing. The economic problems, a lack of interest among adults, and a lack of facilities, seem to be the barriers for that.
In rural villages there seems to be little attention given to applying modern techniques to develop education.
Especially, the use of computer in the field of education is minimal.

Students of a primary class doing their studies with computers donated by a private organization.
A visit to private institutes
However, an obvious feature was that there were many private educational and technological institutes functioning in the regions.These institutes used modern equipment and teaching methods including internet exploration.

A group of women being trained in a e-praja centre