International Conference on Social Sciences (ICSS)
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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 The Rehal of Ibn Batuta: A historical analysis of Ibn Batuta's Narration on Sri Lanka(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Sudharmawathie, J.M.Sri Lanka possess a greater significance and importance as an island in the Indian Ocean because of the geographical features of the island. Since Sri Lanka is situated in a central position in the Indian Ocean along the maritime trade route, Sri Lanka owns several bays and anchorages which provide adequate facilities for the ships. As a result, from the ancient times, Sri Lanka served as an important arena to maintain the relationships of countries across the globe. There are several foreign scholars who had kept records on the significance of Sri Lanka's geographical features since 4th century B.C. Some of such authors are of Greek, Roman, Persian, Arabian and Chinese origins. A fact to note is that some of those authors had not visited Sri Lanka. Yet, even they had written about Sri Lanka in the like manner of those who visited Sri Lanka.One of the important Arabic traveller who visited Sri Lanka in 14th century was Ibn Batuta. Thus, the objective of this study is to analyze the significance and the accuracy of Ibn Batuta's records when following Sri Lankan history. In order to achieve this aforementioned objective, primary and secondary sources were referred. Ibn Batuta who visited Sri Lanka in 1344, travelled in many parts of the country. Some such places are Sri Padha, Dondra Devalaya, Galle Fort and Colombo Fort. Along with the descriptions of these places the author had mentioned about the politics of Sri Lanka during the period when he visited the island. Especially he mentioned about the Arya Chakrawarthi who ruled in Jaffna in that period. In addition, inclusive of his reports are the economic, political and religious facts about Sri Lanka. He has also reported about Gampola, which was the kingdom in rule back then, Thus, it can be concluded that the report written by Ibn Batuta is a useful source when learning history, irrespective of the fact that he is a foreign authorItem Soft Power of Korean Popular Culture in Sri Lanka(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Fernando, A.In recent years, there has been a surge in the international visibility of South Korean culture throughout the world. Korean popular culture, also known as the “Korean Wave” (Hallyu in Korean) ranges from Korean music (K-pop), dramas (K-drama), movies, video games, food, fashion, tourism, and language (Hangul). This cultural phenomenon has also resulted in multilayered transnational movement of people, information and capital flows to and from South Korea. The main focus of this paper is to examine the essence of the Korean Wave and its impact in Sri Lankan society through the concept of soft power. In particular, this paper explores the origin and spread of the Korean Wave in Sri Lanka, the relationship between the spread of the Korean culture and social changes in the country, and the changes in the public perception towards South Korea. Hallyu fan communities in Sri Lanka are a testimony to how contemporary Korean culture is received outside the geographically and culturally proximate markets of East Asia and outside the major economic and consumer-driven markets of North America and Europe. Furthermore, images and information about South Korea are not familiar to Sri Lankan life as Sri Lankans do not share any significant historical or cultural relations with South Korea. In such a background, the introduction and spread of Korean culture in a short span of time is remarkable. This experience helps to understand Korea’s influence in South Asia which is heavily influenced by Indian and colonial cultures. More broadly, the paper attempts to examine how diffusion of popular culture in a small state such as Sri Lanka increases the soft power of the origin nation. The findings conclude that the constant consumption of Korean popular cultural products has indeed affected the image Sri Lankans have towards South Korea in a positive way, by improving their knowledge and perception of South Korea. It also has also urged the consumers to travel to South Korea, learn the language and build social networks with the Koreans.Item The Effectiveness of Word of mouth in Generating Tourists to the Destination of Sri Lanka: A study with Special Reference to the City of Kandy(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Senarathna, T.M.C.D.; Wijesaooriya, M.W.A.T.N.Tourism sector is one of the most important foreign exchange generating industries in Sri Lanka. On the other hand, the industry is highly based on services compared to other major industries in the country. Therefore, it generates a large amount of direct and indirect job opportunities to the Sri Lankan job market and contribute tremendously to resolve many problems in the country. Most tourists travel to Sri Lanka by finding details using different sources such as internet, books, magazines, and with the help of word of mouth through friends and relatives. Here, the word of mouth is simply what happens when a tourists’ interest in a destination’s product or service is reflected in their day-to-day conversations. If the travel experience is satisfactory to a tourist, the word of mouth creates a positive image of a destination. Majority of tourists rely on their friends and relatives’ words on travel experiences to get the best experience. The research problem of the study was “is the word of mouth a considerable factor in generating a large flow of tourists to Sri Lanka”. And also the main objective of the research was to identify the effectiveness of word of mouth in attracting tourists to the destination of Sri Lanka. The study was mainly based on quantitative and qualitative data, and randomly selected 50 tourists in the city of Kandy were interviewed and used structured questionnaires and conversations to gather data while referring to internet, books and magazines were also done. While 58 % of tourists responded that they have highly depended on their friends’ and relatives’ responses in selecting the destination of Sri Lanka to get maximum satisfaction out of the travel, 36% of the respondents referred to web-sites and social Media to explore the beauty, activities, regulations, people, history and culture of the particular destination to travel. Therefore, the word of mouth is playing a vital role in generating a high level of visiting by tourists to the country and services, facilities and friendliness of people highly contribute in creating a positive word of mouth with regard to Sri Lanka. Therefore, it is easy to create a positive word of mouth and well attracted image on the island of Sri Lanka by offering well-organized services and diversified products beyond the satisfaction, updating tourism relevant web-sites using heart touching photographs, documentaries and informationItem Factors affecting on rural medical officers’ continuing professional development (CPD) in Sri Lanka(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Pathiranage, P.D.M.Medical officers (MOs) who serve in rural areas report professional isolation and lack of opportunities for continuing professional development (CPD). These have also been related to dissatisfaction among MOs in rural areas. It has been observed that factors associated with professional isolation, geographic isolation, as well as access to CPD have a significant influence on recruitment and retention of medical professionals in rural areas. Therefore, it is believed that improved CPD access can alleviate the professional isolation of rural MOs and, in turn, may influence recruitment and retention. Factors associated with professional isolation, as well as access to CPD, are believed to have a significant influence on recruitment and retention of medical officers in rural areas. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceived obstacles and challenges to CPD and to identify the best practices for improving access to CPD. Key informant interviews and in-depth interviews via telephonic conversation were conducted. Key informant interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of senior administrators of the PGIM and ten trainers of the PGIM. In depth interview was conducted thirty Medical Officer in Charge (MOIC) those who attached rural hospitals in Sri Lanka. This study identified geographical, financial and organizational factors as key barriers to providing CPD to rural health care professionals. The geographical distribution of rural health care professionals and the associated costs of providing CPD to health professionals across dispersed communities were identified as fundamental barriers. Organizational factors such as a shortage of staff replacements and locum support were also identified as potential barriers. The lack of adequate access to technology was also identified as a key barrier, specifically a lack of Internet access and videoconferencing capabilities. Non availability of libraries attached to the hospitals, Lack of access to a medical faculty library or academic health sciences library, Lack of time for reading, Distance from specialist colleagues, Lack of local information, Geographic Isolation, Inadequate road and telecommunication infrastructure, Lack of awareness of available information, not availability of health information system were identified as key barriers to CPD. Shortage of Medical Officers was identified as major obstacle. Online education programme was identified as a best practice approach to improve CPD access as were regional and divisional CPD activities such as workshops, seminars etc. Best practices for improving access to CPD are; Professional Leadership is required from the government health authority and professional associations in support of national goals for CPD and international standards of care. A National Medical Human Resources Plan to set targets for the numbers and cadres of staff the country needs, identify the skills they require and introduce a national training plan to develop and update skills. Financial Support at local and national level for CPD is essential. Strategic policy and initiatives that address the barriers and challenges to CPD access are also needed to improve CPD access and reduce professional isolation among rural MOs.Item Empowering Sri Lankan Female Workers at Foreign Countries(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Dr.Jayawardane, T.V.P.The focus of this paper is to view and examine the various challenges encountered by the Sri Lankan female workers who work in the Foreign Countries as domestic-aid and to explore how these female workers contribute to the development of Sri Lanka. The paper will examine the various violations of International Law with regards to these female workers and ways to avoid such violations by empowering them. Sri Lankan females choose to work as unskilled laborers and seek job opportunities in Foreign Countries, especially in the Middle Eastern countries for the past three decades. There is a progressive increase in the number of female workers who leave Sri Lanka annually and they contribute to bringing in the highest amount of foreign currency to the country’s economy. The career journey of these female workers is full of obstacles, challenges and difficulties. Since most of females leave their families behind, they risk possible harms to their children left back, family disruptions, deprivation of education for these children and risk of child labor or abuse from current guardians of them. The female worker will also face lack of social and occupational security, lack of recognition, wage discrimination and most importantly difficulties in access to justice. Thus, this can be seen as significant violation of their human rights. The literature affirms that there were many cases where Sri Lankan female workers had to face refusal of payments, violation of their employment contract, physical and mental assault, sexual assaults, and sometimes even death. Sri Lanka is a member of various international treaties and therefore must find means to protect the civil and economic rights of these female workers. The paper recommends that Sri Lanka ought to imply strong policies, international agreements and national laws in order to safeguard the human rights of these female workers. The existing national laws are insufficient since the human rights of these females are violated frequently. The International laws will provide and protect the female workers and the children left behind, but the existing Sri Lankan system fails to achieve this. This paper recommends domestic laws, policies, and, practices which can be implemented to offer solutions to address the key concernsItem Corporate Governance and Digital Technology in Business Institutions 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) Dr.Jayawardane, T.V.P.This paper intends to look into an important connection between business ethics, policymaking, and technology. Doing business with moral principles and facing advancements of technology are difficult matters to handle, and the acceleration of disruptive technological change adds to the challenge for business institutes in Sri Lanka. Therefore it is important for the business institutes to demonstrate leadership in ensuring new technologies operate in an ethically sound manner. This paper investigates the relationship between corporate governance and performance of firms with focus on business institutions. The study started with investigation of corporate governance as a concept and, the literature on corporate governance and different theories and empirical evidence in the area were critically reviewed. In summary the outcomes of this paper will identify that there is a relationship between corporate governance and the performance of business institutions of Sri Lanka, that there are potential impacts and challenges of digital technology in these financial institutes and that there is a link between corporate governance and the firm performanceItem Impact of the Residential Area of Banking Customers on Deposit Mobilization Decisions in Sri Lanka(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Gunasekara, K.D.H.Deposit mobilization is the main function of financial institutions, and is dominated by the banks. It is a process of collecting cash by financial institutes from the general public through their current, savings and fixed accounts and other specialized schemes. The said process is executed and formulated by the banking customers. Even though, there were many empirical studies about the factors affecting deposit mobilization, less consideration has been paid to determine how the residential area of the banking customers affect deposit mobilization decisions. These customers can be categorize into three main administrative sectors in Sri Lanka, namely urban, rural and semi-urban. Their perspectives on deposit mobilization decisions could be differed according to their residential area. The study used descriptive statistics, comparison of means and chi-square test to assess the impact of the residential area, on banking customers’ deposit mobilization decisions. There were 120 respondents who were selected as the sample, by following stratified random sampling method, while Dutugemunu Street-Dehiwala (urban area), Mandawala-kirindiwela (rural area) and Ihala Biyanwila-Kadawatha (semi-urban area) were selected as the sample areas. The research was mainly based on primary data and questionnaires were used to obtain primary data. This study was based on five determinants, namely, deposit interest rate, security, branch expansion, services, technology and awareness. According to the mean comparison, both the urban and semi-urban people ranked the branch expansion factor, as the most important factor which decided the deposit mobilization, whereas the rural people ranked services factor as the most important factor. Among demographic variables, gender, occupation, education level and income significantly affected deposit mobilization (P< 0.05). H1 hypothesis of the study has assumed a significant relationship between residential area and deposit mobilization. Hypothesis was tested using chi-square test and it further revealed that, there was a significant relationship between residential area and deposit mobilization (P<0.05). This implicates strong evidence to reject the null hypothesis and accept the H1 hypothesis. Thus, residence area is a decisive factor which affects the deposit mobilization decisions of banking customers in Sri Lanka.Item Labour Movement from Private Sector to Public Sector and Drivers of Labour Movement in Sri Lanka(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Withanage, H.H.; Kularatne, M.G.Labour movement, especially seeking employment opportunities from one sector to another is a very common factor in the era of globalization. In the mixed economic system, labour moves between private sector and the public sector and vice versa. In the study “Labour Movement from Private Sector to Public Sector and Drivers of Labour Movement in Sri Lanka” it is intended to investigate the labour movement direction from private sector to public sector. The output will be compared with the findings on the literature that will help to prove the hypothesis of the research. The data was collected from purposely selected one public institute and two institutes of private sector using a questionnaire survey. A total of 27 employees from the Public Sector and 24 employees from the Private Sector were selected using systematic random sampling method. This represented 20% of the total population. The research revealed that 41% workers wished to move to the private sector from public sector while 71% workers wished to move from private sector to public sector. In conclusion, it clearly empasized that more labourers in the private sector prefers to move to the public sector in Sri Lanka due to reasons such as pension, number of holidays, working hours, credit facilities and job securityItem Impact of Land Cover Changes on Steep Slopes in Central Highlands for Accelerating the Landslides in Sri Lanka: An Experience from Aranayaka Landslide(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Silva, T.M.; Dr. Sakalasooriya, N.This paper discusses the nature of the impact of land cover changes which has been occurred in Central Highlands in intensifying the landslides. The land cover on the steep slopes in Central Highlands of Sri Lanka has been drastically changed and it has accelerated the landslides. Consequently, the intensity and the number of occurrences of landslides have also been increased. Aranayaka landslide, which occurred on 17 May 2016, is one of the best evidence in this regard. The main objective of the study is to reveal the major land cover changes which occurred as a result of human activities in Aranayaka area. This case study proves the significance of land use cover management of the steep slopes in hilly areas of a tropical country like Sri Lanka. The study found land cover changes occurred during the last 50 years on steep slopes of the area encompassed by economic land covers with high land preparation, and minor level applied slopes conservation methods. Apart from that, extreme land use was evident near steep slopes of the area. When considering these results, it is clear that most of the human-induced requirements for a landslide has been fulfilled and the situation created a risk of landslides which became a reality. These results were taken from applied both cartographical and ground level analysis. Cartographical analysis based on 1956, 1981,1992,2012,2016 steep slopes land covers. The steep slopes demarcated more than 60% regarding Land use and Policy Planning Department (LUPPD) and three common suitable land covers for all studied years ad Tea, Home Garden (Economic Land covers - ELC) and Natural Forest (Natural Land cover – NLC) were taken into consideration. Arc Map 10.1 used as a Geographic Information System (GIS) tool and relevant Geoprocessing techniques were applied. The ground level analysis verifies the story of cartographic contrast changes and suitable statistical approaches were also applied for the appropriate outcome. The statistical analysis tool is SPSS 22
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