In keeping with the Uthuru Vasanthaya, Northern Development Programme launched by the Government projects worth Rs. 200 million to provide higher education facilities to children of the displaced has been launched funded by the ADB and the World Bank.

Following a survey which gathered information about students who have missed their higher education due to the conflict in the North, these projects have been launched, the Education Ministry said.

The Ministry said that under this programme, a Rs. 23 million project has been launched to restart higher education courses at the Jaffna and Vavuniya Universities while Rs. 90.33 million would be spent to put up a hostel for medical students at the Jaffna University.

Construction work on an academic and administrative building has already started at the Jaffna Institute of Higher Technological Education. Another Rs. 30 million has been set apart to improve the quality of existing courses and the introduction of new courses at this Technological Institute while Rs. 14.45 million has been earmarked for improvement of its infrastructure facilities, the Ministry said. Steps have also been taken to set up a new Institute of Higher Technology at Vavuniya costing Rs. 65 million and another Rs. 60 million had been allocated for improvement of basic facilities at the new university at Vavuniya due to be completed in 2011.

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry said programmes costing Rs. 576 million launched to bring about a qualitative improvement in the country’s Higher Education field would be completed before next year.

A Rs. 23 million project has been launched to restart higher education courses at Jaffna and Vavuniya Universities.

By Rachel Rajaratnam

Dengue Fever caused by an infected mosquito has taken over 100 lives so far and hospitalized another 7,000. In the annals of epidemic this figures are the highest ever recorded. Sri Lanka has experienced many a flu but dengue seems to be roaming the country on an annual basic causing health hazards to the society.

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EDITOR

Air is the mixture of gases that surround the Earth. Air is often called the atmosphere. Air covers the land and sea and reaches far above the Earth’s surface. We cannot see, smell or taste it, yet air is as real as land or water. When the wind blows, you feel the air against your body.
Without air, there could be no life on Earth. All living things need air to stay alive. You are breathing air now. You must breathe air to live.
Image to right: Plants take in carbon dioxide from the air. They use carbon dioxide and water to make sugar that’s used for energy. In the process, plants give out oxygen through their leaves. Credit: World Book
Air also shields the Earth from harmful rays from the sun and other objects in outer space. At the same time, it holds the heat that comes from the sun. In this way, air helps keep the Earth warm enough to support life. Clouds that form in the air bring us water in the form of rain and snow.
The main gases in air are nitrogen and oxygen. Nitrogen makes up almost four-fifths of the air. Oxygen makes up about one-fifth. The air contains tiny amounts of other gases too, especially argon.
Some gases in the atmosphere are especially important. When people and animals breathe, they take in oxygen from the air and give off a gas called carbon dioxide. Green plants do just the opposite. They take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.
The Earth has plenty of air, but some of the things people do have make the air dirty, or polluted. Air pollution is a serious problem in most big cities. Polluted air is bad for our health and it hurts plants and animals, too. It damages buildings and it can even change the weather. For example, carbon dioxide gets into the atmosphere when coal and other fuels are burned. Scientists believe that this carbon dioxide acts like a blanket to keep heat near the Earth. They think that the Earth is getting warmer. This is called global warming.
How to cite this article: To cite this article, World Book recommends the following format: “Air.” The World Book Student Discovery Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book, Inc., 2005.
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Air Planes

An airplane is a machine that uses an engine to make it fly. Airplanes are used to carry people and products over long distances.
Kinds of airplanes
People build airplanes that fly at different speeds and do different kinds of work.
Airliners are big planes used by airline companies. Most airlines carry passengers and some cargo, or products. Most airliners fly 500 to 600 miles (800 to 970 kilometers) per hour. The fastest planes are supersonic — faster than sound. They travel up to 1,350 miles (2,180 kilometers) per hour.
The biggest airliners have four jet engines. Smaller three-engine and twin-engine airliners make shorter flights. Some smaller planes have engines with propellers instead of jet engines. Propellers are rotating blades.
Light planes are small planes with two to six seats. They can take off and land at small airports.
Most light planes have propellers. Some belong to people who use them to travel. Others are used for special jobs. For example, people use them to inspect power lines, fight forest fires, plant seeds, deliver cargo, take pictures from the air and teach students to fly.
Military planes do many kinds of work for the armed forces. Bombers attack targets on the ground. Fighters attack other planes in the air. Fighter-bombers can do both.
Special purpose planes do unusual kinds of work. Seaplanes can take off and land in water. Spray planes are used to spray fertilizer or insect spray on crops.
The parts of an airplane

Almost all planes have the same main parts. They have a wing, a main section called a fuselage, a tail, landing equipment, and an engine.
The wing sticks out from the sides of the fuselage. It is nearly flat on the bottom and curved on the top. This shape helps create the airflow that raises the plane off the ground and keeps it in the air.
Image to right: This drawing shows the parts of a light airplane called a Piper Cherokee. Credit: World Book illustration by Tom Morgan
Most airplane wings have moving parts that help balance the plane. The ailerons are hinged pieces on the back of the wing. They make the plane bank, or tilt, and turn. Many planes also have flaps that help the plane lift up for takeoff and slow down for landing.
The wing also carries navigation lights. A red light on the left wing tip and a green light on the right wing tip show which way the plane is traveling. Often the engines are on or in the wing.
The fuselage contains the controls, the crew, the passengers, and the cargo. In many small planes, the pilot and passengers sit in the same cabin. Large planes have a cockpit for the pilot and crew and a cabin for passengers and cargo.
The tail is the rear part of the airplane. It helps guide the plane and keep it balanced. Like the wing, it has parts that move. The rudder is a hinged plate on the back of the fin, the upright part of the tail. It helps the plane turn left or right. A flap called the elevator helps raise or lower the plane’s nose. It is connected to the stabilizer, which is the part of the tail that looks like a small wing.
All planes have landing gear for taking off and landing. On high-speed planes, the landing gear is pulled up when the plane is flying.
The controls are in the cockpit. Most planes have a yoke, or wheel, for steering. Some planes, such as spray planes, are steered with a stick. Planes also have rudder pedals, engine instruments, and flight instruments that show the plane’s height and speed. Three kinds of engines are used in airplanes. Piston engines are like car engines. The power from the engines turns propellers that move the plane through the air.
Jet engines take in air and burn it with fuel. The exhaust, or gases, from the engines creates a huge backward push that drives the plane forward. The exhaust also spins a device called a turbine, with runs the other parts of the engine.
Rocket engines work much like jet engines, but they do not need to take in oxygen.
How planes fly
Gravity is a force that pulls planes toward the Earth. So in order to fly, a plane’s wing must create a lifting force that is stronger than gravity.
The lift is made by the air pressure over and under the plane’s wing. As a plane moves forward, the air moving over the curved top of the wing travels farther than the air moving under it. It also travels faster. This makes the air pressure above the wing drop. Then the stronger pressure under the wing lifts the plane.
In order to lift, the plane needs to move. The jet engine or the propeller makes the plane move forward so it can take off.
To climb, or go higher, the pilot increases the engine power. To descend, or go lower, the pilot decreases the engine power. To turn, the pilot banks the plane.
History of airplanes

During the 300s B.C., the Chinese discovered how to make kites. Later, large kites lifted people into the air.
In 1783, two French brothers, the Montgolfiers, made a hot-air balloon. Two other Frenchmen floated over Paris in it. This was the first human flight.
Image to right: The Flyer was the world’s first successful airplane. This propeller plane was built and flown by the Wright brothers in 1903. Credit: World Book illustration by Tom Morgan
During the 1800s, many people experimented with gliders. They began to add engines and propellers but these early machines could not be flown. After experimenting with gliders, two brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, built a double-winged planed. On Dec. 17, 1903, Orville Wright successfully flew it near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. After that, many inventors built and flew planes.
Jet planes were developed during World War II (1939-1945). After the war, airliners began to use jet engines.
How to cite this article: To cite this article, World Book recommends the following format: “Airplane.” The World Book Student Discovery Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book, Inc., 2005.

Neil Alden Armstrong

Neil Alden Armstrong (1930- ) was a United States astronaut. He was the first person to set foot on the moon.
Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He was a Navy pilot from 1949 to 1952. Later, he tested new aircraft. He became an astronaut in 1962.
Image to right: Neil A. Armstrong was an American astronaut. He was the first person to set foot on the moon. Credit: NASA
After one space flight in 1966, Armstrong joined the Apollo 11 mission. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., landed the lunar module Eagle on the moon’s surface. When Armstrong stepped onto the moon, he said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Armstrong received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969.
How to cite this article: To cite this article, World Book recommends the following format: “Neil Alden Armstrong.” The World Book Student Discovery Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book, Inc., 2005.

Asteroids

Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit, or travel, around the sun. Most asteroids are found between the planets Mars and Jupiter. This area is called the asteroid belt. Astronomers, or scientists who study outer space, think there are about 30,000 asteroids in the asteroid belt.
Image to right: The asteroid Ida is about 35 miles (55 kilometers) long. It is one of thousands of asteroids in the asteroid belt, a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Credit: NASA
Asteroids come in many sizes. The largest asteroid, Ceres, is about 600 miles (970 kilometers) across. Ceres, the first known asteroid, was discovered in 1801. One of the smallest asteroids, 1991 BA, was discovered in 1991. It is only about 20 feet (6 meters) across. Most asteroids are less than 18 miles (30 kilometers) across.
Astronomers don’t know exactly how asteroids were formed. They offer two possible explanations. Some think there was once a planet between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. That planet broke up and formed the asteroids. Others think there were enough rocks and other materials between Mars and Jupiter to form a planet. But instead of forming a planet, the material became a belt of rocky objects — the asteroid belt.
Astronomers divide asteroids into two groups. One group is made mostly of carbon. Carbon is a soft, black substance that is plentiful on Earth. Asteroids in the second group are rich in minerals. These asteroids formed from minerals heated by the sun.
How to cite this article: To cite this article, World Book recommends the following format: “Asteroid.” The World Book Student Discovery Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book, Inc., 2005.