By Athula Pushpakumara: The Information & Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka's initiative to include the famous Buddhist text Pansiya Panas Jathakaya based on stories relating to previous births of the Buddha in the Internet came in for high praise from President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently.

The President describing the move as a historic one added that the Pansiya Panas Jathakaya was a text which portrays the life of the Bodhisatwa in the Sansara journey which could be adopted by any individual to carve out his life journey in the correct path.

Thus with the advent of present technical innovation such as the Internet presented viable mode to take the path of the Buddha to the future generation and all followers and non followers of Buddhism around the globe, the President observed during the event at Temple Trees yesterday morning. The President also noted that Sri Lanka had recorded a 20per cent growth in the ICT literacy in recent times and also there was a lot of interest both locally and internationally today regarding Buddhism. He described the attempt as a timely move to address the world on Buddhism using the Internet. ICTA Acting Chairman Prof. P.W. Epasinghe emphasized that IT should be used as a mode to promote Sri Lanka's national heritage in the global village. He emphasized that spiritual development was as important as physical development in today's context and that IT could be used as a viable mode of transmission. The present initiative has been carried out by the ICTA on an idea mooted by President Rajapaksa. and could be accessed on the net by visiting www.jathakakatha.org