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Debate on mobiles causing brain tumor
continues:
According to a paper released by international electromagnetic
radiation (EMR) watchdogs, including Powerwatch and the EMR Policy
Institute, brain tumor can be caused by cell phones. EMR
....Read
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United
Nations: More people in India, the world's second most
crowded country, have access to a mobile telephone than to a toilet,
according to a new UN study on how to cut the number of people with
inadequate sanitation.
'It is a tragic irony to think that in India, a country now wealthy
enough that roughly half of the people own phones, about half cannot
afford the basic necessity and dignity of a toilet,' said Zafar
Adeel, Director of United Nations University's Institute for Water,
Environment and Health (IWEH).
India has some 545 million cell phones, enough to serve about 45 per
cent of the population, but only about 366 million people or 31 per
cent of the population had access to improved sanitation in 2008.
The recommendations of United Nations University (UNU) released
Wednesday are meant to accelerate the pace towards reaching the
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on halving the proportion of
people without access to safe water and basic sanitation.
If current global trends continue, the World Health Organization
(WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) predict there
will be a shortfall of 1 billion persons from that sanitation goal
by the target date of 2015.
'Anyone who shirks the topic as repugnant, minimises it as
undignified, or considers unworthy those in need should let others
take over for the sake of 1.5 million children and countless others
killed each year by contaminated water and unhealthy sanitation,'
said. Adeel.
Among the nine recommendations are the suggestions to adjust the MDG
target from a 50 per cent improvement by 2015 to 100 per cent
coverage by 2025; and to reassign official development assistance
equal to 0.002 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to
sanitation.
The UNU report cites a rough cost of $300 to build a toilet,
including labour, materials and advice.
'The world can expect, however, a return of between $3 and $34 for
every dollar spent on sanitation, realized through reduced poverty
and health costs and higher productivity - an economic and
humanitarian opportunity of historic proportions,' added Adeel.
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