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Contents

1 2012 91.1 November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

World Habitat Day 2005 (2012-11-03 07:51) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Bhubaneswar cultural identy (2012-11-03 07:58) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Green Buildings (2012-11-03 08:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Green Cies (2012-11-03 08:17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Forest & Environment (2012-11-03 08:19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Hoest Tilagarh (2012-11-03 08:35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13City without Slums (2012-11-03 08:48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Populaon & Environment (2012-11-03 08:59) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Tribal Architecture (2012-11-03 09:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Indigenous Knowledge (2012-11-03 09:17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Planning & Realies (2012-11-03 09:24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Quake proof Buildings (2012-11-03 09:29) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Save Planet (2012-11-03 09:41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Spaally managed Cies (2012-11-03 09:44) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Eco-cies (2012-11-03 09:48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Urban sprawl Bhubaneswar (2012-11-03 09:55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Cyclone Management (2012-11-03 10:05) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Disaster Reducon (2012-11-03 10:17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Cies must create jobs (2012-11-03 10:21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

1.2 December . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Green Renewable Energy (2012-12-11 13:19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Trac calming Measures (2012-12-11 13:23) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Trac Travails (2012-12-11 13:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Barrier free Environment (2012-12-11 13:28) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Remember Persons with Disabilies (2012-12-11 13:29) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

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COP18 Doha : Womens Voices in Climate Change (2012-12-11 14:39) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Sustainable Energy for All (2012-12-11 14:49) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Migraon and Poverty (2012-12-18 14:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Migraon and Climate Change (2012-12-18 14:10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

2 2013 352.1 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Indoor Air polluon (2013-02-08 13:41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Air polluon cause of Cancer (2013-02-08 13:42) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

2.2 March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Intelligent Buildings (2013-03-11 15:56) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Urban Heat Island Eects (2013-03-11 15:58) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Safety Iniaves (2013-03-11 16:00) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Womans Safety (2013-03-11 16:04) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Polluon problems (2013-03-26 10:16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Water Scarcity (2013-03-26 10:18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Weather Watch (2013-03-26 10:19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

2.3 April . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Ausm friendly environment (2013-04-04 20:02) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Creang right environment (2013-04-04 20:04) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Fighng High Blood Pressure (2013-04-17 15:21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Health and Housing (2013-04-17 15:26) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Koenigsbergers Bhubaneswar Planning (2013-04-17 15:34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Bhubaneswar Vision-2030 (2013-04-17 15:37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54GREEN URBANISM (2013-04-24 06:36) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Urbanisaon adds to growing levels of greenhouse gas (2013-04-24 06:41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Global acon Plan: Malaria (2013-04-25 05:09) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Environmental health risk of slum-dwellers (2013-04-25 18:40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Rescue of Child Ragpickers (2013-04-28 05:48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

2.4 May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Wetland degradaon (2013-05-11 13:33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Water birds in India (2013-05-11 13:37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Biodiversity: Similipal (2013-05-22 00:22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Biodiversity: Bhitarkanika (2013-05-22 01:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Smoking between Poverty and Mortality (2013-05-31 04:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Tobacco-free cies (2013-05-31 04:32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

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2.5 June . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Urban Agriculture (2013-06-05 05:03) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Heritage Conservaon: Odisha (2013-06-05 14:17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74End Child Labour (2013-06-12 07:11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Help Elders live happily (2013-06-15 03:48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Age-friendly cies (2013-06-15 03:53) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Sustainable Land Management against Desercaon (2013-06-17 00:10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Drug against Sustainable Livelihood (2013-06-26 06:20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

2.6 July . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Sustainable Human Selement Planning (2013-07-11 22:59) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

2.7 August . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86TRIBALS ROLE IN CONSERVINGMEDICINAL PLANTS NEEDS GREATER RECOGNITION (2013-08-10 06:18) 86

2.8 September . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88PROTECT OZONE LAYER (2013-09-16 20:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88INDIAN PERSPECTIVE FOR PROTECTION OF OZONE LAYER (2013-09-21 22:21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88TIME FOR ECO TOURISM PLANNING,ANSUPA (2013-09-27 08:36) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

2.9 October . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92NEEDED: MORE PUBLIC TRANSPORT THAN PERSONAL VEHICLES (2013-10-07 06:17) . . . . . . . . . 92BETTER FUTURE FOR ALL DEPENDS ONWOMENS EDUCATION (2013-10-11 14:24) . . . . . . . . . . 95RURAL-URBAN GROWTH LINKAGES IMPORTANT FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION (2013-10-17 08:34) . . 97NEEDED:Use of Disaster risk info on Land use Planning (2013-10-29 13:47) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

2.10 November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98ODISHA TOWN PLANNING DAY TO REMEMBER KOENIGSBERGER (2013-11-08 07:02) . . . . . . . . . 98Trac Demand Management Strategy (2013-11-19 10:50) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Urban transport governance reform in India (2013-11-21 13:25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

2.11 December . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102Barrier free Design (2013-12-03 14:30) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102Regional Planning to reduce Rural-Urban migraon (2013-12-18 10:19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103Safe Public Space Design for Women (2013-12-23 10:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

3 2014 1073.1 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Astronomical Architecture (2014-02-28 09:40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1073.2 March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Community safety for Women (2014-03-10 13:49) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109City urban forests and Climate change (2014-03-21 09:15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

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Role of Youth to ght climate change (2014-03-23 11:19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1133.3 April . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Friendly houses for Auscs (2014-04-03 12:40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115Vector-borne diseases in Slums (2014-04-07 10:10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117Bhubaneswar to become World Heritage City (2014-04-15 11:49) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Konark temple conservaon demands urgent aenon (2014-04-20 10:32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Green Vision for City Planning (2014-04-23 09:29) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123Odisha tops Malaria states in India (2014-04-25 09:20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125Bio- Medical Waste Management in Bhubaneswar (2014-04-28 10:01) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

3.4 May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130ECOTOURISM IN CHILIKA (2014-05-12 09:38) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130LIVING INSTITUTIONS THAT BOND VISITORS WITH CULTURES (2014-05-19 09:27) . . . . . . . . . . . 132WORLDS FINEST CULTURAL HERITAGES (2014-05-21 10:05) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT MEASURES IN BHUBANESWAR (2014-05-28 10:17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137TOBACCO-FREE COLLEGE CAMPUSES (2014-05-31 16:12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

3.5 June . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140BHUBANESWAR ENVIRONMENT DEGRADED BY HUMAN ACTIVITIES (2014-06-05 15:33) . . . . . . . 140Odishas coastal ecosystems under increasing threat (2014-06-08 05:57) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143Poverty Elleviaon and Child Labour (2014-06-13 23:05) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

3.6 July . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147Role of Family against Elder Abuse (2014-07-03 15:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147Eecve Drug Rehabilitaon Centre (2014-07-03 15:38) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148Growing Populaon and Sustainable Housing (2014-07-11 09:44) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

3.7 August . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150Vernacular Architecture and Indigenous Technology (2014-08-11 09:55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150Architectural Photography of Monuments (2014-08-19 09:41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

3.8 September . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154Urban Flooding in capital city Bhubaneswar (2014-09-06 06:23) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154Ozone Layer Protecon (2014-09-16 09:44) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156Odisha Nature Tourism (2014-09-29 16:22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

3.9 October . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Gandhian concept of Rural-Urban Interdependence (2014-10-03 09:55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Right of Slum Populaons in the City (2014-10-06 06:02) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163Family Farming to prevent Hunger and Poverty (2014-10-16 06:56) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

3.10 November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1686

Climate change: Challenge to Urban Planning (2014-11-08 04:53) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168Bio-Toilet for Eco-friendly sanitaon (2014-11-19 09:30) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170Safe Neighbourhood Design to prevent Crimes (2014-11-25 06:11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

3.11 December . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174Inclusive Access for Disabled (2014-12-03 00:07) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

4 2015 1774.1 March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

SMART CITIES (2015-03-02 08:05) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177INCLUSIVE, CONVENIENT AND SAFE CITIES FOR WOMEN (2015-03-09 18:31) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

4.2 April . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181KOENIGSBERGERS BHUBANESWAR WITNESSES MANY TRANSFORMATIONS (2015-04-13 09:29) . . . 181TOURISM AND HERITAGE MANAGEMENT (2015-04-18 09:28) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION RESPONSES IN URBAN SEAS (2015-04-22 04:44) . . . . . . . . . . . 187OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS (2015-04-28 14:11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

4.3 May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191BHUBANESWAR: HIGHER-INTENSITY QUAKE NOT UNLIKELY (2015-05-22 00:45) . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

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1. 2012

1.1 November

World Habitat Day 2005 (2012-11-03 07:51)

9

Bhubaneswar cultural identy (2012-11-03 07:58)

10

Green Buildings (2012-11-03 08:08)

11

Green Cies (2012-11-03 08:17)

12

Forest & Environment (2012-11-03 08:19)

Hoest Tilagarh (2012-11-03 08:35)

13

City without Slums (2012-11-03 08:48)

14

Populaon & Environment (2012-11-03 08:59)

hp://dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/79583-rising-populaon-fa st-degrading-environment.html

15

Tribal Architecture (2012-11-03 09:08)

16

Indigenous Knowledge (2012-11-03 09:17)

17

Planning & Realies (2012-11-03 09:24)

18

Quake proof Buildings (2012-11-03 09:29)

19

Save Planet (2012-11-03 09:41)

20

Spaally managed Cies (2012-11-03 09:44)

21

Eco-cies (2012-11-03 09:48)

22

Urban sprawl Bhubaneswar (2012-11-03 09:55)

Cyclone Management (2012-11-03 10:05)

23

Disaster Reducon (2012-11-03 10:17)

24

Cies must create jobs (2012-11-03 10:21)

25

1.2 December

Green Renewable Energy (2012-12-11 13:19)

26

Trac calming Measures (2012-12-11 13:23)

27

Trac Travails (2012-12-11 13:27)

28

Barrier free Environment (2012-12-11 13:28)

29

Remember Persons with Disabilies (2012-12-11 13:29)

30

COP18 Doha : Womens Voices in Climate Change (2012-12-11 14:39)

31

Sustainable Energy for All (2012-12-11 14:49)

32

Migraon and Poverty (2012-12-18 14:08)

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Migraon and Climate Change (2012-12-18 14:10)

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35

2. 2013

2.1 February

Indoor Air polluon (2013-02-08 13:41)

36

hp://www.orissapost.com/world-cancer-day-2013-indoor-air-polluon

Air polluon cause of Cancer (2013-02-08 13:42)

37

2.2 March

Intelligent Buildings (2013-03-11 15:56)

38

hp://www.orissapost.com/naonal-science-day-intelligent-buildings

Urban Heat Island Eects (2013-03-11 15:58)

39

Safety Iniaves (2013-03-11 16:00)

hp://www.orissapost.com/internaonal-womens-day-safety-iniaves

40

Womans Safety (2013-03-11 16:04)

41

Polluon problems (2013-03-26 10:16)

hp://www.orissapost.com/world-water-day-polluon-problems

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Water Scarcity (2013-03-26 10:18)

hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/how-to-meet-severe-sca rcity-of-water-in-near-future.htmlHOW TO MEET SEVERE SCARCITY OF WATER IN NEAR FUTUREWorld Water Day is held annually on March 22 as a means of focusing aenon on the importance of freshwater andadvocang for sustainable management of freshwater resources. An internaonal day to celebrate freshwater wasrecommended at the 1992 United Naons Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The UN GeneralAssembly responded by designang March 22, 1993 as the rst World Water Day (WWD). Each year, WWD highlightsa specic aspect of freshwater. In 2013, in reecon of the Internaonal Year of Water Cooperaon, the WWD isdedicated to the theme Water Cooperaon.The major task, which the internaonal community is facing today in the eld of water resources, is the transfer ofcommied obligaons into concrete acons that need to be implemented on the ground for the benet of people,ecosystems and the biosphere as a whole. Nurturing the opportunies for cooperaon in water management amongall stakeholders and improving the comprehension of the challenges and benets of water cooperaon can buildmutual respect, understanding and trust among countries and promote peace, security and sustainable economicgrowth.

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As per the UN Water for Life Report, around 700 million people in 43 countries suer from water scarcity. By 2025,1.8 billion people would be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity and two-thirds of the worldpopulaon could be living under water-stressed condion. With the exisng climate change scenario, almost half theworld populaonwould be living in areas of high water stress by 2030. It is clear that the world is suering fromwaterscarcity. The increasing demand for water with a rapidly growing rate of populaon, inadequate rainfall, uncontrolleduse of water and climate change are some of the reasons behind it.About 70 per cent of the earth surface is covered with water, which amounts to 1,400 million cubic kilometers (mkm3). However, 97.5 per cent of this water beingseawater, it is salty. Freshwater availability is only 35m km3 and only 40 per cent of this can be used by human beings.Out of the total fresh water, 68.7 per cent is frozen in ice caps, 30 per cent stored underground and the rest is availableon the surface of the earth. Out of the surface water, 87 per cent is stored in lakes, 11 per cent in swamp and 2 percent in rivers.Long before, when the populaon was less and lifestyle was simple, water was available in plenty and was consideredas a free resource. However, with the growing demand for water and depleon of the available water, assured sup-ply of good quality water is becoming a growing concern. Major consumpon of water is for agriculture, industrialproducon and domesc purposes, besides being used for shery, hydropowergeneraon and maintaining biodiversity and ecological balance. With the urbanisaon and industrial development,water usage is likely to increase in the coming years.India is blessed with good rainfall well-distributed over ve to six months in a year. It receives most of its water fromsouth-west monsoon which is the most important feature controlling the Indian climate. The rainfall distribuon overthe country shows large variaons in the amount of rainfall received by dierent locaons, e.g., the averagerainfall is less than 13 cm over the western Rajasthan while at some parts of Meghalaya it is as much as 1141 cm. Asper the Metrological Department, Indias annual rainfall is around 1182.8 mm.The countrys total available sweet water is 4,000 billion m3 per annum. Out of this, over 1,047 billion m3 water islost due to evaporaon, transpiraon. Presently, water consumed in India is 829 billion m3 which is likely to increaseto 1,093 billion m3 in 2025 and 1,047 billion m3 in 2050, as ocially esmated. The growing populaon is a seriousconcern as it will create further burden on the per capita water availability in future and India is bound to face severescarcity of water in the near future.In spite of adequate average rainfall in India, there is a large area under the less water condions/drought prone.There are a lot of places where the quality of groundwater is not good. Some major reasons behind water scarcityare populaon growth and agriculture, increasing construcon acvies, massive urbanisaon and industrializaon,climac change, depleng of natural resources due to changing climate condions, deforestaon and lack of imple-mentaon of eecve water management systems.The foremost result of the increasing populaon is the growing demand for more food-grains, especially high-yieldingcrop variees. Another area of concern is the water-intensive industries and thermal power plants. That is why thereis an urgent need to address the issue of water scarcity in India to make beer policy decisions which would aect itsavailability in future.There are many habitaons in Odisha that do not meet the norm of 40 liters per capita per day (lpcd). In a number ofareas, tube-wells stop yielding water during summer and somemes even before this. The problem occurs when thewater-table falls below the level to which the tube-well has been dug.Because of populaon growth and economic development, water resources in many parts of the world are pushedto their natural limits. In turn, the ability of cies and countries to grow, aract investment, meet the fundamentalneeds of populaons and ensure environmental protecon would be increasingly threatened if water resources arenot managed.Water scarcity is both a natural and a human-made phenomenon. There is enough freshwater on the planet, but it isdistributed unevenly and too much of it is wasted, polluted and unsustainably managed.44

Presently, despite good rainfall distribuon, the country is unable to make good use of rainwater because of lack ofawareness and poor infrastructure to construct dams, reservoirs and proper water harvesng system.The water supply in India is going to be a serious challenge due to various reasons. Overexploitaon of groundwateris another concern. Acvies such as percolaon tanks, water reservoirs and construcon of small and medium-sizedams and rivers can retain more surface water, while increasing the ground water recharge.Development ofwatershed is an important programme tomake best use of rainwater for agricultural produconwhileimproving soil conservaon and biodiversity. It is, therefore, necessary to prevent this crisis by making best use ofthe available technologies and resources to conserve the exisng water resources and make ecient use of water foragriculture, industrial producon and human consumpon. Imposing regulatory measures to prevent the misuse ofwater would be helpful in conserving water. Finally, awareness and orientaon of all the water users to change theirlifestyles to conserve water can help de over the water crisis in the future. The challenge is manageable providedwe have favourable policies and mechanisms to persuade our people to change their lifestyles.Water resourcesmanagement issuesmust be addressed at the local, naonal and internaonal levels. All stakeholders,including those in government, internaonal organisaons, private sector and civil society, should be engaged, payingspecial aenon to work towards water cooperaon.Water is a key to sustainable development; it has value from social, economic and environmental perspecves andneeds to be managed within sound, integrated socioeconomic and environmental frameworks. It is impossible tomaintain the integrity of a balanced ecosystem without an overall strategy on water resources management. We allhave a shared responsibility for protecng the environment surrounding rivers and their associated watersheds.

Weather Watch (2013-03-26 10:19)

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2.3 April

Ausm friendly environment (2013-04-04 20:02)

hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/lets-ensure-ausm-fri endly-environment.htmlLETS ENSURE AUTISM-FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENTThe sixth annual World Ausm Awareness Day (WAAD) is on April 2, 2013. Every year, ausm organisaons aroundthe world celebrate the day with awareness-raising events.The World Ausm Day was agreed by the United Naons in 2007 to focus global aenon on ausm by encouragingmember states to take measures to raise awareness about ausm and encourage early diagnosis and early inter-venon and the right to life and the right to health for ausc people. It further expresses deep concern over theprevalence and high rate of ausm in children in all regions of the world and the consequent developmental chal-lenges. Addionally, the WAAD celebrates the unique talents and skills of persons with ausm and is a day whenindividuals with ausm are warmly welcomed and embraced in community events.One in every 150 people in the world is ausc. This number is a very rough esmate as ausm is a disease witha wide spectrum of symptoms and disorders, ranging from a fully funconal adult with slight ausc tendencies or46

minor learning disorders. India is home to about 10 million people with ausm, and the disability has shown anincrease over the last few years.Those with ausm can nd the world strange and confusing. Ausm is a pervasive developmental disability with awide range of symptoms that aect a childs language, social, cognive, and sensory development. Sll, some auscchildren are very bright. Although there is no cure for ausm, early intervenon and structured teaching enablestudents to maximise their skills and learning potenal. Further, the built environment plays a signicant role in anoverall success of educaon and care for them.The environment in which a person with ausm lives can have a major impact on their wellbeing. The sensory di-cules faced by people with ausmmean that there are a number of modicaons that should be taken into accountto make environment and architectural design of buildings ausm-friendly. Architecture can best be described asthe art or pracce of designing buildings for human use. It takes account of form, funcon, construcon, beauty,convenience and freedom.Le Corbusier (1887 1965) was an architect, designer, writer known for being a pioneer in modernist architecture.His career spanned ve decades with buildings constructed throughout the world. He prepared the Master Plan forChandigarh in 1950 and designed some government buildings which are unusual in India. It is an impressive legacy ofurban design, landscape and architecture that the architect has given us a unique city and remarkable architecturalheritage of humanity. Few books in the tweneth century drew as much aenon as Le Corbusiers Vers une architec-ture (1923) published in English as Towards a New Architecture (1927). Le Corbusier has wrien, You employ stone,wood and concrete, and with these materials you build houses and palaces; that is construcon. Ingenuity is at work.But suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good, I am happy and I say, this is beauful, that is architecture.These concepts can have benecial eects for people with ausm. Architecture has been dened in many waysthroughout history, but its focus, its aim is built environment. In an architects work, there is an underlying noon,which may be evident to a greater or lesser extent, that the built environment is a space to be lived in, inhabited,for it to be considered architecture. Likewise, architecture has taken into account the existence of people with dif-ferent types and degrees of disabilies, mainly visual, hearing, and the architect has designed, either in accordancewith their convicons with design guidelines. This is a maer of enabling disabled people to access buildings andspaces. However, there are other disabilies that are not so visible, and that are obviated in making a built envi-ronment accessible. Nonetheless, for people with certain cognive and sensory deciencies, etc., which are lessvisible including people suering from ausm. Despite its overwhelming incidence, ausm is by and large ignoredby architects.The common characteriscs in the ausc children are inability to relate to other people, at least in a normal way,extreme ausc solitudewhich apparently isolates the child from the outsideworld. Besidesmedicine and psychology,pedagogy or even philosophy, it is necessary to know what peculiaries ausc people show in order to determinewhat the characteriscs are that a built environment has to have tomake it easier for them to grasp and achieve otherobjecves that go beyond, but to a certain point depend on, the architecture itself, such as encouraging learning,making it easier to socialise, ensuring independence or even preserving the dignity of the person with ausm.Despite this high incidence of ausm, design guidelines are yet to be developed to cater specically to the scope ofausc needs. The United Naons mandate on the Global Programme on Disability covers many issues, including em-ployment, recreaon, religion, educaon and accessibility to public services, but has not specied design guidelinesfor ausc people.For people with ausm the eects of complexity are much greater; they are unable to disnguish separate noises,shapes, etc., easily. If a building or set of buildings are planned in a simple clear manner, the user will require lileeort to use and enjoy the building. A clear layout and organisaon of spaces can help a person use a building withoutconfusion as to the locaon of rooms. To provide a calm backdrop for people with ausm can assist in reducing someelements of stress which is helpful for their wellbeing. Complexity in the detail of a building can cause visual distrac-ons. The design of facilies for ausc people should emphasise sustainable design indoor air quality, acouscs,so[er interior design, lighng, storage space to reduce cluer and for security. A design strategy to deal with these

47

varying challenges may be iniated which would facilitate the generaon of broad design standards and guidelinesand policies for ausc people.

To have a beer understanding of this disorder, many denions and theories have been set forth in the past regard-ing the mechanisms of ausm. Ausm-related research is going on at some instuons. ulising the knowledge ofyears of experience in working with children with profound ausm, Architects have the task of incorporang specicfeatures within the design of the building such as specic colours, noise reducon fabrics, specic oor coverings,specic bedroom design, circulaon space and design of courtyard.

It is proven that the exisng scienc literature regarding built environment in relaon to ausc people is scarce,despite signicant research acvity relang to ausm in recent years. The design of built space and environment forausc children requires careful aenon. The architect must use a dierent palee for the aesthec design and builtenvironment for ausc people. There is a need to include design guidelines for ausc children and people whichwould help them lead a beer life in ausm-friendly built environment in future.

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Creang right environment (2013-04-04 20:04)

hp://www.orissapost.com/world-ausm-a wareness-day-creang-right-environment

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Fighng High Blood Pressure (2013-04-17 15:21)

hp://www.orissapost.com/ghng-hbp/

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Health and Housing (2013-04-17 15:26)

Koenigsbergers Bhubaneswar Planning (2013-04-17 15:34)

hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/koenigsbergers-guideli nes-not-followed-in-todays-planning.html

Today the State capital city of Bhubaneswar celebrates its 65th Foundaon Day.51

It was on April 13, 1948 that rst Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had laid the foundaon-stone of the city.Bhubaneswar, as one of the rst planned cies of modern India, was designed on a linear plan by German architectand urban planner Dr Oo H Koenigsberger. More than sixty years since its making, the city remains a celebratedmodel of modern architecture and city planning.The original plan envisaged horizontal development rather than vercal growth for a populaon of 40,000with admin-istraon as the primary funcon. Accordingly, six units were developed with Unit-V as locaon of the administravecomplex and the other units planned on neighbourhood principles. The town centre consisted of the market building,weeklymarket, dailymarket and bus-staonwith a central vista leading up to Raj Bhavan and a commercial zone alongJanpath and Bapuji Nagar up to the railway staon. Koenigsbergers planning zone provided the funcon of microcli-mate control and oers salubrious climate throughout the year. This parcular area designed by Dr Koenigsbergerremains as the best green cover with open space and a well-organised transportaon system in the city.Architect Julius Lazras Vaz played an important role in shaping the skyline of Bhubaneswar. He designed most of thegovernment buildings. Vaz adopted the Hindu style of architecture with some modicaons to take advantage ofmodern methods of construcon and to meet new social needs of the people. However, Koenigsberger specied afew guiding principles and climac design features essenal for the city building design. According to his guidelines,most government buildings were designed with impressive corridors intended to protect the walls of oce roomsfrom direct sunrays.Neighbourhood units were designed with the best amenies of urban life, with units placed at short distances to givepeople easy access to school, hospital and other facilies. In a neighbourhood unit, every child had to live within one-quarter or one-third of a mile from school. Every housewife had to live within half a mile from the civic centre, whereshe could do her shopping and also visit medical facilies. Home and workplace distance that could be convenientlycovered was by using a bicycle or a cycle-rickshaw.Koenigsberger suggested seven types of roads footpaths, parkways, cycle paths, minor housing streets, major hous-ing streets, main roads and main arteries for seven groups of users for seven dierent funcons. The overall widthsof land earmarked for roads and streets were not determined by trac alone but also by requirements for stormwater drainage services like overhead electric lines, telephone, water and the need of adequate light and air to theadjoining houses. The overall width of land alloed for road purposes was, therefore, dependent on the height ofhouses on both sides.An important consideraon was space for avenue trees, and necessary provisions were made early in the land allot-ment scheme and in the esmates. For requirements other than trac, the allotment of land even for the smallesthousing street had been xed at a minimum of 30 feet. Only about nine feet of these 30 was trac, the rest for stormwater drainage, avenue trees and services and to allow sucient gap between two rows of houses for a fair share ofthe cooling breeze to every house.The guidelines suggested by Koenigsberger have not been followed in the present-day planning. Today, the city facesurbanisaon with a high populaon growth. The overall width of the road in many areas does not have any relaonwith the height of the building. Avenue trees, storm water drainage, services and footpaths have not been givenimportance. Redevelopment in the parcular area has not followed the Koenigsbergers design principles. Sincethe designed area is in the heart of the city and due to the increasing pressure on land, there are demands for re-densicaon of the residenal area by increasing the oor area rao (FAR).To meet the changing needs, the city requires more land. Konigsberger had also pointed out in his report to supple-ment the Master Plan for the New Capital by a regional development plan. He emphasised a good master plan for anew town must provide for unlimited expansion but at the same me organise the town in such a way that it formsan organic and healthy structure at each stage of its development.Bhubaneswar is currently witnessing several modern buildings and high-rise apartments to accommodate its grow-ing populaon. Today, the citys growth is so fast that it is spreading towards Khurda and Jatani. The developmentacvies in the city have led to large-scale deforestaon, an increasing volume of trac, polluon and temperaturerise. The citys expansion and lots of concrete structures are also the reason for microclimac change over the years.52

Bhubaneswar recorded 42C temperature on April 6 this year, which is highest in the State. The same day Tilagarhin Balangir district, the place considered the hoest in Odisha, recorded 40.7C.

To formulate a meaningful physical development plan, to regulate and guide the urban growth in Bhubaneswar by2030 in a planned and healthy manner, a Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) for Bhubaneswar DevelopmentPlanned Area (BDPA) was prepared by IIT, Kharagpur in 2006. To manage and organise the planning, developmentand control funcons, development strategies for both new areas and the exisng ones have been integrated. As perthe CDP, the maximum density in Bhubaneswar would be 50-60 dwelling units (DUs) per acre.

The Bhubaneswar New Town Zone designed by Koenigsberger would have intensive development with administravefuncon, capital funcon, instuons, commercial complex, housing of all kinds, urban parkway system, sports com-plex, art and cultural acvies, etc. In this zone, the exisng density of 24 DU/acre is assumed to go up to 50 DU/acre.Adequate aenon should be paid to transportaon network and parking facility while increasing the density in theexisng developed area.

A need for high-density living in the 21st century is inevitable. However, planning guidance on the methods of calcu-lang and assessing the sustainable density is the need of the day. In many high density urban areas, greenery suchas city parks, tradional streetscape, trees and planters have been reduced.

The urban greenery should be developed in high-density areas for cleaner air and safer environment. The problemworsens when the populaon connues to grow and the density of the area increases but new green spaces are notbeing created at an equal pace.

There should be a proper development control in all aspects of planning and design. Care needs to be taken forphysical, infrastructure, city transport planning and environmental consideraons of the whole region to preventhaphazard growth and squaer selements. The open spaces, parks, recreaonal areas, greenbelts and plantaonshould be properly organised in the region to provide environmental funcons such as control of microclimate andpolluon and beaucaon of the region. This would help making the city a comfortable, safe and enjoyable place tolive in.

Koenigsbergers planning principles applied in Bhubaneswar have inspired many architects and planners in India andabroad. Today, the architects and planners from all over the world learn his design principles applied in Bhubaneswar.The central area of Bhubaneswar designed by Koenigsberger is a special urban heritage site of the city with outstand-ing planning features and has a public value. The buildings designed in this area by architect Vaz are the importantlandmarks of the city and aract people from all corners of the city to this area. These buildings with special ar-chitectural interest along with the site should be listed under consideraon of the planning system and protectedfrom alteraons by regulatory techniques. To retain its planned character, the area should be declared as urban her-itage having groups of buildings, neighbourhoods and public spaces including landscapes and natural features whichprovide character and disncve identy to a city.

The listed urban heritage should be emphasised in the CDP and, if understood and managed properly, the urbanheritage could eecvely contribute to the overall quality of urban areas and serve as a vital asset and aractor forfuture urban development. This would idenfy the visual, spaal and cultural character of the city.

Besides, the citys role as an important centre of administraon, tourism, commerce and industry calls for planningenvironment-friendly and sustainable development which would provide high quality of life and support health andwellbeing of people who live and work in the city.

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Bhubaneswar Vision-2030 (2013-04-17 15:37)

hp://www.orissapost.com/foundaon-day-of-bhubaneswar-vision-2030/

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GREEN URBANISM (2013-04-24 06:36)

hp://www.orissapost.com/internaonal-mother-earth-day-green-urbanism/

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Urbanisaon adds to growing levels of greenhouse gas (2013-04-24 06:41)

hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/urbanisaon-adds-to-g rowing-levels-of-greenhouse-gas.htmlURBANISATION ADDS TO GROWING LEVELS OF GREENHOUSE GASEarth Day is observed on April 22 to migate climate change, promote adaptaon and improve public health.The rst Earth Day was held in 1970 with an aim to promote the thoughts of ecology, reverence for existence on earthand highlighng growing concern over polluon of the soil, air and water. The April 22 date was also designated asInternaonal Mother Earth Day by a resoluon adopted by the United Naons in 2009.Mother Earth is a common expression for the planet Earth in a number of countries and regions, which reects theinterdependence among human beings and other living species and the planet. This years Earth Day theme is chosenas The Face of Climate Change by the Earth Day Network.With more than half the worlds populaon now living in urban areas, there are concerns that urbanisaon is a keydriver of unsustainable resource demands. Urbanisaon also appears to contribute to the ever-growing levels ofgreenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change. Climate change presents unique challenges for urban areas andtheir growing populaons. Where urban areas grow rapidly without regard to current and future resource demandsand climate change, large numbers of people and their assets can nd themselves vulnerable to a range of disrupveand damaging risks.Urbanism is a way of life and the outcome of urbanisaon. It is the characterisc way of interacon of inhabitantsof towns and cies with the built environment or, in other words, the character of urban life, organisaon, problems,etc., as well as the study of that character or of the physical needs of urban sociees or city planning.Urbanism is a complex system of paral public and private realms that exist between buildings. Therefore, largecies are not the only examples of urbanism. It can exist in the smallest town too. First, it is in our homes andneighbourhoods that we generate the demand for the worlds resources. Here, we eat most of our food, do muchof our transportaon, buy, use and dispose of most of the worlds end products. Here, we use much of the worldsenergy for heang and cooling, lighng and operang appliances. Next to our buildings, including homes, shops andoces, we consume roughly half of the resources that contribute to climate change, in the acvies like heang andcooling and running lights and appliances that are likely to trigger release of greenhouse gases somewhere else.56

So, the shape of buildings, their eciency of layout, their exposure to heat, their tendency to gain heat energy andtheir ability to accommodate our various habits of consumpon, all have a signicant eect on energy use and carbonemissions. So, clearly, the built environment has a major role in generang the causes of climate change and otherunsustainable pracces. Urban form is a crical aspect of the challenge of sustainability. Sustainable developmentis development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generaons to meettheir own needs, dened by the Brundtland Commission (formally known as theWorld Commission on Environmentand Development), a panel convened by the United Naons in 1983. It contains the concept of needs, in parcularthe essenal needs of the worlds poor and the idea of limitaons imposed by the state of technology and socialorganisaon on the environments ability to meet present and future needs. This means that when designing forsustainability, we must move beyond the scale of the building and design for sustainable urbanism. This is becauseurbanisaon produces a warmer city centre compared to the neighbouring surroundings. The temperature in urbanarea could be 5-10oC warmer compared to rural areas. The eect is known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI) and is seenalmost at all the big cies.

In an urban area, tall buildings, bridges and yovers retard the free ow of air; so, suspended pollutants are noteecvely removed. Lack of open ground leads to less inltraon of rainwater in the ground as the tar roads andcement pavements are impervious to the percolaon of rainwater. This increased runo which leads greater risks ofoods/waterlogging. The urban development very o[en takes place in a manner in which buildings and roads occupythe ood plains of the rivers and streams. This causes high runos/stagnaon of water which cannot nd its naturalexit due to blocking.

Human acvies produce greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and they tend to trap heat in the Earths atmo-sphere. Among the gases are carbon dioxide, methane and various other hydrocarbon compounds. However, thereare a number of important things that can be done at the building scale, parcularly when it comes to heang, coolingand lighng, which account for a large poron of energy consumed by the built environment. Building energy systemsmust be as ecient as possible while remaining reliable over me and with changing condions. The eciency ofcharacterisc building types is closely connected to the eciency of urban paern. Again, the size, shape and orien-taon of an individual building are closely related to the size, shape and orientaon of the neighbourhood itself. Thecharacterisc buildings that are likely to be built in a neighbourhood are in turn related to the neighbourhoods con-necvity, density, characterisc appeal and other factors. The building characteriscs include, aached types, whichtend to save heat from common walls; building orientaon to take maximum advantage of passive solar exposures;buildings that are well-sheltered from the negave eects of sun and wind; buildings that line the street and supportan aracve streetscape, conducive to pedestrian acvity. Urban macro-eects are eects that are created by theurban paern itself. They include Albedo eect, which is the tendency of buildings and paved surfaces to convertsolar energy to heat energy and increases the greenhouse eect. This adds to the heang of cies. Heat island eecthas the tendency of air to become trapped between buildings, especially tall ones, and heated above ambient levels.Again, this increases the heang of cies and can exacerbate heat wave eects. There are also some negave eectsof tall buildings. These include wind eects, shadowing, and canyon eect. So, the more we live in a neighbour-hoodwith opmally distributed services, themore we are likely to use amore ecient combinaon of large and smallfacilies. We can live in a more ecient lifestyle, in a more ecient urban paern over many years.

Therefore, urban form is a crical aspect of the challenge of sustainability. This means that while designing for sustain-ability, we must move beyond the scale of the building, and design for sustainable urbanism. For urban centres, thisrequires that they meet their residents needs (being healthy, enjoyable, resilient places to live and work for all theirinhabitants). Communies should be designed for the pedestrian and public transport. Cies should be shaped byphysically-dened and universally-accessible public spaces and community instuons. Urban developments shouldbe characterised by homes with front porches, sidewalks, retail development in close proximity to residenal devel-opment, green public spaces and green corridors. Green corridors provide a rich habitat for a diversity of ora andfauna. A number of cies are developing this idea of green corridor as a tool both for protecon of biodiversity andto provide a sense of connuity between town and country which can reduce climate-related risks.

Most urban buildings and infrastructure designed and built now would have to cope with climate change in future.57

As a result, it would be much easier to make provisions now for likely future climate-related risks in infrastructureexpansion, new buildings and new urban developments than to have to retrot buildings and readjust selementlayouts in the future. Built environment professionals must have a major role in making these reforms. The designersmust take into account the factors at the scale of the building and factors at the scale of the neighbourhood andregion for sustainable urbanism which would migate the climate change risks, promote adaptaon and improvepublic health in future.

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Global acon Plan: Malaria (2013-04-25 05:09)

hp://www.orissapost.com/world-malaria-day-global-acon-plan/

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Environmental health risk of slum-dwellers (2013-04-25 18:40)

hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/its-basically-an-envir onmental-health-risk-of-slum-dwellers.htmlVarious environment-related problems and diseases are associated with exposure of hazardous unsanitary condionsin the slum areas. The most prevalent disease is malaria fever, typhoid fever and diarrhea. Malaria parcularly is aninfecous disease transmied by mosquitoes that kill more than one million people each year. Globally, 3.3 billionpeople in 106 countries are at risk of malaria. To control malaria, World Malaria Day is commemorated every year onApril 25 and recognises global eorts.TheWorldMalaria Daywas instuted by theWorld Health Organisaon (WHO)Member States during the 2007WorldHealth Assembly. It is an occasion to highlight the need for connued investment and sustained polical commitmentfor malaria prevenon and control. It is also an opportunity for new donors to join the global malaria partnership,and for research and academic instuons to showcase their scienc work. The global campaign theme for 2013 isInvest in the future. Defeat malaria.Many countries throughout theworld connue to report high prevalenceofmalaria infecon. Even though the diseasecan be prevented or treated, it remains a major cause of mortality in many parts of the world. It is one of the majorcommunicable diseases aecngmankind, caused by plasmodiumparasite, transmied by the bite of infecve femaleanopheles mosquito. It is most prevalent in slums and squaer selements of urban areas.Many areas in the developing world are urbanising very fast and, along with this, the slum populaon in these coun-tries is also steadily increasing. Slum areas have the highest concentraons of poor people with inadequate accessto safe water, inferior sanitaon and other infrastructure, poor quality of housing, overcrowding and unprotectedresidenal status.More than 1 billion people around the world live in slums. By 2030, the worlds slum populaon could rise to 2 billion.For the poor, urban areas have always provided a means of improving quality of life as well as being in close proximityto beer jobs and incomes. Slum creaon has been the result of a recent upsurge in rural-urban migraon, limitedsupply of land, and regulatory frameworks that are not addressing the needs of the urban poor.Inadequate quanes and quality of drinking water, lack of sanitaon facilies, and poor hygiene causemillions of theworlds poorest people to suer from various diseases including malaria. The disease is closely associated with the60

availability of water as the larval stage of mosquitoes develops in dierent kinds of stagnant water bodies. In urbanslums, water storage and poor drainage increase mosquito breeding, the main cause of malaria.Therefore, malaria control must be based on disease epidemiology with emphasis on improvement of knowledge andpracce of appropriate prevenve measures in slum and squaer selements. So, socioeconomic status, housing,water storage, sanitaon, waste disposal facilies should be improved. The people should cooperate with municipalhealth workers. Mosquito nets/repellents may be provided to the poor free of cost.Providing adequate shelter in cies of developing countries has been a fundamental problem for naonal and munic-ipal governments. World leaders, governments and internaonal agencies are trying to take direct acon to improvethe living condions of slum-dwellers and oer adequate soluons for tomorrow. Adequate housing is one of theeecve means to alleviate poverty because shelter is usually the most expensive item for households. It is also aprerequisite for beer health, providing a great amount of saving when one is not sick.The urban poor should play a key role in the improvement of their living condions. Their parcipaon in all stagesof a social development agenda is a fundamental human right. Urban human selements require a more inclusiveapproach to planning and land management to sustain all the people who live in them. Slums can be upgraded mosteecvely when citywide approaches are adopted. These approaches should include consultaon with a broad rangeof stakeholders and use of parcipatory planning methods.Absence of planned development of the slum selements is a major reason for absence of waste disposal facilies(both liquid and solid waste). Malaria is a preventable and treatable mosquito-borne disease. Appropriate countriesand communies are being encouraged to reduce mosquito breeding sites by lling in and draining water bodies andimplemenng other environmental management schemes.Malaria eliminaon is a worthwhile goal. In this context, innovave nancing would play an important role. Invest-ments in malaria prevenon and control have been among the best investments in global health facility, resulng in adramac decrease in malaria deaths and illness. The strategic approaches to malaria control come within two majordomains prevenon and case management. The goals of malaria control are to protect individual people againstinfecve malaria mosquito bites and to reduce the intensity of local malaria transmission at community level.Parcipatory slum upgrading and prevenon programme strengthens capacity of local, central and regional instu-ons and key stakeholders in selement and slum improvement through the use of good governance and manage-ment approaches. Generally, the programme aims to respond to the dynamic development of cies and slum upgrad-ing acvies. These require a deep understanding of the local context, interacon of urban stakeholders, instuonalframeworks and nancial mechanisms.The most powerful and most broadly-applied intervenons such as long-lasng inseccidal nets (LLINs) and indoorresidual spraying (IRS) can help prevent malaria in slum areas. The incidence of malaria can also be reduced whenmosquito breeding areas caused by insucient drainage are eliminated. These intervenons work by reducing thelifespan of adult female anopheles mosquitoes so that they do not survive long enough to transmit the parasite.Working with families and communies to improve their knowledge on prevenon, recognion and appropriate treat-ment of malaria is the key to success of any malaria control programme. Besides, high-level polical commitment,mobilisaon of resources is required to apply the eecve tools, medicines and control strategies already available.The eects of subopmal service delivery are felt in low-income neighbourhoods and slums. Basic services like watersupply and sanitaon are primarily the responsibility of Urban Local Bodies. However, in many local authories indeveloping countries suer from lack of nancial, technical and human resources and are therefore not capable orwilling to deliver and maintain basic urban services. Funding plays a fundamental role in implementaon of anyslum management strategy. Total clearance of the slum in an urban area may not be feasible because of the poorland management and cost elements, but an urban basic service (UBS) may be introduced. This essenally includesprovision of immediate facilies in the slum so that residents could appreciate the importance of livable environment.These measures would not only reduce the environmental risks of slum-dwellers but also give birth to a funconaland aesthec environment for slum-dwellers.

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There is a need to develop a funding scheme to improve the socioeconomic condion of slum-dwellers.It is imperave to educate slum-dwellers about mosquito-borne diseases and their prevenve measures. Finally, thepeople need proper enlightenment on the importance and benets of a healthy environment.This would prevent many diseases in slums and squaer selements and lead to a healthy life for slum-dwellers.

Rescue of Child Ragpickers (2013-04-28 05:48)

hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/its-me-to-come-to-re scue-of-child-ragpickers.htmlITS TIME TO COME TO RESCUE OF CHILD RAGPICKERSToday, throughout the world, around 215 million children work as per the Internaonal Labour Organisaon (ILO).They dont go to school and have lile or no me to play. Many do not receive proper nutrion or care. More thanhalf of them are exposed to the worst forms of child labour. Out of the 2.34 million occupaonal fatalies every year,only 321,000 are due to accidents. The remaining 2.02 million deaths are caused by various types of work-relateddiseases, which correspond to a daily average of over 5,500.The World Day for Safety and Health at Work is a UN internaonal day observed on April 28. The days theme in2013 is Prevenon of occupaonal diseases. Occupaonal diseases connue as the leading cause of work-relateddeaths. They are caused by chemical, physical and biological agents to respiratory and skin diseases, musculoskeletaldisorders and occupaonal cancer. This also aects child labourers health.Child Labour exists in both developing and developed countries. Its prevalence is more in the developing countriesbecause the families, to which the children belong, are in an urgent need of income of children for their subsistence.India is sadly the home to the largest number of child labourers. There are 35 million Indian child labourers accordingto a Unicef report.Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their childhood, interfereswith their ability to aend regular school and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful.Legislaons across the world prohibit child labour. However in developing countries, with high poverty, child labouris sll prevalent.As street children, between ve and 18 years of age, they earn their livelihood by polishing shoes, washing cars,ragpicking, selling newspapers, etc. They also work as coolies and helpers in automobile repair shops, construconsites and hotels. A ragpicker is one who picks out recyclable elements from dumped mixed wastes. According to the3Unicef, ragpicking is one of the worst forms of child labour. Ragpickerss life is very hard as they search through everydirty garbage heap. This acvity requires no skills and they get a maximum 20 to 50 rupees from scrap dealers for62

their collecons. But the children face various physical hazards such as cuts on their body and are also suscepbleto infecons and diseases. They are vicms of poverty and illiteracy. Some of these children are involved in drugs,alcohol, smoking and gambling. Somemes, they indulge in ansocial acvies.

The inadequate prevenon of occupaonal diseases has profound negave eects on the child labourers. Becausewastematerials may include biological pathogens such as parasites and bacteria, this can be passed from hands to themouth. Hospital waste o[en constutes part of the wastes. This can be hazardous in terms of biological and chemicalcontaminaon including exposure to used syringes, dressings, discardedmedicines. Industrial wastemay include toxicmaterials such as heavy metals and their associated health eects. Sharp objects can cause cuts which, in turn, maylead to tetanus or other infecons. Waste pickers are in direct compeon with dogs for the waste materials; thissomemes leads to dog bites and the associated threat of rabies. Carrying heavy loads of wastes over long distancesmay be associated with muscular/skeletal problems.

Ragpicking is probably one of the most dangerous and dehumanising acvies in India. Children should be protectedfrom such work. Educaon is of primary importance for children for their present and future wellbeing.

The inadequate prevenon of occupaonal diseases has profound negave eects on child workers and their families.It is necessary to take eecve economic and social measures to eliminate the roots of child ragpickers. There is anurgent need to look into the lives of these children and design some iniaves so that they can live a healthy life.

2.4 May

Wetland degradaon (2013-05-11 13:33)

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hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/wetland-degradaon-bi rd-populaons-dwindle-in-chilika.html

WETLAND DEGRADATION: BIRD POPULATIONS DWINDLE IN CHILIKAThe World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) was iniated in 2006 and is an awareness-raising campaign highlighng theneed for protecon of migratory birds and their habitats. In the second weekend each May, people around the worldtake acon and organise public events such as bird fesvals, educaon programmes and bird watching excursions tocelebrate the WMBD.This year, the day will be celebrated on May 11-12 with the theme Networking for migratory birds. The WMBDis expected to connect the world and bring together organisaons, governments and dedicated people to protectmigratory birds for future generaons. The day works as a network to increase public knowledge about migratorybirds and their importance and also connects groups of people to share, celebrate with and learn from each other.This years theme also highlights the need to cooperate and network amongst organisaons and people to conservemigratory birds. Since the migraon routes o[en cross many naons and even enre connents and oceans, aneecve management strategy requires joint acon in the form of internaonal cooperaon. Collecve conservaonacons by nature conservaon organisaons, sciensts, governments and the general public are needed to ensuresurvival of the migratory birds.The survival of migratory birds depends on the availability of well-connected habitat networks along their migraonroutes. This years theme aims to emphasise both ecological networks and the networks between organisaons andindividuals and their mutual importance for long-term conservaon of migratory birds.Suitable habitats are vital for migratory birds as they provide the areas necessary for feeding, resng and breeding.These birds travel huge distances, somemes comprising thousands of kilometers. However, human acvies, directlyor indirectly, damage these sites through habitat fragmentaon and degradaon, thereby posing a threat to the birdspecies. Many sites that birds depend on are under threat from human acvies, posing a grave risk to their species.Direct human acvies such as land reclamaon anddeforestaon aswell as indirect human inuences such as climatechange damage these sites through habitat fragmentaon and degradaon. Large numbers of important sites havealready been damaged, or lost enrely. Consequently, conservaon of the remaining important sites is crucial forprotecon of the migratory avian species.In many parts of the world, wetlands are under threat of degradaon or disappearance. Vast water body and biodi-versity is a major factor for visit of thousands of birds from dierent regions of the world. Along with this, climatechange is emerging as the greatest threat to natural communies in most parts of the worlds ecosystems in comingdecades. Bird species are great indicators of climate change. It is aecng birds behaviour, distribuon and popu-laon dynamics and is implicated in a complete breeding failure in some populaons. The problems faced by birdpopulaons worldwide, especially by migratory birds that may be travelling up to tens of thousands of miles, meanthat drasc changes in any single world region could push a wide variety of the species out of existence.Migratory birds visit most part of India and are not conned to a few areas. With a view to escaping severe coldin winter and also in search of food, the birds travel from the remote lands like Siberia, Mongolia, Caspian Lake,Baikal Lake, Ladakh and the Himalayas foothills to visit the wetlands in India. In comparison to other Indian wetlands,maximum numbers of migratory birds are seen in the Chilika lagoon in Odisha. The Chilika Lake is the largest lagoonin Asia spread over three coastal districts of Puri, Khurda and Ganjam. It is connected to the Bay of Bengal. The waterspread area of the lagoon varies between 1,165 sqkm in monsoon and about 906 sqkm in the pre-monsoon period.Ornithologists feel that early snowfall and scarce food might have led the birds to migrate to the Chilika. Experts thisme felt that the abundance of food and favourable weather aracted birds to the Chilika as the lagoons locaon onthe coast in the tropical zone spares it from extreme temperatures. The Chilika catchment enjoys a typically tropicalclimatewith an average annual maximum temperature of 39.9C and aminimum temperature of 14.0C. It is boundedby hills and hillocks. The Chilika is recognised as one of the most important wetlands in the world because it is home64

to a phenomenal variety of birds. It has always been potenally able to provide excellent hospitality to the birds withfavourable weather, food and shelter. There are many island sanctuaries in the Chilika with the island of Nalabana asa major aracon. Nalabana is a lowlying marshy island of about 35 km2, covered with low vegetaon. Designatedas a bird sanctuary, it forms the core of all tourist aracons in the Chilka region due to the presence of variegatedora and fauna.

The lagoon hosts over 160 species of birds in the peak migraon season, the winter. The birds travel possibly up to12,000 km to reach the lake. The lagoon is at present facing the problems of an overall loss of biodiversity.

The ecological character of the lake is inuenced by hydrological regimes and is vulnerable to changes due to anthro-pogenic as well as natural factors. The lake has gone through tremendous ecological changes since last decade. It hadbeen facing problems like siltaon, shrinkage of area and choking of the inlet channel, which led to decrease in thesalinity gradient, proliferaon of freshwater weeds, followed by a decrease in sh producvity and an overall loss ofbiodiversity.

The growth of chemicals-based industries in the catchment areas, agriculural intensicaon in the Chilika basin andthe spread of prawn-culture ponds have increased polluon and eutrophicaon of the lake. The presence of toxic-heavy metals including mercury, lead, copper, chromium and nickel in the lake has been reported. In addion toits impact on shing, the growth of weeds has contributed to drasc reducons in the bird populaons, parcularlynoted near Nalabana. Deforestaon in the Chilika basin and hunng are also contribung to this decline.

Due to the degradaon of wetland habitats, the populaons of various bird species are dwindling in the Chilika. In2010 and 2011, the number of birds vising the lake were 9, 24,578 and 8,83,072, respecvely. In 2012, birds num-bering 8,77,322 ocked to the lake which is less by 5,750 compared to the previous year, as per the latest bird census.This may be due to the rise in temperature. Another reason may be that the depth of the lake has decreased. Ifthis trend connues, the numbers of birds will reduce in the coming years. This decline, in turn, has resulted in asubstanal decrease in internaonal tourists and ecotourism, which used to contribute greatly to the local economy.

In the Chilika, bird conservaon requires a connuous adaptaon based on the review of changes in various compo-nents of ecological character of the wetland. There is a need for ecosystem conservaon and sustainable resourcedevelopment and livelihood improvement supported by instuonal development, communicaon, educaon andpublic awareness. Ecosystem conservaon would comprise catchment conservaon, water management and bio-diversity conservaon. Siltaon is the major problem of the lake. There is a need to reduce this load by suitableplantaon and watershed development programme in the catchment areas.

The StateWildlife Organisaon in collaboraon with the Chilika Development Authority (CDA) has taken several stepsfor protecon and conservaon of the local and migratory birds. Besides, awareness and cooperaon of the localpeople are highly essenal. Public awareness and concern are crucial components of migratory bird conservaon.Cizens who are enthusiasc about birds, informed about threats and empowered to become involved in addressingthose threats, can make tremendous contribuons for migratory bird conservaon of the Chilika Lake.

Water birds in India (2013-05-11 13:37)

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Biodiversity: Similipal (2013-05-22 00:22)

hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/similipal-sees-disturb ances-of-various-magnitudes.htmlThe current decline in biodiversity represents a serious threat to human development. Biological resources constutea capital asset with great potenal for yielding sustainable benets. Protected areas that are created to preservebiodiversity are in crical condion due to excessive anthropogenic pressure.Urgent and decisive acon is needed to conserve and maintain genes, species and ecosystems for sustainable man-agement and use of biological resources.The United Naons has proclaimed May 22 as the Internaonal Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to increase under-standing and awareness of biodiversity issues. Water is essenal for life. No living being on planet Earth can survivewithout it.It is a prerequisite for human health and wellbeing as well as for preservaon of the environment. Water and Bio-diversity is the theme for Internaonal Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) in 2013. The theme has been chosen tocoincide with the United Naons designaon of 2013 as the Internaonal Year of Water Cooperaon.Designaon of IDB 2013 on the theme of water provides pares to the Convenon on Biological Diversity (CBD) andto raise awareness about this vital issue and to increase posive acon.66

Biodiversity is the degree of variaon of life forms within a given species and the ecosystem. The greater the varietyof species, the healthier becomes the biosphere.Human acvies have altered the worlds terrestrial, freshwater andmarine ecosystems throughout history. Over thelast 50 years, there has been a substanal and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth. The number ofspecies at risk of exncon is 16,306 species of plants and animals listed as threatened globally. This clearly reectedthe loss of biodiversity.The biodiversity of an area inuences every aspect of the lives of people who inhabit it. Their living space and theirlivelihoods depend on the type of ecosystem.The quality of water we drink and use, the air we breathe, the soil on which our food grows are all inuenced by awide variety of living organisms, both plants and animals, and the ecosystem of which each species is linked withinnature.Biodiversity conservaon andmanagement are aworldwide concern. In India, there is increasing interest and concernfor biodiversity conservaon in biosphere reserves.These biosphere reserves have been set up by expanding and merging the isolated, preexisng naonal park andsanctuaries under the control of Forest and Wildlife Departments to meet the objecves of biodiversity conservaonand management.These biosphere reserves are areas of terrestrial and coastal ecosystems promong soluons to reconcile the con-servaon of biodiversity with its sustainable use. The idea of Biosphere Reserves was iniated by the UNESCO in1973-74 under its Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme. Biosphere reserves constute the main goal of the wholeprogramme.The Indian Naonal Man and Biosphere Commiee idenes and recommends potenal sites for designaon as Bio-sphere Reserves, following the UNESCOs guidelines and criteria. The Biosphere Reserves are dierent from wildlifesanctuaries and Naonal Parks as the emphasis is on overall biodiversity and landscape rather than on specic species.In a biosphere, there are three dierent zones: core area, buer zones and transion zones. The core areas are themost heavily protected siteswhere the ecosystems remain relavely untouched. They are the areas designatedmainlyfor conservaon, and the only human role in these areas is for observaon and nondestrucve research. The buerzones surround the core area and are open to people to visit. However, people cannot inhabit these areas.They are mainly used for recreaon and ecotourism. Transion zones are the areas in the biosphere where townswould be located if there were any. The people living in these towns are usually management agencies, sciensts,cultural groups nave to the area and farms and sheries (biosphere). The people who live in the towns are usuallyresponsible for managing, sustaining, and developing the biosphere.The State of Odisha is quite rich in natural resources and has several biodiversity hotspot areas. It has varied andwidespread forests harbouring dry deciduous, moist deciduous forests as well as mangroves with several unique,endemic, rare and endangered oral and faunal species.Odisha ranks fourth amongst State/Union Territories of the country in terms of area under forest cover. The totalforest area of the State is 58, 135 sqkm, which is 37.34 per cent of the States geographical area and about 7.66 percent of the countrys forests.Similipal located in Odishas Mayurbhanj district, with its dense green forests, hilly terrain, broad open valleys,plateaus, grasslands and rich biodiversity, has the unique disncon of being a Tiger Reserve, a Naonal Park, aWildlife Sanctuary, an Elephant Reserve and a Biosphere Reserve. Semi-evergreen to dry deciduous forest types(1,076 species of plants including 94 variees of orchids) provide suitable home for a variety of fauna. Important andrare wildlife include gers, elephants, leopards, Sambars, spoed deer, peacocks, pythons, cobras, lizards, etc. It isthe richest watershed in Odisha, giving rise to many perennial rivers. Gorgeous Barehipani and Joranda waterfallsare of great aracons. The Barehipani waterfall is located at the centre of the Naonal Park. It is one of the tallestwaterfalls in the country, at a height of 399 m. The falls are the most beauful sites at the Naonal Park. The rich

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biodiversity, the physical and topographical features of Simlipal constute a unique and delighul desnaon forsciensts, nature-lovers and tourists.

The Biosphere Reserve is an internaonal designaon by the UNESCO for representave parts of natural and culturallandscapes extending over large areas of terrestrial or coastal ecosystems or a combinaon thereof.

The Government of India iniated a Centrally-sponsored scheme on Biosphere Reserve in 1986. The goals for bio-sphere reserve management are to facilitate conservaon of representave landscapes and their immense biologicaldiversity and cultural heritage.

These are the most appropriate means of protecng the landscape with its total biodiversity. So far, 15 BiosphereReserves have been established all over the country across dierent bio-geographical regions. Similipal was noedas the eighth Biosphere Reserve in 1994.

This biosphere reserve is unique in terms of its varied topography, geologic formaon and rich biological diversity.

The forest ecosystems of the Similipal Biosphere Reserve are experiencing disturbances of various magnitudes.

People aect biodiversity in both direct and indirect ways. Agriculture and animal husbandry alter the biologicaldiversity by destroying ormodifying the nave biota. Acvies of these peoplemay generate threats that causemajorobstacles in biodiversity conservaon in Similipal. The specic threats are the loss of biodiversity due to colleconof mber, rewood, re and hunng of wildlife. Special aenon should be given to dierent components of thebiosphere reserves like landscape, habitats and species.

The Similipal Biosphere Reserve is also an ideal habitat for approximately 600 plant species. The illegal and unscienccollecon by local people has led to a drasc reducon in the number of medicinal plant species. and many speciesof such plants are becoming rare and are included in the list of endangered plants.

The best way to protect Similipals biodiversity is to protect its habitats. In order to facilitate and coordinate theresearch programmes and idenfy the crical gaps in research eorts on the Similipal Biosphere Reserve, the StateGovernment enacted the Odisha Biological Diversity Rules, 2010.

The implementaon of the rules and the biosphere programmewould seek to make a sustained impact on the overallscenario of biodiversity conservaon. The conservaon and sustainable use of biodiversity also requires full andeecve parcipaon of local communies.

Biodiversity: Bhitarkanika (2013-05-22 01:08)

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Smoking between Poverty and Mortality (2013-05-31 04:27)

hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/smoking-a-powerful-med iator-between-poverty-and-mortality.html

The global tobacco epidemic kills nearly six million people each year, of which more than 6,00,000 are non-smokersdying from breathing second-hand smoke. Unless we act, the epidemic will kill more than eight million people everyyear by 2030.

More than 80 per cent of these preventable deaths will be among people living in low- and middle-income countries,where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is more.

Every year, on May 31, the World Health Organisaon (WHO) and partners mark the World No Tobacco Day highlight-ing the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocang for eecve policies to reduce tobacco consumpon.The theme for theWorld No Tobacco Day 2013 is Ban Tobacco adversing, promoon and sponsorship. The ulmategoal of the day is to protect the present and future generaons not only from these devastang health consequencesbut also against the social, environmental and economic scourges of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke.

Tobacco products aremade enrely or partly of leaf tobacco as rawmaterial, which are intended to be smoked, sucked,chewed or snued. All contain the highly addicve psychoacve ingredient, nicone. Despite the overwhelmingevidence of the harmful eects of smoking, tobacco use has increased in developing countries and become one ofthe most profound global health challenges.

Tobacco has been used in India for centuries. The early forms of tobacco were limited to chewing tobacco leaves orsmoking tobacco. Today, several products made of, or containing tobacco, are available in the market. Nicone is adrug found in tobacco which is highly addicve. Over me, a person becomes physically and emoonally addictedto, or dependent on, nicone. Tobacco use is one of the main risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, includingcancer, lung diseases and cardiovascular diseases. Despite the known health problems associated with tobacco use,adolescents connue to iniate and develop regular paerns of tobacco use.

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Globally, adult tobacco consumpon is strongly associated with poverty, with those in lower socioeconomic classesusing tobacco at higher rates. Although there are many factors contribung to predicted tobacco use, socioeconomicstatus is the single greatest predictor.

In India, only 20 per cent of the total tobacco consumpon is in the form of cigarees. Bidis account for the largestproporon, at about 40 per cent of the total. Bidis contain higher concentraons of nicone than both ltered and un-ltered cigarees and have equally deleterious eects on health. Also, due to extensive use of chewing tobacco, Indiahas the most cases of oral cancer in the world, with 83,000 incident cases and 46,000 deaths annually. These cancersare steadily increasing and occurring more frequently among younger people. A recent research has demonstratedthat smoking increases the risk of death among paents with tuberculosis (TB) and causes 200,000 extra deaths dueto TB. An esmated 65 per cent of all adult Indian men and 33 per cent of adult Indian women use some form oftobacco.

Millions of people in India use chewing tobacco. With India undergoing a tremendous economic and epidemiologictransion, tobacco consumpon is increasing rapidly among urban youth. Nearly all tobacco use begins during youthand young adulthood. These young individuals progress from smoking occasionally to smoking every day. Secondhandsmoke is the smoke that lls restaurants, oces or other enclosed spaces when people burn tobacco products suchas cigarees and bidis.

The World Health Survey (WHS) conducted by the WHO has found that 46.7 per cent of poor men smoke in India asagainst 21.8 per cent of rich men. In developing countries, many of the poorest smokers spend signicant amounts oftheir incomes on tobacco instead of basic human needs such as food, shelter, healthcare and educaon. It is becausesmoking regulates mood, manages stress and copes up with the strains of material deprivaon.

An adult tobacco survey in India done recently by the Health Ministry and the WHO found that smokers in Indiaspend an average of Rs 399 on cigarees and Rs 93 on bidis monthly. According to the Planning Commission of India,as many as 354 million people or 29 per cent of the populaon currently live below the poverty line, which is denedby a monthly income of anything below 672 rupees for rural India and 859 rupees for urban labourers.

Smoking is, therefore, a powerful mediator of the associaon between poverty and mortality. This is because thepoor and less educated are less aware of the health hazards of smoking and, thus, more likely to adopt this harmfulpracce.

There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. In adults, secondhand smoke causes serious car-diovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer. In infants, it causes suddendeath.

Despite increased eorts in tobacco control over the last several decades, smoking connues to be the number onecause of preventable diseases and deaths. Furthermore, tobacco is directly related to and contributes to poverty.According to the WHO, tobacco use contributes to huge economic losses for individuals, families, communies andenre countries.

Tobacco also creates economic costs that extend beyond the direct cost of related illnesses and producvity losses,including healthcare expenditures from acve and passive smokers, employee absenteeism, reduced labour produc-vity, ?re damage due to careless smokers, increased cleaning costs and widespread environmental damages.

Tobacco users have higher medical expenses due to tobacco-related illnesses and tend to die at younger ages, leavingtheir families with loss of income, medical bills and other expenses related to their illnesses and deaths.

The immediate and long-term benets of smoking cessaon extend to men and women of all income and educaonlevels but are more pronounced among low socioeconomic status (SES) adults. While cessaon may seem near im-possible for many low SES individuals, there are several eecve tools that can control use. Tobacco control policy canhave a signicant impact on reducing smoking rates and health consequences of smoking among low SES individuals.There is a need to connue raising awareness and remind people of the law. Ulmately, governmental leadership atstate and city levels would be crucial to the ongoing success of the smoke-free law.70

Every person should be able to breathe smoke-free air. Smoke-free laws protect the health of smokers and nonsmok-ers. Mass media campaigns can also reduce tobacco consumpon by inuencing people to protect nonsmokers andconvincing youths to stop using tobacco.

It is high me to control smoking for low-income people. Smoking is bad for physical and mental health. Many poorpeople with depression smoke as they nd no alternave for relax and entertainment. When a person smokes, a doseof nicone reaches the brain within about 10 seconds. At rst, nicone improves mood and concentraon, decreasesanger and stress, relaxesmuscles and reduces appete. But this eect is short-term. Smoking puts one at even greaterrisk of physical ill health. Any short-term benets that smoking seems to have are outweighed by the higher rates ofsmoking-related physical health problems such as lung cancer and heart diseases. Nicone replacement therapy canhelp smokers stop smoking and they should think of beer opportunity of livelihood.

A number of countries have legislaons restricng tobacco. The Government of India has launched the new NaonalTobacco Control Programme (NTCP) to implement the an-tobacco laws and sensise all stakeholders, which wouldreduce the prevalence of smoking among the lower socioeconomic groups. Besides, a comprehensive ban of alltobacco adversing, promoon and sponsorship is required for all people to live a tobacco-free healthy life.

Tobacco-free cies (2013-05-31 04:32)

2.5 June

Urban Agriculture (2013-06-05 05:03)

hp://www.dailypioneer.com/state-edions/bhubaneswar/needed-urban-agricultu re-for-food-security.html71

The rapid urbanisaon in developing naons is accompanied by a rapid increase in urban poverty and urban food inse-curity. This scenario is further aggravated by the fact that high food inaon, which by now is a global phenomenon,is expected to connue in future.The United Naons Environment Programme (UNEP) has invited people world over to celebrate the annual WorldEnvironment Day on June 5 with the theme for this year as Think. Eat, Save.The World Environment Day (WED) designated by the United Naons General Assembly in 1972 is a peoples event.The rst WED was observed in 1973. This is the most widely-celebrated global day for posive environmental ac-on. It inspires acon by governments, industries, community groups and individuals to improve the environment. Itprovides a unique opportunity to raise awareness on environment and mobilise acon by all stakeholders.The issue of food security refers to the availability of food and ones access to it. A household is considered food-secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvaon. The World Health Organisaon (WHO) denesthree facets of food security: food availability, food access and food use.Ensuring food security ought to be an issue ofgreat importance for a country like India where more than one-third of the populaon is esmated to be absolutelypoor. Food security at the naonal level refers mainly to the availability in the country of sucient stocks of food tomeet domesc demand, either through domesc supply or through imports.The worlds populaon is likely to reach 9.1 billion by 2050. The United Naons Food and Agriculture Organisaon(FAO) esmates that by 2050, global food demand will increase by 70 per cent in order to feed the global populaonof 9.1 billion. This is going