Feature Article

Cell phones have become an integral part of many people’s lives. But could our constant contact with these devices be affecting our health? That question has been the subject of international debate and intense study in recent years. In this podcast, David Savitz of Brown University discusses evidence from epidemiologic studies of cell phone safety with host Ashley Ahearn.

In 1999, the Israeli government initiated a long-term, large scale SWRO (Sea Water Reverse Osmosis) desalination program. The program is designed to provide to the growing demands on Israel's scarce water resources, and to mitigate the drought conditions that have characterized most years since the mid 1990s.

This paper has studied rural employment diversification in India and across major states using NSSO data at household level for the period 1983 and 2009-10. Factors affecting rural employment diversification towards non-farm sector have also been studied. Analysis has shown that the non-farm sector has consistently grown over time and employed nearly one-third of the rural workforce in 2009-10, as compared to merely one-fifth in 1983 at all-India level.

Tirupur, the textile knitwear hub of India discharges about 100 MLD of dyestuff effluents with high salt content and multi colored effluents from as early as 1990s. It flanks and pollutes the Noyyal river course rendering it as a virtual effluent course as rainfall is hardly for 15 days only in a year.

When the city of American Falls, Idaho (USA) was looking to replace an existing chlorination system for the disinfection of municipal wastewater, a primary concern was for a disinfection system that eliminated the dangerous chemical byproducts of the chlorination process. To meet these demands, the municipality turned to ITT for the installation of a disinfection system using WEDECO ultraviolet technology.

The Water Services Corporation in Malta is one example of a forward-looking operator of a seawater reverse osmosis seeking to ensure the production of high quality drinking at an affordable price.

India's estimated small hydro potential is over 15,000 MW. As of August 31, 2011, the segment had achieved a grid-connected capacity of 3,153.93 MW. The capacity addition target for 2011-12 is 350 MW, of which 111.3 MW had been added as of August 2011.

Biomass resources have significant potential for improving the rural energy access and economic scenarios in a country like India. These are the only sources of renewable energy available across the length and breadth of the country, thereby providing a local resource base for rural energy availability. Practically half of the income generated from the sale of biomass-based power goes back to farmers.

So far, Rajasthan has accounted for 80 per cent of the total project allocation under the Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission (JNNSM). The state has assigned top priority to stepping up private investments in solar power and has taken several steps in this direction. Rajasthan also has high potential for the development of wind energy and the state government is in the final stages of drafting its wind policy.

Increasing urbanisation and industrialisation has increased the amount of waste generated, leading to a greater need for scientific waste management. Due to the presence of high organic matter in industrial and, specifically, urban waste products, generating power from waste is a potential solution to the problem of both waste management and clean energy generation.