The Midwest and the South of the U.S. faced severe storms, damaging winds, heavy rains and flash floods

Three people died due to severe storms accompanied by damaging winds, heavy rains and flash floods in parts of the Midwest and the South. The dead included a couple of two children in Michigan and Arkansas apart of a woman in Ohio. Loss of power led to cancellation of classes in many schools as well as problems to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in Indiana and Michigan. One of the girls killed in the Michigan City was a 14-year-old who was electrocuted in the backyard of her home. She had come into contact with an electrical line knocked down by a thunderstorm. In the Detroit-area community of Warren, two boys were hospitalized. One of them touched a power line that was down. Moreover, in Arkansas, an 11-year-old boy lost his life after being swept into a storm drain during heavy rainfall. A woman who tried to help the child was also pulled from the drain and had to be moved to a hospital for treatment. 3 killed, including 2 children, after severe storms hit the Midwest and South.

The National Weather Service revealed that slow-moving thunderstorms brought heavy rainfall to the area and caused localized flash floods. An official of the weather service in Tulsa, Oklahoma, said – “Those heavy rains, when they fell, a lot of them fell really quickly and in a short time." In Ohio, a woman lost her life after a tree fell on her behind her home in Toledo. At that time, a strong storm had passed through the area. Threw were widespread storms in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. High speed winds downed branches of trees and power lines at different locations. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency after excessive rainfall added to the problems in one of the water-treatment plants. It caused to low water pressure through much of the capital city. Incidentally, a swollen Pearl River led to floods in Jackson. It happened after storms dumped heavy rain. The flooding in Mississippi was less severe than flooding that caused death and destruction recently in Kentucky. At the time, the floods left at least 39 dead and robbed thousands of families of all of their possessions.

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Floods in Kentucky leave at least 28 dead

Kentucky is a state of the United States. It has the Ohio River in the north and the Appalachian Mountains in the east. Heavy rains in the region have devastated the eastern parts of Kentucky and floods have taken a heavy toll of lives. The authorities confirmed loss of lives of at least 28 people. The figure could increase as more rains threaten the region. Andy Beshear, Governor of Kentucky confirmed death of at least four children. He added that more bodies have been recovered but details have yet to come out. At least 28 dead in devastating Kentucky flooding, with more expected, governor says.

The Governor also mentioned about "widespread damage" that displaced thousands of people. There are reports of power outages for thousands apart from washed out roads that have affected travel. Many homes are destroyed and schools are flooded. He would visit some of the regions to see for himself the impact of the floods. There are more rains forecast and search and rescue teams have been deployed to locate those who are reported to be missing. So far, aircraft and boats have rescued more than 600 people. Incidentally, the destruction in Kentucky is the latest extreme flooding event to take place in the U.S. in less than a week. Las Vegas witnessed heavy downpours coupled with flash floods. These led to rise in water levels on the road and parking garages in busy parts of city. It seems the mega drought in the region has dried up the soil. As a result, the region became so dry that it could not absorb the heavy rains. That factor probably contributed to the flooding. Kentucky is trying to establish shelters. Last week, President Joe Biden has already approved a disaster declaration.

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Schools in Delhi to be closed from Jan 1 to Jan 15 to control pollution

Delhi government has decided to keep schools in Delhi closed for 15 days with effect from Jan 1 during which time the odd-even system would be tried out to reduce pollution in the capital. As per information, all schools in the national capital will be closed from January 1 to January 15 next year in order to avoid any problems to the students in view of the implementation of odd-even system for cars and other vehicle during this period of time.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 12 December 2015.

As Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has said children are most affected due to rising pollution and government will make a policy of odd-even formula with their involvement.
There is a winter holiday in all government and private schools from December last week to the first week of January every year and, in case the Education Department declares holidays for 15 days between January 1 and 15, the studies of students will not be affected.
He also added that since children are the largest stakeholder with 26 lakh of them studying in schools, it is necessary that the policy of odd-even formula be made with their involvement. While everyone is affected by te rising pollution, children are the most affected and that is a matter of concern.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has held a high-level meeting with all his cabinet ministers, concerned departments and agencies in order to prepare a strategy for implementing the odd-even scheme.

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Sale of junk foods near schools could soon be a thing of the past

With an eye on the health of school going children, the food safety regulator FSSAI is contemplating restrictions on the sale of junk food items in and around schools. The junk food would include noodles, chips, carbonated drinks and confectionery items.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 18 October 2015.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has worked out some draft guidelines on availability of wholesome and nutritious food in schools to counter the desire of junk food consumption pattern among children.
FSSAI has said that schools should not be taken as a place to promote foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS foods). The eating outlets in the schools should not be treated as commercial outlets and schools should develop a canteen policy for providing nutritious, wholesome and healthy foods.
Schools should ensure that the sale of widely promoted and advertised junk food is restricted in schools and nearby areas of 50 meters.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Worsening quality of air forces shutdown of Singapore schools

The quality of air in Singapore is affected as thick smog came in from forest fires on Indonesia's neighboring island of Sumatra and the administration ordered emergency closure of schools once air pollution reached "hazardous" levels. Singapore takes pride on its clean environment. The fire in Sumatra was an agricultural fire.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 24 September 2015.

The shutdown order would affect primary and secondary schools apart from kindergartens run by the ministry and special education schools. However, parents who cannot make alternative arrangements because of the short notice can continue to send their children to school and they would be accommodated in air-conditioned rooms.
Due to the smog, there were fewer people on the roads and those who came out wore face masks. Moreover, Pizza Hut suspended its delivery service.
In the opinion of the National Environment Agency, the haze situation could become worse because of the prevailing winds.
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Swachh Bharat Mission of building toilets far behind target

#SwachhBharatMission #NarendraModi #opentoilets In spite of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a Swachh Bharat and his desire to see an India free of the woes of people defecating in open spaces due to non-availability of toilet facilities, the progress is not as expected.
The government has tried its best to influence and change the mindset of the masses through TV ads featuring actress Vidya Balan. The intention is to assign highest priority to build toilets in every rural household, school and anganwadis under its flagship Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).
However, the achievement is reportedly dismal against the target set for this financial year and, from the looks of it, the possibilities of achieving the target within next four months of this fiscal appears to be an impossible task.
Just for records - between April and December, it was possible to construct only 24.79 lakh individual household toilets in villages – the target as per the annual implementation plan (AIP) was to build 1.25 crore such units. As to building school toilets, the situation is no better. Regarding constructing community toilets, the achievement is only 5.33%.
The states that have not come up to expectations, as reported by the drinking water and sanitation department, are Punjab, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana – these are below the national average of 19.8%.
Other states that have miserably failed to meet the target of building community sanitary complexes are Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha – they have performed poorly.
This works out to 13 states out of the 29 states or less than 50% in India who have failed to take suitable actions to implement the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Obesity is a £47bn annual problem for Britain - NHS to get obese Britons back to shape

#waistline #NHS #obesity #diabetes The growing waistlines is a major worry for the NHS and they are working out probable methods of how to get the obese Britons back to shape. That is a target for 2015.
Obesity costs Britain nearly £47bn annually and with this disease on the rise in the UK, health authorities are rolling out a new program that will be aimed at getting the nation back in shape through a better diet and more exercise. Under this scheme, GPs in England will be directed to monitor patients who are putting on weight and offer them help to stop them becoming obese.
The amount of £47bn annually is more than the cost incurred by Britain on war and terrorism. Based on a report from the European Commission, it is revealed that the obesity rate in the UK has increased over the past decade. It is now the second highest in the EU after Hungary.
Therefore, NHS will undertake a program through which thousands of people at risk of diabetes will be offered support to improve their health. Incidentally, there are reported to be over three million people in the UK who have diabetes.
NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens has remarked that even a couple of decades back, such a situation did not exist. In order to combat this, it is necessary for parents, schools and the food industry must act together to reverse the trend. The European Court of Justice has recently ruled that people who are obese could also be considered as disabled.