Delhi government has decided to introduce lessons on smoking and its ill effects in text books from the next academic year as most youths in the age group of 14 and 15 are falling prey to the habit of smoking.

The decision was taken at a high level meeting headed by Delhi Health and Family Welfare minister Dr A K Walia while reviewing the Delhi anti-smoking law.

The minister asked the Health Department officials to prepare lessons on the subject, which would be introduced in the curriculum after being examined by the educationists, and a talk to be delivered during prayer time in all the schools at regular interval of a fortnight. The government has also decided to organise anti-smoking week in November in all the schools.

The government will also constitute 18 raiding parties to strictly implement the Delhi anti-smoking law and nominate officials to prevent smoking in public places.

Butterflies react to global warming

Butterfly populations in Europehave shifted North during the past century, a possible sign that many other animal species are moving in response to global warming, scientists say.

``It confirms that things are beginning to happen. If we can see it in butterflies, then it's likely to be happening in other groups,'' said Ian Woiwod, an entomologist at the Rothamstead experimental station in Britain.In a study published in a recent issue of the journal Nature, researchers looked at 35 species of butterflies and found that 22 had either died out at the southern end of their ranges, or spread beyond their former northern boundary, or both.

Of the rest, most had not moved, while two species had moved over to south. The butterflies' ranges had moved 32 km to 241 km.

Occupational diseases to rise in developing countries

Worldwide shift of industries to developing countries to reduce costs may increase the global burden of occupational diseases in the first half of the next century, according to the World Health Organisation(WHO).

Developing countries, which harbour three-fourths of the global workforce, lack the infrastructure to provide good working conditions in industries which may "considerably deteriorate" health of workers in these nations, Richard Helmer, WHO's director for Occupational Health told an international conference on occupational health which started in Helsinki, Finland on June 7.

WHO and International Labour Office (ILO) have warned that developing nations would face "serious and costly consequences" if they do not improve working conditions of industrial workers, a WHO release says.

Work-related injuries and diseases kill about 1.1 million people every year worldwide-equal to the total annual deaths due to malaria, according to ILO. About 160 million new cases of work-related diseases are reported annually worldwide.

WHO and ILO admit that the evaluation of global burden of occupational disease is difficult as reliable data from developing nations is scarce. Moreover, the burden is oftenunderestimated due to unwillingness to recognise occupational causes of health problems and failure to report them even when recognised.

Melting glaciers may lead to floods

Melting Himalayan glaciers may unleash a torrent of floods in mountain valleys of North India within the next 40 years, an expert has warned.But after the flood, North Indian rivers, fed by various Himalayan glaciers, would dry up due to lack of glaciers.

An estimation based on current mass of the glaciers and their recession rate shows that by 2035 most of them will vanish at their present rate of decline."All the 15,000 Himalayan glaciers, including strategic ones like Siachen, are melting though the declining rate is faster in western Himalayas," said environmentalist Syed Iqbal Hasnain, at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)The rate of ice accumulation is lower than that of melting, thereby triggering death of Himalayan glaciers, Hasnain said.

Gangotri glacier at the head of river Ganges was retreating at a rate of about30 metres per year.