Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Toilets For The World's Poor


 
Bill Gates Names Winners of the Reinvent the Toilet
California Institute of Technology in the United States received the $100,000 first prize for designing a solar-powered toilet that generates hydrogen and electricity. Loughborough University in the United Kingdom won the $60,000 second place prize for a toilet that produces biological charcoal, minerals, and clean water. University of Toronto in Canada won the third place prize of $40,000 for a toilet that sanitizes feces and urine and recovers resources and clean water. Special recognition and $40,000 went to Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology) and EOOS for their outstanding design of a toilet user interface...... One year ago, the foundation issued a challenge to universities to design toilets that can capture and process human waste without piped water, sewer or electrical connections, and transform human waste into useful resources, such as energy and water, at an affordable price. ..... Food and water tainted with fecal matter result in 1.5 million child deaths every year. Most of these deaths could be prevented with the introduction of proper sanitation, along with safe drinking water and improved hygiene. ...... “Imagine what’s possible if we continue to collaborate, stimulate new investment in this sector, and apply our ingenuity in the years ahead,” said Gates. “Many of these innovations will not only revolutionize sanitation in the developing world, but also help transform our dependence on traditional flush toilets in wealthy nations.”
Gates Foundation Wants To Reinvent The Toilet
Bill Gates spends millions for toilet of the future challenge (PHOTOS)
Swiss boffins craft new toilet for world's poorest

10 States

With their names to be decided by their duly elected legislatures through majority vote. Their elections, along with local elections to be conducted before monsoon 2015. That is my proposition. The Election Commission is right that it should have the authority to decide on election timetables for local, state and national levels. Each parliamentary constituency to be split into two for the state elections. Do we keep the 75 districts or no? It might make sense to keep them.