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| Sunday, 29 May 2005 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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World No Tobacco Day on May 31 : Towards a smoke-free world The World No Tobacco Day is celebrated on May 31. The special day is commemorated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to call attention to the impact of tobacco use on health and reduce people's dependence on tobacco. According to the WHO, one third of the adult population of the world, which means 1.1 billion people, are smokers. Tobacco and related products kill 3.5 million people around the world every year, which is 10,000 people every day. Out of the total number of deaths, about one million occur in developing countries like Sri Lanka. The industry is now said to be targeting children, and 250 million children and adolescents, one third of them in developing countries, are predicted to die prematurely due to tobacco-related causes. The WHO also predicts that by the year 2020, tobacco will become the leading cause of death and disability, claiming more than 10 million lives a year. Apart from the health problems, smoking is a drain on national as well as global economies. People spend their hard-earned money on tobacco products, sometimes at the risk of their children going hungry. Health care for tobacco-related sicknesses also costs about 200 billion US dollars globally, which could otherwise have been spent on development activities. Worldwide co-operation is needed to stamp out tobacco-related deaths and diseases and work towards a tobacco free world. Isn't it time we thought about this and put our hands together to create a world free of tobacco? ############# Railway operated by kids We all love to travel, don't we? And it is more fun to travel by train. There are special trains for kids such as the 'punchi kochchiya' at the Viharamahadevi Park in Colombo. But, would you believe there is a railway operated by children? The 'Children's Railway' is located in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. This eleven-kilometre-long line runs through the woods of the hills of the city on the Buda side.It is often called "the greatest child toy of the world". Children aged 10 to 14 control the traffic and commercial services provided, but strictly according to the regulations of any other railway line of the State Railways of Hungary. The engines however are driven by adult engineers, while the children on duty are continuously supervised by adult railway employees. Apart from that, children do their jobs of operating the switches and signals, printing tickets and keeping passengers informed, on their own. The railway operates throughout the year, except on Mondays from September to April. Trains run from 9.00 a.m. until 5.00 p.m. in the winter and until 7.00 p.m. in the summer. The Children's Railway in Budapest is not a unique institution, but it
has always been the largest, most popular and serious one of them all, in
the world. |
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