300m people in Asia-Pacific have no improved access to water : ADB
Manila, Oct 2 : At least 300 million people in the Asia-Pacific region have no improved access to water, the Asia Development Bank (ADB) said on Tuesday.
"About 300 million people in the Asia and Pacific region do not have improved access to water and 1.7 billion lack access to basic sanitation," ADB President Takehiko Nakao said at the Asia Water 2018 forum in Manila.
According to ADB estimates, water demand in the Asia and Pacific region was poised to grow by more than half by 2050, leaving up to 3.4 billion people facing water insecurity, Xinhua news agency reported.
Moreover, the ADB said disaster-related losses in Asia totalled $87 billion in 2016, of which about 25 per cent was connected to flooding. And over the past 20 years, Asia has incurred half of the estimated global economic cost of water-related disasters.
"Innovations and new technologies provide the means to help ADB developing member countries advance their water management including river basin management, flood control and water pollution and service delivery such as water supply, sanitation, and irrigation," said the ADB President.
More than 800 gathered on Tuesday at the ADB headquarters in Manila for the opening of the Asia Water Forum 2018, focusing on "information, innovation and technology".
Participants included government officials, water and development professionals and representatives from the private sector, academia, civil society and the media.
The ADB said this year's forum featured over four days of a series of panels, leadership discussions, technical sessions and workshops.
Since its founding in 1966, the Manila-based bank said it has spent a total of $45.88 billion on water projects.
ADB's active water sector operations amount to nearly $14 billion and this is growing -- another $14 billion in water sector investments was planned for future, it said.
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Political row in Bengal after 104-year-old man put under 'adjudication category' in electoral rolls
Kolkata (PTI): A 104-year-old man has complained of being listed in the "under adjudication" category in the final electoral rolls issued by the Election Commission following the SIR exercise in West Bengal on February 28, officials said on Wednesday.
Sheikh Ibrahim, a resident of Jamalpur gram panchayat in Purba Bardhaman district, said he has voted in every election since India’s first general polls after Independence and had never faced such an experience.
"Is it a crime to live beyond 100 years? I have always believed in casting votes and exercising my democratic rights. Why can't I vote this time? This is my country," he said.
His 70-year-old son said that after his father was called for a hearing at camps "due to some logical discrepancies as claimed by the EC," EC officials later visited their residence, and all necessary documents were submitted.
"The EC official who conducted the hearing expressed satisfaction and assured his name will be in the rolls. However, after the final rolls were published, we found his name listed ‘under adjudication category.’ We fail to comprehend why," his son said.
Flagging the matter, the TMC alleged on X that "104-year-old Sheikh Ibrahim, who was born in pre-Independent India and has voted in every election since the first general elections, was summoned for a hearing and subjected to harassment after being included in the ‘under adjudication’ list."
"Can you imagine the extent of harassment he has faced? How much lower will the Commission stoop?" the party asked.
"Do they think they can gift Bengal to the BJP by deleting names of valid voters even before the elections? It is not that easy. Bengal knows how to respond, and it knows how to fight," the post read.
There was no immediate response from the EC or the BJP to the allegations.
