One has heard of E. Coli as a health hazard, now comes e-waste (electronic waste) generated by the hi-tech computer industry. With one of the highest rates of obsolescence, junked PCs and accessories like printers and toner cartridges are piling up at the rate of seven million tonnes a year in the US alone (rising by 5 per cent per annum).

Disposal is complicated since the waste contains over 1,000 hazardous items, and US laws prohibit dumping in landfills. In the name of "recycling", this waste is exported from the US to Asian countries, including India, Pakistan and China, where they are processed in operations that pose severe threats to the health of citizens and to the environment. A report titled "Exporting Harm-the Hi-Tech Trashing of Asia", released by the Basel Action Network (ban) and Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, points out that computer monitors contain lead in large amounts, cadmium, mercury and plastics (including the obnoxious PVCs which can form toxic dioxins when burned). Thousands of poor workers who tear and burn the trashed components to salvage bits and pieces get exposed to hazardous substances in what the ban report calls a "cyber age nightmare".

The gold, silver and copper connections in a motherboard, the aluminium in the hard drive, and the copper in the monitor yoke, are together worth less than $3 (Rs 148). It is neither profitable nor legal to recycle this in the US, so it is exported to Asia. "They call this recycling, but it is really dumping by another name," says the ban report.

Residents in recycling destinations in China can no longer drink water because of contamination and are trucking in water from 30 km away. The Basel Convention bans exports of hazardous waste, but the US has not yet signed this treaty.

The European Union requires manufacturers to take responsibility for discarded PCs, design for greater upgradability and reduce the use of toxic inputs. India has yet to think of similar safety measures, though we are quick to adopt the latest in computerware technology.

-Sakuntala Narasimhan

Lights On

After three student strikes, two non-admission periods, a string of resignations, a revised syllabus and many other problems, peace finally reigns at Pune's Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).

Prem Matiani, who took over as director of FTII in April this year, is monitoring several changes: the popular acting course returns after a 24-year hiatus, one-month courses in make-up, set designing and property dressing, among others, will take off in August and a new script-writing course begins in October 2003. If Chairman Vinod Khanna's ministerial induction at the Centre is cause for cheer, the resolve by the FTII alumni, including Shabana Azmi, David Dhawan, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Danny Denzongpa, to "resuscitate their alma mater" should help the beleaguered institute. It's payback time obviously.

-Mathang Seshagiri