The Himachal government has banned use of mobile phones by teachers and students in classroom by an order on January 23, 2008. TThe government in the Indian state of Karnataka is to ban children under 16 from using mobile phones in classrooms. "Mobile phones are a nuisance on the premises of educational institutions", says Basavaraj Horatti, the State education minister, Karnataka. Under the new rules, companies and shops will be penalised for selling mobile phones to children, said state education minister Basavaraj Horatti.     Mr Horatti, who is minister for primary and secondary education in the southern state, said under-16s would be banned from using cell phones in all educational institutions. He was speaking to reporters in the Karnataka capital, Bangalore, alongside state Health Minister R Ashok who said new regulations would soon be issued after legal advice. Mr Horatti said that if a student was found talking on a cell phone in the class room, the phone would be confiscated.

Mobile phones are a nuisance on the premises of educational institutions

"Mobile phones are a nuisance on the premises of educational institutions. Teachers are complaining that students played with their phones, listened to music and received calls in classrooms," he said. The government says the phones are a nuisance and that the move is based on medical advice that they harm the physical and mental growth of children.     The cell phone industry says there is no evidence to prove the health risk involved. ''We have also got studies done and all of them say that there are no health hazards. Powerful organisations like the World Health Organisation, health councils etc say there is no evidence whatsoever,'' director general of Cellular Operators' Association of India, TV Ramchandran, told private television channel NDTV.India has the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world, with more than 170 million subscribers. Every month around seven million new subscribers are added to the list and a large number of them are children.      Mobile phones are hugely popular with children across Indian cities.  It has become the norm in big cities like Delhi for better-off children to carry the latest big brand cell phones to  school.     Latest study finds chances of developing a brain tumor   Chances of developing a brain tumor doubles for those who are hooked to their mobile phones. This has been found in a study conducted by Swedish scientists, which indicates that an hour a day on a mobile phone for a decade is enough to increase the risk. According to Professor Lennart Hardell of the University Hospital in Orebro and Professor Kjell Hansson Mild of Umea University, long-term mobile users had double the chance of getting a tumor on the side of the brain where they held the handset for over 10 years.     The team called for special caution regarding children. They said children should be discouraged from using mobiles because their thinner skulls and developing nervous systems made them especially vulnerable. This finding could come as news for the Indian health ministry which has just embarked on the nation's first long-term government study looking at what excessive mobile phone use can do to people's health.     Cell phone usage has been suspect for some time for the health hazards it poses. While studies have shown that people who use cell phones for long periods face the risk of developing malignant brain tumors, others said it could lead to hearing impairment and sleep disorders.     The latest Swedish study analysed the results of 11 previous studies carried out around the world. It examined long-term users because cancer can take more than a decade to develop.  The researchers said almost all studies in the past had discovered an increased risk of cancer. The study, published in the latest issue of the journal 'Occupational Environmental Medicine', said that those who used their phones for at least a decade were 20% more likely  to contract acoustic neuromas (a type of brain tumor) and 30% more likely to get malignant gliomas (a common brain tumour). "Long-term users were twice as likely to get the gliomas and two-and-a-half times more likely to get the acoustic neuromas than other people," the study said. The Indian study is expected to show results in the next five months. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is conducting the study in five centres including PGI, Chandigarh. Individual trials are being conducted to look at how mobile phones can cause sleep disorders, memory lapses and hearing impairment.     Indian Govt plans study on mobile effects    Concerned over excessive use of mobile phones by youngsters, the union government plans to conduct a study to find out its negative effects on health. "We plan to conduct a long -term study to find out the negative effects of mobile and the mobile towers on the users", union health and family welfare minister Anbumani Ramadoss said on October 5, 2007. He said he has asked the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct the study. Kids are using mobile phones. They often complain of headaches, he said. He said it is a long-term study, which will take at least 10 years to complete

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