Popular Science Writing

DRDO Showcases India's Defence Technology Might at the Indian Science Congress

2012-01-05T06:30:00.000-08:00

BY: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Bhubaneswar,Jan 3(2012): India's prestigious Defence Research & Development Organistion (DRDO) showcases its state-of-the-art technologies and strengths through a megashow as also interactions by its leading scientists at the 5-day 99th Indian Science Congress that kicked off here today.

Inaugurated by Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University campus, the DRDO displays a glimpse of its technological might through the "Pride of India-Science Expo" at the venue.

The DRDO scientists from over 30 laboratories will be present at the expo to interact with the visitors, especially students, explaining in detail the application of S&T in the strategic sector of national security and the excitement of scientific challenges to the young creative minds.

The star attractions among the outdoor models are strategic and tactical missiles Agni and Prithvi, Nag, Akash, BrahMos and Astra. The indoor models will cover the entire gamut of R&D in DRDO.

Prominent among them are India's own Light Combat Aircraft - Tejas,Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (UAV) - NISHANT and Lakshya, Bridging systems Sarvatra& BLT T-72, Torpedoes; and Decoys.

Military Communication equipment; Electronic Warfare systems, Night Vision Devices, Microwave Devices, Nuclear-Biological-Chemical (NBC) protective systems; Agro-animal technologies and "Packaged Food products" will be the other attractions.

Another attraction is a public lecture on "Innovations in Science & Technology - A DRDO Perspective" by the noted scientist and well known expert in missile technologies Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Secretary,
Department of Defence Research and Director General DRDO tomorrow. He will also interact with the participants of Children's Science Congress later in the day.

Dr. W Selvamurthy, Distinguished Scientist and Chief Controller (R&D), will chair a Session on NBC Defence Technologies for Armed Forces and Civilians on Thursday and deliver the Theme Lecture.

It might be recalled that the DRDO had developed many products related to NBC Defence for Service use like NBC Recce Vehicle to monitor and demarcate the contaminated area and transmit the data to the command and control centres for further planning, response and management.

NBC water purification system, self-contained underground field shelters to house about 30 men for four days, highly effective antigen kits, individual protective suits and respiratory management and resuscitative devices.

The DRDO had developed 64 products/systems for early detection, personnel protection, decontamination and medical management. Most of these products had already been under production and inducted into armed forces in large quantities, making the country self-reliant in this vital area. They also have the potential to be used in the civil sector.

There would be a special session with four lectures by Directors of DRDO Laboratories on various aspects of NBC Technologies. //BM//

Science should contribute faster, sustainable, inclusive development: PM

2012-01-05T06:08:00.000-08:00

BY: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna

Bhubaneswar, Jan 3: Calling for ushering in yet another ‘green revolution’, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has today hoped the country’s science, technology and innovation policy should support the ‘national objective of faster, sustainable and inclusive development’.

“For a country grappling with the challenges of poverty and development, the over-riding objective of a comprehensive and well-considered policy for science, technology and innovation should be to support the national objective of faster, sustainable and inclusive development,” the PM said.

Inaugurating the 99^th Indian Science Congress, he told the scientist that research should be directed to providing `frugal` solutions to our chronic problems of providing food, energy and water security to our people.

“The pursuit of science is a process of unlocking the human mind. It is an exploration of the mystery, beauty and method in the universe by stretching the frontiers of our imagination. We need to invoke the power of science in every sphere of our economy and way of life.

Science should help us understand how to give practical meaning to the concept of sustainable development and green growth. Science should help us shift our mindsets from the allocation of resources to their more efficient use. Technology and process engineering should help us reach the benefits of development to those who need it most.

Under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, our government has launched eight National Missions in important areas such as Sustainable Agriculture, Water, Energy Efficiency, Solar Energy and Forestry.

“All the Missions have strong components of science and technology. I would urge the scientific community to pool their knowledge and wisdom to contribute to the success of these critical National Missions,” the PM said.

While the Solar Energy Corporation of India headed by Dr. Anil Kakodkar had now been functional, the National Water Policy was under active preparation. The National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change had already identified two centres of excellence at IIT, Mumbai and ICRISAT, at Hyderabad to build capacities in climate science.

”Increasing food production and nutritional security are critically important and our agricultural scientists should therefore work towards scientific breakthroughs that can enable a second green revolution to become a living reality,” he said.

New Proposals:

The Centre, he said, was examining a proposal to build national capacity and capability in supercomputing which will be implemented by the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore at an estimated cost of Rs.5000 crore.

The Government is also considering a proposal to establish a Neutrino Observatory in Theni district of Tamil Nadu with a proposed investment of Rs.1350 crore.

The Department of Earth Sciences has launched a Monsoon Mission to improve the predictability of the Indian monsoons.

This year the Nobel Committee recognized the contributions of three extraordinary women who were inspirational agents of change in the struggle for peace, democracy and human dignity in their respective countries.

Women Scientists:

Hailing the role of women in science, he had congratulated Prof. Geetha Bali for choosing, as the theme for the Congress, the role of Science and Technology for Inclusive Innovation with special reference to the role of women.

It was a hundred years ago that Madame Marie Curie, one of the most outstanding scientists of the 20th century, won her first Nobel Prize. To honour her achievements, last year was declared as the International Year of Chemistry.

Marie Curie blazed a trail for women in the world of science. But her work also exemplified her belief that science should, in the end, contribute to tangible social good. She helped to set up X-ray stations during the First World War and established the Curie Foundation which became a major force for the treatment of the dreaded disease of cancer, the PM said.

In India too women are making a mark in traditionally male bastions and decisively breaking the glass ceiling. The Project Director of the Agni Missile programme is a distinguished woman scientist Dr. Tessy Thomas.

Last year, for the first time, three women scientists received the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award, as compared to a total of only 11 women awardees for all the years since 1958 up to then.

Congratulating these creative women scientists, the PM hoped their examples will motivate other women to take up careers in science, where women are under-represented.

In this connection, he had commended the Department of Science and Technology for introducing the "Women Scientists Scheme" which had helped more than 2000 women scientists resume careers after breaks arising from family commitments.

The Department of Science and Technology is also formulating another scheme called `DISHA` which will help women scientists to relocate to other cities. The Department will create 1000 contractual positions tenable in publicly funded institutions for this purpose. A fellowship matching the total emoluments of an in-service Science and Technology professional will be provided when she moves from one station to another.

”But, we should also take note of the results of a study published last year that showed that 60% of nearly 2000 Indian women Ph.D’s in science who were surveyed were unemployed. The main reason cited was lack of job opportunities. Only a very small number cited family reasons. This underlines the need for transparency in selection procedures at institutions and also the great importance of gender audits,” he said.

Scientists remembered:

India celebrated the 125th birth anniversary of the great mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan and declared the year 2012 to be the National Mathematical Year to emphasize the importance of maintaining our traditional strength in mathematics, he said.

Another great Indian scientist Satyendranath Bose was associated with an elementary particle that may revolutionize our understanding of sub-atomic physics, he said.

"There is a single light of science and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere, " he said quoting Isaac Asimov.

Odisha, he said, was the most appropriate venue for the Congress as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the UNESCO-Kalinga Prize set up by the Late Biju Patnaik. Indian science owes much to the vision of our early nation builders who gave science a prominent place in our development planning processes.

Achievements:

Enumerating various measures the government had introduced to boost S&T, the PM said

there was some evidence that these efforts were beginning to produce results.

Over the last few years, the number of scientific publications by Indian scientists working in India has increased at more than 12% per annum against the global average of 4%. India has moved from the 15th rank in 2003 to the 9th rank in 2010 with respect to the number of publications in peer-valued journals.

The university research system is also showing signs of rejuvenation. In 2008, I gave away incentive awards to 14 universities under the Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (PURSE) scheme, he said.

In 2010, 30 more universities have qualified under the same criteria. The University of Rajasthan leads among the top 50 Indian scientific institutions in citations per paper under international collaboration. We produce 8,900 Ph.Ds annually in science and engineering, three thousand more than five years ago.

The INSPIRE scheme is doing well and is also responding to our concerns about inclusiveness. The enrolment of weaker sections in the scheme is good and 49.6% of the INSPIRE awardees are women. More than 60% of INSPIRE fellows pursuing doctoral research happen to be women.

Over the past few decades, India`s relative position in the world of science had been declining and we have been overtaken by countries like China. Things are changing but we cannot be satisfied with what has been achieved.

Saying that there is much more to change the face of Indian science, he said we must strengthen the supply chain of the science sector. While it is true that science and engineering continue to attract some of our best students, many of them later opt for other careers because of relatively poorer prospects in science.

Scientific output should be made more relevant to our stage of development. It is said that science is often pre-occupied with problems of the rich, ignoring the enormous and in many ways more challenging problems of the poor and the under-privileged.

XII Plan Objectives:

He had also spelt out six objectives to be achieved in the 12^th plan period.

They include major increase in investment in R&D, including by industry and strategic sectors, creation of a new innovation ecosystem, achieving greater alignment of the S&T sector with the inclusive development needs of our nation, expansion of basic science infrastructure, encouraging greater research collaboration among universities and national laboratories, using the National Knowledge Network and enlarging the reach of international collaboration.

He said the percentage of expenditure on R&D be increased to 2 per cent as against the current 1 per cent of the GDP in the 12^th Plan Period. This can only be achieved if industry, which contributes about one-third of the total R&D expenditure today, increases its contribution significantly. Public Sector Undertakings, particularly those in the energy sector should also play a major role in this expansion, he said.

”Enhanced public-private-partnerships could catalyse significantly increased interaction between publicly owned S&T and industry. It is ironic that General Electric and Motorola have created world-class technology hubs in India, while our own industry has not done so, except perhaps in the pharmaceutical sector. We need therefore, to look at ways of incentivising private Research and Development investment under Indian conditions,” the PM said.

At present, publicly funded R&D is skewed in favour of fundamental rather than applied research. It is easier to attract industrial funds into applied research areas and a set of principles should be formulated to push such funding and to drive Public-Private-Partnerships in Research and Development.

The Biopolis in Singapore, he said, is an interesting example of a cluster approach that has brought together 2,000 scientists and researchers in the area of bio-sciences from public laboratories and private industry in one place. In India, we have our own Open Source Drug Discovery project, which is a ‘virtual’ cluster enabling the creation of affordable and effective solutions which would not be likely with a conventional ‘in-lab’ approach.

While research generates new knowledge, we need innovation to use this knowledge creatively and productively for social benefit. Our Government has declared 2010-20 as the “Decade of Innovations”. We need to give practical meaning to innovation so that it does not end up being just a buzz word, the PM said.

Traditional Knowledge:

The National Innovation Council’s proposal to set up an India Inclusive Innovation Fund may catalyse enterprise, entrepreneurship, and venture capital, while targeting solutions for the bottom of the national pyramid.

Calling for exploring and rejuvenating traditional knowledge systems found all over our country in areas such as agriculture, architecture, handicrafts and textiles, he asked the scientists to study the tribal communities of the Kharia, Santhals, Gonds and Kolhas who live in the deep forest areas of Mayurbhanj with a reservoir of knowledge on medicinal usage of locally available plants.

In this connection, the PM had congratulated the tribal community of Odisha’s Koraput region for the global recognition they received for their contribution to conserving bio-diversity and developing climate-change resilient farming systems. //EOM//

Science Journalist Apologises to Newsweek on Quake Article

2011-12-07T08:35:00.001-08:00

Must Read

Science Journalist Apologizes for Newsweek Quake Article | Simon Winchester & Earthquake Triggers | Japan Earthquake & Tsunami | Natural Disasters | LiveScience

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Climate Change: Major Threat to Hind Kush Himalayan Region: Study

2011-12-06T04:08:00.000-08:00

BY: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Hyderabad, Dec 5, 2011: Imagine melting of glaciers, ice and snow from the magnificent Mount Everest and other world’s highest mountains in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region as a result of global warming and climate change.
Consequent floods in the mountain ranges and downstream Asia’s major river basins will not only affect the rich biodiversity, but hit livelihood of 210 million people. They include 1.3 billion people who depend on goods and services for food and energy resources there.
Droughts, changes in land use and agriculture patterns and migration trends following the climate change in the mountain ranges.
“Two major land use systems in the region are changing. In mountain forests, tree lines and species are shifting to higher elevations, and species already living at the highest elevations may have nowhere to go. Meanwhile, the vast grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau are being steadily degraded,” a study said.
Considered as the “Third Pole” the HKH region is rich in biodiversity as it is home to 30 per cent of the world’s glaciers, 25,000 plant and animal species, and a diversity of forest types larger than the Amazon. All these get affected if we continue to check galloping temperature rise and climate changes.
This is the alarming signal flashed by the Katmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD in its 3-special study reports presented at the “ Mountain Day” convened by experts, policy makers, and climate change negotiators on the sidelines of the ongoing UN climate talks at Durban, South Africa.
It was considered the most up-to-date compilation of information on the current status of climate change in the HKH region and the first authoritative data on the number and extent of glaciers and the patterns of snowfall in the world's most mountainous region.
"The HKH region is like a gentle giant. While physically imposing, it is one of the most ecologically sensitive areas in the world," said David Molden, director general of ICIMOD. "We must meet the intensity of climate change in these mountains with an equal intensity of will to mitigate and to adapt to the impacts."
Yet despite an abundance of natural resources in the region, poverty is rife. HKH countries account for 15 percent of the world's total migration, the reports said.
The ICIMOD-led, 3-year Sweden-funded study titled, “The Status of Glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region,” found more than 54,000 glaciers in the region spread over 60,000 sq.km using remote sensing studies.
The researchers however could study only 10 glaciers on a regular basis to determine the ‘net loss or gain of ice and snow (called the mass balance).
It was found that the rate of mass balance loss was roughly doubling between 1980 and 2000 and 1996 and 2005. In the Everest area, the data show a marked acceleration in the loss of glacial mass between 2002 and 2005. Glaciers appear to be shrinking in both the central and eastern Himalayas.
Country-specific studies have found that depletion of glacial area over the past 30 years was 22 percent in Bhutan and 21 percent in Nepal. The clean glaciers of the Tibetan plateau are retreating at a faster rate than the glaciers of the rugged central Himalayas, which have higher debris cover which creates an insulating effect, slowing melting.
“This research give us a baseline from which to measure the potential impact of climate change in the region and to develop options for mitigating the impact of dynamic changes the region is expecting in the coming years," says Basanta Shrestha from ICIMOD.
The second report, which mapped the impact of the glaciers and snow cover, claim that glaciers and snow breathe life into the regional monsoon system and feed the headwaters of 10 major river systems that stretch across eight Asian countries -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.
The report, “Climate Change in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas: The State of Current Knowledge” provides a snapshot of changes occurring in the region on the basis of secondary data available from various earlier studies made.
The researchers noted that the HKH region is one of the world's hotspots for global warming. The rise in temperature has been greater at higher altitudes and more pronounced during the cooler months than in the warmer months.
This imbalance narrows the seasonal variation in temperature, potentially favoring some plant species over others and already having impacts on agriculture.
Warming across the region is greater than the global average of 0.74°C over the past 100 years. However, this change is not evenly distributed. It is most pronounced in higher altitude areas like the central Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. In Lhasa, for example, temperatures increased by 1.35°C between 1950 and 1980.
"From here, greater focus needs to be put on providing people and governments with options for climate-resilient development," said Molden commented on the basis of the study.
"These include adaptation and mitigation measures such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, water storage measures, and regional cooperation around policies for managing water for energy, agriculture and development ,"he added.
We strengthen networking among regional and global centers of excellence. Overall, we are working to develop an economically and environmentally sound mountain ecosystem to improve the living standards of mountain populations and to sustain vital ecosystem services for the billions of people living downstream -- now, and for the future, the organization claimed.
Source: http://www.icimod.org

Affordable Sustainable Biofuel from Algae in Sight!?

2011-12-02T05:26:00.001-08:00

Hyderabad (South India): The latest breakthrough in genetic technology has fuelled hope that the scientists are ‘closer’ to engineering affordable,renewable, and commercially viable domestic biofuel through algae.

This research at the Iowa State University (USA) raises hopes of slashing the use of fossil fuels to save fragile ecology and environment as the scientists had successfully increased the biomass in algae by 50 to 80 per cent.

Two genes, identified as LCIA and LCIB, were found to be responsible for this encouraging phenomenon when used in combination.

The increase in biomass was only about 10 to 20 per cent when used alone, says Prof. Martin Spalding, Department of Genetics, Development, and Cell Biology.

"The key to this increase in biomass is combination of two genes that increases the photosynthetic carbon conversion into organic matter by 50 percent over the wild type under carbon dioxide enrichment conditions," Spalding averred.

This patent-pending technology is available for licensing from the Iowa State University Research Foundation, which also provided technology development funds.
This opens up possibilities for more and better biofuel development, according to Spalding who is also associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The excess biomass naturally becomes starch through the photosynthesis process, and increases the biomass starch by around 80 percent.

By using some existing mutated genes, algae could be instructed to make oil instead of starch. This however requires more energy to yield 50 per cent increase in oil biomass.

In general, algae can be referred to as plant-like organisms that are usually photosynthetic and aquatic, but do not have true roots, stems, leaves, vascular tissue and have simple reproductive structures.

They are distributed worldwide in the sea, in freshwater and in wastewater. Most are microscopic, but some are macroscopic. Some marine sea weed can exceed 50 metres in length.

Ever-galloping oil prices and competitive world food crises with growing demand had forced the governments to encourage research on algaculture for preparing affordable commercially biofuel alternative to fossil fuels.

Incidentally, algae could grow in fallow lands using saline and waste water without affecting fresh water resources. They are biodegradable and environment friendly and hence increased the global interest in biofuel research.

Incidentally, algae, when grows, sucks carbon dioxide from the atmosphere but releases the greenhouse gas when burnt like the fossil fuel and hence the significance.//EOM//

Source: Iowa State University

ICT to save 19 million dissection animals each year in Indian schools

2011-11-30T05:02:00.000-08:00

BY: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna

Hyderabad(South India) As many as 19 million frogs, mice, cockroaches, guinea pigs, rats and rabbits, hitherto butchered in zoology and life science laboratories in India every year, will henceforth be saved from the manslaughter.

Thanks to the wisdom and concern shown at last by the University Grants Commission (UGC), the apex regulatory body for higher education in India, Buckled under pressure from environmental activists.

The UGC has come out with new guidelines that progressively prohibit dissection of these poor animals for experimentation.

On the other hand, the UGC encourages introduction of digital technologies in all such educational institutions to teach animal anatomy and physiology, reiterating its commitment to preserve and protect wildlife and environment.

For both UG and PG programs, there shall be reduction in the number of animals for dissection and experimentation as well as in the number of species with all ethical considerations. Preference shall be given to laboratory bred animal models, the guidelines say.

One of the recommendations limits and specifies the animal use in dissections. The experimental animal, to the best extent possible, should be procured from laboratory bred sources, especially breeders approved by Committee for Purpose of Care and Supervision of Experimental Animals (CPCSEA), Department of Environment and Forests. Their use will be under the purview of Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC), Removal of animals from their natural habitats should be best avoided.

“UG students can adopt ‘only one species’ for 'demonstration only' by the faculty and 'students should not do any dissection'. In lieu of this, Curriculum must be developed to encourage students to take up field work,” one of the recommendations says.

“For undergraduate programs, both at major and allied levels, the students shall not be required to dissect any animal. The Curriculum Board, if of the opinion that these students should be exposed to internal organization of animals, my prescribe anatomy of anyone animal species which can be, bred/cultured on a large scale. “

“Here, the teachers shall only demonstrate the dissection of one or more aspects of anatomy, which the students will observe and record. Coming to examination, if at all found necessary, the students may be required to flag label specific parts in the specimens already dissected by the teachers and kept ready.”

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)-India, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to animal welfare, hailed it as a “major victory for animals” achieved with its continued efforts.

“The UGC's decision follows PETA's extensive campaign, which included letters to the chair and expert committee of the UGC, petitions from students and other caring individuals asking for a dissection ban and an appeal from actor Rahul Bose,” the NGO today claimed.

Soon undergraduate students will no longer be required to dissect animals and dissection will be optional for postgraduate students. Universities should also adhere to the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which prohibits the killing of amphibians and certain insects, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

The recommendations also call for modern non-animal systems like software to replace the use of animals for experimentation. Dr BK Sharma, member of the expert committee that advised UGC and Associate Professor & Head, Department of Zoology, RL Saharia Government PG College estimates this move will save the lives of about 19 million animals each year.

"By eliminating animal dissection and phasing out animal experimentation, Indian's top university governing body is making sure that students use the most modern education tools possible, meaning computer models over animals", says PETA India Science Policy Advisor Dr Chaitanya Koduri. "Compassionate students across the country will now be able to learn without being forced to hurt and kill animals in the classroom."

The UGC's panel of experts agree with the findings of nearly every published comparative study in science-education literature: non-animal methods – including computer simulations, interactive CD-ROMs, films, charts and lifelike models – teach anatomy and complex biological processes as well as or better than inhumane and archaic animal laboratories.

Research has shown that a significant number of students at every educational level are uncomfortable with the use of animals in dissection and experimentation, and some even turn away from scientific careers rather than violate their principles, activists claimed. //EOM// (As published in zmescience.com)

Stop Pollution or Face Severe Storms in South Asia

2011-11-29T02:36:00.001-08:00

BY: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna

Hyderabad (South India): Man is the maker of his own destiny, say elders. The latest scientific studies on oceans endorse this adage.

Be it severe cyclonic storms, significant rainfall reductions, crop damages, mass mortalities and melting of Himalayan glaciers – all these could be prevented, if not minimized to a large extent, if we adopt changes in our urban life styles, researchers claim.

Unchecked use of diesel and burning of biomass has led to spewing out billions of dust particles, forming what is known as “atmospheric brown clouds (ABCs), in the air, affecting the atmospheric and oceanic circulation over the Arabian Sea.

In the multi-institutional study, published recently in the journal “Nature”, scientists of the world famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), UC San Diego, who formed part of the study, cautioned against man-made pollution making the Arabian Sea more cyclone intense.

In the last 30 years, increased amounts of airborne particles (aerosols) in South Asia have altered the pattern of the Sun's heating of the ocean, changing the regional wind patterns and weakening the wind shear, making conditions more favorable for intense tropical cyclone development.

"We're showing that pollution from human activity, as simple as burning wood or driving a vehicle with a diesel engine, can actually change these massive atmospheric phenomena in a significant way," said study lead author Amato Evan, an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia. "It underscores the importance of getting a handle on emissions in the region."

The scientists had also noted a trend of increasingly strong cyclones in the months immediately preceding monsoon season.

They had attributed formation of stronger cyclones in recent years - including storms in 2007 and 2010 that were the first recorded ever to enter the Gulf of Oman – to the ABC phenomenon.

The build-up of the 3-km thick brown cloud over the Arabian Sea has “dimmed” the prospect of ocean warming in the region affecting the seasonal rains in South Asia, study of 30-year data showed.

A 1998 cyclone in India’s west coast of Gujarat claimed lives of 2,900 people.

Category-5 cyclone Gonu with more than 240 KMPH wind speed, made an extremely rare landfall in Iran in 2007, causing more than $4 billion in damage.

Category-4 cyclone Phet in 2010 struck the coastlines of Pakistan and Oman causing nearly $2 billion in damage.

"This study is a striking example of how human actions, on a large enough scale, in this case massive regional air pollution caused by inefficient fuel combustion, can result in unintended consequences," said Anjuli Bamzai, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, which partially funded the research.

"These consequences include highly destructive summer cyclones that were rare or non-existent in this region for 30 or so years ago."

"The research shows that pollution can threaten humans in unexpected ways. In this case, by reducing wind shear in the Arabian Sea and making conditions more favorable for tropical cyclones to intensify," added report co-author James Kossin, a climatologist at the NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center.

"The one silver lining is that the atmospheric concentrations of these pollutants can be reduced drastically and quickly using available technologies," says SIO’s climate and atmospheric scientist DR.Veerabhadran Ramanathan of India who also co-authored the study.

The scientists used findings from direct observations and model studies of ABCs made by Dr.Ramanathan.

The other co-author of the study is Chul "Eddy" Chung of the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea.

Source: SCRIPPS & NOAA

PigeonPea Genome, Cracked: ICRISAT to Benefit Farming Millions

2011-11-06T21:45:00.000-08:00

BY: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Hyderabad,Nov 6,2011: Once referred to as an "orphan crop" mainly grown by poor farmers, pigeonpea is now set to join the world's league of major food crops with the completion of its genome sequence.

The completed genome sequence of pigeonpea is featured as an advance online publication on 06 November 2011 on the website of the journal Nature Biotechnology, the first ranked journal in the area of biotechnology.

The paper presents an overview of the structure and function of the genes that define the pigeonpea plant. It also reveals clues on how the genomic sequence can be useful to crop improvement for sustainable food production particularly in the marginal environments of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Years of genome analysis by a global research partnership led by the Hyderbad-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has resulted in the identification of 48,680 pigeonpea genes.

The sequencing was accomplished by a global research partnership, the International Initiative for Pigeonpea Genomics (IIPG), led by ICRISAT with partners such as BGI - Shenzhen (China), US research laboratories like University of Georgia, University of California-Davis, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and National Centre for Genome Resources, and support from the CGIAR Generation Challenge Programme based in Mexico.

A couple of hundreds of these genes were found unique to the crop in terms of drought tolerance, an important trait that can be transferred to other similar crops like soybean, cowpea or common bean that belong to the same family.

In the fight against poverty and hunger amid the threat of climate change, highly nutritious, drought-tolerant crops are the best bets for smallholder farmers in marginal environments to survive and improve their livelihoods.

Pigeonpea, grown on about 5 million hectares in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and South-Central America, is a very important food legume for millions of the poor in the semi-arid regions of the world.

Known as the "poor people's meat" because of its high protein content, it provides a well-balanced diet when accompanied with cereals.

"The mapping of the pigeonpea genome is a breakthrough that could not have come at a better time. Now that the world is faced with hunger and famine particularly in the Horn of Africa brought about by the worst drought of the decades, science-based, sustainable agricultural development solutions are vital in extricating vulnerable dryland communities out of poverty and hunger for good," says ICRISAT Director General William D. Dar.

"Modern crop improvement technologies for smallholder farmer crops such as pigeonpea will be crucial to speed up the development of improved varieties that can provide high yields and improved livelihoods, and at the same time meet the challenges of marginal environments and the threat of climate change and scarce natural resources," adds Dar.

Rajeev Varshney, the lead scientist and coordinator for the pigeonpea genome sequencing project explains how this breakthrough will unlock pigeonpea's potential.

"Having the pigeonpea genome sequence as a reference will significantly speed up and reduce the cost of screening the 'good genes' within the stored pigeonpea seed collections in genebanks like that of ICRISAT. This also means dramatically reducing the cost of developing new improved varieties for farmers," says Varshney.

"At the moment, in general, it can take 6-10 years to breed a new variety. With the use of this genome sequence data, in the future, we could be breeding a new variety in just about 3 years." he adds.

"The pigeonpea collaboration with ICRISAT is a milestone in the partnership between India and China, showcasing the excellent working dynamics and understanding among Indian and Chinese genomics scientists. I hope more partnerships like this will be established in the future, and I believe this will surely bring a significant difference to the whole world," says Professor Huanming Yang, Chairman of BGI-Shenzhen, the world's largest genomics institute and a key partner of this project.

India is home as well as the largest producer of pigeonpea, but crop productivity in the country as well as in sub-Saharan Africa is only less than 1 ton per hectare. An improved understanding of the pigeonpea genome
will have a major impact on improved crop productivity, tackling pests and disease constraints in production, and improved resistance to harsh environments and the future variable climate.

Pigeonpea is the first "orphan crop", the first "non-industrial crop" and the second food legume (after soybean) with a completed genome sequence. It is also the first time that a Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) supported Center like ICRISAT or any institute
located in India has led the genome sequencing of a food crop.//BM//

Freaks: A 2-headed snake and 3-eyed fish found

2011-11-03T05:35:00.000-07:00

BY; Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Hyderabad,Nov 3: Believe it or not. Scientists detected a rare two-headed snake and a three-eyed fish recently stunning the lovers of the Nature.

The extremely rare non-poisonous variety of albino milk snake with two heads was hatched in an incubation container of Sunshine Serpents outside Brooksville, Florida.

On the otherhand, the three-eyed wolf fish was found next to a nuclear power plant in Argentina. Fishermen in Córdoba caught the freak fish in a reservoir fed by a local nuclear power plant, according to the plant worker Homer Simpson.

Scientists consider the snake an "extremely rare", a one in 10,000 phenomenon. This albino snake does not have dark pigmentation on its skin but appear in bright shades of red, orange and white.

"It's kind of a freak of nature," said Parker, who owns and operates the hatchery. "In the wild, something like this would never survive," reports ZME Science quoting Tampa Tribune.

Albino Honduran milk snakes originate from Central America, can grow up to 6
feet and some have been reported to have lived more than 20 years in
captivity. They aren't poisonous.

Biologists from the University of Central Florida say these types of freak events happen when twin snakes don't separate in time, and in turn get stuck together as one. Most of them don't hatch but die in the incubation process. However this one made it, although its health status is still uncertain.

"We don't know exactly what's going on on the inside of the snake or how well formed all the parts are," Parker said.

"We were fishing and we got the surprise of getting this rare specimen. As it was dark at that time we did not notice, but then you looked at him with a flashlight and saw that he had a third eye," said fisherman Julien Zmutt of his unusual discovery.

People fishing there have become more and more worried that there might be some sort of pollution that might cause harmful mutation; well, there's little left to say after finding a fish with an extra eye.

"Well, not much more we can say here. just that maybe it would be a good idea to stop fishing in nuclear dump sites," they felt.//BM//

ELECTRICITY FROM NOSE:Engineers generate Power from Human Respiration

2011-10-14T06:50:00.000-07:00

Hyderabad,Oct 9: Your nose can be a source of electricity. This is made possible through a small device that generates power by rotating a motor with the help of human respiration.

Termed as 'piezoelectric effect' in science that ignites your gas grill with the push of a button, the human nose could one day power sensors in our body via the respiration in the nose.

This was reported in the recent issue of the journal Energy and Environmental Science by Materials Science and Engineering Professor Xudong Wang, post-doctoral Researcher Chengliang Sun and graduate student Jian Shi.

They had developed a "plastic microbelt that vibrates when passed by low-speed airflow such as human respiration" to successfully demonstrate their experiment.

"In certain materials, such as the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) used by Wang's team, an electric charge accumulates in response to applied mechanical stress. This is known as the piezoelectric effect. The
researchers engineered PVDF to generate sufficient electrical energy from respiration to operate small electronic devices," the Science Daily had reported.

"Basically, we are harvesting mechanical energy from biological systems. The airflow of normal human respiration is typically below two meters per second," says Wang. "We calculated that if we could make this material thin enough, small vibrations could produce a microwatt of electrical energy that could be useful for sensors or other devices implanted in the face."

Researchers are taking advantage of advances in nanotechnology and miniaturized electronics to develop a host of biomedical devices that could monitor blood glucose for diabetics or keep a pacemaker battery charged so that it would not need replacing.

What's needed to run these tiny devices is a miniscule power supply. Waste energy in the form or blood flow, motion, heat, or in this case respiration, offers a consistent source of power.

Photo: Graduate Student Jian Shi and Materials Science and Engineering Professor Xudong Wang seen demonstrating an experiment with a device to convert human respiration into energy.(Credit: Image courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Madison, College of Engineering)

Scientists Bioengineer Tomatoes with Enhanced Nutrient Content

2011-10-14T06:03:00.000-07:00

Hyderabad,Oct 14: Scientists made a break-through in successfully using
genetic engineering technique to produce tomatoes with 25 times the normal
amount of nutrients.

"The bioengineered tomatoes contain 25 times the normal amount of folate,
one of the most vital nutrients for the human body's growth and development
and deemed essential for a healthy pregnancy," scientists claim.

An individual tomatoe contains a full day's worth of nutrients, so
scientists hope that this research will have benefits worldwide by applying
it to cereals and crops for less-developed countries, where folate
deficiencies are a serious problem.

The scientists published this in this week's online edition of the journal,
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences(PNAS), according to the
National Science Foundation(US).

"This could potentially be beneficial worldwide," said Andrew Hanson, a
plant biochemist at the University of Florida at Gainesville who developed
the tomato along with colleague Jesse Gregory.

"Now that we've shown it works in tomatoes, we can work on applying it to
cereals and crops for less developed countries where folate deficiencies are
a very serious problem," he said.

Deficiencies of the nutrient have been linked to birth defects, slow growth
rates and other developmental problems in children, as well as numerous
health issues in adults, such as anemia.

"Folate deficiency is a major nutritional deficiency, especially in the
developing world," said Parag Chitnis, program director in the National
Science Foundation's Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, which
funded the research.

"This research provides the proof-of-concept for the natural addition of
folate to diet through enhancement of the folate content of fruits and
vegetables."

The vitamin is commonly found in leafy green vegetables like spinach, but
few people eat enough produce to get the suggested amount of folate. So, in
1998, the Food and Drug Administration made it mandatory that many grain
productssuch as rice, flour and cornmeal be enriched with a synthetic form
of folate known as folic acid.

Folate deficiencies remain a problem in many underdeveloped countries,
however, where adding folic acid is impractical or simply too expensive.

"There are even folate deficiency issues in Europe, where addition of folic
acid to foods has not been very widely practiced," Gregory said.
"Theoretically, you could bypass this whole problem by ensuring that the
folate is already present in the food."

Will doctors be recommending a healthy dose of salsa for would-be pregnant
women anytime soon? Probably not, the researchers say.

"It can take years to get a genetically-engineered food plant approved by
the FDA," Hanson said. "But before that is even a question, there are many
more studies to be done--including a better look at how the overall product
is affected by this alteration."

And there is another hurdle the researchers must clear. Boosting the
production of folate in tomatoes involved increasing the level of another
chemical in the plant, pteridine. Little is known about this chemical, which
is found in virtually all fruits and vegetables.//BM//

India Needs 9,000 Scientists to Run the Proposed 15 Nclear Power Plantts

2011-09-23T22:08:00.000-07:00

India’s nuclear expansion story has caused people unrest in Jaitapur (Maharashtra) and Kudankulam (Tamil Nadu), but for Delhi University’s Aakanksha Saxena and her friends it has provided them with a new career horizon.

Saxena was among the first batch of the university’s masters in nuclear science and technology, country’s only programme of its type, and had a plenty of jobs on offer even before they finished their course in this August.

"(nuclear) science is an emerging area and I thought to try my luck," Saxena said, days after she opted for a top job in French Atomic Energy Commission, Cadarache. Not just her, all her batch-mates have earned lucrative jobs in nuclear establishments in India, Germany and France, the three major nuclear energy players in the world.

The university’s Physics Department started a dual degree course with University of Paris in 2008, in which the students learn nuclear science for the first two years in the home university and then with the foreign partner. In the end, students get two master degrees --- one from Delhi University and other from University of Paris.

"The course is such that the students get practical experience of working in a nuclear reactor," said Professor S K Puri of Delhi University, the brain behind the course. The university invested Rs 10 crore to set up a laboratory to train students in nuclear science that needs 54,000 new scientists for upcoming reactors around the world.

India alone needs about 9,000 scientists to run the proposed 15 nuclear power stations. Availability of scientists is very low. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, which have courses on nuclear science, would meet just 40% of the demand.

It was the right time to opt for a career in nuclear science, as Pradeep Ghosh, who has got a job in a nuclear laboratory in Germany, found out. "We had several options in the time of economic recession," Ghosh said. In fact, each student had 2.5 job offers from the best nuclear establishments in India and abroad. Five of the 11 students of the batch have been selected by BARC at senior scientist level.

Puri said nuclear science is catching imagination of Indian education system but the high cost of education is the biggest stumbling block. "A good nuclear laboratory could cost 10-15 crore and even some good government universities cannot afford that sort of money," he said. To meet the growing demand, universities need government funding to start good quality nuclear courses.(Courtesy:Chetan Chauhan-HindustanTimes-Sept 24-2011))

NOTE: It might be recalled that many universities including the oldest Andhra University in Visakhapatnam had since introduced courses in Nuclear Physics giving a boost to nuclear research.But failure of the successive governments and even the very scientists has resulted in lack of awareness on the need for nuclear power, that is the cheapest and safer with all safety measures taken by our scientists. Unfortunately, the monopolist media houses started venting against the nuclear power plants in India to promote their TRP ratings, taking the example of Fukushima(Japan) and Chernobyl(Russia) disasters.

Scientists Discover 12 New Frog Species in India

2011-09-21T04:07:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI,Sept 18: Indian scientists have discovered 12 new frog species besides finding three others believed to have become extinct.

As many as 32 percent of the world's known amphibian species are threatened with extinction, largely because of habitat loss or pollution, says the group Global Wildlife Conservation.

"Frogs are extremely important indicators not just of climate change, but also pollutants in the environment," said the project's lead scientist, biologist Sathyabhama Das Biju of the University of Delhi.

The discovery was the outcome of years of combing tropical mountain forests, shining flashlights under rocks and listening for croaks in the night, scientists claim.

Many of the newly found frogs in India are rare and are living in just a single area, so they will need rigorous habitat protection, Biju told The Associated Press on Saturday.

"Unfortunately in India, conservation has basically focused on the two most charismatic animals -- the elephant and the tiger. For amphibians, there is little interest, little funding, and frog research is not easy,"he said.

Night frogs are extremely hard to find, coming out only at dark and during the monsoon season, living either in fast-flowing streams or on moist forest ground.

The 12 new species include the meowing night frog, whose croak sounds more like a cat's call, the jog night frog, unique in that both the males and females watch over the eggs, and the Wayanad night frog, which grows to about the size of a baseball or cricket ball.

"It's almost like a monster in the forest floor, a huge animal for a frog, leaping from one rock to another," Biju said.

Three other species were rediscovered, including the Coorg night frog described 91 years ago, after scientists "had completely ignored these animals, thinking they were lost."

The discoveries -- published in the latest issue of international taxonomy journal Zootaxa -- bring the known number of frogs in India to 336.

Biju estimated this was only around half of what is in the wild, and said none of India's amphibians are yet being studied for biological compounds that could be of further use in science.

"We first have to find the species, know them and protect them, so that we can study them for their clinical importance," he said. Biju is credited with discovering dozens of new Indian frog species during his 35-year
career. (with inputs from AP)

(Photo: A jog night frog sits in the forests of the Western Ghats in Karnataka, India).

Scientists sequence genomes of 17 common strains of lab mice to advance genetic studies on human diseases

2011-09-15T06:31:00.000-07:00

By:  Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna

Hyderabad,Sept 15: Scientists have sequenced the genomes (genetic codes) of 17 strains of common lab mice, laying the groundwork for the identification of genes responsible for important traits, including diseases that afflict both mice and humans.Mice represent the premier genetic model system for studying human diseases.

What's more, the 17 strains of mice included in this study are the most
common strains used in lab studies of human diseases. By enabling scientists

to list all DNA differences between the 17 strains, the new genome sequences

will speed the identification of subsets of mutations and genes that contribute to disease.

      The study was conducted by an international team of researchers and was

partially funded by the National Science Foundation. It is covered in this

week's issue of Nature.
      This study also involved comparing the DNA sequences of four wild-derived

mouse strains (three sub-species of mice and one separate mouse species) in

order to reconstruct their evolutionary histories. Results reveal striking
variations in strain relationships across the genome.
       In other words, the evolutionary connection between mouse strains depends
on which stretch of DNA is considered. "Mouse genomes are complex patchworks of different histories," concluded Bret Payseur who worked with Michael   White on this part of the study. (Both researchers are from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.)
        These results underscore: 1) the importance of basing genetic comparisons
between species on as much genomic information as possible; and 2) the
potential complexities of studying the evolution of disease-causing mutations in order to help explain their mechanisms.
         Researchers have developed a valuable mouse genetic blueprint that will accelerate future research and understanding of human genetics. The
international team, led by researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger
Institute and the University of Oxford, explain in two papers published in
Nature on 14 September 2011 how they decoded and compared the genome
sequence of 17 mouse strains.

       In creating this unique resource, the biggest catalogue for any vertebrate
model organism, the team found an astonishing 56.7 million unique sites of

variation (known as SNPs) between the strains, in addition to other more

complex differences. Among these they identified sequence differences

associated with over 700 biological differences,including markers for
diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, so linking genes with medically
important individual differences.

       The catalogue, which was funded principally by the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust, can be used by researchers to understand the genetic basis of individual variation, and to ask fundamental questions about how genes function and make us more or less likely to have particular diseases.

Inbred strains of mice are invaluable sources of genetic information.

         Every animal within each inbred strain is essentially genetically identical, but each strain is different from the others both in their genes and across a
huge range of medically and biologically important characteristics.

      "We are living in an era where we have thousands of human genomes at our
finger tips", says Dr Adams, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, who
led the project. "The mouse, and the genome sequences we have generated,
will play a critical role in understanding of how genetic variation contributes to disease and will lead us towards new therapies."

        As a direct result of the project, researchers will place less reliance on
breeding mice to find mutations; using this resource they will be able to
find mutations much more quickly by the click of a digital mouse to search
for the data on their computer.

       These strains of mice are used in every corner of biology to further our
understanding of human disease, and there is much more to discover. With the
variants to hand, the challenge moves to understanding the biological
consequences.

        "In some cases it has taken 40 years - an entire working life - to pin down
a gene in a mouse model that is associated with a human disease, looking for
the cause," explains Dr Thomas Keane, who was a first author on one of the
papers. "Now with our catalogue of variants the analysis of these mice is
breathtakingly fast and can be completed in the time it takes to make a cup
of coffee.

       "We now know where all the variants are, so the questions today are what do they do, and can we explain the phenotypic differences between different
strains of mice?"

         Crucially, the resource will reduce the amount of mouse breeding and testing needed to identify genes and mutations,reducing the numbers of mice required for each study. The initial discovery can be made computationally. The extensive catalogue will be invaluable for associating variation in a trait
with changes to DNA - the biologist's journey from phenotype to genotype.

       Using the sequence of the 17 mouse genomes, the team looked for variants
associated with quantitative trait loci (QTLs)implicating differences in the
sequence between strains as being associated with the phenotypes that
distinguish them.

        "This study is a first step in a long path that moves from understanding
what the genome is, to what it does," says Professor Jonathan Flint, from
the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, who co-led the study.

           "The biological differences across the inbred strains of mice model
variation between individual humans," says Professor Ian Jackson, joint head
of Medical and Development Genetics at the Medical Research Council's Human Genetics Unit.

             "This resource, made possible through huge recent advances in sequencing technology, is transforming our understanding of how DNA sequence variation relates to gene function, and ultimately its association with biology and human health."

             The project will be extended by sequencing further mouse strains, defining   the genetic changes in mouse cancers and investigating the effect of
variants on gene function.

            The blueprint, coupled with today's speedier sequencing, enables researchers to probe deeper to find mutations affecting gene function at a much faster rate. It also opens the doorway to the possibility of sequencing much larger numbers of mice, with plans to extend the project to hundreds of mouse

strains, a feat that only a few years ago would have seemed impossible.

Banana Peels can Purify Water: Research

2011-09-07T06:57:00.000-07:00

BY: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna

Hyderabad, Sept 7, 2011: No material goes waste in this world to benefit humanity. Banana peel, which we often throw away before eating the delicious fruit, is found to act as the best water purifier, latest research shows.

The banana peels, often relished by the goats and other domestic animals, are generally used for polishing silverware, leather shoes and the leaves of houseplants. The animals grow fat as they get good nutrients from the peels.

A study in the American Chemical Society’s journal, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, showed that minced banana peel performs better than an array of other water purification materials and can do so in a sustainable way.

The ACS, with more than 163,000 members, makes up the world’s largest scientific society. It is now working on “Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions: New Solutions 2011.”

This is all in a bid to combat disease, promote public health, provide the people with clean water and safe food, besides developing new sources of energy and confronting climate change, the ACS avers.

Gustavo Castro and his team of chemical scientists of São Paulo State University in Brazil note that mining processes, runoff from farms, and industrial wastes can all put heavy metals such as lead and copper into waterways. Heavy metals can have adverse health and environmental effects.

Current methods of removing heavy metals from water are expensive and some substances used in the process are toxic themselves. Previous work has shown that some plant wastes, such as coconut fibers and peanut shells, can remove these potential toxins from water.

“I chose to work with banana peels because I have heard for a long time that we usually throw out the best part of the fruit and that most of the nutrients and proteins are in parts not used by us, such as the peels. From there, I decided to make an initial experiment to determine the chemical composition of the pee,” Castro claimed.
The researchers found that minced banana peel could quickly remove lead and copper from river water as well as or better than many other materials. They say that banana peels can be used up to 11 times without losing their metal-binding properties. The scientists add that banana peels are very attractive because of their low cost and because they don’t have to be chemically modified in order to work.

“I was surprised to learn that something so simple could work so well I believe that banana peels can be of great importance in water purification. Sustainability is very important, ” he added.

The motto of the ACS , it is claimed, is Smart Chemists. Innovative Thinking.
That’s the key to solving global challenges of the 21st Century. More at www.acs.org/GlobalChallenges.

'Indian Eagle Owls help farmers control rodents'

2011-09-03T22:58:00.000-07:00

PUNE: In a study conducted in several locations in the state, including Pune, the Deccan Plateau, and in and around Alibaug and Chiplun, researchers from the city-based Ela Foundation and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) has found that the Indian Eagle Owl (IEO) Bubo bengalensis plays a positive role in the biological control of crop pests.

The team studied the habitat preference, diet and reproductive behaviour of IEO, and found that its diet is dominated by agricultural pests, which contribute 88% of the total prey biomass. Out of the 13 rodent prey species, which comprise a major part of the diet, seven have been identified as major agricultural pests. Since the owl species is still hunted due to superstitious beliefs, scientific evidence elucidating the importance of the IEO in agricultural pest control can be an important motivation for its conservation.

Satish Pande, ornithologist and founder-president, Ela Foundation, an NGO devoted to nature education and conservation, said, "Despite developments in the infrastructure for production and storage of agricultural produce, it is estimated that rodents damage between 2-15% of the crops annually in the country. Therefore, agricultural pest control is a major concern. In India, we have the concept called IPM - Integrated Pest Management, under which the biological control of pest is included. Not much work has been done on the subject of birds as controllers of pest. Hence, this research is important."

Pande said chemical control using pesticides and biological control through predators and pathogens have been suggested for pest control. "However, chemical pesticides and control of pests using pathogens often affect the environment and human health. Hence, utilisation of natural predators is an environment-friendly solution. If the importance of wildlife in pest control can be backed up with convincing data, predation by wildlife can be promoted as an environment-friendly pest control method," Pande added.

This is particularly true for predators like owls, which are often killed as they are considered bad omens, and also for their use in black magic.

During the breeding season between October and March, in 2004-05 and 2005-06, researchers identified 44 occupied nest sites. They selected an area of 1,000 m radius centred on the nests to analyse the landscape features in the nest territories. "We categorised each circular plot into six habitat categories: agriculture, scrub, grassland, water body (perennial or seasonal), hills, and rural habitat, using 'look down' visual surveys conducted from high vantage points and estimated the percentage occurrences of each category," said Pande.

Neelesh Dahanukar, an IISER fellow, added: "At least five visits were made to each of the nest sites each year during the breeding seasons. Owl pellets and prey remains were collected from all nest sites and were separately analyzed for each nest for every breeding season."

Analysis revealed that IEO's preference for different habitats was significantly different, with a preference for agriculture dominated habitats than the second most dominant, grassland habitat. "Even though our analysis of the diet suggests that the IEO is a dietary generalist, the abundance and total biomass of different groups of prey in the diet showed that rodents were the most important prey followed by birds and bats. Of all prey items, 73% of relative abundance and 81% of prey biomass was of pests of agricultural significance," said Dahanukar.

Pande added the study, which was recently published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa, also found that owls have a high productivity in the agriculture habitat, which could be attributed to the increased access to rodents. "As a result, owls are not just the predators of rodents, but are in turn dependent on them to increases their productivity. Therefore, there appears to be a delicate interdependence between owls and rodent populations.

("http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Indian-Eagle-Owls-help-farmers-control-rodents/articleshow/9855173.cms) by Neha Madan

Pakistan Threat to Indian Science?!

2011-09-03T05:57:00.000-07:00

BY: Prof Atta-ur-Rahman

On July 23, 2006, an article was published in the leading daily Indian newspaper Hindustan Times, titled “Pak threat to Indian science.” It was reported that Prof C N R Rao (chairman of the Indian prime minister’s Scientific Advisory Council), had made a detailed presentation to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the rapid strides that Pakistan was making in the higher education sector after the establishment of the Higher Education Commission in October 2002 and my appointment as its first chairman. The article began with the sentence “Pakistan may soon join China in giving India serious competition in science.”

Serious apprehensions were expressed before the Indian prime minister at the rapid progress being made by Pakistan in the higher education and science sectors, first under the ministry of science and technology after my appointment as the federal minister of science and technology of Pakistan in 2000, and later under the Higher Education Commission.

It was stressed during the presentation to the Indian prime minister that if India did not take urgent measures to upgrade its own higher education sector, Pakistan would soon take the lead in key areas of higher education, science and technology.

Something remarkable happened in Pakistan during the short period from 2000 to 2008 that rang alarm bells in India. It also drew unmitigated praise from neutral international experts. Three independent and authoritative reports, praising the outstanding performance of the HEC, were published by the World Bank, Usaid and the British Council. Pakistan won several international awards for the revolutionary changes in the higher education sector brought about under the leadership of the writer. The Austrian government conferred its high civil award “Grosse Goldene Ehrenzeischen am Bande” (2007) on the writer for transforming the Higher Education sector in Pakistan.

The TWAS (Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, Italy) Award for Institutional Development was conferred on the writer at the academy’s 11th general conference in October 2009.

Prof Michael Rode, the chairman of the United Nations Commission on Science, Technology and Development and presently heading a Network of European and Asian Universities (ASIA-UNINET), wrote: “The progress made was breathtaking and has put Pakistan ahead of comparable countries in numerous aspects.

The United Nations Commission on Science and Technology has closely monitored the development in Pakistan in the past years, coming to the unanimous conclusion that (the) policy and programme is a ‘best-practice’ example for developing countries aiming at building their human resources and establishing an innovative, technology-based economy.”

Prof Wolfgang Voelter of Tubingen University, who had been conferred two civil awards by the government of Pakistan for his contributions to the development of science in this country, paid glowing tributes in an article published in November 2008: “A miracle happened. The scenario of education, science and technology in Pakistan changed dramatically as never before in the history of Pakistan. The chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Education recently announced it as ‘Pakistan’s golden period in higher education.’ “

A senior US educational expert, Prof Fred Hayward, independently analysed this sector on behalf of Usaid and wrote: “The Higher Education Commission instituted major upgrades for laboratories and information and communications technology, rehabilitation of facilities, expansion of research support, and development of one of the best digital libraries in the region.

Its successes have been remarkable – quality had increased significantly, and several institutions were on their way to becoming world-class institutions. About 95 percent of people sent abroad for training returned, an unusually high result for a developing country in response to improved salaries and working conditions at universities.”

The tremendous changes that occurred in Pakistan after the year 2003, compared to the previous 55 years (1947-2002) are illustrated by the following statistics:

1. There were only 59 universities and degree awarding institutes in Pakistan in the year 2001. These grew to 127 such institutions by 2008.

2. University enrolment grew threefold, rising from only 276,000 in 2002 to a remarkable 803,000 by 2010.

3. During the 55-year period between 1947 and 2002, only 1,500 PhD scholarships had been awarded by UGC. During 2003 and 2010, over 8,000 such scholarships were awarded by the HEC through a highly competitive selection process, about 5,000 of these to top universities in the USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

4. The PhD output from our universities between 1947 and 2002 was only 3,321 (an average of only 60 per year). In the subsequent eight-year period, 2003-2010, another 3,651 PhD degrees were granted (an average of 450 per year) after international assessment by eminent experts from technologically advanced countries. Presently it stands at about 700 per year, representing a 1,200 percent increase over the average in the 55-year period.

5. The rapid progress made by Pakistan in the IT and telecom sector from 2000 and 2002 under my charge as federal minister led to the spread of the internet from 29 cities in 2000 to 1,000 cities, towns and villages by 2002, and the spread of fibre from 40 cities to 400 cities in this two-year period. Internet prices were reduced sharply from $87,000 per month for a 2 MB line to only $3,000 per month. The mobile telephony boom began by the drastic lowering of prices, bringing in competition and changing the system, so that the person receiving a call was no longer required to pay any charges. A satellite was placed in space (Paksat 1) at a cost of only $4 million. These changes in the IT infrastructure brought about during the time I was federal minister of science responsible for IT and telecom later proved invaluable for the higher education sector.

The Pakistan Educational Research Network was set up in 2004, through which one of the finest digital libraries was established in universities. In 2002, a few university libraries could subscribe to a handful of journals. Today every student in every public sector university has free access to over 20,000 international journals with back volumes and over 60,000 books from 250 international publishers. A silent revolution had occurred.

6. From 1947 to 2002, not a single university could be ranked among the top 600 of the world in international university rankings. By 2008, however, several Pakistani universities achieved this distinction, with NUST (Islamabad) at 273rd in the world, UET (Lahore) at 281 in the world and Karachi University (in natural sciences) at 223 in the world. Others included Quaid-e-Azam University (Islamabad) and Mehran Engineering University (Hyderabad).

Pakistan was poised to make a major breakthrough in transitioning from a low value-added agricultural economy to a knowledge economy. Alas, corrupt politicians with forged degrees plotted to destroy this wonderful institution where all decisions were merit-based, a trait unacceptable to many in power. A government notification was issued on Nov 30, 2010, to fragment the HEC and distribute the pieces.

At this point I intervened. It was on my appeal to it that the Supreme Court declared the fragmentation of the HEC to be unconstitutional. The development budget of the HEC has, however, been slashed by 50 percent and most development programmes in universities have come to a grinding halt.

The Indian government need not have worried. We Pakistanis, alas, know how to destroy our own institutions.

The writer is former federal minister for science and technology and former chairman of the Higher Education Commission.
This story is reproduced from this link for comments( http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=65633&Cat=9)

Research shows heat in chili peppers can ease sinus problems

2011-08-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

By: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Hyderabad, Aug 27: A spray made of an ingredient extracted from hot chili peppers could clear up several of the nasal allergies, according to a new study.

Mostly, hot chilies, often used in our kitchen world over, tears up of nose and throat but the extract, capsaicin, derived from them is found to work wonders as a remedy for most of the nasal problems if used as a spray.

Led by University of Cincinnati allergy researcher Jonathan Bernstein, the study, appeared in the August 2011 edition of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, compares the use of the Capsicum annum (Chills) nasal spray to a placebo nasal spray in 44 subjects with a significant component of non-allergic rhinitis (i.e., nasal congestion, sinus pain, sinus pressure) for a period of two weeks.

Capsaicin is also the active ingredient in several topical medications used for temporary pain relief. It is approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is available over the counter.
"Basically, we concluded that the spray was safe and effective on non-allergic rhinitis," Bernstein says of the study which showed that participants who used a nasal spray with Capsicum reported a faster onset of action or relief, on average within a minute of using the spray, than the control group.
Non-allergic rhinitis is an upper respiratory condition not caused by allergies but instead caused by environmental factors such as weather, household chemicals or perfumes; however, there are some people who have no triggers or don't know what triggers are causing the inflammation, Bernstein says.
This is the first controlled trial where capsaicin was able to be used on a continuous basis to control symptoms. It is considered a significant advance, "because we don't really have good therapies for non-allergic rhinitis," says Bernstein, adding that in previous trials the ingredient was too hot to administer without anesthesia.

The study was funded by Dynova Laboratories. Bernstein, a professor in the division of immunology, allergy and rheumatology at the UC College of Medicine, is a paid consultant for Dynova. //BM//

Yoga boosts stress-busting hormone, reduces pain:

2011-08-25T05:46:00.000-07:00

BY: Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Hyderabad, July 28,2011: A new study by York University researchers finds that practicing yoga reduces the physical and psychological symptoms of chronic pain in women with fibromyalgia.

The study, authored by Ms.Kathryn Curtis, a PhD student in York's Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health. was published yesterday in the Journal of Pain Research. It was co-authored by her supervisor, York professor Joel Katz, Canada Research Chair in Health Psychology, and Anna Osadchuk, a York University undergraduate student.

The study is the first to look at the effects of yoga on cortisol levels in women with fibromyalgia. The condition, which predominantly affects women, is characterized by chronic pain and fatigue; common symptoms include muscle stiffness, sleep disturbances, gastrointestinal discomfort, anxiety and depression.

Previous research has found that women with fibromyalgia have lower-than-average cortisol levels, which contribute to pain, fatigue and stress sensitivity. According to the study, participants' saliva revealed elevated levels of total cortisol following a program of 75 minutes of hatha yoga twice weekly over the course of eight weeks.

"Ideally, our cortisol levels peak about 30-40 minutes after we get up in the morning and decline throughout the day until we're ready to go to sleep,The secretion of the hormone, cortisol, is dysregulated in women with fibromyalgia" she says.

Cortisol is a steroid hormone that is produced and released by the adrenal gland and functions as a component of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in response to stress.

"Hatha yoga promotes physical relaxation by decreasing activity of the sympathetic nervous system, which lowers heart rate and increases breath volume. We believe this in turn has a positive effect on the HPA axis," says Curtis.

Participants completed questionnaires to determine pain intensity pre- and post-study; they reported significant reductions in pain and associated symptoms, as well as psychological benefits. They felt less helpless, were more accepting of their condition, and were less likely to "catastrophize" over current or future symptoms.

"We saw their levels of mindfulness increase – they were better able to detach from their psychological experience of pain," Curtis says. Mindfulness is a form of active mental awareness rooted in Buddhist traditions; it is achieved by paying total attention to the present moment with a non-judgmental awareness of inner and outer experiences.

"Yoga promotes this concept – that we are not our bodies, our experiences, or our pain. This is extremely useful in the management of pain," she says. "Moreover, our findings strongly suggest that psychological changes in turn affect our experience of physical pain."

Curtis was supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Canada Graduate Scholarship and a CIHR Strategic Training Grant Fellowship in Pain: Molecules to Community.
York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada's most international city.

The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 200,000 alumni worldwide. York's 11 faculties and 24 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries.

This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation. //BM//

Sniffer Dogs Can Detect Lung Cancer:Research

2011-08-25T05:33:00.000-07:00

BY: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna

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Hyderabad, Aug 17,2011: Sniffer dogs, which have traditionally been used for
crime detection, could now be used for early diagnosis of lung cancer more
reliably, according to the latest study report published in the European
Respiratory Journal.

The finding of the research, carried out by researchers in Germany's
Schillerhoehe Hospital, is considered the first of its kind in the world.

Author of the study, Thorsten Walles, said that the breath of patients with
lung cancer, is likely to contain different chemicals as against the normal
breath samples.

The dogs' keen sense of smell can detect this difference at an early stage
of the disease. The results confirm the presence of a stable marker for
lung cancer.

"This is a big step forward in the diagnosis of lung cancer, but we still
need to precisely identify the compounds observed in the exhaled breath of
patients. It is unfortunate that dogs cannot communicate the biochemistry of
the scent of cancer!" he observed.

Lung cancer is the second most frequent form of cancer in men and women
across Europe with over 340,000 deaths per year. It is also the most common
cause of death from cancer worldwide, experts say.

The disease is not strongly associated with any symptoms and early detection
is often by chance. Current methods of detection are unreliable and
scientists have been working on using exhaled breath specimens from patients
for future screening tests.

This method relies on identifying volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are
linked to the presence of cancer. Although many different technological
applications have been developed, this method is still difficult to apply in
a clinical setting as patients aren't allowed to smoke or eat before the
test, sample analysis can take a long time and there is also a high risk of
interference. Because of these reasons, no lung cancer-specific VOCs have
yet been identified.

This new study aimed to assess whether Sniffer dogs could be used to
identify a VOC in the breath of patients. The researchers worked with 220
volunteers, including lung cancer patients, chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD) patients and healthy volunteers. They used dogs that had been
specifically trained.

The dogs successfully identified 71 samples with lung cancer out of a
possible 100. They also correctly detected 372 samples that did not have
lung cancer out of a possible 400.

The dogs could also detect lung cancer independently from COPD and tobacco
smoke. These results confirm the presence of a stable marker for lung cancer
that is independent of COPD and also detectable in the presence of tobacco
smoke, food odours and drugs. //BM//

Saffron Likely to Prevent Liver Cancer: Study

2011-08-25T05:25:00.000-07:00

Hyderabad,Aug 25: Saffron, traditionally used in in India by the pregnant
mothers in the belief that it would give birth to a baby with red colour,
has shown to prevent liver cancer.

Latest study on cancer induced rats research suggests that saffron provides
a significant chemopreventive effect. Full findings will appear in the
September issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley Blackwell on
behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), or liver cancer, is the fifth most common
cancer and the third leading cause of cancer mortality in the world. Medical
evidence has shown that chronic infection with hepatitis B and C are major
risk factors for HCC, and exposure to environmental carcinogens, iron
overload, fatty liver disease and alcohol abuse can also contribute to
development of liver cancer.

DEN, an environmental carcinogen, is found in tobacco-smoke, cosmetics,
gasoline, and processed foods including milk and meat products.

"In the fight against cancer, there has been much interest in
chemopreventive properties of natural herbs and plants," says Prof. Amr Amin
from United Arab Emirates University. With limited treatment options,
approaches that prevent cancer development are among the best strategies to
protect against the disease.

Earlier studies have shown that saffron, a naturally derived plant product,
possesses antioxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory properties.

Saffron is a commonly used spice, adding flavor and color to foods, and a
possible cancer-fighting substance that is readily available. The plant's
dried thread like red-coloured stigmas have genrally been used as medicine
which is sold in grams.

In order to further explore the potential of saffron in preventing the
development and progression of HCC, DEN was used to induce lesions in rats,
mimicking benign and malignant tumors in humans. The research team
administered saffron to the animals at 75mg/kg, 150 mg/kg, and 300 mg/kg per
day two weeks prior to DEN injection and continued the regimen for 22 weeks.

Results show saffron significantly reduced the number and the incidence of
liver nodules, with animals receiving the highest dose of saffron showing
complete inhibition of hepatic nodules.

"Our findings suggest that saffron provides an anti-cancer protective effect
by promoting cell death (apoptosis), inhibiting proliferation of cancerous
cells, and blocking inflammation," concluded Prof. Amin. "Further
investigation of saffron extract and its mechanism of action in HCC is
currently underway."

Most saffron is grown in a belt of land ranging from the Mediterranean in
the west to Kashmir in the east. Annually, around 300 tonnes of saffron are
produced worldwide. Iran, Spain, India, Greece, Azerbaijan, Morocco, and
Italy, in decreasing order of production, are the major producers of
saffron.

Iran with its cultivation of different varieties, is the largest producer of
saffron with 93.7% of the world's total production. The main cultivation
areas in the country are in eastern and southeastern parts. The Khorassan
zone has managed to achieve an excellent yield on the production and export
of saffron over time, so much so that 90% of saffron production in Iran is
obtained from there.

The Saffron produced in Kashmir is considered the best in the world and is
the costliest.It is also considered to have anti-allergic,anti-depressant
and immuno-modulatory properties for generations.//BM//

Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna,

Cockroach Brain Contain Antibiotics

2011-02-08T07:14:00.000-08:00

Scientists believe cockroaches could hold the secret to treating the most formidable infections resistant to the drugs available.

According to the Daily Mail reports, testing has found networks of the brain and nervous system of insects may kill more than 90 percent of the infections MRSA and E-coli without harming human cells.

Simon Lee, a postgraduate researcher from the University of Nottingham, said the cockroach has strong antibiotic properties after finding nine different molecules in tissue that are toxic to bacteria cockroaches.

"We hope that the molecule could eventually be developed into drugs for E-coli and MRSA infections are increasingly vulnerable to current drugs," he said.

This new antibiotic, according to Kee, potentially providing another alternative to currently available drugs. Current drugs may be effective, but has serious side effects and unwanted.

He added that the insects often live in unhealthy environments and are not hygienic, where they face various kinds of bacteria. That's why insects can develop defenses to protect against micro-organisms.

Mr. Lee's research focuses on the study of specific properties of antibacterial molecules that are currently being tested on these super bugs.

According to the Society for General Microbiology, the pharmaceutical industry to produce fewer new antibiotics due to lack of financial incentives so that high demand for alternative sources of new drugs.

Mr. Lee will present his findings in the presence of friends of scientists at the fall meeting of the society at the University of Nottingham.

Dr. Naveed Khan, charged with overseeing the work of Lee. He said, "such as MRSA super Insects have developed resistance to standard therapies and treatments that we do."

"They have demonstrated the ability to infections that can not be cured, and has become a major threat in our fight against bacterial diseases. So, there is a continuing need to find additional sources of new antimicrobial for dealing with this threat."

Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/alternative-medicine-articles/cockroach-brain-contain-antibiotics-3292115.html#ixzz1DNd7H8Lu
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

Marine Microbial Biodiversity Nodal Centre in Goa

2010-07-05T09:10:00.000-07:00

BY: Y Bala Murali Krishna

Panaji, Jul 4,2010(UNI) If everything goes well, Goa University will have the previlige of having a national nodal centre for Marine Microbial Biodiversity Research.

The proposed nodal centre will have similar sub-centres at Visakhapatnam port city in Andhra Pradesh and another centre either in Tamilnadu or Kerala.

Interacting with UNI here on the sidelines of a UGC sponsored workshop on ''Biodiversity Awareness Programme'' to mark the International Year of Biodiversity-2010 on the Goa University campus here, its vice-chancellor Dr Dilip Deobagkar said the union ministry of Earth Sciences had taken the initiative in
this regard.

The workshop was organised yesterday by the university's Department of Botony in collaboration with the Goa Union of Journalists, as part of efforts at sensitising journalists on the need for preserving biodiversity.

Stating that negotiations were underway for selecting Goa University for the Nodal Centre, he said the university was well placed in this regard as the existing centre for marime microbiology studies could back the research initiative.

''This is more apt when the entire world is looking for harvesting marine resources to meet the galloping demand for food and other requirements in day to day life,'' Dr Deobagkar said.

He said biodiversity touches all aspects of life and hence required a participatory approach for its research and spread of awareness among the masses to ensure its sustainability and diversity of species.

Goa, though a tiny state with a mere 105-km long coastline in the west coast of India, has recorded as many as 3000 marine species as documented recently under an international project, says scientist Dr Baban Ingole of the Biological Oceanography
of the prestigious National Institute of Oceanography here.

At the sametime, the 10-year study by the Census of Marine Life undertaken by the project Ocean Biogeographic Information System, (IOBS) hosted by the Rutgers University's Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, USA.

The project was undertaken by 2000 scientists all over the world in 80 countries including India had so far detected 2.5 million marime species excluding microbes.

This includes 23,800 found in the Indian Ocean region for which NIO was the nodal agency to coordinate the survey with Dr Ingole heading it.

He claims tropical seas, considered hotspots of biodoversity, have recorded maximum number of species which are threatened if overexploitation of the seas continues unabated.//EOM//

India to claim extended area beyond 200 nautical miles of continental shelf

2009-12-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

BY: Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Panaji, Dec 15-2k9(UNI) The day is not far away when India could stake claim of extended continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles to reap more economic dividends from the seas around.

Thanks to the first mile stone achieved by a dedicated band of scientists through a multi-disciplinary research work coordinated by the prestigious National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research(NCAOR) based in South Goa’ Vasco-da-Gama city, hitherto known for undertaking respective annual scientific missions to Antarctica for the last 26 years.

As part of the effort, a unique state-of-the-art web-based Marine Geo-scientific Data Centre developed at the NCAOR was launched recently by Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences.

“This unique Data Centre represents the cumulative and dedicated work of over 40 scientists from some of the premier geoscientific institutions of the country who have been partners since 2002 in one of the most of challenging and multifaceted tasks ever undertaken by India in the offshore realm,” say scientists.

The project defines and determines the outer limits of the country’s continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from its coastal baselines under the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS).

The Centre, according to Dr.Nayak, marks but the first step towards creating state-of-the-art archival and retrieval facilities of all marine geoscientific data in a structured database at NCAOR.

“ The Data Centre should not be restricted to archiving only the data pertaining to the Indian offshore areas, but also include the geoscientific data of other oceanic realms as well,” he says.

It might be recalled that the NCAOR is the nodal agency of India for launching Scientific Expeditions to Antarctica for the last 26 years. It also coordinated the study aimed at generating marine geoscientific data to define the boundaries beyond the continental shelf. MORE/BM/1840hrs

Other agencies engaged in the gigantic task were Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, Delhi, Geological Survey of India, Kolkata, National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, Naval Hydrographic Office and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Dehradun.

Based on the desktop study, a comprehensive data acquisition programme designed to maximize and sustain India's legal continental shelf claim was chalked out.

Considering the exhaustive and valuable geophysical data sought to be gathered, the work programme was designed in such a way that the data gathered will not only help substantiate India's shelf claims but will also cater to the country's geoscientific research endeavors in the ocean realm.

Specialized seismic vessels with state-of-the-art geophysical instrumentation were deployed for the data acquisition program.

The Indian Continental Shelf Program being implemented by the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa, on behalf of the Department of Ocean development (DOD) is a multi-institutional national endeavor that seeks to gather the requisite scientific and technical data to define and substantiate the country's extended shelf claims.

Underpinning the Centre's efforts is a comprehensive work program comprising multichannel seismic reflection, refraction, gravity and magnetic data acquisition within and beyond the Indian EEZ.

Article 76 of UNCLOS defines the scientific and technical criteria for the delineation of the continental shelf by a coastal state where the outer edge of its continental margin extends beyond 200 nautical miles.

The delineation of the continental shelf has important implications for a coastal nation in terms of ensuring international recognition of sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the marine realm over a substantial area beyond the limits of the Exclusive Economic Zone.

In order to define the continental shelf, the country needs to demonstrate natural prolongation of the shelf beyond 200Miles, mapping the 2500 metre isobath, data for the Baselines from where distances to be measured, precise identification of the foot of the continental slope and Information on the sediment thickness beyond the foot of the slope.

Director of the NCAOR Rasik Ravindra had acknowledged the valuable help rendered by the group of NCAOR scientists led by Dr. S. Rajan besides M/s TCS, Hyderabad. Dr. P. K. Biswas, former Adviser, Planning Commission was also present on the occasion. //EOM//

29th Indian Antarctic Expedition takes off,Third Base Stration on Agenda

2009-11-07T00:17:00.000-08:00

BY: Dr.Y Bala Murali Krishna
Panaji, Nov 6,2k9 (UNI) The first batch of the 29th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica left today to the Maitri base research station in the icy continent to explore the area for benefiting humanity.

Dr P Elango of the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism led the 12-member team of scientists by flight via Mumbai through Cape Town. He will replace the leader of the 28th expedition Dr Pradeep Malhotra.

Informing this to UNI here today, director of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) Dr Rasik Ravindra said three other batches of scientists would leave for Antarctica by the end of this year to meet the mission objectives.

The main objective this year was to reach Larsemann Hills in the continent for setting up the third Indian base research station, 3000 KM away from the existing Maitri station.

The new station was likely to be launched by the year 2011-12 if everything goes well. The logistics operations had been completed earlier so that the new batch of scientists could start laying approach roads to the Larsemann Hills before dispatching modules for setting up of the station.

It might be recalled that the existing station Maitri had been in use by the scientists since 1988 after abandoning the first station named after the north Indian river the Dakshin Gangotri following a blizard.

The scientists however completed deep drilling operations in the Antarctica but continued shallow drilling, 100 to 150 Metres deep for collection of ice-cores to study the environment and various other aspects of the atmosphere and the continent datable to 20,000 years back.

Setting of the third station would further facilitate research by the Indian scientific team which had been coordinating as a nodal agency by the NCAOR under the union ministry of earth sciences through an integrated approach coordinating different universities and research bodies across the countries.

''No purpose would be served if the scientists engaged in deep drilling with several other countries already drilling several Kms deep into the ice-core,'' he said.

Interestingly, Indian scientists had identified As many as 25 new species of life in the icy continent collected in the ice cores during analysis made at the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology as against 125 made by other countries.

The ice-core studies for new life was expected to unravel the mysteries and origins of life of the earth besides exploring the various climates existing over the years millions of years.//EOM//

Third Experiment for Extra-Terrestrial Life beyond Earth in 2010

2009-10-12T23:36:00.001-07:00

BY: Y Bala Murali Krishna

Panaji, Oct 11-2k9 (UNI) Bouyed with the first two experiments, Indian
astrophysicists, in collaboration with the space scientists have
decided to conduct a third experiment of sending a balloon with a
payload into atmosphere to collect unpolluted air samples for
proving the existance of life beyond the Planet Earth next year.
Disclosing this to UNI on the sidelines of a public lecture
on ''Searches for micro-life in the erarth's atmosphere'' at Kala
Academy here today, celebrated astrophysicist Dr.Jayant V.Narlikar
said the concerned scientists had now been engaged in a ''brain
storming session'' on the experiment at the Pune-based
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics(IUCAA).
Unlike in the first two experiments in 2001 and 2005, the
scientists would like to subject the air samples to ''isotopic
composition study'' to find out the anomaly whether the carbon and
nitrogen present in the bacteria collected was not similar to the
ones similar to those on the earth.
''The anomaly could be established by nucldear analysis of the
bacteria to be collected from the atmosphere far above the Earth to
find the existance of extra-terrestrial life beyond the Earth,''
Dr.Narlikar said.
In the first ISRO-Cryosample experiment in 2001, the scientists
had sent a huge balloon from Hyderabad facility to collect air
samples at heights of 41 km above the sea level.
The samples, tested unhder confocal microscppe at two different
foreign laboratories and at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular
Biology at Hyderabad noticed rod and sophere like bacteria besides
fungus.
Their analysis, completed in 2003 found that the new bacteria
could survive even the ultra violet radiation meaning it originated
from the space, but not the earth.he said.
Encouraged by the discovery, the scientists had conducted the
second improved version of the experiment with astrobiology payload
in April 2005 to complete the analysis in 2008.
Surprisingly, the samples collected included 12 bacterial and 6
fuingal coloies. Gene Sequencing of the 9 samples revealed that 98
per cent of them were similar to the species known on the earth
whereas three others were different.
Two of them were named after ISRO and Aryabhatta and the third as
Jankibacger Boylei. It was conclusively proved that the species were
from extra terrestrial source, debunking the suspicion that it could
have been molecules out of volcano eruption which however could not
spew beyond 24 km into the atmosphere.
Dr.Narlikar, who doled out the details of the two experiments in
the public lecture after explaining the ''socmic hierarchy'' that
included the Earth, said the two experiments hitherto had revived
the hope of existance of extra-terrestrial life which needs to be
found out through more experiments for conclusive evidence.
''I hope, we can succeed in having a dialogue with
extra-terrestrial life in the finest form. Life exists in the
universe resembling that on the Earth as per circumstantial evidence
gathered,'' the Padmavibhushan said.
There are as many as 10 to the power of 21 stars(put 21 zeros
after the number 10) in the ''observable universe''. Studies showed
that the space environs contained organis and inorganic
molecules/complunds such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, alcohol
and syanide.
The search for primitive life form in the form of cells, bacteria
and micro-organisms should continue as thdey were responsible for
evolution of life on earth as per the Darvinian therory, he said.
The theory of fifth century BC greek philosopher Amaxagoras saying
the presence of seeds of life(panspermia) travelling across the vast
stellar spaces(spores of life) got further support in 19th century
AD by LOord Kelvin and later by Svente Ahnius(1903).
It was however rejected by Bacque (1924) sayuing micro-organisms
could not survive the ultraviolet radiation in space.The theory
oflife was later revived in 1978 by Fred Hoyle and Chandra
Wikramsinghe.
They revealed that ''comets can be carriers iof micro-organisms in
frozen state releasing them into the earth's atmosphere if their
tails brush them like dust particles by a broomstick after cleansing
the floor''.
''Cometary debris in inter-stellar showers can alsos bring
micro-organisms tothe upper parts of the atmosphere, which might
have planted seeds of life on earth through the sohwers,''
Dr.Narlikar said.
With the stratosphere between 40 and 45 km above the earth not
contaminated, the two baloon experiments were carried out to collect
the sample air particles in 2001 and 2005 with encouraging results.
The samples from the troposphere(upto 18 km above earth) and
ionosphere(beyond stratosphdre) could not be depended upon as they
contain contamination air in the former and low density air with a
few particles in case of the latter, he added.
The air samples were collected using payload containing 16 sterile
stainless tubes that could be opened and closed through a remoter
command from the ground.
Replying to a querry from the audience, Dr.Narlikar said Russians
had conducted a similar experiment using payload attached to a
rocket during 1978-79 without observing biological aspects of the
protocol which was done by the Indian scientists for the first time.
Doing a similar experiment in the Moon environs was of no use
because there was no atmosphere itself but could be tested by
analhsing the surface samples.
He also ruled out hanging of the bacteria from out of space debris
coming back to the earth's atmosphere, interfering with the
experiments as it could be very rare event.
Referring to the phenomenon of the Unidentified Falyign
Objects(UFOs), he asked the people not to be carried away by the
claims reported in media as they were not a reality but optical
illusion of the Venus.
He also dubbed ''astrology as unscientific'' as experiments on
predicting the mentally challenged people on the basis of 400
horoscopes by astrologeres failed to yield results as much as
''predicting the possibility through chance tossing of a coin''.
The scientist had earlier inaugurated an exhibition on astronomy
aimed at popularising the science,particularly among the youth.The
event was organised under the aegis of the Association of Friends of
Astronomy and the Department of Science,Technology and
Envionment,Goa.//EOM//

Toddy drinkers munch endangered turtles meat in literate Kerala

2009-08-28T03:41:00.000-07:00

BY: Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Panaji, Aug 16-2k9(UNI) Scores of soft shelled fresh water turtles, hitherto included in the most endangered list of wildlife species, have been poached and butchered to serve as delicacy for munching by the customers of toddy shops and restaurants in the highly literate state of Kerala in South India.

The traditional belief among the locals that consumption of the turtle meet would cure them joint pains and other diseases, had worsened the situation with poachers hunting these creatures along the course of the Vembanad Lake and Punnamada wetlands

A study conducted by three Kerala-based researchers found that the Indian pond Terrapins and flat-shelled turtles have been poached and killed to meet the growing demand particularly of the toddy shop customers.

“Despite being accorded the highest level of protection in the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, very little law enforcement takes place and the turtles are exploited and traded in this region,” the researchers bemoaned.

They urged the authorities for immediately launching an awareness drive to “sensitize” the local fishermen, turtle hunters and restaurant owners on the need for observing the relevant wildlife laws as also biological and socio-economic impacts of turtle exploitation and trade.

Their findings were published recently in the popular journal of “Tropical Conservation Science” under the title “Protected on paper, hunted in wetlands: exploitation and trade of freshwater turtles
(Melanochelys trijuga coronata and Lissemys punctata punctata) in Punnamada, Kerala, India.

Tropical Conservation Science, a peer-reviewed, open-access academic journal, seeks to provide opportunities for scientists in developing countries to publish their research in their native languages.

The researchers are K. Krishnakumar, Conservation Research Group, St. Albert’s College, Kochi, Rajeev Raghavan, Community Environmental Resource Center, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment, Alappuzha, Kerala, and Benno Periera,
Department of Aquaculture( St. Albert’s College) and Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.

“Soft shell turtles are among the most threatened groups of freshwater animals that are in need of urgent conservation attention, ” the researchers said.

In Kerala, two species of freshwater turtles, the Indian black turtle or Indian pond terrapin, Melanochelys trijuga coronata (Schweigger, 1812) and the Indian Flap-shelled turtle Lissemys punctata punctata (Lacépède, 1788) are exploited from Vembanad lake and associated wetlands in Punnamada to meet the demand from local restaurants and toddy shops.

Eight hundred and forty three turtles belonging to the two species (499 pond terrapins and 344 flap-shelled turtle) were observed during a field survey conducted in 2007 at Punnamada.

“Despite being listed at the highest level in the Indian wildlife protection act, very little law enforcement takes place and turtles are
exploited and traded regularly, the researchers observed.

Collection and trade have also become an important component of the local livelihoods in Punnamada, with the involvement of around five full-time and 25 part-time collectors.

The international trade in wildlife, worth billions of dollars, is known to threaten around one-third of birds and mammals worldwide making it the second-largest direct threat to many species after habitat loss. Much of the wildlife trade is illegal and unsustainable, driven by high profit margins and, in many cases, high prices paid for rare species, the researchers argue.

Turtles are considered to be of particular conservation concern because their life history includes low reproductive output, late maturity, and habitat requirements of wetlands and terrestrial environments.

Many turtle and tortoise species depend on high adult survival to offset high egg and juvenile mortality in the wild. Removing even small fractions of adults from a population can cause declines or delay a population recovery.

Freshwater turtles around the world are threatened by increasing collection for food, perceived medical purposes, and the pet trade, with 159 species, or ca. 60%, of the group being more or less threatened.

In Southeast and East Asia, more than half of all freshwater tortoises and turtles are listed as “critically endangered” or “endangered”. Although tropical Asia supports the world’s richest assemblage
of freshwater turtles and terrapins, it is also the region where exploitation and trade of the group are at their maxima.

Over-exploitation has been observed to be the single most important threat to Asia’s freshwater turtles, with collections largely carried out to satisfy local markets in the Far East and also to support an
extensive international trade for food, or as pets, or as ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine.

The trade nexus is China, the world’s largest consumer of turtles, where the meat and shells are thought to have medicinal value. The growing importance of China as the focal point for trade has resulted in an increased attention to the region in terms of research,and several publications have documented the collection and trade of turtles in the country.

However, compared to China and the Far East, there is very little
information available regarding exploitation and trade of freshwater turtles from other parts of Asia, especially India, the researchers said.

India has one of the most diverse chelonian faunas in the world with the presence of 28 species of tortoises and freshwater turtles. However, 40% of this fauna is threatene, making India one of the top five Asian countries in terms of its importance for turtle conservation.

The most important driver of endangerment for India’s freshwater turtles is the thriving trade that exist in the northeastern and central regions.

In India, nine species of chelonians are known to be harvested on a commercial scale and several others on subsistence levels, leading to localized loss of species diversity and declining turtle populations.

Anecdotal reports point to the extinction of freshwater turtles from the state of West Bengal. Mahanadi river basin in the Eastern Indian state of Orissa is currently the “hub” of freshwater turtle exploitation and trade in the country.

It is estimated that around 200-300 kg of freshwater turtles are transported out of the area on an annual basis. Excepting a few studies from Northeast India , trade in freshwater turtles and tortoises has not been documented from other regions of the country, especially the south.

In Kerala, the southernmost state of India, where large areas are under wetland ecosystems, no study had focused on the collection and trade of freshwater turtles.

The present study was undertaken to assess the exploitation and marketing of freshwater turtles in the Punnamada region of Vembanad Lake—a large wetland ecosystem in Kerala.

The Vembanad-Kol wetland system and its 10 associated drainage basins on the southwest coast of the Indian peninsula are characterized by a continuous chain of lagoons or backwaters—one of the largest estuarine systems in the region. MORE/BM/

The wetland system covers an area of 1,512 sq km. and has been designated as a “Ramsar Site” (Wetlands of international importance) in view of the rich biodiversity and socio-economic profile of local communities.

Punnamada, with a population of 3,562 people comprising 953 households, is a low-lying area connected to several kilometers of extant paddy fields in the southern region of the Vembanad lake.

Of all the freshwater turtles that are consumed, softshells (Family Trionychidae) are considered the best, due to their low bone-to-body ratio and larger proportions of cartilage and gelatinous skin.

This demand has made softshells the most important component of the freshwater turtle trade in Asia. A total of 950,251 individuals of 157 turtle species were recorded during a 35-month survey of the turtle trade in Hong Kong and southern China, revealing the magnitude of collection and trade in the region.

The quantification of 843 individuals in 12 months, observed in the present study, is higher when compared to 245 freshwater turtles in eight months recorded from Nanmao, Hainan Province, China, during a survey in 2003.

The collection techniques for freshwater turtles in Punnamada are similar to those practiced elsewhere in India as well as the rest of Asia. In the Malaysian island of Borneo, local fishermen are known to
routinely set hooks and lines to catch turtles, whereas fish traps are known to be more common in Laos.

In Mahanadi basin on the east coast of India, freshwater turtles are caught with a variety of gear including floating hooks, harpoons, and baits.
All turtles observed in the trade at Punnamada were larger than 15cm TCL. This preference for medium- and larger-sized turtles is different from that seen in other parts of Asia.

Turtles collected from parts of Southeast Asia are generally destined for two important markets—the growing pet trade based in Singapore and the food market based all over Southeast and Far East Asia.

Most turtle dishes served in Southeast and East Asia use whole animals as compared to South India and Punnamada where an individual turtle is cut up and used to serve many.

Since most dishes served in Southeast and Far East Asia use whole turtles, they require small or medium-sized individuals that can fit on such plates. The ever-growing pet trade in the region also requires smaller individuals for keeping in homes.

Young turtles that weigh less than 200g fetch a high price in the market of Assam, India. The price of turtle meat/Kg in Assam is around US $7.5 which is higher than the market prices that we observed in Punnamada (4-6 US$/Kg, given the fact that 200g to 400g of meat is obtained from an individual turtle).

In many parts of India (e.g., in Assam), turtle blood is believed to be a cure for piles and fistulas. Contrary to this, consumers in Kerala dislike turtle blood and are never known to drink it. Large-scale cultural differences exist between people residing in different parts of India and are largely responsible for this difference.

However, the perceived medicinal property of turtle meat as a remedy for gout, rectal disorders, and arthritis is known among people of all regions in the country , including Punnamada as revealed in
the present study.

The study had recommended undertaking of extensive micro-geographic surveys throughout Kerala and particularly in Vembanad Lake to assess the demography and current conservation status of M. trijuga and L. punctata species, and for generating baseline data on their life history and ecology.

They further favoured proper protection of turtle habitats in the Vembanad wetland, especially nesting sites of the two species
and a community-based monitoring and conservation program involving local fishermen and turtle collectors after completion of the baseline studies.

The study also recommended continuous monitoring of the local turtle trade in conjunction with toddy shop owners, and public awareness campaigns directed at fishers, turtle collectors, and toddy
shop owners to sensitize them to the need for conserving turtles.

Development of a cluster of turtle breeding and farming units was also suggested to diminish the pressure on wild stocks, providing
The local communities with a livelihood opportunity, besides programs to organize turtle collectors in the region to take up breeding and culture of local species.UNI/BM/

We Can Easily Sail to Arctic by the year 2020!

2009-04-16T07:12:00.000-07:00

BY: Y.Bala Murali Krishna

Panaji, Apr 16-2k9(UNI) Can any one dream of sailing easily to the North Pole, wading through the icebergs amid bone biting sub-zero temperature?

“ Yes, by the year 2020,” says Dr.Simon Boxall, a specialist on climate change attached with the University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre (UK).

This is possible owing to decrease in ice cover following drastic climate change that is melting the ice in the Arctic continent, he says.

The scientist was delivering a public lecture in collaboration with British Council on "Climate Change from the Arctic to India - Myths, facts and ways forward" at the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) here today.

The significant impact of climate change would be noticed in India where a majority of the population live along the coast or in flood prone regions, he opines.

New political moves in the US, the world's greatest contributor to climate change, look set to address some of the issues related.

“However it is in India and China where the biggest advances must be made in the next twenty years if climate change is not to effect a global change,” Dr.Boxall says.

Technology in India needs to lead the way in defying convention for power supply and technology in homes, transport and industry.

It has the most to gain, both in terms of a sustainable environment and in profit from novel science and technology, he said.

Dr. Simon Boxall began his career at the University of Liverpool and has worked with the UNESCO, The European Union Research Centre, The World Bank and European Space Agency over the years.

His current research interest covers a spectrum of topics from oil spills to coastal dynamics but he had spent most of his time on studying climate change and the ocean. UNI/BM/

Experiment on Southern Ocean to Reduce Global Warming Fails

2009-04-16T07:01:00.000-07:00

BY: Y.Bala Murali Krishna

Panaji, Apr 13-2k9(UNI) An ambitious Indo-German experiment, just concluded on far-off Southern Ocean, to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide by dumping iron power, has dampened the hopes of the scientists.

The experiment, christened “LOHAFEX”, launched amid severe criticism from the environmental groups, however yielded some “surprising insights on plankton ecology” which are under study.

Loha in Hindi stands for iron and Fex for fertilization experiment. The scientists hoped that dumping of iron power in the oceans may result in oceans absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide thus reducing global warming in a big way.

Emboldened by the initial success of similar small scale experiments on the ocean, the scientists of the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) here under the umbrella of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) had undertaken the experiment through the research vessel Polarstern for about 75 days.

They, along with scientists from five other nations who joined the study, returned home after the ardous expedition, to analyse the data they obtained from the “Roaring Forties” of the Southern Ocean where they had fertilized a patch of 300 square kilometers area with four tonnes of dissolved iron powder.

They studied its “effect on the plankton and on ocean chemistry
including concentrations of carbon dioxide and other radioactively important gases continuously for 39 days.

“The experiment has yielded new insights on how ocean ecosystems function but has dampened hopes on the potential of the Southern Ocean to sequester significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and thus help mitigate global warming,” The NIO source said.

As expected, iron addition stimulated growth of the planktonic algae (phytoplankton) which doubled their biomass within the first two weeks by absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the water. The initial uptake depressed partial pressure of CO2 by up to 15 micro-atmosphere, says Co-Chief Scientist Dr. Wajih Naqvi of NIO who was on the voyage although.

However, contrary to expectation, further growth of the phytoplankton bloom was stopped by increasing grazing pressure of abundant,
small crustacean zooplankton (copepods), after which the planktonic ecosystem entered a recycling mode.

As a result, further CO2 uptake declined and only a modest amount of carbon sank out of the surface layer by the end of the experiment. Hence, the transfer of CO2 from the atmosphere to the ocean to compensate the deficit caused by the LOHAFEX bloom was smaller than in most previous experiments, he said.

The larger blooms stimulated by earlier experiments were due to a group of algae known as diatoms which were protected against grazers by shells made of glass (silica) and were known to sink to great depths after blooming.

Diatoms could not grow in the LOHAFEX experiment because all the silicic acid (the raw material of diatom shells) had already been extracted by previous, natural blooms. These were presumably fertilized by natural sources of iron such as melting icebergs and dust blown off Patagonia.

Hence a major finding was that other algal groups, although stimulated by iron fertilization, were unable to make blooms equivalent to those of diatoms. Since the silicic acid content of surface waters in the sub-Antarctic zone (the region located between the Polar Front and the Subtropical Convergence that accounts for half of the total area of the Southern Ocean) is low, iron fertilization in this vast region is unlikely to result in removal of significant amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere.

“To our surprise, the iron-fertilized patch attracted large numbers of zooplankton predators belonging to the crustacean group known as amphipods” explains Professor Dr Victor Smetacek, co-chief scientist from the AWI.

These shrimp like crustaceans are between two and three centimeters long and feed indiscriminately on other zooplankton including copepods but also organisms much larger than themselves such as salps and chaetognaths.

The dominant species (Themisto gaudichaudii) is the main food of squid and fin whales in the south-western Atlantic. This finding is of particular interest because the amphipods’ biomass in the patch approached that of the better-known krill in productive waters further to the south.

Indeed, before decimation of the populations of great whales by the 1960s, there were many more fin whales feeding on amphipods in the northern zone of the Southern Ocean, than there were blue whales feeding on krill in the southern zone.

However, much less is known about the biology of Themisto than of krill, although it provides the food base of the extensive squid fishery in the south-western Atlantic.

LOHAFEX thus provided unexpected insights into the ecology of this neglected key species. A second fertilization of the patch after 3 weeks had no further effect on the phytoplankton indicating that the ecosystem was already saturated with iron.

Algal species which regularly make blooms in coastal regions including the Antarctic, were most heavily grazed and replaced by tiny algal cells, only slightly larger than bacteria, that are too small to be gathered by copepods.Up to 20 million cells per litre of these minute algae were recorded.

Interestingly, the plankton community in the unfertilized water surrounding the patch developed in the same way and had the same species diversity but was operating at a lower level of biomass.

“The bacterial community both inside and outside the patch was very
similar and their cell numbers remained unusually low throughout”, said Dr. Bernhard Fuchs of the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (Bremen).

This implies that most of the nutrient recycling (including iron) was carried out by the zooplankton. This is a articularly surprising finding because the microbial food web based on bacteria is believed to be the base of all recycling planktonic ecosystems.

Concentrations of gases other than CO2 produced by the plankton, some of which are potent greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide and methane and others, such as halogenated hydrocarbons which contribute to stratospheric ozone depletion, either did not change or increased negligibly in the bloom.

By the end of the experiment, chlorophyll concentrations were in decline and the patch will by now have merged with its surroundings leaving behind no trace other than swarms of well-fed amphipods that will probably disperse to feed in less productive waters.

These preliminary findings will be supported by additional measurements to be accomplished in the home labs on the many frozen and preserved samples collected during the cruise. The data will be refined and interrelationships between the organisms quantified in the coming months.

These will be intensely discussed and prepared for joint publication in scientific journals at workshops to be held in Goa by the end of the year. Participants of LOHAFEX are,however, extremely satisfied with the results.

“It was a strenuous cruise, full of anxiety and hope as we chased our patch around the collapsing eddy. On one occasion we expected it to be sucked out and dispersed by the strong currents surrounding it, but the
patch was stayed as if by a miraculous hand at the exit and hovered there for two weeks until we had to leave”, said Victor Smetacek.

Strong winds were almost the rule, and the vessel had to leave the area to avoid big storms twice, although shorter storms with wind speeds of over 120 km per hour were weathered on site. Nevertheless, despite the hard work under difficult circumstances, LOHAFEX has been an exciting experience laced with the spirit of adventure and haunted by uncertainty quite unlike other scientific cruises.

“Despite coming from seven different countries and having diverse scientific backgrounds, scientists on LOHAFEX worked for a common cause and lived like a big family.

The experiment thus provides an excellent example of international collaboration in interdisciplinary ocean sciences”, said Wajih Naqvi.”

“The officers and crew of the Polarstern did a fantastic job in providing
technical support under testing conditions without which the expedition could not have achieved its objectives”, he added.//EOM//

Marine Bacteria May Be Future Source of Batteries

2009-04-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

BY: Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Panaji,April-7-2k9 (UNI) Marine bacteria may be the future source of portable and rechargeable batteries.

They could be used in mobile phones, calculators,microsensors or even body implants like the pace makers for heart patients.

Termed as Microbial Fuel Cells, the Bacterial Batteries,if introduced in even the water treatment plants, could produce electricity by consuming the organic waste.

"This provides us a very clean, efficient and emission free source of generating electricity," if the experiment at the biotechnology department of a local college is to be believed.

The department's student Ms.Natalie D'Silva of the Dhempe College of Arts and Science, run under the Dempo Charities Trust, at Miramar,had today proved she could produce a voltage of 0.47 volts through a circuit of two poles kept in a test tube using the marine bacteria as the source and different organic waste as the media.

These values are much higher than those reported in scientific journals so far. The electricity thus generated could be stored in rechargeable cells or capacitors and utilised whenever needed, thus providing a potential energe source.

Yet to be identified, the bacteria was isolated from three types of marine sponges found in the sea waters of Betul in South Goa. A prototype experiment was carried out in Austraila.

Experiments are at the initial stage and it is to be found whether the voltage and the current output could be enhanced using different media.The project baged a special prize at the state level S&T exhibition recently.

"But the Goan experiment has potential to emerge as a source for cheaper and portable rechargeable source of energy with many applications in modern life," claims Ms.Natalie and her guide Mrs.Arina Frank, the department lecturer.

The objective of the project is to develop MFCs or bacterial cells in which chenical energy is converted into electric energy by bacteria, with non-renewable sources depleting besides causing environmental damage.

Most of us hear of the phenomena of "bioluminiscence" in marine oranisms that illuminate the objects around in the oceans. On similar lines, certain bacteria have the potential to generate
electricity as they work like fuel cells.

This happens when the microbes feed on biomass for respiration releasing electrons and protons.The electrons are transferred to the cathode compartment through an external electric circuit and the protons to the anode through the membrane.

"The biotechnology deparment of the college encourages students to take up research projects to enhance their knowledge, skills and confidcence tobecome future scientists as envisoned by former president APJ Abdul Kalam," claims the college principal Dr.Deshpande.

Some of the projects had been funded by the Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Biotechnology,tand the subjects ranged from enzymology, solid wasgte management, plant and animal cell culture and immunology, he added. //EOM//

Indo-German scientists team to sprinkle iron in Antarctic

2009-04-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

By Y. Bala Murali Krishna

Panaji, Jan 12-2K9 (UNI) Can sprinkling of dissolved iron in the oceans help absorb the deadly green house gas of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere?
Possibly yes, say scientists.
Amid protests by global environmental groups, an India-Germany scientific research team has now set sail for the Southern Ocean in a bid to test the efficacy of sprinkling of iron in the Antarctic in absorbing atmospheric carbon to reduce green house gas effect at low cost.

Code-named "LOHAFEX", the joint experiment tests the effects of iron fertilisation on ecology and carbon uptake potential of the Southern Ocean. A team of 48 scientists, 30 of them from India, had already left for Cape Town in South Africa by the German research vessel "Polarstern" on January 7 without any publicity blitz.

LOHAFEX is an international collaborative research project jointly conducted by Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and the Goa-based National
Institute of Oceanography (NIO), together with scientists from nine other institutions in India, Europe and Chile.

NIO sources told UNI here today that Victor Smetacek(AWI) and Dr. Wajih Naqvi (NIO) are Co-Chief Scientists of the project for which heads of the parent organisations-Helmholtz

Association, Germany and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India had signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the presence of the German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on October 30, 2007.

LOHA in Hindi stands for Iron and FEX stands for fertilisation experiment that is to be conducted in the Southwest Atlantic sector of the southern ocean. It takes at least 20 days to reach the area where after the selection of a suitable site, the scientists will dump six tonnes of

dissolved iron in a patch of 300 sq. km. The cruise will end at Punta Arenas, Chile on March 17.
The iron fertilisation experiment, the scientists expect, will "lead to rapid growth of the minute, unicellular algae(phytoplankton) that not only provide the food sustaining all oceanic life but also play a vital role in regulating concentrations of the greenhouse gas CO2 in the atmosphere,"sources said.

Scientists claim five earlier experiments carried out in the southern ocean, including two conducted from RV Polarstern, induced phytoplankton blooms of similar size and composition to natural blooms fertilised by iron in settling dust and from melting ice bergs.

However, in contrast to the land-remote regions previously fertilised, LOHAFEX will be located in a more productive region of the southern ocean inhabited by coastal species ofphytoplankton. These grow faster and are more palatable to the zooplankton, including the shrimp-like krill, than their spiny open-ocean counterparts.

Krill is the main food of Antarctic penguins, seals and whales but their stocks have declined by over 80 per cent during the past decades, so their response to the iron-fertilized bloom (if they are present in the experimental area) will indicate whether the alarming decline is due to declining productivity of the region, for which there is evidence.

Because it will last much longer, the LOHAFEX patch will also be twice the size of previous experiments to counteract the effects of dilution due to spreading over the 45 days ofthe experiment. Previous experiments showed that effects on the environment were benign and short-lived, scientists stated.

Dismissing media reports against the experiment and protests by environmentalists, the scientists said the LOHAFEX experiment does not violate any existing international law.

"It is being erroneously reported that there exists a moratorium on Ocean Iron Fertilisation (OIF) experiments placed by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD recommendation was aimed at preventing large-scale commercial OIF activities, making an exception for scientific experiments," the scientists maintained.

That such experiments were to be restricted to coastal waters was perhaps an aberration, which has since been amended. The resolution adopted by the parties to the London Conventionand Protocol of the International Maritime Organization(IMO)during a meeting held at London in October 2008 does, in fact, call for further research on OIF, the scientists clarified.

"It clearly states that legitimate scientific experiments should go on, without restricting such experiments to coastal waters. The IMO resolution, although not legally binding, prescribes that proposals for such experiments be evaluated on a case-to-case basis taking into account possible environmental impact," the scientists said.

The LOHAFEX experiment is a small-scale experiment that will not cause any damage to the environment. As an example, the level to which the surface-water iron concentrations will be enhanced during this experiment is an order of magnitude lower than natural iron levels in coastal marine environments, they claimed.

"In fact, this concentration is so low that most analytical laboratories in the world cannot measure it. In addition, the scale of the experiment will be of the same order as that ofprevious OIF experiments," the scientists noted.

They alleged that the groups opposing LOHAFEX were not only unaware of the legal status, but were also not knowledgeable enough about marine environments. Thus, they were indulging indisruptive activities merely to draw media attention to themselves, the scientists added.

Environmental campaigners said LOHAFEX should not have been granted permission under international rules and that the 300 sq. km. experiment is neither small-scale, nor confined to coastal waters.
"We are taken aback by this flagrant disregard of international law," Mariam Mayet, director of the African Centre for Biosafety in Johannesburg said.
"Of all countries, Germany, which brokered the moratorium, has jumped the gun on the ocean fertilisation issue again," she added. //EOM//

Pollution: CB has Ambitious Monitoring Plans in Goa

2009-04-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

By Y Bala Murali Krishna

Panaji, Jan 11-2k9 (UNI) The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has plans to install automatic display boards indicating the levels of pollutants in ambient air at different places. It has also planned to prepare ''status reports'' on various waste management aspects, including solid waste, sewage, biomedical, plastic, e-waste, batteries and hazardous industrial wastes, allwith funds from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Talking to UNI here today, GSPCB chairman L U Joshi said the board was also trying to develop a software package for total computerisation of its activities like consent management, which fetches considerable revenue to the board.

The board with Rs 2.71 crore fixed deposits base and earning of Rs 1.15 crore as consent fee from different industries in 2003 has now achieved a whooping Rs 21 crore FD base and an annual consent fee of Rs 2.5 crores under his stewardship.

He also claimed to have provided sixth pay commission recommended wages to all its employees alongwith a highly computerised work environment at its Patto office headquarters in the heart of the capital city.

Meanwhile, the board had prepared the State Environment Atlas, the Zoning Atlas and Sitting Guidelines for Industries under a project funded by the CPCB for Spatial Planning.

''The documents were forwarded to the state government for consideration and implementation after getting approval from the CPCB. The recommendations made in the reports were considererd in the Draft Regional Plan 2021 for Goa,'' he said.

The board was also trying to dfisplay information of all industries in the state on its website. It had also sought the assistance of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for procuring a mass spectrometre, Liquid Scintillation Counter and HPLC equippment for measuring various types of pollutants in Goa.

At present, it was engaged in collecting and analysing water samples from 29 locations from rivers and other water bodies in Goa for passing on to the CPCB apart from analysing ambient air quality at the most polluting Mormugao Port, besides Vasco-da-Gama and Panaji.
Meanwhile, efforts were on to acquire a common site by the state government for disposal of hazardous waste and bio-medical waste at Darbandora.

Presently, the hazzardous waste was beiong treated and disposed at Maharashtra's Taloja facility. Goa generates about 10,000 tonnes of hazardous waste. Interestingly, Bombay High Court at Goa, hearing a case suo moto on waste management as a public issue recently directed the GSPCB to present status reports on disposal of various wastes including municipal,biomedical and hazardous.

The board headquarters is now fully equipped with sophisticated instuments to analyse toxic and trace metals, ambient air and water quality in its analytical laboratory set up in collaboration with the CPCB and MOEF.

It was also in the process of introducing more mobile laboratoties to determine pollutants in the state. //EOM//

Rain Water Harvesting to be Compulsory in Goa

2009-04-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

BY: Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Panaji,Aug 3-2k8(UNI) Goa,perched on the wastren ghats receiving abundant rainfal every year but often experiencing shortage of water,is keen to make rainwater harvesting compulsory soon.

Visited by tourists numbering more than its own 14 lakh population, this international tourist destination feels choaked at most of the favourite tourist hotspots where ground water is contaminated, causing concern to the authorities.

To circumvent this situation, the government is also seriously examining a proposal to offer incentives to individual households, residential and commercial complexes besides hotels and industries to encourage them undertake scientific techniques of rainwater harvesting.

Similar schemes have been in vogue in neighbouring states like Kerala and water starved Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh where rain water harvesting,along with cloud seeding techniques gathered momentum to save precious life saving liquid resource.

The proposal of the Goa water resources department is yet to get the cabinet nod. It is likely to come up for discussion and approval very soon, informed sources told UNI.

Goa,spread over an area of only 3,702 square kms, receives an average 300 CMs rainfall every year during June to September and most of it drains into the sea,bemoan scientists.

Hydrologists estimate basinwise average rainwater runoff at a total of 8570 million cubic metres every year and maintain that this entire water resource should not be mistaken as available for
harnessing.

There are nine river basins in Goa with Zuari having the highest length of 145 km. Many of these rivers are tidal prone upto a distance of 20 to 40 kms and the utilisable part of the yield should be identified basinwise.

Macro level surveys indicate that the ground water is availalble to the tune of 267 million cubic metres(MCM) and its utilisation to the tune of 27 per cent which is considered safe, though authorities noticed some stressed areas in the coast and industrial belts.

In the post monsoon period, the effluent river flows start dwindling and very few rivers or rivulets remain perinnial, obviating the developmental water resources scenario calling for a blend of storage and run of the river schemes for optimal surface water utilisation.

As against an estimated 1465 MCM water available, Goa has a storate capacity of only 690 MCM. Ever increasing demand for more wager and global warming threat calls for increased storage capacity which could best be met by rainwater harvesting and water recycling
techniques, authorities argue.

They maintain that even if a small percentage of rainwager falling on the rooftop is saved, it will go a long way in reducing the load on drinking water supply which is on rapid rise particularly in
urban areas.

It is estimated that the consumptive use of water is only about 15 o 20 per cent against 135 litres per capita per day water required for different needs including bathing,cooking,washing, flushing and gardening.Use of rainwater can suffice many of the needs of non-consumptive uses.

The authorities had proposed to make rainwater harvesting compulsory on residential complexes including apartments on a plot of area of 2000 square metres(SM) and above, commercial complexes on plot area of 100 SM and above and industrial units with 10,00 SM and above.

They had also favoured subsidies by way of incdentives on reimbursable basis 50 per cent of cost of Rs.50,000 whichever is less for individual households and 50 per cent of the cost or Rs.2.5 lakhs whichever is less for residential complexes/apartments/commercial complexes.

In case of industries, they proposed to offer 50 per cent of the cost or Rs.5 kakhs which ever is less as incentive for adopting approved rainwater harvesting mechanisms.

In addition, the government proposes to offer 10 per cent rebvate in license fee chargeable to the beneficiaries.

It also plans to institute an award annually carrying citastion and cash prize for ghe best rainwater harvesting practices. The authorities had also come out with a mechanism for
implementation of the incentive reimbursement schemes by appointing canal officers as supervisors.

Once approved, the authorities had to bring about suitable amendments to related laws and regulations for implementation of the scheme besides making a budgetary provision for the incentives.

"All this will go a long way in not only reducing the load on treated piped water supply,but creating an awareness and saving inwater utiloisation in the long run," the authorities opined.

/ eom/

Mimic nature to develop anti-corrosive nano-materials

2009-04-04T08:06:00.000-07:00

BY: Y.Bala Murali Krishna

Panaji, Mar 1-2k9 (UNI) Mimic the mother Nature that gives clues to develop sticky and non-sticky nano-materials with vital strategic applications like mitigating corrosion claiming Rs 50,000 crore annual loss to the Indian industry, says a nano-technology expert.

'Nature has plenty of examples like the shark having anti-sticky skin, the gecko (lizard) and the frog with sticky foot/pods. Even the Lotus leaf on the surface of which water does not stick, provides us clues to develop materials with stain resistant, self-cleansing surface texture properties,' avers Prof Asutosh Sharma, department of Chemical Engineering, IIT-Kanpur.

The research could be enhanced using the nano-technology tools through the novel approach to develop anti-stick and anti-skid coatings/paints for potential marine applications to save precious foreign exchange, Prof Sharma told UNI.

He was here recently in connection with the just concluded four-day International symposium on 'Surface Protective Coatings and Paint Exhibition' organised by the Indian Chapter of the Society for Surface Protective Coatings.

Prof Asutosh, also a member of the National Nano Science and Technology Mission, had urged the researchers to take the benefits of the Nano Mission for developing micro/nano-coatings to benefit the industry.

He called for interaction between the academia and the industry for enhancing research on developing anti-corrosion nano-materials using the Nano Mission which offers Rs 50 lakhs soft loans for the researchers.

One can use electric field methods to develop nano-surfaces and textures in fabricating the materials with critical applications. ''Think ahead of the world. No reverse engineering in this research,' he said.

The anti-corrosion market is worth Rs 15,000 crore even as the expenditure on the account was on rise every year with applications on the hydrocarbon sector, particularly offshore structures, power, aerospace and infrastructure sectors. India had been importing anti-corrosion material to the tune of 25 million USD to mitigate the menace.

The Centre has initiated the Nano Mission with a corpus of Rs 1,000 crores for five years with the Department of Science and Technology being the nodal agency for implementing its projects.

Capacity-building in this upcoming area of research will be of utmost importance for the Nano Mission so that India emerges as a global knowledge-hub in this field also.

For this, research on fundamental aspects of nanoscience and training of large number of manpower will receive prime attention. Equally importantly, the Nano Mission will strive for development of products and processes for national development, especially in areas of national relevance like safe drinking water, materials development, sensors development, drug delivery and the like.

The mission will forge linkages between educational and research institutions and industry to promote Public Private Partnerships. The Nano Mission was so structured that it could achieve synergy between the national research efforts of various agencies in Nano Science and Technology and launch new programmes in a concerted fashion. International collaborative research efforts will also be
made wherever required.

The Nano Mission is the result of considerable promotional efforts already put in by the Government of India to promote nanotechnology research. Over 100 research projects have been funded so far. Several centres of excellence on nanoscience and nanotechnology have also been established.

A number of post-doctoral fellowships have been awarded and national and international conferences organized. The Government has spent approximately Rs 200 crore over the past five years to promote R&D in this area. These scientists, facilities and centres will form part of the network of the Nano Mission.//EOM//

Ocean Drilling to Study Age of Himalayas

2009-04-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

BY: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Panaji, Mar 2-2k9(UNI) An Indo-British joint scientific study has established that mighty Himalayas that have a bearing on Indian economy through onset of monsoons, started growing 15.4 to 13.9 millions years ago, but not 8 million years as is popularly believed.

To validate the finding further, Scientists of the prestigious National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) here may join the UK team of researchers in deep-sea drilling of the Central Indian Ocean to unlock the secrets of the birth and growth of Himalayas and the strengthening of the India-Asian monsoons.

Disclosing this to UNI here today, a member of the joint study team Dr.K.S.Krishna of the NIO said the deep sea drilling programme, to begin in February 2011 and completed within two months, will be launched under the Integrated Ocean Drilling Programme (IODP) based in the USA and Japan under a consortium for which India has become an associate member recently.

The consortium had cleared the proposal submitted by noted marine geologist Prof. Petre Clift of the University of Aberdeen, UK with the multi-national scientific research focusing on “Mission Monsoon: Climate-Tectonic Interaction in Cenozoic Asia”.

The findings of the Indo-UK study were published in the latest issue of the Geological Society of America journal Geology, on the tectonics-related deformation of the lithosphere below the central Indian Ocean.

India’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and the United Kingdom’s Royal Society and Natural Environment research Council (NERC) funded the joint research project, Dr.Krishna said.

The study found that the Earth’s strong outer shell – the ‘lithosphere’ – within the central Indian Ocean began to deform and fracture 15.4–13.9 million years ago, much earlier than previously thought, impacting our understanding of the birth of the Himalayas and the strengthening of the Indian-Asian monsoon.

Other members of the Indo-UK study group, apart from Dr.Krishna, were his British colleagues Prof. Jon Bull of the University of Southampton, and Prof. Roger Scrutton of Edinburgh University.

They analysed seismic profiles of 293 faults (vertical cracks in the ocean floor) in the accumulated sediments of the Bengal Fan. This is the world’s largest submarine fan, a delta-shaped accumulation of land-derived sediments covering the floor of the Bay of Bengal.

They demonstrate that deformation of the lithosphere within the central Indian Ocean started around 15.4–13.9 million years ago, much earlier than most previous estimates.

This implies considerable Himalayan uplift before 8.0 million years ago, which is when many geologists believe that the strong seasonal winds of the India-Asia monsoon first started.

“However,” says Dr. Krishna, “the realisation that the onset of lithospheric deformation within the central Indian Ocean occurred much earlier fits in well with more recent evidence that the strengthening of the monsoon was linked to the early geological uplift of the Himalayas and Tibetan plateau up to 15-20 million years ago.”

The proposed intensive deep-sea drilling within the Bengal Fan would provide better age estimates for the onset of deformation of the lithosphere in the central Indian Ocean and concretise the recent findings.

There are more weighty geological questions related to the geodynamics of the Indian Plate yet to be understood. Principal among them being the issue of how exactly did the ocean floor buckle and crack in space and time, and what will be the future course of this compress ional activity in the central Indian Ocean.

The scientists would like to gather new evidences for understanding of why and how the central Indian Ocean region has now become site where mountains are rising up from the ocean floor and cracks are propagating within the crust.

They would also like to find whether the present process could be a pre-cursor to the formation of a subduction zone in the central Indian Ocean.

India and Asia collided around 50 million years ago as a result of plate tectonics – the large-scale movements of the lithosphere, which continue to this day.

“Compression of the lithosphere has caused large-scale buckling and cracking. The ocean floor has been systematically transformed into folds 100-300 kilometres long and 2,000-3,000 metres high, and there are also regularly spaced faults or cracks that are evident from seismic surveys and ocean drilling, ” says Dr.Krishna.
The onset of this deformation marks the start of major geological uplift of the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau, some 4,000 km further to the north, due to stresses within the wider India-Asia area.

Some earlier studies indicated that it began around 8.0–7.5 million years ago, while others have indicated that it started before 8.0 million years ago, and perhaps much earlier. UNI/BM/

Goa to Make Rainwater Harvesting Compulsory

2008-09-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

BY: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Panaji,Aug 3-2k8(UNI) Goa,perched on the wastren ghats receivingabundant rainfal every year but often experiencing shortage ofwater,is keen to make rainwater harvesting compulsory soon.
Visited by tourists numbering more than its own 14 lakh population,this international tourist destination feels choaked at most of thefavourite tourist hotspots where ground water is contaminated,causing concern to the authorities.
To circumvent this situation, the government is also seriouslyexamining a proposal to offer incentives to individual households,residential and commercial complexes besides hotels and industriesto encourage them undertake scientific techniques of rainwater harvesting.
Similar schemes have been in vogue in neighbouring states likeKerala and water starved Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh where rainwater harvesting,along with cloud seeding techniques gatheredmomentum to save precious life saving liquid resource.
The proposal of the Goa water resources department is yet to get thecabinet nod. It is likely to come up for discussion and approvalvery soon, informed sources told UNI.
Goa,spread over an area of only 3,702 square kms, receives anaverage 300 CMs rainfall every year during June to September andmost of it drains into the sea,bemoan scientists.
Hydrologists estimate basinwise average rainwater runoff at a totalof 8570 million cubic metres every year and maintain that thisentire water resource should not be mistaken as available for harnessing.
There are nine river basins in Goa with Zuari having the highestlength of 145 km. Many of these rivers are tidal prone upto adistance of 20 to 40 kms and the utilisable part of the yield shouldbe identified basinwise.
Macro level surveys indicate that the ground water is availalble to the tune of 267 million cubic metres(MCM) and its utilisation to thetune of 27 per cent which is considered safe, though authoritiesnoticed some stressed areas in the coast and industrial belts.
In the post monsoon period, the effluent river flows start dwindlingand very few rivers or rivulets remain perinnial, obviating thedevelopmental water resources scenario calling for a blend ofstorage and run of the river schemes for optimal surface water utilisation.
As against an estimated 1465 MCM water available, Goa has a storatecapacity of only 690 MCM. Ever increasing demand for more wager andglobal warming threat calls for increased storage capacity whichcould best be met by rainwater harvesting and water recyclingtechniques, authorities argue.
They maintain that even if a small percentage of rainwager fallingon the rooftop is saved, it will go a long way in reducing the loadon drinking water supply which is on rapid rise particularly inurban areas.
It is estimated that the consumptive use of water is only about 15 o20 per cent against 135 litres per capita per day water required fordifferent needs including bathing,cooking,washing, flushing andgardening.Use of rainwater can suffice many of the needs ofnon-consumptive uses.
The authorities had proposed to make rainwater harvesting compulsoryon residential complexes including apartments on a plot of area of2000 square metres(SM) and above, commercial complexes on plot areaof 100 SM and above and industrial units with 10,00 SM and above.
They had also favoured subsidies by way of incdentives onreimbursable basis 50 per cent of cost of Rs.50,000 whichever isless for individual households and 50 per cent of the cost or Rs.2.5lakhs whichever is less for residential complexes/apartments/commercial complexes.
In case of industries, they proposed to offer 50 per cent of thecost or Rs.5 kakhs which ever is less as incentive for adoptingapproved rainwater harvesting mechanisms.
In addition, the government proposes to offer 10 per cent rebvate inlicense fee chargeable to the beneficiaries.
It also plans to institute an award annually carrying citastion andcash prize for ghe best rainwater harvesting practices.
The authorities had also come out with a mechanism forimplementation of the incentive reimbursement schemes by appointingcanal officers as supervisors.
Once approved, the authorities had to bring about suitableamendments to related laws and regulations for implementation of thescheme besides making a budgetary provision for the incentives.
"All this will go a long way in not only reducing the load ontreated piped water supply,but creating an awareness and savinginwater utiloisation in the long run," the authorities opined.//EOM//

Seahorses bred in Captivity at NIO-Goa

2008-09-13T07:26:00.000-07:00

Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Panaji,Sept 1-2k8(UNI) The scientists of the premier National Instituteof Oceanography(NIO) here have succeded in breeding the Indianseahorse species under captivity for the first time in the country.

The team of researchers led by R.A.Sreepada are confident ofstandardizing the hatchery and mass culture technology that couldhelp conserve and reproduce the species(Hippocampus Kuda), popularlyknown as yellow or spotted seahorse.
The demand for the seahorse species has been rising particularly inthe use of traditional medicine as "aphrodisics and rejuvenators",and as show pieces in the marine aquaria.
The technology, if perfected, would go a long way in supplementingthe revenue of the fisherfolk and self-help groups depending on thetrade, scientists said.
Uneer the project funded by the Department of Biotechnology,government of India, the NIO biologists collected the seahorsespecies from the wild, grew them to maturity,and allowed them tomate and spawn under laboratory conditions through manipulation offeed and environmental conditions.
Their joy knew no bounds on August 29 last when two male seahorsesdelivered 320 new born juveniles which were being taken care in theaquaculture laboratory, known as fraternity home.
Interestingly, the seahorses comprise of a remarkable andfascinating group of marine fish with unusual body shape andbiology, with the males incubating the fertilised eggs in a broodpouch they carry.
Next 15 days are very criticalfor their survival since they shiftfrom pelagic to the settlement phase, the scientists said.
It might be recalled that NIO is one of the renowned ocean researchlaboratories in the world under the umbrella of the Council forScientific and Industrial Research(CSIR).
Horseshoe Crab's Gene Secrets under Scanner:

Significantly, the NIO scientists had also been credited withartificially breeding yet another marine species of horseshoe crabwhich had been facing extinction following indiscriminate drawal ofits blue blood by the pharmaceutical industry.
Known as the "living fossil", the horseshoe crab's blood serum hadbeen used to detect instantly the impurities of even the minutestlevel including the viruses and bacteria in the blood andpharmaceutical storehouses and even spacecrafts.
The scientists had also succeeded in cloning the seahorse in thelaboratory condition and had been trying to perfect the technologyin shortening the process.
The marine creature, which did not undergo an iota of change in itsbody structure for millions of years, was expected to yield clues toits youtufulness and longivity,with appalling applications on human beings.
The scientisrs, through a collaborative research project, were alsotrying to unravel the secrets of regeneration of its gill within sixmonths of its removal from the body by trying to identify the generesponsible for the factor.
If succeeded, the NIO will have the credit of developing atechnology for natural regeneration of affected/mutated human organsinstead of depending on the artificial cloning technology usingfrontier genetic engineering.//EOM//

Travelling Exhibition: Science Behind Networks Explained

2007-10-02T07:29:00.000-07:00

Month-long unique Travelling Science Exhibition on "Network" underway
Panaji, Sept 26 (UNI) A unique month-long travelling scienceexhibition explaining the importance of "networks" in every day lifegot underway at the Goa Science Centre(GSC) today attracting scoresof school children to have a first hand interactive experience with computer touch screens and display panels.

Developed by the National Centre of Science Museums, New Delhi,the exhibition was inaugurated by Goa University Vice-ChancellorDr.D.N.Deobagkar in presence of Doordarshan Kendra station directorC.S.Barve and the GSC project coordinator V.N.Joshi.

Networking behind people, professionals and friends, computers,cell phones, satellite dishes, societies, and even food chains andecosystems besides animal world - all have been explained throughvarious life size display panels and computer touch screens. The panel with networking in games, with football game in progress, attracted many students as Goa is known for its footballgame for ages.

Networking systems in human brain, molecules and biochemicreactions and even food chain in the nature had been explainedthrough thematic panels. Networks formed by flying birds, spider webs and schoolingfishes, leave alone water supply systems had been explained throughmulti-media presentations.

Data Processing and communication networks, computer networks,natural cycles, neural networks and natural cycles, hub and spokeand trunk networks, what not, every networks had been explained indetail to attract the people.

Speaking on the occasion, the vice chancellor said the GoaUniversity had planned to organise collaborative programmes with theGSC to popularise science and its importance in the society in everywalk of life.UNI/BM/

Himalayas Contributing to Global Cooling,Absorbing Carbon Dioxide

2007-10-02T07:16:00.000-07:00

Himalayan basin rivers fast weathering, depleting carbon dioxide:scientist

BY: Y.Bala Murali krishna

Panaji,Sept 26(UNI) Faster chemical weathering of Himalayan rockshave been contributing to global cooling in the region, with itsriver basins rapidly absorbing emissions of the noxious green housegas of carbon dioxide,says a study.

"That earth has been cooling since the last 55 millions of years iswell estalished by scientists. But the contribution of the young andgrowing mountains of Himalayas to the cooling is much more than theglobal average," claims nuclear oceanography expert Prof.S.Krishnaswami.

He was part of the group that had been studying various potentialgeochenical aspects of Indian rivers for the last 15 years under theaegis of the prestigious Physical Research Laboratories, Ahmedabad,one of the 38 laboratories under the Council of Scientific andIndustrial Research(CSIR) umbrella.

Recepient of top science awards including fellowship of the AmericanGeophysical Union and now senior scientist of the Indian NationalScience Academy(INSA),Prof.Krishnaswami was in the capital here todeliver the CSIR foundation Day lecture on "Erosion in River Basins of India: Causes and Consequences" at the National Institute of Oceanography(NIO).

Interacting with this UNI orrespondent on its sidelines, he said the group was yet to undertake the study of the South Indian riverbasins even as it had finished the research on Ganga-Brahmaputraunder the Himalayan region besides the Indus and Krishna rivers.

The rapid chemical breakdown of the rocks in the Himalayan regionhas been contributing to the equally rapid control of carbon dioxideemissions into the atmosphere,, thus resulting in lowering of thetemperature,he said.

The extent of the decrease in temperature and the quantum of thecarbon dioxide drawn-down was yet to be studied on other river basins.

Ocean, he said, occupies 95.96 per cent of the earth followed by2.97 per cent by ice caps and glaciers, 1.05 per cent by groundwater, 0.009 per cent buy lakes and 0.0001 per cent by the rivers water.

In this connection, he had quoted a saying from Srimad Bhagwatam which reads ,"O King!,the rivers are the veins of the gigantic body,the trees are the hairs of His body, and the omnipotent air is His breath. The passing ages are His movements and His activities are the three modes of material nature."UNI/BM/

Indian Scientists Set Foot on Arctic First Time

2007-08-05T07:14:00.000-07:00

BY: Dr. Y Bala Murali Krishna
Panaji, Aug 3-2k7 (UNI) For the first time, India is setting its foot on the Arctic, the icy continent in the extreme north of the globe, inits quest for unlocking the secrets of life and the environment around.

S&T Minister Kapil Sibal flagged off the expedition in New Delhi on Saturday. A five-member team of inter-disciplinary scientists, led by the director of the prestigious National Centre for Antarctic and OceanScience (NCAOR) Dr Rasik Ravindra at Vasco-da-Gama in Goa, headed for Norway from New Delhi.

Informed sources told UNI today the scientists will reach the research base--Nyalesund, situated 1200 km from North Pole and 79 degrees north of the equator among a group of islands called Svalbard.

They will reach the place from Oslo via London and camp there for about a month to undertake experiments on climate changes,earth sciences and microbiology.

The Expedition is being undertaken in collaboration with Norway under the ''Svalbard Treaty'' signed in the 1920's.

It mightbe recalled that the union ministry of Earth Sciences had given the green signal to scientists to undertake the Arctic Expedition last year as NCAOR celebrated its silver jubilee of the Indian Expedition to the Antarctica which it launched in 1981.

It had also decided to explore the Southern Ocean even as several countries continued their expeditions for many years both in theArctic and the Southern Ocean, revealing startling information onbi-polar sciences.

Negotiations with the Centre were still underway on its expedition to the Southern Ocean, which will be undertaken after acquiring what was termed as ''ice-class vessel'' of our own instead of depending on Russia and other countries for such expeditions in the icy continent.

The debut Arctic Expedition by Indian scientists was expected to enrich the treasure of knowledge on polar sciences, which provide a key to secrets of the origin of the earth and the life around, scientists said.

The other scientists of the expedition team, apart from DrRavindra included Dr S Shivaji, deputy director, Centre forCellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, Dr Dhruva Sen Singhof the university of Lucknow, Dr S M Singh of NCAOR and Dr C GDeshpande, IITM, Pune.

Meanwhile, buoyed by the Larsemann Bay site clearance for locatingthe third Antarctic Research Base Station, 600 km east of thepresent site Maitri in Antarctica, the NCAOR scientists had now beenengaged in ''baseline data'' collection.

It might be recalled thatIndia had hosted for the first time the high-level Antarctic TreatyConsultative Meeting (ATCM) in New Delhi last April. It had given clearance to the proposed site for building the thirdresearch station in Antarctica, which could come up in two years once the work begins.

The scientists, however, continued to collect various data onbiology, geology, lake sediments and geographical mapping at theLarsemann Bay.

To begin with, the Arctic team will work at Ny-Alesund in collaboration with the Norwegian Polar Research Institute, for a period ranging from two weeks to four weeks during August and September.

It will initiate projects on Arctic microbes as work horses of biotechnology, measurement of atmospheric aerosols and ions in theArctic region, and Earth Science studies at Svalbard.

In the second phase, beginning February 2008, the Indian scientists will start work on four projects - Snowpack production of carbon monoxide and its diurnal variability, Sea ice microbial communities project, Carbon-cycling in the near-shore environments of Kongsfjorden and
Understanding the link between the Arctic and tropical Indian Ocean climatic variations.

At present, eight countries-- Norway, Germany, France, Britain,Italy, the Republic of Korea and China-- have their research stations for Arctic research at Ny-Alesund. UNI/BM/

Parliamentary Panel Pulls UP S&T Ministry for Dalays

2007-05-06T04:05:00.000-07:00

New Delhi, May 2-2k7 (UNI) A Parliamentary panel has pulled up the Science and Technology Ministry for dilly-dallying in implementing the programmes relating to Ocean Science, dubbing the delays as ''serious instances of bad planning and management''.

''Same old excuses have been given for disproportionate variationsin the utilisation of allocated funds under various programmes,''says the Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environmentand Forests, in its 173rd Report.

The Ministry informed the Committee that during 2006-07, onlyRs 85.54 crore could be spent on Indian Meteorological Departmentagainst the Budgetary provision of Rs 105 crore due to delays inprocurement of DCWDS, automatic message switching system (AMSS) andtelecom facilities at field stations.

For tsunami and storm surge warning system, Rs 56 crore werespent against the allocated Rs 95 crore. The savings, the Ministrysaid, was due to delay in finalisation of hardware and softwarerequired for the programme.

Similarly, Rs 47 crore were used on the National Institute ofOcean Technology against Rs 87 crore. The variation was due to delayin commissioning the operation of barge-based desalination plant andin obtaining clearances for acquisition of land towards developmentof sea front facilities.

Advising the Ministry to avoid such administrative delays, theCommittee says it should strategically plan all its activities andaspire for timely implementations of all major projects. The panel has also pointed to the stagnation and lack of avenuesin scientific fields, and has advocated a comprehensive programmethat will have a positive impact on the scientific fraternity.

It has appreciated the research work carried out in Antarctica,and asked the Ministry to undertake every possible institutional andlogistic activity to establish the third permanent Indian Base inthe Larsemann Ranges. It has also recommended that the two new schemes-- Expedition toArctic and Ice-class Research Vessel-- proposed in the XIth FiveYear Plan, should be pursued in a well-planned manner.//EOM//

Bhatnagar Awardee's Cancer Research Dubious:Evidence

2007-05-06T03:59:00.000-07:00

By Yashovardhan Joshi
New Delhi, May 6-2k7 (UNI) The controversial Kundu papers on cancer research, which were cleared by a government committee, have now been found to be dubious by a body of eminent scientists.

The Society for Scientific Values (SSV), a watchdog of ethics andvalues in Indian Science, has found clinching evidence that the 2004Bhatnagar awardee Gopal Chandra Kundu and his coworkers are primafacie quilty of misconduct for falsification and fabrication of datain their research papers.

Through its independent investigation, the results of which havecome out this week, the SSV has found that Dr Kundu and hiscoworkers from the National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Punefraudulently reused the same data within Paper 1 and Paper II once,and from Paper I and Paper II five times.

''Our own consultations with independent experts, including adigital image analyst, indicate that the similarities between thefigures are too substantial to be dismissed as superficial,'' SSVPresident K L Chopra, a former director of IIT, Karagpur, told UNI today.

The prestigious American Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC),which published the two research papers-- on interaction of proteinsin a particular cancer-- also found the reuse of data from one paperto another, and withdrew Paper II from its publication in Februarythis year.

The two independent parallel investigations by the JBC and theSSV have, thus, come to the same conclusion about misconduct by theauthors of the two papers, bringing into question the reliability ofthe government inquiry committee, headed by Prof G Padmanabhan,which exonerated Dr Kundu and his coworkers of all the charges.

''In the light of these findings, Dr Kundu must take most of theblame for the misconduct as head of the group, and the authoritiesconcerned should seriously reconsider their position in this caseand take exemplary action against all the authors,'' Dr Chopra said.

''Any disproportionate punishment of the students/post-doctorswhile shielding the senior scientists will open up new issues of injustice,'' he added. In fact, an internal inquiry conducted by NCCS, on the e-mailcomplaints of its two students in May June last year, had found Dr Kundu and his coworkers guilty and sought withdrawal of the JBCpapers.

Dr Kundu confessed in writing about the problems in thepapers and agreed to their withdrawal. It was only after he retracted his confession and accused thecommittee of extracting a confession from him under duress that thePadmanabhan inquiry committee was appointed.

The SSV came to know of the two inquiries after Prof Sonan PModak, a former member of the Governing Council of NCCS, made asigned complaint to it. ''The SSV then made several requests for the official record ofthe internal inquiry, but the requests were never answered,'' DrChopra said.

It was during his e-mail interaction with the Society that DrKundu accepted that he had confessed in writing but said theconfession was made under duress. ''We regret the lack of response of the Secretary, Department ofBiotechnology to our queries for six months, and the failure of theNCCS Director to provide information to us regarding the findings ofthe first committee appointed by him, even though he readily sentthe report of the second committee,'' the SSV President said.

''It is extremely important for the NCCS and the Department ofBiotechnology to repair the damage done to the reputation of Indianscience and prove their commitment to research integrity andscientific values through exemplary action,'' he said. The Society also requested the scientific community to develop arigorous, analytical and quantitative scientific method fordetection of image manipulation beyond any doubt and make it widely available.//eom//

Scientists for Unlocking Ancient Tide Guaging Technique

2007-03-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

BY: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna

Panaji,Mar 14-2k7(UNI) There is every need to unlock the secret of predicting the crest and trough of ocean tides expertised 4000 years ago by marine engineers at Lothal in Gujarat's Gulf of Cambay, says director of the prestigious National Institute of Oceanography(NIO) Dr.Satish Shetye here.

It is the only place in the country where the tides reach as high as 10 metres and the engineers of the shipyard there knew how to predict the natural phenomenon of high and low tide with precision so that they could allow the ships into the sea or anchor out, he said.

Their ancient wisdom, which had remained a secret since 2000 BC, needs to be explored by the modern ocean scientist with tremendous applications in physical oceanography, Dr.Shetye, himself a top physical oceanography expert observed.

He was addressing the people at the Goa Science Centre in connection with the inauguration of the Goa chapter of the "Vidnyan Parishad", a unit of the Vijnana Bharati championing the promotion of "Swadeshi Science Movement" in the country.

The lunching of the chapter coincided with the birth day of physicist Albert Einstein.

Dr.Shetye also underlined the need for unravelling the science behind the technique of allowing sea water into "Khazan Lands" in Goa where agriculture and aquaculture had been practised side by side successfully for more than 1000 years.

Expressing concern over "rapid decline of Khazan Lands" in the current socio economic conditions, the NIO chief called for exploring the sophisticated tools used for controlling the tides used for promoting the dual culture. Careful recording of nature was a central theme in ancient India and it should be preserved for future, he said.

"Ability to learn gives us ability to earn in the knowledge economy. We have to make use of the ancient wisdom and modern knowledge capabilities with confidence," he said.

Earlier, Prof.K.I.Vasu, president of Vijnana Bharati,explained how Swadesi Science Movement had been striving for promoting ancient and traditional science along with modern science among the masses.

India's contribution to science since ages had been tremendous and continuous whereas there was a vacuum from 2C BC till 15th century AD in the West.There was need to translate the ancient wisdom into applications in modern days, he said.

Vedas, he said, contained roots of sciences including engineering and technology and the Vijnana Bharati's thrust was to expose them to the public particularly the youth.

In this connection, he recalled glorious contribution of scientists like CV Raman,Ramanujam, Aryabhatta, Charaka and Sushruta besides Bose and Y.Subbarao and Patanjali.

Organising Secretary of the Parishad Mr.A.Jaykumar stressed the need for popularising sciences through "regional languages" and with this mind, the parishad had started organising science congresses in regional languages to go to the masses involving scientists and communicators.

He also asked the Centre to ensure that the IIT products should compulsorily serve India for at least ten years to realise the dream of making India a developed country the year 2020 as envisioned by President Abdul Kalam.

President of Vidnyan Parishad Dr.Arvind Untawale said the Parishad was contemplating to work for revival of "sacred grooves" of Goa and rich biodiversity besides organizing Ayurvedic camps and vedic mathematics classes for students as part of its activities in the near future.

Dr.Shetye later distributed prizes to students who participated in the All Goa Science Talent Search Examination for junior and senior high school students. //EOM//

NOTE Dashes Letter to PM on Novartis Issue

2007-02-26T22:55:00.000-08:00

National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE-India) general secretary Dr.Sekhar Salkar has today expressed its grave concern over the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis' legal action in the Chennai High Court challenging the "Glivec patent rejection and critical public health safeguards of Indian patent law".

In a letter to prime minister Manmohan singhji,he sought his intervention to safeguard the public health and India's patent law that have a very real impact on the lives of millions of patients - not just people living with HIV, but those living with cancer, asthma, heart disease, mental illness.

He pleaded for Singh’s continued support for access to affordable medicines and treatment and commitment to the constitutional guarantee of health and life.

Novartis is not only arguing to re-open the Glivec patent examination but also seeking a declaration from the high court that section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act is not in compliance with TRIPS and that it violates Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. Section 3 (d) is the provision that protects against extension of patent monopolies on essential medicines.

Novartis sells Glivec, a life saving medicine for patients suffering from ‘Chronic Myeloid Leukemia’ at prohibitive prices of Rs 1.20 lakh per month to be taken almost life long. At the same time Indian companies give the same medicine for Approximately 11 to 12 thousand a month which is affordable for some patients and they can live a fruitful life

The price of Glivec, is well beyond the capacity of most patients. Novartis is aware that only a very small percentage of patients in India can afford this drug. Access to health care and medicine depends on solutions at various levels. It is our duty to try and remove barriers to the best of our ability.

On the issue of constitutionality of the Indian patent law, the government s constitutional expert, the Solicitor General of India was not present in court on February 15 and 16 at the time of arguments. In the absence of the government’s legal expert on constitutional matters, Indian parliament’s patent law and patient groups access to affordable medicines is at stake.

”We trust that the Solicitor General has now been authorized to take up this matter and will be in the Chennai high court defending the sovereign right of the Indian parliament to safeguard the health of its people and patients across the world,” Dr.Sekhar said.

We look forward to your continued support for access to affordable medicines and treatment and your commitment to the constitutional guarantee of health and life.

Note India strongly support Indian Cancer Society and other NGO’s in convincing Indian Government to fight in the court with constitutional experts so that the patients suffering from ‘Chronic Myeloid Leukemia’ receives medicine at cheaper rates. This judgment is likely to have consequences in the long term on many other medicines which are essential for the treatment of many types of Cancer. UNI/BM/

NCSTC Declares Awards for Science Communication-2007

2007-02-26T22:33:00.000-08:00

BY: Dr.Y.Bala Murali krishna

Panaji, Feb 26: The National Council for Science & Technology Communication (NCSTC), Dept. of Science and Technology, Government of India, has today announced its annual national awards for science and technology communication for outstanding work done in the past 5 years.

Union Minister, Science and Technology Kapil Sibal will felicitate the winners at a function to be organised in connection with National Science Day in New Delhi on March 1 after presenting the winners with the cash award along with a memento and a citation.

Dr. R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Govt. of India will deliver this year’s National Science Day Lecture in this connection.

Dr. T. Ramasami, Secretary, Dept. of Science and Technology, Govt. of India will preside over the function. A Science Exhibition would also be organized on this occasion at Technology Bhavan, New Delhi.

Science exhibitions, quiz competitions, health awareness and science activity camps are being organized in various parts of the country to mark the National Science Day to enhance the level of public understanding of science and technology.

A number of science communication software materials have been developed for different target audiences ranging from children and woman to villagers and common man,according to the NCSTC chief and adviser Mr.Anuj Sinha.

These awards were instituted in 1987 by the government with a view to encouraging and recognizing the efforts in the area of science and technology communication and were first announced on National Science Day in 1988.

No award is being given for the category of science translation inIndian languages this year. Incidentally, the NCSTC is celebrating its Silver Jubilee marked with the year-long programmes and activities for ensuring deeper iutreach of science and technology into the society, its director Dr.Manoj K.Patairiya told UNI today.

The award of Rs.two lakhs for "outstanding efforts in science communication" has been given to Dr. V.A. Elavalagan, Chennai who has consistently written dramas, columns in newspapers, articles in popular magazines, popular talks and field programmes which have enhanced public awareness and increased understanding of science.

A similar award has been given to a Kochi-based non-government organization Swadeshi Science Movement which has been relentlessly working for communicating science by organizing congresses, workshops and competitions besides publishing popular magazines thus promoting scientific attitude among the people.

The award of Rs.one lakh for "outstanding efforts in science communication through books and magazines" has been given to Mrs. Rekha Aggarwal, New Delhi for yeoman service rendered to the cause of popularization of science among masses.

She made significant efforts through books, science columns in newspapers, popular talks on radio and television on diverse subjects in science.

Another of Rs.one lakh for "outstanding efforts in science popularization among children" goes to Dr. Madhu Pant, New Delhi who has dedicated her life for popularizing science through stories, poems, riddles, games, posters on issues of science and environment in a lucid manner.

A similar award has been given to Mr.Kuldeep Sharma, New Delhi who wrote over 30 books, 50 science stories and nearly 2000 articles in leading newspapers and magazines to explain complex scientific concepts and phenomena to children.

The national award of Rs.one lakh for "outstanding efforts in Science and Technology Communication in Print Medium" has been given to Mr.S. Ananthanarayanan, Mumbai for writing more than 400 articles in newspapers to explain science involved in common devices while retaining the attention and interest of his wide reader base.

A similar award goes to frelance journalist Mr.Dinesh C.Sharma, New Delhi, who had been relentlessly working for communicating science through radio and television besides small newspapers in regional languages for over two decades.

Another award carying Rs.one lakh for 'Outstanding Efforts in Science and Technology Communication through Electronic Medium" has gone to Mr.Niret Alva,Gurgaon, who,as a globally acclaimed award winning film maker, uses the electronic medium powerfully to convey the traditional science and current developments in the country.

A similar award has been given to Mr.H.B. Muralidhara and Mrs.Seema Muralidhara, Mumbai,for developing a series of video programmes in an entertaining format to increase awareness on issues of health and environment targeted at women besides science concepts to middle school students.//EOM//

India to host Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Delhi

2006-12-03T01:28:00.000-08:00

BY: Y.Bala Murali krishna
Panaji,Dec 3-2k6(UNI) In a significant development, India is hosting the crucial Antarctic Treaty Consultative(ATC) Meeting for the first time in New Delhi even as the apex body is to clear the site for the proposed third Indian Research Base Station at Larsemann's Bay, 600 nautical miles east of the existing Maitri station in the icy continent.

"We are hosting the 15-day ATC meeting for the first time in New Delhi during March-April next in which about 300 delegates connected with the Antarctic research would participate," Dr.P.S.Goel,secretary, Union Ministry of Earth Sciences told UNI.

Meanwhile, Indian polar scientists are busy preparing a "Comprehensive Environment Evaluation Report(CEER)" for submission to the "Committee on Environment Protection(CEP)" which is to clear the report before its ratification by the ATC for setting up the third research station at Larsemann's Bay.

The report had to be circulated to all the member countries of the ATC for their comments/guidelines if any for modifiction/changes in the site plan as the site involved many aspects of preservation of ecology and environment at the Larsemann's Bay.

"Though some countries like Australia and New Zealand which dominate the area are initially opposing the idea because of 'terrotorial claims'.There would not be any problem for India to get the site clearance for the new research base station," says Dr.Rasik Ravindra,director,National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR),Vasco-da-Gama,Goa.

If everything goes well and clearance obtained, it would take at least 2 years for setting up the research base station at Larsemann's Bay. We have already floated quotations for the design of the state-of-the-art station," he said.

The prestigious NCAOR is the nodal agency for undertaking and coordinating the multi-disciplinary Indian Antarctic expeditions besides setting up of the third research station.

"They donot oppose the proposal but seek details regarding waste disposal at the proposed site probably to drag on the issue. But we are ready with all our explanations to maintain the ecology at the proposed site at the Larsemann's Bay," says NCAOR's logistics director Dr.T.V.P.Bhaskara Rao.

India had undertaken its first Antarctic Expedition in 1981 under the stewardship of the noted polar scientist Dr.S.Z.Quasim and later set up its first research station base "Dakshin Gangotri" in 1983.

The second base research station "Maitri" was later set up in 1988-89 following the caving in of the first one as it was located on an ice sheet.

The third one was necessiated for intensifying the polar research in the icy contineut even as India had decided to set its foot on the Southern Ocean with research proposed in the Arctic continent next year.

India had also proposed to acquire a state-of-the-art ice-class vessel at a cost of about Rs.400 crores next year for its research activities instead of depending on vessels chartered from other countries.

India, according to Dr.Rasik Ravindra,had during the last 25 expeditions had contributed 500 research papers to various prestigiouis international journals besides sending 1000 scientists from various disciplines to the icy continent for undertaking multi-disciplinary research since inception.

Only last month end, the NCAOR had flagged off its 26th Indian Antarctic Expedition in batches for the first time by flight through Capetown in South Africa to undertake research.Another batch is due to leave for the icy continent any time this month.

Research in the icy continents had been attracting many countries,the latest being Malaysia, among the 30 countries. Besides India,China,Japan and South Kores were the only countries from Asia participating in the Antarctic research.

The study of the ice-core shelf and lake sediments, flora and fauna besides the auroras,seismic changes and glaceology enables the scientists to study the climatic changes of the past millions of years.

This in turn help them collect,codify and collate data on the factors responsible for the past climatic changes so that they could generate cilmatic models to predict future climatic changes in the world. //EOM//

XXVI Indian Antarctica Expedition flagged off from Goa

2006-11-26T09:08:00.000-08:00

By: Y Bala Murali Krishna

Vasco-da-Gama, Goa, Nov 26-2k6: The XXVI Indian expedition to Antarctica took off today through Capetown to undertake climate studies using ice-core shelf besides upgrading the sophisticated facilities of the seismology and global positioning systems at the Maitri research station base in the icy continent.

''For the first time, we have flown our scientists from Capetown through a special arrangement with Antarctic Logic Consortium International of Russia, which operates flights to the icy continent,'' said Rasik Ravindra, director of the prestigious
National Centre Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) here.

Talking to the visiting UNI correspondent before flagging off the expedition, the NCAOR chief said the organisation used to fly the scientists from Mumbai to Capetown from where they set sail to Antarctic by a special ship taking about 20 days.

''Now that summer had set in the Antarctic, we have decided to fly the team allowing for early research activities and faster reach,'' said Mr Ravindra, who was the leader of the first winting team of the Indian expedition to Maitri station.

A batch of nine top scientists are now flying to the Capetown today, while another batch of 14 including logistics, scientific and technical experts from the Indian Army on deep drilling mission, had left the previous week.

In all, 50 scientists would be working in the expedition. Others would, however, reach the Antarctic through the ship from Capetown later this week for different missions.

The study of the ice-core that contains of signatures of the climate of the last thousands of years through its entrapped gases of the past atmosphere, was one of the core research activities of the NCAOR.

They had already brought ice-core, drilled 210 metres deep of the shelf, and started studying it at the state-of-the-art Ice-Core Laboratory set up in the NCAOR here.

Significantly, the scientists detected presence of about half a dozen microbes in the ice-core, which had now been analysed with the help of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad for strategic applications.

The task of reaching the icy continent became easier using Russian flights, with India joining the ''DROMLAN'' network, a consortium of 11 exploration countries, claims Mr Ravindra.

The Russian flight from Capetown takes just 6 hours to reach Antarctic and the India's Maitri research station was located just 8 km away from the airstrip of Central Droning Maudland in Antarctica,he said.

India had set sail to unravel the mysteries of the icy continent first in 1981, headed by top scientist and visionary S Z Quasim. The first research base station ''Dakshin Gangotri'' was set up in 1983.

The second station Maitri was set up in 1988-89, when the first station caved in due to vagaries of nature in the icy continent as it was located on an ice sheet.

Efforts were now underway to set up the third research base station 600 nautical miles east of Maithri at Larsermann Bay on a plateu. The experts had now been finalising the draft for obtaining clearance of the site by the Apex Antarctic Treaty Consultative Committee.

For the first time, the current expedition included specialists from the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) for assisting the logistics. The multi-disciplinary research involved about 30 institutions including the Defence Research and Development
Organistion (DRDO).

Others included Birbal Sahani Institute of Paleobotony, National Geophysical Research Institute, Geological Survey of India, Indian Institute of Geomagnetism and Sriram Institute for Industrial Research, Indian Mteorological Deprtment, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and Annamalai University.//EoM//

Policies needed for sharing remotely sensed data among nations

2006-11-14T08:40:00.000-08:00

BY: Y.Bala Murali Krishna

Panaji, Nov 12,2k6:Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO)'s chairman G.Madhavan Nair has called respective nations for evolving policies so that the remotely sensed satellite data on earth observation could be shared,analysed and utilised on real time basis for mutual benefit with an integrated approach.

The ISRO chief had also pleaded with the scientists to develop high-resolution sensors/detectors for placement on earth,ocean and skies to collect data to monitor depletion of rare gases like Ozone and Nitrous Oxide that leave a signature on the imminent atmospheric changes for sharing.

"Unfortunately,many governments do not allow sharing of the real time data collected from the satellites and other monitoring mechanisms. We need to evolve policies that allow us to share the data on earth observation for various purposes including
drought,cyclones and weather monitoring," Dr.Nair said.

He was delivering the keynote address in the inaugural session of the fifth biennial Asia Pacific symposium on 'Remote Sensing for Resource Management and Disaster Warning and Mitigation' attended by about 600 delegates from across the world here today.

It was being organised for the first time in India on the precincts of the prestigious National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) here under the aegis of the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), USA.

The scientists including Dr Upendra Singh from National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), USA, and several others from Japan, China, Australia, Russia, France, UK, Germany, Sri Lanka and India and students were participating.

It was sponsored,among others,by the ISRO,Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA),Japan, Natiojal Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration(NOAA)mUSA,National Institute of Information and Communications Technology(NICT),Japan,National Polar-orbiting Operation Environmental Satellite System integrated Programme Office
and Science Tecnology Corporation,USA.

The ISRO chief had disclosed that the final pase of the development of National Disaster Management Support System,now underway,would be completed this year so that data through dedicated and secure systems was made available for use in disaster management operations.

At the sametime, Dr.Nair had called for upgrading technologies through analytical models for earth monitoring so that data on droughts, cyclones and other diasters like the recent Tsunami could be obtained on real time basis.

The ISRO, he said, had contributed significantly for space research with applications on many aspects of life,over the last 25 years through launcing of its INSAT series of satellites.

The efforts were being stepped up in the realm of earth observation from space platforms the importance of which had increased recently for analysing data on national natural resources that help us understand the climate changes for disaster mitigation, he said.

Inaugurating the symposium,governor S.C.Jamir pleaded with the authorities to make available the satellite images cheaper to help the governments and even NGO's could to make plans for national and regional level development. He had also called for developing simple devices that could best be used in all educational programmes.

Dr.A.S.Kiran Kumar,belonging to the electro optical systems department at Ahmmedabad-based Space Applications Centre said the 58th International Astronautical Congress would be held in September next at Hyderabad in collaboration with the ISRO and the Department of Space.

Dr.Upendra N.Singh, belonging to the NASA said the scope of the symposium includes global environmentalchnge and its human dimension, disaster prediction, tracking and mitigation, enabling remote sensing technologies, present and future, and natural
resources management and sustainability.

The event brings together policy makers, scientists and engineers from across the world for sharing knowledge and ideas on these issues in the backdrop of latest developments in remote sensing technologies for societal benefits and socio ecpojomic
payoffs,Dr.Upendra added.//eom//

Dr.Sudhakar nominated member of UN’s Seabed Authority

2006-11-10T09:30:00.000-08:00

BY: Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Panaji, Nov 10(UNI) Dr.M.Sudhakar, senior scientist of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) in Goa is nominated member of the prestigious Legal and Technical Commission of the International Seabed Authority(ISA), an organ of the United Nations, Kingston, Jamaica.

The recently constituted union ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, had nominated him for a 5-year term.

Dr.Sudhakar was group director of ocean sciences and services group at the NCAOR before undertaking the new assignment, according to official sources here today.

Interestingly, he led several expeditions to the Indian Ocean and the pilot expedition to Southern Ocean in the year 2004 and the recent one to Larsemann Hills, Antarctica where India proposed to set up its third research base station.

Under his leadership, the NCAOR had recently recovered the rocket debris of the failed GSLV that plunged into the Bay of Bengal after lift off on July 10.

After completing Master of Science and Technology in Applied Geology in 1981 from the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, he joined the National institute of Oceanography the next year in Goa where he served till 1997 in Polymetalic nodules programme.UNI/BM/

Efforts to develop integrated sophisticated earth systems afoot

2006-11-10T09:23:00.000-08:00

BY: Y.Bala Murali krishna

Panaji, Nov 2,2k6: An integrated radar system that could be used for any application including defence, weather and airport.A nanotechnology based sensor that is tunable for detecting any frequency.

Autonomous remote controlled submersible vesseles that could go to any depth and nuclear powered vessels for diving deep into the oceans and devices that could drill the ocean bead beyond 6 km.

These are some of the future high-tech gadgets that could be designed and developed through ''integrated holistic systems approach'' the systems engineers and scientists are now thinking of attempting.

The possibilities of realising them using totally indigenous technology are being debated by top scientists and engineers gathered here at the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) in connection with the on-going 3-day 30th National Systems Conference with the theme of ''Systems for Marine Exploration'' that began today.

More than 50 experts from different premier scientific institutions such as Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Trivandrum, National Remote Sensing Agency, Hyderabad, National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Vasco-da-Gama besides NIO, Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad and National Institute of
Ocean Technology, Tamilnadu and various IIT's are participating in the conference.

Addressing the inaugural session, Dr.P.S.Goel, top scientist and secretary of the newly constituted Union Ministry of Earth Sciences,said many integrated complicated systems with indigenous technology could be designed through what he termed as ''holistic thinking process'' that could save precious foreign exchange by replacing
imported technologies and devices.

He announced full support of the ministry to efforts of any organisation or a consortium which is trying to design such devices through an integrated approach.

He regretted that India had been importing many devices including medical, nanotechnology, biotechnology and marine technology instruments besides basic sensors for want of encouragement to indigenous efforts.

''If we have the holistic lateral thinking process, we can develop systems that could predict atmospheric disturbances and phenomenon including cyclones which are related to solar flares and cosmic rays,'' Dr.Goel told the scientists.

One integrated radar, if developed, could replace a myriad of radars now being used for weather monitoring, navy, airforce and airports as the ''concept of radars is the same but processing of data differs.

It may cost us Rs.100 crores for developing such a multi-user radar in five years but it is required through lateral thinking and multi-disciplinary approach to systems, he observed.

Our sea-based oil platforms work at 50 metres depth and we have to develop capabilities for going further deeper by designing appropriate systems.

In this connection, Dr.Goel, former secretary, department of ocean development, said scientists had achieved recently some success in testing a remotely operated submersible vessel at a depth of 500 metres, avoiding possible damage to the instruments due to salinity.

But we required such vessels with nuclear power source that work drill the ocean bed beyond 150 KM as against 6 KM available now for undertaking marine research to unearth the secrets of the ocean vis-a-vis the earth.

Indian scientists, he said, did little in development of marine expedition which mostly depended on available instrumentation and integrated thinking.

We need scuba diving equipment and submersible vessels that could go beyond 2 km depth with reliability for promoting further research on oceans besides extending GPS applications using acoustic frequencies with modulation techniques, he added.

He recalled how India made a world record by developing a satellite within two years immediately after the 1999 Kargil war with one metre resolution to help Jawans detect movement of intruders across the icy borders. This,he said, was achieved with a holistic systems approach from the satellite we had with 6 metre resolution.

President of the Systems Society of India and director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre,Trivandrum Dr.B.N.Suresh called for carrying forward the concept of holistic systems approach in science and life for arriving at solutions in different fields.

In this connection, he mentioned the ''fuzzy logical eye'' of a simple fly that could see with its 4000 lenses in its eye. This could find many applications if studied with the systems approach, he added.

Dr.Ashok Mishra, director, IIT-Mumbai, Dr.K.K. Agarwal, vice chancellor of Guru Govind Singh University and and Dr.B.Bhattracharya of IIT-Kanpur were later presented with gold medals for their distinguished achievement in promoting scientific
systems in various sectors.

The discussions ranged from guidance algorithm for lunar soft landing missions to estimation of minimal model for blood glucose insulin interaction.//EOM//

Top Ocean Scientists to Study Global Warming Process

2006-10-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

Dr.Satish Shethye-Director-NIO addressing the scientists

By: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna

Panaji, Oct 3 (UNI) Top scientists from different continents have today gathered here to exchange information on global warming, with reference to the Indian Ocean region and it's consequent impact on the rim countries.

They were participating in a 4-day international workshop on ''Sustained Indian Ocean biogeochemical and Ecological Research'' that began here under the ageis of the prestigious National Institute of Oceanography(NIO) as part of celebrating its 40th anniversary.

It was sponsored among others by the US National Science Foundation, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, Perth, Indo-US Science and Technology Forum, Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research and Global Ocean Observing System for Indian Ocean.

About 70 foreign delegates from 17 countries including the USA, UK, Germany, France, Japan and Indonesia and 80 from different parts of the country are participating in the workshop which was inaugurated by Governor S C Jamir.

Scientists told UNI that the workshop would facilitate exchange of information on inter-relationship between biogeochemical cycles and ecosystems, and to quantify and predict responses of the marine system to natural and anthropogenic perturbations.

The most worrying aspect was increase of carbon dioxide content from 280 parts per million(PPM) in the pre-industrial revolution era to a whoooping 380 PPM now with increased use of fossil fuels and other resources impacting the atmospheric cycle.

The interaction was expected to increase the ability of the scientists to enhance and predict the consequences of global change on ocean food webs and biogeochemistry by examining the potential synergistic and antagonistic effects of changes in key variables.

They include study of the sensitivity to climate, acidification, nutrient supply, harvesting of marine living resources.Modelling the potential feedbacks from marine biogeochemical cycles and ecosystems to the earth system will require detailed
understanding of local and regional manifestations of global change in the ocean and their interactions with other parts of the earth system.

The workshop is expected to help initiate a comprehensive development plan for future research in the Indian Ocean for implementing biogeochemical and ecological research programme liveraging the CLIVER/GOOS(An International Research Programme on
Climate Variability and Predictability/The Global Ocean Observing System)in the context of the Indian Ocean.

It is also expected to provide a platform for launching another international initiative for investigating how human induced climatic and environmental changes will impact the physical and biogeochemical processes in the Indian Ocean which in turn further fuel global warming itself.

In the inaugural session, governor S C Jamir urged the scientists to explore the oceans through research for exploitation of marine resources with land resources fast diminishing due to increased human activity.

Expressing concern over depleting natural oxygen in waters along the west coast and increase of hydrogen sulphide in sea water 10 km away the coast, the governor asked the scientists to help mitigate the situation so that the economy of the west coast, particularly Goa was not affected it was dependent on tourism and fisheries.

He wished that the workshoop would lead to another major global initiative in the Indian Ocean like the Indian Ocean Expedition in 1960's and Joint Global Ocean Flux Studies in 1990's to help predict future climates so that the states like Goa could formulate its developmental plans accordingly.

Prominent among those present included NIO director Dr Satish
Shetye who explained various aspects of the workshop.//EOM//

More Pictures of Andhra University Workshop

2006-09-30T23:31:00.000-07:00

Andhra University's Science Writing Workshop Pictures

2006-09-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

Workshop With a Difference in Andhra University

2006-09-30T22:41:00.000-07:00

Workshop to promote scientific temper and rationale thinking
BY: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Visakhapatnam(Andhra Pradesh),Sept 27,2k6: It was a science writing workshop with a difference.Unlike in many other workshops held in different parts of the country, this one stressed more on developing scientific temper and rationale thinking than on popular science writing per se.

Held under the aegis of the Andhra Pradesh Council of Science and Technology(APCOST) in collaboration with the National Council for S&T Communication(NCSTC) and the Department of Journalism-Andhra University for four days from September 23, the workshop had projected problems in real life away from scientific thinking.

The evils of consanguinous marriages responsible for mounting congenetal disorders, lack of literacy among tribals resulting in goitre cases due to iodine difficiency, malaria and other diseases plus practice of reverse smoking causing throat cancer,superstitions in daily life on the name of tradition were well explained.

The participants expressed concern over undue publicity in the media being given to entertainment and glamour, crime and politics,as against developments in S&T and promoting rationale thinking among the masses.

The workshop was inaugurated by AP Official Language Commission Chairman and senior journalist ABK Prasad in presence of the university vice chancellor and other officials while Dr.P.Bobby Vardhan,chairman board of studies of the journalism department coordinated the workshop.

Prominent among those who interacted with the participants included NCSTC director Dr.Manoj Patairiya, scientist Dr.C.M.Nautiyal from Lucknow-based Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaebotony and science commnicator Dr.Y.B.M.Krishna(UNI-Goa).

More Pictures of the Sept 4-7-2k6 Delhi Workshop

2006-09-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

More pictures of the New Delhi workshop are here:

More Pictures of the Delhi Workshop

2006-09-30T11:22:00.000-07:00

Find here more pictures of the New Delhi workshop.
BY: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna.

Promoting Popular Science Writing in New Delhi

2006-09-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

4-day science writing workshop in New Delhi's Jamia Campus a big Success
BY: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna
New Delhi,Sept 10-2k6: About 40 post-graduate students and a few research scholars from Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan,Srib Aurobindo Institute of Mass Communication,Jamia Milia Islamia University's urdu department, and Science Aur Kainat Society of India produced scripts in different formats with ease just in four days training.

They participated at the state level sciencer writing/journalism/illustrqation workshop organised by the Society in collaboration with the University and the National Council for S&T Communication from September 4 to 7 held at the Urdu Department on the University premises.

From writing illustrations and scientoons to demonstrating science through puppetry and other forms besides presenting in different formats for the print media and radio-the students who include young girls had learnt the techniques. Resource persons included NCSTC director Dr.Manoj K.Patairiya, Taruq Badar(CSIR),Dr.B.K.Tyagi and Nimesh Kapoor from Vigyan Prasar.

The highlight of the workshop was visit of the participants to the Central Road Research Institute where they had learnt the techniques of road laying and bridge making.Significantly,one of the participants was in burqa while most of the girls were in their fashionable jeans.//EOM//

India's R&D outlay lower than China, Brazil

2006-08-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

New Delhi, Aug 14(2k6)The government today admitted that the

expenditure on Research and Development as a percentage of the

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is lower as compared to that of

developed countries and some developing nations, including China

and Brazil.

It, however, is higher than many other developing countries
like Pakistan, Argentina, Cuba and Sri Lanka.
Minister for Science and Technology Kapul Sibal said in Rajya
Sabha that in absolute terms, India's R and D expenditure had
increased over the years from Rs 16198.78 crore in 2000-2001 to
Rs 18,000.16 crore in 2002-2003.
Pointing out that the government had been increasing the
S and T outlay of scientific departments/agencies from Rs 12,022
crore in the 9th Plan to Rs 25,243 crore in the 10th Plan, the
Minister said there were plans to increase it further in the 11th
Plan.

NANO-TECHNOLOGY : Replying to another question, the Minister said
some major corporates including reliance Industries, Tata Chemicals
and Mahindra and Mahindra had started investing in Nano-technology
research at a modest level.
The government had initiated steps to promote R and D in
this area and had spent about Rs 200 crore during the past five
years to promote R and D in this area.
More than 100 research projects had been funded and the
government was also contemplating launching a bigger Nano
Science and Technology Mission to provide additional boost to
this area.//eom//
Postd BY: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna

Tips to Reduce Incidence of Breast Cancer

2006-08-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

Goa reports highest incidence of breast cancer in India: Experts

By Y Bala Murali Krishna

Panaji, Aug 6-2k6: The international tourist destination of Goa in India's west coast, known for its modern life styles with the highest per capita income and late marriages, also reports the highest incidence of breast cancer in the country.

''We are recording almost one case per day and it is the highest in India. It is 35 cases per one lakh population in Goa as against 23.3 in Delhi, 21.9 in Chennai and 21.1 in Mumbai,'' Dr Sekhar Salkar, noted cancer specialist-cum-surgeon here told UNI.He is also one of the anti-tobacco movement activist.

Dr Salkar along with Dr Rajen Badwe, chief of surgery at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai and chief of medical oncology from the Tata Memorial hospital Dr Parvish Parikh were addressing the breast cancer awareness programme organised by the
Bicholim Branch of Indian Medical Association as part of the World Breast Feeding Week concluding tomorrow.

The experts interacted with a spectrum of women, some of them suffering from breast cancer, and doctors fraternity yesterday in the city as part of the campaign.

Dr Salkar further said that at the global level, US accounts for highest 65.4 per lakh of population against 29 in Philippines, 28.3 in Brazil and 11.2 in UK.

The incidence is also found to be the highest among the affluent and literates, and different minorities in different states for a variety of reasons.

The state governments, particularly Goa, should undertake a registry of cancer and other non-communicable diseases associated with lifestyles such as diabetes and hypertension on a war footing.

The authorities, Dr Salkar said, should plan out a concerted strategy to tackle the disorders systematically in the long run as they account for more deaths these days than communicable diseases such as tuberculosis.

''Late marriages, begetting children in thirties and forties, lack of protracted breast feeding, begetting too many children and early onset of menses are cause for concern,'' he said.

The chances of getting breast cancer are more among women with long gap between the menarch and begetting the first child, with eastrogen harmone working on them for long.

Early menarch, late marriages, late menopause, child bearing at an early age, having a number of children, short-term breast feeding and obesity just before and after menopause are causes for concern for breast cancer, the trio said.

Unfortunately, most women marry between the age of 35 to 40 and even more in Goa giving rise to the incidence of cancer. Sedentary habits further contribute to breast cancer and chances are more among those who develop obesity after menopause, they opined.

Dr Rajen Badwe, chief of surgery in the reputed Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai said changing lifestyles in the modern days account for 90 per cent of the incidence of cancer among women.

Genetics, however, account for a small fraction of cancer. If the mother gets cancer at an early age, then the child should be more careful and go for screening for early diagnosis, he said.

''First, get out of the fear of cancer and go for early diagnosis to minimise the risk so that you live longer happily with effective medicare available,'' Dr Rajen said.

He also said the risk of patients with breast cancer, developing the cancer in other parts of the body was extremely low except for ovary but it need not worry them as long as immediate care was taken in the begining, he said.

''Screening and self-examination of breasts from the age of 30, besides going in for mammogram at 40 for early detection of abnormalities, is the best. Breast-ovarian cancer syndrome is very rare and so is the male breast cancer incidence,'' says another expert and chief of medical oncology from Tata Memorial hospital Dr
Parvish Parikh.

Pain in breast and irregular menses are not symoptoms of cancer, but if there is a lump with abnormal pain one should take note of it. Cancer in one breast is always associated with the risk in the other, he said.

The three experts however, unanimous said Women can play a major role in not only preventing cancer for themselves, but also by moderating the lifestyles of family members to protect them from cancer, and many other diseases.

They regretted most women approach doctors at their third and fourth stage of affliction and a very few in the first and second stage when the treatment is more effective, particularly medication and surgery.

Most beauty conscious women of late have been resisting chemotherapy as they experience loss of hair on their head after the treatment. Some preferred surgical removal of both the breasts to chemotherapy to retain the hair.

On the otherhand, interestingly, some women offered the hair to Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala Tirupathi temple and go for chemotherapy later with shaven heads, experts pointed out.

The trio favoured people to go for regular physical exercises including Yoga to help reduce obesity, observing healthy dietary habits such as taking fresh vegetables and non-vegetarian food by avoiding long refrigerated foods.

The best of all is to take vegetarian diet with fresh fruits and vegetable rich in fibre and anti-oxidants such as soya, and avoid non-vegetarian diet with fats.//EOM//

Scientists - Pests - Sex - Signals - Traps

2006-07-30T03:33:00.000-07:00

Scientists make insects' sex attractant traps to save crops

By: Y Bala Murali Krishna

Panaji, July 30(2k6): In an innovative technique, agro-scientists these days are trapping the crop-damaging pests and insects by using the trick these small creatures to attract their male partners of the same species for sex by secreting pheromones.

Pheromones, the specific chemical substances emitted in the ecosystem, work as perfect medium of communication for sending signals to their own ilk for courtship, from distances as far as one kilometre.

This is possible, courtesy the successful synthetic sex pheromone development research undertaken by the Coimbatore-based premier Sugarcane Breeding Institute (SBI) in Tamilnadu, under the prestigious Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR).
The scientists have developed artificial sex pheromones on a commercial scale to tackle the Internode Borer (INB), considered a major sugarcane pest in peninsular India.

The pest, which used to affect the yield and quality of jaggery severely with its modifying food habits, is now under check with the scientists developing even a protocol to use the chemical, according to the SBI director Dr N Vijayan Nair.

Dr Nair told this visiting UNI correspondent that the institute has done a pioneering work on the sex pheromones of various moth borers of sugarcane, with
field trials yielding encouraging results.

The SBI had entered into contract service research with three sugar factories and indigenised the pheromone production. One of the funding aencies M/s Rajashree Sugars and Chemicals Limited at Theni in Tamilnadu has commenced commercial production of pheromones of various sugarcane moth borers.

It has also succeeded in developing a cost-effective prototype water trap that could mass-trap the male moths and destroy them, resulting in minimal crop damage.

Under this, synthetic pheromones are impregnated in rubber septa that acts as
lure. A thin film of engine waste oil is added to the water in the trap to kill the entrapped moths. It may cost as low as Rs 400 per acre for using the water traps.

The water trap is to be maintained by removing the dead moths and recharging with water and engine waste oil at regular intervals to have maximum efficiency, according to scientists.

''Pheromones operate across the regions and simultaneous tackling of different pest species in one-and-the-same trap is possible. The advantages over the bioagents are that pheromones, once identified, can be produced on an industrial scale for effective use round the year, even at low pest densities,'' they said.

Using the same principle, experts have come out with fly and rodent traps
impregnating the pheromone attractants and food in fluorescent glue strips.

These glue boards, widely used in developed countries like the US and European nations, could tackle rats, mice, flies, cockroaches and lizards.

''These glue traps are non-toxic, safe, noiseless and non-breaking, but effective and economical to maintain, making them ideal for use in restaurants, homes, hospitals, food processing areas and for general domestic use where flies are a nuisance,'' Bangalore-based Mayfair Enterprises' entrepreneur N Krishna Murthy said.

He had recently introduced the 'CatchMaster' products in Goa through his franchise 'Maykar Pest Control'. The non-drying glue line does not run in hot weather.

Another pest control expert R B Rege said, there are eight lakh insect, 2,000 termite and 3,000 cockroach species in the world. The termites lay 30 million to 60 million eggs in their lifetime, to make life miserable.

Houseflies, if neglected, could in two years mass produce themselves so much so that they could cover the earth's surface with one metre thickness. Also, insects outnumber the animals on earth, he added.

Developing contries incur 40 to 50 per cent food loss every year, as against 10 per cent by the developed countries which take preventive measures to check unfriendly pests and insects, he said.

They affect health of human beings and food distribution chain, particularly on commercial crops, leave alone damage to living structures and systems.

At the sametime, friendly pests such as honey bees, lac insect, silk worm, beetle and yeist help the society very much and as such they should be protected.

It is, however, not possible to totally ''eradicate'' the pests, but maintaining them below threshold level using various pest control mechanisms can be done, he added. //EOM//

Knight Science Journalism Tracker for More Knowledge

2006-07-28T08:33:00.000-07:00

Dear science writers,
A lot more could be seen at Knight Science Journalism Tracker which posts with you with a a lot of updates on science stories across the world. They want more posts from India.

Mr.Charles Petit, Freelance Science Writer and Head Tracker, Knight Science Journalism Tracker,wrote to me today saying, "I do hope you continue to read and enjoy the tracker. If you happen to see a worthy article in the press by someone else, it would be a pleasure to look it over. While the tracker primarily follows the US press, the UK and other English speaking outlets somewhat, we have had very
little from India."

Hope, we all fill this gap for yet another exciting website of science writers run by the famous Massachussettes Institute of Technology(MIT),California.

Have a good surfing to surfeit your science thirst.
Dr.Y.Bala Murali krishna.

Free Flow of Science News Through NASW

2006-07-28T08:19:00.000-07:00

Are you really interested in good science writing?

Here is a website of the National Association of Science Writers constituted in 1934 by a dozen pioneering science reporters at a meeting in New York. It wants to bring all science writers onto a single platform to promote the art and craft of good good science writing.

The association was formally incorporated in 1955 with a charter to "foster the dissemination of accurate information regarding science through all media normally devoted to informing the public."

Over the years, its officers have included both freelancers and employees of most of the major newspapers, wire services, magazines, and broadcast outlets in the country and abroad.You can also become an overseas member if you are a science writer.

Above all, NASW fights for the free flow of science news.
Visit the site now and learn more: www.nasw.org

All the best.

Posted by Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna.

Visit Technorati.Com Blog

2006-07-27T00:03:00.000-07:00

Snakebite Deaths Highest in India- WHO

2006-07-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

India highest incidence of snakebite deaths in world: WHO

BY: Archana

Kochi, Jul 23-2k6:Unscientific treatment methods, including administration of electric shocks or chemicals such as potassium permanganate, are largely responsible for India having the highest incidence of snakebite deaths in the world, experts said

Neither is India home to the largest number of venomous snakes in the world, nor is there a shortage of anti-venom in the country.

Yet, every year 50,000 Indians, mostly poor villagers, die in 250,000 incidents of snakebite, said Ian Simpson of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Treatment Group for Snakebite.

Mr Simpson said ''Snakebite is very easy to treat, provided we start the treatment without losing too much time.''

According to V V Pillay, of the Poison Control Centre at the Amritha Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) here, the main cause of this ''unacceptable incidence'' of snakebite fatalties is that instead of going to the nearest hospital, people try out all kinds of ''bizarre remedies'' at first.

Dr Pillay said ''People, especially in the rural areas, tend to go to the traditional healers first. We have come across strange practices, including use of chickens and hens to suck out the venom.These do not work and just result in precious time being lost.''

However, at times even qualified doctors also do not know how to deal with snakebite cases. ''There is a lot of confusion about symptoms. Often, anti-venom is needlessly administered even when there is no need for it, which can result in more trauma as the antidote can result in severe side-effects,'' he addd.

Concerned about this situation, WHO, in collaboration with leading Indian experts, was in the process of formulating a 'National Protocol' for management of snakebite in India.

Describing this as the first initiative of its kind in the world, Dr Pillay said the protocol would prescribe uniform and standardised methods of dealing with snakebite cases, applicable to the Indian
situation.

''Often in India it is not possible for a villager to get to a hospital within ten minutes, which is necesssary when methods such as pressure immobilisation are used. It is thus necessary that we come out with an Indian protocol, suited to the Indian situation,''
adds Mr Simpson.

In a culmination of nearly two years of field work and research, WHO and the Poison Control Centre at AIMS, would hold a two-day 'National Snakebite Conference' here from tomorrow to finalise the Indian Protocol.

The Conference would be be attended by 40 experts and 30 delegates drawn from the fields of clinical medicine, forensic medicine,toxicology and pharmacology.

''We hope to have the draft National Protocol ready by the end of the Conference, after which it will be submitted to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry for ratification,'' Dr Pillay said.

Once approved by the Central Government, the protocol will be published and widely distributed to hospitals in India, he added.//EOM//

Posted By: Dr.Y.Bala Murali krishna

An Animal Shelter Home With a Difference

2006-07-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

Infirm animals are put back on their feet here

By K Sridhar

Coimbatore, July 23(2k6) Pet and domestic animals, once part of the family, are unceremoniously abandoned as they become frail, ill or injured.

But an exception to this human tendency is found in an animal shelter run by the India Project for Animals and Nature (IPAN) a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) located at the Mavanhalla near Mudumalai Game Sanctuary in Nilgiris district.

Around 300 handicapped, injured and abandoned animals including cows, bulls, baffaloes, goats, monkeys, dogs, horses and donkeys are being taken care of during their last days of life in this shelter.

Mr Nigel Otter (44), the Managing Trusteee of IPAN, showing these animals to UNI said each animal had its own pathetic story. This ten-year old unique animal shelter accomodates over 40 cows 30 bullocks, 25 buffaloes, 12 goats, about 25 monkeys, over 40 dogs,30 ponies, horses and mules and over 95 donkeys.

Seeing the selfless service of Mr Otter, an Anglo Indian, the Animal Welfare Board of India appointed him as an honorary animal welfare officer.

He said they receive calls from public about the injured animals hit by vehicles on the National Highway-67 between Ooty and Mysore. The shelter also treats injured wild animals and release them into the wild after they recouperate.

Narrating the story of a monkey sheltered here, he said the four-year-old female Donnet Macaque was rescued from Varkala, Kerala by Bulgarian tourists Vera and Gorge Koller.

The monkey was tied with a chain around the waist to a pole between two trees
restricting its free movement. The chain had bruised its stomach.

Wary of strangers, it stays in the monkey enclosure and does not mingle with other monkeys. The Macaque is now healthy and also ''carrying''.

Narrating another story, he said Gia was rescued as an infant Bonnet Macaque from the Charminar Express train. A child was carrying it to beg alms. A passenger Ms Jennifer Raj effected its rescue and brought to IPAN. It was treated at the shelter and is doing well now.

Mr Nigel said a puppy, now named 'Rosa', was found by Portuguese tourists at Mettupalayam railway station. It too was infirm and they brought it to the shelter.

Showing a handicapped dog, he said the IPAN staff picked it up from Wellington with the left eyeball hanging out of the socket. It was operated upon and got another lease of life.

IPAN honorary secretary Ms Faiz Vohra said ''the people of this country worship elephant, cow and monkey. But they treat the animals inhumanly. She said this was not a shelter but an ''ashram'' in her view.

The shelter has 15 staff members and the average expenditure, including food and medicine for animals and salaries for the staff, comes to around Rs one lakh per month.

About the generation of funds Mr Nigel said, in addition to donations, the villagers also provided food to animals.

When asked about the inspiration behind the unique humane gesture, he said, right from childhood he loved animals and whenever he come across animals suffering he used to nurse them. His wife and daughter settled in Finland, visit the shelter twice a year.

Stating that appropriate laws were essential to deal with stray dogs, Mr Nigel said IPAN was also carring out a birth control programme for stray dogs. /EOM//

Posted By: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna

Check in My New Blog - www.ybalu.wordpress.com

2006-07-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

Please log in www.ybalu.wordpress.com for more science & technology related stories. I created this new blog following the blockage of the blogs of the bloggers.com, geocoties.com of the gmail and yahoo and several others by the enthusiastic Internet Service providers who crawled when asked to bend.

This has raised many questions on the right to freedom of information which has not yet been guaranteed constitutionally like in the US and other Westren nations where Nixons were bowed out of the "Watergate" and other scams.

We need to discuss the vulnerability of the existing Right to Information Act to the whims and fancies of the government to suit their convenience on the name of empowering the citizens.The proposed Broadcast Bill also is a tip of the iceberg.

You may find the related story on my new blog site and leave your comments and suggestions.

Blogging yours,

Dr.Y.Bala Murali krishna.

More Pictures at Sugarcane Breeding Institute-CTB

2006-07-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

Sugarcane - A Multi-Product Crop to Benefit Humanity

2006-07-15T22:56:00.000-07:00

Fibre-rich cane varieties hold promise for power generation

By: Y Bala Murali Krishna

Panaji, July 16-2k6: In a bid to meet the burgeoning demand for electricity, agro-scientists have come out with new hybrids and clones that yield fibre-rich sugarcane with several industrial applications including power generation.

''Sugarcane is emerging as a multi-product crop useful for generating electricity and in the production of ethanol, industrial alcohol and paper from its pulp, apart from manufacturing sugar and providing sugarcane juice,'' say agro-scientists.

Dr N Vijayan Nair, director of Coimbatore-based premier Sugarcane Breeding Institute (SBI) which is an institute under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), told this visiting UNI correspondent recently that collaborative research with the industry is underway to test the new high-fibre content varieties.

''The new varieties, yielding high biomass with more fibre content in the sugarcane stem, could be used for generating electricity in the sugar mills itself,'' Dr Nair said.

The co-generated power could be used either for internal purpose or sold outside directly or through the state grid to provide additional income for the sugar factories,'' he said.

With certain industries expressing a desire to generate power using bagasse (sugarcane fibre), the scientists have initiated the programme and developed some hybrids from the wild and the cultivated varieties.

The scientists were also developing clones that give more biomass of high-fibre types with industrial application. Testing the clones for suitability in respective industries for specific commercial use has to be undertaken through collaborative research, he added.

At the same time, scientists are engaged in developing ''ratooning'' varieties of sugarcane. The farmers can harvest the crop several times once these varieties are planted. The ratooning varieties save a lot of investments to the farmer on purchase of inputs, leave alone tilling the soil for each crop like with ordinary varieties.

Interestingly, the SBI, the oldest in the world which was set up in 1912 by the British, maintains the world's largest collection of sugarcane germplasm at its Coimbatore and Kannur (Kerala) facilities where it has cryo-preserved over 4000 clones collected from indigenous, wild and 40 other countries.

Thirty other countries, including the USA and Australia, have been using these clones as ''parents'' for their sugarcane breeding programmes over the years.

Efforts are also underway to enhance the germplasm collection and preservation as an ongoing process besides conserving them in the Kannur bank. It has also maintained catalogues and databases on germplasm resources, scientists said.

The SBI has collected germplasm of 23 new varieties of sugarcane from Tripura, 53 from Meghalaya and eight from Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Taking advantage of this large pool of genetic material, the SBI scientists are intensifying their research for developing new clones that could be high-yielding, pest and disease resistant and some yielding high biomass and higher sucrose.

The SBI has been credited with developing an array of sugarcane varieties specific to different regions suitable to their agro-climatic conditions. Prominent among these are drought-resistant and salinity-tolerant high yielding variety CO-94008 for peninsular India and higher sugar-rich variety CO-p4012 for Maharashtra.

The Institute is likely to come out with some new varieties next
year for release and approval by the Central Sub-Committee on Crop
Standards, scientists added.//EOM//

Pictures of June 21-25-2k6 Coimbatore Science Writing Workshop

2006-07-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

More Pictures of the Coimbatore Workshop in Tamilnadu

2006-07-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

A Helping Hand for Amputees with a Robotic Hand

2006-07-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

Low-cost Robotic arm that works like a normal one developed

Chandigarh, July 13-2k6:A helping hand to the handless!
It is a dream come true for scores of victims of war, terror and accidents who lost their limbs.

Thanks to the scientists of the Central Scientific Instruments Organisation in Chandigarh who had designed and developed a novel, low-cost robotic arm fitted with special sensors that could work like a normal hand.

The handless now could sip a cup of tea,writer with a pen and pluck flowers and perform other functions with what the scientists called the "Myoelectric Arm".

Resembling and performing like a natural limb, the commercial version of the arm may cost just Rs.20,000 as against Rs.9 lakhs of the imported variety.

"The prototype has shown encouraging results when tried on patients at the National Institute for Orthopaedically Handicapped (NIOH), Kolkata,according to the CSIO director Dr Pawan Kapur.

The sencors of the robotic arm transmits the muscle signals from the residual limb (stump) to drive
the circuit which helps grasp and release objects just like the real human arm, he says.

It was the result of a two year efforts by a team of experts for rehabilitating the arm ambutees below the elbow as of now.

The arm works on the basis of a device developed to collect the microvolt signals through electrodes put at a particular place.

It works under controlled grip force. It can be used by the amputees whose muscles are in good condition to generate such response.

The scientists were also trying to reduce the size and weight of the device before its commercial lanuch.

With a little training, the patient can learn how to put pressure on the hand muscles so that the sensors pick it up and the arm started working like a normal hand.//EOM//
Posted by: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna

Popularise Male Circumcision to check AIDS: Study

2006-07-09T23:10:00.000-07:00

Male circumcision could prevent millions of AIDS deaths: Scientists
BY: Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Panaji, July 10-2k6: At a time when people world over are shocked to notice the spread of the HIV like a wild fire in different continents, health scientists came out with evidence that promotion of the practice of male circumcision (MC) could significantly reduce the HIV infection as also related deaths.

Taking into account information on HIV infection rates and the prevalence of male circumcision across Africa, the researchers have calculated that, if all men are circumcised over the next 10 years, some two million new infections and around 300,000 deaths could be avoided,” according to the study.

A large randomized control trial (RCT) study conducted in South Africa had shown that the circumcision reduced the chance of HIV infection among men by about 60 per cent, the study released by the open source Public Library of Science (PLOS) Medicine has said today.

Male circumcision had been practiced by most of Africa's ethnic groups for many centuries. People in their late childhood or early adolescence had been subjected to this practice as a ritual even among certain Muslim populations across the world.

A bas-relief in the tomb of Ankhmahor at the Egyptian necropolis at Saqqara (ca. 2400 B.C.) as documented by the Wellcome Institute Library showed that the practice of male circumcision had been in vogue all over the world for thousands of years.

The multi-disciplinary RCT on circumcised and uncircumcised men was conducted under the leadership of the WHO’s Brian G. Williams of the Stop TB Department, Geneva in collaboration with the department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Pennsylvania State University and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Policy, Evidence, and Partnerships Department, Geneva.

The South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis, Stellenbosch, World Health Organization (Family and Community Health), Geneva, INSERM, Saint Maurice, France( University of Versailles-Saint Quentin) and Assistance Publique-Hoˆ pitaux de Paris were other organizations participated in the study.

The study explored the implications of the finding for promotion of MC as a public health intervention to control HIV in sub-Saharan Africa where the prevalence of MC is low but HIV high.

Looking at a variety of possible outcomes that might arise if the practice is widely promoted and making calculations for 10, 20 and 30 years time, the researchers conclude that the protective benefit to HIV-negative men will be immediate.
The full impact of MC on HIV-related illness and death will only be apparent in ten to twenty years, they said.

But the full impact of the practice on HIV-related illness and death will only in the future. After 20 years, the researchers say, the number of lives saved would be somewhere between 1.6 million to 5.8 million.

Assuming that full coverage of MC is achieved over the next ten years, the researchers consider three scenarios in which the reduction in transmission is given by the best estimate and the upper and lower 95% confidence limits of the reduction in transmission observed in the RCT.

MC could avert 2 million new HIV infections and 0.3 million deaths over the next ten years in sub-Saharan Africa. In the ten years after that, it could avert a further 3.7 million new HIV infections and 2.7 million deaths, with about one quarter of all the incident cases prevented and the deaths averted occurring in South Africa, the study observed.//EOM//

Cyanide Tastes ACRID ! Testament of a Goldsmith

2006-07-08T22:48:00.000-07:00

Cyanide mystery unravelled: tastes ''acrid''

Thiruvananthapuram, July 8-2k6: Is cyanide bitter, sweet or sour?
No one has unravelled the mystery till now. But a man from Kerala has
the answer -- it tastes ''acrid''.
Prasad, a goldsmith, had revealed the startling find in his death
that Cyanide is ''acrid.'' His hastily scribbled suicide note said
potassium cyanide tasted acrid and it burnt his tongue.
The incident occurred recently at Palakkad, where Prasad had
checked into a hotel to commit suicide.
After checking in, he ordered liquor from a nearby bar and then
mixed cyanide powder in the liquor with the butt of his pen, the
police officer who conducted the investigation said.
Prasad was writing the suicide note and might have accidentally
put the ''poisoned'' tip of the pen into his mouth. When he realised
his ''folly,'' he hurriedly wrote a few lines, the police officer
added.
The note in Malayalam read: ''Doctors, potassium cyanide. I have
tasted it. It burns the tongue and tastes acrid.''
In the suicide note, he also said that he did not want to end his
life but gold merchants from Maharashtra had cheated him of Rs three
lakh.
District police surgeon P B Gujral, who conducted the autopsy on
Prasad’s body, said the suicide note was a document and that there
was no written proof about the taste of cyanide.
Even though this suicide note says cyanide tastes acrid, the
authorities were waiting for the report from the Regional Chemical
Analysis Laboratory, Ernakulam, where the viscera and blood samples
had been sent for analysis to give a final word on it. //EOM//
Posted by: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna

Transgenic Sugarcane Varieties From India Underway

2006-07-08T22:40:00.000-07:00

Scientists develop pest resistant transgenic sugarcane varieties
BY: Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Panaji,July 9-2k6: In a major breakthrough, scientists at the
Coimbatore-based premier Sugarcane Breeding Institute(SBI) have for
the first time, developed transgenic varieties resistant to the
dreaded red-rot disease and borer pests.

"We have also started identifying the genes resistant to the red-rot
and pests from indigenous sugarcane species, particularly from the
wild, in collaboration with the New Delhi-based National Research
for Plant Biotechnology," says the SBI director Dr.N.Vijayan Nair.

Interacting with this visiting UNI correspondent recently at the
institute under the Indian Council of Agriculture Research(ICAR),
Dr.Nair said they had earlier bred transgenic plants using the
imported genes to check the deadly diseases and pests in sugarcane.

They are to be tested under specially built glass houses before the
actual field trial for their efficacy. The indigenous gene
identification has also picked up momentum, with India having no
transgenic varieties so far.

Incidentally, the SBI is one of the oldest sugarcane research
institute established in 1912 set up by the Dutch after the one in
Java.

It had so far developed as many as 2800 clones which had been
used by 30 other countries including the USA and Australia as
parents for their breeding programmes.

"Red-rot is a major fungal disease and we used anti-fungal genes
drawn from other plant sources such as alfa-alfa plant for glucanase
and paddy plant for Chitenase and Dahlia flowers for anti-microbial
peptides for developing the transgenic varieties," says the
institute's crop improvement division's principal scientist
Dr.N.Subramonian.

The scientists developed the transgenic varieties by bombarding the
genes with a particle gun into the subject sugarcane plant known for
very high sucrose yield suich as COC-671 and screened them for
red-rot disease resistance.

Using advances in biotechnology, the scientists had also been
developing developing borer resistant varieties using Bacillus
Turungienses(BT) genes which are known to have insecticidal
properties.

Tested in a proteus inhibitor, the new varieties were found to have
moderate resistance to top borers.The scientists had now been
testing them with bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor using
aprotinin for its efficacy,Dr.Subramonian said.

"We are also sparing no effort to identify and isolate
anti-microbial genes to develop peptides from other plant resources
to inhibit red-rot," he added.

Brazilian and Australian scientists had now been engaged in similar
task on some other aspects such as increasing sucrose content and
other parametres while in India the focus on eliminating the pests
and diseases.

Various plant breeding strategies failed to achieve cent per cent
result in checking the red-rot disease which had been claiming an
estimated 10 to 12 per cent crop loss and the borer pests 15 per
cent.

"We cannot rule out the possibility of the red-rot disease striking
the sugarcane crop despite developing susceptible/resistant
varieties which break down after a few years and hence the
transgenic programme," Dr.Nair said.

The loss owing to wool aphid pest which played havoc in tropical
regions over the last four years, is quite lesser this year with
various measures undertaken.

Pest and disease resistant transgenic may be the hope for the crop
in India where it was planned to produce at least 400 million tonnes
by the year 2020 as against the present 300 million tonnes.

It was also targetted to enhance productivity to 100 tonnes per
hectare by the year 2020 against the present 65 to 70 tonnes per
hectare besides increasing the sugar recovery to 11 per cent as
against the 10 per cent now.

The SBI, he said, had been adopting multi-pronged strategies to
check prevelance of these hurdles over the years. They included
application of biotechnology such as tissue culture for rapid
multiplication of varieties of healthy seeds and molecular
breeding.//EOM//

Learning From The Insects - The Best Home-Makers!

2006-07-08T22:35:00.000-07:00

By Gitika Saxena

Mumbai, July 9-2k6: Yuk! is the word that comes to mind when we

think of insects. But, do you know that it is insects like termites

who get the credit to your modern-day spacious and airy designer

homes.

In case you want to know how, here's the answer. It is
because, of late, a lot of architects have started taking interest
in the habitual and residing patterns of insects, so as to use
this natural knowledge in designing homes, commercial and other
buildings.
The study of insects - scientifically termed as 'entomology'
has caught the interest of the budding architects, who have been
showing interest in studying this 'not so popular' branch of
science to inculcate the vast of knowledge of these tiny creatures
in building their homes, to their architectural designs, Dr V
Shubhalaxmi who teaches entomology at the Bombay Natural History
Society (BNHS) told UNI here.
Dr Shubhalxmi's view is supported by J J School of Arts lecturer
Parul Kumtha, who says that she has been seeing architecture
students taking up the subject, be it their personal choice or the
quest to learn more through insects.
She said the way termites build their homes in the form of a hill,
which is rain and heat resistant, is an interesting aspect of study
for her students. Likewise, the rosette form of house built by a
harvester ant is made on a slope in a way to protect it from
rainfall, store grains and to protect the insect against any
adverse nature. Similarly, how a pagoda ant makes its nest on
a leaf in the form of a pagoda, or a beehive made of hexegonal
structures for best use of space, are some interesting case
studies.
City-based noted architect Vistasp Mehta said he took up a
course in entomology, ''just for the love of nature'' but admits
that the geometrical patterns of a spider's web and the well
air-conditioned nests of termites, where temperature never varies for
more than a degree, form quite an interesting part of study of the
subject for people like him.
He said the study proves beneficial as they try to study how
these minute animals build up their homes and what techniques are
involved in it.
Architect Laxmi Arya Bhargava also said the hexagonal patterns
of beehives is an interesting example for them as a six-sided
pattern provides more value for space than a square or rectangle.
On a more positive front, drawing encouragement from this new-born
interest among architecture students, the BNHS has started a course
for students in entomology, the best part being that one does not
be from science background to take it up.
''No one likes the sight of a caterpillar, but, ironically,
we all like watching colourful butterflies,'' Dr Shubhalaxmi said.
She said even as a number of architects are showing interest in
studying insects, they have got a platform to promote the immense
importance of these small living beings and create awareness about
them among people.
She, however, expressed concern that even as students are much
more inclined towards other branches of science like botany,
zoology, chemistry, biotechnology and others, there are a few takers
for entomology. And, as a result in Mumbai itself only a handful of
educational institutions run courses in the subject since students
do not come forward to take it up.
Nevertheless, the subject is not that less importance, as,
the students going for research and higher studies in it have a lot
of professional scope in the field of agriculture and to further
develop a career as a scientist or researcher, she said.
Ms Kumtha also said the students need to be told that insects are
a very important part of ecology and they serve as a factor for
ecological balance on earth, and that their importance, no matter
how small they might be, cannot be undermind.
Mr Mehta also regretted that since most people are put-off by
insects, their study has not seen many students. But, with
entomology gradually finding interest among architects, there seems
a ray of hope for people like Dr Shubhalaxmi who have to formulate
some attractive programmes like 'breakfast with butterflies' and
'monsoon insect walk' to make the people come forward and learn
about insects.
But, just a case in point for all those turned-off by insects.
Do you know that insects represent almost 85 per cent of all known
animal species on the earth. Do you know 20-30 million of all
species on earth are insects and only about 4,000 of the known
animal species are mammals, man being just one of these.
On an average 9,759 arthropods, from 0.007 inch to 18 inches in
size, are found on per square feet area of earth, while a whopping
25,000,000 insects and arthropods are found floating and flying in
a cubic mile of air, 50 ft above the ground.
So, find it bizarre or interesting!
Posted by : Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Note the simple style of writing a popular science story.

Advanced Total Knee Replacement Surgery in Goa

2006-07-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

World’s most advanced Knee Replacement Surgery performed in Goa
BY: Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Margao (Goa), July 7-2k6: Patients, young or old, with knee joint disorders, need not worry after total knee replacement surgery now.

They could lead a normal life and return to activities including gardening, kneeling for prayers or squatting on the floor for yoga.

Thanks to the surgery using a state-of-the-art implant imported from the United States introduced for the first time in Goa by two surgeons of the prestigious 150-bedded tertiary core corporate Apollo Victor Hospital here today.

They had performed what was claimed to be “ the world’s largest technological advancement in knee replacement surgery” on a 70-year-old businessman of this tourist island state.

The advanced implant known as the “Rotating Platform High Flexion Knee (RP-F)” moves almost like a normal knee joint with less wear-out feature.

“ It allows the knee to twist and turn, move back and forth, flexing and extending with remarkable ease up to 155 degree of flexion and 20 degree of internal/external rotation thereby giving more flexibility and increased mobility to patients,” says Dr. Amey Vellingkar, Joint Replacement & Arthroscopy Surgeon of the hospital.

The patients after the surgery could now perform day to day activities including use of toilets, kneeling, squatting and sitting cross-legged, making it extremely well suited to Indian lifestyles,”
claims Dr.Nundu Laud, a leading joint replacement surgeon from Mumbai.

Both the experts had performed live surgery using the new implant designed and developed by yet another New York-based Indian orthopedic surgeon Dr.Chittaranjan Ranavat.

The implant, developed with chromium-cobalt steel alloy, uses a rotating platform flexion to accommodate increased bend and rotation in deep knee flexion besides ensuring implant stability and longevity. It works on a strong polyethylene plastic base that would be fixed on top of the tibia of the affected leg.

The polyethylene material of regular implants wear out due to abrasion caused by human movements, forcing the patient invariably to go in for a re-surgery after ten odd years of the initial surgery. But the new implant does not wear out easily due to the rotating mechanism, which ensures unrestricted rotational movement of the polyethylene platform, the experts told UNI before conducting the live surgery that lasted for about 3 hours.

The rotating platform design thus enhances the life of the implant unlike the indigenously made normal implants. The new implant had been introduced recently and cost about Rs.one lakh exclusive of the cost of the surgery and post-operative care.

Use of this device had now been picking up in India as it suited the life style of the Indian patients, suffering from either osteo arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. The patient could walk normally within four days of undergoing the surgery, they claimed.

With new implants having better biomechanical properties entering the market, conduct of total knee replacement surgeries have gone beyond age with the joint surviving for more than 25 years now, the surgeons said.

The total knee replacement surgery in India depends on various factors such as age of the patient, life expectancy, quality of life, deformity in knee with bone quality and above all affordability.

In Indian context, pooling the collective experiences on such surgeries, keeping long term records and honest evaluation of outcome of new prosthesis are very limited and hence depend mostly on the imported implants.

It was only five years ago that indigenously designed and developed implants had been introduced by yet another orthopedic surgeon Sanchetty of Pune whose implants are available for as low as Rs.30, 000 to Rs.30,000 and had mostly been preferred by the low income groups. They are yet to develop the implants with the RPF technology.

The patient seeks pain relief, deformity correction with ease, and improved gait with easy axis of motion, mobility of gait and energy conservation after the surgery, besides affordability of the operation. //eom//

A New Planet in the Making in Beta Pictoris

2006-07-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

Images of the star Beta Pictoris, taken by the Hubble, show two disks circling it. The discovery suggests planets could be forming there in two different planes. A giant planet appears to be drawing material from the primary disk.

Nearby and much younger and twice as massive as the Sun, Beta Pictoris is the bright star that cheered astronomers on to one of their biggest discoveries in recent time: finding planets around many other stars in the firmament.

Avoid Using Cell Phones during Lightning

2006-07-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

Beware of Using Cell Phones during Lightning
By: Ms.Gitika Saxena
Mumbai:Next time, when you stand near a microwave tower or an iron-pillar supported billboard or even open your metal rod-fitted umbrella to seek shelter from thundershowers, you could be in for trouble, not from rains, but from being
struck by lightning.

Believe it or not, but the increasing incidents of lightning over the last few years have led the scientists and experts raise concern over the phenomenal rise in the number of ''conducting equipment'' on earth, which according to them is the main cause of lightning cases occuring to-and-fro.

With an alarming 69 deaths due to lightning recorded in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra alone so far this year, scientists studying electric conduction and its effects are of the view that these cases could predominantly be because of the increasing metallic points available to lightning, to attract and strike.

Normally, the thunder lightining, with an intensity of several thousand volts, strikes a pointed metallic structure on earth. With the mushrooming of micorwave towers (courtesy the umpteen telecommunication companies) clogging up on the roofs of tall buildings, open spaces and even high-rising residential accommodations, the long queues of commercial billboards hanging on iron rods, electric poles and also the hot-and-happening cellphones which concentrate microwaves are providing mega-space for the thunder lightning to strike.

According to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre's former senior scientist Dr Mahesh Singh, the lightning produced as a result of large amount of ionisation in clouds is attracted to a metal point.Normally, most buildings and commercial places put up lightning electric conductors with proper earthing, to nullify the effect of any lightning strike.

However, in the fast developing cluttered societies, with no open space and with practically every area having a radio or microwave tower, lightning does not get a proper point and space to be discharged.

This results in the people living in these crowded societies bearing the brunt of the thunderous clouds and, thus, a rise is being seen in cases of people being struck by lightning.

Dr Singh also pointed out another significant reason for the increase in lightning activity. He said, during a normal monsoon, hot air rises up, forms clouds and comes down in the form of rains.But, in case of delayed rains, clouds keep accumulating and develop several electric poles which travel fast and develop into high voltage electricity, thus, resulting in lightning. The lightning then quickly gets attracted to a less resistant and high conducting material on earth, and if the material has proper earthing, there will be no damage to it.//eom//
Note: This is one of the examples of popular science writing. Watch the intro.
Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna.

Sugarcane - A Biofactory Resource for New Medicines

2006-07-02T01:31:00.000-07:00

Scientists finding a "bio-factory" in sugarcane for new medicines
BY: Y.Bala Murali Krishna
Coimbatore-Tamilnadu(July 2-2k6) From simple sugarcane stem yielding
nutritious,mouth-watering juice to a potential "bio-factory"
offering high-value proteins with several applications in modern
medicine.

This is what scientists now look at the ordinary sugarcane which has
hitherto been grown in villages giving us high energy juice for
consumption besides mollasses for making industrial alcohol and the
pulp (bagasse) for fuel.

Thanks to the pioneering research undertaken by the plant genetic
engineers at the premier Sugarcane Breeding
Institute(SBI)here who are trying to extract new protein molecules from
sugarcane stem.

Using transgenic technology, the scientists are now trying to
isolate the new proteins for medicinal use. This is on the lines of
developing the genetically engineered plantain with insulin, tomato
with controlled ripening genes embedded and rice with rich vitamins
to fight blidness.

Disclosing this this visiting UNI correspondent recently,principal
scientist Dr.N.Subramonian with the crop improvement division of the
SBI said the experts were exploring the "bio-factory" nature of the
sugarcane for extracting new proteins.

Various experiments using genetic engineering technology were
underway to isolate the high value proteins.Sugarcane plant with
high biomass content had all the potential to become a bio-factory
of the future, he added.

Meanwhile,the SBI had developed a simple technology for bottling the
sugarcane juice to make the thirst quenching and sweet liquid
available at all times as a soft drink prepared under hygienic
conditions.

Apart from being tasty,the sugarcane juice has several minerals like
phosphorous,calcium, magnesium, vitamins and amino acids with
nutritious value even as it is used for curing jaundice.

The juice mixed with extracts of lemon, ginger, chillies and the
like adds to the taste besides help better digestion and improved
bowel movement.

But its seasonal availability and fast deteroirating property owing
to microbial decomposition, the possibility of its use as a fresh
juice is limited.

Apart from developing the method to bottle the juice, the institute
had also prescribed various practices including selection of
varieties of juice rich plants for growth, their cultivation and
harvesting techniques, treatment and extraction for beverage purpose.

The bottled juice could be stored at room temperature for at least 6
to 8 weeks and for a further period of 3 to 4 weeks if kept in
regrigerated condition.

It requires an initial investment of Rs.5000 to Rs.6,000 for
preparing 500 bottles containing each of 300 ml of juice,the
scientists added. //eom//

My Pictures at Flickr.Com

2006-06-18T08:09:00.000-07:00

Explore my pictures gallery at flickr.com It is a wonderful photo web tool. You can store a large number of yoiur photos in any size through its user-friendly tools.
Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna.