P.S.Goel, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, has been selected for Aryabhata Award for the year 2005, instituted by the Astronautical Society of India. ASI has instituted several awards to recognize talented Indians who have made significant contributions to astronautics.ISRO-ASI awards 2005 (sponsored by ISRO) in Rocket and Related Technologies has gone to T.R.chirambaram,VSSC,Thiruvananthapuram. For spacecraft related technologies,B.N.Baliga,ISRO Satellite Centre,Bangalore and S.B.Sharma,Space Applications Centre,Ahmedabad, will get the awards. Kalpana arvind, Laboratory for electro-optic Systems, Bangalore nad Shefali Agarwal, National Remote Sensing Agency, Hyderabad bagged the Women Scientist Award.
(The New Indian Express, 27th March,2007)
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Aryabhata award for Goel
Monster toad found in Australia
A cane toad the size of a small dog has been captures in the Australian tropical city of Darwin, the largest ever recorded in the country's remote Northern Territoty. Green group FrogWatch said the monster male was 20.5cm long and weighed 861 gms.
"The biggest toads are usually females but this one was a rampant male", said FrogWatch's Graeme Sawyer, who organizes regular excursions to trap and destroy the feral pests blamed for destroying native Australian wildlife. The cane toad, whose scientific name is Bufo marinus, was introduced from South America in the 1930s to control another pest-beetles that were ravaging the sugar cane fields of the tropical northern coasts.
(The Hindu, 28th March , 2007)
South Korean scientists clone wolf
South Korean scientists cloned two females of an endangered species of wolf. A team led by Lee Byung Chun and Shin Nam-Shik, vetinary professors St Seoul National University. The cloned wolves were born in October 2005. They were the world's first cloned wolves.
Lee's team created the world's first cloned dog, Snuppy, in early 2005 under the stewardship of now-disgraced cloning expert Hwang Woo-Suk. So far, the team has cloned one male and three females Afghan hounds.
(The New Indian Express, 27th March,2007)
Tiny rare owl spotted in Peru reserve
An extremely rare species of tiny owl has been seen in the wild for the first time, the American Bird Conservancy said recently. The long-whiskered owlet, one of the world's smallest owl, was discovered in 1976. Researchers have caught a few specimens in nets after dark but had not seen it in nature. It was spotted in the wild in February by researchers monitoring a private conservation area in Peru's northern Jungle. The owl is so district that it has been named in its own genus. "Xenoglaux", meaning "strange owl", due to the long wispy feathers around its reddish orange eyes. The owl inhabits the dense under growth of highland forests in a remote region of Peru.
(The New Indian Express, 26th March,2007)
Steps to check elephant abuse
The District administration has issued guidelines for handling of elephants and to prevent accidents caused by elephants running amok during temple festivals. According to the guidelines, organizers of festivals are required to inform the Forest Range Officer about the details of the event. Only elephants with an ownership certificate from the Forest Department and health certificate issued by a veterinary doctor will be permitted to participate in a festival. It is the responsibility of the organizers and the handlers to ensure that the animal is bathed at least once a day and is provided with enough food and water. The administration has imposed strict regulations on handling of elephants. The animals should not be made to stand for long hours in the sun for a procession and they should not be high-decibel crackers. The owners and handlers have also been warned against walking the elephants on tarred roads on hot days.
(The Hindu, 26th March , 2007)
Focus on preservation of ground water resources
Preservation of groundwater resources and scientific evaluation of quality of drinking water will be the thrust areas during the campaign of the State Government to deal with water scarcity, announced Minister for Water Resources N.K.Premachandran. He was inaugurating the yearlong programmes of the government in connection with World Water Day. As part of evaluating the quality of drinking water, the government will test the quality of 50 water resources in each ward under the 999 gramapanchayats and the results thus collected as a database in the laboratories. He said that the yearlong campaign had to be supplemented by specific laws, which would help book the culprits. The Government is also planning to distribute field testing kits, ie the kits to test quality of water, in schools.
(The New Indian Express, 23rd March,2007)
Global warming may deepen thirst for blue gold
Fresh water is set to become even more precious as global warming begins to bite, experts warn ahead of World Water Day on Thursday. The theme of this year's event is water scarcity, a problem familiarly driven by population explosion, chronic wastage and pollution.
The UN estimates that, by 2025, two thirds of the planet's population will be living with water stress, North Africa and West Asia the worst-afflicted regions. But global warming is bound to accentuate the scarcity, say experts. In many regions, greater aridity, shifting rainfall patterns and dwindling runoff from snow and ice in mountains may badly deplete rivers, lakes and aquifers. In contrast other regions will get more rainfall – but this may take the form of fierce rainstorms that cause flash floods rather than a useful drizzle that soaks into the ground. In higher latitudes and some wet tropics, including populous areas of East and South – East Asia, water availability is very likely to increase over this century, according to the latest report seen by AFP. A rise of 4 degree celsius would bring the tally to as many as many as 3.2 billion people, the draft calculates. Africa and Asia would be the two worst affected countries.
(The Business Line, 22nd March,2007)
Return of the bald eagle
For the first time in more than 200 years, a pair of bald eagles have nested in Philadelphia, one of the biggest cities in the United States, Pennsylvania State wildlife officials said " This fins is an historic moment that returns some of Pennsylvania's native wildlife to the doorstep of its largest city", Dan Brauning, wildlife diversity supervisor said in a statement. He added the discovery of an eagle nest within Philadelphia city " demonstrates the resilience of this species and its apparent growing tolerance to human activity". Commission officials have declined to reveal the exact location of the nest to avoid any disturbance for the birds. The bald eagle is listed as a "threatened species" by the U.S.Government. But due to active conservation measures, the population of the birds, the most recognizable symbol o the United States, has recovered. If in 1963 there were only 487 active nests in the contiguous 48 States, now the numbers have reached 7,066 breeding pairs.
(The Hindu, 20th March,2007)
Kerala e-Krishi portal,agri trade call center launched
The Kerala State Information Technology Mission has launched a toll-free agricultural trade call center and the revamped e-Krishi Web site. Speaking at the launch ceremony in the city on Monday, the Kerala Agriculture Minister, Mr.Mullakkara Ratnakaran, said the portal should help to create a sense of community and spirit of unity among farmers in the State. The absence of proper guidance on global developments that will impact local agriculture operations is a problem that confronts Kerala's farmers. Initiatives such as this could help solve such problems, he added. The e-Krishi portal, www.e-krishi.org, is a free site and contains information on a number of topics related to agriculture including agricultural prices and trends.
(The Business Line, 20th March,2007)
Pollution of Karamana River triggers protest
The heavy pollution of the downstream stretches of Karamana River has triggered a protest movement on the Edayar Island and the mainland at Thriuvallam. Local people have joined hands with political parties and other organizations to highlight the environmental and health problems caused by the polluted waters of the river. They fear that the contamination would affect the region's nascent tourism industry. An action council formed by the local people has urged the Government for a major restoration effort. On Tuesday, the council organized a road blockade at Thiruvallam to highlight its demand. The Thiruvallam Block Congress Committee also staged a dharna in front of the Secretariat. Kovalam MLA George Mercier said the pollution of the river could be prevented by dredging the waters on the western side of the Edayar island to facilitate tidal flushing. He pointed out that heavy silting obstructs the flow around the island.
(The Hindu, 18th March , 2007)
RGCB scientist bags national award
G.Pradeep Kumar, Senior Scientist at the RGCB has been selected for the National Bioscience Award for his outstanding contribution in Applied research in Biosciences and Biotechnology. Union Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal presented Dr.Pradeep Kumar the award during the foundation day celebration of the Department of Biotechnology at the National Centre for Plant Genome Research, Delhi, recently. The award carries a purse of Rs. 1 lakh, research grant of Rs.3 lakh per year for three years and a citation.
(The Hindu, 18th March , 2007)
Award for Amartya Sen
The Bangkok-based United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) will present its first ever award for Lifetime Achievement to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. The award is being conferred as part of the UN agency's 60th anniversary celebrations.
(The Hindu, 18th March , 2007)
The promise of the cone snail
They might be known better for their exquisitely patterned shells, but cone snails are also some of the planet's most lethally venomous animals. The slow and seemingly innocuous marine snail is in fact an efficient predator. It hints fast-moving fish with its venom-coated harpoon, releasing sophisticated toxins that stun, paralyse and finally kill the prey.
Focusing on their venom, and its possible medical uses, leading science institutes and a university have come together for a major collaborative study of the snail. These institutions include the Tata institute of Fundamental Research(TIFR) in Mumbai, the Indian Instiute of Sceince(IISc) and the National Centre for Biological Sceince, both in Bangalore, and Annamalao University in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu.
(The Hindu, 17th March , 2007)
Quarries can help solve water scarcity
Amid mounting public concern over the series of accidental deaths at abandoned granite quarries across the State, the Kozhikode based Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) has come up with a proposal for the scientific development of such sites to resolve water scarcity in parched areas. Dozens of people have lost their lives in the abandoned quarries, forcing the Government to spend huge sums on fencing the sites. Last month, two school children were drowned in a flooded quarry at Kallumala, near P.T.P.Nagar, in Thiruvananthapuram. A recent study conducted by Kamalam Joseph and T.Valsan of the CWRDM recommended the steps to tap the quarries for a variety of uses by the local people.
(The Hindu, 17th March , 2007)
Pillars with inscriptions of Pallava,Chola kings found
In its renewed excavation at Salvankuppam close to the Tiger Cave near Mamallapuram, the Archaeological Survey of India (Chennai circle) has discovered three granite pillars with inscriptions of Pallava and Chola Kings, according to archaeologists, the inscription confirm that a structural temple built of bricks, dedicated to Subrahmanya, existed at the spot on the beach. It belonged to the pre-Palava period or late Tamil Sangam age and could be 1,700 years old.
(The Hindu, 17th March , 2007)