Water as a human right

The passage of another World Water Day (March 22) is a painful reminder that the goal to make water a fundamental right under a global treaty remains elusive. In many countries, governments and international agencies are not expected to reduce by half the number of citizens without safe water access by 2015, as envisaged by the United Nations "Water for Life" programme. The Human Development Report 2007-08 puts the world average of people with an "improved water source" at 83 per cent in 2004, compared with 78 per cent in 1990. Citizens in the least developed countries and sub-Saharan Africa fall far short of that mean. The Indian experience suggests that availability of an improved water source as defined by human development indices is no guarantee of regular, reliable supply. There are growing challenges: unsustainable exploitation of millennia-old deep aquifers to cater to growing populations; pollution of surface waters by untreated sewage, pesticides, fertilizers, and industrial chemicals; inefficient agricultural use; and the impact of climate change. Many water basins transcend national boundaries, and it will take a coordinated and sustained effort by the international community to address these issues.A global covenant that recognises access to water as a fundamental right, within the meaning of universal human rights, will provide signatory governments the basis to remove policy distortions affecting equitable access. It will also commit governments to making major investments in water supply and sanitation. The World Health Organisation proposed years ago that access to water must be made a basic human right, with a duty cast on governments to take targeted steps for its realisation. That would include legislative measures to make the right enforceable. A rights charter must have conservation of water — treating it as a commons — and an end to its commodification as its primary goals. Developing low cost and non-profit solutions to extend access through public utilities will be of vital importance. There has been a lot of debate on tapping the efficiencies of the private sector through partnerships as envisaged by the National Water Policy, 2002. The positive experience of projects such as the Jamshedpur Utilities and Services Company of the Tata group (the water in the steel town is reputed to be fit to drink straight from the tap) may be drawn upon. In the final analysis, acceptance of water as a fundamental right assumes public ownership, free supply for basic needs, and efficient delivery systems.

 The Hindu, 23rd  March 2009

Army launches eco-mission in Lakshadweep

The Indian Army,  launched a multi-faceted expedition on the picturesque island of Agatti in Lakshadweep to highlight environmental concerns in the region. The Bison Blue Waters Expedition is aimed at increasing the maritime awareness of the armed forces and educating the citizens to conserve the coral reefs on the island. Major-General Rajesh Singh, General Officer Commanding, Bison Division, flagged off the expedition at a colourful function at Agatti, 58 km north-west of Kavaratti.

The Hindu, 23rd  March 2009

Unearthing Earth’s secrets

Planetary scientists have claimed that the European spaceship, launched last week, would unearth the Earth's secrets soon, from the movements of ocean currents to the location of oil deposits. In fact, according to them, the spaceship's satellite would track the variations in Earth's gravity and reveal data, which will enable in the detection of the flows of molten rock that underlie movements of tectonic plates and cause quakes. "Goce will yield details of the Earth's gravity field to an accuracy and resolution that is simply unobtainable by existing terrestrial and space techniques," Prof Philip Moore of Newcastle University told The Sunday Times. The project, named Goce, will also show how gravity diverges from the average in different parts of the world — this will provide a benchmark against which changes in ocean currents, the melting of ice-caps, or volcanic processes can be clearly shown, the scientists said. Mark Drinkwater, Goce mission scientist at European Space Agency, said it was necessary to measure changes in ocean circulation to understand climate change.

 The Hindu, 23rd  March 2009

Nature videos available online

Nature, the journal, has started a streaming video service featuring interviews with researchers and scientists who have published papers in it. According to Nature, it will provide "groundbreaking streaming videos on the biggest scientific projects." There are already 27 videos available at http://www.nature.com/nature/videoarchive/. The videos, which are also available at http://uk.youtube.com/NatureVideoChannel, allow viewers to share them with others. One of the videos available is that of how X-rays are produced when sticky tapes are peeled, a development that had generated considerable interest among many sections.

 The Hindu, 23rd  March 2009

Farmlands and bird life

 Is agriculture inevitably inimical to wild birds? Not necessarily so, according to a field survey that was recently carried out in Uttar Pradesh. It found that the vast, fertile Gangetic plain, one of the most densely populated and heavily farmed areas in the world, is nevertheless able to support an amazing profusion of bird life."Agriculture is the biggest threat to bird diversity worldwide," said K.S. Gopi Sundar who is with the International Crane Foundation. As human numbers continue to grow in many developing countries, there is pressure to bring more land under cultivation. Finding ways to allow wild birds to flourish in cultivated landscapes is, therefore, vital for their survival, he pointed out. Mr. Sundar is in the process of carrying out a two-year study of how farming in Uttar Pradesh is affecting wild birds. His project has recently received support from National Geographic's Conservation Trust. In Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere along the Gangetic plain, rice is grown during the monsoon, wheat is cultivated in many of the same fields in winter and a variety of crops are planted at other times of the year. Mr. Sundar spent several months last winter surveying birds in 40 grids, each 10 km by 10 km, randomly chosen to represent different intensities of cultivation in Uttar Pradesh."I was surprised to find an incredible array of birds," said Mr. Sundar. His survey located 198 species. This included populations of globally-threatened birds like the Sarus Crane, near-threatened species like the Black-headed Ibis, the Eurasian Spoonbill and the Painted Stork as well as the Black-Necked Stork whose numbers have dipped alarmingly. It was also a surprise for him to see birds that ornithologists have termed as tree or forest species and those associated with scrub land and areas with more natural vegetation in places in Uttar Pradesh that were dominated by cultivation.More strikingly, the winter survey found that the diversity of bird species and bird numbers was strongly correlated with the amount of land that was not given over to farming, said Mr. Sundar. This could be common lands preserved by panchayats to provide grass and water, places maintained by the government's Soil Conservation Department, buffer areas along the irrigation canals, land held by the Railways on either side of rail tracks and agricultural areas rendered unsuitable for crops by salinity build-up. "There seem to be in general a larger number of birds and bird species simply by having more non-crop habitat," he observed. In India, landscape-based management and conservation has not got the importance it deserves, remarked S. Subramanya, an ornithologist with the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore.Even with crop cultivation, it is possible to support a considerable diversity of birds, said Dr. Subramanya. What must be avoided is monocropping where just one crop is grown across thousands of hectares. Instead, there must be a mosaic of habitats that a variety of birds can use. That could be done by preserving some natural habitats as well as growing different crops and having trees, bushes and hedges alongside the fields.The traditional form of agriculture in this country was based not on monoculture but on maintaining diverse land use, he pointed out.

The Hindu, 23rd  March 2009

Strengthen measures against sand-mining’

 A Management Action Plan (MAP) prepared by the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) for the Vellayani wetland system has called for tightening measures against sand-mining in Vellayani Lake and has warned that the lake's water is becoming unsuitable for drinking.The Rs.26-crore MAP was released at a seminar on 'Conservation of Wetlands in Kerala: Challenges' organised here on Saturday by the CWRDM sub-centre and by the wetland technical unit of the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment.  According to information made available by the CWRDM, the action plan would be implemented over five years. The MAP has identified sand-mining as the "most monstrous face" of the lake's deterioration and suggests that the people-police patrolling be effectively done; that the registration of boats that ply the lake be made compulsory; and strong legal action be taken against those who indulge in illegal sand-mining. Efforts should be made to make the local people aware of the seriousness of the problem. There should be a ban on drainage outlets opening into the lake. The use of fertilizers and pesticides in the fields surrounding the lake should be controlled and the people living around the lake should be sensitised against the dumping of household/poultry waste into the lake. Controlled fishing needs to be done to improve the quality of the lake's water, the MAP says. Rampant encroachments around the lake have caused the lake itself to shrink and this, in turn, has led to a sharp reduction in the habitat of freshwater fishes. The downturn in the fish and prawn population of the lake has adversely affected the livelihood of those who depend on fishing for a living.The major components of the MAP controlling encroachments are agro-forestry, soil and water conservation, sustainable agriculture development, pollution abatement, de-silting, freshwater fishery development, fixing an operation schedule for water withdrawal from the lake — including quality assessment, monitoring and improvement, weed control, conservation of the flora and fauna, ecotourism, creating awareness and formation of user groups for management of the wetland.Vellayani Lake is important for its biodiversity and is of great socioeconomic value to the local community. Long-lasting sustainable utilisation, conservation and management of this resource hinges on effectively addressing the seemingly conflicting demands of biodiversity conservation, community utilisation, agriculture and other developmental activities, the MAP points out.

The Hindu, 22nd  March 2009

Strong pitch against GM foods

Mahesh Bhatt, Ajay Kanchan and Devinder Sharma, the trio who made the film Poison on the Platter, a strong indictment of genetically-modified (GM) seeds, warn that tinkering with the GM technology is as dangerous as toying with nuclear arms."Once out of control, it is unstoppable and its damage cannot be limited," they said at a news conference here The three were in town to screen their documentary that aims to educate the layperson about the dangers of GM food, the unscrupulous commercial motive of giant multinational corporations that hard-sell GM seeds and products, and the nexus among scientists, politicians and multinational companies. The movie, made in partnership with 'Coalition for a GM-Free India' urges people to say 'no' to GM foods. GM seeds, which are made by inserting genes of desired quality from a cocktail of species into the seeds of a particular crop, might lead to unpredictable and horrible outcomes, they said. For instance, the gene that helps arctic fish to survive in freezing waters could be inserted to tomato seed to produce tomatoes with a very long shelf life. But, the same technology could also lead to totally unexpected results causing immense damage to humans and animals. The MNCs marketed the GM seeds by projecting them as disease-proof, insect-resistant and highly productive. Many of the claims were exaggerated and their side effects or negative impacts were always played down.Mr. Kanchan said the film was made after six months of intensive research and that the team was fully convinced that GM was harmful to humankind. He noted that though India had prohibited import of GM foods, so many foods and food grains, such as corn, imported from the U.S. were made from GM seeds.

 The Hindu, 20th March 2009   

Tele-film focusses on pollution

 A tele-film brought out by the IT@ School VICTERS educational channel highlights the environmental degradation unleashed by a chemical factory and the valiant attempts made by a student and her teacher against the pollution in the locality.The half-an-hour long film titled 'Kannadippuzhayude Theerathu' made in association with the State Pollution Control Board was screened at the Kalabahavan Theatre on Wednesday. The film is a maiden venture by the channel since its launch a few years ago.  Significantly, though the film appeared to be sermonising over the havoc wreaked by the factory, it did not demand for its closure. Instead, it calls for better safeguards and effluent treatment units to minimize the potential hazards on the local population. The low budget film, which took only two-days for completion, was shot in and around Tholicode near Vithura. The film also relied on spot-editing ensuring a speedy completion.The script for the film was written by V.R. Ajith Kumar, while Girish cranked the camera. Editing was done by Sajeev Haridas, sound effects by Raj Marthandom and sound mixing by Prasanth S.The film will be shown to the public through the VICTERS channel soon. "Our next project is going to be on water. The movie will show how some parts of our State are reeling under acute scarcity of water," Mr. Santhosh said.

 

The Hindu, 19th March 2009  

Earth Hour: city to switch off lights on March 28

At 8.30 p.m. on March 28, people in Thiruvananthapuram will join people in cities across the world in voluntarily switching off lights for one hour as part of an international campaign to fight global warming. Over a billion people in 74 countries are expected to participate in Earth Hour this year. For India, which is participating in the lights-out campaign for the first time, Earth Hour 2009 highlights the fact that climate change is no less a threat than terrorism. Lights on buildings will be dimmed and pivotal landmarks and monuments throughout city centres will be plunged into darkness as thousands of people join hands to campaign for an international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In India, the programme is promoted by WWF and supported by various institutes and corporates such as HSBC, Wipro, ITC Welcom group, HP, Taj group, HUDCO, HSBC, Google, Standard Chartered India and PVR Films. Bollywood star Aamir Khan is the brand ambassador for the campaign.In Kerala, the event is being organised by the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS), WWF, Energy Management Centre, Doordarsan, Kerala State Electricity Board and environmental agencies. Actor Suresh Gopi will be the honorary ambassador. Highlighting the need for voluntary involvement in the campaign, CESS director M. Baba says it would go a long way in creating awareness of the need for a global mandate for action on climate change.earthhour.org, the portal for the campaign, says that more than 681 cities in 76 countries have already signed up to turn their lights out on March 28. Earth Hour is a movement initiated in Sydney in 2007 when over 2.2 million homes and business establishments switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008, the movement became a global one, with over 50 million people participating by voluntarily switching off their lights. Earth Hour assumes greater importance as 2009 is a critical year for action on climate change, with the world's leaders due to meet at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December to sign a new deal to supersede the Kyoto Protocol.

 

The Hindu, 19th March 2009 

Birds in a warmer world

To many scientists, climate change is the likely cause of altered life-cycle patterns among plants and animals. Not all species are showing such effects yet, but the gradual movement of some plants to higher altitudes, and changes in the abundance of particular species are thought to be linked to a rising average global temperature. In the United States, the mean temperature for January, the coldest month, rose by over five degrees F during the past 40 years. Significantly , scientists of the National Audubon Society in the U.S. found that over half of 305 bird species studied in these four decades moved northward. In Europe and Central America, there is proof of birds responding to temperature changes. A striking example is that of the European blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla. One study found this bird wintering in larger numbers in Britain compared with 1960, although the destination for all members of the species should have been Spain and Portugal. Birds are genuine global travellers and any negative impact on flyways, water bodies, resting places, and food access across countries and continents poses a threat. A warming planet is a staggering stressor that can only aggravate habitat loss, disappearing wetlands, and depleted food sources. Scientists are understandably worried that some species face decline because they will fail to adapt to climate change. For example, the arrival of the pied flycatcher in Britain in recent years was found to be mismatched with the emergence of the caterpillars they feed on. This could be a result of temperature changes. Clearly, there is a need for extensive study on the effects of a warmer atmosphere on species everywhere, including biodiversity-rich India. It also underscores the need to strengthen normative conservation actions, such as habitat protection and pollution mitigation, to help species adapt.

 

The Hindu, 17th March 2009 

Call for paradigm shift in disaster management

The absence of adequate infrastructure enhances the vulnerability of the coastal areas in the country to the threat of natural disasters unleashed by climate change, says R.K. Mall, Associate Professor (Hydromet, Climate Change and Impacts), National Institute of Disaster Management, New Delhi. In a paper presented at a training programme on coastal hazard management organised by the Institute of Land and Disaster Management here recently, Mr. Mall said the lack of infrastructure, together with social, economic and gender inequities, aggravated the vulnerability and sufferings of the largely illiterate, unskilled and resource-poor fishing, farming and landless labour communities. "Their resilience to bounce back to pre-disaster level of normality is limited," he said. Mr. Mall observed that the largely modern science and technology-based sophisticated early warning systems were unlikely to be of much help in the circumstances. "Speedy evacuation of communities becomes impossible in the absence of good roads, communication and adequate transport facilities," he said. Stressing the need for a paradigm shift in disaster management, he said, "Hydro- meteorological natural disasters lead to salinity of soil and aquifers, submergence of standing crops and long spells of drought, exerting stress on the production of crops like paddy." Mr. Mall said climate change posed a threat to India's food security as well. He said a proper assessment of disaster vulnerability was an essential factor in helping communities adapt to climate change. He explained how vulnerability assessment was different from the mitigation studies that had formed the mainstream of climate change research over the last three decades. "Vulnerability assessment takes hold of the problem at the other end, where decisions about both mitigation and adaptation are actually made. Thus, vulnerability assessments must integrate knowledge about the environment with knowledge about humans and their activities like agriculture, forestry or fishing, resource management, political governance, energy use and culture to determine a holistic picture of how sensitive particular places are and how resilient they are to the impact of climate change."

 

The Hindu, 17th March 2009 

NREGP workers falling prey to rat fever?

 A sudden spurt in the incidence of leptospirosis (rat fever) in the district, especially from the suburbs and rural areas, has had the district health administration wondering about the need to generate more public awareness of this zoonotic disease, just as in the case of dengue fever.Nearly 140 leptospirosis cases have been reported in the district since January, with five reported deaths. Interestingly, public health experts point out that the figure has gone up because of the large clusters of cases reported from certain panchayats in the district where the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) works are on."Scattered leptospirosis cases are being reported from all parts of the district but all the outbreaks we have had recently have all been in relation to the NREGP. This is not to give the scheme a bad name, but whenever manual labourers are engaged in a group for cleaning activities, there is always the possibility of a leptospirosis outbreak," a public health expert said. The clusters of leptospirosis cases that were reported in the district were all people who were engaged in cleaning or constructing canals as part of the NREGP. The district health administration officials said that though all panchayats have been issued clear guidelines as to the precautions to be adopted before engaging workers on a mass scale for cleaning activities, none of the local bodies has taken cognisance of these. Leptospirosis is contracted usually by people who come into contact with water contaminated by rat excreta or urine, usually farm labourers or manual workers. Early clinical symptoms include sudden onset of fever and chills, severe headache, muscular pain, skin rashes and reddened eyes. The workers have to take doxycycline as a prophylaxis; the area where cleaning is to be done should be sprayed with bleaching powder 24 hours in advance before workers are allowed to work; and gloves and gum boots have to be worn compulsorily."Engaging labourers on a large scale like this without adequate precautions put a large number of persons in a locality at risk of contracting leptospirosis. Our strategy has been to administer doxycycline to the entire group of workers, as soon as the first suspected leptospirosis symptoms are reported," a senior health official said.Public health experts point out that the lack of basic science research or data regarding the incidence of leptospirosis, the various strains of the bacteria (serovars), the predominant zoonotic carriers of the bacteria and other epidemiological factors are responsible for the haphazard manner in which leptospirosis outbreaks are handled by the health system."Dengue fever is fairly well-researched and we even have genetic studies being done on the various serotypes. But our basic research on leptospirosis is very poor. This is a zoonotic disease and different carriers spread different serovars, about which we have no information. Our prevention strategies are confined to rodent elimination alone, which is not enough," according to a public health expert.Early diagnosis and prompt treatment can reduce mortality. But early diagnosis is dependent on a combination of the knowledge of epidemiological factors, lab tests and clinical features. Blood tests do not give positive results until after a week after the onset of illness. However, a leptospirosis patient's condition can deteriorate rapidly, following multi-organ involvement and hence early institution of anti-microbial therapy is important rather than waiting for a definitive diagnosis to emerge.

 

The Hindu, 16th March 2009  

Winged beauties lose habitat

 Unchecked sand-mining from the Kadalundi estuary is posing a threat to migratory birds that visit the sanctuary.The mudflats in the estuary are fast disappearing owing to indiscriminate sand-mining. Thousands of migratory birds that reach Kadalundi during their seasonal transit would have to look elsewhere for feeding if the mudflats in the estuary are destroyed.A study conducted by a young ornithologist over the past four years has found drastic increase in sand-mining from the estuary. Over 5,000 boatloads of sand were removed from the mudflats in Kadalundi between August 2008 and February 2009. The heaviest mining was reported in December 2008, when over 1,800 boatloads of sand were removed from the estuary.K.M. Arif, a researcher who was with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), observed that the number of boats carrying sand from the Kadalundi had multiplied over the last four years. Between September 2005 and May 2006, only 400 boats were found carrying sand. However, sand-mining has increased many times over since 2006. Mr. Arif counted 2,415 sand boats in the estuary between September 2006 and May 2007. In the next year, the number of boats was 2,340. But in 2008, the number recorded a sharp rise to 5,000. Unlike previous years, as many as 600 boats were seen in the river in August 2008. Mining almost comes to a halt when it rains in June and July.Mr. Arif warned that disappearance of mudflats would drive away the migratory birds, as they would not find a place to feed and rest. The mudflats of Kadalundi, which provide abundance of micro-organisms, including various kinds of crabs and worms, are the biggest attraction for migratory birds.A wide variety of migratory birds stop at the Kadalundi estuary during their transcontinental flights every year. They feed and rest on the mudflats for weeks before resuming their flight.The mudflats, which are exposed during low tide, would disappear if sand-mining is not controlled, said M. Nasser, lecturer at the Department of Zoology, Calicut University. He said the decrease in the number of birds visiting Kadalundi in recent years was a direct result of sand-mining.Birds such as masked booby, frigate bird, Eurasian spoonbill, gray heron, brown skua, pomerine jaeger, spotted redshank, and various terns and gulls are found in Kadalundi. Mr. Arif observed 86 species in the sanctuary.

 

The Hindu, 16th March 2009 

Proliferation of thorny weed in State a cause of concern

Aana Thottavadi (Mimoa diplotricha), an invasive weed, has infested the landscape of Kerala acusing considerable economic and biodiversity loss. The plant "scrambles vigorously over other plants, forming dense tangled thickets. It smothers and kills indigenous flora. The sharp and re-curved thorns of the weed deter animals form grazing on it, according to scientific publications.The weed has infested all districts of the State and reached the fringe areas of forest lands. It can grow on waste lands, pastures, disturbed forests, plantations, agricultural systems and along roadsides and railway tracks and even in high altitudes, said K.V.Sankaran, coordinator of the Asia-pacific Forest Invasive Species network (APFISN).The thorn-less variety of the plant was introduced as nitrogen-fixing cover crop. However, the seed of the thorny variety got mixed with others resulting in its accidental introduction, said Dr.Sankaran who is also the director of the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Peechi.The variety poses threat to forest ecosystems, agricultural land and pastures. It causes heavy damage to sugarcane, coconut, rubber tea, pineapple and upland rice. There have been instances in Kerala where the plant had spiralled up the coconut trees.The thick growth mimosa prevents the regeneration, reproduction and growth of indigenous species in infested areas. A toxin produced by the plant can cause vascular endothelial damage, necroses of the heart and liver and anaemia in cattle, Dr.Sankaran said.Agricultural land infested with Mimosa is difficult to harvest. Increased cultivation cost, reduced yield, loss of crops and soil degradation are the main economic impacts of mimosa. KFRI is planning to study the extent of spread of the weed and its impacts, including economic and biodiversity losses. 'Communist Pacha', 'Congress  grass', 'Lantana' and 'Mikanium' are the other invasive weeds reported from Kerala. However, the loss caused by these weeds are yet to be assessed, he said.The seeds of mimosa, which can remain dormant up to half a century, get dispersed through water and are carried in animal fur, clothing, vehicles, agricultural implements and machinery, according to the latest bulletin of APFISN.Uprooting and burning, grubbing and slashing are the most common methods for control. Biological control measures have also been tried in some countries, according to experts.

The Hindu, 16th March 2009 

Conduct sand auditing within two weeks: HC

A division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the conduct of sand auditing in Periyar   river within two weeks and stoppage of sand auctioning and sand-mining in the meantime. The order  was passed by the Bench consisting of Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice S Satheesachandran while considering a public interest writ petition field by Paristhithi Samrakshana sangam, Aluva, Praying to direct the state government and the District Expert Committee, Eranakulam headed by the District Collector, to forthwith conduct sand audit in Periyar as contemplated under Section 29 of the Kerala Protection  of River Banks and Regulation of Removal of Sand Act-2001, before allowing sand mining in the river.The petitioner has also prayed not to allot any 'kadavus' within 500 metres from any irrigation works as contemplated under the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation Act, 2003. According to the petitioner, excessive  mining activities carried out in Periyar is the main cause of environmental degradation. For controlling sand-mining, the state legislature had enacted the Kerala Protection of River Banks and regulation of Removal of Sand Act, 2001.Section 12 of the Act imposed conditions for the removal of sand from 'kadavus'.The District Expert Committee has to fix the quantity of sand that can be removed from each 'kadavu' or river bank giving due  regard  to the guidelines of expert agencies like the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS) and Centre for Water Resource Development and Management(CWRDM) every year as per section 9 (b) of the said Act. Section 29 of the Act also contemplated a sand audit every year  which has not been done so far.The gross violation of the said provisions of law, the committee allowed sand mining the  Periyar with effect from October 1, 2008. No report from the expert committee as contemplated by the law has been  obtained from the CESS or CWRDM fixing the quantity of sand that can be mined for the year 2008-09. No sand audit was  conducted. The last study was  conducted in 2004. Though the High Court in a judgement restrained the mining activities within 1 km from the irrigation structures and bridges, several 'kadavus' were allotted which are clearly within the prohibited distance.Section 12(8) restrains mining of sand  using 'kollivala", pole-scooping or any mechanised method. Sand is expected to be mined by human being by standing in the river bed by hand. But, in places where the water level is below 3ft it is not possible to mine sand manually. The only possible method is to indulge in 'kollivala', pole-scooping, or by using any machinery. The committee has allowed sand to be mind in certain 'kadavus' where sand-mining is possible only by the activities which are prohibited as per section 12(8).Sand-mining in those 'kadavus' has become a threat to the life of people of the area.The ramifications of the illegal sand -mining is severe and disastrous. This petitioner had made several representations to the committee pointing out the above infirmities.  But no action is  seen taken.

 

The New Indian Express, 13th  March 2009

Climate threat to 85% of Amazon forest

 Global warming will wreck attempts to save the Amazon rainforest, according to a devastating new study which predicts that one-third of its trees will be killed by even modest temperature rises. The research, by British climate change specialists, shows even severe cuts in deforestation and carbon emissions will fail to save the rainforest, the destruction of which has become a powerful symbol of human impact on the planet. Up to 85 per cent of the forest could be lost if greenhouse gas emissions are not brought under control, the experts said. Even under the most optimistic climate change scenarios, the destruction of large parts of the forest is "irreversible." Vicky Pope, of the U.K. Meteorological Office's Hadley Centre, which carried out the study, said: "The impacts of climate change on the Amazon are much worse than we thought. As temperatures rise quickly over the coming century the damage to the forest won't be obvious straight away, but we could be storing up trouble for the future." Tim Lenton, a climate expert at the University of East Anglia, England, called the study, presented at a global warming conference in Copenhagen on Wednesday, a "bombshell." The study, which has been submitted to the journal Nature Geoscience, used computer models to investigate how the Amazon would respond to future temperature rises. It found that a 2{+0}C rise above pre-industrial levels, widely considered the best-case global warming scenario and the target for ambitious international plans to curb emissions, would still see 20 per cent -40 per cent of the Amazon die off within 100 years. A 3{+0}C rise would see 75 per cent of the forest destroyed by drought over the following century, while a 4{+0}C rise would kill 85 per cent. Experts had previously predicted that global warming could cause significant "die-back" of the Amazon. The new research is the first to quantify the long-term effect. Chris Jones, who led the research, told the conference: "A temperature rise of anything over 1{+0}C commits you to some future loss of Amazon forest. Even the commonly quoted 2{+0}C target already commits us to 20 per cent – 40 per cent loss. On any kind of pragmatic timescale, I think we should see loss of the Amazon forest as irreversible."Peter Cox, professor of climate system dynamics at the University of Exeter, England, said the effects would be felt around the world. "Destroying the Amazon would also turn what is a significant carbon sink into a significant source." Jones said the study showed that tree growth in high latitudes, such as Siberia, would increase, but would be unlikely to compensate for the carbon stocks lost from the Amazon. Even with drastic cuts in emissions in the next decade, scientists say there will be only about a 50 per cent chance of keeping global temperature rises below 2{+0}C. This best-case emissions scenario is based on emissions peaking in 2015 and quickly changing from an increase of 2 per cent – 3 per cent a year to a decrease of 3 per cent a year. For every 10 years this action is delayed, the most likely temperature rise increases by 0.5{+0}C. Environmental campaigners said they were alarmed by the predictions. "With a rise of over 2{+0}C you begin to see a large-scale change to Savannah," said Beatrix Richards, head of forest policy and trade at WWF UK. "You also lose major ecosystem services, such as keeping carbon levels stable, providing indigenous people with goods and services, and balancing rainfall patterns globally from the U.S. grain belt to as far away as Kazakhstan. "A 4{+0}C [rise] is a nightmare scenario that would move us into uncharted territory." The results were announced on the second day of the Copenhagen meeting, which is intended to spur politicians into taking action to cut carbon pollution. It comes before a United Nations summit in December, also in Copenhagen, where officials will try to agree a new global deal on climate to replace the Kyoto protocol. The results from the meeting will be published in the summer as a supplement to the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

 

The Hindu, 13th March 2009 

Sahara sun could power all of Europe

European countries could transform their electricity supplies within a decade by investing in a giant network of solar panels in the Sahara desert, an expert told the global warming conference. Anthony Patt, of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Africa, said some £50 billion of government investment was needed over the next decade to make the scheme a reality. That would convince private companies that power from the Sahara was both feasible and an attractive investment, he said. In the long term, such a plan, combined with strings of wind farms along the north African coast, could "supply Europe with all the energy it needs." He said technological advances combined with falling costs had made it realistic to consider north Africa as Europe's main source of imported energy. "The sun is very strong there and it's very reliable. There is starting to be a growing number of cost estimates of both wind and concentrated solar power for north Africa... that start to compare favourably with alternative technologies. The cost of moving [electricity] long distances has really come down." He said only a fraction of the Sahara, probably the size of a small country, would need to be covered to produce enough energy to supply the whole of Europe. The results are the first findings of a major research effort, together with experts at the European Climate Forum and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, to judge whether such a Sahara solar plan is realistic. Dr. Patt said the team was looking at questions of security and governance, as well as ways to pay for the technology. The full results will be presented to governments this year. He said sunshine in the Sahara was twice as strong as in Spain and was a constant resource rarely blocked by clouds, even in winter. The scheme would use mirrors to focus the sun's rays on to a thin pipe containing either water or salt. The rays would boil the water or melt the salt and the resulting energy would power turbines. Unlike wind power, which usually has to be used immediately because of the cost of storing the electricity generated, the hot water and salt can be stored for several hours. Trials of such concentrated solar power plants are planned for Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Dubai, but Libya and Tunisia could also be considered. Dr. Patt said starting such a scheme would not be all plain sailing. There would probably be opposition from local communities across Europe unhappy about transmission cables installed near their homes. Piecemeal national transmission networks could also pose a problem.

 

The Hindu, 13th March 2009 

Seven new species of bamboo coral identified

Scientists have identified seven new species of bamboo coral discovered thousands of feet below the ocean's surface. Six of them, found off Hawaii, may represent an entirely new genera.

 

The Hindu, 12th March 2009 

Amazon forest highly sensitive to drought

The Amazon region is surprisingly sensitive to drought, according to a study conducted in the Amazon forest. The study results are the first evidence that drought causes massive carbon loss in tropical forests, through killing of trees.

 

The Hindu, 12th March 2009

Pooling skills to fight climate change

The scientific pursuit of capturing, collecting, analyzing and reporting data on environmental conditions caused by carbon emissions around the world has received a boost with the announcement of the launch of the Planetary Skin project.  NASA and Cisco will work together to develop the Planetary Skin. It would be an online collaborative platform to capture and analyze data from satellite, airborne, sea- and land-based sensors across the globe. This data will be made available to the public, governments and others to measure, report and verify environmental data in near-real-time to help detect and adapt to climate change. They would kick off the project with a series of pilot projects, including 'Rainforest Skin,' which will be prototyped during the next year. Rainforest Skin will focus on the deforestation of rainforests around the world and explore how to integrate a comprehensive sensor network. It also will examine how to capture, analyze and present information about the changes in the amount of carbon in rainforests in a transparent and useable way.. Cisco will bring its experience and expertise in networking technologies and advanced innovation to the project. Cisco's experts will conduct complex data analysis and modelling, and share an in-depth knowledge of the next generation Internet Protocol architectures to determine how to best prototype, replicate and scale a Planetary Skin to participants (Cisco, NASA and whichever other organizations join in this endeavour). Cisco is also working on the Planetary Skin program with the United Nations, multi-lateral development banks, businesses and international government agencies.
Planetary Skin participants will pool their skills, assets and technologies to develop the decision support capabilities to effectively manage natural resources and climate change-related risks. NASA's first spacecraft dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide was not a success as the launch failed. Named the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO), it would have provided the first complete picture of human and natural carbon dioxide sources as well as their sinks. It was designed to map the global geographic distribution of these sources and sinks and study their changes over time. Had the launch been successful, the mission data would have helped scientists reduce uncertainties in predicting future carbon dioxide increases and make more accurate climate change predictions. Did the Planetary Skin project intend using data from the OCO and how big a set back was the failed mission for Planetary Skin?"The Planetary Skin project was planning on using data from the NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) in the coming years. Although the loss of OCO is most unfortunate for all carbon related research projects, Planetary Skin will not suffer a major setback without OCO, since we have a plan to use many other data sources for the project," NASA's Senior Research Scientist, Mr. Christopher Potter replied by emails

 

The Hindu, 12th March 2009 

Sustainable forest management can create ‘green’ jobs: FAO

 Against the backdrop of global economic recession, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has projected that 10 million new "green jobs" could be created by investing in sustainable forest management. Since forests and trees were vital storehouses of carbon, such an investment could also make a major contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts, said the U.N. body. The observation came on the eve of the World Forest Week from March 16 to 20 to be held in conjunction with FAO's Committee on Forestry. How sustainable forest management could help build a green future and meet society's changing demand for forest-derived goods and services would be the thrust of the forest week to be held in RomeAccording to a recent study by the International Labour Organisation, unemployment could increase from 179 million in 2007 to 198 million in 2009 under the best-case scenario; under the worst-case scenario, it could go as high as 230 million. In such a scenario, increased investment in forestry could provide jobs in forest management, agro-forestry and farm forestry, improved fire management, development and management of trails and recreation sites, expansion of urban green spaces, restoring degraded forests and planting new ones. Activities can be tailored to local circumstances, including availability of labour, skill levels and local social, economic and ecological conditions. A few countries such as the United States and the Republic of Korea, had included forestry in their economic stimulus plans. Similarly afforestation was an important component of India's rural employment guarantee programme, noted the FAO, adding that the global potential was at least 10 million new jobs through national investments.

 

The Hindu, 12th March 2009

Dwindling catches

Ocean temperature is one of the primary environmental factors that determine the geographic range of a species. A paper published recently in the journal Fish and Fisheries has used computer modelling to project the global impact of climate change on biodiversity with reference to 1,000-odd fish species. The study has shown that the only way for the tropical fish, with their inability to regulate their body temperature, to survive in warming oceans would be to migrate to cooler waters at higher latitudes. The warming of the oceans would affect the sub-polar species differently. A two-to-four-fold limit to temperature tolerance compared to tropical species and a very limited species diversity would have a big impact in the polar regions. Local extinctions in the sub-polar, tropical, and semi-enclosed regions as well as migration of species to cooler latitudes would affect nearly 60 per cent of present fish biodiversity. Such a mass-scale disturbance is very likely to disrupt the marine ecosystem. Though warming oceans would affect fish whether they live at the surface level or at depths, the shift to an extent of 600-odd km would be seen in the case of surface-living species. Local extinctions in the tropics will have a great effect on food security of developing countries. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the direct impact of climate change on fisheries would be more pronounced in the developing and least developed countries where about 42 million people work directly in the sector. Two-thirds of the most vulnerable countries are in tropical Africa. It is a fact that reliance on fish protein is directly related to the level of development. In the developing countries, 2.8 billion people depend on fish products for 20 per cent of animal protein. The only way to reduce the magnitude of the impact is to take urgent measures to check the current trend of carbon pollution and limit the average global temperature rise to 2 degrees C by 2100, as against the anticipated 6 degrees. Dwindling fish catch will be one of the many adverse consequences of uncontrolled global warming. Several studies published since the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change's 4th Assessment Report show that carbon emissions are rising faster than expected, and worldwide action to bring them down brooks no delay.

 

The Hindu, 11th March 2009

20-point plan to proper farm development

Indian Farmers Movement (Infam) has prepared a '20-point' programme for the overall development of the agriculture sector in the state, said Fr Antony Kozhuvanal, Infarm national general secretary.He told reporters here on Tuesday that the action plan aimed at inviting the attention of candidates contesting the Lok Sabha elections, to farmer's problems. In farm also asked the candidates to include the '20-point' programme in their manifestoes.The major demands of the programme include consulting farmers and their organisations before drawing up agriculture projects, introduction of single- window system to address their problems, zero-interest loans for farmers, insurance coverage for all crops, expansion of organic farming and exclusion of agriculture products from VAT.Elaborating the various problems faced by farmers in he state, Infarm national president P C Cyriac said the organisation prepared the 20-point programme after holding several rounds of talks with farmers across the state."The 20- point programme will be submitted to the Chief Minister and all those  contesing Lok Sabha polls", he added. James Koottur district president, Fr Joseph Ottaplakkal, national chairman and others were also present at the news meet.

 

The New Indian Express, 10th March 2009

Sanctuaries face the risk of wildfire

 Forest fire has become a major environmental concern in the State with many of the wildlife sanctuaries facing the threat of outbreak of wildfire. A precarious situation prevailed in the Chimminy, Peechi and Periyar forest areas. However, the Silent Valley and the Parambikulam areas were relatively safe, T.M. Manoharan, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, said here on Sunday. The department was facing a war-like situation this year, as over 2,000 hectares of forest cover was destroyed in fire. The perilous situation had caused the forest authorities to close the Eravikulam National Park to visitors. There was high risk of fire in many other places and the situation was being closely monitored, he said. Initially, the Eravikulam park was closed for the safe calving of Niligiri tahr. However, the outbreak of fire forced the department to extend the closure for one more month. The authorities had earlier closed the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary following the outbreak of fire. The Eravikulam park would remain closed till April. The incidents of forest fire and loss of forest area were greater than that in the previous years. Unprecedented drought was the key factor that ignited the fire. If the situation worsened, more wildlife sanctuaries would be closed to visitors, Mr. Manoharan said.Forest officials of the Eravikulam National Park registered a case for causing fire in the park. Some miscreants had set the grassland at Pallanad on fire last month and seven hectares of grassland was destroyed in the incident, said A.P. Sunilkumar, wildlife warden of the park.

 

The Hindu, 9th March 2009

Palakkad reeling under drought

Palakkad is once again reeling under severe drought. With dams and waterbodies, including rivers such as the Baharathapuzha and Bhavani, drying up people are facing severe shortage of drinking water.The average temperature has crossed 40 degrees Celsius. The failure of the monsoons-there has been no rain in the district in the last four months-has compounded the problem.At a District Development Council (DDC) meeting on Mar1h 2, people's representatives criticised the government and the administration for failing to take steps to deal with the situation.M.Chandran, MLA, in a resolution urged the government and the sanction Rs.10 crore to take up urgent drought drought-relief measures.N.N.Krishnadas, MP, asked officials to assess the damage to agriculture and monitor the drinking water situation. He demanded that those taluks which faced shortage of water and loss of crops be declared drought-affected. The Principal Agriculture Officer said that crops in 859 hectares were destroyed and another 4,822 hectares were facing drought-like situation. The council urged the departments concerned to provide drinking water in tanks in drought-affected areas.V.Chenthamarakrishnan, MLA, demanded that the farmers whose crops were lost be given a compensation of Rs.15,000 a hectare. He said that large areas of crops in the ayacut areas of the Meenkara and Chulliyar dams were affected. The high ranges of the Mangalam dam were facing a heat wave due to the drying up of the dam. The Attappady tribal area is badly hit. The Bhavan, which flows through the area to Tamil Nadu, has almost dried up. Basheer Madala, 45 of Agali said he was seeing the river in such a state for the first time. "The tribes if Attappady mainly live on the banks of the river. This is their main drinking and irrigation water source", said. "Despite the calamity, the government has not allotted any fund for drought relief though some other districts have been allotted funds", K.Achuthan, MLA, said. He demanded long-term measures to tackle the situation. Faced with a severe drought in 2003-04, the then district administration headed by Sanjeev Kaushik prepared a master plan with the help of the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, Kerala   Water Authority and the departments of Water Resources, Agriculture and Groundwater. It suggested various measures to counter drought situations in the district. Theses included creation of more surface storages, construction of diversion structures, water quality management, creation of databank on hydro-climatic parameters, linking of reservoirs with water supply schemes, inter-basin transfer, protection of wetlands and paddy fields etc. the necessity of a river basin authority for the Bharathapuzha basin was also highlighted. But the master plan is yet to get a look-in while the district is under the grip of a severe drought yet again.

 

The Hindu, 8th March 2009

Rare disease detected in tribal colonies

The Health Department authorities have stumbled upon a cluster of indigenous cases of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, an infectious disease spread by sandflies and rarely seen in the State, in two tribal settlements of Aamala and Aayiramkallu in the forests near Kottoor in Kuttichal panchayat.The only previously known instance of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in the State, which manifests on the skin, was in 1990 when two isolated cases were reported from Nilambur. This is the first time that a cluster of cases — about 11 cases have been detected so far — has been reported in the State, sending Health officials into a tizzy over the treatment and public health measures that need to be adopted to prevent spread of the disease."From the public health perspective, this is a very significant discovery. We do not know the extent of the problem now and detailed investigations are urgently required," said T. Dilip, assistant director, State Entomology Division.A disease usually seen in Bihar, West Bengal, leishmaniasis is spread by the female of the sandfly, which transmits the leishmania parasite from human to human through its blood-sucking bites. Dogs, rats also act as reservoirs of the parasite, which is then spread to humans by the sand fly. One strain — visceral leishmaniasis or 'kala azar' — can be fatal. Three cases of kala azar were reported in 2004 in Kerala, from Thenmala and Thrissur. Cutaneous Leishmaniasis is characterised by deep unhealing ulcers on the skin, resembling leprosy sores. "Some ulcers do heal but leave deep disfiguring scars on the skin. There is, indeed, an epidemic potential as the sandfly is found in cities also. We know so little about the disease and are still contemplating the treatment modalities. Treatment will have to be long-term, involving toxic drugs," said K. Vijayakumar, Professor of Community Medicine, Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, who led the first medical team to the tribal settlements last week. It was one of the cases which came to the Dermatology department at the Medical College Hospital that led the Health Department to the tribal colonies where more cases were detected. Microbiology and histo-pathological investigations at the MCH confirmed the disease. Several persons with healed ulcers were also found in the settlement, which indicates that the disease must have been doing the rounds for some time, Dr. Vijayakumar said. The Health Department has initiated insecticide spraying to control the sandfly population. However, entomologists admit that this is easier said than done as the sandflies are found inside houses as well as in the natural surroundings. It breeds in organic wastes, manure and leaf litter and in the forest area, control measures are especially difficult.One problem that public health experts point out is that it would be useless to treat the patients and send them back to the same environs where the animal hosts as well as the vectors continue to co-exist. Officials will also have to investigate if any unreported cases of the visceral strain (Kala azar) is there in the locality .The Health Department has sought detailed entomology studies by the regional team from National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Kozhikode.

 

The Hindu, 8th March 2009

Gene bank for some unique paddy seeds

The tribal community in the district is planning to launch a community gene bank for storing indigenous paddy seeds. Twenty traditional varieties of seeds, including scented variants such as urunikayama, poothadikayama, gandhakasala , jeerakasala and mullan kayama; medicinal rice such as chennellu and navara and drought-resistant seeds such as kalladyariyan, chempathy, chomala and chenthadi were conserved by Kurichya and Kuruma ,the agricultural tribal communities in the district. The gene bank is to be launched under the aegis of Community Agro biodiversity Centre of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) here, its director, N. Anilkumar said. As a part of the proposal a workshop will be held at MSSRF on Sunday.The Central government had recently honoured five farmers among them with the Plant Genome Saviour Community Recognition Award instituted by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmer's Right Authority of India (PPV& FR ) under the Union Ministry of Agriculture for their collective effort in conservation of paddy seed. The application for the award was submitted by the Wayanad District Tribal Development Action Council. For the Kurichiya and Kuruma communities rice is the principal crop. The Community Agro biodiversity Centre have been involved in the conservation of indigenous paddy varieties in the district since 1991. In a survey in 1997 by Dr. Anilkumar, it was found that indigenous seeds conserved and used by the tribes, evolved over the years, have several unique and innovative properties. According to the study, 75 traditional rice varieties are cultivated in Wayanad, out of which 40 were brought to the district by settler communities. Thirty-five varieties are have evolved in this locality and cultivated mainly by the tribal communities. Of these, only 20 varieties are cultivated now, Dr. Anilkumar says. These traditional seeds can resist flood and drought conditions, according to him.But, people now prefer high breed varieties owing to the cost of production and low yield of indigenous ones, Raman Palliyara, an award winner and chieftain of the Kurichiya tribe told The Hindu. "The intervention of governmental agencies is necessary to market our organic rice varieties at a profitable rate," Devaki Alamoola, an award winner from the Kuruma tribe said.

 

 The Hindu, 7th March 2009

Plan for wind farm gathering dust

 A proposal for setting up a wind farm at Ramakalmedu by the Aluva Plastic Consortium Private Ltd. is gathering dust nearly two years after the project was submitted to the State government for approval. The proposal was made by the consortium to meet the heavy requirement of power by the plastic moulding units. The Agency for Non-Conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT) had approved the technical report. However, the Kerala State Electricity Board is yet to decide on allowing the consortium to set up the wind farm. The proposal is to set up a 1.8-MW captive facility for the consortium. However, the board wants it to be a private generation facility and not a captive one, says an official of the consortium. He said it would have cost the consortium around Rs.15 crore for setting up the facility.The official said that he expected the board to take a more positive view of the proposal in the coming days.The consortium, launched in 2004, is one of the success stories of the Cluster Development Programme launched by the Industries Department. The cluster was launched at an initial investment of Rs.4.60 crore. Of this, Rs.3.15 crore came from the Union government and Rs.92 lakh from the State government.

The Hindu, 7^th March 2009

Eco-friendly lawn from coir pith

 The Angamally-based non-government organisation, Sevashram, is taking up production and marketing of cocolawn, a readymade lawn consisting of coir pith and grass. The environment-friendly product is being made at various units of the organisation.  The technology is being offered to members of residents' organisations. A buyback arrangement has also been introduced as part of the marketing. The technology was developed by the Central Coir Research Institute, Alappuzha. The transfer of technology is being facilitated by the National Research Development Corporation. The spongy cellulose media having high water retention capacity, is ideal for growth of grass.

 

The Hindu, 7th March 2009

Climate migrations

The plausible spectre of large numbers of people migrating from coastal regions, and of entire populations abandoning small island countries due to rising sea levels makes it vitally important for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to come up with a strong adaptation strategy at its Copenhagen conference later this year. The scale of the climate migration challenge is staggering. Experts estimate that by mid-century nearly 250 million people may come under pressure to move out because of intensifying monsoon flooding, desertification, and reduced food production. The threat of mass migration is of acute concern to India because, for a start, Bangladesh, where millions of people live close to the sea, is extremely vulnerable. Another neighbour, the Maldives, fears it will almost entirely go under water with a not-impossible one-metre rise in sea level. So gloomy is the view from the beautiful, atoll nation that its recently elected government announced a move to create a sovereign fund to resettle its population of about 300,000 abroad. It wants the world to treat climate change as a human rights issue. These developments should prompt India to take climate change more seriously than it has done so far. The United Progressive Alliance government's National Action Plan on Climate Change clearly lacks a sense of demonstrable urgency. The plan has been justly criticised for adhering to the old path of economic growth involving unsustainable energy intensity, and for abandoning equity principles. The poor feel the immediate effects of an altered climate. The Prime Minister's special envoy on climate change, Shyam Saran, has indicated that the eight missions envisaged under the action plan are nearing finalisation, but it is obvious that they will remain on the back-burner until a new government assumes office in May. Numerous months have been lost in getting State governments to roll out key missions covering sustainable habitat, agriculture, green cover, water conservation, and public transport. The scientific view makes it clear that all major countries, including India, must cut emissions significantly. Leading climatologists think the safe level for global atmospheric carbon dioxide is 350 parts per million (ppm), but that level is history. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recorded 379 ppm of the gas in 2005. Conventional coal-based power plants continue to be built everywhere and they are steadily ramping up emissions. Rhetoric will not serve India under these circumstances. It must show genuine intent and tangible action.

The Hindu, 7th March 2009

Elusive Java rhinos in new footage

New footage obtained through infra-red technology that was released on Thursday captures hither to unseen images of elusive Java rhinos. They are the most endangered mammals in the world; fewer than 60 individuals are believed to remain live. The grainy video was released by environmental group WWF, which has been monitoring the rhinos for about 20 years in the Ujung Kulon National Park in Indonesia's Java Island. The clips show a mother and calf and a large male wallowing in various mud holes, revealing behaviour researchers had never seem before and helping with the identification of individual animals. In one clip shot at night, a female rhino chases a wild pg away from its mud hole."These rhinos are very shy. In the last 20 years our team has only seen rhinos two or three times with their own eyes", WWF Asian rhino coordinator Christy Williams said.He said WWF had previously operated still cameras in the dense jungle but the rhinos-which can weigh 2,300kg and measure over 3 metres in length-were often frightened by the shutter and fled area or attacked the cameras.Under an expanded project to film the animals, 34 cameras, with infra-red triggers which take video any time they sense movement in the forest have been painstakingly installed in likely rhino haunts. Typically they are concealed in trees overlooking wallowing ponds and streams and most of the clips released on Thursday show the animals wading or wallowing the mud..The WWF is identifying other suitable rhino habitat areas on Java with a view to resettling some individuals from Ujung Kulon to boost their chances of survival.Rhino experts from around the world met in Indonesia earlier  this week to discuss plans and progress on protecting rhinos.

The Hindu, 6th  March  2009
 

World water day-a look into water resource

Source: Malayala Manorama 21st March 2009

World Meteorological Day message

Source: Malayala Manorama, 23rd March 2009

World Meteorological day message

Source: Malayala Manorama 23rd March 2009

Water: A priceless commodity

Source: Malayala Manorama, 20th March 2009

Workshop on Biodiversity Protection

Source: Mathrubhumi, 13th March 2009

Forest fire in Nagerhola National Park

Source: Deepika, 9th March 2009

 

Kerala becomes hotter

Source: Deepika, 9th March 2009

 

Climate change:Rice production likely to fall

Source:Mathrubhumi, 6th March 2009

 

Water quality kerala-Malayala Manorama Report

Source: Malayala Manorama, 5th March 2009

 

Crocodile park may not be named after ‘hunter’

The State government might go back on its decision to name the Crocodile Breeding Centre in Neyyar after the Australian wildlife conservationist Steve Irwin, if his wife objects to it.Terrie Rainnes Irwin, wife of Mr. Irvin, had issued a legal notice to the Forest Department recently objecting to the naming of the park after Mr. Irwin, who died in a stingray attack while shooting a film off the Australian coast in 2006.The legal notice issued on behalf of Australia Zoo Property Limited and Ms. Irwin had alleged that the department had violated the Copyright, Trademark and Trade Practices Acts by naming the park after him. The government had named the park as Steve Irwin Crocodile Rehabilitation and Research Centre on May 15, 2007, after the death of the renowned "crocodile hunter."The government has been advised by legal experts to inform Ms. Irwin that the park was named after him to keep his memory alive and to inspire youngsters. The government is understood to have been advised that the naming of the park after Mr. Irvin would not amount to infringement of copyright and violation of trademark. The Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary is fully owned and managed by the State government and the decision to name the park after Mr. Irwin was taken by the council of ministers of the State, the government would inform Ms. Irwin. The legal notice had caught the government, which had invited Ms. Irwin to take part in the naming ceremony, off guard. Ms. Irwin had informed her inability to attend the ceremony, Mr. Viswom said.

 

The Hindu, 5th  March  2009

One lakh saplings to be planted in Idukki on Environment Day

As part of the Green Kerala Project, the Forest Department will supply one lakh saplings to be planted in Idukki district on June 5, the World Environment Day. According to official sources, locally-found trees, which are facing the threat of disappearance, have been given priority. The project will be implemented through 52 grama panchayts and eight block panchayats and a list of the saplings required has already been prepared, they said. The services of Kudumbasree units will also be utilised in growing the saplings as more than one lakh saplings are required. The Forest Department will train the members of the selected units for this, said the sources. The training programme in the Kattappana and Nedumkandam block panchayats has been completed. The project will be implemented in two phases. The saplings to be planted this year are being grown at the Kattamudi, Maniyarankudi and Thodupuzha nurseries of the department. The saplings will be distributed to the panchayats through the four range offices of the Social Forestry in the district. The Forest Department has taken care to protect the saplings through public participation and the thousand saplings planted under the 'Vazhiyoram Thanalmaram' project are growing well, they said. Monitoring committees comprising workers from the respective areas have been formed to protect the plants and to water them during summer. The Social Forestry project could not be implemented successfully in the district due to lack of public participation. However, the setting up of the monitoring committees and awareness programmes will ensure the success of the Green Kerala Project in the district, the officials said.

 

 The Hindu, 5th  March  2009

Nod for Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary

The proposed Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary in the district has become a reality. The State Wildlife= Board approved the new sanctuary at its meeting in the State capital on March 2. With this, the State will have 13 wildlife sanctuaries, apart from three national parks. Top sources told The Hindu here on Wednesday that the Wildlife Board chaired by the vice-chairman Benoy Viswom, who is also the Forest Minister, took the decision. Now the government would issue orders for the declaration of the new sanctuary. The orders would be issued only after looking into the aspect whether it would breach the model code of conduct with the announcement of the parliamentary elections. Sometimes the order would be issued only after the elections, the source said.P.K. Mohanty, Principal Secretary, Forest and Wildlife; T.M. Manoharan, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, and K.P. Ouseph, Chief Wildlife Warden, among others, took part in the meeting. The decision was taken in the absence of Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, who is the chairman of the Wildlife Board, he said. The formation of the new wildlife sanctuary in north Kerala is expected to give a thrust to the tourism industry besides generating employment to hundreds of local people. The sanctuary, covering 75 sq km, falls in the limits of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. The area is an integral part of the Wayanad Elephant Reserve under Project Elephant. The Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, spread over 344 sq km, is another important sanctuary which falls in the Nilgiri Biosphere.The region of the new wildlife sanctuary consists of the Pannikootur reserve forests of the Peruvannamoozhi range and Karapara; Olathuki, Shankaranpuzha and the Attikkode vested area. The total area covers 74.24 sq km. Initially, the proposal was to carve out a new wildlife sanctuary consisting of the forest areas in and around Kakkayam in Kozhikode district and its adjoining forest tracts in Wayanad district.Kakkayam and Peruvannamoozhi reservoirs will be in the new sanctuary. The area has a marvellous diversity of flora and fauna. The lion-tailed macaque, brown palm civet, elephants, guars, tigers, leopards, flying squirrels and Nilgiri Langur, the Kerala laughing thrush, oriental darter, grey-headed bulbul, Malabar parakeet, small sunbird, and white-bellied blue flycatcher have been reported in the region. Over 100 butterfly species apart from a wide range of reptiles have been recorded in the new sanctuary.

 

The Hindu, 5th  March  2009

Seed bank opened in Thrissur

The Agro Biotechnology Agency for Rural Employment Development (ABARD) has opened a seed bank. Seeds will be offered to city-dwellers for raising kitchen gardens. Tubers, coconut, paddy, mango, banana, cereals, pulses, medicinal plants and seeds of various vegetables will be made available at the centre. A joint venture of the Thrissur Corporation and the Kerala Agricultural University, the ABARD centre will provide high-quality seeds to those who register their names with the centre. The seeds would be procured from various ABARD centres, organic farmers and the agricultural university, ABARD officials said. The project, which is part of the government's food security project, aims at promoting minor farming and horticulture. Creating awareness among the city dwellers on healthy agricultural practices is one of the major objectives of the project, says ABARD chief coordinator Pathiyoor Gopinath. Nearly 500 people who register first at the seed bank will get seeds and organic manure at 25 per cent discount. The centre will also help people set up vermi-compost units. Those who want seeds and manure should register before March 25.

 

The Hindu, 5th  March  2009

District has high potential for paddy-shrimp cultivation

 The 'rice and shrimp' farming scheme launched in Ezhome, Cherukunnu and Kannapuram panchayats under the Tsunami Rehabilitation Project (TRP) has turned out to be a success story for 10 self-help groups (SHGs), each having 10 beneficiary members. Of the10 SHG units formed to cultivate paddy and shrimp under the project, being implemented by the Brackish Water Fish Farmers' Development Agency (BFFDA) here, four units that undertook paddy cultivation have earned around Rs.2 lakh from single-crop paddy farming. Nearly all the 10 units have already stocked shrimp seeds for the traditional aquaculture in the kaipad areas being revived by the SHG groups. BFFDA officials here said that the rotational as well as simultaneous paddy-shrimp farming could be practised in an additional 500 ha of kaipad land (tidal marshes) in the district that once had 2,500 ha of kaipad land under this farming system. Of the total 1,200 ha kaipad land now in the district, 500 ha area that was left fallow for several years could be revived for paddy-shrimp farming, they said. Since the scheme initially yielded good results, non-utilisation of a large extent of 'kaipad' areas here is seen as wastage of resources. The areas that could be utilised for paddy-shrimp farming include 150 ha in Ezhome, 100 ha in Pattuvam, 140 ha in Cherukunnu and the remaining in Kunhimanagalam, Cheruthazham, Kannapuram, Mattool and Pappinissery panchayats.The advantage of this system is that two local varieties of paddy seeds ('kuthil nellu' and 'orkayama') that are resistant to salinity are used. Rice farming is done during monsoon (June-October). Shrimp farming is either taken up post-monsoon (November-April) or simultaneously with rice farming.BFFDA officials said that the traditional kaipad system could yield 3,000 kg of rice and 300 kg shrimp per ha for the monsoon crop and additional 600 kg shrimp per ha could be produced for the second crop. Bunds had been constructed in areas where the paddy-shrimp farming system was revived, they said. Tidal as well as monsoon flow in the kaipad lands was regulated through specially designed wooden sluices fixed on the bunds. Efforts were now on to plant mangroves along the outer margins of the bunds for protection from sudden sea surges and flooding. By mid-April, when tidal water recedes, prawn capture would be completed, they said.The land will then be left for drying for about six weeks. After a few showers of monsoon, which will wash away the land's salinity, paddy will be sown by July. The paddy will be ready for harvest by October.The cost per SHG unit for this under the TRP is estimated at Rs. 7.59 lakh. Each unit will get a TRP share of Rs.4.55 lakh, while 35 per cent of the cost will be raised through bank loans and five per cent as beneficiaries' contribution.

 

The Hindu, 5th  March  2009

Space rock gives earth a close shave

A  asteroid of a size similar to a rock that exploded above Siberia in 1908 with the force of a thousand atomic bombs whizzed past the earth on Monday, astronomers said on Tuesday.2009 DD45, estimated to be between 21 and 47m across, raced by at 1344 GMT, the Planetary Society and astronomer's blogs reported. The gap was just 72,000 km, or a fifth of the distance between the earth and the moon and only twice the height of satellites in geosynchronous orbit, the website space.com said.The estimated size is similar to that of an asteroid or comet that exploded above Tunguska, Siberia, on June 30,1908, flattening 80 million trees in a swathe of more than 2,000 sq.km2009 DD45 was spotted last Saturday by astronomers at the Siding Spring Survey in Australia. It was verified by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre (MPC), which catalogues Solar System rocks.The closest flyby listed by the MPC is 2004 FU162, a small asteroid about 6m across which came within about 6,500km of the earth in March 2004.

 

The Hindu, 4th  March  2009

Ombudsman issues a ‘green’ order

 Ombudsman for Local Self-Government Institutions M.R. Hariharan Nair has ordered the secretary of Kollam Corporation to document the details on the trees that have been left after a large-scale felling by the Corporation for the widening of the road from Kappalandimukku to Ashramam Muneeswarankovil with Asian Development Bank assistance. The order was given based on a complaint filed by Odanavattam Vijayaprakash. The Corporation secretary, in a statement filed before the Ombudsman, said that 128 trees were felled as per previous order. On being told by the complainant that the number of trees felled was 134 and only 42 were left, the Ombudsman asked the Corporation to document the details of the latter in its records and take proper steps for protecting them. The Ombudsman noted that it was to prevent the funds sanctioned for the current financial year from lapsing that concerted steps were taken on the basis of a previous case and the trees were felled. He described the failure to achieve notable progress in the road construction so far as painful. He asked the secretary to take steps for the purpose and inform him of the progress on April 30.He also directed the secretary to plant three times the number of trees that were felled and to set up a committee for their protection. Steps to procure the same varieties of trees should start immediately. The Ombudsman should also be informed of the details of the place chosen for planting the trees and the members of the monitoring committee on April 30.In a copy of the order sent by name to the District Collector, the Ombudsman wanted a meeting of the monitoring committee to be held immediately after giving due notice to the Social Forestry Department and the minutes of the meeting to be made available to him.

 

The Hindu, 4th  March  2009
 

International Conference on emerging trends in production, processing and utilization of natural fibers.

International Conference on emerging trends in production, processing and  utilization of natural fibers.

Venue : Mayfair,Worli, Mumbai, India

Date:April 16-18, 2009

organized by Indian Society for cotton improvement (ISCI)  Mumbai, India and Indian Fibre Society(IFS), Mumbai, India under the auspices of Indian Council for Agricultural Research, New Delhi, India

in collaboration with Texas Tech University, USA

for further deatails please see the website:www.naturalfibres2009.org

 

 

Ban lifted on Chinese toys

In a surprise move, India on Monday announced that it had lifted the ban on import of toys from China provided they conform to international safety norms. India had on January 23 banned the import of Chinese toys for six months on grounds of public health and safety. According to a public notice by the Commerce Ministry, imports of toys from China will be allowed if they conform to the standards prescribed in 'ASTM F963' or 'ISO 8124 (parts I-III) or IS 9873 (parts I-III).' These regulations primarily deal with safety and health hazards. The government further stated that the imports from China will have to be accompanied by a requisite certificate from laboratories accredited to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). Following the restrictions on toys, the Chinese media had reported that Beijing was contemplating dragging India to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) challenging the ban. However, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath had said the ban was WTO-compatible. The toys market in India is estimated at Rs. 2,500 crore while the volume-driven, price-competitive Chinese toys are estimated to control 70 per cent of the global toys market.

 The Hindu, 3rd March  2009

Funds for research on crop diseases

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in New Delhi has earmarked about Rs.20 crore in the Eleventh Plan for advanced research on three important plant pathogens known as phytophthora, fusarium and ralstonia which affect a large number of crops including vegetables, fruits, spices, plantation crops, ornamental plants, pulses and oil seeds.Phytophthora diseases affect all major cash crops in Kerala. It causes foot rot of black pepper, 'mahali' of arecanut, bud rot of coconut and pod rot of cocoa.Considering the expertise available there Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR), which has its headquarters in Kozhikode, has been authorised to lead this project involving 16 other crop-based institutions across the country. The project was officially launched in New Delhi by H.P. Singh, Deputy Director General (Horticulture), on February 23.  Of the Rs.19.65 crore total outlay of the project, IISR-Kozhikode gets Rs.6.5 crore. The crops covered by IISR-Kozhikode are black pepper and ginger. The other crops in this project includes coconut, cocoa, banana, tuber crops, citrus, guava, oil seeds and vegetables. Dr. Anandaraj would coordinate the activities related to the project. This project also envisages establishment of centres of excellence on phytophthora, ralstonia and fusarium with state-of-the-art facilities. Dr. Parthasarathy, Director, IISR, said the project would provide thorough understanding of the pathogen diversity, develop tools for detection and diagnosis of pathogen in planting material and soil, resistance of host-plant and isolation of resistant genes, molecular tools for reducing the time taken for developing disease-resistant varieties and development of effective Integrated Disease Management strategies resulting in cleaner agri-products free of pesticide and fungicide residues.

The Hindu, 3rd March  2009

‘Earth Hour’ on March 28

Keen to do your bit to save the Earth from threats of global warming? Join Nobel peace prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, actor Aamir Khan among others to create awareness on climate change.Over two million people across the world will switch off lights at their homes and offices for an hour at 8.30 p.m. on March 28 to kick-start the 'Earth Hour' campaign."Climate change is the greatest human induced crisis facing the world today. It is totally indiscriminate of race, culture and religion. It affects every human being on the planet," Archbishop Tutu said in a statement here.'Earth Hour' is a part of the World Wildlife Fund's initiative that began in Sydney in 2007 as a one-city campaign when over two million people switched off their lights for an hour. In 2008, the campaign went global with over 50 million people in 371 cities, across 35 countries flicking the switch.

The Hindu, 2nd March  2009

Forest fires: Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary closed

The Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary at Muthanga in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR) is being closed from March 2 to prevent further outbreak of bushfires due to the prevailing extreme dry conditions. Trekking expeditions to Pakshipathalam and sightseeing in the Thirunelli forests also will be suspended, assistant wildlife warden Radhakrishna Lal told The Hindu. Hundreds of hectares of forest wealth in the district have been ravaged in wildfire over the last one month, especially in the Muthanga and Kurichiad range of the forests under the Wayanad Wildlife sanctuary, Chembra peak, the Chethalyam forest range and the Manikkunnu Mala hills under the South Wayanad forest division and Periya under the North Wayanad forest division. A forest outpost has been set up at Soochippara, near the Soochippara waterfalls in the Mepadi forest range, to monitor the situation. According to official data, nearly 424 hectares of forest land has been destroyed in wildfire during the last one month, including 58 hectares under the North Wayanad forest division, 250 hectares under the South Wayanad forest division and 116 hectares under the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. R. Sathynathan, divisional forest officer, Mananthavadi forest division, said the presence of dry bamboo groves had worsened the situation. A single spark is enough to destroy a vast area of forests. Nearly 100 hectares of forest land contained dried bamboo in the division, he said. The department has purchased fire control equipment costing Rs.1.20 lakh, he said.N. Badhusha, president, Wayanad Prakruthi Samrakshana Samithi, an environmental organisation, said the situation in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve was highly critical, and it was similar to the drought in 2004. Movement of wild animals in search of water and fodder in the adjacent sanctuaries such as the Muthumalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu, Bandipur Tiger Reserve and the Rajiv Gandhi National Park, Nagarhole in Karnataka, has increased considerably. Though the sanctuary is the main refuge for wild animals during the summer season, the Forest Department has not taken measures to protect it. The construction of fire lines is yet to be completed in the sanctuary and the fire engine allotted for it a few years ago at a cost of Rs.20 lakh is rusting in the absence of timely maintenance, he added.

The Hindu, 2nd March  2009

Plant to process waste, make biogas

he City Corporation is entering into an agreement with the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) to establish a pilot plant for solid waste management. The Corporation Council on Friday approved the draft of the Memorandum of Understanding. The plant will be able to process five tonnes of garbage daily. Its primary component is an anaerobic composter that can produce biogas out of easily-putrefying garbage. While the Corporation will provide land, electricity, water, solid waste and unskilled labour for the plant, the NIIST will foot the capital cost and the operation and maintenance expenses for three years.The project is expected to supplement the existing solid waste management system. It is estimated to cost Rs.1.76 crore. The Ministry will provide Rs.1.22 crore. The rest will be borne by the Corporation. The project will be transferred to the local body after three years but NIIST will continue operational and R&D support for 10 years. The Department of Environmental Technology of the NIIST unit at Pappanamcode here has successfully tried out a laboratory version of the anaerobic digester. Scientists who worked on the project said the process was found to convert putrescible matter to biogas energy with more than 60 per cent methane content. They claim that the presence of non- biodegradable matter does not interfere with the process. Easily putrefying waste is the most difficult to manage because of the smell and the leachate it generates. The scientists said they had come up with a zero-discharge system for the primary treatment process. The system uses a powerful microbial extraction process and a bio-filtration method to control the odour. One of the advantages of the digester is that it can handle unsorted garbage. The project will come up with a system to utilise the huge amount of biogas to be generated by the plant. The secondary stage involves the development of appropriate technology to treat the residual waste.

The Hindu, 28th February 2009

Climate change threatens Maldives

Rising sea levels and coastal erosion — both wrought by climate change — threatened the viability of Maldives; but, overcrowding and other impacts were already being felt by the island nation's 3,00,000 people, a United Nations independent expert said.After an eight-day visit to the country, Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Raquel Rolnik said: "Maldives and its atolls, because of their unique geological and topographic aspects and their fragile and delicate environmental system, are already experiencing the impacts of climate change." This jeopardised the survival of the nation, which could be inundated by water. But more immediately, it jeopardised the right to housing due to the scarcity of land. Ms. Rolnik stressed the responsibility of the international community to urgently support adaptation strategies, noting that: "the post-2004 Indian Ocean tsunami reconstruction process in Maldives can be a source of precious lessons". Over the past four years, donors and agencies have mobilised over $400 million in aid, but the Rapporteur voiced concern over the allocation of resources and their management by Maldivian authorities. "In the new resettlement sites that I visited, I detected a lack of participation in the decision-making process concerning relocation, the design of new houses and the infrastructure, which resulted in new structures that were not always compatible with the livelihood of the communities," said Ms. Rolnik. The expert also noted that the tsunami may have been used by authorities as an opportunity to relocate communities, which had provoked serious conflicts. There were 3,500 people uprooted by the 2004 disaster who were still living in temporary shelters. The reconstruction process had also resulted in a surge in the price of construction materials, putting upward pressure on rental prices and aggravating overcrowding. Over 80,000 migrants from Bangladesh and other South Asian countries lived in Maldives, with half of them working in the construction sector, and the Rapporteur said she was concerned about their housing and living conditions. She called for a "human rights-based approach" to address the housing situation in the country, calling for the government and international organisations to promote public participation in making key decisions. Ms. Rolnik, who reports to the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council, took up her post last May and serves in an independent and unpaid capacity, as do all Special Rapporteurs. — PTI

The Hindu, 28th February 2009

Make methane while the sun shines

Researchers have used sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water vapour into a range of fuels faster than ever before, thanks to  nanotube catalyst. Materials scientists Craig Grimes and his colleagues at Pennsylvania State University Park have used hollow titania (titanium dioxide) nanotubes around 135 nanometers wide and a tenth of a millimetre long to catalyze the reaction. Scientist have used titania nanoparticles to speed up this process before, but Grimes and his colleagues were able to generate hydrocarbons around 20 times faster  than that achieved in previous studies The researchers added a little nitrogen to their nanotubes and loaded copper and platinum nanoparticles onto the surfaces. On its own, titania works best as a catalyst for this reaction in ultraviolet light. But adding nitrogen and copper to the mix shifts the preference of the titania tubes to visible light, Grimes says. And the copper and platinum nanoparticles are thought to speed up the latter stages of the reaction.The reaction itself also takes place inside the nanotubes, which are hollow and have a large internal surface area thanks to their thin 20 nanometer-thick walls. The researchers filled steel tubes with carbon dioxide and water vapour, covered the end of the chambers with a film of their nanotubes, and capped the containers with a quartz window to let light in.The closed chambers were then set outside on the university campus in the university campus on sunny days from July to September 2008. When light falls on the nanotubes, they release energetic charge carriers, which split the water molecules inside them into two reactive components-hydroxide radicals and hydrogen ions.The hydrogen ions combine to form hydrogen gas. The researchers don't yet understand exactly what happens next, but they think that the carbon dioxide also splits to form oxygen and carbon monoxide, which then reacts with gaseous hydrogen to form methane and water. The devices generated roughly 160 microliters of the hydrocarbons per hour pergram of their titania nanotube, a rate at least 20 times higher than in previous studies done with ultraviolet light. The findings are published online in the journal Nano Letters.But the researchers argue that their process could be made continuous if carbon dioxide and water vapour could be passed though the nanotube film and the methane fuel collected form the other side.Even with their current nanotubes, Grimes calculated that a reflector that concentrates sunlight on a square meter of the nanotube film could yield 500 liters of methane over the course of eight hours.Grimes, however, agrees that the production rates are still quite low. But he hopes that depositing copper nanoparticles more evenly onto the surfaces of the nanotubes and making other improvements will help boost their conversion rates by a factor of several thousand.

The Hindu, 27th February 2009

A farmer develops a herbal pest repellent after suffering from chemical pesticides

About one kg of garlic, 500 gm of ginger, green chillies and tobacco each, 200gm of pepper, 200ml neem oil and 30 gm khadi soap are required.The garlic should be first soaked in 100 ml of kerosene overnight, and ground with green chillies and pepper the next day. Tobacco is to be soaked in water for a day and then filtered and mixed with 200 ml of neem oil. The two solutions must be mixed together. Finally, khadi soap should be added and the mixture stirred well. The total quantity of the mixture will be about seven litres. This entire quantity is sufficient for an acre. For an acre, 700 ml of the mixture must be diluted in 10 litres of water and sprayed. About 10 tank sprays (10 litres capacity) are sufficient for an acre "It costs only between Rs,100-200 to make this herbal spray. If one has to buy chemicals, then you have to spend Rs 600 toRs.700 for an acre,"Mr. Chellamuthu explains and  also sells the herbal pest repellent in bottles priced at Rs.50 each. The National Innovation Foundation, honoured the farmer for his work. For more information readers can contact Mr. K.M. Chellamuthu at Karukkamapalaym, Oonchalur Post, Kodumudi via, Erode District, Tamil Nadu, phone: 04204-266127, mobile: 9486602389.

The Hindu, 27th February 2009   

Use of pesticide for vector control approved

The district medical administration has claimed that the number of dengue fever victims in the district had shown a significant decline over the last two weeks.District Medical Officer N. Sreedhar told that only 15 persons had been diagnosed with dengue fever over the last two weeks, while the number was as high as 60 in the first three weeks of January. The meeting approved the use of Temefos pesticide for vector control in the mosquito-infested areas. "A study conducted in Vizhinjam and Kottukal found that the water stored in bathrooms is a breeding ground for the aedis mosquito. By using Temefos granules, this threat can be eliminated," Dr. Sreedhar said.The meeting was informed that the pesticide was safe and free from other health hazards.

The Hindu, 27th February 2009   

Global warming threat increased

An international team of climate experts has taken a new look at the threat of global warming, and they do not like what they see. The Earth will not have to warm up as much as had been thought to cause serious consequences, including more extreme weather and increasing threats to plants and animals, the scientists report in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated that the risk of increased severe weather would rise with a global average temperature increase of between 1 degree Celsius and 2 degrees above 1990 levels. The National Climatic Data Center currently reports that global temperatures have risen 0.12 degree since 1990. Now, researchers report that "increases in drought, heat waves, and floods are projected in many regions and would have adverse impacts, including increased water stress, wildfire frequency, and flood risks starting at less than 1 degree of additional warming above 1990 levels." Indeed, "it is now more likely than not that human activity has contributed to observed increases in heat waves, intense precipitation events, and the intensity of tropical cyclones," concluded the researchers led by Joel B. Smith of Stratus Consulting Inc. Other researchers, they noted, have suggested that "the likelihood of the 2003 heat wave in Europe, which led to the death of tens of thousands of people, was substantially increased by increased greenhouse gas concentrations." The new report comes just a week after Christopher Field of the Carnegie Institution for Science told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that humans are now adding carbon to the atmosphere even faster than in the 1990s. Carbon emissions have been growing at 3.5 percent per year since 2000, up sharply from the 0.9 percent per year in the 1990s, Field said. The new study says there is new evidence of greater vulnerability to climate change for specific populations, such An international team of climate experts has taken a new look at the threat of global warming, and they do not like what they see. The Earth will not have to warm up as much as had been thought to cause serious consequences, including more extreme weather and increasing threats to plants and animals, the scientists report in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated that the risk of increased severe weather would rise with a global average temperature increase of between 1 degree Celsius and 2 degrees above 1990 levels. The National Climatic Data Center currently reports that global temperatures have risen 0.12 degree since 1990. Now, researchers report that "increases in drought, heat waves, and floods are projected in many regions and would have adverse impacts, including increased water stress, wildfire frequency, and flood risks starting at less than 1 degree of additional warming above 1990 levels." Indeed, "it is now more likely than not that human activity has contributed to observed increases in heat waves, intense precipitation events, and the intensity of tropical cyclones," concluded the researchers led by Joel B. Smith of Stratus Consulting Inc. Other researchers, they noted, have suggested that "the likelihood of the 2003 heat wave in Europe, which led to the death of tens of thousands of people, was substantially increased by increased greenhouse gas concentrations." The new report comes just a week after Christopher Field of the Carnegie Institution for Science told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that humans are now adding carbon to the atmosphere even faster than in the 1990s. Carbon emissions have been growing at 3.5 percent per year since 2000, up sharply from the 0.9 percent per year in the 1990s, Field said. The new study says there is new evidence of greater vulnerability to climate change for specific populations, such as the poor and elderly, in not only developing but also developed countries.

The Hindu, 27th February 2009