Eravikulam National Park

Source: Malayala Manorama, 27th May 2009

Vembanad fish count on 27th

Source: Deepika, 25th May 2009

Increase in paddy procurement

Paddy procurement in the State increased to 2.33 lakh tonnes this year. Minister for Food and Civil Supplies C. Divakaran said here on Thursday that annual procurement had gone up by 56,000 tonnes by the end of this season compared to the previous year.The Minister said that about 14,000 hectares of paddy fields, which were remaining fallow, had been brought under cultivation at the initiative of the government.Mr. Divakaran said the government had procured paddy at Rs.11 a kg, and the total cost came to Rs.256 crore. Of this, Rs.133 crore had already been paid to the farmers and the balance would be cleared by the end of this month.Payments were delayed on account of delay in getting Central subsidy, administrative delay in sanctioning State share and time taken for realisation of costs from sales.Payments would be resumed in Kuttanad, Upper Kuttanad, Kottayam, Thrissur, Malappuram and Wayanad district on Friday.The procured paddy was mostly being processed by 58 private mills. He said the supply of rice at Rs.2 a kg to the poor had been postponed to next week because of delay in finalisation of the list of fishermen and members of the Scheduled Castes who were eligible to get the rice.

 

The Hindu, 15th May 2009

Periyar WIldlife sanctury

Source: Malayala Manorama, 20th May 2009

Tree authorities will form

Source: Mathrubhumi, 15th May 2009

Silent Valley National Park

Source: Malayala Manorama, 15th may 2009

Diamond jubilee celebration of Silent Valley

Source: Mathrubhumi, 15th May 2009

Nila is dying

Source: Deepika, 18th May 2009

Higher level meeting will call for the protection of Akkulam Lake

Source: Deshabhimani, 15th May 2009

Survey recommends organic farming at Vellayani

 A two-month survey conducted by the faculty and students of the College of Agriculture, Vellayani, has proposed the constitution of an ecosystem development authority comprising representatives of local people to manage and conserve the Vellayani freshwater lake.The survey carried out during November-December 2008 by the Social Science division of the college recommended an intervention strategy for sustainable management of the Vellayani wetland ecosystem. It identified sand-mining as the biggest threat to the lake.The survey, funded by the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM), collected inputs from NGOs, agricultural labourers, people's representatives, social activists and environmentalists. The report of the study, which was published recently, called for proactive participatory 'water literacy campaigns' and educational programmes highlighting the need to conserve the Vellayani wetland ecosystem and ensure the rational use of resources.It stressed the need to promote organic farming in the areas bordering the lake and encourage farmers to take up soil conservation and protection of water resources."Heavy soil erosion in the upstream reaches of the canals emptying into the lake has led to the accumulation of mud on the lake bed, reducing the depth of the reservoir," says Dr. S. Mothilal Nehru, Associate Director (Extension), College of Agriculture. "Field investigation revealed that several houses on the boundary of the lake were discharging raw sewage into the water. Analysis of water samples also indicated the presence of coliform bacteria."The report underlines the need to renovate and deepen the Kannukalichal canal and strengthen and raise the bund around the pump house. It highlights the need to educate the residents about the necessity and importance of sanitation.The report points out that the construction of roads across the length and breadth of the lake had affected the ecosystem. It recommends the construction of bridges to replace the roads and enhance the flow of water.The survey team called for an end to the practice of dewatering parts of the lake for paddy farming. It proposed a comprehensive project to promote organic farming in the vicinity of the lake with the support of the Kerala Agriculture University, Department of Agriculture, Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam and local bodies. A market for organic products, with a business plan was another major recommendation.The team called for the establishment of a separate authority to promote ecotourism and farm tourism for employment generation and livelihood. It also recommended controlled fish farming with assistance from the Department of Fisheries.It called for a detailed project by the Department of Agriculture, Thiruvananthapuram district panchayat and the College of Agriculture for paddy cultivation in the farmlands around the lake.The report stressed the need to identify alternate means of livelihood like rabbit rearing, vermi-composting, coir pith processing, beekeeping and value addition of fruits and vegetables for farm workers who lose their jobs by the discontinuation of cultivation on the lakebed after dewatering.Pointing out that the area of the lake had shrunk considerably over the years, it called for an action plan to conserve the remaining portions.

The Hindu, 12th May 2009 

10 tigers sighted in Wayanad sanctuary

A survey of the tiger and co-predator population in the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary conducted by the Wildlife Department has reported sighting of 10 tigers.The three-day survey, which concluded on Monday, was conducted in association with the National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers of the veterinary colleges at Mannuthy and Pookode."Five tigers and a cub were sighted in the Tholpetty forest range, one tiger and two cubs in the Sulthan Bathery forest range and one each at the Kurichiad and Muthanga forest ranges under the Wayanad Wildlife sanctuary," said C.T. Joju, assistant wildlife warden, Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. "The sighting of the cubs is evidence of a healthy habitat of tigers in this region," Mr. Joju said. Though only 10 tigers were sighted during the survey, the exact number may vary from 20 to 25, said a Forest official. "We can ascertain the exact number only after a detailed analysis of the pug marks, droppings, hair, and scratches on the barks of trees by the tiger," he added.As many as 140 members, including Forest officials, NSS volunteers of the veterinary colleges at Mannuthy and Pookode and watchers of anti-poaching camps in the sanctuary, took part in the survey.The Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary is spread over 344.44 sq. km. under four forest ranges. It was divided into 35 blocks for the survey.Each block was surveyed by a four-member team comprising a Forest official, an NSS volunteer and two watchers of anti-poaching camps in the sanctuary. Apart from direct sighting, the surveyors collected nearly 50 pug marks, droppings, hair and scratches of the animal on the barks of trees in its home region."The pug marks are mainly used for the distribution study of the animal," Arun Zachariah, assistant forest veterinary officer, told The Hindu."Once we identify the pugmarks with the help of Global Positioning System (GPS), we can map the exact locality of the animal," he added. "The droppings and hair of the animal are as important as direct sighting, since we can extract the DNA of the animal from it," Dr. Zachariah said."After the genotyping analysis of the DNA at the Wildlife Disease Diagnosing Laboratory under the Wildlife Department at Sulthan Bathery, we can confirm the sex, genetical relationship, prey preference, parasitic load and individual identity of the tiger population," he added.After the detailed analysis of the survey, the Forest Department will develop a strategy to strengthen the protective measures as part of forest management, V.K. Sreevalsan, Wildlife Warden, Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, said. We are also planning to constitute a genotyping collection of the tigers based on this survey, he added.

 The Hindu, 12th May 2009

Stir, encroachers delaying notification of Kurinjimala

 Local agitations masterminded by encroachers are delaying the settlement and final notification of the Kurinjimala Sanctuary in Idukki district.The Sub-Collector of Devikulam had issued a notification on May 9 last year for considering any claims of the local population before finalising the boundaries of the sanctuary. Though one year has passed, the settlement could not be completed because of the protests, including a month-long dharna in front of the Sub-Collector's office. The Sub-Collector has convened a meeting of people concerned on Tuesday to discuss the issue. The official notification on the sanctuary, issued in 2006, had excluded land with title deeds in the Vattavada and Kottakambur villages of the district from the notified area of 3,200 hectares. As such, about 40 families in the Mannavannur area and farmers in the Koviloor and Vattavada areas are not to lose their rights on land.However, a number of bigwigs, including political leaders, have encroached land in the notified area. Some of these areas are being used for eucalyptus cultivation without any genuine title deeds for the land. Some have bogus documents secured with the help of some revenue officials.Hence, the squatters have incited genuine title-holders to agitate against the settlement. Demands have been made for the larger extend of land claiming that the original settlers of these areas practiced shifting cultivation. (Shifting cultivation had been banned before Independence). This could not be legally conceded though Forest Minister Benoy Viswom had promised to take that into account at a meeting convened by him to discuss the issue last year. The Forest Department officials are divided over granting rights to people without genuine title deeds.Meanwhile, moves are also being made to develop a highway through the sanctuary so that both the genuine title-holders and squatters could benefit from appreciation in land value.This was one of the first announcements made when Kerala Congress leader T.U. Kuruvila became the Public Works Minister. (He had to resign subsequently following allegations over a land deal.) The squatters are reportedly confident that they could secure the land in their possession owing to their political influence. The local panchayat had cut a mud road through the sanctuary area before it was notified.The sanctuary is the habitat of Kurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana) and many other species of plants specific to the Shola grasslands. The Shola grasslands in the area, which is important in the conservation of water, had been heavily damaged by planting eucalyptus and black wattle. This in turn had affected the farmers.

 The Hindu, 11th May 2009 

Studying the new flu virus

The new H1N1 virus, which threatens to set off an influenza pandemic, is a mishmash of swine, human and bird flu genes drawn from two flu strains that infected pigs. But it is still not clear where the new virus first made its leap from pigs into humans.It was only about a month ago — on April 15 — that the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S. first isolated the new flu virus from a sample taken from a 10-year-old boy in California. Alarm bells went off when some days later exactly the same strain was found in people with severe respiratory illness in neighbouring Mexico. Since then, scientists have scrutinised the genes of the new virus, which U.N. agencies have labelled Influenza A (H1N1). Flu viruses have their genes in eight segments. If two or more strains of flu infect the same animal, their progeny can receive a mix of these segments. Pigs are a particular problem because apart from swine flu viruses, they can also carry human and bird flu viruses.In two papers recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the U.S. scientists have shown that the new H1N1 virus has drawn six of its genes from flu viruses that were circulating in North American pigs and two genes from a Eurasian swine flu strain. The North American swine viruses were themselves a mix of pig, human and bird flu virus genes. These North American swine viruses had sporadically infected humans but had not become contagious enough for sustained transmission.The new H1N1 virus has never been seen before, either in humans or in animals, observed Michael Shaw of the CDC, a co-author of one of the papers. "There's clearly a gap in the surveillance because there are no really close relatives [of this virus], nothing that we can say was an immediate precursor," he said at a recent press briefing. Yet, the genetics of the virus and its behaviour showed that "it was already well-adapted for transmission in humans before it popped up in this particular case," he added.However, the inability to identify a direct ancestor means that the new H1N1 virus need not have originated in the pig farms of Mexico, the country that has so far reported the earliest cases of people catching this virus.According to the New Scientist magazine, two British scientists estimated that the new virus might have started circulating among humans in January this year and perhaps even as early as September 2008. Nicholas Grassly of Imperial College London and Andrew Rambaut of the University of Edinburgh based their estimate on the mutations found in nearly a dozen virus samples from Mexico and the U.S.However, at a time when a pandemic appears imminent, public health officials and doctors are currently more concerned about the course of disease once the virus gets into people.In Mexico, the disease was mild in the majority of those infected by the new H1N1virus, said Sylvie Briand, who currently heads the Global Influenza Programme at the World Health Organisation (WHO).A recent review of severe cases of disease in Mexico showed that those with chronic underlying conditions, such as diabetes, tuberculosis and cardiovascular disease, were at risk of developing complications, she told journalists during a press briefing recently. This, however, was close to the pattern seen with seasonal flu too. But, in addition, some previously healthy, young Mexicans too had developed severe pneumonia and died as a result, she added.In Mexico, bacterial pneumonia has not been a major factor in the cases of severe disease and death, according to Dr. Briand.An influential paper published last year in the Journal of Infectious Diseases had concluded: "The majority of deaths in the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic likely resulted directly from secondary bacterial pneumonia." The 1918 pandemic, which was caused by a H1N1 flu virus, was the most severe of the three pandemics that occurred in the 20th century.Rather, Mexicans had developed viral pneumonia that progressed into acute respiratory distress, said Dr. Briand. The major cause of death was respiratory failure and major organ failure, she added.In the U.S., the majority of those infected by the new H1N1 virus had symptoms that were typical of seasonal influenza, said Fatimah Dawood of the CDC. The three most common symptoms were fever, cough and sore throat, she told reporters recently.Dr. Dawood is the first author of a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine that analysed 642 confirmed cases of infection that occurred in the U.S. between mid-April and early May.But, in addition, diarrhoea and vomiting had also been observed in several patients. This led Dr. Dawood and her colleagues to warn the medical community that the disease could potentially spread through viruses shed in the faeces. Flu viruses are thought to be mainly transmitted through droplets expelled when an infected person coughs.The New England Journal of Medicine has made the latest papers as well as other material about the H1N1 flu virus available at a new website: http://h1n1.nejm.org/

The Hindu, 11th May 2009

Three-day wildlife census from Saturday

 The three-day wildlife census, with its focus on tiger population, will begin at the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctury (WWS) from Saturday, according to Forest officials. Apart from tigers, other carnivores like leopards will also be head-counted.Special training will be provided by experts on Friday for those who undertake the census.A 140-member team divided into groups and including wildlife enthusiasts, students of Mannuthy and Pookkode veterinary colleges and Forest Department personnel, will participate in the census.The WWS has been divided into 35 blocks for ensuring a foolproof census and each block would be scanned by a four-membr team", V.K.Sreevalsan, warden of the WWS, said.He told Express that "direct tiger sightings and evidences of indirect presence of animals would be registered", Indirect evidence like pug marks, food leftovers, scratches on trees, animal droppings, photographs and sounds of animals would be collected and registered.The pug marks will be collected using plaster of Paris. The collected data and stuff would be scientifically analyzed later for accuracy.The   droppings will be collected in special kits and the clinical examination to decide the genotype of the animal will be conducted by veterinary experts.Assistant wildlife wardens and veterinary doctors will monitor the entire process." To ensure a foolproof census, there will be no entry for visitors into the sanctuary for three days from Saturday", K.G.Radhakrishnalal, assistant wildlife warden, Muthanga range, said.

The New Indian Express, 8th May 2009 

Birthday celebration of a grain

It was the 10th birthday celebration of a rice grain that feeds the State.'Uma,' a hybrid rice grain developed by the Mankombu Rice Research Station of the Kerala Agricultural University, has completed a decade of farming in the State. During this period, Uma has established itself as the numero uno rice grain in Kerala. It has also achieved the distinction of being the rice variety that is cultivated in more than 50 per cent of the paddy fields in Kerala.It is estimated that Uma is being cultivated in over 1 lakh hectares and feeds the State more than any other variety.To mark the 10th birthday of the development of the grain, the scientists who worked for around 15 years to develop the variety met at Kumarakom last week. Agricultural scientists, including C.A. Joseph, L. Rema Devi, D. Ambika Devi, N. Ramabhai, R. Devika, Vasudevan Nair, S. Leenakumari and Ahmed Regina, were those who had striven hard to develop the variety. The researchers were felicitated at a function as a mark of appreciation of their efforts.The features that make the variety the favourite of paddy growers is its capability to stand erratic climate, dormancy and high yield."Uma has the capability to withstand climate changes, including salinity, acidity and other unfavourable conditions," said Prof. Leenakumari, who was the Principal Investigator of the research project during the late Eighties. The variety was cleared for farming in 1998.The seed easily found its way to the hearts of the paddy farmers due to its resistance to Gall Midge pest attack. When most of the rice varieties succumbed to the attack that occurred between 1996 and 1998, the variety withstood it. While 90 per cent of the paddy crop was lost to the attack, only 3 per cent of Uma farming was lost, Prof. Leenakumari said.The State had suffered a loss of Rs.80 crore in the pest attack.Uma has an additional yield advantage of around 2 tonne per hectare over other varieties.The farmers too stand to gain from farming, as their earning per hectare is estimated as around Rs. 18,000 per hectare, she said.

 The Hindu, 8th May 2009

Farmers win water supply, fishermen lose livelihood

The scene at the sprawling tank in Atmakur mandal in Warangal district was heart-rending as hundreds of shattered fishermen gathered under the hot sun and swept the scattered dead fish to one spot.Lakhs of fish died as the tank went dry, thanks to farmers drawing all the water, dealing a death blow to over 200 fishermen families. "We paid the lease amount to the Revenue department to grant us permission to store one to two-foot water to nurse the fingerlings worth Rs 1.5 lakh let into the tank before onset of summer. However, under pressure from farmers, the officials released the entire storage," lamented M. Mallesham, chairman of the District Fishermen Cooperative Society.Had they grown, the fish from the tank would have fetched the society about Rs. 6 lakh and the money would have been distributed equally among the fishermen families.The farmers had been under tension as their paddy crop was fast withering, thanks to water scarcity and searing heat. As they enjoyed the support of political parties, the officials, not to be caught on the wrong foot, eventually decided to release the water.Ultimately it was the fishermen and their families who were caught in the "crossfire." The fish choked to death as the last drops of water flowed smoothly into the irrigation canals, leaving the tank dry.Mr Balaraju, society vice-chairman, demanded that the government come to the rescue of the fishermen who were deprived of a precious source of their livelihood.

The Hindu, 8th May 2009 

Regenerating forests with bamboo

In a few years from now, forests in the district may proudly sport lush green bamboo thickets covering large areas.More than a 1,000 families including tribesfolk and those living in the fringe areas of the forests are expected to participate in a major exercise to plant and nurture 2.5 lakh saplings of bamboo.The project, taken up by the Forest Department in association with the National Bamboo Mission, aims at regenerating the forests in the region and help check soil erosion by protecting the banks of rivers and streams. As many as 210 hectares of forest land have been identified for planting bamboos.Divisional Forest Officer S. Muraleedharan said the saplings for the scheme were ready for planting."We have set up bamboo nurseries at Mathrakarikkakam in the Kulathupuzha Forest Range, Narakathinkala in Paruthipally range and Chekkonam and Pethalakarikkakam in the Palode range".The project is to be implemented by the Forest Development Agency (FDA), Thiruvananthapuram. Vana Samrakshana Samithis (VSS) will be responsible for planting the seedlings in the designated areas.While the VSS, Palode, will take up planting at Mankayam and Ponmudi, VSS, Paruthipally, will do the same at Kallar and VSS, Kulathupuzha, will cover Mathrakarikkakakam, Pottamavu, Elavupalam, Thannimoodu, Milpalam and Chozhiyakodu. VSS members have been equipped to implement the scheme.As many as 625 saplings are to be planted per hectare.

The Hindu, 7th May 2009

Spurious rice variety farmed in Alappuzha

The introduction of a "spurious rice variety" in Alappuzha overlooking the import guidelines and quarantine measures has come under the scanner.An unknown rice variety was illegally brought to the country from Vietnam and farmed at the Viyapuram Seed Production Centre, Alappuzha, recently. There were also reports that it was the Taiwan Golden Rice that was farmed there. It was revealed that the field trials of the variety were conducted at Viyapuram without obtaining the mandatory clearance, including that from the Kerala Agricultural University.Agricultural scientists have started an investigation into the incident and rice samples were collected for analysis from the seed centre on Tuesday.S. Leenakumari, Professor (Plant Breeding), Rice Research Station, Kerala Agricultural University, Mankombu, collected the seed samples following a direction from the Agriculture Ministry."The source of the rice is unknown. The rice grains were short and bold and the husk had golden colour. But the endosperm—the inner part of the grain—was white in colour. It was a spurious variety whose characters were unknown," she said. It looked like Japonica rice which was commonly farmed in temperate regions such as Japan, Taiwan and China. The variety seemed like the speciality rice that was used for the preparation of special dishes in these countries, she said.Prof. Leenakumari, who is also an expert in rice, said the rice was not released for farm trials through official sources.The unauthorised introduction and farming of seeds that are not quarantined may result in the release of pathogens that can cause diseases to epidemic levels, said Z. Abraham, principal scientist of the Thrissur Regional Station of the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR).It may also lead to the outbreak of diseases hitherto unknown in the region and result in biodiversity loss, he said.In case of Genetically Modified varieties, there are apprehensions that it may adversely affect the flora and fauna of a region once they establish themselves in the wild or farms. Any import of plant genetic resources should be sourced through the Bureau and subjected to the mandatory quarantine measures, Mr. Abraham said.The genetic resources should have a phyto-sanitary report from the country of origin. In case of import in bulk quantities, the quarantine measures should be conducted at the Plant Quarantine Department at Faridabad, he said.

The Hindu, 7th May 2009 

To save trees

The environmentalists in the city, including Sugathakumari, G.Shankar, Sridhar P, Eldo Pachilakadan and R.Ajayan habe put forward a serious of recommendations on tree felling in the city. These recommendations were made at a discussion the greens had with PWD Minister Mons Joseph, Forest Minister Binoy Viswam and Law Minister M.Vijayakumar. The following are the recommendations were put forward. 1.    Ban unnecessary chopping of trees 2.    Form a committee that includes environmentalists to monitor tree-felling. Trees should be chopped only after this committee inspects the site and gives permission for the same. 3.    Constitute a 'Tree Authority of  Kerala'Planting of new trees and maintenance of older trees should be under the observation of this authority throughout Kerala 4.    Planting of trees their maintenance should be made made mandatory with all construction activities. 5.    Re-examine the ongoing Trivandrum City Road Improvement Programme and redsign the programme in a transparent manner, taking into account the conservation of trees and heritage zones.

The New Indian Express, 7th May 2009

Indiscriminate sand mining creates water shortage in Kerala

Kochi, May 4 Drinking water shortage in several parts of Kerala, especially in the high and midland areas of many districts, has become so acute that the inhabitants have to depend on water supply by private operators for whom it has turned out to be a lucrative business.The sharp fall in the ground water table, even in the embankments of major rivers like Pampa, Manimala, Achankovil etc, following indiscriminate sand mining, has resulted in the wells drying up even in February, environment activists said."Ever increasing human intervention in several major rivers in Kerala in recent years has changed their physical structure in such a way that it might sound the death knell to these rivers, if the authorities continued to remain indifferent," they told Business Line.One of the major victims of these activities is the River Pampa. Sand mining has removed the sand bed, which used to remain as a carpet, exposing the clay soil in several parts.Indiscriminate sand mining during the past two decades has deepened the riverbed by an average three to four metres, while there are points where it has dropped by six metres.Consequently, the water table in the wells in the catchment areas and in the river basins also have fallen sharply to the surface water levels in the rivers, Mr N.K.S. Nair, General Secretary of an NGO, said.Sand mining, check dams across the rivers, separating a large part of the sand bed as an enclosure for other purposes by dividing the river using permanent construction and so on, have been pointed out as reasons for the degradation of the rivers.When the riverbed level falls, the hydraulic gradient increases leading to higher velocity. As a result, immediately after the monsoon the water that flows into the rivers is drained out quickly. Unlike in the past, rivers are filled during the rains but after a few days of dry weather they become skeleton, said Mr Nair, a retired engineer."In the absence of sand no natural retention of water takes place. Sediment deficient flow of 'hungry water' picks up more sediment from the stream below the mining site, furthering the degradation process," he claimed.Thickets have come up at many points in Bharathapuzha and Periyar rivers also, he said.Normal monsoon season in Kerala is from June 1 to November 30 and the State used to receive on an average 3,000 mm of rainfall. Until a decade ago, the water table used to remain at higher levels up to March.But the situation has totally changed now. Immediately after the southwest monsoon, the water level in the rivers falls drastically leading to drought conditions. The wells in the river basin and the catchment areas dry up fast following the drop in underground water table, he pointed out. Environmental degradation is held as the reason for this situation.According to a study of the Kozhikode-based Central Water Research, the water availability by 2050 in the rivers Achankovil, Pampa and Manimala would drop by 459 million cubic metres, 3,537 million cubic metres and 398 cubic metres, respectively. If all these activities were not controlled and regulated by the authorities the water scarcity in the State would acquire serious dimensions in the years to come; this is already experienced in mid and high lands in several districts of the State, they warned.

The Business Line, 5th May 2009  

New norms for sand-mining soon

The State government is all set to pass an ordinance amending the Kerala River Bank Protection and Regulation of Sand-Mining Act, 2001, to bring in more severe punitive measures against illegal sand-miners. "Serial offenders involved in illegal sand-mining will be slapped with punishments including imprisonment and vehicles used for transporting sand will be seized," Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran told The Hindu. The prevailing provisions of the Act proved inadequate to check the menace, he said.The Minister said that a permanent team comprising officials of the Revenue and Police departments would be formed at the district level under the direct supervision of the District Collectors.The team would be dedicated to the sole job of preventing illegal sand mining.Mr. Rajendran said that once the ongoing sand audit was completed a slew of measures would be adopted to revamp the present system to check illegal sand-mining and conserve the ecologically critical rivers of the State. "Based on a scientific environment study adopted under the sand audit, some of the prevailing sand ghats will be closed down while new ghats will be allotted wherever found necessary," he said.The Minister pointed out that illegal sand-mining could not be completely prevented in the State, as the demand for sand was far in excess of the supply.The State, Mr. Rajendran said, was considering two alternatives to put the economics of demand and supply of sand in order.The Irrigation Department was considering the scope for mining sand silted in the dams in the State as recommended in the budget presented by Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac. The second alternative was to bring in surplus sand from other States. "Already discussions had been held with Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Gujarat could be a major supplier," said Mr. Rajendran. Mr. Rajendran said that auctioning of the seized illegally mined sand would be gradually done away with since the sand mafia itself was found to be its ultimate beneficiary. The system of giving away sand to Nirmithi Kendra at a reasonable price as was being done in the districts of Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, and Kollam would soon be made the norm, he said.

The Hindu, 5th May 2009

Rich pickings await bird lovers here

The opening of an information centre at the Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary at Thattekkad has come as a boon for the bird lovers visiting the place. The centre features photographs of rare birds stuffed birds and still models of all bird species found in the forests of Kerala.An Eco Development Committee (EDC) has been formed by the Forest Department for managing the centre.A mural portrait of Ali welcomes the visitors at the entrance. An interpreter is at hand to narrate the Dr Ali's 'special relationship' with the sanctuary-and much more.Dr Ali first visited Thattekkad in 1933 on an invitation by the Maharaja of Tranvancore for conducting an ornithological survey of Travancore and Cochin forests.During his first visit, Ali recorded nearly 167 bird species of the Travancore and Cochin forests. His second visit was in 1980s, during when he extensively studied the Thattekkad habitat because of the evergreen forest and presence of comparatively more migratory birds.This was when he sent a missive to the government, appealing that the Thattekkad be declared a National Bird Sanctuary.In 1984, the State Government obliged. Now it has become a mandatory pit stop, or more, for Indian and international species of migratory birds.Of the total 12,000 bird species in the world, 1,200 are found in India. And Kerala is home to 600 of them, of which 320 are regulars at Thattekkad. "The evergreen forests, freshwater, wetland and an amiable eco-system provide the right habitat for a variety of birds. The natural water bodies inside the 25-km sq km are ideal hang-outs for resident and migratory birds," says ornithologist R Sugathan.To collect the rain water, the Forest Department has constructed six check-dams in and around the area.The Boothathankettu dam also helps keep lake full of water. A bird watcher can observe different varieties of the winged beauties deep inside the jungle. But a single visit is just not enough for an ordinary visitor to 'size up' a bird species. Therein lies the interpretation centre's immense utility.The centre displays a photograph of the endangered Ripli owl. It was first found in 1974 in the Nelliampathy forests. It is found only in Kerala forests.The photographs displayed in different categories include those of 27 water-birds and 296 land-birds that were identified at Thattekkad.The info-centre also exhibits 120 stuffed butterflies that were spotted in the sanctuary.  The EDC has appointed 13 guides to help the bird watchers. The bird population has been high this season compared with last season, says Sugathan.But global warming seems to have taken its toll on a number of migratory birds. A scientific study is needed to assess the implications of the global warming for birds, says Sugathan.

The New Indian Express, 5th May 2009

Intensive farming at heart of flu crisis

In modern disaster management theory, when any large system experiences a major shock or failure, you assess the risk, activate an ordered emergency response, and manage the after-effects. In the world of real people hit directly by the real shock, you look for someone to blame. For ordinary Mexicans this week, who faced the shutdown of their country by swine flu and an unknown number of deaths, it was a culprit that was needed. The source of the current epidemic was easy to identify in their eyes. Near the town of La Gloria, east of Mexico City, which appears to be the epicentre of the flu outbreak, is a giant industrial pig complex jointly owned by the world's largest pig processor, Smithfield Foods. Smithfield is adamant that the swine flu epidemic is not of its making and has no connection to its factory farms in Mexico or in any of the countries where it has established its powerful presence. By the end of the week, the company had, like a besieged banker, gone into shutdown mode and declined to give interviews, but it issued a statement: "We have found no evidence of the presence of influenza virus in any of our pig herds or any of our employees at any of our worldwide operations. All our herds are tested regularly for disease including influenza. We routinely administer flu vaccines to protect them and conduct monthly tests to examine the presence and identity of different flu strains." When a young boy from La Gloria who had been ill in March became the earliest confirmed case of the current swine flu outbreak, following new tests by the U.S. Centre for Disease Control (CDC) on previously cleared samples from Mexico, Smithfield said it too was re-examining its herds. It was confident that it could reassure people who have been "bombarded by unfounded opinions, non-scientific statements and unrestrained internet rumour and speculation" that it was not the source. It declined to answer detailed press questions on its tests.Like the rest of the world watching a potential pandemic unfold as though in a slow-motion car crash, Smithfield could do little but wait to see how hard or soft the landing would be. Smithfield's predicament has not been helped by the fact that it has made itself somewhat conspicuous with its habits. It operates on a grand scale. The volume of its pig waste is extravagant. But just as one bank did not alone cause the financial crisis but merely conformed to the latest banking type, so it is the very nature of today's globalised meat industry that is at the heart of this swine flu pandemic. The factory unit near La Gloria fattens nearly a million pigs a year. Globally Smithfield slaughtered 26 million pigs in 2006, generating sales of $11.4bn and profits of $421m. It already controls over a quarter of the total U.S. processed pork market and it has expanded by acquisition in Europe. Like the banking sector, the global food system has seen the emergence of unprecedentedly large players that are dominant at every stage of production from pig breeding to bacon slicing. The modern food system has a sophistication and global interdependence to match the financial system, too. It looks too big to fail. But like that sector, it is also extraordinarily fragile and vulnerable to shock. Many of the shocks are likely to be of its own making. Smithfield's intensive factories of densely packed hogs, like those of the rest of the large-scale industry, produce vast lagoons of foul-smelling discharges. In many of the areas where it has sited its factory farms or slaughtering and processing complexes, activists and locals have campaigned against it, accusing it of environmental pollution, labour rights abuses and in some places operating without proper permits. The people of La Gloria have had long run-ins with the company's nearby subsidiary Granjas Carroll. When 60 per cent of the town's population became ill in March with flu-like symptoms, they quickly blamed the pigs. Swine flu is currently being passed from human to human, and it is possible that this particular strain of swine flu was created without ever seeing a pig directly, as U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) experts on animal health point out. The FAO has, however, dispatched a surveillance mission to help the Mexicans check their pig herds. But the focus on Smithfield is not surprising given its history. It won notoriety a decade ago when two of its US subsidiaries were given the largest ever environmental fines by the government's Environmental Protection Agency, having to pay $12.6m for illegally discharging pollutants from its operations in to the Pagan river in Virginia. It had committed more than 5,000 violations of permit levels for discharging faecal coli forms, phosphorus, ammonia, cyanide and oil from its pig factories over more than five years, destroying fish stocks and polluting water tables. Even more troublingly, it was also found guilty of falsifying documents and destroying records. And as expert labs continued their forensic work through the week, the ancestry of this latest strain of flu and its connection with modern intensive pig farming in general if not with any farm in particular was established. By Wednesday night the reason why scientists had pressed the full flu alert button even though only a few hundred cases outside Mexico, almost all mild at that point, had appeared, also became clearer. At CDC the head of virology had completed the genetic fingerprinting of the swine flu and was able to say that it has arisen from a strain first identified on industrial pig units in North Carolina in the late 1990s. It is no coincidence that this threat to global human health should have emerged from that particular state, as Michael Greger, director of public health at the U.S. Humane Society and leading author on the history of bird and animal flu explains: "North Carolina has the densest pig population in North America and boasts more than twice as many corporate swine mega-factories as any other state. With massive concentrations of farm animals within which to mutate, these new swine flu viruses in North America seem to be on an evolutionary fast track, jumping and reassorting between species at an unprecedented rate." Novel human disease is the toxic debt of today's industrial livestock farming. The influenza virus has eight genetic segments. If two different types of flu infect the same cell at the same time, the genes from both viruses mix, swapping segments to form totally new hybrids. In Mexico as in many poorer countries, industrial pig and poultry farms are increasingly sited close to crowded urban populations, making simultaneous infection by different flu strains more likely. The 1918 flu pandemic was an H1N1 strain and was a kind of bird flu new to humans so they had no immunity to it. It killed at least 50 million people as it raged around the world in less than a year. The 1918 H1N1 strain passed from humans to pigs, and became the dominant form of flu among pigs, albeit one that evolved into a fairly mild strain. But then in 1998 there was an explosive new outbreak of swine flu in a factory farm in North Carolina that made thousands of pigs ill. The virus had evolved into a triple hybrid that had never been seen before, containing gene segments from bird, human and swine flu. It had found the ideal breeding ground. Pigs, whose immune systems were suppressed by the stress of crowding and fast feeding, and kept confined indoors, were perfect disease incubators for flu whose preferred method of transmission is virus-infected aerosol droplets, expelled by the million in the hog's famous barking cough. Thanks to the modern practice of transporting live animals, the new virus spread rapidly through pig herds around the country. Six of the eight genetic segments of today's swine flu outbreak isolated by CDC experts can be traced back to the triple hybrid from North Carolina. Factory animal farming has developed as a giant ecological credit bubble. It has delivered enormous growth in global meat production over the last three decades. Consumers have happily bought its cheap products just as they gobbled up the freely-offered loans of the financial boom without asking too closely how such consumption could be sustained or what the eventual consequences might be. Swine flu should make us question that complacency. Jan Slingenbergh, a senior animal health officer at the FAO believes the precise final evolution of the current virus may never be found. "We don't know, but what is most likely is that a human was infected by a common flu virus and at the same time with a second virus which had elements probably from pigs and they mixed to form a new virus. The last bit of human mixing probably took place around mid-March in Mexico." Slingenbergh is sceptical that a link will be found to the Granjas Carroll factory. The current virus may now progress as a mild strain and die down or it may mutate and evolve further to become more virulent. The reason experts have invested so much effort in preparing for a flu pandemic and are taking this one so seriously, is that these rapidly evolving strains that mix bird, pig and human forms could throw up a particularly deadly variety. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2009

The Hindu, 4th May 2009 

Kerala mulls action plans to protect forest biodiversity

The Kerala Government will formulate action plans to protect and sustain the rich biodiversity of the State's forests and implement them without fail according to the Forest Policy cleared by the Cabinet on Wednesday.The policy states that in view of the influence the natural forests have on climate changes, the ban on clear felling and selection felling will be continued. The Government will revive forests that face extinction through afforestation measures and protect them by taking up watershed-based projects and through other effective interventions.It is pointed out that the Western Ghats has been declared as one of the biodiversity hotspots of the world by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural resources (IUCN). The State now has five national parks and 15 wildlife sanctuaries and they constitute 6.5 percent of its total geographical area ans 27 percent of the forest area. The Government will continue with the efforts to increase the extent of these protected areas to one-third of the total forest area. Also, the fragmentation of the eco-systems will be arrested and the contiguity of the isolated systems will be regained through creation of corridors.Out of the total 1.81 lakh hectares of plantations under the Forest Department, 75,000 hectares are teak plantations. In the context of the increasing demand for forest produces and the ban on converting natural forests into plantations, the productivity of the existing plantations has to be increased.For this purpose, the maintenance of the existing plantations will be intensified and modern technology adopted to improve their productivity. Besides teak, pulp and other trees will be brought under the revolving fund that was formed for the intensive management of forest trees. Action will be taken to protect eco-systems outside rge forests such as coastal areas, water bodies and mangroves with the involvement of the people.Conservation and community reserces will be formed for the urpose. Besides, farmers will be encouraged to plant trees, including sandal wood trees. The principle of planting ten trees while cutting down one tree will be adhered to when felling trees for development purposes.The encroachment of forest land will be strictly prevented even while firmly sticking to the policy of evicting all enroachents that took place after januray 1 1977. Towards this end, decentralised forest protection mechanism will be introduced under forest stations. Also modern technology will be introduced to strengthen the forest protection drive.

The Business Line, 2nd May 2009

Swine flu: cell at airport

The district health administration has opened a health cell and control room at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport on the basis of a directive from the Union Ministry of Health to step up surveillance and preparedness following the alert on influenza A/H1NI infection caused by a re-assorted swine flu virus.The control room, with a 10-member team of doctors and health inspectors, started functioning on May 1 evening. It will take up the surveillance of passengers reaching the city from other countries. The current team will be on duty till May 19.The district health administration officials said they had asked the airport authorities to give directives to employees to identify and detain passengers who had been in the past 10 days to countries where swine flu had been reported and who might be having fever, cough, sore throat, body ache and respiratory distress. Essentially, it is passengers from Canada, Austria, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, U.S. and Mexico who will be under surveillance. The Union Health Ministry instituted the series of preventive actions, including surveillance at posts and international airports and surveillance through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project units in States, after the WHO raised the pandemic alert on Influenza A/H1N1 from Phase 4 to Phase 5, implying wide-spread human infection.  The Health Department has convened a special meeting of the Rapid Response Team, consisting of medical experts and senior officials of other departments such as Animal Husbandry, Tourism and Railway and Airport authorities, on Saturday to assess the preparedness measures and to plan the action ahead on the basis of official guidelines. According to the directive from the Centre, any suspected cluster of influenza – like illness in the State should be investigated by the Rapid Response Team and managed in isolation facility with strict infection control practices.The swine flu clinical management protocol and infection control guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry has already been despatched by the Health Department to district health administrations and Medical Colleges, to be widely disseminated among doctors and technical staff. The medical supplies — Oseltamivir capsules, personal protection equipment like gloves and triple layer surgical masks — would be air-lifted by the Health Department if required, officials said.Though the Union Health Ministry has issued a press release that medical supplies stock has been despatched to Regional offices of Health and Family Welfare, the State Health Department is yet to receive any official information on this, they said.

The Hindu, 2nd May 2009 

Forest policy follows a pragmatic approach

The forest policy, approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday, is the result of a thorough revamp of the draft published early in 2007.The draft underwent changes both in form and content. The form improved considerably. Statements that looked like proposals in the future annual Plans of the department have been replaced with pure policy statements, sometimes clearer than the original. The changes in the content have positive and negative aspects to it.The policy states that efforts to increase the protected areas to one-third of the forest areas will continue, and specifically mentions the proposal to form a Malabar wildlife sanctuary. However, the protected area network proposed for the State by the Wildlife Institute of India two decades ago will not be realised in full. The policy strongly subscribes to the national policy that one-third of the total land areas should be under forest or tree cover. However, it has been clarified that the focus would be on extending tree cover through farm forestry and not by extending forest cover. This is despite a clear statement in the policy that forest leases would be cancelled in the event of breach of lease conditions and renewal would be subject to assessment of ecological importance of the area. The clarification does not come as a surprise as the government is already sitting on transfer of forested areas to the Forest Department in the Kannan Devan Hills of Idukki district. It is under tremendous pressure over non-renewal of lease of Thoothanpara and other estates. The government is also contemplating return of substantial areas of ecologically fragile lands taken over by it through an ordinance. Against this background, the policy has gone back on the draft proposal to protect all ecologically fragile areas. However, the policy does not talk about retaining all forest plantations as the draft did. (There is a Central government ban against replanting plantation in higher elevation areas.). Instead it speaks about improving productivity. It is silent on species rotation, which had been added to the draft during consultations, but mentions a plan to shift from exotic to indigenous species. Similarly, the proposal to tune ecotourism ventures to carrying capacity of specific locations has been dropped besides one to collect a fee from those who exploit ecosystems. No strategy has been proposed for fire control other than enlisting of public participation to prevent fires. The policy recognises deep links between forest conservation and water conservation.

The Hindu, 2nd May 2009

Plea for measures to protect lake

Six months after the Vellayani Kayal Paristhithi Samrakshana Samithi initiated a campaign to protect the Vellayani Lake, the chairman of the group says he sees a growing understanding of the need to return to using natural fertilizers and put an end to sand-mining. Rufus Daniel, chairman of the Samithi, has urged the State government to take control of the land surrounding the freshwater lake and implement necessary measures for protection of the water body.Mr. Daniel and the Samithi members have urged the government to offer incentives to landowners to sell their land. With control of the land, the government would be able to stop encroachment, construction and the use of chemical fertilizers along the 20-km shore of Vellayani Lake. The decline of the lake began almost 60 years ago with an initiative to plant crops, build an irrigation system by laying mud across the lake and erect pump houses to dewater the area for paddy farming. The government put an end to this cultivation in 1993, due to water shortage, but the lake had already shrunk by one-third of its original size, according to scientists. Use of man-made fertilizers also contaminated the water. "The people who are owners of the plots would like to dewater the lake and cultivate paddy, but they will use chemical fertilizers," said K. Harikrishnan Nair, Dean at the College of Agriculture, Vellayani. "If you want to keep the water, you have to ban paddy cultivation." Illegal sand-mining has also become a threat since the 1990s.

 The Hindu, 2nd May 2009

Kerala Minister moots Tree Authority

The Forests Minister, Mr.Benoy Viswom, has suggested that a 'Tree Authority' be set up to mull the desirability of cutting down trees on road sides prior to taking up developmental projects.In a letter to the public Works Minister, Mr.Mons Joseph, he suggested that the authority should have wide representation from all stakeholders. The idea has been mooted in the context of environmentalists and nature lovers taking up cudgels on behalf of the stately avenue trees standing tall by the side of congested roads in the State capital. Many of these have been marked out for being cut down for facilitating the smooth progress of the long drawn City Road Improvement Project (CRIP). Airing the larger public poinion, the Forest Minister sought to remind his Cabinet colleague that the vener ably grand trees should be cut down only on unavoidable circumstances. Road development officials should be told to appreciate the public anger over the matter. "The justification for cutting down old trees at the trees at the dead of the night is not clear", the Minister said, nothing that the trees has stood there for years providing shelter to people from the harsher elements. Mr. Viswom said that he had counselled caution to officials when confronted with complaints from environmentalists. The general policy expressed itself against indiscriminate felling of trees. There was also the stipulation that 10 trees should be planted in lieu of each felled. Following pressure from environmenral activists, The Public Works Minister has decided to convene a high level meeting on May 6 to discuss the issue. A statement from the Minister's office said here that Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr.M.Vijayakumar; Forest Minister Mr.Benoy Viswom; the Thiruvananthapuram Mayor, Mr.C.Jayan Babu, and noted environmental acitivists, including poetess Sugathakumari, would participate in the meeting.

The Business Line, 1st May 2009 

Clean’ technology for coir fibre extraction

Scientists at the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) here have developed a biological process for the extraction of coir fibre from coconut husk without the environmental hazards associated with conventional retting. The 'clean' process developed by the environmental technology group at the NIIST unit here involves the use of enzymes to separate the fibres by converting plant compounds into soluble compounds. A high-rate anaerobic reactor removes the dissolved substances.According to R.S. Praveen Raj, scientist (IP Management & Technology Transfer), NIIST, the technology has the potential to curb the pollution of water-bodies caused by retting of coconut husks. The clean bioprocess can also be used for processing of natural fibres like jute, banana and pineapple leaf.

The Hindu, 30th April 2009

Meet convened to discuss tree felling

Following pressure from environmental activists, Public Works Minister Mons Joseph has decided to convene a meeting to discuss the issue of tree felling as part of the City Road Improvement Project (CRIP). A high-level meeting would be convened on May 6, a statement from the Minister's office said here on Wednesday. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Vijayakumar, Forest Minister Benoy Viswom, Mayor C. Jayan Babu, MLAs V. Sivankutty and V. Surendran Pillai and environmental activists, including Sugathakumari, and Habitat director G. Shankar would participate in the meeting.The decision to convene a meeting came a day after a delegation of environmentalists met Mr. Joseph with the request to avoid felling of trees as part of CRIP."It is difficult to avoid tree felling in places where road widening, construction of bus bays and pipe-laying will have to be done as part of the project. However, the meeting will discuss whether more trees other than those decided at a similar meeting convened by the government earlier have to be felled as part of the project," the statement said. It said the decision to fell trees was taken as part of expediting development works in the city. Most of the axed trees were dangerously jutting into the new roads. "The State government has taken a general stand to abstain from felling of trees wherever it can be avoided. That is why the trees lining the University College compound were protected while cutting down one tree in front of the Sanskrit College," the statement said. It said the May 6 meeting would review how far the decision to plant 10 saplings in place of every axed tree had been followed.

 The Hindu, 30th April 2009 

Search for new name for crocodile centre

The Forest Department is looking for a suitable name for the crocodile breeding centre at Neyyar near Thiruvananthapuram after its attempt to name the centre after naturalist Steve Irvin has suffered setbacks. "Agasthyar is the name that is doing the rounds. Yet, the government is open to suggestions from the public," says Binoy Viswom, Minister for Forest. The government has backtracked from its decision to name the centre as Steve Irwin Crocodile Rehabilitation and Research Centre after Irwin's wife, Terrie Rainnes Irwin, raised objections to it. Irwin died in a stingray attack while shooting a film off the Australian coast in 2006.

The Hindu, 30th April 2009

Controlling malaria

A significant reduction in malaria deaths through targeted intervention measures, particularly in Africa, and a substantial rise in funding to fight the scourge have brought the goal of elimination of the disease nearer. The search for a malaria vaccine may eventually present a winning candidate, but the focus for the immediate future must be on controlling the deadly falciparum form of the disease. The global health community, which has been enthused by the outcome of intensified malaria control efforts, is now talking of elimination. A dramatic reduction in mortality has been demonstrated with the use of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets and access to Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT). The World Health Organisation's Roll Back Malaria initiative is working to bring down deaths from close to a million a year today to near zero by 2015. Much of the optimism stems from good results reported by countries such as Zambia, where malaria deaths have declined by two-thirds. This breakthrough was achieved by distributing millions of insecticide-treated bed nets and making available ACTs widely over a two-year period. If the 60 other 'malaria heartland' countries can replicate these results, the disease can certainly be rolled back within a few years. On World Malaria Day (April 25) this year, an ambitious Affordable Medicines Facility under the Roll Back Malaria framework was unveiled. This will bring ACTs within reach of everyone in a selected group of countries. It has been made possible by fixing low, subsidised drug prices through negotiations with manufacturers. If the experiment succeeds, it can become a global programme. Expanded funding running into billions of dollars has been pledged by various sources, starting with $4.6 billion from the Global Fund, to scale up malaria control and offer combination therapy where appropriate. The talk about rising India must not be allowed to obscure the harsh reality that remote areas in India, especially in the Northeast, continue to witness significant levels of death and morbidity due to falciparum malaria. Studies show that the affected regions are backward and extremely poor. It is crucial, therefore, that national malaria control efforts carefully weigh the evidence on the efficacy of fixed-dose combination therapy in comparison with conventional medicines and monotherapy. It will then be possible to make the best therapies available through the public health system to those who need them. The war against malaria has been long and costly but there is excellent evidence in hand to suggest that it can be won if the right public health choices are made.

The Hindu, 30th April 2009   

Greening, but at what cost?

Cartoons, bamboos, desk palms, table trench palms, yellow palms, sayagrass palms, golden cypress, shefleera and ficus you find them all decorating the three floors of Sasthra Bhavan, which houses the apex body of science and technology in the State. Some green and happy, some thirsty and tired, some brown and nearly dead. But what astounds you is the cost of maintaining these plants- a whopping Rs.6,200 as rent per month translating to approximately Rs.75,000 per year, all of which goes to a private garden. This flow of money to a private nursery has been happening over the years and the contract was extended for another six months on April 4. Sources at Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) and kickbacks in the deal, but any ordinary citizen is left thinking about the money that he pays as tax to the Government. Thinking a little more scientifically one would wonder- Is the Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI) at logger heads with its parent organization, the KSCSTE? Why else should KSCSTE, which approaches TBGRI for the conduct of every event, including the prestigious Keerala Science Congress, reject the institute when it comes to greening their premises? Check out the website www.tbgri.in " TBGRI is the conserver of the largest number of plant species among the Botanic Gardens in Asia", says the scroll. This gigantic garden also has a huge number of high quality plants on sale. Yet, the KSCSTE has decided to get plants from private gardens on rent. A quick enquiry at TBGRI would reveal that it can provide the same plants, or even much better ones, for a fee that is why down what is quoted by the private nursery at Pattom. The plants up for sale at TBGRI include foliage ornamentals, wild fruits, cacti and succulents, palms, ferns, bamboos, verities of anthuriums and so on. " The cost per plant varies from Rs. 5 to Rs.30", says the TBGRI website. Even if the KSCSTE is to buy the plants and the pots and the drains pots, the initial investment will not come anywhere near the total amount spent on greening the Sasthra Bhavan per month. If the Council were to buy the plants from TBGRI, it would have been a help to the cash strapped institute. The rent per potted plant per day is Rs.4, almost the same as buying a plant from TBGRI.  "As far as KSCSTE is concerned, the TBGRI would not take a single paisa from the Council for the plants", confirmed the sources both   at TBGRI and KSCSTE.  But  then why is KSCSTE ignoring TBGRI or the various botanical gardens in associated colleges, in matters that are green?

 The New Indian Express, 30th April 2009

Sand mining indigenous fishes on the verge of extinction

Source: Kerala Kaumudhi, 8th May 2009

 

Colour changing frog

Source: Kerala Kaumudhi, 3rd May 2009

 

Dying Killiyar

Source: Mathrubhumi, 5th May 2009

 

1st cloned camel

Source: Deshabhimani, 30th April 2009

 

Flourescent puppies through cloning

Source: Deshabhimani, 30th April 2009

 

Right to drinking water is important is right to live

Source: Deshabhimani, 30th April 2009

Swine flu

Source: Mathrubhumi, 30th April 2009

 

Swine flu' name is wrong: Animal health body

The  virus  spreading around the world should not be called "swine flu" as it contains avian and human components and no pig has so far been found ill with the disease, the world animal health body said. It would be more logical to call the virus "North American influenza", a name based on its geographic origin like the Spanish influenza, a human flu pandemic with animal origin that killed more than 50 million people in 1918-1919. "The virus has not been iso-lated in animals to date. The-refore, it is not justified to name this disease swine influenza," the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal , Health, also known as the OlE, said in a statement. The European Commission said that the virus was not linked with pork. Robert Madelin, director-general of the Commission's health and food safety department, said in Brussels that no European Union trade restrictions on imports were planned since swine flu had nothing to do with the food chain. The EU only imports insig-nificant numbers of live pigs and pigmeat products are not seen as a disease threat. The World Health Organisation has ruled out any risk of infection from consuming pork, saying swine flu has not been shown to be transmissible to people through eating properly handled and prepared pork, or other products derived from pigs. Fears of a global flu pandemic grew after 103 people were killed in Mexico and new infections were found in the US and Canada and possible cases as far afield as Eu-rope, Israel and New Zealand. The OIE, an intergovernmental organisation, warned that if the virus was shown to cause disease in animals, this could worsen the regional and global public health situation.Denmark, a major pork producer that exported nearly 2 million tonnes of pigmeat in 2008, said it was not putting any extra controls in place on pigs or introducing extra measures relating to pork production as a result of the flu threat.

 

Business Line, 29th April 2009

Rich nations can help address eco impact’

 Developed countries can play a major role in aiding developing countries to address the environmental consequences of industrial growth, says the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation's 'Industrial Development Report 2009'. Currently, policy initiatives by the developed countries focus largely on three aspects of mitigation: transport-related emissions, carbon leakage and clean development mechanism. Carbon leakage pertains to competitiveness concerns arising out of a situation where strong domestic action in one country to reduce emissions can cause firms to lose market share to competitors in countries where similar action has not been taken, or to relocate to such countries. According to a statement by the UNIDO here, its own experience shows that technical assistance programmes supported by the international community can help to solve environmental problems at the plant level. Through its 'National Cleaner Production Programme,' the UNIDO has promoted energy efficiency at the process level and has now taken that work to a new level by promoting energy efficiency at the systems level in industrial plants. The work is being supported by the Global Environmental Facility. The UNIDO is also working closely with the International Organisation for Standardisation in the development of new international energy management standards, says the report.

 

The Hindu, 29th  April 2009 

Environmentalists block tree felling

Environmentalists blocked the felling of two giant trees in the city on Monday night and extracted a promise from Public Works Minister Mons Joseph next morning to shelve the felling until the whole matter is subjected to a debate.Quite a large number of towering rain trees, some of them at least a century-old, were cut down in the city in the recent months for road development. Poet Sugathakumari, who led a protest delegation to the Minister on Tuesday, asked him whether such devastation was indeed necessary.Green architect G. Shankar and several other environmentalists in the city were with her when she met Mr. Joseph at the venue of a PWD workshop where all top officials of his department were assembled.Mr. Joseph explained the need for development, the need for wider roads. When pressed for answer to the question whether there should not be a debate on how the development should be, he said he would call a meeting immediately for that purpose.

 

The Hindu, 29th  April 2009

Poor struggle to weather the storm

Mumbai is one of the world's cities most vulnerable to flooding, with over half the population living in slums, many built on reclaimed swampland. In July 2005, floods caused 900 deaths, mostly by landslips and collapsed buildings. With its crumbling drainage system, uncontrolled development and the destruction of mangrove swamps that once soaked up intense rains, the urban poor are facing increasing risks from the weather in this 21st century megacity.It's not just Mumbai. In rapidly swelling cities across Asia, Africa and the Americas, from Jakarta to Lagos to Port-au-Prince, rapid urbanisation is pushing people to live on marginal land at risk of flooding and other climatic disasters.At the same time climate change is bringing new and unpredictable weather patterns, increasing the number of storms and their intensity. Rising sea levels will leave 200 million people living in coastal floodplains at risk of losing their homes and livelihoods.The effects will be huge. Research collated by Oxfam shows that in six years' time the number of people affected by climate-related crises is projected to rise by 54 per cent, from 250 million people currently to 375 million. This doesn't include the huge numbers of people affected by wars, volcanoes and earthquakes.It takes poverty to turn a storm into a full-blown disaster. The US saw this very clearly when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Poor people are more likely to live in densely populated areas, in rickety houses, without savings or access to healthcare. Living so close to the edge, they are easily killed or pushed into utter destitution.Huge numbers of people in East and Central Africa and South Asia are growing ever more vulnerable to an annual drought and flood cycle. In 2008, failed rains in Ethiopia left millions in need of food aid. Nearly four million people, mostly peasants, were affected by floods in Bihar in 2008.Many of climate disasters don't make the headlines.. As John Holmes, the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator said: "All these events on their own didn't have massive death tolls, but if you add them together you get a mega-disaster."The massive increase in disasters would be shocking enough if the world could cope with the current humanitarian situations. But the international system struggles to cope with current crises, like the millions going hungry in Somalia and hundreds of thousands adrift and homeless in the jungles of the Congo.In 2006 the world spent an estimated $14.2 billon on international humanitarian aid, less than the amount spent on video games. Keeping pace with the expected increase in disasters means the world will have to spend around $25 billion to maintain the current levels of humanitarian aid. But at $50 per person this isn't enough to meet their basic needs.If all governments of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) gave as much as its ten most generous countries, then global humanitarian aid would increase to $42 billion. Aid must not only be increased, it must be spent more fairly. In 2004, victims of the Asian tsunami received aid at an average of $1,241 per head. In Chad, which received far less media coverage than the tsunami, only $23 per head was spent on similarly destitute people. Their misfortune was to suffer a disaster that was slow, quiet and insidious.Poor countries can do a lot to deal with the effects of storms and flooding — if the political will is there. Bangladesh, Cuba and Mozambique have all invested heavily in protecting their people, and suffer much less loss of life in disasters than other poor countries. With extra help from the rich world and a serious commitment from developing countries' governments to invest in such prevention measures, more countries could be able to follow their example. As well as improved and increased aid, the rich world must also help poor countries to cope with the extra stress of climate change. Oxfam estimates they need to provide at least $50 billion annually — in addition to their aid budgets — to help people protect themselves from climate change. This means developing drought or flood-tolerant crops, improving infrastructures, raising bridges and roads in flood-prone areas or strengthening buildings to cope with increasing numbers of hurricanes.Stress-proofing entire regions against weather disasters is a long, hard slog. Few Western politicians are going to win plaudits for increasing aid budgets in a recession, or for cooperating with poorer nations in tackling the tough job of improving the humanitarian system.There are no Oscars for Hollywood directors making films about an Indian boy building an embankment to save his slum. This doesn't make it any less urgent or important.

 

 Business Line, 29th  April 2009 

WHO focus on vivax malaria control

Ways of effectively controlling vivax malaria are at the centre of this year's World Malaria Day activities in the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions.Representatives from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka met here recently to discuss ways of containing the spread of vicax malaria. Plasmodium vivax causes malaria symptoms and relapses. Patients infected with this parasite suffer frequent relapses (mainly of fever) within one to three years of a single inoculation against parasites from mosquito bites. Though vivax malaria is not absolutely fatal and the parasites usually cause mild symptoms, compared to the "killer" Plasmodium falciparum, prevalent in sub-tropical Africa, recent evidence from India indicates that it occasionally causes severe manifestations and even death. Dr. Samlee Plianbangchang, Regional Director of the WHO South-East Asia Region, said: "Malaria in Asia is different from malaria in Africa. Vivax malaria is less known and we need to understand more about its epidemiology and control interventions." The years 2000-2010 are a decade of "Roll Back Malaria."

 

The Hindu, 29th  April 2009

Don’t raise Narmada dam height: panel

A committee of environmental experts set up by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has concluded that there were major shortfalls in complying with the prescribed environmental conditionalities and requirements with respect to the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP). It has advised the Ministry not to permit further raising of the Narmada dam from the present height of 122 metres, even by means of construction of piers and bridges, unless there was compliance with the conditions by the States concerned. The report debunks the claims of the governments of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra related to full or substantial compliance with respect to various aspects. These include catchment area treatment, compensatory afforestation, downstream impacts, command area development, archaeology, health impacts, and seismicity.The officially appointed committee, chaired by Devendra Pandey, Director, Forest Survey of India, to review the studies, planning and implementation of environmental safeguards for the Sardar Sarovar and Indira Sagar projects, submitted its interim report to the Ministry in February. A copy was obtained by the Narmada Bachao Andolan under the Right to Information Act. The panel also rejected the Narmada Control Authority-appointed Committee on Back-Water Levels and its report, on the ground that it violated the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award. That award requires the Central Water Commission to finalise the levels and not the NCA or its committee.It observed that the NCA report had technical flaws including the presumption of a lower magnitude of floods at the Sardar Sarovar dam than what was relied upon to design and construct the dam. The Narmada Valley Development Authority (of Madhya Pradesh) and the NCA had claimed that their report would pave the way for raising the dam height. They based this claim on their observation that there was a lowering of backwater levels that would result in the exclusion of over 40 villages from the submergence area. Besides non-compliance with environmental conditions, the failure to properly rehabilitate and resettle oustees in the basin States of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat has prevented the dam height from being raised to its final intended level

The Hindu, 29th  April 2009

Gold fish feel pain too

A team of researchers has claimed to have solved the mystery that intrigued the sci¬ence world for decades: Whether or not fish feel pain? And, the answer is yes. Just like humans, goldfish feel pain too. Whilst the marine creatures can be seen to react to a jab or blow, experts have disagreed over whether the reaction in¬dicates a sensation of pain, or is little more than a basic reflex. According to scientists, the finding undermines claims that fish merely display reflex actions and do not sense pain. "The results show that it could not have been a simple reflex action," The Telegraph quoted Dr Joseph Garner, as saYing. "The fact that their beha¬viour changed so much really strongly suggests there is so¬mething going on with their memory and experience of that event that is not a reflex. I believe it does show that fish feel pain," he added.

 Business Line, 28th  April 2009

Ten rare trees facing extinction

Ten rare trees, "narrowly endemic" to Kerala, are facing the threat of extinction.Syzygium palghatense, which was first described in 1918 from the Palakkad Hills, is one such tree that is fighting for survival.The scientists of the Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, have spotted it in the Pandaravarai forests of the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary. Fewer than 10 of these trees survive in the locality.Dialium travancoricum, locally known as "Malampuli," capable of growing over 100 feet, is another species at risk. The tree was first described in 1904 from the Ponmudi forests. Atuna indica, another threatened variety, was first described in 1868 from Malabar and subsequently rediscovered from the Nilambur and Kakkayam forests.Agalia malabarica, locally known as 'Chuvannakil,' is another critically endangered tree whose distribution is restricted to three isolated localities in Kerala. The tree was spotted in Peechi, Vythiri and the Shenduruny Wildlife Sanctuary.Anacolosa densiflora, which was first described in 1864 from erstwhile Travancore, exists only in the Vallakkadavu forest of the Periyar Tiger Reserve. Madhuca bourdillonii, a giant tree locally known as Thandidiyan, was first spotted in 1921 from the Kulathupuzha-Aryankavu valleys and was later found in Vazhani, the Charpa forest and the Shenduruny sanctuary. Inga cynometroides, found in Rosemala, is restricted to less than 1sq km. The only surviving population of Humboldtia bourdillonii, another critically endangered tree, is found at Arjunankotta-Chenthamarakokka in the Periyar Tiger Reserve.Palaquium ravii, which was first located from the Peechi forests and later located in Periyar Tiger Reserve and the Nelliyampathy forests in Palakkad, and Syzygium periyarensis, found in Sundermala of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, are the other critically endangered trees of the State.These trees, considered possibly extinct, were relocated by the scientists of the institute. The institute plans to propagate them through various propagation methods, says K.V. Sankaran, Director of KFRI.

 The Hindu, 27th  April 2009 

Forest Dept plans tiger safari park in Malabar Sanctuary

 A major ploy for setting up a Nature Conservation Park and a Tiger Safari Park within a reserve forest is taking shape in the inner circles of the Forest Department.The safari park, which is to be built inside the proposed Malabar Sanctuary in the Kozhikode Forest Division by flouting norms, has the support of Forest Minister Benoy Viswom.Tiger safari is one of the 16 projects under an umbrella project - Nature Conservation Park.The Rs 24-crore project is to come up in 115 hectares of land inside the proposed Malabar Sanctuary at Peruvannamuzhi range in Kozhikode division.The state government has already submitted a proposal in this regard before the Zoo Authority of India.Sources said there smelled a controversy behind mooting such a project at a time when notification for Malabar Sanctuary is in the final stage. Setting up a park inside the reserve forest is violation of the Forest Conservation Act.Creating an entertainment park will automatically disturb the serene atmosphere of the reserve forest area and affects its natural bio-diversity, sources said. "The activities in the project are not a forestry activity. Therefore, it's a violation of the Forest Conservation Act. The attempt by the Forest Minister and some officials is to cut a piece of land on the border of the sanctuary and make a park there. Therefore, they can say the project is not within the sanctuary. It's against the rules," sources said.As expected, forest officials came up with an explanation that the nature conservation project lies on the border of the sanctuary only. "A proposal has been submitted to the Zoo Authority, for setting up a project with 16 initiatives.The Tiger safari park, rehabilitation of wild animals and Otter park are the three animal-related activities in the project,'' said K P Ouseph, Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife).He said the project was on the edge of the Malabar Sanctuary and therefore it will not affect the biodiversity in the area.The reason for choosing that particular area could be the absence of a nature conservation park in Northern Kerala, he said.Sources said that there were plans for setting up a tiger breeding area for captive breeding inside the proposed Nature Conservation Park. "In these days, when there are many modern concepts of animal conservation, promoting captive breeding is unethical. Therefore, it should not be allowed without discussions with the Tiger Conservation Authority of India," wildlife enthusiasts pointed out.

 The New Indian Express, 26th April 2009

5,457 hectares lost in forest fire

Kerala has lost 5,457 hectares of pristine forest land to forest fire during the summer.As many as 920 accidents of fire outbreak were reported this season. The worst affected was the Eastern Forest Division covering Palakkad and Nilambur areas where 1,530 hectares of forest land was lost in 182 accidents of fire outbreak, according to latest estimates.However, the summer rain has come as a relief to forest managers. "The fire risk has come down considerably, and most forest areas are now out of danger due to the summer showers," said T.M. Manoharan, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests.The Southern Circle region comprising Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram and Pathanamthitta districts also suffered heavy loss. Here 408 hectares were destroyed in 270 accidents. Wildlife sanctuaries, including Thekkady, Munnar, Chinnar, Eravikulam, Silent Valley and Parambikulam, also faced fire distress. The loss was estimated at 948 hectares in 73 accidents, according to Forest authorities.The loss of biodiversity has not been estimated, as no mechanism is in place for such an evaluation. No loss of wildlife was reported, Mr. Manoharan said.The loss of 5,457 hectares cannot be termed a major loss considering the total 11 lakh hectares of forest land of the State.However, the Department has taken serious note of the loss and intensified the fire prevention activities as reports of fire outbreak came in, Mr. Manoharan said.With most parts of the forest area receiving good rain, the evergreen forests are out of danger. The grasslands of Thekkady and Eravikulam National Park are now relatively safe. During the second week of April, Eravikulam regularly received rain in the evening. The fire protection works in Eravikulam were better than that undertaken in the Tamil Nadu side of the Park, he said.Considering the gravity of the situation in the State, camps were set up in the fire-prone areas.Chief Conservators of Forests were assigned the charge of each district and fire prevention activities were coordinated. The department undertook all possible measures using its limited resources and manpower, Mr. Manoharan said.The possibility of man-animal conflict in the fringe areas of the forests has come down as fodder and water have become available for the wild animals in their habitats, said K.P. Ouseph, Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife).

The Hindu, 25th April 2009 

Monsoon to be normal, with significant variations: expert

 Other things remaining the same, the south-west monsoon, Kerala's main source of water and electricity, will be 'normal' this year and will hit the State at the end of May or early June.According to atmospheric scientist and monsoon expert C.K. Rajan, though the quantum rainfall will be more or less the same as last few years', there will be wider variations in distribution in terms of space and time. That is, the rainfall will vary widely from June to September across the State. This variation, rather than the total quantum of rainfall, will be significant for Kerala in fields such as agriculture, power generation and so on."It will not be a bad monsoon this time, neither will it be a very active one," Dr. Rajan who until recently headed Cochin University's Centre for Monsoon Studies, told The Hindu. "It will be normal within the range of 5-10 per cent." He noted that over the past five to seven years, there had been major changes in the quantum of rainfall in the State in the south-west monsoon period of June to September. This could be an indicator of climate change due to global warming.Generally, northern Kerala gets three times more rainfall than southern Kerala during the southwest monsoon. Roughly, Thiruvananthapuram gets 90-100 cm of rainfall during the monsoon while Kannur gets 300-320 cm; and the Kochi region gets around 200 cm. Now, while the total rainfall remains almost the same, the variations are much wider. For instance, southern Kerala used to get more rainfall in June, and the north in July. This pattern is now being upset."These local variations are important as agriculture and other activities were scheduled around the rainfall pattern," Dr. Rajan said. He suggested that the public should be sensitive to these variations and reschedule their seasonal activities accordingly. This would to some extent mitigate the effects of climate change, he said.

 The Hindu, 25th April 2009

Lucky escape for this bunch

   A setion of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, which scientists have warned could  be killed by global warming within decades, has regenerated itself in record time, a scientist said on Thursday. But Laurence McCook, head of research for the authority that preserves the World heritage listed reef, said the giant organism remained at serious threat of climate change and labelled the partial regeneration a "lucky escape".The badly damaged stretch of coral at Keppel Island, at the reef's southern end, became strangled by seaweed after it began bleaching in 2006 due to elevated sea temperatures and acidity, the results of global warming.Bleaching occurs when the plant-like organisms that make up coral die and leave behind he white limestone skeleton of the reef.Bleached coral usually takes up to 10 years to regrow by a process of "reseeding", when larvae from a distant reef is carried by currents to populated the damaged area.But in an unusual combination of circumstances, McCook said the Keppel reef managed "asexual regrowth" from surviving tissue fragments and had returned to abudance in just 12 months."This is very unusual because it was a single species of seaweed and it is a species that diesback in winter", McCook told AFP."Then some of the coral had actually maintained enough survining tissue that they were actually able to grow much faster than we would normally expect".But he urged caution about the finding, describing it is an unsual and rare combination of the perfect conditions."If the reefs had been heavility polluted, if the area had been overfished, if tourism wasn't being well managed, all of those things could lead to the reef failing to recover", he said.While the overall health of the Great Barrier Reef was "relatively good on a global scale",McCook said it was under very serious threat from climate change and other human impacts.The reef, which is treasures as the world's largest living organism, stretches for 345,000sq.km off Australia's northeast cost. Coral growth has slowed markedly on the reef since 1990, believed to be caused by warmer seas and higher acidity.

Business line, 24th April 2009

Tourism scheme harmed wetlands’

The Kottuli wetlands have suffered environmental damage because of the Sarovaram tourism project, a spokesman of the Kerala Sastra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP) has said.P. Prasad, district secretary of KSSP, said here on Thursday that the damage was detected in a study conducted recently by a team sent by the KSSP. The team members found that the damage was inflicted during the execution of the first phase of the tourism project. The KSSP had appealed to the authorities concerned to conduct an environment impact study before undertaking the second phase of the project. No environmental impact assessment was made before the project was launched, he said. In the light of the findings, the KSSP demanded a survey to demarcate the boundary of the Sarovaram project site.If the boundary of the project site was not delineated, the wetlands in its vicinity would get filled with waste and it would finally lead to destruction of mangroves. Steps should be taken to prevent spectators at the mini theatre in the Sarovaram park from throwing plastic cups and similar non-biodegradable waste materials into wetlands. Nearly three acres of wetland near the toilet block had already got filled with waste and filth. The huge lights that lit up the park in the night and the high decibel notes from cultural programmes were scaring away the birds, Mr. Prasad said."In these circumstances, an environmental impact assessment study should be carried out before further work on the Sarovaram project is taken up," he said. He also appealed to the authorities concerned to call a meeting of government agencies and NGOs to elicit their views on the development of Sarovaram tourism project so that there would not be further damage to the fragile eco-system of Kottuli wetlands

 The Hindu, 24th April 2009 

A word of caution to the ‘trustees’ of Earth

 Every person has the responsibility to preserve the earth with all its greenery, executive vice-president of the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment E. P. Yesodharan has said. He was inaugurating a seminar on 'Green Generation' organised by the council on the occasion of the World Earth Day, here, on Wednesday.Even though there is no increase in the quantity of natural resources, including water resources, available on the earth, the number of people who consume these resources has been increasing. This has an enormous impact on the planet, he said.In his presentation, the former head of the Department of geology, University of Kerala, V. Prasannakumar said the younger generations should be made aware of the fact that each individual has the responsibility to ensure wise utilisation of the earth's resources."The World Earth Day should be a time to take stock of the gains we have made from the earth and to formulate new policies and visions for pulling back mother earth from the verge of an environmental catastrophe," he said.Almost every resource sought after by man is the product of processes that take place at the upper mantle and the crust of the planet. At the same time, such processes turn hazardous to man when they take the form of an earthquake, a tsunami or a volcanic eruption. Mankind is neither the owner nor custodian of the earth; instead mankind is only a trustee of the planet. It is the duty of a trustee to efficiently manage the earth's resources and to mitigate the hazards that get generated, he added.Director of the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS) M. Baba and professor emeritus at the CUSAT P.V. Joseph were among those who presented papers at the seminar.An elocution competition was also held on the occasion. In the UP section L. R. Reshma, S. S. Arya and Sohaib Sahib of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pattom, emerged first, second and third, respectively. In the High School section Aparna S. Kurup of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pattom, was the topper. While L.S. Shruthi of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pallippuram, emerged second, H. S. Varun of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pattom, secured the third prize, a press note issued here said.

The Hindu, 23rd April 2009

Sanction for amendment to `Kisan abhiman’ scheme

 The Government has sanctioned approval to the amendment made to the `Kisan abhiman' scheme introduced for enhancing agricultural production and ensuring welfare of farmers. Under the scheme, farmers who have completed 10 years in agricultural activities and having agriculture as their main source of livelihood could become members of the scheme. Earlier, the membership was limitted only to paddy farmers. But as per the amendment, other farmers also would be enrolled as members in the later stages. Though the approval to the amendment was granted by the middle of March, the order was not issued following the operation of the electoral model code of conduct. The Government had allocated Rs 1 crore in the 2008-09 budget for the implementation of the scheme. Sanction was also accorded for opening a temporary saving Bank account to deposit contributions for the scheme. For the effective implementation of the scheme, a sum of Rs 5 crore was made available from the budgetary provision of the Agriculture Department for the first 12 months. Under the scheme, farmers who have completed 60 years of age and not having more than one hectare of land will get a monthly pension of Rs 300.A member is eligible to get Rs 25,000 as marriage assistance for the marriage of one daughter. In the first phase, the assistance will be available for only 250 farmers. There is provision to give family pension in the event of the death of the members.

The New Indian Express, 23rd  April 2009 

Host of events to mark World Earth Day

A seminar on 'Green Generation,' an open house, competitions for children, single canvas painting on 'Greening the Earth' and other programmes will mark the observance of World Earth Day on Wednesday.The 'Green generation' is the core theme of the World Earth Day. The day should be devoted to proactive discussions and civil participation to defend Green Generation core principles, experts said.The Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS), by virtue of its dealing with the various facets of earth sciences, is spearheading the observance. The Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) will host the seminar on 'Green generation' at Sastra Bhavan, Pattom. KSCSTE executive vice-president E.P. Yasodharan will inaugurate the seminar.An elocution competition for schoolchildren will also be held.

The Hindu, 22nd April 2009

Fat people affect climate more

 High rates of obesity in richer countries cause up to one billion extra tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year, compared with countries with leaner populations, according to a study that assesses the additional food and fuel requirements of the overweight. The finding is particularly worrying, scientists say, because obesity is on the rise in many rich nations. "Population fatness has an environmental impact," said Phil Edwards, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The study has been published in the International Journal of Epidemiology. In their model, the researchers compared a population of a billion lean people, with weight distributions equivalent to a country such as Vietnam, with a billion people from richer countries, such as the U.S., where about 40 per cent of the population is classified obese — having an average body mass index of more than 30. They found the fatter population needed 19 per cent more food energy for its total energy requirements. They also factored in greater car use by the overweight. "The heavier our bodies become the harder it is to move about in them and the more dependent we become on our cars," they wrote.

The Hindu, 21st April 2009

Helicopters to monitor Global warming

Satellite pictures from websites like google earth to explore remote forests. However helicopters fitted with cameras can give a far more detailed view of the canopy, not only showing where trees have been felled but the different species found in the forest.  The equipment is being used as part of the earth watch 'climate change, canopies and wildlife' project that is looking at the impacts of climate change on the santa lucia cloud forest reserve in north western ecuador. Earthwatch scientist, Dr mika peck of the university of sussex, said that satellite images have already proved extremely useful in monitoring a massive reserve of more than 772 miles squared (2000 km2). He said satellite images available at the moment only show if a whole area has been felled but the images from the helicopter will show if particularly valuable but slow-growing hardwood trees like mahogany are being poached.  He said: "it allows us to monitor degradation as well as deforestation which is an important part of protecting the rainforest." The photos from the helicopter will also allow scientists to identify the different kinds of tree in the canopy in an area where there can be over 300 species in a single hectare. From this it is possible to guess the different animals able to live in the forest and therefore the "biodiversity" of the area. Rainforest destruction creates around a fifth of the world's carbon emissions and is therefore an important part of tackling cli¬mate change. At the moment world leaders are discussing how best to prevent deforesta¬tion as part of an international deal on climate change, with many suggesting that rainforest nations are paid not to chop down trees. However this will mean carefully monitoring the state of the rainforests. Dr Peck said the use of low•flying helicopters can allow scientists to estimate the amount of carbon being soaked up by the rainforest and the biodiversity of the area. Therefore it could prove useful to the future protection of the rainforests. He said: "The aim is to investigate the potential of using low level aerial photography to aid remote identification and assess¬ment of forest type and habitat. The ability to identify canopy tree species from images of crowns provides the potential to investigate the ecology of canopy species at the land¬scape scale. Ultimately it could help to moni¬tor carbon sequestration and biodiversity of an area."

 The New Indian Express, 20th April 2009