“AIDS Came to US from Haiti” Say Researchers from University of Arizona
The US has found a new target. Now it says aids came to its shores from Haiti. Researchers from the University of Arizona say gene sequences from the blood specimens collected in 1982–1983 from Haitian aids patients suggest the disease came from Haiti in the 1960’s. The study also reveals most of the aids viruses in the us can be traced to one person from Haiti. Continue reading »
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Census on Captive Elephants in Karnataka
A study on captive elephants has concluded in Karnataka. The first-of-its-kind study aims to take into account all aspects of management regimes and health care of captive elephants in India and create a database.
“Inventory of existing captive elephants will help us know the facilities they have in terms of health care, nutrition and training. We will then come up with a set of guidelines towards effective management of captive elephants,’
says Raman Sukumar, the founding trustee of Asian Nature Conservation Foundation (ancf). ancf along with the Bangalore-based ngo Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (cupa), initiated the study.
After the study, a manual has been prepared in Karnataka. It contains body measurement, dung circumference and weight, details of space, water, bath, interaction, training, behaviour and veterinary doctor’s availability for 158 captive elephants in the state along with their mahuts and their socio-economic status, Suparna Baksi Ganguly, vice president of cupa, said.
“The social status of mahuts is very low. The government doesn’t want to build infrastructure for them. We need to raise their standard of living so that they take interest in the animal,’ says Sukumar.
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MOEF Defination of Waste, Material etc. Skewed
The terms ‘waste‘ and ‘material‘ are synonymous in the draft hazardous material rules of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (moef). The rules have been criticized for violating norms of the Basel Convention - an international treaty on cleaner production, minimization of hazardous waste and control on its movement—to which India is a signatory.
“The rather unusual use of two similar meaning yet different terms—waste and material—is bound to lead to enormous confusion,’ note D B Boralkar and Claude Alvares, members of the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Wastes and say that the state pollution control boards won’t be able to deal with the confusion. Continue reading »
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Coimbatore Attempts to Save Waterbodies
In times of crisis there are two things one can do: crib and cry or do something about it. When the groundwater in the industrial city of Coimbatore plunged to 300 m at some places four years ago, its corporate houses and residents opted for the second way out: they took matters into their hands.
All the eight natural water tanks in Coimbatore were silted and clogged with garbage following large-scale construction activity since 1998. The dried riverbed of the Noyyal, running alongside the city, was encroached upon and channels leading to it clogged. Low rainfall aggravated the problem. According to the Coimbatore municipal corporation’s Citizens’ Charter, the city’s daily water supply shrunk a fifth. Agriculture, the main activity of the people in the suburbs, was affected.
“Water shortage was really acute; we decided to do something about it,’ says Vanitha Mohan, executive director of Premier Instruments & Controls Ltd. This was when Siruthuli—meaning a small drop in Tamil—was formed. A clutch of corporate houses came together to desilt the water tanks and the channels to the river; they pooled Rs 25 lakh each and asked people to chip in more. Continue reading »
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