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| Archana Sharma, the only Indian Scientist at CERN who has been working there for more than 23 years, with APJ Abdul Kalam. Website: http://archanasharma.org |
1 September 2011: Leading institute for basic research and training in physical and biophysical sciences, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics has signed a collaboration agreement with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The agreement between the two institution would establish an operational framework for collaboration on scientific projects of common interests that will include the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the facility for experiments with radioactive nuclear beams and Grid computing. Saha Institute is the only institute from India to participate in the experiments at CERN. Link: http://www.saha.ac.in/
2 September 2011: Assam will carry out an adult vaccination programme for Japanese encephalitis (a disease caused by the mosquito-borne Japanese encephalitis virus) in Sivasagar district on an experimental basis from October this year. It will be undertaken to assess the effectiveness of vaccines to prevent an outbreak in the district. It is for the first time in the country that such a vaccination programme was being undertaken. The state health department will incur all expenses in this regard and over Rs 72 crore will be spent for operational costs alone. Vaccination for those below 15 years is already there in the state.Link: http://www.who.int
3 September 2011: Vultures are an ecologically vital group of birds that face a range of threats in many areas that they occur. Populations of many Vulture species are under pressure and some species are facing extinction. Today, the world observed the International Vulture Awareness Day. It is organised internationally by the Birds of Prey Programme in South Africa and the Hawk Conservancy Trust in England. From mid-1990s, population of Vultures in India and world-over suffered a sudden and significant decline due to the use the veterinary anti-inflammatory drug, Diclofenac. It is hoped that the day can publicise the conservation of vultures to a wider audience. Link: http://www.vultureday.org
4 September 2011:Two Delhi students have made history by discovering a new asteroid as part of a unique astronomy project connected to US space agency NASA. The duo will also get an opportunity to name the asteroid. Vaibhav Sapra and Sharanjeet Singh, Class 12 students of Bal Bharati Public School in Pitampura, discovered a main belt asteroid (2011 QM14). It was part of the All India Asteroid Search Campaign (AIASC). About 60 schools from across India participated. Asteroids are very small planet-like objects that generally go around the Sun in orbits located between Mars and Jupiter. Sometimes these are nudged by gravitational forces out of their orbits and can come into contact with Earth.Link: http://balbharatipp.org/
5 September 2011: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to build a new class of powerful communication satellites that packs more capacity and new technologies. This kind of spacecraft would handle larger amount of power and accommodate more number of transponders in the same satellite, he said adding ISRO planned to incorporate new technologies in them and get into higher bands. ISRO would launch its first navigation satellite next year, under its Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) programme which would be followed by six more such spacecraft. ISRO's GSLV today can carry satellites weighing 2.2 tons into space. GSLV-Mk III will be one of the "major targets" in the coming five-year plan. Link: http://www.isro.org
6 September 2011: The green anole lizard (Anolis carolinensis),a native of the Southeastern United States, is the first reptile to have its genome sequenced.The researchers performed the first analysis of several other unusual features in the Anole genome, including microchromosomes, found in Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish but never in mammals. They also found a complete lack of Isochores, regions of the genome with high or low concentrations of the nucleotides "G" (Guanine) and "C" (Cytosine) which give human chromosomes a distinct banding pattern.The researchers who completed this sequencing project reported their findings in the journal Nature. Link: http://www.nature.com
7 September 2011: A 120-crore project of of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission will kick transform the mobile towers in the country into solar powered towers. Of the 400 towers, installed at R30 lakh each, 100 will be of BSNL. The ministry will subsidise about 30 % of the tower costs. Even at areas where the supply of electricity is erratic, ministry has planned to construct Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) plants to generate DC electricity, which in turn will get the signals transmitted. By this the country will save up to 260 crore liters of Diesel, saving 1,040 Crore Rupees annually. Link: http://www.mnre.gov.in
8 September 2011: Today is World Physiotherapy Day which presents an opportunity for physiotherapists all over the world to raise awareness about the crucial role their profession plays in making and keeping people well, mobile and independent. It is the day on which the World Confederation of Physiotherapists (WCPT) was founded in 1951. The day marks the unity and solidarity of the physical therapy community from 101 countries around the world. It is an opportunity to recognise the work that physical therapists do for their patients and community. WCPT aims to support member organisations in their efforts to promote the profession and to advance their clinical expertise, using World Physical Therapy Day as a focus. Link: http://www.wcpt.org/wptday
9 September 2011: In a setback to the proposed Athirappilly hydro-electric project, the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), led by environmentalist Madhav Gadgil, recommended to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests against granting permission to carry out any construction activities at the sensitive Athirappilly-Vazhachal region. The panel designated Athirappilly as one of the 18 eco-sensitive localities (ESL) in the state. The report recommends declaring the entire Western Ghats as an ecologically sensitive area. It also wants the entire Western Ghats to be divided into three ecologically sensitive zones - ESZ 1, ESZ 2 and ESZ 3. ESZ1 areas should be protected as national parks and bird sanctuaries. Link: http://www.westernghatsindia.org/
10 September 2011: Norwegian and Indian scientists have characterised gene sequences in Rohu Carp (Labio rohita) and Black Tiger Shrimp (Penaeus monodon). The result will be used to find genes associated with disease resistance. The diseases Furunculosis and White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) have had a dramatic negative impact on aquaculture production of carp and shrimp, both in India and on a global basis. The database of gene sequences contain more than 137,000 gene sequences. The Norwegian-Indian collaborative project which began in 2008, was headed by Nicholas Robinson from Nofima Mat, the Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research. Link: http://www.nofima.no
11 September 2011: A study done by the Herpetological Foundation of Sri Lanka has re-elevated the Skink (Dasia halianus) to endemic level in Sri Lanka. It was once portrayed in the two rupee note designed by renowned artist Lucky Senanayake which is believed to be based on a drawing which appeared in ‘A Coloured Atlas of Some Vertebrates From Ceylon’ done by naturalist and scientist Dr.P.E.P.Deraniyagala in 1953. This species of skink was first described in 1887 in Sri Lanka. However, J. Joshua and A. G. Sekar in 1984 reported in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society that this skink was found in a wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. The present conservation status for Dasia halianus in Sri Lanka is ‘Near Threatened’.Link: http://threatenedtaxa.org
12 September 2011: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch the Indo-French satellite Megha-Tropiques on October 12 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The Megha-Tropiques (Megha means cloud in Sanskrit and Tropiques means tropics in French). It will contribute to the precipitation measurement mission, it is beneficial to climate research globally. The satellite, which will carry an 'Imaging Radiometer Microwave Analysis and Detection of Rain and Atmospheric Structures' and a GPS Radio Occultation System. Three other satellites, Jugnu and SMRSAT, designed and developed by the IIT-K and SMR University, respectively, and one from Luxembourg will piggyback the satellite. Link: http://www.isro.org/
13 September 2011: NASA’s twin lunar Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to study the moon in unprecedented detail.GRAIL will answer longstanding questions about the moon and give scientists a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed.The straight-line distance from Earth to the moon is approximately 250,000 miles (402,336 kilometers). NASA’s Apollo moon crews needed approximately three days to cover that distance. However, each spacecraft will take approximately 3.5 months and cover more than 4 million kilometers to arrive. This low-energy trajectory results in the longer travel time. The science collection phase for GRAIL is expected to last 82 days. Link: http://science.nasa.gov
14 September 2011: Scientists belonging to the Harvard University have made a claim that the universe is also home to two ‘alien’ planets, which they refer to as being ‘invisible’. Named Kepler-19b and Kepler-19c, the existence of these alien planets was first affirmed when NASA’s Kepler telescope spotted the Kepler-19b, when it passed in front of its host star.The researchers claim that the discovery of the invisible planets is the achievement of a new technology: Transit Timing Variation. It essentially studies the differences in the brightness of a star resulting out of a planet's movement across itself. The planet, Kepler-19b is being believed to be located almost 650 light years away from Earth, in the constellation, Lyra. Link: http://kepler.nasa.gov/
15 September 2011: International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS) launched its open access journal, Journal of Free Software and Free Knowledge, today.ICFOSS is an autonomous institution under the Government of Kerala, in order to push the agenda of promoting democratic access to information and knowledge through equitable models of production and distribution of software in particular and knowledge in general. ICFOSS has been registered as a Society.While ICFOSS will eventually be having its own international campus, its operations have begun from its current office premises in Technopark, Trivandrum, Kerala. Submissions for the journal can be made at the web address: http://icfoss.org/ojs/.
16 September 2011: Over the last few years, there has been a nearly 30 percent reduction in the backwaters of Kerala, perhaps the most picturesque Indian state.This startling revelation was made by Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, former chairman of ISRO and current member of planning commission, during a presentation this evening at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). Besides the Kerala backwaters,satellites have been studying the glaciers in the Himalayan region, revealing that in the past few years there has been a 20 percent loss of glaciers in the Bhagirathi basin of the Gangotri region.India’s first astronomy satellite, designated as Astrosat, is slated for lift off either towards the end of 2012 or in 2013. Link: http://meghnad.iucaa.ernet.in/~astrosat/
17 September 2011: Indian scientists are calling for a major rewrite of a proposed animal welfare law that could totally change research involving animals. The meeting was held at the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) in New Delhi. The proposed Animal Welfare Act of 2011 aims to strengthen India's overall efforts to prevent animal cruelty and includes provisions covering research.The draft proposal which the government could send to Parliament later this year goes too far. For example, its definition of an "animal" as "any living creature other than human being" does not make it clear, for example, whether it applies to microbes or animals not known to feel pain. Link: http://moef.nic.in
18 September 2011: Scientists at the Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (GBPIHED) have discovered two new species of catfish Erethistoides Senkhiensis and Glyptothorax dikrongensis in the state's rivers. The Erethistoides senkhiensis species was captured from the Senkhi stream during samplings carried out between March and June 2006. It was placed in catfish genera Erethistoides, which consists of six species, after consultation of standard literature and compilation of morphometric data. Besides publishing this discovery, 88 species of freshwater fishes have also been assessed and evaluated by the institute for the Red Data Book for International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Link: http://gbpihed.gov.in/
19 September 2011: The second edition of the free online collaborative Encylopedia of Life (EoL) is launched.The second edition contains more than 600,000 still images and videos. With the new interface, users can find species of interest even more easily. The EoL second edition could help map vectors of human disease, reveal mysteries behind longevity, suggest substitute plant pollinators for a swelling list of places where honeybees no longer provide that service and foster strategies to slow the spread of invasive species. The EoL now aims to build one infinitely expandable page for each species including video, images, sound, graphics as well as text. Link: http://www.eol.org/
20 September 2011: A new drug derived from Citrus fruits can help people suffering from Alzheimer's disease to improve their quality of life, claims a researcher of the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).Dr Mahaveer Golechha, senior research fellow, department of pharmacology, AIIMS, who discovered the anti-Alzheimer's potential of Citrus fruits has been awarded the prestigious Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation's, USA Young Investigator Scholarship Award. The drug Naringin is a bioflavonoid. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of disorders that impairs mental functioning. The work has been published in the Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin.Link: http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp
21 September 2011: China's second moon orbiter Chang'e-2 has sent back the first batch of data while about 1.7 million km away from Earth. Chang'e-2 will be the first moon orbiter in the world to observe solar winds for a fairly long time around the L2 which is a prime position to study solar winds. Chang'e-2 entered the L2 orbit, where gravity from the sun and Earth balances the orbital motion of a satellite, in late August and has been operating stably for 26 days. There are five so-called "Lagrange Points" about 1.5 million km from the Earth in the exact opposite direction from the sun. It is the first time for China to send a spacecraft to a place 1.7 million km away from Earth. Link: http://www.costind.gov.cn/
22 September 2011: The Indian Ocean will be investigated from next month to study how tropical weather brews there and moves eastward along the equator, with reverberating effects around the globe. The six-month field campaign, known as DYNAMO or Dynamics of the Madden-Julian Oscillation, will help improve long-range weather forecasts and seasonal outlooks and enable scientists to further refine computer models of global climate. The goal of the DYNAMO field campaign is to better understand the Madden-Julian Oscillation or MJO. MJO originates in the equatorial Indian Ocean roughly every 30 to 90 days, is part of the Asian and Australian monsoons and can enhance hurricane activity in the northeast Pacific and Gulf of Mexico. Link: http://www.eol.ucar.edu
23 September 2011: A 20-year-old NASA satellite crashed to the Pacific Ocean today. The decommissioned satellite crossed eastward and moved over portions of the Indian Ocean and Africa before getting into the final fall. It then most likely disintegrated and scattered debris over a roughly 500-mile stretch across the northern portion of the Pacific.The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) satellite was sent into orbit in 1991 by the space shuttle Discovery to measure the ozone layer.The 35 by 15 foot spacecraft weighs 5,900 kilograms. It was officially decommissioned in 2005. It also urged anyone who comes across what they believe may be space debris not to touch it, but to call authorities for assistance.Link: http://umpgal.gsfc.nasa.gov
24 September 2011: The Union Government of India today declared Bandipur National Park as 'Ecologically Sensitive Area.' Project Tiger is presently under implementation at the Park. According to the guidelines of the National Wildlife Board, all national parks and protected forests should be declared as ‘Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs).The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests framed some guidelines on the matter and asked all the states to submit proposals seeking ESA tag for all protected forests. While Haryana, Gujarat, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam and Goa states responded positively, some other states including Karnataka kept quite.A proposal would soon be submitted seeking ESA tag for Nagarahole protected forest. Link: http://www.wildlifeindia.co.uk
25 September 2011: Eleven scientists have been selected for the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology this year. First given in 1958, the country's highest award in science is named after the founder director of CSIR, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar. It is given to a scientist up to 45 years of age and carries a prize of Rs 5 lakh. The winners this year include Amit Prakash Sharma and Rajan Sankaranarayanan in Biological Sciences, Balasubramanian Sundaram and Garikapati N Sastry in Chemical Sciences, Shankar Doraiswamy in Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences, Sirshendu De and Upadrasta Ramamurty in Engineering Sciences, Mahan Maharaj and Palash Sarkar in Mathematical Sciences and Kithiganahalli N Balaji in Physical sciences. Link: http://csirhrdg.nic.in
26 September 2011: The northern parts of Kerala state are shivering under the grip of Rat fever (Leptospirosis) and the government has activated all the departments concerned to counter the spread of the epidemic. The government decided to launch a massive awareness campaign involving ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers. It is also decided to conduct a week-long sanitation drive in the state from today involving various voluntary organisations. A total of 126 confirmed cases of Leptospirosis and 14 deaths have been reported from the northern districts, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasargod, from January till September this year.According to Director of Health Services P K Jameela, there has been an increase in the number of cases during the last three weeks. Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
27 September 2011: Wangari Maathai, the first African woman recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, died after a long struggle with cancer at age of 71. One of Kenya's most recognizable women, Maathai won the Nobel in 2004 for combining environmentalism and social activism. She was the founder of the Green Belt Movement. A former member of Kenya's parliament, Maathai was the first woman to earn a doctorate in East Africa, in 1971 from the University of Nairobi.Maathai first latched on to the idea of widespread tree planting while serving as the chair of the National Council of Women in Kenya during the 1980s. Link: http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/
28 September 2011: The wreck of the 412ft-long SS Gairsoppa Ship, owned by the British Indian Steam Navigation Company, was discovered by Odyssey Marine Exploration, an American underwater archaeology firm. Expert underwater archaeologists will attempt to salvage the treasure, handing 20 per cent of its value to the British Government. The SS Gairsoppa set sail from India in December 1940 carrying a consignment of 240 tonnes of silver, iron and tea. It was headed for Liverpool but was attacked by the German submarine U101, 300 miles southwest of the Irish harbour. On February 17, 1941, a single torpedo sank the ill-fated vessel and the Second Officer Richard Ayres was the only one who survived. He was awarded an MBE for his attempts to rescue his fellow sailors and lived until 1992. Link: http://www.shipwreck.net
10 September 2011: Norwegian and Indian scientists have characterised gene sequences in Rohu Carp (Labio rohita) and Black Tiger Shrimp (Penaeus monodon). The result will be used to find genes associated with disease resistance. The diseases Furunculosis and White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) have had a dramatic negative impact on aquaculture production of carp and shrimp, both in India and on a global basis. The database of gene sequences contain more than 137,000 gene sequences. The Norwegian-Indian collaborative project which began in 2008, was headed by Nicholas Robinson from Nofima Mat, the Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research. Link: http://www.nofima.no
11 September 2011: A study done by the Herpetological Foundation of Sri Lanka has re-elevated the Skink (Dasia halianus) to endemic level in Sri Lanka. It was once portrayed in the two rupee note designed by renowned artist Lucky Senanayake which is believed to be based on a drawing which appeared in ‘A Coloured Atlas of Some Vertebrates From Ceylon’ done by naturalist and scientist Dr.P.E.P.Deraniyagala in 1953. This species of skink was first described in 1887 in Sri Lanka. However, J. Joshua and A. G. Sekar in 1984 reported in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society that this skink was found in a wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. The present conservation status for Dasia halianus in Sri Lanka is ‘Near Threatened’.Link: http://threatenedtaxa.org
12 September 2011: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch the Indo-French satellite Megha-Tropiques on October 12 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The Megha-Tropiques (Megha means cloud in Sanskrit and Tropiques means tropics in French). It will contribute to the precipitation measurement mission, it is beneficial to climate research globally. The satellite, which will carry an 'Imaging Radiometer Microwave Analysis and Detection of Rain and Atmospheric Structures' and a GPS Radio Occultation System. Three other satellites, Jugnu and SMRSAT, designed and developed by the IIT-K and SMR University, respectively, and one from Luxembourg will piggyback the satellite. Link: http://www.isro.org/
13 September 2011: NASA’s twin lunar Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to study the moon in unprecedented detail.GRAIL will answer longstanding questions about the moon and give scientists a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed.The straight-line distance from Earth to the moon is approximately 250,000 miles (402,336 kilometers). NASA’s Apollo moon crews needed approximately three days to cover that distance. However, each spacecraft will take approximately 3.5 months and cover more than 4 million kilometers to arrive. This low-energy trajectory results in the longer travel time. The science collection phase for GRAIL is expected to last 82 days. Link: http://science.nasa.gov
14 September 2011: Scientists belonging to the Harvard University have made a claim that the universe is also home to two ‘alien’ planets, which they refer to as being ‘invisible’. Named Kepler-19b and Kepler-19c, the existence of these alien planets was first affirmed when NASA’s Kepler telescope spotted the Kepler-19b, when it passed in front of its host star.The researchers claim that the discovery of the invisible planets is the achievement of a new technology: Transit Timing Variation. It essentially studies the differences in the brightness of a star resulting out of a planet's movement across itself. The planet, Kepler-19b is being believed to be located almost 650 light years away from Earth, in the constellation, Lyra. Link: http://kepler.nasa.gov/
15 September 2011: International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS) launched its open access journal, Journal of Free Software and Free Knowledge, today.ICFOSS is an autonomous institution under the Government of Kerala, in order to push the agenda of promoting democratic access to information and knowledge through equitable models of production and distribution of software in particular and knowledge in general. ICFOSS has been registered as a Society.While ICFOSS will eventually be having its own international campus, its operations have begun from its current office premises in Technopark, Trivandrum, Kerala. Submissions for the journal can be made at the web address: http://icfoss.org/ojs/.
16 September 2011: Over the last few years, there has been a nearly 30 percent reduction in the backwaters of Kerala, perhaps the most picturesque Indian state.This startling revelation was made by Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, former chairman of ISRO and current member of planning commission, during a presentation this evening at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). Besides the Kerala backwaters,satellites have been studying the glaciers in the Himalayan region, revealing that in the past few years there has been a 20 percent loss of glaciers in the Bhagirathi basin of the Gangotri region.India’s first astronomy satellite, designated as Astrosat, is slated for lift off either towards the end of 2012 or in 2013. Link: http://meghnad.iucaa.ernet.in/~astrosat/
17 September 2011: Indian scientists are calling for a major rewrite of a proposed animal welfare law that could totally change research involving animals. The meeting was held at the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) in New Delhi. The proposed Animal Welfare Act of 2011 aims to strengthen India's overall efforts to prevent animal cruelty and includes provisions covering research.The draft proposal which the government could send to Parliament later this year goes too far. For example, its definition of an "animal" as "any living creature other than human being" does not make it clear, for example, whether it applies to microbes or animals not known to feel pain. Link: http://moef.nic.in
18 September 2011: Scientists at the Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (GBPIHED) have discovered two new species of catfish Erethistoides Senkhiensis and Glyptothorax dikrongensis in the state's rivers. The Erethistoides senkhiensis species was captured from the Senkhi stream during samplings carried out between March and June 2006. It was placed in catfish genera Erethistoides, which consists of six species, after consultation of standard literature and compilation of morphometric data. Besides publishing this discovery, 88 species of freshwater fishes have also been assessed and evaluated by the institute for the Red Data Book for International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Link: http://gbpihed.gov.in/
19 September 2011: The second edition of the free online collaborative Encylopedia of Life (EoL) is launched.The second edition contains more than 600,000 still images and videos. With the new interface, users can find species of interest even more easily. The EoL second edition could help map vectors of human disease, reveal mysteries behind longevity, suggest substitute plant pollinators for a swelling list of places where honeybees no longer provide that service and foster strategies to slow the spread of invasive species. The EoL now aims to build one infinitely expandable page for each species including video, images, sound, graphics as well as text. Link: http://www.eol.org/
20 September 2011: A new drug derived from Citrus fruits can help people suffering from Alzheimer's disease to improve their quality of life, claims a researcher of the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).Dr Mahaveer Golechha, senior research fellow, department of pharmacology, AIIMS, who discovered the anti-Alzheimer's potential of Citrus fruits has been awarded the prestigious Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation's, USA Young Investigator Scholarship Award. The drug Naringin is a bioflavonoid. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of disorders that impairs mental functioning. The work has been published in the Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin.Link: http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp
21 September 2011: China's second moon orbiter Chang'e-2 has sent back the first batch of data while about 1.7 million km away from Earth. Chang'e-2 will be the first moon orbiter in the world to observe solar winds for a fairly long time around the L2 which is a prime position to study solar winds. Chang'e-2 entered the L2 orbit, where gravity from the sun and Earth balances the orbital motion of a satellite, in late August and has been operating stably for 26 days. There are five so-called "Lagrange Points" about 1.5 million km from the Earth in the exact opposite direction from the sun. It is the first time for China to send a spacecraft to a place 1.7 million km away from Earth. Link: http://www.costind.gov.cn/
22 September 2011: The Indian Ocean will be investigated from next month to study how tropical weather brews there and moves eastward along the equator, with reverberating effects around the globe. The six-month field campaign, known as DYNAMO or Dynamics of the Madden-Julian Oscillation, will help improve long-range weather forecasts and seasonal outlooks and enable scientists to further refine computer models of global climate. The goal of the DYNAMO field campaign is to better understand the Madden-Julian Oscillation or MJO. MJO originates in the equatorial Indian Ocean roughly every 30 to 90 days, is part of the Asian and Australian monsoons and can enhance hurricane activity in the northeast Pacific and Gulf of Mexico. Link: http://www.eol.ucar.edu
23 September 2011: A 20-year-old NASA satellite crashed to the Pacific Ocean today. The decommissioned satellite crossed eastward and moved over portions of the Indian Ocean and Africa before getting into the final fall. It then most likely disintegrated and scattered debris over a roughly 500-mile stretch across the northern portion of the Pacific.The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) satellite was sent into orbit in 1991 by the space shuttle Discovery to measure the ozone layer.The 35 by 15 foot spacecraft weighs 5,900 kilograms. It was officially decommissioned in 2005. It also urged anyone who comes across what they believe may be space debris not to touch it, but to call authorities for assistance.Link: http://umpgal.gsfc.nasa.gov
24 September 2011: The Union Government of India today declared Bandipur National Park as 'Ecologically Sensitive Area.' Project Tiger is presently under implementation at the Park. According to the guidelines of the National Wildlife Board, all national parks and protected forests should be declared as ‘Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs).The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests framed some guidelines on the matter and asked all the states to submit proposals seeking ESA tag for all protected forests. While Haryana, Gujarat, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam and Goa states responded positively, some other states including Karnataka kept quite.A proposal would soon be submitted seeking ESA tag for Nagarahole protected forest. Link: http://www.wildlifeindia.co.uk
25 September 2011: Eleven scientists have been selected for the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology this year. First given in 1958, the country's highest award in science is named after the founder director of CSIR, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar. It is given to a scientist up to 45 years of age and carries a prize of Rs 5 lakh. The winners this year include Amit Prakash Sharma and Rajan Sankaranarayanan in Biological Sciences, Balasubramanian Sundaram and Garikapati N Sastry in Chemical Sciences, Shankar Doraiswamy in Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences, Sirshendu De and Upadrasta Ramamurty in Engineering Sciences, Mahan Maharaj and Palash Sarkar in Mathematical Sciences and Kithiganahalli N Balaji in Physical sciences. Link: http://csirhrdg.nic.in
26 September 2011: The northern parts of Kerala state are shivering under the grip of Rat fever (Leptospirosis) and the government has activated all the departments concerned to counter the spread of the epidemic. The government decided to launch a massive awareness campaign involving ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers. It is also decided to conduct a week-long sanitation drive in the state from today involving various voluntary organisations. A total of 126 confirmed cases of Leptospirosis and 14 deaths have been reported from the northern districts, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasargod, from January till September this year.According to Director of Health Services P K Jameela, there has been an increase in the number of cases during the last three weeks. Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
27 September 2011: Wangari Maathai, the first African woman recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, died after a long struggle with cancer at age of 71. One of Kenya's most recognizable women, Maathai won the Nobel in 2004 for combining environmentalism and social activism. She was the founder of the Green Belt Movement. A former member of Kenya's parliament, Maathai was the first woman to earn a doctorate in East Africa, in 1971 from the University of Nairobi.Maathai first latched on to the idea of widespread tree planting while serving as the chair of the National Council of Women in Kenya during the 1980s. Link: http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/
28 September 2011: The wreck of the 412ft-long SS Gairsoppa Ship, owned by the British Indian Steam Navigation Company, was discovered by Odyssey Marine Exploration, an American underwater archaeology firm. Expert underwater archaeologists will attempt to salvage the treasure, handing 20 per cent of its value to the British Government. The SS Gairsoppa set sail from India in December 1940 carrying a consignment of 240 tonnes of silver, iron and tea. It was headed for Liverpool but was attacked by the German submarine U101, 300 miles southwest of the Irish harbour. On February 17, 1941, a single torpedo sank the ill-fated vessel and the Second Officer Richard Ayres was the only one who survived. He was awarded an MBE for his attempts to rescue his fellow sailors and lived until 1992. Link: http://www.shipwreck.net
29 September 2011: The latest report released by World Health Organization establishes Ludhiana as the most polluted city in the country. With 251 micrograms per cubic meter of particulate matter (PM) 10, the city reached the top national rank. Following Ludhiana with 209 micrograms per cubic meter is Kanpur, while Delhi ranks third with 198 and Lucknow and Indore with 186 and 174 micrograms per cubic meter PM10, respectively, round off the top five list. Mumbai comes tenth with 132 micrograms per cubic meter of PM10 (particles less than 10 microns), according to the Urban Air Pollution Database released on Monday. The database is the result of studies conducted in 1,100 cities in 91 countries of the world from 2003 to 2010. Link: http://www.who.int
30 September 2011: China will launch its Tiangong-1 ("Heavenly Palace")space module today marking its first step towards building a Chinese Space Station. China cinsider it to be symbol of its growing technical expertise, and Communist Party's success in turning around the fortunes of the formerly poverty-stricken nation.China would attempt its first space docking between Tiangong-1 and another unmanned vehicle called Shenzhou 8 in the second half of the year. China's space station will be made up of the module, two laboratories, a cargo ship and a manned rocket, with a total weight of 60 tonnes. China became the world's third nation to put a man in space independently-after the United States and Russia-when Yang Liwei became the first Chinese astronaut, in 2003. In September 2008, the Shenzhou-7, piloted by three astronauts, carried out China's first space walk. Link: http://www.cnsa.gov.cn
