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| The Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh flaging off the first test-run of Chevrolet Tavera running on Microalgal Biodiesel in New Delhi. |
1 April 2012: A Chevrolet Tavera car that runs on biodiesel was unveiled by Indian scientists.The “microalgal biodiesel” was produced from mats of microalgae found growing naturally in the West Coast of India by Central Salt Marine and Chemical Research Institute (CSMCRI), Bhavnagar.The mileage derived from the test drive was 12.4 km, which is better than the normal average per litre of 10-11 km of the regular vehicles run on diesel. The endeavour is the outcome of an ambitious project initiated in April 2010 under the CSIR-New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (CSIR-NMITLI) by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in collaboration with the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Link:http://www.csir.res.in
2 April 2012: India has done a trial start of its third research station, Bharti, in Strornes and Broknes peninsulas in the Larsemann Hills region of East Antarctica.It can accomodate 25 people during summer and 15 people during winter.The new station is located almost 3,000 km away from the existing 'Maitri' which can host 70 people in winter and 25 during summer. 'Maitri' started fuctioning during 1988-89.The formal launch of the research station is expected in November 2012.India's first research station in Antarctica wasDakshin Gangotri (1983).It had a Post Office which used the PIN code of Panaji (403001). The address is now shared by Maitri.Link:http://www.ncaor.gov.in
3 April 2012: The historic first flight of an Indian into space occured today, 28 years ago, when Rakesh Sharma flew aboard the Soyuz T-11 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. He was accompanied by two Soviet cosmonauts Yuri Malyshev and Gennady Strekalov. Sharma spent a total of 7 days 21 hours and 40 minutes in space. In reply to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's query as to how India looked from space, he said: "Sare Jahan Se Achcha". Rakesh Sharma was awarded the "Order of the Hero of Soviet Union" and with Ashok Chakra, the highest peacetime military honour in India.Sharma had Wing Commander Ravish Malhotra as his backup.Link:http://www.spacefacts.de
4 April 2012: Scientists of National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal produced the first calf in the country using OPU-IVF (Ovum Pick-Up in vitro Fertilization) technology in India.The female calf is named ‘Holi'. The researchers collected reproductive cells from the ovaries of a live Sahiwal cow.They are then fertilized and developed into an embryo called ‘blastocyst’.With the help of a surrogate mother, it was led to the birth of a calf. The institute believes that the technology can be applied to a large population of dairy cattle that have problems with pregnancies. It could also be applied to those animals which do not respond to the conventional embryo transfer.Link:http://www.ndri.res.in
5 April 2012:Australian scientists have developed a genetically modified banana that is rich in vitamins and iron, and are sharing the technology with India.India is the largest producer of banana in the world.The Queensland University of Technology and India's Department of Biotechnology have embarked a four-year project to produce the iron-rich bananas to combat widespread aneamia in India caused by the population's largely vegetarian diet.Iron-deficiency anaemia is a major cause of maternal death during childbirth in India and and at the same time, India is the largest producer of bananas in the world.The research is funded by Microsoft founder BillGates.Link:http://www.qut.edu.au
6 April 2012:Two new reports published today inScience and The Lancet show that the malaria parasite (Plasmodium falciparum) is becoming resistant to "Artemisinin"-the best among available drugs for Malaria.The first evidence has come from the Thailand-Myanmarborder.The concern is rising that this could now spread to India and then to Africa, as has happened in the past.But a 10-year study, between 2001-2010, in the region by researchers at Shoklo Malaria Research Unit and Texas Biomedical Research Institute shows that the drug hass become less effective.Malaria deaths have declined by 30 per cent over the past decade, because of"Artemisinin" derived from the plant Artemisia annua. Link:http://www.thelancet.com
7 April 2012:As per the statement made in the Rajyasabha, by Union Minister of Agriculture, India’s cotton output has grown more than two times after it started using Bt cotton seeds for cultivation. The counry’s cotton output has grown from 16.4 million bales of 170 kg each in 2004-05 to 34 million bales in 2011-12.This clearly shows that production has soared with the use of Btcotton.However, farmers of Khargone district in Madhya Pradesh and Dhule district in Maharashtra have alleged that the use of hybrid cotton seeds,produced and marketed by Bayer Bio-Science Pvt Ltd.,adversely impacted their production.The Minister added that production in these regions suffered from average rainfall.Link:http://agricoop.nic.in
8 April 2012: European Space Agency lost contact with Envisat, the biggest Earth-monitoring satellite in history.Envisat was launched on 1 March 2002, carrying 10 instruments to monitor Earth's oceans, ice, land and atmosphere. Though it was designed to work only for five years, Envisat had been working for a decade.
Envisat's data has been used in 4,000 science projects in 70 countries, including landmark research into climate change.It provided valuable data on Fukushima accident and BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.It was also an important tool in tackling illegal fishing.ESA wanted to keep Envisat going until its seven Sentinel satellites planned for 2013.Link:http://www.esa.int
9 April 2012:Researchers at Edinburgh University are working with a team from Harvard Medical School in Boston to be the first in the world to produce mature human eggs from stem cells isolated from human ovarian tissue.Producing human eggs from stem cells would also could revolutionise fertility treatment and might even lead to a reversal of the menopause in older women.Until now, it has only been possible to isolate a relatively small number of mature human egg cells directly from the ovaries of women who have been stimulated with hormones.However,some scientists are even suggesting the possibility of mass egg production that may open doors to human cloning.Link:http://www.un.org/law/cloning
10 April 2012: The water in Periyar contains dangerous chemicals such as Endosulfan, according to a report filed before the Kerala High Court by the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram. The study found varying quantities of Endosulfan in 200 samples of water collected from the river at 64 locations.The study areas were Pathalam bund near the Edayar industrial site, the point where the Chalakkal Thodu joins the Periyar, the riverside near FACT, the Merchem Edayar discharge point and the stretch of the Periyar in Eloor.Kerala Water Authority presently uses water from Periyar for Public Water Supply.Link:http://www.niist.res.in
11 April 2012:An earthquake of 8.7 magnitude struck off the coast of Indonesia, sending residents there and in India dashing out of their homes and offices in fear. The quake struck 308 miles (500 km) southwest of the city of Banda Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, at a depth of 33 km.The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Service issued a red high-level warning for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and also put out lower alerts for the coasts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states in the southeast of the country. A warning was also issued for the southern coastal states of Kerala and Orissa along with Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.Link:http://www.incois.gov.in
12 April 2012:Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, since this year will celebrate Water Week as an international event to focus on water issues. The first international event in the series will be organized during April 10-14, 2012 at New Delhi. The theme of the event is "Water, Energy and Food Security: Call for solutions". WRIS (Water Resources Information System): a fully web based information system will also be showcased.Two publications ‘Water Resources Development Scenario in India’ and ‘History of Irrigation Development and Management in India’ will also be released.Link:http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in
13 April 2012:Researchers at the Aquatic Biology Department of the University of Kerala discovered a new species of the so called "Hermit Crabs" that live in shells and carry their homes around with them.The new species is called Ciliopagurus grandis was found from the sea off Sakthikulangara coast near Kollam.The discovery was made by the scientists R Reshmi and Dr. A Bijukumar. They also reported 4 new records species on the Kerala coast, the very first in the country.The four species are Calcinus morgani, Diogenes klaasi, Coenobita brevimanus and Coenobita rugosus.The project was supported by the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment.The scientists reported the finding in journal Zootaxa.Link:http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa
14 April 2012:In a historic achievement, the world's first ever Mithun calf was produced through Embryo Transfer Technology in Nagaland. Mithun is a domesticated form of wild Gaur (Bos frontalis) and is mainly confined to Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram in the Northeast. Scientists have named the calf "Bharat", which was born on March 27 and is the result of five years of hard work on embryo transfer technology by scientists at the National Research Centre (NRC) on Mithuns.The idea of the Mithun Institute was conceived in Vision 2030, with the aim to preserve, conserve and propagate superior quality Mithun germplasm for sustainable production system and subsequent utilization.Link:http://www.nrcmithun.res.in
15 April 2012:India’s first public-private partnership incubator, Startup Village, will be formally opened by Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan at the Kinfra Hi-Tech Park at Kalamassery near Kochi today.The venture that seeks to transform Kerala into a "Silicon Valley" is set up jointly by the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) under the Department of Science and Technology, and the Kerala Government run Technopark, in collaboration with MobME Wireless-a private firm. Startup Village is India’s first technology business incubator in the telecom sector. It will also launch an Entrepreneurs Gardenwhich plans to nurture more than 1,000 trees in the park.Link:http://www.startupvillage.in
16 April 2012:Breaking through the popular perception of Moon being a geologically inert, Indian scientists found new evidence of the recent volcanic activities on it.Analysing the data collected by Chandrayan-I and USA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a team at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad, found evidences of volcanic vent and lava channels as recent as 100 million years old inside an ‘impact crater upon a 2-km high peak in Tycho, a 110 million year old crater.Indian scientists say that Chandrayaan-IIscheduled to be launched in 2013, will take a closer look at this crater.The findings are reported in the April 10 issue of Current Science.Link:http://cs-test.ias.ac.in
17 April 2012:Turkey's first cloned sheep, Oyali died today due to pulmonary infection.The death is not related to cloning technology, as per İstanbul University.Oyali was created using Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) at the faculty of Veterinary Medicine of İstanbul University on 21 November 2007. Oyali was among the world's longest-living cloned animals.Oyali gave birth to a female lamb named Baharon March 30, 2011.Dr. Sema Birler was the chief of the research team that cloned Oyali. Most of the lambs born through cloning have died immediately after birth. The world's first cloned sheep, Dolly, lived seven years, while Oyalı lived for four-and-a-half years.Link:http://bilimap.istanbul.edu.tr
18 April 2012:Bihar is likely to have Asia's first Dolphin Research Centre soon.The proposed centre would be located on the bank of the Ganga near Patna University.A proposal has been sent to the Planning Commission of India by the State Plnning Board of Bihar. The population of Gangetic dolphins has reduced considerably during the last few decades.The Gangetic river dolphin is India's national aquatic animal, but they are killed at an alarming rate for their flesh and oil, which are used as an ointment and aphrodisiac.Gangetic river dolphins fall under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act and have been declared an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).Link:http://www.edgeofexistence.org
19 April 2012:India successfully test-fired Agni-V, the country's first Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) a nuclear-capable missile, thrusting India into the club of nations possessing ICBMs.The launch took place at 8.07 from Wealer Island off Odisha coast.The missile travelled almost 5000 km before detonating the warhead at a per-determined spot in Indian Ocean.The Agni-V is the most advanced version of the indigenously built Agniseries that started in the 1960s.China, France, Russia the United States and Britain along with Israel, are believed to have such long-range weapons.India says its nuclear weapons programme is for deterrence only, but India has not signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.Link:http://drdo.gov.in
20 April 2012:In a major milestone in the country's nuclear programme, the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) today commissioned one of its biggest uranium ore mine and processing plant at Tummalapalle in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh.According to the studies conducted by the Atomic Minerals Division, there are confirmed reserves of more than 49,000 tonnes of uranium at Tummalapalle and there are indications of much larger reserves,at least three-folds of the current,in the area.When the Tummalapalle uranium mines become completely operational, it could become one of the world's largest uranium deposits.Link:http://www.ucil.gov.in
21 April 2012:Tea would be declared as National Drink of India by April next year.The drink would be accorded national drink status by April 17 next year to coincide with the 212th birth anniversary of first Assamese tea planter and Sepoy Mutiny leader Maniram Dewan.Maniram Dewan who was not only the first indigenous tea planter but also a freedom fighter.The other important reason behind declaring Tea s National Drink is that half of the tea industry labour comprises women and is the largest employer in the organised sector.India is the largest producer and consumer of black tea in the world. More than 80 per cent of households in India consume tea and it is the cheapest beverage in the world after water.Link:http://www.teaboard.gov.in
22 April 2012:Scientists from Beijing Genomics Institute in collaboration with the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shihezi University, have cloned the world’s first transgenic sheep- Peng Peng. Born on 26 March 2012, Peng Peng was cloned using a simplified technique called Handmade Cloning. The donor cells were collected from a Chinese Merino sheep, in 2009.Peng Peng also has a gene associated with ω-3 Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acid (ω-3PUFA), which may result in improved meat quality by increasing its unsaturated fatty acid content.The birth of Peng Peng means that people could absorb ω-3PUFAs by drinking milk or eating meat in the future.Link:http://en.genomics.cn
23 April 2012:Six scientists of Indian origin are elected to the prestigious Fellowship of the British Royal Society.Prof. VijayRaghavan is currently the Director of National Centre for Biological Sciences at Bangalore.Prof.Tejinder Singh Virdee of Imperial College, London originated the concept of CMS for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.Other Indian-origin scientists include Varinder Singh Aggarwal, Professor, Synthetic Chemistry, University of Bristol; Shankar Balasubramanian, Professor, Medicinal Chemistry, Cambridge University;Chandrashekhar Bhalchandra Khare, Professor of Mathematics at the University of California and Prof. Mathukumalli Vidyasagar of the University of Texas.Link:http://royalsociety.org
24 April 2012:India is working on developing its very own 90-seater civilian aircraft with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). A design bureau has been set up to undertake indigenous design and development of the aircraft, which will be called the National Civil Aircraft (NCA-90). A total of seven prototypes are proposed to be developed by CSIR and the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL).Bangalore-based NAL had earlier developed India's first multi purpose 14-seater civilian aircraft Saras.Saras was 14-seater while NCA is 90-seater.According to the CSIR, most developed countries have their own national aircraft.Link:http://www.nal.re
25 April 2012:Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited in India has launched the country’s first indigenously-developed anti-Malarial drug, Synriam. It is used to treat Malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum in adults.Synriam is developed as a fixed dose combination consisting of Arterolane maleate 150 mg and Piperaquine phosphate 750 mg. Synriam trials are ongoing for Malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax and a pediatric formulation.India alone accounts for over 75 percent of the 2.5 million reported cases of malaria in Southeast Asia. Synriam has been shown to be effective in around 117 districts in India that are notably chloroquine resistant.Link:http://www.ranbaxy.com
26 April 2012:India's first indigenous all-weather Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1) was launched successfully on board the from Satish Dhawan Space Centre,in Sriharikota.RISAT-1 is India’s first microwave remote sensing satellite. The satellite carries a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload which has applications in agriculture, particularly in paddy monitoring in kharifseason and management of natural disasters. RISAT-1 was injected into orbit by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C19). It was PSLV’s 20th successful flight and RISAT-1 is the heaviest satellite ever lifted by it.Till now, India depending on a Canadian satellite for domestic remote sensing.Link:http://www.isro.gov.in
27 April 2012:India has initiated the National Monsoon Mission for a period of five years.The main objectives of the National Monsoon Mission include building of a working partnership between national and international research organisations for improving the monsoon forecast skill over the country.The programme's seasonal time scale will coordinated by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) Pune and medium range scale will be coordinated by the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF). The Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) will provide the ocean data and the India Meteorological Department will implement the research outcomes.Link:http://dod.nic.in
28 April 2012: Public Accounts Committee (PAC) submitted to Parliament found that the 269 Non-Governmental Organisations disappeared after pocketing the first instalment and another 246 after receiving two instalments of money disbursed by National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board (NAEB) for afforestation.Public Accounts Committee (PAC) also commented that the bogus figures doled out by government agencies about afforestation programmes actually distorted official data about loss of forest cover.This massive deforestation was masked by Forest Survey of India’s afforestation data. At a time when India’s forest cover is fast disappearing, this open loot of public money should be stopped forthwith.Link:http://164.100.24.208/ls/committee
29 April 2012:A Japanese research institute's deep-sea drilling probe has set a new world record for depth, reaching 7,740 meters (25,400 feet) below the sea surface.The Chikyu, operated by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, was digging the seabed off Japan’s northern coast to take fault samples and study last year’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.The probe’s drilling pipe hit the fault zone at 6,883.5 meters (22,600 feet) undersea before reaching the target of 7,740 meters. That’s nearly 8 kilometres (5 miles) deep.Maritime organizations say the U.S. vessel Glomar Challenger set the previous record of 7,049.5 meters (23,130 feet) below sea surface in the Mariana Trench in 1978.Link:http://www.jamstec.go.jp
30 April 2012: The National Mission for a Green India has been approved by the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change. The Mission is one of eight missions under India's National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).The Mission objective is to increase forest/tree cover on five million ha.,of forested and nonforested land, and improved quality of forest cover on another 5 million ha.,a total of 10 million ha.The mission also aims to reach an annual CO2 sequestration of 50 to 60 million tonnes by 2020.Compliance with the Forest Rights Act, 2006 has been made an essential element of the Mission implementation.The full-scale Mission will run from 2012-13 to 2021-22,the duration of the twelfth and the thirteenth five-year plans.Link:http://moef.nic.in
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