NEW DELHI ESTH OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF July 23 -

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SUBJECT: NEW DELHI ESTH OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF July 23 -
27, 2007

REF A: NEW DELHI 3411
REF B: STATE 103509

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1. (U) Summary: This week the ESTH office visited the Agra Bear
Rescue Facility; hosted world-renowned climate scientist Dr.
Jagadish Shukla; convened the Avian Influenza Working Group in
response to the H5N1 outbreak in Manipur; attended the Rotavirus
Vaccine Project Committee meeting in Hyderabad; and noted India's
plans to launch a new military satellite and an Israeli
reconnaissance satellite on the same launch vehicle. End Summary.

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ENVIRONMENT
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2. (U) Scioffs visited the Agra Bear Rescue Facility run by
Wildlife S.O.S., a NGO that specializes in the rescue and
rehabilitation of the endangered Indian sloth bear which for
centuries have been exploited as "dancing bears" by the Qalandar
tribal community. Wildlife S.O.S. has eliminated dancing bears
along the Delhi - Agra highway and is well on the way to solving the
problem throughout India. They are set to expand their current Agra
facility by 145 acres in 2009 which will provide enough space to
house all of India's mistreated sloth bears. Wildlife S.O.S.
employs a holistic approach which includes the rehabilitation of the
Qalandar tribal community and is a model for successful and
sustainable wildlife conservation. Further information is available
on their website: www.wildlifesos.com.


3. (U) The ESTH Office hosted Dr. Jagadish Shukla, Professor and
Chair of the Climate Dynamics Program at George Mason University and
President of the Institute of Global Environment and Society. Dr.
Shukla is also the recipient of the 52nd International
Meteorological Organization Prize awarded in 2007 by the Executive
Council of the World Meteorological Organization. He informed us he
has been tapped by S&T Minister Kapil Sibal to chair the
International Advisory Panel on Weather Forecasting and Climate
Change. Membership on the Panel will include representatives of
NOAA and academia in the U.S. and U.K. as well as IIT Delhi, the
Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore, and the Indian
Meteorological Department. The panel will address concerns
regarding the state of climate change science in India which has
long been hampered by lack of adequate raw data as well as the GOI's
unwillingness to share existing data with the scientific community.

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SCIENCE
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4. (U) In a conversation with Dr. Harold McFarlane, President,
American Nuclear Society (ANS),SciCouns learned that following the
successful session at the ANS Annual Meeting in Boston in June, 2007
on 'US-India Nuclear Cooperation' which was attended by BARC
Director Dr. Banerjee and Mr. Raghuraman of USIBC/CII, interactions
between nuclear engineers and scientists from both countries will
continue at the upcoming "Global 2007- Advanced Nuclear Fuel Cycles
and Systems" in Boise, Idaho, in September 2007. Dr. Ravi Grover
from DAE has informed ANS that a small group from BARC and the
Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in Kalpakkam are
planning to attend.

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TECHNOLOGY
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5. (U) The Hindu (www.hindu.com) reports India is planning to

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launch a dedicated military reconnaissance satellite, the
CARTOSAT-2A, in mid-September or early October, 2007. The
satellite is set to be launched together with an Israeli
reconnaissance satellite on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
This will mark the third launch of a foreign satellite by the
Indian Space Research Organization.
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HEALTH
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6. (SBU) Confirmation of H5N1 Avian Influenza in poultry in
Manipur, India. On July 25, 2007, India officially announced the
outbreak of H5N1 Avian Influenza in poultry in Manipur. The HHS
Office convened the Mission's Avian Influenza Working Group on July
26 and FAS reported on the outbreak in Ref A.


7. (SBU) In response to Ref B, the HHS Office has sent a demarche
and non-paper to senior officials in the Ministry of Health, the
Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce and
Industry. Health Attach will follow up with meetings with key MOH
officials.


8. (U) SciFSN attended a meeting of the Rotavirus Vaccine
Development Project in Hyderabad July 27 and 28. The meeting was
attended by representatives from Bharat Biotech International
Limited (BBIL),the Society for Applied Studies (SAS),the
Department of Biotechnology, Program for Appropriate Technology in
Health, NIH/NIAD, Stanford University, and the National Institute of
Immunology, New Delhi. SAS reported they had completed the first
dose level of the Phase 1b/IIa study and is expecting an approval to
evaluate the next dose level. BBIL presented the results of
formulation experiments and is confident they can develop a liquid
vaccine formulation with a shelf-life of 24 months at a storage
temperature between 2 - 8 degrees C. BBIL is also designing a new
manufacturing facility per WHO guidelines capable of producing at
least 30 million doses per year. The new facility is expected to be
completed by November, 2007.

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