NEW DELHI ESTH OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF July 30 -

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 003594 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR OES/PCI, OES/STC, OES/SAT, OES/EGC, AND SCA/INS STATE FOR STAS DOE FOR INTERNATIONAL HHS FOR OGHA STEIGER, HICKEY AND VALDEZ NIH FOR GLASS AND MAMPILLY FDA FOR LUMPKIN AND WELSCH CDC FOR BLOUNT AND FARRELL INTERIOR FOR FWS RILEY NOAA FOR NMFS STATE PASS TO NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV TSPL TBIO ECON SOCI KSCA IN SUBJECT: NEW DELHI ESTH OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF July 30 - August 4, 2007 REF A: New Delhi 3436 REF B: 2006 New Delhi 5561 NEW DELHI 00003594 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) Summary: This week the ESTH office met with the Wildlife Protection Society of India to discuss an upcoming wildlife crime workshop, met with a representative of Environmental Systems Products regarding remote sensing of vehicle emissions, and participated in the inauguration of an NIH lab in Chennai focused on filariasis research. In addition, the ESTH office noted an Indian expedition to the Arctic to study climate change, an upswing in engineering students from Afghanistan at the University of Pune, and reported on how small and medium enterprises hold the key to success for the Asia Pacific Partnership in India. End Summary. -------------- ENVIRONMENT -------------- ¶2. (U) Scioffs met with Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) Executive Director in order to discuss the Mission sponsored Wildlife Crime Workshop in Ranthambore National Park. Scioffs presented a statement of work to WPSI and tentatively agreed to November 4-6, 2007 as the dates for the workshop. ¶3. (SBU) India: SME's Hold Key to APP Success. ESTH Office reviewed the impact of the publicity drive for the Asia Pacific Partnership and concluded Small and Medium Enterprises have largely missed the message. Please see Ref A for details. -------------- SCIENCE -------------- ¶4. (U) In a conversation with Secretary Goel of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, SciCouns learned Earth Sciences Minister Kapil Sibal has launched the first-ever Indian scientific expedition to the Arctic to study climate change and establish a connection between the northern polar region and the intensity of the Indian monsoon. The Hindu also reports studies will be conducted on the use of arctic microbes in biotechnology. The expedition will be led by the Director of the Goa-based National Center for Antarctic and Ocean Research and the experiments will be conducted on the west coast of Spitsbergen, Norway. ¶5. (U) The Economic Times reports a large number of Afghan students are coming to the University of Pune (UoP) for higher studies, including civil and mechanical engineering, due primarily to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's August 2005 announcement of 1,000 new scholarships each year for Afghan students. At nearly 14,000, UoP has the largest number of foreign students enrolled over the past five years in an Indian university, of which approximately 400 are Afghan. Vice-Chancellor Narendra Jadhav noted UoP was working on introducing short-term courses for in-service personnel from Afghanistan in 2008 as well as student and faculty exchanges. ¶6. (SBU) The Director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Professor P. Balaram, stated recently that the majority of India's scientific and research institutions are stagnant and on "life support systems" due to lack of vigorous faculty recruitment and insufficient funding. He added many such institutions are state universities which lack sufficient budget to recruit new faculty and have become top-heavy, "serving not so much the students but the management". This assessment contradicts statements made by Balaram to SciCouns a few months ago when he implied that the research enterprise in India was healthy and doing fine. His current NEW DELHI 00003594 002.2 OF 002 analysis, which echoes Ref B, also contradicts the multitude of comments made by S&T interlocutors in New Delhi who categorically state that funding is not a problem. -------------- TECHNOLOGY -------------- ¶7. (U) The ESTH Office met with Nitin Manawat, the Country Manager of Environmental Systems Products (ESP) who discussed new technology used to remotely analyze tailpipe emissions from vehicles. ESP is an American company and a pioneer in the field of remote emissions analysis which can identify grossly polluting vehicles by means of a roadside testing unit similar in concept to how speeding vehicles are identified by photo-radar installations. Scioffs concluded the technology appeared promising and provided contact information to Mission's FCS Office for follow-up. -------------- HEALTH -------------- ¶8. (U) Health Attach participated in the inauguration of the National Institute's of Health (NIH) International Center of Excellence in Research laboratory on August 4 at the Tuberculosis Research Center (TRC),Chennai. NIH and TRC scientists are conducting biomedical research in infectious diseases, with a focus on filariasis. Future collaboration on HIV/AIDS and the interaction of HIV/AIDS and TB are being discussed. WHITE