NEW DELHI ESTH REPORT: JUNE 2008 THIRD WEEK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 NEW DELHI 001700 C O R R E C T E D COPY (ADDED ADDRESSEE) STATE FOR OES/PCI, OES/STC, OES/SAT, OES/EGC, AND SCA/INS STATE FOR STAS STATE PASS TO NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS HHS PASS TO NIH STATE PASS TO USAID STATE FOR SCA, OES (STAS FEDOROFF),OES/PCI STEWART; OES/IHA SINGER PASS TO HHS/OGHA (STEIGER/HICKEY),CDC (BLOUNT/FARRELL),NIH/FIC (GLASS/MAMPILLY),FDA (LUMPKIN/WELSCH, GENEVA FOR HOFMAN) PASS TO MAS/DAS/JESTRADA PASS TO MAC/DAS/HVINEYARD SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO SENV AMED CASC KSCA ECON ETRD BEXP EINV PGOV TSPL, TRGY, TNGD, EIND, ENRG, KGHG, IN SUBJECT: NEW DELHI ESTH REPORT: JUNE 2008 THIRD WEEK REF: (A) NEW DELHI 1667 (B) NEW DELHI 1669 (C) NEW DELHI 1678 NEW DELHI 00001700 001.6 OF 004 ¶1. SUMMARY: This edition of the New Delhi ESTH biweekly report includes a summary of the recent Asia Pacific Forum on Nuclear Technology, U.S.-India collaboration in accelerator technologies for the proposed International Linear Collider, a new launch date for India's first mission to the Moon, and defense and space scientists call for the creation of an Integrated Space Command. The environment section reports on the visit of James Connaughton, Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality to discuss climate change and energy security with Indian officials. The health report includes the review of the third phase of National AIDS Control Program; FDA's goals for enhancing cooperation with India; an update on the National Polio Surveillance Project of the Government of India and the World Health Organization; an Indo-U.S. Vaccine Action Program Workshop on Malaria and the upcoming visit of Health Minister Ramadoss to Boston University. END SUMMARY. INDIA PARTICIPATES IN THE ASIA PACIFIC FORUM ON INTEGRATION OF SUSTAINABILITY, SAFETY AND SECURITY OF NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY -------------- -------------- ¶2. The University of California Office of the President (UCOP) recently organized a Forum on Nuclear Technology on June 12-13 in Berkeley, CA (Note: This is the second in a series of joint University of California/National Laboratories S&T Forums that were first proposed by the SciCouns while at UCOP prior to his arrival at post in New Delhi. End Note). The Forum's purpose was to identify opportunities for the development, deployment and life cycle use of nuclear energy/nuclear technology that better meets societal goals for safety, security, sustainability, environmental protection and economics. Recognizing the need to develop integrated and global nuclear power systems, this year's Forum included participation from China, India, Japan and South Korea as well as representation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). India was represented by Dr. Ravi Grover of the Department of Atomic Energy who is also the principal interlocutor for the 123 negotiations. Session topics were: Gen III and Gen IV Nuclear Technology, Fuel Cycle and Waste Management Technology, and Integration of Sustainability, Safety and Security of Nuclear Technology. U.S.-INDIA COLLABORATIONS IN ACCELERATOR TECHNOLOGIES MOVE FORWARD, S&T MINISTER SIBAL POSTPONES HIS VISIT TO LIVERMORE LAB -------------- -------------- ¶3. Despite FY08 cutbacks in the Department of Energy's R&D funding for the proposed International Linear Collider (ILC),collaborations between the U.S. Fermi National Laboratory and India's Indore-based Raja Ramanna Center for Advanced Technology (RRCAT) of the Department of Atomic Energy are making good progress. The focus of this jointly funded effort is to develop particle accelerator components for the ILC. As part of this agreement, U.S. and Indian scientists/engineers are spending time at RRCAT and Fermi Lab, respectively. R&D focus at RRCAT is in the areas of accelerator and laser technologies. SciCouns visited RRCAT recently at the invitation of its Director, Dr. Vinod Sahni. In addition to the Synchrotron Sources Indus-1 and Indus-2, he was shown the laser facilities. It was obvious that R&D in lasers was following the same path as the U.S. and French programs and the technology at RRCAT appeared to be at the pre-Nova Laser (prior to 1984) level at Livermore Lab. ¶4. In this context, the upcoming visit of India's S&T Minister Kapil Sibal to the National Ignition Facility for laser fusion at NEW DELHI 00001700 002.6 OF 004 the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on June 23 stands postponed because of a directive from the Prime Minister of India to the cabinet to curtail foreign travel. This directive results from a steep hike in gasoline prices and the need to cutback on government expenditure. INDIAN MOON MISSION (CHANDRAYAAN-I) READY FOR SEPTEMBER LAUNCH -------------- -------------- ¶5. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has announced the launch of Indian's first mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan I, on or about September 19, 2008. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will be used for the launch. ISRO scientists are working on completing the integration tests for the eleven instruments on the spacecraft. They include six Indian and five instruments from other countries. The two U.S. instruments being flown on this mission are the Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (mini-SAR) from the Applied Physics Laboratory of the John Hopkins University and the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) jointly developed by Brown University and the Jet Propulsion Lab. Both instruments are funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA scientists/engineers are assisting ISRO in Bangalore with the integration process. ¶6. With Chandrayaan I launch, new opportunities for the U.S. are expected for joint efforts in India's next Moon mission, Chandrayaan II, planned for 2011-12. India and Russia have already agreed to work together on Chandrayaan II. Russia will develop the lander/rover to explore the Moon's surface. ISRO scientists are proposing experiments on the rover for collecting and analyzing samples and transmitting data back to Earth. DEFENSE AND SPACE SCIENTISTS CALL FOR CREATING AN INTEGRATED SPACE COMMAND -------------- -------------- ¶7. India's media reports on this week's brainstorming meeting between Indian space and defense scientists organized by the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in Delhi. The meeting determined the feasibility of leveraging the synergies in defense and space technologies to enhance the protective cover for the space assets of the country by setting up an Integrated Space Command. To date, the Indian defense services have been using the ISRO's general purpose Cartosat I and II and the recently launched Cartosat IIa satellite data for surveillance and reconnaissance activities. COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY CHAIRMAN DISCUSSES CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY SECURITY WITH INDIAN OFFICIALS -------------- -------------- ¶8. James Connaughton, Chairman, The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and Landon Van Dyke, Associate Director, CEQ, during their two day visit to India, met with senior Government of India (GOI) officials in New Delhi and Kolkata. In New Delhi they met with officials from the Ministries of Commerce, and Environment and Forests, Planning Commission, GOI Special Envoy on Climate Change, and interacted with industry representatives and diplomats from other missions in India. They also met with the Press and the Chairman's statements were widely quoted in leading papers. (Reftel A, B, C) JOINT IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW - NATIONAL AIDS CONTROL PROGRAM INDIA -------------- -------------- ¶9. (U) India's third phase of its National AIDS Control Program is NEW DELHI 00001700 003.6 OF 004 undergoing a joint review of all major stakeholders to assess progress made against stated objectives in the past six months. This World Bank and Department for International Development (DfID) UK-led review is conducted every six months to gauge progress in implementation and to identify operational issues. The USG along with the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) are participants in this review. The review, scheduled from 9-24 June, 2008, is expected to provide an assessment of targets achieved. FDA MEETINGS WITH MOH -------------- ¶10. On June 16-17, two Ministry of Health (MOH) officials, Joint Secretary Debashish Panda and Drug Controller General of India Surinder Singh, met with FDA officials in the U.S. The MOH meetings with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are a follow-up to the January 2008 Secretary Michael O. Leavitt's and FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach's visit to India to further the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) goal's of enhancing international relationships related to public health. The FDA team led by Melinda ¶K. Plaisier, Assistant Commissioner for International Programs, visited India in March to identify potential opportunities for collaboration. During meetings with the FDA, the MOH delegation will get an overview of the FDA's structure, systems, Information Technology initiatives, policies on oversight of clinical trials including standards and inspection, and information on the Global Harmonization Task Force. The MOH is eager to collaborate with FDA in the area of drugs and pharmaceutical regulation, and topics including post-market surveillance of drugs, and electronic submissions. Mission Health Attach was an observer at the meetings. POLIO UPDATE -------------- ¶11. According to the National Polio Surveillance Project of the Government of India and the World Health Organization, as of 13 June 2008, a total of 5 polio virus type 1 (P1) cases, 263 polio type 3 (P3) with a total of 268 (P1+P3) have been detected. Of these the highly endemic states of Bihar accounted for 1 case of P1 and 65 P3 cases, and Uttar Pradesh accounted for 1 P1 case and 193 P3 cases. In 2007, the total polio virus cases stood at 83 (P1),793 (P3) and a total of 873 cases. MALARIA WORKSHOP FOR VACCINE DEVELOPMENT -------------- ¶12. An Indo-US Vaccine Action Program Workshop on Development of Vaccines against Plasmodium (P) vivax Malaria was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Delhi on June 17-18, 2008. The meeting was organized by the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) with support from the Department of Biotechnology and the U.S. National Institutes of Health. About 35 foreign participants and a similar number of Indian scientists attended the workshop. Meeting participants identified areas of collaboration for researchers from the US, India and other Asian countries affected by P. vivax Malaria. MOH MINISTER TO VISIT BOSTON UNIVERSITY -------------- ¶13. The MOH Minister Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss will be meeting with Boston University officials in Boston this week. In return Dr. Ramadoss has invited the President of Boston University to India. Boston University is considering setting up a campus in either Delhi or Chennai with a focus on medical studies. A MOH official stated NEW DELHI 00001700 004.6 OF 004 that establishing a university campus is a long process and a course in medicine requires permission from the Medical Council of India (MCI). Technical courses will need approval from All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and courses in arts and sciences need to be cleared by the University Grants Commission (UGC). MULFORD