NEW DELHI EST HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 18 TO MAY 22,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001054 SIPDIS STATE FOR OES/PCI, OES/STC, OES/SAT, OES/EGC, AND SCA/INS STATE FOR STAS DOE FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERIOR FOR FWS RILEY STATE PASS TO NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV TSPL TBIO ECON IN SUBJECT: NEW DELHI EST HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 18 TO MAY 22, 2009 Ref: New Delhi 775 ¶1. (U) Below is a compilation of environment, science, and technology highlights from Embassy New Delhi for the week of May 18 - 22, 2009, including the following: -- It's Official - Panna Tiger Reserve Has Lost All Its Native Tigers -- Oil Spill Threatens Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary -- Indian Receives Green Oscar -- IIT Kanpur Developing First Indigenous Nano Satellite -- Chandrayaan I Orbit Raised -------------- ENVIRONMENT -------------- It's Official - Panna Tiger Reserve Has Lost All Its Native Tigers ¶2. A special investigation team appointed by the Ministry of Environment and Forest's National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has confirmed that the Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Madhya Pradesh has now joined Rajasthan's Sariska Tiger Reserve as the second reserve in India to lose all of its native wild tigers. The investigating team was headed by former NTCA Director Mr. P.K. Sen and included NTCA Joint Director Mr. S.P. Yadav and wildlife scientist Qamar Qureshi from the Wildlife Institute of India. There is no official explanation yet for the disappearance of the 35 - 40 tigers which had been resident in Panna since 2003, but conservationists largely attribute the complete wipe-out to poaching and habitat loss. The NTCA appointed team is expected to revisit PTR in the next few months to investigate the causes and to determine whether mis-management by local forest officials contributed to the loss. Forest officials have confirmed that the two tigresses transferred to Panna from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in March 2009 (reftel) are still alive. Oil Spill Threatens Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary ¶3. Regional media and several national dailies reported an oil spill caused by leakage from Indian Oil Corporation's (IOC) single point mooring (SPM) off the Paradip port in Orissa threatened the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary (GMS) located 15 kms from the spill site. GMS is one of the world's foremost nesting sites for Olive Ridley Turtles and an oil spill in the area could have serious implications for marine biodiversity. Media reports claim that approximately 3000 tons of crude oil leaked from the SPM on April 22, 2009. IOC officials state the spill was the result of a minor leak in the SPM and was not sufficient to cause serious environmental damage. However, Orissa forest officials, closely monitoring the wind direction, have expressed concern and the Wildlife Society of Orissa, an NGO, has demanded that IOC pay for an oil spill impact study and as well as remedial measures to mitigate the environmental impact. Mr. B.C. Choudhury, a renowned herpetologist and faculty member of the Wildlife Institute of India, informed ESTOffs that his team in Orissa is in touch with Mr. V.K. Verghese, the Coast Guard Commandant of Paradip Coast Guard Base and according to Verghese, the spill was extremely minor and the Paradip Port Trust will be able to control it without damage to the marine environment. In Verghese's opinion, the oil spill was blown out of proportion by the media. Choudhury also informed ESTOffs that IOC has plans to install three more SPMs in the same ecologically sensitive region. Indian Receives Green Oscar ¶4. Dr. M.D. Madhusudhan of the NGO Nature Conservation Foundation, has been awarded the Whitley Award in recognition of his work to reduce human-wildlife conflict in the Western Ghats region of Karnataka. Popularly referred to as the Green Oscars and considered one of the most important international nature conservation awards, the Whitley includes a grant of USD 46,000 (30,000 British pounds) and a trophy. Two other Indian conservationists, Dr. Sudipto Chatterjee and Ms. Supraja Dharini, received the Whitley associate award which includes a grant of USD 15,000 (10,000 pounds). Chatterjee, who heads the Biodiversity Group at Winrock International-India, received his award for the conservation of Rhododendrons in the Eastern Himalayas. Dharini, Chairperson of the Trust for Environment Education (TREE) Foundation, received her NEW DELHI 00001054 002 OF 002 award for her community based initiative to protect sea turtles and dolphins. -------------- SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY -------------- IIT Kanpur Developing First Indigenous Nano Satellite ¶5. The Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur is developing a nano satellite called "Jugnu" measuring 34 cm long x 10 cm wide. The satellite is expected to be equipped with micro imaging systems and weigh 3.5 kg. A team of 12 professors and 40 research students led by Professor Nalinaksh S Vyas of the Mechanical Engineering department are involved in the project. The nano satellite is designed to transmit images to a base station being set up at the IIT Kanpur campus. The satellite is expected to have a life span of six to twelve months and be used in applications including drought monitoring, wasteland management, urban planning and flood-risk management. Professor Dhande, Director of IIT Kanpur, informed EST FSN the cost of the project was approximately USD 500,000. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to launch the satellite by December 2009. Chandrayaan I Orbit Raised ¶6. Media report ISRO raised the Chandrayaan-I lunar orbiter from its previous 100 km orbit to a new 200 km orbit on May 19, 2009. ISRO stated all eleven payloads were working well and the quality of the data received to date was excellent. Dr. Gowrishankar, ISRO's Director of International Relations, informed ESTFSN that the orbit was changed because ISRO has received sufficient data at 100 km and wanted to conserve fuel in order to extend the orbiter's useful life. Gowrishankar also stated the new orbit better enabled ISRO to study orbit perturbations and gravitation field variations in addition to obtaining wider field images of the lunar surface. He did note however that if at any point ISRO felt the need to lower the orbit, there was sufficient fuel aboard to do so. BURLEIGH