NEW DELHI WEEKLY EST OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 000661 SENSITIVE 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 TSPA TRGY TNGD ECON SOCI KGHG IN SUBJECT: NEW DELHI WEEKLY EST OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 30 TO APRIL 03, 2009 REF: 08 New Delhi 614 ¶1. (SBU) Below is a compilation of Environment, Science, and Technology highlights from Embassy New Delhi for the week of March 30 to April 03, 2009, including the following: -- India to Conduct Next Tiger Census in October 2009 -- Maoist Attack in Orissa's Similipal Wildlife Sanctuary Surprises Forest Officials -- Weather Gods Help Make Earth Hour a Success in Delhi -- Media Reports Sighting of Tiger Pug Marks at 10,000 Feet -- CLRI Develops Process for Growing Silver Nanoparticles -- Overhauling Indian University Science Education -- DRDO to Commercialize Defense Technologies -- ISRO Prepares to Test Reusable Launch Vehicle -------------- ENVIRONMENT -------------- India to Conduct Next Tiger Census in October 2009 ¶2. (SBU) The Wildlife Institute of India, in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) National Tiger Conservation Authority, are training India's front line forest staff to carry out a new scientific assessment of India's tiger population. The census is slated to start in October 2009 and the MoEF claims it will be completed by April 2010. An EST section contact within MoEF was skeptical regarding the completion date stating the last scientific tiger census took two years to complete. The most recent census was carried out between 2006 and 2008 and marked the first time the MoEF used scientific methodology to assess India's tiger population. The 2008 census estimated that only 1,411 wild tigers remained in India and caused popular uproar as the numbers were less than half of the 2002 census estimate of 3600 (reftel). Maoist Attack in Orissa's Similipal Wildlife Sanctuary Surprises Forest Officials ¶3. (SBU) Media report Maoist insurgents targeted Orissa's Similipal Wildlife Sanctuary on March 29 in an attack on forest service property and personnel. The Maoists reportedly set forest department vehicles and offices ablaze and beat-up tourists they mistook for forest officials although no deaths were reported. While Maoist activity in Orissa's national parks is nothing new, the Similipal attack appears to be the first time the forest service was specifically targeted. Citing personal experience, Samir Sinha, an Indian Forest Service Officer, informed ESTFSN he had been advised on various occasions that if he entered Similipal park with police escorts, he would be risking an attack but would be left alone if he traveled unaccompanied by police. In other forest reserves with a large Maoist presence, forest guards are told not to wear their uniforms in order to ensure they are not mistaken for police. Sinha was surprised by the Similipal attack and commented that while many Maoists use forests as safe-havens, they have not targeted forest service personnel in the past. Weather Gods Help Make Earth Hour a Success in Delhi ¶4. (U) Earth Hour, coupled with mild showers on the evening of March 28, reduced electricity demand in Delhi by approximately 1000 MW, according to Delhi's electrical utilities. Power experts are publicly calling the dip in electricity usage remarkable, even after factoring in the effect of the rain. WWF - India and the Delhi government's Environment Department had urged residential welfare associations, schools, colleges, and hotels to participate in Earth Hour. An EST section contact at WWF - India said he was pleasantly surprised at the turn out at WWF's Earth Hour celebration and noted NEW DELHI 00000661 002 OF 003 the participants stayed despite the rain. Media Reports Unusual Sighting of Tiger Pug Marks at 10,000 Feet ¶5. (SBU) A national daily reported tiger pug marks in snow at an altitude of 10,000 feet in the Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary in the Eastern Himalayan State of Sikkim. The report went on to claim there had been no such sightings in the last 18 years. ESTFSN spoke to the Sikkim Forest Department's Senior Research Officer, Ms. Usha Lachungpa, who stated tiger pug marks have been observed at that altitude for many years and that she has personally seen them in the same region after domestic livestock were killed. Lachungpa noted the local Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) quoted in the news report is young and more than likely overstated the facts. In addition, she stated there was a good chance the pugmark reported in the story was actually that of a bear as pug marks in snow are notoriously unreliable as they tend to change shape through expansion and contraction due to changes in temperature. -------------- SCIENCE -------------- CLRI Develops Process for Growing Silver Nanoparticles ¶6. (U) The Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) in Chennai reported in the Bulletin of Material Science that they have developed a simple, fast and environmentally friendly process for growing silver nanoparticles. The key features of the process are the use of starch as both a template and reducing agent as well as microwave irradiation during chemical synthesis. CLRI claims that the microwave assisted process reduces formation time by tenfold and the presence of the starch template leads to agglomeration-free silver nanoparticles of an average size of 12 nanometers. CLRI plans to use particles produced by this method for medical and industrial applications. MHRD Offers USD 2 Million Grants to Advance Science Education ¶7. (U) The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) Department of Higher Education announced grants of INR 100 million (USD 2 million) each for the establishment of 50 centers of excellence for advanced science training and research at universities in India. This initiative is part of an MHRD effort to overhaul and rejuvenate India's Higher Education system. -------------- TECHNOLOGY -------------- DRDO to Commercialize Defense Technologies ¶8. (SBU) India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) is partnering with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI),with technical assistance from the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, on a program to spin out DRDO technologies for national and international commercial markets. Twenty-six DRDO labs are putting forth more than 200 technologies in the fields of electronics, robotics, advanced computing and simulation, avionics, optronics, precision engineering, special materials, engineering systems, instrumentation, acoustics, life sciences and disaster management to be assessed by FICCI during the first year. In addition to producing high-quality affordable products, head of DRDO M. Natarajan suggested this program would also attract young talented personnel to fill DRDO's aging and shrinking scientific ranks. On April 2, Chandrika Kaushik, DRDO Additional Director for International Cooperation, told ESTOff that DRDO did not intend to open the program to international companies, though joint ventures with FICCI members might be possible. NEW DELHI 00000661 003 OF 003 ISRO Announces Preparations to Test Reusable Launch Vehicle ¶9. (U) The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced plans to begin re-entry flight tests of a prototype Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) in 2010. The booster rocket for the RLV-TD was successfully ground tested at ISRO's Sriharikota facility in December 2008. The RLV-TD flight tests will focus on filling gaps in ISRO's understanding of re-entry aerodynamics, control systems, and heat shielding. ISRO intends to gather telemetery data from the RLV-TD re-entry tests but has no plans to recover the RLV-TD from the sea after the flight test claiming it would not be cost-effective. Although the RLV-TD is another step in India's development of a manned space shuttle, Dr. ¶K. Radhakrishnan, Directr of ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, was quoted in a national daily saying ISRO had a long way to go before it could build an operational RLV. WHITE