Union govt keen to restore Pallikaranai lake

Chennai:

Union government on Saturday said that it is keen to restore Pallikarannai lake and has sufficient funds to restore it.

Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan told reporters during her visit to Animal Quarantine Department and Certification Station here that they intend to take up the issue to restore Pallikaranai lake.

Interestingly, her statement comes in the wake of state government preparing a plan to restore Pallikarani, Porur and Perungudi lakes under the first phase of lake conservation project.

Pallikaranai lake’s swamp area’s water holding capacity have been reduced from 1600 hectares in 2001 to 950 hectare in 2008 which has resulted in policy makers and non governmental organizations calling for appropriate measures towards conservation of wetlands. Currently, the city has 474 wetlands organized as complexes and of which 40 are of immense significance.

Natarajan said that the Union government has sufficient funds to take up restoration of wetlands. As per the component, the Centre has to provide 70 per cent of funds for the restoration of lake while the state has to provide 30 per cent.

The minister also said that she would take steps to pursue Pulicat, the second largest brackish water lagoon after

Chilika, being declared as Ramsar site. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands and is named after the town of Ramsar in Iran. The lake is one of the most important refuges for waterbirds in southern India.

writingonblog uncensored: Highly educated unlikely to get dementia: expert

writingonblog uncensored: Highly educated unlikely to get dementia: expert: Express News Service Chennai: People who are highly educated are less prone to get dementia than those who lack education, according...

Highly educated unlikely to get dementia: expert

Express News Service

Chennai:

People who are highly educated are less prone to get dementia than those who lack education, according to an expert.

Delivering the Twenty sixth K Gopalkrishna Endowment Oration here on Saturday, Professor of psychiatry, nuerology and epidemiology at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Graduate School of Public Health, Mary Ganguli said if one has a higher level of education, then the person is less likely to get dementia.

She said education can help in the growth of tissue that can stimulate the brain.

However, Prof Mary says the most vulnerable are those who have cardio vascular diseases and high body mass index in the middle age besides high blood pressure and high cholestrol. “brain health depends on heart health,” said the professor.

Interestingly, if one keeps occupied reading books, the person can get a protective effect against dementia than the person who watches television.

The professor said that there is no cure for Alzheimer or dementia. She said the stem cell therapy has been tried in animals and it was successful but when it comes to humans it has failed while advocating the need to protect oneself.

She said the old people are vulnerable to Alzheimer and dementia and no when knows when it will affect you. “the pathology in brain that causes the disease start long before we get the disease,” the professor said.

She also highlighted the challenges faced by doctors as each generation has been exposed to different risk and protective factors.

She said that sports as well as aerobics are good to counter dementia besides eating fruits and vegetables, fish and even having moderate alcohol.

Prof Mary said those who suspect they have dementia or alzhiemer should contact the doctor and should have patience with the tests being conducted by the doctor so that one could know the exact level of cognition or disease.

writingonblog uncensored: India has 300,000 refugees: UNHCR

writingonblog uncensored: India has 300,000 refugees: UNHCR: Chennai: India has an approximate number of 300,000 refugees in the country of which 100,000 are from Tibet, according to United   Nat...

India has 300,000 refugees: UNHCR

Chennai:

India has an approximate number of 300,000 refugees in the country of which 100,000 are from Tibet, according to United  Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

This was revealed during a workshop on 'Human Rights and Refugee Protection' conducted by UNHCR officials Nayana Bose and R Vidjea Barathy and organized by Press Institute of India and Research Institute for Newspaper Development.

During the workshop the discussions focused on the rights of the refugees and also on who comes under the purview of being a refugee. It was learnt that the term refugee was loosely used in the media. The discussion also revolved around over whether the Kasmiri Pundits could be termed as refugees.

The officials clarified that the term refugee as UNHCR pertains to any person any person who owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership to a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of origin of his nationality and is unable or owning to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of protection of that country.

During the discussion on the status of Bangladeshis who entered India, it was felt that they are just the migrants and does not enjoy the refugee status. “They are not persecuted in their country. They are in the country to make money,” it was stated.

Interestingly, the focus was also on the internally displace persons in Sri Lanka and also the refugees from Sri Lanka in India.

During the meeting it was also highlighted that India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol and there is no regional  legal framework for rfugees Though repeatedly recommended by the National Human Rights Commission, India still does not have a national refugee law, the officials said.

But the discussion also highlighted that different refugee groups are protected in India. It remains a country traditionally generous and hospitable to refugees, the delegates felt.

writingonblog uncensored: Beagle pups illegally imported from China for cond...

writingonblog uncensored: Beagle pups illegally imported from China for cond...: MOEF to issue showcause notice to Bangalore-based toxicology firm Chennai: Union Ministry of Environment and Forest on Saturday said...

Beagle pups illegally imported from China for conducting experiments

MOEF to issue showcause notice to Bangalore-based toxicology firm

Chennai:

Union Ministry of Environment and Forest on Saturday said that it will issue showcause notice to a Bangalore-based research firm that illegally imported more than 400 Chinese beagle puppies to Chennai airport for research two years after the experiment got over.

Addressing a press conference Union Environment and Forest Minister Jyanthi Natrajan said that the pharmaceutical lab Advinus in Bangalore had sought permission to import 434 beagle puppies for conducting experiments contracted for a US based firm.

Surprisingly, it was the sixth consignment of 70 puppies which arrived on October had PETA officials and vice chairman of Animal Welfare Board of India Dr Chinny Krishnan interested.

The documents showed that the puppies, which were four to nine-months old, were imported via Cathay Pacific airlines as pet sparked curiosity and the officials later found that it was for conducting toxicology experiments  for a US based firm.

Interestingly, the Bangalore based lab has already conducted the experiments for which the puppies were sought by using 270 dogs in 2010.

Natrajan said that the ministry wanted to know the fate of the remaining puppies. “The experiment is already over so we wanted to know what were they going to do with the 434 puppies. Although we don’t know the fate of the earlier batch of puppies which were being imported from last year, we are curious about the fate of 70 puppies,” said the minister, who visited the Animal Quarantine Department and Certification Station here.

She said her ministry is going to issue a showcause notice to Advinus labs and added that the issue will be discussed by Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experimentation on Animals (CPCSEA) on Monday to take necessary action.

Any research is welcome in India but it should follow the strict guidelines. “India follows ahimsa doctrine and voiceless animals should not be misused in name of conducting experiments,” the minister said.

She also said following this incident her ministry will make the new bill on Animal Welfare Act more stringent. Currently, there are 1,600 registered labs in India and the minister feels many a times animals are being imported into India illegally for research purpose.