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THE HINDU
15
SNAPSHOTS
New source of methane
in Arctic discovered
anomalies, physics
Candidate malaria drug Penguin
beyond the Standard Model
may cure with single dose
SHUBASHREE DESIKAN
N. GOPAL RAJ
REUTERS
K.K. MUSTAFAH
AFP
AP
this was the first study in India to find TPM1 gene mutation
vis--vis
cardio
-myopathies.
He said it was very rare to
find two pathogenic mutations in a single individual.
Since marriage practices in
South India were known for
consanguineous nature, this
finding was not very
surprising.
The scientists also carried
out further bioinformatics,
biochemical and biophysical
studies in collaboration with
John A.Mercer from the National Centre for Biological
Sciences, TIFR, Bengaluru
and a few other institutions.
The study, which was published in the March, 2015 issue of the Journal of
Biological Chemistry, supported pathogenicity of the
mutations.
Dr. Thangaraj said the finding would help in early diagnosis and planning treatment
strategies for the disease.
AP
16
QUESTION CORNER
Sonar, radar
Why is sonar and not radar used in water for tracking
objects at greater depths? Can sonar be used for tracking
objects in air just as radar does?
GAURAV AWASTHI
New Delhi
Radar uses high frequency radio waves and microwaves
for communication whereas sonar uses high frequency
sound waves. Though the processes involved in both the
cases are same, there is a fundamental difference. Radio
waves are electromagnetic waves whereas sound waves are
mechanical waves. Energy loss of any wave in a medium
arises from two important factors namely, scattering and
absorption by the particles (atoms or molecules) present in
the medium.
In air, radar system sends radio waves and upon reflection from the target, the reflected radio waves will be
received. Since density of air is less, the absorption of radio
waves by air molecules is very less. But the absorption of
radio waves by sea water is very high especially at high
frequencies. This is because water molecules and electrically charged ions effectively absorb radio waves. For example, sea water can absorb almost 99 per cent of high
frequency radio waves within one metre length. Typically,
submarines are inside the sea by several kilometers which
makes it very difficult to communicate to them through
radio waves. Even if one can try to communicate by low
frequency (longer wavelength) radio waves, then the
length of the antenna would be of the order of few thousand
kilometres, which is practically not possible. Also, usage of
low frequency radio waves results in slower data transfer.
However being mechanical waves, sound waves can
propagate few hundreds of kilometers and water molecules
and ions cannot absorb much. For example, 10 kHz radio
wave can propagate only 6m inside sea whereas for the
same frequency a sound wave can travel 38 km. However,
the absorption of sound waves in air is very high when
compared to radio waves. For example, the intensity of
sound waves is 3,000 times reduced when compared with
sea water. Hence usage of sound waves in air is limited only
to short distances.
DR. K. SARAVANAKUMAR
Assistant Professor of Physics
Department of Physical Sciences
Bannari Amman Institute of Technology
Sathyamangalam, Tamil Nadu
CM
YK
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
FARMERS NOTEBOOK
ndiscriminate use of
chemical inputs is an
indeterminable setback to many industries
associated
with
agriculture.
Similarly is the case in sericulture. Mulberry, the food
plant of silkworm is a perennial crop and once planted
can be maintained for years
together without much
effort.
Production of quality
mulberry leaves is mandatory for the sericulture farmers to ensure healthy growth
of silkworms and better silk
thread harvest.
Therefore the agronomical practices such as application of fertilizers, weeding,
irrigation, plant protection
measures at bimonthly intervals after each leaf harvest are important for good
and healthy leaf production.
Indiscriminate use
Like in many crops, here
too chemical inputs are indiscriminately applied to
gain short term results.
In general one acre of
mulberry garden receives 1.5
metric tonne of fertilizers
and 12-15 sprays of toxic insecticides annually which
causes deleterious effects on
the beneficial organisms and
on silkworms, says Dr. V.
Sivaprasad, Director, Central Sericulture Research
and Training Institute, Central Silk Board, Mysore.
Though chemical farming
initially yields good results,
its negative impact on leaf
yield, quality and cocoon
productivity is pronounced
in a few years.
Therefore, promotion of
organic farming in sericulture is imperative to sustain
the industry and intensive
research on production of
Other methods
Other eco-friendly formulations like bionema and nemahari to control root knot
nematodes, chetak and navinya for management of root
rot disease and spraying
strong jets of water on mulberry garden are found effective to manage sucking pests
and are advised for farmers.
Similarly, thermal weeding
and black polythene mulching are also introduced to
avoid application of weedicides as well as to overcome
the labour scarcity problem
for manual weeding.
According to Dr. Sivaprasad, about 12-15 metric
tonnes of sericulture waste,
comprising silkworm litter,
unfed leftover mulberry leaves, soft twigs, farm weeds etc
are obtained from a hectare of
FARM QUERY
Casuarina seedlings
Can you guide me to somebody who can help me source
Casuarina seedlings for planting in my two acres near
Pudukottai, Tamil Nadu?
RAJ STEPHEN
Tamil Nadu
You can contact Mr. Dhanapathy a farmer from Pudukkottai for your requirements. Mr. G.S. Dhanapathy can be
reached at Bharathipuram ,1377, Kamban Nagar, Pudukkottai
622003, Vaithur Post, Tamil Nadu, mobile: 9443593339,
email:goshakthi@gmail.com, Phone: 04322-261139.
Readers are invited to send their queries with full postal address to Farm Queries, The Hindu,
Kasturi Buildings, 859/860, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002 or email to farmqueries@thehindu.co.in
ND-ND
14
BUSINESS
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
Debilitating effect
of silicosis
AARTI DHAR
QUESTION CORNER
FARMERS NOTEBOOK
Tree survival
Members from the local self-help groups volunteered to work for free
M.J. PRABU
ermalam in Erode
district, Tamil Nadu, is covered by
thick reserve forests. Agriculture and livestock are the key livelihood
for the people there. The land
holding of each farmer is
about one to three acres of
dry land where cultivation
predominantly depends on
the monsoon. Maize is the
main crop grown extensively
apart from ragi, lablab, tapioca, black gram, horse gram
and french beans as minor
crops.
Like paddy in the delta regions, in this region, maize
was the major sustenance
crop and as usual marketing
the produce was a big
bottleneck.
Private lenders
The small farmers used to
borrow from moneylenders
at 3-5 per cent interest per
month for purchasing seeds
and fertilizers and the moneylenders usually arrived at
the farm during harvesting
season and took away from
the farmer a volume of produce equal to the loan principal and interest.
Being indebted, farmers
did not have much control
over the rates the moneylenders xed. Besides, the
moneylenders used their own
faulty weighing scales, says
Dr. P. Alagesan, Programme
Coordinator, Myrada ( Mysore Resettlement and Development
Agency),
Gobichettipalayam,
Tamil
Nadu.
Farmers therefore lost out
both on rates as well as the
weight of their produce. Since
they had no idea of the market availability or the prevailing rate for maize they did not
have much choice. Some of
GOOD IDEA: The model cut labour costs as farmers themselves brought in their
produce from their farms.- PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
them tried to market the produce themselves but the high
cost incurred on transportation (especially, since they
had small volumes each)
forced them to sell the maize
as soon as it was harvested.
And the market was a
buyers arena.
Traders offered low prices
for the produce taking advantage of the fact that the sellers
were not locals and had come
from faraway places. Farmers
were often forced to agree to
the buyers rates as they
wanted to go back home early
and there were costs involved
for storing their maize in
warehouses.
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
15
The use of shocking pictorial warnings turns the power of packaging on its head
ILLUSTRATION:
SATWIK GADE
Indian research on
smokeless tobacco,
bidi, pan masala
SNAPSHOTS
he recent controversy
about several members
of the Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation on Rules on the
Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003 highlighted
how
nancial
interests of the members
outed ethical principles.
These gentlemen should
have resigned from the committee. They did not, and the
Prime Ministers office had
to take corrective action.
And they took liberties
with truth, which are now
published both in the official
government website and in
the press and media. The
chairman said: Bidis are
natural products (sic) and
are very small as compared
to cigarettes. As such, bidis
should not be compared
with cigarettes as far as rules
are concerned. Well, are
cigarettes made from natural products too? Another
said: there is very little tobacco in each bidi, hence the
harmful effects are nil as
compared to cigarettes and
chewing tobacco A third
SPEAKING OF SCIENCE
Anaesthetics causing
climate change: study
Internet-style LANs in
cerebral cortex of rats
Working up a sweat: it
could save your life
Endangered tortoises
prefer invasive plants
AP
NISSAR AHMAD
companies.
The government had increased the taxes on tobacco
products and listed out a few
measures in a draft Bill to curb
consumption prohibiting the
sale of the products to those under 21 years, prohibiting the sale
of cigarettes/bidis in loose, banning the display of tobacco products at outlets, and banning the
use of brand name of tobacco
products to promote non-tobacco products. But it is only in the
case of pictorial warning that
there has been a reaction by the
MPs, who are acting on behalf of
the tobacco companies.
The reasons are quite obvious.
Except in prohibiting the use of
tobacco brand names to promote non-tobacco products and
increasing the excise duty on tobacco products, none of the other measures listed in the draft
Bill by the government can ever
be effectively enforced. Even in
the case of taxes, the hike was
limited to cigarettes and chewing tobacco (smokeless tobacco)
and bidis were exempted from it.
This is despite the fact that nearly 85 per cent of smokers in India consumed bidis.
Even in the case of cigarettes,
the net negative effect of tax hike
on consumption will be very
limited. Since there are four different cigarette lengths sold in
the country, consumers can always switch over to smaller
length cigarettes and thus escape the brunt of the tax hike.
Also, the hike is not linked to
ination and, hence, the increased tax will, in due course,
be insignicant.
But, it is completely different
in the case of pictorial warnings.
They will turn out to be the biggest deterrent in the case of children and young, new users, and
current users are very likely to
reduce consumption and even
quit smoking.
An October 21, 2014 editorial
in The Hindu had noted: How
well the government resists such
pressure [to dilute the amendment] will show how determined it is to win the war against
tobacco. Since one million people in India die each year because of tobacco use, the
government should not sacrice
proven and obvious health benets at the altar of commercial
advantage.
AP
AFP
AP
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
14
BUSINESS
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
Wind direction
Why do most of the clouds move from south to north
direction over our subcontinent?
MAHESHKUMAR T.,
Mulanur, Tamil Nadu
Clouds usually move according to the wind pattern.
Wind is caused due to difference in temperatures and
pressures which may be affected by various factors. Movement of wind is a very complex phenomenon affected by
latitude, proximity of water bodies, sea shore and land
undulations. It is also affected by the rotation of the Earth.
Wind blows from points of high pressures to low pressure points. Wind caused due to difference in temperatures
is known as convection current. Wind moves from warmer
regions near the Earth surface to higher up colder regions.
Where the land mass is surrounded by sea water, air near
land surface is warmer and moves up. To replace the air
mass, wind blows from sea to the land mass. This is also
known as breeze. Then there is global movement of wind.
Earth regions near the equator get maximum heat energy from the sun. This causes air to rise up vertically near
the equator. To replace, cold wind blows from higher latitude regions. There are also seasonal variations in the
direction of wind due to tilt of the Earth, which further
makes the phenomenon more complex.
In our subcontinent, the southern regions are surrounded by sea water which causes the wind to move from sea to
the land mass i.e. from south to north. The direction changes as the seasons change.
RASHMI JAIN
Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh
CM
YK
Two states
Walamtari is a government organisation in Hyderabad serving farmers of
both Telangana and Andhra
Pradesh States.
Presently they are working on low cost sensors for
water use efficiency, soil
moisture and environmental
parameters, through a project called ClimaAdapt, supported by the Norwegian
Government.
Unlike in olden days, today several smart technologies like sensors are
available to monitor water
resources distribution and
utilisation. The cost of monitoring water usage with the
aid of these technologies is
more reliable and convenient as compared to human
resources engaged for monitoring, says Mr. Bhaskar
SMART TECHNOLOGY: Once every two to three hours information is sent to the
farmers mobile as a message. - PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Reddy. All the farmer needs
to do is to buy and install one
or two sensors in his eld and
irrigation outlets in the elds
for measuring water ow, soil
moisture, temperature and
relative humidity in the atmosphere. Once every two to
three hours information on
the above is sent to the farmers mobile as a message.
Project
As part of a project to popularise it and bring awareness
among farmers Walamtari set
up sensors for measuring water use in paddy crops in the
eld of a beneciary farmer
Mr. K. Prabhakar from Kondrapole village, Miryalaguda,
Nalgonda
District,
Telangana.
Mr. Prabhakar, had been
cultivating the paddy crop for
the last 30 years in about two
hectares. He was utilising water
without
any
measurement.
I used to worry when
there was no water standing
in the eld. I was given training and also taken for an exposure visit on alternate
wetting and drying (AWD)
method in paddy by Walam-
Information timings
Today, after setting up the
sensors in his eld, Mr. Prabhakar is able to get information every three hours on his
mobile about the water ow,
air temperature, soil moisture etc on his mobile phone.
With these systems in
place he is able to schedule
his cropping pattern as per
the requirement.
Mr. Prabhakar was asked to
speak to other farmers in his
Cost
Some farmers expressed
that they were also willing to
buy these sensors on their
own for irrigation management. Sensors are priced at
Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 3,000.
Being a Government organisation, it does not market
sensors commercially. At present a farmer cannot buy directly from us, but we can
guide them to the right place
from where they can purchase, says Mr. Sai.
Though this is a new concept in an area that already
faces several problems, the
need of the hour is for farmers across the country to become aware about this
concept and try them
personally.
For more information coninterested farmers contact
Dr. N. Sai Bhaskar Reddy, Coordinator, ClimaAdapt Project,
Walamtari,
email:
saibhaskarnaka@gmail.com,
Mobile:09676799191.
Management practices
for mango malformation
overcrowded due to larger
owers. They continue to
grow and remain as black
ango malformation is a masses of dry tissue during
fungal disease. It was summer but some of them
reported for the rst time continue to grow till the next
season.
from Darbhanga, Bihar.
The disease is more in
northwest than in the north- Management
Diseased plants should
east and South India.
Malformation is one of the be destroyed. Use disease free
most important problems of planting material
Scion sticks from infectmango and a serious threat.
This disorder is widespread ed trees should not be used.
As soon as the disease
in owers and vegetative
shoots.
appears, the affected termiBroadly three distinct nals along with the basal 15types of symptoms are there. 20 cm healthy portion should
These are vegetative malfor- be removed or pruned and
mation and oral malforma- burnt.
tion. Later, these were
If more than 25 per cent
grouped under two broad cat- affected plants, de-blossomegories that is vegetative and ing at bud burst stage should
oral malformation.
be done to delay the owering.
Commonly found
Spraying of Planox (200
Vegetative Malformation ppm) during the rst week of
(VM) is more commonly October followed by deblosfound on young seedlings. soming at bud burst stage is
The seedlings produce small recommended.
shootlets bearing small scaly
A single foliar application
leaves with a bunch like ap- of 1,000 ppm cobalt sulphate
pearance on the shoot apex. prior to ower bud differenSeedling remains stunted and tiation successfully reduce
die while those getting infect- the oral malformation.
(Dr. Utpal Dey, research
ed later resume normal
scientist, Mob: 8119934883,
growth.
utpalFloral malformation (FM) email:
is the malformation of pan- dey86@gmail.com and Dr.
icles. The severity of malfor- Anup Das (ARS), Senior Scimation may vary on the same entist (Agronomy), Division
shoot from light to medium of Natural Resource Manageor heavy malformation of ment, ICAR Research Companicles. Heavily malformed plex for NEH Region, Umiam
panicles are compact and - 793 103, Meghalaya)
ANUP DAS
& UTPAL DEY
FARM QUERY
Tomato cultivation
I have about 65 cents of land and am interested in growing
vegetables which can be remunerative. Is it possible?
SUBHADRA
Kerala
Mr. Narasimha Reddy near Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh has
planted tomato crop in his 0.75 acres. He spent Rs. 60,000 and
harvested 30 tonnes getting a net prot of Rs.70,000 in three
months. To know more contact Mr. C.Manohar, Programme
Coordinator, RASS-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Vanasthali, Karakambadi Post, Renigunta Mandal, Mobile: 09441532150, mail
id: arkvk@yahoo.co.in, Tirupati Chittoor district, A.P.
Readers are invited to send their queries with full postal address to Farm Queries, The Hindu,
Kasturi Buildings, 859/860, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002 or email to farmqueries@thehindu.co.in
ND-ND
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
15
SNAPSHOTS
Robot cleans hospital
rooms with UV light
The culprit
Agricultural burning and forest fires along the southern foothills and the
Indo-Gangetic Plain peak during the pre-monsoon period. PHOTO: K.R. DEEPAK
Levoglucosan is a specic
marker of biomass burning
it is produced through the
pyrolysis of cellulose during
the combustion process, Dr.
Cong notes. Another unique
marker of biomass burning is
the water-soluble potassium.
Both the markers showed
strong positive correlation
with dicarboxylic acids thereby conrming biomass burning as the source of pollution.
Though the pollutants
were found to reach the
northern slopes of the Himalayas during all the seasons
pre-monsoon,
monsoon,
post-monsoon and winter
seasons the amount of
aerosol found peaked during
pre-monsoon. This, according to them, is one more indicator of biomass burning as
the source.
Agricultural burning and
M. SRINATH
AFP
NISSAR AHMAD
Piece of continental
crust under Iceland
SHUBASHREE DESIKAN
R. PRASAD
ontrary to the general
assumption
that the southern
C. VENKATACHALAPATHY
slopes of the HimaA Star Wars-style robot that uses
layas act as a barrier and efultraviolet light can kill up to 70
fectively
block
the
per cent of bacteria in hospital
transportation of pollutants
rooms in just 12 minutes,
from India and other parts of
according to a new study by an
South Asia, a study published
Indian-origin scientist.
a couple of days ago in the
Nature Group journal Scientic Reports nds sound eviHow green tea, apples dence to prove otherwise.
Aerosols have been found
could protect health
to rise and cross the entire
range of the Himalayas. So
much so that studies conducted in the northern slope
of the Himalayas at an elevation of 4,276 MSL could nd
markers distinctive of pollution arising from India and
other regions of South Asia.
Local meteorological conditions and regional atmospheric ow process have
been the two major factors
N. RAJESH
enabling the pollutants to
Researchers have found how
cross over, notes Zhiyuan
polyphenols in green tea and
Cong, the rst author of the
apples affect a key signalling
paper from the Institute of
molecule, which could explain how Tibetan Research, Chinese Apolyphenol-rich foods reduce risks cademy of Sciences, Beijing.
of chronic diseases.
he Indian Mackerel,
which sh lovers across
the country relish, shares the
same genetic prole except
those caught from Andaman
waters, it has been found.
The shes collected from
Andaman waters were found
to be genetically distinctive
from those caught from the
Indian mainland. However,
there was little genetic differentiation between the sh
caught from across India.
These were some of the results of one of the biggest
studies on an Indian sh species for genetic stock identication.
The genetic proling was
carried out by researchers of
the Central Marine Fish Research Institute (CMFRI),
Kochi and the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Research
(NBFGR), Kochi regional
centre.
The study formed part of
the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME)
Project, supported by the
Food and Agriculture Organization. Researchers from
India, Bangladesh, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand
are working together in the
project.
Besides other things, the
search on radiopharmaceuticals
and
superheavy
elements.
According to Dr. K.L. Ramakumar, Director, Radiochemistry and Isotope Group,
BARC, Prof. Lahiris associ-
ions.
Lahiri and his co workers
produced a tracer packet
containing carrier-free radiotracers of manganese, copper,
zinc gadolinium, germanium,
arsenic and selenium for further studies of essential micro nutrient elements by
irradiating thick cobalt foils
in accelerators with specic
isotopes oxygen, lithium and
carbon ions.
Prof. Lahiri pointed out
that except one study (which
was carried out in CERN under our leadership) all others
were done in India using the
accelerator
facilities
at
BARC-TIFR Pelletron and
Variable Energy Cyclotron
Centre.
K.S. PARTHASARATHY
Former Secretary, Atomic
Energy Regulatory Board
ksparth@yahoo.co.uk
ND-ND
14
BUSINESS
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
QUESTION CORNER
FARMERS NOTEBOOK
Tear formation
CM
YK
Best suited
Though it can be used for
any crop it is best suited for
vegetables since the space between plants is more for operating this device.
The weeder can penetrate
the soil to a depth of 2-2.5 cm.
It can be used for weeding 1 to
J. JAYARAJ
& M. KALYANASUNDARAM
Easy to operate
Tarabalu Krishi Vigyan
Kendra in Davanagere recently introduced a cycle
weeder for farmers in the region, priced at an affordable
rate, and easy to operate for
removing weeds, according
to Mr. B.O.Mallikarjuna,
specialist at the institute.
In the training, we had
demonstrated the use of this
device for weeding different
crops. After the training programme, selected farmers
were given the weeder for
use in their own farms under
our technical guidance.
We suggested to farmers
that it can be used for all the
crops like groundnut, sunower, maize and vegetables
with the spacing of 30-40 cm
between the lines and 15 -20
cm within the plants, says
Dr. T.N. Devaraja, Programme Coordinator.
As a trial, the weeding
technology was demonstrat-
Hiring charges
Unlike foreign countries,
where hundreds of acres are
available without any borders, in India it is the other
Beneciary
Maggots
Operation
The machine operates efficiently when the eld is irigated for the device to pull
out the weeds. Farmers
should note that the eld
must not be hard since it
would be difficult to use the
device.
Taralabalu KVK is popularizing this technology in and
around their region. The
weeders are priced at Rs.
2,000 to Rs. 2,500 a piece.
Those interested contact
Dr. T.N. Devaraja, Programme Co ordinator, Taralabalu KVK, Davanagere - 577
004, Phone: 08192-263462,
Mobile: 09449856876, email:
dvgtkvk@yahoo.com, website: www.taralabalukvk.com
and Mr. Renukarya at
09900110947.
Management
Collect the fallen infested fruits and dispose them by
dumping and burying in 60
cm deep pits.
Plough the interspaces in
the orchard during summer
FARM QUERY
Moringa seedlings
Is there any genune contact from where I can procure Moringa
seedlings for planting in my 12 acres?
J. DHANDAPANI
, Tamil Nadu
You can contact Mr. K. P. M. Sadaiyandi, Karthikeyan moringa nursery in Dindugal, Tamil Nadu. Seedlings are produced
in large scale commercially and sold at a rate of Rs.40 each to
farmers of Dindugal, Theni, Salem and Madurai. The farmer
produces at least 12,000 seedlings a year generating a revenue
of Rs. 4 lakhs from selling them alone. Mr. Sadaiyandi can be
reached at Karthikeyan Moringa Nursery, Pallapatti (P.O), Pin
-624 201 Nilakottai taluk, Dindugal district. Tamil Nadu, mobile: 9791374087 and 9865078101.
Readers are invited to send their queries with full postal address to Farm Queries, The Hindu,
Kasturi Buildings, 859/860, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002 or email to farmqueries@thehindu.co.in
ND-ND
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
15
SNAPSHOTS
Insects inspire next
generation hearing aids
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
A revolutionary insect-inspired
microphone that can locate
sounds and eliminate background
noise is set to change modern-day
hearing aid systems. It is similar
to the ear of an insect.
Improving management
of causes of blindness
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
he Hubble Space
Telescope a joint
venture
between
NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA)
was launched in its orbit 552
km above Earth on April 24,
1990 by the space shuttle Discovery. It has provided
breathtaking images, produced fundamental discoveries and brought about a
paradigm shift in our understanding of the universe.
Hubble has unlocked the
wonders of the universe and
placed our world into a context of 100 billion stars in 100
billion galaxies.
If the spotting of the Hubble variable number one, or
V1 star in 1923 in the neighbouring Andromeda galaxy
permanently altered the
course of modern astronomy,
the Hubble Telescope has
done it even more dramatically.
The Hubble, which has so
far travelled more than 3 billion miles, has made more
than 1.2 million observations
since 1990 by completing an
orbit around the Earth every
97 minutes at a speed of about
8 km per second.
A household name today, it
was an instrument that
much of the astronomical
community didnt want!
Worse, it almost turned out to
be a dud soon after the
launch.
Catastrophic
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Major achievements by
Hubble Telescope
Twinkle twinT
kle little star, how I wonder what you are
he words
may have
seeded the dreams of many
children of becoming astronomers, but the twinkling of a
star is ultimately a bane for
astronomers. Stars twinkle
because of disturbances in
our atmosphere, and this effect blurs the images of celestial objects. From the time
astronomers began to use
photographs,
they
had
wished they could place a telescope in space, in order to
gaze upon the universe unhindered by the veil of the
atmosphere.
And that wish came true
twenty-ve years ago with the
launch of the Hubble Space
Telescope (HST). With its
2.4m diameter mirror, this
telescope has observed the
universe in a range of wavelengths, from ultraviolet, visible to infrared, and has
changed the way astronomers
view the universe.
One of the rst achievements of HST was to determine the rate at which our
universe has been expanding.
This requires an accurate
measurement of the distances of far away galaxies, which
is almost impossible with
ground-based
telescopes.
This was one of the key projects of the telescope, and it
was aptly named after Edwin
Hubble, the discoverer of the
expansion of the universe.
The observations with HST
settled the rate of expansion
within ten per cent accuracy,
ushering a new age in astronomy a quarter century ago.
The clear images taken
with HST also helped to pinpoint distant supernovae of a
special type that astronomers
use to measure distances.
This allowed the astronomers
to measure the distances of
even more distant galaxies, or
equivalently peer back further in the history of the universe. This led to the
momentous discovery that
our universe is not only expanding, but also accelerating. No one knows yet why it
SHUBASHREE DESIKAN
NAGARA GOPAL
SHASHI ASHIWAL
M. SARAVANAN
Denitrifying bacteria
Sudhakar M. Rao, lead author of the study, says the
mixture of sand (95 per cent)
and bentonite clay (5 per
cent) ensures a suitable anaerobic environment for denitrifying bacteria which convert nitrates into gaseous
nitrogen compounds.
The importance of curbing
leachates was demonstrated
in a 2013 study of Mulbagal
town in Karnataka by Prof.
Rao. The seepage of untreated water into groundwater
resulted in an average nitrate
concentration of 148 mg per
s growing incidence of
lifestyle-induced Diabesity continues to pose a
major challenge for health experts and affected individuals
alike, here is some good news
on diet-based management of
diabetes and obesity.
Scientists at the CSIR- Indian Institute of Chemical
Technology (IICT) have analysed green, yellow and red
bell peppers for their anti-hyperglycaemic and anti-hyperlipidemic effect and found
encouraging results.
In particular, they studied
the impact of the bell peppers, popularly known as capsicum, on nutrition digestive
enzymescarbohydrate
cleaving enzyme alpha- glucosidase and lipid-slicing enzyme pancreatic lipase.
Normally, carbohydrates are
broken down into disaccha-
NOIDA/DELHI
14
THE HINDU
SNAPSHOTS
First proton collisions
at LHC in early June
Stress loading could have occurred further west of the main quakes focus
R. PRASAD
AFP
n future, if any
earthquake were
to happen along
the Himalayas, it
may happen further west of
the focus of the main April 25
quake, said Dr. R.K. Chadha,
Chief Scientist at the Hyderabad-based National Geophysical Research Institute.
That is because the 7.8
magnitude April 25 quake
was caused by a unidirectional fracture. From the focus of
the earthquake, the fault
propagated in a nearly west to
east direction thereby releasing the energy that was stored
for many decades.
While stress unloading has
taken place from nearly west
to east of the focus of the
main quake, stress loading
could have occurred further
west of the focus of the main
quake.
A case in point
AP
Thrust faulting
AP
Since the soil at Kathmandu valley is soft and liquefies easily, the seismic
waves get amplified, thereby amplifying the ground motion. PHOTO: REUTERS
from the epicentre of the
earthquake, nearly 80 km to
the northwest of the Nepalese
capital of Kathmandu, the India plate is converging with
the Eurasian plate at a rate of
4.5-5 cm per year.
About 3 cm of the Indian
plate movement is accommodated in the Himalayan collision zone and the remaining
is accommodated along the
east-west strike-slip faults in
the Tibet region. As a result,
earthquakes caused by thrust
fault in the Himalayan region
occur along the strike-slip
fault in an east-west direction.
Any quake will cause displacement either in a vertical
or horizontal direction. We
dont know for sure the
amount of displacement
caused by this earthquake,
said Dr. Chadha, but for an
earthquake of 7.8 magnitude
[revised value], the displacement can be 1 to 2 metres
along the fault. The quake
was on a thrust fault and so
most of the displacement will
be in a vertical direction.
According to Colin Stark at
the Lamont-Doherty Earth
Observatory, Columbia, 1-10
feet of India had slipped
northward underneath Nepal.
The U.S. Geological Survey
has revised the depth of the
focus to around 15 km. Explaining why the focus of the
earthquake cannot be a couple of kilometres deep as initially put out, he said the
magnitude of an earthquake
has a relationship with the
volume of crust. Hence, the
focus of the quake has to be
10-15 km deep as a large volume of crust is needed for a
7.8 magnitude quake.
Amplification of waves
Nepal is situated on an ancient lakebed and hence the
soil at Kathmandu valley is
soft and liquees easily.
Unlike a rocky terrain where
the seismic waves travelling
with great velocity can have
very good transmission, a terrain with sediments can am-
REUTERS
Parrotfish critical to
coral island building
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Pollution linked to
lower birth weight
AP
s science stands now, predicting the precise location, time and magnitude of
earthquakes is not possible.
However, the regions that are
more vulnerable to quakes
are well known. Much like the
subduction zone off Sumatra,
the Himalayan belt, in particular, is a seismically active region. As recently witnessed in
Nepal and parts of India, the
7.8 magnitude earthquake
ended up killing thousands of
people. The culprit was unsafe buildings. After all,
earthquakes do not kill, unsafe buildings do.
The extent of damage to
buildings depends not only
on the magnitude of the
earthquake, but also on the
type of construction practice
followed in a particular region or country. For example,
an earthquake in Tokyo or
Los Angeles may result in
damage of only a few buildings because strict construction regulations are adopted.
But a similar earthquake may
be catastrophic in Mumbai or
Delhi, in terms of buildings
damaged and lives lost, because the building design and
construction practices are
not adequately regulated.
There is much we can do to
protect our buildings and
thus save lives. It is possible
today to assess the vulnerability of any building to earthquake,
and,
wherever
possible, to undertake retrot
measures to make it safe.
When
an
earthquake
strikes, the ground shakes violently, depending on several
factors like the magnitude,
the depth of the focus and the
nature of soil. In some rare
cases involving sandy soils in
the presence of ground water,
the soil can suddenly behave
like quicksand causing buildings to sink or tilt and collapse. In such regions,
buildings should be either
supported on pile foundations resting on hard strata or
should be constructed after
suitable ground improvement measures are undertaken.
In hilly terrains (as in the
Himalayan regions), landslides are likely to be triggered,
bringing
down
buildings located on the unstable slopes. Slope stabilising measures can help to
some extent to arrest the
damage.
Even if the soil and foundations in a structure are safe,
collapse of a building can occur if it does not have adequate strength to resist the
horizontal forces that are
generated during an earth-
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
FARMERS NOTEBOOK
QUESTION CORNER
Photosynthesis
How do non-green coloured leaves in a plant
photosynthesise?
HIMANSHU RAJMANI
New Delhi
We all know that most plants are green. This green
colour is caused by the presence of green chlorophyll pigments found in the leaves which are involved in photosynthesis. These pigments capture light energy from the sun
which is used to fuel photosynthesis. Plants need photosynthesis to make energy in the form of sugars.
Even the green leaves often contain non-green pigments, such as carotenoids and xamthophylls, in addition
to green chlorophylls in the plastids of their cells. There are
many plants with non-green leaves in which anthocyanins
the purple cytoplasmic pigments that are present in such
large amount which can mask the green colour of the
chlorophyll and make the plant appear purple. But the
photosynthesis is still happening underneath. This is because of the presence of chlorophyll pigments. Even in
chlorophyll there are different kinds based on molecular
structure and wavelength absorption. Only those plants
which have Chlorophyll-a (Ch-a) can do photosynthesis as
only Ch-a in the reaction centre of photo-system is involved in the transfer of light energy into chemical energy,
the essential process of light reaction of photosynthesis.
Carotenoids and xanthophylls have only accessory and
protective functions: they help harvest the light energy and
pass it to Chlorophyll-a, they help dissipate the excess light
and they quench reactive oxygen species and hence they
have antioxidant, protective function.
This is the case found in non-green algae which synthesis their food by doing photosynthesis. In addition to
the principle pigments, the non-green algae contain Chlorophyll-a in their chromatophores.
There are a few hundred parasitic plant species that lack
chlorophyll so their stems are usually white or yellow. They
either lack leaves or have rudimentary leaves. Examples
include dodder and Rafflesia.
S. PALANIAPPAN
Editor, Research Journal of Biological Sciences
J.J. College of Arts and Science (Autonomous)
Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu
Readers can send questions/answers on science and technology for the Question Corner
along with their names and address to the following email id:
questioncorner@thehindu.co.in or to The Editor, The Hindu (Science and Technology),
859-860, Anna Salai, Chennai 600 002.
CM
uttanad, referred
to as rice granary
of Kerala, forms a
unique ecologically fragile bio-geographical
unit that is located mostly in
Alappuzha district in Kerala.
The vulnerability of the
system is attributed to the
problems of water logging
and soil acidity along with
climatic variations. Crop
damage due to summer rains
and flood during monsoon in
the low lying fields called padasekharams are quite common.
This uniqueness in bio-geography and associated social factors and institutions
has earned it a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) status
by FAO in 2013.
Unique place
The heritage status also
strives for ecological restoration and sustainable development
of
the
water-logged system which
is under increasing stress
due to environmental pollution caused by indiscriminate use of chemical
fertilizers and chemicals,
says Dr. P. Muralidharan, senior scientist and programme coordinator at the
institute.
To address these problems, demonstrations were
conducted in Alappuzha
hosted by Central Plantation
Crops Research Institute
(CPCRI) in Muttar village of
Veliyanad block under the
National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture
(NICRA) project for four
successive
crops
from
2011-2015.
Farmers were encouraged
to take up demonstration
packages on optimization of
Cultivation cost
PACKAGE: Farmers were able to harvest six to seven tonnes of paddy from a
hectare. PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
seed rate and plant population through the use of drum
seeder, site specific acidity
-nutrient
management
(SSNM) based on soil, testing,
and eco-friendly pest and disease management and placement of trichocards for the
control of major pests.
Area covered
More than 100 farmers
participated in these demonstrations which covered an
area of 74.2 hectare over four
years.
Through regular field visits, farmer field schools, and
interactions the crop situation from sowing to harvesting
was
monitored
continuously.
According to Dr. Muralidharan, by using paddy seeder
(drum seeder) the seed requirement came down to 30
kg from of 100-120 kg a hectare thus reducing the cost on
seed purchase to almost 25
per cent.
Since the seeds were sown
in uniform lines, plant population was optimum, the
number of productive tillers
No pests
Farmers were able to harvest the crop without using
any chemicals. There were no
pest or disease incidences in
these plots and farmers were
satisfied with the methods
used.
Usage of chemical pesticides and fungicides reduced
by 90 per cent and those who
Better yield
While the traditional
broadcast crop yielded an average five to six tonnes per
hectare, by adopting this
package of technologies farmers could harvest six to seven
tonnes per hectare with reduced inputs.
The better yield and reduced cultivation cost led to
an overall net profit of minimum Rs.12,500 per hectare.
Beneficiary farmers acted as
master farmers to spread this
package of technologies to
others of the adjoining
villages.
For further details interested farmers can contact Dr.
P.Muralidharan, programme
coordinator
on
mobile:
09496167382 and Mr. S. Rajeev, specialist, email: mailto:
kvkalapuzha@gmail.com,
mobile:
09446282080,
phone:0479-2449268.
15
As a consequence, cost of
cultivation has been increasing indirectly with heavy doses of fertilizers since farmers
are investing more either for
daily application of water soluble fertilizers through drip
irrigation or for soil application of complex fertilizers.
In such conditions, tomato
crop sometimes could not assure guaranteed profit to the
farmers due to downfall of
market prices especially at
the time of market glut.
Frontline demonstrations
on fertigation in tomato has
been undertaken by RASS-
Intervention
As a latest technological intervention, fertigation schedule with 50 per cent
recommended doses of fertilizers was demonstrated in a
large scale adoption. KVK has
given water soluble fertilizers
such as 50kg urea, 25kg multi-k and 25kg calcium nitrate
free of cost for demonstration
purpose.
Technical knowhow was also provided on foliar application of micronutrients, IPM
practices (yellow sticky traps,
trap crop, border crop).
Result a 33.3 per cent yield
increase was obtained in the
demonstration plot saving
about Rs.1,37,500 on expense
on inputs.
(Mr. P.S.Sudhakar and Mr.
S.Sreenivasulu, both subject
matter specialists, Horticulture, RASS-KVK, Tirupati,
mobile: 9908836684, email:
rasskvk@gmail.com)
FARM QUERY
Varanasi
Mr. Pandharinath Sarjerao More, a farmer in Ahmednagar,
Maharashtra has developed a tractor drawn onion transplanter that performs three functions at a time transplanting,
applying fertilizers, and digging irrigation channels. The machine also sows seeds of cereals and pulses. For details readers
can contact him at Sangavi Bhusar, Kopargaon Ahmednagar,
Maharashtra 423602, phones: 02423-262070, 202070, mobiles: 9881269253 and 9420748253.
Readers are invited to send their queries with full postal address to Farm Queries, The Hindu,
Kasturi Buildings, 859/860, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002 or email to farmqueries@thehindu.co.in
ND-ND