Research on thin ice

Motion and change are the sum total of a glacier's life. These massive ice-fields were for long considered a delightful compromise between the seasonal variations in snow level. However, the balance of nature has now melted into the past. Despite looking the picture of tranquillity while metamorphosing, glaciers are today on thin ice -- a reality out in the cold in India. A perfect example is the lip-service given to research on the Gangotri glacier -- the largest ice mass in the Ganga basin.

Organic farming: Reaping mixed benefits

Dhanpao village: Two patches of land adjacent to each other. Wheat is sown on both tracts. But while one yields numerous saplings, the other is barren. The reason: organic manure was used in the lush green field to grow ginger before wheat was planted. Lachiwala village: A mound of organic manure lies dumped on government land for many months. The reason: villagers have yet to find a buyer.

Grow back wisdom

Farmers in Raipur division, Dehradun, have been reaping unprecedented profits from their rocky, infertile lands. But it took Vaidya Balendu Prakash, eminent ayurvedic physician and director of the Vaidya Chandra Prakash Cancer Research Foundation, quite a bit of convincing before they agreed to cultivate medicinal plants in place of their regular crops. He says, "This area used to be full of medicinal plants 30 years ago.

Beating the drought

Part I: Untapped data

Drought monitoring: Untapped data

Droughts, an integral part of India's geophysical profile, have registered a steep rise in frequency and ferocity during the past 50 years. To its credit, the scientific community has kept pace by conducting research that can minimise the impact of dry spells. But the government has done precious little to utilise this flood of information for the benefit of the worst affected sector -- agriculture.

Wildlife mismanaged

The death of wild animals in a zoo is, indeed a shocking phenomenon. On one hand the government and international agencies spend crores of rupees to save the tiger and on the other we murder 12 tigers due to gross negligence. The highly qualified doctors who vaccinated the tigers at Nandan Kanan zoo should be severely punished. The Nandan Kanan zoo has a history of reported deaths. Fifty newborn cubs have died since 1995.

Propagation of bamboo

A new technology has been deve loped at the Forest Research Institute (fri), Dehra Dun, for rapid mass propagation of bamboos through macro-proliferation. According to the findings of Adarsh Kumar, a senior FRI scientist, the new technology involves the use of locally available materials. The produce is small in size which is an additional advantage as these are easy to handle and transport. Bamboos play an important role in the socio-economic life of rural people.

Due recognition

The latest Western celebrity to seek the East's heating touch is British billionaire and father-in-law of cricket icon lmran Khan, Sir James Goldsmith. The healer is the renowned metal therapist based in Dehra Dun, Uttar Pradesh,'Vaidya Balendu Prakash, who is treating Goldsmith, 64, in Paris for cancer. The cancer, that first appeared in Goldsmith's liver in 1993, went into remission and surfaced in his pancreas in 1995. It has recently led to

Greening up

the director general of the Indian Council for Forestry Research and Education (icfre) in Dehra Dun, B N Gupta, recently stressed the need for disseminating correct information on issues related to forest policy.

Regaining a paradise

IN A bid to reverse the ongoing degradation of the Doon valley's environment and preserve its watershed, the Uttar Pradesh government initiated a project in 1993 which seeks to involve the locals in a watershed management scheme.