India's Moon Mission is Dead: Chandrayaan-I Spacecraft Loses Radio Contact

Radio contact with Chandrayaan-I spacecraft was abruptly lost at 0130 Hrs (IST) on August 29, 2009. Deep Space Network at Byalalu near Bangalore received the data from Chandrayaan-I during the previous orbit upto 0025 Hrs (IST).

Detailed review of the Telemetry data received from the spacecraft is in progress and health of the spacecraft subsystems is being analysed, according to ISRO scientists.

It may be recalled that Chandrayaan-I spacecraft was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota on October 22, 2008 .The Spacecraft has completed 312 days in orbit making more than 3400 orbits around the Moon and providing large volume of data from sophisticated sensors like Terrain Mapping Camera, Hyper-spectral Imager, Moon Mineralogy Mapper etc., meeting most of the scientific objectives of the mission.

Radio contact with Chandrayaan-I spacecraft was abruptly lost at 0130 Hrs (IST) on August 29, 2009. Deep Space Network at Byalalu near Bangalore received the data from Chandrayaan-I during the previous orbit upto 0025 Hrs (IST).

Detailed review of the Telemetry data received from the spacecraft is in progress and health of the spacecraft subsystems is being analysed.

It may be recalled that Chandrayaan-I spacecraft was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota on October 22, 2008 .The Spacecraft has completed 312 days in orbit making more than 3400 orbits around the Moon and providing large volume of data from sophisticated sensors like Terrain Mapping Camera, Hyper-spectral Imager, Moon Mineralogy Mapper etc., meeting most of the scientific objectives of the mission.

Charak Samhita: Did swine flu find mention in Ancient Ayurvedic texts

By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Aug 27: Did swine flu, which has killed hundreds of
people world-wide, find a mention in Charak Samhita, the ancient
Ayurvedic text dating back to the third century BC?

The Department of Ayush suggests that Charak Samhita and other
ancient Ayurvedic medical books had made references to symptoms
that are similar to swine flu. The Ayurvedic texts had classified viral
ailments and epidemics including those with symptoms of swine flu
under "Vaata Kaphaja Jwara" category.

According to Charak Samhita, which deals with internal medicine, the
outbreaks of Vaata Kaphaja Jwara are noticed during autumn/spring, in
seasonal change and in moderate climatic conditions.

Soon after swine flu claimed its first victim in the country, the
department of Ayush constituted a group of experts to study the health
problem. Several Ayurveda experts and research councils were
involved in the task of finding remedial measures to curb the spread of
the novel human influenza virus. The experts in their report traced
swine flu to Vaata Kaphaja Jwara category and came out with a number
measures to prevent the spread of the disease.

"The new swine flu virus is just a mutant of the already existing virus.
Ayurvedic texts deal extensively with viral ailments. The symptoms of
swine flu appear in these texts, particularly in Charak Samhita. It has
given a list of do's and don'ts to prevent such ailments. It has also
advised certain preventive measures to build body immunity against
attack of seasonal diseases," senior Ayurvedic physician Dr M Chandra
Sekhar of Institute of Panchakarma and Research, Hyderabad.

According to Charak Samhita, one should avoid kapha provocating diet
like curd, cold food, fruit juices specially citrus, fermented food and
take hot water instead of cold water. One should use decoction made up
of any one or combination of tulsi, ginger, black pepper, long pepper
and guduchi (Tinospora) every morning.

"Ayurvedic medicines like sudershanghana vati, sudershana churna and
samshamani vati improve the host defence mechanism. The medicines
can be taken by normal healthy persons as well as those who have mild
cold, cough, body pain etc. However, in serious cases, people should
go to the nearest screening centre," the Ayush document on swine flu
points out.

High lead levels in enamel paints: Be choosy about the colour when you paint your house

By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Aug 23: Enamel paints available in India contain high levels of lead which damage the central nervous system, particularly in children and pregnant women.

According to a joint study by 10 international research organisations, including the Bengaluru-based National Referral Centre for Lead Poisoning, Indian paints on average contain 33,000 ppm (parts per million) of lead as against the permissible levels of 600 ppm.

Interestingly, the percentage of lead differs in different colours with white enamel paints having 1,330 ppm, making it the safer bet though it is more than twice the permissible levels.

According to the study, yellow paint has the highest lead at 85,000 ppm (dry weight), followed by orange 79,700 ppm, red 30,600 ppm, green with 28,200 ppm, black 8,050, blue 4,610.

"Though lead poisoning of children is widely recognised as a major public health problem in many parts of the world, very little attention has been given in many countries to the role of leaded paints," Dr Venkatesh Thuppil, one of the members of the research team, said.

"The colour with the lowest lead concentration was white and the colours with the highest concentrations are yellow and orange, followed closely by green and red," said Dr Thuppil, popularly known as the "Lead Man of India" for his pioneering efforts in the introduction of lead-free petrol in the country.

He said the concentration of lead in most of the samples was greater than or equal to 600 ppm. Dr Thuppil along with Dr C.S.
Clark, who led the research, said the lead levels should not cross 90 ppm if people are to be protected from heavy metal poisoning.

The study noted that 73 per cent of paint brands tested from 12 countries fail to comply with the standard limits. Almost half of the world's population lives in these countries which include India and China. About 70 per cent of the brands had at least one sample exceeding 10,000 ppm.

Death of a river? Will Polavaram project kill the river Sabari?

By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: The picturesque Sabari river that originates in the hilly jungles of the tribal Bastar in Chastisgarh will lose its basic character if the State government goes ahead with the controversial Polavaram project across the river Godavari.
Sabari flows for about 30 km in Andhra Pradesh after entering the State from Chattisgarh and joins the river Godavari at Kunavaram in Khammam district. Once the Polavaram project is constructed, the backwards will extend up to the Chattisgarh border wiping out the Sabari from the face of Andhra Pradesh.
"Polavaram will not only affect the lovely Papi Hills, part of Eastern Ghats, with their unique flora and fauna, but also damage the Sabari river system. The river system of other tributaries will also be hit badly affecting the overall Godavari hydrological cycle," argues irrigation expert Nitin Desai.
The backwaters of Polavaram will not allow the Sabari to drain into the Godavari when the dam is full. The overall length of the Sabari will be reduced by about 30 kilometres which will severely upset the ecology of this tribal river.
According to environmental activist Bhiksham Gujja, even the river system of Sileru that flows through the Eastern Ghats and joins the Sabari on Andhra Pradesh-Chattisgarh-Orissa borders will suffer heavily. "The river rises as the Machkund in the Eastern Ghats in northeastern Andhra Pradesh. Leaving the Machkund reservoir, it flows as the Sileru parallel to the mountain ranges at an elevation of 2,000-3,000 feet in a northeast-to-southwest direction to empty into the Sabari," he says.
Since the Sileru joins the Sabari at the AP border, the backwaters of Polavaram will also prevent Sileru from emptying fully into Sabari.
The Sabari river is not only important from environment point of view but also from the historical perspective. The river was mentioned in several of the ancient texts of India.
A team of irrigation experts and environmentalists on Wednesday visited the Polavaram dam site and studied the impact of the dam on the environment, wildlife as well as the tributaries of the Godavari. Former CWC member Vidyasagar is of the view that there would be larger environmental havoc if the natural river system was disturbed. In the case of Polavaram, not only the Godavari river is exploited, but also its tributaries.
"Generally, only one river is affected by dam. But in the case of Polavaram several tributaries along with the main river Godavari are affected. This is something unpardonable," Vidyasagar observes.

Retinoblastoma: Early detection of eye cancers will save the sight

By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: Early detection of eye cancers particularly retinoblastoma will save the sight.
According to specialist doctors at LV Prasad Eye Institute, retinoblastoma in children is curable if timely treatment is provided to the patient. The hospital has released a set of do's and don'ts for parents as part of the world retinoblastoma awareness week which will conclude on May 19.
Retinoblastoma is a cancer in a child’s eyes and accounts for about 11 per cent of all cancers in children below one year of age and five per cent of childhood blindness.
"More than 1000 children are diagnosed every year in India with the problem. About 75 per cent of children have a tumour in one eye and
25 per cent have a tumour in both eyes. The early symptoms include a white reflex of eye, squinting eyes and vision loss," says Dr Santosh Honavar, chief ocular oncologist.
He regretted at poor and low levels of awareness among people. "The white reflex in the child’s eye is retinoblastoma. Such a child needs immediate medical attention. By taking the child to an eye specialist, you can help save the child’s life and eyesight," he points out.
Retinoblastoma is a genetic disorder and may be caused by abnormal genes inherited from one or both parents or a mutation of a particular gene after the child is born. This cancer is curable if detected early.
"There are doctors and facilities available in India to provide appropriate treatment that will cure the child of this eye disease. However, it is often the case that parents are not aware of the warning symptoms of retinoblastoma or they may choose to ignore the early symptoms of a white glint in the eye or squinting eyes. Instead, the parents may take the child to the doctor at a later stage when the cancer has advanced, the tumour weighing down the child's face to one side," he said.

Docodont: A new mammal species discovered

By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: A new mammal belonging to the docodont group has been discovered from the Kota Formation at Paikasigudem village in Adilabad district.

The fossilised mammal is at least 150 million years old and this is the first time that a docodont mammal has been found from the Southern Hemisphere. Docodont mammals are primitive animals found during the Jurassic period along with dinosaurs and they are considered to be the final line of mammalian old-timers.

Scientists the world over thought that docodonts were present only in North America and England as the remains of several species of docodont mammals were excavated only from these parts in the Northern Hemisphere. The latest discovery showed the presence of such animals in Southern Hemisphere too. "It is now quite clear that docodonts were widely spread across the earth," says GVR Prasad, who discovered the animal remains.

The new animal has been named Gondtherium dattai in honour of the local Gond tribal population. The find from Adilabad is of paramount importance as it testifies to the presence of typical docodont mammals in Gondwanan continents.
The Kota Formation, which dates back to late middle Jurassic period (150 million years ago) and lower Cretaceous period (65 million years), had earlier yielded mammal groups like symmetrodontan and eutriconodontan.

Bulk screen-washing of the clays and mud stones found in Kota Formation produced an isolated mammalian upper premolar. A detailed study of the tooth led to the discovery of the new mammal genius Gondtherium.

The premolar tooth has asymmetrical chewing/biting outline, two labial cusps and other features very similar to the upper premolars of docodont mammals. Detailed comparisons with the upper dentition of various known docodont animals showed that the premolar pattern of the new specimen from Adilabad was similar to Haldanodon, an animal found during the Mesozoic period.

The tooth of Gondtherium dattai differed from the upper molars of all known docodont animals in having labial cusps with diverging tips that are separated by a broad notch. The enamel of the tooth was not preserved as also the roots, but from the broken dorsal surface it appeared that there were probably three roots. The pulp chamber was widely open and had a smooth surface and rounded edges as in permanent teeth.

Docodont mammals were earlier known only from the Upper Triassic, Middle and Upper Jurassic, and Lower Cretaceous deposits of North America and Europe, pointing to a typical Euramerican distribution for this group.

"The associated mammalian study helps us in reconstructing a generalised paleobiogeographic scenario. The more recent discovery of Dyskritodon from the Kota Formation first recorded from the Early Cretaceous of Morocco, represents an example of faunal continuity across India and Africa. The occurrence of closely related mammals in the Jurassic of India and Late Triassic and Early Cretaceous of Africa, as well as Middle and Late Jurassic of Europe points to biogeographic connections between these regions," he points out in his study.

This is not surprising because paleogeographic maps show Europe in close proximity of NW Africa and India adjacent to Africa in the Early/Middle Jurassic. The cosmopolitan distribution of the Kota fauna has also been corroborated by the non-mammalian vertebrate groups like ostracods and charophytes.
Barapasaurus and Kotasaurus, sauropod dinosaurs from the Kota Formation, and the Early Jurassic sauropod Vulcanodon of Zimbabwe appear to be closely related to the Late Triassic sauropod Isanosaurus of Thailand.

"In view of this continuity of mammalian as well as non-mammalian animal remains during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous across Gondwanan continents, it is predicted that early docodonts might have existed on other southern continents as well," says Prasad.

The possible reasons for not finding Docodonts on the southern continents until now are restricted occurrence of Jurassic continental sequences in this part of the globe; low intensity sampling of the known deposits; and taphonomic (decaying) factors.