JurnoJK gets pat from CAM!

(CAM News November issue-2007)

CAM News reported: JurnoJK is a blogspot created and maintained by enthusiastic journalist B Jayakishore based in Bangalore. He says that the blog is an 'Open Discussion Forum' to give spark to our thinking process and to be friends irrespective of our geographical boundaries. Most of the articles in JurnoJK give a passionate touch of the grassroots, particularly agriculture.

My sincere thanks to CAM Team

B Jayakishore

CAM Awards announced

Centre for Agricultural Media (CAM) has announced state level farm journalism awards in Kannada for the year 2007.

Balachandra Hegde Saimane has been selected for the award in practicing farmer category while Ravishankara Doddamani and Girish H.C. have shared the awards in general category. The awards carry a cash prize of Rs.2000 for each category besides a citation and a parisara shilpa.

The awards will be presented on the occasion of CAM’s seventh anniversary at K.H. Patil Krishi Vijnana Kendra at Hulkoti in Gadag district on November 25, 2007.

My congratulations to all awardees!-Jayakishore
(Courtesy:CAM Website)

Little living Goddess!

By B Jayakishore

She is a little living Goddess for me! Look at her lovely and naughty smile! Don't you feel inspired? Don’t you get wish to relive your life again? I do. I feel it strongly. Infact, I relived my innocent life again last week with my dear little baby, Prarthana! Indeed, it was a fantastic journey to her little world!

She took me away to a wonderful and different world of her own, where only peace, fun and love exist. It was such a marvelous experience of bliss I had ever. I’ll never forget it. It will continuously linger in my heart for ever!

Yes. She is my little lovely niece,my sister's Daughter aka Prarthana,who made me happy once again. She Recharged me once again without any medications, but only with her pretty smile!

Amma says that children are living Gods! Obviously, now, even I endorse this saying. Normally, we worship God for prosperity, peace, bliss, empowerment, fulfillment and finally for enlightenment. But, I feel, I got entire these while playing with my dear Prarthana!

Yeah! It’s true. She knows nothing about this world and its cruelty. She knows nothing about the people, pressure, pain, sorrow, failure and whole of these mucky system in which we are living in. She knows only to cry when she is hungry; she falls down while attempting to walk or when some body says loudly Haapppa... (=way of giving warnig about some thing)for her naughty and ‘loot’y (=mischievous in Kannada) acts!

Not only this, I learn’t a lot from her. She literally became my teacher! You know? Prarthana even knows how to learn from failures! While trying to walk, she falls often. But you’ll not notice any signs of loosing hope in her face. Her zeal to learn and adopt doesn’t allow all these. More than that, she doesn’t know about all these. She looks around, of course, if nobody is bothered (if somebody spots her fall, then she will start...aaaaaaaaaa!!),she again attempts to stand up and walk!! She never looses her enthusiasm to learn and try out new things! These are all part of growth!

I often wonder why can’t we also be like her always? Why not we too take every thing we experience as a part of our growth? I think, and then there will be no much pain and sorrow, violence...etc., except some inevitable things of life.

Malathi akka told me once. Whenever you feel dull or depressed, just imagine a child’s smile, her giggle. You can observe that a small smile will appear in your face as well! It fills spirit in you. You’ll experience a total bliss, which will drive away all your worries and recharge your mind.

Certainly, it is very true.

Indeed, Prarthana has made my life beautiful!

Monkeys are in trouble!

Our good old friends, more than that mankind's closest living relatives - the world's apes, monkeys, lemurs and other primates -- are on the verge of extinction due to threat from destruction of tropical forests, illegal wildlife trade and commercial bush meat hunting, says a new report.

The report titled "Primates in Peril: The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates--2006--2008,*" compiled by 60 experts from 21 countries warns that about 29 percent of all species are in the danger of going extinct. Add to this it warns that climate change will now exacerbate the first primate (Primates--an animal order including lemurs and tarsiers and monkeys and apes and human beings) extinctions in more than a century. Overall, 114 of the world's 394 primate species are classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Hunters kill primates for food and to sell the meat; traders capture them for live sale; and loggers, farmers, and land developers destroy their habitat. One species, Miss Waldron's red colobus of Ivory Coast and Ghana, already is feared extinct, while the numbers of golden-headed langur of Vietnam and China's Hainan came down to dozens. The Horton Plains slender loris of Sri Lanka has been sighted just four times since 1937!

"You could fit all the surviving members of these 25 species in a single football stadium; that's how few of them remain on Earth today," said CI President Russell A. Mittermeier, president of he IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group.

"The situation is even worst in Asia, where tropical forest destruction and the hunting and trading of monkeys put many species at terrible risk. Even newly discovered species are also on the verge of extinction.’’

As "Flagship Species" and our closest living relatives, nonhuman primates are important to the health of their surrounding ecosystems. Through the dispersal of seeds and other interactions with their environments, primates help support a wide range of plant and animal life that makes up the Earth's forests.

The World's Twenty five Most Endangered Primates list, compiled at the 21st Congress of the International Primatological Society, Entebbe, Uganda, follows the similar assessments in 2000, 2002 and 2004.

By region, the list includes 11 species from Asia, seven from Africa, four from Madagascar, and three from South America, showing that non-human primates are threatened wherever they live.

Interestingly, All 25 primates on the 2006-2008 list are found in the world's biodiversity hotspots--34 high priority regions identified by Conservation International that cover just 2.3 percent of the Earth's land surface but harbor well over 50 percent of all terrestrial plant and animal diversity. Eight of the hotspots are considered the highest priorities for the survival of the most endangered primates: Indo-Burma, Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands, Sundaland, Eastern Afromontane, Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa, Guinean Forests of West Africa, the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, and Western Ghats-Sri Lanka.

Habitat loss due to the clearing of tropical forests for agriculture, logging, and the collection of fuel wood continues to be the major factor in the declining number of primates, according to the report. Tropical deforestation also emits 20 percent of total greenhouse gases that cause climate change, which is more than all the world's cars, trucks, trains and airplanes combined. In addition, climate change is altering the habitats of many species, leaving those with small ranges even more vulnerable to extinction.

Hunting is another major threat to primates, especially in Africa and Asia. Live capture for the pet trade also poses a serious threat, particularly to Asian species.

The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates, and the countries where they are found:Greater bamboo lemur (Prolemur simus), Madagascar ;White-collared lemur (Eulemur albocollaris), Madagascar ; Sahamalaza Peninsula sportive lemur (Lepilemur sahamalazensis), Madagascar ; Silky sifaka (Propithecus candidus), Madagascar ;Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli), Nigeria, Cameroon ll; Roloway monkey (Cercopithecus diana roloway), Ivory Coast, Ghana ;Rondo dwarf galago (Galagoides rondoensis), Tanzania ;Tana River red colobus (Procolobus rufomitratus), Kenya ;Miss Waldron's red colobus (Procolobus badius), Ivory Coast, Ghana ;Kipunji (Rungwecebus kipunji), Tanzania ;Pennant's red colobus (Procolobus pennantii pennantii), Equatorial Guinea (Island of Bioko) ;Variegated spider monkey (Ateles hybridus), Colombia, Venezuela ;Brown-headed spider monkey (Ateles fusciceps), Colombia, Ecuador ;Peruvian yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Oreonax flavicauda), Peru ;Western Hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock), Bangladesh, India, Myanmar ;Horton Plains slender loris (Loris tardigradus nycticeboides), Sri Lanka ;Western purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus nestor), Sri Lanka ; Pig-tailed langur (Simias concolor), Indonesia (Mentawai Islands) ; Siau Island tarsier (Tarsius sp.), Indonesia ; Delacour's langur (Trachypithecus delacouri), Vietnam ; Golden-headed langur (Trachypithecus poliocephalus poliocephalus), Vietnam ; Grey-shanked douc (Pygathrix cinerea), Vietnam ;Tonkin snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus avunculus), Vietnam ; Hainan black-crested gibbon (Nomascus hainanus), China (Hainan Island) ; Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), Indonesia (Sumatra).

The report was prepared by the Primate Specialist Group of IUCN's Species Survival Commission (SSC) and the International Primatological Society (IPS), in collaboration with Conservation International (CI).

Edited by B Jayakishore

BEWARE: IPhones are toxic!

Do you use iphone? Then it’s time to wake up. An Environmental activist group in California, Greenpeace has revealed a scientific analysis, which says iPhones contain dangerous levels of chemicals such as bromine, chlorine and “phthalates,” chemical compounds used to increase the flexibility of plastic in its body parts.

After this revelation, now, Environmentalist lawyers are threatening to sue Apple Company, which manufactures iphones, within 60 days, if the iconic US Company fails to make iPhones greener or at least warn buyers of toxins in the devices.

Also, the Center for Environmental Health in Oakland, California, sent a notice to Apple after environmental activist group Greenpeace released a scientific analysis of how Earth-friendly iPhones are.

In a You Tube video posted at the Greenpeace website, scientist David Santillo claims that iPhones contain dangerous levels of bromine, chlorine and “phthalates,” chemical compounds used to increase the flexibility of plastic.

“Electronics companies have traditionally relied on the cool clean image of their devices in order to sell them,” Santillo says in the video, which begins with Apple chief executive Steve Jobs ebulliently announcing the iPhone launch.

The level of phthalate esters, a chemical which can cause birth defects, in plastic coating of iPhone earphone’s wires is greater than the permissive level that allowed in toys or childcare items sold in Europe, according to Greenpeace.

“If a pregnant woman uses iphone regularly, then chances of she is getting exposed to this chemicals are high. That is a big piece of our concern.” center chief executive Michael Green said.

Now, the notice sent to Apple and the California state attorney general by Center for Environmental Health gives the nonprofit environmental law group a moral and legal support to sue Apple in 60 days.

It is said that lawsuit could compel Apple to put warnings on iPhone packaging but doesn't require the renowned maker of iPods and Macintosh computers to recall devices or alter the composition of models yet to be sold.

“There are chemicals in some of the parts that come with the iPhone that are well known in California to cause birth defects. We want those chemicals out.” Green said

The center's experience in “hundreds of different cases” is that companies prefer to get rid of offending chemicals rather than taint images of brands with health warnings, according to Green.

“It makes No sense in warning people when they can just use different chemicals to make it free from toxic chemicals.’’ Green said.

Edited by B jayakishore

Cows can boost Methane production in SOIL!

This has been the hot issue of debate for a year or more. It is already a known fact that the ‘holy cow’, or ‘goddess’ as we worship it, contributes considerable amount of Methane to atmosphere, which is produced at the time of digestion, is expelled continuously to the atmosphere.

Now, interestingly, a recently published science report says that cows can also boost the production of this climate gas in SOIL as well. A team of German scientists from the Institute of Soil Ecology of the GSF – National Research Center for Environment and Health and Czech colleagues at the Budweis Academy of Science, have been able to show that these bovine animals can also boost the production of this climate gas in SOIL.

Researchers say, this happens in the soil in the pastures, where these animals graze intensively. During this point of time, the soil becomes more compact and the microscopic plants of the soil get compressed. In addition, this area gets very high amount of organic matter from the excrement of the animals, thus stimulating the production of methane.

Thus the study, carried out on a Czech farm, proved that two factors are vital for this process to take place: The amount and quality of organic material from the excrement and secondly, the strong compaction of the soil due to the weight of the cattle.

Grass lands that are not used intensively for agriculture generally act as sink for the greenhouse gases, methane, carbon dioxide and laughing gas (NO2). However, this situation can change if intensive management of the pastures with cattle occurs.
Indeed, it is known also that well-aired soils have the potential for producing methane. Hence, the scope of the study should also include examination of the extent to which the ‘over-wintering’ of cattle on pastures stimulates the production of methane, and grassland soils really become a methane spring.

The investigation was carried out on a farm in south Bohemia. In the process approximately four hectares has been used since 1995 for the over-wintering of about 90 cows from October till the beginning of May.

According to Researchers, “At the end of this season, we could clearly see the consequences of the over-wintering, on the soil.” Unlike typical summer grazing, where the animals spread out evenly, the animals on the winter pastures prefer to stay near the feed house. As a result, no vegetation was visible more in the wide area. But at the places where animals grazed intensively, it was found that the ground was strongly compressed. In addition, this area was marked by a very high incidence of organic matter from the excrement of the animals.

The intensive grazing in the areas close to the cowshed led to a clear increase of methane emissions throughout the whole winter. These showed 1,000 times more production of methane than in the area where no bovine animals were kept.
But the classical process of methane oxidation, which is related to aerobic conditions, was restrained in the intensely grazed areas. According to Schloter, however, this is explained by the high quantities of urea in the ground.

The scientists were able to show further that methane producing micro-organisms from the gastro-intestinal tract of the cattle could survive in the soil and suppress parts of the microscopic plants in the compressed soil. The micro-organisms profited from the new environmental conditions in these soil, namely the extensive organic material.

Although in summer and autumn the animals were kept on other pastures, the composition of the micro flora barely changed in the strongly over-grazed areas. Indeed, the methane production rates clearly decreased during these months, because the continuous supply of organic material was absent, researchers said.

“We shall continue the project, because we also suspect consequences for the nitrogen cycle,” adds Schloter, a key researcher in the team. “In addition, we have possibly proved a very rare process in the strongly compounded areas, namely the anaerobic oxidation of methane.

All in all, it can be said that just about every agricultural measure has its positive and negative consequences. What weighs more in each case, however, is a social, rather than a scientific question.”

Edited by B Jayakishore

Jaipur glimpses!

By Shree Padre

Last week I was in Jaipur. Visited some villages where Lakshman Singh & his organisation Grameen Vikas Navyuvak Mandal, Lapodiya is doing outstanding rural development activities.

Here are some glimpses:
*Ghir Cows that have brought prosperity & given a new tool - animal husbamdary- to drought proof these villages.

Below:
*KHELI - safe platform for birds to eat grains - offered by villagers.
*Chauka System that does a double act - Fodder improvement & GW Recharge;
*Lakshman Singh explaining the 'Cahuka Kammal'

(I thank Shree Padre sir for sharing the Info 'n' photos)

How many E-mail ids do you have?

By B.Jayakishore

The Government is planning to bring a new clause in Draft Information Technology (IT) Act of 2006, which will make the furnishing of fictitious information on the Internet a 'Punishable offence'. The Government is said to have taken up this measure to save the IT Act, from its 'Toothless Tiger' reputation.

Presently, providing false information on the Internet to get new or alternate email ids on the same Web site is common practice. But, Even though most email service providers refuse to provide two ids to one and the same person, somehow many have managed to get the multiple ids on the same Web site.

Well, if the Government gives Green Signal to the proposed new 'Section 66A', in draft Information Technology (IT) Act 2006, it will make such perpetrators liable for punishment of up to Two years of imprisonment.

Not only that, all clauses applicable under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for similar such offences will automatically become applicable to the offenders.

However, Information regarding fake email identities will be established with the help of Internet service providers and IP addresses. But, It will remain up to investigating agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Crime Investigation Department (CID) to Prove weather a person is using false or misleading information on the Internet.

Currently, the Department of Information Technology is in the process of reviewing the draft Information Technology (IT) Act 2006, and has sought feedback on proposed changes from all its stakeholders.

May PEACE prevail in all

Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding. May PEACE prevail in all...(On October 2, Gandhi's b'day is being observed as world's non-violence day.)

-jayakishore