VZCZCXRO6729
RR RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
DE RUEHNE #3467/01 2121014
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 311014Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7237
INFO RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 0548
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 1042
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 0217
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 7999
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 4066
RUEHRC/FAS WASHDC
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUCPDC/NOAA WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUEAEPA/EPA WASHDC
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 003467 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES/PCI, OES/STC, OES/SAT, OES/EGC, AND SCA/INS 
STATE FOR STAS 
STATE PASS TO NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS 
DOE FOR INTERNATIONAL 
HHS FOR OGHA STEIGER, HICKEY AND VALDEZ 
NIH FOR GLASS AND MAMPILLY 
FDA FOR LUMPKIN AND WELSCH 
CDC FOR BLOUNT AND FARRELL 
USFWS FOR NAGENDRAN AND BAGLEY 
DEPT OF INTERIOR PLEASE PASS THIS TO FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV TSPL TBIO ECON SOCI KSCA IN
SUBJECT:  NEW DELHI ESTH OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF July 23 - 
27, 2007 
 
REF A:  NEW DELHI 3411 
REF B:  STATE 103509 
 
NEW DELHI 00003467  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  This week the ESTH office visited the Agra Bear 
Rescue Facility; hosted world-renowned climate scientist Dr. 
Jagadish Shukla; convened the Avian Influenza Working Group in 
response to the H5N1 outbreak in Manipur; attended the Rotavirus 
Vaccine Project Committee meeting in Hyderabad; and noted India's 
plans to launch a new military satellite and an Israeli 
reconnaissance satellite on the same launch vehicle.  End Summary. 
 
------------ 
ENVIRONMENT 
------------ 
 
¶2.  (U) Scioffs visited the Agra Bear Rescue Facility run by 
Wildlife S.O.S., a NGO that specializes in the rescue and 
rehabilitation of the endangered Indian sloth bear which for 
centuries have been exploited as "dancing bears" by the Qalandar 
tribal community.  Wildlife S.O.S. has eliminated dancing bears 
along the Delhi - Agra highway and is well on the way to solving the 
problem throughout India.  They are set to expand their current Agra 
facility by 145 acres in 2009 which will provide enough space to 
house all of India's mistreated sloth bears.  Wildlife S.O.S. 
employs a holistic approach which includes the rehabilitation of the 
Qalandar tribal community and is a model for successful and 
sustainable wildlife conservation.  Further information is available 
on their website:  www.wildlifesos.com. 
 
¶3. (U) The ESTH Office hosted Dr. Jagadish Shukla, Professor and 
Chair of the Climate Dynamics Program at George Mason University and 
President of the Institute of Global Environment and Society.  Dr. 
Shukla is also the recipient of the 52nd International 
Meteorological Organization Prize awarded in 2007 by the Executive 
Council of the World Meteorological Organization.  He informed us he 
has been tapped by S&T Minister Kapil Sibal to chair the 
International Advisory Panel on Weather Forecasting and Climate 
Change.  Membership on the Panel will include representatives of 
NOAA and academia in the U.S. and U.K. as well as IIT Delhi, the 
Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore, and the Indian 
Meteorological Department.  The panel will address concerns 
regarding the state of climate change science in India which has 
long been hampered by lack of adequate raw data as well as the GOI's 
unwillingness to share existing data with the scientific community. 
 
-------- 
SCIENCE 
-------- 
 
¶4.  (U) In a conversation with Dr. Harold McFarlane, President, 
American Nuclear Society (ANS), SciCouns learned that following the 
successful session at the ANS Annual Meeting in Boston in June, 2007 
on 'US-India Nuclear Cooperation' which was attended by BARC 
Director Dr. Banerjee and Mr. Raghuraman of USIBC/CII, interactions 
between nuclear engineers and scientists from both countries will 
continue at the upcoming "Global 2007- Advanced Nuclear Fuel Cycles 
and Systems" in Boise, Idaho, in September 2007.  Dr. Ravi Grover 
from DAE has informed ANS that a small group from BARC and the 
Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in Kalpakkam are 
planning to attend. 
 
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TECHNOLOGY 
----------- 
¶5.  (U) The Hindu (www.hindu.com) reports India is planning to 
 
NEW DELHI 00003467  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
launch a dedicated military reconnaissance satellite, the 
CARTOSAT-2A, in mid-September or early October,  2007.  The 
satellite is set to be launched together with an Israeli 
reconnaissance satellite on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). 
 This will mark the third launch of a foreign satellite by the 
Indian Space Research Organization. 
------- 
HEALTH 
------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Confirmation of H5N1 Avian Influenza in poultry in 
Manipur, India.  On July 25, 2007, India officially announced the 
outbreak of H5N1 Avian Influenza in poultry in Manipur.  The HHS 
Office convened the Mission's Avian Influenza Working Group on July 
26 and FAS reported on the outbreak in Ref A. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  In response to Ref B, the HHS Office has sent a demarche 
and non-paper to senior officials in the Ministry of Health, the 
Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce and 
Industry.  Health Attach will follow up with meetings with key MOH 
officials. 
 
¶8.  (U) SciFSN attended a meeting of the Rotavirus Vaccine 
Development Project in Hyderabad July 27 and 28.  The meeting was 
attended by representatives from Bharat Biotech International 
Limited (BBIL), the Society for Applied Studies (SAS), the 
Department of Biotechnology, Program for Appropriate Technology in 
Health, NIH/NIAD, Stanford University, and the National Institute of 
Immunology, New Delhi.  SAS reported they had completed the first 
dose level of the Phase 1b/IIa study and is expecting an approval to 
evaluate the next dose level.  BBIL presented the results of 
formulation experiments and is confident they can develop a liquid 
vaccine formulation with a shelf-life of 24 months at a storage 
temperature between 2 - 8 degrees C.  BBIL is also designing a new 
manufacturing facility per WHO guidelines capable of producing at 
least 30 million doses per year.  The new facility is expected to be 
completed by November, 2007. 
 
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