VZCZCXRO5787
RR RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
DE RUEHNE #4687/01 2951148
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221148Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8920
INFO RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 1063
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 1736
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 0823
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 8220
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 4177
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUCPDC/NOAA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RUEAEPA/EPA WASHDC
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 004687 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES/PCI, OES/STC, OES/SAT, OES/EGC, AND SCA/INS 
STATE FOR STAS 
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 
INTERIOR FOR FWS RILEY 
STATE PASS TO NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV TSPL TBIO ECON SOCI KSCA IN
SUBJECT:  NEW DELHI ESTH OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 
15 - 19, 2007 
 
NEW DELHI 00004687  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
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ENVIRONMENT 
----------- 
 
¶1.  The Government of India successfully hosted the second 
Ministerial Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean 
Development and Climate (APP) in New Delhi on October 15.  Canada 
was officially recognized as the seventh member of the Partnership, 
alongside existing members Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, 
and the United States.  Partners released a Communiqu showcasing 
flagship projects, the development of a virtual Energy Technology 
Cooperation Center, and highlighting progress made since the last 
Ministerial meeting in January 2006.  Reporting cable to follow. 
 
¶2.  SciFSN, along with officials from Embassy Public Affairs, 
visited Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan in preparation for the Embassy 
New Delhi funded wildlife crime workshop November 4 - 6, 2007.  The 
workshop will include a policy day, followed by two days of 
field-level training for enforcement officials from the police and 
forest department of Rajasthan.  The workshop will include eminent 
speakers in the field of wildlife law enforcement and illegal trade 
in wildlife.  The training with enforcement agencies will include 
mock seizures and a trial before a local public prosecutor. 
 
-------------------- 
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 
-------------------- 
 
¶3.  The GOI inaugurated a new tsunami early warning system for the 
Indian Ocean on October 15.  The system is administered by the 
Ministry of Earth Sciences via the Indian National Center for Ocean 
Information Services (INCOIS) in Hyderabad.  According to an INCOIS 
release, the warning system is comprised of a real-time network of 
seismic stations, bottom pressure recorders (BPRs), and 30 tide 
gauges to detect tsunamigenic earthquakes and monitor tsunamis.  The 
full system calls for a total of 12 BPRs; six of which have been 
installed, including two in the Arabian Sea and four in the Bay of 
Bengal.  The system is designed to issue warnings within 30 minutes 
of an earthquake, and it passed its first real world test on 
September 12 when it issued a red alert 25 minutes after an 8.4 
magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of southern Sumatra. 
 
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HEALTH 
------ 
 
¶4.  The GOI has revised the Packaging and Labeling Rule for the 
pictorial package warning portion of the Cigarettes and Other 
Tobacco Products Act.  The GOI has decided to replace the skull and 
cross bones warning sign on tobacco product packs with depictions of 
painful death and cancerous growth.  The revised pictorial warning 
for smoking says "SMOKING KILLS" and coveys the messages "Smoking 
causes cancer" and "Your smoking kills babies."  The revised health 
warning for other tobacco products says "TOBACCO KILLS" and coveys 
the messages "Tobacco causes painful death" and "Tobacco causes 
mouth cancer."  All tobacco product packs manufactured after 
December 1, 2007, will have to bear the revised pictorial health 
warnings. 
 
¶5.  A mysterious disease has caused seven deaths in Moreh, Manipur. 
Patients suffering from the disease have complained of high fever, 
stomach pain, and vomiting.  Health department officials said some 
of the victims had convulsions and seizures before they died. 
Though the predominant symptoms of the disease appear to be 
gastrointestinal, the occurrence of convulsions and seizures 
preceding the deaths in a few patients might be indicative of some 
more unusual disease such as Nipah virus infection, which has been 
 
NEW DELHI 00004687  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
reported elsewhere in northeast India in recent times. 
 
MULFORD