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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 NEW DELHI 001700 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY (ADDED ADDRESSEE) 
 
STATE FOR OES/PCI, OES/STC, OES/SAT, OES/EGC, AND SCA/INS 
STATE FOR STAS 
STATE PASS TO NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS 
HHS PASS TO NIH 
STATE PASS TO USAID 
STATE FOR SCA, OES (STAS FEDOROFF), OES/PCI STEWART; OES/IHA SINGER 
PASS TO HHS/OGHA (STEIGER/HICKEY), CDC (BLOUNT/FARRELL), NIH/FIC 
(GLASS/MAMPILLY), FDA (LUMPKIN/WELSCH, GENEVA FOR HOFMAN) 
PASS TO MAS/DAS/JESTRADA 
PASS TO MAC/DAS/HVINEYARD 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO SENV AMED CASC KSCA ECON ETRD BEXP EINV PGOV
TSPL, TRGY, TNGD, EIND, ENRG, KGHG, IN 
 
SUBJECT: NEW DELHI ESTH REPORT: JUNE 2008 THIRD WEEK 
 
REF: (A) NEW DELHI 1667     (B) NEW DELHI 1669 
 
     (C) NEW DELHI 1678 
 
NEW DELHI 00001700  001.6 OF 004 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  This edition of the New Delhi ESTH biweekly report 
includes a summary of the recent Asia Pacific Forum on Nuclear 
Technology, U.S.-India collaboration in accelerator technologies for 
the proposed International Linear Collider, a new launch date for 
India's first mission to the Moon, and defense and space scientists 
call for the creation of an Integrated Space Command.  The 
environment section reports on the visit of James Connaughton, 
Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality to discuss climate 
change and energy security with Indian officials.  The health report 
includes the review of the third phase of National AIDS Control 
Program; FDA's goals for enhancing cooperation with India; an update 
on the National Polio Surveillance Project of the Government of 
India and the World Health Organization; an Indo-U.S. Vaccine Action 
Program Workshop on Malaria and the upcoming visit of Health 
Minister Ramadoss to Boston University.  END SUMMARY. 
 
INDIA PARTICIPATES IN THE ASIA PACIFIC FORUM ON INTEGRATION OF 
SUSTAINABILITY, SAFETY AND SECURITY OF NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶2.  The University of California Office of the President (UCOP) 
recently organized a Forum on Nuclear Technology on June 12-13 in 
Berkeley, CA (Note: This is the second in a series of joint 
University of California/National Laboratories S&T Forums that were 
first proposed by the SciCouns while at UCOP prior to his arrival at 
post in New Delhi. End Note).  The Forum's purpose was to identify 
opportunities for the development, deployment and life cycle use of 
nuclear energy/nuclear technology that better meets societal goals 
for safety, security, sustainability, environmental protection and 
economics.  Recognizing the need to develop integrated and global 
nuclear power systems, this year's Forum included participation from 
China, India, Japan and South Korea as well as representation from 
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).  India was 
represented by Dr. Ravi Grover of the Department of Atomic Energy 
who is also the principal interlocutor for the 123 negotiations. 
Session topics were: Gen III and Gen IV Nuclear Technology, Fuel 
Cycle and Waste Management Technology, and Integration of 
Sustainability, Safety and Security of Nuclear Technology. 
 
U.S.-INDIA COLLABORATIONS IN ACCELERATOR TECHNOLOGIES MOVE FORWARD, 
S&T MINISTER SIBAL POSTPONES HIS VISIT TO LIVERMORE LAB 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶3.  Despite FY08 cutbacks in the Department of Energy's R&D funding 
for the proposed International Linear Collider (ILC), collaborations 
between the U.S. Fermi National Laboratory and India's Indore-based 
Raja Ramanna Center for Advanced Technology (RRCAT) of the 
Department of Atomic Energy are making good progress.   The focus of 
this jointly funded effort is to develop particle accelerator 
components for the ILC.  As part of this agreement, U.S. and Indian 
scientists/engineers are spending time at RRCAT and Fermi Lab, 
respectively.  R&D focus at RRCAT is in the areas of accelerator and 
laser technologies.  SciCouns visited RRCAT recently at the 
invitation of its Director, Dr. Vinod Sahni.  In addition to the 
Synchrotron Sources Indus-1 and Indus-2, he was shown the laser 
facilities.  It was obvious that R&D in lasers was following the 
same path as the U.S. and French programs and the technology at 
RRCAT appeared to be at the pre-Nova Laser (prior to 1984) level at 
Livermore Lab. 
 
¶4.  In this context, the upcoming visit of India's S&T Minister 
Kapil Sibal to the National Ignition Facility for laser fusion at 
 
NEW DELHI 00001700  002.6 OF 004 
 
 
the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on June 23 stands 
postponed because of a directive from the Prime Minister of India to 
the cabinet to curtail foreign travel.  This directive results from 
a steep hike in gasoline prices and the need to cutback on 
government expenditure. 
 
INDIAN MOON MISSION (CHANDRAYAAN-I) READY FOR SEPTEMBER LAUNCH 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶5.  Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has announced the 
launch of Indian's first mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan I, on or 
about September 19, 2008.  The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) 
will be used for the launch.  ISRO scientists are working on 
completing the integration tests for the eleven instruments on the 
spacecraft.  They include six Indian and five instruments from other 
countries.  The two U.S. instruments being flown on this mission are 
the Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (mini-SAR) from the Applied 
Physics Laboratory of the John Hopkins University and the Moon 
Mineralogy Mapper (M3) jointly developed by Brown University and the 
Jet Propulsion Lab.  Both instruments are funded by the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).  NASA 
scientists/engineers are assisting ISRO in Bangalore with the 
integration process. 
 
¶6.  With Chandrayaan I launch, new opportunities for the U.S. are 
expected for joint efforts in India's next Moon mission, Chandrayaan 
II, planned for 2011-12.  India and Russia have already agreed to 
work together on Chandrayaan II.  Russia will develop the 
lander/rover to explore the Moon's surface.  ISRO scientists are 
proposing experiments on the rover for collecting and analyzing 
samples and transmitting data back to Earth. 
 
DEFENSE AND SPACE SCIENTISTS CALL FOR CREATING AN INTEGRATED SPACE 
COMMAND 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶7.  India's media reports on this week's brainstorming meeting 
between Indian space and defense scientists organized by the 
Ministry of Defense (MoD) in Delhi.  The meeting determined the 
feasibility of leveraging the synergies in defense and space 
technologies to enhance the protective cover for the space assets of 
the country by setting up an Integrated Space Command.  To date, the 
Indian defense services have been using the ISRO's general purpose 
Cartosat I and II and the recently launched Cartosat IIa satellite 
data for surveillance and reconnaissance activities. 
 
COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY CHAIRMAN DISCUSSES CLIMATE CHANGE 
AND ENERGY SECURITY WITH INDIAN OFFICIALS 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶8.  James Connaughton, Chairman, The White House Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ) and Landon Van Dyke, Associate Director, 
CEQ, during their two day visit to India, met with senior Government 
of India (GOI) officials in New Delhi and Kolkata.  In New Delhi 
they met with officials from the Ministries of Commerce, and 
Environment and Forests, Planning Commission, GOI Special Envoy on 
Climate Change, and interacted with industry representatives and 
diplomats from other missions in India.  They also met with the 
Press and the Chairman's statements were widely quoted in leading 
papers.  (Reftel A, B, C) 
 
JOINT IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW - NATIONAL AIDS CONTROL PROGRAM INDIA 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶9. (U) India's third phase of its National AIDS Control Program is 
 
NEW DELHI 00001700  003.6 OF 004 
 
 
undergoing a joint review of all major stakeholders to assess 
progress made against stated objectives in the past six months. 
This World Bank and Department for International Development (DfID) 
UK-led review is conducted every six months to gauge progress in 
implementation and to identify operational issues.  The USG along 
with the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) are 
participants in this review. The review, scheduled from 9-24 June, 
2008, is expected to provide an assessment of targets achieved. 
 
FDA MEETINGS WITH MOH 
--------------------- 
¶10.  On June 16-17, two Ministry of Health (MOH) officials, Joint 
 Secretary Debashish Panda and Drug Controller General of India 
Surinder Singh, met with FDA officials in the U.S.  The MOH meetings 
with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are a follow-up to the 
January 2008 Secretary Michael O. Leavitt's and FDA Commissioner 
Andrew von Eschenbach's visit to India to further the Department of 
Health and Human Services (DHHS) goal's of enhancing international 
relationships related to public health.  The FDA team led by Melinda 
¶K. Plaisier, Assistant Commissioner for International Programs, 
visited India in March to identify potential opportunities for 
collaboration.  During meetings with the FDA, the MOH delegation 
will get an overview of the FDA's structure, systems, Information 
Technology initiatives, policies on oversight of clinical trials 
including standards and inspection, and information on the Global 
Harmonization Task Force.  The MOH is eager to collaborate with FDA 
in the area of drugs and pharmaceutical regulation, and topics 
including post-market surveillance of drugs, and electronic 
submissions.  Mission Health Attach was an observer at the 
meetings. 
 
POLIO UPDATE 
------------ 
 
¶11.  According to the National Polio Surveillance Project of the 
Government of India and the World Health Organization, as of 13 June 
2008, a total of 5 polio virus type 1 (P1) cases, 263 polio type 3 
(P3) with a total of 268 (P1+P3) have been detected.  Of these the 
highly endemic states of Bihar accounted for 1 case of P1 and 65 P3 
cases, and Uttar Pradesh accounted for 1 P1 case and 193 P3 cases. 
In 2007, the total polio virus cases stood at 83 (P1), 793 (P3) and 
a total of 873 cases. 
 
MALARIA WORKSHOP FOR VACCINE DEVELOPMENT 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶12.  An Indo-US Vaccine Action Program Workshop on Development of 
Vaccines against Plasmodium (P) vivax Malaria was held at the Hyatt 
Regency Hotel in New Delhi on June 17-18, 2008.  The meeting was 
organized by the International Center for Genetic Engineering and 
Biotechnology (ICGEB) with support from the Department of 
Biotechnology and the U.S. National Institutes of Health.  About 35 
foreign participants and a similar number of Indian scientists 
attended the workshop.  Meeting participants identified areas of 
collaboration for researchers from the US, India and other Asian 
countries affected by P. vivax Malaria. 
 
MOH MINISTER TO VISIT BOSTON UNIVERSITY 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶13.  The MOH Minister Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss will be meeting with 
Boston University officials in Boston this week.  In return Dr. 
Ramadoss has invited the President of Boston University to India. 
Boston University is considering setting up a campus in either Delhi 
or Chennai with a focus on medical studies.  A MOH official stated 
 
NEW DELHI 00001700  004.6 OF 004 
 
 
that establishing a university campus is a long process and a course 
in medicine requires permission from the Medical Council of India 
(MCI).  Technical courses will need approval from All India Council 
for Technical Education (AICTE) and courses in arts and sciences 
need to be cleared by the University Grants Commission (UGC). 
 
MULFORD