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RR RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHMA
RUEHNEH RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHPW RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNE #1054/01 1421413
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221413Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6715
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHDC
RUCPDC/NOAA NMFS WASHINGTON DC
RUEAEPA/EPA WASHDC
RHMFIUU/NASA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001054 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES/PCI, OES/STC, OES/SAT, OES/EGC, AND SCA/INS 
STATE FOR STAS 
DOE FOR INTERNATIONAL 
INTERIOR FOR FWS RILEY 
STATE PASS TO NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV TSPL TBIO ECON IN
SUBJECT: NEW DELHI EST HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 18 TO MAY 22, 
2009 
 
Ref:  New Delhi 775 
 
¶1. (U) Below is a compilation of environment, science, and 
technology highlights from Embassy New Delhi for the week of May 18 
- 22, 2009, including the following: 
 
-- It's Official - Panna Tiger Reserve Has Lost All Its Native 
Tigers 
-- Oil Spill Threatens Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary 
-- Indian Receives Green Oscar 
-- IIT Kanpur Developing First Indigenous Nano Satellite 
-- Chandrayaan I Orbit Raised 
 
------------ 
ENVIRONMENT 
------------ 
 
It's Official - Panna Tiger Reserve Has Lost All Its Native Tigers 
 
¶2.  A special investigation team appointed by the Ministry of 
Environment and Forest's National Tiger Conservation Authority 
(NTCA) has confirmed that the Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Madhya 
Pradesh has now joined Rajasthan's Sariska Tiger Reserve as the 
second reserve in India to lose all of its native wild tigers.  The 
investigating team was headed by former NTCA Director Mr. P.K. Sen 
and included NTCA Joint Director Mr. S.P. Yadav and wildlife 
scientist Qamar Qureshi from the Wildlife Institute of India.  There 
is no official explanation yet for the disappearance of the 35 - 40 
tigers which had been resident in Panna since 2003, but 
conservationists largely attribute the complete wipe-out to poaching 
and habitat loss.  The NTCA appointed team is expected to revisit 
PTR in the next few months to investigate the causes and to 
determine whether mis-management by local forest officials 
contributed to the loss.  Forest officials have confirmed that the 
two tigresses transferred to Panna from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in 
March 2009 (reftel) are still alive. 
 
Oil Spill Threatens Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary 
 
¶3.  Regional media and several national dailies reported an oil 
spill caused by leakage from Indian Oil Corporation's (IOC) single 
point mooring (SPM) off the Paradip port in Orissa threatened the 
Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary (GMS) located 15 kms from the spill 
site.  GMS is one of the world's foremost nesting sites for Olive 
Ridley Turtles and an oil spill in the area could have serious 
implications for marine biodiversity.  Media reports claim that 
approximately 3000 tons of crude oil leaked from the SPM on April 
22, 2009.  IOC officials state the spill was the result of a minor 
leak in the SPM and was not sufficient to cause serious 
environmental damage.  However, Orissa forest officials, closely 
monitoring the wind direction, have expressed concern and the 
Wildlife Society of Orissa, an NGO, has demanded that IOC pay for an 
oil spill impact study and as well as remedial measures to mitigate 
the environmental impact.  Mr. B.C. Choudhury, a renowned 
herpetologist and faculty member of the Wildlife Institute of India, 
informed ESTOffs that his team in Orissa is in touch with Mr. V.K. 
Verghese, the Coast Guard Commandant of Paradip Coast Guard Base and 
according to Verghese, the spill was extremely minor and the Paradip 
Port Trust will be able to control it without damage to the marine 
environment.  In Verghese's opinion, the oil spill was blown out of 
proportion by the media.  Choudhury also informed ESTOffs that IOC 
has plans to install three more SPMs in the same ecologically 
sensitive region. 
 
Indian Receives Green Oscar 
 
¶4.  Dr. M.D. Madhusudhan of the NGO Nature Conservation Foundation, 
has been awarded the Whitley Award in recognition of his work to 
reduce human-wildlife conflict in the Western Ghats region of 
Karnataka.  Popularly referred to as the Green Oscars and considered 
one of the most important international nature conservation awards, 
the Whitley includes a grant of USD 46,000 (30,000 British pounds) 
and a trophy.  Two other Indian conservationists, Dr. Sudipto 
Chatterjee and Ms. Supraja Dharini, received the Whitley associate 
award which includes a grant of USD 15,000 (10,000 pounds). 
Chatterjee, who heads the Biodiversity Group at Winrock 
International-India, received his award for the conservation of 
Rhododendrons in the Eastern Himalayas.  Dharini, Chairperson of the 
Trust for Environment Education (TREE) Foundation, received her 
 
NEW DELHI 00001054  002 OF 002 
 
 
award for her community based initiative to protect sea turtles and 
dolphins. 
 
-------------------- 
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 
-------------------- 
 
IIT Kanpur Developing First Indigenous Nano Satellite 
 
¶5.  The Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur is developing a 
nano satellite called "Jugnu" measuring 34 cm long x 10 cm wide. 
The satellite is expected to be equipped with micro imaging systems 
and weigh 3.5 kg.  A team of 12 professors and 40 research students 
led by Professor Nalinaksh S Vyas of the Mechanical Engineering 
department are involved in the project.  The nano satellite is 
designed to transmit images to a base station being set up at the 
IIT Kanpur campus.  The satellite is expected to have a life span of 
six to twelve months and be used in applications including drought 
monitoring, wasteland management, urban planning and flood-risk 
management.  Professor Dhande, Director of IIT Kanpur, informed EST 
FSN the cost of the project was approximately USD 500,000.  The 
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to launch the 
satellite by December 2009. 
 
Chandrayaan I Orbit Raised 
 
¶6.  Media report ISRO raised the Chandrayaan-I lunar orbiter from 
its previous 100 km orbit to a new 200 km orbit on May 19, 2009. 
ISRO stated all eleven payloads were working well and the quality of 
the data received to date was excellent.  Dr. Gowrishankar, ISRO's 
Director of International Relations, informed ESTFSN that the orbit 
was changed because ISRO has received sufficient data at 100 km and 
wanted to conserve fuel in order to extend the orbiter's useful 
life.  Gowrishankar also stated the new orbit better enabled ISRO to 
study orbit perturbations and gravitation field variations in 
addition to obtaining wider field images of the lunar surface.  He 
did note however that if at any point ISRO felt the need to lower 
the orbit, there was sufficient fuel aboard to do so. 
 
BURLEIGH