Networking for Research on Earthquakes

ICTP moots Network of Scientists for Promoting  Collaborative Earthquakes Research

Hyderabad, Oct 23-2k6: The Italy-based Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) is forming a network of scientists from Iran to Indonesia to study the formation of earthquakes and build capacities to respond to calamities caused by earthquake, ICTP Director K R Sreenivasan said today.Mr Sreenivasan, who was here in connection with a collaborative programme with the Central University of Hyderabad, said the network would have scientists from the National Geophysical Research in India and National Aeronautics Laboratory.

The first meeting of the newly formed network of scientists would be held in Italy next month.

The primary task of the network covering Pakistan, Nepal and Malaysia among other countries, was to record the seismic activity and build capacities to respond to calamities, he said, adding that the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics operated under a tripartite agreement between the Government of Italy, two UN agencies-United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).//EOM//

Posted By: Dr.Y.Bala Murali krishna

New Virus Detected in Chillies in India

 Ludhiana, Oct 10-2k6: A virus known as ‘begomoviruses’, which reduces the yield, has ‘infected’ the chilli crop in India for the first time.
   The World Vegetable Centre–AVRDC located at Taiwan has detected the presence of this virus in the samples taken from  Ludhiana.
   This virus is believed to be a tentative strain of the chilli
leaf curl virus which is prevalent in Multan in Pakistan.
   The Centre has called upon breeders at Punjab Agricultural
University (PAU) that the presence of the ‘begomoviruses’ needs to be considered for developing chilli cultivars and virus resistant chilli plants.
   PAU’s Department of Vegetable Crops, Head- cum- senior
olericulturist, Dr Daljit Singh today said that chilli is an
vegetable important crop. It is sown on an area of 9882 hectares in Punjab, mainly in the districts of Sangrur, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Amnritsar and Jalandhar.
   In Punjab. the chilli production is around 15,888 tonnes annually.
   Dr Daljit Singh, who is working in collaboration with the
scientists of AVRDC, said the tomato leaf curl begomoviruses
infecting chillies in India was first noticed in 2004. The results of the analysis done at the World Vegetable Centre in Taiwan have been recently published.
   This is for the first time that this begomoviruses has infected chilli crop in India and it will significantly reduce productivity, he claimed.//eom//

New Virus Detected in Chillies in India