BacktoCricaddict Posted August 5 Posted August 5 (edited) 7 hours ago, Tillu said: Jainendra Jain (Wolf Prize winner and co-discoverer of composite fermions) is building the new Lodha Theoretical Physics Institute around simple themes -Just 10–12 faculty. No institutional sprawl. -No committees, minimal administration, no travel caps, no teaching load. -Assemble exceptional minds, remove bureaucracy and give them uninterrupted time to think, breakthroughs will follow. -No PhD programme initially -Success to be measured by by fundamental discoveries made in India, not citations or paper counts. $100 million over a decade, funded entirely by the Lodha family. Modeled on the Institute for Advanced Study and Perimeter Institute via @the_hindu I just read his Wiki profile. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainendra_K._Jain What an inspiring story!! Jain received his primary, middle and high school education in a government school in the rural village of Sambhar, Rajasthan,[3][4] located at the eastern margin of Thar desert in India. He received bachelor's degree at Maharaja College, Jaipur,[5] his master's degree in physics at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur[5] and PhD at the Stony Brook University,[5] where he worked with Profs. Philip B. Allen and Steven Kivelson. After post-doctoral positions at the University of Maryland and the Yale University he returned to the Stony Brook University as a faculty member in 1989. In 1998, he moved to the Pennsylvania State University[1] as the first Erwin W. Mueller Professor of Physics. In 2026 Jain was appointed Director of Lodha Theoretical Physics Institute, Mumbai. Jain is a quantum physicist in the field of condensed matter theory with interests in strongly interacting electronic systems in low dimensions. As the originator of the exotic particles called composite fermions, he pioneered and developed the composite fermion theory of the fractional quantum Hall effect and unified the fractional and the integral quantum Hall effects. His writings include a monograph Composite Fermions,[6] published in 2007 by the Cambridge University Press. He co-edited with Bertrand Halperin a book Fractional Quantum Hall Effects: New Developments,[7] published in 2020 by World Scientific.[3] Because of injuries sustained in a childhood accident, Jain walks with the aid of a prosthesis.[3][4] After being awarded the Wolf Prize in Physics, he recounted his journey as: “Looking back, it is hard to believe how incredibly fortunate I have been. Growing up in a poor village in India, traumatized by an accident that left me on crutches with a lifelong disability, I did not think I would ever walk again or attend college, let alone pursue my dream of becoming a physicist.”[8] He credits Jaipur Foot with enabling him to continue education.[3] Edited August 5 by BacktoCricaddict Tillu 1
Lone Wolf Posted August 11 Posted August 11 Kerala and TN Goa have almost wiped out poverty it seems as per NiTI Aayog's latest NFHS data North West seems to have things on an upswing as well. Meghalaya poorest in North East well it is always documented that it is dirt poor and tribals are not that much friendly either. BacktoCricaddict and Tillu 2
Tillu Posted August 13 Posted August 13 Vultures were down 99.9% in parts of India. A drug ban and 20 years of conservation have turned the tide. At the beginning of the 21st century, vulture numbers in India and across south Asia were in freefall and nobody understood why. The situation was urgent and international cooperation was needed to solve this complicated puzzle. After the veterinary drug diclofenac was shown to be the cause of the declines, in 2006 decisive action was taken by the Indian Government, immediately followed by those in Nepal and Pakistan, to ban this killer drug and safeguard vulture populations. In the twenty years since, conservation organisations, along with state and national governments across South Asia, have spearheaded efforts to help recover vulture populations that were once on the precipice of extinction – resulting in one of the biggest conservation success stories of our time. Let’s reflect for a moment on how far conservation efforts have come in that time and the leading players that have made this recovery a reality. Huge declines Where once the skies of South Asia would have been filled with vultures, research by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) in the late 1990s first detected signs that vulture populations were declining rapidly. Subsequent surveys carried out by BNHS, and supported by the RSPB, showed that by 2007, White-rumped Vulture numbers had dropped by 99.9% across northern India in little over a decade. This pattern was replicated in Pakistan and Nepal, with populations of Slender-billed Vulture, Indian Vulture, and Red-headed Vulture, similarly affected. Vulture populations were undergoing the most precipitous declines of any formerly abundant bird species in the world and were plummeting towards extinction. The situation prompted international attention and action. Researchers from BNHS, Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN) and the Ornithological Society of Pakistan (OSP) were joined by international partners from the RSPB, Zoological Society of London and The Peregrine Fund to identify the root of the problem. Discovering a killer drug Although dead birds were often showing similar symptoms, the cause wasn't immediately obvious. Vulture carcasses were tested for pesticides, herbicides, toxic heavy metals and other environmental pollutants, but to no avail. However, in 2003 The Peregrine Fund with OSP in Pakistan, made a breakthrough. They learnt that a new non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac, had recently become popular among livestock owners, and that vultures that were scavenging carcasses of cattle treated with the drug were suffering kidney failure and eventually dying as a result. Teams from BNHS and BCN, supported by the RSPB, found that the same thing was happening to birds in India and Nepal. Prompted by the breakthrough, a vulture-safe alternative to diclofenac was identified (meloxicam) and in 2006, the Governments of India, Pakistan and Nepal banned the manufacture and importation of veterinary diclofenac. This was a monumental step in safeguarding the future of vultures in south Asia and one that undoubtedly prevented their extinction. The bans have been supported by intensive grassroots and awareness work by BNHS, BCN and other conservation organisations across South Asia. Preventing vultures from being exposed to veterinary diclofenac has not been as simple as banning the drug’s use. Loopholes such as human diclofenac being used by vets and farmers (diclofenac is not banned for human use and is the same compound) have been a challenge, but in 2015 it was again India that stepped up and banned multidose vials thus curbing the main source of illegal diclofenac use in veterinary practice. Testing veterinary drugs Identifying other toxic drugs as well as providing livestock owners with vulture-safe alternatives has been vital in keeping existing vulture populations safe. In addition to meloxicam, tolfenamic acid has now been proven to be safe to vultures, while testing of ketoprofen, aceclofenac and nimesulide, which were found to be toxic, has resulted in the Indian Government recently banning these drugs. A system whereby the toxicity of drugs to vultures is tested prior to their licensing, would be an important step in ensuring that all new veterinary drugs are safe for vultures. This has become a key advocacy target for vulture conservation. Vulture Safe Zones Ensuring that areas are free of toxic drugs, so that wild vultures have safe places to live and where captive-bred birds can be released, is central to the concept of creating Vulture Safe Zones. These zones focus on an area of 100km in radius, centred on a vulture nesting colony or an area earmarked for the release of captive birds. Within that area, conservation activities aim to eliminate the use of toxic veterinary drugs – through advocacy and awareness-raising of drug bans; the promotion of safe alternatives; monitoring the effects of conservation actions; and in some cases, providing food free from toxic drugs. In 2021, the world’s first truly safe Vulture Safe Zone was declared in Nepal, with surveys showing that the presence of veterinary diclofenac had been reduced to zero and tracking of vultures fitted with GPS transmitters demonstrating high survival. Vulture populations had also shown a rapid, albeit partial, recovery. In 2025, Bird Conservation Nepal, Renewable World and the RSPB secured Darwin Initiative funding for a new project which aims to create Nepal’s second official Vulture Safe Zone. The Vulture Safe Zone approach is also underway elsewhere in the region and in Assam, India, the country’s first Vulture Safe Zone is well on its way to being declared. Conservation breeding centres Back in the early 2000s, the future looked so bleak for Asian vultures that conservation breeding centres were established to provide a safety net and build up a new stock of birds to release into the wild once the threat had been removed. In India, BNHS established a number of large-scale vulture breeding centres. None of the three most threatened species (White-rumped, Indian and Slender-billed Vulture) had been bred in captivity before. Pioneering work by BNHS with advice from the International Centre for Birds of Prey soon resulted in the first chicks being successfully produced. Funding for the breeding programme in India was initially from the UK Government’s Darwin Initiative, but the Indian Government has again stepped up so support now comes mainly from the state Forest Departments of Haryana, West Bengal, Assam and Madhya Pradesh as well as Central Government of India. The RSPB and other donors, including the Hawk Conservancy Trust for a Pakistan centre, have continued to provide important help. Following the declaration of the Vulture Safe Zone, in 2023, the final birds were released from the Vulture Breeding Centre in Nepal, marking a significant milestone and major success for the project reflecting the increase in wild populations. https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/spotlight-on-asias-vultures-twenty-years-after-game-changing-drug-ban BacktoCricaddict 1
Tillu Posted August 13 Posted August 13 Just now, Tillu said: Vultures were down 99.9% in parts of India. A drug ban and 20 years of conservation have turned the tide. At the beginning of the 21st century, vulture numbers in India and across south Asia were in freefall and nobody understood why. The situation was urgent and international cooperation was needed to solve this complicated puzzle. After the veterinary drug diclofenac was shown to be the cause of the declines, in 2006 decisive action was taken by the Indian Government, immediately followed by those in Nepal and Pakistan, to ban this killer drug and safeguard vulture populations. In the twenty years since, conservation organisations, along with state and national governments across South Asia, have spearheaded efforts to help recover vulture populations that were once on the precipice of extinction – resulting in one of the biggest conservation success stories of our time. Let’s reflect for a moment on how far conservation efforts have come in that time and the leading players that have made this recovery a reality. Huge declines Where once the skies of South Asia would have been filled with vultures, research by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) in the late 1990s first detected signs that vulture populations were declining rapidly. Subsequent surveys carried out by BNHS, and supported by the RSPB, showed that by 2007, White-rumped Vulture numbers had dropped by 99.9% across northern India in little over a decade. This pattern was replicated in Pakistan and Nepal, with populations of Slender-billed Vulture, Indian Vulture, and Red-headed Vulture, similarly affected. Vulture populations were undergoing the most precipitous declines of any formerly abundant bird species in the world and were plummeting towards extinction. The situation prompted international attention and action. Researchers from BNHS, Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN) and the Ornithological Society of Pakistan (OSP) were joined by international partners from the RSPB, Zoological Society of London and The Peregrine Fund to identify the root of the problem. Discovering a killer drug Although dead birds were often showing similar symptoms, the cause wasn't immediately obvious. Vulture carcasses were tested for pesticides, herbicides, toxic heavy metals and other environmental pollutants, but to no avail. However, in 2003 The Peregrine Fund with OSP in Pakistan, made a breakthrough. They learnt that a new non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac, had recently become popular among livestock owners, and that vultures that were scavenging carcasses of cattle treated with the drug were suffering kidney failure and eventually dying as a result. Teams from BNHS and BCN, supported by the RSPB, found that the same thing was happening to birds in India and Nepal. Prompted by the breakthrough, a vulture-safe alternative to diclofenac was identified (meloxicam) and in 2006, the Governments of India, Pakistan and Nepal banned the manufacture and importation of veterinary diclofenac. This was a monumental step in safeguarding the future of vultures in south Asia and one that undoubtedly prevented their extinction. The bans have been supported by intensive grassroots and awareness work by BNHS, BCN and other conservation organisations across South Asia. Preventing vultures from being exposed to veterinary diclofenac has not been as simple as banning the drug’s use. Loopholes such as human diclofenac being used by vets and farmers (diclofenac is not banned for human use and is the same compound) have been a challenge, but in 2015 it was again India that stepped up and banned multidose vials thus curbing the main source of illegal diclofenac use in veterinary practice. Testing veterinary drugs Identifying other toxic drugs as well as providing livestock owners with vulture-safe alternatives has been vital in keeping existing vulture populations safe. In addition to meloxicam, tolfenamic acid has now been proven to be safe to vultures, while testing of ketoprofen, aceclofenac and nimesulide, which were found to be toxic, has resulted in the Indian Government recently banning these drugs. A system whereby the toxicity of drugs to vultures is tested prior to their licensing, would be an important step in ensuring that all new veterinary drugs are safe for vultures. This has become a key advocacy target for vulture conservation. Vulture Safe Zones Ensuring that areas are free of toxic drugs, so that wild vultures have safe places to live and where captive-bred birds can be released, is central to the concept of creating Vulture Safe Zones. These zones focus on an area of 100km in radius, centred on a vulture nesting colony or an area earmarked for the release of captive birds. Within that area, conservation activities aim to eliminate the use of toxic veterinary drugs – through advocacy and awareness-raising of drug bans; the promotion of safe alternatives; monitoring the effects of conservation actions; and in some cases, providing food free from toxic drugs. In 2021, the world’s first truly safe Vulture Safe Zone was declared in Nepal, with surveys showing that the presence of veterinary diclofenac had been reduced to zero and tracking of vultures fitted with GPS transmitters demonstrating high survival. Vulture populations had also shown a rapid, albeit partial, recovery. In 2025, Bird Conservation Nepal, Renewable World and the RSPB secured Darwin Initiative funding for a new project which aims to create Nepal’s second official Vulture Safe Zone. The Vulture Safe Zone approach is also underway elsewhere in the region and in Assam, India, the country’s first Vulture Safe Zone is well on its way to being declared. Conservation breeding centres Back in the early 2000s, the future looked so bleak for Asian vultures that conservation breeding centres were established to provide a safety net and build up a new stock of birds to release into the wild once the threat had been removed. In India, BNHS established a number of large-scale vulture breeding centres. None of the three most threatened species (White-rumped, Indian and Slender-billed Vulture) had been bred in captivity before. Pioneering work by BNHS with advice from the International Centre for Birds of Prey soon resulted in the first chicks being successfully produced. Funding for the breeding programme in India was initially from the UK Government’s Darwin Initiative, but the Indian Government has again stepped up so support now comes mainly from the state Forest Departments of Haryana, West Bengal, Assam and Madhya Pradesh as well as Central Government of India. The RSPB and other donors, including the Hawk Conservancy Trust for a Pakistan centre, have continued to provide important help. Following the declaration of the Vulture Safe Zone, in 2023, the final birds were released from the Vulture Breeding Centre in Nepal, marking a significant milestone and major success for the project reflecting the increase in wild populations. https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/spotlight-on-asias-vultures-twenty-years-after-game-changing-drug-ban At the height the three countries had over 40 Million vultures. At the lowest they were down to 20,000 In 2025 - India 20,000-30,000, Nepal 2500-3500 and Pakistan 500-1000. Vultures are nature's janitors. The drug diclofenac was administered to cows during their terminal stage of life to give them a pain free death. After the sharp decline of Vulture numbers, it meant more food for the street dogs and their numbers simply exploded which lead to increase in Rabies incidence in India. Everything is interconnected. Lord and BacktoCricaddict 1 1
Tillu Posted August 15 Posted August 15 'No clear information': Nepal ‘loses’ papers of centuries-old treaty defining borders with India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/no-clear-information-nepal-loses-papers-of-centuries-old-treaty-defining-borders-with-india/articleshow/133215575.cms
Lord Posted September 4 Posted September 4 Intent is everything IndianRenegade, randomGuy and Tillu 1 2
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