The insecticide endosulfan, has been widely used for the control of crop pests in the field of agriculture. Although no mutagenic, teratogenic or carcinogenicity information is available on this insecticide, there are several reports concerning its toxicity after oral as well as from repeated administration in mice, rats and rabbits.
A weed which was carried into India from the United States has spread within a decade across a thousand miles of the country from Bangalore in the south to Kashmir in the north. This prolific plant, Parthenium hysterophorus, has brought with it a near epidemic of contact dermatitis. The outbreak is so serious that the Indian Department of Science and Technology held a meeting to see what can be done to eradicate this unwelcome intruder.
The distribution of carbonate on the floor of the Pacific has been remapped on the basis of 1313 points from 80 references stored in the World Ocean Sediment Data Bank of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Percent distribution maps and carbonate versus depth diagrams generally agree with previously published information and reflect the major controlling factors of carbonate sedimentation (depth, hydrography, fertility, and sedimentary processes). While carbonate distributions are of limited use in attempting to construct dissolution profiles, major trends are identifiable.
Methods of digestion of fish samples for mercury determination by flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry have been investigated. Digestion in Teflon bombs, Kjeldahl flasks, or borosilicate test tubes gives comparable precisions and mercury recoveries. Because of their cost and effect in limiting productivity, Teflon bombs were considered unnecessary for analysis of fish samples. Experiments with cooked and uncooked fish samples have confirmed that no appreciable loss of mercury occurs during baking 30 min at 170 degrees C.
From Kashmir to Burma, where tigers once lived amid lush forests, a vast tract of land has been laid bare by the timber industry. In its wake have come landslides, drought and yet further poverty. The only hope for the hill people is a Ghandian like movement which villagers have adopted to thwart developers.
Pushkar, near Ajmer, Rajasthan, lies in the dry zone to the east of the Indian desert. In the vicinity there is evidence for three arid phases, during the latter part of the Pleistocene, each represented by a major sand sheet and fossil desert dunes. The earliest contains lenses of detritus which include rolled Lower Palaeolithic tools.
This paper outlines a research proposal for a series of investigations into aspects of urban housing which it seems important to understand before formulating an enlarged public housing programme. Studies in the areas outlined here are either scanty or non-existent.
The years 1965 and 1966 will be remembered in Indian history as two successive years in which the failure of the south-west monsoon had a disastrous effect on Indian economy. This article is an attempt to find out the basic causes of this large-scale deficiency in the monsoon rainfall.
