Media & Environment

Home to over 320 species of birds, Kerela’s Thattekad Bird Sanctuary is located between the branches of the serene Periyar River.
The construction of the Bhoothanthankettu Dam in 1997 to increase the height of the water level for irrigation purposes has to a disappearance of the riverine ecosystem, but by default has created changes in structure that are positive for water birds.

The air around smells remarkably moist. The nocturnal birds found only in the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, and one of the over 32pairs found in the sanctuary. At night, it hunts insects and though the flight appears weak and fluttery, they are capable of flying quietly under the forest canopy.
Just beyond, the swollen periyar flows majestically by as we soak in the sights and sounds of the Salim Ali bird sanctuary at Thattekad, whose geographical diversity supports a spectacular bird life.

This ‘one and only bird sanctuary in kerela’ was earlier part of the Kuttampuzha Range in the Malayattoor Forest Division, 25sq km of the area to the northern banks of the periyar declared as Thattekad Bird Sanctuary by the state government in 1983.

The renowned Salim ali had, in 1930, recorded 167 species in the area. Early morning treks generally crossed rocky ridges like the kallipara, from where some fantastic views of forest is observed. The sanctuary, actually on the foothills of the Western Ghats, connects with a large ecological unith  comparising of the Malayattoor, Sholayar and Parambikulam ranges on the one side and the Munnar, Eravikulam and Chinar on the other.
Wild animals seen include elephant, sambar, barking deer, porcupine, and wild boar. Also about 57 species of  fish, 12 amphibians, 30 reptiles, 76 species of butterflies are found. Migratory birds, that form about 40 percent of the bird count, are generally seen from October to March each year-small sunbirds, high altitude migrants who fly in large numbers during November-December, and longer distance migrants like the warblers, flycatchers which arrive first.

The nesting season of the resident birds from April to August every year. Rare birds seen include the Crimson throated barbet, shrike, Fairy Blue Bird, grey-headed Flying eagle, Black Winged Kite, Malabar Trogon and Grey Hornbill.
The construction of the Bhoothanthankettu dam in 1997 to increase the height of the water level for irrigation purposes has led to disappearance of the riverine ecosystem, but by default has created changes in structure that are positive for water birds dabchiks, jacanas, moorhens, whistling teals. The Eastern swallow can be seen in thousands during certain days, blossom headed and rose ringed parakrrts between August- September in large numbers.
The popularity of the sanctuary has also meant more tourists each year. In the 1980’s there used to be about 750 tourists a year. Awareness regarding the fragile nature of environment will take some more time thought!  The nesting season of the resident birds seen from April to August every year. decidedly, these are the features of the  Salim ali bird sanctuary that add to its tremendous value as an education centre for students across the country and as an important field lab for conservation education.

Sujith N Soori. I MA  COMMUNICATION, FEB, 2010.

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Which is better?  Test or One Day cricket:

Test Cricket:
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. It is generally considered the ultimate test of playing ability in the sport.  Test matches are a subset of first-class cricket.

Test matches are played between national representative teams which have “Test status”, as determined by the International Cricket Council (ICC). As of 2007[update], ten national teams have been given Test status, the most recent being Bangladesh in 2000.

Test cricket is played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days (though finishing earlier if a result is reached before the maximum time). On each day there are usually three two-hour sessions.  Test cricket is played in “innings”.  In each innings, one team bats and the other bowls (or fields). Ordinarily four innings are played in a Test match, such that each team bats twice and bowls twice.

Test cricket is almost always played as a series of matches between two countries, with all matches in the series taking place in the same country (the host). The number of matches in a series varies from one to six. Often there is a perpetual trophy traded between a pair of teams when series between them are won or lost.

Test series between international teams were organized between the two national cricket organizations with umpires provided by the home team. However, with the entry of more countries into Test cricket competition, and a wish by the ICC to maintain public interest in Tests (which was flagging in many countries with the introduction of one-day cricket), a new system was added to Test match competition.

A rotation system that sees all ten Test teams playing each other over a six-year cycle, and an official ranking system (with a trophy held by the highest-ranked team) were introduced. It was hoped by the ICC that the new ranking system would help maintain interest in Test cricket in nations where one-day cricket is more popular.

In the new system, umpires are provided by the ICC. An elite panel of eleven umpires has been established, and the panel is supplemented by an additional International Panel that includes three umpires named by each Test-playing country. The elite umpires officiate almost all Test matches (usually not a Test involving their home country).
One Day Cricket:
Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket and in a slightly different context as List A cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day, whereas Test and first-class matches can take up to five days to complete. The name reflects the rule that in the match each team bowls a set maximum number of overs, usually between 20 and 50, although shorter and longer forms of limited overs cricket have been played.

Important one-day matches, international and domestic, often have two days set aside, the second day being a “reserve” day to allow more chance of the game being completed if a result is not possible on the first day (for instance if play is prevented or interrupted by rain).  Each team bats only once, and each innings is limited to a set number of overs, usually fifty in a One Day International and between forty and sixty in a List A.

List A is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of cricket, technically as the domestic level One-day cricket is popular with spectators as it can encourage aggressive, risky, entertaining batting, often results in cliffhanger endings, and ensures that a spectator can watch an entire match without committing to five days of continuous attendance.

However, many devotees of Test match cricket believe the relative skills of the teams. In modern one-day tactics, batsmen take few risks outside the first and last few overs, thus diminishing the claimed excitement.  For instance, in India, one day matches are Ranchi Trophy, IPL, ICL, etc.
Which is better?
The Test Cricket matches are considered the ultimate test of playing ability in the sport.  Hence Test matches are better than One Day Cricket.  This point is suggested by various veterans of Indian Cricket.  They are as follows:
The senior Indian Players says that the junior players lack the attitude which they should possess for playing Cricket.  The amount of money the younger lot of cricketers is able to make these days through events like the Indian Premier League has made them lose focus from the game.  The change in attitude and focus which seems to have gone to things other than cricket.

They are attracted by the different (Bollywood) style of entertainment that is part of these events.  Some of these youngsters have become very big. Some of them are feeling playing in Ranji Trophy is not as important as playing in the IPL.
Former skipper Sunil Gavaskar’s views a few months ago that young Indian cricketers were not too concerned about wearing the India cap and seemed happy to play Twenty20 cricket.
Sachin Tendulkar has suggested that some stands be set aside for free entry to the school and college students. It should be a given a serious thought. We need to introduce younger generation to Test cricket,” he said.
For former captain Nari Contractor, Test cricket remains and will forever stand as the pinnacle of the game.  The quality of a cricketer will not be known by 20-20 or 50-50 games but through Test cricket only. But to attract people they can try out day/night Tests or play four-day Tests.
The former India opener also felt that the restriction of bouncers in Test cricket was taking away the charm of seeing players either hooking the bumpers or ducking or swaying out of harms way.
Senior sports scribe Ayaz Memon felt that there’s no way all three formats can co-exist for long and one of the shorter formats of the game needs to be shelved while massive efforts are needed to keep Test cricket alive. “Test cricket’s current format needs to be given a thought to. Nowadays youngsters want things to get over between two and three hours. A massive effort is needed to keep Test cricket alive, but I do not know what it can be. I feel all three formats cannot co-exist and very soon we have to take a call between 50-over games and T20 games,” he said.

A. Karuppusamy (09MMC009),
I.  M.A., Communication.

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Cricket is the de facto national sport of India, and its development has been closely tied up with the history of the country, mirroring many of the political and cultural developments around issues such as caste, religion and nationality. Though cricket is indubitably the most popular sport in India, it is not the nation’s official national sport (a distinction held by field hockey).
IPL Vs ICL
ICL:-
Indian Cricket League started in the year 2007.  It is administered by BCCI.  The format of ICL is Twenty 20.  It has 9 city teams and 4 international teams.  It started off with a great force and interested the cricket lovers.  It received from sum unexpected sector too.  ICL’s second league got cancelled because of the Mumbai attacks.  Even then there were so many controversies and conflicts which affected the fame of the league.  BCCI – the administrator of ICL has not recognized it and hence not recognized by ICC.  ICL does not have proper funds to spend for the players and tours for matches.  It lacks transparency in the overall business model.  ICC conferred that the players who signs up with ICL will lose their official status and registration.  Under the direction of BCCI, the contracts with the players were cancelled.  Appalled by the state of domestic Indian cricket, Zee TV decided to launch this league as its own Twenty20 domestic series. The first matches were held in October 2007. The ICL sprung into the spotlight due to its head on battle with the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Brian Lara was the first international star to be officially drafted to play in the league. It also includes two fully drafted international teams from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Other big names include Chris Harris, Chris Cairns, Shane Bond, Marvan Atapattu, Craig Macmillan, Jason Gillespie, Stuart Law and Michael Bevan with many others.
IPL:-
Indian Premier League is the official International Twenty 20 league with the help of Australian, English and South African Boards.  It is revolutionary, based on the franchise model of National Football League and Major League Baseball in the USA.  There are 8 teams playing in the IPL.  This League has been launched by BCCI have received support from all the other Cricket Boards, and International Players could be drafted into City-based Franchises.  Each team has got an “Icon player” who volunteers themselves and gives their team to bid for the players.  As the players could earn a great sum of money, the young players are very much interested in participating in this league matches than any other Test series.  The first league matches were held in India while the second league was held in South Africa as there was no added security measure available for the players during the Mumbai attacks.  This league has a strong support for all the sectors like investors/sponsors, media, sponsorship (DLF), etc.  It has a wide reach globally.  The game has been likened to Baseball with crowd participation encouraged more strongly than in other forms of the game.  It has been greatly acknowledged by people and has made huge profits.  Even though many conflicts, controversies and restrictions are raised against the league, IPL overcomes it with so much of compromises.  Its next League starts on 12th March 2010.

The future of ICL becomes dark as BCCI allowed its players to play international matches since then many players has returned to their national team including famous players like Shane Bond, Abdul Razzak and others.
ICL was started when India lost the World Cup which made the people angry on our cricket players.  Later India won T20 World Cup and became the No: 1 rank Test team which made people to forget ICL.
The huge success of IPL is also a reason for coming down of ICL.

M. Shajahan (09MMC017),
I. M.A. Communication.

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200,000

FARMER SUICIDES

Farmer suicide in India is something that the people have been unaware, or rather ignorant about. This is probably because the actual number of deaths by farmers committing suicide is not released by the media. Can anyone take a wild guess on the number of farmers committing suicide each year in India? In the past 18 years, ever since the Economic Liberalization was unleashed in India, more than 200000 farmers have committed suicides. Shocking? Isn’t it?!
Why is it then, that the media not giving importance to such an important issue? 200000 is not a small figure. It could very well be the population of a small town or a small city in our country. There was an article by a freelance journalist, Shubhranshu Choudhary,in a journal called Vidura, published by the Press Institute of India, based on this very topic. The article focuses on the very state where the rates of farmer suicides are the highest in the country and have maintained this position for many years now. The irony about this is that even the residents of this state are unaware of the fact that Chhattisgarh stands No. 1 in the list of places with the highest number of farmers committing suicide.

We all remember the 26/ 11 attack on The Taj, in Mumbai. Around 175 people died. And I remember quite well that this issue was all across the papers, the T.V, Radio, Internet for months together. People couldn’t stop talking about how the whole incident went down and people even gave their opinions on the whole issue everywhere they could. Even the Government was on news almost everyday updating the public on what action was being taken for the attack that had claimed the lives of approximately 175 people (including the attackers).

If the deaths of 175 people matters to us this much, why is it that there is not much change in the death rates of farmer suicides in the past decade or so? Why is the media not giving this issue as much importance as it gave to death of 175 people, which compared to the suicide rates every year is about 10900 less.

The journalists or publications which do want to write about these suicides are not able to write anything because of their obligation towards the Government. If they do write, the Government would stop its advertisements to the newspaper. The news agencies have become so money minded that whole System is now totally disrupted. Most of the News Agencies are now biased to big MNCs and the ruling political parties. Nobody is bothered about the deaths of poor farmers struggling to survive each day at the rural parts of our country.

And the term “Free Media” is now got a new definition of its own. The media doesn’t belong to the public now. And all I can do is write this article and post it on the net and all that you can do is read it, think about doing something about it and later on move on with your own lives.

I came across a blog by Mr. Devinder Sharma, on the same issue. I think the conclusion on his blog has a voice of its own and may even provoke some of us to act towards this issue :

“Just like we get the politicians we deserve, we also get the media we deserve. Come on, wake up India. Pick up your pen and write a scathing letter to the editor of a newspaper that you read. Come on, take out your mobile and send a sms ever day to the TV channel that you normally watch. For them even death needs to be only acknowledged if it happens in a 5-star hotel.
Show them your anger, and they will listen.

Turning a blind eye to the massacre on the farm is not going to make your life peaceful. The fire is reaching your doorsteps.
Sooner or later, you and your children too would feel the heat. Don’t blame anyone then. You are primarily responsible for the crisis the country is faced with. Your fundamental rights that you emotionally talk about and demand, also includes your responsibility as a citizen. You and me have failed as a citizen. That is why we have such an insensitive media today.”

By
A.K. Shardul
I yr.  M. A. Communication

Ref:    Magazine:  Vidura, published by The Press Institute of India.
Websites:  www.indiatogether.org (http://www.indiatogether.org/2009/mar/agr-chsui.htm)

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Dear Media enthusiasts,

Here is the list of Media professionals in Coimbatore (Updated in September, 2009)

THE HINDU

No. 3, ATT Colony, Coimbatore-18.

Office : 0422-2215117, 2217538    Fax : 0422-2213176
G.Sathyamoorthy     98942-15650
K.V. Prasad     98942-05123
V.S. Palaniappan     98942-21199
M. Preetha     98942-71199
Rayan Rozario     98940-75500
Pankaja Srinivasan     93631 01011
Anusiya     98946-22400
Amutha Kannan     99444-67609
Lensmen

Anandan     98942-21078
Siva Saravanan     98943-20007
Periyasamy     98940-66744

THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE

No. 3, ATT Colony, Coimbatore-18.

Office: 0422-2215116, 2217538    Fax : 0422-2213176
R.Y. Narayanan     98942-75455
G. Gurumoorthy     98942-71424
G.N.Revathi     98942-72000

THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

No. 152, Pankaja Mill Road, Coimbatore-45.

Office: 0422-2319744    Fax : 0422-2311320
Daniel Raj     92443-17170
Raffiq Ahmed     92443-17272
Katthasamy     97870-49536
Haldorai     92443-17180
Kamalakannan     92443-17182

THE ECONOMIC TIMES

No. 411, Bharatiyar Road, Coimbatore-44.

Office: 0422-2524377     Fax : 0422-2522693
Sujatha     99424-91303

DECCAN CHRONICLE

Office: 0422-2540598
Vidhyasri     99948-40001
TIMES OF INDIA

Office: 0422-2521388
Radha Venkatesan     94422-12350
Palaniappan    98422-78761
Allirajan     98942-22948

AFTERNOON

No.152, Gandhipuram 8th street, Coimbatore-12.

Office: 0422-2496405    Fax : 4372720
Sudhan Appadurai     98947-70400
Adam Appadurai     98940-95096
Murugesan     94430-22107
David Appadurai     93443-33303
Gururaj     94425-25484
Shyam     98422-44724

NEWS TODAY

No.215A-1, Jothinagar 1st street, Podanur, Coimbatore-23.

Office: 0422-2671456
Ramanujam     90034-43778

TRINITY MIRROR

Office: 0422-2675329,    Fax: 2675329
Subhu     98945-90007
Kumaresan     98422-87270

NEWS LINE

V 39 B, Kovai Pudur,

Coimbatore- 42

0422-2609043.
BUSINESS STANDARD

No. 31, Krishna Colony,

Trichy road, Coimbatore- 5

0422-2317220.
Tamil Newspapers

DINA MALAR

Madukkarai road, Coimbatore-21.

Office : 0422-2676021, 2398439    Fax : 0422-2213176, 4357650
Vijaya Kumar     98940-09230
Selva Kumar     98940-09234
Babu     98940-09243
Muralidaran     98940-09263
Kalaimani     98940-09240
Ramesh     98940-09229
Rathina Kumar     99449-70935
Kanagaraj     98940-09249
Murali     98940-09237
Subhuraj     98940-09242
Ramesh     98940-09209
Aarokyaraj     98940-09238
Narayanan     98940-09262
Shiva     98940-09261
Balaji     98940-09310
Senthil Kumar     98940-09311

DAILY THANTHI

No.293, Avinashi road, Coimbatore-18.

Office: 0422-2215545, 2215540    Fax : 0422-2218592
Jayaraj     98417-49151
Krishna Moorthy     98417-49138
Sabha     98417-49139
Asaad     98417-49140
Anand     98417-49137
Maharajan     98417-49162
Aiyaasamy     98417-49142
Vivek     98417-49143
Rajesh     99427-88730
Sathyaseelan     97875-07589

DINA MALAR (CNS)

Office: 0422-2380197
Velusamy     94443-91554
Mahendran     94443-91549

MALAI SEIDHI
Jeppiar     98430-97979
Rajbabu     93443-23724

DINA MANI

No.152, Pankaja Mill road, Coimbatore-45.

Office: 0422-2317851    Fax : 2311320
Manikandan     92443-17181
Karthick     92443-17189
Anand     92443-17177
John     94430-24272
Ravi Krishna     92443-17222
Shakthi     92443-17226

DINA BOOMI

Pollachi road, Athupalam, Coimbatore-8.

Office: 0422-2410984    Fax : 2410092
Paramashivam     98422-34120
Maariyappan     99408-15569
Prem Kumar     98422-34270
Vallarasu     98425-75185
Hari     98945-95064
Madhavan     98432-03300

MALAI MALAR

No.293, Avinashi road, Coimbatore-18.

Office: 0422-2212447     Fax: 2212627
Ravi     98942-11119
S. Ganapathy     99944-05150
Muthuram     99944-05153
P.kumar     99944-05152

TAMIL CHUDAR
Bhagavathidasan     97890-62541
Raj     94431-73988

Nam DINA MATHI
Pugazhendhi     94430-21717

MURASOLI
Sambath     98427-26628
Singh     94434-77691

VIDUTHALAI
Anbarasu     94439-37393

JANASHAKTHI
Manibharathi     94421-22990

DINAPULARI / DINASARI
Arun Paulsingh     93632-04849

MADURAI MANI
Rajkumar     99524-40326
R.V. Ramalingam     93454-26637

MANISUDAR

No: 152, Eswaran koil street, Fort-01.

Office: 0422-2391715
Saleem     94430-32716

MALAYSIA NANBAN
Radha Krishnan     99655-04313

98422-71313

DINA SURIYAN
Babu     99942-69555

DINA MURASU
Aasaithambhi     93610-22626

CITY TODAY / EDHIROLI
Rajendran     99650-64119

TAMIL OSAI

Office: 0422-2313040
Riyaz     93631-25473

MUMBAI TAMIL TIMES
Office: 5588396
Kumaresan     94434-86638

MALAYALA MANORAMA

Office: 2215470
Nalinakshan     98431-74474

MAATHRUBOOMHI

Office: 0422-2304027    Fax: 2300567
M.A.V. Babu     94435-77771
M.P.Babu     94426-23567

MADHYAMAM

Office: 0422-2224225
Rajendran     98422-11790

CHANDRIKA

Office: 0422-2398029
Asraf     94420-02445

RAJASTHAN PATHRIKA

Office: 0422-2391153
Rajendran     99650-64119.

Electronic Media

TELEVISION CHANNELS
SUN TV

No. 114, Race course road, Coimbatore-18

Office: 0422-2217343
Avinashilingam     98946-02900
Gurusamy     98946-02901

KALAINGAR TV
Shivanesan     98945-89450

JAYA TV

No.122, Dr. Rajratnam road, Coimbatore- 09

Office: 0422-2214775    Fax: 2300567
Sudevan     98430-08228, 98437-97713
Ramani     94438-17009, 90475-57972

Z TV TAMIL

Office: 0422-22216607
Suresh     98942-84488

RAJ TV

B-10, Kurinji Hsg unit-21

Office: 0422-2670987
Nanda Kumar     98652-44507

MAKKAL TV
Martin     97909-40412

DOORDHARSHAN TV
Raj Kumar     99449-40135
Kaalimuthu     99448-42230

NDTV - 24X7
Nesaraj     9894348901

VASANTH TV
A.S.A     97906-97789
Sornakumar     98435-35621

MEGA TV
Manickam     97915 33833

TAMILAN TV
Raj Kumar     94439-10930
Kalimuthu     99448-42230

WIN TV
Pattaabhi     98422-51733

VIJAY TV & AXN
Selvamurugan (Kuttram)     94438-20952

MOON TV
Rajan     94872-24308
Ramakrishnan     94872-89055

AMN TV
Arun     93631-59988

JAIN TV
Babu     98422-99672

POLIMER TV
Raja     94875-60150
Arokyasamy     94433-00151
Arun     94433-00152
Jayakumar     99942-76145

U TV
Srinivasan     98653-42293
Pradeep Kannan     97514-10043
Karthick     97154-27000

JEYAM TV
Selvamurugan     94438-20952
Babu     93631-50672

RADIO CHANNELS
ALL INDIA RADIO / RAINBOW FM NEWS
R.Venkataadhipathi     0422-2315137

99943-45323

SURIYAN FM

Office: 0422-4358855
98659-71712

RADIO MIRCHI FM

Office: 0422-6633900
9952418981

RADIO CITY FM

Office: 0422-6639911
Kumar     97900-06911
Krishnan     98945-12131
Kavitha     97900-60460

HELLO FM

Office: 0422-4311000
Babu     98849-07428.
MAGAZINES
TAMILAN EXPRESS
Pradeep Kunar     94432-63506

NAKKEERAN
Magaran     98422-56569
Arul     93677-98364

KUMUDHAM REPORTER
K.S. Velayudham     98427-29178

JUNIOR VIKATAN
Loganathan     98409 04805
Senthil Naayagam     98422-55455
Shakthi     99406-51077
Rajesh     97890-65581
Vijay     97909-32068

AAYUDHAM
Vishwanathan     98435-55155

TAMILAGA ARASIYAL
Yuvaraj     96000-44603

TUGLAK
Shanmugam     98431-87530

THARASU
Aarumugam     98428-42014

NETRIKKAN
Maareswaran     93632-64566

CHATRIYAN
Maniratnam     99408-49008

TAMIZHA TAMIZHA
A.K.Prabhakaran     98430-33317

AMAIDHIPPADAI
Suresh     92456-28715

CRIME THIS WEEK
Kennedy     94439-14562
Chellappa     93444-73337

SHYAM NEWS
Bharathiraja     98650-95056

WIN EXPRESS
Kannan     99946-11469
Mohan     94436-32299
Saravanan     98940-86203

PARAPPUCHEITHI
Jeevan     98434-88258

MUTHUMANI
Krishnakumar     93632-02179
Rajasekar     99421-67888
Murugu     94431-11909

SENADHIPATHI
Kaniyur Farooq     94862-72767

PORKAALAM
Raja     93631-09303

THANMAANAKURAL
Veerapperumal     94434-19736

NAARADHAR
Kolumam Damodharan     93622-10222

THOZHIL ULAGAM
Vishwanathan     97862-71119

THOZHIL MUNNETRAM
Ranjith     98422-22340
Prakash     98422-22346

BUILDERS WORLD
S.P. Ramu     9841076768

BUILDERS LINE
Udhayakumar     98417-45481

AMOGA LAABHAM
Tamilselvan     98402-20830

THOZHIL OSAI
Srinivasan     97896-52152

HEALTH TODAY
Jeppiar     98430-97979

NAMADHU NAMBIKAI & RASANAI
Office: 0422-4379502
98422-32542

THANNAMBIKKAI

Office: 0422-4367972
98422-32550

PEN ULAGAM
Rajesh     93631-47726

ANBU VIJAYAKANTH
Jeppiar     98430-97979

VAANAVIL
Saravanan     94435-05567

AGNI
Subramanian     97860-78383

MAKKAL KALAM
K.V. Manikandan     9750002443

THENAALI DHARBHAR
Rajkumar     97874-04555

ARUNAN
Arunan     98428-58018
Jeeva     98422-95555

KAAVALAR SEITHI
Mohan     98422-22422
Suresh     93626-77650

GANDHI MAKKAL TIMES
Saadiq     93448-29757
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British Council in association with Nilgiri Documentation Centre of Kotagiri has organised an International Climate Champions meet at Nilgiris from January 23 -30, 2010.

The important declarations from this event are:

• Strict enforcement on Laws and Policies.
• Progressive tax to be paid by tour operators which will go for Conservation.
• Introduction of proper Waste Management and drainage system.
• Encourage organic farming.
• Accelerate phased removal of exotic and invasive species.
• Seperate governing body for Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.
• Integrated approach between Govt - Locals and NGO’s.
• Integrated land management.
• Adapt proper Sylvicultural practices.
• Firm laws on tourism. Shared responsibility between tourists and locals.
• Conserve native species and restore natural habitat.

30 Champions from 10 countries were invited as participants. Me and three of my students, Suresh Kumar.G, Pavel, Deepak.V from my Eco Club Media Department of PSG College of Arts and Science were invited to take care of the Media Relations and Mass Communication works.

We did Newsletters and Photography for the organisers apart from helping for Publicity and News in the National and Local Media.

Few of our works are show caused in images. Please analyse the work and comment on the performance.

Your Comment will help us to serve better for a greener tomorrow.

The News Letter (Please copy and paste the link in your browser)

http://www.crjayaprakash.com/photography/main.php/Eco-Club/British_Council_Climate_Champs/Climate_Change_Champions3.jpg.html

A lighter moment

http://www.crjayaprakash.com/photography/main.php/Eco-Club/British_Council_Climate_Champs/Cool_blues_on_Greeen_drink.html

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Neyyar-Peppara bird survey - first announcement
Posted by: “Nameer Ommer” nameer03@yahoo.com   nameer03
Thu Jan 14, 2010 4:23 am (PST)

Dear all:
It is proposed to have a survey of the birds of the Neyyar and Peppara Wildlife sanctuaries from 12 to 14 February 2010. These two PA’s are located towards the southernmost tip of Western Ghats, in Kerala. The famous Agasthyamalai peak, falls within these areas. The habitat is primarily evergreen, high altitude grassland-shola and moist deciduous. These areas are also contiguous with the Kalakkad-Mundathura i Tiger Reserve of Tamil Nadu.
Together, the total extent of the study area would be 200 sq. km. The interested birders may kindly register their names to the personal email id of either mine (nameer.ommer@ gmail.com) or Praveen J (paintedstork@ gmail.com), ASAP.

Best
PO NAMEER

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Source: Wikipedia

The Birds (1963) is a suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on the 1952 novella The Birds by Daphne du Maurier.

It depicts a small town in the San Francisco Bay Area which is, suddenly and for unexplained reasons, the subject of a series of widespread and violent bird attacks over the course of a few days.
The screenplay was written by Evan Hunter, who also wrote novels under that name and penned the 87th Precinct novels using the pseudonym Ed McBain.

The story focuses on beautiful young Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), a wealthy socialite whose father is an owner of a large newspaper. Melanie visits a San Francisco pet shop to pick up a mynah bird she has ordered for her aunt. There she meets Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor), a lawyer who is looking for a pair of lovebirds to give to his sister. Mitch sees Melanie and pretends to mistake her for a salesperson. Melanie acts the role, believing that she is fooling Mitch, until he reveals that he has known all along that she did not work in the shop. Melanie, infuriated, inquires as to the reason for Mitch’s behavior. He mentions a previous encounter that he had with her in court.
Intrigued by Mitch, Melanie buys the lovebirds and finds the address of Mitch’s home in Bodega Bay, a small village up the Pacific coast. She drives to Bodega Bay and delivers the birds by sneaking across the small harbor in a motor boat. Melanie walks into the Brenner residence and leaves the birds on a footstool, with a note. As she is heading back across the bay, Mitch observes her through a pair of binoculars, then circles around the bay in his car to meet her — but just as she is about to pull up to the dock, a seagull swoops down and inflicts a cut on her head.
Over the next few days, the avian attacks continue, as Melanie’s relationship with Mitch, his clinging mother, Lydia (Jessica Tandy), his 11-year-old sister, Cathy (Veronica Cartwright), and Cathy’s teacher (who is also Mitch’s former lover) Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette) develops. The second strange bird incident occurs when Melanie stays for the night at Hayworth’s house and a gull kills itself upon hitting the front door. The next attack occurs at Cathy’s party. Avian violence escalates when Lydia discovers a friend dead in his bedroom.
After another attack by crows at the local school, Melanie calls her father, a newspaper publisher in San Francisco, from a bar. The conversation rivets the interest of others, who listen in. A fisherman (Charles McGraw) tells her that the gulls have been following his boats. An old woman (Ethel Griffies), an amateur ornithologist, insists that calling birds’ behavior attacks is an exaggeration, and no bird species flocks and attacks, and birds of different avian species would never flock together and attack, as they do not possess the intelligence. Despite her words, right outside the window, a motorist is attacked while filling his automobile with gasoline; he is knocked unconscious, the hose lands on the ground, and the gasoline continues to pump out onto the street, until it meets a man lighting a cigar. An explosion and fire result. More deaths occur. Melanie is attacked and takes refuge in a telephone booth, but the attack continues as birds crash into the thick glass, and cause it to fracture. Melanie is rescued by Mitch.
After this attack subsides, Melanie and Mitch seek to collect Cathy at Annie’s house. Noticing that crows are gathering at the school, they tread quietly to Annie’s home. They find Annie dead on her front porch and Cathy crying at the window.
Melanie and Mitch’s family ultimately take refuge in Mitch’s house, boarding up the doors and windows. The house is subsequently attacked by the birds and they almost manage to break through the doors, with Mitch getting injured trying to keep them out. Eventually this attack subsides as well. In the evening, when everyone else is asleep, Melanie hears noises from the upper floor. She investigates a closed door only to find that the birds have broken through the roof. They attack her, sealing her in the room until Mitch comes to her rescue. Lydia and Mitch bandage Melanie’s wounds, but determine she must get to a hospital. A sea of landed birds ripples menacingly around them as they leave the house but do not attack, aside from a few isolated pecks. The radio reports several smaller bird attacks in nearby Sebastopol and Santa Rosa. Mitch drives the car slowly towards the road before picking up speed, and the sea of birds parts. The film concludes with the car driving away, down the coast road and out of sight, as thousands of birds watch.
Originally Hitchcock wanted to end the film with a shot of the birds covering the Golden Gate Bridge. Ultimately, this proved far too expensive.
The question “why are the birds doing this?” is asked but never answered in the film. The premise is clearly open to interpretation, though Hitchcock himself said the film is about “complacency.”

Premiere and awards
The film debuted at a prestigious invitational showing at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival[1] with Hitchcock and Hedren in attendance. In March 1963, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City also had an invitation-only screening of The Birds as part of a 50-film retrospective of Hitchcock’s film work. The MOMA series had a booklet with a monograph on Hitchcock written by Peter Bogdanovich.
The Birds was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Special Effects. The effect of the flapping of the birds’ wings was done in the Disney Studios by animator Ub Iwerks who used the Disney’s sodium vapor process (”yellow screen”). SVP films the subject against a screen lit with narrow-spectrum sodium vapor lights. Unlike most compositing processes, SVP actually shoots two separate elements of the footage simultaneously using a beam-splitter. One reel is regular film stock and the other a film stock with emulsion sensitive only to the sodium vapor wavelength. This results in very precise matte shots compared to blue screen special effects.[2]
However, the 1963 Special Effects award went to Cleopatra. Tippi Hedren received the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress in 1964, sharing it with Ursula Andress and Elke Sommer. She also received the Photoplay Award as Most Promising Newcomer. The film ranked number one of the top ten foreign films selected by the Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Awards. The Association also awarded Alfred Hitchcock the Best Director Award for the film.[3]
Factual basis
According to Nature on 27 October 2008, the behavior of the birds in the film may have been based on a real incident caused by poisoning with domoic acid. This chemical is produced when plankton are exposed to urea, a chemical which can leak out of septic tanks and is naturally present in human urine. Contamination can pass up the food chain, resulting in neurotoxic effects to predatory animals.
On 18 August 1961, residents in the town of Capitola, California, awoke to find sooty shearwaters slamming into their rooftops, and their streets covered with dead birds. News reports suggested domoic acid poisoning (amnesic shellfish poisoning) as the cause. According to a local newspaper, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Alfred Hitchcock requested news copy in 1961 to use as “research material for his latest thriller”.

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Karnataka Forest Department is conducting wildlife census at Daroji Bear
Sanctuary from the 22nd Feb to the 28th Feb 2010. Volunteers interested in
contributing their time (all 8 days or a few days, as convenient) may contact
the below mentioned person for more details.
Interested volunteers have to reach Daroji on 21st for the orientation program.
The department will meet expenditure for stay, food and local transportion.
Daroji Bear Sanctuary, in Bellary district spread out on 55 sq kms and is home
to a large number of Sloth Bears, Leopards, Hyenas, foxes, Pangolins, etc. Bird
life includes the highly endangered yellow throated Bulbul, etc.
Contact:
Santosh Martin
District Honorary Wildlife Warden
Bellary
9845269512

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Dear friends,

 This link might be useful to improve your research in Western Ghats with a financial aid from CEPF & ATREE.

CEPF-ATREE Western Ghats Small Grants
The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is a global programme that works towards safeguarding biodiversity hotspots by providing strategic assistance to non-governmental organizations, community groups and other civil society partners. The CEPF’s conservation action is guided by a region-specific investment strategy developed with inputs and in consultation with diverse stakeholders. ATREE’s role in this partnership is that of a Regional Implementation Team, and as the screening organization for the CEPF small grants in the Western Ghats.

Purpose of the CEPF grant
The area of focus for this CEPF grant is the Western Ghats. The purpose of the grant is to bring together civil society organizations, build relevant partnerships and networks, and enhance partner capacity so as to implement conservation plans and action for globally threatened species and their habitats. The objectives of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund grant are to:

»  Enable action by communities and partnerships to ensure conservation and enhance connectivity in corridors.
»  Improve conservation of globally threatened species of the Western Ghats through systematic conservation planning and action.

CEPF and ATREE
An Ecosystem Profile for the Western Ghats was developed by Indian conservation and scientific institutions with inputs from civil society to guide the strategic and catalytic conservation investment in the Western Ghats. Based on this profile, the council of donors that governs CEPF approved a $ 4.5-million, 5-year investment strategy for the Western Ghats in April 2007. Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment was selected as the Regional Implementation Team (RIT) to implement the conservation strategy outlined in the Western Ghats Ecosystem Profile, in partnership with CEPF.

The role of the RIT is to lead implementation of the CEPF investment strategy for conservation. The RIT works in collaboration with civil society partners to achieve the conservation goals identified in the Ecosystem Profile. It assists partners in designing, implementing, and replicating successful conservation activities; reviews grant applications; and directly awards small grants.

Under the first call for proposal (December 2008), 36 small grant applications were received and reviewed, of which 22 have been approved for funding. The approved small grants range in size from $3,080 to $19,721. All approved small grants were made to local groups and individual researchers.

Eligibility
»  Non-governmental organizations, community groups, universities, private enterprises, and individuals may apply for funding. Organizations that promote capacity of civil society and community groups are encouraged to apply. Individuals can apply for grants, but are encouraged to work with civil society organizations and communities to develop joint applications, rather than applying directly.
»  Projects must be located in one or more of the following states of the Western Ghats region: Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Projects must support a strategic direction and investment strategy as outlined in the Ecosystem Profile.
»  Grant applicants must have their own bank account and PAN numbers.
»  Government-run institutions are eligible only if they can demonstrate that the institution
»  Is a legal personality independent of any government agency
»  Has the authority to apply for and receive private funds
»  May not assert a claim of sovereign immunity.

Guidelines
Grants will typically range from US $5000 to US $10,000, disbursed in the form of Indian Rupees. Applications for Small Grants have to be submitted in prescribed format in electronic version (MSWord) to cepfwghats @ atree . org. Completed applications (containing questionnaire, proposal and budget) should be emailed to cepfwghats @ atree . org. An email acknowledging receipt of the application will be sent, and the application will be forwarded to the appropriate member of the RIT. As part of the review process, the submitted proposals will be reviewed by RIT and subsequently by Technical Review Team of experts. Based on merit and the applicant’s comparative advantage in helping to implement the strategic directions, the proposal will get approved. Approval of a proposal will be followed by signing of agreement between the applicant and the RIT. Queries or requests for clarifications during this stage can be addressed to cepfwghats @ atree . org. Application processing time can be expected to be one to two months.

Deadlines
We will be accepting applications for the next round of the CEPF small grants from Feb 2010. Please look out for a formal announcement on this page during that time.

CEPF-ATREE Western Ghats Small Grants - List of projects granted

CEPF-ATREE Western Ghats Small Grants - Map of project sites

Feedback/ queries
Project Coordinator
CEPF-Western Ghats RIT
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment
Royal Enclave, Sriramapura, Jakkur Post, Bengaluru 560064, India
Tel: (91) 80 23635555, Cell: 919008322664 Fax: (91) 80 23530070
Email: cepfwghats @ atree . org
http://www.atree.org/CEPF_WGhats/

Useful Links:
CEPF - http://www.cepf.net/
ATREE - http://www.atree.org/
Western Ghats Ecosystem Profile: html, (1.9 MB)

Western Ghats Fact sheet: (136 KB)
Western Ghats Conservation Priority Map: (2.8 MB)

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