தமிழ்நாடு கால்நடை மருத்துவ பல்கலைகழகம் கால்நடை பல்கலைகழக பயிற்சி மற்றும் ஆராய்ச்சி மையம் கோயம்புத்தூர் மற்றும் தமிழ்நாடு கால்நடை வளர்ச்சி முகமை (தேசிய கால்நடை இனவிருத்தி திட்டம் ) நிதியுடன் நடத்தப்படும் தமிழகத்தின் கறவை மாடுகளில் இனபெருக்கத் திறனை அதிகரிததலுக்கான தீவன வழிமுறைகள் விவசயிகளுக்கான வழிகாட்டுதல் கருத்தரங்க நிகழ்ச்சி சரவணம்பட்டியில் உள்ள எஸ் எம் எஸ் மஹாலில் நடந்தது. இந்த நிகழ்ச்சியில் விவசாயிகள் கலந்துகொண்டனர்

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• An anti-inflammatory drug administered to cattle contributed to the deaths of more than 97 percent of three vulture species in the region, leaving the once common Asian vulture one of the most endangered birds in the world.
• Government bans on the drug helped stopped the deaths, but restoring the population is an uphill battle.
• Through the World Bank-supported Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, a project in the Western Ghats area of southern India is helping revive one of the last viable wild populations of Indian vulture

A few years ago, Subbiah Bharathidasan realized he wasn’t seeing vultures circling the skies anymore. Having grown up in a leather manufacturing town in southern India, he was used to seeing large numbers of the scavenging birds which were attracted by animal carcasses.

When he looked into it, Bharathi, as he is known, discovered that vulture populations right across India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan had gone into catastrophic decline in the late 1990s.

The cause proved to be a veterinary anti-inflammatory drug called Diclofenac, administered to cattle to reduce joint pain so that ageing animals would keep working. When cattle died with the drug still in their systems, vultures that ingested their flesh died in vast numbers from renal failure. Three vulture species crashed, with losses of between 97 and 99 percent of their populations. As a result, Asian vultures - once very common - fell into the ranks of the most endangered birds in the world.

An uphill task

With the alarm raised, governments across South Asia banned Diclofenac in 2006. Slowly, populations have been starting to recover but it’s an uphill battle - especially as some livestock owners are illegally using the human version of Diclofenac to relieve pain and inflammation in their animals. The human version of the drug still has fatal consequences for vultures.

Through the World Bank-supported Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Bharathi is now leading a project in the Western Ghats area of southern India where one of the last viable wild populations of Indian vultures resides on the banks of the Moyar River.

Bharathi travels from village to village in the state of Tamil Nadu recruiting volunteers to his "Vulture Brigades" and spreading the word about the dangers of Diclofenac. Crowds flock to the travelling puppet show about vultures that he helped create with local artists. The Vulture Brigades spread the word about Diclofenac and importantly, monitor local vulture communities - watching nests, counting breeding pairs and reporting any signs of fatalities through exposure to Diclofenac.

In just two years, Bharathi has managed to inspire and recruit 36,000 volunteers across the state - and their numbers continue to grow.

At Anaikatty village, Bharathi has persuaded the highly successful village volleyball team to join the Vulture Brigade. At a recent CEPF visit to the village, the volleyball team and other members of the community crammed into a communal hall to discuss the vulture issue with Bharathi, Jack Tordoff from CEPF and the World Bank’s biodiversity specialist Valerie Hickey.

Gauging Effectiveness of Drug Ban

Vulture watchers in the village fill out data sheets, documenting the number and sub-species they observe as well as the types of carcasses they see vultures feeding on. All the information is collected and provided to the State Forest Department and used to gauge the effectiveness of the Diclofenac ban.

Close by, in the Madumalai Tiger Reserve, M. Sivakumar - a ranger with the Forest Department for the past 14 years - has also become a keen vulture watcher. Each day, he combs the area for sightings of tiger, elephant and the native 'bison' called Gaur. He is alarmed by the crash in vulture numbers and so, takes a special interest in the riverside location where a small population appears to be doing well.

“I worry about the decline of the vultures,” he says. “They have a right to live in this world just like us. And without them, carcasses of dead animals are left to rot and maybe spread disease into the waterways.” In recent times, his teams have been forced to bury the carcasses of wild animals like elephants which once would have been quickly dealt with by vultures.

The CEPF project is one of many across the region aimed at rebuilding vulture populations. Recent research of vulture populations in Pakistan by the Peregrine Fund indicates that banning Diclofenac has had a major impact on populations there. In the country’s largest known breeding colony of long-billed vultures in south-east Pakistan, numbers of birds have increased by 55 percent since the ban became effective.

Bharathi, whose travels also take him as far away as New Delhi to lobby ministers and parliamentarians on the need to save vultures, says he does it for his children. “I want to do everything I can to pass on to them a beautiful world,” he says. “This is the only asset that I can give to my children and this society.”

He is sure that before too long, vultures will be back in large numbers, circling the skies once more.

நாள்: 29-01-2017 ஞாயிற்றுக் கிழமை

நேரம்: காலை 9.30 மணி முதல் 4 மணிவரை

இடம்: மண்டல அறிவியல் மையக் கலைஅரங்கம், கொடிசியா வழி, அவினாசி சாலை, கோயமுத்தூர்

நடத்துநர்: திருமதி வைதேகி ஹெர்பர்ட் அவர்கள்

ஆசியுரை: சுவாமி குமரகுருபரர், அவர்கள், கௌமார மடாலயம்

வாழ்த்துரை: திரு. பா.நா.காளிமுத்து அவர்கள் சங்க இலக்கியத்தில்

பறவைகள்: முனைவர். க.இரத்னம்

நன்றியுரை: சு.பாரதிதாசன்

ஒருங்கிணைப்பு: அருளகம் (இயற்கைப் பாதுகாப்பு அமைவனம்)

முன்பதிவு அவசியம், தொடர்புக்கு; 9486455399 & 9843211772 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

சங்க இலக்கியப் பயிலரங்கம் அருளகம் அமைப்பு ஏற்பாடு

அனைவரும் சங்கப் பாடல்களை புரிந்து கொள்ள வேண்டும் என்ற நோக்கோடு சங்க இலக்கியத்தில் இயற்கை, அகம்,புறம்,ஏறு தழுவுதல் உட்பட பிற செய்திகள் என்ற தலைப்பில் பயிலரங்கம் ஒன்றை வருகின்ற 29-01-2017 ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை அன்று அருளகம் அமைப்பு ஏற்பாடு செய்துள்ளது. கோயமுத்தூர் மண்டல அறிவியல் மையத்தில் (கொடிசியா செல்லும் வழி) ஏற்பாடு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ள இந்நிகழ்வில் அமெரிக்கா வாழ் தமிழரான வைதேகி ஹெர்பர்ட் சிறப்புரையாற்றவிருக்கிறார். கௌமார மடாலய குமரகுருபர சுவாமிகள் ஆசியுரை வழங்க பா.நா.காளிமுத்து வாழ்த்துரை வழங்குகிறார். சங்க இலக்கியத்தில் பறவைகள் பற்றி க.ரத்னம் கலந்துரையாடவிருக்கிறார். சங்க இலக்கியத்தைப் படிக்க வேண்டும் என்ற ஆர்வம் உள்ளவர்கள் இதில் கலந்து கொண்டு பயன்பெறலாம்.

முன்பதிவு அவசியம் தொடர்புக்கு; 9486455399 & 9843211772 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

வைதேகி ஹெர்பர்ட் பற்றி

தமிழகத்தின் தூத்துக்குடியைச் சேர்ந்த வைதேகி ஹெர்பர்ட் தற்போது அமெரிக்காவில் 40 ஆண்டுகளாக வாழ்ந்து வருபவர் . சங்க இலக்கியங்களின் அழகால் ஈர்க்கப்பட்டு 18 சங்க நூல்களையும் ஆங்கிலத்தில் மொழி பெயர்த்துள்ளார். மேலும் பதினென்கீழ்க்கணக்கில் உள்ள 6அக நூல்களையும், திருக்குறளையும்,, 6 ஆம் நூற்றாண்டின் முத்தொள்ளாயிரம் என்ற நூலையும், 7 ஆம்நூற்றாண்டின் பாண்டிக்கோவையையும் மொழிபெயர்த்துள்ளார். மொழிபெயர்ப்பில் முதலில் தமிழ்ப்பாடலை வழங்கி, பிறகு ஆங்கில மொழிபெயர்ப்பையும், பிறகு பதம் பிரித்து பொருள் தரும் முறையைக் கையாண்டுள்ளார். பல பேர் செய்ய வேண்டிய இப்பணியினைத் தனி ஒருவராக தனது கடுமையான உழைப்பினாலும் விடாமுயற்சியாலும் தன்னலம் பாராது தவம் போலச் செய்து வருகிறார்.

தமிழ்த் துறை சாராத அனைத்து மக்களும் சங்கத்தமிழ் படித்து இன்புற வேண்டும் என்ற நோக்கோடு செயல்பட்டுவரும் இவர் சங்க இலக்கிய அகராதி ஒன்றையும் உருவாக்கியுள்ளார். வெறும் புத்தகங்களோடு முடங்கிவிடாமல் அனைவருக்கும் போய்ச்சேர வேண்டும் என்ற நோக்கில் அனைத்தையும் வலைத் தளத்தில் பதிவிட்டும் வருகிறார். அமெரிக்காவில் உள்ள புகழ்பெற்ற ஹார்வேர்டு பல்கலைக் கழகத்தில் தமிழ் இருக்கை அமைக்கவும் அயராது பாடுபட்டு வருகிறார். கூடுதல் விவரங்களுக்கு https://sangamtranslationsbyvaidehi.com/

click here to view Invitation

Western Ghats and Sri Lanka Biodiversity Hotspot

Subbaiah Bharathidasan, co-founder and secretary, Arulagam, India

Subbaiah Bharathidasan was born in India and has been involved with the conservation movement since 1992. He started out as an environmental journalist, and later served as a renewable energy advocate and a technical adviser at a government botanical nursery. He has written several Tamil-language books about the environment, and he regularly contributes to wildlife and environmental magazines. He is also one of the founders and the current secretary of Arulagam, a nonprofit organization that seeks to conserve nature for the benefit of all living things.

With support from a series of CEPF grants dating back to 2009, Arulagam established a program to protect vultures in Tamil Nadu State. Vulture populations had fallen sharply due to use of diclofenac (an anti-inflammatory drug) by veterinarians and cattle owners. Vultures are exposed when they feed on carcasses of livestock treated with the drug.

For the first time in Asia – Carnival with focus on conservation art (scientific art) to promote vulture conservation was conducted at Vel’s Vidyashram, Pallavaram, Chennai on 3rd and 4th January, 2015.

International Vulture Awareness Day celebrated in the Nilgiris on 06/09/2014

The signature campaign was inaugurated at Smyrna Home, Ooty on 6.9.2014 at 10.30 P.M. Sixty students and staffs from Smyrna Home attended the campaign. The programme was inaugurated by Sr. Dr. Nirmala, Principal, Jayaraj Annbakiyam Women's College, Periyakulam of Tamilnadu.

During her inaugural speech, she pointed out that animals and birds are facing great threat due to anthropogenic activities. She stressed the immediate steps needed to save Vultures and other species. 

Karthiga Rajkumar, President, Arulgam presided over the function while S.Bharadhidasan, Secretary, Arulagam addressed Vultures and their importance among the gathering.  The students were interestingly participated and penned their signature on the 300 meter cotton cloth banner. Message ‘I am a friend of Vulture and I am proud of that” and Shun diclofenac and Save Vulture was written in the banner for getting signature.

Then the banner was shifted to Botanical Garden, Ooty for the participation of tourists. The signature banner was displayed in the main gate of the Botanical Garden. Audiences were curiously to know about the vulture and about the banned drug diclofenac.  Nearly 4000 tourists from various states of India have placed their signature in the banner and showed their solidarity to save Vultures.

The mass signature campaign conducted from dawn to dusk. The tourist asked questions on vultures. It was well replied by Arulagam team. . Interestingly an auto rickshaw driver voluntarily stopped his vehicle and penned their signature on the banner and showed his interest on Birds.

This Campaign was inaugurated by Mr.C.Bathirasamy, IFS, District Forest Officer, Nilgiri South Forest Division. The Nilgiris.

The programme was organized with the support of CEPF, SAVE and OBC. This event was coordinated by Arulagam team namely Karthiga Rajkumar, President, Mr.S.Bharathidasan,Secretary, Mr. R.Venkitachalam, Biologist, Mr.P.Arunagiri,Sociologist, Mr.C.Paraman, Field organizer and John Kennedy, Volunteer of Arulagam.

As part of the Vulture awareness campaign, International Vulture Awareness Day was celebrated at Damodaran Hall, VCRI Namakkal, Tamil Nadu on 04/09/2014.

The event was inaugurated by Dr. Doraisamy, Deen of the VCRI. During his inaugural speech, he mentioned about veterinarians’ roles in the revival of this species and observed that “Tower of Silence” is silence now without Vultures.

 About 150 veterinary students and five Professors actively participated in this program.  Welcome speech was given by Dr. Dharmacheelan of VCRI. The chief guest Dr. Parcy Avari, Assistant Professor, Veterinary College, Mumbai elaborately and scientifically addressed among the gathering about Vulture's decline and its importance in the ecosystem. He also explained the testing procedures done on the various drugs. Only Meloxicam drug passed the drug safety test. Students were very enthusiastic and posed various questions to the chief guest.

A signature campaign was initiated among the participants and all of them participated in the event with interest.

S.Bharathidasan, Secretary, Arulagam spoke about the importance of International Vulture Awareness Day and urgent action to be taken by the stakeholders. He also mentioned Vulture in Tamil Sangam Literature and Ramayana.  He also welcomed the gathering to join friends of Vulture Group.

Diclofenac ban order, Prescription pad with anti-diclofenac message and brochure on vultures were distributed to the audience.  Banner with conservation messages on Vultures was displayed all around the hall.

The program was jointly organized by VCRI, Namakkal and Arulagam with the support of CEPF, SAVE and OBC. This event was coordinated by Arulagam team namely, R.Venkitachalam, Research Biologist, P. Arunagiri, Sociologist, Ramesh, Co-ordinator.