INDIA
• The 20th International Conference of Radiology will be held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, during September 18-23, 1998. A K Chaturvedi, head of radiology department at Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute, New Delhi, says that nearly 6,000 delegates are expected to parti-cipate in this mega event.
• The World Watch Institute, a Wash-ington-based research organisation, has warned India against serious environmental risks due to the indiscriminate growth of the automobile industry and private sector-funded infrastructure boom in the country.
• Nearly 200 scientists from across the country and various embassies participated in a two-day national symposium on "Sustainable Aquaculture" that concluded in Delhi recently.
• Sixteen persons were killed and nine injured in three different landslides in Kulu district of Himachal Pradesh.
• India has emerged as the largest producer of coconuts in the world and pushed Indonesia to the second position, according to the latest Year Book of Asian and Pacific Coconut Community.
• Levy of tax on biodiversity-based industries such as pharmaceuticals and seeds, and elite consumers of derived products with the objective of creating a biodiversity conservation fund have been suggested by an expert group consisting of scientists, economists and eco-activists.
• The government is enlisting products that are identified as sensitive to the emotional and commercial concerns of the country in order to ensure continuous monitoring and update on these products across various countries in patent-related matters.
• Thirty historic sites that show Buddhism flourished in north Bihar may be lost once again if measures to protect them from human encroachment are not taken up immediately.
• Hospitals in Delhi are flouting waste disposal norms, according to a survey conducted by a city-based non-governmental organisation, Shrishti. It has found that the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences, Safdarjung and the Ram Manohar Lohia hospitals are burning incinerators at the optimum temperature.