Please have a look at the following news item appeared in The Hindu. The same Professor Syed Iqbal Hasnain was Vice-Chancellor of Calicut University till two years ago. Appointed by UDF government at the behest of E Ahmed, he courted controversy on several occasions as VC.
Is there anybody in FEC who can share something authentic on Hasnain's scietific, academic and administrative calibre? *Vested interests have targeted my research, says Hasnain* Special Correspondent NEW DELHI: Professor Syed Iqbal Hasnain, whose research on the melting of the Himalayan glaciers, led to a major controversy, on Wednesday blamed “certain prejudicial forces” for mounting a campaign against his “diligent” research. Speaking out for the first time since the London-based*The Times* quoted him as saying that his findings on the Himalayan glaciers melting by 2035 in the impact of climate change were “speculative,” Professor Hasnain said “vested interests have targeted my research with the overall objective to malign the science of climate change.” Presenting a “factual” rebuttal of the “misinterpretation of facts,” Professor Hasnain — now a senior Fellow at The Energy and Resources Institute, run by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change chairman R.K. Pachauri — said he had not, in any interview or publications in various journals, given any date or year on the likely disappearance of the Himalayan glaciers. “Whatever got published in *New Scientist* [‘Flooded Out’ in 1999 by Fred Pearce] was a journalistic assumption interpolated by the interviewer over which I had no control. During the interview I presented the outcome of the findings on the basis of 20 years of my research till 1999.” Quoting his statement, Professor Hasnain said, “All the glaciers in the middle of the Himalayas are retreating …. ” And a scientific postulation was made that all glaciers in the central and eastern Himalayas “could disappear” in the next 40-50 years at their present rate of decline. “A journalistic substitution of the year 2035 was made — without my knowledge and approval — that was markedly contrary to my research-supported finding of the likelihood of the central and eastern Himalayan glaciers disappearing in 40 to 50 years.” Moreover, this postulation factually represented the findings based on research techniques and instruments available in 1980s and 1990s. Now, there were more sophisticated and accurate instruments and techniques than 10 years ago. So precision increased and new results were coming out, he said. Professor Hasnain said he would soon present a report on the status of the Himalayan glaciers based on research works by Indian and international scientists. -- K A SHAJI | Special Correspondent | OPEN - Current Affairs and Features Weekly Magazine | C/o Saregama India Limited | Kasi Arcade | 116, Thyagaraya Road | T Nagar | Chennai - 600 017 | Tel: 044-28151669 | Res: 044-42832198 | Mobile: 9176602671 |E-mail: [email protected] I Web Site: www.openthemagazine.com -- K A SHAJI | Special Correspondent | OPEN - Current Affairs and Features Weekly Magazine | C/o Saregama India Limited | Kasi Arcade | 116, Thyagaraya Road | T Nagar | Chennai - 600 017 | Tel: 044-28151669 | Res: 044-42832198 | Mobile: 9176602671 |E-mail: [email protected] I Web Site: www.openthemagazine.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
