Fluvial cycle put forth by W M Davis and W Penck explains how the river in its old stage causes alteration in coastal geomorphology. Rapid change in marine topography at the river confluence is largely attributed to the anthropogenic activities. For highly dynamic areas such as beaches, coastal inlets, lagoons, spits and river mouths, it is necessary to gather timely information on the dynamics of coastal geomorphology for taking adequate erosion control measures. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) incorporating temporal changes in the bathymetry of a region can be effectively used to identify the volumetric change of coastal sediments over time together with the associated beach profile change. In the first paper, "Integrated Change Detection Using GIS Techniques in Nethravathi Spit Complex at Mangalore", A V Sita Rama Sarma, M D Kudale and D Mitra have presented a study pertaining to the changing geomorphologic pattern of Mangalore spit and Ullal spit located on the north and south of the Gurpur and Nethravathi river confluence. The objective of this study is to analyze the long-term and short-term morphological changes in Nethravathi spit complex and detecting the changes using remote sensing data and GIS techniques.

Planktonic algae are considered to be the most important primary producers in the marine ecosystems. Growth of planktonic algae depends on the hydrographic parameters of the particular environment and since the hydrographic parameters such as light intensity, temperature, salinity and nutrients vary from place to place and from time to time, species composition and abundance of planktonic algae vary latitudinally and seasonally. In the second paper, "Summer Planktonic Algae in Relation to Inorganic Phosphate in the Near-Shore Waters of Al-Hodeidah ,Yemen", Akram Alkershi has reported a study conducted in August 2007 on seawater samples collected from five selected stations in the near-shore waters of Al-Hodeidah, off Yemen coast. The aim of the study was to establish the relationship between the species composition and species abundance of planktonic algae and the concentration of inorganic phosphate in the near-shore waters of Al-Hodeidah during summer season.

Rapid industrialization and high degree of urbanization result in increased environmental pollution, particularly dumping of industrial waste poses threat to human health and ecosystem. Recycling and value addition of such waste in the form of substrate for bacterial and plant growth could serve a right solution in the current global scenario. Combatting the growth of phytopathogens and protecting crop plants from vulnerable diseases is a challenging issue in agriculture. Numerous biocontrol agents currently available in the market are ecofriendly and they thrive on abundant nutrients in the rhizosphere and stimulate plant growth. In the third paper, "Utilization of Industrial Waste for Propagation of Antagonistic Bacteria and Plant Growth", Anand R and Kulothungan S have come up with a study based on the antagonistic behavior of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus subtilis isolated from rhizosphere of healthy groundnut plants towards the crown rot pathogen Aspergillus niger in Arachis hypogaea L.

Crop raiding by primates has been a serious problem in Far East countries such as Malaysia and Thailand. In certain areas of Malaysia, where the hunting of the primates is banned, increasing population of these primates poses a serious threat to agriculture. Crop raiding is found to be more frequent in the agricultural lands present in the urban forest fringes of peninsular Malaysia. The opportunistic venture of these primates into the crop fields is so rampant that farmers incur losses amounting to millions of Ringgits annually. The Malaysian Department of Wildlife and National Park (Perhilitan) has recently published an action plan to control macaque pest problems, which is a further indication of a serious primate-human conflict. In the fourth paper, "Using Geographic Information System to Predict Primate Crop Raiding in Peninsular Malaysia", Hashim N R, Abdul Manan M S and Nazli M F have reported a study in which a GIS to predict primate crop raiding susceptibility was developed by means of land use types and estimated macaque populations as the determining criteria.

Pollution due to biomedical waste has become an area of serious concern. Everyday, hospitals and medical laboratories generate thousand tons of waste. Out of the total waste generated by hospitals, half of the waste is biomedical one contaminated with disease carrying pathogens. Generally, this waste lies in open and acts as breeding center for disease causing microbes. High infectivity and toxic potentiality of hospital waste has increased public concern about its management in an environmentally sound manner. The government has framed certain rules for hospital waste management, but as usual there is a huge gap between precept and practice. In view of the above, in the sixth paper, "Hospital Waste Disposal Practices and Awareness of Hospital Staff About Waste Management Rules", Upasana Singh, Sudesh Gandhi and Safeer Alam have conducted a study with the objectives of determining the type and quantum of waste generated in various hospitals, the segregation and disposal practices followed for hospital waste and the awareness level of hospital staff regarding hospital waste management rules.

In the current era, where intensive agricultural methods are increasingly in practice, usage of chemical pesticides is common for enhanced agricultural productivity. Most of the chemical pesticides are highly toxic and cause greater health risk to plants, animals and human beings. A number of aerobic and anaerobic microbes, isolated from soil, water and other habitats, are known for their degradative capability towards various pesticides and have been proved highly potential for partial or complete degradation of pesticides. In the last paper, "Microbial Degradation of Organophosphorous Insecticide (Quinalphos) by Soil Bacteria", by Vijayalakshmi Gengadharan and Ramadas V, the total viable bacterial count and the organophosphorous insecticide (quinalphos) resisting bacterial population of the surface soil samples of rice cultivating field were ascertained.

-- G S Brahma
Consulting Editor