According to the latest Census data of 2011, the per capita water availability in India now amounts to around 1550 cubic meters a year. This means that it has fallen below 1,700 cubic meters a year, which internationally is regarded as the threshold to water scarcity. Read more »
Monthly Archives: December 2011
On Friday our department celebrated the 60th birthday of its head and our supervisor Professor Azzam or Univ.-Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Rafig Azzam. Before we received the invitation, no one thought that Professor Azzam will celebrate his 60th Anniversary this year. With his always good humor and a lot of energy, he seems to be a young man. On the other hand, he is a great inspiration, especially for us beginners. With his knowledge and experience he is an endless source of support.
The birthday celebration of Professor Azzam was held as a scientific colloquium, and the whole ceremony was a surprise for him. It was prepared primarily by his research assistants, Dr. Post, Dr. Baier and his secretary Mrs. Hackhausen and many others. It was very difficult to maintain secrecy during all preparation. Read more »
Soils are critical environment where rock, air and water interface. Consequently, they are subjected to a number of pollutants due to different anthropogenic activities (Industrial, agricultural, transport etc.) (Facchinelli et al., 2001; Jonathan et al., 2004). The chemical composition of soil, particularly its metal content is environmentally important, because toxic metals concentration can reduce soil fertility, can increase input to food chain, which leads to accumulate toxic metals in food stuffs, and ultimately can endanger human health. Because of its environmental significance, many studies to determine risk caused by metal levels in soil on human health and forest ecosystem have attracted attention in recent years (Denti et al., 1998; Sandaa et al., 1999; Arantzazu et al., 2000; Krzyztof Losk et al., 2004). Read more »
Christmas is still two weeks away from today but you can feel the joy of Christmas everywhere in Aachen. The only thing which is missing now is Snow. Though the temperature is going down day by day, but still there is no sign of snow until now. Some humorous people have already made the joke that, because of economic crisis in European countries, the French and German governments have cancelled the snow for the winter 2011-2012. As it is the biggest festival for every Aachener, the famous “Weinachtenmarkt” (Christmas markets) are already crowded with people. And people are enjoying the special beverage of these Christmas markets called as “Glühwein”. Read more »
In federal India every state still has its own strong identity strengthened by differences in language and religion. But connecting preconditions for one common social feeling also exist in this pluralistic India. Read more »