May 2012 Science and Technology

Scientists at the Tomato Genome Consortium (TGC) successfully sequenced the genomes of tomato. It will increase the vegetable’s production worldwide and decrease its price. Indian scientists were also the part of the research. The Department of Biotechnology funded the Indian initiative and it was supported by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research.

AWARDS
Indian author Rahul Bhattacharya, on 29 May 2012 won the prestigious Ondaatje Prize 2012 for his book The Sly Company of People Who Care. He is the first Indian author to have received this award. Bhattacharya was also conferred with the Hindu Literary Prize for Best Fiction, 2011 for the same book.
The award is presented to the author who is a citizen of or who has been resident in the Commonwealth.

A Russian-made Soyuz craft with three-man team blasted off from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 15 May 2012 for a half-year stay at the International Space Station. The crew will join the three astronauts on the orbiting laboratory. Russia is now the sole nation capable of transporting humans to the International Space Station after the withdrawal of the US shuttle.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) released its report “Living Planet Report 2012” on 15 May 2012. It revealed that; Biodiversity has decreased by an average of 28 percent globally since 1970. The WWF also urged the global community to take the issue of environmental degradation seriously.A global environmental summit is to be held in the Brazilian city Rio De Janerio from 20 to 22 June 2012. The summit is expected to draw more than 50000 participants from different nations.