Testing Safety of Biodiesel Production Waste

Universal Detection Technology to Commence the Marketing of its Ricin Detection Equipment to the Agriculture Industry - Equipment Used for Testing Safety of Waste Products left over from Biodiesel Production - LOS ANGELES—Wednesday, October 22, 2008—Universal Detection Technology (www.udetection.com – OTCBB: UNDT – Frankfurt: PO8), a developer of early-warning monitoring technologies to protect people from bioterrorism and other infectious health threats and provider of counter-terrorism consulting and training services, announced today that it will begin marketing its Ricin detection equipment to the agriculture industry. The equipment can be used to test safety of waste products left over from biodiesel production in particular biodiesel synthesized from Castor Oil. Castor oil is the best substance for producing biodiesel because it is the only one that is soluble in alcohol, and does not require heat and the consequent energy requirement of other vegetable oils in transforming them into fuel. Biodiesel, chemically known as an esther, is the result of the reaction between any oily acid with ethyl (ethanol) or methyl (methanol) alcohol. In Europe and the United States, nearly two billion liters of biodiesel are consumed annually.

European and U.S. farmers have created national and international associations to promote this alternative fuel, which reduces urban air pollution and emissions of greenhouse gases associated with the burning of fossil fuels. Ricin is a toxin that can be made from the waste left over from processing castor beans. It is one of the most toxic and easily produced plant toxins. If injected, as little as 500 micrograms of Ricin could be enough to kill an adult; some animal research indicates that similar amounts could be lethal, if inhaled. UNDT’s Ricin detection equipment has been designed to detect trace amounts of Ricin in as little as 3 minutes. “The marketing of our Ricin detection equipment to the agriculture industry marks another cross over opportunity for our detection equipment,” said Mr. Jacques Tizabi, UNDT's Chief Executive Officer. “We plan to aggressively market the product to both the domestic and international biodiesel industry,” he added.

Universal Detection Technology is a developer of monitoring technologies, including bioterrorism detection devices. The Company on its own and with development partners is positioned to capitalize on opportunities related to Homeland Security. For example, the Company, in cooperation with NASA, has developed a bacterial spore detector that detects certain biohazard substances. The Company is also a reseller of handheld assays used for detection of five bioterrorism agents, radiation detection systems, and antimicrobial products. For more information, please visit www.udetection.com.

Rs. 373 crore released under Ganga Action Plan-II

The Ganga Action Plan (GAP) Phase I, the first attempt as a centrally funded scheme for river conservation was launched in the year 1985. The Plan was taken up to treat partial pollution load of the river. Under this Plan, 260 pollution abatement schemes spread over 25 towns in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal were completed at an expenditure of Rs.452 crore leading to the creation of additional sewage treatment capacity of 869 million litres per day (mld). GAP Phase-I was declared closed in March, 2000. Since GAP Phase-I did not cover the pollution load of Ganga fully, GAP Phase II which included Plans for Yamuna, Gomti, Damodar and Mahananda besides Ganga was approved in various stages from 1993 onwards. The present sanctioned cost of works for Ganga river (main stem) under GAP Phase-II is Rs.564 crore against which an amount of Rs.373.58 crore has been released to the State Implementing Agencies. Out of a total of 311 schemes sanctioned, 185 schemes have been completed so far and the balance schemes are in different stages of implementation.

With the completion of the pollution abatement works under GAP Phase – I & II, notwithstanding the phenomenal increase in the urban population leading to substantial increase in the pollution load of the river Ganga over the past years, water quality of Ganga has shown improvement at major locations over its pre-GAP quality in terms of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD). The BOD values in the year 2008 range between 1.2 to 4.8 mg./litre in major monitoring locations as compared to BOD values ranging between 1.7 to 15.5 mg./litre in 1986. This is as per the water quality monitoring undertaken by independent reputed institutions like the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and Indian Toxicological Research Centre (ITRC), Lucknow. The Government has initiated an exercise for revamping the Ganga Action Plan with a view to promoting a holistic and integrated approach.

Felling of 13246 Trees in A Year

The shockung news of huge felling of treees is from Andhra Pradesh, India but the soothing news is preventive measures are being enforced.

Local tribals have been engaged as protection watchers for the protection of the forests in the Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh. Awareness campaigns have been organized for sensitizing the villagers about the need for the protecting forest and wildlife.

This was initiated after felling of 13246 trees during July 2007 to October 2007 by the encroachers. As per the information received from the State Government felling of trees have been made over an area of 399 ha in Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary. The state government has taken various steps against the guilty persons and to check and prevent further destruction of the forest area in the region to combat the encroachment. Fifty-three offence cases have been booked and 420 persons arrested and remanded to judicial custody.

District Administration and Police Force have been involved to prevent the destruction of forests.