A study was conducted to assess the overall performance of ND I-2 vaccine in Nepalese context to prevent Newcastle disease (ND) particularly in backyard chicken. The experimental studies were conducted at Animal Health Research Division (AHRD), NARC and field verification were carried out in different eco-zones of the country. Experiments were divided in three segments: evaluation of thermostability, longevity and field verification trial in backyard chickens. The ND I-2 vaccine was prepared at Central Biological Production Laboratory (CBPL), Tripureshwor. In thermostability evaluation antibody titer and mortality percentage showed that ND I-2 vaccine exposed up to 30°C for seven days was found effective in prevention of Newcastle Disease in village chickens. Evaluation of longevity of immunity showed that till 90 days there was protective immunity against ND and in field trials when vaccine delivered without maintaining cold chain, the vaccine gave protective immunity in mid hills and high hills region but not enough immunity in the terai region where the temperature was above 30° Celsius. This study clearly indicated that thermostable ND I-2 vaccine can be used without cold chain in high hills and mid hills in all seasons and only in winter season in the terai region of Nepal (temp. less than 30°C). In summer season, vaccination in the terai region could not give protective immunity (temp. more than 30°C) without maintaining cold chain.

The analytical form of the absorption index appropriate to the D- and E-region of the ionospheric plasma is derived. It has been utilised to build up Schlomilch's integral equation. The corresponding solution is obtained in terms of certain ionospheric parameters. The variation of effective collision frequency with height has been computed numerically from the derived solution. The results are presented graphically along with an earlier work.

Some experiments on June 8, 2004, the day of transit of Venus across the Sun, were undertaken at Kolkata (latitude: 22°34lN) to observe the effect, if any, of transit of Venus on FWF, ELF and VLF amplitudes. The result shows a good correlation between their temporal variations during the transit. The observation was unbelievable as the Venus subtends only 1/32th of the cone subtended by Sun on Earth. This anomaly may be explained on the assumption that the height of Venusian atmosphere with high content of CO2, and nitrogen which absorbs electromagnetic and corpuscular radiations from Sun, depleting the solar radiation reaching the Earth to a considerable extent. As a result, relevant parameters of Earth's atmosphere are modulated and here we show how these changes are reflected in identical behaviour of fair weather field and ELF and VLF spectra.

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