The bioindicator potential of seagrass ecosystems in coastal trace metal monitoring is low for tropical island ecosystems. This study evaluated the bioindicator potential of six seagrass species exposed to anthropogenic trace metal pollution in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) of India. Sediment and seagrass biomass, samples were analyzed for trace metals (Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn) from four locations of ANI exposed to anthropogenic contamination. Geo accumulation Index values indicated moderate trace metal contamination in seagrass sediment. Seagrass trace metal accumulation from sediment was both species-specific and location- specific for ANI. Small seagrass species such as H. ovalis, H. beccarii and H. uninervis accumulated the maximum concentration of six trace metals (Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, Zn) in their tissues compared to big seagrass species like T. hemprichii and E. acoroides of ANI. This study indicates leaves of small seagrass and roots of big seagrass species can serve as short- and long-term bioindicators respectively, of coastal trace metal contamination in tropical islands of ANI.

Background: Human Papillomavirus causes various types of cancer in both men and women. Woman with HPV infection has a risk of developing invasive cervical cancer. Globally, HPV 16 and 18 were predominant. This study aims to find the distribution of various HPV types in South Andaman. Methods: A cross sectional study conducted among woman in South Andaman where cervical scrapes were collected after the collecting the written informed consent. Detection of HPV genotypes was carried out by using PCR assay. Further, sequencing analysis was performed using MEGA11 to identify various genotypes in this territory. Result: Of these 1000 samples, 32 were positive for HR-HPV16 and 4 were positive for HR-HPV18. Fifteen HPV genotypes were detected using molecular evolutionary analysis. Six cases were identified with multiple genotypes. Most prevalent genotype is HPV16 which belonged to Lineage-A and sub-lineage A2. HPV18 identified in South Andaman belonged to the lineage A1 to A5. Discussion: Various HPV types were identified among women in South Andaman. Global burden of cervical cancer associated with various HPV sub-lineages. HPV-16 A1 sub-lineage was globally widespread whereas sub-lineages A1, A2 and D1 was prevailing in South Andaman. Conclusion: High risk HPV identified in this study enlightening the importance of HPV vaccination among the woman in remote places. These findings will help to strengthen public health awareness programs and prevention strategies for the women in remote areas.

Natural ecosystem of Islands and coastal region are vulnerable to climate change phenomena such as increasing temperature, fluctuating rainfalls, ocean acidification and tsunami. Andaman and Nicobar group of islands lies in Bay of Bangal facing such extreme climate phenomena. A spatial-temporal analysis of forest cover of middle Andaman region of the Andaman and Nicobar group of islands was done from 1990 to 2019 with an interval of 5-10 years. Support vector machine classifier, spectral indices such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Water Index, and Normalized Difference Built-up Index were used for the analysis of greenery, water resources, and urban land. Land surface temperature was estimated using split window algorithm for Landsat 8 and mono window algorithm for Landsat 5. The data showed relative contribution of forest region toward rising temperature in the island region. The research also showed that subsurface hydrology linked to interconnected lineaments provides a stable zone for forest cover. The open forest showed maximum fluctuation while minimum change was observed in Evergreen Forest. The spectral characteristics analysis using indices showed significant change except in 2005 due to Tsunami occurred in 2005. The land surface temperature showed fluctuation near to 30° C from 1990 to 2019.