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Presence of infratrappean Gondwana sediments below Deccan volcanic covered 1993 Killari earthquake region, Maharashtra (India) and geodynamical instability of the south Indian craton
No full textKLR-1 scientific deep borehole, drilled in the 1993 Killari earthquake region of Maharashtra (India), penetrated 8 m thick infratrappean sediments below a 338 m-thick column of Deccan volcanics that rested over Neoarchean amphibolite to granulite facies mid-crustal basement. Detailed palynological studies revealed the presence of characteristic Gondwana palynomorphs in sedimentary succession that include Plicatipollenites indicus, P. trigonalis, Parasaccites korbaensis, P. diffusus, Microbaculispora indica, Cyclobaculisporites minimus, Cyclogranisporites barakarensis, C. gondwanensis, Jayantisporites pseudozonatus, Leiosphaeridia bokaroensis, Latosporites sp., Verrucosisporites sp., cf. V. ambiplicatus and Striatopodocarpites gondwanensis. Qualitative analyses of palynomorphs would suggest an Asselian age (298–295 Ma) for their formation and burial in dysoxic to anoxic conditions. Recorded palynological assemblages correlate well with continental Lower Gondwana (Early Permian) sediments of India, as well as other Gondwana continents, indicating a larger extent of Gondwana sedimentation than hitherto known today. Petrological studies indicate the presence of two types of carbonate units that overly the crystalline basement. A relatively coarse-grained sparry carbonate rock immediately overlies the basement (Sample KIL-7). The size of the carbonate crystals in the sparite vary from 100 to 500 μm. This unit is overlain by an extremely fine-grained micrite resembling lime mud (Sample KIL-6). Micrite is made of carbonate grains with an average size of 10 μm. X-ray diffraction studies indicate that calcite is the dominant carbonate mineral, while dolomite and quartz occur in minor amounts. Geochemical analyses indicate that in these two samples of carbonate rock that overlie the basement, CaO (33.38 to 38.16 wt %) is higher than MgO (16.0–23.85 wt%). These infratrappeans sediments are also characterized by stable carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotopic ratios ranging from −1.59 to −8.74‰ and −9.12 to −13.50‰ versus PDB, respectively, thereby conforming to non-marine fresh water deposits. These findings provide first evidences of reactivation and rifting of Dharwar intracratonic regions during earliest Permian Gondwana Period, which led to severe lithospheric mantle destruction, and massive regional uplift and erosion of the granitic-gneissic upper crust. Large scale inland-rifting during the Gondwana sedimentation period was possibly a prelude to India-Antarctic breakup during the early Cretaceous
DPRK'S Nuclear Conundrum and the U.S.-North Korea Negotiations: A Never-Ending Saga
Get PDFThe challenge of nuclear proliferation in the Korean peninsula since 2006 with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) first nuclear test had not only drawn the global attention but created a perilous situation on the peninsula. Further the Hwasong-15 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) of DPRK that was tested in February2023and thereafter hasheightenedtensionsbetween WashingtonandJapanwithPyongyang. The United States’(U.S.) diplomatic efforts to engage North Korea through bilateral means in recent times resulted inthefirst historic summit inSingapore (2018) and later in Vietnam(2019). Though these are undoubtedly positive developments, however, in the absence of any tangible deal after the Hanoi summit, the big question remainswillthe U.S.and North Korea end their mutual misperceptions, and worktowards a viable solution.At the moment, the very fact that since 2019, the U.S. and North Korea have had no official dialoguesis evident that misperceptions and distrust continues and finding any sort of solution is going to be a very difficult task now that North Korea has closed its borderssince the COVID-19 pandemic started. The more isolated Pyongyang is, the morebelligerent it willbecome in testing its missile
Identification and Quantification of Emission Hotspots of Air Pollutants over Bhubaneswar: A Smart City in Eastern India
No full textConsidering the need to identify the sources of air pollution in smart city Bhubaneswar, a non-attainment city in India, a high-resolution comprehensive gridded emission inventory (EI) of eight primary air pollutants has been developed for the base year 2018. The inventory involves detailed activity data with ~0.4 km × ~0.4 km resolution covering the city using a Geographical Information System (GIS) based statistical approach. In total, ~17 major and minor sectors are responsible for the city’s air pollution crisis. Windblown road dust, transport sector, and residential cooking activities emerged as the dominating sources. Emissions of CO, NOx, SO2, VOC, PM2.5, PM10, BC, and OC are estimated to be 112 Gg yr–1, 44 Gg yr–1, 11 Gg yr–1, 73 Gg yr–1, 9 Gg yr–1, 17 Gg yr–1, 5 Gg yr–1 and 0.8 Gg yr–1 respectively. Nearly 14% and 12% area of the entire study domain are found to be responsible for almost half of PM10 and NOx emissions respectively. The central region of the city with the presence of national highways, major roads, and nearby industrial belts, experiences maximum emission of pollutants. The present gridded surface emission dataset is an essential requirement in framing new mitigation strategies to combat ongoing and future air pollution crises and achieve better air quality
Outcome-based Education as Janus-faced Travelling Theory: Appeal for a Broader Research Agenda
No full textA shift towards outcome-based education (OBE) is visible in an emerging set of educational policy and regulatory documents and higher education institutions across the country. The article argues for OBE to be approached through the lens of ‘travelling theory’ to foreground the process of translation across various scales, from the transfer of policy knowledge to negotiations in the classroom. By doing so, the article highlights the process of translation which remains at the core of OBE, as it tends to mobilize both managerial and behaviourist approaches along with a constructivist and constructionist approach. The popularity and acceptance of OBE and the disagreements surrounding it are made possible due to this Janus-faced nature of OBE. It argues for acknowledging the mobilization of multiple, contradictory and divergent epistemological approaches as integral to the process of translation of OBE
Discourses of Displacement: “Development,” Resource Conflict and Political Opportunism in Odisha
No full textA dominant discourse links displacement with development (economic growth and modernization) as a critical factor. Existing literature in this regard have tried to understand the processes of displacement caused by the industrialization, construction of dams and establishment of Specials Economic Zones (SEZ). The dominance of “development” discourse on displacement has, however, overlooked some critical discourses such as resource conflict and political opportunism. Lately, literature have focused on resource conflicts, violent or otherwise, that have contributed substantially to large-scale displacements. The inter-tribal conflict over land resources in Chhattisgarh, and the Dalit and tribal conflict in Koraput are good examples in this regard. Similarly, the politics, in terms of using the issue of displacement as a political capital to capture power, doesn’t allow the issue to die down. Hence, in many cases, the pains of displacement don’t reduce as the demands of the displaced are conveniently overlooked. In order to engage with the criticalities involved in each of these discourses, this chapter attempts to engage with the processes of displacement in Odisha state. Based on observations through extensive field research, the chapter argues that while the development activities are single most factors of displacement in Odisha, the more localized conflicts, especially among the marginalized communities backed by the external forces such as the Maoists and the state officials, have also contributed to large-scale displacement. Moreover, displacement is also seen as a political resource that are kept alive in order to further vested political interests
Air quality and health co-benefits of climate change mitigation and adaptation actions by 2030: an interdisciplinary modeling study in Ahmedabad, India
Get PDFClimate change-driven temperature increases worsen air quality in places where coal combustion powers electricity for air conditioning. Climate solutions that substitute clean and renewable energy in place of polluting coal and promote adaptation to warming through reflective cool roofs can reduce cooling energy demand in buildings, lower power sector carbon emissions, and improve air quality and health. We investigate the air quality and health co-benefits of climate solutions in Ahmedabad, India—a city where air pollution levels exceed national health-based standards—through an interdisciplinary modeling approach. Using a 2018 baseline, we quantify changes in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution and all-cause mortality in 2030 from increasing renewable energy use (mitigation) and expanding Ahmedabad's cool roofs heat resilience program (adaptation). We apply local demographic and health data and compare a 2030 mitigation and adaptation (M&A) scenario to a 2030 business-as-usual (BAU) scenario (without climate change response actions), each relative to 2018 pollution levels. We estimate that the 2030 BAU scenario results in an increase of PM2.5 air pollution of 4.13 µg m−3 from 2018 compared to a 0.11 µg m−3 decline from 2018 under the 2030 M&A scenario. Reduced PM2.5 air pollution under 2030 M&A results in 1216–1414 fewer premature all-cause deaths annually compared to 2030 BAU. Achievement of National Clean Air Programme, National Ambient Air Quality Standards, or World Health Organization annual PM2.5 Air Quality Guideline targets in 2030 results in up to 6510, 9047, or 17 369 fewer annual deaths, respectively, relative to 2030 BAU. This comprehensive modeling method is adaptable to estimate local air quality and health co-benefits in other settings by integrating climate, energy, cooling, land cover, air pollution, and health data. Our findings demonstrate that city-level climate change response policies can achieve substantial air quality and health co-benefits. Such work can inform public discourse on the near-term health benefits of mitigation and adaptation
Learning For/Towards Sustainable Development: Reimagining Education and Learning as a Key Vertical Across the SDGs (T20 Policy Brief)
Get PDFIn many parts of the world, there is uncertainty about the diminishing quality of higher education systems. Concurrent crises have negatively impacted the well-charted policy trajectories in education (i.e., what is being taught), learning (i.e., what is being learned and how), and knowledge (i.e., what ought to be taught). Existing policy interventions primarily focus on formal spaces of learning, despite the growing recognition of informal learning, and long-standing commitments to lifelong learning. While school, vocational, and higher education are addressed under SDG4, the new realities of impending, multiple emergencies demand a reimagination of what it means to learn in an unpredictable environment. There is a need to build robust equitable infrastructures that can sustain the global mobility of learners across sectors as well as pedagogic tools and processes to interrogate and share diverse sustainable approaches being practised across the G20 nations. This Policy Brief calls for sustained effort to expand spaces, tools and methods of learning and put forward a blueprint for learning for/towards sustainable development as a key policy directive across all SDGs
Transgressing Narrative Boundaries: Exploring How Indigenous Faith—Healing Rituals from Kerala Move Beyond the Limitations of Narrative Therapy
No full textThis paper focuses on two indigenous healing rituals from Kerala, the South- Western state of India. The first one is uzhinjuvāngal, a ritual of warding off evil spirits. It is practised as part of the mantravāda healing tradition, at pūṅkuṭil mana, an ancestral house belonging to brahmin priests. The second is, gaddika, a ritualistic art form practised as part of ritual healing by the Aṭiyān, a scheduled tribal community residing in the Wayanad district of Kerala. These faith healing practices are conducted complementary to biomedical treatments and provide relief to patients. This must be understood in their rich cultural context. As an alternative to modern medicine, unique traditional healing rituals are used to provide specific treatments based on the antiquity and integrity of beliefs and practices. Significant aspects including phenomenological and narrative influences which contribute to the efficacy of these practices were observed from ethnographic data collection after the emerging narratives were analysed thematically. Certain similarities can be found between narrative therapy and how these faith-healing practices employ narratives. Deriving from primary research, this paper argues that these practices go beyond the limitations of narrative therapy, employing metaphors, embodied ritualistic experiences and fictive imagination
Occurrence of natural fullerene C60 from the iridium-rich Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary layers of the Um-Sohryngkew river section, Meghalaya, India
No full textThe presence of fullerene C60 in the iridium-rich Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) boundary layer from the Um-Sohryngkew river section of Meghalaya is reported here for the first time. Different analytical methods, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and X-ray diffraction(XRD) techniques, have been used to characterize the presence of toluene-insoluble high-pressure phase of fullerene C60 in the acid resistant carbonaceous matter extracted from the Um-Sohryngkew river section, Meghalaya, India. Strong absorption peaks at wavenumbers 1427, 1181, 574, and 525 cm−1, which are indicative of pristine fullerene C60, can be seen in the FTIR spectroscopic study. The Raman spectrum also independently confirms the presence of fullerene, by exhibiting the characteristics peaks of pristine fullerene C60. The XRD technique provides further, independent validation of fullerenes, and the XRD pattern demonstrates fullerene presence. Fullerenes, high-pressure fullerene, the amorphous phase of C60, and iridium all coexist and offer conclusive proof of impact at the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) boundary extinction event