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Conservation is Development in the Forests of Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, India
No full textThe relationship between conservation and development has undergone extensive scrutiny, primarily because of their outward antagonistic appearance. Recent work points to their complex intermingling, such as the potential economic benefits of conservation. In this article, I argue that conservation is an inherent part of the development regime. I argue this by describing conservation practices in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve that rely on scientific governance, an essential mechanism of the development regime. I trace this regime from its inception in the colonial period through forestry operations to its continuance in the conservation regime instituted post-independence. However, despite their co-evolution, this relationship is neither simple nor straightforward. I show how everyday governance draws on customary practices and experiential knowledge of local communities inhabiting Nagarahole. This aspect is devalourized in the official governance regime to the extent that these communities are disenfranchized from their lands. By establishing conservation as development, I suggest that conservation projects should be subjected to the same level of scrutiny and examination usually allocated to development projects, which are associated with exploitation, control and drastic modification of the landscapes we inhabit
Of Left-Behind Places and People: Inequality, Labour Migration and Development in India (NIAS/SSc/IHD/U/WP/22/2021)
Get PDFThis paper reviews the relationship between inequality, labour migration and development in India, with a focus on those who are left behind. The paper concentrates on spatial inequalities and inequalities between population groups and argues that these inequalities are creating left-behind places and left-behind populations. It also identifies potential implications of being left behind
Captivity-induced behaviour and spatial learning abilities in an enigmatic, aquifer-dwelling blind eel, Rakthamichthys digressus
Get PDFWe investigated the impact of captive life on behaviour and learning abilities in an enigmatic, aquifer-dwelling blind eel, Rakthamichthys digressus. Of eight major behavioural traits related to exploration and activity in a novel arena, four were significantly altered by life in captivity. While the startle response upon introduction into the arena and overall swimming away from the walls increased after captivity, inactivity exhibited immediately after the startle and the reaction to an external disturbance decreased. We also observed behavioural syndromes between ‘startle responses’ and ‘horizontal wall following’, and between ‘overall activity’ and ‘vertical wall following’; however, these behavioural syndromes were not altered by maintenance in captivity. Interestingly, this blind-eel failed to learn a simple spatial task in a Y-maze apparatus. Captive-associated behavioural changes in R. digressus may influence their survival after reintroduction into natural habitats, and such changes must be taken into account while developing protocols for ex-situ conservation and subsequent release
Sustainable pathways to energy utilisation: State of the environment in the Ramagundam and Dorli-Bellampalli coal mines in the State of Telangana. Vol.2 (NIAS/NSE/EEP/U/RR/07/2021)
No full textMegalithic Period in North Maidan, Karnataka
No full textThe megalithic period in Karnataka is significant as it witnessed technological developments like the beginning of use of iron and fast wheel for the making of pottery as well as socio-economic and institutional developments such as the emergence of an agrarian base, demographic expansion, rudimentary craft specialisation, a developing exchange network and a degree of social differentiation. Many features typical of the megalithic phase continue into the early historic period. In fact, the megalithic and the early historical do not essentially represent two distinct chronological entities and are found overlapping at certain sites. So far, there is no literary evidence for the culture, and there is nothing to suggest that the society was literate—if graffiti on the megalithic pottery do not turn out to be symbols of writin
Numerical investigation on the performance of the helical and conical coil heat exchanger configuration in the dynamic mode of heat extraction
Get PDF. Owing to the high heat transfer performance, compact design and large surface area per unit volume, the curved and
helical circular tubes have many applications such as heating, refrigeration, air conditioning, steam generation, heat extraction etc.
One of the ways to improve the performance of water heating systems is to enhance the performance of immersed heat exchanger.
In solar heating systems, immersed heat exchangers of curved shape are used to charge and discharge sensible heat water storage
tanks. Effect of arrangement and position of the tubes, geometry of coil, configuration, shape, flow rate, type of working fluid,
Reynolds number associated with flow, and inlet temperature to coil, on the performance of storage systems have been studied in
the literature. Rate of discharge, heat transfer coefficient, effectiveness of heat exchanger, heat transfer rate, discharging efficiency
and increment in temperature of outlet fluid are the standard performance parameters to evaluate the heat transfer and fluid flow
phenomenon in the curved tubes. Heat transfer characteristics are investigated and analyzed for one helical and two conical
coil (conical and inverted conical) configurations using a three-dimensional unsteady numerical model. The numerical model
is validated against reported experimental result and a good agreement is found. For the same length of the coil, the inverted
conical configuration presents more heat transfer surface area to the incoming hot fluid entering the thermal energy storage tank, as
compared to conical coil and helical coil configurations, leading to higher extraction of thermal energy. Based on the performance
parameters, inverted conical coil experiences enhanced heat transfer, high overall heat transfer coefficient and better effectiveness
of heat exchanger as compared to helical and conical coil configurations
Seven Stages of Patriarchy: Age and the Indian Woman's experience of gender discrimination (NIAS/SSc/IHD/U/WP/17/2021)
Get PDFThe paper uncovers different forms of patriarchy as experienced by Indian woman
at various stages of her life. It argues the ultimate effect of sustained and extreme
discrimination is differential mortality rates, which get reflected in changing sex-ratios.
It identifies specific stages pointing to distinct phases of gender relations
Sludge Hygienisation—A Novel Technology for Urban Areas to Deal with Incursion of COVID-19 Viral Particles in Wastewater
No full textThe ongoing pandemic of viral infections due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is known to have affected about 8,240,000 people globally and approximately 3,67,000 people in India as of June 19, 2020. The pandemic being quite persistent in nature, timely planning for novel and adaptive interventions are required for dealing with it, with a view to detecting the early signs of infection, as well as, controlling the spread of the outbreak towards the uninfected population residing at comparatively safer zones. In general, the coronaviruses belong to a group of RNA viruses that are known to infect a wide range of hosts including humans, other mammals and birds, with the clinical courses in the infected hosts ranging from being asymptomatic to showing acute symptoms in the respiratory, digestive and genital organs. Although the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is reported to spread primarily through inter-personal physical contacts rather than the faecal-oral route, evidence of gastrointestinal symptoms caused by SARS-CoV-2 infections accompanied by the detection of viral RNA in the faeces of infected individuals, with high probability of their presence in wastewater samples, makes an important case for the thorough characterization and quantification of the pathogenic materials present in the municipal sludge generated in urban centres. This becomes even more important in the case of the metro cities and dense urban centres, where the chance of the medical wastes from the COVID hospital facilities coming into the municipal sewage stream is highly likely. However, the pathogens in the municipal sewage stream become concentrated in the sludge, providing an opportunity to treat the separated sludge from the wastewater stream using a technology of irradiation called ‘sludge hygienisation’ to curb the outbreak of the virus. The present work provides an assessment of the sludge hygienisation technology for its suitability as an option to eradicate the viral particles accumulated in the sludge samples from urban environments that are presumably infected through the faecal deposition, as well as, due to uncurbed release of untreated biomedical wastes. Such an intervention will provide suitable means to control rapid viral outbreak that might be attributed to the high volumetric flow rate of the municipal sewage. Investment in such novel interventions, given the current circumstances, will be important to contain present and future outbreaks, ensuring that the community healthcare systems are saved from being pushed to the limits owing to the increasing pressure on the infrastructure that arises from the rapidly growing number of infected individuals
RCTs and other clinical trial designs in Ayurveda: A review of challenges and opportunities
No full textCurrently, there is a paucity of clinical trial designs that comprehensively evaluate the efficacy of most complementary and alternative systems of medicine (CAMs) like Ayurveda. Several factors such as complex interventions, individualized therapy, etc., make designing Ayurveda clinical trials challenging. The prevalent randomized control trial (RCT) designs largely involve symptomatology/pathology-based recruitment and standardized interventions in carefully monitored trial environments. The present paper critically reviews the suitability of the dominant RCT model to Ayurveda and argues for newer, more sensitive trial models including modified RCTs and other clinical trial designs. It also explores the merits of a non-hierarchical approach to clinical evidence generation