Space and Culture, India
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Geospatial Analysis of Fluoride Concentration in Groundwater in Puruliya District, West Bengal
Get PDFFluoride contamination in groundwater is a major geo-environmental issue. In India, groundwater sources contribute more than 85 per cent of the drinking water requirement in rural areas, 76 per cent of irrigation requirements and more than 50 per cent of the urban and industrial water supplies. Many studies have reported fluoride-related health problems such as dental and skeletal fluorosis in humans due to drinking of fluoride-rich water which has severe socio-economic implications. The permissible limit of fluoride in drinking water is 1.5 mg/l according to the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2004) and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS, 2012).
Puruliya is the westernmost district of West Bengal and located on the eastern slope of the Chotanagpur plateau. The intensive and prolonged dry spell, semi-arid climate, long-term withdrawal of groundwater for irrigation, alkaline nature of sub-surface circulating water, a long residence time of water in fractured aquifers and low chances of dilution are favourable for fluoride enrichment in the Puruliya District. Eighteen out of 20 blocks of the district have high fluoride level in groundwater. This paper attempts to examine the status of fluoride concentration in groundwater, its distribution including the causative factors for its occurrence. It also tries to draw a comparative view of the change in fluoride pattern for the period 2005-06 and 2015-16 and estimate population under threat. Data collected from Physical Health & Engineering Department (PHED) is superimposed over topographical maps and Google Earth. Mapping of fluoride endemic areas in Puruliya district is attempted to delineate areas and the extent of fluoride contamination in the study area.
 
Underground and Opencast Coal Mining Methods in India: A Comparative Assessment
Get PDFCoal is one of the most essential resources of a country. It is widely used for power generation and as a raw material in the industries. India ranks third in coal production. However, the country has to import coal in order to meet the rising demand for coal. In India, coal mining is conducted using two methods: underground and opencast methods. The underground method is suitable for extraction of deeper coal seams, whereas opencast method is suitable for shallow coal seams. However, due to less production cost, mechanisation, and less wastage, opencast method dominates in India (93.26% of the total production in the financial year 2016-17). Underground coal production in India shows a declining trend, and several underground mines are closed every year. However, 60% of the total coal production in the world is from underground mines, whereas in India it constitutes only 6.74% in the financial year 2016-17. Thus, underground coal production in India is declining. Due to the large scale extraction of near-surface coal resources by opencast mining, near-surface coal resources will be depleted in future.
Moreover, opencast mining has several environmental impacts, which is ignored keeping in view the colossal coal demand of the country. Thus, coal production in India is facing a crisis concerning the production method, environmental impacts and future demand for coal. With this background, this paper has been prepared on the basis of data collected from reports, research papers, and articles. Here, we make an attempt to compare both the mining methods with respect to advantages, disadvantages, environmental impact and feasibility. We also discuss the current and future trends of coal production using both the mining methods. Measures to sustain coal production in India are discussed in the conclusion part
Ways of International Students’ Adaptation: Club of International Friendship
Get PDFThe issue of international students\u27 adaptation is being discussed all over the academic world. According to our observations, one of the best ways is to create an experimental platform for the implementation of effective ideas connected with the adaptation. We have called it the Club of International Friendship (CIF) “UNITY!” For this, 207 international students of our institute took part in the questionnaire. Our Club is aimed at overcoming any difficulties international students may have. Currently, we are analysing the process of co-adaptation, considering it as the critical element of effective inter-cultural integration
Dynamics of Politics and Poetics of Home: A Study of Manju Kapur’s Home
Get PDFThe territory of the home is not only regarded in terms of physical space but also in terms of human affection and influence. The status of women within the social structure of their families and/or communities is paralleled as well as informed by their position in the physical structure of their houses and homes. An Indian woman is yet to seek an identity as a human being with equal status in the family in which she is born and in the family to which she is given in marriage. This research attempts to make a study of Manju Kapur’s novel Home to reveal many issues deeply rooted within a family and explore the dynamics of relationships that prevail in an Indian home. Nisha, the protagonist in the novel, tries to subvert age-old traditional norms and values of her home, which is symbolic of Indian society in microcosm, that threatens to subvert her existence as an individual. Manju Kapur’s women contest and defend their domestic territories because they are contesting not only for power, but for their self-esteem, identity and individuality. The home obviously is a gendered living space of an everyday life, and that young Indian women are not accepting traditional roles conferred by ‘home’ onto them passively; instead, they seem to be (re)traditionaliszing their strategies of housework and childcare responsibilities. Through this paper we wish to highlight that change in the traditional roles played by women in homes reproduces dynamics of politics of home thereby enhancing dynamics of poetics of home. The study of politics and poetics of home further analyses how the relationship between women and men as well as ideas about masculinity and femininity are shaped by the intersection of tradition and modernity. The study explores a dialogue between tradition and modernity with an aim to project yearning for autonomy and separate identity. Kapur poignantly shows the evolution of an Indian woman in the midst of the repressive patriarchal structure of an Indian home
Revisiting Development Disparities across the Indian States: In Quest of Evidence of Resource Curse
Get PDFDespite a large number of studies going into the issue of income and developmental disparities across states in India, the possibility of resource curse being at the root of some states persistently lagging in development has rarely been probed. The present paper is aimed at filling this void in the literature. Economic common sense and writing of some eminent development economists suggest that regions endowed with resources should be in the advantaged position to grow fast and develop quickly. In reality, however, regions endowed richly with natural resources have often tended to lag– a phenomenon that has given rise to the resource curse hypothesis. Countries/regions rich in natural resources can be cursed if the easy and abundant resource revenue breeds moral hazards causing institutional weaknesses that allow rent-seeking and other anti-developmental processes to flourish. In the Indian context, persistent lagging behind of the resource-rich states of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Jharkhand, and Bihar hints at resource curse casting a spell over these states. Using panel data on 17 major Indian states at decennial intervals from 1981 to 2011, evidence for probable resource curse has been explored while controlling for some common determinants of development. Results confirm evidence in support of resource curse dragging overall development attainment in most of the resource-rich states. On a positive note, however, it has been found that development attainment across India has advanced progressively, especially in the post-reform decades.
 
Energy: An Exploratory Study on the Experience of Developing Countries in the Context of Development and the State of the Environment
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Energy is required for development because it facilitates production and makes day to day activity less cumbersome. The industrial revolution and the progress after that would not have been possible without increased energy use. Issues related to energy use in developing countries are complicated. These countries use energy derived mostly from non-renewable sources such as petroleum, coal and inefficient fuels like firewood, and biomass. Thus, energy use leads to environmental pollution. Hence, policy measures aimed at the development imperative may conflict with policies relating to conserving the environment. Against this background, the paper tries to examine the relationship between energy use and development at the macro and micro levels and how energy use affects the environment. This study is exploratory and relies on traditional literature review. Our study relates to nonrenewable energy sources in the context of developing countries. We find that there is no uniformity of results in the relationship between energy use, development and the state of the environment. We recommend further studies to ascertain the causes of such inconclusiveness. At the household level, people are deprived of the assured and adequate supply of efficient fuels for domestic use. Hence, policy measures should strive to ensure ease of access to reliable and affordable energy sources as development proceeds.
 
Perspective on Large Cardamom Cultivation and its Challenges in West Sikkim, India
Get PDFSikkim is the smallest mountainous state in North-East India. Agriculture is the backbone of rural Sikkim. It contributes 16% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the State and supports more than 64% of the population. In 2015, Sikkim Organic Mission was launched, and the focus was shifted from subsistence to commercial agriculture. Farmers shifted their choice from food crop cultivation to large cardamom cultivation for high-profit making purposes. Presently, cardamom cultivation in West Sikkim suffers from challenges like maintaining the quality of the product and lack of scientific technique to tackle the situation
Ethno-Lingual Distribution of Anthroponyms in the Name System of Multinational Region
No full textThe purpose of the study is to examine the ethnolinguistic distribution of anthroponymic models in the multinational Republic of Bashkortostan. The authors consider the linguistic features of proper names taking into account the system capabilities of the analysed languages in the areas of language and cultural interaction. Six thousand anthroponymic units of living names of four nationalities of the region under study (Russians, Bashkirs, Germans and Latvians) were analysed. Ethno-linguistic affiliation in the anthroponymic formula of each nationality is revealed through a comprehensive analysis of proper names. Ethnically marked proper names within the framework of the corresponding system of a given language are characterised by increased distinctive ability in various communicative situations. Results show that there is no robust and direct connection between the ethnic characteristics of the first name and the nominator’s ethnic identity. With that, the name as an information source in the study of human identity allows the researchers to draw certain conclusions, as the name is the result of the choice made to reach a certain goal. It enables the actual means used to be correlated with a variety of other possible means, which makes it possible to compare socially important knowledge, shared by everyone, with individual aspects of the general. The results of this research can be useful in the practice of naming children born in exogamous marriages as well as in describing the onomastic situation in countries with a large influx of migrants. 
Role and Importance of the Damu Enterprise Development Fund and International Investment Funds in Implementing Project and Leasing Financing Programs in Kazakhstan
Get PDFThis article considers the loan indicators in the Republic of Kazakhstan and defines promising areas for the development of project and leasing financing of alternative investment instruments in infrastructure projects. The results of the research demonstrate that on the financial market of the Republic of Kazakhstan the volume of bank credit falls and the availability of capital decreases, which stipulates the attraction of alternative sources of financing for infrastructure projects. Prospective mechanisms of investing in projects of this kind include projects and leasing financing. It is noted that currently, the Republic of Kazakhstan is successfully cooperating with international financial companies and multilateral development banks to attract financial resources to implement investment projects. In spite of the existing leasing development potential, this mechanism for financing infrastructure projects is not entirely used. Stimulation of demand for leasing programs by corporate clients, the development of subsidy programs or guarantees to suppliers to purchase equipment, the reduction of the cost of funding, the development and implementation of project financing programs on the basis of syndication of loans are singled out as promising directions for the further development of project and leasing financing mechanisms
Confusion and Making Sense of Menstruation: A Micro-level Study of Village Khagawal, Chandauli District, Uttar Pradesh
Get PDFMenstruation is a natural process which has significant and irrevocable changes on a woman’s life. Navigating the entire process is no small feat, and the added confusion in the age of information overload often complicates the situation rather than simplifying it. In India, discourses surrounding menstruation are still restricted to sanitary napkins while overlooking menstrual disorders, understanding and examining the agencies responsible for it. Many a time, ancient pearls of wisdom are being dismissed as taboos without apprehending its deeper sciences which helped women in traversing the entire process since time immemorial. This research is an attempt to view menstruation holistically by giving importance to a woman’s personal experiences and to find out how menstruation is integrated into the local culture. To accomplish the research, we conducted a questionnaire survey amongst 40 females aged 13-49 years and three focus group discussions to explore the coping mechanisms, the grass-root problems the rural girls and women face during menstruation in village Khagawal located in Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh. The findings revealed that rudimentary information concerning menstruation was present amongst the respondents— the respondents are aware of the traditional knowledge and ways but completely ignorant regarding the scientific roots of the practices. Some facets of hygiene need to be addressed