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The term “polygeneration” is referred to as “an energy supply system, which delivers more than one form of energy to the final user”, for example: electricity, heating/cooling, desalination can be delivered from polygeneration process. The polygeneration demonstrates unique integration of energy efficiency and renewable energy. It is the next generation energy production technique with a potential to overcome intermittence of renewable energy, reduce cost of power generation and greenhouse gas emissions. The feasibility study of this paper is divided in three sections: In first section of this study, solar and biomass have been arranged to produce steam for power generation. In the second section, cooling is produced by vapor absorption refrigeration (VAR; LiBr-H 2 O) system as per demand load requirement using steam, extracted from pass-out turbine. In the last section of this paper, multi effect dehumidification (MED) water desalination is produced by using limited amount of heat from water vapor (refrigerant; H 2 O) through HE1 of VAR cooling system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper shall first investigate the informatics areas and applications of the four Traditional Medicine systems - Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Ayurveda, Traditional Arabic and Islamic Medicine and Traditional Malay Medicine. Then, this paper shall examine the national informatics infrastructure initiatives in the four respective countries that support the Traditional Medicine systems. Challenges of implementing informatics in Traditional Medicine Systems shall also be discussed.Methods: The literature was sourced from four databases: Ebsco Host, IEEE Explore, Proquest and Google scholar. The search term used was "Traditional Medicine", "informatics", "informatics infrastructure", "traditional Chinese medicine", "Ayurveda", "traditional Arabic and Islamic medicine", and "traditional malay medicine". A combination of the search terms above was also executed to enhance the searching process. A search was also conducted in Google to identify miscellaneous books, publications, and organization websites using the same terms.Results: Amongst major advancements in TCM and Ayurveda are bioinformatics, development of Traditional Medicine databases for decision system support, data mining and image processing. Traditional Chinese Medicine differentiates itself from other Traditional Medicine systems with documented ISO Standards to support the standardization of TCM. Informatics applications in Traditional Arabic and Islamic Medicine are mostly ehealth applications that focus more on spiritual healing, Islamic obligations and prophetic traditions. Literature regarding development of health informatics to support Traditional Malay Medicine is still insufficient. Major informatics infrastructure that is common in China and India are automated insurance payment systems for Traditional Medicine treatment. National informatics infrastructure in Middle East and Malaysia mainly cater for modern medicine. Other infrastructure such as telemedicine and hospital information systems focus its implementation in modern medicine or are not implemented and strategized at a national level to support Traditional Medicine.Conclusion: Informatics may not be able to address all the emerging areas of Traditional Medicine because the concepts in Traditional Medicine system of medicine are different from modern system, though the aim may be same, i.e., to give relief to the patient. Thus, there is a need to synthesize Traditional Medicine systems and informatics with involvements from modern system of medicine. Future research works may include filling the gaps of informatics areas and integrate national informatics infrastructure with established Traditional Medicine systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For several decades the leading wind energy nations were European, while China and India were mainly the recipients of technology transfer. This paper aims to explore the role technology transfer/cooperation from Europe played in shaping firm-level wind energy technologies in China and India and to discuss whether the recent technology cooperation between the Chinese, Indian, and European wind firms challenges the classical North–South technology cooperation paradigm. The research finds that firm-level technology transfer/cooperation shaped the leading wind energy technologies in China and to a lesser extent in India. The paper also finds that several trends towards South–North technology cooperation have been observed between China, India and Europe, such as South–North flows of capital, drivers for market access, and R&D leadership, while the origins of innovation (e.g. patents) seem to remain predominantly in the global North. The paper concludes that the technology cooperation between China, India, and Europe has become more multi-faceted and increasingly Southern-led. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a hybridized framework of Support Vector Machine (SVM) with K-Nearest Neighbor approach for Indian stock market indices prediction. The objective of this paper is to get in-depth knowledge in the stock market in Indian Scenario with the two indices such as, Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE Sensex) and CNX Nifty using technical analysis methods and tools such as predicting closing price, volatility and momentum of the stock market for the available data. This hybrid model uses SVM with different kernel functions to predict profit or loss, and the output of SVM helps to compute best nearest neighbor from the training set to predict future of stock value in the horizon of 1 day, 1 week and 1 month. The proposed SVM and KNN based prediction model is experienced with the above mentioned distinguished stock market indices and the performance of proposed model has been computed using Mean Squared Error and also been compared with recent developed models such as FLIT2NS and CEFLANN respectively. The limitation of both of those existing models undergoes complex weight updating procedures, whereas, proposed SVM-KNN hybridized model scales relatively well to high dimensional data and the trade-off between classifier complexity and error can be controlled explicitly and have better prediction capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal power plants in India emit around 500 Mt of CO 2 annually. All of it is released into the atmosphere untreated. Microalgae, a third generation feedstock for bio-fuel emerges as a viable option for partly sequestering the emissions. Moreover, its carbon capture capacity of 4.8 kg CO 2 /kg biomass, which is very much as compared to terrestrial substitutes like Jhatropa curcas , enables to produce bio fuel hence adding value to the entire process. This paper intends to build upon this idea and come up with strategies to integrate bio fuel production and CO 2 sequestration with the existing thermal power plants. The raw materials needed for algal growth are available in the plant as elaborated in the paper. Thus the bio fuel produced can be routed back to power the plant consequently lowering the dependence on coal. This would help in putting a check on the carbon emissions thus making the existing systems more environmentally benign and suitable for long haul. This paper reviews currently employed carbon capture technologies and methods and comes up with a strategy to subsume carbon capture through microalgae with power plants of a certain capacity. 3 t/day is taken as the basis for calculations in the proposed flow sheet. An alternative of the above is also provided which substitutes the biofuel production with co-firing. This escalates the nitrogen content of flue gas but deescalates the investment. This brings down the capital investment in the plant but enhances N 2 content of flue gas. Carbon leakage is accounted for in a table of atomic balance. It takes care of input and output of carbon. The paper is inclined towards the conclusion that the Microalgae possess incredible potential and if tapped efficaciously could prove to be extremely helpful in these days of power and environmental crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous empirical and conceptual studies describe waste minimisation as a key environmental performance indicator for industry. ISO 14001certification in this regard is widely considered the tool of choice for driving waste minimisation efforts. To this day, however, the evidence remains mixed as it pertains to the effectiveness of ISO 14001 in helping firms reduce waste, especially in developing countries. This paper explores the waste minimisation efforts among Indian small and medium enterprises. Specifically, improvements in waste minimisation are analysed from small and medium enterprises operating in the cities of Delhi and Noida. Our proposed model is tested for a model-fit, and the hypotheses are tested through regression coefficient (β) scores to determine the influence of ISO 14001 on the degree of waste minimisation among certified and non-certified companies. The data reveal that ISO 14001 certification alone helped account for a 25% increase in waste minimisation in certified companies after controlling for other critical factors (correlated to the variable ‘waste minimisation’) that may influence this relationship. The analytical tools described in this paper lend themselves to be applied to similar research problems in future studies. The study provides baseline data for further research into ISO 14001 effectiveness in the Indian SME context – a field with still only limited research insights – and offers policy prompts for targeted environmental management improvements in Indian firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Philanthropic organisations are engaged in diverse welfare and development works including community development in India. A substantial number of these organisations are faith-based organisations (FBOS). While religion impacts people in many ways, religious tenets and practices have shaped, and in many cases strengthened, much of philanthropic activity. This paper focuses on the socio-economic change impacted by a philanthropic organisation called Bettiah Parish Society, successively managed by two FBOS since 1745, for the development of a Christian community, located at Bettiah, West Champaran District, in the State of Bihar, eastern India. The two FBOS were the Capuchin Mission Society (1745-1921), and the Patna Jesuit Society (1921-2000). The paper explores the influence and impact of these two external, goal-oriented FBOS on the 265-year-old Bettiah Christian community in Bihar. Aside a brief discussion on the missionary agents and their religion-induced ideologies, vision and motivations that seem to have goaded them engage in philanthropic works, the main discussion will be on the second aspect, namely the impact of their philanthropic action on the recipient community. The overall impact was (1) the construction of a Christian community (the Bettiah Christians) from among disparate convert groups, formerly belonging to different Hindu castes, and (2) changes in the socio-economic structures of the community through development aid and education. I have used an inter-disciplinary method for this study, relying much on historical, sociological and anthropological data, collected during a field study in 1998, and again in 2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As amply reported, after Bhopal disaster process safety got a boost worldwide and risk analysis got applied more generally. Even if the concept of inherent safety, strongly promoted by Trevor Kletz, represents one of the main lessons from this tragedy, in the first part of the paper we focus on Bhopal mitigation measures representing the ultimate relevant layer of protection. Starting from a technical analysis of the whole safety equipment of the plant and relevant empirical evidences, we face the short-cut design of critical safety devices suitable to mitigate release effects. The applied method allows a preliminary design and management tool to evaluate the effectiveness of safety systems and the impact on surroundings. In the second part, we develop an empirical-based framework allowing to identify emergency actions and intervention time and demonstrate how the implementation of these safety measures when reaching a critical pressure of 10 psig in Thnk 610, even under the condition of protective equipment out of commission, would have surely mitigated such a high profile tragedy. The paper illustrates the determining contribution to this tragedy of such deficiencies in the safety procedures for handling abnormal situations and emergencies by the company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The insatiable appetite for non-renewable fossil fuels in the past has resulted in a plethora of anthropogenic climate changes and pollution across the globe, causing serious threats to human beings and the environment. To avoid this contention, greater use of wind energy could be the solution for economic growth and sustainable environment, in the long run. This paper discusses the ways in which India has started the growth of wind energy and the country’s potential to expand its contribution to meet ever-increasing energy needs. The paper lucidly presents India’s progress to become the top five wind energy producers in the world. This paper also discusses the major achievements, programs, policy, and incentives for the installation of wind power in India. Opportunities and challenges have been discussed along with the ways to remove barriers to achieve higher growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite rapid economic growth, India has not seen the improvements in food and nutritional security that other developing countries have had. This “Asian enigma” has generated a wealth of economistic analyses seeking to explain the persistence of poor nutrition, yet few studies have looked at everyday experiences of changing food systems, and how this impacts nutritional practices as well as the processes of subject formation. In this paper, I draw on qualitative research conducted in Uttarakhand, North India and examine how state-led shifts in agricultural production have resulted in changing food consumption practices and diminished perceptions of health. Villagers link this decreased health to increased chemicals in home-produced food, greater dependence on the market for food purchases, and generational changes in dietary preferences. Despite villagers’ cognizance of the negative health effects of these practices, they largely view these byproducts of capitalistic development with an air of inevitability. Following Mansfield (2011) this paper contributes to the political ecology of health literature by employing the concept of food as a “vector of intercorporeality” (Stassart and Whatmore, 2003:449) and bringing this into conversation with a poststructuralist understanding of subjectivity. I argue that within shifting landscapes of agriculture production and food consumption, notions of diminished health are indicative of the complex and always incomplete processes of subject formation. I view shifting health perceptions as intimate bodily resistances to agricultural development, and conclude that within agricultural development programs a focus on bodily health and well-being is a fecund platform for further experimental research that seeks to imagine development differently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ionospheric modeling across the Indian low latitudes continues to be a challenging task because of the day-to-day variability pertaining to the underlying complex equatorial and low latitude electrodynamics. In this paper, we aimed at developing an ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) model based on Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) using the Global Positioning System (GPS)-TEC observations (from 2009 to 2019) at Bengaluru (Geographic: 13.02° N, 77.57° E; Dip Angle: 13.77° N), a low latitude station in India. SSA has the most significant advantage of extracting information from the noisy time-series data with the first-four SSA modes in the decomposition, almost converging to total variance of about 99%. The proposed SSA-TEC model has been assessed by comparing it with the GPS-TEC observations as well as the outcomes from the latest version of the International Reference Ionosphere model (IRI-2016) and International GNSS Services Global Ionosphere Maps (IGS-GIM). The results demonstrate excellent outcomes with the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) values between observed and model estimations laying at 1.58 TECU (SSA), 7.04 TECU (IRI-2016), and 8.89 TECU (GIM) with the respective correlation coefficients 0.99, 0.91, and 0.94. The model outcomes are in good agreement with the GPS-TEC observations, presenting relatively better estimates of TEC than the IRI-2016 and GIM during the geomagnetically quiet and disturbed daytime and nighttime conditions under different seasons and solar activity. Moreover, the proposed SSA-TEC model replicates the significant changes and time distribution characteristics of the ionosphere over the low latitude location, foreseeing the scopes for its regional implementation with a wide range of operations. • Ionospheric TEC model is proposed based on Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA). • Model outcomes is assessed by comparing with the GPS-TEC, IRI and GIM estimations. • Excellent model outcomes are achieved with low RMSE and high correlations. • A decent agreement with GPS-TEC is seen even during geomagnetic storm conditions. • The outcomes suggest a regional model implementation for near-realtime operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper investigates whether declines in suicide by insecticide poisoning in India following a national ban on endosulfan in 2011were associated with changes in other methods of suicide and total suicide rates.Method: Method-specific suicide rates between 2001-2014 were calculated using National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data by sex, age group and region, with observed rates compared to expected rates for the period post-2011.Results: There were an estimated 20,146 fewer male and 8,418 fewer female suicides by insecticide poisoning and 5542 fewer male and 2679 fewer female suicides by all other methods following the national endosulfan ban. Contemporaneously, an estimated 92% (23,812) of male and 60% (6,735) of female suicides prevented by insecticide poisoning and all other methods were offset to increases in suicides by hanging and other poisoning. Joinpoint regression indicated a decrease in suicide by insecticide poisoning following the endosulfan ban (annual percentage change (APC) of -12.18 among males and -11.89 among females between 2010-2014) while an increase in male suicide by hanging was noted between 2009-2014 (APC of 7.05).Limitation: Suicide rates based on the NCRB data might be an underestimation of the true suicide rates.Conclusion: Declines in suicide by insecticide poisoning were largely offset by an increase in hanging suicides among males, however, this phenomenon was much less prominent in females and contributed to declines in total female suicide rates. Prevention strategies must continue to focus on pesticide bans with simultaneous attention on hanging prevention policies to reduce overall suicide rates in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The education system worldwide has been greatly impacted by COVID-19 pandemic 2019–2020, which has led to the temporary closure of both primary and higher education sectors, posing an uncertainty among the system and other concerned fraternities. Citing the potential disruption of learning activities, the UNESCO recommended the use of distance learning programs and open educational platforms that schools and teachers can use to reach learners remotely and limit the disruption of education. With the challenge of fighting the pandemic in one hand and preventing the hampering of education on the other hand, India has called to continue the educational process making an effective use of technology and other available options. The paper is aimed to review such e-platform and initiatives set up in the government portals itself long before any idea of the dawn of current pandemic which can offer a great bundle of resourcefulness for the faculties to monitor continuous learning experience in this pandemic time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Comprehensive review on individual and hybrid wind-solar energy policy. • Evolution and current status of Indian wind and solar energy policy framework. • Techno-economic parameters for the hybridization of wind and solar power projects. • Barriers and recommendation regarding renewable energy policies. Wind and solar energy are currently the most prominent and reliable sources of renewable energy. Wind and solar power deployment largely depend on government policies and have a specific policy and regulatory provisions. The declaration of hybrid wind–solar policy has changed the dynamics of individual wind and solar power projects by introducing the scope for developing hybrid power projects to harness wind and solar energy simultaneously. The techno-economic structure and the existing scenarios of the fractional contribution of wind and solar sectors are going to play an important role in the development of hybrid power projects. This paper aims to present a comprehensive review of the impact of the existing individual wind and solar energy policies along with the recently declared hybrid policy in India and how this hybrid policy will affect the techno-economic structure of the existing and new power projects. Further, various kind of barriers faced by project developers while establishing renewable energy-based power projects and recommendations which can be practically implemented have been elaborated to facilitate and achieve the faster deployment of wind and solar power generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has the world's biggest and arguably most aggressive employment-based affirmative action policy for minorities. This paper exploits the institutional features of a federally mandated employment quota policy to examine its causal impact on the economic lives of the two distinct minority groups (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes). My main finding is that a 1-percentage point increase in the employment quota for Scheduled Castes increases the likelihood of obtaining a salaried job by 0.6-percentage points for male Scheduled Caste members residing in the rural sector. The employment quota policy has no impact for Scheduled Tribes. Contrary to popular notion, I do not find evidence of "elite-capture" among the Scheduled Castes – the impact is concentrated among members who have completed less than secondary education. Consistent with the employment results, I find that the policy improved the well-being of Scheduled Castes members in rural areas who have completed less than secondary education. Finally, the impact of the employment quota policy varies by state characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three indicators (GDP, PCDIIP-rh and Total Population) are selected in this paper to study the effect of sample length on forecasting validity of FGM(1,1). It has passed the test, such as development coefficient, mean relative error within the sample, and ratio of mean square error. The above three sets of indicators are proved to be suitable for FGM(1,1) to make predictions. The results of the study indicate that the forecasting of 4–6 sample lengths is the most appropriate. The MAPE of 5 sample length is better than sample lengths 4 or 6. The conclusion of this study is verified by taking the oil production of India and Canada as examples. On this basis, the sample length 5 is selected to predict the average annual concentration of PM 2.5 from 2019 to 2021 in Xingtai. The forecasting results show that the PM 2.5 in Xingtai will decline in the next three years, but it will not reach the national level 2 concentration limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the macroeconomic transmission of Eurozone shocks to an emerging economy — India using the mean-adjusted Bayesian Vector Autoregressive (BVAR) model. In its quantitative exploration, the study answers two key issues: (i) is there any evidence of decoupling from advanced economy business cycles? And (ii) what was the impact of the Eurozone recession on the growth performance of India? The findings suggest that Eurozone idiosyncratic shocks, on average, had large effects on economic activity in India. The variation explained by the innovations generated by the BVAR model range from 1.8 percent to 3.6 percent in the 1–12 quarter horizon. The main results are supported by the empirical estimations of the Wavelet analysis. The estimated output elasticities suggest that the Eurozone recession had a significant negative impact on India. The implication is that well-balanced diversity in the productive structure of emerging economies, particularly India, can diffuse the transmission of macroeconomic shocks from the advanced economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the effects of the 9-min pan-India voluntary lights-off policy that was planned and executed by the Government of India in April 2020 on the National Grid and the steps that were taken to maintain grid stability during the event. The policy was a symbolic gesture of public solidarity with frontline healthcare and emergency workers in the nation's war against the COVID-19 pandemic. The event entailed nationwide switching-off of electric lights and lighting of earthen lamps or switching-on of torch lights. This 9-min event posed a significant challenge to the country's power systems engineers in managing grid stability during the large-scale load reduction, and meticulous planning and implementation of protective measures were carried out. In this article, the strategy implemented by the Indian power sector to manage the grid during the nine-minute event is described. The variations of grid parameters such as frequency, voltage, and load at all dispatch centers before, during, and after the nine-minutes are analyzed, and the generation schedule that was followed is also presented, along with real-time results. This case study provides an overview of power systems management that involves strategic scheduling of generators throughout the country to tackle sudden and mass-reductions of load on the power system. • Covid-19 and its impact on the world • History of blackouts and brownouts brownouts in a power system. • Overview of the India power system and national power grid development. • Pan India lights off policy on 5th April 2020 • Power system operation and control during an emergency [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Navigation satellite system plays a major role in finding the position of a user. Similar to GPS, Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) is developed by India to cater the country needs. The NavIC Standard Positioning Service User Receiver (UR) placed at ACS College of Engineering (12.8914° N, 77.4657° E), Bangalore for field trial and data collection. The accuracy of the navigation system is influenced by several kinds of error factors, among which the signal delay influenced by the ionosphere is the greatest error factor. The delay in signal causes error in satellite signal range data and it is called range error. This range error can reduce the accuracy of user position. Hence estimation of range error is very essential. In order to give the appropriate user position, estimation of Total Electron Content (TEC) is vital, which indicates ionospheric error (signal delay). In this paper, VTEC of ionosphere is estimated for the entire day and over a month. The observation data required for estimation of TEC is collected from NavIC SPS receiver located at ACS College of Engineering Station (ACSCES), Bangalore. By using estimated VTEC value, it is possible to correct range error which results in accurate position estimation. NavIC TEC derived using pseudo range at ACSCES is compared with GPS TEC and IRI-2016 TEC which belongs to IISC Station. From the comparison, it is observed that, the maximum NavIC TEC is 43.0552 TECU and maximum GPS TEC is 44.6131 TECU and maximum IRI-2016 TEC is 18.6 TECU. RMSE between GPS and NavIC TEC is 5.486 TECU, correlation coefficient is 0.9748 and average difference is 5.2306 TECU. Similarly, RMSE between NavIC and IRI-2016 TEC is 9.9899 TECU, correlation coefficient is 0.93 and average difference is 9.421 TECU. From the collected data, C/No are plotted for each satellite. From the C/No plots, it is observed that, C/No is good i.e. above 40 dB-Hz. Based on the results, it is evident that, NavIC is suitable for navigational applications in Indian region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There exists controversy and potential conflict over transboundary water-sharing and management of rivers in South Asia. • The article provides a comparative view on water and energy cooperation and discusses its implications. • Water diplomacy in the region is impacted by each country's domestic politics and diplomatic approach, India's hegemonic role, and (lack of) functioning regional institutional frameworks. • Water discourses are heavily securitized; energy is perceived as a commodity of exchange. • Energy diplomacy focussing on mutual benefits and shared interests offers a path for cooperation in other sectors such as water. The last decade has witnessed rapid progress in energy cooperation between the countries of the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) sub-region. Cooperation has been bilateral, with each of the countries entering into separate energy development and trade agreement with India, broadly similar to the water sector where national governments engage bilaterally on transboundary cooperation and dispute resolution. A more recent wave of electrical grid interconnections and hydro-energy cooperation has emerged with governments increasingly shifting from bilateral to multilateral energy-sharing agreements. This trend holds considerable potential for regional transboundary water governance. Based on documentary and media analysis along with interviews of key BBIN policy-makers, we identify and examine in this paper four factors for future progress: 1) technical cooperation can be extended to information-sharing for policies and institutions to regulate and manage water resources; 2) India must seize the opportunities and benefits of enhanced regional leadership in the region; 3) simultaneous informal discussion and diplomatic negotiation of water, energy and their nexus can provide BBIN countries the opportunity to highlight potential gains of cooperation and interstate interdependencies; and 4) regional cooperation can give a strong impetus to nations for advancing structural reforms, building institutions and capacity, developing a shared knowledge base, bridging infrastructural gaps, attracting private sector participation, and addressing poverty alleviation goals including job creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freight transportation has a key role in the economic competitiveness of any nation. India is one of the fastest-growing nations in the world; its agricultural sector plays a vital role in contributing to the country's economy. In this paper, the freight production in the agricultural sector of India is modelled using multiple linear regression (MLR) and generalized additive modelling (GAM) approaches. Using district-level data, factors influencing agricultural freight production are identified and the relationship between them is modelled. The study considered 210 districts of eight states covering South India and parts of Central and Western India. Population, employment in the agricultural sector, gross cropped area, and gross irrigated area are identified as influential factors. GAM approach is a flexible method which can predict non-linear responses for the given predictor variables by allowing non-linear functions for each of them while maintaining additivity. The applicability of GAM in modelling freight production while tackling the non-linear effects of predictor variables on freight production is investigated and encouraging results are achieved. The results revealed that both MLR and GAM models have good modelling efficiency, however, the GAM model outperformed the MLR model in both fitting and predicting. The study can be used in evaluating the commodity movements and transportation demand which in turn will help in decision-making for the provision of freight transportation facilities and policymaking. • Regional level freight generation in India. • Production of agricultural commodities at district level modelled. • Multiple linear regression (MLR) and Generalized additive modeling (GAM) adopted. • GAM performed better than MLR. • Nonlinear relationship between freight generation and predictor variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible, sand-filled, geotextile bags (geobags) have been used in both India and Bangladesh along the banks of the Brahmaputra for protection against riverbank erosion. Geotextile containers have been researched extensively for their use in coastal structures; however, there is a gap in knowledge of the application of smaller geobags used in riverbank protection structures. In 2018, flume experiments (scaled 1:7) were performed to study the incipient motion of geobags and the methodology for sizing geobags. Building on the data collected from the flume experiments, numerical models have been employed to gain further insight into the hydraulic forces acting on the bags. The numerical models have been created using ANSYS CFX. While there is not enough data to obtain a Shields parameter which can be used for design purposes, initial estimates find the Shields value for geobags lies around 0.09, which is much larger than the value for rocks, around 0.045. The results from this study suggest that the Shields parameter varies with fill percentage of the bags. This paper also presents first results on the roughness of underwater geobag aprons. • Building on data collected from flume experiments, numerical models have been employed to gain further insight into the hydraulic forces acting on geobags. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Two perspective for reverse auction process for allotting solar projects in India. • This process can be justified considering financial burden on utility companies. • This process can be justified due to possibility of creating NPA in utility companies. • This process can be justified as it brings cost efficiency. • This process can be countered with its direct impact on macroeconomic condition. Since 2009, the central government and many state governments of India have introduced policies to promote solar PV technologies. The key feature of these policies is allotment through reverse auction process. Although, it has been claimed that through this process, the tariff of power from solar PV has been brought down significantly, question regarding the viability of solar PV project at such low tariff is also being raised. In this paper, paradox between favoured perspective and counter perspective of reverse auction process is elaborated. The favoured perspective is analysed with defending arguments such as poor financial health of utilities companies in India and danger of them becoming non-performing assets (NPA), low affordability of electricity by average customer and possibility of bringing better cost efficiency. The counter perspective is analysed with its effect on macro-economic condition of country, monetary policy, and trade balance and energy security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the recent rise in economic development the family sizes in developing countries have become small. This phenomenon demands several policy considerations. Is India ready for it? In this perspective, the paper investigates the impact of a higher level of economic development on average household size in India from 1991 to 2011. Variables such as a higher level of education, health outcomes, the extent of inequality, and urbanization have a negative effect on the average household size. The lower level of poverty is associated with lower level family size in the long run, whereas, infrastructure has a mixed effect. Results show that different religious and social groups have an effect on the family size in India. The results are consistent in state and household level analysis and conclude that a higher level of economic development reduces the family size. Smaller family size faces several problems such as child-rearing, higher divorce rates due to marital conflicts, degradation of children's mental health, land and property disputes, and a low transfer of financial support from children to elderly parents. Therefore, not only the government needs to take cognizance and solve these problems, but also needs to find an appropriate balance between work and family, which is missing currently. This lesson can be useful for many other developing countries to cope up with the reduction in family sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a field experiment in India and mediation analysis to investigate the causal mechanisms between financial education and financial behavior. Focusing on the mediating role of financial literacy, we propose a broader definition of financial knowledge that includes three dimensions: numeracy skills, financial awareness, and attitudes towards personal finance. We then employ causal mediation analysis to investigate the proportion of the treatment effect that can be attributed to these three channels. Strikingly, we find that numeracy does not mediate any effects of financial education on financial outcomes. For simple financial actions such as budgeting, both awareness and attitudes serve as pathways, while for more complex financial activities such as opening a savings account, attitudes play a more prominent role—though these patterns appear to be sensitive to confounding. We also compare our mediation analysis results to other empirical techniques that have been typically used to study mechanisms, and we discuss how mediation analysis differs from these approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An automated glaucoma detection methodology is proposed. • Use of features like GIST and PHOG for capturing the textural and shape properties. • The results are evaluated on publicly available database named Drishti-GS1 and HRF. • The paper focuses on accuracy and AUC parameters to evaluated the performance. • The method works better than existing methods implemented on Drishti-GS1 and HRF database. Effective diagnosis of glaucoma mainly relies on the analysis of optic disc characteristics of retina. Glaucoma is considered as second leading cause of blindness and its early detection prevents patients from temporary or permanent blindness. It effects the intensity and shape near optic disc of the retina. Fundus photography has revolutionized the field of ophthalmology and helped in visualizing the structure of optic disc. The proposed work aims to develop an automated diagnostic system based on fundus images for glaucoma disease. It focuses on extraction of GIST and pyramid histogram of oriented gradients (PHOG) features from preprocessed fundus images. The extracted features are ranked and selected through principal component analysis (PCA) to choose significant features. The classification into glaucomatous images is done with SVM classifier on fundus images of Drishti-GS1 and HRF databases. The results obtained from the proposed method are compared with recent glaucoma detection techniques in the literature, including deep learning methodologies, on the basis of accuracy and AUC parameters. The performance of the system is also validated by glaucoma expert from Sharp Sight Group of Eye Hospitals, Delhi-NCR, India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endogamy or intra-caste marriage is one of the most resilient of all the caste based practices in India. Even in 2011, the rate of inter caste marriages in India was as low as 5.82%. In this paper we explore whether education has any relationship with this age-old practice of marrying within one's own caste. Using a nationally representative data set, the Indian Human Development Survey, we find that, in sharp contrast with the findings in the existing literature on out-marriages in the Western countries, education levels of the spouses themselves do not have any association with the likelihood of their own marriage being an inter caste one. However, couples with a more educated mother of the husband have a significantly higher probability of being in an inter caste marriage. One standard deviation increase in the years of education of the husband's mother is associated with a 10.16% increase in the probability of inter caste marriage over the sample mean. Our analysis highlights the importance of recognizing the institution of arranged marriages in any analysis of Indian marriage markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global Navigation satellite systems (GNSS) are predominantly affected by Ionospheric space weather. The GNSS signal delays due to ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) can be forecasted using advances in the emerging mathematics tools and algorithms. Machine learning algorithms such as Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) is considered in the present paper to implement in the forecasting of low-latitude ionospheric conditions. The GPS receiver data is obtained for 8 years (2009–2016) during 24th solar cycle from International GNSS Services (IGS) station located in Bengaluru (Geographical latitude: 12.97° N, Geographical longitude: 77.59° E), India. The performance of GPR model is validated using statistical parameters such as Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), Mean Square Error (MSE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and correlation coefficient. The results of the proposed GPR model were compared with the Auto Regressive Moving Average (ARMA) model and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) model during solar maximum period and descending phase of 24th solar cycle. The experiment results are evident that GPR model is significantly providing the promising results in forecasting the ionospheric time delays for GNSS signals. The outcome of the work can be useful to develop web based Ionospheric TEC forecasting system to alert the GNSS users. • The GPS-TEC variability is investigated during solar maximum period and descending phase of 24th solar cycle. • The performance of ARMA, ANN and GPR models are evaluated in forecasting the ionospheric delays for GPS signals. • GPR model has better predicted TEC than the existing ARMA and ANN models during geomagnetic quiet and storm periods. • Kernel-based approach of GPR model is well suitable to forecast the ionospheric TEC variations over low latitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depreciating costs of solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity, increasing government support and initiatives, and rising prices of grid electricity have spurred the production of electricity through solar PV systems. The Chandigarh government in India has installed a 200 kWp on-grid PV system on the roofs of pre-fabricated portable cabins (PPC) to fulfil their local energy demand at the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) complex. In this paper, the operational performance of this system in warm and temperate climates is characterized based on on-field recorded data. Results for annual reference yield are 5.21 kWh/kWp/day, the array yield is 4.15 kWh/kWp/day, and the system-wide final yield is noted as 3.70 kWh/kWp/day. The annual array efficiency, the inverter efficiency, and the system efficiency were recorded at 12.24%, 89.27%, and 10.93%, respectively. The performance ratio is 71.30%, and the capacity utilization factor is 15.21%. We also noted the capture losses for the plant to be at 20.12%, out of which thermal capture losses was 6.97%. Based on this empirical assessment, the annual electricity produced by the system was 2,66,460.0 kWh. Based on the electricity production from this plant, we estimate that PPC building based PV systems may have the potential to mitigate the CO 2 emissions for the base year by 421.1 tCO 2 eq. in comparison with present-day conventional thermal power plants in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing nature of biomedical waste and its improper disposal has become a significant concern, resulting in a negative impact on the environment. These are associated with the direct consumption of input materials along with generated co-products and wastewater. This paper aims to address the environmental burden of existing biomedical waste management in the northern part of India. It also aims to suggest some constructive steps which result in a less impactful environment through the Life cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. LCA is a widely used sustainable assessment tool to evaluate the environmental performance of various waste management systems. The present study's functional unit is all the waste collected at a common treatment and disposal facility. A gate-to-gate approach has been performed based on the foreground data gathered from field surveys, semi-structured interviews, and background data of Eco invent database v1.03. The data has been further evaluated using LCA software SimaPro 9.1.0.4 utilizing the CML-IA impact assessment method. The impact categories include Abiotic Depletion (AD), Abiotic Depletion (fossil fuels) (ADF), Global Warming (GWP), Ozone Layer Depletion (OLD), Human Toxicity (HT), Freshwater Aquatic Ecotoxicity (FAE), Marine Aquatic Ecotoxicity (MAE), Terrestrial Ecotoxicity (TE), Photochemical Oxidation (PO), Acidification (AF), and Eutrophication (EP). The results indicate that the integrated system, including incineration with energy recovery, autoclave-shredder, chemical disinfection, and Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP), reduces the environmental burden compared to the present state. The reliability of the model is tested using sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. The analysis identifies the influential key processes, parameters, and impact categories. This paper suggests that LCA is a beneficial tool for the decision-makers and managers to take strategic decisions for reducing environmental burden and developing a life cycle inventory database for the developed economies. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Many low- and middle-income countries have introduced State-funded health programmes for vulnerable groups as part of global efforts to universalise health coverage. Similarly, India introduced the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) in 2008, a publiclyfunded national health insurance scheme for people below the poverty line. The authors explore the RSBY's genesis and early development in order to understand its conceptualisation and design principles and thereby establish a baseline for assessing RSBY's performance in the future. Study design: Qualitative case study of the RSBY in Delhi. Methods: This paper presents results from documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews with senior-level policymakers including the former Labour Minister, central government officials and affiliates, and technical specialists from the World Bank and GIZ. Results: With national priorities focused on broader economic development goals, the RSBY was conceptualised as a social investment in worker productivity and future economic growth in India. Hence, efficiency, competition, and individual choice rather than human needs or egalitarian access were overriding concerns for RSBY designers. This measured approach was strongly reflected in RSBY's financing and benefit structure. Hence, the programme's focus on only the 'poorest' (BPL) among the poor. Similarly, only costlier forms of care, secondary treatments in hospitals, which policymakers felt were more likely to have catastrophic financial consequences for users were covered. Conclusions: This paper highlights the risks of a narrow approach driven by developmental considerations alone. Expanding access and improving financial protection in India and elsewhere requires a more balanced approach and evidence-informed health policies that are guided by local morbidity and health spending patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this communication biomass energy resource, potential, energy conversion and policy for promotion implemented by Government of India are discussed. The total installed capacity for electricity generation in India is 2666.64 GW as on 31st March 2013. Renewable energy is contributed 10.5% of total generation out of which 12.83% power is being generated using biomass. India has surplus agricultural and forest area which comprises about 500 million metric tons of biomass availability per year. In India total biomass power generation capacity is 17,500 MW. At present power being generated is 2665 MW which include 1666 MW by cogeneration. The various category of biomass in India is also discussed in this paper. And the research reveals that India has large potential for bio mass feed stock from different sources. Government of India deployed different policies and executed that the strategies for biomass power generation. Such approaches have included the whole biomass energy sector which incorporated the bio gas, bio diesel etc. in the policies. Government of India has focused on the deployment and development biomass energy sector with strategic policy and program which is notable portion of this review paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Trade Organisation's Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights [TRIPS] agreement aimed to harmonise intellectual property rights and patent protection globally. In India, the signing of this agreement resulted in a sharp increase in clinical trials since 2005. The Indian government, along with larger Indian pharmaceutical companies, believed that they could change existing commercial research cultures through the promotion of basic research as well as attracting international clinical trials, and thus create an international level, innovation-based drug industry. The effects of the growth of these outsourced and off-shored clinical trials on local commercial knowledge production in India are still unclear. What has been the impact of the increasing scale and commercialisation of clinical research on corporate science in India? In this paper we describe Big-pharmaceuticalisation in India, whereby the local pharmaceutical industry is moving from generic manufacturing to innovative research. Using conceptual frameworks of pharmaceuticalisation and innovation, this paper analyses data from research conducted in 2010–2012 and describes how Contract Research Organisations (CROs) enable outsourcing of randomised control trials to India. Focussing on twenty-five semi-structured interviews CRO staff, we chart the changes in Indian pharmaceutical industry, and implications for local research cultures. We use Big-pharmaceuticalisation to extend the notion of pharmaceuticalisation to describe the spread of pharmaceutical research globally and illustrate how TRIPS has encouraged a concentration of capital in India, with large companies gaining increasing market share and using their market power to rewrite regulations and introduce new regulatory practices in their own interest. Contract Research Organisations, with relevant, new, epistemic skills and capacities, are both manifestations of the changes in commercial research cultures, as well as the vehicles to achieve them. These changes have reinvigorated public concerns that stress not only access to new medicines but also the ‘price’ of innovation on research participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the nationwide school-feeding programme—the Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS)—in India as its anchor, this paper critically evaluates the use of schools as sites for discharging social policies. Data from semi structured interviews ( N = 26) and focus groups ( N = 8) conducted in a north Indian village provide evidence that the community distrusts the central and the regional governments and regards state run schools as deficient institutions. In such a social climate, the community perceived the MDMS as an evil governmental design to distract poor people from education. Such representations, the paper argues, further erode the faith of the community in state run schools. Crucially, data from the study indicate that the MDMS has contributed to a shift in community representations of schools from being a site for imparting education to that of an institution providing free meals. It is argued that such a shift in community representations of schools may hinder the agenda of promoting education in disadvantaged settings. The paper concludes by identifying two critical considerations in using schools as the site of social policy: (a) the symbolic environments of meaning making which inform local interpretations of policies; and (b) the local meaning making and representations that communities develop of new or existing social policies. The theory of social representation informs the arguments made in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With 21,136 MW of wind energy installed in 2014, India is considered a success story in terms of net installed capacity. Few existing studies on Indian wind energy have highlighted the important role of institutions, and how they stemmed from the work of advocacy groups; studies also tend to focus on short time periods. This paper uses the notion of collective institutional entrepreneurship to analyze Indian wind energy across three time periods (1985–1995, 1995–2003, and 2003–2013). The analysis shows that Indian wind power development was driven by collective efforts of institutional entrepreneurs using two aggregated strategies, that is, supportive techno-economic and socio-political networks and an indigenous innovation infrastructure. The paper highlights setbacks, controversies, and tensions between various entrepreneurship groups and argues that actions must be taken for including actors who have been marginalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of undernourishment in India – the percent of people consuming insufficient calories to meet their energy requirements – has been rising steadily since the mid 1980s. Paradoxically, this period has been one of robust poverty reduction and rapid economic growth. The reasons for the apparent reductions in calorie consumption underlying increased undernourishment have been the subject of intense debate both within India and internationally. This paper critically reviews this debate, finding that is has taken place outside of the context of India’s recent nutrition and epidemiological transitions, which appear to have brought with them increased, not decreased, food consumption. The debate has also taken place under the unchallenged assumption that the data on which the conflicting trends are based, collected as part of the country’s Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (HCESs), are reliable. The paper provides supporting literature and empirical evidence that a probable key source of the calorie decline is incomplete collection of data on food consumed away from peoples’ homes, which is widespread and rapidly increasing. Complete measurement of this food source in the HCESs of all developing countries is vital for accurate measurement of both undernourishment and poverty – and for resolving the Indian calorie debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offshore wind is one of the most fascinating industries in the renewable energy sector and it is experiencing a remarkable growth. Offshore wind energy generation offers an opportunity in the race to decrease the dependence on fossil fuels, reduce green house emissions, increase energy security and create employment opportunities. UK has proven success in offshore wind and has been enjoying the economic benefits of offshore wind since over a decade. Offshore wind energy is an emergent renewable energy industry in the United States. The United States is coping up with the challenges and heading up fast to catch up with the industry. India is still in its infancy stage where the policy frameworks are framed by MNRE government and getting ready with the tools to enter into the offshore market. This paper researches the current situation and trend of offshore wind industries in UK and US, from aspects of policy, grid connections, operation and maintenance and cost reduction and analyses the proper direction and pathways of the industry to India. Therefore this paper highlights the scenario as to how these three countries UK, USA and India, respectively, are enabling offshore wind, to make a vital and sizeable contribution to the low carbon economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapidly increasing energy demand and growing concern about economic and environmental consequences call for renewable/sustainable energy technologies׳ adoption in India. Renewable/sustainable energy technologies have faced a number of constraints that have affected their rate of adoption. In this paper an attempt has been made to identify and rank the major barriers in the adoption of ‘renewable and green’ energy technologies in the Indian context. Twenty-eight barriers have been identified from an extensive literature review. These identified barriers have been categorized into seven dimensions of barriers, i.e. Economical & Financial; Market; Awareness & Information; Technical; Ecological and Geographical; Cultural & Behavioral; and Political & Government Issues. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique has been utilized for ranking of barriers to adopt renewable/sustainable technologies in the Indian context. All pair comparisons in AHP have been made based on experts’ opinions (selected from academia and industry). Sensitivity analysis has also been made to investigate the priority ranking stability of barriers to adopt renewable/sustainable technologies in the Indian context. This paper may help practitioners, regulators and academician focus their future efforts in adoption of ‘renewable/sustainable energy technologies’ in India. Further, this understanding may be helpful in framing the policies and strategies towards adoption of renewable/sustainable energy technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substance flow analysis (SFA) provides a helpful tool for the study of the industrial metabolism of a certain substance within a regional level. This paper presents SFA of steel in four countries, namely Australia, Brazil, China and India. These countries are traditionally economically mineral dependent and are major contributors in global iron ore production. For example, in 2010 together these countries produced 81% of world iron ore. Based on the analysis it was found that Australian and Brazilian iron ore stocks will deplete rapidly while China and India are accumulating. This paper then presents a discussion on sustainability issues related to substance flows of steel stocks. The study is aimed at providing better understanding of stocks and flows and to inform the policy making for achieving the industrial metabolism and consequently leading to better management of resources and recycling of steel in the countries under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the details and results obtained from a study carried out on a roof top 20 kWp solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in a reputed manufacturing industry in India. Although there is plenty of sunshine, various financial supports and government policies, the growth of photovoltaic (PV) power plants in developing countries is still facing significant barriers due to unclear techno-economic aspects of the PV power plant. Therefore this paper highlights a few salient features of the installation, operational performance and economic calculations of a grid connected solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant. A few important aspects of solar power plant installation such as the feasibility of location in terms of geographical data, solar panel mounting design, interfacing aspects of PV system with grid are outlined. The results obtained from the study such as month wise energy generation, performance ratio, capacity factor, maintenance aspects, economic analysis, etc. of the system are discussed in detail. The study enables researchers and engineers in this area to understand roof top solar PV power plant and its economic viability. It is expected that this study will encourage and provide guidance to industries in this region to set-up similar PV power plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to draw attention to two important, but less researched, areas regarding low fee private school provision in India. Firstly, the paper evaluates the impact of fees on household debt burden and decision-making, and secondly highlights the dynamic interplay between the private and government sub-sectors and the potential consequences this may have for educational delivery. The paper attempts to provide an overview of the historic growth, extent and performance of low fee private schools and private tutoring. Consistent with others, the paper finds that private provision is not currently accessible to the poorest and thus potentially deleterious to equity both within schools and within families. While drawing on existing research and particularly the longitudinal Young Lives data sets in Andhra Pradesh – findings are largely exploratory. The paper concludes that there is a need for further research on both household and school effects related to increasing privatisation in education. In particular there is a focus on how emerging inequalities emanating from school choice and private tuitions can be addressed. This is urgently needed to inform policy and investment decisions that maximise the contribution of both sectors and mitigate against inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is about a unique case of a 47 mile long ring road in Ahmadabad, India, planned and implemented using self-financing land readjustment (LR) technique. Uniquely, no landowners were displaced, while the road's 200' wide right-of-way (ROW) was reserved while land abutting the road's ROW was also developed in a self-financing manner. Forty six different – neighborhood scale LR plans were formulated, systematically planned, and spatially arranged to carve the road's ROW and service abutting land with infrastructure. This paper showcases how a regional level infrastructure asset can be created using the LR technique, and how rapidly growing fringe area can benefit using the LR technique. This case is becoming a new model for capital intensive road projects now in India, inspiring other financially constrained similar size cities to follow Ahmadabad's LR based ring road development model. The case study is useful for land management and planning professionals, especially those who are engaged with fiscally constrained and rapidly urbanizing cities of the developing world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effect of public debt on economic growth in India between 1980 and 2011. Using the autoregressive distributed lag ARDL model, the paper traces a long-run equilibrium relationship between public debt and economic growth. The error correction model (ECM) results show that central government debt, total factor productivity (TFP) growth, and debt-services are affecting the economic growth in the short-run, and that the results are consistent with our a priori expectation. It is recommended that the government should follow the objective of inter-generational equity in fiscal management over the long term in order to stabilize debt-GDP ratio, particularly, after the global financial crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Up until now, countries have adopted a 'isolate-test-treat-trace' strategy to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The next critical intervention in the fight against COVID-19 will be effective delivery of safe and efficacious vaccines. Various countries such as the USA, the UK, Canada, Israel, etc., have started administering vaccines to priority population groups. India is gearing up its critical components of the vaccine delivery system to effectively deliver vaccines across the country and has prioritized certain population groups to whom the vaccine will be administered. Considering India's ambitious target to vaccinate close to 300 million people in the first phase of the vaccination drive with limited initial supply (which will be ramped up gradually), it is critical for stakeholders at all the levels – national, state and district – to understand the estimated need for vaccines across geographies based on the vulnerable population and disease epidemiology with the objective of preventing maximum number of future infections from the disease. This paper aims to describe a comprehensive geo-prioritization framework based on existing prevalence of COVID-19, high-risk co-morbidities, and demographic analysis to identify states/districts that could be most in need of the COVID-19 vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SARS-CoV-2 is a type of coronavirus that has caused the pandemic known as the Coronavirus Disease of 2019, or COVID-19. In traditional epidemiological models such as SEIR (Susceptible, Exposed, Infected, Removed), the exposed group E does not infect the susceptible group S. A distinguishing feature of COVID-19 is that, unlike with previous viral diseases, there is a distinct "asymptomatic" group A , which does not show any symptoms, but can nevertheless infect others, at the same rate as infected symptomatic patients. This situation is captured in a model known as SAIR (Susceptible, Asymptomatic, Infected, Removed), introduced in Robinson and Stillianakis (2013). The dynamical behavior of the SAIR model is quite different from that of the SEIR model. In this paper, we use Lyapunov theory to establish the global asymptotic stabililty of the SAIR model, both without and with vital dynamics. Then we develop compartmental SAIR models to cater to the migration of population across geographic regions, and once again establish global asymptotic stability. Next, we go beyond long-term asymptotic analysis and present methods for estimating the parameters in the SAIR model. We apply these estimation methods to data from several countries including India, and demonstrate that the predicted trajectories of the disease closely match actual data. We show that "herd immunity" (defined as the time when the number of infected persons is maximum) can be achieved when the total of infected, symptomatic and asymptomatic persons is as low as 25% of the population. Previous estimates are typically 50% or higher. We also conclude that "lockdown" as a way of greatly reducing inter-personal contact has been very effective in checking the progress of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the costs of solar PV continuously decrease and pollution legislation imposes less burning of agricultural residues, decentralized renewable energy is increasingly affordable for providing electricity to one billion people lacking access to a power grid. This paper presents a techno-economic feasibility case study of biomass gasification in off-grid and grid-connected mini-grids for community-scale energy application in rural Uttar Pradesh, India. Energy demand data was collected through surveys in a village with irrigation and agro-processing loads and off-grid households and used to construct a seasonal load profile based on statistical methods. This was used to simulate single-source and hybrid mini-grids based on solar PV, biomass gasification and diesel generation using HOMER Pro. Hybrid PV-biomass or PV-diesel systems were found to offer the highest reliability for off-grid power at the lowest cost. Single-source PV was cheaper than biomass gasification, though the cost of electricity is highly sensitive to biomass supply and gasifier maintenance. Both renewable options were around half the cost of diesel generation. The findings held across grid-connected systems with weak, moderate and strong reliability of grid supply. This suggests that biomass gasification-based mini-grids are not cost-competitive with PV unless the two generation sources are combined in a hybrid system, though they require operational testing prior to implementation. Image 1 • Hybrid PV–biomass or PV–diesel systems offer higher reliability at lower cost. • PV is cheaper than biomass gasification mini-grids for productive energy provision. • Grid-connected PV offers lowest LCOE over 20 years for strong and weak grid supply. • LCOE of biomass systems is highly sensitive to biomass requirement and maintenance. • PV–biomass systems appear resilient to operating parameters but lack field testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Water' always has been a key resource for humankind but over the period with increasing population and rapid urbanization, water resource is under immense pressure. Groundwater is the prime source of drinking water and needs proper monitoring in order to have an optimum utilization strategy owing to the current scenario of over-exploitation. Being the part of Deccan trap region, the basin is hot and semi-arid, experiencing moderately dry climate accompanied by episodic drought and erratic showers therefore, the surface water of the basin is ephemeral. In the present study, the probabilistic recharge zones have been delineated by dint of various thematic layers viz. geological setting, geomorphic features, land use, slope gradient, infiltration number, soil physiognomies, curvature and lineament through multi-criteria decision analysis technique in the GIS domain. This has further divided into four categories, viz., very poor, poor, good, and very good zones. Thus, this paper is an attempt to demarcate probabilistic groundwater zones in the Vaniar watershed region using geospatial techniques for better planning and management of groundwater resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Government of India had initially aimed at an installed capacity of 20 GW solar PV power generation by 2022. However, India has 29.41 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) plants as of now, which shows that the target is achieved three years ahead of schedule. Kurnool solar power park is one of the largest solar parks in India, receiving an excellent average solar radiation of 5.5–6.0 kWh/m2. As part of this project, a 50 MW solar photovoltaic system has been installed at Kurnool. This paper determines the performance parameters for analysis. The system was monitored from April 2018 to March 2019. The performance ratio varied between 75% and 83%, giving an annual average performance ratio of 79.94%. The capacity utilization factor varied between 18.90% and 29.34%, giving an annual average capacity utilization factor of 24.65%. The gain of modules with single-axis tracking system is compared with the fixed-tilt angle system. It is found that the single-axis tracking system improves the performance of the plant. • Different performance parameters assessed based on the IEC 61724 standards. • Effect of Solar irradiation and temperature on Power generation is analysed. • Results highlight the importance of the single axis tracking system in solar power parks for improving the performance. • Improved performance of single axis tracking system confirmed by metrics obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across diverse geographies, mini-grids have been employed to provide energy access to off-grid and rural communities. In India, amid the government push to expand grid infrastructure, concerns have been raised about the viability of mini-grid business models that are largely run by private companies. While the role of mini-grids in previously un-electrified areas has been studied extensively, there exists limited empirical evidence regarding their uptake in grid-connected regions. In this paper, we analyze adoption and use of mini-grids among rural communities living in grid-electrified villages. The findings are based on the primary data of 2648 households and 544 non-farm enterprises from 54 villages in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in India. Our results suggest that despite the presence of central-grid infrastructure, users adopt mini-grid in regions which lack reliable power supply. The mini-grid uptake was found to be relatively higher among non-farm enterprises, which, unlike households, have not received adequate policy attention and support. However, mini-grids were being used only for meeting basic lighting and cooling loads in most cases, primarily due to affordability concerns. Based on our findings, we argue that grid-interactive mini-grids could be used to serve rural enterprises as they value reliable power supply. Yet, the current low levels of electricity demand among non-farm rural enterprises suggest that growth in electricity demand and in turn enterprise productivity would require complementary services and infrastructure. • Insights from a survey of 54 villages having both central grid and solar mini-grid. • Mini-grid use among non-farm enterprises is significant, but low among rural households. • Lack of reliable grid-power supply in surveyed villages is a key driver of mini-grid use. • Rural enterprises currently have low electricity demand. • Mini-grid connections primarily used to meet basic lighting and cooling energy demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we have examined scaling reliable electricity access in India from two perspectives. First, given past policies, we examine the ability of mini grids to achieve profitability at the unit level as well as potential for scaling. We find that many mini grid developers have shown profitable unit economics and are getting ready to scale; however, they face increased challenges given India's success with 100% electrification. Second, given the experience gained by mini grid operators, we explore collaborative business models that would allow for win-win situations going forward for both distribution utilities and private operators. We use a modification of the existing distribution franchisee model to allow the mini grids operations to manage not only metering and billing but also operation and maintenance as well as generation. We show that it is possible to create business models that not only are appealing from a financial perspective – i.e., in not only improving distribution utility margins but also in meeting private operator criteria of 12% internal rate of return – but also meet multiple policy objectives such as provision of 24-hour electricity reliably and meeting renewable power obligations. However, we also show that the eventual success of these models would critically depend on the distribution utilities and mini grid operators agreeing on elements of these business models, in particular equitable sharing of roles and responsibilities around generation, distribution, operations and maintenance, metering and billing, as well as financial value. • We examine scaling reliable electricity access in India, using a public private partnership model. • It is possible to meet financial criteria for investment but also multiple policy objectives. • Eventual success depends on stakeholders agreeing on elements of business models [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]