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This paper examines the Linguistic Survey of India (LSI), a monumental exercise supervised by George Grierson to survey and classify the languages of colonial India. It considers why the LSI developed into an atypical scheme that corresponded with a multiethnic and multinational network of officials and scholars to survey India's languages. It makes the case that the networked practice of surveying was reciprocated at different scales, from localised linguistic surveys in districts and princely states to gather information and specimens, to a loosely governed transnational exercise involving Indians and Europeans to edit, review and publish results. The paper argues that the LSI's scalar geographies were negotiated by Grierson and, more importantly, his assistant Gauri Kant Roy and demonstrates that scale, as an analytic or process, was not an abstraction or predetermined for those entangled in the LSI's survey of India's languages. • Examines the Linguistic Survey of India from a historical geography perspective. • Highlights the LSI's uniqueness as a colonial Indian survey. • Draws on underutilised materials from National Archives of India. • Proposes a scalar and networked approach to the history of science and surveying. • Emphasises the significance of Gauri Kant Roy and various Indian surveyors in shaping India's linguistic geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents new ways of thinking about both the spatial relationality of a political event, and a mobile perspective on interwar imperialism, anti-colonialism and Indian nationalism. Between 1930 and 1932 over one hundred delegates from India visited London to participate in the three sessions of the Round Table Conference, which determined India's constitutional future within the British Empire. This conference informally began, and continued, at sea, during the two to three week journey between India and Britain. The steamships that the delegates travelled in are portrayed here as places of work, drawing especially on the diaries of the Hindu nationalist Dr B.S. Moonje, but also of social observation and tension, illustrated through the coverage of M.K. Gandhi's spiritual journey. Through these seaborne political lives the conference itself was anticipated and digested across the watery expanses between Europe and India. • Provides a mobile historical geography of interwar imperialism, nationalism and anti-colonialism. • Analyses ship journeys between India and Britain as sites of political activity. • Studies the Round Table Conference (London, 1930–1932) beyond its spatial and temporal confines. • Uses official and private archives to detail steamship journeys between India and Britain as working and socialising places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Migrant Suitcase is a metaphor to understand how social remittances are taken, brought back and transformed. Migrants bring with them different cultural norms, food and eating practices. In this paper I review the concept of social remittances in light of material culture, food and eating practices and examine the linkages between food, belonging, commensality and care and then provide empirical examples from the suitcases of Indian migrants. This paper is based on 30 in-depth interviews conducted among Indian migrants living in The Netherlands. The main themes from the data included food from home, cooking practices, food sharing and family relationships. Migrants' sense of belonging was intrinsically related to the food they brought from home and the memories it generates. The practices of cooking and sensorial experiences surrounding them demonstrate the place and home making processes. Commensality with co-ethnics led to a sense of community and stronger community bonds. Commensality with other non-Indian groups was perceived to be problematic. The exchanges of food, eating practices, and care create a sense of 'co-presence' in lives migrants and their transnational families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial and temporal variability of macrobenthic community in intertidal habitats is governed by various physicochemical factors. Finding the relationship between environmental parameters and the biotic element of an ecosystem have been the centre of ecological studies. This paper describes the influence of environmental parameters in structuring the benthic community at spatial and temporal scales. Samplings were carried out on seasonal basis for a period of two years (August 2013 to July 2015). Fauna was collected from three soft-bottom intertidal locations (CH, MP and CT) using 25 × 25 cm quadrat along the Port Blair coast, south Andaman, India. A total of 112 macrofaunal taxa belonging to 4 major and 2 minor phyla were recorded. Polychaeta was the most dominant taxa followed by Amphipoda. Statistical analyses revealed that macrobenthic faunal assemblages were significantly different at spatial scale but not on temporal pattern. The distribution of macrobenthic fauna at spatial scale was mainly influenced by sediment characteristics (organic matter and grain size). Amphipods dominated the locations where sediment having coarser grain size and low organic matter whereas polychaetes and molluscs were found abundant at the locations characterised with fine sediment and high organic matter. This study concludes that in the regions where temporal variability is not significant, the sediment characteristics, which together with beach morphodynamics play an important role in structuring the benthic community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • An ODE model of dengue is studied to assess the effect of active case finding (ACF). • Sensitivity results reveal that ACF of infected persons will reduce dengue prevalence. • Model is calibrated using dengue data from eight endemic states of India. • Future projections indicate that ACF of symptomatic patients will be effective in controlling dengue prevalence. • Integration of ACF with existing controls will accelerate dengue case reduction. Abstract Dengue control in India is a challenging task due to complex healthcare settings. In yesteryears, an amplification of dengue infections in India posed the need for introspection of existing dengue control policies. Prior understanding of the impacts of control interventions is necessary for their future implementation. In this paper, we propose and analyze a compartmental model of dengue to assess the impact of active case finding (ACF) on dengue disease transmission. Currently, primary prevention of dengue is possible only with vector control and personal protection from the bites of infected mosquitoes. Although a few experimental studies are performed to assess ACF in dengue disease, but this is the first attempt to represent and study the dynamics of disease using ACF as a control strategy. Local and global dynamics of the system are studied. We use sensitivity analysis to see the effects of controllable parameters of the model on the basic reproduction number and total number of infective population. We find that decrease in the biting rate of mosquitoes, and increase in the rate of hospitalization and/or notification, death rate of mosquitoes and ACF for asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals play crucial role for the reduction of disease prevalence. We calibrate our model to the yearly dengue cases in eight dengue endemic states of India. The results of our study show that ACF of symptomatic individuals will have significant effect on dengue case reduction but ACF of asymptomatic individuals cannot be ignored. Our findings indicate that the healthcare organizations must focus on ACF of symptomatic as well as asymptomatic individuals along with personal protection and mosquitoes control to achieve rapid reduction of dengue cases in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This article examines how theories of Aryanism influenced geographic theories of race and environmental influence. The argument is made that the entanglements between Aryanism and geographic theories of race provide a new site in assessing the history of geographic thought. It begins by illuminating the rise of Aryanism in colonial India. As it moved across time and space, Aryanism became a foundational element in racial science, and informed a number of disciplines, including geography. The majority of the article is devoted to exposing the influence of Aryanism in American geography from the mid nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries. The paper finds that the influential geographers Arnold Guyot, Nathaniel Shaler, Friedrich Ratzel, Ellen Semple, and Ellsworth Huntington were all indebted to Aryanism in the production of their theories of race and the environment. Highlights • Uncovers the relationship between the discipline of Geography and Orientalism in colonial India. • Emphasizes the intersection of Aryanism and environmentalism in theories of race. • Reevaluates canonical American geographic scholarship. • Identifies the geography of Aryan ideologies across space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has an adverse impact on rural livelihoods by increasing vulnerability and reducing crop yields. Climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices have been advanced as a possible solution to adopt and mitigate climate change issues. Administering a structured questionnaire survey among the 494 rural farming households of an eastern Indian state, namely Odisha, the study explores the key determinants of CSA adoption. Three districts, one from the state's coastal and two from the inland regions, are chosen for the study. The majority of the respondents (85%) perceive an increase in temperature and (76%) perceive a decrease in rainfall due to climate change in the region. The respondents have adopted a range of CSA practices such as rescheduling planting (74.5%), crop rotation (59.3%), crop diversification (31.2%), soil conservation (62.1%), drought-resistant seeds (36%) and agroforestry (10.3%) to adapt to these weather anomalies. The current paper employs a multivariate probit model in which the findings of econometric modelling have been triangulated to explore the key determinants of the adoption of CSA practices. The result shows that the key determinants are – perception of climate change, agricultural extension services, and access to energy for irrigation. • Climate change has adversely affected yields and the livelihood of rural farmers in Odisha. • Climate-smart agricultural practices have been advanced as a possible solution. • A multivariate method has been used to analyze the factors affecting the adaption. • Perception, access to extension and energy sources are the major determinants. • The information gap and lack of financial and market access are the barriers to adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines India's experiences as the only non-self-governing member of the League of Nations as a means of addressing the broader question: where was the international? As the only non-self-governing member of the League, India's new international status exposed both its external, more imperial, as well as its internal, more colonial, anomalies. This paper examines, first, the Indian anomaly from the 'inside out', looking at India's representation and silencing at Geneva, and how Indian commentators assessed India's external status in the League. Secondly, it considers the Indian anomaly from the 'outside in', by exploring colonial tensions that the internationalism of the League provoked relating to India's internal political geography. The League posed taxing questions about the Government of India's decision to exclude international law from the spaces between British and Princely India, examined here through the example of trafficking in women and children. In exploring India's anomalous situation two broader approaches are deployed. The first is a scalar methodology, which shows how the concepts of the national and international operated at various scales, with India's burgeoning sense of nationhood taking one of its many shapes in the international sphere, while the internationalism of the League seeped into the national fissures between British and Princely India. Secondly, the paper approaches these questions through the lens of sovereignty. Moving beyond associations with the juridical and the territorial, it explores sovereignty as: representational (diplomacy); governmental (administration), theoretical (political philosophy), political (anti-colonialism), territorial (political geography) and contractual (international law). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides an historical perspective on everyday experiences of weather and climate, through an analysis of the diaries of two colonial figures in Bombay, western India, in the 1820s: Mountstuart EIphinstone (the then Governor) and Lucretia West (the wife of the Chief Justice). The paper explores the ways in which climate impacted upon their daily routine and health, and discusses evidence for the influence of wider climatic narratives within their writings. Climate played a dominant and complex role within colonial discourse, providing both a barrier to colonisation, and a justification for European governance over populations that had become 'degenerate' through their exposure to tropical climates. Both of the diaries evidence this influence of climate within the colonists' daily lives, but demonstrate the differing responses to climate based on the two diarists' social positions. Mountstuart Elphinstone, in particular, had a strong sense of the impact of climate upon his health, in keeping with contemporary medical beliefs equating climate with physical wellbeing. The paper provides evidence of the evolution of acclimatisation discourse during the early nineteenth century, and suggests that European beliefs concerning tropical climates were changing simultaneously within both the medical establishment and the wider colonial community. The paper also explores the medical excursions that the diarists took to towns in the Western Ghats. It is apparent that their experiences of the climate in such towns were influenced by their prior expectations, a theme which resonates with discourses of climate in our own times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Multidisciplinary spatial studies are relatively limited in Indian archaeology, despite their potential for research and heritage management. This paper discusses applications of satellite remote sensing, field studies and GIS, in the context of Palaeolithic archaeology. The study region covers an area of around 8000 km2, in the state of Tamil Nadu, South India, and is characterized by a rich and diverse Palaeolithic record. Satellite images of varied spatial resolutions were interpreted to address both regional and site-specific research questions. Thematic maps were generated from satellite data and refined with intensive field investigations. These were used for demarcating sources of raw material, and in investigating variability in the distribution of sites through time in relation to a range of geological and geomorphological features. Satellite data and field studies also aided in mapping impacts on sites resulting from modern landuse patterns. The paper also discusses the development and testing of a model to detect potential areas where new sites may be rapidly located. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The deep, and persistent, colonial roots of many contemporary environmental policies around the world have been increasingly recognized over the last decade. Research in the sectors of agriculture, forestry, human medicine, and public health has illuminated how environmental policies were constructed and utilized during the colonial period, as well as how many of these policies remain influential today. This paper examines the as yet little explored contribution of colonial veterinary medicine to the development and implementation of environmental policy. By comparing the experiences of the French in North Africa and the British in India, it demonstrates that some colonial veterinarians had a great deal of influence on environmental policy while others had very little. In French North Africa veterinarians played a significant role in developing rangeland management policies that impacted large swaths of these three territories, policies that can still be felt today. In British India, by contrast, the role of colonial veterinarians in developing environmental policy was much more circumscribed and, in the end, largely inconsequential. The paper suggests that three primary factors account for most of this dissimilarity: the differences in animal diseases present in India and the Maghreb; the differences between French and British veterinary education before the twentieth century; and the differences in colonial administration between the two European powers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The colonial census was a bureaucratic device which provided an essential abstraction from social reality, a ‘statistical fix’ designed to map individual social groups in space. This paper considers the contradictions associated with colonial knowledge systems as reflected in the census grafted onto Burmese society in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It attempts to chart the general adoption and adaptation, in the Burmese context, of a classificatory scheme which categorised labour as either productive or unproductive. Colonialism introduced new attitudes towards work and labour which reinforced patriarchal values which contrasted with more egalitarian Burmese socio-economic systems. The paper suggests that a simple classification of women workers as either productive or unproductive in the Burmese census between 1872 and 1931 resulted in the devaluation of their status as workers. This devaluation was a function of both real economic transformation taking place in the empire and changes in census classification, reflecting a gendering of occupations that undermined the cultural norms of Burmese society. The material result was that women became statistically less visible as economically productive workers. Such ascriptions of value to women workers were largely informed by moral considerations originating in England. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Safety of sanitation workers remains an often-ignored aspect in Fecal Sludge Management. While shifting workers from manual to mechanical means of de-sludging remains a priority, this paper highlights that there are a number of safety issues, including exposure to sludge, faced by sanitation workers, even in a mechanised context, where de-sludging trucks are utilised to provide de-sludging services. Based on a detailed analysis of observation of stakeholders and extensive process documentation (of de-sludging process), and expert interviews, the study identified three key safety concerns: inhalation of harmful gases, contact with sludge, and physical injury, and determined the underlying cause for the same, using a systems thinking approach. These causes are varied including behaviours and practices by households such as non-compliance of septic tank construction to design standards, irregular cleaning, improper disposal of inappropriate items in toilets; inappropriate or inadequate design of decanting stations, tools and equipment, and inadequate awareness and knowledge among all stakeholders. Using the hierarchy of controls framework, a set of measures are described to increase the safety of workers. These proposed interventions go beyond the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and range from behaviour change campaigns, improvements in decanting stations, better access to appropriately designed tools. The study highlights the need to place emphasis on eliminating, substituting and controlling the hazards as necessary steps for PPE to be relevant. Finally, the paper places the issue of occupational safety within the larger context of the informal nature of de-sludging occupation and the overall vulnerability of workers. It posits that this makes safety more complicated to address as several factors need to be taken into account, and actions are required by multiple sets of actors. • Safety concerns are prevalent even with mechanical desludging. • Key concerns are exposure to harmful gases, skin infections and physical injury. • hierarchy of control pyramid need to be addressed in totality. • Measures to improve worker safety must address existing processes and practices. • All stakeholders – households, workers, government are responsible to ensure safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observations in the Mandovi estuary, located on the central west coast of India, have shown that the salinity field in this estuary is remarkably time-dependent and passes through all possible states of stratification (riverine, highly-stratified, partially-mixed and well-mixed) during a year as the runoff into the estuary varies from high values (∼1000 m 3 s −1 ) in the wet season to negligible values (∼1 m 3 s −1 ) at end of the dry season. The time-dependence is forced by the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and hence the estuary is referred to as a monsoonal estuary. In this paper, we use a three-dimensional, open source, hydrodynamic, numerical model to reproduce the observed annual salinity field in the Mandovi. We then analyse the model results to define characteristics of residual estuarine circulation in the Mandovi. Our motivation to study this aspect of the Mandovi's dynamics is derived from the following three considerations. First, residual circulation is important to long-term evolution of an estuary; second, we need to understand how this circulation responds to strongly time-dependent runoff forcing experienced by a monsoonal estuary; and third, Mandovi is among the best studied estuaries that come under the influence of ISM, and has observations that can be used to validate the model. Our analysis shows that the residual estuarine circulation in the Mandovi shows four distinct phases during a year: a river like flow that is oriented downstream throughout the estuary; a salt-wedge type circulation, with flow into the estuary near the bottom and out of the estuary near the surface restricted close to the mouth of the estuary; circulation associated with a partially-mixed estuary; and, the circulation associated with a well-mixed estuary. Dimensional analysis of the field of residual circulation helped us to establish the link between strength of residual circulation at a location and magnitude of river runoff and rate of mixing at the location. We then derive an analytical expression that approximates exchange velocity (bottom velocity minus near freshwater velocity at a location) as a function of freshwater velocity and rate of mixing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the question of the diffusion of morpho-functional traits across social boundaries. A present-day situation is examined. It describes the widespread adoption of a granite tempered water jar by two social communities of potters who used to produce distinct ranges of morpho-functional vessels. The analysis of the transmission mechanisms shows that diffusion of such traits occurred both through indirect and direct transmission. Indirect transmission occurred at the inter-group level while direct transmission under the form of technical guidance occurred at the intra-group level. These were triggered by the intention of the artisans to produce a model valued by the consumers and which sells well. This intention took place in a context of collapse of the previous economic system. These results suggest that in a context where ceramic production was previously diversified and economically complementary, the standardization of morpho-functional traits signals that an established «rule» was transgressed and therefore that major socio-economic changes took place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide malaria risk due to Plasmodium vivax makes development of vaccine against P. vivax , a high priority. Serine Repeat Antigen of P. vivax (PvSERA) is a multigene family of blood stage proteins with 12 homologues. Sequence diversity studies are important for understanding them as potential vaccine candidates. No information on N-terminal diversity of these genes is available in literature. In this paper, we evaluate the genetic polymorphism of N-terminal regions of the highly expressed member PvSERA4 and PvSERA5 genes from Indian field isolates. Our results show that PvSERA4 has deletions and insertions in Glutamine rich tetrameric repeat units contributing to its diversity. PvSERA5 also exhibits high genetic diversity with non-synonymous substitutions leading to identification of novel haplotypes from India. Our first report helps in elucidating the allelic variants of PvSERA genes in this region and contributes to evaluating their efficacy as vaccine candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the application of a new methodology for coastal multi-hazard assessment & management under a changing global climate on the state of Karnataka, India. The recently published methodology termed the Coastal Hazard Wheel (CHW) is designed for local, regional and national hazard screening in areas with limited data availability, and covers the hazards of ecosystem disruption, gradual inundation, salt water intrusion, erosion and flooding. The application makes use of published geophysical data and remote sensing information and is showcasing how the CHW framework can be applied at a scale relevant for regional planning purposes. It uses a GIS approach to develop regional and sub-regional hazard maps as well as to produce relevant hazard risk data, and includes a discussion of uncertainties, limitations and management perspectives. The hazard assessment shows that 61 percent of Karnataka's coastline has a high or very high inherent hazard of erosion, making erosion the most prevalent coastal hazard. The hazards of flooding and salt water intrusion are also relatively widespread as 39 percent of Karnataka's coastline has a high or very high inherent hazard for both of these hazard types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice can be cultivated in a range of arable systems, including upland rainfed, lowland rainfed or irrigated, flooded or décrue, and deep water cultivation. These agricultural regimes represent ecosystems controlled to large degree by agricultural practices, and can be shown to produce different weed flora assemblages. In order to reconstruct early rice cultivation systems it is necessary to better establish how ancient rice farming practices may be seen using archaeobotanical data. This paper focuses on using modern analogue phytolith assemblages of associated crop weeds found within cultivation regimes, as well as in wild rice stands (unplanted stands of Oryza nivara or Oryza rufipogon ), as a means of interpreting archaeobotanical assemblages. Rice weeds and sediment samples have been recorded and collected from a range of arable systems and wild stands in India. The husks, leaves and culms of associated weeds were processed for phytolith reference samples, and sediment samples were processed for phytoliths in order to establish patterns identifiable to specific systems. The preliminary results of the phytolith analysis of samples from these modern fields demonstrate that phytolith assemblage statistics show correlation with variation in rice cultivation systems on the basis of differences in environmental conditions and regimes, with wetness being one major factor. Analysis of phytoliths from archaeological samples from contrasting systems in Neolithic China and India demonstrate how this method can be applied to separate archaeological regions and periods based on inferred differences in past agricultural practices, identifying wet cultivation systems in China, dry millet-dominated agriculture of north China and rainfed/dry rice in Neolithic India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wastewater management predominantly takes the form of On-Site Sanitation (OSS) in low- and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs). In India, households construct and operate OSS systems in the absence of regulatory oversight and seldom in compliance with the national technical standards – posing a risk to water sources and public health. The present paper reviews novel evidence on the quality of these systems from a multi-state survey of 3000 households in India to identify policy and practice interventions for creating sustainable urban sanitation futures. The paper argues for local and national governments to unlock the potential of OSS as a safe and long-term wastewater management solution through (1) re-envisioning the system design to simultaneously meet household and environmental needs, (2) fostering prefabrication of systems as a means to distribute the compliance responsibility optimally, and (3) updating technical standards for facilitating such a paradigm shift. • Septic tanks in urban India are non-compliant and fail to provide safe sanitation. • High urban densities preclude subsoil dispersion as scalable solution. • Wider adoption of prefabricated 'packaged' on-site systems can improve sanitation. • Standards for on-site system performance are key to facilitate the transition. • Greywater management needs mainstreaming within new systems, policy, and standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographical imaginaries are used by newspapers to interpret and make sense of foreign news, and to position their imagined readership in front of world events. Coverage in The New York Times of two notable assassinations in India is analyzed in order to compare and contrast the geographical imaginaries in use as each killing was constructed as a dramatic news story. Both assassinations were framed by a specific geopolitical context, the postwar reordering of the world in the case of Mohandas K. Gandhi, and the re-energized Cold War in the case of Indira Gandhi. This framing is reinforced by the globalized networks of news production used to report each event. While the analysis shows the expected narration of these events using Cold War narratives and terms, it also reveals shifting forms of Orientalism and civilization discourse at work, as well as ideas about terror, which demonstrate both the wide range of available framings and the variety of possible interpretations of these events. The paper argues that the geographical imaginaries used in this coverage cannot be read off a Cold War lexicon alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The megalithic period in India is notable for the emergence and development of iron metallurgy and the appearance of new burials known as megaliths. A number of iron objects from megalithic sites in the Vidarbha region of India, dating to the first half of the 1st millennium BC, have been examined for their microstructures and carbon distributions. The artifact assemblage consists mainly of edged or pointed tools and weapons, along with some domestic implements. Results show that the technology applied in their manufacture is characterized by the use of low carbon iron of bloomery origin and the application of surface carburization as the primary means of steelmaking. The functional parts of the objects examined were made mostly of steel with their mechanical properties finely adjusted through a combination of quenching and tempering. Of particular importance are certain fan-shaped plates which we believe were produced and circulated as intermediaries to meet a wide range of consumer needs. It appears that the Vidarbha megalithic communities shared a fully developed and well-standardized iron technology of substantial flexibility. While exceptions to this general trend were found in some unfinished or used objects, these do not suggest the presence of an inferior technological status. This paper raises questions as to the origin of such a developed technology, and will discuss the probable spreading of several key technical ideas which bear striking similarities to those noted in the early iron traditions of Korea. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article examines the structural aspects of climate vulnerabilities in the context of monsoon failures. The paper is based on a unique household survey, conducted in Tamil Nadu, India. The study uses a rural differentiation framework to interrogate unequal vulnerabilities to monsoon failures, based on measures such as Gini coefficients and Lorenz curves of monetary losses. Results show that negative consequences of climate change in general, and monsoon failures in particular, intensify pre-existing socio-economic disparities. When the rural differentiation theory is applied in a broader sense, the analysis shows that landed and farming households have greater exposure and losses. When we move beyond these aggregate categories, the revelation is that households with pre-existing disadvantages such as marginal landholders, subsistence farmers and agricultural workers are more vulnerable. • Global warming affects agriculture in South Asia in a major way through monsoon failures. • Vulnerability to monsoon failures can be measured by associated monetary losses. • These losses are highly unevenly distributed, pointing to significant inequality in impacts. • Landless households, marginal holders and subsistence farmers have higher losses. • Climate change intensifies existing structural disadvantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper provides a comparative perspective on the development of public primary education in four of the largest developing economies circa 1910: Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). These four countries encompassed more than 50% of the world's population in 1910, but remarkably few of their citizens attended any school by the early 20th century. We present new, comparable data on school inputs and outputs for BRIC drawn from contemporary surveys and government documents. Recent studies emphasize the importance of political decentralization, and relatively broad political voice for the early spread of public primary education in developed economies. We identify the former and the lack of the latter to be important in the context of BRIC, but we also outline how other factors such as factor endowments, colonialism, serfdom, and, especially, the characteristics of the political and economic elite help explain the low achievement levels of these four countries and the incredible amount of heterogeneity within each of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing countries across the world have embraced the policy of high economic growth as a means to reduce poverty. This economic growth largely based on industrial output is fast degrading the ecosystems, jeopardizing their long term sustainability. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has long been recognized as a tool which can help in protecting the ecosystems and aid sustainable development. The Screening guidelines for EIA reflect the level of commitment the nation displays towards tightening its environmental protection system. The paper analyses the screening process for EIA in India and dissects the rationale behind the exclusions and thresholds set in the screening process. The screening process in India is compared with that of the European Union with the aim of understanding the extent of deviations from a screening approach in the context of better economic development. It is found that the Indian system excludes many activities from the purview of screening itself when compared to the EU. The constraints responsible for these exclusions are discussed and the shortcomings of the current command and control system of environmental management in India are also explained. It is suggested that an ecosystem carrying capacity based management system can provide significant inputs to enhance the effectiveness of EIA process from screening to monitoring. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents the motivation, procedures, and results of an experiment that examines short episodes of animal trampling in dry and water saturated substrates in South India. While horizontal artifact displacement was similar to that modeled by other trampling experiments, vertical artifact displacement in water saturated substrates was greater than any reported experiment to date. The toolstone used in this experiment, a silicious limestone, exhibited minimal damage after trampling. Artifact inclination patterning appeared to be a potentially diagnostic middle-range marker of trampling in water saturated substrates. Given the abundant number of Paleolithic sites that are located on flat, open surfaces near water-bodies, or experience monsoonal climatic regimes, we propose that future excavations should measure artifact inclination on a regular basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper measures the effects of public expenditures on literacy in early 20th century British India. Using a new dataset and an instrumental variables strategy, I find that public investments in primary education had positive and statistically significant effects on literacy. A 10 percent increase in 1911 per-capita spending or 44 additional primary schools would have translated into a 2.6 percentage point increase in 1921 literacy in the population aged 15-20. The findings, however, differ by gender: the IV estimates on spending are statistically significant only for male literacy. India's historical experience thus suggests that building more schools would not have solved the problem of female illiteracy that continues to persist even today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Middle Son valley in north-central India preserves extensive Quaternary alluvial deposits. A long history of archaeological and geological research in the valley has resulted in the discovery of lithic assemblages ranging from Lower Palaeolithic to microlithic, a rich corpus of fossilised faunal remains, and ash deposits from the ∼74,000year-old Toba supereruption. This paper reviews the chronology and stratigraphy of the valley’s Quaternary sediments, and presents a model that hypothesizes the temporal sequence of important lithic assemblages from excavated and surface contexts. Artefacts in these assemblages are analysed and changes in lithic technology through time are described; this evidence is used to propose shifts in hominin behaviour and demographic structure in this region during the Upper Pleistocene. Recognising gaps in our understanding of the Middle Son record, future avenues of research are recommended that will build upon previous research and address questions of palaeoanthropological significance. The Middle Son valley preserves a long and rich record of hominin occupation from all periods of the Palaeolithic that is rarely paralleled by other sites in India. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Globally, all countries have producing different levels of carbon emissions and also facing both the problems of climate change and global warming due high carbon emissions in the atmosphere. Therefore, it is important to cutting carbon emissions in the atmosphere. This is only possible by switching to cleaner fuels, use of innovation technologies and development of carbon capture storages. These can substantially help the nations to reaching carbon neutrality. Given this background, t his paper examines the effect of disaggregated energy consumption, technological innovations, capital on economic output and CO 2 emissions in India for the period of 1990–2018. Based on empirical analysis, our long-run elasticities indicate that disaggregated energy consumption and technological innovations have a positive impact on economic growth, while renewable energy consumption and technological innovations have a positive impact on CO 2 emissions. It implies that more use of energy consumption producing significant amount of CO 2 emissions and by using renewable energy consumption and technological innovations (i.e. carbon capture storages) can significantly lowering CO 2 emissions, which is clearly indicating that India has moving towards carbon neutrality. The causality analysis further indicates a unidirectional causal relationship running from disaggregated energy usage to economic growth and carbon emissions. These empirical findings suggest that the increased consumption of renewable power does not lead to rise carbon emissions, which, in turn, ensures sustainable economic growth. • Examines the disaggregated energy consumption, technological innovations, capital on economic output and CO 2 emissions. • Time series data from 1990 to 2018 was used to analyze the empirical results. • Disaggregated energy consumption and technological innovations have a positive impact on economic growth. • Renewable energy consumption and technological innovations have a positive impact on CO 2 emissions. • Suggest that increased in consumption of renewable power does not lead to rise carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The neotropical rust fungus, Puccinia spegazzinii, was released in India in 2005 for the classical biological control of the invasive alien weed, Mikania micrantha. This paper contains data from the pest risk assessment that was undertaken prior to release. It includes studies on the life-cycle, pathotype variation, infection parameters and host-specificity testing. Inoculation studies confirmed the rust to be microcyclic and autoecious. Seven pathotypes of the rust from six countries were assessed for variation in macroscopic morphology, phenology, and disease development on M. micrantha. The results conclude that two ecotypes can be identified, and that this could be linked to potential efficacy under different climatic conditions. A pathotype of P. spegazzinii from Trinidad (IMI 3930670) was selected for detailed assessment prior to release in the Western Ghats of Kerala State, south-west India. The rust was able to infect M. micrantha at temperatures ranging from 15 to 25°C (optimum near to 18°C) and also after less than 10h of exposure to free-water on the plant surface (optimum near to 15h). More than 60 non-target plants were challenged with the rust, including 11 other Mikania species. The rust was found to be highly specific within the genus Mikania; only three species from Africa and one from Asia became infected with the rust to varying degrees. Three other species, closely-related to M. micrantha, developed chlorotic spots in response to the rust; however, the symptoms progressed no further. The anticipated field efficacy of the rust in the invasive range of the plant is discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Background : This paper uses qualitative data to explore differences in tobacco use patterns and tobacco use prevention efforts among teachers in two Indian states with high versus low prevalence of tobacco use. Methods : We conducted a series of 12 focus groups with teachers in 12 schools in Maharashtra and Bihar following a standardized script, and analyzed data using standard qualitative methods. Results : Teachers in Bihar reported higher levels of tobacco use and stronger social norms promoting tobacco use compared to those in Maharashtra; nonetheless, teachers in both states reported strong social prescriptions about teachers'' not using tobacco. Few supports were available for cessation. Although focus group participants were generally aware that tobacco use has deleterious health effects, not all were knowledgeable of specific health consequences, in particular resulting from the use of smokeless tobacco. Key barriers to teaching about tobacco use prevention were reported, including the lack of its inclusion in standard curricula and large class sizes; these results also underscore the importance of support for tobacco control policies. Conclusions : These findings point to the need for a multi-pronged approach to tobacco use prevention that involves the government, school administration, as well as teachers, parents, and the broader community, and including support to tobacco use cessation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Background : This paper compares tobacco use patterns and tobacco use prevention efforts among teachers in two Indian states with high versus low prevalence of tobacco use. Methods : Data from the Global School Personnel Survey compared tobacco use patterns and tobacco use prevention activities among teachers from the Indian states of Maharashtra (N = 954) and Bihar (N = 524). Results : 78% of teachers in Bihar and 31% from Maharashtra were current tobacco users. Tobacco control policies were virtually non-existent in schools in Bihar, while in Maharashtra, over one-fourth of teachers reported that tobacco use was prohibited among both students and teachers. Few teachers in Bihar taught their students about tobacco use prevention, while such teaching was more common in Maharashtra. In Maharashtra, teaching about tobacco use prevention was significantly associated with not currently using tobacco (P < 0.0001), having a policy specifically prohibiting tobacco use among students (P < 0.0001), and having a policy specifically prohibiting tobacco use among school personnel (P < 0.0001). Conclusions : This study has clear implications for implementation of tobacco control policies in Indian schools and further underscores the need for infrastructure support for tobacco use prevention in developing countries such as India, where tobacco use threatens to contribute to a growing proportion of the burden of disease worldwide. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A trade in carnelian from Gujarat, especially the town of Khambhat, and parts of sub-Saharan Africa is often discussed in the literature. To date, such assertions have been based upon putative visual parallels between African and Indian samples, and upon historical sources. This paper outlines the results of UV-LA-ICP-MS analysis and subsequent principal component analysis undertaken in an attempt to differentiate Gujarati and West African carnelian samples, and thus begins to allow inferences to be made regarding a possible trade in carnelian between these two regions primarily in the medieval period, based upon more objective data. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines how inequality in access to credit affects the strategic behavior of users of a common resource in their investment and extraction decisions. A dynamic two-stage game is developed in which agents choose the level of sunk investment in capacity and the consequent extraction path. The results show that agents invest in excess capacity, except when inequality is very high. The relation between inequality and efficiency in resource extraction is found to be non-monotonic, with the steady-state resource stock being closest to the optimal level when either inequality is very high or very low. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

India's large population, rapidly growing economy, and the consequent rising plastic waste, has necessitated the need for an efficient and effective plastic waste management (PWM) system for ensuring an environmentally cleaner and sustainable future. Consequently, PWM policy in India has recently undergone a substantial shift from being an informally organized, largely uncoordinated set of programs towards becoming a formal and integrated system based on the extended producer responsibility (EPR) approach. This paper explicates the evolution, development, implementation, and implications of the Indian EPR framework for PWM by developing an integrative mixed-method case study. Using a theory-based stakeholder evaluation model, the study critically analyzes the drivers and constraining factors from a multi-stakeholder perspective and provides prescriptive suggestions on EPR policy formulation and implementation. It highlights three themes i.e., (a) robust regulatory architecture; (b) operational mechanism; and (c) ecosystem catalysts, whose nature, dynamics, and practicality shall determine the future of the Indian EPR framework and those of comparable emerging economies. • Weak EPR policy and system leads to sub-optimal waste management outcomes. • Single universal EPR mechanism isn't feasible due to the inherent diversity of India. • Five key drivers and six constrainers explain likely effect of Indian EPR system. • Regulatory architecture is a key theme that affects implementation of EPR system. • Operational mechanism and eco-system catalysts are critical themes for an EPR system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fecal Sludge Treatment or Septage Management is increasingly being recognised as an effective and appropriate method to scale urban sanitation systems to achieve safe sanitation, particularly in small towns and cities. As implementation progresses, data-based evidence is emerging, highlighting the challenges faced on the ground, and the requisite planning necessary to address them. This paper presents the findings, challenges and possible ways ahead from a study conducted to provide data for Fecal Sludge Management (FSM) planning for a small town in a state in southern India. With the objective of understanding the nature of containment structures and on-ground desludging practices, 8,001 households and 1,667 establishments were studied in Periyanaicken-Palayam (PNP), a non-sewered Town Panchayat in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, to provide evidence for effective decision-making. The study showed wide variations in the sizing and design of the containment systems, which, when combined with the irregular frequency of desludging, has implications for FSM planning by municipal bodies. This study also highlights the methodological difficulties in studying containment systems, exposes a significant response bias given the limited understanding of containment systems within households, and spotlights the difficulty in physically verifying the reported data given the underground nature of these systems. • Wastewater treatment, an SDG6 focus, requires broadening scope of urban sanitation. • Methodological difficulties exist in data collection on containment systems. • Containments design and construction deviations from norms impact sanitation chain. • Methods and practices to standardise new, and retrofit old containments needed. • FSM planning needs to be cogniscant of variations in containment systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While mangroves are increasingly described as social-ecological systems (SESs), performing SES research is so much more than merely documenting local resource utilisation patterns in case studies. The aim of this paper is to review and show how ecological, human and institutional resilience could be understood and fostered in an era of uncertainty, through the adaptive cycle (AC) heuristic. Uncertainties come in many forms and shapes: climate change, social and economic dynamics, natural disasters, political and institutional disruption and ever-increasing public demands for participation. Social-ecological studies form windows of experimentation that can provide insights beyond their case-specific context. In order to synthesise and structure the cumulative knowledge base arising from existing and future studies, the need for a suitable overarching framework arose. Here, the AC heuristic represents the connectedness between variables of the mangrove SES versus the mangrove's accumulated capital (natural, built, human and social). We posit that the AC heuristic can be used to interpret spatial and temporal changes (ecological, social, economic, political) in mangrove SESs and we exemplify it by using the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami as well as a century-long silviculture case. The AC, combined with the SES scheme, allows integration of the spato-temporal dynamics and the multi-dimensional character of mangrove SESs. We also reviewed the ecosystem functions, services and disservices of mangrove SESs, linking each of them to SES capital and variable (fast or slow) attributes, which in turn are closely linked to the different axes and phases of the AC. We call upon mangrove scientists from the natural, applied, social and human sciences to join forces in fitting diversified empirical data from multiple case studies around the world to the AC heuristic. The aim is to reflect on and understand such complex dynamic systems with stakeholders having various (mutual) relationships at risk of breaking down, and to prepare for interactive adaptive planning for mangrove forests. Image 1 • The adaptive cycle (AC) represents connectedness vs natural/social capacity of a system. • The AC can be used to interpret spatio-temporal changes in a social-ecological system (SES). • We identify change drivers/variables in mangrove SESs using Ostrom (2009) framework. • We exemplify it by using tsunami and silviculture impact as cases. • We call upon mangrove scientists to fit empirical data to the AC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents develop food habits that affect both their present and future health. Underpinned by the stakeholder theory, this study was designed to explore the perspective of parents and nutrition educators regarding urban Indian adolescents' food habits. Thirty-two educators and 280 parents from five independent, English-speaking, secondary schools in Kolkata, India completed a paper-based instrument consisting of both closed and open-ended measures. Qualitative data were subjected to thematic analysis informed by the Template Analysis Technique. Descriptive and cross-tabulation analyses were employed to assess quantitative data. Three quarters (75%) of the respondents were dissatisfied with the ubiquitous consumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and sugar-sweetened beverages as well as the low intakes of healthy foods like fruits and vegetables among urban Indian adolescents. Six reasons were advanced for such unhealthy consumption including i) Proliferation of fast food retail outlets; ii) Hyper-palatability of fast food; iii) Marketing of fast food on electronic and social media; iv) Diminished household cooking practices; v) Lack of food knowledge; vi) Tendency to seek peer group acceptance. Both parents and educators suggested some healthy eating strategies aimed at improving the food and nutrition situation in Indian secondary schools to foster healthy eating among pupils. These included: i) Restrictions on the sale of unhealthy foods in school canteens; ii) Increased availability of attractive and palatable nutritious foods; iii) Discussion of the advantages of consuming healthy foods and inclusion of food preparation techniques in the school curriculum; iv) Home Economics coursework to be made mandatory for students. The findings suggest that Indian parents and teachers are likely to support changes to the food and nutrition curricula and to school food provision to foster healthy eating among adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]