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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while balancing the three dimensions of sustainability, are latent about the pathways to achieve it. The transition may involve trade‐offs between the different dimensions of sustainable development, like balancing the socio‐economic dimension with environmental limits. The paper attempts to demonstrate some of these channels for the leather value chain in India, which is a conspicuous source of precarious labour and polluting industrial processes. Interacting the firm's objectives with value chain governance, we introduce four quadrants for the transition to sustainability. Combining voices from the field with a novel dataset, we provide evidence of the intersections between socio‐economic and environmental sustainability illustrative of countries in the global South. The precarity of work and inadequate upgrading of the production process co‐exist in most firms. We find that firms tend to hover around baseline economies of lower costs, work precarity and hazardous processes while exhibiting inertia for a transition. However, a few units are either transitioning or have nearly attained decent work practices and progress to cleaner technologies. The sustainability transition demands engagement in the social and economic upgrading of production processes and organisational practices. It is multi‐dimensional, ameliorating precarious labour and upgrading to cleaner technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept and design of the 2 kWp polycrystalline floating photovoltaic (PV) system for agricultural irrigation purposes are presented in this paper. The well‐known major advantage of the floating PV system is its installation in the presence of water, which leads to cooling of the PV system that improves its efficiency. In addition to that, the floating PV system reduces the wastage of cultivation area required for its installation, and also, it reduces evaporation of water (for 20% of float cover) by the factor of 22.23 cm/year. But the floating PV systems face some confrontations such as low electrical reliability and reduced life of the mechanical structure due to nearby water surface. As an attempt to overcome the above issues, a small‐scale floating PV system prototype in a water reservoir at Kothavadi village, Tamil Nadu, India has been developed. The system comprises of a floater, mechanical structure, PV module, supporting anchor, under water cable, and motor. The power generated out of this proposed system is utilized for pumping the water from a nearby bore well, and pumped water is stored in the same reservoir where the floating PV system is installed. The water in the reservoir can be used by the farmer for their necessity. In this study, the energy production (month by month) is monitored. Furthermore, the economic analysis and PV modeling have been performed along with some maintenance aspects. The study helps the scientists and engineers to comprehend the performance and commercial viability of floating PV for rural farmers. It is anticipated that this work will inspire and direct farmers to install a floating PV irrigation system as a perfect alternate for the conventional systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The typification of names validated in a paper of 1803 concerning the plants encountered on a journey through what is now Tamil Nadu in southern India is reviewed. A number of name changes are necessitated. Psilotrichum patulum becomes the correct name for P. elliotii, Euphorbia glaucescens is the correct name for E. corrigioloides, Oldenlandia pusilla is the correct name for O. attenuata and Kohautia attenuata is the correct name for K. aspera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural disasters affect economic activities and welfare of small‐scale producers in developing countries, but may also offer opportunities to reinvest in productive asset, economic capital, and new technologies for future economic prospects. This paper investigates the impacts of a livelihood recovery project that provided access to finance and rehabilitated communal infrastructures in the coastal communities of Tamil Nadu, India which were severely affected by the 2004 tsunami. We replicate the project's eligibility criteria to build the counterfactual to identify control households based on the validation of secondary data and administrative records. Using data from a carefully designed primary survey, we estimate the impacts of providing access to finance and rehabilitating communal infrastructures on economic and livelihood outcomes. Results indicate positive and significant impacts on income, asset and food security. These impacts are mainly driven by improved access to finance provided and participation in groups. Findings highlight the importance of ensuring access to finance for sustainable economic recovery among small‐scale producers, particularly in the aftermath of natural disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds on the concept of the "socio‐ecological fix" to emphasise the contradictions inherent in seeking to produce nature through such fixes for insecure petty commodity producers who occupy the class place of both labour and capital. I explore how petty commodity producer households cultivating tobacco in western Tamil Nadu, South India, are reworking labour practices in managing erratic rainfall and groundwater depletion. Agriculture in Tamil Nadu is in decline, and dominated by small and marginal farming households that oscillate between agrarian production and waged work to make ends meet. These unstable petty commodity producer households have historically accumulated in western Tamil Nadu, through labour exploitation and the appropriation of groundwater, in order to transition to petty industry. However the long‐term decline of the region's aquifers highlights the limits of such over‐exploitation. The paper makes two contributions in exploring how petty commodity producer households are remaking space to move beyond agrarian accumulation. First, the paper highlights the biophysical limits of seeking to produce nature through socio‐ecological fixes, therefore acknowledging the mercurial as well as produced aspects of nature as a form of space. Second, in adjusting to such biophysical limits on productive capacity, the paper highlights how petty commodity producer households enact forms of resilience and reworking in decreasing their reliance on waged workers and remaking agrarian landscapes to demand less labour, tending away from accumulation and towards salaried jobs. Overall, the paper looks to explore how petty commodity producers, which constitute a norm in Global South agrarian settings, offer new paths for thinking about forms of class‐entangled geographical space‐making in understanding trajectories of socio‐ecological accumulation. First, the paper highlights the biophysical limits of seeking to produce nature through socio‐ecological fixes, therefore acknowledging the mercurial as well as produced aspects of nature as a form of space. Second, in adjusting to such biophysical limits on productive capacity, the paper highlights how petty commodity producing households enact forms of resilience and reworking as spatial agents, tending away from accumulation and towards salaried jobs. Overall, the paper looks to explore how petty commodity producers, who constitute a norm in Global South agrarian settings, offer new paths for thinking about forms of geographical resistance in understanding trajectories of socio‐ecological accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insufficient progress in the development of national highways and state highways, coupled with a lack of public awareness regarding road safety, has resulted in prevalent traffic congestion and a high rate of accidents. Understanding the dominant and contributing factors that may influence road traffic accident severity is essential. This study identified the primary causes and the most significant target‐specific causative factors for road accident severity. A modified partitioning around medoids model determined the dominant road accident features. These clustering algorithms will extract hidden information from the road accident data and generate new features for our implementation. Then, the proposed method is compared with the other state‐of‐the‐art clustering techniques with three performance metrics: the silhouette coefficient, the Davies–Bouldin index, and the Calinski–Harabasz index. This article's main contribution is analyzing six different scenarios (different angles of the problem) concerning grievous and non‐injury accidents. This analysis provides deeper insights into the problem and can assist transport authorities in Tamil Nadu, India, in deriving new rules for road traffic. The output of different scenarios is compared with hierarchical clustering, and the overall clustering of the proposed method is compared with other clustering algorithms. Finally, it is proven that the proposed method outperforms other recently developed techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eliciting subjective probability distributions in developing countries is often based on visual aids such as beans to represent probabilities and intervals on a sheet of paper to represent the support. We conduct an experiment in India which tests the sensitivity of elicited expectations to variations in three facets of the elicitation methodology: the number of beans, the design of the support (predetermined or self-anchored), and the ordering of questions. Our results show remarkable robustness to variations in elicitation design. Nevertheless, the added precision offered by using more beans and a larger number of intervals with a predetermined support improves accuracy. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses life history narratives to explore the multiple and overlapping scales and sites through which the cosmopolitan subjectivities of activists in local Indian NGOs are constituted. We particularly emphasise the 'intermediate' status of the activists, and the ways their positioning shapes their subjectivities in diverse ways over time and place. We draw on the idea of a strategic cosmopolitanism to consider the multiple ways their cosmopolitanism shapes the negotiation of development from their intermediate position, and to reflect on the normative and political possibilities that emerge from this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a paper which was presented during the "New Frontiers in Water Resource Economics" session of the annual meeting of the Allied Social Sciences Association on January 5-7, 2007 in Chicago, Illinois. The authors examine the implications of the stabilizing role of groundwater for conjunctive ground and surface water policies, particularly in the Coimbatore Water District in Tamil Nadu, India. They point to the significant role of conjunctive water management policies.

This paper investigates the factors influencing the decline in collective management of local commons and the impact of this decline on agricultural production and household consumption. The analysis is based on a village and household data set collected in 1999 in Tamil Nadu, India, where tank irrigation systems are managed collectively for rice cultivation by informal water users' organizations. Our statistical analyses find that one major reason for the decline in collective tank irrigation management is the dissemination of private well irrigation systems. Once the decline has occurred, our analyses predict that the gap in rice yields between farmers who have access to private wells and those who must rely solely on tanks will widen, with only the latter group suffering lower yields. Our analyses also find that the same pattern holds for levels of income and consumption because the affected farmers cannot sufficiently compensate for the loss of their rice income by diversifying their income sources to agricultural labor or nonagricultural work. In this way, the decline in collective management results in greater inequality and poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice is the staple food in many countries and is grown in varied climates from per-humid to semiarid areas. Crop–weather models were used to predict rice yield in India. However, in spite of a significant influence of solar radiation on rice yield, none of these models used solar radiation as one of the predictors. In this paper, an attempt was made to predict the first season (June–September) rice yield at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India by including solar radiation as one of the predictors. Ten years (1987/88–1996/97) data were used for the study. Seven predictors viz., percentage of rice area during first season (X1 ), number of days with minimum temperature below 22 °C in August and September (X2 ), average daily maximum temperature for three months (July, August and September; X3 ), average daily minimum temperature for three months (July, August and September; X4 ), total of average sunshine hours in August and September (X5 ), and total rainfall of July, August and September (X6 ) total average solar radiation of August and September (X7 ) were selected based on earlier report. Full model and stepwise regression analysis were performed using MSTAT computer package. The full model regression without solar radiation as predictor (Model I) recorded comparatively less R2 (0.6292). Inclusion of solar radiation (Model II) enhanced the R2 value considerably (R2 =0.9464). Seven variables were further subjected to stepwise regression analysis and only four predictors were retained in the final model (Model III) with an R2 value of 0.9234. The model III with minimum parameters Y=22119.5758 + 19.6898, X1 - 150.9261, X2 - 1126.7501, X4 + 0.7179 X7 can be used to predict the first season rice yield (Y) at Coimbatore, India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on DEC distribution and compliance with treatment in a large-scale annual single-dose mass treatment programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. 76.9% of households (82.5% in rural areas and 58.0% in urban areas) were aware of drug distribution for control of filariasis. DEC was given to 70% (= distribution rate) (range 0-92%) of the population and 53.5% (range 12-89%) complied with treatment. The distribution rate was more than 75% in 74% of the villages and compliance was in the range of 51-75% in 76% of the villages. About 5% of the treated population reported side-effects. Distribution and compliance were higher in rural than urban areas and similar between males and females. Qualitative data showed that some socio-economic factors, logistic and drug-related problems and people's poor knowledge and perceived benefits of treatment played a role in a proportion of the population not receiving or taking the drug. The Tamil Nadu programme showed that large-scale repeated annual DEC mass treatment is feasible and that existing health services are capable of delivering the drug to all communities. While even poor to moderate compliance rates can reduce the vector transmission of infection to some extent, improved drug distribution and compliance with treatment are necessary to consolidate the gains of earlier rounds of treatment and achieve the goal of filariasis elimination within a reasonable time frame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An attempt has been made to screen the fish gut‐associated actinobacterial cultures for antifouling compounds. Fifteen morphologically distinct bacterial cultures were recovered from the biofouling samples scraped from the boat surfaces and other maritime structures in the Kovalam beach (Lat. 12.7870°N; Long. 80.2504°E) coastal areas in Tamil Nadu, India. All the bacterial isolates were identified at generic level from which two isolates namely KB6 and KB7 as Staphylococcus sp. were found the exhibit strong biofilm formation. Four actinobacterial strains viz., IM20, PYA9, F8, and SQA4 were evaluated for inhibitory properties against biofouling bacteria using the agar plug method. Strain IM20 which strongly inhibited the biofouling bacteria was chosen as prospective strain for further studies. When compared to submerged fermentation, IM20 produced a high amount of antifouling chemicals on the agar surface fermentation. Among the solvents tested, better extraction of antifouling compounds was seen in ethyl acetate extract. Antifouling compound production by the strain IM20 was found to be influenced by a number of variables such as glucose, fructose, glutamine, malt extract, pH 7 and 9, temperature 30 and 40°C and NaCl at 2.5% and 5% concentrations. Gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) analysis of the strain IM20 extract revealed the presence of pyrrolo (1,2‐a]pyrazine‐1,4‐dione, hexahydro) in significant amount. In the present study, the fish gut‐associated Streptomyces sp. IM20 was identified as an unusual and newly added source for the isolation of antifouling compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the urban environment in developing countries is now an emerging priority. In that context, valuation is an important source of information to the policy-makers. This paper discusses the application of a multiple choice contingent valuation method to improvements in water supply in Madras, based on a 1996 survey of households in Madras. It is proposed that property rights regimes for the environmental goods concerned can be incorporated into the valuation framework using Sen's entitlements approach. As a step in that direction, a water endowment function has been defined for households in Madras. Issues for policy and research are raised. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taxes on fats and sugar-sweetened beverages are deployed in the developed world to encourage healthier diets. How effective might such fiscal instruments be in emerging economies? We evaluate the impacts of a subsidy for palm oil, introduced as part of the public distribution system in three Indian states. Using variants of the difference-in-differences approach, we find that palm oil consumption increased, particularly in rural areas, as a result of the subsidy, and traditional oils were displaced by cheaper palm oil. However, the intervention did not significantly alter overall edible oil consumption. These results are robust to different specifications, alternative estimation samples, and the exclusion of households who may have been potential beneficiaries of other interventions. Impacts were higher in Tamil Nadu than in other states, and were higher for vegetarian households in rural areas. There was only weak evidence of spillover income effects on other food groups. Given India's dual burden of malnutrition, our analysis suggests that fiscal policy interventions have the potential to effectively nudge consumer choices towards healthier edible oil consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent scenario, the Master of Business Administration (MBA) job placement rates have decreased since the pandemic started. MBA job placement rates are down since the pandemic started. What's most alarming: the decline in MBA jobs (34%) has been steeper than the decline in overall jobs (27%), for the period between May 2019 and May 2020. The mere delivery of theoretical concepts, lack of practical knowledge and lag in imbibing soft skills have been identified as hurdles in the progress of MBA education. Some of the predominant industry‐needed skills need to be improved among MBA students. To address this issue, the author suggests integrating flipped classrooms with the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy (RBT) as a new paradigm for delivering MBA education. The flipped classroom is a pedagogical approach in which direct instructions move from group learning to individual learning. This study primarily aims to understand the faculty perception of the pre‐, in‐ and post‐class activities facilitated using an integrated model of a flipped classroom and RBT (FC+RBT) among MBA students. The study's target population is the faculty members working in MBA institutions across Tamil Nadu, India. The findings of this study will be helpful for MBA institutions to enhance the quality of MBA education and empower management graduates to imbibe employability skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India's health indicators are negatively impacted by the high percentage of out‐of‐pocket expenditures, which leaves many unable to access health care or impoverishes them. To improve this situation, the Indian government in 2018, as part of health a reform program called Ayushman Bharat Initiative (AB), started the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) as a scheme to provide financial access to secondary and tertiary healthcare services for people living in poverty. The AB‐PMJAY is a publicly‐funded insurance program that provides over $6,000 per indigent family per year for in‐patient hospital care. We compare the rollout of the program in two Indian States, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which have relatively better health indicators compared with other Indian States. Questionnaires were developed for the two states based on the separate programs they had ongoing before AB‐PMJAY was introduced and the differing implementation strategy they undertook. We interviewed 21 health workers (10 from Kerala and 11 from Tamil Nadu), at the frontline of implementation and analyzed the narrative of the answers given for related themes. We found that low reimbursement rates may limit the number of private hospitals participating in the program, and that the classification criteria for eligibility may need to be updated. We also found that differing political alignment between the central government and subregional governments may affect how well the program is implemented. Overall, interview subjects felt that the program would lead to better health care access for the poor if well implemented and sustained. Key point: Problems highlighted by the interviewees were lack of private hospital participation, how eligibility for the program was determined, as well as ability of the government to sustain the program long term given the financial outlays for the program, but long‐term implementation is needed for the scheme to improve India's health outcomes. The political affiliation of state government versus national government may also affect rollout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the planned community of Auroville in Tamil Nadu, India, founded in 1968. Building on critical readings of the settlement that have drawn attention to the power imbalance in its relationships with surrounding villages, the article delineates the ways that a geographical imagination of cityness has been a key component of the settlement's development and the forms of neo‐coloniality in which it has been implicated. Drawing on archival and published sources as well as ethnographic research, the article discusses three ways in which the settlement performs a sense of its own 'cityness‐to‐come': first, the architectural discourse and planning rationality central to Auroville's identity; second, its agonistic public sphere vis‐à‐vis architecture and planning, and third, its ethos of learning and evolution, and the settlement's developmental teleology. In so doing, the article shows how 'the city' conceived as a textual and spatial promise, as well as a utopian aspiration, works ideologically to constitute the settlement itself, but also to precipitate social effects and uneven power relationships with village communities in this region. To sum up, this article develops an argument about the neo‐colonial social work done by 'the city' conceived as text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In Tamil Nadu, India, the guideline value (GV) of land for registration typically corresponds to the market price. After registration of land, Tamil Nadu's land registration office determines which areas have GVs that are lower or higher than the government‐fixed value, and depending on the area. Based on determination of price difference, each are GV is raised or lowered. In other countries expect India, different models, including the hedonic price model, quantile, and multivariate regression are used in the current GV fixation. These models have complex relationships with the many different variables that affect the GV of the land. In this article, novel optimized models for fixing land value according to utilitarian land ethics are proposed, including artificial neural networks (ANN) and associative rule‐based multilevel regression pricing models (AMLP). Increase the GV from the current GV in different percentages using the proposed ANN association rule mining method, and then optimize with spatial and infrastructure parameters from the GIS model builder for real‐time GV generation on the website. For real‐time GV generation on the website, the ANN model uses association rule mining and various neural network architectures. Buyer acceptance test validation of the live GV generation reveals 85% accuracy for the proposed model. The proposed models such as ANN and AMLP, prevent problems with GV fixation and boost revenue for the Indian government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theriophonum blumei sp. nov., a new species is described and illustrated from Tamil Nadu, India based on morphological and leaf epidermal features. Although morphologically T. blumei appears to be similar to T. sivaganganum (Ramam. & Sebastine) Bogner having long acuminate spathe, it is different from T. sivaganganum in various aspects such as ellipsoid seed with ridged surface, spinulose and bifid stigma, filiform neuters and berries with purplish strands. T. blumei has echinate pollen sculpture and T. sivaganganum has verrucate sculpture. Added to that, molecular based (rbcL, matK, trnL‐F) phylogenetic analysis also indicate that T. blumei is genetically distinct from T. sivaganganum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ardisia anamalaiana is a new species described from Anamalai Hills, the southern Western Ghats of India. The new species is morphologically similar to A. gardneri C.B.Clarke, but differs in its leaves, petiole, inflorescence, bract, flower and pedicel. Ardisia anamalaiana is described and illustrated in detail. Morphological comparison between the new species and related taxa, a key to the genus Ardisia from the Western Ghats, colour photographs and conservation status is also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective on‐road safety requires proper maintenance of vehicles. In the trucking sector in India, there is a need for supporting predictive maintenance to decrease downtime and improve safety. Improving maintenance in this sector involves certain challenges. First, most trucks are owned by small‐scale fleet owners (trucks < 5). Second, maintenance is often handled by small‐scale mechanic workshops. The fault diagnosis is very often limited to recognition by the driver and later reassessed by the mechanic by relying on the feel or the sound of the vehicle. Third, a majority of stakeholders in this sector—drivers, mechanics, and owners—have low levels of education. Despite these challenges, with the increase in the rate of digitalization, in the future, it will be easier to monitor the health of the parts of a truck. In addition, there is a developing trend of mobile phone and internet penetration in India that has leapfrogged a majority of Indians into becoming "emergent users" of information technology. Therefore, this article shows that sociotechnical approaches such as ecological interface design can be used to develop mobile interfaces for supporting predictive maintenance through health and usage monitoring of trucks for small‐scale fleet owners in India. To develop the interface, a field study was conducted at several sites in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The insights were used to develop scenarios and the abstraction hierarchy, which were later used creatively to develop the interface design for emergent users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information on the stock status of giant catfish Netuma thalassina (Rüppell, 1837) is meagre due to lack of catch and effort data. Therefore, we reconstructed catch and effort data of the giant catfish fishery in Tamil Nadu, India waters from 2001 to 2020. Catch and effort data were analyzed with Catch and Effort Data Analysis (CEDA), Catch Maximum Sustainable Yield (CMSY) and the Bayesian state‐space implementation of the Schaefer production Model (BSM). Results indicated that giant catfish resources were fully exploited and reached the stage of overexploitation in 2014. Considering the high vulnerability to climate change, very high susceptibility to fishing, increased fishing effort and fully exploited status of giant catfish fishery, we propose a significant reduction of fishing effort to ensure sustainable exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A root parasitic plant species Christisonia rarissima (Orobanchaceae) is described as a new species from the Tamil Nadu parts of outhern Western Ghats, India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on research conducted in a fishing village in southern India to examine the ways in which middle‐aged women in a precarious socio‐economic position used mobility and immobility strategies to improve their livelihoods, both inside and outside of fisheries. Kaufmann et al.'s (2004) work on motility is applied to show how the mobility decisions and livelihood needs and plans of five women (occupying different socio‐economic positions) were influenced by socio‐economic structures. The study shows that the women's mobility decisions allowed them to improve their socio‐economic positions and reconfigure their gendered identities in the local village, outside the fishing sector. Motility (which encapsulates socio‐spatial mobility) empowered these women by allowing them to move out of the increasingly precarious small‐scale fisheries industry. We argue that the concept of motility provides a useful analytical framework for understanding mobility, and we use the women's narratives to exemplify this claim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When recipients of humanitarian aid deployed their own calculus in determining the uses of the aid, nongovernmental (NGOs) and state officials read these actions as evidence of moral deficiency. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in the aftermath of the tsunami of 2004 in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam District, this article examines such actions in terms of the contradictions they illuminated and argues for an analytical strategy that foregrounds the politics of receiving and demanding aid. Reading fisher actions criticized by NGO or state officials as implicit critiques of the aims or claims of either, this article foregrounds a reading of humanitarian "gifts" as strategic and political maneuvering. Recipients rejected both the depoliticizing allure of NGO developmentalism and the state's unwillingness to link legality with rights. In one case study, fishers instead put a gift to use in ways that suited their most pressing concerns: sustaining their coastal life and the artisanal economy. The article also problematizes the divergent tendencies of a politics of rights and a hierarchically organized politics of caste identity. For the second case study, this article critically examines how fishers struggling with shoddy NGO housing turned their political ire against a far weaker community of Dalits. [NGO, humanitarianism, neoliberalization, India, gift] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of increasing fallow land assumes significance at national and international levels due to the decline in net cultivated area and increasing population. Biophysical characteristics of farmland and socio-economic conditions of farmers are responsible for the increasing fallow. This study was carried out to assess the extent of permanent fallow and identify causes for its increase. High-resolution remote sensing data were used to identify fallow land in two identified blocks of south India, viz. Nanguneri and Kangeyam. The land resources were characterized, and the specific biophysical and socio-economic factors responsible for the increasing fallow land were assessed. Multiple regression analysis was carried out to identify the factors responsible for increasing fallows. Soil parameters such as erosion, soil texture, soil depth and available nitrogen contributed significantly ( P > 0.05) to the increase in fallow land. The size of farm holding, number of farm fragments, distance from the road in Nanguneri and farm size and the distance to the nearest town in Kangeyam were socio-economic factors that had a strong effect ( P > 0.01) on increasing the fallow land. Variable importance rankings in random forest analysis indicated that soil erosion and soil pH had the largest impact on the decision to fallow land in Nanguneri and Kangeyam blocks, respectively. Based on biophysical and socio-economic constraints, the land resources of fallow land were evaluated for other alternate land use options and policy measures were suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This article examines contemporary Dalit assertion in India through an ethnographic case study of a legal tool being mobilized by Tamil Nadu's lowest-ranking Arunthathiyars in their struggle against caste-based offences. The Arunthathiyars of western Tamil Nadu are increasingly taking recourse to the 1989 Prevention of Atrocities Act (PoA Act) in an attempt to bring members of higher castes to justice. The article explores how Arunthathiyars are employing the law and how their litigation is reshaping the politics of caste in this region. The authors document how a process of litigation by Arunthathiyars is countered by a politicization of caste by the dominant Gounders of the region, who recently entered electoral politics with a new caste-based party. Even though the litigation route further antagonizes caste relations, it is argued that the PoA Act has provided Dalits with an invaluable tool to seek justice, democratize public space, and challenge the power of the dominant caste in the region. Dalit social movements, it is concluded, are more likely to be successful if they are backed by a legal weapon and accompanied by Dalits' growing economic independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article asks how labour markets are changing in the context of wider transformations in the rural economy. Drawing on evidence from two villages in southern India, which are both close to, and deeply affected by, a major textile industry cluster, the article examines local labour markets, arguing that labour market segmentation is not simply caste-based. While some Dalits from one village have gained access to jobs in export markets, the same group of Dalits from another village have not. Furthermore, different groups of Dalits have had very different experiences of accessing jobs in urban areas, and the article shows that barriers to entry are located more in the rural social economy than in the urban industry. It is argued that villages only a few miles apart have very different local labour markets because they are uniquely and variously embedded in local institutions that interact with economic transformations in contingent ways. The article shows that having an industry on your doorstep means very different things for different people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a micro-level study of a biofuel-related land acquisition in rural Tamil Nadu, India, this article reveals how state-subject relations are shaping modern land deal politics. Through its political construction of the concept of 'wasteland' and its associated wasteland development programme, the Indian state has facilitated a series of questionable land acquisitions, reshaping agrarian livelihoods in the process. A class of land brokers has emerged to help carry out the state's project of converting 'wastelands' to more 'productive', state-defined uses such as biofuel cultivation and industrial expansion. Those whose lands have been acquired as part of these programmes have undergone a transition to wage labour, increasing the prolitarianization of agrarian communities. By documenting the mechanics of this 'wasteland governmentality', this study contributes to a political sociology of the state by unpacking the linkages between the state and agrarian subjects in the context of the 'global land grab'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we obtained several bacterial isolates from direct plating (without enrichment) of the diluted extract of apples and oranges obtained from commercial market of major cities in Tamil Nadu, India. Based on the cultural growth characteristics in different selective media, the isolates were grouped into four groups. The 16S rRNA gene was amplified using universal primers. The expected amplified fragments were obtained in four isolates belonging to two culture groups and were sequenced. This resulted in the identification of Staphylococcus warneri and Bacillus pumilis in apples and B. flexus and B. subtilis in oranges. The different species of Bacillus are reported already as endophytes in plants and plant-derived produce. However, the occurrence of S. warneri is unusual. The observation emphasizes the need to further our understanding of the changing ecology of bacteria, particularly human pathogenic Staphylococcus, which has adapted to inner tissues of fruits. Practical Application Identification and detection of human pathogenic bacteria like Staphylococcus in fresh fruits is applicable in creating awareness among the public about the route cause of foodborne illness because of consumption of unhealthful raw and unpasteurized juices. In addition, this study helps us to reevaluate the present production and handling practices of fruits. It also emphasizes the need for developing strategies based on a coordinated approach by the growers, distributors, retailers, importers and public health officials to eliminate or contain such human pathogenic bacteria in fresh fruits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most humans lack a functional CASP12 gene, with the nonfunctional variant ( CASP12p1), found in 100% of the Caucasian and east Asian population, and in approximately 80% of people of African descent. However, 20% of Africans carry an intact allele of CASP12, which produces a full-length pro-enzyme and increases the risk of sepsis. We examined CASP12 allele distribution in persons from central and southern Asia and found that CASP12 was significantly present in members of the Dravidian language group, particularly in persons from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kaluvelly watershed is a coastal area (Tamil Nadu, India) where water abstraction has resulted in a dramatic fall in the level of the water table and a piezometric depression in the most exploited aquifer, the Vanur aquifer. In addition, intensification/mechanization of agriculture may have affected the quality of recharge water. An initial hydrodynamic study showed that the Vanur aquifer is highly vulnerable to salinization due to potential seawater intrusion, and our aim was to determine the source of salinity recorded in the groundwater of this multilayered aquifer. Our approach involved the use of existing boreholes and of a moderate number of samples, with the aim of developing appropriate water resource management techniques. Major element, 18O/16O, 2H/1H and 87Sr/86Sr, ratios were measured in rainwater, surface water and groundwater collected during five sampling campaigns over a 2-year period. Geochemical data indicate that the Vanur aquifer is recharged and that small mixings between aquifers fluctuate according to monsoon intensity. There was no evidence of seawater intrusion. The range of recorded salinity originated mainly from water-rock interaction but a disconnection of some deeper parts of the aquifer was apparent. Strontium isotopic ratios in the recharge area suggest an anthropogenic influence, possibly related to fertilizer use. A high SO4/Cl ratio was observed in the aquifer; in the deeper parts, the influence of a formation containing lignite is hypothesized, whereas near the surface, sulphate may partly originate from fertilizer use and fossil fuel combustion. Water isotopic data suggest that the origin of precipitation in this region has been unchanged for several hundreds or thousands of years. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the potential and limitations for using farmyard manure (FYM) to improve paddy and upland cereals productivity under various soil conditions in Tamil Nadu, India. Using household-level fixed effects, estimated yield functions from 1993 to 2003 confirm that FYM application directly increases crop productivity in upland cereals, but not in paddy rice. Complementary effects through an increase in the marginal product of inorganic fertilizer is observed for both paddy and upland cereals, especially where inherent soil fertility is low. Farmers' FYM use is responsive to changes in the price of FYM, but transport costs limit price transmission across space. Dairy sector development thus improves crop productivity, but only in the small area around the animals which limits the spread of FYM-based development strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identification of green algal genus Dunaliella by conventional method is hard target since the strains vary morphologically and physiologically with conditions of growth. In this study, a total of nine different isolates of Dunaliella isolated from the salt pans of Tamil Nadu, India, were identified based on their morphology and cultural characteristics. In addition, the isolates were subjected to molecular identification using genus specific and species specific primers which distinguished the discrepancy in the conventional identification. This study evidently reported the first occurrence of non carotenogenic strains (a new variety) of D. bardawil and D. parva in India. (© 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The abundance and species diversity of Vibrio associated with coral reef ecosystem of Kurusadai island, Tamil Nadu, India were evaluated. A total of twelve sampling locations including different live and dead coral surfaces, surrounding water and rock surface (negative control) were selected for the present study. Total viable and TCBS counts were found to be higher in dead coral as compared to that of live coral. Out of total 21 species of Vibrio isolated, 13 were identified up to species level based on biochemical tests and 16S rRNA gene sequence homology, while remaining 8 isolates did not show homology up to species level with any of the sequences available in the NCBI database. Moreover, these unidentified Vibrio spp. exhibited intra-species variation. This study indicated association of hitherto unknown Vibrio species with coral reef ecosystem of Kurusadai island. Assuming that only resistant bacteria can grow in the coral environment, susceptibility against a total of 20 antibiotics was evaluated. All the isolates exhibited resistance towards more than 6 antibiotics. Interestingly, none of the identified bacteria were previously reported to be of coral pathogen reflecting the healthy nature of the ecosystem. However, a continuous monitoring of the region will be prerequisite to envisage the role of these bacteria on the health status of the coral ecosystem. (© 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using algae to treat industrial effluents containing heavy metals presents an alternative to the current practice of using other biosorbents and physical and chemical methods. In this study, effluent from a leather-processing chemical industry in Ranipet, Tamil Nadu, India, was treated for the removal of heavy metals using the microalga, Chlorella vulgaris, which was isolated from the effluent itself. The objectives of this study were to (I) assess the mass balance of a model parameter, lead, in laboratory conditions and estimate the lead adsorption capabilities of the microalga and (2) conduct pilot-scale studies for the removal of heavy metals, using the microalga, from the effluent and the solid waste accumulated over the years generated by conventional treatment methods. The results of the study show that after 8 hours, Chiorella vulgaris exhibited a better adsorption capacity under sunlight compared to laboratory conditions (i.e., 30.6 mg/g dry weight vs 10.5 mg/g dry weight, respectively). Similarly, reduction of heavy metals and mass balance in pilot-scale field studies conducted in a high-rate algal pond showed that the microalga, apart from adsorption, complexation, and entrapment mechanisms, is likely to possess phycovolatilization capability probably via biotransformation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study explores the uptake of livestock vaccination among poor farming communities in Tamil Nadu State, India by revisiting innovation diffusion theory. Overall, 601 farmers participated in the study. We found the adoption of particular vaccines was strongly influenced by socio-cultural grouping i.e. caste, rather than other factors such as income, age, education-level or gender. Adoption was also related to specific knowledge frames regarding disease causality, rather than any wider ethno-veterinary beliefs. Thus, the adoption of livestock vaccination is unlikely to improve without knowledge transfer activities, which acknowledge both social divisions and local epistemologies regarding animal health. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanosized TiO2 was obtained using a simple chemical route from natural ilmenite available in Tamilnadu, India. The nano-TiO2 particles obtained were comprehensively characterized by X-ray diffraction, FTIR, BET surface area, particles size, and transmission electron microscopic analysis. The results observed reveal that the nano-TiO2 show a rutile crystal structure with an average particle size of 50 nm and a specific surface area of 112.64 m2/g with spherical morphology. Different proportions of nanotitania were added in silica brick composition to determine out the amount of tridymite phase transformation. It was observed that the addition of 0.5 wt% nano-TiO2 leads to highest amount of tridymite phase formation. The effect of incorporation of nano-TiO2 in silica refractory was explored in terms of refractory properties such as bulk density, apparent porosity, cold crushing strength, refractoriness under load, creep in compression, and reversible thermal expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines how activists in rural southern India have sought to reshape the field of political communication by encouraging lower-caste women to submit written, signed petitions to district-level government offices, and so represent themselves to the state. I argue that contradictions between democratic recognition and the will to development that inhere to the political structure of contemporary governance in rural India correspond to tensions within the semiotic structure of signature itself, between constative representation and performative creation. Governmentality and the forms of communication that it requires often rest on the notion that written self-representation constitutes an act of political agency. But the limits of a governmental communicative reason that would conflate written subject and agent become especially clear in postcolonial contexts where the construction of those citizens that would be represented is in fact a product of the very act of representation. It is the narrative of development-as-pedagogy that holds out the promise of a future alignment of communicative frameworks, technologies, and participant roles, allowing for the transparent self-representation of an already-constituted citizen. By tracking the ambivalent experience of one group of women in particular, this account focuses on how the logic of signature as self-representation has served to recontextualize the marginality of petitioners as something within the state's broader field of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Violacein was isolated from Chromobacterium violaceum, a soil Gram-negative bacterium collected from the forest water body soil sample from Kolli Hills of Tamil Nadu, India. In the present study the anti-diarrhoeal and ulcer-protective properties of violacein were investigated in Wistar rats using castor oil, magnesium sulphate and ethanol. The intestinal transit in rats was significantly ( P < 0.001) reduced and gastric emptying was delayed; 40 mg/kg of violacein elicited a greater anti-motility activity than 0.1 mg/kg of atropine. Violacein exhibited ulcer-protective properties against ethanol-induced ulceration in rats with maximal anti-ulcer activity at 40 mg/kg. Violacein also exerted significant anti-enteropooling effects, causing a dose-related inhibitory effect on castor oil-induced enteropooling in rats. A profound anti-diarrhoeal activity was observed when violacein was tested in diarrhoeic rats. The frequencies of defaecation as well as the wetness of the faecal droppings were significantly reduced. Furthermore, violacein (40 mg/kg) produced 87.84% inhibition of castor oil-induced diarrhoea in rats. The results suggested that violacein can be used for the treatment of diarrhoeal and ulcer-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article attempts to investigate on a research regarding several factors impacting the rainfall's stable isotopic composition, which was conducted in Tamil Nadu, India. It mentions the significance and usefulness of stable isotope measurements in quantifying the rainfall in various environment settings. It determines the collected samples of rainwater which was taken from different seas and other bodies of the water through evaporation including the Indian Ocean, and South East Arabian Sea. It also highlights the factors varying the measurement the stable isotope precipitation measurement which include altitude, continental effect and latitude.

The article presents a study which investigates the impact of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) on the north-east monsoon rainfall (NEMR) in Tamil Nadu, India. It states that NEMR had significant positive correlation with Niño-3 sea surface temperatures (SST) in July, in which the statistical relationships between the IOD and NEMR were much weaker compared to those between ENSO and NEMR. It discusses the composites of the circulation field for the extreme El Niño/La Niña years with the mean state for July, September and November.

The article applies fuzzy logic to the formation of reservoir operating rules. A form of fuzzy logic with a minimal rule set is used in order to simplify the process for reservoir operators. The article's clustering-based approach to fuzzy logic is described, noting the usage of genetic algorithms (GAs) to create a fuzzy rule for each data cluster. The novel method of fuzzy logic is applied to a case study of a reservoir system in Tamil Nadu, India. The results of the study are also analyzed, noting that the simplified fuzzy method is a potentially attractive means for reservoir optimization.

Copyright of Tropical Medicine & International Health is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Tropical Medicine & International Health is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Despite the persistent use of the word “solitary” to describe nocturnal primate social behavior, increasing numbers of studies are revealing sophisticated levels of social interactions among nocturnal primates. This study explores the relationships among 11 adult Mysore slender lorises (Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus) studied over 101/2 months in Tamil Nadu, India. When all observations regarding dependent offspring are excluded, the animals spent on average 38% of their activity in various forms of neutral, affiliative, and agonistic behaviors. Affiliative behaviors were the most common type of social interaction, and males in general were more social than females. Low values for Cole's index (CI) of association emphasize that females rarely interacted with same-sex conspecifics, but commonly interacted with males. In turn, males also formed strong affiliative relationships with other adult males. This index also indicates that levels of affiliation are strongest among animals that share sleeping sites. The Hinde index (HI) suggests that males control proximity to females more than the reverse. A female's tolerance of multiple males in her home range and at a sleeping site may be related to high spatial variability of food resources. Such resources may constrain females with costly reproductive strategies (up to two sets of twins per annum) to a small home range. With their larger home ranges, males may be able to monopolize females by initiating social interactions, and also provide a benefit to females by contributing to parental care. Am. J. Primatol. 68:1171–1182, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the changing role of physical and human capital in income dynamics in Tamil Nadu, India, using detailed daily records of farming households from 1971 to 2003. We find that income growth until the early 1990s is attributed to the rice Green Revolution and the associated development of nonrice farm sector. Further growth after the 1990s became possible due to the rapid nonfarm sector development that has been stimulated by the liberalization of Indian economy since 1991. In accordance with this change in income structure, the importance of physical and human capital has changed. Human capital was important in the early 1970s to take advantage of the rice Green Revolution technology. Once the new technology became standard among farmers, human capital became an insignificant factor. The importance of human capital has revived in a different manner in recent years firstly because it has increased farmers' access to nonfarm job opportunities, and secondly because farm management has become more knowledge intensive in the face of increasing scarcity of labor and water. The contribution of physical capital increased during the Green Revolution period, while it started declining after that. The changing mechanism is characterized as the shifting importance from physical to human capital in accordance with the changing engines of income growth from the Green Revolution to the development of nonfarm sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxide–sulphide–Fe–Mg–silicate and titanite–ilmenite textures as well as their mineral compositions have been studied in felsic and intermediate orthogneisses across an amphibolite (north) to granulite facies (south) traverse of lower Archean crust, Tamil Nadu, south India. Titanite is limited to the amphibolite facies terrane where it rims ilmenite or occurs as independent grains. Pyrite is widespread throughout the traverse increasing in abundance with increasing metamorphic grade. Pyrrhotite is confined to the high-grade granulites. Ilmenite is widespread throughout the traverse increasing in abundance with increasing metamorphic grade and occurring primarily as hemo-ilmenite in the high-grade granulite facies rocks. Magnetite is widespread throughout the traverse and is commonly associated with ilmenite. It decreases in abundance with increasing metamorphic grade. In the granulite facies zone, reaction rims of magnetite + quartz occur along Fe–Mg silicate grain boundaries. Magnetite also commonly rims or is associated with pyrite. Both types of reaction rims represent an oxidation effect resulting from the partial subsolidus reduction of the hematite component in ilmenite to magnetite. This is confirmed by the presence of composite three oxide grains consisting of hematite, magnetite and ilmenite. Magnetite and magnetite–pyrite micro-veins along silicate grain boundaries formed over a wide range of post-peak metamorphic temperatures and pressures ranging from high-grade SO2 to low-grade H2S-dominated conditions. Oxygen fugacities estimated from the orthopyroxene–magnetite–quartz, orthopyroxene–hematite–quartz, and magnetite–hematite buffers average 2.5 log units above QFM. It is proposed that the trends in mineral assemblages, textures and composition are the result of an external, infiltrating concentrated brine containing an oxidizing component such as CaSO4 during high-grade metamorphism later acted upon by prograde and retrograde mineral reactions that do not involve an externally derived fluid phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a 2-year (1997–1999) longitudinal, entomological and virological study in three dengue endemic villages in Vellore district, Tamil Nadu, to understand the dynamics of dengue transmission. Aedes aegypti (Linn.), Ae. albopictus (Skuse) and Ae. vittatus (Bigot) were the prevalent vector species. Aedes aegypti was breeding throughout the year with a Breteau index ranging from 9.05 to 45.49. Aedes albopictus and Ae. vittatus were prevalent mainly in the rainy season. Small water holding containers (cemented tanks/cisterns) were the perennial breeding source of Ae. aegypti, and its abundance was significantly higher in semi-urbanized central areas than the peripheral areas of the villages. From 271 pools (4016 specimens) of adult females, eight dengue virus (DENV) isolates were obtained of which seven were from Ae. aegypti and one from Ae. albopictus. This is the first report of DENV isolation from Ae. albopictus in rural India. Infection rates in the two species were comparable. However, due to higher and perennial prevalence, Ae. aegypti is considered as primary vector with Ae. albopictus playing a secondary role. Despite circulation of all four serotypes (DENV 1–4) detected mainly during the transmission season, the high anthropophilic index of the vectors and their abundance, no human dengue case was reported, suggesting silent dengue transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]