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Introduction: Assessment is a critical step in learning process. Postgraduate theory examination ideally should assess higher levels of cognition. In order to maintain high standard of public health the postgraduates of the specialty should be certified properly using the appropriate assessment methods. Since the assessment drives learning, ideally it should be aimed at judging a learner's attainment of curriculum outcomes. Aim: To evaluate the postgraduate theory exam question papers from 2014 to 2018 in Community Medicine (CM) of various South Indian Universities and to measure the actual content coverage as stated in National Medical Commission (NMC) curriculum and cognitive domain coverage as per Bloom's taxonomy. Materials and Methods: The present retrospective analytical study was conducted from April 2019 to July 2019 to asses the question papers from 2014-2018 in community medicine. Sixty theory exam question papers (20 per University) of last 5 years of three South Indian Universities namely Pondicherry (PU), Tamil Nadu (TN), and Kerala (KR) of CM subject were analysed for content coverage and to categorise the level of knowledge assessed as per Bloom's taxonomy. The significance of difference between the data of various years was tested using Chi-square test. Results: Questions testing higher cognitive domain was found only in 15%, 3.75% and 2.5% of PU, TN and KR universities, respectively. Epidemiology of communicable and noncommunicable diseases was the content that received maximum coverage of total marks, 25%, 21.25% and 18.5% in PU, TN and KR universities respectively. Certain topics were not covered in many papers. There was no statistical difference in distribution of marks among various Universities in South India. Conclusion: Findings of this study may be used to redefine the distribution of contents and cognitive domain tested across universities ensuring the validity and reliability of the assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the articles published from 2004 - 2017 by Mother Theresa Women's University Kodaikanal, Tamilnadu. The data were retrieved from India Citation Index during the period. The study 122 publications were published by the university and the highest numbers of research papers 115 were published in the form of articles. Majority of the articles were contributed by two authors with publication of 33 articles and value of degree of collaboration was 0.992. This article tries to give a clear picture of the research performance at Mother Teresa Women's University, Kodaikanal based on the publication, which are indexed at Indian Citation Index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the intricate interplay between mass-mediated communication, the formation of publics, and the political landscape within the culturally diverse and politically vibrant state of Tamil Nadu, located in Southern India. The study focuses on the unique context provided by the annual readers' meetings of the vernacular political satire journal, Thuglak. Employing a comprehensive political ethnography approach, the paper uncovers a complex web of interactions, ideologies, and identity formation that shape the publics of Thuglak. The paper further reveals that the political character of the journal's readership is profoundly influenced by the journal's core tenets, particularly Brahminism and Hindutva. Through a nuanced exploration of the Thuglak readers' meetings, the paper contributes to a broader understanding of the role of mass-mediated communication in shaping public sentiment and, subsequently, the political landscape in Tamil Nadu. This study serves as a testament to the powerful influence of local media in shaping the political destiny of a region and underscores the critical importance of examining such connections in an increasingly interconnected and globalised world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientometrics is an important field of information science as it represents a unique set of techniques and tools for the monitoring and analysis of information resources and for the management of knowledge in social and organizational contexts. This article analysed the various Scientometric components of the articles published by top six universities of Tamil Nadu from 2000-2017. The study identifies research trend, characteristics growth and collaboration pattern of published literature. The analysis of data reveals that the average growth rate increases at the rate of 9.76%. Further, the average citation per paper observed is 12.18%. High degree of international collaboration is notified and USA and South Korea are found to be the most preferred collaborative countries. The CAGR calculated for six universities are 9.76. The major research publications outputs are from the field of Chemistry, Crystallography and Pharmacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper pertains to the nesting habitats of House Sparrow Passer 􀄚omesti􀄐us with specific reference to population dynamics, nesting-related habits, nests, behaviours and other threats faced by these birds in Rameswaram Island. A total of 2,988 adult House Sparrows and 407 active nests were counted during the study. Of nests counted, 19􀐹 (n 􀑁 77) were solitary. The highest number of nests observed in a cluster was 9 (2 clusters). 60􀐹 of nests (n 􀑁 244) were found in concrete buildings, 39􀐹 (n 􀑁 159) in artificial nest-boxes, and 35􀐹 (n 􀑁 144) in cavities/crevices within buildings. House Sparrow population exhibited nesting plasticity, and 2􀐹 of nests were found constructed on vegetation. A wide variety of locally available materials, such as pieces of synthetic fishing nets, nylon ropes, and polythene papers were used for construction of nests. Sand and water bathing by birds were observed. Accidental fall of eggs and chicks, predation of nests by House Crows 􀀒orvus splen􀄚ens, and unsuccessful attempts to predate adult birds by Black Kite Milvus mi􀅐rans were observed, as well as opportunistic sightings of Shikra 􀀄􀄐􀄐ipiter 􀄏a􀄚ius. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All the caste-based discriminations in Indian society are mainly due to the practice of endogamy within the caste, which is an excellent blockage to social development as well as to establishing an egalitarian society. As in other states of South India, marriage within the caste is believed to be a sacred institution in Tamil Nadu, and hence, inter-caste marriages that can eradicate caste discrimination seem to be taboo in the view of many people. Incidence of such inter-caste marriages was very low before the enforcement of 69% reservation in this state, but it doubled within 33 years after that policy. The socio-economic and educational uplifts of deprived caste groups (BC, MBC/DNC, SC and ST) due to the implementation of this policy are behind this increase in the proportion of inter-caste marriages in recent years. The rate of inter-caste marriages has increased from 1.9% in 1990 to 3.8% in 2023, indicating society's upward mobility towards classlessness. Inter-caste marriages are more predominant among educated middle-class people in urban settlements than among poor people living in rural areas. Though the governmental schemes and legislations are in favour of out-caste marriages, in some cases, the boys and girls who attempt to follow inter-caste marriages are hacked to death by their parents or caste associations. This paper investigates the status of inter-caste marriages in Tamil Nadu before and after the 69% reservation policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural health monitoring (SHM) for early diagnosis of damage in structures has become vital in improving the structural integrity and safety of the structure and thereby providing a smooth operation for most of the important in-service civil structures such as buildings and bridges. SHM also contributes to the substantial reduction in the maintenance cost of the structure. During serious structural failures, SHM can safeguard human life through an early warning system. This paper presents an output-only model-free technique by extracting damage features from the energy profiles derived from measured time-history responses. The proposed algorithm is organized into two phases i.e. the learning phase and the monitoring phase. While the learning phase can optionally be executed offline, the monitoring phase can preferably be online. The damage feature is extracted by carrying out a fractal dimension analysis of the continuous waveform of energy associated with the jolt (i.e. rate of change of acceleration) evaluated from the acceleration responses of the structure. A novel damage index is proposed, to localize the damage, using the damage features extracted from the fractal dimension, while handling operational and environmental variability (EoV). The proposed algorithm is evaluated through numerical simulations on a typical span of 220 m RCC bridge across river Amaravathi in Tamil Nadu, India and also a 20-story frame structure. Experimental investigations are also carried out by testing a laboratory-scale 10-story frame structure and also an RCC bridge model of a 7.7 m span to evaluate the practical amenability of the proposed algorithm. The experimental and numerical studies carried out in this paper, suggest that the proposed energy-based diagnostic technique can effectively localize the damage even in the presence of confounding factors like EoV. Conclusively, the proposed diagnostic technique can be an effective tool for online SHM, as it is model-free with less tedious computations and can perform well even in the presence of noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principal aim of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals is to attain a much better and more sustainable future for all. In recent times, microgrids have attracted much attention, given the transformation of software systems and raising the bar for customers in terms of sustainability, reliability and cost predictability. Consequently, there is a need for microgrid development in remote areas. Our paper proposes a hybrid renewable energy microgrid (HREM) that focuses on the affordable, efficient, reliable and sustainable growth of energy systems. This paper presents an optimized off-grid HREM for a remote locality in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The proposed approach employs a configuration of photovoltaic (PV) arrays, AC loads, a diesel generator set, a wind turbine and a battery energy storage system (BESS) connected to AC/DC buses and designed to satisfy the power requirements of a remote, rural community residential area. The primary objective was to carry out a cost optimization of the designed system. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted to obtain a feasible solution from the optimized results and evaluate the robustness of the design. The primary objective was to carry out a cost optimization of the designed system. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted to obtain a feasible solution from the optimized results and evaluated the robustness of the design. A detailed analysis was made by comparing the PV + DG set + battery and PV + wind + DG set + battery and it was found that the former offered better results for the particular location. Overall, it was observed that our proposed system offers renewable energy for residential loads that is relatively inexpensive, reliable and sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The religiosity of people may make them respond positively or negatively to various persons in different social situations. Some scholars claim that religiosity can be positively related to intimate partner violence (IPV), when the dominance of men over women is sanctioned by religion. On the other hand, some other scholars support the view that religiousness is negatively associated with IPV as individuals involved in religious activities tend to be less aggressive and more altruistic and empathetic to their partners. This paper attempts to reveal how the religiosity of husbands and wives may mitigate the former's violent behaviour against the latter in Tamil Nadu State, India. The findings presented in the paper are arrived at from the analysis of qualitative data collected through selected case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: This study examined patterns of dog ownership in three different states in India. The main aim was to understand who owns dogs, their reasons for owning them, and how these patterns vary in different areas. We conducted quantitative surveys to gather information on the number of people who own dogs, their backgrounds, and their attitudes towards their pets. Our findings show that there are significant differences in dog ownership depending on where people live and their economic status. In particular, we found settlements in Gujarat state to possess significantly fewer privately owned dogs that Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand. These results are important because they help us understand the needs of dog owners and their pets in different parts of India. This information can be used by those making decisions about public health and animal welfare, such as how to manage stray dogs or prevent diseases that can spread from dogs to humans. This study is valuable as it provides a clearer picture of dog ownership in India, which can help improve the lives of both people and animals. This paper presents the demographics, dynamics, and attitudes of dog ownership across three states in India. The background of this research is set against the increasing significance of pet ownership in urban Indian contexts, with a particular focus on understanding the variations in dog-ownership patterns and their implications for public health and animal welfare. We employed a survey-based approach, gathering quantitative survey data from dog owners (n = 563) and non-dog-owners (n = 9282) across different socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds in seven Indian settlements. The results reveal notable differences in dog-ownership patterns, influenced by regional state. In particular, settlements in Gujarat were found to have significantly fewer dog-owning households than those in Tamil Nadu, with no differences found according to settlement size. Dog ownership was found to be more common in households of higher socioeconomic standing, and settlements in Uttarakhand were found more frequently to possess dogs for reasons other than companionship. Data from Ahmedabad and Vadodara, specifically, also indicate rapidly increasing rates of pet ownership. Sterilisation and rabies vaccination proportions were typically low and high, respectively, across all settlements, with few significant differences found among settlements. Confinement of owned dogs at night was significantly lower in Nainital than all other settlements. Differences in attitudes towards roaming dogs between dog owners and non-dog-owners were also examined, with the results indicating both positive and negative trends accordingly. Our results emphasise the need for region-specific strategies in public health and animal welfare policies, acknowledging the diverse nature of pet ownership in India. This research provides valuable insight for policymakers and animal welfare organisations, underlining the importance of tailored approaches to address the unique challenges and opportunities in the Indian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Individuals with Parkinson's Disease commonly experience both physical and psychological effects, which subsequently affect their ability to perform daily activities and overall wellbeing. MusicGlove is an emerging adjunct proposed to address the motor issues but also the psychological ones with references to improving motivation and participation in individuals with Parkinson's Disease. Aim: To determine the effectiveness of the MusicGlove on hand dexterity and the psychological response in individuals with Parkinson's disease. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental study was performed on 40 individuals with Parkinson disease January 2021 to June 2021 from local community settings in Chengalpattu district, Tamil Nadu, India. They were recruited and divided into a control group (n=20) and experimental group (n=20). Hand dexterity and psychological responses were assessed using the Box and Block Test (BBT), Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI), and Apathy Inventory (AI) as pre and post-test measures. Both groups received conventional occupational therapy for three weeks in total, and in addition to this, the experimental group received the MusicGlove. The control group included muscle stretching and strengthening activities with therapeutic putty and using activities such as connecting circles where the subject is given a sheet of paper with 25 circles, each containing 25 numbers or letters. They were asked to connect these in ascending, alternating numerical, and alphabetical order. Sessions were conducted for 30 minutes with two sets of repetitions. Descriptive statistics were used to examine data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0. Results: The study results revealed that there was no statistically significant difference found between the groups but clinically significant differences were found between the groups with posttest scores on motor symptoms that were measured by BBT: µ=- 1.2534, p=0.211 (BBT Dominant); µ=-0.9400, p-value=0.3472 (BBT Non Dominant), and psychological symptoms that were measured by BDI; (µ=-1.0445, p-value=0.2983) and AI; (µ=- 1.0445, p-value=0.9203). Conclusion: The study concluded that conventional occupational therapy along with MusicGlove was effective in improving hand dexterity and psychological responses in Parkinson's disease patients. Also, further study needs to be conducted to warrant its long-term impact of intervention on hand dexterity and psychological responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The German and Swedish Lutheran Mission was a major and pioneering Protestant mission society that started its mission work in Tamil Nadu. The Halle Danish, Leipzig mission, and Church of Sweden mission societies had a larger mission field in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Christians are intimately associated with the German Lutheran Mission and Swedish Mission. The first German Lutheran missionaries, Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plütschau, came to India in 1706. From then on, many Lutheran missionaries came to Tamil Nadu. Afterwards Tamil Nadu became a thriving Christian center for decades, with a strong Christian congregation, church, and several institutions. The majority of these Christians are descendants of Dalits (former untouchable Paraiyars) and Kallars who embraced Christianity. From a life of near slavery, poverty, illiteracy, oppression, and indignity, conversion to Christianity transformed the lives of these people. Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Dalits and Kallars found liberation and have made significant progress because of the Christian missionaries of the Church of the German and Swedish Mission. Both the German and Swedish Mission offered the Gospel of a new religion to not only the subaltern people but also the possibility of secular salvation. The history of Lutherans needs to be understood as a part of Christian subaltern history (Analysing the Indian mission history from the native perspective). My paper will mainly focus on Tamil Lutheran Dalit and Kallar Christians. In this paper, I propose to elucidate the role of German and Swedish Lutheran missionaries in the social, economic, educational, and spiritual life of Tamil Lutheran Dalits and Kallars. Due to the page limit, I am going to mainly focus on Swedish Mission and Kallar Lutheran Christians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fireworks industry (FI), many accidents and explosions frequently happen due to human error (HE). Human factors (HFs) always play a dynamic role in the incidence of accidents in workplace environments. Preventing HE is a main challenge for safety and precautions in the FI. Clarifying the relationship between HFs can help in identifying the correlation between unsafe behaviors and influential factors in hazardous chemical warehouse accidents. This paper aims to investigate the impact of HFs that contribute to HE, which has caused FI disasters, explosions, and incidents in the past. This paper investigates why and how HEs contribute to the most severe accidents that occur while storing and using hazardous chemicals. The impact of fireworks and match industry disasters has motivated the planning of mitigation in this proposal. This analysis used machine learning (ML) and recommends an expert system (ES). There were many significant correlations between individual behaviors and the chance of HE to occur. This paper proposes an ML-based prediction model for fireworks and match work industries in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu. For this study analysis, the questionnaire responses are reviewed for accuracy and coded from 500 participants from the fireworks and match industries in Tamil Nadu who were chosen to fill out a questionnaire. The Chief Inspectorate of Factories in Chennai and the Training Centre for Industrial Safety and Health in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu, India, significantly contributed to the collection of accident datasets for the FI in Tamil Nadu, India. The data are analyzed and presented in the following categories based on this study's objectives: the effect of physical, psychological, and organizational factors. The output implemented by comparing ML models, support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), and Naïve Bayes (NB) accuracy is 86.45%, 91.6%, and 92.1%, respectively. Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) has the optimal classification accuracy of 94.41% of ML models. This research aims to create a new ES to mitigate HE risks in the fireworks and match work industries. The proposed ES reduces HE risk and improves workplace safety in unsafe, uncertain workplaces. Proper safety management systems (SMS) can prevent deaths and injuries such as fires and explosions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Publicly Funded Health Insurance Schemes (PFHIS) can be an effective strategy to achieve Universal Health Coverage by offering financial protection, the extent to which they facilitate gender equity has been less explored. Women constitute one of the main vulnerable groups owing to a combination of health and economic vulnerabilities to access inpatient care services. Gender health equity requires that healthcare resources, such as PFHIS effectively reach women. This study investigates the gender differences in utilisation of Chief Ministers' Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS) by looking at a large volume of claims data covering 2012 to 2014 in the southern Indian state, Tamil Nadu. Previous studies indicate that women in the state had a higher hospitalisation rate than men and are entitled equally to CMCHIS. By disaggregating the data on number of beneficiaries, claim status, average and total claim value, type of procedures based on gender on a random selection of 230265 cases, the paper points out that women's utilization of CMCHIS is significantly lesser than men. Women constitute only 36% of all beneficiaries and received only half of the total claim value disbursed through the scheme. This pro-male bias was found to be statistically significant and consistent across the scheme years, age group and type of procedures. The study concludes that the gender inequity in utilization of CMCHIS is conspicuous and needs immediate attention from policy makers and administrators. With recent inclusion of COVID19 testing and treatment under PFHIS, the paper urges for further research lest more women are left behind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the state of information science and scientometrics (ISS) analysis studies in India from 2005-2009. The author's study focused on analyzing bibliographic details of documents on ISS, which were obtained from the 2005-2009 issues of the journal "Indian Science Abstracts." He found that journals were the most important of publication in information science and scientometrics and that there was a strong trend of multi-authored papers during the given period. He also revealed that Karnataka was the source of majority of the papers on ISS with Tamil Nadu and Delhi trailing behind.

Objectives: The primary objectives were to determine the proportion of modern menstrual method (MMM) users among college going women in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu; and to estimate the unmet needs associated with use of MMMs in comparison with other menstrual hygiene methods (MHMs). We also assessed the factors that determine MMM use among college going women. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among college going women in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, India between October 2022 and January 2023 using a purpose predesigned, pretested, semi-structured proforma that included validated Menstrual Practice Needs Scale (MPNS-36). Results: Only 1.4% of the study participants used MMMs – menstrual cups (1.3%) and tampons (0.1%). Sanitary pads were the most common MHM of choice (96.3%); of which majority (98.6%) used disposable pads and more than half (50.4%) used non-biodegradable pads. Importantly, one in six (16.5%) were not aware of nature of sanitary pads (biodegradable or nonbiodegradable) used. The unmet needs associated with MMMs (menstrual cups and tampons) were significantly lower than that for other MHMs (including sanitary pads), in particular, the unmet material and home environment needs, unmet material reliability concerns, unmet reuse needs and unmet reuse insecurity. However, we found no significant difference between MMMs, sanitary pads and other MHMs in terms of unmet transport, college environment, change and disposal insecurity needs. The significant predictors of use of MMMs were age (more than 21 years of age), residence (urban), type of stay (off campus including home), socioeconomic status (upper), fathers' and mothers' education (high school and above), and presence of personal income. Discussions with friends (or peers) both before and after menarche regarding menstruation resulted in higher adoption of modern menstrual methods. Conclusion: MMMs provided comparative advantage with lesser unmet needs for material reliability and reuse insecurity concerns, particularly in home environment. However, none of the MHMs fulfilled the user expectations for transport and disposal insecurity concerns, particularly outdoors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, the virtual power plant (VPP) is gaining more attention in power system engineering due to its tremendous potential in enhancing sustainable urbanism, in which, it supplies clean energy from distributed generators. Electricity is deemed a basic requirement for future automotive and ultra-modern technologies. The deficiency of traditional energy resources and their complex generation process make the production cost of electricity increase dramatically. Moreover, traditional power distribution systems are encountering issues in distributing electrical energy to fulfill customer demands. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel power management system named 'the hybrid genetic local binary knowledge (HGLBK) algorithm' to manage power distribution in the transmission lines and to optimize the total operation cost of the network. The hybrid optimization algorithm effectively controls the load by supplying the surplus power load to the adjacent feeders thereby optimally selecting and placing the distributed energy resource (DER). The proposed concept is implemented at Kayathar, Tamil Nadu in India, and their real-time data are utilized for modeling the VPP. The proposed VPP concept is implemented in the IEEE-9 bus system and the performance of VPP is simulated using the MATLAB software. The performance of the proposed HGLBK algorithm is assessed by comparing its effectiveness with the existing approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, rainfall prediction has received major attention in research areas because of its demanding applications in pollution control management and flood control management. Despite having numerous learning-based approaches to calculate future rainfall trends, it remains inefficient to predict rainfall occurrences by learning linear and nonlinear data patterns of historical weather information (i.e., exact prediction value is complicated to be predicted). These complications are addressed with the evolution of stochastic models which have a greater ability to minimize prediction bias and represent long-term weather variability. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel modified stochastic fuzzy Aquila (MSFA) algorithm to make precise predictions regarding future trends by evaluating rainfall time series data. The proposed MSFA algorithm is applied in rainfall prediction applications in evaluating the effectiveness of the proposed stochastic model. Here, 10 features of the open weather dataset collected from Tamil Nadu are provided as input for the proposed rainfall prediction design. The data inconsistencies such as undesirable format and missing values are structured using preprocessing procedures, namely data arrangement, null value removal, and data partitioning. The preprocessed data are fed into the proposed MSFA algorithm which learns the data features more precisely and predicts the probable occurrence of rainfall. To evaluate the performances of the proposed MSFA algorithm, the metrics such as mean absolute error (MAE), coefficient of determination, root mean squared logarithmic error (RMSLE), and root mean square error (RMSE) are analyzed. The experimental results illustrate that the proposed MSFA algorithm achieves superior performance in terms of all metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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For achieving the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) it is very much called for the meaningful participation of the youth. The young population in India is sizable, diversified, and affected by a wide range of problems. Due to their social status and caste rigidity, youth from Scheduled Castes (SC) are vulnerable. Despite numerous laws and programs, Tamil Nadu's programs for SC youth have a lower-than-average active participation rate. Their transition and social development are negatively impacted by poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, discrimination, and the lack of opportunities. Numerous empirical studies have examined the status of SCs in terms of their involvement in work and education, but none have yet studied their participation in accomplishing the SDGs. This paper examines how SC youth in Tamil Nadu participated in the SDGs. Subsequently, it offers an inclusive strategy to increase SC youth participation in accomplishing the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electricity demand has increased tremendously in recent years, due to the fact that all sectors require energy for their operation. Due to the increased amount of modern home appliances on the market, residential areas consume a significant amount of energy. This article focuses on the residential community to reduce peak load on residential distribution networks. Mostly, the residential consumer's power demand increases more during the summer season due to many air conditioners (AC) operating in residential homes. This paper proposes a novel summer peak intelligent controller (SPIC) algorithm to reduce summer peak load in residential distribution transformers (RDT). This proposed SPIC algorithm is implemented in a multi-home energy management system (MHEMS) with a four-home hardware prototype and a real-time TNEB system. This hardware prototype is divided into two different cases, one with and one without taking user comfort into account. When considering consumer comfort, all residential homes reduce their peak load almost equally. The maximum and minimum contribution percentages in Case 2 are 29.82% and 19.30%, respectively. Additionally, the real-time TNEB system is addressed in two different cases: with and without incentive-based programs. In the real-time TNEB system during peak hours, the novel SPIC algorithm reduces peak demand in Case 1 by 113.70 kW, and Case 2 further reduces it to 118.80 kW. The peak load decrease in Case 2 during peak hours is 4.5% greater than in Case 1. In addition, we conducted a residential consumer opinion survey to validate the acceptance rate of the proposed design and algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the act of 'thalaikoothal,' performed on ill and infirm older people in the southern part of the state of Tamil Nadu, India, with reference to two Tamil films, K.D. (2019) and Thalaikoothal (2023), which portray the horrors of the practice. A kind of involuntary euthanasia, the ritual continues to have covert social acceptance as exemplified in the films, favoring the common stereotype that marks aging bodies as unproductive and unworthy of living. Therefore, this article explores the aging bodies in the films as sites of power, controlled by death enforced through Thalaikoothal, employing Mbembe's concept of 'necropower.' It also examines the effects of the practice on the elderly, who are compelled to prepare themselves for a forced death. The study further identifies the underlying factors contributing to the prolonged existence of Thalaikoothal even in the present times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores three protest movements differing in scale and scope in two regions in the world. #feesmustfall (2015-2016) was a social media movement in South Africa to protest against prohibitive hikes in university fees. #Jallikattu (2017) was a social media movement in Tamil Nadu (India) to lift a ban imposed by the Supreme Court of India against an ancient cultural sport with bulls. Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) is a South African social media movement to raise issues related to shack dwellers. While there is literature focusing on these movements individually (Bosch 2016, Kalaiyarasan 2017, Mdlalose 2014), a comparative approach offers some alternate insights into how state power manifests in the age of digital capitalism. Habermas (1987, 1989) theorised the transformation of the public sphere and key to understanding how these publics contest existing power structures is his explication of authentic communicative action. Using Fuchs's (2016) and Zuboff's (2019) analyses of social media activism, we examine police brutality and su rveillance in these three movements. The classical model of diaspora (Harutyunyan 2012) is introduced to show how it manifests in two of the protest movements, and contemporary notions of diaspora (Grossman 2019: 1265) are explored to see what they could offer to diverse protest cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Architecture persistently evolved from the need for shelter and living spaces. Subsequently, this is prominent and reinforced through the knowledge over some time through oral traditions and practices that are time tested and improvised to develop a unique expression termed Vernacular architecture. It is evident from the existing literature that the built environment as a subsystem has the potential to influence and direct behavior among the occupants of the settings. This paper attempts to determine the spatial feature of the vernacular setting in the selected context which has a certain identity and has the potential in inducing specific positive Affect like enthusiasm among the occupants. In pursuit of this, the physical setting feature of the vernacular house Thinnai is studied for its identity of the house in context and its impact in inducing the experience of positive affect enthusiastic effect through a set of data collected by questionnaire survey and semi-structured interview method. The result of the analysis indicates that Physical setting features induce affect when people habituate to the vernacular settings that stand for their identity daily and it confirms the hypothesis that a physical setting has a significant role in inducing Positive affective among the occupants of the vernacular settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to explore the dynamic factors of the work–family interface (WFI) of construction professionals in South India. It also aims to develop a model of the factors that influence the WFI. This study identified seven factors from the literature: work environment, family, stress, personal satisfaction, work culture, top-level acceptance, and work–family balance. Data were collected using questionnaires distributed among the construction professionals in South India. Data analysis was performed using SPSS. The mean standard deviation and shape measures (skewness and kurtosis) revealed that personal satisfaction (3.55) was rated the top factor for WFI, followed by work–family balance (3.15), stress (2.91), and work culture (2.83). The study found that the work culture was not significantly correlated with work environment, family, stress, personal satisfaction, or top-level acceptance. The developed SEM model emphasises the need to pay keen attention to the work environment and the work–family balance among the construction professionals in India. Management should consider these factors to design standard policies to improve the WFI and design work–life balance strategies to create stability in the lives of construction professionals. The current research is limited to only two cities in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in South India. More studies must be carried out for more states in India to better understand the current situation of WFI as there is limited evidence of studies on the WFI of construction professionals in India. Therefore, the findings of this study fill the existing knowledge gap and provide a clear insight into improving the mental and social well-being of construction professionals in the Indian construction industry and construction professionals in other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the paper "Fluorine contamination in ground water: a major challenge" by I.A. Dar and colleagues in a 2011 issue of the periodical "Environmental Monitoring and Assessment." It mentions that the paper studies groundwater fluoride concentration for Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu, India. The paper highlights a map which depicts the sampling locations that contain relatively high fluoride content.

This paper brings out the socio-economic condition of the exodus employees in Tamil Nadu. We analyse the income patterns, remittance structure, their consumption and nature of work especially in leather industries. Generally, Tamilnadu is boasting of good number of leather industries. It enables to improve the production of leather goods of very high quality. A large number of employees from northern states of India are travelling to Tamil Nadu for earning their lively hood. We came to know that large number of exodus labour arrive to Tamil Nadu through the informal networks which guide them in getting jobs in leather goods manufacturing industries. poor economic conditions in their native places and high wage rate and better employment opportunities in Tamil Nadu have been identified as few of the main reasons of their migration. Even after their migration, due to unsatisfied income level, the dwelling status of the exodus labourers are not much satisfactory, these exodus employees don't have good standard of living along with unhygienic sanitation. There are various reasons for the exodus labour to arrive in Tamil nadu. This paper tries to point out those factors and the post migration situation of these exodus labourers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Architecture is inevitably a mechanism for social purposes that could impact the personal and public levels. While architecture is used in many different ways, the arrangement and structure of places are fundamental and essential to people's lives. Thus, the people started to create spaces allowing them to eat, sleep, worship, learn, argue, recreate, and so on in a specific timeframe that has been subjected to the tradition and culture of people. This study is about one such traditional transition space - the thinnai that creates connectivity between the public and private zones in a housing typology. As evolution occurs, these structures, intended for various activities, have vanished, and compound wall structures have enclosed the dwellings. This shortens the connectivity to the external environment. In southern India, the thinnai spaces serve various socio-cultural activities. The typology of the thinnai spaces differs according to the regions of settlement, occupation and religious practices. Such spaces have been recreated due to the refurbishment of the buildings, which will not require them to serve their purpose. The main objective of the paper is to document and analyze the transitional spaces (known as thinnai or raised platform) prevailing near the entrance in the varied typology of traditional houses in a village in Tamil Nadu and to classify them based on the thresholds. The qualitative study was carried out through intense documentation analysis of transition spaces near thresholds in the varied typology of traditional houses in Mangalrevu village Tamil Nadu. The result of the study showed that the transitional spaces that exist near thresholds in traditional buildings have demonstrated extensive functionality and lie in harmony with the people's lifestyle. Further, the authors also classified the types of transition spaces with respect to the thresholds. It is considered the need of the hour to replicate these structures with the same meaning in modern dwellings without any compromises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Crop yield prediction is an important issue for the proper selection of crop for sowing. Earlier prediction of crop is done by the farmer’s experience on a particular type of field and crop. Predicting the crop is done by the farmer’s experience based on the factors like soil types, climatic condition, seasons and weather, rainfall and irrigation facilities. Methods: Data mining techniques is the better choice for predicting the crop. Different Data Mining techniques are used and evaluated in agriculture for estimating the future year’s crop production. This research proposes and implements a system to predict crop yield from soil data. This is achieved by applying Decision Tree Algorithm on agricultural data. The main aim of this research is to pinpoint the accuracy of Decision Tree Algorithm and C 5.0 algorithm which is used to predict the crop yield. Result: This paper presents a brief analysis of Crop yield prediction using data mining technique based decision tree algorithm and C5.0 algorithm for the selected region (Krishnagiri) district of Tamil Nadu in India. The experimental result shows that the proposed work efficiently to determine the accuracy of decision tree algorithm and also to predict the crop yield production using R- Tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demarcated the most vulnerable regions within the Poiney sub-basin (Tamil Nadu state in India) with respect to the groundwater quality. An index-based vulnerability assessment was carried out by measuring the physico-chemical variables such as pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, magnesium, sodium, chloride, sulphate, bicarbonate and fluoride in the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon samples. Water quality index varied across the sub-basin due to differences in the water quality induced by anthropogenic activities related to land use practices and presence of industries. The MT3D engine coupled with visual MODFLOW identified that sulphate released from tanneries and leather factories is the main effluent contaminating the groundwater. Model reveals that both the flow and contaminant transport is towards southeast with maximum and minimum calculated head of 201.82 mg/l and 265.92 mg/l and calculated sulphate concentration of 394.40 mg/l and 46.79 mg/l respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reviews a range of global aquaculture health and safety literature to inform and contribute to the development of a socio-economic profile of Indian shrimp farm workers including the occupational hazards and injuries they face. In addition, 60 shrimp farm workers were interviewed from each of the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. The study revealed that all shrimp farm workers were male, 58% were migrants, and ages ranged from 23 to 53 years with work experience of 5 to 24 years. Few workers (14%) had no formal schooling and many had secondary-level education. Reported physical hazards were high (93%) followed by biological (82%), chemical (77%), ergonomic (71%) and psycho-social (71%) hazards. The majority of physical injuries reported related to slips, falls and cuts (51%), electric shocks (44%), sunburn (41%), dehydration/ headaches (40%) and fractures (27%). Approximately 30%-39% had some chemical injury with skin infections/breathing problems. Indian shrimp farm workers face similar occupational hazards and injuries to shrimp farm workers in other countries. The occupational health and safety of shrimp farm workers should be integrated into the concept of 'One Health' to ensure aquaculture sustainability and safe, meaningful and good quality employment to workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focused on using appropriate reading strategies to improve the reading comprehension of prospective teachers in two teacher education colleges in the Vellore District of Tamil Nadu, India. The paper begins by introducing the importance of English language in the contemporary environment, and then highlights the significance of reading comprehension for academic purposes. Three reading strategies were employed in the experimental study. The sample size and the testing methods employed in the experiment are described in the methodology section. The statistical analysis to determine the reading comprehension skills was done with mean, paired sample t-test and co-efficient. The results confirm that the use of appropriate reading strategies enhances the reading comprehension skills of the samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time shapes every single human–environment relationship and is inherent in 21st-century global challenges such as climate change and the urgent move towards global sustainability. Nonetheless, the concept of time is still insufficiently addressed in climate justice debates. This paper aims to help fill this gap by presenting empirical results about experiences of climate change in farming communities in Tamil Nadu, South India, and fishing communities on the Lofoten Islands, Norway. With the help of the five dimensions of affectedness, rhythms and rituals, slow motion, care, and health and well-being, it exemplifies how time matters to issues of climate injustices faced by the communities. The paper promotes a qualitative understanding of time and climate change. Thereby, it may stimulate greater relatability to climate change, as well as discussion likely to lead to conceptual advances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article delves into the vast potential and explores how social science scholars in Tamil Nadu universities utilize research tools powered by artificial intelligence to disseminate academic research information. In section two, I mention that these tools help with research objectives and literature reviews. Moving on to the third section, I delve into the methodologies employed in this study. A survey of researchers collected data from 623 respondents through Google Forms. Analyze data using Microsoft Excel and SPSS version 23 in Section Four. Methods used: frequency analysis, paired-samples t-statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients, and independent samples t-tests. I discuss the data analysis of AI research tools ethically. I discuss how these processes and data using these tools can positively impact social science research and accuracy. I conclude by highlighting the purpose of artificial intelligence tools: to increase collaborations between social science scholars and analysts to ensure that AI tools are used safely and ethically and because of the progress of artificial intelligence requirements in theories of human behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change may cause adverse impact on agricultural production that could jeopardize food availability and security. In this paper, we investigate how changes in mean values and variability of weather variables may affect rice yield using panel data for 30 districts of Tamil Nadu State from 1971 to 2018. We estimate a fixed-effects regression model with panel-corrected standard errors. Results show that rainfall and temperature have a statistically significant impact on rice yield. Furthermore, weather variability, measured as standard deviations of temperature and rainfall, has a negative effect on rice yields. We use the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project-5 outputs and dynamically downscaled the weather outputs using the regional climate model. The results of the climate model showed that the rise in temperature and disruptions in rainfall patterns including both excessive and deficient rainfall events in Tamil Nadu will continue in the future under different climate scenarios. Projected changes in the weather variables are likely to decrease rice yield in Tamil Nadu from 0.7 to 6.3% under the low emission scenario and 4.1 to 20.1% in the high emission scenario during 2022–2050 (relative to 1971–2018). These projections have implications for the planning and targeting of climate adaptation technologies such as drought-tolerant and flood-tolerant varieties to lessen the adverse impact of weather variability due to climate change in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The present paper records the extended distribution of orchids, viz., Oberonia chandrasekharanii V.J.Nair, V.S.Ramach. & R.Ansari, Peristylus plantagineus (Lindl.) Lindl., Porpax exilis (Hook.f.) Schuit., Y.P.Ng & H.A.Pedersen, and P. jerdoniana (Wight) Rolfe, to the Nilgiris of Tamil Nadu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many of the oldest known sites of the Pāṇḍya country located not far from the Kāverī River in Tamil Nadu, a dual Hindu obedience, Vaiṣṇava and Śaiva, was developed concomitantly.1 Alongside these Bhakti deities, others are present in these places of communication with the sacred. As stone figures attached to the site and texts evoking the place are the two means used to give form to their deities, one would expect these two mediums to interact, but it is often difficult to correlate them in the Tamil country of the first millennium. This paper aims at exploring such possible relationships at Tiruveḷḷaṟai, the earliest remains of which date to the 8th c. The site has unique archaeological features, such as a svastika-shaped well and the earliest known depictions of some of Kṛṣṇa's feats; it inspired hymns of the Tamil Vaiṣṇava devotional corpus, the Divyaprabandham, and offers numerous inscriptions. The link between Śiva, Viṣṇu and local goddesses proves to be as remarkable here as that between texts and archaeology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present pilot study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness and efficiency gains in collect outpatient health information from primary health centres and health sub centres through mobile applications for detecting disease outbreaks in near-real-time. The researchers were also interested in evaluating the difficulties in implementing mobile health technology with health workers of lesser technical experience in electronically submitting patient data. "Evaluating a Real Time Biosurveillance Program: A pilot project" was conducted in Thiruppathur block of Sivaganga district in southern rural Tamil Nadu in India from July 2008 to July 2010. During the first year, the researchers and technicians interacted with the health workers to develop the technology. Thereafter, digital data submission using the mHealthSurvey, from the 28 rural health care centres, began in June 2009. The digitized data was analysed for unusual patterns using the TCWI (T-Cube Web Interface). Adverse events detected through TCWI were disseminated via SMS, Email, and Web with the Sahana Alerting Broker web-based software. Averages of 217 health records were collected each day for detection of adverse epidemiological events. A major advantage of the mobile phone patient data collection method was the improved timeliness for real-time detection of any disease outbreak. Besides the delays of digitizing data because of the parallel routine labor intensive paper work, the health workers in Tamil Nadu were able to submit reliable patient health data using mobile phone, which makes it a friendly, efficient, and cost effective tool of data collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper pertains to the nesting habits of Ploceus philippinus (Linnaeus, 1766) with specific reference to the agricultural landscape of Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu during the breeding period between April and October 2021. A total of 11,386 nests (wad stage-840, ring stage-478, helmet stage-3,980, egg-chamber closed stage-2,865, completed nests-2,028, abnormal nests-938, and damaged nests-257) and 12,600 birds were observed on 832 nest-supporting plants. Nest-supporting plants belonged to 27 species, 26 genera, and 17 families. The three principal nest-supporting palm species--Borassus flabellifer, Cocos nucifera, and Phoenix sylvestris--represented 85.21% of the total nest-supporting plants. The number of nests (including all the stages) per colony varied from 1 to 109 and 70.16% nests were oriented towards the east. Abnormal nests constituted 8.24% of the recorded nests with 17 variations and 90.12% helmet stage nests contained plastering of clay on the inner walls. Nest predation by House Crow, Large-billed Crow, Asian Koel, Black Drongo, & Rufous Treepie and killing of adult Baya Weaver by Shikra were recorded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coconut production from the small plantation crop holders of rural areas plays an essential role in the Indian economy. Tamil Nadu is the state which holds the pride of being the largest makers of coconut in the nation. Climatic conditions of the state ensure the considerable production for several years. At present, variability in climate worsens the survival conditions of coconut palm. This paper makes the spatial assessment of climate variability effects on coconut crop felt in Dindigul and Attur Taluks of Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu State, through applying geospatial technologies. This study is carried out by analyzing the climatic parameters and coconut production statistics for the years 2005 to 2014. The proposed area of study has 4,488.16 hectares of coconut plantations on rural areas out of 1,39,415 hectares of total surface area. Increased temperature trends and poorest rainfall patterns faced during the years 2009–2013 influenced coconut productivity negatively on account of lowering the ground water levels. Spatial damage assessment is carried out by using LISS III, IV and high-resolution images. It is identified that the inter-annual disparity of coconut production of 2010–2014 could be evidenced the aberrations due to continuous decline in seasonal rainfall and heavy summer air temperature conditions. This trend was not altered the favorable environs for flowering and growing of coconuts but it claimed lives of coconut trees. Results have showed that the climate and production are interrelated and the annihilation of rural economy because of loss of coconut lives could not be recoverable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The objective of this paper was twofold-revisiting the in-kind public distribution system (PDS) – India's flagship food security intervention and seeking beneficiary perspectives on its efficacy. The feasibility of cash transfers as an alternative mechanism is also examined, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: Primary and secondary data from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu were used. In-depth interviews with beneficiaries using phenomenology were conducted to evaluate their perception and willingness to shift to a cash-based PDS in the pre and post-pandemic periods. Secondary district-level data were also used to ascertain institutional preparedness for this shift. Findings: In-depth interviews of 105 beneficiaries revealed valuable insights, which seem to have significantly changed post-pandemic. Beneficiaries in the post-pandemic period seem much more inclined toward cash transfers, though a combination of cash plus in-kind benefits seems to be strongly preferred. Secondary results pointed out to the lack of institutional preparedness in financial inclusion. The research suggested that while the existing PDS needs to be overhauled, policymakers should look at a model of cash plus in-kind transfers as a probable alternative to pure cash transfers. Originality/value: There is a dearth of in-depth state-specific studies on beneficiary perception of PDS, and this is important since the economic and sociocultural milieu in each region is unique. Being the only state with universal food security, its experience could yield important insights for other states or even middle or low-income countries similar to India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These papers surveyed the respondents' Awareness and perception of Plagiarism among the Faculty members and research scholars of higher educational institutions in Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu. The 500 questionnaires were distributed among the participants, 456 questionnaires were filled and returned for usable by the respondents and remaining not replied. The responses rate is 91.2%. Further among 222 Male respondents, 11.18% of them are having Aware, 10.75% of them in Learning, 10.53% are with Fair and 76(16.23%) of them are Expert. Similarly out of 234 Female respondents, 16.45% of them has No Idea, 7.02% of them have Aware, 10.09% of them in Learning, 8.99% are with Fair and 8.77% of them are Expert. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a blend of three techniques to select COVID-19 testing centers. The objective of the paper is to identify a suitable location to establish new COVID-19 testing centers. Establishment of the testing center in the needy locations will be beneficial to both public and government officials. Selection of the wrong location may lead to lose both health and wealth. In this paper, location selection is modelled as a decision-making problem. The paper uses fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) technique to generate the criteria weights, monkey search algorithm to optimize the weights, and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method to rank the different locations. To illustrate the applicability of the proposed technique, a state named Tamil Nadu, located in India, is taken for a case study. The proposed structured algorithmic steps were applied for the input data obtained from the government of India website, and the results were analyzed and validated using the government of India website. The ranks assigned by the proposed technique to different locations are in aligning with the number of patients and death rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the awareness and usage of Academic Social Networking Sites (ASNS) among female research scholars and faculty members in Tamil Nadu, India. A structured questionnaire was used to survey 838 female research scholars through online platforms. The results showed that most respondents use at least one ASNS, with Google Scholar being the most popular. The primary reasons for using ASNS are to disseminate scholarly work and discover research papers. However, a lack of awareness and time was the main reason for not having an account with these sites. The respondents learned about ASNS primarily through friends and colleagues and suggested increasing their use and awareness through seminars and training courses, library posters, and integration in the student courses. The study highlights the importance of ASNS in the research work of female scholars and faculties while also recognizing the need for increased awareness and access to these resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strong associations exist between the crop productivity and the seasonal, biological, economical causes in natural ecosystems. The linkages like climatic conditions, health of a soil, growth of crop, irrigation, fertilizers, temperature, rainwater, pesticides desired to be preserved in comprehensively managed crop lands which impacts the crop potency. Crop yield prognosis plays a vibrant part in agricultural planning, administration and environs sustainability. Advancements in the field of Machine Learning have perceived novel expectations to improve the prediction performance in Agriculture. Highly gratifying prediction of crop yield helps the majority of agronomists for their rapid decision making in the choice of crop to be cultivated. This paper makes an attempt to suggest which crop can be sown at a particular district in Tamil Nadu, depending on the factors required for the growth of the crop based on the research outcomes. This is achieved by applying clustering on the attributes in the dataset using E-DBSCAN and is compared with three different algorithms such as DBSCAN, CLARA and K-means. The best suitable factor for the growth of a crop for a location is predicted using clustering techniques. The accuracy of crop yield prediction is calculated for three crops, namely, rice, wheat and maize. The proposed method outperforms in terms of Bias, F1 Score, MAPE, MDAE, MSE, RAE, RMSE and MAE with existing algorithms in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify factors relevant for financial inclusion (FI) and establish a model that shows how these factors lead to economic development (ED) through FI.Design/methodology/approach Primary data were collected through structured questionnaire. Out of 350, 311 respondents accurately filled the questionnaire. The data were collected from rural areas of Tamil Nadu. Exploratory factor analysis has been applied to evaluate drivers/factors relevant for FI. Confirmatory factor analysis has been applied to establish reliability and validity of the identified factors. A structural model has been proposed and empirically tested for ED through FI.Findings The main findings of the current paper are as follows: online banking (OB), understanding banking services (UBS) and financial literacy (FL) are the drivers of FI; FI can lead to ED, as the proposed model of ED, through FI, is supported in the paper (χ2/degree of freedom and CMIN/degree of freedom are less than 3; GFI and AGFI are more than 0.90 and 0.85, respectively). Behavior of the people, with respect to mode of financial transactions, has changed due to demonetization. (The χ2 test for mode of financial transaction is significant).Research limitations/implications The geographical reach of the sample should cover the whole India. The sample should also have equal representation from rural and urban areas.Practical implications The identified factors for FI (OB, UBS and FL) should be more focused to bring about better results for FI in India. These factors can lead to a more effective execution of FI initiatives. In addition to this, policy makers can be confident of relying upon FI as a tool for ED.Originality/value The identified three drivers for FI have not been explored earlier. In addition to this, ED (through FI) in the form of structural model has also not been tested earlier. Government of India can realign their policies toward FI by using findings of this paper. In addition to increasing the access of formal financial system to masses, more thrust can be given to OB and FL for better results of FI in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper pertains to the habitats of the Grey Francolin Francolinus pondicerianus with specific reference to populations, habitat type, vegetation, foraging, impact of human dwellings, and probable threats to populations in 20 villages covering four northern districts of Tamil Nadu, India. A total of 252 individuals were enumerated. During the non-breeding season, birds move in small groups of 2–6. Of four habitats identified, the maximum number of 143 birds was observed foraging in grasslands, while 61 were seen in dry fallow agricultural lands, 37 in dry lakes/canals, and 11 in harvested fields. No significant association was observed between habitat type and bird behaviour. They feed on termites and spilled paddy grains. Males have repeated loud calls and fight with each other. Four species of tall grasses, six of stunted trees and two shrubs were identified to provide bird habitat. Birds preferred to live away from human dwellings, with 193 found 1,000 m away from settlements. The study area continues to be a suitable habitat for Grey Francolin populations, hence this habitat needs protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper pertains to the study on roosting habits and habitats of the Indian Flying Fox Pteropus medius Temminck, 1825 in 12 villages of four northern districts--Vellore, Krishnagiri, Tiruvannamalai, and Viluppuram--of Tamil Nadu. Studies targeted roosting tree species, population status, diurnal-roosting behaviour, interactions with other animals, and probable threats to the species. A total of 22,365 individuals of the species were observed in 72 roosting colonies in 72 trees belonging to nine families, 11 genera, and 13 species. The tree species that harbored the greatest population of P. medius (n= 12,465) were those of Tamarindus indica L. (Fabaceae) (n= 39), followed by Ficus religiosa L. (Moraceae) (n= 3,960), Madhuca latifolia J.F. Macbr. (Sapotaceae) (n= 2,760), and Ficus benghalensis L. (Moraceae) (n= 1,620). One-Way ANOVA revealed that a significant relationship exists between colony size and tree diameter at breast height (dbh), and their canopy size (p <0.05). However, no significant difference occurred between the colony size and tree height. The time taken for emergence of individuals of the colony from the canopy for foraging varied between 20 and 40 min after 1750 h in the evening. The species mostly roosted on trees proximal to human settlements, electrical power lines, and water bodies. Individuals of P. medius used various tree species in different areas in different geographical regions and did not maintain any consistency in roosting tree species selection. A majority of individuals (88.7 %; n= 887) were found roosting using both legs and a minority of P. medius (11.3 %; n= 113) were clinging to tree branches using one. Individuals of P. medius flew to nearby water bodies to quench thirst and cool their bodies. Mating was observed during day roost in 146 pairs including male-female fellatio in seven pairs. Smoke from shrines in sacred groves, pruning of branches for various cultural reasons, populations of House Crow Corvus splendens (Vieillot, 1817) (Corvidae), Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus (Desfontaines, 1789) and Black Kite Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) (both Accipitridae) were key disturbances to roosting populations of P. medius. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]