Publications
The groundwater recharge response and hydrologic services of tropical humid forest ecosystems to use and reforestation: Support for the "infiltration-evapotranspiration trade-off hypothesis"
Research Paper
| January 11, 2018
The hydrologic effects of forest use and reforestation of degraded lands in the humid tropics has implications for local and regional hydrologic services but such issues have been relatively less studied when compared to the impacts of forest conversion. In particular, the "infiltration-evapotranspiration trade-off" hypothesis which predicts a net gain or loss to baseflow and dry-season flow under both, forest degradation or reforestation depending on conditions has not been tested adequately.
A dual fired downdraft gasifier system to produce cleaner gas for power generation: Design, development and performance analysis
Research Paper
| January 11, 2018
The existing biomass gasifier systems have several technical challenges, which need to be addressed. They are reduction of impurities in the gas, increasing the reliability of the system, easy in operation and maintenance. It is also essential to have a simple design of gasifier system for power generation, which can work even in remote locations. A dual fired downdraft gasifier system was designed to produce clean gas from biomass fuel, used for electricity generation. This system is proposed to overcome a number of technical challenges.
A new system using Solanum tuberosum for the co-cultivation of Glomus intraradices and its potential for mass producing spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Research Paper
| January 11, 2018
Freshly harvested potato tubers, Solanum tuberosum var 'Pukhraj', were inoculated for transformation with Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain Ri1600. Hairy roots were formed after 8 days of co-cultivation and the transformation efficiency was 40 %. The transformants were transferred from Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) to Modified White's medium (MW) and finally on a hormone-free minimal medium (M). The putative transformants were confirmed using rolA and rolB gene specific primers for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis.
A nuclear liability framework for South Asia: formation of South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nuclear risk community
Research Paper
| January 11, 2018
South Asia is one of the densely populated regions of the world. A disaster in the nature of nuclear accident in one country will have a significant impact on the life and livelihood of large population across the region. Currently, major economies in South Asia are expanding their nuclear energy programmes, and this poses a transboundary risk. The risk is aggravated by the fact that countries in South Asia are not a part of any common international nuclear liability framework, nor do they have reciprocal domestic law.
A review of vermifiltration and related low cost alternatives for waste water management
Research Paper
| January 11, 2018
Vermifiltration is a treatment method that combines the conventional filtration processes with the vermicomposting techniques. It has opened new grounds for treating wastewater in the world, and especially so in the developing countries due to its low cost and eco-friendly nature. Research is ongoing in this area since the field has gained attention from the scientific community only recently.
A study of abandoned ash ponds reclaimed through green cover development
Research Paper
| January 11, 2018
Green capping is one of the popular methods to re-vegetate abandoned ash ponds of coal based thermal power plants thereby lowering the risk of contamination to the surrounding environment. It has innumerable advantages such as prevention of dust emission, checking soil erosion, stabilizing the surface areas of ash, preventing potential ground water contamination, and finally, adding native vegetation cover, which is very vital in the long term.
A two-track CDM: improved incentives for sustainable development and offset production
Research Paper
| January 11, 2018
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has been criticized in the literature for encouraging a focus on offset production (OP) at the expense of achieving or encouraging sustainable development (SD). It is argued that one explanation for this is that there is no commonly agreed definition of SD and, moreover, the priority of CDM project developers is often to produce cost-effective OP. Many of the proposals to address these drawbacks are not politically feasible.
An assessment of health sector in the "state action plans on climate change" for India
Research Paper
| January 11, 2018
This article attempts to assess the state action plans on climate change (SAPCC) of 11 Indian states in terms of reviewing the challenges and opportunities in the health sector. The review indicates that inadequate literature on the projected impacts of climate change on human health is a major issue that requires immediate attention. The absence of any national mission on health has affected the level of prioritization given to the health sector in SAPCCs.
An evaluative model for city competitiveness: Application to UK cities
Research Paper
| January 11, 2018
Progressive cities have competitive advantages in capturing opportunities for development and attracting leading edge business. Regeneration and business strategies are amongst the tools that cities may employ in order to overcome the challenges that influence their competitiveness. However, there has been little research that links these themes. This paper integrates regeneration and property-led business strategies through the development of a hierarchical model for city competitiveness.
An integrated statistical approach for evaluating the exceedence of criteria pollutants in the ambient air of megacity Delhi
Research Paper
| January 11, 2018
Like many countries, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi, in India evaluates exceedences of air pollution levels against the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). One of the mandatory requirements for NAAQS compliance is that the probability of non-exceedence should be at least 0.98, meaning that the formulated framework of NAAQS is essentially statistical.