Research Papers

Causes, Human Health Impacts and Control of Harmful Algal Blooms: A Comprehensive Review

Sonaka Sangeeta, Patil Kavita , Devi Prabha, D’Souzac Lisette

| 2018

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are increasingly attracting attention all over the world. A diverse set of algal species including diatoms, flagellates, chrysophytes and dinoflagellates can cause harmful blooms, and many produce toxins that harm other organisms and human health. Intensive cyanobacterial blooms, in particular, have been associated with high costs for society due to their potential toxicity. Algal blooms can produce different toxins. These toxins present a long-standing threat to human and environmental health.

Traditional uses of the wild plants by the tribal communities of Jawhar, Palghar, Maharashtra, India

Lele Yatish A, Thorve Bhargavi Arun, Tomar Swati, Parasnis Anjali

| 2017

Abrus precatorius commonly known as Rosary pea, act as a poison for the fish and cause - the state of unconsciousness

TERI received the Best Paper Award for 'Traditi

Creating framework for climate resilient building materials in Himalayan region

Ms Minni Sastry, Mr Hara Kumar Varma Namburu

| 2018

Construction sector accounts for about 25% of the carbon emissions in India. With constant increase in the rate of construction, it is important that the sector identifies and applies sustainable construction and production practices. The sustainability index (SI) of building materials created as part of the study in the Himalayan region of South Asia will help create low-cost, climate resilient structures based on local climate and available resources. This implies customization as per regional needs when scaling up in other topographies.

Use of renewable energy to enhance sustainability of the mid-day meal program in schools

Gopal L, Nagaraju Y

| 2013

Children in government schools in Karnataka, India are provided cooked mid-day meals under the 'Akshara Dasoha' scheme. The aim of this initiative is to provide a nutritious meal to school children (who mostly hail from the lower economic strata) to enhance their nutritional status and as an incentive to minimize dropouts. However, cooking these meals have numerous bottlenecks including irregular supply of cooking fuel i.e.

Trend analysis and ARIMA modelling of pre-monsoon rainfall data for western India

Narayanan P, Basistha A, Sarkar S, Sachdeva K

| 2013

Spatial and temporal variability of rainfall over different seasons influence physical, social and economic parameters. Pre-monsoon (March, April and May - MAM) rainfall over the country is highly variable. Since heat lows and convective rainfall in MAM have an impact on the intensity of the ensuing monsoons, hence the pre-monsoon period was chosen for the study. The pre-whitened Mann Kendall test was used to explore presence of rainfall trend during MAM. The results indicate presence of significant (at 10% level) increasing trend in two stations (Ajmer, Bikaner).

Transition of Digital library in a web enabled environment: from Semantic to Social Semantic Digital library

Alam Nihal, Karmakar Ranjan

| 2013

Library is a primary source of information throughout the history of mankind and is present in our societies in different forms. Notably, the traditional digital libraries have taken the shape of semantic digital libraries, which gives a more meaningful search and can be accessible anywhere at any point of time. Now it is time to re-examine the role of digital libraries within a new paradigm of library service. This paper will identify how it influences professional’s information needs and use of resources to meet those needs by different forms of Digital libraries in a web environment.

The trials and tribulations of the Village Energy Security Programme (VESP) in India

Palit D, Sovacoolb B K, Cooperb C, Zoppob D, Eidsnessb J, Craftonb M, Johnsonb K, Clarkeb S

| 2013

The Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) launched the Village Energy Security Programme (VESP) in 2004 but discontinued it during the 12th Five Year Plan, starting in 2012, after a series of unexpected challenges. Planners structured the program so that a village energy committee (VEC) ran a decentralized village program involving biomass gasifiers, straight vegetable oil (SVO) systems, biogas plants, and improved cookstoves. This suite of technologies was intended to produce electricity and thermal energy to meet the total energy requirements of rural communities.

The Evaluation of Two-stage Chemical Fractionation for the Enhanced Enzymatic Saccharification of Cellulose in Rice Straw

Banerji A, Kurian J, Kishore V V N and Balakrishnan M

| 2013

Rice straw, an agro-residue, can be utilized as a renewable resource for the production of fuel and chemicals. This study evaluates a two-stage chemical pretreatment (dilute acid hydrolysis followed by alkaline-peroxide delignification) for fractionation and enhancing the enzymatic saccharification of the rice straw cellulose to produce fermentable sugars. The process led to 100% hemicellulose dissolution and resulted in a solid residue with ~95% pure cellulose. Enzymatic saccharification of this cellulose liberates 70% more reducing sugars compared to other single-step pretreatment methods.

Test of Airflow in a Mono-directional Wind-catcher for various Wind Conditions using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Devadutt S, Habeeb R

| 2013

Wind-catchers are one of the most extensively used passive technologies in history of arid climatic regions, engaged to supplement airflow and maintain indoor comfort ventilation. It was meant to catch the air flow high above the ground, which is greater in speed compared to the flow at lower levels due to ground conditions. This study aims to analyse wind-catchers with respect to different speeds and its orientation to prevailing winds for effective airflow.

Sustainable agriculture practices for food and nutritional security

Dhawan V

| 2013

The demand for increased food production and ecological threats for sustainable food production in years to come has resulted in relooking at the current agricultural practices. Globally, scientists are developing solutions for increasing crop productivity and developing nutritionally better crops that are more efficient in resource utilization. The challenge is not just restricted to more mouths to feed but also due to economic growth, the demand for food is increasing and so are the preferences for the kind of food.