Publications

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.

Application of appropriate technologies in TERI Library and Information Centre: an exploratory study

Research Paper
| January 11, 2018

National Science and Technology Management Information System (NSTMIS) of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) makes available the information and data on resources devoted to R&D activities in the country through its regular and occasional publications for evidence based S&T planning. Digitization of all the publications brought out under NSTMIS scheme since its inception in 1973 and developing web-based digital repository for quick access and retrieval purposes was the mission.

Assessing biome boundary shifts under climate change scenarios in India

Research Paper
| January 11, 2018

Climate change and its cascading impacts are being increasingly recognized as a major challenge across the globe. Climate is one of the most critical factors affecting biomes and their distribution. The present study assessed shifts in biome types of India using the conceptual framework of Holdridge life zone (HLZ) model, minimum distance classifier and climatic datasets to assess the distribution pattern of potential biomes under climate change scenarios in India.

Assessment of Volume Change in East Rathong Glacier, Eastern Himalaya

Research Paper
| January 11, 2018

An estimate of change in volume of East Rathong glacier in Eastern Himalayas has been made, vis-a-vis changes in its surface area over the period 1962-2011. The change in the area and volume of the glacier has been estimated using remote sensing (CORONA and Landsat images) and GIS techniques, field methods and certain empirical relationships and scaling laws. Bruckl's thickness-area relationship and volume-area scaling methods are used to estimate the volume and change in the volume of the glacier from 1962 to 2011.