Socio-economic and health status of sandstone miners: a case study of Sorya village, Karauli, Rajasthan

Background: This study is carried out with aims to assess socio-economic and health status of the miners in Sorya Village of Karauli district of Rajasthan, India. Mining has always been among the most hazardous of occupations and rapidly increasing demand for metal and minerals to meet the demand for growing infrastructure has greatly increased the importance of mining. The quarrying and crushing are carried out in many parts of India and majority of stone mines are unorganized.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 126 miners in Sorya village, Karauli during 20 to 30 May 2014.Results: Average ages of miner were 41 and average household sizes of the miners were six. Around 80 % miners addicted to substance abuse and spend average Rs. 17 daily. Average monthly incomes of them were Rs. 3200 and 39 % has miners are in debt of more than 1 lakh. One of the reasons of debt was father died in debt and carried forward to the children. Seventy-seven percent of miners belong to lower caste and rest of them belongs to other backward class. Average BMI of miners was 19.7 kg/m2 and 38% miner were malnourished (BMI <18.5 kg/m2). Health problem reported by most of them were TB, silicosis, chest pain, back pain, Cough and Musculoskeletal disorder. Some of miners reported about low vision and hearing loss too.Conclusion: From the study, it can be concluded that one reason for miner’s indebtedness is father carry forward. Sandstone mining leads to Silicosis, TB and body pain and musculoskeletal disorder. Large sample size studies will give a clearer picture that will helpful in policy implication for more than 2.5 million miners in Rajasthan, India.

Are sandstone miners abused in India?

Despite engaged in economic activities, the situation of sandstone miners is very poor in India. They are abused in many ways like in socioeconomic status, in Physical health, by doctors, by&nbsp;thekedars&nbsp;(contractor), by dacoits and by the administration. This report is compiled on the basis of author Ph.D. field work scheduled in May to September 2014 in 10 sampled villages in Karauli, Rajasthan and collected information from more than 300 mine workers and two in-depth interviews from local newspaper journalists. Karauli is a district of Rajasthan in western India, located at 26.5°N 77.02°E and encompasses an area of 5530 sq km. Located at a distance of 190 km from pink city Jaipur; the maximum temperature here reaches 470C in summers and minimum drops to about 40C in winters! The area is mainly famous for pink colored construction stone used for carving and other decorative materials. The livelihood of the rural population of this district is mainly agriculture, animal husbandry, and mining; with about one-third population dependent on mining for their livelihood. The sandstone famously called Karauli stone is mined here, mostly as an unorganized way. Despite engaged in economic activities and mentioned in the census under Industrial category (Mining and quarrying), the situation of these miners is very poor. They are abused in many ways like in socioeconomic status, in Physical health, by doctors, by&nbsp;thekedars&nbsp;(contractor), by dacoits and by the administration. &nbsp

Biological synthesis of metal carbonate minerals using fungi and actinomycetes

The exciting possibility of biosynthesis of minerals of variable morphology and with polymorph selectivity by challenging microorganisms such as fungi and actinomycetes has been described. Many fungi and actinomycetes are known to produce reasonable amounts of CO2 during growth. We show here that CO2 and characteristic proteins released from an endophytic fungus, Verticillium sp. and an extremophilic actinomycete, Thermomonospora sp. may be reacted with aqueous Ca2+ and Ba2+ ions to produce truly biogenic CaCO3 and BaCO3 crystals. While extracellular synthesis of the highly unstable vaterite polymorph of CaCO3 in a spherical morphology was observed with the fungus, both extra- and intracellular formation of CaCO3 in the form of composites of flat plates and branched elongated flat plates, were observed with the actinomycete. Reaction of Ba2+ ions with Verticillium sp. and Thermomonospora sp. resulted in the extracellular synthesis of BaCO3 crystals of spherical and flat, plate-like morphologies respectively. The action of specific proteins secreted by the microorganisms in directing crystal structure and morphology has been addressed

Calcite growth in Cissus quadrangularis plant extract, a traditional Indian bone-healing aid

Cissus quadrangularis, a plant that has been customarily used in the Indian subcontinent to hasten the process of healing in bone fractures, has been studied and exploited to synthesize calcite crystals. The plant extract serves as a rich source of calcium ions, which when reacted with CO2, leads to the formation of calcite crystals of highly irregular morphology indicating that bioorganic molecules present in the extract modulate the crystal morphology

Early psychosocial predictors of mental health among Indians during coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak

Introduction: This paper fulfills an identified need to study the mental health status of the population under situations like lockdown, thereby helping fill a persistent gap in Indian research on this issue, and present research on the impact of lockdown on mental health during epidemics is limited, especially in India. This study aims to scale the association between anxiety and sociodemographic factors during the coronavirus disease 2019 lockdown among the general Indian population.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional nationwide study designed to enroll the general population. The inclusion criteria for this study were Indian citizens aged 18 years and above. The study was conducted from March 29, 2020, to April 12, 2020, using an online google questionnaire. The anxiety among respondents was detected and measured using a Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) Scale, which consists of seven questions (in English), that is, GAD-7.Results: Responders were 392, and from these participants, the prevalence of anxiety was 25.3%. The predictors of anxiety were gender, religion, occupation as business/self-employed, marital status, family size, health status, and sleep deprivation based on the bivariate logistic regression analysis.Conclusion: This study reports the early prevalence of anxiety among the Indian population who were grounded at their homes during lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic in the country

Solid waste management in rural areas nearby river Ganga at Haridwar in Uttarakhand, India

The solid waste found in rural areas can be used as a soil conditioner providing essential nutrients to crops and enhancing agricultural productivity. It is an eco-friendly and economic preference for Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSW). This study investigates the solid waste management scenario in rural areas along the river Ganga and proposes a sustainable waste management solution. Waste quantification and composition were determined in the five villages (rural areas) viz. Sajanpur, Shyampur, Kangri, Bhogpur and Dummanpuri of district Haridwar in Uttarakhand and their waste management and disposal systems were evaluated. Findings revealed that the average daily waste generation was 0.665 kg/day and per capita generation of household waste was around 0.16 kg/person/day. Major fraction of household waste was bio-degradable (74.14%) and remaining fraction comprised of paper (6.62%), polythene (2.82%), textile (2.52%), plastic (1.15%), glass (0.61%), metal (0.60%), rubber (0.35%), and inert (5.01%). The average bulk density of household waste was 460 kg/m3, whereas cattle waste bulk density was 834 kg/m3. Other waste characteristics included moisture content (60%), organic carbon (40%), nitrogen (1.7%), phosphorus (0.9%) and ash (31%). The calorific value of household waste (biodegradable) was 937.6 kcal/kg (dry basis). Since most of the waste was biodegradable, hence co-composting with cattle waste is recommended. The dry waste can be separated and stored for further processing and transported to nearby waste to energy-producing plants. The main hurdle to the program of waste recycling was the unsegregated collection of waste in rural areas. Hence, separation at the source comprised biodegradable waste, dried waste (paper, plastic, and metal) and other components are essential for the future solid waste management program

Biosynthesis of metal nanoparticles using fungi and actinomycete

There is little doubt that nanomaterials will play a key role in many technologies of the future. One key aspect of nanotechnology concerns the development of reliable experimental protocols for the synthesis of nanomaterials over a range of chemical compositions, sizes and high monodispersity. In the context of the current drive to develop green technologies in materials synthesis, this aspect of nanotechnology assumes considerable importance. An attractive possibility is to use micro-organisms in the synthesis of nanoparticles. In this article, we provide a brief overview of the research efforts worldwide on the use of micro-organisms in the biosynthesis of inorganic nanoparticles, with particular emphasis on the recent and exciting results obtained at the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune on the biosynthesis of noble-metal nanoparticles using fungi and actinomycete. Some of the challenges in this emerging approach are highlighted

The Role of Vitamin E in Human Health and Some Diseases

Vitamin E is the major lipid-soluble component in the cell antioxidant defence system and is exclusively obtained from the diet. It has numerous important roles within the body because of its antioxidant activity. Oxidation has been linked to numerous possible conditions and diseases, including cancer, ageing, arthritis and cataracts; vitamin E has been shown to be effective against these. Platelet hyperaggregation, which can lead to atherosclerosis, may also be prevented by vitamin E; additionally, it also helps to reduce the production of prostaglandins such as thromboxane, which cause platelet clumping. The current literature review discusses the functions and roles of vitamin E in human health and some diseases as well as the consequences of vitamin E deficiency. The main focus of the review is on the tocopherol class of the vitamers

Thermally enhanced solubilization and anaerobic digestion of organic fraction of municipal solid waste

Organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) is an ideal substrate for biogas production; however, complex chemical structure and being heterogeneous obstruct its biotransformation in anaerobic digestion (AD) process. Thermal pre-treatment of OFMSW has been suggested to enhance the solubilization and improve the anaerobic digestibility of OFMSW. This paper critically and comprehensively reviews the characterization of OFMSW (physical, chemical, bromatological) and enlightens the valuable properties of OFMSW for waste valorization. In following sections, the advantages and limitations of AD of OFMSW are discussed, followed by the application of temperature phased AD, and various thermal pre-treatments, i.e., conventional thermal, microwave, and thermo-chemical for high rate bioenergy transformation. Effects of pre-treatment on COD, proteins, sugars and VS solubilization, and biogas yield are discussed. Formation of recalcitrant during thermal pre-treatment and the effect on anaerobic digestibility are considered. Full scale application, and techno-economic and environmental feasibility of thermal pre-treatment methods are also revealed. This review concluded that thermophilic (55 °C) and temperature phased anaerobic digestion, temperature phased anaerobic digestion, TPAD (55 + 37 °C) processes shows effective and stable performance at low HRTs and high OLRs and achieved higher methane yield than mesophilic digestion. The thermal pre-treatment at a lower temperature (120 °C) improves the net energy yield. However, high-temperature pre-treatment (>150 °C) result in decreased biogas yield and even lower than the non-pre-treated OFMSW, although a high degree of COD solubilization. The OFMSW solubilization in terms of COD, proteins, and sugars cannot accurately reflect thermal/hybrid pre-treatments' potential. Thus, substrate pre-treatment followed by anaerobic digestibility of pretreated substrate together can evaluate the actual effectiveness of thermal pre-treatment of OFMSW