An Empirical Evaluation of the Seafood Exports in the Post-WTO Regime from India and Kerala

Seafood export sector is a major trade item in the globalized trade of all commodities.  However, the fishery trade sector witnessed profound changes in the post-WTO period. This is because of the use of several technical and non-tariff trade barriers, which in most cases are stipulated by the importing developed countries. India is a prominent fishery exporting country with a foreign exchange earnings of $ 6.1 billion as per January 2022. State of Kerala is having a good legacy in seafood trade and one of the major fishery’s exporting coastal states of India. The post-WTO period has witnessed many dynamics in the fishery trade both in India and Kerala. The stipulations in the areas of TBT and NTBs and other quality standards have worked as a penumbra in the seafood trade and hence have to search for the traditional to non-traditional and emerging markets with the idea of uninterrupted seafood trade flow. Hence, the article tries to unravel the issues of these in this post WTO period. The article uses the data obtained from the Marine Products Export Development Authority in the form of monthly, quarterly and annual data. Along with this it also uses data from CEPII and UN Comtrade. The result also shows that there is a change from traditional to new markets in some cases, whereas the US and EU still dominate as major importers of the seafood from India and Kerala. The Gravity model explanation is giving a clear espousal that the values under stipulations are significantly related. The instability model also authenticates that there are instabilities in varying proportions from market to market

Single step process for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes and metal/alloy-filled multiwalled carbon nanotubes

A single-step approach for the synthesis of multi-walled nanotubes (MWNT) filled with nanowires of Ni/ternary Zr based hydrogen storage alloy has been illustrated. We also demonstrate the generation of CO-free hydrogen by methane decomposition over alloy hydride catalyst. The present work also highlights the formation of single-walled nanotubes (SWNT) and MWNTs at varying process conditions. These carbon nanostructures have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution TEM (HRTEM), Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and Raman spectroscopy. This new approach overcomes the existing multi-step process limitation, with possible impact on the development of future fuel cell, nano-battery and hydrogen sensor technologies

Effect of Purity and Substrate on Field Emission Properties of Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) have been synthesized by chemical vapour decomposition (CVD) of acetylene over Rare Earth (RE) based AB2(DyNi2) alloy hydride catalyst. The as-grown carbon nanotubes were purified by acid and heat treatments and characterized using powder X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy, Thermo Gravimetric Analysis and Raman Spectroscopy. Fully carbon based field emitters have been fabricated by spin coating a solutions of both as-grown and purified MWNT and dichloro ethane (DCE) over carbon paper with and without graphitized layer. The use of graphitized carbon paper as substrate opens several new possibilities for carbon nanotube (CNT) field emitters, as the presence of the graphitic layer provides strong adhesion between the nanotubes and carbon paper and reduces contact resistance. The field emission characteristics have been studied using an indigenously fabricated set up and the results are discussed. CNT field emitter prepared by spin coating of the purified MWNT–DCE solution over graphitized carbon paper shows excellent emission properties with a fairly stable emission current over a period of 4 h. Analysis of the field emission characteristics based on the Fowler–Nordheim (FN) theory reveals current saturation effects at high applied fields for all the samples

TBT Stipulations and Stakeholder Responses: Repercussions in the Sea Food Sector of India and the Tuning up Process in the State of Kerala

Sea food is a globally traded product. The trading is mostly from the developing to the developed countries. The very basic factor beholding this is the income elasticity driven demand from the affluent consumers of the developed world. The rich fishery resource availability of the developing countries has helped to become the major beneficiaries of this trade process. The rich resource of India and Kerala have indeed helped in reaping this benefit. However, the post WTO period also witnessed big transformation in the fishery trade with more stringent restrictions, regulations and quality assurance practices mostly imposed by the importers of seafood. These include strict quality standards stipulations, technical barriers and non-tariff barriers imposed by the developed economies towards seafood exports. In these, TBT measures and SPS standards have differently been treated by different importers in the EU, Japan and the US and this is stipulated mostly for the prime export item of Kerala the shrimp. Though it has affected every seafood exporter globally, its repercussion in India and Kerala is also big as these measures have been detrimental to the progress of the export sector. India could soon try to galvanize these issues. The result is that India has come out from the shackles of TBT conundrums. But the fact is that when one of the issues is settled, the EU and the US are coming with newer stipulations. The paper tries to addresses the fisheries trade with the existing theoretical framework. It also gives an overview of various agreements prevailing in the seafood export sector with the aid of secondary information. Keywords: Fishery Trade, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Non-Tariff Barriers (NTB), Trade agreements, Sanitary and Phytosanitary, Codex, WTO. DOI: 10.7176/JESD/13-10-07 Publication date:May 31st 202

Impact of Agricultural Extension Institutions on Farm Efficiency among Rice Farmers in Kerala, India

This study assesses the role of agricultural extension institutions in improving efficiency of rice production in Kerala, India. Data were collected through a primary survey of 72 purposively selected rice farmers. Three major extension institutions were identified. Satisfaction of farmers from extension was measured using principal component analysis and technical efficiency through Stochastic Frontier Analysis. Satisfaction scores were poor. However, extension services were found to be significantly contributing to technical efficiency of rice production. Efficiency of extension services could be improved through reforms in the current institutional structure

Nanostructured Na 2 Ti 9 O 19 for Hybrid Sodium-Ion Capacitors with Excellent Rate Capability

Herein, we report a new Na-insertion electrode material, Na2Ti9O19, as a potential candidate for Na-ion hybrid capacitors. We study the structural properties of nanostructured Na2Ti9O19, synthesized by a hydrothermal technique, upon electrochemical cycling vs Na. Average and local structures of Na2Ti9O19 are elucidated from neutron Rietveld refinement and pair distribution function (PDF), respectively, to investigate the initial discharge and charge events. Rietveld refinement reveals electrochemical cycling of Na2Ti9O19 is driven by single-phase solid solution reaction during (de)sodiation without any major structural deterioration, keeping the average structure intact. Unit cell volume and lattice evolution on discharge process is inherently related to TiO6 distortion and Na ion perturbations, while the PDF reveals the deviation in the local structure after sodiation. Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies further corroborate the average and local structural behavior derived from neutron diffraction measurements. Also, Na2Ti9O19 shows excellent Na-ion kinetics with a capacitve nature of 86% at 1.0 mV s–1, indicating that the material is a good anode candidate for a sodium-ion hybrid capacitor. A full cell hybrid Na-ion capacitor is fabricated by using Na2Ti9O19 as anode and activated porous carbon as cathode, which exhibits excellent electrochemical properties, with a maximum energy density of 54 Wh kg–1 and a maximum power density of 5 kW kg–1. Both structural insights and electrochemical investigation suggest that Na2Ti9O19 is a promising negative electrode for sodium-ion batteries and hybrid capacitors

The synthesis of high coercivity cobalt-in-carbon nanotube hybrid structures and their optical limiting properties

Magnetic heterostructures with carbon nanotubes having multiple functionalities are fascinating materials which can be manipulated by means of an external magnetic field. In this paper we report our investigations on the synthesis and optical limiting properties of pristine cobalt nanotubes and high coercivity cobalt-in-carbon nanotubes (a new nanosystem where carbon nanotubes are filled with cobalt nanotubes). A general mobility assisted growth mechanism for the formation of one-dimensional nanostructures inside nanopores is verified in the case of carbon nanotubes. The open-aperture z-scan technique is employed for the optical limiting measurements in which nanosecond laser pulses at 532 nm have been used for optical excitation. Compared to the benchmark pristine carbon nanotubes these materials show an enhanced nonlinear optical absorption, and the nonlinear optical parameters calculated from the data show that these materials are efficient optical limiters. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report where the optical limiting properties of metal nanotubes are compared to those of carbon nanotubesCochin University of Science and TechnologyNanotechnology 20 (2009) 285702 (7pp

Nanostructured Na₂Ti₉O₁₉ for Hybrid Sodium-Ion Capacitors with Excellent Rate Capability

Herein, we report a new Na-insertion electrode material, Na₂Ti₉O₁₉, as a potential candidate for Na-ion hybrid capacitors. We study the structural properties of nanostructured Na₂Ti₉O₁₉, synthesized by a hydrothermal technique, upon electrochemical cycling vs Na. Average and local structures of Na₂Ti₉O₁₉ are elucidated from neutron Rietveld refinement and pair distribution function (PDF), respectively, to investigate the initial discharge and charge events. Rietveld refinement reveals electrochemical cycling of Na₂Ti₉O₁₉ is driven by single-phase solid solution reaction during (de)­sodiation without any major structural deterioration, keeping the average structure intact. Unit cell volume and lattice evolution on discharge process is inherently related to TiO₆ distortion and Na ion perturbations, while the PDF reveals the deviation in the local structure after sodiation. Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies further corroborate the average and local structural behavior derived from neutron diffraction measurements. Also, Na₂Ti₉O₁₉ shows excellent Na-ion kinetics with a capacitve nature of 86% at 1.0 mV s^–1, indicating that the material is a good anode candidate for a sodium-ion hybrid capacitor. A full cell hybrid Na-ion capacitor is fabricated by using Na₂Ti₉O₁₉ as anode and activated porous carbon as cathode, which exhibits excellent electrochemical properties, with a maximum energy density of 54 Wh kg^–1 and a maximum power density of 5 kW kg^–1. Both structural insights and electrochemical investigation suggest that Na₂Ti₉O₁₉ is a promising negative electrode for sodium-ion batteries and hybrid capacitors