Airlines Operation to Puducherry: Poor Patronage or Inefficiency of the Carrier?

Puducherry is a known tourist destination and if merged with the neighboring Tamil Nadu becomes largest tourist receiving region in the country. An airlines carrier SpiceJet  operated till recently in February last year, when it withdrew operations from Puducherry. Study revealed however that this flying sector has been making steady growth and making profits though not comparable with prime sectors of the airlines company. Despite the conducive environment, the airlines‟ choice of scrapping the route deserves research. The present study thus is a sincere attempt to study the viability of the Puducherry sector for airlines operation. For the purpose it examined the perception of travellers about the select quality aspects of air transportation prevailed in Puducherry viz. choice of air travel over other modes, time factor and cost or value for money. The study was conducted across occupational groups for future segmentation of the market. The data for the research was collected through primary survey at Bengaluru amongst passengers who travelled to Puducherry by air. Secondary data related to the study were collected from Puducherry airport and other internet sources.  The findings of survey revealed as respondents expressed their satisfaction about timing aspects of air travel; however the time to reach the airports in both Bengaluru and Puducherry is a concern that needs to be looked into by the local governments of respective states

The Need for an E-Commerce Platform for India

Tourism and technology are synonymous with each other. There is no operation in the tourism industry which so far has not been technologically driven. The Ministry of Tourism (MoT), Government of India launched an ecommerce platform on July 25, 2007 in collaboration with Eviivo, a UK based online solution provider. This allowed domestic and international tourists to access information and book facilities online. The existence of a search engine on the home page of incredibleindia.org facilitated information search and upon selection, online booking facilities helped customers to book accommodation facilities. However, various tourism associations opposed the move of the MoT, Govt. of India. The associations, under the banner of a joint action group, demanded withdrawal of the e-commerce platform and cancellation of the appointment of Eviivo, UK. Subsequently, the government withdrew the decision owing to the pressure of the associations. As a result, the incredibleindia.org site at present does not have any flash banner for online booking. However, any such decisions of withdrawal or approval should be based on some survey and research. In this regard, in the present article the perception of operators as well as perspective tourists have been studied. The samples of operators and tourists in the Union Territory of Puducherry were selected as per the convenience of the researcher. The data collected through structured questionnaire were compared based on the Student’s T-test. The findings present the existence of significant difference between the operators and perspective tourists on the issues related to information search and property management solutions whereas there is no difference of perception of tourists as well as operators on issues such as online booking and payment gateway services, online market place for buyers and sellers and online marketing. Thus, the samples in Puducherry seem to have supported the move to have an e-commerce platform of the entire country as opposed to the move of their associations at national level. The findings have been substantiated with the related literature in the fiel

Economic and Environmental Aspects of SustainableTourism Development-A Conceptual Study

The term sustainable development is a commonly and widely used term in our contemporary world. The concept has gained popularity because it satisfies the urge of both its environmentalists and the developers. Sustainable tourism is considered as the meeting point of the developers and environmentalists even as both of them are quite skeptic about each other and criticize each other. Tourism which is an economic sector can eradicate  poverty to a great extent. But the overuse of the natural resources for the tourism activities always leads to the negative impact on the environment. So there is an urgent need to maintain the balance between development and environment; otherwise the ever grasping power of tourism and development will demolish the basic structure of the world. The aim of this paper is to study the dialogues of sustainable tourism with reference to environment and economy. The present article is a conceptual discussion of evolution and the issues of sustainable tourism under economy and the environmental heads and concludes that both environment and development have equal importance in the betterment and survival of the human societ

An annual algal diversity of Lakhna, Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, India

The nature of an ecosystem can be easily assumed by the presence of planktonic diversity, as they have a major role in oxygen amelioration, binding and removal of toxic substances from water body. The present enumeration deals with the annual algal diversity from the Lakhna town of Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. During this one year period, total fifty-four species of Algae recorded viz. Achnanthes minutissima, Amphora ovalis, Anabaena oscillarioides, A. oryzae, Ankistrodesmus falcatus, Aphanocapsa littoralis, Aphanothece microscopica, Arthrospira sp., Calothrix gloeocola, Chlorella vulgaris, Chlorococcum  humicola, Chroococcus minor, C. minutes, Cladophora glomerata, Closterium venus, Coelosphaerium kuetzingianum, Cyclotella meneghiniana, Cylindrospermum minutissimum, Euglena minuta, Fragilaria crotonensis, Gloeocapsa magma, Gloeotrichia pisum, Gomphonema parvulum, Hydrodictyon reticulatum, Lyngbya contorta, L. epiphytica, L. majuscula, Merismopedia glauca, M. tenuissima, Microcystis aeruginosa, M. flos-aquae, M. robusta, Mougeotia calcarea, Navicula ambigua, N. brebissonii, N. lata, Nostoc commune, N. punctiforme, Oscillatoria formosa, O. subuliformis, O. princeps, Pediastrum  boryanum, Phormidium ambiguum, P. fragile, P. lucidum, Rivularia aquatica, Scenedesmus bijuga, S. obliquus, Spirogyra affinis, S. submaxima, Spirulina gigantea, S. major, Ulothrix  zonata, Zygnema collinsianum. This information can be used as baseline data and may be further used to assess any change in algal diversity of Gangetic plain after a sufficient gap to understand the impact of changing climate on it

Factors Affecting Accessible Tourism – A Case of Pilgrimage Destinations in Andhra Pradesh

Every tourism attraction ought to provide a sense of safety and accessibility for visitors. The UNWTO's 2016 motto and vision statement, "Tourism for everyone," states that an accessible tourism component must be a part of every country's tourist policy. The issue suggests that approximately 16% of the Indian population has a disability, so the governments should implement the essential measures for accessible tourist development. The over-60 age demographic is expanding at a greater rate than any other age group due to rising life expectancy and falling birth rates. The current research endeavors to ascertain the elements that influence the travel habits of the elderly and those with disabilities who travel to the temples in Andhra Pradesh as pilgrims. The statistics also indicate that 5.8% of Andhra Pradesh's population is comprised of people with disabilities. In order to examine the factors and satisfaction level of senior citizens and physically challenged tourists, the study employs a structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis. For the current study from the four behavior factors, the standardized regression weight is highest for means of transport, revealed that it is most influential factor determine the satisfaction of senior citizens and physically challenged tourists. &nbsp

Cascadable Current-Mode First-Order All-Pass Filter Based on Minimal Components

A novel current-mode first-order all-pass filter with low input and high output impedance feature is presented. The circuit realization employs a single dual-X-second-generation current conveyor, one grounded capacitor, and one grounded resistor, which is a minimum component realization. The theoretical results are verified using PSPICE simulation program with TSMC 0.35 μm CMOS process parameters

Aircraft Parameter Estimation using Feedforward Neural Networks With Lyapunov Stability Analysis

Aerodynamic parameter estimation is critical in the aviation sector, especially in design and development programs of defense-military aircraft. In this paper, new results of the application of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to the field of aircraft parameter estimation are presented. The performances of Feedforward Neural Network (FFNN) with Backpropagation and FFNN with Backpropagation using Recursive Least Square (RLS) are investigated for aerodynamic parameter estimation. The methods are validated on flight data simulated using MATLAB implementations. The normalized Lyapunov energy functional has been used to derive the convergence conditions for both the ANN-based estimation algorithms. The estimation results are compared on the basis of performance metrics and computation time. The performance of FFNN-RLS has been observed to be approximately 10% better than FFNN-BPN. Simulation results from both algorithms have been found to be highly satisfactory and pave the way for further applications to real flight test data

Ultrasound is not useful as a screening tool for dengue fever

Background: Dengue fever is a tropical disease that is transmitted by female Aedes Aegypti mosquitos. Early diagnosis is necessary to reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with the disease. A combination of clinical, laboratory, and sonography findings can be potentially helpful in making an early diagnosis of dengue fever. There is paucity of literature on the use of ultrasound for dengue fever screening; hence, the primary objective of the study was to evaluate the utility of ultrasound as a screening tool in dengue fever. Material/Methods: A total of 160 patients of suspected dengue fever were included in the study. They underwent ultrasound examinations in order to search for thickening of the gallbladder wall, pleural effusion, and ascites. On the basis of ultrasound findings, 65 cases were positive and 95 cases were negative for dengue fever. Serological tests were also used for diagnosing dengue fever, 93 cases were seropositive and 67 cases were seronegative. The ultrasonically diagnosed cases were compared with serologically diagnosed cases, and appropriate descriptive statistical analyses were applied. Results: The ultrasound findings included gall bladder wall thickening in 66 patients (41.2%). The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value of ultrasound in diagnosing dengue fever were 58%, 84%, and 83%, respectively. The negative predictive value and accuracy were 59% and 68.8%, respectively. Conclusions: The present study suggests that increased gall bladder wall thickness, pleural effusion, ascites, hepatomegaly, and splenomegaly are highly suggestive of dengue fever in clinically suspected cases. However, ultrasound should not be used as a screening tool, as negative ultrasound findings cannot rule out dengue fever due to the low sensitivity of this examination

Socio-economic Factors and Residents’ Motivation for Travel - A Conceptual Study

There are several factors which influence the travel attitude of residents in choosing a destination. In tourism research, many researchers have examined social, cultural, economic, psychological, personal, internal and external factors that influence the travel attitudes of residents. This paper attempts to conceptualise the socio-economic factors such as income, education, and health that influence the residents‟ motivation for travel. The study concludes with a conceptual model indicating the interaction between the socio-economic factors and the residents‟ motivation/ constraints for travel that can be studied in future using an empirical model

PANDEMIC-INDUCED CRISES IN TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY – AN INDIAN CONTEXT

This paper aims to examine the pandemic-induced crises psychological and physical distress experienced by the employees during the Covid19 pandemic and the implications on job loss and job characteristics from all domains of the hospitality industry in India. The study is designed to explore the pandemic-induced tourism crisis along with emotional, mental, and physical effects. An in-depth qualitative exploration was used and a tool comprising of data sets include representatives from aviation, resorts and hotel segments, tour operators, and travel agents. The researchers used a semistructured questionnaire that had two sections and explored industry concerns, HR strategies, and employee distress through a multi-stage process involving coding and content analysis. The study analyzed the pandemic-induced crises at the micro and macro levels and grouped them under three essential dimensions such as; organizational and industry concerns, organizational HR policies, and employees’ psychological distress. The subthemes under these dimensions can contribute to scale validation. The subthemes grouped under the three major dimensions have come out as a theoretical model of how the pandemic has affected professionals at these three levels. The findings as items can be validated through descriptive research in quantitative terms forming the future scope. The study analyzed the perceptions of professionals in the tourism and hospitality business amid the pandemic and concludes that a proactive HR policy can minimize employees’ psychological distress