Contract Farming: Problems, Prospects and its Effect on Income and Employment

This farm-level study conducted in the Tumkur district of Karnataka state has reported the effect of contract farming on income and employment generation and has identified constraints in and prospects of contract farming. Both income and employment generation have been found higher, almost double, on contract than non-contract farms. The study has observed dominance of female labour on both types of farms. Delayed payment for crop produce, lack of credit for crop production, scarcity of water for irrigation, erratic power supply and difficulty in meeting quality requirements have been found to be the major constraints faced by contract farmers. The scarcity of water for irrigation, erratic power supply, lack of credit for crop production, and lower price for crop produce have been identified as major constraints of non-contract farmers. The major constraints expressed by the contracting agencies in expanding contract farming include violation of terms and conditions by farmers, lack of proper management by the company, frequent price fluctuations in international markets, and scarcity of transport vehicles during peak periods.Farm Management,

Impact of MGNREGA on Reducing Rural Poverty and Improving Socio-economic Status of Rural Poor: A Study in Burdwan District of West Bengal

The present study conducted in the Burdwan district of West Bengal, has examined the socio-economic impact of MGNREGA on the rural poor who are mainly comprised of small and marginal farmers & agricultural labourers. The study is based on a random sample of 102 respondents (82 beneficiary and 20 non-beneficiary households) drawn by the PPS method from two good-performing and two poorly-performing Gram Panchayats randomly selected from one randomly selected good-performing block in the district. It has been found that significant changes have taken place in the socio-economic variables like annual per capita income, monthly per capita food expenditure, annual per child expenditure on education, per capita savings, condition of the dwelling houses, access to healthcare facility and possession of other assets or luxury items for those households which are regularly working in the scheme. According to the value of the socio-economic index prepared, it has been found that in the initial year of implementation (2007-08) of MGNREGA in the study area, 43.9 per cent beneficiary households were in poor socio-economic conditions which have gradually improved in the succeeding years and decreased to 32.9 per cent in 2008-09 and further to 18.3 per cent in 2009-10. The study has made some suggestions also for incorporating improvements in the present MGNREG scheme based on the constraints reported by the workers associated with this Scheme.Impact of MGNREGA, Socio-economic conditions, Poverty reduction, MGNREGA constraints, Agricultural and Food Policy, I15, I38, J31, J33,

Comparative experimental and Density Functional Theory (DFT) study of the physical properties of MgB2 and AlB2

In present study, we report an inter-comparison of various physical and electronic properties of MgB2 and AlB2. Interestingly, the sign of S(T) is +ve for MgB2 the same is -ve for AlB2. This is consistent our band structure plots. We fitted the experimental specific heat of MgB2 to Debye Einstein model and estimated the value of Debye temperature (theta) and Sommerfeld constant (gamma) for electronic specific heat. Further, from gamma the electronic density of states (DOS) at Fermi level N(EF) is calculated. From the ratio of experimental N (EF) and the one being calculated from DFT, we obtained value of Lembda to be 1.84, thus placing MgB2 in the strong coupling BCS category. The electronic specific heat of MgB2 is also fitted below Tc using pi-model and found that it is a two gap superconductor. The calculated values of two gaps are in good agreement with earlier reports. Our results clearly demonstrate that the superconductivity of MgB2 is due to very large phonon contribution from its stretched lattice. The same two effects are obviously missing in AlB2 and hence it is not superconducting. DFT calculations demonstrated that for MgB2 the majority of states come from Sigma and Pi 2p states of boron on the other hand Sigma band at Fermi level for AlB2 is absent. This leads to a weak electron phonon coupling and also to hole deficiency as Pi bands are known to be of electron type and hence obviously the AlB2 is not superconducting. The DFT calculations are consistent with the measured physical properties of the studied borides, i.e., MgB2 and AlB2Comment: 16 pages Text + Figs: comments/suggestions welcome ([email protected])/www.freewebs.com/vpsawana

Exterior Problem of a Finite Cylindrical Cavity in Elasto-Dynamics

The elasto-dynamic problem of a finite cylindrical cavity in an infinite elastic solid has been studied. In order to satisfy the radiation conditions at infinity, the solution has been assumed in terms of Spherical Hankel functions and in order to satisfy the conditions at the boundary of the cavity, the method of least square approximation has been used for the minimisation of the errors on the boundary. The radiation patterns of displacements are given for two sets of frequencies and aspect ratios

Distressed Lonely Siblings’ Struggle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Background: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common and often disabling, psychiatric disorder  Earlier it was considered a difficult-to-treat disorder these viewpoints are radically changed in the last three decades as cognitive behavioural therapy (exposure and response prevention therapy), has shown significant results for individuals suffering from OCD. In the present report, two cases of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), which happened to be siblings (one male one female), are being reported. In contrast to most other case reports depicted in world literature, the two siblings reported here were living under a roof but couldn’t talk for years. Both felt that their relationship suffered badly through their illness; as both of them were having a distressing sexual obsession of each other, along with other compulsions. The case report illustrated the journey of two distressed and lonely siblings’ struggle with OCD. Assessment & Management: OCD was diagnosed applying the existing criteria for OCD in the tenth revision of the International Statistical Classification of Disease and Related Health Problems (ICD-10), in addition, Y-BOCS also used to determine the severity of symptoms, pre-treatment and improvement Post-treatment. Therapy was adapted component from cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) & exposure and response prevention (ERP) and typically involves 16 to 20 sessions. Outcome: This case report shows that Psychological intervention led to significant symptomatic improvement in the patients discussed. By present findings and understanding of the cases, it is to claim for sure that for successful treatment of OCD psychological treatment must be used. Keywords: Obsessive compulsive disorder, sexual thoughts, exposure and response preventio

Estimation of Effect of Emissivity on Target Detection through Thermal Imaging Systems

The effects of target emissivity on apparent thermal contrast as well as on detection range capabilities of thermal imagers in long wave infrared and middle wave infrared bands were evaluated. The apparent thermal contrast (to be seen by the thermal imager at standoff distance), considering only the emission from target and background, was first computed in both the IR bands in terms of target emissivity and secondly the apparent thermal contrast, considering the background radiation reflected off the target, was also computed. A graphical user interface simulation in MATLAB was prepared for the estimation of total apparent thermal contrast taking into account both the emission and reflection. This total apparent thermal contrast was finally used in night vision thermal and image processing model for predicting the detection range performance of thermal imagers. Results of the analysis show that the effect of target emissivity on thermal contrast estimates is more pronounced in LWIR. The lower thermodynamic temperature difference between target and background at lower values of target emissivity leads to negative thermal contrast which in-turn leads to higher detection ranges

Effect of Ambient Temperature on Calibration of Cooled Thermal Camera

Thermal cameras may be used under ambient conditions that differ significantly from the calibration conditions. The effect of ambient temperature on temperature measurement error is examined for MWIR and LWIR cooled thermal cameras. The facilities used include an environmental chamber and an extended area blackbody with temperature controller. Significant differences were observed in the temperatures measured by the cameras placed in different ambient temperatures, with reference to the set blackbody temperatures. Re-calibration was done to account for variations in ambient temperature from 5 ºC to on the outputs of the cameras. It was found that after such recalibration, the measurement error was within acceptable accuracy of ±1 °C