CONSTRAINTS FACED BY FARM WOMEN IN AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS AND ALSO IN DECISION MAKING AND SEEK THEIR SUGGESTIONS FOR BETTER PARTICIPATION

India is a country of great tradition, where social customs and norms exert a firm grip over the behavioral patterns of individuals. Women constitute one of the most important and dynamic but deprived and long neglected sections of the Indian society. For the present study Prayagraj district is selected by purposive sampling because the participation of women in agriculture is comparatively more than the other districts of Uttar Pradesh. There are 20 blocks in the selected district out of that, Kaudihaar block is selected by purposive sampling because maximum numbers of women are engaged in agriculture. One hundred twenty farmers were selected from 8 villages. Data were collected by using pre-tested schedule and analyzed using appropriate statistical tools. Lacks of family support, lack of knowledge, dominance of male members in the family are the constraints faced by farm women. Farm women faced major constraints in decision making process about various agriculture related activities were: social/cultural norms and lack of self confidence in decision. Empowerment of women in developing countries like India will lead the nation to a breaking issue of humanist thinking for globalization. The major suggestions offered by farm women to overcome the constraints were more technical guidance regarding scientific farming should be given to farm women and training should be imparted at village level. View Article DOI: 10.47856/ijaast.2021.v08i10.01

ATTITUDE OF BENEFICIARIES & NON-BENEFICIARIES TOWARDS MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE ACT

The Government of India created a historic act, by enacting the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the largest employment generating programme in the world, ensuring the right to work in a country with a population of over one billion. This Act gives legal guarantee of at least one hundred days of wage employment in a financial year to a rural household, whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled and manual work. The present study was conducted in Dinara block of Rohtas district of Bihar. Ex post facto research design was followed for the analysis because the research is conducted after the occurrence of a particular incident. There are 61 villages in Dinara block, including the village of Dinara itself. Total number of 6 villages were selected through random sampling based on existence of MGNREGA Program. A total number of 60 beneficiaries and 60 non-beneficiaries of MGNREGA scheme were selected through random sampling for the present study. From the above analysis, it was concluded that 51.67 percent of the beneficiaries’ respondents is having high level of Attitude, whereas in non-beneficiaries 56.67 percent of the respondents is having medium level of Attitude. View Article DOI: 10.47856/ijaast.2021.v08i10.00

CONSTRAINTS FACED BY RESPONDENTS ON KISAN CREDIT CARD SCHEME AND SEEK THEIR SUGGESTIONS FOR BETTER SERVICES

The scheme Kisan credit card was started in August 1998 in order to provide timely and hassle free credit for the production requirements of the farmers. The main purpose of the scheme was to meet the production as well as consumption needs of the farmers. The present study was conducted in Soraon block of Prayagraj district of Uttar Pradesh. Ex-post facto research design was followed for the analysis. There are 20 blocks in the selected district out of that Soraon block was selected purposively because the existence of Kisan Credit Card scheme is comparatively more as compared to other blocks. There are 71 villages in the selected block out of that number of 6 villages was selected based on maximum number of farmers involved in KCC scheme. Total number of 120 respondents were selected randomly from 6 villages for the present study The major constraints faced by the respondents are High rate of interest on loan followed by Purpose of availing loan not accepting, Timeliness of credit, Delay by bank side and Duration of loan was very short. It was suggested that Credit limit to be increased considering family expenses, Extent of validity of card up to 5 years, Lower the interest rate, Repayment only after harvest, Flexibility to draw cash and Limit to be fixed on the basis of operational land holding, which will be lead all round development in the research area. View Article DOI: 10.47856/ijaast.2021.v08i10.01

TO FIND OUT THE CONSTRAINTS FOUND BY RESPONDENTS IN GETTING PMFBY AND SEEK THEIR SUGGESTIONS TO OVERCOME THE CONSTRAINTS IN DEOGARH DISTRICT OF ODISHA

Research study entitled "A Study on attitude of farmers towards Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in Deogarh District of Odisha" was under taken to elucidate the constraints faced by the farmers regarding Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and seek their suggestions. The constraints faced by the beneficiaries in PMFBY were Lack of knowledge regarding to PMFBY, lack of awareness of benefits of PMFBY, less compensatation offered in crop insurance scheme, delay in payment of compensatation. Rate of premium is not universal for all crops, on-line registration and assessment of risk complexity in PMFBY, unavailability of experts for assessment of loss at visit time, lack of coordination between banks and farmers and high rate of premium. Suggestion made by the beneficiaries to overcome the constraints in PMFBY were procedure of the scheme should be simplified, organization of awareness programmes for farmers regarding PMFBY, organization of training programmes on e-filling of insurance and benefit of the farmers, payment of premium by the government for farmers below the poverty regarding PMFBY, premium rate may be decreased, avoid delay in payment of compensatation, increase the number of extension agents, improve linkage between banks and farmers, unit area may be of individual or a village level improve socio-economic conditions of the farmers and increase the insurance agents in rural areas. View Article DOI: 10.47856/ijaast.2021.v08i10.01

CONSTRAINTS FACED BY WOMEN INVOLVED IN SELF-HELP GROUPS AND SEEK THEIR SUGGESTIONS FOR BETTER INVOLVEMENT

A SHG is a small economically homogeneous affinity group of the rural poor voluntarily coming together to save small amount regularly, which are deposited in a common fund to meet members emergency needs and to provide collateral free loans decided by the group. The present study was conducted in Koksara block of Kalahandi district of Odisha. Ex-post facto research design was followed for the present study.  The data was collected from 150 respondents. It was collected randomly from 10 villages using pre-tested structured interview schedule and analyzed using frequency, percentage & Ranking. From the data collection it was found that majority of respondents were facing major constraints such as loans were not sufficient followed by lack of knowledge and skills and so on. Suggestions offered by them were such as Women must be literate; there should be Family support for business & easy bank loan procedure and so on. View Article DOI: 10.47856/ijaast.2021.v08i10.00

Relative Acceleration Noise Mitigation for Nanocrystal Matter-wave Interferometry: Application to Entangling Masses via Quantum Gravity

Matter wave interferometers with large momentum transfers, irrespective of specific implementations, will face a universal dephasing due to relative accelerations between the interferometric mass and the associated apparatus. Here we propose a solution that works even without actively tracking the relative accelerations: putting both the interfering mass and its associated apparatus in a freely falling capsule, so that the strongest inertial noise components vanish due to the equivalence principle. In this setting, we investigate two of the most important remaining noise sources: (a) the non-inertial jitter of the experimental setup and (b) the gravity-gradient noise. We show that the former can be reduced below desired values by appropriate pressures and temperatures, while the latter can be fully mitigated in a controlled environment. We finally apply the analysis to a recent proposal for testing the quantum nature of gravity [S. Bose et. al. Phys. Rev. Lett 119, 240401 (2017)] through the entanglement of two masses undergoing interferometry. We show that the relevant entanglement witnessing is feasible with achievable levels of relative acceleration noise

ADOPTION OF IMPROVED FARM PRACTICES IN MAIZE BY THE FARMERS OF NUAPADA DISTRICT OF ODISHA

Maize (Zea Mays L.) is considered as a unique cereal crop for its diversified use and suitability under various cropping systems. In India it is the third largest cereal crop in terms of acreage. The present study was conducted in Khariar block of Nuapada district of Odisha.  Descriptive research design was followed, since the present study is fact-finding and present description of the respondents as well as the area. There are 117 villages in the selected block out of that 12 villages were selected through Random sampling based on existence of Maize cultivation. From the above analysis, it was concluded that majority (85.00%) of respondents were male. Majority (45.00%) of the respondents belonged to both the age group of (20-35) years and (36-55) years. Majority (80.00%) of respondents were married. Majority (70.00%) of respondents were having annual income more than 51,000. Majority (35.00%) of respondents were having education qualification up to High School. Majority (60.00%) of respondents were having land holding of 1-2 hectare. Majority (75.00%) of respondents were occupation Maize Farming and other crops farming collectively. Majority (80.00%) of respondents were having joint family. Majority (65.00%) of respondents were having family size of more than 5 members. Majority (45.00%) of respondents were having semi-cemented house. Majority (40.00%) of respondents were having social participation in Farmers Society. Majority (65.00%) of respondents daily used mobile. Majority (70.00%) of respondents were having maize farming experience up to 1-20 years. Majority (45.00%) of respondents were having medium level knowledge regarding Maize Cultivation Practices. Majority the adoption of Improved Production Technology of Maize was found to be high that is 75.00 percent. According to the response from the respondents, non-performance of visit by agricultural personnel time to time ranked I for constraints faced by the respondents, Lack of hybrid seed ranked II, Lack of credit facility at time ranked III, Lack of proper resources and capital ranked IV and so on. According to the suggestions received from the respondents, Hybrid seed should be available in time, Credit should be available earlier and timely, Availability of fertilizers and other inputs should be in time, Technical advice and training should be given at right time and so on. View Article DOI: 10.47856/ijaast.2021.v08i11.00

Pertuzumab plus trastuzumab for HER2-amplified metastatic colorectal cancer (MyPathway): an updated report from a multicentre, open-label, phase 2a, multiple basket study.

BACKGROUND: Therapies targeting HER2 have improved clinical outcomes in HER2-positive breast and gastric cancers, and are emerging as potential treatments for HER2-positive metastatic colorectal cancer. MyPathway evaluates the activity of targeted therapies in non-indicated tumour types with potentially predictive molecular alterations. We aimed to assess the activity of pertuzumab and trastuzumab in patients with HER2-amplified metastatic colorectal cancer. METHODS: MyPathway is an ongoing, phase 2a, multiple basket study. Patients in this subset analysis were aged 18 years or older and had treatment-refractory, histologically confirmed HER2-amplified metastatic colorectal cancer with measurable or evaluable disease and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score of 2 or less, enrolled from 25 hospitals or clinics in 16 states of the USA. Patients received pertuzumab (840 mg loading dose, then 420 mg every 3 weeks, intravenously) and trastuzumab (8 mg/kg loading dose, then 6 mg/kg every 3 weeks, intravenously). The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients who achieved an objective response based on investigator-reported tumour responses. Analyses were done per protocol. This ongoing trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02091141. FINDINGS: Between Oct 20, 2014, and June 22, 2017, 57 patients with HER2-amplified metastatic colorectal cancer were enrolled in the MyPathway study and deemed eligible for inclusionin this cohort analysis. Among these 57 evaluable patients, as of Aug 1, 2017, one (2%) patient had a complete response and 17 (30%) had partial responses; thus overall 18 of 57 patients achieved an objective response (32%, 95% CI 20-45). The most common treatment-emergent adverse events were diarrhoea (19 [33%] of 57 patients), fatigue (18 [32%] patients), and nausea (17 [30%] patients). Grade 3-4 treatment-emergent adverse events were recorded in 21 (37%) of 57 patients, most commonly hypokalaemia and abdominal pain (each three [5%] patients). Serious treatment-emergent adverse events were reported in ten (18%) patients and two (4%) of these adverse events (ie, chills and infusion-related reaction) were considered treatment related. There were no treatment-related deaths. INTERPRETATION: Dual HER2-targeted therapy with pertuzumab plus trastuzumab is well tolerated and could represent a therapeutic opportunity for patients with heavily pretreated, HER2-amplified metastatic colorectal cancer. FUNDING: F Hoffmann-La Roche/Genentech

Spin Entanglement Witness for Quantum Gravity

Understanding gravity in the framework of quantum mechanics is one of the great challenges in modern physics. However, the lack of empirical evidence has lead to a debate on whether gravity is a quantum entity. Despite varied proposed probes for quantum gravity, it is fair to say that there are no feasible ideas yet to test its quantum coherent behavior directly in a laboratory experiment. Here, we introduce an idea for such a test based on the principle that two objects cannot be entangled without a quantum mediator. We show that despite the weakness of gravity, the phase evolution induced by the gravitational interaction of two micron size test masses in adjacent matter-wave interferometers can detectably entangle them even when they are placed far apart enough to keep Casimir-Polder forces at bay. We provide a prescription for witnessing this entanglement, which certifies gravity as a quantum coherent mediator, through simple spin correlation measurements