Impact of climate change on surface water resource availability of Sainj Basin in lesser Himalayan region

115-119Water is a very important natural resource without which our survival is impossible. As per IPCC report the mean annual temperature of Earth's surface has increased by 0.74±0.18 ºC over the last century and it is expected that by 2100 the increase in temperature could be 1.4°C to 5.8°C. This increasing temperature will exert a tremendous impact on glaciers and resultant water resources of the Himalayan region. Keeping this fact in reckoning, the present study has been undertaken in Sainj basin of Lesser Himalayan region in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh to evaluate the impact of climate change on surface water resources of the basin. The Sainj basin area extends about 55 km in length and covers an area of about 741km2. The elevation of the basin varies from 900 m to 6100 m above mean sea level. A marked spatial variation in precipitation amount, snow cover and glaciated area has been observed in the basin with the altitude. The hydrometeorological data pertaining to this study has been collected from Bhakra Beas Management Board, Pandoh for the period 1981-2004. The analysis of rainfall data revealed that no marked changes were observed in the amount of rainfall during 1981-2004 in the basin. However, river discharge demonstrated a declining trend during the study period and this decrease in the river discharge was found to be statistically significant during the months of December, January and April. The significant declining trend in river discharge during these months may be attributed to lesser snow cover in the lower, middle and higher reaches, thinning of small glaciers and ice patches over the period of time in the basin. The decline of discharge will be a challenging task for the upcoming and already established hydro-power projects in the Sainj basin. Therefore, in future planners and policy makers need to debate before the establishment of hydro-power and irrigation projects in the region. The outcome of this research will also prove a boon to agricultural scientists, water resource policy makers and especially to the dam engineers in making the effective future decisions on water resources of the region. Moreover, this study will strengthen activities pertaining to the sustainable development of irrigation and hydropower projects

Groundwater availability and utilisation in Haryana : A geographical study

36-41Water plays a very important role in human life. As a resource, it is indispensable for the economic development of a country. Agriculture is a majar sector in Haryana. Due to scarcity of surface water resources, the utilization of groundwater is very important for the state's economy. Therefore, it is important to know the groundwater availability and its utilization. In the present paper, the study on groundwater availability and utilization has been carried out with the help of secondary data. Tables and maps have been drawn to know the spatial variability. The results revealed that about 9.80 hectare meter groundwater was available in the state during the year 2009. However, the consumption of this groundwater resource in the state was around 12.43 lakh hectare meter. Agriculture sector is the major consumer of groundwater which is utilized for carrying out the irrigation. Apart from this, 13 districts in the state are over-exploited, 5 are critical, whereas only 3 districts are safe from groundwater development. Availability of groundwater in the state can be enhanced by enriching annual recharge capacity, recycling of water both in industrial and domestic sector and roof top water harvesting.</span

Nanoindentation study on nitrogenated tetrahedral amorphous carbon thin films with ultra low load

543-550This paper reports the improved nanomechanical properties of as grown and nitrogen incorporated tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C, ta-C: N) films deposited by S-bend filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) technique using nanoindentation. The effect of varying amount of nitrogen incorporation on the nanomechanical properties of ta-C films deposited at a high substrate bias of -300 V at ultra low load of 1.4 mN has been studied. It has been found that the nitrogenation has improved the mechanical properties of ta-C films. The hardness H of 27.8 GPa with improvement of ~30 % and plastic index parameter (ratio of H to elastic modulus E) (H/E) of 0.091 with improvement of ~ 25 % has been obtained for ta-C: N films deposited at a nitrogen partial pressure of 1.9x10-2 Pa. Improved H and H/E of ta-C: N films may be due to the better ionization and incorporation of nitrogen in a carbon matrix at the high negative substrate bias used in the deposition of FCVA technique

Improved nanomechanical properties of hydrogenated tetrahedral amorphous carbon films measured with ultra low indentation load

This paper reports the nanomechanical properties of as grown and hydrogenated tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C, ta-C: H) films deposited by S-bend filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique measured with 1.4 mN load. It has been found that the hydrogenation of ta-C film improved the nanomechanical properties. Maximum hardness (H) of 38.15 GPa (with improvement of similar to 80%) has been obtained for ta-C: H film deposited at a hydrogen partial pressure of 1.4 x 10(-1) Pa and maximum elastic modulus (E) value of 410.1 GPa has been obtained when the hydrogen partial pressure reduced to 7.4 x 10(-3) Pa. The plastic index parameter (HIE) of ta-C: H film (0.11) is found to be superior to that of ta-C film (0.073), which is a measure of wear resistance for coating applications. The improved HIE of ta-C: H films may be due to the passivation of surface defects and favorable formation of sp(3) hybridized bonds

Phytochemistry, pharmacology and traditional uses of Leptadenia pyrotechnica- An important medicinal plant

Traditional Systems of medicines always played important role in the global health. In the traditional health medicinal plants providing a new areas of drug research. The demand for plant based medicines, food supplement, health products, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics are increasing in both developing and developed countries due to the growing recognition that the natural products are non toxic, have less side effects and easily available. Leptadenia pyrotechnica (Forsk.) commonly known as Kheep belonging to family Asclepiadaceae. Leptadenia pyrotechnica leafless much branched shrub. All parts of Leptadenia pyrotechnica are used in traditional medicines. The present article gives an account of updated information on its phytochemistry pharmacological properties. Ethnomedical uses say to possess significant antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anthelmentic, antilipoxygenase, cytotoxic, antitumour, hypolipidemic and anti atherosclerotic activity. The present review contains wide number of isolated chemical constituents and various ethnomedical and traditional uses of Leptadenia pyrotechnica. It include information about historical background, conceptual basis, different disciplines studied in the systems, research and development aspects, drug manufacturing aspects and impact of globalization

Structural and nanomechanical properties of nanocrystalline carbon thin films for photodetection

This paper reports the effect of helium gas pressure upon the structural, nanomechanical, and photoconductive properties of nanocrystalline carbon thin (NCT) films deposited by the filtered cathodic jet carbon arc technique. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy images confirm the nanocrystalline nature of the deposited films with different crystallite sizes (3-7 nm). The chemical structure of the deposited films is further analyzed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy, which suggest that the deposited films change from graphitelike to diamondlike, increasing in sp(3) content, with a minor change in the dilution of the inert gas (helium). The graphitic character is regained upon higher dilution of the helium gas, whereupon the films exhibit an increase in sp(2) content. The nanomechanical measurements show that the film deposited at a helium partial pressure of 2.2 x 10(-4) has the highest value of hardness (37.39 GPa) and elastic modulus (320.50 GPa). At a light intensity of 100 mW/cm(2), the NCT films deposited at 2.2 x 10(-4) and 0.1 mbar partial pressures of helium gas exhibit good photoresponses of 2.2% and 3.6%, respectively

Characterization of Boron- and Phosphorous-Incorporated Tetrahedral Amorphous Carbon Films Deposited by the Filtered Cathodic Vacuum Arc Process

This paper reports the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray-induced Auger electron spectroscopy (XAES), and Raman studies of boron- and phosphorous-incorporated tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) films deposited by the filtered cathodic vacuum arc process. A systematic study of the influence of varying boron (B) and phosphorous (P) content on the properties of the as-grown ta-C films deposited at high negative substrate bias (-300 V) is reported by analyzing the C 1s, B 1s, and P 1s core levels using photoelectron spectroscopy. The sp3 and sp2 contents in the films were determined by measuring the width of the X-ray-induced Auger peaks. B incorporation in ta-C films up to 2.0 at. % increases the sp2 content and decreases the sp3 content by 3.6%, whereas P incorporation up to 2.0 at. % results in an increase of sp2 content and decrease of sp3 content by ∼ 30%. The valence band spectra show changes in the Fermi level as B and P are incorporated into the ta-C films. The characteristic Raman spectra confirm the high sp3 content in the deposited films. Thus, the study demonstrates, in the case of high negative substrate bias films, that a pronounced decrease in sp3 fraction or the diamond-like nature of the ta-C films occurs upon P incorporation in comparison to that upon B incorporation