Working with the market : a new approach to reducing urban slums in India

This paper examines the policy options for India as it seeks to improve living conditions of the poor on a large scale and reduce the population in slums. Addressing the problem requires first a diagnosis of the market at the city level and a recognition that government interventions, rather than thwarting the operations of the market, should seek to make it operate better. This can substantially reduce the subsidies required to assist low income households to attain decent living standards. The authors show that government programs that directly provide housing would cost, in conservative estimates, about of 20 to 30 percent of GDP, and cannot solve a problem on the scale of India's. Using two case studies, for Mumbai and Ahmedabad, the paper offers a critical examination of government policies that shape the real estate market and make formal housing unaffordable for a large part of the population. It illustrates how simple city level market diagnostics can be used to identify policy changes and design smaller assistance programs that can reach the poor. The linkage between chronic infrastructure backlogs and policies makes housing unnecessarily expensive. Increasing the carrying capacity of cities is essential for gaining acceptance of real estate policies suited to Indian cities. The authors propose approaches for funding major investments to achieve this.Housing&Human Habitats,Urban Housing,Public Sector Management and Reform,Regional Governance,Urban Governance and Management

Comparative eco-physiological potential of a submerged and a free floating aquatic plant to treat domestic wastewater

Domestic wastewater treatment has become a remarkable aquatic environmental problem for all over the world. Due to non-availability of cheaper methods and higher cost of treatment plants, municipalities are diverting untreated domestic wastewater in to aquatic bodies like ponds and lakes, where it is causing eutrophication due to higher concentration of nutrients and leads water unhygienic to use. Present research experimented by culturing Hydrilla verticillata, and Pistia stratiotes seprately in domestic wastewater for subsequent seven days over the year. The quality of domestic wastewater before and after the treatment/culture was evaluated by analyzing physico-chemical parameters of domestic wastewater followed by APHA-AWWA-WPCF (1980).The results of physico-chemical analysis of domestic wastewater and estimation of net primary productivity of experimental aquatic plants after the culture have indicated an improvement in water quality and increase in biomass. Both the aquatic plants proved to be efficient in treatment of domestic wastewater and their increased weight in culture has potential value in biomass generation.It is concluded that both the aquatic plants perform significant potential to remove nutrients from domestic wastewater and also showed seasonal variation for the purpose

Charged analogue of Finch-Skea stars

We present solutions to the Einstein-Maxwell system of equations in spherically symmetric gravitational fields for static interior spacetimes with a specified form of the electric field intensity. The condition of pressure isotropy yields three category of solutions. The first category is expressible in terms of elementary functions and does not have an uncharged limit. The second category is given in terms of Bessel functions of half-integer order. These charged solutions satisfy a barotropic equation of state and contain Finch-Skea uncharged stars. The third category is obtained in terms of modified Bessel functions of half-integer order and does not have an uncharged limit. The physical features of the charged analogue of the Finch-Skea stars are studied in detail. In particular the condition of causality is satisfied and the speed of sound does not exceed the speed of light. The physical analysis indicates that this analogue is a realistic model for static charged relativistic perfect fluid spheres.Comment: 17 pages, To appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys.

Characteristics of Fatal Cases of Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) from September 2009 to January 2010 in Saurashtra Region, India

Background: India reported first case of 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus infection in May, 2009 and Saurashtra region in August, 2009. We describe the characteristics of fatal cases of 2009 influenza A (H1N1) infection reported in Saurashtra region. Methods: From September, 2009 to January, 2010, we observed 71 fatal cases that were infected with 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus and admitted in different hospitals in Rajkot city. Real-time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) testing was used to confirm infection; the clinico-epidemiological features were observed and documented. Results: Median age of the deceased (71) was 29 years, and 57.7% were females. Median time observed was 5 days from onset of illness to diagnosis of influenza A (H1N1), and 57.7% were referred from general practitioner (OR=0.42, CI=0.24-0.74). Median hospital stay reported was 3 days. All admitted patients received oseltamivir, but only 16.9% received it within 2 days of onset of illness. The most common symptoms were cough (97.2%), fever (93%), sore throat and shortness of breath. Co-morbid conditions were present in almost half of the patients who ultimately died, the most common of which was pregnancy (OR=0.15, CI=0.04-0.52). Radiological pneumonia was reported in 98% patients. Conclusion: Residing in urban area, delayed referral from general practitioner, presence of co-existing condition, especially pregnancy was responsible for mortality among influenza A (H1N1) infected positive

Development of unique buttermilk by incorporation of Moringa

The present investigation was aimed at formulating a fermented beverage with incorporation of Moringa Pod Powder (MPP) to develop therapeutic buttermilk. Dahi (prepared from standardized milk) mesophilic/ thermophilic dahi culture. Optimisation of the product formulation was done by using Response Surface Methodolo-gy (RSM) with central composite rotatable design (CCRD) with varying levels of MPP, total milk solids (TMS) in but-termilk and acidity of dahi. It was found that 5.60 % TMS, 0.90 % acidity of dahi and 1.92 % MPP gave the most acceptable product with a desirability of 0.917 which is very high. From amongst various stabilizers, it was found that a blend of 0.04 % pectin and 0.015 % carrageenan most suitable and addition of salt, sugar and spices blend @ 0.5 %, 4.0 %, 0.5% respectively were most acceptable. The proximate chemical composition of Moringa Pod Buttermilk (MPBM) was 11.77 % total solids, 1.51 % protein, 1.84 % fat and 0.89 % ash. One serving size (300 g) of MPBM could be an "excellent source of calcium" having 21 % Daily Value (DV). The product could be labelled as "a good source of Vitamin A, calcium and iron" providing 10, 18 and 11 % DV respectively. MPBM was found to have consid-erable amount of Potassium and Vitamin C and fiber (9.0, 9.0 and 6.5 % DV respectively). The shelf-life of the prod-uct was 20 days under refrigeration (7±2?C). The developed product is rich in fiber and iron, that is conventionally deficient in milk and hence makes the developed product complete food

Box-Behnkenov eksperimentalni dizajn u izradi pektin-kompritol ATO 888 obloženih tableta za ciljanu isporuku mesalamina u kolon

The aim of this study was to investigate the combined influence of 3 independent variables in the compression coated tablet of mesalamine for ulcerative colitis. A 3-factor, 3-level Box-Behnken design was used to derive a second order polynomial equation and construct contour plots to predict responses. The independent variables selected were: percentage of polymers (pectin and compritol ATO 888) in compression coating (X1), coating mass (X2) and coating force (X3). Fifteen batches were prepared and evaluated for percent of drug released in 5 h (Y5), time required for 50 % mesalamine to disolve (t50) with rat cecal (RC) content and without rat cecal content (t50), percent of drug released in 24 h in the presence of rat cecal content (Y24 with RC). Transformed values of independent and dependent variables were subjected to multiple regressions to establish a full-model second-order polynomial equation. F was calculated to confirm the omission of insignificant terms from the full-model equation. The computer optimization process and contour plots predicted the levels of independent variables X1, X2, and X3 (0, 0.2 and –0.15 respectively) for colon targeting and total percent of drug released up to 24 h.Cilj rada bio je ispitati utjecaj tri nezavisne varijable u obloženim tabletama mesalamina za ulcerativni kolitis. 3-faktorijalni, Box-Behnkenov dizajn na 3 nivoa upotrijebljen je za dobivanje polinomske jednadžbe drugog reda i konstruiranje konturnih krivulja za predviđanje odgovora. Izabrane nezavisne varijable bile su: udio polimera (pektin i kompritol ATO 888) u oblaganju kompresijom (X1), masa tvari za oblaganje (X2) i sila za oblaganje (X3). Izrađeno je petnaest pripravaka kojima su ispitani sljedeći parametri: udio lijeka oslobođenog nakon 5 h (Y5), vrijeme potrebno za otapanje 50 % mesalamina (t50) uz i bez prisutnosti crijevnog sadržaja štakora (RC), postotak oslobođenog lijeka tijekom 24 h u prisutnosti crijevnog sadržaja (Y24 uz RC). Transformirane vrijednosti nezavisnih i zavisnih varijabla podvrgnute su višestrukoj regresijskoj analizi da se odredi polinomska jednadžba drugog reda potpunog modela. F vrijednost izračunata je da se potvrdi izostavljanje neznačajnih članova iz jednadžbe potpunog modela. Kompjutorski optimizirani proces i krivulje predviđaju nezavisne varijable X1, X2 i X3 (0, 0,2, odnosno –0,15) za ciljanu isporuku u kolon i ukupni postotak lijeka oslobođenog tijekom 24 h

Brylinski-Radon transformation in characteristic p>0p>0

In this article, we characterize the image of the Brylinski-Radon transform in characteristic $p>0$ via Beilinson's theory of singular supports. We also provide an alternate proof of Brylinski's results over $\mathbb{C}$, which also works for sheaves with finite coefficients. Along the way, we also obtain a microlocal criterion for the descent of perverse sheaves which could be of independent interest.Comment: Comments are welcome

Implementing a Public Private Partnership Model for Managing Urban Health in Ahmedabad

Governments in many developing countries acknowledge they are facing difficulties in their attempt to meet the basic health needs of their populations. They rely on contracting out to private (for-profit and not-for-profit) organizations as a strategy to meet the needs of underserved populations. For the most part, the public sector chooses to contract out primary healthcare services to the private sector to expand access, increase the availability of medicines and medical supplies, and improve the quality of care. In both urban and rural settings, private for-profit and non-profit health service providers serve both the rich and the poor. Communities often recognize private sector healthcare providers to be more responsive to their healthcare needs and preferences in terms of services available, suitable timings and geographical access etc. Private sector has always played a significant role in the delivery of health services in developing countries. Public-private-partnership (PPP) is an approach under which services are delivered by the private sector, while the responsibility for providing the resources rests with the government. Establishing a PPP requires a legal framework acceptable to all the partners, clarity on the commitment of resources, roles and responsibilities of each partner, as well as accountability to provide a given set of services at a desired level of quality and affordable user charges. Formalizing such an arrangement between partners requires conceptualising a framework for Public Private Partnership (PPP) to manage the delivery of health services. In this paper, we describe the design, development and implementation of a PPP for managing urban health services in Ahmedabad city, Gujarat. Our model has succeeded in bringing together compatible public and private partners to plan and deliver quality healthcare services to meet the community needs of Vasna ward, in Ahmedabad. The new Vasna Urban Health centre was inaugurated on July 23, by the Chief Minister of Guajarat. This new centre now serves about 120 outpatients everyday as against an average of 10 outpatients daily earlier.