Surface ozone scenario at Pune and Delhi during the decade of 1990s

Data on surface ozone concentration compiled for a 10-year period from 1990 to 1999 for Pune and Delhi are analyzed in terms of its frequency distribution, annual trend, diurnal variation and its relation with various meteorological and chemical parameters. It is found that the surface ozone concentration range showing highest frequency of occurrence at Pune is 0-5 ppb during winter and post-monsoon seasons and 15-20 ppb and 5-10 ppb during summer and monsoon seasons, respectively. It is 0-5 ppb at Delhi during all the seasons. The surface ozone concentration has shown a decreasing trend at Pune during the observational period with an average rate of decrease of 1.54 ppb/year. On the other hand, there is no trend whatsoever in the variation of surface ozone concentration at Delhi. Minimum value of surface ozone occurs before sunrise and maximum in the afternoon hours. Regression analyses of surface ozone with maximum temperature (r = 0.46 for Pune and 0.51 for Delhi, significant at more than 0.1) and NO 2 at respective locations indicate that surface ozone at these locations is mainly produced by photochemistry. Transport mechanism is also understood to have contributed significantly to the total concentration of ozone. Inverse relationship obtained between surface ozone concentration and relative humidity indicates that major photochemical paths for removal of ozone become effective when humidity increases at these locations

Air Pollution during Phase-I and Phase-II of Odd-Even scheme in Delhi

35-41The latest WMO estimate shows that 13 of 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India, including the worst ranked city, Delhi. For the past couple of years, the level of pollutants in this city has been 3-4 times above the safe standards. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has directed the policy makers to take suitable steps to bring down the level of pollution to the safe standard. For reducing the pollution level, the Government of Delhi has taken several steps; one was vehicle rationing for the period 1-15 January 2016 and 15-30 April 2016. In this program, vehicles whose number end in odd like 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 were allowed to ply on odd days, i.e 1, 3 January etc. and vehicles whose numbers end in even like 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 were allowed to ply on even days, i.e 2, 4 January etc. Sundays were exempted. In this short communication, we are reporting the pollution level of Delhi during these two periods. The average values of PM2.5 and PM10 (particulate matter) during these periods were 205 µg/m3 and 326 µg/m3, respectively, during 1-15 January and 96 µg/m3 and 179 µg/m3 during 15-30 April which were much higher than the safe limit 60 and 100 µg/m3. There was an increase in the pollution level during the event fortnight compared to the pervious fortnight which decreased in the next fortnight. The average values of surface ozone during phase-I and phase-II were 24 ppb (parts per billion by volume) and 46 ppb against the safe limit of 180 ppb. During phase-I, PM2.5, PM10 and O3 showed a decreasing trend and during phase-II they show an increasing trend. We have also examined the effect of wind, humidity and temperature on pollution level. Pollutants do not appear to have been much affected by temperature and humidity, but their trend is in phase with the wind speed. Results are presented here.</span

A Study of The Bacteriological Profile of Chronic Osteomyelitis in A Tertiary Care Referral Centre: A Contemporary Study

Chronic osteomyelitis is a huge burden on healthcare, especially in developing and poorer countries. With emerging antibiotic resistance patterns and increase in the incidence of Multi drug resistant (MDR) organisms, this challenge has gotten bigger. The notion that previous patterns would remain is being challenged now. We wanted to examine the trends in chronic osteomyelitis causing organisms in the contemporary era.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Materials and Methods: The study included 76 chronic osteomyelitis patients who were&nbsp;admitted to the hospital during the course of the study period. During surgery, a deep culture was obtained intra-operatively&nbsp;then submitted for bacteriological examination. Results: Males made up 81% of the instances examined in our study, while females made up 19%. With 84.21% of the cases, the lower limb was more often affected. In 44.73% of the cases, the femur was the most commonly impacted bone; the tibia (35.52%), humerus (11.29%), and radius (3.94%) were the next most common affected bones. In 71.05% of the cases, the culture was affirmative with mono-microbial proliferation; in 5.26% of the cases, polymicrobial growth was seen; while in 23.68% of the cases, the culture was sterile. In haematogenous osteomyelitis (HOM), which accounted for 65.21% of cases, Staphylococcus aureus was more prevalent than in implant- or trauma-related infections (26.41%). Younger age groups have higher rates of HOM. 40.32% of isolates were Gram-negative bacteria, while 59.67% were Gram-positive bacteria. Escherichia coli dominated the group of isolates that were Gram-negative (9.67%). Gram-negative organisms were uncommon in HOM cases and abundant in those with a history of trauma or implant in situ. The most frequent predisposing factor was a history of prior orthopaedic surgery with implant in situ (74.19%), and in 37.09% of the cases, hemorrhagic infection was discovered. Conclusion:&nbsp;The most frequent predisposing factor (74.19%) overall in our analysis of chronic osteomyelitis was a history of previous orthopaedic surgery with implant in situ, while 37.09% of the cases had a haematogenous infection. Gram-negative organisms were frequently linked to cases with a history of trauma. But Staphylococcus aureus (46.77%) continues to be the most prevalent agent, followed by Psuedomonas aueroginosa (8.06%), Escherichia coli (9.67%), and Enterobacter cloacae complex (8.06%). 58.62% of the isolates of Staphylococcus auerus were resistant to methicillin. Staphylococcus aureus was the most frequent cause of HOM, accounting for 65% of cases. Gram-positive bacteria remain more prevalent than Gram-negative bacteria, despite the rise in the prevalence of the latter. Of the cultures, 59.67% showed Gram positivity, whereas 40.32% contained Gram-negative organisms

A Study on Constraints Faced by Tribals in Availing Benefits from Different Tribal Development Schemes in Jammu and Kashmir State

The study was conducted to find out the constraints faced by gujjars and bakerwals in availing the benefits of tribal developmental schemes in Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir State. Multi-stage sampling technique was employed for the selection of districts, blocks, villages and ultimate respondents. The total sample size was 112. Pretested interview schedule was used for the collection of data. The major finding of the study revealed that lack of proper awareness followed by lack of knowledge of government intervention (66%), adequacy of funds (41%), High illiteracy rate among the respondents and living in the far-flung area are the major constraints which are faced by tribal in availing the benefits from Tribals developmental schemes

A Study on Socio-economic Status of Gujjars and Bakerwals of Jammu Division of India

Gujjars and Bakerwals are the third largest ethnic group in Jammu and Kashmir and constitute more than 11.9 per cent of the total population of the state. The study was conducted in order to access the socio-economic conditions and migration status of Gujjars and Bakerwals of Jammu division. Multi-stage random sampling technique was employed for the selection of districts, blocks, villages and ultimate respondents. The total sample size was 112. Pre-tested interview schedule was used for collection of data. The mean age of the respondents was 49.91±15.50 years and mean education was 2.29±2.09 years. 36.6 per cent of the respondents were illiterate. Majority of the respondents (60.71%) had marginal land holding and 19.64 per cent respondents had small land holding, in case of migration status only 47.3 per cent were migrating. Kacha houses were possessed by 63.4 per cent of the respondents. Further, it is concluded that the number of sheep, goat and buffalo affected the migration status of gujjars and bakerwals significantly (R2=0.580) followed by sheep, goat and cow (R2=0.556). This study gives a concrete fact about the background of "Tribal Developmental schemes" their impact on tribal people and social change came in their life due to it

A Study on the Socioeconomic Profile of Self Help Groups Established under NRLM in the Jammu Region

National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) scheme was launched in 2011 with an agenda to reach out and mobilise seventy million below poverty line (BPL) households into self-managed self-help groups (SHG) and federal institutions and support them through livelihood collectives. In order to understand the profile characteristics of SHGs established under this scheme, the study was conducted in purposively selected Jammu and Samba districts in the Jammu region. Out of a total of 670 SHGs set up till 2017, a sample of 20 SHGs, 10 from each purposively selected Dansal block of Jammu district and Ghagwal block of Samba district were selected employing random sampling technique without replacement. Data collection was done by personal interview method with a semi structured interview schedule. The results revealed that all the respondents were female and majority were married belonging to the scheduled castes, with a nuclear family type having an average formal education upto 5th standard. It is also understood that there is a significant relationship between the education levels of the respondents with their caste and group membership. The study also found that majority of the respondents engaged into self help groups under NRLM belonging to the below poverty line category

Factors Affecting Farmers Decision to Join Joint Forest Management Programme in Jammu Division of Jammu and Kashmir

The present study was conducted in purposively selected “East Forest Circle†of Jammu division of J&K. Multistage sampling plan was followed for the selection of respondents. Six forest ranges from East circle having maximum number of Joint Management Programme (JFM)Cs were selected purposively. Twenty four committees, four from each selected ranges of East circle and eight members from each selected JFMC were selected through random sampling technique. The respondents were divided into two groups 1).Treatment group: Eight members from each selected JFMC were selected randomly for the study making the sample size to 192 respondents. 2). Control group: Two villages from each range (12 villages in total) were selected through random sampling technique. From each selected village nine non- JFMC members were randomly selected. Thus, a total sample of 108 non-JFMC members were selected from these villages. Binary regression model was applied to analyze the factors affecting farmer’s decision to join JFM programme. The result of the study showed that family size, area under trees, extension contact and social participation significantly affecting farmer’s decision to join JFM programme

Polymeric drift control adjuvants for agricultural spraying

The movement of a pesticide or herbicide to an off-target site during agricultural spraying can cause injury to wildlife, plants and contamination of surface water. This phenomenon is known as spray drift and can be controlled by spraying during favorable environmental conditions, and by using low drift nozzles and drift control adjuvants (DCAs). Polymeric DCAs are the most common type of DCA and function by increasing the droplet size produced during spraying. There are, however, two main drawbacks of polymeric DCAs; they are prone to mechanical degradation during spraying which reduces their performance and they can produce oversized drops which reduces the efficacy of the spray. In this trend article, existing DCA technology is reviewed including the mechanism through which they function. This then provides a platform for the discussion of novel polymeric architectures which have currently not been applied in DCA formulations