EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN INDIAN BANKING

This paper attempts to examine technical efficiency and productivity performance of Indian scheduled commercial banks, for the period 1979-2008. We model a multiple output/multiple input technology production frontier using semiparametric estimation methods. The endogenity of multiple outputs is addressed by semi parametric estimates in part by introducing multivariate kernel estimators for the joint distribution of the multiple outputs and correlated random effects. Output is measured as the rupee value of total loans and total investments at the end of the year. The estimates provide robust inferences of the productivity and efficiency gains due to economic reforms.Banking, Frontier efficiency, Productivity

Socio-Economic-Political-Cultural Aspects in Malaria Control Programme Implementation in Southern India

Objective. A Socio-economic-political-cultural (SEPC) study was undertaken under the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) initiative to understand the process of programme implementation and how far in the changing malaria context, the broader environment has been understood and programme components have undergone changes. Material and Methods. Two studies were carried out; first in four villages under the primary health unit (PHU) Banavaralu in Tiptur Taluka in September 2002 and the second one in April 2003 in four villages in Chitradurga district, namely, Kappagere, Kellodu in Hosadurga Taluka, and Vani Vilas Puram and Kathrikenhally in Hiriyur Taluka. Focus group discussion and key interviews were adopted to collect the qualitative data. Results. Gender discrimination and lack of empowerment of women came out strongly in social analysis. In the rural elected bodies called Panchayats, the concept of health committees was not known. Health committees as one of the important statutory committees under every Panchayat were nonexistent in reality in these villages. Financial difficulties at Grama Panchayat level and also meager budget allocation for health have led to indifferent attitude of Panchayat members towards health. It was observed that there were generally no specific cultural practices in relation to malaria cure. Cultural and traditional practices in malaria-related issues were not predominant in the community except for some sporadic instances. Conclusion and Recommendation. SEPC study is an important indicator in malaria control programme. It is ultimately the community that takes the major decision directly or indirectly and the health authority must guide them in right direction

Combustion of wooden spheres-experiments and model analysis

Studies on combustion of wooden spheres have been made towards understanding their role in wood gas generators. Experiments on 0.01, 0.015, 0.02 and 0.025 m dia spheres show two regimes of combustion-flaming and glowing. During flaming combustion, the sphere decreases in diameter by about 10% and loses 75-80% of its weight, this reduction being related to loss of volatiles only. Simulation experiments performed by inert heating of the wooden spheres to temperatures of about 350°C to cause loss of volatiles confirms the above result. The glowing zone combustion involves the remaining weight loss of 20% and diameter variation following the d2-1aw. The mass loss correlations follow mass loss rate (kg/s) = k'diameter (m), k = 7 × 10-4 for flaming zone and 7 × 10-5 for glowing zone. A theory for flaming combustion involving the movement of an exothermic pyrolisis front into the sphere and other elements similar to droplet combustion theory has been evolved. The theory of glowing combustion of the porous char has been evolved following the model description of Howard. Both the theories include augmentation of heat and mass transfer due to free convection in an approximate way. Predictions from both the theories show that combustion times and weight loss time plots are represented reasonably well by the theories

A neo-clerodane diterpene from Teucrium tomentosum. Corrigendum

Corrigendum to Acta Cryst. (2004), E60, o117–o119

TOWARDS GENERATING SEMANTICALLY-RICH INDOORGML DATA FROM ARCHITECTURAL PLANS

Recent years has seen an increase in the work done on indoor data mapping and modeling. The standard data models provide different ways to store and access the indoor data but the way it is done is specific to the domain in which they are used. Although models like IFC, CityGML and IndoorGML provides rich functionality, the widespread availability of indoor data is not in these formats. This paper presents a step by step methodology to convert indoor building data of existing buildings, represented in architectural drawings into a topologically consistent and semantically rich indoor spatial model. The workflow presented consists of extracting relevant geometric entities from CAD drawings, assessing their topological relationships, using it to derive semantic information of spaces and making the data available in the form of IndoorGML. Since the current IndoorGML features lack the capability to store relevant semantic information, a semantic extension to IndoorGML is also proposed. The extraction of primitive spatial elements in rectilinear buildings like walls and doors are considered for the work presented in this paper. Development of a toolkit which implements this methodology in a seamless manner is work in progress and would incorporate extraction of complex spatial elements like staircases, ramps, curvilinear walls and windows, which is out of scope of the current work presented in this paper

On 'dol' net prawn fishery of Bombay during 1966-76

The best prawn catches of 2330.4 t at Versova were in 70-71 and 1917.5 t at Sassoon Docks were in 1968-69. The peak fishery was generally during October- December and March-May. The fishery was supported mainly by seven species of penaeids and three species of non-penaeids; the latter contributing up to 80% of the catches obtained in Dol nets

Biomass gasification technology - a route to meet energy needs

The paper addresses a distributed power generation system that has evolved at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The technological and field-related experience pertaining to open top re-burn down draft biomass gasification system coupled with the internal combustion engine or thermal device are brought out. The gasifier reactor design uses dual air entry - air nozzles and open top to help in establishing a thick high temperature zone to remove the contaminants in the product gas; a gas clean-up system to further refine the gas to ultra-pure quality. These elements are integrated with other sub-systems, namely feedstock preparation, ash handling, water treatment, process automation and other accessories to form an Independent Power Producer. Based on this technology there are over 30 units operating in India and abroad, with an accumulated capacity of over 20 MW. Over 80,000 h of operation of these systems have resulted in a saving of about 350 tons of fossil fuel, implying a saving of about 1120 tons of CO2 - a promising candidate for Clean Development Mechanisms (CDMs), other than reduction in toxic gases like NOx and SOx

Green electricity from biomass fuelled producer gas engine

In the recent times issues like the Green House Gas (GHG) emission reduction and carbon-trading through Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) have gained large prominence as a part of climate change. Biomass gasification is one such technology which is environmentally benign and holds large promise for the future. These technologies are currently being utilized for power generation applications at a number of industrial sites in India and abroad. In India there are nearly 4 MWe equivalent power plants which are based on IISc's open top reburn down draft biomass gasification technology. In the field of power generation, there has been substantial effort in the development of producer gas engine; systematic experimental and modeling studies followed by long duration field monitoring. As a part of this effort, a gas carburetor has been designed for producer gas fuel and forms a part of the power package. The essential requirements of gas conditioning equipment are packaged to meet the engine quality gas as a power plant. Currently there are more than 3.0 MWe equivalent gas engines operating in the field; of this one is deployed in an Energy Service Company (ESCO), which sells green electricity to a textile industry. The company is located at Metupalyam in South India, near the city of Coimbatore. The power plant is configured with a 150 kg/hr gasifier coupled with a turbo charged after cooled Cummins make (GTA855G) gas engine. The plant is also provided with an effluent treatment plant and an engine-waste-heat based biomass drier. The plant commissioned in September 2003 has successfully completed over 7500 hours of operation, generating about 0.7 million units, thus saving a net CO2 of about 0.7 million Tons against a fossil fuel technology. The plant operates on a continuously to meet the end use requirement over 275 hours non stop operations hours of operation. The power plant utilizes a weed namely Julifora Prosopis which is abundantly available in the southern part of India and converts into green energy; additionally generates value added product namely partially activated carbon-Iodine no. of 400-450. The paper reports specific biomass consumption and engine emission monitored over long duration. The specific biomass consumption is measured to be within 1.1 ± 0.1 kg/kWh with an overall efficiency of 22-24%. It is also found to be environmentally benign in terms of emissions; NOx and CO levels are found to be much lower than most of the existing emissions norms of various countries including the United States and European Union. The paper also highlights results from other installations using this technology. Keywords: open top gasifier, producer gas engine, CDM technology

A brackishwater isolate of Pseudomonas PS-102, a potential antagonistic bacterium against pathogenic vibrios in penaeid and non-penaeid rearing systems

A Pseudomonas sp PS-102 recovered from Muttukkadu brackish water lagoon, situated south of Chennai, showed significant activity against a number of shrimp pathogenic vibrios. Out of the 112 isolates of bacterial pathogens comprising Vibrio harveyi, V. vulnificus, V. parahaemolyticus, V. alginolyticus, V. fluvialis, and Aeromonas spp, 73% were inhibited in vitro by the cell-free culture supernatant of Pseudomonas sp PS-102 isolate. The organism produced yellowish fluorescent pigment on King's B medium, hydrolysed starch and protein, and produced 36.4% siderophore units by CAS assay and 32 μM of catechol siderophores as estimated by Arnow's assay. The PS-102 isolate showed wide ranging environmental tolerance with, temperatures from 25 to 40 °C, pH from 6 to 8, salinity from 0 to 36 ppt, while the antagonistic activity peaked in cultures grown at 30 °C, pH 8.0 and at 5 ppt saline conditions. The antagonistic activity of the culture supernatant was evident even at 30% v / v dilution against V. harveyi. The preliminary studies on the nature of the antibacterial action indicated that the antagonistic principle as heat stable and resistant to proteolytic, lipolytic and amylolytic enzymes. Pseudomonas sp PS 102 was found to be safe to shrimp when PL-9 stage were challenged at 107 CFU ml− 1 and by intramuscular injection into of 5 g sub-adults shrimp at 105 to 108 CFU. Further, its safety in a mammalian system, tested by its pathogenicity to mice, was also determined and its LD50 to BALB/c mice was found to be 109 CFU. The results of this study indicated that the organism Pseudomonas sp PS 102 could be employed as a potential probiont in shrimp and prawn aquaculture systems for management and control of bacterial infections