Sustaining Rural Livelihoods in Fragile Environments : Resource Endowments or Policy Interventions?

This paper primarily assesses the status of rural livelihoods in fragile environments with diverse resource endowments and policy interventions. The objective was to examine the effectiveness of resource enhancing policy interventions like watershed development in reducing resource endowment imbalances across villages and regions. Livelihood assessment was carried out using the sustainable rural livelihoods (SRL) framework in the fragile regions of Andhra Pradesh. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to assess the rural livelihoods covering all the 555 households in three sample villages. It is argued that resource endowments determine the level and dynamics of livelihoods at the household level rather than policy interventions per se. On the other hand, policy interventions, given the status and structure of the economy, only act as catalysts. Policies for strengthening the resource base are necessary but not sufficient to address the livelihood issues. In the present case it is shown that availability of water (irrigation) is more important than the recent policy interventions like watershed development for improving the livelihoods. Nevertheless, policy interventions towards human capital development (education, skills, etc) could be rewarding in the long run. Unless policies are directed towards bringing changes in natural resource endowments (especially water) at the household level, it is unlikely that the on going policy interventions would transform the rural livelihoods in the fragile environments.Rural livelihoods, resource endowments, watershed development, policy

Sustaining rural livelihoods in fragile environments: Resource endowments or policy interventions?

This paper primarily assesses the status of rural livelihoods in fragile environments with diverse resource endowments and policy interventions. The objective was to examine the effectiveness of resource enhancing policy interventions like watershed development in reducing resource endowment imbalances across villages and regions. Livelihood assessment was carried out using the sustainable rural livelihoods (SRL) framework in the fragile regions of Andhra Pradesh. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to assess the rural livelihoods covering all the 555 households in three sample villages.Rural livelihoods, resource endowments, watershed development, policy interventions, Andhra Pradesh

'Slippage' : The Bane of Rural Drinking Water Sector (A Study of Extent and Causes in Andhra Pradesh)

Slippage is one of the main bottlenecks of achieving full coverage of water and sanitation services in India. Slippage is the term often used to reflect unsustainable service delivery of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, especially in rural areas. Off late slippage is attracting attention at the policy level though slippage is as old as the coverage of water supply services. This paper makes an attempt to identify the causes of slippage in a systematic manner. The broad objectives of the paper include : i) assess the extent of slippage at the national and state level; ii) identify the causes of slippage at various levels; and iii) provide some pointers for policy based on the analysis. The extent of slippage is quite substantial even at the aggregate level. The situation is alarming in some of the states where the extent of slippage is as high as 60 percent. Our analysis at the national, state and habitation levels suggests strongly that policy makers should look beyond the often repeated supply sided strategies. As evident from the experience of Andhra Pradesh, the demand side and governance factors play an equally, if not more, important role in addressing the sustainability issues. So far the experiences are that large investments in water sector would not automatically lead to increase in coverage. The sector also needs a sound policy and capacity so that money is spent effectively and leads to increased water security. The policy should also address resource sustainability and behavioural change goals instead of relying upon a one-sided target driven approach. These aspects are highlighted in the proposed guidelines and their effective implementation needs to be ensured.slippage, India, supply side strategies, policy

PARTICIPATORY FOREST MANAGEMENT IN ANDHRA PRADESH : A Review

This paper traces the recent emergence of the new participatory forest management regime in AP Joint Forest Management (JFM) and Community Forest Management (CFM). This paper is based on the existing literature on forest policies, the historical context (pre-colonial, colonial and post independent India), and impact studies. The paper considers the contemporary developments in India in shaping the forest policies in AP. At the same time it considers the significant role played by donors and civil society. The process and quality of implementation, and the impact of the programme on local communities and resources are also examined. AP ranks fifth in India in terms of geographical area (275,068 sq km), and third in terms of forestland (63,813 sq km or 6.38 mha (Million Hectares), which constitutes 23% of APs total land area. Some 65% of APs forest area is spread over 8 predominantly tribal districts in the northern part of the state. These tribal populations are particularly dependent on the forest for their livelihoods for forest product collection and cultivation on forestland. Historically the relationship between these tribals and the government agencies, particularly the Forest Department (FD), has been very poor, with numerous uprisings, including the Naxalite movement. Many of these lands are disputed due to inadequacies in the legal processes by which largely tribal lands were declared state forests. Legally podu has de jure status prior to 1980 Act. Post 1980 podu cultivation is illegal and considered as encroachment. De facto podu is considered as encroachment (prior to 1980) as there is no proper settlement, conceptually typical podu practice is seen only in a few pockets in the state, especially in Vishakhapatnam. In 1956, on the formation of AP from Telangana and parts of the Madras Presidency, the pre-existing forest management regimes from the two distinct areas were harmonised by the Law Commission, leading to the AP Forest Act, 1967. Initially the states FD continued with a policy of commercialisation and revenue generation. However, with a growing crisis of forest degradation participatory approaches were introduced. The Government Order (GO) for JFM in AP was issued in 1992, although implementation didnt start until 1994. JFM has built on the roles played by both local forest *Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad, India. +Overseas Development Group, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. users and the FD staff. Funding to the FD to promote JFM has come from both the World Bank (WB) and from centrally funded schemes, such as the Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS). Formation of Vana Samrakshana Samithies (VSS) began slowly after the GO, although by 2004 the official number stands at 7,245 VSS, managing 1,886,764 ha, (or over 29% of state forest land) and involving 611,095 families. The largest numbers of VSS are concentrated in the tribal areas of Adilabad, Visakhapatnam, and Khammam. The pattern of implementation and the outcomes is extremely complex, partly because of the wide variety of local conditions, ethnic and caste composition and local livelihood uses of forestland. The limited devolution of power which has occurred through VSS formation have however certainly been popular in many areas, because they have given local people endorsement to protect their local forest resources, upon which they depend for their livelihoods. Some employment opportunities have also been provided and some shares of revenues from forest product marketing are promised. Evidence suggests that the VSS have been successful in many areas in terms of regenerating degraded forests between 1993 and 1999. However there have been many criticisms of the JFM programme so far, most fundamentally focussing on the issues of power and land tenure. Because the FD has held almost complete discretionary power over the scheme and its implementation, the JFM process has inevitably reflected their objectives. Whilst many foresters have espoused very progressive ideas and concepts, in practice the implementation of the scheme has often furthered forest management strategy according to silvicultural norms, rather than local livelihood-oriented practices. In the context of a fundamental power asymmetry between the FD and the VSS., there has been little empowerment of local communities to take their own decisions with respect to forest management. This is most obviously seen in forest management plans. Whilst local people would like to see livelihood oriented forest management regime (ie. regular product flows, shorter term rotations, multiple product mixes) the FD has tended to prioritise its conventional forest management practices, often involving long rotation timber stands. The micro-plans commonly fit within wider divisional working plans. Livelihoods security could be increased if the forest resource were under a management plan, which actually prioritised local needs and opportunities. Institutional sustainability is a major problem in AP with many VSS becoming defunct due to conflict, lack of interest, or lack of funds. Where participation has been based on substantial funding flows, when the funds stop the motivation to participate reduces drastically. The institutional linkage between the VSS and the panchayat raj institutions has not been developed, which could ensure not only long-term sustainability, but also empowerment and legal independence of the local institutions. Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) have been largely excluded from the implementation of JFM, despite the fact they have played a major role in formulating the PFM policies at the state level.Forest Management, Andhra Pradesh

Photon temporal modes: a complete framework for quantum information science

Field-orthogonal temporal modes of photonic quantum states provide a new framework for quantum information science (QIS). They intrinsically span a high-dimensional Hilbert space and lend themselves to integration into existing single-mode fiber communication networks. We show that the three main requirements to construct a valid framework for QIS -- the controlled generation of resource states, the targeted and highly efficient manipulation of temporal modes and their efficient detection -- can be fulfilled with current technology. We suggest implementations of diverse QIS applications based on this complete set of building blocks.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figure

Experimental Evidence of Time Delay Induced Death in Coupled Limit Cycle Oscillators

Experimental observations of time delay induced amplitude death in a pair of coupled nonlinear electronic circuits that are individually capable of exhibiting limit cycle oscillations are described. In particular, the existence of multiply connected death islands in the parameter space of the coupling strength and the time delay parameter for coupled identical oscillators is established. The existence of such regions was predicted earlier on theoretical grounds in [Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 5109 (1998); Physica 129D, 15 (1999)]. The experiments also reveal the occurrence of multiple frequency states, frequency suppression of oscillations with increased time delay and the onset of both in-phase and anti-phase collective oscillations.Comment: 4 aps formatted RevTeX pages; 6 figures; to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Synthesis, Crystal Structure and Photophysical Properties of Lanthanide Coordination Polymers of 4- 4-(9H-Carbazol-9-Yl)Butoxy Benzoate: The Effect of Bidentate Nitrogen Donors on Luminescence

A new aromatic carboxylate ligand, 4-[4-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)butoxy]benzoic acid (HL), has been synthesized by the replacement of the hydroxyl hydrogen of 4-hydroxy benzoic acid with a 9-butyl-9H-carbazole moiety. The anion derived from HL has been used for the support of a series of lanthanide coordination compounds [Ln = Eu (1), Gd (2) and Tb (3)]. The new lanthanide complexes have been characterized by a variety of spectroscopic techniques. Complex 3 was structurally authenticated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and found to exist as a solvent-free 1D coordination polymer with the formula [Tb(L)(3)](n). The structural data reveal that the terbium atoms in compound 3 reside in an octahedral ligand environment that is somewhat unusual for a lanthanide. It is interesting to note that each carboxylate group exhibits only a bridging-bidentate mode, with a complete lack of more complex connectivities that are commonly observed for extended lanthanide-containing solid-state structures. Examination of the packing diagram for 3 revealed the existence of two-dimensional molecular arrays held together by means of CH-pi interactions. Aromatic carboxylates of the lanthanides are known to exhibit highly efficient luminescence, thus offering the promise of applicability as optical devices. However, due to difficulties that arise on account of their polymeric nature, their practical application is somewhat limited. Accordingly, synthetic routes to discrete molecular species are highly desirable. For this purpose, a series of ternary lanthanide complexes was designed, synthesized and characterized, namely [Eu(L)(3)(phen)] (4), [Eu(L)(3)(tmphen)] (5), [Tb(L)(3)(phen)] (6) and [Tb(L)(3)(tmphen)] (7) (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline and tmphen = 3,4,7,8-tetramethyl-1,10-phenanthroline). The photophysical properties of the foregoing complexes in the solid state at room temperature have been investigated. The quantum yields of the ternary complexes 4 (9.65%), 5 (21.00%), 6 (14.07%) and 7 (32.42%), were found to be significantly enhanced in the presence of bidentate nitrogen donors when compared with those of the corresponding binary compounds 1 (0.11%) and 3 (1.45%). Presumably this is due to effective energy transfer from the ancillary ligands.Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-TAPSUN Project) SSL, NWP-55CSIR, New DelhiRobert A. Welch Foundation F-0003Chemistr

Nlp Challenges for Machine Translation from English to Indian Languages

This Natural Langauge processing is carried particularly on English-Kannada/Telugu. Kannada is a language of India. The Kannada language has a classification of Dravidian, Southern, Tamil-Kannada, and Kannada. Regions Spoken: Kannada is also spoken in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra. Population: The total population of people who speak Kannada is 35,346,000, as of 1997. Alternate Name: Other names for Kannada are Kanarese, Canarese, Banglori, and Madrassi. Dialects: Some dialects of Kannada are Bijapur, Jeinu Kuruba, and Aine Kuruba. There are about 20 dialects and Badaga may be one. Kannada is the state language of Karnataka. About 9,000,000 people speak Kannada as a second language. The literacy rate for people who speak Kannada as a first language is about 60%, which is the same for those who speak Kannada as a second language (in India). Kannada was used in the Bible from 1831-2000. Statistical machine translation (SMT) is a machine translation paradigm where translations are generated on the basis of statistical models whose parameters are derived from the analysis of bilingual text corpora. The statistical approach contrasts with the rule-based approaches to machine translation as well as with example-based machine translatio

Kannada and Telugu Native Languages to English Cross Language Information Retrieval

One of the crucial challenges in cross lingual information retrieval is the retrieval of relevant information for a query expressed in as native language. While retrieval of relevant documents is slightly easier, analysing the relevance of the retrieved documents and the presentation of the results to the users are non-trivial tasks. To accomplish the above task, we present our Kannada English and Telugu English CLIR systems as part of Ad-Hoc Bilingual task. We take a query translation based approach using bi-lingual dictionaries. When a query words not found in the dictionary then the words are transliterated using a simple rule based approach which utilizes the corpus to return the ‘k’ closest English transliterations of the given Kannada/Telugu word. The resulting multiple translation/transliteration choices for each query word are disambiguated using an iterative page-rank style algorithm which, based on term-term co-occurrence statistics, produces the final translated query. Finally we conduct experiments on these translated query using a Kannada/Telugu document collection and a set of English queries to report the improvements, performance achieved for each task is to be presented and statistical analysis of these results are given