Watershed development: A solution to water shortages in semi-arid India or part of the problem?

There have been dramatic changes in the hydrology of many of the dry areas of South India in recent years as a result of increased groundwater-based irrigation, watershed development and land use change. Although intensive development of water resources has brought about huge benefits, its very success has thrown up new challenges. Demand and competition for water has increased to the extent that — in some areas — current levels of annual water use are so high that, in all but the wettest years, annual water use approximates towards annual replenishment of surface and ground water resources. In these areas, it is clear that the emphasis should switch from development to the management of water resources to ensure that water is allocated to activities with the highest economic and social value. Although current watershed development programmes bring a range of benefits, they may also change the temporal and spatial pattern of water availability and use. This can result in significant negative trade-offs such as more unreliable domestic water supplies in ‘downstream’ areas, particularly during low rainfall or drought years. As part of the Karnataka Watershed Development Project (KAWAD), a water resource audit assessed the status of water resources in the project watersheds and identified resource management practices that should be promoted by the project. This paper summarises the audit’s findings and recommendations, the main lessons learned and progress to date in implementing recommendations. For comparison, findings and recommendations from a water audit in southern Andhra Pradesh are also summarised.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Market Reactions to Intellectual Property Infringement Litigations in the Information Technology Industry

The information technology industry is characterized by constant innovation and substantial expenditures on research and development. Firms attempt to protect their investment in research and development and retain a competitive edge in the industry by obtaining patents and copyrights. These intellectual properties are important intangible assets that are evaluated by the financial markets and can be observed in the market price at which the common stock is traded. If a firm announces a lawsuit claiming that its intellectual property has been violated, the markets have to form an opinion about several matters, viz. the merit of the lawsuit, the probability of a verdict favoring either party, the damages which will be awarded, if any, and managerial time and effort expended in the process. We are unable to observe these inputs, but can measure the impact of these factors on the stock price

Planetary Nebulae with Ultra-Violet Imaging Telescope (UVIT): Far Ultra-violet halo around the Bow Tie nebula (NGC 40)

Context. NGC 40 is a planetary nebula with diffuse X-ray emission, suggesting an interaction of the high speed wind from WC8 central star (CS) with the nebula. It shows strong Civ 1550 {\AA} emission that cannot be explained by thermal processes alone. We present here the first map of this nebula in C IV emission, using broad band filters on the UVIT. Aims. To map the hot C IV emitting gas and its correspondence with soft X-ray (0.3-8 keV) emitting regions, in order to study the shock interaction with the nebula and the ISM. This also illustrates the potential of UVIT for nebular studies. Methods. Morphological study of images of the nebula obtained at an angular resolution of about 1.3" in four UVIT filter bands that include C IV 1550 {\AA} and C II] 2326 {\AA} lines and UV continuum. Comparisons with X-ray, optical, and IR images from literature. Results. The C II] 2326 {\AA} images show the core of the nebula with two lobes on either side of CS similar to [N II]. The C IV emission in the core shows similar morphology and extant as that of diffuse X-ray emission concentrated in nebular condensations. A surprising UVIT discovery is the presence of a large faint FUV halo in FUV Filter with {\lambda}eff of 1608 {\AA}. The UV halo is not present in any other UV filter. FUV halo is most likely due to UV fluorescence emission from the Lyman bands of H2 molecules. Unlike the optical and IR halo, FUV halo trails predominantly towards south-east side of the nebular core, opposite to the CS's proper motion direction. Conclusions. Morphological similarity of C IV 1550 {\AA} and X-ray emission in the core suggests that it results mostly from interaction of strong CS wind with the nebula. The FUV halo in NGC 40 highlights the existence of H2 molecules extensively in the regions even beyond the optical and IR halos.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication as a letter in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Efficacy of Gravity Separation as an Alternative to Froth Flotation for Treating Jharia group Coal fines

In general, the Indian coals are difficult-to-wash due to their drift origin. Recovery of clean coal from coal fines is continue to he cost in-effective. Even though several advanced flotation technologies have been commercialized to treat fines, the results are not comparable with the washability data of fines. The Jharia group of coal fines are treated at Tata Steel presently in froth flotation. Keeping merit of gravity separation in view, the test results with water-only cyclone as an alternative gravity method to froth flotation for treating Jamadoba coal fines have been presented in this paper

Market Reactions To Patent Infringement Lawsuits In Information Technology Industry

Over the years the number of patent infringement lawsuits in the Information Technology industry has increased tremendously. The increase in patent disputes can be partly attributed to the increase in the number of patents issued. The number of patents issued for software developments alone has risen from 25 in 1970 to 600 in 1991. The total number of patents issued till 1992 was about 9000. The damages awarded to patentees in such litigations is substantial. It is argued that some of these high technology companies are using the intellectual property rights laws as a weapon to thwart competition in their markets. In the US, while the inventor is waiting for the patent on the invention, manufacturers may develop and begin using similar technology, but once the patent has been issued, the inventor can demand the damages from the manufacturer using the technology. Many of the top executives believe that it is beneficial to settle infringement cases than dispute it in a court of law. This view is again raised in the patent infringement dispute between Intel Corp. and AMD Corp., who spent almost $200 million on the patent dispute over several years. To our knowledge no empirical study has been undertaken to study the impact of patent infringement lawsuits on the information technology companies involved. Though markets analysts have suggested that the market value of the firms fluctuates in accordance with the direction of the lawsuit proceedings, no concrete evidence of these effects have been shown in the literature. This study aims to study the impact of the patent infringement lawsuits and the lawsuit decisions on the IT companies involved. The impact on the stock holder returns is used as the empirical evidence of the impact of the litigation on the IT company. Findings of thestudy are expected to provide valuable insights into market perception of the ethical issues in a high technology industry. More specifically, how does the market view the ethical conduct of an IT company? Does it impose a high risk on a company suspectedof unethical conduct in its business strategies?. In addition to the ethical issues involved, the economic viability of fighting a law suit is also examined, i.e., does the market perceive a net benefit or loss to the company as a result of fighting a lawsuit? Does the market perceive a net benefit or loss to the company as a result of the decision made on the law suit?. The findings of the study would be useful to both the policy formulators and managers alik

Effect of Operating Parameters on the Performance of Spiral Concentrator

Spiral concentrator, a critical device in the mineral sand beneficiation circuit, separates minerals based on their specific gravity differences. The effect of diffe-rent operating parameters on the performance of Spiral has been studied through optimization experiments at different feed flow rates and splitter positions for four feed pulp densities ranging from 25- 10%. The raw sand used in exper-imentation contains 12.5% slimes and 11% heavy mineral concentrate, out of which 80% was in the particle size range of —250 + 106 pm. It has been observed that with increase in feed flow rate the grade of concentrate increased but as expected the recoveries decreased significantly. Medium feed flow rate, i.e, 3.0-3.5 m3/hr was found to be optimum in order to obtain the concentrate with greater than 93.5% HMC and high recoveries of >96%. Concentrate grade improved as the feed pulp densities increased.The Spiral concentrator has performed better at feed pulp density of 30% by producing concentrate of high grade (93.5%) and with highest recoveries of 96%. The desliming of raw sand has been done using using hydrocyclone. When the deslimed feed is fed to the spiral, high concentrate grades has been produced with very high recoveries as high as 98%