Egg parameters of the Red Wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus) in agricultural ecosystem of Punjab

The Red Wattled Lapwing is an important bird of the agro-ecosystem of the Punjab state, feeding on insects, seeds and nectar. The present study was carried out to gather information on the egg parameters (morphometry and its components), which is lacking for this species. The eggs were observed in the nest construct-ed in the agricultural fields of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, Punjab. Egg length, width and weight were measured using vernier caliper and portable weighing balance, respectively, in laboratory. The egg parameters like egg volume, specific gravity and shape index were also calculated. Weight of egg components (yolk, albumen and shell) were also measured using weighing balance. Results revealed that average values of egg breadth, length and shape index were: 30.05±0.331 (mm), 41.29±0.573 (mm) and 72.83±0.930, respectively. Whereas whole egg weight, albumen weight, yolk weight, shell weight, albumen percentage, yolk percentage, shell percentage, egg volume and specific gravity were 17.49±0.634(gm),7.17±0.374 (gm), 9.05±0.233 (gm), 1.26±0.070 (gm), 40.84±0.941 (%), 51.92±0.830 (%), 7.22±0.280 (%), 17.07±0.531(cm3) and 1.02±0.009 (gm/cm3), respectively. This study pro-vides important information that can help the avian taxonomists in species classification, as bird’s egg diverges widely in shape, volume, weight and percentage of albumen, yolk and shell. Therefore, we can use the egg parameters as additional information in bird systematic

Solid-state diffusion reaction and formation of intermetallic compounds in the nickel-zirconium system

Chemical diffusion studies in the nickel-zirconium system are investigated in the temperature range of 1046 to 1213 K employing diffusion couples of pure nickel and pure zirconium. Electron microprobe and X-ray diffraction studies have been employed to investigate the formation of different compounds and to study their layer growth kinetics in the diffusion zone. It is observed that growth of each phase is controlled by the process of volume diffusion as the layer growth obeys the parabolic law. The activation energies for interdiffusion in NiZr and NiZr2, which are the dominant phases in the diffusion zone, are 119.0 ±13.4 and 103.0 ±25.0 kJ/ mole, respectively. The formation and stability of compounds over the temperature range have been discussed on the basis of existing thermodynamic and kinetic data

Transition Metal Chemistry of Oxime Containing Ligands: Part III-Complexes of Fe(II), Co(II) & Ni(II) with Pyridine-2-aldoxime & 6-Methylpyridine-2-aldoxime

696-69

Adding Gravitational Memory to Waveform Catalogs using BMS Balance Laws

Accurate models of gravitational waves from merging binary black holes are crucial for detectors to measure events and extract new science. One important feature that is currently missing from the Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS) Collaboration's catalog of waveforms for merging black holes, and other waveform catalogs, is the gravitational memory effect: a persistent, physical change to spacetime that is induced by the passage of transient radiation. We find, however, that by exploiting the Bondi-Metzner-Sachs (BMS) balance laws, which come from the extended BMS transformations, we can correct the strain waveforms in the SXS catalog to include the missing displacement memory. Our results show that these corrected waveforms satisfy the BMS balance laws to a much higher degree of accuracy. Furthermore, we find that these corrected strain waveforms coincide especially well with the waveforms obtained from Cauchy-characteristic extraction (CCE) that already exhibit memory effects. These corrected strain waveforms also evade the transient junk effects that are currently present in CCE waveforms. Lastly, we make our code for computing these contributions to the BMS balance laws and memory publicly available as a part of the python package $\texttt{sxs}$, thus enabling anyone to evaluate the expected memory effects and violation of the BMS balance laws

MGNREGA, power politics, and computerization in Andhra Pradesh

The link between e-governance and accountability of state administrations for service provision has been problematized in the literature to date. However, little is known about its application to anti-poverty programmes, of which public workfare schemes are an increasingly important subset. In this paper we fill the gap with a study of MGNREGA, India’s largest workfare scheme, as it is being computerized in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. A state-level information system was devised to ensure transparency of transactions, and hence combat the illicit diversion of the programme’s funds to non-entitled recipients. But while doing so, the system carries a policy of centralization, which concentrates decision-making power in the hands of a limited set of actors rather than distributing it across the programme’s stakeholders. In particular the Field Assistants, appointed officials responsible for the village-level management of the scheme, have direct control on the information inputted in the system, which reinforces their position of authority rather than challenging it in favor of greater empowerment of wageseekers. Furthermore, wage payments are traced by the information system till they reach the disbursement agencies, but are prone to capture in the “last mile” where workers collect their salaries, which results in greater vulnerability for them. As a result, MGNREGA workers are constructed by the new information system as sheer beneficiaries rather than active participants in the programme, which concurs to crystallizing power structures rather than resulting in wageseekers’ empowerment. Lessons are drawn for other states currently computerizing their social safety nets