Water policies and legal framework in India

The paper tries to look at the legal frameworks in the water sector in India, from the first laws drafted during British India to the revisions and additions post independence. It talks about the provisions in the law as well as the flaws and omissions and suggests an examination of and strengthening of the existing water laws and policies to address the problems of environment, ecology, equity and development. There is a need to devise an alternative socio-legal discourse and practice where the concerned authorities use organic knowledge of water resource management as seriously as the scientific knowledge, and work a consideration of people’s struggles for water resource management as pursuit of human rights.Length: pp.569-585Water policyWater lawLegislationHistoryInstitutions

Seroprevalence Of Hepatitis-b Virus In Mid And Far Western Region In Nepal

Hepatitis B is significant health problems that might involve the late sequel of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The present study aimed to know the seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in mid and far western region in Nepal with various clinical conditions.This was a retrospective study conducted in mid and far western region in Nepal, which was performed in the Central Laboratory of Microbiology at Nepalgunj Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Banke, Nepal during the period of September 2010 to April 2012. The serum samples were tested for Hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg) by Sandwich immunoassay. Total 7010 patients including 43.72% male and 56.28% female were tested for HBsAg. Of them, 135 were positive and 6875 were negative.In 135 positive cases 84 (62.22%) were male and 51 (37.77% )were female. In 6875 negative cases 2981 were male and 3894 were female. The seroprevalence rate of HBV was 1.93% in mid and far western region in Nepal. Seroprevalence of HBV seems to be higher in male then the female; it was 2.75% in male and 1.29% in female.The study revealed that the seroprevalence of HBV was alarmingly higher in such a population, which probably reflects a high background prevalence of HBV infections should be taken into consideration and Implementation of community-based preventive measures and improved strategies for safe blood supply might prove useful to decrease the seroprevalence

How Inclusive Is Online Education in India: Lessons From the Pandemic

After years of mandatory remote education, there is still a question that remains to be answered: "Is the online medium inclusive enough to be deemed a solution?" As classrooms relocate to online environments and pedagogies rely on technologies, it becomes imperative to ensure that no one is left behind and education remains accessible to every learner. The issue of the universality of access to technological resources in India mingles with various socio-economic disparities that hinder the successful implementation of online education. This chapter attempts to analyze and bring forward the factors that may contribute to the stark contrasts regarding the practicality of the online education scene in India, including accessibility, gender, socio-economic factors, and policy issues. In mitigating the impact of an educational disruption (e.g., global health crisis) as well as the future adoption of online instruction, this chapter summarized the topics that need addressing into themes: content understanding, learning outcomes, technological, pedagogical, and behavioral

The operation of district heating with heat pumps and thermal energy storage in a zero-emission scenario

With the decarbonisation of electricity generation, large scale heat pumps are becoming an increasingly viable prospect for district heating installations. Heat pumps couple heat demands to an intermittent electricity supply with varying electricity prices with the use of thermal energy storage providing flexibility to avoid peak electricity charges and minimise operating costs. However, the operating strategy for cost minimising in district heating system models is dependent on the size of heat pump and thermal energy storage capacity chosen and its operational conditions. Model predictive control techniques can be used to explore district heating configurations with varying forecast horizons. This study applies optimisation to a district heating operation model simulation to find low cost combinations of heat pump and thermal energy storage sizes. Physics-based representations of a district heating network and thermal energy storage are developed with ground source heat pumps and applied to a district heat load profile with hourly marginal electricity costs derived from a modelled zero-carbon electricity system as a basis for operation. Using a dynamic programming algorithm with different forecast horizons to minimise operational costs, the total costs of combinations of heat pump and thermal energy storage sizes are calculated. The operation at smaller thermal store sizes shows cycling multiple times per day, while at larger sizes these sub-daily cycles are maintained but longer multi-day cycles become more predominant. It was found that thermal energy storage equivalent of around 1% of annual demand is sufficient to minimise operating costs and enables flexibility beyond 4 days. This has important consequences for the electricity system and can facilitate the integration of variable renewable electricity

Orthodontic apps: An assessment of quality (using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS)) and Behaviour Change Techniques (BCTs)

BACKGROUND: Apps have been shown to be an effective tool in changing patients’ behaviours in orthodontics and can be used to improve their compliance with treatment. The Behaviour Change Techniques (BCTs) and quality (using MARS) within these apps have previously not been published. OBJECTIVES: 1. To evaluate the quality of these apps aiming to change behaviour. 2. To assess BCTs used in patient focused orthodontic apps. METHODS: The UK Google Play and Apple App Stores were searched to identify all orthodontic apps and 305 apps were identified. All 305 apps were assessed for the presence of BCTs using an accepted taxonomy of BCTs (Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW)), widely utilised in healthcare. Of those containing BCTs, the quality was assessed using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS), a validated and multi-dimensional tool which rates apps according to 19 objective criteria. Data collection was carried out by two calibrated, independent assessors and repeated after 6 weeks for 25% of the apps by both assessors. RESULTS: BCTs were found in 31 apps, although only 18 of them were analysed for quality and 13 apps were excluded. Six different BCTs were identified: these were most commonly ‘prompts/cues’, and ‘information about health consequences’. All apps were shown to be of moderate quality (range 3.1–3.7/5). Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability for BCT and quality assessment were excellent. CONCLUSIONS: The current availability of orthodontic apps of sufficient quality to recommend to patients is very limited. There is therefore a need for high-quality orthodontic apps with appropriate BCTs to be created, which may be utilised to improve patients’ compliance with treatment