Digitized archive of the Kodaikanal images: Representative results of solar cycle variation from sunspot area determination

Photographic images are valuable data resources for studying long term changes in the solar magnetic field and its influence on the Earth's climate and weather. We digitized more than 100 years of white light images stored in photographic plates and films that are available at Kodaikanal observatory starting from 1904. The digitized images were calibrated for relative plate density and aligned in such a way that the solar north is in upward direction. A semi-automated sunspot detection technique was used to identify the sunspots on the digitized images. In addition to describing the calibration procedure and availability of the data, we here present preliminary results on the sunspot area measurements and their variation with time. The results show that the white-light images have a uniform spatial resolution throughout the 90 years of observations. However, the contrast of the images decreases from 1968 onwards. The images are circular and do not show any major geometrical distortions. The measured monthly averaged sunspot areas closely match the Greenwich sunspot area over the four solar cycles studied here. The yearly averaged sunspot area shows a high degree of correlation with the Greenwich sunspot area. Though the monthly averaged sunspot number shows a good correlation with the monthly averaged sunspot areas, there is a slight anti-correlation between the two during solar maximum The Kodaikanal data archive is hosted at http://kso.iiap.res.in. The long time sequence of the Kodaikanal white light images provides a consistent data set for sunspot areas and other proxies. Many studies can be performed using Kodaikanal data alone without requiring intercalibration between different data sources.Comment: 9 pages, A&A(accepted

Determination of the chromospheric quiet network element area index and its variation during 2008-2011

Generally it has been considered that the plages and sunspots are the main contributors to the solar irradiance. There are small scale structures on the sun with intermediate magnetic fields that could also contribute to the solar irradiance. It has not yet been quantified how much of these small scale structures contribute to the solar irradiance and how much it varies over the solar cycle. In this paper, we used Ca II K images obtained from the telescope installed at Kodaikanal observatory. We report a method to separate the network elements from the background structure and plage regions. We compute the changes in the network element area index during the minimum phase of solar cycle and part of the ascending phase of cycle 24. The measured area occupied by the network elements is about 30% and plages less than 1% of the solar disk during the observation period from February 2008-2011. During the extended period of minimum activity it is observed that the network element area index decreases by about 7% compared to the area occupied by the network elements in 2008. A long term study of network element area index is required to understand the variations over the solar cycle.Comment: 12 pages, 9 Figures, Accepted for publication in RA

Performance evaluation of high capacity mechanised dehusking equipment for green arecanut (Areca catechu L.)

India is a major arecanut (Areca catechu L.) growing country. Of the many problems identified in arecanut processing, dehusking is found to be a major one, which is cumbersome and needs to be mechanised. Presently, there are a few types of equipments available, but these machines are basically of low capacity and cater to small arecanut growers. Performance evaluation of three high capacity green arecanut dehusking equipments was taken up, to work out its possible adoption for entrepreneurship development. Equipment under evaluation consisted of power mounted dehusker with hook tooth cutting blade fixed in a cutting wheel to dehusk the outer shell with a nut ejection system coupled with a vibrating deck of trays to grade and convey the dehusked nuts. The Blade-Knurl shaft speed ratio was optimised as 1:11. Whole nut recovery per cent ranged from 81.84 ± 1.87 to 82.52 ± 1.95 per cent. The unhusked per cent and partially husked percentage ranged from 7.60 ± 3.71 to 7.81 ± 4.68 and 8.29 ± 2.15 to 8.85 ± 2.82, respectively. The broken nut percentage ranged from 1.03 ± 1.36 to 2.06 ± 2.72 percentage. The total cost of operation for two-belt, four-belt and six-belt model was ` 162 h-1,` 237 h-1 and ` 262 h-1, respectively. Better dehusking efficiency with reduced damage to the nuts achieved in mechanical dehusking would enable the farmer to realise additional yield with saving in time and lower cost of operation

Is India’s Federal Debt Sustainable? - Revisiting an Old Debate

That India faces a ‘fiscal crisis’ has been a recurrent refrain of the literature on India’s economic reforms. Indeed a central objective of the reforms process, one that has proved elusive so far, is the reduction in the fiscal deficit of the central government. The supposed intractability of the fiscal problem has provided the motivation for the passage of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act in 2003 that commits the government to targets for the fiscal and revenue deficits. We revisit the proposition that India’s debt problem is unsustainable in light of the recently changed outlook for growth and interest rates. Using a decomposition model, we separate out the effects on the fiscal deficit of growth and government behaviour in the past. We find that if recent government behaviour were to continue, the Indian economy would to achieve a growth rate of 6.5 per cent in the coming years, something that seems eminently achievable. Next, positing a nominal growth rate of 11 per cent (or a real growth rate of 6.1 per cent) in the coming years and making suitable assumptions about revenue buoyancy and other receipts, we empirically estimate the growth in primary expenditure that would be permissible. We find that no deceleration in primary expenditure is required if we assume a revenue buoyancy of 1 or above. We compare our optimistic projections with the sombre estimates of the Kelkar Task Force and find that our estimates differ from KTF’s because the KTF report postulates much higher levels of debt than we do. Clearly, we need a consensus on what India’s debt position today is. Nevertheless, our analysis does suggest that assessments of the sustainability of India’s debt have not adequately factored in the changed outlook for growth and interest rates.

Stability indicating RP-HPLC method development and validation for the simultaneous estimation of ceftriaxone and tazobactum in sterile powder for injection

A simple, rapid, precise and accurate method is developed for the quantitative simultaneous determination of ceftriaxone and tazobactum in bulk and pharmaceutical formulations. Separation of ceftriaxone and tazobactum was successfully achieved by using Inertsil C18 ODS column 250X4.6mm, 5µm in an isocratic mode using water and acetonitrile (80:20) at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min and was monitored at 254 nm with a retention time of 3.049 minutes and 4.317 minutes for ceftriaxone and tazobactum respectively. The method was validated and the response was found to be linear in the drug concentration range of 20µg/ml to 80 µg/ml for ceftriaxone and 5 µg/ml to 35 µg/ml for tazobactum. The values of the correlation coefficient were found to be 0.999 for ceftriaxone and 0.999 for tazobactum respectively. The LOD and LOQ for ceftriaxone were found to be 0.021 and 0.064 respectively. The LOD and LOQ for tazobactum were found to be 0.030 and 0.091 respectively. The percentage recovery for ceftriaxone and tazobactum were found to be 98-102% respectively which indicates that the proposed method is highly accurate. The specificity of the method shows good correlation between retention times of standard with the sample. The method was extensively validated according to ICH guidelines for Linearity, Accuracy, Precision, Specificity and Robustness.  Stability of the drugs was determined by using acid/base, thermal, oxidative stress testing

Dengue infection in central India: a 5 years study at a tertiary care hospital

Background: Dengue is one of the most important mosquito borne viral disease with wide spectrum of clinical presentation and often with unpredictable clinical evolution and outcome. Approximately 50 million infections occur annually world-wide, but what’s the real size of the problem in India?  Nobody truly knows...!!  Present study was carried out to determine seropositivity, clinical profile and seasonal variation of dengue infection in central India.Methods: Study was carried out from January 2012 to December 2016. Blood samples were collected from 15,606 patients with dengue like clinical illness and serum was separated. All the samples were subjected to IgM antibody detection by dengue MAC ELISA.Results: Prevalence of dengue in dengue suspected cases was found to be 24.49% (3,822/15,606). Maximum number of positive cases, 1,548 (40.50%) were in the age group of 0-10 years. Males (60.83%) were affected more than females (39.17%). Peak was observed in the months of August, September, October and November. Common presenting features were fever followed by myalgia, arthralgia, headache and bleeding manifestations. Significant drop in platelet count was observed in patients with dengue shock syndrome and dengue haemorrhagic fever.Conclusions: Number of dengue cases in central India are on increase and continued surveillance is essential to determine epidemiological and seasonal trend