Reviews

P.R. Subramanian (Chief Editor). Kriyavill Tarkalat Tamil Akarati (TamilTamil-ArJkilam) (Dictionary of Contemporary Tamil (Tamil-Tamil-English)),1992, reprint 1997, xxxvi + 980 pp. ISBN 81-85602-57-3. Chennai: Cre-APublishers. E-mail: [email protected] Rs. 270,00

Comparison of Fertility Behaviour of Four Northern States (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) with Tamil Nadu: A Decomposition Analysis

There  are  various  factors which influence  fertility  behaviour  and  each  factor  operates with different  strength. Previous literatures has identified female education, place of residence, wealth index predominantly influence the fertility rate of any region. So in this study the analysis is carried out to see if the education, wealth and place of residence of the four northern state (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) same as Tamil Nadu then their fertility will be as same as Tamil Nadu? But this study reveals that these factors are not the main fertility declining factor in Tamil Nadu. There are other state specific factors which are influencing more on fertility reduction then the aforesaid factors. Then the question arises, What are the other state factors? Keywords: Fertility, Decomposition, Wealth, Education, Cultura

Pricing with changing welfare criterion : an application of Ramsey-Wilson model to urban water supply

Tariff rates based on Ramsey - Wilson model of changing welfare criterion satisfying equity and efficiency have been estimated for three categories of consumers of an urban water supply in India. The design necessitates values of marginal cost and price elasticity. Paucity of data severely restricts estimation of marginal cost compelling to use breakeven as proxy. Price elasticity is obtained from household expenditure data by applying recoverability theory suggested by Pollak and Wales. The effect of household composition on elasticity has been eliminated by expressing variables on a per capita basis using adult equivalent scale (AES). Calculation of AES for water is based on Prais-Houthakker incremental method. The scale indicates that it is totally different from Amsterdam scale, the AES of food. Maximum welfare is given to small quantity consumers by charging a rate below breakeven combined with a subsidy arising from the surplus generated in the markup of large quantity consumers. The middle group is charged only the breakeven rate. The model can be generalised to any number of groups by assigning different welfare weights ranging from zero to one. The model breaks down if the rate exceeds stand-alone cost. JEL Classification : H41, D4, Q25 Key words: tariff rates, second best prices, adult equivalent scale, welfare weights, stand alone cos

Dynamics of rural water supply in coastal Kerala : a sustainable development view

This paper examines empirically within sustainable development framework the dynamics of coverage in rural drinking water supply of 180 demand-driven schemes from Malappuram, predominantly a coastal district of Kerala State. The methodology for the analysis comprised (i) multidimensional specification of sustainability in terms of attributes relating to source, technology, quality, finance, institution and hygiene behaviour and (ii) estimation of the degree of sustainability using models of vagueness. Two methods of ‘vagueness’ viz. ‘supervaluationism’ and ‘fuzzy inference system’ were applied to identify systems that are at or below the sustainability line. Results show that sustainability due to source and quality is lower in schemes from non-costal regions, whereas sustainability in dimensions of finance, institution, and hygiene behaviour is lower in coastal regions. Empirical analysis of ‘marginal systems’ indicates that gender participation; female education and income have favourable impact on sustainability of schemes in rural areas. Key words: Sustainable development, Vagueness, Supervaluationism, Degree theory, Fuzzy inference, Rural drinking water supply. JEL Classification: Q56

Gender bias in a marginalised community : a study of Fisherfolk in coastal Kerala

Empirical analysis of female-male ratio in Kerala reveals that two communities, Fisherfolk and Scheduled Tribes, have gender bias in their population unlike rest of Kerala. An in-depth study on fishing households from two coastal hamlets in the state not only validates the lower proportion of females in the community statistically but also provides justification of Sen's alternative version of "cooperative conflict" model as an explanation for the lower well-being of females. All four basic functionings - morbidity, longevity, education, nutrition- estimated from survey data using capability approach show female deprivation. Further, it provides evidence to argue that lower bargaining power of females in the intra household distribution of resources emanates from their worse breakdown position, their valuation of family interest above self-interest and their lower perceived contribution to household opulence. JEL Classification : J16, C70 Key Words : deprivation, capabilities, well-being, co-operative conflic

Effective Sidewall Functionalization of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes with Dichlorocarbene Addition using New Soluble Multi-site Phase Transfer Catalysts

The novel soluble multi-site phase transfer catalysts (MPTCs), viz., 2,6-bis (triethylammoniummethylene chloride)-4-methoxytoluene (BTEACM) and 3,3’,5,5’-tetrakis (dimethylaminopyridinium chloride) biphenyl (TDMAPCB) containing two, and four active sites was synthesized, and characterized through Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy (FTIR), proton nuclear magnetic spectroscopy, carbon nuclear magnetic spectroscopy, thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analyses. The obtained MPTCs were used as a catalysts for sidewall functionalization of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in dichlorocarbene (CCl2) addition, and compared their functionalization yield with commercially available single site PTC and tri-site PTC viz., benzyltriethylammonium chloride (BTEAC) and 2,4,6-tris (triethylammoniummethylene chloride) mesitylene (TTEAMCM). The functionalization of CCl2 on MWCNTs was established by the appearance of increased peak intensity of C-Cl(str) at 700 cm-1 and decreased peak intensity of C-C(str) at 1260 cm-1 in FTIR analysis. The increased ID/IG ratio from pristine MWCNTs (0.3) to MWCNT-CCl2 hybrid (1.58) obtained from Raman studies strongly proved the covalent functionalization of CCl2 on MWCNTs. Furthermore, the change of surface morphology, and increased diameter of MWCNT-CCl2 hybrids obtained from irrespective of MPTCs were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. Hence, TDMAPCB showed higher reactivity for sidewall functionalization of MWCNTs in CCl2 addition