Branding at Mewar Rugs

The case discusses about the Company, Mewar Rugs known for high quality hand woven rugs exporting majority of the US and the rest of the world.The unique selling proposition (USP) of the company is hand woven carpets which depend upon the creative designs and workmanship of the weavers.There is huge demand for their finished products in developed countries and are primarily supplying their finished products to the exclusive showrooms and outlets of premium luxury home decors.They have tied up with some leading designers that are helping them to build their brand on the concept of co-branding.The process of manufacturing is highly labor intensive where the majority of the processes is done by the weavers manually.The company is investing a huge amount of resources in the process and infrastructure.The company is also doing well on sales front but lacks innovative approaches of marketing.This may endanger the competitive advantages of the handwoven carpet in coming time at global arena. This case is an att empt to discuss whether Mewar Rugs needs a new brand identity and how its image is signifi cantly important for this kind of product where demand exceeds the suppl

Green retailing: Environmental strategies of organized retailers and competitive advantage

Green Movement is becoming the buzzword of today’s business world.Across the world businesses are developing green strategies and thereby are working towards developing a low carbon landscape. Retailing is as old as business, trade and commerce and currently has revolutionized into new forms and formats.As the retail sector is quite energy intensive, retailers are left with no choice but to consider and adopt eco-friendly practices.The retailers serve as strategic touch point between producers and consumers and own the responsibility of offering green products and the greening of consumption.Green Retailing (GR) refers to the management approach that pursues environmental protection to improve the retail value chain through eliminating waste, increasing efficiency and reducing costs.Therefore, it is very important for the retailers to understand the perception and attitude of customers regarding the green image of the retailers.It aims to understand the factors that influence green buying behavior of customers under the green retail settings and how these green cues of store environment can influence consumer behavior as are their non-green counterparts in Indian context

Enhanced One Dimensional Modeling for Predicting Concentration of BOD in rivers

To maintain the river water quality it is necessary to predict the concentration of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in rivers. Various one dimensional models that  are developed so far  are applicable only after complete mixing of the pollutant across the cross-section is over which may take longer time for rivers with large width. Such type of situations is not represented effectively by the existing one dimensional model. Moreover, many of these one dimensional models do not account for the settle able part of BOD that invariably takes place when partially treated/ untreated waste enters these water bodies. A model is developed that is not more complicated than a one dimensional model but rationally predict the transport of BOD causing pollutant in almost 80% of initial period. The presented model can be used in conditions when partially treated/untreated waste is discharged in rivers with large width. Keywords: Mathematical Model, BOD, Water Pollutio

Assessment of groundwater quality status by using water quality index (WQI) and geographic information system (GIS) approaches: a case study of the Bokaro district, India

Abstract One hundred two groundwater samples were collected from the Bokaro district of Jharkhand state, India, during the pre-and post-monsoon seasons of the year 2014–2015. In the present study, groundwater samples were analysed for pH, TDS, TH, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Cl−, SO4 2−, HCO3 −, F− and NO3 − to evaluate the suitability of the groundwater for drinking purposes through geographic information system (GIS)-based water quality index (WQI) model. For quality assessment, values of analysed parameters of the groundwater samples were compared with the Bureau of Indian standards (BIS) and World Health Organization (WHO) water quality standards. The analytical results indicate slightly acidic to slightly alkaline nature of the groundwater in the study area. Concentrations of Ca2+, Mg2+, HCO3 −, F−, NO3 −, TDS and TH exceeded the desirable as well as permissible limits of drinking water quality standards recommended by the BIS (Indian Standard Drinking Water Specification, 2012) and WHO (Guidelines for drinking water quality: training pack, WHO, Geneva, 2004) in the study area during the pre- and post-monsoon seasons, respectively. However, Na+, K+, Cl− and SO4 2− concentrations were within the permissible limits during both seasons. The hydrochemical analysis of the studied groundwater samples documented with ternary and Durov diagram revealed that most of the groundwater samples belong to HCO3 − type of anions facies and no dominant type of cation facies. The GIS-based WQI maps for the study area indicate that the poor quality of water was found the maximum in the pre-monsoon season as compared to the post-monsoon season in the study area, respectively. The high values of WQI in the several groundwater samples of the Bokaro district indicate that water is not suitable for direct consumptions and it required sustainable treatment before its utilization for drinking uses

Feasibility of supervised self-testing using an oral fluid-based HIV rapid testing method:a cross-sectional, mixed method study among pregnant women in rural India

Introduction: HIV self-testing can increase coverage of essential HIV services. This study aimed to establish the acceptability, concordance and feasibility of supervised HIV self-testing among pregnant women in rural India. Methods: A cross-sectional, mixed methods study was conducted among 202 consenting pregnant women in a rural Indian hospital between August 2014 and January 2015. Participants were provided with instructions on how to self-test using OraQuick® HIV antibody test, and subsequently asked to self-test under supervision of a community health worker. Test results were confirmed at a government-run integrated counselling and testing centre. A questionnaire was used to obtain information on patient demographics and the ease, acceptability and difficulties of self-testing. In-depth interviews were conducted with a sub-sample of 35 participants to understand their experiences. Results: In total, 202 participants performed the non-invasive, oral fluid-based, rapid test under supervision for HIV screening. Acceptance rate was 100%. Motivators for self-testing included: ease of testing (43.4%), quick results (27.3%) and non-invasive procedure (23.2%). Sensitivity and specificity were 100% for 201 tests, and one test was invalid. Concordance of test result interpretation between community health workers and participants was 98.5% with a Cohen’s Kappa (k) value of k=0.566 with p<0.001 for inter-rater agreement. Although 92.6% participants reported that the instructions for the test were easy to understand, 18.7% required the assistance of a supervisor to self-test. Major themes that emerged from the qualitative interviews indicated the importance of the following factors in influencing acceptability of self-testing: clarity and accessibility of test instructions; time-efficiency and convenience of testing; non-invasiveness of the test; and fear of incorrect results. Overall, 96.5% of the participants recommended that the OraQuick® test kits should become publicly available. Conclusions: Self-testing for HIV status using an oral fluid-based rapid test under the supervision of a community health worker was acceptable and feasible among pregnant women in rural India. Participants were supportive of making self-testing publicly available. Policy guidelines and implementation research are required to advance HIV self-testing for larger populations at scale

Cellulosic fibers from Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) peduncle

Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), an aquatic monocotyledonous plant, is highly valued for cut flower and plant parts containing medicinal properties. The paper presents the method of drawing out cellulosic fibers from lotus peduncles. Mechanical properties of lotus fibers were evaluated and compared with other common natural fibers. Morphology and characteristics of lotus fiber and peduncle were studied using scanning electron micrograph. Fiber characterization was done to identify the elements present and chemical composition in the lotus fiber by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Results reveal that lotus fiber is one of the finest (0.22 tex) natural fibers with helical structure and promising quality. Chemical characterization of the lotus fiber shows presence of cellulose and similarity with cotton fibers

Synthesis and Characterization of Cds Nanocrystallites Dispersed in Polymer Matrix

Cadmium sulphide (CdS) nanocrystallites were prepared by sulphuration route with capping in polyethylene oxide (PEO) polymer matrix. It is found that PEO could provide a confined environment for particle nucleation and growth of CdS nanocrystallites. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive analysis by X-ray (EDAX) studies confirms the presence of CdS nanocrystallites in polymer matrix. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) selected area diffraction (SAD) patterns show that these crystallites have hexagonal structure. The TEM and UV-Visible absorption studies indicate uniform size distribution having size around 2.3 nm and band gap of 2.7 eV. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies reveal that core level energy positions of the Cd is shifted towards the lower binding energy and has similar chemical environment to that of bulk CdS