Additions to the moss flora of peninsular India from the Western Ghats

Two Asian mosses Entodontopsis setschwanica (Broth.) W. R. Buck et R. R. Ireland and Mitthyridium cardotii (M. Fleisch.) H. Rob., so far known from the Eastern Himalaya and Northeast India, respectively for India, are added here to the moss flora of Peninsular India from the Western Ghats. Brief descriptions with illustrations are provided

Genus Wijkia (Sematophyllaceae, Bryophyta) in the western ghats of India

The Asian moss Wijkia baculifera (Dixon) H. A. Crum so far known from Northeast India and Myanmar, is added here to the moss flora of Peninsular India from the Western Ghats. A brief description with illustrations and photographic plate is provided

First record of redneck goby Schismatogobius deraniyagalai (Teleostei: Gobiidae) from Seethanathi river, Karnataka, Southern India.

Schismatogobius deraniyagalai is recorded from the Seethanathi River of Karnataka state in the southern part of India. Previous records of these species were from the streams in Kerala of India and from freshwater habitats of Sri Lanka. Herein we report the occurrence of this species in Seethanathi River showing its distribution extended further north along the west coast of Peninsular India

North-East Indian Monsoon Rainfall Variability over Southeastern Peninsular India

North-East Indian Monsoon rainfall (NEIMR) during October-December is of immense socio-economic importance to the agriculture dependent population in the southeastern peninsular India. NEIMR is subject to extreme year-to-year and intra-seasonal variability that needs to be understood to enhance climate resilience. An understanding of NEIMR variability and the physical processes behind this variability would help to improve the predictability of NEIMR variation over the southeastern peninsular of India. An insight into past societal responses to monsoon variability would be a great lesson for adapting to future climate challenges. This dissertation seeks to examine the intra-seasonal variability of NEIMR and its driving ocean-atmospheric conditions, and simultaneously understand the past societal responses to these conditions. In so doing the research addresses some of the key scientific knowledge gaps in NEIMR and provides recommendations on how to respond to monsoon variability.;The investigation of intra-seasonal variability of pentad NEIMR using the Hidden Markov Model indicated the presence of three dominant rainfall \u27states\u27 in the southeastern peninsular of India: wet, coastal wet, and dry. These three rainfall states are associated with distinct atmospheric circulation and surface temperature. The wet conditions are characterized by enhanced cyclonic activities and increased moisture convergence at 850 hPa over the Indian southeastern peninsular and its neighboring oceanic regions -- the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. In contrast, the dry conditions are associated with anticyclonic circulation and the reduced moisture convergence at 850 hPa.;The examination of ocean and atmospheric conditions associated with wet NEIMR conditions over the southeastern peninsular of India revealed that sea surface temperatures (SSTs) significantly increased over the Bay of Bengal during all the simultaneous and lagged time steps. The SSTs were significantly increased over the equatorial western Indian Ocean during the lag-2, -3, and -4 time steps before the occurrence of wet NEIMR conditions. At the same time, the latent heat fluxes (LHF) decreased over the Bay of Bengal (all time steps) and increased over the Indian Ocean (same and lags-1 and -2). The differences in the relationships with wet NEIMR between SST and LHF over the two ocean basins are possibly due to the differing atmospheric moisture demands and lower level winds. The investigation of moisture transport processes indicates that moisture transport was dominant over the lower atmospheric levels (1000 to 850 hPa). The moisture from the equatorial Indian Ocean region was transported to the moisture-abundant Bay of Bengal region through westerly anomalies and subsequently the moisture was carried to the southeastern peninsular of India through strong cyclonic circulation.;An investigation of instrumental and proxy climatic data sets between 500 and 2010 CE indicates that the period between ~850 and ~1300 CE, a time of frequent El Nino-like conditions, was associated with a substantial increase in NEIMR, whereas South-West Indian monsoon rainfall (SWIMR) suffered substantial deficits. The spatial pattern and chronology of water harvesting infrastructure developed under Chola rule indicate that these features were concentrated in the NEIMR-receiving regions of southeastern India and that their construction peaked during El Nino-dominated intervals. Overall, enhanced NEIMR conditions and adaptation strategies practiced in the Chola\u27s territory, combined with less favorable climatic conditions over the neighboring kingdoms, appears to have underpinned the well-documented political and economic strengths of the Chola Kingdom. I infer that the water management infrastructure promoted by the Chola rulers helped to buffer the consequences of climatic extremes in later history, whether from droughts (e.g. the El Nino-related mega-drought of 1876--1878) or floods (because the reservoirs contained surplus runoff).;Overall, the spatio-temporal characterization of the three rainfall states, and the ocean and atmospheric processes associated with the wet NEIMR conditions over the southeastern peninsular of India could provide a valuable scientific input for enhancing rainfall predictability, which is of huge socioeconomic value to agriculture and water resource management sectors in the Indian southeastern peninsular. Further, the lessons from the past would be a valuable input for adapting to future climate challenges in the southeastern peninsular of India. Especially for the planners and policymakers who would gain from restoring value to the existing tank system as a means of managing climatic risk in Southern India, and for ensuring the related goals of food security, food sovereignty, and urban flood hazards are suitably managed within a capable landscape

Preconcentration and Heavy Minerals Separation with Low Grade Beach Sand Sample from Narsapur Coast, West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh

India is blessed with large reserves of strategic and economically important heavy minerals such as Ilmenite, Rutile, Leucoxene, Zircon, Monazite, Garnet and Sillimanite. These deposits are mostly located in the coastal stretches of peninsular India covering states of Orissa, Andhra pradesh, Tamil nadu, Kerala and Maharastra

New age data on the geological evolution of Southern India

The Peninsular Gneisses of Southern India developed over a period of several hundred Ma in the middle-to-late Archaean. Gneisses in the Gorur-Hassan area of southern Karnataka are the oldest recognized constituents: Beckinsale et al. reported a preliminary Rb-Sr whole-rock isochron age of 33558 + or - 66 Ma, but further Rb-Sr and Pb/Pb whole-rock isochron determinations indicate a slightly younger, though more precise age of ca 3305 Ma (R. D. Beckinsale, Pers. Comm.). It is well established that the Peninsular Gneisses constitute basement on which the Dharwar schist belts were deposited. Well-documented exposures of unconformities, with basal quartz pebble conglomerates of the Dharwar Supergroup overlying Peninsular Gneisses, have been reported from the Chikmagalur and Chitradurga areas, and basement gneisses in these two areas have been dated by Rb-Sr and Pb/Pb whole-rock isochron methods at ca 3150 Ma and ca 3000 Ma respectively. Dharwar supracrustal rocks of the Chitradurga schist belt are intruded by the Chitradurga Granite, dated by a Pb/Pb whole-rock isochron at 2605 + or - 18 Ma. These results indicate that the Dharwar Supergroup in the Chitradurga belt was deposited between 3000 Ma and 2600 Ma

Further studies regarding Hora's Satpura hypothesis. 2. Taxonomic assessment and levels of evolutionary divergences of fishes with the so-called Malayan affinities in peninsular India

Since the enunciation of the Satpura Hypothesis (Hora, 1937), much work has been done on t he biogeography of India. Recently a Symposium was held. under the auspices of t he National Institute of Sciences of India on the' Satpnra Hypothesis of the Distribution of Malayan Fauna and Flora to Peninsular India', (Hora. et al., 1949) containing contributions from different sciences, such as, Geology, Meteorology, Botany and Zoology

First record of redneck goby Schismatogobius deraniyagalai (Teleostei: Gobiidae) from Seethanathi river, Karnataka, Southern India.

Schismatogobius deraniyagalai is recorded from the Seethanathi River of Karnataka state in the southern part of India. Previous records of these species were from the streams in Kerala of India and from freshwater habitats of Sri Lanka. Herein we report the occurrence of this species in Seethanathi River showing its distribution extended further north along the west coast of Peninsular India

Addressing India’s water challenge 2050: the virtual water trade option

The Government of India, on directions from the Supreme Court in 2002 and advice from the National Water Development Agency (NWDA), proposed an estimated US$120 billion National River Linking Project (NRLP) which envisages linking 37 Himalayan and Peninsular rivers (Figure 1; NCIWRD 1999). Doing this will form a gigantic South Asian water grid which will annually handle 178×109 m3/yr of interbasin water transfer; build 12,500 km of canals; generate 34 gigawatts of hydropower; add 35 million hectares (Mha) to India’s irrigated areas; and generate inland navigation benefits (IWMI 2003; NWDA 2006; Gupta and van der Zaag 2007)

The genus Asterina and its anamorph on Elaeocarpus species in Southern Western ghats of peninsular India

The present study observed that the family Elaeocarpaceae comprises three genera: Elaeocarpus, Sloanea and Muntingia in India. Of these, Elaeocarpus munronii, E. serratus, E. tectorius and E. tuberculatus were found infected with Asterina gamsii, A. elaeocarpi var. ovalis, A. elaeocarpicola and Asterostomella elaeocarpi-serrati in the Southern Western Ghats of peninsular India. All these species are described and illustrated in detail