Indian Scene Research Articles

Technological innovations by SME's in India

Weak linkages exist between the technology providers (universities and R&D laboratories) and the SME's as technology users; very little motivation exists for the SME's for upgrading their capabilities towards entering into subcontracting and ancillarization of activities with the larger firms in India. While surveying the current Indian scene, the author has advocated the need for SME's to utilize the technical facilities available at the S&T infrastructure created in the country and vice-versa. A special mechanism may be created at the national level to enable the SME's to upgrade their technical capacities and capabilities for producing quality products to interact with larger firms, in new and emerging fields. The article highlights the entrepreneurship capabilities which is being developed by SME's in India for producing quality products as well as undertaking ancillarization and sub-contracting activities for the larger firms in India.

Diffuse agricultural water pollution in India

Concern over agricultural diffuse pollution sources in integrated water quality management has been growing recently. Such sources are likely to be even more critical in developing countries, including India, where agriculture and rural habitats are still dominant, unlike the G7 or other affluent industrialised nations. A number of special features of the Indian scene need to be considered. These include: (i) extremely varying rainfall and stream-flow patterns; (ii) still largely traditional agricultural practices with average application of fertilizers and pesticides and significant areas under dry farming or only marginal irrigation; (iii) a very large cattle population, with agriculture almost always linked with animal husbandry; (iv) a culture of living close to the river (if not in the river) with dominating instream uses of bathing, washing, cattle wading, waste disposal, etc. and large-scale floodplain farming; and (v) scant respect for rules, regulations and laws alongside an extremely weak law-enforcement machinery.The paper shows that in the non-monsoon (non-flood) periods, which may account for all but 2 months of a year, agricultural diffuse pollution sources seem to have no impact on stream water quality. During these periods flows are low to minimal and pollution is dominated by the in-stream uses, sullage waters of rural communities and point discharges from urban/industrial sources, if any. Pollution due to agricultural return waters, either as wash-off or as seepage, appears to be rare during the 8–10 fair weather months. However, surface wash-off of pollutants from agricultural sources becomes the dominant factor during flood flows, and seepage/drainage from agricultural fields/soils continues to pollute streams for a month or two after the monsoons are over.Application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides (or any other agricultural chemicals) in India is still low compared to developed countries, and while eutrophication due to high levels of washed-off nutrients is observed in rural ponds and other stagnant bodies of water receiving agricultural drainage, and excessive pesticide residuals are often reported for vegetables, fodder, milk, etc., monitoring of streams and rivers does not show any significant pollution due to nutrients or pesticides from agricultural diffuse pollution during fair weather months. High nitrate concentrations have been reported in groundwater and in many areas, such as Punjab and Haryana, these can often be linked directly to diffuse agricultural sources. The major problem of agricultural diffuse pollution appears to be the heavy silt loads, along with large quantities of dissolved salts, nutrients, organics and even heavy metals and bacterial contaminants washed off during floods. The silt tends to clog up the flow channel to further encourage seasonal floodplain agriculture. This results in a vicious circle, which degrades the channel, increases flood-damage and is undesirable from ecological and sustainability points of view. High concentrations of salts and nutrients encourage growth of weeds and macrophytes after the floods have passed. The presence of organics, heavy metals and bacterial contamination renders the streamwater unfit for in-stream use or abstraction.With the introduction of intensive agriculture and adoption of modern farming techniques involving the application of much irrigation water and agricultural chemicals, the problems caused by diffuse agricultural pollution are bound to grow. Routine pollution control methods of discharge permits (or consent letters), EIAs or environmental audits, and normal enforcement measures by regulatory agencies are not likely to work for control of such pollution. Using the example of a small river in central India, Paisuni (Mandakini), the paper brings out the nature of the problems, and suggests a possible management approach.

Fugitive poses: Native American Indian scenes of absence and presence

Fugitive poses: Native American Indian scenes of absence and presence

Contemporary television scene in India

Established in the midst of heated controversies, developed after prodigious hesitations, and now confronted with variegated challenges, television has come a long way since it commenced operations in India. The 2-hour a day, twice-a-week transmission began with a lot of fanfare on 15 September 1959. The then President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, while inaugurating the television transmission said: “Television will go a long way in broadcasting popular outlook and bringing people in line with scientific thinking.” When television started functioning, it operated from the national headquarters of All India Radio’s building, fifth floor in Parliament Street in New Delhi, India’s capital city. It was equipped with improvised infrastructure. Since the transmitter was of only 500 kw, its signals could reach only a radius of 20 km from Delhi. On 15 August 1960, India’s Independence Day, flag-hoisting function from the ramparts of the Red Fort (a national landmark, and a 17th century monument in Delhi) was shown live on television for the first time.

Fugitive Poses: Native American Indian Scenes of Absence and Presence

Native peoples today are best known through their fugitive poses: textual and graphic depictions steeped in a modernist aesthetic of romantic victimry, tragedy, and nostalgia. In Fugitive Poses Gerald Vizenor argues that such representations celebrate the absence rather than the presence of the Native.

On the development of a reliability based optimal renewable energy model for the sustainable energy scene in India

SYNOPSIS Sustainable Energy Development Planning has been the thrust area in developing countries like India. An Optimal Renewable Energy Model (OREM) with Reliability constraint which minimises the cost/efficiency ratio has been developed. The other constraints included in the model are social acceptance, resource limitation, demand and reliability factors. Thirty eight different renewable energy options are considered in the model. The OREM gives the allocation of renewable energy sources for lighting, cooking, pumping, heating, cooling and transportation end-uses for the year 2020–21 in India. For sustainable energy, the reliability of renewable energy systems have to be considered. In this paper, a detailed study has been made to analyse the reliability of a 15 kW solar photovoltaic system, which will be used in one of the constraint equations of the model. Reliability analysis reveals that there were no technical failures in the photovoltaic devices. But the power conversion accessories, such as the inverter and output contactor experienced failure rates of 1.48 × 10−4/hour and 1.67 × 10−4/hour respectively, resulting in poor reliability of the system. The reliability factor of the photovoltaic system is found to be 0.2 at 5000 hours. The fault analysis by Pareto diagram reveals that by eliminating the system component failures, the reliability factor can be improved to the factor of 0.67. As far as the solar PV is concerned, the model (OREM) selects solar PV for lighting to an extent of 0.5198 × 1015 kJ and for pumping 1.2084 × 1015 kJ.

Contextualizing the Sanskritic Tradition to Serve Dalit Theology

The contemporary theological scene in India has distanced itself from the Sanskritic theological tradition because of its long association with Brahminical dominance in disenfranchising many Indian people groups. However, there is ample evidence that the Sanskritic tradition has also been used as a powerful Dalit-like theology form the “underside.” This article examines the contributions of Indian Christian theologians who used the Sanskritic tradition and explores the historic use of the Sanskritic tradition within the Indian tradition, both secular and sacred. The article urges Dalit theologians to reconsider the usefulness of the Sanskritic tradition as a contextual aid which may provide deeper foundations for a people's theology in India.

Small for gestational age babies: Indian scene.

Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) is an important determinant of neonatal mortality, morbidity and poor neurologic outcome. The study was aimed to evaluate the magnitude of perinatal risk factors in causation and the neonatal outcome of small for gestational age (SGA) babies. One hundred and three SGA babies born over a period of one year were retrospectively analysed during their hospital stay. 3.53 per cent of the babies were SGA with mean birth weight of 1657 +/- SD 354 gm (range 600-2200 gm). 68.9 per cent were term babies and 51.5 per cent were females. Toxemia of pregnancy (30.09%), hypertensive diseases of pregnancy (HDP) excluding toxemia (5.8%), diabetes mellitus (1.94%), medical disorders including renal and cardiac (3.88%), anemia (Hb < 8 gm%) and IU infection (0.97%) were the main conditions responsible for SGA. In 56.3% pregnancies, no cause could be ascertained. The common perinatal problems were infections in 27 (26.2%), birth asphyxia in 22 (21.36%), polycythemia in 25 (24.3%), jaundice in 22 (21.36%) and hypoglycemia in 7 (6.8%). Congenital malformations in 2 (1.94%) and Hyaline membrane disease in 1 (0.97%) were uncommon problems. 5.8 per cent babies died due to various perinatal problems. Based on these findings it was concluded that idiopathic (? Constitutional) intrauterine growth retardation was the commonest cause of SGA in Indian babies. 58.3 per cent babies had neonatal problems and they had a better survival compared to their western counterparts.

Competition and liberalisation of telecom markets: For better or for worse?—Indian Scene

(1996). Competition and liberalisation of telecom markets: For better or for worse?—Indian Scene. IETE Technical Review: Vol. 13, No. 6, pp. 288-288.

Isotopes and radiation technology—Indian scene

India's isotope programme is today largely self-sustaining both in terms of availability of isotope products and the range of their applications in medicine, industry, hydrology, agriculture and research. Nuclear medicine is practised by over 200 medical institutions whereas 300 organisations offer radioimmunoassay service. Tracer technology, nucleonic gauging and isotope raiography are fairly well accepted by the Indian industry for troubleshooting, NDT and process control. There are three large radiation plants for sterilisation of medical products. Radiation chemical processing with both gamma and EB shows good promise. In agriculture, sixteen mutants of various crops have been produced using gamma-radiation and distributed for commerical cultivation. A strong programme of research on radiation preservation of food has finally resulted in the clearance of some irradiated foods by the Government of India.

The Debate over Hindutva

In India, the debate over the concept of Hindutva—indigenous Indian culture—is essentially a debate over the viability of cultural nationalism. In the United States, the concept of fundamentalism stirs similar debates, and for that reason some writers—mistakenly, I think—regard Hindutva as fundamentalist. What Hindutva is and how it is related to international patterns are not just academic questions. They are of practical, political importance, because in India religious nationalism is still a potent force. The emergence of the Hindu-oriented Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a major political player in the 1991 elections and the spectacular destruction of the mosque at Ayodhya by Hindu nationalist mobs in 1992 has been followed by the stabilization of BJP as an important opposition party. Recent elections in December 1994 and February 1995 show persistent gains by the BJP and indicate that Hindu politics will be a factor on the Indian scene for some time to come. How should one respond to this rise of religious politics in India? Is it a relatively benign force or a demonic one? Does it have legitimate roots in Indian tradition or is it a virus imported from some sort of world-wide fundamentalist plague? Is it a symptom of social and economic problems or is it purely a religious aberration? Is it a cynical use of religion by politicians or a corruption of politics by religious activists? Is it a matter for only Indians to be concerned about, or should it also alarm foreigners—including Americans—concerned about human rights around the world? These questions are subjects of lively debate in India—not only on the streets and in the press, but in academic quarters—and they cause controversy in Europe and America as well. Articles in this issue of Religionexemplify aspects of the debate. For the purposes of this essay, I have looked at the arguments posed by the authors of two of these articles, James Lochtefeld and Brian Smith, and compared them with each other, and with those of others who have recently written on the topic. I have looked at the observations posed by scholars of Euro-American origin, including Lochtefeld, Smith, Peter van der Veer, Daniel Gold, Stanley Wolpert and myself. 1I have also looked at the anlayses posed by scholars of Indian origin, including Tapan Raychaudhuri and Vinay Lal, Ashis Nandy, T. N. Madan and Partha Chatterjee. 2 What I want to suggest from all this is that the debate over Hindu nationalism is itself historically and socially located. Indians tend to emphasize issues specific to the Indian subcontinent and their own colonial past, whereas non-Indians often look at global issues, especially those similar or related to Euro-American concerns. Within the Indian perspective there is a split between the secularist and non-secularist camps, and within the Euro-American points of view there are differences between classic liberal and relativist positions. The arguments have been especially heated over the following issues.

What Ails the Academic Plastic Surgical Scene in India?

What Ails the Academic Plastic Surgical Scene in India?

The changing political scene in India: a comment

The changing political scene in India: a comment

Molecular lesions in human oral cancer: the Indian scene.

Carcinogenesis is a multi-step process including aberrant expression of two interacting classes of genes--oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes. With recent technological advances, it is feasible to identify the various molecular lesions underlying the different stages of neoplasia. Squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck, although representing 2-4% of the malignancies in the West, comprise a large fraction (40%) of total cancers in India, posing a major health problem. Further, epidemiological and experimental evidence unequivocally confirms a causal association between tobacco chewing habit, highly prevalent in India, and oral cancers. Thus, the oral cancers offer an excellent in vivo system for the study of the environmental tobacco-carcinogen induced molecular alterations in the malignancy, and associated premalignant lesions such as leukoplakia. With a view to elucidating the molecular lesions involving oncogenes in oral carcinogenesis, we have investigated myc/ras/EGF-R activation by amplification, point mutation, gene rearrangement and allelic losses. Further, a functionally activated potent transforming gene was detected in a NIH3T3 transfection/tumorigenicity assay, unrelated to myc/ras/EGF-R. Studies on the involvement of p53 gene in oral cancer, indicates p53 allelic loss as an event observed in leukoplakia and tumour tissues. Advanced oral cancer stages demonstrate cumulative molecular aberrations, with greater than 95% samples showing oncogene involvement, thus indicating a multi-step process of oral carcinogenesis. The review presents a comparative picture of the oral malignancies seen in Western countries and India, significance of molecular lesions and future perspectives of oncogenes and tumour suppressor gene involvement in oral cancer.

特集 世界の音環境 私考「インドの音風景」から

特集 世界の音環境 私考「インドの音風景」から

Gold — The Indian scene

Gold — The Indian scene

Artisan or Merchant Industrialists? Small-Scale Entrepreneurs in the Countryside of West India

Small-scale industrialists in India appear to have little interest in making pro ductive reinvestment of the profits earned from an enterprise in the same unit. Instead, they seem to have greater propensity to promote, successively and simultaneously, a wide range of disparate undertakings. This, according to most observers of the Indian industrial scene, is due to a basically commercial orientation among Indian entrepreneurs which places high premium on quick profits. This paper questions this notion through a close, hard look at an industrial centre in western India and stresses that the reality can be better understood by analysing the interconnection between agriculture, trade, and industry on the one hand, and the Indian social system on the other.

Irrigation and Drainage—Systems Policy Analysis and India Case Study

Irrigation was one of the earliest efforts, supplementing agriculture, in the ascent of man. With the recent population explosion, it has become a critical issue in man’s survival, and in environmental conservation. Irrigation and drainage, however, continue to be practiced, by and large, in a primitive manner, despite the fact that if the present practice continues, serious food scarcity and environmental degradation may have to be faced. Advances have taken place that can avert this bleak scenario. In this context, some policy issues are discussed, followed by the case study of irrigation and drainage in India. A brief overview of irrigation and drainage is undertaken. Modern systems concepts are used to analyze the policy. Objectives and evaluation criteria are briefly developed, followed by some important technological and environmental issues. An overview of the policy, as it evolved historically in the context of the technological and socioeconomic milieu, is undertaken. Modernization issues are identified. The subject is highlighted by reviewing the scene in India with policy formulation for modernization, with reference to detailed studies.

An overview of the development of lead/acid traction batteries for electric vehicles in India

Electric vehicles (EVs) made an entry into the Indian scene quite recently in the area of passenger transportation, milk floats and other similar applications. The industrial EV market, with various models of fork-lift trucks and platform trucks already in wide use all over India, is a better understood application of EV batteries. The lead/acid traction batteries available in India are not of high-energy density. The best available indigenous lead/acid traction battery has an energy density ( C/5 rate) of 30 W h kg −1 as against 39 W h kg −1 available abroad. This paper reviews the developmental efforts relating to lead/acid traction batteries for electric vehicle applications in India, such as prototype road vehicles, commercial vehicles, rail cars, and locomotives. Due to the need for environmental protection and recognition of exhaustible, finite supplies of petroleum fuel, the Indian government is presently taking active interest in EV projects.

National symposium on child nutrition--the Indian scene.

National symposium on child nutrition--the Indian scene.