scholarly journals Popularization of Astronomy in South India

1990 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 341-342
Author(s):  
R. Ramakarthikeyan

I am presenting this paper only with reference to my city of Madras, the capital of Tamil Nadu, where more than 60 per cent of the population are illiterate.I am an active member of the Madras Astronomical Association and I am the Vice-President of the Vivekananda Astronomy Club, both of which are popularizing astronomy among the masses.Though we have been pleading for the necessity of a planetarium over the last two decades, we got one only in May 1988. But for the last seven years, we designed and set up a mini-planetarium at the Education Pavilion of the Trade Fair Exhibition conducted by the local government every year.

Author(s):  
Abhinandan Jain ◽  
Vivek Singh

In March 2010, Mr. Chandra Shekhara Reddy, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, was reviewing the launch plan for the first brand of cooking oil, Freedom Refined Sunflower Oil, of GEF. GEF was set up by a professional turned entrepreneur, in Andhra Pradesh in 2009. The case provides a brief profile of the entrepreneur and the overall business strategy including brand architecture. It describes the launch plan, particularly the key decisions of brand name, packaging, sales promotion and distribution. Data on household use and competing brands of oils in Andhra Pradesh, South India and entire India is also included.


1988 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-335
Author(s):  
Khwaja Sarmad

This book is a comprehensive analysis of farmers' movements in India with a focus on the movements in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnatka. It examines the economic, social and political aspects of the farmers' struggle for a better deal within regional and national perspectives and evaluates the potential impact of these struggles on economic development in general, and on rural development, in particular. In a most competent way the author has presented the current state of the debate on the subject. He deals exhaustively with the subject of agricultural price policy and argues against the proposition that favourable price-setting for farm products is adequate to alleviate rural poverty. A better way to tackle this problem is to improve the per capita output in the rural sector, since the root cause of the problem is not unfavourable terms of trade but the increasing proportion of land holdings, which are economically not viable. Agricultural price policy is analyzed within the context of class relations, which enables to establish a link between the economic and political demands of the farmers. This analysis leads the author to conclude, that in contrast with the peasants' movements in India, which helped to break up the feudal agrarian set-up, the recent farmers' movements, with a few exceptions, have little revolutionary content. Their leadership has been appropriated by the rich landowners, who have transformed the movements into a lobby for advancing their own interests, within the existing power structure, to the neglect of the poorer peasantry.


2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariappan Sankara Rama Subramaniam ◽  
Azariah Babu ◽  
Bhabesh Deka

Abstract Background Continuous and non-judicial application of synthetic insecticides to control the tea thrips, Scirtothrips bispinosus (Bagnall), one of the major tea pests in South India has led to certain undesirable issues in the ecosystem besides the presence of the pesticide residues in manufactured tea. Biological control agents are of immense importance in tea cultivation. The present study was designed to isolate Lecanicillium lecanii (Zimmermann) Zare & Gama from the field-collected cadavers of the insects/mites infected by fungi of tea growing areas of Anamallais (Tamil Nadu, South India), and to evaluate their field bio-efficacy against the tea thrips. Results Lecanicillium lecanii isolated from the tea ecosystem had been formulated into a wettable powder (WP) formulation and evaluated against tea thrips under both laboratory and field conditions. Among the several media evaluated, the PDAY (Potato Dextrose Agar + 1% Yeast powder) was found to be the best suitable medium for the growth and germination of spores. Optimum conditions for the growth of L. lecanii were found in PDAY medium at the pH 6-7, temperature 25-30°C and 90-95% RH. Exposure to UV light for more than 30 min significantly inhibited the growth of the fungus. Lecanicillium lecanii at (1 × 107 spore/ha) was found significantly effective against thrips. Fungal development index (FDI) of L. lecanii + jaggery significantly differed than other treatments. Lecanicillium lecanii at 1500g (1×107 conidia/ml) mixed in 400 l of water was effective against the tea thrips. Addition of equal amount of jaggery with L. lecanii wettable powder in the tank mixture could increase the efficacy of the mycopesticide against tea thrips. Conclusion The powder formulation of L. lecanii was found safer to natural enemies present in the tea ecosystem. After fulfilling the requirements for its registration and label claim on tea, this strain of L. lecanii could be commercialized for the benefit of the tea industry for the management of tea thrips in an eco-friendly manner.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1215
Author(s):  
Aparna Gopalakrishnan ◽  
Jameel Rizwana Hussaindeen ◽  
Viswanathan Sivaraman ◽  
Meenakshi Swaminathan ◽  
Yee Ling Wong ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to investigate the agreement between cycloplegic and non-cycloplegic autorefraction with an open-field auto refractor in a school vision screening set up, and to define a threshold for myopia that agrees with the standard cycloplegic refraction threshold. The study was conducted as part of the Sankara Nethralaya Tamil Nadu Essilor Myopia (STEM) study, which investigated the prevalence, incidence, and risk factors for myopia among children in South India. Children from two schools aged 5 to 15 years, with no ocular abnormalities and whose parents gave informed consent for cycloplegic refraction were included in the study. All the children underwent visual acuity assessment (Pocket Vision Screener, Elite school of Optometry, India), followed by non-cycloplegic and cycloplegic (1% tropicamide) open-field autorefraction (Grand Seiko, WAM-5500). A total of 387 children were included in the study, of whom 201 were boys. The mean (SD) age of the children was 12.2 (±2.1) years. Overall, the mean difference between cycloplegic and non-cycloplegic spherical equivalent (SE) open-field autorefraction measures was 0.34 D (limits of agreement (LOA), 1.06 D to −0.38 D). For myopes, the mean difference between cycloplegic and non-cycloplegic SE was 0.13 D (LOA, 0.63D to −0.36D). The prevalence of myopia was 12% (95% CI, 8% to 15%) using the threshold of cycloplegic SE ≤ −0.50 D, and was 14% (95% CI, 11% to 17%) with SE ≤ −0.50 D using non-cycloplegic refraction. When myopia was defined as SE of ≤−0.75 D under non-cycloplegic conditions, there was no difference between cycloplegic and non-cycloplegic open-field autorefraction prevalence estimates (12%; 95% CI, 8% to 15%; p = 1.00). Overall, non-cycloplegic refraction underestimates hyperopia and overestimates myopia; but for subjects with myopia, this difference is minimal and not clinically significant. A threshold of SE ≤ −0.75 D agrees well for the estimation of myopia prevalence among children when using non-cycloplegic refraction and is comparable with the standard definition of cycloplegic myopic refraction of SE ≤ −0.50 D.


Author(s):  
Sona Ahuja ◽  
Diksha Yadav

The present study provides a description of the model of interactive digital pedagogy for remote areas and its impact on pedagogical satisfaction and academic achievement of students. This pedagogical intervention was designed to enrich and supplement the teaching-learning experience in remote and underprivileged schools through the use of technology. An interactive online teaching-learning system was set-up using a digital pedagogy. 150 school students and 80 prospective teachers from three higher secondary schools of Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu participated in the study. Pedagogical satisfaction and academic achievement of the school students who studied in this set-up were examined. The results revealed that active learning, technological competence and learner autonomy were enhanced in an online environment when compared to an offline environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 411-417
Author(s):  
Salamatu Suleiman ◽  
Usman Kibbon Adamu ◽  
Jibril Abdullahi

This study examined the soil management practices of farmers in Zaria Local Government Area, Kaduna state, Nigeria. Both primary and secondary means of data collection were employed in the study. Purposive sampling technique was used to select both the study locations and the respondents based on the characteristics of the population and the objectives of the study. The sample size of 384 copies of questionnaire was purposively used to acquire data from the selected respondents. This was analyzed in SPSS 2.0 version, using simple descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages and mean derived from 4-point Likert scale. The study indicated that the most adopted soil management practice by the respondents was the use of animal manure with 28.1%. This is followed by Mixed Cropping (26.3%). while shifting cultivation is the least practice (1.7%). The results also revealed that manure application is the most effective soil management practice with a mean score of ( = 4.21). while the lowest mean score is zero tilling with a value of ( = 1.51). Findings also showed that Soil fertility depletion is the strongest challenge to soil management practices with 32.9%.  The paper concludes that farmers in the study area can adopt many soil management practices. The paper recommends that there is need for mobile advisory teams of agricultural extension agents and the N-power agro unit to be set up, equipped, mobilized to reach out farmers to increase their awareness on adoption of improved agro soil management practices through training and consultation with farmers.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandni Singh ◽  
Mark Tebboth ◽  
Jasmitha Arvind ◽  
Yashodara Udupa

This study focuses on disaster impacts and recovery in Tamil Nadu, drawing on insights from Chennai city and Nagapattinam district. The research is part of a larger three-year project called “Recovery with Dignity”, which examines the experiences of recovery in post-disaster situations across three states in India – Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala – and explores how recovery processes represent vulnerable populations. In this report, we focus on three key disasters in Tamil Nadu: the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the 2015 South India flood, and the 2018 Cyclone Gaja. Through these events, we examine how the ways disasters and their losses are represented shape recovery outcomes. The study uses a range of data, from a review of state policies in Tamil Nadu (2005-2019), an analysis of media articles published in English and Tamil (2004-2019), to interviews with disaster-affected people and secondary stakeholders. The findings indicate that disaster responses and outcomes are highly differentiated based on how disaster-affected people and their needs and losses are represented. To enable inclusive recovery, it is necessary to recognising the heterogenous nature of disaster impacts and acknowledge different ideas of what recovery means.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 62-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meena Moorthy ◽  
Sundaramanickam Arumugam ◽  
Thankappan Ajith Kumar Thipramalai

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