scholarly journals Ensuring Water Availability in Future through Revival of Indian Traditional Water Culture

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yogranjan Singh ◽  
Sathak Pandey ◽  
Amit Kumar Goswami

After the recurrent spells of weak monsoons, a big part of the country’s population, are affected by a severe drought obliging India to walk towards a water-stressed future. The drought has dried up wells and other water reservoirs already stressed by overuse resulting into crop failure to a reasonable extent of more than 60 per cent. The current water management systems particularly in rural areas are poorly equipped to deal with the issue in significant part because they do not promote distributed water collection, water conservation, and water reuse. Providentially, a combination of often forgotten traditional water practices and more recent innovations in water use and management can help resolve this growing water crisis. These include rainwater capture, water recycling and reuse, and innovative technologies to purify water. India’s history is witness to how well-planned cities of our ancient civilization were equipped with outstanding systems of water harvesting and drainage. These ancient structures synergized with well validated water practices were the strong support systems during the times when the modern infrastructural marvels did not exist, but they were more than efficient in managing the water resources even at the time. Today the traditional water practices and ancient but ignored water sources of the country are yearning to discharge the ancient traditions to revive the glorious history of their past for the dire need of the hour. If water strategists aim to spread the message of water conservation to the common people and want to ensure that every drop of water is conserved, then the proven and scientifically validated Indian traditional water culture will have to be revived. Coincidently, customary water bodies have always been subject of reverence for Indians, reviving these traditional water bodies by involving locals could be a strategy that every region needs to adopt. Stepping up these revival options will indispensably require change in legal and regulatory framework but will perceptibly offer policy makers a better chance to meet present demands and future needs in an increasingly water-constrained India.

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. e04942784
Author(s):  
Andrea Aline Mombach ◽  
Carla Grasiele Zanin Hegel ◽  
Rogério Luis Cansian ◽  
Sônia Beatris Balvedi Zakrzevski

The perception of a basic education of the importance of agroecological agricultural systems for human and environmental health is fundamental for changes in consumption habits, the conservation of local biodiversity and long-term social transformation. We analyzed, by utilizing a questionnaire consisting of open and closed questions, the perceptions about agroecological and conventional agricultural production systems in 360 final students of basic education residing in nine Functional Planning Regions of southern Brazil. We used classification categories for answers within thematic axes, expressed in percentages and analyzed by means of Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests. In general, students recognize agroecological systems as healthier for their families and for soil and water conservation, largely because they do not use agrochemicals. However, they demonstrated difficulties when arguing their importance for the conservation of biodiversity, ecosystems and for ensuring the food security of populations. Television was the main source of information related to agroecology, mainly for students residing in rural areas, thus pointing out shortcomings in basic education regarding the approach of the theme in schools. Our results show the need to build a complex network of knowledge and discussions on agroecological agricultural systems in basic education, involving changes in student perceptions, behaviors and sustainable choices.


Author(s):  
Wenjie Ma ◽  
Minxin He ◽  
Xinyu Zhong ◽  
Shengsong Huang

China’s overall economic growth is, to a great extent, hindered by the lack of economic growth in rural areas. Based on data from the Thousand-Village Survey (2015) of 31 provinces conducted by Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, we conduct this empirical study to analyze the current state of rural financial services and the factors influencing effective demand for loans in rural China. Looking at the demand side, in 2014, only 13.91% farmers had loans, and only 15.53% of them made financial institutions their first choice when they needed loans. Clearly, there is still much to do with regard to inclusive finance. From the perspective of the supply side, only 43.86% of dispersed loans can be categorized as productive loans, further reflecting that the financial services industry does not provide strong support for rural economic growth. Further study shows that the main factors influencing effective demand for productive loans are the population age structure and the rate at which migrant workers return home. Therefore, the "Second-Child" policy and policies that encourage migrant workers to go back home to start businesses are of vital importance in order to raise effective financial demand in rural China.


Author(s):  
Miguel Alarcão

Textualizing the memory(ies) of physical and cultural encounter(s) between Self and Other, travel literature/writing often combines subjectivity with documental information which may prove relevant to better assess mentalities, everyday life and the social history of any given ‘timeplace’. That is the case with Growing up English. Memories of Portugal 1907-1930, by D. J. Baylis (née Bucknall), prefaced by Peter Mollet as “(…) a remarkably vivid and well written observation of the times expressed with humour and not little ‘carinho’. In all they make excellent reading especially for those of us interested in the recent past.” (Baylis: 2)


Author(s):  
Tom Johnson

There were tens of thousands of different local law-courts in late-medieval England, providing the most common forums for the working out of disputes and the making of decisions about local governance. While historians have long studied these institutions, there have been very few attempts to understand this complex institutional form of ‘legal pluralism’. Law in Common provides a way of apprehending this complexity by drawing out broader patterns of legal engagement. The first half of the book explores four ‘local legal cultures’ – in the countryside, towns and cities, the maritime world, and Forests – that grew up around legal institutions, landscapes, and forms of socio-economic practice in these places, and produced distinctive senses of law. The second half of the book turns to examine ‘common legalities’, widespread forms of social practice that emerge across these different localities, through which people aimed to invoke the power of law. Through studies of the physical landscape, the production of legitimate knowledge, the emergence of English as a legal vernacular, and the proliferation of legal documents, it offers a new way to understand how common people engaged with law in the course of their everyday lives. Drawing on a huge body of archival research from the plenitude of different local institutions, Law in Common offers a new social history of law that aims to explain how common people negotiated the transformational changes of the long fifteenth century through legality.


Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 678
Author(s):  
Julio Jaramillo-Monge ◽  
Michael Obimpeh ◽  
Bernardo Vega ◽  
David Acurio ◽  
Annelies Boven ◽  
...  

We investigated the COVID-19 vaccination acceptance level in Azuay province, Ecuador through an online survey from 12th to 26th February (before the start of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Ecuador). Overall, 1219 respondents participated in the survey. The mean age was 32 ± 13 years; 693 participants (57%) were female. In total, 1109 (91%) of the participants indicated they were willing to be vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine, if the vaccine is at least 95% effective; 835 (68.5%) if it is 90% effective and 493 (40.5%) if it is 70% effective; 676 (55.5%) participants indicated they feared side effects and 237 (19.4%) thought the vaccine was not effective. Older age, having had a postgraduate education, a history of a negative COVID-19 test, a high level of worry of contracting COVID-19, believing that COVID-19 infection can be prevented with a vaccine and understanding there is currently an effective vaccine against COVID-19 were associated with higher vaccination acceptance. A vaccination education campaign will be needed to increase the knowledge of Ecuadorians about the COVID-19 vaccine and to increase their trust in the vaccine. People with a lower education level and living in rural areas may need to be targeted during such a campaign.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Zhang ◽  
Qin Wang ◽  
Xuancan Zhang ◽  
Li Jiang ◽  
Lezhi Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background This study aimed at investigating: 1) the relationship between self-care agency and depression and anxiety; 2) the sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with depression and anxiety in patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR) in China. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted. One-hundred and five patients with DR were recruited. Self-care agency was assessed by the exercise of self-care agency (ESCA) scale. Depression and anxiety were assessed by the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS-D and HADS-A). Pearson or Spearman correlations were performed to assess the association between self-care agency and depression and anxiety. Stepwise multivariate linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the contribution of the sociodemographic and clinical factors to depression and anxiety. Results Thirty-six (34.3%) and 43 (41.1%) patients exhibited depressive and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Only 24 (22.9%) patients showed a high self-care agency. The ESCA total and subscale scores were negatively correlated depressive symptoms (P < 0.05). Self-care skills were negatively correlated with anxiety symptoms (P < 0.05). ESCA total score, rural residence, history of hypertension and visual acuity were associated with depression; self-care skills and diastolic blood pressure were associated with anxiety. Conclusions Self-care agency negatively correlates with depression and anxiety in patients with DR. Special attention should be paid to patients living in rural areas and/or those having a history of hypertension when assessing depression and anxiety in patients with DR. Future studies are needed to clarify the causal relationship between self-care agency and depression and anxiety.


1958 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 546 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Anderson

A history of the nomenclature of the littorinid genus, Bembicium Phllippi, 1846, and its characters are given, and the anatomy of species of the genus is discussed. Three species are recognized and redescribed: a reef-living species, B. nanum (Lamarck); an estuarine species, B. auratum (Quoy & Gaimard); and the species B. melanostoma (Gmelin) which normally inhabits sheltered bays and inlets. Although all are intertidal animals, and show some measure of adaptability, each appears to be best suited to a particular habitat. B. melanostoma and B. nanum are usually found where the chlorinity of the water is close to that of the sea. B. auratum can withstand considerable variation in the chlorinity of its environment for periods of time which are not likely to be exceeded in its normal habitat. B. melanostoma mostly lives at higher tidal levels than B. nanum. In the aquarium B. nanum proved the most susceptible to desiccation. The egg masses of B. melanostoma contain fewer and larger eggs than those of B. auratum. In the laboratory spawning of B. auratum occurred during the spring and early summer. Under the same conditions specimens of B. melanostoma deposited eggs in October. The differences between the eggs and their development, and between the times of spawning of the two species collected from different littoral regions are also discussed.


2012 ◽  
Vol 518-523 ◽  
pp. 4126-4129
Author(s):  
Zhen Hua Liu

Source of water is the beginning of rural drinking water projects, safe water source is the key to rural drinking water safety. Status of rural drinking water source in china and laws and regulations on rural water conservation were analyzed. The population of centralized water supply accounts for 51% of the total population in rural areas in 2008, centralized water supply 49%. Groundwater source accounts for 57% of the population of centralized water supply projects in rural areas in 2008, surface water sources 43%. China has a relatively sound legal system of drinking water source, including basic law, general law, administrative regulations, local regulations.The paper draws a conclusion that sources of drinking water in rural areas is mainly groundwater, water conservation is short of specific laws and regulations and not suitable for rural area,it is necessary to improve laws and regulations on rural water conservation, government must assume responsibility for rural water conservation, especially financial investment and public policy support.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-85
Author(s):  
Andrzej Wrobel ◽  
Malgorzata Korzeniowska ◽  
Agnieszka Polak ◽  
Marcin Szczygiel ◽  
Rafal Wrobel

AbstractThis is one of a series of articles about pharmacists in Lublin district, in the 19th and 20th c. The first recorded owner of the pharmacy in Adamów was Aleksander Biernacki (1851-1897), who passed it onto his son-in-law, Aleksander Rogoziński (1873-1941), and who, in turn, passed it onto his son, Stanisław Rogoziński (1913-1998), married to Tatiana (1918-1998). This family's history is an example of the history of Polish intelligentsia in the second half of 19th c., in the times of the Russian partition, World War I, 1918-1939, World War II and until contemporary times.


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