CSR and Corporate India: A Study on Public and Private Sector Divide

CSR is increasingly a misunderstood and much debated concept worldwide. There is a saying in the business, “Business of the business is to do business and nothing else”. Profit is the only and dominating objective of the business, as profit is needed both for the working and growth of the business. Over the time, there has been a sea change in the objectivity and priority of business. From a commercial unit, the business now has been a social entity with corporate citizenship. CSR is fast becoming an increasing business strategy both nationally and globally. CSR practices of Indian companies got a radical boost with statutory provision in the Companies Act 2013 that make it mandatory to every Indian company and foreign entity with Indian presence to spend 2 per cent of its average net profits of its profit made during the three immediately preceding financial years, in pursuance of its Corporate Social Responsibility Policy. There exists difference in the outlook of companies towards social causes and varying CSR policies and practices. Also Public and private sector divide in CSR practices prevails. There is need for continuous investigation of the changing social and economic needs and the role of corporate houses in meeting the aspirations of the stakeholders and the society at large. Keeping this in view, the present paper entitled “CSR and Corporate India: A Study on Public and Private Sector Divide” is a sincere attempt to make a comparative analysis of CSR practices of public sector and private sector companies with special emphasis on industries of Kalinganagar steel hub of Odisha. Keywords: CSR, FDI, MoUs, Corporate India.

Development of a 25 MWth Flameless Pressurized Oxy-Combustion Pilot

The Flameless Pressurized Oxy-Combustion (FPO) cycle, a novel flexible fuel technology, is being developed into a large pilot. This effort seeks to complete the preliminary engineering and planning of a 25 MWth Pilot Plant that will demonstrate the technology for scale-up to a commercial unit. The technology, pioneered by ITEA at the 5 MWth scale, must be brought to a higher technology readiness level (TRL) to be viable at the commercial scale. The 25 MWth pilot cycle was optimized for cost and technology development and demonstration. Preliminary drawings, layouts, and plans were defined. Process flow diagrams were used to describe the pilot configuration in greater detail. A heat and mass balance with stream data was created. A master equipment list specified the operating conditions for major pieces of equipment within the pilot using this heat and mass balance. The 25 MWth FPO pilot is assessed for environmental performance. A test campaign is developed to assess the type of test and number of hours required for pilot demonstration. The environmental performance is compared against projected performance at the commercial scale. This project builds upon extensive evaluation of the techno-economic performance of the FPO technology already performed by ITEA. This includes system improvements, such as the addition of a turbo-expander to the flue gas stream. Some of the performance-enhancing components are not as well defined as others. The primary goal of this effort was to bring all of the core cycle components to the same level of design maturity. A techno-economic assessment (TEA) evaluated the FPO technology at the commercial scale in comparison to the NETL baseline cases. The reference plants were used in combination with proprietary equipment estimates to build a plant capital cost and cost of electricity evaluation. FPO performed better than the sub-bituminous post-combustion capture cases. Further preliminary estimates of improvements to the FPO cycle show even further gains when compared to conventional carbon capture methods.

Characterization of a fiber-coupled EvenField illumination system for fluorescence microscopy

Fluorescence microscopy benefits from spatially and temporally homogeneous illumination with illumination area matched to the shape and size of the camera sensor. Fibercoupled illumination schemes have the added benefit of straightforward and robust alignment and ease of installation compared to free-space coupled illumination. Commercial and opensource fiber-coupled, homogenized illumination schemes have recently become available to the public; however, there have been no published comparisons of speckle reduction schemes to date. We characterize three different multimode fibers in combination with two laser speckle reduction devices and compare spatial and temporal profiles to a commercial unit. This work yields a new design, the EvenField Illuminator, which is freely available along for researchers to integrate into their own imaging systems.

PORCINE SARCOPTIC MANGE (Sarcoptes scabiel var suis) IN IBADAN, NIGERIA

A total of 102 (28.6%) of 357 pigs in Ibadan yielded evidence of infection with Sarcoptes scabiei var suis. Of 89 weaners, 15.7% showed positive infection as opposed to 31% of 113 piglets, 18.4% of 125 sows and 26.7% of 30 boars, The parasite was much higher in samples from pre-weaning pigs than in samples from any of the other group. Large White/Local cross showed fewer lesions and were less positive for the parasite and pigs for breeding purpose were more affected than pigs in the commercial unit.

Modeling Cotton Module Builder and Loader to Enhance Biomass Testing

HighlightsPhysical models of module builder and module loader were developed to enhance biomass testing with reduced mass and volume of biomass.Models used dimensional analysis, Pi Terms, and engineering factors and emphasis on reduced module upsetting and disturbance.Some engineering terms such as tamping face pressure and velocity, and particle size were not scaled to reduce biological-material distortions.Switchgrass bulk density at 8% wet basis for prototype and model were 115 and 80 kg m-3, respectively.Abstract. The objective was to design and implement separate models of a first-generation cotton module builder and a module loader that facilitated tamping quasi-confined biomass and the minimal disturbances of modules during emptying from the builder and during loader operations including unloading. The 122-cm long model, compared to 978-cm long prototype, reduced the mass of module contents required for testing from 6188 to 44 kg, or by a factor of 141:1. The tamping process was emphasized with constant tamper pressure of 76.6 kPa applied to module contents for prototype and model. Consistent properties such as SG characteristic length were also held constant among module sizes to reduce the complications of introducing un-anticipated biological-material distortions. Similarities in design aspects beyond dimensional analysis were emphasized to reduce inadvertent module upset and disturbance. Hydraulics ensured uniform tamping and lifting. An efficient module box for the model resembled the prototype-scale commercial unit with z-shaped ribs and upward-tapered module sides. Seed cotton [8% moisture wet basis (w.b.)] bulk densities for prototype and model were 166 and 107 kg m-3, respectively. Bulk densities for switchgrass (8% w.b.) prototype and model were 115 and 81 kg m-3, respectively. Reduced bulk density of models was attributed to essentially no external confinement stresses being applied to modules at rest resulting in only self-imposed confinement stresses due to module content over-burden. However, unconfined modules may have a role in handling biomass for reduced distances. Also related to minimizing module upsetting, module loading emphasized the counter-motions of advancing the loader versus the conveyor motion in the opposite direction, all driven with an electric motor. Module stability during loading was attributed to a self-imposed normal stress of module weight acting downward onto a horizontal plane of the module. The fixed loading angle of 15° and material bulk properties were held constant between prototype and model. Dependent variable for the module loader was normal stress for module stability. Normal stresses resulting from seed cotton at 8% moisture content (wet basis) were 4.754 and 0.637 kPa, respectively. Normal stresses for chopped SG at 8% moisture content (wet basis) were 3.302 and 0.484 kPa, respectively. Biomass modules would not be as stable as cotton modules based on normal stress, and due to lack of intermeshing cotton fibers. Results of loading and unloading a dozen SG model modules resulted in one module failure due to upset, and that was attributed to a 2-layer fill versus 3-layer fill for that one module. Keywords:

The Acid–Base Flow Battery: Sustainable Energy Storage via Reversible Water Dissociation with Bipolar Membranes

The increasing share of renewables in electric grids nowadays causes a growing daily and seasonal mismatch between electricity generation and demand. In this regard, novel energy storage systems need to be developed, to allow large-scale storage of the excess electricity during low-demand time, and its distribution during peak demand time. Acid–base flow battery (ABFB) is a novel and environmentally friendly technology based on the reversible water dissociation by bipolar membranes, and it stores electricity in the form of chemical energy in acid and base solutions. The technology has already been demonstrated at the laboratory scale, and the experimental testing of the first 1 kW pilot plant is currently ongoing. This work aims to describe the current development and the perspectives of the ABFB technology. In particular, we discuss the main technical challenges related to the development of battery components (membranes, electrolyte solutions, and stack design), as well as simulated scenarios, to demonstrate the technology at the kW–MW scale. Finally, we present an economic analysis for a first 100 kW commercial unit and suggest future directions for further technology scale-up and commercial deployment.

Description of a Decentralized Small Scale Digester for Treating Organic Wastes

This manuscript deals with the detailed design of a small digestion prototype intended as a commercial unit fully operational to cover the demand for decentralized treatment of wastes. These plants are highly affected by the complex nature of wastes giving rise to different operating problems that should be considered in detail. This paper describes the design and start-up strategy of a small-scale digestion plant with a volume of 8 m3 designed to operate with a hydrolysis pretreatment unit. The plant was designed to treat fruit and vegetable wastes as substrates derived from a local processing food factory. The performance of the plant during fed-batch operation was reported. The strategy of inoculating the reactor only to a third of its original volume and subsequently increasing the volume of the reactor by using the fed-batch mode was inadequate. The acid pH of the feeding substrate resulted in the application of a low organic loading rate with a volumetric variation of just 19.7 L/d. The performance of the plant was evaluated at non-steady state conditions and resulted in excessive destruction of volatile solids due to the low nitrogen content of the feeding substrate. The prototype reported a specific methane production of 232 L/kg volatile solids despite the low feeding rate supplemented.

Low-cost Electrostatic Spray Charging System as an Attachment to Powered Knapsack Mist-blower

The introduction of electrically charged sprays in the agricultural application has become inevitable for better control on droplet transference with reduced drift and an increase in application efficiency with less spray chemical requirements. The present study was undertaken to develop an electrostatic induction spray charging system as an attachment to powered knapsack mist-blower. A high voltage generator was fabricated on the basis of the Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier principle with the input of 6 V DC battery to provide the high voltage required at the developed charging electrode assembly (Model III, Model IV and Model V) for inducing an electrostatic charge on spray droplets. The three prototypes (III, IV, and V) were evaluated for charge to mass ratio (mC.kg-1) at five electrode potentials (1 kV, 2 kV, 3 kV, 4 kV, and 5 kV), four electrode placement positions (0 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm and 15 mm) and five distances (50 cm, 100 cm, 150 cm, 200 cm, and 250 cm) from the nozzle. Model V with electrode voltage potential at 5 kV and EPP at 5 mm shown the maximum CMR value (1.088 mC.kg-1), followed by Model III (0.888 mC.kg-1) and Model IV (0.777 mC.kg-1) with similar combination of variables. In contrast with a commercial system (ESS-MBP90) it was observed that except at 50 cm distance from the nozzle, Model V (at 4 kV and 5 kV) surpassed the commercial system in CMR from 100 cm to 250 cm distance. The droplet spectrum of the developed system was analyzed and observed that the size of droplets was 100 to 200 µm. The deposition efficiency of the developed system was on par with that commercial unit and was within the range of 60 to 70 percent. The developed system found to be cost-effective and significantly consistent on par with the commercial system.

Condominium Government and the Right to Live in the City

Condominium is an architecture of land ownership that produces separate, privately owned units within multi-unit developments. Condominium also constructs a form of private, democratic government, described as a fourth order of government, that acts beneath federal and provincial governments, and alongside municipal government, to govern owners and their property. This article considers a conflict between residential-unit owners and a commercial-unit owner within a condominium development in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Drawing from material produced in litigation, the article situates the dispute within its property and urban contexts to argue that condominium government requires attention, and not just for its impact on owners, or even residents within, but also because cities must now account for, work alongside, and, in some circumstances, contend with these rapidly proliferating sites of government that are helping to shape who has the right to live in the city.