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This paper reports the open path measurement of atmospheric transmission in the spectral region of 3000–3450 nm using a mid infrared tunable lidar in New Delhi (28.7oN, 77.1oE), India. Results on the measurement of atmospheric transmission in New Delhi are reported for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. A tunable infrared lidar system has been developed in-house, which transmits laser radiation with the wavelength interval of 1 nm in the above spectral band into the atmosphere. A 200-mm-diameter Cassegrain receiver telescope with mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) detector is used to collect the backscattered radiation from the atmosphere. The reflected laser radiation received from the tower located at a distance of 400 m is used to generate the transmission spectrum. Data recorded during the daytime measurements have been considered in this paper. Transmission spectra measured over several days showed a similar pattern, which confirmed the repeatability of the system performance. The measured spectra are also compared with the SkyCalc transmission model generated using the online database. Preliminary analysis indicated that these spectra had good agreement in general with a small shift in wavelength region. We have also analyzed the HITRAN database line-by-line and identified the possible major absorbing molecules in this band. The sources of air pollutants that absorb in this band and also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I seek to explore the social nature of food in university hostels in India's capital city of New Delhi. With the increasing migration of students from smaller cities and towns to bigger cities searching for employment and education opportunities, hostels have become a preferred choice of accommodation because of their affordability and security. For many marginalised and economically poor students, these hostels are the only spaces where they can afford to live and eat. At the same time, hostels and university campuses have recently been in the spotlight as sites of resistance and social action. Discussions and debates around hostel fee hikes and food politics mean that there is a need to understand what hostel food represents for migrant students. While there is an attempt by universities to use hostel food to promote togetherness and belongingness, hostel food is also met with counter meanings. A study of hostel food offers us a lens to better understand the sources of contestation within the university and the reasons for protests by migrating students living in hostels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religious spaces are an integral part of Indian cities. Unique in their spatiality, they function as socio-cultural hubs drawing users from varied economic and social hierarchies. This study deals with physical and perceptional assessments of micrometeorological conditions in two religious squares namely Hanuman Mandir Square (HMS) and Gurudwara Bangla Sahib Square (GBS) located in New Delhi (28.6° N; 77.2° E), India. The study involved real-time physical measurement of environmental variables such as dry-bulb temperature (Ta, °C), globe temperature (Tg, °C), relative humidity (RH), and air velocity (Va). Variables such as physiological effective temperature (PET), universal thermal comfort index (UTCI), and mean radiant temperature (Tmrt, °C) were computed from measured variables. Concurrent thermal comfort surveys were carried out with 353 respondents in both the squares. The paper describes the thermal characteristics of the studied squares and presents the associated subjective thermal response and preferences of the users. PET was found to correlate well with the subjective responses. The neutral value of PET is found to be 24.7 °C. The neutral PET value of respondents visiting for non-worship purposes was found to be 2.7 °C lesser than those visiting for worship purposes. People visiting the squares for non-worship purpose however were found to be more tolerant of higher PET conditions as compared to others. Factors such as intent of visit, solar exposure, thermal history, and landscape elements were found to have a statistically significant influence on the thermal perception. The paper further summarizes the adaptive opportunities preferred by the users in order to improve thermal comfort in the studied squares. A weighted ranking of adaptive preferences reported by the respondents has also been presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper attempts to capture the development of the Department of Pediatrics, Safdarjang Hospital, New Delhi, from a historical perspective in its founding years in late 1950s, showing the progress from its nascent state as a part of adult medicine to a full-fledged independent department with state-of-the-art advances in the 2020s. From an ordinary Pediatrics Department, it was reorganized radically to expand clinical facilities as well as education and research by innovative methods, developing subspecialties including an upgradation of the neonatology division, simultaneously establishing linkages with community level centres. The pioneering workshops for training obstetricians and pediatricians paved the way for initiation of multiple such national workshops across the country, by the Government of India, for establishment of neonatal care units countrywide. It was instrumental in the formulation of 'Essential Newborn Care' as the first national newborn care program and later a new concept of 'Mother and Neonatal Care Unit (M-NICU)' for perinatal care, apart from many other contributions for shaping national policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities in developing countries like India are facing some of the same concerns that North American cities are: congestion and urban growth. However, there is a sense of urgency in cities like Delhi, India in that this growth is far more rapid as both urbanization and motorization are ongoing processes that have not yet peaked. In this paper, we examine land use change and its relationship with transportation infrastructure and other planning related variables in a spatial context. We estimate land use change models at two different scales from separate data. Cellular automation and Markov models were used to understand change at the regional scale and discrete choice models to predict change at the local level. The results suggest that land use in the Delhi metropolitan area is rapidly intensifying while losing variety. These changes are affected by industrial, commercial and infrastructure location and planners and policy-makers need to better understand the implications of location decisions. We also examine these results in the context of a policy framework for data-based planning that links land use and transportation models for Delhi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rising temperatures across the world is posing a serious challenge to the longevity of earth's natural cycle. Use of private and conventional cars is growing year by year as standard of living continues to increase and affordability remaining no more of an issue for a significant proportion of the population. However, there has been a growing voice from segments of the society for a behavioural shift towards more sustainable modes of transport like usage of electric vehicles (EVs), mobility sharing and rental services and public transportation powered by electricity. One of the biggest importers of foreign crude oil, India, is reeling under immense pressure to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions and thereby contributing to environment protection. In India, the statistics or stock of EVs continues to remain poor when compared to its counterparts like China. Hence, this study is conducted to predict the influence of factors on purchase intention of consumers with respect to EVs in the Indian context. A questionnaire was prepared and circulated in New Delhi region to gather the responses people hold about this new technology based on the diffusion of innovation framework. The data of 225 respondents was analysed with the help of SPSS and AMOS software. Structural equation modelling technique was applied to test the hypotheses of this research. The results indicate that attitude has the most influential impact on purchase intention followed by related advantages but consumers also believe EVs to be complex in terms of their usability, limited availability and the absence of required public charging infrastructure. The mediating role of attitude between determinants of diffusion and purchase intention was also established except in the case of complexity. This study is contemporary and adds to the limited literature available on EV adoption in the Indian market by integrating attitudinal factor within the DOI framework. It also provides suitable insights to further the development of EVs in the domestic and global market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides facts and figures concerning the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGB) in New Delhi, India. The team has presented the structure of one of the parasite proteins involved in parasite invasion. Sixty-eight countries are signatories to the ICGB. Various research projects from ICGB have been published in the journal "Nature."

Recoil mass spectrometers (RMS) are ideal instruments for identifying weakly populated reaction products in the forward angle from heavy-ion reactions amidst an intense beam background. The Heavy Ion Reaction Analyzer (HIRA) at the Nuclear Science Centre (NSC), New Delhi, is one of the few operating first generation RMSs. The features of and physics studies pursued using HIRA are covered in the paper. With the augmentation of the accelerator facilities at NSC, a second generation RMS combined with a gas-filled separator is planned. The design details of the new facility, Hybrid Recoil Mass Analyzer (HYRA), are presented. HYRA will be operated either stand-alone or in conjunction with a Large Gamma Array (LGA) at its target position. Physics studies planned with these forthcoming facilities are outlined.© 2003 MAIK “Nauka / Interperiodica”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The objective of this study was to examine the evolution of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKp) infections and their impact at a tertiary care hospital in South India. Methods: A comparative analysis of clinical data from two prospective cohorts of patients with CRKp bacteremia (C1, 2014–2015; C2, 2021–2022) was carried out. Antimicrobial susceptibilities and whole genome sequencing (WGS) data of selected isolates were also analyzed. Results: A total of 181 patients were enrolled in the study, 56 from C1 and 125 from C2. CRKp bacteremia shifted from critically ill patients with neutropenia to others (ICU stay: C1, 73%; C2, 54%; p = 0.02). The overall mortality rate was 50% and the introduction of ceftazidime-avibactam did not change mortality significantly (54% versus 48%; p = 0.49). Oxacillinases (OXA) 232 and 181 were the most common mechanisms of resistance. WGS showed the introduction of New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase-5 (NDM-5), higher genetic diversity, accessory genome content, and plasmid burden, as well as increased convergence of hypervirulence and carbapenem resistance in C2. Conclusions: CRKp continues to pose a significant clinical threat, despite the introduction of new antibiotics. The study highlights the evolution of resistance and virulence in this pathogen and the impact on patient outcomes in South India, providing valuable information for clinicians and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a paper which presents the result of a survey on the level of organochlorine insecticides residue in vegetables from New Delhi, India. It states that several residues of persistent organchlorine insecticides which include heptachlor, aldrin, and metabolites. It argues on the need to educate farmers on the risks, safe use, and disposal of pesticides because low level of residue could be magnified when stored in the body fat of human.

During the year 2020–2021, a disease syndrome very commonly observed in railway creepers (Ipomoea cairica (L.) Sweet) was taken into consideration from Gorakhpur Province (UP East region). Whitefly, a common vector for plant-related viral diseases was observed for wide transmission of disease. DNA from 17 infected leaf samples was isolated and analyzed through PCR using specific primers designed for the detection of Begomoviruses. Further amplification of isolated DNA fragments supporting a begomovirus infection with an estimated size of (2.7 kb). RCA of the isolated DNA sample was carried out using ϕ29 DNA polymerase by digesting it through a set of restriction endonucleases (such as BamHI, Kpn1, HindIII, EcoRI) obtaining the best result through KpnI. The amplified segment was cloned into pUC 18vectors. The obtained sequences were matched using the NCBI BLAST database showing the highest sequence similarity of 98.7% with ToLCNDV of snake gourd (Accession no. KY780199), isolates of CP genes sequence in Varanasi. ToLCNDV, a begomovirus of bipartite nature was first reported to be from Tomato (Solanaceae), later affecting certain members of the Cucurbitaceae family in India and adjacent countries. The obtained DNA sequence was submitted at NCBI with the name ToLCNDV-IP (GenBank Accession no. OM777194). The phylogenetic analysis clubbed the current isolate ToLCNDV-IP with Asian isolates. All European isolates were clubbed in separate clades indicating two distinct groups of ToLCNDV isolates. ToLCNDV-IP isolate was found to be an intralineage recombinant between two Asian isolates viz ToLCNDV isolate from Papaya (India) and ToLCNDV isolate from Tomato (Pakistan). This study shows the association of recombinant ToLCNDV infection in a new host Ipomoea cairica for the first time in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new leafhopper species Phlogotettix unicus sp. n. is described and illustrated from Arunachal Pradesh, Khonsa, India. A morphological variant is also described which has high resemblances to the holotype in the mtCOI gene region. Type material is deposited in the National Pusa Collection (NPC), Division of Entomology, Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on research papers related to sleep, discussed at a symposium on exercise and sleep held at the meeting of the World Federation for Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine Societies in New Delhi, India in September 2005. One of the research papers provide information on the effect of exercise on circadian rhythms. Another paper focuses on the sleep patterns of yoga practitioners.

'Candidatus Phytoplasma' is an uncultivated, intracellular bacterial plant pathogen transmitted by phloem-feeding insect vectors. Among the group of phytoplasmas, the Peanut Witches' Broom or 16SrII group of phytoplasmas associated with various diseases cause severe crop losses every year in India. The 'Ca. Phytoplasma sp.' strain SS02 was associated with phyllody disease of sesame plants collected from New Delhi. The genome sequence of strain SS02 was obtained using its genomic DNA enrichment and hybrid assembly of sequences generated on Illumina and Oxford Nanopore Technologies MinION platforms. The hybrid assembly strategy generated a draft genome with 60 contigs totaling 553,228 bp of length with more than 400 × depth coverage and 95.21% of the estimated completeness. The SS02 genome draft sequence contains 465 protein-coding genes, 17 tRNA genes, and 3 rRNA genes. The availability of this draft genome also provided a foundation for genome-scale genotypic analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the highlights of the 48th Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Labour Economics held in New Delhi, India on January 5 to 7, 2007. Particular focus is given on the keynote address delivered by S. Neelakantan of the Madras Institute of Development Studies and several conference papers with themes on agrarian crisis, wages and the trade union movement. Presidential address was delivered by Professor V. S. Vyas, chairman of the Institute for Development Studies.

During the recent past, electronic waste (E-waste) has emerged as a major category of toxic waste in both global North and global South. Particularly, the emerging economies such as India are a major contributor to the E-waste volume in the world today. Accordingly, we attempted to carry out this study to evaluate the journey of equipment from 'electronic products' to 'electronic waste' in the city of New Delhi in India. The purpose was to carry out an exclusive pilot study with the potential to replicate the same at a larger scale in major Indian metropolis which are mostly the hubs of intense E-waste generation. The case of mobile phones (both smartphones and feature phones) was considered as the key representative. A structured questionnaire survey was carried out with 334 purposively selected respondents in the city of New Delhi. Among several other noteworthy findings, we observed that there exists a gap among purchase behaviour of mobile phones, awareness on E-waste and disposal behaviour of these phones. For instance, the relatively high knowledge/awareness about E-waste is yet to be reflected in consumers' responsible purchase and disposal behaviour. We argue that creating awareness among citizens is central to a sustainable E-waste management system and effective policy instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a new filtering method of forward selection (FS), has been employed for linear and multiple regression analysis of aerosol optical properties with meteorological parameters using long-term moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data for New Delhi area. Long-term observation (15 years, March 2000–December 2014) of aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 550 nm, fine mode fraction particles (FMF) and Angstrom exponent (AE) are analyzed to study their variability on annual and seasonal basis. The analysis reveals relatively high mean AOD (0.71 ± 0.25), associated with moderate AE (0.69 ± 0.13) for the overall period. Considerable higher values of AOD (0.89 ± 0.33) were reported in monsoon and AE (0.87 ± 0.10) during winter season. Likewise, seasonal fraction for AOD was also found to be higher (42%) during the monsoon season and for AE (31%) and for FMF (55%) during winter season. The peak value of AOD was during June–July and the lowest in the transitional months of February and September, while AE was high in January–February and low in May–June suggesting significant urban and biomass burning contribution. In general, the analysis shows a rather well-mixed type of aerosols present in the urban environment, which affect the regional air quality as well as climate associated with long-range transport of pollutants through the westerly winds from the Thar Desert and biomass burning in the western parts of India. The presence of AOD trend is evidence of air quality deterioration particularly in highly populated areas. The aerosol classification with relationship between AOD and alpha shows that urban/biomass burning aerosols are dominant in Delhi during winter and pre-monsoon. It is clearly seen that irrespective of constant emissions occurring each month, the estimated pollution is much higher in winter months and lower in summer months. It is concluded that fine particles exhibit much higher variations than urban aerosols annually and seasonally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Standardization of the key measurements of a procedure's finished anatomic configuration strengthens surgical practice, research, and patient outcomes. A consensus meeting was organized to define standard versions of 25 bariatric metabolic procedures. Methods: A panel of experts in bariatric metabolic surgery from multiple continents was invited to present technique descriptions and outcomes for 4 classic, or conventional, and 21 variant and emerging procedures. Expert panel and audience discussion was followed by electronic voting on proposed standard dimensions and volumes for each procedure's key anatomic alterations. Consensus was defined as ≥ 70% agreement. Results: The Bariatric Metabolic Surgery Standardization World Consensus Meeting (BMSS-WOCOM) was convened March 22–24, 2018, in New Delhi, India. Discussion confirmed heterogeneity in procedure measurements in the literature. A set of anatomic measurements to serve as the standard version of each procedure was proposed. After two voting rounds, 22/25 (88.0%) configurations posed for consideration as procedure standards achieved voting consensus by the expert panel, 1 did not attain consensus, and 2 were not voted on. All configurations were voted on by ≥ 50% of 50 expert panelists. The Consensus Statement was developed from scientific evidence collated from presenters' slides and a separate literature review, meeting video, and transcripts. Review and input was provided by consensus panel members. Conclusions: Standard versions of the finished anatomic configurations of 22 surgical procedures were established by expert consensus. The BMSS process was undertaken as a first step in developing evidence-based standard bariatric metabolic surgical procedures with the aim of improving consistency in surgery, data collection, comparison of procedures, and outcome reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new approach to ensemble forecasting of rainfall over India based on daily outputs of four operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) models in the medium-range timescale (up to 5 days) is proposed in this study. Four global models, namely ECMWF, JMA, GFS and UKMO available on real-time basis at India Meteorological Department, New Delhi, are used simultaneously with adequate weights to obtain a multi-model ensemble (MME) technique. In this technique, weights for each NWP model at each grid point are assigned on the basis of unbiased mean absolute error between the bias-corrected forecast and observed rainfall time series of 366 daily data of 3 consecutive southwest monsoon periods (JJAS) of 2008, 2009 and 2010. Apart from MME, a simple ensemble mean (ENSM) forecast is also generated and experimented. The prediction skill of MME is examined against observed and corresponding outputs of each constituent model during monsoon 2011. The inter-comparison reveals that MME is able to provide more realistic forecast of rainfall over Indian monsoon region by taking the strength of each constituent model. It has been further found that the weighted MME technique has higher skill in predicting daily rainfall compared to ENSM and individual member models. RMSE is found to be lowest in MME forecasts both in magnitude and area coverage. This indicates that fluctuations of day-to-day errors are relatively less in the MME forecast. The inter-comparison of domain-averaged skill scores for different rainfall thresholds further clearly demonstrates that the MME algorithm improves slightly above the ENSM and member models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A critical analysis made on the long-term monthly, seasonal, yearly variation and annual cycle of total column ozone (TCO) concentration at New Delhi (29°N, 77°E), India and Halley Bay (76°S, 27°W), a British Antarctic Service Station reveals more decline in yearly mean ozone concentration at Halley Bay than at New Delhi from 1979 to 2005. The nature of variations of monthly mean TCO during the months of August and September was the most identical with that of yearly mean ozone values at New Delhi and Halley Bay, respectively, for the same period. Annual cycles of TCO over these stations are completely different for the above period. The effect of O depletion on night airglow emission of OH(8, 3) line at New Delhi and Halley Bay has been studied. Calculations based on chemical kinetics show that the airglow intensity of OH(8, 3) has also been affected due to the depletion of O concentration. The yearly variations and annual cycle of intensities of OH(8, 3) line for the above two stations are depicted and compared. It has been shown that the rate of decrease of intensity of OH(8, 3) line was comparatively more at Halley Bay due to dramatic decrease of Antarctic O concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pollution levels in New Delhi from industrial, residential, and transportation sources are continuously growing. As one of the major pollutants, ground-level ozone is responsible for various adverse effects on both humans and foliage. The present study aims to predict daily ground-level ozone concentration maxima over a site situated in New Delhi through neural networks (NN) and multiple-regression (MR) analysis. Although these methodologies are case and site specific, they are being developed and used widely. Therefore, to test these methodologies for New Delhi where no such study is available for ground-level ozone, six models have been developed based on NNs and MR using the same input data set. The changes in the performance capability of the two methods are sensitive to the selection of input parameters. The results are encouraging, and remarkable improvements in the performance of the models have been observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Relatively few studies have been performed on molecular properties of pediatric glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Methylation of DNA repair gene O-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter region has been associated with favorable prognosis and prolonged survival in adult GBM patients treated with temozolomide (TMZ). We explored the frequency of MGMT gene promoter methylation in pediatric glioblastomas and compared it with the known molecular alterations in p53. Methods: Twenty pediatric GBM cases were selected. MGMT promoter methylation was assessed by methylation specific PCR. p53 expression was determined by immunohistochemistry. Results: MGMT gene promoter methylation was observed in 50% of pediatric glioblastomas. p53 protein expression was detected in 60% of cases. Seventy percent of cases with methylated MGMT promoter were p53 immunopositive. Conclusions: The frequency of MGMT gene promoter methylation in pediatric GBMs was similar to adult GBM patients. The pediatric GBMs should also be investigated for MGMT promoter methylation to identify a subset of patients likely to benefit from TMZ therapy. p53 protein overexpression was more common in pediatric primary GBMs. To the best of our knowledge this is only the second study on MGMT gene promoter methylation status in pediatric GBMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concentrations of PM10, PM2.5 and their water-soluble ionic species were determined for the samples collected during January to December, 2007 at New Delhi (28.63° N, 77.18° E), India. The annual mean PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations (± standard deviation) were about 219 (± 84) and 97 (±56) µgm−3 respectively, about twice the prescribed Indian National Ambient Air Quality Standards values. The monthly average ratio of PM2.5/PM10 varied between 0.18 (June) and 0.86 (February) with an annual mean of ∼0.48 (±0.2), suggesting the dominance of coarser in summer and fine size particles in winter. The difference between the concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5, is deemed as the contribution of the coarse fraction (PM10−2.5). The analyzed coarse fractions mainly composed of secondary inorganic aerosols species (16.0 µgm−3, 13.07%), mineral matter (12.32 µgm−3, 10.06%) and salt particles (4.92 µgm−3, 4.02%). PM2.5 are mainly made up of undetermined fractions (39.46 µgm−3, 40.9%), secondary inorganic aerosols (26.15 µgm−3, 27.1%), salt aerosols (22.48 µgm−3, 23.3%) and mineral matter (8.41 µgm−3, 8.7%). The black carbon aerosols concentrations measured at a nearby (∼300 m) location to aerosol sampling site, registered an annual mean of ∼14 (±12) µgm−3, which is significantly large compared to those observed at other locations in India. The source identifications are made for the ionic species in PM10 and PM2.5. The results are discussed by way of correlations and factor analyses. The significant correlations of Cl−, SO, K+, Na+, Ca2+, NO and Mg2+ with PM2.5 on one hand and Mg2+ with PM10 on the other suggest the dominance of anthropogenic and soil origin aerosols in Delhi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative study was performed to evaluate the performance of the UK Met Office’s Global Seasonal (GloSea) prediction General Circulation Model (GCM) for the forecast of maximum surface air temperature (Tmax) over the Indian region using the model generated hindcast of 15-members ensemble for 16 years (1987–2002). Each hindcast starts from 1st January and extends for a period of six months in each year. The model hindcast Tmax is compared with Tmax obtained from verification analysis during the hot weather season on monthly and seasonal scales from March to June. The monthly and seasonal model hindcast climatology of Tmax from 240 members during March to June and the corresponding observed climatology show highly significant (above 99.9% level) correlation coefficients (CC) although the hindcast Tmax is over-estimated (warm bias) over most parts of the Indian region. At the station level over New Delhi, although the forecast error (forecast-observed) at the monthly scale gradually increases from March to June, the forecast error at the seasonal scale during March to May (MAM) is found to be just 1.67 °C. The GloSea model also simulates well Tmax anomalies on monthly and seasonal scales during March to June with the lower Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of bias corrected forecast (less than 1.2 °C), which is much less than the corresponding RMSE of climatology (reference) forecast. The anomaly CCs (ACCs) over the station in New Delhi are also highly significant (above 95% level) on monthly to seasonal time scales from March to June, except for April. The skill of the GloSea model for the seasonal forecast of Tmax as measured from the ACC map and the bias corrected RMSE map is reasonably good during MAM and April to June (AMJ) with higher ACC (significant at 95% level) and lower RMSE (less than 1.5 °C) found over many parts of the Indian regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the water supply shortage in India as its population continues to boom. Water pollution is just one of the many problems that India is facing, more to this is the availability of water where the city of Delhi is the forerunner of this looming water crisis. India consider it an ambitious plan to connect the majority of its river basins through a vast network of canals, diverting billions of litres from the more water-rich river basins to those with less. Although it is unclear whether the solution is effective, the logic behind such plan is to capture the surplus water that flows wastefully to the sea which resulted from the variable distribution of precipitation.

In developing countries, aerosol particles damage the health of hundreds of millions of people. Migration from the country side to megacities increases emissions and exposure to particles. Some countries have started to limit emissions based on particulate mass, but this may increase particle number concentrations. In this study we discuss some earlier measurements carried out in the developing world and compare results from one-week measurement campaigns concerning the particle number size distribution and PM10 mass concentrations in New Delhi, India and Beijing, China. Our results show that submicron particle concentrations are high in both places. The average PM10 concentration was 360 μg/m3 in New Delhi and 120 μg/m3 in Beijing. The corresponding total particle number concentrations in the size range 3–800 nm were 63 000 cm−3 and 35 000 cm−3. Number and mass concentrations and their characteristics showed significantly different behaviour between these two locations, which stresses the importance of long-term simultaneous measurements of both quantities in different types of megacities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitation samples were collected as wet-fall only and primarily on event basis in Delhi during the monsoon period of 1995. Concentrations of major anions (SO42-, NO3- and Cl-) and cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+ and K+) were determined. The pH of the rain water was found to be more than 5.6, showing alkalinity during the early phase of monsoon, but during the late phase of monsoon pH tendency was towards acidity due to lack of proper neutralization of acidic ions. Neutralization is not only due to the local process but also due to the pre-monsoon `Andhi' which brings Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) containing Ca$^\{2+\}$, Mg2+, Na+ and K+ as well as the local emission of NH3. In the late monsoon the concentration of cations gets reduced because of heavy rainfall and relatively unfavourable condition for their transport from the adjoining areas, whereas the anion concentrations remain unchanged owing to their continuous emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which assessed the paternal involvement in childcare as a function of family structure and maternal employment status in Indian families with pre-school age children in New Delhi, India. Methodology; Men's roles in a historically patriarchal society; Results.

The article presents a study on the effects of Lead and sewage sludge on microbial biomass and mineralization processes in soils. The sewage sludge was collected in polyethylene bags from Sewer Treatment Plant in New Delhi, India. The surface soil samples of sandy loam, loam, and clay loam were collected and root portions were processed to activate native microorganisms. The results showed that the sewage sludge amendment increased microbial biomass and mineralization activities which suggested that Lead was not immobilized due to presence of less available organic substrate and high inorganic contents.

The article discusses the highlights of the National Consultative Meetings on Polio Eradication (NCMPE) conducted by the Polio Eradication Committee (PEC) of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics Committee on March 19, 2010 in New Delhi, India. The continuous neglect and disregard shown to Vaccine Associated Polio Paralysis (VAPP) and the acknowledgement of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) cases are mentioned. The importance of re-building universal immunization programs (UIP) in several states is also discussed.