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Minerals and metals are crucial raw materials for industries and a major source of development for the country. In India there has been a pronounced growth in the exploration for minerals both in terms of quantity and value. To further enhance the growth rate and remove any bottleneck, the government has taken several legislative reforms through more transparency and non-discretion by way of first-come, first-served basis in the allocation of mineral concessions, through Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Amendment Act, 2015. Recently, MMDR Act, 1957 has been amended through the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2021 vide notification dated 28.03.2021 for improving ease of doing mineral production and business in the country and help increase Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Exploration of energy-critical minerals, fertilizer minerals, precious metals and stones, strategic minerals and deep-seated minerals which are otherwise difficult to access and for which the country is mainly dependent on imports, needs to be prioritized. Enhanced exploration and mining can significantly reduce India's import dependence on mineral and metals and help economic growth. For comparison, only 10% of obvious geological potential (OGP) area of India has been explored while Australia has explored more than 90% of its area. In this paper, some of these legislative reforms and challenges to provide an impetus to mineral exploration are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has its unique and rich cultural heritage. One such uniqueness in India is ancient paintings. Especially in South India, Tanjore paintings are very popular. These paintings are made during 1010 AD with vibrant colours, gold, silver and precious stones. These paintings are the memorabilia of the great Chola kingdom. These paintings can be seen in great Brahadeeshwara Temple walls till now. Damages to these paintings happen due to varying environmental conditions and rituals followed throughout the year. Hence, preserving these heritages could be an additional source in National Cultural Museum and cultural libraries. This paper focuses towards the restoration of such ancient painting images that can be digitized and archived for the future use of aesthete. The painting images are preprocessed using Weiner filter for removing the background noises since its PSNR value is higher than Gaussian and Median filters. The preprocessed image is then applied to restoration algorithm. Two types of restoration algorithm is attempted, image segmentation and in-painting algorithm. The degraded image was restored efficiently with in-painting algorithm than segmentation algorithm. Further research can be focused towards automatic adaptive selection of patch based on the nature of images. From the results it is observed that with in-painting algorithm the image restoration is better than the segmentation algorithm for degraded painting images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper explores the determinants and valuations of children’s work and schooling choices drawing on primary mixed-methods research in the gemstone polishing industry of Jaipur, India. In addition to economic and demographic factors, the gendered expectations of children’s futures shapes their work and schooling outcomes. For boys, work is additionally driven by the need to acquire training for future employment and wages, and simultaneously complements, and competes with formal schooling. They can work at workshops, acquire higher skills, and can aspire to become skilled craftsmen whereas girls work at home on low-skill activities mainly to supplement household income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hornby diamond has received scant attention in the literature on gems, with writers noting merely that it was supposedly sold to a shah in Persia in the early 1800s. Detailed information about this diamond is available, however, in a book written by the British diplomat Sir Harford Jones Brydges in the 1830s. From this and other documentation it possible to pick up the trail of this ~60 ct pink diamond, proceeding from the Iranian Shah Karim Khan to India and then to Britain, where it was put up for auction, and finally back to the Iranian court where, as a diplomatic gift, it helped thwart Napoleon's plans to invade British India. If this diamond still resides within the Iranian Crown jewels, it seems possible that it the pink Nur al-'Ayn ('Light of the Eye'), which is estimated to weigh approximately 60 ct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]