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India, one of the fast growing and developing nations of the world, is doing well in growth, but it is not up to the mark in some fields. In science and technology, it is doing at par with other developed nations, and markable achievements are being touched. But in health or human growth, most of the population is not clear about the importance of health and human potentials. Many portions of the population are not aware of the positive aspects of human beings that can help them to flourish. The study has been done to find the psychological well-being of academic achievement and gender. For the study, a sample of 519 senior secondary school students from different senior secondary schools of Kulgam and Anantnag districts of Kashmir valley were selected. The sample was drawn by using a multi-stage stratified sampling technique. The tools of data collection were Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWBS) developed by Dr. Devendra Singh Sisodia and Ms. Pooja Choudhary (2012) and academic achievement as the marks obtained by senior secondary school students in the board examination conducted by JKBOSE. The data obtained from these students were then analyzed using appropriate statistical techniques with the help of SPSS version 22. The paper also makes some suggestions, keeping the findings of the study in mind to enhance the psychological well-being of our budding human resource.

The present study was carried out to investigate the depression level among the under-graduate students and its comparison gender-wise and stream-wise. The study also explored the differences among male science and male arts students; female science and female art students. The sample of the study consisted of 150 under-graduate students. "Mental Depression Scale" constructed and standardized by Beck was used to assess the depression of undergraduate students of South Kashmir. The findings of the study reveal that stream of study has an effect on the depression of female students not on male students. The data that has been collected by the investigator from the colleges was statistically analyzed by mean, standard deviation and t test.

In the present age of stress and strain, the science of well-being tries to focuses on what makes an individual flourish. It studies how human assets rather than deficits are contributing toward goodness of an individual, as a promising new area of research. Advances in understanding the behavioral, biological, and social pathways to well-being will benefit individuals, organizations, and society. The life of individuals particularly the students in their schools, coming from different places of living, needs to be studied to have the vision of influence on psychological well-being of students. The study was carried on a sample of 519 senior secondary school students from different senior secondary schools of Kulgam and Anantnag districts of Kashmir valley. The sample was drawn by using multi stage stratified sampling technique. The data obtained from these students were then analyzed by using appropriate statistical techniques with the help of SPSS version 22. The paper analyzes the influence of the school environment and the effect of place of living and type of school on the psychological well-being of senior secondary school students. It also makes some suggestions, keeping the findings of the study in mind to enhance the psychological well being of our budding human resource.

The paper is based on the construction and evaluation of scientific creativity test devised for the senior secondary school students. It is an attempt that was made to evaluate validity, reliability and to determine the appropriate standards for the interpretation of the scores obtained from the scientific creativity test devised for science students. The test includes 39 items to measure three dimensions of the test which was evaluated in 220 senior secondary school students. The Content validity of the tool was evaluated by more than 20 experts and calculated by the correlation between the score of each dimension to that of the total score of the test. To decide on what items are to be retained and what to be deleted was finalized by t test for two independent samples (i.e. high group and low group based on total scores) as the questions demanded open responses. The reliability of the test has been checked by calculating Alpha Cronbach. To identify those students who are low, high and average in scientific creativities; percentile method was used to determine the adequate cutoff score for every category. The paper dealt with the steps and procedure of how the test was constructed, evaluated, and validated. Overall it was concluded that the test has good construct and discrimination validity. Moreover, all the values of reliability coefficient for each dimension are highly significant.

Quality has been the goal of human beings right from the beginning of life. It has been the driving force for all human endeavors. Quality is also the inspiration for human being to move from better to the best available option. The highest demanding and desirable need of the every hour remains the quality in every sphere. The world has been made for human being and teacher is the person, who deals with humans to mould him. There is a need to assess the perception towards quality. The purpose of this paper is to present the perception of Secondary School teachers of Kulgam district in Jammu and Kashmir, India, regarding TQM (Total Quality Management) in education. It is an attempt to get perception of Secondary School teachers and to understand how these perceptions vary by demographic variables, such as subject specialization (Arts and Sciences) and gender. For this, data were collected from 200 high school teachers from Kulgam district in Jammu and Kashmir on the J.J. Bonstingle (1992)'s conceptualization of W.E. Deming (1986)'s 14 points TQM in education; and were analyzed by using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version 20.0. The data collected were analyzed through ANOVA (Analysis of Variance); and it was found that there is a significant difference between variables sub-scales. The female teachers were having higher mean than male teachers; and also there was a significant difference found between male and female teachers in the perception of TQM. There is no significant difference between Arts and Sciences at the Secondary School teachers in the perception of TQM in education.

The aim of the present study was to find out the stress level and personality type among the physical education teachers and general line teachers and then to compare these teachers on the above said variables. For this a sample of 120 school teachers was selected by using multistage stratified sampling. The sample was taken from the schools of Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir state affiliated to Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education. The principals of schools were requested to allow the investigator for the data collection of said nature. The data were collected by using job stress questionnaire by Dr. A. K. Srivastav and Dr. A. P. Singh and personality inventory named as Big five Personality Inventory by Dr Tom Buchanan. The collected data were then analyzed by using t test and it was found out that the general line teachers are more stressful than physical education teachers in the schools. The study highlights the stressful life of teachers who are teaching subjects except physical education. The study investigates the possible causes of this stressful life of teachers.

This paper expects to highlight emerging issues and challenges in the sphere of Higher Education (HE) in India, especially in provincial and semi-urban ranges. When we realise that the India is the most noteworthy HE-System itself. I have attempted to concentrate on the issues identified with understudy and issues identified with biggest academic system in the third world, with more than of five million students taking H.E. in more than 12000 colleges & universities. India is additionally the third world examination/research super power, spending an extensive sum over it (8%) the planning and change of higher education itself is exceptionally troublesome the most dominant politicians, who run the institution as the business & benefit making industry, principally dominate issue as it. An educationist have rightly pointed out that the Indian Higher Education in inconsistencies pockets of examination are substandard colleges, the best graduated are fruitful on the planet, however unemployment at home is a reality for some. Legislative issues frequently suppress the Grant and in numerous institutions emergency is the standards.

School is the basic foundation of knowledge being imparted to a child. It gives an opportunity to children to acquire knowledge on various fields of education, such as people, literature, history, mathematics, politics, and other numerous subjects. They shape the students and helps in bringing about all round development of the students. The modern world has made the role of schools even more significant. The success of schools depends on the quality education or quality output. The study was carried out to compare quality output i.e., the academic achievement of private and government senior secondary schools students of Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir state. The sample of 200 senior secondary school students was selected using stratified random sampling technique from each educational zone of Kulgam district. Aggregate pass marks percentage of those students of 11th and 12th classes was collected by giving them information blank. The collected data was analyzed by using mean, standard deviation and t-test. After analyzing the data it was revealed that there is a significant mean difference between private and government senior secondary school student's academic achievement.

Food habits of the Red Fox Vulpes vulpes were studied in Dachigam National Park of the Kashmir Himalaya from December 2017 to November 2018 by scat analysis. A total of 246 scats were collected across seasons from different habitat types of the park. The diet of the Red Fox was characterized by a wider prey spectrum with small rodents, plants, and Himalayan Grey Langur Semnopithecus ajax as the major food items. The dietary behaviour showed slight seasonal variation with more invertebrates and plant material (fruits, berries, & grasses) during spring and summer. The food niche of the canid was wider in the warm season than in the cold season. Diet analysis revealed substantial use of anthropogenic food sources (human refuse and livestock carrion) by the Red Fox. The frequency of occurrence of human refuse and livestock carrion in the scats of the canid species varied seasonally. The results show that the Red Fox is an opportunistic feeder, and capable of adapting to a variety of dietary items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum spp.) is an important crop in the high-altitude regions of the Northwest Indian Himalayas. The agro-climatic heterogeneity of this region offers a great deal of diversity in the agro-morphology of buckwheat species. In this study, a total of 61 accessions of Fagopyrum esculentum and Fagopyrum tataricum were characterized for 17 morphological (8 qualitative and 9 quantitative) traits. Significant differences (P < 0.0001) among all the traits were revealed by one-way analysis of variance. Further, significant phenotypic variability in both qualitative as well as quantitative traits was also observed. Both positive and negative correlations were observed between the traits of agronomic relevance. The principal component analysis (PCA) reveals about 69% variability among the first six components. The accessions were divided into two key clusters with numerous subclusters by considering the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean dendrogram. A cluster of 19 accessions was formed utilizing a PCA scatter plot indicating accessions with maximum values for important quality traits like plant height, leaf blade width, stem colour (red), primary branches, inflorescence length, flower colour (greenish-yellow), seed anthocyanin colour (green), seed shape (ovate) and seed weight. These accessions can be of vital significance for future buckwheat breeding programmes. The findings from the current study will form a favourable base for genetic resource management, improved cultivation and applications of buckwheat at the commercial level in the northwestern Himalayas of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Natural populations of ungulates are threatened by pathogens and parasites with gastrointestinal parasites being the most widespread. Parasitic infestation is one of the major problems in the management and a growing concern for the conservation of threatened wild animal species. The current study was undertaken to evaluate prevalence of gastrointestinal helminth parasites in Himalayan goral (Naemorhedus goral) in Kazinag National Park (KNP) of Kashmir. Methods: From May 2018 to June 2020, a total of 463 fresh faecal samples of Himalayan goral were collected from Kazinag National Park. The samples were processed by the standard sedimentation and floatation techniques. Result: Out of 463 faecal samples examined, 236 were found infected with GIT helminthes. In the present study five helminth species were found including, four nematodes [Haemonchus contortus (35.70%), Trichuris ovis (23.40%), Strongyloides spp. (20.80%) and Trichostrongylus spp. (12.30%)] and one cestode [Moneizia expansa (8.00%)]. Based on the severity of infection, 80.6% of goral positive samples were severely infected (epg>1,500), 9.4% heavily infected (epg = 1,100-1,500), 3.3% moderately infected (epg=800-1,000) and 6.8% mildly infected (epg=500). Epidemiological prevalence of GIT helminthes in goral was profoundly influenced by different seasons. The maximum helminth infection was observed in summer season and minimum in winter (p=0.03). Mixed infection was observed in 206 fecal samples with a prevalence of 47.24%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to describe the breeding biology of Ibisbill (Ibidorhyncha struthersii), a poorly studied wader nesting on the River Sindh in Kashmir Himalayan region of India. A total of 16 nests were monitored during the breeding seasons (late February to late July) of Ibisbill in 2018 and 2019. Nest building was completed in 21-28 days on bare ground by tossing small pebbles into a shallow depression that had no special markings to the human eye (mean pebble size = 4.09 mm ± 1.26 SD x 6.23 ± 3.71 mm, n = 42). Nests measured 28.45 ± 1.75 cm × 18.91 ± 0.99 cm (n = 12). Eggs were laid in the first week of April with clutch size ranging from 2 to 4 eggs. Eggs were 50.58 ± 1.07 mm in length and 36.77 ± 0.85 mm in breadth (n = 5), with egg shape index of 72.23 ± 2.58 (range: 69.23 to 76.42). Incubation lasted 28-32 days, with 3 out of 19 observable eggs successfully hatched (15.79% hatching success). Fledging success was zero due to predation. Defensive behavior was directly observed for 16 nesting pairs during two breeding seasons. A total of 407 defensive incidents were recorded during incubation and chick stage, with both parents engaging in defense together and individually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In temperate environments, forage availability and quality are known to influence life history traits of wild ungulates. However, variations in foraging strategies of these mountain dwellers with changing plant availability have received little attention. The seasonal vegetation availability in temperate climatic conditions of Kajinag National Park (KNP) was assessed by plot method at different altitudes (1900–3600 m a.s.l.) from 2018 to 2020 on seasonal basis. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of availability of vegetation on seasonal diet composition of Himalayan goral (Naemorhedus goral) inhabiting the National Park. We recorded 61 plant species whose availability differed significantly across seasons (F3,240 = 20.14, p < 0.05). We found seasonal variation in the diet composition of Himalayan goral depicting a strong relationship between plant consumption and dynamic availability in the study area. Himalayan goral consumed herbs in spring (dominated by Dioscorea deltoidea relative importance value (RIV) = 27.20, Poa pratensis RIV = 14.99 and Themeda spp. RIV = 12.87), grasses in summer (dominated by Themeda spp. RIV = 34.12, P. pratensis RIV = 30.14, Bothriochloa ischaemum RIV = 22.72) and autumn (dominated by Themeda spp. RIV = 34.64, P. pratensis RIV = 30.14, Stipa spp. RIV = 29.73) and shrubs in winter (dominated by Indigofera heterantha RIV = 47.05, Prunus tomentosa RIV = 17.51 and Lonicera spp. RIV = 16.98). The annual diet of Himalayan goral was dominated by graze species (72.66%). The proportion of graze items in the diet showed a sharp decline from spring (90.67%) to winter (19.23%) whereas that of browse showed a huge increment from spring (4.67%) to winter (74.43%). This shift shows a survival or foraging strategy of a temperate ungulate in harsh winters with limited forage availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of place of living on psychological well-being of students studying in senior secondary schools and to test for interaction effects of place of living and academic achievement on psychological well-being. The analyzed data set contained information on 519 boys and girls in the 11th grade from the Kashmir valley of Jammu and Kashmir India. The study has a survey type design. Psychological well-being scale developed by Dr. Devendra Singh Sisodia and Ms. Pooja Choudhary (2012) has been used. The marks obtained in science by students served as the indicator of academic achievement. The statistical analysis was 2 x3 (ANOVA) factorial designs. Results reveal a significant effect of the place of living on psychological well-being and show no significant interaction effect between the academic achievement levels (groups) in science and the place of living in terms of the psychological well-being of senior secondary students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Today, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has evolved into a modern procedure with a benign side effect profile, which is performed under anesthesia and the administration of muscle relaxants, but the negative view of this treatment is held not only by the general lay public but also by the medical professionals including nurses. The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge about and attitude toward ECT in nursing students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study in which knowledge about ECT and attitude toward this treatment were assessed in nursing students using ECT knowledge and attitude questionnaires. Statistical analysis was carried out using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. RESULTS: A total of 54 3rd year nursing students were included in the study. More than half (59.3%) reported the primary source of information as media. None of our students had full knowledge about ECT, i.e., a score of 31. The mean knowledge score was 16.22 ± 3.36 with a range of 10–21. They were more knowledgeable about the consent, side effects, and procedure part of the questionnaire compared to indications and effectiveness parts of it. A negative attitude toward ECT was highly prevalent. The mean score on attitude questionnaire was −7.5 ± 3.61 with a range of 0–−12. More than three-quarters of our subjects had a negative attitude in 12 out of 16 items. The total score on the knowledge questionnaire and total score on the attitude questionnaire were correlated positively (r = 0.387,P < 0.004). CONCLUSION: There is a deficiency in knowledge and highly prevalent negative attitude toward ECT among nursing students, which needs to be rectified so that ECT becomes a more acceptable treatment procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: India has the highest burden of both Tuberculosis and MDR‑Tuberculosis based on estimates reported in the Global Tuberculosis Report 2016. The estimates have been revised upwards based on the newer evidence, and the current study was done to estimate the prevalence of bacteriologically positive pulmonary Tuberculosis among the adult population and to provide baseline information for future measurements of Tuberculosis burden and trends. Methods: A cluster‑based sampling design was adopted in 10 districts of Kashmir valley in India. Assuming a prevalence of 217 per lakh population, a design effect of 2.5, a relative precision of 0.25% and the expected participation rate of 80%, a sample size of 49,716 was achieved. A total of 67 clusters were identified where each cluster had 750 subjects aged ≥15 years, and eligible individuals were questioned for pulmonary symptoms suggestive of Tuberculosis. Results: Of the total 42,805 that were interviewed, 3.85% had pulmonary Tuberculosis symptoms. A total of 1539 sputum samples were collected from symptomatic and 1351 chest X‑ rays were done. Cartridge based nucleic acid amplification test (CBNAAT) tests were done on individuals with suspicious X‑ray findings. The prevalence of bacteriologically positive pulmonary Tuberculosis was found to be 147 per 100,000 population. Females are affected more than males, and the age of female Tuberculosis patients is less than that of males. Conclusion: The study is the first survey of its kind providing a baseline for further research in the state. CBNAAT is going to be game‑changer which surmounts the drawbacks of sputum smear microscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was designed to investigate acute toxicity of dimethoate on juvenile Cyprinus carpio var. communis. Fishes weighing 10 ± 2 gms were selected and mortality data was statistically evaluated by Finney's Probit Method. The 96-hour LC50 value for Cyprinus carpio was found as 1.1 ppm in static bioassay system. Mean values of physicochemical parameters of aquarium waters determined during bioassay depicted slight variation indicating that the mortality in aquarium fishes occurred due to pesticide exposure and not suffocation. Lab. temperature ranged from 12 to 13°C; water temperature ranged from 11 to 12°C; dissolved oxygen ranged from 3.90 to 4.56 mg/L; pH ranged from 6.90 to 7.05; total dissolved solids ranged from 2.66 to 3.0 × 10(3) mg/L, while CO2 remained at a constant value of 2.0 mg/L. The fishes elicited various behavioural responses such as uncoordinated movements, convulsions, excessive mucus secretion, and imbalanced swimming which ended in a collapse to the bottom of the aquarium. Prior to death, the clinical signs like scale erosion, pale body colour, and hemorrhagic patches over the body were noticed which became more vivid up to the termination of experiments. Results of the study indicate potential toxicity of dimethoate in fingerlings of common carp for which the natural waterbodies must be continuously monitored to reduce its impact across food chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A foraminiferal assemblage comprising 30 species dominated by the family Vaginulinidae is recovered from the Chari Formation exposed at Keera Dome, Kutch. The paper presents a systematic account of eight species, reported for the first time form the Indian region. Preliminary interpretations regarding age and palaeoenvironment are drawn on the basis of the recovered foraminiferal assemblage. The assemblage supports a Callovian to Oxfordian age for the studied sequence. A near shore, open marine environment ranging from mid to outer shelf is interpreted on the basis of the foraminiferal assemblage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child labour is a very common phenomena in India with millions of children working both in cities and in the villages. The State of Jammu and Kashmir is no exception with the added disadvantage that some of the children working there are in remote parts of the state. This study concentrates on one such remote area, Kargil in Ladakh and looks at the child labor in the dominant handicraft industry there. It tries to explore the causes and assess the nature of exploitation of child labour in the handicraft industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study which examined the seasonal diets of Hangul deer Cervus elaphus hanglu in Dachigam National Park in Kashmir, India. It affirms that the study was conducted in an effort to provide information on the diets of deer such as the seasonality of its feeding habits and the amount of forage that it requires and kinds it prefers. It reveals that the shrub and tree species consumption of deer during autumn and winter increases.

The article presents a study which investigates the behavior of endangered red deer at Dachigan National Park (DNP) Kashmir, India. It states that observations were made by scanning the park's slopes, and information pertinent to behavior, herd size, and composition were collected and classified into three groups such as stags, hinds, and fawns. It also mentions that courtship behavior of a red deer was also observed on several occasions.

Ulmus villosa and Ulmus wallichiana are agroforestry tree species of the Kashmir valley, India. Low viability and less longevity of the seeds limit their propagation. The hardwood stem cuttings of both species were propagated in growing medium (soil, sand and a mixture of cocopeat : vermiculite : perlite) and treated with different indole-butyric acid (IBA) concentrations. The results showed maximum sprouting, rooting, survival, shoot length, root length, and leaf area at 2500 and 2000 ppm IBA for U. villosa and U. wallichiana respectively. Moreover, with cocopeat : vermiculite : perlite 2 : 1 : 1, significant results were observed in both the species. The interaction between planting media and IBA concentration showed significant variance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which investigated the feeding, growth and plumage changes in captive mallard ducklings (Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos, Linnaeus). Eight newly hatched mallard ducklings were gathered from a nest at Hokersar wetland in Kashmir, India on June 10, 2005. They were raised in a rectangular pond covered with wire net. The study discovered that male ducklings had a slightly greater growth rate compared to females. Plumage growth was described based on average age. Study authors concluded that captivity and handling, along with diet adequacy, influenced the growth of the mallard ducklings.