ICT-based reforms in local government decision-making in the gram panchayats of Kerala

The beneficial impact of computerisation can be felt in all elements that contribute to decision-making in panchayats in the state of Kerala. However, even though computerisation is bringing about immense improvements compared to traditional administrative practices, but scope still remains for further improvement. Instead of the 'as it is' computerisation that is mostly carried out a process based approach is needed

New records of two finfish species from Indian waters

Two species of fishes, namely Ablabys binotatus (Family Tetrarogidae) and Rhinopias eschmeyeri (Family Scorpaenidae) were recorded in trawl (Roller madi) landings from the Gulf of Mannar, south-east of India, which are the first reports from India

Diversity of reef fishes in trap fishery at Keelakarai, Gulf of Mannar, south-east coast of India

The diversity of finfishes caught in traps at Keelakarai, Gulf of Mannar was assessed quantitatively and qualitatively for a period of six years from July 2006 to June 2012. Average landing during the period was 109 t per year with maximum of 137 t during 2008-09. Among the 98 species of reef fishes landed, Siganus canaliculatus dominated (28%), followed by Scarus ghobban (21%). During the first two years of the study, S. ghobban dominated over S. canaliculatus and later the trend reversed. Family-wise, maximum contribution was by Siganidae (36%) followed by Scaridae (21%). Seasonally, the major peak was recorded during post-monsoon of 2009. The Shannon index of diversity was maximum during 2007-08. Cluster analysis indicated the highest similarity in species composition between 2010-11 and 2011-12. SIMPER analysis identified 26 species as most significant in creating the observed pattern of similarity for 90% cut off contributions. Ellipse plot showed statistically significant deviation in fish diversity between years. Reef fish landings showed an increasing trend from 2006-07 to 2008-09, a decline afterwards and then almost steady condition prevailed during the last two years of the study which implies that there is no scope for further increase in landings by trap fishery at Keelakarai

Model based methodology development for energy recovery in ash heat exchange systems

Flash tank evaporation combined with a condensing heat exchanger can be used when heat exchange is required between two streams and where at least one of these streams is difficult to handle (in terms of solid particles content, viscosity, pH, consistency etc.). To increase the efficiency of heat exchange, a cascade of these units in series can be used. Heat transfer relationships in such a cascade are very complex due to their interconnectivity, thus the impact of any changes proposed is difficult to predict. In this report, a mathematical model of a single unit ash tank evaporator combined with a condensing heat exchanger unit is proposed. This model is then developed for a chain of the units. The purpose of this model is to allow an accurate evaluation of the effect and result of an alteration to the system. The resulting model is applied to the RUSAL Aughinish Alumina digester area

Reef fish diversity of bottom set gillnet landings at Pamban, Tamil Nadu, India

The coral reef areas of Gulf of Mannar support a rich fauna of fishes and bottom set gill net is one of the important gears employed in this area. Reef fishes landed at Pamban fish landing centre by bottom-set gillnets operated in Gulf of Mannar, for a period of three years from January, 2009 to December, 2011 were studied based on fortnightly sampling. A total of 69 species belonging to 29 families were recorded during the study and as per IUCN, two species, Himantura uarnak and Rhinoptera javanica are included under the Vulnerable category. The landings amounted to 1761 tonnes during the period with a maximum contribution of 44% during 2011 and it was the minimum during 2010 with a share of 27%. Species-wise landings indicated the dominance of Lethrinus nebulosus (11.5%) followed by Neotrygon kuhlii (10.6%). The richness and diversity indices showed a gradual increase from 2009 to 2011 and all the year wise points in the funnel plot for variation in taxonomic distinctness (λ+) are within the expected limit. The qualitative and quantitative abundance along with different diversity measures are presented and discussed in this paper. The results of the present investigation suggest that the bottom set gill net fishery is in a healthy condition with respect to Pamban fish landing centre

Superconductivity in a new hexagonal high entropy alloy

High entropy alloys (HEAs) are the new class of materials with an attractive combination of tunable mechanical and physicochemical properties. They crystallize mainly in cubic structures, however, for practical applications, HEAs with hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure are highly desirable in connection to their in general high hardness. Herein, we report the synthesis, structure and detailed superconducting properties of Re$_{0.56}$Nb$_{0.11}$Ti$_{0.11}$Zr$_{0.11}$Hf$_{0.11}$-the first hexagonal superconducting high entropy alloy (HEA) composed of five randomly distributed transition-metals. Combination of room temperature precession electron diffraction, precession electron diffraction tomography and powder X-ray diffraction is utilized to determine the room temperature crystal structure. Transport, magnetic and heat capacity measurements show that the material is a type-II superconductor with the bulk superconducting transition at $T_{c}$ = 4.4 K, lower critical field $H_{c1}$(0) = 2.3 mT and upper critical field $H_{c2}$(0) = 3.6 T. Low-temperature specific heat measurement indicates that Re$_{0.56}$Nb$_{0.11}$Ti$_{0.11}$Zr$_{0.11}$Hf$_{0.11}$ is a phonon-mediated superconductor in the weak electron-phonon coupling limit with a normalized specific heat jump $\frac{\Delta C_{el}}{\gamma_{n}T_{c}}$ = 1.32. Further, hexagonal to cubic structural transition is observed by lowering the valence electron counts and $T_{c}$ follows crystalline-like behaviour.Comment: 6 Pages, 9 Figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1804.1009

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