001417   Arti Singh;Savindra Singh (NO, Society for Application Research and Consultancy, New Delhi, Email: dr.artisinghgeo@gmail.com) : Landform characterizations and water resource management - a case study of Mohand in the foothills of Siwaliks. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2012, 3(1), 111-20.

Study presents an understanding of landforms and its characteristics for water resource management in the Foothills of siwaliks, study area forming a mountain ecosystem of the lesser Himalayas represents a part of the Siwaliks extending between 30° 19' N and 77° 35' E from the Badshahibagh Rao and 30° 11' N and 77° 55' E the Mohand Rao rivers. The study focuses on various landforms found in the study area and its relation with the water resource. The fluvial landforms were the main source of potable water for the local population, which has dried up at the upper levels. Thus, the study of classification of water resource potential areas in the Siwaliks is of paramount significance. Water table information is inferred from the various thematic layer like geomorphology, drainage patterns, vegetation characteristics, land use patterns, linear and curvilinear features (geological importance), and image tones and textures. The total areas covered for study was 970.47 km². The piedmont zone is found most suitable for the water resource management which covers an area of 544.74 km², the lower piedmont covers an area of 167.67 km² and found most suitable with almost flat on gentle sloping land with less drainage density, intensive agricultural and composed of alluvial fan materials like gravels, sand, clay, silt, pebbles etc. as underlying lithology acting as discharge zone with shallow to moderate water table. In piedmont regions, vegetation characteristics indicate various groundwater depth and quality which can be further used for the decision makers and policy issues.

6 illus, 2 tables, 20 ref

001416   Anandhi A (CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities, City New York Univ, New York, NY 10065, USA, Email: aswamy@hunter.cuny.edu) : Uncertainties in downscaled relative humidity for a semi-arid region in India. J Earth Syst Sci 2011, 120(3), 375-86.

Monthly scenarios of relative humidity (-R_H) were obtained for the Malaprabha river basin in India using a statistical downscaling technique. Large-scale atmospheric variables (air temperature and specific humidity at 925 mb, surface air temperature and latent heat flux) were chosen as predictors. The predictor variables are extracted from the (1) National Centers for Environmental Prediction reanalysis dataset for the period 1978-2000, and (2) simulations of the third generation Canadian Coupled Global Climate Model for the period 1978-2100. The objective of this study was to investigate the uncertainties in regional scenarios developed for R_H due to the choice of emission scenarios (A1B, A2, Bl and COMMIT) and the predictors selected. Multi-linear regression with stepwise screening is the downscaling technique used in this study. To study the uncertainty in the regional scenarios of RH due to the selected predictors, eight sets of predictors were chosen and a downscaling model was developed for each set. Performance of the downscaling models in the baseline period (1978-2000) was studied using three measures (1) Nash-Sutcliffe error estimate (E_f), (2) mean absolute error (MAE), and (3) product moment correlation (P). Results show that the performances vary between 0.59 and 0.68, 0.42 and 0.50 and 0.77 and 0.82 for E_f MAE and P. Cumulative distribution functions were prepared from the regional scenarios of R_H developed for combinations of predictors and emission scenarios. Results show a variation of 1 to 6% RH in the scenarios developed for combination of predictor sets for baseline period. For a future period (2001-2100), a variation of 6 to 15% R_H was observed for the combination of emission scenarios and predictors. The variation was highest for A2 scenario and least for COMMIT and Bl scenario.

9 illus, 38 ref

001415   Al-Saigh N H (Dams and Water Resources Research Centre, Mosul Univ, Iraq, Email: nabilalsaigh@yahoo.com) : The mechanism of induced seismicity at Mosul reservoir based on the first motion analysis. J Geol Soc India 2010, 76(4), 399-402.

In 1986 shortly after the impounding of Mosul reservoir, shallow earthquakes began occurring in the immediate reservoir vicinity, with magnitudes up to ML 3.0, at rates of up to 3 events per week. These events were almost certainly reservoir-induced and coincided with steadily increasing water levels. Cluster of epicenters was observed in the area located within a complex fault zone called the Sinjar-Dohouk-Kuchuk fault system. The presence of such fault system considers a potential source of earthquakes. A composite fault plane solution, based on first p-wave motion analyses, indicates that the mechanisms of seismicity were right-lateral strike-slip faulting along N44°E plane dipping 58° NW, in conformity with the local tectonics.

4 illus, 15 ref

001414   Ahmad A H M;Majid A (Geology Dep, Aligarh Muslim Univ, Aligarh-202 002, Email: ahmahmad2004@yahoo.com) : Genesis and diagenetic evolution of Habo formation, Kachchh, Gujarat. J Geol Soc India 2010, 76(4), 331-44.

The Kachchh Basin is a pericratonic rift basin situated at the western margin of the Indian plate. The Habo Dome embodies an important exposure of Bathonian to Kimmergian sediments among the Kachchh Mainland exposures. Based on vertical facies transitions, facies associations were documented: mixed shallow marine (Facies association 1), shoreface and lagoon deposits (Facies association II) and subtidal innershelf below fair weather wave base (Facies association III). The documented facies associations reflect that Habo Dome sediments deposited in a variety of environments from shallow marine to fluvio-deltaic and were strongly influenced by fluctuation of relative sea level. The dominance of floating grains and point contacts in the sandstone indicate that detrital grains do not show much pressure effects as a result of either shallow burial or early cementation. The sandstones were cemented by iron oxide, carbonate and silica in order of abundance. Three types of cements, blocky, rim and fibrous cement occur in the studied limestone representing phreatic, fresh water phreatic and deep burial diagenetic stages. Neomorphism and micritization are common. Both primary and secondary porosity exists in these sediments. Different graphs of porosity versus depth suggest a depth of burial in the range of 615 - 769 m.

7 illus, 5 tables, 33 ref

001413   Acharya N;Kar S C;Kulkarni M A;Mohanty U C; Sahoo L N (Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi) : Multi-model ensemble schemes for predicting northeast monsoon rainfall over peninsular India. J Earth Syst Sci 2011, 120(5), 795-805.

The northeast (NE) monsoon season (October, November and December) is the major period of rainfall activity over south peninsular India. This study is mainly focused on the prediction of northeast monsoon rainfall using lead-1 products (forecasts for the season issued in beginning of September) of seven general circulation models (GCMs). An examination of the performances of these GCMs during hindcast runs (1982-2008) indicates that these models are not able to simulate the observed interannual variability of rainfall. Inaccurate response of the models to sea surface temperatures may be one of the probable reasons for the poor performance of these models to predict seasonal mean rainfall anomalies over the study domain. An attempt has been made to improve the accuracy of predicted rainfall using three different multi-model ensemble (MME) schemes, viz., simple arithmetic mean of models (EM), principal component regression (PCR) and singular value decomposition based multiple linear regressions (SVD). It is found out that among these three schemes, SVD based MME has more skill than other MME schemes as well as member models.

6 illus, 1 table, 39 ref

000432   Umamaheswar K (NO, Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research, Hyderabad, Email: addldir-op2.amd@gov.in) : Geochemistry and geochronology of granities of peninsular India: significance in uranium exploration with special reference to Dharwar craton- a review. J appl Geochem 2012, (Jun), 92-7.

Discrete crustal blocks, namely the Dharwar Craton, Bastar Craton, Bundelkhand Craton, Singhbhum Craton, Eastern Ghats and granulites terrain of southern India Constitutes Peninsular India. The cratonic blocks are separated by Godavari rift, Narmada-Son lineament and Mahanadi rift/Sukinda thrust. Separation of the cratons by such thrusts and orogenic belts and lack of correlation between rock suites in them, favor the concept of accretion of separate continental fragments in forming the Indian Shield. The cratonic blocks have witnessed episodic granitic magmatic activities with peak ages recorded around 3500Ma, 3300Ma, 3100Ma, 2500Ma, 2200Ma, 1800Ma, 1100Ma, and 470Ma. These global granitic activities played vital role during the formation of cratonic nuclei in the Archaean time and crustal growth during the Proterozoic and later periods of the earth's history. Some of the younger and evolved granites contributed significantly as a source for uranium mineralization in Proterozoic and Phanerozoic basins of India.

2 illus, 7 ref

000431   Tamang L (Geography & Applied Geography Dep, North Bengal Univ, Rajarammohanpur, Darjeeling-734 013, Email: tamanglakpa@gmail.com) : Human interferences and channel response along the lower Balson river in Darjeeling district, West Bengal. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 115-22.

Human interferences distort the natural quasi-equilibrium of a river and under such circumstances, the river will adjust to the new conditions by changing its slope, roughness, bed material size, cross-sectional shape, or meandering pattern. Balason river is degrading severely due to extensive interferences by increasing human utilisation and changing land use of the region. Deforestation with massive soil erosion and landslides are responsible for disturbing the catchment regime vigorously. In its lower course, the bed material extraction activities are also disturbing the equilibrium state of the river. Some of the effects of the extraction activities such as lowering of bed elevation, changes in its morphology, bank erosion, disturbed sediment distribution and damages to bridges and embankments have been responsible for degrading the fluvial characteristic of the whole basin. Although the river response with alternate scouring and filling annually, but in long term, such anthropogenic impacts are responsible for the degrading fluvial characteristics of the lower Balason river.

2 illus, 5 ref

000430   Stella C;Vijayalakshmi S;Mugugan A (Oceanography and Coastal Area Studies Dep, Alagappa Univ, Thondi Campus-623 409) : Four new distributional records of bivalve species of arcidae family from Palk bay and Mandapam area-South-East coast of India. J Aquatic Biol 2010, 25(2), 18-21.

The new distributional records of four species of bivalve from Arcidae family was recorded from Palk Bay and Mandapam area, based on a few shells collected from the Intertidal area and fish landing centers. Four species are under two genera of family Arcidae. Identification is mainly based on the external morphology of the shell.

3 illus, 5 ref

000429   Srivastava G;Srivastava R;Mehrotra R C (NO, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53 Univ Road, Lucknow-226 007, Email: rashmi_bsip@yahoo.com) : Ficus palaeoracemosa sp. nov.-A new fossil leaf from the Kasauli formation of Himachal Pradesh and its palaeoclimatic significance. J Earth Syst Sci 2011, 120(2), 253-62.

A new fossil leaf impression is described from the Early Miocene sediments of Kasauli-Kalka road section, Himachal Pradesh. The characteristic leaf venation pattern suggests that it has a close affinity with Ficus L., particularly with F. racemosa L. (= F. glomerata Roxb.). Its presence indicates a warm and humid climate in the region during the deposition of sediments, in contrast to the present day cooler and less humid climate.

3 illus, 2 tables, 60 ref

000428   Singh T N;Verma A K;Tanmay Kumar;Dutt A (Earth Sciences Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Pawai, Mumbai-400 056, Email: amverma@iitb.ac.in) : Influence of shear velocity on frictional characteristics of rock surface. J Earth Syst Sci 2011, 120(1), 183-91.

Understanding the fundamental issues related with the effect of shear velocity on frictional characteristics at the interface of rock surfaces is an important issue. In this paper, strain-rate dependence on friction is investigated in relation to sliding behaviour under normal load. The phenomenon of stick-slip of granite and shaly sandstone with a tribometer at constant rate of strain under normal loads was observed. Friction at the interface of the rock samples was developed by increasing shear strain at a constant rate by applying constant velocity using the tribometer. For shaly sandstone, state parameters (a and 6) played a major role in determining the friction values and roughness of the contact surfaces as well. Higher values of b for shaly sandstone may be attributed to the fact that its surface had a greater number of pronounced asperities. Rubbing between the surfaces does not mean that surface becomes smoother. This is because of variation of friction between surfaces.

13 illus, 7 tables, 14 ref

000427   Singh S K;Kulkarni A V;Chaudhary B S (Marine and Earth Sciences Group, Space Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad-380 015, Email: sushil@sac.isro.gov.in) : Spectral characterization of soil and coal contamination on snow reflectance using hyperspectral analysis. J Earth Syst Sci 2011, 120(2), 321-8.

Snow is a highly reflecting object found naturally on the Earth and its albedo is highly influenced by the amount and type of contamination. In the present study, two major types of contaminants (soil and coal) have been used to understand their effects on snow reflectance in the Himalayan region. These contaminants were used in two categories quantitatively - addition in large quantity and addition in small quantity. Snow reflectance data were collected between 350 and 2500 nm spectral ranges and binned at 10 nm interval by averaging. The experiment was designed to gather the field information in controlled conditions, and radiometric observations were collected. First derivative, band absorption depth, asymmetry, percentage change in reflectance and albedo in optical region were selected to identify and discriminate the type of contamination. Band absorption depth has shown a subtle increasing pattern for soil contamination, however, it was significant for small amounts of coal contamination. The absorption peak asymmetry was not significant for soil contamination but showed a nature towards left asymmetry for coal. The width of absorption feature at 1025 nm was not significant for both the contaminations. The percentage change in reflectance was quite high for small amount of coal contamination rather than soil contamination, however, a shift of peak was observed in soil-contaminated snow which was not present in coal contamination. The albedo drops exponentially for coal contamination rather than soil contamination.

6 illus, 1 table, 17 ref

000426   Shravan Kumar M;Anandan V K;Kesarkar A; Narasimha Reddy P (NO, National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Gadanki-517 112) : Doppler SODAR observations of the temperature structure parameter during monsoon season over a tropical rural station, Gadanki. J Earth Syst Sci 2011, 120(1), 65-72.

Doppler SODAR (Sound Detection and Ranging) measurements over a tropical Indian station at National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL), Gadanki (13.5°N, 79.2°E) during two consecutive monsoon seasons, 2007 and 2008, are investigated to study the influence of mechanically generated turbulence on temperature structure parameter (C_T²) in the convective boundary layer. Increase in the C_T² is observed after the arrival of monsoon for both seasons. Contribution of vertical wind shear in horizontal wind component to G_T² due to zonal winds is responsible for the increase observed in the temperature structure parameter which is inferred from the results obtained. C_T² is found to be increased by an order of 2 in both the lower and upper altitudes, respectively. Magnitude of wind speed is reported to be doubled with the arrival of monsoon. It is also observed that, southwest monsoon wind modulates the day-to-day variations of wind pattern over this station during the onset phase of monsoon season. The lower variability observed at lower height is attributed to the complex topography surrounding this region.

4 illus, 26 ref

000425   Sharma V;Bajpai S (Centre for Advanced Study for Geology, Geology Dep, Delhi Univ, Delhi-110 007, Email: vsharma752004@yahoo.co.in) : Impact of the 2004-tsunami on the geology of car Nicobar Island. Curr Sci 2011, 100(8), 1145-7.

3 illus, 1 table, 9 ref

000424   Sharma R;Rawat R;Law R (NO, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra Dun-248 001, Email: sharmarajesh@wihg.res.in) : Carbon isotopic evidence for the origin of Himalayan graphite from Almora crystallines. Curr Sci 2011, 100(8), 1216-20.

Graphite is widely associated with the metasedimen-tary rocks of the Almora Group, predominantly in the Gumalikhet Formation, which were metamorphosed up to the upper amphibolite grade. This graphite occurs in the form of layers, bands, pockets and lenses, hosted within the garnetiferous mica schist and quartzite. The carbon isotope analyses of the representative samples of Almora graphite are presented here. The δ³C values range from -23.2%o to -31.7%0, however with mean value of -29.08%o, which attributes that graphite is crystallized from the biogenic carbon during the metamorphism of the host sediments.

3 illus, 1 table, 28 ref

000423   Sengupta S;Sarkar S;Mukhopadhyay S (Geology Dep, Calcutta Univ, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata-700 019, Email: ssggeol@rediffmail.com) : Saddle-shaped reticulate Nummulites from early oligocene rocks of Khari area, SW Kutch, India. J Earth Syst Sci 2011, 120(2), 263-8.

Saddle-shaped reticulate Nummulites from the Early Oligocene rocks of Khari area, SW Kutch, India is reported here for the first time. Unusual shape of this Nummulites is due to the curved nature of the coiling plane, indicating space constrained postembryonic test growth. With regular development of chambers, septa and septal filaments, the saddle-shaped Nummulites constitutes the third morphotype of N. cf. fichteli Michelotti form A. Other morphotypes of the species reported earlier include inflated lenticular and conical tests. Multiple morphotypes of N. cf. fichteli form A indicates varied test growth in response to substrate conditions. Morphological variability exhibited by N. cf. fichteli form A from Kutch and some Early Oligocene reticulate Nummulites from the Far East are comparable. This faunal suite is morphologically distinct from the contemporary reticulate Nummulites of the European localities.

2 illus, 1 table, 35 ref

000422   Sengupta S;Kale V S (Geography Dep, Pune Univ, Pune-41107, Email: somasis_22@rediffmail.com) : Evaluation of the role of rock properties in the development of potholes: a case study of the indrayani knickpoint, Maharashtra. J Earth Syst Sci 2011, 120(1), 157-65.

The most conspicuous erosional features associated with constricted bedrock channel reaches and knickpoints are potholes. The presence and morphology of potholes have been attributed to a number of factors by earlier researchers. Amongst these factors, the role of substrate rock properties has received very little quantitative attention. The main objective of this study is to quantitatively evaluate the physical properties of bedrock in order to test the possible influences of rock properties on the occurrence and morphology of potholes. The area selected for this study is a large scabland area developed by the Indrayani river at Shelarwadi near Pune. This site is ideally suited for the study since it is featured by wide straths, multiple inner channels and several hundred potholes. A transect-based quadrat method was used in this study. Within each quadrat, the pothole dimensions, the joint length, joint direction, the rock mass strength and the distance from active channel were measured. The analysis reveals a weak correlation between pothole size and rock properties. The distance from the active channel emerges as the most significant factor, suggesting that the hydraulics of flows is the key factor and substrate characteristics play only a secondary role.

5 illus, 4 tables, 13 ref

000421   Sengupta S;Ghosh S (Geography Dep, Rabindra Mahavidyalaya, Champadanga, District: Hugli, West Bengal-712 401, Email: susmita.sengupta09@gmailo.com) : Looking into the gendered space: through the eyes of the downtrodden women. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 247-56.

The gender issues which have waved all the Social Sciences for the last twenty years or so are also gaining wider popularity in different disciplines, especially in Geography. The present study concerns specifically the maid servants who earn their breads through their employment in other families of so called middle and high society. To pursue the study in a geographical outlook, the gender perspective has been focused in a dichotomous space in the form of rural vs. urban for the concrete realization of gender discrimination at different corners. So, Balagarh as a rural block and Chinsurah-Magra as a urban block have been selected for the areas of close scrutiny. After proper survey, a vivid picture has come out as to how these women are becoming the victims of domestic violence both in their own families, as also in the field of their working places. Although they themselves provide full economic support to their own families they are being deprived of receiving due recognition owing to socio-patriarchal conspiracy. The implication of our present study is to encourage establishment of a self-conscious effort to locate women's voices within contemporary-patriarchal discourse, and to ensure that their labour is both recognized and properly rewarded in terms of family status.

4 illus, 9 ref

000420   Sen P (Geography Dep, DumDum Motijheel College, Kolkata) : Eradicating multidimensional poverty in West Bengal- an appraisal of Indira awas yojana. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 257-62.

Poverty is multifaceted. Thus action to eradicate poverty needs to be multi-dimensional. Report says the regional rates of multidimensional poverty vary from around 3 percent in Europe and Central Asia to 65 percent in sub-Saharan Africa. South Asia houses the largest number of people living in multidimensional poverty (United Nations Report 2010). Here multidimensional poverty means inadequate income, poor health and nutrition, low education and skills, social exclusions and lack of participation. So any policy that aims at realization of goals to eradicate poverty in and out needs to address at once. The 'why factor' becomes important when different levels of urban and rural poverty are dealt with. If inadequate health facilities are good indicators of multidimensional poverty then the reason behind such issues are required to assess. Also it demands proper appraisal of them through the assessment of the monthly to yearly increase or decrease of the number of target beneficiaries and feedback from the same to upgrade the existing policies are hence necessary. Poverty is inextricably linked with illiteracy, especially female illiteracy, improper sanitation, ignorance, lack of awareness towards good household environment. These inequalities are expressed in both explicit and implicit ways. Differences in the sex ratio, literacy rates and indicators related to household environment are the explicit ones. Objective of this paper is to evaluate many of such planning proposals applied in West Bengal which necessarily enhance poverty eradication with special emphasis on women development.

3 illus, 1 table, 4 ref

000419   Satyanarayana K;Durani S (Chemistry Group, Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research, Atomic Ener, Begumpet, Hyderabad, Email: satya_ks@rediffmail.com) : Role of analytical chemistry in water quality assurance and management. J appl Geochem 2012, (Jun), 59-70.

Water is essential for life. Safe, abundant water is vital to our ability to prosper and to fulfill our potential. Without it, V we face a continual decline in our well-being, poverty and hunger, and increasing levels of conflict. Water quality is impacted both by natural processes, such as seasonal trends, underlying geology and hydrology, weather and climate, and by human activities, including domestic, agriculture, industry and environmental engineering. Water contaminated by microbiological pollutants spread diseases such as dysentery, cholera, typhoid and other related disorders. Chemical contaminants, including those naturally found in the underlying bed rock, can also cause disease and developmental problems, and can adversely affect agricultural yields and industrial processes. A detailed knowledge of water quality is essential so that drinking water can be adequately treated and the contamination of its sources can be prevented. Water quality is defined by its chemical, physical, and biological characteristics and needs to be considered in the context of whether it is fit for the required purpose. This will depend on its intended use. Key processes that impact on water quality include: * Eutrophication, i.e. elevated nutrient concentrations leading to excessive algal growth and deoxygenation due to diffuse run-off from agricultural land and point source discharges from wastewater treatment plants; * Diffuse and point source discharges/drainage from mining activities; * Localised discharges of organic micropollutants and metals from specific industries and domestic wastewater; * Saline intrusion into groundwater in coastal areas; * Erosion and sedimentation from, for example, deforestation, rainfall events (which are temporally and spatially highly variable) and engineering projects. Wet chemical analysis once provided essentially all the data needed for environmental decision making. While many wet chemical methods still provide useful information, the field of environmental analytical chemistry has developed, mainly through advances in analytical instrumentation, to meet the challenges of analyzing environmental samples. It is now an important tier in environmental protection, providing scientific information for informed decision making. In the area of environmental analysis, improvements in analytical instrument technology have reduced the scale of many previously insurmountable problems in environmental analysis, such as the analysis of small concentrations of contaminants in water. Yet, many challenges remain. These are largely tied to the properties of the analyte that make it difficult to study, or to the presence of substances within the sample that interfere with the study of the target analyte specifically. Sometimes these problems are comfounded by the need to determine a contaminant at trace levels or to accurately determine small changes in contaminant concentration. The analytical methods involve a wide range of analytical instrumentation including inductively coupled plasma (ICP)/ atomic emission spectroscopy (AES), ICP/mass spectroscopy (MS), atomic absorption (AA) spectroscopy, ion chromatography (IC), and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Application of these techniques to a diverse group of sample types is a somewhat unique feature. Sample types include waters ranging from drinking water to marine water as well as industrial and municipal wastewater, groundwater and landfill leachate. The safety parameters and their implications for different waters are discussed in this presentation.

5 tables, 14 ref

000418   Satyanarayana K (NO, Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research, Hyderabad-500 629, Email: satya_ks@rediffmail.com) : Recent trends in chmeical characterisation of geological and hydrogeochemical samples for major, minor and trace elements including trace impurities in nuclear grade uranium oxide samples. J appl Geochem 2012, Mar, 74-95.

Determination of major, minor and trace constituents in complex geological materials, hydrogeochemical samples and allied materials has always been a fascinating field of analytical chemistry and more so, for application in uranium exploration/exploitation programmes. The trace level occurrence of uranium, economic compulsions and other related uncertainties are the natural causes for the interest in its exploration and analysis. Methods have been standardized and developed for estimation of many elements from major to trace quantities using state-of-the-art analytical instruments like ICP-AES, GF-AAS, FAAS, lon-chromatography, TOC analyser, Fluorimeter etc., in connection with the uranium exploration programme. Brief account of work is presented mainly for strategic elements like U, Nb, Ta, REE, Au, PGE, B, Sc etc., after separation and estimation using ICP-AES /FAAS techniques. Geochemical research is not only the wide range of analytical measurements, but also the high degree of performance demanded in terms of precision, accuracy, sample throughput coupled with high sensitivity. Uranium metal is generally used as fuel in research reactors while power reactors use natural uranium and enriched uranium oxides as the fuel including mixed oxides of U and Pu. In nuclear industry, successful working of a reactor mainly depends on the performance of the nuclear fuel and consequently, purity of the fuel with respect to trace metal constituents assumes importance. The presence of some of the trace metal constituents in nuclear fuel can affect its performance significantly due to their metallurgical and neutron absorption properties. Therefore, some nuclear grade uranium oxide samples were analyzed for their trace impurities like Gd, Sm, Dy, Eu, Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, etc., after chemical separation followed by estimation using ICP-AES and the results are presented.. The detailed laboratory steps for the determination of different elements as described above are given in the enclosed appendix.

16 tables, 25 ref

000417   Saswati Kumar (Geography Dep, Asansol Girls' College, Asansol, West Bengal) : Position of mysterious Meghalaya in tourism sphere. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 387-90.

In modern Indian, tourism has been recognized as an enhancement to globalization. Tourism is a good way for establishing relationships at international levels. Tourism industry is capable of generating huge foreign exchange earn ings. The mountain state of Meghalaya is incredibly beautiful with its lush green valleys and the mysterious smoky cloud-clad north eastern Himalayan peaks. Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya is rich in flora and fauna due to the occurrence of heavy rainfall. World's most famous 500 years old 'Living Root Bridge' is located over a hilly stream. 'God's own garden', the cleanest village is also located near the 'Living Root Bridge'.

3 ref

000416   Sangode S J;Phadtare N R;Meshram D C;Rawat S; Suresh N (Geology Dep, Pune Univ, Pune-411 007, Email: sangode@rediffmail.com) : Record of lake outburst in the Indus valley of Ladakh Himalaya, India. Curr Sci 2011, 100(11), 1712-8.

Reported here a paleolake record of outburst discovered at -3245 m asl in the Spituk-Leh valley of the Indus river, Ladakh Himalaya. The <62> 55 m thick sediment package is displayed by megascopic (metre scale) and intense injective liquefactions, slumping and gliding of the lake beds, and mega-scouring by gravelly outflow with enclaves of dry lake beds. The combination of liquefaction, scouring and slumping is elaborated here as a consequence of Increased hydrostatic compression producing liquefaction followed by instantaneous release of stresses due to breaching resulting into scouring, gravity sliding, collapse and more liquefaction. The episode ended with re-adjustment faults (normal faulting) and gliding of dry lake beds towards the valley floor. The unusually larger magnitudes of liquefaction structures indicate greater time available to develop them relative to that of seismites in this region. The unique geomorphic setting for the lake site in the river valley further infers the susceptibility of the Indus river to damming and outbursts in the Spituk-Leh valley that is possible during climatic oscillations.

6 illus, 25 ref

000415   Roy S (Geography Dep, Vidyasagar College, Kolkata) : Overview of Special economic zones in India with reference to West Bengal. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 657-68.

Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is an area that has economic laws which are more liberal than a country's typical economic and labour laws. India passed SEZ ACT in 2005. After extensive consultations the SEZ Rules came into effect on February, 2006, providing drastic simplification of procedures with facility of single window clearance. The SEZs play important role in generation of additional economic activities, promotion of exports of goods and services, exploration of investment from domestic and foreign sources, creation of employment opportunities etc. In West Bengal there are five functional and many notified SEZs. Many states of India are facing major resistance from the rural community against acquisition of agricultural land for the development of these zones. Land acquisition is a key hindrance to set up SEZs all over the country. West Bengal has few experiences for the development of SEZs. The land acquisition policy displaced the farmers and their livelihood. To mitigate this situation the developers should take care of social forces and physical environment apart from the economic consideration. If these aspects are taken care of, then the SEZs can generate sustainable value and these should be able to cater benefit to the society.

2 illus, 6 tables, 5 ref

000414   Roy S (Geography Dep, Calcutta Univ, Kolkata) : Ranaghat rail bazar market and Payradanga pritinagar co-operative market- a comparative analysis. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 409-24.

This paper work depicts a comparative analysis of Ranaghat Rail Bazar market and Payradanga pritinagar co-operative market of Nadia District. Authors know that a market is one of many varities of different systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures where by persons engage in exchange of goods and services. The Ranaghat town has existed since the British invaded India. A myth is still prevalent that the name of the town came from the bandit 'Rana Dacoit', who used to pillage this area 500-or 600 years back and he used to give pujas to the goddess Kali. In 1870-1880, Ranaghat Rail Bazar market was developed depending upon the Ranaghat Railway Station. On the other hand, Payradanga also has existed since the British invaded India. The development of Nadia was led by Raja Krishna chandra (1728-82). He built religious places and small localities around different places in Nadia. That time he also built a locality at Haradham (currently in Payradanga)and Anandadham. The Payradanga-Pritinagar co-operative market was established on 24th April in 1948. At present the market is supervised by the payradanga pritinagar cooperative society. The economy of payradanga is mainly based on agriculture. Ranaghat is a place of business. In this market total 900 traders are running their business. In Ranaghat Rail Bazar market- the commodities come from, Phulia, Kolkata, Majdia, Gede, Payrandanga, Burdwan, other states etc. and in Payradanga-Pritinagar co-operative market, the commodities come from Simurali, Ranaghat, Gede, Anulia, Haringhata, Taherpur,South India, Katwa, Burdwan, Phulia, Kolkata, Chakdaha etc. Paddy, pulses are the main agricultural commodities of these markets. The other commodities like potatoes come from Majdia and cauliflowers come from Madanpur. Thus it shows that the Rail Bazar market and the Pritinagar co-operative market have a greater link with the district markets as well as with the state level markets. Various types of marketing characteristics have existed in Ranaghat Rail Bazar market and. payradanga pritinagar co-operative market, -such as-(a) Regulated marketing character, b). Retailing character, C) Wholesaling character, d) agricultural marketing character, e)consumer marketing character, f)monopolistic character. The data for this paper work have been collected through the primary Survey. The main methodology adapted here by cartographical method. The study of a comparative analysis of Payradanga Pritinagar Co-operative market and Ranaghat Rail Bazar market of Nadia will be much relevant from preparation for planning proposals for economic and regional development of Nadia and its surroundings.

2 ref

000413   Roy M;Nandi N C;Banerjee S (NO, Zoological Survey of India, 535, 'M' Block, New Alipore, Kolkata-700 053, Email: mousum_iroy@rediffmail.com) : Comparative account of hydrological properties of three brackishwater wetlands of coastal West Bengal, India. J Aquatic Biol 2010, 25(2), 85-90.

The present research work deals with the limnology of three brackishwater wetlands selected from Matla estuary, Canning, West Bengal. The eleven physico-chemical characteristics of water were tested fortnightly for a period of two years to find out the difference between natural and man-made wetlands. The water parameters showed almost similar temporal variation among the wetlands of man-made habitats with similar type of pisciculture practices and anthropogenic activities. Water temperature in the estuary remained lower than the shrimp culture ponds while alkalinity, hardness and transparency were recorded higher in bheries. Higher concentration of DO in bheries than river was related with macrophytic and algal vegetation in the man-made wetlands.

1 illus, 15 ref

000412   Roy K (Vivekananda College Madhyamgram, West Bengal State Univ, West Bengal) : Ethnicity, occupation & Kolkata- an unexplored saga of the chinese community. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 301-8.

The Chinese community of Kolkata is perhaps the least understood, most obscure, and the most recent immigrant minority in India. It is of interest to see how the Chinese being an immigrant community are confronted with socio-cultural & economic challenge in the local situations & seek to adjust themselves to an alien environment, essentially different from their homeland. With the distinct 'social visibility', physiognomy & language, occupational specialization acting as barriers to their identification with the rest of the population. 1961 Census enumeration showed that there are only 0.3% of total city population belong to the people of pure Chinese origin, which has even declined drastically in numbers in recent times. Ethno-cultural marginalization & occupational segregation of the Kolkata Chinese community, is quite prominent now & it is quite worthwhile, to study the facts & trace the hidden reality.

2 illus, 13 ref

000411   Roy J;Siddique G (Geography Dep, The Burdwan Univ, Barddhaman, West Bengal, Email: jayashriroy2012@gmail.com) : Nature and types of crimes against women emerged out of socio-economic deprivation: a case study of western part of Barddhaman district, West Bengal. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 291-300.

Asansol - Durgapur subdivisions has a unique identity in West Bengal with its long history of mining and industrialization. Since the 60's of the 20th century up to the 80's of the same the region played a vital role in the economy of the state as well as the Nation. As the mines and industries are being closed of this belt, unemployment problem is increasing rapidly and the same has been affected on ecosystem of this region and environment. Crime against women is partly a result of gender relations that assumes men to be superior to women. Given the subordinate status of women, much of gender violence is considered normal and enjoys social sanction. Women are vulnerable to various forms of violent treatment for several reasons, all based on gender in the western part of Barddhaman District. This paper attempts to represents in which types of crimes against women in the western part of Barddhaman district and its socio economic impact in the study under review.

2 illus, 2 tables, 3 ref

000410   Roday P P;Purohit M K;Prajapati K K (Vastu Vihar, Khajuri Kalan Road, Piplani, Bhopal-462 022, Email: pproday@yahoo.com) : Computer program for the determination of finite using fry method. J Geol Soc India 2010, 76(2), 151-4.

Fry method enables rapid estimate of finite strain from deformed aggregates such as clastic grains, fossil colonies, oolitic or pisolitic aggregates, prophyroblastic minerals or phenocrysts. It has an advantage over the other methods of finite strain analysis in its very quality of enabling rapid estimation with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Details of the software to prepare a plot using Fry method are outlined. This program has an advantage over other computer based programs on the world wide web in its aesthetic getup, small size, user friendliness and a help file. The program is a freeware and can be downloaded by following the links on a software website http://www.al-structural-geology-software.com.FryPlotSetup.zip or http://www.al-structural-geology-software.com/FryProg/ FryPlotProgSetup.exe

1 illus, 17 ref

000409   Razdan P N;Bhan S (NO, Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune, Email: pnrazdan@gmail.com) : National geochmeical mapping and its impact on environmental appraisal. J appl Geochem 2012, (Jun), 115-22.

Based on the outcome of the historical developments in geochemical exploration from local to regional and then to national scales, the National Geochemical Mapping (NGCM) Programme in India was initiated in line with the recommendation of International Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP), where in commonly available representative sample media were collected in a standardized manner. The success of the programme is based on continuity of data across different types of landscape with tight quality control at every stage of the process having lowest possible detection limits for all the defined elements. The geochemical maps generated will help in establishing the chemical attributes of crustal surface materials which provides vital data for general geology of the area with potential of mineral exploration. The data will also help in preparing the soil fertility map of the area. Keeping in view the detection limits of various elements the environmental appraisal as well as health related features of the area can be properly analyzed. An area of 3.28 million sq km of the country's landmass spreading over 5065 topo-sheets (1:50,000 scale) is covered with hard rock, soft rock and alluvial sediments. The Geological Survey of India has taken up the NGCM Project in a big way, since the last decade and till now about 6% landmass (<126> 2, 10,877.6 sq km) spreading over 300 top sheets has been covered systematically under the programme. 68 elements of high priority list has been taken up in the first phase of the programme, Geo-environmental data base generated would be of great help in preparing the EIA and EMP documents for any development programme to be taken up in future. Furthermore, it has been found that deficiency or excessiveness of 20 elements are associated with various diseases. Based on the data produced till now some Follow-up Projects have also been started.

3 tables, 12 ref

000408   Ray D;Rajan S;Ravindra R;Jana A (NO, National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Goa-403 804, Email: dwijesh@rediffmail.com) : Microtextural and mineral chemical analyses of andesite-dacite from barren and narcondam islands:evidences for magma mixing and petrological implications. J Earth Syst Sci 2011, 120(1), 145-55.

Andesite and dacite from Barren and Narcondam volcanic islands of Andaman subduction zone are composed of plagioclase, orthopyroxene, elinopyroxene, olivine, titanomagnetite, magnesio-hornblende and rare quartz grains. In this study, we use the results of mineral chemical analyses of the calc-alkaline rock suite of rocks as proxies for magma mixing and mingling processes. Plagioclase, the most dominant mineral, shows zoning which includes oscillatory, patchy, multiple and repetitive zonation and 'fritted' or 'sieve' textures. Zoning patterns in plagioclase phenocrysts and abrupt fluctuations in An content record different melt conditions in a dynamic magma chamber. 'Fritted' zones (An₅₅) are frequently overgrown by thin calcic (An₇₂) plagioclase rims over well-developed dissolution surfaces. These features have probably resulted from mixing of a more silicic magma with the host andesite. Olivine and orthopyroxene with reaction and overgrowth rims (corona) suggest magma mixing processes. We conclude that hybrid magma formed from the mixing of mafic and felsic magma by two-stage processes - initial intrusion of hotter mafic melt (andesitic) followed by cooler acidic melt at later stage.

6 illus, 3 tables, 28 ref

000407   Ray A P (Geography Dep, Burdwan Univ, Burdwan, West Bengal) : River bank erosion: a micro level case study of the part of Dwarakeshwar river basin. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 229-38.

The people of rural part of West Bengal almost totally are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. They can't take measure against river bank erosion and to wait a long time to have a fertile track of land. They want to prevent the loss of their valuable fertile land. This work is an attempt to focus on that management theme. Here the main objective is to show the agricultural land loss due to river bank erosion of Dwarakeshwar river of a Small mouza of drought prone Bankura District of West Bengal.

3 illus, 2 tables, 9 ref

000406   Rastogi R G;Chandra H;Trivedi N B;Doumbia V (NO, Physical Research, Laboratory, Ahmedabad-380 009, Email: hchandra@prl.res.in) : Equatorial electrojet in the South atlantic anomaly region. J Earth Syst Sci 2011, 120(2), 301-10.

Features of the equatorial electrojet are studied at Sao Luiz (2.6°S, 44.2°W, inclination -0.25°) in eastern Brazil and Sikasso (11.3°N, 5.7°W, inclination 0.1°) in the western African sector. The stations are situated on either side of the lowest magnetic field intensity in the region of rapid changes in the declination. The daily variations of AX at the two stations are almost similar with the peak around noon with maximum values during equinoxes and minimum values during J-solstices. Daily variations of Ay differ with the maximum deviation of about -35 nT around noon at Sao Luiz and much smaller value of about -10 nT around 14 h LT for Sikasso. The direction of the H vector varies from 15°W of north at 08 h to more than 30°W of north at 17 h for Sao Luiz and from 14°E of north to 25°W of north at 18 h for Sikasso. The plot of the deviations in AX and Ay at different hours for the two stations shows the points along narrow ellipses with major axis aligned along 22°W of north for Sao Luiz and along 3°W of north for Sikasso as compared to declination of 20°W for Sao Luiz and 6°W for Sikasso. The deviations in AX at the two stations are fairly well correlated.

9 illus, 36 ref

000405   Ramesh V (Geology Dep, Post Graduate College of Science, Osmania Univ, Saifabad, Hyderabad) : Stromatolite structures from Bhatapara, Raipur group, Chhattisgarh basin, Madhya Pradesh Central India. J appl Geochem 2012, (Jun), 98-102.

Algal limestones of the Bhatapara area belonging to the Raipur Group of the Chhattisgarh Super Group exhibit algal species such as steeply convex Domed columnar, cylindrically growing vertically twisted and branched type of Kussiela, Stratifera and Oncolites. Oncolities (SS type) occur as oval to rounded concentric structures on the surface of the growing columnar varieties. The observed species suggest shallow marine, tidally dominated environment.

2 illus, 14 ref

000404   Rai A K;Das S S (Earth & Planetary Sciences Dep, Nehru Science Centre, Allahabad Univ, Allahabad-211 002, Email: raikajai@gmail.com) : Late quaternary changes in surface productivity and oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) in the northwestern arabian sea: micropaleontologic and sedimentary record at ODP site 728 A. J Earth Syst Sci 2011, 120(1), 113-21.

5 illus, 57 ref

000403   Prashant Kumar;Singh R;Joshi P C;Pal P K (NO, Meterology and Oceanography Group, Space Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad-380 015, Email: kam3545@gmail.com) : Impact of additional surface observation network on short range weather forecast during summer monsoon 2008 over Indian subcontinent. J Earth Syst Sci 2011, 120(1), 53-64.

The three dimensional variational data assimilation scheme (3D-Var) is employed in the recently developed Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Assimilation experiments have been conducted to assess the impact of Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) surface observations (temperature and moisture) on the short range forecast over the Indian region. In this study, two experiments, CNT (without AWS observations) and EXP (with AWS observations) were made for 24-h forecast starting daily at 0000 UTC during July 2008. The impact of assimilation of AWS surface observations were assessed in comparison to the CNT experiment. The spatial distribution of the improvement parameter for temperature, relative humidity and wind speed from one month assimilation experiments demonstrated that for 24-h forecast, AWS observations provide valuable information. Assimilation of AWS observed temperature and relative humidity improved the analysis as well as 24-h forecast. The rainfall prediction has been improved due to the assimilation of AWS data, with the largest improvement seen over the Western Ghat and eastern India.

12 illus, 23 ref

000402   Prasanna M V;Chidambaram S;Shahul Hameed A; Srinivasamoorthy K (School of Engineering and Science, Applied Geology Dep, Curtin Univ, Sarawak Campus, CDT 250, 98009 Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia, Email: geoprasanna@rediffmail.com) : Hydrogeochemical analysis and evaluation of groundwater quality in the Gadilam river basin, Tamil Nadu, India. J Earth Syst Sci 2011, 120(1), 85-98.

Water samples were collected from different formations of Gadilam river basin and analyzed to assess the major ion chemistry and suitability of water for domestic and drinking purposes. Chemical parameters of groundwater such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), Sodium (Na⁺), Potassium (K⁺), Calcium (Ca⁺), Magnesium (Mg⁺), Bicarbonate (HCO₃^-), Sulphate (SO₄^-), Phosphate (PO₄^-) and Silica (H₄SiO₄) were determined. The geochemical study of the aquatic systems of the Gadilam river basin show that the groundwater is near-acidic to alkaline and mostly oxidizing in nature. Higher concentration of Sodium and Chloride indicates leaching of secondary salts and anthropogenic impact by industry and salt water intrusion. Spatial distribution of EC indicates anthropogenic impact in the downstream side of the basin. The concentration levels of trace metals such as Iron (Fe), Lead (Pb), Nickel (Ni), Bromide (Br), Iodide (I) and Aluminium (Al) have been compared with the world standard. Interpretation of data shows that some trace metals such as Al, Ni and Pb exceed the acceptable limit of world standard. Geophysical study was carried out to identify the weathered zone in the hard rock and contaminated zone by anthropogenic impact in the downstream of river Gadilam. A few of the groundwater samples in the study area were found to be unsuitable for domestic and drinking purposes.

5 illus, 5 tables, 37 ref

000401   Prabhakara Rao M R K;Singh B; Krishnamacharyulu S K G (NO, National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad) : Efficacy of magnetic methods in ground water exploration- a case study from Central India. J appl Geochem 2012, (Jun), 106-14.

The aeromagnetic map of Central India covering part of the Narmada - Son Tectonic zone between Jabalpur and Damoh of Madhya Pradesh has delineated several linear magnetic anomalies of 200-400 nT aligned together to form a large magnetic lineament approximately 1 km wide and 100 km long. Ground magnetic and resistivity surveys in the area revealed large magnetic high (600-800 nT) and resistivity low (less than 80 Ωm) respectively along this lineament suggesting a fracture zone with basic intrusive rocks at places. These results were confirmed by resistivity studies and available geohydrological information. The resistivity soundings carried out in the proximity of the lineament showed higher thickness of weathered/fractured rocks varying between 34 and 54 meters with a resistivity of 16 to 80 Ωm suggesting the presence of a higher ground water potential along it compared to the surroundings. The soundings at a distance of 1 to 2 km away from the lineament revealed less thickness and /or higher resistivities of weathered/ fractured zone compared to the wells in close proximity of the lineament. This was reflected by a considerable difference in the yield of the wells varying between 220 and 20 Cu.m/day respectively. The ground water depletion in the wells close to the lineament was less (0.5 to 2.2 m) compared to those away from the lineament (4 to 5m) due to influence of the lineament. Thus, the efficacy of magnetic methods in narrowing down areas of interest for groundwater exploration was clearly demonstrated in the case study.

10 illus, 1 table, 13 ref

000400   Poornachandra Rao G V S (Palaeomagnetism Laboratory, NGRI, 305, Kakatiya Apartments, Street No.2, Habsiguda, Hyderabad, Email: gvsprao@rediffmail.com) : Multicomponent NRM for isolation of shock component at lonar crater. J appl Geochem 2012, (Jun), 76-91.

The Lonar Lake (19° 59'N, 76° 34' E) is a unique structure in the late Cretaceous - early Tertiary Deccan Traps in the Buldana district of Maharashtra state in India. It is now considered to be a meteorite impact crater on the basis of several studies carried out over the last 150 years. Some of these include magnetic (Bhalla et. al, 1974) and palaeomagnetic (Poornachandra Rao and Bhalla, 1984) evidences which also support a meteorite impact origin for this crater. The laboratory alternating magnetic field demagnetization data has been examined by analytical methods such as Zijderveld diagrams, vector difference analysis, converging circles of remagnetization etc., to isolate the shock component and assign probable age of meteorite impact. Upon examination of the vectors that were removed in very low fields of 5-10 mT, a weak secondary component of magnetization of D = 8.6°, I = + 46.8 ° (K = 47.66, α₉₅ = 6.4°) has been isolated by the vector difference analysis which is very much similar to the normal polarity magnetization in the present field at the site while the stable primary vector is similar to that of Upper Cretaceous-Lower Tertiary period reverse magnetization consistent with the age of the Deccan Traps. This isolated component of secondary magnetization, if due to shock event, is in support of other age estimates of meteorite impact by fission track dating of shock melted glass (50,000 years) (Fredriksson et. al., 1973), geomorphological features (late youth), physiographic and sediment thickness studies at Lonar Lake (late Pliocene to mid Pleistocene period) (LaFond and Dietz, 1964).

7 illus, 3 tables, 60 ref

000399   Oraw D (Thahaghati High Madrasah, P.O-Singia, P.S-Chanchal, Dist.-Malda-721 123, Email: dipankar.oraw@gmail.com) : Socio-economic impact of alcohol on tribal society a study on tribal population. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 487-96.

Alcohol imposes a high Socio-economic cost on tribal society. Hazardous consumption of alcohol within the tribal society is a worldwide problem. This study on the community aimed to clarify local patterns of alcohol use at Mahadevpur village of Tapan block of South Dinajpur district of West Bengal, India. It considered the variety of local alcoholic preparations, who consumed them, when, and where. Due to alcohol addiction we have seen a great social change and people face many problems for it. Drinking is an integral part of the tribs of Mahadevpur. Locally brewed rice beer (handia), palm wine (tadi), distilled country liquor (chullu), and so-called Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) are consumed in the village. So many problems are identified due to alcohol intake including social disturbances, family discord, and domestic violence. These problems are main barrier to social, cultural, economical and community development. There are several studies available on various aspect of socio-cultural anthropology of tribal people. But very few attempts have been made to study on effect of alcohol on tribal life. The present paper attempts to analyze the influence of alcohol on Socio-Economic backwardness consequent upon the tribal society.

4 tables, 13 ref

000398   Nandi P;Saha P (Geography Dep, Visva-Bharati Univ, West Bengal) : Crime against women-a deterrent to human development. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 156-68.

Crime can be considered as a social illness which may drag any society or civilization to the darkness. Crime is present in various forms in India. Organized crime like drug trafficking, gunrunning, money laundering, murder for hire, human trafficking, black marketing, political violence, religiously motivated violence, spreading of terror, abduction, robbery, assault etc are very much present in our country. Even corruption is a significant problem. But when the question of crime against women is concerned to a large extent it raises the question of the moral value of that particular society or civilization where the incidents are being committed. It is not essential that the rate of crime decrease with the development of the society and in the remote areas rate is more but it is better to say that in the more developed areas the type of crime is more sophisticated. Human Development Index (HDI), Gender-related development Index (GDI), Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) have been computed with the help of such indicators from which it can be expected that the areas with better indices will have better moral values and hence less crime prone. With this notion this paper will make a honest effort to find out the relation among the HDI, GDI. GEM of the states and union territories of India with the rate of percentage of crime and the rate of cognizable crime committed against women in various states, union territories as well as million cities of India.

3 illus, 2 tables, 14 ref

000397   Nandi M (NO, Womens' College, Agartala-799 004) : Soil erosion and environmental degradation in the western part of Tripura. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 331-8.

The present paper deals with the study on different aspects of soil erosion and its impact on environmental degradation under the control of humid tropical environment in the Polygenic and Polymorphic landscape of west Tripura. The study is based on modern methodology and through field investigation to identify the intensity associated with cause and effect of soil erosion and to find out the proper and scientific way out to minimize the problems (slope and joint failure, formation of bad land surface, degradation of soil and water causing agricultural hazards etc.). Various soil zones and vegetation cover were recognized and mapped on the basis of photo recognition elements of Landsat imageries and field evidences. In order to study the different aspects of environmental degradation with special reference to the rapid development of rilled and gullied surfaces along with the accelerated soil erosion, necessary analysis of the contributing factors like the prevailing geomorphic processes as well as the lithological and morphological characteristics were made. The author has also presented the important aspects of geology, climate and vegetation on the one hand and human intervention in terms of socio-economic activities (the agriculture, forestry, road cutting, damaging and related constructional work) on the other hand which have influenced to accelerate the soil erosion at an alarming stage in the entire state of Tripura. The findings and remedial measures suggested by the author will help to check ill-conceived and unplanned human intervention and able to make proper landuse planning for conserving soil erosion as well as ecological balance of this area.

4 illus, 2 tables, 2 ref

000396   Murugesan P;Krishnaprakash R (Faculty of Marine Sciences, Annamalai Univ, Parangipettai-608 502, Email: murugesaan74@rediffmail.com) : Analysis of sediment characteristics in progressive shrimp culture ponds, Paravai, near Velankanni, Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu. J Aquatic Biol 2010, 25(2), 152-7.

Water and soil parameters besides heavy metals were estimated in two progressive shrimp culture ponds. Extensive and semi-intensive types of ponds were selected for the purpose (hereafter extensive type: Pond-A; semi-intensive type: Pond-B). There was no significant variation with respect to levels of water quality parameters like salinity, temperature, pH between two ponds while striking differences were noticed in the levels of total phosphate and total nitrogen so also the heavy metals. Two-way ANOVA were done for variations in the water quality and soil nutrients between two ponds showed significant. The reasons for the variations are discussed in this paper.

4 illus, 1 table, 34 ref

000395   Mukhopadhyay B;Acharyya A;Mukhopadhyay M; Dasgupta S (Geological Survey of India, Central Headquarters, 27 J.L. Nehru Road, Kolkata-700 016, Email: basabmukhopadhyay@yahoo.com) : Relationship between earthquake swarm, rifting history, magmatism and pore pressure diffusion- an example from South Andaman sea, India. J Geol Soc India 2010, 76(2), 164-70.

An extraordinarily strong and persistent earthquake swarm (Andaman swarm 2005) originated in the Andaman back-arc following the aftershock sequences of the 26 December 2004 Sumatra earthquake. The swarm (n = 651, mb_max = 5.9) came mainly in two phases: January 26-31 and Feb. -Aug. 2005, in an area of size 90 x 40 km², at the centre of which lies a broad bathymetric depression and high gravity zone. The swarm demonstrates a complex faulting series, initially the strike-slip motion followed by normal faulting in repetitive sequences, whose representative fault planes orient at high angle to the regional faults. The swarm character as well as the distribution of stress-axes and their correlation to tectonic features lends speculation for formation of a nascent rift segment in NW-SE direction at the doorstep of the Sewell Seamount. The swarm has given rise to 21 episodes of rifting activities of variable time extent within 26 -31 January 2005. The r-t plots corresponding to the swarm data, modelled with variable hydraulic diffusivity (D) values 4, 6, 8 and 10 m²/s, suggest for excess pressure front from ascending magmatic fluid. This eventually heralded the rifting; causing pore pressure perturbations that propagated in accordance with known diffusion parabolic equations.

3 illus, 3 tables, 21 ref

000394   Mukherjee M K (NO, Jalpaiguri Government Engineering College, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal-735 102, Email: manaskmukherjee@rediffmail.com) : Flood model for river Subernarekha, India, using plotting position formulae. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 319-24.

Flood Modeling consists of establishing a relationship between Peak Discharge (QP) and Return Period (T). The present study aims to develop an empirical model of Peak Discharge (QP) and corresponding Return Period (T), obtained from Plotting position formulae, for the river Subernarekha. Then mathematical model relating the two parameters have been developed by using Least Square Principle, Computer Programing and Software Packages. The developed model is highly satisfactory as the measured values of percentage deviation (3.23) and standard deviation of percentage deviation (1.13) are too low, for the developed model. Moreover value of the Correlation Co-efficience (r) is found to be very satisfactory as the value of the (r) for the developed model (0.88); it indicates that good correlation exists between the two parameters involved in the modeling. For any desired Return Period (T), the corresponding Peak Discharge (QP) can be computed from the developed model. The corresponding Stage (G) can also be ascertained from the (G-Q) model developed by the authors (Mukherjee. M.K, Sarkar. S, 2007). This (QP) and (G) values are extremely helpful in forecasting floods, flood warning in advance and design of important hydraulic structures on the river Subernarekha.

2 illus, 1 table, 12 ref

000393   Moyra S K (NO, Jangipara M.N. Mahavidyalaya, West Bengal) : Mapping of urban growth and its impact assessment- study on eastern parts of Hugli district, West Bengal. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 367-74.

Since the dawn of civilization many urban centre have developed along the bank of important rivers. During the first phase of colonial period in India by acknowledging this fact European traders have also developed few trade cum urban centre in Hugh district along the side of Hugli River. In the course of time these urban centre along with few relatively new urban patches have bloomed in size and became emerge as the most aspired area of the district. Due to availability of good urban facility and nearness to Kolkata, the area has always maintained a high urbanization rate. It is not easy to delineate urban growth for such a fastest changing area with the help of conventional techniques. In this study GIS and RS techniques have been used to prepare the built up area maps for the study area and to detect the change of urban area in temporal scale. With the help of indexing approach the impact of urban growth on various individual components of natural environment is also studied through this paper.

2 illus, 4 ref

000392   Mondal P K;Sen M (Geography Dep, PDC Girls' College, Bolpur, Birbhum, Email: mondalprobodh18@gmail.com) : Socio-economic profile of weaving sector as an informal economy: a case study of Rampurhat-II C.D.blockm Birbhum district, West Bengal. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 475-82.

An informal economy has an important role in rural economy especially in Indian context. It related with the natural phenomena and function as well as way of life of men. Nature provides some aspects which are too much needed fordevelopment of human civilization. Human beings with their own intellect create to different types of resource process for their relatively smooth livelihood pattern. These resource processes are expressed as distinctive types of economy. On the other hand all economic profile are functionally depend on nature of resource, social mobility of men, political power, capital and also on technology. Among all the informal economy in rural India, silk weaving is one of them as a traditional biogenic resource process.In this paper an attempt has been made to bring out the socio-economic profile and some criticalissues of silk weavers in weaving economy as an informal economy of Rampurhat-II C.D. Block. Birbhum District, West Bengal.

2 illus, 4 tables, 5 ref

000391   Mondal A;Kundu S (Water Resources Development & Management Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee-247 667) : Estimation of reference evapotranspiration from weather data using penman-monteith equation. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 109-14.

Many meteorological variables, landuse type, soil type, irrigation system have influence on water demand of a particular basin. Climatic parameter is one of the important parameter which determines energy balances and vapour pressure deficits that affect the magnitudes of vapour flux from surface to atmosphere. Costly equipments are needed to monitor evapotranspiration which is an important variable of climate. FAO56 Penman-Monteith formula is an empirical model which can calculate reference evapotranspiration (ETO) based on surface weather observations. Limited weather parameters have been used as input in Cuttack weather station which is located at Cuttack district of Orissa state in India.

2 illus, 1 table, 10 ref

000390   Mondal A (Geography Dep, Kalyani Univ, West Bengal) : Status of child labour in biri industry of Kadkhali mouza in Beldanga-II block of Murshidabad district, West Bengal. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2012, 35(1), 403-8.

Deals with the problems of child labour in Biri industry of Kadkhali Mouza of Beldanga II Block of Murshidabad District. Biri making is the second important economic activity of that area after agriculture. Biri making is a home based industry dominated by female and child labour. They are engaged in the job because they do not have any other alternative job. They earn a minimum wages from this work., 56% of total children are directly or indirectly related to this job of that surveyed family of the study area, among them 80.64% is female and 19.36% is male child.

9 ref

000389   Mohan P M;Sachithanandam V;Subburaman S; Dhivya P (Ocean Studies and Marine Biology Dep, Pondicherry Univ, Port Blair, Andaman, Email: pmmtu@yahoo.com) : Organic matter and carbonate distribution and its signifivcance with meiofaunal distribution in Junglighat Bay and Car Nicobar, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. J appl Geochem 2012, Mar, 46-53.

Study was conducted to understand sediment characters, organic carbon and carbonate influence on the meiofaunal distribution in Junglighat Bay and Car Nicobar Island. The result suggests that Junglighat Bay has more meiofaunal diversity than Car Nicobar. The low organic carbon and high carbonate environment may influence abundant number of nematode. The good amount of organic carbon, silt and carbonate influence the turbellaria distribution. The higher concentration copepods needs high amount of sand, carbonate and minimum level of organic carbon.

1 illus, 3 tables, 18 ref

000388   Mohan P M;Ragavan P;Dhivya P (Ocean Studies and Marine Biology Dep, Pondicherry Univ, Brookshabad Campus, Post Bag No. 26, Junglighat, Port Blair, Andaman) : Dissolved organic carbon(DOC) in the waters off Nicobar group of islands, India. J appl Geochem 2012, Mar, 31-7.

The dissolved organic carbon content of sea water can be defined as the concentration of carbon that remains after the removal of particulate organic carbon by filtration and all inorganic carbon by acidification and purging. The aim of the present study is to understand the distribution of organic carbon (DOC) in ocean water off the west and east coasts of Nicobar group of islands bounded by the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, respectively. The surface water contains more of DOC, and varies from 17.91 to 88.57 μM, when compared with the samples collected from 200m and 1000m. The 200 m depth samples exhibits variation from 4.24 to 41.16 μM and at the depth of 1000m DOC concentration varies from 1.49 to 31.99iiM. The result of the study clearly shows that DOC decreases with increase depth.

1 illus, 4 tables, 21 ref