Wind energy potential,development and current trends in India: a review

The demand for electricity is increasing day by day in the world. In a developing country such as India, the electricity demand is increasing at a terrifying rate as compared to the meagre supply. At present, the Indian power industry is mostly based on fossil fuel. Nowadays, wind energy has emerged as a renewable energy source which has a huge power generation capacity. India is one of the leading producers of wind energy but has the potential to generate even more energy through it. This paper presents a review of wind energy resources, its potential, development and current trends in India. A wind turbine can be easily set up as it takes less space as compared to other power stations and can be easily located at places such as deserts, remote areas, offshore, etc.     

Steelmaking in India – new evidence from microscopic and archaeometallurgical analysis from middle Ganga plain,Balirajgarh

The present study deliberates on the archaeometallurgical examination of 2300 years old excavated iron nail from India's middle Ganga plain of Balirajgarh. The nail was subjected to multianalytical investigations in order to determine the raw materials used, manufacturing technology and preservation state. The combined analytical techniques optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDX), Vickers hardness and X-ray diffractometry shed light towards the characterisation and use of the iron artefact. Special attention was paid for qualitative and quantitative analysis of slag inclusions, metal matrix and corrosion products. The presence of heterogeneous microstructure and inclusion of impurities suggests that nail has been produced through the direct process and work hardened. The noncorroded nail is made of hypereutectoid steel and used for building purpose. The study is important to understand the role of technology in the evolution of cultural changes in India that also provides archaeometric data on the method used in the forging work.     

Reaction of sulfur mustard gas,soman and agent VX with nanosized anatase TiO2 and ferrihydrite

Homogeneous hydrolysis of titanium oxo‐sulfate and iron(III) sulfate has been used to prepare anatase TiO₂ and ferrihydrite with high specific surface area. Resulting samples were characterised by specific surface area (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method) and porosity (Barrett–Joyner–Halenda method) measurements, X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The samples of anatase TiO₂ and ferrihydrite were evaluated for their ability to degrade chemical warfare agents (sulfur mustard gas, soman and agent VX) to non‐toxic products. The largest percentage of mustard gas converted into non‐toxic products after the completion of the reaction was 99%. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Sikh men post-9/11: Misidentification, discrimination, and coping.

After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, there has been strong anti-Islamic and anti-Arabic sentiment in the United States, which has been generalized to all those who “appear” Muslim and Arab. Many men in the Sikh community were targeted because of their appearance (e.g., turbans and long beards) and have been victims of verbal attacks and physical harm because of misperceptions and ignorance regarding their identity. Multicultural competence requires psychologists to understand the experiences of diverse groups, including Sikh men, and yet there is a gap in the literature in that there are no published research studies on this population. This qualitative phenomenological study focuses on the experiences of five Indian American, Sikh men post-9/11 in the New York City metropolitan area. Participants engaged in semistructured interviews on their understanding of themselves and their experiences. The themes that emerged included: Defining one's identity as a Sikh, Misidentification as anti-American, Oppression and discrimination, and Coping internally and externally; each theme included subthemes within. Implications for practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A thermal investigation on coals from Assam (India)

A thermal characterization of two coal samples from Ledo and Tikak collieries of Makum coalfield, Assam, India using XRD, FT-IR, and TGA was reported in this paper. The coal samples were heated for 20, 40 and 60 min in a 1000-watt heater (temperature ∼ 250 °C) in presence of air and characterized by XRD and FT-IR spectroscopy. Both the coals contain amorphous and crystalline phases. The raw coals also contain very small peaks due to quartz, calcite, gypsum, pyrite, and chlorite. The XRD patterns were found to change upon heating. In the coals heated for 20 and 40 min, it was observed that both amorphous and crystalline parts are common in them; crystalline part being the major one in the 40 min heated samples. The XRD patterns of the samples heated for 60 min indicate the presence of major quantities of α-quartz, hematite, and chlorite in them. They also show some new peaks, which are assigned to be kaolinite, illite, magnetite and very small in comparison to the amorphous portion in raw coals. α-quartz was found to be most stable crystalline phase of silica in the coals. The crystallinity % (X-ray) of the coals heat-treated for different times was determined and found to be increasing with time of heating. The FT-IR spectra of raw and heat-treated coal samples at 250 °C were also recorded and compared. The spectra were observed to be almost similar and it was observed that few functional groups disappear on heating at 250 °C. The same coal samples were also characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) techniques. On heat treatment in air atmosphere up to 800 °C, 20–27% weight loss occurs due to removal of various volatile materials. DTA results indicate the chemical reactivity of the coal sample initially at 80–110 °C due to loss of water, and two other major reactions at around 420 and 530 °C due to primary and secondary volatization.     

Comparison of three chosen vegetables with others from South East Asia for their lutein and zeaxanthin content

Three local leafy vegetables chekup manis (Sauropus androgynus), West Indian pea tree leaves (Sesbania grandiflora (L.) Pers.), and drumstick tree leaves (Moringa oleifera), are consumed by local South East Asian populations and are believed to have beneficial effects on improved vision and prevention of eye diseases. High performance liquid chromatography equipped with photodiode array detection was used to investigate their lutein and zeaxanthin contents, which were compared with those from other commonly found vegetables in the region. It was found that these three leafy vegetables contained significantly higher amounts of lutein namely, 19.5, 28.3, and 24.8 mg/100 g edible fresh leaves, respectively, compared to other vegetables in the region. It was also found that cooking in boiling water increase the extractable lutein content in chekup manis by almost 20%, within 4 min.     

Systematic evaluation of natural phenolic antioxidants from 133 Indian medicinal plants

Total antioxidant capacities of 133 Indian medicinal plant species sampled from 64 families were assessed by ABTS, DPPH and FRAP assays, and their total phenolic contents measured by Folin–Ciocalteu assay. These species exhibited a broad range of antioxidant activities, varying from 0.16 to 500.70 mmol TEAC/100 g DW in the ABTS assay. The antioxidant activity values similarly varied with the DPPH and FRAP assays. Significant and positive linear correlations were found between total antioxidant capacities and phenolic contents (R = 0.89–0.97), indicating that phenolics were the dominant antioxidant constituents in the tested medicinal plants. Preliminary identification of the major phenolic compounds from 83 selected medicinal plants by reversed-phase HPLC revealed phenolic acids, tannins, flavonoids, curcuminoids, coumarins, lignans, and quinines. The fruit of Terminalia chebula, pericarp of Punica granatum and gall of Rhus succedanea showed very high levels of hydrolysable tannins, and the gum of Acacia catechu presented very high levels of catechin and epicatechin in addition to tannins. Major phenolics in many of the medicinal plants were identified for the first time (e.g., Euphorbia lathyrus, Ipomoea turpethum, and Picrorrhiza kurroa). This systematic investigation of a large number of Indian medicinal plants proved important for understanding their chemical constituents and functionality in Ayurvedic medicine, and contributes to the search for natural sources of potent antioxidants.     

Analysis of volatile components during potherb mustard (Brassica juncea, Coss.) pickle fermentation using SPME-GC-MS

A method based on headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) has been applied for the analysis of volatile components in fresh potherb mustard and their pickles with different pickling time. Hierarchical cluster analysis of the relative abundances of volatile compounds determined by GC-MS was used for the classification of the volatile components. As a result the glucosinolates enzymatically decomposed compounds account for the major proportion in volatile constituents. From the glucosinolates degradation products enzymatically via aglycone in fresh potherb mustard and their pickles, the result showed that the glucosinolates in potherb mustard contain allyl, butenyl, isobutanyl and phenylethyl groups in the side chain as substituents, which means that the glucosinolates are sinigrin, gluconapin, glucocochlearin and gluconasturtin, respectively. It can be also concluded from the experiments that the glucosinolates with allyl and phenylethyl groups as side chain in potherb mustard are predominant.