Jawaharlal Nehru University

About: Jawaharlal Nehru University is a education organization based out in New Delhi, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Politics. The organization has 6082 authors who have published 13455 publications receiving 245407 citations. The organization is also known as: JNU.

Changes in agricultural biodiversity: Implications for sustainable livelihood in the Himalaya

Abstract: Himalayan mountain system is distinguished globally for a rich biodiversity and for its role in regulating the climate of the South Asia. Traditional crop-livestock mixed farming in the Himalaya is highly dependent on forests for fodder and manure prepared from forest leaf litter and livestock excreta. Apart from sustaining farm production, forests provide a variety of other tangible and intangible benefits, which are critical for sustainable livelihood of not only 115 million mountain people, but also many more people living in the adjoining plains. Extension of agricultural landuse coupled with replacement of traditional staple food crops by cash crops and of multipurpose agroforestry trees by fruit trees are widespread changes. Cultivation of Fagopyrum esculentum, Fagopyrum tataricum, Panicum miliaceum, Setaria italica and Pisum arvense has been almost abandoned. Increasing stress on cash crops is driven by a socio-cultural change from subsistence to market economy facilitated by improvement in accessibility and supply of staple food grains at subsidized price by the government. Farmers have gained substantial economic benefits from cash crops. However, loss of agrobiodiversity implies more risks to local livelihood in the events of downfall in market price/demand of cash crops, termination of supply of staple food grains at subsidized price, pest outbreaks in a cash crop dominated homogeneous landscape and abnormal climate years. Indigenous innovations enabling improvement in farm economy by conserving and/enhancing agrobiodiversity do exist, but are highly localized. The changes in agrobiodiversity are such that soil loss and run-off from the croplands have dramatically increased together with increase in local pressure on forests. As farm productivity is maintained with forest-based inputs, continued depletion of forest resources will result in poor economic returns from agriculture to local people, apart from loss of global benefits from Himalayan forests. Interventions including improvement in traditional manure and management of on-farm trees, participatory development of agroforestry in degraded forest lands and policies favoring economic benefits to local people from non-timber forest products could reduce the risks of decline in agricultural biodiversity and associated threats to livelihoods and Himalayan ecosystems.

Assessment of indoor air concentrations of VOCs and their associated health risks in the library of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Abstract: The present work investigated the levels of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m/p-xylene, and o-xylene (BTEX) in different microenvironments in the library of Jawaharlal Nehru University in summer and winter during 2011-2012. Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks due to organic compounds were also evaluated using US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) conventional approaches. Real-time monitoring was done for TVOC using a data-logging photo-ionization detector. For BTEX measurements, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) standard method which consists of active sampling of air through activated charcoal, followed by analysis with gas chromatography, was performed. Simultaneously, outdoor measurements for TVOC and BTEX were carried out. Indoor concentrations of TVOC and BTEX (except benzene) were higher as compared to the outdoor for both seasons. Toluene and m/p-xylene were the most abundant organic contaminant observed in this study. Indoor to outdoor (I/O) ratios of BTEX compounds were generally greater than unity and ranged from 0.2 to 8.7 and 0.2 to 4.3 in winter and summer, respectively. Statistical analysis and I/O ratios showed that the dominant pollution sources mainly came from indoors. The observed mean concentrations of TVOC lie within the second group of the Molhave criteria of indoor air quality, indicating a multifactorial exposure range. The estimated lifetime cancer risk (LCR) due to benzene in this study exceeded the value of 1 × 10(-6) recommended by USEPA, and the hazard quotient (HQ) of non-cancer risk came under an acceptable range.

Cooption and Resistance: Two Faces of Global Administrative Law

Abstract: This paper critiques the Global Administrative Law (GAL) initiative from a Third World perspective. The paper argues that, in the absence of a simultaneous critique and reform of substantive law, GAL has only limited potential to contribute to justice in the international system, and indeed may legitimize unjust laws and institutions. Existing international institutions are not, for the most part, being made more participatory and responsive to the concerns of developing countries and its peoples. Nevertheless, GAL may serve as a valuable instrument of change, much as administrative law has done through its use by social movements in some cases in India. This argument forms the basis for an analysis of the problems of increasing participation, transparency, and accountability in the Codex Alimentarius and in UNHCR refugee status determination. In situations of such unequal power, social movements and concerned NGOs must play key roles, and administrative mechanisms of information disclosure, participation, and review can facilitate this. Thus GAL can act as an instrument of resistance and change, but only in highly specific conditions, and only where GAL does not entail a complete separation between substantive and procedural/administrative rules.

Assessment of pollution potential of leachate from the municipal solid waste disposal site and its impact on groundwater quality, Varanasi environs, India

Abstract: Open dumping of municipal solid waste is prone to groundwater contamination because of leachate production. In this paper, an attempt has been made to assess the pollution potential of leachate generated from the solid waste disposal site and its impact on aquifers in the Varanasi environs, Uttar Pradesh, India. Physico-chemical parameters of leachate and groundwater samples were determined to evaluate leachate pollution index (LPI) as well as water quality index (WQI). The leachate pollution index indicates that the leachate generated from the landfill site is moderately contaminated. The pH (7.5) of the leachate indicates that the Varanasi solid waste dumping shows mature stage of landfill site. WQI indicate that 61, 23, 9, and 4 % of the groundwater is good, poor, unsuitable for drinking purpose, and very poor water, respectively. The principal component analysis identified four major components (cumulative variance is 80.4 %), in which maximum percent of variance (36 %) was observed in the first component that suggests the natural and anthropogenic influences. Hierarchical cluster analysis depicts three types of clusters such as Ca-HCO3, Na-Mg-HCO3, and Na-HCO3 type of water in the study area. Due to the impact of leachate on the groundwater resources, it is suggested to develop an engineered landfill site to control the leachate percolation into the groundwater.