Industrialisation in Fiji: Industrial structure and organisation

This paper analyses the significance, structure, and organisation of the manufacturing sector in Fiji, drawing on the author's earlier much larger study of industrialisation in Fiji. The latest Fijian census of industrial production (1984) and the author's 1983 survey of manufacturers in Fiji provide the main statistical basis of the study, which shows that the manufacturing sector is a moderately important component of the Fijian economy. It is dominated by resource industries, particularly food processing, but a wide range of manufacturing activities have, nonetheless, developed. There is a substantial number of small manufacturing establishments with a few large establishments, the latter, however, making an overwhelmingly important contribution to employment, gross output and value added. The market structure in the manufacturing sector is dominated by monopolies and oligopolies resulting from Fiji's small domestic market and its import substitution industrialisation strategy. There is an absence of informal sector activities in Fijian manufacturing, most firms being incorporated companies. The state has a major role as a direct producer in Fijian manufacturing. There are bound to be major changes in the manufacturing sector due to Fiji's current political crisis, but this paper does not address these because of the recency of the events and the consequent unavailability of relevant data.     

Lower Miocene (Aquitanien-Burdigalian) palaeobiogeography of the Indian subcontinent

The paper analytically discusses certain palaeoecological criteria in the reconstruction of Lower Miocene (Aquitanian-Burdigalian) palaeobiogeography of the Indian subcontinent. The period is characterised by major marine transgressions and a prolific marine invertebrate and terrestrial vertebrate faunas. Faunal affinities of molluscs from western (Sind-Baluchistan) and eastern (Garo Hills) sectors are distinct and different. Molluscs of Garo Hills show affinity to Burmese species, whereas Sind-Baluchistan species shows similarity to that of the Mediterranean region. Marine molluscs resemble with the present-day taxa of the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, where more than 35% species are common. This similarity is also evidenced by marine elasmobranchs, where approximately 33% species and 86% genera are similar to that of the Recent taxa. Terrestrial mammals show an intermingling of southern U.S.S.R. and African forms along with the presence of probably some groups belonging to the Indian subcontinent.Angiosperms are the dominant group. The Lower Miocene floras of the eastern and the western sectors are entirely different. The palm,Sabal major andPinus are reported from various localities. The climate in the western sector and South India was tropical, whereas in the eastern sector, it was variable.The Lower Miocene period is also marked by the contraction of Sindhu Sea, Bangla Sea and the Burmese Gulf southwards resulting in the final disappearance of the sea by the Pliocene.

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Zusammenfassung Die Paläobiogeographie des unteren Miocän (Aquitan-Burdigal) läßt sich auf dem indischen Subkontinent aus den palökologischen Daten rekonstruieren. Zu dieser Zeit gab es viele marine Invertebraten und terrestrische Vertebraten-Faunen, die große marine Transgression anzeigen. Die Mollusken des Westens (Find-Baluchistan) und Ostens (Garo-Gebirge) sind unterschiedlich. Die Mollusken des Garo-Gebirges sind mit den Spezies von Burma verwandt. Dagegen sind die Faunen von Sind-Baluchistan für die mediterrane Faunenprovinz typisch. Die marinen Mollusken sind verwandt mit den Faunen des Arabischen Meeres und der Bucht von Bengalen; etwa 35% der Spezies sind gleich. Von den marinen Elasmobranchien sind ungefähr 33 % Spezies und 86% Genera gleich wie man sie in den rezenten Faunen findet. Terrestrische Sänger zeigen eine Mischung von südlicher U.S.S.R. und Afrika mit einigen Teilen des Indischen Subkontinentes.In den Pflanzen-Gruppen herrschen die Angiospermen vor. Die Untermiocän-Flora der östlichen und westlichen Gebiete ist ganz unterschiedlich. Der Palme, dieSabal Major undPinus sind aus verschiedenen Lokalitäten bekannt. Das Klima im Westen und im Süden Indiens war tropisch, im Osten dagegen war es wechselfeucht.Das Untermiocän-Meer im Gebiet Sind, Bangladesh und Burma verschwindet vor dem Pliozän.

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Résumé Cet article analyse certains critères paléoécologiques dans la reconstitution de la paléogéographie du Miocène inférieur (Aquitanien-Burdigalien) de l'Inde subcontinentale. La période est caractérisée par de grandes transgressions marines et par des faunes abondantes d'invertébrés marins et de vertébrés terrestres. Les affinités fauniques des mollusques sont différentes dans les secteurs occidentaux (Sind-Baluchistan) et orientaux (Garo Hills). Les mollusques des Garo Hills montrent des affinités avec les espèces de Burma, tandis que les espèces de Sind-Béloutchistan montrent des similitudes avec celles de la région méditerranéenne. Les mollusques marins ont des ressemblances avec les taxons actuels de la Mer d'Arabie et du Golfe du Bengal, où plus de 35% des espèces sont les mÊmes. Cette similarité vaut aussi pour les élasmobranches marin, dont 33% des espèces et 86% des genres ressemblent aux taxons récents. Les mammifères terrestres montrent un mélange de formes du sud de l'U.S.S.R. et de formes africaines, allant de pair avec la présence de certains groupes probables appartenant au sous-continent indien.Les angiospermes forment le groupe dominant. Les formes du Miocène inférieur des secteurs orientaux et occidentaux sont entièrement différentes. Le palmier, le grand Sabal et le pin, sont connus dans différentes localités. Le climat dans le secteur occidental et dans l'Inde méridionale était tropical, tandis que dans le secteur oriental, il était variable.La période du Miocène inférieur est également marquée par le rétrécissement de la Mer de Sindhu, de la Mer de Bangla et du Golfe de Burma vers le sud, avec comme résultat la disparition finale de la mer au Pliocène.

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(Aquitanian Nurdigalian) . . (Sind- Beluchistan) (Garo Hills) . , . : 35% . Elasmobranchs 33 % 86 % . , . . , Sabal major . , , , , , — . Sindhu, .

     

Spectral element analysis to evaluate the stability of long and steep slopes

This paper evaluates the stability of long and steep slopes examining the effect of the critical length/depth ratio, L/H, and critical slope angle, β _cr, by comparing the results of infinite slope equation with the spectral element method. In addition, the influence of uphill and downhill boundaries on stability of long and steep slopes is also evaluated in theoretical domains. As an example, this paper presents a stability analysis of long and steep vegetated and barren slopes in saturated and seismic conditions, and also evaluates the effectiveness of the infinite slope equation for those slopes. In the vegetated slopes, the root zone may not extend to the whole depth of slope, which may lead to overestimating the factor of safety by infinite slope equation. This paper examines the applicability of the infinite slope equation for infinitely long, steep, and shallow slope model by comparing the results of the spectral element method.     

Regional changes in food poverty in India

Using average nutritive values of food actually consumed by individuals, this paper identifies regional concentration of hunger (food poverty) and its changes over time in rural India. There is clearly a heavy concentration of hunger in the coastal states of India, with few exceptions, which has persisted over time. Hunger has declined in about half the states of India but has increased in the remaining half. Unfortunately, it seems to have increased in the states that are relatively prosperous and are surplus producers of food. Hence, increased production of food, though important, does not necessarily reduce hunger. A redeeming conclusion of the study is that there has been a general improvement in the quality of food intake, particularly in the states where food poverty has declined.     

Statistical analysis of annual maximum rainfall in North-East India: an application of LH-moments

An attempt has been made to determine the best fitting distribution to describe the annual series of maximum daily rainfall data for the period 1966 to 2007 of nine distantly located stations in North East India. The LH-moments of order zero (L) to order four (L₄) are used to estimate the parameters of three extreme value distributions viz. generalized extreme value distribution (GEV), generalized logistic distribution (GLD), and generalized Pareto distribution (GPD). The performances of the distributions are assessed by evaluating the relative bias (RBIAS) and relative root mean square error (RRMSE) of quantile estimates through Monte Carlo simulations. Then, the boxplot is used to show the location of the median and the associated dispersion of the data. Finally, it can be revealed from the results of boxplots that zero level of LH-moments of the generalized Pareto distribution would be appropriate to the majority of the stations for describing the annual maximum rainfall series in North East India.     

Influence of forest fire episodes on the distribution of gaseous air pollutants over Uttarakhand,India

ABSTRACT

Widespread forest fire events occurred in the foothills of North Western Himalaya during 24 April to 2 May 2016 (Event-1) and 20–30 May 2018 (Event-2). Their impacts were investigated on the distribution of pollutant gases ozone (O₃), carbon monoxide (CO), and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) over Uttarakhand using simulations of Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with chemistry (WRF-Chem) and in-situ observations of these gases over Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand. During Event-1, the observed CO mixing ratio over Dehradun increased from 25 April 2016 onwards, attained maximum (705.8 ± 258 ppbv) on 2 May 2016 and subsequently decreased. The rate of increase of daily baseline CO was 29 ppbv/day during HFAP (High Fire Activity Period). During Event-2, daily average concentrations of CO, O₃, and NOx showed systematic increase over Dehradun during HFAP period. The rate of increase of CO was 9 ppbv/day, while it was very small for NOx and O₃. To quantitatively estimate the influence of forest fire emissions, two WRF-Chem simulations were made: one with biomass burning (BB) emissions and other without BB emissions. These simulations showed 52% (34%) enhancement in CO, 52% (32%) enhancement in NOx, and 11% (9%) enhancement in O₃ during HFAP for Event-1 (Event-2). A clear positive correlation (r = 0.89 for Event-1, r = 0.69 for Event-2) was found between ?O₃ (O_{3with BB} minus O_{3without BB}) and ?CO (CO_{with BB} minus CO_{without BB}), indicating rapid production of ozone in the fire plumes. For both the events, the vertical distribution of ?O₃, ?CO, and ?NOx showed that forest fire emissions influenced the air quality upto 6.5 km altitude. Peaks in ?O₃, ?CO, and ?NOx during different days suggested the role of varying dispersion and horizontal mixing of fire plumes.     

Waves and stresses produced in an elastic medium due to impulsive radial forces and twist on the surface of a spherical cavity

Summary Displacements and stresses produced by impulsive radial pressure and by impulsive twists have been determined. In the former case total flow of energy across a spherical boundary has been obtained.     

Influence of dynamic soil-pile raft-structure interaction: an experimental approach

Traditionally seismic design of structures supported on piled raft foundation is performed by considering fixed base conditions, while the pile head is also considered to be fixed for the design of the pile foundation. Major drawback of this assumption is that it cannot capture soil-foundation-structure interaction due to flexibility of soil or the inertial interaction involving heavy foundation masses. Previous studies on this subject addressed mainly the intricacy in modelling of dynamic soil structure interaction(DSSI) but not the implication of such interaction on the distribution of forces at various elements of the pile foundation and supported structure. A recent numerical study by the authors showed significant change in response at different elements of the piled raft supported structure when DSSI effects are considered. The present study is a limited attempt in this direction, and it examines such observations through shake table tests. The effect of DSSI is examined by comparing dynamic responses from fixed base scaled down model structures and the overall systems. This study indicates the possibility of significant underestimation in design forces for both the column and pile if designed under fixed base assumption. Such underestimation in the design forces may have serious implication in the design of a foundation or structural element.     

An anomalous cooling event observed in the Bay of Bengal during June 2009

Sea surface temperature (SST) variability over the Bay of Bengal (BoB) has the potential to trigger deep moist convection thereby affecting the active-break cycle of the monsoons. Normally, during the summer monsoon season, SST over the BoB is observed to be greater than 28°C which is a pre-requisite for convection. During June 2009, satellite observations revealed an anomalous basin-wide cooling and the month is noted for reduced rainfall over the Indian subcontinent. In this study, we analyze the likely mechanisms of this cooling event using both satellite and moored buoy observations. Observations showed deepened mixed layer, stronger surface currents, and enhanced heat loss at the surface in the BoB. Mixed layer heat balance analysis is carried out to resolve the relative importance of various processes involved. We show that the cooling event is primarily induced by the heat losses at the surface resulting from the strong wind anomalies, and advection and vertical entrainment playing secondary roles.     

On the quiet-time Pc 5 pulsation events (Spacequakes)

A quiet-time Pc 5 event (designated Spacequake) of March 18, 1974, first noted on the Fort Churchill magnetopram, was studied using global data. Its amplitude was found to be largest in the northern part of the auroral zone and its period seemed to increase with latitude. The clockwise polarization of the event noted at Baker Lake and higher latitudes changed to counterclockwise at Fort Churchill in X-Y, X-Z and Y-Z planes. The resonance of a field line (L ? 10) excited due to an instability of the Kelvin-Helmholtz type may have given rise to the observed event. It is conjectured that the cause of instability at this high altitude was internal convection of the magnetosphere. Similar quiet-time events from four Canadian observatories were selected from approximately 11 years of magnetograms and their statistical analysis revealed that (i) occurrences maximized near dawn and dusk (ii) the amplitude-latitude profile peaked at Great Whale River (L ? 6.67), (iii) periods increased with increasing geomagnetic latitudes, (iv) a large number of events occurred in January, February and March every year, and (v) frequency of occurrence increased with increasing sunspot numbers. Comparison of these results with those available in the literature from analyses of satellite data clearly indicate that quiet-time Pc 5 events (Spacequakes) originate in the outer magnetosphere.