PEARL Multidisciplinary Journal

Water Literacy among Rural Households in Kerala: A Study from Kannur District

Water as a basic human need is a limited natural resource and is very precious in nature. It is estimated that among 1360 million cubic kilometres available, only 0.2 million cubic kilometres is fresh water. In Kerala, 85 percent of drinking water needs are met from ground water. In recent decades human demand and misuse of water continuously increased and shortage of water is a global issue. The careless usage and less availability of water indicate the need for water literacy among people. The study revealed that rural households in Kerala are highly water literate and they ensured environmental sustainability as their responsibility.

The Problem of Plenty Versus Quality of Life

The quality of life of people largely depends upon meaningful development of an economy. A healthy, educated and an empowered population contributes to improved productivity which in turn sustain economic growth. In view of the emerging multi-faceted trends in population in India, population stabilization is the chief issue which the country has to accord top priority in its march towards socio-economic development. The programme of family planning and infant health care programmes are of vital importance to improve the’ quality of life’. In this paper an attempt is made to present a model of small family norm in improving quality of life through social marketing principles.

Repositioning India’s Cotton Lint Export Direction

Following the recent non-impressive performance in the export volume of its cotton lint which in turn affected its foreign exchange earnings from the sector due to bear raid by USA and China price subsidies which caused imperfection in the global trade market, the researchers conceptualized the need to identify the magnitude and effects of the key drivers of India’s cotton lint exports using Engel-Granger two-step procedure. The study used dated data spanning from 1981 to 2013 which were sourced from FAO and UNCTAD databases. The results of the long-run and short-run models showed that India’s cotton lint export is stimulated mostly by the internal economic forces. However, export growth of the product was hindered by both the domestic and external forces. In this regard, in as much as the negative impact on India’s cotton lint due to distortion induced downward pressure on world prices caused by price subsidies offered by China and USA, inefficiencies and constraints in the domestic environment would preclude India from appropriately exploiting opportunities and adjusting to unexpected market developments in the short-run. Therefore, to revitaliz the gloomy export trade of India’s cotton lint, policy makers and various stakeholders in the industry should put in place measures to address domestic inefficiencies over which the country has some control compared to inefficiencies on the global market, thus placing the country in a better position to exploit market opportunities and adjust to unexpected developments in the shortest possible time.

A Study on Psycho-social Burden of Women after Surgical Removal of Breast

Breast cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in women, is the disease women fear most. Breast cancer can also occur in men, but it’s far less common. Along with the physical trauma the psychological and social burden of breast cancer is severe and medical treatment must be complimented by psychosocial intervention for better result. This is the study to explore the psycho social and physical burden of women affected by breast cancer.

The objective of the study is to explore the physical burden of women after surgical removal of the breast, to discover the psychological burden of the women after the removal of the breast and to explore the social burden of women after removal of breast. The methodology is qualitative with case study method.

The study result shows that most of the respondents had physical discomfort, pain, infection and allergic reactions and psychological trauma including depression, anxiety and shyness. They were also withdrawing from social functions and scared of the society. The study has the social work implications in the areas of social work interventions to assess and diagnose the psycho social burden and to provide help in managing them.

Colloidal Processing and Slip Casting of Mullite

Mullite an aluminosilicate ceramic due to its excellent refractory, mechanical and dielectric properties find wide applications as structural and high temperature ceramics as well as for electric and optical applications. Slip casting is a well established shaping or forming method to fabricate ceramic shapes having simple to reasonably complicated shapes. In the present study commercially available mullite powders were characterized for crystallographic phase purity, particle size distribution and morphology. The optimum dispersion condition of the powder in de-ionised water was studied through measurement of zeta potential as a function of pH. The mullite powder dispersed in deionised water with and without addition of MgO was slip cast in plaster mould. The slip cast samples were sintered at different temperatures to study the effect of MgO addition on the sinterability of mullite. The products were characterized for density, porosity and microstructure.