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Posts Tagged 'village'
Mumbai as seen from an aircraft coming in to land. Neither city households nor wards care about the material throughput they cause and live with every day, week, month. Electricity and water, packaging and food, all contribute to the household footprint.
Should a trend continue as it has done for the last ten years, then in February or March of 2021 India's annual extraction of material will cross 7.5 billion tons. It was in 2011, only eight years ago, that the country's material extraction had crossed six billion tons. This stupendous mass comprises what are called non-metallic minerals, most of it limestone, structural clays, and the several kinds of mixtures of sand, gravel and crushed rock that are used for construction, which in 2017 amounted to an estimated 3.2 billion tons.
There was biomass, by which is meant harvested crops – foodgrain, horticultural crops, pulses, sugarcane and plantation crops – and crop residues, both straw and leaves, which was an estimated 2.8 billion tons (sugarcane accounting for nearly 370 million tons), coal of 732 million tons and wood of an estimated 242 million tons (of which about 210 million tons were used as fuel). Collated from data provided by national agencies, the International Resource Panel of UN Environment maintains the material use profiles of nearly every country.
Apportioned by household, at the beginning of 2020 this vast material budget can be atomised to about 26 tons for each, in much the same way as per capita income is calculated, as a notional distribution, for each individual of India. Yet material allocation is a measure that, for all its tangible bulk, is treated as nearly invisible. Money and income, wages and savings, credit and assets are calculated and assessed to the third decimal by the financial services industry. But there is no corresponding industry to measure, assess and pronounce upon the solvency of the material intake of a household, whether in quintals or in kilograms, whether as fluid diesel or as grain or as burnt brick.
When it comes to the physical basis for the household's shelter, its roster of daily consumption, the durable goods purchased and disposed of, its tribe of electronic gadgets, there is no literacy effort to be found run by any industry, or by government, or even by centres of higher education. The Indian household – whether amongst the estimated 96 million in urban centres or the 183 million in villages – is transiting from circumspection born of scarcity to profligacy in material accumulation.
The forms and vegetal densities of a typical ruralscape of coastal Tamil Nadu, this being near Pondicherry. Unlike the overground forms of a town, here there is no disharmony. Dwellings, orchards, crop fields, bunds, tracks, ponds all blend in material balance.
That the consequences of such a trend cannot be contained or managed in a meaningful way was already being signalled to us a generation ago, when our mega-metropolises (cities and adjacent urban agglomerations with a combined population of 10 million and more) found no alternative to the small hills of refuse and compacted rubbish that towered over some unfortunate outlying ward. Those hills have only become larger at a faster pace, and they are joined – as a new category of topological landform – by the waste and rubbish pits ('landfills' in the American vernacular) that the great majority of our class 1 cities (population of 100,000 and more) turn to as their means to deal with the accumulation of unwanted material.
How did the material burden of our settlements grow so quickly? Part of the reason must be ascribed to the collective race away from poverty, both monetary and of basic goods. It is rare to find today a discussion about whether a poverty line is reasonable or not, although a generation ago it was an important subject just as it was in the previous generation. The race has been set as one by the intentions and terminologies of a kind of economics based almost wholly on the concept of development. Thus one of the standard references for many years, the Cambridge Economic History of India, advised that "the declared goals of development policy were to bring about a rapid increase in living standards, provide full employment at an adequate wage, and reduce inequalities arising from the uneven distribution of income and wealth."
Yet the development policies of the socialists, of those who designed the 'command economy', of the licence raj mandarins, of the globalisers, of the commodities capitalists, of the services barons, of the infotech-biotech persuasions, not one of these policy pathways has advised where sufficiency lies, and what to do after we have consumed our way out of poverty and into maintenance. None of these can, because 'growth' and market control is the engine that motivates their methods. Sufficiency – or consumption stability – also has the accompanying corollaries of societies making purchases last (by repairing and reusing them) and not purchasing at all.
Posted in Agriculture and food, cities and urbanisation, Ecology and environment
Tagged with city, construction, India, infrastructure, land, material flow, soil, town planning, village, water
New indicators and measures are needed if we are to better understand how villages allocate and use land, and whether their households survive or thrive through such use.
There is a great diversity of practices concerning the environment and land within the administrative unit we call a district. A typical district of India is often more than 10,000 square kilometres and will be divided into a number of talukas or tehsils – it could be eight or less, it could be 15 or more.
As a district like Beed has many hundreds of gramas – it has 1,368 gramas (11 uninhabited) by the count of Census 2011 – the local practices of land management, cultivation, maintaining micro watersheds, administering pastures and grazing lands, following the traditions of handicrafts, hand weaves and village industries, are many and only cursorily documented if at all they are.
The Beed syndrome – of the rapid change in crop choice and its impact on land use – is a sum of its parts. While those parts have as much to do with the physical characteristics, they have also to do with behaviours, perceptions and choices. But for the latter kind of factors there is hardly any data. For physical uses and changes, there is data (as I showed in the linked post).
Just as districts are the sum of diverse talukas (and towns) so too talukas are the sum of villages. With 176 gramas, the taluka of Ashti has a diversity of knowledge systems enough to occupy a bus-load of social scientists for a decade, if only they would be interested enough to visit what sounds like a humdrum taluka in a hot and dusty zilla of Maharashtra.
The land use and crop choice changes in Beed are the result of a widespread change. But with a district of this complexity – 1,368 gramas, 11 talukas, 9 towns, 534,278 households with a population of 2,585,049 – how feasible is it to identify the major factors among several that have caused such change?
My attempt in these posts is to show, through the available data at taluka and grama levels, that tracing such changes is possible, and that a new, quite different, set of measures should be adopted if district administrations and other planning bodies are to look ahead, two to three generations ahead, and provide guidance.
Turning more locally to Ashti, one of Beed's 11 talukas, I found using the Census 2011 data (the District Census Handbook and its detailed tables) that it is in terms of area the second largest taluka (after Beed taluka). Its population count of 243,607 places it as 7th among Beed's 11 talukas (it was at this rank within the district by Census 2001 data too).
What has changed in Ashti is that whereas in 2001 the entire population of the taluka was rural, Census 2011 had Ashti town as home to 11,972 urban residents (just under 5% of the taluka population).
Through a first extraction of the District Census Handbook data I found that Ashti's villages are by no means homogenous. They vary widely by population, land use and sown area.
To better illustrate how the changes in The Beed syndrome came about, for the examination of taluka-level data I am creating a new ratios and indicator types, a few of which I have applied to Ashti (and will extend the application to the other 10 talukas of Beed).
The grama level data is extensive and for my purposes I selected population, spatial area, number of households and net area sown. How varied the gramas are for each of these can be seen in the adjoining table.
Variations apart, since Census 2011 allows us to see the ways in which collections of even 200 households use land, decide labour and secure their food, I calculated the following: (1) percentage of sown area (hectares under cultivation) to total village area, (2) number of households per hectare of sown area (hectare under cultivation). This let me see at the grama level how critical cultivated land was to the household and grama economy through the percentage of total, and how well each hectare was being utilised by very broadly finding out how many household 'units' the hectare was supporting.
The main chart I drew therefore plots the gramas using both these – a ratio and an indicator. These is in the chart a density of gramas in the south-eastern quadrant. More pertinently, the densest concentration of the gramas of Ashti taluka occur within and near the grid square that reads 2 to 3 households per cultivated hectare and 75% to 80% of the grama land being under cultivation. (There are a few other zones of concentration but this is the heaviest.)
Posted in Agriculture and food, Ecology and environment
Tagged with agriculture, crop selection, food security, household, India, land use, rural, village
Villages in their splendid talukas
As part of my continuing and long term study on the relation between populations both rural and urban, the land base upon which they depend for the growing of food, and the socio-economic changes taking place in our districts, I have begin an examination of how households are distributed in administrative regions, that is, districts and talukas. This graphed plot describes one kind of finding. (Click here for a full size plot that lets you explore each data point.)
States are administratively divided into districts (earlier the concept of a 'division', which was a group of districts, was more common – the 'division' is still used, for revenue determination but also for home affairs) and these are divided into talukas. How many talukas does the typical district have? Some have four, others as many as 12. There are talukas whose households are entirely rural as there is not a single census town, let alone a municipal council, within its precincts. The taluka contains villages and these can be numerous. Some talukas may have 50-60 villages whereas others may have 200 and more.
It is always an interesting matter to ponder. How did households in a small sub-region – at the confluence of a stream and a river for example or at the edge of a plain and at the margins of hills – become villages and what determined the distribution of such hamlets in a very local habitat? The factors were always environmental and there was often a strong cultural reason, such as proximity to a sacred site, a mandir or a venerated shrine, historical sites (such as those mentioned in the Ramayana and documented in detail thereafter in numerous local commentaries).
From the set of districts analysed so far a few guiding figures have emerged. The number of rural households in a taluka varies from 7,200 to 96,800; the number of villages in a taluka varies from 28 to 338; the average number of households in a village is 330; there is one urban household for every 3 rural households.
Where the agro-ecological conditions are favourable, there is to be found a denser gathering of villages and these will have larger populations. This can easily be understood. It is less clear how the toil of the households accommodated in a large number of villages are required to maintain, in many ways, urban households which are now clustered in a town or two of the same taluka. This dependence is what a study of not only the rural-urban population, but also how it is distributed within agro-ecological boundaries, can help uncover. The graphed plot included here is one step towards that understanding.
Posted in Agriculture and food, cities and urbanisation, Ecology and environment, Population
Tagged with agriculture, district, ecology, environment, India, Maharashtra, rural, taluka, urban, village
How a district employs land and crop
A plotting of the cropland size categories with the number of holdings for the district of Hingoli in Maharashtra. The central group of rectangles displays the distribution, relative to each other, of the size categories of holdings (in hectares, ha.). The blue squares, also relative to each other, displays the number of holdings for each farm size category. The data source is the Agricultural Census 2010-11.
In the district of Hingoli, Maharashtra, the allocation of cultivated land between food crops and non-food crops is somewhat in favour of non-food crops. That is, for every hectare planted with a food crop 1.3 hectares is planted with a non-food crop. The broad categories we have under food crops are: cereals, pulses, vegetables and fruit. Under non-food crops there are: oilseeds, sugarcane, fibres, spices and fodder.
Where Hingoli district is in Maharashtra state.
The Agricultural Census 2010-11 detailed data for Hingoli shows that at the time of the survey 493,927 hectares were under cultivation for all kinds of crops, both food and non-food. As this is a count of how much land was under cultivation by crop, the total land under cultivation for all crops taken together is more than the total land under cultivation when measured according to land use. This is so because of crop rotation during the same agricultural year, inter-cropping and mixed cropping – for a plot, the same land may raise two kinds of crops in a year.
Size categories of farm holdings, with number of holdings and total area under each category for Hingoli district, Maharashtra.
The 493,927 hectares under cultivation in Hingoli are divided under 213,286 hectares for food crops and 280,640 hectares under non-food crops. This gives us the overall picture that the farming households of Hingoli choose to give more land for crop types under the 'non-food' category. As the settlement pattern of Hingoli is very largely rural – that means, few towns and these are the district headquarters and two more taluka centres – do the farming households of Hingoli grow enough to feed themselves comfortably? Do the farming households have the labour needed to continue cultivating so that they can feed themselves and their village communities? How are choices relating to land use and crop made?
Using the publicly available information from a variety of government sources, we are able to find parts of answers. The Agricultural Census 2010-11 is one such source, the Census of India 2011 is another, so are the tables provided by the Department of Economics and Statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture. The graphical representation I have prepared here helps provide the land use basis upon which to layer the district information from other sources.
Posted in Agriculture and food, labour, Population
Tagged with agriculture, किसान, कृषि, भारत, महाराष्ट्र, crop, farm, Hingoli, holding, land use, Maharashtra, rural, village
Ten years of India's great rural guarantee
Ten years of a rural employment guarantee programme in India is well worth marking for the transformations it has brought about in rural districts and urban towns both, for the two kinds of Indias are so closely interlinked. The ten year mark has been surrounded by opportunistic political posturing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of the ruling National Democratic Alliance and by churlish accusations from the Indian National Congress (or Congress party, now in the opposition).
When the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act came about (it is now prefixed by MG, which is Mahatma Gandhi) ten years ago, it was only the newest in a long line of rural poverty alleviation programmes whose beginnings stretch past the Integrated Rural Development Programme (still a touchstone during the Ninth Five Year Plan) whose early period dates from the 1970s as a more coherent manifestation of the 'Food For Work' programme. Democratic decentralisation, which is casually dropped into central government communications nowadays as if it was invented only last week, was explained at length as early as the Sixth Five Year Plan. And in the Fourth Five Year Plan, in the guidance section it was stated that measures were needed for "widening opportunities of productive work and employment to the common man and particularly the less privileged sections of society" which "have to be thought out in a number of different contexts and coordinated in to effective, integrated programmes".
Work demand patterns in four districts (all in Maharashtra) from 2012 April to 2016 February. The cyclical nature of work demanded usually coincides with crop calendar activities in districts and sub-districts. This aspect of the MGNREGA information system can be used as a good indicator for planning by other line ministries, not only rural development. We can see the difference between the set of two districts of Akola and Gondiya, and the districts of Washim and Hingoli: the cyclical nature in the first two is more pronounced. The April to June demand is seen common, and increasing over the three years recorded by the charts.
This is only the barest glimpse of the historical precursors to the MGNREGA. The size of our rural population in the decade of the 2010s transforms any national (central government) programme into a study of gigantism over a number of dimensions, and so it is with the (MG)NREGA whose procedural demands for organising information over time and place became a discipline by itself, leading to the creation of a management information system whose levels of detail are probably unmatched anywhere in the world.
For its administrators, every week that the MGNREGA delivers money to households in a hamlet for work sanctioned by that small panchayat is one more successful week. There have over this last decade been considerably more successful weeks than unsuccessful ones. This has happened not because of politicians of whichever party of persuasion, but because of the decision made by many households to participate in the shape that NREGA (and later MGNREGA) took in their particular village. The politicians, like the parties they belong to, are incidental and transitory. At this stage of the programme's life, it is to be hoped that it continues to run as a participatory pillar of the economy of Bharat, and assimilates in the years to come new concerns from the domains of organic (or zero budget) agriculture, sustainable development and ecological conservation.
At this stage the commentaries look back at the last year or perhaps two of the programme. "It is unclear, however, what the present NDA government thinks about the performance of the scheme," commented the periodical Down To Earth. "Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called MGNREGA a 'monument of failure'. Now, the rural development ministry has termed it as 'a cause of national pride'." The magazine went on to add that MGNREGA "started losing steam when wages were kept pending, leading to the liability being carried forward to the following year".
"What is relatively less known is the impact of MGNREGA on several other aspects of the rural economy, such as wages, agricultural productivity and gender empowerment," a commentary in the financial daily Mint has pointed out. "While most critics lament the quality of assets created under MGNREGA, there is now increasing evidence based on rigorous studies, which suggest that not only has the asset quality been better than comparable government programmes, they are also used more by the community."
The finance minister has been quoted by the daily Indian Express as follows: "A kind of indifference towards it (MGNREGA) was growing by 2013-14, when the scheme entered its seventh and eighth years. When there was a change of government in 2014-15, there was talk on whether the scheme will be discontinued, or its fund allocation curtailed," Minister Arun Jaitley is reported to have said at the MGNREGA 'Sammelan' in New Delhi. "The new government [the BJP] not only took forward the scheme but also increased its fund."
In a Press Information Bureau release, the Minister for Rural Development, Birender Singh, said that 2015-16 has seen a revival of the MGNREGA programme. He also said that more than 64% of total expenditure was on agriculture and allied activities and 57% of all workers were women (well above the statutory requirement of 33%), and that among the measures responsible for the "revival of MGNREGA are the timely release of funds to states to provide work on demand, an electronic fund management system, consistent coordination between banks and post offices besides monitoring of pendency of payments".
So far so good. What MGNREGA administrators need to mind now is for managerial technology and methods to not get ahead (or around) the objectives of the programme because these tend to keep the poor and vulnerable out instead of the other way around. The evaluations and studies on NREGA – and there have been a number of good ones – have shown that the more new financial and administrative measures there are, the greater the decline in participation in the programme. Administrative complexity also provides fodder to those, like this pompous commentator, who try to find in data 'evidence' that NREGA does "not help the poor".
The MGNREGA's usefulness and relevance is not only about creating employment when it is needed and its generally positive impact on wages. For all its shortcomings the MGNREGA programme has also helped revitalise the need to understand labour dynamics in rural areas particularly as it pertains to agriculture and cultivation. At a time when the flashier sections of the modern economy have lost their shine (if ever there was a shine) and when the need for panchayat-led, village-centric development that is self-reliant in deed and spirit is growing in Bharat, a programme like the MGNREGA has all the potential to serve the country well for another generation.
Posted in Agriculture and food, Ecology and environment, labour, Population, poverty
Tagged with Bharat, BJP, Congress, employment, Gandhi, India, MGNREGA, NDA, NREGA, poverty, rural, UPA, urban, village, work demand
Water and a district in Maharashtra
In this panel of maps the relationship between the district of Parbhani (in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra) and water is graphically depicted over time. The blue squares are water bodies, as seen by a satellite equipped to do so. The intensity of the blue colour denotes how much water is standing in that coloured square by volume – the deeper the blue, the more the water.
Water bodies consist of all surface water bodies and these are: reservoirs, irrigation tanks, lakes, ponds, and rivers or streams. There will be variation in the spatial dimensions of these water bodies depending on how much rainfall the district has recorded, and how the collected water has been used during the season and year. In addition to these surface water bodies, there are other areas representing water surface that may appear, such as due to flood inundations, depressions in flood plains, standing water in rice crop areas during transplantation stages. Other than medium and large reservoirs, these water features are treated as seasonal and some may exist for only a few weeks.
Click on this detail for a full size image (1.7MB) of the panel of fortnightly maps.
The importance of monitoring water collection and use at this scale can be illustrated through a very brief outline of Parbhani. The district has 830 inhabited villages distributed through nine tehsils that together occupy 6,214 square kilometres, eight towns, 359,784 households in which a population of 1.83 million live (1.26 rural and 0.56 million urban). This population includes 317,000 agricultural labourers and 295,000 cultivators – thus water use and rainfall is of very great importance for this district, and indeed for the many like it all over India.
The map of Parbhani district and its talukas, from the Census 2011 District Census Handbook.
This water bodies map for Parbhani district is composed of 18 panels that are identical spatially – that is, centred on the district – and display the chronological progression of water accumulation or withdrawal. Each panel is a 15-day period, and the series of mapped fortnights begins on 1 January 2015.
The panels tell us that there are periods before the typical monsoon season (1 June to 30 September) when the accumulation of water in surface water bodies has been more than those 15-day periods found during the monsoon season. See in particular the first and second fortnights of March, and the first fortnight of April. [Here is a good quality image of the census map, 968KB.]
During the monsoon months, it is only the two fortnights of June in which the accumulation of water in the surface water bodies of Parbhani district can be seen. The first half of July and the second half of August in particular have been recorded as relatively dry.
This small demonstration of the value of such information, provided at no cost and placed in the public domain, is based on the programme 'Satellite derived Information on Water Bodies Area (WBA) and Water Bodies Fraction (WBF)' which is provided by the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Department of Space, Government of India.
For any of our districts, such continuous monitoring is an invaluable aid to: facilitate the study of water surface dynamics in river basins and watersheds; analyse the relationships between regional rainfall scenarios and the collection and utilisation of water in major, medium reservoirs and irrigation tanks and ponds; inventory, map and administer the use of surface water area at frequent intervals, especially during the crop calendar applicable to district and agro-ecological zones. [Also posted on India Climate Portal.]
Posted in Ecology and environment, Population, water
Tagged with agriculture, block, district, irrigation, Maharashtra, monsoon, population, reservoir, surface water, taluka, tehsil, village, water
Why India must rely on local food stocks
The below average June to September monsoon season will lead to lower foodgrains production. What is the likely impact and how can society cope?
Context – For the last four years the numbers that describe India's essential food security have become a common code: 105 million tons (mt) of rice, 95 mt of wheat, 41 to 43 mt of coarse cereals, 19 to 20 mt of pulses, 165 to 170 mt of vegetables and 80 to 90 mt of fruit.
With these quantities assured, our households feed themselves, army and factory canteens are supplied, the public distribution system is kept stocked and the processed and retail food industry secures its raw material.
Only provided there is such assurance, and that the allowance for plus or minus is as small as possible. Monsoon 2015 has removed that assurance for the agricultural year 2015-16. Our 36 states and union territories – and the 63 cities whose populations are more than a million – must begin to deal with the possible scenarios immediately.
Stock scenarios – In September 2015 the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, of the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, released the first of its usual four 'advance estimates' for the 2015-16 agricultural year. Each estimate sets the targets for the year for the foodgrain (and also commercial) crops, and provides with every estimate how likely it is that the annual target will be met.
This first advance estimate has issued a direct warning: rice production is estimated at 90.6 mt against a target of 106.1 mt. The wheat target is just under 95 mt but there is no estimate provided as yet. The target for coarse cereals is 43.2 mt whereas the advance estimate is just under 28 mt. The target for pulses is 20mt and the first estimate is 5.5mt.
What are the implications? The responsibility of the Department is to provide a provisional reading of the conditions that affect the production of our staple crops, and to inform and prepare state and central governments of the likelihood of shortfalls in foodgrain. The signal it has given for rice, estimated at 85% of the target, must be taken as a flashing red beacon which demands that our food stocks return to the foreground of the national agenda.
It is likely that the second and third advance estimates will see quantities revised upwards, but our planning must be based on this first estimate so that even the most adverse of natural contingencies can be met with suitable measures.
Using the first advance estimate as the basis, here are the likely annual production quantities, at 90% of the target and at 95% of the target: rice, between 95 and 101 mt; wheat, between 85 and 91 mt; coarse cereals, between 39 and 42 mt; pulses, between 16 and 17 mt; total foodgrains, between 236 and 250 mt of which cereals are between 220 and 232 mt.
Household demand – Will these quantities suffice, as for the last four years total foodgrain targets and production have been in the region of 260-273 mt?
To help answer this question, two sets of deductions must be accounted for. To begin with, for each main category of foodgrain, there are production quantities, imports, stock variations and exports. When these are added or subtracted, a gross domestic supply quantity remains.
It is worth also noting that this gross quantity is still no more than a best assessment that is synthesised from the information provided by state governments. The first set of deductions is by way of feed, seed and waste (foodgrain that is used in animal feed, is harvested to use as seed for sowing, and which is damaged after harvest or rendered unusable because of pests and infection). Allowing for the lowest likely level of deductions, the combined deduction is about 7% for rice, 10.5% for wheat, 17% for coarse cereals, 15% for pulses, 5% for vegetables and 10% for fruits.
The available quantities are now revised further. Under a 95% of target scenario, we will have 93.5 mt of rice, 81 mt of wheat, 34.5 mt of coarse cereals and 14.5 mt of pulses. In the same way, a 95% of target scenario for vegetables is 153.5 mt and for fruits it is 72.5 mt. On the consumption side we have the households – in 2016 we will have 175 million rural and 83 million urban households.
These households will require a baseline minimum of 181 mt of cereals, 136 mt of vegetables, 45 mt of fruits and 41 mt of pulses. Under a 95% of production target scenario therefore, there will be enough cereals, enough vegetables and enough fruits. We have been falling short in pulses for several years.
But this apparent comfort is still without the second set of deductions. And these are: (1) buffer stocks of rice and wheat to be maintained, with 5-8 mt of rice during the year and 10-18 mt of wheat during the year (to fulfil the demands on the public distribution system and to fulfil the allocations for the food-based welfare programmes), and in addition the strategic reserve of 2 mt of rice and 3 mt of wheat to be maintained; (2) the use of foodgrains by the food processing and retail food industry; (3) exports of primary crops (such as rice and in particular basmati) and processed crops (vegetables and fruits); (4) the industrial use of foodgrain (including for biodiesel); (5) the diversion of cereals to alcohol distilleries.
Some amongst the second set of deductions are known – such as the withdrawals for buffer stocks and the food reserves, and the export quantities – but the others are either hidden, concealed or misreported. In a food production scenario that is less than 95% of targets (in the way that rice has already been estimated for 2015-16), the deductions from gross crop production will decrease available foodgrains, vegetables and fruits to levels that will compromise household food security, especially those households in the lower income brackets.
Recommendations – The climate variations that have led the Department of Agriculture to raise a red flag warning are no longer uncommon. The 2015 monsoon was affected by El Nino conditions, which are expected to continue into the first quarter of 2016. These changes in the pattern of the Indian summer monsoon are amplified by land use change in our districts, by deforestation, by rapid urbanisation, by inequitous water use, and by consumption behaviour. Some of these can be addressed through policy, education and incentives over the long term. What is needed immediately however are:
a) A review of the drivers of crop cultivation choice in our watersheds and agro-ecological zones so that, as far as possible, these settlements units begin the transition towards local food security in sustainable ways. This means that the income-led arguments which favour the cultivation of commercial crops for farming households must be critically re-examined – in a situation of primary crop scarcity an income buffer alone will not help these households.
b) The demands placed by export arrangements (including the export of meat, which represents fodder and feed) and by the food processing and retail food industry must be quantified and made public. Especially at the level of district administrations, the need to rationally incentivise land use towards the cultivation of food crop staples that suit agro-ecological conditions has become an urgent one. The decentralisation of planning that can make such an approach possible can take place only when hitherto hidden and concealed foodgrains use becomes public.
c) To reach self-reliance at the level of panchayat or block (tahsil, taluka), cooperative farming must be vigorously encouraged, villages must become self-reliant in the provisioning of their food staples (a consideration that must balance that of the 'national market'), the bio-physical limits of the major food producing districts (the top 250 by quantity) have already been reached and this necessarily limits the demand urban India can exert upon rural districts, in terms not only of food quantities but also in terms of the population that must be fully engaged in foodgrains cultivation.
Posted in Agriculture and food, Climate change, Ecology and environment, Economics and globalisation, Population
Tagged with agriculture, cereal, city, ecology, environment, farmer, food, food security, food stocks, foodgrain, India, pulses, rural, urban, vegetable, village
Workers in their districts
What has changed in the numbers of Maharashtra's workers over ten years, over the period marked by the recordings of two censuses, 2001 and 2011?
This experimental chart shows us the flow and accumulation in Maharashtra of what the Census calls 'total workers', and by this the Census enumerators mean those who said they have employment (or have worked for themselves) for more than six months, and those who have had work (or wages) for less than six months. These two divisions are called 'main' and 'marginal'.
Click for an interactive chart
The difference between these two descriptors of working status may be more grey than black-and-white, for the Census records how much time is spent working and not how much is earned (and saved and spent) as payment for that time spent. Hence, a 'main' worker who has been employed for 7 to 8 months of the year may have earned through wages, salaries or commissions just as much as a 'marginal' worker did by working for 5 months.
This is only to show that 'workers' as counted by a Census can be interpreted in a variety of ways, and for those wanting to get a fuller and richer view of the matter, it is best to read the Census data as a layer above or below one or two other sources of data, such as the NSSO and the results of a field study for example in a district.
What then do the districts of Maharashtra tell us? First, that the number of workers increased between 2001 and 2011 in most but not all districts, and that those districts with the largest increases in numbers were Thane (1.312 million more, 41.28% more), Pune (1.094 million more, 37.05% more), Mumbai Suburban (0.582 million more, 18.48% more), Nashik (0.577 million more, 26.43% more), and Aurangabad (0.398 million more, 33.84% more). There are also Beed with 31.12% more workers and Jalna with 29.85% more workers.
Next, that Mumbai and Mumbai Suburban, together with Thane and Pune, have 13.56 million total workers which is 27% of all Maharashtra's workers! That is a concentration of numbers, but it tells us nothing about the conditions they work in, whether they are paid adequately to support a family and household (the major unions have been asking for a national minimum floor wage of Rs 10,000 for two years now) and whether these earners receive as is their right workers' benefits. That is why we try as much as is possible to read the invaluable account of India and its districts and villages as described by the Census together with other sources and studies.
Posted in Agriculture and food, cities and urbanisation, Population
Tagged with 2001, 2011, Aurangabad, Beed, census, district, employment, India, Jalna, labour, main, marginal, Mumbai, Nashik, Pune, rural, taluka, Thane, urban, village, wage, worker
Health care data from the districts
This page contains the district data available in the District Level Household and Facility Survey (DLHS-3) which was a country-wide survey covering 601 districts (at that time) from 34 states and union territories of India.
As an essential part of the continuing district development index – which concentrates on agriculture and food – the sectors of population and demographics, health, education, water and sanitation, land use, finance and credit, will be linked. I have started this link with health data for Maharashtra.
DLHS-3 was the third round of the district level household survey which was conducted during December 2007 to December 2008 (funded by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)).
This third round was designed to collect data at district level on various aspects of health care utilisation for reproductive and child health, accessibility of health facilities, assess the effectiveness of ASHA and JSY in promoting RCH care, to assess health facility capacity and preparedness in terms of infrastructure.
An important objective of DLHS-3 was to assess the contribution of decentralisation of primary health care at the district level and below by involving village health committees under panchayats in the implementation of health care programmes.
Posted in health, Population
Tagged with ASHA, district, District Level Household and Facility Survey, DLHS-3, health care, India, JSY, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, panchayat, primary health centre, RCH, UNFPA, Unicef, village
The slow counting of village India
On old maps and in dusty histories, our villages have formed the reliable background against which to describe empire and freedom. Many of the names in the humblest level of description found in Census 2011 can be traced back over generations.
M N Srinivas, the eminent sociologist who died in 1999, once wrote that a sociological study of Indian sociologists would yield interesting results. Over a century's worth of rural enquiry, we have found that sociologists and anthropologists have been preoccupied with their discrete interests. The former consider urban planning, labour, housing, slum and informal economies, social vices, demography. The latter carefully study tribal cultures, ethnography, acculturation and cultural dynamics, evolution and ethnology.
A descriptive table from the excellent 'Rural Profiles', which appeared in the 'Eastern Anthropologist', Volume VIII, edited by D N Majumdar, 1955
But it is the macro-economists who have meanwhile perfected their techniques (however questionable, and most are) and who have begun to use quantitative data to understand and interpret the socio-economic problems of rural life. These problems have been studied with little or no attention paid to the cultural background, so that the inter-relations that exist between different sets of social phenomena have to a large extent been ignored (they can hardly be included in a computable general equilibrium model, can they?). From the time Srinivas's work was charting new directions in the 1940s and 1950s, the call has been made over and again for a holistic approach, in which inter-disciplinary participation would be needed. But the macro-economic disequilibrists have thus far had the upper hand.
And so to the numbers. There are 43,264 in Rajasthan, there are 25,372 in Assam and there are 40,959 in Maharashtra. That's the village count in these states and this count (and the way villages are dispersed in the districts based on the size of their populations) is the focus of the latest data release from Census 2011.
Acknowledging the concern of the socio-economists, can there be an 'average' count for district? Yes there can, but finding one has little real use especially for the district concerned. Even so, to help us better understand the way a district is (and has for most of our recorded history) been organised I have used the data to find such an 'average'. From the set of 631 districts that have villages (the others have none, being fully urban in character) I extracted the middle 505 districts (their villages count was from 138 to 1,817) and the median is 817 – that is, 817 villages in an 'average' district.
Where can we find such districts? Here are twelve: Garhwa in Jharkhand with 844, Rajkot in Gujarat with 833, Parbhani in Maharashtra with 830, Barpeta in Assam with 825, Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh with 820, Ashoknagar in Madhya Pradesh with 818, Rangareddy in Andhra Pradesh with 817, Raichur in Karnataka with 815, Sitamarhi in Bihar with 808, Kota in Rajasthan with 805, Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu with 799 and Una in Himachal Pradesh with 790.
The richness of detail in careful village study. This too is from 'Rural Profiles', which appeared in the 'Eastern Anthropologist', Volume VIII, edited by D N Majumdar, 1955
Although the variation in the villages count is relatively small amongst these 'average' twelve (the least has under 10% less than the most) the rural populations in these districts vary widely. Una has a population of 476.000 and Ashoknagar has 691,000 whereas Rajkot has 1,590,000 and Sitamarhi has 3,233,000! In the same way, there are considerable differences in the areas cultivated, the forest cover, the sort of crops cultivated, and the available agricultural labour and cultivators who bring forth the crop from the soil. As I expand on the meaning of these new figures and draw some corelations with other aspects of our district enquiry – 1,670 is the 'average' population of a village, for example – we will venture a little closer to the sort of holistic study that Srinivas and his colleagues had called for about six decades ago.
[The new set of data released by Census 2011 has: (1) a note on villages by population, (2) tables by district and by taluka / tahsil / block (excel file), (3) percentage of population living in villages of various population size with reference to the total rural population in 2011, (4) percentage of villages and population by class of villages in 2001 and 2011, (5) the number of villages whose populations are 10,000 and above, 2001-2011, (6) distribution of 10,000 villages of each class, all-India, and 10,000 population in each class of villages, all-India, among states and union territories.]
Posted in Agriculture and food, cities and urbanisation, Ecology and environment, history, Population
Tagged with 2011, block, census, distribution, India, mandal, population, rural, state, tahsil, taluka, tehsil, village


While browsing YouTube I stumbled upon a video by Italian artist Andrea Romeo.
After visiting his website I found out a little more about the music and the artist behind it.
Andrea was born in Treviso, in Northern Italy, his music is purely instrumental and self-produced. In his latest album "Need For Expression" he plays several instruments including guitars, piano, strings, synths, drum machine, bass and various effects.
By reading his bio on the website I learned that the album was initially conceived in 2008, but the recording was done later, in 2013 by Andrea Romeo himself with the final mix in Berlin, Germany.
The music is described as a mix of multi-dimensional universes and dark spaces. The album itself is very introspective and draws its inspiration from personal emotions and feelings but it also allows the listener to imagine and create her own athmospheres. We can hear all this in his masterful fusion of classical, electronic and post rock music.
I became quite interested in Andrea's work, so I decided to contact him for an interview.
Italia mia: How old were you when you started to play music and which instrument was? Did your parents or friends have any influence on your music discovery?
Andrea Romeo: I was 15 years old when I fell in love with music and decided that the guitar would be my chosen instrument to take me into this journey and it still does.
A journey that has witnessed my interest in personal composition and recording growing day-by-day, along with learning new instruments, from the first synthesizer and drum machine, to using computer programs as additional composing tools. In recent years I have been using the piano, an instrument that is now the main part of my compositions as well as used to put down new ideas.
My family had little or no influence in my music discovery and upbringing, although we had a piano in the house since I was a kid, due to my father's passion for the instrument and classical music.
I would say that my love for music came naturally, void of external stimulations and developed among a small circle of friends during those early years. We would often listen and comment on the music together, and this was the main focus of our conversations.
IM: Who are the artists that influenced you the most?
AR: The main artists that I really appreciate for their music and the impeccable technical and musical skills are Red Hot Chili Peppers, I particularly like their lead guitarist, John Frusciante, for his skills as a soloist.
I, indeed, have my roots in rock, but later I began to appreciate musical works in which instruments and sounds play the lead characters, like in Mogwai and Sigur Ros music, and in general all the post rock musical panorama. I always liked certain athmospheres where there is a constant evolution of sounds, alternating emotions from relaxed moods to wild roars, where the listener's personal interpretation is an integral part of it all.
Recently I have been listening to works that mix classical with ambient music and electronic experiments; a genre that perhaps best represents my current productions.
When I compose music, I try to distance myself from what I have listened to recently and in the past. I try to be more in touch with my subconscious. When I produce, I try to work "on myself", freeing my mind of other musical influences, listening to my own vibrations, to be honest to myself and to the listener, in a way that I come across as a real and open being.
IM: What are your future projects in music?
AR: My goal is to make my music known to as many people as possible, and to satisfy a need to share my personal emotions with others. I am looking into starting a tour to feature my new album, and to be more in touch with the audience. Additionally, I will produce more works to express my creativity that needs to come out and live in space and time.
IM: How do you plan to promote your work in Italy and abroad?
AR: My latest album "Need For Expression" is available in all major digital distribution channels in tandem with the CD print, on my site and also in streaming. I decided that promoting autonomously and independently was the best way to do it.
In addition I have produced a video of Heart, the first song from the new album. The video was entirely directed and edited by me with the intent of channeling my music by using imagery.
We wish Andrea the best in his musical journey and great success as an artist.


As big data has gotten bigger and bigger, so have vision applications. GigE Vision is a global interface standard designed to support the transmission of high-speed video and related control data over Ethernet networks that include GigE, 10 GigE and 802.11 wireless networks.
This standard was developed using the Gigabit Ethernet communication protocol and provides fast image transfer using readily available Ethernet cables over extended distances. GigE Vision is capable of fast, high-bandwidth transfers of large images in real time at 125 MB/s and up to 100 meters in length. With the use of standard Cat5e and Cat6 cables and connectors, using GigE Vision is cost effective, highly scalable and allows for simple integration by using existing Ethernet infrastructures.
Managed by the AIA, a trade association for the machine vision industry, the GigE Vision standard was introduced in 2006 and has since been adopted globally, with most major industrial video hardware and software vendors having developed products that are GigE Vision-compliant. By following the same standard, products from different vendors are all interoperable. This means frame grabbers, embedded hardware interfaces, cameras, video servers, video receivers control applications and management entities can all work together seamlessly using a common Ethernet platform.
Much like USB3 Vision, GigE Vision relies on GenICam, a generic programming interface for different types of cameras, to access and control features in cameras and other imaging devices that are compliant. The simplicity of installation and high performance specs of GigE Vision makes it ideal for industrial applications. The standard is also used in telecom, military, data communications and machine vision applications.
GigE Vision is currently at version 2.0, which includes non-streaming device control, faster streaming over 10 Gig Ethernet and link aggregation. Version 2.0 is ideal for multi-camera systems and introduced the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) that enables cameras to be activated at the same time and Trigger-over-Ethernet without the need for an I/O cable. It also allows for multi-camera systems to be precisely synchronized, compressed images to be transmitted and enhanced support for multi-tap sensors. With all of its capabilities and benefits, GigE Vision has proven to be a boon in the world of vision applications.


It is quite challenging for Legal firms to find an IT partner who truly comprehends the unique regulatory and technological challenges and needs of their industry. The good news is that our team at TruAdvantage understands those challenges. If we can meet the stern IT and compliance requirements of healthcare industry, you can rest assure that we can address the legal industry's IT and compliance requirements as well.
From outlook and email integration to document management and security we have devised best practices and tailored infrastructures for legal firm.
We have implemented IT and network security policies and safeguards in line with SOX and GBLA.
We have implemented solutions to protect your data from digital attacks, malware , viruses and breaches.
We have implemented disaster recovery and business continuity solutions for legal firms. We have also implemented email and file archiving, management and compliance solutions.


Whether you are a freelance music teacher or a photographer or having your own small marketing agency business, there is one common thing between all of them is the probability of not getting paid on time from their respective clients.
Of course, there are ways you could battle those challenges and the best is to opt for an online invoice generator that can streamline your payment process. Small business billing app allows creating professional invoices, send payment reminders, manage expenses and tax overheads, sales report and much more. Furthermore, in the blog, we are going to understand the reason for unpaid invoices and the steps you need to take in ensuring to avoid making some costly business mistakes.
In the business world, you can consider being more secure if you have it in black & white. In simpler words, whatever the terms or conditions you agree with your business partner, client or vendor, its best to have it in writing. If you are missing on signing the contract which means that your clients could escape making on-time payments or not at all sometimes. That does not mean that you are not to make rapport or build a client relationship by showing your willingness to work for a long time but also ensure that proper contract is in place before you begin with the work. Your contract should clearly outline the budget of the project, scope of work & job responsibilities, deadlines and any other details that get you paid on time.
A dispute in an invoice can unsubstantially delay your payment for much longer than you anticipated. A disagreement could occur for many reasons, big or small. The client might be dissatisfied with the quality of the work you provided or time is taken or even for a small aspect of the project. As always, the best way for a resolution begins with communication. Address the client in a professional manner and agree to discuss more on the same. As most of the work disagreement is due to a certain specific area of work that the client is unhappy about. Once you have identified the problem source, you can work on your dispute points to bring it to a neutral ground and resolve further. Also, ensure to have proper payment terms drafted in the contract with professional as well as friendly corporate language. In such a scenario, you can also approach the client and agree upon to complete the payment for the other part of the project for which the client has no problem with.
Freelancer and small or midsize business owners do come across such a client once in a while wherein they can't afford to make the payment. This could be due to many reasons, for instance, your client might be working for someone else and might be waiting for the payment to pay you or their sales are down or some unexpected expense did come up due to which you had to suffer. Though the reason might be genuine and a good business gesture, you could spare a few days or max weeks in order to receive your payment. However, also try and make them understand that ultimately you are also running a business and because of non-payment your business is also at the loss and suffering cash flow problem. Try to resolve this situation before it gets any worse than it is already. Still, if the business does not respond for the payment, you can politely inform or notify them that you would be taking necessary legal steps to further resolve the matter.
To run your business effectively and maintain cash flow efficiently, you'll always be in need of proper tools such as a free invoice generator. Cloud-based invoicing solution provider Moon Invoice helps you with your daily business tasks and it also simplifies the process.
Moon Invoice offers you multiple payment options along with multi-currency support. With Moon Invoice you can work from anywhere by downloading apps available for all platforms, i.e, iOS, Mac OS X, Android, and Windows. In addition to this, the Moon Invoice app also helps your business with Import/Export & Print and Mobile & Sync.
Moon Invoice App - delivers the wave of innovation to the small business owners by introducing the simplest way to invoice, accept payments and run business on the go with the help of Moon Invoice App.
Thinking Of Transitioning From Paper-Based To Online Invoicing?


Glen Cove, NY--Hersh Fine Art, of the Long Island Academy of Fine Art, is pleased to present an exhibition of plein air paintings by Robert Armetta. The exhibition will be on view from October 8 through November 1, 2016. The artist will be present for an opening reception on Saturday, October 8, from 6pm to 8pm. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
The plein air landscape paintings of Robert Armetta are elegant, clear, and bold. A slight departure from the meticulous and highly polished compositions of his studio paintings, this new body of work has been made with a spontaneity and delight that are easy to perceive as a viewer. The exhibition includes a mixture of urban and rural landscapes, both a nod to his New York upbringing, and marking a new chapter in his life; Armetta recently relocated from New York City to be along the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania.
Painting a landscape from life-- life that moves and changes--is entirely different from painting in a studio. The painter must keep up with the changes of the landscape itself, requiring one quick, confident decision after another throughout the painting's creation. Because plein air painting involves a certain speed and decisive execution, it gives a glimpse into the artist's unique creative process. What we see is Armetta's instinct as a composer of art. His compositional decisions, color choices, and paint handling are in many ways a summation of his direct experience painting in the open air. Like a distant mountain clouded in violet atmosphere, the conscious mind fades as intuition comes to the foreground.
Robert Armetta currently resides in Harrisburg, PA, and is the founder of the Long Island Academy of Fine Art, in whose gallery this exhibition is being displayed.
Chasing Shadows will run from October 8 through November 1, 2016, with a gallery reception on October 8 from 6-8pm. For details please refer to www.hershfineart.com or contact Rebecca Forster at 516-590-4324 or info@liafa.com.


I tried posting on the Arms and Equipment Board with no success so I will try here. I am trying to verify a Crescent Regiment button. It is in "Record of AMERICAN UNIFORM and Historical Buttons Bicentennial Edition by Alphaeus H. Albert" on page 152, but it's backmark is T.W. & W. /Paris. My button's backmark is A.U. Wein with the number 22 (identical otherwise). The button is 7/8" in dia and has a Crescent Moon with a star in the center. Haven't been able to Google A.U. Wein; does anyone know anything about this manufacturer or this button?


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Home > News > BOKINA FASO: END OF AN ERA FOR BLAISE COMPAORE
BOKINA FASO: END OF AN ERA FOR BLAISE COMPAORE
October 31, 2014 admin	Africa, Blaise Compaore, Bokina Faso
Deutsche Welle October 30—Burkina Faso's government was forced to resign on Thursday following increasingly violent protests against the country's president. Several hours after opposition lawmakers and high-level military officials met, Burkina Faso army chief, General Honore Traore, told reporters in the capital that the government had been dissolved. "A transitional body will be put in place in consultation with all parties," Traore said.The temporary governing body would hold power "no more than 12 months," he added. A curfew was also put into place for 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. local time. Protests escalate
Mass protests broke out in the capital city Ouagadougou earlier this week over a planned amendment to the constitution which would extend President Blaise Compaore's 27-year grip on power. On Thursday, the demonstrations escalated, with thousands pouring onto the capital city's streets and a group of protesters storming the parliament building. There, they set fire to the main chamber. Burkina Faso's public broadcasters also came under attack when groups of demonstrators forced their way into the buildings. State television and radio subsequently ceased broadcast operations during the day. Other cities across the country reported blazes being set to properties belonging to politicians of the ruling political party Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP), including in the second-largest city Bobo-Dioulasso and in the central city of Koudougou.
At least one person was killed in the violence, according to security forces. State of emergency reportShortly before General Traore's announcement, President Compaore reportedly declared a state of emergency. An announcer from local radio station Radio Omega FM had read the statement from the office of the presidency, which also purported that the leader would seek talks with opposition leaders.The long-time leader's whereabouts remain unknown.
The explosive protests have raised concern in the international community, with the EU, the US and the UN calling for all sides to refrain from violence and seek a peaceful, political solution. On Thursday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon dispatched special envoy Mohamed Ibn Chambas to the region to help restore calm. President Compaore seized power in 1987, and his bid to keep his position has angered much of the public, including many young people, in a country where 60 percent of the population is under 25
State of government in Burkina Faso unclear amid media rumors. It remains unclear who controls the Burkina Faso government amid increasing unrest in the country's capital. Rallies broke out this week over a constitutional amendment that would extend the long-time president's power.
Blaise Campoare pic: www.telegraph.co.uk
Tribute: Zambian President Michael Sata Dies in London
UREY: WHY NOCOL BOARD, LEGISLATURE, NOT INDICTED?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Here's the stuff we found when you searched for "Richard Case"
Is that all in lower case? - AARRRGGHH!!
If you Log in you could create a "Richard Case" node. If you don't already have an account, you can register here.


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Cache Is Aiming to Boost Blockchain Development for Global Mass Adoption
Leave a Comment / news / By tac-min
Blockchain development shouldn't be rocket science. At the moment, though, the development of the technology is complicated and can be confusing, making it difficult to produce meaningful applications that will achieve mass adoption for end users.
For Cache, a token and series of projects, it believes that it has the answer to this problem. As a result, the platform is working at building tools to make the blockchain usable for developers and businesses.
https://coinjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/1043701056.mp4
According to its white paper, Cache aims to achieve this by "empowering developers, startups, and products to easily adopt powerful blockchain features such as assets, tokens, decentralization, identity management, and more."
Built on the NEM blockchain, the technology operates secure, RESTful APIs that permit developers to build unique, user-friendly solutions on top of the platform. In order to send or make Cache transactions, an individual will pay a small transaction fee in the XEM cryptocurrency. Cache states that compared to Ethereum, fees in the NEM blockchain are non-variable, reliable, and low cost.
Unlike other tokens, which Cache states "generate hype," the Cache token will be focused on onboarding developers, businesses, websites, and companies in meaningful ways. The team at Cache said: "We believe that in order to have a more decentralized world we need to make development, tools, and user experience surrounding blockchain an easy choice."
It hopes to achieve this through three main platforms, which it believes will accelerate global adoption of blockchain development: Blockstart, Cacheout, and the Devslopes learn to code platform.
Blockstart is Cache's flagship product. It is a blockchain platform and suite of tools that permit companies and developers to quickly build blockchain applications within minutes. It also enables the integration of the blockchain into existing products and services. In order to make the technology more user-friendly, Cache is currently developing software development kits (SDKs) for iOS, Android and Unity to manage this. Cache states that via Blockstart, companies will be able to launch their own private networks or get started on the public Blockstart network. Small Cache fees will be incurred through the public network with transactions, the creation of assets, cryptocurrencies, and domains. This, in time, Cache states, will increase its demand and utility.
Actual footage of Cache's demo app creating a cryptocurrency (Consensus 2018)
Cacheout is a currency-backed economy designed to regulate effective answers for programming questions. Cacheout incentivizes users to submit helpful and complete answers by being awarded a cash bounty. According to the platform, the best answers will be regulated by the community and awarded cash, which will be distributed to the author with the best answer and its supporting community members.
Through Devslopes, the team, who happen to be former students of Devslopes, are working at boosting blockchain education. Since 2015, the platform has taught more than 300,000 students worldwide how to code. Cache can be used to purchase courses at Devslopes. It also has four to five partners committed to accepting the token, and is working with the Blockchain Training Alliance and Pearson Vue to bring blockchain-related exams and certification worldwide. As the team's foundation lies in coding education, they have a strong understanding of how to take complex concepts and break them down into digestible information.
"We are now doing this for blockchain," the team added. "We are passionate about leveraging this to bring blockchain technology to the world."
Find out more about Cache and read their Whitepaper here
Inery Token $INR goes Live On Huobi Following Successful VC raise
Bitcoin slips below $19k once again, but can it recover its $20k resistance level soon?
Brett Harrison announces he is stepping down as FTX US President
OKX lists Manchester City FC token
Gemini partners Betterment to offer curated crypto portfolios


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Welcome to Columbus Family Dental Center. The office of Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Laura Bracken is conveniently located at 901 Third St., Columbus Indiana 47201.
We provide quality affordable, emergency dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, dental implants and family dentistry.
Dr. Bracken has completed several advanced courses in Cosmetic Dentistry such as PAC-Live, Lumineers, , Cerec same visit ceramic porcelain restorations, DOCS Sedation Dentistry. Dr. Bracken is now offering Sleep Apnea treatment using oral appliance therapy. Our office also uses SNAP Dental Imaging, this allows Dr. Bracken to take a single picture and show you what you will look like after a procedure is completed. Dr. Bracken was named as one of Americas Top Dentists by Consumer's Research Council of America.
Dr. Bracken is a graduate of Indiana University School of Dentistry, one of the best in the country. She has been a dentist for years and has been through several post graduate courses in different fields of dentistry since receiving her D.D.S. degree.
Her emphasis on patient comfort as well as keeping up-to-date with the latest advancements in dentistry enable her to provide her patients with the best quality of care in the field. Dr. Bracken has a wide range of experience in different areas of dentistry, from cosmetic and restorative dentistry to surgical treatments and root canal treatments.
I had a great experience at Columbus Family Dental center. Everyone was so nice and treated me like family. I had a implant done. It was no time at all and I was ready for my crown. I could get my crown done right away on the same day and not have to have a temporary. Thank you to everyone from the front office to everyone in the back office a great job done by all. Thank you.
We love being able to change patients lives by giving them confidence with a radiant smile! Cosmetic dentistry has come a long way and today, is very affordable thanks to advances in both technology and dental techniques. BOTH of which Columbus Family Dental Center brings to each and every patient.
Here at Columbus Family Dental Center, we take tremendous pride in being able to provide COMFORTABLE dental services to our patients by using high-tech dental equipment combined with sedation options for those truly nervous patients. Restoring your smile is easier than ever in our dental office!
Is the snoring of you or someone you love keeping you up at night? Your snoring may be a symptom of Sleep Apnea. Having Sleep Apnea, could be fatal. Sleep Apnea is sometimes caused by a miss-aligned jaw, Columbus Family Dental Center may help you sleep better.
Our location makes it easy for ANYONE in the Columbus area to come see us for quality dentistry. Our high-tech dental office means our patients are more comfortable and spend less time in the office while having anything from a routine dental exam (checkup) and teeth whitening to a new set of porcelain veneers or Invisalign fitted.
Columbus Family Dental Center prides ourselves on being able to provide each and every patient with dental services to achieve their individual needs and goals. We want our patients to understand that their oral health and personal well-being comes first. Because of this, our dental office offers flexible payment solutions as well as CareCredit that makes it as easy as possible for you to afford the dental procedures not covered by your dental insurance. Most patients are amazed just how affordable a new smile can be.
For your convenience, Columbus Family Dental Center accepts most major dental insurances. Please call us at (812) 373-9912 and let us know who your dental insurance provider is. We'll do our best to work with your and your dental insurance provider to make sure you're covered!


Microsoft has at last released a UK version of Office Mobile for Windows phone, iPhone and iPad, and for Android. But it might not be quite what you expect.
Office Mobile is not simply a cut-down version of Office to run on your mobile device; you also need an Office 365 subscription. But this isn't a Microsoft ruse to make you take out an unnecessary subscription. It's part of the way that Microsoft sees its world changing.
In the old world you bought a PC and installed a copy of Office on it. In the new world you have multiple mobile devices and you need to have Office on each one. You also want access to your data files wherever you are. This is what Office 365 delivers for any size organisation, from sole traders to corporations. You always have the latest version of Office plus you get an online data store (SkyDrive).
It's your decision about joining in with Microsoft's vision of the future. But if you are thinking about it, Riverbank is here to help.


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Real estate: too hot to handle?
By Martin Skala Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
Since the turn of the century, real estate funds have been on a roll. Low bond yields and piddling money-market returns have led income-oriented investors to flock to real estate investment trusts (REITs).
In the second quarter, REIT funds climbed 13 percent, and for the five-year period ending in June, they have boasted annualized returns of close to 20 percent, trouncing all other fund sectors but gold, according to fund tracker Lipper Inc.
So far this year, fresh money has poured into REIT funds at near-record levels. With $49 billion spread among some 234 real estate funds, assets in the sector have almost doubled since the end of 2003, according to Lipper. Among sector funds invested in stocks, only healthcare/biotech has amassed more.
But a growing number of analysts are warning that REIT shares are overvalued. The average dividend yield on REIT stocks is just under 5 percent, more than double the yield of stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500 index. But REITs are more vulnerable to any abrupt uptick in interest rates, analysts agree. As a result, investors should temper their expectations. The last time REIT fund inflows reached current levels was in early 1997, followed by two years of poor performance. "Investors shouldn't be fooled by the sizzling REIT returns of recent years," warns Morningstar analyst William Rocco. "Returns won't continue at that pace."
REIT shares, he notes, have benefited from investor appetite for higher-yielding securities, a shaky stock market, and unusually low cost of capital, which makes real estate cheaper to buy.
"A hunt for yield has been driving investor decisions, and if long-term interest rates resume their rise, REIT stocks may well decline," says Andrew Davis, comanager of the Davis Real Estate Fund. Currently, the spread between the REIT yield and the 10-year Treasury note is less than one percentage point, the narrowest in five years.
The shape of the yield curve - the spread between short- and long-term rates - is a key determinant of profits in this capital-intensive business, where most property acquisitions are leveraged with debt financing. Partly because of this slim spread, as well as rising short-term interest rates, Mr. Davis says his fund is finding fewer investment opportunities than a year ago. "You shouldn't go into a REIT fund unless you're willing to hold on for four or five years," says Davis.
The valuations of most REITs are raising red flags among a growing body of analysts.
"REIT valuations look very overextended," says Andrew Engel, coportfolio manager of the Leuthold Core Investment Fund. By one key measure, the average REIT share tracked by Leuthold is trading at a premium of 11 percent above its estimated net asset value, based on underlying property values. That's up from a median discount of 2 percent over the past eight years. Another valuation gauge - the ratio of REIT share prices to "adjusted funds from operations," a rough measure of cash available for distribution - is equally troublesome, says Mr. Engel. Currently, the ratio stands at almost 17, some 40 percent above the average over the past eight years.
The yield advantage of REITs over stocks, moreover, is far slimmer than it was two years ago, when REIT payouts averaged near 7 percent. Non-REIT companies are steadily boosting dividend payouts, thanks to a change in the 2003 tax law that lowered the maximum tax rate on dividend income. REIT dividends are not eligible for the tax break.
Unlike with residential real estate, the commercial property market is generally healthy, with few pockets of speculative excess, says Ken Campbell, managing director of ING Clarion Realty. With moderate cash flow growth "along with dividend yields of close to 5 percent, that should spell decent total returns."
Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants to spin off some assets to pay debts
Stocks fall as Dow pulls back from record
Tired of paltry returns on bank savings? Here's help.


text:
package org.js4ms.io.net;

import java.io.IOException;

import org.js4ms.io.channel.OutputChannel;

/**
 * An {@link OutputChannel} that can be used to send {@link UdpDatagram} instances to a
 * {@link UdpEndpoint}.
 *
 * @author Gregory Bumgardner (gbumgard)
 */
public final class UdpOutputChannel
                implements OutputChannel<UdpDatagram> {

    /*-- Member Variables ----------------------------------------------------*/

    private final UdpEndpoint endpoint;

    /*-- Member Functions ----------------------------------------------------*/

    /**
     * Constructs a UDP input channel bound the the specified endpoint.
     *
     * @param endpoint
     *            The destination for datagrams sent to this channel.
     */
    public UdpOutputChannel(final UdpEndpoint endpoint) {
        this.endpoint = endpoint;
    }

    @Override
    public final void send(final UdpDatagram message, final int milliseconds) throws IOException, InterruptedException {
        this.endpoint.send(message, milliseconds);
    }

    /**
     * Closes this channel. This implementation does nothing.
     * Call {@link UdpEndpoint#close()} to close the UDP endpoint.
     */
    @Override
    public final void close() {
        // NO-OP
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The United States faces a major issue with gun control, or the lack thereof. This issue has not gone away, mainly because of the lobbying of politicians.The National Rifle Association "and its affiliates spent a record $54m to secure Republican control of the White House and Congress, including at least $30.3m to help elect Donald Trump" (The Guardian).
Talk of college admissions has reached national news recently as big universities and celebrities have been involved in a college admissions scandal. The U.S Department of Education has recently launched an investigation of UCLA, USC, Yale, and other universities due to fraudulent acceptances into these top colleges. Also involved in this scandal are many wealthy individuals who pay the schools an absurd amount of money for their child's college acceptance. While both celebrities Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin have been involved in this scandal, about 50 other people have been charged with fraudulently influencing admissions. Together, those charged with these crimes paid a whopping 25 million dollars to William Rick Singer, a man who manipulates test scores and bribes universities to get the children of his clients into top colleges. However, with a scandal like this, it is important to look at all the socioeconomic advantages and disadvantages, with respect to the college admissions process and attending college.
It's no secret that the wealthy have an easier time with the college process. Regarding test scores, the wealthy have access to better prep books, tutors, and more tests, as all of these steps in the standardized testing process together cost a large sum of money. As for college admissions, applying to college is an expensive feat as well. Generally speaking, college application fees are around 50 dollars each, and it is becoming increasingly popular to apply to 5 to 10 colleges, sometimes even 15. Wealthy parents also have a leg up in terms of boosting their children's applications because they have the means to send their kids to summer programs, pay for tutors, and cover the costs of expensive extracurricular activities that are appealing to college admissions offices. Sometimes wealthy parents pay for a special admissions counselor, which is another added cost that less fortunate parents simply cannot pay for. All of these costs add up, and they add up quickly. Even after being accepted into college, the real disadvantage comes with paying tuition. Private universities like USC and Yale cost 50 to 60 thousand dollars a year without aid. With financial aid, these schools still cost around 30 thousand dollars. These figures simply are just not an option for poor and middle-class families. Even if their children apply to state schools, with cheaper in-state tuition, it is still very expensive and requires the student to take out student loans. UCLA in-state tuition is around 12 thousand dollars, which can still break the bank for families when adding up with the cost of all college prep and admissions materials, and the cost of things like textbooks and other school supplies. The majority of families have multiple children, and are still looking at around 30 thousand dollars annually even if they have just 2 kids. This is only an outline of the kind of money colleges require these days, even for just admission to their university. It is clear wealthy parents have a leg up.
While the scandal is far from a typical college admissions experience, it still highlights the inevitable advantage that rich families have. It brings to light the lengths colleges go to for an extra 50 thousand dollars, and exposes the ever growing competitiveness of college admissions. When surveying this larger than life scandal, it is important to notice the real life aspects of the college admissions process, and the disadvantages of the poor and middle-class when it comes to getting their children an education.
The popularity of makeup is a phenomenon used by people worldwide, regardless of age, gender or who they are. People use it and apply it on their faces for various reasons, whether it is to express themselves, cover a blemish, or to boost their self-confidence. It has been steadily gaining popularity over the past few years, with social media makeup trends coming in and out weekly. Social media icons such as James Charles and Kylie Jenner's have made makeup's popularity soar even more. It is no secret that the makeup business is at an all time high but the makeup business isn't as inclusive as it should be. People of darker complexions constantly find themselves limited in foundation shades and brands they can purchase from.
What does it mean to be going to a good college? For many, the answer to that question lies in the acceptance rate. Normally an acceptance rate that is lower is perceived as more selective and therefore better. However, that is not the full story.
Is School Weighing You Down…Literally?
From binders filled with papers, bulky textbooks and overloaded folders there is a lot of weight students must carry around in school everyday. Recent studies now show that a heavy backpack could cause back pain and other back issues in the future.
Legalization of Marijuana: Is NY Next?
Within the most frequently used drugs in America, marijuana falls at number three, behind alcohol and tobacco. It is a relatively safe drug according to NORML (National Association for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) compared to cocaine and methamphetamine, which are highly addictive drugs and easy to overdose on. Around 64% of Americans in fact, are in favor of the legalization of marijuana. In 2018, 10 states including our capital, passed bills to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults over 21, while 33 states have legalized marijuana but only for medicinal purposes.
Although medicinal marijuana is legal in more states than it is not, the practice of it for recreational purposes is quite different. Studies show that using marijuana for medical purposes can lead to pain relief for nerve damage, stopping nausea, movement disorders, HIV/AIDS and dementia. Out of the 33 states that have legalized medicinal use of marijuana, each individual state has their own specific sub-laws regarding its legalization.
In New York, only medical marijuana is legal, and it is illegal for cannabis plants to be grown in homes. In Rhode Island, however, residents are allowed to grow 24 mature cannabis plants and 24 saplings. Patients are allowed to have a 30 day supply in New York, but in Rhode Island, patients are permitted to have two and a half ounces of cannabis on their person. Organizations that are registered under New York State, of which there are 10, are allowed to sell non-smokable forms of the plant that can come lotion, patches, ointment, and lozenges.
Just like each state has their own laws and legalities regarding marijuana usage, they also have different penalties. In New York, if it is your first offense, having anywhere up to 25 grams, is a fine of one hundred dollars but doesn't result in any jail time. Growing marijuana, however, in any amount is a felony charge and the minimum time sentence is 15 years. Selling to a minor is a class D felony and can be punished by up to seven years with a five thousand dollar fine.
California was the first state that made medical marijuana legal in 1996 and they legalized it for recreational purposes in 2016. Adults 21 and older can purchase up to eight grams of weed at a time and grow up to six plants at once. In Colorado, the most popular state for legal recreational use of marijuana, there are more marijuana dispensaries than there are Starbucks and McDonald's combined.
There are many misconceptions where it comes to the dangerous and varying effects of marijuana. As we step into 2019, more and more states will pass and decline bills to legalize and regulate the use, selling, and growing of marijuana. Doctors and business will reap the reward while politicians go at it with one another to make up their minds about the legalities and use of marijuana.
Lawrence Woodmere Academy's Upper School has been coming together through circles of students breaking down barriers with ice breaker questions.
When taking a look at the most read NY Times stories of 2018, I'm not sure that anyone would be surprised to find out that the top 13 stories were all political.


text:
Victoria Wood to be honoured with statue in her home town
The actress died last year.
Last updated: 15 May 2017 - 7.40am
Late actress and comedian Victoria Wood is to be honoured with a life-size bronze statue in her home town.
Graham Ibbeson, who created Lancashire's famous Eric Morecambe monument, will design and sculpt the piece to be erected in Library Gardens in Bury, Greater Manchester.
The Bafta award-winning star was 62 when she died in April last year, following a battle with cancer.
Victoria Wood (Ian West/PA)
She delighted audiences throughout her career with her skills both behind and in front of the camera, becoming best known for writing and starring in the hit TV sitcom Dinnerladies.
The monument comes after her brother, Chris Foote Wood, set up a crowdfunding appeal to raise money for the commission.
He said: "I am very pleased indeed that we have been able to obtain the services of Graham Ibbeson. It was his statue of Eric Morecambe that first inspired me to try to get something similar for my multi-talented and much-loved sister Victoria."
Chris now hopes to raise a further £40,000 through his JustGiving page to make sure the statue is a proper representation of the star.
Chris Foote Wood is the brother of the late Victoria Wood (Ian West/PA)
Promising to do her justice, Graham commented: "I am honoured and delighted to be chosen as the sculptor to produce a bronze portrait of the much-loved comedian Victoria Wood.
"Her unique humour was a product of 'Northern roots', unpretentious, accessible, and well observed.
"I will try to mirror all these qualities in my sculpture by trying to capture the warmth of her character and personality, and also reflecting the nation's affection (and indeed mine) for her unique talent."
Victoria Wood in Dinnerladies (BBC/PA)
The site for the statue has been provided by Bury Council.
Leader Rishi Shori said: "We are delighted to be working with Graham Ibbeson.
"Victoria visited Eric Morecambe's statue several times and admired Graham's work, so it is very fitting for him to be creating this tribute to such a talented star.
"I'm sure it will be very popular with her numerous fans, from Bury and across the country."


text:
Facts about Prehistory
Restricted to material remains rather than written records (and indeed only those remains that have survived), prehistory is anonymous.
image: www.realhistoryww.com
The date marking the end of prehistory, that is the date when written historical records become a useful academic resource, varies from region to region.
image: image.slidesharecdn.com
Prehistory (Greek words ??? = before and ??????? = history) is the period before written history became available to assist our understanding of the past.
image: www.prehistoric-wildlife.com
Archaeologists have augmented this record and provided more precise divisions during later, human, prehistory.
image: www.army.mil
Until the arrival of humans, a geologic time scale defines periods in prehistory.
Prehistory thus ends when we are able to name individual actors in history, such as Snofru, founder of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, whose reign began circa 2620 B.C.E.
Human prehistory in the Old World (Europe, Asia) is often subdivided by the three-age system.
Human prehistory differs from history not only in terms of chronology but in the way it deals with the activities of archaeological cultures rather than named nations or individuals.
Does prehistory have the same meaning as pre-Roman?
Were there fat people in prehistory?
What is the difference between prehistory and archaeology?
The Human Nervous System (1)
History Of The Philippines (1)
Texas History (1)
Football History (1)
Human Cells
Human Races
Human Species
Human Teeth
Human Tissue
The History Of Spain (4)
The History Of Computers (4)
The Internet History (8)
The History Of Halloween (1)
The History Of The Internet (1)
The History Of Christmas (3)
The Human Mind (1)
The Human Mouth (2)


Despite the trend toward screen-space ambient occlusion, static ambient occlusion maps are handy for improving the realism of non-deformable objects like cars or spaceships for free. However, baking them in Blender is a chore because raytracing a proper solution using the CPU takes ages. I've been toying with the idea of using the GPU to speed this up for a while now, but only recently figured out how to put it all together and make it work. Here's how it works at a high level.
I iterate over the following steps many times from different camera positions along a hemisphere (to emulate the sky). First pass, I render the object from the camera position, writing depth values to a depth texture. This will be used to cast shadows in the next step. Second pass, I render the object again but this time I have my vertex shader set up to transform the verts into the UV map's layout. However in the fragment shader, I check the expected (non-uv-map-layout) vertex position against my depth texture to determine occlusion. I write the value of the z component of the screenspace normal (or zero if I determined the pixel was occluded using my depth texture) to a color texture. Third pass, I accumulate the value of the color texture (times 1 / number of iterations) into an encoded RGB color texture (I could have used a float texture instead here).
The result is a nice looking 1024x1024 ambient map that takes 3.9 seconds to generate using my aging nvidia 7900GT. I performed 784 iterations, which seems to be the "sweet spot" for this method. Larger outputs are easy, up to whatever size your graphics card supports. I've attached an example. Notice how the left and right doors have darker areas around where the side mirrors attach. Neat!
This entry was posted Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 9:41 pm	and is filed under Uncategorized. Both comments and pings are currently closed.


The only four-year school of its kind, the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has a unique mission: to provide a creative arts education to members of the Native American community.
In addition to being located in one of the most artistically inspiring cities and regions, IAIA also offers a college life that supports the artistic focus of its students, running two on-campus arts centers including its Museum of Contemporary Native Arts.
IAIA also sponsors student clubs, including those that are arts-oriented and those that have a special interest or recreational focus.
IAIA has a no-loan policy, only awarding those types of financial aid that do not carry debt with them. These include scholarships from the American Indian College Fund.
This web site and associated pages are not associated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture (IAIA). CampusExplorer.com has no official or unofficial affiliation with Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture (IAIA).