In this issue:

RESEARCH ARTICLES

• A Novel Environmental Awareness Index Measured Cross-Nationally For Fifty Seven Countries
  Authors: Pekka Harju-Autti and Eevi Kokkinen

  Abstract : Today, a number of major challenges exist for measuring environmental awareness cross-nationally. These are 1) conceptualising environmental awareness and its relation to concrete behaviour is still under development; 2) the lack of a universally applicable methodology for country comparisons; and 3) the lack of an easy-to-use tool for data gathering for global studies. After overcoming these challenges, a new Environmental Awareness Index (EAI) was constructed. Six hypotheses were formulated on the EAI, relating to 1) national wealth; 2) state of the environment; 3) postmaterialist values; 4) self-transcendence values; 5) self-enhancement values; and 6) gender equality. EAI scores from 57 countries were measured for cross-national comparisons. The countries scoring highest on the EAI are Austria, Sweden, Finland, Germany and Denmark. All the countries with the highest EA are found in Europe. Of the non-European countries, the best performers are Japan, New Zealand and Canada. The weakest EAI scores were found in Southern Asia, Mexico and Africa. Additionally, the perceived current state and trend of the environment in 57 countries was compared. The results indicate that, globally, the perceived state of the environment is rather worrying and in most countries deteriorating. After calculating correlations of the six hypotheses and the measured indicators of the study, the results show support to all six hypotheses. This study strongly indicates that significantly better correlations with the other national-level indices are achieved by studying EA with our wider approach (EAI consisting of motivation, knowledge and skills) than by studying customarily only environmental concern.

• A Critical Analytical Study on Certain Popular Indian Detergent Powders With Respect to the Related BIS Specifications; and Their Environmental Impact
  Authors: Johar Sarabjeet Singh, Johar G.S., Tiwari Anuradha and Dixit A. K.

  Abstract : A 'consumer-point' critical analytical study was conducted on the quality of some of the popular detergent powders sold in India with respect to their active matter, water-insoluble mineral matter, total alkalinity, and presence or absence of phosphates. The problem of adverse environmental impact of the detergents owing to the pollution-creating active matter that generates foam ; phosphates, found in 3 out of 11 samples ; and slush-creating insoluble mineral matter, present in 10 out of 11 samples, were also critically discussed. The study was also focused on the utter futility of the official specification, I.S. : 4955 - 2001, issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), meant for assessing the efficacy of the marketed laundry detergent powders. None of the branded detergent powder packets showed ISI mark issued by BIS. Also, none of the packets showed any of the characteristics enlisted in I.S.: 4955 - 2001, viz., active ingredients, total phosphates, sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP), active alkalinity, % detergency, and % ash built-up. It is concluded that chemical composition and quality of detergent powders manufactured in India is controlled by the manufacturers' own whims and fancies, and not by BIS specification. On the contrary, BIS specification itself is plagued by impractical test characteristics which are also grossly ignored by manufacturers, and consumers are also totally unaware of all these.

• Relationship between Testis and Thymus during Postnatal Development in Swiss Mice
  Authors: Ragini Sharma, S. M. Kantwa, Neelam Jain, Amrita Jaitawat and Deepika Rani

  Abstract : In the present investigation we would like to find out the histological relationship between testis and thymus during postnatal development in Swiss mice, which also, depends on hormonal physiology. To find out the relationship between testis and thymus we use pregnant mice after confirming virginal plug. After parturition the testis and thymus of their pups are removed on 1st, 21st, 35th and 49th day, fixed, embed and sections are prepared for the histological study. Thymus and testis develops parallel until puberty (35th day) means cellular density of both organs is same. After puberty apparent cellular loss in the thymus of male mice is observed. From the present investigation we conclude that testis and thymus develops gradually up to puberty after that there is a retrogressive change in cellular numeral. This type of histological and cellular interrelationship occurs due to the physiological activities of gonadal hormone.

• Trend study of Meteorological Parameters and Crop Yield in Solan District of Western Himalayan State
  Authors: Elbariki Rachel, Aggarwal R. K., Mahajan P. K., Negi Y. S. and Bhardwaj S. K.

  Abstract : The study was carried out to examine the trends of important weather parameters and their effect on the production of cereal crops in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh. The descriptive statistics and regression analysis revealed no significant trend in all the selected weather parameters in annual, seasonal and monthly basis for the period (1984 - 2011). In Regression analysis cubic and quadratic functions (non significant) were found to be the best fit. Sen's estimation analysis indicated increasing trend of maximum temperature by 2.95oC, minimum temperature by 0.50oC and decreasing trend of rainfall, relative humidity and sunshine hours. Analysis of relationship of crop yields to time in regression analysis did not show any significant trend. However, Sen's estimate showed increasing trends for selected crops. There was no significant correlation of individual weather parameters with crop yields but in case of multiple regression analysis some effects were observed indicating thereby that crops yields are influenced by combinations of weather parameters.

• Trends of Urban Solid Waste Management in Agartala City, Tripura, India
  Authors: Moharana Choudhury and Mcdonald Choudhury

  Abstract : Environmental friendly disposal of Municipal waste is not often in most developing nations like India. There is an increase in, residential and infrastructure development due to the population growth and this has negative impact on our inhabiting environment as well as the poor management and lack of scientific approach in dumping process is also a problem in MSW process one of these impacts is also due to location of dumping yard at unsuitable areas. In case of Agartala city as it is growing very fast. As per 2011 census, Population of city was 399,688 with density of 6,251/Sq km and around more than 90,000 households and around 260 MT (metric ton) quantity of urban solid waste is generating every day which consists of house hold (10%) commercial including industrial (12%) construction debris including thrown sweeping (50%), electronic wastes (2%) etc rest others where per capita rate of waste generation is at the rate of 0.5 to 0.6 kg per capita per day. Present study of Agartala city had been conducted to assess the present scenario of Municipal solid waste management process.

SHORT COMMUNICATIONS

• Assessment of Ground Water Quality in the City of Bhiwandi, Thane, India
  Authors: Nandita Singh and Khatib Sumaiya M.

  Abstract : Bhiwandi is a town famous for its power looms. Groundwater is one of an important source of water for the people in the city. The chemical parameters of groundwater play a significant role in classifying and assessing water quality. Groundwater samples were collected from 5 stations representing the whole city during summer of year 2012 and were analysed for different physico-chemical parameters i.e. pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solid (TDS), Total Hardness, Total Alkalinity, Turbidity, Phosphate, Sulphate and Nitrate. The results were compared with the limits set by WHO and BIS.