M. H. Qureshi: Methodological Moorings in Agricultural Geography
I stand before you in all humility to unfold the layers of remembrances of a scholar, a personal friend, a fellow teacher, and a practitioner in the field of Agricultural Geography. The tragedy of delivering a memorial lecture is that more you open the memory strata, more emotions pour in to make you nostalgic. I will try to arrange the memorial lecture in following sections
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Vivek Negi, Vishwa B. S. Chandel, Karanjot Kaur Brar: Landscape Change Analysis of Upper Beas Valley, India Using Corona and Planetscope Imageries
Landscape Change Analysis of Upper Beas Valley, India Using Corona and Planetscope Imageries
The present study explores landscape change as a way of measuring the visual impressions of land transformation in the Upper Beas valley, Himachal Pradesh, India. Land change has been analysed through high resolution CORONA photographs of 1972 and PlanetScope satellite imageries for 2020. The study has used the Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrix to extract textural information from the former and supervised classification of both images using maximum likelihood classifier, which provide a comprehensive picture of changes in the area since 1970s. The analysis reveals considerable landscape changes characterized by increasing horticultural land (114.33 per cent) and built-up (311.44 per cent) area that have resulted in escalated occupancy of rural landscape for settlement expansion, commercial horticulture and tourism activities. The natural cover, on the other hand, shrunk remarkably. The forest cover has declined from 224.08 km² in 1972 to 217.72 km² in 2020 with notable fragmentation indicated by 119.73 per cent increase in forest patches and patch size reduction by 55.71 per cent. The pasture land too has decreased by 12.36 per cent; other major land cover class, i.e., barren land has faced reduction by 48.37 per cent.
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Narender Kumar, M. S. Jaglan: Agricultural Marketing System and its Performance: A Comparative Study of the States of North-western Indian Plain
Agricultural marketing plays an important role, not only in stimulating production and consumption, but also in accelerating the pace of agricultural economy. Present study attempts to analyze the availability of agricultural markets and their performance in the states of north-western Indian plain. The study is based on secondary data obtained from Agriculture Census 2015-16, Statistical Abstract, Directorate of Agricultural Marketing and Inspection, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Government of India and NSSO 77th round survey (2018-19). Three indicators have been selected to show the markets availability namely number of markets per million farmers, number of markets per million ha agricultural land and number of markets per thousand villages. The study shows that there is a huge inter-state and inter-district difference in the availability of market infrastructure. The agricultural market infrastructure is strongest in Punjab followed by Haryana. On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are quite lowly placed in this regard. The spatial inequality in availability of agricultural markets has its implications in the performance of marketing. Consequently, the performance of market system is perceived to be dismal in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. It is imperative to develop the basic infrastructure of agricultural markets in the region to reduce the inter-state and inter-district disparity in the level of agricultural development.
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Saheli Kumar, Soumyabrata Mondal, Kaushalendra Prakash Goswami: Poverty and Status of Women in Hooghly District of West Bengal: A Geographical Perspective
Poverty is a severe and multi-dimensional deprivation. The extent of poverty and its associated deprivation significantly affect the development of any region. Women are one of the most vulnerable and deprived section of society and suffer a lot from the curse of poverty. Therefore, enhancement of the status of women is very essential to overcome poverty in a geographical region. Keeping this in mind, an attempt has been made, in this study, to identify the spatial pattern of poverty and status of women in Hooghly district of West Bengal. To reveal this fact, twelve determinants of poverty and seven indicators of status of women have been taken up for quantitative analysis. The study depicts widespread disparity in the levels of poverty ranging from standard score value of 1.94 for Arambag district to -1.51 for Chanditala-I district. Similarly, in respect to status of women, the disparity varies from the highest standard score of 2.51 recorded by Chanditala-II to the lowest of -1.54 witnessed by Goghat-I district. The study further reveals that intensity of poverty is inversely associated with the status of women and vice versa.
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Chandana Sarkar, Bimal Kumar Kar: Status of Drinking Water, Sanitation Facilities and Health Conditions in Slums of Siliguri City, West Bengal, India
Slum is a contiguous settlement, which is characterised by inadequate housing, lack of basic services and unhealthy environment. Over the last few decades, the area under slums has remarkably increased in India with the growth of cities and towns. In fact, rapid urbanisation caused by large influx of migrants from rural areas has been exerting tremendous pressure on existing basic services in the urban areas. Consequently, a large number of households in slum areas have been facing challenges regarding lack of proper water supply and sanitation facilities. In view of this, the present study intends to assess the availability of safe water and adequate sanitation and health condition in the slum areas of Siliguri city. The data for the study have been collected through field survey and some secondary sources. The study reveals that 84.00 per cent households from the slums of core zone, 61.50 per cent from the slums of intermediate zone and 51.50 per cent from the slums of peripheral zone have access to piped water supply. Similarly, 86.00 per cent slum households from peripheral zone have toilet in house as against 34.00 per cent from core zone and 48.00 per cent from intermediate zone. The study further reveals that the incidence of stomach and urinary problems is negatively correlated with piped water supply and availability of toilet system respectively.
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B.R. Thakur, Puran Chand, Diksha Kumari, Priyvardhani Shrama, Manoj Kumar: Impact of Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojna on Rural Development in Churah Tehsil, District Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, India
Construction of rural roads inevitably leads to an increase in agricultural production and productivity by bringing in new areas under cultivation or by intensifying existing land use. The present study seeks to investigate the impact of Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) on the socio-economic upliftment of rural people of Churah tehsil. This study has utilized both primary and secondary sources of data. In total, 343 households randomly selected from 14 sample villages have been surveyed. To understand the impact of PMGSY on the life of inhabitants, 8 domains namely income, wealth, employment, health, education, agriculture, gender empowerment, social order and disorganization, general and political awareness and living environment have been taken into account. The study validates the basic premise that construction of PMGSY roads has played a significant impact on development of education, health facilities and economic activities leading to overall rural development in the study area.
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Jitender Kumar: Characteristics and Significance of Groundwater Markets for Irrigation in Haryana: A Comparative Study of Different Groundwater Availability Regimes
In the northern part of India, especially in Punjab and Haryana, groundwater overdraft increases the cost of its withdrawal for irrigation and causes inequality in its access to farmers. Therefore, groundwater markets are gradually emerging as pervasive agrarian institutions. The present study assesses the significance of groundwater markets for irrigation in different groundwater availability regimes in Haryana. The study reveals that groundwater markets help to mitigate the growing inequalities in access to groundwater. About two-fifths of farmers in the state participate in groundwater markets. Its size is largest in low groundwater availability regime and shrinks with the increasing groundwater availability. The intensive use of groundwater purchased through groundwater markets in a high groundwater availability regime has been attributed to cultivation of water-intensive crops like rice and wheat. The conjunctive use of tubewell and canal water reduces the intensity of purchased groundwater use in the moderate groundwater availability regime. Groundwater scarcity and fragmentation of landholdings have been observed as important factors for the participation of farmers in groundwater markets. Furthermore, crop sharing has been found to be the most common groundwater transaction mechanism.
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Naushaba Naseem Ahmed, Zeba Khanam: Spatial Patterns of Gender Deprivation in Western Uttar Pradesh, India
This paper examines gender deprivation in education, work participation rate, mortality, and morbidity in Western Uttar Pradesh. The composite gender deprivation index has been calculated to analyze the levels of deprivation between males and females under four major components comprising 13 variables. The study is based on secondary sources of data. The results show that effective literacy rate and work participation rate are lower among women than males, whereas males are more deprived than females in terms of health indicators. The districts such as Meerut, Gautum Buddha (G.B.) Nagar, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Mathura, Agra, and Firozabad have recorded least gendered deprivation, while the districts of Bijnor, Budaun, Bareilly, Pilibhit, and Kannauj have witnessed a high level of gender deprivation. The more job opportunities for females will strengthen the financial base and to reduce mortality and morbidity rate, adequate health facilities must be ensured.
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Annu, S. P. Kaushik: Infant and Child Mortality and its Major Determinants: A Case Study of Uttarakhand State, India
The human development of a country is directly associated with the health of its population, especially of its children. In this context, present study analyses spatial variations in infant, and child mortality and identifies its determinants in Uttarakhand. The study is based on secondary data collected from the Annual Health Survey (AHS), for the period of 2010-11 to 2012-13 and National Family Health Survey (NFHS) for the period of 1998-99 to 2019-21. Data are processed with coefficient of variance and linear regression. The results reveal that Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in Uttarakhand has declined from 58 in 1998-99 to 39 in 2019-21 recording a reduction of 19 points. Similarly, under 5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) has declined from 79 to 46 registering a reduction of 33 points during the same period. The study further reveals that infant and child mortality rates have significantly declined in Rudraprayag and Almora districts. However, Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh districts have recorded an increase in IMR and U5MR during the study period.
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Map Series-XV: R. C. Chandna: Punjab-Haryana Region: Matric/Secondary Level Educated Population, 2011
Prior to the skills of reading and writing, the societies could be classified as being in preliterate state. The transition from pre-literate cultures seems to have begun during the fourth millennium BC (an era concurring with our Vedic period) through a gradual transition from pictography to the use of alphabets (Golden Hilda, 1960). After the advent of dual skills of reading and writing, the relevance of literacy to the socio-cultural advancement enhanced significantly. It is in this context that literacy is considered fairly reliable index of socio-cultural and economic advancement (Chandna, 2021). Various studies have established from time to time that matriculation/secondary level of education is the most critical level of education in these respects. That is why, for the present Map Series, Matriculation/Secondary level education has been taken up.
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Book Review: Dhian Kaur: Reflections on 21st Century Human Habitats in India: Felicitation Volume in Honour of Professor M. H. Qureshi
The felicitation volume "Reflections on 21st Century Human Habitats in India" collates the contributions made on distinct dimensions of human habitations in the country. The editors Prof. Mahabir S. Jaglan and Prof. Rajeshwari have done a great job in selecting the authors, most of whom have been disciples of Prof. M.H. Qureshi in whose honour the volume has been brought out. The basic concerns exemplified in the book include: the nexus between environment resource base and livelihoods; economic growth and regional disparities during the post economic reforms period; and the socio-spatial inequalities. The issues covered have been the favoured areas of research for Prof. M. H. Qureshi. There are 15 chapters in all, organised in four well-marked sections.
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In Memoriam: Kanwar Surjit Singh
When Harwant called me to pen the obituary of Surjit for his journal Punjab Geographer, I felt privileged but with a sea depth feeling of sorrow and deprivation. The entire image of Surjit's persona, life flow and laudable performance spread over my mindscape. He was distinctive and made a difference anywhere. He was a vivid figure of upright personality - tall, athletic and always carrying cheerful eyes. His face was a statement of a confident individual.
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In Memoriam: Abha Lakshmi Singh
Prof. Abha Lakshmi Singh was a professor of Geography at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. She was born in 1946 in an educated-administrator family of Allahabad. Her early education was from St. Mary's Convent School in Allahabad and obtained her graduation from Allahabad University in 1967. After which she married Prof. Rana Janardan Singh (Professor of Physics at Aligarh Muslim University) and moved to Aligarh.
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