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The mangroves are the dominant flora of the estuarine ecosystem, showing different adaptations with unrelated species. Therefore in present investigation attempts were made to study vegetation characters of the mangroves from Western Maharashtra of India. The area is unique due to its diversity and dominant species occurred at different sites. It mainly consists of species like A. marina, A. officinalis, Rhizophora mucronata etc. with dominance occurring commonly at all the study sites. Sensitivity and adaptability of the species in the critical ecosystem become important to assess the vulnerability of a species.

The objective of this note is to present data pertaining to the basic needs and minimal requirements of water for sustenance and survival. In view of the concerns expressed by various agencies and citizen groups on the dwindling water supplies and the lack of access to clean water in many parts of the world, this note may help the reader to put in perspective the quantity of available water resources and the basic per capita water needs and minimal requirements of humans for their survival to carry on their other daily activities. India is taken as a case in point to examine the availability of its water resources for various uses. Other developing countries may make their own inventories of water available for various uses, and how they can meet the daily minimum needs of their people. The questions posed in the epilog section of this note are provided for readers to think seriously as to what can be done to ensure the sustainability of the economic growth of developing countries, and still preserve the quality and quantity of existing water resources.

Greening of industry relates to the greening of the process of producing and the product as most pollution occurs due to process of raw materials. In this article, we propose that green product innovation, green process innovation and combined green innovation will be positively influencing manufacturing firms to achieve corporate competitive advantages in the marketplace. This is in line with a suggestion in the literature whereby firms that implement green technology and show high environmental performance to be prone towards being profitable compared to those that are not. If this is true, then the proposed model is expected to show positive results, indicating that green innovation investment is indeed beneficial to manufacturing firms to as a business strategic tool to compete in the marketplace. Thus, the importance of green innovation practices in corporation should be implemented by firms.

Intense interest in Asparaginase has resulted from the discovery of its ability to inhibit growth of tumors in mouse, rat and dog to suppress human leukamias in clinical trails. L-Asparaginase is an effective antineoplastic agent, used in the acute lymphoblastic leukemia.Asparaginase catalyzes the deamination of asparaginases into L-aspartic acid and ammonia. The aim of the present investigation was to study production of asparaginase from agricultural waste like citrus limetta pulp using solid state fermentation (SSF).Citrus limetta pulp used as a sole source for growth in SSF showed maximum enzymes production. Optimized process parameters like incubation time: 72 hrs; incubation temperature:280C; pH of the culture medium: 7.5; and moisture content: 60% v/w gave an overall yield of 101 U/g.

We are very happy to announce that from 8th April 2011, Prof.Wael Abd-Allah El-Helece has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on the Chemistry. Prof.Wael Abd-Allah El-Helece is currently at Department of Chemistry, Jazan University, Jazan, KSA. The appointment of Prof.Wael Abd-Allah El-Helece as member Editorial Advisory Board strengthens the links and will make it easier for prospective authors to establish contact with the journal. Please send any expressions of interest to chiefeditor@elixirjournal.org. Sincerely Editor-in-Chief

The current research is focused on the need to find an economical adsorbent for the removal of heavy metals from industrial wastewater. The research was performed to assess the potential of a biocarbon generated from medicinal plant called Phyllanthus niruri (Phyllanthaceae) as an adsorbent in the removal of heavy metals from solution. Results from batch adsorption studies on the effect of pH, contact time, different concentration of Cu metal ions were used to estimate the optimum adsorption conditions. The obtained results showed that, the adsorption of the metal ions was dependent on adsorbent dosage, contact time and pH. The optimum adsorbent dosage, and pH, was found to be at 2.5 g and pH 4.4 respectively. The effective contact time was 150min at 30 0C. The study also showed that activated carbon produced from Phyllanthus Niruri biomass can be efficiently used as low cost alternative for removal of metal ions.

This study was conducted to determine the existing social service and community requirements in rural area of Uttrakhand Hill. Most of the hill village community in India including Uttrakhand have very poor to poor options of quality school education and health related assets option in their local places. Under this study also assess the community priority for education, health services and child development. The results stated that the Government education and health services are ultimate options for marginal and low economy groups but scarcity of modern educational assets and health services accelerate the high out migration from these villages. Thus to stop the fast out migration of middle and middle upper groups from rural area the planning polices of State and Central Government have need to give promotion to public private partnership in social services as per their priority. This efforts further supplement to minimize the out migration and avail services with local employment generation, deliver as the new catalyst for rural social revitalization.

Ni-substituted MnZn mixed ferrite prepared by conventional sol-gel method. Ni substituted MnZn ferrite of molecular formula Mn0.3Zn0.7NixFe2-xO4 in which five samples of x=0.0, x=0.4, x=0.8, x=1.2 and x=1.6 were prepared. The X-ray intensity of (4 0 0) plane were used to calculate particle size and studied its variation with Nickel concentration. XRD, SEM, FTIR and VSM characteristics were presented. The substitution of Ni by replacing Fe reduces the coercivity of the ferrite due to replacement of Ni2+ by Fe3+ in tetrahedral site. Infrared spectroscopies have been discussed so as to bring out the role of nickel substitution in determining structural properties of Zn–Mn ferrites and the role of nitrates in preparation of these compounds.

The concept of effluent treatment, by means, of a collective effort, has assumed reasonable gravity by being especially purposeful for cluster of small scale industrial unit. Common effluent treatment plant (CETP) not only helps the industries in easier control of pollution, but also act as a step towards cleaner environment and service to society at large. A number of technologies have been developed over the years to remove organic matter (expressed as chemical oxygen, COD) from industrial wastewater. The most important technologies include coagulation/ flocculation process (1), membrane filtration (2), oxidation process (3,4). These methods are generally expensive, complicated, time consuming and requires skilled personal. The high cost of coal- based activated carbons has stimulated the search for cheaper alternatives. Low cost and non-conventional adsorbent include agricultural sector. This study assesses pollutant removal efficiency from distillery- spent wash by three adsorbents (activated charcoal, fly ash and wood ash). Pots were kept in polyhouse at 30o C (humidity 75o C) with 35% reduction in natural sunlight. After 10 days of growth, adsorbent (15g each) were added separately to the pots soil and irrigated with two different concentrations (50% and 100%) of the effluent. One set of the pots was maintained as control. On each irrigation date, effluent was poured in a pot. Subsequent irrigation, with respective concentration of effluent was done at 12 days’ interval. After 6 hr. of irrigation, treatment – wise leachate was collected, brought to the laboratory and all the selected parameters pH, color, COD, Total solids (TS), Total dissolved solids (TDS), total soluble solids (TSS), Ca, Mg, Na, K and heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Fe) were analyzed.

Of the four skills of language, speaking skill in English is the one that gets least attention in the curriculum at Schools and Universities. Teaching and learning a second language is a great challenge to both the facilitator and the learner. This paper investigates the reasons for ineffective oral communication of engineering students. Two tasks (Personal Interview and Group Discussion) are introduced in this experimental study to know their proficiency level in oral communication. And a short description of the objectives of testing speaking skill, author’s responsibility, research design, findings, pedagogical implications and conclusion are discussed. Hoping, it will also help the teachers’ community to incorporate it in teaching and learning process.