Publications

 This paper focussed on the potential of naturally occurring nano-crystalline minerals in the area of energy production, medical applications, and environmental remediation, using their unique characteristics of cation-exchange capacity. The minerals considered are naturally occurring nano-damonds, fluid deposited nano-crystalline graphite, Mg-Fe-titanium-oxides, and nano-crystalline phyllosilicates. 

Whether it is a lullaby or a bhajan, music meets us where we are. Music is believed to have evolved alongside language, possibly even before it. On International Music Day, we don’t just celebrate sound. We celebrate connection.

Demographic analysis is often used for the effective management of wildlife, especially for species facing human‐caused disturbances to their habitat, such as habitat fragmentation. The objective of our long‐term study was, therefore, to gain insights into the status of a lion‐tailed macaque Macaca silenus population, inhabiting the Puthuthottam estate near Valparai in the Western Ghats of southwestern India. In this paper, we present a demographic history of five resident groups of this species, comprising 5% of the remaining wild lion‐tailed macaque populations and report a five‐fold increase in population size over a period of four decades.

Management strategies for nuisance wildlife species are typically contentious policy decisions that reveal much about socio-political tensions in a region as they do about the depredating behaviour of wildlife. We examined human-wild pig conflict in the state of Kerala, southern India, to understand the circumstances behind the state government repeatedly petitioning the federal government for a vermin status for wild pigs. Employing a mixed methods research approach, we collected field data on wild pig crop raiding intensities, conducted stakeholder interviews, and analysed various governmental and organisational documents related to the vermin status petitions. Our results show that various human groups supported a vermin status for the wild pig for socio-political reasons rather than economic factors. Human-human conflicts over wildlife are not limited to different human groups but can also occur between state and federal governments. We recommend the need for scientific field studies before wildlife management policies are put into place to deal with problem wildlife.

Management strategies for nuisance wildlife species are typically contentious policy decisions that reveal much about socio-political tensions in a region as they do about the depredating behaviour of wildlife. We examined human-wild pig conflict in the state of Kerala, southern India, to understand the circumstances behind the state government repeatedly petitioning the federal government for a vermin status for wild pigs. Employing a mixed methods research approach, we collected field data on wild pig crop raiding intensities, conducted stakeholder interviews, and analysed various governmental and organisational documents related to the vermin status petitions. Our results show that various human groups supported a vermin status for the wild pig for socio-political reasons rather than economic factors. Human-human conflicts over wildlife are not limited to different human groups but can also occur between state and federal governments. We recommend the need for scientific field studies before wildlife management policies are put into place to deal with problem wildlife.