What Has Gone Wrong? No One Asks Coal Miners/Human Capital of Indian Coal Industry to Work Hard: Perception of Author

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Ram Narayan Tripathi
Author(s):  
E. S. Filimonov ◽  
O. Yu. Korotenko ◽  
O. A. Rumpel ◽  
O. N. Blazhina

Introduction. The problem of high mortality from cardiovascular diseases is caused, among other things, by asymptomatic atherosclerosis, which proceeds latently for a long time and manifests itself as a serious vascular catastrophe, which is of particular importance for people working at production facilities with difficult and dangerous working conditions.The aim of the study was to assess the risk factors for atherosclerosis and the state of the vascular wall in the workers of the main professions of coal enterprises in the South of Kuzbass.Material and methods. In total, the study included 384 people (men), of whom 266 were the workers in coal mines in the South of Kuzbass and 118 people who were not employed in the coal industry, aged 40 to 55 years. The diagnosis of atherosclerosis was carried out on the ultrasound system “Vivid E9” of the manufacturing company GE using a linear sensor for measuring the thickness of the intima-media complex and visualization of atherosclerotic plaques. To identify significant risk factors, anthropometric, anamnestic data, indices of lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, and the presence of arterial hypertension were studied.Results. Significant differences in the frequency of asymptomatic atherosclerosis in the form of an increase in intima-media thickness by more than 1 mm and / or the presence of atherosclerotic plaques in both groups were not found: 60.2% among the miners and 62.3% among non-coal mining workers (p=0.703); at the same time, the percentage of detection of atherosclerotic plaques in arteries was significantly lower among coal workers — 46.9% versus 60.5% among people in the comparison group (p=0.016). The common risk factors for all examined subjects were arterial hypertension and increased level of glycated hemoglobin; in turn, in coal miners additional risk factors were increased values of low density lipoproteins and waist-hip index, as well as burdened heredity for cardiovascular diseases, and among the individuals not employed in the coal industry it was smoking.Conclusions. The most significant risk factors for atherosclerosis in coal industry workers were arterial hypertension, raised values of glycated hemoglobin, low density lipoproteins and waist-hip index, as well as burdened heredity for cardiovascular diseases. Significant differences in the frequency of asymptomatic atherosclerosis in the form of an increase in the thickness of the intima-media complex of the main arteries and the presence of atherosclerotic plaques in both groups were not established, but the percentage of the detection of atherosclerotic plaques was lower among coal miners.The authors declare no conflict of interests.


Subject US energy mix moves. Significance The administration of President Donald Trump has taken up the cause of the coal and nuclear industries for policy action during its first year in office. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has proposed a rule that would subsidise coal and nuclear plants for their role in what he claims is providing grid “resiliency”. Meanwhile, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director Scott Pruitt has proposed repealing President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan (CPP) -- a regulation, which the coal industry opposes, aimed at cutting US carbon emissions. Impacts Regulatory shifts will not shelter coal miners from diminished global demand for coal. Tax incentives for renewables enjoy bipartisan congressional support despite Trump’s opposition. Trump’s support for increasing US energy extraction will exacerbate the gas glut depressing coal and nuclear.


Author(s):  
Jim Phillips

Changes in coalfield employment and coal industry ownership illustrate the ways in which economic security was strengthened from the 1920s to the 1960s. Private ownership was an obstacle to communal security, with employers protecting their profits at the expense of employment and wage stability. Nationalisation in 1947 was an important victory. Progress was not straightforward, however, disturbed by pit closures and job losses from the late 1950s onwards. Policy-makers moved human and capital resources out of basic industry, including coal, and into higher value-added manufacturing. The new employer, the National Coal Board (NCB), was initially clumsy in its approach to restructuring. Nationalisation involved limited innovation in the sense of enhanced industrial democracy. But miners and their union representatives made the changes work in their favour. Policy-makers were persuaded to accommodate the needs of the coalfields as miners defined them. New factories were established in the coalfields through UK government regional policy, mainly in mechanical engineering and then electrical engineering, with jobs for women as well as men. A reconfigured pattern of social relations emerged gradually, with more opportunities for women and less gender inequality.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 882-902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sorokhaibam Khaba ◽  
Chandan Bhar

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to quantify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis for the Indian coal mining industry using Fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory. Design/methodology/approach After obtaining 17 factors from literature and expert opinion, an interview questionnaire was designed and tested to assure the content validity of questionnaire. A group of 15 qualified experts consisting of 4 professors from academic institutions and 11 management professionals from mining sector with substantial experience were consulted. Findings The result from causal relationship implied that the decision makers should focus on improving the ability of exploitation and production using quality improvement initiative such as lean production, developing research and development units for clean coal technology and working with strong exporters. This study also finds that foreign investment in mining sector is also a main factor that highly influences other factors. Research limitations/implications The study is based on personal judgments and the shortage of respondents limits the study to ensure the validity. Practical implications The stated strategies both for the government and industry through SWOT analysis could facilitate improved productivity of the Indian coal industry if adopted. Originality/value This paper demonstrates a process for quantitative SWOT analysis for the Indian coal mining industry that can be performed even when there is dependence among factors.


Author(s):  
John Meurig Thomas

In the period between 1815 and 1818, Sir Humphry Davy read four papers to the Royal Society and published a monograph dealing with a safety lamp for coal miners, all of which record in detail the experimental work that he carried out, with his assistant Michael Faraday, so as to determine how to prevent catastrophic accidents in coal mines by the explosion of fire-damp (methane) in the presence of a naked flame. This article describes the key experiments that he performed at the Royal Institution and some of the subsequent trials made in the coal mines of the north of England. It begins, however, with an account of Davy's prior achievements in science before he was approached for help by the clergymen and doctors in the Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne areas. There is little doubt that the Davy lamp, from the 1820s onwards, transformed the coal industry worldwide. It also profoundly influenced the science of combustion, and in the words of a pioneer in that field, W. A. Bone, FRS, ‘There is no better model of logical experimental procedure, accurate reasoning, philosophical outlook and fine literary expression.’ It is a remarkable fact that it took Davy essentially only two weeks from the time he was given samples of fire-damp to solve the problem and to devise his renowned miner's safety lamp. A brief account is also given of the contemporaneous invention of a safety lamp by George Stephenson, and of some of Davy's subsequent accomplishments. This commentary was written to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society .


1993 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-111
Author(s):  
V.D. Manjrekar

The Indian Coal Mining Industry, which now ranks 5th in the world, was started in 1975. After initial sporadic efforts the thrust for coal exploration was given only after independence. The real impetus to the exploration was received after industrialisation of the coal industry in 1971–72 and 1973–74. The National Policy of coal exploration is well defined and is subjected to national level co-ordination by the Planning Commission of the country. For the purpose of exploration, coalfields have been divided into types which consider basinal area of coalfields and category-based on coverage by exploration of potential coal bearing areas. About seventy four coalfields are covered under various exploration systems. India has a three tier system of coal exploration viz. regional, detailed and production support exploration. Most modern techniques are being employed for coal exploration including remote-sensing, HRSS, well logging, geo-engineering investigations, physico-chemical and physico-mechanical studies, hydrogeological investigations and computer applications. The National Coal Inventory placed the reserves of the nation at about 196 billion tonnes which could be augmented by further exploration to about 239 billion tonnes. To this about, 620 billion tonnes of futuristic resources could also be added in the distant future.


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