Management of menstrual hygiene, practices and perceptions among vulnerable Bharia women in Madhya Pradesh: A pilot survey

India has the highest proportion of adolescents and the highest adolescent pregnancy and childbirth rate in the tribal segment of the population. Very few studies have focused on the use of sanitary pad and quality of health care as menstrual hygiene practices. The data was collected among ‘Bharia’ women who identified as one of the particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) in Madhya Pradesh. Towards comparing the use, source, and components of menstrual hygiene practices among adolescents and adult mothers, the sample included adolescent (10-19 years) and adult women 20-49 years of age. The relevant information was collected by trained female investigator with designed questionnaire from the respondents. Findings revealed that only 22.7% women are using sanitary pad during menstruation period in the studied tribe. It was seen the use of this absorbent (sanitary pad) for menstrual hygiene among the adolescents were found significantly higher (37.5%) than that of adult women (14.3%), whereas, the use of old cotton was found significantly higher (78.6%) among adult women. Awareness on menstrual hygiene about 50% adolescents and 64% adult women believed it is a curse of God. About 25% adolescents and 21.4% adult women believed menstruation is a natural process. The tribe has underprivileged menstrual hygiene practices owing to low awareness, illiteracy, and poverty. The special IEC education campaign with suitable strategy can be forced to optimum hygiene practices.

Inter-spatial heat vulnerability assessment of Summer - 2018 over Madhya Pradesh using discomfort (wind and thermal) indices

Due to global warming, increase in air temperature is a growing concern at present. This rise in temperature may cause mild to severe thermal discomfort and heat related hazards mostly for the people who are engaged in outside activities throughout the day. The present study shows the inter-spatial monthly distribution of thermal patches over major stations of Madhya Pradesh, viz., Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur, Hoshangabad, Rewa, Ratlam, Ujjain, Dhar etc. In this study, various Heat Indices applicable for tropical climate including Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) are used to estimate the thermal stress by analyzing the meteorological data of Summer-2018 in Madhya Pradesh. Study was carried out for computing indoor, shady and outdoor heat stress separately and heat transfer rates to identify the places vulnerable to severe heat stroke in the month of March, April and May in 2018.It is observed that declaration of heat wave alone at any station is not sufficient for the administration and health organizations to take precautionary actions; also, discomfort indices should be referred for impact based monitoring and making work schedules. It is found that March and April fall in the partial discomfort category for at least half of the districts in Madhya Pradesh. It is interesting to note that several districts fall in discomfort category in outdoor conditions but not in indoor or shady conditions in May month. Severe stresses are observed mainly in the West and Central Madhya Pradesh during April and May months. Comparison of various Heat Indices is too performed along with computing Tropical Summer Index (TSI) and Apparent Temperature (AT) to indicate real feel-like temperatures in Madhya Pradesh during extreme temperature events.

Bharat mein 1990-1999 ke dauraan shushkata visangatiyon ka kshetreey avem saamayik vishleshan

Aridity Anomaly Index (AAI), based on Thornthwaite’s water balance technique, has been used to identify the extent and persistence of aridity anomalies over 33 sub-divisions of India during a period of 10 years from 1990 to 1999. Regional and temporal analysis has been carried out to identify the areas and periods of intense and prolonged persistence. This study has shown that 1992 was worst hit by the aridity conditions, which emerged in 5 or more fortnights. All sub-divisions of north India were affected by moderate aridity during 1990, 1992-94 and 1999. Similarly, all sub-divisions of peninsular India were influenced by moderate aridity during 1991, 1993 and 1999. Severe aridity appeared in all sub-divisions of peninsular India during 1990. The duration of severe aridity was less than that of moderate aridity during all years. Moderate and severe aridity appeared simultaneously in 5 or more fortnights in maximum 9 sub-divisions in 1992 and occurred during maximum 5 years in Madhya Maharashtra. Moderate aridity in 5 or more fortnights emerged each year during 1990 to 1999 in coastal Andhra Pradesh. In 1991, maximum 55% sub-divisions were affected by severe aridity in 9th fortnight, whereas Saurashtra & Kutch was affected in 1996 and north Interior Karnataka in 1999 during maximum 7 fortnights. In the year 1992, maximum number of sub-divisions under moderate and severe persistence was 70% and 24% respectively. In north India, moderate persistence appeared in east Rajasthan in all nine years except 1996, with its longest duration of 8 fortnights in 1995. West Madhya Pradesh, in peninsular India, was affected by moderate aridity during 7 fortnights in each year during the period of study from 1990 to 1999.

Possible mechanisms related to internal dynamics for anomalously high rainfall during August 2020 of Indian Summer Monsoon

In the present study, an investigation is made to understand the physical mechanism behind the anomalous high rainfall during August 2020 over the Indian subcontinent using both observation and GFS T1534 weather forecast model. According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), the country receives 27% excess rainfall in the month of August 2020. The excess rainfall is mainly contributed by the 5 well marked low pressure systems which formed over Bay of Bengal and moved west-northwestwards across central India up to Western Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The analysis reveals that the observed anomalous rainfall is distributed over central India region extending from coastal Orissa to central part of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and western coast of Gujarat region. It is also found that the August-2020 heavy rainfall is mainly contributed by the synoptic (2-10 days) component of the total rainfall whereas the contribution of the large-scale intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) component (10-90 days) is quite less. Although the present operational Global Forecast System (GFS) T1534 (GFS T1534) is able to predict the anomalous high rainfall with day-1 lead time, it underestimates the magnitude of the synoptic variance. Further, the large-scale dynamical and thermodynamical parameters show anomalous behaviour in terms of strong low level (850 hPa) jet, vertical velocity and associated moisture convergence in the lower level. The GFS T1534 is able to forecast the above large-scale features reasonably well even with day-5 lead time. From energetics analysis, it is found that the mean kinetic energy (MKE) is stronger for August 2020 as compared to climatological value and the strong MKE efficiently transfers the energy to the synoptic scale, and hence the synoptic eddy kinetic energy is higher. Along with that, the ISO scale kinetic energy for August 2020 is less compared to the August climatological value. GFS T1534 model has some fidelity in capturing the energy conversion processes, but it has some difficulty in capturing the magnitude with increased lead time.

Does Demographics Matter in Measuring Customer Satisfaction: Hypothetical Evidence from Indian Telecom Sector

Virtually all the sectors of economy such as finance, banking, hospitality and other businesses have grown up substantially in the past few years due to the growth of mobile service sector. From the inception of Reliance Jio in Madhya Pradesh, It has occupied a large number of customers in terms of no. of subscribers. This creates unrest among the telecom service operators operating in Madhya Pradesh. As the market moves forward, customer satisfaction becomes imperative for service firms to remain combative at marketplace. To study customer satisfaction, it is mandatory to study socio demographics of customers. Hence efforts have been made in this research paper to study the satisfaction level of customers from several demographic variables. This is a hypothetical research study in which primary data is collected from 500 active mobile users of Bhopal (MP), India. One way ANOVA and T-test were used to analyze the data through SPSS 21.0 software. Specific variables of American customer satisfaction index (ACSI) and European customer satisfaction index (ECSI) were being studied with different socio demographic variable of customers to move ahead in present research study. Significant difference was found in level of customer satisfaction with the age group and type of connection in telecom sector.

Monitoring of the Village Malaria Workers to conduct activities of Malaria Elimination Demonstration Project in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

Background The capacity of the field staff to conduct activities related to disease surveillance, case management, and vector control has been one of the key components for successfully achieving malaria elimination. India has committed to eliminate malaria by 2030, and it has placed significance on monitoring and evaluation at the district level as one of the key strategies in its national framework. To support and guide the country’s malaria elimination objectives, the Malaria Elimination Demonstration Project was conducted in the tribal district of Mandla, Madhya Pradesh. Robust monitoring of human resources received special attention to help the national programme formulate a strategy to plug the gaps in its supply chain and monitoring and evaluation systems. Methods A monitoring tool was developed to test the capabilities of field workers to conduct activities related to malaria elimination work. Between November 2018 to February 2021, twenty-five Malaria Field Coordinators (MFCs) of the project utilized this tool everyday during the supervisory visits for their respective Village Malaria Workers (VMWs). The data was analysed and the scores were tested for variations against different blocks, educational status, duration of monitoring, and post-training scores. Results During the study period, the VMWs were monitored a total of 8974 times using the monitoring tool. Each VMW was supervised an average of 1.8 times each month. The critical monitoring indicators scored well in all seven quarters of the study as monitored by the MFCs. Monitoring by MFCs remained stable at 97.3% in all quarters. Contrary to expectations, the study observed longer diagnosis to treatment initiation time in urban areas of the district. Conclusion This study demonstrated the significance of a robust monitoring tool as an instrument to determine the capacity of the field workers in conducting surveillance, case management, and vector control related work for the malaria elimination programme. Similar tools can be replicated not only for malaria elimination, but other public health interventions as well.

Monitoring of Insecticide Resistance in Anopheles culicifacies in Twelve Districts of Madhya Pradesh, Central India (2017–2019)

Background. Indoor residual spraying (IRS) and long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) are malaria vector control measures used in India, but the development of insecticide resistance poses major impediments for effective vector control strategies. As per the guidelines of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), the study was conducted in 12 districts of Madhya Pradesh to generate data on insecticide resistance in malaria vectors. Methods. The susceptibility tests were conducted on adult An. culicifacies as per the WHO standard technique with wild-caught mosquitoes. The blood-fed female mosquitoes were exposed in 3 to 4 replicates on each occasion to the impregnated papers with specified discriminating dosages of the insecticides (DDT: 4%, malathion: 5%, deltamethrin: 0.05%, and alphacypermethrin: 0.05%), for one hour, and mortality was recorded after 24-hour holding. Results. An. culicifacies was found resistant to DDT 4% in all the 12 districts and malathion in 11 districts. The resistance to alphacypermethrin was also observed in two districts, and possible resistance was found to alphacypermethrin in seven districts and to deltamethrin in eight districts, while the vector was found susceptible to both deltamethrin and alphacypermethrin in only 3 districts. Conclusion. An. culicifacies is resistant to DDT and malathion and has emerging resistance to pyrethroids, alphacypermethrin, and deltamethrin. Therefore, regular monitoring of insecticide susceptibility in malaria vectors is needed for implementing effective vector management strategies. However, studies to verify the impact of IRS with good coverage on the transmission of disease are required before deciding on the change of insecticide in conjunction with epidemiological data.