Along with the fast growing economy, the term "BRICs" was coined to represent the newly emerging countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China. The enhanced economy in these countries has largely improved people's life; at the same time, it has also strongly influenced the transformation of social structure, norms and values. However, as the world's attention centers on their economic development at the micro level, the social changes at the micro level have often been neglected, and a specific comparative study of these four countries is even more rare. This handbook's contributing authors are leading sociologists in the four countries. They fill the gap in existing literature and examine specifically the changes in each society from the perspective of social stratification, with topics covering the main social classes, the inequality of education and income, and the different styles of consumption as well as the class consciousness and values. Under every topic, it gathers articles from authors of each country. Such a comparative study could not only help us achieve a better understanding of the economic growth and social development in these countries, but also lead us to unveil the mystery of how these emerging powers with dramatic differences in history, geography, culture, language, religion and politics could share a common will and take joint action. In general, the handbook takes a unique perspective to show readers that it is the profound social structural changes in these countries that determine their future, and to a large extent, will shape the socio-economic landscape of the future world.

Man-made or industrial processes, localised or geographically distributed, need be automated in order to ensure they produce quality, consistent, and cost-effective goods or services. Automation systems for these processes broadly consist of instrumentation, control, human interface, and communication subsystems. This book introduces the basics of philosophy, technology, terminology, and practices of modern automation systems with simple illustrations and examples.

Overview of Industrial Process Automation, Second Edition, introduces the basics of philosophy, technology, terminology, and practices of modern automation systems through the presentation of updated examples, illustrations, case studies, and images. This updated edition adds new developments in the automation domain, and its reorganization of chapters and appendixes provides better continuity and seamless knowledge transfer. Manufacturing and chemical engineers involved in factory and process automation, and students studying industrial automation will find this book to be a great, comprehensive resource for further explanation and study.

Soil resources in the world in general, and in rainfed region in particular are at the verge of degradation because of natural processes and anthropogenic interventions leading to low agricultural productivity and environmental degradation. Beside physical and chemical degradations due to soil erosion, soil acidity, soil alkalinity, water logging, accumulation of toxic compounds and heavy metals, organic matter and nutrient depletion, the biological degradation and soil biodiversity decline are also at alarming rate. The soil degradation can be reversed only by following the restorative and conservation practices such as minimum are zero tillage, recycling of crop residues, use of organics, balanced fertilization, use of soil amendments, effective soil and water conservation measures, appropriate cropping systems, etc. This book deals with above mentioned issues and is the outcome of the study on long term effects of tillage, crop residue recycling and nitrogen levels on labile C pools and soil enzymes in Sorghum-Castor system in tropics. Authors believe that the results and experiences presented in this book will be of much interest and use to the readers and researchers.

Sulphur is required by the plants in amounts similar to phosphorus (P) and is important in protein formation and other plant functions. It significantly influences yield and quality of crops, improves odor and flavors, and imparts resistance to cold, and hence it is generally considered as a 'quality nutrient'. Sulphur-deficient soils are widely distributed around the world. In the event of inadequate level of sulphur in soil, response of crops to other nutrients also declines. In addition, the imbalanced use of nitrogen and phosphorus in comparison to S, has widened, the N: S and P: S ratios in soil. Resultantly, the yield of oilseed crops, especially sunflower, is severely affected. Considering this aspect, a comprehensive case study was conducted to evaluate the response of sunflower to different sources and levels of sulphur in semi- arid Alfisol soils. The experiences documented in this book will be highly useful to Agricultural Scientists, Students, Land managers, NGOs, State Agricultural Departments, Agricultural Extension and Transfer of Technology Agencies, not only in India but also in other countries of the world with similar climatic and edaphic environments.

Alfisol, the dominant soil order in semi arid tropics of the world, are the most degraded owing to several natural and anthropogenic causes. Long-term studies were undertaken to improve and assess the quality of these soils. This book is the outcome of various experiences gained during the study and comprises of concepts of soil quality, indicators to assess soil quality, methodologies for estimation of various soil quality indicators and soil quality assessment, past research experiences on the impact of soil and nutrient management practices on soil quality and soil quality indices, case studies on soil quality assessment under long term management practices, future thrusts and research needs. As the modern concepts of viewing soil quality are different from those which were perceived three decades earlier, authors trust that this publication would be of immense use to all categories of stakeholders associated with agriculture viz., researchers, students, NGOs and officials of State Agricultural Departments in general and land care and soil managers in particular across the arid and semi-arid Alfisol and associated soil regions of the world.

"The changing structures of societies, patterns of family interdependence, family and kin structures, demographic, social and economic trends have all affected the relationship between generations across the world. Such changes are going to have tremendous implications for contemporary and future societies. The most important issue is the extent of sharing of beliefs about social obligations and changes therein across and within generations. Although such issues related to intergenerational relationships are gradually attracting academic and non-academic interest, these have yet not been addressed systematically in research. The 23 papers in the present volume (both empirical studies and review articles), apart from highlighting existing patterns and perceptions of intergenerational relationships from Indian and Western perspectives, also focus on interventions aimed at strengthening intergenerational relations. The book will prove to be a valuable source material for sociologists, psychologists, gerontologists, social work practitioners and NGOs working in this field."

The focus of the study is on the nature and peace of social transformaton in contemporary Shekawati. It is based on the hypothesis that there was a nexus between caste, feudalism and peasantry before independence, the dominant social formation being feudalism. New social formations have emerged with the abolition of Jagidari system. The study explains the incongruence between the economic and political standing and the social and cultural advancement of those now occupying positions of power.