Daily Archives: August 21, 2026

Authors: Muskan Gupta

Abstract: This article looks at the idea of the Right to Disconnect, which means employees should not be expected to work or respond to messages outside their official working hours. It focuses on workers in India’s IT and BPM sectors. Using a mix of data from Indian and international labour surveys and a survey of 300 professionals in five major cities, the study examines how Indian labour laws currently do not protect workers from after-hours digital work, and how this affects their health and well-being. Key findings show that 68% of IT workers regularly get work messages after hours, and 42% show signs of burnout. The article also looks at how countries like France, Portugal, Belgium, and Spain handle this issue to suggest solutions for India. The study concludes that while a single national law might be hard to implement, a tiered approach — tailored to different sectors and included within India’s Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code — could protect employees without hurting business operations. Overall, the article highlights the importance of protecting workers’ digital rights as India’s work environment evolves.

Published by: vikaspatanker

Authors: A. M. Garba, M. Abubakar, K. J. Osinubi, O. Eberemu, T. S. Ijimdiya

Abstract: The potential of biotreated Aeolian soil using Bacillus brevis (B. brevis)-induced calcite precipitation for mitigating wind erosion was investigated through the application of the Bacterial Foraging Optimization Algorithm (BFOA). Laboratory experiments were conducted to generate the data required for the optimization analysis. Sediment flux (y) was considered the dependent variable, while B. brevis suspension density, pH, compactive effort, water content relative to optimum, and cementation conditions were considered independent variables influencing the wind-erodibility response of the treated soil. GeneXproTools 5.0 was employed to develop the fitness (objective) function describing the relationship between sediment flux and the selected independent variables. The resulting fitness function was subsequently incorporated into BFO codes developed in MATLAB 2016 to determine the combination of variables associated with minimum sediment flux. The optimization results demonstrated a strong relationship between the predicted and experimentally measured sediment-flux values, with a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.912. This indicates that the developed optimization model provided a satisfactory representation of the experimentally observed wind-erodibility behaviour of the biotreated Aeolian soil. The optimization process further showed that sediment flux was strongly influenced by the selected independent variables. The minimum predicted sediment flux of approximately 3.91 × 10⁻³ kg/m²s was obtained after 50 iterations. Based on the optimization results, treatment of Aeolian soil with B. brevis suspension and 0.75 M cementation reagent demonstrated considerable potential for reducing wind-induced sediment transport. The findings indicate that BFOA can serve as an effective optimization tool for identifying suitable microbial treatment conditions for wind-erosion mitigation, particularly in arid and semi-arid environments.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22042808

Published by: vikaspatanker

Authors: Anjali Savner, Assistant Professor Kapil Shah, Professor Kamlesh Patidar

Abstract: This paper presents the design and implementation of an Internet of Things (IoT)-based smart office automation system developed to improve energy efficiency, security, comfort, and real-time office monitoring. The proposed system integrates an ESP32 controller with IR, LDR, DHT11, MQ-2 and R307 fingerprint sensors, together with relay modules, an L298N motor driver, a DC motor, a 16×2 LCD and a P10 LED display. Occupancy information is used to automate lights and fans, while environmental information supports temperature, humidity, light and air-quality monitoring. Biometric authentication is used to update office availability, which is displayed outside the office. ESP-NOW/Wi-Fi communication supports wireless exchange of status information between controller and display modules. The supplied project report documents successful hardware and integration testing, including motion detection, environmental sensing, biometric authentication, appliance control, curtain operation, sensor integration and failure handling. The system provides a practical prototype for smart-office and future smart-campus applications.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22042149

Published by: vikaspatanker