Climate variability, particularly, that of the annual air temperature and precipitation, has received a great deal of attention worldwide. The magnitude of the variability of the factors changes according to the locations. The present study focuses on detecting the trends and variability in the annual temperature and rainfall for the district of Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, India. This study used annual and monsoon time series data for the time period 1981-2010 and modified the Mann-Kendall test and Sen's slope estimator in analyzing the problem. The results of the analysis indicate that the annual maximum temperature (TMX) and annual minimum temperature (TMN) for the period of 30 years have shown an increasing trend, whereas the monsoon’s maximum and minimum temperatures have shown a decreasing trend, although it is statistically not significant. The amount of annual rainfall does not show any significant trend, but the monsoonal rainfall has shown an increasing trend that is also statistically not significant. The resulting Mann-Kendall test statistic (Z) and Sen’s slope estimate (Q) of all the parameters studied indicate that changes are occurring in the magnitude and timing of the precipitation and temperature events at the Mandi station.

Flume experiments have been carried out under clear water scour conditions to analyze the maximum equilibrium scour depth and scour processes in armored streambeds. A total of 85 experiments have been carried out using different diameters of circular piers and non-uniform gravels. A graphical approach for dimensionless scour depth in equilibrium condition around the circular pier in armored streambeds has been developed. As per this curve, the maximum dimensionless scour depth variation with dimensionless armor particle size depends on the densimetric particle Froude number (Frd₅₀), and the decreasing rate of dimensionless scour depth decreases with the value of Frd₅₀.

The Himalayan range, being a complex terrain, is highly prone to slope instability in many parts because of the natural conditions and human interference. In the present study, road cut slope stability assessment has been carried out along Chamba-Bharmour Section (Chamba District, Himachal Pradesh) along Chakki (Pathankot, Punjab) - Bharmour (Chamba, Himachal Pradesh). The cut slopes with the potential of failures have been identified taking into consideration the geological and geotechnical complexities in the selected zone. Rock mass characterization methodologies have been used for the assessment of slope instability . The varying stability classes of the rock slopes have been calculated using rock mass rating (RMR) and modified slope mass rating (SMR) methods. The kinematic analysis approach has been utilized for the identification of different failure modes in heavily jointed, fractured and structurally controlled rock masses. Fourteen potentially unstable slopes were selected to assess their criticality by RMR and modified SMR approaches and their stability classes were identified.

IntroductionArtificial Intelligence (AI) can be defined as constructing computer programs that (i) are capable of exhibiting intelligence, (ii) exhibit intelligence by using processes used by humans for the same tasks, and (iii) are capable of complementing or supplementing human intelligence (Simon, 1995). As Epstein said (2015), “Although the original vision for artificial