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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Foremost, I have immense pleasure in expressing my sincere

gratitude to my supervisor Dr. T. Purusothaman, Ph.D., Associate Professor,

GCT, Coimbatore for his continuous support during my research, and also for

his patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. Without his

support and guidance, this thesis could not have seen the dawn of the day.

Besides my advisor, I would also want to thank the esteemed

doctoral committee members Dr. G. Kausalya, Ph.D., Professor, CIT and

Dr. S. Uma, Ph.D., Associate Professor, CIT for continuous encouragement,

and thought-provoking questions that shaped the thesis to its full form.

My inner self cannot be gratified if I do not acknowledge the moral

support rendered by Dr. V. Sumathy Ph.D., Associate Professor, GCT,

Coimbatore during the research work. I am indebted to Dr. K.V.N. Sunitha,

Principal, BVRITH for her motivation and being available for me when I

required her support.

I am much grateful to my parents L. Appavu and Kasthuri

Appavu for supporting me spiritually throughout my life. I am thankful to my

husband T.Ramu, my sons R. Gokul Koushik and R. Praneet Kaushik, and

all my colleagues for their encouragement and unconditional support in all my

endeavors.

A.VASANTHI