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This paper exploits the information obtained in Annual Survey of Industries during 1999–2010 to gauge the degree of value-added owing to the use of traditional inputs (capital, labor, energy, indigenous materials, and imported materials) and advanced industrial production technology (services, information and communications technology, and pollution control equipment) in two main sub-sectors of the Pulp and Paper (P&P) industry in India categorized according to use of different types of raw material. The panel data econometric exercise confirms that the use of traditional inputs and advanced industrial technologies, and industry level determinants of the two sub-sectors have varied effects on value-added within them. These findings are important for promoting higher value-added production in different sectors within the resource-based industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the empirical optic of 'dead papers', this article highlights the lived complexities of documentary regimes in Global South contexts by exploring strategies and responses to the agency of migration documentation that are past their expiry date. Drawing upon 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork with African migrants and city-based actors such as property brokers conducted in two unplanned settlements of Delhi between 2015 and 2017, it focusses on the intersections between paperwork, im/mobility, and emergent 'migration infrastructures' (Xiang, Biao, and Johan Lindquist. 2014. "Migration Infrastructure." International Migration Review 48 (1): 122–148) mediating the impermanent trajectories of racialised and legally precarious African migrants in Delhi. It argues that colonial era laws that criminalise visa transgressions necessitate flexible strategies of urban navigation for unauthorised migrants and substantially complicate their capacity to return to home contexts. In this way, the article highlights the role played by property brokers as situated intermediaries critical to urban transformations, whose entrepreneurial 'connections' are often instrumental in the facilitation of mobility within the city and beyond. In tracing the ways in which the mediations of such localised migration infrastructures regulate broader processes of transnational migration, the article considers 'new' entanglements between migrants and city actors as integral to a conceptualisation of exit practices for unauthorised migrants, beyond binary oppositions of forced/voluntary movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines new forms of study-abroad expertise on social media and their role in mediating Indian student mobility to Germany. Firstly, it explores how mutual-support Facebook and WhatsApp groups—used by prospective international students in India to support each other through the process of applying to German universities—have contributed to the emergence of new forms of education consultancy, offered by Indian students or graduates of German universities, whom I call 'Student Guides'. In addition, it shows how some Indians studying in Germany have started 'Study in Germany' YouTube channels, aimed at aspirant student migrants, and have become important 'study-abroad influencers'. The paper analyses how these new forms of study-abroad expertise offer prospective international students social and cultural capital important for successful student migration, apart from shaping their imaginative geographies of Germany, and embedding them in cultures of mobility. Furthermore, the paper highlights how these new forms of study-abroad expertise intersect with, and critique, a more 'traditional' study-abroad expert: the professional education consultant. The paper draws on a digital ethnography of 'Study in Germany' Facebook and WhatsApp groups and YouTube channels, as well as interviews with the YouTubers, Student Guides, and Indian students in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study proposes a Fuzzy Data Envelopment Analysis (FDEA) approach for analyzing the performance of 8 selected paper mills of India. The proposed approach named FDEA considers the use of fuzzy weights in the objective function and makes use of alpha cut to decide the fuzzy interval. The efficiency of paper mills is evaluated based on 3 input parameters (raw material, energy consumption, and water consumption) and 4 output parameters (paper production, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions). Further, this paper also analyzes the effect of negative outputs, like BOD, COD, and GHG on the efficiency of paper mills. The study indicates that FDEA can be used efficiently for evaluating the performance of a particular sector under similar conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academics are expected to publish their research work. Hence, during the past few years, the scientific community has witnessed an ever-increasing growth and output in scientific papers. However, a large number of authors have violated ethical norms of research leading to retractions of their research works as well. The article focuses on the scientific fraud emanating from China and India in Health Sciences for a period of three years i.e. 2015 to 2018. The present data were extracted from a search filter term "Research Articles OR Articles in Press" on the subject category of Health Sciences (HSC). A total of 318 retracted papers were retrieved and the result of the study indicated that majority (268 items) of the retracted papers in Health Science originated from China, whereas just 50 retracted papers originated from India as on 21-02-2019. While analyzing the data, 26 redundant articles from China have been removed that received retraction notices. Further, the results of the study suggest that there are several factors associated with retraction of scientific papers, which include unreliable results, duplication of results, plagiarism, forged authorship, error in the text, error in data and so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of a rapidly evolving Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) market and increasing debate about the design of a future global climate regime, it is essential to understand which types of projects are undertaken along industrial value chains, and also the influence of company characteristics (e.g. size, raw material base, product type, ownership and location) on firms' CDM participation and choice of project type. The Indian pulp and paper industry was examined for its energy intensity and its diversity in terms of both mitigation opportunities and company characteristics. Large firms were found to be more likely than small firms to participate in CDM. Although CDM projects in large and small firms generate similar amounts of certified emission reductions (CERs), the type of technology implemented in those projects varies strongly with company size due to differing levels of capabilities and capital. Mill size and raw material base also affect participation and choice of project type. A structured approach is suggested for analysing how to engage different subsectors of an industry in mitigation efforts based on transnational sectoral approaches, domestic sectoral approaches, and programmatic CDM. Preliminary policy recommendations are offered for the Indian pulp and paper industry, as well as insights that are transferable to other countries. A one-size-fits-all sectoral approach is difficult to implement and a strategy for differentiated treatment based on company characteristics is required to reflect local development priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terminal Ediacaran–late early Cambrian deposition, faunas and passive margin evolution of the north Indian margin are recorded in the Nigali Dhar syncline succession. Restudy of the upper Tal Group (upper lower Cambrian Koti Dhaman Formation, KDF) ichnofauna from the Khud-Drabil section reduces it to 18 confidently named forms. The lower KDF (Lower Quartzite Member) Cruziana-Rusophycus assemblage is in subtidal (not intertidal) sandsheet facies. The overlying black Shale Member (SM) records trans-East Gondwanan deepening, not intertidal facies, in the Palaeolenus Zone. The SM, with low diversity Planolites-Palaeophycus assemblage, is overlain by subtidal (not intertidal) sandsheet facies of the middle KDF (Arkosic Sandstone Member, ASM) with shallow burrowers and furrowers (Gordia marina assemblage, new; Cruziana ichnofacies). KDF faunas with Cruziana and Rusophycus are similar to coeval, shallow marine associations elsewhere in Gondwana and NW Laurentia. Interpretation of a second KDF section 20 km from Khud-Drabil has confused an understanding of Lesser Himalaya geologic evolution as it claims Ordovician Cruziana species in the ASM and an angular SM–ASM unconformity caused by the Cambrian–Ordovician boundary Kurgiakh orogeny. However, upper lower Cambrian microfaunas occur in and above the ASM, while the angular SM–ASM unconformity is consistent with submarine sliding. KDF-type ichnofaunas do not show a tropical location of Avalonia, which has the distinctive lithofacies and biotas of a high-latitude continent unrelated to Gondwana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses Romania's burgeoning development aid policy to the post-colonial space. By leveraging its expertise in petroleum extraction to forge a strategic relationship with India in the 1950s, Bucharest was able to gain a strategic foothold as oil assistance provider to the non-aligned countries. This text details Romania's efforts to help build India's national oil industry by bringing into focus the broad nexus of forces at play in such process. It therefore aims to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of 'the Second World's Third World' by discussing the ideological and geopolitical considerations of both East-East and East-South relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The addition of the First Amendment to the Indian Constitution is considered a crucial moment in the constitutional history of liberty of speech and expression, and by extension, freedom of the press, in postcolonial India. Aimed at limiting the right to free speech and expression through several caveats, the attempt to pass the amendment roused fierce press protest led by the All-India Newspaper Editors' Conference (AINEC). Such protest notwithstanding, the Nehru government succeeded in passing the amendment through Parliament. This article seeks to revisit the months of April to July 1951 to understand how the press and, in particular, its primary organization—AINEC—understood the threat to their liberty and organized against it. In particular, the arguments put forth by AINEC and the methods applied by its leaders to unify the press shall be studied through the letters, meetings, and editorials of AINEC and its major functionaries. The reactions these endeavors elicited, in turn, shall be studied to explain why the attempted unity, and the larger protest, ultimately failed, and what this failure can explain about the limits of press unity and the difficulties of opposing a nationalist government in early postcolonial India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on nuclear weapons tests conducted by India on May 11 and 13, 1998, questioning the verification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Devices which India tested on May 11; Information on United States Geological Survey results; Information on seismograph readings; Seismic data of the May 13 tests.

The spatial distribution and hazard assessment of heavy metals in the paper mill contaminated area of Jagiroad, Assam, India were investigated using statistics, geostatistics and geographic information system techniques. The amounts of Cr, Cd, Ni and Pb were determined from 188 samples collected within the contaminated area. Log-transformation was applied in order to achieve normality in the data-set. The ordinary kriging estimates of Cr, Cd, Ni and Pb maps showed that high concentrations of heavy metals were located in the low-lying areas like bils (lakes). Indicator kriged probability maps of soil Cr, Cd, Ni and Pb were prepared based on the concentrations to exceed the respective Food and Agriculture Organization maximum permissible limit (MPL) value of 100, 3, 30 and 50 mg/kg, respectively. It was seen that more than 80% of the studied area has a higher than 50% probability to exceed the MPL value of Ni. Smaller areas in the north and west side of the study area displayed a higher concentration than the MPL value of Pb. For Cr, only a small portion at the centre of the study area had a higher concentration than the MPL value. In an attempt to identify the source of heavy metals through multivariate analysis, it was concluded that Cr, Ni and Pb mainly originated from paper mill effluent and soil Cd was associated with natural concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Over the past decades, digital technologies have become ubiquitous, impacting and changing the ways society operates. Immense public and economic value is being created by improving access to information and resources. Hence, many public administration units around the globe continue to focus on digital transformation. Although mostly associated with digitizing services and workflow via software platforms, India's efforts have taken a "Lego building block approach" toward technology which can be repurposed and recombined to deliver solutions at the social level. These digital public infrastructure (DPI) blocks have had significant impact on socio-economic development. In this special issue, we explore the role of DPI in digitally transforming public service delivery and in creating public value. The issue aims to make an important contribution to public administration and digital government literature, by examining India's DPI and its positive externalities, in particular its role in financial and health inclusion. These papers include vital knowledge that can support policy processes on digital transformation and public value creation for India and other developing countries of the global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historians of Partition have focused upon the bitterly polarized yet vibrant public sphere of the last days of the British Raj, wherein newspapers representing Congress, Muslim League and Akali opinion vied for influence through increasingly hostile propaganda targeted at the 'other/s'. Such studies' focus on ideological battles and propaganda results in relatively less attention being given to what became of these papers once the British departed and the parties these papers espoused or opposed captured power. This paper will seek to revisit such assumptions by analyzing the trials and tribulations of the significant newspaper houses unfortunate enough to be located on the geographical frontlines of Partition and in major centres of communal conflagration. Through such analyses, I will seek to show that it was a combination of initial mob action, reinforced often by state repression and even popular reproach, that forced newspapers viewed as belonging to the 'other' party to move to safer (and greener) pastures. In the process, late-colonial India's once pluralist public sphere came to be partitioned into sections that broadly conformed to the ideologies that the respective Dominions' new rulers espoused. While aligning newspapers with the majoritarian public opinion, this Partition occasioned shifts of personnel and presses that would fundamentally alter the postcolonial press industry in West and East Pakistan, and to a lesser extent, in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several research efforts were dedicated to analysing the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows on gross domestic product (GDP) and employment in the host economies. The variations in the conclusions signal that other variables influence and moderate the effects of FDI on GDP and employment. Institutional elements receive limited research attention, despite their influence on the host economies. This paper investigates the moderating role of institutional elements in the FDI-host economies on FDI’s effects on GDP and employment with China and India as case studies. The approach utilises three principal methodologies. The first methodology presents an in-depth analysis of China and India, highlighting selected institutional elements with the potential to influence FDI’s effects. The second methodology confirms the presence of a positive correlation between FDI and GDP and a negative correlation between FDI and employment-to-population ratio (EPR) in both China and India. The FDI, GDP purchasing power parity per capita, and EPR datasets are extracted from the World Bank – DataBank World Development Indicators to ensure the consistency of the data. The results of the quantitative analysis validate the qualitative analysis. The qualitative analysis confirms the moderating role of the selected institutional elements with variations in direction and strength. Significant variations in FDI’s effects on GDP and employment are strongly related to variations in the institutions of governance. The institutions of governance include the functionality of the state organs, the efficiency of the legal system and enforcement of the rule of law, and the quality of implementation of FDI-supportive policies. The findings aim to increase the absorption of the positive effects of FDI on GDP and employment in the respective countries. The research is a cornerstone of in-depth future research into the following areas: the role of selective FDI and constructive conditional FDI policies, the functionality of judicial authority controls, and FDI favourable exchange rates and interest rates policies. The novelty and contribution of the paper lie in its comprehensive exploration of the moderating role of institutional elements on the effects of FDI on GDP and employment in host economies, with a specific focus on China and India. The paper contributes significantly to the academic literature on FDI and economic development by emphasising the importance of institutional factors and providing actionable insights for policymakers and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay contextualises the emergence of a document regime which regulated routine travel through the deployment of the India–Pakistan Passport and Visa Scheme in 1952. It suggests that such travel documents were useful for the new Indian state to delineate citizenship and the nationality of migrants and individual travellers from Pakistan. The bureaucratic and legal mediations under the Scheme helped the Indian state to frame itself before its new citizens as the sole certifier of some of their rights as Indians. In contrast, applicants for these documents viewed them as utilitarian, meant to facilitate their travel across the new borders. The contrast and contestation between such different perceptions helps us to understand the continued significance of documentary identities in contemporary India. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Using a case study of India's Digital Stack, the paper seeks to understand how a discrete set of technology services when consumed by citizens can create public value of financial inclusion with regard to savings and access to credit. The research focuses on a single cross-sectional case study employing a deductive approach. The case-study approach is combined with the Granger causality test to empirically test relationships among various variables. The paper also makes an important contribution to public administration and digital government literature, by examining digital initiatives in India. These learnings can support the policy process about digital governance and public value creation for India and other developing countries of the global south. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historiography of education in South Asia has been held back by a semantic focus on institutions and policy. This article aims to widen the definition of ‘education’ by examining the transition pre-colonial forms of learning underwent during the period of state formation in early modern India. It explores particular communities of learning which straddled the Mughal and early British periods, the educational economy of pen and paper, and the role subordinate pensmen played in supporting both the late Mughal and early East India Company's empires in their agrarian reach into the Indian economy. Lowly, clerical castes served as pillars for the Company in enacting revenue settlements as they had under a wider Mughal political culture. The importance of the skills of paper management and accountancy were accelerated by British interests and provided the seeds for the emergence of not only the structures of north Indian education, but also some of the mid-nineteenth century colonial state's own forms of modern state organization. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Performance training in India, and more specifically, my training in dance, has been shaped by multiple, overlapping systems of power that created a very specific notion of what counts as dance. In this position paper I examine these systems of power, and what they mean to performance training, through the prism of personal experience. I then articulate what the core aims of my pedagogy is and provide some concrete possibilities to disrupt power structures within performance pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is our pleasure to present this special issue of Heat Transfer Engineering with a selection of papers presented at the 20th National and 9th ISHMT-ASME Heat and Mass Transfer Conference, held January 4–6, 2010 in Mumbai, India. The conference was jointly sponsored by the Indian Society of Heat and Mass Transfer (ISHMT) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and was held at the auditorium of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd., at Anushakthi Nagar, Mumbai, India. The conference local organizer was Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the theoretical aspects of Bradford's Law and Leimkuhler Model, their relevance across subject areas, their implementation forms, and their significance in Indian cancer research literature. The study analyzes 16,914 research papers published in 2,277 journals on cancer research in India between 2012 and 2021, sourced from the Web of Science Core Collection database. The total number of citations obtained from these papers is 378,409, and a ranking table of journals and their citations is provided. The first phase of the study applies Bradford's Law in verbal and algebraic forms to identify the journal distribution pattern, revealing a high percentage of error. The Leimkuhler Model estimates the number of journals in the core and successive zones, resulting in a minor percentage error of 0.00030171278%. The study identifies the International Journal of Cancer and PLoS One as core journals, emphasizing their importance in Indian cancer research. The findings can benefit oncologists, researchers, practitioners, and medical librarians in understanding scientific literature distribution and promoting research output effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the chemical and biological characteristics of paper mill effluents and their impact on the Tungabhadra and Godavari Rivers in India. Entry of heavy metals into the river through the effluents; Species composition in the rivers.

In this article, the authors discusses the Sample Registration System (SRS)-based life table data on the increasing trends of child mortality in India. It mentions that the negative connection of child immunization, better socio-economic status and nutritional status suggests that there is no reason to believe on the estimation of SRS on the increasing rate of child mortality. It suggests that the SRS must consider biases on the unknown origin of present data to avoid erroneous interpretations.

The article focuses on the Indo-Carribean repatriation of laborers. The necessity of handing over the information and knowledge to the future generations orally or written helps in identity, origin and understanding the descent of individual. The sailing of M.V. Resurgent between shores is shown as a unit of cultural and political bonding overcoming the barriers of caste, religion and language. The author's interview with Chhablal Ramcharan on the final voyage, is also presented.

This article addresses the issue of scaling of information systems (IS) in both theoretical and empirical terms. Scaling is an important issue in IS, especially in the contemporary context of globalization, as attempts are ongoing to expand IS in the same context as well as take it into other contexts. Theoretically, an information-infrastructure (II) perspective is drawn on to analyze the challenge of scaling, viewing it not merely as a technical problem, but as a socio-technical one involving a heterogeneous network constituted of technology, people, processes, and the institutional context. Empirically, scaling is analyzed based on experiences from an ongoing project to implement health information systems within the primary health care sector in India. The theoretically informed empirical analysis leads to some preliminary insights relating to the questions of what is being scaled and how it is being scaled. Some conclusions are drawn on theoretical and practical challenges related to scaling, and on implications for human-resource capacity development. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact that information technology can have on development is the subject of an ongoing debate. Central to this debate is the role of universities. Education shapes people's attitudes toward technology and determines how it will be used. This research shows that in India, students at higher educational institutions are socialized to believe that information technology can have a very positive impact on their country. They do not share the skepticism commonly found in Western literature. This research finds that first and foremost, IT is seen as a tool for personal development, where students can leverage their education to become rich and successful, either in India or abroad. Second, IT is seen as a tool for Indian ascension, lifting India to the status of a great global power. Only thirdly is IT seen as a means to assist in the development of India's poor population. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global software organization (GSOs) are a recent form of work settings where Information Technology (IT) professionals engage in information and communication technology (ICT) mediated software development work for businesses across the globe. Issues of self, identity, and gender are linked to particularities of GSOs as a work setting. Using an interpretative, ethnographic approach, empirical data from a case study in India was analyzed to understand how gender was expressed in GSOs and linked to the concepts of self and identity of IT workers. Data suggests that GSOs are a global work setting where local issues of gender reflect social arrangements in Indian society. These arrangements have implications for GSOs as a work setting, for software development work, as well as for the selves and identities of IT workers. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses Mikhail Bakhtin and Homi K. Bhabha’s notions of hybridity as an interpretive tool in a traditional market area situated to the north of the center of Calcutta called Barabazaar or the Great Bazaar. More specifically, I study the changing effects of colonialization and globalization on a small group of Marwari paper traders in an area at the southern end of Barabazaar called China Bazaar. Acknowledging the overlapping geographies, both indigenous and foreign, that were and are constantly negotiated in places such as Barabazaar, I define a concept of hybrid space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractMenstruation is considered an off-limits subject in India where menstruating woman continue to face silence, discrimination and isolation. A mesh of patriarchal cultural practices surrounding the subject of menstruation places restrictions on girls and women who are menstruating. This paper explores the menstrual experiences and challenges experienced by teachers from a village located in a Kishangarh block in rural Rajasthan. Informed by qualitative research, the study reveals the irony in thrust to distribute disposable menstrual pads to adolescent girls in school while ignoring the needs of teachers. The study calls for the inclusion of teachers as key stakeholders in the design of school based menstrual hygiene management and awareness initiatives and programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Till now, studies have determined the existence of process innovation using survey data; however, in this paper, we use secondary data to empirically establish its presence in low-tech industries. Our empirical approach consists of data envelopement analysis in the first step followed by regression analysis in the second step. We use a cross-sectional dataset, i.e., Annual Survey of Industries, 2017–2018 for our study. Our results suggest that among Indian low-tech firms, investment in computer equipment and software is the most popular strategy to trigger process innovation followed by investment in plant and machinery. We find that these factors have a greater impact on firms that export products and import inputs, than on firms that export products but do not import inputs. In other words, the export-import orientation of firms induces a differential impact of these factors on process innovation. One policy implication from the study is that government should encourage and incentivize low-tech firms to improve the capabilities of its labour force. This is the first paper in the Indian context that uses secondary data to empirically determine the existence of process innovation in low-tech industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are pleased to view the article based on Dr. Rama Kawade's thesis illustrating the importance of micronutrient adequacy, especially zinc, and associated health implications in Indian adolescent girls. This brief commentary addresses three major aspects in which Kawade's work has made a significant contribution;nutrition and health issues of adolescents, rising importance of zinc in terms of deficiency problems being addressed, and development of dietary interventions to alleviate micronutrient deficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acacia auriculiformisis an agro-forestry species in India with application in paper industry. The species is saline intolerant and fails to establish. Experiments were conducted to induce saline tolerance in callus cultures ofA. auriculiformison Murashige & Skoogs medium supplemented with different concentrations of NaCl+CaCl2–––(2:1; 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 or 300 mM). Calli were trained for eight sub-culture generations. The genome from saline-tolerant calli was extracted by modified cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide method and subjected to polymerase chain reaction-based random amplified polymorphic DNA technique. The polymorphic DNA bands were eluted and cloned toEscherichia coliwith the help of pTZ57R/T. The transformed plasmid DNA was sequenced and subjected to BLAST at National Center for Biotechnology Information. Results indicated that saline training of calli resulted in the expression of tolerance to 100 and 150 mM saline concentration after eight sub-cultures. Both the saline concentrations produced conspicuous bands in trained calli. Three nucleotide sequences were similar to those ofBacillus amyloliquefacienssub sp.plantarumand BLAST search result indicated high homologies to ThiT thiamine transporter, YuaG flottilin type band 7, and U32 class peptidase protein genes in bacterial genome. The annotation of these protein genes in saline tolerance was discussed. The study suggested that the endophyticB. amyloliquefacienssub sp.plantarummight be inducing saline tolerance inA. auriculiformis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Urbanizing villages are erstwhile rural villages that are spatially enveloped and are characterized by their dual relation to the state, which expresses itself as an issue of citizenship; of land ownership; of governance; and building regulations. This paper transcends the current focus on villages in Southern China, by comparing village urbanization between China and India through four narratives of village extensions. Four parallel readings are offered, namely that urban villages are characterized by; shared tenure rooted in their rural past; inherited administrative boundaries that are re-imbued with new legal designations; emulation of traditional practices; and sustained modes of self-governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a financial risk to companies, and those that disregard this will have to deal with losses due to extreme weather events, new regulations, or the disruption of the supply chain. Companies must disclose climate-related financial implications to enable informed decision-making by investors and other stakeholders. Any indifference or disregard for climate-related disclosures will harm the investors who may trade based on insufficient information and prices of securities that do not account for climate risks. In India, disclosures are mandated for companies under the Companies Act 2013 and various Securities and Exchange Board of India Regulations. This paper will explore the adequacy of the current disclosure regime concerning climate change and argue that, although information regarding climate risks falls within the ambit of the current set of mandated disclosures, it is insufficient. The paper concludes by making a case for mandatory climate disclosures under the Companies Act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore the intricate relationship between religio-political influence and its impact on social work in contemporary India. The escalating trends of majoritarianism, homogeneity, the instrumentalization of religion for political power, growing inequality, and the prevalence of caste-based violence have contributed to an alarming increase in intolerance among various religious, ethnic, and linguistic groups. These challenges, primarily driven by religio-political factions in India, pose significant obstacles to effective social work practice and intervention. The question arises: Can social work disentangle itself from religion and religio-political influence, or should a new narrative be developed within social work practice to address these concepts? This article underscores the pressing need for a fresh perspective that integrates religion, religiopolitics, and their influence on social work. New narrative can facilitate the development of effective strategies and interventions that mitigate the adverse effects of religio-political factions while promoting social justice and inclusivity. In conclusion, this paper emphasizes the necessity of reimagining the relationship between religion, religio-politics, and social work in India. Thus, social work can play a crucial role in fostering positive societal change, addressing inequality, and countering the rising tide of intolerance fueled by religio-political influences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entry of children to primary schools in India marks a sudden shift in the pedagogical approach as play-based pedagogy gives way to formal instruction. This paper argues that children's play motives do not subside when they enter school, rather play takes a more mature form and represents a strong linkage between their thought and reality. The recently introduced National Education Policy 2020 in India mandates a large-scale achievement survey at the age of 8, the fear is that this will lead to formalisation and academisation of early schooling. The paper presents a case study of a school in rural India that follows a play-based pedagogy in the primary years. The study uses dialectical-interactive approach for data collection and analysis. The analysis shows that play creates a pedagogic opportunity for the teacher and children to engage with each other's motives thus creating a shared 'object of activity' that ensures children's motivated engagement in their learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MGNREGA was introduced in India in 2005 with the aim to improve the livelihood of rural Indian households. In 2012-13, around 156 million rural Indian households had an outstanding personal debt; 85% of the amount of credit being disbursed was given to those households in the bottom income decile for 'non-business' related purposes. This paper uses nationally representative household data from the NSS EUS collected in 2004-05 and 2009-10 to look at the impact MGNREGA has had on the rural households' ability to repay outstanding debt. Results suggests that MGNREGA reduced the size of the outstanding debts for vulnerable households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to analyse the extent to which digital payments in India have diffused since its introduction around 2010. The paper measures diffusion in terms of the rates of growth of digital payments in both volume and value terms and then employing the sectoral system of innovation framework to identify the factors that are crucial for its faster diffusion. The paper shows that despite its existence for more than a decade, digital payments have not diffused in value terms. The main factor identified for its slower diffusion is a decline in the rate of growth of real per capita income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India's expectation of a demographic dividend owing to an increase in the working age population necessitated government measures aimed at skilling youth. Considerable emphasis was therefore placed on skill development policies and programmes, including revamping formal vocational education and training (VET) institutions that provide skills to students completing secondary schooling and opting vocational training. Although the number of VET institutions in India more than doubled in the last decade, their underutilisation calls for an analysis of underlying reasons. This paper analyses socio-economic factors influencing participation in VET using data from nationally representative survey on education. Findings of a multinomial logit analysis in the paper suggest that students in upper secondary VET institutions tend to belong to socially disadvantaged households, and that students in vocational courses are more likely to be male, urban, and from households whose principal occupation is blue-collar. Children from households belonging to higher socio-economic status and pursuing white-collar jobs are more likely to participate in general and professional education as compared to VET because of higher status assigned to the former in the society. These findings call for fine-tuning of current polices of promotion of VET in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In seeking to explore the meaning of chronic and chronicity, the association with infertility is neither immediate nor evident. However, this paper explores this relationship by analyzing the idea of infertility in relation to chronicity. In the linkages that come forth the idea of chronic lifestyle emerging from certain ways of being and living, as well the imaginings associated with the chronic body become important nodes of exploring the relationship between infertility and chronicity. Most importantly, the role that time plays in marking the chronic state is seen to be especially potent in the practice of infertility treatment, and the narratives that emerge around its temporal inevitability. The rhetoric that marks the diagnosis and prescription of treatment is often based on the identification of the body as susceptible to reproductive decline and failure, due to the contingencies of modern living. This often translates into a more sustained involvement with ARTs, which may or may not fulfil the required desire for a child. In this paper I seek to analyse the ways in which practitioners of infertility medicine create an image of an affliction that borders on chronicity. In the process, I question the idea of both chronic diseases and chronicity by looking at how illness is imagined in narratives that IVF specialists create in public, and through the idea of a cure for infertility. By analysing data collected through ethnographic fieldwork, this paper aims to build on the idea of the chronic as inevitable within clinical discourse and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper dwells on the account, provided by de Cecco, of the functioning of the international gold standard, as steered by Great Britain. The arrangement relied on a few institutional aspects dealing with the acquisition and disposal of gold by Britain, not only as units of transactions but also to facilitate profitable investments overseas. India had a major role in providing gold flows, as political tributes, to meet the 'Home Charges' in the ruling country. Nationalist arguments in India on the 'drain' were centred on the legitimacy of using taxes in India to meet the overseas expenditure in Sterling. Further sources of financial transfers, were not recognised by the nationalists. This paper provides an outline of the multiple channels of transfers used to expropriate gold from India. Those routes include India's trade surpluses; 'expenditure abroad' as earmarked in the domestic budget; currency reserves; and the camouflaging of unproductive debts by Britain to justify the interest payments under Home Charges. This is a new interpretation of the mode and the magnitude of financial expropriations by Britain, supplementing the 'Drain of Wealth' narrative. The paper ends comparing the colonial expropriations from India and the subordinate finance in the neo-colonies under contemporary capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eucalypt plantations in India are an important source of fiber for paper making and fuel for local villagers. Large areas of land have supported eucalypt plantations for several rotations, and productivity has generally been declining through successive rotations. In 1997, we initiated a project to examine site management options as a way to improve the productivity of these sites. We established a large experimental infrastructure at each of four sites in Kerala, consisting of up to five separate fully randomized block experiments at each site, examining inter-rotation management options (organic matter manipulation, N and P fertilizer input, legume cover cropping, weed control). Two of the sites were typical lowland plantations with Eucalytus tereticornis, and the other two sites were typical upland plantations with Eucalytus grandis. Following treatments, we monitored plantation productivity and impacts on soil and nutrient cycling for one full rotation (6.5 years). We found it is possible to increase the volume growth of E. grandis by up to 48%, and E. tereticornis by up to 268% through a combination of optimum site practices (mostly weed control and nutrient addition), hut productivity responses are dependent on site-specific factors. Key outcomes of this research are presented, with special reference to application in the broader context of tropical eucalypt plantations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special section is dedicated to the BASAS conference 2021. The conference coincided with the devastating second wave of Covid-19 in India, which started in March and peaked in May 2021. Case numbers and mortality in South Asian countries were very high and their health systems too struggled to keep up with these unprecedented times. As governments across South Asia appeared to fail their populations, a sense of crisis was shared by conference participants, many of whom were personally affected by this wave. This conference was unique in that it took place after a two-year gap due to the Covid-19 pandemic and in that it was the first fully online BASAS conference. The papers in the special section draw attention to significant areas of research in South Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extant literature examines the interactions between funding liquidity and market volatility on the equity market. This paper extends the literature and investigates the interactions between funding liquidity and market volatility in the options market. The paper employs the Bayesian structural vector autoregression framework to examine the effects of funding liquidity shock to volatility demand, uncertainty, and risk aversion. We find that positive feedback exists between contraction in funding liquidity and volatility demand, uncertainty, and risk-aversion. Our results are robust to alternate specifications of uncertainty and risk-aversion measures, and alternative ordering of variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the distribution of mortality across social groups classified by caste, gender and sector of origin in India in the mid-2010s: as such, the essay is intended to be both a methodological/measurement-oriented study and a substantive empirical assessment of an important dimension of human functioning in India. The analysis is carried out employing micro-data on the age-distributions of population and death-rates available in the National Family Health Survey of 2015–16 (NFHS-4). Mortality in the paper is measured in terms of the crude death rate, an indicator of "inefficiency" in the age-distribution of deaths, and an "age-adjusted" death rate which takes account of both the mean and the dispersion of a distribution. The last-mentioned indicator is taken to be the preferred measure of mortality. The analysis in the paper suggests that mortality outcomes across castes replicate the caste hierarchy and that there is a sharp rural-urban divide in the distribution of death. Mortality sex-ratios are found to be relatively more favourable for the lower than the higher castes. The results presented in the paper are not unexpected, but they provide quantitative confirmation of one's worst suspicions regarding the skewed distribution of mortality across social groups in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global commitments to the education of children with disabilities, have led to progressive policy developments in India, and a surge in the enrolment of children who were traditionally excluded from the formal education system. This paper examines the perceptions and practices of mainstream teachers in rural government schools, within the context of increased learner diversity, focusing on how teachers understand, and respond to, the needs of children with disabilities. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with teachers and classroom observations, in six primary schools, in three districts of Haryana. Our findings suggest that deficit-oriented views dominated teacher thinking, but they showed a readiness to engage with disability issues, recognising the value of education for all. However, they struggled in their classroom practices in relation to meeting diverse learner needs and exclusionary practices were further amplified for children with disabilities. Teachers were unwilling to take responsibility for the learning of children with disabilities, expressing significant concerns about their own preparedness, while highlighting the lack of effective and appropriate support structures. The paper concludes by drawing attention to the pressing need for effective teacher professional development opportunities and other support structures, to provide quality education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers who wish to become insiders to children's cultural worlds need to genuinely engage with the difference in social power between them and their participants. Most published accounts of adult positionality have been provided by those who have explored children's school practices. The ethnography discussed in this paper focused on the home and school literacy practices of children in a rural village in India. Cognisant of the unequal teacher-student relationships in this part of the world, I positioned myself as a least-teacher which, I argue, presents a cultural approximant for the least-adult role extensively discussed in literature. The role enabled the children to view me differently from their teachers – as a madamii. In this paper, I discuss its various facets with the twin focus of examining the efficacy of the role for future research and its affordances for the vision of a teacher provided by Indian policy documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste is the visible outcome of socioeconomic processes such as urbanisation and industrialisation. Yet the negative impacts of waste mismanagement are often externalised and invisibilised in the metabolism of cities, in which informal waste labourers often assume the heaviest burden. In this paper, we approach cities as sociocultural arenas in which agents work within and around structural constraints to allow transformation to take place. Our paper analyses how grassroots activism, NGO-municipality collaboration, and women's empowerment led to realising transformative potential for both solid waste management and social inclusion in the Indian city of Pune. We analyse the case of SWaCH Pune Seva Sahakari Sanstha (SWaCH), a predominantly-female social cooperative of waste pickers, to show how supporting and enhancing informal labour can produce multiple positive outcomes. Our analysis also examines the role that the women waste pickers themselves played in bringing about change. We consider the structural constraints for achieving deeper and broader impact and assess what these indicate for the long-term success of this initiative. We also illustrate how power structures tend to constrain bottom-up transformation approaches, regardless of their transformative potential. Above all, SWaCH's story shows how working with informality rather than seeking to eradicate it can result favourably in moving towards the legitimisation and gradual institutionalisation of a pro-poor urban solid waste management system in which women's empowerment is expressed not only for their benefit but also for the states, the citizens and the environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study is an attempt to identify the main sources of growth of five selected Indian industries, viz. Cotton Textile, Jute Textile, Sugar, Paper (including paper board) and Bicycle. The investigation is carried out by estimating production functions of the Cobb-Douglas form by utilizing time series of cross-section data for the industries under study. The estimates of the elasticities of output with respect to various inputs, returns to scale and 'technical progress' provide the basis for drawing inferences regarding the nature of the growth of the industries. The data and the variables used in the study are discussed in Section 1. Section 2 provides a brief discussion of the methodology. The results of the investigation are presented in Section 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]