821 research outputs found
Magnanimous Kunti by Samaresh Basu/ সমরেশ বসুর কলমে মনস্বিনী কুন্তী
No full textSamaresh Basu wrote a number of books based on Puran-Mahabharata under the pseudonym Bhramar and Kalkoot. Such as, ‘Shamba (1978)’, ‘Juddher Sesh Senapati (1984)’, ‘Prachetas (1984)’, \u27Pritha (1986)\u27, ‘Antim Pranay (1987)’ etc. ‘Pritha’ was published in the magazine \u27Prasad\u27 under the pseudonym \u27Bhramar\u27. In such books, the author analyzed the traditional story of the Puranas in a new perspective.
One of the memorable Panchakanyas in Puranas, Empress Kunti has been recreated in the light of the author\u27s spirit in this book. In the present article we will discuss how the character of Kunti has been recreated by Samaresh Basu in \u27Pritha\u27.
At the beginning of the story, before reaching the context of Kunti, the author undertakes a very realistic analysis of heaven-hell, Gods-demons, Samhita era-Puranic era, male-female relationship, marriage customs, child birth and the position of women in society. Then he explained the solitude, self-immolation and transition of Kunti from a feminist perspective.
The story of love-marriage-motherhood-heroism-restraint-pain-sacrifice of this remarkable female character of Mahabharata has been captured in a new way in the unique writing of Kalkoot. Inventing many thoughtful arguments the author tried to establish the father-son relationship between Yudhisthira-Vidura and Karna-Durbasha. How the author incarnated new contexts in the familiar story of Mahabharata and how he made it acceptable by arranging relevant arguments in favour of his new thoughts – this essay will try to elaborate these points
Bahumukhī mana, bahurupī prema
No full textThe document contains a novel written by the Bengali author Nirpendra Kumar Basu (1898-1979). The monograph is from the private collection of Sharmadip Basu
Essays on informal banking
No full textThesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Economics, 2006."September 2006."Includes bibliographical references.This thesis is a collection of three theoretical essays that examine the role of time-inconsistent preferences in informal banking. The first two chapters focus on specific banking institutions, while the third studies individual welfare more generally. In Chapter 1, I develop a model of rotating savings and credit associations (roscas) where members are quasi-hyperbolic discounters. I show that, in this setting, roscas function as commitment savings devices, and can survive in equilibrium even in the absence of formal contracting or informal social sanctions. In Chapter 2, I study the behavior of quasi-hyperbolic discounters who have access to credit and a non-secure savings technology. I show that these agents might simultaneously save and borrow to create optimal investment incentives for future selves. Chapter 3 evaluates and compares the welfare outcomes for time-inconsistent agents under several banking environments.by Karna Basu.Ph.D
Outer Length Scales in Nocturnal Stable Boundary Layers
No full textRecently, Basu and Holstlag (2021) proposed a unified framework for describing outer length scales (OLS). By utilizing this framework, we document various characteristics of OLS in nocturnal boundary layers over the US Great Plains.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Atmospheric Remote Sensin
Cupid Joins the War
No full textThe author explores the history of love and sex in war though the ages. This monograph is from the private collection of Sharmadip Basu, Kolkata, W.B., India
A behavioral model of simultaneous borrowing and saving
No full textWhy do individuals borrow and save money at the same time? I present a model in which sophisticated time-inconsistent agents, when faced with a future investment opportunity, rationally choose to save their wealth and then borrow to fund the investment. The combination of savings and a loan generates incentives for future selves to invest optimally by punishing over-consumption. This paper contains two main results. First, I show that agents who simultaneously save and borrow can have higher lifetime welfare than those who don’t. Second, I show that agents who have access to a non-secure savings technology can be better off than those who only have access to secure savings.saving, borrowing, microfinance, hyperbolic discounting
The Role of Early Intervention on Skill Formation
No full textIn the first chapter, I use time use data from a longitudinal survey (covering Ethiopia, India and Vietnam), to examine how the amount of time children spend on different activities impacts their acquisition of cognitive and noncognitive skills. Modeling the skill formation production function of children and extending the set of inputs to include the child's own time inputs, the study finds that child involvement in work activities (paid or nonpaid) are associated with a reduction in both cognitive and noncognitive achievements. The results imply an indirect adverse effect of child work on skill development through the reduction of hours of study. In the second chapter, using a unique longitudinal survey from Ethiopia, we investigate whether resource constrained parents reinforce or attenuate differences in early abilities between their children. To overcome the potential endogeneity associated with measures of endowment, we construct a measure of human capital at birth that is plausibly net of prenatal investment. Furthermore, we estimate a sibling fixed-effect model to reduce the bias due to unobserved family-specific heterogeneity. We find that parents reinforce educational inequality, as inherently healthy children are more likely to attend preschool, be enrolled in elementary school, and have..
Metrocoris dinendrai Basu, Polhemus and Subramanian, NEW SPECIES
No full textMetrocoris dinendrai Basu, Polhemus and Subramanian, NEW SPECIES Figs. 33–44 Material examined. Holotype: Apterous male: INDIA, West Bengal, Darjeeling District, roadside cascades within Neora Valley National Park, 27.0828°N, 88.7437°E, 2006m. asl, 3.X.2012, coll. S. Basu, deposited at the Zoological Survey of India, H.Q., Kolkata (NZSI) Reg. No. 4774/H15. Paratypes: INDIA, West Bengal: 1 apterous male, 1 apterous female, 31 nymphs: same data as holotype Reg. No. 4775/H15; 2 apterous males, 1 apterous female, 1 macropterous female, 5 nymphs, Darjeeling District, stream on the way to Chengey Falls, near Lava, 27.0511°N, 88.6800°E, 1639 m. asl, 3.X. 2012, coll. S. Basu (NZSI) Reg. No. 4776/H15; 4 apterous males, 2 apterous females, 1 nymph, Darjeeling District, stream near Gorubathan, 26.96636°N, 88.7000°E, 370 m. asl., 1.X.2013, coll. S. Basu, (NZSI) Reg. No. 4777/H15. Description. Apterous male (Holotype): Fig.33 Size: Body length 5.42 mm, maximum width across mesoacetabula 2.53 mm. Colour: Dorsal body coloration yellowish to orange with dorsal black markings (Fig. 33). Interocular dark mark rectangular, bifid posteriorly, anterior margin not connected with dark mark of postclypeus, posterior portion in some individuals connected with dark inner margin of eye. Antennal segments black, with first segment yellow basally. Eyes black. Dark marks on pronotum broad T-shaped, connected to propleural margin (Fig.33). Meso- and metanota pale orange with dark markings as in Figs. 33, sublateral dark stripes broader than yellowish part on apical half, longitudinal dark stripe of mesopleuron extending nearly through its length. Abdominal terga black except segment VIII. Thoracic venter black, with a deep yellowish patch laterally (Fig. 36). Abdominal sterna II– VI black, sterna VII–VIII yellowish posteriorly. Fore femur black, basal one-fourth of ventral and dorsal surfaces yellowish, fore tibia and tarsus black. Rostrum black with pale yellowish lateral margins. Structural characteristics: Head width 1.36, length 0.73. Interocular region wider than eye, widths 0.61 and 0.25 respectively. Eye length 0.62, posterior half of eye covering anterior one fourth of propleuron. Length of antennal segments I–IV: 2.29, 0.97, 0.88, 0.65, first segment longer than combined lengths of remainder. Rostrum length 1.46, surpassing fore trochanter. Pronotum slightly bulbous in male, wider than long, width 1.61, length 0.57, slightly wider than head. Meso- and metanota 1.12 times wider than combined length, width 2.55, length 2.27. Fore femur (Fig. 39) slender and slightly curved at middle, ratio of length/width approximately 6.5, ventral surface with small constriction near middle, without indentation or tooth, with short dense hair fringe ventrally near apex, inner margin with rows of short hairs. Inner margin of fore tibia not modified, bearing rows of short hairs. Second tarsal segment long. Pretarsus with pair of sharp claws. Hind trochanter lacking modifications. Abdominal terga with prominent golden pubescence, combined length 1.83, maximum width 1.21. Abdominal sternum VIII bearing long dense hair fringe (Fig. 37). For measurements of leg segments see Table 1. Male genitalia: Male abdominal sternum VIII (Fig. 37) elongate, sub-oval, length 1.27, width 0.86, densely clothed with fringe of golden hairs. Posterior margin of abdominal tergum VIII straight. Pygophore (Fig. 42) elongate, heavily setiferous, apex truncate. Proctiger (Fig. 41) moderately elongate, lateral margins slightly convex, isolating angular basal lobes, apex broadly rounded, posterior margin with dense hair fringe. Parameres symmetrical (Fig.43) strongly curved near midpoint, apical section expanded to small head with outer margin concave, apex blunt, inner and outer margins with long distinct setae, several whitish dots distributed throughout. Endosomal sclerites as in Fig. 44. Apterous female: Fig. 34 Size: Body length 4.41–4.55, maximum width across mesoacetabula 2.29–2.31. Colour: Pattern of dark markings similar to that of male except much wider and more prominent; fore femur slender, lacking median invaginations; sterna VI–VII yellowish. Structural characteristics: Head length 0.74, width 1.21. Length of antennal segments 1–4: 1.87, 0.65, 0.60, 0.72. Eye length 0.61, width 0.24, interocular width 0.66. Length of rostrum 1.45. Pronotum wider than long, length 0.50, width 1.54. Combined lengths of meso- and metanota 2.12, width 2.21. Fore femur length/width ratio 6.3, lacking medial constriction; fore pretarsi bearing sharp, curved claws; hind trochanter lacking modifications. Abdominal sterna II–VI combined length 0.96, maximum width 1.57. For measurements of leg segments see Table 2. Female terminalia: Abdominal sternum VII semi-circular, length 0.30, width 1.07, slightly constricted laterally, clothed with short golden pubescence. Macropterous male: Unknown. Macropterous female: Fig. 35 Size: Body length 5.32, maximum width across mesoacetabula 2.67. Structural characteristics: Golden brown dorsally, marked with prominent black markings as shown in Fig.35. Median length of pronotum 2.41, humeral width 1.72, length of lateral margin from anterior angle to humerus 0.89, length of lateral margin from humerus to apex 1.76, apex of pronotum pointed, medially slightly bulged. Etymology. This name “dinendra” is a patronym dedicated to Professor Dinendra Roychoudhury of Department of Zoology of University of Calcutta, who had encouraged the first author to carry out entomological research. Habitat. This species was collected from high mountainous cascades within the Neora Valley National Park of the Darjeeling District in West Bengal. The insects were found in steep, rocky areas flooded with splashing water, and appear adapted to the cold waters. A preference for rushing, high gradient upland streams has also been observed by the second author (DP) for another currently undescribed species of the Metrocoris compar species group collected in northern Vietnam, suggesting this habitat association may be typical of the group as a whole. Comparative notes. Metrocoris dinendrai sp. nov. belongs to Metrocoris compar group based on the structure of male fore femur, which is slender and slightly curved; the strongly curved male parameres; the elongate male pygophore which bears dense dark pilosity; and the laterally constricted female terminal abdominal sterna. This new species can be recognized within this group by the distinctive shape of male paramere, which has a a slightly expanded apex that is somewhat concave on its outer margin (Fig. 43); the structure of male endosomal sclerites (Fig. 44); and the female trochanter clothed with thick black bristles. Within the Metrocoris compar group, M. dinendrai seems most similar to M. pardus from the Malay Peninsula (Zettel, 2011a), but has the distal arm of the male paramere more slender and elongate, and the outer margin of the paramere apex concave rather than convex (compare Fig. 43 to Fig. 8 in Zettel, 2011a). The basal lobes on the male proctiger also are more angular than in M. pardus, whereas the internal sclerotization of the male endosoma is similar in both species.Published as part of Basu, Srimoyee, Polhemus, D. A., Subramanian, K. A., Saha, G. K. & Venkatesan, T., 2016, Metrocoris Mayr (Insecta: Hemiptera: Gerridae) of India with descriptions of five new species, pp. 257-277 in Zootaxa 4178 (2) on pages 265-267, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4178.2.5, http://zenodo.org/record/25873
Essays on Incentives and Information in Schools
No full textix Abstract The question posed in this dissertation is whether the quality of education can be improved in a developing country by means of incentives for students to learn. This complex topic has been subject to a plethora of research studies in economics, psychology, and sociology using data from developed countries, but comparatively few studies have been conducted in the developing world. I discuss evidence from an extensive randomized control trial (RCT) employing a variety of incentive mechanisms, which I designed and implemented in primary and secondary schools in Southern Uganda. This study involved more than 5,000 students aged 11 through 25 who were repeatedly interviewed and tested between 2011 and 2013. I collected data and analyzed the effects of different incentive schemes on students' performance on Math and English tests, and also on their well-being, measured by perceived happiness and stress. The latter is a unique contribution to this field of study. The Preface provides contextual informaton on the Ugandan education system and the experimental design, critical to understanding the choices made at every level of this study. In Chapter 1, "The Dark Side of Incentives in Schools," I discuss the effects of feedback, as well as monetary and non-monetary incentives on students' performance and..
The regional comprehensive economic partnership : new paradigm or old wine in a new bottle?
No full textFor more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/Sanchita Basu Das, ISEAS Fellow and Lead Researcher at the ASEAN Studies Centre, explains that, "Although RCEP could be an easier negotiating path for the ASEAN nations and others, there is a high chance that it may lose sight of its strategic goals, such as maintaining centrality, that make it an attractive proposition in the first place."
The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the East-West Center or any organization with which the author is affiliated
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