1,123 research outputs found
Quality and Reliability Engineering: Trends and Future Directions
No full textMishra, Alok/0000-0003-1275-2050; Khatri, Prof. Sunil Kumar/0000-0003-4373-9000[No Abstract Available]Science Citation Index Expande
Bollywood cinema: A critical genealogy
Full text link"Bollywood" has finally made it to the Oxford English Dictionary. The 2005 edition defines it as: "a name for the Indian popular film industry, based in Bombay. Origin 1970s. Blend of Bombay and Hollywood." The incorporation of the word in the OED acknowledges the strength of a film industry which, with the coming of sound in 1931, has produced some 9,000 films. (This must not be confused with the output of Indian cinema generally, which would be four times more). What is less evident from the OED definition is the way in which the word has acquired its current meaning and has displaced its earlier descriptors (Bombay Cinema, Indian Popular Cinema, Hindi Cinema), functioning, perhaps even horrifyingly, as an "empty signifier" (Prasad) that may be variously used for a reading of popular Indian cinema. The triumph of the term (over the others) is nothing less than spectacular and indicates, furthermore, the growing global sweep of this cinema not just as cinema qua cinema but as cinema qua social effects and national cultural coding. Although Indian film producers in particular, and pockets of Indian spectators generally, continue to feel uneasy with it (the vernacular press came around to using "Bollywood" only reluctantly), its ascendancy has been such that Bombay Dreams (the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical) and the homegrown Merchants of Bollywood both become signifiers of a cultural logic which transcends cinema and is a global marker of Indian modernity. As the Melbourne (March 2006) closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games showed, Bollywood will be the cultural practice through which Indian national culture will be projected when the games are held in Delhi in 2010. International games (the Olympics, World Cup Soccer, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and so on) are often expressions of a nation's own emerging modernity. For India that modernity, in the realm of culture, is increasingly being interpellated by Bollywood
Supplemental Material - Toxic potential assessment of hair dye developer 2,4,5,6-tetraaminopyrimidine sulfate exposed under ambient UVB radiation
No full textSupplemental Material for Toxic potential assessment of hair dye developer 2,4,5,6-tetraaminopyrimidine sulfate exposed under ambient UVB radiation by Saumya Shukla, Priyanka Chauhan, Prakriti Gaur, Priyanka Rana, Sunil Kumar Patel, Deepti Chopra, Apeksha Vikram, Gaurav Prajapati, Akhilesh Kumar Yadav, Sumana Y Kotian, Lakshmi Bala, Ashish Dwivedi, and Aradhana Mishra in Toxicology and Industrial Health</p
Government intervention in industrial R & D: Some lessons from the international experience for India
Full text linkThere is now substantial empirical evidence, based essentially on the experience of developed countries, that there is underinvestment in industrial R&D consequent to the gradual withdrawal of the state. It is generally observed that government can solve this problem of underinvestment in two ways: by increasing the profits of innovators, or by undertaking R&D in areas where the private sector underinvests. An examination of the nature of government intervention in developed countries show that it is increasingly moving towards the latter variety. However, contrary to normal impression, the extent of government intervention in industrial R&D in India is of the former variety. The state has been using tax incentives as the major instrument for stimulating R&D by production enterprises. Direct grants, which has become the dominant instrument of intervention in the west, is considered to be better as it can be targeted towards specific projects. In fact the efficacy of tax incentives to encourage R&D requires further scrutiny. The state in India also have to intervene for making available technically trained manpower to engage in industrial R&D radically redesigning the higher education system, by improving the incentive system for those working in the R&D system etc. The paper thus underscores the fact that there is enough space for the Indian state to increase its interventionist role in industrial research contrary to the arguments for its gradual withdrawal.appropriability, government intervention, industrial R&D system, technology policy
Induced abortion potential among Indian women
Full text linkInformation on abortion is limited and inaccurate especially in the developing world, which has led to several speculations on the prevalence of abortion in this region. A rise in prevalence of abortion is mostly accounted for in terms of increase in the prevalence of induced abortions, which reflects on the reproductive health of women. With the growing concern for reproductive health of women, the study of abortion phenomenon has drawn serious attention of researchers world wide. In such circumstances, this is an attempt to assess the induced abortion potential among Indian women by utilising information on proportion of unwanted and ill-timed pregnancies obtained through National Family Health Survey, India.
Long term implications of low fertility in Kerala
Full text linkIn recent years, Kerala has made remarkable progress in its demographic transition. The State has achieved below replacement level of fertility two decades ahead of the all-India target year of 2011 and India is likely to achieve the replacement level only by 2021. The TFR declined from a high level of 5.6 in 1951-61 to about 1.7 in 1993, a level which is very much below the replacement level of 2.05. The State's IMR has touched a low level of 13 in 1993, a level comparable to that of some of the developed countries of the world. The population growth rate has declined to about 1 per cent per annum in 1995 from a high level of 2.3 per cent per year during 1961-71. Thus Kerala's demographic trends in the first half of the 21st century will be dramatically different from that of the second half of the 20th century. Total population of the State is expected to increase by 170 percent in the second half of the present century (from 11,723,000 in 1951 to 31,553,000 in 2001), the growth (if any) in the next half a century will be very negligible. The crude death rate declined from about 20 to about 6 in the last half a century, but it is likely to increase from 6 to 13 in the next century. The crude birth rate decreased from 40 to about 16 in the last half a century, but it is likely to remain more or less stable in the next half a century. While Kerala experienced varying degrees of net out-migration and net emigration in the last half a century, migration trend in the next half a century is somewhat uncertain. It will depend more on socio-economic developments than on demographic trends. The socioeconomic implications of the reversal of the demographic trends will be far reaching: (a) To begin with, the pressure on schools and colleges will be a thing of the past, giving ample opportunities for the educational system to concentrate on the quality of education rather than on quantity. (b) This is also true of hospitals and health personnel catering to the health needs of the children. It will be easier to bring about the needed improvement in the quality of their services. (c) In the transitional period, parity between the number of girls and boys in their respective marriage ages will be maintained. But this is a temporary respite. (d) Other things being equal on the economic front, unemployment among the young working age population will be greatly reduced. The educated young workers might be able to pick and choose the job they want. But this is not the case with older workers. The number of older working population would almost double in a short period of 20 years between 2001 and 2021 (e) In the last half a century the major socioeconomic problems were related to the schooling, maintenance of health and nutrition and finding employment for the youngsters. In the next half a century, the major socio-economic problems would be finding gainful employment for the older working age population, maintenance of the health and nutrition of the elderly, and providing them with means of subsistence through social security and pension, etc.Kerala, fertility, mortality, migration, projections, aging, labour force, social security, pension, marriage
Inefficiency and institutional issues in the provision of merit goods: A case study of public water supply in rural Kerala
Full text linkThis paper discusses the issues of inefficiency in the provision of merit goods, taking the case of public water supply in rural Kerala. The analysis has identified two source of inefficiency in the provision of merit good. First, is due to the fact that the state and its agencies autonomously decide the nature and characteristics of the merit good. If the nature of good provided is not preferred by the people, or its consumption require effort on the part of citizens, these may lead to the non-consumption of the good by a large number of people. Thus, the definition of safe water as pipe water (from a centralised system) in the case of Kerala, lead to its effective non-use by a significant part of rural population. The second source of inefficiency in the provision of merit good, is in the selection of the institutional framework. The acquisition and free distribution of water by the state agency, is the prevailing institutional framework in Kerala, and this is inappropriate in efficiently solving the drinking water problem of different localities, taking their specific characteristics into account. The paper outlines a logical framework, which can be used to identify the necessary mechanism of government intervention in water supply in different localities.merit good; rural water supply; institutional choice and inefficiency; new institutional economics; Kerala
Female headship, poverty and child welfare: A study of rural orissa, India
Full text linkFirst, on the basis of primary data collected in a rural setting in the State of Orissa, an attempt has been made in this paper to compare the socioeconomic status of male- and female- headed households. Subsequently the differences in the use of resources (time and money) between male-headed and female-headed households have been analysed. Finally, the paper explores the relative well-being of the children between the two groups, i.e., to what extent female headship influences children's access to social services, and children's actual welfare outcomes, measured in terms of health and education indicators. The results suggest that poverty and female headship are strongly linked in rural Orissa, India. For eample, if we draw a poverty line that corresponds to 15 per cent of the population who are poor, 12 per cent of people living in male-headed househols are poor as compared with 33 per cent of people living in female-headed households. This result is based on per capita consumption as the welfare indicator. When 40 per cent poverty line is used, the differences are still large in economic terms and are statistically significant. Moreover, when we use adjusted consumption as the welfare indicator, the comparisons show a much higher incidence of poverty among female-headed households. This is true for both masures of poverty line, i.e., 15 per cent and 40 per cent. Thus, we conclude that female headship can be a better targetting indicator for poverty alleviation in rural Orissa. The results further suggest that the use of resources are significantly different between the two types of households. Labour force participation data indicate that female heads are more likely to work in the market place than women who are spouses of male heads of household. The differences are large: on average 74 per cent verus 54 per cent. The comparison of household expenditures indicates that, female-headed households spend relatively less on higher quality food items such as meat, vegetables, milk and other dairy products. However, there is some evidence that they spend less on personal consumption such as alcoholic beverages. Overall, the differences are pronounced between these households. Finally, the findings show that children in female-headed households are disadvantaged both in terms of access to social services and actual welfare outcomes.female headship, poverty, child welfare, gender,differential resource use, social services, household
The irrelevance of methodology and the art of the possible: Reading Sen and Hirschman
Full text linkEconomic methodologists have observed that economists do not practice what they think their methodology is. Two positions follow from this. One insists on the need for `better' practice in maintaining `scientific' standard, while the other takes the literary turn. Following the second route we argue that appraisal of economic theories cannot be done by applying a general `scientific method' apart from practice. Methodological conversations, which are shaped by various strategies taken by practitioners to persuade each other, can only be studied and improved by reading the most persuasive of the authors in the discipline. Writings of Albert Hirschman and Amartya Sen are chosen to be read following our approach.Methodology, positivism, rhetoric, methodological conversation, internal criticism
A new balloon dissector for totally extraperitoeneal hernia repair
No full textBackground: Balloon dissectors (BD) find their use in totally extraperitoneal (TEP) and retroperitoneoscopic procedures. Commercial BD is prohibitively expensive. The author uses an indigenously assembled BD and describes the same. Material and Methods: The author assembles the BD by tying glove-fingers on an NG tube and then tying this assembly in the concavity of a Kelly′s clamp, premounted with peanut gauze (KC-BD). Results: The author has used it in the last 75 cases of TEP. A large working space is created, without any iatrogenic injuries or balloon rupture. This cheap indigenous BD can be assembled easily and in no time at all. Conclusions: KC-BD offers several advantages because of its unique design. It is effective, totally nontraumatic, inexpensive, and easy to assemble
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