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This paper explores the evolution of the postmodern novel in Indian writings in English, with a specific focus on The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor. Through a close analysis of the novel's themes, structures, and techniques, the paper argues that The Great Indian Novel represents a significant shift in the trajectory of Indian literature, moving beyond the constraints of colonial and nationalist narratives. Drawing on the theories of postmodernism and postcolonialism, the authors examine how Tharoor's novel challenges traditional notions of history, identity and power, and instead offers a complex and nuanced vision of India's past and present. The study also considers the reception of The Great Indian Novel, both within India and abroad, and discusses its impact on the broader field of Indian literature. Overall, the paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the postmodern novel in India and its role in shaping contemporary literary discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indian government made Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mandatory in 2013 by amending the Companies Act, complicating research studies on the topic. This paper is a bibliometric analysis of recent trends in research on CSR in India. VOSViewer is employed to visualize networks such as keyword co-occurrences and author collaborations. With the help of BibExcel, other aspects of bibliometric analysis are carried out. Based on an analysis of 685 papers/retrieved articles from Scopus, the study finds that a company's financial performance has become central to CSR orientation in recent years. Co-occurring keywords suggest that sustainability issue is becoming important and that CSR fosters a positive brand image of companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper seeks to examine the broad trends in research on post-merger customer satisfaction, loyalty, and service quality in the banking sector. It identifies the top contributions to the body of knowledge in the sector in terms of authors, journals, countries, and institutions by examining the relevant literature in this area. The 189 research publications under analysis have a combined 455 authors, with more multiauthor studies than single-author ones. India has the most (111) publications in the dataset, while China has received the most citations overall. Graphic Era (Deemed to be University) from India is the leading research contributor in this area. The network visualization exercise also showed a substantial level of international cooperation in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines whether companies that possess stronger capabilities in adapting to climate change yield market returns that are superior or comparable to those of other firms and the overall market portfolio by applying the Fama-French five-factor model. The paper is unique in the sense unlike previous studies where mutual funds with a green and sustainability focus or sustainable indices performance were evaluated, in the current paper green and nongreen portfolios are created by handpicked stocks. The paper also provides insights into the pertinence of the FamaFrench five-factor model in India. In all, 2,294 observations from the daily returns from October 25, 2013, to March 21, 2023, were applied in the study. The green portfolio includes banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and auto sector stocks included in Nifty ESG, BSE Carbonex, and BSE Greenex. The non-green portfolio contains green house gas (GHG) major contributors and non-sustainable auto stocks. Empirical analysis shows that non-green portfolio outperformed over a decade with significant results. The highest alpha was achieved by non-green auto, BFSI, and GHG contributors. Companies with direct emissions excelled. Non-green companies surpassed green in achieving abnormal returns within the auto sector. Sustainable indices performed the least. All portfolios exhibited lower beta, indicating lower risk than the market. However, concerns remain about the applicability of Fama-French five-factor model in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper first presents a historical record of the caste system in India, shedding light on the socioeconomic disparities and discrimination that persisted for centuries. It then delves into the genesis and evolution of the Reservation System, highlighting its constitutional foundations and subsequent amendments. The paper outlines the intended goals of the Reservation System, emphasizing its role in promoting the social justice, equality, and empowerment of the marginalized communities in the society. The paper critically assesses the potential impact of a comprehensive Caste Census on the accuracy and relevance of reservation policies. An analysis of the implications of the Caste Census on the Reservation System follows, considering both potential positive outcomes and challenges. The study explores the prospect of identifying new beneficiaries who may have been historically excluded, as well as the risk of exacerbating social tensions or reinforcing stereotypes. The paper also investigates the implications for political representation, resource allocation, and the overall socioeconomic development of the marginalized communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

End semester examination answer scripts, research papers or assignments submitted by college students and researchers in English reveal serious lags in analytical approaches or critical and creative thinking skills in English language in higher education. Students are found guilty of plagiarism and copyright infringements, tarnishing the image of English studies in India at graduate, postgraduate and PhD levels. Professors waste their time in paraphrasing, driving students towards mugging up sans any attempts at producing inferences beyond prescribed texts. The texts are translated casually (often through second or third person accounts) in vernaculars and the entire focus is reduced to catering to the examinations. The present paper strings together opinions given by experts, researchers, professors, and scholars who have pointed out the fallacies in approaches adopted towards literature studies and researches in English language teaching. The paper argues that the directives used in literature question papers are misconstrued by teachers and students alike and have not been instrumental in evoking or nurturing original thoughts and ideas. The inclusion of comprehension, application, analysis and evaluation in literary studies would make it more meaningful, constructive and permanent since examinations are the main drive that leads students towards intensive studies. The paper concludes with a set of sample questions based upon Bloom's revised taxonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a wealth of literature on technologically advanced innovations and entrepreneurship in grassroots innovation research. There is, however, a dearth of writings from the viewpoint of grassroots innovators. Hence, this paper investigates user innovation and entrepreneurship among grassroots innovators in India. Using multiple case study research approach, the paper thoroughly examines the experiences of ten grassroots entrepreneurs. These inventors found a low-cost local remedy to a pervasive social problem by coming up with bottom-up ideas, with their self-efficacy, logic and inventiveness supporting them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies the relationship between poverty levels, per capita incomes and inequality by using a large sample of low and middle-income nations. The results, which indicate the requirement of a per capita income that is close to the one currently registered in Mexico for poverty removal, are used to predict the year of the "happy event" of poverty eradication in India. The tentative finding is that the portals to a better material life for the people of India may gradually open only in the early 2040. It is also observed that some countries like Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have succeeded in poverty removal at low per capita income levels, which may be attributed to greater success in removing inequality and to praiseworthy performance in the realm of non-monetary indicators of poverty. The paper is, of course, based on some important rational assumptions such as absence of any other major shock such as Covid-19, and the continuous average increase in India's GDP by 8%. Therefore, this is an exercise in rationality with the absence of major external positive or negative shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crowding out effect is an economic theory which argues that rising government spending or borrowing drives down private sector spending. In simple words, if the government borrows huge money from the money markets, then the private borrowers do not get access to the required capital. The excessive government borrowings can also influence interest rates, thus impacting the cost of funds for commercial borrowers. This paper tests, using statistical tools, if government borrowing affects the availability of funds for commercial enterprise. If it affects the availability of funds for private enterprises, then it could impact private sector spending. The paper also tests if government borrowing impacts the interest rates and consequently the cost of funds for private borrowers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of technology and its advancements have brought various fundamental and structural changes to various sectors of the economy, including the banking sector. In India, the move towards e-banking was initiated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) by relying upon several recommendations provided by high-level committees formed for promoting the growth of information technology in the field of banking. In the current scenario, digital payment methods have replaced conventional paper-based methods due to their costefficiency and expediency. However, it is accompanied by certain challenges, such as poor security measures followed by institutions, which in turn create reputational, operational, or legal risks as they might lead to the disclosure and misuse of sensitive personal information of customers. In order to combat such risks and meet the challenges, the legal framework needs to be strengthened and made more stringent, while specific laws governing electronic payments need to be complied with. The paper examines the relevance of the growing electronic fund transfer systems in India, issues associated with them, existing statutory provisions, and directions issued by the RBI to combat such challenges, and offers suggestions to strengthen the legal framework in order to protect customers as well as participating institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the extent of corporate disclosure in the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) reports of companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. A sample of 55 companies is taken, and based on the disclosure checklist containing 52 information items, the extent of disclosure is measured both at the aggregate level and with respect to different reporting areas of the MD&A report. It is found that average level of aggregate disclosure is 64.8%, which is moderately high. The maximum disclosure score is 90% and minimum 25%. The variation in the extent of disclosure among the sample companies is measured by range and standard deviation, which are 65% and 11.2%, respectively. As far as disclosure in specific areas of the MD&A report is concerned, a few companies have made 100% disclosure in respect of industry structure and development, risk and concern, and segment reporting, while some have made no disclosure about outlook information. The overall results suggest that there exists scope for improving the quality of disclosure in MD&A reports of Indian companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) policy of free and fair trade has led to persistent decline in the average world trade tariff rates. It also ensured prior ratification of non-tariff measures implemented by countries. At the same time, countries across the world have introduced trade facilitation measures to ensure smooth flow of goods across borders. Despite these, countries still face substantial trade barriers. Against this backdrop, using data from India, the present paper aims at analyzing the impact of trade barriers on its exports by calculating a bilateral trade restrictiveness index based on tariff, non-tariff and border administrative and regulatory measures. The results show that trade restrictions faced by a country depend on its export basket composition, specific export products and its export destinations and hence are unique to each country. They confirm the existence of substantial trade barriers for a country, as against the general perception that trade restrictions have declined over the years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the root of the second wake of export pessimism is the argument that exportled growth (ELG) models suffer from a fallacy of composition. Under constrained global demand, all exporting nations cannot simultaneously pursue ELGs, and the ensuing battle for markets would eventually cause more competitive exporters to drive out or displace less competitive ones. Considering how the Indian economy has witnessed a deceleration in her export of services since the mid-2000s, this paper enquires whether similar export-displacements could have lent to this status quo. Using bilateral service trade data for the years 2005-2015, the paper tests the displacement or crowding out of India’s export of services to advanced OECD nations by exports from other developing and emerging market economies. Our results show the remarkable presence of complementarity between service exports from India and that from other exporting powerhouses like China, Singapore and Vietnam, though the country appears to have been losing markets for her prime services to certain emerging exporters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cryptocurrency is a digital representation of value that is not a legal tender. It is a digital asset, sometimes also referred to as a crypto asset that works as a medium of exchange for goods and services between the parties who agree to use it. Strong encryption techniques are used to control how units of cryptocurrency are created and to verify transactions. Cryptocurrencies generally operate independently of a central bank, central authority or government. India ranks among the top five countries of the world from the perspective of share of currency held, which is at 44% of the world's share. Since the regulatory framework regarding cryptocurrencies in India is uncertain, this paper analyzes the taxation (or non-taxation) by considering them as goods and currency, and the major approaches currently prevalent across the world. The focus of this paper is to explain the legal aspects relating to cryptocurrencies and blockchain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies and Rishi Jheengun's Untangling the Knot: Tribulations and Legacy of a Coolie to critically study the lives of the people who migrated from India to Mauritius as indentured laborers, alternatively known as 'coolies' or 'girmitiya.' The two works heavily draw from archival record and anthropological data, while also portraying elements such as religion, folklore, and culture as integral parts of indentured lives. Using critical discourse analysis, this paper employs religion as a tool for investigating the girmitiya migration and their identity formation. Further, it uses Counted and Zock's idea of place spirituality and Sunden's roletaking theory to understand the role of religion in the journey across the Kala Pani. In the process, the paper also attempts to analyze the role and significance of the Ramayana in the construction of the identity of the girmitiya and their succeeding generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current situation, the intense use of the Internet for official as well as private communication makes everyone more dependent on cyberspace. Being dependent on cyberspace is beneficial for development, but it makes our workstations more vulnerable. After looking at the recent incidents of cyberterrorism, every country is more concerned about attacks on critical infrastructures. The Indian Government formed the "National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre" in 2014 as a national nodal agency for the protection of critical infrastructure. After considering the contemporary facts as stated above, this paper ascertains the jurisprudential concept of cyberterrorism and the protection of critical infrastructures. After discussing the international initiatives, this paper critically analyzed the Indian legislation relating to combating cyberterrorism and securing critical infrastructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the applicability of the conventional Cost of Carry (COC) model for pricing orchard forwards in India. Firstly, the paper discusses the assumptions of the COC model and the reasons for its non-applicability in orchard forwards. Secondly, it tries to develop a methodology to estimate the inputs required to apply the COC model in the case of orchard forwards in India. The major problems in using the model are estimating the spot price of the orchards, information asymmetry between the orchard owners/farmers and the dealers and assessing the COC. In the end, the model is modified so that it can be applied to calculate the price of orchard forwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The POCSO Act of 2012 in India is a crucial legislative measure aimed at distinguishing between adult and child sexual offenses, and establishing a child protection framework. It aims to protect children from sexual abuse. However, its practical implementation faces challenges, necessitating a comprehensive understanding of the situations involving the child victim. The Act, designed to create a legal sanctuary for children against sexual exploitation, hinges greatly on the judiciary’s aptitude to grasp the intricate challenges child victims confront. While the Act sets the stage for child protection, its effectiveness pivots on the sensitivity and comprehension of judges in handling cases involving child victims. This study endeavors to elucidate the obstacles faced by judges, ranging from limited awareness and entrenched biases, to the absence of specialized training. Sensitizing judges, the cornerstone of this paper’s discourse, is indispensable for fostering effective and empathetic decision-making. This study reverberates with a fervent appeal to recognize judges as torchbearers of change, instrumental in dismantling the shrouds of silence and indifference that have long cloaked child sexual offenses. Through a sensitized and empathetic judiciary, we aspire to build a society that unequivocally stands as a bulwark against the insidious menace of child sexual abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every day, all over the globe, people make the tough decision of leaving their homes in order to rebuild their lives and settle somewhere else for jobs or education; or they are compelled to leave their native lands and traverse international boundaries to provide a safe and sound environment for their families. Millions of people are also forced to migrate because of armed conflicts, insurgencies, or climate change. This paper explores the contemporary human rights issues faced by refugees and migrants, with special reference to Afghan refugees in India [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Judiciary is one of the three important organs of the government. The independence of the judiciary is crucial for the performance of its functions without fear or favor. The independence of judiciary basically refers to non-interference from any other organ of the government restraining its function to deliver justice in a fair and impartial manner. However, it doesn’t mean absence of any form of accountability. Montesquieu who propounded the idea of independence of judiciary majorly relied on the theory of separation of power to ensure an independent judicial system. Despite all the efforts, maintaining the judiciary free from all forms of bias is still a far-reaching dream. This paper examines the concept and importance of the independence of judiciary. The paper also highlights the various ways in which the independence of the judiciary can be curtailed. The paper further includes the interrelation between the doctrine of separation of powers and the concept of independence of the judiciary. The measures adopted by various constitutions, with special reference to the Indian and US constitutions, are also discussed and compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goods and Services Tax (GST) completed its four years in July 2021. It was expected that by implementing GST in the country, the governments (Central and States) would be able to solve many tax-related problems such as tax evasion, cascading effect, increasing competition among states for inviting investment, and most importantly increasing states' tax revenue, more autonomy and expenditure. Has the imposition of GST in India impacted the tax revenue of states? Has the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic impacted the GST of all the states and union territories? The paper deals with these specific questions constituting a sample of all states and some union territories for the period 2015 to 2021 categorized into pre-GST (2015-2017) and post-GST (2017-2021) period. The secondary data comprises average proportion of own tax revenue of states in their total revenue, and the data has been analyzed to find out whether imposition of GST has impacted the collection of own tax revenue of states, and whether the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the collection of SGST and UTGST of states and union territories. The tools and techniques applied for testing the hypothesis are Wilcoxon Sign Rank Test, paired t-test and Kruskal-Wallis H-test. The findings reveal that imposition of GST has no significant impact on own tax revenue of states, but Covid-19 significantly impacted SGST and UTGST. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of embedded location options on Indian agricultural commodity futures returns has not been investigated systematically, despite the available anecdotal evidence suggestive of significant impact. Any significant impact on futures returns translates directly to an impact on hedging effectiveness of the futures. This paper investigates whether the addition of a return term due to the location option helps in explaining futures returns better relative to cash market and storage returns alone for the Chana contract when using regression analysis. Relative importance analysis is used to assess the relative contributions of regressors, and regression coefficients are tested for significance. It is found that the adjusted coefficient of determination improves significantly on adding location option returns as a regressor, and its regression coefficient is significant for the majority of the contracts studied. Relative importance analysis of the regressors shows that location option, on average, accounts for 28% of the explained variability of excess futures. These results suggest that location option impacts futures prices and returns significantly and is a key reason for the poor hedging effectiveness of Indian agricultural commodity futures. These results guide exchanges, regulators and policymakers to reduce the impact of embedded location options by optimizing contract delivery specifications to make futures contracts more useful to hedgers such as farmer producer organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to capture the mediating effect of technical efficiency on the relationship between credit risk and financial performance in the Indian banking sector. This paper is based on secondary data extracted from the financial reports of commercial banks operating in India for the year 2021-22. Simple mediation analysis is used to analyze the data. The technique of data envelopment analysis (DEA) was deployed to calculate technical efficiency score. The findings show that credit risk has a negative and significant relationship with both financial performance and technical efficiency when taken alone as an independent variable. Overall, the results show that technical efficiency fully mediates the relationship between credit risk and banks' profitability. The mediating effect suggests that scheduled commercial banks operating in India can achieve both technical efficiency and good financial performance through vigilant supervision of credit risk. With specific reference to India, such empirical work showing the mediating effect of technical efficiency on financial performance and credit risk has not been taken up before. The findings of the study are expected to provide a better understanding of the role of managing nonperforming assets in determining technical efficiency and financial performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the importance of Net Interest Margin (NIM) for banks' profitability and investigates whether the banks with higher NIM face cost complacency and suffer from adverse selection in their credit decisions and hence, higher Non-Performing Assets (NPAs). It evaluates the relationship of the level of NIM with the banks' wage and nonwage operating expenditure, Cost-Income Ratio (CIR) and gross NPA for scheduled commercial private sector banks and scheduled/non-scheduled Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) in India. The analysis shows that NIM has a significant positive impact on the profitability of banks. For scheduled commercial private sector banks, the gross NPA has the most profound negative impact on their profitability. For UCBs, the most significant negative impact comes from wage CIR. For none of the banks, credit delinquency increases with a higher NIM. While operating cost per rupee of assets is seen at an elevated level for banks with a higher NIM, the impact of the higher cost is more than offset by the increased income, and hence, the paper shows that NIM is one of the important determinants of bank's profitability and a higher NIM does not necessarily cause cost complacency and credit delinquency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to gauge the attention of constitutional functionaries and legal practitioners generally, and homebuyers specifically by highlighting a few discrepancies in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The said Act has been amended a number of times since its first enactment owing to the growing emphasis on curbing money laundering in the political narrative in India. In drafting the law and empowering the enforcement agencies, the Parliament has sought to tackle the problem of money laundering and weed out the proceeds of crime hidden in the deepest crevices of the financial system. However, in doing so, has the Parliament gone a few steps too far? This paper seeks to answer this very question in the affirmative. The paper deals with the constituents of the "proceeds of crime" in tandem with the offense of money laundering under the said Act prior to and after the Prevention of Money Laundering (Amendment) Act, 2012. Pursuant thereto, the nature of the attachment and confiscation proceedings under the said Act have been discussed. Thereafter, how the said amendment works to the bereavement of bona fide homebuyers is dealt with on three counts: (i) the right to property; (ii) the burden of proof, and (iii) wrongful attachment of property. The paper concludes with a few alternative interpretations to the said Act provided by the Indian Judiciary which supports the suggestions made by the authors to remedy discrepancies highlighted in the Act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional methods of order fulfillment, namely, hub-and-spoke and milk-run, have served the logistics sector well for many decades. However, with the rise of e-commerce sector and the recent advances in technological systems, customer expectations for speedy and accurate deliveries have risen. Consequently, the logistics companies have realigned their operating systems to create newer models such as relay, drop shipping, aggregation, drone delivery and hyper-local delivery. This paper illustrates the salient features of each model through exemplar case companies in the Indian logistics sector. Cross-case analysis reveals that logistic innovations adopted by the case companies have enabled them to manage increasing customer expectations of ease of delivery, transit time and visibility efficiently and effectively. A crucial finding is that newer operating models are highly tech-oriented and rely heavily on technological tools for seamless order fulfillment. However, the rate of introduction of newer technology has gone up considerably, which leads to lesser time for stabilization of the operating models and also increases operational costs. These models require strong competency of data collation, warehousing and data management. This paper contributes to the development of theoretical knowledge in the logistics and supply chain management domain as this area is relatively under-researched in the Indian context. It also makes a practical contribution as it provides a way forward for other logistics companies that would like to differentiate themselves in a competitive landscape, redrawn incessantly by technology disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Banks play a vital role in channeling investors' savings. This paper investigates the probabilistic interpretation of the bankruptcy risk--evolved by Hannan and Hanweck (1988)--in Indian Public Sector Banks (PSBs) through the Z-index approach. Z-index has been used to determine the insolvency risk for 20 PSBs for the period 2010 to 2021. The secondary data was collected from the websites of respective banks and RBI. The data consists of 20 PSBs' Return on Assets (ROA) and Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR). The results show that except Allahabad Bank, all PSBs' index is more than 10, offering a better financial position during the study period. Since the Z-index measured for SBI is highest among all the 20 PSBs, its financial soundness is reported to be at the top level. Therefore, there is no risk of insolvency for those banks with a high Z-index. The paper provides insights on trends of solvency position among the selected banks. It is helpful in improving the knowledge of banks' bankruptcy prediction and in analyzing their financial soundness. The paper reveals that bankruptcy could be due to poor management and improper investment estimation, leading to insolvency among the banks. A bank should focus on its ROA to improve its quality and avoid bankruptcy. CAR is also a sound indicator for a bank to maintain good solvency. Therefore, CAR and ROA are the most critical indicators to measure the risk associated with an investment in the banking sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to study the trends and structure of digital payments in India in the last decade. It is important to note that the volume has increased faster than the value of digital payments. The average value of digital transactions has been coming down, which means that there has been increased usage of digital mode for smaller value payments by retail users, demonstrating widespread adoption of digital payments in the country. The paper also aims to determine whether all the digital payment methods have the same growth trend on the retail front. The Friedman test and post hoc analysis have been used to analyze the growth pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supply chain operations and the use of energy are inextricably interwoven. The supply chains, especially those operating in the food sector, which experience high competition, high implied demand uncertainty, low profit margin etc., are trying very hard to minimize their operational costs to become efficient in the marketplace. On the contrary, inflation has been one of the key issues in food supply chain operations. Irrespective of whether the food product is need-based or demand-based, inflation of essential commodities is experienced by consumers throughout the year. This paper examines how energy price fluctuations have impacted food supply chain prices in India. The time series data of energy and food resources have been modeled and validated using Machine Learning (ML)-based SARIMAX algorithm to find that High-Speed Diesel (HSD) impacts food inflation the most, keeping aside coal. In push-need-based food supply chains, the impact of HSD is relatively higher than in push-demand-based food supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan", the Self-Reliant India campaign of2020, was a clarion call by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the vision of a new India, kick-starting several independent initiatives across the five pillars, viz., Economy, Infrastructure, Systems, Demography and Demand1. The paper discusses one such technology-driven initiative called CollabFiles, envisaged and developed for use by government enterprises across the country. CollabFiles helps officials and staff of Government of India (GoI) to create and collaborate on documents and spreadsheets using web and mobile devices. Several innovative steps were taken to design this platform such as using principles of Enterprise Architecture (EA) to arrive at solution architecture, Single Sign-On (SSO) authentication ensuring secured access, interoperability with other government applications, secured storage at government cloud, a robust archival policy and a firm Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) plan. It shares details of the pioneering approach to develop a sustainable platform, meeting the needs of government officials on a day-to-day basis. The paper gives the current status of implementation, defines critical success factors for effective roll-out, and also discusses how certain challenges were addressed. It also discusses more advanced features to be incorporated to enhance the user experience. CollabFiles is currently operational pan-India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By situating the problematics of Global English in the context of India's decolonization--a nation, which according to the 2011 census, has only 10 percent English speakers--the paper highlights the flawed postcolonial epistemology and the way it ignores the alternative knowledge traditions available in other languages. It also attempts to raise and examine questions on the role of the remaining 90 percent of the population and the way they imagine and construct the postcolonial India. What role do these large sections of the Indian population have, if any, in registering their voices to narrate the nation? What kind of resistance strategies are needed to counter this Euro-centric hegemony? Set against the backdrop of such pressing questions, the paper suggests that one needs to fervently engage with and reinvent ways to energize the rich Indian traditions available in languages other than English. The paper argues for an imperative need to contextualize new methodology and pedagogy to offer resistance to the English hegemony and for a more effective cognitive decolonization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A challenge to the analysis of corporate governance lies in a large number of variables that define and shape it, and hence, identification of the key parameters improves the effectiveness of overall governance. This paper aims at the identification of key governance parameters of scheduled Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) in India through an empirical analysis. The quest for key governance parameters in this paper culminates in eight parameters, encompassing three core features, namely, members' participation, technically qualified and trained directors, and a system of accountability. Identification of these core governance features is the main finding of this paper. These core features, through their subtle influence, take care of the remaining aspects of the governance structure of scheduled UCBs and are useful not only for timely red-flagging in the supervisory processes but also for strengthening the governance of cooperative banks in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every state's foreign policy contains two important elements: (i) hard power, and (ii) soft power. In history, we have seen this since the ancient Roman Empire to represent a hegemon. America has been using both these elements to expand its influence on other countries. In this context, the relationship between India and the Baltic States can be viewed through the prism of soft power diplomacy. This paper analyzes the India-Baltic States relations from the perspective of cultural diplomacy. The relationship between the two is based on freedom, as well as mutual respect of the other's culture, language, and history. This paper traces this relationship to even before India's independence. It discusses in detail the linguistic similarities and cultural exchanges between both sides. The paper also deals with the diplomatic and political relations between the states in question after 1991 that marked the collapse of the USSR. The study enumerates how the cultural exchanges between India and the Baltic States increased many folds in this era as well. Apart from cultural exchanges, trade, interchanges on information and technology, education occupies a considerable part of this interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Preamble to the Constitution of India grants equal status to all its citizens and assures them social, economic, and political justice. The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people came into sharp focus in India after the revolutionary judgment dellivered by the Supreme Court in Navtej Singh Johar vs. Union of India. Recognition of transgender people as third gender and decriminalization of same-sex relationships are two leading achievements for the LGBT community in India; however, the battle for equal human rights is still not over. This paper discusses the legal status of the LGBT community, in India, the areas where the community still faces discrimination, their status in other SAARC countries, and what needs to be done further in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, live-in relationships are becoming more widespread and emerging as an attractive alternative to marriage. While it appears to be an anxiety-free option with no statutory obligations, there still are a lot of complexities, obligations, and legal liabilities involved. There have been attempts to bring live-in relationships under the umbrella of some legislation. It is not any more illegal in our country, and various rulings by the Supreme Court have set down the guidelines on child support, property, inheritance, and so on. However, various areas of uncertainty, such as official paperwork, cultural challenges, rights regarding property, and the LGBTQ community, require further consideration. The paper examines the social and legal implications of live-in relationships in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper develops a standardized quantitative method to measure corporate reputation in Indian manufacturing sector companies, listed on S&P BSE AllCap Index, as the existing methods are beset with limitations. The quantitative method uses eight measures, namely, price earning ratio (P/E), market-to-book ratio (M-t-B), earnings per share (EPS), market capitalization (MC), firm age (FA), listing age (LA), shareholder return (SHR) and total assets (TA), to measure corporate reputation. Spearman Rank Correlation test and Correlation matrix methods are applied to analyze the level of consistency in reputation maintained by Indian manufacturing sector companies. Reputation rankings using eight proxies show that Indian companies did make efforts to maintain their corporate reputation during the study period 2013-2022. The study is significant because it is the first of its kind to measure quantitative company reputation over a long period in the Indian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the extent of human resource (HR) disclosure in annual reports of 50 companies listed on Indian stock exchanges and the impact of four company-specific factors (determinants) on such disclosure. HR disclosure level was measured using an unweighted disclosure index comprising 76 information items. The study reveals that average level of HR disclosure (54.64%) in India is inadequate. It is evident from range (59%) and standard deviation (11.58%) that there exists a wide variation in the extent of overall HR disclosure of sample companies. The results of multivariate regression show that out of four selected company-specific factors, size of company and company’s age are statistically significant, having positive and negative impact, respectively, on the extent of HR disclosure in India. The remaining two company characteristics, namely, profitability and dominance of independent directors on corporate board, are found to be statistically insignificant. The impact of each factor on HR disclosure level has been analyzed and interpreted. Finally, research implications and policy recommendations of the study have been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The life insurance sector occupies a prime position in service sector in India. This paper investigates the causal relationship between life insurance sector and service sector on the one hand and between life insurance and GDP in India on the other. Economic growth (annual GDP) is taken as the dependent variable, while life insurance (total annual life insurance premium) and total annual service sector contribution are taken as the independent variables. MS Excel and Eviews are used to analyze the dataset. Time series econometrics models like unit root test, cointegration (bound) test, ARDL model, ECM, and Granger causality test are applied in the study. The results reveal that there is a positive long-run relationship between life insurance sector and service sector. But no relationship is found between life insurance and GDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper seeks to identify and estimate the effects of knowledge flows and spillovers from R&D, exports, imports and FDI on the productivity of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The study proposes a modified Cobb-Douglas production function using the CMIE PROWESS database to estimate the effects of knowledge flows of small firms from their own efforts and spillovers. The results are derived from generalized methods of moments estimator (GMM) and the SYS-GMM estimator. The study has been conducted separately for small enterprises (SEs) and medium enterprises (MEs). Knowledge flows from own R&D have unambiguous positive externality. The study presents evidence of a sizable positive spillover from exporting. It does not corroborate the theorized positive impact of FDI spillovers. It contributes to productivity spillover and knowledge management literature in small firms, establishing that R&D and other knowledge flows contribute to productivity through industry-wide spillover effects. The study arrives at a novel understanding of the impact of knowledge flows and spillovers through R&D and trade on SME productivity at the aggregate and disaggregate levels. It also presents counterintuitive results for the impact of FDI spillover on SME productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the reliability and validity of the psychological capital scale (PCS-24), the scale of positive and negative experience (SPANE), and the satisfaction with life (SWL) scale to measure psychological capital and subjective wellbeing. The paper follows a three-stage rigorous scale validation process: Item generation, measurement development and scale testing. Based on the primary data of 223 entrepreneurs in the northern part of India, reliability and validity (Cronbach's alpha, content validity, face validity, discriminant and convergent validity) analysis was performed. The results validate PCS-24, SPANE and SWL in entrepreneurial context. The scales exhibited adequate internal consistency, reliability and validity. The results also show a significant association between psychological capital (PsyCap) and subjective wellbeing (SWB) constructs. Testing the reliability and validity of PsyCap and SWB scales in a diverse cultural context like India, unlike previous tests in a mono-centered western cultural context, is the prime contribution of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the relationship between corporate governance and sustainability performance in the Indian peer-to-peer (P2P) lending market. It seeks to obtain insights on the interaction between transparency and disclosure, platform risk disclosures, dispute resolution process, accountability and fairness, data privacy and security, regulatory compliance, efficiency and access, speed and convenience of application procedure, customer service responsiveness, dispute resolution turnaround time, and sustainability performances. The study analyzes the responses of 350 borrowers from India's top 10 lending businesses. Further, it provides a thorough examination of corporate governance in these organizations using known sustainability theory and structures, and also of corporate governance associated with sustainability performance in P2P lending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to identify the role of soft skills in current engineering education. Drastic changes have happened in the fields of science, engineering and technology advancements in the 21st century. The traditional way of doing jobs may be sustainable but not effective. A large number of Indian engineering institutions have been playing a key role in the development of technology. In India, after the nineteenth century, the occupational structure has shifted from manual to technical side. This transformation has brought about changes in the nature of job, and the results are computerization, industrialization and a global workforce. To gain employability, engineering graduates need to pay close attention to job nature and act accordingly. To be compettitive in the global market, engineering students need to master the soft skills. In this backdrop, the present paper examines why soft skills are as important as technical skills for engineering graduates in the job market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, there are more than 6 lakh micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in rural India, creating more than 10 crore jobs. These enterprises were the hardest hit during the Covid-19 pandemic, experiencing loss of production, income, and employment generation. But thanks to the relief measures taken by both the Government of India and Reserve Bank of India, and the consequent revival of the economy, they are back on their feet. Since credit is the critical input for stepping up their business activities, it is necessary for them to choose appropriate financial options. Unfortunately, even today, for most of them, predatory moneylenders remain their major financial option. Hence, this calls for strengthening institutional credit to promote and develop rural MSMEs. Among the lending institutions, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) need a special mention, since they mostly operate in rural areas. But RRBs perceive high credit risk in lending to rural MSMEs and are hesitant to lend liberally. This calls for a detailed study of the financing options available to rural MSMEs and evaluation of RRBs to provide needbased, timely and hassle-free credit. In this backdrop, the paper analyzes issues associated with lending to rural MSMEs by RRBs based on secondary data, and offers suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient sugarcane production is crucial in today’s competitive agricultural landscape. Traditional planting methods are cost-intensive and time-consuming and often fail to achieve adequate compression of buds due to the stalk planting nature of sugarcane. To address these challenges, a novel approach using machine vision to identify and plant sugarcane nodes is proposed. Sugarcane holds significant economic importance in India and various other countries, making its cultivation a cornerstone of many economies. The development of a sugarcane node cutting machine aims to revolutionize the process of preparing sugarcane seedlings. This machine streamlines the time-consuming task of cutting nodes, thereby reducing waste and effort associated with traditional methods. The paper focuses on designing and testing a machine for efficiently cutting sugarcane buds, intending to mechanize the preparation stage of sugarcane seedlings. By cutting undamaged bud-containing sugarcane stalks, this machine eliminates the need for laborious manual cutting, providing a timesaving and cost-effective solution for farmers. Furthermore, by measuring cutting force and power requirements, the research aimed to optimize the efficiency of sugarcane cutting processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taxes are the major source of revenue for a country to run its administration while upholding its sovereignty. In India, revenue is collected through direct and indirect taxes with due adherence to the laws. With a revolution in the sphere of indirect taxation in India in 2016, there came the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act of 2017. It subsumed all the existing indirect taxes under one single umbrella, i.e., GST, with the motto of establishing a ‘One Nation, One Tax’ policy. The basic intention behind such reform was to make the tax burden lighter on the taxpayer by removing the cascading effect and introducing a better and easy compliance mechanism that ultimately focused on enhancing the tax base for the government. Alongside, it also incorporated provisions relating to search, seizure, arrest, and bail with regard to indirect tax evasion in the country. This paper is an analytical study of the provisions pertaining to arrest and bail with conditions precedent as specified under the GST Act and the corresponding impact so far as the implementation of the Act is concerned. The paper also draws inferences from the judicial pronouncements in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a detailed analysis of the visual imagery as well as the verbal mode of narration, in Sarnath Banerjee’s Graphic narrative All Quiet in Vikaspuri, the study suggests that the water-deprived, postapocalyptic world that Banerjee reflects, is a spitting image of the Anthropogenic water crisis in India. Drawing theoretical insights from Madhav Gadgil, Ramachandra Guha and Dipesh Chakrabarty, the paper attempts to suggest the “Great Indian Water Crisis” is fueled by “short-termism,” increased corporate privatization of water, myopic government development policies and erection of dams and other capitalist structures. The paper also aims to uncover how sociopolitical “slow-violence” is rendered to the natural resources under the garb of “Vikas” (development) and privatization. By contriving the narrative around the quest for the river Saraswati, Banerjee draws attention to the ever-so-real issue of groundwater overextraction in India, leading to its dipping levels and in turn, depletion. Further, the paper argues that “intermediality” of graphic narration abets Banerjee to cater to “the representational challenges” of the Anthropocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to comprehend the causes and outcomes of smartphone applications brand retention among young consumers, specially college students belonging to Gen Y in India. The smartphone applications market is witnessing one of the most competitive market conditions today because of expanded rivalry and change. Thus, it is very important for the marketer/app developer to identify variables that influence the consumer decision-making process in downloading and utilizing smartphone applications (app) brands. On this premise, and based on the insights from marketing and information technology literature, this paper attempts to investigate shoppers' decision rules in downloading/utilizing smartphone application by examining the factors that prompt customer brand engagement and the results with regard to smartphone application brands. PLS was used to analyze 232 completed survey responses out of the 650 collected responses, for testing the validity of the proposed relationship. The findings indicated that all the relationships are statistically significant, increasing the robustness of the research framework proposed in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the lesser researched area of possible association between promoter equity ownership and dividend policy. Firms in India have concentrated ownership of promoters and thus, promoters may influence the firm's various decisions, including its dividend policy. The paper tests the relation between the promoter ownership and dividend payment, after controlling several firm characteristics such as size, return on assets, cash ratio and leverage. Based on panel data of Nifty 100 firms from March 2011 to March 2019, evidence for a positive relation between the promoter's equity ownership and dividend payment is provided. The results are in line with the reputation building hypothesis. This hypothesis suggests that the positive relation between promoter ownership and dividend payout is a result of reputation building mechanism such that firms intend to send a positive signal to the market and investors that they are not expropriating the rights of minority shareholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies the impact of Domestic Institutional Ownership (DIO) upon firm performance in India using panel data for NSE 500 companies from 2010 to 2016. The study finds DIO to have a positive impact on Tobin's Q in panel regressions-fixed effects after using controls such as firm age, size, leverage, marketing intensity, foreign institutional ownership and promoter ownership. The study also tests the impact of Mutual Fund Ownership (MFO) and the impact of Banks, Development Financial Institutions (DFI), Insurance companies' (BFII) ownership separately and found MF has a positive impact on Tobin's Q. The study observed that all variables DIO, MF and BFII had no impact on Return on Assets (ROA) but BFII is found to have a negative impact on Return on Equity (ROE). The study found a positive impact of Mutual Funds (MFs) and a negative impact of 'Banks, FIs and Insurance companies' on firm performance in India. The paper contributes to the empirical literature on institutional ownership and firm performance in emerging economies. It has important implications for firms, investors, corporate policy makers and researchers particularly, in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies the meager evidence on currency exposure of Indian companies. It addresses three research questions. What is the long-term currency exposure (FX Equity Beta) of listed firms in India? Does it show cross-sectional variation in firms and variation across industries? Is it time varying? With NSE 100 firms, currency exposure of equity returns to US Dollar (USD) is estimated at portfolio and firm levels for the period 2001-2016, and also for two sub-periods 2001-2008 and 2008-2016. Robustness of the estimates is verified using Composite Exchange Rate (CER). Long-term FX Equity Beta of Indian firms is negative and time varying, and varies across industries and firms. This evidence is contrary to the thinking that currency depreciation is good for emerging economies. The forex beta of the equity portfolio of NSE 100 firms to USD (CER) is -1.352 (-1.352), for 2001-2016; -1.718 (-1.704) for 2001-2008, and -1.283 (-1.256) for 2008-2016. Mean firm level FX Equity Beta on USD (CER) is -1.601 (-1.551) for 2001-2016; -2.078 (-1.875) for 2001-2008, and -1.667 (-1.803) for 2008-2016. Mean FX Equity Beta on USD (CER) of financial services firms is -2.221 (-2.215) and that of IT firms is -0.47 (-0.56). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]