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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]

Banks are shifting from paper-based to electronic transactions. As of today, 50% of total transactions are electronic-based, and this share is increasing at an incredible rate. Hence, there is a need to assess the effects of electronic banking on business operations of banks. In this light, the present paper analyzes the computerization, expenditure on electronic banking and cost-benefit analysis of paper-based and electronic transactions. The paper notes that there is a swing from paper-based transactions to electronic transactions, with electronic transactions escalating drastically and earning business value at a triple rate. Per transaction value is 168 times per transaction cost which shows sound returns. The paper also evaluates the effect of transactions on cost and value through correlation-coefficient and concludes that electronic banking has positive and significant impact on cost and value of transactions. [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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

With the advances in the area of Information Technology, the digital divide, i.e., the gap between the urban people (who have easy access to technology) and rural people (who do not have an easy access to technology) is increasing day-by-day. The success story of the Indian IT industry has benefitted only the urban populace, whereas the overall scenario for rural India is pathetic. Today, the Indian government authorities and organizations, and many NGOs are developing and experimenting with various business models, all over the country, with the objective of providing IT means and solutions to the rural masses; and at the same time taking care of their business interests. This paper examines and takes note of such IT initiatives, and highlights their basic approaches and makes distinction in terms of their objectives. [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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

The Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns had a deleterious impact on violence against women. Infact, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres even called a halt to the "global surge in domestic violence" and pressed for a domestic violence "ceasefire." The UN termed violence against women a "shadow pandemic." The National Commission for Women in India reported that there was a surge in complaints related to domestic violence during the lockdown. Officially reported cases are just the tip of the iceberg, as underreporting of these crimes is a major problem. In light of this background, the paper seeks to find a correlation between domestic violence and other crimes against women. It highlights that domestic violence and other crimes against women may have common underlying causal factors. Knowledge of the interlinkage between the two can help in devising strategies to counter all crimes against women. [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]

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]

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]

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 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]

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]

The paper examines the features and potential of the emerging strategic partnership between India and Iran. The role of diplomacy in the energy and transport spheres in forming a belt of confidence in the Greater Middle East and Central Asia is discussed. It has been proved that one of the basic features of India's development--exceptional continuity--finds its expression in the balancing policy, particularly in South-West Asia. One of the key players in the region is Iran, which is under US sanctions. However, Iranian foreign policy has retained its commitment to the goals of the Islamic revolution and dominance in the region. In the past three years, India's policy towards Iran has shown a zigzag development. The paper focuses on the participation of India and Iran in the implementation of the international initiatives like the One Belt and One Road and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), and the prospects for cooperation in the energy sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India, as a rising global power, has been furthering its political, economic and sociocultural interests in every part of the world, including Africa. Having had close historical relations with the continent, India however did not actively get involved in most of the African nations for much of the latter part of the 20th century. It is only in recent times that India has started to rekindle its ties with the continent. This paper examines the developing relationship between India and Zimbabwe in light of the various high-level meetings held and agreements reached covering several sectors between the two countries over the past few years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the effect of eleven Audit Committee (AC) characteristics on Firm Performance (FP). It identifies characteristics that significantly influence FP and develops an index to provide a holistic approach to the relationship between AC effectiveness and FP. It applies cross-sectional time-series FGLS regression and checks robustness using panel-corrected standard error regression after identifying heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, and cross-sectional dependence of 375 observations. The study finds a significant positive effect of AC expertise, attendance in AC meetings, and the absence of executive directors in AC on both Return on Assets (ROA) and market capitalization of the firms. Gender diversity is exclusively significant for ROA, while shareholding positively impacts firm's market capitalization. This study is the first to use some new individual AC characteristics like the absence of executive directors in AC and AC charter and representation of AC members in board meetings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the different aspects of corporate tax in India. Apart from discussing the historical background and reviewing the relevant literature, efforts have been made to analyze certain significant structural aspects of corporate tax in India. The study involves an extensive review of literature and analysis of secondary data obtained from government records. The findings indicate that corporate tax contributes a significant portion of the total direct tax revenue of the government and even exceeds the share of personal income taxes in recent years. In 2020-21, however, revenue generation from corporate tax was less than the revenue collected from personal income taxes due to the Covid-19 pandemic and reduced corporate tax rates for certain domestic companies. The buoyancy coefficients calculated for corporate tax and personal income tax (in response to changes in GDP) indicated that these coefficients were generally greater for personal income tax than for corporate tax. Therefore, there is ample scope for enhancing corporate tax revenue through further simplification of tax laws and procedures, rationalization of rates and effective check on evasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, Goods and Services Tax (GST), introduced on July 1, 2017, has immensely affected the functioning and financial performance of different manufacturing companies. DuPont analysis model is used in this paper for scrutinizing the essential financial performance of such companies. It is an expedient system for decomposing the different drivers of Return on Equity (ROE) that help investors to focus on the key financial aspects, demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of different companies. The study empirically analyzes the impact of GST on the financial performance of selected manufacturing companies in India, using five-step DuPont model, whereby the Net Income Margin has been brokendown to demonstrate how tax and interest affect ROE, considering financial performance before and after implementation of GST. Moreover, statistical tools like mean, standard deviation, paired correlation, matrix paired t-test and ANOVA test have been used to analyze the data and justify the objectives of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lexical Richness (LR) is a scarcely researched subject in India. The objective of this paper is twofold: (i) To statistically inquire whether LR varies across three multimodalities: visual-only, audio-only, and audio-visual; and (ii) To see which of the two measures of LR (MATTR and Guiraud) is independent of text length and is best suited for short oral productions. 270 students across three types of schools were examined, out of whom 100 willingly completed all three oral tasks. The students were asked to retell the stories transacted in each modality in their own words. Randomization of sampling is done to mitigate the confounding modality bias. Additionally, the genre and parts of the storyline in each modality are similar. The students' oral speech samples were recorded, transcribed and analyzed on WordCruncher and TextElixir software. The results revealed that there is statistically significant variance among the modalities. Furthermore, the Moving Average Type Token Ratio (MATTR) is seen to be independent of text length compared to Index of Guiraud. This study also throws light on the observations made during the study, pertinent issues in the field of education, and future directions for research on LR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the factors influencing consumer buying intention on Instagram, focusing on Gen-Z and Zillennial demographic in India. With the rapid growth of social media platforms, particularly Instagram, businesses are increasingly leveraging these platforms to connect with young consumers and stay updated on current trends. The study aims at identifying effective marketing tools on Instagram that influence the purchasing behavior of Gen-Z and Zillennials in India. Qualitative research was conducted through two focus groups, involving participants from the target demographic. The findings highlight gender differences in purchasing behavior on Instagram and demonstrate the platform's significant impact on impulse buying among Gen-Z and Zillennial consumers. The study also analyzes the influence of various users such as celebrities and bloggers on Instagram and their effective reach in the purchase decision process. Furthermore, the research explores the key influences in the consumer decision-making process among 120 respondents from India. It examines the marketing techniques employed by Instagram and their impact on online product selling. Given that Generation Z is set to become the largest consumer cohort, understanding their digital expectations and tendencies is crucial for brands seeking to tap into this market opportunity. Additionally, Zillennials, a distinct microgeneration between Millennials and Gen Z, exhibit unique characteristics and experiences, making them an appealing target audience for disruptive brands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In marketing domain, emotion is an important research topic as it unveils the hidden aspects of consumer psychology that shape consumer behavior. The paper aims to find out whether emotional state of buyers in the pre-purchase stage has influence over the information search process and investigate the predictive power of emotional state over the selection of the evaluation procedures by automobile buyers. It is found that pre-purchase emotional state of automobile consumers has a significant impact on the information search process, and positive pre-purchase emotional state motivates consumers to focus on favorable information (positive review, appealing ads) received during the search process and engage in Heuristic Processing, whereas negative pre-purchase emotional state drives consumers' attention towards unfavorable information (negative reviews, bad experiences of others) and dive into systematic processing. The study will be of help to car marketers in devising marketing communication strategies so as to create an appealing image in the minds of potential consumers and to stand out amidst competition. In addition, it also provides insight into the emotional dimension of consumers' mind, which will aid car marketers in taking well-thought-out marketing decisions to influence consumers' way of processing information while they make final purchase decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popularity of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is increasing, as it helps reduce costs, restructure processing and drives better customer experiences. It is easy to use in business units, does not require any individual to additionally learn new tools or ask IT teams for support, and does not require any changes to be made to the existing IT infrastructure of an organization. Further, it is important to recognize that in contemporary times, the procurement process has become much more than purchasing goods and services on dayto- day basis. The procurement process provides added value in the long run. The paper assesses the impact of RPA on procurement process in MNCs operating in the Indian service industry, specifically in the Delhi NCR region in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The requirements of software industries are ever-changing following the advances in computer technologies. Hence, it is required to evaluate the students as per the industry expectations with the current trends. A change in the syllabus and examination system is needed. The purpose of this study is to determine the problems in the current syllabus and examination system of MCA course from the professors' perspective, thereby providing valuable suggestions for further improving and enhancing the standard of this course. This paper uses a questionnaire-based survey among professors of this course and their perception of these problems are analyzed. This study is limited to the University of Mumbai offering MCA course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is to examine the effect of the e-learning framework on students’ learning in technical educational institutions in India. The paper considers Khan’s e-learning framework to analyze the students’ perception of the system used in their technical education. The student’s learning was measured through three main dimensions of learning, which include knowledge, skills, and attitude, by analyzing the individual impact on the overall learning process. This study attempted to test the hypothesis through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. The data was collected from a sample of 294 respondents. The sample was selected using snowball sampling technique. The results of descriptive analysis and SEM indicate that the e-learning system used in technical educational institutions has a significant positive impact on various dimensions of students’ learning. The findings reveal that proper design and delivery of e-learning systems with appropriate pedagogies in technical educational institutions will enhance the quality of technical education and result in improved learning among students, making them employable. [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]

In recent years, notions of gender fluidity and gender inclusion have replaced the conventional understanding of the dichotomy of gender due to an upsurge in studies on transgender people that seek to expand our conceptualizations about them. India's Supreme Court has given the third gender status to the transgender community in the country, advocating their inclusion in colleges and universities. However, little literature exists on how the mainstream students perceive and understand the transgender people. This paper seeks to bridge this gap by presenting a critical analysis of the responses of students to a text about a transgender person. Drawing on Fairclough's approach, it highlights how the students process notions about transgender people, sexual identities, and their roles. Most studies in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) neglect the role of text consumption, treating readers as passive and gullible. This paper argues against such notions by examining how transgender persons are discursively constructed through the students' responses and how the respondents analyze, support, challenge, and question the conditions of the transgender people, normative ideologies about gendering, and social practices at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]