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The paper examines India's role in regionalism. Even though India's closest regional setting is within the subcontinent of Asia and its vehicle of regional integration is the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC), it has not hesitated to actively engage and/or take advantage of opportunities in successful regionalisms such as Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), European Union (EU) and in subregional structures such as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIM-STEC), the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC). Since the end of the Cold War and following its economic reforms, India has stepped up its relations with these regional and subregional organizations and their member countries with the aim of strengthening economic growth through better trade and investment links, security and stability, and most importantly with a view to increasing its global standing. The paper concludes by drawing lessons for Nigeria from the Indian experience of regionalism. The lessons are even more imperative against the backdrop of Nigeria's recent emergence as the largest economy in Africa and its quest to join the top 20 largest economies in the world in line with its vision 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for technology in classrooms, particularly language classrooms, was envisaged way back in the 1970s, and ever since there has been attempts to blend socio-constructivist theories of language learning using a technological interface. The last decade witnessed an unprecedented digital penetration across the world, resulting in demand for agility in approach and outcome-driven curriculum. This led to revisions in classroom pedagogy, pedagogic principles, and the concept of classroom itself. Digital revolution in India coincided with economic liberalization and attempted to update the curriculum to achieve global standards. In fact, in the urban quarters of the nation, the classrooms have been growing smarter with learners having access to worldwide information network and teachers acting more as facilitators than sources of information. However, the needs and readiness of learners are as diverse as the vast socio-geography of the nation. This paper probes into the diverse learning contexts of India and analyzes the technological intervention in the language classrooms. Discussing the manifold challenges to be overcome at every level, the paper surveys the effectiveness of Technology-Enhanced Language Learning (TELL) in the Indian context and studies its future scope in transforming the education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the Indian Tourism Statistics Report 2018, 20 million tourists across the world are expected to tour India. Though at pinnacle, Indian tourism industry requires accelerated research on branding the destinations in the global context, which not only elevates the brand value of the destinations but also boost local economies and Foreign Direct Investments. This paper is a part of a major research and aims at understanding whether emerging spiritual attractions in the district of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, India, create a potential space for branding the destination as spiritual destination. Data was gathered from 448 tourists through a structured questionnaire and SPSS has been employed for analyzing and deriving the findings. An interpretation has been made based on the results derived from Cross-Tabulation and Analysis of Variance. One of the most notable findings is: Coimbatore is also perceived as a spiritual destination by different nationals. It is critical to note that the destination also possesses other image aspects. However, for specifying the objective as to whether the selected geographical location is also perceived as spiritual destination, this paper has portrayed the aspect of spirituality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy efficiency is an important issue in the proposed next-generation wireless communications as it severely affects human life on the earth. Two factors have mainly become an energy concern in the past decade: global warming due to CO2 emission and sea-level rise. Further, this issue has become a graver concern due to the ever increasing demand for data rates, spectral efficiency and quality of service combined with massive IoT communications. Therefore, there is a need for developing green mobile communications by 2020, which can ensure reduced energy consumption and increased battery life, besides increased capacity to enable massive deployment of small cell base stations. The proposed wireless communication network with the above features is referred to as an energy-efficient green mobile communication (5G). The paper surveys various technologies for realization of green mobile communication. Various technologies proposed for the realization of 5G are simultaneous wireless power and information transfer, massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), millimeter waves and beamforming. An analysis has also been carried out in the case of the proposed massive MIMO antennas and beamforming technique as a case study of energy-efficient architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is a federal country with asymmetric levels of development. The asymmetries are both vertical and horizontal in nature. This paper proceeds in two stages--in the first stage, it decomposes the level and pattern of fiscal dependency of states on the different components of total transfers. In the second stage, it examines the factors that influence the allocation of conditional/discretionary central transfers to the states. The study finds that successive Finance Commissions have gradually enhanced the share of states in the centralized divisible pool over a period of time. It is evident from the overall empirical outcome that states with a larger fiscal space and Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) growth were able to get more funds as compared to the prevailing political factors during the first and third sub-periods. In all the three sub-periods, interactive dummies have played a significant role in determining the allocation of federal funds to the states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction sector is associated not only with the highest revenue and employment generation but also with maximum unresolved disputes. This discrepancy is observed due to lack of an efficient dispute resolution mechanism. This paper tries to highlight the pitfalls in the current mechanism and proposes guidelines to establish a system to tackle these issues. A survey was conducted with the arbitrators, architects and engineers working in the construction sector. The paper proposes step-by-step guidelines to establish the hub that consists of a separate board and dispute resolution method as per the sector, and lays down procedures to maintain a pool of arbitrators and technical staff under its wings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English speakers from native English-speaking countries have a very attractive way of delivering their speech and have a good grip on the language. The reason is, the pronunciation they use has the right kind of effect on the listeners, especially for nonnative English-speaking countries. While in native English-speaking countries, the English LSRW skills come naturally to the speakers, the nonnative English speakers have to make efforts to learn and master those skills. Of all, listening and speaking are the first set of skills a child learns. In India, English is a second language, hence learning the right way to speak it requires massive efforts and practice. While learning the English language, one must understand that English as a language has different variations across the world and also there is a vast difference between speaking and writing English. This paper focuses on teaching the English sounds to adult learners in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indian Railways has been the crucial backbone of the rapidly developing Indian economy, particularly its logistics sector. It has played a crucial role in facilitating a balanced and inclusive socioeconomic development of the country. Railways are the principal mode of transportation for freight and passengers in India. So, establishment and improvement of Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) will boost the Indian economy further. This research paper highlights the current scenario of Indian freight trains and the different scenarios of freight corridor that can help the DFC to become a game-changer. DFCs reduce two important concerns of industry: transportation time and logistics costs. Moreover, it also helps to improve speed for faster movement of goods, and it also brings down logistics cost to a significant percentage. Currently, freight trains do not get priority over passenger trains. Once DFC is completed, at least a significant percentage of the freight trains will be transferred on the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) network, which will help in timely movement of cargo. Moreover integrated transport through freight corridors will have a transformative impact on the freight logistics ecosystem in our economy and supply chain management. So network integration through establishment of DFC will create a favorable road map for Indian Railways to boost their future earnings from freight transportation on a sustainable basis. Moreover, DFC has immense potential to attract increased inflows of private sector investment, improve operational efficiencies and service qualities, and pave the way for railways to play a pivotal role in facilitating end-to-end logistics solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses a modified version of the questionnaire used in Zou et al. (2020) to survey a sample of privately held Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in India concerning the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on business performance, what the owner/managers of firms did to survive, and what they feel about how their company will navigate 2022. Our survey results show that firms not only faced tremendous challenges to recover from the unprecedented shock of economic distress, but they also did it mostly without much official financial help. The paper reviews the few available survey studies and analyzes the results of the survey conducted. One can deduce that the lack of assistance had a severe effect on the survival of such MSMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on travel writing in India are gaining momentum currently. People traveling to the nooks and corners of India or abroad and exploring geographies and ethnicities with their customized itineraries, visions and missions, and perspectives, are adding to its blossoming. The socioeconomic and political constraints of the past that hindered travels and writings consequent to them, are fast diminishing in the globalized world with increased knowledge, technology, awareness and above all, appetite for exploration. Overcoming the taboo and stigma attached to traveling and anxieties of physical discomforts, the travel enthusiasts are gauging the width and length of the evolution of the human race on earth. Deepankar Aron's travelogue is a tribute to the deep cultural connect that India shared with China and East Asia along the silk route, evident through similarities in manners of worshipping, ceremonies, customs, grottoes, cave temples, and of course statues of the omnipresent Buddha. The paper identifies the canons intrinsic to travel writings with Deepankar Aron's On the Trail of Buddha: A Journey to the East as its primary source for discussions, and argues why travel writing must be included in curricula alongside core literature courses in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power system operation has become more complex with larger use of renewable energy sources, strict requirements of environmental controls, and need to maintain adequate security and stability norms. To meet the environmental norms now, Flue-Gas Desulphurization (FGD) plants have to be installed in old thermal power plants. With larger share of wind and solar energy resources, flexible operation of conventional thermal and hydro power plants is needed. The paper reviews various recent issues pertaining to power system operation in India and the challenges posed to ensure efficient grid operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial distress refers to the inability of firms to fulfill their debt obligations. This paper studies the impact of certain corporate governance measures or board characteristics on the probability of financial distress in various corporate sectors (manufacturing and non-manufacturing) in India. The higher the institutional ownership, the lower is the financial distress for the majority of the sectors, except telecom where firms having higher institutional ownership are found to be more financially distressed. Higher managerial ownership leads to less financial distress in the consumer and transport equipment sector. Measures like board size, number of board meetings, and commissioner's proportion are found to have a different impact on the probability of financial distress in diverse sectors. It has been observed that they have a positive influence on some sectors and a negative influence on others. So overall, a sectoral difference was observed in the impact of various board characteristics on the financial distress of firms in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted every industrial segment of the world. This paper analyzes the performance of various Nifty sectoral indices in India during the peak pandemic period. The main objective of the study is to analyze as to which industrial sector was the worst affected in India from March 2020 to May 2021. The major stock market sectoral indices have been used to check the performance of various industrial sectors. Descriptive research design has been applied on daily closing Nifty sectoral indices data. The results reveal that during the period of the study, the investors who had invested in metal, pharma and IT sectors received the maximum returns, while those who had invested in financial services, FMCG and private banks received the minimum returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic evidence plays a crucial role in legal proceedings as both parties can rely upon and produce it to support their case; and, the judge also concludes the case based on such evidence. Although forensic evidence is known for its precision, there is a huge disparity in its relevancy in a particular case and the appreciation or admissibility of the same by the court during its conclusion. In India, the rules regarding the admissibility of forensic evidence are opaque and limited to some of the common laws; besides, the law of evidence is only prescribed for the relevancy of the forensic evidence. Further, due to the lack of detailed codification, the reliability of forensic evidence depends on the discretion of the judges and may be discarded due to various reasons. In light of the above, this paper relies on the theoretical method of study to discuss the importance of forensic evidence and also discusses its relevancy and reliability in legal proceedings. It also analyzes the discretionary power of the court which permits forensic evidence in a legal proceeding, and concludes with some suggestions for the use of forensic evidence in criminal trials in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The life insurance sector suffers from the problem of policy lapsation which is an undesirable output in the context of this sector. The present paper makes a humble attempt to integrate lapsation risk in the context of efficiency analysis of the Indian life insurance sector for the period 2005-06 to 2009-10. For the purpose of efficiency measurement, the paper uses the undesirable output model proposed by Tone (2003), and includes policy lapsation as an undesirable output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the impact of new product announcements on the stock prices of announcing companies of the BSE 500 index. The paper analyzes a sample of 383 new product announcements for a period of 11 years. The authors have used the reliable CMIE's Prowess Database to collect the information regarding new product launches, announcements, approvals, unveils, etc. Traditional event study methodology is used in order to measure the abnormal stock market returns. The study found that there is a significant impact of the announcement of new products on the share prices and abnormal returns are generated on the event day. Also, t-test discloses that there is a significant difference between the pre and the post abnormal returns further emphasizing that there is an impact of the event on the abnormal returns. The means of the pre and post period reveals that the returns are positive for the pre period and negative for the post period. This emphasizes the fact that information is leaked to the market prior to the announcement and hence, abnormal returns are generated prior to the event day rather than the post abnormal return period. Therefore, the study concludes that new product announcements hold important information to the Indian stock market during the event and abnormal returns are generated on the event day and also, the returns are generated higher in the pre period than the post period of the event window. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the aspect of detection of dissimilarity (in terms of 10 performance indicators) existing among major Indian banks. Towards attainment of the goal the wellknown Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) approach has been employed. The interesting outcome of the paper is that the MDS technique is capable of discerning the dissimilarity (in relative terms) existing in the overall performance behavior (based on a number of relevant performance parameters) in the case of 37 leading Indian banks during the period 2004-05 to 2013-14 based on data obtained on yearly basis for this purpose. The dynamics of the overall performance behavior over time (year after year) during the above-mentioned period with respect to the parameters studied has been obtained. MDS analysis reveals that the four banks-SBI, ICICI, AXIS and PNB-differ significantly from the other 33 banks in each year in the mentioned period. Thus, MDS approach brings out an important feature related to inter-banks' differentiating status where a comparison of different banks is performed with the help of several attributes or performance indicators. In the introduction section, an exhaustive and interesting review of the major research works undertaken on the performance of Indian banks (available in literature as surveyed by us) has been presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the significance of persuasive communication skills in entrepreneurship in the contemporary business environment of Odisha. It examines the arenas where persuasive communication is considered most relevant for an entrepreneur. It also assesses the entrepreneurs' comfort level in using English as a business language, and their perception of the relevance of alternative training modes for improving their persuasive communication skills. In this paper, a comparison is drawn between the perceptions of the entrepreneurs of Singapore and those of Odisha with regard to the importance of the persuasive communication skills in business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global investment in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) has reached unprecedented levels in recent years (Barkema and Schijven, 2008). Against this backdrop, the objective of the paper is to explore employee performance in cases of Indo-UK and Indo-USA M&A. The focus of the study is to capture the change in employee performance at individual level, of both target and acquiring companies, in two sets of samples, Indo-UK and Indo-USA M&A. As far as methodology is concerned, employee performance is measured through self-assessment of changes in determinants of performance using the Performance Diagnosis Matrix (PDM) of Holton (Swanson and Holton, 2001). The factors determining performance are: goals, systems, capacity, motivation and expertise. On the other hand, Hofstede's cultural distance index is used to calculate the cultural distance of the countries involved in M&A. The paper then compares cultural distance between India-UK and India-USA with reported changes in determinants of performance of sampled employees who have experienced this transition. The sample contains 42 respondents from three Indo-UK merged entities and 30 respondents from two Indo-US merged entities. The study diagnoses changes in determinants of performance among these two sets of responses to arrive at inferences which may have meaningful indicators for corporate policy in case of future M&A between India-UK and India-USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Startup companies and emerging ventures often face difficulty in gathering funds for their business entities. A group of investors who are wealthy and who are interested in new business ideas having potential, always come to the rescue of such startup companies. These investors are angels who not only provide funds at the crucial beginning of an entrepreneurship but also help them with own expertise and contacts in the market. But the question that arises is: What do such investors expect in return and how different are they from the traditional lenders? This paper aims to study the concept of angel investors, their role in startup fund raising and the merits and demerits of angel investment in a startup. The paper gives an overall view of the concept of angel investors and angel funds and the Indian legal framework governing the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the light of the growing importance of Corporate Governance (CG) in academic and industrial research, the present paper aims to answer the question: Does corporate governance impact Firm Performance and Firm Risk? Multivariate regression analysis was conducted on three models to answer the question, with firm performance and firm risk being the dependent variables. Different CG mechanisms (Board Composition, Board Size, Frequency of Meetings and Audit Committee) were considered as independent variables. The results of the regression analysis postulate that board composition, frequency of meetings and audit committee significantly impact the firm performance i.e., Return on Assets (ROA) and Profit Margin (PM). Board composition was also found to have a significant impact on firm risk where we used Beta as a proxy measure. Overall, the objective of the study was met, as all the three models showcase significant results. The present study provides important insights into fair CG practice, with scope for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Right to Safety is one of the major consumer rights sought to be protected and promoted under the Consumer Protection Act. Every product entering the market has to meet the test of legitimate expectation of safety to consumers. In cases where the product falls short of safety standards, the consequences can be very damaging for the consumers. Product liability refers to the consumption accident that results from defects in a product. Of late, the cases of defective products have been on the rise from all sectors--food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, domestic appliances, motor vehicles, farm machinery, and many others. Traditionally, the product liability cases have been taken up under the law of torts and contract law. The Indian Contract Act, 1872 and Sale of Goods Act, 1930 have been the major legislations dealing with product liability to an extent. While there have been a few other sector-specific legislations as well dealing with product liability, there was no general legislation dealing with the issue. The recent Consumer Protection Act, 2019 contains specific provisions laying down the liability for the manufacturers, sellers, and service providers. This paper traces the historical evolution of the concept of product liability in India, discusses landmark cases and examines the provisions of product liability with reference to the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the process of trade financing decisions taken by banks and the inherent risks associated with such decisions for both import and export financing. Non-receipt of payment from the foreign counterparty for export bills financed by banks in India requires the fixation or 'crystallization' of the rupee liability of the bill after specified days in accordance with Reserve Bank of India regulations. The amount is then recovered by banks in rupees from the account of the exporter client. Using data on crystallized and/or overdue bills from the two large public sector banks in India, the paper identifies key independent variables which could impact the event crystallization or otherwise of the export bill. Using logistic regression analysis, we examine the significance of these variables and check the viability of the trade finance scoring model, which can help bankers to objectively ascertain risks associated with each trade transaction financed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the technical efficiency and efficiency differences in elementary education system across Indian states by using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and regression model. It considers different educational outcome variables such as enrolment rate in primary schools and upper primary schools, and completion rate in primary schools and upper primary schools for the period 2007-08. The model also includes several inputs hypothesized to impact the output, such as percentage of habitants with access to primary school within 1 km distance and upper primary school within 3-5 km, and percentage of full-time teachers in primary and upper primary schools. Using DEA, the paper is able to separate states that might qualify as performing well from those where some improvement might be possible in terms of efficiency. This could imply a better allocation by the states with usually scarce resources available for elementary education in India. Results show that Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Nagaland with relatively high achievement values in education sector are also operating at the efficient frontier. On the other hand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh have low outcomes, but the problem with these states is that given their current input levels, there is limited scope for improving their outcomes and catching up with the better-off states. It is argued here that adequate inputs need to be made available for such states either by generating and investing more in education sector by the states or by better usage of the existing centrally-sponsored schemes. The study also makes an attempt to identify the determinants of efficiency by using simple regression model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was carried out to analyze how various factors (student-related, faculty-related, exam-related and other factors) have an influence on the results of the students. To check the normality of the data, a normality test was carried out on demographic variables of the respondents. For determining the reliability of the data, Cronbach's Alpha was used. Further, mean score analysis and factor analysis were done on various factors. After carrying out this study, it was found that student-related factors, faculty-related factors and exam-related factors are important for the results of students in MBA program. The results of students can be improved by focusing on these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical study on two leading steel manufacturing companies of India, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), a public sector undertaking, and Tata Steel Limited, the largest private sector company, aims at predicting bankruptcy or financial distress, using Altman's Z-Score model which is based on several financial ratios. This research paper also investigates the long-term solvency position of the sample companies, by the use of a common technique of common-size analysis along with six solvency ratios in conjunction with the statistical technique of hypothesis testing. The Student's t-test is carried out to examine the significance of difference in the various mean solvency ratios of SAIL and Tata Steel. The paper finally offers some relevant suggestions for improving the solvency position of the selected companies and also to be stay away from bankruptcy or financial distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to know the extent of web reporting practices in the Indian corporate sector and inter-sector comparison of web reporting practices. A sample of 50 companies from different sectors was covered for this purpose. The analysis of results of the study shows that about 80% of the sample companies provided mandatory and voluntary information. The banking sector provided financial information to a greater extent compared to the other sectors. Balance sheet and profit and loss account have been provided in a majority of the cases, and only a few companies provided the director's report and auditor's report. Most of the companies provided information about the company profile, company history, company products and services, etc. and did not give any relevant information from the user's point of view. Results show that the Indian companies have started using the Internet as a medium for reporting. Though the percentage of companies giving information for investor's use is not very high, there are chances of an increasing trend in the Indian corporate sector. The percentage of Indian companies reporting via Internet is low compared to other advanced countries, but will gain importance in the future. The paper suggests that greater stress should be given to providing up-to-date financial information and to including full annual report while presenting information on websites. Awareness should be created among various users regarding corporate web reporting, and users' perception should be kept in mind while providing web disclosures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A contingent liability is one, the occurrence of which is contingent on the occurrence or nonoccurrence of an event. Contingent liabilities, also known as Off-Balance Sheet (OBS) exposure of banks, are not shown in the main balance sheet in assets and liabilities, but in footnotes. The quantum of such exposure in different components depends on bank factors like banks' business operations, policies and risk expertise. The present paper studies the pattern of contingent liabilities as well as its components prevailing in Indian public and private sector banks for a period of three years ending March 2017. The contingent liabilities of banks in India display no particular pattern and they take exposure in different components in accordance with their business strategy, risk-taking appetite and overall banking operations. While public sector banks have a conservative stance with about 41% exposure in contingent obligations, private sector banks have followed a more liberal approach with around 110%. The volume of contingent exposure in private banks is larger due to their better expertise and risk-prone approach. The extent of contingent exposure depends on individual bank's business strategy and client needs. In case of both public and private sector banks, the dominant form of contingent exposure is in terms of outstanding forward exchange contracts, which include derivative contracts. Banks' contingent exposure also includes guarantee obligations on behalf of constituents, acceptances and endorsements, investments in capital contracts, securitization transactions, etc., but their proportion is relatively smaller than forward exchange contracts. Given that they are risk-prone contracts, banks have to be prudent while undertaking contingent contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interest rate transmission mechanism of monetary policy to real economic activity has been the center of interest of many researchers globally. The aim of this paper is to study the impact of the policy interest rate (both nominal and real interest rates) on the output gap in India for the period from May 2001 to March 2015 using monthly data, and explore whether the Reserve Bank's switching to inflation targeting has hampered the growth objective. The paper uses Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) cointegration approach to study the long-run and shortrun dynamics of the objective variables. It takes sufficient number of lags to handle the problem of endogeneity mostly present amongst macroeconomic variables. The study finds presence of interest rate puzzle, where the conventional negative relationship between output and interest rate is broken. It suggests the presence of some other factors such as business mood, investment uncertainty, presence of parallel economy or the time period which was dominated by global financial crisis and its aftermath as the possible reasons for the decline in growth rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indo-Myanmar relations are based on history and civilizational ties. Indo-Myanmar's close socio-economic, commercial, political, cultural relations had existed all through the ages dating back to ancient and medieval times. Beyond these ties, ethnic links between the people of Myanmar and India exist in four states bordering Myanmar, namely, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, and Mizoram, and have continued since antiquity. In contemporary epoch, both countries have been enjoying warm and friendly relations. For example, Myanmar is the only gateway to Southeast Asia connecting India by land and acts as a buffer zone between the northeastern region and China. Myanmar is considered as one of India's immediate neighbors and part of its successful Look East Policy (LEP), currently Act East Policy (AEP). For India, Myanmar is the connecting bridge as it is crucial for India's LEP, besides the development of stronger ties with Southeast Asia and East Asian countries. Consequently, it is important to examine the role of the Indian Diaspora in achieving internal (stabilizing border areas) as well as external (stabilizing Southeast Asia) security objectives of India. The diaspora has emerged as a powerful lobby since they are documented as "soft power" in International Relations and foreign policy strategy. It is also a driving force or agent of economic development between India and Myanmar. Therefore, this paper attempts to study the role of the Indian Diaspora in transforming the bilateral relations between India and Myanmar in the contemporary context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of the paper is to investigate whether and to what extent the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), India is integrated with the major mature markets in the US, UK, Germany and Japan. The dataset has been divided into: post Asian Crisis but before Euro Emerged (July 1997-January 2002); after Euro but before US Subprime Crisis (February 2002-November 2007); from the US Subprime Crisis before Modi's emergence as national leader (December 2007-April 2014); and after Modi's emergence (May 2014-July 2016). The study uses unit root test, Johansen-Juselius test, GARCH(p, q) model estimation, and Granger causality test for the purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Human Resource (HR) disclosure in annual report is voluntary in nature in India. Therefore, it creates inconsistency in the HR disclosure practices across companies as well as industries. The purpose of the present paper is to look at the nature and level of HR disclosure and study the effect of company characteristics on HR disclosure in annual reports of public sector companies in India. This research is motivated by the dearth of studies on HR disclosure among companies in developing countries. Initially, an 86-item Human Resource Disclosure Index (HRDI) has been constructed for a set of 500 companies listed on National Stock Exchange. From that point onward, the effect of various explanatory variables on HRDI is analyzed. Finally, HRDI has been regressed against the independent variables to find the important elements of HRDI. The outcomes of the descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multivariate analysis reveal that the total number of pages of annual report is positively associated with HR disclosure. Company size and profitability are partly associated, while other variables like leverage, ownership concentration, liquidity and globalization have no association with HR disclosure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of external and internal determinants of inflation is a perplexing task. Moreover, the spillover impact of these determinants generates indecisiveness in measurement. Therefore, the present paper tries to identify the impact of external and internal determinants of inflation in India by using the time series data from 1978 to 2015. In order to assess the short-run and long-run impact of selected variables, an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds approach has been adopted. The ARDL bounds method allows investigating the impact of external and internal determinants on inflation in India and provides long-run stability in the system. The results of the study found that oil consumption has a direct impact on domestic prices. Similarly, due to the increase in employment, inflation tends to increase in the long run. Further, the relationship between deficit financing and the domestic price is found to be negative and significant, whereas the impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on domestic price is found to be inconclusive in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well documented that pay is a significant motivator of performance (Rynes et al., 2004). Notwithstanding that, there is considerable debate over the notion that higher pay leads to higher satisfaction. In common parlance, pay-level satisfaction refers to an individual's direct wage and salary compensation and is regarded as one of the most important job attributes for an individual. However, pay satisfaction is a blend of both the monetary and the non-monetary components, since pay, although by itself is a necessity, is not a sufficient condition for job engagement. Accordingly, the paper examines the dimensions and determinants of pay satisfaction among bank employees. The paper also seeks to provide a brief insight into the various ethical issues associated with administering pay in private banks, in addition to fathoming how this delicate topic can be administered in practice. This study examines the impact of pay satisfaction on the performance of teachers from select colleges in the city of Kolkata, India. The study is unique, given that very few studies have been conducted in this domain, especially in the Indian milieu, owing to its rather sensitive disposition and subjective understanding. Further, pay is deemed as a major determinant of job satisfaction, thus making the study both relevant and purposeful. The study shall help managers as well as academicians in understanding the nuances of pay as a critical component in the development of overall job satisfaction and employee performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long queues at every public service desk, corruption and long waiting time with uncertain outcomes are synonymous with public services delivery systems in India. The public services for a population of more than one billion people in India requires a high level of e-services development and a corresponding agility in the delivery of public services in a variety of situations. Public e-services delivery systems are used by the governments at the center and states, resulting in e-government to benefit people in local setting in its own unique way so that citizens' demands are met and fulfilled, instead of government dictating to citizens. Running public e-services is very cost-efficient than providing manual public services to the citizens. Delivery of eservices through e-governance provides a fertile ground for transparent, efficient and trustworthy governance. Manual public services delivery is full of social division and is a playground for corrupt people and practices. This calls for an empirical exploration to assess and compare the perceptions of users towards delivery of manual conventional public services and delivery of public e-services. This paper therefore assesses and compares the delivery of manual conventional public services and the delivery of public e-services. The purpose of this study is to allow administrators and policy makers to pay proper attention to these issues, which may help them in redesigning public services for effective, efficient, economic and equitable governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper discusses the strategies to develop the communication competence of the students through face-to-face conversation. It has taken up the case of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, one of the premier institutes in India, and has limited itself to the course on Business Communication offered to the students of engineering and sciences as an elective. It discusses an approach to teaching a significant communication component of face-to-face conversation and the skills acquired by the students during such situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines how academic self-efficacy influences self-regulated learning and also conversely about how self-regulated learning influences academic self-efficacy among postgraduate women students in Bengaluru, India. It is a step in the direction of employment preparedness as an empowering learning process, as both self-regulated learning and academic self-efficacy influence career goal clarity, which in turn affects employability. The findings of the study reveal that self-efficacy and self-regulated learning are mutually influential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FinTech is the embodiment of technology with finance. The future-savvy firms are now including FinTech for augmentation of the financial structure of their companies. The FinTech ecosystem includes virtual currency, identity verification and authorization, credential security, blockchain application and analytics in big data technologies, which makes the financial system more technologically advance. The Government of India has spent around $19 bn for encouraging FinTech start-ups. However, the main concern is now to adapt a transformative approach rather than additive. In this paper, we have examined the feasibility of the technologies being used in the present generation. We have also scrutinized the future scope of FinTech in India from a post-demonetization perspective. Awareness level of young generation about FinTech was accessed through a structured questionnaire and its future scope predicted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sufism represents the inward or esoteric side of Islam, often contested as an alternate form of Islam. Studies show that the first Sufi to visit India was Mansur al-Hallaj, but this fact is contested as many believe that al-Hujwiri, commonly known as Data Ganj Baksh, was the first Sufi to visit India in the eleventh century. When the Sufi poets from Central Asia arrived in India, the land was already dominated by Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism. Thus, the Islam practiced in this region had already been colored by the local cultural norms. As Ira Lapidus and Ishaq Khan have mentioned, the foreign Sufis formed a body of ulema representing the "normative" Islam or high tradition, while the masses or the common folk followed the Islam of their venerated Sufis, forming another form of Islam, namely, "popular" Islam or low tradition. This created, as Ishaq Khan mentions, a cleavage between the foreign culture and the indigenous culture, which was later on bridged by lesser known Sufi poets across India singing Sufi ideology in the form of folksongs and folktales. This paper studies these lesser known or indigenous Sufi poets who were very popular among the masses but find little mention in the academia. The paper focuses on the literature produced by these Sufis and how they filled the gap between the normative Islam and the popular Islam prevalent among the common people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continual need to optimize costs and the recent competitive pressure from renewables have seen renewed focus on improving and optimizing plant components' efficiency. Combined cycle power plants are better from thermal efficiency point of view compared with coal-based power plants. Exergy analysis offers better alternative to energetic analysis based on simpler model of energy balance only. Identifying system energy losses is easier using exergy analysis, making it a better analytical tool. The paper presents a case study of exergy analysis of Gautami combined cycle power plant. Component level theoretical analysis is done first and applied to the operational data from the plant. The results showed that the gas turbine combustion chamber has the highest exergy loss of 33%. Impact factors like ambient temperature, pressure ratio, turbine inlet temperature and heat recovery steam boiler are also considered on the exergy losses of the power plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper seeks to explain the linkage between security and climate change. It uses the 'Speech Act' of political leaders or state representatives to securitize an issue through the theory of securitization. Political or powerful leaders are independent variables and securitization of an issue is a dependent variable. Based on the theory of securitization, the paper looks into the policy-making process of the Government of India regarding climate change, with particular reference to the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of the paper is to empirically estimate the value of equity in the case of public sector banks of India using excess return model. The paper also attempts to identify the key driver of value of equity among these banks. A sample of 11 public sector banks included in NIFTY PSU Bank Index was selected for the study. The study covered a time period of ten years ranging from 2007 to 2016. All the financial data pertaining to the banks was culled from CMIE Prowess software. One sample t-test and F-test were applied to test the significance of the value of equity of each bank and the entire sample, respectively. To identify the key driver of value of equity, a stepwise multiple regression was run between the dependent variable and a set of independent variables. The results of the study highlight that none of the 11 banks registered positive mean value of equity during the study period. The results are same for the entire sample. The study reveals that return on net worth is the positively significant predictor of the value of equity. On the contrary, stock beta, shareholder return, and operating profit to working funds ratio are negatively significant. The chief implication of the study is that higher return on net worth leads to increase in the value of equity of the banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, river Ganga is extremely important for Hindus and for those who depend on it for their livelihood. The Government of India has declared river Ganga as the 'national river of India' in a bid to prevent the water from getting polluted and to improve the water quality and as a step to instill in the minds of the people the importance of the river. On March 20, 2017, the Uttarakhand High Court, in the case of Mohammed Salim vs. State of Uttarakhand, expressed the utmost expediency to give legal status to rivers Ganga and Yamuna as a living person/legal entity in accordance with Articles 48A and 51A(g) of the Constitution of India. This decision gained wide popularity across the world as India became the second in the world after New Zealand to declare river as a living entity. But despite the popular approval of the verdict, the apex court, in a subsequent Special Leave Petition filed by the Government of Uttarakhand, stayed the order of the High Court. Against this background, the paper highlights the importance of river Ganga in the Hindu mythology. The paper also focuses on the recent judgment by the Uttarakhand High Court on the status of river Ganga and also compares the position of river Ganga with the case of Whanganui river of New Zealand and the rights of nature under Ecuador Constitution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stock markets use information to determine the intrinsic values of assets and stocks. Markets take time to assimilate information and use it efficiently. This paper attempts to analyze the intraday information usage and assimilation patterns in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) using the Generalized Auto Regressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) approach. Using more than 53,000 time series observations of the BSE Sensex, the paper has empirically tested the information usage and assimilation in the BSE and found that during very short intervals of five minutes, markets give preference to new information. The markets then increasingly assimilate existing information and take around half-hour to assimilate the information adequately. The markets then once again start seeking new information for decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inflows of foreign capital into India have been a mixed blessing for the economy. Capital inflows have been associated with increased investment and rising Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The main focus of the paper lies in analyzing the behavior of the macroeconomic indicators in relation to the inflows of foreign capital and exchange rates in India since 1991, the year in which several major reform programs were initiated. It analyzes the trends in inflows of foreign capital into India and variations in exchange rate of the Indian rupee and their mutual interdependence over the period 1990-91 to 2007-08. It shows the correlation between exchange rate and inflows of capital in India, and also between the exchange rate and some macroeconomic indicators such as GDP and money supply. Further, it also shows the relationship of nominal effective exchange rate (both trade-based and export-based) with foreign direct investment and foreign portfolio investment in India. The correlation analysis of selected indicators shows that GDP is strongly related to the exchange rates of Indian rupee per unit of US dollar, pound sterling and SDR. This suggests that the prevailing exchange rates helped in the growth of Indian GDP. It also focuses on the effects of inflows of foreign capital on some macroeconomic variables in India. This paper also studies how the Reserve Bank of India prevents the exchange rate appreciation associated with rising capital inflows by accumulating foreign exchange reserves and foreign investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New Education Policy 2020 is notified with an objective to place India as 'knowledge superpower' on the map of the global education providers. The new policy is overhauling the entire Indian education system which includes the primary, middle, high school and higher education. The embedded target of the policy is to make the Indian education competitive with the international education and attract foreign students and impart high quality education on par with the international institutions. Though India has taken some strategic initiatives and education policies pronounced earlier have paved way for qualitative education and liberal approach to the education sector, they have not accomplished the desired results. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) has facilitated and opened the education markets for the global players, and the institutions with quality products and services will only survive in the stiff competition. The new education policy has opened discussions and a road map for internationalization of education in India as part of compliance of GATS provisions. This paper provides discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of the internationalization of higher education and facilitating the educational institutions towards achieving the goals of the education policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of promotion of financial inclusion in India, Payments Banks (PBs) have a key role to play as they accept small deposits from the poor and offer them low value remittance services. The unique feature of PBs is the size of remittances performed through technology platform being too large and value of each transaction being too small. Consequently, risk in remittance services is high and increasing. Therefore, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed regulatory compliance norms on the part of PBs, which include minimum capital, Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), deployment of deposits in government securities, Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and best management practices. These are expected to ensure the financial soundness of PBs, strengthen safety in remittance services and protect the interests of small customers at large. Though the number of PBs is just six at present, considering the emerging business potential, a few more PBs are expected to come up. But from the study of financial analysis of PBs, it is observed that they face numerous issues which need to be addressed. Towards this end, the paper offers suggestions, besides discussing the origin, regulatory aspects, activity profile and performance review of PBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the paradigm shift in retail from brick-and-mortar stores to e-tailing, retail marketers are forced to incorporate different experiential techniques as their survival strategies. Effective marketing communication points are created through atmospheric marketing in retail. Retail organizations have started paying attention to create a positive buying atmosphere that ultimately leads to desired emotional effects in the purchasing behavior of consumers. Though this is a burning topic in the Western markets, not many studies have been conducted on this aspect in India. This current study seeks to explore the relationship between different factors of store ambience that influence consumers' perceptions towards the coffee outlets. Also, this paper provides significant statistical insights on the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the growing importance of mutual fund investment in academic and industrial research, the paper aims at answering a question of paramount importance, i.e. Does recategorization affect mutual fund investment? An unmatched sample t-test was conducted to compare the pre- and post-categorization among the large, mid, and small-cap firms based on three variables: liquidity, volatility, and returns. The results of the t-test postulate that the liquidity of large-cap firms and returns of the small-cap firms were significantly different for both periods of study. In contrast, all other variables remain indifferent across both periods. Overall, the study contributes to the literature and practice by providing meaningful pre- and post-categorization insights. The study provides important insights for mutual fund managers to understand the correct effect of re-categorization on market efficiency. The study provides transparency for future research in the field of mutual fund investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing literature shows that monitoring the effect of concentrated ownership has a positive impact on firm value. However, the economic channel of such a positive impact has not been examined. This study offers a possible economic channel and tests it empirically using a panel of Indian firms. The hypothesis of the paper is that concentrated ownership increases the competitiveness of the firms, through efficient monitoring of their activities, in their product markets, thus increasing the growth rate of firms. The results show that both institutional and promoter ownership have a positive impact on firm competitiveness. However, foreign concentration has an insignificant impact. Moreover, for business group-affiliated firms, only institutional concentration has a positive impact. The results remain robust for different specifications and endogeneity issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]