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A key agenda of policy-makers in both the developing and the developed worlds is to have an inclusive growth. Financial services have been recognised as one of the fundamental services that have the potential to achieve this objective and help move towards a more just and equitable society. This paper attempts to assess the impact of three information and communication technology-driven initiatives in the field of financial services by differentiating them on the basis of service design. This study goes beyond the stated objective of these services and uses Sen’s capability perspective to study their impact across three non-economic outcome variables viz. literacy, service-specific well-being and empowerment. The data for the study are collected from the urban poor across different locations in a large metropolitan city in South India where the three different services are being offered. The study follows a quasi-experimental design (field study) and ensures matching of the treatment and control groups through propensity score matching. The matched data are analysed using an independent samplet-test. The result of the analysis shows that service design plays a key role in increasing service literacy, improving service-specific well-being and empowering end users. The study suggests that the true challenge for providers (government and partner agencies) of these services is in designing a service that ensures a balance of structure and flexibility without constraining the choice of end users through innovative service blueprints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates the estimation and simulation of discharge and sediment concentration for two river basins in the USA and India. The first-order Sugeno fuzzy inference system was utilised to model the stage, discharge and sediment concentration relationship. A subtractive clustering algorithm, along with a least-squares estimation, was used to generate the fuzzy rules that describe the relationship between input and output data of stage, discharge and sediment concentration, which change over time. The fuzzy rules were tuned by a back-propagation algorithm. The results are illustrated using simulation and virtual reality. A comparison was made between the estimates provided by the neuro-fuzzy model and a multi-linear regression model. Different statistical criteria were used to evaluate the performance of both models in estimating discharge and sediment concentration. Comparison of the results reveals that, in general, the neuro-fuzzy model gives better estimates than the multi-linear regression model in terms of root mean square and sum of squares errors. Furthermore, compared with the multi-linear regression model, the neuro-fuzzy model yields statistical properties of estimates that are closer to actual historical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes experience with application of operations research techniques in planning new roads and social service centers for the Dharampur area in India. The work involved designing a road network using a minimal spanning tree algorithm; selecting the number and location of the service centers to be constructed over a five year period using a set covering algorithm and developing a schedule for the construction of the service centers using dynamic programming. Substantial economic benefits resulted from using the mathematical models. The experience shows that operations research models can be useful in providing an objective rationale for administrative decisions, thus playing an important role in the resolution of political conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents the results of the application of model (developed in part I) and simulation algorithm (developed in part II) for determining the techno-economics of battery storage type hybrid energy system intended to supply the load of a rural remote area having a cluster of nine villages (grid isolated). The hour-by-hour simulation model is intended to simulate a typical one month period of system operation. For simulation purpose, hourly solar insolation data and load data have been generated and used as an input data. Demand side management (DSM) is used in this study to smooth out the daily peaks and fill valleys in the load curve to make the most efficient use of energy sources. The economic analysis has resulted in the calculation of optimized hourly, daily, and monthly system unit cost of proposed hybrid energy system. The obtained results represent also a helpful reference for energy planners in Uttarakhand state and justify the consideration of hybrid energy systems more seriously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]