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The aim of this research is to discover the continuance and recommendation intention of higher education students who are using ChatGPT. Specifically, we proposed an extend technology continuance theory (TCT) by integrating the recommendation intention. A structured Google form is used to collect the data from the higher education students especially engineering college students in India. A sum of 307 responses gathered and employed for the purpose of data analysis. Structured equation model (SEM) was used to test the research hypothesis. The study found that perceived usefulness, attitude, and satisfaction were significant predictors of continuance intention, while satisfaction and continuance intention themselves predicted recommendation intention, indicating that students who perceive ChatGPT as useful, have a positive attitude towards it, and are satisfied with it are more likely to continue using it and recommend it to others. These results underscore the importance of user satisfaction and positive attitudes in fostering continued engagement and advocacy for AI-driven chat systems. The study's findings were evaluated in terms of their discussion, limitations and implications for future research.

Background: Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities are at a higher risk of developing dental caries. Few scoping reviews have been conducted in India to understand their issues. We aimed to summarise the distribution and risk factors of dental caries among children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities in India. Methods: A scoping review was conducted based on the Arksey O Malley framework. Quality assessment of studies, descriptive and thematic analyses were also conducted. Results: We charted, collated, and summarised from four databases. Thirty-one studies met the study criteria consisting of children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities. Median caries prevalence was 70%, decayed missing and fIlled permenant teeth (DMFT) was 2.4, decayed missing and filled decidous teeth (dmft) was 2.36, and DMFS was 3.7. Major determinants were the severity of disability, socioeconomic status and parents' education. Oral care and dental visits were inadequate. Conclusion: Further exploration is required to improve access and reduce caries experience and prevalence among children with intellectual and developmental disabilities in India.

The pedagogical realm expands and goes beyond the four walls of a classroom. It becomes omnipresent. However, there are spheres where it displays overtly its political character such as in the functioning of political organisations. In these organisations the relationship of the leader and cadre or the institutional form of politics and the masses that it seeks to include is constituted through a prolonged pedagogical process. This process is defined through a relationship that revolves around exclusion, inclusion and framing of an institutional structure vis-à-vis the masses. Rosa Luxemburg and Paulo Freire in their own ways reflected on these relationships either directly or their writings can be read to understand the making of political pedagogy in South Asian context, more specifically India.

Background: Mobile phones have become a widely accepted learning mode due to the impact of COVID-19. This study explores the mobile technology acceptance, among nursing students at selected educational institutions in South India. Materials and Methods: Quantitative cross-sectional descriptive design. First-year 176 B.Sc. nursing students who underwent blended learning were selected by the purposive sampling method. The tool "Technology Acceptance Model" was used to collect responses. Bivariate analysis was used to determine the relationship between the demographic and study-related variables with the mobile technology acceptance using SPSS version 25.0. Results: The majority 73.9% of the students belonged to the age group of 18-19 years, females 76.7% and, 98.9% were unmarried. Among the constructs of TAM, a mean (SD) value of 22.08 (2.26) was found for material (mobile device audio/video) characteristics the mean (SD) value was 22.08 (2.26), attitude about use 17.58 (1.95), behavioral intention 17.46 (1.78) and system characteristics 17.21 (2.27). The mobile technology acceptance revealed that 126 (71.6%) strongly agreed, 49 (27.8%) agreed, and 1 (0.6%) was neutral with a mean (SD) of 105.19 (8.68), respectively. A positive correlation was found between the system characteristics, material characteristics, perceived ease to use, perceived usefulness, attitude about the use, behavioral intention with a P value <0.001. There was a statistically significant association between Mobile technology acceptance and time spent by the students for independent studies shown the Chi-square value of 12.7, with P value <0.05. Conclusion: Nursing students had a positive acceptance and behavior toward smartphone use.

This work investigates the impact of entrepreneurial experiential learning (EL) on students' entrepreneurial intention (EI), through the lens of entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE). To provide a comprehensive viewpoint, the direct impact of entrepreneurial attitude (EA) on entrepreneurial intention has also been looked at. This study, has adopted existing scales to measure entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneurial attitude, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. For experiential learning, a structured scale has been designed on the basis of its existing scales. Data were collected from 669 students, enrolled in entrepreneurial courses/programs. Punjab, Haryana, and National capital region (NCR) are the three Indian regions considered for the survey. The results highlight that there is a positive influence of experiential learning on entrepreneurial intention though [beta]-value is low (0.042). While the [beta]-value with mediation influence of entrepreneurial self-efficacy between experiential learning and entrepreneurial intention was 0.090 (0.697[multiply]0.130), which states that entrepreneurial self-efficacy mediates and enhances the relationship between experiential learning and entrepreneurial intention. It was also found that there is a direct and strong influence of entrepreneurial attitude on entrepreneurial intention ([beta]-value, 0.872). Thus, there is a need to focus on entrepreneurial attitude, as it strongly influences the intentions of the students. Overall results have a bearing that experiential learning; entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial attitude emerged as important predictors of entrepreneurial intention and explained 89.6% of variations in the model. Moreover, experiential learning with the mediation of entrepreneurial self-efficacy had more impact on entrepreneurial intention. Thus, there is a need to focus on entrepreneurial self-efficacy as well as experiential learning.

Intellectual disability in India is substantially under-reported, especially amongst females. This study quantifies the prevalence and gender bias in household reporting of intellectual disability by estimating the age-and-gender specific prevalence of the intellectually disabled by education, Socio-Demographic Index (SDI) score, place of residence, (rural/urban) and income of household head. We estimated prevalence (per 100,000) at 179 (95% CI: 173 to 185) for males and 120 (95% CI: 115 to 125) for females. Gender differences declined sharply with increased education, was higher for lower ages and low income and varied little by state development. Under-identification and under-reporting due to stigma are two plausible reasons for the gender differences in prevalence that increase with age.

India has been facing major challenges in many sectors, but the worst situation is in the education sector during COVID-19 pandemic. Class room learning was temporarily stopped as in other nations around the world to control/stop fast spread of the coronavirus mutants. Educational institutions have been suffering from the extension of the pandemic even after reopening. Hence, they are adopting smart solutions to overcome various challenges of the pandemic. It is not an exaggeration that COVID-19 has changed education forever. New trends have been adopted in the learning process of higher education to face the pandemic. Central and State Governments are also exploring online learning platforms to access educational resources. The present study focuses on the various online learning initiatives, Digital initiatives of the Department of Higher Education (MHRD) and the University Grants Commission (UGC), MOOC platforms, tools to create digital learning content and video collaboration tools that are being used to overcome the learning challenges in Higher education during the pandemic.

Intention of this investigation was to explore if a relationship exists or not between emotional intelligence and burnout by examine a sample of 200 teacher educators that were selected by a purposive stratified sampling method from among of all teacher educators in District Gaya, India. In this investigation, two instruments were used to collect data, such as Weisinger's Emotional Intelligence Test and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). This research was correlation type so to analyze the data, were used Pearson correlation co-efficient and Analysis of Regression. Investigations found that teacher educator were not significantly different in emotional intelligence on the basis of gender, locality and teaching experience. Gender and teaching experience has nothing to play on burnout but locality has a significant difference on burnout score of teacher educators. Emotional intelligence and burnout syndrome have a strong negative association (r=-0.221), according to research results. Emotional intelligence had a significant contribution on burnout of teacher educators.

Background: Speech-language pathologists are often involved in the assessment and management of communication, cognition and swallowing deficits in people with Parkinson's. However, speech-language pathologists' self-perceived competency levels in serving people with Parkinson's remain elusive, especially in the Indian context where there is an increasing disability burden due to Parkinson's disease. Additionally, the challenges faced by speech-language pathologists in India to provide efficient services to this population are unidentified. Aims: To determine speech-language pathologists' self-perceived competence and challenges faced when providing services to people with Parkinson's in India. Methods & Procedures: A survey questionnaire was sent to speech-language pathologists through emails and social media asking them questions to evaluate self-perceived competency in serving people with Parkinson's and to identify the challenges to their service delivery. A total of 69 speech-language pathologists responded to the survey. Outcomes & Results: The majority of respondents reported to be competent in dealing with various domains of assessment and management of people with Parkinson's. Although competent, they reportedly faced a few challenges during their service delivery. Conclusions & Implications: This study provides an insight into the speech-language pathologists' self-perceived competency in serving people with Parkinson's in India, and also identifies the challenges related to interprofessional service delivery. The findings of the study have educational and clinical implications.

Purpose: This research aims to combine and extend the literature on the self-monitoring approach used by faculty members in online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) model. The study also highlights the challenges faced by faculty members in online teaching. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a mixed methodology approach, the primary data was obtained from the faculty members of the post-graduate business schools. This data enabled the measurement of self-monitoring adopted by the faculty members and the relationship of the factors by using the TAM model. Multivariate regression was adopted to study the relationships between the elements in the TAM model and faculty members' self-monitoring. Secondly, a few exploratory questions were asked to the respondents about the challenges faced by them during online teaching. Findings: The quantitative analysis conducted using multiple regression directed that the faculty's contentment with any digital platform influenced their engagement, attention and participation while taking an online class as a part of the self-monitoring process. The perception of the technology platforms used for online teaching affected the faculty members' self-monitoring dimensions: attention, participation and engagement. Based on the qualitative approach, the thematic analysis pointed out five major challenges for faculty members in conducting online classes: I.T. support, hesitation, interaction with peers and students, proficiency with an online platform and evaluation challenges. Research limitations/implications: This study was conducted during the complete lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic; many faculty members were initially trained to get familiarized with the online teaching platforms and educate students. Hence, this study enriches the literature on online teaching during pandemic times. Practical implications: To ensure that the faculty impacts quality online education and the students obtain the knowledge and skills required, faculty need to alter their pedagogy based on the technology they use to focus on their students' teaching, learning and needs. Originality/value: This study measures self-monitoring and its dimensions for faculty members, which is unique in nature. This was the first time the faculty members were imposed with the responsibility of online teaching and ensuring that the learning-teaching process was fruitful. This study has both theoretical and practical implications as the paper focuses on various insights which can make online teaching-learning more effective.

This research study is primarily conducted to tap the potential of academic leadership, experiential learning, and students' employability in enhancing higher education performance. The study uses a survey to collect responses of 400 respondents from Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs). PLS-SEM has been used to design the model. Academic leadership (AL) covers three dimensions, Academic culture (AC), Academic environment (AE), and Academic operations (AO). It is essential to understand how AL influences Experiential Learning (EL). EL is based on the Kolb model and covers four subdivisions of experience viz Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualization, and Active Experimentation. All these dimensions are essential; however, Abstract Conceptualization emerges more substantial than the other three dimensions, setting the stage for the emergence of Active Experimentation. Higher Educational Institute Performance (HEIP) has three dimensions, student satisfaction (SS), employers' satisfaction (ES), and sustainability perspective (SP). Initially, the study examines the impact of AL on EL. The results highlight that AL influences EL. The next stage was to explore the direct effects of EL on HEIP. The results again support that EL affects performance. In HEI, a lot of focus is being imparted to employability competencies, thus we tried to examine how EL through indirect effect with the mediation of employability impacts HEIP. The results lend support to the mediation effect of employability which enhances the impact of EL on HEIP. Thus, given these results, it can be inferred that AL has a pertinent role to play and develop EL in HEIs. Furthermore, there is a need to focus intensely on the employability perspective in HEIs. The study has meaningful implications for policymakers at universities to enable them to strategize around practices conducive to the creation of experiential learning environment and employability to enhance HEIP.

Nature bestowed humans with emotions. Emotions are significant predictors of anyone's success. Now Emotional Intelligence is an established phenomenon is under eye of researcher and psychologist. The objectives of this study were (i) to explore the level of Emotional Intelligence of University's students. (ii) to find out the difference between Emotional Intelligence on the basis of gender, locality, level of course and School of study. This survey based study used data from 200 students of Central University of South Bihar, Gaya, India. Results indicated that all university's students were having high level of emotional intelligence. Result indicates that all students of School of Education have emotional Intelligence of high level except in comparison of students of School of Law & Governance. Male and female students are significantly differed from each other on Emotional Intelligence on overall sample. Female students found more Emotional Intelligent with high mean value. UG and PG students of were found not significantly differ from each other on Emotional intelligence. UG students were more emotionally intelligent on the basis of mean value. Residential location does not have any significant role but rural students were more emotionally intelligent in comparison to their counterpart.

The study explores the relationship among relational capital and performance of universities in North India. In the first phase, the study identified the major contributors of relational capital by grounding of literature. University-industry collaboration, information disclosure and marketization emerged as major contributors which were also established empirically in the course of the study. Confirmatory factor analysis measurement model established the factor structure of the measurement items. Next, the researchers investigated the relative importance of each contributor in explaining relational capital and its association with university performance. Findings suggest that relational capital has a significant influence on university performance. A collaborative approach, relationship of reciprocity with stakeholders, disclosing relevant information, maintaining transparency and marketization of the institution are the underpinnings of university performance. The study has meaningful implications for policy makers at universities to enable them to strategize around practices conducive to the creation of relational capital and enhance performance.

Background & aims: The study assessed the efficacy of a novel, child-friendly, socio-culturally sensitive, icon-based Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) system called Jellow Communicator, in teaching requesting skills to young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a special school in Mumbai, India. Jellow is a comprehensive AAC system with a lexicon and pictorial library designed using a participatory, user-centric design process. The content of Jellow has been developed bearing in mind the socio-cultural and linguistic diversity of India. Jellow is available in low-tech (flashcards, booklet) and high-tech (Android and iOS app and desktop application) versions. Methods: The quasi-experimental longitudinal study involved seventeen 3.5-12-year-old children with ASD with communication challenges. Children were taught to use the Jellow AAC system to request for preferred items, as part of their regular speech therapy sessions. Each child received one-on-one training sessions with a licensed speech therapist twice a week over a 3-month duration, with each session lasting around 20-30 min. A systematic training protocol adapted from the original Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) was developed to train children to use the Jellow system, progressing from flashcards to the app version of Jellow. Behavioral training strategies such as modeling, least-to-most prompting, differential reinforcement, and behavior chain interruption were used to facilitate requesting behaviors. The speech therapist assessed children's developmental level across multiple domains at pretest and posttest. We coded 3 videos per child, i.e., one early, one mid, and one late training session each, to assess changes in children's stage of communication, spontaneous requesting abilities, level of attention during training trials, and average time to completion for requesting trials. In addition, caregivers filled out questionnaires to assess training-related changes in children's adaptive functioning levels as well as the psychosocial impact of the Jellow AAC system on children's quality of life. Results: Children significantly improved their stage of communication, and a majority of children transitioned from flashcards to using the Jellow app to request for preferred items. Children also increased the proportion of spontaneous requests over the course of training. Caregivers reported a positive perceived psychosocial impact of the Jellow AAC system on their child's self-esteem, adaptability, and competence. Conclusions: The findings from our pilot study support the use of the novel, socio-culturally adapted, Jellow Communicator AAC system for teaching requesting skills to young children with ASD who use multiple communication modalities. Future studies should replicate our findings with a larger group of participants using a randomized controlled trial design. Implications: This is the first experimental study to systematically assess the effects of an indigenously-developed comprehensive AAC system adapted to the sociocultural and linguistic landscape of India. Our study results provide support for the use of the cost-effective Jellow Communicator AAC system in facilitating requesting skills in children with ASD who use multiple communication modalities. Clinicians can use low-tech and high-tech versions of Jellow to promote communication skills in children with ASD.

Background: Picture-naming tests (PNTs) evaluate linguistic impairment in dementia due to semantic memory impairment, impaired lexical retrieval or perceptual deficits. They also assess the decline in naming impairment at various stages of dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) that occurs due to progressive cognitive impairment. With the increasing numbers of people with dementia globally, it is necessary to have validated naming tests and norms that are culturally and linguistically appropriate. Aims: In this cross-sectional study we harmonized a set of 30 images applicable to the Indian context across five languages and investigated the picture-naming performance in patients with MCI and dementia. Methods & Procedures: A multidisciplinary expert group formed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) collaborated towards developing and adapting a picture naming test (PNT) known as the ICMR-PNT in five Indian languages: Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. Based on cross-cultural adaptation guidelines and item-wise factor analysis and correlations established separately across five languages, the final version of the ICMR-PNT test was developed. A total of 368 controls, 123 dementia and 128 MCI patients were recruited for the study. Psychometric properties of the adapted version of the ICMR-PNT were examined, and sensitivity and specificity were examined. Outcomes & Results The ICMR-PNT scores in all languages combined were higher in controls compared with patients with dementia and MCI (F[subscript 2], [subscript 615] = 139.85; p < 0.001). Furthermore, PNT scores for MCI was higher in comparison with patients with dementia in all languages combined (p < 0.001). The area under the curve across the five languages ranged from 0.81 to 1.00 for detecting dementia. There was a negative correlation between Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) and ICMR-PNT scores and a positive correlation between Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination--III (ACE-III) and ICMR-PNT scores in control and patient groups. Conclusions & Implications: The ICMR-PNT was developed by following cross-cultural adaptation guidelines and establishing correlations using item-wise factor analysis across five languages. This adapted PNT was found to be a reliable tool when assessing naming abilities effectively in mild to moderate dementia in a linguistically diverse context.

COVID-19 pandemic has heavily impacted the education sectors at all levels globally. During the pandemic, the regular academic cycle has been disturbed at a large level. Specifically, the curriculum transaction is a highly challengeable one during the pandemic period. It forced all the educational institutions to adopt online platform for transactional activities. On the other hand, it is a challenge to move forward 100% transactions through online platform and hence the hybrid structure -- that is, electronic and physical mode is being followed for transactional purposes. With this background, the present study is a survey piloted among teacher educators to know their perception on hybrid approaches towards curriculum transactions in teacher education programs. The Perception Questionnaire was developed by the investigator and was used for data collection. The developed questionnaire was tailored into Google Forms and the link was sent to more than 150 samples (teacher educators) in Coimbatore district. Finally, 72 samples responded appropriately. The collected data were analysed using descriptive analysis. Based on the findings of the study, it is concluded that there is a positive perception on hybrid approaches towards curriculum transactions in teacher education programs like B.Ed. and M.Ed. during the COVID-19 pandemic among the selected respondents in Coimbatore district.

Purpose: Our findings show that the academic culture is base for quality teaching and education delivery and it impacts employee experience through employee involvement in decision-making and employee engagement demonstrating benefits for universities such as increased employee attraction, higher retention, greater productivity and improved student service. Higher education institutions that offer development opportunities to their faculty are likely to have less turnover than those that do not. Globally tuned curriculum matching the expectation of students one hand and developing a conducive environment for implementing the changes on the other hand is the need of the hour. Branding and student employability needs the focus of policymakers, and it can highly impact the visibility of institute. Design/methodology/approach: This research has been undertaken to examine the role of critical success factors (CSFs) for augmenting quality of higher education institutes in India. The aspects considered are: branding, employability, employee experience, student experience. The study tries to analyse their impact on overall performance. The results highlight that academic culture mediates between student experience and overall performance. The current research also indicates that academic culture mediates between employee experience and overall performance. Employee experience through academic culture emerges as a strongest predictor of overall performance. Student experience through academic culture emerges as another important predictor of overall performance. Employability was next to follow. The beta values were low for branding. The results highlight that for improving performance Indian higher educational institutes need to focus on branding. Implementing this model will enable educational institutions to focus on these predictors to boost overall performance and equip engineers with requisite skills through academic culture. Findings: The results show that employee experience is the most importance significant performance indicator to enhance the performance of the engineering institute when academic culture is taken a mediator (Anderson et al., 1994; Owlia and Aspinwall, 1997; Pal Pandi et al., 2016). The direct effect of employee experience (Beta = 0.473) is less in comparison to the indirect effect (beta = 0.518). The student experience is also second important indicator that is very significant for the overall performance, and this level of signification is even more enhanced when academic culture acts as a mediator. On the other hand, employability of students (EM) (Ashok Pandit and Wallack, 2016) and branding (BR) play an important role to influence the overall performance of the HEIs. However, branding has least impact on the performance compared to the other indicators as it has lowest beta value (0.169). This reveals that engineering institutes need to emphasis on developing strategies to improve branding by participating in activities that enhance outreach and visibility of the institutes (Nandi and Chattopadhyay, 2011). The results of the study showed the academic culture acts as critical pathway to reach the performance peak. Research limitations/implications: Competition is spreading in the higher education sector with widespread consequences, and in order to effectively respond to the pressures, universities have to be able to draw attention and retain their precious human capital. Developing linkages for faculty and student will generate mutually beneficial sustainable outcomes. Institutes preferably be multi-disciplinary or inter-disciplinary and have both teaching and research focus of an exceptionally high quality. Developing diverse programmes and activities targeting at developing quality of mind, ethical standard, social awareness and global perspectives, let the students shape their own experience and growth. Solid linkages with industry to impart a practical dimension to technical training is must, and an effective semester internship in industry is a testimony of project-led teaching. Research excellence and quality teaching are the basis of quality education. Engagement in external collaborations that extend and deepen institution impact through increasing international engagements. In future, empirical studies can also be conducted on the AQAR model by collecting data through questionnaires based on the perception of students, and it can be tested through hypotheses employing R software to determine the extent of implementation of AQAR in EEIs in India. Practical implications: The results show that employee experience is the most important significant performance indicators to enhance the performance of the engineering institute when academic culture is taken a mediator (Anderson et al., 1994; Owlia and Aspinwall, 1997; Pal Pandi et al., 2016). The direct effect of employee experience (Beta = 0.473) is less in comparison to the indirect effect (beta = 0.518). The student experience is also second important indicator that is very significant for the overall performance, and this level of signification is even more enhanced when academic culture acts as a mediator. On the other hand, employability of students (EM) (Ashok Pandit and Wallack, 2016) and branding (BR) play an important role to influence the overall performance of the HEIs; however branding has least impact on the performance compared to the other indicators as it has lowest beta value (0.169). This reveals that engineering institutes need to emphasis on developing strategies to improve branding by participating in activities that enhance outreach and visibility of the institutes (Nandi and Chattopadhyay, 2011). The results of the study showed the academic culture acts as critical pathway to reach the performance peak. Originality/value: The results show that student experience is the most importance significant performance indicators to enhance the performance of the engineering institute when academic culture is taken a mediator. The direct effect of student experience (Beta = 0.101) is less in comparison to the indirect effect (beta = 0.412). The employee experience is also second important indicator that is very significant for the overall performance, and this level of signification is even more enhanced when academic culture acts as a mediator. On the other hand, employability of students (EM) (Ashok Pandit and Wallack, 2016) and branding (BR) play an important role to influence the overall performance of the HEIs; however branding has least impact on the performance compared to the other indicators as it has lowest beta value (0.169). This reveals that engineering institutes need to emphasis on developing strategies to improve branding by participating in activities that enhance outreach and visibility of the institutes (Nandi and Chattopadhyay, 2011). The results of the study showed the academic culture acts as critical pathway to reach the performance peak.

In most developed nations, there is a general trend of enrolling hearing-impaired children with special education needs in regular schools. Inclusive education refers to children with special education needs becoming part of a mainstream school like typically developing peers. A good method for evaluating the success of such programs is to assess teachers' attitudes towards inclusion. The inclusive education approach may be challenging to implement across all educational setups due to the lack of academic resources, expertise, and training towards inclusive education. This study explored teachers' attitudes and perceptions towards the inclusion of children with hearing impairment in regular schools in Karnataka state. A tool named 'Teachers Attitude Questionnaire' which was developed by Galis and Tanner was used to study the attitudes and perceptions of school teachers. The tool was then revised by considering geographic and cultural differences and was administered to 421 teachers across Karnataka. Analysis revealed a higher score in all the 4 domains of inclusive education which shows that most teachers had a positive attitude towards inclusive education. Results about teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education based on work experience, type of school, gender, medium of instruction, and level of teaching were statistically significant, p < 0.05. This study concludes that teachers' attitudes varied concerning the level of experience and level of teaching. The results of the current study also stress the need for awareness programs to bring more positive attitudes among teachers, to successfully implement inclusive education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotional intelligence is an ability to control our emotions in abnormal situations. Now it is widely accepted that emotional intelligence also a key determent for success and also in development in personality. Personality is a sum total of emotions. By taking a sample of 200 secondary school teachers an attempt has made to find out the relationship between emotional intelligence and different factors of personality of secondary school teachers. Results indicated that there was no significant difference between emotional intelligence of secondary school teachers in relation to gender and stream in which they are teaching. Further, a positive relationship found in the emotional intelligence and some of personality factors but many personality factors were negatively related to emotional intelligence of different groups of secondary school teachers but most type of relationship was not significant.

The study assesses the acceptability and feasibility of a brief parent-mediated home-based intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), deliverable in resource-limited settings, with an emphasis on addressing parental stress from a socio-cultural perspective. 50 children (2-6 years), with a DSM 5 diagnosis of ASD were randomized to intervention (n = 26) or active control group (n = 24). The intervention based on naturalistic developmental behavioral approach, focusing on joint attention, imitation, social and adaptive skills was structured to be delivered in five outpatient sessions over 12 weeks. All children were followed up at 4, 8 and 12 weeks. Parents of children randomized to the intervention group reported more improvements across parental stress and child outcome measures compared to those in the control group. The intervention was found to be acceptable and feasible, with high fidelity measures and retention rates.

The goal of public breeding programs is to develop and disseminate improved varieties to farmers. This strategy aims at providing farming communities with superior crop varieties than they are growing. However, the strategy rarely considers the needs and preferences of farmers, especially gendered preferences, failing to solve real field problems by addressing the differences and inequalities prevalent in the farming communities. Our research examines how personal, household, agronomic and ecological characteristics of wheat growers in Bihar, India's eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains, affect women and men's wheat trait choices. Data were obtained from 1,003 households where both male and female respondents from the same household were interviewed. We accounted for 23 traits of wheat from a careful assessment of production, environment, cooking quality, market demand, and esthetic criteria. Binomial logistic regression was used to determine women's and men's trait preferences. The results imply that gender influences the preferences of wheat traits. Some traits are favored by both women and men, however, in other instances, there are striking disparities. For example, men choose wheat varieties that are well adapted to extreme climate conditions, have a higher grain yield, and produce chapati with a superior taste, while women prefer wheat types with superior chapati making quality, higher grain yield, and high market prices. Other socioeconomic, agronomic, cultural, and geolocational factors have a considerable impact on trait preferences. These human dimensions of traits preferred by women and men farmers are important for trait combinations to develop breeding product profiles for certain market segments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Telecommunications industry has been a consistent witness to technological disruptions. The changes have transformed service consumption patterns, business models, revenue streams, and market compositions. This research is an industry-driven exploration of the factors and their inter-relationships associated with the disintegration of communication services from the underlying high-speed networks in the Indian telecommunication sector due to the availability of high-speed networks. Evidence of these factors and their linkages is found in the cases of Vodafone Idea telecom service provider and WhatsApp OTT communication provider. Our findings suggest an association of technological evolution in India with the emergence of new over-the-top (OTT) service-providing companies without a commercial or technical collaboration with telecom service providers (TSPs). The OTT players have successfully reached the customers without intervention from the TSPs. TSPs that were able to swiftly develop new business strategies to capitalize on their data service offerings, upgrade their network technology, and enhance their coverage could retain customers and revenue. Others who failed disappeared from the competition. The remaining few TSPs protected their dried-up revenue streams by merging with others. Rapid adaptation and consolidation through mergers were the strategies found to be effective in the cases discussed in the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Intraoperative fluid therapy maintains normovolemia, normal tissue perfusion, normal metabolic function, normal electrolytes, and acid–base status. Plethysmographic variability index has been shown to predict fluid responsiveness but its role in guiding intraoperative fluid therapy is still elusive. Aims: The aim of the present study was to compare intraoperative goal‐directed fluid therapy based on plethysmographic variability index with liberal fluid therapy in term neonates undergoing abdominal surgeries. Methods: A prospective randomized controlled study was conducted in a tertiary care centre, over a period of 18 months. A total of 30 neonates completed the study out of 132 neonates screened. Neonates with tracheoesophageal fistula, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, congenital heart disease, respiratory disorders, creatinine clearance <90 mL/min and who were hemodynamically unstable were excluded. Neonates were randomized to goal‐directed fluid therapy group where the plethysmographic variability index was targeted at <18 or liberal fluid therapy group. Primary outcome was comparison of total amount of fluid infused intraoperatively in both the groups. Secondary outcomes included intraoperative and postoperative arterial blood gas parameters, biochemical parameters, use of vasopressors, number of fluid boluses, complications and duration of hospital stay. Results: There was no significant difference in total intraoperative fluid infused [90 (84–117.5 mL) in goal‐directed fluid therapy and 105 (85.5–144.5 mL) in liberal fluid therapy group (p =.406)], median difference (95% CI) −15 (−49.1 to 19.1). There was a decrease in serum lactate levels in both groups from preoperative to postoperative 24 h. The amount of fluid infused before dopamine administration was significantly higher in liberal fluid therapy group (58 [50.25–65 mL]) compared to goal‐directed fluid therapy group (36 [22–44 mL], p =.008), median difference (95% CI) −22 (−46 to 2). In postoperative period, the total amount of fluid intake over 24 h was comparable in two groups (222 [204–253 mL] in goal‐directed fluid therapy group and 224 [179.5–289.5 mL] in liberal fluid therapy group, p =.917) median difference (95% CI) cutoff −2 (−65.3 to 61.2). Conclusion: Intraoperative plethysmographic variability index‐guided goal‐directed fluid therapy was comparable to liberal fluid therapy in terms of total volume of fluid infused in neonates during perioperative period. More randomized controlled trials with higher sample size are required. Trial Registration: Central Trial Registry of India (CTRI/2020/02/023561). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distance education may play an increasingly important role during this decade in helping address the growing shortage of teachers, educational administrators and other educational professionals experienced in both developing and developed countries. In this study, with the help of one self made tool and a sample of 150 graduate distance learners, it is revealed that gender plays no important role to develop positive attitude and perception. It means, both male and female learners have similar positive attitude towards distance education and biographical factors i.e. locality, stream, SES and caste plays a vital role to develop positive attitude towards distance education. (Contains 7 tables.)

Problem Statement: The current higher learning institutions in developed countries have adapted to their changing role in a knowledge-based society It is time for developing countries like India to focus on Knowledge Management thus, the current study presents research undertaken in understanding the implication of Knowledge Management in the field of education in India. After analysing the need of Information and Communications TechnologiesICT for implementation of KM in Institutions of Higher Technical Education (IHTE) and identifying KM technologies, which academia felt could be leveraged to a greater extent, this study investigates the factors affecting the implementation and use of Knowledge Management technologies for enhancing research in IHTE. Problem statement: Realizing the importance and value of KM, the researcher has identified the key features to come out of a viable KM portal for enhancing research Institutions of Higher Technical Education Method: Data has been collected through a structured questionnaire given to 141 respondents covering 30 higher educational institutions in India, including both national as well as state level institutions. Designations of the targeted respondents in the IHTE have been categorized into two sections. The first one consists of management and senior academia, e.g. Professors, Associate Professors. These are considered to be the best addressees because they are the overseers of their institutions' operations and are likely to be the thought leaders of KM. The second section consists of assistant professors, lecturers, and research scholars who are using and also contributing to the KM system. Findings and Results: The results highlight that the academia supports the need for KM portal for research in IHTE. Three components of portal design as identified by academia of IHTE are: Research Initiation, Research Facilitation, and Research Commercialisation. A regression analysis further highlighted that there is a positive relationship between perceived benefits of research and Research Facilitation and Research Commercialisation. Based upon the above results, the portal has been designed for facilitating research in IHTE. Conclusions and Recommendations: The portal designed will facilitate the researchers in India as well as in other developed countries in identifying the new areas of research, avoiding duplication of research, and providing links of various funding agencies to support their research activities. Moreover, the portal will provide a platform for commercialising research. Thus, it is extremely important for IHTE to design a portal for simulating research activities, as research will not only enhance curriculum development but also help in enhancing the global image for the institution.

In recent years use of narratives for teaching science at secondary school level has gained impetus. This paper deals with the problem of designing narratives for teaching scientific concept. The central issue of the problem of designing narratives for carrying scientific information is that science belongs to the domain of objective observation of facts and general principles while narratives belong to the world of humans and their aspirations which are subjective in nature. If a narrative of science is built purely on intuitive bases, without any structural foundation, the epistemic correctness of the narrative may be doubted. This paper presents what is known as the Epistemic Narrative Structure (ENS) which synthesis principles of Narrative structure with general structure of a scientific discovery event. It is proposed that if a narrative about teaching science is built on the epistemic narrative structure, then the problem of synthesizing subjective human context and objective nature of scientific reasoning can be resolved leading to design of epistemologically correct science narratives. In this paper, the Epistemic Narrative Structure is explained and how it can be used to design a science narrative with an example of writing a narrative on 'how electric battery came into being.The narrative structure is replicable and can be used by teachers to design their own epistemologically correct science narratives.

Instructional technology is a growing field which uses technology as a means to solve teaching and learning challenges, both in the classroom and outside the classroom that is in distance learning environments. Multimedia is an interactive instructional technology used in the classroom for teaching learning process has a wide significance to the learners as well as teachers. Multimedia means the integration of continuous media (e.g. audio, video) and discrete media (e.g. text, graphics, images) through which the digital information can be conveyed to the user in an appropriate way. In the present study, the investigators have developed and standardized the Multimedia Package in non-linear way using Macromedia Flash MX software for learning Volcanoes in Social Sciences for upper primary students. The ADDIE model was considered to develop and standardize the Multimedia package. In this study, the experimental method was adopted by the investigators. The Parallel Group Design was chosen in this study in which the Control and Experimental groups were the two groups of parallel group design. Fifty students studying VIII standard from Government Higher Secondary School at Vellalore Panchayat in Coimbatore were randomly selected as sample for the study. The fifty students were divided into two groups (i.e.) Control group and Experimental group. Each group comprised of 25 students. The pre-test and post-test were conducted for both groups. Finally the study proves that the learning outcome through multimedia package is higher than the traditional method. Hence, it concludes that the multimedia package developed and standardized for learning volcanoes in social sciences is an effective tool and the same can be implemented to enhance the learning activities of the students.

Multiple Intelligences are a new educational theory proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983. Multiple intelligences describe an array of different kinds of intelligences exhibited by human beings. This theory consists of verbal-linguistic, logical and mathematics, visual and spatial, bodily kinesthetic, musical-rhythmic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, natural and existentialist intelligences. According to Gardner, each individual manifests varying levels of these different intelligences, and thus each person has a unique cognitive profile. Recently, there are numerous researches are being conducted in the area of multiple intelligences. The present study was carried out to find out the difference in multiple intelligences between male and female and between different age groups among school students by employing survey method. The data were collected using Multiple Intelligences Inventory from 463 school students from seven different schools in and around of Coimbatore, out of which 224 are girls and 239 are boys. The collected data were scrutinized and analyzed with the help of SPSS and statistical techniques like central tendency and independent sample t-test were worked out for meaningful findings and conclusion. Finally the study concludes that the variables age and sex of the selected school students does make significant difference but except some core intelligences.

In classrooms, students differ in terms of their academic progress. Most of them achieve high and at the same time some of the students have some learning problems. One of the major reasons for learning problems is learning disabilities. Learning disabilities refers to a variety of disorders that affect the acquisition, retention, understanding, organization or use of verbal and/or non-verbal information. The problem of learning disability is growing severely among the school children. The educationist, professionals and psychologists suggest some principles and methods to reduce the rate of learning disabled students. Most of them opined that, the alternative teaching and learning methods are the only means to reduce the learning disability. In view of this different methods of teaching and learning have been recommended for learning disabled. However, the drawback is that these methods deviate from the traditional set up of classroom where the students with learning disabilities are treated separately. Multiple Intelligences provides multiple ways to learn. Hence in the present article, the authors feel that Multiple Intelligence activity based teaching and learning may overcome this drawback and it will be one of the best alternative means for learning disabled in the traditional classroom itself.

The investigation was aimed to study the learning difficulties in mathematics among the secondary school students. The study proposed to measure the Learning Difficulties in Mathematics with respect to the students' personal and background variables such as sex, type of school, locality and medium of instruction; and also to explore the relationships of learning difficulties with students' scholastic achievement in mathematics and opinion on the different topics in mathematics. Survey method was adopted and developed three instruments for the study; they are Learning Difficulties in Mathematics (LDM), Mathematics Scholastic Achievement Test (MSAT) and Difficult Topics in Mathematics (DTM). A simple random sampling technique was employed in the selection of 480 students from government and private schools of Warangal district in Andhra Pradesh, India. The study revealed that boys had more Learning Difficulties in Mathematics than girls. It was also found that the students of Government schools, urban and Telugu medium have more learning difficulties in mathematics than their counterparts of private, rural and English medium respectively. Further, it was found that the students who have less learning difficulties in mathematics scored better in mathematics scholastic achievement test and found that the students those who have opined that the topics are easy in mathematics secured highest marks than their counterparts those who have expressed the topics are average and difficult for them. Accordingly, the remedial measures and intervention programmes are suggested to enhance students' performance and to minimise their learning difficulties.

The present study attempts to gauge the effect of individualized instructional methods as a reinforcement strategy for mastery learning. Among various individualized instructional methods, the study focuses on PIM (Programmed Instructional Method) and CAIM (Computer Assisted Instruction Method). Mastery learning is a process where students achieve the same level of content mastery but at different time intervals. It is an instructional philosophy based on the belief that all students can learn if given the appropriate amount of time and the appropriate instructional opportunities [Koul Lokesh and Sharma (1994)]. The study has employed the conventional teaching method followed by the individualized instructional methods (as reinforcement strategies). The study adopts the Quasi-experimental research method with "Group at hand" sampling method. The samples are selected from three higher secondary schools in Tamil Nadu and Kerala (States in South India). After conducting three experimental phases the study concludes that individualized instructional methods (PIM & CIAM) are very effective as a reinforcement strategy for mastery learning.

This study focuses on discrepant achievers, that is, overachiever and underachiever in relation to certain personality factors among the primary school students. In the present study, the investigator has adopted the correlation method of normative survey research design. The data were collected into two phases for the present study. In the first phase, the data were collected from 500 samples from the identified schools using the Intelligence test battery. And for achievement, the marks secured by the samples in the annual examination were taken into account. After completing the first phase of the data collection, the discrepant achievers that is, under and over achievers were found out using the quartile ranking method. Accordingly, there were 40 under achievers and 48 over achievers found out and they were labelled as discrepant achievers. Hence, these 88 samples were subjected to second phase of data collection. As in the second phase of data collection, the data were collected from the identified discrepant achievers using children's personality questionnaire. Finally, it is concluded that the personality traits of the selected primary school students does affect their scholastic achievement.

The paper looks the contemporary capitalism and how it has mounted its offensive on the lives of workers across the globe and specifically in India. The aim of education has move much beyond the idea of knowledge that the even welfare regimes conceived. It is about skilling, which in turn is about a training an individual to be unconcerned about the oppression and exploitation that goes around her. In other words, it is a tacit consensualisation for the existing order of things. This consensualisation has acquired dangerous proportions because these are also the times of a peculiar ethos emerging wherein the masses are made to instil within themselves the idea of hatred and a fascination of violence at different levels--between nations to mob lynchings and to verbal violence over social media. These are the times of, what I call, fascisation of society. What would critical pedagogy as an instrument or as a possibility to counter these processes of consensualisation and fascisation would is also being discussed here. It is argued that critical pedagogy, while locating itself within the labour-capital dialectic must also move towards exploring the possibilities of organisation or how its teachings can lead to a situation of counter-mobilisation. The idea that critical pedagogy must not profess organisation emanates from the liberal framework entrenched into the Left/Marxian thought, which does not realise that in battlefields possibilities of being neutral, quiet and non-partisan do not exist.

An experiment was conducted at Kasaragod, Kerala, India for six years to study the impact of different coconut harvesting treatments on growth, yield and return. The treatments were; harvesting tender nuts from January to June and mature nuts from July to December, harvesting tender nuts from July to December and mature nuts from January to June, harvesting tender nuts throughout the year, harvesting tender nuts in alternate years, harvesting alternate bunches for tender nuts and harvesting of mature nuts throughout the year. The results showed that palms that underwent tender nut harvesting throughout the year, compared with harvesting mature nuts throughout the year, recorded high yields (175 nuts/palm), three times high net returns, and 68.7% high energy use efficiency. This study demonstrated the potential of harvesting tender nuts to improve the profitability and energy balance of coconut production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Monogenic urinary stone disease (MUSD) tends to be more severe with early onset of symptoms and a higher risk of chronic kidney disease than sporadic USD. The literature on the outcome after renal transplant in patients with certain MUSD is scarce. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective single-center observational study conducted in a tertiary care renal transplant unit in North India between 2018 and 2021. The renal transplant recipients who developed an end-stage renal disease (ESRD) due to renal calculus disease/nephrocalcinosis were included in the study. All the patients presented to us in an anuric state, and hence, a 24-h urine metabolic profile could not be performed. Ear, nose, and throat and ophthalmological evaluations were done to rule out extrarenal manifestations. These patients were subjected to genetic analysis, i.e., clinical exome sequencing using next-generation sequencing. Results: Out of 283 live renal transplants, 11 patients developed ESRD due to nephrocalcinosis/renal calculus disease. Out of 11, only 4 had genetic mutations and the rest did not have any identifiable genetic mutations. The gene mutations were identified in ADCY10, CLDN16, CaSR, and SLC3A4. The patient with ADCY10 mutation had a strong family history. The clinical phenotype and in silico parameters analysis predicted the variant to be damaging except the one with CaSR mutation which causes Hypocalciuric hypercalcemia syndrome, type 1. Three of four underwent surgical intervention at younger age. All underwent successful live-related renal transplantation, with good graft function on follow-up, without any recurrence of calculus in the allograft. Conclusion: Renal transplantation can be safely proceeded in patients with the above monogenic mutations. Genetic analysis should be a part of pretransplant evaluation in young onset nephrolithiasis and end-stage kidney disease patients to look for a monogenic cause, to assess the risk of recurrence postrenal transplant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is a paucity of studies which have examined associations between ultrasound based fetal anthropometric parameters and neurodevelopment in all infants. We examined the association between ultrasound based fetal anthropometric parameters and neurodevelopment in all infants through a secondary analysis of data collected in a large community based randomized controlled trial. Methods: A total of 1465 mother-child dyads were included. Ultrasound based fetal anthropometric parameters which included the head circumference (HC), abdominal circumference (AC), femur length (FL), biparietal diameter (BPD) and transcerebellar diameter (TCD) were collected at 26–28 weeks of gestation and their association with neurodevelopment at 24 months of age was examined. Results: Only the transcerebellar diameter z score was positively associated +0.54 units (95% CI: 0.15, 0.93) with motor composite score. When the neurodevelopment outcomes were analyzed as categorical, none of the fetal variables were associated with risk of moderate to severe neurodevelopment impairment. Conclusion: The findings suggest that transcerebellar diameter could be useful for early prediction of neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood. Clinical trial registration: Clinical trial registration of Women and Infants Integrated Interventions for Growth Study Clinical Trial Registry–India, #CTRI/2017/06/008908; Registered on: 23/06/2017, (http://ctri.nic.in/Clinicaltrials/pmaindet2.php?trialid=19339&EncHid=&userName=society%20for%20applied%20studies). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Activity Based Learning (ABL) is unique and effective to attract out-of -school children to schools. It facilitates readiness for learning, instruction, reinforcement and evaluation. ABL has transformed the classrooms into hubs of activities and meaningful learning. Activity-based learning, naturally leads to cooperative learning. Since group work is a common feature of ABL. Self-accessing is largely possible in ABL approach. Self access learning promotes students study independently choosing from among different resources that are available. Self-access is closely related to learner-centered approach, learner autonomy and self-directed learning as all focus on student responsibility and active participation for his/her own learning. This style of instruction is most often done in the setting of a self-contained learning environment or self-access center. This article focuses on learner's autonomy through ABL as Self-accessing strategy.

This article explores the notion of the duality principle, as embodied in the German dual system of Vocational Education and Training (VET), within the context of a field survey of skill shortages faced by German and Indian firms operating in India. The study finds that these firms experience problems with the quantity and quality of skills supplied and, in response to these problems, use some form of in-house training for new recruits and employees. Firms also express a willingness to cooperate in skill-development programmes and in joint funding with government. The article makes a strong case for adapting some of the critical elements of the German dual system to render Indian VET more responsive to the labour market and provide a formally structured and integrated system of skill development.

The present study aimed at exploring the semantic and syntactic processing differences between native and second languages in 20 early high proficient Kannada--English bilingual adults through accuracy and reaction time (RT) measurements. Subjects participated in a semantic judgement task (using 50 semantically correct and 50 semantically incorrect sentences) and a syntactic judgement task (using 50 syntactically correct and 50 syntactically incorrect sentences) in both Kannada and English. The stimuli were presented through DMDX software and the subjects were asked to respond by pressing keys in the DMDX software. The accuracy and RTs were measured and compared within and between languages. Results revealed that accuracy rate was better in L1 than in L2 for all three types of sentences, while the overall speed of processing was better in L2 than in L1 across three types of sentences. Results also revealed that participants processed semantic violations with greater accuracy and speed of processing compared to syntactic violations. These results support the good enough approach to language processing which assumes that the sentence processing takes place at shallow level. The results are discussed in relation to the factors such as age of second language acquisition, proficiency levels and exposure levels in bilinguals.

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Background The health index of any population is directly correlated with the water quality, which in turn depends upon physicochemical characteristics and the microbiome of that aquatic source. For maintaining the water quality, knowledge of microbial diversity is a must. The present investigation attempts to evaluate the microflora of Baner. Metagenomics has been proven to be the technique for examining the genetic diversity of unculturable microbiota without using traditional culturing techniques. The microbial profile of Baner is analyzed using metagenomics for the first time to the best of our knowledge. Results To explore the microbial diversity of Baner, metagenomics analysis from 3 different sites was done. Data analysis identified 29 phyla, 62 classes, 131 orders, 268 families, and 741 genera. Proteobacteria was found to be the most abundant phylum in all the sampling sites, with the highest abundance at S3 sampling site (94%). Bacteroidetes phylum was found to be second abundant in S1 and S2 site, whereas Actinobacteria was second dominant in sampling site S3. Enterobacteriaceae family was dominant in site S1, whereas Comamonadaceae and Pseudomonadaceae was abundant in sites S2 and S3 respectively. The Baner possesses an abundant bacterial profile that holds great promise for developing bioremediation tactics against a variety of harmful substances. Conclusion Baner river's metagenomic analysis offers the first insight into the microbial profile of this hilly stream. Proteobacteria was found to be the most abundant phylum in all the sampling sites indicating anthropogenic interference and sewage contamination. The highest abundance of proteobacteria at S3 reveals it to be the most polluted site, as it is the last sampling site downstream of the area under investigation, and falls after crossing the main city, so more human intervention and pollution were observed. Despite some pathogens, a rich profile of bacteria involved in bioremediation, xenobiotic degradation, and beneficial fish probiotics was observed, reflecting their potential applications for improving water quality and establishing a healthy aquaculture and fishery section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To learn how to achieve high‐quality, effective coverage of Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), defined as 8 hours or more of skin‐to‐skin contact per day and exclusive breastfeeding in district Sonipat in North India, and to develop and evaluate an implementation model. Methods: We conducted implementation research using a mixed‐methods approach, including formative research, followed by repeated, rapid cycles of implementation, evaluation and refinement until a model with the potential for high and effective coverage was reached. Evaluation of this model was conducted over a 12‐month period. Results: Formative research findings informed the final implementation model. Programme learning was critical to achieve high coverage. The model included improving the identification of small babies, creating KMC wards, modification in hospitalisation criteria, private sector engagement and in‐built programme learning to refine implementation progress. KMC was initiated in 87% of eligible babies. At discharge, 85% received skin‐to‐skin contact care, 60% effective KMC and 80% were exclusively breastfed. At home, 7‐day post discharge, 81% received skin‐to‐skin care and 79% were exclusively breastfed in the previous 24 hours. Conclusion: Achieving high KMC coverage is feasible in the study setting using a model responsive to the local context and led by the Government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a novel measure of inequality of opportunity (IOp) in India, by comparing both ex-ante and ex-post results, which aligns with Roemer's (1998) equality of opportunity, theory. The study utilizes data-driven machine learning algorithms, namely conditional inference tree and conditional inference forest, to measure ex-ante IOp, and a transformation tree to estimate ex-post IOp. The findings indicate that, according to the ex-ante approach, approximately 58–61 percent of the overall income inequality can be attributed to variations in circumstances, while around 46 percent of the overall income inequality is explained by differences in the degree of efforts. The results from the tree-based analysis reveal that parents' occupation, sector (rural–urban areas), and geographical regions are the primary circumstances contributing to IOp, which is further confirmed by the Shapley decomposition exercise. Specifically, individuals residing in rural areas in the eastern and central parts of the country, whose parents are employed in low-skilled and unskilled occupations, and have below secondary and no formal education, and who belong to marginalized social groups, exhibit significantly lower average income. Consequently, it is crucial to implement regional-level development policies that specifically target marginalized groups in order to foster a more equitable society and mitigate overall income inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the state of higher education in India--in terms of policies and the trajectory that it has taken in the aftermath of neoliberalisation of the economy. Through studying the discourses that construct the edifice of the educational complex in the country, it unravels the dynamics of how economy, politics and education interact. Lastly, it explores the possibilities of countering the neoliberal offensive of capital and create a more egalitarian higher education system. (Contains 3 charts and 7 notes.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the relevant enablers and barriers related to technical education. It seeks to critically analyze the relationship amongst them so that policy makers can focus on relevant parameters to improve the service quality of technical education. Design/methodology/approach: The present study employs the interpretive structural modeling (ISM) approach to model the crucial parameters of technical education. The parameters discussed are categorized under "enablers" and "barriers". The enablers would help policy makers to improve and develop the curriculum of the technical education and the identifying barriers would help the decision maker to improve upon those variables. Findings: The major findings of this study are to prioritize the strategic parameters in reducing the risks associated with technical education. The model also proposes a hierarchical structure classifying the parameters as drivers and enablers. Research limitations/implications: The study proposes a scientific way to model the enablers and barriers to become a progressive institution in the emerging era of globalization and modernization. This would help to prioritize the issues as the enablers and barriers are hierarchically structured and categorized. Practical implications: The paper maps out a course of action and the adoption of the proposed framework would provide a competitive edge for India over others. Also, the various stakeholders would be satisfied, which would be beneficial for the system as a whole. Originality/value: The application of ISM to the decision making process is the unique feature in the field of technical education in India. The integrated framework of policy related parameters would contribute towards overall growth and development. (Contains 8 tables and 5 figures.)

A Common School System (CSS) had been a long-standing demand in Indian educational discourse since it was recommended in 1966 by the Education Commission. Those who saw the state as an agency of welfarism invoked its implementation on the grounds that it would have allowed equity in education and would have taken care of inequity in the larger society, apart from ensuring a more democratic society and polity. However, recent neoliberal policy changes in the country have demolished even that welfarist imagination of a capitalist state. The article is of the view that it is the rule of capital which is at the heart of injustice and inequality in contemporary Indian education. It also argues that democracy and socialism through a Common School System can be achieved only when there is a radical social transformation, but that it does not allow us to cease efforts towards making education more equitable and accessible for all. (Contains 1 note.)

The main objective of this study was to determine constraints and suggestions of farmers towards adopting seasonal climate forecasts. It addresses the question: Which forms of providing forecasts will be helpful to farmers in agricultural decision making? For the study, farmers were selected from Andhra Pradesh state of South India. One hundred and eighty farmers were interviewed to obtain information on problems and suggestions in adopting climate forecasts. Statistical data analyses (frequencies, percentages) were made to draw results. Absence of location specific climate forecasts followed by poor reliability and failure of the majority of climate forecasts, with poor extension service in climate prediction, forecasts in the media not answering operational needs and low conviction of climate prediction were the major problems reported through farmers. Provide location specific climate forecasts by improving infrastructure at village level, improve credibility of forecasts with proper accountability, improve accuracy of climate forecasts by frequent updating, making climate forecasts in the media relevant to operational needs and improve extension service in climate prediction with frequent visits by extension personnel along with use of different teaching materials and methods, were the different suggestions offered by farmers. This paper determines constraints faced by farmers in adopting climate forecasts, along with suggestions to overcome them. It is clear that participatory engagement to understand farmers' needs and adoption constraints is crucial to realizing the value of climate prediction. To achieve adoption of forecasts, forecasts need to be more accurate, reliable, relevant to agricultural decisions and better communicated. With agricultural systems becoming more susceptible to climate variability, this study helps and guides policymakers in considering the spatial reliability of climate prediction in relation to the spatial scale at which the information may be used. (Contains 3 tables.)

Geography is among the late beginner subjects at higher education level in India. As revealed in scholarly writings, this discipline had been subjected to discrimination for colonial reasons and continues to lurch even today. There have been many academic writings on Indian geography. This paper is an attempt to look at the discipline from the people's side. Against the backdrop of a brief history of Indian geography and current debates therein, various issues are discussed as revealed by ordinary people during a questionnaire-based survey across different sections of society and also focused informal discussions. (Contains 5 tables and 3 figures.)

The Indian State has been demonstrating its unwavering commitment to private capital and its neoliberal offensive. The education and health sector reflect its anti-people orientation along with other anti-working class measures such as the doing away with old pension scheme, privatisation of airports, neglect of farmers resulting in over 1.5 lakh suicides across country between 1997 and 2005 (Sainath, 2007), etc. On the education front the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a full Planning Commission held on 13th September 2007 showed his commitment to privatisation by stating that "we also need to recognise the role currently being played by the private sector and the policy design must factor this in" (The Hindu, 2007). A leading weekly then revealed that the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has been trying to moot private partnership in government schools (Raman, 2008). These developments have been taking place along with number of measures that the government has been adopting (Kumar, 2008) to masquerade its real neoliberal face. These developments are nothing to be surprised at because they are part of the global campaign of the neoliberal capital. In countries such as UK, the neoliberal campaign began with the Margret Thatcher regime (Regan, 2007), destroying the remnants of welfarism. Though the large scale process of state withdrawal began across continents during the neoliberal regime from early 1980s, the pre-neoliberal regimes were not socialist regimes but were rather representing the particular epochs of capitalism in those countries, whether UK (Cole, 2008) or India (Kumar, 2006b). It is important, therefore, to understand the education policies in conjunction with the trajectory and stages of development of capital in a country. In this article, the author talks about neoliberalism and the neoliberal assault on education in India. He contends that the impact of neoliberalism on education in particular and society as a whole affects masses in worst possible manner in India. (Contains 1 table and 7 notes. Contains a bibliography.)