Contribution of agriculture in economic growth: A case study of West Bengal (India)

Economists have argued that role of agriculture is pivotal for economic development of the nation. Worldwide studies have shown that agriculture sector is more effective in reducing hunger and poverty than other sectors. This study is an attempt to ascertain the importance of agriculture in the economic growth of West Bengal. Agriculture, being the source of livelihood and supplier of raw material to various industries, triggers economic growth of the nation. This paper exhibits how agriculture has contributed to West Bengal's economic excellence using empirical data and a cointegration analysis. The role of agriculture is examined on four contributions: (a) product contribution (forward linkage), (b) market contribution (backward linkage), (c) factor contribution, and (d) foreign exchange contribution. The composition and growth of the sectors and its association with other sectors is analyzed using time series analysis. Findings of the study revealed that agriculture sector has appeared as an important contributor to drive West Bengal economic growth even after declining share in gross state domestic product over the years. Empirical analysis reveals that agriculture is having long run causal linkages with industry, services, and overall economic growth in West Bengal.     

Poverty in Bangladesh: Measurement,decomposition and intertemporal comparison

This article, using the methodology developed by Foster, Greer, and Thorbecke to measure and decompose poverty, provides estimates of the levels of poverty in rural and urban areas in Bangladesh. It investigates in the context of Bangladesh, the most powerful effect of poverty in terms of a shortfall in food for daily calorie intake by the poor. It provides intertemporal comparison of poverty and its decomposition among subgroups. It also makes comparisons between the results obtained in this study with those currently available. The results of the study show a significant improvement in poverty situations in rural areas from 1982 to 1986. The article also discusses the policy implications of its findings.     

Civil service reforms in British India and united Pakistan

Nearly 200 years of British rule of the Indian sub-continent clearly and significantly affected the society and people in the region. One of the continuing legacies of the British rule has been in the area of civil administration. The Indian Civil Service (ICS) characterized by centralization of authority and elite nature symbolized the British domination of the Indian people. From time to time attempts were made to reform the ICS. These reforms included introduction of competitive examination as a mode of entry, provision for systematic training and Indianization of the service. Pakistan inherited and continued with the British administrative system. The Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) was modelled after the ICS. A number of attempts were made to reform the CSP but all failed due to lack of political will and bureaucratic resistance to major administrative reforms.     

Local Governments and Local Elites

Local government reform 2001 is an important part of the Government of Pakistan's programme for democratic renewal. The main feature of introducing the Local Government System was to empower the people at the grassroots level and to transfer power from the elite to the masses. This paper uses councillors‘ data from north-western Pakistan to examine the economic and social status of village representatives. Land ownership, high income, education and political connections increase the chances of election to public office at the district and sub-district level, but do not have much impact at the village level. There is evidence of genuine change at union (village) level as the majority of councillors (65 per cent) at this level belong to low-income group and small landowners. So the system has changed the identity of the locally politically dominant group. But, at the same time, results suggest that while local governments units are helpful in creating spaces for a broader range of non-elite community leaders to emerge, elite control of decision making is pervasive. However, it is expected that the presence of non-elite members in the councils may change the allocation of resources in favour of the disadvantaged group with the passage of time, provided elections to councils are held regularly.     

Identification of Risk Factors Generating Terrorism in Pakistan

Terrorism is a complex issue and various researchers have identified numerous causes and conditions that generate or are capable of generating terrorism. In the last decade, terrorist attacks claimed 36,495 lives and injured 27,985 people in Pakistan as a result of 3,482 bomb blasts and 281 suicide attacks. The aim of this research was to establish the major risk factors generating terrorism, based on the opinions of security officials who dealt directly with the Pakistan security situation. Sixty-five causes identified from the literature and interviews with security officials were modeled and transformed into a questionnaire. A nationwide response from security officials who were directly involved in dealing with apprehended terrorists was obtained. The population was selected proportionately from high, medium, and low security zones of Pakistan. Out of 500 questionnaires sent, 103 valid responses were received. The results helped establish the 13 major risk factors associated with generating terrorism. It was observed that addressing these 13 major risk factors would mostly resolve the other minor risk factors as well. Findings of this research might be beneficial for countries affected by terrorism, and countries with prioritized and rationalized allocation of funds in their budgets for substantially overcoming terrorism.     

Chinese Capabilities as a Global Space Power

Since the early 1960s, China has been enhancing national power and, in this regard, Chinese space capabilities play a pivotal role. Today, China is second among spacefaring counties, behind the United States, as a measure of human spaceflight, as well as in commercial and military satellite systems. Chinese space technology, in contrast to developed nations, is comparatively cost-effective; China is sharing it with developing nations for their space programs, consequently expanding the pool of spacefaring states. Most significantly, China’s nuclear, military, and space capabilities provide it with an opportunity to reassert itself as a global power, enhancing its strategic outreach and preventing adversaries from contemplating strategies against it.