The impact of remittances and equivalence scales on poverty in Tajikistan

The aim of this paper is to study the impact of remittances from labour migrants on welfare, as well as the impact of the use of equivalence scales on poverty, in Tajikistan. The magnitude of remittances sent back is fairly well known from official statistics (e.g. the amount of remittances is regularly monitored by the balance of payment at the Central Bank). In 2009 a change in the flow of money from abroad occurred, and volumes dropped, but it was unknown to what extent; its impact on poverty is still officially unknown. This paper describes a project aimed at conducting a survey to investigate this impact. It would not be possible to do this kind of analysis with a traditional sample survey, since it would generate only a small selection of migrant households. Instead, the new Migration, Remittances and Poverty Survey was used, which was conducted by the Tajik State Statistical Office in August 2010 using an adaptive sampling design from a set of enumeration areas selected mainly from the 2009 Integrated Household Budget Survey (IHBS) and showing households with remittances. To evaluate the impact of equivalence scales on poverty measures, new scales have been estimated on the basis of consumption expenditure from the 2009 IHBS.     

On the Alleged Indebtedness of the Vedānta Paribhāṣā Towards the Vedānta Kaumudī: Some Considerations on an Almost Forgotten Vivaraṇa Text (Studies in Vedānta Kaumudī I)

Dharmarāja Adhvarin’s (middle XVII cent.) Vedānta Paribhā?ā (VP) is a well-known introduction to Advaita Vedānta, targeted to beginners who are already trained in Navya Nyāya. According to Dasgupta (1942), the VP is so heavily indebted to Rāmādvaya’s Vedānta Kaumudī (VK), which was composed in the middle of the 14th century and is today almost forgotten, that the VP’s “claim to originality vanishes”. The VK was, however, only edited in 1955 and then again in 1973. In the light of this improved textual basis, what is our judgement about Dasgupta’s hypercritical statement? Did actually the VP ever claim to be original? Was this originality somehow superimposed on the VP later? Is the VP really so much indebted to the VK? This paper aims at comparatively analysing the textual background of these questions. I will start from the analysis of one Advaita’s epistemological tenet, namely the valid knowledge (pramā), in the VK and then compare it to the corresponding parts in the VP.     

The Death of Countess Agusta in Portofino (Northern Italy) and the Soil from Two Mismatched Slippers

Abstract:  Accident, suicide, or homicide might have caused the death of Countess Agusta who fell from the 80-m tall cliff of her villa. Two mismatched slippers were recovered along the cliff. Use was made of microscope, X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, and microprobe techniques to compare 40 mg of soil collected from the slipper soles with samples from the villa garden. Structural details of the slipper soles were consistent with the lady wearing them during the fall. Analysis of the soil residues confirmed that they originated from the garden only. The features of a few, minute glass chips adhering to the slipper soles reasonably matched those of other fragments that were found on a small ledge on the cliff beyond the garden parapet. Based on this and other evidence, the case was closed with a verdict of accidental fall.     

Growing without a Strategy? The Case of European Security and Defence Policy

Contrary to the expectations of many experts and politicians, one of the most politically sensitive sectors of the European integration process, the common foreign and security policy, has seen remarkable growth in recent years. The pressure of crises and conflicts beyond the EU's borders and the need to deal with them in a unitary way has driven the governments of member states and the community institutions to take development of CFSP/ESDP more seriously. The process has been pragmatic, establishing the mechanisms and policies required to respond to the challenges. It is this bottom-up, disorderly growth that the Constitutional Treaty had attempted to rationalise in a coherent framework, completing the work of the preceding treaties. With the stalled ratification of the CT, this growth has continued. But it cannot go on indefinitely. In order to bring order and coherence into CFSP/ESDP bodies and procedures, the substance of the Constitutional Treaty must be saved and approved rapidly.     

The Italian torpedo is dead: long live the Italian torpedo

A recently published decision of the Milan Court of First Instancenot only confirms that a cross-border claim for a declarationof non-infringement of a European patent is unlikely to succeedbefore an Italian court unless it is brought against an Italiandomiciled party, but also shows that the longstanding traditionof Italian torpedoes is not yet defunct, contrary to predictionsafter a landmark decision of the Italian Supreme Court in 2003.