Hands Tied with Bag Full of Books in Suicidal Hanging

Hanging deaths associated with binding of limbs, masking of a face, and gagging are always suspicious. In suicidal hanging, the victim uses these added techniques to prevent him from backing out of his decision and to ensure death. However, binding of limbs and adding extra weight to the suspension in hanging are not reported. Herein, we report a case where the victim tied a bag containing books weighing 7 kg (15.4 lbs) to both his hands during hanging. The forensic specialist must be aware of the unusual presentation of suicidal hanging which may suggest foul play. The manner of death must be established after detailed analysis of circumstantial evidence, information obtained from the witnesses, complete autopsy, and toxicological examination.     

Emprising revival of Telangana power sector: Analysis from an Indian state

The paper discusses the new 24‐hr power supply to agricultural sector scheme of Telangana state in India. The first of its kind scheme that is fully funded by the state government set a new example for agrarian states in India. The paper explains the energy demand and supply management, fiscal and infrastructural preparedness of the scheme along with environmental concerns. The primary survey report from two villages testifies people's aspirations about the new scheme. Rational power consumption by farmers is identified as key factor of this scheme that will enable government to overcome challenges on sustainability of the scheme.     

A case of fatal aconitine poisoning by Monkshood ingestion

Accidental aconitine poisoning is extremely rare in North America. This report describes the confirmation of a case of accidental aconitine poisoning using a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method. The case involved a 25-year-old man who died suddenly following a recreational outing with friends where he consumed a number of wild berries and plants including one that was later identified as Monkshood (Aconitum napellus). Postmortem blood and urine samples were available for analysis. All routine urine and blood toxicology screens were negative. The LC-MS/MS method allowed sensitive quantification of aconitine, the main toxin in A. napellus, and showed 3.6 and 149 microg/L in blood and urine, respectively. These concentrations were similar to that reported in other aconitine-related deaths. This case illustrates the dangers of consuming unidentified plants, and documents concentrations of aconitine in blood and urine in a fatal case of A. napallus-related poisoning.     

Policy Inventing and Borrowing among State Legislatures

Although a long literature has analyzed how policies diffuse or spread across the American states, scant attention has been given to how states invent or create original policy instead of borrowing existing policy from one another. In this article, I use state legislative policymaking with respect to renewable portfolio standards to examine when legislatures invent original policy instead of borrowing existing policy. I use a novel data set that includes the state adoption of hundreds of policy provisions, including their combinations, and I employ logistic pooled event history analysis to identify the determinants of inventing and borrowing. I find that government ideology largely predicts inventing, whereas electoral vulnerability predicts borrowing. The results suggest that ideologues spearhead invention and further suggest that democratic accountability works chiefly through promoting borrowing rather than blunting inventing.     

Women's Job Participation in and Efficiency of NREGA Program—Case Study of a Poor District in India

NREGA program in India offers a lucrative opportunity for the rural women to participate in job market, earn income, and have control over life events. However women's decision for participation as well as share in NREGA jobs are influenced by various socio-economic factors like education, caste, religion, alternative income, health-related achievements, and fund availability. Variation in some of these variables is often beyond their control. In this context logit regression and DEA efficiency analysis is done to analyses the issue of women's participation and share of employment days in the context a poor region in India.     

On new rules for destroying old countries

The attacks on 11 September 2001 were not a major security threat to the United States, but they did create the political conditions for the implementation of an aggressive agenda by the Bush administration to assert U.S. dominance over the global control of oil and to establish an arc of military bases to contain China. Responding to Gowan, this article suggests that bid is unlikely to succeed because the concentration of military strength in the United States is paralleled by a concentration of financial strength in East and Southeast Asia. Though its Asian allies have been more supportive of the U.S. invasion of Iraq than their European counterparts, growing economic integration along Asia's Pacific coasts is likely to lead to a reduction in capital inflows to the United States and thereby aggravate the consequences of its high current accounts deficits and its low rates of domestic savings. The Bush administration's conservative social policies and anti-foreigner zeitgeist is also sapping the competitive edge of the U.S. economy in new technologies.     

Escaping poverty and becoming poor in 36 villages of Central and Western Uganda

Twenty-four per cent of households in 36 village communities of Central and Western Uganda have escaped from poverty over the past 25 years, but another 15 per cent have simultaneously fallen into poverty. A roughly equal number of households escaped from poverty in the first period (ten to 25 years ago) as in the second period (the last ten years) examined here. However, almost twice as many households fell into poverty during the second period as in the first period. Progress in poverty reduction has slowed down as a result. Multiple causes are associated with descent into poverty and these causes vary significantly between villages in the two different regions. For nearly two-thirds of all households in both regions, however, ill health and health-related costs were a principal reason for descent into poverty. Escaping poverty is also associated with diverse causes, which vary across the two regions. Compared to increases in urban employment, however, land-related reasons have been more important for escaping poverty in both regions.     

Stuck in Place: Investigating Social Mobility in 14 Bangalore Slums

This study of 14 Bangalore slum communities, including detailed interviews with 1,481 residents, represents an initial effort to study social mobility in India's largest cities, where opportunity and inequality have both been rising. The results show that slum dwellers have advanced economically, but the extent of improvement is small in the majority of cases, and there are many reversals of fortune. Sons tend to follow fathers or uncles into informal and mostly low-skilled occupations. The majority have lived in slums for many generations. These restricted-entry low-exit situations are brought about in large part on account of multiple institutional disconnections.