Political leadership at state level in India: Continuity and change

ABSTRACT

Possible explanations are discussed in this article for the paucity of studies regarding political leadership, especially at the state level, in a well-functioning electoral democracy such as India with many parties and leaders. The article argues that such studies can be useful in making sense of the political and economic changes/shifts and developments of a particular state over a period that may have national impact. The article further argues that there has been a perceptible shift not only in terms of social composition but also in the “language” of politics used by the emergent generation of political leaders cutting across the party lines. The change has coincided with the rise of state-level parties and leaders in the post-Congress era followed by the ascendance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).     

Data and information theft in e-commerce, jurisdictional challenges, related issues and response of Indian laws

Data and information constitute a valuable resource both for the companies in general and individuals in specific. The traditional paper based transaction has been replaced by electronic transaction and now a day’s most of the valuable data and information’s are stored in electronic medium. Therefore data and information security have become a matter of great concern for every agencies acting on faith of e-transaction. In India there remains an added significance owing to the fact that a growing number of companies seek more centralized and less expensive methods of processing information, they’re turning to offshore outsourcing to fulfill many of their business and human resources processes. Data theft is not in itself a new concept, but has become an increasingly important issue in the digital age. The new mode of communication, its malleability, transmissibility, networking capacity, affect our lives in many and sometimes surprising ways, it requires that we find new legal solutions for new social questions.     

Pramit Chaudhuri: A personal account

As an economist who had absorbed the best of the Keynesian revolution, macro‐economic balances remained the grid on which Pramit Chaudhuri laid out his building. But his passion as a social scientist analysing an economy with perhaps the largest burden of poverty in the world came out in the fierce Brechtian quote which he used as an epigraph for his book, The Indian Economy ‐ ‘Those who have eaten their fill speak to the hungry of the wonderful times to come’.     

Descending thoracic aortic aneurysm rupture during postpartum period

Aortic aneurysm refers to the pathological dilatation of the normal aortic lumen involving one or several segments. Thoracic aortic aneurysms are much less common than aneurysms of the abdominal aorta. Descending thoracic aortic aneurysm leading to dissection and spontaneous rupture is a potentially catastrophic illness. Although rare, dissection and rupture of a preexisting aortic aneurysm have been reported during pregnancy and early puerperium. To the best of our knowledge, such cases among young pregnant women are rarely reported in literature. Herein, an autopsy case of spontaneous rupture of a clinically undiagnosed descending thoracic aortic aneurysm during early puerperium in a young woman is presented along with the review of relevant literature. The victim was found dead on her hospital bed on the seventh day of puerperium. Autopsy with ancillary investigations revealed that the young woman died because of hemothorax from a ruptured dissecting descending thoracic aortic aneurysm secondary to chronic aortitis.     

A Comparison of Palmar Dermatoglyphics in Two Ethnic Indian Populations of North Bengal,India*

Abstract: Dermatoglyphic print comparisons can be utilized to establish personal identification in forensic cases. The northern part of the state of West Bengal, India, is the home to many ethnic populations. Two such populations are the Rajbanshi and the Mech. Palm prints were collected from 192 adult Rajbanshi (105 men and 87 women) and 100 adult Mech (50 men and 50 women) individuals for print comparison using the standard ink and roll print method. The dermatoglyphic variables studied were mainline formulae, termination of mainline, positional variation of axial triradii, and true pattern of hypothenar and thenar configuration area. There were differences between the Rajbanshi and Mech individuals with respect to these dermatoglyphic variables. The uses of these variables appear to be limited only to ethnic identification, not personal identification. The present investigation further highlights the racial affinity, sex, and bilateral differences among Rajbanshi individuals using dermatoglyphic palmar variables.     

Inconsistency in 9 mm bullets measured with non-destructive X-ray computed tomography

Fundamental to any ballistic armour standard is the reference projectile that is to be defeated. Typically, for certification, consistency of bullets is assumed. Therefore, practical variations in bullet jacket dimensions can have far reaching consequences. Traditionally, internal dimensions could only be analysed by cutting bullets which rules out any subsequent ballistic assessment. Therefore, the use of a non-destructive X-ray computed tomography (CT) method is explored in this paper. A set of 10 bullets (9 mm DM11) was taken for analysing both intra and inter bullet jacket thickness variation. CT measurements of jacket thickness were validated with high resolution scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. An image based analysis methodology has been developed to extract the jacket thickness map and the centre of gravity. Thickness variations of the order of 200 μm were found commonly across all the bullets along the length and an angular variation of up to 100 μm was found in a few bullets. Jacket thickness and centre of gravity were also calculated for the same bullets after impact and the variations between the pre- and post-impacted bullets were compared, by establishing a common physical reference. The results show that the proposed CT scanning approach and subsequent image analysis method can bring out the statistical variations in bullet geometry pre- and post impact effectively.     

Farm size and land productivity in Indian agriculture: A reappraisal

This paper seeks to assess the significance of the celebrated inverse relationship between farm size and land‐productivity in the context of Indian agriculture. It is argued that the inverse relationship does not reflect a superiority of peasant production over wage‐labour‐based production as is often supposed. It exists independently of production relations and thus reflects only a static superiority of small‐scale over large‐scale production. An essential precondition for this superiority, however, is a backwardness of technology. With technological progress involving the introduction of chemical fertilizers, labour‐saving machinery and modern irrigation equipment, the inverse relationship is, therefore, likely to disappear     

Effect of various factors on the activity of sucrase from the larvae of Sesamia inferens

Salivary gland sucrase activity fromSesamia inferens Wlk. was optimal at pH 5.8 and temperature 35°. It increased up to 1.5% final sucrose concentration, but higher concentrations had no effect. A dialysed preparation showed a 37.5% reduction in the activity. It was accelerated by tryptophan and inhibited by all other amino acids used. Gut sucrase activity ofS. inferens was optimal at pH 6.2 and temperature 30°. It increased sharply up to 0.66% final sucrose concentration, and then gradually up to 1.5% while further increase in the concentration had no effect. A dialysed preparation showed an 8% increase in activity. Activity was not affected by serine; was accelerated by arginine, cystine, methionine, tryptophan and valine; and inhibited by alanine, glutamine, glycine, hydroxyproline, leucine, phenylalanine, proline and tyrosine. End-products increased with the incubation period and showed inhibitory effects. With the increase of enzyme concentration the rate of sucrose hydrolysis also increased. K⁺ ions accelerated the activity of the dialysed preparation. It was also accelerated by Li⁺⁺ ions up to their final concentration of 0.001 M, but inhibited when their final concentration increased (0.01 M and 0.025 M). TRIS also inhibited the activity.

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Résumé Deux types d'extraits ont été étudiés séparément: la sucrase extraite des glandes salivaires et celle extraite de l'intestin moyen. L'activité optimale de la sucrase salivaire s'observe pour un pH 5,8 et une température de 35°; celle de la sucrase de l'intestin moyen pour un pH 6,2 et une température de 30°. Cependant les extraits dialysés, d' origine salivaire ou d'origine intestinale, ont une activité optimum pour un même pH (5,8). L'activité des deux sucrases s'accro?t proportionnellement à la durée de la période d'incubation. L'activité de la sucrase salivaire s'accro?t nettement, jusqu'à une concentration finale en sucrose de 1.5%, alors que pour la sucrase intestinale, 90% de l'activité maximale est réalisée pour une concentration finale en sucrose de 0.66%. Quand la concentration en sucrose atteint ou dépasse 1,5% il se forme alors un oligosaccharide dont la synthèse équilibre l'hydrolyse du sucrose, ce qui rend l'activité de la sucrase constante au-dessus d'une concentration finale en sucrose≥1,5%. Cette synthèse d'un oligosaccharide intervient quand on utilise une forte concentration de sucrase, ce qui entraine la production de glucose et fructose en grande quantité; avec une faible concentration de l'extrait on n'observe pas la synthèse d'oligosaccharide. Les ions K⁺ accélèrent l'activité des extraits dialysés, d'origine salivarie ou intestinale; les ions Li⁺⁺ sont également favorables jusqu'à une concentration de 0,001 M, cette action devenant inhibitrice à partir de 0,005 ou 0.025 M; les ions TRIS, à 0,025 M ont également un effet inhibiteur. Certains acides aminés accélèrent l'activité de la sucrase salivaire ou intestinale, d'autres au contraire ont une action inhibitrice.

     

Education,human error,and road crash risk: An empirical investigation in the Indian states

This study examines the road accident rates from 29 Indian states and 6 Union Territories during 2006–2015. In this paper, we have employed several empirical techniques such as regression, generalized method of moments (GMM), and threshold regression models to examine how education and attitude of the drivers impact the road accident rates. In our empirical analysis, we demonstrate that lawless driving is found to be positive and statistically significant while incorporating both state and year effects. We also find some interesting result in the context of education and road accidents. We notice positive relationship between higher education and road accident rates across Indian states, which tells us highly educated people are more prone to road accidents as compared with less educated people. In the threshold analysis, the study discovers the positive relationship between road injury and accidents caused by people with higher education, in cases of considering road injury rate from drunken driving as the threshold variable. There appears to be a large number of behavioral issues emanating from higher education, which contributes significantly to the road accident rates in the Indian states. Hence, there is a need for policy intervention.     

Do Crime Hot Spots Exist in Developing Countries? Evidence from India

Objectives

To determine whether concentrations of crime documented in American cities such as Boston, Jacksonville, Minneapolis, Sacramento, and Seattle generalize to unique environments such as India.

Methods

Two years of motor vehicle theft (MVT) and burglary incidents from two police stations in Jaipur, India are analyzed. The degree to which crime clusters is documented using nearest neighborhood hierarchical clustering (NNHC). These results are compared to several widely cited studies documenting concentrations in the United States.

Results

The NNHC procedure identified five MVT hot spots, which accounted for just .09 % of the two station’s land, but over 13 % of these incidents, and four burglary hot spots, which accounted for less than 1 % of its land, but nearly 23 % of the incidents.

Conclusions

Given the stark differences in the built environment and sociological makeup of Jaipur, a better understanding of the forces that cause crime to concentrate to a high degree needs to be discerned before implementing law-enforcement driven policies derived from the scholarship of American cities. Additional research should also seek to replicate not just the degree to which crime clusters in these unique environments, but also its stability over time and micro place variation.