The Clean Development Mechanism: A Bane or a Boon for Developing Countries?

We analyse the gains to developing countries from the participation in the CDM during the Kyoto period (until 2010) in the event an emissions trading (ET) regime exists in the post-Kyoto period (2010–20). We show that the developing countries will always be better-off participating in the CDM if the emissions quota they get in the post-Kyoto period is not linked to their baseline emissions. However if their quota equals (or is related to) their baseline emissions, CDM participation strategy may be a preferred alternative only if the CDM price is high enough to off-set the losses of the post-Kyoto period (during ET regime) due to participation in the CDM. We simulate the CDM and ET in the Kyoto and post-Kyoto period and show that with the reduction targets given in the Kyoto Protocol for Annex B countries, participation in the CDM is beneficial to non-Annex B (developing) countries, even if their emissions quota in the post-Kyoto period (during ET regime) is determined by their baseline emissions. Abatement supply price in the post-Kyoto period however turns out to be crucial factor in this case.     

India’s middlemen: connecting by corrupting?

Much of India’s corruption involves middlemen: go-betweens who bring citizens’ cases to the attention of state officials, producing results – for a price. Citizens pay bribes, often for benefits for which they already qualify, and much (but not all) of that money is passed on to officials by the middleman. On its face such arrangements would seem to benefit no one but the middleman himself, but closer examination shows that middleman corruption involves much more than a discrete material transaction. There are important intangible dimensions: officials’ status is reaffirmed, while for citizens government takes on a comprehensible human face. These dimensions of corruption become all the more important over time, for both reputational capital and expectations are built up that shape future transactions. Most important, middlemen reduce transaction costs for citizens and officials alike. Thus, while middleman corruption falls far short of the ideal sorts of market, government and personal systems of “micro-coordination” assumed in many accounts of the effects of corruption, it may well be a better way of getting things done than most of the alternatives actually available. The analysis yields a more subtle but precise view of how cultural factors – especially mediating social institutions – figure into the study of corruption, and may suggest reasons why extensive corruption and solid economic growth have coexisted in India for decades.     

The effects of marital status and social isolation on adult male homicides in the United States: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Mortality Study

With data from the 1979–1985 Longitudinal Mortality Study, we examine the effects of marital status and social isolation on adult male homicide (ICD-9 Codes E960-E978). Cox proportional hazards models were fitted to a 1979–1981 population cohort of approximately 200,000 adult men and their mortality experiences were followed until 1984–1985. Multivariate hazards regression analysis showed that marital status and social isolation are associated with significantly higher risks of homicide victimization. Controlling for age and other socioeconomic covariates, single persons were 1.9 times, and divorced, separated or widowed persons were 1.7 times, more likely to die from homicide than married persons. Socially isolated persons were 1.6 times more likely to become homicide victims. Other adult males with increased risk of homicide victimization were African Americans and those who lived in the inner city.     

Estimation of stature from foot and shoe measurements by multiplication factors: a revised attempt.

Estimation of stature from foot and shoe measurements using multiplication factors is well known. It is a simple method and it is used very frequently as a ready reckoner in forensic anthropology. However the individual error is quite large. In the present work an attempt has been made to evolve revised multiplication factors to reduce this error so that this method (multiplication factor) can be used more effectively with smaller error.     

Muslim welfare bodies: New avenues of representation?

ABSTRACT

A lot of ink has flown over the issue of political under-representation of Muslims in India and over affirmative action measures needed to redress this imbalance. However, a minimal amount of attention has been paid to how Muslims are finding new ways to counter this under-representation. The Ministry for Minority Welfare and subsequent creation of the Minority Welfare Department seem to have expanded the locus of representation for Muslims beyond elections, legislatures, and membership of political parties. Consequently, the number of “Muslim representatives” has increased, in addition to MPs and MLAs who strictly speaking are supposed to be “people’s representatives.” Focusing on two Muslim groups’ engagement with the minority welfare bodies, the article contends that the success or failure of Muslim appointments to state bodies is based not so much on religious differentiation as on the ruling party’s electoral strategies, and their inclusion in these bodies only reinforces their minority status without integrating them entirely in the political process.     

Assessment of post-mortem submersion interval using total aquatic decomposition scores of drowned human cadavers

Investigating drowning-related deaths remains a significant problem for forensic personnel all over the world. The previously published decomposition scoring method like the total aquatic decomposition (TAD) score promises to estimate the correct post-mortem submersion interval (PMSI) in aquatic habitats through the assessment and calculation of the decomposition rate and accumulated degree days (ADD). The current study comprised of 53 drowned death cases belonging to various districts of Haryana from May 2016 to August 2017. The regression and Pearson's correlation indicated a significant correlation between the TAD scores and the actual ADD (calculated through water temperatures) (r² = 0.917) and between the actual and the estimated ADDs (calculated through TAD scores used by Heaton et al. [21]) (r = 0.9585). The results indicated that the estimated ADD tends to over predict the PMSI compared to the actual ADD. It is further confirmed by paired t-test, which showed the mean of actual ADD (mean = 349) to be significantly lower than the mean of estimated ADD (mean = 663). Moreover, these methods will help forensic investigators and researchers formulate region-specific regression equations for PMSI estimation.     

Was elusive carnivore a panther? DNA typing of faeces reveals the mystery

In this study, we report the findings of a recent case in which the officials of an Indian zoo claimed that an animal, possibly a carnivore, is periodically visiting the zoo from a nearby vast forest area and causing panic in zoo and nearby villages. They collected some elusive faecal material from the vicinity of an herbivore enclosure. Looking to the pugmarks found in that area and faecal matter ceased, the officials could not decide whether it was a lioness, a tiger or a panther. We resolved this mystery by DNA-based analysis of the faecal material, using our recently developed novel universal primers to amplify and sequence a specific fragment of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. The findings of the DNA-based analyses were confirmed after few days when the zoo officials trapped the animal of same species as suggested in our report. The potential of our procedure to investigate the cases related to wildlife offence is discussed.     

Nexus between income inequality and consumption of renewable energy in India: a nonlinear examination

Economic Change and Restructuring - While the association between income inequality and environmental degradation has been researched extensively by various scholars, the impact of income...