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India's outward foreign direct investment a study of host country determinants and implications on trade
India s outward foreign direct investment newline(OFDI) has registered substantial increase since the 1990s. It is significant to analyse the motivation, location choices and implications of this trend since empirical newlineresearch has largely addressed OFDI originating from developed countries. newlineThis study analyses the pattern of India s OFDI, its changing contours in terms of host country location, composition across sectors and its implication on exports. The study aims to link motivation of investment newlineto location factors across developed and developing countries. Using OFDI newlinedata from 2001to 2013, the study analyses host country economic factors that are significant in the location of India s OFDI in the ambit of eclectic paradigm. The study empirically tests market seeking, resource seeking and strategic asset seeking nature of India s OFDI adopting a panel data newlinemethodology. newlineThe results of the study show that India s OFDI is motivated by market seeking and resource seeking in both developed and developing countries. Strategic assets are a significant motivation for investment in the newlinedeveloped countries and not in the developing countries.India s OFDI is also positively associated with host country policies like openness. To study the implication of OFDI, the study empirically tests the relation between India s OFDI and exports using time series methodology. The empirical test newlineof the relation between OFDI and exports shows a significant long term positive relation between the two. newlineThe current research is presented in six chapters. Chapter 1 consists of the introduction, objectives, hypotheses and significance of the study. Chapter 2 consists of the literature review. The changing direction and composition by sectors is analysed in chapter 3. Chapter 4 contains the methodology. Chapter 5 presents the results of the study and chapter 6 contains the conclusion and policy implications. newline -
Indian Approach to International Commercial and Investment Arbitration Vis-A-Vis Global Arbitral Institutes : A Critical Analysis
The rise of international trade and investments by the foreign states has led to increased number of contractual relationships between the parties. The world is now moving towards a new regime of dispute settlement via alternative dispute redressal mechanisms like arbitration, mediation, conciliation, and negotiation. Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and amendments in 2015, 2019 and 2021 have promoted international commercial newlineand institutional arbitration in India. The amendments provide a slight sigh of relief but do not completely cater to the global needs of making India a preferred seat for international arbitration. The title of the thesis is INDIAN APPROACH TO INTERNATIONAL newlineCOMMERCIAL AND INVESTMENT ARBITRATION VIS- A- VIS GLOBAL ARBITRAL INSTITUTES: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS . It is covering the conceptual and theoretical framework of International commercial and International Investment arbitration, evolution of arbitration laws in India, comparative study of Indian arbitral institutes with respect to Singapore, UK and USA and judicial approach in international arbitration. It also analyses the judicial approach towards arbitration regime pertaining to enforcement of awards, newlineappointment of arbitrators or interim reliefs. The judicial intervention must be minimized and there is requirement of trained arbitration personals including foreign lawyers or academicians. Provisions must be made for third party funding and consolidation of arbitration proceedings providing data privacy. This study applies doctrinal methodology and through legislations, cases study, books, articles and research papers, relevant material newlinehas been collected. Along with doctrinal methodology, the empirical methodology newline(qualitative) has been adopted whereby hypothesis has been tested to reach out the findings and to find the answers of research questions. -
Indian catholic priests' identity, relational autonomy and attachment to god : A Narrative analysis
A thematic narrative analysis was carried to explore the 28 South Indian Roman Catholic religious priests identity, relational autonomy and attachment to God. Fourteen participants were selected from the structured priestly ministry settings newlinenamely education ministry and, another 14 participants from the semi-structured newlinepriestly ministry settings namely parish and priestly formation ministry settings. The newlinequalitative data collected through the interviews were analyzed through the narrative thematic analysis method. The thematic narrative analysis found five major themes, influence on the priestly identity, value-oriented life, purpose in life, priestly celibacy and challenges in the priestly ministry and 46 subthemes for the participants priestly identity narratives. For relational autonomy, the study found five major themes, impactful childhood, the influence of priestly formation, nterpersonal relationships, relationship with the person in authority and decision making and 42 subthemes. For attachment God, it found six major themes, God as an attachment figure, seeking and maintaining proximity to God, God as a haven of safety, God as a secure base, newlineperceiving God as stronger and wiser, and individual differences in attachment to newlineGod, and 24 sub-themes. The study results revealed strong support for the newlinecorrespondence pathway, as the majority of the participants had narratives of newlinecorrespondence between the attachment to their parents and their attachment to God. newlineIt also found evidence for the theme of compensation in three participants narratives. The qualitative comparison between the groups found that for 19 sub-themes for priestly identity, 20 sub-themes for relational autonomy and 13 sub-themes for newlineattachment to God, the priests from the structured ministry settings differed from the priests from the semi-structured ministry settings. -
Indicators of corporate financial distress : evidence from India
The study aims to identify the indicators of corporate financial distress in the Indian industrial sector. The study begins by analysing the corporate bankruptcy filings and the outcomes of filings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016. From the analysis of bankruptcy filings, a newlinelist of 82 publicly listed companies of industrial nature experiencing financial distress that have filed for bankruptcy under IBC is identified. Each of the 82 companies are paired with an equal number of matching newlinefinancially sound companies to form a sample of 164 companies. Further, 12 variables from the annual reports of the sample companies are analysed for a period of five years immediately preceding the bankruptcy filing by the distressed companies. Simple regression analysis is employed for determining the primary indicator of corporate financial distress and logistic regression analysis is used to identify the supplementary indicator of corporate financial distress in the Indian industrial sector. The primary and the supplementary indicators are presented in the form of a two-stage process to form the Corporate Distress Prediction (CDP) scorecard. The newlinerecommended CDP scorecard predicts financial distress in the Indian industrial sector at an accuracy ranging between 90 percent to 100 percent during the five years of study. The major implication of the study is that it newlinecan guide the corporate stakeholders in knowing the financial health of a newlinecompany. -
Influence of behavioural traits on investment decisions
Behavioural traits exhibited by individual investors play a vital role in the investment decisions made by the investor. In this research, the researcher has identified the different behavioural traits shown by different individual investors by their unique characteristics. The study was conducted on a sample size of 811 individual investors from different parts of Bengaluru. The study classified the investment decisions into four aspects and also identified whether investment decisions vary significantlly due to demographic factors. The study further developed a model which explains the linkages between behavioural traits to investment attitude and investment attitude to investment decisions. Review of literature revealed that there exists a gap in the studies in behavioural finance showing the linkages between an investor's behavioural traits and investment attitude and investment decisions. Even though many research happened to identify the personality traits of individual investors, no significant attempt was made to study the linkage between behavioural traits on investment decisions. In this study, an attempt was made to show how individual investors behavioural traits can affect the investment attitude and how investment attitude can affect the investment decision of an individual investor. Result of the study indicated that behavioural traits influences the investment decisions of individual investors. The model developed in the study also proved a linkage between behavioural traits , investment attitude and investment decisions of individual investors with the moderating effect of demograpic factors. -
Influence of Celebrity Source Credibility and Celebrity-Fan Relationship on Fan's Attitude Towards Social Cause
Celebrities hold a special place in popular imagination. Their power to inspire fashion, choice of vacation, dictate food preferences and a host of other services is an interesting field of study. Over the years, celebrity endorsement has appeared as a leading advertisement format in developing newlinesuccessful brand campaigns. Celebrity endorsements are grounded on a common belief that endorsers can increase advertisement credibility thereby increasing brand image, awareness, and purchase behaviour. newlineUnderstanding the nature of celebrities as sources in advertisements and promotions is a widely researched topic. There is an abundance of literature on the use of celebrities in commercial advertising with the end goal being sales and profits realised through intermediate outcomes such as brand newlineimage, attitude change, brand awareness and many others. Several celebrities across the world have endorsed social cause campaigns sponsored by governments and not-for-profit organizations. However, the impact of the newlinecelebrity in such campaigns is an under-studied topic. Furthermore, celebrity newlineendorsement studies in the past have largely focused on celebrity endorsement mechanisms related to celebrity s characteristics and the outcomes related to the brand. Not much is being mentioned about fans. This study introduces a new audience-related factor the celebrity-fan para social relationship newlinemeasured using celebrity attitude scale (CAS). Thus, this study extends its context beyond commercial products and positions in the backdrop of social marketing. To achieve the purpose of the study and answer the research questions, the National Anti-Tobacco Campaign endorsed by former cricketer, newlineRahul Dravid was considered for the study. The chosen campaign had high visibility with the social advertisement being aired in movie halls and television channels across several Indian languages. The study focused on newlineunderstanding the influence of source credibility factors on attitude towards newlinesocial cause. -
Influence of e-service quality on customer retention in commercial banks
Keeping in mind the dynamic changes that have been taking place in the Indian banking scenario, since the introduction of technology and the advancement of the internet even into the remote regions of the country, the proposed study is designed to determine the impact of e-service quality newlineon the retention of banking customers in the city of Bangalore. Most of the existing studies are based on conceptual understanding and are not based on model testing. The proposed study is relevant to Bangalore as it is a tier one city with a dynamic and fast-paced lifestyle having the best newlinetechnological facilities among the tier one cities in India. The literature review initiates an exhaustive discussion of various newlineconstructs that are outcomes of e-service quality and determinants of customer retention. Based on references from the literature review,constructs identified for e-service quality are customer satisfaction, newlinecustomer commitment and customer retention. The constructs that are outcomes of customer satisfaction were identified as customer trust, commitment and loyalty, which in turn influences customer retention. Thus, commitment, loyalty, commitment and e-service quality were concluded to be influencers of customer retention, with commitment being newlinea construct that mediates the relationship between e-service quality and customer retention. Through extensive literature review, hypotheses were derived and the proposed conceptual model is developed. newlineObjectives of the proposed study are to empirically validate a model to establish the relationship between e-service quality and customer retention, linking customer satisfaction, commitment, trust and loyalty with select antecedents. Research methodology gives an explanation of the population newlinefrom which the samples are collected, the justification for using the particular sampling technique and also the tool employed for data collection. Detailed explanations have also been given for checking the newlinereliability and validity of the tool and pilot data. -
Influence of emotional intelligence as mediator between workplace spirituality and organisational citizenship behaviour
Spirituality at work has developed as a research discipline over the last decade. There have been a few theoretical studies emphasizing on the significance of the construct. The external and internal factors affecting the relationship of this construct need to be analysed for enabling its newlineimplementation in the business world. The construct needs further empirical studies to establish itself as an implementable HR practice, contributing significantly to the bottom line. Organisational citizenship behaviour is critical for performance amidst uncertainty. Emotional intelligence has newlinebecome more critical in overcoming the challenges faced by the Information Technology (IT) sector in India. This study fills the gap in the current literature studying the influence of emotional intelligence in the relationship between workplace spirituality and organisational citizenship behaviour in the Indian IT sector context. The challenges faced by the Indian IT sector are unique and needs alternative solution to avoid a downfall in the sector contributing majorly to the national GDP. The sample is 800 IT sector employees selected through judgmental sampling. The data is collected by using online survey newlineinstruments. SEM modelling has been used to analyse the data and use the same for development of an implementable model relating the dependent and the independent variables. The findings state that there is a direct and positive relationship between newlineworkplace spirituality and organisational citizenship behaviour. In addition, newlineemotional intelligence mediates the relationship between workplace spirituality and organisational citizenship behaviour. Longitudinal testing of the relationships has been left as the scope for further studies. -
Influence of Perceived autonomy SUpport and Personality Traits on Accountability of Higher Secondary School Teachers
The term Accountability, has its origin in ethics. It deals with proper behaviour, newlinebeing responsible for one s actions towards other people and agencies. It has synonyms such as transparency, liability, answerability, and expectations of account newlinegiving (Levitt et al., 2008). Every teacher must respect each student, despite of their newlinebackground, race, gender and provide ample support to achieve excellence. The teacher must teach with highest standards without bias, teacher s primary concern must be students academic excellence, and finally teacher is expected to keep up the highest level of professionalism by being respectful to parents, colleagues, and students (College, 2011). Perceived autonomy support refers to the belief of teachers that administrators or principals consider them as competent, to have freedom of choice and the experience of belongingness and supporting environment. Perceived Autonomy Support has its root in Self-determination theory founded on three core psychological needs such as competence, autonomy, and relatedness (Deci et al.,1985). Personality trait refers to a combination of characteristics that are innate as well as characteristics that are developed due to specific life experiences. John et al., (2010) have summarized all the human personality traits under the umbrella term, the Big Five (openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness). This study examines the relationship among the three major variables such as Accountability of Teachers, Perceived Autonomy Support and Personality Traits. newlineFurther it explores whether Perceived Autonomy Support and Personality Traits have newlineany significant impact on Accountability of Higher Secondary School Teachers. Thirdly it identifies significance of Accountability, Perceived Autonomy Support and Personality Traits and its components across Type of schools, Gender, Age, Marital Status, Teaching Experience, Educational Qualifications and Subjects. -
Influence of positive psychological capacities emotional intelligence and subjective well being of nurses in healthcare sector
The aim of this research is to address the insufficient empirical investigation of newlinepositive psychological variables among the nurses in the healthcare sector in India. Here we explore positive psychological capacities proposed by Luthan and team 2007), newlinecomprising of self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience their influence on emotional newlineintelligence; a concept of empirical interest among the nursing population (Freshwater newlineand Stickley 2004) and subjective well-being. Gill (2011) has mentioned that the health newlineworker determines the quality and nature of services offered in any healthcare system. newlineAdhering to the conceptual framework of positive psychology, psychological capital, newlineconservation of resource and broaden-and-build theory, this study is an exploration of newline(a) the positive psychological capacities, (b) its influence on emotional intelligence, and (c) subjective well-being of nurses (n=302) across government, private and trust newlinehospitals in Bangalore. The hospitals were chosen based on stratified sampling with the nursing respondents identified through random sampling and judgemental sampling. A pilot newlinestudy was carried out (n=100) to validate the standardized scales used for measuring the newlinevariables. An explanatory sequential mixed method design was proposed through which newlinethe quantitative analysis using a detailed descriptive statistics and regression analysis suggested that efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience influenced emotional newlineintelligence. While resilience and optimism influenced subjective well-being of nurses newlinethere was no influence of emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and hope. A qualitative follow-up interview was executed (n=15) to understand the reason for no influence. The findings substantiated that most of the nurses viewed themselves as happy individuals despite their work-related dissatisfactions as almost all saw their profession as service to mankind. The implications of these findings are traced along with the suggestions for future research. -
Information and communication technology integration in education by harare secondary school teachers in relation to school technology culture and their educational leader competencies
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) integration in education refers newlineto using technology in teaching and learning processes. The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the classroom would solve a lot of the problems related to Zimbabwean secondary school education. It motivates students to learn by providing a variety of learning activities such as watching videos, viewing pictures and models and online quizzes. This interests students who are digital natives and is more applicable to their everyday experiences. newlineStudent participation increases when ICT is used in the classroom as students are newlineconversant with the use of technology. ICT integration in education also allows students to learn in circumstances where there are shortages of teachers. The culture which exists in a school and the competencies of the educational leaders cannot be ignored when planning for and assessing the outcome of ICT integration programs. This study focused on Information and Communication newlineTechnology Integration in Education by Harare Secondary School Teachers, in relation to School Technology Culture and their Educational Leader Competencies . A survey was carried out in government and private secondary schools in Harare, Zimbabwe during the period from October 2012 to mid-2013. The population was all the secondary school teachers in Harare district of Zimbabwe. According to the data obtained from the Ministry of Education in October 2012, the target population of secondary school teachers in Harare was 4 244. The sample size was calculated based on an equation cited from Camorin and Calmorin (2007:230). This newlinegave a sample of 248 teachers from Harare secondary schools. 140 were females and 108 males. Four research instruments were used for data collection: a proforma on demographics, the ICT Integration questionnaire (ICTIQ), the School Technology Culture (STC) Scale and the Educational Leader Competency (ELC) scale. -
Instabilities in ferrofluids with temperature and magnetic field dependent viscosity under different modulations
There has been a vigorous effort by researchers to study and characterize Rayleigh Be and#769;nard convection in ferrofluids owing to their interesting applications. From the survey of the literature pertinent to the problems under consideration in our study we realize the importance of using variable viscosity and thus explore the dynamics of a ferrofluid with temperature and magnetic field dependent viscosity which is in a Rayleigh- Be and#769;nard situation. The system under consideration is subjected to external constarints viz., an imposed time-periodic body force, rotation speed modulation, temperature modulation and magnetic field modulation. The problem considers both sinusoidal and non-sinusoidal time-periodic variations of these modulations to study the onset and post-onset regimes of Rayleigh-Be and#769;nard ferroconvection. We perform a weakly non-linear stability analysis using a truncated Fourier series representation and arrive at the Lorenz system for ferrofluid convection with variable viscosity. By using the linearized form of the Lorenz system we arrive at the critical Rayleigh There has been a vigorous effort by researchers to study and characterize Rayleigh Be and#769;nard convection in ferrofluids owing to their interesting applications. From the survey of the literature pertinent to the problems under consideration in our study we realize the importance of using variable viscosity and thus explore the dynamics of a ferrofluid with temperature and magnetic field dependent viscosity which is in a Rayleigh- Be and#769;nard situation. The system under consideration is subjected to external constarints viz., an imposed time-periodic body force, rotation speed modulation, temperature modulation and magnetic field modulation. The problem considers both sinusoidal and non-sinusoidal time-periodic variations of these modulations to study the onset and post-onset regimes of Rayleigh-Be and#769;nard ferroconvection. -
Insurance coverage framework for assisted reproductive treatments for women
Giving birth to a child is considered as one of the purest and highest forms of giving by any human being. The harsh reality is that not all men and women can reproduce. Some remain childless their entire life. Infertility hurts both men and women, but women more. Women continue to face social stigma of not bearing a child and go through stress, anxiety, and depression (Donkar, 2007; Widge, 2002; Reissman, 2000). One of the most significant contributions of Medical Science is the invention of Assisted Reproductive Technology Treatments that help infertile couples to conceive. India has been a pioneer in adapting to this technology and since 1978 many couples have been able to give birth to a child. Unfortunately, these treatments are expensive. Infact, the high treatment cost is the predominant source of anxiety in patients going through these treatments across the world (Iaconelli, 2013). There are instances where, couples leave the treatment, mid way as they are not able to arrange more money (Brennan et al., 2006). However, countries like Denmark, Canada, New Zealand, Belgium, and Japan, to name a few have included these treatments under their Government health insurance policy, whereas countries such as UK, USA, and Singapore have their Private Health insurance companies covering them. In comparison with its western counterparts, India is far behind in using Insurance as a method to finance Assisted Reproductive treatments. A preliminary study indicated two things- The resistance from the Insurance company's side in venturing into a product of this sort and secondly, unavailability of an insurance framework to guide them to venture into such a product. Thus, study began with the sole intention of creating an Insurance framework for assisted Reproductive Treatments particularly for women. A Qualitative Methodology has been adapted for the study. As a first step, infertility treatment polices from developed and developing countries were gathered and analyzed to extract the components of the drafting an Assisted re productive Treatment policy framework. Using these components, interview schedules were made to solicit information from the three different stakeholders. In-depth face to face interviews with 13 Doctors, 12 Patients, and 10 Insurers were conducted and data was further analyzed using Qualitative Content Analysis Method as prescribed by Olle Rudolf Holsti in 1968 and refined by Downe-Wamboltdt in 1992. The concepts of reduction, distillation, and condensation as prescribed by Olle Findahl in 1981, Stephen Cavanagh in 1997, and Paul Atkinknson in 1996 have been used. The results pave the way for the proposed framework. This framework can be used as a guide by Insurance companies in defining the disease, designing the value proposition, entry and exit age, coverage as per stage of treatment, designing the proposal form to solicit information from the insured, arriving at the sum Insured, drafting conditions and exclusions of the policy, pricing, and promotional aspects, mitigation of moral hazards and claims management. The framework suggests a model that can benefit patients to avail insurance at a nominal price. -
Integrated intelligent framework for e-learning
E-learning is the primary method of learning for most learners after regular academics studies. Knowledge delivery through e-learning technologies increased exponentially over the years because of the advancement in internet and e-learning technologies. Knowledge delivery to some people would never have been possible without the e-learning technologies. Most of the working professionals do focused studies for carrier advancement, promotion, or for improving domain knowledge. These learners can find many E-learning is the primary method of learning for most learners after regular academics studies. Knowledge delivery through e-learning technologies increased exponentially over the years because of the advancement in internet and e-learning technologies. Knowledge delivery to some people would never have been possible without the e-learning technologies. Most of the working professionals do focused studies for carrier advancement, promotion, or for improving domain knowledge. These learners can find many free e-learning web sites from the internet easily in the domain of interest. However, it is quite difficult to find the best e-learning content suitable for their learning based on their domain knowledge level. Users spent most of the time figuring out the right content from a plethora of available content and end up learning nothing. A framework using machine learning algorithms with Random Forest Classifier is proposed to address the issue, which classifies the e-learning content based on its difficulty levels and provides the learner the best content suitable based on the knowledge level. The framework is trained with the data set collected from multiple popular e-learning web sites. The model is tested with real-time e-learning web site links and found that the e-contents in the web sites are recommended to the user based on its difficult levels as beginner level, intermediate level, and advanced level. -
Intelligent Information Retrieval Model for Digital Documents in Title Insurance
Documents have been pivotal in shaping human history by preserving knowledge and newlineenabling the transmission of ideas across generations and cultures. They have facilitated the establishment of legal systems, institutions, and governance, fostering societal order and progress. Additionally, documents serve as a collective memory, chronicling the achievements and lessons learned, enriching the human experience. Transforming documents from physical to digital format has revolutionized how we access, store, and share information in the digital age. This transition, enabled by technological advances, began with the invention of the scanner, which allowed for newlinethe digital capture of images and text. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology that can convert scanned documents into searchable, editable digital texts further streamlined this process. As the storage capacity and internet speeds have increased, digitization has become more accessible and widespread. Cloud-based storage solutions, such as Google Drive and Dropbox, now allow users to store, access, and share digital documents from anywhere with an internet connection. This has improved collaboration and communication and reduced the need for physical storage space. The digitization of documents has also significantly impacted the environment, with paper consumption decreasing and many industries carbon footprint reducing. Libraries and archives have transformed digitally, making vast information more easily accessible and preserving vital historical records for future generations. This digital shift has democratized knowledge, granting people worldwide access to resources that were once limited newlineto those with physical proximity to the material. -
Interplay of illustration narration and metaphor in kolam art with reference to South Indian traditions
The goal of this research was to understand Kolam, from a three layer perspectives: illustration, narration and metaphor, which is practiced for centuries by women in Tamil Nadu, India. The elements of Kolam are dots and lines made with rice flour at the labyrinth of a house every morning. Although the art appears simple in structure when analyzed layer after layer it unfolds unfathomable encoded meanings of a living culture. Previous studies undertaken overlooked the correlation of illustration, narration and metaphor in Kolam which is argued in this study to be the heart of this art. The study used qualitative multimethod approach throughout the research process. Data was collected from multiple sources of selected rural and urban areas of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka with multiple methods. The description, analysis and interpretations lead to the conclusion that a Kolam narrates deep seated legends and living experiences passed over from generation to generation through an art form. Kolam is not just an art practiced in society, but an art that binds together the life of a society. An insider lives and continues the culture through it; an outsider learns to appreciate and respect the culture by it. -
Intersecting Ecocriticism and Gender in Selected Writings of Easterine Kire
The research study, Intersecting Ecocriticism and Gender in Selected newlineWritings of Easterine Kire, analyses the intersection of histories, identities, gender, and ecology to understand the larger context of marginalisation and newlinerepresentation. Indigenous literature often subverts Western worldviews and mainstream discourses with counter-discourse narratives by placing their stories at the centre. In recent times, literature from Indigenous societies has established a position in which Indigenous people represent, resist, newlinedecolonise, and construct their identity. The Indigenous Naga community has experienced marginalisation for decades, having suffered multiple oppressions of their history, stories, knowledge, and lack of rights; however, contemporary literary writings challenged the silencing system through writing back and representation. In her fictional works, Naga author Easterine Kire explores the possibilities of reviving and restoring the Angami Naga community and their newlinelost cultures and identities. Focusing on analysing three important themes: Peoplestories, Ecopolitics, and Gender politics, the study represents Naga histories, emerging identities, gender, and ecological concerns as interpreted in the fiction of Easterine Kire. The objective is to represent Indigenous Naga voices using fictional narratives of Easterine Kire to reclaim, revive, and redefine Indigenous culture and history from an insider s perspective. It also examines how intersecting narratives contribute to the larger context of Naga identity construction. newlineEasterine Kire s writing is a culturally conscious and decolonial strategy in newlinewhich she incorporates her community s oral tradition and storytelling in her fictional narratives. Easterine Kire s narrative engages in a deep conscious cultural revival and reinvention of her community s cultural heritage. -
Investigating structure and spectral energy distribution of galaxies using uvit and multi-wavelength archival data
This thesis deals with the multi-wavelength investigation of the different aspects of galaxy formation and evolution. The first part of this thesis deals with the studies on the characteristics of the in-orbit performance of the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) on-board AstroSat. We have written a UVIT pipeline (JUDE ) to convert the Level 1 data from the Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC) into scientifically useful photon lists and images. We have also performed an independent calibration of the FUV and NUV channels of the UVIT using JUDE. We found that the photometric sensitivity is about 35% that of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX ) in the FUV broadband filter, and about the same as GALEX in the NUV broadband filter. The point spread function (PSF) of the instrument is of the order of 1.2 1.6and#8242;and#8242;. We found that the performance is close to that expected from the ground-based calibrations. We studied the recent star formation in the nearby face-on spiral galaxy NGC 2336 using the UVIT imaging. We have identified 78 bright star-forming complexes in the disk and derived their positions and estimated their properties such as luminosities, sizes, star formation rates (SFRs), colors, and ages. The FUV-NUV colors of the complexes are found to be redder in the inner region of the galaxy and become progressively bluer as the radius increases. The last part of this thesis is devoted to a model-based study of galaxies using physically motivated Code Investigating Galaxy Emission (CIGALE) package. We have studied 10,000 galaxies from GALEX SDSS merged catalog using CIGALE and estimated their properties such as stellar masses, SFRs, stellar populations, dust luminosities etc. We have classified this set of galaxies into the star-forming, intermediate and quiescent type of galaxies based on their specific SFR. We also studied the properties of dust-lane spheroidal galaxies (DLSGs) drawn from the multi-wavelength archival data in 18 bands from FUV to FIR using GALEX, SDSS, 2MASS, WISE, and AKARI surveys. -
Investigation on Mechanical and Durability Properties of Geopolymer Concrete with Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag Incorporating Sugarcane Bagasse Ash
This study deals with strength, durability, elevated temperature behaviour, cost, energy and carbon efficiency of sustainable GPC developed with GGBS and SCBA. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) of 8M, 10M, and 12M and sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) were used as alkaline activators with sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide ratio being 2.5. Fifteen different binary blend GPC mixtures were prepared by varying SCBA content (0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% by mass of precursor) and also by varying molarity of NaOH by 8M, 10M and 12M. The developed GPC's fresh, hardened, microstructural, and correlation characteristics have all been assessed. Various tests such as the slump cone test, Cs, Sts, Fs, and UPV test were conducted. SEM, Edax, and XRD analysis were examined for understanding the microstructural characteristics. For a target strength of 40 MPa, the GPC produced with 20% SCBA and 80% GGBS with an 8M NaOH solution and an SS/SH ratio of 2.5 can be utilized. The reason for the development of higher strength in higher molarity of GGBS-SCBA based GPC specimens is clearly shown by SEM micrographs, which indicate a dense and packed matrix. The presence of CASH gel confirmed this in the GP matrix. Durability studies such as rapid chloride permeability, sorptivity and early and long-term effect of sulphate attack were conducted on GGBS-SCBA based GPC. Also elevated temperature behaviour of GPC specimen subjected to different temperatures of 200?C, 400?C, 600?C and 800?C were studied to evaluate the strength, mass loss and effect on microstructures due to elevated temperature. The degradation of geopolymer concrete at different elevated temperatures was observed by SEM, Edax, XRD and FTIR. From the test findings it is noticed that the GPC developed have good durability characteristics. It is also noticed that geopolymer concrete retains more than 50% of strength up to a temperature of 600 ?C. From scanning electron microscope analysis of GPC developed with GGBS and SCBA, it is found that there are larger crack formations and pores which are visible in the geopolymer concrete matrix when the specimens are exposed to an elevated temperature of 800?C which confirms the degradation of C-A-S-H gel in the GPC mixtures developed. Additionally, incorporation of sugarcane bagasse ash in GPC will reduce disposal problems and also carbon dioxide emission. -
Investigations on Affective Computing to Improve Classroom Engagement Analysis in Higher Education by Deep Learning
The learning and teaching experience can be improved by using approaches that are not obtrusive to perform a comprehensive student engagement analysis throughout the classroom. In these modern times, when courses are conducted online, it is vital to accurately measure the levels of participation that each individual student has. It is crucial and essential to provide assistance to educators so that they may annotate and comprehend the signifcant learning rate of the students. A system that can perceive data and transpire it into information automates the learning and teaching experience in a classroom. In this study, videos are collected from online and ofand#64258;ine classes that have one single student per frame or many students per frame and are analysed for emotions and behavioural engagement through a multimodal system. newlineLarge amounts of video data processing call for an increase in the hardware resources newlineas well as the time required for processing images. This is particularly true in a newlineclassroom setting, where there are a large number of frames to analyse each and every minute in order to handle classroom involvement detection. Hierarchical Video newlineSummarization is used as a preliminary step on the videos to detect important frames newlinethat have the sum of all the information in the local neighborhood. These key frames newlineserve as important information units that provide details of facial emotions and behavioural aspects. The local maxima estimation based on the frst derivative provides summative information about the local neighborhood. The key frames serve newlineas an input for face detection and emotional analysis. In this research, the method newlinecan perform video summarization on a varied category of videos and with different newlineresolutions. Face detection in a temporal environment have not been trivial. Though there are methods that can identify multiple faces with varied sizes in a frame, it is still a current research topic to address false localization of faces in a frame.