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Effects of central bank intervention through quasi fiscal policies evidence from reserve bank of zimbabwe
This was a research exercise which was conducted to establish the impact of newlineZimbabwe s Central Bank s interventions on the economy. As Zimbabwe s economic newlinecondition went through a nose-dive, the government found itself unable to respond to newlinethe numerous needs with no resources. The country was achieving negative gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate every year since the turn of the new millennium. The country could not borrow from the Bretton Woods institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because of the illegal sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union following the country s land reform program which acquired farms from the majority of the 4,000 white farmers who owned about 80 percent of the country s arable area. The Zimbabwe Economic and Democracy newlineRecovery Act of 2001 (ZEDERA), enacted in the USA prevented American companies from doing business in Zimbabwe. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe stepped in to assist. The research was aimed at establishing the effect the central bank intervention on the economy. Was the effect of the intervention good, or bad? Did the central bank s intervention really make things worse or did it ameliorate the effects of the downturn in the economy? For newlineinstance, did it contribute to the increase in inflation? What would have been the newlinesituation had the Bank not intervened? This study sought to answer the basic question: newline What was the overall impact of the RBZ s quasi-fiscal activities on the Zimbabwean newlineeconomy? Hypotheses were formulated on the basis of the above objectives and were tested newlinevia a variety of statistical techniques. The research instruments for data collection newlinewere a questionnaire and interviews guides. The questionnaire was the main research newlineinstrument followed by interviews. The questionnaire had a fusion of open ended and newlineclosed questions. The research showed that the RBZ s quasi-fiscal operations helped newlinethe country most in containing emergency situations and improved access to financial newlineresources by the productive sectors. -
A critical analysis of the complexity of leadership in zimbabwean anglican churches
This study examines the leadership controversy in the Anglican Churches of newlineZimbabwe and evaluates the extent to which the exigencies of power impacted upon this newlineconflict. This study is necessitated by the fact that the Anglican Church Province of Central Africa has been affected by an unprecedented conflict hinged on leadership wrangle and a crisis of legitimacy. This has resulted in the excommunication of Bishop of the diocese of Harare who had deliberately withdrawn from the Anglican international communion to form the province of Zimbabwe. Key to this dispute was the allegation of gay marriages presumably blessed by the Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) although it appears that there were other multifarious factors behind the controversy. Given this background, this study seeks to present a critical exploration of the cardinal factors at play within the context of the Episcopalian polity and try to link church governance and ecclesiology to the context of the Anglican conflict in Zimbabwe. It should be appreciated that, as the world is setting into the 21st Century and Globalization becomes inescapable, a new breed of leaders and leadership paradigm is needed in Christian organizations. There is newlinea general consensus among scholars that the term leadership can be defined from various newlinevantage points. But for the purposes of this study, the term leadership designates the art of inducing competence, an instrument of goal achievement, a form of persuasion. Leadership newlineis the most important factor determining the future of any organization. The style of newlineleadership in a religious organization is a critical determinant in enhancing the stability and growth of the church. To this end, leadership has to do with the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans for institutional development, staff development progress in pursuit of organizational excellence. -
An investigation into the causes of non compliance with labour laws by zimbabwean local authorities
The current research; which I carried out in Mashonaland East Province of Zimbabwe between 2012 and 2014 was prompted by the surge newlinein labour related disputes in sub-national governments in Zimbabwe as well as the evident poor levels of compliance to labour laws by local authorities which also happen to be a poorly rated sector of the economy in terms of service delivery. In carrying out the study, I was guided by the following newlineresearch objectives: to identify the challenges being faced by Zimbabwean newlinelocal authorities in complying with the labour laws, to establish the extent to which non compliance affects labour relations in local government in Zimbabwe, to ascertain the impact of non-compliance on service delivery and finally to assess the government monitoring aspect. The targeted population for the study comprised all the ten local authorities and ministry of local government employees from the province. The study mainly newlineemployed the exploratory research design and I found that non-compliance with labour laws by Zimbabwean local authorities was not only as a result of the quality of labour relations and management systems (internal controls and corruption) but also lack of governmental financial support, political newlineinterference, skills migration (brain drain), increased poverty (economic meltdown) and high unemployment rate. In light of the research findings, I recommend that the government formulates deliberate policies to re-engage the international community as this will help attract foreign direct investment; thereby reducing poverty, unemployment, skills migration and corruption. I also recommend an increase in the financial support by government to its sub national governments. There should also be total newlinedecentralization of all sub national governments to ensure efficiency and newlinenon-interference with local authorities operations. -
A study on the prospects of zimbabwe fertilizer industry for a sustainable market match
This paper is as a result of a process of seeking a solution to theperennial challenge of mismatch of fertilizer demand and supply in Zimbabwe. The study investigated the causes of the mismatch of fertilizer demand and supply in the post agrarian reform with a view to finding the factors that cause the mismatch. The study has been necessitated by the fact that Zimbabwe?s economy is agro-based and supportsmore than twelve million people. The study was informed by the following objectives: (i) To know and understand the existing demand and supply of fertilizer in Zimbabwe(ii) To find reasons for the gap in the market and its impact on Zimbabwe?s agricultural sector (iii) To examine the role of banks and financial institutions in leveraging farmer access to loans in Zimbabwe (iv) To understand the farmers' perceptions of the situation and make justifications of the mismatch and (v) To suggest and adopt suitable strategies which reinforce sustainable demand and supply of fertilizer in the country. In context and pursuit of the objectives, this study used both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. A survey questionnaire was administered on the total of 380 respondents within the study returned questionnaires. The study was premised on 3 null hypotheses, one testing significance difference between product brand and market demand for fertilizer, another testing significance difference between availability and accessibility of fertilizer and yet another tested significance difference in the perception among farmers and stakeholders on the use of fertilizer. To do the hypothesis testing,data frequencies were run to note descriptive data patterns, cross-tabulations to establish a relationship between variable through various statistical tests: chi- square, correlations, ANOVA correlation coefficients, regression analysis and R-square value. Regression analysis was conducted to establish squared multiple correlation coefficient(R2) between Fertilizer Market,the unobserved dependent variable comprised of Demand (need for fertilizer, Supply/usage of fertilizer and availability of fertilizer) and independent composite variables of location/place of the fertilizer, fertilizer company brands, i.e. products, respondents in the study(people) and costs of financing fertilizer.This study accepted the first 2 null hypotheses and rejected the last hypothesis respectively.During the content thematic analysis salient themes and issues were; fertilizer availability at specific locations, high usage of ammonia brand, low application of fertilizer, inadequate fertilizer storage facilities, quality of fertilizer and accessibility to markets and specific fertilizers brands at specific periods. Upon triangulation, thequalitative responses were similar and complimentary to the quantitative responses.The composite or unobserved predictor variables; Place/Location of fertilizer, Type of fertilizer/Product brand, cost price and people accounted for the squared multiple correlation coefficient.573 or 57.3% (R2) adjusted R2 0.568 of the variance of Fertilizer Market dependent composite variable. This proportion in other words was the contribution of the independent variables. This suggests relationships that has the moderate effect (substantial) on Market the dependent variable based on the criterion that 0.573 is moderate. Regression analysis pointed to a strong Pearson correlations relation between fertilizer market and location (place where fertilizer was available) .004 and product 0.21. The unobserved predictor independent variable fertilizer type product or brand multiple correlation coefficient.517 or 51.3% (R2), fertilizer location or location could be found .542 or 54.2% (R2) with unobserved predictor dependent variable fertilizer market.Following onto this, the study highlights a model to help us better manage the mismatch. This model is developed from a collaborative ramework.The thesis ultimately makes conclusions and recommendations about crafting policies that will assist to match fertilizer demand and supply in Zimbabwe. -
Strategy formulation and implementation in the zimbabwean food manufacturing sector
This study focused on examining the influence of strategy formulation and implementation on the performance and competitive advantage of the foodmanufacturing companies in Zimbabwe. The study was prompted by the fact that newlinestrategy is essential in every organisation and that competing in the market is like newlinewar, you have injuries and casualties and the best strategy wins . More so, even though the food-manufacturing companies are essential to the Zimbabwean economy, there has been limited research on the area of strategy formulation and implementation. The study applied both quantitative and qualitative approaches because looking at the same problem from several viewpoints is an excellent way to verify data and come up with interpretation and conclusions. It is in view of this fact that the researcher used the triangulation approach, which is a combination of both philosophies, qualitative and quantitative data. The research was a survey because it allowed the research to collect data from a sizeable number of participants in 10 foodmanufacturing companies in Zimbabwe. The researcher used personal judgement in selecting the companies to be part of the study. The data was collected from directors and managerial employees, who are largely involved in the process of strategy formulation and implementation. The researcher used the questionnaires and the indepth interviews as research instruments. SPSS was the quantitative data analysis and qualitative data analysis was using thematic analysis. The study found out that foodmanufacturing companies in Zimbabwe were facing performance related challenges and there were mixed responses on the extent to which they were failing to meet financial, customer, internal business process improvement, and learning and growth targets. The food-manufacturing companies implemented marketing, human resource, financial and operations strategies but were not successful in their endeavours. -
A study on operational efficiency of scheduled commercial banks in India
Banking institutions play an important role in the economic development of the entire nation. Financial services industry is dominated by banking sector. Performance of any economy largely depends on the efficiency of commercial banks. Efficiency of banks depends upon diversified banking system that attracts savings and channelizes them into productive investments to generate income. The strength of the bank depends on newlineefficiency of these operations. Banks need to convert its deposits into loans, advances and investments efficiently. Efficiency in operations results in productivity. Productivity brings in faster economic growth. The cost of these operations should be kept to the minimum in order that they are efficient. With stiff competition that characterises banking industry, the competitive advantage that one bank has over the other depends on various efficiencies. This research attempts to measure the various efficiencies of scheduled commercial banks in India and investigate the factors that influence the same. Review of related newlineLiterature has been carried out to identify the research gap. Scheduled commercial banks in India include public sector banks, private newlinesector banks, foreign banks and regional rural banks. Regional rural banks are excluded from the study. As per the RBI report, currently (as on 31 March 2014) there are 26 public sector banks, 22 private sector newlinebanks and 43 foreign banks. However, this study considers the banks which have existed before, during and after the study period in order to measure the technical and cost efficiency of each bank and compare those efficiencies within the group as well as across the group. Accordingly 25 PSBs, 18 PvSBs and 25 FBs have been considered for the present study. Operational efficiency in this study includes the banks with technical and newlinecost efficiency. Technical efficiency is measured using the primary operating variables like fixed assets, loanable funds, employees, loans and advances and investments. -
Cultural Politics of sports and nationalism in indian popular cinema
The idea of India does not naturally happen. Like Benedict Anderson points out in his Imagined Communities, the media plays a huge role in ensuring that the public upholds certain notions of the nation. So, the imagining of a nation into existence as well as the sustenance of the collective are media-enabled. If print media had influenced people to envisage a nation by narrativizing a cultural commonality within members of a particular political setup in a particular geography (as in the case of 19th century Europe), the part played by popular cinema in independent India in feeding the imagining of Indianness cannot be considered less significant. Cinema texts based on war, terrorism, partition, etc. lend themselves for a nationalist treatment. Sports-themed Indian popular cinema too chooses to establish a marriage of convenience with nationalism. While sports and nationalism right from the first decade of the 20th century have had a history of helping each other thrive, - owing to nationality-based participation in Olympics and a similar format adopted by most other global events - it is in the 21st century that Indian Popular Cinema started exploiting the sports-nationalism relationship for its own progress. This research studies the discourse on Indian nationalism that three sports-themed texts of Indian popular cinema offer. Apart from proving to be huge box office hits, Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, Chak De! India, and M S Dhoni: The Untold Story offer a lot for culture and nation theorists to ponder upon. -
An Analysis of the effectiveness of HIV and AIDS policy implementation in teacher training colleges in zimbabwe
The study analyzed the effectiveness of implementation of the HIV and AIDS Policy for teachers colleges. The policy was enacted by the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education in 2004 and implemented by teacher training colleges in Zimbabwe. Teacher training colleges were a ready captive audience for the young people with the potential to newlineinfluence behaviour change among student teachers, with a snowball effect to pupils in primary and secondary schools. Despite the newlinedevelopment of the policy, incidences of sexually transmitted infections continued to increase. The objectives of the study were to determine to what extent the HIV and AIDS Policy has been operationalized and its newlineeffects on the sexual and reproductive health of students. Literature reviewed explored the HIV and AIDS policy implementation and quality assurance practices in teaching of HIV and AIDS in the colleges. Effective implementation was discussed within the context of the reproductive health challenges faced by students and access to quality newlineservices. Pragmatism philosophical paradigm was used for the study, since it combines quantitative and qualitative research techniques, methods and approaches into a single study. The population, sample and sampling procedure for the study were defined. Selection of the colleges was newlinepurposive and stratified according to location (urban or rural); administrative authorities (government and church-related colleges). While research questions guided the collection of qualitative data from newlineinterviews and focus group discussions for college authorities and stakeholders, hypotheses guided quantitative data collected from questionnaires completed by male and female third year students and Lecturers. Key informants were selected based on their role in policy implementation at the colleges. Validity and reliability of both qualitative newlineand quantitative data collecting instruments was assured. -
Impact of gamification on learning outcomes in organizations
Background Operational Excellence is a philosophy of leadership, teamwork and problem solving, to focus on the needs of the consumer, to empower employees, for ptimizing existing activities, continuous improvement and excellence. It is a competitive advantage which translates increased flexibility to improved consumer responsiveness, and lean management. Quality of care is about patient safety, institutional culture, attitude, clinical performance, clinical freedom with management as facilitators, efficient delivery of quality, high standard services, effective patient outcome, integration of legislation with regards to communities, health service providers, local health authorities and the government (WHO, 2013). The outcome of quality of care is health consumer (patient) satisfaction. High newlineperformance Engagement reflects how employees are engaged in their work, with commitment and passion, rather than mere compliance to impact performance. Health care is a balancing act between business excellence newlineand quality outcomes in practice. It is from the premise of high performance engagement and quality of care provided to health consumers with patient centered focus, the pedestal of success in operational excellence is achieved. Purpose This study focuses on establishing Operational Excellence in relation to High Performance Engagement and Quality of Care among executives in the health care sector. Method A descriptive study was carried out using quantitative method with a sample of 410 health care executives from NABH accredited and nonaccredited hospitals and qualitative analysis among patients in Kerala. Results newlineThe results indicate a positive correlation of operational excellence with high performance engagement and quality of care. The independent variables, high performance engagement and quality of care are significant predictors of operational excellence. -
Modified carbon substrates for electrocatalytic oxidation of selected heterocyclic carbinols
Electrochemically modified carbon electrodes are used as a substrate for electrocatalytic oxidation of different heterocyclic carbinols. Carbon fiber paper (CFP) is newlineused as the electrode substrate on which various modifications are employed. Modified newlineelectrodes were prepared by using different surface modification strategies such as newlineelectrodeposition of Pd nanoparticles or Pd-Pt bimetallic nanoparticles on a conducting newlinepolymer, polyaniline which is electropolymerized on to CFP. Biomass derived porous carbon nanoparticle coated CFP was also used for electrodeposition of Pd nanoparticles or MnO2-Pi nanoparticles. These modified electrodes were physicochemically characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Optical profilometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrochemically characterized using Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). This modification methods have attracted a lot of attention due to their exceptional stability, high electronic conductivity, mechanical strength, and good adhesive property to the substrate and to the modified electrode. The modified electrodes show excellent electrochemical and newlinephysicochemical properties which are demonstrated using various analytical techniques. The organocatalytic reagent, TEMPO is used as a mediator throughout the studies which helps to carry out the oxidation of organic molecules in an aqueous acidic medium. The developed electrodes have been successfully applied for the oxidation of different heterocyclic alcohol such as 4-pyridinemethanol, 2-thiophene methanol, and 2-Furfuryl alcohol to corresponding 4-pyridinemethanal, 2-thiophene methanol and 2-Furfural. -
Modified carbon based electrodes for electrochemical sensing of biomolecules
Now-a-days a large variety of biological analytes are detected by highly sensitive newlineelectrochemical sensors which are inexpensive and simple as compared to conventional methods such as UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, spectrofluorometry, HPLC and gas chromatography. Electrochemical analysis is exceptional owing to its economical, low energy consuming and unique approach in the method design, and high sensitivity for the analyte determination. Carbon based electrochemical sensors are commonly used because of their low cost, good electron newlinetransfer kinetics, good chemical stability, and biocompatibility. Recently electrochemical properties of pencil graphite electrodes (PGEs) have been explored in the analysis of various organic compounds. High electrochemical reactivity, easy modification, commercial accessibility, fine rigidity, disposability and low-cost of PGE make it ideal to be used as an effective working electrode. The thesis presented explains different modified PGEs have been employed in the electrocatalytic determination biomolecules such as cholesterol, cortisol, Vitamin B6 and morin. newlineThe modified electrodes are effectively used for the ultra-level sensing of these biomolecules in real samples. The electroactive surface area and the conduvtivity of bare PGE is enhanced newlinedifferent electrode modifiers such as and#946;-CD, graphene, conducting polymer, metal oxides and metal nanoparticles. The modified electrodes are found to exhibit good electrocatalytic behavior towards the target biomolecules. Cyclic voltammetric (CV) studies and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic (EIS) technique were used to investigate the electrochemical properties of the modified sensing platform. The newlinemorphology and step wise fabrication process of the modified electrodes were characterized byvii Ramana spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS),scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). -
An efficient framework for scientific article recommendation system
Excess data makes it challenging to extract information that is relevant to a domain of study or research. Existing state-of-the-art systems focus majorly on the selection of highly connected, prestigious and cited articles, regardless of the relevance of papers. To improve quality of findings, recommender systems which are a subclass of information filtration systems are used. They filter out relevant information over prestigious data from an existing repository of information. There are various sub-domains under recommender systems. This study focuses on citation recommendation. Citations are an integral part of any scientific paper, academic dissertation or projects. Finding appropriate citations for any work is a scholar's most time-consuming task. Thus, a well-defined citation recommendation system provides fulfillment and completeness for citing the giants works. The thesis aims to study existing frameworks for citation recommendation systems and identify the best dataset to work on graph- based recommender systems. A framework that recommends the most similar and relevant article to the user rather than prestigious authors or papers is here by proposed. The study explores various machine learning and deep learning techniques and methods which can be used effectively in recommending loosely connected yet highly relevant articles. -
Antecedents of psychological capital and its consequences on affective commitment and psychological wellbeing
Jharkhand Education Board stakeholders face the problem of dealing with the educational environment, thereby escalating a teacher's morale. To address this situation, a positive mindset in education, particularly among teachers, is desirable. Hence, based on positive psychology discipline, conservation of resource theory, and broaden and build theory, the study was carried out using a sequential explanatory mixed-method study design. The research questions addressed in the study were as follows: To what extent can the categories of proactive personality, emotional intelligence, servant leadership, and perceived organizational support predict PsyCap of teachers? To what extent will PsyCap predict the categories of affective commitment and psychological wellbeing? I considered both quantitative and qualitative methods; hence, this study had two phases. In the first phase, the data was gathered from 722 teachers using the survey instruments. The statistical analyses performed were Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling with the software SPSS 20.0 and AMOS 20.0. For teachers of rural Jharkhand, the study found that psychological capital has three dimensions. Besides proactive personality, emotional intelligence, and servant leadership also impact psychological capital. Further, psychological capital affects affective commitment and psychological wellbeing. In the second phase, this study examined the way and the reason behind the functioning of the antecedents of psychological capital using qualitative content analysis. The results offered a comprehensive understanding and identification of the antecedents that form rural teachers' psychological capital. Implications of the research include recommendations for recruiting teachers with higher levels of psychological capital and professional development through in-service teachers' training with a specific focus on psychological capital. -
Design and development of an efficient model for handwritten modi script recognition
Machine simulation of human reading has caught the attention of computer science newlineresearchers since the introduction of digital computers. Character recognition, a branch of pattern recognition and computer vision, is the process of identifying either printed or handwritten text from document images and converting it into machinecoded text. Character recognition has been successfully implemented for various foreign language scripts like English, Chinese and Latin. In the case of Indian language scripts, the character recognition process is comparatively difficult due to various complexities such as the presence of the vowel modifiers and a large number of characters (class). MODI script is a shorthand form of Devanagari script and it was used as an official script for writing Marathi until 1952. Presently the script is not used officially, but has historical importance. MODI script is a cursive script and the character recognition task is difficult due to various reasons such as variations in the shapes of a character with different individuals and the presence of identical looking characters. MODI documents do not have any word demarcation symbols and that adds to the complexity of the task. The advances in various Machine Learning newlinetechniques have greatly contributed to the success of optical character recognition. newlineThe proposed work is aimed at exploring various Machine Learning techniques/ newlinemethods which can be effectively used in(to) recognizing(recognize) MODI script and newlinebuild a reliable and robust character recognition model for handwritten MODI script. This research work also aims at the development of a Machine Transliteration and text recognition system for MODI manuscripts. -
Operational excellence in relation to high performance engagement and quality of care among executives in the healthcare sector in kerala
Background Operational Excellence is a philosophy of leadership, teamwork and problem solving, to focus on the needs of the consumer, to empower employees, for ptimizing existing activities, continuous improvement and excellence. It is a competitive advantage which translates increased flexibility to improved consumer responsiveness, and lean management. Quality of care is about patient safety, institutional culture, attitude, clinical performance, clinical freedom with management as facilitators, efficient delivery of quality, high standard services, effective patient outcome, integration of legislation with regards to communities, health service providers, local health authorities and the government (WHO, 2013). The outcome of quality of care is health consumer (patient) satisfaction. High newlineperformance Engagement reflects how employees are engaged in their work, with commitment and passion, rather than mere compliance to impact performance. Health care is a balancing act between business excellence newlineand quality outcomes in practice. It is from the premise of high performance engagement and quality of care provided to health consumers with patient centered focus, the pedestal of success in operational excellence is achieved. Purpose This study focuses on establishing Operational Excellence in relation to High Performance Engagement and Quality of Care among executives in the health care sector. Method A descriptive study was carried out using quantitative method with a sample of 410 health care executives from NABH accredited and nonaccredited hospitals and qualitative analysis among patients in Kerala. Results newlineThe results indicate a positive correlation of operational excellence with high performance engagement and quality of care. The independent variables, high performance engagement and quality of care are significant predictors of operational excellence. -
Development and validation of an intimate relationship security scale
Relationships form an integral part of our lives, a key function being attachment. While newlineromantic relationships have mainly been studied with attachment theories as the basis,collectivistic cultures like India emphasize on togetherness more than individualism. To understand and measure security in any intimate relationship, a tool was developed, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods. An initial thematic analysis helped develop a basic model of relationship security that guided item generation. Items were developed to help newlinemeasure the newly operationalized construct, using stakeholders, literature review and social media. 520 participants, including both, marital and pre-marital and 7 experts, helped cut down the 206 item pool to (in the first phase of data collection) to 84 items. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted the second time on a sample of 486 participants that further narrowed down the scale to 58 items. The final confirmatory factor analysis, using SPSS AMOS, involved data collected from 408 participants. Validity, Reliability analysis and norms were developed for the final scale of 43 items. -
Sustainable tourism development through community based waste management in backwater destinations of kerala
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, (2002) solid waste newlinemanagement is a great challenge in many tourist destinations because improperly managed solid waste can threaten the environment as well as the life of the local community. Sewage waste and plastic material from tourism houseboats are increasing the pollution in the backwaters of south Kerala. These days it is not completely proper for touristic activities because of their physical and morphological attributes. This can lead to unsustainable negative impact on the backwater (Iskander and El 2014).Therefore this study was seeking to understand the influence of community based waste management towards the sustainable tourism development in the backwaters of south Kerala. The research adopted a descriptive research design. The study consists of three newlinecategories of stakeholders. Public sector, Private sector, and Local community. Public Sector stakeholders include Hotel Officials, Resorts officials and houseboat officials. Private sector stakeholder includes the government representative of concerned backwater destination. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), SEM Modelling are the various statistical techniques used in this study. Cross-case analysis was used to analyse newlinethe qualitative aspects of the research study. This study also develops and test a community based waste management model for newlinesustainable tourism development and considered the influence of factors on community support, community involvement, perceived benefits and perceived cost. The structural model indicates that increasing perceived benefits and decreasing perceived cost from backwater tourism would help to enhance community involvement and support for newlinesustainable tourism development in the backwaters of south Kerala. -
Effect of crude oil price changes on macro economy and capital market of India
Oil symbolizes an important role in the global economy. Crude oil or petroleum is an indispensable and a contributing factor for any economy. Several international crude oil price benchmarks (Brent, WTI, OPEC and so on) have always been tested through empirical studies to established certain cause-effect newlinerelationship and to determine their predictability. However, literature evidence is limited to Indian basket. Moreover, the need for forecasting this benchmark has newlinenot been acknowledged by the scholars. International crude oil price of Indian newlinebasket, also termed as Indian basket crude oil price, is the base of any petroleum newlineproduct pricing in India. Importing crude oil enhance the trade deficit of the nation. The present scenario of the global petroleum industry and the relationship among the major oil-producing and exporting countries are vulnerable. This situation increases the supply-side risk for the major oil-importing countries like India. In this state of affairs, it is vital to find out the factors that influence this price benchmark to reduce uncertainty. This research work aims to provide a holistic picture of the international crude oil price of Indian basket, considering the present scenario of the oil industry and lack of scholarly work on this field. Where on one side, the external factors affecting crude oil price has been determined, on the other hand how Indian economy and capital market is affected newlineby this price change have been found out. Triangulation method under a mixed approach has been adopted for this research work where quantitative and qualitative data collection have been run simultaneously. The time frame of the quantitative data collection is April, 2000 to March, 2018 and the frequency is newlinemonthly. Twenty experts have been interviewed to capture the qualitative aspects associated with the models. Four models have been proposed to execute the objectives.