This study provides evidence on the governance of CSR policies and activities by Indian central government-owned companies [i.e. Central Public Sector Enterprises ] within a unique mandatory regulatory setting. We utilise the multi-level ‘Logic of governance’ conceptual framework and draw upon interview data collected from 25 senior managers in 21 CPSEs to assess the dynamics of CSR implementation within CPSEs. Our findings indicate most managers believe that a mandatory policy has enhanced the accountability and commitment of governing boards and senior (...) management to CSR. However, CSR policy implementation within Indian CPSEs is still nascent, fraught with bureaucratic hurdles, insufficient human and knowledge resources, limited stakeholder analysis and over-emphasis on CSR budget utilisation as an outcome. Several key areas for improvements include the need for better translation of national CSR policy goals to firm-level strategies, more formal assessment of stakeholder needs, clearer communication lines with external service providers, such as NGOs and local government agencies, and the better evaluation of CSR outcomes. The findings of this study have implications for both theory and policy development. (shrink)

This paper explores the level of corporate social responsibility contributions disclosed by central public sector enterprises in India. This paper analyses the nature and quality of CSR disclosures made by CPSEs listed in India following the issue of CSR guidelines by the Department of Public Enterprises for CPSEs in March 2010. The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of CSR guidelines on the reporting practices of the CPSEs. A content analysis of annual reports across seven themes shows (...) that Human Resources and Community Development are the prime focus areas of CSR disclosures, whereas Carbon and Greenhouse Gas emissions are the least reported activity. The disclosures across all CSR themes are primarily narrative rather than quantitative or in monetary terms. The findings of the study may help policy makers in India to assess practices and devise detailed and specific CSRD requirements, rather than the current general mandatory requirements, to enhance the performance and quality of CSRDs by the CPSEs. (shrink)

Die Wissenschaften entstehen und entfalten sich innerhalb von historischen Kontexten. Dabei vollzieht sich die Kontextualisierung einzelner Wissenschaftsdisziplinen durch die historisch-kontextuale Ausweitung und Abgrenzung gegenuber anderen Wissenschaftsdisziplinen. Die vorliegende Abhandlung ist ein Versuch, in der Entwicklungsgeschichte einiger fruhneuzeitlicher Wissenschaftsdisziplinen eine zweifache Wurzel der Kontextualitat festzustellen: Einen internen bzw. einen der Wissenschaftsdisziplin innewohnenden Prozess der Kontextualisierung kann man aus ihrer Entwicklungsgeschichte herleiten. Diesen gilt es von einem externen, durch aussere Faktoren und neue Erkenntnisse auf anderen Feldern bedingten Prozess der Kontextualisierung abzugrenzen. Aus (...) diesem kontextualen Wechselspiel heraus lassen sich etliche Paradigmenwechsel in der fruhen Neuzeit besser verstehen. Die Untersuchung geht von Fallstudien aus, wie sie in mechanischen und naturwissenschaftlichen Schriften von Descartes, Kepler, Galilei, Newton, Hooke und Boyle zu finden sind. (shrink)

Gogineni, Babu Ravulapally village in Nalgonda District of Andhra Pradesh was enrolled in the 'Adopt a Dalit Village project' as it received generous support from the Council of Australian Humanist Societies in 2012.

Gogineni, Babu I asked Mr Salve, 'What exactly happened, and what gave you the strength to fight your case? Your job as an English teacher was at risk, and your own colleagues shunned you. You are from the Dalit community, and you live in Maharashtra state where militant religion has frequently silenced dissenters - how could you hold out for 7 years?'.

Der tranzendentale Status der Sinnlichkeit -- Die Analogizität der Sinnlichkeit -- Die Ausdehnung der Sinnlichkeit -- Vom Subjekt zum Objekt.

Krishnachandra's re-articulation of Kant's transcendental system challenges Kant's conceptualization of 'apperceptive self' conceived as a logical function which is as well the precondition of all our knowledge claims. In Kant's framework, though this "unity of consciousness" is projected as a principle, which undertakes a foundational role as 'apperceptive I', it is capacitated with merely a logical function. Krishnachandra disagrees with Kant's reduction of function of the "self" to a logical process. This reduction would render knowledge of the "self" to be (...) an inferential knowledge, thus making this derivation analogous to the proofs of the transcendental conditions of understanding and sensibility through the logical process of deductions. Krishnachandra's question is: whether this equation established between logical function of 'apperception' and the "self" will suffice to establish the "certitude" of knowledge claims. This is the first task Krishnachandra addresses in his work, Studies in Kant which is elucidated in the following section of this paper. Further, we will see how Krishnachandra’s exploration into the dynamics of this problem leads him to alternatively foreground the "unity", which is much sought by Kantian scholars, between the theoretical and the practical domains of Reason. (shrink)

In medical research involving human participants, investigators follow procedures specified in the study protocol. This differs from the patient-provider relationship where individualized decisions...

Cloud computing deals with voluminous heterogeneous data, and there is a need to effectively distribute the load across clusters of nodes to achieve optimal performance in terms of resource usage, throughput, response time, reliability, fault tolerance, and so on. The swarm intelligence methodologies use artificial intelligence to solve computationally challenging problems like load balancing, scheduling, and resource allocation at finite time intervals. In literature, sufficient works are being carried out to address load balancing problem in the cloud using traditional swarm (...) intelligence techniques like ant colony optimization, particle swarm optimization, cuckoo search, bat optimization, and so on. But the traditional swarm intelligence techniques have issues with respect to convergence rate, arriving at the global optimum solution, complexity in implementation and scalability, which limits the applicability of such techniques in cloud domain. In this paper, we look into performance modeling aspects of some of the recent competitive swarm artificial intelligence based techniques like the whale, spider, dragonfly, and raven which are used for load balancing in the cloud. The results and analysis are presented over performance metrics such as total execution time, response time, resource utilization rate, and throughput achieved, and it is found that the performance of the raven roosting algorithm is high compared to other techniques. (shrink)

Recognition of sarcastic statements has been a challenge in the process of sentiment analysis. A sarcastic sentence contains only positive words conveying a negative sentiment. Therefore, it is tough for any automated machine to identify the exact sentiment of the text in the presence of sarcasm. The existing systems for sarcastic sentiment detection are limited to the text scripted in English. Nowadays, researchers have shown greater interest in low resourced languages such as Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Indonesian, etc. (...) To analyse these low resource languages, the biggest challenge is the lack of available resources, especially in the context of Indian languages. Indian languages are very rich in morphology which pose a greater challenge for the automated machines. Telugu is one of the most popular languages after Hindi among Indian languages. In this article, we have collected and annotated a corpus of Telugu conversation sentences in the form of a question followed by a reply for sarcasm detection. Further, a set of algorithms are proposed for the analysis of sarcasm in the corpus of Telugu conversation sentences. The proposed algorithms are based on hyperbolic features namely, Interjection, Intensifier, Question mark and Exclamation symbol. The achieved accuracy is 94%. (shrink)

Learning in college often extends beyond classrooms and formal instruction. Various forms of student organisings can allow for learning beyond institutional curricula. In this paper, using two examples of collective mobilisations, I argue for paying keener attention to the informal within formal education spaces. Both the instances under discussion occur around the space of the hostel - located within the formal educational institution and yet, away from the formalised processes of learning and teaching. In varied ways, however, the forms of (...) conversation that marks the coming together of students, has pedagogic significance. Specifically, conceiving students mobilising as an instance of anti-caste assertion or against implicitly accepted gender norms, I argue, provides students newer ways of thinking about the world - and must thus be conceptualised as learning. Not only are these informal learning spaces significant for the varied ways they could impact students; they are also important in holding the possibility to question hegemonic practices in educational institutions, and society at large. (shrink)

Purpose This study aims to explore the potential of mobile assistive technology as a vocational tool for blind workers. Specifically, it investigates: Can MAT-enabled BW to perform better at the workplace and will insight into MAT-enabled capabilities impact employer perception regarding BW employability. Design/methodology/approach Exploratory case study which draws on theories of fit to analyze observational and interview data at an organization familiar with employing, training and referring BW. Findings MAT can increase blind worker job fit, positively impacting their performance, (...) self-reliance and managerial perceptions regarding their employability. Research limitations/implications A conceptual framework is articulated which expands current literature on fit to better account for the assistive potential of mobile technology for differently abled workers. Practical implications The positive impact of MAT on managerial perceptions of BW fit and employability can inform the regimes of employers, job skills trainers, vocational rehabilitation specialists and policy makers. Social implications Insights on the use of MAT as a vocational tool can reduce the systemic workplace disenfranchisement of blind people. Originality/value This paper presents novel theory which accounts for the impact of MAT on the job fit of differently abled workers. (shrink)

This essay will discuss the hegemonic role that texts have come to play in the historiography of subcontinental mathematical traditions. It will argue that texts need to be studied as records of practices of people's working lives, grounded in social hierarchies. We will take particular mathematical texts to show how different occupational registers have come to shape practices that defy the binaries of concrete and abstract, high and low mathematics or the pure and applied conundrum. Measuring, counting and accounting practices (...) as part of the routine work of practitioners performing their caste occupations then provide us with a spectrum of the computational activities that controlled and regulated the lives of people in the past. In the process the act of computing itself gained certain political values such as cunning and manipulation, identified with professions of village accountant and merchant, for example. Drawn from my earlier work on these records, I discuss the occupational role of the accountant as a political functionary who assessed and authenticated the measurements of land and produce in the village, making values of the labor performed by others, and creating avenues for his own proficiency as a mathematical practitioner. (shrink)

Businesses have voluntarily adopted environmental strategies to go beyond compliance. This can be attributed to: a) business community's realisation that environmental investments have the potential to improve business performance and b) pressure from multiple stakeholder groups. In order to improve business relations with the stakeholders, business needs to identify these stakeholder groups and also understand their environmental concerns across the entire life cycle of the product. The first part of this paper deals with relevant theory and introduces a framework to (...) analyse significant environmental stakeholder groups and their influence across its entire life cycle on corporate behaviour. The second part of the paper presents a system approach to improve stakeholders' satisfaction and further develops a model based on Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to measure stakeholders' satisfaction. The results are discussed through a case of a steel manufacturing unit in India. The paper closes with a discussion of research implications. (shrink)

This study investigates the value of sharing. The primary data are the parent–child discourses regarding the value of sharing. The discourses are subsequently subjected to discourse analyses. The study also involves a semi-structured interview with the same parents who were a part of the discursive study as well. The data of the interview were subjected to thematic analyses. The aim of conducting the interview was to validate the discursive findings. The study provides exemplary discourses highlighting the issues of sacrifice and (...) reciprocity in sharing. (shrink)

This paper illustrates how Kant’s demand for “systematicity” couches his metaphysics necessarily in a scientific idea of metaphysics. Though Kant’s take on metaphysics is induced by an urge for systematizing metaphysics along the contours of the “scientific” paradigm, this quest for systematization is, at the same time, meant as a scathing attack on, what Kant calls, “dogmatic” metaphysics. It is as an antidote to such “dogmatic” metaphysics that Kant articulates his transcendental metaphysics primarily as a “critical” and “scientific” enterprise. In (...) this background, this paper takes a closer look at the methodological moves that are involved in making his case, in order to track the steps involved in the body of argument that constitute Kant’s critical metaphysics. The focus of the paper is to delineate the contingent and necessary methodological moves that come to define Kant’s championing for scientific metaphysics. Consequently, the paper will seek to illuminate the “incongruous” ground upon which Kant’s idea of “critical” metaphysics itself stands with respect to the distinction he makes between the actuality and the possibility of metaphysics. (shrink)

Our aim in this article is to define the difficulties that clinical ethics services encounter when they are asked to demonstrate the value a clinical ethics service (CES) could and should have for an institution and those it serves. The topic emerged out of numerous related presentations at the Un- Conference hosted by the Cleveland Clinic in August 2018 that identified challenges of articulating the value of clinical ethics work for hospital administrators. After a review these talks, it was apparent (...) that the field of clinical ethics may be at a crisis of sorts due to increased pressure to provide explicit measures to healthcare institutions to concretely demonstrate that CESs make a valuable difference in healthcare delivery. In this article, we grapple with how to satisfy the need for demonstrable value in a field in which metrics alone may not capture the scope of clinical ethics practice. We suggest that capturing the value of a CES has been difficult because the benefits of ethics consultation may be overt or attributable to the CES, but are often hidden due to the systems-level and process-oriented nature of clinical ethics work. Part of the difficulty in demonstrating the value of CESs is capturing and conveying all of the ways the integration of a CES throughout an institution positively affects patients, families, visitors, healthcare professionals, administrators, and the institution itself. Our aim is to (1) elucidate the multifaceted value added by a CES, including value that tends to be hidden and (2) suggest how to demonstrate value to others in a way that is not simplistic or reductionistic. (shrink)

This article introduces the notion of duplex elements of the finite rings and corresponding neutrosophic rings. The authors establish duplex ring Dup(R) and neutrosophic duplex ring Dup(R)I)) by way of various illustrations. The tables of different duplicities are constructed to reveal the comparison between rings Dup(Zn), Dup(Dup(Zn)) and Dup(Dup(Dup(Zn ))) for the cyclic ring Zn . The proposed duplicity structures have several algebraic systems with dissimilar consequences. Author’s characterize finite rings with R + R is different from the duplex ring (...) Dup(R). However, this characterization supports that R + R = Dup(R) for some well known rings, namely zero rings and finite fields. (shrink)

The US neutrino community gathered at the Workshop on the Intermediate Neutrino Program at Brookhaven National Laboratory February 4-6, 2015 to explore opportunities in neutrino physics over the next five to ten years. Scientists from particle, astroparticle and nuclear physics participated in the workshop. The workshop examined promising opportunities for neutrino physics in the intermediate term, including possible new small to mid-scale experiments, US contributions to large experiments, upgrades to existing experiments, R&D plans and theory. The workshop was organized into (...) two sets of parallel working group sessions, divided by physics topics and technology. Physics working groups covered topics on Sterile Neutrinos, Neutrino Mixing, Neutrino Interactions, Neutrino Properties and Astrophysical Neutrinos. Technology sessions were organized into Theory, Short-Baseline Accelerator Neutrinos, Reactor Neutrinos, Detector R&D and Source, Cyclotron and Meson Decay at Rest sessions.This report summarizes discussion and conclusions from the workshop. (shrink)

Recent sequencing of the metazoan Oikopleura dioica genome has provided important insights, which challenges the current understanding of eukaryotic genome evolution. Many genomic features of O. dioica show deviation from the commonly observed trends in other eukaryotic genomes. For instance, O. dioica has a rapidly evolving, highly compact genome with a divergent intron‐exon organization. Additionally, O. dioica lacks the minor spliceosome and key DNA repair pathway genes. Even with a compact genome, O. dioica contains tandem repeats, comparable to other eukaryotes, (...) and shows lineage‐specific expansion of certain protein domains. Here, we review its genomic features in the context of current knowledge, discuss implications for contemporary biology and identify areas for further research. Analysis of the O. dioica genome suggests that non‐adaptive forces such as elevated mutation rates might influence the evolution of genome architecture. The knowledge of unique genomic features and splicing mechanisms in O. dioica may be exploited for synthetic biology applications, such as generation of orthogonal splicing systems. (shrink)

Automatic moving object detection and tracking is very important task in video surveillance applications. In the present work the well known background subtraction model and use of Gaussian Mixture Models have been used to implement a robust automated single object tracking system. In this implementation, background subtraction on subtracting consecutive frame-by-frame basis for moving object detection is done. Once the object has been detected it is tracked by employing an efficient GMM technique. After successful completion of tracking, moving object recognition (...) of those objects using well known Principal Component Analysis, which is used for extracting features and Manhattan based distance metric is used for subsequent classification purpose. The system is capable of handling entry and exit of an object. Such a tracking system is cost effective and can be used as an automated video conferencing system and also has applications like human tracking, vehicles monitoring, and event recognition for video surveillance. The proposed algorithm was tested on standard database on complex environments and the results were satisfactory. (shrink)

Farmer participatory approaches were used to identify problems and needs as perceived by local people and to develop strategies to achieve fodder security in south Indian villages. Indigenous knowledge systems as they relate to agroforestry were explored. The farmer participatory approaches have laid the foundations for selecting appropriate agroforestry technologies and developing suitable fodder security policy options. Potential benefits and risks as a result of implementing agroforestry projects were also discussed.

V tomto článku analyzuji virální video Přemluv bábu, které mělo ambice zasáhnout do voleb do Poslanecké sněmovny Parlamentu České republiky v roce 2010. Ke klipu přistupuji z pozice kritické diskurzivní analýzy, pracuji především s předpoklady, koncepty a analytickými nástroji Normana Fairclougha, který pomáhal CDA rozvíjet a v akademickém poli prosadit. Tvrdím, že klip Přemluv bábu těží z pružnosti, respektive uhýbavosti postmoderního diskurzu, což mohlo smysl jeho výpovědi i její naléhavost spíše oslabit a znečitelnit než podepřít. Demonstruji na příkladech a snažím (...) se identifikovaným ambivalencím porozumět s ohledem na kontext intertextový, interdiskurzivní, situační a socio-politický. (shrink)

V textu představuji dva přístupy k argumentační analýze: neformálně-logickou analýzu založenou na práci Ralpha H. Johnsona a J. Anthonyho Blaira a argumentační schémata od Douglase Waltona. V první části definuji oba dva přístupy a vysvětluji jejich vzájemný vztah. Dále vysvětluji základní pojmy obou přístupů – definuji argument, interní argument, implicitní premisu a PZ-strukturu, argumentační schéma a kritické otázky. Věnuji se i popisu jejich výhod a nevýhod. V druhé, praktické části textu aplikuji definované nástroje na video Přemluv bábu. Formuluji tři výzkumné (...) otázky, na které odpovídám. V rámci odpovědi na první předkládám PZ-strukturu argumentace z videa. Záměrem druhé otázky je identifikace argumentačních schémat v analyzované struktuře, kde považuji za nejdůležitější argument apelující na strach. Účelem poslední otázky je hledání odpovědí na kritické otázky související s identifikovaným schématem. Docházím k závěru, že protagonisté argumentu neodpovídají na otázky uspokojivě. Záměrem textu je předložit případovou studii, na které ukážu, jak analyzovat argumentační text pomocí zvolených přístupů. (shrink)

Text představuje pragma-dialektický přístup k argumentaci. Věnuje se představení nástrojů standardní verze i rozšířené verze. Následně ilustruje užití předložených nástrojů na případové analýze videa „Přemluv bábu“. Standardní verze je využita k zodpovězení otázky „Jakou argumentaci Mádl a Issová předkládají? Je zde představen postup rekonstrukce argumentační výpovědi: identifikaci argumentačně relevantních prvků textu a rekonstrukci argumentační struktury a užitých argumentačních schémat. Rozšířená verze pragma-dialektiky je užita k zodpovězení otázky „Jaké argumentační strategie Mádl a Issová používají, aby zvýšili přijatelnost vzhledem k zamýšlenému publiku?“ (...) Je zde předložena charakterizace typu komunikační aktivity angažované politické komedie a omezení, které z jejích konvencí vyplývají. Následně je předložena analýza strategie užití tzv. strategické kontraproduktivity. (shrink)

Veeraswamy, JD; Gogineni, Babu As part of the Adopt a Dalit Village Project the following awareness programs were organized to help bring the Dalits of Ravulapally out of a life of superstition and to point them to a life of scientific temper. This was done through various activities, all of which were aimed to provide an overall boost to the human development of the community, by involving them in their own growth, in such a manner as to build capacity (...) and capability within the community. (shrink)

Příspěvek se zaobírá Toulminovým přístupem k argumentaci. Hlavním cílem je přitom představit tento přístup a ukázat jeho aplikaci na vybraném materiálu. Klíčová otázka poté zní: V čem je Toulminův přístup stále aktuální a co může při zkoumání argumentů přinést? Cíle i odpovědi na otázku je dosahováno ve dvou základních krocích. V prvním kroku je probrána teorie argumentu, jak ji Toulmin prezentuje především ve své knize The Uses of Argument. Ve druhém kroku je pak Toulminův přístup aplikován na vybraný materiál, konkrétně (...) na videospot Přemluv bábu. Pozornost je přitom věnována zejména modelu argumentu, doménové závislosti, logickým typům a druhům argumentu. V příspěvku je nakonec ukázáno, že Toulmin je stále diskutovaný a teoreticky podnětný, a také to, že jeho aplikace na vybraný materiál může poskytnout dobrá vodítka pro hodnocení tohoto materiálu i v případech, kdy toto hodnocení není možné udělat jednoznačně pomocí formálních nástrojů. (shrink)