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The study examines the association between trade (exports and imports), foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth in the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) countries using data from 1991 to 2019.

Augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF) and Phillips–Perron (PP) unit root tests were applied to check the stationary of the data while the Johansen cointegration test and Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) was used to analyze long-run and short-run relationships.

The results indicate a long-run relationship between trade, FDI and economic growth in all selected countries except Bhutan. Additionally, a bidirectional causality exists between gross domestic product (GDP) and FDI in India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, while unidirectional causality from GDP to FDI is observed in Thailand. Moreover, a one-way causality from exports to GDP exists in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, whereas a bidirectional relationship exists in India and Thailand.

This paper will be highly beneficial for regulators and policymakers in the designated economies, aiding in the formulation of FDI and trade policies that promote economic progress and development.

Most previous studies examining the relationship between macroeconomic variables have focused on developed nations. This study is the first to explore the relationship between trade (exports and imports), FDI and economic growth in the BIMSTEC countries.

After being forced to flee their respective home countries, Sri Lankan Tamils and Rohingya refugees resettled in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This study attempts to explore the extent to which the state has provided means for integration in the absence of refugee protection laws and citizenship.

A qualitative research approach was used, including in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) with participants from both refugee groups between 2019 and early 2020. A representative sample of male and female Sri Lankan Tamils, living in or outside government camps, in urban and rural areas, was included (total number = 75). Similarly, a representative sample of the Rohingya refugee community was included for this study (n = 44).

Despite constraints imposed by inadequate infrastructure, the study finds that Sri Lankan Tamils and Rohingyas both show to be progressively integrated in local society and have been capable of fulfilling some important basic livelihood needs, especially with regards to education. Some areas for improvement are identified as well, most urgently in terms of health and accommodation.

Other states in India, as well as in similar low-income countries (LICs), could learn from the current case study with regards to administering workable policies for small groups of refugees.

With minimal state facilitation and within the context of limited legal backing, refugee groups have somewhat managed to re-built their lives. This study identifies the threshold of requirements that make this achievement possible and suggests what more could be done to further advance the current state.

The purpose of this paper was to analyse the research trends on the Indian Open and Distance Education (ODE) system as reflected in the articles published in the prominent journals of distance education across the world.

A study was undertaken to review the research articles on ODE in India published in 11 prominent peer-reviewed journals of distance education during the period 2010–2019. Content analysis was done to find out areas of research undertaken in the ODE of India based on a validated classification of research areas; types of research studies conducted; and authorship and publication patterns.

Out of a total of 2,571 articles published in 11 selected journals, only 191 (7.42%) pertained to ODE in India. The majority of these 191 articles (68.42%) were published in Indian journals. The Indian and Asian journals together accounted for 93.55% of total articles. Globally, the share of articles on the Indian ODE system was significantly low ranging between 4.27 and a maximum of 10.77%, which was much below expectations from a country having the maximum number of ODE learners in the world. Results further revealed that 63% of the contributors to research on ODE in India were affiliated to Indira Gandhi National Open University.

The limitation of this study was only analysing the research articles published in journals of distance education and other types of articles, namely, book reviews, editorials, field notes and workshop reports were excluded from the analysis.

The study is intended to help researchers, policymakers, and open and distance education institutions to draw a roadmap for the promotion and conduct of system-based research, which would be vital for strengthening the system.

The quantum of research is not proportionate to the number of faculty members working in the ODE system of India and the large number of learners that it serves, which is a matter of concern. For any system to grow its periodic systemic review is essential. The research outcomes need to be ploughed back into the system for its betterment.

The study is original. There is no such study undertaken till date. This study will be extremely useful to researchers, as the gaps in distance education research which are yet to be addressed, have been identified by the authors.

Due to its boundless potential applications, Wireless Sensor Networks have been subject to much research in the last two decades. WSNs are often deployed in remote environments making replacement of batteries not feasible. Low energy consumption being of prime requisite led to the development of energy-efficient routing protocols. The proposed routing algorithms seek to prolong the lifetime of sensor nodes in the relatively unexplored area of 3D WSNs. The schemes use chain-based routing technique PEGASIS as basis and employ genetic algorithm to build the chain instead of the greedy algorithm. Proposed schemes will incorporate an energy and distance aware CH selection technique to improve load balancing. Clustering of the network is also implemented to reduce number of nodes in a chain and hence reduce delay. Simulation of our proposed protocols is carried out for homogeneous networks considering separately cases for a static base-station inside and outside the network. Results indicate considerable improvement in lifetime over PEGASIS of 817% and 420% for base station inside and outside the network respectively. Residual energy and delay performance are also considered.

With the increasing acclaim of Wireless Sensor Networks and its diverse applications, research has been directed into optimising and prolonging the network lifetime. Energy efficiency has been a critical factor due to the energy resource impediment of batteries in sensor nodes. The proposed routing algorithm therefore aims at extending lifetime of sensors by enhancing load distribution in the network. The scheme is based on the chain-based routing technique of the PEGASIS (Power Energy GAthering in Sensor Information Systems) protocol and uses Ant Colony Optimisation to obtain the optimal chain. The contribution of the proposed work is the integration of the clustering method to PEGASIS with Ant Colony Optimisation to reduce redundancy of data, neighbour nodes distance and transmission delay associated with long links, and the employment an appropriate cluster head selection method. Simulation results indicates proposed method’s superiority in terms of residual energy along with considerable improvement regarding network lifetime, and significant reduction in delay when compared with existing PEGASIS protocol and optimised PEG-ACO chain respectively.

The study focuses on academic stress among the students due to insufficient efforts and intrapersonal conflicts amid the COVID-19 situation. The purpose of this study is to measure the mediating role of academic stress between life dissatisfaction and adequate steps and intrapersonal conflicts.

The researcher had surveyed 729 students from the two states, including Haryana and Punjab and 716 responses were used for analysis. These respondents were approached in April–May 2020 to explore the impact of COVID-19. The questionnaire was prepared with the help of Google form, including 29 questions. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to validate the research model and for testing the hypothesis.

The findings indicate that intra-personal conflict and insufficient efforts have a significant positive relation with academic stress. Also, intrapersonal conflict and insufficient efforts have a significant positive relation with life dissatisfaction. It has been reported that academic stress mediates the relationship between life dissatisfaction and intra-personal conflict. The results also reveal that academic stress is positively and significantly associated with life dissatisfaction.

This is one of the few studies that explored the mediating role of academic stress between life dissatisfaction and insufficient efforts and intrapersonal conflicts.

The performance of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) applications is bounded by the limited resources of battery-enabled Sensor Nodes (SNs), which include energy and computational power; the combination of which existing research seldom focuses on. Although bio-inspired algorithms provide a way to control energy usage by finding optimal routing paths, those which converge slower require even more computational power, which altogether degrades the overall lifetime of SNs.

Hence, two novel routing protocols are proposed using the Red-Deer Algorithm (RDA) in a WSN scenario, namely Horizontal PEG-RDA Equal Clustering and Horizontal PEG-RDA Unequal Clustering, to address the limited computational power of SNs. Clustering, data aggregation and multi-hop transmission are also integrated to improve energy usage. Unequal clustering is applied in the second protocol to mitigate the hotspot problem in Horizontal PEG-RDA Equal Clustering.

Comparisons with the well-founded Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) algorithm reveal that RDA converges faster by 85 and 80% on average when the network size and node density are varied, respectively. Furthermore, 33% fewer packets are lost using the unequal clustering approach which also makes the network resilient to node failures. Improvements in terms of residual energy and overall network lifetime are also observed.

Proposal of a bio-inspired algorithm, namely the RDA to find optimal routing paths in WSN and to enhance convergence rate and execution time against the well-established ACO algorithm. Creation of a novel chain cluster-based routing protocol using RDA, named Horizontal PEG-RDA Equal Clustering. Design of an unequal clustering equivalent of the proposed Horizontal PEG-RDA Equal Clustering protocol to tackle the hotspot problem, which enhances residual energy and overall network lifetime, as well as minimises packet loss.

The main aim of the existing study is to assess work-home interaction which is a challenge to human resource management (HRM).

The existing research is primary in nature. The sample size of the study is 285. The responses obtained from structured questionnaire. The qualitative data collected from secondary sources. For quantitative analysis various statistical tools have been applied, namely, Cronbach Alpha test, Correlation analysis and Regression analysis. The variables understudy was work environment, training opportunities, career opportunities, pay structure and technology factors.

As the recent pandemic continues to spread, all institutions should essentially remain alert and adaptable to new circumstances. HRM was essential throughout the pandemic, but now more than ever HR professionals must go above and beyond to meet the demands of organizations. The purpose of this study was to illuminate some of the most significant HR concerns that have surfaced in the aftermath of recent pandemics.

Employees' perspectives on work and life have shifted as a result of the added stress brought on by pandemic. So, businesses should provide crucial care to their workers' spirits and also HR professionals should pay close attention to their concerns and address the same thoughtfully.

The research adds to the current literature by illuminating the additional HR difficulties that have emerged in the wake of the global epidemic. More research may reveal additional significant HR difficulties, but these are a good place to start.

The objective of this study is to establish the current state of library and information science (LIS) scholarship pertaining to anti-racism, equity, inclusion and social justice initiatives.

Using comprehensive search strategies, three LIS databases were searched for relevant literature published in the last 10 years and results were exported and de-duplicated using Endnote. Citations were screened by two blinded, independent reviewers based on pre-defined eligibility criteria. Citations in the final data set were then hand coded by three reviewers using deductive coding. Subject terms for all citations were categorized and consolidated to identify major themes across the corpus of included publications. Results were analyzed using bibliometrics and thematic analysis.

A total of 691 unique citations were included in this analysis based on inclusion criteria. Publication productivity has generally increased from 2011 to 2020; findings show publications from 170 source titles and 944 authors representing 33 countries. Prevalent themes included access to information, multiculturalism and social justice. Various populations groups, areas of LIS practice, library types and social justice topics have been addressed in the literature. Over 15% of citations focused on anti-racism efforts in LIS.

This study applied both bibliometric and thematic approaches to analyzing LIS literature at macro and micro levels regarding anti-racism, equity, inclusion and social justice.

As a solution to these crises, bringing back the feminine sensitivity can become a welcome change. The Bishnoi community, in particular, propagated Eco-feminism for the cause of the environment. Therefore, this paper aims to study the community in detail along with suggesting a Bishnoi Environment Protection Model as an Indian indigenous solution to the global environmental problems.

The method of obtaining information was a detailed questionnaire-based interview along with multiple focus group discussions. The interviews were conducted with the women who belong to the Bishnoi community and who are actively taking forward the ethos of their community. Interviews were conducted across a span of different villages to cover a different portion of the Bishnoi population. Adding to this, multiple focus group discussions took place in the temple, wild-life protection center, Self-help group women's households, community meetings.

Religion and science are complementary and supplementary to each other in the true sense. It would be good to recall what the greatest scientist had said “Science without religion is blind and religion without science is lame”.

The research limitation of this paper is that it is a field study-based research wherein the research findings are the outcomes of personal interviews with the village community people. The limitation, therefore, lies in the simplicity of the research arguments put forward in this paper. The implication of this research would be to challenge the dominant research paradigms in the field of Eco-feminism and Climate Change and bring grass root narratives to the forefront.

The practical implication of this research paper is that in Environment related policy solutions, rural women should be appointed as consultants of advisors in the high profile decision-making policy groups. It would make the process very democratic and rooted in ground-level solutions. If the Bishnoi community women of India are given their due regard they would eventually play significant roles in the decision-making groups at the national and international levels.

Other than having a policy implication, this research paper has a social implication too. The community narratives which have been hidden for so long in the remote villages of India will come to the forefront and help as a guiding force.

This paper recommends that India should propagate its culturally-rooted principles such as the one in Jambhoji's commandments. India should strongly put these normative values in the international organizations and contribute to a new epistemology of knowledge in the counter effect of existing ones. This would make a paradigm shift at the level of the knowledge-power in which the developed nations manipulate the rest of the world. The new terminologies, concepts, agendas, goals should be formulated by deriving the knowledge from age-old communities in India. The people of these communities have even given their lives for the protection of the environment.