Call for Papers: International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science [LD: 17/01/2015]

Call for Papers: International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science [LD: 17/01/2015]

CALL FOR PAPERS: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE

ISSN: 2307-924X

Submission deadline: January 17, 2015.

About: International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science (IJLASS) is a high quality open access peer reviewed research journal that is published by Center for Enhancing Knowledge, UK. International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science providing a platform for the researchers, academicians, professional, practitioners and students to impart and share knowledge in the form of high quality empirical and theoretical research papers, case studies, literature reviews and book reviews. International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science welcomes and acknowledges high quality theoretical and empirical original research papers, case studies, review papers, literature reviews, book reviews, conceptual framework, analytical and simulation models, technical note from researchers, academicians, professional,  practitioners and students from all over the world.

The Journal Publishes in both print and online version.

International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science publishes research paper in the field of Social Science, entrepreneurship development, hotel and tourism, international relations, law, development studies, population studies, political science, history, journalism and mass communication, corporate governance, visual arts, music, linguistics, cross-cultural studies, public administration, psychology, philosophy, sociology, women studies, religious studies, social welfare, anthropology, linguistics, education and so more in the field of humanities and social science.

IJLASS is inviting papers for Vol. 3 No. 1 which is scheduled to be published on January 25, 2015. 

Send your manuscript to the editor at editor@ijlass.org, or editor.ijlass@hotmail.com

For more information, visit the official website of the journal: http://www.ijlass.org/

CONTACT: Editor In Chief, Dr. Peter Hill, International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science
Email: editor@ijlass.org

Does it pay to be a farmer in India?

What the data shows on farm incomes, and whether farmers can make ends meet

How profitable is farming? The answer to this most fundamental question about Indian agriculture can be found in the National Sample Survey Office’s new surveyof India’s agricultural households.

The average farm household makes Rs 6,426 per month. Where does this money come from? Farm households do a mix of jobs. Who are most farmers selling their crops to? First of all, over half of wheat and rice grown is not sold at all, and is purely for the farm household’s consumption. Of what is sold, the vast majority is sold to the private trader, and not the state-run mandi or procurement agency. Among those who sell to the procurement agency, a minority report having got the Minimum Support Price for their produce.

Farmers often talk about the high – and rising – costs of inputs, including water, seeds and pesticides. So how does the output they earn compare with the inputs they put into the land?

Input costs work out to nearly 30 per cent of the total output an average farm household gets from a crop.

Among inputs, fertilizers are the most expensive, followed by labour.s you can see, a farm household needs to have at least 1 hectare of land to make ends meet every month. But given that over 65 per cent of households have less than one hectare of land, this means that two out of three farm households are simply not able to make ends meet.Unsurprisingly, what this translates into is debt. Over half of all agricultural households are indebted, and these are not small debts; the average loan amount outstanding for a farm household in India today is Rs. 47,000. For marginal farmers, making under Rs 4,000 per month, which doesn’t even cover their consumption, loans of over Rs 30,000 must be extremely heavy burdens.

The southern states stand out for their level of indebtedness.Who are farmers borrowing from? Marginal farmers rely chiefly on moneylenders, while those with bigger landholdings go to banks, the data shows.

	E-Education Through Broadband Facility

New Delhi: The Ministry of HRD is presently implementing the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) to leverage the potential of ICT, in teaching and learning process for the benefit of all the learners in Higher Education Institutions in any time any where mode. Under the Mission, more than 700 courses in various disciplines in engineering and science are available on-line under National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL). E-content for 8 undergraduate subjects has also been generated by the Consortium of Educational Communication (CEC) in collaboration with its Media Centers. Over 100 Virtual Labs in 9 Engineering & Science disciplines, comprising about 770 experiments are currently ready for use and available. 1500 Spoken Tutorials are available on line. More than 200 courses for design have been created. The details about NMEICT Mission are available at www.nmeict.ac.in. Using computer infrastructure and connectivity, the reach of these facilities is ensured to the learners. 

The broadband infrastructure facility is the medium to access the internet. Anybody connected to internet using this infrastructure can have access to all the e-content relating to education available on the World Wide Web. 

This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha question. 

Dec 24 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

EMPOWERMENT THROUGH AWARENESS





The success of consumer movement mainly depends upon the level of consumer awareness generated in the country by educating the consumers about their rights and responsibilities

Awareness of consumer rights is dismal, espe cially among the population in rural and far-flung areas of the country. It also varies in different regions in the country. Compared to the developed countries, the levels of consumer awareness in such a vast country with a large population like India is much lower.This is rooted in economic inequality, low levels of literacy and ignorance. Because of this, consumers are not able to assert their rights and on many occasions are exploited by the trade and industry and service providers. Protecting and promoting the welfare of consumers has thus become one of the major concerns.
Educating more than 110 crore people of various categories of population particularly those in rural areas where consumers are more susceptible to exploitation, on various subject matters on consumer interests which are being dealt by different ministriesdepartment, is a gigantic task that can only be undertaken as a sustained national programme with adequate funds made available for the purpose.
Globalisation and liberalisation of trade and business has resulted in many products and services being available to the consumers.Growth in economy has resulted in increase in the purchasing power of the middle class section, which is the largest segment of the population. This has necessitated giving high priority for the protection of the consumers and promotion of responsible consumer move ment in the country.
The necessity of import substitution and export promotion for building up a sound economy and fiscal base in the country and lack of adequate industrial testing facilities in the country has necessitated improved adop tion of Indian Standards by industry, large scale purchasing organisations, statutory bodies and universities.
With the gradual withdrawal of the government from various sectors in the post-liberalization era, the need has been felt that various operators in the commodities market be provided with a mechanism to hedge and transfer their risks.India's obligation under WTO to open agriculture sector to world trade would require futures trade in a wide variety of primary commodities and their products to enable diverse market functionaries to cope with the price volatility prevailing in the world markets.
Several factors such as increased demand due to economic growth, shortfall in domestic prices of essential commodities, hardening of international prices, changes in consumption pattern and loss of crop due to natural factors have resulted in increase in price of essential commodities. Consumer grievances redressal mecha nism, various consumer organisations, academic institutions and research organisations can supple ment the efforts of the gov ernment and can be vehicles for effective launch of a mas sive consumer movement in the country. State govern ments also have a role to play in efficiently imple menting various pro grammes at grassroots level.
The Department of Con sumer Affairs, Government of India, is the focal point for different departments and organizations to make the consumers aware of market realities as well as the rights of the consumers and the manner in which they can educate themselves and also enforce their rights. Accordingly, the `Jago Grahak Jago' campaign has become immensely popular and is now being used by several departments to communicate with consumers. From the response received through the consumer helplines as well as the evaluation of the progress, it is now clear that there has been a huge impact on account of this programme.
(Source: Department of Consumer Affairs )

Dec 24 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

BAN INEFFECTIVE - 99% city veggie sellers use plastic bags: Study

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





The blanket ban on plastic bags in the city has proved a dud. A survey by Toxics Link, an environmental NGO, has revealed massive use of plastic carry-bags. It found that the monthly use of plastic bags by about 100 vegetable and fruit vendors was over a tonne in Delhi.The survey found that vendors were using non-woven plastic bags in bulk, thinking it was not plastic and that vegetable, fruit and meat vendors were the biggest users of plastic carry bags in Delhi. Interestingly, chemists, milk booths and stationary shops use fewer number of plastic bags.
Almost 99% of vegetable and fruit vendors, and 95% of meat and fish vendors contacted during the survey were using plastic bags. The usage was high even among small food joints and dhabas (82%). Out of 834 respondents who were interviewed, 78% of the consum ers said they preferred using plastic bags. Even worse, 333 users said they use and throw plastic bags, only 75 said they try to reuse.
In 2008, when the first plastic bag notification was issued, non-woven bags were introduced into the market as an alternative. Non-woven bags were tested and found to have 98.3% polypropylene, which fall under the ambit of the ban.“However, most vendors and customers remain unaware of this fact and believe that non woven bags are non-plastic,“ the survey says.
In Chandigarh, 82% vendors and 79% consumers were found to be using plastic bags.Only Sikkim has managed to come up with some interesting alternatives. Their meat and vegetable vendors use newspaper wrappings. But 60% of their plastic waste is burnt causing toxic pollution. In October 2012, the Delhi government had ordered a blanket ban on the manufacturing, import, sale, storage, usage and transport of all kinds of plastic bags. The ban now includes manufacturing of plastic bags and the use of plastic sheets, films or covers for packaging books, magazines and cards as well.
The notification, which was issued under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, has provisions to impose penalties on the violators with a prison term of up to seven years andor a fine of Rs 1 lakh.But All India Plastic Industries Association challenged the ban and the case is pending in the Delhi high court. Though there have been no written orders yet, the judge had made an oral observation that there would be no penalization till the case is pending.
Toxics Link recommends use of paper or plastic bags, which can be reused several times.

Career Alert

COMPETITION • Society of Entrepreneurship Educators (SEE) Academic Conference and Case Chase Competition 12 March 29 – 30, 2012  • ISB-Ivey Global Case Competition 2012  More » ADMISSION NOTIFICATION • Ph.D Admission at Sardar Patel University  • CPBAE at IIM Lucknow  • Ph.D 2015 Admission at NII, New Delhi  • MBA 2015 at DTU, Delhi  • MBA 2015 at ABV-IIIT&M, Gwalior  • Ph.D Admission at YSP University  More »

EXAM/TEST ALERT • SBVU PG Ent. Test 2015  • Bridge Program at NIFT: Apply by Oct 10  • IUCAA-NCRA Admission Test (INAT-2014)  • Combined Med Services Exam 2014  • DNB PDCET July 2014: Exam on June 18  • PGDRDM at NIRD: Entrance Test on June 1  More » EDU JOBS • Recruitment for Teaching and non-teaching staff in Airforce School Ambala  • Recruitment of Asst Professors in Arunachal PPC 2014  More »

Dec 23 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

The Technology Of Being Human

Vishal Sikka

The writer is CEO of Infosys.





Here's a unique opportunity to leverage individual talent and collective capability through tech advances

In Being Digital, his prescient book on the new cosmos into which we are hurtling, Nicho las Negroponte talks of the transformation of the world from atoms to bits, a transformation he terms irrevocable, irreplaceable and exponential. Twenty years after the book was first published, we are witnessing that prediction in full flow.It is my deeply held belief that this digital evolution has now set the stage for us to embark on a human revolution. We can see a renaissance of our humanity driven by a host of powerful new technologies and concepts ­ from artificial intelligence to design thinking, from a pervasive connectedness to ubiquitous authoring ­ which will converge to amplify our potential, capability and experience.
This empowerment will help us to not just solve but uncover new challenges and new demands that lie unarticulated, and are the very essence of further opportunity .
The term `human revolution' uttered in the same breath as `technology' might at first seem counterintuitive to those who see the wave of technological disruption, ushered in by everything ranging from driverless cars to teller-less banks, as the force precipitating human irrelevance. This argument is becoming more strident with advancements in automation and artificial intelligence.As someone who was tutored by the pioneers of artificial intelligence at Stanford, i can see that it is the lack of understanding of this domain which is the cause of such pessimism.
But this is nothing new. Whenever technology reaches a certain maturity, it is often greeted with some doubt and more than some despair about its impact on human endeavour. Most times these fears have been unfounded, a case in point being the Industrial Revolution, which was supposed to take away jobs and make people redundant on a very large scale. The reason why the outcomes have defied dire prognostication is that great technologies always bring with them the power of great possibilities, and have proven their ability to amplify people and societies time and time again.
While i am convinced that the world is poised at the cusp of incredible opportunity to leverage technology and augment individual talent and collective capability, there is the other position in the argument – that robots and digital agents will displace significant numbers of both blueand white-collar workers, leading to vast increases in income inequality, masses of people who are effectively unemployable and breakdowns in the social order. I don’t subscribe to these notions.
While our perception and our physical abilities may be finite and hence can be augmented and even replaced, our humanity, our imagination and our creativity have no limits. That’s why it must be our pursuit to become more human and to have technology enable us to further enhance our humanity. To try and halt the march of technology-enabled progress would be as pointless now as the Luddites’ protests against mechanised looms back in the 1810s. And it is going to take a human revolution for us to truly leverage this great opportunity of our times.
We can do that on the basis of, first, education – our foundation to build the knowledge and skills we’ll need in the world ahead. Second, on the basis of our ability to draw inspiration from a strong and purposeful ethos that feeds on imagination and creativity. Third, on the basis of our entrepreneurship ­ the ability to find and solve the challenges of our times with unwavering commitment coupled with the energy we need to surmount obstacles, both real and virtual. `Learnability' or our ability to learn has always been and will remain at the heart of our continued relevance and success. We must renew our existing skills, constantly improve. And improve our ability to improve. While learning new things.And practising new things. Driven by a commitment to lifelong learning.
Our ethos will determine our choices.We must make it our endeavour to do more fundamental work, more of the important things, the purposeful things, especially ones where value isn't obvious in the 90-day rhythms and the lenses of traditional financial metrics that seem to consume most large companies.
It is also crucial that we find and nurture the entrepreneur in each of us ­ creating a future which is driven by innovation. A future where our humanity is not replaced by drones or artificial intelligence but is augmented and amplified by it.
When we look back on our history , we see that we have done this before. Shortly after the war that led to the creation of Bangladesh, India suffered from a substantial food shortage. Foodgrains were being imported. Food rations were not uncommon. Then the Green Revolution happened. And the result is that India is today one of the biggest food exporters in several categories. And all of this has happened in less than one generation ­ on the basis of technology .
As i write this sitting in the warm sunshine and clean air of Brisbane, Australia, i cannot help but think that the best times for humankind, the best quality of living, the best advances, the best learning, the best experiences, and even better, the best reasons to live lie ahead of us.Technology will help us create a better future for us. And far from making us irrelevant, help us become more human. Thus shall begin the great human revolution... The writer is CEO of Infosys.