Aiding Corruption through Governance Structures in sub-Saharan Africa: What Role for E-Government?

In spite of the fact that sub-Saharan African countries have undergone political transitions and experience new form of governance, the region is still battling with socio–economic challenges. The persistent socio-economic problem is attributable to the governance styles of electoral democracies that are not guided by democratic values and principles of accountability. The perspective in this paper is that the emergence of democratic governments in this region occurred through lopsided process which impacts on their governance structures. Consequently, the institutionalization of liberal democracy has been omitted; the absence of which creates gaps between aspiration for and struggle by African people for democracy on the one hand, and the actual performance of democratic governments on the other hand. The paper identifies structural deficiencies in the current pattern of governance as the political missing link in the value chain between democracy and development in the region. The paper recommends e-governance; an administrative process that guarantees good governance through accountability and transparency, as the necessary connecting link and panacea to bridging the observable existing gaps

Open Government Data (OGD) usage in India: A conceptual framework using TOE & UTAUT frameworks

Open Government Data (OGD) is considered as an important constituent of e-government where the notions of transparency, collaboration and participation are being envisaged. This paper is a step in this direction where the OGD platform (https://data.gov.in/) is being probed using a qualitative and quantitative lens. Research hypotheses are being derived following the popular TOE and UTAUT models and multiple regression informs the quantitative analysis to ascertain OGD usage by end-users. The study shows that OGD usage is popular among the end-users in terms of the number of views and downloads of the datasets. Future research might undertake the empirical investigation of the research hypotheses advanced in the paper

E - Examination

The contributor is the HSLC Additional Head Examiner for Social Science of BOSEM for the last six year, Assistant Head Examiner for B.Ed of Manipur University and also Higher Level and Standard Level, Diploma Programme online examiner of International Baccalaureate Organisation Examination for the last three years. The paper is developed based on the experience of the contribution of the said examination. It seeks to compare the traditional mode of examination with that of the online examination in citing the mode of High School Leaving Examination of Board of Secondary Education Manipur and International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) examination as case studies.

Conceptual Framework of eService delivery system in Developing Countries with a high level of Instability

This study proposes a conceptual framework which captures the main factors (both enablers and barriers) influence and contributes toward a successful implementation of eServices in countries that have unstable status. In such countries, eService is still necessary and governments face extra challenges in their provision, however, academic literature that covers transformational eGov activity in periods of geopolitical instability is uncommon. Our aim is to address this gap in the literature by identifying factors that might affect the success of such implementation. We use the example of Syria and other developing countries facing similar challenges to tackle this problem. The paper draws upon Osborn and Gaebler’s work, ‘reinventing government’, which identifies 10 principles of government transformation. This is used to examine eGov examples in the case of Syria along with previous work covering barriers and enablers to eGov activities within countries that have unstable status. The resulting derived conceptual framework provides a base to understand eGov activity for nations going through geopolitical uncertainty

What Podolsky, Einstein and Others Have Taught Me about Greatness

Continuing scientific progress often results in a focus on technological advancements while ignoring those scientists who have brought them to fruition. By ignoring the life stories and struggles of these scientists, generations of students are being deprived of insight that may serve to encourage them to enter the scientific fields. Furthermore, they may develop a perspective that suggests that these advancements occur with little personal or professional struggle. It is becoming increasingly common to compare scientists based upon their achievements. These comparisons could discourage students from entering the scientific disciplines by suggesting that contributions not equal to or surpassing those of the most celebrated scientists are essentially worthless. This results in a winner-take all attitude. This article details the experiences of one social scientist in his quest to develop a greater understanding of science, scientists and those characteristics that ultimately determine greatness

Dangerous Liasons - The Impending Discourse of "THE FRIEND ZONE"

The present paper examines the concept of “the friend zone” and its overwhelming impact on life and consciousness. Some crucial questions are raised in this context as to its new found origin, cause and its relative uniqueness. Critics’ views along with that of psychologists and social scientists are taken into account so as to approach the problem tactfully and effectively. The contribution of electronic media in its growth and propagation is studied so as to trace its propensity in overriding philosophies and social structures. Endeavour has been made to examine the pros and cons of abiding by this juvenile trend and a viable solution has been proposed

Narrative as Soft Violence in Margaret Drabble’s The Pure Gold Baby

This article deals with Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of “symbolic” or “soft” violencein Margaret Drabble’s latest novel, The Pure Gold Baby (2013). The novel is about a young anthropologist student, who becomes pregnant whilst in a relationship with her married professor. Her promising academic career and dreams of being a field anthropologist and of returning to Africa are put to one side and she becomes a desk-bound anthropologist in north London while caring for her daughter, the “pure gold baby” of the title, who suffers from serious developmental problems. The article reflects the importance of the ambiguity of narration in the novel in which soft violence is practiced by the author, the narrator, the protagonist, the educational and religious institutions, as well as through the class structure. It shows a complex and interrelated thematic and theoretical strands, discussing the novelist as anthropologist, narration as controlling authorial act, the shift from victimhood to perpetration of violence in the exploration of gender, education and sexuality.It explores the soft violence of racism and colonial exploitation and domination

The New Sorrows of Young W.: Comments on the Film Adaptation of Ulrich Plenzdorf\u27s GDR Novel

Edgar Wibeau is an excellent young student who leaves his apprenticeship in a factory after an argument with his supervisor to move – as a statement of anti-authoritarian rebellion – from the boring town of Mittenberg to East-Berlin where he works as a house painter. In East-Berlin, he lives in a garden shed and discovers, by chance, Goethe’s epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. The novel becomes for him a cult book which he uses to distance himself from everyday life in the GDR and position himself as a disaffected outsider. In this period, he falls in love with a young kindergarten teacher, Charlie, who is engaged to and later on marries Dieter. He records audio tapes, in which he reflects upon his literary and musical interests, his frustrated love for Charlie, and recites excerpts from Goethe’s Werther. He sends these tapes to his best friend Willi, who, however, cannot make any sense of them. In between his solitary activities in the garden cottage (listening to music, painting, recording tapes), his contact with Charlie, and his job, he secretly starts constructing a hydraulic nebula-free spray gun, which his colleague, brigade leader Addi, had tried in vain to develop. When he tries out the device, he is electrocuted. It remains unclear whether Edgar’s death was an accident or suicide. After his son’s death at age 17, Edgar’s father – who didn’t take part in Edgar’s upbringing – enquires among friends and acquaintances in order to get to know his son and understand the circumstances of his death

Transformation and Individuation in Giordano Bruno’s Monadology

The essay explores the systematic relationship in the work of Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) between his monadology, his metaphysics as presented in works such as De la causa, principio et uno, the mythopoeic cosmology of Lo spaccio de la bestia trionfante, and practical works like De vinculis in genere. Bruno subverts the conceptual regime of the Aristotelian substantial forms and its accompanying cosmology with a metaphysics of individuality that privileges individual unity (singularity) over formal unity and particulars over substantial forms without sacrificing a metaphysical perspective on the cosmos. The particular is individuated as a unique site of desire, continually transforming but able to entrain itself and others through phantasmatic ‘bonding’, the new source of regularity in Bruno’s polycentric universe. Bruno thus tries to do justice to the demands of intelligibility as well as transformative eros. The essay concludes with a note on Bruno’s geometry as it relates to his general conception of form

An Empirical Study of the Impact Analysis of Human Resource Management Practices on the Enhancement of the Organizational Performance

In this paper, the authors has examined how, when and to what extent Strategic Human Resource Practices affect performance at the employee level. As performance is a multi-faceted and complicated concept, it’s linked with SHRM practices provide insight to what could be termed as high performance work practices. The study is carried on the organizations in & around the Lucknow district. It is a micro-level study, whose findings can be applied to numerous organizations in various diversified sectors