Export-orientation of Foreign Manufacturing Affiliates in India: Factors, Tendencies and Implications

This paper addresses an important development issue in literature of international production, namely what motivates market‐seeking foreign direct investment (FDI) to undertake export activities. It is well recognized in the concerned literature that export‐oriented FDI is more beneficial for the host country than purely domestic market‐seeking FDI. Hence, many developing countries like India have policy concerns on foreign firms playing a very minimal role in their export activities. Various studies including that of UNCTAD (2003) noted that foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indian manufacturing has been and remains largely domestic market‐seeking. In view of this low export contribution by foreign firms, existing studies suggest that developing countries like India should improve their locational advantages to attract export‐oriented FDI as opposed to local market‐oriented FDI like quality of available infrastructure, availability of cheap but skilled manpower, expanding the size of export processing zones, participation in bilateral/multilateral trade and investment regimes, etc. However, these studies have not examined those factors that could motivate the existing market‐seeking FDI into export activities. The contribution of the present study is precisely to address this issue and identify factors encouraging market‐seeking FDI to take up export activities. The empirical analysis has been conducted in two stages. In the first stage, we have estimated the export shares and export‐orientation of foreign firms in Indian manufacturing across 17 Indian industries over 1991–2005. In the second stage, we have analyzed the impact of five set of factors—size and growth of host country market, local competition, policy regime, import competition and industry‐characteristics on the export‐orientation of foreign firms in Indian manufacturing. The empirical findings from the panel data analysis of 17 Indian industries over 1991–2005 has thrown up several policy implications important for increasing export‐orientation of foreign firms in a developing country like India.Export–Orientation, Foreign Manufacturing Affiliates, Local Competition, Host Country Market

Export-Orientation of Foreign Manufacturing Affiliates in India: Factors, Tendencies and Implications

This paper addresses an important development issue in the literature of international production, namely, what motivates market-seeking foreign direct investment (FDI) to undertake export activities. It is well recognized in the concerned literature that export-oriented FDI is more beneficial for the host country than purely domestic market-seeking FDI. However, the existing literature has not examined those factors that could motivate existing market-seeking FDI into export activities. The present study addresses this issue and identifies factors encouraging market-seeking FDI to take up export activities. The empirical analysis of exportorientation of foreign firms in Indian manufacturing across 17 Indian industries during 1991–2005 has brought out several policy issues important for increasing export-orientation of foreign firms in a developing country like India

Genetic Algorithm Based Feature Selection In a Recognition Scheme Using Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Techniques

The problem of feature selection consists of finding a significant feature subset of input training as well as test patterns that enable to describe all information required to classify a particular pattern. In present paper we focus in this particular problem which plays a key role in machine learning problems. In fact, before building a model for feature selection, our goal is to identify and to reject the features that degrade the classification performance of a classifier. This is especially true when the available input feature space is very large, and need exists to develop an efficient searching algorithm to combine these features spaces to a few significant one which are capable to represent that particular class. Presently, authors have described two approaches for combining the large feature spaces to efficient numbers using Genetic Algorithm and Fuzzy Clustering techniques. Finally the classification of patterns has been achieved using adaptive neuro-fuzzy techniques. The aim of entire work is to implement the recognition scheme for classification of tumor lesions appearing in human brain as space occupying lesions identified by CT and MR images. A part of the work has been presented in this paper. The proposed model indicates a promising direction for adaptation in a changing environment

Export-orientation of Foreign Manufacturing Affiliates in India: Factors, Tendencies and Implications

This paper addresses an important development issue in literature of international production, namely what motivates market‐seeking foreign direct investment (FDI) to undertake export activities. It is well recognized in the concerned literature that export‐oriented FDI is more beneficial for the host country than purely domestic market‐seeking FDI. Hence, many developing countries like India have policy concerns on foreign firms playing a very minimal role in their export activities. Various studies including that of UNCTAD (2003) noted that foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indian manufacturing has been and remains largely domestic market‐seeking. In view of this low export contribution by foreign firms, existing studies suggest that developing countries like India should improve their locational advantages to attract export‐oriented FDI as opposed to local market‐oriented FDI like quality of available infrastructure, availability of cheap but skilled manpower, expanding the size of export processing zones, participation in bilateral/multilateral trade and investment regimes, etc. However, these studies have not examined those factors that could motivate the existing market‐seeking FDI into export activities. The contribution of the present study is precisely to address this issue and identify factors encouraging market‐seeking FDI to take up export activities. The empirical analysis has been conducted in two stages. In the first stage, we have estimated the export shares and export‐orientation of foreign firms in Indian manufacturing across 17 Indian industries over 1991–2005. In the second stage, we have analyzed the impact of five set of factors—size and growth of host country market, local competition, policy regime, import competition and industry‐characteristics on the export‐orientation of foreign firms in Indian manufacturing. The empirical findings from the panel data analysis of 17 Indian industries over 1991–2005 has thrown up several policy implications important for increasing export‐orientation of foreign firms in a developing country like India

Assembly of sol-gel-grown Li<SUB>x</SUB>CoO<SUB>2</SUB> nanocrystals through electromagnetic irradiation

We report the fabrication of assembled nanostructures from the pre-synthesized nanocrystals building blocks through optical means of exciton formation and dissociation. We demonstrate that Lix CoO2 nanocrystals assemble to an acicular architecture, upon prolonged exposure to ultraviolet-visible radiation emitted from a 125 W mercury vapor lamp, through intermediate excitation of excitons. The results obtained in the present study clearly show how nanocrystals of various materials with band gaps appropriate for excitations of excitons at given optical wavelengths can be assembled to unusual nanoarchitectures through illumination with incoherent light sources. The disappearance of exciton bands due to Li xCoO2 phase in the optical spectrum of the irradiated film comprising acicular structure is consistent with the proposed mechanism of exciton dissociation in the observed light-induced assembly process. The assembly process occurs through attractive Coulomb interactions between charged dots created upon exciton dissociation. Our work presents a new type of nanocrystal assembly process that is driven by light and exciton directed

Protocol to develop sustainable day care for children aged 1-4 years in disadvantaged urban communities in Dhaka, Bangladesh

INTRODUCTION: Lack of safe, stimulating and health-promoting environments for children under-5 hinders their physical, social and cognitive development, known as early childhood development (ECD). Improving ECD impacts on children, and can improve educational attainment for girls, who often care for younger siblings, and employment prospects for mothers. Developing and evaluating the impacts of ECD programmes within childcare needs to assess a range of social, health, educational and economic impacts, including women's empowerment.Children living in slums are at high risk of poor early development and holistic, sustainable interventions are needed to address ECD in these contexts. This study will be undertaken in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a city where over 8.5 million inhabitants live in slums. In collaboration with government, non-governmental organisations and communities, we are developing and testing a sustainable day-care model for low-income communities in Dhaka. METHODOLOGY AND ANALYSIS: A sequential mixed methods approach is being used in the study, with qualitative work exploring quantitative findings. Two hundred households with children under-5 will be surveyed to determine day-care needs and to assess ECD (parent-reported and direct assessment). The feasibility of four ECD measuring tools Caregiver-Reported Early Development Index, Measuring Early Learning Quality and Outcomes, The Early Human Capability Index and International Development and Early Learning Assessment will be assessed quantitatively and qualitatively. Qualitative methods will help understand demand and perceptions of day care while mothers work. Participatory action research will be used to develop a locally appropriate and potentially sustainable model of day care for under-5 children. A ward in the south of Dhaka has been selected for the study as this typifies communities with slum and non-slum households living next to each other, allowing us to explore potential for better-off household to subsidise day care for poorer households. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Findings will be published and inform decision makers at the national, regional and the local actors in order to embed the study into the policy and practice on childcare and ECD. Ethical approvals for this study were obtained from the School of Medicine Research Ethics Committee at the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Leeds (ref: MREC16-106) and the Bangladesh Medical Research Council (ref: BMRCAIREC/20 I 6-20 I 9 I 250)

Analysing key influences over actors' use of evidence in developing policies and strategies in Nigeria: a retrospective study of the Integrated Maternal Newborn and Child Health strategy

Background Evidence-informed policymaking has been promoted as a means of ensuring better outcomes. However, what counts as evidence in policymaking lies within a spectrum of expert knowledge and scientifically generated information. Since not all forms of evidence share an equal validity or weighting for policymakers, it is important to understand the key factors that influence their preferences for different types of evidence in policy and strategy development. Method A retrospective study was carried out at the national level in Nigeria using a case-study approach to examine the Nigerian Integrated Maternal Newborn and Child Health (IMNCH) strategy. Two frameworks were used for conceptualization and data analysis, namely (1) to analyse the role of evidence in policymaking and (2) the policy triangle. They were used to explore the key contextual and participatory influences on choice of evidence in developing the IMNCH strategy. Data was collected through review of relevant national documents and in-depth interviews of purposively selected key policy and strategic decision makers. Thematic analysis was applied to generate information from collected data. Results The breadth of evidence used was wide, ranging from expert opinions to systematic reviews. The choice of different types of evidence was found to overlap across actor categories. Key influences over actors’ choice of evidence were: (1) perceived robustness of evidence – comprehensive, representative, recent, scientifically sound; (2) roles in evidence process, i.e. their degree and level of participation in evidence generation and dissemination, with regards to their role in the policy process; and (3) contextual factors such as global agenda and influence, timeline for strategy development, availability of resources for evidence generation, and lessons learnt from previous unsuccessful policies/plans. Conclusion Actors’ preferences for different types of evidence for policy are influenced not only by the characteristics of evidence itself, but on actors’ roles in the evidence process, their power to influence the policy, and the context in which evidence is used

Molecular association of glucose-6- phosphate isomerase and pyruvate kinase M2 with glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase in cancer cells

Background: For a long time cancer cells are known for increased uptake of glucose and its metabolization through glycolysis. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is a key regulatory enzyme of this pathway and can produce ATP through oxidative level of phosphorylation. Previously, we reported that GAPDH purified from a variety of malignant tissues, but not from normal tissues, was strongly inactivated by a normal metabolite, methylglyoxal (MG).Molecular mechanism behind MG mediated GAPDH inhibition in cancer cells is not well understood. Methods: GAPDH was purified from Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells based on its enzymatic activity. GAPDH associated proteins in EAC cells and 3-methylcholanthrene (3MC) induced mouse tumor tissue were detected by mass spectrometry analysis and immunoprecipitation (IP) experiment, respectively. Interacting domains of GAPDH and its associated proteins were assessed by in silico molecular docking analysis. Mechanism of MG mediated GAPDH inactivation in cancer cells was evaluated by measuring enzyme activity, Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, IP and mass spectrometry analyses. Result: Here, we report that GAPDH is associated with glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (GPI) and pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) in Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells and also in 3-methylcholanthrene (3MC) induced mouse tumor tissue. Molecular docking analyses suggest C-terminal domain preference for the interaction between GAPDH and GPI. However, both C and N termini of PKM2 might be interacting with the C terminal domain of GAPDH. Expression of both PKM2 and GPI is increased in 3MC induced tumor compared with the normal tissue. In presence of 1 mM MG,association of GAPDH with PKM2 or GPI is not perturbed, but the enzymatic activity of GAPDH is reduced to 26.8 ± 5 % in 3MC induced tumor and 57.8 ± 2.3 % in EAC cells. Treatment of MG to purified GAPDH complex leads to glycation at R399 residue of PKM2 only, and changes the secondary structure of the protein complex. Conclusion: PKM2 may regulate the enzymatic activity of GAPDH. Increased enzymatic activity of GAPDH in tumor cells may be attributed to its association with PKM2 and GPI. Association of GAPDH with PKM2 and GPI could be a signature for cancer cells. Glycation at R399 of PKM2 and changes in the secondary structure of GAPDH complex could be one of the mechanisms by which GAPDH activity is inhibited in tumor cells by MG