Globalization, oh that versitile villian!

The contemporary phase of economic globalization is regarded by some social scientists as a serious source of problems. There are others who, logically or illogically, consider it a negative, harmful, destructive, marginalizing and malevolent influence over economies and societies. No doubt, globalization can create opportunities for accelerating growth for the participating economies, but it can also pose myriad of challenges to and impose constraints on policymakers. In addition, it is justly blamed for uneven distribution of benefits from globalization. They are badly skewed within countries and between countries. Present policy environment is far from globalization-friendly. This paper focuses on the limitations of globalization in an objective and unbiased manner

Conceptual globalism and globalisation : an initiation

Although the use of these two terms began in the latter half of the twentieth century, they have a longer lineage. Concept economic globalism of contemporary kind can be traced back to the liberal thinking of classical economists like Adam Smith and Herbert Spencer. Terms like globalize were first seen in Reiser and Davies (1944). Webster International Dictionary included them in 1961, while they appeared in Oxford Dictionary in 1986. The term globalization was coined in 1962. Most major languages were quick to develop equivalent taxonomy. In business and economics, marketing legend Theodore Levitt of Harvard Business School used it first in 1983 in an article entitled "The Globalization of Markets". His article is regarded as an enduring classic and its insightful language is still relevant today

Suspension of the Doha Round of Multilateral Negotiations and the Need for Its Resuscitation

The Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations (MTNs) has proved to be egregiously problem-prone. Due to deep dissension among WTO members it had to be suspended, and efforts to revive it have so far not succeeded. Although the mercantilist mindset of the participants has been frequently blamed for the consistently tardy progress of negotiations, there is more to the situation than just a mindset. This article methodically analyzes the various steps taken since the launch of the Doha Round and dwells on the challenges faced during the MTNs. Time and again negotiating members and country groups publicized their constructive intentions, and a series of official pronouncements provided a surfeit of evidence of commitment to the objectives of the Doha Development Agenda. Ironically, with the passage of time it became obvious that those expressions of positive and virtuous intentions were completely misleading. There was a large distance between what was being said and what was being achieved in terms of tangible agreements and core modalities. It is imperative that the Doha Round be resuscitated and that the key players show flexibility and take decisive steps forward. The round is vital; the community of trading economies must not be allowed to collapse. Virtually the entire global community of traders will share in and gain from the successful outcome of the Doha Round. A failure will force them to share the shortfalls. Revival is a possible and credible objective. This article proposes a two-stage revival process.Doha, failure, multilateral negotiations, progress, International Relations/Trade,

Structural evolution of the Kolar Schist Belt, South India

The structural evolution of the Kolar Schist Belt was discussed. Evidence was described from structures in the ferrigenous quartzite within the schist belt for two periods of nearly coaxial isoclinal folding attributable to E-W compression. This folding was followed by collapse of the F sub 1/F sub 2 folds, forming open F sub 3 folds with NNE-SSW axes. Finally, a period of N-S shortening caused a broad warping of the earlier N-S trending fold axes. There is evidence within the gneisses for shearing produced by similar, nearly E-W compression

Special Treatment and Policy Space for the Developing Economies in the Multilateral Trade Regime

The contemporary multilateral trading system comprises members ranging from high- to very low-income countries; this range has a bearing on the operations of the multilateral trade regime. Presence of a large number of low-income members is the new systemic reality. Special and differential treatment (SDT) has operated for the developing economies, principally for the small, low-income ones, for many decades. The concept of SDT grew in three basic stages, on which this article elaborates. Theoretically this concept was meaningful and significant, but in reality it has not engendered substantial benefits to the intended beneficiary groups, the developing economies. The Uruguay and the Doha Rounds of multilateral trade negotiations (MTNs) reaffirmed faith in SDT. The Doha Development Agenda (DDA) was clear about reaffirming the importance of SDT to the multilateral trade regime and referred to it as an integral part of the WTO Agreement. During the Fifth Ministerial Conference in Cancún and the subsequent WTO meeting in Geneva in July 2004, small developing countries held together as the Group-of-Ninety (G-90). They made their presence felt in the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference as well. As SDT has not spawned large benefits for the target groups of countries, there is a pressing need to refine the concept. Academics and policy makers have debated over what future shape SDT should take so that it will be able to meet the expected goals. Taking these concerns into account, this article presents a comprehensive set of recommendations.International Relations/Trade,

Are object detection assessment criteria ready for maritime computer vision?

Maritime vessels equipped with visible and infrared cameras can complement other conventional sensors for object detection. However, application of computer vision techniques in maritime domain received attention only recently. The maritime environment offers its own unique requirements and challenges. Assessment of the quality of detections is a fundamental need in computer vision. However, the conventional assessment metrics suitable for usual object detection are deficient in the maritime setting. Thus, a large body of related work in computer vision appears inapplicable to the maritime setting at the first sight. We discuss the problem of defining assessment metrics suitable for maritime computer vision. We consider new bottom edge proximity metrics as assessment metrics for maritime computer vision. These metrics indicate that existing computer vision approaches are indeed promising for maritime computer vision and can play a foundational role in the emerging field of maritime computer vision