From Legalism to Realism in Kashmir : Internationalising the Line of Control

In 2002, Kashmir once again virtually led the two countries, India and Pakistan, to another war. And this time the fear was that it could even escalate into a nuclear war. Had it not been for the enormous pressure built upon both the states by the international community, most notably the United States, the matters could have gone out of hand. But the problem of deep distrust with which both the states seem to be congenitally afflicted still remains. Drawing upon historical sources and current politics, the article explores the recognition of the line of control that separates India controlled parts of Jammu and Kashmir from the areas under Pakistani control as a possible solution to this vexed issue

Kashmir Revisited: Factoring Governance, Terrorism and Pakistan, as Usual

The enigma of Kashmir is unending. All analyses in respect of its solution seem mere repetitions of hackneyed recommendations. This paper is a confession of that disappointment. As a sequel to an earlier contribution to Heidelberg Papers (Working Paper No. 7, September 2002) the argument here that it is meaningless to find a solution to the problem simply through better governance in Kashmir as Delhi tends to suggest. Governance per se though critical in any social strife is of relatively less importance in Kashmir where the critical issue continues to be the legitimacy of Indian rule, an unresolved subject of Partition. To complicate matters is the issue of Muslim sense of frustration, justified or unjustified, across the globe in which the US role first as a Cold Warrior nation and then as a post-Cold Warrior arbiter of international order is of critical implication. All this makes Kashmir a meeting point of four sets of interests represented by Kashmiris, Indians, Pakistanis, and Americans. Lately, because of the Afghanistan connection, even the interests of the ‘international Islamic jihad’ have been mixed in the brew. As a consequence of this complex blend all solutions elude Kashmir. Stoically speaking, probably providence will ultimately determine the fate of this hapless paradise

Refugees and National Security: Two South Asian Case Studies

Among non-traditional threats to security, the problem of refugees is an important one. Because of political turmoil in several parts of the world, refugee flows are going beyond the capacity of the international system of handle. In South Asia, because of the ongoing conflict between two major nations, India and Pakistan, the issue assumes a serious dimension. We can understand this by studying the following two case studies: the Bangladesh war and the Afghan war. In both cases, the number of refugees was massive and in both cases, America was the principal external actor. But while in the case of Bengali refugees, the host state tried to take advantage of the situation for promoting its foreign policy goals, in the case of Afghan refugees, the host nation tried to use the situation to promote its foreign policy as well as domestic political goals. Although every host state had to face unforeseen consequences, in the long run, it underlines the relevance of the discourse of the refugee-security interface

The conversion of Neutron star to Strange star : A two step process

The conversion of neutron matter to strange matter in a neutron star have been studied as a two step process. In the first step, the nuclear matter gets converted to two flavour quark matter. The conversion of two flavour to three flavour strange matter takes place in the second step. The first process is analysed with the help of equations of state and hydrodynamical equations, whereas, in the second process, non-leptonic weak interaction plays the main role. Velocities and the time of travel through the star of these two conversion fronts have been analysed and compared.Comment: 18 pages including 9 figure

Probing liquid surface waves, liquid properties and liquid films with light diffraction

Surface waves on liquids act as a dynamical phase grating for incident light. In this article, we revisit the classical method of probing such waves (wavelengths of the order of mm) as well as inherent properties of liquids and liquid films on liquids, using optical diffraction. A combination of simulation and experiment is proposed to trace out the surface wave profiles in various situations (\emph{eg.} for one or more vertical, slightly immersed, electrically driven exciters). Subsequently, the surface tension and the spatial damping coefficient (related to viscosity) of a variety of liquids are measured carefully in order to gauge the efficiency of measuring liquid properties using this optical probe. The final set of results deal with liquid films where dispersion relations, surface and interface modes, interfacial tension and related issues are investigated in some detail, both theoretically and experimentally. On the whole, our observations and analyses seem to support the claim that this simple, low--cost apparatus is capable of providing a wealth of information on liquids and liquid surface waves in a non--destructive way.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures, to appear in Measurement Science and Technology (IOP

Higher Dimensional Dark Energy Investigation with Variable Λ\Lambda and GG

Time variable $\Lambda$ and $G$ are studied here under a phenomenological model of $\Lambda$ through an ($n+2$) dimensional analysis. The relation of Zeldovich (1968) $|\Lambda| = 8\pi G^2m_p^6/h^4$ between $\Lambda$ and $G$ is employed here, where $m_p$ is the proton mass and $h$ is Planck's constant. In the present investigation some key issues of modern cosmology, viz. the age problem, the amount of variation of $G$ and the nature of expansion of the Universe have been addressed.Comment: 7 Latex pages with few change

Phenomenology of Λ\Lambda-CDM model: a possibility of accelerating Universe with positive pressure

Among various phenomenological $\Lambda$ models, a time-dependent model $\dot \Lambda\sim H^3$ is selected here to investigate the $\Lambda$-CDM cosmology. Using this model the expressions for the time-dependent equation of state parameter $\omega$ and other physical parameters are derived. It is shown that in $H^3$ model accelerated expansion of the Universe takes place at negative energy density, but with a positive pressure. It has also been possible to obtain the change of sign of the deceleration parameter $q$ during cosmic evolution.Comment: 16 Latex pages, 11 figures, Considerable modifications in the text; Accepted in IJT

Summary of the Activities of the Working Group I on High Energy and Collider Physics

This is a summary of the projects undertaken by the Working Group I on High Energy Collider Physics at the Eighth Workshop on High Energy Physics Phenomenology (WHEPP8) held at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, January 5-16, 2004. The topics covered are (i) Higgs searches (ii) supersymmetry searches (iii) extra dimensions and (iv) linear collider.Comment: summary of Working Group I at the Eighth Workshop on High Energy Physics Phenomenology (WHEPP8), I.I.T., Mumbai, January 5-16, 200