You Say Nano, We Say No-No: Getting a Yes Instead for Special Economic Zones in India

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have the potential to be valuable in-struments of economic growth and development in India. Yet, as a result of the resistance facing them, SEZs in India have not delivered economic benefits to their fullest potential. For this reason, reducing the resistance facing SEZs is critical to their success. This article seeks to reduce this resistance by devising a consensus-building plan based on a regulatory negotiation approach. The ar-ticle first shows that the past and present resistance facing India’s economic zones is a product of the lack of public input in the design of their policy. It then presents a platform for understanding the proponents’ and opponents’ argu-ments by distilling the current legislation and regulation governing India’s SEZ policy into a cohesive operational framework. Next, the article examines pro-ponents’ and opponents’ arguments pertaining to the operational framework of the SEZ policy. Finally, the article seeks to retroactively counterbalance the lack of public input in the design process of India’s SEZ policy by suggesting two sets of reforms to the operational framework. One set of reforms—procedural reforms—suggests securing greater opponent involvement in the es-tablishment and operation of SEZs. The other set—substantive reforms—recommends rules that will further opponent interests through, not despite, the establishment and operation of SEZs

You Say Nano, We Say No-No: Getting a Yes Instead for Special Economic Zones in India

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have the potential to be valuable in-struments of economic growth and development in India. Yet, as a result of the resistance facing them, SEZs in India have not delivered economic benefits to their fullest potential. For this reason, reducing the resistance facing SEZs is critical to their success. This article seeks to reduce this resistance by devising a consensus-building plan based on a regulatory negotiation approach. The ar-ticle first shows that the past and present resistance facing India’s economic zones is a product of the lack of public input in the design of their policy. It then presents a platform for understanding the proponents’ and opponents’ argu-ments by distilling the current legislation and regulation governing India’s SEZ policy into a cohesive operational framework. Next, the article examines pro-ponents’ and opponents’ arguments pertaining to the operational framework of the SEZ policy. Finally, the article seeks to retroactively counterbalance the lack of public input in the design process of India’s SEZ policy by suggesting two sets of reforms to the operational framework. One set of reforms—procedural reforms—suggests securing greater opponent involvement in the es-tablishment and operation of SEZs. The other set—substantive reforms—recommends rules that will further opponent interests through, not despite, the establishment and operation of SEZs

Uncovering the Scaling Laws of Hard Exclusive Hadronic Processes in a Comprehensive Endpoint Model

We show that an endpoint overlap model can explain the scaling laws observed in exclusive hadronic reactions at large momentum transfer. The model assumes one of the valence quarks carries most of the hadron momentum. Hadron form factors and fixed angle scattering are related directly to the quark wave function, which can be directly extracted from experimental data. A universal linear endpoint behavior explains the proton electromagnetic form factor, proton-proton fixed angle scattering, and the t-dependence of proton-proton scattering at large s>>t. Endpoint constituent counting rules relate the number of quarks in a hadron to the power-law behavior. All proton reactions surveyed are consistent with three quarks participating. The model is applicable at laboratory energies and does not need assumptions of asymptotically-high energy regime. A rich phenomenology of lepton-hadron scattering and hadron-hadron scattering processes is found in remarkably simple relationships between diverse processes.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figure

Pills that Swallow Policy:Clinical Ethnography of a Community Mental Health Program in Northern India

India’s National Mental Health Program (NMHP) was initiated in 1982 with objectives of promoting community participation and accessible mental health services. A key component involves Central government calculation and funding for psycho-tropic medication. Based on clinical ethnography of a community psychiatry program in north India, this paper traces the biosocial journey of psycho-tropic pills from the Centre to the Periphery. As the pill journeys from the Ministry of Health to the clinic, its symbolic meaning transforms from an emphasis on accessibility and participation to administration of ‘treatment’. At its final destination of delivery in the rural health centre, the pill becomes central to professional monologues on compliance that mute the voices of patients and families. Additionally, popular perceptions of government medication as weak and unreliable create an ambivalent public attitude towards psychiatric services. Instead of embodying participation and access, the pill achieves the opposite: silencing community voices, re-enforcing existing barriers to care, and relying on pharmacological solutions for psycho-social problems. The symbolic inscription of NMHP policies on the pill fail because these are contested by more powerful meanings generated from local social and cultural contexts. The authors argue this understanding is critical for development of training and policy that can more effectively address local mental health concerns in rural India. The paper concludes with an outline of potential areas and approaches to interrogate well meaning mental health programs that alienate the very people it is meant to serve

Modulation of cerebral malaria by curcumin as an adjunctive therapy

AbstractCerebral malaria is the most severe and rapidly fatal neurological complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection and responsible for more than two million deaths annually. The current therapy is inadequate in terms of reducing mortality or post-treatment symptoms such as neurological and cognitive deficits. The pathophysiology of cerebral malaria is quite complex and offers a variety of targets which remain to be exploited for better therapeutic outcome. The present review discusses on the pathophysiology of cerebral malaria with particular emphasis on scope and promises of curcumin as an adjunctive therapy to improve survival and overcome neurological deficits

Opening up the ‘black-box’:What strategies do community mental health workers use to address the social dimensions of mental health?

Purpose: Community-based workers promote mental health in communities. Recent literature has called for more attention to the ways they operate and the strategies used. For example, how do they translate biomedical concepts into frameworks that are acceptable and accessible to communities? How do micro-innovations lead to positive mental health outcomes, including social inclusion and recovery? The aim of this study was to examine the types of skills and strategies to address social dimensions of mental health used by community health workers (CHWs) working together with people with psychosocial disability (PPSD) in urban north India. Methods: We interviewed CHWs (n = 46) about their registered PPSD who were randomly selected from 1000 people registered with a local non-profit community mental health provider. Notes taken during interviews were cross-checked with audio recordings and coded and analyzed thematically. Results: CHWs displayed social, cultural, and psychological skills in forming trusting relationships and in-depth knowledge of the context of their client's lives and family dynamics. They used this information to analyze political, social, and economic factors influencing mental health for the client and their family members. The diverse range of analysis and intervention skills of community health workers built on contextual knowledge to implement micro-innovations in a be-spoke way, applying these to the local ecology of people with psychosocial disabilities (PPSD). These approaches contributed to addressing the social and structural determinants that shaped the mental health of PPSD. Conclusion: Community health workers (CHWs) in this study addressed social aspects of mental health, individually, and by engaging with wider structural factors. The micro-innovations of CHWs are dependent on non-linear elements, including local knowledge, time, and relationships. Global mental health requires further attentive qualitative research to consider how these, and other factors shape the work of CHWs in different locales to inform locally appropriate mental health care.</p