Exploring the Relationship Between Military Spending & Human Rights Performance in South Asia

The relationship between military spending and human rights is one of the most prominent issues in political economy. Yet, the linkage between the two is empirically underdeveloped. Seeking to fulfill this existing gap in the literature, we examine the effects of militarization on human rights performance in six South Asian economies for the period 1980 ñ 2006. Our findings demonstrate that an increase in military spending significantly reduces human rights. Acceleration of military spending is also associated with decline in human rights performance. By gauging the effect of military spending on human rights conditions during war and peace years, we found that irrespective of war or peace years, any increase in military spending is detrimental to human rights conditions. Further, we find that the negative impact of military spending on human rights is conditioned by increase in their neighborsí spending. Given the wide range of socioeconomic and political problems ailing South Asian countries, these results gain significant importance. The study suggests that reduction in military pending could help reallocate the resources to productive purposes, thereby paving way for development and progress. This help reducing social unrest and economic insecurity, thereby increases governmentís respect for human rights.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64404/1/wp941.pd

Oscillatory instability and fluid patterns in low-Prandtl-number Rayleigh-B\'{e}nard convection with uniform rotation

We present the results of direct numerical simulations of flow patterns in a low-Prandtl-number ($Pr = 0.1$) fluid above the onset of oscillatory convection in a Rayleigh-B\'{e}nard system rotating uniformly about a vertical axis. Simulations were carried out in a periodic box with thermally conducting and stress-free top and bottom surfaces. We considered a rectangular box ($L_x \times L_y \times 1$) and a wide range of Taylor numbers ($750 \le Ta \le 5000$) for the purpose. The horizontal aspect ratio $\eta = L_y/L_x$ of the box was varied from $0.5$ to $10$. The primary instability appeared in the form of two-dimensional standing waves for shorter boxes ($0.5 \le \eta < 1$ and $1 < \eta < 2$). The flow patterns observed in boxes with $\eta = 1$ and $\eta = 2$ were different from those with $\eta < 1$ and $1 < \eta < 2$. We observed a competition between two sets of mutually perpendicular rolls at the primary instability in a square cell ($\eta = 1$) for $Ta < 2700$, but observed a set of parallel rolls in the form of standing waves for $Ta \geq 2700$. The three-dimensional convection was quasiperiodic or chaotic for $750 \le Ta < 2700$, and then bifurcated into a two-dimensional periodic flow for $Ta \ge 2700$. The convective structures consisted of the appearance and disappearance of straight rolls, rhombic patterns, and wavy rolls inclined at an angle $\phi = \frac{\pi}{2} - \arctan{(\eta^{-1})}$ with the straight rolls.Comment: 32 pages, 14 figures, 1 tabl