Terrorism in central Asia: Security implications for Russia

End of the cold war following the disintegration of the Soviet Union witnessed unprecedented increase in militancy and terrorism prompted by internal and external forces. This was also fuelled by factors like religious fundamentalism and ethno-nationalist chauvinism.The newly independent countries of the Central Asian region encountered myriad problems like terrorism, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, organized crime, separatism, and ethnic conflicts.Given the geographical proximity and historicity, Central Asia is regarded as Russia’s own backyard and a “soft underbelly”.The near-abroad security developments in the Central Asian republics have great influence on Russia and could create a complex environment detrimental to its security interests.The Russian approach to this challenge is of great importance for the stability of the whole area.Any negative developments in Central Asian Regions and Afghanistan would have serious security implications for Russia.A stable and friendly government in Afghanistan and Central Asian states would prove beneficial to Russian security, including the on ongoing separatist movements in Chechnya and Dagestan.Therefore it is imperative that Russia and Central Asian states act collectively to counter religious radicalism and foster regional stability.This article examines some factors responsible for breeding terrorism and religious extremism in Central Asian Republics and its security implications on Russia such as Central Asian threats, US presence in Central Asia and the Taliban in Afghanistan

Banks as real estate brokers -- letting free enterprise work

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act

Green Strategy in Automation and Control Devices and Systems

The extension of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is possible in automation and control devices and systems. This paper review introduction to life cycle data acquisition (LCDA) scheme, an idea that can be technology transferred to automation and control field. The scheme is implemented at the device as well as system level. Exemplar platforms that are chosen for experimentation again are sensors, actuators, a process control system and autonomous machine system such as guided vehicle and the life or operational data were recorded. This paper is the extension of the previous presentations. The life-cycle data variables called data objects and related terms are used in order to maintain consistency. However, the way they are interfaced with the devices and systems are considered optimal. That is, in this research the data objects are firmwared in order to deal with real-time constraints. This attempt in implementation through new tools and design strategy is a new methodology and the results obtained through such procedure are new. It is convincing that the LCDA scheme can improve sustainability, availability, reliability as well as safety of the automation and control systems. Moreover, the LCDA scheme can support LCA attributes such as Design for Environment (DfE) facilitating the emerging green technology and systems. It is also expected that recording of life cycle data can assist in the design of new generation of the devices used in the automation and control applications

Comparison of C-reactive proteins level in gestational hypertension and in normal pregnancy in 2nd and 3rd trimester and its correlation with maternal and foetal outcome

Background: Hypertensive pregnancy disorder covers a spectrum of clinical conditions namely preeclampsia, eclampsia, chronic hypertension and gestational hypertension. Impaired function of vascular endothelium in preeclampsia may cause abnormal immune activation causing release of inflammatory agents like cytokines, C-reactive proteins (CRP) etc. Aim of this study is to evaluate the CRP (Q) levels in gestational hypertension and in normal pregnancy in 2nd and 3rd trimester and its correlation with maternal and foetal outcome.Methods: Total 350 patients were involved in the study with 160 subjects in Study group meeting the eligibility criteria and 190 subjects in control group. All the cases were followed up during the rest part of their antenatal, labour and postpartum period for development of preeclampsia and eclampsia and their effect on mother and foetus.Results: In 2nd and 3rd trimester mean CRP level in study group was 10.01 mg/L and 10.28 mg/L compare to control group 1.85 mg/L and 3.06 mg/L respectively. Difference of mean CRP level was statistically significant (P value <0.001) in both 2nd and 3rd trimester. Gestational age at delivery and birth weight, Apgar score for baby was lower in study group as compared to control group. Maternal morbidity, maternal mortality, mode of delivery by caesarean section, IUD, still birth, preterm delivery, IUGR, baby with respiratory distress syndrome was significantly higher in study group.Conclusions: Increased serum CRP level can be used as a biomarker for identifying women at risk of preeclampsia and its complications along with adverse effect

Optimal Error Estimate of Upwind Scheme on Adaptive grid for Two Parameter Singular Perturbation Problem

A singularly perturbed convection-diffusion problem with two small parameters is considered. The problem is solved by an upwind finite difference operator on an appropriate non-uniform mesh constructed adaptively by equi-distributing a monitor function based on the solution. An error bound in the maximum norm is established theoretically with the error constants shown to be independent of both singular perturbation parameters. The normalized flux obtained via interpolating the polynomial from the numerical solution is also uniformly convergent. A numerical experiment illustrates in practice the result of convergence proved theoretically

Does real interest rate reduce income inequality in India? Evidence from multivariate framework analysis.

This study empirically examines the impact of real interest rate on income inequality in India within a Kuznets Curve framework considering the role of economic growth, trade openness and technological innovation as the control variables. This study employs the ARDL bounds test for validating the long-run relationship over the annual data period 1995 to 2019. The results reveal the long-run relationship between the series in India. The findings suggest that the initial increase in interest rate significantly reduces income inequality. But, in a later stage, a threshold exists for such an increased interest rate to revert the prior beneficial impact. This finding further shows that Kuznets’ inverted U-shaped hypothesis is not valid for the relationship between income inequality and real interest rate in India. It shows that the real interest rate impedes income distribution in the long run. These findings are also found to be robust using FMOLS and DOLS estimators. We find that economic growth significantly reduces income inequality, whereas trade openness promotes it. Surprisingly, technological innovation enhances income inequality, but this effect vanishes in the long-run. However, these findings suggest that policymakers in India should not ignore the impeding role of real interest rates while aiming at achieving effective income distribution between haves and have-nots in the long run

Does real interest rate reduce income inequality in India? Evidence from multivariate framework analysis.

[Abstract] This study empirically examines the impact of real interest rate on income inequality in India within a Kuznets Curve framework considering the role of economic growth, trade openness and technological innovation as the control variables. This study employs the ARDL bounds test for validating the long-run relationship over the annual data period 1995 to 2019. The results reveal the long-run relationship between the series in India. The findings suggest that the initial increase in interest rate significantly reduces income inequality. But, in a later stage, a threshold exists for such an increased interest rate to revert the prior beneficial impact. This finding further shows that Kuznets’ inverted U-shaped hypothesis is not valid for the relationship between income inequality and real interest rate in India. It shows that the real interest rate impedes income distribution in the long run. These findings are also found to be robust using FMOLS and DOLS estimators. We find that economic growth significantly reduces income inequality, whereas trade openness promotes it. Surprisingly, technological innovation enhances income inequality, but this effect vanishes in the long-run. However, these findings suggest that policymakers in India should not ignore the impeding role of real interest rates while aiming at achieving effective income distribution between haves and have-nots in the long run