Development and ‘Swaraj’: Case study of an Indian Village

Over the last century, many development scholars have criticised the Western model of development. There scholars argue that the Western development model has damaged the environment, increased capitalism, promoted inequitable development and increased inequality among the nations. Several alternate development approaches such as ‘Degrowth’, ‘Eco-Swaraj’, ‘Pluriverse’, ‘Buen Vivir’ have been suggested by these development scholars, that advocate the relationship between society, nature, well-being, and development. These theories focus on indigenous knowledge, regional development, village autonomy, self-sufficiency etc. This thesis is exploring the practicality of alternate development theories on ground with a focus on ‘Swaraj’ in the Indian development context. To observe the ground reality and people’s perceptions and aspirations of development, a case study is done in a village named Kaluwala, in Uttarakhand state of India. The study is done from January 2023 to February 2023. Semi-structured interviews were the main method for data collection. The information is gathered from people belonging to different socio-economic backgrounds such as farmers, teachers, construction workers, politicians, women, representatives of village council. For interpretation of data, observations and unstructured conversations with people living and working in Kaluwala have been used. This thesis finds that many grassroot volunteer-based development programmes are active in village Kaluwala, where people are participating actively. However, this cannot be called ‘Swaraj’, as most of these programmes are implemented and executed by the government, thus making them Top-down approaches, rather than Bottom-up approaches, as opposed to the ideas of alternating development theories such as ‘Swaraj’. The findings also suggest that people in Kaluwala are not aware of alternate development approaches, and they could not imagine development without government help and services. Even though the prevailing development constructs are contested by scholars, the conventional notions of development seem to be embedded in the minds of people from Kaluwala. There was also an asymmetry in the feedback regarding the information and access to the schemes and facilities available to take benefit of. This shows the mismatches between formal development plans and the local aspirations which again goes against the concept of cooperation in ’Swaraj’, where people are expected to come together for their betterment and development. In the village, there was no participation of villagers in policy making for development of the village, or any way to capture their ideas, feedbacks, or suggestions. However, in Mahatma Gandhi’s conceptualisation of ‘Swaraj’, local communities are supposed to take decisions for their development. This thesis highlighted the practicality of alternate development approaches, especially ‘Swaraj’ in the village Kaluwala. The implementation of these alternative development policies and theories needs to be studied on a wider level, with practical approaches, keeping in mind the different development needs for different villages and communities in the World. The gap between the real world and academia needs to be reduced so that the impact of research generates some real results on ground level

BJP Victory: Leadership Cult or Institutional Change?

The BJP’s resounding victory in the 2014 elections is undoubtedly the start of a new era in Indian politics. It will reverberate regionally within South Asia, as well as globally with international investors and governments keen to enter the Indian market. In retrospect we might see the Congress victories of 2004 and 2009, significant as they were, as merely an aberration in the longer march of the BJP since the 1980s

The mythology of Modi

Manali Desai argues that the ongoing debate about Narendra Modi points to a broader battle being waged for the future of India as well as a clash over fundamental values

Reduction of crystalline defects in III-V thin buffer layers grown on Si(100) and Ge(100) substrates by MOCVD for solar fuels

Die Heteroepitaxie von III-V auf Si und Ge Substraten eignet sich für kostengünstige, qualitativ hochwertige Epitaxieschichten, die eine geeignete Bandlücke für Mehrfachsolarzellen aufweisen. Jedoch ist die III-V-Heteroepitaxie auf diesen Substraten aufgrund von Antiphasengrenzen, die durch polares III-V Wachstum auf den unpolaren Substraten entstehen, eine Herausforderung. Außerdem müssen Kristalldefekte, die sich an der Heterogrenzfläche III-V/Substrate bilden können und dann in den III-V-Schichten die solare Konversionseffizienz erheblich beeinträchtigen, unbedingt vermieden werden. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht die Präparation von Si- und Ge-Oberflächen mit wohldefinierten Heterogrenzflächen sowie das nachfolgende Wachstum von GaP- und III-P- Schichten mit geringen Defektdichten mittels metallorganischer chemischer Gasphasenabscheidung, die präzise kontrollierte, auf industriellen Maßstab skalierbare Epitaxie von III-V-Halbleitern mit hoher Reinheit ermöglicht. Für das Wachstum von GaP auf Si wurde die Ausbildung von Doppelstufen auf der Arsen-terminierten Si(100)-Oberfläche und die dazugehörige Dimerorientierung durch Variation der Prozessparameter (Temperatur, Druck, Arsenquelle) genau kontrolliert. Um die Kristallqualität der GaP-Pufferschicht zu verbessern, wurde die Pulsabfolge der Ga- und P-Präkursoren für die Nukleation modifiziert, indem die ersten fünf TEGa-Pulse durch TMAl ersetzt wurden. Die kristallinen Defekte wurden mittels “Electron channeling contrast imaging” (ECCI) untersucht. Die quantitative Analyse der Defekte zeigte, dass bei GaP, das auf einer GaP/AlP Nukleationsschicht gewachsen wurde, im Durchschnitt die Dichte von Durchstoß-versetzungen (engl. threading dislocations, TDs) und Stapelfehlern (engl. stacking faults, SFs) um eine bzw. zwei Größenordnungen reduziert werden konnte, verglichen mit Pufferschichten, die auf einer binären GaP Nukleationsschicht gewachsen wurden. Bei der Heteroepitaxie von III-P/Ge(100) ist ein erster Prozessschritt vor dem eigentlichen Wachstum entscheidend, bei dem die Ge(100):As-Oberfläche dem TBP-Precursor ausgesetzt wird, um die As-Atome durch P-Atome zu ersetzen. Unterschiedliche molare Flüsse des TBP-Precursors während dieses Prozessschritts beeinflussen die chemische Zusammensetzung sowie die Oberflächenrekonstruktion der Ge(100):As-Oberflächen; außerdem wirken sich die molaren Flüsse des TBP-Angebots auf die Bildung von Defekten in der III-P-Schicht aus. Diese Arbeit hat somit gezeigt, dass beim Wachstum von III-V-Verbindungshalbleitern auf Si und Ge eine genau kontrollierte Heterogrenzfläche erforderlich ist, um die hohe Kristallqualität der III-V-Schichten zu erreichen.Epitaxial growth of III-V compound semiconductors on Si(100) or Ge(100) substrates is highly desired for both microelectronics, photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical applications. The integration of III-V materials with main-group IV (Si or Ge) substrates have the potential to achieve high solar conversion efficiency in multi-junction photo devices. The main challenge during the growth of the III-V materials on Si(100) or Ge(100)substrates is to avoid anti-phase domains (APDs) which originate at the substrate. In addition, lattice mismatch between the epitaxially grown layer and the substrate generally introduces crystalline defects in the bulk. The presence of defects in a III-V buffer layer significantly limits the theoretical maximum solar conversion efficiency. Thus, in order to avoid APDs as well as other defects in the III-V layer, a precise preparation of atomically well-ordered substrate surface and the control of the III-V/substrate heterointerface is required. Double-layer atomic steps at the Si(100) or the Ge(100) surface are a crucial prerequisite to avoid APDs in the III-V epilayers. In addition, optimized III-V growth conditions are required to achieve low defect densities in the bulk. The present work focuses on the surface preparation of Si(100) and Ge(100) surfaces as well as the involved heterointerfaces for low-defect GaP/Si(100) and III-P/Ge(100) epilayers. The entire surface preparation and the growth of III-V layers were carried out in a metalorganic chemical vapor deposition reactor. Prior to the III-V growth, we are able to control over the dimers on both the Si and Ge surfaces. Moreover, a low temperature, rapid process route, in particular for the Si surfaces in III-V ambient was established. In order to improve the crystal quality of the GaP layer grown on Si(100):As substrates, a modified nucleation layer introducing Al was developed. For III-P/Ge, we have studied pre-growth step on Ge(100):As surfaces prior to III-P(100) buffer growth in which different molar flows of TBP precursor during the pre-growth steps were varied. The crystal defects in both the GaP(100) and the III-P(100) buffer layers were investigated by electron channeling contrast imaging (ECCI). ECCI scans showed that GaP epilayers grown on the Al-containing nucleation layers exhibit drastically reduced densities of threading dislocations and stacking faults, by 1 and 2 orders of magnitude, respectively, compared to the epilayers grown on binary GaP nucleation layers. For the III-P growth on the Ge(100) surface, we observed that the III-P layer exhibits no defects while grown on Ge(100):As substrates annealed under high TBP molar flow for a certain time, while a high defect density results in the case of III-P epilayers grown on Ge(100):As substrates annealed under low TBP molar flow. This suggests that a controlled pre-growth step is mandatory to prevent defects in the III-P layers. In both cases, either for GaP/Si(100) or for III-P/Ge(100) surfaces, preparation of the heterointerface is a crucial process step which determines the crystal quality of the subsequent III-V epilayers

The Developmental Regulation of Gene and Cellular Networks in Locomotion

A process such as locomotion requires a well-connected cellular network that is assembled by a gene network. Caenorhabditis elegans offers a tractable model system allowing integrative studies of gene and cellular networks. We have combined bioinformatics and cellular approaches to investigate such networks. The D motorneurons compose a cross – inhibitory network essential for sinuous locomotion. Its terminal selector gene, unc-30 establishes the anatomical and neurochemical fates in these neurons. Three genes: unc-5, flp-11 and unc-104 are expressed in the D mns as well as other motorneuron classes. Using transcriptional reporters, we found that UNC-30 influenced the expression of each of these genes; however, in the most broadly expressed of the genes, unc-104, the impact of UNC-30 was less obvious. The bioinformatics analysis identified the cis-element for alr-1, in the promoters of all three genes. unc-30;alr-1 double mutant studies suggested that the two transcription factors act synergistically in regulating unc-104

“Angles of Approaching Gender Equality: Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up”

The international community has attempted to integrate and implement norms into their domestic structure for many decades. They have incorporated the norm of gender equality through many different measures, however failed to identify a successful approach to implementing this type of norm effectively. This paper will explore how these international norms are spread and analyze two separate approaches to integrating gender equality: top-down and bottom-up. It will assess these approaches through a case-study analysis of India and Ghana. This will provide an in-depth explanation of each approach and it will analyze how they have, respectively, impacted the country’s education and employment sectors. Therefore this paper will not only depict how norms are spread but prove that a top-down approach, as seen in Ghana, is more successful in the implementation of those norms

State Formation and Radical Democracy in India

State Formation and Radical Democracy in India analyzes one of the most important cases of developmental change in the twentieth century, namely, Kerala in southern India and begs the question of whether insurgency among the marginalized poor can use formal representative democracy to create better life chances. Going back to pre-independence, colonial India, Manali Desai takes a long historical view of Kerala and compares it with the state of West Bengal, which like Kerala has been ruled by leftists but has not had the same degree of success in raising equal access to welfare, literacy, and basic subsistence. This comparison brings the role of left party formation and its mode of insertion in civil society to the fore, raising the question of what kinds of parties can effect the most substantive anti-poverty reforms within a vibrant democracy. This book offers a new, historically based explanation for Kerala’s post-independence political and economic direction