India-Georgia Relationship: A Window of Opportunity

India and Georgia, representing two ancient surviving civilizations in the world, are not located far away from within Asia. The two nations had deep linkages in the past; however, they mostly remained disconnected over the past few centuries for various reasons. In recent years, they are experiencing a steady rise in people-to-people engagement, especially in trade. Considering the changing global geopolitical realities and increasing avenues of Europe-Asia trade, India urgently needs to revive and rebuild its historic ties with Georgia to meet its national interests in the 21st century. Georgia could be a ‘Gateway to Europe’ for India

Turning the International North-South Corridor into a ‘Digital Corridor’

At present, the INSTC is being widely discussed among policy makers and academia as on the ground progress is fast taking shape. The project has primarily remained an initiative of four major participating states – i.e. India, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia – that are territorially located along the route of the corridor. Private businesses, whether local companies or MNCs, have not been very interested to jointly develop the project, mostly out of their concerns for assured returns on investments. The study builds a comprehensive case for the participating states to actively engage the private companies for developing the mega-connectivity project. The latter holds an advantage over advanced digital technologies in the global markets. Hence, public-private partnerships will bring about application of advanced digital technologies, like IoT, Blockchain technology, etc., which will efficiently serve the needs of different activities happening along the entire length of the corridor. This, in turn, will increase the overall strength and utility of the corridor, thereby ensuring its lasting success

Prospecting energy cooperation between SAARC and ASEAN

The paper puts forth the idea of establishing inter-regional energy connectivity between the eastern expanse of South Asia and northwestern expanse of Southeast Asia. Initially, it discusses the interregional connectivity projects that have been completed recently, and the ones that will likely come about in the near future. Then it examines the shared historical linkages of this broad landmass. Further, it explores the current geo-political environment of the two regions, which it deems as conducive for generating energy cooperation in various sectors and locales. Thereafter, it studies the prospect of the energy cooperation from the theoretical prism of regional energy security cooperation. Finally, it gauges the present interloping opportunities and challenges while proposing an increase in the level of energy cooperation among these states across the broad region

A few simple CFD models for flow simulation around groyne

The flow processes around a groyne structure is a complex and challenging topic in computational hydraulics and has brought attention of many researchers in the last few decades. In comparison to experimental studies, numerical modeling can provide more details about the flow characteristics at less cost. In the present work, performances of four simple finite difference schemes, i.e., Lax diffusive scheme, predictor corrector scheme, modified predictor corrector scheme and Beam and Warming scheme are compared in simulation of flow around groyne structure. The numerical results are validated with available experimental data and the best model is found out in terms of accuracy and efficiency

Prospects for Cooperation between India and Armenia

There are significant historical links between Armenia and India. This working paper seeks to provide an understanding of the prospects of present and future cooperation between the two countries. It features the analysis and interpretation of a questionnaire devised for this study and sent to both Armenians and Indians, comparing thirty dimensions for cooperation. The conclusions drawn in this paper point to there being positive prospects for bilateral cooperation, namely in the areas of science and tourism. However, many constraints remain in what comes to overcoming trade barriers in Trans-Asian Routes

Analysis of Material Removal and Surface Characteristics in Machining Multi Walled Carbon Nanotubes Filled Alumina Composites by WEDM Process

The reinforcement of ceramic materials with electrically conductive particles increases the overall conductivity of the ceramic material. This allows the ceramic material to be more readily machined using wire electrical discharge machining process. The current work is an approach to identify the machinability of multi walled carbon nanotubes filled alumina composites in wire electrical discharge machining process. Alumina samples of 5 vol. % and 10 vol. % multi walled carbon nanotubes are machined and analysed for material removal rate and the surface characteristics. An increase in material removal rate is observed with increase in filler concentrations. At the same time, better surface roughness is observed. The surface characteristics of composite alumina are further compared with Monel 400 alloy. It has been observed that spalling action is the dominating material removal mechanism for alumina composites, while melting and evaporation is for the Monel 400 alloy