Role of ICT in the Process of Teaching and Learning

ICT enables self-paced learning through various tools such as assignment, computer etc as a result of this the teaching learning enterprise has become more productive and meaningful. ICT helps facilitate the transaction between producers and users by keeping the students updated and enhancing teachers capacity and ability fostering a live contact between the teacher and the student through e-mail, chalk session, e-learning, web-based learning including internet, intranet, extranet, CD-ROM, TV audio-videotape. Edusat technology has become very powerful media for interactive participation of experts and learners and it reaches the unreachable. Emerging learning Technology (ELT) of bogging, Integrated Learning  Modules, a pod cast, Wikis, Enhancement of Browsers, e-learning, M-learning, U-learning have started making rapid strides in teaching learning processes. Keywords: Web Browsers, Technology enhanced learning, Self paced learning, Instructional software, Interactive learning, Integrated Learning Module, U- learning. E-learning ,M-learning

Location Based Authentication

With the growth of wireless technologies in sectors like the military, aviation, etc, there is a need to determine the authenticity of a genuine user. Today\u27s conventional authentication mechanisms are based on three factors: knowledge, possession and biometrics. These factors are prone to theft, hardware failure, expensive, etc. Consequently, there is a need of a stronger solution. One such solution is Location Based Authentication that considers the location information of a user. The location information is time based and thus hard to steal. However, accuracy of the GPS, signal strength inside the building, etc, affects its potential. Consequently, there is a need to address alternatives. One such alternative is to implement a puzzle-based authentication scheme based on the location information. In the proposed scheme, the server asks dynamic location-based questions and the client answers them based on the proposed route of travel. This scheme strengthens the current authentication mechanisms

The Implementation of ERP System in Indian SMEs

The objectives of the research reported in this thesis are to explore how enterprise resource planning (ERP) can be implemented successfully in Indian medium sized manufacturing firms and to understand why only some firms are able to implement ERP successfully, while others experience ERP failure. A review of existing literature addressing ERP implementation in both large companies and SMEs was undertaken to identify specific gaps in the literature. The resource-based view (RBV) of the firm, absorptive capacity and the diffusion of innovations (DOI) were identified as insightful theoretical bases for the study. A qualitative research methodology was adopted and, following a pilot study, data was collected through semi-structured, multi-respondent, in-depth interviews in nine case study firms. Data was analysed at three levels - within case, cross-case and group analysis. The empirical findings indicate that firms undertaking a big bang ERP implementation through well-known international vendors are more likely to be successful than those firms adopting a step by-step-approach with local vendors. A number of critical success factors (CSFs), consistent with existing studies of ERP implementation, were identified. This study demonstrates strong interlinkages between the identified CSFs, with top management support playing a central and enabling role amongst the other CSFs. Furthermore, the study identified high absorptive capacity as another important CSF for ERP implementation. The thesis offers a number of contributions. Firstly, it introduces the concept of absorptive capacity into a consideration of the CSFs of ERP implementation. It also provides a more in-depth understanding of the CSFs necessary for ERP implementation, how these are inter-related and demonstrates the central role of active top management involvement throughout the implementation process

Location Based Authentication

With the growth of wireless technologies in sectors like the military, aviation, etc, there is a need to determine the authenticity of a genuine user. Today\u27s conventional authentication mechanisms are based on three factors: knowledge, possession and biometrics. These factors are prone to theft, hardware failure, expensive, etc. Consequently, there is a need of a stronger solution. One such solution is Location Based Authentication that considers the location information of a user. The location information is time based and thus hard to steal. However, accuracy of the GPS, signal strength inside the building, etc, affects its potential. Consequently, there is a need to address alternatives. One such alternative is to implement a puzzle-based authentication scheme based on the location information. In the proposed scheme, the server asks dynamic location-based questions and the client answers them based on the proposed route of travel. This scheme strengthens the current authentication mechanisms

Using SERVQUAL to Assess the Customer Satisfaction Level: A Study of an Urban Cooperative Bank

The SERVQUAL instrument was developed in 1988 by Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry as a multi-item scale developed to assess customer perceptions of service quality in service industry. Customers judge service quality as low or high depending upon whether the service performance meets their expectation or not. The purpose of this research is to determine the impact of service quality of an urban cooperative bank on its customers and to throw light on the satisfaction level of the customers, so that the managers in the organization can improve the quality of the services rendered. Using SERVQUAL tool, five service quality dimensions using two segments in the form of a questionnaire consisting of 22 questions each have been used for the customers. The result shows that the overall perception of the quality of service provided by the bank under study is within the acceptable limit for the five aspects of service quality measured. Nevertheless, difference between the expectation of excellent service quality and perceived service quality throws light on the need for improvement by bridging the customer service gaps in certain areas of service delivery by the bank. Thus the research intends to add to the limited body of knowledge pertaining to the service quality of the bank under study

Impact of fiscal policy shocks on the Indian economy

Impact of Fiscal Policy Shocks on the Indian Economy Swati Yadav , V.Upadhyay , Seema Sharma Abstract In this paper, we analyse the impact of fiscal shocks on the Indian economy using structural vector autoregression (SVAR) methodology. The study uses quarterly data for the period 1997Q1 to 2009Q2. Two different identification schemes have been used to assess the effects of shocks to government spending and tax revenues on output. The recursive scheme is based on the Cholesky decomposition and the second identification scheme Blanchard & Perrotti (1999) technique of using information on tax system to identify the SVAR model. We find that the impulse responses obtained from both identification schemes behave in a similar fashion but the value of multipliers differs. Also the shock to tax variable has a bigger impact on GDP than the government spending shock. In the extended four variable VAR model the effects of fiscal shocks on private consumption has been assessed using the recursive identification scheme. Findings indicate that the tax variable has larger impact on private consumption as compared to the government spending variable. In the short run the impact of expansionary fiscal shocks follow Keynesian tradition but the long run response is mixed.SVAR, Fiscal shocks, Multipliers

POLLUTION AND HUMAN HEALTH

Over the last three decades there has been increasing global concern over the public health impacts attributed to environmental pollution, in particular, the global burden of disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about a quarter of the diseases facing mankind today occur due to prolonged exposure to environmental pollution. Recent reports have shown that approximately around 50,000 people dies daily due to water pollution only. The main reason behind this rapid increase in pollution is the Human greed of development and industrialization. Recent reports have shown that with this rapid rate of conservation of natural sources of energy, natural biomass sources would completely vanish from the earth in less than 20years. Clearly, Human Greed has taken over human need of development. In this blind race of industrialization, mankind has forgotten that how much it is affecting our environment and what drastic results would occur if we continue to disrespect the nature. With this rate of pollution, many severe issues such as Global Warming and depletion of ozone layer etc. In the 8 years that have passed, the political context of environment and health has evolved. As highlighted in EEA's The European Environment— state and outlook 2010 the policy focus is increasingly shifting from single environmental pollution issues towards systemic challenges regarding the maintenance of ecosystem resilience and the delivery of ecosystem services to human society

On Linkage of a Flow Shop Scheduling Model Including Job Block Criteria with a Parallel Biserial Queue Network

This paper is an attempt to establish a linkage between a flowshop scheduling model having job block criteria with a parallel biserial queue network linked with a common channel in series. The arrival and service pattern both follows Poisson law in queue network. The generating function technique, law of calculus and statistical tools have been used to find out the various characteristics of queue. Further the completion time of jobs in a queue system form the set up time for the first machine in the scheduling model. A heuristic approach to find an optimal sequence of jobs with a job block criteria with minimum total flow time when the jobs are processed in a combined system with a queue network is discussed. The proposed method is easy to understand and also provide an important tool for the decision makers when the production is done in batches. A computer programme followed by a numerical illustration is given to justify the algorithm. Keywords: Queue Network, Mean Queue length, Waiting time, Processing time, Job-block, Makespan, Biserial Channe