Taxi: Cabs and Capitalism in New York City

[Excerpt] Three significant events have happened since 2005 when this book was first published. (1) Starting in 2004, die city of New York began advancing the Taxi Technology Enhancement Program (TTE), which would require every yellow taxi in NYC to be fitted with a non-navigational Global Positioning System-based tracking system. Driver opposition to this system grew over the next three years, leading up to a series of strikes in September and October 2007. Even as we go to press, this battle continues. (2) In early 2007, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) became the first independent labor union to become a full member of the New York State Central Labor Council, a historic development with tremendous significance for the labor movement. (3) Finally, based on burgeoning interest and several taxi- organizing initiatives emerging throughout the United States, NYTWA along with the Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania organized a founding meeting of the Taxi Workers International (TWI) in March 2007. All three dramatic events promise long-term effects. In many ways die intertwined nature of these events has given me a more complete understanding of the challenges the contemporary labor movement faces. Accordingly, this Cornell edition carries a new epilogue that not only describes these events arid the actions that surrounded them but also attempts to synthesize them theoretically. The result, I hope, is a compelling conclusion to the book that will open up fresh debates within the labor movement

Civilians in the Line of Fire in the Light of Catholic Social Teaching

In our world today, afflicted by wars between States, by conflict between groups within States, and by the scourge of terrorism, civilians constitute the ‘vast majority of casualties in situations of armed conflict’ (UN Security Council, Resolution 1894, 2009). Civilian victims of documented and un-documented armed conflicts and their destructive consequences run in the millions. An overwhelming majority of the dead, injured, disabled are civilians and damages caused by armed conflicts primarily affect the civilian infrastructure and the basic resources of subsistence of entire populations. Civilians today are in the line of fire not only as a side effect of war. Increasingly, they are becoming the prime and intentional targets of combatants and armed elements. ‘Political and military designs supersede basic respect for the dignity and rights of persons and communities’ (Migliore 2009) and civilians are becoming deliberate targets and means for achieving political or military gains. They are even being used as a human shield for armed advancement. The menace of civilian deaths in the line of fire is of utmost concern for all humanity, for all religions, and for Christianity. Among the foundational teachings on which the Catholic perspective to this important issue of placing civilians in the line of fire is based, we can identify three core beliefs: a) all human beings are equal in dignity and their life is sacred; b) the right and duty to defend the life and common good from unjust aggressors; c) the permanent validity of the moral law forbidding murder even in the context of armed conflicts. After considering these the paper studies some of the ways in which the Catholic Church responds to the situation of civilians caught in the line of fire

Private Public Partnership in Urban Infrastructure Projects: Getting Sweet Curd from Spoilt Milk?

Rapid growth in urban population has made Solid Waste Management an important issue for civic administration. The 74th amendment of the Constitution of India and Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules 2000 has made municipal solid waste management the responsibility of urban local bodies (city corporations and municipal corporations). Further, the Supreme Court of India, acting on Public Interest Litigation directed all urban local governments to install scientific solid waste treatment plants before a set timeline. Installing a scientific waste management system was a costly proposition, which many urban bodies found difficult to bear. Many have sought participation of the private sector in solid waste management. The city corporation of Thiruvananthapuram also invited participation of Poabs Group to set up a waste processing plant in the corporation owned land outside the city. Right from inception the project ran into social and political opposition. The investor was enticed by the government to stick to the project by offering various concessions. There were interface issues of very serious nature between the plant and corporation employees whose support was absolutely necessary for continued, viable operation of the plant. However, the concessions remained in paper and the operations of the plant reached a stalemate. Based on the experiences of the private investor, various governance and policy level implications for public private participation in urban infrastructure projects (specifically solid waste management) are discussed.

Development and characterization of an inducible RNAi system in Toxoplasma gondii

Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous protozoan parasite that can infect and replicate within any nucleated mammalian or avian cell. The ability of double stranded RNA to downregulate gene expression has been demonstrated in T. gondii. We have constructed a tetracycline based inducible RNAi vector which can be used for regulating gene expression in T. gondii. Upon the addition of anhydrotetracycline, the production of double stranded RNA homologous to the target gene is induced. The inducible vector was characterized using the marker gene, uracil phosphoribosyl transferase. The inducible vector was stably transfected into RHtetR strain of the parasite and specifically lowered the expression of uracil phosphoribosyl transferase detected by RT-PCR, uracil incorporation assay and 5-fluro-2\u27-deoxyuridine resistance. Subsequently, the inducible RNAi vector was used to elucidate the role of microneme protein 3 (MIC 3), which is an invasion related gene. We generated a stable transgenic parasite line in which the expression of MIC 3 was knocked down detected by RT-PCR. However, we did not detect any changes in the growth of the parasite or its invasion ability, as monitored by nucleotide uptake assay and growth assay

A finite element thermal and diffusion analysis at bearing metal interface in extrusion processes

A mathematical model is developed to study the effect of extrusion speed and the bearing length on the surface temperature along the die billet interface. The surface temperature distribution resulting from the plastic work done on the die billet interface is studied. Finite element analysis is done on the model incorporating the mass transport effect occurring during the extrusion process and the interdependence of various parameters are presented. Die wearing problem is analyzed considering the effect of diffusion. Thermal analogy of the diffusion problem is utilized in the development of the mathematical model for diffusion problem and finite element analysis is done on the model to study the effect of controlling parameters in the extrusion process