Suchergebnisse

ABSTRACTThis article describes a classroom tool to teach the impact of supply chain disruptions and mitigation strategies based on information sharing and collaboration. The tool is an adaptation of the Beer Distribution Game, is easy to play, and can be hosted online or on local servers. The game considers several scenarios based on the location of the disruptions (i.e., upstream or downstream) and the information available to supply chain partners. Students play the roles of managers who make ordering decisions in a serial supply chain and experience decision‐making under disruptions.

This article traces the changing patterns of women's turnout in state assembly and Lok Sabha elections in India. The primary objective of the article is to understand why more women are turning out to vote. The article discusses the self-empowerment hypothesis, increased female literacy and deeper penetration of media as possible factors behind this recent upsurge. It also studies how greater interest in politics and relatively higher participation in campaign activities by women in recent elections are possibly related to the increased turnout. The analysis presented in the article is based on a combination of both aggregate data and survey data. The article uses empirical evidence from the National Election Studies conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies for the 2004, 2009 and the 2014 General Elections and the Census of India 2001 and 2011.

During the 16th Lok Sabha elections, the BJP achieved unprecedented successes in rural as well as urban constituencies. Its progress has resulted from its growing popularity among almost every social group, its expansion being significant beyond its core supporters cutting across various classes, castes and communities—except the Muslims. While it remained more popular in the urban constituencies, the BJP has therefore largely blurred the traditional urban–rural divide. But this distinction has not been totally neutralized, as is evident from regional and social variations which need to be explained. The impact of the rural–urban divide remained particularly strong in UP, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka where the village dwellers voted significantly less for the BJP than the urban citizens. These variations mostly stem from the new attraction for the BJP among OBCs and, to a lesser extent, Dalits residing in urban settings. Their rallying around the BJP probably reflects their joining of the 'neo-middle class', which identified more closely with Narendra Modi's development agenda. Urbanization has also favoured the BJP as the crucible of communal polarization, a process which explains that the more urban they are, the more inclined to vote Congress the Muslims are, whatever their caste or class.

Based on primary and secondary sources, this paper attempts to ascertain the underlying patterns and themes of women's political participation and their levels of inclusion or exclusion from the political process. A balance sheet of gender participation in formal politics reveals that there has been marked increase in voting turnout and election campaigning among women although they still continue to be excluded from legislative bodies at national and state level and deprived from key decision making positions in government and political parties. Field-based research shows 'interest in polities' as the key determinant and one of the best predictors of women's levels of political participation. Among other factors that seem to determine the intensity of women's formal participation in politics, 'media exposure'-proxy for awareness-emerges as important variable. The key areas that need to be addressed for improving political participation of women and inclusion in the political process are affirmative action, better representation in legislative bodies and political parties, particularly in the decision making bodies as well as cabinet berths in government at centre and state level in partnership with civil society.

The Eastern India Rainfeld Farming Project is in many respects a model development project. A joint venture of the governments of India and the UK, the EIREP has been successful in improving farm-based livelihood I Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal. But the Project might yet be considered a failure. It has not persuaded the poorest villagers in Jharkhand to join or manage the self-help groups that are called for by the Project's Logical Framework. (InWent/DÜI)

The global crisis prevailing in the wake of the spread of COVID-19 has raised several speculations about the impact of the lockdown on the mental health of people. The dataset presented here is the assessment of the psychological distress experienced by people in India following the implementation of lockdown as a measure to curtail the spread of the coronavirus. The data was collected through a survey conducted by employing an online questionnaire assessing the socio-demographic information (9-items) as well as the administration of the short version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12 items) originally developed by Goldberg (1972). The period of data collection is between 9th April 2020 and 20th April 2020 where a total of 1,894 responses were obtained. The Google forms containing the questionnaire of the study were shared publicly through emails and via the social media forum like WhatsApp and Facebook. Thereby, those who took the initiative to fill-up the responses were included as the survey participants. Thus, the final sample had participants representing 17 states and Union territories of India. The entire dataset is stored in a Microsoft Excel Worksheet (.xls) and the questionnaire is attached as a supplementary file. The data is beneficial for the timely assessment of the nature and degree of the psychological distress experienced by people in India during the COVID-19 crisis. It could further be an assistance to the Government, policymakers as well as health care workers to take the adequate measures to ensure sound mental health among people.