Search results for "South Asia"
showing 10 items of 37 documents
Nile Basin Climates
2009
The climate of the Nile Basin is characterised by a strong latitudinal wetness gradient. Whereas the areas north of 18°N remain dry most of the year, to the south there is a gradual increase of monsoon precipitation amounts. Rainfall regimes can be divided into 9 types, among which summer peak regimes dominate. In the southern half of the basin, mesoscale circulation features and associated contrasts in local precipitation patterns develop as a result of a complex interplay involving topography, lakes and swamps. Precipitation changes and variability show up as 3 distinct modes of variability. Drying trends since the 1950s are found in central Sudan and to some extent the Ethiopian Highland…
Objectively recorded physical activity in early pregnancy: A multiethnic population-based study
2012
This study aimed to compare objectively recorded physical activity (PA) levels and walking steps among pregnant women. Cross-sectional data from a multiethnic cohort (n = 823) of pregnant women consisting of 44% from Western countries, 24% from South Asia, 14% from Middle East, and 18% from other countries. PA and steps were recorded by the activity monitor SenseWear™ Pro3 Armband. A total of 678 women were included in the analysis. Western women walked significantly more steps and had higher moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) levels compared with South Asian women per weekday and weekend day. Interaction terms (P = 0.008) between ethnicity (Western vs South Asian) and …
In the footsteps of the cows The ritual of gavāmayana between ancient and contemporary India
2022
Codified in classical Vedic times (8th-4th century BCE), the gavāmayana (‘the cow path’) was a year-long ritual session (sāmvatsarikasattra), which accompanied the succession of months of the Vedic religious calendar and ended with the celebration of mahāvrata (‘the great vow’) during the winter solstice. Marking the conclusion of the arduous ritual journey, it celebrated rebirth and consecrated the beginning of the new year. The book investigates gavāmayana based on a philological analysis of the texts and on a historical-religious and anthropological perspective, focusing on ancient India and some contemporary practices. The mahāvrata, in particular, seems to preserve the memory of very a…
Crowdfunding Prospects in New Emerging Markets: The Cases of India and Bangladesh
2020
AbstractCrowdfunding is a viable approach to financing start-ups and supporting social causes in advanced economies. The World Bank estimates a vast potential for crowdfunding also in emerging markets. The South Asia region consists of predominantly collectivist societies where helping others through donations is an integral part of prevailing religious obligations and societal norms. Thus, these countries share certain cultural and religious traits that are highly consistent with the principles of crowdfunding. In the current chapter, we explore the history, ongoing activity, and future prospects of crowdfunding in new emerging markets, specifically, India and Bangladesh. We observe that I…
Book Review: Taking ICT to Every Indian Village: Opportunities and Challenges
2006
Atanu Garai & B. Shadrach (2006). Taking ICT to every Indian village: Opportunities and challenges. New Delhi, India: One World South Asia; 133 pages. Information and communication technology (ICT) activities can easily be seen as a sort of technocracy, which is not surprising because the focus of attention is often dominated by issues such as the bandwidth, new devices, or the fierce competition between technological companies and their innovative products. In short, the discussion often is restricted to Habermasian technical interest of knowledge. At the end of the day, however, everything in ICT is about people and, more specifically, about the emancipatory application of knowledge for a…
Foreign Direct Investment, Terms of Trade, and Quality Upgrading: What Is So Special about South Asia?
2016
The existing literature has highlighted the positive effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on export upgrading and associated terms of trade in developing economies. However, the FDI effect has been found to be negative in South Asia. In this paper, we elaborate on the South Asia-specific effect by emphasizing the role of human capital in the positive link between FDI and terms of trade. We argue that education levels in South Asia have lagged behind those in East Asia and other developing regions. This has resulted in a world market integration strategy in South Asia that specializes in less skills-intensive products and generates associated FDI flows. We demonstrate these patterns fo…
Measurement Invariance of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support Among Chinese and South Asian Ethnic Minority Adolescents in Hong Ko…
2020
Seven hundred adolescents (Chinese = 50%; South Asian ethnic minority = 50%) with mean age of 15.3 years (SD = 1.53). Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was performed to assess measurement invariance of the MSPSS scale across Chinese and South Asian ethnic minority samples. Results show that the original three-factor structure of the MSPSS was supported in both samples. Measurement invariance was supported in terms of configural, metric, and partial scalar invariance. Given partial scalar invariance was achieved, the latent mean differences were compared across samples. Chinese adolescents had higher levels of all three types of social support when compared with their South Asian ethni…
Geochemical implications for changing dust supply by the Indian Monsoon system to the Arabian Sea during the last glacial cycle
2004
Element concentrations of 43 elements as well as inorganic and organic carbon content of sediment core 70KL from the western Arabian Sea were measured with high (1 cm) sample resolution. Principal components of the sediment’s chemical composition were determined with the help of statistical principle component analysis. These components are representing the major environmental factors at the site. The most important processes controlling the observed variations are the changing lithogenic influx derived from the major wind systems of the region (i.e., the Arabian northwesterly winds, the northeast winter monsoon and the southwest summer monsoon), summer monsoon associated upwelling and biog…
Starpreģionu integrācija saistībā ar Dienvidāzijas ekonomiskajiem koridoriem un to ietekmi uz Pakistānas eksporta konkurētspēju.
2016
Šajā maģistra darbā ir pētīta starpreģionālā integrācija saistībā ar ekonomiskajiem koridoriem īpašu uzsvaru liekot uz Dienvidāzijas reģionu, kur valstis kā Pakistāna, Indija, Bangladeša un Šrilanka ir vienlīdz konkurētspējīgas darbaspēka radīšanā un kaut kādā ziņā preču ražošanā. Ņemot vērā eksportspējas līdzību, šie potenciālie partneri starptautiskajā tirgū konkurē viens ar otru. Maģistra darba mērķis ir izpētīt starpreģionu integrācijas konkrētāk ekonomisko koridoru ietekmi uz Pakistānas eksporta konkurētspēju tekstilizstrādājumu un apģērbu rūpniecību. Darbā apskatītas dažādas pieejas konkurētspējas noteikšanai kā arī Pakistānas tekstilrūpniecības industrijas analīze un ekspertu viedokļ…
Il corpo della parola. Inni, poemi e performance nell'India antica e contemporanea
2021
Nella storia culturale dell’India la riflessione sulla Parola e sui suoi molteplici significati attraversa ambiti e discipline diversi, intersecantisi a loro volta tra loro, nelle riflessioni che riguardano il mito, il rituale, la poesia, la scienza, la storia, il teatro, in una serie incessante di implicazioni e di allusioni che potremmo descrivere come un albero, le cui vertiginose ramificazioni abbracciano un arco di tempo che si estende dal corpus vedico all’India contemporanea. I diversi aspetti e i vari usi della parola investono sia il contesto pubblico sia quello privato, la sfera politica così come quella religiosa, dove performance, dottrine, riti e speculazioni fissano i confini …