Search results

This paper aims to present a new wireless power transfer technique using capacitive coupling. The capacitive power transfer (CPT) system has been introduced as an attractive alternative to the traditional inductive coupling method. The CPT offers benefits such as simple topology, fewer components, better electromagnetic interference (EMI) performance and robustness to surrounding metallic elements.

A class-E inverter together with and without inductor capacitor (LC) matching circuit has been utilised in this work because of its ability to perform the DC-to-AC inversion efficiently with significant reduction in switching losses. The validity of the proposed concept has been verified by conducting a laboratory experiment of the CPT system.

The performances for both systems are analysed and evaluated. A 9.7 W output power is generated through a combined interface [printed circuit board (PCB) plate] capacitance of 2.82 nF at an operating frequency of 1 MHz, with 97 per cent efficiency for 0.25 mm coupling gap distance.

An efficient CPT system with class-E LC matching topology is proposed in this paper. With this topology, the zero-voltage switching can be achieved even if the load is different by properly designing the LC matching transformation circuit.

Is India backing out from its commitment to No First Use (NFU) of nuclear weapons (NWs)? It was a highly debated issue in newspapers and electronic media in August 2019. What triggered this question? In this chapter, I intend to, after explaining significance of NWs in Indian defence strategy and nuclear doctrine that includes Indian commitment to NFU of NWs, answer the two questions raised in reverse order briefly.

This chapter will consider the workings of microcelebrity in the context of an evolving Indian cyber public. In the contemporary moment, large-scale battles for control over the world’s youngest and increasingly digitally active demographic are in full swing – both by corporations like Facebook through efforts like Free Basics, as well as by ideologues who wish to mold the “idea of India” in certain ways. While digital spaces are often framed as liberating, there are also extremely strong conservative forces that are well established. It is within this context that I would like to examine the recent growth of the Indian online comedic scene whose popularity has increased by leaps and bounds. My particular focus will be the comedy collective of AIB (All India Backchod), who are most prominent on Youtube. This collective has garnered significant popularity through their deployment of viral comedic videos riffing off on various aspects of Indian society and have also made socially aware videos around hot button issues like gay rights and women’s rights. I would like to examine their treatment of gender and sexuality particularly in the context of it being made up primarily of straight men and how that has affected their engagement both with the content of their videos, as well as their ability to leverage their online visibility. I will be using ideas of postcolonial cyberspace as theorized by Nishant Shah (2015) as well as theorists of microcelebrity and the use of humor such as Theresa Senft (2013).

Vast areas have been studied toward combustion and emission analysis in vegetable oil methyl esters and quite a few in algal oil biodiesel. To analyze the better alternate source for diesel engine, this study aims to investigate the combustion behavior and emission characteristics between cottonseed biodiesel and algal oil biodiesel on comparison with mineral diesel in a compression ignition engine.

The fuel properties like density, kinematic viscosity, calorific value and Cetane number have met the biodiesel standards for both algal and cottonseed biodiesel. At rated power, engine was operated on all three test fuels, where combustion analysis describing in-cylinder pressure, peak pressure, rate of pressure rise and rate of heat release and emission characteristics including hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and smoke for both biodiesel comparing mineral diesel.

Algal and cottonseed biodiesel showed up to 2-3°CA delayed start of combustion comparing mineral diesel curve. The in-cylinder pressure of algal biodiesel was found to be 68 bar, whereas cottonseed biodiesel exhibited 65 bar at full load condition. Similarly, the rate of pressure rise and rate of heat release of algal biodiesel depicted 7.9 and 10.7 per cent rise than cottonseed biodiesel, respectively. As the load increased, ignition delay showed decreasing trend, while combustion duration showed an increasing trend. HC, CO and smoke emissions were seen to be lower than mineral diesel with noticeable increase in NOx emission.

In this present investigation, biodiesel from Stoechospermum Marginatum, a marine marco algae, was used to fuel the compression ignition engine. Its combustion behavior and emission characteristics are compared with cottonseed biodiesel, a vegetable oil-based biodiesel having similar physio-chemical characteristics to understand the suitability of algal biodiesel in compression ignition engine. This study involves the assessment of straight biodiesel from macro algae and cottonseed oil on standard operating conditions.

Introduction: All countries are interested in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) as it provides for productivity gains and modernisation for attaining sustainable development goals. Multinational corporations (MNCs) collect a vast volume of structured and unstructured big data when seeking international expansion by the FDI route in the insurance sector, but concluding these data may not be practically feasible. So nowadays, for finalising their FDI ventures, MNCs depend on machine-based algorithms for quick analysis of big data sets.

Purpose: This chapter explores how emerging big data analytics and predictive modelling fields can scale and speed up FDI decisions in the insurance sector.

Methodology: The author used a descriptive study based on secondary data from sources like World Bank, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Trade Organisation (WTO), and International Finance Corporation (IFC) data repositories to identify variables such as risks, costs, trade agreements, regulatory policies, and gross domestic product (GDP) that affect FDI movements. This chapter highlights the process flow that can be beneficial to convert big data sets using statistical tools and computer software such as Statistical Analytics Software (SAS), IBM SPSS Statistics.

Findings: The application of artificial intelligence-based statistical tools on FDI variables can help derive time-series graphs and forecast revenues. The authors found that foreign investors can narrow their prospect search for industry or product to manageable from varied investment opportunities in host countries. Advancements in big data analysis offer cost-effective methods to improve decision-making and resource management for enterprises.

Introduction: Blockchain is gaining attention in various industries and sectors. It is described as an emergent technology with immense possibilities similar to how the internet has revolutionised how businesses are currently carried out. Still, various sectors have either not adopted or are in a very nascent stage to adopt blockchain technology in their operations. The current research examines how blockchain can be used in the insurance sector. This industry was chosen as it is extremely relevant in today’s world and directly bears its economy.

Purpose: To determine the current and future path in which the insurance industry is moving about blockchain technology adoption and find synergy between blockchain technology and the insurance business.

Need for study: The insurance industry is highly relevant in today’s world and directly bears the country’s economy. Additionally, blockchain is an emergent technology with immense possibilities similar to how the internet has revolutionised how businesses are done. The current research looks at how blockchain can be used in the insurance business.

Methodology: A systematic literature review was conducted in this study by reviewing literature related to blockchain technology and the insurance sector. Science direct was used as a source of information. For this study, the literature review approach was chosen since it allows us to trace the growth of the subject matter and identify the patterns that have formed through time.

Findings: The study found that the insurance sector has recognised the latent benefits of blockchain technology and has begun to develop its usage in selected cases such as fraud prevention and risk assessment.

Practical implications: The current study can be referred to by academicians, marketers, industry people, and policymakers. The study encourages companies and academicians to further investigate the usage of blockchain in insurance.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the shifting nature of governance reforms, both at global and national levels, in the increasingly commercialised game of cricket. The authors explore the inter-relationship and linkages between governance and commercialism, and in the process, question the contemporary reliance placed on governance as a generic counter-commercialist force and accountability aid.

The analysis is based on a comprehensive analysis of cricketing archives, newspapers and online media. The authors specifically utilise a range of review reports, governance and accounting information from annual reports and websites of the International Cricket Council (ICC) as well as different national cricket governing bodies (NCBs).

The paper vividly demonstrates the importance of recognising the specific significance of different cultural traditions and modes of organising – and not presuming a particular form of impact. The findings highlight that the adoption of a dominant market logic by cricket administrators has resulted in a shift in the balance of power in favour of non-western nations. India has emerged as the clear leader and driving force shaping the way cricket is globally governed. The consequences have been profound but not in terms of delivering, enhanced standards of transparency and accountability. Drawing on institutional theory, the paper argues that the scale of the Board of Cricket Control of India’s financial and operational control over the ICC has not only led to an increasingly commercialised game but engendered divergent and highly questionable standards of governance at the level of NCBs.

Unlike other global games, cricket has an imperialistic root, and has gone through the process of globalisation in relatively recent times. Also, the commercialisation of cricket has resulted in the global economic and power base shifting from the West to the East, giving us the opportunity to study the dynamics between commercialisation and governance in a quite different globalisation context that allows an assessment to be made of the culturally contingent nature of governance as a substantive organising force.

The paper aims to explore the process of identity regulation and identity creation on social media for employees in the IT sector of India and how this process is different for men and women.

The study is based on the thematic analysis of in-depth interviews of 31 IT professionals.

The authors find that identity regulation and identity creation is a complex process when it is mediated on social media as cues and guidelines for professionals are ambiguous. Enriching Ibarra's model of identity creation, the authors find that this process consists of five steps: (1) motivation to build a desirable self, (2) experimenting with identity boundaries, (3) failed identity experiences, (4) active self-regulation and (5) enacting inauthentic selves. The authors further find that this self-regulation for men is driven by the pressure to conform to the identity of an ideal “corporate man”, whereas for women it is driven by the need to conform to societal and cultural expectations.

Since identity regulation is a cognitively demanding process that affects both the productivity and well-being of employees, organisations can proactively help employees manage their social media presence through training and mentorship programmes.

The paper provides an enriched version of Ibarra's (1999) model on identity creation and regulation and highlights the role of gender in the process. The paper is practically relevant as it provides a window into how employees can feel the need to manifest inauthentic selves which is cognitively demanding.

The purpose of the study was to find out the effect of authentic leadership on innovative work behavior among employees in the context of Indian startups that have gone global in the past one decade. The study also aimed to investigate the mediating effect of one organizational-level variable, i.e. organizational climate and one individual-level variable, i.e. readiness for change on the direct relationship between authentic leadership and innovative work behavior.

The study used survey method with a sample of 261 employees working in Indian startups that have gone global in the past one decade. Authentic leadership, organizational climate, readiness for change and innovative work behavior were measured using standardized questionnaires.

Structural equation modeling revealed that authentic leadership had significant direct effect on innovative work behavior and this effect was mediated by readiness for change. However, organizational climate had no significant effect.

The findings of the study have important implications for startups that employ millennials as employees and have plans to go global. Millennials have very different characteristics in the workplace and they regard authenticity in the leader very highly. Since they are assertive and they question everything, it becomes imperative for founder-leaders to exhibit authenticity in their actions, words and thoughts.

This is the first study in the context of Indian startups that have gone global by taking important variables of authentic leadership, readiness for change and innovative work behavior.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical appraisal of the theme of zulm (injustice/exploitation) in light of the Islamic finance literature and the general attitude and approach of the Islamic finance industry and its advocates.

Based on an expanding theoretical and empirical knowledge base about Islamic finance and banking movement, and the emerging understanding about the role of profit and corporate behavior, a critical analysis of the role of riba, interest and profit in widespread injustice and exploitation is presented.

On the basis of the behavior of the Islamic finance industry, it seems that the industry's current practices are either neutral to the issue of injustice/exploitation or mirrors the tendencies of the conventional finance. Furthermore, when comparing the exploitative role of interest and profit, the latter seems to be more consequential than generally understood and acknowledged.

Islamic economics/finance literature should have more empirical research in identifying and understanding the nature of exploitation in the contemporary world and in how the current practices or tendencies are minimizing or abetting the challenge of exploitation.

The larger goal of the Islamic finance and banking movement should be to be in harmony with the maqasid of Islam to minimize zulm (injustice/exploitation) in the society.

The larger goal of the Islamic finance and banking movement should be to be in harmony with the maqasid of Islam to minimize zulm (injustice/exploitation) in the society.

While the literature of Islamic economics and finance is rather robust, this might be the first work that critically examines the riba‐interest reductionism, especially to focus on its implication for attention of the industry being away from exploitation in general and the relationship between profit and exploitation in particular.