COVID-19 Pandemic and Problems of Micro-enterprises in Dibrugarh District of Assam: An Empirical Study

Small-scale industries play a crucial role in industrialisation of India. These industries face numerous problems, some of which are peculiar to them, while others are common to both small-scale and large-scale industries. The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed unprecedented threats as well as opportunities on this sector. This article tries to analyse the problems affecting the entrepreneurs associated with 141 micro-manufacturing enterprises in the Dibrugarh district of Assam and puts forward some policy suggestions. In order to identify the most pressing problem faced by the entrepreneurs, the Garrett ranking method is employed in the study. It is found that dearth of skilled labour is the most acute problem encountered by the sector. Lack of proper marketing arrangements, shortage of quality and cheap raw materials, obsolete technology and lack of timely finance are other important hindrances. The significance of skilled labour points to the intense need for continuous skill development of the local workforce by establishing more technical institutes, training programmes, etc. Furthermore, the government should provide special assistance for technological upgradation, develop institutional marketing facilities, and supply cheap and quality raw materials. Further, simplification of procedures in banks’ lending policies, relaxation of requirements like collateral security and margin money may go a long way in enhancing both confidence and performance of small entrepreneurs.

Estimation and Determinants of Technical Efficiency of Smallholder Cashew (Anacardium) Farmers in Dassa District, Benin: a Bootstrap Data Envelopment Approach

Cashew nut production is becoming more important in Benin’s economy and helps improve rural populations’ living conditions through the income it provides. However, production is characterized by an obsolete technology and a low farm productivity. This paper examines cashew producers’ technical efficiency in Dassa District in Benin using survey data collected from 100 farms in 2020. The research relied on the bootstrap modelling of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) while a censored Fractional Regression Model (FRM) was applied to assess the determinants of producers' technical efficiency. The results show that farms are 34.56% technically efficient. Factors affecting technical efficiency include experience, access to credit, age of farm managers, sale of cashew apples, and expenditure on education. Policies to promote cashew farm efficiency need to focus on promoting formal education in rural areas, establishing a financial literacy training programme for farm managers, and promoting the expansion of agricultural extension for farmers. In addition, producers should also set up a system for cashew apples’ conservation and sale as production waste in order to increase their income.

Preserving Jeff Wall : the inherent preservation concerns of Jeff Wall's early transparencies in lightboxes

Canadian artist Jeff Wall (b. 1946) created, between 1978 and 2007, over 130 silver dye-bleach transparency prints mounted in lightboxes. These works typify a growing problem currently faced by collections of contemporary fine art that contain works that use unstable materials and increasingly obsolete technology, both of which directly affects the nature of the works’ presentation and preservation. This thesis focuses on Wall’s early works, created between 1978 - 1985, a period during which he was exploring how best to utilize the lightbox technique. Using the works The Destroyed Room, Double Self-Portrait, and Steves Farm, Steveston as extensively illustrated case studies, this thesis focuses on the previously undiscussed evolution of the presentation and installation of Wall’s lightboxes as well as an exploration of the “objectness” of his works which encourages an awareness and fuller understanding of the lightboxes as physical and complex objects.

Preserving Jeff Wall : the inherent preservation concerns of Jeff Wall's early transparencies in lightboxes

Canadian artist Jeff Wall (b. 1946) created, between 1978 and 2007, over 130 silver dye-bleach transparency prints mounted in lightboxes. These works typify a growing problem currently faced by collections of contemporary fine art that contain works that use unstable materials and increasingly obsolete technology, both of which directly affects the nature of the works’ presentation and preservation. This thesis focuses on Wall’s early works, created between 1978 - 1985, a period during which he was exploring how best to utilize the lightbox technique. Using the works The Destroyed Room, Double Self-Portrait, and Steves Farm, Steveston as extensively illustrated case studies, this thesis focuses on the previously undiscussed evolution of the presentation and installation of Wall’s lightboxes as well as an exploration of the “objectness” of his works which encourages an awareness and fuller understanding of the lightboxes as physical and complex objects.

Die Nichtangriffsverpflichtung im deutschen und europäischen Kartellrecht

Subject of this dissertation is the assessment of non-challenge clauses between a patent holder and a licensee as well as possible exceptions for free licences, obsolete technology and settlement agreements against the background of German and EU competition law. In addition, the author assesses non-challenge obligations based on the principle of good faith as well as termination rights of the patent holder in case of challenge. Finally, the author analyses whether recent German and EU case law on the compulsory licence defence results in contradictions to the assessment of non-challenge obligations. The author graduated from the University of Heidelberg and works as an attorney in the field of German and EU competition law.

This Week: Obsolete Technology and Brand-New Discoveries

What Earth and space science stories are we recommending this week?

Co-consuming a “fun addiction”

Once considered an obsolete technology, modular synthesizers have experienced an unanticipated renaissance since the 1990s. While the reemergence of interest in modular synthesizers is attributable to a variety of factors, the internet has played an especially important role in facilitating the growth of a distributed, virtual scene around these instruments. Though several formats exist, Eurorack’s commercial and cultural growth has been the most dramatic. Once the province solely of specialists, Eurorack modules are now manufactured by large firms like Roland and Behringer and sold by mainstream music retailers like Guitar Center and Sweetwater. For many users, a Eurorack system is a physical manifestation of their musical tastes and aspirations. The planning, purchasing, and realization of a system is thus a constitutive element of self-identification and belonging within the scene. But while Eurorack users privilege customization to an intense degree, the modality of their choice is strongly mediated by communal wisdom and the personal testimony of distant others. How do scene members negotiate these tensions? In order to explicate these dynamics, I analyze two interrelated phenomena that are characteristic of the milieu: (1) personal narratives of an individual’s journey through modular synthesis and Eurorack; and (2) the instructional and promotional roles played by user-made demonstration videos of Eurorack modules. Both reveal a gap between the imagined and actual affordances of a system and its user, a discrepancy that I address by introducing the notion of “drift.” The marked heterogeneity of Eurorack and the potential of a system for future modification strongly distinguishes it from other formats, and I conclude by discussing Eurorack as an instrument that is never “finished.” As such, Eurorack invites us to consider a musical instrument not just as a bounded object or assemblage, but as an ongoing process of individuation rooted in practices of co-consumption.

When obsolete technology meets convergence culture: The case of VHS videocassettes

Technological developments have led to a rethinking of how obsolete media should be treated when it becomes relatively inaccessible. This article focuses on Video Home System (VHS) videocassettes in digital culture. Using semi-structured interviews undertaken with people who converted their videocassettes into a digital format, this study explores the notion of participatory and convergence culture. It shows how media innovation results in emergent roles and functions for videocassettes, attributing new experiences and meanings to both digital and VHS formats. Specifically, divergence helps videocassette owners control and manage family memories, strengthening ties between family members and relations between friends. This culminates in the creation of an inherited object of memory. The findings indicate a lack of confidence in technology, especially in its ability to preserve family memories. In addition, it was found that a sort of spiritual power is attributed to videocassettes, which prevents their owners from throwing them away. This study offers a model of the divergence process and a set of terms relying on research into religion transformations and human–technology relations. These frameworks can be applied to participatory culture, more accurately accounting for old versus new media user behaviors.