A Model for Detection and Prevention of Unbalanced Bid in the Public Work Procurement Process in India

Indian Public procurement works contribute almost 30% of the total GDP, most of the large and massively funded projects are public-funded, utilizing the tax collected from the citizens of the country. Hence, any discrepancies associated with such projects have direct implications on the taxpayers. The public procurement process, due to legal bindings and ethics is prone to various malpractices, that affect the overall performance of the system. Hence, it becomes imperative to prevent anomalies associated with the public procurement process. One of the anomalies associated with public procurement is an Unbalanced bid, a method of redistributing the project cost such that it varies from the Engineer’s Estimate. The ethics related to Unbalanced bid varies, contractors state that unbalanced bidding is moral and find its application beneficial to the project performance while clients and officials opine that an unbalanced bid is an unethical practice to jeopardize project progress and client’s money. The unbalanced bid can be of four types – Quantity Error Exploitation, Front-loaded Bid, Back loaded Bid, and Collusive bid. The research intends to propose a model to detect and prevent unbalanced bids respecting the constraints of the public procurement process in India, enhancing project performance, and protecting tax payer’s money.

Regeneration of Empire: Agrarian Vision and Philanthropic Colonisation in H. Rider Haggard's Novels

<p>This thesis focuses on H. Rider Haggard’s fictional use of philanthropic colonisation to illustrate his vision of agriculturally regenerating the British Empire. Haggard’s panacea for poverty, unemployment, urban crowding, and tenuous control of imperial holdings relies on returning people back to the land. Retraining people to become farmers is the solution to all these issues; philanthropic colonisation is the mode through which his vision would come to fruition. Between 1896-1919, Haggard’s depictions of Empire shift from semi-stable to precarious—a sign of his public work as an agricultural reformer influencing his fiction. I argue in this thesis that focusing on three novels, The Wizard (1896), The Ghost Kings (1908), and When the World Shook (1919), written during Haggard’s work as an agricultural reformer, provides a scope in which to watch Haggard’s agrarian vision develop, climax, and fade. I analyse Haggard’s use of philanthropic colonisation to reflect the desired virtues of his agrarian vision as well as the charitable endeavours which expand or prolong the Empire’s reach. Chapter one, “‘The Rider Haggard of the New Crusade:’ Philanthropy and Declining Civilisations,” traces the degradation of Haggard’s hopes to regenerate the Empire through philanthropic colonisation. In The Ghost Kings, Haggard uses Rachel’s charity to extend the Empire and to demonstrate the effect one individual’s virtue can make in saving or destroying a civilisation; in When the World Shook, Haggard shows the depth of imperial corruption through the decay of Christian missions. Through Arbuthnot and Oro, Haggard struggles to understand the fate of the Empire; using both characters to grasp the concept of civilisation, Haggard concludes that although the Empire has serious flaws, it is ultimately worth trying to save. Chapter two, “Zealot, Renegade, and Reformer: Haggard’s Vision for the Empire,” uses Gerald Monsman’s idea of Haggard as a “heretic in disguise” to look at how Haggard utilises Christian missionary characters to propagate ideas of imperial regeneration. The move between zealot, renegade, and reformer character types reveals Haggard’s developing sense—from the late 1890s through to 1919—that the Empire needs to be rejuvenated. Chapter three, “The Role of Condescension in Interracial Friendship,” explores how Haggard’s vision of a rebirth for the Empire is endangered by interracial friendships. Friendship strips away the prescribed roles given to both coloniser and native, allowing for something more intimate to develop. Thus, any interaction between a white and black person was socially scripted—language borrowed from philanthropic condescension. It is the act of condescension that enables interaction between a coloniser and native; only when deviating from prescribed roles does friendship become a possibility.</p>

Regeneration of Empire: Agrarian Vision and Philanthropic Colonisation in H. Rider Haggard's Novels

<p>This thesis focuses on H. Rider Haggard’s fictional use of philanthropic colonisation to illustrate his vision of agriculturally regenerating the British Empire. Haggard’s panacea for poverty, unemployment, urban crowding, and tenuous control of imperial holdings relies on returning people back to the land. Retraining people to become farmers is the solution to all these issues; philanthropic colonisation is the mode through which his vision would come to fruition. Between 1896-1919, Haggard’s depictions of Empire shift from semi-stable to precarious—a sign of his public work as an agricultural reformer influencing his fiction. I argue in this thesis that focusing on three novels, The Wizard (1896), The Ghost Kings (1908), and When the World Shook (1919), written during Haggard’s work as an agricultural reformer, provides a scope in which to watch Haggard’s agrarian vision develop, climax, and fade. I analyse Haggard’s use of philanthropic colonisation to reflect the desired virtues of his agrarian vision as well as the charitable endeavours which expand or prolong the Empire’s reach. Chapter one, “‘The Rider Haggard of the New Crusade:’ Philanthropy and Declining Civilisations,” traces the degradation of Haggard’s hopes to regenerate the Empire through philanthropic colonisation. In The Ghost Kings, Haggard uses Rachel’s charity to extend the Empire and to demonstrate the effect one individual’s virtue can make in saving or destroying a civilisation; in When the World Shook, Haggard shows the depth of imperial corruption through the decay of Christian missions. Through Arbuthnot and Oro, Haggard struggles to understand the fate of the Empire; using both characters to grasp the concept of civilisation, Haggard concludes that although the Empire has serious flaws, it is ultimately worth trying to save. Chapter two, “Zealot, Renegade, and Reformer: Haggard’s Vision for the Empire,” uses Gerald Monsman’s idea of Haggard as a “heretic in disguise” to look at how Haggard utilises Christian missionary characters to propagate ideas of imperial regeneration. The move between zealot, renegade, and reformer character types reveals Haggard’s developing sense—from the late 1890s through to 1919—that the Empire needs to be rejuvenated. Chapter three, “The Role of Condescension in Interracial Friendship,” explores how Haggard’s vision of a rebirth for the Empire is endangered by interracial friendships. Friendship strips away the prescribed roles given to both coloniser and native, allowing for something more intimate to develop. Thus, any interaction between a white and black person was socially scripted—language borrowed from philanthropic condescension. It is the act of condescension that enables interaction between a coloniser and native; only when deviating from prescribed roles does friendship become a possibility.</p>

Considering Power in Community-Based Research: Shifting Toward New Pedagogical Approaches with a 'Public Work for Public Things' Framework

One of the fundamental questions of power in the pedagogy of community-based research (CBR) is who gets to decide what is research worthy and what is the focus of CBR questions? The reality of the power imbalance in community-based research and learning is often reflective of a systemic disengagement with the broader community. Even when instructors and administrators are intentional in how they solicit feedback or think through the impact of their work, they may not know the neighbourhood. Prioritising the voice of community partners does not provide a simple solution, as the individuals we work with to organise community-based learning opportunities may not be residents of the neighbourhood. This article adopts a theory-building approach to this crucial question. Building on the work of Boyte (2014) and Honig (2017), community-based research is reoriented as ‘public work for public things’ (Haarman 2020). After establishing the ‘public work for public things’ framework, the article explores how this new framework impacts collaborative research by addressing the power differential and creating new lines of inquiry – specifically the practice of ‘elicitation of concerns’. Through the lens of critical service-learning pedagogy (Mitchell 2008) and a practitioner-scholar framework (Lytle 2008; Ravitch 2013; Salipante & Aram 2003), we then interrogate two community-based research courses we have recently taught, examining how a ‘public work for public things’ approach would have altered the course and its methods.

Assessment of linkage between Productive Safety Net Program and Health Services in Somali Region, Ethiopia: Lessons, Challenges and Missed Opportunities

Background: Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) which has been implemented since 2005 is a large-scale, social protection intervention aimed at improving food security. The fourth phase of the PSNP included a system of integrated health and nutrition service delivery for its categories of beneficiaries especially the creation of a temporary direct support(TDS) category for clients that are pregnant and lactating women (PLW) or caretakers of malnourished children, who are exempted from public work but expected to comply with co-responsibilities which counts towards their public works requirement aimed at improving utilization of health services.Methods: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive survey and used qualitative methods, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs), conducted in two woredas( districts) (Gursum and Kebribayah) in Farfan zone of Somali region. The study population were key individuals involved in the linkages of PSNP with health services and the beneficiaries. The study assessed the implementation of the linkage between PSNP4 and health servicesResults: The study observed that the stakeholders have adequate knowledge and understood their roles in the linkages between PSNP and the health services, in addition the beneficiaries also are aware of their rights and the process for exemption from public work. However, the major issues identified included poor coordination among the implementing actors, poor knowledge , monitoring and compliance with the co-responsibilities by the stakeholders and the beneficiaries.Conclusion: Considering the size of the program in the region which is targeted to the poor, the Productive Safety net program being the main tool to help forward Ethiopia’s Social Protection Policy and Strategy, has the potential to improve access and utilization of health and nutrition services if more efforts are put to strengthen integration and linkages with the health sector and monitoring of compliance of co-responsibilities by the beneficiaries of the program.

The creative heritage of architect A. S. Cheskidov (1937–2000)

The article deals with the creative heritage of the Far Eastern architect and public figure A.S. Cheskidov, the author of numerous projects and buildings in Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The article analyzes various types of buildings constructed upon his projects, his pedagogical activities related to the training of architects, his multifaceted public work, including his participation in the Commission for the awarding of State Prizes in the field of literature and art.

Characteristics of Old Georgian Literary Language in Akaki Tsereteli’s Works

Literary Works byAkaki Tsereteli are considered as versatile and diverse. In his works he touches upon almost everything by his poetry, prose, journalism or public work. It is obvious that he established "a type of versatile writer who is equally engaged in prose, poetry, journalism, dramaturgy, translations, children's literature and fables”. He was an extremely optimistic person who deeply believed in the future. The following words from one of his works seem amazingly and expressive: “Even if you kill a swallow, Spring will definitely come”. Connection between the old and the new forms, that is clearly shown within this emotionally colored expression, has become the goal of the research. We tried to find an answer to the question- what is the role of using old Georgian forms in Akaki's work?! Given paper analyses the samples such as: 1. Using proper name by its stem form in nominative case; 2. Ending words by - მან [-man] in the ergative form; 3. Full stems of demonstrative pronouns - ‘ამ’ [am] , ‘ეგ’ [eg] (=this, that); 4. Using postposition – ‘ზე’ [ze] (=on), along with the forms - ზედ [-zed] and -ზედა [-zeda] (=on, over); 5. instrumental case forms formed by a suffix - ით [-it] (=with) (without postpositions); 6. Postposition and full agreement of attribute and antecedent 7. Characteristics of using inflection as a reflection of Old Georgian (გწყალობდესთ [gtskalobdet]...; გამოვჰკითხავ [gamovhkitkhav]...; ჰსვამ [hvsvam]...; ჰნიშნავს [hnishnavs]...; წარმოსთქვა [tsarmostkva]...; გასტეხე [gastekhe]...); 8. Using conjunction - ვით [vit] (=as/like) for comparison and so on. If we ask questions concerning the function of old Georgian forms in Akaki Tsereteli’s works, it becomes clear that they can be used for: 1. rhythm, emotiveness and expressiveness; 2. Preserving traditional forms, to maintain the connection between old and new Georgian. It should be mentioned that similar forms are equally reflected in Akaki’s prose and poetry which further reinforces the idea in favor of showing the connection between the old and the new and the desire to maintain this connection and always remember where we come from and who we are ... .This fact does not completely contradict the idea that Akaki is a representative of the generation that courageously rejected the old linguistic norms and contributed to the democratization (rapprochement process with the spoken language) of the literary language.