Through the Lens of Ubuntu: The Value of Partnerships and Corporate Social Responsibility towards Community Development in the City of uMhlathuze, South Africa

ABSTRACT The paper explores partnerships among the multinational corporations (MNCs), local municipalities and host communities in a bid to establish what informs corporate social responsibility (CSR). MNCs are essential in improving the wellbeing and living standards of host communities. The philanthropic activities have to be ethical, legitimate and guided by the spirit of giving back, informed by the philosophy of ubuntu (humanity). The qualitative approach was adopted to gather in-depth understanding of the existence and nature of partnership among MNCs, local municipalities and host communities. The participants were purposefully selected based on their expert knowledge and engagement in community development initiatives. The findings indicate that CSR operations are characterised by an absence of formal partnership between MNCs and host communities. A pragmatic policy framework needs to be developed to guide the philanthropic activities aimed at enhancing the socio-economic development of host communities.

Addressing Students’ Unrest in South African Universities: The Need for a Facilitative Management Approach

ABSTRACT This study addresses the continuous occurrence of students’ unrest in South African universities due to the alleged pseudo-collaborative management styles of universities. Experiences, literature and observation, confirmed that student-oriented unrests are unabated, and that management of universities seem to struggle to ameliorate or find a lasting solution to these issues. This study is a theoretical analysis laced with facilitative management theory. The study is located within the transformation agenda by adopting a transformative paradigm to guide the study. The suggestible solutions, which include promotion of collaborative engagement, galvanisation of public opinions, the building of listening leaders and participatory management, were discussed as a dimension of a peaceful university system. The study also recommended full implementation of collaborative engagement, respect for the opinions of all stakeholders with a listening ear and ensuring that university culture is structured to accommodate equal participation of all stakeholders.

Televised Interpreted COVID-19 Briefings and Deaf Viewers: A Preliminary Investigation of Associated Concerns

ABSTRACT Since its emergence, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has placed a strain on human existence and social interactions. With its disruptive potentials, basic information on COVID-19 is essential for all including those who are deaf. However, until now access to COVID-19 related information to the deaf via sign language on television vis-à-vis quality and comprehensibility of deaf viewers remains a concern. Hence, the researchers initiated this study to explore and to provide understanding to concerns about COVID-19 press briefing as perceived by the Nigerian deaf community. The study adopted a qualitative research design using a semi-structured interview, this study found that visibility, incomplete interpretation, inadequate knowledge of deafness and deaf communication processes were factors that influenced perceived quality of televised interpreted PTF COVID-19 briefings. Participants had partial comprehension of interpreted COVID-19 briefings. Based on the findings, recommendations were made.

Property Rights and Investment in Agriculture: Evidence from Cuddalore District of Tamil Nadu, India

ABSTRACT Property rights must ensure confidence to the landholder in resource use, investment, and sustainable management. However, the rights vary according to the land title and tenure. It is pertinent to study the dimensions of property rights and their impact on short and long-term investment on land. The rights of the inheritance, purchase, private rental lands, and trust rental lands determines the investment on land. Farmers owning inheritance, purchase, and trust rental sites have security and transferability compared to private rental sites, thereby influencing the investment in lands. Secure property rights of inheritance and purchase sites have led the farmers to invest both in short and long-term investments. Even though the trust rental lands are long-term leases, the tenants have invested only in short-term investments and are reluctant to invest in long-term investments as their rights are incomplete. As a whole, the type of tenure determines security, transferability, and investment on land. Secure property rights encourage investment in the land and ensure sustainable management of land and agriculture.

Global Ranking of Universities by Reputation: The Hidden Criterion

ABSTRACT The ranking of World Universities is a fairly recent phenomenon. It is one of the products of internationalization of higher education. Many of the indices used by the ranking systems are now familiar to readers and writers. The age of an institution is one salient factor often not considered in rankings. The objective of this study is to critically discuss the relevance of age in relation to the metrics used and to determine whether or not age can be shown to have a place in university rankings .The analysis of data shows the average age of the top 50 institutions by reputation to be 206 years and the median 162. A look at the rankings will not reveal this important criterion except each of these ranked universities is linked with the year it was founded. It concludes that there is value in age and should be factored into university rankings.

Spatial Disparities in Socio-economic Development among North-western Indian States

ABSTRACT Regional disparity in the socio-economic development is a universal phenomenon which can be found in developed and developing countries of the world including India. The present paper addresses the issue of regional disparity based on 16 indicators of socio-economic development at district level in north-western region of India. The study has been done with reference to three reference years at an interval of 20 years, that is, 1971, 1991 and 2011. The study is entirely based on secondary sources of data collected from various government data providing agencies. In order to examine the spatial variations in socio-economic development, Z-score and composite standard score have been computed and interpreted. Co-efficient of variation (C.V.) has also been computed to measure the disparities at the variable level and overall development. During 1970s, the high level of development was concentrated in few pockets. North-west India has witnessed visible improvement in the levels of socio-economic development. The study shows that the low level of development remained concentrated in the districts of Rajasthan along with the central-western districts of Jammu & Kashmir. Despite declining regional disparities in socio-economic development, some of the districts are still multi-sectoral backward in the study region

The Human Migration in 21st Century India: Intensity, Trends, Flow and Opportunities for Economic Development of Migrants

Migration has been an inherent part of human existence since the dawn of human civilisation, shaped by numerous socio-economic factors. Since 1991 India has been experiencing an upsurge in migration, largely affectingurbanisation, social transformation and economic development of the country. The objective of the present study isto analyse spatial-temporal variation in trends, pattern, and reasons for migration, and its impact on society. Based on secondary sources of information and simple statistical methods, the study finds that increasing trends of migration in the country are closely related to the liberalisation of the economy. Excluding marriage-related migration, migration is mainly a male dominated, employment oriented and long distance phenomena.Given the spatial variation in economic development, people migrate from under-developed regions to developed regions to improve their living conditions. Migration is a livelihood strategy for majority of the people and therefore, it should be viewed in the context of regional disparity in economic development.

Reproductive Profile and Evidence of Reproductive Compensation among the Miju Mishmi of Indo-Myanmar-China Border

ABSTRACT Understanding the reproductive profile of a population is required for making and implementing various health policies. A plethora of studies on the behaviour of fertility and mortality across the globe have been reported. Very few studies have been reported from the population of Arunachal Pradesh, one of the states in northeast India. The present study aims to examine the reproductive profile of a small tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, namely, Miju Mishmi, inhabiting the Indo-Myanmar-China border area. Two hundred and ten households were surveyed to collect the information regarding fertility, mortality, and associated factors using a pretested schedule. Miju Mishmi is experiencing considerably high fertility and mortality. Many social and biological factors for fertility and mortality prevailing in this population were identified. The existence of reproductive compensation is also found in this population. However, unlike in many Indian societies, Miju Mishmi has no preference for a son and hence no impact on fertility.

Development and Psychosocial Support to Trainee Teachers by Mentors During Teaching Practice in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT Facilitation of career development and provision of psychosocial support to trainee teachers during teaching practice can be a challenge. The interpretive paradigm and the qualitative approach and case study research design were employed in this study. Purposive sampling was used to select 27 participants which included 6 mentors, 15 trainee teachers and 5 college lecturers. Data were obtained through face to face interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis. The study revealed that mentors performed both career development and psychosocial support roles during teaching practice. It emerged that there was lack of qualified school mentors resulting in inadequate provision of career development and psychosocial support. The participants indicated that, mentors and trainee teachers encountered various challenges which hindered the effectiveness of the mentorship programme including financial constraints. The study also recommended a mentorship policy that fuses global and national trends and considering alternative mentorship models from secondary teacher-training colleges in Zimbabwe.