The BRICS alliance, initially formed in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has experienced a transformative expansion in 2024. The BRICS grouping collectively occupies considerable economic power in the globe. The expansion of BRICS membership has further boosted its influence. The group represents a significant portion of the world’s population, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), global trade, and energy production. In 2023, Brazil’s President called on the BRICS nations to create a common currency for trade and investment between each other, as a means of reducing their dependability on vulnerable American dollar exchange due to rate fluctuations. 

Officials and economists have pointed out the difficulties involved in such a project, given the economic, political, and geographic discrepancies between Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Brazil’s president doesn’t believe nations that don’t use the dollar should be forced to trade in the currency, and he has also backed for a common currency in the Mercosur block of South American countries. The Southern Common Market, commonly known by Spanish abbreviation Mercosur, and Portuguese Mercosur, is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Right now, it’s an assumption that BRICS currency will increase payment options and reduce the vulnerabilities, of currency fluctuation.

What other BRICS leaders think? South African officials said a BRICS currency was not there on their agenda. Building a BRICS currency would be a “tough political project”, South African central bank governor announced in July 2023. He said that for getting BRICS currency they will need a banking union, a fiscal union, to some extent they will need macroeconomic merging of the BRICS nations. A lot of disciplined mechanism will be required for the countries that fall out of line with it. Most importantly, they will need a common central bank, in which country could it be located? Trade imbalances cannot be ignored. All BRICS member countries have China as their main trading partner and little trade with each other.

The potential benefits of a BRICS currency include reducing dependence on the US dollar and increasing economic cooperation among member countries. The potential benefits of a BRICS currency include a dominance in international trade and a preference from 58% of countries.

BRICS leaders have said they want to use their national currencies more instead of the dollar, which strengthened sharply last year as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates and Russia invaded Ukraine, making dollar debt and many imports more expensive. Russia’s sanctions-imposed expulsion from global financial systems last year also fuelled speculation that non-western allies would shift away from the dollar.

Last year’s BRICS summit was a tricky assignment for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who aimed to tackle several thorny issues: balancing India’s ties with Russia and the West, managing BRICS expansion, and addressing border tensions with China. Modi tackled these issues plus some more upcoming bilateral trade problems gracefully.  

India has a strong voice in the BRICS and the UN, India spoke out against policies or actions that may harm the interests of any member. For example, India turned down China’s request to allow Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Mexico to join the BRICS.

Coming back to the issue of BRICS currency: each of the BRICS countries supports the currency initiative for different reasons. Russia and China are at the forefront of the de-dollarisation move for their political interests. Russia is trying to avoid US sanctions by challenging the dollar-dominated financial system, while China is promoting the Renminbi (official currency of the People’s Republic of China) as an alternative. Since more than 17 percent of its reserves are in Renminbi, Russia has a greater preference for transacting in Renminbi. On the other hand, India, South Africa, and Brazil have their own pragmatic reasons for supporting the move. Reduced dollar dominance in international transactions will make it easier for these nations facing a dollar crunch to repay their debts owed to international organisations. A 2019 study by Global Business Review compared the regime-switching behaviour of the real exchange rates of the five BRICS nations before and after the group’s formation. It concluded that the inclusion of a stronger policy interaction in the region, especially in monetary management, shows the chance of a strong currency union amongst BRICS members.

From 1^st Jan 2024, Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and Egypt have announced to join BRICKS block. The expansion of BRICS will diminish South Africa’s significance even further because the two African states joining, Egypt and Ethiopia, are both more populous than South Africa and are experiencing higher rates of economic growth, though in much smaller economies.

More than 40 countries have expressed interest in joining, the question of whether BRICS would admit new members was finally answered during a recent group’s summit. Despite pre-summit reports of division over the potential expansion, leaders from the five-nation bloc announced that Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would join the group starting in 2024. Argentina was invited to join but declined the invitation.

With the addition of these six countries, BRICS now represents 42 percent of the world’s population and 36 percent of global GDP. The primarily economic bloc was originally created as an alternative to the U.S.-led international order, with the goal of offering growing countries in the Global South a to counterbalance the Western institutions.

Conclusion

The potential impact of a new BRICS currency on the US dollar remains uncertain, experts are debating its potential to challenge the dollar’s dominance. However, if a new BRICS currency was to stabilize against the dollar, it could weaken the power of US sanctions, leading to a further decline in the dollar’s value.

All drivers have distinctive personalities: some think that they are the best drivers, they tend to go out and teach every driver some or the other lessons, some are calm, some are frustrated, some get agitated for smallest mistake of others, some are stringent law-abiders, while some like to break rules on the road……so while you drive, you meet all sorts of drivers and vehicles on the road. Each driver experiences something different behind the wheel; from getting stuck in traffic jam to getting cut off on the freeway, somebody bangs his car into your car, or you lose your control and bang into some other vehicle……… each day driving experiences is different. The experience triggers feelings of anger, frustration, anxiety and helplessness. And with more numbers of cars and people on the road than ever before, it’s no wonder our time spent in the car makes or breaks us.

Getting into a car accident is one of the worst experiences and inconceivable. If no one is seriously injured, we thank the Almighty. But, if something untoward happens, then the blame game starts. The driver, whosoever he/she is needs to visit police stations, lawyer’s office, and the court of law, the insurance issues etc, etc. It messes up life completely. From an insurance stand, dashcams can become an impartial view on a road accident. The criminality of fake accidents involving cars – claiming medical compensation from the insurers, who play their terrible games, hiking the premiums of the car driver, and often making their insurance policy invincibly complex. The dashcam can put a logical end to all of this.

With the introduction of mandatory dashboard cameras, each car could be asked to produce evidence based on their claim/defense meaning, as long as the camera if on and recording, there is an impartial review. After a road incident, people can often be unwilling to admit guilt and risk losing their no-claims discount by telling the truth. This can lead to a war of words resulting in reduced or settled insurance claims.

At times, we get involved in an accident with a pedestrian, or somebody walking on road talking on his mobile, it is such a menace to explain who is right and who is wrong. The driver cannot run away, he keeps confessing his righteousness and people around the scene create more hassles. And believe it or not, there are people out there who actively try to hamper the traffic and create chaos.

Sometimes the most dangerous place for your car is a parking garage. The car next to you might scrape yours when pulling out, or even worse, your ride could get damaged. And, when you leave your vehicle unattended whether in a parking garage or your own driveway, anything could happen to it – hooligans steal spare parts, somebody might just dash into it, some tree branch might fall on it, anything can happen.

The dashcam is a device that goes on your car’s dashboard.

We can avoid all of this nonsense by installing a dashcam which helps in preventing many post-accident legal headaches by recording the facts. The beauty of dashcams is that they don’t have to stop recording when you park your car. Since many are battery operated, you can leave these cameras on while you’re away. You can avoid crashes, brawls, and quarrels. Sporadically, these car-ready cameras record some pretty unbelievable footage and sheer driving skills. The dashcam is a device that goes on your car’s dashboard.

It is advisable to use your dashcam 24/7, the prime motivator is your own safety and legal protection because you can also capture some pretty unbelievable footage just by keeping these cameras powered on.

Many of you must have heard of the Chelyabinsk meteor which was caused by an approximately 20-metre near-earth asteroid that entered atmosphere over Russia on 15 February 2013. The light from the meteor was brighter than the Sun, visible up to 100 km (62 mi) away. It was observed over a wide area of the region and in neighboring republics. Some eyewitnesses also felt intense heat from the fireball. There are plenty of videos of this spectacular event, primarily because so many drivers in Russia use dashcams. One of the best was captured by a parked car, which happened to have its dashcam on.

I know of many enthusiasts who use their dashcams to record autocross runs, track days, and questionable excursions on local public roads and the dashcams record them brilliantly. You can capture some of the best road trips from beginning point to end point finding something weird, exciting, or both on the way, something that you never planned for! It is worth investing in a dashcam.

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar while speaking at the unveiling of an album ‘The Sport Heroes’ aimed to inspire the younger generation towards sports and winning for the nation; he said that singing the National Anthem in front of a packed Wankhede Stadium before the 2011 World Cup final is the “proudest feeling” he has ever had in his life. He further said that singing of national anthem goes to a different level altogether, when you are playing against Pakistan in 2003 World Cup, standing inside the stadium, in the middle of the group, with 60,000 people singing ‘Jana Gana Mana’. The right-handed former India batsman says his chest swells in pride while singing National Anthem.

In recent days, we Indians have been talking and experiencing a lot of distortion of emotions over whether to stand or not to stand for National Anthem before the screening of movie in the cinema halls. In a verdict of Supreme Court on 14^th Feb 2017, the verdict is clear: all the cinema halls in India shall play the National Anthem before the feature film starts and all present in the hall are obliged to stand up to show respect to the National Anthem.  Prior to the National Anthem is played or sung in the cinema hall on the screen, the entry and exit doors shall remain closed so that no one can create any kind of disturbance which will amount to disrespect to the National Anthem.

After the National Anthem is played or sung, the doors can be opened. When the National Anthem shall be played in the Cinema Halls, it shall be with the National Flag on the screen. a time has come, the citizens of the country must realize that they live in a nation and are duty bound to show respect to National Anthem which is the symbol of the Constitutional Patriotism and inherent national quality. It does not allow any different notion or the perception of individual rights that have individually thought of have no space. The idea is constitutionally impermissible.

Let’s look at how some other countries of world treat their National Anthem and National Flags:

The convention in the United States is pretty clear: when the National Anthem is being played, whether or not the American flag is displayed, all individuals should face the flag/the source of music and stand at attention with the right hand over their hearts. But the United States does not discipline its citizens for failing to stand up.

Russia fines its citizens for the offence of mocking its National Anthem, and its government is considering adding criminal charges of up to one year of imprisonment or hard labor for not respecting the national anthem of the Russian Federation.

In Mexico, according to the Law of the Coat of Arms, Flag, and National Anthem, all schools and universities are supposed to honour the flag on Monday mornings, and the beginning and end of school terms.

In Italy, the National Anthem isn’t played at schools or other public places, except during sporting events, at formal state ceremonies and at public rallies attended by the President. No one is required to sing along or behave in some particular way while the National Anthemis being played. However, Italians are required to stand and show respect to any National Anthem.

Thailand’s love for its anthem is more intense than most. It is played every day on television at 8 am and 6 pm. Students of all ages gather in front of the national flag at 8 am and sing the National Anthem together. The national anthem is also played regularly in government offices, and before movie screenings. However, there is no law regarding the national anthem in Thailand. It’s just an unofficial convention.

Rationality: The matter about standing in respect of the National Flag and National Anthem is a collective action; we collectively watch a film in cinema halls, which is a shred activity based on collective intention of watching a film. We jointly attend a single objective – the film. So when jointly we all stand in respect for the National Anthem, it just shows our intrinsic emotion. As a gathering of some hundreds of people we are moved by genuine affection for the country may be for those few minutes. For those few minutes, we vouch for collective identity. National symbols are useful to transcend collective identity, which for few moments gives us a sense of higher purpose. I call it the social cohesion of the people.

The act of standing up and respecting the National Anthem promotes harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India, rising above religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities.  My eyes get moist with tears when I see and hear the National Anthem. And it’s a matter of just 90 seconds. It’s sad that some citizens of the country feel that they are being pushed into standing in respect for the anthem against their will, and the act described as ‘irrational’. I don’t understand that why few people find the act irrational?  I don’t understand how it amounts to an indiscriminating act??

Sociology is the study of human social behavior, human development, organizations, and institutions. To understand how societies have developed with different key features, we have to understand what Power is. It is a key sociological concept with several different meanings agreements and disagreement surrounding its connotation and degree. The most common definition of the world power comes from the German Sociologist Max Weber. He defined it as the ability to control others, events, resources, organizations and money. Weber said the rulers call the shorts in spite of impediments, resistance, or opposition. Power goes to head easily. From the beginning mankind and animals have fought for power as it is seized, coveted, detained, taken away, or stolen, and it is used to rule over the opponents and alleys. Power has always created conflicts between those in power and those without it.

Weber was interested in studying the nature of power and authority and its effects on the modern trends of rationalization. Weber went on to study the operational styles of modern large-scale organizations in the political, administrative, and economic realm. He insisted that bureaucratic coordination of activities is the unique mark of the modern era. Bureaucracies are organized according to rational principles.

In contrast, Karl Marx – the German Philosopher, Economist and Sociologist used the concept of power in relation to social classes and social systems rather than individuals. He argued that power rests with a social class as per its position – how much they produce and how much wealth is accumulated by them. Power does not lie in the relationship between individuals, but in domination and subordination of social classes based on the relations of production.

A third definition comes from Talcott Parsons who argued that power is not a matter of social compulsion and command, but instead flows from a social system’s potential to coordinate human activity and resources in order to accomplish goals.

In order to understand those institutions and how humans are organized, it is important to understand how societies are governed.

OLIGARCHY: 

In oligarchy a society is ruled by a small, powerful minority. These are not necessarily the most capable leaders in a society; sometimes oligarchy is passed down by royalty, wealth, family, military, or religious supremacy. Oligarchies are often controlled by politically powerful families whose children are heavily conditioned and mentored to be heirs of the power of the oligarchy. These types of states have been oppressive throughout history, relying on public helplessness and smugness in order to exist. Oligarchies are not at all similar to democracies, but they are also very different from governments ruled by a single dictator. Oligarchies can have both positive and negative effects on the societies they rule.

Although traditional oligarchies were ruled by families that passed down power through generations, most contemporary oligarchies are classified as such based on heavy corporate influence and a large imbalance of wealth that facilitates unbridled corporate lobbying. In India, we see some glaring oligarchies in the corporate world.

As of 2014, two of the top existing examples of oligarchies are China and Russia. Russia has been ruled by corporations that control the majority of the nation’s wealth since the disbandment of the Soviet Union. Many experts call Russia a modern oligarchy. China, on the other hand, is cited as a nation that has converted into an oligarchy as the result of becoming a world financial power that now relies on business. Some experts even argue that the power of corporations and the wealth disparity in the United States make it a nation that much more closely resembles an oligarchy than a democracy; no wonder it ranks at number 17 as per world democracy index.

MONARCHY:

A monarchy is a form of government in which sovereignty is placed in hands of a single individual i.e the Monarch. The forms of monarchy vary widely according to the level of legal autonomy the monarchs hold. The forms differ as in case of governance, the method of selection of the monarch, and encoded limits on the length of their tenure. When the monarch has no or few legal restraints in state and political matters, it is called an absolute monarchy and is a form of autocracy. Cases in which the monarch’s diplomacy is formally limited which is most commonly seen today are called constitutional monarchies. In hereditary monarchies the crown is passed through inheritance within the family, whereas in elective monarchies voting system is used.

Monarchy was the most common form of government until the 19th century, but it is no longer customary. Where it exists, it is now usually a constitutional monarchy form, in which the monarch retains a unique legal and ceremonial role, but exercises limited or no political power under the written or unwritten constitution, others have governing authority.

Do you know that at present 44 sovereign nations in the world have monarchs acting as heads of state? And 16 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognize Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state. All European monarchies are constitutional ones. The Vatican City is an exception. It is the smallest state in the world and with absolute monarchy existing. The Pope is its head and it is the only state completely enclosed by a city. The monarchs in the smaller states exercise greater political influence than in the larger. The monarchs of Cambodia, Japan, and Malaysia “reign, but do not rule” although there is substantial dissimilarity in the degree of authority they exert. Whereas, in Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland  the monarchs continue to exercise more political influence than any other single source of authority in their nations, either by constitutional mandate or by tradition.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC: 

A democratic republic is a country that is both a republic in which power resides in the hands of public and democracy. It is one where ultimate authority and power is derived from the citizens, and the government itself is run through elected officials. However, in recent times it is seen that countries which described themselves as democratic republics have not always held free or fair elections. Two examples of this are the German Democratic Republic and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam; in both examples East Germany and North Vietnam are communist states. In another example Democratic Republic of the Congo is not a free country. Ironically it is seen that a “democratic republic” is not democratic and is not a republic. A government when called by this tag usually practices dictatorship. Communist dictatorships have been especially prone to use this term. For example, the official name of North Vietnam was “The Democratic Republic of Vietnam.” China uses an alternative, “The People’s Republic of China.”

DICTATORSHIP:

Dictatorship is a form of government where political authority is controlled by a single person or political entity, and exercised through various domineering mechanisms. It is a type of authoritarianism which is contrast of democracy. Dictatorships and totalitarianism generally employ political half truths and half baked accounts to suppress proponents of alternative governing systems. We have very glaring examples of dictators in world such as Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Omar Bashir of Sudan, Kim Jong – II of North Korea, Than Shwe of Burma and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia all of these are very oppressive in their conduct. And,how can we forget Hitler, Fidel Castro, Mao Tse-tung, and Angusto Pinochet?  As I have mentioned in earlier paragraphs, power goes to head easily and people can go to any extent to retain it. Dictators are usually power obsessive people.

DEMOCRACY:

Churchill said “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” In my opinion, this form of government however rosily defined has many flaws and problems but all the others have more problems. Democratic states always have freer people than autocratic states. They obviously have the right to vote for their government so by extension deciding the policy of their nation and what their nation should be like. They have more freedom of speech and expression than in autocracies. In particular they are free to criticize their own government. Democracy as per definition has to practice transparency of decision-making as it is about elections and the general public throwing governments out of power. In a democracy the parliament, the media and sometimes the judiciary all keep an eye on the executives and what is being done with the people’s money. They are therefore able to see if the executive is doing things that are detrimental to the country, whether the executive is immoral, or even illegal. Norway tops the list of democracies of the world, Netherland at number 10, US at number 17, France at number 31 and India at number 40.

MILITARY JUNTA: 

This is a form of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term derives from the Spanish word junta, which means committee or meeting; which is like a board of directors. At times it becomes military dictatorship. In 2014 on 22^nd May, Thailand’s military scrapped the old constitution after army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha seized power from Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra who is the sister of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was also ousted in a military coup in 2006 and has been living in self-imposed exile since then.

The junta in Thailand assigned a newly-formed reform council with the task of drafting a constitution for the nation that has been plagued with political unrest since the past few years. The new body, called the National Reform Council will work alongside the National Legislative Assembly. The new reform council consists of 250 members, 38 of which have served in the military.

Its candidates were chosen through applications from districts and nominations from the public. Military heads gave the final say for who would make up the council. Thailand’s military rulers say that the drafting of the new constitution andits implementation will take place by July next year which will lead to elections. Another example of Military Junta was in Greek from 1967 to 1974.

COMMUNISM:

It is a system of government where the government plans and controls the economy. Also all citizens are considered equal. A communist state is a sovereign state with a form of government characterized by single-party rule or dominant-party rule of a communist party and a professed adherence to communist ideology as the guiding principle of the state.

In a true communist state you give what you can to the state for distribution, keeping only that required to satisfy your needs. It isa system of social organization in which all economic and social activities are controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party.

In a Communist state, the Communist party is the nucleus of society. Other parities may function alongside the Communist party occasionally, but parties advocating the restoration of capitalism are typically prohibited. The Communist party governs according to what the society’s historical and national characteristics demand in order to unleash the productive forces and further advance towards communism. For example, in Russia and the Soviet Union in the 1920s, a regulated market economy was initially implemented due to the country’s lack of infrastructural development and to overcome the devastation of civil war. But in the 1930s, the economy of the Soviet Union was characterized by heavy industrialization. Similarly, the People’s Republic of China operated almost on the lines of communism until the 1980s when it opened its economy to foreign investment, allowing for market development alongside it planned development. Reliance on markets and planning have varied in different Communist states, but most such states are characterized by state monopoly over land ownership, full union representation in the workforce, and social security systems to provide for those unable to work.

REPUBLIC: 

Is a form of government in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch. East Timor, Samoa, Nepal, Republic of Kosovo and South Sudan are states which have opted for Republic Form of Government in the 21^st century.

ANARCHY: 

Anarchy is a state of confusion and turmoil due to absence of recognized authority. The Anarchists are self engrossed and self-absorbed leaders. They are over obsessed with their own growth and sustainability. Anarchism is usually short-lived in world. In modern times, in any country by chance, if anarchism prevails it is quickly intruded from outside forces to prevent the problem from spreading further. We often see anarchism when countries go through intense revolutions or civil wars. In fighting among various governing bodies which often destroy law and order in a country usually witnesses anarchism.

The ancient Greeks stated: “Without law, there can be no freedom,” and the Founding Fathers agreed, knowing that some laws would be necessary to protect a civilized society.  To sight an example of recent times of Anarchy, I site the example of Somalia in which due to the fall of government of Siad Barre the country has been experiencing state of anarchy from 1991. Somalia has not settled till date. The fundamentalist Islamic militants are about to take over and perhaps this might trigger a regional war in the process. The country is becoming a breeding ground for terrorists.

Conclusion: Research conducted by neuroscientists has proved it time and again that feeling powerful, dampens a part of the brain which stimulates empathy. It appears that power fundamentally changes how the brain operates. Some more research on the same topic proved that when people feel powerful, they have more trouble in understanding other people’s emotions and sentiments. It appears that when people are in power it becomes increasingly difficult for them to realize other’s problem which is really ironic; power leads to greed, self-indulgence and grabbing therefore the state leaders cannot empathize with the problems of masses. In alert leadership “compassion” is very important. To be compassionate is to be able to value what the other person is going through, in essence, to walk in their shoes.

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is a publication that was originated and compiled by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University to rank universities globally. This ranking has been conducted since 2003. It is conducted annually on well-thought and strategic parameters. The results are published by the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. This is one of its kind ranking.

The Chinese Government backed this ranking to provide a global benchmark against the various universities in China – this they did to assess their progress. The aim of the ARWU is for Chinese universities to do some hardcore and path breaking research in the area of science. The efforts taken by the Chinese Government in the area of higher education is praiseworthy.

The Academic Ranking of World Universities is considered one of the three most influential and widely observed international university rankings, in addition to the QS World University Rankings published by British Quacquarelli Symonds using the pre-existing methodology and innovative cooperation between Times Higher Education and Thomson Reuters.

While we look at strengths, weaknesses cannot be hidden either. The ARWU is criticized for its heavy focus on the natural science more than the social sciences or humanities and its explicit focus on research more than the quality of instruction.

The ranking consists of the following parameters:

International outlook: People, research (7.5%)

This category looks at diversity of students on campus and to what degree academics collaborate with international colleagues on research projects – both of these elements show how global an institution is in its outlook. The ability of a university to attract undergraduates and postgraduates from all over the world is the key to its success. The top universities also compete for the best faculty from around the globe. So in this category the aspect of international faculties is also given importance. The other indicator in this category is of the proportion of a university’s total research journal publications that have international co-authors. This parameter clearly shows importance of global approach that needs to be adopted by an institution.

Research: Volume, income, reputation (30%)

This category is made up of three indicators. The most prominent one is looking at a university’s reputation for research excellence among its peers. This category also looks at university research income, scaled against staff numbers and normalized for purchasing-power parity.
This is a contentious indicator because it can be influenced by national policy and economic wellbeing in a country. But, this indicator looks at the will of a University to spend money on research to increase its capability and thus considers that this is valid measure. Data is gathered to take account each university’s distinct subject profiles, reflecting the fact that research grants in science subjects are often bigger than those awarded for the social sciences, arts and humanities research. The research environment category also includes a simple measure of research productivity – research output scaled against staff numbers. The number of papers published in the academic journals indexed by Thomson Reuters is given lot of credibility. This gives an idea of an institution’s ability to get papers published in quality peer-reviewed journals.

Citations: Research influence (30%)

A citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression fixed in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of acknowledging the relevance of the works of others to the topic of discussion. This parameter attracts 30 percent of overall score. It looks at the role of universities in spreading new knowledge and ideas.

It examines research weight by capturing the number of times a university’s published work is cited by scholars globally. In 2014, Thomson Reuters examined more than 50 million citations to 6 million journal articles, published over five years. The data are drawn from the 12,000 academic journals indexed by Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science database and include all indexed journals published between 2007 and 2011. The citations help to show how much each university is contributing to the sum of human knowledge. It shows whose research has stood out, has been picked up and built on by other scholars and, most importantly, it has been shared around the global scholarly community to push further the boundaries of our collective understanding, irrespective of discipline. The ranking excludes any institution that publishes fewer than 200 papers a year to ensure that it has enough data to make statistically valid comparisons.

Citation helps referencing – it’s a way to give credit to the writers from whom scholars borrow words and ideas. By citing the work of a particular scholar students can acknowledge and respect the intellectual property rights of that researcher. A student/academician can draw on any of the millions of ideas, insights and arguments published by other writers, many of whom have spent years researching and writing. All that is needed is to acknowledge their contribution in newer building assignments.

Industry income: Innovation (2.5%)

A university/institute must essentially help industry with innovations, inventions and consultancy; it is its core mission. This category seeks to capture such “knowledge transfer” by looking at how much research income an institution earns from industry; it is scaled against the number of academic staff it employs. Industry income earned by innovation suggests the extent to which businesses are willing to pay for research and a university’s ability to attract funding in the competitive commercial marketplace.

It is a practical indicator of institutional quality. The Universities need to align education and research to meet the rising needs of industry and main concerns of the nation. The industry-academia interface must go to review the curriculum and pedagogy to ensure that they are pertinent and contemporary for the industry.

Teaching: The learning environment (30%)

This category employs five separate performance indicators designed to provide a clear sense of the teaching-learning process environment of each institution from both the student and the academic perspective. The teaching and learning category looks at staff-to-student ratio.
Where there is a healthy ratio of students to staff, the former will get the personal attention they require from the institution’s faculty. The teaching category also examines the ratio of doctoral to bachelor’s degrees awarded by each institution. It determines that institutions with a high density of research students are more knowledge-intensive and that the presence of an active postgraduate community is a marker of a research-led teaching environment valued by undergraduates and postgraduates. The doctorate-to-bachelor’s ratio is taken into consideration. The teaching category also uses data on the number of doctorates awarded by an institution, scaled against its size as measured by the number of academic staff it employs, as well as giving a sense of how committed an institution is to nurturing the next generation of academics, a high proportion of postgraduate research students also indicates the provision of teaching at the highest level that is thus attractive to graduates and effective at developing them.

Undergraduates also tend to value working in a rich environment that includes postgraduates. This indicator is normalized to take account of a university’s unique subject mix, reflecting the different volume of doctoral awards in different disciplines. The final indicator in the category is a simple measure of institutional income scaled against academic staff numbers.

This figure is adjusted for purchasing-power parity so that all nations may compete on a level playing field indicating the general status of an institution that gives a broad picture of the infrastructure and facilities available to students and staff.

Indian Universities/Institutions need to adhere to the global standards. The rankings parameters are usually based on tough standards. Only, Punjab University appears in the World University Rankings in the top 400 universities list for 2013-14. Although India has 42 central universities, 285 state universities, 130 deemed universities and 125 private universities, barely 3 or 4 of them are appreciated worldwide. Like Chinese Government backed Academic Ranking of World Universities to provide a global benchmarking for their universities for improving the educational standards, when will India raise its status?

According to a Times of India report based on QS BRICS 2014 University Rankings published on Tuesday, 29^th July 2014, India is the only country among BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) that couldn’t find a place in its top 10 list. Barring Russia, all other nations in the group are developing countries and newly industrialized States. A low ranking for Indian universities among these five nations brings down status of India in the world. India needs to immediately streamline its educational policies to showcase its strengths in research and development. However tough the parameters of ranking might be, we need a strong policy framework in place to augment our educational levels. Let’s stop underestimating the importance of quality education.

Its 100 years today since the World War I broke on 28^th June 1914. I strongly believe all wars defies logic.  Sociologists and psychologists can tell us many of the reasons for war, but when we see the results of war its tragic effects only tell us that war is unreasonable and illogical. Yet it is still unavoidable. Why? What is it in mankind that causes us to war?

The 1^st World war began on a small note when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. This seemingly small conflict between two countries spread rapidly: soon, Germany, Russia, Great Britain and France were all drawn into the war, largely because they were involved in treaties that obligated them to defend certain other nations. Western and eastern fronts quickly opened along the borders of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The war drew in all the world’s economic great powers which were assembled in two opposing alliances.

World War I killed more people – more than 9 million soldiers, sailors, and flyers and another 5 million civilians. It involved 28 countries, and cost $ 186 billion in direct costs and another $151 billion in indirect costs. It became a very costly afire. It was the first war to use airplanes, tanks, long range artillery, submarines, and poison gas. It left at least 7 million men permanently disabled. World War I probably had more far-reaching consequences than any other proceeding war. Politically, it resulted in the downfall of four monarchies; Russia in 1917, Austria-Hungary and Germany in 1918, and Turkey in 1922. It contributed to the Bolshevik rise to power in Russia in 1917 and the triumph of fascism in Italy in 1922. It ignited colonial revolts in the Middle East and in Southeast Asia.

The war severely disturbed the European economies and allowed the United States to become the world’s leading creditor and industrial power. The war also brought vast social consequences, including the mass murder of Armenians in Turkey and an influenza epidemic that killed over 25 million people worldwide.

Many socio-economic events reveal the utter unpredictability of the future. At the dawn of the 20th century, most Europeans looked forward to a future of peace and prosperity. Europe has not fought a major war for 100 years because their belief in human progress was shattered by World War I, a war few wanted and few unnecessarily got drawn into it. At any point during the five weeks leading up to the outbreak of fighting the conflict might have been averted. World War I was a product of miscalculation, misunderstanding, and miscommunication.

No one anticipated a war of unimagined magnitude or duration of World War I. At first the armies relied on outdated methods of communication, such as carrier pigeons. The great powers mobilized more than a million horses. But by the time the conflict was over, tanks, submarines, airplane-dropped bombs, machine guns, and poison gas had transformed the nature of modern warfare. In 1918, the Germans fired shells containing both tear gas and lethal chlorine. The tear gas forced the British to remove their gas masks; the chlorine then scarred their faces and killed them.

Conflicts between two nations is ought to take place on various issues; but is war the solution to it? There is little difference between human and animal reaction to war: animals have a strong instinct to fight and defend their territory, humans are no different. What really separates humans from animals is the scale of the fights. The human’s fights are terrifying and blood-spattered. World War I proved that if disputes are to be settled only by war, then human kind will not survive and the whole world will vanish.  – Let’s avoid a third world war.

War is not something that any sane person wants to be involved in. World War 2 is a great example: Hitler was trying to take over the world eventually by committing genocide. He needed to be stopped. Genocide means the systematic destruction of all or part of a racial, ethnic, religious or national group by Killing members of the group. You cannot have someone trying to take over the world, especially in such a gory manner.

Unfortunately war is necessary in some cases. In several cases, the only way to stop certain pretense is through war. Think, if certain rulers hadn’t been deposed through war efforts, where would the world be? Unfortunately there are people and governments that will not change through peaceful talks and beneficial agreements.

Wars often start from silly, petty arguments. It’s proved sometimes war is the outcome of national ego.

Some sociologists feel education is the answer to stop war. They say that if everyone had the best education possible then war, racism and all other social problems would give way to a worldwide peace. But if you look at people who opted for war were most educated, then what happened? Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Eichmann, Joseph Goebbels, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Mao Tse Tung, Sadam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic and many others were educated people. Does knowledge breed ego in people? Today, knowledge is given priority in all nations but still the number of wars and their severity has not reduced.

Historically, men and nations attempt to secure peace through political alliances. But, even these have not been able to offer lasting peace. In an address to the United States Senate in 1919, President Woodrow Wilson said, “The League of Nations is the only hope of mankind.” World War I was supposed to have been “The war to end all wars“. But it proved wrong. World War II began only 20 years later.  Thousands of treaties have been made and disbanded.  Our intensions of peace are fanciful, short-lived and fragile; any number of treaties may be formed for peace, but wars are not prevented. It is futile to put all our hope in political alliances.  War cannot create peace and peace cannot create war. It is therefore left to us, to the people of this world whether we want war or peace.

Lastly, some social scientists have envisaged World War III (WWIII, WW3 or the Third World War) to describe a worldwide conflict following World War II. The anticipated dates for the war are from September 1, 2029 – November 11, 2036. The war will break everywhere except Antarctica and most of Africa. The elements for the war would hypothetically be such as Syrian – Turkish border clashes, China’s aggression due to various reasons, same with Russia, economic collapse in word, termination of United Nations, Korea will reunite under democratic government, NATO will occupy the Middle East, dissolution of SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization). SCO is a Eurasian political, economic and military organization which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Post war all SCO governments will reconstruct, Palestine will officially gain independence from Israel.

The World War III will result into reinstating of United Nations. China and Russia will have democracy. Both countries’ some province will enjoy democracy while some province will merge with neighborhood countries.

Can World War III be averted? Looking at the world scenario today, possibilities of it cannot be disputed.  But, let us hope that the hypothesis of World War III remains an illusion perpetually.

]]> https://drvidyahattangadi.com/world-war-i-centenary/feed/ 0 https://drvidyahattangadi.com/why-is-nation-branding-important-in-todays-world/ https://drvidyahattangadi.com/why-is-nation-branding-important-in-todays-world/#respond Wed, 21 May 2014 04:40:23 +0000 http://drvidyahattangadi.com/?p=135 Nation Branding 

In its 2005 “Year of Ideas” issue, The New York Times Magazinelisted nation branding among the year’s most notable ideas. The way a country is perceived can make a significant difference to the success of its trade, business, tourism efforts, as well as its diplomatic and cultural relations with other nations. Simon Anholt coined the term ‘nation branding’ in 1996 and since then he has been working with governments to help them plan the policies, strategies, investments and advance which lead their country towards an improved profile and reputation. America has become the largest and most powerful brand in the globe; it virtually shapes the world in almost all dimensions such as national governance, policies, exports, people, tourism, economic and social status etc. In the fast growing global village nation’s branding is considered as big as federal mega-projects. Steve Silver and Sam Hill, both marketing experts define nation branding as most complex (brand) positioning problem; how can we brand a nation? A nation is as big as a Meta brand inclusive of numerous mega brands. There are so many mega activities of in a nation such as political governance, commerce, education, human resource development, environment, foreign affairs, infrastructure, environment, tourism, culture and heritage etc.

Few years back marketing Guru Philip Kotler launched the World Marketing Summit (WMS), an annual gathering of professionals, in Dhaka to find solutions to global challenges such as climate change, healthcare and skill development. The purpose of the summit was building strategies for creating a better world.   When somebody asked a question to Philip Kotler how emerging economies like India and China should build brands?  He answered the question plausibly stating that emerging countries need to understand importance of marketing strategies. Imagine importance of marketing for building brands as big as nations.

In the emerging economies like China, India, Russia and Brazil many businesses are in the first stages of life cycles, most of these are product driven companies. In India lot of companies are just focused on market share, instant profits, and very little focus on marketing values. In some developing countries marketers have now recognized the importance of lasting impact of branding exercise, reputation and importance of being customer-driven.

Mr. Kotler’s advice to the business world is to become a brand that has distinct meaning. He says it is not enough for companies to be known for what they are producing or manufacturing; for instance it is not enough for people to know that Nike makes athletic shoes. Nike means much more…… It’s a lot of work!

Nation Branding: Role of Government

Coming back to nation branding; the role of governments is to appreciate the best companies around and to assist them in becoming more excellent in the country, and then in the region and then in the world. The government should make it easier for companies to be export-driven, to put in quality control policies, to raise adequate funds as and when required. The government needs to have business friendly approach.

Any nation in the world cannot take its position for granted. The economic scenario changes swiftly. According to leading economists in the world, there are approximately 28 emerging economies which are marching ahead. Countries like Brazil, China and India are regarded as the largest in the world today though the G8 has not included them. There are countries like Greece and Italy who are losing their foothold from the stable nations in the world. Greece is already in major breach of euro zone rules on deficit management and with the financial markets betting the country will default on its debts, this reflects badly on the credibility of the euro. There are also fears that financial doubts will infect other nations at the low end of Europe’s economic scale, with Portugal and the Republic of Ireland coming under scrutiny. If Europe needs to resort to rescue packages involving bodies such as the International Monetary Fund, this would further damage the euro’s reputation and could lead to a substantial fall against other key currencies.

The concept of branding is viewed as ‘cultural diplomacy’ of nations. It is a somewhat new way of looking at a nation, but every nation is already a brand. Every nation is perceived in the minds of people differently living elsewhere in the world. Some countries are known for good things, some for bad, and others have mixed perceptions. Based on these perceptions, other nations in the world interact and do business with other nations, either contributing to its development or hindering it. For example Africa is associated with civil war, Iraq with suicide bombings and Cuba with Fidel Castro’s dictatorship. On the other hand countries such as the US, Canada or France, are perceived positively for decades for their sound political and economic development. Nation branding is based on the underlying assumption that every nation is a brand good or bad depending on its efforts. The important thing to realize about branding a nation is that one of its ingredients is the intensification of something that is found already within that nation.

Singapore – Rise from third world to first world

Singapore’s stunning rise from third world to first world in a matter of 30 years was spearheaded by an intensive and rigorous closely-coordinated programme of nation branding. Today, brand Singapore attracts the investments, business, trade, tourism and talented human resources from all over the world which is helping it further to become more flourishing nation. This state is internationally known as a vibrant, safe, corruption-free place to do business. Name any of the great businesses of the world; everybody wants to be in Singapore! The vibrancy and liveliness of the nation in its culture and the fine art attracts more and more tourists. In global surveys of quality of life, Singapore regularly tops the charts.

Singapore’s exit from Malaysia was a unique historical situation. It is hard to think of another example in history when a state was expelled from a larger country. Singapore’s problems for its fight of independence were not distinctively glamorized.  High levels of unemployment, lack of sanitation, scarcity of potable water, and ethnic conflict were some conditions that marred Singapore then and still typify many third world countries today. It was common scene then on the streets of the country Chinese and Malays often fought street battles that ended in bloodshed.

The unusual effectiveness of the Singapore government has won worldwide acclaim over the years. The Institute of Management Development’s World Competitiveness Yearbook 1997, ranked Singapore as the country which has adopted most effective and fastest strategies and implementations in government policy. Berlin based Transparency International placed Singapore in fourth place worldwide in 2003 for absence of corruption. To explain Singapore’s economic success, it is important to understand the predominant themes that have distinguished its governance from less successful third world countries. At the heart of the Singapore model is the social contract that was articulated between the ruling PAP (People’s Action Party) run government and the people of Singapore. In essence, it said that while the people were willing to accept more government control they also gave up some individual rights. People worked hard while the government created the environment which delivered prosperity and a better quality of life.

The World Bank ranks nations on various parameters on the basis of ease of doing business, from 1 to 183. A high ranking on the ease of doing business index means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm. This index shows the best countries the world which allows businesses to prosper.  As of today, Canada ranks number one in this list.

Environmental scanning of a nation for brand building

Environmental scanning of a nation helps in the brand building exercise of a nation. It is the study and interpretation of the political, economic, social and technological events and trends which influences businesses to establish in a nation.  The following parameters involve in environmental scanning:  

Economic Environment

It is very complex and dynamic in nature that keeps on changing with the change in policies or political situations. It consists of three elements: (i) Economic Conditions of Public (ii) Economic Policies of the country (iii) Economic System and other Economic Factors such as infrastructural facilities, banking, Insurance companies, money markets, capital markets etc.

Political environment

The government policies affect the businesses extensively. Political beliefs of Government, political strength of the country, relation with other countries, defense and military policies, centre state relationship in the country, thinking of opposition parties towards business Units attract or distract FDI in a country. 

Socio-cultural environment

Influence exercised by social and cultural factors, not within the control of business, is known as Socio-Cultural Environment. These factors include: attitude of people to work, family system, caste system, religion, education, marriage etc.

Technological environment

A systematic application of scientific knowledge to practical task is known as technology. Everyday there has been vast changes in products, services, lifestyles and living conditions, these changes must be analyzed by every business unit and should adapt these changes.

Natural environment

It includes natural resources, weather, climatic conditions, port facilities, topographical factors such as soil, sea, rivers, rainfall etc. Every business unit must look for these factors before choosing the location for their business.

Demographic environment

It is a study of perspective of population i.e. its size, standard of living, growth rate, age-sex composition, family size, income level (upper level, middle level and lower level), education level etc. Every business unit must see these features of population and recognize their various needs and produce accordingly.

We Indians should take some lessons to brand ourselves in the globe.