Search results for: global South

Authors: Marchant Van Der Schyff

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South Africa remains one of the most dangerous places for women – lesbians in particular – to live freely and safely, where a culture of patriarchy and a lack of socio-economic opportunity are ubiquitous throughout its communities. While the Internet has given a wider platform to provide insights to issues plaguing lesbians, very little information exists regarding the elements used in the construction of these online reports. This is not only due to the lack of language required to contextualise lesbian issues, but also persistent institutional and societal homophobia. This article describes the technical frames used in the online news reporting of four case studies of ‘queercide’. Through using a thematic coding sheet, data was collected from 70 online articles purposively selected based on priori population characteristics. The study found technical elements, such as the length of online reports, credible sources used, ‘code driven’-, and ‘user driven’ elements which were identified in the coded online articles. From the conclusions some clear trends emerged enabling the construction of a Venn-type diagram which present insights to how the murder of lesbians (referred to as ‘queercide’ in the article) is being reported on by online news media compared to the contemporary theoretical discussions on how these cases should be reported on.

Keywords: journalism, lesbian murder, queercide, technical frames, reporting, online

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Authors: Shuyi Xie

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As the vital city in south China since the ancient time, Guangzhou has been losing its leading role among the rising neighboring cities, especially, Hong Kong and Shenzhen, since the late 1980s, with the overloaded infrastructure and deteriorating urban environment in its old inner city. Fortunately, with the new expansion of its administrative area in 2000, the local municipality considered it as a great opportunity to solve a series of alarming urban problems. Thus, for the first time, strategic planning was introduced to China for providing more convincing and scientific basis towards better urban future. Differed from traditional Chinese planning practices, which rigidly and dogmatically focused on future blueprints, the strategic planning of Guangzhou proceeded from analyzing practical challenges and opportunities towards establishing reasonable developing objectives and proposing corresponding strategies. Moreover, it was pioneering that the municipality invited five planning institutions for proposals, among which, the paper focuses on the one proposed by China Academy of Urban Planning & Design from its theoretical basis to problems’ defining and analyzing the process, as well as planning results. Since it was closer to the following municipal decisions and had a more far-reaching influence for other Chinese cities' following practices. In particular, it demonstrated an innovative exploration on the role played by urban developing rate on deciding urban growth patterns (‘Spillover-reverberation’ or ‘Leapfrog’). That ultimately established an unprecedented paradigm on deciding an appropriate urban spatial structure in future, including its specific location, function and scale. Besides the proposal itself, this article highlights the role of interactions, among actors, as well as proposals, subsequent discussions, summaries and municipal decisions, especially the establishment of the rolling dynamic evaluation system for periodical reviews on implementation situations, as the first attempt in China. Undoubtedly, strategic planning of Guangzhou has brought out considerable benefits, especially opening the strategic mind for plentiful Chinese cities in the following years through establishing a flexible and dynamic planning mechanism highlighted the interactions among multiple actors with innovative and effective tools, methodologies and perspectives on regional, objective-approach and comparative analysis. However, compared with some developed countries, the strategic planning in China just started and has been greatly relied on empirical studies rather than scientific analysis. Moreover, it still faced a bit of controversy, for instance, the certain gap among institutional proposals, final municipal decisions and implemented results, due to the lacking legal constraint. Also, how to improve the public involvement in China with an absolute up-down administrative system is another urgent task. In future, despite of irresistible and irretrievable weakness, some experiences and lessons from previous international practices, with the combination of specific Chinese situations and domestic practices, would enable to promote the further advance on strategic planning in China.

Keywords: evaluation system, global perspective, Guangzhou, interactions, strategic planning, urban growth patterns

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Authors: Ngwako Daniel Sebola

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Introductory Statement: Religions are necessary as they offer and teach something to their adherence. People in one religion may not have a complete understanding of the Supreme Being (Deity) in a certain religion other than their own. South Africa, like other countries in the world, consists of various religions, including Christianity. Almost 80% of South African population adheres to the Christian faith, though in different denominations and sects. Each church fulfils spiritual needs that perhaps others cannot fill. African Independent Churches is one of the denominations in the country. These churches arose as a protest to the Western forms and expressions of Christianity. Their major concern was to develop an indigenous expression of Christianity. The relevance of African Independent Churches includes addressing the needs of the people holistically. Controlling diseases was an important aspect of change in different historical periods. Through healing services, leaders of African churches are able to attract many followers. The healing power associated with the founders of many African Initiated Churches leads to people following and respecting them as true leaders within many African communities. Despite its strong points, African Independent Churches, like many others, face a variety of challenges, especially conflicts. Ironically, destructive conflicts resulted in violence.. Such violence demonstrates a lack of informed religious orientation among those concerned. This paper investigates and analyses the causes of conflict and violence in the African Independent Church. The researcher used the Shembe and International Pentecostal Holiness Churches, in South Africa, as a point of departure. As a solution to curb violence, the researcher suggests useful strategies in handling conflicts. Methodology: Comparative and qualitative approaches have been used as methods of collecting data in this research. The intention is to analyse the similarities and differences of violence among members of the Shembe and International Pentecostal Holiness Churches. Equally important, the researcher aims to obtain data through interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, among others. The researcher aims to interview fifteen individuals from both churches. Finding: Leadership squabbles and power struggle appear to be the main contributing factors of violence in many Independent Churches. Ironically, violence resulted in the loss of life and destruction of properties, like in the case of the Shembe and International Pentecostal Holiness Churches. Violence is an indication that congregations and some leaders have not been properly equipped to deal with conflict. Concluding Statement: Conflict is a common part of every human existence in any given community. The concern is when such conflict becomes contagious; it leads to violence. There is a need to understand consciously and objectively towards devising the appropriate measures to handle the conflict. Conflict management calls for emotional maturity, self-control, empathy, patience, tolerance and informed religious orientation.

Keywords: African, church, religion, violence

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Authors: Suhaida Salleh, Tee Yei Kheng

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Black pod is the most commonly destructive disease of cacao (Theobroma cacao) which cause major losses to global production of cocoa beans. The genus of Phytophthora is the important pathogen of this disease worldwide. The species of P. megakarya causes black pod disease in West Africa, whereas P. capsici and P. citrophthora cause the incident in Central and South America. In Malaysia, this disease is caused by P. palmivora which infect all stages of pod development including flower cushion, cherelle, immature and mature pods. This pathogen destroys up to 10% of trees yearly through stem cankers and causes 20 to 30% pod damages through black pod rot. Since P. palmivora has a high impact on cocoa yield, it is crucial to identify some of the abiotic factors that can constrain their growth. In an effort to evaluate the effect of different substrates and temperatures to the growth of P. palmivora, a laboratory study was done under a different range of temperatures. Different substrate for the growth of P. palmivora were used which are corn meal agar (CMA) media and detached pod of cocoa. An agar plug of seven days old of P. palmivora growth was transferred on both substrates and incubated at 24, 27, 30, 33 and 36ᵒC, respectively. The diameter of lesion on pod and the cultural growth of pathogen was recorded for 7 consecutive days. The optimum incubation temperature of P. palmivora on both substrates is at 27ᵒC. However, the growth tends to be inhibited as the temperature increases. No lesion developed on pod surface incubated at 36ᵒC and only a small lesion observed at 33ᵒC. The sporulation with the formation of white mycelial growth on pod surface was only visible at optimum temperature, 27ᵒC. On CMA, the pathogen grew over the entire range of temperatures tested. The study is, therefore, concluded that P. palmivora grow the best at temperature of 27ᵒC on both substrates and their growth begin to inhibit when the temperature rises to more than 27ᵒC. The growth pattern of this pathogen is similar on both pod surface and cultural media.

Keywords: cocoa, Phytophthora palmivora, substrate, temperature

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Authors: Tholaine Matadi

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South Africa is a democratic country with a historical record of racially-motivated marginalisation and exclusion of the majority. During the apartheid era the country was run along pieces of legislation and policies based on racial segregation. The system held a tight clamp on interracial mixing which forced people to remain in segregated areas. For example, a citizen from the Indian community could not own property in an area allocated to white people. In this way, a great majority of people were denied basic human rights. Now, there is a supreme constitution with an entrenched justiciable Bill of Rights founded on democratic values of social justice, human dignity, equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms. The Constitution also enshrines the values of non-racialism and non-sexism. The Constitutional Court has the power to declare unconstitutional any law or conduct considered to be inconsistent with it. Now, more than two decades down the line, despite the abolition of apartheid, there is evidence that South Africa still experiences hate crimes which violate the entrenched right of vulnerable groups not to be discriminated against on the basis of race, sexual orientation, gender, national origin, occupation, or disability. To remedy this mischief parliament has responded by drafting the Prevention and Combatting of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill. The Bill has been disseminated for public comment and suggestions. It is intended to combat hate crimes and hate speech based on sheer prejudice. The other purpose of the Bill is to bring South Africa in line with international human rights instruments against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related expressions of intolerance identified in several international instruments. It is against this backdrop that this paper intends to analyse the impact of the Bill on the rights to human dignity, equality, and freedom. This study is significant because the Bill was highly contested and creates a huge debate. This study relies on a qualitative evaluative approach based on desktop and library research. The article recurs to primary and secondary sources. For comparative purpose, the paper compares South Africa with countries such as Australia, Canada, Kenya, Cuba, and United Kingdom which have criminalised hate crimes and hate speech. The finding from this study is that despite the Bill’s expressed positive intentions, this draft legislation is problematic for several reasons. The main reason is that it generates considerable controversy mostly because it is considered to infringe the right to freedom of expression. Though the author suggests that the Bill should not be rejected in its entirety, she notes the brutal psychological effect of hate crimes on their direct victims and the writer emphasises that a legislature can succeed to combat hate-crimes only if it provides for them as a separate stand-alone category of offences. In view of these findings, the study recommended that since hate speech clauses have a negative impact on freedom of expression it can be promulgated, subject to the legislature enacting the Prevention and Combatting of Hate-Crimes Bill as a stand-alone law which criminalises hate crimes.

Keywords: freedom of expression, hate crimes, hate speech, human dignity

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Authors: Ruth Mandujano Lopez

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During the second half of the 19th century, in the transition from sail to steam navigation, the transpacific space underwent major transformation. This paper examines the role that the steamship companies between Mexico, the rest of North America and Asia played in that process. Based on primary sources found in Mexico, California, London and Hong Kong, it argues that these companies actively participated in the redefining of the Pacific space as they opened new routes, transported thousands of people and had an impact on regional geopolitics. In order to prove this, the text will present the cases of a handful of companies that emerged between 1867 and 1910 and of some of their passengers. By looking at the way the Mexican ports incorporated to the transpacific steam maritime network, this work contributes to have a better understanding of the role that Latin American ports have played in the formation of a global order. From a theoretical point of view, it proposes the conceptualization of space in the form of transnational networks as a point of departure to conceive a history that is truly global.

Keywords: mexico, steamships, transpacific, maritime companies

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Authors: Akhter Hussain Najar

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Honey bees are the best insect grown on earth and are taking the lead in the global ecosystem. Life on earth depends upon honey bees pollinating each and every flower in its reign. The global economy is balanced by providing financial attribute due to the use of valuable resources generated from honey bees like honey, royal jelly, bee venom, propolis, bee wax even queens from parent colonies is now in demand. Livelihood stability is also maintained by the rearing of honey bees; beekeeping became a new professional work to be cared for by the experts. Indigenous methodologies are used to rear honey bees. The rearing of honey bees showed variation in different states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu, Kashmir, etc. The production of honey depends upon the area and the availability of crops and the colonies of beekeepers in these states. However, the kind of honey from Jammu and Kashmir, like Accacia and Solai, has different color and odour from the honey generated in the rest of the states. However, the nature and viscosity vary from state to state. But in the last few years, the honey from Jammu and Kashmir has given different shapes when kept at room temperature due to unconditional rainfall during honey peak season in J&K.

Keywords: ecosystem pollen, pollination, honey bee

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Authors: Monira Nazmi Jahan, Nusrat Jahan Nishat

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'Child Pornography' is a sex crime that portrays illegal images and videos of a minor over the Internet and now has become a social concern with the increase of commission of this crime. The major objective of this paper is to identify and examine the laws relating to child pornography in Bangladesh and to compare this with other South Asian countries. In Bangladesh to prosecute under child pornography, provisions have been made in ‘Digital Security Act, 2018’ where it has been defined as involving child in areas of child sexuality or in sexuality and whoever commits the crime will be punished for 10 years imprisonment or 10 lac taka fine. In India, the crime is dealt with ‘The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012’ (POSCO) where the offenders for commission of this crime has been divided separately and has provision for punishments starting from three years to rigorous life imprisonment and shall also be liable to fine. In the Maldives, there is ‘Special Provisions Act to Deal with Child Sex Abuse Offenders, Act number 12/2009’. In this act it has been provided that a person is guilty of such an act if intentionally runs child prostitution, involves child in the creation of pornography or displays child’s sexual organ in pornography then shall be punished between 20 to 25 years of imprisonment. Nepal prosecutes this crime through ‘Act Relating to Children, 2018’ and the conviction of using child in prostitution or sexual services is imprisonment up to fifteen years and fine up to one hundred fifty thousand rupees. In Pakistan, child pornography is prosecuted with ‘Pakistan Penal Code Child Abuse Amendment Act, 2016’. This provides that one is guilty of this offence if he involves child with or without consent in such activities. It provides punishment for two to seven years of imprisonment or fine from two hundred thousand to seven hundred thousand rupees. In Bhutan child pornography is not explicitly addressed under the municipal laws. The Penal Code of Bhutan penalizes all kinds of pornography including child pornography under the provisions of computer pornography and the offence shall be a misdemeanor. Child Pornography is also prohibited under the ‘Child Care and Protection Act’. In Sri Lanka, ‘The Penal Code’ de facto criminalizes child prohibition and has a penalty of two to ten years and may also be liable to fine. The most shocking scenario exists in Afghanistan. There is no specific law for the protection of children from pornography, whereas this serious crime is present there. This paper will be conducted through a qualitative research method that is, the primary sources will be laws, and secondary sources will be journal articles and newspapers. The conclusion that can be drawn is except Afghanistan all other South Asian countries have laws for controlling this crime but still have loopholes. India has the most amended provisions. Nepal has no provision for fine, and Bhutan does not mention any specific punishment. Bangladesh compared to these countries, has a good piece of law; however, it also has space to broaden the laws for controlling child pornography.

Keywords: child abuse, child pornography, life imprisonment, penal code, South Asian countries

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Authors: Olanrewaju B. Lasisi

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The position of Ijebu-Ode, the historical capital of the Ijebu Kingdom, at the center of gravity of Ijebu land is enclosed by the 180-km-long earthwork and suggests a centrally controlled project. This paper reflects on the first stratigraphic drawing of the banks and ditches of this earthwork, and place its construction mechanism in a chronological framework. Nine radiocarbon dates obtained at the site suggest that the earthwork was built in the late 14th or early 15th century. This suggests a relationship with the Ijebu Kingdom, which pre-existed the opening of the Atlantic trade but first became visible only in the Portuguese records in the 1480s. In June 2017, more earthworks were found but within the core of Ijebu Land. This most recent finding points to an extension of territory from the center to the outlying villages. One central question about this discovery of monumental architectures that was functional around the 14th century or before is in its mode of construction. Apparently, iron tools must have been used in the construction of ‘a 20m deep ditch that runs 180km in circumference.’ Thus, the discovery of iron-working sites around the vicinity of the earthwork is a pointer to this building process that is up till now shrouded in mystery. By comparing the chronology of Ijebu earthworks with the evidence of Iron working in south western Nigeria around the first half of the first millennium AD, it can be thought that the rise in polity triggered the knowledge of metallurgy in the region.

Keywords: archaeology, earthworks, Ijebu, metallurgy

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Authors: Brighton Chamunorwa

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The current remote sensing of water quality procedures does not provide a step representing physical visualisation of the monitored dam. The application of the remote sensing of water quality techniques may benefit from use of mathematical morphology operators for shape identification. Given an input of dam outline, morphological operators such as the hit or miss transform identifies if the water body is present on input remotely sensed images. This study seeks to determine the accuracy of the hit or miss transform to identify dams monitored by the water resources authorities in South Africa on satellite images. To achieve this objective the study download a Landsat image acquired in winter and tested the capability of the hit or miss transform using shapefile boundaries of dams in the crocodile marico catchment. The results of the experiment show that it is possible to detect most dams on the Landsat image after the adjusting the erosion operator to detect pixel matching a percentage similarity of 80% and above. Successfully implementation of the current study contributes towards optimisation of mathematical morphology image operators. Additionally, the effort helps develop remote sensing of water quality monitoring with improved simulation of the conventional procedures.

Keywords: hit or miss transform, mathematical morphology, remote sensing, water quality monitoring

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Authors: Nada Mohamed, Abdel Aziz Mohamed

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Climate change in coastal areas is a global issue that can be felt on local scale and will be around for decades and centuries to come to an end; it also has critical risks on the city’s economy, communities, and the natural environment. One of these changes that cause a huge risk on coastal cities is the sea level rise (SLR). SLR is a result of scarcity and reduction in global environmental system. The main cause of climate change and global warming is the countries with high development index (HDI) as Japan and Germany while the medium and low HDI countries as Egypt does not have enough awareness and advanced tactics to adapt with this changes that destroy urban areas and cause loss in land and economy. This is why Climate Resilience is one of the UN sustainable development goals 2030, which is calling for actions to strengthen climate change resilience through mitigation and adaptation. For many reasons, adaptation has received less attention than mitigation and it is only recently that adaptation has become a focal global point of attention. This adaption can be achieved through some actions such as upgrading the use and the design of the land, adjusting business and activities of people, and increasing community understanding of climate risks. To reach the adaption goals, and we have to apply a strategic pathway to Climate Resilience, which is the Urban Bioregionalism Paradigm. Resiliency has been framed as persistence, adaptation, and transformation. Climate Resilience decision support system includes a visualization platform where ecological, social, and economic information can be viewed alongside with specific geographies that's why Urban Bioregionalism is a socio-ecological system which is defined as a paradigm that has potential to help move social attitudes toward environmental understanding and deepen human-environment connections within ecological development. The research aim is to achieve an adaptive integrated urban development model throughout the analyses of tactics and strategies that can be used to adapt urban areas and coastal communities to the challenges of climate changes especially SLR and also simulation model using advanced technological software for a coastal city corridor to elaborates the suitable strategy to apply.

Keywords: climate resilience, sea level rise, SLR, coastal resilience, adaptive development simulation

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Authors: Y. Fekir, K. Mederbal, M. A. Hammadouche, D. Anteur

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The cultural park of the Tassili, occupying a large area of Algeria, is characterized by a rich vegetative biodiversity to be preserved and managed both in time and space. The management of a large area (case of Tassili), by its complexity, needs large amounts of data, which for the most part, are spatially localized (DEM, satellite images and socio-economic information etc.), where the use of conventional and traditional methods is quite difficult. The remote sensing, by its efficiency in environmental applications, became an indispensable solution for this kind of studies. Multispectral imaging sensors have been very useful in the last decade in very interesting applications of remote sensing. They can aid in several domains such as the de¬tection and identification of diverse surface targets, topographical details, and geological features. In this work, we try to extract vegetative areas using fusion techniques between data acquired from sensor on-board the Earth Observing 1 (EO-1) satellite and Landsat ETM+ and TM sensors. We have used images acquired over the Oasis of Djanet in the National Park of Tassili in the south of Algeria. Fusion technqiues were applied on the obtained image to extract the vegetative fraction of the different classes of land use. We compare the obtained results in vegetation end member extraction with vegetation indices calculated from both Hyperion and other multispectral sensors.

Keywords: Landsat ETM+, EO1, data fusion, vegetation, Tassili, Algeria

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Authors: Aynur Charkasova

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The scientific and economic contributions of international students cannot be underestimated. International education continues to be a competitive global industry, and many countries are seeking to recruit the best and the brightest to reinforce scientific innovations, boost intercultural learning, and bring more funding to universities and colleges. Substantial changes in international educational policies and migration regulations have been made in the hopes of recruiting global talent. This paper explores and compares recruitment strategies, employment opportunities, and a legal path to permanent residency policies related to international students in the United States of America and Canada. This study will utilize the legal information available from the government websites of both countries and peer-reviewed scholarly articles and will highlight which approach promises a better path in recruiting and retention of international students. The findings from the study will be discussed and recommendations will be provided.

Keywords: International students, current immigration policies, STEM, employability, visa reforms for international students, Canadian recruitment policy

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Authors: Babar Rasheed

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The organizations are in continuous effort to increase their yield and to retain their associates, employees. Technology is considered an integral part of attaining apposite work practices, work environment, and employee engagement. Unconsciously, these advanced practices like work from home, personalized intra-network are disturbing employee work-life balance which ultimately increases psychological pressure on employees. The smart work practice is to develop business models and organizational practices with enhanced employee engagement, minimum trouncing of organization resources with persistent revenue and positive addition in global societies. Need of smart work practices comes from increasing employee turnover rate, global economic recession, unnecessary job pressure, increasing contingent workforce and advancement in technologies. Current practices are not enough elastic to tackle global changing work environment and organizational competitions. Current practices are causing many reciprocal problems among employee and organization mechanically. There is conscious understanding among business sectors smart work practices that will deal with new century challenges with addressing the concerns of relevant issues. It is aimed in this paper to endorse customized and smart work practice tools along knowledge framework to manage the growing concerns of employee engagement, use of technology, orgaization concerns and challenges for the business. This includes a Smart Management Information System to address necessary concerns of employees and combine with a framework to extract the best possible ways to allocate companies resources and re-align only required efforts to adopt the best possible strategy for controlling potential risks.

Keywords: employees engagement, management information system, psychological pressure, current and future HR practices

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Authors: Lemu Abebe Geleta

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In this study, it compare the performance of banks and financial services (operational, financial, and market) across four major regions including Asia, Europe, Africa, and North with the extent of sustainability reporting. We examine how the Environment, Social, and Governance score (ESG) and the three pillars such as Return on Assets, Return on Equity, and Tobin's (Q) affect the performance of banks using data collected from 3450 observations across 40 different nations over ten years of (2011-2020). it also consider implications for governance, macroeconomics, and specific bank attributes. The results indicate a negative correlation between ESG and operational performance (ROA), financial performance (ROE), and market performance (TQ). The inclusion of diverse political and economic contexts lends distinctiveness to this paper. the findings hold significant theoretical implications for global scholars and policymakers. The limited correlation between ESG, its pillars, and the performance of banks and financial services underscores managerial shortcomings within these sectors.

Keywords: bank specialization, financial crisis, credit risk, difference-in-differences, herfindahl hirschman index

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Authors: M. Linda Phooko, Phesheya E. Dlamini, Vusumuzi E. Mbanjwa, Rhandu Chauke

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The decline of yields as a consequence of miss-informed land-use decisions poses a threat to sustainable agriculture in South Africa. The non-uniform growth pattern of wheat crop and the yields below expectations has been one of the main concerns for Timatjatji community farmers. This study was then conducted to characterize, classify, and evaluate soils of the farm for sustainable land use planning. A detailed free survey guided by surface features was conducted on a 25 ha farm to check soil variation. It was revealed that Sepane (25%), Bonheim (21%), Rensburg (18%), Katspruit (15%), Arcadia (12%) and Dundee (9%) were the dominant soil forms found across the farm. Field soil description was done to determine morphological characteristics of the soils which were matched with slope percentage and climate to assess the potential of the soils. The land capability results showed that soils were generally shallow due to high clay content in the B horizon. When the climate of the area was factored in (i.e. land potential), it further revealed that the area has low cropping potential due to heat, moisture stress and shallow soils. This implies that the farm is not suitable for annual cropping but can be highly suitable for planted pastures.

Keywords: characterization, land capability, land evaluation, land potential

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Authors: Jonathan Adeyemi

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Context: This study focuses on El Anatsui and his global acclaim in the art world despite his origins from the global artworld’s margins. It addresses the disparities in the treatment between Western and non-Western artists and questions whether Anatsui’s consecration is a result of exoticism or the growing consensus on decolonization. Research Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate how El Anatsui achieved global acclaim from the margins of the art world and determine if his consecration represents a mark of decolonization or the typical Western desire for exoticism. Methodology: The study utilizes a case study approach, literature analysis, and in-depth interviews. The artist, the organizers of the Venice Biennale, the relevant curators at Tate Modern London, and the October Gallery in London, and other galleries in Nigeria, which represent the artist were interviewed for data collection. Findings: The study seeks to determine the authenticity of the growing consensus on decolonization, inclusion, and diversity in the global artistic field. Preliminary findings show that domestic socio-economic and political factors debilitated the mechanisms for local validation in Nigeria, weakening the domestic foundation for international engagement. However, alternative systems of exhibition, especially in London and the USA contributed critically to providing the initial international visibility, which formed the foundation for his global acclaim. Out of the 21 winners of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement since its inception at the 47th Venice Biennale in 1997, American artists have dominated with 10 recipients, 8 recipients from Europe, 2 recipients from Africa (2007 and 2015) and 1 from Asia. This aligns with Bourdieu’s concept of cultural and economic capital, which prevented Africa countries from participation until recently. Moreover, while the average age of recipients is 76 years, Anatsui received the award at the age of 71, while Malick Sidibé (Mali) was awarded at 72. Thus, the Venice Biennale award for El Anatsui incline more towards a commitment to decolonisation than exoticism. Theoretical Importance: This study contributes to the field by examining the dynamics of the art world's monopoly of legitimation and the role of national, ethnicity and cultural differences in the promotion of artists. It aims to challenge the Westernized hierarchy of valorization and consecration in the art world. The research supports Bourdieu’s artistic field theory, which emphasises the importance of cultural, economic and social capital in determining agents’ position and access to the field resources (symbolic capital). Bourdieu also established that dominated agents can change their position in the field’s hierarchy either by establishing or navigating alternative systems. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures: The opacity of art world’s operations places the required information within the purview of the insiders (agents). Thus, the study collects data through in-depth interviews with relevant and purposively selected individuals and organizations. The data was/will be analyzed using qualitative methods, such as thematic analysis and content analysis. The interpretive analytical approach adopted facilitated the construction of meanings that may not be apparent in the data or responses. Questions Addressed: The study addresses how El Anatsui achieved global acclaim despite being from the margins, whether his consecration represents decolonization or exoticism, and the extent to which the global artistic field embraces decolonization, inclusion, and diversity. Conclusion: The study will contribute to knowledge by providing insights into the extent of commitment to decolonization, inclusion, and diversity in the global artistic field. It also shed light on the mechanisms behind El Anatsui's rise to global acclaim and challenge Western-dominated artistic hierarchies.

Keywords: decolonisation, exorticism, artistic field, culture game

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Authors: Emilia Segun-Ajao

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The strategy of relocation aimed at strengthening supply chain resilience in the United States is examined, taking into account recent global disturbances and vulnerabilities in offshore manufacturing. It explains the procurement challenges faced by enterprises and offers solutions to mitigate risks and improve resilience. Through the analysis of innovative approaches, including technological advances, policy considerations, and strategic frameworks, this study provides insights to decision-makers about the complexity of supply chain management. Reshoring has gained attention as a strategy to improve supply chain resilience in the face of global disruptions. This analysis focuses on the importance of relocating as a multifaceted approach to strengthening supply chains, advocating economic benefits, technological advances, and policy frameworks to create a more robust supply landscape in the United States.

Keywords: collaborative partnerships, supply chain resilience, procurement challenges, technology adoption

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Authors: Aleksandra Szunke

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Monetary policy is an important pillar of the economy, directly affecting on the condition of banking sector. Depending on the strategy may both support functioning of banking institutions, as well as limit their excessively risky activities. The literature studies indicate a large number of publications, which include characteristics of initiatives, implemented by central banks during the global financial crisis and the potential effects of the use of non-standard monetary policy instruments. However, the empirical evidence about their effects and real consequences for the financial markets are still not final. Even before the escalation of instability, Bernanke, Reinhart, and Sack (2004) analyzed the effectiveness of various unconventional monetary tools in lowering long-term interest rates in the United States and Japan. The obtained results largely confirmed the effectiveness of the zero-interest-rate policy and Quantitative Easing (QE) in achieving the goal of reducing long-term interest rates. Japan, considered as the precursor of QE policy, also conducted research about the consequences of non-standard instruments, implemented to restore financial stability of the country. Although the literature about the effectiveness of Quantitative Easing in Japan is extensive, it does not uniquely specify whether it brought permanent effects. The main aim of the study is to identify the implications of non-standard monetary policy, implemented by selected central banks (the Federal Reserve System, Bank of England and European Central Bank), paying particular attention to the consequences into three areas: the size of money supply, financial markets, and the real economy.

Keywords: consequences of modern monetary policy, quantitative easing policy, banking sector instability, global financial crisis

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Authors: Lineo Dzansi

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South African government has been mandated by the Constitution (Act 108 of 1996) to deliver basic services to all who live in it. However, service delivery has always been marred with much criticism and citizens’ dissatisfaction regarding the quality of services rendered to them. This is evidenced by public protests that are common in South Africa lately which they are mostly alleged to link with failure by the government through various municipalities to meet citizens’ service delivery expectations. Municipalities render services through people. People management plays a crucial role in influencing employee and organisational performance and it thus needs to be conducted in a fair and just manner. Literature confirms that there is a relationship between organisational justice perceptions and employee behaviour, and that positive or negative justice perceptions can have an influence on employee attitudes, commitment to their jobs and organisation. The nature of the attachments formed by individuals to their employing organisations depends on the manner in which the organisation treats them. This implies that Municipal employees’ commitment could be linked to fair or unfair perceptions of Human Resource Management practices within their organisations. Unfortunately, the political nature of municipal environment could be a fertile ground for appointments of people based on political affiliation as a reward for political patronage rather than on merit. This paper seeks to investigate the relationship between municipal employees’ perceptions of fairness of Human Resource Management practices and employee commitment from the organisational justice point of view. Research on organisational justice has shown that employees’ organisational justice perceptions link directly with job satisfaction and employee organisational commitment. Quantitative research methods were employed to collect and analyse data from selected managerial and non-managerial municipal employees within selected municipalities in Free State Province of South Africa. Employee commitment has positive relationships with HRM practices at the .05 and .01 levels of significance – indicating that the higher the levels of HRM practices in municipal employees the higher the organisational commitment of employees. Therefore, it is concluded that organisational commitment of municipal employees (EOC) is positively related to their perceptions of fairness of HRM practices (PHF) of municipalities. In other words, fair HRM practices of municipalities promote organisational commitment in municipal employees.

Keywords: organisational Justice, HRM practices, employee organisational commitment, employee attitudes

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Authors: Peaceman Sopazi, Mabila Mathebula, John Smallwood

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Recent health and safety (H&S) concerns and their resultant impact on railway operations, namely, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) or collectively known as SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) pandemic and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), which have dominated public discourse, brought into question as to whether, or not, some aspects of how we have so far managed safety oversight as railway regulatory bodies and operators will remain relevant in a changing railway environment. Railway practitioners have generally found themselves between a proverbial rock and a hard place by being confronted by emerging challenges which have brought along great opportunities for sustainability. As witnesses and participants to the progressively introduced railway safety management, and transformation regimes, this paper attempts to share gathered field experience on adaptable regulatory oversight and safety awareness. The discourse is approached from a South African context but also with an informed perspective of what seems to work and what usually does not. The authors share their own multi and transdisciplinary experience coupled with insights they have gained as researchers of global trends in general safety management and specific aspects of railway safety management, for sustainability. In addition to sharing a largely experience-based methodology for survival, suggestions are offered for consideration as a way of keeping the railway safety management discourse alive as practitioners navigate a new path which is shrouded in a cloud of untold uncertainty. The authors further believe that the right timing for the implementation of the proposed suggestions in this paper will produce beneficial outcomes. Finally, the paper will identify areas that are still open for further investigation for and by researchers and practitioners alike.

Keywords: health & safety management, safety awareness, railway safety management, railway systems sustainability

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Authors: Ntokozo Dennis Ndwandwe

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The aim of the study was to explore the barriers facing the implementation of peace education as a strategy to combat violence in selected secondary schools in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The problem that motivated this enquiry was the absence of stable peace and the increase of incidents of violence in schools. A qualitative approach was followed when conducting the study, and small samples of three case studies of secondary schools were used. Method used in collecting data consisted of semi-structured interviews; focus group interviews and observation. The participants consisted of the program manager for Quaker for Peace Centre (QPC), three principals, nine teachers, and fifteen learners. Data were analysed by transcribing, organising, marking by hand and coding that produced labels that allowed key points to be highlighted. Findings revealed that the effective implementation of peace education was being constrained by factors such as financial constraints, inadequate time allocated, lack of parental involvement, over work-loaded teachers, negative attitude and other societal influences. It is recommended that teachers should receive an ongoing training for peace education. Therefore, the government should prioritise and provide funds for peace education. In addition, parental involvement should be improved in order to enhance the implementation of peace education in selected secondary schools.

Keywords: barriers, implementation, conflict, peace, peace education, conflict resolution, violence

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Authors: Chigozirim Onwusiribe, Jude Mbanasor

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Egusi Melon (Citrullus Lanatus Thunb. Mansf ) is a very important oil seed that serves a major ingredient in the diet of most of the households in Nigeria. Egusi Melon is very nutritious and very important in meeting the food security needs of Nigerians. Egusi Melon is cultivated in most farm enterprise in South East Nigeria but the profitability of its value chain needs to be investigated. This study analyzed the profitability of the Egusi Melon value chain. Specifically this study developed a value chain map for Egusi Melon, analysed the profitability of each stage of the Egusi Melon Value chain and analysed the determinants of the profitability of the Egusi Melon at each stage of the value chain. Multi stage sampling technique was used to select 125 farm enterprises with similar capacity and characteristics. Questionnaire and interview were used to elicit the required data while descriptive statistics, Food and Agriculture Organization Value Chain Analysis Tool, profitability ratios and multiple regression analysis were used for the data analysis. One of the findings showed that the stages of the Egusi Melon value chain are very profitable. Based on the findings, we recommend the provision of grants by government and donor agencies to the farm enterprises through their cooperative societies, this will provide the necessary funds for the local fabrication of value addition and processing equipment to suit their unique value addition needs not met by the imported equipment.

Keywords: value, chain, melon, farm, enterprises

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Authors: Sindhu Manjesh

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This paper examines citizen journalism in India, specifically the inclusion of user-generated content (UGC) by mainstream media, by focusing on the case study of the Citizen Journalist show on CNN-News 18, a national television news broadcaster. It studies the processes of production involved in Citizen Journalist to find out how professional journalists and citizens interact to put together the show in order to help readers understand the relationship between journalists and the public in the evolving media landscape of India, the world’s largest democracy, and a leader in the Global South. Using an in-depth case study approach involving newsroom ethnography, interviews, and an examination of Citizen Journalist content, it studies the implications of audience participation for traditional journalistic routines and values – specifically gatekeeping and objectivity. Citizen Journalist began to much fanfare and promise about including neglected citizen views and voices. Based on evidence gathered, this study, however, argues that claims made by CNN-News18 about democratizing news production through Citizen Journalist were overstated. It made some effort to do this and broadcast a lot of important stories. But overall, in terms of bringing in citizen voices, it did not live up to its initial promise because the show was anchored in traditional journalistic norms and roles and the channel’s economic imperatives. Professional journalists were ironically the producers of 'citizen journalism' in this case. Mainstream media’s authority in defining journalistic work –who says what, where, when, why, and how– remains predominant in India. This has implications for democratic participation in India. The example of Citizen Journalist –the model it followed, its partial success, and many limitations– could well presage outcomes for other news outlets, in India and beyond, which copy its template.

Keywords: citizen journalism, digital journalism, participatory journalism, public sphere

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Authors: Nkiru Nnaemezie, J. O. Okafor

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The high mortality as a result of pregnancy related illnesses is a global public health problem and a source of concern to most countries including Nigeria. This study was therefore designed to determine the Demographic Variables associated with common pregnancy related illnesses among pregnant mothers in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State. The design of the study was an expost-facto research design. All the folders of the pregnant mothers that were studied from 2010-2014 formed the population of the study which included 10,250 folders. Based on the content of the folders, a researcher developed pro-forma (RDP) was used for data collection. Five research questions and five hypotheses were postulated for the study. Research questions postulated were answered using simple percentage. Hypotheses stated were analyzed at 0.05 level of significance using chi-square (X²) statistics. The result among others showed that pregnant mothers within 15-29 years had the most pregnancy related illnesses than mothers on other age brackets. Pregnant mothers with 0-1 parity level experienced the most pregnancy related illnesses than mothers on other parity levels. Public servants experienced the most pregnancy related illnesses than mothers in other occupations. Married pregnant mothers experienced the most pregnancy related illnesses than single mothers. Pregnant mothers with secondary education had the most pregnancy related illnesses than mothers in other education levels. There were significant differences in the common pregnancy related illnesses among the pregnant mothers of the study in relation to the demographic variables of the study which included age, parity, occupation, marital status and educational level. Based on the findings, conclusions were drawn, and the following recommendations among others were made: there is need for health education in terms of educating those pregnant mothers during antenatal clinics; single mothers should be advised to register for antenatal early enough.

Keywords: analysis, demographic variables, pregnancy related illnesses, pregnant mothers

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Authors: Jinu Phonamontham

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Coronavirus, also referred to as COVID-19, is a virus caused by the SARS-Cov-2 virus. The pandemic has caused over 10 million cases and 500,000 deaths worldwide through the end of June 2020. In a previous study, HLA-DQA1*01:02 allele was associated with COVID-19 disease (p-value = 0.0121). Furthermore, there was a statistical significance between HLA- DQB1*06:02 and COVID-19 in the Italian population by Bonferroni’s correction (p-value = 0.0016). Nevertheless, there is no data describing the distribution of HLA alleles as a valid marker for prediction of COVID-19 in the Thai population. We want to investigate the prevalence of HLA-DQA1*01:02 and HLA-DQB1*06:02 alleles that are associated with severe COVID-19 in the Thai population. In this study, we recruited 200 healthy Thai individuals. Genomic DNA samples were isolated from EDTA blood using Genomic DNA Mini Kit. HLA genotyping was conducted using the Lifecodes HLA SSO typing kits (Immucor, West Avenue, Stamford, USA). The frequency of HLA-DQA1 alleles in Thai population, consisting of HLA-DQA1*01:01 (27.75%), HLA-DQA1*01:02 (24.50%), HLA-DQA1*03:03 (13.00%), HLA-DQA1*06:01 (10.25%) and HLA-DQA1*02:01 (6.75%). Furthermore, the distributions of HLA-DQB1 alleles were HLA-DQB1*05:02 (21.50%), HLA-DQB1*03:01 (15.75%), HLA-DQB1*05:01 (14.50%), HLA-DQB1*03:03 (11.00%) and HLA-DQB1*02:02 (8.25%). Particularly, HLA- DQA1*01:02 (29.00%) allele was the highest frequency in the NorthEast group, but there was not significant difference when compared with the other regions in Thais (p-value = 0.4202). HLA-DQB1*06:02 allele was similarly distributed in Thai population and there was no significant difference between Thais and China (3.8%) and South Korea (6.4%) and Japan (8.2%) with p-value > 0.05. Whereas, South Africa (15.7%) has a significance with Thais by p-value of 0.0013. This study supports the specific genotyping of the HLA-DQA1*01:02 and HLA-DQB1*06:02 alleles to screen severe COVID-19 in Thai and many populations.

Keywords: HLA-DQA1*01:02, HLA-DQB1*06:02, Asian, Thai population

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Authors: Felicite Ann Fairer-Wessels

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There has always been a disparity between mining and tourism mainly due to the socio-economic and environmental impacts of mines on both the adjacent resident communities and the areas taken up by the mining operation. Although heritage mining tourism has been actively and successfully pursued and developed in the UK, largely Wales, and Scandinavian countries, the debate whether active mining and tourism can have a mutually beneficial relationship remains imminent. This pilot study explores the relationship between the ‘to be developed’ future Nokeng Mine and its adjacent community, the rural community of Moloto, will be investigated in terms of whether sustainable tourism and livelihood activities can potentially be developed with the support of the mine. Concepts such as social entrepreneur, corporate social responsibility, sustainable development and triple bottom line are discussed. Within the South African context as a mineral rich developing country, the government has a statutory obligation to empower disenfranchised communities through social and labour plans and policies. All South African mines must preside over a Social and Labour Plan according to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, No 28 of 2002. The ‘social’ component refers to the ‘social upliftment’ of communities within or adjacent to any mine; whereas the ‘labour’ component refers to the mine workers sourced from the specific community. A qualitative methodology is followed using the case study as research instrument for the Nokeng Mine and Moloto community with interviews and focus group discussions. The target population comprised of the Moloto Tribal Council members (8 in-depth interviews), the Moloto community members (17: focus groups); and the Nokeng Mine representatives (4 in-depth interviews). In this pilot study two disparate ‘worlds’ are potentially linked: on the one hand, the mine as social entrepreneur that is searching for feasible and sustainable ideas; and on the other hand, the community adjacent to the mine, with potentially sustainable tourism entrepreneurs that can tap into the resources of the mine should their ideas be feasible to build their businesses. Being an exploratory study the findings are limited but indicate that the possible success of tourism and sustainable livelihood activities lies in the fact that both the Mine and Community are keen to work together – the mine in terms of obtaining labour and profit; and the community in terms of improved and sustainable social and economic conditions; with both parties realizing the importance to mitigate negative environmental impacts. In conclusion, a relationship of trust is imperative between a mine and a community before a long term liaison is possible. However whether tourism is a viable solution for the community to engage in is debatable. The community could initially rather pursue the sustainable livelihoods approach and focus on life-supporting activities such as building, gardening, etc. that once established could feed into possible sustainable tourism activities.

Keywords: community development, mining tourism, sustainability, South Africa

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Authors: Anahita Shahrokhi, Hamed Kazemzadeh

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Various issues are included in cultural relations between societies. Art styles along with architectural similarities are by far one of the most noticeable cultural-historic relations. The Dagestan Republic located in the south of Russia Federation in the North Caucasus has had cultural relations with historical Iran since long ago and is considered as a part of the Islamic world. From Sassanid era and Islamic Empire prior to Tsars’ government, such relations had been maintained largely due to Iran and Islam’s political and social dominance over the region. The presence of the Iranians, mostly for business and commerce, is evident through not only written documents but also other cultural elements including architecture and art. Southern Dagestan and northern provinces of Iran, not distant from each other by sea, have a lot of artistic and cultural aspects in common. The architecture used in some structures such as religious centers, Tekie and Saqa Nafars strongly resembles religious centers in the south of Dagestan. The majority of these similarities lie in the wooden carvings, engravings, and paintings of the interior decorations on the pillars, capitals, walls, and ceilings, as well as the similarity of the plans. Such designs were formed in Safavid dynasty first in Mazandaran and later in Dagestan so that this style is currently named Persiski, meaning Persian, in the Dagestan Republic. These similarities indicate the relationship between the artists and educated people from Iran and Dagestan and the Iranians’ role on the religious and cultural development of Dagestan from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Keywords: wooden works, Mazandaran, Dagestan, Saqa Nafar, ritual and Islamic architecture

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Authors: Olubisi Friday Oluduro

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The Paris Agreement 2015, the result of negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), after Kyoto Protocol expiration, sets a long-term goal of limiting the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and of pursuing efforts to limiting this temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. An advancement on the erstwhile Kyoto Protocol which sets commitments to only a limited number of Parties to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions, it includes the goal to increase the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and to make finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low GHGs emissions. For it achieve these goals, the Agreement requires all Parties to undertake efforts towards reaching global peaking of GHG emissions as soon as possible and towards achieving a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks in the second half of the twenty-first century. In addition to climate change mitigation, the Agreement aims at enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing the vulnerability to climate change in different parts of the world. It acknowledges the importance of addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse of climate change. The Agreement also contains comprehensive provisions on support to be provided to developing countries, which includes finance, technology transfer and capacity building. To ensure that such supports and actions are transparent, the Agreement contains a number reporting provisions, requiring parties to choose the efforts and measures that mostly suit them (Nationally Determined Contributions), providing for a mechanism of assessing progress and increasing global ambition over time by a regular global stocktake. Despite the somewhat global look of the Agreement, it has been fraught with manifold limitations threatening its very existential capability to produce any meaningful result. Considering these obvious limitations some of which were the very cause of the failure of its predecessor—the Kyoto Protocol—such as the non-participation of the United States, non-payment of funds into the various coffers for appropriate strategic purposes, among others. These have left the developing countries largely threatened eve the more, being more vulnerable than the developed countries, which are really responsible for the climate change scourge. The paper seeks to examine the mitigation and adaptation measures under the Paris Agreement 2015, appraise the present situation since the Agreement was concluded and ascertain whether the developing countries have been better or worse off since the Agreement was concluded, and examine why and how, while projecting a way forward in the present circumstance. It would conclude with recommendations towards ameliorating the situation.

Keywords: mitigation, adaptation, climate change, Paris agreement 2015, framework

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Authors: Joanne Hardman

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South Africa’s crisis in mathematics attainment is well documented. To meet the need to develop students’ mathematical performance in schools the government has launched various initiatives using computers to impact on mathematical attainment. While it is clear that computers can change pedagogical practices, there is a dearth of qualitative studies indicating exactly how pedagogy is transformed with Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in a teaching activity. Consequently, this paper addresses the following question: how, along which dimensions in an activity, does pedagogy alter with the use of computer drill and practice software in four disadvantaged grade 6 mathematics classrooms in the Western Cape province of South Africa? The paper draws on Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to develop a view of pedagogy as socially situated. Four ideal pedagogical types are identified: Reinforcement pedagogy, which has the reinforcement of specialised knowledge as its object; Collaborative pedagogy, which has the development of metacognitive engagement with specialised knowledge as its object; Directive pedagogy, which has the development of technical task skills as its object, and finally, Defensive pedagogy, which has student regulation as its object. Face-to-face lessons were characterised as predominantly Reinforcement and Collaborative pedagogy and most computer lessons were characterised as mainly either Defensive or Directive.

Keywords: computers, cultural historical activity theory, mathematics, pedagogy

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