This introduction to the MLO special issue “Minoritised Languages and Travel” provides an overview of the pieces in this collection in context with historical travel accounts in German about nineteenth-century Wales.

The contributions in this collection lay bare frictions between traveller and travelee as well as the inherent instability of soc…[Read more]

1. Motivation: Spiritual beliefs as a Drive or Motivation.
When you talk to “spiritual people” – spiritual beliefs are not just a motivation but a very profound source of inspiration and a powerful drive. In contrast spirituality as a motivation is conspicuously absent from much of academia proper. Beginning in 2017, I did substantial research.…[Read more]

Three consecutive patriarchs of Esoteric Buddhism were Amoghavajra of India, Huiguo of China, and Kūkai of Japan. This paper foregrounds the usually taken-for-granted but vital historical role of language education and translation in the international spread of religion and culture. There had to be sufficiently educated bilingual or multilingual…[Read more]

Einstein observed, “Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible laws and connections, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration of this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in fact, religious.” As the p…[Read more]

This is pre-publication preview introduces the major questions, methods, and insights of my book When a Human Gives Birth to a Raven: Rabbis & the Reproduction of Species (UC Press, 2023).

We present a valuation model for pricing two asset barrier options on commodity futures. Applications to commodity futures have a number of specific. The analytical valuation formulas are also implemented. The payoff of a two asset barrier options is made against one of the assets, while the other asset is used to trigger the barrier.

Forest conservation is a very important concept across the world. It is not only crucial for climate change but also very critical for the survival of humanity. In Africa, forests have always been an important aspect of nature that is regarded with uttermost reverence and
care. Importantly, discussions on health, healthcare, culture, economics…[Read more]

A two-asset barrier option is a European style option whose value is determined by two underlying assets. One asset, S1, determines the payoff function, and the other, S2, knocks the option in or out if the S2 value crosses the barrier.

A Market Mix GIC is a type of guaranteed investment certificate, which offers a return based on a corresponding GIC rate and the performance of a basket of certain stock and bond market indices. The payoff at maturity from a Market Mix GIC can be shown equal to the invested principal plus this principal times the sum of the minimum guaranteed…[Read more]

The Market Mix GIC is a type of guaranteed investment certificate, of 3- or 5-year term, which offers a return based on a corresponding GIC rate and the performance of a basket of certain stock and bond market indices. To determine the rate of return, the percentage change in each index level from the initial level is calculated. Here the initial…[Read more]

A pricing model was developed for pricing a total return swap between two parties. Here party A receives LIBOR plus a spread, but pays out the equity dividends arising from a collateralized loan obligation (CLO).

Due to subjectivity in oral assessment, much concentration has been put on obtaining a satisfactory measure of consistency among raters. However, obtaining consistency might not result in valid decisions. One matter that is at the core of both reliability and validity in oral performance is rater training. Recently, the Multifaceted Rasch…[Read more]

In this short article I argue that the UK government’s decision not to update the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA) is more than a missed opportunity. It weaponises the GRA, now an effective instrument of assimilation and containment. The failure to reform the GRA seems like a maintenance of the status quo, but given that the circumstances have s…[Read more]

These are excerpts from the Forward Press team’s India tour travelogue. Forward Press Consulting Editor Pramod Ranjan, sociologist Anil Kumar and Forward Press Editor (English) Anil Varghese were part of the team that went on the tour from Delhi to Kanyakumari between 5 January and 15 February 2017. The team covered nine states and one union t…[Read more]

This paper explores how Bucharest’s cinema-going public perceived the Nazi influence on Hollywood in the 1930s. The aim is to identify how Nazi propaganda was disseminated and consumed in interwar Bucharest and its similarities to the idea of glamour, relevant both to fashion and cinema. Considering the links between Goebbels’ propaganda mac…[Read more]

भारत में क्या हालत हो चुकी है, इसका अनुमान दिसंबर, 2020 में हुए एक सर्वेक्षण से लगता है। इस सर्वेक्षण के अनुसार भारत की आधी से अधिक आबादी को कोरोना-काल में पहले की तुलना में कम भोजन मिल रहा है। इनमें ज़्यादातर दलित और आदिवासी हैं। लेकिन इन सूचनाओं से भी अधिक भयावह यह है कि भारत का बौद्धिक वर्ग, ग़रीबों के सर पर मँडराते मौत के इस साये से प्राय:…[Read more]

The COVID-19 pandemic with its concomitant lockdown policies exacerbated the worst living conditions in different regions of the world, Africa and Ghana in particular. The major discursive issues concerning the pandemic has glaringly or cunningly ignored the lack of emphasis on local dynamics concerning what ought to be or could have been done…[Read more]

फरवरी, 2010 में प्रकाशित इस लेख में बिहार की तत्कालीन राजनीतिक परिस्थितियों को रेखांकित किया गया है, जिसके कारण वंचित तबकों से आने लोगों का उत्पीड़न हो रहा था। लेख में इसके लिए तत्कालीन नीतीश कुमार की सरकार को दोषी बाताया गया है।

पुस्तकों के अस्तित्व पर केंद्रित प्रमोद रंजन की यह टिप्प्णी पटना से प्रकाशित दैनिक प्रभात खबर में 12 दिसंबर, 2006 को प्रकाशित हुई थी। टिप्पणी से पता लगता है कि उस समय पटना में पुस्तक मेल लगा हुआ था और उसके उपलक्ष्य में प्रभात खबर विशेष पृष्ठ प्रकाशित कर रहा था, जिसमें यह टिप्प्णी प्रकाशित हुई थी।

इस टिप्पणी में कहा गया है किएक माध्यम…[Read more]

खूबसूरत प्राकृतिक दृश्यों से परिपूर्ण किन्नौर का समाज व संस्कृति शेष भारत से अलग है। यह बौद्ध धर्म का इलाका है, जिसे हिंदूवादी संस्कृति लीलती जा रही है। आर्थिक संपन्नता के आगमन से जाति-आधारित उत्पीड़न और भेदभाव कम हो रहा है। प्रमोद रंजन ने इस यात्रा संस्मरण में किन्नौर की विशिष्ट संस्कृति, बहु पत्नी प्रथा, वहां के समाज और राजनीति…[Read more]