Ashoka University is a private university located in Sonipat, Haryana, India, focusing on liberal arts and sciences. It was established in 2014.&nbsp;It is guided by an academic council of academics and scholars from around the world. The council sets the university&#39;s academic standard, advising on matters of curriculum, faculty hiring and research.&nbsp;

Ashoka University offers a full-time 3 (+ 1) year undergraduate programme. The University comprises of&nbsp;2500 plus students, with a mix of both national and international students.&nbsp; &nbsp;

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Ashoka University

A number of philosophers think that grounding is, in some sense, well-founded. This thesis, however, is not always articulated precisely, nor is there a consensus in the literature as to how it should be characterized. In what follows, I consider several principles that one might have in mind when asserting that grounding is well-founded, and I argue that one of these principles, which I call ‘full foundations’, best captures the relevant claim. My argument is by the process of elimination. For each of the inadequate principles, I illustrate its inadequacy by showing either that it excludes cases that should not be ruled out by a well-foundedness axiom for grounding, or that it admits cases that should be ruled out.

World University root node

Other Publications

Mind

What is the well-foundedness of grounding?

How can we best internationalize undergraduate psychology education in the United States and elsewhere? This question is more timely than ever, for at least 2 reasons: Within the United States, educators and students seek greater contact with psychology programs abroad, and outside the United States, psychology is growing apace, with educators and students in other nations often looking to U.S. curricula and practices as models. In this article, we outline international developments in undergraduate psychology education both in the United States and abroad, and analyze the dramatic rise of online courses and Internet-based technologies from an instructional and international point of view. Building on the recommendations of the 2005 APA Working Group on Internationalizing the Undergraduate Psychology Curriculum, we then advance 14 recommendations on internationalizing undergraduate psychology education-for students, faculty and institutions.

American Psychologist

Internationalizing undergraduate psychology education: Trends, techniques, and technologies

Odors provide information regarding the chemical properties of potential environment hazards. Some of this information may be disgust-related (e.g., organic decay), whereas other information may be fear-related (e.g., smoke). Many studies have focused on how disgust and fear, as prototypical avoidant emotions, facilitate the detection of possible threats, but these studies have typically confined to the visual modality. Here, we examine how disgust and fear influence olfactory detection at a particular level—the level at which a subliminal olfactory stimulus crosses into conscious perception, also known as a detection threshold. Here, using psychophysical methods that allow us to test perceptual capabilities directly, we show that one way that disgust (Experiments 1–3) and fear (Experiment 3) facilitate detection is by lowering the amount of physical input that is needed to trigger a conscious experience of that input. This effect is particularly strong among individuals with high disgust sensitivity (Experiments 2–3). Our research suggests that a fundamental way in which avoidant emotions foster threat detection is through lowering perceptual thresholds.

Emotion

Disgust and fear lower olfactory threshold

Conflicts have been a perennial source of change — change that is meant “for good or, for bad”1 and have affected and continue to affect the destinies of people all around the world. Caused by motives ranging from essential human nature to a collective socio-economic and political agenda,2 conflicts have been a part of human life. But where this constant source of turmoil comes to weigh heavily upon the very existence of human life, what erodes the sanctity of life further is the amplitude of violations that transpire in the course of its unfolding.3 The obliteration of human life apart, conflicts have been mired with acts of violence that are often perpetrated with the intention of reducing the opposed “other” into the “spoils of war.” One such case is the violence that is perpetrated along the axis of sexual difference, gender-based roles and their perceptions.

Female Combatants in Conflict and Peace: Challenging Gender in Violence and Post-Conflict Reintegration

Victims or victimizers? Naxal women, violence and the reinvention of patriarchy

The discovery that cancer may be caused by viruses occurred in the early twentieth century, a time when the very concept of viruses as we understand it today was in a considerable state of flux. Although certain features were agreed upon, viruses, more commonly referred to as ‘filterable viruses’ were not considered much different from other microbes such as bacteria except for their extremely small size, which rendered them ultramicroscopic and filterable. For a long time, in fact, viruses were defined rather by what they were not and what they could not do, rather than any known properties that set them apart from other microbes. Consequently when Peyton Rous suggested in 1912 that the causative agent of a transmissible sarcoma tumor of chickens was a virus, the medical research community was reluctant to accept his assessment on the grounds that cancer was not infectious and was caused by a physiological change within the cells. This difference in the bacteriological and physiological styles of thinking appears to have been prevalent in the wider research community, for when in 1917 Felix d'Herelle suggested that a transmissible lysis in bacteria, which he called bacteriophagy, was caused by a virus, his ideas were also opposed on similar grounds. It was not until the 1950s when when André Lwoff explained the phenomenon of lysogeny through his prophage hypothesis that the viral identities of the sarcoma-inducing agent and the bacteriophages were accepted. This paper examines the trajectories of the curiously parallel histories of the cancer viruses and highlights the similarities and differences between the ways in which prevailing ideas about the nature of viruses, heredity and infection drove researchers from disparate disciplines and geographic locations to develop their ideas and achieve some consensus about the nature of cancer viruses and bacteriophages.

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C :Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences

When viruses were not in style: Parallels in the histories of chicken sarcoma viruses and bacteriophages

A study in three slum communities in Delhi identifies and analyses the problems and challenges that parents and children from economically weaker sections and disadvantaged groups face while accessing the right to education. These problems are partly on account of the apathetic administration of private schools and partly due to the lack of accountability from the state government, and the lack of awareness about the provisions of the RTE Act. © 2019 Economic and Political Weekly. All rights reserved.

Economic and Political Weekly

Roadblocks towards the right to education experiences from Delhi

Most states lack the ability to maintain a uniform presence at the local level. While in some places, citizens experience an attentive and present state that is quick to address their demands, in other parts, the same state can be unresponsive and absent. The unevenness in state presence shapes its capacity to delivery services and its legitimacy in the eyes of the citizens. What explains the spatial unevenness in local state presence? This paper argues that the transfer preferences of mid-level bureaucrats are an important determinant of local state presence. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines insights from qualitative fieldwork and a unique dataset on the transfers history of mid-level bureaucrats in Indian land bureaucracy, I show that bureaucrats have strong transfer preferences and regularly lobby to avoid being placed in jurisdictions further away from their homes or being relocated over long distances. Jurisdictions less preferred by bureaucrats are more likely to experience state absence at the local level. Further, spatial disparities in local state absence are concentrated according to historical patterns of development across different regions of the state; historically less developed regions with lower bureaucratic representation within the state and experience a more prolonged duration of bureaucratic absence on account of bureaucratic lobbying against transfer directives. This paper highlights the importance of transfer preferences of individual bureaucrats and their collective representation in shaping the quality of local <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/governance">governance</a>.

Transfer preferences of bureaucrats and spatial disparities in local state presence

Open Source Social Media Intelligence (OSSMInt) is a field that focuses on extracting useful information and actionable insights from publicly available and overt sources of data on social media platforms. There are several applications that can be built by applying OSSMInt techniques on this human-sensor data. In this paper, we present some of the use-cases of OSSMInt that are useful for the public sector agencies for e-governance. E-governance on social media include the identification of complaints and grievances reported online by the public citizens for the government authorities and facilitate public agencies to response those complaints, provide better services and improve their connections with public citizens. We present the basic Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning based framework, tools and techniques within the context of OSSMInt and E-governance. The focus of this paper is on mining user-generated content on Twitter (the most popular social media and microblogging website) to identify public citizens complaints and grievances. In particular, we focus on two important applications: (1) complaints which are reported to spread awareness among other citizens and to bring government’s attention to the issues reported in the complaint, and (2) complaints which seek for immediate action and response from the concerned authorities. In addition to the basic introduction and motivation, we will discuss the unique challenges to these applications, open research problems, important literature, proposed approach, experimental results, and future directions.

Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)

Investigating the role of twitter in E-Governance by extracting information on citizen complaints and grievances reports

Psychotic Like Experiences (PLEs) have been reported in several cultures. The 16 item Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale-Extended (LSHS-E) measures hallucination like experiences (HLEs) in the general population. This study investigated the psychometric properties and the factor structure of LSHS-E Hindi among healthy adults of Delhi. LSHS-E was translated from English to Hindi and then back to English. It was administered as a paper pencil questionnaire to 182 adults from the general population. Reliability of LSHS-E Hindi was measured using Cronbach's alpha and factor structure was established using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). It was tested against the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE-42) for convergent and divergent validity. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was performed to identify subgroups with different endorsement of HLEs. Among 182, 18 participants reporting mental and neurological disorders were excluded. LSHS-E Hindi had good reliability (0.85; 95% CI: 0.82 to 0.88). CFA of Hindi LSHS-E revealed the a priori four-factor solution to be best, namely: ‘intrusive thoughts’, ‘vivid daydreams’, ‘multisensory HLEs’, ‘auditory and visual HLEs’. LSHS-E Hindi showed stronger correlation with positive domain of CAPE than with negative and depression domains. LCA revealed three classes: low, intermediate and high endorsement of HLEs. Participants with highest endorsement of HLEs were less educated and had highest endorsement on all CAPE dimensions. LSHS-E Hindi has good psychometric properties and can be used to study HLEs in Indians. The four-factor structure model depicts the multidimensionality of HLEs, with ‘intrusive thoughts’ being the most commonly reported HLE in the sample. LCA supports the continuum hypothesis of HLEs. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.

Asian Journal of Psychiatry

Validation of the Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale among Indian Healthy Adults

Introduction: India accounts for one-fifth of the global burden of cervical cancer cases and mortality. A safe and effective vaccine to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV) infections, the primary cause of cervi- cal malignancies, is available in India but multiple barriers lead to its low uptake in the country. Physicians are a key stakeholder and communicator in the Indian health system and have the potential to increase HPV vaccine uptake. Objective: We undertook formative research to understand awareness, perceptions and choices of physi- cians when recommending the HPV vaccine to parents of adolescent girls. Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with 32 physicians in two districts of West Bengal. Data col- lection was carried out between July and August 2019. The data was transcribed, coded, and analyzed using NVivo software using the thematic analysis technique. Results: Our findings suggest that while physicians are generally aware about the burden of cervical can- cer and its prevention by HPV vaccination, they face several barriers to recommending the HPV vaccine routinely and strongly. These include the lack of national-level guidance on the age eligibility and dosage, lack of practice-level opportunities such as well or non-sick visits and other routine adolescent vaccines, practice-level barriers like out-of-pocket cost and vaccine availability, and perceived parental hesitancy arising from reluctance to discuss cervical cancer, its prevention, and HPV vaccination. Conclusions: Physicians in our study exhibited hesitancy when recommending the HPV vaccine. They also faced logistical barriers. It is important that the barriers pertaining to when and how physicians recom- mend the vaccine be tackled through further education, policy change, and development and implemen- tation of interventions that are evidenced-based.

Vaccine: X

Awareness, perceptions, and choices of physicians pertaining to human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in India: A formative research study

Modeling studies estimated severe impacts of potential service delivery disruptions due to COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and child nutrition outcomes. Although anecdotal evidence exists on disruptions, little is known about the actual state of service delivery at scale. We studied disruptions and restorations, challenges and adaptations in health and nutrition service delivery by frontline workers (FLWs) in India during COVID-19 in 2020.

Fulltext

Plos ONE

Disruptions, restorations and adaptations to health and nutrition service delivery in multiple states across India over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020: An observational study

Purpose: This paper aims to analyze whether the domestic policy reforms in India would suffice, or there is a need to conform to stricter international standards as well. The paper is arranged along the following lines. First, the paper offers a brief review of the cooperation in the field of harmonization of vehicle regulations which is provided by the so-called WP.29 Forum. Second, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) standards and their membership along with Indian participation in the forum are presented. Third, reforms in India through the “Make in India” (MII) initiative and its trade in the auto-component segment are analyzed. Fourth, the possible non-tariff barriers (NTBs) on imports of auto-components in select partner countries is computed and presented. Fifth, the penetration pattern of partner countries in India’s automotive sector export value chain is analyzed. Finally, based on the observations, key policy conclusions are drawn both from global and Indian perspectives. Design/methodology/approach: This paper blends expertise in law and economics and enables readers to have a finer understanding of the automotive sector which is one of the most internationalized product groups in world trade, characterized by not only cross-border movement of final products, but also of intermediate products like auto-parts and components as well as major global investment and relocation decisions. This paper focuses on India for four crucial reasons, which makes India both a key player (and potential disruptor) at global level and the rather complex approach chosen by the country vis-a-vis many regulations (including UNECE and WTO), reflecting its tendency to rely on domestic consolidation through measures such as the 2014 MII initiative. Findings: The data analysis in the current paper indicates that after conforming to the UNECE 1998 standard, India’s relative trade with these countries has increased both in terms of auto-components and automobile products. Moreover, the value contribution from these partner countries in India’s exports is rising. On the other hand, the relative share of the UNECE 1958 countries in India’s trade basket has declined and a mixed trend is noticed for the common contracting parties (CPs). In addition, the share of the countries without accession to any of the UNECE agreements in India’s trade has shown an upward trend. The observation indicates that the divergence in automotive product standards might crucially influence India’s trade flows. It seems that in the short run, an orientation for exporting to UNECE 1998 partners and non-members emerges as a dominant strategy, underlining a specialization in medium-quality segment. Nevertheless, the long-term robustness of such a move deserves closer analysis, particularly by focusing on whether India may need to join the UNECE 1958 agreement to sustain its export growth. Before joining UNECE 1998, the sector has enjoyed protection through high tariff barriers. Given the differing perspective on opening-up, automobile sector earlier emerged as an obstacle in conclusion of EU–India Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), which is being negotiated since 2007. However, after entry into an regional trade agreement (RTA), tariff preference in itself may not provide a country the requisite market access. The recent standard-setting exercises in ASEAN, a group with which India is deepening trade integration since 2010, may be considered as a case in point. Research limitations/implications: The analysis so far indicates that absence of participation in UNECE 1958 standard may restrict future options for India. Presently, Indian vehicle exports are reaching UNECE 1998 member countries (e.g., Ford India sending Ecosport to USA). It is also directed towards African and Latin American countries, presently not part of any agreement. However, the ASEAN countries, currently partnering India through free trade agreement (FTA), are increasingly moving towards UNECE 1958 standards. India’s sectoral trade surplus with ASEAN countries over 2009-2013 to 2014-2018 has declined from US$548.44mn to US$529.53mn, respectively. The potential challenges in reaching ASEAN and other UNECE 1958 member countries, in turn, may influence the relocation decisions of global auto majors in India, defeating the core purpose of MII initiative. Practical implications: Given the scenario, a number of policy choices for India emerge. First, joining UNECE 1958 may not be a short-run option for India, but after evaluating the evolving trade pattern, in the long run, the country may consider adopting certain core 1958 standards, in line with its economic interests. Such a move may facilitate greater export flows from India to UNECE 1958 countries. The experience of Indonesia and Vietnam, who have conformed to select UNECE 1958 standards in spite of not being formally part of any agreement, deserves mention in this regard. Second, it is observed that India’s trade balance (TB) is not improving for several Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries, in spite of obtaining tariff preferences through an existing trade bloc. Part of the poor performance has been explained by Indian exporters often using the most favoured nation route rather than the preferential route, to avoid the associated compliance-related complexities. The standards and mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) conformance provisions in ASEAN–India FTA are also found to be weaker vis-à-vis the comparable provisions for other ASEAN-centric bilateral RTAs with other RCEP members. This underlines the need for both rules of origin (ROO) reforms and agreement on MRAs, which may enhance the trade potential in general and in automotive sector in particular. In the short run, India should therefore attempt to enhance exports to the UNECE 1998 members and CPs, given the commonality in standards. However, in the long run, there is a need to explore harmonization with certain core 1958 standards, to promote exports in general and even within its RTAs in particular. Originality/value: The automotive sector is one of the most internationalized product groups in world trade. It is known that harmonization of product standards with partner countries can facilitate bilateral trade flows. Presently, three agreements exist for harmonization of automotive standards relating to passenger and vehicle safety under the aegis of UNECE – UNECE 1958, UNECE 1997 and UNECE 1998. Through a series of reforms and launch of the MII initiative in 2014, India has deepened its presence in world automotive sector trade and aspires to play a bigger role in coming days. Moreover, India is a WTO member and has joined the UNECE 1998 standard in 2006, which means that several important conventions regulate and bind the country. The current paper intends to analyze whether the domestic policy reforms in India would suffice in promoting the exports from this sector, or there is a need to conform to stricter international standards. The data analysis reveals that India’s relative trade orientation is deepening towards the UNECE 1998 members and countries not part of any UNECE agreements. On the other hand, the relative trade share of the UNECE 1958 countries in India’s trade basket has declined and a mixed trend is noticed for the common CPs. The analysis indicates that the divergence in automotive product standards might crucially influence India’s trade flows in general and participation in international production networks in particular. The paper argues that in the long run, India needs to consider adherence to certain UNECE 1958 standards as well as speeding up the pending domestic reforms. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.