Twentieth Century Historical Methods in Sri Lanka and S.G. Perera’s

Néstor Curbelo: The Latin American Andrew Jenson

The idea of South Asia is both old and new and so is the issue of regionalism in South Asia. In this respect one could talk about regionalism in South Asia not only from a political standpoint but also from the standpoints of economic, social, cultural, psychological as well as civilizational. Humans after all are multiversed beings and South Asians, civilizationally speaking, have tried to remain as such, although the advent of colonialism and modernity or colonial modernity did numb them a little, often making them forget what had united them and what had divided them. But this is as much a methodological issue as it is a theoretical one, supplementing the statist understanding of South Asia with what could be best regarded as post-statist or focusing on the lives and livings of the South Asians. Regionalism in South Asian otherwise may not be promising when it comes to South Asians being political or homo politicus, but this may not be the case when it comes to South Asians being cultural or homo culturicus or for that matter, psychological or homo psycholigicus. And there lies the prospect for a new approach to regionalism in South Asia.

As the process-tracing conducted for the four regional organizations has demonstrated, regional multilateralism has been subject to the process of norm localization, with India’s foreign policy authoritatively determining the extent to which the norm of regional multilateralism has finally been implemented. The final chapter of this book summarizes the findings of the foregoing analysis and provides a tentative outlook of future developments: First, the phenomenon of competing regionalism in South Asia and beyond is examined; next, recurring patterns of regional multilateralism vis-a-vis Indian foreign policy are extrapolated. The final section of the chapter deals with the question as to whether India now has a new ‘tryst with destiny’ in the form of regional multilateralism and provides policy recommendations.

Aim. To consider the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and special military ope­ration on the structure of the international derivatives market. Tasks. To characterize the regional structure of the international derivatives market; to analyze the specifics of trade by region, country, exchange and underlying assets; to identify key trends in the international derivatives market and the factors forming them during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and special military operation. Methods. General scientific methods of research (analysis and synthesis, induction, classifica­tion, etc.), as well as computational and analytical methods were used. Results. Two key trends were identified in the study of changes in international derivatives trading activity. First, the Asia-Pacific region, led by India and China, has taken the lead in the international derivatives trade structure in terms of trade volume. The U.S. region, led by the United States and Brazil, has lagged far behind the Asia-Pacific region in terms of trade activ­ity since the launch of the special military operation, which may entail capital outflows from America to East and South Asia. Second, the West Asian region, which includes a number of countries in the Near and Middle East, led by Turkey and Iran, is a new player in the deriva­tives market, which has entered into competition with the European region. During the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the West Asian region actively increased derivatives trading volumes. The most popular underlying assets of derivatives were stocks, whose trading volume during the pandemic approached the trading volume of the European region as a whole, which includes the European Union countries, Great Britain and Russia. After the start of the special military operation, the drop in volumes in the European region put the West Asian region in third place in the international structure of derivatives trading activity, indicating the growing competi­tion between West Asia and Europe. Conclusions. The transformation of the international market based on the outflow of trade activity to South, East and West Asia during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and special military operation forms a qualitatively new interaction of participants in the international derivatives market. India, China, Turkey and Iran are new key players in the Asian region. Their interaction creates prerequisites for the creation of a contour of new economic mutually advan­tageous interaction in the world economic system, in which the competition is between the regions of South Asia, East Asia and America, as well as between West Asia and the European region. To form a clearer contour of the participants of the new economic interaction, further research on the centers of capitalization in the international derivatives market and the basis for their formation, as well as infrastructure research aimed at studying the transatlantic and continental system of interconnection of exchanges is needed.

Settlement patterns increase in complexity in all cultures, from an original condition in which all settlements are of approximately the same size to a situation in which settlements of different sizes and functions come to exist. The first complex settlement systems in the world appeared in southwest Asia. Clusters of settlements with similar characteristics arose in different parts of Asia. The regions of South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia can be defined as analytical units for the purpose of generalization and comparison. Settlements in these regions evolved through different pathways and as a result of different sequences of factors, through a process of convergent evolution, to form cities which today look superficially similar but arose from different origins. The term “settlements” is preferable to “cities” because the word “city” is not universally applicable; it is culture‐bound.

Covid 19 Global pandemic has now brought the entire socio-economic structures in to a standstill state all over the world. It has already challenged the global operations of several business sectors. Time has come to rethink how to recover and regain of the economy, employment and business functions with a fresh beginning in most of the worsened economic sectors. South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka; Afghanistan and the Maldives) with a population of 1.8 billion has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic due to poor public health infrastructure, pervasive informality and poor coverage of social protection. The key sectors such as MSMEs, tourism and labour-intensive exports such as readymade garments have been most adversely impacted, leading to loss of jobs for the millions of people in the sub-region. The economic growth has come to a grinding halt and the threat of rising incidence of poverty, hunger and inequality is real. This sudden fall in tourism industry have created severe economic and social consequences within and beyond tourism in the region. Sri Lanka is a country with open economy, has hit badly under this circumstances, in particularly the Sri Lankan export market. Sri Lankan Rupee is depreciating and U.S Dollar has increased to Rs.197/= by January 2021. Total export of Sri Lanka in 2019 was $16.14Bn which comprised $11.94Bn from Merchandise exports and $4.2Bn from service sector. The services sector revenue generation was mainly from the tourism industry which amounts to $3.6Bn during 2019. However this was 18% drop compares to previous year which was $4.2Bn in 2018, following the Easter Sunday attack in April 2019. As a result of Covid – 19 global pandemic outbreaks, many countries imposed travel restrictions and locked down no of cities/countries. Sri Lankan government imposed Island wide curfew on 20^th March 2020 resulting tourism industry dropped to the bottom while crippling the Sri Lankan economy. For Sri Lanka, tourism sector’s contribution towards countries development is been quite considerable. This paper discuss the present situation, how to recapture the tourism market and to create new opportunities for future growth in this foreign currency earning very important sector in Sri Lanka as well as in South Asian Region.

At present, the extraterritorial connection and the influence of South Asia and Indian Ocean region are strengthened and meanwhile the international significance of the change of regional power structure is also enhanced. However, no matter whether to consider the military situation or the economic environment, or no matter whether to consider the current status analysis or the future expectation, the strategic value of South Asia and Indian Ocean region still cannot be so important to decide the trend of the international system. At the same time, the extraterritorial big powers do not regard the South Asia and Indian Ocean region as the core region for achieving their global strategies, but probably describe the South Asia and Indian Ocean region as the “probable important region in future”. Therefore, the policy of China for South Asia and Indian Ocean region shall be focused on the long-term development in order to patiently and realistically achieve the benefit maximization through gradually and hierarchically promoted policy and strategy.

Regionalism is basically a dynamic phenomenon involving macro-regions, sub-regions and micro-regions. The end of the Cold War triggered new regionalisms which are perceived as multifaceted and multidimensional, involving institutions, partnerships and social capital. Regions are being perceived associal constructs that are fluid, porous and heterogeneous. To fathom this, the changing international context and world order creates new incentives and spaces for regional and sub-regional cooperation. We are now entering a new wave of regional mixes with a variety of permutations and combinations, risks and opportunities. India is today a member of a variety of regional and sub-regional groupings. The power dynamics and interest perspectives of the regional, sub-regional and extra-regional actors are critically important in South Asia and beyond. Even the narratives of India's new regionalism in South Asia cannot be fully grasped without looking at its commercial, economic and strategic orientations. The chapter addresses the challenges and opportunities facing India's changing approach to regionalism in South Asia. This also has to do with the geo-political and geo-economic concerns. South Asian regionalism truly presents a variety of conundrums and possibilities.

Homogeneity and geographical proximity alone are not sufficient in yielding effective regional cooperation. South Asian regionalism is an apt example. While the continuous and emerging inter-state conflicts, internal domestic challenges, and increasing footsteps of China into South Asia had already affected the geopolitical scenario and the process of regionalism in South Asia, the US-China rivalry has further complicated South Asian regionalism. Against this backdrop, the hopes and aspirations of landlocked countries like Nepal to draw benefits from the regional and sub-regional forums have been severely paralyzed amidst the foreign policy securitization of great powers and regional powers. India’s response to regionalism in South Asia is driven by two factors: isolating Pakistan and containing China. At the same time, Beijing, and Washington intend to lure the South Asian countries through aid and assistance. As such, the strategic interests of great powers in the region have incapacitated regionalism in South Asia. Despite being the incumbent chair of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Nepal is not in a position to propel the organization ahead. It is not only because of Nepal’s small state syndrome but more because of varying degrees of great power contestations in the region.

This study assessed the climate resilience and characterized the existing farming systems in steep terrain in the hilly regions in South Asia. The farming systems considered were at an elevation ≥300 m in the mountain regions of two sites from Sri Lanka (Hatton and Welimada) and one site each from Bangladesh (Chittagong) and Nepal (Jhikhu Khola). A Climate Resilience Index (CRIi) score, varying from 0 (negligible resilience) and 1 (very high resilience), was calculated for each household using 31 parameters under Adaptive Capacity (ADC), Absorptive Capacity (ABC) and Transformative Capacity (TC). To spatially represent the CRIi, the four study locations were mapped using Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation technique of GIS. All 424 households in the study sites scored a CRIi between 0.36 and 0.76, while the average CRI was the highest in Hatton (0.67), followed by Welimada (0.60), Jhikhu Khola (0.59) and Chittagong (0.48). Different demographic, socioeconomic and environmental parameters have contributed to the level of climate resilience of farming system units. Identification of good management practices of the climate-resilient farming systems and implementing those practices in vulnerable systems would increase the resilience and well-being of farming communities in steep terrain of mountain regions in South Asia.

BackgroundThe patient-physician dyad involves both verbal and nonverbal communication. Traditional methods use quantitative or qualitative coding when analyzing dyadic data of nonverbal communication. Quantitative coding methods can capture the frequency of nonverbal communication, while qualitative coding methods can provide descriptive information on the context and nuance of the nonverbal communication expressed. Yet, limited research has examined the integration of quantitative and qualitative coding methods of nonverbal communication between a patient-physician dyad through video recordings.ObjectiveThe objective of this formative study was to demonstrate how nonverbal communication data can be analyzed using a mixed methods analysis approach and propose an integrated coding system using a subset of the original dataset.MethodsA secondary analysis was conducted from the intervention study with a sample of 32 pairs of randomly selected video recordings based on first and second interactions after receiving feedback from a virtual human. A 2-minute segment was used to code nonverbal communication, and a codebook was developed, informed by the literature and inductive qualitative approaches. For the mixed methods analysis, we purposefully selected 2 participants from the sample of 32 who demonstrated high frequency in quantitative and qualitative coding of nonverbal behaviors. We developed a joint display to visually represent the integration of quantitative and qualitative coding methods and developed person-level meta-inferences.ResultsThis formative study demonstrates an approach to nonverbal communication analysis that mixes qualitative and quantitative methods. The mixed methods results indicated the frequency of participants’ (n=32) nonverbal behaviors increased after repeated interactions, including eyebrow raise, nodding, and smiling, in addition to the increased average duration of nonverbal behaviors across interactions. Illustrated through an in-depth example of integrated mixed methods coding of 2 participants from the sample, the integration of quantitative and qualitative data provided insights into nonverbal communication. Quantitatively, we captured the frequency of nonverbal behaviors while qualitatively expanding on the context for nonverbal behaviors and generating person-level meta-inferences. The joint display informed our integrated coding system for mixed methods analysis of nonverbal communication.ConclusionsThe resultant integrated coding system may be helpful to researchers engaging in nonverbal communication data of dyads by providing a step-by-step method using a mixed methods analysis approach. This approach can help us to advance methods for analyzing nonverbal communication to enhance the patient-physician dyad and education on nonverbal communication. We encourage applying the integrated coding system across several subdisciplines in health sciences research to identify how it can be further expanded and refined.

There are few regions in the world made up of countries that share so much in com mon ? ethnic roots, socio-cultural values, political traditions and historical experiences ? as those in the South Asian region. Of the countries in that region that have numerous similarities, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan shared similar historical and political experiences until only forty years ago as one large political unit under British direct or indirect rule. Including prehistorical times, one could also subsume Nepal and Sri Lanka within a larger socio-political region sharing both friendly and hostile relations. But although the foundations for interaction are deeply rooted, no other group of countries has had to survive in an environment of suspicion and hostility ever since independence. How do countries garner the spirit of goodwill and strive for closer co operation despite the political separation and turmoil that have been characteristic over the years? The attempts that the various governments have pursued lately are in fact an indication that the desire for regional co-operation can overcome some differences and bring together countries that wish to collaborate on specific issues or in what some theorists refer to as functional co-operation. However, if ASEAN is any comparison at all, South Asian countries have a long way to go before arriving at a regional community in which mutual suspicion, hostility and violence cease to influence bilateral and multilateral relations, and in which mutually beneficial functional, political and economic relations are the basis for positive interactions. Peace and stability would then be the norm. This paper attempts to look at the regional peculiarities and experiences that both the South Asian and ASEAN regions have faced and distill some of the lessons that South Asian countries could learn from the ASEAN case to assure a measure of success in the formation of a regional association, and eventually, a community.1

<p>The role of the Indian Ocean heating anomalies in the ENSO teleconnection to South Asia and North Atlantic/European regions are investigated in the early winter season. Using re-analysis data, CMIP5 simulations and idealized numerical model experiments it is shown that the ENSO teleconnections in early winter in these regions are dominated by an ENSO-induced heating dipole in the Indian Ocean region. The Indian Ocean heating dipole leads to a Gill-type response in the South Asian region through Sverdrup balance. For a warm ENSO event, this response is a cyclonic upper-level anomaly that shifts the subtropical South Asian jet southward and increases precipitation in the that region. The cyclonic anomaly is the starting point of a stationary Rossby wavetrain that traverses the North Pacific and North American region and eventually reaches the North Atlantic. Here transient eddy feedbacks are likely to strengthen a response that spatially projects on the positive phase of the NAO and negative phase of the Atlantic ridge patterns. For cold ENSO events these anomalies are roughly opposite. The importance of the Indian Ocean heating dipole decreases towards late Winter due to a southward shift of the Indian Ocean rainfall climatology and a more dominant direct wavetrain from the central Pacific region.</p>

Objectives: To evaluate the estimates of burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in South Asian (SA) region from 1990 to 2019 using the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. Methodology: Data for this ecological study was extracted from the Global Health Data Exchange query tool for 30 years from 1990 to 2019. Dataset consisted of prevalence, deaths, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to CVD summarized as estimated number of cases and rate per 100 thousand individuals for Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan and South Asian region. Results: An increasing trend has been noticed in overall prevalence rate and death rate of CVD in the SA region in the past 30-years from 1990 to 2019. A relative increase of 49.6% was noted in the prevalence rate of CVD per 100,000 population with 3304.2 and 4944.1 cases per 100,000 in the year 1990 and 2019, respectively. Similarly, a relative increase of 30.3% was noted in mortality rate due to CVD with 139.8 and 182.1 deaths per 100,000 in the year 1990 and 2019, respectively. Ischemic heart disease (IHD) remained the highest contributor with 56.51% (1857.9×1000 cases) share to the regional mortalities followed by stroke with 29.77% (978.9×1000 cases). Conclusion: SA region is experiencing and increasing trend in prevalence, deaths, and DALYs due to CVD. IHD and stroke remained the main contributors to the regional burden of CVD followed by stroke. Targeted preventive measures are required involving all the stakeholders from community to policymakers.

This study employs super-efficiency DEA model with desirable inputs and an undesirable output in calculating environmental efficiency values in different regions in Asia-Pacific from 1990 to 2018. The study compares environmental efficiency index in South East Asia, South Asia and East Asia. The study also evaluates the determinants of environmental efficiency using truncated regression. The mean environmental efficiency score demonstrates that East Asia region is highly efficient whereas South East Asia is the least efficient. Results from the truncated regression established an inverted U-shape relationship between environmental efficiency and Technological Innovation (TI) in the main panel, and the three regions. Also, economic growth shows an inverted “U” shape link with environmental efficiency in the panels except in South East Asia. Human capital promotes environmental efficiency in the main panel and the rest of the regions. Moreover, while FDI promotes environmental efficiency in the main panel and East Asia, it reduces environmental efficiency in both South East and South Asia regions within the Asia-Pacific. In addition, an interaction effect between technological innovation and renewable energy use, advances environmental efficiency within the entire study countries. Based on the findings the study proposes several policy recommendations.