Security Arrangements Research Articles

A differential Game Related to Terrorism: Stackelberg Differential Game of E-differentiable and E-convex Function

In this work, the Stackelberg differential game of $E$-differentiable and $E$ convex function is studied in order to fight the terrorism taking into account the government's procedures such as education quality, better job opportunity, social justice, religious awareness and security arrangements. We consider Stackelberg differential game. Firstly, the government is the leader and the terrorist organization is the follower. Secondly, the terrorist organization is the leader and the government is a follower. Furthermore, we apply the necessary conditions of the Stackelberg differential game for these cases to obtain the optimal strategy of this problem.

‘No Smoke without Fire’: Citizenship and Securing Economic Enclaves in Mozambique

ABSTRACTThis article explores the complicated interrelationship between economic enclaves, their associated security practices and the formation of national citizens in Mozambique. From the colonial era of company rule to the large‐scale foreign direct investments of the present day, investors have feared the destructive fires of rampant ‘mobs’, unruly workers and the potentially rebellious populace more generally. Signs of smoke point to trouble for investors, who can draw on complex security arrangements, including corporate social responsibility programmes, unions, private security companies, community leaders, state police and specialized state and rapid response units with the latest communications and transport technologies, to try to protect their investments from labour unrest and political demands. Through a variety of ethnographic materials on mega‐investments in the sugar industry over the last two decades, the article explores the centrality of complex security arrangements to strategies of governance that use such arrangements in an attempt to produce disciplined national subjects.

International Sanctions on North Korea: A Two‐Level Solution

The North Korean nuclear problem has remained unsolved for 25 years. A variety of approaches can be used to resolve the problem, ranging from economic incentives to dialogues, sanctions, and military strikes, but sanctions appear to be the most plausible solution as a realistic method. Still, the question remains how to make sanctions against North Korea more effective. This article focuses on a regional approach to international cooperation and suggests that a regional security arrangement should be established in Northeast Asia to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis. Today, the international order is undergoing change. Globalization is in retreat. Under these circumstances, international problems seem to be solved most effectively through regional cooperation. Northeast Asia has no significant regional cooperation arrangements. A successful regional cooperation requires two elements. First, the South Korean government needs to utilize the North Korean nuclear problem, redefining it as a threat to regional peace; such a shift in threat recognition would elevate the importance of a regional solution. Second, the process of building a regional arrangement needs institutionalization. The existing regional dialogues can hardly help solve the nuclear problem. In this sense, it is necessary to recalibrate the Six‐Party Talks as an institution implementing sanctions as resolutions adopted in the UN Security Council.

Strategic Partnerships: An Evaluation of The Role of Member State's Dependence Level in the Formation of Alliances

Historically, states have been motivated to protect themselves and ultimately embarked on security arrangements against a mutual adversary. Regardless of the reasons for defensive or aggressive pacts, the formation and internal consistency of an alliance have been a subject of considerable interest among the game theorists. This article examines the formation process of alliances in terms of game theory by evaluating the influence on the role of member states’ dependency level on an alliance. Drezner’s “conflict expectations model” is used in the theoretical framework of the article, which was determined by the formation of two separate game models in which states with or without a commitment to an alliance are the two players of the game. In the first model, the game ended in the status quo, the member state did not cooperate with the alliance, and therefore the game ended in a pure Nash equilibrium. In the second model, a utility function was added to change the vicious circle of the status quo, including the dependency of the member state to the alliance. As a result, when the function is included, the result of the game is different from the previous status quo. It is therefore argued that the dependence on alliance is related to the existence of bilateral relations of the states and consequently, their future expectations are a source of concern for relative gains. As dependency on an alliance increases, states will act in accordance with the second model, which will increase the likelihood of cooperation, rather than a concern for absolute gains as indicated in the first model.

The Accuracy, Equity, and Jurisprudence of Criminal Risk Assessment

Jurisdictions across the country, including the federal government through its recently enacted First Step Act, have begun using statistical algorithms (also called “instruments”) to help determine an arrestee’s or an offender’s risk of reoffending. These risk assessment instruments (RAIs) might be used at a number of points in the criminal process, including at the front-end by judges to impose a sentence after conviction, at the back-end by parole boards to make decisions about prison release, or in between these two points by correctional authorities determining the optimal security and service arrangements for an offender. At the pretrial stage, RAIs might come into play at the time of the bail or pretrial detention determination by a judge, which usually takes place shortly after arrest. The increased use of RAIs in the criminal justice system has given rise to several criticisms. RAIs are said to be no more accurate than clinical assessments, racially biased, lacking in transparency and, because of their quantitative nature, dehumanizing. This chapter critically examines a number of these concerns. It also highlights how the law has, and should, respond to these issues.

Questionnaire-based Evaluation of Factors Leading to Patient-physician Distrust and Violence against Healthcare Workers.

ABSTRACTBackgroundRising incidents of aggression and violence against healthcare workers (HCWs) is widening the rift between the patients and their caregivers. So, aim of the study was to evaluate the perceptions of healthcare workers (HCWs) and patient's attendants about factors responsible for widespread violence and patient-physician distrust.Materials and methodsAn anonymous, questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of one year in a tertiary care teaching institute. Performas, adapted from WHO published questionnaire and translated to local language, were administered separately to HCWs and attendants. Responses generated were collected and analyzed.ResultsOut of 295 HCWs, 11 (3.7%) HCWs faced physical violence, whereas verbal abuse was faced by 147 (50%) HCWs. A higher number of incidents of physical violence (91%) and verbal abuse (64%) were faced by HCWs in the age group of 20-30 years. Verbal abuse was faced by 49.3% of nurses, 53% of junior residents, 61% of senior residents and 36% of consultants. Out of 158 incidents of workplace violence (WPV), maximum occurred in ICUs (62.0%) and emergency (21%). Unexpected death, unexpected complication, extended hospital stay, staff shortage and unexpected bill were some of the factors perceived to be responsible for WPV.ConclusionHCWs commonly face violence from patient's attendants resulting in stressful and fearful environment at the healthcare facility. Dedicated sessions on good communication and counseling for HCWs and better security arrangements at the hospitals are the need of the hour and also in the best interest of HCWs and patients.How to cite this articleSharma S, Gautam PL, Sharma S, Kaur A, Bhatia N, Singh G, et al. Questionnaire-based Evaluation of Factors Leading to Patient-physician Distrust and Violence against Healthcare Workers. Indian J Crit Care Med 2019;23(7):302-309.

Anti-Theft ATM Robbery Detection Using Big Surveillance Video Data

Video reconnaissance framework has turned into a basic part in the security and assurance arrangement of modem urban areas, since savvy checking cameras furnished with canny video examination procedures can screen and pre-alert anomalous practices or occasions. Nonetheless, with the extension of the reconnaissance arrange, monstrous observation video information postures colossal difficulties to the examination, stockpiling and recovery in the Big Data time. This paper shows a novel insightful preparing and usage answer for enormous reconnaissance video information in light of the occasion recognition and disturbing messages from front-end shrewd cameras. The technique incorporates three sections: the astute pre-disturbing for strange occasions, keen stockpiling for observation video and fast recovery for confirm recordings, which completely explores the transient spatial affiliation investigation regarding the unusual occasions in various checking locales. Test comes about uncover that our proposed approach can dependably pre-alert security hazard occasions, considerably diminish storage room of recorded video and essentially accelerate the proof video recovery related with particular suspects.

Fifty-Plus Years of Watching Asia: An American Perspective

Fifty-Plus Years of Watching Asia: An American Perspective Sheldon W. Simon (bio) As a prelude to this personal rumination on the issues in Asian international politics that have occupied my professional life, I wish to express appreciation to See Seng Tan for asking so many well-qualified colleagues to contribute their own assessments to this compendium. My fascination with Asian politics began as an undergraduate in the 1950s at the University of Minnesota, where on a cold, snowy morning in January, Professor Werner Levi—a German-Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany who held three doctorates, including one in politics—stated that the world’s future would lie in Asia. A combination of ancient civilizations, historical grandeur, and a strong work ethic among its populations, he argued, would transform Asia in due course into the world’s most dynamic region. He went on to say that those of us who planned for a career in public affairs should consider becoming students of Asia. I was convinced. Upon completing my PhD in political science, I took a position with the U.S. government for three years analyzing Soviet and Chinese commentary on Asia. During this time, I honed the research interests that characterized my subsequent academic life—the interface between the great powers and Asian states as well as the dynamics of the developing Asian actors in dealing with great-power pressures and blandishments. Of course, the Asia-Pacific was home to three of those great powers—the United States in the aftermath of World War II, China under the aegis of its Communist Party, and the Soviet Union. This essay addresses these dynamics in two sections—one on the security arrangements in North and Southeast Asia and one on recent U.S. relations with states in both subregions—before concluding with some final thoughts. Northeast and Southeast Asian Security Arrangements From an American perspective, it is useful to divide the analysis of East Asia into its northern and southern components. The United States’ Cold War and post–Cold War attention to the region may be assessed through its security arrangements. For Northeast Asia, this would be the ongoing presence of U.S. forces in the aftermath of World War II. Japan and the [End Page 74] Republic of Korea (ROK) became junior partners in Washington’s East Asia strategy opposing the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and North Korea. Thus, the U.S. hub-and-spoke security arrangement came into existence. Unlike NATO, a multilateral European military alliance requiring each member to come to the others’ defense in the event of an attack, Washington was unable to effect a similar arrangement between Japan, the ROK, and the United States. Korean bitterness over Japan’s colonial legacy meant that Seoul was unwilling to engage in any security agreement with Tokyo. The alternative was separate U.S. bilateral defense treaties between the United States and each country. The United States was the “hub” and its bilateral partners were the separate “spokes.” These spokes for the most part did not interact militarily with each other. For example, until recently, the Japanese and ROK navies only directly interacted with each other through U.S. intersession in multilateral maritime exercises such as the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC). By contrast, the Southeast Asian states assayed a number of times to create multilateral institutions beginning in the 1950s—for example, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, the Association of Southeast Asia, and Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia (MAPHILINDO). None were successful, but all demonstrated a realization among non-Communist elites in the region that some form of political collaboration was necessary to deal with both extraregional and intraregional challenges from China, the Soviet Union, and North Vietnam. Southeast Asian leaders were also concerned that Western states might leave the region as the Indochina wars of the 1950s and 1960s ended with Communist victories. Southeast Asian leaders conceived a new regional organization in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), composed of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. In the mid-1960s, Indonesia’s president and founding father Sukarno had attempted to destroy Malaysia, which he saw as a neocolonialist country...

Prospects for Collective Security Cooperation in the Gulf

The process of establishing a new security structure in the Gulf should take into consideration the failures of the past and the political differences among GCC countries which have been impeding collective security in the Gulf. Collective security arrangements should consider the strategic circumstances that currently exist and the numerous security problems which have implications for security beyond the region itself. These include the Iraqi security situation, Iranian foreign policy and its nuclear and missile programmes, the stability of Yemen, borders disputes, and the deepening Sunni-Shia divide with its destabilising political and social effects on the region. Cooperation in the Gulf should not be limited to military aspects, but must also include economic development, counterterrorism, disaster response, environmental, social and cultural issues. Gulf States should institutionalise their security structures which is important for the establishment of a strong joint command needed to achieve collective security and prosperity and effectively leading to development and stability in the region.

Prospects for Collective Security Cooperation in the Gulf

The process of establishing a new security structure in the Gulf should take into consideration the failures of the past and the political differences among GCC countries which have been impeding collective security in the Gulf. Collective security arrangements should consider the strategic circumstances that currently exist and the numerous security problems which have implications for security beyond the region itself. These include the Iraqi security situation, Iranian foreign policy and its nuclear and missile programmes, the stability of Yemen, borders disputes, and the deepening Sunni-Shia divide with its destabilising political and social effects on the region. Cooperation in the Gulf should not be limited to military aspects, but must also include economic development, counterterrorism, disaster response, environmental, social and cultural issues. Gulf States should institutionalise their security structures which is important for the establishment of a strong joint command needed to achieve collective security and prosperity and effectively leading to development and stability in the region.

Governance through pluralization: Jerusalem's modular security provision.

Security responses increasingly involve the delegation of security roles from state actors, such as the police and the military, to a plurality of public and private institutions. This article focuses on the emergence of a modular governance logic in security provision, in which urban security is diffused into differing modules – security actors, performances, technologies and practices – which can be enlisted, deployed, instructed, entwined, detached and withdrawn at will. This article identifies three features of urban modular security provision: the heterogeneity of its public and private components, the development of reserved capacities, and the differential multifacetedness of its performances and practices. These are explored through the case study of East Jerusalem, in which a modular security provision emerged where previously undefined and ad-hoc security arrangements became cohesive, normalized and codified through practice and law. In tracing the flows of security authorities, personnel and knowledge produced within a modular security assemblage, this article proposes that the modular assembly of security actors complements policing institutions by providing other informal disciplinary, punitive and statecrafting powers, in a manner which obfuscates controversial state policies and unequally distributes rights and resources.

“‘Taiwan Expendable?’ Reconsidered”

In 2005, noted historian Nancy Bernkopf Tucker advanced the thesis that President Richard M. Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger viewed Taiwan as an expendable asset in their rush to promote Sino-American normalization, resulting in the administration conceding more than necessary in disregard for Taiwan’s future or status. This article examines documents declassified since Tucker’s study to argue that this interpretation is no longer tenable. Nixon and Kissinger applied to their Taiwan policy a set of principles remarkably consistent with their broader views on foreign policy, namely an emphasis on peoples directly involved in conflicts undertaking gradual, peaceful changes, while maintaining in the interim some form of security arrangement to maintain peace. Moreover, both Nixon and Kissinger understood the myriad benefits of the u.s. relationship with the Republic of China in advancing American interests and maintaining credibility in a volatile world, and, in fact, did consider the future status of Taiwan and its government. This culminated in the Kissinger-Zhou Enlai discussions in 1971 where the former deftly defended, to the extent possible, a principled commitment to Taiwan. Ultimately, the administration’s insistence on establishing rapprochement with Beijing did not mean that Washington simply would cave to every Chinese demand. Taiwan was not expendable.

Cocoa Purchasing and the Issue of Insecurity in the Akontombra District in the Western Region of Ghana

The cocoa industry in Ghana is plagued with a number of challenges. Among such challenges is the issue of insecurity. This notwithstanding, there are limited scholarly findings on the nature and the underlying factors associated with these insecurity issues. This paper examined the cocoa industry in the Sefwi Akontombra District in the Western Region of Ghana and presents an analysis of the processes and procedures for cocoa purchasing in the district; the securityarrangements and mechanisms put in place during cocoa purchasing peak periods; the nature of access roads in cocoa growing areas in the district; and the influence of access roads on the insecurity of cocoa purchasing in the district. The study adopted a qualitative research approach and using a cross sectional study design, the case of OLAM Ghana Limited, a private licensed cocoa buying company operating in Sefwi Akontombra was examined. Primary data were gathered from purchasing clerks, drivers, warehouse keepers and officials of the company. Data from the District Command of the Ghana Police Service and the Department of Feeder Roads district office were solicited using interview guides. Non-participant observation and taking of photography were also employed as data capturing mechanism during the study. The study espoused content analysis in analysing the contents of the interviews and observational field notes in order to identify the main themes that emerge from the responses given by the respondents or the observation notes made. Inferences and implications were drawn then drawn from the analysis. The study found out that there was no security measure by OLAM Ghana Limited to ensure the safety of funds meant for cocoa buying, the storage and the transportation of cocoa beans in the study district. There was also no security arrangement during peak cocoa purchasing periods in the study district by key stakeholders within the cocoa sector in the district. Moreover, access road was further found out to be a major factor that accounts for some of the insecurity issues associated with cocoa purchasing activities in the Sefwi Akontombra District. The study thus recommends the development and adoption of security arrangements and mechanism by all stakeholders within the cocoa industry in the study district and the making of security issues a top priority by OLAM Ghana Limited.

Missing out: The intergenerational ramifications of current social security arrangements

Neoliberal reforms and ring-wing ideologies have seen the ideal of the social security ‘safety net’ take a hammering in the UK, USA and Australia. While the gap between rich and poor has widened, and demand for welfare payments increased, politicians, certainly in Australia, have generally neglected low income families, preferring to twiddle the economic dials affecting middle and upper income earners instead. Of course, tussling over who pays tax, how much, what constitutes useful expenditure, and who receives welfare services and benefits is not new – these questions have attended the modern welfare state from its inception. But the welfare safety net that most of us, grudgingly or otherwise, concede to be necessary for collective social harmony is no longer proving as effective as we would wish. Even with a battered and frayed, but still ostensibly functional systems of welfare payment and support offered in Australia, the number of people experiencing perpetual disadvantage is rising, with intergenerational poverty – its increase and impacts on children – of particular concern.

The Impact of the Cultural Beliefs on Forming and Designing Spatial Organizations, Spaces Hierarchy, and Privacy of Detached Houses and Apartments in Jordan

Cultural beliefs and architecture have been recognized as having a strong relationship. However, a gap in knowledge exists regarding the interaction between culture and spatial organization in domestic architecture. This research used case methods to explore the impact of cultural factors in forming and designing detached houses and apartments in Jordan. Specifically, this article aimed to explore the sociocultural impact of privacy on spatial hierarchy and spatial organization in order to ascertain sociospatial designs in Jordanian culture. The data were collected through a comprehensive analysis of plans, images, direct observation, and in-depth interviews with Jordanian household residents. The data were analyzed socially and spatially with regard to circulation, privacy, security, and spatial arrangement of indoor and outdoor spaces. This research found that cultural factors and overall traditions affect detached housing design more than apartment design in Jordan. Also, cultural beliefs and traditions in Jordan are strongly reflected in people’s values, practices, activities, and the level of privacy needed in a given home. Therefore, privacy becomes a social, religious, and personal need that Jordanian domestic architecture should accommodate. Because culture shapes humans’ worldviews, and then both culture and worldview build social and personal values to define lifestyle, clearly determine specific activities, and set residents’ requirements for the design of the components of space requisite for cultural recognition. This research recommends that housing designers should adapt to the cultural practices, beliefs, and privacy needs of a given people when designing homes. Future research is needed to replicate the study for an authentic perspective on a cross-cultural basis.

ФАКТОР СНГ В ОТНОШЕНИЯХ РОССИИ И ЗАПАДА: ИСТОКИ КОНФЛИКТА

The research is dedicated to the role of the CIS factor in the relations between Russia and the West (USA/NATO and the EU). As the Caucasus crisis of 2008 and the conflict around Ukraine in 2014 showed, the post-Soviet space became an apple of discord and an arena of rivalry between Russia and the West. The analysis of the causes of this phenomenon, primarily the mistakes of Russia and its CIS partner countries, as well as of the West after the collapse of the USSR, is the main objective of this article. The current Russia- West crisis stems from the profound misunderstanding of each other’s views regarding acceptable foundations of European security and stakes across the post-Soviet space. There were continuous (albeit open-ended) debates on the former: Moscow was against the European security built on the EU and NATO, in which Russia had no direct influence on policy-making. But the post-Soviet space was never discussed openly and sincerely during the post-Cold War era. The Ukrainian conflict has brought the Russia-West relations to the edge of confrontation for the first time since the end of the Cold War. However, the reason for this confrontation goes much deeper than the clash over Ukraine and roots heavily in the 1990s. Therefore, Ukrainian conflict should be viewed as a quintessence of mutual disappointment between Russia and the West, resulted from their mistakes after the end of bipolarity. These mistakes are related to the uneven end of the bipolar world order and uneven dissolution of the USSR. The end of bipolarity embodied in the collapse of the Soviet Union did not lead to a new world order that should have replaced the old 40-year system based on confrontation and “balance of fear”. The way the USSR was dissolved – with a stroke of a pen by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Byelorussia in December 1991, without serious negotiations on what the Newly Independent States inherited from the USSR – largely predetermined the fate of the CIS and relations between Russia and its post-Soviet neighbours. This became clear much later when Russia plunged into never-ending tensions with its neighbours over territorial, economic, defense and minorities issues. These contradictions are still casting a long shadow over Russia’s foreign policy. The Caucasus conflict of 2008 was a creation of the Russia-NATO/US differences over the security arrangements in the post-bipolar Europe, while the conflict over Ukraine smashed to pieces the West-Russia “strategic partnership” based on four common spaces of co-operation, because none of these spaces addressed the CIS issue. Сonsidering the origins of today’s crisis is of utmost importance for the future of Europe, since the Ukrainian conflict clearly demonstrated the danger of the emergence of new dividing lines in Europe. Russia’s policy in the post-Soviet space has been and remains the main factor that will influence the evolution of Russia’s relations with the West. And, conversely, the West’s policy towards the CIS countries will determine its relations with Russia to a decisive degree. Acknowledgements. The article has been prepared within the Project “Prospects for Cooperation between the European Union and Russia in the CIS”, Program of Fundamental Research of OGPMO RAN “Analysis and Forecast of New Global Challenges and Opportunities for Russia”.

Corporatizing security through champions, condos and credentials

This paper argues that corporatization of security is distinct from related phenomena including commodification, privatization, and marketization. Corporatization refers to the spread of the corporate form and therefore to organization and governance, not ownership, and as corporatization expands in the security domain it raises troubling issues due to its secretive and undemocratic features. Corporatization’s conceptual purchase and these issues are shown through exploration of emergent security arrangements in three under-researched, disparate realms with growing global presence: public police sponsorship, private residential urban security, and public corporate security. These revealing realms of security corporatization are established and enhanced by specific techniques and organizational forms, including champions, condominiums, and credentials, respectively. The paper concludes with discussion of implications of corporatization of security for scholarly methods of inquiry and critique as well as for increasing accountability.

A small state in world politics: Iceland’s search for shelter

The aim of this paper is to determine Iceland’s foreign policy options in relation to shelter theory. Iceland has been seeking political and economic shelter ever since the United States deserted it in 2006, by closing its military base, and in 2008, by refusing to provide it with assistance following its economic collapse. Iceland has made several new security and defence arrangements with its neighbouring states, applied for membership of the European Union and was the first European country to make a free-trade agreement with China. Moreover, the president of Iceland pressed for closer political and economic ties with Russia. Prominent Icelandic politicians frequently claim that Brexit will create a number of opportunities for Iceland and lead to closer cooperation with Britain. However, Iceland has not yet secured shelter of an extent comparable to what it had enjoyed from the United States. In this paper, we will answer questions such as: What does shelter theory tell us about Iceland’s overseas relations with the US, NATO, the EU, Britain, Russia, China, and the Nordic states? Will Iceland receive more reliable shelter provided by multilateral organizations than by a single shelter provider?

Syndromic surveillance in religiious festival involving circumambulation in India

ObjectiveTo study operation feasibility and prepadness of a a tablet-based participatory syndromic surveillance among pilgrims during annual ritual circumbulation (Panchkroshi Yatra) coveirng 15 miles daily in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh IndiaIntroductionPanchkroshi yatra is an annual ritual of circumambulation (yatra) of temples (Mahadevs) and 100,000 devotees walk for around 15 miles per day for six days and cover a total of 73 miles to worship important Mahadevs. The festival is held every year at the city of Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, Central India. The yatra attracts large number of pilgrims especially from rural areas and usually women outnumber men. During the yatra, the pilgrims halt at several places and prepare their food in outdoors. We described the public health preparedness, implemented a tablet-based participatory syndromic surveillance among pilgrims of the yatra and reviewed satisfaction of the pilgrims regarding implementation of public health measures, Ujjain during 21-26, April, 2017.MethodsWe described preparedness and arrangements done for the Yatra. We designed tablet-based android to collect information from pilgrims on socio-demographic-economic details, location and self-reported health problems (syndromes). Trained investigators collected data from consenting pilgrims at strategically located halting places. We interviewed a convenient sample of consenting participants to assess satisfaction regarding the public health measures such as sanitation, water, safety, food and cleanliness.ResultsThe district team organized round-the-clock medical camps in strategic locations (mainly at temple or halting place) of the route of the Yatra with few camps having admission facility for emergency conditions. There were no mobile medical units. Ambulance services were on standby at all medical camps. Our satisfactory survey of 360 participants indicated that 79% were satisfied with these medical facilities (79%). District administration alongwith local village administration (panchayat) had set up outlets selling provisions necessary meeting cooking needs. Eighty percent pilgrims were satisfied with food and refreshment arrangements. Permanent and temporary toilets were set-up at the halt-locations but not on the route. Snitation measures such as chlorination and solid waste management were in place. Pilgrims’ satisfaction for urinals (53%) and toilets (60%) was less as compared to cleanliness (74%). Electrical supply and lighting were arranged properly. Volunteers were available to provide assistance to pilgrims. Provision of safe drinking water and potable water were arranged by the authorities and the village-residents made water available through well, pots etc. The survey suggested that only 5% of them were not satisfied with water related arrangements. Security arrangements such as deployment of police, crowd management, and traffic control and fire safety were well-arranged by the authorities and majority of the respondents expressed satisfaction on these arrangements (79-84%).We interviewed 6435 pilgrims for any self-reported symptoms. More than half (56%) of the responders were female and majority (64%) aged 15- 59 years. Around 44% were from Ujjain district. Every second person (around 47%) reported illness with one or other symptoms. Most of them complained of injury with blister (11%). Other common complaints include stomach ache (8%), redness in eyes (7%), fever (7%), cough (6%), vomiting (4%), diarrhea (4%) and throat pain (3%) (Figure)ConclusionsThe participants’ response indicates that all the public health and safety measures were satisfactory except the need for setting up urinals along the fixed route of circumambulation. Table-based surveillance during the yatra indicated that injury was the most commonly self-reported health problem. Implementation of such surveillance helps in tracking health events and therefore, may facilitate preparedness and response. We recommend implementation of such tablet-based surveillance during such mass gathering events.

Comparative Randomness Analysis of DES Variants

Background: Over the past few years, researchers have devoted efforts to enhance the robustness and randomness of the original DES cipher. These enhancements focused on improving multiple perspectives of the algorithm to deliver robust DES variants against typical attacks. Method: Recent publications and patent databases have been reviewed to investigate the potential enhancements in DES cipher algorithm. The enhancements have targeted the main components of DES including the F-function, S-boxes arrangements, and the key length. Result: This paper introduces a DES variant named Hashed Data Encryption Standard (HDES). The main idea behind HDES cryptographic algorithm is to provide a trade-off between fast encryption while ensuring a degree of randomness in the encrypted data. HDES employs several techniques including the use of a hash function and secure arrangements of S-boxes. The idea of using the hash is to create a fingerprint of the plaintext. This fingerprint is used to generate a seed and the subsequent round seeds. Conclusion: The randomness analysis of HDES and its counterparts DES and DESX have shown performance merits of HDES in terms of entropy difference, cipher data randomness, symmetric distance and encryption time. Keywords: Encryption algorithm, randomness test, symmetric distance, data cipher difference, encryption time, DES, HDES, DESX.