Myanmar Sugar SMEs: History, Technology, Location and Government Policy

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) engaged in sugar processing in Myanmar appeared in the last decade of the socialist era. An acute sugar deficit, restricted trade in white sugar, and high demand from the conventional dairy business led to the growth of sugar SMEs by appropriate blending of semi-finished products (syrup) in the fields, which were then processed in vacuum pans and centrifugals to obtain white sugar. This became a tradable commodity and sugar SMEs grew in clusters in big cities. They are family-owned businesses. However, they lack the bagasse-based power generation. In recent years, large modern sugar factories operated by private and military companies have emerged as key players. The current shortage of fuel feedstock and competition for raw materials have become driving forces that shift sugar SMEs from market-oriented to raw material-oriented locations. Internal competition among key players made sugar price highly volatile, too. Being placed on a level playing field, the whole industry should be upgraded in terms of price and quality to become export-oriented.

No insulation : politics and technocracy's troubled trajectory

Technocracy often holds out the promise of rational, disinterested decision-making. Yet states look to technocracy not just for expert inputs and calculated outcomes but to embed the exercise of power in many agendas, policies and programs. Thus, technocracy operates as an appendage of politically constructed structures and configurations of power, and highly placed technocrats cannot be 'mere' backroom experts who supply disinterested rational-technical solutions in economic planning, resource allocation and social distribution, which are inherently political. This paper traces the trajectories of technocracy in conditions of rapid social transformation, severe economic restructuring, or political crises - when the technocratic was unavoidably political.

Critical connections : Islamic politics and political economy in Indonesia and Malaysia

This article explores Islamic politics in two Muslim-majority countries in Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Malaysia, by linking their trajectories, from late colonial emergence to recent upsurge, to broad concerns of political economy, including changing social bases, capitalist transformation, state policies, and economic crises. The Indonesian and Malaysian trajectories of Islamic politics are tracked in a comparative exercise that goes beyond the case studies to suggest that much of contemporary Islamic politics cannot be explained by reference to Islam alone, but to how Islamic identities and agendas are forged in contexts of modern and profane social contestation.

The stakes of politics and electoral administration : a comparative study of Southeast Asian democracies

Elections play a crucial role in political stability in post-democratization, and electoral administrations are the key to the electoral process. However, not all newly democratized countries have established reliable electoral administration. New democracies in Southeast Asia, such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, have independent election commissions which have different characteristics, especially in terms of neutrality. Based on three cases, this paper claims that the stakes of politics are the major determinant of the variations in neutrality. The high stakes of politics in Thailand brought about the partisan election commission, while the low stakes in Indonesia made the electoral system relatively neutral. Like Thailand, the high stakes of politics in the Philippines also cause political intervention in the electoral administration.

Banking crises and government intervention

Intervention has taken different forms in different countries and periods of time. Moreover, recent episodes showed that in front of an imminent crisis, the promise of no interventions made by governments is barely credible. In this paper we address the problem of resolving banking crises from the government perspective, taking into account the fact that preventing banking crises is crucial for the government. In addition, we introduce the moral hazard problem, inherent in the banking system, and consider the interaction between regulation, policy measures and banks’ behavior. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that compares different policy plans to resolve banking crises in an environment where insufficiently capitalized banks have incentives to take risk, and the government has to decide whether to provide public services or impede crises. We show that when individuals highly value public services then the best policy in terms of welfare is to apply the tax on early withdrawals, as the government can transfer those taxes to the whole population by investing in public services (although at some cost). Conversely, when individuals assign a low value to consuming public services, recapitalization is the dominant policy. Finally, when the probability of a crisis is sufficiently high, capital requirements should be used

An ecological characterization of Coastal Maine (north and east of Cape Elizabeth) / Stewart I. Fefer and Patricia S. Schettig: principal investigators.

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An ecological characterization of Coastal Maine (north and east of Cape Elizabeth) / Stewart I. Fefer and Patricia S. Schettig: principal investigators.

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An ecological characterization of Coastal Maine (north and east of Cape Elizabeth) / Stewart I. Fefer and Patricia S. Schettig: principal investigators.

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An ecological characterization of Coastal Maine (north and east of Cape Elizabeth) / Stewart I. Fefer and Patricia S. Schettig: principal investigators.

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An ecological characterization of Coastal Maine (north and east of Cape Elizabeth) / Stewart I. Fefer and Patricia S. Schettig: principal investigators.

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Military and government applications of human-machine communication by voice.

This paper describes a range of opportunities for military and government applications of human-machine communication by voice, based on visits and contacts with numerous user organizations in the United States. The applications include some that appear to be feasible by careful integration of current state-of-the-art technology and others that will require a varying mix of advances in speech technology and in integration of the technology into applications environments. Applications that are described include (1) speech recognition and synthesis for mobile command and control; (2) speech processing for a portable multifunction soldier's computer; (3) speech- and language-based technology for naval combat team tactical training; (4) speech technology for command and control on a carrier flight deck; (5) control of auxiliary systems, and alert and warning generation, in fighter aircraft and helicopters; and (6) voice check-in, report entry, and communication for law enforcement agents or special forces. A phased approach for transfer of the technology into applications is advocated, where integration of applications systems is pursued in parallel with advanced research to meet future needs.

Legislative Proposals to Modernize Business Development Companies and Expand Investment Opportunities, Testimony Before the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises

This testimony discusses proposed legislation to amend the definition of accredited investor. It also discusses proposed legislation designed to reform the regulatory framework for business development companies. Among other things, the regulatory regime for BDCs would change to allow these companies to invest a greater portion of their assets in financial companies, potentially reducing the percentage of assets invested in operating companies.

The Role of Education and Government in Shaping Muslim Women's Rights: Three Contemporary Case Studies

The rise in Muslim terrorist activities has encouraged the West to reevaluate its understanding of Islam, prompting concern for Muslim women's rights. In search of education-based solutions, this project explores three case studies of Muslims living under different government types: a secular state with a primarily Muslim population (Turkey); a secular state with a significant Muslim minority population (France); and a Muslim state with a powerful religious influence (Afghanistan). The type of government plays a significant role in Muslim women's rights, and solutions must be based on individual aspects of each unique place where Muslims live today. The results show that education is a universal solution when accepted at all levels: governmental, communal, and the individual.

Abandoned and forgotten: the sad story of Kenya's internally displaced persons

This documentary is about the internal displacement of ethnic minorities brought about by politically instigated post-election violence towards ethnic minorities in all eight provinces, namely, Coast, Rift Valley, Western, Eastern, North Eastern, Central Kenya, Nairobi, and Nyanza. During the years of 1991 to 1996, over 15,000 people died and almost 300,000 were displaced in the Rift Valley, Central, Nyanza and Western provinces. Before the 1997 elections, violence erupted. Again, following the disputed presidential elections in December 2007 politically and ethnically instigated displacements resulted in human rights violations against 600,000 people in 8 provinces of Kenya.

Catharine Waugh McCullouch papers in the Mary Earhart Dillon collection, 1869-1945

Collection primarily documents McCulloch's research on women's legal status, and her work with the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association, the National American Woman Suffrage Association, and the League of Women Voters. There is also documentation of women in the legal profession, of McCulloch's friendships with the other women suffragists and lawyers, and some biographical material. The papers contain little information about her family or social life.