Offers a quick and easy approach to finding up-to-date contact information for political, government, media, judicial, and legislative leaders for each country of the world. The directory provides more than 10,000 names and addresses of the most important people in the world, as well as websites of countries (when available). A vital link in the global information chain for librarians, business people, journalists, students, teachers, and any general reader interested in obtaining global contact information.
Conventional wisdom among policymakers in both the US and Europe holds that weak and failing states are the source of the world's most pressing security threats today. However, as this book shows, our assumptions about the threats posed by failed and failing states are based on false premises.
Global value chains (GVCs) are fraught with the phenomenon of fragmentation and dispersion of production across the world. India presents a unique example with its high potential in manufacturing capability but low integration in GVCs. This book examines the reasons why India has failed to integrate within GVCs so far and looks at key examples to understand the impediments in this process. The chapters bring together case studies from across the manufacturing industry – labour-intensive (garment, paper and diamond), capital-intensive (automobile and petrochemical), and knowledge-intensive (semi-conductor microchip, chemical and pharmaceutical) sectors. Together, they present stories of successful integration of some firms in GVCs as well as the difficulties faced by them. The volume also highlights the importance of GVCs in the context of developing countries in terms of benefits such as income and value generation, knowledge and technology collaborations, and advances in systems and processes. This book will interest scholars and researchers in economics, international trade studies, development economics and business management as well as to practitioners, policymakers, government officials, and those in the corporate sector.
The 11th International Symposium on Graph Drawing (GD 2003) was held on September 21–24, 2003, at the Universit` a degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italy. GD 2003 attracted 93 participants from academic and industrial institutions in 17 countries. In response to the call for papers, the program committee received 88 re- larsubmissionsdescribingoriginalresearchand/orsystemdemonstrations.Each submission was reviewed by at least 4 program committee members and c- ments were returned to the authors. Following extensive e-mail discussions, the program committee accepted 34 long papers (12 pages each in the proceedings) and 11 short papers (6 pages each in the proceedings). Also, 6 posters (2 pages each in the proceedings) were displayed in the conference poster gallery. In addition to the 88 submissions, the program committee also received a submission of special type, one that was not competing with the others for a time slot in the conference program and that collects selected open problems in graph drawing. The aim of this paper, which was refereed with particular care andUNCHANGEDtworoundsofrevisions,istostimulatefutureresearchinthe graph drawing community. The paper presents 42 challenging open problems in di?erentareasofgraphdrawingandcontainsmorethan120references.Although the length of the paper makes it closer to a journal version than to a conference extended abstract, we decided to include it in the conference proceedings so that it could easily reach in a short time the vast majority of the graph drawing community.
Gandhāran art is often regarded as the epitome of cultural exchange in antiquity. The ancient region of Gandhāra, centred on what is now the northern tip of Pakistan, has been called the ‘crossroads of Asia’. The Buddhist art produced in and around this area in the first few centuries AD exhibits extraordinary connections with other traditions across Asia and as far as the Mediterranean. Since the nineteenth century, the Graeco-Roman associations of Gandhāran art have attracted particular attention. Classically educated soldiers and administrators of that era were astonished by the uncanny resemblance of many works of Gandhāran sculpture to Greek and Roman art made thousands of miles to the west. More than a century later we can recognize that the Gandhāran artists’ appropriation of classical iconography and styles was diverse and extensive, but the explanation of this ‘influence’ remains puzzling and elusive. The Gandhāra Connections project at the University of Oxford’s Classical Art Research Centre was initiated principally to cast new light on this old problem. This volume is the third set of proceedings of the project’s annual workshop, and the first to address directly the question of cross-cultural influence on and by Gandhāran art. The contributors wrestle with old controversies, particularly the notion that Gandhāran art is a legacy of Hellenistic Greek rule in Central Asia and the growing consensus around the important role of the Roman Empire in shaping it. But they also seek to present a more complex and expansive view of the networks in which Gandhāra was embedded. Adopting a global perspective on the subject, they examine aspects of Gandhāra’s connections both within and beyond South Asia and Central Asia, including the profound influence which Gandhāran art itself had on the development of Buddhist art in China and India.
A complete, hands-on guide to building Internet voice applications VoiceXML is rapidly becoming the de facto language standard for handling the transition from visual Web browsing to synthesized text-to-speech information access. This book provides Web designers, database managers, and systems designers with all the tools and templates they need to accomplish this transition in the least amount of time and at the lowest possible cost. Mark Miller walks readers step-by-step through ten real world applications-from statement of the problem through code examination, error checking, and deployment-to clearly demonstrate how to use currently available tools, techniques, and strategies for building Internet voice applications. Accompanying each applications project is a telephone number that allows readers to listen to, and interact with, an actual working example of the application. Responding to the ongoing needs of IT professionals for current and reliable information on the latest technologies, Wiley Computer Publishing introduces the Gearhead Press titles. These books, written by accomplished trainers in their respective fields, focus on real-world examples and case studies to give readers the best information on leading topics. The Gearhead Press titles are characterized by two imprints: In the Trenches and Point to Point-both series include fast-paced books written by fellow IT professionals who have been there and done that. In the Trenches books introduce technologies, guide readers to proficiency, and serve as practical, hands-on references after the initial tasks are accomplished. The Point to Point titles invite readers to join an IT team at a model company and implement technologies in real-world environments-demonstrating actual problems and solutions. Companion Web site features code samples, working demos, links to most current specs, and updates.
In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.
