The soft power of popular cinema: the case of India

Among BRICS nations, India has the most developed and globalised film industry, and the Indian government as well as corporations are increasingly deploying the power of Bollywood in their international interactions. India’s soft power, arising from its cultural and civilizational influence outside its territorial boundaries, has a long history. Focusing on contemporary India’s thriving Hindi film industry, this article suggests that the globalisation of the country’s popular cinema, aided by a large diaspora, has created possibilities of promoting India’s public diplomacy. It examines the global imprint of this cinema as an instrument of soft power

Emergence of Cooperation and Evolutionary Stability in Finite Populations

To explain the evolution of cooperation by natural selection has been a major goal of biologists since Darwin. Cooperators help others at a cost to themselves, while defectors receive the benefits of altruism without providing any help in return. The standard game dynamical formulation is the 'Prisoner's Dilemma', in which two players have a choice between cooperation and defection. In the repeated game, cooperators using direct reciprocity cannot be exploited by defectors, but it is unclear how such cooperators can arise in the first place. In general, defectors are stable against invasion by cooperators. This understanding is based on traditional concepts of evolutionary stability and dynamics in infinite populations. Here we study evolutionary game dynamics in finite populations. We show that a single cooperator using a strategy like 'tit-for-tat' can invade a population of defectors with a probability that corresponds to a net selective advantage. We specify the conditions required for natural selection to favour the emergence of cooperation and define evolutionary stability in finite populations.Organismic and Evolutionary BiologyEconomicsMathematic

Reinventing ‘Many Voices’: MacBride and a Digital New World Information and Communication Order

The MacBride Commission Report was arguably one of the most significant multilateral interventions in the history of international communication. This article charts its emergence at the time of deeply contested Cold War politics, coinciding with the rise of the southern voices in the global arena, led by the non-aligned nations. Thirty-five years after the report's publication, has the global media evolved into a more democratic system, demonstrating greater diversity of views and viewpoints? Despite the still formidable power of US-led western media, the article suggests that the globalisation and digitisation of communication has contributed to a multi-layered and more complex global media scene, demonstrating the “rise of the rest”

Expert group meeting on promotion of new forms of financing for transfer, development and application of environmentally sound technologies : 15-17 November 2000 in New Delhi : report

This report examines new forms of financing transfer, development and application of environmentally sound technologies (ESTs). Available resources are examined for the finance of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to acquire ESTs. New approaches in donor and private financing are described and analysed. Both successful and unsuccessful case studies are presented. The role of government, donors, local industry, local SMEs, foreign industry, local and foreign banks, NGOs and consumers are studied in depth. Recommendations are provided for a more successful financing for development, transfer and management of ESTs for SMEs. National policies and mechanisms for financing the application of ESTs in Bangladesh, China, India, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines. Republic of Korea, Thailand and Viet Nam are addressed. This volume is based on the "Expert Group Meeting on Promotion of New Forms of Financing for Transfer, Development and Application of Environmentally Sound Technologies" held in New Delhi from 15-17 November 2000.</p