https://dspace.iiti.ac.in/handle/123456789/3643 2026-10-23T18:22:31Z https://dspace.iiti.ac.in/handle/123456789/19498 Title: Representational Violence of Colonial River Mapping: Deconstructing the Linear Flows of Waterbodies in River of Stories (2022) and All Quiet in Vikaspuri (2015) Authors: Saraswat, Anandita; Das, Aratrika Abstract: A renewed attention on water in postcolonial studies questions the anthropocentric reduction of rivers into inert exploitable entities. Expanding the engagement of postcolonial literatures with water, this article focuses on the representational violence of colonial river mapping in the graphic novels River of Stories and All Quiet in Vikaspuri. Graphic novels’ unique semiotic registers and visual techniques unravel the ongoing influence of colonial cartography and offer alternative spaces to map fluvial riverine ecologies. Graphic novels unearth the interlinkages between abstract cartographic illustrations and extractive hydro-infrastructure projects. The article builds upon Dilip da Cunha’s argument of decolonizing the extractive gaze of resource mapping that naturalizes the depiction of rivers in India as flows of water following a fixed channel. The colonial-extractive gaze of maps is juxtaposed with the experiential view of rivers as depicted in the graphic novels. In emphasizing the graphics of submerged zones and the perspectives of people occupying these areas, the analysis foregrounds the interventionist-activist aim of postcolonial critique. In doing so, the article underscores the socio-political dimensions of water, reflected in its fluvial nature, that are often obscured in colonial cartography. © 2026 South Asian Literary Association. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://dspace.iiti.ac.in/handle/123456789/19501 Title: DYNAMIC IMPACT OF REMITTANCES ON POVERTY, INEQUALITY, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM ASIAN COUNTRIES Authors: Singh, Pawan; Pradhan, Kalandi Charan Abstract: This study examines the dynamic and nonlinear effects of remittances on poverty, income inequality, human development and financial development across 37 Asian countries during 1990–2022. Using the System-GMM, the analysis addresses endogeneity, persistence and unobserved heterogeneity while examining the moderating role of institutional quality. The results show that remittances significantly enhance financial and human development by improving access to education, healthcare and formal financial services. Remittances also reduce overall income inequality and exhibit a nonlinear U-shaped relationship with poverty, indicating that they initially alleviate poverty, but their poverty-reducing effect weakens beyond a threshold. Furthermore, remittances increase inequality among lower-income groups while reducing inequality among higher-income groups, highlighting heterogeneous distributional effects. Stronger institutional quality further amplifies the positive developmental impacts of remittances. These findings emphasize the importance of effective governance, financial inclusion and policies that promote the productive use of remittances to achieve sustainable and inclusive development in Asian economies. © 2026 The Authors. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://dspace.iiti.ac.in/handle/123456789/19499 Title: Exploring linkages among innovation, productivity, and non-resident patenting: a CDM approach Authors: Sharma, Aparna; Sharma, Ruchi Abstract: This study hypothesises that non-resident patenting has important implications for the host country’s technological and economic progress. Non-resident patents can facilitate the diffusion of new technologies and knowledge spillovers from inventors in patent applications, leading to innovation and productivity gains for the host country. We empirically examine the impact of non-resident patenting on the host country’s R&D decision, R&D investment, resident patenting, and total factor productivity (TFP). Using the CDM approach with a sample of 188 countries over 2001–2019, and measuring patent activity in per-capita terms to ensure cross-country comparability, we find that non-resident patenting positively and significantly affects R&D intensity and TFP in High Income and Upper Middle-Income countries, while effects are statistically insignificant in the full sample and in the Lower Income countries. The income-group heterogeneity of these results emphasises that international knowledge spillovers are not automatic but depend critically on domestic absorptive capacity. The CDM framework allows us to jointly address selectivity and simultaneity, while interpreting R&D intensity as a country-level measure of absorptive capacity. © 2026 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://dspace.iiti.ac.in/handle/123456789/19402 Title: Climatic Disaster-Driven Economic Losses and Migration Dynamics: Evidence from Indian Households Authors: Mandal, Bittu (57979624000) Abstract: A climatic hazard is any natural or human-caused situation, process, or event in the environment that has the potential to endanger human life, health, property, livelihoods, or ecosystems. These hazards arise from interactions between natural systems and human activities and can cause disasters when communities are exposed and vulnerable. There have been several previous studies whose findings reveal that, due to the environmental hazard and climatic disaster, people are eager to practice temporary and permanent migration, rural-to-urban migration, and movement from hazard-affected areas to non-hazard areas. According to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, globally 2,03,89,962 people are affected by environmental hazards. For instance, from 2000 to 2023, more than 110 million people in India were severely affected over the last two decades. The study data were based on the India Human Development Survey-II (IHDS-II), conducted in 2011–12. This study examines climate disaster-induced economic loss and migration using binary logistic regression. The results indicate significant financial losses and out-migration in states such as Madhya Pradesh (21.85%), Bihar (14.42%), Uttar Pradesh (10.50%), and Rajasthan (8.27%). Marginalized groups, including scheduled castes (24%) and tribes (18%), experienced the greatest migration burden. Households that experienced economic loss were more likely to migrate, influenced by factors such as income source (41.25%) and household size (47.30%). The findings underscore disaster-related economic loss as a primary driver of involuntary migration in India. Focusing on our study findings, the government should strengthen the integration of disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, and the social protection framework. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z