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The advent of multipartism in 1992 was celebrated by academics, politicians, and civil societies. However, while the ruling party progressively performs handsomely, opposition parties have remained weak. In the 1995 general elections, the ruling party won about 60 percent of popular votes. This figure increased to 71 percent and 80 percent in 2000 and 2005 general elections respectively. It dropped to about 61 percent in the 2010 elections. I argue in this article that, such performance by the ruling party is largely attributed to its unfair mechanisms of mobilising support through state-party ideologies, human rights abuse, religion and corruption.

Mild and efficient synthesis of 5, 7-dihydroxy-6-methoxy-2-phenyl-4H-chromen-4-one (Oroxylin A) has been reported. MEM is used as protecting group to get Oroxyline A. Screening of protecting groups and solvents system are described in detail. Optimal reaction conditions towards achieving maximum selectivity are discussed. Oroxylin A is characterized by NMR and Mass spectroscopy.

We are very happy to announce that from 9th December 2016, Mr. Sumit Kushwaha has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Electronics Engineering. Mr. Sumit Kushwaha working as Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics Engineering, Kamla Nehru Institute of Technology, Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India – 228118. The appointment of Mr. Sumit Kushwaha as member Editorial Advisory Board strengthens the links and will make it easier for prospective authors to establish contact with the journal. Please send any expressions of interest to elixirpublishers@gmail.com.

Multimodal Image Fusion techniques combine information from different sensors together to produce a more accurate and efficient representation which is more useful for further analysis. A Multi resolution based Multimodal Image Fusion Algorithm is this paper, an automatic algorithm based on multi resolution technique for fusing multimodal images is proposed. The multimodal images are decomposed using the Dual Tree Complex Wavelet Transform and Contourlet Transform and they are fused using some efficient and robust fusion rules. Finally, they are reconstructed using the Inverse transform and a new fused image with more information content is obtained. The basic idea of all multiresolution fusion schemes is motivated by the human visual system being primarily sensitive to local contrast changes, e.g. the edges or corners. These techniques also provide better directional information. The DT-CWT and Contourlet Transform methods are good at faithfully retaining the salient structural information present in both the multimodal images.

The increasing municipal solid waste (MSW) generation along with the high fraction of organic and other types of wastes is the current scenario in many tourist resorts of Kashmir valley in India. As a response to this problem, we carried out a study on the municipal solid waste (MSW) generation between May 2010 and 2011 in Yusmarg area, of the valley. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quantity, composition and sources of wastes generated to recommend appropriate management practices. The study was based on three sites with marked differences in their physical and biotic features. The pattern of generation of municipal solid wastes (MSW) during the study showed a marked seasonal variation. The maximum average net weight of wastes was observed at site 2 (7.86 Kg/day), while as minimum was observed at site 3 (2.55 Kg/day). Among the constituents of wastes the net weight (%) was dominated by Food wastes (41.23%) followed by cardboard (15.28%), glass (11.16%) and rubber & Leather (0.17%) at all sites. Further analysis showed that the maximum Total Net Weight (46.25 Kg/Day) was contributed by recyclable wastes followed by (33.33 Kg/Day) compostable wastes, 2.57 Kg/Day by combustible wastes and 0.7 Kg/Day by inert materials. These insights into generated waste and management practice in Yusmarg health resort allow making suggestions for improved collection and disposal methods. A primary conclusion is that the biodegradable waste is a major fraction having suitable properties for recycling.

This paper aims at examining the state capacity in enforcement of environmental standards in the context of organizational development, central to which is the need for continuous effectiveness. The neo-liberal proponents presuppose that with a limited scope of functions, the state becomes more effective and efficient in discharging its core functions. From the mid 1980s Tanzania has been implementing neo-liberal reforms. A new environmental policy was formulated in 1997 then followed by the enactment of the new environmental management legislation in 2004. The question is, to what extent have these changes improved the Tanzanian state capacity in effectively managing the environment? The central argument of the paper is that in spite of the changes in the policy and legal framework in order to improve its mandate, the state, through the National Environmental Management Council (NEMC), is still institutionally impaired to the extent it cannot effectively ensure and monitor compliance with environmental standards. This then suggests that the assumption that the state’s capacity would be enhanced if the state had concentrated on its ‘core’ functions requires re-examination.

In this study, the effects of Lpg–gasoline (10%, 20%, 30% LPG and 100% Gasoline) dual fuels on the performance of a single cylinder 4 stroke spark ignition (SI) engine were investigated. In the theoretical study, the Single-cylinder, four-stroke, Single-point injection system SI engine fitted to a Generator was used. For this purpose, simulations were carried out using AVL Boost Software, without catalytic convertor under constant engine speed (3600 rpm) and varying load conditions. The variations in Performance brake power, Torque, brake specific fuel consumption, and exhaust gasses were examined at varying compression ratios for dual fuel single cylinder SI engine. Variable compression ratio (VCR) technology has long been recognized as a method for improving the fuel economy of SI engines. The results obtained from the use of Lpg–gasoline dual fuel were compared to those of gasoline fuel. The results indicated that when Lpg–gasoline dual fuel were used, the brake specific fuel consumption increased and engine performance parameters such as torque and power increases with increasing Lpg amount in the blended dual fuel. Positive results were obtained at all LPG usage levels in terms of exhaust emissions. Best results were achieved at using 100% Gasoline for exhaust emissions.

The dawn of Internet and eCommerce has opened new ways of business for many financial institutions. It has connected organizations all over the world. Online banking is the order of the day. The main feature of internet Banking is the 24/7 users’ direct access to the information system of a bank without any geographical restrictions. Similarly, iBanking is time and cost saving, simple, accessible, ease-to-use and reliable to both the customers and the bankers to carryout business online. However, there are still many customers who do not use or reluctant to use eBanking services. This research is aimed to explore the factors responsible for the user-acceptance of eBanking in Dera Ismail Khan, KPK, Pakistan. The researcher has done extensive literature review to analyze and understand the problem with regard to critical success/failure factors of customer acceptance and developed and tested a model in the local environment of Dera Ismail Khan.

Malaysia has always been proud of her unique natural environment and cultural heritages, but still is searching for an exclusive identity of its own gardens. There is a great potential for development of a garden identity for the country, based on her rich legacy in traditions, cultures and beliefs, through which she could identify herself. The nation has a complex population composed of Malay, Chinese and Indian races. Hence, the icon, form, quality and appearance that are going to be introduced for Malaysian gardens should be appreciated, valued and respected by the Malaysian publics with diverse culture and preferences. This paper aims to propose a preferred iconography as a basic approach to create and develop a garden identity for Malaysia. Conducting photo surveys and testing public opinion of garden iconographies, including different garden scenes, reveals the preferred qualities for the image of Malaysian gardens. The result is expected to contribute towards the basic knowledge of Malaysian garden iconography as well as essential findings for landscape architects and garden enthusiasts to design and build garden with Malaysia identity acceptable by the Malaysian public. Moreover, this approach can propose a working model to identify preferred garden iconographies for new developing gardens and can be generalized to international scale.

The transesterification reaction is actually replacement of alcohol group from an ester by another alcohol. The reaction was carried out by varying different parameters, like amount of catalyst in reaction, ratio of methyl alcohol to oil, temperature and stirring on the reaction; to find the best conversion of oil to biodiesel. Alkali catalysed transesterification is considered to be the best amongst all methods available for the production of biodiesel from fresh oil. Our aim is to establish the parametric dependency of the reaction from the experiments.