ESG Performance and Firm Value in India: The Moderating Role of Board Gender Diversity Under the Mandatory BRSR Regime

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Since the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) mandated Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) for the top 1,000 listed firms, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure has shifted from a voluntary signal to a regulatory requirement, renewing debate on whether ESG performance translates into shareholder value and how board composition conditions this link. Drawing on stakeholder theory and upper echelons theory, this study examines the relationship between firm-level ESG performance and firm value (Tobin’s Q) among 210 non-financial firms listed on the NSE-500, using unbalanced panel data for the financial years 2019–20 to 2023–24 (N = 1,008 firm-years). Fixed-effects panel regression shows that ESG performance is positively associated with firm value (β = 0.184, p < .01), and that board gender diversity positively moderates this relationship (β = 0.096, p < .05), such that the ESG–value link is stronger for firms with more gender-diverse boards. Results are robust to alternative performance measures (ROA) and a two-stage least squares specification addressing endogeneity. The study contributes evidence on how governance composition shapes the financial payoff of mandatory ESG disclosure in an emerging-market regulatory setting.

Enhancing Elementary School Teachers Competence in Ethnomathematics Based Geometry Learning through Banten Batik and Mangrove Leaves

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Geometry learning in elementary schools is often dominated by abstract representations and conventional instructional materials that rely primarily on textbooks and blackboards, making it challenging for teachers to connect mathematical concepts with students everyday experiences and local cultural environments. This study explored elementary school teachers’ experiences and perceptions of a participatory workshop on ethnomathematics-based geometry learning through Banten Batik and mangrove leaf ink. A descriptive qualitative approach was employed within a community engagement program involving 12 elementary school teachers in Anyar Village, Serang Regency, Banten, Indonesia. The workshop included conceptual instruction, demonstrations, hands on activities, reflection, and mentoring. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations, photographs, and field notes and analyzed descriptively and thematically. The findings indicate that teachers responded positively and perceived the workshop as enjoyable, meaningful, and beneficial for developing their knowledge and pedagogical insights. Teachers were able to identify geometric concepts embedded in Banten Batik motifs, including squares, rectangles, triangles, circles, symmetry, and patterns. Mangrove leaf ink was perceived as having potential to connect mathematics learning with cultural heritage and the natural environment. The workshop also encouraged teachers to consider its implementation in classroom instruction. Further research should systematically examine changes in teacher competence and classroom practice.

Malaysia’s English-Medium Instruction Policy through Spolsky’s Language Policy Framework: A Critical Review

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English-medium instruction (EMI) has been promoted in multilingual education systems as a means of improving English proficiency, expanding access to scientific knowledge, and strengthening international competitiveness. In Malaysia, the Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) policy represented a major attempt to pursue these objectives while generating tensions concerning national identity, classroom feasibility, and educational equity. This critical narrative review examines the implementation of PPSMI and the relationship between formal policy intentions and their enactment in educational settings. Relevant literature on Malaysian EMI and language-in-education policy was reviewed and analysed through a deductive-inductive thematic approach. Spolsky’s language policy framework guided the analysis of three interconnected dimensions: language practices, beliefs and ideologies, and language management, while policy-practice tensions, educational equity, and teacher agency were examined as cross-cutting themes. The review identifies recurring misalignment between English-oriented policy expectations and classroom language practices, competing pragmatic and nationalist orientations toward English and Bahasa Malaysia, uneven institutional and teacher capacity, and differences in learners’ access to EMI. Teachers’ bilingual adaptations further illustrate how formal language requirements were mediated in response to classroom conditions. The review concludes that sustainable EMI policy depends not simply on selecting English as a medium of instruction, but on aligning policy objectives with institutional readiness, stakeholder beliefs, multilingual classroom practices, and educational equity.

The Impact of Fintech and Personal Values on Investment Decisions of Individual Investors in The Vietnamese Stock Market

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This study examines the simultaneous impact of Financial Technology (Fintech) and Personal Values on the investment decisions of individual investors in the Vietnamese stock market. The research model integrates the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and the Personal Values Theory. Survey data collected from 382 individual investors in Vietnam were analyzed using SPSS software. Empirical results indicate that Fintech factors (Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Technology Trust) and Personal Values (Self-Concept, Risk Propensity) all have statistically significant positive impacts on Investment Decisions. Among these, Perceived Usefulness of Fintech exerts the strongest influence. On this basis, the study proposes policy and managerial implications for securities firms, Fintech developers, and state regulatory authorities.

AI-Driven Digital Marketing in Higher Education: A Bibliometric Analysis of College Choice Intention Research, 2022–2026

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This study maps the intellectual structure of research on AI-driven digital marketing in higher education and its relationship to college choice intention, where the literatures on AI acceptance and student recruitment have developed separately. Methodology A bibliometric analysis of 430 Scopus-indexed articles (2022–2026) was conducted in VOS viewer. A three-block Boolean search combined digital marketing, artificial intelligence, higher education and college choice constructs, analysed through network, overlay and density visualisations. Findings Output grew from 11 articles in 2022 to 197 in 2025, with 76.28 per cent of the corpus appearing in the final two years. Social Sciences (36.5%) and Computer Science (17.3%) dominate. “Artificial intelligence”, “behavioural intention” and “technology acceptance model” form the conceptual core, whereas enrolment intention, student recruitment and digital trust remain peripheral. China leads output (24.4%), indicating a shift in knowledge production towards Asia and the Middle East. Research limitations Reliance on a single database and on English-language articles may under-represent developments first reported in conference proceedings. Practical implications: Institutions should evaluate chatbots, generative content and virtual tours by their effect on perceived authenticity and trust rather than engagement alone. This is the first study to map digital promotion, artificial intelligence and college choice intention within a single corpus covering the generative AI era, proposing a four-layer framework linking technology quality, information quality, psychological response and behavioural outcomes​.

Performance and Thermo-Physiological Responses to Heat Tolerance Coefficient of Sheep Offered Diets Supplemented with Lemon Seed Powder in Tropical Humid Zone of Nigeria

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The study was carried out to determine the effect of dietary supplementation with lemon seed powder on growth, nutrient digestibility, blood indices with thermo-physiological parameters, heat stress and heat tolerances co-efficient of West African dwarf sheep. Two hundred West African dwarf male sheep aged etween 7 and 8 months old with initial average live body weight of 7.00 ± 0.15kg were used for the study. They were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments with fifty sheep per treatment in a completely randomized design. The prepared experimental diets that were offered to sheep comprised TD1 (60% guinea grass with 40% formulated diet that contained no lemon seed powder as control group), TD2 (60% guinea grass with 40% formulated diet that contained 0.50% lemon seed powder), TD3 (60% guinea grass with 40% formulated diet that contained 1.00% lemon seed powder) and TD4 (60% guinea grass with 40% formulated diet that contained 1.50% lemon seed powder). All parameters obtained in the study were subjected to one-way analyses of variance (ANOVA). Results showed that feed conversion ratio (4.28), digestibility of ether extract (70.13%), faecal with urinary nitrogen output (4.05 and 1.87g/day), total nitrogen output (5.92g/day), cholesterol (64.01mg/dl), creatinine (1.03mg/dl), urea (11.96mg/dl), relative humidity (morning 95.92%, midday 60.73%  & evening 90.73%), rectal temperature (morning 38.70 0C, midday 39.76 0C & evening 38.960C), respiratory rate (morning 24.36 breaths/min, midday 25.43 breaths/min & evening 24.73 breaths/min), heart rate  (morning 83.92 beats/min, midday 89.71 beats/min  & evening 80.23 beats/min), skin surface (morning 29.01 0C, midday 32.46 0C  & evening  30.670C), temperature humidity index (morning 73. 37, midday 80.94 & evening 73.33), black globe humidity index (morning 75.48, midday 79.82 & evening 77.34) and heat stress index (morning 79.55, midday 82.70 & evening 75.77) were significantly (p<0.05) higher in diet TD1 than diets TD2, TD3 and TD4. Sheep on diet TD4 were significantly (p<0.05) increased in daily feed intake (264.32g/day), final body weight (13.52kg), total with daily weight gain  6.39kg and 71.00g), digestibility of dry matter(71.02%), crude protein (72.04%), crude fiber  (70.41%), ash (67.14%), nitrogen free extract(70.76%), neutral and acid detergent fiber (68.16 and 60.37%), nitrogen intake (14.06g/day), nitrogen balance (9.82g/day), nitrogen retention % intake (69.84%), packed cell volume (28.07%), haemoglobin (10.47g/dl), red blood cell (9.63 x106/ml), mean corpuscular value (34.37fl), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (10.46pg), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (32.75%), white blood cell (11.02 x106/ml) lymphocytes (62.18%), neutrophils (32.87%), total protein (8.01g/dl), albumin (4.16g/dl), glucose (70.02 mg/dl), Benezra heat tolerance co-efficient (morning 1.86, midday 1.86, & evening 1.83), Iberia heat tolerance co-efficient (morning 135.10, midday 121.20  & evening 140.80), Rhoad heat tolerance index (morning 128.64 & evening 134.53), Singh physiological response index (morning 0.93, midday 0.94 & evening 0.92) and Davis heat tolerance coefficient (morning 0.90, midday 0.90, & evening 0.90) than those on other diets. Meanwhile, no significant differences (p>0.05) were found in initial body weight, nitrogen retained in gram per day, eosinophils, monocytes, basophils, globulin, triglycerides, dry bulb temperature, dew point temperature, black globe temperature, sweating rate, and midday Rhoad heat tolerance co-efficient index. It can be concluded that diets TD3 and TD4 that contained 1.00% and 1.50% lemon-seed powder improved performance, boost immunity and heat tolerance co-efficient with reduced heat stress in sheep.

Optimizing Financial Performance: Evidence from Capital Structure, Firm Size, and Liquidity Dynamics

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The objective of this study is to ascertain the impact of capital structure (DER), firm size (Ln Size), and liquidity (CR) on financial performance (ROA) among companies in the metals and other minerals sub-industry listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during the 2020–2024 period. The present study employs an explanatory survey design, utilizing quantitative secondary data. The population of this study consists of companies in the metals and other minerals sub-industry that are listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2020 to 2024. The purposive sampling method was employed to select the sample, resulting in the acquisition of data from 6 companies and 30 data points, encompassing a five-year observation period. The analytical methods employed encompassed descriptive statistical analysis, classical assumption tests, multiple linear regression analysis, and hypothesis testing. The findings of the research indicate that the capital structure exerts a partial influence on financial performance. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that firm size does not have a significant impact on financial performance, and liquidity does not affect financial performance. Concurrently, the capital structure, the size of the firm, and liquidity have been demonstrated to exert a simultaneous influence on financial performance.

Prioritizing Indian E-Wallets Through the Analytic Hierarchy Process

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This study develops an Analytic Hierarchy Process framework for prioritizing online e-wallets in India. The framework evaluates competing criteria, including security, ease of use, transaction costs, service reliability, and merchant acceptance. E-wallet selection is organized hierarchically around the overall goal, evaluation criteria, and alternative platforms. Pairwise comparisons are used to determine criterion weights and rank the selected e-wallets, while consistency analysis assesses the reliability of the judgments. The proposed framework offers a systematic approach for comparing digital payment platforms, supporting informed consumer choices and helping fintech providers improve security, service quality, and user satisfaction. criteria weights and the final ranking of alternatives is PhonePe > Google Pay > Paytm > Amazon Pay > MobiKwik.

Discourse Deixis in Vietnamese Online News Headlines: Pragmatic Strategies and Ethical Implications

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The proliferation of digital news platforms and engagement-driven algorithms has fundamentally restructured standard journalistic routines. Consequently, the rapid influx of information and intense competition for audience attention have transformed news headlines from simple summary labels into strategic discourse products. This study investigates the pragmatic deployment and functions of discourse deixis in modern Vietnamese online news headlines. Focusing on how deictic signals operate as cognitive guidance tools and triggers for reader curiosity, the research examines the functional balance between communicative engagement and journalistic ethics. Adopted within a framework of corpus-assisted discourse-pragmatic analysis supplemented by descriptive statistics, the study analyzed a corpus of 300 online headlines sampled across four major Vietnamese news outlets (VnExpress, Tuoi Tre Online, Dan Tri, Znews) published between 2024 and 2026.

The findings indicate that forward-pointing cataphora relying on masked referents constitutes the most prevalent strategy (42.3%, n=127), followed by interrogative framing (28.0%, n=84), direct address structures (15.3%, n=46), and dramatized temporal/spatial deixis (14.3%, n=43). While these strategies appear pragmatically designed to induce curiosity and lower friction for audience attention, the excessive reliance on artificial information gaps presents notable ethical challenges, including potential user deception and long-term public trust erosion. The study proposes a conceptual model of headline curiosity-gap construction alongside editorial principles, such as “Cognitive Balance” and “Transparent Deixis,” to inform responsible headline composition in digital newsrooms.

The Korean Wave in India: Exploring Cultural Influence through OTT Platforms (Fashion, Beauty& Skincare, Food)

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This study examines the role in promoting Korean culture and influencing young youth through OTT platforms like Amazon prime video, Netflix, and YouTube which have significantly altered how people consume media and made it simpler for viewers to obtain content from around the globe. Not only in India but among other overseas entertainment channels, Korean content including K-dramas, K-pop movies, and reality show, has grown immensely popular among Indian youth, and has simultaneously influenced their cultural preferences, lifestyle choices, beauty- trends, and language interest. It also emphasizes the market and industry reports highlighting the growth of OTT platforms, revenue generation, and market flow. However, social media helps in cross-cultural communication and influence among younger audiences in India. Research on long – term social cultural effect of Korean influence on Indian society is still limited. The study concludes that the OTT platforms have become significant mediators of cultural globalization and growing Korean market expansion in India. It also encourages cross cultural exchange and blending between Indian and Korean cultures. Future research should focus on the long-term repercussions of these cultural shifts.