Editorial

Higher Educational Institutes (HEIs) in India have grown in terms of numbers, mission, diversity, courses offered, financial, physical and human resources leading to formation of a complex eco-system where expectations of service from the faculty are on the rise. The balance between engaging in teaching and research of higher education institutions often result in dilemma for faculty, especially those who are working toward rank promotions. Though knowledge dissemination is one of the fundamental roles of higher educational institutions, knowledge creation is also a sine-qua-non to enhance quality of educational services provided by these institutions. Knowledge creation and knowledge dissemination are two sides of the same coin and adeptness in both these realms is a prerequisite for the HEIs to fulfill its mission and obligations to students, scholars and to society. However, disproportionate focus on research and publications often is detrimental to the quality of teaching. When the trepidation of 'publish or perish' hangs over as a dark cloud faculty members develop a propensity to prioritize publications over teaching and counseling to students. In addition, many HEIs, worldwide, pressurize their teachers and researchers to continue publishing scores of papers in peer-reviewed, refereed, indexed, and non-predatory journals with high impact factors. Faculty members therefore often venture to produce articles in diversified areas beyond their specializations so as to increase the 'number of publications'. 'A rolling stone gathers no moss' and a teacher who beats about the bush from one area of investigation to the other does not vertically build up himself/herself in terms of real expertise in a field of study. When a faculty initially takes up research in insurance, produces a Ph.D scholar and then suddenly switches to agricultural marketing or tourism marketing with the hope of producing another Ph.D scholar and more publications, actually worked out by the scholar, the specialization and depth of knowledge in a particular field of the teacher is questionable. Moreover, this approach is not sustainable, though it may be rewarding in the short run through career up gradations. Faculty burnout and turnover will be the natural consequences of this approach will leave many faculties without the time or energy to dedicate to being the preeminent teachers they dream to be. Research and publications should therefore be driven by the passions, interests and capabilities of the teachers. The motivation to carry on meaningful and productive research in one's area of interest should be much more intrinsic than extrinsic.

The journal, therefore encourages faculty members to research on and publish articles based on their expertise in their specialized fields and also encourage their scholars to publish their research outputs. This volume has five articles and a special communiqué on Gross National Happiness. This volume could have incorporated more articles, however since the publication of this journal is entirely financed from the budget head of the Department of Commerce, therefore balance had necessarily to be struck between the size of the volume and the costs of publication.

In the first article, Kriti Shakya and Dr. Gangotree Ghosh explored the concentration pattern of women-owned enterprises in the hilly regions of North Bengal, aiming to identify the sectors where women are predominantly engaged. They have found out that women entrepreneurs are engaged in small businesses across various sectors, including tourism, retail trading, handicrafts, food processing, agro-based manufacturing, and service-oriented industries. They have found that women entrepreneurs in the hilly regions have a strong preference for small-scale, home-operated businesses that rely on personal skills influenced by ease of access and limited infrastructure.

In the second article Bishal Routh and Dr. Joy Sarkar deeply examined the randomness and predictability of the rupee-dollar exchange rate. They developed a working hypothesis to compare the out-of-sample forecasting abilities of the ARIMA model to those of a pure random walk (RW). The authors have demonstrated that the rupee-dollar exchange rate exhibits a trend component. Their research has revealed that the ARIMA model outperforms the pure RW model as a predictor. The error measures, using RMSE and MAE, demonstrate that the ARIMA model possesses more than twice the predictive power compared to the pure random walk.

In the third article Md. Afnan Alam and Dr. Soumitra Sarkar argued that since fertilisers play a key role in the agriculture the government needs to implement proper regulations, policies, and subsidies to ensure stability, growth, and check hindrances in supply. Given the nature of subsidies and schemes like the Neemcoated Urea policy, Nutrient-Based Subsidy scheme and Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, it is indicative that government policies play a vital role in the production and consumption of fertilisers. The authors attempt to find the shift in production trend through a structural break test and find the impact of these policies and regimes on production.

The fourth article written by Md. Nasim Ansari and Dr. Jamaluddeen described the untapped potential of pineapple cultivation in West Bengal, India's largest pineapple-producing state, while exposing critical inefficiencies that hinder growth. they have stated that farmers remain trapped by outdated practices, financial constraints, and a marketing system dominated by intermediaries, severely limiting. their share of profits. They also revealed the inefficiencies of major marketing channels, where intermediaries capture the majority of profits and the key factors like access to credit, training, and infrastructure as crucial to enhancing productivity. They have offered a roadmap for improving both farmer livelihoods and the region's economic potential, making it an essential read for stakeholders in agricultural development.

Prof. Saamdu Chetri in special communiqué states that happiness of the people is a better way to judge how well a government is doing than standard economic measures. It becomes a holy act of service when governance helps people grow in all areas—material, emotional, spiritual, and social.

I thank the contributors for researching on issues of utmost importance and complying with the suggestions and criticisms of reviewers on time. I express my gratitude to all the erudite reviewers who have spared their valuable time to review the articles and helped in improving the quality of the articles published in this volume..

Prof. Samirendra Nath Dhar

Chief Editor