The Distribution, Nesting Habits and Status of Threatened Vulture Species in Protected Areas of Central India

Protected Area (PA) establishment is one of the commoner strategies for wildlife conservation, but the effectiveness of these developments is rarely evaluated in terms of species’ performance. This article assesses the effectiveness of PAs of Central India, using an assessment of threatened vulture species. These species may be considered as keystone species in this region. Relevant parameters considered for assessment comprised: (i) the presence and population density of vultures in PAs compared with those in unprotected forests and agricultural landscapes; (ii) counts of the breeding population, nesting preferences and environmental factors for such variables; and (iii) the impacts of policies designed to combat the effects of the deadly diclofenac drug on vulture populations. Quantitative (total counts of vultures and nests, transect surveys) and qualitative (semi-structured interviews, secondary data surveys) methodologies were used in data collection, to provide an adequate information base. White-rumped, Longbilled, Egyptian and Red-headed vultures (resident) and Cinereous Vulture, Eurasian Griffon and Himalayan Griffon (migratory) were recorded in PAs. The probability of vulture occupancy was significantly higher in PAs (44–51%), than in unprotected forest (17.6–17.8%) and agricultural areas (0.03%). The average vulture density in PAs (0.529 ±0.228 km-2 ) was also much higher than in unprotected forest (0.014±0.012 km-2 ) and agricultural areas. The presence of active, inactive and abandoned nests in PAs revealed favorable habitat conditions for breeding, potential breeding and floater vulture categories. Disturbance factors were insignificant. The statutory ban on diclofenac use had a significant impact on vulture populations within the PAs, but this factor was insignificant in surrounding areas. These findings indicate a positive role of PAs in conservation, with insignificant impacts of the diclofenac ban across different types of landcover. It is concluded that increased promotion of environmental education is important to ensure effective vulture conservation and the success of PAs

Gendered Dimensions of Trade: Evidence from Arunachal Pradesh, India

International trade has traditionally played an essential role in driving women-centric economic empowerment. Women’s participation as owners or managers has remained consistently low over the years. In India's case, a previous study conducted by UNDP revealed that women entrepreneurs preferred engaging in informal cross-border business as it was less risky with no tax burdens and their discomfort in dealing with male customs officials (UNDP, 2016). One of the critical limitations of active business engagement is socio-economic and cultural restriction, especially at the grassroots level. The case in Arunachal Pradesh is no different, as the concept of entrepreneurship of women in this field is a relatively recent phenomenon. In Arunachal Pradesh, the market is mainly controlled by women, yet women's participation in small and medium enterprises is less in number. In this context, the current paper discusses the nature of women entrepreneurs’ role in Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and cross-border trade. It unveils the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in Arunachal Pradesh and along with industrial and policy-related bottlenecks. The discussion is based on the primary data collected from the women-led/managed/owned MSMEs to study the gender dimensions of trade in Arunachal Pradesh. The findings of the study are that women entrepreneurship primarily gravitates around smaller-sized firms, with most women-led enterprises accounting for micro-enterprises in the formal sector. Like elsewhere in Arunachal Pradesh too, there remain socio-economic and cultural restrictions, especially at the grassroots level. Women lag in terms of awareness about import and export, technology, and dedicated bank accounts. &nbsp

FREE RADICAL LOAD IN LYMPHOID ORGANS (SPLEEN AND THYMUS) OF INDIAN GOAT CAPRA HIRCUS: ROLE OF SEX, SEASON AND MELATONIN

Objective: Lymphoid organs (i.e. spleen and thymus) are important due to functional dynamicity. As a result, the generated free radicals may limit their function. Thus, present study was aimed to note seasonal and sex dependent variation in free radical status in Indian goat Capra hircus under the aegis of melatonin which is a well-known antioxidant.Methods: Markers of oxidative stress (i.e. Super Oxide Dismutase; SOD, Catalase; CAT, Glutathione Peroxidases; GPx) were measured by standardized protocols. Total Antioxidant Status (TAS) was measured by 2, 2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid; ABTS) radical cation method and Lipid Per Oxidation (LPO) was measured by Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) level. Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR) expression in lymphoid organs was noted by Western Blot analysis. The circulatory level of cortisol and melatonin were estimated by commercial ELISA kits.Results: We noted significantly high levels of SOD, Catalase, GPx activities and ABTS level in lymphoid organs during monsoon and low during winter. Malonaldehyde; MDA a marker for lipid peroxidation was significantly high during summer and was significantly low during monsoon and winter. Cortisol level was significantly high during monsoon whereas melatonin level was significantly high during winter. GR expression was significantly high in males during monsoon and winter, but the level was significantly high only during monsoon in females.Conclusion: All the results suggest that monsoon and winter are the seasons of stress and to buffer the elevated stress level, melatonin coupled both the roles of free radical scavenger (as a free molecule) and elevation of antioxidant enzymes.Â

Essays On Banking

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation.June 2019. Major: Business Administration. Advisors: Andrew Winton, Martin Szydlowski. 1 computer file (PDF); vi, 87 pages.This thesis consists of two essays. In the first essay I try to explain why risk managers exist and provide a reason for risk management failure. Banks rely on risk managers to prevent their employees from making high risk low value investments. Why can't the CEOs directly incentivize their employees to choose the most profitable investment? I show that having a separate risk manager is more profitable for banks and is also socially efficient. This is because there is conflict between proving incentive to choose the most profitable investment and providing incentives to exert effort on those investments. Hence, if the tasks are split between a risk manager who approves the investments and a loan officer (or trader) who exerts effort, then both optimal investment choice and optimal effort can be achieved. I further examine some reasons for risk management failure wherein a CEO may ignore the risk manager when the latter is risk averse and suggests safe investments. As is usually the case before a financial crisis, my model predicts that the CEO is more likely to ignore the risk manager when the risky investments are yielding higher profits. The second essay studies the impact of expectation of bailout of a credit insurance firm on the investment strategies of the counterparty banks. If the failure of credit insurance firm may result in the bankruptcy of its counterparty banks, then the regulator will be forced to bail it out. This imperfectly targeted time inconsistent policy incentivizes the banks to make correlated investments ex ante. All banks want their assets to fail exactly at the time when the bailout is occurring to indirectly benefit from the bailout of the insurance firm and hence they make correlated investments. I build a model in which correlated investment by banks, under priced insurance contracts and a systemically important insurance firm arise endogenously and show that while credit insurance helps in risk sharing during good times, it can also create systemic risk. I also show that putting a limit on size of insurance firm can mitigate this problem

Bewegungsinduziertes Rauschen in marinen elektromagnetischen Daten

The marine controlled source electromagnetic (mCSEM) signals are often reported perturbed by the oceanic electromagnetic (EM) noise. We started first with the theoretical development of the EM field creation by the oceanic movements. The assumption that oceanic charges experience Lorentz force and create secondary electric field via galvanic and inductive processes leads the formulation of the Maxwell's equations. The equations are solved for two different modes (Tangential Magnetic (TM) and Tangential Electric (TE) mode), which are excited by two different velocity structures. The use of different velocity structure for different electromagnetic mode construction simplifies the physics of the field creation. Moreover, the use of the layered earth model and the layered oceanic velocity for the formulations offer a better simulation possibility. After a theoretical understanding, we studied the background electromagnetic field with two different data (mCSEM and mMT) sets. The spectral techniques are used to characterize the sources of noise in the mCSEM data. To further support the results, a technique which we name spectral-directionalogram (SDGram), is developed. The technique provides the direction of the field lines for every registered frequency in varying time. An application with the mCSEM data is presented which shows the essence of the technique. Moreover, the marine magnetotelluric (mMT) data set is analyzed to further aid the understanding. In the lower spectral range by the modeling of the electric and the magnetic spectra of six different stations, we observe a correspondence with the natural field decay. In addition, the spectral resemblances between Ey, Bx and By fields are noted. We present an explanation for the noted similarity. We observe powerful recording of microseisms at significant offsets during the time of mCSEM recording, signifies it as noise for the data.Das Signal der marinen controlled source Electromagnetik (mCSEM) wird durch das elektromagnetische Rauschen des Ozeans gestört. Wir befassen uns zunächst theoretisch mit der Erzeugung von elektromagnetischen Feldern durch Wasserbewegungen im Ozean. Die Tatsache, dass auf elektrische Ladungen im Ozean eine Lorentz-Kraft wirkt und durch galvanische und induktive Prozesse ein sekundäres elektrisches Feld erzeugt wird, kann mit Hilfe der Maxwell-Gleichungen beschrieben werden. Die Gleichungen werden für zwei unterschiedliche Moden (Tangential Magnetisch und Tangential Elektrisch Mode) gelöst, welche auf zwei unterschiedlichen Geschwindigkeits strukturen basieren. Der Ansatz eines geschichteten Erdmodells und geschichteter Geschwindigkeiten im Ozean bietet bessere Simulationsmöglichkeiten. Unter Berücksichtigung der theoretischen Überlegungen, wurde das elektromagnetische Hintergrund-Feld mit zwei unterschiedlichen Datensätzen (mCSEM und mMT) untersucht. Mittels Spektralanalyse werden die Quellen des Rauschens in dem mCSEM Daten charakterisiert. Zur die Bestätigung der Ergebnisse wurde eine Technik entwickelt, die als spectral-directionalogram bezeichnet wird. Diese Technik liefert die Richtung der Feldlinien für jede registrierte Frequenz über die Zeit. Für das weitere Verständnis wird darüber hinaus der marine magnetotellurische (mMT) Datensatz analysiert. Durch Modellierung der elektrischen und magnetischen Spektren von sechs unterschiedlichen Stationen wird im niederfrequenten Spektralbereich eine Korrespondenz mit dem natürlichen Abfall des Feldes beobachtet. Die nicht-linearen Wechselwirkungen der Wellen an der Meeresoberfläche sind zu erwähnen, da sie zu einem time-ambient EM-Feld beitragen. Diese Beiträge wurden in beiden Datensätzen (d.h. mCSEM und mMT) beobachtet. Die Stärke dieses Effekts legt nahe, dass dies insignifikant für Stationen mit kleinem Offset, aber signifikant für Stationen mit großen Abständen ist

Developmental Performance Ranking of SAARC Nations: An Application of TOPSIS Method of Multi-Criteria Decision Making

To be developed, nations are trying to cope up with the fast-changing economy and technology of the world. But the development of a nation does not depend only on these two factors rather several other indicators are essential to a country’s development. The present study deals with the progress of the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries towards development through social, economic and environmental stability. This study aims at analyzing the comparative developmental performance of the SAARC nations in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this study, we have prioritized the 8 SAARC nations based on 4 indicators (economic, demographic, health and environment indicators) and 20 variables using the multi-criteria decision-making method (MCDM). The result showed that Sri Lanka has prioritized 1st followed by Bhutan. India has been ranked 4th and Afghanistan was least prioritized

Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Arunachal Pradesh: Opportunities and Challenges

Bio-geographically, Arunachal Pradesh is the wealthiest province of the entire Himalayas. The picturesque terra firma full of natural beauty and rich cultural opulence, in its entirety, falls under the eastern Himalayan landscape. This north eastern territory of the country was previously called “Terra Incognita” till the beginning of the 20th Century, and hitherto remains one of the least studied states in India today. The state’s socio-economic development is currently in a transitional phase with variations across different districts. Considering the quality of social capital available, there is a dire need to emphasise proper resource flow and foster an understanding of the importance of the existent social capital. It may be noted that entrepreneurs are powerful instruments of development and economic change. So, panacea in the long term is the promotion of social innovation and entrepreneurship, which will give momentum to the State’s developmental agenda and address the state’s social issues. Indeed requires a motivating ecosystem which prioritises essential skills and innovation and adopts a fresh, sustainable view of resources and technology. Therefore, the present paper explores the prospects of social innovation and entrepreneurship in the state with particular reference to contemporary social concerns adopting a practice-based approach. &nbsp

Pathway from nutrition intake to wage among elementary workers in India

Despite the consistent effort to reduce hunger and poverty, a sizeable proportion of the population in India is living below the poverty line (22% 2011-12) and 36% women and 34% men were underweight. Malnutrition and poverty form a vicious circle of poverty which needs to be removed through government intervention. In the context, using data from national representative “employment and unemployment” (and 61st round 2004-05 and 68th round 2011-12) of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) we have tried to establish the association between nutrition status and wage in India. In order to take into account the heterogeneous effect of the calorie intake across the income distribution and endogeneity of the calorie consumption, we have applied instrumental variable quantile regression. Regression result confirms the heterogeneous impact of per-capita calorie intake across household income distribution. Result shows that the marginal effect of per consumer unit calorie intake on wage decrease with the increase in wage. Calorie intake elasticity of wage gain increases from 0.76 at the lowest 10th quantile to the 1.11 at the highest 90th quantile of the wage distribution in 2004-05. In 2011-12 calorie-wage elasticity decreased to 0.42 and 0.79 respectively at the 10th and 90th quantile of the wage distribution. Study clearly shows the urgent need of public nutritional supplementation at the low of the wage distribution for the maximization of wage gain from the marginal public nutritional expenditure

Developmental Performance Ranking of SAARC Nations: An Application of TOPSIS Method of Multi-Criteria Decision Making

To be developed, nations are trying to cope up with the fast-changing economy and technology of the world. But the development of a nation does not depend only on these two factors rather several other indicators are essential to a country’s development. The present study deals with the progress of the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries towards development through social, economic and environmental stability. This study aims at analyzing the comparative developmental performance of the SAARC nations in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this study, we have prioritized the 8 SAARC nations based on 4 indicators (economic, demographic, health and environment indicators) and 20 variables using the multi-criteria decision-making method (MCDM). The result showed that Sri Lanka has prioritized 1st followed by Bhutan. India has been ranked 4th and Afghanistan was least prioritized