Do Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Performance Scores Reduce the Cost of Debt? Evidence from Indian firms

This study aims to assess the impact of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings on the cost of debt of Indian firms from the year 2015 to 2020. One of the challenges that corporate India is going to face moving forward is that regulations with respect to environmental conservation, transparency, corporate social responsibility, and corporate governance will get stricter. This will undoubtedly push the companies to follow better ethical practices, adopt fair employee policies, and safeguard the environmental policies. So, this paper intends to evaluate the ESG lens of Indian companies concerning their financing decisions, viz the cost of debt. The firms under investigation are listed on the NIFTY 500, which reflects the top 500 companies in the eligible universe based on complete market capitalization. Data was sourced from the Bloomberg database. The paper uses cost of debt as the dependent variable; ESG score & individual E, S, G scores as independent variables; Market capitalization, net debt to equity ratio, and percentage of women on board and total debt to total asset ratio as control variables. Since the data was in a panel data format, we performed panel data regression from FY2015 to FY2020, and the method used was Least Squares Method (L.S. and A.R.). Different models were considered and it was found that the cost of debt which is the dependent variable, had a negative coefficient i.e., higher the ESG score, lower the cost of debt component for the firm and according to our model, it could be significantly proven at 10% level

UTILIZATION OF E- WASTE AND PLASTIC BOTTLE WASTE IN CONCRETE

E-waste from electrical and electronic equipment, that may be old or might have reached end of life and plastic waste from plastic mineral and cold drink bottles were collected and grinded to size of 2 mm using pulverizing machine. The grinded pieces were rubbed against each other with friction roller machine designed and fabricated by the authors. It is done to develop roughness and make grinded pieces shape irregular so that they can bond well with cement when mixed with it. A mix design was done for M20 grade of concrete by IS method. Ordinary Portland cement of 43 grade was selected. Grinded E-waste and plastic waste were replaced by 0%, 2%, and 4% of the fine aggregates. Compressive strength and flexural strength were tested and compared with control concrete. Experiments done shows increase in compressive strength by 5% and reduce cost of concrete production by 7% at optimum percentage of grinded waste. Grinded waste greater than 4.75mm in certain proportion act as a good filler material in concrete and on-going experiments are done to apply gap gradation by grinding the waste into specific sizes. This will ensure better packing density and hence good strength. Moreover decorative tiles were made with the grinded waste and white cement which give appealing look to the wall and are cheaper than the vitrified tiles

Development of Web-Application for High-Throughput Sequencing Data and In Silico Dissection of LINE-1 Retrotransposons in Cellular Senescence

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have been remarkably advantageous in opening new paths for scientific research. The large-scale generation of data has resulted in the advancement of tools for data analysis, but the requirement to implement increasing amount of tools in a systematic way is still a vast question. In the initial analysis of distant NGS datasets, we observed the need for an efficient framework for downstream analysis of NGS data. Therefore, the web application titled "RanchNGS" was developed. This particular web-framework aims to understand the downstream and integrative analysis for various sequencing data such as RNA-Seq, Ribo-seq and additionally ChIP-seq. RanchNGS benefits from an efficient analysis in a reduced time frame and without the need of any advanced programming skills. Furthermore, the role of transposable elements (TEs) in cellular senescence was revealed by studying distinct NGS technologies. TEs are segments of DNA that have the potential to be in-motion by jumping from one location in the genome to another. Due to this reason, they are also called as "jumping genes". Long Interspersed Nuclear Element-1 (LINE-1 or L1) are the only autonomous TEs currently active in human and non-human primate genomes. Our study primarily targeted a broad extent of L1 elements. The result of excessive oncogenic stress in immortalized cells undergoing senescence were investigated. The current study focused on the transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms that confer the cross-talk between L1 and host-defense machinery. It was observed that the transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of L1 elements are diminished as cells undergo senescence that takes precedence to the response activation of L1 elements at RNA and protein level. Moreover, we hypothesized that excessive oncogenic stress in immortalized cells could be related to L1 retrotransposition, triggering double- strand breaks and enabling cells to enter permanent cell cycle arrest

Comparative study of efficacy and safety of omega 3 fatty acids and fenofibrate with background atorvastatin therapy in patients of atherogenic dyslipidaemia

Background: Trials of atorvastatin combined either with fenofibrate or with omega-3 fatty acids (O3FA) have shown promising results in atherogenic dyslipidemia but there are very few studies where both these TGs lowering agents have been compared with each other. This study was conducted to compare efficacy and safety of these two agents on lipid profile of patients of atherogenic dyslipidaemia on background statin therapy and also to monitor effects of these interventions on serum uric acid (SUA) levels.Methods: About 90 patients of dyslipidemia were randomised to 3 groups and received O3FA (2000 mg), fenofibrate (80 mg) or dietary restrictions, each with atorvastatin (20 mg) in background for a period of 90 days. Total cholesterol (TC), HDL-C,TGs, LDL-C, SGOT and SGPT levels were done at baseline, 6 weeks and 12 weeks. Other parameters (SUA and BMI) were done at baseline and 12 weeks.Results: Both group 1 (O3FA) and group 2 (fenofibrate) showed highly significant fall in TG levels (p <0.001) in comparison to group 3 (dietary restrictions) whereas comparative TG reduction between groups 1 and group 2 was not significant. Group 2 also showed significant fall in LDL-C levels (p <0.01) in comparison to group 3. LDL-C reduction, TG reduction and SUA reduction was more in group 2 compared to group 1 followed by group 3. No significant difference was observed in the incidence of adverse effects in three study groups.Conclusions: Combination of fenofibrate and atorvastatin was more effective than that of omega-3 fatty acid and atorvastatin, in lowering serum TG and LDL-C levels. There was a significant reduction in SUA levels in all three groups, but combination of fenofibrate and atorvastatin again showed better outcomes. With respect to the safety, all the 3 groups were comparable. O3FA, however, may be a good alternative to fibrates in patients not tolerating latter

Passenger Screening using Deep Learning and Artificial Neural Networks

In this research, we have to detect the contrabands hidden in the human body’s scanned images at airport security machines using segmentation and classification. Present algorithm of security scanning machines at the airports of USA are producing high rate of false negatives which in cases lead to engage in a secondary, manual screening process that slows everything down. So to resolve this problem and to improve the detection of contrabands, new and efficient algorithm need to be made

A pharmacovigilance study of adverse drug reactions in a tertiary care hospital in Haryana

Background: Adverse drug reaction (ADR) is an inevitable risk associated with all the prescribed medicines. They vary in severity & duration in any population. Thus, ADRs are monitored and assessed on a large scale in our country by the Pharmacovigilance programme of India through adverse drug reaction monitoring centres. This study was taken to assess the pattern of ADR reported in a tertiary care hospital in Haryana.Methods: This study was conducted in the Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College, Karnal, Haryana from January 2018 to June 2019. ADRs were collected from different departments and were analysed according to gender, age, department wise distribution, drugs class involved and ADR that was reported.Results: A total of 233 ADRs were reported in the above mentioned period. Females were affected more than males, maximum number reported in the age group of 21-60 years. The maximum number of ADRs reported was from Dermatology department. Antimicrobials were the class of drugs that were responsible for the maximum number of ADRs reported. Skin manifestations of various types were the most reported ADRs.Conclusions: By keeping a careful and timely watch majority of the ADRS can be prevented by early intervention. There is also a need to ensure timely check on the drugs supplied by the various pharmaceutical companies who get the contract for government supply. This will be a step towards improving patient safety

A study regarding the availability and utilization of water supply and sanitation practices in rural Amritsar, Punjab, India

Background: Access to safe water and sanitation practices is an important issue of health and development at local, regional and national levels. The government has come up with various facilities regarding the water supply and sanitation but there are various factors which curtail their utilization. The present study deals with the extent of utilization and factors impeding the utilization of such services at the village level.Methods: The present impeding cross-sectional study was carried out in village Nagkalan, Amritsar, where the eldest adult member present in the house at the time of the visit was interviewed. Every house of the village was visited during the period of January 2017 to December 2017, and a total of 1123 families were included in the final analysis. Thereafter, data was compiled and analyzed.Results: Out of total 1123 families, only 31.4% were using government water supply (tap water); while 42.7% had no government connection at all and used submersible as their sole source of water supply. 20.2% did not have a toilet at their house and therefore practiced open defecation; out of which majority families belonged to lower socio-economic status (statistically significant). Out of total 896 families having a toilet at their house, there were only 30 families (3.4%) who responded that some of the family members practice open defecation. Also, only 6.1% of the respondents were aware about the functions of Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committee (VHSNC).Conclusions: More number of families (42.7%) were dependent on submersible pump as sole source of water supply. 20.2% lacked separate toilet facility, mostly belonging to lower socio- economic status. Only 6.1% were aware regarding the VHSNC. All the families disposed of their household waste on the roads

EVALUATION OF ROLE OF FICUS BENGALENSIS IN MODULATION OF COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT AND OXIDATIVE STRESS IN DIABETIC RATS

Objectives: Our objective was to study the effects of Ficus benghalensis on cognitive behavior and oxidative stress in diabetic rats and to compare with vitamin C and glimepiride. Methods: Wistar rats of either sex randomized into five groups of diabetic rats by streptozocin (STZ), five groups of non-diabetic rats (distilled water) (n=10). Subgroup division (F. benghalensis dose I and II, i.e., 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg; Vitamin C 100 mg/kg and glimepiride 0.5 mg/kg) were done. Each drug was given to one diabetic and one non-diabetic group. Other set served as control. Assessment of blood glucose, cognitive function (using continuous avoidance apparatus and Morris water maze test), and oxidative stress (measuring Malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH) levels) were done on Day 0 and 30. The acquisition phase of cognitive behavior tests was assessed on 0, 14, and 29 days and retention phase was assessed on 1, 15, and 30 day. Results: As compared to control group, F. benghalensis dose I, dose II, and glimepiride showed significant decrease (p&lt;0.001) in blood glucose. F. benghalensis dose I, dose II, vitamin C, and glimepiride group showed significant decrease in acquisition and retention of transfer latency on 29 and 30 days. Significant increase in retention of step-down latency on 30 day was shown by both the doses of F. benghalensis. Both doses of F. benghalensis, vitamin C and glimepiride group showed significant increase in retention of Quadrant-time in comparison to control on 30 days. Significant decrease in brain MDA levels while a significant increase in brain GSH levels was observed in all groups except control. Conclusion: F. benghalensis reverses behavioral and biochemical changes induced by STZ and effects are comparable with that of vitamin C and glimepiride