An Empirical Study on Gur (Jaggery) Industry (with special reference to operational efficiency & profitability measurement)

Gur (Jaggery) is a natural, traditional product of sugarcane. It can define as a honey brown coloured raw lump of sugar. Kushinagar district of Uttar-Pradesh has large number of Gur manufacturing units, mostly located in the rural areas and the manufacturers are following conventional methods for producing this. In the district the major clusters which are having more numbers of manufacturing units are Sukraouli, Kasia, Hata and Padarauna. Around half of the rural population is employed in gur making industry in this region. Although, there is no R & D assistance and marketing institutions for support. It is found that the manufacturers are producing majorly for distilleries and local licker producers, not for the food-plate or common man's consumption. The paper examines the cost-return analysis, profitability and operational efficiency of Gur manufacturing units in study area. The study revealed that units of medium and large sizes were able to cover their operating expenses with significant level of profit but small size units were earning a marginal profit. The profit earned by this category was very low as compared to other two sizes. The manufacturers are not interested in any new product of Gur, they just want to earn more profit through Gur only. This research will urged the policymakers to streamline strategies that promote stabilization of sugarcane economy and make the nation credible supplier of Gur in the International market, benefiting Gur makers, sugarcane growers and related stakeholders.

Efficiency of Indian Banking Industry in the Post-Reform Era

One of the major objectives of Indian banking sector reforms was to encourage operational self-sufficiency, flexibility and competition in the system and to increase the banking standards in India to the international best practices. The second phase of reforms began in 1997 with aim to reorganization measures, human capital development, technological up-gradation, structural development which helped them for achieving universal benchmarks in terms of prudential norms and pre-eminent practices. This paper seeks to determine the impact of various market and regulatory initiatives on efficiency improvements of Indian banks. Efficiency of firm is measured in terms of its relative performance that is, efficiency of a firm relative to the efficiencies of firms in a sample. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has used to identify banks that are on the output frontier given the various inputs at their disposal. The present study is confined only to the Constant-Return-to-Scale (CRS) assumption of decision making units (DMUs). Variable returns to scale (VRS) assumption for estimating the efficiency was not attempted. It was found from the results that national banks, new private banks and foreign banks have showed high efficiency over a period time than remaining banks.

Charge density wave and Weyl Semimetal phase in Y2_2Ir2_2O7_7

The subtle interplay of band topology and symmetry broken phase, induced by electron correlations, has immense contemporary relevance and potentially offers novel physical insights. Here, we demonstrate charge density wave (CDW) in bulk Y$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$ for T < 10 K, and its transition to the Weyl semimetal (WSM) phase at higher temperatures. The CDW phase is evidenced by a) current induced nonlinear conductivity with negative differential resistance at low temperature, b) low frequency Debye like dielectric relaxation at low temperature with a large dielectric constant, and c) an anomaly in the temperature dependence of the thermal expansion coefficient. The WSM phase at higher temperature is confirmed by the DC and AC transport measurements which show an inductive response at low frequencies. More interestingly, we show that by reducing the crystallite size, the low temperature CDW phase can be eliminated leading to the restoration of the WSM phase.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; minor correction

Determinants of Intravascular Resistance in Indian Diabetic Nephropathy Patients: A Hospital-Based Study

Aims and Objectives. Metabolic dysregulation has failed to explain clinical variability of patients with diabetic nephropathy and hence a renewed interest emerged in haemodynamic factors as determinant of progression and development of diabetic nephropathy. We therefore studied for various factors which can correlate with raised renal vascular resistance in diabetic nephropathy. Material and Methods. Renal vascular resistance was measured in patients with established and incipient diabetic nephropathy and compared with controls using noninvasive color Doppler examinations of intrarenal vasculature. Results. Renal vascular resistance correlated with age, duration of disease, GFR, serum creatinine, and stage of retinopathy. Renal vascular resistance was significantly reduced in patients on treatment with RAAS inhibitors and insulin, than those on OHA and antihypertensives other than RAAS inhibitors. Conclusion. The study implies that renal vascular resistance may help identify diabetics at high risk of developing nephropathy, and these set of patients could be candidates for RAAS inhibition and early insulin therapy even in patients without albuminuria

An investigation on microstructural features and bonding strength of magnesium-based multifunctional laminated composite developed by friction stir additive manufacturing

Recently, the demand for lightweight multilayered parts in electronics and biomedical felds has been accelerated and shown great interest in understanding the combined efect of multilayered materials. However, these industries are still facing the challenge of developing dissimilar multilayered materials that can be suitable for biomedical applications. In this context, magnesium emerges as a promising biocompatible material used for several biomedical applications. However, the issues related to joining magnesium alloys with other similar materials still need to be solved. Moreover, friction stir additive manufacturing (FSAM) occupies a niche domain for developing or joining biocompatible materials such as magnesium alloys with low weight and high strength. Therefore, the present work highlights the development of a multipurpose three-layered multifunctional laminated composite plate of magnesium-based AZ31B–Zn–Al 1100 through the FSAM route. Micro structural and morphological examinations were carried out by light microscopy and FESEM equipped with EDS analysis and line mapping. Moreover, the grain refnement at the interfaces during the FSAM was also addressed using the electron backscattered difraction (EBSD) study. Further, investigation on mechanical properties such as tensile test with fractography analysis and microhardness variation at the cross-section of the built-up section has been investigated. Furthermore, the cor rosion and tribological analysis was also performed, and a 3D proflometer was used to visualize the corroded and worn-out surfaces. The microstructural results revealed that the average grain size of 6.29 μm at interface AZ31B–Zn and 1.21 μm at interface Zn–Al 1100 occurred, improving the bonding strength and overall properties. The tensile strength has occurred as 171.5 MPa at 15.5% elongation, whereas maximum microhardness is reported as 105 HV at the interface of AZ31B–Zn and 84.6 HV at the interface of Zn–Al 1100. The corrosion rate was calculated as 0.00244 mm/day, and the average coefcients of friction (COF) for both the interfaces, such as AZ31B–Zn and Zn–Al 1100, are 0.309 and 0.212, respectively.Web of Science1281-254653

FORMULATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF METFORMIN HYDROCHLORIDE SUSTAINED RELEASE MATRIX TABLET CONTAINING CASSIA TORA MUCILAGE

All the present investigation an attempt has been made to study the formulation and evaluation of matrix tablet of Metformin HCL using natural mucilage of Cassia tora as a release retardant. The matrix tablet was formulated using different drug polymer ratio. The developed formulation of tablet was evaluated for pre-compression and post–compression method. The result of the pre-compression parameter like Bulk density, tapped density, Carr’s index and Hausner’s ratio were found to be with the limits indicating good flow properties of the granules. Swelling index reveals that with increasing mucilage concentration there is increased swelling showing 61% for F-2 at the end of 5 h whereas for F-3 it was around 89.9 % respectively. In- vitro drug release for F3 formulation was found to be 75% at the end of 10 h. With increases in mucilage concentration the drug release from the matrix tablet got retarded. In- vitro, drug release data obtained were fitted to various release model excess the possible mechanism of the drug release. The results of all these parameters are tabulated and depicted graphically in the result and discussion section. IR spectral studies revealed that the drug, polymer and excipients used were compatible.  Drug release profile of all formulation was plotted in different kinetics. The calculated regression coefficients showed a higher r2 value with higuchi equation (r2= 0.958). Hence the release data of the Tablet obeyed higuchi model and release the drug diffusion. Keywords: Cassia tora, mucilage, granules, drug release, polymerÂ

A protective role for nitric oxide and salicylic acid for arsenite phytotoxicity in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

The authors are thankful to Director, CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute (CSIR-NBRI), Lucknow for the facilities and for the financial support from the network projects (CSIR-INDEPTH), New Delhi, India. APS is thankful to CSIR New Delhi, India respectively, for the award of Research Associateship. RDT is gratefully thankful to Award of Emeritus Scientist (CSIR). GD is thankful to SERB-DST, New Delhi for award of NPDF. AK is thankful to UGC for award of DSKPDF. Award of Fast Track Scientist to SM from DST is gratefully acknowledged. We are also thankful to Mr. Dilip Chakraborty for technical assistance.Peer reviewedPostprin

Unveiling the combined effect of nano fertilizers and conventional fertilizers on crop productivity, profitability, and soil well-being

It is widely accepted that deficiency of macro (nitrogen) and micronutrients (zinc, copper etc.) affects the plant growth and development which cause a significant threat to crop production and food security. The Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (IFFCO) developed nano-urea (nano-N), nano-zinc (nano-Zn), and nano-copper (nano-Cu) liquid fertilizer formulations to enhance the crop yields, simultaneously addressing the nutrient deficiency, without causing toxicity. Therefore, this study was formulated to evaluate the effectiveness of nano-N (nano-urea), nano-Zn, and nano-Cu at varying N levels [0, 50, 75, and 100% of the recommended rates of nitrogen (RRN)] on maize-wheat and pearl millet-mustard systems during 2019–20 and 2020–21. The results exhibited that the application of nano-N + nano-Zn with 100% RRN exhibited significantly higher grain yields in maize (66.2–68.8%), wheat (62.6–61.9%), pearl millet (57.1–65.4%), and mustard (47.2–69.0%), respectively, over absolute control plots and combinations of three nano-fertilizers like nano-N + nano-Zn + nano-Cu applied plots. This was mainly attributed to the higher N and Zn uptake by the crops. However, 75% RRN with nano-N + nano-Zn also produced comparable yields. Thus, applying nano-N and nano-Zn via foliar applications, in conjunction with conventional urea, has the potential to reduce the required nitrogen fertilizer amount by up to 25%, while simultaneously maintaining equivalent yield levels. Similarly, 100% RRN and 75% RRN + nano-N + nano-Zn registered comparable profitability, soil mineral N, dehydrogenase activity (DHA), and soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC), during both the study years. However, further research and field trials on nano fertilizers alone or in combination with conventional fertilizers are essential to fully unlock its benefits and ascertain its long-term effects which may offer a pathway to more efficient and eco-friendly crop nourishment