Right to Education Act: Claiming Education for Every Child

Educational rights are prime reality for India’s millions of children who can be rightfully termed as social categories at risk of exclusion. These children have been deprived of education of minimum quality while some of them remain even beyond the reach of formal schooling. The irony is that their educational deprivation is obtained at the backdrop of India’s most enabling constitutional guarantees, judicial and legislatures that are well-equipped to protect and uplift the pathetic existential conditions of these social groups. A conscious neglect of school education in the initial decades of independent India is termed by Dreze and Sen(2013) as a ‘home-grown folly’. 1 This study aims to investigate the challenges of the Right to Education Act, 2009 among  Primary School Teachers of Purnea district of Bihar. A descriptive survey is used in the study. The information was gathered from as many in-service teachers as possible working in primary schools of Purnea. A questionnaire with open-ended objective questions was created to investigate teachers' perspectives, challenges, and suggestions regarding the RTE Act. The study's findings revealed a significant gap between policy involvements and how they are actually perceived and implemented in the field

Business Judgment Rule: Defense for the Directors in Cases of Alleged Breach of Duties

In this article researchers will explain about Business Judgment Rule and how it can be used as a defence by the directors’ of the corporation. In simple language it can be said that the “Business judgment rule” is nothing but a judicially evolved doctrine derived out of case laws in the field of corporate laws. This doctrine has its origin in USA followed by U.K. The rule is in use in some form or the other in the common law countries e.g. whales, Australia, Canada, India &c. Australia has codified this rule under sec.1180(2) Corporations Act 2001, in South Africa Companies Act 71 of 200 section 76(4) provides for director’s duty to work towards best interest of the business with due care, skill and diligence, in India section 166(2) of Companies Act, 2013 requires that for the benefit of different constituencies of a company a director must act bona fide to promote the object of the company. The Business Judgment Rule tries to protect the directors of the company by creating a safe harbour for those who works for the betterment and interest of the corporations in an honest manner and in good faith. The scope of the paper is restricted to mainly US decisions, which has seen the greatest development in interpreting cases, though certain important landmarks in the Indian and UK context have also been referred to. The paper is limited by secondary sources such as books, articles and reports available on the subject

A Review on Vitamin D Deficiency

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that plays an important role in bone metabolism and seems to have some anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating properties. In addition, recent epidemiologic studies have observed relationships between low vitamin D levels and multiple disease states. Low vitamin D levels are associated with increased overall and cardiovascular mortality, cancer incidence and mortality, and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Although it is well known that the combination of vitamin D and calcium is necessary to maintain bone density as people age, vitamin D may also be an independent risk factor for falls among the elderly. Vitamin D had been linked to skeletal disease including calcium, phosphorus, and bone metabolism, osteoporosis, fractures, muscle strength, and falls. In the 2000s, growing scientific attention turned to non-skeletal chronic diseases as vitamin D deficiency was linked to cancer, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, infectious diseases, and autoimmune diseases, as well as mortality

Employee Productivity: Exploring the Multidimensional Nature with Acculturation, Open Innovation, Social Media Networking and Employee Vitality in the Indian Banking Sector: An Analytical Approach

Purpose: The multi-dimensional nature of ‘employee productivity’ as a research construct needs extensive exploration, especially in view of the job-resources framework and in terms of stakeholder and accountability perspectives. The research study explored the topic with “individual” perceptions in exploring the pattern and tendency of the impact of acculturation and other organizational resources and protocols on the “perceived employee productivity”.   Theoretical framework: The theoretical implications of the research lie in the empirical exploration of the influences across employees, workplace-provided job resources, and contextual aspects that seem to shape the impetus for employee productivity.   Design/Methodology/Approach: The study delved into the aspects of ‘acculturation’, ‘open innovation’, ‘social media networking’, ‘employee vitality’, and ‘employee productivity’ for measuring the phenomenon in the Indian banking sector. The factors were operationalized with Likert scaling instruments and extractive factor analysis and structural equation modeling were leveraged.   Findings: The study observed a positive significant relationship among acculturation, open innovation, social media networking, employee vitality, and employee productivity in the Indian banking sector.   Research, Practical & Social implications: The research provides evidence that the organizational provision of job resources is a driving force behind the attainment of effective and sustainable employee productivity in the banking service sector. The research outcomes support and vindicate the prior research on the role of job resources in coping with workplace-derived uncertainties and exhibiting workplace productivity.   Originality/Value: The research outcomes illustrate the set of implications that possess meaning for core managerial application. The research has achieved the operationalization of employee productivity based on organizational support in the form of job resources

AMENDED ADAPTIVE ALGORITHM FOR CORPUS BASED IMPROVED SPEECH ENHANCEMENT

Speech enhancement objective is to improve the noisy speech signals for human perception. The intention of speech enhancement algorithm is to improve the performance of the communication, when the signal is occluded by noise. The quality and intelligibility of speech is reduced because of the presence of background noise. There are various adaptive filtering algorithms for speech enhancement. The existing least mean square and normalised least mean square algorithms have the problem of choosing the step size that guarantees the stability of the algorithm. To overcome this problem, we focus on speech enhancement by amended adaptive filtering. The proposed algorithm follows blind source separation strategy using adaptive filtering. Comparison of existing adaptive filtering algorithms with proposed algorithm justifies the amendment incorporated in this paper. Taking the objective criteria into account the algorithms has been tested for segmental signal to noise ratio (SegSNR), segmental mean square error (SegMSE), signal to noise ratio and mean square error. The proposed algorithm can be used for hand-free cell phone, hearing aids and teleconferencing systems

NANOEMULSION COMPONENTS SCREENING OF QUETIAPINE FUMARATE: EFFECT OF SURFACTANT AND CO SURFACTANT

Objective: Correct selection of oils, surfactants, and co surfactants along with their optimum concentration is essential to get stable and clinicallyacceptable nanoemulsions. The aim of the present study was, to provide an efficient screening approach for the excipients selection for the optimumnanoemulsion formulation development.Methods and Results: The solubility of quetiapine (QTP) fumarate in the oils (Capryol 90, isopropyl myristate, castor oil, and olive oil), surfactants(labrasol, cremophor EL, Brij L23, Tween 20, and Tween 80), and co surfactants (ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, and propylene glycol) was taken as thecriterion for selection. The maximum solubility of QTP was found to 35.54±0.91, 40.4±0.83, and 32.07±0.92 in Isopropyl myristate, Tween 20, andpropylene glycol, respectively. The effect of Tween 20/propylene glycol mass ratio on the nanoemulsion formation was also studied by varying theratio from 3:1 to 1:0 for the further optimization of the system. The highest nanoemulsion region was obtained at Tween 20/propylene glycol inthe mass ratio of 3:1. Formulations were selected from the phase diagram at which concentration of oil was constant with increasing (30, 35, 40,45% wt/wt) concentration of surfactant/co surfactant mass ratio (Smix) and subjected to thermodynamic stability tests. The optimized formulationswere characterized for particle size, viscosity, pH and refractive index measurements. All the selected formulations were found to be stable, and thedroplet size was found to be <100 nm.Conclusion: The formulations were thermodynamically stable and can be effectively used for the drug delivery applications

FORMULATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ROPINIROLE HYDROCHLORIDE LOADED SOLID LIPID NANOPARTICLES

Objective: The aim of the present study was to formulate and evaluate the Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLNs) of Ropinirole Hydrochloride (ROP).Methods: ROP-loaded SLNs were prepared by a double emulsion method using glyceryl monostearate (GMS) as lipid and soya lecithin as a stabilizer. All formulated ROP-loaded SLNs were characterized for its particle size and size distribution, zeta potential, % Entrapment Efficiency (EE) and drug loading. The formulations were optimized in terms of GMS to soya lecithin ratio and sonication time of primary emulsion. Shape and surface morphology of the optimized formulation was studied using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. In vitro and ex vivo Study of optimized formulation was also performed and compared with a pure drug solution.Results: The particle size and polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential and EE of optimized formulation were found to be 320±5.15 nm, 0.260±0.012,-37.9±1.43, 56.13±2.33% respectively. In vitro and ex vivo permeation study revealed that percentage cumulative drug release of optimized formulation was found to be 58.45±1.75% and 53.75±1.34 % respectively in 24 h and more than 90% drug release from pure drug solution was found to be within 6 h. Drug release from the formulation is sustained as compared to the plain drug solution which release 97.74 % (in vitro) and 88.15 % (ex vivo) of the drug within 6 h.Conclusion: From the results, it concludes that drug released from SLNs follows sustained release pattern and it will enhance the overall activity of the drug.Â

Care of caregivers – who is responsible?

Demographic and epidemiologic transition coupled with increasing life expectancy has resulted in high old age dependency ratios and rising burden of comorbidities; especially non communicable diseases. This demands large pool of caregivers to support the dependents; physically, psychologically and financially. But the problems faced by caregivers – stress, anxiety, monetary, physical exhaustion and sickness, lack of time for personal care and health resulting in caregiver burden – is often neglected. This article summarizes the importance and/or role of caregivers, theirs problems and recommendations to identify, manage and prevent caregiver burden. The involvement of various stakeholders namely medical and para-medical colleges through training and medical education, hospitals, physicians, psychiatrists and/or psychologists, research organizations, governments and their policies is the need of the hour

Effect of Camphor Incorporation on the Material and Antibacterial Properties of Soy Protein Isolate Films

Seeking for green alternatives to synthetic plastics, soy protein based plastics are becoming quite a popular choice. Soy protein isolate (SPI) is a plant derived protein that holds fair film forming abilities. It demonstrates evenness of film surface, decent tensile strength and interacts easily with a wide range of additives. Additives are generally added to improve the material properties and antibacterial nature of the film. In this study, we have explored the effect of camphor incorporation on the material properties and overall performance of the film. SPI based films (having 7% SPI (w/v)) were prepared by solution casting method. The concentration of camphor was varied from 0.5 to 3% w/w of 7% SPI. The films prepared by camphor addition were characterized for their transmittance, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and mechanical properties. The FTIR spectra confirm the incorporation of camphor as a major change in the band intensity was seen compared to neat films. However, camphor addition made the films hydrophilic and a noticeable decrease in the tensile strength was seen. The water vapour transmission rate increased upon camphor addition as compared to neat SPI films. Nevertheless, camphor- SPI film was stable as very minimum leaching occurred during the study. Unlike the neat camphor solution (1-3% w/v), the camphor modified SPI films didn’t exhibit antibacterial activity against Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli. Camphor was seen to significantly increase the antioxidant properties of SPI films