How does Brady-type commercial debt restructuring work?

The Brady Plan is a pragmatic approach to debt restructuring that combines the relatively recent feature of debt and debt service reduction and the support of official creditors. The underlying premise of those adopting the Brady Plan is that the existing stock of debt can never be fully serviced, even through the country has embarked on a far-reaching adjustment program. To date, only a handful of countries (Costa Rica, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela) have successfully concluded their debt reduction negotiations through a Brady Plan with commercial creditors. Others, such as the Philippines, have engaged in Brady-type debt reduction for part of their outstanding commercial debt. The author explains what happens when, in response to a country's request, the creditors agree to negotiate to reduce the burden of outstanding commercial debt.Strategic Debt Management,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Financial Intermediation,Housing Finance

Factors affecting private financial flows to Eastern Europe, 1989-91

This paper aims at identifying and summarizing some of the factors which influence the market's differing perceptions of Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Poland. Information on market perceptions was obtained as a result of numerous interviews with commercial banks and a few investors active in central and eastern Europe. The first section summarizes and compiles cross-country findings in the following areas: (a) the importance of the Soviet umbrella; (b) indicators of relative indebtedness; (c) a summary of funds flowing to the region, by source, from 1989 onwards; (d) a discussion of the maturity profile of commercial debt, in particular the magnitude of short-term debt; (e) project finance and direct foreign investment: who are other private creditors? What factors influence the amount of project finance available?; (f) the institutional setup of the emerging financial sector; and (g) long-term commercial flows, in particular bond finance: access to the Eurobond market for medium- and long-term funds. The rest of the paper contains further details for individual countries. All data have been provided by commercial banks or country reports issued by the Institute of International Finance, since these figures are used by private lenders when assessing the prospects of a particular borrower.Municipal Financial Management,Banks&Banking Reform,Financial Intermediation,Strategic Debt Management,Environmental Economics&Policies

How can debt swaps be used for development?

The idea of debt conversion is that instead of continuing to make payments on outstanding loans in hard currency in the face of debt servicing difficulties, the debtors find some other way to settle debts that is satisfactory to themselves and the creditor. The author discusses the importance of debt conversion as a development tool, contrasts conversion of debt owed to public and private creditors,touches on the issue of its impact on inflation, and examines criteria for determining which kinds of debt are suitable for conversion. Debt conversion projects may be a useful, noncontroversial vehicle for bringing in domestic managerial talent from local nongovernment organizations on contract as responsible parties for implementation of a specific project. The author concludes by discussing two ways to strengthen institutions for carrying out debt conversions. One way is through establishment of a trust fund. National environmental trust funds have been established in several countries in connection with debt-for-nature swaps. Another way is for sector policymakers to approach international counterpart nongovernment organizations directly to find out if interest exists in funding specific development activities through debt conversions to support a well-defined sectoral program.Strategic Debt Management,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Housing Finance

Capturing the uncertainties of retail development: The case of emerging markets

This paper aims to better understand how retail development in emerging markets might occur by carrying out a detailed analysis of Indian retailing and then applying the results to a wider range of emerging markets. The goal is to identify potential patterns of future retail development in emerging economies. The scenarios approach was considered an appropriate methodology for investigating developing economies as it accepts structural uncertainty with multiple interpretations and multiple futures. In fact for retailing, there are countless ‘right’ answers, endless combinations of business models and infinite permutations of key themes and approaches. Conceptualising the evolution of different retail formats taking the scenarios approach is therefore a prudent choice of methodology, especially in wanting to avoid the dangers of over formalising the format development process within the retail context in emerging markets. Four possible visions for retail development in India, each with their own benefits and costs: a Kirana Kingdom, Sanskriti Planets, Sasta World or Mishrit Universe were developed from the primary research conducted and then tested in the context of other emerging markets. A combination of regulatory intervention and the changing cultural disposition of consumers on account of changing socio-economic conditions play a significant role in the development of retailing in emerging markets. The significant role of the politics of retailing in emerging markets has also been highlighted in this paper. Retail development in emerging markets can therefore be aligned more closely to combination theory where the consumer-regulation configuration plays a significant role in how retail evolves and develops in these markets

Protection against acute adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity by garlic: Role of endogenous antioxidants and inhibition of TNF-α expression

BACKGROUND: Oxidative stress is the major etiopathological factor in adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity. Relatively low amounts of endogenous antioxidant makes the heart vulnerable to oxidative stress-induced damage. Chronic oral administration of garlic has been reported to enhance the endogenous antioxidants of heart. We hypothesized that garlic-induced enhanced cardiac antioxidants may offer protection against acute adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity. RESULTS: Rats were either administered freshly prepared garlic homogenate (250 and 500 mg/kg daily, orally, for 30 days) or probucol (cumulative dose, 120 mg/kg body weight divided in 12, i.p. over a period of 30 days) or double distilled water (vehicle), followed by a single dose of adriamycin (30 mg/kg i.p.). In the adriamycin group, increased oxidative stress was evidenced by a significant increase in myocardial TBARS (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) and decrease in myocardial SOD (superoxide dismutase), catalase and GPx (glutathione peroxidase) activity. Histopathological studies showed focal as well as subendocardial myocytolysis with infiltration of macrophages, lymphocytes and edema. Immunocytochemistry showed marked expression of TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor-alpha) in the myocardium. Increase in myocardial TBARS and decrease in endogenous antioxidants by adriamycin was prevented significantly in the garlic treated rat hearts, which was comparable to the probucol-treated group. Histopathological evidence of protection was also evident in both garlic-treated and probucol-treated groups. Probucol, 250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg of garlic reduced adriamycin induced TNF-α expression in the myocardium and was associated with reduced myocyte injury. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that chronic garlic administration prevents acute adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity and decreases myocardial TNF-α expression

Internet Addiction and Its Correlates among College Students of Surat City: A Cross Sectional Study

Introduction: The number of internet users in 2018 was 4.021 billion, increased 7 percent year-on-year. More than nine-tenths of Indian teens use Internet. Due to social distancing norms put forward due to COVID-19 dependency and availability of Internet usage has increased.Objective: To assess the extent of Internet addiction and determine its predictors among college students of Surat city. Method: A cross sectional study was conducted from March-September 2021 among 400 first- and second-year students selected by systematic random sampling from four colleges selected purposively. Outcome variables were Young’s Internet addiction Test and Duke Health Profile Score which were assessed in terms of mean score. Univariate analysis was done, followed by t-test, ANOVA and Pearson Correlation to establish associations. Predictors were determined by Binary Logistic Regression.Results: Around one-tenth (12.8%) participants were seen with no Internet addiction, with majority being mildly (44.8%) and moderately (36.5%) addicted. Severe addiction was seen in around one out of twenty participants (6.1%). Social networking (32%) and education (34.5%) were the major reasons for use of Internet. Higher pocket money (aOR=4.3), greater monthly internet expenditure (aOR=2.8), ownership of internet enabled mobile phone (aOR=3.9), lying down posture while accessing internet (aOR=4.8) and evening (aOR=2.2) or night time (aOR=8.7) of internet access were significant predictors for Internet addicts. Conclusion: In this study more than four fifth of the college students had Internet Addiction even at young age. Physical, Mental, Social and General health were significantly negatively correlated with internet addiction

Capturing the uncertainties of retail development: The case of emerging markets

Abstract This paper aims to better understand how retail development in emerging markets might occur by carrying out a detailed analysis of Indian retailing and then applying the results to a wider range of emerging markets. The goal is to identify potential patterns of future retail development in emerging economies. The scenarios approach was considered an appropriate methodology for investigating developing economies as it accepts structural uncertainty with multiple interpretations and multiple futures. In fact for retailing, there are countless 'right' answers, endless combinations of business models and infinite permutations of key themes and approaches. Conceptualising the evolution of different retail formats taking the scenarios approach is therefore a prudent choice of methodology, especially in wanting to avoid the dangers of over formalising the format development process within the retail context in emerging markets. Four possible visions for retail development in India, each with their own benefits and costs: a Kirana Kingdom, Sanskriti Planets, Sasta World or Mishrit Universe were developed from the primary research conducted and then tested in the context of other emerging markets. A combination of regulatory intervention and the changing cultural disposition of consumers on account of changing socio economic conditions play a significant role in the development of retailing in emerging markets. The significant role of the politics of retailing in emerging markets has also been highlighted in this paper. Retail development in emerging markets can therefore be aligned more closely to combination theory where the consumer-regulation configuration plays a significant role in how retail evolves and develops in these markets

Association of Serum Adiponectin Level with Dyslipidaemia in North Indian Male Population: A Case-control Study

Introduction: Adiponectin is the most abundant adipocytokines secreted from adipose tissues and circulates in considerably high concentration in human plasma. Circulating adiponectin levels are decreased in obese subjects and this decrease has been thought to play a crucial role in the early development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. Changes in adiponectin concentration has been reported in dyslipidaemic subjects, but the evidence is controversial and no study has been conducted in north Indian population. Moreover, low molecular adiponectin seems to be linked with a worse lipid profile leading to dyslipidaemic through an association with triglyceride but the exact role of adiponectin in modulating lipid fraction is not well established. Aim: To correlate the level of serum adiponectin with lipid fractions in dyslipidaemic male subjects and also to compare them with apparently healthy individuals. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was conducted from April 2015 to November 2016 in the Biochemistry Department of Rajshree Medical Research Institute, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India. A total of 70 non diabetic dyslipidaemic male subjects between the age group 35 years to 55 years were selected and all the biochemical parameters (adiponectin, fasting plasma glucose, lipid profile) were evaluated and compared with 70 apparently healthy controls. Statistical analysis was performed by licensed version of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 16.0 software. All the data were expressed in “mean±SD”. Student ‘t’ test was also applied to see statistical significance in adiponectin levels between dyslipidaemic subjects and healthy controls. Results: The study shows mean±SD of age in dyslipidaemic group was 43.61±4.85 years and for control group was 43.53±5.53 years. The mean±SD of BMI in dyslipidaemic group 25.72±2.43 was significantly higher than control group 23.42±1.56 with p-value <0.0001. The serum adiponectin concentration was significantly reduced in dyslipidaemic subjects 5.11±2.04 μg/mL as compared to healthy control 6.79±1.37 μg/mL with p-value <0.0001. Serum total cholesterol, triglyceride and Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL)- cholesterol were found to be negatively correlated with serum adiponectin (r= -0.89, -0.76 and -0.74) and positively correlated with High Density Lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol (r=0.70). Conclusion: The present study revealed that hypoadiponectinemia is associated with dyslipidaemic in men. The main observation of our present study, however, is that in dyslipidaemic subjects, lower levels of adiponectin were associated with high total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol and reduced HDL cholesterol, though more extensive, multicentric, prospective research with increase sample size could obtain wider insights