Transnational Corporate Regulation through Sustainability Reporting: A Case Study of the Canadian Extractive Sector

Despite the benefits transnational corporations (TNCs) offer, they remain largely unregulated entities, enabling environmental, social, and human rights violations to be overlooked. Canadian extractive sector TNCs operating internationally are frequently cited as major perpetrators of such violations. Literature on new governance and self-regulation as well as global corporate social responsibility (CSR) increasingly offers disclosure and reporting as a solution for TNC regulation. This study examines disclosure in international CSR frameworks, and the reflexive law and new governance theories explaining the role of such disclosure and reporting. Mirroring international CSR initiatives, Canadian jurisdictions are increasingly recommending disclosure for its extractive sector TNCs, including through its securities laws. Securities law provides a promising foundation for sustainability reporting because of its existing disclosure framework and its ability to compel disclosure. This potential of Canadian securities law also provides a basis for comparison with the Global Reporting Initiative, the leading sustainability reporting standard

Hedge Fund Performance with the Treynor-Black Model

This paper seeks to analyze the information ratio differences between long/short hedge funds over the past two decades using the Treynor-Black model. The Treynor-Black model is a method to derive an optimal portfolio allocation across safe and risky assets, based off of expected alphas of active investments and the unsystematic volatility that can be attributed to each given security. We first developed and implemented a model to forecast information ratios on a database of long/short hedge funds. With the predicted information ratios, we calculated out-of-sample allocation weights from a Treynor-Black active portfolio model. These weights were then tested in a long/short format against a Naive model that invests equally in all hedge funds. By subtracting the Naive weights from the Treynor-Black weight recommendations, we were able to test the efficacy of the Treynor-Black model under performance-neutral circumstances. We found that the Treynor-Black model outperforms in a market that is trending upwards, such as 2017. In a market with a correction, as seen in December 2018, the Treynor-Black model performs in-line with the Naive, generating minimum excess return but taking on no additional risk. Following a market correction into another upwards market (seen in 2019), the Treynor-Black model is not nearly as effective. Due to the importance of the previous year\u27s information ratio, the recommended allocations expected a continuation of market risk and overcorrected. We conclude that information ratio predictions combined with the Treynor-Black model can help generate alpha in a bull market, while taking on average downside risk in a turbulent market, instead of undue downside exposure as seen in some funds

India Needs Smart Frontiers: An Assessment

In the era of Fourth Industrial Revolution, technology has transformed the ways of doing any business, including warfare. The human element is slowly giving way to machines who would perform major functions including substituting and supplementing rank and file in the Military. Over 22,500 km of India’s frontiers are guarded by various Border Guarding Forces including the Coast Guards to prevent surprise incursions by the adversaries’ State, State-sponsored or Non- State Actors. The Border Guarding Forces act as eyes and ears of the frontiers and can take on basic defensive actions for which colossal manpower is used. For a Military threat, Regular Forces take over the responsibility for the Defense of the Nation. There is a case for optimizing manpower and increasing efficiency by bringing smart systems in delivering constant situational awareness and response solutions. This would also ensure that all stakeholders are networked in real-time. A combination of sensors, electronic and digital platforms, Data and Communication centers, using Terrestrial and Non-Terrestrial means, would build a ‘system of systems for Common Operational Picture at Strategic, Operational and Tactical levels. Data/intelligence analysis and automation would be possible if such systems are ubiquitous and part of the overall National security apparatus. The smart frontiers would soon be an inescapable necessity for the Defense of the nation

India Needs Smart Frontiers: An Assessment

In the era of Fourth Industrial Revolution, technology has transformed the ways of doing any business, including warfare. Thehuman element is slowly giving way to machines who would perform major functions including substituting and supplementing rankand file in the Military. Over 22,500 km of India’s frontiers are guarded by various Border Guarding Forces including the CoastGuards to prevent surprise incursions by the adversaries’ State, State-sponsored or Non- State Actors. The Border Guarding Forces act as eyes and ears of the frontiers and can take on basic defensive actions for which colossal manpower is used. For a Military threat, Regular Forces take over the responsibility for the Defense of the Nation. There is a case for optimizing manpower and increasing efficiency by bringing smart systems in delivering constant situational awareness and response solutions. This would also ensure that all stakeholders are networked in real-time. A combination of sensors, electronic and digital platforms, Data and Communication centers, using Terrestrial and Non-Terrestrial means, would build a ‘system of systems for Common Operational Picture at Strategic, Operational and Tactical levels. Data/intelligence analysis and automation would be possible if such systems are ubiquitous and part of the overall National security apparatus. The smart frontiers would soon be an inescapable necessity for the Defense of the nation

India Needs Smart Frontiers: An Assessment

In the era of Fourth Industrial Revolution, technology has transformed the ways of doing any business, including warfare. Thehuman element is slowly giving way to machines who would perform major functions including substituting and supplementing rankand file in the Military. Over 22,500 km of India’s frontiers are guarded by various Border Guarding Forces including the CoastGuards to prevent surprise incursions by the adversaries’ State, State-sponsored or Non- State Actors. The Border Guarding Forces act as eyes and ears of the frontiers and can take on basic defensive actions for which colossal manpower is used. For a Military threat, Regular Forces take over the responsibility for the Defense of the Nation. There is a case for optimizing manpower and increasing efficiency by bringing smart systems in delivering constant situational awareness and response solutions. This would also ensure that all stakeholders are networked in real-time. A combination of sensors, electronic and digital platforms, Data and Communication centers, using Terrestrial and Non-Terrestrial means, would build a ‘system of systems for Common Operational Picture at Strategic, Operational and Tactical levels. Data/intelligence analysis and automation would be possible if such systems are ubiquitous and part of the overall National security apparatus. The smart frontiers would soon be an inescapable necessity for the Defense of the nation

Educational Financing in Canada 1970-71 to 1984-85: Who Calls the Tune, Who Pays the Piper?

This study examines changes in educational financing since 1970- 71, looking at provincial differences in funding in relation to GDP, total government expendi- tures, enrolments and funding for elementary-secondary and tertiary schooling, as well as in relation to the funds contributed by each level of government. Since the late 1970's reductions have occurred in constant dollar per student expenditures at both elementary—secondary and university levels. In contrast to the early to late 1970's when provinces contributed ever larger proportions of the necessary funds, since that time both federal and municipal governments have been forced to increase their share of educational funding. These changes are examined not just in terms of intergovernmental relations but more importantly in terms of the fiscal crisis of the state.Cette étude examine les changements dans le financement d'éducation depuis 1970-71, en examinant les différences provinciales dans la répartition des fonds par rapport au R.N.B. ; la somme des dépenses gouvernementales, les inscriptions et la répartition des fonds pour l'éducation élémentaire, secondaire et tertiare; ainsi que la relation entre la somme des fonds versée, par chaque niveau gouvernemental. Les dépenses par étudiant en dollar constant ont diminué dès la fin des années soixante-dix aux niveau élémentaire-secondaire et universitaire. Au début des années 70, les provinces ont versé la majeure partie des fonds nécessaires. Par contraste, depuis cette époque le gouvernement fédéral et les gouvernements provinciaux ont étés forcés d'augmenter leurs parts des fonds pour l'éducation. Ces changements sont examinés non seulement sur le plan des relations intergouvernementales, mais plus important, sur le plan de la crise fiscale de l'état

Development of screening technique for artificial creation of false smut in rice

False smut (Ustilaginoidea virens (Cooke) Takahashi) of rice is an emerging disease and a potential threat to rice growers in different countries due to reduction in yield, quality and production of mycotoxins. Development and cultivation of resistant varieties is desirable approach for its management. Different inoculation techniques viz. spray inoculation, syringe inoculation and dusting method were evaluated for creating artificial epiphytotic conditions in susceptible variety PR116 under natural as well as artificially provided humidity conditions. Spray inoculation method produced more number of smut balls per plant (3.21) and per cent infected panicles (33.44%) followed by syringe inoculation (2.00 and 26.57%, respectively) and dusting method (0.33 and 6.67%, respectively). However, syringe inoculation method produced more spikelet sterility (14.82%) in rice panicles. More disease occurrence was reported in plants provided with artificial humidity after inoculations (51.12% infected panicles) than the plants grown under natural conditions (13.33% infected panicles). Late transplanted crop developed higher disease severity (18.17% infected panicles and 3.34 smut balls/plant) which might be attributed by slight decrease in temperature and increase in relative humidity conditions (up to 88% RH) at time of infection from boot to early flowering stage of the rice crop

Managed Lane Choices by Carpools Comprised of Family Members Compared to Non-family Members

Carpools can be comprised of family members (fampools), non-family members (non-fampools) or a combination of both. Overall, carpool mode share has decreased during the 1980's and 1990's, even as the policies were in place to encourage carpooling, but at the same time the share of fampools increased quite significantly. By analyzing the characteristics of fampools and non-fampools, we can better understand how policies may impact each group. One area of particular interest is the impact of managed lanes on the mode choice of fampools and non-fampools. For this research, survey data collected from both Houston and Dallas, Texas was used to investigate the mode choice of fampools and non-fampools on managed lanes. The survey data was weighted to better represent the traveler population. The weighted survey data was analyzed to better understand the characteristics of fampools and non-fampools. Non-fampools were formed more frequently in a week than fampools. The average carpool formation time was similar for both fampools and non-fampools at 6.4 minutes and 6.2 minutes, respectively. Fampools rated "drop off kids at school or day care" higher than non-fampools and non-fampools rated "sharing vehicle expenses" higher than fampools as the most important reason for the formation of their current carpool. A majority of travelers from both groups showed an interest in using managed lanes and "travel time reliability" was rated most important factor for this interest. Fampools and non-fampools were split into subgroups based on their current number of passengers. Among these four sub-groups, the majority of respondents were interested in using managed lanes. Random parameter logit models were developed for both fampools and non-fampools. For the fampools, the value of travel time savings was estimated to be $ 22.80 per hour. Non-fampools were not sensitive to the travel time. Different travel scenarios were simulated for both fampools and non-fampools. The results showed that with increased tolls on the managed lanes the decrease in carpool mode share on managed lanes was compensated by an increase in carpool mode share on the GPLs for both fampools and non-fampools. With an increased toll, both fampools and non-fampools showed less sensitivity to the toll cost. The estimated demand elasticity was fairly inelastic for both fampools and non-fampools

Single Photon Quantum Ranging: When Sequential Decoding Meets High Dimensional Entanglement

We consider the quantum ranging problem in the low noise level per mode and low reflectivity (high loss) regime. We focus on single photon transmission strategies and propose a novel approach that combines high dimensional time-bin entanglement at the transmitter with a carefully constructed sequential decision rule at the detector. Our analytical results establish the significant performance gains that can be leveraged from this approach in a range of operating parameters, as compared to the single photon classical approach, the two-mode squeezed vacuum ranging scheme proposed earlier, and even the block-based classical scheme. One can attribute this performance gain to 1) the ability of the high dimensional time-bin entangled signaling to offer a very fine range resolution with a single transmitted photon and 2) the ability of the sequential decision rule to minimize the average number of transmitted photon subject to a constraint on the probability of error. While our analysis is limited to the low energy/low noise regime, we conjecture that the proposed approach's superior performance extends to a wider range of scenarios which should motivate further analytical and experimental investigations.Comment: Submitted to NPJ Quantum information for peer revie

Correlation of Atrial Fibrillation with Left Atrial Volume in Patients with Mitral Stenosis. a Single Centre Study From Pakistan

Background: Rheumatic heart disease has a strong association with mitral valve stenosis. Atrial fibrillation is one of the most common complications of this condition and is a poor prognostic factor. Early detection and prompt management of atrial fibrillation can help to improve the quality of life and increase the life expectancy of the patients. We carried out this study to investigate the significance of left atrial volumetric changes in mitral stenosis and its correlation with atrial fibrillation. Methodology: We audited the data of 60 patients of rheumatic heart disease who had mitral valve stenosis. The patients were randomized into atrial fibrillation (Group A) and normal sinus rhythm (Group B). We conducted this cross-sectional analytical study at Cardiology Department, Mayo Hospital, Lahore, from 1st February 2017 to 31st January 2018. We only included those patients who consented to be a part of this study and fulfilled our predefined inclusion criteria. Left atrial volume was measured by prolate ellipse method and biplane methods on echocardiography. The Data was analyzed on SPSS v20. Results: Sixty patients were included in the study. Among the subjects, thirty-six (60%) were males, and twenty-four (40%) were females. Atrial fibrillation was noted in 43.33% of the patients of mitral valve stenosis. There was a marked difference in the mean volume of the left atrium among the two groups. We observed that the mean area of the mitral valve for Group A patients was larger than that of patients in Group B. Our study showed an inverse correlation between left atrial volume and mitral valve area among Group A patients. Conclusion: Patients of mitral stenosis are at an increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation if the left atrial volume is increasing. All patients with mitral stenosis should have routine echocardiography & measurement of left atrial volumes, so that proper treatment can be started if the left atrial volume is increasing, to prevent atrial fibrillation