Empirical study of National Strategy for Financial Education of India (2020 – 2025) with special reference to awareness of Insurance & Pension Plans

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and its International Network on Financial Education (INFE) is working constantly for the understanding the level of Financial Literacy (FL) and measures to improve it at global level. Government of India has also followed the definition of FL provided by OECD/INFE and further working on the lines of improvement of FL level in the country as the improved financial level of countrymen will also support the development of economy. Indian Government has made its vision very clear about FL that every Indian shall be financially literate and empowered. To achieve this vision Government of India has designed National Strategies for FE time to time. The current National Strategy for Financial Education (NSFE) is designed for the period of five years from 2020 to 2025. This NSFE (2020-2025) policy is designed with a holistic approach to make Indian citizen aware about financial education (FE) related to banking services, financial market services, loan facilities, insurance cover, pension plan the working of all these. Strategy also discusses about the strengthening of banking ombudsmen and other consumer forums for the protection of consumer rights effectively. This study is an attempt to understand the effectiveness of the efforts of government to reach to common people to improve their FL level. Study is conducted in Mumbai Metropolitan Region area to know how the people of the financial capital of the country are equipped with FE. The Study is however, limited to understand the awareness level of people only about insurance and pension related concepts

Shift in Conformational Equilibrium Underlies the Oscillatory Phosphoryl Transfer Reaction in the Circadian Clock

Oscillatory phosphorylation/dephosphorylation can be commonly found in a biological system as a means of signal transduction though its pivotal presence in the workings of circadian clocks has drawn significant interest: for example in a significant portion of the physiology of Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942. The biological oscillatory reaction in the cyanobacterial circadian clock can be visualized through its reconstitution in a test tube by mixing three proteins—KaiA, KaiB and KaiC—with adenosine triphosphate and magnesium ions. Surprisingly, the oscillatory phosphorylation/dephosphorylation of the hexameric KaiC takes place spontaneously and almost indefinitely in a test tube as long as ATP is present. This autonomous post-translational modification is tightly regulated by the conformational change of the C-terminal peptide of KaiC called the “A-loop” between the exposed and the buried states, a process induced by the time-course binding events of KaiA and KaiB to KaiC. There are three putative hydrogen-bond forming residues of the A-loop that are important for stabilizing its buried conformation. Substituting the residues with alanine enabled us to observe KaiB’s role in dephosphorylating hyperphosphorylated KaiC, independent of KaiA’s effect. We found a novel role of KaiB that its binding to KaiC induces the A-loop toward its buried conformation, which in turn activates the autodephosphorylation of KaiC. In addition to its traditional role of sequestering KaiA, KaiB’s binding contributes to the robustness of cyclic KaiC phosphorylation by inhibiting it during the dephosphorylation phase, effectively shifting the equilibrium toward the correct phase of the clock

Oculo-visual dysfunction in Parkinson's disease

This review describes the oculo-visual problems likely to be encountered in Parkinson's disease (PD) with special reference to three questions: (1) are there visual symptoms characteristic of the prodromal phase of PD, (2) is PD dementia associated with specific visual changes, and (3) can visual symptoms help in the differential diagnosis of the parkinsonian syndromes, viz. PD, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), multiple system atrophy (MSA), and corticobasal degeneration (CBD)? Oculo-visual dysfunction in PD can involve visual acuity, dynamic contrast sensitivity, colour discrimination, pupil reactivity, eye movement, motion perception, and visual processing speeds. In addition, disturbance of visuo-spatial orientation, facial recognition problems, and chronic visual hallucinations may be present. Prodromal features of PD may include autonomic system dysfunction potentially affecting pupil reactivity, abnormal colour vision, abnormal stereopsis associated with postural instability, defects in smooth pursuit eye movements, and deficits in visuo-motor adaptation, especially when accompanied by idiopathic rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behaviour disorder. PD dementia is associated with the exacerbation of many oculo-visual problems but those involving eye movements, visuo-spatial function, and visual hallucinations are most characteristic. Useful diagnostic features in differentiating the parkinsonian symptoms are the presence of visual hallucinations, visuo-spatial problems, and variation in saccadic eye movement dysfunction