Impact of corporate governance on bank profitability - post reforms by RBI and SEBI

In India, the increasing awareness with respect to CG, particularly in the commercial banking industry can be attached to a variety of factors such as liberalization, scams, corporate failures in banks, accounting and other irregularities that have led to an era of rising public distrust of the governance process in the banking landscape. Because of economic problems arising out of banking mis-management and failures, studies on bank profitability have become imperative for recognizing problems and mitigating economic risks. Over the last few years, Indian banks' toxic loan pile has increased considerably in addition to frequent instances of governance lapses being identified by the regulator. Indian banks' failure to adhere to acceptable business practices has unraveled a chain of events that have caused distress to the public causing the regulator to overhaul its outlook towards CG in banks and decision to infuse capital in the banking sector to revive it. The study attempts to assess the relation between governance and other factors' impact on the bank profitability with empirical evidence from Axis, HDFC, ICICI, PNB, SBI and Yes Bank. The study outlines links between the Bank's Size, Board Independence, Independence of Audit Committee, Audit Committee Strength, Duality of Role, NPA Divergence and profit by using Return on Equity, Return on Assets and Net Interest Margin as proxies for measuring profitability. The findings indicate that Audit Committee Independence, Audit Committee Strength had a statistically significant impact on bank profits, while Bank Size had a negative affiliation to profits as per all three indicators of profits

Development of Livelihood Index for Different Agro-Climatic Zones of India

A livelihood index has been developed for different agro-climatic zones of India, based on the secondary data for TE 2003. Six different sub-indices obtained are indicators of Infrastructure Status, Agricultural Status, Nutritional Status, Economic Status, Health and Sanitation Status and Food Availability Status in respective zones. A total of 57 variables have been considered for this study. Finally, a composite integrated livelihood index has been developed which indicates the livelihood status of different agro-climatic zones in the country. Also, 103 districts of low agricultural productivity have been identified within low livelihood regions. The results of this study have been compared with those of backward districts identified under Wage Employment Program by the Task Force of Planning Commission of India. It is found that about 60 per cent districts identified in this study are the same as identified by the Task Force. Further, the spatial distributions of the identified districts under the study have been mapped using GIS maps and it has been observed that almost same region of the country has been found to be most backward in both the studies. The study has revealed regional disparity in the development process and has suggested to formulate appropriate policies to bridge this disparity gap.Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Status and conservation of avian fauna of Sultanpur National Park Gurgaon, Haryana (India)

The present study was conducted in Sultanpur National Park Gurgaon, Haryana (India) from February, 2011 to January, 2012 to analyze the avian diversity along with its status and abundance. During the study period, a total of 113 species of birds belonging to 14 orders, 35 families and 80 genera were identified. Maximum 41 species belonging to 12 families of order Passeriformes represented 36.28% of the total identified avian fauna while Podicipediformes and Strigiformes were the least represented avian orders (0.88%) with one species each,namely, Little Grebe, Tachybaptus ruficollis and Spotted Owlet, Athene brama respectively. Out of total reported 113 species, 64 were ‘resident’ species and 49 were ‘migrant’ species. Most of the migratory species were winter visitors except Red throated flycatcher, Ficedula parva; Orange Headed Thrush, Zoothera citrine and Eurasian Golden Oriole, Oriolus oriolus which were summer visitors. In all, 42 species were ‘common’, 33 species were ‘uncommon’ and 38 species were ‘occasional’ bird species. Based on sighting, White Breasted Kingfisher, Halcyonsmyrnensis; White Breasted Water Hen, Amaurornis phoenicurus; Common Moorhen, Gallinule chloropus; Black Wing Stilt, Himantopus himantopus; Red Wattled lapwing, Vanellus indicus; Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis and Indian Pond Heron, Ardeola grayii were common wetland bird species of Sultanpur National Park while Pied king fisher, Ceryle rudis and Coppersmith Barbet, Megalaima haemacephala were ‘rarely sighted’ bird species. During the study period, 7 ‘globally threatened’ species, namely, Painted Stork, Mycteria leucocephala; Black neck Stork, Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus; Black headed Ibis, Threskiornis melanocephalus; Darter, Anhinga melanogaster; Pacific Reef Egret, Egretta sacra; Sarus Crane, Grus antigone alongwith Hogson bushchat, Saxicola insignis were also recorded from the study area

AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF THE FOLK MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF MEGHALAYA

Meghalaya is a richly inhabited Indian state. Drums, flutes of bamboo and hand-held small cymbals are a common ensemble. The advent of Christianity in the middle of the 20th century marked the start of a decline in tribal popular music. Over time, Meghalaya’s music scene has evolved, attracting many talented artists and bands from both traditional and not-so traditional genres. Any of the most recent Meghalaya musicians and bands is: The Plague Throat, Kerios Wahlang, Cryptographik Street Poets, etc., Soulmate, Lou Majaw, and Snow White. Meghalaya’s music is characterised by traditional instruments and folk songs. The Musical Instruments of Meghalaya are made from local materials. Meghalayan people honour powerful natural forces and aim to pacify animistic spirits and local gods. The instruments are made of bamboo, flesh, wood, and animal horn. Any one of these musical instruments is considered to have the ability to offer material benefits. The Meghalaya musical instrument is an essential part of traditional folk music in the region. In this article, we offer an overview of the folk musical instruments of Meghalaya. Rezumat. UN STUDIU ANALITIC AL INSTRUMENTELOR MUZICALE POPULARE DIN MEGHALAYA. Meghalaya este un stat indian bogat locuit. Tobe, flaute de bambus și mici cinele de mână sunt un ansamblu comun. Apariția creștinismului la mijlocul secolului al XX-lea a marcat începutul unui declin al muzicii populare tribale. De-a lungul timpului, scena muzicală a Meghalaya a evoluat, atrăgând mulți artiști și formații talentate atât din genurile tradiționale cât și din cele mai puțin tradiționale. Cei mai actuali muzicieni și formații din Meghalaya este: The Plague Throat, Kerios Wahlang, Cryptographik Street Poets etc., Soulmate, Lou Majaw și Snow White. Muzica din Meghalaya se caracterizează prin utilizarea instrumentelor tradiționale și a cântecelor populare. Instrumentele muzicale din Meghalaya sunt realizate din materiale locale. Poporul meghalayan onorează forțele naturale puternice și își propune să pacifice spiritele animiste și zeii locali. Instrumentele sunt fabricate din bambus, carne, lemn și coarne de animale. Se consideră că oricare dintre aceste instrumente muzicale are capacitatea de a oferi beneficii materiale. Instrumentul muzical în Meghalaya este o parte esențială a muzicii populare tradiționale din regiune. În acest articol, oferim o imagine de ansamblu asupra instrumentelor muzicale populare din Meghalaya. Cuvinte cheie: Idiofone, Aerofone, Chordofone, Membranofone, Trompet

MUSIC TO MY EAR: WILL BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE THE MUSICAL NOTES BETTER WHEN USING ONLY THE LEFT EAR?

Tone deafness refers to a condition where a person is unable to distinguish between different musical notes. Afflicted persons are not able to recognize the difference when 2 different musical notes are played. This inability is not caused by a lack of musical knowledge or training but is instead caused by genetic inheritance or brain damage. Tone deafness is a disability that is shown in music only. People who are tone deaf do not have a problem in recognizing the different intonations in human speech. This disability is also associated with the inability to follow musical rhythms and recognize songs. In this paper, we propose the ability of participants to recognize and repeat the musical notes that they hear. Testing was done using only the left ear, only the right ear, and both ears. Rezumat. UN STUDIU ANALITIC AL INSTRUMENTELOR MUZICALE POPULARE DIN MEGHALAYA. Meghalaya este un stat indian bogat locuit. Tobe, flaute de bambus și mici cinele de mână sunt un ansamblu comun. Apariția creștinismului la mijlocul secolului al XX-lea a marcat începutul unui declin al muzicii populare tribale. De-a lungul timpului, scena muzicală a Meghalaya a evoluat, atrăgând mulți artiști și formații talentate atât din genurile tradiționale cât și din cele mai puțin tradiționale. Cei mai actuali muzicieni și formații din Meghalaya este: The Plague Throat, Kerios Wahlang, Cryptographik Street Poets etc., Soulmate, Lou Majaw și Snow White. Muzica din Meghalaya se caracterizează prin utilizarea instrumentelor tradiționale și a cântecelor populare. Instrumentele muzicale din Meghalaya sunt realizate din materiale locale. Poporul meghalayan onorează forțele naturale puternice și își propune să pacifice spiritele animiste și zeii locali. Instrumentele sunt fabricate din bambus, carne, lemn și coarne de animale. Se consideră că oricare dintre aceste instrumente muzicale are capacitatea de a oferi beneficii materiale. Instrumentul muzical în Meghalaya este o parte esențială a muzicii populare tradiționale din regiune. În acest articol, oferim o imagine de ansamblu asupra instrumentelor muzicale populare din Meghalaya.  Cuvinte cheie: Idiofone, Aerofone, Chordofone, Membranofone, Trompet

A computational system biology approach to construct gene regulatory networks for salinity response in rice (Oryza sativa)

Salinity is one of the most common abiotic stress which limits agricultural crop production. Salinity stress tolerance in rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an important trait controlled by various genes. The mechanism of salinity stress response in rice is quite complex. Modelling and construction of genetic regulatory networks is an important tool and can be used for understanding this underlying mechanism. This paper considers the problem of modeling and construction of Gene Regulatory Networks using Multiple Linear Regression and Singular Value Decomposition approach coupled with a number of computational tools. The gene networks constructed by using this approach satisfied the scale free property of biological networks and such networks can be used to extract valuable information on the transcription factors, which are salt responsive. The gene ontology enrichment analysis of selected nodes is performed. The developed model can also be used for predicting the gene responses under stress condition and the result shows that the model fits well for the given gene expression data in rice. In this paper, we have identified ten target genes and a series of potential transcription factors for each target gene in rice which are highly salt responsive