Current State and Evolution of Industrial Relations in Maharashtra

[Excerpt] Maharashtra is one of the highly industrialized and commercially well-developed states in India. It has a population of over 95 million people in an area of over 300 sq. km., giving it a density of 314 people per sq. km. A little over 40 per cent of its population lives in urban areas and the state boasts of a high literacy rate of 77 per cent as of 2001. It accounts for 10 per cent of geographical area and population, 15 per cent of urban population, 11 per cent of working factories and factory employment as of 2002-03. The state’s share in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2000-01 was 14 per cent. Maharashtra had the second highest per capita net state domestic product (at current prices), next only to Haryana, in 2002-03. It has been the most preferred investment destination for many years. The state figures prominently in the history of labour movement and industrial relations in India. The study of labour markets and industrial relations in a state has assumed special importance following the economic reforms process that has been under way since 1991. States can now freely compete for capital and design policies for attracting investment. As the economic reform process gained momentum, significant economic policies came to be introduced since the mid-1990s. It is in this context that the study of industrial relations in Maharashtra between 1995 and 2006 will be of interest. This paper seeks to study the current state of industrial relations in Maharashtra. The exercise covers, as far as possible, the period 1995-2006. Depending on availability, the data for the end year of the period will vary in the case of some variables. The state labour departments are not prompt in compiling statistics, unlike other departments which produce data relating to state income, consumer prices etc. The Labour Bureau, which compiles the statistics on several variables on industrial relations, reports non-submission or late submission of annual returns under various labour laws. The validity and reliability of labour statistics are, therefore, not strong

Hepatoprotective effect of Phytosome Curcumin against paracetamol-induced liver toxicity in mice

Abstract Curcuma longa, which contains curcumin as a major constituent, has been shown many pharmacological effects, but it is limited using in clinical due to low bioavailability. In this study, we developed a phytosome curcumin formulation and evaluated the hepatoprotective effect of phytosome curcumin on paracetamol induced liver damage in mice. Phytosome curcumin (equivalent to curcumin 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight) and curcumin (200 mg/kg body weight) were given by gastrically and toxicity was induced by paracetamol (500 mg/kg) during 7 days. On the final day animals were sacrificed and liver function markers (ALT, AST), hepatic antioxidants (SOD, CAT and GPx) and lipid peroxidation in liver homogenate were estimated. Our data showed that phytosome has stronger hepatoprotective effect compared to curcumin-free. Administration of phytosome curcumin effectively suppressed paracetamol-induced liver injury evidenced by a reduction of lipid peroxidation level, and elevated enzymatic antioxidant activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase in mice liver tissue. Our study suggests that phytosome curcumin has strong antioxidant activity and potential hepatoprotective effects

Profitability or Industrial Relations: What Explains Manufacturing Performance across Indian States?

This article begins with a critique of the well-known claim by Besley and Burgess concerning the negative impact of labour regulation on organized sector manufacturing performance in India. In the second part of the article, the authors use a state-level panel data set for the period 1969–2005 to analyse the relative importance of profitability (rate of profit as a percentage of the total replacement cost of capital stock) and industrial disputes (man-days lost to all industrial disputes as a percentage of total workers employed) to explain cross-state variations of manufacturing performance in India\u27s organized sector. Using three different measures of manufacturing performance — net value added, investment and employment — they find that profitability is more significant than industrial disputes in explaining the variation of manufacturing sector performance across Indian states. The findings presented here therefore question the uncritical acceptance of Besley and Burgess\u27s results in the literature on labour regulation

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Not AvailableMaize is traditionally a kharif season crop in India and nearly 85% maize grown under rainfed area. Drought is one of the major causes of yield reduction in maize among abiotic stresses. Development of high yielding and drought tolerance maize hybrids essentially required heterotic and drought tolerant parental lines in addition to high productivity for drought prone areas. Screening of germplasm under managed abiotic stress field conditions is an efficient way to identify stress tolerant germplasm. Eighty-eight newly developed fixed inbred lines and 12 parental lines of released hybrids were evaluated under normal and drought environment at Regional Maize and Seed Production Centre (ICAR-IIMR), Begusarai during rabi-2020-21. The drought stress was imposed by withholding irrigation for three weeks starting before flowering and continues to grain filling stage. Drought severely affected the reproductive development of plant and seed setting due to widening of anthesis-silking interval (ASI). Kernel test weight was also reduced 12.17% to 27.43% under drought environment. Grain yield was reduced 8.8 % to 38.4% under drought environment. Forty inbred lines showed drought susceptibility index less than unity showing better drought tolerance. On the basis of per se performance and drought susceptibility index eleven inbred lines namely IMLSB 49-2, WNC 72347, IMLSB 301-, IMLSB 1299-5, IMLSB 93-1, IMLSB 591-2 IMLSB 43-2, IMLSB 37-2, IMLSB 2034 and IMLSB 2166 were identified comparatively more drought tolerant. Two inbred lines IMLSB 49-2 and IMLSB 43-2 showed less yield reduction as compared to normal environment and high yield under normal and drought environment. These eleven lines may be utilized for the development of drought tolerant hybrids after estimating combining abilities and heterosis. These inbred lines may also be utilized for constitution of drought tolerant base population following chain crossing for further extraction of next generation drought tolerant inbred lines.ICAR-IIMR, Ludhian

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Not AvailableContext. Phytic acid is the major storage form of phosphorus in cereals and is considered an antinutritional factor because it chelates major mineral micronutrient cations, resulting in micronutrient malnutrition in humans. For monogastric animals fed maize (Zea mays L.) grains, the stored phosphorus does not release into the digestive tract, leading to phosphorus deficiency and environmental pollution. Aims. The aim of the study was to develop maize lines with a lower level of phytic acid that might substantially enhance the nutritional value of maize. Methods. The lpa1 mutant allele conferring low phytic acid was transferred into the parental lines of popular maize hybrid DMH 121 (i.e. BML 6 and BML 45) through marker-assisted backcross breeding. Foreground selection was performed using a co-dominant single nucleotide polymorphism marker through a high-resolution melting approach, and background selection was undertaken using 50–55 polymorphic sequence-tagged microsatellite site markers. Key results. Near-isogeneic lines were produced with >90% recurrent parental genome and reduction of phytic acid content by up to 44–56% compared with the original lines. Conclusions. The near-isogeneic lines carrying lpa1 can be used to reconstitute DHM 121 with low phytate content. Implications. The low-phytate maize hybrids produced can be useful in reducing micronutrient malnutrition in humans, as well as environmental pollution.Not Availabl