New Discoveries of Petroglyphs in Vangchhia: A Preliminary Study

Vangchhia is a small village in Mizoram, lying on the Indo-Myanmar border. Many engraved menhirs were discovered at Vangchhia during the course of exploration. Also, petroglyphs were found in four localities of this particular village. Though their number is very limited, they are very significant for study as they will reflect the cultural life of the people who carved these petroglyphs before the current inhabitants of the area arrived. In terms of subject matter, they are similar in style and theme to their engraved counterparts on the menhirs found in this village. These petroglyphs are made by applying the simple methods of engraving and carving on the exposed rock outcrops situated on the hill slopes overlooking the Tiau River, which flows about a kilometer to the east of the petroglyph sites. It is worth studying these petroglyphs to reconstruct the cultural history of Mizoram mainly before the introduction of Christianity in Mizoram, as the Mizos stopped the practice of engraving petroglyphs onthe rock surfaces after their conversion to Christianity in the 19th century. So this work has been taken up for discussion. This paper will discuss the form, subject matter and distribution of the rock art sites in this village and the probable purpose of these petroglyphs

Transformation of Indian Agriculture through Mechanization

India accounts for only about 2.4 % of the world’s geographical area and 4 % of its water resources, but has to support about 17 % of the world’s human population and 15 % of the livestock. Agriculture is an important sector of the Indian economy, accounting for 17% of the nation’s GDP, about 11% of its exports, about half of the population still relies on agriculture as its principal source of income and it is a source of raw material for a large number of industries. Accelerating the growth of agriculture production is therefore necessary to meet the rising demand for food, but also to increase incomes of those dependent on agriculture to ensure inclusiveness. The productivity of farms depends greatly on the availability and judicious use of farm power by the farmers. Agricultural implements and machines enable the farmers to employ the power judiciously for production purposes. Agricultural machines increase productivity of land and labour by meeting timeliness of farm operations and increase work out-put per unit time. Besides its paramount contribution to the multiple cropping and diversification of agriculture, mechanization also enables efficient utilization of inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and irrigation water. Mechanization in agriculture enhances production and productivity of crops through timeliness, better management of inputs, improved quality of work and reduction of post-harvest losses. The study revealed that the domestic sale of tractor is the highest (45.41%) for the 41-50 hp range followed by 36 % for the 31-40 hp range during 2015-16. The demand of high power category tractors in India increased for using high capacity farm machines on custom hiring basis. The states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra together account for about 45.21% of the total tractors sale in India during 2015-16. The net area sown by a tractor was 487 ha during 1975-76 and reduced to 24 ha by 2015-16 that still lags behind the developed countries and even some of the developing countries of the world (e.g. China) in terms of the net area sown by a tractor. Farm power availability of India was 0.48 kW/ha in 1975-76 reached to 2.13 kW/ha in 2015-16, which is 4.44 times higher over a period of forty years. A positive direct correlation was found between available farm power, food grain productivity and cropping intensity for the country. With the increase in intensity of cropping, the turnaround time is drastically reduced and it is not possible to harvest and thresh the standing crop, on one hand, and prepare seed bed and do timely sowing operations of subsequent crop, on the other hand, in the limited time available, unless adequate farm power and matching implement is available

A Study on Abseentism in Private Manufacturing Industry

Absenteeism has been variously defined by the Authorities from time to time. Thus the term Absenteeism refers to the workers absence from his regular task, when he is scheduled to work. Any employees stay away from work if he has taken leave to which he is entitled or on the grounds of sickness or some accident without any previous sanction of leave. Nevertheless usually, involuntary lay off, lack of work, authorized leave or vacation period of work stoppage are not counted as absence. Strikes, lockouts and late attendance are treated as absence. Information regarding absenteeism among workers in an industrial establishment because of reasons other than strikes, lockouts, lay-off, weekly rest or suspension, provide a sound database for gauging the employee’s morale, commitment and level of job satisfaction, which have a direct bearing on productivity of the establishment. It is one of the indicators to monitor and evaluate various labour welfare programs and labour policies. Every organization, irrespective of size and composition, is plagued by the problem of absenteeism. Managers know that employees are not always genuinely sick when they fail to turn up for work, yet they cannot stop them from calling in sick or saying that they have to attend to some personal work. There could be hordes of reasons for absenteeism. Sometimes an employee may not simply turn up for work because his morale is low or he is just not motivated to work. It is observed that if employees were happy doing their work, they would be less inclined to take even a day off. Many employers think that paying their workers handsomely or providing better working conditions or improving job security can reduce absenteeism. But such benefits do not guarantee a reduction in employee absenteeism. The solution actually lies in understanding and meeting the emotional needs of workers and trying to find out what really motivates them to come to work and give their best. Key Words: Abseentism, Employee Assistanc

A STUDY OF COMPOSITE INDEX: WITH SPECIAL CONTEXT TO GOND TRIBE OF CENTRAL INDIA

Purpose of the study: The purpose of the study is to reveal the facts that fall under composite index; socio-economic, health and education status of Gond Tribe in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh. The study exposed the facts whether the tribal people are aware and benefitted from the Government programs related to Education and Health running in these areas or not. Methodology: The study has used purposive and systematic sampling for selecting the sample of 154households. SPSS 21 and AMOS are used for data analysis. The Multinomial Logistic Regression, Correlation and Regression Analysis and Multiple Correlation and Regression Analysis, are used for analyzing the data. The percentage-wise analysis is used for analyzing other facts related to socio-economic, health and education services. Main Findings: Medical and educational services are not satisfactory in the tribal region. The result reveals that there is a significant correlation between household income and the health status of the family. The study explored households whose incomes are less than five thousand in such families’ adults are suffering from chronic diseases whereas children are facing malnutrition problems. Applications of this study: The study has discussed specific ideas that will help the government in implementing programs/ schemes so that it will help in improvising the quality of life of the tribal people. Novelty/ Originality of this study: The work is a highly original and innovative and studied composite index in context to the Gond tribe, it reflects the ground-level reality of the welfare programs which are running for the benefits of the tribal. &nbsp

Plight of Small Scale Sector in India under Globalize Era

THE SMALL SCALE SECTOR IN INDIA embraces various types of units, ranging from ancient household industries to modern small scale units, which are mainly located in the urban areas and produce goods using wholly or partly the mechanized equipment. This has considerably diversified its production and is manufacturing a wide variety of products and services, which include the sophisticated items, which are either export oriented or import substitution based products. The successive Industrial Policy Resolutions adopted by Union Government spelt out the expected role of small scale sector in the development of India’s national economy. Besides, the various Five Year Plans also gave importance to this sector for industrial development, employment generation and diversification of economic activities to help in equitable distribution of national income and to reduce foreign exchange outlay (Khan, 1989). The small scale sector occupies a central place in the economy of India but the globalization process which started with high speed about one and a half decades back is only spreading capitalistic economy in another form. Human life has also been turned topsy-turvy through the liberalized economic policies implemented by the government. It is not only the capital that is being imported but also technology. When technology is coordinated with the means of production the importance of human labour is declined. As a result employment potential has decreased and many have lost their jobs and job opportunities (Rani, 2003). The present paper thus attempts to highlight the present state of small scale sector in India in the globalised era arising from the outmoded technology, inadequate marketing outlets, non - availability of timely finances, managerial deficiency, low quality standards and heavy global competition. It also offers suggestions for future development of this sector. Keywords: Globalization, Sick Units, Performance, Economic Growth

A Financial Viability and Relative Profitability of Mango Orcharding in Lucknow District of Uttar Pradesh

The existence of the wide range of natural endowment is very much favorable for growing a large array of horticultural crops throughout the country. The country observed a sharper increase in the area of horticultural crops compared to food grains. In the fruit industry, mango stands top in position. Due to perennial nature, the cost and return behavior has been estimated @ 10 percent opportunity cost of capital as like investment appraisal for the interest of development of mango entrepreneurs. The per hectare net present value (NPV), for the entire life period (55 years) of the mango orchard has been found to be ` 600237.34. Benefit-cost ratio is 1.76. The adjusted IRR is also worked out as 19.80 percent, which is sufficiently higher than the opportunity cost of the capital or the rate of interest charged by the financial institutions. The payback period was about 8.2 years. Thus, the evidence reveals that investments in mango orchard are highly profitable, economically feasible and financially viable. To overcome the question of risk and uncertainty in investment over a longer period the usual technique is how sensitive the investment if the cost or return increase/decrease due to economic or other change in the market. Some competing crop performed better in term of benefit-cost ratio, but in terms of average annual net return of ` 36030.60 ha-1 which was evidently higher than that of alternative crops. The mango cultivation is low input intensive as compared to food grain that means fewer requirements of resources for its production. So, we can say mango production is more profitable venture for resource-poor farmers