Kautilya on the scope and methodology of accounting, organizational design and the role of ethics in ancient India

Kautilya, a 4th century B.C.E. economist, recognized the importance of accounting methods in economic enterprises. He realized that a proper measurement of economic performance was absolutely essential for efficient allocation of resources, which was considered an important source of economic development. He viewed philosophy and political science as separate disciplines but considered accounting an integral part of economics. He specified a very broad scope for accounting and considered explanation and prediction as its proper objectives. Kautilya developed bookkeeping rules to record and classify economic data, emphasized the critical role of independent periodic audits and proposed the establishment of two important but separate offices - the Treasurer and Comptroller-Auditor, to increase accountability, specialization, and above all to reduce the scope for conflicts of interest. He also linked the successful enforcement of rules and regulations to their clarity, consistency and completeness. Kautilya believed that such measures were necessary but not sufficient to eliminate fraudulent accounting. He also emphasized the role of ethics, considering ethical values as the glue which binds society and promotes economic development

The Effectiveness of Organizational Controls: A meta-analytic review and an investigation in NPD outsourcing

Organizational controls have been recognized as an important aspect of the managers’ organizational life.

Two native andrenid bee pollinators face severe population declines in the semi-arid environments of Northwest India

Pollinator declines at the global level are the major concern of ecologists. Two ground nesting native andrenid bee species are important part of the pollination services of Northwest India. These include, Andrena savignyi Spinola an important wild pollinator of some major oilseed crops of the family Brassicaseae, and Andrena leaena Cameron an important wild pollinator of some spices crops of the family Umbelliferae, and vegetable crops of the families Brassicaceae, Apiaceae and Leguminoseae. Their importance in the agroecosystems of Northwest India notwithstanding, the actual status of their populations in such habitats is not known. The purpose of this study is to explore the latter aspect of these bees in Northwest India. A survey was conducted on the abundances of two andrenid species foraging on their respective host plants from 1990 to 2015 at an interval of 5 years. I counted the number of foraging bees of the two species on two crops viz. Andrena savignyi on a winter-flowering crop, raya (Brassica juncea) and Andrena leaena on a summer-flowering crop, carrot (Daucus carota). In 25 years, the foraging populations of Andrena savignyi declined from 4.16±0.168 bees/m2 in 1990 to 1.2±0.09 bees/m2 in 2015 and of Andrena leaena from 5.24±0.156 bees/m2 in 1990 to 1.4±0.11 bees/m2 in 2015. This decline in the numbers of foraging bees seemed to be caused by the habitat loss and poisoning of these bees due to the excessive and indiscriminate use of weedicides in the wheat and rice crops grown in this region. Viewing the importance of these bees in the pollination of crops, it is suggested that, habitat of these bees be conserved and, if at all necessary, weedicides safe to the soil nesting bees be use

Achieving Energy Efficiency Using Fuzzy Logic-Based Cluster Algorithms in Wireless Sensor Networks

Now a days Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) [1, 2] is an emerging and challenging aspect in the field of communication research. It is a type of infrastructure-less wireless networks, which have the capability of self-configuration. These nodes are deployed for environmental data collection by measuring different environmental condition like moisture, pressure and temperature etc. The nodes are working continuous or waiting for event happening to send information. Energy consumption is a major issue in WSN. In this thesis, our proposed approach Fuzzy Based Energy Efficient Clustering in which cluster head is selected based on the distance to BS, remaining energy of node and node density. The non-head nodes join with the cluster head node based on the distance to CH, remaining energy of CH and CH density. The simulation results show that the proposed approach gives better performance than that of LEACH in terms of energy consumption and lifetime of the network for first node death and half of node death

Toxic affects of chromium on some quality parameters of Sorghum bicolor (L.)

A pot experiment was conducted to determine the effects of varying Cr (VI) levels [0.0–4.0 mg Cr (VI) kg-1 soil in the form of potassium dichromate] on the some quality parameters of sorghum Sorghum bicolor (L.). Quality parameters was measured in terms of protein content, chlorophyll content, and IVDMD ( In vitro dry matter digestibility) content at different growth stages, i.e. 35 DAS, 70 DAS and 90 DAS (Days after sowing) that were adversely affected with an increase in Cr (VI) levels from 0.0 to 4.0 mg Cr (VI) kg-1 soil. The decline in protein content 4.67 g/ kg dry weight at T4 was observed as compared to control (T1) ( 8.96 g/kg dry weight basis) at 35 DAS in leaves , Total chlorophyll content declined from 3.25 mg g-1 fresh weight (T1) to 2.40 mg g-1 fresh weight (T4) at 35 DAS and IVDMD content declined from 43.60 to 33.60 per cent dry weight basis with increment in chromium concentration. It is concluded that Cr (VI) at higher doses (4.0 mg Cr (VI) kg-1 soil) adversly affects the quality parameters of Forage sorghum Sorghum bicolor (L.) however, quality parameters are responsible for nutritive value of sorghum Sorghum bicolor (L.)

Modeling Soviet Agriculture for Assessing Commanding Economy Policies

A fixed effect production function model is adopted and estimated in this paper for evaluating the agricultural policies of the Soviet planners in Russia (formerly RSFSR) and Kazakhstan from 1953 to 1980. In particular, the functional form allows the variance of output to increase or decrease as one input is increased. Our estimates suggest the following assessment of the Soviet planners' agricultural policies during the command economy days: First, the extension of farming in Kazakhstan with generally inferior soils and climate resulted in lower crop levels (with identical input applications). Second, the massive inflow of capital resources and sharp rise in fertilizer use in agriculture during the Brezhnev years (1964-1982) did not contribute significantly to crop levels in the two republics. Finally, the extension of the cultivated area into marginal lands generally, and of fertilizer use in wrong mix and form contributed to the instability of agricultural output. In conclusion, we emphasize the need for specifying and estimating appropriate models for evaluating Soviet agricultural policies especially because farm-level data are rapidly becoming available in the republics of the former Soviet Union

Abundance, foraging behavior and pollination efficiency of insects visiting the flowers of Aonla (Emblica officinalis)

Many insect species visit the flowers of a plant and play an important role in their pollination. Of late, the interest of the pollination biologists has been to determine their relative contribution towards the reproductive success of the plant. Such information is lacking on the pollinators of Aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.), a plant of very high nutritive and medicinal importance. Therefore, let’s attempt to make this study to generate such information on this plant. The study was conducted on three varieties of Aonla (viz. Chakaiya, NA-7 and NA-10) for two years. An entire range of flower visitors of this fruit plant was captured with hand net from its field during its flowering period and were identified. On the basis of foraging mode, the flower visitors were characterized as pollinators and non-pollinators. Their abundances, foraging rates, activity durations and number of pollen grains carried on the surface were recorded, and these parameters were used to determine their relative contribution towards the reproductive success of this plant. Among the 12 insect species visiting the flowers of Aonla at the study site, 5 belonged to Hymenoptera, 6 to Diptera and one to Lepidoptera. Apis dorsata was the most abundant visitor having maximal foraging rate and carried maximal number of loose pollen grains, followed by A. mellifera, A. florea and Sarcophaga sp; other visitors had lesser values of these parameters. On the basis of these parameters, melittophilous mode of pollination was found to predominate in Aonla. However, the plant was found to be benefitted from the multispecies pollinator guild, and the pollinator diversity seemed to matter for maximization of pollination in Aonla. Therefore, there is a dire need to conserve the pollinator diversit