Degree of Instant Competition: Estimation of Market Power in India Instant Coffee Market

The new competition policy of the Government of India seeks to promote competition to protect consumer interests and increase market efficiency. In fact, the degree of price transmission between farmers and final consumers also depends on the degree of competition in the processing sector. Moreover, policy of trade liberalization too is expected to have impact on domestic markets. It becomes imperative, therefore, that one knows the degree of competition in various domestic industries. Instant coffee market in India is a duopoly of Nestl� and Hindustan Lever for decades. They also differentiate their products through branding. At the same time, however, incumbents might have perceived potential competition from another firm, Tata Coffee. In fact, instant coffee can be considered as a part of a larger beverage market with numerous competing products. With trade liberalization, imports have also started trickling in. Thus, circumstantial evidence regarding degree of competition or the market power in the instant coffee market is rather mixed one. By econometrically estimating the perceived first-order supply relation and the demand function, we calculate the market power parameter. Results indicate that the market is not characterized by collusive behaviour. It is quite close to perfectly competitive behaviour although we cannot reject the Cournot-Nash behaviour as well. The econometric study may be complemented by in-depth case study on coffee procurement, processing, and pricing by leading producers. Similar estimations of market power and case studies may be undertaken for other industries as well.

An ab-initio study of nodal-arcs, axial strain's effect on nodal-lines & Weyl nodes and Weyl-contributed Seebeck coefficient in TaAs class of Weyl semimetals

This work verifies the existence of dispersive \textit{nodal-arcs} and their evolution into Weyl nodes under the effect of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in NbAs & NbP. The obtained features mimic the observations as reported for TaAs & TaP in our previous work. In addition, this work reports that the number of nodes in TaAs class of Weyl semimetals (WSMs) can be altered via creating strain along $a$ or $c$ direction of the crystal. For instance, the number of nodes in NbAs under SOC-effect along with 2% (3%) tensile-strain in $a$ direction is found to be 40 (56) in its full Brillouin zone (BZ). Besides the nodes, such strain are found to have considerable impact on the nodal-lines of these WSMs when effect of SOC is ignored. A 3\% tensile (compressive) strain along the $a$ ($c$) direction leads to the partially merging of nodal-lines (without SOC) in the extended BZ of NbAs \& NbP, which is not observed in TaAs & TaP within the range of -3% to 3% strain. Apart from this, the work discusses the role of Weyl physics in affecting the Seebeck coefficient ($S$) of any WSM. In this direction, it is discussed that how a symmetric Weyl cone, even if tilted, will have no contribution to the $S$ of WSMs. Furthermore, the work highlights the conditions under which a Weyl cone can contribute to the $S$ of a given WSM. Lastly, the discussion of Weyl contribution to $S$ is validated over TaAs class of WSMs via investigating the features of their Weyl cones and calculating the contributions of such cones to the $S$ of these semimetals. The value of $S$ contributed from Weyl cone is found to be as large as $\sim$65 $\mu$\textit{V}/\textit{K} below 25 K in case of TaAs. The findings of this work present a possibility of engineering the topological properties of TaAs class of WSMs via creating strain in their crystal. It also makes the picture of Weyl physics impact on the $S$ of WSMs a more clear

Governance Issues in the Principal-Agent Framework: Producing Cellulosic Ethanol in Michigan

This article analyzes the incentives and compensation problems faced by cellulosic ethanol producer and logging firms and the consequent impact on the organization of the wood based cellulosic ethanol industry in the US. The success of this relationship is central to setting up the biofuel industry in Michigan and in the US at large. The theoretical results indicate that specification contract under the principal-agent framework is of limited utility due to’ metering’ problem when the principal contracts with multiple agents for the supply of feedstock.. Alternative arrangements including JVs have the potential to provide close to first best solutions.Principal-Agent, Cellulosic Ethanol, Michigan, Multiple agents, Asymmetric Information, Agribusiness, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, D82, D86, L23, L24, Q42,

Investigating the effect of electronic correlation on transport properties and phononic states of Vanadium

In the present work, we have tried to investigate the importance of electronic correlation on transport properties and phononic states of Vanadium (V). The temperature-dependent electrical resistivity ($\rho$) and electronic part of thermal conductivity ($\kappa_e$) due to electron-electron interactions (EEIs) and electron-phonon interactions (EPIs) are computed. The values of $\rho$ due to EEIs are found to be extremely small in comparison to $\rho$ due to EPIs. For instance, at 300 K, the calculated value of $\rho$ due to EEIs (EPIs) is $\sim$ 0.859$\times10^{-3}$ ($\sim$ 0.20) $\mu\Omega$m. The magnitudes of $\kappa_e$ due to EPIs are found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. These observations indicate the negligible importance of EEIs to these quantities for V. However, at 300 K, the value of Seebeck coefficient ($S$) at DFT+DMFT level ($\sim$ -0.547 $\mu$VK$^{-1}$) is found to be entirely different than at DFT level ($\sim 7.401$ $\mu$VK$^{-1}$). Also, the DFT+DMFT value of $S$ at 300 K is in good match with the available experimental data (-1.06 $\mu$VK$^{-1}$, 1.0 $\mu$VK$^{-1}$). Apart from this, the study of phononic states at DFT and DFT+DMFT level is performed. The obtained phononic band structure and phonon DOS at DFT+DMFT differ to a good extent from that at DFT. The maximum energy of phononic state obtained at DFT (DFT+DMFT) is $\sim$ 33.83 ($\sim$ 35.15) meV, where the result of DFT+DMFT is obtained more closer to the experimental data (35.15, 36.98 & 41.77 meV). These results highlight the importance of electronic correlation on $S$ & phononic states of simple correlated V metal

RELATIONSHIP OF CORE STRENGTH AND ISOKINETIC KNEE STRENGTH WITH VERTICAL JUMP PERFORMANCE IN VOLLEYBALL

Background: The game of Volleyball requires the players to perform dynamic movements in receiving the ball and performing explosive movements in spiking and blocking. Vertical jump (VJ) becomes one of the basic motor ability in volleyball owing to its frequent involvement during spiking, blocking, and setting the ball for attack. Although considerable work has been done, the relationship between core strength (Trunk Flexion (TF) & Back Extension (BE)) and vertical jump remains unclear. Thus, the present study was aimed at finding relationship between core strength-endurance and vertical jump performance. Method: 20 male players (Age=18.05±0.76 years; Height=192.75±5.88cm; Weight=77.67±7.37kg) from Indian National U-20 Volleyball team were tested on an Isokinetic Dynamometer at 600*s-1, 900*s-1 and 1200*s-1 angular speeds for strength testing, on DAVID systems for trunk flexion and back extension and on sergeant test for vertical jump. Results: Core strength-endurance (TF & BE) and isokinetic concentric Quadriceps strength at 1200*s-1 (CDQ120) for dominant leg were significantly positively correlated to vertical jump (TF vs VJ: r=0.507, p=0.023; BE vs VJ: r=0.453, p=0.045; CDQ120 vs VJ: r=0.595, p=0.006) while isokinetic strength for non-dominant leg approximated significance with increasing velocities. Also, core strength (TF & BE) was significantly positively related with FlightTime (FT) (TF vs FT: r=0.497, p=0.026; BE vs FT: r=0.568, p=0.009). Conclusion: The significant positive correlation of core strength with vertical jump and FlightTime establishes core strength as an integral component of sports training in Volleyball. Although, eccentric quadriceps strength and hamstring strength were not positively correlated to vertical jump, they help in safe landing mechanism and reduce injury-risks. The small sample size of the study warrants further investigations with larger sample size to confirm the findings.  Article visualizations

Transitioning to the Top: Learnings from Success Stories of Indian Women Leaders in Academia

Women leaders in Indian organizations experience several challenges and obstacles that affect their career progression as well as performance. The study was premised on the under-representation of women in leadership positions across organizations. The challenges and barriers faced by Indian women leaders have been well documented, but very little research has been conducted on the experiences of women who aspired and achieved the top positions. The study intended to explore and develop a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of women leaders so as to define pathways for future leaders to come. The study through the prism of intersectionality theory presented constructs of successful leadership of seven women in Indian higher education. We used semi-structured interviews to record their experiences of organizational context, gender, and socio-cultural factors in enabling their leadership success. Our analysis revealed various enablers and few deterrents experienced by them. The women leaders encountered unprecedented challenges in earning respect from their male colleagues and superiors and in proving their leadership competency. Familial support and upbringing acted as the most important enablers. Successful implementation of various strategies to overcome barriers and challenges such as training, mentorship, keeping their self-confidence high, and believing in themselves helped them to reach the desired leadership positions. The study provided valuable insights into the factors and strategies contributing to the professional advancement of women leaders in Indian academia and established a discourse of intersectional identities associated with leadership experiences

Assessment of monthly variation in heavy metal characteristics of Electroplating industrial untreated wastewater at selected sites of Chandigarh

With the contest of urbanization and industrial development, electroplating industries have grown rapidly. The different chemicals, metal salts and discharge of large volume of wastewater with inefficient treatment facilities had created the pollution load on water bodies.  The present study was carried out to investigate the assessment of the monthly variation of pH and heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Zn, Fe) of electroplating untreated industrial wastewater from the selected study sites viz. SS-1: Atul Industries, SS-2: Suresh Fasteners, SS-3: Bajrang Industrial Company, SS-4: Stylex Industries, SS-5: Karan Industries, SS-6: Avon Industries, SS-7: Geetika Enterprises, SS-8: Atop Fasteners, SS-9: Accufit Fasteners and SS-10: Ashoka Furniture Udyog at industrial area phase I and phase II of Chandigarh. The untreated electroplating wastewater samples were collected from ten study sites (SS-1 to SS-10) and were analyzed following the standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. The results of the present study revealed that the maximum concentration of heavy metals such as Zn (122.20 mg/l)during the month of August 2019 at the SS-8, Ni (156.37 mg/l) during the month of August 2019 at the SS-4, Cr (467.01 mg/l) during the month of October 2019 at the SS-5 and Fe (13.22 mg/l)during the month of December 2019 at the SS-2. The load of metallic ions discharge from the electroplating industries before any treatment from the selected study sites (SS-1 to SS-10) was found in the following order as Cr>Ni>Zn>Fe. Thus the present study would provide baseline data for the development of treatment strategies for wastewater discharge from electroplating industries and also in minimizing the effects of heavy metal contamination of receiving water bodies

BFSMpR:A BFS Graph based Recommendation System using Map Reduce

Nowadays, Many associations, organizations and analysts need to manage huge datasets (i.e. Terabytes or even Petabytes). A well-known information filtering algorithm for dealing with such large datasets in an effective way is Hadoop Map Reduce. These large size datasets are regularly known to as graphs by many frameworks of current intrigue (i.e. Web, informal organization). A key element of the graph based recommendation system is that they depend upon the neighbor’s interest by taking minimum distance into account. Generally recent day proposal frameworks utilize complex strategy to give recommend to every user. This paper introduced an alternate approach to give suggestions to users in used of an un-weighted graph using a Hadoop iterative MapReduce approach for the execution.