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Tourism industry has been defined as one of the largest and fastest growing industries. This industry is also considered to be one of the ancient industries of the world. Tourism industry in India is experiencing a boom at the moment. India has tremendous potential to become a major global tourist destination and Indian tourism industry is exploiting this potential to the hilt. A state like Rajasthan has all the elements to become a model state for tourism in the country. It has a rich cultural heritage and the tourists from all over the world visit it due to its climate, scenic beauty and ecological resources. The statistical figures reveal that Rajasthan gets the lion's share of total tourist arrivals, both foreign and domestic, due to its special climate and culture. The present paper assesses the impact of tourism demand on the economic development of Rajasthan. The paper measures the economic development of Rajasthan in terms of Gross State Domestic Product. It assesses the impact of tourism on various developmental activities. Various statistical techniques such as correlation, regression and neural network are used to measure the relation between these two factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines India's role in regionalism. Even though India's closest regional setting is within the subcontinent of Asia and its vehicle of regional integration is the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC), it has not hesitated to actively engage and/or take advantage of opportunities in successful regionalisms such as Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), European Union (EU) and in subregional structures such as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIM-STEC), the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC). Since the end of the Cold War and following its economic reforms, India has stepped up its relations with these regional and subregional organizations and their member countries with the aim of strengthening economic growth through better trade and investment links, security and stability, and most importantly with a view to increasing its global standing. The paper concludes by drawing lessons for Nigeria from the Indian experience of regionalism. The lessons are even more imperative against the backdrop of Nigeria's recent emergence as the largest economy in Africa and its quest to join the top 20 largest economies in the world in line with its vision 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of economic development at the cost of social development has stirred many controversies in the history of independent India. The objective of this paper is to examine the social security of laborers inside the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in India. A cursory reading of the SEZ Act, 2005, does not reveal if the labor legislations in India are same inside and outside the SEZs. The only evident piece of information that the Act is clear about is that labor in the SEZs is subject to a modified regime which aims at non-implementation of labor laws within the SEZs in India. This paper further evaluates the question of formation of trade unions within the SEZs. Further, it evaluates the possibility of the workers going on a strike within the SEZs. The author proposes creation of a new legal regime for the implementation of labor laws within the SEZs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tries to trace the relationship between finance and growth. There are several indicators which represent the degree of financial intermediation such as M3, Real Rate of Interest (RR) and economic growth. In this paper, we have used Time-series methodology such as Unit Root (ADF and Phillips-Perron Tests), Cointegration (developed by Johansen and Juselius), and Granger Pairwise causality. We have checked the presence of unit roots in the data, and all the three variables-Financial Development, RR and Growth Rate-are found to be integrated at first difference. Secondly, Johansen cointegration test results confirm the presence of long-run equilibrium relationship among the variables. Finally, the Granger causality supports the hypothesis of 'Finance-led Growth' indicating that the finance is a leading sector in India and is poised for development. This result supports the supply-leading hypothesis for Indian economy for the sample period. These findings have important implications for the conduct of economic policies in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To maintain healthy banking practices, the Reserve Bank of India formulates and executes a monetary policy with clear-cut goals and tools to be used. Monetary policy is one of the important tools of economic management in India. This paper makes an attempt to study whether policy rates have any impact on BSE Bankex. The relationship between the Banking index and various banking reserve rates is determined using correlation and multiple regression analyses. BSE-Bankex is used as a representative for banking index, whereas Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), Repo Rate (RR) and Reverse Repo Rate (RRR) are used for banking reserve rates. The study is descriptive and empirical in nature. The data is collected through secondary sources, mostly through websites and RBI reports. The findings reveal that the policy rates do not have a significant impact on BSE Bankex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between inflation, inflation volatility and economic growth for India, using both Consumer Price Index (CPI) for industrial workers and Wholesale Price Index (WPI). The study using annual data over the period 1980-2014, reveals that the level of inflation (both CPI and WPI) has negative but insignificant effect on economic growth. To analyze the impact of inflation uncertainty on growth, the study calculates inflation volatility as the fivepoint moving average of coefficient of variation of inflation. The results show that the coefficient of inflation volatility is negative and significant. This signifies that high inflation and inflation uncertainty adversely affect economic growth. Granger causality test is also used to measure the direction of causality between inflation and growth. When CPI is used as a measure of inflation, at an optimal lag length 3, there is no causality between inflation and growth. As more lags are added, the results indicate unidirectional causality from GDP growth to inflation. With WPI, the results show that causality runs from GDP growth to inflation at lag 1, which is found to be optimal. However, WPI inflation and GDP growth are found to be independent of each other as more lags are added to the model during the period of study. Hence, reducing inflation and maintaining price stability is imperative for economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurship is the key driver of the country's economy. It is one of the best means for triggering economic and social development in developing countries like India. It provides employment to huge mass of people and also creates wealth for nation. India is the nation known for its youth population which is considered as its greatest asset, and at the same time, the biggest threat is youth unemployment. Hence, developing entrepreneurial skills among youth is more important for the growth of Indian economy. But surprisingly, youth is attracted less towards entrepreneurship as compared to other professions. This paper focuses on analyzing the entrepreneurial traits in youth and the socioeconomic factors influencing youth entrepreneurship. The paper helps in finding ways for promoting youth entrepreneurship and boosting the growth of the Indian economy as well. The research concludes that the potential of Indian youth is huge which should be properly harnessed and they should be properly channeled to be involved in entrepreneurship with ample support and encouragement from the family, society, government and educational institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Franchising in India is growing at a very fast rate and becoming a popular business model. Franchising, a form of entrepreneurship, could be a growth engine for the Indian economy in the coming years. The growing market has attracted foreign investors and India has become an important investment destination for the global retail chains. Globalization, liberalization and privatization have particularly changed retailing and resulted in the emergence of a new environment suiting consumers' changed attitude and purchasing practices. India is the second most attractive retail destination globally among the 30 emergent markets. The present paper makes an attempt to study the growth and prospects of retail franchising in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study largely attempts to examine the spillover from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Indian manufacturing by using the firm-level data for the period 2000- 2009. With the use of Cobb-Douglas-type production function, it is observed that for the entire manufacturing sector, the impact of FDI on output growth is positive and significant. The result indicates that the increase in foreign equity at firm level and at sector level directly affects the productivity growth of the firm. However this does not hold true when analyzed at sector level. The paper also attempts to find the possible reason for positive spillover by analyzing some more factors of the present dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial services should be made available at affordable costs to all segments of the society. Moreover, as banking services are in the nature of public good, it is essential that they are available to the entire population without any discrimination. Then only total financial inclusion can be achieved. According to Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the 'National Mission on Financial Inclusion' launched in August 2014, technology can play a major role in financial inclusion in the country. The main hurdle to financial inclusion in India is the large population and low volumes, thus leading to unnecessary costs. The only way to bring down costs to an affordable level and to improve the reach of financial services to the remotest corner of the country is by effectively leveraging technology, specifically mobile technology. The mobile phone revolution that is transforming our country could also turn into a banking revolution in terms of reach and transaction. Moreover, with the advent of smartphones, almost all banking transactions are now possible through mobile banking. In India, mobile banking has received a thrust from both RBI and Government of India. However, its overall penetration remains low. This paper makes an attempt to highlight the findings of research carried out by the author to analyze the usage of mobile banking at two separate time intervals-pre-PMJDY (before the yojana) and post-PMJDY - in a specific Indian state. The author also provides suggestions as to how to leverage this technology and improve its penetration to further financial inclusion in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between the returns volatility, volume and open interest of the futures market. Both volume and open interest are broken down into their respective expected and unexpected components to understand as to which is able to explain the volatility. The study is conducted on daily closing index futures prices, volume and open interest for the near-month contract of the Nifty Futures Index on National Stock Exchange (NSE). GARCH-type models are used to model the volatility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trickle down of growth from one region to another or spillover effect is implicit in the very idea of 'balanced regional development' which has always been one of the declared objectives of national policy in India. This paper is an attempt to analyze the performance of northeastern states in India in terms of their Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) growth and also to examine the growth spillover effects among the same for the period 1981-2007. The results of the study reveal that there is a considerable variation in the performance of individual states in terms of NSDP growth, with most states growing faster than the regional average. Also, a mixture of trickling down and polarization effects of economic growth is found within the northeastern region. Neither of the two opposite hypotheses holds in general. The present study contributes to the literature by exploring the dynamics of growth linkages among the northeastern states in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In comparison to the rest of the world, the Indian economy has done reasonably well during the global economic crisis and has registered a stable economic growth. However, relatively high economic growth coexists with the presence of widespread deprivation and exclusion. Higher education plays an important role in maintaining the stability in our economy as well as in strengthening the human capital. This paper questions how far the state is able to include all sectors in the economic growth process. What is the role of knowledge economy in strengthening human capability, while targeting to provide inclusive education? Mainly, this paper tries to find out the educational accessibility of marginal communities at the higher education level, compared to the economic growth rate of India. This paper also tries to highlight the importance of human capital formation, assurance of social development, and maintaining equity in education. In the methodological section, the content analysis method is applied to analyze the data from secondary sources. The major data sources are economic survey, NCERT reports and different educational statistics. The finding of this paper shows that the high economic growth has failed to place the marginal communities on the platform of higher education in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A decade of studies at the firm and country level has reliably shown that the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) investment on labor productivity and economic growth is significant and positive. At both the firm and the country level, greater investment in ICT is related with greater productivity growth. At the firm level, the paper concludes that the wide range of performance of ICT investments among different organizations can be explained by complementary investments in organizational capital such as dispersed decision-making systems, job training and business process redesign. ICT is more importantly an enabler of organizational changes that can lead to additional productivity gains. In mid-2000, ICT capital investment began to fall abruptly due to slowing economic growth, the collapse of many internet-related firms, and reductions in ICT spending by other firms facing fewer competitive pressures from internet firms. This reduction in ICT investment has had overwhelming effects on the ICT-producing sector, and may lead to slower economic and productivity growth in the India economy. While the turmoil in the technology sector has been unsettling to investors and executives alike, this review shows that it should not overshadow the important vicissitudes that have occurred as a result of firms' investments in ICT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between health expenditure and economic growth has drawn the attention of economists for many years both at the theoretical and empirical level. This paper investigates the possible dynamic relation between Healthcare Expenditure (HCE) and economic growth by applying Johansen and Juselius cointegration method and Granger causality methods by using state-level data from four Southern Indian states namely, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu for the period 1960-2009. The evidence suggests that there is no long-run relation among the variables studied for all four states. However, in Andhra Pradesh, a unidirectional causality runs from economic growth to health expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India adopted economic planning in 1951 and since then ten Five-Year plans are over. India's Five-Year plans have the basic objectives of growth, employment, self-reliance and social justice. Any country that wishes to progress must place due emphasis on industrial development as economic development and modernization processes are closely interlinked. In India, the importance of agriculture is self-evident as about two-third of the population depends on it, but industrialization has a major role to play in the economic development of the underdeveloped countries. This paper deals with the critical analysis of the policies of the government for allocation of funds to the industry and related activities in various plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the spread of banking as part of infrastructural growth of the Indian economy. Spread means geographical spread across states, between rural and urban areas, across class of borrowers and industries. It is important to evaluate whether the objective of financial inclusion in some sense is being met. How the Indian banking sector is perceived by the market and whether there has been a change in this perception is also examined. The Indian banking sector may be pursuing its own real objectives and may be achieving a lot. The question is: Does the stock market also feel so? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of development is to improve human well-being in a sustainable way, with a particular emphasis on less well-off. India's economic growth has received potential attention in the recent years. While the economy of India has been growing rapidly with broadly based gains in absolute incomes and many outcomes, it is also the case that progress has differed among different people and social groups. Growth needs to become more inclusive by increasing the prosperity of poorer states, where economies have expanded at a slower pace than those of richer states in the past decade. Growth strategies are likely to differ according to domestic opportunities and constraints. The growth strategies require a sense of priorities. The strategy is aimed at identifying the most binding constraints on economic growth. In the recent years, the empirical literature on economic growth and the convergence principle has devoted increasing attention to interregional analysis. In this paper, an attempt has been made to measure the inequality and locate the lagging states by applying the convergence principle taking both per capita income and per capita agricultural income as the sources of convergence. Since the agricultural sector is not performing in pace with the national economy, it implies the need for strategies for this particular sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to re-examine the export-led growth hypothesis in India using the quarterly data for the period 1996 to 2009. It uses Granger causality test (Toda and Yamamoto, 1995) and forecast error variance decomposition (within VAR framework) to investigate the interrelationship among exports, imports, real effective exchange rate, and economic growth in the short run as well as long run. The results of the study do not support the export-led growth hypothesis, rather it supports the growth-led export hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guru-shishya parampara (GSP), a longstanding tradition in Indian education system, emphasizes a spiritual teacher-disciple relationship for knowledge transmission. However, recent changes in Indian education system and rapid sociocultural and economic transformations have significantly altered the dynamics of GSP. This study explores unique tenets of GSP and changes observed in the tradition across ages. Through a systematic literature review, it identifies seven tenets constituting the bedrock of GSP. The study further investigates the transformation of the teacher-student relationship within contemporary Indian campus fictions (ICFs) employing Theme Framework Analysis on five ICFs. The findings suggest that the portrayal of the teacher-student relationship in contemporary ICFs starkly contrasts with ancient and medieval times. This study outlines the tenets of GSP, suggesting a departure from traditional norms. It implies a shift from the prescriptive GSP norm to a reinvented framework, adapting to a fast-paced, consumerist workforce, influenced by ICT and market-driven employability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developmental expenditures, in the form of capital outlay, by the fiscal authorities are the key for the sustained economic growth of any nation or state. Most of the Indian states are witnessing an increasing trend in their capital outlay in general and with respect to economic and social infrastructure in particular to sustain a continuous growth momentum. Most of the previous literatures have proven that there is a high correlation between capital outlay and economic growth. Keeping in view the recent development relating to the changing dynamics of the capital expenditure, the present paper tries to empirically analyze the direction and degree of relationship between capital outlay and economic growth across the states of India. For empirical estimation, the study has used the panel econometrics framework. The findings suggest that there is a significant definite relationship between capital outlay and economic growth in general. Further, at disaggregated level, the results suggest that both the social and economic expenditure has greater contribution in sustaining a high level of economic growth in the case of Indian states, as has been suggested by the Keynesian approach. The outcome also supports the view that there is a greater role of fiscal authority in maintaining a sustainable and inclusive growth process in the states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indian economic growth is largely supported by the banking sector. Profitability of a bank depends on the amount of capital available with the bank for business activities. Public sector banks are largely funded by the government and hence the equity component in the share capital is quite less than that of private sector banks. The question is how efficiently the capital is used. Are the profitability ratios true reflections of the performance of a bank? In the present paper, the top 12 banks that form the BSE Bankex are selected to study the performance of the banking sector in India in the last six years. The performance of the banks was studied using DuPont model, as DuPont analysis provides much deeper understanding on the efficiency of the bank. The findings reveal that the performance of the bank cannot be judged by profit or some ratios alone and that the banks that made more profits were not really efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the major measures of economic development and financial growth of a country has been the sound performance of its banks. This paper makes an attempt to analyze the financial performance of the Indian banking sector using CAMEL model, and also identifies the factors that predominantly affect the financial performance of the banks. The results show that profit per employee, total advances-to-total deposits ratio, debt-equity ratio, capital adequacy ratio and total investments-to-total assets ratio are the most impacting factors on the performance of the banks, causing 96% of the variance in the return on assets of the banks. However, profit per employee is the most impacting factor as it individually contributes 67.5% variance in the return on assets of the banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microenterprises play a critical role in the economic development of any country, particularly in a developing country like India that is undergoing transition from the traditional subsistence to a modern industrial economy. The role played by these microenterprises in India is immense as they are effective tools for sustainable livelihood, employment generation and empowerment of women, thus contributing to the country's GDP and social upliftment of the society. This paper tries to develop a framework for the development and success of microenterprises in India by considering two broad categories, i.e., individual and business factors. The individual factors are further subdivided into sociocultural factors, psychological factors and entrepreneurial skills-related factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be described as the continuous commitment by corporations towards the economic and social development of communities in which they operate. CSR is a phenomenon which enunciates that companies need to act fairly and correctly beyond the traditional legal formalism. The crucial duty of big business has shifted to sharing social, economic, ethical and moral responsibility in the national discourse; as a result, their role has undergone a change, courtesy the emergence of corporate social responsibility. The traditional role of corporates, understood in terms of a commercial business paradigm, focusing purely on economic parameters of success, has taken a backseat. As corporates have been regarded as institutions that cater to the market demand by providing products and services, and have the onus for creating wealth andjobs, their market position has traditionally been a function of financial performance and profitability. However, over the past few years, as a consequence of rising globalization and pressing ecological issues, the perception of the role of corporates in the broader societal context within which it operates, has been altered. This trend has set in due to the efforts made at the global level brokered by OECD countries supported by United Nations Organization through a global pact. India has fine-tuned her laws, including corporate laws, to carve out a definite place for CSR in corporate governance as a harbinger of future India. Although CSR has been acknowledged the world over, yet gross violations of human rights, ecological degradation, unfair labor practices, exploitation of workforce, malnutrition, unhealthy conditions of work, etc. perpetrated by MNCs are prevalent everywhere, including India. Since India has opened up for global investment, trans-border trade, infrastructure development and corporate restructuring, it has occupied a central place in future international order This paper is an attempt to examine the impact of corporate social responsibility in the context of latest changes made in law and policy by India and measures for the effective legal control of CSR in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an attempt has been made to measure the operational efficiency of major Indian ports during the period 1993-2011 by employing Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models. It was hypothesized that size is not a determinant factor of port efficiency. Based on the empirical results, the operational efficiency of both the bigger ports like JNPT, Mormugao and Kandla as well as of the smaller ports like, Ennore and Tuticorin was observed. Hence, the general notion that size contributes to the operational advantage gets negated as it is seen that efficiency does not depend on size. Further, about 44.13% of the ports were found exhibiting increasing returns to scale, which indicates that these ports need to increase their scale of operations via expansion or internal growth and by building alliances, while 11.73% of ports were found exhibiting decreasing returns to scale, indicating that these ports should decrease their scale of operations by giving up some of the terminal assets and operational functions to other specialized private entities in order to improve their overall efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an attempt to examine the technical efficiency of Indian pharmaceutical industry over the period of 1997-2011 using a nonparametric technique, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The study is carried out for all the selected firms as well as for groups which have been formed on the basis of size, expenditure on R&D, product varieties and other characteristics. The evidence shows that investment in R&D can substantially influence the efficiency of pharmaceutical firms. It is also observed that firms producing only bulk drugs exhibit higher efficiency as compared to the firms producing only formulations. The study also finds that there is a positive association between the size of firms and their technical efficiencies. One of the interesting findings of the study is that prior to the product patent regime, the industry was witnessing a gradual fall in its mean efficiency level, while after 2005, i.e., post-product patent regime, an increasing trend in the level of efficiency in almost all groups of firms has been observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of the concept of a global village has drastically changed the increasing competitive job market, and has greatly affected the emerging Indian economy. A candidate seeking a job needs something extraordinary than just a degree awarded by a university. Many jobs involve repetitive tasks like computer programs or monotonous script-oriented emotionless jobs in a call center or Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). Candidates having a multidimensional personality and well-equipped with the 21st century skill sets would be more suitable to work in the present competitive Multinational Corporations (MNCs), and can perform effectively. In view of these aspects, the present paper deals with the 21st century skills in general, and correlates the same to the contemporary content, evaluation, and the forces that are changing the skill demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between merchandise exports and non-export sector GDP both at aggregate and disaggregate levels in the Indian context for the period 1988-2012. The findings of the study indicate that there exists a long-run relationship between non-export GDP and capital, labor, capital goods imports, manufactured exports, primary exports, and petroleum product exports. Further, at aggregate level, merchandise exports have a positive effect on the output of nonexport sector, thereby supporting export-led growth, while at disaggregate level, primary product and petroleum product exports are found to have a statistically negative impact, whereas manufactured product exports have a statistically positive impact on non-export GDP. Thus, it is not the case that India can simply increase its exports per se and be sure of witnessing economic growth, but instead it is the composition and concentration of these exports that matters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the cost efficiency of Indian commercial banks using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and specifically incorporating interest and non-interest income measures in the estimation. In consistent with the earlier findings, the results show that there is substantial inefficiency among the commercial banks in India over the period of the study (2005-06 to 2010-11). This result suggests that the observed cost inefficiency in the Indian banking industry is primarily due to the regulatory environment in which public sector banks are operating rather than the managerial problems in using the financial resources. The results further signify that the level of competitive practices and technology in the Indian banking industry during the post-reforms period served as a catalyst in improving the level of cost efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the Gramin Suvidha Kendra (GSK) initiative, which began in 2006, Mumbai-based electronic multi commodity futures exchange Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. (MCX), sought to use its domain strengths to make India's process of economic growth more inclusive. It aimed at providing small and marginal farmers with a level playing field and new opportunities in the domain of agricultural marketing, risk management, and finance through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) project with India Post, the Indian Government's postal department. Through the GSK platform, MCX provided various services to the farmers, including giving price/market information, addressing technical queries regarding farming, providing scientific warehousing facilities, issuing warehouse receipts and providing access to finance, quality agri and non-agri inputs and bank loans. MCX entered into partnerships with various organizations to bring these services under a single window to benefit the target audience. The company adopted a proactive approach to CSR and viewed these as Corporate Social Opportunities (CSO). The team at MCX felt that adopting such an approach was important for corporate sustainability. It believed in engaging in activities that were in alignment with the core business of the organization. GSK was one such initiative that it took up in underserved rural communities to simultaneously improve the lot of the small and marginal farmers while guaranteeing long-term project sustainability, scalability, as well as the business interests of MCX and its collaboration partners. This paper studies the start-up phase of the model and seeks to identify its critical success factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, government policies, technology innovations, and changes in consumer spending have created enormous opportunities for economic growth in our nation. Although the private sector in India is booming, the number of jobs created remained far short of what is required to provide adequate employment for management and technically-trained students passing out from business schools and other technical institutions. In the last decade or so, we have witnessed a sudden growth in the number of business schools and technical institutes throughout the country, and employment generation for the 'to be professionals' has become a daunting task for the educators, trainers and management consultants. On the other hand, organizations, which have been complaining of their financial limitations, have found it difficult to hire students within strict HR budgets. In this context, top institutes of the nation like the IIMs, IITs, NITs and particularly noted business schools have found the importance of entrepreneurship cells (e-cells) on their campus as a strategic need. Professional organizations and institutes like National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) and Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) have played a major role in motivating the students and faculty members in promoting entrepreneurial awareness and development of entrepreneurial capabilities across the nation. This paper aims to discuss the relevance, opportunities, benefits and developmental perspectives of e-cells and also the issues hindering the growth and development of e-cells in technical institutes and business schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India's tea sector has been faced with serious challenges followed by internal and external developments during the last two decades or so. The depressionary trend in various respects of tea sector has been marked in Assam, which has global reputation in terms of output generation and spread of tea cultivation. It was expected that the period of India's economic liberalization would revive the Assam tea sector. But the reality has been different. There has been a gradual shift in most of the macro variables of tea sector of Assam in particular and India in general, but such changes were only due to trend variable but not due to productivity improvement of land and labor in the state. At the backdrop of this scenario, this paper endeavors to analyze some of the internal factors influencing the production of tea in Assam during the period of economic liberalization. The outcome of the present study reveals that the productivity of land and labor has not significantly improved in the whole period under investigation. Even India's liberalization period has been unable to influence tea productivity in the state significantly. The trend is also expected to continue in the near future, unless suitable method of cultivation, which ensures higher productivity of either land or labor, is undertaken. A comparative analysis of the performance of tea sector of Assam during pre-liberalization and liberalization periods revealed that there was a structural break after initiation of economic liberalization. Judging from the lower compound annual growth rates during liberalization period compared with pre-liberalization growth rate, the study concludes that India's liberalization period has been less successful in reviving the Assam tea sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After crossing the Hindu growth rate in the 1990s, the Indian economy has been experiencing a consistent and increasing growth of national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) both at current and constant prices. This growth in the national level GDP is resulting in a high growth rate of the State Domestic Product (SDP) of various states. However, it will also be interesting to find out whether there is a convergence in the economic growth of the Indian states or not. National level data indicates that the growth rate of the country is over 8% in the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Five Years Plans, except some bad years and it is expected that the annual growth rate will go even further in the Eleventh Plan. But whether this growth is for all or it is just for some states-is the objective of the present study. This has been done by taking the SDP of 18 Indian states into consideration. The paper calculates the growth rate of all the 18 states for the period of 1980-81 to 2004-05. The entire period has been divided into two parts: 1980-81 to 1990-91 and 1991-92 to 2004-05. The period 1980-81 to 1990-91 can be referred to as the pre-Globalization, Liberalization, and Privatization (GLP), whereas the period 1991-92 to 2004-05 can be referred to as the post-GLP period. This bifurcation has been done for finding out the differences in the convergence of growth rate between pre- and post- GLP. In the pre-GLP period the national level as well as the state level growth rate in per capita GDP was less than that in the post-GLP period. So it will be interesting to see whether the increase in the annual growth rate of the country has led to the convergence or divergence in the growth rate of SDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of ports in international trade of a country cannot be undermined as 90% of the international cargos are transported through sea route. Hence, infrastructural development of ports is of critical importance for a country in order to enhance foreign trade, which in turn contributes substantially to the economic growth of the nation. Thus, the performance of the ports is of critical importance for a country. This paper studies and compares the efficiency of major ports in India. It measures the efficiency in the form of cargo traffic, container vessels traffic, principal commodities trading and the performance of exports as well as imports. A case study methodology is followed in this paper. The growth of efficiency is analyzed through simple growth rate. It was observed that almost all the major ports handled the principal commodities in which, more than 60% were Petroleum, Oil and Lubricant (POL) products. The analysis shows that ports like Mormugoa and Kandla had performed well during the study period. Ports like Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and Visakhapatnam also showed reasonably good efficiency in container vessels traffic and cargo traffic handling during the study period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robust economic growth is not possible without putting in place well-focused integrated programs to reduce poverty through empowering the people by increasing their access to the factors of growth, especially credit issues at the micro level. Bridging the gap between the potential demand for and the actual supply of microfinance services is a big challenge. In this paper, the growth and transformation of microfinance organizations has been discussed. The key context of the paper is how poor people can easily avail the microfinancial services under one umbrella in the fastest way. While discussing the factors and the theoretical position associated with innovation in microfinance, this paper has also brought out the missing link between the lender and borrower in the Indian context. As per the authors, filling of this gap is a precondition for poverty reduction on account of the influence of new paradigm of institutional viability under commercial microfinance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual financial planning has recently gained a lot of momentum in developing countries including India. The basic factors behind this include excellent economic growth coupled with rising individual income level. Investment choice differs from person to person, as every individual is affected by his own set of circumstances. These circumstances define his needs and objectives behind investment, which ultimately guide his investment choice. Apart from this, the level of investment awareness that an individual carries also stands as an important factor. This changing economic paradigm has affected the occupants of financial services industry in a better way, as they are additionally equipped with financial knowledge. This paper studies the impact of demographics on the investment choice of occupants of financial services industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-employment is widely viewed as an important engine of economic and employment growth. This study attempts to examine the entrepreneurial performance of units in terms of their size of investment, number of workers, level of production, etc. Results show that entrepreneurial performance variables are positively and significantly correlated in rural and urban units. An attempt has been made in this paper to highlight the problems faced by entrepreneurs and finding a way out of the problems through suitable government policies like liberalized credit policies, exemption in tax rates, setting up of an association, etc. The study emphasizes that there is a need to enhance awareness among entrepreneurs regarding utilization of services provided by supporting agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After discussing the various changes that the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has undergone since its inception, this paper focuses on a relatively new proposal by the United Nations (UN) called 'Global Compact' (GC) and 'Millennium Development Goals' (MDGs) to reshape Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a tool for national and international development and its applicability in the Indian context. This study also critically analyzes the CSR initiatives adopted by Tata Steel Ltd in the light of this approach to CSR as a developmental tool. The data analysis is based on auditor's annual report and the CSR reports of Tata Steel Ltd. Rural Development Society (TSRDS) from 1990 to 1998 (post liberalization in India). The analysis ends with the conclusion that Tata Steel Ltd's CSR activities implicitly follow the MDGs of the UN as a developmental tool for Jharkhand. These CSR activities (which are well-structured following the MDGs) act like tools for development and try to fill the developmental gaps of the Government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A firm enjoys competitive advantage by virtue of the talent pool it is able to assemble to conduct its businesses. Long-term sustenance of an enterprise requires creation of well-groomed young talent in adequate number, mostly trained by the contemporary B-schools. There is a strongly felt gap in the quality of B-school graduates, especially in the areas of curricula and androgogical efficiency of B-schools within their classrooms and also campuses, besides other contributing factors. Further, organizations need this young talent groomed to deliver extraordinary and competitive performance in the global context. In Rapidly Developing Economies (RDEs) like India, refining the five-decade old American business education models that have been blindly adopted is the need of the hour. Against this background, this paper seeks to investigate the current context and explores the possibility of an alternative model of business education. The implications for both research and practice are discussed at the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is a vast country which is rich in culture and diversity. We can see great variations in culture and religion within a state. Nearly two-thirds of the Indian population lives in rural areas. This group of population is largely poor and needs support for development in various areas such as education, agriculture and craft. The need of the hour is to work towards the growth and development of the country in the field of education. This paper proposes a model using Unified Modeling Language (UML) class diagram, activity diagram and sequence diagram for the Indian Educational System (IES). The author also discusses the challenges and gives suggestions for providing quality education to the rural community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The link between economic growth and energy consumption is very crucial in the implementation of energy and environmental policies in the economy. The linkage is also equally important with regard to the real threat of global warming and climatic change. Empirical investigation on the direction of causality between energy consumption and economic growth is very vital. This issue is whether increase in economic growth causes increase in energy consumption or whether increase in energy consumption actually propels the increased economic growth. This paper explores the nexus between energy consumption (oil and electricity) and economic growth in India over the period 1970- 2006. Using Cointegration and Error Correction Model, it finds a unidirectional short-run and long-run causality from economic growth to per capita oil consumption and electricity consumption. This paper suggests that suitable energy policy should be designed to boost economic growth and to maintain sustainable economic development in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on inter-district variation in agriculture among the 13 undivided districts of Orissa. This paper is divided into three major studies: The first study relates to disparities in various indicators of economic development such as Per Capita Income (PCI), net irrigated area as percentage of net area sown, productivity per hectare, cropping intensity, distribution of fertilizer per thousand hectares of gross cropped area. The second observation relates to variation of district income such as Gross District Domestic Product (GDDP), Net District Domestic Product (NDDP), and PCI, etc. The third observation relates to variation in equal distribution of land holdings. It explains the importance of land reforms for the benefit of marginal and small farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of infrastructure in fostering economic growth and enhancing public welfare is more pronounced in developing economies like India. At the time of our independence, the national government was unanimous in accepting that a much wider base of infrastructure was the sine qua non of economic development of this country. It has been observed that there exists considerable regional disparity in infrastructural facilities in West Bengal, especially within the districts. It is also noted that the relative hierarchy has remained quite sticky over time. Thus, the situation is far from comfortable and this issue is to be taken up seriously to keep our economy on track. In the present paper, an attempt has been made to make a detailed district-level analysis. Some statistical techniques like ranking, coefficient of variation, Principal Component Analysis/Factor Analysis and Rotated Factor Matrix (Kaiser Varimax Method), etc., have been used to show inter-district disparities in infrastructural development. The study finds that there are sharp disparities among the districts in the state of West Bengal. Conclusions and policy prescriptions have been made at the end of the paper for reduction of inter-district disparity in infrastructural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has huge potential in the budget smartphone market, as with a population of around 1.2 billion people, less than one-fourth of the population owns a smartphone. This has drawn in many international players to take advantage of the Indian smartphone market. Understanding customer purchase behavior is very important to marketers, and this paper highlights the important dimensions that attract the customer while making purchase decision for mobile phones. This research concludes that 'hardware specifications' is at the top of the priority list while purchasing mobile phones, followed by marketing communications (including advertisements, brand ambassadors and word of mouth). Additional features (like battery backup, touch screen, expandable memory, sound quality and screen size) and usability features (ease of use, application features and color resolution) come third and fourth respectively. Surprisingly, price (including exchange offers and provision for paying through equated monthly instalments) seems to be the least important consideration when buying a mobile phone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in the number of adventure tourists over the years has led to more academic research in the area. In India, adventure tourism is at a very nascent stage and is currently fragmented and informal. This study provides an insight into Corporate Governance (CG), adventure tourism in India and the legislations implemented in the industry. The tourism industry plays a very important role in the economic and sustainable development of a region. A thorough review of literature was conducted and the current state of CG in tourism sector and the challenges to its implementation are discussed. The study found that to adopt the best governance practices in the tourism industry, firms need to follow the principles of disclosure, fairness, accountability and corporate responsibility. The role of the government in the process has also been highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of corporate governance of banks remains crucial, particularly in developing economies like India, in view of their contribution to economic growth. For the first time, an attempt has been made in this study to find differences in the corporate governance disclosures of public sector banks, new private sector banks and old private sector banks in India, that too for a 7-year period 2006-2012, including the period of last global financial crisis as well as of implementation of Basel II norms. The sample consists of 16 scheduled commercial banks. A disclosure index of 57 parameters is constructed according to Clause 49 of listing agreement of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) using content analysis. These are based on mandatory and recommendatory parameters given by SEBI. Further, 80 additional parameters have been identified by the authors based on the voluntary disclosures made by these 16 banks during the period under study, adding a new dimension to the study. The corporate governance disclosures of public sector banks, new private sector banks and old private sector banks are then analyzed and compared using 57 and 80 parameters separately by subjecting them to empirical testing to compare the groups for significant differences. The combined effect of these 57 plus 80 parameters (137) is also analyzed separately. To conclude, the new private sector banks are found to have higher level of disclosures in comparison to public sector banks and old private sector banks in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The progression of post-independence Indian foreign and geoeconomic policy has been governed by diverse factors, owing to changes in political narratives and economic and structural transformations. This study explores the gravity of economic sovereignty--the determination of supremacy and capacity of the governing institutional apparatus based on economic decisions--in Indian foreign policymaking. It elucidates the theoretical precepts of economic sovereignty while juxtaposing it to the realist theory of international relations, devising an operational understanding by qualifying its constituent conditioning elements. It discerns India's strategic choices and orientation to realism, and finally analyzing the mainstream scholastic schools of Indian foreign policy and geoeconomic thought with respect to the operative comprehension of economic sovereignty. It is concluded that as the baton passed from one Indian geoeconomics school to the next, India has concertedly shifted from the realist and high economic sovereignty continuum to a refined geoeconomic policy of judicious trade and trade-offs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Banking is the epicenter of economic development. The banking system in India is undergoing a structural transformation, thanks to globalization, deregulation, technological advancement, and institutional and legal reforms. While the liberalized environment has opened new avenues of business for banks, it has led to a competitive environment. Today, banks have diversified their activities and are entering into new product areas and services that include credit cards, consumer finance, wealth management, life and general insurance, investment banking, mutual funds, pension fund regulation, stockbroking services, custodian services, private equity, etc. The present paper analyzes the service quality of a bank with regard to savings account services provided by the bank using SERVQUAL. Such a study is useful in determining the weak areas of a bank's service where immediate steps are necessary. If such deficiencies are ignored, it may lead to loss of reputation and credibility, and ultimately switching over of customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigates the interactions between changes in the exchange value of Indian rupee for dollar and euro, and returns on different indices of National Stock Exchange (NSE) in the Indian stock market using daily data of the last ten years. Sensitivity of dollar and euro is computed using Adler and Dumas (1984) model, along with impulse response function with some modifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]