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Using IHDS-II (2011–2012), the main issue addressed in the present paper is: to what extent the choice regarding the sectors of employment has changed across two generations for different social groups. The job reservation policy is termed as effective if the chances of representation in public sector jobs increase for those individuals who belong to the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribes category. Using the mobility measures and Altham Statistics (Long and Ferrie in American Economic Review, 103(4):1109–37, 2013), we found sons belonging to the scheduled caste (SC) are significantly more mobile than the sons belonging to the General category or scheduled tribe (ST). Between SC and ST, the latter shows greater persistence in father’s sector of employment if father is a public sector employee. We have performed regression analyses to examine the extent of mobility between sectors of employment and study the effectiveness of job reservation policy. Ours findings are as follows: sons are more likely to be in business sector if father is also in business sector rather than jobs sector, the chances of representation in public sector jobs increases for Scheduled Tribe sons. This indicates that job reservation policy is partially effective for ST sons. We also found that the likelihood of sons being employed in different sector than that of their fathers’ increases with the increase in education of son and for those sons who lives in urban household.

The present paper is a micro econometric study, which identifies the factors that can potentially contribute to the integration of rural households to formal financial sector. The study also addresses the question: how such financial integration affects the level of household savings. The term “financial inclusiveness” is used in the paper to describe the households’ integration to formal financial sector. The paper is based on a survey conducted in four villages in the district of 24-Parganas in West Bengal, India. We construct indices for financial inclusiveness, financial literacy and access to mass-media and then investigate impact of financial literacy and access to mass media on financial inclusiveness. The econometric result shows that the financial inclusiveness depends on financial literacy whereas financial literacy, among other factors depends on the extent of use of mass media by the household. The paper also finds that the below poverty level (BPL) card holders are more financially included whereas the religious group Muslim as well as casual workers employed in both the agriculture and in the non-agricultural sector are not. Further, the study establishes that the household saving level is not affected by the ownership of formal financial instruments indicating that financial inclusiveness has not been a major driver of higher household savings.

We have done a qualitative and quantitative analysis of Ganga River water in two areas namely Palta and Diamond Harbour, in the state of West Bengal, India. Anthropogenic activity is very high in these regions. Restriction of human activity near river basins due to the prolonged COVID-19 lockdown has brought remarkable changes in the environment. A comparison of the pre-lockdown period and the lockdown period was done. The study covered the years from March 2019 to May 2020. Results demonstrate improvement in surface water quality of River Ganga, during the lock-down period as there was less anthropogenic activity. The water quality test revealed that tur-bidity has reduced to

It has been empirically observed that reserving seats for leaders belonging to disadvantaged social groups at the local level improves targeting of household public goods to households belonging to these groups. However, it is not clear whether a similar result holds for the allocation of village public goods that have limited spillover effects across households in a village, such as repair and maintenance of access roads to households, streetlights, sewer lines, etc. The present paper uses locational data collected from a sample of Indian villages and applies spatial econometrics to test whether political reservations for elected representatives increase allocations to households belonging to the reserved community, especially when they are in the minority. The results show that for certain types of village public goods, political reservations produce favourable allocations for the reserved community when locational clustering of the communities is present.

The study is an exercise to identify the presence of intra-household gender disparities in financial literacy levels between male and female decision-makers of the family (identified as male and female household heads) using data from a primary survey conducted in 24 Parganas (North), West Bengal, India. The survey shows the existence of significant intra-household gender gap in financial literacy. We also found that the female household heads with low financial literacy use mass media less intensively. Further, the study identifies that financial literacy is low for respondents in families with low levels of income and asset. Financial literacy improves with the use of mass media and education level. Interestingly, the higher the age of respondents the less are they financially literate. JEL Classifications: D19, J16, G190

Red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae), is considered one of the most damaging insect pests of date palms in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Large scale infestation of RPW to date palm trees leads to excessive feeding activity of the RPW larvae, which is carried out by microorganisms present within RPW and producing a wet fermenting material inside the trunk. Culture dependent-bacteria were isolated from feeding waste and identified by the sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene using 8F and 1492R universal primers. Among the culture-dependent isolated bacteria, 80% were identified by comparing 16S rRNA gene sequence in NCBI database, using BLAST program in GenBank. 85% of the identified bacteria were Gram-positive while the rest of them were Gram-negative. A high abundance of bacteria were from the Bacillaceae family and sixteen different species of Bacillus were identified in comparison with NCBI GenBank. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of identified bacterial strains have been submitted to GenBank. The phylogenetic relationship was studied using 16S rRNA gene sequences, the Gram-negative bacteria came in one clade while Gram-positive different Bacillus sp. and strains showed evolutionary closeness to each other and accordingly, they came in one major clade under three different sub-clades in the phylogenetic tree. The findings of new Bacillus strains in the natural habitat of the date plam trees in the Kingdom of Bahrain, pledge a vast area of research on RPW bio-control research arena.

The promotion of cashless transaction is a policy priority for the Indian economy. The government of India has adopted various policy measures to promote financial services and cashless transaction starting with the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana’ (PMJDY) in 2014 and controversial measure of demonetisation in November 2016. While the importance of cashless transaction is widely recognised, a proper yardstick is required to measure the extent and effectiveness of the policies for promoting the cashless transaction in an economy, which is absent. In the present article, we attempt to fill the gap by adopting the multidimensional index developed by UNDP for this purpose. This article constructs three alternative indices of the cashless transaction from 2012 to 2018 by aggregating different components of the cashless transaction. It also analyses the effectiveness of policies to promote cashless transaction separately on the trend of the overall cashless transaction of the economy and also on the different components of cashless transaction. It has been found that while demonetisation and post-demonetisation policies had a temporary effect on the overall value of the cashless transaction there is an increase in volume of the cashless transaction after the adaptation of PMJDY. JEL: E42, G18, G21

To mitigate arsenic contamination in Uttar Pradesh, India, the state government installed 365 arsenic removal units (ARUs) in arsenic-prone areas of the Ballia District for last 10 years. Each unit was capable of serving approximately 200–300 households. The local communities were to assume responsibility for the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the filters. A field survey was conducted to determine the outcome of the state government project based on a sample of 200 ARUs, very few of which are still functioning. It is shown that the project failed because the siting of the ARUs was less than optimal, many families living in villages with ARUs were denied access to or chose not to use the filtered water for socioeconomic reasons, and the ARUs were not properly maintained. Factors that contributed to the demise of the filters were the unavailability of filtration media and spare parts in local markets and a lack of participation of families in the communities responsible for maintaining the ARUs. The overall results conclude for operation and maintenance a constant monitoring is essential to sustain all installed ARUs at different locations. Also there is a training need assessment for the beneficiary group who run the individual unit through people’s participatory approach with optimum management related to hazardous sludge.

OBJECTIVES: Evaluate and compare contraceptive efficacy, safety, continuation rates and duration of lactational amenorrhea (LA) in married lactating women (20–35 years) using the progesterone vaginal ring (PVR) or Copper-T380A intrauterine device (IUD) during the first postpartum year. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a one-year multicenter, non-randomized, non-inferiority, open-label, comparative trial at 20 centers in India and compared efficacy, safety, continuation and LA plus feeding patterns and growth/well-being of participants’ infants. Women used four 3-month PVRs consecutively (lost PVRs were not replaced) and were to breastfeed at least four times/day. We used Pearl Index (PI) and Kaplan Meier (K-M) rates to analyze pregnancy and K-M for continuation. RESULTS: We enrolled 789 women (459 PVR, 330 IUD). Neither PI nor K-M one-year pregnancy rates differed significantly between groups (PI: PVR-0.62; IUD-0.35); (K-M: PVR-0.7; IUD-0.4, p=0.58). Continuation rates at 12 months were 78.5% (IUD) vs. 56.9% (PVR) (p

The present chapter is a survey of different sampling techniques using variety of examples to illustrate each method of sampling. The survey also discusses and exemplifies the concept of sampling frame and its desirable properties. The other aspects that this chapter covers are the target population for a sampling frame, inclusion criterion for a sampling frame and problems associated with selecting the proper sampling frame, namely selection bias and measurement bias. Next, we discuss the basic sampling techniques, which can be divided into two categories: probability sampling methods and non-probability sampling methods. There is also a detailed discussion on how the different sampling techniques can be combined to get a better representation of the population. The importance and relevance of non-probability sampling are also discussed.

Authentication of medicinally important plants is essential for increasingly demands of herbal remedies worldwide. DNA barcoding technology is currently gaining importance as a reliable tool for plant species identification, although one barcode gene is not enough in the exceptions. Short sequence diversity of standardized specific coding gene regions of rbcLa and matK of plastid genome together with noncoding ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) marker is used as barcode to compare and differentiate plant species. The success of obtaining sequences of the 29 analyzed plants distributed in 21 families using three different barcode genes rbcLa, matK and ITS2 were 97%, 79% and 75% respectively. Multiple sequence alignment confirmed the medicinal plants at species level by 89.28%, 86.32% and 60.86% obtained through rbcLa, ITS2 and matK barcodes sequences respectively. The genetic distance between sequence pairs (GD) and percentage identity (PI) is compared to analyze the plant identity at species level. The phylogenic trees constructed to show the relatedness and distance of the analyzed plants in the history of evolution by the analysis of richness of clades. The construction of DNA barcode library of desert medicinal plants is an introductory research arena in Kingdom of Bahrain in helping the routine identification of plants, and developing guidelines for detection of adulterants in herbal medicines as well as protection of biodiversity.

Background & objectives: Kangaroo mother care (KMC - early continuous skin-to-skin contact between mother and infants) has been recommended as an alternative care for low birth weight infants. There is limited evidence in our country on KMC initiated at home. The present study was undertaken to study acceptability of KMC in different community settings. Methods: A community-based pilot study was carried out at three sites in the States of Odisha, Gujarat and Maharashtra covering rural, urban and rural tribal population, respectively. Trained health workers provided IEC (information, education and communication) on KMC during antenatal period along with essential newborn care messages. These messages were reinforced during the postnatal period. Outcome measures were the proportion of women accepting KMC, duration of KMC/day and total number of days continuing KMC. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were also carried out. Results: KMC was provided to 101 infants weighing 1500-2000 g; 57.4 per cent were preterm. Overall, 80.2 per cent mothers received health education on KMC during antenatal period, family members (68.3%) also attended KMC sessions along with pregnant women and 55.4 per cent of the women initiated KMC within 72 h of birth. KMC was provided on an average for five hours per day. Qualitative survey data indicated that the method was acceptable to mothers and family members; living in nuclear family, household work, twin pregnancy, hot weather, etc., were cited as reasons for not being able to practice KMC for a longer duration. Interpretation & conclusions: It was feasible to provide KMC using existing infrastructure, and the method was acceptable to most mothers of low birth infants.

The market structure, conducts and performance of the Indian banking sector have changed since the introduction of banking sector reforms. Slower economic growth, coupled with asset quality problems in recent years, has taken a toll on the overall health of the Indian banking sector. Higher statutory capital requirement under Basel III has posed another major challenge to the Indian banks. The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of structural changes and conduct of Indian commercial banks on their profitability in the paradigm of structure–conduct–performance (SCP) framework. Market concentration, bank-specific/macroeconomic variables have been considered as important determinants of the profitability. The regression results find a negative relationship between profitability and market concentration and reject SCP hypotheses. The study found that capitalization, credit risk, leverage and ownership structure are the most important determinants of the profitability of Indian banks. The study also found that financial crisis had no significant impact on the profitability of Indian banks. JEL Classification: C4, G21, G28, L19

Background: Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDGs) mobilised countries to reduce child mortality by two thirds the 1990 rate in 2015. While India did not reach MDG 4, it considerably reduced child mortality in the MDG-era. Efficient and targeted interventions and adequate monitoring are necessary to further progress in improvements to child health. Looking forward to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-era, the Indian Council of Medical Research and The INCLEN Trust International conducted a national research priority setting exercise for maternal, child, newborn health, and maternal and child nutrition. Here, results are reported for child health.Methods: The Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) method for research priority setting was employed. Research ideas were crowd-sourced from a network of child health experts from across India; these were refined and consolidated into research options (ROs) which were scored against five weighted criteria to arrive weighted Research Priority Scores (wRPS). National and regional priority lists were prepared.Results: 90 experts contributed 596 ideas that were consolidated into 101 research options (ROs). These were scored by 233 experts nationwide. National wRPS for ROs ranged between 0.92 and 0.51. The majority of the top research priorities related to development of cost-effective interventions and their implementation, and impact evaluations, improving data quality; and monitoring of existing programs, or improving the management of morbidities. The research priorities varied between regions, the Economic Action Group and North-Eastern states prioritised questions relating to delivering interventions at community- or household-level, whereas the North-Eastern states and Union Territories prioritised research questions involving managing and measuring malaria, and the Southern and Western states prioritised research questions involving pharmacovigilance of vaccines, impact of newly introduced vaccines, and delivery of vaccines to hard-to-reach populations.Conclusions: Research priorities varied geographically, according the stage of development of the area and mostly pertained to implementation sciences, which was expected given diversity in epidemiological profiles. Priority setting should help guide investment decisions by national and international agencies, therefore encouraging researchers to focus on priority areas. The ICMR has launched a grants programme for implementation research on maternal and child health to pursue research priorities identified by this exercise.

This paper is an attempt to understand how far the volatility in the world stock market has penetrated Indian stock market and the nature of volatility of stock indices at the sectoral level during a period covering the subprime crisis. Most of the previous studies on sectoral returns are related to diversification and optimum portfolio management. But it is also important to understand the characteristics of the volatility of the individual sectoral returns as well as their relationship with market returns. This paper empirically investigates the pattern of volatility at the sectoral level in the Indian stock market during April 1, 2006, to March 31, 2011, and any ‘spillover effect’ between the domestic sectors and the US stock markets, which gives us an idea about how deep the penetration of the subprime crisis was in the Indian stock market and how persistent was its effect. The study focuses on the time-varying nature of volatility and the presence of characteristics like volatility clustering. The disaggregated study gives us an idea of how far the different segments of stock markets are integrated with the international stock markets. It also addresses the issue of leverage effect for all the indices to check whether a negative shock is creating more volatility than positive shocks. It also gives us the opportunity to compare the level of persistence among pre-crisis, crisis and post-crisis period.

Background: Sepsis is one of the most common causes of neonatal deaths globally. Most sepsis-related deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries, where the epidemiology of neonatal sepsis remains poorly understood. Most of these countries lack proper surveillance networks, hampering accurate assessment of the burden of sepsis, implementation of preventive measures, and investment in research. We report results of neonates born in hospital from a multicentre collaboration on neonatal sepsis. Methods: In this cohort study, dedicated research teams prospectively followed up neonates born in one of three tertiary care centres in Delhi, India (Vardhaman Mahavir Medical College, Maulana Azad Medical College, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences [coordinating centre]) and subsequently admitted to the intensive care unit. Neonates were followed up daily until discharge or death. On clinical suspicion, neonates underwent sepsis work-up including blood cultures. The isolated organisms were identified and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility. We defined Gram-negative isolates resistant to any three of five antibiotic classes (extended-spectrum cephalosporins, carbapenems, aminoglycosides, fluoroquinolones, and piperacillin-tazobactam) as multidrug resistant. Findings: 13 530 neonates of 88 636 livebirths were enrolled between July 18, 2011, and Feb 28, 2014. The incidence of total sepsis was 14·3% (95% CI 13·8–14·9) and of culture-positive sepsis was 6·2% (5·8–6·6). Nearly two-thirds of total episodes occurred at or before 72 h of life (defined as early onset; 1351 [83%] of 1980). Two-thirds (645 [64%]) of 1005 isolates were Gram-negative including, Acinetobacter spp (22%), Klebsiella spp (17%), and Escherichia coli (14%). The pathogen mix in early-onset sepsis did not differ from that of late-onset sepsis (ie, after 72 h). High rates of multidrug resistance were observed in Acinetobacter spp (181/222, 82%), Klebsiella spp (91/169, 54%), and Escherichia coli (52/137, 38%) isolates. Meticillin resistance prevailed in 61% (85/140) of coagulase-negative staphylococci and 38% (43/114) of Staphylococcus aureus isolates. Nearly a quarter of the deaths were attributable to sepsis. The population-attributable risks of mortality were 8·6% in culture-negative sepsis, 15·7% in culture-positive sepsis by multidrug-resistant organisms, and 12·0% in culture-positive sepsis by non-multidrug-resistant organisms. Interpretation: The high incidence of sepsis and alarming degree of antimicrobial resistance among pathogens in neonates born in tertiary hospitals underscore the need to understand the pathogenesis of early-onset sepsis and to devise measures to prevent it in low-income and middle-income countries. Funding: Indian Council of Medical Research

Wetlands are invaluable components of the environment, ecology, resource potential and biodiversity in India. In the Gangetic flood plain of West Bengal, wetlands are used for multiple purposes, and have significant role in the livelihoods of the local people. Thus an awareness of the importance of wetland is raised from few decades, because Government authorities and private organizations are started to realize the fact that wetlands are complex ecological systems, whose structure provides numerous goods and various services, including food storage, water quality sustenance, agriculture production, fisheries and recreation. The objective of this work is to analyze the conditions of unemployed people through labour participation and to evolve an adaptation for the sustainable use of wetlands, emphasizing the economic upliftment for the selected floodplain region. It may be concluded that as some of the floodplain wetlands serves as bird sanctuaries, national parks and reserves of biodiversity, it results in several environmental issues to mitigate and are also used for irrigation, jute retting, collection of edible aquatic plants and animals as well as birds. Thus a plan for floodplain wetlands may be developed to integrate the various uses of the water body with a holistic approach.

In this article, we examine the role of the institutional investors, both domestic and foreign, in driving the return on the Indian equity market in the last decade. An attempt is made to identify the influence of other possible determinants, more specifically domestic and international financial variables, on the market returns as well. Whether there is a change in the relationship is also studied. The results uncover some interesting facts. First, there is evidence of institutional investors driving the market return after 2008, though it did not have any impact before 2008. Second, the return is significantly led by the movement of interest rates within and outside the country for the entire decade. Third, most of the major and emerging stock markets and the US market also have significant influence on Indian equity market return. Fourth, gold return used to affect the equity market return in pre-2008 years, but it ceased to do so after 2008. The results show that the determinants of the Indian equity market return have changed after the recent economic crisis of 2008. JEL Classification: C53, G11, G21, F32

Wind erosion is a severe land degradation process in the Indian Thar Desert, mostly lying in western Rajasthan. During severe wind erosion events or dust storms, a large amount of surface soil is eroded. Minute particle fractions of these eroded soils, which are also known as dust, create several problems in the region. Loss of top fertile soils from agricultural fields through dust storm events makes the soil very poor to sustain plant growth. Deposition of eroded soils on roads and railway tracks makes transportation difficult. The soils are even deposited in water bodies, for example, irrigation canals and surface water reservoirs, reducing the water storage capacity. Nutrient-rich eroded soil, when deposited in large water bodies, disturbs the aquatic ecosystem balance. Minute dust particles or particulate matter which remain suspended in the atmosphere for a long time are health hazards to desert dwellers. Suspended dust particles in the atmosphere generate aerosols which affect the regional climate through altering the radiative fluxes. Regional transport of suspended dust particles from the Thar Desert to the Indo-Gangetic Plain creates a dust haze and affects the local weather. Therefore, dust storms occurring in the Thar Desert create hazards not only in the source region but also in surrounding regions through interregional dust transport.

This paper focuses on determining an efficient and simple method to remove arsenic from groundwater. Arsenic is a naturally occurring element widely distributed in the earth’s crust. Arsenic is very toxic when found in large quantities in drinking water. This report documents the selected treatment method and laboratory experimentation of arsenic removal from drinking water in small water delivery systems and domestic water systems. The objective is to expand upon research of new and existing arsenic removal technologies or promote a new, alternative process. Several treatment technologies have been considered to perform this function, but cost and reliability concerns prompted the decision to analyze small-scale, community-based filtration units, specifically. Based upon initial test data, the use of dual treatment method comprising of oxidation-coagulation-filtration and adsorption by activated alumina has proven to be more economic having more capacity and superior reliability as compared to other arsenic removal processes using various other media.

A typical high-energy piping systems consists of the main steam, reheat (hot and cold) and boiler feed pump (BFP). The initial design of the system is based on elastic analysis to ensure that the stresses and deflections fall within established code limits. The important reason for analyzing the piping is that many power plants were built before (40 to 50 years) computer analysis techniques were available. The main aim of piping stress analysis is to check the design, which will allow simple and economical piping supports and provide flexibility to the piping system for thermal expansion. The piping stress analysis is carried out using CAEPIPE software. By using this software we can evaluate stresses, stress ratios, flange condition, support loads, element forces and displacements at each node. In this paper, only the maximum and minimum displacement results are tabulated.

Temperature drives the major physico-chemical and biological actions in inland water bodies. The higher the water temperature, the greater the biogeochemical activity influenced by the environmental intrinsic and extrinsic parameters. Temperature also controls the dynamics of sustainability of various aquatic organisms that live in lakes and reservoirs, though higher life forms, such as fish, insects, zooplankton, phytoplankton, and other aquatic species all have a recommended temperature variety. The increase in water temperature due to the increase in atmospheric air temperature results in lake water column stratification and the dissolved oxygen level variation in aquatic systems are greatly affected. The vertical distributions of dissolved oxygen in the water column are highly dependent due to change in vertical temperature gradient. In the present paper, an effort has been made to investigate the impact of temperature stratification on dissolved oxygen variability in the Rudrasagar, a natural lake in western Tripura. The changes in dissolved oxygen distribution in this natural lake will give us an idea of regional lake health condition and will also establish the need of further large scale research concerning the development of a biophysical-coupled model. Keywords: Thermal stratification, Dissolved Oxygen, Thermocline, Rudrasagar Lake, Hypolimnion

The distribution, growth, development and productivity of crop plants are greatly affected by various abiotic stresses. Worldwide, sustainable crop productivity is facing major challenges caused by abiotic stresses by reducing the potential yield in crop plants by as much as 70%. Plants can generally adapt to one or more environmental stresses to some extent. Physiological and molecular studies at transcriptional, translational, and transgenic plant levels have shown the pronounced involvement of naturally occurring plant polyamines (PAs), in controlling, conferring, and modulating abiotic stress tolerance in plants. PAs are small, low molecular weight, non-protein polycations at physiological pH, that are present in all living organisms, and that have strong binding capacity to negatively charged DNA, RNA, and different protein molecules. They play an important role in plant growth and development by controlling the cell cycle, acting as cell signaling molecules in modulating plant tolerance to a variety of abiotic stresses. The commonly known PAs, putrescine, spermidine, and spermine tend to accumulate together accompanied by an increase in the activities of their biosynthetic enzymes under a range of environmental stresses. PAs help plants to combat stresses either directly or by mediating a signal transduction pathway, as shown by molecular cloning and expression studies of PA biosynthesis-related genes, knowledge of the functions of PAs, as demonstrated by developmental studies, and through the analysis of transgenic plants carrying PA genes. This review highlights how PAs in higher plants act during environmental stress and how transgenic strategies have improved our understanding of the molecular mechanisms at play.

Heliotropium kotschyi (Ramram), is a very important plant in relation to environment protection and for its medicinal value in Bahrain. It has been detected as one of the endangered plants in Bahrain. Ex situ conservation of this plant applying tissue culture method was used in the present study. In vitro plant regeneration has been established via shoot organogenesis using nodal meristems. The effect of various plant growth regulators was evaluated to regenerate the whole plants by in vitro micropropagation in modified MS media supplemented with different plant growth regulators (PGRs). In vitro regeneration of plants was involved in three steps by shoot initiation, multiplication and rooting of microshoots. Initially 100% explants of Heliotropium kotschyi responded to initiate shoot in MS medium supplemented with 8.88 μM BAP with 5.71 μM IAA after 4 weeks of culture. Multiplication of shoots and ultimate plant regeneration capacity of Heliotropium kotschyi were compared and the highest performance of 578 shoots/explant was observed in presence of 8.88 μM BAP and 5.71 μM IAA after second transfer. Rooted plantlets were transferred to soil pots and 60% plants were survived after one and a half months. The highly efficient plant regeneration protocol of the desert plant is of great value in rapid plant propagation program for the purpose of conservation of biodiversity.

Leptadenia pyrotechnica is an important multipurpose endangered plant in the Kingdom of Bahrain with restricted distribution. Nodal explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with different concentrations and combinations of indole acetic acid (IAA) and 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP). Initially, 80% and 60% explants responded in direct shoot and callus initiation response respectively in presence of 8.88 μM BAP with 5.71 μM IAA in modified MS media after two weeks of culture. The highest frequency of plant regeneration was observed in presence of 8.88 μM BAP with 1.14 μM IAA following organogenic pathway of differentiation. Hundred percent callus proliferation was observed while initial callus developed in presence of 4.44 μM BAP with 2.85 μM IAA and was transferred in media containing 4.44 μM, 6.66 μM BAP with 2.85 μM IAA and 13.32 μM BAP with 5.71 μM IAA. The callus derived plants were regenerated following the pathway of indirect somatic embryogenesis. The induction of somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration from callus was also observed in modified MS media supplemented with 4.44 μM BAP and 2.85 μM IAA. The plant regeneration protocol we developed for Leptadenia pyrotechnica will be very beneficial for biodiversity conservation and environment protection of Bahrain. Moreover, the present paper reports for the first time specifically the somatic embryogenesis in this multipurpose desert plant Leptadenia pyrotechnica.

Summary Background There has been concern about rising rates of caesarean section worldwide. This Article reports the third phase of the WHO global survey, which aimed to estimate the rate of different methods of delivery and to examine the relation between method of delivery and maternal and perinatal outcomes in selected facilities in Africa and Latin America in 2004–05, and in Asia in 2007–08. Methods Nine countries participated in the Asia global survey: Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. In each country, the capital city and two other regions or provinces were randomly selected. We studied all women admitted for delivery during 3 months in institutions with 6000 or fewer expected deliveries per year and during 2 months in those with more than 6000 deliveries. We gathered data for institutions to obtain a detailed description of the health facility and its resources for obstetric care. We obtained data from women's medical records to summarise obstetric and perinatal events. Findings We obtained data for 109 101 of 112 152 deliveries reported in 122 recruited facilities (97% coverage), and analysed 107 950 deliveries. The overall rate of caesarean section was 27·3% (n=29 428) and of operative vaginal delivery was 3·2% (n=3465). Risk of maternal mortality and morbidity index (at least one of: maternal mortality, admission to intensive care unit [ICU], blood transfusion, hysterectomy, or internal iliac artery ligation) was increased for operative vaginal delivery (adjusted odds ratio 2·1, 95% CI 1·7–2·6) and all types of caesarean section (antepartum without indication 2·7, 1·4–5·5; antepartum with indication 10·6, 9·3–12·0; intrapartum without indication 14·2, 9·8–20·7; intrapartum with indication 14·5, 13·2–16·0). For breech presentation, caesarean section, either antepartum (0·2, 0·1–0·3) or intrapartum (0·3, 0·2–0·4), was associated with improved perinatal outcomes, but also with increased risk of stay in neonatal ICU (2·0, 1·1–3·6; and 2·1, 1·2–3·7, respectively). Interpretation To improve maternal and perinatal outcomes, caesarean section should be done only when there is a medical indication. Funding US Agency for International Development (USAID); UNDP/UNFPA/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), WHO, Switzerland; Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan; Ministry of Public Health, China; and Indian Council of Medical Research.

Heliotropium kotschyi (Ramram) is an important endangered medicinal plant distributed in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Plant tissue culture technique is applied for ex situ conservation study. Nodal stem segments are cultured in modified MS media supplemented with various combination and concentration of plant growth regulators (PGRs). Plants are regenerated via shoot organogenesis from the nodal meristems. Plants are regenerated in three different steps: initial shoot development, shoot multiplication, and rooting. After 4 weeks of culture, 100 % explants respond to shoot initiation on the medium containing 8.88 μM BAP and 5.71 μM IAA. The highest frequency of shoot regeneration is observed in the same media after second subculture of shoots. The highest rooting frequency is observed in the presence of 2.85 μM IAA. After root development, the plantlets are transferred to pots filled with soil and 60 % of plants survived after 45 days. This plant regeneration protocol is of great value for rapid desert plant propagation program.

The issues of volatility and risk in recent times have gained importance for financial practitioners, market participants, regulators and researchers. Volatility is the most basic statistical risk measure instrument. This chapter empirically investigates the pattern of volatility in the Indian and Chinese stock markets during 2006–2011 with reference to its time varying nature, presence of certain characteristics such as volatility clustering and existence of ‘spillover effect’ in the domestic and the US stock markets. This chapter will also try to estimate the persistence of shock in terms of half-life in each sub-period of study. It contributes to the body of knowledge by providing a holistic outlook to the subject of stock market volatility in India and provides evidence on its main features with the help of econometric techniques employing GARCH models. A comparative analysis is made with the Chinese stock market taking Shanghai Composite Index (SCI).

Heliotropium kotschyi (Ramram) is an important endangered medicinal plant distributed in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Plant tissue culture technique is applied for ex situ conservation study. Nodal stem segments are cultured in modified MS media supplemented with various combination and concentration of plant growth regulators (PGRs). Plants are regenerated via shoot organogenesis from the nodal meristems. Plants are regenerated in three different steps: initial shoot development, shoot multiplication, and rooting. After 4 weeks of culture, 100 % explants respond to shoot initiation on the medium containing 8.88 μM BAP and 5.71 μM IAA. The highest frequency of shoot regeneration is observed in the same media after second subculture of shoots. The highest rooting frequency is observed in the presence of 2.85 μM IAA. After root development, the plantlets are transferred to pots filled with soil and 60 % of plants survived after 45 days. This plant regeneration protocol is of great value for rapid desert plant propagation program.

The cement industry is important for research due to several reasons: Firstly, the Indian cement industry is the second largest in the world, even larger than the USA. Secondly, cement industry has very strong linkages to the infrastructure sector. There have been few detailed studies of this industry. In this paper, we study how the distribution of cement industry has changed across states due to the decontrol of industry. This is analysed in terms of the changing patterns of inequality as well as concentration. To this end, we use Gini Coefficient to study the regional inequality and Herfindahl Index to study concentration. The Cusum Test is carried out to examine structural breaks. In the paper, we also attempt to identify the significant explanatory variables, which can explain the growth of cement sales in different states. We also provide an economic rationale behind such growth patterns. Some policy implications which follow: construction codes of the government agencies may be modified to encourage the use of blended cement and tax breaks may be given to split plants to make the growth more equitable.

The suspended and dissolved waste in the incoming storm water of wetlands largely depends on the adjacent land use which can influence the quality of the water body. The micro- and macro-floral population of a wetland can absorb, convert, transform and release different organic or inorganic elements, which can also change or impact the overall quality of the wetland water. The present study investigates the influence of the land use and the plant species in the waterbed on the water quality of a high-altitude, sub-tropical wetland in India. The estimation capabilities of neuro-genetic models were utilized to identify the inherent relationships between the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), chlorine (Cl) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) with the land use and wetland zoology. A thematic map of the quality parameters was also generated based on the identified relationship to observe the influence that the morphological and biological diversity in and around the study area has on the quality parameters of the wetland. According to the results, the BOD, COD and Cl were found to vary with differences in land use and the presence of different plant species, whereas the DO was found to be largely invariant with changes in these parameters. The reasons may be contributed to the impact of uncontrolled eco-tourism activities around the wetland.

In India, the recent unprecedented rise in the capital market index is attributed to institutional investors like foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and domestic mutual funds. The nature of investments by FIIs has been examined in the literature, but that of mutual funds remains unexplored. This article tries to identify the possible determinants of the investment decision of mutual funds and compares the nature and determinants of their investment decisions to that of the FIIs. One of the most interesting findings is that mutual funds influence the decision of FIIs when they invest in equity and FIIs do exactly opposite to what mutual funds do. However, they both track international interest rates. Another remarkable finding suggests that mutual funds are more cautious when they invest in debt compared to equity. They look at so many factors in case of debt investment, but do not even look at the market return when they invest in equity.

This study is based on a primary survey conducted over two consecutive years in two villages in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, India. West Bengal has the unique feature of being under a single coalition government for the last 30 years. In this context, we examine the effect of different socioeconomic, political and demographic borrower characteristics on the probability of taking a loan from formal sources and the size of such loans taken. We find that political identity significantly affects the borrowers’ access to the formal loan market. Other factors that are significant in characterising the formal borrowers are occupational categories, landholding and religious status.

The present paper focuses on the dualism that exists within the industrial sector. It develops a model of informal sector incorporating its linkage with the formal sector. In this paper the products of the two sectors are imperfect substitutes as products of informal firms are deemed to be of inferior quality compared to the formal sector product. Also the formal sector producer is the dominant producer whereas the informal producers constitute a competitive fringe. In this framework the effect of entry within the informal sector and the effect of a subsidy provided to the informal producers are studied.

S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (SAMDC) is a key enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of the polyamines, viz. spermidine and spermine. SAMDC cDNA from Tritordeum was introduced into the rice (Oryza sativa L.) genome using an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method. Transgenic rice plants showed normal growth and development. DNA blot analysis confirmed stable integration of the transgene. ABA-induced SAMDC gene expression was observed in RI transgenic plants under NaCl stress, and the transgenic plants showed increased seedling growth compared to non-transgenic controls. There was a three- to fourfold increase in spermidine and spermine levels in transformed plants under the NaCl stress.

A minimum value in the Dissolved Oxygen distribution of two shallow lakes namely, Rabindra Sarobar in south Kolkata and Subhas Sarobar in East Kolkata in the Gangetic Delta plain, has been observed to develop in the Hypolimnion during the stratified period. This minimum is usually explained by the accumulation of organic matter from the overlying layer of water. The introduction of organic matter from allochthonous and autochthonous sources is also a likely contributor to the accelerated oxygen depletion within Hypolimnion. The thermal stratification, in general, which occurs in these tropical lakes, is of direct relevance in maintaining the water quality standards, particularly for higher aquatic life. The present article attempts to investigate the possible depletion of hypolimnetic oxygen depletion as a result of the impact of thermal stratification. These investigations will be the basic guidelines for the fishermen and their livelihoods potentially depend upon the different varieties of fishing on daily basis. The massive summer fish kills in these lakes is a major devastating happenings that is reported by the fishermen and also it is well evident from our experimental observations. The comparison of the biodiversity of these two lakes is attempted in the present investigation. Key Words: Thermal stratification, Dissolved Oxygen, Tropical Shallow Lake, Hypolimnion, biodiversity

Arginine decarboxylase (ADC) cDNA from oat ( Avena sativa L.) was introduced into rice ( Oryza sativa L.) genome by an Agrobacterium- mediated transformation method. Expression of the ADC transgene under the control of an ABA-inducible promoter led to stress-induced upregulation of ADC activity and polyamine accumulation in transgenic rice plants. Second-generation (Rl) transgenic rice plants showed an increase in biomass under salinity–stress conditions, as compared to the non-transformed control plants.