Examining Validity of Known Dividend Models in Indian Companies

Dividend declaration is considered as one of the key focus areas of the firm’s financial policy. The core of dividend policy includes the decision like whether to distribute profits to the shareholders in the form of dividend or to retain. The dividend decision, one of the widely researched topics, yet named as dividend puzzle, has been a center of attraction for the past number of decades. The outcome of the past researches has resulted in development of number of models trying to explain the dividend behavior of the companies. Some of the well-known dividend models are: Lintner’s model, Brittain’s model, Watt’s model and Aharony’s and Swary’s model. Considering the importance of the models, an attempt has been made to study their applicability in Indian conditions. This study investigates whether these models can be used to explain Indian companies’ dividend payments or not. 172 companies listed with BSE with continuous dividend payments from 2004-08 have been selected in four industrial sectors: Engineering, FMCG, IT and Textiles. The study bring forth that out of all the models, Lintner’s model does have a good fit in the selected Indian companies

Selection Criterion Based on Trait Linkages in African and Asian Pearl Millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] Populations to Enhance Productivity

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] is commonly grown in the arid and semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia. It serves as staple food for the people living in relatively dry tracts of the India and Sub-Sahelian Africa and an important source of fodder/ feed for livestock and poultry. It can be cultivated even in the poor infertile soils and drought prone environments, where no other cereal crop can survive. In India, currently pearl milletis cultivated on ~7.5 m ha area with grain production of 9.7 Mt with an average productivity of 1,305 kg ha-1(www.indiastat.com). The ultimate aim in most plant breeding programs is the improvement in the productivity of grains as measured in terms of the yield per unit area. The possibilities of achieving this goal through genetic improvement have been elucidated by evolving high yielding hybrids and varieties of pearl millet in Asia and West Africa

Implementation of drone based delivery of medical supplies in North-East India: experiences, challenges and adopted strategies

Timely delivery of medical supplies is essential in the healthcare sector, which is hampered by factors such as poor transportation network, traffic and adverse environmental conditions. Alternatively, drone operations can leapfrog the last mile logistic solutions in hard-to-reach terrains. The present paper elucidates the implementation process of drone-based delivery of medical supplies, operational challenges and innovations adopted by scientists in Manipur and Nagaland. Three districts, Bishnupur, Imphal West and Churachandpur from Manipur and two districts, Mokokchung and Tuensang from Nagaland, were selected for the study. Regulatory and ethical approvals and coordination with state health and administrative authorities were accorded. Implementation and operational challenges faced by the research team were recorded elaborately in the field diaries and assessed qualitatively. The experiences encountered by the team for case-to-case based permission and coordination with the central and state aviation authorities, district administration and health authorities were observed. The drone-related technical and logistic challenges were identified as the deployment of suitable drones, payload capacity, time management for operations, and transportation of drones. The officials adopted mitigation strategies to overcome field-based challenges. Drone-based deliveries of medical supplies are proving to be time efficient, however, overcoming operational challenges could provide an effective long-term deployment strategy

Panicle Traits and Plant Height are Important Selection Indices to Enhance Productivity in Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.R.Br.) Populations

The study was conducted to determine the correlation and path coefficients among the yield and yield component characters in 14 parental lines and 91 hybrids of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L. R. Br), formulated by a diallel cross excluding reciprocals. Strong and significant genotypic and phenotypic correlations were observed between grain yield (kg ha-1) with panicle girth (cm),plant height (cm) and panicle length (cm). The path analysis indicated that panicle girth (cm)and plant height (cm) had the highest direct effects on grain yield. The days to 50% flowering, 1000-grain weight (g) and number of productive tillers had the least direct effects on grain yield. The direct effect of panicle girth (cm)was greatly reduced by the negative indirect effects through days to 50% flowering and 1000-grain weight (g). Similarly, the direct effect of plant height was very much influenced by the negative indirect effects of days to 50% flowering. The panicle girth, plant height and panicle length in this study has been identified as selection indices for obtaining good parental lines and hybrids in a pearl millet breeding program

Antibody responses to the BBV152 vaccine in individuals previously infected with SARS-CoV-2: A pilot study

Background & objectives: Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is a recommendation from the World Health Organization as the foremost preference in the current situation to control the COVID-19 pandemic. BBV152 is one of the approved vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in India. In this study, we determined SARS-CoV-2–specific antibody levels at day 0 (baseline, before vaccination), day 28 ± 2 post-first dose (month 1) and day 56 ± 2 post-first dose (month 2) of BBV152 whole-virion–inactivated SARS-CoV-2 recipients, and compared the antibody responses of individuals with confirmed pre-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 infection to those individuals without prior evidence of infection. Methods: Blood samples were collected from 114 healthcare professionals and frontline workers who received BBV152 vaccine from February to May & June 2021. Prior infection with SARS-CoV-2 was determined at baseline. Serum samples were used to estimate SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein-specific IgG [IgG (N)], spike protein-specific IgG [IgG (S)] and neutralizing antibodies (NAb). Results: Participants with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection after a single vaccine dose elicited IgG (N) and IgG (S) antibody levels along with NAb binding inhibition responses levels were similar to infection-naïve vaccinated participants who had taken two doses of vaccine. Interpretation & conclusions: Our preliminary data suggested that a single dose of BBV152-induced humoral immunity in previously infected individuals was equivalent to two doses of the vaccine in infection-naïve individuals. However, these findings need to be confirmed with large sized cohort studies

Lead Environmental Pollution in Central India

Non

Seropersistence of SII-ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (COVID-19 vaccine): 6-month follow-up of a randomized,controlled, observer-blind, phase 2/3 immuno-bridging study in Indian adults

AZD1222 (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) is a replication-deficient adenoviral vectored coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) vaccine that is manufactured as SII-ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 by the Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd following technology transfer from Oxford University/AstraZeneca. The non-inferiority of SII-ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 with AZD1222 was previously demonstrated in an observer-blind, phase 2/3 immuno-bridging study (trial registration: CTRI/2020/08/027170). In this analysis of immunogenicity and safety data 6 months post first vaccination (Day 180), 1,601 participants were randomized 3:1 to SII-ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 or AZD1222 (immunogenicity/reactogenicity cohort n = 401) and 3:1 to SII-ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 or placebo (safety cohort n = 1,200). Immunogenicity was measured by anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 spike (anti-S) binding immunoglobulin G and neutralizing antibody (nAb) titers. A decline in anti-S titers was observed in both vaccine groups, albeit with a greater decline in SII-ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccinees (geometric mean titer [GMT] ratio [95% confidence interval (CI) of SII-ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 to AZD1222]: 0.60 [0.41-0.87]). Consistent similar decreases in nAb titers were observed between vaccine groups (GMT ratio [95% CI]: 0.88 [0.44-1.73]). No cases of severe COVID-19 were reported following vaccination, while one case was observed in the placebo group. No causally related serious adverse events were reported through 180 days. No thromboembolic or autoimmune adverse events of special interest were reported. Collectively, these data illustrate that SII-ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 maintained a high level of immunogenicity 6 months post-vaccination. SII-ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 was safe and well tolerated

Developing Standard Treatment Workflows—way to universal healthcare in India

Primary healthcare caters to nearly 70% of the population in India and provides treatment for approximately 80–90% of common conditions. To achieve universal health coverage (UHC), the Indian healthcare system is gearing up by initiating several schemes such as National Health Protection Scheme, Ayushman Bharat, Nutrition Supplementation Schemes, and Inderdhanush Schemes. The healthcare delivery system is facing challenges such as irrational use of medicines, over- and under-diagnosis, high out-of-pocket expenditure, lack of targeted attention to preventive and promotive health services, and poor referral mechanisms. Healthcare providers are unable to keep pace with the volume of growing new scientific evidence and rising healthcare costs as the literature is not published at the same pace. In addition, there is a lack of common standard treatment guidelines, workflows, and reference manuals from the Government of India. Indian Council of Medical Research in collaboration with the National Health Authority, Govt. of India, and the WHO India country office has developed Standard Treatment Workflows (STWs) with the objective to be utilized at various levels of healthcare starting from primary to tertiary level care. A systematic approach was adopted to formulate the STWs. An advisory committee was constituted for planning and oversight of the process. Specialty experts' group for each specialty comprised of clinicians working at government and private medical colleges and hospitals. The expert groups prioritized the topics through extensive literature searches and meeting with different stakeholders. Then, the contents of each STW were finalized in the form of single-pager infographics. These STWs were further reviewed by an editorial committee before publication. Presently, 125 STWs pertaining to 23 specialties have been developed. It needs to be ensured that STWs are implemented effectively at all levels and ensure quality healthcare at an affordable cost as part of UHC