Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Market mantra for 16 May: stay calm

Avoid taking decisions in haste and based on sentiment

The stock market has gained 6.58% since Friday, 9 May, and is expected to go up further if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) comes to power on 16 May. The exit poll results, which were released on 12 May, also indicated in this direction. However, it is important to note that such polls have been proved wrong in the past. Therefore, depending on the tally, markets can swing either way on the results day.

In 2004, when the NDA lost unexpectedly, markets fell over 16% within days of the results being declared. In 2009, when the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance came back to power with a bigger mandate, markets went up over 17% in a single day.

The recent rise in the stock market and the buildup of expectations around election results indicate that there will be plenty of action in the market on the result day.

If the results are in line with market expectations, it is highly likely that there will be euphoria on the street. So, if you have been waiting for results and missed the rally, should you join the bandwagon on 16 May? Not necessarily.

NITESH KUMAR SINGH

PGDM 2ND

SOURCE-- MINTLIVE NEWS

BJP not untouchable any more, especially after exit polls

New Delhi: In a day when India’s two largest national parties behaved as if the results of the parliamentary election, due on Friday, were already out, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spent the day trying to find roles for its senior leaders if media reports are to be believed; the Congress was pretty much invisible, and two regional parties that were expected to be part of the much-vaunted Third Front seemed to indicate their willingness to do business with the BJP.

The approaches of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) were as intriguing as they were similar. For one, they were made by individual members. For another, the all-powerful leaders of the two parties, Naveen Patnaik and J. Jayalalithaa chose to remain silent.

The BJD was once part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), as was the AIADMK.

Wednesday’s developments came even as exit polls predicted that the BJP-led NDA would come to power after the elections. Sure, exit polls have got it wrong before, most recently in 2004 and 2009, but the behaviour of the smaller parties, as well as the two national ones does seem to suggest that they could have got it right this time.

On Wednesday, the BJD, Odisha’s ruling party that fought against the BJP in the state, was the first off the block with one of its senior leaders indicating the party could extend issue-based support to the BJP-led government.

“Keeping in view the opinion of the whole country and the state’s interest, there should be no problem in providing conditional support to NDA to form government at the centre,” BJD’s chief whip Pravat Tripathy told a regional channel in Bhubaneswar. Later in the day, Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda, another party leader tweeted: “Re: Possibility of conditionl support to NDA: it’s a suggestion mooted by 1 (one) member of BJD, not been discussed in the party, let’s wait for results

Later, a leader from Tamil Nadu’s AIADMK said his party chief and state chief minister Jayalalithaa would like to have “close ties” with Narendra Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.

“Modi is great friend of Jayalalithaa, they may differ politically. If he becomes PM then Madam would like close ties,” AIADMK leader and former member of Parliament K. Malaisamy told NDTV news channel. The party supremo herself chose to hold her opinion, preferring to wait for the formal announcement of the electoral verdict, as did the BJD’s Naveen Patnaik.

“No talks at all (with) NDA. We haven’t discussed anything (on support to NDA). We have not thought of anything yet,” Patnaik said on Wednesday.

The third large regional party, West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress, said it would not seek any sort of relationship with the BJP.

In an interview on Times Now channel, the party spokesperson Derek O’Brien said the party would stick to its pre-election position of not aligning itself with the BJP.

The exit polls project a good performance for the AIADMK, BJD and TMC; if the polls are right, they could account for as many as 102 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. More importantly, they could also contribute to the NDA’s cause in the Rajya Sabha, where it is presently in a minority; 28 MPs in the Rajya Sabha belong to these three political parties. At present the NDA has 60 MPs in the 245-member upper house.

An expert said forging ties with regional parties could help the BJP isolate the Congress.

Sanjay Kumar, of Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, said, “Yes there is an attempt to isolate Congress and project at the national level that the BJP is not untouchable any longer. Once all parties are ready to support it or join hands with it, the national picture of BJP would change. This coming together of parties will definitely help BJP get crucial legislation passed in the Rajya Sabha.”

The BJP signalled as much.

“It’s a favourable situation for the party. BJP is open to outside support (from the regional parties). The party has already made it clear it will seek support from all the parties to run the government.,” said party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

Relationships with regional parties would also help the BJP render powerless the only party it sees as a threat at the national level, the Congress, said Sushil Trivedi, a Raipur-based political analyst.

Earlier in the day, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a key constituent

Earlier in the day, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a key constituent of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) denied reports that it was warming up to the BJP.

Senior NCP leader Praful Patel’s remark that the party preferred a stable government at the centre was interpreted as an attempt to move closer to the NDA.

“We are with UPA and will remain with UPA. If there is an NDA government headed by Narendra Modi, we will sit in the opposition,” the party’s chief spokesperson D.P. Tripathi told PTI

BJP win likely to lift market by 5%

Tuesday, 13 May 2014 - 2:29pm IST | Agency: DNA

The exit poll predictions of a victory for the BJP-led NDA coalition found its reflection on the Singapore Stock Exchange where the Nifty hit a record high of 7179.50 in late trades on Monday. Though it closed at 7,117, it was still higher by 75 points over the previous close.
This trend is expected to continue on Tuesday on the National Stock Exchange as well. “The markets could rally by another 5% if official results on Friday testifies a majority win of 272 seats by the NDA as predicted by many exit polls,” said UR Bhat, managing director, India, of UK-based Dalton Strategic Partnership LLP.
Most market players expect the Nifty to hit 7,400 this week. Foreign institutional investors were once again big-time buyers, pumping in over Rs1,210 crore on Monday, provisional exchange data said.
FII investments in equities this month stood at Rs4,025 crore. In the debt segment, their investments touched Rs3,700 crore. In the last two trading days, the Sensex had gained 1206.96 points to touch 23,551, while the Nifty added 364.40 points at the current closing level of 7,014.25.
Since February 4, the markets have been on a high on two accounts: the UPA government would be routed and the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi would address the current government’s policy paralysis.

nagesh dubey

BJP not untouchable any more, especially after exit pollsNew Delhi: In a day when India’s two largest national parties behaved as if the results of the parliamentary election, due on Friday, were already out, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spent the day trying to find roles for its senior leaders if media reports are to be believed; the Congress was pretty much invisible, and two regional parties that were expected to be part of the much-vaunted Third Front seemed to indicate their willingness to do business with the BJP.

The approaches of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

Later, a leader from Tamil Nadu’s AIADMK said his party chief and state chief minister Jayalalithaa would like to have “close ties” with Narendra Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.

(AIADMK) were as intriguing as they were similar. For one, they were made by individual members. For another, the all-powerful leaders of the two parties, Naveen Patnaik and J. Jayalalithaa chose to remain silent.

The BJD was once part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), as was the AIADMK.

Later, a leader from Tamil Nadu’s AIADMK said his party chief and state chief minister Jayalalithaa would like to have “close ties” with Narendra Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.

“No talks at all (with) NDA. We haven’t discussed anything (on support to NDA). We have not thought of anything yet,” Patnaik said on Wednesday.

The third large regional party, West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress, said it would not seek any sort of relationship with the BJP.

In an interview on Times Now channel, the party spokesperson Derek O’Brien said the party would stick to its pre-election position of not aligning itself with the BJP.

An expert said forging ties with regional parties could help the BJP isolate the Congress.

The BJP signalled as much.

Earlier in the day, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a key constituent of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) denied reports that it was warming up to the BJP.

Senior NCP leader Praful Patel’s remark that the party preferred a stable government at the centre was interpreted as an attempt to move closer to the NDA.

“We are with UPA and will remain with UPA. If there is an NDA government headed by Narendra Modi, we will sit in the opposition,” the party’s chief spokesperson D.P. Tripathi told PTI.

PTI contributed to this story.

pratima kumari

pgdm 2nd sem

BJP win likely to lift market by 5%

The exit poll predictions of a victory for the BJP-led NDA coalition found its reflection on the Singapore Stock Exchange where the Nifty hit a record high of 7179.50 in late trades on Monday. Though it closed at 7,117, it was still higher by 75 points over the previous close

This trend is expected to continue on Tuesday on the National Stock Exchange as well. “The markets could rally by another 5% if official results on Friday testifies a majority win of 272 seats by the NDA as predicted by many exit polls,” said UR Bhat, managing director, India, of UK-based Dalton Strategic Partnership LLP.
Most market players expect the Nifty to hit 7,400 this week. Foreign institutional investors were once again big-time buyers, pumping in over Rs1,210 crore on Monday, provisional exchange data said.

FII investments in equities this month stood at Rs4,025 crore. In the debt segment, their investments touched Rs3,700 crore. In the last two trading days, the Sensex had gained 1206.96 points to touch 23,551, while the Nifty added 364.40 points at the current closing level of 7,014.25.

Since February 4, the markets have been on a high on two accounts: the UPA government would be routed and the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi would address the current government’s policy paralysis.
SHAILENDAR KUMAR
PGDM 2SEM

Mukesh Ambani's Antilia costliest private home in the world

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani’s skyscraper residence in Mumbai is the most expensive billionaire home in the world, according to a Forbes list that also includes Indian-origin steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal’s houses in London.
Ambani’s 27-floor, 400,000-sq foot home Antilia, named after a mythical island in the Atlantic, tops the Forbes list of the most expensive homes in the world.

“The title of the most outrageously expensive property in the world still belongs to Mukesh Ambani’s Antilia in Mumbai,” Forbes said adding it is the world’s most expensive home “far and away” with construction costs reported in a range of $1 billion to 2 billion (`6,000 to 12,000 crore).

The house has six floors of underground parking, three helicopter pads, and reportedly requires a staff of 600 to keep it running.
Putting Antilia’s scale and cost in perspective, Forbes compared it to “7 World Trade Center”, a 52-story tower that stands near Ground Zero in Manhattan. With 1.7 million square feet of office space, it was reportedly built for $2 billion.
Lakshmi Mittal’s houses in London’s Kensington Palace Gardens, a high-security street known as ‘Billionaires Row’, occupy the 5th and the 18th spot on the list of 21 most expensive billionaire homes in the world.
Forbes said the home, rumoured to have been purchased for his son, was sold by hedge fund billionaire Noam Gottesman for about $222 million in 2008. It is reportedly up for sale now.
The other Mittal house on the list was purchased for nearly $90 million in 2004 from billionaire Bernie Ecclestone. After pouring millions more into its renovation, including marble sourced from the same quarry as the Taj Mahal, he named it “Taj Mittal”.
“The market cooled off a bit in in 2013... but 2014 has kicked off with a bang. London set a new record, and three homes have sold for more than $100 million so far this year in the US alone,” Forbes said

VIKASH CHANDRA MISHRA
PGDM 1ST YEAR
SOURCE: HINDUSTAN TIMES

The killing fields of Assam and a modern day Nero

Two years after an ethnic clash left more than a hundred people dead and an estimated 4.5 lakh displaced, western Assam is on the boil once again. Earlier this month, suspected Bodo extremists killed 44 Muslim villagers. Thousands of others have fled their homes in panic once again.

The recurrence of violence in the region even before the wounds of 2012 had fully healed points to deep-rooted tensions among people of different ethnicities cohabiting in the region, and exposes the inherent instability of the special administrative regime governing the region since 2003. In that year, the centre, the state government and militants from the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) group signed a peace accord to establish the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD), an autonomous council comprising four districts, headquartered in the Bodo heartland of Kokrajhar. A political party launched by the former militants, the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), has ruled BTAD since then, and shares power in an alliance with the Congress party at the state level.

The Bodos are the largest plains tribe of Assam, and share a history of loss and discrimination with other tribals of the state. While the peace accord addressed their alienation, and helped the former BLT militants consolidate their position as the most effective spokespersons of the tribe, it drove a wedge between the Bodos and non-Bodos living in the region. The non-Bodos include Assamese-speaking non-tribals, Bengali-speakers (Hindus and Muslims), smaller tribes, and ethnic groups such as the Koch Rajbongshis who have long been demanding tribal status.

Despite constituting roughly 70% of BTAD’s population, the non-Bodos were marginalized in the new administrative set-up. In trying to appease one minority group, the state ignored the interests of other communities, sowing the seeds of future conflicts. If the original sin of the flawed peace accord was not egregious in itself, the state compounded the problems by failing to fully disarm surrendered militants or to effectively tame other Bodo extremist groups. As a result, the cycle of extortion against non-Bodos remained unbroken, driving further resentment against an accord which belied initial hopes of peace.

When a high-profile non-Bodo candidate, Naba Saraniya declared his candidature for the prestigious Kokrajhar seat and was able to secure the support of influential leaders from non-Bodo communities, it created a major flutter. To add to the BPF’s woes, one of their own men revolted against the party to stand as an independent even as other high-profile Bodo candidates joined the fray. As Guwahati-based political scientist Bhasker Pegu pointed out in the online edition of this newspaper, the fear of losing in Kokrajhar, which has historically elected Bodo lawmakers made the BPF leadership jittery. BPF leaders complained publicly about Muslims voting against them in large numbers on polling day, and the attacks on Bengali-speaking Muslim settlers followed a few days later. There are fears of another bloodbath in western Assam after 16 May if Saraniya indeed wins the election in Kokrajhar.

While a large section of non-Bodos in BTAD are resentful of the BPF leadership, it is the increasingly aggressive Bengali-speaking Muslim community which has been the most vocal in its opposition to the BPF, and has borne the brunt of the attacks from extremists sympathetic to the Bodo cause. The fact that they are late settlers in Assam, and that some of them have migrated illegally, makes them sitting ducks in a backlash.

If the flawed Bodo peace accord has created new fault lines in the region, the failure to solve the problem of illegal immigration has perpetuated old suspicions and bitterness in the region. On both counts, the Tarun Gogoi-led state government has been a colossal failure. Gogoi has failed to rein in his alliance partners in the BPF, some of whom have been implicated in the 2012 violence. He has also never seriously attempted to find a rational solution to the problem of illegal immigration, allowing tensions to simmer. Like a modern-day Nero, Gogoi has watched the delicate social fabric of the region torn asunder by extremisTS.

PRASHANT SHARMA

PGDM 1ST YEAR

2013-15

Plastic pollution: Another threat for seabirds

According to a study published on Marine Pollution Bulletin plastic ingestions affects around 94% of Cory's shearwaters on the Catalan coast. Jacob González Solís, from the Department of Animal Biology and the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) of the University of Barcelona (UB), heads the research group that carried out the study. In the case of Yelkouan shearwaters and Balearic shearwaters, conclusions state that 70% of studied birds were affected by plastic ingestion.

The paper is also authored by Marina Codina García, Teresa Militão and Javier Moreno, researchers at IRBio.
Plastic pollution is known to be a threat for marine ecosystems around the world, but it has not been much studied yet. Jacob González Solís explains that "this is the first assessment of plastic ingestion in Mediterranean seabirds. The Mediterranean Sea has been recognized as a singularly sensitive ecosystem because its coast is very industrialized, shipping activity is intense and it contains high density floating plastic areas."
Endangered Mediterranean seabirds
The scientific study is based on the analysis of 171 birds accidentally caught by longliners in the Catalan coast from 2003 to 2010. The UB research group studied plastic ingestion in nine particularly endangered seabird species: Cory's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea), Yelkouan shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan), Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus), gannet (Morus bassanus); Audouin's gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii), Mediterranean gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus), yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis), black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) and great skua (Catharacta skua).
From civilization to seabirds' stomach
Floating plastic debris can produce entanglement, ulcers, infections and death to marine animals. They usually ingest them by mistake because plastic fragments resemble their natural food items (direct ingestion), but in other cases plastic comes from eating prey with plastic in the stomach (indirect ingestion). Ingested fragments are filaments, plastic spheres, laminar plastic and industrial pellets.
Results showed that 66% of seabirds had at least one piece of plastic in their stomachs. Cory's shearwaters were worst affected, with 94% of these birds containing plastic fragments (15 on average). In the case Balearic shearwaters and Yelkouan shearwaters, 70% contained plastic fragments.
"Results are alarming," emphasizes Gónzalez Solís. "All three of the worst affected are of conservation concern, particularly the Balearic shearwater, which is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is a Balearic endemic species; there are only around 3,000 breeding pairs in the world. We do not know its impact but it is necessary to study if it affects populations in a negative way."
Chicks, the most vulnerable
Seabird chicks are the most vulnerable to plastic ingestion as they cannot regurgitate as adults do. The lower occurrence of plastics in gulls probably results from their greater ability to regurgitate any hard remain. The study proves that plastic trash -- most of it from recreational activities -- enters oceans' food chain and may become a new threat for seabirds and marine ecosystems. Seabirds are among the most affected animals by plastic contamination, so they have been suggested as good as bioindicator species of the trends in plastic contamination at sea.
Sea isn't a rubbish bin
Accidental plastic ingestion is a global problem that affects as different species as the Laysan Albatros (Phoebastria immutabilis) in the Hawaiian Islands and the Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis rogdgersii).
"Plastic floats and is difficult to degrade," points out González Solís. "Eventually, all pollutants which are not destroyed on land arrive to the sea. The sea is not a rubbish bin. The control over plastic production and transportation at industrial level has probably improved, but there is an urgent need to develop stricter controls on waste dumping and prohibit ships' discharge into the sea."
González Solís is co-author of a study -- recently published on the journal PLOS ONE -- about the distribution of flavivirus -- viruses responsible for several infectious diseases that affect humans and other species -- among Western Mediterranean seabird populations. The study shows that yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis), widely distributed along the Mediterranean coast, may be potential reservoirs for these pathogens. Therefore, it is necessary to promote health surveillance on these seabird populations.

LOVE GUPTA
PGDM 1ST YEAR

Nokia seeks resolution of India tax dispute under bilateral pact:

Nokia said in a statement its letter was seeking a resolution to the dispute under an investment pact between India and Finland dating back to 2003, but did not elaborate on the letter’s content. Photo: Bloomberg

New Delhi/Helsinki: Nokia Oyj has written to the Indian Prime Minister seeking an “amicable resolution” of its tax dispute in the country, the Finnish company said on Wednesday.

Nokia, which was last year served with a tax demand of about $348 million, could have to pay as much as $3.5 billion, including potential claims, interest and penalties, if it loses a legal battle over the demand, a lawyer for the tax office said in December.

Nokia’s tax dispute is one of several such disputes involving foreign companies in India. Vodafone Plc, IBM Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are among the other foreign firms contesting Indian tax claims.

Nokia said in a statement its letter was seeking a resolution to the dispute under an investment pact between India and Finland dating back to 2003, but did not elaborate on the letter’s content.

A Nokia spokesman in Helsinki declined further comment. The Indian Prime Minister’s office was not immediately available for comment.

Nokia last month completed the $7.5 billion sale of its mobile handsets business unit to Microsoft Corp, but excluded its Indian handsets plant from the deal, pending resolution of the tax dispute.

Vodafone last week said it had begun an international arbitration against the Indian government in its more than $2 billion dispute. REUTERS

Gauri Kesarwani.

PGDM- 2ND SEM

LIVEMINT.

Randomizing women’s reservation in India

As a new Lok Sabha is about to be constituted, one can hope for the passage of some key legislations that a stable coalition at the centre is likely to pass. One among these pertains to the issue of women’s reservation in legislatures. A Bill to this effect was first introduced in 1996 but kept lapsing with the expiry of each Lok Sabha. However, during the present Lok Sabha, there has been a broad consensus, especially among the two main national parties, on reserving 33% of all constituencies in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. Even those parties opposing it, such as the Samajwadi Party, disagree only to the extent that they want further sub-quotas for other backward classes and minorities.

Yet, reservations of any kind are typically flawed and inefficient since they undermine merit. In a deeply divided society such as India, they also lead to tremendous social unrest. One factor that fuels such unrest is the belief that, once instituted, reservations are impossible to remove.

Given its scale, the reservation for women will perhaps be the most potent affirmative action programme till date with wide ranging ramifications for Indian polity and society. If implemented in a manner where seats are rotated randomly each election, two-thirds of all sitting legislators will be knocked off by design.

In a recent research paper by Mudit Kapoor and Shamika Ravi, Why So Few Women in Politics? Evidence from India, (Working paper, Indian School of Business, 2013) the authors studied 50 years of data to understand the way women have been represented in India. Two findings are salient. One, women tend to contest elections from constituencies where the gender ratio of voters is stacked against them. So women are more likely to contest in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh than in Kerala, which has a better sex ratio of voters. The reason being their concerns are reflected less adequately when the voter’s gender profile is against them. By the same logic, the data also shows that women are less likely to win from such disadvantaged constituencies.

These authors suggest that instead of randomly rotating the seats for women reservation, India should target the 33% of the constituencies where women are an electoral minority.

While it makes sense to apply some electoral logic to reservations of this kind, such a move is not a good idea for three reasons.

One, it assumes that reservations will continue forever. The last Bill that was passed by the Rajya Sabha set a deadline of 15 years. That essentially meant that each constituency in India will get one chance as a reserved constituency.

Two, by focusing on just one set of 33% constituencies, until the voter’s gender profile gets better, is a narrow way of looking at women’s empowerment. Moreover, since there is no evidence that women vote en bloc, the irony is that even in a reserved seat with adverse sex ratio of voters, the woman who supports the male agenda is likely to win.

Three, apart from the good that it may have done, each reservation has also created a dominant class within the reserved category. For instance, the issue of “creamy layer” within the SC/ST reservations has not been adequately addressed even now.

By restricting reservations to roughly the same set of constituencies and that too based on just one parameter of adverse sex ratio of voters is likely to accentuate the ill side-effects of reservation while restricting the benefits from spreading across the country.

While legislating any new reservation policy, the government will do well to reflect on the lessons learnt from the previous attempts. Empowering women and making space to develop women leaders in the country through reservation alone will at best result in middling success or worse further accentuate inequalities by creating an elite class among the disadvantaged. Any reservation must also go along with an equal emphasis on education and safety of women’s rights.

ONIKA JAISWAL

PGDM 1ST YEAR

2013-15

Featured Research

from universities, journals, and other organizations

Football: Concussions, years of play related to brain differences, especially in areas linked to memory

Date:

May 15 2014

Source:

University of Tulsa

Summary:

College football players with and without a history of concussions have less volume in the hippocampal region of the brain that relates to memory and emotion, according to a new study. Moreover, the number of years of playing experience was inversely related to hippocampal volume and reaction time.

College football players with and without a history of concussions have less volume in the hippocampal region of the brain that relates to memory and emotion.

Credit: Image courtesy of University of Tulsa

[Click to enlarge image]

College football players with and without a history of concussions have less volume in the hippocampal region of the brain that relates to memory and emotion, according to a study published Tuesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association. Moreover, the number of years of playing experience was inversely related to hippocampal volume and reaction time.

The study, conducted at The University of Tulsa (TU) in partnership with the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR), is the most comprehensive ever to assess the effects of football specifically on college players.
"Other studies have evaluated the effects on older athletes, such as retired NFL players, but no one has studied 20-year-olds until now -- and the results were remarkable and surprising," said Patrick S.F. Bellgowan, director of cognitive neuroscience for LIBR and a faculty member at TU. "Our next step is to assess what caused this difference in hippocampus size."
"This unique finding and dataset are a reflection of the unprecedented access and collaboration provided by the Department of Athletics at The University of Tulsa" Bellgowan said. "Subsequent research aimed at understanding developmental aspects of this finding will require similarly strong commitment by local athletes, parents and high schools."
Fifty TU football players, including 25 with a history of concussions, were assessed in real time for differences in hippocampal volume and cognitive performance. The test group included 25 education- and age-matched non-collegiate football players.
Years of clinical experience lead David Polanski, TU's head athletic trainer and co-author of the study, to propose the hypothesis that the number of years of football-playing experience might contribute to anatomical and behavioral changes. Results showed an inverse association between hippocampal volume and reaction. Also, more years of playing football correlated with slower reaction time.
"As a premier research university and NCAA Division I school, TU is committed to studying the effect of contact sports on the brain," Polanski said. "This research brings us one step closer to understanding the connection between contact sports and brain injury."
The University of Tulsa will continue supporting this research in any way possible including through the athletic program, Polanski asserted. "This research shows the correlation; the next step is to determine causation so that long-term brain injury can be identified and prevented," he said.
"One part of the Laureate Institute for Brain Research's mission is to identify and develop treatments for risk factors, including concussion, for psychiatric disorders. The university's Department of Athletics identifies with that mission in a very specific way: TU wants to protect its players," Bellgowan said. "Our partnership is integral for understanding the biology of concussion that will enhance the long-term healthy of athletes of all ages."

Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by University of Tulsa. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length

naresh kr pg 2 sem

Counting tomorrow; nearly 8000 candidates for 543 Lok Sabha seats

Votes polled in the nine-phased Lok Sabha elections will be counted on Friday to decide who will form the next government.

to help us personalise your reading experience.

Election Commission said the counting exercise to be held at 989 counting centres is likely to be completed by 5 pm and trends will be available by 11 am. By noon, a final picture could emerge on who would be the major players in the 16th Lok Sabha.
Nearly 8000 candidates, including top guns Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal were in the fray, in the largest-ever electoral exercise held in Indian history.
The exit polls have projected that BJP will emerge as the single largest party.
The counting of votes will begin at 8 AM when the postal ballots will be counted. According to EC guidelines, half-and-hour after the postal ballots are counted, the process of counting votes from the EVMs will begin.
The ‘ballot unit’ is switched on in the presence of senior poll officials and counting agents of candidates and the result command keyed in to get results per machine. These were the first Lok Sabha elections when the option of ‘none of the above’ or NOTA was introduced on the EVMs following Supreme Court directions to ensure secrecy of voters who use this option. Before NOTA button was installed on EVMs, voters had to fill up form 49 ‘O’ at the polling station which compromised their identity.
Where a paper trail audit or ‘voter-verified paper audit trail’ (VVPAT) has been used, the counting agent can call for a count of the paper slips in the drop box attached to the voting machine, but a final count is taken by the returning officer.
The polling in all phases was by and large peaceful barring a few incidents by Maoists and some poll-related violence.
Lok Sabha elections 2014 witnessed the highest-ever turnout with 66.38 per cent of an estimated 814 million voters exercising their franchise — the highest ever in the history of general elections.
Once the results are declared, the names of the winning candidates will find mention in the gazette to be issued by the Election Commission.
The gazette notification will initiate the process to form the next Lok Sabha. The campaign held in blistering heat in several parts of the country was replete with barbs by various political leaders.
During the high decibel campaign marked by vitriolic accusations, Modi constantly targeted Rahul as ‘shehzada’ and the UPA dispensation as the ‘mother-son’ government besides going after Sonia’s son-in-law Robert Vadra over alleged land deals. He also hurled barbs at the UPA government, saying it represented the ‘ABCD’ of corruption, referring to Adarsh, Bofors and Coal scams. He also took a ‘RSVP’ jibe at the Nehru-Gandhi family, saying R stood for Rahul, S for Sonia, V for Vadra and P for Priyanka. He often ridiculed his rival parties continued…

SHYAM KISHOR SINGH
PGDM - 1year

Narendra Modi-led NDA to win 249-282 seats: exit polls :-

New Delhi: Narendra Modi will be the country’s next prime minister and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP-led) National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will have a simple majority in the Lok Sabha, most exit polls announced on Monday, the day polling for India’s parliamentary elections ended.

The markets cheered the exit poll results even before they were announced. BSE’s benchmark Sensex rose 2.42% to close at 23,551 points, a new record; the National Stock Exchange’s Nifty rose 2.27% to close at 7,014.25 points, also a record. Nifty futures expiring 29 May ended trading at 7,035.75 points, a nearly 30 points premium.

Exit polls have got it wrong before, most notably in 2004, when they did not give the Congress a chance—the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) formed the government after the election and won again in 2009.

The task facing the new government was also on display on Monday, when the government released factory output data for March and consumer inflation data for April. The first declined 0.5% and the second accelerated to 8.59%.

Around 540 million people voted in India’s parliamentary elections, a record 66.38% of the 814 million voters eligible to vote.

In the decade it has been in power, UPA has overseen a period of rapid economic expansion—India’s economy has grown at an average of 7.5% in the past decade—and seen 137.4 million people cross the line that divides the poor from the not-so in the seven years till 2011-12, but it has also been besieged by corruption scandals and come in for criticism over its inability to control inflation.

Economic growth too has fallen sharply. India’s economy expanded by 4.5% in 2012-13 and may have grown at around the same rate in 2013-14. Businessmen and investors have been openly rooting for a more friendly government—such as the one promised by the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Gujarat chief minister Modi .

The Congress, which has been rubbishing the very concept of exit polls, based on what happened in 2004 and 2009, said the results that come in on 16 May will prove the polls wrong. “In keeping with our tradition, we won’t participate in (discussions on TV channels on) these exit polls. The last time, exit polls gave us 68 seats less than what we got,” said Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmad even as he protectively sought to absolve party vice-president Rahul Gandhi of any blame for the party’s poor performance. “Rahul Gandhi is not in the government. He is the number two leader in the party. Sonia Gandhi is the president and naturally there is local leadership. So it is all collective.”

Although enthused by the exit poll projections, the BJP refused to comment on them and maintained that it would react only once the actual results are out.

The exit polls give a rang

e of between 249 and 282 seats in the 545 member Lok Sabha for the BJP-led alliance and between 92 and 148 seats for the Congress-led one. The range for other parties is 146 to 162 seats.

The findings of the exit polls were more or less on the expected lines, said A. K. Verma, a Kanpur-based political analyst and professor at Christ Church College in Kanpur. “There could be minor changes in the actual results,” he said, adding that a spell in the opposition would give the Congress party an opportunity to introspect and work on its weaknesses.

If Friday’s results mirror the exit polls, stock markets will have greater cause for cheer, experts said. “If the exit poll results translate to actual results on Friday, then India will see a clear, decisive mandate after almost 30 years, and that will be good for our country. There are so many reforms and key decisions that need to go through in the parliament. Everybody is waiting for an investor-friendly and an industry-friendly government,”said Rashesh Shah, chairman and CEO of Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd.

“A lot of investors—both foreign and domestic, are on the sidelines, and I see them returning to the market, if we see today’s exit poll results are replicated on Friday. It would be the first leg of a major bull run for the Indian markets,” Shah added.

If they don’t, the markets could be in for a correction.

Friday and Monday’s sharp spike in the markets were accompanied by spikes in volatility.

NSE’s India VIX, a gauge for market volatility in the near term, rose to as much as 39.30, a level last seen in August 2009, indicating choppy times ahead. It closed 1.59% lower at 37.105.

One of the most bitter electoral battles independent India has seen, the nine-phase elections saw a record voter turnout of 66.38%, up from 58.19% in the 2009 general elections.

In the last and the ninth phase of the elections on Monday, for 41 seats, Uttar Pradesh polled 55.9% votes, West Bengal, 79.03% and Bihar, 54%.

Varanasi, where Modi is taking on the Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal, saw 55.29% turnout.

BJP chief Rajnath Singh said the high turnout would result in a clear victory for the BJP. “People have come out in large numbers to vote in favour of a government that will get complete majority. People will give the BJP-led NDA a clear majority to form a government under the leadership of Narendra Modi.”

rahul singh 1

pgdm 1st year

2nd sem

Monday, May 12, 2014

Record 17 Indian universities find place in new Asian ranking

There has been a sharp increase in the number of Indian institutes in the Asian Universities Ranking 2014 published by QS. The list, released for the first time in India on Monday, featured 17 Indian universities — a 50% increase from 11 last year.
IIT Delhi holds on to 38th place, pulling clear of IIT Bombay at 41st. Five other IITs feature in the top 100, led by Kanpur and Madras just outside the top 50.

With seven IITs among the leading eight institutes, the top levels of Indian higher education remain much stronger in science and technology than in social sciences and arts.

“The IITs have a great reputation among graduate employers, and now produce a relatively high volume of research, but it is not yet having a significant impact in terms of citations,” QS head of research Ben Sowter said.
Among traditional universities, University of Delhi takes the lead at 81, having slipped one place since last year.

Moreover, Banaras Hindu University, Panjab, Manipal and Amity universities, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, and the Indian Institute of Information Technology made it to the list for the first time.

The ranking that has 300 universities in the list, reflects a swing in the balance of power in the continent as a whole, as Singapore and Korea overtake the traditionally dominant Japan and Hong Kong. National University of Singapore (NUS) tops the rankings for the first time, while Korea’s KAIST rises from sixth to second place.
Another global ranking had recently included IIT Guwahati in the top 100 of the ‘young’ global institutes

VIKASH CHANDRA MISHRA
PGDM 1ST YEAR
SOURCE: HINDUSTAN TIMES