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Role for Caspase-Mediated Cleavage of Rad51 in Induction of Apoptosis
Supplementary MaterialsData_Sheet_1. primary the different parts of innate immunity of parrots
June 21, 2019 June 21, 2019 Hazel Steward Blogging
Supplementary MaterialsData_Sheet_1. primary the different parts of innate immunity of parrots are (a) physical and chemical substance barriers, such as for example skin, epithelia, and feathers; (b) phagocytic cells, including dendritic cells, macrophages, and natural killer cells; (c) inflammatory mediators, cytokines, and complement proteins (13). Macrophages, as NVP-LDE225 ic50 one of the first lines of defense against microbial contamination, MAPT exert numerous biological functions across a broad spectrum of acute and chronic inflammatory conditions secreting high amounts of chemokines and cytokines, orchestrating host innate and adaptive immune responses, and clearing infected and dying cells to aid recovery (15). In response to microenvironmental signals, mammalian macrophages polarize into dynamic specialized functional pro-inflammatory M1 (classically activated macrophages) and anti-inflammatory M2 (alternatively activated macrophages, TAM) phenotypes (16C21). M1 macrophages play a vital role in virus host and clearance immune replies, but excess irritation is bad for tissue and organs (22). In comparison, M2 cells NVP-LDE225 ic50 contribute a significant function in protecting organs and tissue. The M1/M2 replies from pathogen infections should be well balanced by regulatory and inhibitory effector systems to safeguard bystander cell, body organ and injury from the consequences of surplus irritation, protect oxygenation, and promote web host tissue and body organ fix after viral clearance (22C25). As their mammalian counterpart, plasticity is certainly a hallmark of poultry macrophages also, and in response to microenvironment indicators, including microbial infections and pathogenesis of infectious illnesses (26C36), these cells go through different types of polarized activation, the extremes which may known as pro-inflammatory M1-like macrophages and anti-inflammatory M2-like macrophages. Macrophages, including poultry macrophages, partly depend on the recognition of features of viral nucleic acids in response to pathogen infections (28, 37, 38). Reputation of viral nucleic acids sets off the induction of type I interferons (IFNs) that creates macrophages into an antiviral condition and activate immunoregulatory features in close by cells. A subset of design recognition receptors contains toll-like receptors (TLRs), which understand different pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and induces intracellular indicators in charge of the activation of genes that encode for pro-/anti- (M1-/M2-like) inflammatory chemokines and cytokines, anti-microbial peptides, and anti-apoptotic elements (28, 37, 39). There’s a total of 13 known TLRs in mammals (TLR1C13), with each TLR knowing and giving an answer to different pathogen elements (40). In wild birds, a complete of 10 TLRs have been identified and include two isoforms each of TLR1 and TLR2, which detect triacylated, and diacylated lipopeptides. TLR3, 4, 5, and 7 detect dsRNA, LPS, flagellin, and ssRNA, respectively. TLR15 has been shown to recognize yeast proteases while TLR21, a functional homolog of mammalian TLR9, detects dsDNA (41). TLR3, 7, and 21 are located in the cytoplasm, while TLR1, 2, 4, 5, and 15 are located around the cell surface (42). Previous data exhibited that chicken origin TLR7 can exert specific abilities against viral and bacterial infectious diseases of birds, such as avian influenza (37) and Salmonella (43). To date, NDV-induced macrophage polarized activation and its role in anti-tumor cytotoxicity, cytokine release, and immunoregulation have been widely investigated in mice and humans (44C47). Although most reliable markers for mammalian macro-phage NVP-LDE225 ic50 polarized activation are not available for chicken macrophages, chicken macrophages are similar to their mammalian counterparts since they have the capacity to change their pheno-type in response to the microenvironmental signals (35, 48). However, whether NDV has the capacity to change chicken macrophage phenotype during viral contamination mainly depends on the virulence and genotypes of computer virus. The specifics of the phenomenon and underlying molecular systems are unclear still. In today’s function, we explored.
MAPT NVP-LDE225 ic50
Gastric cancer is the third many common reason behind cancer-related death.
Supplementary MaterialsData_Sheet_1. chondrocyte and its own immediate extracellular area. The current
Acetylcholine ??7 Nicotinic Receptors
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Acyltransferases
Alpha1 Adrenergic Receptors
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GlyR
HDACs
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K+ Ionophore
Miscellaneous Glutamate
Neurokinin Receptors
Nicotinic Acid Receptors
Non-selective Adenosine
Nucleoside Transporters
PI 3-Kinase
Potassium (KV) Channels
Prostanoid Receptors
Protein Kinase B
Protein Ser/Thr Phosphatases
Retinoid X Receptors
Serotonin (5-ht1E) Receptors
Shp2
Sigma1 Receptors
Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription
Syk Kinase
T-Type Calcium Channels
Transient Receptor Potential Channels
Ubiquitin/Proteasome System
Urotensin-II Receptor
XIAP
Supplementary MaterialsFigure S1. production. Treg growth pursuing ATG treatment is certainly
AIM: To establish a more stable and accurate nude mouse model
AMD 070 AT7519 HCl B2m buy 24169-02-6 C1qtnf5 Cdh5 CDP323 CS-088 FLJ31945 GSK1070916 IKK-gamma antibody Itga2 Kit LRRFIP1 antibody MGC129647 MMP2 monocytes Mouse monoclonal to GFAP Mouse Monoclonal to His tag Olaparib Omecamtiv mecarbil OSI-930 PA-824 PF 477736 Plinabulin PRKACA Quizartinib Rabbit Polyclonal to ACSA Rabbit polyclonal to ACTR1A Rabbit polyclonal to AKAP5 Rabbit polyclonal to ERGIC3 Rabbit Polyclonal to MKNK2 Rabbit Polyclonal to SEPT7 Rabbit Polyclonal to STEA2 Rabbit Polyclonal to TEAD1 Rabbit polyclonal to Wee1 Rabbit polyclonal to ZNF346. RAF1 Ramelteon Rotigotine SPN Temsirolimus Tyrphostin U 95666E VX-950
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Comic 90 - Things Change, page 16 of 25
Average Rating: 5 (1 votes)
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Rock Paper Scissors, page 2 Rock Paper Scissors, page 3 Rock Paper Scissors, page 4 Rock Paper Scissors, page 5 Rock Paper Scissors, page 6 Rock Paper Scissors, page 7 Rock Paper Scissors, page 8 Rock Paper Scissors, page 9 Rock Paper Scissors, page 10 Rock Paper Scissors, page 11 Rock Paper Scissors, page 12 Rock Paper Scissors, page 13 Rock Paper Scissors, page 14 Rock Paper Scissors, page 15 Rock Paper Scissors, page 16 Rock Paper Scissors, page 17 Rock Paper Scissors, page 18 Rock Paper Scissors, page 19 Rock Paper Scissors, page 20 Rock Paper Scissors, page 21 Rock Paper Scissors, page 22 Rock Paper Scissors, page 23 Rock Paper Scissors, page 24 Rock Paper Scissors, page 25 Rock Paper Scissors, page 26 Things Change, page 1 of 25 Things Change, page 2 of 25 Things Change, page 3 of 25 Things Change, page 4 of 25 Things Change, page 5 of 25 Things Change, page 6 of 25 Things Change, page 7 of 25 Things Change, page 8 of 25 Things Change, page 9 of 25 Things Change, page 10 of 25 Things Change, page 11 of 25 Things Change, page 12 of 25 Things Change, page 13 of 25 Things Change, page 14 of 25 Things Change, page 15 of 25 Things Change, page 16 of 25 Things Change, page 17 of 25 Things Change, page 18 of 25 Things Change, page 19 of 25 Things Change, page 20 of 25 Things Change, page 21 of 25 Things Change, page 22 of 25 Things Change, page 23 of 25 Things Change, page 24 of 25 Things Change, page 25 of 25 Blood and Guts, page 0 of 10 Blood and Guts, page 1 of 10 Blood and Guts, page 2 of 10 Blood and Guts, page 3 of 10 Blood and Guts, page 4 of 10 Blood and Guts, page 5 of 10 Blood and Guts, page 6 of 10 Blood and Guts, page 7 of 10 Blood and Guts, page 8 of 10 Blood and Guts, page 9 of 10 Blood and Guts, page 10 of 10 The Passenger, page 1 of 13 The Passenger, page 2 of 13 The Passenger, page 3 of 13 The Passenger, page 4 of 13 The Passenger, page 5 of 13 The Passenger, page 6 of 13 The Passenger, page 7 of 13 The Passenger, page 8 of 13 The Passenger, page 9 of 13 The Passenger, page 10 of 13 The Passenger, page 11 of 13 The Passenger, page 12 of 13 The Passenger, page 13 of 13 The Passenger, page 0 of 13 Big Boy, page 1 of 21 Big Boy, page 2 of 21 Big Boy, page 3 of 21 Big Boy, page 4 of 21 Big Boy, page 5 of 21 Big Boy, page 6 of 21 Big Boy, page 7 of 21 Big Boy, page 8 of 21 Big Boy, page 9 of 21 Big Boy, page 10 of 21 Big Boy, page 11 of 21 Big Boy, page 12 of 21 Big Boy, page 13 of 21
cattservant
That blow to his head must have shook some things loose...
edit delete reply
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The Acorn Team
Affiliated Firms
Market Data Bank
A Dramatic Pause, As Expansion Breaks Longevity Record
With the start of the second half of 2019, this expansion officially sets a new record as the longest growth cycle in modern U.S. history. However, growth has moderated lately. The U.S. Leading Economic Index (LEI) in May was unchanged from April. It's a dramatic pause after 10 years of strong growth.
"While the economic expansion is now entering its eleventh year, the longest in US history, the LEI clearly points to a moderation in growth towards 2% by year end," according to the economic team at The Conference Board, a big-business sponsored group that is responsible for tracking the monthly U.S. LEI.
From The Great Recession of 2008, which was the worst period of negative growth since The Great Depression, the current growth cycle began in April 2009, and GDP grew only modestly until 2015. Then, real wage gains began accelerating, propelling stronger than expected growth for over four years. Though U.S. growth recently leveled off, it's been a spectacular expansion, by modern historical standards.
The Federal Reserve was nimble in reversing its interest rate policy in recent weeks, as fear of trade wars and, now, a real war with Iran, heightened uncertainty, and the expansion is poised to extend into 2020. However, the Fed has not always been accurate in the past in forecasting the economy. Far from it!
The Fed caused every recession since 1954 by misreading the economy, tightening credit too much and choking growth. They came close to doing it again earlier this year, but their quick about-face in May has enabled the long expansion to continue for now.
Fritz Meyer, an independent economist whose research we license, says the Fed's fear of inflation is overblown. Since this expansion began, the Fed's forecast for inflation has been wrong, he says. The Fed's policy reversal in recent weeks, articulated in its public pronouncements in May and June, indicates that the Fed could be rethinking its inflation model.
Watch for the Fed to show less fear of inflation in the months ahead. A tectonic shift in the way the Fed views inflation could fuel continued growth. Or the Fed could make a mistake.
The big picture significance of this chart is that the LEI has historically rolled over very definitively months before recessions in the past. Hence, the pause in the LEI is pregnant with drama.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index broke another all-time high with its closing price of 2,954.18 on Thursday. The index closed on Friday at 2,950.46.
This article was written by a veteran financial journalist based on data compiled and analyzed by independent economist, Fritz Meyer. While these are sources we believe to be reliable, the information is not intended to be used as financial or tax advice without consulting a professional about your personal situation. Tax laws are subject to change. Indices are unmanaged and not available for direct investment. Investments with higher return potential carry greater risk for loss. No one can predict the future of the stock market or any investment, and past performance is never a guarantee of your future results.
This article was written by a professional financial journalist for Acorn Financial Services and is not intended as legal or investment advice.
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vp.1.10 [paragraph continues] Raka, and Anumati (phases of the moon 3). Anasuya, the wife of Atri, was the mother of three sinless sons, Soma (the moon), Durvasas, and the ascetic Dattatreya 4. Pulastya had, by Priti, a son called in a former birth, or in the Swayambhuva Manwantara, Dattoli, who is now known as the sage Agastya 5. Kshama, the wife of the patriarch Pulaha, was the mother of three sons, Karmasa, Arvarivat, and Sahishnu 6. The wife of Kratu, Sannati, brought forth the sixty thousand Balakhilyas, pigmy sages, no bigger than a joint of the thumb, chaste, pious, resplendent as the rays of the sun 7. Vasishtha had seven sons by his wife Urjja, Rajas, Gatra, Urddhabahu, Savana, Anagha, Sutapas, and sukra, the seven pure sages 8. The Agni named Abhimani, who is the eldest born of
vp.2.4 The Kshiroda ocean (or sea of milk) is encompassed by the seventh Dwipa, or Pushkara, which is twice the size of Saka dwipa. Savana, who was made its sovereign, had but two sons, Mahavira and Dhataki, after whom the two Varshas of Pushkara were so named. These are divided by one mighty range of mountains, called Manasottara, which runs in a circular direction (forming an outer and an inner circle). This mountain is fifty thousand Yojanas in height, and as many in its breadth; dividing the Dwipa in the middle, as if with a bracelet, into two divisions, which are also of a circular form, like the mountain that separates them. Of these two, the Mahavira varsha is exterior to the circumference of Manasottara, and Dhataki lies within the circle; and both are frequented by heavenly spirits and gods. There are no other mountains in Pushkara, neither are there any rivers 3. Men in this Dwipa live a thousand years, free from sickness and sorrow, and unruffled by anger or affection.
vp.3.2 The ninth Manu will be Daksha savarni 8. The Paras, Marichigarbhas, and Sudharmas will be the three classes of divinities, each consisting of twelve; their powerful chief will be the Indra Adbhuta. Savana, Dyutimat, Bhavya, Vasu, Medhatithi, Jyotishman, and Satya will be the seven Rishis. Dhritaketu, Driptiketu, Panchahasta, Mahamaya, Prithusrava, and others, will be the sons of the Manu.
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Maduro expels US envoy amid new sanctions
President Nicolas Maduro ordered the expulsion of the top US diplomat in Venezuela following a new round of sanctions imposed by Washington over his re-election.
Maduro announced the move in a nationally televised speech on Tuesday after being officially proclaimed the winner of Sunday's election.
"The empire doesn't dominate us here," Maduro said, giving charge d'affaires Todd Robinson and his deputy Brian Naranjo 48 hours to leave the country. "We've had enough of your conspiring."
He accused the pair of trying to sabotage Venezuela's presidential election by pressuring several anti-government presidential candidates not to compete in the race.
Maduro referred to Naranjo as the head of the CIA in Venezuela.
The election was boycotted by the main opposition parties and widely criticised by the international community. Most opposition parties decided not to participate after officials blocked their most popular leaders from competing.
Maduro won 68 percent of the vote, but 52 percent of voters did not cast ballots – a historic abstention rate.
The White House branded the vote a "sham", and US President Donald Trump issued an executive order limiting Venezuela's ability to sell state assets, heightening pressure on Maduro's cash-strapped government.
In his speech on Tuesday, Maduro angrily rejected the US move saying he repudiates "all the sanctions that are sought against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, because they harm it, they generate suffering for the people of Venezuela".
He added: "We will present evidence to the country of the conspiracy in the military field of the United States charge d'affaires and his embassy, of the conspiracy in the economic field and of the conspiracy in the political field."
There was no immediate reaction from Robinson or the US embassy in Caracas.
Washington and Caracas have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010.
- Al Jazeera
Tags: Maduro,
Microsoft's Bill Gates steps down
China assumes KP chair
Oil drops more than 2% after Iran deal
Emirates to keep buying aircraft
UK scraps £3,000 visa bond plan for 'high risk' Africans
Wealthy families hoarding cash, says Citi
US launches new $100 banknote
US Government shuts down
BlackBerry posts $965m loss
BlackBerry is in a death spiral - analyst
BlackBerry unveils the Z30 as its new flagship
Toyota to sell first hydrogen fuel cell car in 2015
Apple unveils new iPhone 5s and 5c
Samsung unveils a smartwatch
Microsoft to buy Nokia's mobile phone business unit
Vodafone says in talks on sale of Verizon Wireless stake
European Central Bank is unlikely to keep its interest rates low
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months
Moody's considers downgrading top US banks
UK banks to pay up to $2bn for mis-selling credit card protection
Germany says Greece will need more support
Tesla says model S Sedan receives top U.S. crash rating
New iPhone to be revealed soon - report
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LEISURE-2020
Date: 02.04.2020 — 04.04.2020
Venue: Minsk
Address: Pobediteley, Ave. 14, Minsk, Belarus
We are pleased to invite you to participate in the 23d International Fair for Tourism "LEISURE – 2020" which will be held on April 2-4, 2020 by the National Exhibition Centre "BELEXPO" under the General Affairs Directorate of the President of the Republic of Belarus in cooperation with the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus.
Exhibition profile:
- Travelling (seasonal leisure, business-tours, children's leisure, cruises, educational tours)
- Excursion programmes
- Medical tourism
- Transport services
- Sport-inventory, inventory for games and entertainment
- Insurance in tourism
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By participation in "LEISURE – 2020" you will have an unrivaled opportunity to promote your national tourist product to the Belarusian market, to meet your potential clients. Seminars, meeting and presentations included in the exhibition programme will help you to find new partners and brush up contacts with those you have been working with before.
The event will be supported by an intensive publicity campaign.
We have the pleasure of welcoming you to the exhibition!
If you are interested to participate, please, do not hesitate to contact us.
Khrol Natalia
phone: (+375 29) 889 56 63 (Viber, Telegram, WhatsApp)
e-mail: tourfair@belexpo.by
Marina Prozorova
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Benchmark sells two Chelsea rentals for $27M
November 17, 2015 | The Real Deal
By Kathryn Brenzel
A family partnership led by the head of Brooklyn-based Davidson Pipe Supply picked up two Chelsea rental buildings for $26.5 million from Benchmark Real Estate Group, according to property records filed with the city Monday.
The buyers, Peter Davidson of Davidson Pipe Supply and Robert Krueger, are based in the Long Island hamlet of Hewlett, records show. They acquired two six-story buildings at 246 and 248 10th Avenue, near West 25th Street. Benchmark, a Soho-based firm led by Aaron Feldman and Jordan Vogel, paid just $14.4 million total for the properties last year. The buildings have a total of 17 residential units — eight at 246 10th Avenue and nine at 248 10th Avenue — and each have a ground floor commercial unit. Collectively, the buildings span 17,100 square feet of residential space and 3,150 square feet for retail. Italian restaurant Bottino is among the ground-floor retail tenants.
Davidson, who declined to comment, also owns a Brooklyn Heights residential building at 43 Pierrepont Street. It was not clear if brokers were involved in the deal.
In July, Benchmark, which focuses on value-add acquisitions of rentals, bought a 12-story Brooklyn Heights rental building for north of $40 million.
By benchmark|2015-11-19T22:59:55-11:00November 17th, 2015|The Real Deal|Comments Off on Benchmark sells two Chelsea rentals for $27M
About the Author: benchmark
654 MADISON AVE, STE. 1009 NY, NY 10065 212.431.0891
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Artemis Water Strategy
Water resilience for a thirsty future
Leadership Forums
You are here: Home / California Drought / Could Data Centers Lead California’s Drought-Tech Future?
Could Data Centers Lead California’s Drought-Tech Future?
Can data center technologies get some of the rebates that have been driving low-tech solutions for the drought?
California prides itself on being the global hub for tech innovation, and it has been aiming to accelerate use of cutting-edge technology to face its historic drought. However, in the first year since California’s governor declared a state of emergency as a result of the drought, most of its cash has been spent on non-tech solutions. In Southern California alone, the Metropolitan Water District has quadrupled its budget to $450M this year for lawn turf replacement. So far, innovative start-ups aren’t applying advanced science and engineering, but rather spraying green paint to cover brown lawns.
California’s programs are looking for ways to change basic practices to permanently replace big water uses. Turf replacement programs “lock-in permanent changes in water use by transforming to drought-tolerant landscapes that better fit our Mediterranean climate,” said Metropolitan board Chairman Randy Record, Chairman of Southern California’s Metropolitan Water District.
As corporations in California face the drought crisis, new technologies for data center cooling offer an opportunity for them to migrate away from water-intensive cooling. Every new data center brings a thirsty customer. A midsize 15-megawatt center uses between 80 million and 130 million gallons of water a year for cooling, according to industry estimates “At the high end of that range, each new facility is akin to planting 100 acres of almond trees, adding three hospitals or opening more than two 18-hole golf courses,” notes Drew Fitzgerald of the Wall Street Journal. California has more than 800 data centers, the most of any state, according to an estimate by tech consultancy 451 Research LLC that excludes smaller computer rooms that businesses use. Based on that and estimates for water use, the state’s data centers consume roughly as much water in a year as 158,000 Olympic sized swimming pools.
Even with their substantial growth over the last few years, data centers still use less than 1% of the water in California, as compared with 80% used by agriculture. At the same time, subsidizing migration away from water cooling data centers offers California a way to reduce water use right now, and save millions of gallons over the years to come.
Written by Laura Shenkar · Categorized: California Drought, Cooling · Tagged: California Drought, data centers, drought, policy
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Government Insists EEU Entry ‘Good for Armenia’
Armenia's President Serzh Sarkisian signs an accession agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union in Minsk on Oct. 10, 2014.
YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—Membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) will greatly benefit Armenia’s economy, the Armenian government insisted on Monday as it sought parliamentary approval of its controversial accession treaty with the Russian-led bloc.
While predicting a major boost to economic growth and exports, a senior government official also acknowledged that Armenia will face “sanctions” by the World Trade Organization (WTO) after adopting the EEU’s more protectionist policies.
Deputy Finance Minister Suren Karayan pointed to the fact that many import duties jointly enforced by Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are considerably higher than the existing Armenian trade tariffs that had been agreed with the WTO in 2003.
“Armenia and EEU member states will jointly hold new negotiations with the World Trade Organization, and responsibility for those sanctions, which will be applied for the violation of our [WTO] obligations, will fall not only on Armenia but also on the other EEU member states,” Karayan told the National Assembly. He did not specify whether this means that Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan would necessarily compensate Armenia for penalties imposed by the WTO.
Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov spoke of Armenian “compensations” to the WTO in June. He said that Yerevan will have to renegotiate the terms of its membership in the global trade body after joining the EEU. Armenian officials have been reticent about the subject until now.
Speaking at the start of parliament debates on the accession treaty, Karayan insisted that EEU membership will boost Armenia’s economic prospects by improving its manufacturers’ access to a vast common market. “Joining this union is extremely important for the Republic of Armenia as we will able to considerably boost our exports and thereby ensure higher living standards for our population,” he said. “I not only believe in that but am extremely optimistic. Having been involved in the whole [accession] process, I can assure you that this will earn Armenia very positive and serious results.”
Citing government estimates, the official said that entry to the Russian-led bloc will translate into an extra growth rate of between 1.2 percent and 2.5 percent annually for the Armenian economy in the short term.
In recent months the Armenian government has actually lowered its growth projections for the next few years amid a worsening macroeconomic situation in Russia. With the Russian economy seemingly sliding into recession due to Western sanctions and falling oil prices, government critics say that Yerevan could hardly choose a worse moment to join the EEU.
Armenian - December 2, 2014 said:
If the government insists on something, the opposite must be true. In other words, this is the government’s way of admitting that they’ve dug themselves into a ditch.
This is only logical, too, as a “union” that has decided to wage war on the civilized world with its totalitarian and fascist attitudes can never be considered a good thing.
Hratch - December 2, 2014 said:
What other choice do they really have? This is suicide out of necessity. The alternative will be a ‘spontaneous’ separatist group demanding their rights. At least this way the existing wheels of corruption will continue to be greased.
What they forget to mention is that we are now umbilically associated with a despot who is persona non grata in the real world. A government that tolerates no decent and a regime that supplies the enemy with weapons to down our aircrafts.
Isn’t the third world a fabulous place to operate from?
*dissent
Avetis - December 3, 2014 said:
I also “insist”.
Michele - December 3, 2014 said:
If entry into the EEU is confirmed does this mean Armenian will be precluded from entering the EU?
Leave a Reply to Michele Cancel reply
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Indian Banking's Next Two Revolutions
Many Indian villages have over one thousand mobile phones. But no bank accounts.
Welcome to the great Indian revolution.
Even after the sweeping changes brought about by NREGA – the second version of which made bank accounts mandatory – real financial inclusion remains a dream.
Thanks to NREGA, many of India’s poorest of the poor now recognizes the use of a savings account. But that a bank can lend them money to meet their financial goals – even if it is microfinance - is unknown by many. A recent nationwide survey had brought out these shocking facts.
Why couldn’t the country’s public sector banks achieve within 60 years, what a handful of private mobile operators could do in 6?
The easy answer would be the scope for profits, but given the wafer-thin margins with which these large capex mobile operators function, and the efficiency with which many private micro-financiers have developed their businesses recently, bankers would need to find another excuse.
Reserve Bank of India is aware of this challenge, and is now trying to address this in two novel ways, which if fully implemented can change the very landscape of Indian banking, not to mention the achievement of amazing levels of financial inclusion.
One of the RBI strategies would seem like a throwback to the pre-nationalization era. Yes, new private banks are again welcome. But they would be back in a different avatar – Local Area Banks.
Originally conceived in the 1996 Union Budget, local area banks had got a major push with the findings and recommendations of the Raghuram Rajan Committee. RBI plans to address the safety concerns with small private banks by ensuring a higher Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of above 15% - as against regular banks’ 12% - and tough regulations to prevent related party transactions.
If implemented fully, this can be a wave of opportunity for a new generation of financial entrepreneurs, cooperatives, and self-help groups. The distinct advantage RBI sees with the move - other than great accessibility – is the creation of tailor-made financial products based on local demand.
The second RBI initiative was their recent Outreach Program to commemorate their Platinum Jubilee Year. Designed around Governor Dr. D Subbarao’s Zero Finance Inclusion System, the program had inputs from all four Deputy Governors, Shyamala Gopinath, Usha Thorat, Dr. KC Chakrabarty, and Dr. Subir Gokarn.
The program has placed a new target for commercial banks that all villages with over 2000 people should get access to financial services by March 2010. Carefully selected and authorized NGOs would be allowed to assist banks in achieving this target. The critical backbone of this initiative would be cutting-edge technologies like mobile banking and biometric identification.
If RBI succeeds in these two initiatives, it would lend some credence to the tall claims of economic liberalization and the telecom / IT revolutions. Then and only then can we take the first step together, as one billion empowered people.
Because for all our optimism, there is a deep chasm between the developed and developing worlds, and that chasm is the financial security of a country’s people. And financial inclusion is the first step towards financial security.
Posted by Seasonal Magazine at 7:38 PM 0 comments
HDFC Move Too Little, Too Late Against SBI & ICICI?
HDFC Ltd, India's largest home loan provider, and the key promoter of HDFC Bank, has done something to counter SBI, but it might prove to be too little, too late. The dual rate home loan scheme comes with a fixed rate of 8.25 per cent till March 31, 2012 for a 20 year loan of 30 lakh for new customers who apply till January 31. Though 0.25% above SBI's during the first year, the scheme is comparable to SBI's when taking into account the first three years. But it is still inferior in its 0.5% processing fee against SBI's nil charges.
HDFC Bank always had to be content with the No.3 position, behind SBI and ICICI Bank. But the solace was always that it could lead in two retail segments – home and auto loans. But now, even that edge is showing signs of distress.
While SBI has recently caught up with HDFC Bank in both home and auto loan growth, ICICI Bank has also made a dramatic comeback. To counter, HDFC Bank is relying more and more on growing their overall retail loan business, instead of trying to grow their corporate loans, where the competition is even tougher with the likes of PNB & BoB, apart from SBI & ICICI Bank.
The bank’s over reliance on retail segments like credit cards is troubling, and as Pralay Mondal, their Country Head for Retail & Credit Cards had recently put it, the delinquency for the credit card industry as a whole is at 30-35%.
HDFC Bank’s key problems are its highly pressured workforce and the private bank’s too selective, too restrictive home loan policies that pre-empt a significant percentage of homebuyers from a life-critical home loan.
Posted by Seasonal Magazine at 10:39 AM 0 comments
Will Bank of India Take Over Oriental Bank of Commerce?
With its second quarter results out, speculations that Oriental Bank of Commerce might be fit for a takeover have gathered wind.
OBC went back on its good first quarter results of 46% growth by registering only 18.63% growth in net profit during the quarter ended September 2009. The bank’s total business growth during H1 of this year stands at 24%.
Making this mid-sized bank more attractive for a takeover is the fact that OBC is in urgent need for Rs. 1000 crore as capital support from the Government. Though Chairman & Managing Director TY Prabhu has claimed that it is for branch expansion, shoring up Oriental Bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) should also be a prime reason.
But plagued with such never ending requests from several public sector banks (PSBs), the Government has recently made it clear that it may not be able to meet the entire demand. That leaves only a few options before such PSBs, one among which is allowing a takeover by a bigger PSB.
Speculations are on that Mumbai headquartered Bank of India is eyeing Oriental Bank of Commerce for a takeover. Such a move has got some other rationale too, as BoI’s is heavily West focused while OBC is heavily North focused.
But, in any case, such a move is unlikely to be met favourably with the senior to middle level managers in OBC.
Oriental Bank of Commerce is a full service bank, featuring anytime anywhere banking that addresses retail, corporate, & industrial clients using the latest in technologies like core banking, internet, mobile, & ATMs. CMD TY Prabhu is a Canara Bank veteran, who joined OBC recently after a successful tenure with Union Bank of India as its Executive Director.
Oriental Bank of Commerce has always been in the forefront of social initiatives, be it participation in the national pension plan or poverty alleviation for the BPL classes. The bank is also on a major expansion drive with a new recruitment drive being announced.
OBC’s innovative bancassurance model – but partnered with two banks itself, HSBC and Canara Bank – has already become the fastest grower in the life insurance sector.
However, if the takeover by Bank of India materializes, it will fly in the face of the OBC management’s plans to increase branch strength by 200 new branches and a targeted business mix of Rs. 2,00,000 crore by the year end.
Posted by Seasonal Magazine at 9:58 AM 0 comments
Kotak Mahindra Thrives on Risk?
Kotak Mahindra Bank led Kotak Mahindra Group is one financial conglomerate that seems to thrive on risk.
Group entity Kotak Securities had recently played whistleblower in exposing accounting holes in both Reliance ADAG and Reliance Industries. But as and when the Ambani brothers bury their hatchets, a headache can break out for Kotak Mahindra.
But for all his team’s research capabilities, Uday Kotak couldn’t sense what was in store in Dubai. Kotak Mahindra Bank opened their representative office in Dubai two weeks back. The timing couldn’t have been worse. A week later, Dubai World’s $60 billion hole surfaced, with the potential to sink Dubai with it.
But risk is nothing new to Kotak Mahindra. The Group already has exposure in Dubai through businesses like insurance policies, offshore mutual funds, broking revenues, and other investments.
This once non-banking financial company (NBFC) – or private financier – turned bank thrives on high risk. It specializes in acquiring stressed assets from other banks, unsecured loans, sensitive sector lending, and aggressive contrarian strategies like shunning loan restructuring against NPAs.
Uday Kotak has ambitiously built this 18,000 people empire, resorting to corporate moves like courting powerful names like the Mahindras and Goldman Sachs, and later deciding to go it alone.
Will IndusInd Ever Catch Up With ICICI, HDFC, & Axis?
During the initial years it was main promoter Hinduja Group’s controversies like Bofors that played spoilsport for IndusInd Bank. Later, it was a case of uninspired leadership. But the current MD & CEO Romesh Sobti’s radical strategies have apparently played out well for the bank, if last two quarters’ growth is any indication.
But it is also a strategy that has taken IndusInd from the safe shores of investment banking and HNI business to the risky coasts of less secured retail loans. It remains to be seen how IndusInd’s new strategy will pan out.
IndusInd Bank started out in the same year – 1994 – as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, & Axis Bank, with almost the same scale of capital. But now all those banks are at least 5 to 10 times the size of IndusInd. That this was despite Hinduja Group’s international expertise in banking, has been a sort of riddle in banking circles.
But with the second quarter results out, IndusInd Bank has proved that it can shrug off this lethargy and grow faster than others to catch up on lost time. IndusInd grew its net profit by 131% this quarter, and it was one of the healthier all-round results posted by any private bank or comparable public sector bank.
The even better news is that when taken as a whole, the two quarters or H1 has registered a 211% growth. With this, IndusInd has become the country’s fourth fastest growing bank in net profits.
But the bank still lags behind peers in deposits and advances growth. MD & CEO Romesh Sobti needs to address several of IndusInd’s potentials that haven’t still played out.
For example, IndusInd Bank is the country’s only bank to be originally promoted by a group of NRIs. Despite this significant exposure among the NRI community, the bank had failed to put up a good performance in garnering NRI remittances, which is always considered as a good source of low-cost funds.
Also, IndusInd Bank has always played the game conservatively, with not much enthusiasm for funding the so-called sensitive sector including unsecured retail, real estate, and capital markets. Such an outlook has prompted the bank to take a contrarian view on problematic NPAs. IndusInd was noted for opting out of the CDR process to revive Subiksha, the troubled retailer.
Anyway, under Sobti’s leadership, the bank is spreading its focus on segments like consumer loans. The bank was however always strong in investment banking and servicing HNIs, and this has helped them to grow faster now.
Midsize Public Sector Banks Survive Downturn
2008-09 and the ongoing 2009-10 have not been easy years for the country’s mid to small sized public sector banks. Yet they have shown remarkable resilience in fighting back the downturn with all available tools at their disposal.
Good examples of this trend have been Bank of India and Central Bank of India on the big side, and Indian Overseas Bank and UCO Bank on the smaller side.
These tools include profit from treasury operations, profit from wholesale banking, cutting cost of deposits, and managing NPA levels.
Using these tools, as well as growth in their core banking business, Mumbai headquartered Central Bank of India’s net profit rose from Rs. 96.15 crore a year ago to Rs. 313.93 crore. The bank could better its treasury operations, as well as its wholesale and retail banking operations.
At another Mumbai headquartered major, Bank of India, the core metric of net interest income (NII) increased by 3.37% to Rs. 1409 crore. But BoI opted for higher provisioning for its NPAs this quarter, which pulled down its net. But since then, the new RBI directive of 70% Provision Coverage Ratio (PCR) has made the bank look wise among its peers.
Chennai based Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) could have posted an operating profit of Rs. 554.6 crore, but the exceptional case of the absorption of the loss making Shree Suvarna Sahakari Bank dragged down its net profit to Rs. 176.04 crore. IOB was handpicked by the Government earlier to save SSSB.
However, Kolkata based UCO Bank had a smoother sail this quarter. Net profit was up by 38.4% on strong growth in interest as well as treasury income. The bank is rapidly shedding its high cost bulk deposits, and managing its NPA levels quite well. Total income grew over 19%, while operating profit was up by around 50%. Now the bank is working hard to increase the competitive metric of net interest margin (NIM) to 2.15% from the current 1.88%.
SBT: Of Keralites, By Keralites, But Not For Keralites?
State Bank of Travancore is Kerala’s official bank if there is any such designation. It was created by eminent Keralites, and still thrives on Kerala’s huge NRI and domestic deposits. But when it comes to loans, SBT prefers to help corporates outside the state, often through big-ticket loan syndications. Ditto is the case with the bank’s customer service – winning accolades outside the state, and drawing flak inside Kerala. Is it something wrong with State Bank of Travancore or something wrong with Keralites? Are they expecting too much from their own bank?
Kerala headquartered SBT is not only a worthy child of the State Bank family. It is also a worthy adult with a mind of its own. Mergers are not something for State Bank of Travancore, which has taken into its fold not less than 10 banks during its 64 years of existence.
But this time, things would be different, no doubt, as it would be SBT which would be taken in by its parent since 1960, State Bank of India. But that merger is still far off, as SBI has prioritized the takeover of smaller, unlisted, and less healthy group banks than State Bank of Travancore like State Bank of Indore, State Bank of Hyderabad, and State Bank of Patiala.
SBT on the other hand is a listed entity, and has the unique credentials of never failing to make a profit and never failing to deliver dividends in its history.
But FY 2008-09 and the present year should be exceptions, anyone will agree. But at SBT, there is no need for such exceptions. For 2008-09, State Bank of Travancore registered a rise in net profit of 57.43% and a dividend payout of 130%. It was a record, and it clearly showed the bank team and its leadership could effectively rise up to the challenges.
And in 2009-10, this momentum only continues to gather steam with SBT posting a 337% rise in Q1 YoY.
SBT’s Managing Director AK Jagannathan is a veteran of the State Bank Group, having worked in State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Hyderabad, & State Bank of Patiala, before taking up the assignment of Chief General Manager of State Bank of Travancore in October 2008 and later as its Managing Director. He is the perfect complimentary partner to SBI’s & State Bank Group’s Chairman OP Bhatt. Incidentally, Bhatt was the MD of SBT before moving to SBI in 2006.
State Bank of Travancore is known for its support for sensitive sectors, and was recently noted for surpassing its targets in delivering loans to farmers. At the same time, it caters to the diverse needs of its modern customer base. Recetly SBT tied up with Sundaram BNP Paribas to deliver their mutual funds through SBT branches.
State Bank of Travancore is a full service bank complete with core banking, internet banking, mobile banking, ATMs, home loans, vehicle loans, multi-city cheques, online tickets / bill payments, 3-in-one savings / demat / trading accounts, e-Tax, microfinance, MSME financing, reverse mortgages, and international credit / debit cards.
Owing to its presence in Kerala, SBT also has one of the most extensive NRI and Forex services in the country.
Midsize Public Sector Banks Fight Downturn
At another Mumbai headquartered major, Bank of India, the core metric of net interest income (NII) increased by 3.37% to Rs. 1409 crore. But BoI opted for higher provisioning for its NPAs this quarter, which pulled down its net. But since then, the new RBI directive of 70% PCR has made the bank look wise among its peers.
Chennai based Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) could have posted an operating profit of Rs. 554.6 crore, but the exceptional case of the absorption of the loss making Shree Suvrana Sahakari Bank dragged down its net profit to Rs. 176.04 crore. IOB was handpicked by the Government earlier to save SSSB.
Why SBI Gets No RBI Waiver on NPAs, PCR
Does India's central bank, Reserve Bank of India, believe that nobody is too big to fail?
Post Lehman, post Merrill Lynch, & post RBS, the biggest joke doing the rounds in banking circles has been nobody is too big to fail. Because, whenever some wise mind tried to point out the risky games these giant banks played, the stock reply was, “Nah! Too big to fail”.
Now it seems that this newfound cautionary syndrome has caught up in India. The country’s central bank, RBI, often noted for its excellent and dynamic banking regulations has now come up with a stunner – all banks have to set aside funds to cover 70% of the total worth of bad loans. Technically called Provision Coverage Ratio (PCR) for Non Performing Assets (NPA), this has earlier been anything between 10-100%, with the average being 51%.
But some banks like, the country’s biggest – State Bank of India – always had a problem with this line of reasoning. Until recently, their PCR has been just 38.72%, and only on RBI prodding a couple of months back that it was hiked to the present 45.1%.
But Reserve Bank of India is still not impressed. There is no waiver even for the country’s largest bank that controls nearly one-fourth of Indian banking. SBI’s profitability is going to be hit, as the bank will have to set aside Rs. 3800 crore from their profits.
State Bank of India Chairman OP Bhatt has always maintained that his bank’s PCR is small due to the better quality of their NPAs. But conservative peers like Punjab National Bank (PNB) have set aside 90% and HDFC Bank has set 68%.
Anyway, why is Reserve Bank of India so adamant about 70% PCR? One reason might be the Indian banks’ aggressive new initiative to woo millions of home-loan seekers with an ascending interest rate pattern. SBI had pioneered this scheme, and received wide applause for it.
But this kind of loans where the interest burden starts light and gets heavier over the loan-term is said to be a major contributor to the subprime home-loan crisis in US.
Just imagine a couple in their 40s, taking a Rs. 40 lakh home loan in 2009. For the first four years, everything goes fine, and after that the higher interest regime sets in, just-in-time when their other burdens like children’s higher education / marriage sets in, and their employability and earning capacity decreases.
Is RBI foreseeing this scenario in India?
Posted by Seasonal Magazine at 12:29 PM 1 comments
ICICI Bank's Real Turnaround Still Away?
There is nothing more sacrosanct than quarterly results. It separates the listed from the unlisted entities, the men from boys. Because, the latest quarterly results increases or decreases that revered number – TTM EPS – or trailing twelve months’ earnings per share, the ultimate metric that shows the investors what they are getting for their investment.
Take for example ICICI Bank. For the quarter ended September 2009, ICICI has come up with impressive numbers. Operating profit was up 18% QoQ and 6%YoY, net profit was up 2.6%, net interest margin (NIM) was maintained at 2.5%, net NPA was down 6.2%, and CASA deposit percentage was up to 36.9% from 28.7%.
On the whole it comes out as solid results. Even the stock markets reacted favourably, for a couple of days. Chanda Kochhar even began hoping for a bonus for her hardworking team this year. In 2008-09, they had missed their bonus, while at the end of 2007-08, then CEO & MD KV Kamath had been paid Rs. 43.24 lakh, while Kochhar reportedly was paid Rs. 22.44 lakh.
But a look at the quarter with more realistic glasses, yields a different set of results. Total income fell 12.7%, fee income declined 26%, loans contracted 14% YoY, net interest income was down 5% YoY, and ratio of net NPAs to loan assets rose from 1.9% to 2.36%.
More interesting are the positive numbers of net profit and CASA deposits. Headline profit was up mainly on a huge relative growth in treasury income, compared with Q2 of 2008-09. Then treasury was at a loss of Rs. 153 crore, while this time it posted a profit of Rs. 297 crore. And the real reason why CASA percentage rose was this – its total deposit base shrunk by 11.45%.
Not that ICICI Bank did any jugglery on these numbers. Anyone in their position would highlight the good figures and downplay the bad ones. But what matters is the way different media has opted to cover the numbers.
There was a core message in the real numbers of ICICI Bank, and it was this – the planned turnaround hasn’t started delivering in their core businesses.
Even worse is the impact the new provision control ratio (PCR) will have on ICICI Bank’s bottomline. The estimated Rs. 1800 crore extra provisioning required by the bank to meet the 70% PCR can wipe out around 35% of its current annual profits, some reports say.
ICICI Bank’s is not a lone case as far as confusing quarterly results is concerned. The media and the markets want to project the good side of friends. But the fact that, in India, quarterly results are still unaudited should be another cause for concern. Because of this, developed markets have started looking at EPS with suspicion, and instead looking only at Cash EPS, and the corresponding P/C, instead of P/E.
Not that Cash EPS can’t be tampered. It is difficult and would take a concerted Satyam like effort.
Surgery, not Medicines, for IFCI
As a developmental financial institution, IFCI helped build some of India’s critical projects. But is today’s IFCI groping in darkness, unable to find a sustainable business model?
With Government calling for the induction of a strategic investor in IFCI urgently, the problems plaguing the developmental bank are once again in the spotlight.
It is not clear what prevented IFCI from following the route of ICICI and IDBI in converting themselves to private banks, which is in fact an international model, as developmental financial institutions became unviable.
Though IFCI’s profits have halved during the past year, its holdings in other companies should fetch it good returns in the long term. But there are no indications yet from IFCI on how to utilize these stakes.
Despite IFCI unable to replay a Rs. 1573 crore loan from Government at 0.1% interest rate, and despite it being converted to a grant, IFCI is still in doldrums, signaling a serious asset-liabilities mismatch. Restructuring has been in place since 2002, at the expense of further growth.
Some IFCI promoted subsidiaries have also run into problems, a recent example being their asset reconstruction company, Asset Care Enterprise, facing rejection from RBI about a nearly 50% divestment.
Questions to CEO Atul Kumar Rai’s office on these issues went unanswered at the time of publication.
IFCI also needs to develop a brand equity leveraging on its contributions to many of country’s critical projects.
Will ING Vysya’s Prospects Improve Anytime Soon?
There is no doubt that ever since its start in 2002, ING Vysya Bank has been an underperformer compared with its peers in the country’s private sector banking.
Despite having a big ticket international name of ING, this new generation private sector bank - which was in fact a marriage between an old generation private bank, Vysya Bank, and the Dutch banking major, ING - has been able to come up with only lackluster performance.
It was almost a squandering of an opportunity as ING Vysya was the only almost foreign bank that was allowed to operate as a fully Indian bank, complete with the inclusion of the ING name in its brand identity. All other foreign banks like Citibank, HSBC, & Standard Chartered had to put up with quite a number of restrictions in expanding their operations.
Now, with its first Indian CEO in place, the promoters of ING Vysya Bank must be hoping for a drastic change in the bank’s fortunes. But it is not clear what kind of experience the promoters are expecting from Shailendra Bhandari, who has got exposure to both Citibank and HDFC Bank.
ING, it should be noted, had to approach the Dutch Government to stay afloat, much like Citibank.
ING Vysya’s headline profits for the first quarter were impressive at 42%, but to realize that net interest income grew only by 9% is not comforting.
The bank continues to suffer from worsening gross and net NPA levels.
Due to its origins in an unlikely merger, the bank continues to suffer from a hybrid culture. For example, its workforce is divided 60:40 between an older group under the IBA remuneration norms, and a newer group under CTC terms. Lack of pensions is also a grievance with a section of the employees.
The bank’s CASA deposits ratio needs improvement, and it is not clear how ING’s retreat into its home markets internationally, would affect the prospects of ING Vysya Bank in India.
Andhra Bank Facing Unique Problems?
Beneath Andhra Bank’s healthy numbers lie some challenges that are unique to this Hyderabad headquartered public sector bank led by veteran banker RS Reddy.
For the first quarter of FY 09-10, Andhra Bank came up with reasonable numbers. Though the 230% rise in net profit was largely driven by treasury income that is highly unlikely to be repeated, the bank’s net interest income (NII) growth was reasonable at 30%.
However, the bank has a tough road ahead, owing to its exposure to sensitive sectors, SMEs, capital inadequacy, workforce revolt, & Andhra’s unique drought situation.
Andhra Bank has one of the largest exposures – at 42.14% - to retail lending that falls under the sensitive sector. Even while a major retail player like ICICI Bank scaled back their retail lending quickly, Andhra Bank’s ratio of retail lending is even larger than the country’s largest bank, SBI.
Similarly, Andhra Bank has a huge exposure to SMEs, a segment that is said to take maximum time to recover in India. The bank was also in news recently for admitting that a section of its educational loans without collaterals are overdue, with possible slippages into the NPA segment.
Andhra Bank seems to be fed up with lending to PSUs, with Chairman RS Reddy opining that such lending is not viable for the bank. But Andhra Bank itself being a PSB that enjoys all government and public support, such a stand will be heavily criticized. Andhra Bank had recently lost around Rs. 2 crore in the Rs. 5.5 crore cheque forgery case involving the PSU, State Finance Corporation.
Andhra Bank has recently approached Government of India for recapitalization, so as to have a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 12%. The bank has asked for Rs. 1150 crore, even while peers like Allahabad Bank, Canara Bank, & Bank of India has indicated that they don’t suffer from the same issue.
Andhra Bank’s all 1500 branches were paralyzed for a day recently when its managers went for a strike alleging ill-treatment. The strike was stunning on two counts. Firstly, it was led by the bank’s senior managers, and secondly, another nationwide strike by officers of all banks had just preceded this strike, signalling that there are issues unique to Andhra Bank. The ill-treatment and overwork alleged by senior managers are said to be an outcome of avoiding fresh recruitments for long.
RBI has registered cases against some Andhra Bank managers for submitting fake currency notes, making the bank one of the five banks to have such cases registered against it.
There are also chances that the drought situation in Andhra – that CMD Reddy has termed unprecedented – may weaken the prospects of this mainly Andhra based bank.
Why Syndicate Bank Looks Promising
With most growth figures including Net Interest Income (NII) up, and most problem figures including high-cost deposits down in the first quarter, Syndicate Bank is refocusing its efforts on the remaining challenges like its Non Performing Assets (NPAs) and its Net Interest Margin (NIM). Beyond the conventional measures, the bank is kick-starting further growth with its single-window ‘Synd Yuva’ campaign as well as the upcoming mobile banking / mobile commerce facility across 2000 branches. The bank will also be a major beneficiary of this fiscal’s farm loan compensation. Syndicate Bank has a new Chairman in Basant Seth, a veteran banker from Bank of India (BoI), whose last assignment was as Deputy MD of SIDBI.
The results for the quarter ended June 30 was one that made India’s banks as well as financial markets nervous. Have the growth figures gone up? Have the loss figures gone down?
As the results for the country’s public sector banks poured in one after the other in recent weeks, two things were clear – first looks were good for all, while second looks exposed the chinks in their armor.
Karnataka based Syndicate Bank was, however, an exception. Of course, they too suffered from the too-good-first-look phenomenon – net profits were trebled to 261.56 crore – but they had good constituent numbers to report.
The extremely good first-look of a 198% increase in net profit was driven mainly by a ten-fold increase in treasury income over the past year’s same quarter. But the real excitement was from core constituent figures with net interest income growing by 16%, global deposits moving up by 27%, global advances by 30%, and credit-deposit ratio moving up by 1.84%.
The only good figure that moved backwards was Syndicate Bank’s net interest margin that moved down from 2.34% to 2.23%.
But the bank has reasons to cheer as even while most growth figures advanced, it could cut some key problem figures. The bank shed high-cost deposits by 44%, and the gross NPA levels declined by 93 percentage points to 1.91%.
Under the leadership of its Executive Directors VK Nagar and R Ramachandran, the bank is aware of treasury income’s help this time, and has embarked on bettering the financial performance with a slew of recent measures like mobile banking and faster single-window customer signup.
Headquartered at Manipal once, Syndicate Bank moved its corporate office to Bangalore some years back, reflecting its ambition to establish itself as a leading public sector bank in the country. But respecting traditions, the bank still holds its Annual General Meetings (AGMs) at the smaller town of Manipal, often called the cradle of Indian banking.
Syndicate Bank will shortly receive the remaining two-thirds from the Government’s net farm loan waiver to banks.
Keen to shed off the lethargic image associated with India’s public sector banks, Syndicate Bank recently launched the ‘Synd Yuva’ campaign. A unique scheme that will challenge even new generation banks in its rapid and single window service, Synd Yuva will provide a customer with instant ATM card, Internet banking account, SMS banking facility, and credit card application.
Syndicate Bank’s Executive Directors VK Nagar and R Ramachandran assumed office in late 2008. While Nagar is a Punjab National Bank veteran, Ramachandran has a similar experience with Indian Bank. Both have undergone training in several niche banking areas in reputed financial institutes in India and abroad.
On the NPA front, Syndicate Bank has moved decisively to strengthen its in-house infrastructure for loan recoveries.
Syndicate Bank traces its history to 1925, when Dr. TMA Pai, together with two socially sensitive friends, Upendra Ananth Pai, a businessman, and Vaman Kudva, an engineer, started a small bank in Udupi with a capital of just Rs. 8000. Their objective was to extend financial assistance to local weavers who were then crippled by a crisis in the handloom industry.
By 1928, Dr. Pai came up with the idea of mobilising funds for these weavers from encouraging the habit of thrift & small savings from among the local community. This tiny Udupi bank would send their agents to collect daily deposits as low as 2 annas from each doorstep. In this way Dr. Pai’s bank got the funds to finance the weavers, and the daily depositors started saving – many of them for the first time in their lives.
Dr. Pai named his innovation as Pigmy Deposit Scheme, and this is the same name, this bank which we now know as Syndicate Bank, uses to this day. The only difference is that Syndicate Bank nowadays collects through 3700 Pigmy Agents, from 12.32 lakh depositors, a total daily sum of over Rs. 2 crores.
Interestingly, Syndicate Bank still collects a daily amount as low as Rs. 1, but the current Pigmy Deposits of the Bank runs to thousands of crores.
United Bank of India’s Make-or-Break Year
2009-10 will go down in United Bank of India’s history as the year that this Kolkata-based bank finally made it big. Or, the year in which it slipped further.
FY 09-10 will be a tumultuous year for United Bank of India, that poses challenges like recapitalization, capital restructuring, NPA management, and their initial public offer (IPO).
At 1.7%, United Bank of India has one of the highest gross non performing assets (NPA) among all PSBs, and United Bank’s recapitalization is a complicated process that involves capital restructuring too to make the bank look better in the IPO market. However, the last public sector banking IPO of 2008-09 was a disaster and so was the first public sector unit IPO of this year.
United Bank of India has also come under fire for the pathetic performance of one of its sponsored regional rural banks (RRB) – Manipur Rural Bank – which has the worst gross NPA at 40.35%.
It remains to be seen whether there will be takers to Chairman & Managing Director SC Gupta’s promise to double the business within the next three years.
Canara Bank Net Profit Declines QoQ
Is there anything hiding behind Canara Bank’s 352.7% YoY rise in net profit?
Unlike some of its peers, it is not just stupendous treasury income, or the corresponding last quarter’s poor performance. The sequential or QoQ growth has been, in fact, a de-growth of 22.7% at Canara Bank.
Though suffering from an exposure to the troubled carrier Air India, Canara Bank continues to be approached by the likes of Tata to help with their JLR blunder in UK.
Canara Bank’s recent changes in their home loan procedures have attracted flak for making customers run from pillar-to-post - architect-to-evaluator-to-contractor - multiple times.
Export Import Bank (Exim Bank) at Crossroads?
What do Ex-Im Bank of USA, China Exim Bank, Korea EximBank, Exim Bank Malaysia, and Exim Bank of India have in common? With its homegrown Chairman & Managing Director TC Venkat Subramanian facing retirement after a long stint, and its chief promoter, Government of India (GoI), looking at somebody from outside to replace him, Export-Import Bank of India appears to be truly at crossroads.
The Export Import Bank of India was created for two core objectives – one, to finance the country’s exporters and importers; and two, to finance those financial institutions aspiring to finance exporters and importers.
But somewhere down the line, Exim Bank got into unconnected businesses like film, SME, and agricultural financing.
Exim Bank of India got into film financing through the related domain of cash-flow financing for film distribution in overseas markets, but it soon led Exim Bank to produce films too. The bank has financed successes like Kabul Express, Dhoom, Dhoom-2, Fanaa, Veer Zaara, The Rising etc, but with the stakes getting higher and higher with each production, risk might be just round the corner.
For example, Exim Bank is financing the Rs. 70 crore Priyadarshan movie ‘De Dhana Dhan’ starring Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Suniel Shetty, and Paresh Rawal.
Exim Bank of India’s diversifications into small and medium enterprises (SME) and agricultural finance, however, don’t carry even the synergies found in film financing, that is, except when it is for export assistance to these sectors.
Exim Bank is facing difficult prospects in its core business as overseas investments by Indian companies have witnessed a decline of nearly 15% during 2008-09. If this trend continues, Exim Bank of India stands to face a tough 2009-10 in its core areas like export credits, EOU finance, overseas investment finance, lines of credit, & export services.
Exim Bank of India’s Chairman & Managing Director TC Venkat Subramanian had recently cited the gloomy economic situation making the availability of export trade finance a major problem. It is not known how the bank plans to address this.
Exim Bank was recently pulled up by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for lacking better compliance to its guidelines regarding loan syndication in multiple banking arrangements, as it had the potential for allowing major fraud.
Exim Bank of India was originally hived off from RBI in 1982 as a separate bank for Export-Import, under the Export-Import Bank of India Act 1981. It was modeled around the Ex-Im Bank of USA, China Exim Bank, Afrexim Bank, Korea EximBank, Exim Bank Malaysia, Exim Thailand, EximBank Vietnam, and several others, with similar objective - expanding nation's overseas trade.
Exim Bank is now considering the funding of a major Jatropha plantation project in Ethiopia by Emami Group of India. Queries by Seasonal Magazine regarding the risks of this move, considering the risk-profile of this African country as well as the plant, remain unanswered from Exim Bank of India at the time of publication.
It is possible that with the current Chairman’s exit – who was native to Exim Bank - the Government is planning a return to the original objectives at Exim Bank of India, with an outsider at the helm. TC Venkat Subramanian was with Export-Import Bank of India ever since its inception and was heading the bank since 2001.
Has Union Bank’s ICICI-Like Strategies Worked?
Union Bank of India’s campaign ‘Your Dreams Are Not Your Alone’ was perhaps the most catchy bank promotion in recent times. However, it was not the only strategy Union Bank – led by veteran banker MV Nair - copied from India’s private sector banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, & Axis Bank. But has it really worked for this Mumbai headquartered public sector bank (PSB)?
ICICI Bank, Indian banking's leader in promotional campaigns, has cut their advertisement expenditure by one-third ever since the downturn began. But it was also a time when a few public sector banks, notably State Bank of India (SBI) and Union Bank of India (UBI) hiked their advertisement spending. Union Bank’s was the sharpest increase in ad spend, going up by almost thrice over the previous year.
Union Bank of India also seems to be following some of the strategies that ICICI Bank pursued during the last boom and later discarded – like growing their Point of Sale (POS) business astronomically and providing retail / vehicle loans to non-customers.
On the recruitment front, Union Bank recruited 2200 employees during last year, and this year plans to take in around 2000 – much like how private banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Axis Bank were doing. But with no performance-linked pay structure in place like these private banks, and the retirement-to-recruitment ratio being 3:1, the need for such a move is difficult to rationalize.
The complex effects of Union Bank of India’s promotional campaign – that amounted to Rs. 142 crore in 2008-09 - are now unraveling with the latest quarterly results. On first look, the headline profit growth of 94% shows that the campaign has clicked. Even some constituent figures like the substantial growth in fixed deposits may be an outcome of this aggressive campaign.
However, on a closer look, many other constituent figures are troubling. The fact that Union Bank could post only a 1.52% growth in net interest income shows that something went wrong in their core business of deposits and advances. On the other hand, the most promising component in the results – doubling of non-interest income including treasury – had nothing to gain from the promotional campaigns.
Even the rise in fixed deposits might have complex aftereffects. Union Bank of India’s cost of deposits has increased to 6.47% due to this major focus on fixed deposits. At the same time, the bank’s Net Interest Margin (NIM) is down to 2.29% from 2.92% last year, with pressure coming from these high-cost fixed deposits that will take time to mature. Now, the bank faces an uphill task in raising NIM to a healthy 3%.
At the same time, despite this heavy promotional campaign, the bank could not perform well on the low-cost current account / savings account (CASA) deposits, and now Union Bank has to struggle to bring CASA to 35%, something which might take until 2012.
The bank which has always performed well on the NPA front, however, saw net non performing assets (NPA) going up by 0.57% during last quarter. But this might have to do with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rejecting a proposal from Union Bank of India to deduct floating provisions from gross NPA. The reason for the RBI rejection is not clear, as similar proposals from peers like Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of Baroda (BoB), and Central Bank of India were allowed.
Post-budget, the outlook for treasury gains is bleak for all banks. This is said to be especially so in the case of Union Bank where loan growth is relatively low and treasury portfolio is high. With treasury income being their mainstay during the last quarter, the bank needs to think of other sources for showing profit.
With parking surplus funds in liquid and liquid-plus mutual funds (MF) not going to be viable after around August 2009, Union Bank will be forced to increase lending, but in the face of lackluster demand. MFs was one area where Union Bank of India could register good profits.
Even while bigger players like SBI decided to keep off, Union Bank participated in the consortium funding Air India / NACIL. Now with Air India in deep trouble, the decision seems badly made.
After a good performance in the bourses for some time, Union Bank of India has now started appearing with ‘SELL’ recommendations due to poor short-term prospects.
Like many other public sector banks (PSBs), Union Bank too might have surprises from their restructured loan book in the coming quarters.
Maybe Union Bank of India needs to learn more lessons from ICICI Bank which has discarded brand promotions and is now resorting to Customer Education type of promotions. Also, there seems to be no point in Union Bank adopting aggressive business policies discarded by private sector banks.
Can Vijaya Bank Build Upon the Turnaround?
Vijaya Bank has recently proven that it could sustain the turnaround that started in 2008-09. Further success down the year, however, will depend upon how Vijaya Bank addresses major challenges like managing non performing assets (NPA), bettering NRI remittances, coping with lower treasury gains, and rapid expansion of alternate delivery channels (ADC). Seasonal Magazine finds out Vijaya Bank’s strategies from interactions with Chairman & Managing Director Albert Tauro and Executive Director SC Kalia.
The turnaround that started from the second quarter of last fiscal now seems complete at Bangalore headquartered Vijaya Bank.
Waging formidable battles on both the yield-on-advances front and the cost-of-deposits front – that too in difficult years like FY’09 and FY’10 – Vijaya Bank has come up trumps on the crucial figure of Net Interest Income (NII) in Q1.
Though Vijaya Bank’s performance on the non performing assets (NPA) front leaves room for improvement, the bank finds solace in the fact that it is not a mass issue but an issue with a few large accounts like the sick public sector unit (PSU) Spices Trading Corporation Ltd (STCL).
For managing NPAs, both recovery efforts and monitoring of restructured accounts to prevent fresh slippages have been undertaken.
The bank is betting big on their substantial presence in NRI hotspots like Mangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, & Chandigarh to achieve a four-fold rise in NRI deposits to Rs. 5000 crore.
Vijaya Bank’s Chairman Albert Tauro and Executive Director SC Kalia realizes that treasury gains won’t be good next time, but believes that their better credit deposit ratio would help reduce the impact.
The bank is also pinning much hope on expanding their alternative delivery channels (ADCs) to achieve this fiscal’s growth target of Rs. 1.1 lakh crore. Vijaya Bank has already implemented 100% Core Banking Solution (CBS).
To manage their network expansion of around 100 new branches, and scheduled retirements, Vijaya Bank is recruiting 1000 new staff this year. This year’s branch expansion will focus on North, West, & Central India, as against its conventional footprint of South India.
Seasonal Magazine interviews Chairman Albert Tauro and Executive Director SC Kalia:
With the June 30 results out, Vijaya Bank has made a dramatic turnaround to profitability on a year on year basis – from a 76.64 crore loss to a 143.38 crore profit. Are the quarter-on-quarter results equally promising?
The results are certainly promising and make us feel upbeat about the coming quarters. Let me also make it clear that the turnaround started from the second quarter of last fiscal and we moved consistently and progressively thereafter till the last quarter. On stand alone basis, growth in Vijaya Bank’s core earnings every quarter has been one of the highest among public sector banks (PSBs). Our Net Interest Income (NII) for Q4 of last fiscal clocked a 62% growth, followed by a 54% growth in the June quarter this year. Concomitantly, our earning efficiency also improved progressively from 2.07% in the second quarter of last year to 2.38% for the June quarter. I am sure, with likely pick up in quality and stable business, the current and subsequent quarters show a lot of promise.
Unlike many bigger PSBs, Vijaya Bank has managed a 53.75% growth in Net Interest Income (NII). What were its key drivers? Is it sustainable in the coming quarters?
The key drivers of our NII growth is better yield from our advances portfolio and to some extent, interest cost containment. Vijaya Bank’s yield on advances, at 10.72%, is quite comparable to the best in business while on the cost front, we have managed to bring down cost of deposits to 6.82%. Managing cost of deposit was quite a challenge, I must say, especially in view of the volumes contracted during the second half of 2007-08, a common feature of the banking industry then. For us, it is possible to sustain the NII growth in the coming quarters. Our focus on current account / savings account (CASA) deposits, broad based advances, and quality loan assets is likely see us maintain the growth in core earnings.
You have embarked Vijaya Bank upon a campaign to increase your NRI deposits four-fold within the next couple of years. Apart from starting overseas branches, how do you plan to achieve the target of Rs.5000 Crore?
Campaign "Mission NRI – 5000" aims to increase our non-resident deposit base to Rs.5000 Crore by the end of this fiscal. Vijaya Bank has got good presence in high potential centres like Kochi, Mangalore, Chandigarh and Hyderabad and we are confident of realizing this goal. As brought out by a recent report, India receives the highest inward remittance in the world and with the global market sentiments slated for improvement from the second half of the current financial, we should further this goal with even greater vigour. We don’t have any overseas branch as yet, which we make good with the aid of tie-ups with our correspondent banks. We are also in the process of tying up with leading Exchange Houses in the Middle East to step up our non-resident deposit growth.
Vijaya Bank continues to suffer on the non performing assets (NPA) front, with a increase from 1.71% to 2.94%. With NPAs coming in all the crore lending sectors like commercial real estate, personal loans etc, how do you plan to combat it in the coming quarters?
NPAs are not an exception to Vijaya Bank alone, more particularly if you consider the last few quarters marked by recessionary pressures. About the June quarter as well, almost all the banks have seen rise in the NPA level that was on expected lines. Let me also add that in our case, the addition has been on account of very few large accounts and we are making all efforts to turn those around. Otherwise, our NPA level in sectors like agriculture, education loans etc are quite reasonable and manageable. We have an action plan in place to improve our asset quality. In the first place, we are targeting our restructured loan books and keeping a close vigil so as to prevent fresh slippages. Our loan appraisal and monitoring systems have also been strengthened further to contain the accretion to the bare minimum. Finally, our recovery efforts are being reinvigorated in the form of more V-Adalats, Baaki Vasuli Camps and recourse to various legal provisions.
Vijaya Bank’s STCL account is particularly troubling. How do you plan to solve the issue?
I would not like to comment on any individual account for obvious reasons.
Do you foresee treasury gains slowing for Vijaya Bank in the coming quarters, due to India's mounting fiscal deficit and your low credit deposit ratio?
First of all credit deposit ratio exceeding 67% probably does not merit to be termed as low as against the industry average of about 70%. What is more heartening is the fact that despite relatively low growth in advances, Vijaya Bank could notch up 54% growth in Net Interest Income and 69 bps rise in our Net Interest Margin (NIM) quarter on quarter. That way, our core earnings significantly augmented our treasury income and as such, we are confident of sustaining our overall earnings. Treasury gains in the coming quarters may not be as buoyant as they were in the last quarter. This is applicable to the entire banking industry, given the current trend, likely inflationary pressures and recovery in credit demand and the Government's borrowing plan. Benchmark yields are likely to undergo some hardening, especially from the latter part of the second half. We must also appreciate that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may withdraw its accommodative stance once the revival takes effect. In such a scenario, treasury gains may feature slackness in the coming quarters.
From the current business levels of Rs.92000 Crore you plan to move Vijaya Bank up to Rs.1,10,000 Crore by fiscal end. What role will alternate delivery channels like IT play in this growth?
IT Enabled Alternative Delivery Channels (ADCs) will be one of the key drivers in our business growth. Vijaya Bank is already 100% CBS and we have the wherewithal to draw new tech savvy clientele and augment our top line. We offer today any-branch banking as well as remote banking options which are good value propositions for customers who prefer to conserve time and energy by not going for physical branch banking. We have internet banking modules for both corporate and retail segments, offering SMS enabled facilities, bill payment, tax remittance and so on. We are very soon launching Mobile Banking and Phone Banking as also an e-enabled Trading Portal aimed at our niche segments. We have plans to increase our ATM network to 500 by this fiscal and at the moment, our ATM hits are quite encouraging though there is still a lot of upside to it. Besides, ADCs are going to be our competitive advantage as far as our NRI customers and High Net-worth Individuals (HNI) are concerned. Lastly, Vijaya Bank is all set to launch an Online Loan Processing System that will help us improve our advances volume further.
Can PNB Take on ICICI Bank, SBI?
Punjab National Bank, India’s second-largest public sector lender, is trying to overcome remaining challenges like a significant restructured loan book and still-to-be-perfected operational efficiencies, to take State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank head on. PNB already has the largest ATM network and the second-largest branch network among all public sector banks (PSBs).
India’s ongoing tussle in the banking sector – the fatherly advice of RBI to lower rates, and the free-thinking defiance of public sector banks – doesn’t affect one player much, because, at 11%, Punjab National Bank (PNB) already has the lowest prime lending rate (PLR) among all banks in the country.
It goes without saying that it is a feature that makes PNB a favoured bank among India’s businesses, farmers, and consumers.
Punjab National Bank also excels on Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) – perhaps the only parameter where many Indian banks fall short, much like their global counterparts. While many Indian Banks are struggling to keep their heads above the floor-levels of 9-12%, PNB’s CAR is at a very comfortable 14%, a distinction that it shares with only one other PSB. This also makes PNB in no need for recapitalization by the government, something that is plaguing many other peers.
New Delhi headquartered PNB, India’s second-largest public sector lender, has over the years acquired some unique strengths vis-à-vis its peers, which can make this public sector bank take on bigger players from both the public and private sector, provided it can manage some key challenges.
The bank produced a Dalal Street beating Q1 financial performance which was noted not only for its headline profit growth of 62% aided by a sharp rise in treasury income, but for its several constituent and other key figures. Loans were up by 38%, total income was up by 34%, operating profit was up by 59.7%, but the biggest surprise came by way of interest income which was up by 26%.
The performance on the net interest income (NII) front is especially good, taking into account their low PLR and how other comparable banks have performed. It also enabled PNB to manage margin pressures better.
The bank has a good source of low-cost funds in its CASA deposits that amount to nearly 40% of its total portfolio.
Punjab National Bank which lost its last Chairman KC Chakraborty recently to Reserve Bank of India (RBI), since he was the senior-most banker in India, is now led by its Executive Directors MV Tanksale and Nagesh Pydah, both veteran bankers from India’s public sector banking.
According to Tanksale, the bank is eyeing a profit of Rs. 3700 crore for the current fiscal, based on an anticipated loan growth of 22% and maintenance of Net Interest Margin (NIM) at 3.5%.
PNB is a good performer on the bourses, with most analysts assigning ‘BUY’ or ‘KEEP’ recommendations, and the scrip commanding a significant premium over spot-price in Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) transfers.
Punjab National Bank had also put in a good performance during 2008-09, which saw net profit going up by nearly 69% over the previous year. And it was a sustained, all-quarter performance, with even the choppy Q4 producing a 59% jump in net profit. Buoyed by the development, PNB was also quick to declare a generous 200% dividend.
2009-10 will be a momentous one for PNB, as it battles some of its core challenges and handles some divestments.
PNB has a huge portfolio of restructured loans, which is the second-largest (as a percentage of its loan-book) in the public sector category. The bank needs to keep a close watch on these accounts lest they fall into the non-performing category next year.
Punjab National Bank also need to improve in its overall business efficiency, as, despite having India’s second largest branch network, it is only third-largest in total business - behind State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank - when considering both public and private sector banks. A part of this seeming inefficiency is directly due to meeting their social commitments as a public sector bank, something private sector players are not burdened with.
For example PNB’s ratio of priority sector credit to net bank credit is 41.53% as against the national goal of 40%, and its ratio of agricultural credit is 19.72% as against the goal of 18%.
Punjab National Bank is divesting a 26% stake in its wholly owned subsidiary PNB Housing Finance to international major Dawnay Day for an amount estimated to be between Rs. 70 – 80 crore. The sale’s due diligence is going on and PNB expects to wind up the process within two months.
The bank continues to garner international recognition and partnerships, with the latest being Ex-Im Bank of USA recognizing Punjab National Bank for partnership in its $2.45 billion India Infrastructure Facility, a mega loan facility for India’s infrastructure projects.
On the technology front, PNB has not only completed implementation of Core Banking Solutions (CBS) throughout its vast network, but has also completed CBS in all its affiliated Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) – a sector that is normally shy of technology.
With 100% CBS, the largest ATM network among all PSBs, and Internet Banking, Punjab National Bank has implemented truly ‘Anytime Anywhere’ banking. In fact, it goes even beyond to facets of e-commerce like booking of tickets, payment of bills etc.
PNB is an outperformer in socially inclusive banking, and has kick-started several initiatives in sectors like microfinance, self-employment loans, kisan credit cards, rural smart cards, enabling technologies for the handicapped, support for the economically challenged etc.
Punjab National Bank has operations in UK, Norway, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, & Nepal, and is now planning to enter markets like Canada, Australia, Indonesia, Bhutan, & Fiji, as well as strengthen its presence in UK, China, Dubai, & Singapore. In UK alone, PNB plans to pump in $50 million more to multiply its thriving business there.
How Yes Bank Fares Among India’s Private Sector Banks
At just 123 branches, 2000 odd employees, and sub-100 crore quarterly profit levels, Yes Bank is one of India’s smallest banks in all categories taken together – traditional private banks, new generation private banks, and public sector banks (PSBs).
But Yes Bank has made good progress in certain niche areas like corporate lending to the country’s medium to large enterprises, since its start in 2004.
Driven by a massive advertising campaign, Yes Bank projects a profile that is much ahead of many of India’s private sector banks, but size-wise it is smaller than most small private banks of India like Federal Bank, South Indian Bank, ING Vysya Bank, Dhanalakshmi Bank, IndusInd Bank, and even Catholic Syrian Bank.
However, Yes Bank always has the consolation that it is the only Greenfield banking project in India during the past several years.
Has Yes Bank got what it takes to be a key player in India’s private sector banking? Comparing to the first five-year growth trajectories of private-sector successes like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, or Kotak Mahindra Bank, the growth shown by Yes Bank doesn’t come across as promising.
For example, though the profit growth posted for the quarter ending June 30 is not bad at 84% (QoQ), its component figures are troubling. It was mainly driven by a 103% rise in non-interest income, mainly from Yes Bank’s treasury operations. Also, the growth figures are not that impressive on a sequential quarter basis, and some key numbers like deposits have actually gone down over the just preceding quarter. The rise in treasury income is highly unlikely again during this fiscal.
Yes Bank’s newfound strategy titled ‘knowledge-driven banking’ tries to focus on India’s sunrise sectors like food, agribusiness, infrastructure, life-sciences, technology, sustainability, education etc – many of them not enjoying wholehearted support from traditional banks due to the higher risks involved.
But Yes Bank need to tread carefully in these domains as it already has a serious non-performing assets (NPA) problem. During the first quarter of this fiscal, Yes Bank’s gross non-performing assets (NPAs) have made a dangerous jump – nearly three times – and their non-tax provisions have also shot up by over five times, signaling major problems in loan defaults and restructuring.
Promoted by former Rabobank India head Rana Kapoor, one of Yes Bank’s largest shareholders is the Netherlands based Rabobank. A Dutch cooperative bank consortium owned by its customers, Rabobank primarily caters to agriculture and food business. Though known for good management, Rabobank’s Irish unit has been in deep trouble for some time due to almost one-third of its assets turning non-performing, and was in need of a government bailout.
Until now, Yes Bank followed an unconventional strategy of ignoring the business of current account / savings account (CASA) deposits. And until now, Yes Bank had shied away from retail banking, citing high risks. But now, when established retail players like ICICI, HDFC, & Axis are scaling down their retail operations due to proven risks, Yes Bank is pinning much hope on retail lending.
But with one of the tiniest CASA ratios in India – at around 9% - Yes Bank’s plans to source funds for the highly competitive retail lending segment might prove to be difficult. The bank has little access to low-cost CASA deposits, while it’s exposure to high-cost deposits is high.
Yes Bank is known to take risks, a recent example being the participation in the controversial plan to revive Subhiksha. The soundness of this strategy is doubtable as peers like Kotak Mahindra Bank who had earlier funded the troubled retailer has opted out of the consortium and instead filed a winding-up petition in courts against Subhiksha.
Yes Bank was also recently mentioned in Lok Sabha for violation of one or more of five RBI guidelines, together with 12 banks. The exact violation in Yes Bank’s case – whether it was irregularities in Know-Your-Customer (KYC), Initial Public Offer (IPO), Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), or Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) – is not known. The bank declined to comment on a query on this issue.
ICICI Bank Faces Tough Battles Ahead
For the last 15 years, KV Kamath and his core team’s growth model at ICICI Bank was the model to emulate for all other Indian banks. But 15 years later, nobody – including ICICI - seems to be much enchanted with the model.
In less than 15 years, ICICI Bank became the country’s second-largest in assets, the largest in credit cards, and the largest in international business.
But after the downturn hit, have these achievements become liabilities at ICICI?
Apart from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) control, the main reason why Indian banks escaped unscathed from the global financial crisis was their limited exposure overseas. But at ICICI Bank, their significant overseas exposure continues to hurt, as the global markets are still to recover.
ICICI’s once booming credit card operation’s real edge was offering credit cards to non-customers – something most other banks were wary about, and something that ICICI Bank has drastically reduced now on hindsight wisdom. Similarly, ICICI Bank’s leadership in assets might have been aided by unsecured retail loans.
ICICI continues to suffer an image crisis from a slew of customer complaints, government actions, and court verdicts.
An ICICI Bank officer was recently caught in a Rs. 5 crore cheque forgery case, ICICI’s huge suspense accounts created with unclaimed cheques have drawn Right-To-Information (RTI) submissions, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued warning notes to ICICI Bank twice, Bihar Government has pulled up ICICI for not supporting farmers, students, & entrepreneurs, and ICICI Bank has lost in consumer courts over illegally hiking home loan rates.
ICICI needs to do some serious introspection over why there is such an image crisis and whether there is something intrinsically wrong in their operation. With a home-grown CEO like Chanda Kochhar – a core member of KV Kamath’s original team – now in control, this exercise can be easier than imagined.
Such a move would complement the ICICI website’s warning link on ‘Use of Unparliamentary Language by Customers’ as well as recent litigations like suing HDFC Bank’s HR Head for an unfair dig of referring to the ‘ICICI Culture’ with disdain.
After years of maverick banking, ICICI Bank now seems more like a regular bank. ICICI has shifted loan recovery in-house, have almost stopped unsecured retail loans, have cut down on expenses, and have started attending to smaller corporates through a new vertical for the first time – all of which were standard policies at ICICI Bank’s private and public competitors for long.
From peak growth levels of around 40%, ICICI is now struggling at single digit levels, even while most others are enjoying double-digit growth. Even for the quarter ended June 30 2009, almost all core business figures were down – gross advances by 12%, total deposits by 10%, total income by 2%, and net interest income (NII) by 5%.
At the same time, almost all problem figures were up at ICICI Bank – the ratio of gross non-performing assets (NPAs) increased to 4.63% from 3.72%, while the ratio of net non-performing assets were up to 2.19% from 1.74%.
The only solace for ICICI was that the net profit for the quarter zoomed by 21%, but this performance being driven mainly by treasury profits and extreme cost-cutting – both of which are quite difficult to replicate in the next quarters – the outlook remains bleak.
Being a private bank, ICICI Bank’s lending rates are much above public sector banks (PSBs), but when it comes to Net Interest Margin (NIM), it is just 2.4%, below the healthy 3%.
CRISIL has recently downgraded some of ICICI Bank’s bonds to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’. It reflects poorly on ICICI Bank’s asset quality and core earnings.
There have been speculations that ICICI Bank’s massive loan restructuring has helped to better their NPA numbers. If that is true, there is no doubt it will come back to haunt ICICI soon.
Even after restructuring loans worth Rs. 1400 crore, and significant upgradation of loans, there are analysts who put the impaired loan ratio of ICICI Bank at 8.5 - 9 percent.
Whenever top ICICI Bank officials speak about no-performing assets (NPAs), they speak about provisioning for it. It remains to be seen whether the creation and subsequent management of NPAs is such a simple issue.
Why UCO Bank Hopes 2009-10 to be a Landmark Year
UCO Bank might be facing complex challenges in capital restructuring, margins, and non-performing assets, but its social commitment to ensure financial inclusion for all is worth mentioning. Chairman & Managing Director SK Goel explains to Seasonal Magazine the strategies for maintaining this balancing act at UCO in the coming quarters. With capital restructuring entering its last phase this year, a planned FPO, and new strategies to tackle problem areas like NIM & NPA, FY 09-10 might prove to be a landmark year for UCO Bank.
Kolkata headquartered UCO Bank is one of India’s leaders in banking that meets the country’s complex social commitments. For example, UCO’s advances to the priority sector during 2008-09 constituted more than 50% of its total advances, and this public sector bank (PSB) also met all its lending commitments to the agricultural and weaker sections of the society. UCO Bank is also a two-time national award winner for lending to micro enterprises.
But such socially committed policies come with a price. UCO was one of the first banks to be recapitalized by the Government as soon as the downturn happened, as its Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) needed improvement.
UCO Bank’s Chairman & Managing Director SK Goel is a veteran banker of India, but also known for his non-conformist attitude with the industry. Under his leadership, UCO is trying to be more customer-friendly with new-generation features like no-holiday branches and express services.
Chairman Goel is also known to think from customers’ shoes, and his recent advice for existing home loan customers – a disenchanted lot in India as elsewhere – were enough to evoke a smile, if not renew hope. He asked home loan customers burdened with a high interest rate to try bargaining with their banks for a lower rate or move the loan elsewhere that offered better rates. Goel further explained that these were not unfeasible options as no bank would opt to lose a customer in whole, but would prefer lesser profits.
SK Goel’s leadership qualities have influenced UCO Bank positively, and it was with great pride that UCO, the lead banker (head of the State Level Bankers Meet) for Himachal Pradesh, announced that the state has become the country’s first in ensuring 100% credit inclusion for all households.
One of UCO Bank’s main challenges is to better its Net Interest Margin (NIM) that stood at 1.98% in 2008-09 as against the desired level of 2.5 to 3%. The bank is hopeful of moving its NIM to at least 2.25% in 2009-10.
To meet this and other challenges, UCO is focusing more on productive markets like the Indian state of Gujarat. The bank already has a significant presence there, but wants to double it within the next two years.
But in dealing with India’s state governments, UCO Bank has proved more than once that it has a mind of its own. Recently, it turned down a West Bengal government initiative to participate in a bank consortium to deliver Rs. 500 crore to fund land banks for industrial units. UCO cited its inability as due to a policy of not directly funding land acquisitions even if the acquirer is a state government. Considering Bengal’s poor track-record in industrial development, UCO Bank’s decision appears to be safe even otherwise.
To better the financial health of UCO Bank, a major restructuring process has been on for some time now, and is expected to enter its final leg this fiscal. The bank has already been infused with Rs. 450 crore by the Government in 2008-09, and will receive another Rs. 750 crore this year.
UCO recently got a boost when CRISIL upgraded their rating on the bank’s lower tier-2 bonds from AA to AA+, based on continued central government support to the bank.
As part of the ongoing restructuring, UCO Bank needs to raise around Rs. 500 to 600 crore on its own, out of which Rs. 136 crore is expected to come from a Follow-on Public Issue (FPO) late this year. The bank needs to manage the FPO perfectly, as a similar move last year had to be abandoned due to adverse market conditions.
UCO is getting into the general insurance business this year by floating a new company that will have other domestic and foreign entities in this sector. The bank plans to hold a 30% stake in the new entity.
UCO Bank grew its total business by 25% in 2008-09 to reach Rs. 1,69,890 crore, and plans to grow it on similar lines to Rs. 2.02 lakh crore this year on an expected credit growth of 25%. Profitability for the first quarter is already up by 15% over the corresponding quarter last year.
UCO’s footprint in India is significant, both geographically and sector-wise. The 66 year old bank has 2065 branches across the country and lends to all sections of the Indian economy - micro, small, medium & large enterprises, and spanning all sectors including retail, agriculture, services and infrastructure. UCO Bank has presence in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, and Malaysia, and correspondent arrangements all over the world.
UCO Bank’s Non Performing Assets (NPA) level stands above 1% and it is a prime challenge before the bank. Lately, the bank has started showing successes in its NPA battle.
Seasonal Magazine explores Chairman SK Goel’s strategies for meeting UCO Bank’s challenges through an interview:
You had recently remarked that during Non Performing Assets (NPAs) sale, UCO prefers cash over Security Receipts (SRs). Is this viable, considering the poor interest shown by Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs)?
Sale of NPAs depends upon the quality of the assets. It is not entirely true that ARCs show poor interest in cash transactions. Where the asset quality is good, UCO Bank does prefer and can demand cash sales over security receipts as SR is a long-term process and offers no certainty of realization. UCO has been quite successful in negotiating good terms with ARCs.
How do you assess the financial health of UCO Bank vis-à-vis its peers? UCO has challenges on both the Net Interest Margin (NIM) front and the Non Performing Assets (NPA) front…
There are challenges, but UCO Bank has made headway on both fronts, lately. Speaking about NPAs, for the first time in recent past, in FY 08-09 UCO’s total recovery from NPAs other than write-offs was higher than fresh accretion of NPAs thereby achieving a reduction in absolute NPA numbers. Our NNPA to Net Advance Ratio which was 1.98% as on 31.3.08 has come down to 1.18% as on 31.3.09. This has been achieved despite difficult economic condition prevailing in India arising out of the global financial meltdown. And UCO Bank continues to employ a two-pronged strategy on NPAs – firstly, better NPA management through recovery from stressed assets, and secondly, prevention of further slippages of assets. On the NIM front too, we are pursuing a dual strategy of putting maximum stress on mobilizing low-cost deposits, even while reducing our cost of funds.
Concerns have recently been raised about PSBs including UCO Bank resorting to mass restructuring of loans to temporarily clear NPAs from the balance sheet. But won’t they come back to haunt you in the next balance sheet? What is your take on this?
Restructuring was a one-time initiative declared by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the second half of financial year 2008-09 to counter the spillover effects of the global downturn which affected the otherwise viable industrial units and projects. This enabled banks to maintain credit quality. Most of the restructuring exercises undertaken by UCO Bank were outcomes of RBI guidelines on this matter. As a follow-up measure UCO has also put in place proper monitoring mechanism to keep the restructured accounts under strict vigil and prevent slippages to NPA category.
How will you counter the allegation that public sector banks’ (PSBs) performance is largely driven by government compensating for non-performing agricultural loans, as well as large government funds like the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) switching to PSBs for disbursement, thereby forcing millions of hitherto unbanked to open accounts?
One has to understand that public sector banks in India are instruments of social change for the country apart from being business organizations. PSBs are mandated to undertake priority sector lending of which agriculture lending is a part. The Government’s relief measure to farmers by way of ADWDRS is a welcome relief to farmers who have been struggling to repay their loans for various reasons. For UCO Bank the proportion of NPAs out of the eligible amount is relatively small. Regarding the second part of your question, it is a universally accepted fact that financial inclusion is a pre-requisite for upliftment of the poor and the marginalized. Taking banking to the unbanked is a part of that process and disbursement of funds under NREG scheme through banks is meant to ensure proper delivery and prevention of leakages.
UCO Bank was one of the first banks to be recapitalized by the Government as soon as the downturn happened, and reportedly needs another round of fund infusion shortly. How did your Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) come to be lower than some of your peers?
During FY’08-09, UCO Bank continued to remain BASEL-II compliant with Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) at 11.93 per cent as on 31.3.2009. It is relevant to observe that UCO is Basel II compliant as we have international presence. RBI has also concurred with us that only Basel II CAR is applicable for UCO Bank from 31.3.08. There has been a change in the overall capital structure of UCO during the financial year 2008-09. UCO Bank has during the year restructured its capital as per the Capital Restructuring Plan approved by the Government of India. In accordance with the plan, a sum of Rs. 250 crore out of the total equity capital of Rs. 799.36 crore has been converted into Perpetual Non-Cumulative Preferences Shares (PNCPS), thereby reducing the total equity share capital of UCO to Rs. 549.36 crore and resulting in the consequential reduction in the percentage shares held by the GOI from 74.98 per cent to 63.59 per cent. As per this plan, Government of India would be subscribing a sum of Rs. 1200 crore in innovative capital instruments of UCO Bank , in two tranches of Rs. 450 crore and Rs. 750 crore during the years 2008-09 and 2009-10 respectively, to strengthen the capital base of the bank. UCO has already received Rs. 450 crore during March 2009 and has accordingly allotted PNCPS to the GOI.
Central Bank of India Plots Turnaround
Central Bank of India has been hit somewhat by the economic downturn, but the bank which is noted for its customer-friendliness and social commitment, is banking on these very factors to survive and thrive in 2009-10. Seasonal Magazine gets answers on Central Bank’s challenges from Chairman & Managing Director S Sridhar.
Though annual growth in profits has moderated to just 3.8%, Central Bank of India continued to put up impressive growth in total business, above 18%, in 2008-09. This growth is not bad considering the little room that exists for growth – at nearly 3500 branches and 2.5 crore customers, Central Bank is already a banking behemoth.
Due to the downturn, there was also a significant drop – more than 50% - in standalone net profit for the last quarter.
But Central Bank of India hopes to reverse all these with its customer-centric policies, mass banking initiatives, and RBI support.
Central Bank’s top management comprises of its Chairman S Sridhar, and Executive Directors Ramnath Pradeep and Arun Kaul. CMD S Sridhar was earlier the Chairman of National Housing Bank, and has chalked out an ambitious plan to double Central Bank of India’s customer base to 5 crores.
Recent customer-centric new initiatives from Central Bank include Cent Kisan Gold Card for farmers, bringing in private equity (PE) power into sick units, an SMS alert facility for savings and fixed deposit account holders, a subsidised home loan scheme for the urban poor, and a proactive involvement in public policy formulation by its Chairman S Sridhar.
The Cent Kisan Gold Card from Central Bank of India (CBI) provides a credit limit up to Rs. 10 lakhs against land for a five year term at interests that start from as low as 7%. Farmers can avail this for both farming and no-farming activities.
Central Bank is planning an innovative route to tackle underperforming loans in the commercial sector – by bringing in Private Equity (PE) funds with investment and management skills into these units.
The SMS alert facility is available for all Central Bank savings account holders for transactions of Rs. 5000 or more, as well as all fixed deposit customers, and will be available across the 1200 Core Banking Services (CBS) branches of CBI.
After a lull in recruitment for several years, Central Bank of India is now active on the recruitment front to drive growth as well as to bring down the average employee age. The new recruits will join a nearly 40,000 workforce, a quarter of which comprises MBAs, CAs, & LLBs.
Central Bank has always been noted for its social commitment, and the new initiatives also reflect this. It has tied up with Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation for development of low-cost housing units, for which Rs. 120 crores has been sanctioned towards loans at subsidized interest rates.
In tune with the Government’s vision of making banking more accessible to minorities, Central Bank of India has opened 40 new branches in minority concentration districts of the country, and has come up with top honours in this regard – second only to State Bank of India (SBI).
Chairman of Central Bank, S Sridhar is known for his proactive participation in forming public policy, and his recent cautionary remarks on the move by a section of the real estate industry to hike prices, gathered popular support. Sridhar termed the move short-sighted and explained that the time was ripe for a recovery only if the real estate prices adjusted a bit more downwards or at least stabilized.
The Mumbai headquartered Central Bank of India’s loan portfolio has a significant 18% exposure to agricultural loans, ahead of many of its peers. However, there is risk too from this kind of farming-friendly policies. Banks have been forced to waive farm loans, but so far they have been compensated for only 32% of the waivers; for the remaining, it will be a long wait of another two years.
It is not only in agricultural loans, that the bank shows its customer friendliness. Even in a difficult year like 2008-09, Central Bank was ranked as the ‘Best Education Loan Provider’ and the ‘Second Best Home Loan Provider’.
Central Bank of India was also quick to offer home loans at a fixed rate of 8% to tide over the current crisis in the real estate market.
Central Bank is also aiding India’s state governments to kick-start growth – the best recent example being the Rs. 11,000 crore corpus fund that has been readied to assist Madhya Pradesh’s Trade and Investment Facilitation Corporation (TRIFAC).
Despite Central Bank of India’s stock not coming up with an impressive performance in the stock market, the bank is mulling a right issue or a follow-on public issue this year to raise capital.
Central Bank’s recent move to sell off Rs. 102 crore worth of Non Performing Assets (NPAs) will largely be from their corporate loan book. Unlike many other banks, CBI is still hopeful of Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARC) to manage their NPAs.
The financial health of Central Bank of India needs improvement as it is challenged on both the Net Interest Margin (NIM) front and the NPA front, when comparing with RBI guidelines.
Serious concerns have recently been raised about public sector banks (PSBs) resorting to mass restructuring of loans - in response to an RBI directive – but which might have temporarily cleared NPAs from their balance sheets. A small percentage of restructured Central Bank loans might also fall in this category.
This year, Central Bank of India plans to scale up their retail loan book from 9% to 15%, and their Medium & Small Scale Enterprises (MSME) loan book from 8% to 10%. With an already fat farm loan book of 18%, these are clear indications that Central Bank of India is not only looking at the big corporates for growth.
Will Indian Overseas Bank Get Stronger Soon?
Indian Overseas Bank had a difficult 2008-09, which it doesn’t want to repeat this fiscal. Major measures are now on to tap lucrative overseas markets like Malaysia, focus further on its creative business of film-financing, toughen its battle on the NPA/NIM fronts, and solidify its reputation of reliability with a 3-Way Disaster Recovery facility. Seasonal Magazine gets inside IOB through an interview with Chairman SA Bhat.
Indian Overseas Bank, the Chennai headquartered public sector banking major is now just 50 short of 2000 branches, with a business mix of 1.75 lakh crore. Under Chairman & Managing Director, SA Bhat, IOB is taking the challenging year of 2009-10 head on, with a lot of innovative measures.
Combining its might with fellow banks, Bank of Baroda (BoB) and Andhra Bank, Indian Overseas Bank is starting a new banking subsidiary in Malaysia this year. It is also applying consortium-finance together with Exim Bank to fund a mega movie – the Rs. 70 crore ‘De Dhana Dhan’ starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, and directed by Priyadarshan. Earlier IOB had financed the Rajanikant starrer ‘Sivaji’ which went on to become the highest grossing Tamil film ever in history.
When banks collapsed one after the other in US, the government there had turned to some of the most reliable banks like JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America to save them by mergers. A similar situation had arisen with Pune-based Shree Suvarna Sahakari Bank (SSSB) three years back, and it was Indian Overseas Bank that Government of India chose to take over SSSB. On 20th May 2009, IOB wound up the protracted steps of takeover, and the SSSB branches became Indian Overseas Bank branches. Everyone in the banking industry expected customers of SSSB to rush to IOB on day one to claim their deposits which had been frozen for three years. But it was the reverse that happened. The SSSB branches of Indian Overseas Bank attracted new deposits worth Rs. 6 crore, 1000 new accounts, and renewal of 10,000 fixed deposits, all in just the first five days of operation.
Indian Overseas Bank, though a moderate performer in the stock market, has garnered recent attention with LIC buying nearly 50 crore worth of IOB shares. Chairman SA Bhat has been a Bank of India (BoI) veteran, before moving on to UCO Bank as its Executive Director, before taking over IOB’s reins in June 2007.
Seasonal Magazine quizzes SA Bhat on Indian Overseas Bank’s challenges and strategies:
What prompted Indian Overseas Bank to go for a new banking subsidiary in Malaysia this year? And why is it a joint effort with two other banks?
Overseas expansion is expected to be a major growth avenue for Indian banks this year. Malaysia was a natural fit as the country has a significant ethnic population of South Indian origin. Indian Overseas Bank being headquartered in Chennai, has a natural flair to address these customers of South Indian origin in Malaysia. We already have a smaller presence there, the feedback from which was promising. Coming to the second part of your question, the main reason for a joint effort with Bank of Baroda and Andhra Bank was as a means to manage the high costs of setting up a bank there. This way, each of us can bear the required capital load better.
IOB has always been a moderate performer in the stock market. With LIC recently taking up Indian Overseas Bank shares worth Rs. 50 crore, do you expect a better positioning?
I wouldn’t agree that IOB was always a moderate performer. But, yes, the scrip encountered some problems when a foreign institutional investor (FII) offloaded his 10% stake in the bank. Now, that is what we call a huge volume sale, and it reflected in the scrip’s further performance for some months. But soon other investors realized that that sale was a one-off case, and that the IOB stock is basically strong. As of LIC taking a significant stake, I would say that it has been good for them as they could buy IOB cheap, and now it is soaring.
Indian Overseas Bank is now applying consortium-finance together with Exim Bank to fund a mega movie – the Rs. 70 crore ‘De Dhana Dhan’. Isn’t it a risky proposition?
Financing movies are not something new to Indian Overseas Bank, as you might know. Our movie finance portfolio includes Tamil hits like ‘Sivaji’. But our exposure to Bollywood has been rather limited. However, we are confident on this front as there is a due diligence that is followed in selecting the right project. An IOB panel examines aspects like the producer’s and director’s track record, who all are starring in it, and other factors. For example, ‘De Dhana Dhan’ is by Priyadarshan and stars Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, which shows it is an ambitious project. And even if a movie doesn’t do as well as expected, the bank is covered by way of primary security and collateral security. The primary security is the rights (prints) of the movie, and collateral is something unrelated like property etc. I think that film financing is just another arm of conventional financing that can be highly prospective if done correctly. It is just a case of matching the risks and rewards. See the case of ‘Sivaji’ that Indian Overseas Bank financed. This Rajanikant starrer went on to become the highest grossing Tamil film ever.
By registering just 10% growth rate in fiscal 2008-09, IOB has become one of the slowest growing banks in India. How do you plan to overcome this challenge?
When you say 10% growth rate, please remember that it is only in profits. Because, Indian Overseas Bank’s overall growth rate was much higher, much in tune with the industry. On the profit front, yes, we were hit due to the economic downturn, NPAs, and other factors. We need to work more on our margins. But overall we are confident. We play the game systematically. IOB won’t be like some aggressive banks who grow at 40% one year, and struggle with 0% growth the next. We prefer to grow with the industry.
On the loan front, is Indian Overseas Bank battling low demand for high-quality loans? Recently, you had opted to part-finance the beleaguered Jet Airways to the tune of hundreds of crores. Not many banks were willing for the risk…
I don’t agree that IOB is facing a dearth of high-quality loans. Due to the economic downturn, maybe, many conventionally good loans have turned riskier. And I don’t agree that many banks were unwilling to take risk with Jet Airways. In fact, Indian Overseas Bank is not going on this alone – a consortium is funding Jet. I agree that the element of risk is there. The airline industry is down and Jet is also struggling with the industry. But at IOB we have faith that both will bounce back. As I told you, it is a matter of balancing risks with rewards. Without such risks our Net Interest Margin (NIM) will continue to suffer.
How do you assess the financial health of IOB vis-à-vis its peers? Very few banks are challenged like Indian Overseas Bank on both the Net Interest Margin (NIM) front and the Non Performing Loan (NPA) front?
Well, our NIM has improved to 2.84% which is not as bad as you think. I think that it might improve even more to reach 3% this fiscal. But on the NPA front we have suffered a lot during the past year. That is where the downturn hit Indian Overseas Bank hard. But we are systematically tackling this, and you can expect a significant change next year.
Serious concerns have recently been raised about PSBs resorting to mass restructuring of loans to temporarily whitewash Non Performing Assets (NPAs) from the balance sheet. Won’t they come back to haunt you in the next balance sheet? What is Indian Overseas Bank’s take on this?
I feel that such assessments are not entirely true. As far as Indian Overseas Bank is concerned, we have never mixed up these two issues – restructuring and NPAs. When the going got tough for many companies this year, we too went for loan restructuring as per RBI guidelines. Each case was assessed for their current problems and future viability. IOB believes in all our restructured loans, that they can rebound once the economic situation in India and the world improves. Only where we have no faith left, have we classified as Non Performing Assets (NPAs). It might be easy to brand something an NPA. But as socially responsible bankers, it is our duty to ensure that all viable companies and feasible loans are supported. Because, even though they might seem private projects, they are national assets when we take into consideration factors like their employment potential. It is Indian Overseas Bank’s duty to ensure that they succeed and not fail. Restructuring is a tool to help them bring back to viability as soon as possible.
But the temptation is always there, isn’t it – to classify some NPA-class loans as restructured loans to bring down the NPA numbers?
Well, if that is the case, why should I declare these much NPAs as we have done? IOB doesn’t resort to such tactics. We are very transparent.
Do you mean to say that you don’t expect none of IOB’s restructured loans to come up as NPAs next year?
Yes, we don’t expect that, because we will work with them towards that end. But as you can imagine, we should also expect a tiny percentage of them not making it due to now unforeseeable factors.
How will Indian Overseas Bank counter the allegation that public sector banks’ (PSBs) performance is largely driven by government compensating for non-performing agricultural loans, as well as large government funds like the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) switching to PSBs for disbursement, thereby forcing millions of hitherto unbanked to open accounts?
Regarding NREG, I wouldn’t like to comment. About your first question, yes, when a loan waiver is in place, the government would compensate. If we had got the full compensation, what you had said would be correct. But it is not the case. I think at IOB the compensation stands at around 10% now. That means, if we had lent Rs 500 crores for agriculture, we have been compensated for only Rs 50 crores until now. When the full compensation arrives, yes, it will help our numbers.
Indian Overseas Bank has recently commissioned a second disaster recovery site at Hyderabad. Can you explain the need for this facility?
Yes, IOB has become one of the few banks in the country with a second disaster recovery site. It is a major step in the 3-Way Disaster Recovery set up we were implementing. Under this, we have a Primary Data Centre (PDC) and Command Centre in Chennai at different sites, and a Disaster Recovery Centre hosted at Hyderabad. Using technologies like auto fail-over and asynchronous replication, Indian Overseas Bank will ensure business continuity and uninterrupted service to our customers.
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Tweak says, "SEVEN DAYS"
revmarsh ( revmarsh) wrote in kinkfest,
"Missionary Position," Bijou, Cobalt/other
Title: Missionary Position
Author: [The Very Ir-]reverend Marsh
Fandom: Bijou
Rating: NSFW, R?
Length: ~1400 words
Prompt: Bijou: Cobalt: religiouskink - devil is in the details
A/N: Late because I was very torn between staying in universe or going AU, and I started writing both.
Under his hands, the brim of the hat was getting just out of shape enough to be slightly annoying. The man worried the hat, sweating unseasonably, as he stood there.
"Maybe this was a mistake," he whispered, and took half a step backwards.
From where he was sitting, Cobalt was only slightly entertained by the sunset, less so by the potential client. In this corner, he saw was the man's dark coat, worn and dusty around the edges; the inclined head, barely turning; and the edges of the hat he was putting all his tension into. The indecision hung in the golden air like a heavy, boring curtain. Cobalt sighed.
The man straighened and pivoted on his back foot.
Cobalt smiled, but not very hard. The traveller looked like he might run off, and money was money. "All this could be yours."
Eyes fixed on his. For half a breath they were hard, but then soft. Soft like Peridot, or Jade.
"I'm sorry?" the traveller whispered.
"For the right price, of course," Cobalt continued, drawing himself up. He inclined his head, taking advantage of the light. What was it he'd said? What exactly? "All this could be yours."
The transaction was slow. Cobalt watched as he walked by, slinking towards one of the rooms that would still have the sunset light. The man made the uncertain motions and slow head-shakes of an inexperienced foreign merchant, still getting used to the coins in his purse. Madame Garnet listened to him, nodded, and sent a serving boy to a back room.
He chose a room on the west side of the main house. There was still some light shining in through the windows, setting the red bed-linens on fire. The servant came in while he was touching up the kohl around his eyes. In the mirror, he saw him leave something white on the bed.
"You're supposed to look 'full of pride,' that man said."
Cobalt shrugged as he went to pick up the costume. The boy scurried away.
Pride? he thought. In this? It looked like Peridot's old choir robe. It gave off the odor of the back of the cabinet, where varnish and paint for the stage were kept. It was white, and tied at the waist, and had almost no tailoring. Pride. Foreigners. He lit the incense pot, and, on a whim, the lone candle in a niche by the door. The musty smell began to lift.
It felt strange, now, to lounge in a chair by the fire, dressed in a robe. Make it out of better fabric, have a girl do some nice needlework on it, and he might pretend this had all been a strange dream.
"I did not tell them," the man said, as he stepped inside. He shut the door with both hands, as if it needed guidance. "But I knew I chose correctly."
He didn't rise to meet the client. He rolled his shoulders, luxuriating in the light from the sun and the fire. "Yes?"
"The details. Of course you knew. It even smells right. But you…you look just like..."
Cobalt had no idea what he said next. It wasn't Casmilian; it wasn't a language he recognized. But the man's garment, the strange beads on his belt, swinging and glittering as he placed his boots by the door, and his fear all began to seem familiar, if just in passing.
"You are a missionary."
"Yes, my Lord," the man said, and fell to his knees in front of Cobalt.
"Your type don't..." and he stopped, correcting himself. The title had unnerved him for a moment, but the client had not noticed, bowed as he was. "Your type aren't supposed to associate with places like the Bijou."
"I, too, have fallen." He lifted his head for a moment. "You appeared to me in the room in the guise of the adversary to the Lord. You have pride in your rebellion, as did the adversary."
"And you worship this enemy?"
"He is supposed to be beautiful.” He looked up, taking his time now, his eyes never flickering away like they did in the antechamber. They seemed to look beyond Cobalt, and he frowned. “The most beautiful, and proud, and cruel. And he makes us sin."
Cobalt tried to recall what he'd heard about these missionaries and their religion; it didn't amount to much. Still, the man wasn’t paying to discuss religion, so Cobalt leaned down and pulled him from his prostrations.
“That’s what you’re here for, isn’t it?” He dusted the man’s robes off and cupped his face. The man blinked the sun away until Cobalt tilted his head towards him again. “What is your name?”
“Jachin,” he replied. He relaxed into Cobalt’s hands. “The more I sin, the more I can be redeemed.”
“You are in very capable hands, Jachin,” he replied, drawing back. He sprawled in the chair; Jachin sank to his knees at the foot of the chair. Cobalt ran his hand through the man’s hair; the color of nuts, a little long on top, needing a trim. His fingers drifted slowly down Jachin’s jawline, smiling thinly at the way he closed his eyes and nuzzled against the touch like a hound.
The top of his robe had an unusual collar, stark white against the dull black fabric, and Cobalt lingered there, tucking his fingertips inside and tugging slightly. Jachin pulled away and he retreated.
He hated asking. He hated not knowing more, though. Cobalt sucked air in and tried to sound world-weary, rather than simply irritated. “What can I give you, hm? What is it you want?” A slight shift in the chair lifted the robe from his right leg. “Ah,” he said, following the man’s gaze. He moved the fabric away and let his fingers graze his cock. “You want beauty.”
“It is a sin,” Jachin replied, and blushed. “One of my favorite ones.”
“Go to the bed.” Cobalt stood suddenly, forcing him to hurry away. Before settling on top of it, the man removed the cord around his waist. Hung on the cord was a strand of beads, links of semi-precious stone and gold chain; Jachin looped it twice around his wrist and it dangled there. He bowed his head, looking at the sheets, and brought his hands together.
As he began to speak in the soft tongue he’d used before, Cobalt reached around him and pulled his hands apart. “That sounded like the beginning of a prayer,” he whispered. “There is none of that sort in this temple.”
“How shall I, then?” In Cobalt’s grip, the man’s pulse quickened. He let go and began to unfasten the buttons of the robe. His own robe was open in front, and his cock pressed into the man’s back.
“Do you usually worship on your knees?”
Jachin shrugged the robe off; the beads remained on his arm. He didn’t answer. Cobalt nudged him forwards, urging him towards the bed.
He turned and sat on the bed, pushing himself backwards onto it. “Do you have oil?” he asked, holding his hand open.
“Of course.” Cobalt plucked a bottle from the table and placed it there. Jachin opened it and poured a few drops into his palm, re-corking the bottle dexterously and dropping it to the bed.
Cobalt took a step forward and looked down at him when he asked him to come closer. Jachin drew two lines on Cobalt’s forehead, leaned forward, and kissed him. He flushed again and closed his eyes.
“Please,” he said. “It must be done.” Cobalt took the bottle and repeated the gesture. Jachin’s breath was hot on his wrist as he anointed him.
“I think a bit more is in order,” Cobalt said, drawing a line down the missionary’s chest. “Here?” he asked, lingering at the base of his cock. Jachin let his breath out, and sucked it in again as Cobalt’s fingers probed farther along.
“There. Please.”
He cocked his head and looked Jachin in the eye, blue to grey. Cobalt’s cock slid against the man’s thigh, slick with oil. “All this?”
Jachin sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. “’All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me.’ All that you see,” he continued, and opened his eyes. “Have I not done so, my Lord?”
When he said it a second time, it felt right. The man meant it, meant every word, every contradiction. And at least for the hour, he’d found a lord he could touch; more importantly, that could touch him. Cobalt drank in his need. “And this is your reward, Jachin.”
He counted the beads when Jachin left. Given the stone, they were worth more together, a foreign curiosity. He threaded them between his fingers, passing them back and forth and thinking of the words the man had breathed out in strange prayer.
Notice! This user has turned on the option that logs IP addresses of anonymous posters.
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Australia. Guide to Australia
All of Australia: tourism, travel, immigration, News, history, culture, policy, economy, business.
________________ News Australia
Tourism in Avctralii
News MIC
Tourist trips
Economy, finance, business
Festivals, festivals and exhibitions
« The revival of American space exploration with the help of a private business, Ч2
Get a lot of positive emotions and pleasant impressions during walks in the fresh air with a scooter from the company samokat.ua »
Travel to Liverpool
It is unlikely that in the world there is such a person, which is unknown would be the name of one of the most iconic bands, by no means is the Beatles. Very often the desire to visit Liverpool, birthplace of the magnificent Quartet is the cause, which people becomes a visa in Uk.
Although Kiev is very far from Liverpool, However, many residents of the Ukrainian capital not away long way to go just to, to get into this truly tiny town. But for this IM sure will require a visa in England, for example, a visa to travel to London. Even if city Liverpool overnight would have been spared all its sights, It still sought to be come a great number of travelers. Visit the birthplace of the wonderful group "the Beatles" strive not just to her fans, but just curious travelers.
Стоит отметить, the city is interesting for tourists of all ages, But first of all for young people. Bright and very intense nightlife Liverpool explains the fact, that young travelers primarily need permission to enter the UK, rather than visa in Turkey, eg. Liverpool youth clubs attract visitors even and because, that operate 24 hours a day. Thanks to this dynamic and vibrant night life of the birthplace of the magnificent Quartet beckons the young even remote corners of the globe. Стоит отметить, that tourists arriving in Liverpool great opportunities for recreation, because the local authorities have made every effort to ensure, to make this possible. Even with good intentions, get bored and you have it does not work, as Liverpool many interesting museums and exhibitions. Primarily attracts the attention of travelers with the Beatles Story Museum, for the sake of a visit which many come to this city. Of the total abundancIt should be noted for the largest number of visitors. In addition to the world-famous Museum of Liverpool also boasts many places, where a few decades ago, worked and hiked the Beatles band members. Although, that group legend ceased to exist more than a dozen years ago, Yet the number of her fans not only has not decreased, But even at times grew.
If you happen to visit in the UK, do not deny yourself the pleasure of visiting this small, but very interesting city, the name of which Liverpool.
Австралийские путешественники отказываются от туризма в Европу из-за страхов перед терроризмом, Part 2
Top 10 attractions in the Greek city of Alexandroupolis
Курорты Испании: где отдохнуть
Landscapes Of Iceland
Rent cottage. Choose cottage for the weekend
Birthday in Finland. Journey, has become a tradition
Latest entries:
All to Tasmania!
When it's time to choose a place to stay, It's not superfluous to remember [more]
Sydney Aquarium
You, of course, You know, that in Australia there's a lot [more]
Auckland in New York - Main information
Окленд - largest city, located in the north-west [more]
What are optional excursions?
When you go on a tour, most often you will have free time. [more]
The luxury Liberty Beach resort on the Weitsunday coast in NSW is not only accessible to the wealthy, ч2
But the hallmark of the resort is the rescued sloop "Shangri-La", [more]
Luxury resort with low prices
Tucked away in Airlie Beach in North NSW is a luxurious little paradise, [more]
What Darwin is attracted to tourism?
Darwin is a small tourist town in the state of North [more]
The best hotels in Australia and the world according to Conde Nast Traveller magazine, Ch. 2
На фото: Hotel Como / COMO Tregeri, Perth, Western Australia. Except [more]
Embassies and consulates Australia
Embassies and Consulates in Australia
Immigration to Australia, Эмиграция из Австралии
Australian Customs regulations
Australian Airports
States of Australia
Mainland Australia
External inhabited islands of Australia
External uninhabited islands of Australia
Cities of Australia
Films about Australian cities
See Australian – Sydney…
Subtropical Zone
Torrid zone
Main climatic zones…
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Auckland in New York – Main information
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Get Inspired by Bizsphere
Latest News About Us
SMEs to Remain a Priority Amidst a Challenging Economic Environment
Kuala Lumpur, 23 June 2016 – The 20th National SME Development Council (NSDC)Meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Haji Abdul Razak today was briefed on the latest economic developments and its impact on SMEs. The Council noted that against the backdrop of an increasingly challenging economic environment, SMEs continued to remain resilient, recording a GDP growth of 6.1% in 2015 compared with the underlying growth of 7.9% in 2014. This was further corroborated by findings from the latest First Quarter 2016 SME Survey undertaken by SME Corp. Malaysia, which indicated that although businesses in Malaysia have been affected by the subdued economic performance, SMEs were affected to a lesser extent. As at 2015, the contribution of SMEs to GDP was 36.3%.
The encouraging performance was due in part to a series of pre-emptive measures undertaken by the Government since early last year to cushion the impact of the economic slowdown. Measures were intended to stimulate domestic demand and provide additional financing assistance to support SME growth. Meanwhile, the execution of the High Impact programmes (HIPs) under the SME Masterplan have lent further support to SMEs. Focus has been on promoting innovation and facilitating commercialisation of products and services by SMEs. To date, we have eight innovations commercialised and 110 license deals signed under HIP2 of the Technology Commercialisation Platform.
Read the full article here: http://www.smecorp.gov.my/index.php/en/resources/2015-12-21-10-55-22/news/1574-smes-to-remain-a-priority-amidst-a-challenging-economic-environment
Bank Negara Says RM3.3b Funds Still Available For SMEs
RM7.34 Billion Allocation To Develop SMEs
AmBank to boost lending to SMEs
Business Today: Many SMEs Unaware of Industry4WRD Readiness Assessment Programme
Moving Forward in Digital Economy With SAAS
Tips To Maximise SMEs’ Export Potential
SME Branding: Practical Solutions With Real Results
IR 4.0: Where to Begin With?
SMEs Need To Be Proactive In Adopting Digitisation
BEHIND EVERY SUCCESSFUL BRAND: RECOGNITION & AWARDS
GO-EX: DESIGN YOUR OWN SUCCESSFUL EXPORT JOURNEY
BFM Podcast : Brand Investment Is SMEs Greatest Challenge To Bring Their Brand To The Next Level
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Gillette is giving away a free trip to outer space. (Via Gravity Lens.)
Update: Jim May points out that the contest may be only open to Canadians. Bummer!
"The Top Ten science moments in The Simpsons". (Via Cynical-C.)
"In Japan, even sex goes high-tech"
"How I Envisioned My Adult Work Week When I Was 6 Years Old"
Update on 3D-TV.
"Earthquake Sets Japan Back To 2147":
TOKYO—Japanese government officials confirmed Monday that the damage wrought on Japan's national infrastructure by the July 16th earthquake—particularly on the country's protective force field, quantum teleportation system, zero-point fusion energy broadcasting grid, and psychodynamic communications network—was severe enough to set the technologically advanced island nation back approximately 300 years to a primitive mid-22nd-century state of existence.
"Japan finds itself in crisis, with our society and culture temporarily reverting to a pre-cyberunification era," said Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, communicating non-telekinetically for the first time in his nearly 150 years of post-cryogenic life. "Though many citizens have been limited to algorithm-based emotion detection, neutron baths, speed limits below the speed of light, and other barbaric inconveniences for over a week now, I promise we will pull through."
(Via The Onion, of course.)
Humans are only barely better at poker than machines.
There are 12 kinds of effective ads. Learn how to resist them.
Orson Scott Card on cognitive bias and global warming.
"Profiting from mortality": Death Bonds.
Ultrastrong paper made from graphene.
Detailed update on MRI lie detection. (Via Bruce Schneier.)
My friend Francisco Gutierrez is blogging again.
Excellent camera illusion.
Admin note: Posting may be light or non-existent for the next couple of days, as I'll be reading the new Harry Potter book.
Statetris is Tetris with US states.
"Psychology, design and economics of slot-machines". (Via Boing Boing.)
God's Inbox. (Apparently God uses a Mac...)
How AT&T has broken up and come back together. (Via Neatorama.)
Bouncing cooking oil.
"Famous Poems Rewritten As Limericks." (Via GMSV.)
Laws of software development. (Via Found On The Web.)
Wireless power transfer: A nice overview.
"10 things i hate about star trek". My favorite:
5. Rule by committee. Here's the difference between Star Trek and the best SF show on TV last year:
Picard: "Arm photon torpedoes!"
Riker: "Captain! Are you sure that's wise?"
Troi: "Captain! I'm picking up conflicting feelings about this! And, it appears that you're a 'fraidy cat."
Wesley: "Captain, I'm just an annoying punk, but I thought I should say something."
Worf: "Captain, can I push the button? This is giving me a big Klingon warrior chubby."
Giordi: "Captain, I think we should reverse the polarity on them first."
Picard: "I'm so confused. I'm going to go to my stateroom and look pensive."
Captain: "Let's shoot them."
Crewman: "Are you sure that's wise?"
Captain: "Do you know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I'll BEAT YOU WITH until you realize who's in command."
Crewman: "Aye Aye, sir!"
(Via Clicked.)
"Kids say e-mail is, like, soooo dead":
Just ask a group of teen Internet entrepreneurs, who readily admit that traditional e-mail is better suited for keeping up professional relationships or communicating with adults.
"I only use e-mail for my business and to get sponsors," Martina Butler, the host of the teen podcast Emo Girl Talk, said during a panel discussion here at the Mashup 2007 conference, which is focused on the technology generation. With friends, Bulter said she only sends notes via a social network.
"Sometimes I say I e-mailed you, but I mean I Myspace'd or Facebook'ed you," she said.
(Via /.)
A marketplace for information on security breaches?
The world's tiniest PC's.
Computers are now unbeatable at checkers.
"Debris spots found on stars reveal planets that went splat like bugs on a windshield." (Via SciTechDaily.)
"101 Ways To Know Your Software Project Is Doomed". (Via GMSV.)
Ultracold physics.
MIT scientists design new sleek, skintight spacesuit. (Via Gravity Lens.)
"People playing chess on roller coasters." Real life pictures inspired by this comic. (Via Boing Boing.)
"How Top Bloggers Earn Money". (Via MeFi.)
Before the 2007 iPhone, there was the 1983 Apple phone.
"Did Ron Howard exaggerate the drama of the reentry scene in the movie Apollo 13?"
The answer: A little bit, but not much. Flight director Gene Kranz (played in the movie by Ed Harris) explains:
The final ordeal of the flight was a radio silence, or blackout, caused by ionized air surrounding the command module during its superheated reentry through the atmosphere. With no radio signal, there was "no way to tell" how the crew and ship were faring, Kranz says. "There was no telemetry from Odyssey until the end of blackout," he recalls. "Take a look at the picture of the flight directors during blackout.... There was some distress, but nothing we could do about it." To make matters worse, the blackout went on longer than usual because the reentry path for Apollo 13 was longer and shallower than normal. "Per my mission log it started at 142:39 and ended at 142:45 -- a total of six minutes," Kranz relates. "Blackout was 1:27 longer than predicted... Toughest minute and a half we ever had."
Crocs: A cultural and aesthetic history.
The future of Google search technology.
How dangerous is it to be gored by a bull?
"How Useful Are You? Take This Technology Quiz"
There is a Twilight Zone episode where a businessman makes a pact with the Devil, which allows him to go back in time so that he can capitalize off of his knowledge about the future. It turns out though that the businessman's knowledge about the future is all superficial and thus he is unable to jump start any technological advancements by traveling back in time. This would likely be the plight of most contemporary humans if they were sent back in time. While we rely greatly on technology, most of us don't know much about how it actually works and where the materials to make it come from.
If you were to travel 2000 years into the past, how useful would you be in jumpstarting technological advancements? This 10 question quiz will help you figure out your technological usefulness. If you do poorly on the quiz, as most people likely will, then just let that inspire you to study up more on how things work and where raw materials come from.
I scored 10/10, but had two lucky guesses. (Via BBspot.)
"Five Ideas That Will Reinvent Modern Computing".
"Why can an opera singer be heard over the much louder orchestra?"
New mathematical discovery about the properties of the Moebius strip:
[Mathematician Eugene] Starostin and his colleague Gert van der Heijden, both of University College London, have solved a conundrum that has perplexed mathematicians for more than 75 years -- how to predict what three-dimensional form a Möbius strip will take.
The strip is made from what mathematicians call a 'developable' surface, which means it can be flattened without deforming its shape -- unlike, say, a sphere.
When a developable surface is formed into a Möbius strip, it tries to return to a state of minimum stored elastic energy, like an elastic band springing back after being stretched.
But no one has been able to model what this final form will be. "The first papers looking at this problem were published in 1930," says Starostin. "It seems such a simple question -- children can make these things -- but ask the experts how to model this shape and we've had nothing."
People are reverse "upgrading" from Vista back to Windows XP.
What it's like to have "face-blindness", aka prosopagnosia. (Via Neatorama.)
"Nine Brain Quirks You Didn't Realize You Had"
Wealthiest Americans ever, adjusted for inflation.
I'd love a 40 Gigabit per second internet connection:
Sigbritt Löthberg's home has been supplied with a blistering 40 Gigabits per second connection, many thousands of times faster than the average residential link and the first time ever that a home user has experienced such a high speed.
But Sigbritt, who had never had a computer until now, is no ordinary 75 year old. She is the mother of Swedish internet legend Peter Löthberg who, along with Karlstad Stadsnät, the local council's network arm, has arranged the connection.
Sigbritt will now be able to enjoy 1,500 high definition HDTV channels simultaneously. Or, if there is nothing worth watching there, she will be able to download a full high definition DVD in just two seconds.
The secret behind Sigbritt's ultra-fast connection is a new modulation technique which allows data to be transferred directly between two routers up to 2,000 kilometres apart, with no intermediary transponders.
According to Karlstad Stadsnät the distance is, in theory, unlimited - there is no data loss as long as the fibre is in place.
..."The most difficult part of the whole project was installing Windows on Sigbritt's PC," said [network boss Hafsteinn] Jonsson.
"Scientists find way to teleport atoms on optic fibres". (Via Engadget.)
Cynical-C has also made The Switch.
(Now that I'm 2 weeks post-Switch, I'm also very pleased. I've had no problems adjusting to the Mac OS X. And the Parallels 3.0 software allows me to run my work-related Windows software without any problem. My biggest concern was whether I could get into my office VPN from home through Parallels and it worked perfectly on the first try.)
"Top [Australian] cop predicts robot crimewave":
Technology such as cloned part-robot humans used by organised crime gangs pose the greatest future challenge to police, along with online scamming, Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty says.
..."Our environmental scanning tells us that even with some of the cloning of human beings -- not necessarily in Australia but in those countries that are going to allow it -- you could have potentially a cloned part-person, part-robot," he said.
"You could (also) have technology acting at the direction of a human being, but the human being being distanced considerably from the actual crime scene."
Um, right... (Via Bruce Schneier.)
Some ingenious/unscrupulous Europeans are making money by trading drivers license points on the internet:
It is the latest ruse on the roads of France: drivers are avoiding disqualification by trading licence points on the internet.
Complete strangers are taking the rap for speeding offences in return for up to €1,500 (£1,000), and police admit they are powerless to intervene. Even pensioners who have not driven for many years are getting in on the act.
...The technique is simple. In return for money, the seller provides his or her name and licence number in response to the speed camera ticket. The notice that is automatically sent to the owner of the offending vehicle includes a form for identifying another driver. Checks are extremely rare.
More details in this article.
Robot that walks on water.
"Second Life's virtual conference rooms might be more useful if they didn't resemble their real-world counterparts."
Invention of the day: Hands-free toilet paper dispenser. (Via Fark.)
iPhone software upgrades? (Via GMSV.)
"Joke comprehension may decrease with age". That's not funny...
When coins are worth more as metal than as currency. (Via Bruce Schneier.)
"The Geek Comic: The iPhone excuse."
Of the multiple iPhone reviews, this is one of the most informative and useful that I've read. (Via IPList.)
Evolution of the Apple form factor, 1976-2007. (Via Boing Boing.)
Competitive eating injuries.
Dutch museums are selling some of their surplus national art collection on eBay.
Sudoku and Graph Theory
Adding new meaning to the genetic code. It's like adding new letters to the alphabet.
Why ATM machine PIN numbers have 4 digits:
One by-product of inventing the first cash machine was the concept of the Pin number.
Mr Shepherd-Barron came up with the idea when he realised that he could remember his six-figure army number. But he decided to check that with his wife, Caroline.
"Over the kitchen table, she said she could only remember four figures, so because of her, four figures became the world standard," he laughs.
(Via Bruce Schneier.)
Time lapse photographs show the exact moment of when one embryo becomes two identical twins. (Via KevinMD.)
Admin note: Due to external obligations, posting may be light and/or irregular for the next week.
"A robot controlled by a simulated rat brain has proved itself to be a remarkable mimic of rodent behaviour in series of classic animal experiments."
"Catching Cheaters With Their Own Computers"
The business and marketing of bottled water. (Via IPList.)
Jefferson's last letter: Thomas Jefferson was invited to attend a celebration in Washington DC on July 4, 1826, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He had to decline due to reasons of health, but he did write the following in his last letter:
I should, indeed, with peculiar delight, have met and exchanged there congratulations personally with the small band, the remnant of that host of worthies, who joined with us on that day, in the bold and doubtful election we were to make for our country, between submission or the sword; and to have enjoyed with them the consolatory fact, that our fellow citizens, after half a century of experience and prosperity, continue to approve the choice we made.
May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government.
That form which we have substituted, restores the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion. All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God. These are grounds of hope for others. For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them.
(Via Marginal Revolution.)
World map of social network dominance. (Via Clicked.)
"The Medical Tricorder Comes Two Steps Closer to Reality".
Best dog suit ever. (Via Neatorama.)
Mars or Earth? Can you tell which landscape is from Mars and which is from Earth? (Via BBspot.)
"Why do banks use that awful robotic looking type font for routing and account numbers?"
Molecular surgery:
A single hydrogen atom has been snipped off a molecule and then added back on again, marking the first time a single chemical bond has been broken and reforged in a controlled, reversible way.
Turning peanut butter into diamonds.
Eating strategy and birth order? Here's an interesting tidbit from Marginal Revolution:
Do you eat the best thing first or save the best for last? Most people fall into one of these two categories and according to Brian Wansink's Mindless Eating there is a simple economic explanation. The people who eat the best thing first tend to have grown up as younger children from large families. The people who save the best for last are more often first borns. Need I say more?
Timelapse "light graffiti":
Using LED glowsticks, flashlights, even fireworks, combined with time-lapse photography, light graffiti artists create a unique tagging that wraps around objects dimensionally, allowing them to tag in a way they'd never be able to with spraypaint.
(Via MeFi.)
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Pirro Bugging Case
The FBI dropped a bombshell on Jeanine Pirro, the Republican candidate for Attorney General of New York State, by letting her know that she was the target of a federal investigation as a result of her wanting to bug her husband's boat.
The revelation was leaked to WNBC/Channel 4, in New York, after the FBI learned of her discussion with private eye Bernie Kerik after tapping his phone while conducting an investigation of Kerik. Kerik is a former Police Commissioner of New York City.
Yesterday, Pirro held a press conference in an attempt to save her faltering campaign. Pirro called the investigation a "political witch hunt and smear campaign," to ruin her politically.
She demanded an investigation into why sealed documents were leaked to the public. She said that her marriage was personal and not part of her campaign. She added that there's nothing illegal about one spouse taping another.
Jeanine Pirro, a former District Attorny of Westchester County, should know better. Wiretapping without a court order is illegal, period. Electronic eavesdropping, unless you're a party to the conversation, is wiretapping, and illegal.
On the FBI tapes, Pirro is quoted as saying, "What am I supposed to do, Bernie? Watch him fuck her every night? What am I supposed to do? I can go on the boat. I'll put the fucking thing on myself."
I can understand a woman's outrage at an unfaithful spouse. We get calls all the time from women in similar circumstances. The answer though, is not bugging. Surveillance would have probably done the trick for Pirro. Now, it's too late. Her political career is over, and probably her marriage too.
While the leak of the FBI tapes to the media was probably a political thing, the FBI's investigation into Pirro is not. Whenever the FBI suspects that a crime has been committed, or may be, it is bound to investigate.
In this case, they didn't know if private investigator Kerik went ahead with it, or not. They didn't know if Pirro found some other way to bug her husband, including doing it herself, as she had suggested.
The FBI is blameless. The person who leaked the tape transcript probably is not.
Bugging a Spouse
New York Post & Background Investigations
Detective Novels
What's in Your Wallet?
The Secret Life of Private Investigators
$500 Background Check
Rick Ross and Destructive Groups
Wiretap and Bug Detection
Pretexting
Employment as a Private Investigator
William Koch's Investigation
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Conti Team
4000 Lubbock . Fort Worth, Texas - 74,000 SF Warehouse
1901-1923 Windsor, Fort Worth, Texas - Industrial/Office/Retail
2600 Cherry Lane, Fort Worth, Texas - Former Target location
7500 Baker Blvd - Fort Worth, Texas - Former Sam's Club
6913 W Camp Bowie, Fort Worth, Texas - Warehouse & Retail
1734 E El Paso St, Fort Worth, Texas - Former Ranch Style Beans
Click TABS to View Featured Properties
6913 Camp Bowie Blvd. #111
The principals at Conti Warehouses have been involved in Fort Worth Commercial Real Estate for over 20 years. Our company offers businesses the chance to grow with us, and we seek to develop long-term relationships with our tenants.
Our holdings consist of over 2 million square feet giving us the resources to meet the space requirements for any business. We can provide tenants with office/warehouse options from 2,500 square feet to well over 100,000 square feet at a time.
Conti Warehouses is a local Fort Worth company and employs its own in-house construction team, maintenance supervisors, and leasing professionals in an effort to provide the highest quality of service to our tenants, with the fastest response times.
Please explore our available properties! We look forward to growing with you and your company.
Conti agrees to buy 270,000-square-foot Star-Telegram printing plant
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has a buyer for its printing facility in Edgecliff Village overlooking Interstate 20.
Bruce Conti, president of Conti Warehouses in Fort Worth, has signed a contract to buy the 270,000-square-foot building and its 38 acres of land. Terms of the deal weren't dislosed, and the deal is expected to close in early fall, the Star-Telegram said. (read more)
All Conti News
Web Design by TP Web Designs
Conti Warehouses © Site Map
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Earth and Environmental Sciences (10)
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (8)
MBA Online Only Members (8)
Population decline and the effects of disturbances on the structure and recovery of octocoral communities (Coelenterata: Octocorallia) in Pacific Panama
Catalina G. Gomez, Hector M. Guzman, Andrew Gonzalez
Journal: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom / Volume 95 / Issue 1 / February 2015
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 July 2014, pp. 81-90
Print publication: February 2015
Community structure, species composition, and changes over time after disturbances are frequently studied using common descriptors. We used rank abundance distribution plots (RADs), Rényi entropy plots, common theoretical community models, ordination analysis of similarities (ANOSIM and Clusters), and abundance spectra analyses to study the effects of a gradual natural population decline and an anthropogenic punctuated disturbance on the structure of octocoral communities in Panama, considered a hot spot area for octocoral diversity in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Over a 17-month period, no significant change was found in community structure after a natural yearly population decline of 25.2%. After a disturbance, however, different recovery trajectories were observed in various coral communities. Possible physical and biological explanations for the observed differences include initial local species diversity and abundance, species life history patterns, colony morphology, and the geographical location of the community. Differences in community structure between study sites were best described using a combination of community descriptors, RADs, and abundance spectra. Rényi plots were useful in identifying changes in community structure, whereas the extent of the changes was best evaluated using ANOSIM and cluster analysis.
A new species of alcyonacean octocoral from the Peruvian zoogeographic region
Odalisca Breedy, Hector M. Guzman
Journal: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom / Volume 94 / Issue 3 / May 2014
Print publication: May 2014
The first record of the plexaurid genus Psammogorgia from the shallow waters of Peru is reported here. A new species (Psammogorgia hookeri sp. nov.) is described from Isla San Gallán, Paracas National Reserve. The new species was morphologically analysed using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. It is distinguished from the others in the genus by its small size; prominent calyces with wide lips around polyp apertures and without a special type of sclerites, but with a concentration of irregular, thorny spindles and wart-clubs around the calyx rim; coenenchymal sclerites that do not reach more than 0.2 mm long; the occurrence of conspicuous star-like radiates; and the colour of the colony and coenenchymal sclerites, which is coral red. The results increase species richness within a genus that has not been studied for more than a century, and contribute to the establishment of characters for further morphological studies. Additionally, the new species adds value to existing protected areas and to the octocoral biodiversity records for the Peruvian region and the eastern Pacific.
Pacifigorgia marviva (Anthozoa: Octocorallia) a new species from Coiba National Park, Pacific Panama
Hector M. Guzman, Odalisca Breedy
Journal: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom / Volume 92 / Issue 4 / June 2012
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 April 2011, pp. 693-698
Pacifigorgia marviva, a new shallow-water species of the family Gorgoniidae, was found in Coiba National Park, Pacific Panama at 35–40 m depth. It is characterized by having white to cream, small, erect colonies composed of 1–4 fronds, stems short or absent network irregular and open without fan midribs, and polyp mounds slightly raised and sparsely distributed. All sclerites are colourless. Coenenchymal sclerites mostly composed of long spindles reaching up to 0.25 mm in length, and long and thin anthocodial rods, up to 0.16 mm in length. Morphological characters are analysed and illustrated. Scanning electron microscopy was used for sclerite study. The new species is herein described and compared with other similar species reported from the eastern Pacific. Pacifigoria marviva increases the number of Pacifigorgia species to 35; 20 in Panama representing 57% of the genus in the eastern Pacific, followed by Costa Rica and Ecuador with 14 and 10 species, respectively.
Leptogorgia ignita, a new shallow-water coral species (Octocorallia: Gorgoniidae) from the tropical eastern Pacific
Journal: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom / Volume 88 / Issue 5 / August 2008
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 July 2008, pp. 893-899
Print publication: August 2008
Leptogorgia ignita is a new gorgonian species characterized by its conspicuous bright orange colour, irregular branching pattern and combination of sclerite types in the coenenchyme, all of the same orange colour, with abundance of capstans and blunt spindles, and less abundant acute spindles. The species was found in a shallow water coral community, 4–12 m deep in Samara Bay, Pacific Costa Rica. Morphologically, L. ignita belongs to the L. rigida-group comprising eight species for the group; 13 Leptogorgia species are known for Costa Rica, and 23 for the entire eastern Pacific. The new species is described, illustrated and compared to the other valid taxa of the group.
A comparison of coral reef and coral community fish assemblages in Pacific Panama and environmental factors governing their structure
Sarah Benfield, Laura Baxter, Hector M. Guzman, James M. Mair
Journal: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom / Volume 88 / Issue 7 / November 2008
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 July 2008, pp. 1331-1341
Print publication: November 2008
We compared the reef fish assemblages of two habitats, coral reefs and coral communities (rocky substratum with coral colonies), in the Las Perlas Archipelago in Pacific Panama and attempted to determine associations with habitat variables. We used a modified Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) survey to record fish species and quadrat transects to determine benthic composition. Multivariate non-parametric multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) ordinations were performed in PRIMER and univariate correlations were used to determine relationships. The reef fish of coral communities were significantly more diverse and species rich than those of coral reefs. The two habitats had significantly different species and size composition, but trophic and family groups overlapped between habitats. Topography, exposure, and the percentage cover of branching and massive corals correlated significantly with differences in fish parameters. The reef fish assemblages of this region appear to be determined more by the larger scale structural features that characterize the two habitats than by features that vary over small scales within the habitats.
Leptogorgia christiae (Octocorallia: Gorgoniidae) a new shallow water gorgonian from Pacific Panama
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 June 2008, pp. 719-722
Leptogorgia christiae is a rarely collected new species found at 15–30 m depth at Roca Hacha, a rocky outcrop near Coiba Island characterized by its high diversity of octocorals. The branching pattern and combination of asymmetric blunt spindles, abundance of capstans, and a low occurrence of acute spindles are distinct characteristics of the new taxon. The new species is described, illustrated and compared to the other species of the genus reported from Pacific Panama; thus increasing the total of Leptogorgia species to 17, which encompasses over 70% of the shallow water species for the eastern Pacific.
Broadening reef protection across the Marine Conservation Corridor of the Eastern Tropical Pacific: distribution and diversity of reefs in Las Perlas Archipelago, Panama
HECTOR M. GUZMAN, SARAH BENFIELD, ODALISCA BREEDY, JAMES M. MAIR
Journal: Environmental Conservation / Volume 35 / Issue 1 / March 2008
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 March 2008, pp. 46-54
The protected sites defined under the Marine Conservation Corridor of the Tropical Eastern Pacific (MCCTEP) include most of the endemism and a fraction of the areas of high diversity for reef corals and fishes. Although those areas are connected biologically over distances >600 km, lack of large-scale sampling and attention to taxa other than scleractinian corals has limited the protection of shallow coral reef and coral community habitats in some areas of the Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) region, particularly non-offshore islands in Ecuador, Panama and Costa Rica. The newly created Las Perlas marine protected area (1688 km2), the second largest archipelago in the TEP, fills a regional conservation gap for the protection of reefs and potentially becomes the second highest coral diversity area in the MCCTEP. This study describes the distribution of live coral cover and species alpha-diversity over 307 ha of shallow coral reefs and coral communities in the Las Perlas Archipelago. Nineteen scleractinian and 38 octocorals were observed, including species previously thought to be uncommon. Although coral communities generally had a greater number of species than coral reefs, species richness did not differ between habitats. However, their coral and octocoral composition and benthic makeup (coral cover, macroalgae, sponge, etc.) differed. The reefs had higher live coral cover (61.2%) and lower algal cover (32.5%) than the coral communities (26.0% and 65.7%, respectively). Octocorals were more common in the communities than on the reefs. There was a negative relationship between live coral cover and species richness, low to moderate cover generally coinciding with coral community sites and higher species richness. Areas are recommended for marine reserve zoning within the new Las Perlas marine protected area to ensure the protection of important habitats and maintenance of diversity in the TEP, both highlighting the importance of the southern islands of the archipelago for coral diversity and the northern islands for their high live coral cover. Review of the representativeness of regional coral diversity would facilitate better design of small-scale reserves across the TEP, following comparable survey methods.
A new species of alcyonacean octocoral from the Galápagos Archipelago
The genus Heterogorgia is reported for the first time from the shallow waters of the Galápagos Archipelago, and a new species found in the southern islands is described. The new species is distinguished from the other species of the genus described thus far by having thick branches with large, densely packed calyces, being mostly unbranched, and having larger sclerites. The occurrence of Heterogorgia verrucosa is also reported.
Distichopora robusta sp. nov., the first shallow-water stylasterid (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Stylasteridae) from the tropical eastern Pacific
Alberto Lindner, Stephen D. Cairns, Hector M. Guzman
Journal: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom / Volume 84 / Issue 5 / October 2004
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 October 2004, pp. 943-947
Print publication: October 2004
Distichopora robusta, the first shallow-water stylasterid coral from the tropical eastern Pacific, is described from the west coast of Panama. The new species is distinguished from all species of Distichopora described thus far by having robust branches and poorly defined pore rows.
Distribution, diversity, and conservation of coral reefs and coral communities in the largest marine protected area of Pacific Panama (Coiba Island)
HECTOR M. GUZMAN, CARLOS A. GUEVARA, ODALISCA BREEDY
Journal: Environmental Conservation / Volume 31 / Issue 2 / June 2004
Sampling scale and lack of attention to taxa other than scleractinian corals have limited the capacity to protect coral reefs and coral communities in Pacific Panama. The distribution of coral habitats (live coral cover) and their species richness in the largest marine protected area of Panama, the Coiba National Park (270 125 ha), is described using quadrat transects and manta tows. The species richness of scleractinian corals and octocorals was lower in coral reefs than in coral communities, and a close relationship between richness and live coral cover was observed only in coral communities. The distribution of high live coral cover in coral communities overlapped with areas of high coral species richness. Average live coral cover in communities was 64%, compared to 28% in reefs, whereas algae cover was 30% and 49%, respectively. Twenty-two coral and 34 octocoral species were observed, many only now detected in Panama as endemic or new species. Analysis of satellite imagery showed 80% of terrestrial habitats were mostly primary forest, and coral reefs and coral communities covered 1700 ha, about 2% of marine habitats. Shallow marine environments (< 20 m) had up to 60% calcareous red algae cover (rhodolite beds). Based on the distribution of live coral cover and species richness, three conservation units were identified as priority, with the southern and northernmost sides of the marine protected area as the most significant. These three areas encompass most of the rare and endemic species or populations, as well as species previously regarded as endangered.
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Over 3 years (1)
Parasitology (1)
Molecular identification of Taenia spp. in the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) from Finland
A. LAVIKAINEN, V. HAUKISALMI, G. DEKSNE, K. HOLMALA, M. LEJEUNE, M. ISOMURSU, P. JOKELAINEN, A. NÄREAHO, J. LAAKKONEN, E. P. HOBERG, A. SUKURA
Journal: Parasitology / Volume 140 / Issue 5 / April 2013
Cestodes of the genus Taenia are parasites of mammals, with mainly carnivores as definitive and herbivores as intermediate hosts. Various medium-sized cats, Lynx spp., are involved in the life cycles of several species of Taenia. The aim of the present study was to identify Taenia tapeworms in the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) from Finland. In total, 135 tapeworms from 72 lynx were subjected to molecular identification based on sequences of 2 mtDNA regions, the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 and the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 genes. Available morphological characters of the rostellar hooks and strobila were compared. Two species of Taenia were found: T. laticollis (127 samples) and an unknown Taenia sp. (5 samples). The latter could not be identified to species based on mtDNA, and the rostellar hooks were short relative to those described among other Taenia spp. recorded in felids from the Holarctic region. In the phylogenetic analyses of mtDNA sequences, T. laticollis was placed as a sister species of T. macrocystis, and the unknown Taenia sp. was closely related to T. hydatigena and T. regis. Our analyses suggest that these distinct taeniid tapeworms represent a putative new species of Taenia. The only currently recognized definitive host is L. lynx and the intermediate host is unknown.
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| 0.349943
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Materials Research (9)
Physics And Astronomy (9)
MRS Online Proceedings Library Archive (9)
Oryx (1)
The Journal of Agricultural Science (1)
Materials Research Society (9)
Fauna & Flora International - Oryx (1)
Long-term community-based monitoring of tamaraw Bubalus mindorensis on Mindoro Island, Philippines
Shinya Ishihara, Rodel M. Boyles, Hisashi Matsubayashi, Arnel N. del Barrio, Merben R. Cebrian, Aiko Ishida, Rosalina M. Lapitan, Eufrocina P. Atabay, Libertado C. Cruz, Yukio Kanai
Journal: Oryx / Volume 49 / Issue 2 / April 2015
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 August 2014, pp. 352-359
The Critically Endangered tamaraw Bubalus mindorensis is endemic to Mindoro Island, Philippines, and little is known of its ecology. During 2006–2011 we used community-based monitoring to examine the population status and ecology of tamaraw in the species’ core habitat of Mount Iglit–Baco National Park. Each year, for 5 consecutive days at the end of the dry season, trained local volunteers and rangers or project staff were allocated to 18 vantage points in the study area (c. 160 km2). Tamaraw were categorized as adult (> 5 years), juvenile (2–5 years) or calf (< 2 years), and sexed when possible. During the study period the population was 239–314 (mean 271), with no significant fluctuations in age structure (percentage of adults, juveniles and calves: 57.8, 21.0 and 21.3%) or estimated adult female reproductive rates (29.1%). In adults, but not in juveniles, the sex ratio was biased towards females (1 : 1.86, P < 0.01). Bulls were often solitary (32.2% of sightings), whereas the majority of cows (94.7%) formed small groups of 2–12 individuals of different ages, with or without bulls (53.4 and 46.6%, respectively). These results demonstrate that the population remained relatively stable, maintaining a constant age structure and reproductive rate, and that long-term community-based monitoring was effective for quantitative characterization of the tamaraw's social behaviour, which is critical for conservation and management of the species.
Electronic Structure of One-Dimensional Biradical Molecular Chain
H. Koike, K. Ogawa, T. Kubo, K. Uchida, M. Chikamatsu, R. Azumi, K. Mase, K. Kanai
Journal: MRS Online Proceedings Library Archive / Volume 1605 / 2013
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 January 2014, JSAPMRS13-1605-6135
Print publication: 2013
We investigated electronic structure of one-dimensional biradical molecular chain which is constructed by exploiting the covalency between organic molecules of a diphenyl derivative of s-indacenodiphenalene (Ph2-IDPL). To control the crystallinity, we used gas deposition method. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) revealed developed band structure with wide dispersion of the one-dimensional biradical molecular chain.
The Synthesis and Structures of Elpasolite Halide Scintillators
Pin Yang, F. Patrick Doty, Mark A. Rodriguez, Margaret R. Sanchez, Xiaowong Zhou, Kanai S. Shah
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 January 2011, 1164-L11-05
Low-cost, high-performance gamma-ray spectrometers are urgently needed for nonproliferation and homeland security applications. Available scintillation materials fall short of the requirements for energy resolution and sensitivity at room temperature. The emerging lanthanide halide based materials, while having the desired luminosity and proportionality, have proven difficult to produce in the large sizes and low cost required due to highly anisotropic properties caused by the non-cubic crystal structure. New cubic materials, such as the recently discovered elpasolite family (A2BLnX6; Ln-lanthanide and X-halogen), hold promise for scintillator materials due to their high light output, proportionality, and toughness. The isotropic nature of the cubic elpasolites leads to minimal thermomechanical stresses during single-crystal solidification, and eliminates the problematic light scattering at the grain boundaries. Therefore, it may be possible to produce these materials in large sizes as either single crystals or transparent ceramics with high production yield and reduced costs. In this study, we investigated the “cubic” elpasolite halide synthesis and studied the structural variations of four different compounds, including Cs2NaLaBr6, Cs2LiLaBr6, Cs2NaLaI6, and Cs2LiLaI6. Attempts to produce a large-area detector by a hot forging technique were explored.
Prospects for High Energy Resolution Gamma Ray Spectroscopy with Europium-Doped Strontium Iodide
Nerine Cherepy, S A. Payne, Rastgo Hawrami, A Burger, Lynn Boatner, Edgar Van Loef, Kanai Shah
Europium-doped strontium iodide scintillators offer a light yield exceeding 100,000 photons/MeV and excellent light yield proportionality, while at the same time, SrI2 is readily grown in single crystal form. Thus far, our collaboration has demonstrated an energy resolution with strontium iodide of 2.6% at 662 keV and 7.6% at 60 keV, and we have grown single crystals surpassing 30 cm3 in size (with lower resolution). Our analysis indicates that SrI2(Eu) has the potential to offer 2% energy resolution at 662 keV with optimized material, optics, and read-out. In particular, improvements in feedstock purity may result in crystal structural and chemical homogeneity, leading to improved light yield uniformity throughout the crystal volume, and consequently, better energy resolution. Uniform, efficient light collection and detection, is also required to achieve the best energy resolution with a SrI2(Eu) scintillator device.
Recent Advances in Ceramic Scintillators
Edgar Van Loef, Yimin Wang, Jarek Glodo, Charles Brecher, Alex Lempicki, Kanai S Shah
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011, 1038-O06-02
A review is presented of recent ceramic scintillator R&D. Attention is focussed on Ce doped gamma-ray scintillators for medical imaging applications. Ceramic scintillators discussed in detail include SrHfO3:Ce and Lu2Hf2O7:Ce. These materials combine a high density and high atomic number with fast emission and a good light yield and may find practical application in medical imaging modalities such as Positron Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography.
Geochemical Approaches to Understanding a Shallow Groundwater Flow in the Kanamaru Uranium Mineralization Area (Japan)
Regis Bros, Yoji Seki, Atsushi Kamei, Yutaka Kanai, Koichi Okuzawa, Yoshio Watanabe
Journal: MRS Online Proceedings Library Archive / Volume 893 / 2005
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011, 0893-JJ09-07
Predicting the behaviour of radioactive wastes can be facilitated by comparison with the evolution of natural groundwater systems. During a study of the Kanamaru U mineralization (Japan), geochemical approaches for understanding a shallow (0-50 m) fresh groundwater flow system are being assessed. Deep granitic waters are Ca-HCO3-dominated and slightly acidic to slightly alkaline. Shallow waters within sediments display lower pH and they are more dilute. Halide concentrations suggest the existence of a non marine Br-rich and Cl-depleted deep groundwater in the basement. 234U/238U and 230Th/234U activity ratios in the mineralized sedimentary rocks indicate that U mobilization took place within the last 350,000 years. U dissolution currently continues and it is controled by lateral groundwater flow whereas vertical diffusion appears negligible. Dissolved alkaline earths concentrations and the 87Sr/86Sr ratio indicate that solutes exchanges take place through uppermost low permeable granite followed by mixing with more dilute and Cl-type shallow groundwater.
Comparison of the thermoregulatory response of buffaloes and tropical cattle, using fluctuations in rectal temperature, skin temperature and haematocrit as an index
A. KOGA, M. SUGIYAMA, A. N. DEL BARRIO, R. M. LAPITAN, B. R. ARENDA, A. Y. ROBLES, L. C. CRUZ, Y. KANAI
Journal: The Journal of Agricultural Science / Volume 142 / Issue 3 / June 2004
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 December 2004, pp. 351-355
In previous comparative studies of buffaloes and temperate cattle, a greater increase in rectal temperature (RT) and skin temperature (ST), and a greater decrease in haematocrit (Ht) have been observed in buffaloes than in temperate cattle with an increase in ambient temperature (AT). Our series of previous experiments suggested that great changes in RT, ST and Ht are induced in buffaloes by a marked increase in blood flow from the body core to the surface, which accelerates dissipation of heat from the skin surface. On the basis of these suggestions, the present study was undertaken to compare fluctuations in RT, ST and Ht between buffaloes and tropical cattle. Fluctuations in the aforementioned parameters, particularly RT and Ht, were greater in buffaloes than in cattle. Moreover, the correlation for RT or Ht v. AT was significant for buffaloes (r=0·33 and −0·37, respectively) but not for cattle. The correlation coefficient for ST v. AT was significant in both species, but was greater in buffaloes (r=0·63) than in cattle (r=0·56). These results demonstrate that with changes in ambient temperature, RT, ST and Ht fluctuate much more in buffaloes than in tropical cattle, as found previously for temperate cattle. Therefore, the distinctive thermoregulatory responses of buffalo are confirmed as being specific to this species.
Characterization of Ta2O5 Thin Films With Small Current Leakage for High Density DRAMS
N. Kanda, R. Furukawa, M. Ishibashi, M. Kunitomo, T. Homma, M. Takahashi, T. Uemura, M. Kanai, M. Kubo, K. Ogata, T. Yoshida, H. Yamamoto, Y Ohji
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011, 129
We have confirmed that grain boundaries are related to leakage problems in Ta2O5/SiON capacitors for high dielectric DRAMs. XRD studies using an intensity ratio of (200) to (001) showed that the crystallographic structure of Ta2O5 film was strongly dependent on preparation conditions. As the (200) oriented grains grew faster than the other grains, it became important to control its grain growth in forming uniform grain boundaries. TEM observation has shown that Ta2O5 film with a high intensity ratio of (200) to (001) was made up of large size grains and had SION interface intruding into grain boundaries. By using the current-mode AFM, we could monitor leakage current directly through grain boundaries on Ta2O5 film.
Laser Ablation Process and Growth Control of Oxide Thin Films in Laser Molecular Beam Epitaxy
T. Kawai, H. Nismkawa, K. Koguchi, M. Kanai
In order to study mechanism of laser ablation, the time-of-flight spectra of monovalent ions generated by ablation of alkaline earth metals are measured. The obtained spectra show that the ion generation is caused by 5-, 4- and 3-photon processes for Ca, Sr and Ba, respectively, when ArF excimer laser is used as a light source. This behavior suggests that laser ablation of alkaline earth metals is triggered by excitation of electrons at the highest inner-core level. Control of layer-by-layer growth processes by monitoring emission from the ablation plume is also reported. The emission measurement is utilized for estimation of each layer thickness in layer-by-layer growth. This conventional technique is very effective for automatic control of layer-by-layer growth.
Fabrication of Nanocrystalline Si by SiH4 Plasma Cell
Masanori Otobe, Tomonori Kanai, Shunri Oda
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011, 51
Nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) has been fabricated by a very-high-frequency plasma cell attached to an ultra-high-vacuum chamber using SiH4 gas. Nanocrystalline Si is formed in the gas phase of the plasma cell and is extracted out of plasma cell through the orifice to the ultra-high-vacuum chamber. The shape of nc-Si is spherical or octahedral with the diameter of 3–30nm. Giant Si particles about 100nm in diameter are also formed at the lower cell pressure condition. A 1000keV transmission electron microscopy measurement has revealed that the core region of giant Si particle with the diameter about 30nm was crystalline and the shell region is amorphous. We have demonstrated that the spread of particle size can be decreased using pulsed gas supply of H2 into SiH4 plasma.
Immunoadsorption and Absorptive Cell Separation
Z. Yamazaki, F. Kanai, M. Hiraishi, Y. Idezuki, N. Inoue, N. Tsuda, H. Katoh, K. Ide, M. Umegae, K. Ohno
As a means of selectively removing pathogenic macromolecular substances, an affinity adsorbent or immunoadsorbent has been investigated in experimental and clinical studies on blood purification in the treatment of immune diseases. There are several affinity adsorbents currently available for clinical application. The authors developed physicochemical affinity adsorbents Immusorba IM-TR and IM-PH, whose experimental and clinical evaluations have been satisfactory in several immune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, myasthenia gravis, systemic lupus erythematosus and multiple sclerosis.
Absorptive cell separation, for leucocyte-free blood transfusion or for cytapheresis, has been developed using a leucocyte removal filter, whose container has fine, long fibers of polyester which are densely packed. The filters Sepacell and Cellsorba are used for erythrocyte transfusion and cytapheresis, respectively. In experimental and clinical trials, they provide efficient removal of leucocytes. Erythrocytes can be recovered virtually without loss. Clinical evaluation is now being conducted.
In conclusion, the above-mentioned new methods provide promising immunomodulations for the treatment and for the clearification of pathphysiology of immune diseases.
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