Below is a representation of the whole world as a group of 100 people. Different aspects of lives of human beings have been depicted. A very interesting reading indeed.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Agriculture -- A Primer
Why should we bother about knowing Agriculture? The single most important reason I would give is that "It feeds us and we must know how it works and what is its state of affairs to be continually supplied food". News about agriculture is taking prominence across the world and everybody from the politician to the corporate honchos are taking note of it. They are seeing growth and business opportunities in the vast field of Agriculture. If Agriculture improves, more than 805 million people of the world will not sleep hungry, more than 161 million of children will not remain severely malnourished, farmers will get due compensation, cheap and quality products will reach the consumers and the whole ecosystem around the food supply-chain in the world will gain strength and vitality. So, we need to know all we can about Agriculture to secure our own future.
Agriculture [कृषि]
It is defined as "cultivation of land, including horticulture, fruit growing, crop and seed growing, dairy farming and livestock breeding."
Cultivation [खेती]
It means "to dig and manure the soil to ready for growing crops".
Soil [मिट्टी]
It is the thin layer of surface earth. It is composed of mineral particles, decayed organic matter and water.
Topsoil :- It is the upper part of the soil. Water washes away the organic matter and minerals from the topsoil to the subsoil.
Topsoil can be sub-classified into the following.
Subsoil :- It is the lower part of the soil beneath the topsoil.
Substratum :- It is the layer of rocks beneath the subsoil.
In waterless and sun-dried regions, there is often no difference between the topsoil and the subsoil.
How is soil formed?
At first the earth surface was solid rock. The simple but giant-strong agents that beat the rocks into powder or soil with a clublike force millionfold more powerful than the force of Hercules club were chiefly - 1). heat and cold, 2). water, frost and ice, 3). a very low form of vegetable life and 4). tiny organisms. In some cases, these forces acted singly, in some other, all acted together to rend and crumble the unbroken stretch of rock.
Humus [खाद मिट्टी]
It is the fibrous organic matter in the soil formed from the decomposed plants and animal remains, which makes the soil dark and binds them together.
Tillage [जुताई]
It is act of preparing the soil for cultivation. The stirring of the soil enables the air to circulate through it freely, and permits a breaking down of compounds that contain the elements necessary to plant growth.
Zero Tillage
It is a technique using herbicides instead of tilling the soil before sowing an arable crop by direct drilling.
Plough [हल]
It is an implement or machine used to turn over the surface of the soil in order to cultivate crops. The machine uses a strong blade which is fit at the end of a beam.
The modern plough is usually fully mounted on a tractor's hydraulic system, though some are semi-mounted, with the rear supported by one or more wheels, and some may be trailed. The principal parts of a plough are the beam or frame, made of steel, to which are attached a number of parts which engage the soil, such as the disc coulter, the share and the mouldboard which turns the furrow slice.
There are three main types of plough - conventional with right-handed mouldboards, reversible with left or right-handed mouldboards and disc ploughs.
The three main methods of ploughing are systematic, where the field is divided into lands by shallow furrows, round and round ploughing, in which fields are ploughed from the center to the outside or from the edge to the center, reversible ploughing, where the field is ploughed up and down the same furrow, giving a very level surface. Square ploughing is another method suitable for large areas. A piece of land is ploughed in the center of a field and then the field is ploughed in a clockwise direction starting from this central point.
Importance of Tilling and Ploughing
If the soil is fertile and if deep plowing has always been done, good crops will result, other conditions being favorable. If, however, the tillage is poor, scanty harvests will always result. For most soils a two-horse plow is necessary to break up and pulverize the land.
A shallow soil can always be improved by properly deepening it. The principle of greatest importance in soil-preparation is the gradual deepening of the soil in order that plant-roots may have more comfortable homes. If the farmer has been accustomed to plow but four inches deep, he should adjust the plow so as to turn five inches at the next plowing, then six, and so on until the seed-bed is nine or ten inches deep. This gradual deepening will not injure the soil but will put it quickly in good condition. If to good tillage rotation of crops be added, the soil will become more fertile with each succeeding year.
Soil Moisture Deficit
It is the difference between the amount of water that is in a soil and the amount needed for crops to grow successfully. Abbreviation. SMD
It is defined as "cultivation of land, including horticulture, fruit growing, crop and seed growing, dairy farming and livestock breeding."
Cultivation [खेती]
It means "to dig and manure the soil to ready for growing crops".
Soil [मिट्टी]
It is the thin layer of surface earth. It is composed of mineral particles, decayed organic matter and water.
Topsoil :- It is the upper part of the soil. Water washes away the organic matter and minerals from the topsoil to the subsoil.
Topsoil can be sub-classified into the following.
- Chernozem :- A dark fertile topsoil, rich in organic matter, found in the temperate grass-covered plains of Russia, North and South America. It is also known as black earth.
- Loess :- A fine fertile soil formed of tiny clay and slit particles deposited by the wind. It is most commonly found in Mississippi Valey and Europe and Asia.
- Podsol :- A type of acid soil where organic matter and mineral elements have been leached from the light-coloured top layer into a darker lower layer through which water does not flow and which contains little organic matter. On the whole podsols make poor agricultural soils, owing to their low nutrient status and the frequent presence of an iron pan. Large areas of the coniferous forest regions of Canada and Russia are covered with podsols.
Subsoil :- It is the lower part of the soil beneath the topsoil.
Substratum :- It is the layer of rocks beneath the subsoil.
In waterless and sun-dried regions, there is often no difference between the topsoil and the subsoil.
How is soil formed?
At first the earth surface was solid rock. The simple but giant-strong agents that beat the rocks into powder or soil with a clublike force millionfold more powerful than the force of Hercules club were chiefly - 1). heat and cold, 2). water, frost and ice, 3). a very low form of vegetable life and 4). tiny organisms. In some cases, these forces acted singly, in some other, all acted together to rend and crumble the unbroken stretch of rock.
Humus [खाद मिट्टी]
It is the fibrous organic matter in the soil formed from the decomposed plants and animal remains, which makes the soil dark and binds them together.
Tillage [जुताई]
It is act of preparing the soil for cultivation. The stirring of the soil enables the air to circulate through it freely, and permits a breaking down of compounds that contain the elements necessary to plant growth.
Zero Tillage
It is a technique using herbicides instead of tilling the soil before sowing an arable crop by direct drilling.
Plough [हल]
 |
| Wooden Indian Plough |
 |
| Plough attached to a tractor |
It is an implement or machine used to turn over the surface of the soil in order to cultivate crops. The machine uses a strong blade which is fit at the end of a beam.
The modern plough is usually fully mounted on a tractor's hydraulic system, though some are semi-mounted, with the rear supported by one or more wheels, and some may be trailed. The principal parts of a plough are the beam or frame, made of steel, to which are attached a number of parts which engage the soil, such as the disc coulter, the share and the mouldboard which turns the furrow slice.
There are three main types of plough - conventional with right-handed mouldboards, reversible with left or right-handed mouldboards and disc ploughs.
The three main methods of ploughing are systematic, where the field is divided into lands by shallow furrows, round and round ploughing, in which fields are ploughed from the center to the outside or from the edge to the center, reversible ploughing, where the field is ploughed up and down the same furrow, giving a very level surface. Square ploughing is another method suitable for large areas. A piece of land is ploughed in the center of a field and then the field is ploughed in a clockwise direction starting from this central point.
Importance of Tilling and Ploughing
If the soil is fertile and if deep plowing has always been done, good crops will result, other conditions being favorable. If, however, the tillage is poor, scanty harvests will always result. For most soils a two-horse plow is necessary to break up and pulverize the land.
A shallow soil can always be improved by properly deepening it. The principle of greatest importance in soil-preparation is the gradual deepening of the soil in order that plant-roots may have more comfortable homes. If the farmer has been accustomed to plow but four inches deep, he should adjust the plow so as to turn five inches at the next plowing, then six, and so on until the seed-bed is nine or ten inches deep. This gradual deepening will not injure the soil but will put it quickly in good condition. If to good tillage rotation of crops be added, the soil will become more fertile with each succeeding year.
Soil Moisture Deficit
It is the difference between the amount of water that is in a soil and the amount needed for crops to grow successfully. Abbreviation. SMD
TO BE CONTINUED
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Stock Exchanges in India -- A Brief Primer
A security is a financial instrument which is assigned a value and is traded. Examples of a security include a note, stock, preferred share, bond, debenture, option, future, swap, right, or warrant or virtually any other financial asset. Traditionally, it was a physical document but of late, specially in 21st century, it is majorly an electronic document.
A security can be classified into 3 categories - debt, equity and and derivatives. A debt security represents a borrowed fund that must be repaid. The buyer of a debt security effectively lends the issuer a fixed amount of money in exchange for the security, which gives the holder a right to receive interest payment and the principal at the maturity.
An equity security is also called stock. It represents a proportional claim in an organization's assets and profits. Ownership in the company is determined by the number of shares a person owns divided by the total number of shares outstanding. For example, if a company has 1000 shares of stock outstanding and a person owns 50 of them, then he/she owns 5% of the company. Most stock also provides voting rights, which give shareholders a proportional vote in certain corporate decisions. Only a certain type of company called a corporation has stock; other types of companies such as sole proprietorships and limited partnerships do not issue stock.
An equity security is also called stock. It represents a proportional claim in an organization's assets and profits. Ownership in the company is determined by the number of shares a person owns divided by the total number of shares outstanding. For example, if a company has 1000 shares of stock outstanding and a person owns 50 of them, then he/she owns 5% of the company. Most stock also provides voting rights, which give shareholders a proportional vote in certain corporate decisions. Only a certain type of company called a corporation has stock; other types of companies such as sole proprietorships and limited partnerships do not issue stock.
A derivative security is an instrument whose value is derived from the value and characteristics of another security. Examples are future, option and forward contracts. It is a very important part of the whole financial security market. Read more in details about it.
The holder may at his/her discretion decide to sell the security and the new owner becomes eligible to receive all the benefits associated to that security.
A stock exchange is any body of individuals, whether incorporated or not, constituted for the purpose of assisting, regulating or controlling the business of buying, selling or dealing in securities. It does not own any security on its own. Stock exchanges are indispensable for the smooth and orderly functioning
of corporate sector in a free market economy. A stock exchange need not
be treated as a place for speculation or a gambling den. It should act
as a place for safe and profitable investment, for this, effective
control on the working of stock exchange is necessary. This will avoid
misuse of this platform for excessive speculation, scams and other
undesirable and anti-social activities.
Stock exchanges maintain an official list of securities that could be
purchased and sold on its floor. Securities which do not figure in the
official list of stock exchange are called unlisted securities. Such
unlisted securities cannot be traded in the stock exchange.
| Sr. No. | Name of the Exchange | Valid Upto |
| 1 | Ahmedabad Stock Exchange Ltd.
Address: Kamdhenu Complex Opp, Sahajanand College, Panjarapole, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad - 380001 |
PERMANENT |
| 2 | BSE Ltd.
Address: P J Tower, Dalal Street, Mumbai 400023 |
PERMANENT |
| 3 | Bangalore Stock Exchange Ltd.
Address: Stock Exchange Towers, 51, 1st Cross, J C Road, Bangalore - 560027 |
Exiting Soon |
| 4 | Bhubaneswar Stock Exchange Ltd
Address: Stock Exchange Bhavan, P- 2, Jayadev Vihar, P. O. - Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar - 751023 |
04-JUN-2014 |
| 5 | Calcutta Stock Exchange Ltd.
Address: 7, Lyons Range, Kolkata - 700001 |
PERMANENT |
| 6 | Cochin Stock Exchange Ltd
Address: MES Dr P. K. Abdul Gafoor Memorial Cultural Complex, 36/1565, 4th Floor, Judges Avenue, Kaloor, Cochin - 682017 |
07-NOV-2013 |
| 7 | Delhi Stock Exchange Ltd.,The
Address: DSE House, 3/1, Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi - 110002 |
PERMANENT |
| 8 | Gauhati Stock Exchange Ltd.,The
Address: Saraf Building Annexe, A T Road, Gauhati - 781001 |
30-APR-2013 |
| 9 | Inter-Connected Stock Exchange of India Limited
Address: International Infotech Park, Tower 7, 5th Floor, Sector 30, Vashi, Navi Mumbai - 400703 |
17-NOV-2014 |
| 10 | Jaipur Stock Exchange Ltd | 08-JAN-2015 |
| 11 | Ludhiana Stock Exchange Ltd.,The
Address: Feroze Gandhi Market, Ludhiana - 141001 |
27-APR-2014 |
| 12 | MCX - Stock Exchange Limited
4th Floor, Vibgyor Tower, Plot No C 62, G Block, Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Bandra (E), Mumbai - 400051 |
15-SEP-2015 |
| 13 | Madhya Pradesh Stock Exchange Ltd
Address: Palika Plaza, Phase II, 201, 2nd Floor, MTH Compound, Indore - 452001 |
PERMANENT |
| 14 | Madras Stock Exchange Ltd.
Address: P O Box no 183, New No: 30 (old No: 11) Second Line Beach, Chennai - 600001 |
PERMANENT |
| 15 | Magadh Stock Exchange Ltd.
"SEBI vide order dated September 3, 2007 refused to renew the recognition granted to Magadh Stock Exchange Ltd." |
|
| 16 | National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.
Address: Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (East) Mumbai 400051 |
PERMANENT |
| 17 | OTC Exchange of India
Address: 92, Maker Towers 'F', Cuffe Parade, Mumbai - 400005 |
22-AUG-2014 |
| 18 | Pune Stock Exchange Ltd
Address: Shivleela Chambers, 752, Sadashiv Peth, RB Kumthekar Marg Pune - 411030 |
01-SEP-2014 |
| 19 | The Vadodara Stock Exchange Ltd.
Address: Fortune Tower, Sayajigunj, Vadodara - 390005 |
03-JAN-2015 |
| 20 | U.P. Stock Exchange Limited
Address: Padam Towers, 14/113, Civil Lines, Kanpur - 208001 |
02-JUN-2014 |
| 21 | United Stock Exchange of India Limited
Office no 3 to 6, 7th Floor, Arcadia Building, 195,N.C.P.A Marg, Nariman Point, Mumbai-400021 |
21-MAR-2015 |
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