Responsible Financing: International Standards and Transparency Trends in Doing Business

Responsible financing has ceased to act as a narrow niche of finance market and today it involves more and more responsible finance institutions and companies interested in access to responsible finance tools. The basic condition for responsible financing implies availability of full trustworthy information about non-financial figures of the potential project for investment. Thus non-financial accounting has become an integral element of the responsible financing development in the world. The authors analyze key effective international tools on responsible financing and revealing non-financial information. They give characteristics of stages in shaping the institution of responsible financing. Apart from that they study regulation of responsible financing and non-financial accounting in the EU and Russian law. Today on international finance market we can observe a considerable demand both for developing systems of non-finance accounting standards and harmonization of draft standards, as all accounting standard systems use one and the same notions. The article investigates as an example a recent initiative of MSFO concerning setting-up the Council on sustainability standards. However, we should state the absence of the standard concerning revealing non-finance information by companies in Russia. Proposals were put forward about the development of responsible financing in Russia by making-up legislation in this field.

Globalizing Regionalism and International Relations

Building on the recent initiative to truly globalise the field of International Relations, this book provides an innovative interrogation of regionalism.

Quality assessment of compost from Centralized windrow composter (CWC) and Source segregate automatic vessel composter (AVC) at Hyderabad city in India

Out of the millions of tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated annually in India, only about 75-80% of the waste gets collected and out of this, only 22- 28% is processed and treated, and the remaining is deposited indiscriminately at dump yards. Hyderabad city generates around 5500MT of waste every day. And only 20% of the waste is used for composting using the windrow composting process. MSW composting is a rapidly growing method of solid waste management in Hyderabad and In-Vessel composting is the recent initiative by the Govt. of India to reduce the organic solid waste generated at the source. The present study was aimed to assess the degree of accumulation and contamination of the heavy metals in composts from Centralised Windrow Composter (CWC) and Source Segregated Accelerated Vessel Composter (AVC). Compost Samples from CWC and AVC were analysed for metals concentration using Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometers (ED-XRF). CWC samples were found with slightly high concentrations of heavy metals like Zinc (0.51 – 0.66%), Copper (0.36 – 0.45%), Nickel 0.03 – 0.05%), Iron (11.46 – 13.27%), and chromium (0.06 – 0.14%) compared to AVC. AVC samples contained high concentrations of Calcium (14.99 – 64.19%), Potassium (9.13 – 29.59%) and Phosphorous (1.55 – 3.43%) when compared to CWC. The current study does a comparative analysis on the process and nutrients available to assess the quality of the compost from both sources. Considering the above findings source segregated AVC seems to be a better composter than centralised CWC, as the concentrations of Ca, K, and P required by the plant were abundant in AVC. Also, considering the process aspect, there is always scope for cross-contamination if the waste is separated after treatment which is the case in CWC.

Evidencing competence in a challenging world. European higher education initiatives to define, measure and compare learning

The well-known tripartite expression, ‘Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand’, is a powerful expression of what still represents the struggle of learning, that is to make learners knowledgeable, skilled and therefore competent. The expression reflects well the basic concept applied in a recent initiative to measure and compare learning in higher education in Europe. This paper outlines the philosophy of the CALOHEE project, the context in which it was set up, the phases distinguished and the process followed, the outcomes so far, the intended testing model and next steps.

Care Quality Commission consults on changes to regulatory inspection process

Emeritus Professor Alan Glasper, from the University of Southampton, discusses a recent initiative from the Care Quality Commission to fundamentally change its method of health and social care inspections

Optimal choice of the number and configuration of VLBI Global Observing System in India

<p>The need of the geodetic VLBI stations in South Asia region has been discussed and suggested for decades to have a uniform global VLBI network and relatively more accurate realisation of ITRF. With the recent initiative of National Centre for Geodesy, India, setting up of a few VLBI stations in the country is being proposed. India spans from latitude 8.4º N to 37.6º N and longitude 68.7º E to 97.25º E and encompasses a diversified topography with a plethora of geodynamical activities. Along with contributions to the international geodetic campaigns, we would like to choose the locations of these VGOS stations so that these can be an aid to the Indian geodetic infrastructure along with several other studies of national importance. For multitude of reasons, the prospective sites for establishing VGOS stations in India are: 1) IIST Ponmudi campus, 2) Mt. Abu Observatory, PRL, 3) IIT Kanpur and 4) NE-SAC, Shillong. The approximate longitudinal extent of 20º and latitudinal extent of 18º between these prospective sites are worth exploiting for determining the angle of the Earth rotation (dUT1) and polar motion, respectively. In this study, we present the comparison results of the solutions with and without additional VGOS station in India. For this, we first generated an optimised schedule for a classical VGOS/R1 session, using VieVS, with existing stations using the comparatively more important optimisation criteria (duration, sky-coverage, number of observations and idle time) and corresponding weight factors. The simulation result of the best schedule is kept as our reference solution. With respect to this reference network, we further generated optimised schedules by including the prospective stations from India (different combinations of the four proposed stations). We present our analysis due to change in network geometry, and therefore, we compare the variations in the repeatability values of the estimated EOPs with the addition of VGOS station(s) in India.</p>

Prioritization of important factors towards the status of industry 4.0 implementation utilizing AHP and ANP techniques

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to visualize the priorities of important factors towards the status of Industry 4.0 implementation in Indian manufacturing industries by utilizing the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and analytic network process (ANP) techniques.Design/methodology/approachBased on a review of relevant literature, the authors recognized four criteria and 16 critical factors that have been validated by academic and industry experts. AHP and ANP models are then developed to evaluate the requirements and essential elements of the Industry 4.0 implementation. The outcomes were validated with the aid of sensitivity analysis.FindingsThe above models offer the industry a clear and straightforward way to understand the critical factors in the status of Industry 4.0 implementation. The two techniques have emerged to be influential in deciding the status of Industry 4.0 implementation. The two methods yielded almost identical outcomes. Both methods take into account the industry's specific needs based on their available capacity.Practical implicationsDecision-makers and specialists will use the strategies discussed in this paper to effectively include the implementation status of Industry 4.0 in their industries, based on their ability to make arrangements for proper implementation of Industry 4.0 and to concentrate on top priority factors when implementing Industry 4.0 at their workplace.Originality/valueThe contribution of this research is that it is the first to be carried out with a view to both AHP and ANP to analyze important factors regarding the implementation status of Industry 4.0 and authentication through sensitivity analysis methods; this is a recent initiative in Industry 4.0.

Depression: Improving Health Processes and Outcomes Through Implementation Science Research in China

Despite widespread recognition of the importance of mental health, services for assessment and treatment, in the People’s Republic of China, cannot currently meet the need. In this paper, we discuss the challenges associated with developing and validating evidence-based approaches to depression, including inertia and the need for culturally valued research. The potential role of implementation science is discussed in relation to the need for assessment and treatment of depression, and a recent initiative to fund and foster implementation research is detailed. The potential values of implementation research are highlighted, and several examples of projects are described to detail the scope of such work. We conclude with recommendations for further improvements of funding for mental health research in China. While we recognize several challenges to this initiative, we recommend further implementation science research to help meet the social need of mental health problems.

Behavioural and Psychological Factors That Influence the Usage of Formal Financial Services Among the Low Income Households

The emerging economies need to frame and implement effective financial inclusion policies for sustainable development and growth. Recent initiative of India that every Low Income Households (LIHs) has a bank account is a sweeping success; but the flipside is that half of these accounts are either inactive or less active, which raises concern. In this context, this research attempts to identify the behavioural and psychological factors that influence the usage of formal financial services (FFS) among LIHs in India. Theory of Planned Behaviour is used as the base theoretical model, in which ‘Habit’ was introduced as a moderating variable that interacts with Behavioural Intention to influence Actual Usage. Data was collected from 253 respondents and analysed using SmartPLS 3.0. This study revealed that the exogenous variables Attitude, Subjective Norms, Perceived Behavioural Control positively influenced the intention to use FFS; moreover, Habit negatively moderated the BI-AU relationship. Therefore, the policy makers on financial inclusion drive may consider these identified factors in their mission to improve the usage of FFS among LIHs, and to curtail the informal or alternative financial services.