Navigating moral grey areas: the evolution of ethical justification across time in the Indian context

Historical returns, though they do not guarantee future returns and investment objectives often influence investment decisions of investors. Though there may be other factors such as investment style of fund managers, fund size and nature of ownership of Asset Management Companies etc which might affect the performance of funds the investors often ignore as these have been grey areas for them. It has been the dilemma of investors and fund managers whether size affects performance of mutual funds and this issue has been little researched and not much of empirical evidence is available in the literature and hence this study. The principle of ‘Economies of Scale’ is not an exception to the field of finance and investment. If the fund size is sufficiently large, the Fund Manager would have liquidity, flexibility for timing his investment decisions and stock selection. Further, it gives added advantage of reducing transaction costs due to bulk transactions. The study focuses on empirically researching whether fund size affects performance of open end equity/growth mutual funds in the Indian context. 22 Open end, Equity Mutual Fund schemes having at least three years track record were only considered for the study and the time period chosen is 3 years (1st April 2006 to 1st April 2009). The sample of 22 Equity/Growth Funds have fund size varying from Rs.9.57 crores to Rs. 2472.36 crores and they have been classified as Micro-, Small-, Medium- and Large sized funds. Correlation coefficients between fund size and the four parameters of performance (Return, Risk, Return/Risk, Sharpe Ratio) have been computed to assess the degree of relationship between fund size and performance of select Equity/ Growth funds. Covariance of Fund size and the four parameters of performance (Return, Risk, Return/Risk and Sharpe Ratio) have been computed to assess how the fund size and each of these parameters move together. Further, the concept of Momentum (Mass * Velocity), a popular concept in Physics and Mechanics, has been adapted in this study to introduce a new concept called ‘Fund Momentum’ which is computed by the product of Fund Size and CAGR. The Fund Momentum signifies ‘wealth generated’ by the fund for its unit holders if the Fund Momentum is positive, while negative Fund Momentum indicates ‘erosion of wealth’ of the unit holders. Two more new concepts have been introduced in the form of ‘Return per Fund Size Quotient’ and ‘Risk per Fund Size Quotient’ to ascertain the Return and Risk per unit of fund size. All the performance parameters (Return, Risk, Return per Risk, Return per Fund size Quotient, Risk per Fund size Quotient and Sharpe Ratio) were negative as the Stock Market Return for the period of study (1st April 2006 to 1st April 2009) was negative. From the Hypothesis testing, it is clear that the correlation coefficients of fund size and performance variables are not significant and also the Null Hypotheses were not rejected. There is no conclusive evidence that the fund size affects performance of equity/growth funds, be it micro-, small-, medium- and large sized funds.

This study tries to give the evidences of companies which manipulate their earnings through financial shenanigans. Financial shenanigans are the gimmicks used to misrepresent the financial statement through wrong accounting practices and cleverly changing the accounting policies to show a better financial health of companies when actually they do not have sound financial health. This study specifically gives evidence of companies which were using aggressive accounting practice to cheat the investors and other stakeholders. This study also states the measures to be taken by investors or analysts while analysing the financial statement. This study has also given a case study of Indian Oil Corporation as an illustrative purpose. In this study some advanced models like M score and Z score are used to predict possibility of earnings management and financial distress of companies. This study finds empirical evidence that companies are cleverly manipulate the accounting GAAPs to misrepresent the company’s position and fulfil the expectation of the stakeholders. This study specifically analyses the warnings signs to be checked with a case study of IOCL. Though this study we conclude that up to a certain extent we can predict the financial distress of companies and take measures accordingly to save us from financial loss. The findings of the study also suggest the companies to use these techniques to know about their real position and take appropriate decisions to save company from collapse. The main purpose of the study to apply the advance measures of financial statement analysis in Indian context as there are very few studies have been done and some area are still remain as grey area like study of the Indian corporate which are likely to be earnings management through wrong accounting practices.

Over the past two decades, veganism has evolved from a niche dietary choice into a globally recognized ethical and social identity, warranting in-depth scholarly attention. This review brings together anthropological perspectives to show that vegan identity is a powerful moral challenge to systems of domination. Here, theoretical framework draws heavily upon Social Ecology (Bookchin), which asserts that the exploitation of animals is fundamentally rooted in social hierarchy, and Jane Goodall's Principle of Continuity, which provides the ethical basis for rejecting the outdated human/animal dualism by affirming shared sentience. This framework establishes that the choice to go vegan is an act of moral reconstruction, moving beyond private health to public political commitment. The construction of this identity involves complex social processes. The review examines how ethical boundaries are constructed: individuals engage in inward moral self-fashioning and outwardly perform this identity through deliberate boundary work—rejecting culturally central symbols like milk and meat, as well as other animal products due to their association with cruelty. In the Indian context, this identity further challenges historical caste-based purity norms, creating a rupture with inherited cultural practices. These boundaries and the identity itself are heavily performed and sustained in the digital sphere. Online platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp and YouTube serve as key arenas for expressing vegan values, networking, and building imagined communities. This digital performance provides crucial social reinforcement for individuals navigating a non-dominant lifestyle, acting as a powerful tool for global advocacy. Ultimately, this anthropological perspective reveals that the emerging vegan identity offers a blueprint of hope and action for the planet. By rejecting the resource-intensive system of animal agriculture, it models structural change necessary for climate change mitigation and a solution to global food crises. By challenging the ethical justification for animal massacre, this identity aligns with the philosophical insight of Pythagoras: "As long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other." Thus, the cultural shift toward veganism is foundational for achieving a more compassionate, sustainable, and peaceful world.

Sarcocystis spp. are a group of tissue cyst-forming coccidia which infect a vast range of animals as well as human beings. Found frequently in animal carcasses at slaughter, undermining their value, they have also been found associated with clinical disease. Dogs and cats are involved in the transmission. Studies in India point to a vast reservoir of infection with high prevalence rates in various livestock species. However, there is a glaring paucity of reports on the horse and Sarcocystis of the camel has remained totally unexplored so far. At least two different Sarcocystis spp. can parasitize each livestock host species. Experimental transmission studies have provided additional parameters for distinguishing the species. The clinical symptoms are generally non-specific and diagnosis in the living animal, by the presently available means, is almost impossible. Immunodiagnosis till now is beset with problem of cross-reactivity. Treatment with anti-coccidials presently tried do not seem satisfactory. Of the two zoonotic species with cattle-man and pig-man cycles, only the latter seems of some significance in India due to backyard pig-rearing and slaughter practices. It is a paradox that despite high prevalence of S. suihominis in pigs, reports of human cases are limited. This and some of the existing grey areas of information in the Indian context, have been highlighted as also possible directions for future research.

Child labour has often been seen as a completely negative phenomenon. However, it lies in the midst of the moral, social and economic grey area. Although no one can deny the former assertion, the latter puts things into perspective and forces us to look at the other end of the spectrum, especially in the Indian context. This paper tries to break this negative taboo and uncover a fresh perspective where seasonal child labour can be a cure to the long-standing downsides of child labour in general. While there are several existing legislations to combat these downsides, they fail to look at the seasonal absence of a child from his educational pursuits. The pre-existing laws merely propose a blanket ban on the idea of children being involved in work. These provisions work at a national scale, but keeping in mind India's vast diversity, they miss their aim when it comes to seasonal dropouts on the grassroots level. This paper further explores foreign regulations to put forth a fresh policy prescription to address all possible downsides, which may seem evident from the newly suggested model promulgated by the authors.

Emerging markets face unique challenges of issues and business practices that border in the grey areas of questionable ethical norms, inadequate transparency in reporting relating to funding, financial transactions and in the appointment of business associates and partners. Market realities in emerging markets such as India impose unique challenges for organisations striving to practice their intent. Issues of governance, regulatory frameworks and transparency pose considerable roadblocks. This paper measures the perceptions of principal stakeholders, that is, corporate executives, purposively selected from across varied business sectors spanning the technology, manufacturing, consulting, financial services, consumer goods, NGOs and the educational sectors in emerging market context to identify factors and attributes considered as significant for corporate reputation (CR) building though they are not part of the reputation models developed for the western and developed markets context. The role of ethical values and practices, active boardroom management, ethical branding and corporate communication, organisation’s core values, innate culture and professed purpose and principles in CR and branding are found to be significant. The study shows that CR building is adversely affected by excessive focus on financial results and government regulations.

The book Intellectual Property Rights & Public Policy is rooted in the fact that creativity and innovation have been hall mark of knowledge economy. However despite there is an abundance of innovative energies flowing in India a conducive ecosystem to access to education, knowledge and health is far from reality. Being TRIPS compliant country, the equitable and dynamic IP regime with full potential of harnessing intellectual property for India's economic growth, socio-cultural development and promotion of public interest are distant goalposts. The pronouncement of National IPR Policy spelt out the public policy orientation but the need to create robust IP environment as stunning controversy thats spinning out of control needs to hardly emphasized. The book is an erudite compilation of renowned scholars in the field of intellectual property having implication of moulding public policy discourse in intellectual property law. The contributors of the volumes luminates grey areas of research by drawing diverse perspectives from academicians, judges and IP practitioners. The range of papers diverse from jurisprudence of intellectual property to cyber law, human right, access to food and medicine, biotechnology and law. The book investigates prospects as well as the challenges by encompassing theoretical and juridical dimensions in Indian socio-legal context. The consequences of IP institutional failures are unimaginable and pragmatic ending is unthinkable for any vibrant nation like India. The book is never before seen revelations and leading to a single impossible and inconceivable truth of being panacea for plagued public policy diametric but definitely an incredible collection in auguring healthy polemics of knowledge management. To lend appropriate credence to the subject the working of IP Laws and institutions is undertaken to hone out the strategy of IP Law reform in public policy paradigm in India. The outputs of the compilation can capture the attention of not merely legal academics, policy makers, and legal profession but also to IP practitioners, development planner and innovation activists.

American legal discourse on torture takes for granted some, usually all, of the following propositions, that make discussion of torture more difficult than it should be. Torture is assumed to present unusually difficult problems of definition, full of vague concepts, fine lines, gray areas, murky moral dilemmas, dirty hands. This vagueness is thought to be even more of a problem for the attendant concept of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. The legal sources of either prohibition are assumed to be dubious under American law. Prohibiting torture is, perhaps for these reasons, thought to require moral justification not necessarily required of other legal prohibitions discussed in legal scholarship. This moral justification, in turn, is thought to be quite difficult. The advocate of prohibiting torture must be prepared to analyze hypothetical situations in which torture might be appropriate, and the supposed presence of these hypothetical situations casts doubt on the moral justification of the prohibition. This Article demonstrates by contrast that the prohibition of torture is firmly established in American, let alone international, law. As legal concepts go, it is rather well-defined. Its reach may be understood through ordinary techniques of legal interpretation such as applications to common fact patterns. The moral appeal of prohibiting torture is intuitive, even a sort of obvious case for legal regulation, and calls for no special moral justification not required in the application of any fairly ordinary legal prohibition. It is neither necessary nor helpful to imagine highly unrealistic hypothetical situations in order to understand when, and how, law prohibits torture. It is a mistake in this context to give away the austerity of normal law for the vagaries of moral discourse.

Executive Summary This focal chapter deals with the understanding of important ethical theories used in executive moral reasoning such as teleology, deontology, distributive justice and corrective justice, virtue ethics versus ethics of trust, from the perspectives of intrinsic versus instrumental good, moral worth versus moral obligation, and moral conscience versus moral justification. Ethical and moral reasoning will power executives to identify, explore, and resolve corporate moral dilemma, especially in the wake of emerging gray market areas where good and evil, right or wrong, just or unjust, and truth and falsehood cannot be easily distinguished. We focus on developing corporate skills of awareness of ethical values and moral imperatives in current otherwise highly commoditized and turbulent human, market, and corporate situations. The challenges of morality are multifaceted and diverse. Professionals usually have self-discipline and self-regulation abilities, ego strength, and social skills. Morality in the professions is not concerned with the issues of rudimentary socialization; rather, the issues involve deciding between conflicting values, where each value represents something good in itself. There are problems in both knowing what is right, good, true, and just on the one hand, and on the other hand, in doing what is right and avoiding wrong, doing good and avoiding evil, and being fair and just while avoiding being unfair and unjust. Several contemporary cases will illustrate the challenging dimensions of ethical and moral reasoning, moral judgment and moral justification embedded in executive decision processes, and corporate growth and profitability ventures.

Tuberculosis related stigma attached to the adherence of Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) in West Bengal, India

paper. 1 For general arguments against an excessive philosophical preoccupation with epistemology, see Jacques Derrida, Dissemination (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981); John Gunnell, Between Philosophy and Politics (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1986); Mark Krupnick, ed., Displacement (Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1983); Paul Kress, "Against Epistemology," Journal of Politics 41, no. 2 (May 1979): 526-42. For specific arguments against foundationalism, see Richard Rorty, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1979); Richard Bernstein, Beyond Objectivism and Relativism (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983); Don Herzog, Without Foundations: Justification in Political Theory (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1985). It is worth noting the irony that even those most intent on repudiating epistemology on the grounds that traditional epistemological concerns involve claims altogether beyond the possibilities for human knowledge are themselves advancing epistemological claims.