Social Sciences and Humanities

Micro-credit or micro finance is the extension of very small loans (micro loans) to the unemployed persons, to poor entrepreneurs, to households, to farmers and to others living in poverty who are often left out of the formal banking system, because of several reasons: their inability to provide collateral, the high risks in lending to them, the rigid formalities that are a part of the formal lending system and the high costs. As a result, the poor often have to resort to informal moneylenders, who charge high rate of interest and often exploit the situation.

The present research study elucidates on some socio-economic implications of Mahi dam project in the tribal district Banswara of Rajasthan (India). The dam induced impact should be assessed and addressed accordingly for the development of the larger marginalised groups like tribal population of India.  The research study carried out with the indigenous Adivasi people Bheel, Meena, Maida, Charpota, Garasia and Kataria tribes of dam irrigated areas that are in the process of witnessing later effect of dam construction.

The study is conducted to estimate growth rate of area, production and productivity and measure the contribution of different components to the growth rate of the major crops in Himachal Pradesh. The study is based on secondary sources of data covering the period from 1966-67 to 2006-07. The crops selected in the study are rice, wheat and maize. The growth rates are worked out for major crops by using exponential function. The contribution of area, yield and interaction to increase in production is worked out by using decomposition analysis.

The study is aimed at determining the perception of teachers in the use of information resources in libraries for the promotion of peace education in secondary schools in Nsukka education zone. Four research questions were formulated to guide the study.  The descriptive survey design was used. The population of the study included all the teachers involved directly in the teaching of peace education in senior secondary schools in Nsukka education zone which came to 208 teachers. No sampling was used.

The present study was conducted on Adjustment, Level of Aspiration, self-concept and Academic Achievement of Visually Handicapped School Children of Assam. The data were collected from a sample of 400 visually handicapped children 200 boys and 200 girls who were studying in the classes VI to X (age 12 to 16 years) in six visually handicapped schools of lower and upper Assam selected by using simple random technique. The descriptive survey method was used for data collection using (i)Adjustment Inventory standardized by A.K.P Sinha and R.P.

This paper examines the distribution of landholding in general and schedule and schedule tribes in particular in the state of Andhra Pradesh.  Data was collected from statistical abstracts, various issues of Report on SC and ST Land Holdings, Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES), Hyderabad and agriculture census in India and NSSO Report. The present study shows that even after 60 years of planned initiatives and policy measures, there have not been substantial improvement in the landholding status of scheduled groups in the state of Andhra Pradesh, it has declined further.

The study examined Principals’ Perception of classroom management effectiveness in Ondo State Public Secondary Schools with regards to classroom preparation, instructional preparation and presentation, and behavior management. Seventy two (72) principals were selected through purposive and proportionate random sampling techniques to reflect location, gender and experience. A self constructed questionnaire which was validated and subsequently subjected to test and retest method with a reliability coefficient of r= 0.77 was used.

The present study is concerned with factors determining women empowerment through micro enterprises. More specifically this study makes an attempt to analyze the enterprises activities in Salam District by covering five blocks. Further, the study has found that micro enterprises activities made enormous change in generation of employment, income, social mobility, communication skills, entrepreneurial skills and that ultimately resulted in women empowerment in Salem District.

There are numerous fashion designers of India which have distended into famous brands not only in the country but in the world which has given more improvement to the Indian fashion industry. Consumers’ attitude is changing with the present scenario, as the hoisting of tailoring costs and comparatively less charges of branded outfits; they are increasingly being attracted towards ready-mades. Ready-mades of specific brands have become not only a status symbol; these have brought a more latest style in offices as much as in social circles.

This research finds out if a significant difference exists between macroeconomic performance- (Gross Domestic Product, Inflation, Foreign Direct Investment and Trade Openness) as proxy during fixed and flexible exchange rate regimes in Nigeria. It adopts the Chow model,which is useful in determining whether two estimated functions are significantly different. Results show that there is a clear cut difference between macroeconomic performances during the two regimes.