Studies on Some Aspects of Landings,Utilization and Export of Commercially Important Cephalopods

In the present study two aspects of cephalopod fishery such as (i) landings and (ii) utilization including export of cephalopods from Indian are dealt with. Under the topic landings, craft, both traditional and mechanized and fishing techniques employed for capturing cephalopods are discussed. General trend in cephalopod landing in India and particularly south west coast, species composition, description and geographic distribution of important species of cuttle fishes, squids and octopus and the distribution and abundance of cephalopods along the continental shelf of the south west coast are also discussed. Some biological aspects like population parameters, maturation and spawning, food and feeding of the two representive species of cuttle fishes and squid viz, Sepia pharaonis and Loligo duvauceli are studied.Under utilization, general handling and processing of various frozen cephalopods products for exports and commercial operation in a typical plant are studied. The export of cephalopod products since its commencement is studied in detail and market strategy for enhancing the export are suggested.

Investigations on Hard Bycatch Reduction Devices for Selective Trawling

In the context of Indian fisheries there is a paucity of information on bycatch, in general, and bycatch reduction technologies, in particular. In this study, a detailed investigation on trawl bycatch and bycatch reduction measures is attempted with a view to evolve optimized BRDs for improving selectivity of commercial shrimp trawls. The objectives of the study included design and development of hard bycatch reduction devices (BRDs), comparative evaluation of hard bycatch reduction devices, for selective trawling, bycatch characterisation of the trawl landings, off Central Kerala; and investigations on status of the existing trawling systems operated off Central Kerala.

Power Profile of Effective Managers: An Exploration among the Branch Managers of a Commercial Bank in Kerala

Managers are central to any fuction in a complex and developed society. Their talents are reckoned to be cardinal in developed economies and a basic yearning of all developing economies.In order to survive and produce results in a turbulent and transient environment, the task is to understand the nature of factors contributing to managerial effectiveness. This study is an attempt towards this core issue of the present from a different perspective. This study tries to focus attention on a group of managers functioning in the field of banking, a core sector in the country's economy. The gamut of economic activities in Kerala being predominantly service-oriented, importance of commercial banking is almost indisputable. Though economists would argue that the disproportionate development of service sector is anomalous when viewed against the hazy scenarios in the primary and secondary sectors of the state’s economy, the extent and pace of growth in the banking sector has had its dole meted out by ambitious and productive managers fiinctioning in the field. Researcher’s attempt here is to thresh the grain and chaff among bank managers in terms of their effectiveness and to account for the variations in the light of their ability to affect the thoughts and actions of their subordinates. To put it succinctly, the attempt herein is to explain the effectiveness of bank managers in the light of their ‘Power Profile’ taken to be comprising Power Differentials, Power Bases, their Visibility and Credibility in the organisation and, the Power Styles typically used by them for influencing subordinates.

Personnel Management Practices in the Kerala based Scheduled commercial Banks

The thesis entitled Personnel Management Practices in the Kerala-Based Scheduled Commercial Banks. Personnel management function is of cardinal importance, requiring a sophisticated and scientific approach. In a labour-intensive, service industry like banking. Productivity and ultimate profitability of the entire organization depend considerably on the effectiveness with which personnel management function is executed; and the prudence with which personnel problems are handle. The main objectives of the study are to understand the current status of personnel management functions in the banks and to evaluate the practices in the light of the principles and theories of personnel management so as to identify the strengths and weaknesses. The universe of this study is the eight Scheduled Commercial Banks based in Kerala. The major limitation of the study is that as State Bank of Travancore, the lone public sector bank based in Kerala did not grant permission for collection of data, this study had to be confined to private sector banks only. Almost the entire data used for this study are primary and were collected from the files and other records or the concerned banks. This report has chapters dealing with the functional areas of personnel management such as determination of human resource requirements, recruitment and selection, training and development, performance appraisal, promotions and compensation. Findings reveal that the practice of personnel management in the Kerala-based private sector scheduled commercial banks has not gained a degree of sophistication compatible with its role in modern business management.

Studies on the physiology of moulting in the penaeid prawn, penaeius indicius h. Milne edwards

Penaeid prawns form the most economically significant group in the marine and brackishwater fishery resources of India. This particular group contributes about 62% of the total prawn landings of the country. At present prawns have assumed an important place especially as a commodity supporting an export trade of sizable magnitude. Considerable interest has been shown in the last decade to increase prawn production through various culture practices, mainly due to the high demand for good quality prawns for export coupled with the stagnant and even depleting nature of marine catches. Available informations suggest that among the 15 species of shrimps and prawns occurring in Indian waters, which are deemed suitable for aquaculture, the Indian white prawn §.indicus is identified as one of the most important commercial species. Considering the increasing importance as an accepted species for prawn culture, £.indicus was selected for the present study. In the life history of prawns, moulting is an important event, which enables the animal to achieve growth. This dynamic physiological event continues through out the life span ofthe prawn, linking almost all biological activities with this process. Hence, a good knowledge pertaining to the physiology of moulting is imperative to understand the growth process. This knowledge will be of great use in the scientific prawn farming, so as to achieve high prawn production.

"|mpact of trawling on sea bottom and its living communities along the inshore waters of southwest coast of India'’

Mechanized fishing started in Indian waters in mid —fifties and large-scale operation of trawl fishing began in the mid sixties by the surfeit of individual entrepreneurs. The southwest coast of India especially the coastal waters of Kerala are the most productive area in the subcontinent and the state has been in the forefront in marine fish production (Kurup, 2001a). Though the coastline of Kerala is one tenth of the coastline of India, the state occupies the foremost position in the marine fish production of the country, accounting for more than 30% of the marine fish landings (Thomas, 2000). The coastal waters of Kerala have rich and diversified fishery resources, which are prone to heavy exploitation by a unprecedently high number of fishing gears, among them, mechanized bottom trawlers with a numerical strength of 4550 (Kurup, 2001a) against the permissible number of 1145 (Kalawar, et al., 1985) are the most destructive. Trawling operations during monsoon periods in Kerala has been a subject of controversy between traditional fishermen and trawl fishers on a subject that trawl fishing destroys large amount of juveniles and young ones of fishes since this period is the major breeding season of most of the fish and prawns (John, 1996). Therefore Government of Kerala imposed a ban on bottom trawling activities from 1988 onwards for a period varying from 21-70 days, which usually commences from June 15th. Though many studies revealed that large amount of non-target groups were destroyed in the commercial trawl fishing in the Indian waters, no concerted study has been conducted so far to evaluate the real impact of bottom trawling on the sea bottom and its living communities. The present study was conducted to assess the impact of excessive bottom trawling exerted on the sea bottom habitat and its living communities, which would be useful in impressing up on the seriousness of habitat degradation and biotic devastation, enabling the concerned to adopt relevant conservation and management steps to conserve the resources for sustainable exploitation

Haematology of some marine and estuarine molluscs of commercial importance

It is well known that under certain conditions, populations of oysters and clams are susceptible to destructive epizootics caused by pathogenic micro-organisms. It has also been shown that exposure of mammals to certain heavy metals causes increased susceptibility to and severity of microbial infections (Koller, 1980). Consequently, pollutants that affect haemocyte viability or interfere with internal defence functions of the haemocytes which are considered as the major means of defence in moliuscs against invading foreign organisms and pathogens (Cheng, 1981) may have profound effect on long term survival of molluscan populations. All these justify the significance of the present study in the context of the current status on molluscan culture programme, and how the data on molluscan haematological studies .could be taken as the reliable criteria for pollution monitoring studies.

Energetics 0f A Few Marine Crustaceans

Success achieved in seed production and culture of prawns induced researchers to explore the feasibiltiy of culture of other important crustaceans like lobsters and crabs. The CMFRI initiated a project to study the prospects of spiny lobster’ culture and I was associated with this project from the beginning. Compared to shrimp farming, culture of spiny lobsters is an entirely different proposition due to inherent problems in producing their seeds. The emphasis on .obster culture, therefore, shifted to rearing of juvenile lobsters, which form a major portion in commercial lobster landings in India. Commendable success was achieved in enhancing growth rate of four important speices of spiny lobsters by bilateral eyestalk ablation. But due to strong reservations expressed against the "blinding" of lobsters by people from all walks of life, this technique could not be tested commercially for its economic viability. As in prawns, energetics of reproduction and egg development have not yet been documented in spiny lobsters and so these aspects were included in this study. Though some limited informations on food conversion efficiency are availble in spiny lobster, a detailed study on the effect of size and sexual maturity on food conversion was wanting and this also was included in this investigation. The most dominant spiny lobster in south east and south west coast of India, Panulirus homarus (Linnaeus) was selected for this study. Uptake, accumulation and utilization of minerals and trace elements are important events during embryogenesis of aquatic invertebrates. The scope of this study was widened to include these aspects also in order to understand how specific requirements of minerals and trace elements are met in the developing eggs of these two species of crustaceans.

Role Of Commercial Banks In The Financial Inclusion Programme

Commercial banks play a vital role in the economic development of a country like India. Indian economy in general and banking services in particular have made rapid strides in the recent past. However, a sizeable section of the population, particularly the vulnerable groups, such as weaker sections and low income groups, continue to remain excluded from even the most basic opportunities and services provided by the financial sector. To address the issue of such financial exclusion in a holistic manner, it is essential to ensure that a range of financial services is available to every individual

Behavioural Competency Management with special reference to Commercial Banks headquartered in Kerala

This study aims to analyze, compare and contrast the behavioral competency of officials in commercial banks headquartered in Kerala. This is done by analyzing the soft skills/behavioral skills possessed by an individual employee in both clerical and managerial levels and the means adopted to enhance their said skills in near future. The study was conducted with the objective of analyzing the behavioral competency of the managers and clerical staff in the commercial banks headquartered in Kerala. The researcher has gone through the available literature with respect to employee competency, job satisfaction and employee performance evaluation to formulate the problem and conceptualize the framework of the study. The study concluded that the competency of the employees differs from one bank to the other but strengthening the employees’ competency is the only possible solution by which the banks can determine their future growth prospects. Only through competency, banks can achieve high level of performance especially under the globalised situation.