Archives-February 2013

The company is operating in a society; it cannot stay away from the social issues. The society provides both customers and resources to fulfil the business objectives of the corporate companies. So, companies should serve for society by fulfilling corporate social responsibility. Our business doesn't exist in isolation nor is it simply a way of making money. Our employees depend on our business. Customers, suppliers and the local community are all affected by our business and what we do. Our products, and the way we make them, also have an impact on the environment.

The major challenges in automatic multimodal image registration are the in consistency in intensity (or) contrast patterns and the existence of non overlapping regions between images. Also presence of high non-homogeneous image contrast makes it very difficult to compare the image contents. The proposed method is using a phase representation derived from Dual Tree Complex Wavelet Transform as similarity metric for registering multimodal images. This method uses a transformation that minimizes the residual error between phase representations of two multimodal images. Sub pixel level local optimization techniques are used to improve the stability in handling situations like small initial overlapping between images. This method has been tested on various multimodal images. This technique has better accuracy than existing registration techniques even in the presence of image non-homogeneity and inconsistency in intensity patterns.

Flood has today become a major disaster ravaging communities in different parts of the world, especially those lying around the banks of rivers. But most importantly, flooding occurs when the natural waterways are obstructed due to human quest for “development”. However, Physical Planning Agencies as well as many communities are now becoming more aware of the need to embrace best environmental management practices in order to avert the recurring colossal damages of flooding. Therefore, this paper set out to evaluate the physical planning measures adopted in controlling flooding in Kubwa town of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. In order to achieve this, a direct interview session was held with the representative of the Development Control Department (DCD) of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) and also, a total of 100 questionnaires were administered on household heads or their representatives-representing 20% of the about 500 houses that were affected by the 2009 flooding. The primary data obtained was subsequently analysed using the descriptive statistical methods and the result revealed that the FCDA is to blame for granting legal titles for developers to build on the flood plain of river Usuma; this is because 60% of the houses submerged by the 2009 flooding have either C of Os or statutory right of occupancy. Owing to this therefore, the paper recommended that the FCDA should take a major step in addressing the situation through the enforcement of physical planning policies and the sensitization of the members of the public on how best to ensure a flood-free society by embracing environmental best practices.

The importance of qualitative housing units and by extension, the general environment on the life of individuals, communities and even nations at large, can never be over-emphasized. But unfortunately, achieving these have become nearly impossible, especially in the third world countries, despite the adoption of various national and international policy frameworks like Agenda 21 and the UN Habitat II. Thus, human settlements have become the avenues through which the physical environment is abused and misused to the detriment of the present and future generations. Among the chief problems bedevilling human settlements is the non implementation of development plans leading to the poor state of housing units and the surrounding environment, which in one way or the other, affects the residents psychologically and health-wise. Therefore, this paper assessed the relationship between housing quality and neighbourhood types in the relatively new formal and informal neighbourhoods of Minna. In order to achieve this, four neighbourhoods were randomly selected from each of the formal and informal areas. Consequently, a total of 97 questionnaires (representing 10% of the total population i.e. the housing units) were proportionally administered and the phi-coefficient technique of hypothesis testing was employed. The result of this showed that there is no statistically significant relationship between neighbourhood types and housing quality, i.e. the housing and environmental conditions of the selected formal and informal residential neighbourhoods are not statistically significantly different. Therefore, the paper recommended the computerisation of all land titles and documents in Minna in order to have a comprehensive data bank on land matters. It also recommended the development of a more pragmatic housing policy and programme where resources from both the public and private sectors would be mobilized in order to massively improve the conditions of the existing housing stock as well as the construction of new ones.

Multimodal Image Fusion techniques combine information from different sensors together to produce a more accurate and efficient representation which is more useful for further analysis. A Multi resolution based Multimodal Image Fusion Algorithm is this paper, an automatic algorithm based on multi resolution technique for fusing multimodal images is proposed. The multimodal images are decomposed using the Dual Tree Complex Wavelet Transform and Contourlet Transform and they are fused using some efficient and robust fusion rules. Finally, they are reconstructed using the Inverse transform and a new fused image with more information content is obtained. The basic idea of all multiresolution fusion schemes is motivated by the human visual system being primarily sensitive to local contrast changes, e.g. the edges or corners. These techniques also provide better directional information. The DT-CWT and Contourlet Transform methods are good at faithfully retaining the salient structural information present in both the multimodal images.

This paper presents the results of a survey questionnaire that was administered to sample, to investigate those factors that are enormously influencing patriotism among Pakistani youth. In this regard related literature was reviewed and required data was collected from the sample of 84 with the help of questionnaire. Sample consists of young students of various educational levels as well as teachers. The study shows that these factors are not only essential for the stability and serenity of Pakistan but are also facilitative in order to impart loyalty, devotion, dedication and love for the nation in the hearts of Pakistani youth.

This article aims to make a better understanding of the effective construction techniques in Iranian sustainable and historical water monuments and to present their efficient functions, which utilizes natural resources without the consumption of additional power. This is indeed important as energy saving and sustainability concealed in such constructions are significant issues in contemporary architecture. The present article targets at studying the Iranian artisanship involved in the construction of the structures which utilize the power of water as well as the cultural aspects of a traditional architecture that incorporates an understanding of constructions that date back centuries. Expanding the existing knowledge of these heritage properties and explaining their current condition in order to express the need for the preservation of ancient artisanship as part of a sustainable conservation future are the other prominent concerns of this work. Iran is located in an arid, semi-arid region. Due to the unfavorable distribution of surface water, to full water demands and fluctuation of yearly seasonal streams, Iranian people have tried to provide a better condition for utilization of water as a vital matter. This paper intends to acquaint the readers with some of the famous Iranian historical water monuments.

Present paper studies the operational behavior of major part assembly system of an automobile incorporating human error. The system consists of eight main units namely: Engine, transmission, fuel supply system, fuel ignition system, exhaust system, cooling system, brake system and build. The whole system can fail due to failure of any of the units. The system satisfies the usual conditions like perfect repair, joint distributions etc. Each operative unit has a constant failure rate but a general repair time distribution. We transform the basic equation into integro differential equation and outline the solution procedure for a repair time distribution with Laplace transform. The transitional state probabilities, asymptotic behaviour and some characteristics such as reliability, availability, MTTF and the cost effectiveness of the system have been obtained using a time dependent version of the supplementary variable method and Gumble-Hougaard copula methodology. At last, some particular cases and numerical examples have been taken to describe the model.

Basel II initially published in June 2004, was intended to create an international standard for banking regulators to control how much capital bank need to put aside to guard against the types of financial and operational risks bank faces. Basel II attempted to accomplish this by setting up risk and capital management requirement designed to ensure that a bank has adequate capital for the risk the bank exposes itself to through its lending and investment practices. This paper helps in detailed study about the Basel II and also helps in to find out the relationship between capital adequacy, non performing assets and net profits of some selected private and public sector banks. This paper also explores the effect on Net profit due to change in Capital Adequacy ratio and non Performing Assets.

Prime Minister for India recently on 63rd Independence day addressing the nation from Red Fort said we need a new culture of energy conservation, since our natural resources are limited. India spent Rs. 3,40,572 cr. Excess Energy (8% loss in GDP) in 2007 compared to U.K. & Denmark. There was a saving of Rs. 65,000 cr. in 2007 by improving energy efficiency and energy conservation methods. India is facing energy shortage 12%-14% and peak power shortage of about 16%. GOI programmed 78,000 mw edition in 11th Plan. Hence energy shortage may be low in future by 12th Planning Ending. Direct loss on this account has been assessed to Rs. 43,205 cr. (1% loss in GDP) in 2008-09. This has posited the opportunity cost of the power shortage to a hopping some of Rs. 2,89,000 cr. i.e., (6% loss in GDP)., thus 15% loss in our National GDP of around Rs. 42,00,000 cr. has to be reduced. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Russia, Canada, Indonesia, US., China, South Koria, have to improve energy conservation and energy affiances for better environment, since the energy intensity is from 0.419 to 0.194 kgoe for 1 US $ GDP in PPP Terms against UK at 0.115 kgoe.