A wide array of studies has been conducted on secured borrowings in the corporate sector but not much has been investigated on the unsecured loans. This study aims at the significance of unsecured and secured finance and its impact on the financial performance of Indian Food and Beverages sector.The Indian food and beverages industry comprises of 204 BSE listed companies available on the CMIE database for the period 1997 to 2007.The study finds out that in the capital structure of this sector the major source of funding is from internal reserves, followed by secured loans, unsecured loans, equity and lastly preference capital. The unsecured loan does not have any positive impact on the return on equity and growth of the sector. These results are consistent with the earlier findings that growth is not very high but mediocre as maximum funding is from internal reserves.

   In this paper an analysis on the dynamic relationship between Index Futures and Spot Index Volatility is carried out to ascertain the extent of influence that Index Futures hold over underlying (spot index). For this purpose relevant intraday data from 1st April 1995 – 12th June 2000 of S&P CNX NIFTY (50) is used to measure the level of volatility of spot Index during the pre-derivatives period. The second reference period is taken from 1st January 2001 – 31st December 2006 to determine the level of volatility during the post-derivatives period. This is followed by a comparative analysis of both the periods and the findings of the study decompose that there exists a significant correlation between index futures and underlying volatility (Spot Index) as the level of the volatility throughout the post-derivatives period witnessed considerable increase. The findings of this study corroborate and strengthen the results of many studies mentioned in the review

   Self Help Group (SHG) has emerged as the most successful strategy in the process of enhancing the living standard of economically and socially poor, especially those below poverty line (BPL). It is a small group of rural poor, voluntarily formed for mutual help, homogenous, autonomous and non-political can either formal or informal. It is viewed as a Community Based Organization that enables the members to maximize the utilization of their internal and external resources in a sustainable manner. The Tamil Nadu Corporation for development of women plays a vital role in the formation of SHGs at District level. Thus the innovative technology has been successful in economically and society empowering village community. In Nagappatinam the dynamic Self Help groups have definitely created a silent revolution and they have, in fact become a Women’s movement leading to their economic, social and political empowerment. Today this programme covers nearly 30 districts, 385 blocks and 12619 panchayats in Tamil Nadu. They have successfully mobilized savings to the tune of Rs.357 crores. The specific role of NABARD in promoting Self Help groups and supporting training and credit linkages is really laudable. It is gratifying to note that though SHGs the Women have acquired self confidence, economic independence and social status by entering into self employment activities in the villages

   This paper attempted to review the financial performance of Sundaram Clayton Limited which is a market leader in the field of air and assisted Brake actuation system for a wide range of commercial and earth moving vehicles in India. This study is based on secondary data collected from the annual reports of the company for the last 5 years. The collected data have been tabulated, analyzed and interpreted with the help of different financial ratios, Multivariate Discriminate Analysis (MDA) as developed by Prof. Altman and trend analysis. It was observed from the study of the company is performing well and the researcher has suggested about the use of debt which is very low currently and also concluded that the company has to take steps to improve the profitability...