Supply Chain Management and Distribution Centers Essay Example for Free

Supply Chain Management and Distribution Centers Essay 1. Wal-Mart has been able to achieve respectable leadership in the retail industry because of its focus on supply chain management. Discuss in detail the distribution and logistics system adopted by Wal-Mart. Ans : As the world’s largest retailer with net sales of almost $219 billion for the fiscal year 2002, Wal-Mart is considered a â€Å"best-in-class† company for its supply chain management practices. These practices are a key competitive advantage that have enabled Wal-Mart to achieve leadership in the retail industry through a focus on increasing operational efficiency and on customer needs Wal-Mart’s corporate website calls â€Å"logistics† and â€Å"distribution† the heart of its operation, one that keeps millions of products moving to customers every day of the year. Wal-Mart’s complete Supply chain is aligned to provide maximum value to its customers by Every day low prices in its Stores. Wal-Mart’s highly-automated distribution centers, which operate 24 hours a day and are served by Wal-Mart’s truck fleet, are the foundation of its growth strategy and supply network. In the United States alone, the company has more than 40 regional distribution centers for import flow and more than 140 distribution centers for domestic flow .When entering a new geographic arena, the company first determines if the area will be able to contain enough stores to support a distribution center. Each distribution center supports between 75 to 100 retail stores within a 250-mile area. Once a center is built, stores are gradually built around it to saturate the area and the distribution network is realigned to maximize efficiencies through a process termed â€Å"reoptimization†. The result is a â€Å"trickle-down† effect: trucks do not have to travel as far to retail stores to make deliveries, shorter distances reduce transportation costs and lead time, and shorter lead time means holding less safety inventory. If shortages do occur, replenishment can be made more quickly because stores receive daily deliveries from distribution centers. The company’s hub-and-spoke distribution network utilizes a system of manufacturer storage with customer pickup. No inventory is stored at Wal-Mart’s distribution centers. Wal-Mart’s fleet of 3,500 dedicated trucks and over 50,000 trailers are used to pick up goods directly from manufacturers’ warehous es, thus eliminating intermediaries and increasing responsiveness. The use of trucks raises transportation costs but is justified in terms of reduced inventory. Merchandise brought in by truck to distribution centers is sorted for delivery to stores within 24 to 48 hours. However, certain goods, such as automotive and drug products, are delivered directly to stores by suppliers. Wal-Mart, a pioneer in the logistics technique of cross-docking, also has store-specific orders packed and shipped directly to the store by the manufacturer. Because Wal-Mart’s fast, responsive transportation operations are such a major part of the company’s successful logistics system, great care is taken in the hiring, training, supervising, and assigning of drivers’ schedules and job responsibilities. From the onset of his retailing career, Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton recognized the importance of hiring experienced people and of building loyalty not only in his customers but also in his employees. The company hires only experienced drivers who have driven more than 300,000 accident-free miles and whom it believes will be committed to customer service. Its retail stores are considered important â€Å"customers† of the distribution centers. As stated in the â€Å"Private Fleet Driver Handbook† that each driver is given a copy of, drivers are expected to be â€Å"polite† and â€Å"kind† when dealing with store personnel and others. In addition to containing a driver’s code of conduct, the Private Fleet Driver Handbook gives instructions and rules for following pre-planned travel routes and schedules, the responsible unloading of a truck trailer at a retail store, and the safe-guarding of Wal-Mart’s property. For example, although drivers deliver loaded trailers in the afternoon and evening hours, a trailer can be brought to the store’s docks only at its scheduled unloading time. Because unloading is done at two-hour intervals during the night, a driver is expected to spend the night, returning to the distribution center at a pre-scheduled time with an empty trailer. Coordinators closely monitor the detailed records of each driver’s activities for adherence to rules. Violations are dealt with according to handbook procedures, which include employee education to prevent future occurrences of incorrect actions. By effectively managing every aspect of its transportation operations and treating its drivers fairly, Wal-Mart gets results that are unrivaled in the logistics arena. Rules are a key to consistency, which leads to preparedness, which then leads to proper execution. To gain maximum out of cross-docking, Walmart had to make fundamental changes in its approach to managerial control. The cross-docking system changed the practice of highly centralized decision at Corporate level.The system shifted the focus from â€Å"supply chain† to the â€Å"demand chain† which meant that instead of the retailer ‘pushing ‘products into the system; customers could ‘pull’ products, when and where they needed.

Sexual Harassment in America Essay -- Civil Rights Act

According to Webster’s online dictionary, it is believed that the phrase â€Å"sexual harassment† was coined at Cornell University in 1974 ("Sexual harassment," 2011). The phrase wasn’t, however, really used in common language until the testimony of Anita Hill against Clarence Thomas in 1991. Sexual harassment can take many different shapes and forms. According to a Fox News article, the sexual harassment claims made by men have increased twofold in the last twenty years ("Sexual harassment claims," 2010). Because sexual harassment is illegal both on a federal and state level in many states, there are steps that an individual and employer should take to prevent sexual harassment. On June 19, 1963, President John F. Kennedy sent an extensive Civil Rights legislation proposition to Congress ("Pre 1965: events," 2011). This proposed legislation faced fierce opposition in Congress. Five days after the assassination of President Kennedy, President Johnson spoke to Congress and told them that we have spoken of civil rights for too long and that it was time to put our country’s words into action. Kennedy’s legislation faced many legislative struggles that forced changes and compromises to ensure there would be no filibusters in the Senate that would kill the proposal. Despite all of the opposition, President Kennedy’s proposed Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 and was set into action the following year. The 1964 Civil Rights Act created the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, also known as the EEOC. One of the primary jobs of the EEOC is to uphold the rules and regulations that were laid out by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. According to the EEOC’s webpage, â€Å"Title VII covers private, most pu... ...r/shwork.asp Pre 1965: events leading to the creation of the EEOC. (2011). Retrieved August 15, 2011, from http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/history/35th/pre1965/index.html Sexual harassment. (2011). Retrieved on July 26, 2011, from http://www1.eeoc.gov//laws/types/sexual_harassment.cfm?renderforprint=1 Sexual harassment. (2011). Retrieved on August 15, 2011, from http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/Sexual%20Harassment?cx=partner-pub-0939450753529744%3Av0qd01-tdlq&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=Sexual%20Harassment&sa=Search#922 Sexual harassment claims filed by men doubled in last 20 years. (2010, March 04). Retrieved on August 15, 2011, from http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/04/sex-harassment-claims-filed-men-doubled-years/ Title vii of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (2011). Retrieved July 26, 2011, from http://www1.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm

Natural crime and legal crime

Crimes are generally acts carried out that are considered offensive to laws provided by a certain state. Crimes are necessarily defined by the statutes and the by the common law. First, we can say that crime always involves ‘conduct’ only if we stretch the meaning of that term so far as to empty it of substantial content (D. Husak, 1987). This suggests that we can, whether justly or not, be held criminally liable not merely for what we do, or fail to do, but for what we are, perhaps even for what we think or we intend (Robinson, P. H. 1997). On the other hand, one author suggests that â€Å"we must not, or must not yet, read ‘wrong’ here as morally wrong† (Dworkin, G., 1994).Some of these crimes were defined the law based   on the existing and generally accepted moral standards of a certain society while others are based only on a discretion on what is deemed proper for the benefit of the general public. These general types of crimes are called Mala in se, or that which is wrong in itself and Mala prohibita, which became only wrong after being defined by a certain statute (Simester, A. P., & Sullivan, G. R. 2000). We should the always remember that since not all crimes are defined according to moral standards, not all illegal acts, as defined by law are morally wrong. There are crimes that are not wrong in itself, based on the nature of the act, but are considered crimes and therefore are necessarily punishable, once they have been covered by the criminal law (Norrie, A. W. 1993).In discussing the difference between the two types of crimes, it is important that we first understood how these crimes are classified by law. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) crime index, these crimes is classified in thirteen general categories. First category consists of offenses against religion and public worship (blasphemy, disturbing public worship). Second category consists of offenses against the sovereign power (treason, misprision of treason).   Another category consists of offenses against a nation’s currency (counterfeiting, impairing currency). Crimes are also categorized according to offenses against public justice (bribery, perjury, prison-breaking, extortion, compounding felonies, etc.) and those against public peace (riots, unlawful assemblies, libel).Crimes are also classified according to offenses against public trade (cheats, forestalling, and monopoly, engrossing) and those related to chastity (sodomy, adultery, incest, bigamy and fornication). There are also crimes against decency and morality (public indecency, drunkenness, violating the grave) and those against public police and economy (common nuisances, vagrancy, and beggary). Gambling and illegal lotteries are crimes under public policy. Homicide, rape, poisoning with intent of murder, assault and battery, kidnapping and abduction are only few of the crimes classified under individual crimes. Crimes against private property include b urglary, arson, robbery, forgery and counterfeiting. Lastly, offenses against public persons include conspiracy (US Department of Justice, FBI 2006).Natural crimes or the so-called Mala in se are those crimes which have been criminalized because of their inherent wrongfulness and are usually based on moral standards. Examples of natural crimes include killing (murder), rape, arson or robbery. These are acts that are morally inacceptable and are inherently wrong (Dressler, J. 2001). These are acts that are necessarily punishable even in the absence of a law. Note that these acts involve harming others lives and properties which are morally wrong. Natural crimes therefore have the element of morality. Mala in se consists of conduct that wrong independently of the criminal law.In contrast, legal crimes which are also called mala prohibita are crimes that consist of conduct that is not wrong based on moral perspective or those which are not inherently wrong based on morality. They becom e wrong in the eyes of the law which define them as crimes. They only become wrong and thus become crime because of the prohibition of the law (Moore, M. S. 1993). Examples of these crimes are illegal parking, over speeding and probably of forgetting to bring your driver’s license with you when you go out of the house with your car.   In these examples, we cannot in anyway draw a moral element on which we can base the unacceptability of the acts.Parking at the side of the road which has a yellow line painted along it cannot be considered as morally wrong because it anyway, the act does not harm anyone at that same point.   However, it becomes illegal and therefore a crime because certain law defined it as it is. In certain instances, driving over a designated speed is a crime (legal crime) because there are existing laws that prohibits such acts (Fletcher, G. 1978). In the moral perspective, exceeding such designated speed is not morally wrong. In the same way, it is not immoral to forget or leave your driver’s license at home whenever you go out and drive. It is however a crime because a specific statute prohibits anyone to drive without a license.There are certain grounds on which we can draw clear lines between natural crimes (mala in se) and legal crimes (mala prohibita). In the context of Mala en Se crimes, judges are given less discretion under the â€Å"Rule of Law† because such behavior is presumed to be known and understood to be evil (Hart, H. L. A. 1994). Because these crimes are based on moral standards, it would be safe to assess that these acts were defined as crimes as largely influenced by the society’s religions. Killing and raping are acts against a fellow human being are religious perspectives generally views these acts as immoral and are necessarily unacceptable. Therefore, a judge holding such a case does not to have the strong discretion of identifying if the act is wrong or not. It is in this context that the old maxim of judges that â€Å"ignorance of the law excuses no one† can be appreciated (Dworkin, G. 1994).Closely related to the analysis made by other authors, Heath (1999) sees another aspect of crimes that defines the distinction between natural and legal crimes. That element, according to Heath is the victim. â€Å"In a mala en se crime such as assault the victim is the one who was assaulted, and the criminal is the perpetrator† (Heath, Hari 1999). On the other hand, Heath assessed that it is the defendant who is the victim in mala prohibita crimes.Again using the examples used earlier, illegal parking and over speeding were acts that does not necessarily harm anyone but in these cases, the person who did the acts are held liable and are therefore called criminals. In this case, the person turned out to be the victim. Because of the violation, the law enforcers will cause damages or harm to the criminal by imputing legal financial liabilities at least.On the pe rspective of this paper, it is argued that although there is the absence of morality in mala prohibita crimes, these are justifiable based on the intention of the law to create a more orderly and peaceful society. For example, over speeding may not harm anyone at glance, but this could possibly cause a driver to meet an accident and thus would harm him, properties and lives of others even without his intention. Illegal parking may not seem harmful to anyone at first but try to imagine if people can just park anywhere they want. Would it be a chaotic environment to cars in everywhere?Mala prohibita, for the purpose of this paper, do not at all suppress the freedom and liberty of anyone as some people see them. Mala prohibita laws are intended to set boundaries to human’s great possibility to exceed beyond what they ought to be. Humans have the tendency to act according to what they know is right and what benefits them the most. In certain cases, such acts are out of the consid eration of the welfare of others and that is what mala prohibita laws are intended to avoid.REFERENCESDressler, J. (2001). Understanding Criminal Law (3rd ed.), New York: LexisDworkin, G. (ed.) (1994). Morality, Harm and the Law. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.Fletcher, G. (1978). Rethinking Criminal Law. Boston: Little, Brown.Hart, L.A. (1994). The Concept of Law (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Heath, Hari (1999). Does North Idaho need more prisons? Idaho Observer, July 1999. Retrieved on January 26, 2008 from http://www.proliberty.com/observer/19990703.htmHusak, D. (1987). Philosophy of Criminal Law. Totowa, N. J.: Rowman & Littlefield.Moore, M. S. (1993). Act and Crime. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Norrie, A. W. (1993). Crime, Reason and History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.Robinson, P. H. (1997). Structure and Function in Criminal Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Simester, A. P., & Sullivan, G. R. (2000). Criminal Law: Theory and Doctrine. Oxford: Hart Pub lishing.Crime in the United States 2005. US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. September 2006. Retrieved on January 26, 2008 from http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/offenses/property_crime/arson.html Natural crime and legal crime Crimes are generally acts carried out that are considered offensive to laws provided by a certain state. Crimes are necessarily defined by the statutes and the by the common law. First, we can say that crime always involves ‘conduct’ only if we stretch the meaning of that term so far as to empty it of substantial content (D. Husak, 1987). This suggests that we can, whether justly or not, be held criminally liable not merely for what we do, or fail to do, but for what we are, perhaps even for what we think or we intend (Robinson, P. H. 1997). On the other hand, one author suggests that â€Å"we must not, or must not yet, read ‘wrong’ here as morally wrong† (Dworkin, G., 1994).Some of these crimes were defined the law based   on the existing and generally accepted moral standards of a certain society while others are based only on a discretion on what is deemed proper for the benefit of the general public. These general types of crimes are called Mala in se, or that which is wrong in itself and Mala prohibita, which became only wrong after being defined by a certain statute (Simester, A. P., & Sullivan, G. R. 2000). We should the always remember that since not all crimes are defined according to moral standards, not all illegal acts, as defined by law are morally wrong. There are crimes that are not wrong in itself, based on the nature of the act, but are considered crimes and therefore are necessarily punishable, once they have been covered by the criminal law (Norrie, A. W. 1993).In discussing the difference between the two types of crimes, it is important that we first understood how these crimes are classified by law. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) crime index, these crimes is classified in thirteen general categories. First category consists of offenses against religion and public worship (blasphemy, disturbing public worship). Second category consists of offenses against the sovereign power (treason, misprision of treason).   Another category consists of offenses against a nation’s currency (counterfeiting, impairing currency). Crimes are also categorized according to offenses against public justice (bribery, perjury, prison-breaking, extortion, compounding felonies, etc.) and those against public peace (riots, unlawful assemblies, libel).Crimes are also classified according to offenses against public trade (cheats, forestalling, and monopoly, engrossing) and those related to chastity (sodomy, adultery, incest, bigamy and fornication). There are also crimes against decency and morality (public indecency, drunkenness, violating the grave) and those against public police and economy (common nuisances, vagrancy, and beggary). Gambling and illegal lotteries are crimes under public policy. Homicide, rape, poisoning with intent of murder, assault and battery, kidnapping and abduction are only few of the crimes classified under individual crimes. Crimes against private property include b urglary, arson, robbery, forgery and counterfeiting. Lastly, offenses against public persons include conspiracy (US Department of Justice, FBI 2006).Natural crimes or the so-called Mala in se are those crimes which have been criminalized because of their inherent wrongfulness and are usually based on moral standards. Examples of natural crimes include killing (murder), rape, arson or robbery. These are acts that are morally inacceptable and are inherently wrong (Dressler, J. 2001). These are acts that are necessarily punishable even in the absence of a law. Note that these acts involve harming others lives and properties which are morally wrong. Natural crimes therefore have the element of morality. Mala in se consists of conduct that wrong independently of the criminal law.In contrast, legal crimes which are also called mala prohibita are crimes that consist of conduct that is not wrong based on moral perspective or those which are not inherently wrong based on morality. They becom e wrong in the eyes of the law which define them as crimes. They only become wrong and thus become crime because of the prohibition of the law (Moore, M. S. 1993). Examples of these crimes are illegal parking, over speeding and probably of forgetting to bring your driver’s license with you when you go out of the house with your car.   In these examples, we cannot in anyway draw a moral element on which we can base the unacceptability of the acts.Parking at the side of the road which has a yellow line painted along it cannot be considered as morally wrong because it anyway, the act does not harm anyone at that same point.   However, it becomes illegal and therefore a crime because certain law defined it as it is. In certain instances, driving over a designated speed is a crime (legal crime) because there are existing laws that prohibits such acts (Fletcher, G. 1978). In the moral perspective, exceeding such designated speed is not morally wrong. In the same way, it is not immoral to forget or leave your driver’s license at home whenever you go out and drive. It is however a crime because a specific statute prohibits anyone to drive without a license.There are certain grounds on which we can draw clear lines between natural crimes (mala in se) and legal crimes (mala prohibita). In the context of Mala en Se crimes, judges are given less discretion under the â€Å"Rule of Law† because such behavior is presumed to be known and understood to be evil (Hart, H. L. A. 1994). Because these crimes are based on moral standards, it would be safe to assess that these acts were defined as crimes as largely influenced by the society’s religions. Killing and raping are acts against a fellow human being are religious perspectives generally views these acts as immoral and are necessarily unacceptable. Therefore, a judge holding such a case does not to have the strong discretion of identifying if the act is wrong or not. It is in this context that the old maxim of judges that â€Å"ignorance of the law excuses no one† can be appreciated (Dworkin, G. 1994).Closely related to the analysis made by other authors, Heath (1999) sees another aspect of crimes that defines the distinction between natural and legal crimes. That element, according to Heath is the victim. â€Å"In a mala en se crime such as assault the victim is the one who was assaulted, and the criminal is the perpetrator† (Heath, Hari 1999). On the other hand, Heath assessed that it is the defendant who is the victim in mala prohibita crimes.   Again using the examples used earlier, illegal parking and over speeding were acts that does not necessarily harm anyone but in these cases, the person who did the acts are held liable and are therefore called criminals. In this case, the person turned out to be the victim. Because of the violation, the law enforcers will cause damages or harm to the criminal by imputing legal financial liabilities at least.On t he perspective of this paper, it is argued that although there is the absence of morality in mala prohibita crimes, these are justifiable based on the intention of the law to create a more orderly and peaceful society. For example, over speeding may not harm anyone at glance, but this could possibly cause a driver to meet an accident and thus would harm him, properties and lives of others even without his intention. Illegal parking may not seem harmful to anyone at first but try to imagine if people can just park anywhere they want. Would it be a chaotic environment to cars in everywhere?Mala prohibita, for the purpose of this paper, do not at all suppress the freedom and liberty of anyone as some people see them. Mala prohibita laws are intended to set boundaries to human’s great possibility to exceed beyond what they ought to be. Humans have the tendency to act according to what they know is right and what benefits them the most. In certain cases, such acts are out of the c onsideration of the welfare of others and that is what mala prohibita laws are intended to avoid.REFERENCESDressler, J. (2001). Understanding Criminal Law (3rd ed.), New York: LexisDworkin, G. (ed.) (1994). Morality, Harm and the Law. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.Fletcher, G. (1978). Rethinking Criminal Law. Boston: Little, Brown.Hart, L.A. (1994). The Concept of Law (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Heath, Hari (1999). Does North Idaho need more prisons? Idaho Observer, July 1999. Retrieved on January 26, 2008 from http://www.proliberty.com/observer/19990703.htmHusak, D. (1987). Philosophy of Criminal Law. Totowa, N. J.: Rowman & Littlefield.Moore, M. S. (1993). Act and Crime. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Norrie, A. W. (1993). Crime, Reason and History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.Robinson, P. H. (1997). Structure and Function in Criminal Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Simester, A. P., & Sullivan, G. R. (2000). Criminal Law: Theory and Doctrine. Oxford: Har t Publishing.Crime in the United States 2005. US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. September 2006. Retrieved on January 26, 2008 from http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/offenses/property_crime/arson.html

Bond Markets Essay Example Pdf - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 21 Words: 6433 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Argumentative essay Tags: Study Essay Did you like this example? Bond markets are one of the important sources of financing an enterprise, corporate and a business entity. Bond market is also called as debt,  credit, or  fixed income market. Bond market is a financial market with different participants buying and selling debt securities which are in the form of bonds. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Bond Markets Essay Example Pdf" essay for you Create order The size of the worldwide bond market is estimated at $82.2 trillion as of 2009 and the size of the outstanding U.S. bond market debt was $31.2 trillion according to BIS. Majority of the bond markets in the U.S. take place between  brokers and dealers along with the large institutions in a decentralized, over the counter market. However, only a small number of bonds and primarily corporate are listed on exchanges. In this study I am going to discuss about the bond markets and their importance to both developed and developing countries in building strong economy and what are conditions that are required for the development of strong bond markets. The study is equally discussed with the developing countries like India which has a very weak bond market and the countries like Hong Kong and United Kingdom which has a developed bond markets. We will also consider the feasibility and suitability of Bond markets being developed in India and what considerations need to be made. We will also take other factors in to consideration e.g. how the development of Bond Markets will help in financing a firm and how corporate governance can maintain effective regulation of the bond markets and keep an economy growing and stimulated. One of the important aspects of this research work is to find out the conditions that are essential for the development of bond markets and the factors that influence these conditions. Different research papers relating to bond markets are studied in order to find out the different conditions that are mentioned in their research papers. Data relating to different countries are collected, tabulated and presented in the forms of graphs in order to make the analysis part more easy and accuracy. Most of the bond markets refer government bond market due to its size, lack of credit risk, liquidity and sensitivity to interest rates. Interest rates are one of the important determinants of bond market since it is inversely related to the bond markets. Bonds A bond is a debt instrument that is issued for a specific period for the purpose of generating capital by borrowing. Different corporations, states and governments issues bonds along with the promise to repay the principal with the coupons on maturity date. Bond markets play the role of bridge between the issuers and investors. Classification of Bond Markets On the basis of the nature of market, nature of issuer and the issuance, bond market can be categorized into different classes. Primary and Secondary Bond Markets It is the market place where the new securities are placed for the first time by the issuer and the buyer directly purchases it from the issuance party. Up to 1970s, bonds were issued and investors hold them until they mature. Investors enjoyed the risk free returns because of the expected nature of free cash flows connected with bonds made them more striking. In late 1970s a new type of market came into being called secondary market. Investors got the chance to take advantage of difference in prices. It is also known as resale market where bonds that already issued by different companies exchanged among the investors and the issuance companies are not involved in it. Government Bond Markets According to many studies, governments are the largest issuer of bonds worldwide. Government bonds, also known as sovereign debts, play an important role in enhancing the liquidity of a bond market. These are the backbones of healthy domestic debt markets. Bond Market Instruments A large range of bonds are available in the open markets. Some types of bonds neither openly traded nor privately placed that are issued according to the terms of buyer. Some most popular bond markets are: Straight bonds Such types of bonds are also called debentures having the fixed income with specific interest payments on specific dates over specific period of time. The issuer is bound to pay predefined interest on bond at regular intervals and cash back the bond at its face value at its maturity time. Perpetual bonds The bonds having no maturity date and on which interest is paid forever are known as perpetual bonds. These bonds cannot be redeemed. Callable bonds Big and municipal corporations issues such kind of bonds and has the right to call back or buy back a part or all under specific conditions before maturity date. The main purpose of call is decline in interest rate. Zero-coupon bonds A bond having zero coupons but sell at lower price than the face value. Strips These securities have no coupon, sell on discount price and mature at face value. Floating rate notes These are bonds having variable coupons and interest is paid after 3 months, 6 months or annually by calculating it with market reference like LIBOR. Convertible bonds These are the bonds that can be changed into other securities like companys common stock. Junk bonds Hence the risk of default is more than compensated by high yields. These are also known as risky bonds because the interest rate on such bonds is very high and are used for speculative purpose. Catastrophe bonds These are insurance linked bonds having the purpose of generating money in any disaster like earthquake etc. These are not directly related to stock market and issuer have right not to pay interest and some time the principal amount as well. Some main concepts necessary for the study Literature Review Herring R,J. and Chatusripitak,N (Jan 2008) had made a study on bond markets and why there are underdeveloped when they are compared with bank and equity sector, they also investigated why there is an absence of a bond market in some countries. They also mentioned some appropriate policies for bond markets considering Thailand research example. At the beginning of there work a brief explanation about characteristics of financial intermediary was discussed as they form markets place for surplus agents deficit agents along with the reduced information cost transaction cost, reduced risk and the participants involved. They also made an empirical study on funds flow analysis and created a matrix between households, private sector firms, government, international sector for analysis and the results obtained from that shows the importance of multiple investments options for people and firm holding real asset. As per their study households have direct financial claim, and increased savi ngs by households as investments in real assets turns more productive and making economy stronger and better. The second and most important aspects of their study is regarding the importance of bond markets for an emerging markets to form an efficient and effective financial markets. The authors have described that there are different policy implications for different participants (equity market, banking industry, savers, and investors) in an economy. Absence of bond market will hinder the economy completely, as there is 1) High cost involved in banking debt financing 2) Since, it is not market determined interest rates, inefficiency in derivatives market 3) Investors or savers have no alternate options or access for better returns 4) Too much dependency on banking alone can make economy vulnerable to crisis 5) some firms issue bonds in international markets(in denominations of Dollars or Euros in order to finance domestic investments by which firms are exposed to hig her foreign exchange risk and they cannot hedge due to absence of effective and efficient bond market. The authors also suggested few measures to improve bond market which highlights about corporate governance 1) Issuing government bond-as it can be used as benchmark for other domestic bonds 2) Improve and frame judiciary and legal rights, so that it is Fair-play and efficient to encourage small and medium investors. 3) Overall financial infrastructure must be developed for emerging countries. And the entire statements and actions suggested and reviewed were well support by empirical analysis on Thailand (emerging market) as evidence for the need and development of bond market. Mihaljek,D , Scatigna,M and Villar,A(2002) in their study on trends in the bond market in emerging countries and their study aimed in analysing size and growth of debt market in relations with their development due to macroeconomic aspects and also including the important microeconomic factors and institutional characteristics which leads to development of bond markets. This literature is well support with our main context of relating the 3 roles as mentioned earlier. And from their work, Financing Firms it is found that bond markets has grown double in size(especially Asia) from mid 1990s to early 2000 which is a clear proof of increase in the size which represents the demand for bond markets very much in action for financing the firms. From empirical analysis it can be noted they found that emerging markets are really growing rapidly, however smaller in size when compared with industrial countries in both domestic and international as well as private and public sector. Adding to the above, bond issuance activity can also be compared; it shows massive increase in percentage of emerging countries however their volume of contribution is still less when compared with industrial countries. These bond markets have always acted, as catalyst innovation and introduction of new financial services. Implementation of corporate governance these things in-turn lead to implementation of rules and regulations, corporate governance over fair play. Evidence of United States is included as importance on formation of laws and constitutions for overall development bond market overall financial market of economy and showed positive results. Corporate governance becomes very important, as these bonds are very complicate with their features, well framed legal judiciary systems is significant to mechanise payments and settlements procedure, maintain fair-trade policy, lay principles for effective and efficient functioning, international trade procedures and so on. A sound secondary market is essential for bond market to work efficiently and effectively, the authors have mentioned measures like proper legal and judiciary system, intervention of central bank, develop fund management industry ,develop efficient clearing and central depository system , all these aspects wi ll automatically develop secondary market which is the most difficult part of bond market in emerging countries as there is proper trade policies the bond prices do not signal exact information to investors and market participants about the bond prices. Hawkins,J(2001) states in his work paper that, financial system in most emerging economies is based on banks and these banks are influenced by the development of bond market. John Hawkins raises questions about whether the bond markets are taking the business away from the banks. On the other hand he also feels that firms are helping banks by issuing corporate bond to central banks. Banks also play a vital role in developing a private sector bond market as they are also involved as issuers, holders, dealers, advisers, underwriters, guarantors, trustees, custodians and registrars in this market. In fact banks are obtaining more profits by performing the above mentioned activities and less from lending. For this reason, it is import ant to have healthy banks to have a sound bond market. And a bond market can improve banking activities. John Hawkins also addresses some of the questions in his work paper which are as follows: Do bond markets substitute for bank lending? For answering this question he uses the explanation given by Greenspan (2000). He says that bond markets can act like a spare tyre, it can substitute bank lending for corporate during the times when banks balance sheets are weak and banks are rationing credit. This was the case in the early 1990s in the United States, and there were some signs of it in Hong Kong in the late 1990s, but John Hawkins finally concludes that bond markets cannot replace the entire banking sectors as it affects the economy of the country. Do bond markets take good lending business away from banks? He says that highly rated companies issue more bonds than the lower-rated companies. In general people prefer to buy the bonds of only blue chip companies which are rated very high and they do not believe in the low rated companies .in fact it is low rated companies requires funds than the high rated companies which has many ways to obtain funds. Finally he concluded that bond markets do not affect banks in turn it develops economy of the country by supporting the banking activities whenever the banks are in crises. Turner, P(2002) writes in his work paper, bond markets in emerging economics: an overview of policy issues that bond markets are developing because of their benefits to the central banks. In general the government bond market helps to fund budget deficits in a non-inflationary way and thereby protects the effectiveness of monetary policy. They also act as an agent for the government in various aspects of the management of government debt. They oversee clearance and settlement systems, and they are responsible for the stability of the financial system. MR. Philip mainly explains about the corporate bond market and the ro le of banks in his work paper. He says that apart from the few Asian countries, there is no much more development of corporate bonds in emerging markets. In his own view Korea has a well developed bond market in the Asian region. According to him banks need to be fully involved in bond underwriting and in the sale of capital market products to households. Another concern about the increased bond issuance may just take profitable business away from the banks. He concludes that bond markets are going to support the banks in difficult times and also helps in the development of the economy of the country. Patil.R.H(2008) in his work paper Broad basing and Deepening the Bond Market in India states that India has a well-knit structure of national and state level development which is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and Government of India supports and regulates the infrastructure which manages all aspects of governance . The main objective of all the structure and the regul atory measures is to provide much needed long-term finance to the industry which the older existing commercial banks were not keen to provide due to the fear of asset-liability mismatch (R.H Patil) which has negative implications on financing a firms investment. Since deposits with the banks were mainly short/medium term, extending term loans was considered by the banks to be relatively risky (R.H Patil). The interest rates charged by the commercial banks were appropriately aligned in such a way that the project loans were relatively lower than the actual loans (R.H Patil) extended by banks for such purposes as working capital for industrial and other units. Similarly, the rates that the corporate entities could offer on their bonds were fixed By the Finance Ministry which used to regulate the capital markets until the independent capital market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was set up almost a decade ago (R.H Patil). The Finance Ministry, however, use d to informally consult RBI before it fixed the interest rates on corporate bonds suggesting regulatory influence. Financial sector policies were revamped and deregulation was introduced after 1991 and DFIs no longer had the comfort of the protective policy climate in which they operated. They no longer have access to concessional sources of finance like government guaranteed bonds or budgetary support (R.H Patil) and they now they have competition from commercial banks which keeps competition high and lending rates low helping keep an economy stimulated. Batten,J(2000) in his work paper Expanding Long-Term Financing through Bond Market Development: A Post Crisis Policy Task states that, The Asian financial crisis suggests many policy tasks not only to its worst hit Economies but also to other developing countries (Jonathan Batten) and highlighting some governance issues. One of these tasks is the need to diversify the source of long-term industrial financing for firm, which hist orically is concentrated in the form of short-term bank borrowing and the potential for maturity transformation. This form of financing behaviour historically has entailed currency mismatches, financial inflexibility and vulnerability to external shocks (Jonathan Batten) which highlights some further governance issues. While there is a large ongoing requirement for infrastructure investment in the post-crisis period, there is evidence of a rebalancing of the asset portfolios of financial Intermediaries away from Asia. Specifically, international bank financing peaked in 1996 at US$248 billion and was reduced to US$161 billion by June 1999 which shows how well managed and regulated the worlds strongest economy was. In this post-crisis environment the challenge is to direct the high levels of regional savings to meet this refinancing need. We argue that the appropriate mechanism to redirect these savings is through the development of viable domestic and international bond market s (Jonathan Batten). The financial systems of crisis economies display different characteristics and respond differently to the reduced liquidity that arose following the crisis e.g. in the Republic of Korea which has the largest domestic bond market, and Malaysia has the largest market for bank loans and equities. All crisis economies increased levels of international bonds post-crisis though Korea was the most successful, increasing outstanding from US$23.4 billion in 1996 to US48.5 billion in 1999. This suggests that there is a degree of substitutability between international bank borrowing and international bond issues, though the degree of substitutability varies between different classes of issuers. For example Korea was able to replace the reduced levels of bank lending with international bond issues, though the other crisis economies were not able to do so. This highlights the need to develop more viable domestic bond markets as well as improving the access to internation al bond markets. Background of Indian bond market A capital market is said to be well-developed only if it has a proper composition of both the equity market and the bond market. Risks involved in the banking systems and the limited public finances have created a huge scope for bond markets in India. Both macroeconomic and microeconomic levels can be developed by the corporate bond markets and hence the development of these corporate bond markets will develop the Indian economy. Traditionally developing country banks use Plain vanilla bank lending to raise corporate debt. Even though India has a developed regulatory framework and a financial system, the bond markets in India comprises of only 0.4% of GDP when it is compared to Korea which has 21.1% of GDP. The Indian Bond Market is the third largest bond market in Asia after Japan and South Korea. The government continue to be the largest borrower in India when compared to South Korea which has a private sector as main borrower. There is a satisfactory level of savings in the I ndian Economy at around 23% and according to the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) an average of 78% of the financial savings of household sector were invested in fixed income assets. The debt instruments have supported Indian market for very long period and the most popular financial services are Bank Deposits, insurance, provident funds, income orientated mutual funds and postal saving schemes. Even after having the successful debt instruments the Bond markets in India is not strong may be because of the absence secondary market for debt instruments. Liquidity of Bonds is one of the major issues leading to a classic chicken and egg problem. Aims and objectives The aims of the study are: To assess the conditions those are required for the development of bond market. To measure the performance of the Indian bond market and compare it with developed bond markets. Objectives: Objectives are the building blocks for achieving aims. The objectives of the study are: To study the financial market participants in India and their role in developing the bond market. To compare the development of stock market and its impact on the bond market. To assess the government role in controlling bond markets, since majority of the bonds are issued by government in India. To measure the performance of other developed countries in order to ascertain the growth of Indian bond market. Methodology In this research work a lot of information relating to the interest rates, GDP, inflation rates of different countries are collected and analysed by using graphs to measure the performance of bond markets. Bond measuring techniques like bond curve is also used to calculate the return on which an investor will receive by holding a bond to maturity. Limitations Majority of the data collected is from the secondary sources. Research work is based mainly on qualitative than of quantitative. Bond measuring techniques are limitedly used. No quantitative tests are conducted for measuring performance of bond markets. Empirical study and discussion From the above table, we see that when the volume of transaction in Indian stock market is reaching higher peak every day. On contrary the bond market was sliding down in volume of transaction from 19911.57 crore (10m Indian Rupees) in August 2003 to a mere Rs 605.23 crore in July 2006 and corporate bond market is just 3% of sliding volume. The major obstacle for active bond market is policy structure of the debt market. This was a feature of all the emerging countries that debt market developed slowly than stock market in overall capital formation of the country. It is evident that US has 50% of worlds total bond market , followed by Japan having 15% and UK has long standing bond markets which concentrates more of bond market activities are very alien to these emerging countries. To note, South Korea is the only emerging economy with a reasonably well developed bond market Figures are turnover on the wholesale debt market segment of NSE. Source: NSE Figures are bond issua nces with one year or more maturity in the primary market in the first quarter of 2006-07. Source: Prime Database However from the other research papers and articles, it states that limitations and systemic risk awareness of the bank lending in emerging countries have led to development of bond market. Evidence from the issuance activities of bond in India which has doubled itself in recent past. These bond markets have helped India in various long term economic development activities both at micro and macro economic levels. Though bond markets are in existence from 1947, it was only from last 30 years state owned enterprises started to issue PSU bonds for financing or as instrument to raise funds for investment purpose. However due to lack of liquid and undeveloped secondary bond markets these bonds and bond investments have been unpopular among large population. Brief overview of growth of bond markets The Growth of the Government Bond Market in Emerging Markets Source: International Organization of Securities Commissions May 2002 Corporate Bond Markets Corporate bonds are issued by both private and public entities in order to release funding to benefit their business. Corporate Bonds are most popular amongst investors as they have attractive yields, greater guarantees on return and risks which increases their marketability and dependability. Corporate Bonds also have the added advantage they are being offered by dependable and reputable institutions. Investors in this market include individuals, financial institutions, different types of funds as well as Insurance Companies and Banks. Corporate Bonds are the perfect source of finance to fund long term aspirations of a business. This offers the borrowers flexible and relatively cheap lending to benefit the company in the long term. Corporate bonds are issued from surplus agents to deficit agents via Investment Banks who place suitable lenders and borrowers together after taking the necessary precautions and analysis. Figure 2 shows how and what rate corporate bonds are issue d in emerging Markets. Growth of the Corporate Bond market in Emerging markets Source: International Organization of Securities Commissions, May 2002 There still appears to be a unified mechanism even though Bond Markets are very mature. There are three different types of Bond which are named according to their issuance namely Domestic, Foreign and Eurobond markets Foreign Bond Markets In this case foreign borrowers approach a domestic market in the related currency and the bonds have different names which show which market they were issued to. Bonds issued in US dollars by a borrower located outside US are usually known as Yankee bonds, bonds issued in ponds sterling by a non UK lender are referred to as Bulldog bonds and similarly, bonds issued in Japanese yen by a non Japanese issuer are referred to as Samurai bonds. Eurobond Markets These bonds are issued by a consortium of reputable financial institutions and are not related to the currency of issue are known as Eurobonds. Eurobonds relate back to the 1960s when Eurodollar Bonds (USD Bonds issued by non American entities). The first Eurobonds were issued around 1957 and they are currently being denominated in to almost all currencies. This suggests that they have become more sophisticated over time. Table 2 shows how Eurobond markets have evolved over time and their presence globally, these Bonds are popular as they help meet capital requirements and they also operate outside most levels of governance and are exempt from taxes etc. So, Eurobonds are Bearer Bonds, the bearer has complete rights over the bond and this allows financial institutions to take advantage of lower borrowing costs which undercut those bonds available in domestic markets. Table 1: History of Foreign Bond Market (1990-2001: Nominal Value Outstanding in Billions of US Dollars) Country 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 United States 486.8 495.4 422.4 420 394.9 347.7 291.9 242.3 230.1 147.2 130.4 115.4 Japan 61 72.6 82.1 87.8 93.1 106 89.5 81.2 66.2 52.1 49.5 43.2 Euroland 0            Germany    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Italy    n/a 5 3.3 1.8 1.4 1.2 1.8 2.8 2.6 France    5.7 4.8 6.5 6 6.2 4.9 5.7 6 5.5 United Kingdom 145.1 122.3 90.2 65.5 31.6 16.8 10.8 9.4 7.3 3.5 1.3 0.8 Canada 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.8 Netherlands   n/a 1.3 3 3.8 4.3 4.5 6.7 8.4 9.9 Belgium    45.5 32.6 36.1 35.1 27.1 21.8 20.4 19.4 17.1 Spain    20.3 19.6 15.4 12.4 10.5 9.4 8.7 8.6 5.6 Sweden 3.9 4.2 4.4 4.9 5.9 6.7 5.6 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Australia 9.9 6.6 5.6 2.3 1.7 1.8 1.4 1.7 1.5 1.5 n/a n/a Austria    2 1.8 1.8 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.4 1.9 1.4 Switzerland 110.4 113.4 107 112.5 95.7 95.5 103.1 85.9 76.3 74.7 82 82.1 Finland    0 0 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.6 0.9 0.4 Norway 0.5 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.9 0.8 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.4 Total 817.5 815.1 712.3 767.2 688.7 641.5 565.4 474 426.9 326.3 312.6 285.2 Note: In Euroland, foreign bonds are included in the Eurobond totals. A breakdown of these bond types is not made available. It is assumed that the majority of these bonds were issued in the traditional Eurobond format. Source: Merrill Lynch, Size and Structure of the World Bond Market 2002-April 2002. Table 2: History of the Eurobond Market (1990-2001: Nominal Value Outstanding in Billions of US Dollars) Country 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 United States 2840.4 2380.3 1976.6 1438.5 1216.2 932.6 679.5 617.5 576.9 570 548.2 524.7 Euroland 649.8 674.5 594.9 849.7         Japan 450.9 508.1 415.2 381.1 358.6 368.1 362.7 303.8 197.6 149.9 143.8 116.1 Germany     329 305.6 280.6 220.3 176.2 148 129.3 113.4 Italy     107.6 90.7 63.4 52.8 35.1 23.9 23.9 14 France     171.8 165.7 146.4 129.6 91.2 63.2 44.4 27.4 United Kingdom 490 455.7 342.6 326.5 263.8 222.4 173.4 156.4 138.5 114.8 129.4 110.9 Canada 47.1 51.8 56.4 52.2 66 75.2 82.2 80.9 79 61.8 60.4 46.6 Netherlands    88.5 87.1 72.4 59 39.8 21.8 16.9 15.2 Belgium     5.8 5 2.8 0.7 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 Spain     6 7.4 6.1 3.3 3.7 1.3 0.8 0.4 Sweden 3.8 4.8 4.6 5.1 4.3 5.1 5.1 4.6 3.3 3.1 3.2 2 Denmark 8.9 9.5 11.5 12.2 11 8.3 5.7 2.8 2.8 3.3 4.2 5 Australia 29.4 30.3 38.7 32.6 39 46.5 38.5 31.9 22.8 19.4 23.2 25.2 Austria     2.7 3.2 4.2 4.1 4 4.6 5.1 4.1 Switzerland 19.5 29.4 25.1 21.3 13.3 11 9.8 5.7 3.6 1.6 2 2 Finland     2.5 2.8 2 1.7 1.4 1.9 2.3 1.9 Norway 4.6 3.8 3.3 1.6 1 0.8 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.5 Portugal     11.1 8.7 5.4 2.3 1.6 n/a n/a n/a Ireland     1.8 2 1.5 0.6 0.6 0.2 0.2 0.2 New Zealand 5.9 7.1 10.5 10.4 8.8 4.4 0.9 0.9 0.9 1.2 1.9 2.3 Total 4550.3 4155.3 3479.4 3131.2 2708.8 2352.6 1942.8 1679 1379.5 1190.7 1140.1 1012.3 Annual Growth %  9.5 19.4 11.1 15.6 15.1 21.1 15.7 21.7 15.9 4.4 12.6 Source: Merrill Lynch, Size and Structure of the World Bond Market 2002-April 2002. Factors Influencing Bond Markets The fluctuations in bond markets are caused by several economic factors, the most significant factor being a change in interest rates. Interest rates have an inverse relation with the bond price: as interest rates rise, the bond price falls and vice versa. Changes in interest rates could be due to changes in demand and supply of credit, fiscal and monetary policies, exchange rates, market psychology and inflation expectations. Inflation is considered to be yet another major factor affecting bond markets. Bond investors always have an aversion towards inflation. They fear inflation, as it lowers the value of bonds by reducing the future purchasing power of fixed interest payments they receive. Hence, any economic development that is likely to result in inflation causes panic in the bond markets. International bond markets are exposed to exchange-rate risk. Cash flows associated with foreign bonds are dependent on the exchange rate at the time the payments are received. Hence, fluctuations in the exchange rates cause changes in the value of bonds. India is expected to be a leading world economy (along with China) in the 21st century. Indias share of the worlds gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to rise from 6% in 2005 to 11% by 2025, making it the third largest economy in the world behind the US and China. Few identified difficulties of underdeveloped India bond market Highly regulated: the Indian bonds markets are still in control of government, administrative fiat and regulatory authorities which control and determine all the interest rates, even the interest rates in corporate bonds are determined by the government. The interest rates set are not very encouraging therefore bonds do not attract many investors. Apart from that the level of stamp duty levied by governments on secondary transactions of bonds are very high which hinders the growth and development further. Restricting policies: Indian banks are very much act on the guidelines, principles issued by the central bank and government. The policies implemented are very de motivate banks to involve in other activities. For example priority sector lending policy which mandates the banks to account 30% of their lending to these sectors, even though they are less productive like transport, agriculture are sectors Indian government recommends on. Limited Investor base; Indian bond mark et have limited investor base. Generally corporate bonds are held by government, provident funds, insurance companies, banks and many other financial institutions. These institutions hold till maturity, due to which the supply of funds become limited and inadequate in market. Therefore if the bond market has to improve, the general attitude of these institutions must change, involve themselves in trading to reduce risk, improve profits so and so forth. Ease on foreign investors will again improve the bond market. Inadequate transparency: since the prices are not determined by the market forces, this discourages investors to trade and very low trading activities do not provide the economy with better flexibility and liquidity to market overall. Unreliable Information signals: Indian bond market is not well supported with information and technology systems by which it faces many difficulties and delay in flow of information. Due to the delay in complete system the participants a re not aware of full information to understand their positions at end of the day which is not motivating for well timed decision making. Countries like US, Japan use various means to spread the relevant news and information like financial reports, profit statements, industrial meetings, and rating agencies and so on for enhance and smooth the flow of information through out the market. From the study few Recommendations for an active corporate bond market Infrastructure Financing Infrastructure financing in India offer a chance for developing the commercial bond markets but not depend on the growth of this market. Financing through different banks are not possible for the projects as they are for long periods. Banks cannot give 30 years loan facility as they can accept loans only for 5-10 years; this will leads towards asset liability mismatch. However, if the liquid market provide exit path, then it would be feasible for banks to purchase 30 year bonds. In contrast insurance firm or pension fund can buy long term bonds as they get the facility to sell which the secondary market can provide Securitization The need for a market for securitised products is another related issue for infrastructure financing. In India, three major areas Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS), Infrastructure Sector and other Asset backed securities (ABS) are important. For financing long term projects, individuals should get entrance in debt market like Special economic zones (SEZ). Expanding in domestic demand, export growth and growth in industrial investments will ultimately boost up the requirement of bond financing. Mismatch of currencies and over dependence of ASIAN corporations on short term foreign funds were the big causes of Asian Financial Crisis. It caused the fast outflow of capital from Asian countries and confidence in these countries began lighten. If the domestic markets dominated in their own currencies and more developed in Asia, then the Asian crisis would never strong enough as it destroyed the Asian markets. One of the ways to avoid risk is development of local currency market, whi ch will ultimately help to reduce potential currency and maturity mismatches in financial system. The development of an active debt market is required for  capital account convertibility which is also recommended by Tarapore committee. Apart from its fundamental role of achieving allocation efficiency, a well-developed government bond market strengthens the monetary policy implementation framework by equipping a central bank with market-based indirect instruments. A vibrant corporate debt market allows a corporation to access a set of standardized rates and fees instead of making individual negotiations with financial institutions. However corporations have difficulty issuing high value bonds in India, thus resulting in the incremental credit rate increasing from Rs 2.5 lakh (100k) crore (10m) in 2004-05 to Rs 3.7 lakh crore in 2005-06. Banks may find that their appetite for lending is taken up by large issuing corporations. If the Bond market becomes stagnant and bond, securities, loans etc cannot be issued by smaller institutions. Larger corporations develop a preference for acquiring finance via the Bonds and securities markets etc and Banks will have to react to this and concentrate more of their resources on developing the SME sector. The emergence of the  Pension fund industry In any country, Pension fund industry have some connections with the capital market, Same is the case is in India; they also invested in government securities. Investor base needs to be broadened: Though FIIs is allowed to invest up to $1.5 billion in corporate bonds, this amount is not enough to invest in this market. So, FIIs should allow investing more in this market. Widening the issuer base Banks should be allowed to issue bonds of maturity over 5 years based on their asset liability as they are allowed to issue bonds over 5 years only for financing infrastructure sector. Development of derivatives market Corporate, banks and other financial intuitions can reallocate the risk with the help of derivatives. Exchange traded derivatives perform different role to play in debt market and have to be standardised products because of their nature. If we discuss the OTC, they can be changed according to the situations. Hence both derivatives play vital role in the development of the market. Governments Investors should be provided by the repo market that will help them to manage short- term capital requirements. Market making By supporting corporate debt market, market making should be encouraged and it can be done with the help of primary dealers to do this job. Listing norms to be eased For already listed entities, there listing norms should be simpler; they should be allowed an abridged version of disclosure. However, companies which are not listed and which are opting for the private placement mode should be subjected to stringent disclosure norms. The practice of suspension of trading/delisting of securities in case of non-compliance with listing norms by an issuer needs to be replaced by heavy penalties on the promoters and directors of the erring company. Developing a trade reporting system A data base system is needed that publicize and store all the information related to trade in corporate bonds. So that all the transaction should be done through this system. Trading, clearing and settlement mechanism: A healthy trading policy would go a long way in facilitating efficient price discovery in corporate bonds as it created in depth and vibrancy to market along with the development of corporate bond markets by minimising the counterparty and settlement risk. In India, we have the opportunity to build up first- rate credit rating institutions. Specialized debt funds for infrastructure financing For infrastructure financing, specialised debt funds should be created with the same tax providing facility as provided by the venture capital fund that is registered SEBI. Developing a market for debt securitization: Indian government should make efforts to settle the uncertainty in taxation issues; this will help in developing a market for debt securitization. Cost of Issuance Majority of the issuers choose private placement due to the high cost of issuance. So the stamp duty should be trim down. Standardization In order to reduce transaction cost, standardized trading and settlement processes should enhance liquidity that also helps in improving market liquidity. These are some factors that are missing in Indian micro structure. Bond measurement techniques Bond yield: The return on which an investor will receive by holding a bond to maturity. So if you want to know how much your bond investment will earn, you should know how to calculate yield. The investor can decided on his earnings by calculating the yield. Below are the useful calculations that are required for the investors: Calculating Current Yield: If investor purchased a bond with a par value of $100 for $95.92 and that bond paid a coupon rate of 5%, by using the above formula we can calculate its current yield: If bond is at discount or premium By taking same data from the first example, and considering maturity period of 30 months and a coupon payment of $5 we can calculate current yield as shown below: Since the bond is at discounted price the adjusted current yield is 6.84% which is higher than the current yield 5.21% and their by investor gets more earnings Coupon payment for a zero-coupon bond  n = years left until maturity When zero-coupon bond is considered having the future value of $1,000 that matures in two years and currently available at $925, one can calculate its current yield with the following formula:  Calculating Yield to Maturity {YTM} YTM is the interest rates by which the present values of all the future cash flows are equal to the bonds price.  Its value is derived by the following equation. OR Example 1: You purchased a bond having par value of $100 which has current yield of 5.21% as is priced at $95.92. It pays semi annual coupon of 5% and matures in 30 months. The above problem is solved as shown below: 1. Determine the Cash Flows:   coupon payment obtained for every six months are $2.50 (0.025*100). In total, for five payments, calculate cash flows along with the future value of $100. 2. Plug the Known Amounts into the YTM Formula:  Note: semi-annual interest rates are calculated as the bond pays the coupon semi-annually. 3. Guess and Check:  Now we have to calculate I or the interest rate by considering bond price and the yield rather than picking the random numbers. When the value of the bond is at par, the interest rate is equal to the coupon rate. If the value is above par (at a premium), the coupon rate is said to be greater than the interest rate. In our example, the bond is at discount so the annual interest rate must be greater than the coupon rate of 5%. Now by using the different interest rates which are greater than 5%, we obtain the different bond prices as shown in the table. Since our bond price is $95.52 that lies between 6% and 7% we have to form a new table of more interest rates that lies between 6% and 7%. When the interest rate is 6.8% the bond price matches $95.92.Hence the semi annual interest rate is 3.40 % By using these calculations investors can decide on their earnings based on their investment capacity, holding period, and the interest they want to earn. Since the bond markets are more secured because of the involvement of government, the returns are guaranteed and low when compared to the stock market.