Forensic accounting uses investigative techniques, accounting skills and business skills to aid in the collection and collation of information to be used as evidence in court cases. It helps to detect, investigate and prevent the recurrence of financial frauds and white-collar crimes. In practical terms, it encompasses financial expertise, a strong understanding of business reality and the workings of the legal system. The first such instance of fraud in Indian life insurance sector was reported in the case of SBI Life, for violating the regulatory norms in safeguarding the policyholders' interest and maintenance of proper internal controls. In the first paper, Forensic Accounting and Its Applications: Evidence from the Indian Life Insurance Sector, the authors, Joy Chakraborty, Arkaprabha Das and Ishani Roy, attempt to investigate possible anomalies in the operating expenses of SBI Life covering a period of 10 years. They apply Benford's Law coupled with empirical analysis through chi-square, Z-test and mean absolute deviations and check the conformity of the observed dataset in line with the Benford's distribution. The authors find higher deviations and suggest further investigation into the dataset.

Ratio analysis is a quantitative method for gaining insight into a company's liquidity, operational efficiency and profitability by studying its financial statements. It is the process of ascertaining the financial ratios that are used for indicating the ongoing financial performance of a company. In the second paper, The Impact of Profitability, Leverage, Efficiency and Liquidity on Return on Equity: The Case of Indian IT Companies, the author, Faizan Ulhaqq Ansari, studies the impact of such ratios on the Return on Equity (ROE) of the firms. The author considers Indian IT Companies for the study and finds that profitability, leverage, efficiency and liquidity play a significant role and contribute to variation in the ROE of a firm.

In the third paper, Determinants of Stock Price Volatility: A Time Series Analysis, the author, M C Minimol, focuses on examining the determinants of stock price volatility by using the data of 30 Sensex companies listed on Bombay Stock Exchange. The author uses linear regression model to find the relationship between firm size, leverage, earnings per share and dividend yield and stock price volatility. The study provides insights on the factors that contribute to a firm's decision to engage or disengage in a dividend payment policy. The study finds a negative relationship between the variables, dividend yield, firm size and stock price volatility, while it confirms the positive nexus between the other variables and stock price volatility.

In the last paper, The Effect of Accounting Framework on the Utility of Fundamental Tools, the authors, Diwahar S Nadar and Bharti Wadhwa, study the effect of accounting standards and accounting policies on 10 selected fundamental tools. The authors assess the effect of accounting standard using the company's financials based on old and new accounting standards. Similarly, the effect of accounting policies in three areas-depreciation method, PPE valuation method and inventory valuation method-are assessed using a dummy 11-year financial model and by applying Wilcoxon signed rank test. With this analysis, the authors identify the most robust fundamental tools to help analysts compare companies across economies that follow different accounting standards.