With the increased emphasis on disclosures in corporate reportings, companies have been disclosing information voluntarily, in addition to the mandatory information. This voluntarily disclosed information differs by geographic region, industry and company size. It is affected by the firm�s corporate governance structure and ownership structure and is also believed to capture and summarize the firm value. Thus, corporate information becomes relevant to the investor for decision making. Considering these facts, the authors of the first paper, �The Value Relevance of Corporate Voluntary Disclosure: Evidence from India�, Rupjyoti Saha and K C Kabra, have investigated the impact of voluntary disclosure on firm value and find a direct relation between the voluntary disclosures made by the companies and the value of the company in terms of market capitalization. They suggest that adequate information is required to be disclosed by companies so that the information asymmetry between managers and investors (both domestic and foreign) reduces. According to the authors, increased flow of corporate information also improves capital market efficiency and creates interest and boosts the confidence of general investors.

The need for conserving and protecting the environment is gaining ground among corporates. Companies are focusing on environmental accounting where the efforts made by the corporate entity towards environmental protection and welfare are identified and reported. But the existing disclosure practices are neither adequate nor uniform. As there is no common method of quantifying the costs and benefits of the welfare activities undertaken by the companies, most of the companies are providing only details about their activities as part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Considering these facts, the authors of the second paper, �Environmental Accounting Practices in India: A Comparative Study of Perception of Academicians and Professionals�, Ramesh L and J Madegowda, have conducted a primary research to obtain the perception of academicians and professionals regarding the differences in disclosures made by the large-scale organizations, MSMEs, MNCs and domestic companies. They have also focused on the profitability of the firms in the long run. They find that large-scale organizations and MNCs provide more environmental information, and such companies are able to earn higher profits in the long run, through increased customer confidence. The authors suggest that a comprehensive accounting standard be developed and issued so that the stakeholders get reliable and comparable information about environmental costs and benefits, and this is necessary to ensure sustainable development.

In the last paper, �The Relation Between Capital Structure and Profitability of Some Selected Companies in Indian Ceramic Industry�, the author, Bhaskar Biswas, tries to find out the relationship between capital structure and profitability using the data of eight Indian ceramic companies selected on the basis of their total assets. Here, the author focuses on the proportion of debt and equity with regard to the profitability of the company.