  Close to a black hole, the density of the sub-Keplerian accreting matter
becomes higher compared to a spherical flow due to the presence of a
centrifugal barrier independent of whether or not a standing shock actually
forms. This hot dense flow intercepts soft photons from a cold Keplerian disk
and reprocesses them to form high energy X-rays and gamma rays. We study the
spectral properties of various models of accretion disks where a Keplerian disk
on the equatorial plane may or may not be flanked by a sub-Keplerian disk and
the sub-Keplerian flow may or may not possess standing shocks. From comparison
with the spectra, we believe that the observed properties could be explained
better when both the components (Keplerian and sub-Keplerian) are
simultaneously present close to a black hole, even though the sub-Keplerian
halo component may have been produced out of the Keplerian disk itself at
larger radii. We are able to understand soft and hard states of black hole
candidates, properties of X-ray novae outbursts, and quasi-periodic
oscillations of black hole candidates using these two component models. We fit
spectra of X-ray novae GS1124-68 and GS2000+25 and satisfactorily reproduce the
light curves of these objects.
