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Purpose: Prisoners are at a higher risk of HIV infection compared to the general population. The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence of HIV and related risk behaviours among inmates of the Central Prisons in four states of North India. Design/methodology/approach: The HIV sentinel surveillance was conducted in seven Central Prisons in four states of North India from February to April 2019. Four hundred inmates were included from each prison. The interviews were conducted at the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre located within the prison premises. The Ethics Committee of the National AIDS Control Organization, New Delhi, granted ethical approval before the start of the surveillance. Findings: Overall, 2,721 inmates were enrolled in this study. The mean (SD) age was 38.9 (13.9) years. One-third of prison inmates had comprehensive knowledge about HIV/AIDS. The proportion of convict (54%) and undertrial (46%) inmates was almost equal. The overall prevalence of HIV infection among inmates was 0.96% (95% CI 0.65–1.40). The odds of being HIV positive were significantly higher in never married inmates, undertrials, inmates who were in the prison for more than three months to one year, inmates incarcerated for multiple times, inmates with history of injecting drug use and inmates with history of intercourse with a commercial sex worker. Originality/value: The findings from the very first HIV sentinel surveillance in central prisons in North India have been presented in this paper. This has huge implications for future policy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the use and implementation of RFID technology at the Indian Law Institute Library and National Social Science Documentation Centre Library, New Delhi. Design/methodology/approach - A survey was conducted at the two libraries, using a structured questionnaire comprising 20 questions. Findings - It was found that after implementation of RFID in both the libraries the check-in and check-out time is reduced to less than 20 seconds per item, and use of the libraries has also increased. Neither library had calculated the saving of staff time by performing multiple check-out and check-in of items. High cost is the most significant challenge faced after implementation of RFID technology. Originality/value - The paper provides the advantages of RFID technology for libraries and recommends this technology to other libraries for faster and better services to their users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Globally, over 95% of fire related deaths and injuries occur in low- and middle-income countries. Within informal settlements, the risk of fire resulting in injury or death is particularly high. This paper examines fire risks in informal settlements in New Delhi and Cape Town, and tented informal settlements in Lebanon. Design/methodology/approach: Our analysis draws on primary sources, secondary literature, statistical data and qualitative interviews. Findings: The distribution of fire risk across urban societies is a fundamentally political issue. Residential fire risk can be tackled by accessible, affordable, safety-compliant housing. That said, important interim measures can be taken to mitigate fire risk. Some of the risks requiring attention are similar across our case studies, driven by high population densities; flammable housing materials; unreliable or inaccessible access to safe power sources; and – in the case of Cape Town and New Delhi particularly – the inability of fire services to reach sites of fire. However, these common risks are embedded in distinct social, economic and political contexts that must be placed at the center of any intervention. Interventions must also be aware that the risk of fire is not spread evenly within informal settlements, intersecting as it does with factors like gender, age, health and disability. Originality/value: Informal settlement fires have been under-studied to date. The studies that do exist tend to operate within disciplinary silos. This paper represents an important interdisciplinary approach to fire within informal settlements, which grounds technical data, modeling and experiments in political, social and economic realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explain the components of competitive priorities of Indian service firms, to find out the competitive priorities of different service industries in India and to find out how these competitive priorities change across low- and high-performing service firms. Design/methodology/approach: An empirical study of 166 firms from five different service industries is undertaken in New Delhi and its surroundings. Findings: The results reveal the presence of three competitive priorities in the services sector in India: cost, flexibility and quality/delivery, with quality/delivery being the most distinctive competitive priority. Hotel and auto-repair industries are found to be focused on controlling costs, while hospitals, banks and private colleges prioritized quality/delivery. For high-performing firms, cost is the top most competitive priority, followed by quality/delivery and flexibility, while for low-performing firms, quality/delivery remains the top most competitive priority, followed by flexibility and cost. Originality/value: The paper enhances the understanding of competitive priorities in the Indian services sector. The identification of competitive priorities of different service industries in India and their dynamics across different industries add value to the current literature and fill an important research gap. Additionally, surveying diverse industries in this paper reveals a holistic picture of the Indian service industry and helps achieve some degree of cross-industry perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study aims at analyzing the adoption and preference of E-Marketing tools in five-star hotels in India. This paper also explores the scope of artificial intelligence and the challenges with regards to its application. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach is adopted for this research, wherein the data has been collected through conducting one on one telephonic interviews (some in questionnaire format) and a roundtable conference with the general managers and marketing communication managers of 30 New Delhi/National Capital Region (NCR) hotels respectively to understand the transition from traditional to digital marketing era and how are they using various social media marketing tools. Findings: This study aims to inform how digitalization has benefitted the industry in various aspects and its comparison to the traditional marketing methods. It also discovers the future of artificial intelligence in the Indian hospitality space. Practical implications: This study aims to help managerial decision-making in the application of various E-marketing tools and strategies, suggesting the right mix of both traditional and digital marketing platforms. Originality/value: Arguably this is one of a kind study, as there has been no such research done specifically aiming at the five-star hotels of the Indian market. The findings will help the industry explore and enhance their digital presence by suggesting the appropriate mix of both traditional and digital approaches and can be used as a good source for further exploring the perspective of digitalization by academicians as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of information communication technology (ICT) in 31 college libraries in Karnataka, India by investigating the ICT infrastructure, current status of library automation, barriers to implementation of library automation and also librarians' attitudes towards the use of ICT. Design/methodology/approach - Data-gathering tools used included questionnaire, observation and informal interview with selected college librarians. Findings - Application of ICT in Indian college libraries has not reached a very high level. Lack of budget, lack of manpower, lack of skilled staff and lack of training are the main constraints for not automating library activities. Even though library professionals have shown a positive attitude towards the use of ICT applications and library automation, they need extensive and appropriate training to make use of ICT tools. Originality/value - This is a comprehensive study on the use of ICT in Indian college libraries. Its findings should help college librarians, local government and also the University Grants Commission, New Delhi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study proposed and tested three comprehensive models of the usage intention of proximity mobile payment services after a government regulation, by integrating the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the norm-activation model (NAM). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of moral norms, merchant pro-activeness and perceived government regulation (demonetisation) on users' continuance intention of proximity mobile payment services. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 387 users of proximity mobile payment services in India were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. This study was carried out with shoppers in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and New Delhi because of the diverse and large population of these cities. Findings: The results of this study indicated that: integrating the variables of NAM into the original TPB model enhanced the prediction effect; perceived demonetisation regulation exerted a direct determinant effect as well as moderate effect on continuance usage intention of mobile payment services; also, extended TPB model with perceived demonetisation regulation as moderator could satisfactorily predict the continuance usage intention. Research limitations/implications: The results provided insightful evidence for the government and policymakers to outline more effective mandatory regulation policies. Originality/value: This investigation attempts to enhance the theoretical understanding of the antecedents of in-store proximity mobile payment services after government regulation (demonetisation) in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors influencing the behavioral intention to adopt payments banks services by Indian underbanked and unbanked population. Design/methodology/approach: The proposed model has assimilated factors from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) along with perceived credibility. The factors of UTAUT include performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitation of conditions and social influence. Apart from testing the direct relationships of the model constructs with the behavioral intention to adopt payments banks services, the study has also explored mediating and moderating effects of certain constructs. The research model has been empirically tested using 660 responses from a field survey conducted in New Delhi – the capital city of India – by using the structured equation modeling (SEM) technique. The target respondents of the study are small businessmen and migrant laborers who are either underbanked or unbanked. Findings: The findings of the study reveal that the model is able to explain 67.5 per cent of the variance in behavioral intention. The results indicate that all the factors are direct determinants of behavioral intention. Perceived credibility is found to be the strongest influencer of behavioral intention. The findings also indicate that perceived credibility partially mediates the relationships between "social influence and behavioral intention" and "performance expectancy and behavioral intention." The relationship between performance expectancy and behavioral intention is also found to be moderated by facilitating conditions and effort expectancy. Research limitations/implications: As this study is based on a convenience sample of respondents of only one city of India, this could negatively reflect on the generalizability of results across other cities. Moreover, the study has only focused on the perceptions of small businessmen and migrant laborers. This raises concerns regarding the applicability of the results for other segments of the current population that have different demographic characteristics (e.g. occupation, income, education level and technology experience). Modifying the conceptual model presented in this research to include "experience" and "age" as moderators can also be worth considering in future. Although this study has extended the UTAUT to include perceived credibility, the results of the explanatory power of the model indicate that there is still room for improvement. Therefore, including other constructs, e.g. hedonic motivation, perceived risks and trialability, could be a fruitful path forward. Future studies may also examine the factors influencing the actual use behavior of payments banks, rather than just behavioral intention. Practical implications: The study looks forward to providing the payments banks service providers in India with suitable guidelines for effectively implementing and designing payments banks services. Specifically, the results of this study have provided clues for Indian payments banks service providers about the crucial role of perceived credibility in influencing the behavioral intention to adopt payments banks. Therefore, service providers have to initially be sure that payments banks are able to conduct financial transactions efficiently, securely and within less time, along with the availability of information required by customers to successfully use the services. Service providers should enhance customer confidence and trust by providing secure and reliable services. They should also emphasize on the positive safety measures of the payments banks during any marketing campaign rather than just creating brand awareness. Originality/value: The study represents a substantial contribution to the existing knowledge regarding mobile payment channels in particular and technology acceptance area in general. In fact, this study presents a worthwhile direction by examining payments banks services, which, so far, have not been well evaluated in the Indian context. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is an early attempt toward a holistic and integrative approach to explain adoption of payments banks in India. Although prior studies have addressed mobile banking and mobile payment adoption, the strength of this research lies in combining the UTAUT constructs with perceived credibility. This is evidenced by the high explanatory power (67.5 per cent) of the research model adopted in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unfortunately in India, most landfills are located along the banks of rivers flowing through the cities. The interaction of two big, diverse and delicate ecological systems - rivers and landfills - has been investigated in this paper. During 2000, the estimated quantity of waste generation was more than 9,000 tons per day. This is one of the biggest sources of environmental degradation in Delhi, India's capital It contributes to river pollution in a significant way through landfill leachate and runoff, especially during the rainy season. Since the 1950s over 12 large landfills have been packed with all sorts of non-biodegradable and toxic wastes from Delhi. The area covered by landfills is at least I percent (14.83 sq.km) of Delhi's total area. An the landfill sites except Tilak Nagar, Hastal and Chattarpur are located close (0–6 km) to the river Yamuna. Further, these landfills are not engineered sanitary landfills and the waste is dumped at open sites without proper compaction. A high mountain of waste can be seen at all landfill sites without a cover. The leachate produced by landfills finally percolates to the porous ground surface at the landfills or finds its way to nearby drains. A large portion of landfill leachate and runoff produced by these landfill sites finally reaches the Yamuna through ground water flow or surface water flow through the drains. The results of analysis by investigations and environmental mapping during the study clearly indicate that river water quality is affected by the presence of landfill locations, i.e. landfill leachate and landfill surface runoff [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Digital technologies emerged as innovative avenues for launching new products, advertising brands, increasing customer awareness and thus leaving a remarkable impact on the online marketplace. The present study analyzed the effects of crucial antecedents of AR interactive technology on customers' behavior toward AR-based e-commerce websites. Design/methodology/approach: Convenience sampling was used to collect primary data from 357 iGen respondents aged 16–22 years; residing in New Delhi and the NCR region of India and examined using the structural equation modeling technique. Findings: Results revealed that technology anxiety and virtuality significantly influence customers' attitudes and behavioral intentions toward AR-based e-commerce websites. However, interactivity and innovativeness remain non-significant. Additionally, non-significant moderating effects were identified for the moderators, i.e. trust and need for touch. At the same time, gender has a significant moderating effect only for the association between technology anxiety and attitude toward AR-based e-commerce websites. Research limitations/implications: The study summarizes numerous theoretical and managerial implications for AR-based website designers and policymakers, followed by the crucial limitations and directions for future research. Originality/value: The present research provides a significant understanding of the e-commerce industry by providing valuable insights about young iGen consumers' perceptions of AR-based e-commerce websites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the development of the Delhi Library Network (DELNET) and its various services. DELNET is a growing resource sharing service in the Delhi region, offering a range of products and services to facilitate the exchange of information among libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of in-store private label marketing to impact the attitude of consumers towards private label brands (PLBs) by influencing consumers' perceived quality variations between the PLBs and national brands. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on "Cue utilisation theory" and focusses on how retailers can influence consumers' perception of quality variations by providing them in-store marketing cues. Data was collected through the mall intercept method in New Delhi, India. Data analysis was done using AMOS 25 and the PROCESS SPSS macro. Findings: This study establishes the effect of in-store private label marketing in improving consumers' quality perception of PLBs vis-à-vis national brands and thereby leading to a positive attitude towards PLBs. Further, the national brand promotions attitude is found to moderate the relationship between private label marketing and attitude towards PLBs. However, contrary to the authors' expectations, it has a positive effect on this relationship. The study found an insignificant moderation influence of price consciousness. Originality/value: This study complements existing literature on "Cue utilisation theory" by demonstrating the importance of in-store private label marketing in improving consumers' attitudes towards PLBs. It also extends to fill some gaps in the literature by studying the direct, mediating and moderating relationship among in-store private label marketing, perceived quality variations, price consciousness, national brand promotion attitude and attitude towards PLBs, especially in an emerging market such as India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Although individual work performance (IWP) has been the subject of research by many authors, most of them have explored work performance as an outcome. However, IWP can also be viewed as conducive job behaviors. On the other hand, as employee behavior is contextual, it must be analyzed from various angles, especially in regard to a national culture of employees. In line with that, the purpose of this study was to explore the behavior-based IWP in the banking and insurance sector in New Delhi (India) by testing the original tool and modifying it into a proposed instrument for its assessment in a Hindi–English environment. Design/methodology/approach: Using a quantitative approach and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, specific items for the work performance assessment were selected. The specific steps involved in these processes and resulting item inclusion are discussed in detail. Findings: Although employees display a positive behavior-related work performance, there is a difference between private and public company workers. The study proposes modification to the original scale used. Originality/value: The originality of the study is the assessment of IWP as a result of job behaviors in the non-Western context, in banking and insurance companies. The study has both theoretical and practical value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Although Generation Y consumers contribute significantly to the luxury market, still there is a limited amount of research conducted to explain their luxury consumption behavior, particularly in context of emerging markets like India. The main objectives of this study are to understand the key factors that affect luxury purchase intentions of Generation Y consumers using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and to examine the moderating effect of subjective norm on other TPB variables, namely, attitude and perceived behavioral control. Design/methodology/approach: Purposive sampling method was used to collect data from Generation Y luxury fashion consumers in New Delhi, India. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data. Findings: The findings of this study revealed subjective norm and perceived behavioral control were positively related to luxury purchase intentions. Further, subjective norm was found to moderate the relationship between attitude and luxury purchase intentions. Originality/value: This study will help consumer behavior researchers and practitioners to understand the core reason behind luxury purchase intentions of Generation Y consumers in India. It will enable luxury brand companies to create suitable marketing strategies which align with the mindset of this new demographic segment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today more and more organisations are involved in research, action-research and advocacy on development issues, particularly in the social services and human development sector. Most of these issues and themes are inter-disciplinary in nature and characterised by overlapping subject boundaries. Research on such areas therefore generates information which is consequently inter-disciplinary in nature. To manage such information, special libraries and thematic, issue-based information centres have developed. Such libraries are highly idiosyncratic as far as their collection, users, services, queries and information processing are concerned. Describes the special library at The Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi which tries to establish a synergy between the research focus of the Institute and the information derived from research. The library and resource centre has a computerised information management system, which promotes a collaborative and symbiotic relationship between research and information (i.e. between research staff and library professionals). Suggests ways in which the particular quality of its service can be demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents highlights of the 18th CIOS World Management Congress on December 5-8, 1978 in New Delhi, India. Estimated attendance; Theme of the congress; Speakers; Issues discussed.

Describes the advantages of CD-ROM networking. Discusses the different net-working models available for deploying networked CD-ROM services. States the set of specifications selected to implement the networked CD-ROM services in Tata Energy Researc h Institute and the approach taken to meet these. Also lists the CD-ROM titles made available through the networked CD-ROM services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]