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In India, the incidence of mucormycosis reached high levels during 2021–2022, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to this, we established a multicentric ambispective cohort of patients hospitalised with mucormycosis across India. In this paper, we report their baseline profile, clinical characteristics and outcomes at discharge. Patients hospitalized for mucormycosis during March–July 2021 were included. Mucormycosis was diagnosed based on mycological confirmation on direct microscopy (KOH/Calcofluor white stain), culture, histopathology, or supportive evidence from endoscopy or imaging. After consent, trained data collectors used medical records and telephonic interviews to capture data in a pre-tested structured questionnaire. At baseline, we recruited 686 patients from 26 study hospitals, of whom 72.3% were males, 78% had a prior history of diabetes, 53.2% had a history of corticosteroid treatment, and 80% were associated with COVID-19. Pain, numbness or swelling of the face were the commonest symptoms (73.3%). Liposomal Amphotericin B was the commonest drug formulation used (67.1%), and endoscopic sinus surgery was the most common surgical procedure (73.6%). At discharge, the disease was stable in 43.3%, in regression for 29.9% but 9.6% died during hospitalization. Among survivors, commonly reported disabilities included facial disfigurement (18.4%) and difficulties in chewing/swallowing (17.8%). Though the risk of mortality was only 1 in 10, the disability due to the disease was very high. This cohort study could enhance our understanding of the disease's clinical progression and help frame standard treatment guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health financing equity analysis rarely goes below the state level in India. This paper assesses the equity and effectiveness of public spending on health in the state of Odisha. Using district-level public spending data for the first time, it sheds light on the incidence of public spending by geography and by type of services. There are three key findings. First, it identifies the weak link between district spending and district need, proxied by poverty rates or lagging sectoral outcomes, highlighting the potential for a more needs-based approach to public resource allocation. Second, the results indicate that at the household level health spending by the state is not pro-poor, especially in public hospitals, underscoring the need to improve access to care for the bottom 40% at these facilities. Third, an exhaustive analysis of micro-level treasury data brings into focus the importance of reforming public finance data systems to support evidence-based policy at the sub-state level. Significant district-wise variation in key health financing and equity indicators, combined with growing policy interest in the district level, underscore the utility of further empirical work in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India’s experience with the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is notable on account of nationally formalising – at scale – community action in service delivery,monitoring, and planning of health services. A study was undertaken to document and create a historical record of NRHM’s ‘communitization’ processes. The oral history method of the Witness Seminar was adopted and two virtual seminars with five and nine participants, respectively, were conducted, and supplemented with 4 in depth interviews. Analysis of transcripts was done using ATLAS.ti 22 with the broad themes of emergence, evolution, and evaluation and impact of ‘communitization’ under NRHM. This paper engages with the theme of ‘emergence’ and adopts the Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) conceptualised by John Kingdon for analysis. Key findings include the pioneering role of boundary spanning decision makers and the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) in advocacy and design of ‘communitization’ structures, and the legacy of rights based social mobilizations and state-civil society partnerships in health during the 1990s influencing the ethos underlying ‘communitization’. Democracy, leadership from the civil society in policy design and implementation, and state-civil society partnerships are linked to the positive results witnessed as part of ‘communitization’ in NRHM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the EIA process and its effectiveness in addressing the impacts of a 190 km long national highway project along the Karnataka coast. We analyse the quality and relevance of the environmental clearance conditions established by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and discusses their potential implications. The findings underline that most of the conditions that pertained to the prevention of pollution, restoration of mangroves, and protection of biodiversity lacked a scientific basis and specific information required for effective implementation. The MoEF&CC also overlooked the social impact of the project and underplayed its own role in ensuring fair compensation to project affected communities for the loss of their land and other livelihoods. The paper concludes by promulgating a long list of irrelevant and ineffective environmental conditions that represent greenwashing because it could misguide affected communities and other stakeholders by creating the impression the state is exercising due diligence in protecting the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child health outcomes vary between Parliamentary Constituencies (PCs) in India. There are a total of 543 PCs in India, each of which is a geographical unit represented by a Member of Parliament (MP). MP characteristics, such as age, gender, education, the number of terms they have served, and whether they belong to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, might be associated with indicators of child malnutrition and child mortality. The purpose of this paper was to examine the associations between MP characteristics and measures of child malnutrition and mortality. We did not find any meaningful associations between MP characteristics and child anthropometry, anemia, and mortality. Future research should consider the size of a constituency served by an MP along with MP party affiliations as these factors might help explain between-PC variations in child health outcomes. Our findings also underscore the need to better support female MPs and MPs from marginalized caste and tribal groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India enacted a new child sexual abuse law in 2012 and made important changes to the rape law in 2013 to expand the definition of rape and sexual assault, introduce several reforms and improve gender sensitivity in rape trials. However, the child sexual abuse law with its definition of who is a child has increased the age of consent for sex from 16 years to 18 years, echoed by similar changes in the rape law. This paper revisits the debates on the age of consent in India in the late nineteenth century. It reviews them in the light of the new legislative changes, adjudication of cases of sexual assault, and examines the implications of the new laws on adolescents and their sexuality. We contend that the changes in the law have resulted in several challenges: for adolescents exploring their sexuality on the one hand, and for courts to adjudicate on love, romance, and elopement, on the other. Further, in conjunction with raising the age of consent, other changes such as mandatory reporting of sexual activity among adolescents, especially by hospitals, have increased family control on adolescents' sexuality and strengthened regressive social norms linked to marriages. One of the most troubling developments is the resulting barriers to adolescents' access to reproductive and sexual health care. This paper explores how laws devised to address harm and extend protection to children play into dominant social norms and are in the service of protectionist and patriarchal control on young people and their sexuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Addressing social determinants of health (SDH) from a global health security perspective is important especially in low and middle income countries. Socioeconomic status, cultural, political and behavioural factors influence health and disease of the people. This paper seeks to describe how government programmes and other initiatives are expected to play an important role in addressing SDH and thereby improving health of the people. The analysis addresses both health and social policy issues. Context and Aim: The study assumes importance in view of India moving towards strengthening health and social security of its people through several policy-driven initiatives. Methods: This analysis classifies the 100 plus programmes launched by the Government of India into health, education, nutrition, social security, etc., and compares available indicators (2000–2018) Findings: The initiatives of the Government of India are expected to improve health and social security of its people, with focus on addressing health as well as social inequity. One of the programmes (Swachh Bharat Mission – clean India mission) has helped in avoiding 300,000 child deaths. Official survey results are not available for all indicators. Innovative contribution to policy, practice and/or research: Analysis of Government of India's policy-driven programmes and other initiatives with focus on livelihood improvement indicate that they are contributing to ensure health and social security; and are worth replicating in similar settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2009, the Government of India asked all Indian states and Union Territories to prepare State Action Plans on Climate Change, making it one of the largest efforts at sub-national climate planning globally. Through an examination of state climate plans in five Indian states, the paper explores the implications of sub-national climate measures by examining two questions: First, how do state action plans on climate change link with India’s national and international climate efforts in the context of multi-level governance of climate change? Second, do these plans serve as laboratories of experimentation in addressing climate change? Through an empirically driven inductive analysis, the paper argues that because state climate plans, at least in the initial stages, followed a centrally driven, and sometimes ambiguous agenda, their scope and room to experiment was circumscribed. While they did initiate a process and a conversation, the scope and impact of the plans was limited because they tended to follow conventional bureaucratic planning processes and were limited by a central mandate. The plan process did create some space for local innovation, particularly by enterprising bureaucrats, but this was limited by both restricted space and time for innovation. As a result, the plans made only initial steps toward bringing climate-resilient sustainability to the forefront of state development planning. There is however scope for improvement as states and stakeholders begin examining the plans with a view to implement recommendations, finance projects and even consider fresh iterations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although several empirical studies report significant positive long-run abnormal stock returns following share buybacks, a recent event study paper claims that such anomalies have disappeared in the most recent decade and this disappearance of abnormal performance is not sensitive to the methods used. The present paper makes an attempt to investigate this claim using 63 Indian share buybacks which took place between July 2008 and June 2012. We consider the application of several event study methods and our findings are a bit mixed. We conclude that the long-run anomalies following stock repurchases in India are still sensitive to the employed methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to examine the inequality and poverty issues of rural households in India from the perspective of a household's monthly per capita consumption expenditure using data on nearly 20,000 households. In examining these issues, the paper first sets out a model of a poverty-inequality trade-off whereby governments could choose the poverty-inequality combination they most preferred. Then the paper proceeds to examine whether there is a 'caste basis' to inequality and poverty in India or whether distributional and deprivation outcomes are 'caste blind' and entirely determined by the attributes of the individual households. Our overarching conclusion is that households' outcomes with respect to their position on the distributional ladder, or with respect to their chances of being poor, are dependent in large measure on their caste. So households from the Scheduled Castes were more likely to be in the lowest quintile of consumption, and were more likely to be poor, than high-caste Hindu households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the trends in the allocation of capital in an emerging economy, India, during the post-financial liberalization regime. In contrast to the conventional wisdom that financial liberalization leads to better allocation of funds, the study could not find any obvious evidence of increase in efficiency over the reform period, especially during the early years of reform. Further, the study highlights the disturbing trend of convergence of efficiencies across various strata of firms towards a lower level over the reform period. This paper rationalizes the decline as a result of excessive capacity creation in certain industries, financed by cheap external sources of finance, without any consideration of return or demand conditions. This paper, as a policy recommendation, highlights the importance of creating appropriate institutions prior to pursuing financial liberalization in developing countries like India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India continues to urbanise rapidly tinged with sub-standard living conditions of a growing 'slum' population. Improving the living conditions of slum-dwellers remains a gargantuan and intractable challenge requiring solutions at scale grounded on households' real experience of the process. The State of Odisha, in Eastern India, is currently implementing a state-wide land-titling initiative to improve the tenure security of a million slum-dwellers through legal, institutional, and technical innovations based on the Odisha Land Rights to Slum-dwellersAct 2017 (OLRSD). Given the known negative consequences of titling that grants 'full property rights', such as the speculative sale of the titles, the facilitation of elite capture,and disruption of community life and social networks, the OLRSD has fashioned the title as a 'limited instrument' that still assures the possibility to inherit and aims at facilitating mortgage for housing-backed lending. The paper discusses early learnings from Odisha's 'intermediate' aspects of its titling policy in nine settlements researched across three districts. As per people's accounts of their experienced reality, the titling, complemented by slum upgrading, has already facilitated improvements in the housing conditions of households subject to extreme poverty. However, concomitant challenges are surfacing for instance, although the OLRSD formally permits the titles to be used as collateral for housing loans, the non-acceptance of the title by mainstream banks forces the recipients to borrow from spurious private lenders, thus increasing their vulnerability. Understanding such and related challenges is relevant for better addressing the dimension of de jure land tenure security in slums at scale across India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of trends in six drought variables at 566 stations across India over the period 1901–2002. Six drought variables were computed using standardized precipitation index (SPI). The Mann-Kendall (MK) trend test and Sen's slope estimator were used for trend analysis of drought variables. Discrete wavelet transform (DWT) was used to identify the dominant periodic components in trends, whereas the significance of periodic components was examined using continuous wavelet transform (CWT) based global wavelet spectrum (GWS). Our results show an increasing trend in droughts in eastern, northeastern and extreme southern regions, and a decreasing trend in the northern and southern regions of the country. The periodic component influencing the trend was 2–4 years in south, 4–8 years in west, east and northeast, 8–64 years in central parts and 32–128 years in the north; however, most of the periodic components were not statistically significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of a growing adolescent population globally, it is imperative to understand which interventions will most effectively advance their sexual and reproductive health (SRH). In India and globally, peer education is often utilised as an intervention for promoting the SRH of young people. Globally, the evidence of its effectiveness is mixed. A systematic review of the literature from the Indian context gave insight into the knowledge, attitudinal, and behavioural (KAB) outcomes affected by peer education, as well as the inputs, coverage, content, and context of such interventions. Out of the over 1500 publications initially identified through the database and bibliographic searches, 13 were included in the review; no quality assessment was done, given the dearth of publications matching the inclusion criteria. Analysis of the included publications highlights the multiple ways that peer education is implemented in the Indian context, as part of multi-component programmes and as a stand-alone intervention. The KAB outcomes from these initiatives are mixed, with some multi-component and some stand-alone initiatives affecting statistically significant outcomes and others not–a finding consistent with global literature reviewed for this paper. Despite the mixed results and the limited effects of behaviour relative to knowledge, this paper proposes that peer education has a place in an overall response to improving the SRH of young people. It calls for better research on peer education in India, and for research in relation to the optimal conditions for peer education to succeed in affecting KAB and other outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In prior literature it was conjectured that the Indian stock market responses on domestic macroeconomic surprises are expected to be significantly influenced by global surprises. In this paper we empirically established that hypothesis. We used both the Event Analysis and VAR model. We found that global surprises consistently dominate Indian stock market and the influence of domestic macroeconomic surprises on it is relatively less. The understanding of stock market dynamics against domestic macroeconomic surprises and global factors can provide assistance to the policy makers for augmenting policy effectiveness and the corporate finance professionals for enhancing decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there has been a rapid growth of business and management schools in India since 1990, the curricula, teaching methods and the mode of delivery largely remain an instructor-led approach overlooking the needs of learners and potential employers. This paper presents a learner-centric investment management course known as Student-Managed Investment Course (hereafter, SMIC). It elucidates the structure, design and implementation of SMIC based on the principles of experiential learning. SMIC has been organised to create a conducive environment for the emergence of varied experiences and encourage reflections among students on the theory and practice of investment finance. The unique feature of the course is real-time exposure to investment activity in the Bombay Stock exchange/National Stock exchange, which helps students observe and grasp the nuances of capital market functioning and to acquire requisite skills for financial decision-making. This document on SMIC has a value in being a useful guide for other business schools in India for adopting a learner-centric approach to investment management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the impact of the Demonetization of 85% currency in circulation in India on the eve of 8 November 2016 on all the listed stocks spanning over 20 broad industry clusters (sectors) and their affiliation type from the Indian economy over the period of November to Mid-January 2016. Using the event study methodology, we assess the effects of Demonetization, relative to what had been anticipated, as measured by abnormal returns (ARs). The results indicate that Group Affiliated firms witnessed the highest negative abnormal returns both on the event days and during the event window period, while PSUs witnessed the least wrath. On the sectoral front, Demonetization shows a mixed effect in the early days which changes to positive for most of the sectors barring a few. Banking Sector was the worst hit in the early days with a CAAR of −1.74%, while many sectors like Pharma, Paper and Wholesale Trading witnessed a windfall gain in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant boom occurred in the Indian financial market and growth in the post-liberalization era. This motivates us to analyze the impact of stock market and credit market (two components of financial market) for the growth of financial market. This paper attempts to show the linkage between stock and credit markets and their impact on the Indian economy taking the period after post-liberalization. The period of analysis is from 1994 to 2010; we identify the three variables as stationary and find a relationship between the financial market and gross domestic product (GDP) and a long-run effect of lagged differences in credit market on GDP. It has been inferred that stock market development has larger and more significant long-run mutual effects on economic growth than credit market development in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there are a growing number of interventions and evaluations of programmes aimed at changing gender norms and violence against women and girls, there remains a dearth of documentation outlining the challenges faced in conducting these interventions and evaluations, particularly in traditional and low literacy settings. The Do Kadam Barabari Ki Ore (Two Steps Towards Equality) programme sought to understand what works to prevent violence against women and girls in Bihar, India. This paper draws insights from process evaluation data. It describes promising features and challenges of implementation, and characteristics which weaken the potential effects of complex, community based, social sector programmes that aim to change deeply entrenched gender power hierarchies. We drew on the Medical Research Council framework for process evaluation in analysing our process evaluation data, and focus on mechanisms of impact, and factors inhibiting programme success, including contextual and implementation challenges. The paper also outlines measures that may help overcome observed challenges and areas that require modifications and/or further investigation. The programme experienced several challenges. These included contextual issues, such as the lack of leadership skills of those delivering the intervention and the gap between expected responsibilities and activities of government platforms and reality. Implementation challenges were encountered in reaching men and boys, younger women and the community at large and ensuring their regular attendance; and in maintaining the fidelity of the intervention activities. Our insights call for an evidence-supported dialogue on these challenges and how best to anticipate and address them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the underlying causes of poor economic growth of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (UP), India, despite being endowed with relatively rich natural resources. Against the conventional view, the analysis reveals that poor economic growth is not due to a particular factor but an outcome of a myriad of social, economic and political factors rooted in structural, historical and macro-economic policies. The economic marginalization of Bihar and UP began in the colonial era through the establishment of an exploitative landlord class, which constantly resisted economic and social development even after independence in 1947. The process of marginalization has further been reinforced by the federal central government's policy of 'freight equalization', which nullified the comparative advantage of Bihar and UP in natural resources by subsidizing railway freights of industrial inputs like coal, iron ore, steel, cement and other bulk resources. This, combined with relatively low financial resources received from central government over the consecutive plan periods, has undermined these states' capacity to invest in health, education, and other social and physical infrastructure and resulted in low human development. The poor performance of Bihar and UP may be attributed to low human capital, weak institutions and poor infrastructure coupled with political instability and social conflict rooted in sectarian politics based on caste, class and ethnic division. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper explores the heterogeneities in antenatal care (ANC) utilization in India's most populated state, Uttar Pradesh. Taking an intersectionality lens, multiple individual- and district-level factors are used to identify segments of any antenatal care usage in Uttar Pradesh Objective: This paper seeks to understand the multilevel contexts of ANC utilization. The planning and programming challenge is that such knowledge of contextual specificity is rarely known upfront at the initial stages of planning or implementing an intervention. Exploratory data analysis might be needed to identify such contextual specificity. Methods: Tree-structured regression methods are used to identify segments and interactions between factors. The results from the tree-structured regression were complemented with multilevel models that controlled for the clustering of individuals within districts. Results: Heterogeneities in utilization of any ANC were observed. The multiple segments of ANC utilization that were developed went from a low utilization of 23.7% for respondents who were not literate and did not have home ownership to a high of 82.4% for respondents who were literate and at the highest level of wealth. Key variables that helped define the segments of ANC utilization include: woman's literacy, ownership of home, wealth index, and district-level sex ratio. Based on the multilevel model of any ANC utilization, cross-level interactions also were obtained between sex ratio and ownership of home as well as between sex ratio and literacy. Increases in sex ratio increased the influence of ownership of home on any ANC, while increases in sex ratio reduced the impact of woman's literacy on receiving any ANC. Conclusion: We argue that a focus on heterogeneous segments of utilization can help build knowledge of the mechanisms that underlie inequities in maternal health utilization. Such knowledge of heterogeneity needs to be incorporated in contextualizing interventions to meet a variety of recipients' needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internally displaced women are underserved by health schemes and policies, even as they may face greater risk of violence and unplanned pregnancies, among other burdens. There are an estimated 450,000 internally displaced persons in India, but they are not formally recognised as a group. Displacement has been a common feature in India's northeast region. This paper examines reproductive and maternal health (RMH) care-seeking among Bru displaced women in India. The study employed qualitative methodology: four focus group discussions (FGDs) were held with 49 displaced Bru women aged 18–45 between June and July 2018; three follow-up interviews with FGD participants and five in-depth interviews with community health workers (Accredited Social Health Activists – ASHAs) in camps for Bru displaced people in the Indian state of Tripura. All interviewees gave written or verbal informed consent; discussions were conducted in the local dialect, recorded, and transcribed. Data were indexed deductively from a dataset coded using grounded approaches. Most women were unaware of many of the RMH services provided by health facilities; very few accessed such care. ASHAs had helped increase institutional deliveries over the years. Women were aware of temporary contraceptive methods as well as medical abortion, but lacked awareness of the full range of contraceptive options. Challenges in accessing RMH services included distance of facilities from camps, and multiple costs (for transport, medicines, and informal payments to facility staff). The study highlighted a need for comprehensive intervention to improve RMH knowledge, attitudes, and practices among displaced women and to reduce access barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, nurses and midwives are key to the provision of public sexual and reproductive health services. Research on impediments to their performance has primarily focused on their individual capability and systemic resource constraints. Despite emerging evidence on gender-based discrimination and low professional acceptance faced by these cadres, little has been done to link these constraints to power asymmetries within the health system. We analysed data from an ethnography conducted in two primary healthcare facilities in an eastern state in India, using Veneklasen and Miller's expressions of power framework, to explore how power and gender asymmetries constrain performance and quality of care provided by Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs). We find that ANMs' low position within the official hierarchy allows managers and doctors to exercise "power over" them, severely curtailing their expression of all other forms of power. Disempowerment of ANMs occurs at multiple levels in interlinked and interdependent ways. Our findings contribute to the empirical evidence, advancing the understanding of gender as a structurally embedded dimension of power. We illustrate how the weak positioning of ANMs reflects their lack of representation in policymaking positions, a virtual absence of gender-sensitive policies, and ultimately organisational power structures embedded in patriarchy. By deepening the understanding of empowerment, the paper suggests implementable pathways to empower ANMs for improved performance. This requires addressing entrenched gender inequities through structural and organisational changes that realign power relations, facilitate more collaborative ways of exercising power, and create the antecedents to individual empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is limited research in India to understand young people's decision-making processes about intimate relationships before marriage. This paper, adopting a life course perspective, explains relationship choices and diachronic trajectories of relationships from adolescence to young adulthood. Retrospective data were collected from 1240 never married 20–29-year-old men and women living in Pune using a relationships history calendar. All the relationships from 10 years of age onwards were plotted on the calendar, and information on predictor variables was collected through structured questionnaires. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Sequence analysis approach was used to identify different typologies. Overall, 76% of the participants reported having at least one relationship. More women compared to men (84% vs 70%) ever had a relationship. The median age of starting the first relationship was 17 years for women and 18 for men. Different relationship types were reported, such as "serious", casual, "friends with benefit", and "exploring". The level of emotional involvement, commitment, and physical intimacy significantly differed in different relationship types with significant gender differences. Four typologies of relationships were observed, labelled as (1) Commitment–No sex (N = 187); (2) Commitment–Sex-Some exploration (N = 189); (3) No commitment–Exploration (N = 281), and (4) No relationship (N = 583). Compared to men, women were more likely to follow the trajectory of "Commitment-No sex" (RR 2.13, CI 1.5–3.03). Family environment was significantly related to young people's relationship choices. The findings strongly suggest the need to adopt a developmental perspective towards intimate relationships to understand and address the vulnerabilities of young people across the life course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unmet need for contraception is documented as a significant determinant of unintended pregnancies and high number of induced abortions. The period immediately after an abortion is recognised as a unique opportunity to offer contraceptive services. This paper explores the association between place of abortion and women's post-abortion contraceptive behaviour. The reproductive calendar data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) (2015–16) was used for this study. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to understand factors associated with post-abortion method choices. Single decrement life-tables were built to examine rates of contraceptive discontinuation and proportional hazard models were employed to examine probability and correlates of method discontinuation. About 20% of women who underwent an abortion adopted a contraceptive method by the end of one month following an abortion. The decision to choose methods like sterilisation or intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUCDs) was associated with the place of abortion, past contraceptive behaviour, number and sex of surviving children at the time of abortion, mass media exposure, and time of the abortion. Compared to women who underwent an abortion at private health facilities, women who sought abortion at public health facilities were more likely to choose permanent methods or IUCDs. Furthermore, women who opted for an IUCD were less likely to discontinue the method compared to those using short-acting modern methods. The lack of post-abortion contraceptive choices for women is evident in the low uptake of post-abortion contraceptives in private facilities and the predominant promotion of permanent methods and IUCDs in public health facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we draw on three ethnographic studies of surrogacy we carried out separately in different contexts: the western US state of California, the south Indian state of Karnataka, and the western Russian metropolis of St Petersburg. In our interviews with surrogate mothers, intended parents, and surrogacy professionals, we traced the meanings and ideologies through which they understood the clinical labour of surrogacy. We found that in the US, interviewed surrogates, intended parents and professionals understood surrogacy as an exchange of both gifts and commodities, where gift-giving, reciprocity, and relatedness between surrogates and intended parents were the major tropes. In India, differing narratives of surrogacy were offered by its different parties: whilst professionals and intended parents framed it as a win-win exchange with an emphasis on the economic side, the interviewed surrogate mothers talked about surrogacy as creative labour of giving life. In Russia, approaches to surrogacy among the interviewed surrogate mothers, professionals and intended parents overlapped in framing it as work and a businesslike commodity exchange. We suggest these three different ways of ethical reasoning about the clinical labour of surrogacy, including justifications of women's incorporation into this labour, were situated in local moral frameworks. We name them "repro-regional moral frameworks", inspired by earlier work on moral frameworks as well as on reproductive nationalisms and transnational reproduction. Building on these findings, we argue that any international or global regulation of surrogacy, or indeed any moral stance on it, needs to take these local differences into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape-level conservation that maintains biodiversity and livelihoods for local people requires long-term collaborations across local communities, scientists, practitioners and decision-makers. The Network for Conserving Central India (NCCI) provides a platform for such collaborations in a globally important tiger conservation region within a complex social-ecological system. Using the NCCI as an example, our study identifies indicators to track progress in collaborative landscape-level networks across four dimensions: the composition of the network; collaborative scientific output; dissemination of research outputs through social, electronic and print media; and participation in policy and decision-making bodies. The NCCI is primarily comprised of members of the scientific community, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and various levels of government. Since 2013, the NCCI members conducted research that predominantly addressed human-wildlife conflicts and human livelihood needs around protected areas (PAs), with less attention to forest ecology and climate. NGOs within the NCCI work closely with local communities and provide avenues for local engagement. Co-production of policies is an essential but challenging goal due to established hierarchies and top-down institutional structures. Our analyses highlight the NCCI's role as a knowledge platform and bridge among researchers, NGOs, and government, with significant opportunities for boundary work in the Science, Policy and Practice Interface (SPPI). A challenging and unfulfilled goal is the engagement of local communities to co-produce approaches that balance conservation, local livelihoods, and development. We suggest that other landscape-level networks in social-ecological systems can modify these dimensions as pertinent to their respective circumstances to track progress towards co-produced management to address livelihood and conservation needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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With increasing economic interdependence, the scholarly treatment as well as the practice of economic nationalism is either seen as theoretically redundant or practically impossible. Contrary to this conclusion, I argue that economic nationalism is not inconsistent with globalization. States are not only active participants in globalization but they continue to strategically express nationalism in new global settings by supporting national firms and citizens overseas. By redefining economic nationalism from protectionism to the leveraging of national resources to secure economic benefits from the world economy, this paper provides an alternative view of economic nationalism. This paper analyzes economic nationalism as a dynamic concept. Empirically, it takes up three Indian industries (steel, auto, software) since 1950 to understand how nationalism was practiced and how it has changed under globalization. The paper establishes India's pursuit of economic nationalism under globalization through its support of Indian businesses and citizens abroad. Though the coherence of nationalism may be weak, it can still be expressed in looser forms of national 'presence' abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extraordinary growth and reduction in inequalities achieved between the mid-1960s and mid-1990s by the High Performing Asian Economies (HPAEs) — namely Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan (collectively called "the four tigers"), Japan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand — has been discussed at great length in the economic literature. However, no clear explanation has been suggested for the poor performance of other Asian economies, like India, which share the HPAEs geographical proximity and similar economic structures. This paper shows that the stark contrast between the high growth rates and declining income inequalities of HPAEs on one side, and low growth rates and stable (or rising) income inequalities of India and other Asian countries on the other side, may at least in part be explained by the different role that human capital has played in those economies between the mid-1960s and mid-1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last two decades saw sweeping changes in the pharmaceutical patent policies of the developing countries from weak/non patentability to strong patent regimes. Analysing the policy change from a political economy approach, this paper pursues two simultaneous objectives. Firstly, it explores the common factors underlying the recent changes in the pharmaceutical patent policies of the developing countries. Secondly, it analyses the sources of the differential policy outcomes on pharmaceutical patents in India and Turkey.Against the state-centric theories that interpret the policy change primarily as a matter between the nation states from developed and developing countries, the paper presents two arguments. Firstly, it argues that the increased structural power of the transnational capital has been the common factor underlying the recent changes in the pharmaceutical patent policies of the developing countries. Secondly, it argues that the nature, scope, and outcomes policy processes on pharmaceutical patents have been shaped by the dynamics of the inter class struggles across the developing world. The paper supports this latter argument through a focussed comparative historical analysis of the public policy processes and outcomes on pharmaceutical patents in Turkey and India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public health research has gained increasing importance in India's national health policy as the country seeks to address the high burden of disease and its inequitable distribution, and embarks on an ambitious agenda towards universalising health care. This study aimed at describing the public health research output in India, its focus and distribution, and the actors involved in the research system. It makes recommendations for systematically promoting and strengthening public health research in the country. The study was a bibliometric analysis of PubMed and IndMed databases for years 2000–2010. The bibliometric data were analysed in terms of biomedical focus based on the Global Burden of Disease, location of research, research institutions, and funding agencies. A total of 7,893 eligible articles were identified over the 11-year search period. The annual research output increased by 42% between 2000 and 2010. In total, 60.8% of the articles were related to communicable diseases, newborn, maternal, and nutritional causes, comparing favourably with the burden of these causes (39.1%). While the burdens from non-communicable diseases and injuries were 50.2 and 10.7%, respectively, only 31.9 and 7.5% of articles reported research for these conditions. The north-eastern states and the Empowered-Action-Group states of India were the most under-represented for location of research. In total, 67.2% of papers involved international collaborations and 49.2% of these collaborations were with institutions in the UK or USA; 35.4% of the publications involved international funding and 71.2% of funders were located in the UK or USA. While public health research output in India has increased significantly, there are marked inequities in relation to the burden of disease and the geographic distribution of research. Systematic priority setting, adequate funding, and institutional capacity building are needed to address these inequities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper contributes to understanding corporate governance issues in emerging economies by examining how blockholders influence firm value. Using a much disaggregated and uniform database from the Indian corporate sector for the year 2001, we examine the interaction between ownership structure and firm value in the following ways. Unlike most existing research, which studies the aggregate level of ownership, we include a wider set of mechanisms, such as identity and ownership concentration of outside blockholders controlling at least 5 percent of total equity of the firm. We analyze the role played by these shareholders with substantial voting power in situations when equity holding is less compared to the more concentrated holdings of promoters. We also attempt to see if these investors coordinate among themselves to constrain insiders from expropriating corporate resources. We find a significant curvilinear relationship between firm value and the fraction of voting rights owned by insiders. The curve slopes downward until insider ownership reaches approximately between 45 percent and 63 percent, then slopes upward. Empirical results on ownership concentration by minority blockholders do not support the monitoring hypothesis of these investors. Furthermore, the coordinated behavior of the largest two minority blockholders has an increasing (decreasing) impact on firm value when the collective control is located in the lower (higher) range. The coordination problem worsens if the largest two are private corporate bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability is critical to the delivery of cultural heritage tourism (CHT) since its foundation to attract tourist relies on the preservation of the historic and cultural offerings of the host community. CHT destinations within urban and semi-urban heritage sites in emerging economies find this particularly challenging. To explore this issue and its associated challenges, this paper brings together an interdisciplinary team representing disciplines of heritage management, architectural and cultural history, economics, environmental planning and sustainability to establish the extent to which sustainability principles are integrated within CHT destinations in the semi-urban destinations of emerging economies. An interdisciplinary analysis of the case study of Srirangapatna-Mysore region in India, using a framework for evaluating sustainability principles within CHT reveals environmental considerations to be the weakest link. Accordingly, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is proposed as a tool that can compensate some of the caveats identified in the case study by potentially enhancing stakeholder involvement, raising heritage and environmental awareness, facilitating regional approach and avoiding costly mistakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeometallurgical perspectives on ancient Indian metal technology generally depend on an evolutionary paradigm, within which artefacts and raw materials are viewed from a unifunctional perspective. Within this framework, the early presence of pure copper and elementally variant objects have been regarded as 'discrepant' products of alloy metal and craft deficiencies. The interweaving of folk beliefs and memories of historical events around metal and metal-related artefacts (including slag) has also been ignored. This paper demonstrates that ethnographic and literary evidence allows us to understand such elements more meaningfully as cultural signifiers. In this sense, the production of pure copper artefacts is related to a widely articulated cultural preference for that metal while compositionally variant artefacts are seen as products of the resource-conserving strategy of alloy workers. The paper also foregrounds some events and folk traditions that have transformed metal objects, around which they are focused, into symbols of social beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dowries in most regions of South Asia have steadily become larger over the last 40 years, causing widespread destitution among families with daughters to be married. This paper attempts to investigate the reasons behind dowry `inflation' with data on marriage transactions and other individual and household information from six villages in south- central India, and from the Indian census. It is found that a 'marriage squeeze' caused by population growth which resulted in a surplus of younger women in the marriage market, has played an important role in the increase in dowries. Other factors that increase the size of dowries include differences in the land holdings of the parental households, and residence in regions in the more northerly parts of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate action plans are essential for climate mitigation and adaptation as well as to achieve climate and development goals like the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the development and implementation of climate action plans at multiple levels involve decision-making processes. In this article, we examine the barriers and opportunities to decision-making in climate action plans for adaptation at three different governance levels in India: national, sub-national and local. Through a literature review and analysis of case studies, we find that lack of usable climate information, institutional weaknesses and capacity of actors are critical barriers to decision-making at all three levels in India. We recommend that providing usable and accessible climate information, creating evidence and knowledge on adaptation, strengthening the science-policy interface and institutional mechanisms, as well as building the capacities of actors can contribute to better decision-making and achieving targeted climate action plans and SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public bike sharing is an increasingly popular mode of transportation in India, and understanding the factors influencing the intention to use bike share is crucial. This study employs a comprehensive approach by integrating the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), theory of interpersonal behaviour (TIB), and the technology acceptance model (TAM). Additionally, variables such as policy support, habits, external factors, and perceived bicycling conditions are also considered. A sample of 450 respondents from Delhi, the capital city of India, was collected to assess their intention to use bike sharing. The study employed Structural Equation Modelling, to examine the relationships among variables. The findings demonstrate that the research model effectively explains residents' intention to use bike share. Factors such as perceived ease of use, behavioural attitude, subjective norms, and habits have direct and positive effects on the intention to use bike share. Notably, perceived ease of use, behavioural attitude, and policy support have the most substantial impact on the intention to use bike share. Conversely, perceived bicycling conditions and external factors exert negative effects on bike share usage intentions. This study provides valuable insights into the acceptance of bike sharing and offers a strategic direction for promoting bike sharing in Indian cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dairy farming needs a strong foundation of energy security in rural India for its sustainability. Solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems in dairy farming act as a catalyst to ensure Green Energy Measures (GEMs) and to achieve the various missions of the Indian Government. The deployment of solar PV systems to fulfil energy needs in Indian dairy farming has several issues and barriers. In this investigation, various foremost barriers creating hindrances in deployment of PV systems in Indian dairy farms have been identified. Contextual relationships between identified barriers have been established by Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) and classified using Matrice d'impacts croisés multiplication appliquée á un classment (MICMAC). It is used to determine the ranks and types of hindrances and to develop a structural model. The strongest driving force barriers are high initial capital cost, storage devices barrier, policy and regulatory issues, less education and weak affordability in rural and long payback periods. The strongest dependent force barriers include societal acceptance, fewer concerns about ecological and environmental issues, and a lack of entrepreneurs and innovations in the rural sector. Finally, the future roadmap to address the obstacles in exploitation of PV systems in context of dairy sector has been described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sundarban Biosphere Reserve in West Bengal, India, is part of the largest mangrove forest ecosystem in the world. The reserve is a world heritage site and the last refuge for the endangered Bengal tiger at a crucial time when global climate change threatens their existence. The mangrove ecosystem and wildlife conservation have become the priority for the state government of West Bengal. However, in becoming so, the state government imposes restrictions on catching fish in the core and buffer areas of the biosphere reserve, which intensify fishermen's everyday resource-access struggles in the mangrove forest. This paper examines the conflict between local fishermen and conservation needs, broadening the understanding of human-environment relationships in the Sundarbans region of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the conceptualization of Urban Green Space (UGS) within India's urban planning process. In doing so, the context of the Smart Cities Mission (SCM), which is a flagship programme for urban transformation in the country, is chosen. We identified four key elements of UGS planning in the literature – quantity, accessibility, multifunctionality, and connectivity. Using this as a framework for analysis, we reviewed the national SCM guidelines and plans of four cities – Gwalior, Bhagalpur, Chandigarh, and Udaipur – in depth. We find that multifunctionality does not feature in the planning of UGS, and the notable absence of a connected, strategic vision suggests the need for strategic-level planning and assessment that goes beyond the project level in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The remote Himalayan region of Kinnaur in northwestern India is known for its carved wooden homes with decorative features. Relatively recent environmental policies have prompted limitations on wood collection. This, coupled with an increase in access to modern building materials, has resulted in dramatic changes in vernacular housing styles. Landscape analysis and interviews reveal that house form, building methods, and construction materials are all changing. However, decorative features are among the last remaining characteristics of the traditional house. This paper argues that small-scale architectural features are a significant part of an enduring vernacular landscape and allow a region to preserve traditional styles and identity, while also moving forward as a modernizing society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The USD 12 billion steel project of POSCO in Odisha, India, conceived in 2005, was to be one of the largest investments in the country. But the project could not materialize, and in 2017 POSCO withdrew from the project after a lot of controversies. For this classic example of a lose-lose situation, the role of impact assessment (IA) has not been discussed adequately. Using a single case study method, this paper analyzes various dimensions of IA exercises conducted for the project. These IA exercises failed to notice the complex livelihood systems and potential dissent among the people of the area. Stakeholders' consultations were weak, IA reports did not highlight the negative impacts, and the potential loss of livelihoods was not noticed. Questions have also been raised on the legitimacy and authenticity of the claims made in these IA studies. However, the role of IA was also found be to be limited and the expectation from IA was also low. This negates the role of an ideal IA that should have been a comprehensive one and should have taken note of issues that are detrimental for the society, and particularly for the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose an institutional analysis of the development of the Indian dairy sector to investigate the drivers and extent of its inclusiveness. The institutional insight highlights that the inclusion of millions of smallholders in Indian industrial dairy chains comes from a dynamic network of three-tier cooperatives and specific sectoral formal and informal institutions favoring resource pooling and cooperation. This study demonstrates that an analysis of the bundles of rights held by smallholders in the sector supports assessing and monitoring inclusiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrological Sciences Journal/Journal des Sciences Hydrologiques is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, we introduce the relatively unknown system of sacred groves in northern Western Ghats to broader scientific community. The social–ecological systems of the sacred groves of this region are areas rich in biodiversity, provide key ecosystem services and are highly valued. Many sacred groves are an important source of water or medicinal resources, as well as regulating services, such as pollination. They are also places for socially important meetings and celebrations. However, initial investigations of sacred groves in the Konkan region of northern Western Ghats have revealed that these sites face many threats, such as for example, development and agriculture encroachment, increased resource use, cattle trampling and renovations of temples that lead to damage in the environment. This threatens the long-term maintenance of the groves’ biodiversity and services provided by them. We argue that the role of the sacred groves as biodiversity hotspots and providers of ecosystem services cannot be separated from the social context in which they exist. Thus, conservation work in such areas requires a step-wise approach including comprehensive recognition of the natural and social values, capacity building among local communities and design of locally suited incentives with participatory planning and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unwed pregnancy among adolescents is a disturbing event in Indian belief-systems, and very young motherhood limits girls' social, economic and educational prospects. Girls who seek abortions are always at higher risk for delay in care seeking; this paper looks at the reasons why. It reports the experiences of 34 unmarried adolescent girls and young women, aged 10–24 years, who obtained induced abortion from a tertiary care abortion clinic over a period of seven months in 2004. Ten were below 19 years of age, the rest were 20–24 years. Only eight of the 34 pregnancies were <12 weeks. The reasons for delay were fear of disclosure, lack of any support system and scarcity of resources. In 30 cases, the decision to terminate was made jointly with family members, especially the mother. Only half knew about contraception, of whom two used condoms. Only two of the partners accompanied the girl to the abortion clinic and another two offered some financial support. Because of the conflict between wanting to have sex and feeling guilty about it, these young people experienced terrible distress in the course of unwanted pregnancy. Comparing the adolescents who attended the clinic in 2004 with those we have seen in 2012–2013, the paper shows that as regards the essentials, much has remained the same. Les grossesses chez les adolescentes célibataires sont un événement troublant dans les systèmes de croyance indiens et la maternité chez les très jeunes femmes limite leurs perspectives sociales, économiques et éducatives. Les adolescentes qui souhaitent avorter courent toujours plus de risques de morbidité et de retard dans la recherche de soins car elles tendent à se faire soigner par des prestataires non formés ou non agréés. L'article décrit l'expérience de 34 adolescentes et jeunes femmes célibataires âgées de 10 à 24 ans, qui ont interrompu leur grossesse dans un centre d'avortement de soins tertiaires sur une période de sept mois en 2004. Dix étaient âgées de moins de 19 ans, les autres avaient de 20 à 24 ans. Seules huit des 34 grossesses étaient <12 semaines ; les raisons du retard étaient la peur de la révélation, le manque de tout système de soutien et la pénurie de ressources. Dans 30 cas, la décision d'avorter avait été prise conjointement avec les membres de la famille, spécialement la mère. La moitié seulement des femmes connaissait la contraception, et deux utilisaient des préservatifs. Seuls deux des partenaires avaient accompagné la jeune femme dans le centre d'avortement et deux autres avaient offert un soutien financier. En raison du conflit entre la volonté d'avoir des rapports sexuels et le sentiment de culpabilité, ces jeunes connaissaient une terrible détresse au cours de leur grossesse non désirée. Comparant les adolescentes qui ont fréquenté le dispensaire en 2004 avec celles que nous avons vues en 2012–2013, l'article montre qu'en ce qui concerne les points essentiels, la situation n'a guère changé. El embarazo entre adolescentes solteras es un suceso preocupante en los sistemas de creencias indias; la maternidad a una edad muy temprana limita las posibilidades sociales, económicas y educativas de las niñas. Aquéllas que buscan servicios de aborto siempre corren mayor riesgo de postergar la búsqueda de servicios y de morbilidad porque tienden a acudir a prestadores de servicios no capacitados o no autorizados. En este artículo se informan las experiencias de 34 adolescentes y jóvenes solteras, de 10 a 24 años de edad, que recibieron servicios de aborto inducido en una clínica terciaria de aborto, en un plazo de siete meses durante el 2004. Diez de ellas tenían menos de 19 años; el resto, de 20 a 24 años. Solo ocho de los 34 embarazos eran <12 semanas; las razones para postergar la búsqueda de servicios fueron: temor de revelación, falta de un sistema de apoyo y escasez de recursos. En 30 casos, la decisión de interrumpir el embarazo se tomó conjuntamente con miembros de la familia, en particular la madre. Solo la mitad tenía conocimiento de la anticoncepción; dos de ellas usaban condones. Solo dos de las parejas acompañaron a la adolescente a la clínica de aborto y otros dos ofrecieron algún apoyo financiero. Debido al conflicto entre querer tener sexo y sentirse culpable al respecto, estas jóvenes se sintieron muy afligidas durante su embarazo no deseado. Al comparar a las adolescentes que acudieron a la clínica en 2004 con las que vimos en 2012–2013, el artículo muestra que no han cambiado mucho la situación en cuanto a los puntos esenciales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new method for estimating the effect of child mortality on the total fertility rate (TFR). The method is based on discrete-time survival models of parity progression that allow construction of a multivariate multidimensional life table of fertility with four dimensions: woman's age, parity, duration in parity, and number of previous child deaths. Additional socio-economic variables are included in the set of predictor variables in the underlying survival models of parity progression. The life table yields a replacement rate, which measures the effect of one additional child death on the TFR. The method is illustrated by applying it to three Indian National Family Health Surveys. Major findings are that dead children are incompletely replaced, and that the replacement rate rises as the TFR falls, reflecting women's increasing ability to control their fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 is focused on reducing maternal mortality and achieving universal access to reproductive health care. India has made extensive efforts to achieve MDG 5 and in some regions much progress has been achieved. Progress has been uneven and inequitable however, and many women still lack access to maternal and reproductive health care. Objective: In this review, a framework developed by the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) is used to categorize and explain determinants of inequity in maternal and reproductive health in India. Design: A review of peer-reviewed, published literature was conducted using the electronic databases PubMed and Popline. The search was performed using a carefully developed list of search terms designed to capture published papers from India on: 1) maternal and reproductive health, and 2) equity, including disadvantaged populations. A matrix was developed to sort the relevant information, which was extracted and categorized based on the CSDH framework. In this way, the main sources of inequity in maternal and reproductive health in India and their inter-relationships were determined. Results: Five main structural determinants emerged from the analysis as important in understanding equity in India: economic status, gender, education, social status (registered caste or tribe), and age (adolescents). These five determinants were found to be closely interrelated, a feature which was reflected in the literature. Conclusion: In India, economic status, gender, and social status are all closely interrelated when influencing use of and access to maternal and reproductive health care. Appropriate attention should be given to how these social determinants interplay in generating and sustaining inequity when designing policies and programs to reach equitable progress toward improved maternal and reproductive health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]