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Background: Human Resources for Health (HRH) are crucial for improving health services coverage and population health outcomes. The World Health Organisation (WHO) promotes countries to formulate holistic policies that focus on four HRH dimensions-availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality (AAAQ). The status of these dimensions and their incorporation in the National Health Policies of India (NHPIs) are not well known.Methods: We created a multilevel framework of strategies and actions directed to improve AAAQ HRH dimensions. HRH-related recommendations of NHPI-1983, 2002, and 2017 were classified according to targeted dimensions and cadres using the framework. We identified the dimensions and cadres focussed by NHPIs using the number of mentions. Furthermore, we introduce a family of dimensionwise deficit indices formulated to assess situational HRH deficiencies for census years (1981, 2001, and 2011) and over-year trends. Finally, we evaluated whether or not the HRH recommendations in NHPIs addressed the deficient cadres and dimensions of the pre-NHPI census years.Results: NHPIs focused more on HRH availability and quality compared to accessibility and acceptability. Doctors were prioritized over auxiliary nurses-midwives and pharmacists in terms of total recommendations. AAAQ indices showed deficits in all dimensions for almost all HRH cadres over the years. All deficit indices show a general decreasing trend from 1981 to 2011 except for the accessibility deficit. The recommendations in NHPIs did not correspond to the situational deficits in many instances indicating a policy priority mismatch.Conclusion: India needs to incorporate AAAQ dimensions in its policies and monitor their progress. The framework and indices-based approach can help identify the gaps between targeted and needed dimensions and cadres for effective HRH strengthening. At the global level, the application of framework and indices will allow a comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of HRH-related policies of various nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how government policies support entrepreneurship, focusing on India's Startup India program. It analyzes policy initiatives like tax incentives and regulatory reforms and their impact on startups like Zomato, Ola, and Byju's. Challenges faced by startups, such as complex regulations and limited funding, are identified, and solutions are proposed. Comparisons with international models like the Small Business Administration (SBA) in the United States and Startup SG in Singapore are made to extract best practices. The study concludes with suggestions for improving government support to nurture India's startup ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Information on disability is essential for the government to formulate policies, allocate adequate resources and implement appropriate programmes. The objective of this study was to measure the prevalence of disability and the estimation of distribution of disabilities by gender, advancing age, districts, geographical regions,work and marital status in the Uttar Pradesh. Method: We analyzed the 2011 Census data of Uttar Pradesh. Age-adjusted disability rates and disability rates per 100 000 population were calculated. Results: There were 4157514 individuals with disability in Uttar Pradesh in 2011 accounting for a disability rate of 2081 per 100 000 populations. The disability in hearing, seeing, and movement was most predominant with rates of 514, 382 and 339 per 100 000 respectively of the 71 districts, age-standardized disability rates in 20 districts were above the state average of 2081 per 100 000 population. In all kinds of disability there was mostly male predominance in both rural and urban areas across all agecategories. Conclusion: About 2 in every 100 person in Uttar Pradesh (2080 per 100 000 persons) is either physically or mentally disabled. Disability rates reflect the overall health status of the population. Identification of the underlying causes and employing effective and focused preventive strategies will help to reduce the burden of disability and maximize the quality of life in Uttar Pradesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

James Borton in I Dispatches from the South China Sea i primarily dwells on the interactions between humans and the environment in the South China Sea. Borton underlines the recently-launched US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) initiative, a new-age economic arrangement befitting the envisioned scientific cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. [Extracted from the article]

With rising valuation of mineral commodities, mining has been envisioned as a profitable industry regardless of many challenges it entails. This comprehensive review provides the state of knowledge about several aspects of the metal mining industry, including (a) the basic mining processes with reasons for mine closure, (b) the potential environmental and human health impacts associated with mining, (c) the potential techniques for impact mitigation, (d) the latest production statistics for the base and precious metals with identification of currently operational major metal mines for different countries, and (e) how mining activities are regulated in different nations. Finally, the authors provide critical appraisal on the debatable issue of mining and sustainability to stimulate thoughts on how metal mining can be made sustainable, and suggest a path forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the influence of climatic changes on government policies, focusing on the role of Parliaments in policymaking and balancing of efforts on climate change prevention with sustainable development in India. Topics include the importance of parliamentary engagement in climatic change reform which is crucial in its effort to combat corruption and promote good governance, with reinforcement through national legislation and international agreements.

Land degradation across the world has resulted in an unprecedented decline of ecosystem services, affecting the livelihood of 3.2 billion people globally. Sustainable land management is essential to protect our finite land resources from over-exploitation and degradation. Therefore, the present article was aimed to analyze the impacts of various national and international policies on current and future land restoration scenarios in India. A spatially explicit model (CLUMondo) was employed to predict scenarios, i.e., the 'business as usual' (BU) and 'sustainable restoration' (SR) by 2030. Though the results showed an increasing trend in land degradation , i.e., from 44.28 to 49.74 Mha during the period of 2005–15, a slight decrease was observed in 2019 (49.24 Mha), suggesting a net increase of 11.21% during the 2005–19 period. However, an increase in forest cover by 5.08% under existing policy targets overtook the degradation rate by restoration initiatives. The net decline in degraded land area by 1% with an increased forest cover by 1.83% observed during the 2015–19 periods reflected the positive impact of various national and global policies on existing restoration ventures in India. Our modeled results (weighted AUC = 0.87) also suggested an increase in forest cover by 6.9% and 9.9% under BU and SR scenarios, respectively. Under the BU scenario, degraded land will be restored up to 12.1 Mha; however, 6.27 Mha of these lands will be converted to cropland for food production. Importantly, a decrease in grasslands by 35.1% under the BU scenario warrants the urgency to maintain the integrity of such ecological systems. However, the SR scenario showed an increase in grasslands by 8.9%, with an overall restoration of degraded land up to 18.31 Mha. Moreover, a reduced cropland expansion rate of 1% suggested an effective land management response. While our results may have some uncertainties due to the model limitations, they can still be used for framing suitable land management policies to facilitate sustainable land restoration programs in India. [Display omitted] • Impact of various policies on India's current and future land restoration is studied. • There were 49.24 Mha of deforested and degraded lands in India as of 2019. • Business as usual scenario shown restoration of 12.1 Mha by the year 2030. • Out of this, 6.27 Mha can be converted to cropland despite being restored. • Sustainable restoration scenario shown further restoration of 18.31 Mha by 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No doubt that chlorination has been successfully used for the control of water borne infections diseases for more than a century. However identification of chlorination byproducts (CBPs) and incidences of potential health hazards created a major issue on the balancing of the toxicodynamics of the chemical species and risk from pathogenic microbes in the supply of drinking water. There have been epidemiological evidences of close relationship between its exposure and adverse outcomes particularly the cancers of vital organs in human beings. Halogenated trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) are two major classes of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) commonly found in waters disinfected with chlorine. The total concentration of trihalomethanes and the formation of individual THM species in chlorinated water strongly depend on the composition of the raw water, on operational parameters and on the occurrence of residual chlorine in the distribution system. Attempts have been made to develop predictive models to establish the production and kinetics of THM formations. These models may be useful for operational purposes during water treatment and water quality management. It is also suggested to explore some biomarkers for determination of DBP production. Various methods have been suggested which include adsorption on activated carbons, coagulation with polymer, alum, lime or iron, sulfates, ion exchange and membrane process for the removal of DBPs. Thus in order to reduce the public health risk from these toxic compounds regulation must be inforced for the implementation of guideline values to lower the allowable concentrations or exposure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]