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Geographers, especially those working in developing country contexts have often encountered improvisation because it plays a critical social and cultural role. Engaging with anthropologist James Scott's conceptualisation of metis – contextual, practical and flexible skills and knowledge – and techne – universal technical knowledge – this paper furthers the geographical scholarship on the politics of improvisation. The paper makes three main contributions. First, using metis and techne, it provides a new conceptual repertoire for making sense of improvisation. The paper places improvisation at the nexus of metis and techne. Second, it pushes the understanding of the morality of improvisation by attending to the role of relationships of power in morally and materially legitimising improvisations. Third, although states and experts celebrate and actively engage with improvisation, this paper demonstrates that they also create limits and boundaries for improvisation. These limits demonstrate a contradiction in experts' actions. This paper is based on a nine months ethnographic research on two energy projects carried out in 2012–13 in five villages in Bihar, an eastern state of India. It used participant observations, home tours, interviews and group discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developmental actors are pushing the diffusion of solar powered irrigation technologies using different technology diffusion models in resource-constrained, underdeveloped agrarian regions of the Global South. Among the varied models, the hybrid model of technology diffusion and environmental governance has gained a lot of traction and support among the technology promoters in recent years. In this article, we analyse two cases of hybrid environmental governance employed for the diffusion of solar powered irrigation technologies in rural Bihar, India. The promoters of solar powered irrigation technologies wish to achieve environmental sustainability, enhance farmers income and mitigate climate change through promoting renewable-based technologies. The top-down framing of technology and environment in hybrid environmental models often uncritically negates the place-based embedded experiences of end-users and non-users. The paper argues that the role of end-users and non-users in hybrid environmental governance need to be understood using the bottom-up approach. The paper makes a case for acknowledging and incorporating the views and environmental subjectivities of end-users and non-users while planning developmental interventions. The paper ends up suggesting a few policy-relevant suggestions for hybrid models of technology and environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most developing countries have large and persistent informal sector. Historically, the literature was dominated by strict duality viewpoint, where the formal and informal sectors are treated as two separate entities. However, in recent times, a new approach has developed where the formal and informal sectors are not binary but they often co-exist and feed into each other. Most academic work on agglomeration economies is based on developed countries where almost all production takes place in the formal sector. Apriori, there is no reason to believe that agglomeration economies do not extend to the informal sector. Hence, in this paper, we hypothesize that agglomeration economies can arise from the interaction between formal and informal firms as well. To check the validity of the hypothesis, we study the geographic distribution and Coagglomeration pattern between formal and informal manufacturing firms in India. Using the firm level National Sample Survey for unincorporated enterprises and Annual Survey of Industries data, we calculate the Ellison and Glaeser Coagglomeration index at 2-digit NIC level. Further, using the Marshall's theory of agglomeration, we create four kinds of linkages to capture the nature of interdependence between formal and informal firms, i.e. Buyer, Supplier, Labor and Technology. We find that there is heavy clustering of both formal and informal manufacturing firms in India, however, mostly in different areas, with few exceptions like Western Uttar Pradesh and Southern Tamil Nadu. Out of 22 major industries, we find high coagglomeration only in 7. The average value of coagglomeration index at aggregate level decreases from 0.00536 in 2000-01 to -0.0027 in 2015-16. This indicate towards reduced interdependence over time, however in few industries it remains high. The average value of labor linkage increased from 0.1889 in 2000-01 to 0.3651 in 2015-16, during the same period buyer linkage remained constant around 0.2481 and supplier linkage fell from 0.5755 to 0.2749. The technology linkage remained low throughout in the range of 0.02-0.03. Strong buyer and labor linkage mean subcontracting of inputs is the main motive driving the interaction between formal and informal firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the bourgeoning of smart city initiatives across the Global South, their implementation and place-based outcomes remain understudied. This paper presents empirical studies in three Indian cities of Bhubaneswar, Pune and Chennai; three of the first 20 smart cities prioritized for implementation in the Smart Cities Mission. It investigates the place-based outcomes utilized to create smart cities under three categories of mega-, placemaking, and lighthouse projects. The results show varying levels of urban interventions contributing to 'bubble urbanism' – a fragmented combination of large-scale mega-projects and small-scale revitalization projects – with complex socio-spatial implications for smart city development in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food delivery platforms are designed to match on-demand workers with jobs and then manage, monitor, and assess their performance. These platforms provide workers with a digital representation of delivery work. Once a worker accepts a delivery job they need to deal with the complexities of an unsettled urban landscape with varied infrastructures, traffic, and regulations. In particular, the Global South presents a demanding context for this type of work, given less clearly mapped addresses alongside other socio-cultural intricacies. In order to understand how food delivery workers bridge gaps and mismatches between the demands of the app and the realities encountered in situ, for this paper we shadowed six delivery workers over the course of their working day delivering food in Pune, India. The six workers included a complete novice and more experienced riders. We used helmet mounted cameras to record the delivery work, and how our participants managed the extra demands of food delivery work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our moment-by-moment analysis of the video data is informed by the methodological traditions of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. While the food delivery platform imposes a detailed workflow expected to be performed alone by the worker, our detailed video analysis reveals the collaborative nature of delivery work. We highlight how workers draw upon their ability to participate in ‘fleeting alliances’ and produce ‘frugal collaboration’ with co-located others, such as other delivery workers or security guards. This allows them to resolve everyday troubles, often learning or imparting ‘the tricks of the trade’ in the process. While gig platforms have commonly been presented as disruptive technologies for coordinating, regulating, and assessing gig workers individually and independently, our findings highlight collaboration as a critically important aspect of food delivery work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational technology designs in developing countries mostly focus on making knowledge resources widely available, through MOOCs, repositories and computer‐based tutoring. The use of digital media for cognitive augmentation, particularly interactive designs that help learners understand modelling topics in STEM, is underexplored. We report a 3‐year design study examining this potential in the Indian context, testing two iterations of an interactive system, Touchy‐Feely Vectors (TFV). The design supports learning vectors, a modelling topic pre‐university students struggle with. Virtual lesson‐plans were co‐designed with teachers to augment — but not replace — their existing practices, and to address classroom and resource constraints. Pre‐post testing of TFV‐1 (a computer‐based prototype) showed that it helped students develop a more integrated vector concept, and improved their reasoning. Field‐implementation of TFV‐2 (a textbook‐linked touch‐screen based design) in 6‐classrooms (3‐Control, N=135; 3‐Experimental, N=131) showed that it fostered cognitive engagement in average‐students and geometry‐algebra integration (model‐based reasoning) in good‐students. These results, along with a requirements analysis based on textbooks, indicate that the interaction possibilities supported by different representational media critically shape student reasoning. The study also illustrates a systematic approach to design and test digital media systems that support cognitive augmentation in developing countries. Lay description: What is already known about this topic: Computational modelling is central to model‐based reasoning (MBR) in contemporary scientific practice. Education needs to change to support this new way of thinking. However, it is not clear how this could be done systematically in developing countries.Textbooks are thus not replaceable in developing nation contexts, and any digital media designed to help develop model‐based reasoning in students would need to work with textbooks and existing teaching/learning practice. It is unclear how this could be done.When learning basic model‐based reasoning using static textbook media, students struggle with core MBR topics like vectors. What this paper adds: The paper reports a 3‐year design‐based study, where a vector simulation system was developed (Touchy‐Feely Vectors), which addressed the following issues. Addressing 2 above, the study illustrates a design that builds on static textbook media and associated practices.Addressing 3 above, a 2‐phase field test of the design (N = 266) showed that the system changes student reasoning, towards better integration of algebra and geometry, while reasoning with vectors.Addressing 1 above, the study provides a new model to implement the learning of modelling using interactive simulations, in developing country classrooms.Addressing 1 above, the study offers a clear model for designing such interventions in developing country contexts.More broadly, the study reveals how the nature of the medium used to present science content changes student cognition and reasoning. Implications for practice and/or policy: For curricula: The design we present can be extended easily, to develop similar systems for other topics. The design also illustrates how teachers adopt technology when they participate in the design.For policy: This design provides a workable policy alternative to the costly model of the digital medium replacing current media and its teaching/learning practices.For Research and Pedagogy: Our results suggest that researchers and teachers need to examine the capabilities and constraints of different media while analysing learning difficulties, and develop ways to address these issues [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying artificial intelligence in education is relevant to addressing the current educational crises. Many available solutions apply Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to help improve educational outcomes. Therefore, a series of works have been developed integrating techniques in different educational contexts, for instance, in online teaching practices. Given the various studies and the relevance of CNNs for educational applications, this paper presents a systematic literature review to discuss the state-of-the-art. We reviewed 133 papers from the IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, and Scopus databases. Based on our revision, we discuss characteristics of studies such as publication venues, educational context, datasets, types of CNNs models, and performance of models. We evidence that the literature regarding CNNs still misses more studies discussing educational problems faced by Global South students, considering both teaching and learning perspectives. Such a population cannot be neglected during experiments due to specific educational weaknesses (for example, basic skills) demanding personalized solutions. • A systematic literature review of 133 published papers. • China covered most publications, followed by India. • There is a research gap regarding using CNNs in some regions of the Global South. • The main educational context with CNN applications is students' performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India, being a developing country with a fast-growing economy, experiences ever increasing electrical energy demand. Industrial and economic development in rural India is impeded by inadequate, erratic and unreliable grid supply. This has resulted in underperformance of smallscale manufacturing and service industries. Dependency on fossil fuel-based sources as an alternative increases the operation costs and carbon emissions. Migration to cleaner energy ensures sustainable solution and addresses the issues of depleting fossil fuels, global warming and environmental hazards. In this regard, hybrid renewable energy systems have gained wide acceptance as optimum solution. Hence, authors have optimally designed hybrid energy system for power deprived rural Indian villages. Authors have heeded to the vital element of incremental load growth over years while designing the microgrid to sustain the increasing load demand of emerging economy of developing country. HOMER Pro Software is utilized to accomplish system size optimization and authors have gained comprehensive insights into techno-financial feasibility for different dispatch strategies of the proposed energy system. The levelized cost of electricity of the optimal off-grid system catering to multiyear incremental load growth is 0.14$/kWh indicating that proposed system is promising in terms of commercial efficacy. The study performs a detailed analysis of the results obtained during different phases of the project to ensure robustness and supply continuity of the proposed system. The paper also includes comparison of the carbon footprint in the proposed system with that of existing system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the transport mode choice of students of higher educational institutions has become a subject of increasing interest. Investigating the modal choice of students, who form a considerable section of the population, is crucial for sustainable urban transport planning and understanding the quality of life of students. Reviews of previous studies have indicated that hilly cities in less developed countries are neglected in transportation studies. The present paper investigates the travel behaviour of non-local, off-campus college students in Aizawl - a fast-growing hilly city in northeast India. The study found that transport mode choices are influenced by interrelated factors, including socio-economic background, demographic, availability of transport mode and location of housing. It was also found that walking and public buses are the most preferred modes of commuting among the studied college students. Female students who rent houses near their colleges are more likely to walk than their male counterparts. On the other hand, male students belonging to high-income families tended to travel by private vehicles from their residences, which are located relatively far away from colleges. The study argues for the enhancement of the intake capacity of residential hostels inside the campus to improve the growing transport problem of off-campus students in the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, personal security has become a major issue for both men & women. Women have endured carnal harassment these days which is shocking every day. The circumstances are much worse in growing and less developed countries. Women's safety is an hour-long necessity these days. In India, there are many cases of violence against women. Important saftey measures for men & women should be there at home, outside or in their workplace. In this paper an attempt has been made to make a smart machine that can help women when they feel unsafe. Women can get faster support and higher security by pressing the device's emergency button. In the event of an incident, this device can trace the location of the user in actual time and send it to the nearest police station and volunteers [5]. The user can find a secure area nearby with this device as well. Additionally, this gadget works on both online and offline modes. Whether no internet is available, the user can still use the gadget to access the nearest police station and volunteer support. The device contains Raspberry pie, GSM, PIR sensors, Bluetooth, GPS, etc [2]. The sum of all these features together makes this gadget affordable and easy to navigate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital labour platforms have become important sites of negotiation between expressions of micro-entrepreneurship, worker freedom and dignity of work. In the Global South, these negotiations are overlaid on an already fraught relationship mediated by the dynamics of caste and culture, to the usual politics of difference. Urban Company (UC), an app-based, on-demand platform in India that connects service providers offering home-based services to potential customers, lists professionalised services that have hitherto been considered part of a 'culture of servitude', performed by historically marginalised groups afforded little dignity of labour. Such platforms offer the possibility of disrupting the entrenched 'master-servant' relationship that exists in many traditional cultures in the Global South by their ostensibly professional approach. While service providers now have the opportunity for self-employment and gain 'respectability' by being associated with the platform, UC claims to have leveraged AI to automate discipline in everything the providers do. Using interviews with UC women service providers involved in beauty work and software development engineers, this paper explores the agency afforded to service partners in both professional and personal spheres. Further, we propose the term blended cultures to think about the ways in which algorithms and human cultures mutually (re)make each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In the present era, research data is a concern for researchers, as they are trying to find new ways to communicate their research findings and conclusions to other researchers in order to increase visibility and credibility. BRICS nations are fast emerging economies and contribute significantly in research output. This study makes an effort to analyze and explore the role of BRICS nations towards open access research data repository registered with Registry of Research Data Repositories. Design/methodology/approach: The data were gathered from re3data repository, and the search was limited to BRICS nations. The data were further analyzed and tabulated as per set parameters, namely, country-wise distribution, types of contents, subject coverage and language diversity. Findings: The findings depict that in terms of strength, India has the highest number of data repositories, thereby achieved the first rank among BRICS nations, and South Africa has the least number of data repositories, whereas in terms of content type and subject coverage, India again is leading among BRICS nations. The English language is used by repositories as the main language of the interface. Practical implications: The study helps to understand the development of research data repositories by BRICS nations. The study is further beneficial to researchers, as Registry of Research Data Repository provides a single platform to access repositories from various disciplines. Readily available data saves time, money and efforts of researchers and helps the researcher in completing their research activity in a very short span of time. Originality/value: The paper has investigated open access data repositories of BRICS nation that has not been attempted earlier. This gives readers comprehensive overview of research data repositories developed in fast emerging economies of the global. The paper can be very helpful for information managers, OA promoters and education and research policy makers to devise plans and policy bearing in mind the evolving research channels in emerging economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization can challenge sustainable development if it produces unequal outcomes. Infrastructure is an important urbanization dimension, providing services to support diverse urban activities. However, it can lock in unequal outcomes due to its durable nature. This paper studies inequalities in infrastructure distributions to derive insights into the structure and characteristics of unequal outcomes associated with urbanization. We analyzed infrastructure inequalities in two emerging economies in the Global South: India and South Africa. We developed and applied an inequality measure to understand the structure of inequality in infrastructure provisioning (based on census data) and infrastructure availability (based on satellite nighttime lights [NTLs] data). Consistent with differences in economic inequality, results show greater inequalities in South Africa than in India and greater urban inequalities than rural inequalities. Nevertheless, inequalities in urban infrastructure provisioning and infrastructure availability increase from finer to coarser spatial scales. NTL-based inequality measurements additionally show that inequalities are more concentrated at coarse spatial scales in India than in South Africa. Finally, results show that urban inequalities in infrastructure provisioning covary with urbanization levels conceptualized as a multidimensional phenomenon, including demographic, economic, and infrastructural dimensions. Similarly, inequalities in urban infrastructure availability increase monotonically with infrastructure development levels and urban population size. Together, these findings underscore infrastructure inequalities as a feature of urbanization and suggest that understanding urban inequalities requires applying an inequality lens to urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to answer two research questions: first, to study the factors that directly and indirectly influence the intentions of job-seekers and second, to examine the moderating role of gender differences in e-recruitment adoption through the application of technology acceptance model (TAM) in India. Design/methodology/approach: A convenience sampling technique was used to collect online data via GoogleDocs through various online channels such as social media, LinkedIn and email. The final data was collected from 364 final-year graduates and postgraduate students to confirm the impact of female and male differences, measurement invariance in composite models (MICOM) and multi-group analysis (MGA). Findings: The results indicated that perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) have a direct impact on attitude (AT), whereas PU influenced behavioral intentions (BI) of job-seekers, but PEOU did not. AT directly leads to the BI. The outcomes of mediation analysis show that AT partially mediates the relationships between PU to BI and PEOU to BI. Further, the findings of MICOM and MGA showed that gender significantly moderates all the relationships between the constructs except for the influence of AT on BI. Research limitations/implications: This study contributes to the current literature, revealing that the original TAM model is still pertinent and effective in prevailing periods in emerging markets. The significance of PEOU and PU on AT and BI implies that job-seekers will strongly adopt e-recruitment when it is user-friendly and assist them to accomplish their tasks easily and efficiently. Moreover, gender has a vital moderating influence in e-recruitment adoption. In the case of females, the effect of PEOU is stronger, and for males, PU has a substantial impact on adoption. Practical implications: Developers and recruiters should provide significant information related to salary, location and job profile on e-recruitment to enhance the adoption rate of online recruitment. Further, the usefulness of e-recruitment systems was more significant for males compared to females, whereas female job-seekers prefer the e-recruitment system, which is easy to use and operate. Originality/value: This research fills a gap in the literature by examining the essential factors affecting the BI of job-seekers as well as empirically testing the impact of gender differences to adopt TAM for e-recruitment – an under-explored subject in developing countries like India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This short paper offers some reflections on the role, effectiveness and challenges for health information systems in developing countries. It is argued that such systems need to support the use of information for action, but that this is often compromised by poor quality data. In addition, good data and related ICTs are inadequate by themselves since effective action also needs knowledgeable people and supportive institutions. Some approaches are discussed on software philosophy, educating people and changing institutions. The paper also includes a brief reflection on theory and its role in relation to action in health information systems, and ends with some reflections for practice. Illustrative examples in the paper are drawn mainly from India, but the issues discussed are relevant to engagement across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and communication technologies are increasingly used for development in the Global South, and mHealth (health assisted by mobile technologies) plays key role. This paper analyzes the particular relationship to science that characterizes a global maternal mHealth program deployed in Ghana and India. Using science and technology studies (STS), this research relies on qualitative interviews conducted between 2014 and 2016 with funders, implementers, and beneficiaries of this mHealth program. This story begins with a randomized controlled trial, a biomedical experiment with a strong positioning regarding science and the production of evidence. But rapidly the scientific stance disappears to give way to the testing and marketing of a product for the digital economy. From science to market, this paper offers to revisit a classical STS topic through the lens of mHealth. It shows how the various experimental forms taken by this project fundamentally diverge from scientific methods and evidence production and at the same time how it nurtures an ongoing instrumental relationship with science. Thus, from clinical research to product marketing, this paper highlights the tenuous link between evidence-based and market-based mHealth in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay critically examines the discourse of participation in development finance directed at the poor in the Global South from national and international development agencies. This discourse, often termed financial inclusion, posits the ability of development actors to reach the poor involving them in important economic decisions affecting their lives, provides access to products that improve their material conditions, and ensures their credit worthiness through highly nuanced information technology and social media tools. The paper presents evidence from two ethnographically inspired studies undertaken by the author in India and Kenya to ascertain the ways in which the participatory discourse in finance is understood among societal participants themselves. The paper presents relevant epistemes for analyzing what 'grassroots' actors understand as their participation in development-oriented financial inclusion projects. The study forwards two major conclusions: (1) 'habits of authority' among various development actors thwart effective participation; (2) technology platforms that allow for successive innovations and interconnections from businesses and other organizations encourage financial inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite several research evaluating the connection between sustainability and the bottom line of firms, the existing research is inconclusive. In addition, most studies focus on multinational firms based in the United States or Europe, while research in the context of emerging economies is scant. This paper endeavours to investigate the strength of the association between Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure scores and the financial performance of 272 Indian firms listed on National Stock Exchange for the period 2015 to 2021 by employing panel data regression techniques. The results indicate that organisations having better ESG performance outperform their industry peers financially and are valued more by the market. Moreover, the data indicates that financial markets for lenders consider ESG disclosure when determining creditworthiness. In accordance with this, businesses can examine their operations and become more aligned with eco-friendly methods. Even though ESG disclosure appears to be associated with improved financial success, this is not the case across all industries and during COVID-19 pandemic. This study is relevant due to the growing significance of sustainability and the role of emerging nations in international commerce. It helps managers prioritize resource allocations to ESG-related activities that may affect financial performance differently across industry sectors, thus adding to the literature on the financial effects of ESG disclosures, particularly industry-specific aspects. This research represents a pioneering effort by assessing the impact of ESG disclosure on the profitability, market value, and cost of financing of Indian firms using both aggregation and disaggregation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the emerging landscape of Industry 5.0, the integration of innovative technologies such as Cognitive Digital Twins (CDTs) is pivotal for steering industrial processes towards sustainability and inclusivity, particularly in developing nations striving to align with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study explores the transformative capabilities of CDTs in Industry 5.0, concentrating on India's quest for inclusive and sustainable industrialization in alignment with SDGs. The inclusion of the TOE-HOT framework enriches the research's analytical foundation, providing a nuanced perspective to investigate the multifaceted dynamics of technology, organization, environment, and human aspects within the sphere of industrial evolution. By employing the Best-Worst Method (BWM), Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM), and MICMAC analysis, the study delves deep into the synergies between industrial strategies, technology, and sustainable development. The findings reveal the paramountcy of the Technological Dimension, emphasizing CDTs strategies like real-time optimization and data analytics, which are instrumental in dynamically adjusting manufacturing processes and fostering alignment with market demands. The research also stresses the roles of various CDTs strategies like strategic alignment, change management, job security, skill augmentation, and environmental compliance in industrial sustainability and inclusivity. The paper concludes with invaluable insights for policymakers, industry leaders, and researchers, emphasizing the necessity for a holistic, interconnected approach to fully harness the potential of CDTs in realizing the aspirations of Industry 5.0 and contributing to India's sustainable industrial advancement by 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature has highlighted the existence of a gap in clean fuel usage between the social groups in most emerging nations across the world, which is detrimental to global efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 (access to clean energy) and SDG 10 (reducing inequalities) and just energy transition with recognition justice. This paper, assesses the clean fuel gap across social groups in India using three rounds of representative data (2004, 2014, and 2018) by applying the logit model, exogenous switching treatment effect regression (ESTER), and the Blinder–Oaxaca Decomposition Model. Such an analysis is instrumental in identifying the clean energy usage gap and its causes, thereby providing insight to policymakers to design policies to achieve just energy transition and carbon neutrality by 2060. The results show a substantive clean fuel gap between social groups in India, which is a cause of concern for just energy transition. Clean energy utilization gaps among social groups are alarming across geographical locations and consumption quartiles, highlighting the importance of recognition justice for just energy transition. The results show that in rural areas, only 19.6 % of the General Caste households and 14.5 % of the disadvantaged social groups (Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, and Other Backward Class) in quartile one use clean energy, while in urban areas, the shares are 60.4 % and 46.3 %, respectively. To achieve a just distribution of the benefits of energy transition, energy policies should focus on disadvantaged social groups and simultaneously target General Caste households from a lower economic status and those residing in rural areas, indicating the need for targeting the neglected regions. [Display omitted] • Clean energy use has steadily increased among all social groups in India, indicating some improvement in energy justice. • Clean energy access gap among social groups has declined, but this gap still persists. • Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are the most disadvantaged social groups in terms of clean energy. • All social groups from low-income families have limited access to clean energy. • All social groups from households with low education have limited access to clean energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unequal partnership among the members of RCEP is one of the many criteria of Mega Regional Agreements, which can also be seen in the case of CPTPP. On one hand, the heterogeneous nature of member countries provides developed nations a deeper integration with emerging countries and thereby stimulates their growth. On the other hand, it leads to an increase in the difference of opinions and interests at the time of negotiations and sometimes to the withdrawal of countries before the finalisation of an agreement, like in the case of the United States (in TPP) and India (in RCEP). It has also been debated that RCEP pales in comparison to CPTPP as a Mega-Regional, which makes the countries, participating in both the agreements, vulnerable in more liberalised sectors. Moreover, different commitment levels among the regional countries may have adverse effects on the less developed nations in the grouping. This paper tries to highlight the dominance of some countries in RCEP and divergence in commitment levels of one, among RCEP members and two, RCEP and CPTPP, making the RCEP model unsustainable in the long run. To diversify their trade basket, RCEP members may seek India's participation in the agreement which would have economic and geo-strategic implications for the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal settlements are now becoming an unavoidable and growing phenomenon in the global south, whose locations are inappropriate in official statistics and maps. The distinctive spectral signature of informal settlements in high-resolution optical images causes difficulties in finding automatic approaches. This paper investigates the Multi-Shape Multi-Size Morphological Profile-Guided filter (MShMSiMP-GF) approach for detecting the informal settlements from high-resolution optical images. The development of the proposed approach was inspired by the Superpixel-based Guided Filter (SGF) approach, which uses superpixels to construct the guidance image. Though the superpixel based guidance image extracts detailed contextual information (scale, size), it fails to model geometrical information (shapes, structures) in an image. In order to incorporate the geometrical information, the MShMSiMP-GF approach generates multi-shape multi-size morphological profiles with increasing radius of guided filters. Quantitative and qualitative results of the proposed approach are investigated by four different images of Madurai city, India acquired by Kompsat-2 and WorldView-2 sensors. From the classified maps, it is observed that the proposed MShMSiMP-GF approach achieves an overall accuracy of 91.37%, 90.19%, 93.46% and 99.36% for the subsets 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid growth in dairy consumption and food scandals in India in the 2000s increased awareness of food safety issues among consumers and policymakers. This led to the introduction of new standards. However, there is li ttle information about how they affected farm-level activities and whether value chains played any role. Our paper addresses these questions using a two-round panel survey of dairy farms in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. We find significant improvements in adoption of farm-level hygienic practices, especially in Punjab. Value chain innovations do not play a significant role in stimulating safety and quality improvements among dairy smallholders in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the causal effect of women's age at marriage on prevalence of domestic violence using newly available household data from India. The paper employs an empirical strategy that utilizes variation in age at menarche to obtain exogenous variation in women's age at marriage. The results show robust evidence that a one-year delay in women's marriage causes a significant decline in physical violence, although it has no impact on sexual or emotional violence. Further, the study provides suggestive evidence that the effect of women's marital age on physical violence arises because older brides, as compared to younger brides, are more educated and are married to more educated men. Overall, the findings underscore the importance of better enforcement of existing social policies that seek to delay marriages of women, as well as formulation of newer interventions, to reduce the prevalence of domestic violence in developing countries. HIGHLIGHTS The study examines the causal effect of marital age on exposure to domestic violence. It utilizes recent household data from India. Variation in age at menarche is used to obtain exogenous variation in age at marriage. Results show one-year delay in women's marriage causes a decline in physical violence. The study conducts further analysis to shed light on underlying mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex work can offer a quick way of making money and is the only profession in which women may earn more in fewer hours when compared to other available jobs. However, most studies with sex workers in India are based on socially biased assumptions about sex work; that is, women are either coerced or trafficked into sex work. Limited attention has been paid to the voices of non-brothel-based sex workers in India. Drawing data from a larger ethnographic study conducted between December 2009 and July 2010, this paper analyses how women sex workers operating from non-brothel-based sex work settings in Kolkata, India, foresee their future. Unlike the popular 'victim imagery' of women sex workers in the Global South, this study found that women are not passive recipients of the trade; instead, they employ agency - sometimes transgressing the normative boundaries and at times reinscribing these boundaries to secure a future for themselves and their families. Therefore, to promote HIV preventive behaviour programmes reaching out to sex workers, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) must proactively inquire about women's future plans and assist them in materialising their future goals, which are mostly concerned with their children's future, a life free of stigma/shame, and financial security in old age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the determinants of stated individual support towards environmental action. The analysis is realized by means of an original Partial Least Squares Path model of Environmental Awareness-Social Capital-Action and it is based on survey data provided in the fifth wave of the World Values Survey (2005–2009) regarding 34.612 individuals from 42 different countries. Besides the global estimates obtained on the whole set of countries, the paper proposes a subsample analysis for developed and developing countries, as well as country analyses for four major economies: China, India, Germany and the United States. We find that environmental awareness and trust in not-for-profit organizations are important determinants of individual action in support of environmentally friendly policies. In general, trust in science and technology does not crowd-out individual support towards the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes and applies a novel interdisciplinary framework to study peri-urban land use dynamics in India, which is theoretically embedded in the concepts of land use transition, land change science and neoliberlisation of nature. The framework is operationalised by a mixed methods approach cutting across scale and time to provide a comprehensive understanding of land use transitions. The paper proves the applicability of land use transition theory in India by establishing that the core state Delhi is in the "urbanised/industrialised" stage of land use transition, whereas the peripheral states are in a transition from "frontier" to "agricultural" stage of land use transition. The paper also provides evidence for different political economy-derived logics of nature's neoliberalisation. Field visits as well as expert and household interviews uncover a nexus between the state, civil society and economy in exploitation and degradation of natural resources for their vested interests. The use of local and global open access data in the framework makes it transferable to similar regions of the Global South facing data constrains. • Interdisciplinary framework is applied to India's land use transition analysis. • Theoretical approach is embedded in land change science and political economy. • Mixed methods approach cutting across scale and time is applied. • Stages of land use transition trajectory are detected for peri-urban areas in India. • Urban expansion is faster than population growth and depleted arable land and water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saturation flow rate is a key design parameter in the analysis of Level of Service and capacity of signalized intersections. In developing countries like India, pedestrians are observed to cross and interfere with the vehicular flow irrespective of signal provisions for their crossing. This results in unanticipated pedestrian-vehicle interactions at signalized intersections and effects the saturation flow estimation. In the present research work, pedestrian crossing effect on saturation flow is studied. Six signalized intersections are chosen from three cities to study the illegal pedestrian crossing on saturation flow. Width of approach, green time, percentage of two-wheeler and number of illegal pedestrian crossings are found to affect the saturation flow. A multiple linear regression model is developed for the estimation of saturation flow. In addition to the development of saturation flow model, this paper presents adjustment factors for pedestrians to incorporate the effect of unauthorized pedestrian crossing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autonomous driving is the future of the automotive industry across the globe. Many challenges must be resolved in designing and developing successful Autonomous Driving Systems (ADS), especially in developing countries with poor road infrastructure. Detecting obstacles in lanes is essential for robust ADS to decide whether to change lanes, slow down, or even stop. Developing countries like India present challenges, including poor or no lane line demarcation, poor traffic management, and diverse driving behaviors. That brings many challenges to developing robust lane-keeping or lane-changing decision systems in an ADS. Publicly available driving datasets have an inherent bias towards the road infrastructure of developed countries and hence cannot cater to the needs of the Indian requirements. That makes the existing obstacle-lane segment detection models unsuitable for road infrastructures in developing countries. Due to these factors, the rate of advancement of ADS and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in developing countries is meager compared to other developed countries. This makes it even more critical for future research to focus on these developing countries. This paper proposes a deep-learning-based novel decision-making network named LaneScanNET to assist the ADS in lane-changing or lane-keeping decision-making. The proposed system assists ADS in detecting obstacles, localization of the Ego Vehicle (EGV) on roads, and estimating lane status in its Field of View (FOV). The proposed LaneScanNET uses a parallel pipeline with an Obstacle Detection Network (ODN) and a Lane Detection Network (LDN) to simultaneously process the incoming image frames for detecting obstacles and segmenting lane lines, respectively. Further, the Obstacle-Lane Fusion Network (OLFN) fuses these results to predict the status of the obstacle lane in the FOV of autonomous vehicles. Vellore Institute of Technology's (VIT's) real-time driving dataset on indigenous roads has been collected to train the proposed LaneScanNET with 2464 obstacle-lane images obtained by driving over 60 km. The dataset generated for obstacle detection and its corresponding lane detection has also been made publicly available to promote research work for these developing countries. The proposed system outperforms all existing networks on Indian roads with an accuracy of 75.28% in obstacle detection and 91.36% in lane detection. Additionally, the proposed system can analyze the lane status with an accuracy of 92.54%. The proposed network performs exceptionally well in unforeseen circumstances like shadows, fog, dust, and occlusions making LaneScanNET a robust network that can be an add-on for ADS to make lane-keeping or lane-changing decisions. The LaneScanNET can be integrated into real-time vehicles to assist drivers or ADS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countries must develop their capacity to credibly revise their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) proportionate to the global climate goal. This paper argues that long-lasting capacity is necessarily embedded in the institutions governing cooperation between state and non-state actors. This institutional capacity for cooperation is determined by the two interactive processes of conception and calibration, where the state plays a definitive role in mediating between competing interests. In conception, the state uses its discretionary power to set the long-term vision, whereas during calibration it exercises flexibility to accommodate concerns and capacity of other actors. We conclude that proportionality of policy response is better understood, and achieved, through the convergence of both these processes. Drawing on climate policy experiences of India and South Africa, we recommend that successful implementation and enhancement of NDCs would require a greater emphasis on capacity building for calibration in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) bear the majority of the neurosurgical burden of diseases but lack the resources to meet these needs.Objective: As we increase access to neurosurgical care in LMICs, we must understand patient attitudes toward neurosurgery.Methods and Material: PubMed, LILACS, and African Journals Online databases were searched systematically from inception to January 4, 2020, for studies on neurosurgical patient perceptions in LMICs. The articles found were blindly reviewed with Rayyan by two authors. The two authors resolved conflicts between themselves, and when this was not possible, a third reviewer was consulted. All the articles included were then appraised, and the results were summarized.Results: Six of the 1,175 articles met the inclusion criteria. The studies were set in Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, South Korea, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Four of the studies (50%) were phenomenological studies, and the other two were grounded theory and narrative. The studies identified patient attitudes toward neurosurgical practitioners, diseases, and interventions. Ethiopian and Nigerian patients believed cranial diseases to be otherworldly and resorted to traditional medicine or spiritual healing first, whereas Brazilian patients were more comfortable with cranial diseases and even more so if they had had a previous craniotomy. The Indian paper was a recount of a neurosurgeon's experience as a spine patient.Conclusions: There are few studies on neurosurgery patient perception in LMICs. LMIC neurosurgeons should be encouraged to study their patient beliefs concerning neurosurgical diseases and interventions, as this can explain health-seeking behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family planning plays a pivotal role in population control, poverty reduction and human development. There is a great need and necessity for family planning, particularly among the developing countries like India because of the massive population explosion. This paper reports the knowledge and practice of family planning in the two tribal communities of Arunachal Pradesh viz. Singphos and Wanchos. Data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire containing questions on reproductive history, knowledge and use of contraceptives. It is found that only 76.2% Singpho women have the knowledge of family planning which is higher than that of the Wanchos (50.6%). Interestingly, no male Wanchos are found to go for sterilization. Like the Singphos, quite a good number of the Wancho women use oral pill and condom up to 35-39 years. IUCD is used by them in 25-29 years to 35-39 years. A good 92.8% Singpho women of the age of 50 years and above have their knowledge of family planning. The number of users is found to increase with the increase of age. The practice of family planning measures is found to be more popular among the Singphos than the Wanchos. Lack of knowledge regarding family planning is the ultimate reason for its less practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global health diplomacy has gained significant importance and undoubtedly remained high on the agendas of many nations, regional and global platforms amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Many countries have realized the importance of the health sector and the value of a healthy workforce. However, there is little control on issues related to trade that impact on human health due to the dominance of profit-oriented business lobbies. A balance, however, needs to be struck between economic profits and a healthy global population. This paper aimed to highlight the importance of building capacity in global health diplomacy, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic so that health personnel may effectively negotiate on the multisectoral stage to secure the resources they need. The recent proposal to waive off certain provisions of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement for the prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19 by India and South Africa at the World Trade Organization (WTO) presents an important opportunity for all governments to unite and stand up for public health, global solidarity, and equitable access at the international level so that both developed and developing nations may enjoy improved health outcomes related to the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ratio-based prevalence and absolute headcounts are the two most commonly accepted metrics to measure the burden of various socioeconomic phenomenon. However, ratio-based prevalence, calculated as the number of cases with certain conditions relative to the total population, is by far the most widely used to rank burden and consequently for targeting, across different populations, often defined in terms of geographical areas. In this regard, targeting areas exclusively based on prevalence-based metric poses certain fundamental difficulties with some serious policy implications. Drawing the data from the National Family Health Survey 2015–2016, and Census 2011, this paper takes four indicators of child undernutrition in India as an example to examine two contextual questions: first, does the choice of metric matter for targeting areas for reducing child undernutrition in India? and second; which metric should be used to facilitate comparisons and targeting across variable populations? Our findings suggest a moderate correlation between prevalence estimates and absolute headcounts implying that choice of metric does matter when targeting child undernutrition. Huge variations were observed between prevalence-based and absolute count-based ranking of the districts. In fact, in various cases, districts with the highest absolute number of undernourished children were ranked as relatively lower-burden districts based on prevalence. A simple comparison between the two approaches—when applied to targeting undernourished children in India—indicates that prevalence-based prioritization may miss high-burden areas where substantially higher number of undernourished children are concentrated. For developing populous countries like India, which is already grappling with high levels of maternal and child malnutrition and poor health infrastructure along with intrinsic socioeconomic inequalities, it is critical to adopt an appropriate metric for effective targeting and prioritization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent COVID‐19 pandemic has not only resulted in the loss of human lives but also distressed economies. The impact of this crisis is even higher in emerging economies like India due to already slowing growth rates, poor health infrastructure, and a significant population living in extreme poverty. While the government is taking measures to handle this crisis, nobody can be sure if these measures are adequate, as this will depend on how soon the spread of the virus is contained in the country. However, understanding the depth of the impact of COVID‐19 pandemic on the Indian economy is vital to formulate the policy and measures to contain this economic impact. This paper attempts to understand the impact of COVID‐19 pandemic on the Indian economy by employing a qualitative research design, based on sentiment analysis to understand 15 industry experts' opinion concerning the socio‐economic impact of COVID‐19. The study makes a theoretical as well as applied contribution to the field of study. While theoretically, it contributes to the field of pandemic research, public health management, and disaster management; in an applied sense, we propose a set of measures for the policymakers based out in India, as well as in other emerging nations of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to understand the competitive landscape of emerging market economies (EMEs) and the implications of business models and strategies used by multinational enterprises (MNEs) to enter and operate in such landscapes. It does so by considering the aviation sector in an emerging economy -- India, and by studying the strategies pursued by AirAsia India -- the Indian joint venture of AirAsia Investment Limited and Tata Sons. Design/methodology/approach -- The paper follows a case study approach. Secondary data sources from the library, company website and newspaper articles have been used to build a case that would encourage students to discuss and analyze the competitive strategies followed by MNEs in EMEs. Findings -- Emerging markets offer attractive investment opportunities to MNEs across several industries. However, their markets for intermediate goods and services possess imperfections. Competitiveness in such markets will require going beyond country-specific and firm-specific advantages. MNEs will need to integrate location-specific advantages with internalization advantages of these market imperfections to operate successfully in the complex environments of EMEs. A one-size-fits-all approach of transposing successful strategies from home markets will fail to create value. Practical implications -- MNEs, such as AirAsia, will need to develop participatory skills to leverage the location-specific-advantages of EMEs and reduce their own curse of foreignness to be able to succeed in EMEs. Originality/value -- This paper contributes to extant literature by studying the competitive strategies pursued by a global leader in an EME. The case of the 'World's Best Low-Cost Airline" -- AirAsia's India operations seeks to go beyond the Eclectic Paradigm and the country-specific and firm-specific advantages framework, to provide a location-internalization paradigm for operating in EMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, only 52% of children aged 6-23 months meet the minimum meal frequency and a mere 29% meet the minimum dietary diversity, with large disparities across and within regions. With most of the stunting occurring during the first thousand days-from conception to age 2 years-improving complementary feeding in children 6-23 months old is an urgent priority. With this evidence in mind, UNICEF collaborated with the governments of India and Maharashtra to convene a global meeting in Mumbai, India, under the theme: First Foods: A Global Meeting to Accelerate Progress on Complementary Feeding in Young Children (November 17-18, 2015). The global meeting provided a platform that aimed to (a) synthesize the biological and implementation science on complementary feeding; (b) review the practice and experience in improving access to nutritious complementary foods and good complementary feeding practices; and (c) consolidate a strong evidence base that can inform the development of strategies and approaches to improve complementary feeding that are fit to context. This overview paper summarizes the rationale on why improving complementary foods and feeding for infants and young children matters and what it takes to improve them. It builds on the papers presented at the First Foods Global Meeting and those commissioned as a follow on to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we assert the critical influence of education on health-beliefs among women from India, an emerging economy. We further examine the urban vs. rural differences and the role of social capital in shaping health-beliefs of women. Using nationally representative data of eligible women from India, we find education to have a positive influence on health-beliefs. We find this effect to be higher in rural regions. Further, we find social capital to negatively moderate the effect of education. Our findings stress the importance of education, especially in rural regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence is being reconfigured as a set of technologies that can address poverty with precision. The impacts of AI will both exacerbate and ameliorate the conditions of uneven development. Recent debates focus on the disruptive effects of AI, particularly to replication of development trajectories that have had success in reducing poverty. In this paper we further these debates by analysing the backroads of AI. The backroads serve as a metaphor for understanding the ways AI will travel from the sites of incubation to the frontlines of uneven development. We explore dialogues between AI and development in two arenas: the World Bank's Development Impact Evaluation initiative (DIME) and the Government of India's national AI strategy, #AIforAll. We argue that both these arenas serve as hubs from which AI will travel out along the backroads to remote, poor, and fragmented polities. While the World Bank utilises AI as technology to empower experts and mobilise a techno‐political authority, what we refer to as precision AI, India seeks to function as a second‐tier AI hub, making AI cheaper and more accessible domestically and for other developing countries, what we refer to as populist AI. We conclude by discussing the interrelations of precision and populist AI along the backroads, and the potential of backroads research for mapping AI, uneven geographies of development and technology and the impacts of AI's disruptions at different scales. Artificial intelligence is being reconfigured as a set of technologies that can address poverty with precision. We further these debates by analysing the backroads of AI in two arenas: the World Bank's Development Impact Evaluation initiative (DIME) and the Government of India's national AI strategy #AIforAll. While the World Bank utilises AI as technology to empower experts and mobilise a techno‐political authority, what we refer to as precision AI, India seeks to function as a second‐tier AI hub, making AI cheaper and more accessible domestically and for other developing countries, what we refer to as populist AI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For developing countries, the proportion of households covered by improved water resources is conventionally used to assess the water stress situation. However, in a developing country like India with a high population growth rate, water demand and supply are considerably mismatched. An agro‐based economy with large variations in socio‐economic conditions and changing rainfall patterns across the states imposes greater challenge on water resources. Therefore, there is a need to assess the water situation across the country in a holistic manner. This paper proposes application of the Water Poverty Index as a comprehensive policy tool to assess actual water‐stress situation across 20 major states in India. This index covers important socio‐economic parameters such as access, capacity, use and environment in addition to water resources of each state. The results and findings are expected to be of use to policymakers and implementing agencies. In view of policy formulation, a state performing well on a Water Poverty Index component can act as a benchmark for another state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Counterfeit drugs are a serious issue nowadays, which has been burdening for developing countries and has a significant impact on the health of people. The Indian drug regulatory agency has published the details of the counterfeited products found in recent years, the data indicates an alarming situation in the country to achieve a well-becoming level of attention between policymakers, researchers and the pharmaceutical industry. The present paper shows a thorough review of relevant and incidental literature from different agencies to reach the counterfeiting of drugs, its type, statistics, incidents and deficiency in Indian regulation. Different country regulations like U.S, Europe and Canada have also discussed in comparison with Indian regulation which shows that how India should adopt the technologies present in other countries to combat counterfeit medicine. Different technologies exist for prevention for counterfeitings of drugs like overt, covert and trace and track technologies; serialization and blockchain. In this article, the main focus is given on serialization and blockchain which will help from entering the counterfeit drugs into the supply chain because of unique code put on each box of drugs to trace them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until recently, the only way for the population of developing countries to access the Internet was through expensive smartphones, designed in and for developed countries. In the past few years, however, a major new innovation has emerged, the smart feature phone with Internet connectivity, which was specifically designed for those with low incomes in developing countries. This paper explains the development process for the smart feature phone, how this has influenced the nature and extent of adoption, and its use by low-income groups, including their demonstrated preference for uses related to entertainment rather than more traditional "work-related" goals. The focus is on the case of India, where the JioPhone has already reached millions of people with low incomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar energy is an abundantly available free eco-friendly renewable energy source (RES). Solar energy holds great potential for providing a solution to the long-standing energy issues continuously faced by developing countries like India. The gap between power generation and demand is widening at an alarming rate in developing countries, especially in India. This gap can be filled by expansion of solar energy generation which has adequate potential to provide electricity. The current trends towards technical and economical potential of solar energy in India considering availability, current scenario, promotion scheme, recent investment, and strategies adopted for solar power generation has been presented in this paper. A detailed description of policies put forward by the Indian government in various states to encourage solar generation has been presented. In addition, the major achievements and future potential of RESs have also been described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a leading effort to improve the welfare of smallholder farmers, several governments have led major reforms in improving market access for these farmers through online agricultural platforms. Leveraging collaboration with the state government of Karnataka, India, this paper provides an empirical assessment on the impact of such a reform--implementation of the Unified Market Platform (UMP)--on market prices and farmers' profitability. UMP was created in 2014 to unify all trades in the agricultural wholesale markets of the state to be carried out within a single platform. By November 2019, 62.8 million metric tons of commodities valued at $21.7 billion (USD) have been traded on UMP. Employing a difference-in-differences method, we demonstrate that the impact of UMP on modal prices varies substantially across commodities. In particular, the implementation of UMP has yielded an average 5.1%, 3.6%, and 3.5% increase in the modal prices of paddy, groundnut, and maize. Furthermore, UMP has generated a greater benefit for farmers who produce higher-quality commodities. Given low profit margins of smallholder farmers (2 to 9%), the range of profit improvement is significant (36 to 159%). In contrast, UMP has no statistically significant impact on the modal prices of cotton, green gram, or tur. Using detailed market data from UMP, we analyze how features related to logistical challenges, bidding efficiency, in-market concentration, and the price discovery process differ between commodities with and without a significant price increase due to UMP. These analyses lead to several policy insights regarding the design of similar agri-platforms in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The timeliness dimension of data quality has not received sufficient scholarly attention even though the publication of official statistics of various countries are often delayed. This paper examines the growing delays in the release of census data in India amidst the technocratisation of policy-making, public professions of faith in evidence based policy-making and growing fascination with big data. We show that the growing delay in the release of census data of India is a fact, rather than a mere allegation, and contextualise the problem by comparing seven decennial censuses conducted between 1951 and 2011. We suggest that delays can be measured vis-à-vis usual, desirable, declared and feasible schedules of publication. Further, delays can be understood from the perspectives of the unwillingness of the government statistical system to face public scrutiny, decline in the quality of public goods, political interference and, in case of data on identity, communalisation of politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Permaculture is an attempt to design and develop sustainable communities in harmony with natural ecosystems. It embraces solution-oriented approaches to contemporary social and environmental problems. Originating in Australia, permaculture was initially considered a design system but it has become a global social movement and it is practiced in different countries in various forms and at multiple scales. It is manifested in numerous networks of local practitioners, teachers, promoters, demonstration sites, organisations and magazines where various ideas and practices converge. Despite its popularization scant attention has been given to analysis of permaculture as a social movement. Moreover, the few academic writings which analyse permaculture as a social movement do not systematically engage with its manifestation and adaptation in the global South. The latter is the main contribution of this article. Based on original research this paper narrates the origins of the permaculture movement in India, and it pays close attention to its contextual adaptation by a diverse group of practitioners. It demonstrates that these diverse actors and their strategies have clear linkages to the independence movement; they are influenced by the incomplete project of Indian liberal democracy; they operate on the sphere of civil and political society; and they engage middle and lower classes in a formal and informal political nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, more than a billion rural dwellers live without electricity. Billions more endure awfully intermittent service even when connected to the grid. Most of these access challenged communities are in the Global South and may benefit from surging spread of distributed energy resources. However, associated investment necessity is large and so is the time required to address infrastructural bottlenecks. Recognising criticality of universal access to affordable, eco-friendly and reliable electricity in inclusive human development, the United Nations adopted 'affordable and clean energy' as one of the Sustainable Development Goals. To treasure electricity access, measurement of the same is important. The evolution of electricity access measurement has given rise to multi-tier, multi-parameter matrix. This improved measurement framework has facilitated researchers and policymakers in capturing various electricity access parameters in order to script focused energy strategy for the common man. This paper studies electricity availability, consumer aspiration and prevailing consumption in an impoverished, isolated, high-altitude valley, nestled in the Himalayas in India. It outlines evolving technology-aided, access measurement supported innovative access tier advancement opportunities in the valley. The result underscores the importance of consumer-focused approach for improving infrastructure utilisation. Consumer collaboration may result in fast, economical access advancement. Supply reliability may transform from abrupt complete disruption to gradual, cognisant decay. Such transition may encourage consumers to avoid costly, individual backup and instead use available resources sensibly. Embedding aspiration-supporting nudge in electricity regulation may promote co-operation, helping empowered consumers in scaling access tier affordably. • Electricity metering has advanced since comprehensive consumption reporting. • Metering advances can at present support inexpensive consumer Collaboration. • Collaborative consumption may help consumers scale access tier inexpensively. • Improved resource use may favourably impact affordability and consumer utility. • Participative consumption may promote equity, inclusivity and empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of the contextual antecedents on the individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) of university graduates, which, in turn, affects their entrepreneurial intentions (EIs). Design/methodology/approach: Primary data were collected in the form of 510 valid responses from engineering students across two technical universities in India, through a structured questionnaire consisting of scales adapted from the extant literature, and the data were empirically validated in this study. The reliability and validity measures of the constructs were validated through the confirmatory factor analysis, and the proposed hypotheses were validated using structural equation modelling. Findings: The results of this empirical analysis validate that the contextual antecedents have a significant positive impact on students' entrepreneurial orientation (EO), which, in turn, has a significant positive influence on EIs. Research limitations/implications: This analysis depicts the significance of EO as a perceptual driver at the individual level and substantiates that the availability of resources such as startup capital, access to business information, social networks and supportive university context significantly affects the decision-making process of an individual to venture into an otherwise uncertain occupation of entrepreneurship. Practical implications: The study has the likely potential to help university administrators and policymakers to allocate resources, develop strategies and provide effective entrepreneurial learning in entrepreneurship-oriented courses aimed at honing entrepreneurial skills and self-confidence of the university students. This holistic model can be used as a tool for resource planning and prioritising in order to provide the desired contextual support essential for fostering the IEO of the university students towards adopting entrepreneurial career, thereby assisting them to achieve their career goals and the broader objective of nation-building. Originality/value: This study adopts an innovative approach to empirically validate the EO construct at the individual level, which has been studied at the organisation (firm) level till today. This research explores the relevant contextual antecedents and analyses their impact on IEO as well as the explanatory capacity of IEO to explain students' EIs in the contextual backdrop of universities in a fast transitioning economy like India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the climate emergency, it is necessary to model and forecast road transport emissions for implementing more effective climate policy. This paper fills an important research gap by quantifying the challenges, barriers and remedies of achieving road transport emission reduction and air quality improvement in developing countries. It contributes to the debate on top-down and bottom-up approaches to reconcile carbon and other transport related emissions. China and India are chosen as case studies. Using various official statistics and proxy variables, we estimate and compare the road transport carbon emissions of the two countries systematically from 2009 to 2020. Insights from detailed mode-specific estimations of the bottom-up approach are valuable for targeted policies and measures. An analysis of the major components of road transport carbon emissions points to strategies of promoting electric vehicles, reducing transport demand, accelerating modal shift to low-carbon modes, and cleaner electricity to achieve climate policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Comprehensive and robust evaluation of nutrient-income elasticities in India. • Goes beyond calories – also considers protein, fat and four vital micronutrients. • Income changes positively influence nutrient intakes; more responsive in rural areas. • Fully flexible characterization of this relationship along with addressing endogeneity concerns. • Elasticity estimates across the entire income distribution and not just at the means. The relationship between nutrient intake and income is an issue of huge policy relevance, especially in the developing world. Using large-scale household-level data from India, this paper analyzes how macronutrient and micronutrient intakes respond to changes in income in both rural and urban areas. It also investigates how food consumption patterns change over time. In a first, this paper employs different estimation approaches i.e., parametric, semi-parametric and non-parametric estimation models to obtain more recent and robust nutrient-income elasticity estimates for three macronutrients and four essential micronutrients. The parametric (OLS) calorie-expenditure elasticities were lower than those estimated for protein and fat. Micronutrients also yielded positive and statistically significant elasticities. In terms of the parametric (IV) estimation, elasticities also declined over time and had lower magnitudes than the parametric (OLS) estimates. Relative to protein, fat and micronutrient intakes, caloric intakes are less sensitive to changes in income. According to parametric (OLS and IV) estimation, calcium is the most income-responsive micronutrient, while zinc is the least. The preferred semi-parametric estimation strategy provides full flexibility to income effects while also simultaneously controlling for additional covariates parametrically, assisting in determining the true relationship between nutrient intake and income. Consistent with the parametric estimation, elasticities were positive and statistically significant. The augmented semi-parametric elasticities, which address endogeneity concerns, were lower than the non-augmented ones. The semi-parametric elasticity curves depict that the relationship between demand for nutrients and income is indeed non-linear and non-monotonic. The findings from this research demonstrate that it is critical to evaluate the effect of income across the entire income distribution, and not just at the means. Even when the elasticities are low, they are always more pronounced for the poor, who are the most vulnerable to malnutrition. The study conducts a battery of checks that further lend credence to the robustness of the main findings. Given the current landscape of India's nutrition economy, the findings of this study would serve to be useful for designing apt future nutritional interventions and public health policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]