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Road Roughness/Unevenness is an important parameter for the evaluation of the surface condition of a road. Roughness affects the vehicle operating cost, speed, riding comfort, safety, fuel consumption, and tire wear and tear. Every road user desires to have a smooth and comfortable riding. Roughness measurement is an important activity on highways based on which maintenance decisions are taken. IRC (Indian Road Congress) manual specifies roughness measurements to be taken at every 6 months on highways and based on the roughness index the functional overlay requirements are decided on highways. Roughness measurements using profilometers, namely Rod and Level, Dipstick, Merlin, Profiler, LiDAR, etc., give detailed surface profile measurements but are time-consuming. An alternative to profilometers is Response Type Road Roughness Measurement Systems (RTRRMS) which are installed on vehicles and measure how the vehicle responds to the pavement profile. A car-mounted fifth wheel Bump Integrator developed by CRRI in India is commonly used to measure roughness. The fifth wheel bump integrator system works through mechanical instruments producing 'bumps,' a binary, 'true or false' information, instead of 'range based' analog information produced by digital accelerometers commonly found in smartphones. Due to the difficulty in the calibration process, towing for longer distances, and complexity in recording, analyzing, and possible manual errors in recording the data, Cell Phone-based systems are becoming popular for their simplicity in measuring roughness using accelerometers embedded in the cell phone. RoadBounce is one such technology using Cell phone-based mobile Apps to measure roughness. This paper intends to present the findings of testing and evaluation of App-based roughness measurement technology for its accuracy and usability using different vehicles and mobile phones under different speeds, tire pressures, gradients, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smartphones play an extensive position withinside most company investigations into cyber intrusions. Investigations from the Law Enforcement additionally contain cellular gadgets sporting crucial proof that could assist carry the case to its logical conclusion. Smartphones are utilized in several crook justice contexts. The company presents mobile telephones to lots of its personnel as a part of their task duties, and the BOYD (carry your very own tool) idea is broadly adopted, permitting customers to get admission to workplace applications (like Outlook, Skype, etc.) the usage of their very own transportable gadgets. Based on forensic proof from research starting from conventional crimes (homicide, robbery, kidnapping, etc.) to technological crimes like cybersecurity incidents on company-huge cellular facilities, unlawful get admission to or exchanges, or facts theft, the cybercrime inquiry unit can be required to capture the cellular gadgets and ship them to FLS for added analysis. The chain of custody high-quality practices for securing mobile telephones, iPads, company cellular telephones, and BYOD gadgets in a manner that protects the integrity of the proof and is consequently suited in courtroom docket are in short defined on this paper. This paper's chain of custody technique was created especially for cellular platforms which require specific application of mind and use of tools in the reconstruction of the scene of crime as well as management of the evidence due to the variety of operating systems and nature of dynamic evidence which mobile devices have. The necessities of the commercial enterprise and regulation enforcement agencies that might use the record for normal cellular tool investigations in India have been taken into consideration while it was being developed. This paper has been written retaining in view the necessities of each enterprise in addition to the Law Enforcement Agencies to apply it for his or her everyday cybersecurity investigations concerning cellular gadgets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research on domestic violence in India recurrently highlight women's economic empowerment as a major deterrent to domestic violence. That said, this paper tries to understand what is the nature of relationship between women's empowerment and their experience of spousal violence? In doing so, it specifically explores how this relationship is interceded by regional specificities. Based on an analysis of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 data in India, this paper observes that the relationship between women's empowerment and domestic violence is contentious. However, women having some education and using mobile phones are less vulnerable. Hence, this study concludes that mobile phones and Internet-based applications as well as community-based interventions could be the effective measures to end domestic violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covid-induced lockdowns have increased the importance of technology in education. Though access to technology as well as availability of the internet remain a major concern for a lot of children in the global south, children with intellectual disabilities are disadvantaged even more as most of the e-content is developed keeping in mind the average learner. Unstructured interviews were conducted with children with intellectual disabilities studying in government schools in Haryana as well as their teachers and parents. Thematic analysis of the interviews was conducted to understand the use-patterns of mobile phones by children with intellectual disabilities. Findings suggest that these children are learning to use mobile phones on their own or with some support and are able to navigate the complexities of these smartphones quite well. They use these devices mostly for their entertainment. This paper then reflects on the need and strategies to develop these technologies in ways that they can be used as effective tools for teaching children with intellectual disabilities, especially in the inclusive education system in developing countries. The paper reflects on the need to develop technology and tools using flexible and exploratory designs to enhance the learning processes for children with intellectual disabilities from the lower income strata. This study highlights the importance of being able to use mobile phones by children with intellectual disabilities belonging to low income families. Following this, the article argues for designing of mobile phones suitable for use by children with intellectual disabilities using playfulness and explorations, and Building e-content keeping the elements of playfulness and exploration which can enhance the learnings of this group of students which is often ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underserved communities face critical health challenges due to lack of access to timely and reliable information. Nongovernmental organizations are leveraging the widespread use of cellphones to combat these healthcare challenges and spread preventative awareness. The health workers at these organizations reach out individually to beneficiaries; however, such programs still suffer from declining engagement. We have deployed Saheli, a system to efficiently utilize the limited availability of health workers for improving maternal and child health in India. Saheli uses the Restless Multi‐armed Bandit (RMAB) framework to identify beneficiaries for outreach. It is the first deployed application for RMABs in public health, and is already in continuous use by our partner NGO, ARMMAN. We have already reached ∼130K beneficiaries with Saheli, and are on track to serve one million beneficiaries by the end of 2023. This scale and impact has been achieved through multiple innovations in the RMAB model and its development, in preparation of real world data, and in deployment practices; and through careful consideration of responsible AI practices. Specifically, in this paper, we describe our approach to learn from past data to improve the performance of Saheli's RMAB model, the real‐world challenges faced during deployment and adoption of Saheli, and the end‐to‐end pipeline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims at analysing the socio-economic characteristics, mobile phone ownership and banking behaviour as key determinants of digital financial inclusion in India. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on the Global Findex Survey of the World Bank covering 3,000 adult individuals in India. Simple statistical tools such as descriptive statistics, chi-square test and regression analysis with a marginal effect have been used for the data analysis. Findings: About 35.2% of respondents have reported using digital financial services in the country. There is a significant association between the socio-economic profiles of individuals with the adoption of digital financial services in terms of gender, age, education, occupation and income. The marginal effect indicates that socio-economic factors, mobile phone ownership and banking behaviour of individuals towards borrowings and savings have indicated significant influence on digital financial inclusion. The analysis depicts that male with higher age, education, working status and higher income are more likely to adopt digital financial services. Further, individuals with mobile phone ownership and utilising banking in terms of borrowings and savings are more likely to adopt digital financial services. Practical implications: As digital banking services have emerged as a preferred channel for financial service delivery, this study provides timely insights on developing user driven-strategies for promoting digital financial services. Originality/value: Socio-economic characteristics, mobile phone ownership and banking behaviour are critical determinants of financial inclusion, so assessing its implications in the era of digitisation becomes imperative. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-10-2022-0673. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A surveillance system is the foundation for disease prevention and control. Malaria surveillance is crucial for tracking regional and temporal patterns in disease incidence, assisting in recorded details, timely reporting, and frequency of analysis. Objective: In this study, we aim to develop an integrated surveillance graphical app called FeverTracker, which has been designed to assist the community and health care workers in digital surveillance and thereby contribute toward malaria control and elimination. Methods: FeverTracker uses a geographic information system and is linked to a web app with automated data digitization, SMS text messaging, and advisory instructions, thereby allowing immediate notification of individual cases to district and state health authorities in real time. Results: The use of FeverTracker for malaria surveillance is evident, given the archaic paper-based surveillance tools used currently. The use of the app in 19 tribal villages of the Dhalai district in Tripura, India, assisted in the surveillance of 1880 suspected malaria patients and confirmed malaria infection in 93.4% (114/122; Plasmodium falciparum), 4.9% (6/122; P vivax), and 1.6% (2/122; P falciparum/P vivax mixed infection) of cases. Digital tools such as FeverTracker will be critical in integrating disease surveillance, and they offer instant data digitization for downstream processing. Conclusions: The use of this technology in health care and research will strengthen the ongoing efforts to eliminate malaria. Moreover, FeverTracker provides a modifiable template for deployment in other disease systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In India, about one third of tuberculosis (TB) patients diagnosed at tertiary hospitals are missed during a referral to peripheral health institutes for treatment. To address this, we assessed whether mobile voice call reminders to TB patients after diagnosis at a tertiary hospital decrease the proportion of "pretreatment loss to follow-up" (PTLFU), compared with the conventional paper-based referral. Design: A two-group parallel-arm randomized controlled trial was conducted. Setting: The study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital at Puducherry, South India. Participants: All newly diagnosed TB patients, both pulmonary and extrapulmonary, who were referred for treatment from the selected tertiary care hospital and possessed a mobile phone were eligible to participate. The participants were enrolled between March 2015 and June 2016 and were randomized to study groups using the block randomization with allocation concealment. Intervention: The participants in the intervention arm received standardized mobile voice calls reminding them to register for anti-TB treatment on the second and seventh day after referral in addition to the conventional paper-based referral received by the control group. Primary outcomes: Patients not started on anti-TB treatment within 14 days of referral were considered as PTLFU. The outcome of PTLFU was ascertained through phone calls made on the 14th day after referral. The intention-to-treat analysis was used, and the proportion of PTLFU in the study groups and the risk difference with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. Results: Of the 393 patients assessed for eligibility, 310 were randomized to the intervention (n = 155) and control (n = 155) arms. In the intervention arm, 14 (9%) out of 155 were PTLFU compared with 28 (18%) of the 155 patients in the control arm. The absolute risk difference was 9% (95% CI [1.5, 16.6], P = 0.01). Conclusion: Mobile voice call reminder to patients is a feasible intervention and can reduce PTLFU among referred TB patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication establishment is crucial for rescue operations in disaster affected areas. A standard tool for communication is the use of cell phones. However, they can be useless in situations where the cellular network's base stations are damaged in a disaster. A contemporary approach to re-establishing a communication network is by hosting base stations in drones. However, low battery life and difficulty in calculating the number of drones needed in different terrains are limitations of the above approach. This paper introduces a novel terrain-aware algorithm that calculates the minimum number of drones needed to cover an area with no voids in the network coverage. Our method ensures that the drones are deployed at optimal heights to maximize the average leftover energy in the network. We apply the algorithm for an actual location in Pettimudi, India and find the optimal number and positions of the drones to cover the area effectively without voids. In addition, we provide a simulation of the the communication establishment using above drones, and our experiments yield an average network efficiency of 98%, showing the effectiveness of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the digital gender gap through an examination of mobile phone ownership, usage, and perceptions within the unique regional context of Kerala, India. Our analysis provides an overview of similarities and differences between women and men in the use of the Internet, mobile phones, and social media based on pre-pandemic survey data collected in 2018 from 296 households in four impoverished areas of Thiruvananthapuram. We analyse perceived advantages and disadvantages of mobile and social media use as well as their relative impacts on both men and women. The paper concludes with a discussion of the gendered implications of technology within Kerala and suggest several areas of investigation for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Road traffic accidents have emerged as the new public health challenge of the 21st century. There has been an unprecedented upsurge in the area of auto mobilization like never before in the post-liberalization era in India. With a population close to 1.37 billion people, India now faces the worst ever road congestion in most of the areas. Indian roads are the most vulnerable road in the world. Road traffic injuries are the sixth leading cause of death in India. It is imperative to comprehensively understand the underlying behavioural factors related to road traffic accidents. Literature related to traffic behaviour is sparse in India. The current paper intends to highlight behaviours & underlying determinants, which cause road traffic accidents (RTA). Drunken riding, cell phone usage & tailgating are some of the risky riding behaviour prominent among the young riders in India. The informed evidence from the current review can provide valuable leads to the policymakers at the local level to initiate targeted interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India’s telecommunication services have become one of the fastest growing businesses in the world (Forbes.com, 2011). As per TRAI (2021) data, India’s telecommunication network is the second largest in the world by number of telephone users (both fixed and mobile phones) with 1179.49 million subscribers as on 31 January 2021. India has the world’s second-largest Internet user-base with 747.41 million broadband internet subscribers (TRAI, 2020). Telecom sectors play a vital role in providing support for social and economic growth while transforming multiple sectors such as IT, insurance, education, health, etc. This study focusses on human resource management practices in the public and private telecom company. The main aim of this research is to compare the existing HRM practices in BSNL and Airtel. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, three hypotheses were developed and tested using independent t-test. A pre-structured questionnaire was designed to collect data of employees’ views on HRM practices in public and private companies. A total of 84 respondents (BSNL=62, Airtel=22) has been considered using convenient sampling method. The findings of the study reveals that human resource practices in private telecom company are well planned, adequate and effective for employees compared to the public sector company. The findings can be used by telecommunication sectors to improve the welfare and management of employees in their company. This study shows the importance of HRM in the achievement of organizational goals and objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social innovations implemented by public libraries rarely alleviate poverty. Mobile payments (i.e., financial transactions over mobile phones) represent the most widely used solution to alleviate poverty in developing countries, provided that people living in poverty have mobile, financial, and information literacy. This article reports a 3-year-plus study of proposing, testing, customizing, and disseminating a practice-based, outcome-driven, and community-oriented social innovation in the form of a "unified mobile, financial, and information literacy toolkit" to public librarians in India, who can assess mobile, financial, and information literacy of the poor at once and enhance their mobile payment readiness. Public libraries can be a strategic partner of the United Nations and governments in developing countries for addressing the grand challenge of poverty in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The DeWorm3 trial is a multi-country study testing the feasibility of interrupting transmission of soil-transmitted helminths by community-wide mass drug administration (cMDA). Treatment coverage during cMDA delivery was validated by in-person coverage evaluation surveys (CES) after each round of treatment. A mobile phone-based CES was carried out in India when access to households was restricted during the COVID-19 lockdown. Methods: Two focus group discussions were conducted with the survey implementers to document their experiences of conducting phone-based CES via mobile-phone voice calls. Principal findings: In the phone-based CES, only 56% of sampled households were reached compared to 89% during the in-person CES (89%). This was due to phone numbers being wrongly recorded, or calls being unanswered leading to a higher number of households that had to be sampled in order to achieve the sample size of 2,000 households in phone-based CES compared in-person CES (3,600 and 2,352 respectively). Although the phone-based CES took less time to complete than in person coverage evaluations, the surveyors highlighted the lack of gender representation among phone survey participants as it was mostly men who answered calls and were then interviewed. The surveyors also mentioned that eliciting responses to open-ended questions and confirming treatment compliance from every member of the household was challenging during phone based CES. These observations were confirmed by analysing the survey participation data which showed women's participation in CES was significantly lower in phone-based CES (66%) compared to in-person CES (94%) (Z = -22.38; p<0.01) and that a significantly higher proportion of households provided proxy responses in phone-based CES (51%) compared to in-person CES (21%) (Z = 20.23; p<0.01). Conclusions: The phone-based CES may be a viable option to evaluate treatment coverage but issues such as participation bias, gender inclusion, and quality of responses will need to be addressed to optimize this methodology. Author summary: The DeWorm3 Project is a community cluster-randomized trial being conducted in Benin, India, and Malawi to test the feasibility of interrupting STH transmission by six rounds of biannual community-wide MDA (cMDA). As recommended by the World Health Organization, coverage evaluation surveys (CES) among 2,000 households were carried out in the DeWorm3 Project to validate reported treatment coverage of cMDA. During the COVID-19 lockdown in April 2020, the fifth round of CES was conducted using mobile phones instead of in-person survey. In phone-based CES, only 56% of sampled households were reached compared to 89% during the in-person CES. This was due to phone numbers being wrongly recorded, or calls being unanswered leading to a higher number of households that had to be sampled in order to achieve the sample size of 2,000 households in phone-based CES compared in-person CES (3,600 and 2,352 respectively). Focus group discussions conducted with the interviewers showed that phone-based CES took less time to complete than in-person CES; mostly men responded to the interview call; and eliciting responses to open-ended questions and confirming treatment compliance from every member of the household was challenging. These observations were also confirmed by analysing the survey participation data that showed less participation by women and more proxy responses in the phone based CES. Collecting phone numbers of women and avoiding open-ended questions may improve the women's participation and quality of responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing an automatic vehicle detection (AVD) system from still images or videos would be a useful tool to cater to the requirements of the traffic management system. Over the past few years, numerous databases have been developed for the use of researchers in this field of AVD. However, most of them are not acceptable in the Indian scenarios due to certain practical constraints like the road infrastructure, nature of congestion, and vehicle types commonly found in India. The aim of this research is to develop a still image database, named as JUVDsi v1, which includes nine different types of vehicle classes collected through mobile phone cameras in various ways for designing an automated traffic management system. Identifying and analyzing the shortcomings of existing databases, the developed database presents an improvement to address such bottle-necks. Furthermore, the efficiency of this database is evaluated using an ensemble of three state-of-the-art deep learning architectures. At first, each vehicle in the scene images is localized and categorized. Five base object detection models, namely, YOLOv3, Faster-RCNN, RFCN, SSDv1 and SSDLitev2 are used. Finally, the Weighted Boxes Fusion technique is used as the ensemble method (ensemble of best three out of the five base learners), thereby enhancing the performance obtained by the individual object detection models. The database can be found at: https://github.com/JUVDsi/JUVD-Still-Image-database.git. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet of Things abstracts the ability to remotely associate and observe things or objects over the Internet. When it comes to agriculture, this idea has been incorporated to make agriculture-related tasks smart, secure, and automated. Agriculture is vital for economic growth and also for the survival of humans. Farmers living in rural areas of India face a common problem of the theft of equipment like induction motors from small storage houses meant for storing commodities in crop fields. In this study, we present a remote security management framework for monitoring the crop field storage house, known as the farm security alert system (FSAS). FSAS is a small, energy efficient, low cost, and accurate security management system that uses microcontroller-based passive infrared (PIR) sensor and global system for mobile communication (GSM) module to generate an alert to the farm owner if there is an intrusion event at the crop field store. The microcontroller board utilized in the proposed model is the Arduino Uno, and PIR motion sensor is used to recognize the intruder. In addition, FSAS also can be used for monitoring of induction motor by utilizing a similar arrangement of sensors. The sensor signal is transmitted to the cloud whenever the intruder is within the sensing range of the sensor node. Naive Bayes' prediction model is used to identify the level of encroachment as no (green), mild (yellow), or high (red) threat. The status and the alarms can be received by the farm owners, either on their smartphones as application alerts or as a short message/phone call, at any distance, and independent of whether their cell phones are connected to the Internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The evolution of mobile phones from basic to smart phones has spread technology across age, gender, and region. Mobile phone addiction has become a behavioural addiction among students. Anxiety and Fear of Missing out cause university students to check their phones 150 times a day, a new study finds. People also use smartphones for non-calling purposes, such as accessing social networking sites, using Google, and watching YouTube videos. Aims & Objectives: The study is to assess the level of addiction to smart phone Usage, and its associated implication on youth from selected colleges in Chennai City. Materials and Methods: Over the period of six months the data pertaining to the study area was collected through a structured questionnaire. A total of 200+ samples were collected factors arrtibuting to usage of mobiles using the google forms from selected colleges at Chennai. Descriptive and inferential statistics would be calculated for the data set to draw meaningful inferences out the data and to draw conclusion. Preferably Correlation between - no. of hours spent on social media usage, gaming, OTT(Over-the-Top), change in lifestyle (Behavioural change among youths) due to smartphone usage addiction and Percentage Analysis, Correlation and Chi-square test would be carried out to know the exact relationship among the variables using SPSS v.21. Results: There is a negative correlation exists between time for study and time dedicated for study which means students are not concentrating and positive relationship exist between time for study to studies besides games which means playing games while study. Negative relationship exists between time for study to skipping meal and frequently checking mobile phone for notifications. Concentrate on studies besides games to obedient to parents is found to be positively correlated and avoiding social events, skipping meal and frequency of checking mobile for alters is negatively correlated, which means studies beside playing games is a new way of learning it goes side by side. Students are not ready to participate in social events, skip meal and not like to avoid frequently checking their mobile for alerts/ notifications. Conclusion and Suggestions: Gender and Time spent on social media, Attributes to check and use mobile frequently, Time Spent on Gaming apps, Time spent on favourite social media app, Time spent on OTT apps are associated with each other. Irrespective of gender the Time spent on the above things is same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past decade, there is a dramatic increase in wireless communication system particularly the mobile phones (cell phones) which are low power single channel two ways radios that emit signals through electromagnetic waves. As most of the physiological functions in our body is regulated by electric currents and the electromagnetic fields (EMF) emitted from the mobile phones may affect the physiological processes and associated health effects like sleep disorders, headaches, etc. When we discuss about the endocrine system the most exposed vital endocrine glands when compared to pineal, pituitary, adrenal which can get affected by the electromagnetic fields is thyroid gland, An important endocrine glands that control our body metabolism which is located in front of the neck and release hormones into the bloodstream. It secretes Thyroxine(T4)1, Triiodothyronine(T3) Calcitonin, to synthesize thyroid hormones Thyroid gland needs Iodine, too little or too much iodine can affect the level of hormones and its release. Role of thyroid hormones is to control Metabolism, Body Temperature, Breathing, Heart rate, Brain development, Mental activity, Digestion, Fertility etc. This study shows a higher TSH level (Hypothyroid) with low T4 in mobile phone users. It may be concluded that there can be deleterious effects of mobile phones through electromagnetic rays on Hypothalamo-Pituitary-Thyroid axis (HPT) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective on‐road safety requires proper maintenance of vehicles. In the trucking sector in India, there is a need for supporting predictive maintenance to decrease downtime and improve safety. Improving maintenance in this sector involves certain challenges. First, most trucks are owned by small‐scale fleet owners (trucks < 5). Second, maintenance is often handled by small‐scale mechanic workshops. The fault diagnosis is very often limited to recognition by the driver and later reassessed by the mechanic by relying on the feel or the sound of the vehicle. Third, a majority of stakeholders in this sector—drivers, mechanics, and owners—have low levels of education. Despite these challenges, with the increase in the rate of digitalization, in the future, it will be easier to monitor the health of the parts of a truck. In addition, there is a developing trend of mobile phone and internet penetration in India that has leapfrogged a majority of Indians into becoming "emergent users" of information technology. Therefore, this article shows that sociotechnical approaches such as ecological interface design can be used to develop mobile interfaces for supporting predictive maintenance through health and usage monitoring of trucks for small‐scale fleet owners in India. To develop the interface, a field study was conducted at several sites in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The insights were used to develop scenarios and the abstraction hierarchy, which were later used creatively to develop the interface design for emergent users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is divided into 22 Service Areas consisting of 19 Telecom Circle Service Areas and 3 Metro Service Areas for providing Cellular Mobile Telephone Service (CMTS). The country’s mobile Penetration 84% and Internet penetration 60%. The 22 LSAs were conceived in 1995 were based on revenue earning potential in 1995 but after the 5G Auctions 2022 we have to move a finer granulation of the market. This is because 22 LSAs are heterogeneous in its willingness to pay across the range of digital services. Indian Telecom is a 4-player market, R.Jio, Airtel, VI, and BSNL. Post 5G Auctions there has to be closer alignment with the market characteristics. Customizations according to LSA may not be practical. IoT, machine-to-machine communication Gaming, and Augmented reality will see a huge demand in the period leading from 2023. 5G implies short range data intensive communication. It came without surprise when the mm waves saw the maximum subscription in this auction. mm waves account for high data capacity with less penetration. Hence we will see a migration from to micro and Pico cells. LSA will have to model on micro cells for high intensity usage. Operators will need to focus on minimum viable area-Smallest area compatible with profitable operations. This will need redesign of the current LSAs and split circle to reduce barrier promote competition and innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Physicians who are primary care providers in rural communities form an essential stakeholder group in rural mobile health (mHealth) delivery. This study was exploratory in nature and was conducted in Udupi district of Karnataka, India. The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of rural medical officers (MOs) (rural physicians) regarding the benefits and challenges of mobile phone use by community health workers (CHWs). Design/methodology/approach: In-depth interviews were conducted among 15 MOs belonging to different primary health centers of the district. Only MOs with a minimum five years of experience were recruited in the study using purposive and snowball sampling. This was followed by thematic analysis of the data collected. Findings: The perceptions of MOs regarding the CHWs' use of mobile phones were largely positive. However, they reported the existence of some challenges that limits the potential of its full use. The findings were categorized under four themes namely, benefits of mobile phone use to CHWs, benefits of mobile phone-equipped CHWs, current mobile phone use by CHWs and barriers to CHWs' mobile phone use. The significant barriers reported in the CHWs' mobile phone use were poor mobile network coverage, technical illiteracy, lack of consistent technical training and call and data expense of the CHWs. The participants recommend an increased number of mobile towers, frequent training in mobile phone use and basic English language for the CHWs as possible solutions to the barriers. Originality/value: Studies examining the perceptions of doctors who are a primary stakeholder group in mHealth as well as in the public health system scenario are limited. To the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first studies to examine the perception of rural doctors regarding CHWs' mobile phone use for work in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cell phones are an integral part of modern day life and have become companions for individuals irrespective of age, gender and socio-economic status. In this study, we assessed the factors affecting risk of cell phone addiction among teachers attending Life Skills Training and Counselling Services (LSTCS) program in Karnataka.Methods: This cross sectional secondary data analysis utilised data from baseline assessment of trainees attending a Life Skills Training and Counselling Services program (LSTCP). Various factors hypothesised to be affecting risk of cell phone addiction (outcome) was analysed using univariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis. All the analysis was done using STATA 12.0 software.Results: Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted with risk of cell phone addiction as outcome. A conceptual framework of hypothesized exposure variables was developed based on expert consultation and literature review. Overall, data of 1981 participants was utilized. Gender (AOR=1.91; 95% CI=1.27-2.77), number of peers (AOR=1.01; 95 CI=1-1.008) and social quality of life (AOR=1.01; 95% CI=1.00-1.03) were associated with increased risk of cell phone addiction. Age (AOR=0.98; 95%CI=0.96-1.00), empathy (AOR=0.96;95%;CI=0.93-0.99), communication skills(AOR=0.92, 95%;CI=0.88-0.96) and physical quality of life (AOR=0.96; 95% CI=0.95-0.98) were associated with reduced risk of cell phone addiction.Conclusions: This study on precursors of risk of cell phone addiction, conducted mostly among apparently healthy individuals, provide important insights into interventions to reduce risk of cell phone addiction. The complexity of associations between peers, gender, quality of life and risk of cell phone addiction needs further exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is moving quickly towards its dream of ‘Digital India’ to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. As a result, mobile penetration in India is creating records every year in the global market. Simultaneously the social media platforms are pulling mobile users towards its attractive content to mint money. Is growing mobile usage a real indicator of digital India? Do these smartphones are really making their users smart enough? The growing market for smartphones is a positive indicator for growth in communication networks but it is also hard to ignore the impact of smartphones on mental health and cyber theft. Therefore, this study was designed to find out not only the usage of smartphones among youth but also their impact on their mental health and perceptions towards cyber security. A mixed methodology was adopted to meet the set objectives. The study reveals that there is a huge usage of smartphones among youth and they all are aware about its effects on their mental health and threats to cyber security, but they are not able to resist using mobile phones daily as it has become part of their life, and they lack cyber security knowledge though they are aware of cybercrimes in society. So, it is important to understand that digital India is not about smartphones and technology but it is about producing smart Individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In patients with chronic diseases condition, mobile health monitoring facility proves to play a significant role in providing significant assistance toward personal management. This research examined the use of smartphones by diabetes patients and their intentions to apply them for self-care and monitoring as well as management. This cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted in Jul-Aug 2021 with 200 diabetic patients (especially type 2) who were visiting specialized clinics and hospitals of Gujrat state, India. A validated questionnaire survey was designed to collect data, which included questions about demographics, information pertaining to other, use of cellphones, the Internet, and the intention to implement smartphones for diabetes monitoring, self-care, and self-management. A highest number of studied participants have mobile phone (97.5%) and smartphones (87%) and access the Internet on daily basis (83.5%). Younger participants were more inclined to use smartphone apps and have also shown more interest for continuous use in the future (p < 0.01). The majority of participants used apps for nutritional planning (85.5%), to monitor glucose control (76.5%), and for scheduling of diabetes appointments on the calendar (90.5%). Recommendations to use mobile app by doctors or healthcare profession were reported by 20.5% of the participants and attitude and future intention to use mobile apps were reported by the majority of participants. The majority of type 2 diabetes patients choose to use their cellphones and the internet or mobile phone reminder system for medication as well as to plan their diets, monitor their blood sugar levels, and communicate with their doctors. The findings of this research can be used to develop strategies and implement mHealth-based therapies to assist patients with type 2 diabetes to efficiently manage their health and might contribute to reducing patients' out-of-pocket expenditure as well as reducing disability-adjusted life years (DAILY) attributed by DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological developments have a major impact on user behavior. The rapidly evolving communication system and technology have provided numerous choices for people. The ever-shifting changes in the generation of communication networks have posed challenges for mobile network service providers to attract and retain customers. This study aims to prioritize the determinants of the adoption of mobile network service providers using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT-2). In this study, data were collected from 660 mobile phone users in Haryana, India. A fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (F-AHP) was applied to arrange the priority or rank the factors based on the significance of the factors in explaining the adoption of mobile network service providers. Results of the study reveal that efforts expectancy is the highest-ranked and prioritized factor for the adoption of mobile network service providers followed by performance expectancy and facilitating conditions. However, social influence emerged as the least important factor. The present study provides theoretical implications for future researchers by synthesizing and prioritizing the important factors affecting technology acceptance. The practical implications offer a clearer insight to marketers for developing focused pragmatic strategies to retain customer loyalty. The study has considered only UTAUT-2 model constructs and used the F-AHP technique. Other factors may be considered in future studies. Other priority analysis techniques can also be used such as ISM and MICMAC analysis for further study. The research has been conducted in Haryana, India, and therefore, it needs to be tested in other areas/countries for generalizability. JEL Classification: O1, O2, O4 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]