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The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and the subsequent restrictive measures such as lockdown/shutdown have gravely impacted everyday life by suspending regular activities. This unprecedented situation has also led to a potential reorganization of social practices. The distinction between social spaces such as work, education, entertainment and family became linear, and the superseding of public, private and leisure time was evident. As a vibrant public space that plays a significant role in the personal and social life of the public, libraries had to explore novel methods to continue their services and social role during the lockdown period. This paper discusses rural public libraries in Kerala, India, by exploring their modalities of work execution and program organization during the pandemic-affected lockdown period between 2020–2022. The paper seeks to find out how the rural libraries of Kerala managed to engage in their daily services, focusing on how these libraries utilized digital media technologies and social networking sites in day-to-day activities. Based on the in-depth interviews with eleven local librarians this study explains different approaches planned and executed by the libraries to reach out to their readers and how these attempts mobilized and integrated the public to respond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural India – following the COVID-induced shrinking of employment opportunities; heavy reliance on adverse coping strategies, including liquidation of productive assets and dispensing with productive investments; and inadequacies in government-support programs – may observe both further deterioration of its existing poor and the emergence of a new poor, with characteristics and implications that are dissimilar to those of the existing poor. The dynamic characteristics of poverty are not adequately captured by the official statistics and issues of flows into and out of poverty continue to remain a puzzle in India. Therefore, this paper underscores the urgent need to undertake evidence-based research to identify and profile the new poor and to customise the welfare schemes addressing their specific needs and priorities. It further argues for a rethinking of the role of local institutions, i.e. Gram Panchayats, in the tracking of poverty and in conceiving the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP), prioritising resource allocation for the new poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores mainstream print media depictions of women’s work during COVID-19 and associated lockdowns in India. Specifically, it aims to understand perceptions of educated upper- and middle-class women regarding remote working arrangements during the pandemic. It delineates two broad themes that emerge from an analysis of selected articles in four national dailies; first, many women regarded these arrangements as mutually beneficial for women employees as well as their workplaces, and its counternarrative characterised by women having to juggle paid and care work with little support from the family, market or state. The paper then unpacks the arrangement of work from home that emerges in the media analysis and offers a critique of the simplistic and binary understanding of flexibility, choice, and agency sustained by the neoliberal and postfeminist framing of pandemic work arrangements. Our analysis provides a feminist critique of these dominant perceptions that invisibilise the complexity and heterogeneity embedded within women’s experiences. Finally, the paper reiterates the urgent need to consider the structural factors that undermine gender equality across work and home; and pushes for a rethink of neoliberal and postfeminist notions of ‘flexibility’, ‘choice’ and ‘agency’ through the intersecting lenses of gender, labour, care work, and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the investment decisions of Indian equity mutual funds during various stages of the COVID-19 pandemic with monthly portfolio holdings. We find that funds favoured firms with lower risk, higher financial flexibility, and larger size during the early months of the pandemic. The preference for relatively low-risk firms, which reverses later, suggests a reallocation towards safer assets. Funds also preferred growth firms to value firms as the latter with greater invested capital are more vulnerable to the shock. Institutional investors also favoured group-affiliated firms throughout, reflecting their lower crisis vulnerability. We find that the stocks preferred by funds during the pandemic outperform others in the long run. The paper brings out key firm characteristics that impact mutual fund asset allocation during extreme uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In difficult times, people turn to poetry, reading, and writing for solace and peace. In emotionally intense and traumatic times, people use poetry to process and understand the lived eyepieces. The havoc wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the emotional and psychological well-being of individuals all across the world. Poetry has emerged as a savior in these difficult times. A phenomenon, "lockdown poems", came into existence as individuals all across the globe processed and shared their lived experiences of isolation, pain, and suffering through poems. In the present paper, students of a management program process and share their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the subsequent lockdowns, and their community work experience. Poetry as a therapeutic and hope-building tool is discussed in the paper along with the original poems written by the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

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]

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Acknowledging the overreaching importance of WHO guidelines of frequent handwashing with soap and water in battling COVID-19, this paper unravels the state of water supply in Indian cities and examines the challenges of conventional water policy and governance assumptions amid the COVID-19 crisis in India. Urban citizens, especially living in the slums, very often need to rush to access the water sources, making social distancing practically impossible. Apart from increasing public investment, this paper argues for rethinking the existing framework of water supply through institutional reforms focusing on decentralisation, community participation, and adoption of integrated water resource management policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of the Sikh community in India in creating new models of collective action during the Covid-19 crisis. As India continued to be ravaged with the devastating impact of the pandemic, Sikh communities came to the forefront to help the most vulnerable groups in Indian society. The author analyses the rationale of religiously motivated community service and highlights how Sikhs employed the concept of seva (selfless service), activism (speaking truth to power) and humanitarianism as central and equal pillars of Sikh philosophy to create new forms of collectivism and ethical practice during the Covid-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedagogical research during the Covid-19 pandemic initially focused on emergency remote teaching and subsequently shifted its focus to instructional design, student engagement, and teacher competencies. Existing research in the area highlights the need to go beyond an instrumental approach for e-learning to be truly effective. This includes examining critical factors such as power and control, the rationale behind decision-making processes, and accountability in educational policies in the context of e-learning. In an attempt to understand the mechanisms through which these critical factors influence remote teaching, the current paper employs an interpretative phenomenological lens to analyse subjective experiences of teaching online during the pandemic. Experiences particular to pre-pandemic teaching, transitioning to online teaching, and adapting to the new "normal" were explored. The overarching themes included the role of training/technical support, the need for enhancing student engagement, grading and assessment policies, the validity of online assessments, and optimal work-life balance. The uncertainty that the pandemic brought is far from resolved and there are still speculations regarding the resurgence of newer variants of COVID-19 and its repercussions on the education sector. The results of the study emphasise the fact that academicians are not just service providers but also end-users in online education. The findings will enable policymakers to reformulate decisions and guidelines in light of these dual roles, thereby addressing the needs and concerns of academicians more efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic created one of the biggest disruptions in human life. We were all confined within the walls of our homes or offices with day-to-day life worldwide seriously affected. In this context, access to and efficient use of technology determined the course of daily life for vast sections of the world's population. However, there was (and still is) a severe pre-existing global divide between the Global North and Global South vis-à-vis digital access. This paper attempts to understand this digital divide and how it has widened during the pandemic in the Global North and Global South with reference to India and the United States (US). This is initiated by analyzing certain factors within each country, namely positional and personal categorical inequalities. Through the cases of the US and India, the authors conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the global digital divide between the two worlds, affecting core social sectors like education and health. The larger implication of this is a broadening inequality between the Global North and Global South in leading development indicators like the Human Development Index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have captured the experiences of teachers teaching online, but the current 'emergency' to teach online is unprecedented and has been challenging. Grounded in the theory of cognitive dissonance, this paper attempts to recapitulate the experiences of university teachers and analyses whether they have developed the consonant cognitions to teach online during the pandemic period or would they prefer switching back to 'normal' teaching as soon as the circumstances permit. Technology-enabled teaching has been found to be complex as it mandates teaching in a computerised setting and lacks an element of social interaction, which is at the heart of face-to-face teaching. Using Structural Equation Modelling, this study presents the determining factors that motivate teachers to embrace technology-driven teaching more convincingly. The study finds that in the absence of adequate training imparted to the teachers for developing technological and pedagogical knowledge (TPK), high psychological capital and facilitating conditions are the two most important factors ensuring teaching proficiency, creating positive online experiences and a continued intention to teach online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the onset of COVID-19, the provision of psychotherapy services has shifted online. Thus, telepsychotherapy has been the focus of much research to document therapists' experiences; however, it has been mainly quantitative. In the Indian context, no known empirical research has focused on the implications of this transition on psychotherapists. Therefore, the present paper presents an in-depth idiographic study exploring psychotherapists' experiences in India, who had to transition to telepsychotherapy rapidly. Ten novice psychotherapists providing clinical services virtually were individually interviewed. The transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The main themes that emerged from the analysis were: negative impact on therapeutic process, detrimental effect on personal and professional self, positive impact of telepsychotherapy for therapist and, strategies for helping the adjustment to telepsychotherapy practice. The idiographic and psychological focus enabled a detailed exploration of the profound impact the sudden transition had on novice psychotherapists' work with clients and their self-efficacy. Despite contextual constraints faced by the psychotherapy profession in India, the participants demonstrated creative ways of working around the challenges encountered during telepsychotherapy. Nonetheless, their experiences highlight the need to initiate training programs in telepsychotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 has disrupted the normal course of production and livelihood activities across the world. This paper examines the short-term impact of this pandemic on one such strategically important sector, the construction industry of India. This study employs an event study approach to empirically study the market performance and response trends of the construction industry of India to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study finds that COVID-19 has negatively impacted the sector as reflected in the investors' response during the pandemic window. Through further empirical analysis, we also find that this sector has been affected more vis-à-vis other similar industries. In addition, the study also highlights some broad recommendations and proposes a process framework with prescriptive strategies for relevant stakeholders to smoothen the post-COVID recovery process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global rise of populism and concomitant polarizations across disenfranchised and marginalized groups has been magnified by so-called echo chambers, and a major public health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic has only served to fuel these intergroup tensions. Media institutions disseminating information on ways to prevent the propagation of the virus have reactivated a specific discursive phenomenon previously observed in many epidemics: the construction of a defiled 'Other'. With anthropological lenses, discourse on defilement is an interesting path to understand the continuous emergence of pseudo-scientific forms of racism. In this paper, the authors focus on 'borderline racism', that is the use of an institutionally 'impartial' discourse to reaffirm the inferiority of another race. The authors employed inductive thematic analysis of 1200 social media comments reacting to articles and videos published by six media in three different countries (France, United States and India). Results delineate four major themes structuring defilement discourses: food (and the relationship to animals), religion, nationalism and gender. Media articles and videos portrayed Western and Eastern countries through contrasting images and elicited a range of reaction in readers and viewers. The discussion reflects on how borderline racism can be an appropriate concept to understand the appearance of hygienic othering of specific subgroups on social media. Theoretical implications and recommendations on a more culturally sensitive approach of media coverage of epidemics and pandemics are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foodservice firms have been among the most affected business units during the COVID-19 pandemic. The slew of lockdowns and resulting apprehensions of contracting virus infections have largely deterred customers from patronizing various food outlets. However, with internet assistance consumers have increasingly found perceived refuge from unsafe dining experiences. As a result, the paper makes attempt to identify the determinants of customers' dining experience in restaurants. A total of 1,545 customer reviews from 97 foodservice outlets of 14 Indian cities were collected. R programming was used to perform qualitative analysis on the reviews to identify the features. Bigram analysis was applied to calculate the repeated phrases. Based on the repeated phrases, researchers measured the factors that contribute toward the customers' dining experience. The findings suggest that food quality and taste, food variety, staff behavior, restaurant ambience, along with social distance and safety norms mainly determine guest satisfaction. The findings also reveal that hotels need to apply recovery strategies such as training staff to adapt to the new-normal strategies and provide a safe environment to improve restaurant businesses. This study uses novel dataset and the findings essentially contribute to the food service literature. Further study can be done using big data in varied settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this analysis, we examine the relationship between the effective number of parliamentary parties (ENPP) at the state level in India and the initial policy responses among Indian state governments to the COVID-19 pandemic between January and April 2020. We find that by April 2020, Indian states with a relatively lower ENPP adopted more stringent measures to address the spread of the pandemic while states with a higher ENPP adopted less stringent measures. We hypothesize that it may have been more difficult for states with a larger number of parties to quickly adopt mitigation measures early in the pandemic, while it may have been relatively easier for states with a smaller number of parties. We discuss avenues for future research given the findings and the data presented in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 Pandemic have caused severe impact on lives in various ways, but our environment has experienced a positive outcome due to the lockdown which was imposed all over world including Himalayan region of India. The worldwide spread of COVID 19 has reduced movement of vehicles, industries and all tourism activities. Due to shutdown of all the commercial activities and traffic has helped the environment to reclaim naturally. The Himalayas is one of the world's most fragile and sensitive hotspots to global climate change, with impacts manifesting at a particularly rapid rate. The Himalayan glaciers are the water towers of Asia, and the source of many of the world's great rivers. In this research paper, an attempt has been made to describe the improvement in physiochemical characteristics of surface water, all parameters were compared with BIS standard of drinking water quality during pre lockdown and lockdown period. The ambient air quality have also been significantly improved and noise level were also found under permissible limit of Ambient air quality Standard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As threats to human security, epidemics cause fear and anxiety, thus generating conspiracy theories, fake news, and discrimination. In 2020, the most widespread xenophobic reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic was Sinophobia. In comparison, India's response to the pandemic was both conventional and exceptional. Like other countries, India recorded a surge in Sinophobia; but –remarkably– in Islamophobia too. Turning to both history and theory, this paper investigates how Coronavirus got transformed into a 'Muslim disease' and connected to narratives of holy war and Islamization ('Corona Jihad'). We contextualize the 2020 Covid-related Islamophobic wave within a longer process of demonization of the Muslim that is catalysed by the beliefs and policies of Hindu nationalism. In light of Muslims' continuing relegation to the fringe of the Indian body-politic, we propose an interpretation of the 2020 disease-induced Islamophobia as scapegoating, based on René Girard's mimetic theory. In conclusion, the case of Covid-19 in India confirms that in divided societies collective threats like epidemics are likely to exacerbate already existing forms of discrimination rooted in the society's mainstream memory and norms, and highlights the role of beliefs in mediating between threat and violence. This case study also highlights the deep penetration of communal discourse in India's everydayness and its far-reaching implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of COVID-19 on shopping behavior in two neighboring developing economies: Bangladesh and India. While the previous studies investigating the impact of COVID-19 on shopping behavior have relied on Revealed Preference (RP) data, this paper combines RP and Stated Preference (SP) data to develop joint RP-SP discrete choice models. This makes it possible to quantify the relative impact of the situational contexts on the choice of shopping modes of households and to capture the associated heterogeneity arising from the characteristics of the households. Further, comparison of the data and the estimated model parameters of the two countries with substantial socio-cultural similarities provide insights about how differences in the state of e-commerce can lead to different levels of inertia in continuing the pre-COVID behavior. The results will be useful to planners and policymakers for predicting the shopping modes in different future scenarios and formulating effective restriction measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to major learning about the social and economic losses that an external shock to the system can cause. In this paper, we examine some sustainability issues focusing on three key focal points of sustainable development – economic growth, poverty and inequality in the context of climate change. We focus on the inter-relationship between economic growth, investment, labour force participation, energy consumption, poverty and inequality under alternative scenarios using the global framing of Shared Socio-Economic Pathways (SSPs). An econometric model is used for estimating the relationship between GDP and its determinants along with fitting a General Quadratic and/or Beta Lorenz curve using the World Bank's Povcal software for determining the relationship between income, poverty and inequality. Alternative GDP growth paths, redistribution assumptions and poverty lines are used for simulations which reveal the extent of sensitivity of the developmental targets to scenarios up to 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a rich narrative on the new dynamics of organizing among informal workers wherein citizenship claims rather labour rights become the basis for negotiation. However, putting citizenship claims at the centre puts migrants at a relative disadvantage. Migrants share their vulnerabilities with other informal workers, but they have additional disadvantages rooted in them being 'non-citizens'. Ironically, migrants are often treated in existing literature as an undifferentiated part of informal labour. Situated in the aftermath of COVID-19, this article locates migrant workers' vulnerability within their inability to organize as a unique group rather than just as trade-based associations of informal workers. Specifically, the paper asks; what explains the lack of organization among migrant workers? What is the role of trade unions in this regard? And, how has an NGO-led initiative during the outbreak of Covid-19, unfolded opportunities for migrant street vendors to organize? Based on a qualitative study using, primary data from two districts in India, it is found that migrants are occupationally designed to remain de-organized, whereas trade unions represent a case of moral hazard. In fact, part of this disadvantage persists because migrants' mobilization is yet to figure as a direct agenda of the trade unions. Alongside, a civil society organization, through iterative negotiations initiates a process that, though unintended, can address the citizenship question for migrants. This process mirrors the dynamics of alternative organizing. However, it also signifies that any claims to organize migrant workers must accommodate their distinct positioning within informal workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the current status of Indian smart cities and examines their preparedness and response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The study focuses on implemented & ongoing projects under the Smart City Mission of the Government of India, which have contributed significantly to controlling the pandemic along with other channels. The study finds that modern cities in both developed and developing countries were not well-prepared to deal with the emergency situations and struggled in providing a satisfactory response during the pandemic. The analysis of primary and secondary data has shown that digital surveillance and movement control through integrated control command centers (ICCC) were the most useful projects in monitoring the COVID-19 cases. However, the lack of technology integration in smart cities hinders the effective usage of implemented projects. Thus, the study recommends integrated network-based applications that include healthcare, essential services, mobility, and movement across smart cities in India. The proposed framework is expected to provide the much-needed alignment at the policy, objective, and implementation levels of smart city framework designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is based on ethnographic field work conducted in Kolkata during 2019–2021 with queer and trans people during the COVID pandemic. This article develops a new framework of queer patchworks and discusses the various ways through which queer and trans communities are navigating survival during these non-normative times. This paper particularly responds to how digital media is being used by individuals and organisations as a form of witness, belonging, intimacy and care. Queer people in India live within different forms of marginality and precarity, homophobia, caste violence, unemployment and homelessness. This article brings together patchworks of whatsapp texts, broken zoom conversations, cooking gossip and addas on the banks of river Hooghly as a nod to these new realities which are reshaping queer identities; thus, offering new ways to also acknowledge, accommodate and 'queer' what counts as knowledge. A particular focus was moving away from totalising narratives and instead examine the tensions of being queer in contemporary India alongside the many contradictions. In turn, this engenders wider questions about queer desire, nationalism and belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we assess the effectiveness of different non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) against COVID-19 utilizing a compartmental model. The local asymptotic stability of equilibria (disease-free and endemic) in terms of the basic reproduction number have been determined. We find that the system undergoes a backward bifurcation in the case of imperfect quarantine. The parameters of the model have been estimated from the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India. Sensitivity analysis of the basic reproduction number has been performed. The findings also suggest that effectiveness of face masks plays a significant role in reducing the COVID-19 prevalence in India. Optimal control problem with several control strategies has been investigated. We find that the intervention strategies including implementation of lockdown, social distancing, and awareness only, has the highest cost-effectiveness in controlling the infection. This combined strategy also has the least value of average cost-effectiveness ratio (ACER) and associated cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various technological interventions introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak have resulted in numerous challenges, including the protection of informational privacy. Contact tracing applications are one such method adopted by governments worldwide to contain the pandemic. Their key features involve the collection and use of sensitive personal data, such as an individual's personal information, health record, and location, raising concerns among regulators. Regulators must ensure that these technologies align with informational privacy protection. The current legal regime in India is not sophisticated enough to delve into issues that concern contact tracing technology. In India, the introduction of the Aarogya Setu Application (contact tracing application) gained attention when the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) made downloading it mandatory for individuals. Eventually, doing so was made voluntary. Considering these current trends, this paper aims to examine developments in data privacy issues specifically regarding surveillance technologies and tracing applications in India. It highlights and analyzes them considering private players which announced their partnership in creating a robust contact tracing application. The study also adopts a comparative examination of existing contact tracing applications and their privacy policy along with the Indian version and explores how one deploys jurisprudence for informational privacy as perceived in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which originated in the city of Wuhan, China, has rapidly spread to various countries, with many cases having been reported. Some existing antiviral agents showed positive results to inhibit the infection and transmission of the novel corona virus 2019 (2019-nCoV) in vitro. Covaxin is India's first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine. In this paper, we introduce the Gourava and hyper-Gourava polynomials of a graph. We compute the Gourava and hyper-Gourava polynomials of some specific class of graphs. Further, we obtain the Gourava and hyper-Gourava polynomials of some chemical structures viz., chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir and theaflavin which were used in the treatment of COVID-19. The Gourava and hyper-Gourava indices are investigated for the aforesaid antiviral drugs using polynomial approach. The Indian Council of Medical Research and Bharat Biotech announced that Phase 3 results of covaxin, developed by them, have shown an interim vaccine efficacy of 81 percent. So, the results obtained may be useful for finding the design of new medicine for the treatment of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the Covid-19 induced migration disruption in India as a lens to interrogate what this acute moment reveals about the precarity of India's migrant workers and their experiences of work in ordinary times. Interviews with interstate migrants from north India employed in the Tiruppur region in the southern state of Tamil Nadu present their narratives of being stuck at work when lockdown began, their subsequent struggles to get home, and finally their plans to return to Tamil Nadu later in 2020. Migrant accounts of migration disruption shed light on (1) the local labour control regime at destination that routinely keeps interstate migrants locked into highly exploitative work environments, and that was intensified during lockdown, and (2) the ways in which this labour regime thrives on the spatio-temporal separation of productive and reproductive spheres in migrants' linked lives. The Covid-19 disruption also reveals how this labour regime flexibly adapted to produce the simultaneous disposability and unfreedom of circular migrant workers. Drawing on critical literature on labour control regimes, and on the separation of productive and reproductive labour under contemporary capitalism, we show how the Covid-19 pandemic disruption was anything but a transformative moment for India's vast circular migrant workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a scale that measures the perceived service quality of hospitals during a pandemic. To develop the scale, data from 206 respondents from India, was subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The newly developed scale was named PAND-SERVQUAL, which includes factors namely, assistance, facility & layout, trust, empathy, promptness, and knowledge. The resulting scale is likely to be useful for researchers exploring service quality research and health care quality as well. Findings will facilitate understanding patient's expectations regarding the service quality of hospitals during a pandemic. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00185868.2021.1939827. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted businesses and compelled the workforce toward the adoption of technology-enabled work from home (WFH). The purpose of this study is to investigate and understand the employee experiences and effectiveness of technology-enabled WFH. In-depth structured interviews were conducted with 39 respondents from western India. Qualitative content analysis was conducted, and the sub-themes and themes were identified by the researchers out of the interviews' text. The employee experiences are presented through a proposed framework comprising positive and negative factors affecting WFH. The study presents various findings on WFH such as (a) A Framework comprising of personal factors, employee performance, and technology adoption, and (b) A pictorial representation of positive and negative factors affecting the WFH. The paper also identified various challenges, which can be addressed for the effective implementation of WFH. This study presents a realistic and holistic picture of the technology-enabled WFH in India, which is a newfangled concept in the context of the pandemic. Open research areas are identified, which are presented at the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic across India has created huge challenges, as well as a strong sense of fear, anxiety, insecurity and uncertainty among the people, migrant workers in particular. A vast majority of migrant workers suffered enormously as their livelihoods are being threatened. This paper discusses the socio-economic, psychological, livelihoods challenges faced by migrant workers in India. It examines the role of the government to secure the fundamental rights of migrant workers. It reviews the impact of policies/programmes for the migrant workers. The paper concludes that despite government efforts, large numbers of migrant workers who have been living hand-to-mouth ended up in destitution as they have no identity and not covered by any official social security policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a global pandemic, containment became a major concern after confronting such a large scale spread of COVID-19 infection all over the world. Many agencies are devoted to analytically understand how practicing social distance minimize the impact of major outbreaks of infections at large scale. Nearly all strategies are based on isolating the entire country or total lockdown in primary phase, while less attention has been paid to other alternative interventions during the process. This paper discusses the challenges in maintaining an effective social alteration method, social distancing followed by self-isolation in India. People are facing psychological challenges during the practice of Social distancing method. The paper explores how social distancing has been used to minimize crowd interactions and prevent the spread of disease within groups of people in India. Lastly, the main focus is theoretical discussion with conceptual understanding of the protection practices in India on a daily basis and challenges faced in social, medical to professional dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The novel coronavirus that shook the world population has restructured the world order. While the scientists are grappling hard to find a solution to the imminent problem at hand, the pandemic has thrown the human race into a perplexed stage questioning and mostly changing everything they believed in. The pandemic has replaced human beings as social animal to virtual being. The social distancing mandate required for the survival as propounded by WHO has forced individuals to keep the other humans at bay. The present paper is an attempt to look at the changes the world is facing with respect to the social, cultural, economic, and psychological aspects with a special focus on the internationally acclaimed Kerala model of survival. Kerala, a small state located within the southern peninsula of the country has played an important role in containing the spread of the virus despite its larger population density. The paper focuses on the innovative mechanics followed by the state to curtail the spreading. It also attempts to look at the changes that have been brought in the general human behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic impacted the well-being of communities globally. In providing psychosocial care, mental health practitioners at the frontlines had to deal with soaring demands that left them feeling overwhelmed. In response, a supportive supervision program was launched by Rahbar in India. This paper presents supervisors' reflections on providing supervision based on principles of social justice, trauma informed, and strengths-based practice to mental health practitioners and psychosocial care workers to navigate challenges in remote counseling, supporting children and persons diagnosed with Covid-19 and managing their own well-being. Implications for supervision programs, specifically in crisis/trauma contexts, are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the extent of vulnerability and resilience to fight against Covid-19 virus in India. The vulnerability indices are constructed for the domains of hospital infrastructure, demography, housing, and health for all 36 states and union territories. An overall vulnerability index is constructed as the weighted average of domain-specific indices. The results reveal that vulnerability to coronavirus varies significantly across the states. The hospital and health vulnerabilities contribute most to the overall vulnerability in each state. As on 29 March 2021, the cumulative corona cases are the highest in Maharashtra, followed by Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. The resilience to fight against the virus is weak in India. The lockdown imposed in India has severely affected jobs and incomes. The government should enhance fiscal spending to strengthen the national resilience and administer safe vaccination program not only to stop the spread of virus but also bring life to the normal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the coverage and effect of cash transfers and food subsidies in India during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is based on a primary survey of rural women in the state of Bihar – an underdeveloped state with poor public delivery systems – undertaken in January–March and September–November 2020. Although the coverage of cash transfers was wider than that of food subsidies, respondents receiving cereals and pulses under the Public Distribution System reported a lower probability of suffering from food insecurity vis-à-vis cash subsidies. The study suggests that food subsidies may be more effective when supply chains break down. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to quantify the changes in the pollutants level in the ambient air of Madhya Pradesh during COVID-19 induced 21 days lockdown. The data of 16 continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) for six pollutants, namely PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NOx, CO, and Ozone for pre-lockdown (1–21 March 2020) and lockdown (25 March-14 April 2020) period was compiled and appropriate statistical analysis was done. The result showed a reduction of 13%, 20%, 37%, 39% and 25% in the ambient air level of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NOx and CO, respectively, during the lockdown. No such declining trend was observed in the ambient air ozone level. Ambient air ozone level changed between −22 and +30% compared to pre-lockdown concentrations. The mean ambient air ozone concentration was reduced at the residential/commercial stations (−5%), but was increased at the industrial stations (+19%) concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explored the impact of prolonged lockdown caused by coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic on the academic aspects of veterinary students of India and its relationship with their socio-economic status. We conducted a study with 224 first-year veterinary students engaged in e-learning system from four veterinary colleges of India at the end of 7th week of lockdown using Google Forms questionnaire in a set of multiple-choice questions. The primary data were analysed using the non-parametric chi-square test, Kruskal–Wallis test, Wilcoxon rank sum test and Kendall's tau-b correlation coefficients using the SAS software. The pandemic situation exerted an effect over the socio-economic and academic aspects of the students. The alternate e-learning system of education was adapted to the veterinary students and the teachers. The techniques of e-learning were mostly useful for the students from less affected family with sound income. The study suggests the decision-making for adopting e-learning system of education and also helps to assess the impact of lockdown in versatile socio-economic and diversified institutional infrastructural stratum of India. Any education is effective when it results in changes of behavioural components such as knowledge, attitude, skill and action of an individual. Based on this basic theory, the study has been conducted, which will help the policy makers to make a strategic plan for the implementation of e-learning system as an effective alternative in teaching and learning of agricultural education system. This study provides a clear dimension about the degree of adoption of the e-learning system as a substitute of physical classroom teaching during crisis situation apart from any gender or institutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Coronavirus pandemic has affected various sectors in the world including India. The sector which has been badly affected by the pandemic is the informal sector. The present study aims to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the informal sector in the world, including in India. An exploratory methodology is used in the study which is comprised of policy documents, research papers, international reports, and available literature in the related area. The study finds that the pandemic has severely affected poverty, hunger, deprivation, unemployment, economic and social inequality in the informal sector in India. As a result, it increases socio-economic problems in India. The study recommends bringing policies and protection measures for the informal sector to overcome such unprecedented events in the future. The study also suggests a need for further studies on the impact of COVID-19 on the informal sector in the emerging and developing countries of the World for broader generalisation. Otherwise, which will adversely affect the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pandemics have a collective character. They compel us to reflect upon our collective norms, values and behaviour forcing us to abandon, alter and renew our collective 'normal'. The paper cogitates the implications of Covid-19 in India through a multi-disciplinary perspective. The boundaries between biology and culture, self and the other, individual and the collective stand reconfigured in the wake of the epidemic. The analysis of emergent infectious diseases reveals that cultural and anthropogenic factors have a predominant role in shaping the progression of pathogens to a disease outbreak. The epidemic has precipitated an atmosphere of risk and uncertainty. Risk Theory provides the theoretical underpinnings to interpret the sociological impact of Covid-19. An overarching discourse on risk has shaped the decisions at the international, national, and inter-personal level. The heightened perception of the risk of the other is mitigated by exclusionary practices, stigmatizing and blaming of the other. Reliance on digital surveillance apps to negotiate the risk, lockdowns, quarantines, containments, surveillance, and social distancing norms that have imbalanced power dynamics between the State and citizens, demonstrate the Foucauldian concept of 'biopower'. The pandemic calls for adoption of a sociological approach and to revisit the epistemes of Sociology to accommodate the new normal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel coronavirus has altered the socio-economic condition of the whole world through its devastating effects on the human population. Mathematical models and computation techniques may play an important role in understanding this epidemic and contribute a lot in policy making to control the infection in a more systematic and effective way. In this paper, we have proposed a deterministic mathematical model for the Covid-19 pandemic taking into account the different epidemiological status of individuals of a given geographical region and analyzed it with respect to the basic reproduction number. Uncertainty is obvious in the case of a growing epidemic and it multiplies if the disease etiology is unknown. Taking into account the uncertainty in the epidemiological parameters, we extended the deterministic system into a stochastic system through random parameter perturbations in three epidemiological parameters. Analyzing the model, we determined the disease persistence and eradication conditions. The asymptotic behavior of the stochastic solution around the coexistence equilibrium of the deterministic model was also presented. As a case study, we considered the Covid-19 pandemic of India and estimated the model parameters from the epidemic data. We demonstrated different analytical results and predicted the course of the epidemic. Our simulation results indicate that the epidemic in India may continue up to third week of July 2021 and the cumulative confirmed Covid-19 cases may vary from 12.13 × 10 6 to 13.41 × 10 6. Such results may be useful from management and policy development viewpoints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the loss of output and employment for the Indian economy over the financial year 2020–21 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a capacity utilization ratio method, we estimate that the countrywide lockdown disrupted both demand and supply, with a loss of GVA for 2020–21 of 1.7% under an optimistic approach, and a fall in employment of 0.34%, with a loss of 1.56 million jobs. The pessimistic approach suggests a fall in GVA of almost 10%, with employment falling by 7.6%, and around 35.4 million jobs lost in 2020–21. Future growth will depend on the duration of the containment measures, the exit strategy from the lockdown, and the success of the policy responses in restoring business and consumer confidence, by increasing aggregate demand through fiscal expansion to foster investment and employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has necessitated medical centers across the world to deliver healthcare through telemedicine. We discuss the adoption, delivery of telemedicine services at a tertiary care center and patient satisfaction involving 456 patients in south India. Most respondents had sought telemedicine care at the department of Medicine (16.23%). The maximum satisfaction was reported by patients in OBG (100%). The responses were generally positive across all the age groups. The paper offers insights on best practices adopted at the center, lessons learnt, and provides recommendations for health care systems offering telemedicine during COVID-19 times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which is one of its kind of humanitarian disasters, has affected people and businesses worldwide, triggering a global economic crisis. In this aspect, the tourism sector is not being left behind. The pandemic has not only affected the foreign exchange earnings (FEE) but also affected various regional developments, job opportunities, thereby disrupting the local communities as a whole. As there has been a substantial decline in the arrivals of overseas tourists in India in 2020, the paper aims to predict foreign tourists' arrival in India and FEE using artificial neural networks (ANN). Furthermore, we analyse the impact of COVID-19 based on four scenarios considering with and without lockdown in terms of loss and gain in FEE. Lastly, the results obtained will help policymakers make necessary strategic and operational decisions, along with maximizing the FEE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fear of infection of COVID-19 among people has greatly reduced their intention to travel, which needs a deeper understanding to aid the policy-makers in framing robust guidelines to ensure safe travel. This paper aims to present a critical understanding of the traveler's willingness to reduce their trip frequency, using psycho attitudinal analysis of the variables impacting the travel behavior. For this purpose, a web-based survey was conducted across India, and demographic, socio economic and psycho-attitudinal data was collected from 410 individuals, from across 21 states of India. Information regarding the psycho-attitudinal data was collected using a set of indicators. After extraction of latent factors from these indicators using factor analysis, factor scores were determined for each individual for these latent factors. Subsequently, ordered logistic regression models were used to understand the influence of these pandemic-oriented variables upon an individual's intention to travel for essential, recreational and work trips. In the estimation results, majority of the respondents showed a willingness to reduce their essential and recreational trips compared with work trips. The awareness regarding the disease and the regionality of respondents showed a significant influence on their decision. The study concludes by presenting the policy implications of the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is more challenged than developed nations in reducing the Covid-19 cases and lowering death rates due to the huge population and unprepared health care system. As intention to vaccinate is contextual and its availability does not translate into their de facto adoption., this paper examines the factors that determine intention to vaccinate against COVID-19 in India. A research model was tested using 222 responses was tested using structural equation modeling. Findings suggested that credibility and awareness positively impacted whereas vaccine hesitancy and perceived risk negatively influenced intention to vaccinate. The fear of side effects did not impact the intention to vaccinate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic on 11 March, 2020, followed by an unprecedented global increase of the disease in recent times. Healthcare workers, including Nursing Professionals (NP), are more likely to experience psychological distress during the pandemic. The purpose of the study is to examine the stress, depression, and anxiety experienced by the nursing professionals in India, who provide care to COVID positive patients. A cross-sectional, web-based survey collected demographic data and mental health measurements from 187 NPs from 29 April, 2020 to 15 May, 2020. Eligibility criterion was NPs' treating COVID positive patients during the pandemic period. A total of 103 (55.08%) participants were screened positive for depression, 105 (56.14%) for anxiety, and 80 (42.78%) for stress. In addition, 24 (12.83%) participants experienced comorbid conditions, suffering from extremely severe or severe forms of stress-anxiety-depression levels. Participants reported high rates of depression, anxiety, and stress especially frontline NPs directly engaged in providing services for patients with COVID-19. The paper recommends counseling, mentorship, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and specialty trainings focused on patient care, as possible interventions for managing the psychological wellness of NPs during these testing times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debates about the increase in digital payments during COVID-19 have primarily focused on behavioural change among consumers. Using India as a case study, this article documents how supply-side actors (political, economic, financial and technological) used the pandemic to generate a new public consensus about digital payments. The article argues that these actors framed the agenda to draw public attention on cash and digital payments during the COVID-19 pandemic, that this new consensus extended and deviated from narratives created during the Digital India (2015) and demonetisation (2016) debates, and that trade bodies and businesses unrelated to banking, finance and technology were active in setting this new agenda. Agenda-setting in the pandemic era continues to mould the payments trajectory in both India and elsewhere. In India, we argue, it has challenged aspects of cash that previously elicited trust: its materiality and associated social interaction. Consequently, older agendas have been promoted, and digital (and especially contactless) payments have assumed a new level of importance to economic life in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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