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Through an analysis of the available literature on women street vendors in the Global South, and then specifically in India, this paper identifies several knowledge gaps and future directions for research. The paper makes three broad claims: (1) street vending spaces are fundamentally gendered spaces; (2) the intersectional identities and caste‐based locations of women street vendors shape their spatial experiences, material realities and access to power; and (3) gender and caste are co‐constituted categories that produce a spatiality unique to the Indian subcontinent. While the geographical approach towards street vending recognises the importance of space and considers vendors as spatial practitioners, vendors are often assumed to belong to a homogenous (male) category with differentials such as gender, race, age, ethnicity and caste invisibilised. This research gap is of even more critical importance in India where caste intersects with gender to produce space. Examining the literature on gender and street vending reveals three broad analytical themes—socio‐spatial disparities, politics of space, and strategies of control. What seems to be missing is a critical, qualitative focus on the experiences of women street vendors, the gendering of vending spaces, the recognition of caste as a dynamic factor, and a spatial analysis grounded in the Southern urban context. Ultimately, this paper makes the case for a situated and postcolonial feminist geography approach to street vending in India, and calls for an intersectional research agenda that is attentive to the co‐constitution of caste and gender in the production of urban space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper delineates the characteristics of an emerging Southern multilateralism to argue against pessimistic narratives of anarchy and disorder as well as optimistic narratives that celebrate the resilience of the Liberal International Order (LIO). It does this by staging a conversation between a top‐down International Relations literature that explores the contours of global order and a bottom‐up international development literature that investigates the changing role of the Global South in world politics. By highlighting the continuities and discontinuities of Southern multilateralism with it, the paper illustrates the ways in which Southern Multilateralism both challenges the LIO and supports it. The perspective of Southern Multilateralism suggests that countries in the Global South insist on sharing global responsibility with prevailing institutions of liberal multilateralism, neither seeking to overthrow it nor to be co‐opted within it. A subsidiary argument of the paper is that Southern Multilateralism is not homogenous: To that end, it attends to the richness of Southern Multilateralism by directing attention to variations within it. In line with the theme of the Special Issue, this paper focuses on two cases that involve India's presence on the African continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction to a special section brings together three papers first presented at a panel, 'Medical Professions in South Asia: Historical and Contemporary Analyses', at the 26th European Conference on South Asian Studies, held in Vienna, Austria and online, in July 2021. All three papers deal with aspects of the professionalisation of biomedical doctors in India since its independence in 1947. The authors bring together historical and sociological approaches to illuminate the growth of specialisms, patterns of practitioner–patient interactions and efforts to maintain occupational closure and maintain status in the face of growing challenges. The introduction concludes with a discussion of the relevance of these papers for the sociology of health and illness in India and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land registration is a process of keeping track of landowners of existing land. Registration of land helps maintain proof of ownership and prevents illegal land possession. Land‐related conflicts are common in developing countries like India due to inconsistent data and transparency. The land ownership transfers also take a longer time than expected. This article presents a land registry system using blockchain and InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) technology to overcome the mentioned problems. The land records will be immutable using blockchain, and nobody will forge them illegally. The system will be more transparent as all the users in the blockchain network can view the land and the owner's details before getting into ownership transfer. For maintaining the integrity of land and owner details, it will get stored in IPFS. The land transaction will be carried out via a smart contract. The smart contract checks whether all the entities agree with the transaction, and the money will get transferred within the described time limit. This proposed system will strengthen the land administration process by providing immutable and transparent land records. It will also speed up the registration process by a significant amount. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of the goals and targets specified by the Kunming‐Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Target 3, often referred to as "30 × 30," has garnered widespread attention globally. In this paper, we critique India's potential to meet this target. We find that with its vast network of ecosystems that are under some form of protection and through the recognition of other effective area‐based conservation measures sites, India has the potential to meet the quantitative target of conserving and managing at least 30% of its area by 2030. However, the qualitative attributes of the target might be more difficult to realize owing to several challenges, such as inadequate landscape connectivity, insufficient representation of habitats in the current protected area model, and the exacerbation of socioeconomic vulnerabilities of resource‐dependent communities. To achieve strategic, inclusive, and equitable conservation, we suggest a four‐pronged approach involving landscape‐level biodiversity conservation, socially just and collaborative safeguarding of biodiversity, and relevant policy (re)formulation, informed and underlain by long‐term research and impact monitoring. Although we focus on India, the issues we discuss are of broader relevance, especially for countries across the Global South that are also likely to be significantly impacted by the implementation of the target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural production in developing countries is heavily rainfall dependent. Any unexpected variation in rainfall can affect the welfare of households. Using unit record data from India, this paper shows that households can insure against agricultural productivity (rainfall) shocks. Evidence suggests that they do so by varying the time allocation of individual members to different activities, particularly to regular wage work and human capital accumulation. There is a gender‐differentiated aspect to this response. Rainfall shocks adversely affect women's human capital accumulation. While there is no evidence that households use participation in NREGS to insure against rainfall shocks, the availability of NREGS helps reduce the impact of rainfall shocks on human capital accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to decentre/decolonize our understanding of capitalist development in the Global South call for more complex and differentiated categories of work that acknowledge the significance of both non‐waged and reproductive labour. These categories would allow us to more clearly 'see' the varying intersections of gender, class and caste within this world of work. Even as the literature on work in the Global South acknowledges the importance of forms of non‐waged work, there is still more work to be done to sufficiently incorporate the labour of social reproduction. In this paper, which emerges from an effort to apply a feminist social reproduction lens in the field, we propose understanding work through four conceptual dyads: waged productive labour, non‐waged productive labour, waged reproductive labour and non‐waged reproductive labour. Through an in‐depth description of three specific cases from a time‐use survey we conducted in rural Punjab, India, we argue not only that all four dyads are required to encompass the world of work but also that this more expansive conceptualization can help us produce richer analyses of the intersections of class, caste and gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

"Independent" sex work outside red light areas in big cities in developing countries is an understudied phenomenon. Through a survey of independent sex workers in Delhi, India, this paper sheds light on the governance of independent prostitution. It shows that in the sex work industry, which is informal in nature and faces a complex legal architecture, regulatory intermediaries (RIs) drive both regulation and responsibilization strategies. On behalf of the state, the police act as regulatory intermediaries, implementing hierarchical regulation. In red light areas, sex workers' collectives and solidarity networks operate as RIs on behalf of workers. But in independent sex work, it is pimps who act as intermediaries for workers, driving their responsibilization strategies. Independent sex workers take up the services of pimps even though they charge hefty fees, in large part because pimps can negotiate their protection from the police. I examine several characteristics of the relationships between prostitutes, pimps, clients, and the police, and refine the RIT model of regulatory intermediaries (Abbott et al. 2017) in the context of prostitution in a developing country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while balancing the three dimensions of sustainability, are latent about the pathways to achieve it. The transition may involve trade‐offs between the different dimensions of sustainable development, like balancing the socio‐economic dimension with environmental limits. The paper attempts to demonstrate some of these channels for the leather value chain in India, which is a conspicuous source of precarious labour and polluting industrial processes. Interacting the firm's objectives with value chain governance, we introduce four quadrants for the transition to sustainability. Combining voices from the field with a novel dataset, we provide evidence of the intersections between socio‐economic and environmental sustainability illustrative of countries in the global South. The precarity of work and inadequate upgrading of the production process co‐exist in most firms. We find that firms tend to hover around baseline economies of lower costs, work precarity and hazardous processes while exhibiting inertia for a transition. However, a few units are either transitioning or have nearly attained decent work practices and progress to cleaner technologies. The sustainability transition demands engagement in the social and economic upgrading of production processes and organisational practices. It is multi‐dimensional, ameliorating precarious labour and upgrading to cleaner technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cambodia is expected to graduate from least developed country (LDC) status in the near future, at which time it will be required to make patents available for pharmaceutical products and processes to meet its obligations under the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Given its impending transition from LDC status, there is a need to balance Cambodia's intellectual property (IP) policies and regulations with public health priorities to ensure access to affordable life‐saving medicines. This will be critical to achieving universal health coverage, one of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. This paper examines Cambodia's IP laws and regulations to identify provisions which could reduce access to affordable generic medicines when it starts to grant patents for pharmaceuticals. It systematically compares Cambodia's IP laws and regulations applicable to patents with those of Thailand and India—two developing countries which have had some successes in preserving access to medicines despite the introduction of pharmaceutical patents. It identifies lessons for Cambodia from the experiences of Thailand and India in implementing TRIPS and using TRIPS flexibilities such as compulsory licensing to ensure access to a sustainable supply of affordable generic medicines. India's experience of implementing TRIPS offers a practical and valuable lesson in applying TRIPS for the greatest public benefit. Thailand, although it has not utilised TRIPS flexibilities as extensively as India, also offers valuable lessons in adapting and interpreting IP law to ensure sustainable access to generic medicines, especially in relation to compulsory licencing. Key recommendations for reform for Cambodia include strengthening the use of preventive and remedial TRIPS flexibilities and removing criminal sanctions for patent infringements. Cambodia should reject any TRIPS‐plus provisions in its patent legislation, avoid membership of bilateral or plurilateral trade agreements that include TRIPS‐plus provisions and avoid signing patent treaties and agreements designed to facilitate the granting of patents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural transformation in most currently developing countries takes the form of a rapid rise in services but limited industrialization. In this paper, we propose a new methodology to structurally estimate productivity growth in service industries that circumvents the notorious difficulties in measuring quality improvements. In our theory, the expansion of the service sector is both a consequence—due to income effects—and a cause—due to productivity growth—of the development process. We estimate the model using Indian household data. We find that productivity growth in nontradable consumer services such as retail, restaurants, or residential real estate was an important driver of structural transformation and rising living standards between 1987 and 2011. However, the welfare gains were heavily skewed toward high‐income urban dwellers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

This introductory article makes a critical estimation of the impact of pandemics on the Global South consumer's well‐being. Our paper moves beyond the concerns of the other papers of this Special Issue. Instead, we focus on the issues of the vulnerable, marginal, and subaltern consumers of the Global South—experiences and anxieties, distinct from those of more "modern," capitalized, industrialized, democratized, and economically liberated Global North consumers. We offer the North–South comparisons across national lines or from block to block that bring in a series of promising directions and new currents in the critical, interdisciplinary studies of consumer affairs. Primary perspectives and associated topics for future agenda impacting TCR highlighted are (i) socio‐economic inequalities and injustices, (ii) environmental injustice and sustainable future. We finally suggest an innovative research paradigm, "altruistic‐activist consumer research," to address the concerns and impact the well‐being of marginal consumers from the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the widespread use of mobile phones in the Global South, digital tools are attracting growing interest from international aid actors as well as local governments – positioning digital technology as an essential driver of economic growth and an obvious solution to many social problems. Initiated by multiple actors from the digital industry, these programs reconfigure the state, the rights of citizens, the perimeter and access to health services. Through the study of the Motech Global Mobile Health Program (mHealth) implemented in Ghana and India to improve maternal health, this paper explores the way in which processes of medical globalization and privatization come into being through digital technology. It shows how forms of philanthrocapitalism drive such digital programs. By confronting the stories of the techy philanthropists promoting such solutions and the global south's mothers that are supposedly benefiting from it, this paper also illustrates the gap between the promise of better healthcare offered by such digital solution and the realities experienced on the ground by its users, on gender and empowerment issues or accessibility and quality of healthcare. While mobile applications leave no material traces, no physical infrastructures, no specialized skills or knowledge in the countries where they are deployed, they nevertheless offer a new mercantile approach to care and health administration that leaves traces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, large parts of India and the global South have experienced a rapid transformation from mud to cement houses, which has been promoted by governments and cement companies for its positive impacts on household socioeconomic status and gender inequalities. But we know little else about how different communities are participating in house transformation. In this paper, I study the embodied and affective dimensions of house transformation in Himachal Pradesh, India. I argue that house transformation is also the transformation of traditional gender and caste identities into new middle‐class identities which benefits some social groups, like upper‐caste women and Dalit men, but not others like Dalit women along intersectional lines. My work extends literature in infrastructure studies and urban political ecology by highlighting how the materiality of infrastructures interacts with everyday dimensions of difference to reproduce the marginalisation of historically oppressed groups along intersectional lines of class, caste, and gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile banking is a service innovation in the banking industry. Extant research has demonstrated that the goal of any service innovation is to create value for stakeholders including consumers. Despite the consensus that information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be leveraged to deliver financial services to the poor, few studies have examined the process through which mobile banking service providers create value for consumers. Building on concepts from service‐dominant logic and service science, this paper posits that the delivery of such mobile banking services requires a repertoire of information and communication technology (ICT) as well as non‐ICT resources. Specifically, Cashpor a mobile banking service provider, that provides mobile banking financial services to rural females is examined. The research traces the implementation of key service innovations by configurations of three resources—people, technology, and information, and three mechanisms—knowledge integration, technology integration, and governance—through which value‐creating benefits of social, financial, and psychological benefits are achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

Migration is an important risk‐reduction strategy for households in developing countries. In this paper, we examine the impact of rainfall variability and irrigation availability on short‐term migration decisions in India. Our results show that both rainfall shocks and the availability of irrigation impact the decisions of households to dispatch migrants. For irrigation, we find that migration responds to costs and that deep fossil‐water wells, which provide a constant source of water, eliminate any benefit of short‐term migration. This suggests that regions with access to more secure and stable sources of water are less likely to rely on migration as an income‐smoothing mechanism, at least in the short run. Whether this holds in the long run will depend on the continued stability and availability of irrigation water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the organic link that exists between the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities undertaken by the Indian corporate sector and their alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from 2014–2016; the period after mandatory CSR came into existence as per Indian Companies Act. In this study, we identify critical areas pertaining to SDG goals neglected by corporate sector as far as CSR investments are concerned. We find that more  CSR investments must be drawn towards climate change, biodiversity, Sustainable consumption and production, marine life and conserving flora and fauna. The sectoral analysis reveals that the companies falling under sectors that have a higher environmental footprint and impact are more concerned about taking up initiatives through CSR. The geographic analysis revealed that efforts need to be made to increase CSR expenditure in seven north‐eastern states, Jammu and Kashmir, and Union Territories. This paper recommends that the system needs to be further reviewed in light of the current observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "alternative", "atypical" or "informal" workforce has grown in developed and developing countries alike. One of the more recent evolutions of informal employment has been of informal employment within formal enterprises. In the interest of flexibility and cost‐reduction, many formal firms increasingly resort to hiring workers on a temporary or informal basis. Alongside, and perhaps, as a result of the persistence and pervasiveness of informal employment, issues relating to inequality have come to the fore. This paper is motivated by these two intertwining aspects of Indian labor market—informality and wage inequality. Using nationally representative sample data, the paper examines trends in wage inequality among various forms of informal workers, overlaying these findings with broader trends in inequality. Using a regression based inequality decomposition, the paper compares the sources of wage inequality across different employment groups and the reasons for differences in wage inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Food security is a critical concern for emerging nations, where agriculture is a vital source of livelihood for a significant proportion of the population. However, ineffective food grain storage management (FGSM) poses a substantial threat to food security, resulting in significant post‐harvest loss (PHL). This research aims to identify and analyse the challenges to sustainable FGSM in emerging nations, with a specific focus on India using Total Interpretive Structural Modelling (TISM) and Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée á un Classement (MICMAC) analysis. The study identifies 15 critical challenges after doing a thorough literature review, consulting with industry experts, and a dedicated questionnaire survey. The study finds that inadequate government policies and a lack of commitment from the top management are the major challenges to sustainable FGSM. The combination of the qualitative and quantitative model provides a comprehensive understanding of the identified factors and their interrelationships, offering a logical framework to support decision‐making and encourage sustainability. This paper contributes to the broader debate on sustainable food production and consumption by highlighting the importance of sustainable FGSM in emerging nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes two online open access peer-reviewed Indian journals that each published more than 2,000 articles in 2013. It examines various characteristics of these journals, including their publishing policies, author profiles, and quality of articles with regard to language and presentation. The paper recommends taking megajournal publishing in the developing world into consideration of an ecosystem of scholarly communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate change arena comprises a diverse set of interacting actors from international, national and local levels. The multilevel architecture has implications for low-carbon technology deployment in developing countries, an issue salient to both development and climate objectives. The paper examines this theme through two inter-related questions: how do (or don't) low-carbon technologies get deployed in India's built environment, and what implications can be drawn from the Indian case for effective low-carbon technology development and transfer for developing countries? By examining the multilevel linkages in India's buildings sector, the paper shows how the interactions between governance levels can both support and hinder technology deployment, ultimately leading to inadequate outcomes. The potential of these linkages is hobbled by aspects of the national context (federated energy governance and developing-country capacity limitations), yet can also be enabled by other features (the climate policy context, which may motivate international actors to fill domestic capacity lacunae). Reflecting on the India case, the paper makes recommendations for improved low-carbon technology deployment in developing countries: (1) technology development and transfer collaboration on a 'need-driven' approach, (2) development of the specific types of capacity required across the entire innovation chain and (3) domestic strengthening of the coordination and agendas across and between governance levels. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A paradigm shift towards IPR policy and technology commercialization have been observed in India, during the post‐World Trade Organization (WTO) regime. Protecting innovative agricultural technologies through IPR and technology commercialization are of utmost significance to enhance country's public research enterprise, promote economic development and national competitiveness. This has impacted the innovations in a positive direction in these areas. The present article reviews in‐depth process of IPR management and technology commercialization attempted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)—Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan (VPKAS). Earlier, ICAR established a three‐tier model for technology management and transfer namely, central, zonal, and institute level committees/units. Of late, Agrinnovate India Limited (AgIn), which works to meet with world‐wide commercial success of the invented technologies, have come in to facilitate the commercialization process and thus a renewed three‐tier model is in place now. The paper also presents a case study of ICAR‐VPKAS, highlighting the unique experiences, lessons learnt and evolution in managing IP and process of technology commercialization. This is purposely drawn as an early example in managing IP and commercializing the argicultural technologies, despite the challenges faced by the institute due to its remoteness, difficult accessibility and hilly location. These together, may catalyze similar efforts throughout the developing countries to promote innovation and global competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrary to the theoretical predictions of most studies, this paper empirically shows that high‐skilled workers in India are sorted into industries with weaker production linkages. I hypothesize that such a reverse sorting pattern (negative sorting) occurs because the returns to skill become lower in industries with stronger production linkages as a result of substantial quality deterioration. Such substantial quality deterioration as the size of production linkages grows is likely to occur in developing countries such as India, which is characterized by a large pool of low‐skilled labor, poor infrastructure, and less‐advanced technology. Using both individual‐ and industry‐level data from the National Sample Surveys and input–output tables for India in 1999 and 2009, I find consistent evidence in favor of this hypothesized mechanism. The results are robust when accounting for possible endogeneity and selection biases and controlling for alternative reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the importance of social security policies in developing economies, using empirical evidence from India. The paper discusses the viability of implementing systems of social protection in developing countries and provides an empirical analysis of the effects of socio-economic security policies on Indian's economic performance between 1973 and 1999, using a two-stage least square model adapted to data from a panel of 14 Indian states. The results show that policies that strengthen the social and economic security of the Indian population have been an important endogenous variable to both the reduction of poverty and the increase in economic growth in India. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. JEL codes: C33, H50, I38, O10, O40, O53 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adequate shelter for all is one of the most pressing challenges faced by developing countries. India is currently facing a shortage of 17.6 million houses. Construction sector represents the most pressing need, viz, shelter. Technologies, which are sustainable environmentally, are another important issue in developing countries, who are on their path to development. Earlier researchers have indicated that construction activity contributes 17% to the carbon dioxide emission in India. In this paper, we have tried to interweave various issues and propose a construction strategy for the Indian housing sector. Affordability of a house and availability of building materials for its construction are the main determinants of access to shelter. This demands efficient use of resources at low cost. This paper analyzes whether it is possible to provide a housing solution at affordable cost by adopting technologies which are less emitting. A policy instrument, energy tax, is designed in this paper that would enforce a switch in technology and promote those technologies, which are well known as least cost but less adopted. An optimization framework developed by Tiwari et al. (1999) and Tiwari (2001) for technology evaluation in house construction based on design codes for India, is used in this paper. Recent government housing policy statements have indicated that an annual supply of two million new houses would be required to meet the current shortage of housing in India. This model is applied to the construction of two million houses. The construction technologies that we evaluate are the commonly used construction technologies as well as the low-cost techniques. It is asserted that by a proper selection of such techniques and material, the costs and emissions can be reduced substantially and at the same time employment can be generated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The Government of India sponsors the Mahalanobis International Award, which, managed by the International Statistical Institute, is presented every other year at the International Statistical Institute World Statistics Congress. The Mahalanobis Award recognises an individual for lifetime achievements in statistics in a developing country or region. This article celebrates the 2021 winner, Prof. Heleno Bolfarine, who, unfortunately, passed away a few days before the award ceremony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the protection of expressions of folklore has been a concern in developing countries. In India, efforts have been made to protect expressions of folklore which usually involve Intellectual Property (IP) laws. However, the protection provided by IP laws may be inadequate for Naga communities. The paper attempts to analyse the limitations of IP laws of patents, copyrights, trademarks and GeographicalIndications (GI) for the protection of expression of Naga folklore. The finding shows that current IP laws in India do not fully protect the Naga folklore. This paper suggests that expressions of folklore need to look at alternative regimes. The paper further discusses the need for a sui generis legislation of an IP nature by presenting the example of sui generis legislation. As an overall outcome, it is concluded that a sui generis legislation of an IP nature would be able to protect the expression of Naga folklore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s, community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes have been proposed to reduce the financial consequences of illness and enhance access to healthcare in developing countries. Convincing evidence on the ability of such schemes to meet their objectives is scarce. This paper uses randomized control trials conducted in rural Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (India) to evaluate the effects of three CBHI schemes on healthcare utilization and expenditure. We find that the schemes have no effect on these outcomes. The results suggest that CBHI schemes of the type examined in this paper are unlikely to have a substantial impact on access and financial protection in developing countries. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds on the concept of the "socio‐ecological fix" to emphasise the contradictions inherent in seeking to produce nature through such fixes for insecure petty commodity producers who occupy the class place of both labour and capital. I explore how petty commodity producer households cultivating tobacco in western Tamil Nadu, South India, are reworking labour practices in managing erratic rainfall and groundwater depletion. Agriculture in Tamil Nadu is in decline, and dominated by small and marginal farming households that oscillate between agrarian production and waged work to make ends meet. These unstable petty commodity producer households have historically accumulated in western Tamil Nadu, through labour exploitation and the appropriation of groundwater, in order to transition to petty industry. However the long‐term decline of the region's aquifers highlights the limits of such over‐exploitation. The paper makes two contributions in exploring how petty commodity producer households are remaking space to move beyond agrarian accumulation. First, the paper highlights the biophysical limits of seeking to produce nature through socio‐ecological fixes, therefore acknowledging the mercurial as well as produced aspects of nature as a form of space. Second, in adjusting to such biophysical limits on productive capacity, the paper highlights how petty commodity producer households enact forms of resilience and reworking in decreasing their reliance on waged workers and remaking agrarian landscapes to demand less labour, tending away from accumulation and towards salaried jobs. Overall, the paper looks to explore how petty commodity producers, which constitute a norm in Global South agrarian settings, offer new paths for thinking about forms of class‐entangled geographical space‐making in understanding trajectories of socio‐ecological accumulation. First, the paper highlights the biophysical limits of seeking to produce nature through socio‐ecological fixes, therefore acknowledging the mercurial as well as produced aspects of nature as a form of space. Second, in adjusting to such biophysical limits on productive capacity, the paper highlights how petty commodity producing households enact forms of resilience and reworking as spatial agents, tending away from accumulation and towards salaried jobs. Overall, the paper looks to explore how petty commodity producers, who constitute a norm in Global South agrarian settings, offer new paths for thinking about forms of geographical resistance in understanding trajectories of socio‐ecological accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

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

India is increasingly becoming a destination for organizations seeking to remain profitable in an intensely competitive international environment. This paper intermeshes the ancient Eastern Guru–Shishya or revered teacher-pupil process with communities of practice to radiate knowledge in organizations. This Eastern process, based on evidence from three labour intensive organizations in India, is described and analysed, along with the results. The paper contributes to knowledge and process management in organizations by tapping into ancient values as the source for embedding both knowledge sharing and knowledge production. In addition, this paper adds to the managerial discourse on developing countries, and is particularly useful for organizations wishing to engage with, or already doing business in India. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper quantifies the factors explaining long ‐ term improvements in child height for age z ‐ scores in Bangladesh (1996/1997–2011), India (1992/1993–2005/2006), Nepal (1997–2011) and Pakistan (1991–2013). We apply the same statistical techniques to data from a common data source from which we have extracted a set of common explanatory variables that capture ‘nutrition ‐ sensitive’ factors. Three are particularly important in explaining height for age z ‐ score changes over these timeframes: improvements in material well ‐ being; increases in female education; and improvements in sanitation. These factors have comparable associations across all four countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing awareness and interest among scholars of the important role China and India can play in governing globalisation of economy. Recent literature has tended to emphasise the divergent development outcomes of producer and supplier countries engaged in value chains led by China and India. The different market preferences and legitimacy of private‐driven governance of China and India from developed economies such as the European Union and the United States bring about unsustainable development of countries supplying for China and India. Taking empirical evidence from Indonesian palm oil industry, this paper argues, on the contrary, that Indonesian palm oil producers keep commitments to progress towards sustainable production despite the rising importance of India, China, and other Global South economies as buyers and consumers along with the European Union. The Government of Indonesia also takes initiatives to facilitate the palm oil producers to reach a socially optimum sustainability over time. Buyers of China and India tend to require less restrictive sustainability standards of palm oil production than the European Union, but this is a matter of a temporal dimension of their domestic public interest and government policy priority on sustainability governance. The implication for research on sustainability governance in the Global South‐driven regional value chain is that attention should be paid to the lead of producers and their nation‐state in driving the value chains towards sustainable production and supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global agenda of sustainable development (SD) will get a major boost from the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing countries. This requires effective planning and understanding of the SDGs at the national level and developing sound SDG indicators that account for country priorities. Currently, there is no formal SDG indicator set in India, but the process for it is underway. This paper has attempted to propose a unique technique for identifying the most representative indicator set for SD measurement in India based on the SDGs. Considering the needs and preferences of the country, a three‐stage process is proposed to develop the priority indicator set. The application of the approach has been presented for SDG 7, which relates to energy. This is supported with a background on India's SD progress. The proposed technique is simple yet effective, and can be easily replicated by other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender bias in education is a commonly noted characteristic in developing countries. Most of the research work focuses on primary, secondary and tertiary education. The focus of this paper is on whether or not such gender bias also appears in early childhood education programs. This paper uses household survey data from two northern states in India, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, for the period 1997-1998. The results show no evidence of gender bias in the overall sample. However, there is evidence of consistent gender bias among poor households in the sample. The results also indicate that mother's education has a consistently important positive influence on children's attendance in early childhood programs. However, further analysis reveals that mother's education increases male participation in pre-school, but not female participation. These results remain robust to different model specifications. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with capitalist agricultural development in West Bengal, India. Based on a field study of two regions at different ends of the development spectrum, it shows the class-specific nature of agrarian development. Farms based on hired labour adopt more capital-intensive techniques, operate on a much larger scale and have higher yields in comparison to farms based on family labour, regardless of their size. Differentiation of the peasantry is intense where the adoption of capital-intensive technology is high. The paper concludes that the arguments of A.V. Chayanov and A.K. Sen, which seek to explain the inverse relation between farm size and productivity in terms of the superior efficiency of farms based on family labour compared to capitalist farms, are not borne out by our findings. Moreover, in the advanced region of Bardhaman, farmers of all economic classes are found to be subject to a form of compulsive exchange or stressed commerce brought about by traders external to the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large emerging economies, typically Brazil, India, China and South Africa (BICS), demonstrate a strong upward trend in many aspects of their macroeconomic performance in recent decades. This surge is attributed to 'size effects' whereby economies of scale and scope, and agglomeration impact, create productivity improvements. This paper concentrates on both conceptual and empirical studies about the most important contributions from real and financial sectors towards economic growth in large emerging economies. In particular, the transmission channels from finance to growth are discussed in this paper, to show how size effects can affect these transmission mechanisms from finance to development. The econometric estimations use a structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model for four specific large emerging economies - BICS - and analyse dynamic shocks from real sectors and financial sectors, together with size-effect variables: education investment, government spending and military expenditures. We conclude that real shocks have much higher impact effects on output and growth compared to financial shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective relations between states and business have been increasingly identified as an important institution for sustaining economic development. This paper constructs quantitative indices measuring the quality of state-business relations (SBRs) across Indian states in the 1985-2008 period. It represents the first effort to systematically characterise SBRs across sub-national units within a country without resorting to subjective surveys. We discuss the possible sensitivity of the indices to minor and major definitional changes and examine the evolution of SBRs across Indian states and at the national level through the study of cross-sectional and secular trends in these indices. The results suggest that SBRs have improved over time in all states barring Bihar. Rankings of states in terms of the SBR index show varying time trends-stable and high ranks for states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, stable and low ranks for states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, rapidly improving ranks for states like Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan and swift deterioration in ranks for states like Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eliciting subjective probability distributions in developing countries is often based on visual aids such as beans to represent probabilities and intervals on a sheet of paper to represent the support. We conduct an experiment in India which tests the sensitivity of elicited expectations to variations in three facets of the elicitation methodology: the number of beans, the design of the support (predetermined or self-anchored), and the ordering of questions. Our results show remarkable robustness to variations in elicitation design. Nevertheless, the added precision offered by using more beans and a larger number of intervals with a predetermined support improves accuracy. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insurance for the poor, called microinsurance, has recently drawn the attention of practitioners in developing countries. There are common problems among the various schemes: (1) low take-up rates, (2) high claim rates, and (3) low renewal rates. In the present paper, we investigate take-up decisions using household data collected in Karnataka, India, focusing on prospect theory, hyperbolic preference, and adverse selection. Prospect theory presumes that people behave in a risk-averse way when evaluating gains but in a risk-loving way when evaluating losses. Because insurance covers losses, the risk-loving attitude toward losses might explain the low take-up rates, and we find weak empirical support for this. Households with hyperbolic preference were more likely to purchase insurance, consistent with our theoretical prediction of demand for commitment. We also find some evidence on the existence of adverse selection: households with a higher ratio of sick members were more likely to purchase insurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digitization of taxation systems can assist inclusion. However, it can also inadvertently lead to adverse outcomes for the poor in developing countries where many firms in the informal sector have low capabilities. Moreover, larger formal sector firms are often politically networked and in a position to engage in extractive informal transactions that digitization alone cannot restrict. Thus, while digitization creates tools for the enforcement of formal regulations, formalization can be unequal. This contribution focuses on digitized taxation as an application of a more general problem with digitization as a tool for formalization, referring to evidence from the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India. Using the analysis of political settlements, the authors distinguish between types of rule violations in developing economies. Networked higher‐capability firms engage in 'informal' transactions when they violate rules to extract rents. This is different from the informality of unregistered micro and small enterprises in the informal sector who often violate rules they cannot adhere to, and make informal payments to enforcers to continue operating. When digital technologies are used in these contexts, adverse outcomes for welfare and inclusion can follow from 'premature formalization'. A more cautious and inclusive path to formalization is necessary to protect vulnerable groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on a programme being carried out by the Government of India to provide regular in-service training for administrators. The experience shows that an effective training design is to be based on the requirements of the development paradigm, to improve interaction between government agencies and the public and between agencies themselves. There is need for caution in transposing prescriptions from management, since the nature of the problems, environment and work, all differ. It is also not sufficient to say that the training should improve knowledge, skills and attitudes. There is a need to be more specific in these interventions--how much of each input is needed; for whom and with what objectives; in what manner and by whom; how frequently? The paper argues that the training content for all levels of administrators should concentrate on organizational rather than functional needs. The paper concludes with an outline of a training policy framework for administrative management, and observes that effective demand must be created for such training. The Indian example provides a possible model for developing countries designing training for public administrators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over one third of shark and ray (henceforth elasmobranch) species are threatened by global extinction. Overfishing, driven largely by human consumption of various products is a key threat to >95% of threatened elasmobranch species. The local consumption of elasmobranch meat is an emerging driver of these fisheries particularly in the Global South. Very little data exists on local elasmobranch meat consumption and restaurants offer a useful insight into patterns of consumption. We examined local elasmobranch consumption in India, which has the world's third highest elasmobranch catches. We surveyed 2649 seafood restaurants across 10 coastal states and found that two states alone accounted for 70% of all restaurants serving shark meat. Nine percent of all seafood restaurants advertised elasmobranch meat. 251.6 tonnes, equivalent to 9.8% of India's annual landings, is sold every year in India's restaurants. The drivers of these sales are local cultural affinities and regional cuisines, with evidence of new and evolving consumption pathways, in states like Goa. In Goa, the state with the highest prevalence of elasmobranch meat on restaurant menus, consumption by locals, as well as consumption of "baby sharks" by tourists was driving the demand for elasmobranch meat. Small‐bodied and juvenile sharks of threatened species are at risk from local meat consumption. Elasmobranch meat consumption can be reduced by targeting interventions in the regional hotspots of maximum consumption, substituting other types of seafood as alternatives in regional cuisines, bycatch reduction, increased price and seafood consumer awareness campaigns. Preliminary findings suggest that focusing on the health implications of eating species that concentrate heavy metals will produce the greatest decreases in elasmobranch meat sales at India's restaurants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India's urban transition is salient to the growing emphasis on city responses to climate change. While projected to experience the largest global urban transition with significant infrastructure investment in the next few decades, the welfare of Indian cities remains poor, which complicates the implications for climate change mitigation and adaptation. This paper traces, synthesizes and characterizes the emerging literature on Indian urban climate debates. It discusses the arc of urban climate efforts, from an initial emphasis on climate vulnerabilities and risks, broadening over time to include climate mitigation. The paper examines the governance forms and political motivations with which such actions are pursued in cities and finds three overarching characteristics: the use of local development priorities as an entry point to climate mitigation and adaptation; the role of nonstate actors in promoting climate‐relevant outcomes; and the proclivity for discrete project‐based activities. The paper suggests that while a range of Indian cities are beginning to consider climate concerns, a larger strategic understanding of the interaction between climate and development priorities, across policy and governance levels, is yet to be developed. The future trajectory of urban India's responses to climate change will be shaped by the institutional prioritising, linking and integrating of urgent local development and mitigation and adaptation goals. This article is categorized under: Climate and Development > Urbanization, Development, and Climate Change [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabet. Med. 29, e308-e311 (2012) Abstract As diabetes prevalence shifts from affluent to lower-income groups in India, focus on depression in diabetes will become essential. This paper describes four perspectives through which depression and diabetes should be understood in the Indian context. We consider (1) how rapid socio-economic and demographic changes contribute to increased co-occurring diabetes and depression; (2) how social, cultural and economic factors in the Indian context contribute to depression and therefore play an important role in diabetes care; (3) biological and behavioural pathways between depression and diabetes; and (4) the role of health systems in depression, diabetes and their overlap. We conclude with recommendations for future research and policy on this topic in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) developing countries can bridge socio-economic divides and empower the marginalised, including women and minority groups. This paper considers four dimensions of empowerment—psychological, social, educational and economic—and assesses benefits to each following computer education and usage of computer and Internet technology. Data were collected from 155 young Muslim women and men studying in three computer training centres in Mumbai, and a gender-based comparison was conducted. Figures for computer ownership and home Internet connection were low for the entire sample, and the training centres and cybercafes were important points of access for females and males, respectively. In terms of perceived empowerment, young women reported higher gains than men from computer learning when combined with ICT use. Thus, despite the existence of a gender-based digital divide, when bridged, ICTs showed potential as an equalising force between the genders. In light of the above, policy measures to widen access and provide subsidised training are suggested. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]