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Reliance on biomass fuel remains high in many developing countries, like India. Shifting to clean fuel has widely recognized benefits for women in saving time, improving health, and creating a better environment. Other benefits to women in the form of increasing empowerment are a relatively under‐researched area. Using data from the nationally representative National Family Health Survey (2019–21) in India, this study uses endogenous treatment effect models to explore the causal effect of shifting to clean fuel on awareness, work, mobility, decision‐making and financial autonomy. Analysis reveals significant gains in all dimensions, particularly in women's mobility and decision‐making. The gains are relatively higher among less educated women, those from poor households, and those belonging to socially advantaged groups. Focusing on gains to empowerment will motivate women to adopt clean fuel and enable a holistic transformation of society through the simultaneous attainment of several Sustainable Development Goals. [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]

Initial studies have reported an increase in the incidence of mental health problems during the early months of COVID-19. Longitudinal studies of changes in mental health undertaken in Low and Middle Income countries during the pandemic remains an under-researched area. The current study examines changes in mental health among adult residents of metropolitan cities of India, a middle-income country reporting the second-highest COVID cases and third-highest fatalities, during the pandemic. Data was collected, based on a telephonic survey using the internationally accepted abridged Depression Anxiety Stress schedule (DASS-21), in August and September 2020 and July-August 2021. The sample size is 994. The data was analysed using an ordered logit model. At the onset of the pandemic, high levels of anxiety, stress and depression prevailed; their levels reduced after one year. Respondents who have experienced a decline in economic fortunes, have family members with pre-existing co-morbidity or had COVID in the family are significantly less likely to report improvement in mental health; less-educated respondents are also vulnerable. Specific sub-groups, identified as at risk, need monitoring and continued provisioning of tailor-made mental health services addressing their specific needs. Relief measures targeting economically affected households are also required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self‐help groups (SHGs) are used as instruments for changes in health‐related behaviour. We evaluated the impact of the Health and Nutrition Strategy of JEEViKA on the dietary practices of infants in rural areas of Bihar. Propensity score matching revealed that the probability of exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months and starting complementary feeding after 6 months was higher by 5% and 3%, respectively, if the respondent was an SHG member. The average treatment effects on treated using attendance in meetings as the treatment variable found that the programme had increased breastfeeding only, with there being peer effects also. The study recommends encouraging attendance in SHG meetings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main contribution of this paper is inspired by the question "Can six-phase doubly-fed induction generator (6-Φ-DFIG) work in unhealthy (with one or more phases open-circuited) conditions or not?". The conventional DFIG cannot work under open-phase conditions, while the novel 6-Φ-DFIG can operate with one or more phases open-circuited. This paper addresses the mathematical and simulation-based modelling of the novel 6-Φ-DFIG operation under open-phase faults. Moreover, the advantages of the novel 6-Φ-DFIG are also illustrated in this paper. Simulation results validate the mathematical modelling of the novel 6-Φ-DFIG due to an open phase for the post-fault conditions. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the proposed novel 6-Φ-DFIG has never been modelled and simulated for open-phase conditions anywhere in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The incidence of breast cancer (BC) is increasing worldwide, and India reported 179,790 cases in 2020. It is important to inform people of risk factors and methods for risk management through interactive risk communication techniques. Affordable, easy-to-understand transmedia tools for the communication of BC risk were co-created by a multidisciplinary team of doctors, clinical researchers, epidemiologists, health economists, digital designers, and public representatives. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted in regional languages to assess the views of patients, relatives, the public, and health professionals in India of these prototypes. There was low awareness of BC, with some understanding of age and hereditary risk factors but limited knowledge of reproductive factors amongst the general public, patients, and relatives. Participants favored storytelling techniques (animation and comic strips/infographics) to explain complex issues such as genetic risk and testing. Co-created BC risk communication transmedia tools should be used to support informed decision making. Background: Low awareness of BC and its associated risk factors causes delays in diagnosis and impacts survival. It is critical to communicate BC risk to patients in a format that they are easily able to understand. Our study aim was to develop easy-to-follow transmedia prototypes to communicate BC risk and evaluate user preferences, alongside exploring awareness of BC and its risk factors. Methods: Prototypes of transmedia tools for risk communication were developed with multidisciplinary input. A qualitative in-depth online interview study was undertaken using a pre-defined topic guide of BC patients (7), their relatives (6), the general public (6), and health professionals (6). Interviews were analyzed using a thematic approach. Findings: Most participants preferred pictographic representations (frequency format) of lifetime risk and risk factors and storytelling using short animations and comic strips (infographics) for communicating genetic risk and testing: "In a short time, they explained it very well, and I liked it". Suggestions included minimizing technical terminology, decreasing the delivery speed, "two-way dialogue", and using local "language for different locations". There was low awareness of BC, with some understanding of age and hereditary risk factors but limited knowledge of reproductive factors. Interpretation: Our findings support use of multiple context-specific multimedia tools in communicating cancer risk in an easy-to-understand way. The preference for storytelling using animations and infographics is a novel finding and should be more widely explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The causal impact of income shocks on mental well-being in developing countries is an under-researched area. The COVID-19 pandemic, along with the economic recession caused by the lockdowns to reduce transmission, provides a natural experimental setting to examine the causal impact of a decline in monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) on mental health of the general population in India during the pandemic. Aim: To evaluate the impact of income shocks on mental health of adults in metro cities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: The data were collected using the abridged version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Schedule administered through a telephonic survey on adult residents of six metropolitan cities in September-August 2020 and July-August 2021. Results: In the present study, 994 adults participated from six metropolitan cities. Average treatment effects were estimated using Propensity Score Matching. The mean normalized scores are significantly higher for respondents whose MPCE had fallen (treated) vis-à-vis respondents whose MPCE had remained same or increased (control): anxiety (0.21 for treated vs -0.19 for control), stress (0.16 vs -0.14), and depression (0.04 vs -0.19). Propensity score matching reveals that the normalized scores for anxiety, stress, and depression were 33 (95% confidence intervals, CI: 20.0-46.7), 25 (95% CI: 12.9-36.9), and 36 (95% CI: 18.6-53.1) higher among the treated group vis-a-vis control group. The ATET was 34 (95% CI: 18.9-48.9), 26 (95% CI: 10.1-42.9), and 32 (955 CI: 12.3-50.7) for these three outcomes, respectively. The post-estimation tests indicated that the results are valid. Conclusions: The study advocates that policies to ensure income security should be made an integral part of the response packages to tackle pandemics like COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on educational attainments have tended to focus on attainments at a specific level of education. The change in disparities in attainment over the educational life cycle, however, has been neglected in literature--in India, for instance, the only exceptions are Vaid (2004) and Desai and Kulkarni (2008). This paper uses unit level National Sample Survey data (2004-2005) to examine gender disparities at different educational levels up to the high school level. Bi-variate analysis of gender disparities computed using the Sopher-Kundu index indicates that although there are substantial gender disparities at lower levels of education, this gets reversed at higher levels in several states. At the all-India level, too, in recent years, a reversal of disparity may be observed in urban areas. Econometric analysis using the variable parameter variant of the generalized ordered logit model reveals that robustness of females increase over the educational life cycle, though disparity remains, after controlling for socio-economic traits.

Most studies on intimate partner violence (IPV) and its drivers have focused on individual-and household-level characteristics of the victim. Recent studies have acknowledged that it is a community-level phenomenon, using spatial analytical methods to analyze community-level determinants of IPV and its geographic dimensions. Such studies provide mixed evidence on the impact of different factors and need to be supplemented by similar studies—particularly in South Asian countries where IPV is common. The present study examines district-level variations in the incidence of various forms of IPV and identifies its determinants in India, a fast-growing South Asian country with poor gender indicators. The study combines data from the National Family Health Survey, District Level Household Survey, and the decadal Census. It applies spatial analytical methods such as the Global Moran's I, Getis-ord statistic, and Multivariate Local Geary to determine the nature of the spatial distribution of different categories of IPV. Spatial regression models are used to identify the community-level predictors of each category of IPV. The study finds non-random overlapping spatial clusters in the eastern part of India. The study also finds that neighborhoods characterized by low empowerment levels, and with a high child sex ratio, road connectivity, and proportion of socially marginalized groups are more likely to exhibit high levels of all types of IPV—although the impact of these determinants varies across districts. Furthermore, spill-overs in the incidence of IPV between neighboring districts are also observed. The study concludes by recommending the use of localized policies, rather than broad national or state policies, in reducing IPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]