Search

Retracted articles by Indian scholars have received significant attention in recent times. However, no comprehensive study has been conducted to analyse the citations of retracted papers authored by Indian researchers. This study aimed to assess the citations to retracted works published between 2001 and 2020 pre‐ and post‐retraction. The study found that there was an increase in retractions over time, with empirical data suggesting that the number of retractions has increased significantly, from 72 papers between 2001 and 2010 to 365 papers between 2011 and 2020. Duplication (n = 128) and plagiarism (n = 119) were the primary reasons for retraction. Notably, 90% of the retracted articles continued to receive citations after retraction. Among the retracted papers, eight received more than 50 post‐retraction citations, 39 received 20 to 50 citations, 347 received one to 19 citations, and 43 were not cited at all post‐retraction. There was an overall 8% decrease in citations after retraction. Retractions were observed across journals of varying impact factor, with a higher number of retractions observed in journals with an impact factor of less than 5 (n = 286; 65%). Furthermore, smaller research teams of two to five authors accounted for 72% of the total retractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With growing internationalism, there is a shift in research patterns in developing countries, especially China and India, generating vital and contemporary research areas that are beginning to challenge the existing Western‐dominated research literature in social sciences. Yet, many of the new ideas within conceptual papers by the social sciences are not empirically validated, let alone operationalized. This is where the group concept mapping method can play a role in bridging the gap between phenomenal conceptualization and having an empirically valid model that can then be operationalized. The group concept mapping process involves five steps: create statements, sort statements, run multidimensional scaling (MDS) of sorted units, run cluster analysis, and label the clusters. This approach allows for the collective thoughts of a pre‐defined group to be collected and organized into a tangible output with academic rigor. This paper offers an overview of the group concept mapping methodology, discussing the processes of the method, how the method can be utilized fully within the business and broader social science context, and the strengths, weaknesses, and practical implications of group concept mapping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on the first record of wilt and gummosis disease in subabul trees caused by Fusarium equiseti in India. Subabul trees are economically important for the paper and pulp industry in India. The affected trees exhibited symptoms of yellowing, wilting, and gummosis. Isolates of Fusarium equiseti were obtained from the diseased tissue and were found to be identical in their genetic sequences. Pathogenicity tests confirmed that the Fusarium isolates caused similar symptoms in healthy subabul plants. The rapid spread of this disease poses a threat to subabul plantations, and the development of management strategies is necessary. [Extracted from the article]

Aim: Neonatal hypothermia is a preventable cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity, and wrapping neonates in newspaper sandwiched between cotton sheets is a simple intervention. This 2017 Indian pilot study tested the heat insulating property of sandwiched sheets., Methods: At birth, we randomised 100 neonates who were more than 32 weeks of gestation and needed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) observation or care without a ventilator or bilevel positive airway pressure support into two groups of 50. The intervention and control groups were wrapped in two prewarmed sheets at birth that did or did not contain a layer of newspaper. Their axillary temperatures on arrival at the NICU and one hour after arrival were measured. Other environmental factors were similar., Results: The neonates wrapped in the sandwiched sheets showed significantly higher temperatures on arrival at the NICU than the control group (35.9°C versus 35.4°C, p < 0.01) and after one hour (36.5°C versus 36.3°C, p < 0.01). No change in behaviour or training was required for the healthcare staff to implement this initiative., Conclusion: Wrapping newborn infants in two cloth sheets with a newspaper layer resulted in a higher body temperature on arrival at the NICU and after one hour., (©2018 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

We thank Patil Pillai et al. for preparing a critique on our article (Joy et al., 2018). Patil Pillai et al. contest the analytical procedure utilized for the carbonates and "geological information" documented in our research article and raise concerns on our conclusions. We hereby provide our reply to each of their comments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through an ethnography of a terrorism trial that followed bomb‐blasts in Delhi in 2008, this article seeks to understand the centrality of files and documentary practices to the production of legal truth. By following key documents regarding the case against one man I call Fahad, I argue that the truth produced in a trial crucially depends a chain of seemingly insignificant certificatory practices‐the signatures, countersignatures, stamps, and seals that appear on documents. What emerges in the account I provide is that juridical truth is less a matter of finding 'what really happened,' and more about the competition between narratives that depend on the certificatory correctness of humble sheets of paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eucalyptus spp. and their hybrids are frequently cloned and mass planted across farmland tracts and commercial plantations in northern India. It is a viable feeder species to the paper and pulp industries in this region. In 2018 and 2019, during field surveys conducted in northern India, a serious leaf blight disease was frequently observed in E. tereticornis plantations. Isolation from the blighted leaf samples consistently yielded fungal isolates having Calonectria‐like morphology. Morphological features coupled with sequence analysis of partial β‐tubulin (TUB2) and partial translation elongation factor‐alpha (TEF1) gene regions of two fungal isolates confirmed the species as Ca. cerciana. In detached leaf assays and glasshouse inoculation experiments, both isolates produced symptoms similar to those observed on the naturally infected leaves. Koch's postulates were fulfilled by re‐isolating Ca. cerciana from the inoculated leaves. This work is the first to confirm that Ca. cerciana is associated with a serious leaf blight disease of Eucalyptus in northern India and is an important addition to the taxonomy of Calonectria fungi in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first documented meteorological research in India was carried out by the British in the eighteenth century. Who, then, was the first native Indian to publish a paper on meteorology in an Indian journal? A paper entitled Note on a whirlwind at Pundooah by Chunder Sikur Chatterjee, included in the Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1865, was probably the first paper published by a native Indian in an Indian journal, indicating that meteorology, as a subject of academic study, has deep roots in India. The paper was in the form of note reporting a tornado at Pundooah to the Surveyor General's Office of India. The note was unique in that it was supported by a sketch that meticulously depicted the path of a tornado and its direction of rotation, and detailed the horizontal extent of the suction vortex and tornado cyclone, which were determined from observations of the trail of destruction. The spatial and temporal scales of the tornado recorded in the note matched those given in papers published more than 100 years later by Orlansky and Fujita, and it is possible that it constitutes the first meteorological record in which the horizontal scale of a tornado and its suction spot were accurately evaluated. The paper was the first of its kind in which tornado dynamics were ascertained via observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric vehicles (EVs) are fast evolving and their technological advancement is taking at a rapid pace. The performance usually depends upon two basic parameters for an EV, the range of the vehicle and energy consumption per kilometre for the vehicle. Drive cycles (DCs) play a major role in designing EVs. Many DCs are currently used such as the Indian drive cycle (IDC), New European Drive Cycle (NEDC), Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) to check the performance of vehicle in term of their emissions and working standards. This paper compares an electric two‐wheeler scooter with these standard DCs for range and energy consumption estimation and found out that the range obtained using NEDC drive cycle was 130 km in comparison with the IDC which was about 95 km. The paper also highlights the importance of good infrastructure of roads in India to optimize the driving range of the electric vehicle and also stresses the use of good cooling techniques of batteries for range enhancement of EVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India's primary science funding agencies, the Department of Science & Technology, and the Department of Biotechnology (DST & DBT) together formulated an open access (OA) policy in 2014. This policy mandates immediate self‐archival of research articles generated from publicly funded research across all the institutions in suitable repositories. But with inadequate infrastructure and awareness, the OA mandate did not flourish as expected. This paper aims to understand whether journal policies impede the prospect of DST‐DBT OA policy and the possible routes to achieve policy compliance. The analysis presented in this paper tracks down the journal self‐archiving policies of the top 50 popular journals (among Indian authors) from each of the six STEM fields—Biology, Chemistry, Clinical‐Medicine, Engineering, Materials science, and Physics. The results show that most journals have an embargo of 12–24 months on self‐archiving of the post‐print (final author version after peer‐review), which contradicts the DST‐DBT OA mandate. The study also reveals that hybrid journals dominate, and article processing charges craft a new form of inequity for Indian STEM researchers. We expect that these findings will be helpful for the funding agencies to restructure their policies, and negotiate with journal publishers to resolve the contradictions. [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]

In Madhya Pradesh, India, rural migrant workers hired in flyover's construction yards experiment a space of work where the social practices relating to caste separation and hierarchy are temporally softened. This paper shows that these processes of conviviality, through mixing between castes and trans‐communitarian work identities based on the hierarchies of labour, are taking part in the lower classes' long quest for less oppressive labour relations. Starting from the construction yard, and then going to the village, this paper shows that the labour relations involved in the circulation of rural migrants to the flyover construction yards are contributing to shaping their complex and flexible social consciousness in a context of slow reconfiguration of oppressive rural labour relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is concerned with the contemporary relevance of caste to agrarian capitalism and the relations of dependency and allegiance it fosters in a village of Andhra Pradesh. It deploys the method of village study to examine the two‐way interaction between agrarian class and caste relations and the emerging rural‐based informal nonfarm economy. It elaborates the continuation of relations of debt, dependency, and political allegiance fostered by landlordism despite significant diversification to nonfarm by landlords and labour and identifies the crucial role of land inequality and the working of ritual hierarchy in locking Dalit caste in land‐based relations of dependency. The paper highlights the importance of expanding the definition of landlordism as the use of social power for accumulation by embedding it in the motives and values generated by the Hindu social order. While the new wave of literature focuses attention on global capital and commodity chains to understand differentiation of rural population and ruralities, the paper emphasizes the persistent significance of landholding provincial capital in shaping class/caste relations and rural politics and argues for a course correction in thinking about the processes of globalization and new forms of labour control and stresses the continuing significance of the agrarian question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the special section on "Ecosystem Restoration in India: Status Quo and the Way Forward to Achieve Land Degradation Neutrality" and provides an overview of the four papers that constitute this section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how research advisory groups can be a vehicle for youth activism. It draws on our experiences with young activists, aged 15–26 years, in India and Brazil, who were advisors on a research project focused on youth livelihoods in cities. These young people played a vital role in supporting youth researchers, identifying research themes and developing engagement and advocacy strategies. Through this paper, we explore how the Youth Expert Group advisory model evolved differently in each location and examine how these were shaped by the context, the 'adult' research team and the youth activists themselves. A critically reflexive response in intergenerational partnership is essential to support youth activists in research activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Disasters is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Many minoritised and marginalised populations, including young people, are debating what constitutes a 'survivable life' and, in turn, how life can be arranged so that it is more than just survival. Notwithstanding these trends, however, there is little scholarly work on local discourses and practices of life and viability. This paper addresses this gap by examining the spatial and temporal process through which young people imagine and build viable lives in an area of the Indian Himalayas. We highlight the importance for these young people of building life as 'jeevan', an idea particularly associated with survival. We also highlight the significance they attach to protecting a wider, 'puri life' ('whole life'), a process that affords opportunities for enjoyment and ethical fulfilment beyond survival. This account of life thought 'on the ground' provides a basis for reflecting on Agamben's (Homo sacer: Sovereign power and bare life. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press; 1998) arguments about the prevalence of 'bare life' in the contemporary world. This paper examines how young people develop ideas of life in contemporary rural north India. It highlights their tendency to imagine life in terms of the relationship between 'jeevan' (core, human life) and 'puri life': the wider social, environmental and spiritual/cultural milieu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how uncertainty has become a central constitutive feature under the ongoing attempts at rapid extension of highway corridors across India. Contrary to the terra nullius assumption that India's highway programmes operate under, the pathways to accumulation they seek to open present a palimpsest of pre‐existing claims, occupancies and forms of dwelling that come into conflict with the attempts to extend urban space. The paper specifically follows the prolonged uncertainty surrounding a regional highway corridor between the cities of Delhi and Gurgaon, the Dwarka Expressway, which underwent multiple legal contestations over evictions and land disputes. In doing so, it analyses how managing uncertainty in the production of highway corridors becomes profitable for the state, powerful corporate actors and middle‐class homebuyer‐investors, presenting a form of value that can be commodified and exchanged. However, on the other hand, owing to its double‐edged nature, uncertainty also becomes productive for the urban majority in laying claims to urban space. As rapid extended urbanisation increasingly disrupts the lifeworlds of marginal communities, this paper calls for embracing the politics and practices of uncertainty in the continued efforts to push ex‐centric urban analysis beyond the narrow focus on state processes and commodification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental education has the potential to help reduce negative human–wildlife interactions by increasing positive attitudes toward wildlife and providing participants with knowledge and skills that can help mitigate conflict situations and promote safety. To promote positive human–wildlife relationships, effective programs could be implemented widely in areas near remote wildlife reserves and protected areas. We created and evaluated a new environmental education program for 10‐ to 13‐year‐old students in rural schools in India where human–wildlife conflicts with large mammals frequently occur. Between July 2019 and March 2020, we tested the program at 129 schools, reaching 4331 students. The program, which was iteratively designed to fit the local context, is both cost‐effective and scalable. We found that participation in the program resulted in a significant positive increase in local environmental knowledge, in knowledge of safe behaviors, and in some measures of environmental attitudes. This paper reports on the lessons learned while creating this program that may help other organizations interested in using environmental education in regions where negative human–wildlife interactions frequently occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The infrastructure sector is one of the major pillars for economic growth and development of a country. The responsibility to develop this crucial sector is shifting away from the public to the private sector. After the economic liberalization in 1991, India opened the infrastructure sector, among many others, to private domestic and foreign investment. The shortage of electricity, the poor state of roads, and limited telecom access necessitated a stream of persistent reforms, which were expected to play a significant role in the infrastructure sector's growth. Although some subsectors witnessed success, others continued to face hurdles. The paper highlights the role of infrastructure in socio‐economic development through global literature. It also presents a story of infrastructure development in India since the inception of economic liberalization. It highlights various challenges that discourage private sector investments, thus providing a rationale for policy initiatives by the government. The paper also presents critical issues highlighted by multiple government committees over nearly three decades and identifies residual issues that merit attention. The outcomes of the paper are relevant in the context of developing and emerging economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically explores the impact of COVID‐19 pandemic and its accompanying lockdown on adolescent girls' and women's access to sanitary pads in India. We have used the National Health Mission's Health Management Information System (NHM‐HMIS) data for the study, which provides data on pads' distribution on a district level. The empirical strategy used in the study exploits the variation of districts into red, orange, and green zones as announced by the Indian Government. To understand how lockdown severity impacts access to sanitary pads, we used a difference‐in‐difference (DID) empirical strategy to study sanitary pads' access in red and orange zones compared to green zones. We find clear evidence of the impact of lockdown intensity on the provision of sanitary pads, with districts with the strictest lockdown restrictions suffering the most. Our study highlights how sanitary pads distribution was overlooked during the pandemic, leaving girls and women vulnerable to managing their menstrual needs. Thus, there is a requirement for strong policy to focus on the need to keep sanitary pads as part of the essential goods to ensure the needs of the girls and women are met even in the midst of a pandemic, central to an inclusive response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multicriteria mathematical modeling is an analytical framework for formally describing real‐life problems involving multiple and conflicting objectives. In the past decade, multicriteria decision‐making techniques have been applied in almost every area of the decision‐making including energy‐economic planning and sustainable development. Various mathematical and analytical models have been presented for the sustainable development planning and their assessment. In this paper, we discuss an approach related to multicriteria decision‐making and apply it for the assessment of the sustainable development goals of India by the year 2030. In the INDC report submitted to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2015, http://www..unfccc.int/submissions/INDC/Published%20Documents/India/1/INDIA%20INDC%20TO%20UNFCCC.pdf), India has identified many goals related to the sustainable development like energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, GVA growth, and an increase in the employment by the year 2030. This paper overcomes the energy resource allocation problem in related literature due to the lack of sectorial data for the same year by calculating the estimates for each sector for the year 2030. We presented a multicriteria decision‐making model which allocates public labor force in the key economic sectors of India. The presented model is validated with the data of the key economic sectors and their contribution in the identified goals. The paper provides a decision support for the better management of future sustainable policies by assessing the efficiencies of the current policies toward future sustainable goals. We evaluated the identified goals using the multicriteria decision‐making approaches so that the strategic planning can be implemented by the policy makers and to present a quantitative justification of planning strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feminist economists have long questioned the dichotomy between the "private" versus "public" spheres of women's work and have argued for a more nuanced understanding of the marketable paid work and the unpaid work of household caregiving. This paper focuses on women street food vendors' (SFVs) experiences before and during Covid‐19 pandemic to understand how street food vending as a livelihood activity interacts with social dimensions like gender and division of labor. Through multiple in‐depth interviews with 23 women street vendors in Bengaluru, India, before and during the pandemic, we show that there is a blurring of the dichotomy between the work done in the private and public spaces before the pandemic, which is disrupted by Covid‐19 crisis. The first half of the paper explores the household labor dynamics in the context of paid and unpaid work of women and explains how the women SFVs, capitalizing on their existing skills of "cooking," were able to gain agency and recognition for themselves within the households. The second half of the paper focuses on the narratives of the same women SFVs during the first wave of the Covid pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. We find that the Covid crisis brought back the dichotomy between private and public spheres, making it more pronounced, with women losing their control over the public sphere and their work being restricted only to the private sphere. [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]

The quality of institutions indicates the level of economic development in the country. Institutions are a part of a system that is based on human interactions and that leads to the generation of incentives. These incentives can deal with uncertainties and foster economic, social, political growth, provided the human interactions are moderated well. This paper reflects on the strength of the interventionalist institutions like cooperatives in India and promotes institution building for a better future. The base of the paper focuses on the lessons learnt from dairy cooperatives in Gujarat state and discusses the current situation of the cooperatives and challenges faced by them. The cooperatives in India have been old institutions with a great history of success as also failures. Though there are various types of cooperatives in India, the dairy cooperatives have been able to gain more attention in the international market due to the Operation Floods I, II, and III. India has secured its position as one of the largest milk producers in the world. At present, India produces 20% of the total milk production in the world. This paper is a blend and analysis of theoretical perspectives and ground realities of the dairy cooperative sector in India. The paper follows theoretical perspectives from institutional theory to analyse the present scenario of dairy cooperatives in India. It addresses the gaps in the dairy cooperative development sector with an in‐depth analysis of ground realities and contributes to future policy formulation and interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Indoor residual spraying (IRS) with insecticides is the main vector control intervention for the elimination of visceral leishmaniasis in India. After a change in IRS policy in 2015 due to widespread resistance of Phlebotomus argentipes to DDT, IRS with DDT was replaced with alpha‐cypermethrin IRS in 2016. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the susceptibility of P. argentipes to DDT and its alternatives, namely malathion and pirimiphos‐methyl (organophosphates); alpha‐cypermethrin, deltamethrin, lambda‐cyhalothrin and permethrin (pyrethroids), and bendiocarb and propoxur (carbamates), in support of visceral leishmaniasis elimination in India. Methods: Phlebotomus argentipes sandflies were collected from the visceral‐leishmaniasis endemic states of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. In the WHO tube tests, the phenotypic susceptibility of F1, 2‐day old, non‐blood fed females were determined against filter papers impregnated with DDT 4%, malathion 5%, pirimiphos‐methyl 0.25%, alpha‐cypermethrin 0.05%, deltamethrin 0.05%, lambda‐cyhalothrin 0.05%, permethrin 0.75%, bendiocarb 0.1% and propoxur 0.1%, which were sourced from Universiti Sains Malaysia. The knockdown of sandflies after 1‐h exposure and mortality at 24 h after the 1‐h exposure period were scored. Results: Mean mortality of P. argentipes 24 h after exposure in tube tests was 22.6% for DDT and ≥ 98% for other insecticide‐impregnated papers tested. Conclusion: Phlebotomus argentipes continues to be highly resistant to DDT with no reversal of resistance after DDT's withdrawal from IRS. P. argentipes was fully susceptible to pyrethroid, organophosphate and carbamate insecticides tested. Regular monitoring is warranted for insecticide resistance management in sandfly vectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cornerstone of conservation policy for endangered species subject to illegal harvest involves estimating their population and offtake numbers. Census enumerations are expensive to conduct on nationwide scales, especially in resource‐constrained countries housing such species. Resource and data limitations necessitate the estimation of population counts. The effect of poaching on species recruitment is often ignored in scientific population projections. Estimation of population counts should account for the interactive feedback between harvest and recruitment. Data on tiger population sizes and poaching from 51 reserves in India between 1994 and 2022 were obtained to calibrate a coupled ecological‐economic model of tiger population dynamics and poaching. Cobb–Douglas harvest functions with differing degrees of concavity and scale economies are used to characterize the economics of poaching. Population dynamics are evaluated using exponential and critical depensation growth functions. The predictive abilities of linked models and their parameter parsimony are evaluated using information criteria. Poaching is shown to substantially affect recruitment dynamics and is best characterized by a Schaefer function coupled with critical depensation growth. This paper provides a novel perspective of the interaction between tiger poaching and population dynamics in India. A systematic understanding of coupled ecological‐economic processes would improve the management of high‐value endangered species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the long‐term effects of population and GDP changes requires a multisectoral and regional understanding of the coupled human‐Earth system, as the long‐term evolution of this coupled system is influenced by human decisions and the Earth system. This study investigates the impact of compounding economic and population growth uncertainties on long‐term multisectoral outcomes. We use the Global Change Analysis Model (GCAM) to explore the influence of compounding and feedback between future GDP and population growth on four key sectors: final energy consumption, water withdrawal, staple food prices, and CO2 emissions. The results show that uncertainties in GDP and population compound, resulting in a magnification of tail risks for outcomes across sectors and regions. Compounding uncertainties significantly impact metrics such as CO2 emissions and final energy consumption, particularly at the upper tail at both global and regional levels. However, the impact of staple food prices and water withdrawal depends on regional factors. Additionally, an alternative low‐carbon transition scenario could compound uncertainties and increase tail risk, particularly in staple food prices, highlighting the influence of emergent constraints on land availability and food‐energy competition for land use. The findings underscore the importance of considering and adequately accounting for compounding uncertainties in key drivers of multisectoral systems to enhance our comprehensive understanding of the complex nature of multisectoral systems. The paper provides valuable insights into the potential implications of compounding uncertainties. Plain Language Summary: Understanding how future population and economic growth changes could impact our energy, water, food, and environment requires looking across multiple sectors and regions. This is because these systems are all connected. For example, increasing population drives higher food demand but requires more energy and water to grow food. At the same time, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy through increased biofuel consumption can compete with food production for land resources. This study explored how uncertainties in future population and GDP growth could compound and interact to affect future energy use, water withdrawal, staple food prices, and carbon dioxide emissions. Using a model that connects all these systems, the study found that combined uncertainties in population and GDP lead to more significant risks of extreme outcomes than individually looking at those uncertainties. There are substantial regional differences in future outcomes, like higher uncertainty in food prices for India and West Africa compared to other regions. We highlight the need to consider multisector and multisystem interactions between uncertainties across different regions. Accounting for these compounding uncertainties provides valuable insights into potential risks, like higher extreme projections for food prices or water use. These insights are essential for long‐term planning in our connected human‐Earth system. Key Points: Long‐term implications of population and GDP changes on the coupled human‐Earth system focusing on multisectoral and regional understandingUncertainties in GDP and population growth can compound, resulting in more extreme outcomes for multisectoral systemsCompounding uncertainties differ by region and metrics; staple food prices and water withdrawal show significant regional variability [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tiger conservation in India has been driven for the most part by a philosophy that prioritizes the need for inviolate tiger reserves free of human beings. Such reserves, it is argued, provide much needed territory to 'care' for the tiger. In this paper, we examine the biopolitics of tiger conservation in India and argue that the current approach to tiger conservation amplifies the nature‐culture divide and ignores other imaginations of tiger conservation that are more cognizant of human—non‐human entanglements in protected area landscapes. The paper argues that tiger conservation has been a mix of sovereign, disciplinary and neoliberal environmentalities, all built on a certain 'truth' about tigers. The paper raises questions and concerns about the 'truth' discourse that underlies tiger conservation and also argues that tiger conservation has marginalized the environmentalism of the poor. It makes the case for more debate and discussion about tiger truths and suggests the need for a more than human approach to tiger conservation that recognizes the adverse consequences of fortress conservation as well as its limits in caring for the tiger in more than human geographies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reduce emission of greenhouse gases, electric vehicle is a good option. During recent time in India, there is emergence of electric vehicle start‐ups. This paper predicts purchase intention of the consumer on electric cars with mediation role of attitude. A questionnaire was framed to collect the data from all ages with 173 valid samples. SmartPLS 4 and SPSS were used to test hypotheses and research model. The secondary data helped in understanding the concept of electric vehicles and consumer preferences for them. The findings showed that price perception, government support and environmental concern significantly influence consumer attitude on electric cars except relative product advantage and range anxiety. Result shows mediating role of attitude between independent variables (Price perception and environmental concern) and purchase intention. Study highlights the role of relative product advantage, range anxiety, government support, environmental concern, and price perception in electric vehicle (car) adoption but it has limitations that the study were conducted in Haryana state (India). The opinions and perceptions of the respondents may also limit the study. In practical, the market of EVs is continuously growing in India. The present study encourages the different stakeholders to go with plan that actually work. At present, driving electric cars in India is luxury for people due to its high prices. There were very less discussion on consumer perception toward EVs in previous literatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a systematic exploration of the linkages between environment impact assessment (EIA) and sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the Indian context through a critical analysis of the socio‐ecological impacts of development projects and the policy climate for environmental clearances. A conceptual framework portraying the interlinkages of the systemic disruptions in the socio‐ecological realms, policy challenges, and SDGs is developed, which argues for integrating the SDGs into the EIA framework in India. The paper argues that the legal fluidity and dilution in the design and enactment of EIA retrogrades the crucial socio‐political transformation required for achieving sustainability. The systematic literature review of empirical, conceptual, and grey literature, undertaken on Indian EIA, highlights its instrumental role as a political tool for achieving developmental sustainability. The paper concludes by highlighting the urgent need to mainstream ecological decision‐making into all governance processes for achieving the SDGs in a transforming society like India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the different models of disablement in different religions and cultures around the world, social and aesthetic representations of intellectually disabled people are diverse in various societies. Disability is perceived in a different way in India than in the West. There are very few studies on the complex role of Indian mainstream Hindi cinema in the representation of intellectual and developmental disabilities in India. This paper explores the potential of shifting representations of intellectual and developmental disability in the late twentieth and early twenty‐first century Bollywood films in the context of multiple aesthetic challenges they pose. The shift in screen image of intellectual impairment is strongly related to the shifting and ambiguous sociocultural model of personhood in India. In earlier Indian Hindi films, characters with intellectual disabilities were depicted in terms of good/bad moralistic labels, compromised body image, leading to aesthetic undesirability. In later Hindi films, they were instead represented as enduring human beings. In short, in earlier Hindi films, there was a discriminatory hegemonic bias in the depiction of intellectually disabled characters, in contrast to that in later Hindi films, where they were depicted in richly diverse perspectives. The changing artistic parlance becomes even more interesting in the context of major developments in Indian governmental policies and rights for the disabled in the last two decades. Thus, the paper highlights that contemporary Hindi films urge the audience to consider intellectual and developmental disability as a multilayered issue and rather than merely as a disease. Accessible summary: Our ideas about disability are linked with those of family, religion and tradition in a particular society.Cinema also reflects our perceptions and concepts of disability.This paper is about the how people with intellectual disabilities have been shown in Hindi cinema in the last 30 years, and how intellectual disability is understood in India.In Hindi cinema, intellectually disabled characters are represented in a way that is slightly different from those in Western literature and films.Research on representations of intellectual disability in cinema is important as it can stimulate healthy discussions on a more empathetic society with a better understanding of the various facts related to intellectual disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Learning to read is a complex process that involves phonological and orthographic processing abilities, broader language skills and cognitive processes across all writing systems. Although these components remain common, the pace of acquisition of phonological and orthographic processing and reading abilities differ across writing systems. Methods: This study aimed to understand the developmental pattern of reading and phonological processing, assess their interrelationship and study the predictors of reading ability among 175 children, learning to read Malayalam and attending Grades 1–3. They completed various reading (akshara reading, word and nonword reading) and phonological processing (rhyme recognition, syllable deletion, syllable segmentation, phoneme deletion, phoneme substitution, rapid naming and nonword repetition) tasks. Results: Grade and reading level‐based analysis was performed to collate the results. Results revealed a significant overlap of phonological processing and reading abilities among children in Grades 2 and 3. Reading scores demonstrated a weak‐to‐moderate significant correlation with the phonological processing tasks. Although skilled readers performed significantly better on all phonological processing tasks, their scores did not reach ceiling. Syllable‐level tasks were easier compared to phoneme‐level tasks, and they significantly predicted the reading abilities of children. Conclusions: The findings contribute to the existing body of evidence for akshara writing systems, specifically in Malayalam alpha‐syllabary. The development of phonological processing and reading in Malayalam extends beyond the third grade, and syllable processing contributed to increased variance in reading accuracy among inexperienced readers. Highlights: What is already known about this topic Crosslinguistic research evidence suggests a difference in reading acquisition patterns among different writing systems.Studies in akshara writing systems have demonstrated that akshara knowledge develops over time and a reciprocal relationship exists between phonological processing and reading abilities.Syllable‐level processing emerges earlier than phoneme‐level processing and predicts reading accuracy. The architecture of the akshara explains this pattern of development and the importance of phoneme processing to become more skilled with akshara reading. What this paper adds This paper adds to the existing evidence on reading acquisition in an akshara writing system, Malayalam, with the power of an explanatory model. A model of syllable and phoneme processing and akshara knowledge explains 87.8% of the variance in reading accuracy scores of Malayalam readers in early grades.The mastery of reading acquisition in Malayalam continues to develop beyond Grade 3. Phoneme manipulations are difficult compared to syllable manipulations, and mastery of these extends well beyond Grade 3. Phoneme processing remains low among unskilled readers and syllable processing accounts for the variance in reading performance. Implications for theory, policy or practice The study adds to the body of evidence concerning the theoretical underpinnings of learning to read, against the backdrop of Malayalam alphasyllabary.The interrelationships between phonological processing and reading accuracy imply that intervention strategies to improve reading should address both domains.Policy‐related implication is that the strategies to teach reading to young readers should consider a phoneme level instruction strategy alongside akshara teaching across different akshara types considering the complexity and nature of the Malayalam orthography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A great deal of work argues that the entry of women into public spaces can promote political and institutional change. The COVID‐19 provides an opportunity to investigate whether and under what conditions women's political representation in rural local governments deliver effective local governance? Drawing from two rounds of data collected in 174 local governments and 1051 households in three Indian states, the paper shows that women Pradhans in the Gram Panchayats had no differential impact on the governance response to COVID‐19 compared to the unreserved ones. Analyzing the heterogeneity in these responses suggests that institutional factors like the proportion of women in village council and local entrepreneurship diversity can enhance women Pradhan's capacity to respond to the pandemic. We explore two channels that enable women Pradhan to govern effectively during the pandemic: improving women's participation in the labor force and reducing household's vulnerability to poverty in the pre‐COVID period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grasslands are contested ecosystems due to our scant understanding of their ecological and socioeconomic roles and also due to the ambiguity in understanding what exactly constitutes them. This problem escalates in the absence of proper governance. In this paper, we explore the historical accounts of Indian grasslands to trace how they have shaped contemporary grassland conservation and restoration policies. The paper draws from the concept of Biome Awareness Disparity and links it to grassland degradation through misleading nomenclature and flawed interventions rooted in misplaced governance. We found that Indian grasslands are negatively affected by India's commitment to global goals (with quantified targets of increasing tree cover) and the involvement of multiple government bodies in grassland management. This conundrum is fueled by the strong forest bias within government bodies and nongovernmental organizations. Based on the findings, we propose that India needs a more cohesive national policy framework and a robust ecosystem classification system to successfully conserve and restore grasslands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The work of school counsellors has become complex with the increasing technological advances and adolescents' dependency on them. There is a surprising lack of study in the Indian context, aimed at school counsellor's challenges in dealing with adolescents' digital use. This paper provides better understanding of the challenges of school counsellors involving adolescents' digital use in Indian schools. Three significant themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) negative aspects of digital use among Indian adolescents, (b) the need to effectively teach how to navigate the digital world and (c) the challenge of integrating technology with traditional counselling approaches to educate adolescents about their digital use. Furthermore, this paper presents implications for school counselling practice and research within Indian context. Practitioner points: School counsellors address challenging situations involving adolescents' use of digital media.School counsellors play a crucial role in teaching and modelling how to navigate the digital world.Little research has been conducted in the Indian context; hence this study is a good step forward to understand and acknowledge the challenges of school counsellors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Irrigation & Drainage is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A number of studies have analyzed the determinants of financial inclusion in India, but few if any have focused specifically on the factors that shape women's access to finance. This paper draws on the trove of women‐specific data collected in the fourth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS‐4), conducted in 2015–16 in India, to examine the factors that influence women's access to finance. The results indicate that while the forces that shape women's access to finance function at multiple levels, micro‐level factors appear to be powerful drivers of inclusion. The analysis reveals that household‐level economic indicators like wealth, gender of household head and their rural‐urban location are crucial, but so are individual‐level characteristics which explain approximately 83% of the variation in the multilevel regressions. Informal gender norms that govern women's mobility and economic activity crucially influence the ability of women to access loans and open bank accounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessibility and utilization of banking services are the key elements of financial inclusion. Accessibility is the gateway, whereas utilization actually matters in deriving the positive impact of financial inclusion. Plethora of studies have covered the accessibility dimension; however, we found a lack of empirical analysis of the utilization of it. This paper analyses the utilization dimension of financial inclusion using empirical evidence from the rural and tribal regions of an eastern Indian State, that is, the State of Odisha, which is among the low financially included regions of India. The paper explores the purpose/pattern, depth and frequency of utilization of formal financial services using primary data and develops empirical models explaining the demand and supply‐side determinants. The findings include, the utilization of account for saving and borrowing is not satisfactory. Similarly, the depth of account use is limited due to lack of ICT knowledge. The use of bank accounts for the financial transaction is mainly performed to receive direct benefit transfers and NREGS payments rather than savings, credit and insurance purposes. The policymakers can be benefited from this research by understanding the determinants of financial utilization at the grassroots level and could take corrective measures to promote utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary academic debates on the history of the colonial Famine Codes in India-also considered to be the first coded and institutionalised normative frameworks for natural disaster response on the continent-generally are based on one of two perspectives. The first focuses on their economic rationale, whereas the second underlines that they constitute an anti-famine contract between the colonial masters and the people of India. This paper demonstrates that both of these viewpoints are limited in scope and that they simplify the nature of governance instituted through famine response practices in Colonial India. It links this reality to current disaster response policies and practices in India and shows that the discussion on the development of normative frameworks underlying disaster response is far from over. The paper goes on to evaluate the development of normative frameworks for disaster response and recovery, which remain embroiled in the politics of governmentality that underlies their development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eliminating poverty by 2030 is the main target of Sustainable Development Goal 1(SDG1). India had an ambitious target of cutting down its poverty rate to 10.95% from 21.92%, by 2030. This review has the objective to consolidate the literature related to SDG1 in India, since 2015 and to identify futuristic research niches. This research focuses on the research questions of identifying the public policy initiatives in India for achieving SDG1 and the performance of various indicators of SDG1 in India. Forty‐one peer‐reviewed articles related to SDG1 in India are selected from the sources of Web of Science and consolidated the findings of these works of literature by using the indicators of NITI Aayog as the themes; described the empirical papers by highlighting the key variables and findings. This research had identified the health insurance penetration; slum rehabilitation and rejuvenation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) are the futuristic areas for research. This paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge and recommends the key areas to be focused on achieving SDG1 in India. This review can help readers in understanding better methods of poverty eradication. High spirits are recommended from the implementing authorities to meet the objectives of indicators of poverty, better housing, health insurance penetration to households, and for the generation of employment and consumption by the scheme of MGNREGA. Moreover, a realistic picture of poverty eradication in India may be possible by using more indicators covering all the targets of SDG1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In 2018, it was found that only a quarter of Grade 3 children in India were reading at grade level. A growing demand for English education has further limited children's literacy achievement. Despite a strong evidence base in favour of using systematic phonics for building English literacy skills, many teachers in India continue to use rote‐methods of literacy instruction. Objectives: We aimed to examine the efficacy of GraphoLearn (GL) English Rime, a computer‐assisted reading intervention, in improving the foundational literacy skills of 1st and 2nd grade students who were attending an English medium school in India. Methods: A total of 136 students across 6 classrooms were randomly allocated to play either GL or a control math game over a 5‐week intervention period. Students were pre‐ and post‐tested on various English literacy skills using tasks built into the GL software as well as through oral and paper‐based tasks. Results and Conclusions: Students who played GL showed significantly greater and faster development on in‐game measures of letter‐sound knowledge, rime unit recognition, and word recognition as compared to students who did not play GL. In addition, GL resulted in greater effects on these measures for students with stronger English literacy skills prior to the start of the intervention. No differences were found between groups on the oral and paper‐based tasks. Implications: GL was able to quickly and effectively teach critical sub‐skills for reading. However, a lack of effects on the out‐of‐game measures opens the door for further discussion on the successful implementation of such interventions. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic:India has an ongoing literacy crisis with many children failing to acquire functional literacy skills.Under‐resourced schools,outdated pedagogical methods, and a demand for English‐medium education are partially to blame.Globally, technology is being increasingly looked at to help improve student learning levels across all subject areas.There are a lack of studies examining the efficacy of various ed‐tech tools to improve literacy in the context of India.What this paper adds:The study aimed to test GraphoLearn English (GL), a mobile game designed to teach and practice early reading skills through phonics with first and second graders.Results showed that children who played GL outperformed those who did not play on critical literacy skills such as letter‐sound knowledge and word recognition.In addition, GL was more effective for those who had higher pre‐existing English literacy skills.However, improvements were only seen on measures assessed in the game and not on measures assessed orally or on paper.Implications for practice and/or policy:GL and other educational technologies can be extremely effective tools which allow for an individualized learning experience.However, it is important that for any educational game, learning moves beyond the game itself.Teachers are critical players in this process and must ensure that tech‐based instruction is integrated with teacher‐led instruction.Policy makers and school administration must ensure that teachers are adequately trained on when, with whom, and how to use such technologies before they are introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary purpose of this research is to look into the Impact of cash payment on Operating and Financial synergies generated post the merger. The two‐stage least squares method Instrumental‐variables regression technique is employed to test the hypothesis of impact of cash payment on the synergies gained by the acquirer post the merger. The uniqueness of this paper is that it develops an effective technique for evaluating the phenomena of M&As using a composite synergy variable that accurately reflects the dynamic phenomenon. The paper uses "Principal Component Analysis" (PCA) estimation to generate dependent variable which is a conglomerate of several factors. For all models, the findings of the study reveal that payment in cash has a favorable and significant relationship with Operational and Financial Synergy, demonstrating the increased viability of acquiring entities in post‐M&A stage. Synergistic advantages of M&A appear to be perceived by enhanced Operating Income, improvement in R&D expenditure (statistically significant) and a positive Return on Asset (non‐significant). The paper looks at a wide variety of domestic M&A transactions in India. So far, no systematic research has been done to determine the possible realization of synergistic gains for Indian firms undergoing M&As. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has abundant solar power assets. Many districts get better than expected insulation compared with different parts of the world. The essential innovation for incorporating and changing sun‐based energy into electrical energy in India depends on photovoltaic (PV) cells. Concentrated solar power (CSP) plants have barely added to the nation's general introduced solar‐based force limit. The difficulties that have restrained the development of CSP and CST are part of the discussion and potential arrangements recommended. The primary difficulties for CSP and CST are identified as the absence of a dependable direct normal irradiance database, indigenous assembling, and rivalry from PV. The after‐effects of a contextual analysis evaluated the effect of indigenous assembling and economies of scale on capital expenses and levelized cost of power. We will evaluate the current status of CSP plants in this paper. The paper shows different incorporated technologies in solar thermal application in India with indigenous manufacturing and the energy policy supporting the solar thermal analyzing the barriers to implementation of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. Also, the techno‐economic evaluation of the CSP and CST is covered. This paper provides a framework of CSP and CST technology in India's industrial sector with their impact on goods and services provided by the sector and the cost‐effectiveness of the product and technology. Furthermore, the environmental aspects and base electrical load accumulating are researched, and various policy measures and amendments are suggested to the government from this study‐based study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether investing in R&D reduces the impact of exogenous shocks like the COVID‐19 on stock market performance and accounting performance of manufacturing firms in India. For the sample of listed manufacturing firms, the paper finds that the firms engaged in R&D activities had lower negative cumulative abnormal return than those firms that did not invest in R&D in the pre‐pandemic period using multiple event windows. The result suggests that R&D investments can lower value erosion for the shareholders during a severe crisis period. Further, using a difference‐in‐difference fixed effects model, the study finds that manufacturing firms engaged in R&D activities in the pre‐pandemic period exhibited higher return on sales and growth of total income during the pandemic quarter vis‐à‐vis the non‐R&D firms. The favorable accounting performance indicates the possibility of firm‐level R&D being associated with the firm's ability to adjust its functioning during a crisis, thereby reducing the effect of the crisis. Finally, the study documents that government intervention to reduce the spread of the virus had a differential impact on firms based on their industry of operation. The findings have implications for investors, corporate managers, and policymakers in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political parties in order to design their competitive strategies are always keen to understand the factors that govern voter's perception. Voter's perception in this paper utilizes voter's acknowledgement of voter orientation (VO) of political parties. The purpose of this paper is to examine the constituent variables and their cumulative impact on voter's orientation and examine the linkage that exists between them. The authors have proposed four key constructs that demonstrates causality namely voter involvement (VI), voter subjective knowledge (VSK), political brand image (PBI) and environmental factor (EF). The study has used SEM method of model estimation. VI and VSK merged into a new construct labelled as voter engagement (VE). Engaged voter would impact PBI positively and political brand impacts VO. The relationship of VE and VO is mediated PBI, but the same kind of mediation is not witnessed in the case of EF. This research advances the understanding of composite variables of VO from the vantage of political market orientation. Political brand mediates the association between VE and voter perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following years, electric vehicles (EVs) are promising technology for shifting scattered exhaust emissions in mega‐cities to integrated power plants in rural areas, especially in urban areas. Transport sector electrification and increased popularity of EVs make scientists and researchers, search for charging stations. The ideal position, charge scheduling, and developed charging infrastructure are the primary concern for the large‐scale deployment of EVs. This paper describes the possible demand for EVs charging station infrastructure and challenges in the Indian situation. Along these lines, this study also provides the research community with the latest developments and research findings of charging infrastructure for EVs in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]