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Historical research is challenging when studying informal spaces like urban slums, where extant scholarship is limited, government data are sparse or absent, and populations change rapidly due to eviction, environmental shocks, and the everyday churn of migration. Moreover, written materials and political ephemera generated within slums are rarely preserved in accessible state archives, limiting the usefulness of conventional archival research. In such contexts, the discovery of informal archives—unmapped, non-systematized collections of materials kept by individuals and groups in the spaces under study—can contribute to the reconstruction of local histories. This article draws on 20 months of fieldwork in India’s urban slums to offer insights on the collection and use of informal archival materials. These materials afford an intimate look at how the urban poor organize and make claims on the state. Their analysis, however, involves inferential challenges. Researchers must consider how processes of production, preservation, and provision shape the content of gathered historical materials and thus the inferences that can be drawn from them. Beyond urban slums, informal archives are likely to be useful sources of historical data for a range of studies in comparative politics, especially those that focus on informal institutions and local quotidian politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macro-level studies on intergenerational mobility among women in India suggests that, there is a need to further probe certain excluded communities that have a higher likelihood of persistence of educational status among women through micro-level studies. The present study investigates the extent and drivers of high/low intergenerational educational mobility among young women (vis-à-vis their mothers) belonging to the weavers' community of Varanasi, India. Using transition/mobility matrices and mobility measures, along with qualitative methods, the paper builds on a mixed-methods study conducted among 364 households of weavers' community from Varanasi. The qualitative data includes a total of 8 respondents with 5 KIIs and 3 IDIs. The study shows that the overall intergenerational educational mobility among women (vis-à-vis their mothers) from the weavers' community of Varanasi is 0.30 and there is no downward mobility. The qualitative findings further highlight various reasons enabling or preventing high educational mobility in the given context. In conclusion, the paper illustrates several micro-level issues and disparities in intergenerational educational mobility that are not clearly evident through the macro-level studies and further helps in making informed policy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining is an important enterprise that will supply essential minerals for the country's infrastructural development. Mining is a key industry and a development engine in the Indian economy. The epidemic has had both immediate and long-term effects on the labour and industries in India. Short-term effects include the cessation of mineral production, salary loss due to absenteeism and pandemic limitations, unemployment, and the selling of minerals on the market. The reputation and economic health of industries, fresh mineral deposit exploration, and new mining complex development have all been impacted in long-term. Aside from the mining industry-specific impact of COVID-19, the social fabric of the mining workers has been impacted since they are living in an environment of fear and uncertainty. This paper attempts to analyse the effect of COVID-19 on extractive industries in India. It also focuses the steps which taken by the Indian government. The paper concluded with the negative effect of COVID-19 which disrupts the mining sector and the contribution declined during COVID-19. However, for instance from mineral rich-Odisha, the mining sector takes up by its growth in post COVID-19 period with remarkable increment from negative growth to high positive rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outcome of economic growth is visualised as the well-being of citizens or human well-being (HWB). However, it has been a great challenge to measure HWB. Though there are known reasons for considering GDP and its growth as a measure of overall development and progress of nations, yet mostly it is being used as a gospel indicator to compare nations and design appropriate policies. This paper is an effort to develop a comprehensive adjusted GDP to measure HWB through secondary data for thirty years (1990–91 to 2019–20) in India. We make thirty-five adjustments to net national income (NNI) to compute the adjusted national income (ANI) index based on the system analysis approach. The empirical findings show that the gap between NNI and ANI has been growing over time, and the ANI index shows an increasing trend. Through the analysis it is suggested that economic growth should be focused only if it improves HWB (full or partial). The paper attempts to make intervention into policy shift for improving HWB vis-à-vis happiness of people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hinduism is considered one of the most ancient religions in the world. Although the technological innovation of modernization has undermined the reliance on their traditions, Hindus may still rely on Hindu Scripture when making decisions. From their standpoint, contrary to Western medicine, human lives cannot be reduced to statistical and empirical facts. They focus more on preserving the spirit, rather than considering survival as one of the goals of medicine. Consequently, when a preterm infant is born, Hindu parents might struggle to understand the goals of Western neonatologists. This divergence may create misunderstandings when discussing end-of-life decisions. Since they value relational aspects to be of utmost importance, they may accept treatments only in the likelihood of good neurological outcomes. Being able to interact allows Hindus to act virtuously with the aim of purifying their soul toward moksa. When it comes to end-of-life decisions on behalf of newborns, Hindu parents may opt to forgo treatments and let the baby peacefully die, while praying for their soul to have a better rebirth. This paper aims to evaluate quality-of-life assessment in the Hindu tradition in comparison with the Catholic tradition. It draws parallelisms between these two different religions to investigate whether an inter-religious dialogue is possible. This work will help Catholic, and more broadly Western, doctors to have a better understanding of the Hindu end-of-life views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key objective of this paper is to emphasize the importance of acknowledging breastfeeding as an embodied social practice within interventions related to breastfeeding and lactation and illustrate how this recognition holds implications for public health ethics debates. Recent scholarship has shown that breastfeeding and lactation support interventions undermine women's autonomy. However, substantial discourse is required to determine how to align with public health goals while also recognizing the embodied experiences of breastfeeding and lactating individuals. Presently, interventions in this realm predominantly revolve around health-related messaging and the promotion of individual behaviors, often neglecting the systemic and structural factors that influence choices and practices. I closely examine breastfeeding interventions in India, in particular Mothers' Absolute Affection health promotion program, along with breastfeeding narratives. I argue that for such interventions to evolve, they must acknowledge the intrinsic embodied social nature of breastfeeding during their design and implementation. Furthermore, it is important to emphasize that achieving equity and justice objectives necessitates moving beyond the confines of both conventional public health frameworks and frameworks solely centered on private choices. Instead, a more encompassing approach that embraces the concept of embodiment should be adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Maternal healthcare service utilization is a pivotal indicator of a nation's progress in safeguarding the health and well-being of its women and children. In this context, women's empowerment emerges as a critical determinant influencing the utilization of maternal healthcare services. The study aims to assess the relationship between women's level of empowerment and utilization of maternal healthcare services among currently married women in India. Data and Methods: The study uses data from the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey conducted in 2019–2021 and analyzed 26,552 (15–49 aged) currently married women who had a live birth in the last 5 years preceding the survey. Additionally, univariate and bivariate analyses, multivariate logistic regression, and the SWPER index were used for the analysis. Results: Over the years, utilization of antenatal care, skilled birth attainment, and postnatal care has increased extensively in India. However, the study found that utilization of services was higher among empowered women, and it varies across the state with the extent of empowerment. State-level analysis shows that the extent of women empowerment was higher in Goa, followed by Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and lower in Jharkhand, followed by Tripura, so as the utilization of maternal and health care services. The extent of empowerment and utilization of services also varies by level of educational attainment, employment, and socio-economic status. Conclusion: There is a need for comprehensive strategies to enhance women's empowerment through education, employment, political participation, self-awareness, and reduction in gender-based violence and child marriages, which may improve awareness demand for better public health structure, and may ensure higher utilization of maternal healthcare services. Ultimately, these strategies may converse the higher maternal death and child mortality. Significance: What is already known about this subject? Existing literature in India mostly highlights a clear connection between women's autonomy and maternal healthcare services utilization. Women with higher autonomy, decision-making power, and mobility are more likely to use these services. However, in exploring the link between women's empowerment and maternal healthcare, some studies focus on education, employment, and media access among Indian mothers, sidelining broader empowerment dimensions. What this study adds? This study is likely the first to investigate the relationship between women's empowerment and the level of maternal healthcare service utilization in India. It covers key dimensions of women's empowerment, including Attitude to Violence, Social Independence, and Decision-making Power. Moreover, it is possibly the first Indian research paper to employ a survey-based women's empowerment index in this context. Notably, the assessment highlights Social Independence as a significant dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has a large population with the prevalence of many mental health concerns but faces a shortage of mental health professionals. This paper deals with this mental health crisis in India and how Mental Health First Aid and developing a first aid kit for mental health would help to address the issue. Mental health and mental illness in India additionally face stigma and backlash from the society. Due to this, very few people with mental ailments come forward to seek professional help. While we are aware of and trained in first aid for physical health, the concept of first aid for mental health is in its infancy. Hence, a review of literature was done to find the benefits of Mental Health First Aid and how it could benefit in solving the crisis in India. Creating a Mental Health First Aid Kit on a similar basis to its physical counterpart can also come in handy while administering mental health first aid. Results show that an individual trained in mental health first aid might act as a bridge between people with mental ailments and mental health professionals and assist in providing timely help. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, financial well-being has received considerable attention from researchers and policymakers as an indicator of financial health in the aftermath of financial shocks. Additionally, financial inclusion has been a priority for developing countries in their efforts towards poverty alleviation and bringing vulnerable populations into the mainstream financial system. Moreover, the shift in digital technologies and financial services has overcome access and usage barriers through the acquisition of digital financial literacy. This paper develops novel multidimensional indices and investigates the relationship between financial well-being, financial inclusion, and digital financial literacy. The study utilizes data from InterMedia's Financial Inclusion Insight (FII) 2016 Survey conducted in India. The results indicate that both financial inclusion and digital financial literacy have a significant positive impact on financial well-being. However, considering the potential endogeneity bias, instrumental variable 2SLS regression reveals that financial inclusion plays the most crucial role in defining financial well-being. Our findings help policymakers recognize the importance of demand-side financial inclusion and digital financial literacy in promoting financial well-being, which may be achieved through robust financial and digital literacy programs. Additionally, the study contributes to the financial well-being literature by incorporating essential attributes of financial inclusion and digital financial literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at contestations over space in peri-urban India. It studies the acrimonious responses in defense of a local marketplace that occupied public land against the sovereign project of highway expansion in peri-urban West Bengal. It posits an opposition between two aspects of state governance-rational-legal and magical-that shape the contentions. In the rational-legal mode, the expansion of the highways represents the official development goals of progress. The magical aspects of the state engender the circulation of officially approved illegal chits that give occupying migrant villagers' claim to the space around the highway. The ethnography looks at the affective economy of illegal chits that political parties and local bureaucracies use to bring migrating villagers within their ambit. It explores how illegal chits embody the state's legible presence in the villagers' everyday lives, their kinnetworks, communities and transform individual affective orientations toward space. In these new modes of simultaneous 'space' and 'place' making, public land is understood less as commons, but more as a stretch that could be divided among individuals and households aspiring to be 'developed' or upwardly mobile by excluding others. The essay contends that emergence of the 'right to the city' as a collective right requires a double-edged critique. A simple celebration of the subversive potential of the magical aspect of the state vis-à-vis its rational-legal mode may not be helpful for a politics of value that seeks to challenge the idea of value (or what makes life worth living) embedded in the wider neoliberal development discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we contend that urban middle-class older Indians engaged in "serious leisure" as a way to reimagine and reconfigure the structure of everyday life during the pandemic-led epochal downtime. In particular, we heuristically show that leisure activity patterns and constraint negotiation strategies among older Indians followed conceptual semblances with the dominant leisure-based typology of Serious Leisure Perspective. By thematically analysing household surveys (n = 71), time-use diaries and in-depth interviews (n = 15) of middle to upper middle-class individuals (55–80 years), we show how both men and women distinguished between serious leisure that is marked by motivation, agency and perseverance with that of unstructured, routinized free-time (or causal leisure). Time-use diaries suggested that despite the changed realities of heightened domestic time available to both genders due to the pandemic, women recorded higher proportion of their daily hours in household management and caregiving. Although women were governed by moral-cultural self-descriptions in their engagement with leisure, it was often associated with an enhanced sense of self-actualisation, self-management and identity. Overall, we show how the social codes of age and gender were inextricably linked with the practice of leisure during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numenes grisa Chao, 1983, previously recorded only from China, Laos and Thailand, is recorded from India for the first time. Comments on the other two species, N. flagrans Tams, and N. siletti Walker, that are known from India are provided with live habitus images. N. flagrans Tams, 1928 has been rediscovered from India after 95 years since its original description. A provisional checklist of Numenes species that are described so far is also provided in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well established that the existing building environmental assessment methods and sustainability assessment methods are intended to foster detailed design stage while there is a need to support early design stages. This research intends to develop a framework that actively supports design development at the formative design stages. The paper reviews the well-established building environmental assessment methods: CASBEE, LEED, BREEAM and GRIHA, and the existing sustainability assessment methods: iiSBE's Sustainable Building Tool (SB Tool), German Sustainable Building Council's Certificate Program (DGNB), Living Building Challenge (LBC) and ARUP's Sustainable Project Assessment Routine SPeAR®. Further, well-known theories of ecological Sustainability are reviewed. The critical points of convergence and divergence of anthropocentric and biocentric approaches are identified to articulate the parameters of sustainability assessment. Specialists in the sustainable built environment assigned weights for assessment parameters (criteria) by applying the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Their specialist opinions manifest the particular features of the Indian context. The paper delineates the Biocenosis, a novel framework for sustainability assessment of the built environment rooted in the concept of the synergy of nature with social, economic, environmental and cultural benefits for the context of India. It is intended to aid building professionals in the formative design phases as it enables an integrated and comprehensive assessment of the level to which the requirement of a sustainable built environment is satisfied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the implications of son preference on birth spacing intervals in India. Sibling sex composition provides a credible source of exogenous variation in the Indian context for births on or before 1990, as sex screening became widespread only after the 1990 economic reforms. I use the sibling sex composition of the first two children to capture its impact on the third birth interval. My analysis shows that, on average, families with two sons face an 8% lower hazard of a third birth relative to families with two daughters. Moreover, I find three channels of heterogeneity: religion, mother's age, and state of residence. Respondents from diverse religious groups respond differently to the sibling composition of the first two births regarding their likelihood of riskier births for the third interval. Moreover, older mothers with at least one son are less likely to have a shorter third birth interval than younger cohorts of mothers. Finally, the respondent's state of residence also drives some heterogeneity, with mothers from non-southern states less likely to have a riskier third birth interval once they have had at least one son among the first two births. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fish drying is a traditional method of preserving and utilizing fish in India. Small-scale women processors play a dominant role in production and marketing of dried fish. This paper analyzes the changes in the profile of India's fish processing industry over time focusing on the dried fish segment. We postulate that structural changes in fish production, including the rapid surge in aquaculture production, are closely linked to changes in fish processing and utilization in India. In particular, surge in demand for fishmeal and fish oil (FMFO) as an ingredient in aquaculture feeds has tilted fish utilization from direct human consumption towards feed. We pool data on India's fish production, utilization, and trade to describe these changes and their implications through descriptive analysis and regression modeling. Results from the regression analysis show that the FMFO segment gains market share mostly at the expense of the dried fish segment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper intends to discuss India's humane cultural traditions and its animal protection laws, justify the current need for humane education in Indian schools and preschools, offer examples of humane education curriculum ideas, and highlight the work of animal welfare organizations in India. Since ancient times, reverence and compassion for animals have been woven into India's cultural motif. All major religions in India uphold these beliefs. Hinduism, in particular, has endowed animals with a sacred status and perceives animals within the same spiritual unity that pervades the cosmos. Although not presented formally in schools, children in India grew up listening to stories that highlighted compassion for animals and participated in family rituals that showed reverence for animals. However, such cultural beliefs and practices are losing ground for a host of reasons in recent years. For example, while pet ownership has increased in recent years, incidents of pet abandonment, as well as stories of cruelty towards animals, have also wound their ways into the news headlines. Many animal protection laws have been introduced over the years, yet violations of these laws continue. Laws will not protect the rights of animals in India, but humane citizens will. Humane education programs have the potential to help plant the seed of compassion and justice for all animals early in children's hearts. Teachers may implement a carefully crafted humane education curriculum based on free resources provided by animal welfare organizations worldwide. A review of the literature shows that humane education is still uncharted territory for scholars in India. It is hoped that the article will draw attention to the topic of humane education among Indian researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to provide an insight on effect of stringency in Covid-19 spread in India especially in Chennai, a city were more lockdown, and restrictions was imposed to control the infection. Even though the restriction was imposed in the country by the end of March 2020, the growth reduction was seen in the mid of June as the awareness was increased. The average Covid-19 case growth was got reduce from 3.43 to 2.62% by July mid. To analysis the impact of stringency, a detailed analysis was done on Chennai city which was imposed with more repeated lockdowns to flatten the curve. We tried to fit a regression line with three difference scenario of data. The results show a promising R-squared and p value, with a right skewed distribution normal probability plot. The impact of lockdown in people's lives in different sectors were also discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has approximately 23 million children without parental care, who need alternative forms of care (MOSPI, 2018). Udayan Care, an NGO, designed an innovative group care model for children and youth in need of care and protection, implementing the indigenously developed LIFE (Living in Family Environment) strategy in 17 Udayan Ghars. (Sunshine Homes). With child participation as a core pillar, Udayan Care developed a Questionnaire to Assess the Needs of Children in Care (QANCC) in 2011, which is to be filled up by children annually, as a longitudinal study. The tool is conceived to ascertain whether children in the Ghars perceived if their rights were being fulfilled and that their needs were being addressed. With "meaningful participation" of children stipulated by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the objective was to develop an evidence-based tool to assess the views of children on the services meted out to them, from their standpoint, and inform actual care practices annually. The self-assessment tool consists of questions, assessing the four dimensions of basic/fundamental, emotional, educational, and interpersonal needs, on a four-point Likert rating scale. A convenient purposive sampling is done on children, aged 10 to 18 years, who receive care and protection at the Ghars, and have resided there for a minimum of 6 months. This paper has two objectives, where at one end, the deductions of the previous years' data are made (2011–12 to 2016–17) with demarcating the differences with year 2018–19 data and at the second level, there is an update on the efforts made to establish the reliability and validity of the tool and create a standardized tool that can be implemented by other child care organizations in India. The paper illustrates how listening to direct voices of children and incorporating their inputs into actual care practice, can go a long way in improving the holistic wellness of children living in an alternative care setting. The results indicate that all needs of the majority of the children in Udayan Ghars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the concept of fundamental breach under Indian law of contract. In doing so, it provides a comparative assessment with English law. It examines some plausible reasons for Indian law not being a favourable choice in the international community despite its wide-ranging similarity to English law. The paper accordingly identifies some mechanisms to develop Indian law in the interests of predictability. It considers the role that the provisions of the PICC on the subject may play during regulatory reforms to fill the gaps in Indian law. A close examination of the provisions of Indian and English law of contract demonstrates the requirement to prove that the breach was material before determining the consequences of the same as a necessary corollary. Simultaneously, although India resembles English law at many levels, the lack of legislative reform or judicial activism in the Republic to clarify the exact consequences of a breach may have contributed as a factor to render it an unpopular choice of law among parties to an international contract. On the contrary, English law has undergone significant development in recent years, and the choice of the legal system to govern international agreements is widespread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, the National Education Policy 2020 recommends ensuring universal access to high-quality early childhood care and education for children aged 3–6 years by 2030. Using the 75th round of National Statistical Office data (2017–2018), this paper analyses the regional and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education. Also, we investigate the specific role of households' economic status and educational attainment in explaining these inequalities. We find considerable regional (rural/urban) and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education in India, with girls and children belonging to historically disadvantaged social groups (scheduled castes and scheduled tribes) less likely to attend early childhood education, particularly in rural areas. We find that a substantial portion of the rural–urban gap in access to pre-primary education can be removed by controls for households' economic condition and household head's educational status. In addition, we find gender and socioeconomic inequalities in the household investment in early years education. These findings highlight the need to put policy efforts and commitments to reducing barriers to accessing pre-primary education for children in disadvantaged conditions in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines gendered experiences of established adulthood with reference to role-related responsibilities in urban Indian families. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 married adults aged between 35 and 45 years, from educated, high socioeconomic class families of Vadodara, India. The aim was to examine participants' reasoning about similarities and differences in potentials of men and women; and gender differences in responsibilities. Qualitative analyses revealed that both men and women attributed equal potentials for both genders, in fulfilling a range of adult roles within and outside the family. All participants also agreed that even if responsibilities were 'shared', women's involvement in different roles was much more intense than men's. Women were critical of patriarchal norms that hindered participation in the workforce and led to role overload. However, they navigated diverse roles with increased efficiency and multitasking. Men, on the other hand, showed passive acceptance and reinforced traditional gender norms in spite of complete awareness of demands generated from a rapidly changing socioeconomic milieu. However, in what may seem like a push and pull between the two genders, decisions of balancing work and family were always contextualized and embedded in an ethos of maintaining strong social and familial networks, indicating a clear preference for doing what was in everyone's best interest. Overall, results suggested that navigating traditional gender role expectations in marriage and parenthood, without compromising social and familial harmony, was a significant cultural marker of maturity in established adulthood in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I seek to explore the social nature of food in university hostels in India's capital city of New Delhi. With the increasing migration of students from smaller cities and towns to bigger cities searching for employment and education opportunities, hostels have become a preferred choice of accommodation because of their affordability and security. For many marginalised and economically poor students, these hostels are the only spaces where they can afford to live and eat. At the same time, hostels and university campuses have recently been in the spotlight as sites of resistance and social action. Discussions and debates around hostel fee hikes and food politics mean that there is a need to understand what hostel food represents for migrant students. While there is an attempt by universities to use hostel food to promote togetherness and belongingness, hostel food is also met with counter meanings. A study of hostel food offers us a lens to better understand the sources of contestation within the university and the reasons for protests by migrating students living in hostels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While India is entering the period of demographic dividend, female labour participation rates remain very low. This paper aims to provide the very first labour force projections for India and its regions up to the year 2060. Projections are achieved using a discrete-time microsimulation model in which changes in population size and composition come from the interaction between demographic characteristics, educational attainment, and secular tendencies. Labour force participation rates are estimated at the individual level using personal characteristics as predictors. Results show that under constant labour force participation rates, the labour force dependency ratio (non-workers/workers) is very unlikely to attain favourable levels, which compromises the potential demographic dividend that the country could gain from its favourable age-structure. At the subnational level, the forecast yields the most favourable dependency ratio in 2060 in the regions that combine both a low-age dependency ratio and a higher participation of women. Results moreover suggest that female labour force participation is a better driver of the labour force dependency ratio than the age composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal mining and its unfavourable consequences have generated global attention. It has further stimulated the paradoxical debate of development and desolation in the contemporary scenario. Since the coal resources are profusely available in India and it is comparatively less expensive, the country has been largely relying on it for its essential and non-essential consumption needs. Coal resources indirectly fulfil many of the modern requirements and comforts. Consequently, mining of minerals in general and coal in particular has become the prime focus. It helps to generate revenue, augment industrialisation and promote employment opportunities in India. Despite these progressive features, the opencast coal mining activities impose serious threats to the livelihood of the local communities. Based on critical review of the relevant literature, the article seeks to exhibit the mineral reserves and coal mining activities at global, national and regional context. The paper has incorporated a special focus on Odisha—a resource-rich state located in eastern part of India. Particularly, the two existing major coalfields—Talcher and Ib valley, situated in western part of the state—have been emphasised. The manifold adverse externalities of the coal mining practices on the livelihood pattern among the affected people have been assessed. Furthermore, the paper aims to examine the mining-induced threats on different livelihood capitals which has given rise to multiple risks and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Devising multi-pronged strategies for those highly prone to food insecurity in the future remains a challenge for food policymakers. This set of food-insecure households faces different kinds of shocks (economic, political, environmental, pandemic, personal, etc.), which render them vulnerable to food insecurity. This study identifies those who are vulnerable to food insecurity, and will be useful for policymakers to resolve food insecurity related challenges in crisis or no crisis periods on an ex-ante basis. This paper decomposes the total welfare loss resulting from vulnerability to food insecurity into components due to 'food poverty' (expected consumption of the current food secure falling below the food poverty line), and risk (variability of food consumption over time). The last term can be further decomposed into the aggregate (region or community-specific), and idiosyncratic (household or individual-specific) risks. The paper identifies the key determinants of the different components of vulnerability to food insecurity based on household consumption expenditure surveys conducted in rural India in 2004–05, 2009–10, and 2011–12. Expected utility-based measures, and pseudo-panel regression techniques were used to identify risk-prone households. The key findings are: idiosyncratic risk is the largest driver (a loss in the utility of almost 51%) as compared to the poverty and covariate shocks; states with poor Public Distribution System (PDS) performance are more susceptible, a rise in the price of staple food items increases the chances of food insecurity, gendered disparity persists over time, forward social and religious groups are more vulnerable, and finally a higher level of urbanization increases the exposure and sensitivity to shocks (like the spread of contagious diseases), disrupts the supply of food commodities from rural markets, loss in income, and increase in rural vulnerability to food insecurity. Our key policy suggestion is a mix of cash versus in-kind transfers to resolve rural food insecurity related issues, tend towards resiliency, and simultaneously tackle the triple burden of malnutrition and SDG-2 related goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to census 2011, India had nearly 104 millions of 60 years and above population. The share is projected to increase from 8 per cent in 2015 to 29 per cent in 2050, which is a matter of concern as rapid population ageing is accompanied by serious social and economic implications which are often linked with different health outcomes in general and lower subjective well-being (SWB) in particular. This paper aims to focus on how socio-economic inequality affects lower SWB among older adults. Bivariate, binary logistic regression and decomposition analysis were used for carving out the results using data from the Building a Knowledge Base on Population Ageing in India (BKPAI). The effective sample size for the analysis was 9181 older adults. The value of the concentration index for lower SWB was -0.28 in India, depicting that lower SWB was concentrated among older adults with poor socio-economic status. Educational status (22%), living arrangement (13%), trust over someone (13%), self-rated health (6%), instrumental activities of daily living (6%) and cognitive ability (5%) explained significant portion of socio-economic inequality for lower SWB among older adults. Our research highlights the urgent need for more empirical exposure to socio-economic inequality and its dynamic impact on lower SWB among older adults. Moreover, the present study recommends strengthening the current government programme to focus especially on older adults from lower socio-economic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmers submit claims to insurance providers when affected by sowing/planting risk, standing crop risk, post-harvest risk, and localized calamities risk. Decision making for settlement of claims submitted by farmers has been observed to comprise of type-I and type-II errors. The existence of these errors reduces confidence on agri-insurance providers and government in general as it fails to serve the needy farmers (type-I error) and sometimes serve the ineligible farmers (type-II error). The gaps in currently used underlying data, methods and timelines including anomalies in locational data used in crop sampling, inclusion of invalid data points in computation, estimation of crop yield, and determination of the total sown area create barriers in executing the indemnity payments for small and marginal farmers in India. In this paper, we present a satellite big data analytics based case study in a region in India and explain how the anomalies in the legacy processes were addressed to minimize type-I and type-II errors and thereby make ethical decisions while approving farmer claims. Our study demonstrates what big data analytics can offer to increase the ethicality of the decisions and the confidence at which the decision is made, especially when the beneficiaries of the decision are poor and powerless. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Australia and the UK, contracts with minors in sports and entertainment are not uncommon. Generally, such contracts are voidable at the option of the minor. However, when contracts fall within the category of beneficial service, as is the case with most professional sports or entertainment contracts, they will be enforceable against the minor. Indian courts do not prescribe to this view holding contracts with minors, void ab initio and unenforceable against contractual parties, with few exceptions. The policy rationale is embedded in protecting minors from their own rash decisions and preventing unscrupulous parties from taking advantage of a minor's nascent mental capacity. By analysing divergent approaches on the validity of minors' contracts in three common law jurisdictions—Australia, India and the UK—the authors highlight inadequacies in legal pronouncements by Indian courts. In India, the legal non-existence and unenforceability of service contracts with minors renders it futile for them or their representatives from negotiating favourable contractual terms beyond welfare measures provided by law as these are unlikely to be upheld. This paper argues that India's narrow approach fails to acknowledge practical realities of minors' participation in the increasingly commercialised sports and entertainment industry. In light of more practical approaches in other common law jurisdictions, the authors set out policy recommendations and suggest reforms to the legal position on minors' capacity to contract in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the history of sociology in India to colonial anthropology and Indology. I argue that the compulsions of post-colonial society have also made specific demands on the discursive terrain of sociology. Fundamental to the pursuit of sociological knowledge in India, I believe, was a core debate about its mode of discursive practice – specifically, a debate between particularistic and universalistic orientations. From this point of view, I re-read the history of sociology in India. In doing so, I argue that close attention to the history of sociology helps us see the extent to which foundational western approaches to historical and comparative sociology have affected the historical development of sociology in India. Ironically, this has meant that the degree of historical self-awareness in Indian sociology has been limited. Hence, I discuss the grounds for the weak historical self-awareness in terms of historical sociology in India. I conclude by discussing how a strengthened tradition of historical sociology can be a tool to revitalize the discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the performance of non-banking finance companies (NBFC) in the Indian context using data envelopment analysis (DEA). The underlying objective of this study is to fill the void in the domain of NBFC, although a lot of research has been done on the banking industry in the context of the application of DEA, but none on NBFCs. The paper takes the panel data of the last 5 years (2014–2018) to calculate super-efficiencies in the first stage and then regresses the same on exogenous factors in stage-2. Descriptive statistics are used to estimate the efficiency by carrying out the calculations using both the traditional models (OTE, PTE and SE) and super-efficiency model. A comparison is made by categorizing NBFC's based on the size of total assets and using non-parametric statistic tests to find whether the efficiency scores are significantly different across different categories. The second stage DEA analysis uses Tobit regression to find the exogenous factors which affect the model significantly. Based on traditional models, the total number of efficient DMUs are 8 out of 43 while there are 15 after considering the super-efficiency algorithm. Malmquist Indices are used to study the productivity indices of NBFCs over the last 5 years, and it gives us a maximum productivity growth of 8.53%. It was noticed that there is a significant difference in the mean efficiency values of different sized NBFC's which can be explained by the lack of standardization in the NBFC domain and the few companies which are listed on the stock market. The managers should not consider ROE as a significant indicator of efficiency and should instead focus on aspects such as ROA and income diversity. Through the Malmquist analysis, the managers can break down the productivity change into technical and efficiency shifts for further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vector-borne diseases are a major burden to the human health. Vector species of Aedes mosquitoes transmit several arboviral diseases, including dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika. According to the World Health Organization, the dengue virus causes about 390 million infections per year out of which almost 96 million have manifests clinically with high severity of the disease. For vector and pest control, excessive use of insecticides is the widest option (different sectors have used 451,000 metric tonnes of some selected technical grade pesticides that have been used from 2011–19 in various sectors). Data for the present review was collected from published papers from 1993 to 2019 from journal websites, google scholar, research gate. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) has been used since 1946 in malaria and pest control and results in widespread resistance in both vector species: Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus in almost all states of India. Aedes aegypti shows a high degree of resistance to permethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, and cyfluthrin, while Aedes albopictus is still susceptible to these insecticides in most areas across the country. Enhanced activity of detoxifying enzymes such as cytochrome P450, glutathione-S-transferase, esterase, gamma-aminobutyric acid, and mixed-function oxidase was reported in resistant populations as compared to susceptible populations. Based on the review, we conclude that prolonged exposure to insecticides has led to the development of resistance against organochlorines, organophosphates, pyrethroids, and carbamates. Mixed and synchronized activities of these detoxifying enzymes are related to the development of resistance. As such, minimal and rotational use of insecticides can prevent the development of resistance in mosquitoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on the association between population ageing and health spending are inconclusive. Though per capita health spending has a strong age gradient, evidence from the developed countries attributes increasing health expenditure to high spending in terminal year of life. In India, though studies have examined the level, trends and determinants of health care spending, no attempt has been made on association of population ageing and per capita health spending across the districts of India. The objective of this paper was to examine the spatial dependencies and heterogeneities of population ageing and per capita health spending across 640 districts of India. Data from the Census of India (2011) and the consumption expenditure rounds of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) (2009–10 and 2011–2012) were used in the analysis. Univariate and bivariate LISA analysis, ordinary least square regression, and spatial error model were used to decipher the spatial pattern of population ageing and health spending in the districts of India. Results suggest that per capita health expenditure is positively associated with the proportion of the older adults (aged 60 years and above) in the districts of India. Districts with less than 5% older adults have an annual per capita health expenditure of ₹629 compared to ₹2432 in districts with older adults 12% or more. Districts of India also exhibit large spatial heterogeneity in household health spending. Bivariate Moran's I statistic of proportion of older adults and per capita annual health expenditure was 0.48, suggesting spatially association of the share of the older adults and the per capita annual health expenditure in India. Results of the spatial error model confirmed that share of urban population, mean wealth score, and mean household size are significant predictors of per capita annual health expenditure in India. This study is important to monitor the progress of universal health coverage across the disadvantaged districts and to integrate age component in universal health coverage programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changing family structure from joint to nuclear posits a challenge among older people. Increasing prevalence of nuclear family promotes household headship among older adults but leaves them vulnerable as they have to live alone at older ages. Therefore, the study aims to estimate the trends and determine the factors associated with household headship among older adults from 1992-93 to 2015–16. The analysis of this paper is based on four rounds of the National Family Health Survey, which were conducted during the periods between 1992-93, 1998–99, 2005–06, and 2015–16, respectively. The study carried out bivariate and multivariate analysis to observe the association between outcome and independent variables. Results found that household headship among older adults had increased from 59.5% in 1992–93 to 67.8% in 2015–16. Further, the study found a rise in the proportion of nuclear families and household headship among older adults from 1992-93 to 2015–16. In older ages, household headship was more among older women than older men. The likelihood of household headship among older adults in a joint family is low as compared to household headship in a nuclear family. While the rise in household headship among older adults may be attributable to a variety of socio-economic influences, it has been noted that household headship among older adults has varied between men and women and by type of family structure. Moreover, there was a clear relationship between headship and wealth status of a household. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manatha albipes Moore, hitherto known as a minor pest of palms in India and Sri Lanka, is reported here as an emerging pest of banana and arecanut on a much larger scale from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in South India. The larvae feed on the foliage of banana and arecanut and the stem of arecanut by scraping the tissue and cause severe drying and defoliation. In this paper, life stages of the pest are briefly described with illustrations for the first time. Diagnostic characters of the adults, including genitalia, are illustrated and compared with those of M. taiwana (Sonan), its closest related species. The bagworm pest on banana, commonly identified as Kophene cuprea Moore by economic entomologists, was found to be a misidentification of M. albipes. In view of the extreme external similarity of M. albipes and M. taiwana, COI sequencing of M. albipes collected from arecanut and banana was done and the DNA sequence data was found to be a useful diagnostic tool for this species. COI sequences of M. albipes and M. taiwana showed differences in 53 nucleotides and M. albipes had 9.5% divergence with M. taiwana, confirming that they are distinct species. Additional host plants of M. albipes are listed. Natural enemies associated with M. albipes including three parasitoids (two species of Brachymeria (Chalcididae) and one unidentified tachinid) and one pentatomid predator (Eocanthecona furcellata (Wolff)) are reported for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the ethical considerations using the stakeholder theory on two specific domains of the newly implemented 'Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PM-JAY)' scheme by the Government of India. The paper recommends a solidarity-based approach over an entitlement based one that focuses on out-of-pocket expenses for the most vulnerable and a stewardship role from the private sector to ensure equity, accountability, and sustainability of PM-JAY scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban areas have witnessed an inexorable expansion in population density, urban sprawl, industrialization and agricultural activities in the past few decades. Withdrawal of groundwater to meet water demand has resulted in over-drafting of aquifers and, commonly, lowered water tables in many urban centres of India, like Delhi, Lucknow, Patna, Kolkata and others. Overdraft has also deteriorated the chemical and biogeochemical quality of surface water and groundwater. This paper highlights some of the research approaches, namely hydrogeochemical investigation, groundwater modeling, and use of geographic information systems and remote sensing, used worldwide to resolve issues specific to urban groundwater. The paper also highlights approaches that are practiced internationally (combined hydrogeologic and multi-isotopic studies, integrated modeling techniques, etc.) but still need to be developed on a large scale in India. A detailed overview of the literature indicates the need for a more holistic approach incorporating various types of conceptual and management models to strengthen the research level in India and elsewhere. For instance, a computational tool that can incorporate different models, such as for urban water and contaminant balance and pipeline leakage, should be developed to generate predefined scenarios of potential groundwater contamination and help in the socio-economic analysis of different scenarios. In hydrogeochemical approaches, multi-isotope ratios should be coupled with hydrogeologic approaches for better understanding of water quality problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I examine the rhetoric employed by court judgements, with a particular emphasis on the narrative construct of the 'passive patient'. This construction advances and reinforces paternalistic values, which have scant regard for the patients' preferences, values, or choices within the legal context. Further, I critique the rhetoric employed and argue that the use of this rhetoric is the basis for a precedent that limits the understanding and respect of patients. Through this paper, I present the contemporary use of the 'passive patient' construct in the context of the Indian legal system and describe how such constructions have become a source of normative justification for legal reasoning that jeopardizes the patient's agency. I argue for the primacy of 'respect for persons' within Indian law and the need to treat each patient as a person who has agency, preferences, and values during clinical interactions. I conclude by suggesting that laws that adopt narratives that acknowledging the significance of patient engagement and the relevance of effective communication during clinical encounters would help cultivate a culture of patient-centred care, by moving beyond the rhetoric of 'passive patient' and the 'health/choice' dichotomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While existing indices of gender equality measure the role of women's status and position, they inadequately contextualize the broader construct of patriarchy, a social system that underlies many gender inequitable practices. An index capturing patriarchy may afford increased understanding of this social system, and may serve to complement other gender equality indices. This paper involves the development and testing of a novel composite measure, the India Patriarchy Index, to quantify the social and ideological construct of patriarchy using empirical data on family structure and gender roles. Using data from India's National Family Health Survey, we develop an India Patriarchy Index to measure gendered social positioning in families based on sex by age, patrilocality, sex ratio imbalance among offspring, and gendered economic roles. Psychometric testing demonstrates good internal reliability and construct validity of this index, with validity indicated by its association with three gender equality indices used in India. Spatial and temporal analyses further indicate much state-level variation in India Patriarchy Index scores as well as slow change on this indicator over time, based on time trend analyses from 1992–93 to 2015–16. Results demonstrate the utility of the India Patriarchy Index to measure and track gender equality progress in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the provision of center-based preschool education for children ranging in age from 3 to 6 years in India. It estimates access rates to various services and highlights issues related to equitable access to preschool services and the quality of preschool education. While India has made great strides in improving access to preschool education, numerous challenges have to be addressed to enhance its quality. The National Educational Policy 2020 and the country's commitment to meet UN Sustainable Development Goal Target 4.2 by 2030 and ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality pre-primary education provide opportunities to ensure equitable access to quality preschool education. Central to meeting national targets is the enforcement of the National Quality Standards for Early Childhood Care and Education. Further, increased budget allocations to preschool education, prioritizing professional preparation of the early childhood work force and harnessing technology to monitor government programs have considerable potential to enhance the early childhood system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characteristics of developing convective clouds (Cu) in Karnataka State (India) during the thunderstorm formation are analyzed using weather radar and lightning detection network data. It is noted that radar characteristics of Cu which produced lightning, exceed those where lightning does not form. The study has shown that the number of negative cloud-to-ground strokes exceeds the number of positive ones by an order of magnitude. The radar characteristics of clouds in India and the North Caucasus are compared. Significant differences in lightning flash rates over the mentioned regions are registered. A low correlation is found between the supercooled volume and the flash rate of negative lightning. The paper also presents the results of studying the dynamic characteristics of four Cu seeded with a glaciogenic reagent. The thunderstorm risk is estimated for the clouds. It is shown that the seeding increases a probability of lightning events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper describes Filisoma argusum n. sp. (Cavisomatidae), an acanthocephalan parasite infecting the intestine of the spotted scat, Scatophagus argus (Linnaeus, 1766), in the south-west coast of India. The prevalence is 18% (mean intensity: 1.61 and abundance: 1–4 worms/host). Filisoma argusum n. sp. is morphologically characterized by a creamy-white, cylindrical, elongate, aspinose, and robust trunk; a collar-like neck; and a cylindrical proboscis with 18–20 longitudinal rows of hooks, with 19–22 hooks/row. Proboscis receptacle long, double-walled. Lemnisci digitiform, equal, longer than proboscis receptacle. Females 79.14 ± 33.69 × 0.593 ± 0.19 mm; males 32.62 ± 2.98 × 0.46 ± 0.071 mm. Males with four cement glands; bulbous muscular copulatory bursa with six digitiform rays. SEM studies revealed smooth hooks, sensory pits, and epidermal micropores. Histopathological changes at the site of parasite attachment included inflammation, hemorrhage, sloughing of epithelium, and detachment of mucosal layer of the intestine. In molecular and phylogenetic analyses, the parasite occupied an independent position within the Cavisomatidae clade with high bootstrap values for both ITS1-5.8S and ITS2, and mt-CO1 regions. Considering the morphologic and morphometric differences with previously described species of Filisoma along with its phylogenetic positioning, the present acanthocephalan is treated as a new species and the name Filisoma argusum n. sp. is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthcare reforms in India have been a much-debated issue in the recent past. While the debate has focused mainly on the right to healthcare, another by-product that has evolved out of the debate was the current problem of medical malpractice and the healthcare law. The last decade has seen an increase in the healthcare facilities in the country. This, however, has come with a bulk of medical error cases which the courts have entertained. According to reports, there has been an increase in medical litigation cases by 400% in the last decade. There are about 5.2 million cases of medical error in the country every year. While there exists a standard legal system in the country which entertains such complaints of medical malpractice, the attempt by regulators and medical practitioners should be to reduce these cases. This paper seeks to analyze the extent to which medical malpractice cases affect consumers (patients). It analyzes the existing medical liability system which has mainly evolved through the jurisprudence laid down by the English courts and critiques it. It also looks into the major reasons for such medical mishaps. Authors argue that a "No-Fault" system may give better outcomes. They analyze this by looking at the no-fault liability model implemented in New Zealand. Narratives of no-fault liability being implemented in India have also been used. These are showcased from instances of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and Clinical Trial regulations. It is also argued that a by-product of a no-fault liability system is stringent regulations which are used to reduce the possibility of medical mishaps altogether. Lastly, the possible problems of the no-fault liability system are discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimates of probable maximum precipitation (PMP) and corresponding probable maximum flood (PMF) are necessary for planning, design, and risk assessment of flood control structures whose failure could have catastrophic consequences. For PMP estimation, multifractal approach (MA) is deemed to be better than conventional approaches, which are based either on statistical concepts or physical aspects. The MA yields physically meaningful PMP estimates by attempting to capture scale-invariant multiplicative cascade mechanism inherent in rainfall. This paper attempts to gain insights into the performance of MA by comparing PMP estimates obtained using the approach with those resulting from the use of two widely used empirical approaches (storm maximization approach (SMA) and Hershfield method (HM)) on two flood-prone river basins (Mahanadi and Godavari) in India. The results indicate that rainfall data of the two river basins exhibit multifractal properties, and the use of MA has an advantage over HM and SMA in estimating PMP corresponding to longer durations (>3 days). PMP estimates obtained using HM are generally lower (higher) than those obtained using SMA for 1-day (higher) duration. PMP maps are prepared for the two Indian river basins corresponding to 1-day to 5-day durations. Further, PMP estimates obtained based on the PMP maps are provided for 18 catchments in the Mahanadi basin and 53 catchments in the Godavari river basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role played by socio-religious categories in determining primary cooking fuel choices among Indian households. We study this role in the broader context of climbing up the energy ladder. Our estimates based on a sample of 601,509 households and using multinomial probit regression suggest that socio-religious status along with economic status is critical in the choice of modern eco-friendly fuels. We find that belonging to a marginalized community in Hindu religion significantly dampens a households' likelihood to move up the ladder when compared with upper caste households. While intra-religion differences among Hindu castes in terms of their probability of using modern fuels are wider, differences among Muslims appear smaller. Also, though Muslims perform worse than Hindu upper castes in terms of probability of using modern fuels they are much better off in comparison with other Hindu castes. Our results remain robust to alternative specifications and several robustness checks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The declaration of COVID pandemic by the WHO can certainly be seen as a watershed era the world has witnessed in modern times. All non-essential industries and services have taken a back seat including aesthetic medicine. Over the last decade, India has witnessed a steady growth in medical tourism owing to global standards of care and services at a relatively modest cost. The following study was conducted to ascertain the sea change that this pandemic has brought into aesthetic surgeons' practice, patient management, planning and consultation. This paper throws light on the journey of Indian aesthetic surgery from its infancy to its current presence in the global market as a context of the study. We have also discussed the impact of social media on aesthetic surgeons' practice, lifestyle and its role as an emerging new method of medical education. Methods: A questionnaire consisting of 62 questions divided in 3 sections was rolled out to 150 Indian aesthetic surgeons who have been practising either independently in their clinics or are associated with hospitals. A: Pre-COVID practice management and lifestyle; B: life during the lockdown; C: anticipated changes in post-COVID era. Results: In the pre-COVID era, an average aesthetic surgeon was finely balancing his profession, personal lifestyle, learning, and recreation. The lockdown clamped their practices which lead into a financial drought; despite which, they were able to maintain their productivity by engaging in webinars, reading, and research. The post-COVID times demand an implementation of safety protocols along with changes in set-up, regulating patient traffic, engaging in distant learning through virtual conferences, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle acquired during the lockdown. Conclusions: India was rightly witnessing a surge in popularity of aesthetic surgery and medical tourism over the last decade. The corona pandemic has definitely hit this escalating growth curve hard, and it will take some time for the demand to recover. Our study revealed the following conclusions: The effect of COVID 19 demands a major change in aesthetic surgeons' professional practice like limiting consultations, changing hospital floor plan, following COVID testing, and having new safety protocols. Social media is rightly poised to be a major tool for education and marketing as also for recreation and leisure. The role of teleconsultation needs to be reprised and legalised. Webinars and virtual conferences will find more takers in future. Level of evidence: not ratable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To review the available evidence about the prevalence and determinants of antenatal common mental disorders (antenatal CMDs) among women in India. We searched Ovid Medline, Embase and Psyinfo systematically from date of inception to Oct. 31, 2019 for publications in English language on the prevalence of antenatal CMDs and their determinants among women in India. All study designs were included. Quality was assessed with Standard Quality Assessment Criteria for Evaluating Primary Research Papers. We performed a meta-analysis using a random effects model. Twenty-seven studies involving 7780 women were analysed. There was a high degree of heterogeneity ((I2 = 97.53%). Publication bias [Egger bias = 0.65 (95% CI: 0.36;.94)] was evident. The overall pooled estimate of the prevalence of antenatal CMDs was 21.87% (95% CI: 17.46; 26.29). Significant risk factors reported in the 18 studies which examined them were negative reaction of husband or in-laws to the dowry, difficult relationship with husband/in-laws, lack of support or experiencing violence perpetrated by an intimate partner and preference for or feeling pressured to have a male child. Protective factors were having more education and being employed, having a supportive husband and opportunities for recreation during pregnancy. Antenatal CMDs are highly prevalent among women in India. There is an urgent need for locally developed policies and programmes for mental health promotion during pregnancy, preventive and early intervention for antenatal CMDs among women to be integrated into maternity care in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, agriculture is recognized as a highly vulnerable sector to climate change and risks from climatic aberrations pose an imminent danger to the food security and sustainability of livelihoods. To bring robustness in climate adaptation planning, evaluation of resilience across homogenous regions is essential for developing and scaling suitable location-need-context specific interventions and policies that build the resilience of the agricultural system. In this paper, we present an analysis and discussion of multi-scalar and multi-indicator assessment, by profiling resilience across agro-climatic zones of India, based on the development of a Climate-Resilient Agriculture Index embracing environmental, technological, socio-economic, and institutional and infrastructural dimension. A total of 26 indicators, spread across these four dimensions, were employed to purport inter- and intra-agro-climatic zone differentials in the level of resilience. Among the zones, it was found that West Coast Plains & Ghats and Tans-Gangetic Plains had the highest degree of resilience to manage climate risks. Most of the districts lying within Eastern Himalayan Region, Middle Gangetic Plains, Eastern Plateau & Hills, and Western Dry Region had a lower degree of resilience. The study places greater emphasis on deciphering region-specific drivers and barriers to resilience at a further disaggregated scale for improving rural well-beings. It is construed that devising action plans emphasizing awareness, preservation of natural resources, diversification, building physical infrastructure, strengthening of grass-root institutions, and mainstreaming climate adaptation in the developmental policy is crucial for climate-resilient pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I discuss the ethical underpinnings to the anthropological analysis of age and reproductive decline in the 'management' of infertility, by suggesting that assisted reproductive technologies (ART) 'use' age and reproductive decline to further endanger women's bodies by subjecting it to disaggregation into parts that do not belong to them anymore. Here, the category of age becomes a malleable concept to manipulate women seeking fertility management. In ethnographic findings from two Indian ART clinics, amongst women aged between 20 and 35 years visiting an IVF/ART clinic in Hyderabad city in South India, and women above 50 years of age visiting an IVF/ART clinic in Hisar in North India—reproductive bodies are similarly disaggregated. In case of younger women, the treatment is fixated on rescuing eggs that may be in 'decline', and in case of older women, the aim is to engineer a viable pregnancy. Thus, the constant focus on eggs and wombs in infertility treatment creates a body that is not only not whole but also completely without agency. Age becomes a category that has rhetorical value to 'push' or persuade women into particular forms of fertility management through infertility medicine. I undertake a problematization of the egg and the uterus through the identification of the recurring motif of the menstrual cycle within IVF treatment to suggest that bodily holism is not part of ART discourse that unethically thrives on promoting technological intrusions to promote its use and normalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ratio-based prevalence and absolute headcounts are the two most commonly accepted metrics to measure the burden of various socioeconomic phenomenon. However, ratio-based prevalence, calculated as the number of cases with certain conditions relative to the total population, is by far the most widely used to rank burden and consequently for targeting, across different populations, often defined in terms of geographical areas. In this regard, targeting areas exclusively based on prevalence-based metric poses certain fundamental difficulties with some serious policy implications. Drawing the data from the National Family Health Survey 2015–2016, and Census 2011, this paper takes four indicators of child undernutrition in India as an example to examine two contextual questions: first, does the choice of metric matter for targeting areas for reducing child undernutrition in India? and second; which metric should be used to facilitate comparisons and targeting across variable populations? Our findings suggest a moderate correlation between prevalence estimates and absolute headcounts implying that choice of metric does matter when targeting child undernutrition. Huge variations were observed between prevalence-based and absolute count-based ranking of the districts. In fact, in various cases, districts with the highest absolute number of undernourished children were ranked as relatively lower-burden districts based on prevalence. A simple comparison between the two approaches—when applied to targeting undernourished children in India—indicates that prevalence-based prioritization may miss high-burden areas where substantially higher number of undernourished children are concentrated. For developing populous countries like India, which is already grappling with high levels of maternal and child malnutrition and poor health infrastructure along with intrinsic socioeconomic inequalities, it is critical to adopt an appropriate metric for effective targeting and prioritization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper from India describes anxieties that pregnant and postpartum women reported to obstetricians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 118 obstetricians who responded to an online survey, most had been contacted for concerns about hospital visits (72.65%), methods of protection (60.17%), the safety of the infant (52.14%), anxieties related to social media messages (40.68%) and contracting the infection (39.83%). Obstetricians felt the need for resources such as videos, websites and counselling skills to handle COVID-related anxiety among perinatal women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]