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In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the US government used novel policies to accelerate research, development, and production of a diversified portfolio of new vaccines. This article begins by describing the Defense Production Act (DPA) of 1950 and the initial 'priority-rated' contracts agreed to under Operation Warp Speed in 2020 to expedite manufacturing and achieve scale, which succeeded in producing hundreds of millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccines by early 2021. However, a puzzle soon emerged, as the scale of US vaccine production was shortly thereafter overtaken by plants in the European Union and India. The paper investigates the trade-offs US policy-makers faced in early 2021—once much of the initial uncertainty about the safety and effectiveness of many Covid-19 vaccines had been resolved—about whether to recalibrate contracts to expand production capacity to help meet global, instead of US, vaccine demand. It also examines the emergence of input shortages and assesses whether both the price constraints implicit in the 2020 DPA contracts and business decisions made to quicken the process of bringing new vaccine plants online globally inadvertently exacerbated them. It also explores the potential need for complementary, input capacity-enhancing policies in the face of highly fragmented, cross-border Covid-19 vaccine supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health management information systems (HMIS) produce large amounts of data about health service provision and population health, and provide opportunities for data-based decision-making in decentralized health systems. Yet the data are little-used locally. A well-defined approach to district-level decision-making using health data would help better meet the needs of the local population. In this second of four papers on district decision-making for health in low-income settings, our aim was to explore ways in which district administrators and health managers in low- and lower-middle-income countries use health data to make decisions, to describe the decision-making tools they used and identify challenges encountered when using these tools. A systematic literature review, following PRISMA guidelines, was undertaken. Experts were consulted about key sources of information. A search strategy was developed for 14 online databases of peer reviewed and grey literature. The resources were screened independently by two reviewers using pre-defined inclusion criteria. The 14 papers included were assessed for the quality of reported evidence and a descriptive evidence synthesis of the review findings was undertaken. We found 12 examples of tools to assist district-level decision-making, all of which included two key stages-identification of priorities, and development of an action plan to address them. Of those tools with more steps, four included steps to review or monitor the action plan agreed, suggesting the use of HMIS data. In eight papers HMIS data were used for prioritization. Challenges to decision-making processes fell into three main categories: the availability and quality of health and health facility data; human dynamics and financial constraints. Our findings suggest that evidence is available about a limited range of processes that include the use of data for decision-making at district level. Standardization and pre-testing in diverse settings would increase the potential that these tools could be used more widely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amendments to the constitution and the jurisprudence surrounding the constituent power of Parliament have traditionally dominated the field of Indian constitutional law and constitutionalism. Most debates in this field have been restricted to issues like the source of the amending power of Parliament, express, and implied limits on the power to amend, and so on. In an attempt to revert to the core principles of constituent power, this paper attempts to answer more basic but extremely compelling constitutional questions: to qualify as an amendment to the constitution, how exactly must an amendment affect the text of the constitution? If an amendment does not change the bare text of the constitution in any way, but merely affects the overall constitutional scheme, can it still be accorded the status of a constitutional amendment? Locating this issue in the extension of the compensation period under the GST regime in India, this paper seeks to provide an answer to these questions by using a practical setting. First, the source of parliamentary competence to bring about such an amendment is traced. By the use of constitutional theory and principles of statutory interpretation, is then demonstrated that such 'non-amending' provisions are undoubtedly an inherent part of the constitutional regime. Lastly, this paper proposes a model that covers both legislative powers of Parliament, that is, constituent power and ordinary law-making power. In the nature of a walk-through, this model explains the legislative process to be followed to bring about an extension of the compensation period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under Hindu law, while anciently an illegitimate child was not an alien to his kin as under Common law, the position under the codified Hindu law stood altered, likely as a consequence of the English influence during the colonization of India. This paper, critiquing the treatment of illegitimate children under Hindu law traces the historical link between legitimacy and marriage, and its legal and sociological basis. This link has been perpetrated across societies, over time, and through legal and moral media, and has also been justified by sociologists as a means to preserve the society, by preserving its fundamental constituent – a normative family. The Indian State machinery (courts, the government and the legislature) too suffers from an anxiety to protect the normative family (barring notable exceptions), and has been dismissive of any alternative, notwithstanding that the rights of illegitimate children is the collateral damage. Regardless, today this distinction contravenes the constitutional safeguards in India. More importantly, with the acceptance of novel reproductive techniques (such as artificial insemination), and familial setups (same-sex relationships), the sociological basis for the preservation of this distinction has become irrelevant. Accordingly, this paper argues for this distinction to be removed from the statutes, which would benefit all the three stakeholders relevant to the illegitimacy equation, namely, the unwed father, the mother, and the child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crowd control by police has been generally studied in the context of violence involving protestors and demonstrators. However, nonviolent crowds also pose equal challenges for the police. Major sporting events, musical festivals, religious and political celebrations attract large crowds that need sensitive policing. Nevertheless, policing tactics for the two situations are generally similar. Research on public order policing has relevance and lessons for policing of large non-violent crowds too. This paper presents a case study of police management of Ujjain Kumbh Mela, which attracts millions at one place for a religious ritual. We analyze characteristics of the crowd and strategies adopted by the police based upon extensive field data of the recent event of 2016. This study suggests that the Indian police, unaware of the research on public order policing followed many of the lessons reported in public order policing in western societies. We contend that experience and practice counts, but by institutionalizing research as part of its organization the Indian police could enhance it capabilities to handle serious challenges that confront it on a daily basis. Lessons for handling non-violent crowds in democratic societies are also drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using an unexpected government regulation that restricted the ability of microfinance institutions to recover loans in one Indian state, I examine whether this intervention affected bank loan performance. The bank loan delinquency rate significantly increased as a result. In response, the ex post bank credit supply declined by more than half. For identification, I compare loans from branches located in regions subject to this intervention with loans from nearby branches of the same bank located in regions not subject to the intervention. I conclude that political interventions in credit markets could have significant spillover effects. Received October 29, 2016; editorial decision November 28, 2017 by Editor Philip Strahan. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider whether the representation of historically disenfranchised minorities in government can reduce violence suffered by these groups. To answer this question, we examine the impact of political parties that represent India's marginalized Scheduled Castes (SCs). We address the endogenous selection of minority-favoring parties using state-level variation in aggregations of close election outcomes. We find that a 10 percentage-point increase in representation reduces the minority murder rate by 3 percentage points. An analysis of channels suggests that politicians respond to minority constituents by increasing police effort in responding to the victimization of SCs, which may have the effect of deterring future offenders. Moreover, improvements in self-reported attitudes toward government institutions suggest that our results are not the product of negative reporting bias in government crime statistics (JEL : J15, D72, K14). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years there have been conscious efforts put by researchers in India to generate the soil-to-plant 137Cs transfer factor values. This review study is aimed at providing a comprehensive background of 137Cs transfer rates around the environs of a few nuclear power plant sites of India. As a part of this, the study looked into 137Cs transfer rates from soil to various plant species. The effort was made to quantify the transfer rates of 137Cs and various parameters affecting the movement of 137Cs in the terrestrial environment. The past and current knowledge on 137Cs transfer factors available in the literature were reviewed thoroughly and highlighted the need for incorporating lesser known and overlooked aspects of radionuclide behaviour for future studies. The paper also tried to identify and highlight the gaps and inconsistencies in the reported values of 137Cs transfer factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In India, 38.7% of adults are exposed to SHS at home and 30.2% at work. This paper estimates the direct economic costs of diseases attributable to secondhand smoking (SHS) in India for persons aged 15 years and above.Aims and Methods: Nationally representative data on healthcare expenditures, healthcare utilization, and SHS prevalence were used to estimate economic costs attributable to SHS. A prevalence-based attributable risk approach was used for estimating the attributable direct costs. To estimate the SHS-attributable fraction, the excess utilization of healthcare among SHS exposed non-smokers compared to unexposed non-smokers was estimated using a method of propensity score matching (PSM).Results: The annual direct economic costs attributable to SHS from all diseases in India in the year 2017 for persons aged more than 15 years amounted to INR 566.7 billion (USD 8.7 billion). This amounted to INR 705 per adult non-smoker. The SHS attributable costs were higher among the youngest age group 20 to 24, and women bear 71% of the direct medical costs attributable to SHS.Conclusions: The annual direct economic costs of SHS amount to approximately 0.33% of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or 8.1% of total healthcare expenditures in India. It is also much larger than the total excise tax revenue from cigarettes and bidis. As bidi smoking is the most popular form of smoking in India and bidis are mostly consumed by the poor, a disproportionate burden of SHS is likely borne by poor households in India.Implications: In India, 38.7% of adults are exposed to SHS at home and 30.2% at work. However, there is no estimate of the economic burden of any kind from SHS exposure in India. This study used a prevalence-based attributable risk approach combined with a PSM technique to estimate excess healthcare utilization for SHS exposed non-smokers and the annual direct economic costs of SHS in India. Annual direct SHS-attributable costs in India is INR 566.7 billion (USD 8.7 billion) SHS costs constituted 0.33% of GDP and 8.1% of healthcare expenditures in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we intend to evaluate the rate of radon and thoron exhalation from soil with reference to the underlying bedrock and gamma dose rate in the environment of elevated granitic hill—Nandi hills of Karnataka. The measurement of exhalation rates for all the soil samples collected from study area was carried out using a continuous radon–thoron monitor (Smart RnDuo monitor). The surface exhalation rate of thoron from soil samples were found to vary from 4160 ± 326 to 21 822 ± 634 mBq m−2 s−1. The mass exhalation rate of radon from soil samples were found to vary from 76 ± 6 to 269 ± 19 mBq kg−1 h−1. Concentrations of radon activity measurements were carried out for all the groundwater samples from study area. A detailed analysis along with physicochemical parameters of water has been made and discussed in this research paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the effect of India's rural public works program on rural-to-urban migration and urban labor markets. We find that seasonal migration from rural districts that implemented the program decreased relative to those that were selected to, but did not implement it. We use a gravity model and find that real wages rose faster in cities with higher predicted migration from program districts. Since most seasonal migrants work outside of their district, urban wage increases were not limited to program districts, and may have attracted migrants from nonprogram districts. Difference-in-differences may hence be biased. Structural estimates indeed suggest that migration decreased by 22% in program districts, but also increased by 5% in nonprogram districts. As a result, urban wages increased by only 0.5%, against 4.1% if the program had been implemented in all selected districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indian Environmental Radiation Monitoring Network continuously monitors the outdoor natural gamma absorbed dose rate in air at different locations throughout India by employing Geiger–Mueller (GM) detector-based field-installed environmental radiation monitors (ERMs). Hyderabad, Telangana, India is known to have high natural background radiation levels due to the presence of high concentrations of primordial radionuclides in its granitic rocks. There are a total of 59 ERMs installed at various locations across Hyderabad. Long-term monitoring data of these locations are presented in this paper. The mean values of outdoor natural gamma absorbed dose rate in air at the monitoring locations were found to vary in the range of 104–258 nGy.h−1 with a mean of 193 ± 40 nGy.h−1. The mean annual effective dose due to outdoor natural gamma radiation was estimated to be 0.24 ± 0.05 mSv.y−1. Analysis of the long-term seasonal variation of outdoor natural gamma absorbed dose rate in air showed that the same was lowest during monsoons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the results of a two-year research project on the sources of success in regional clusters of entrepreneurship and innovation like Silicon Valley. Our project has studied a number of locations, most of which have shown spectacular rates of growth of information and communications technology-related activities during the 1990s. Our case studies comprise some emerging regions, notably in Ireland, India, Israel and Taiwan, along with more advanced areas like Northern Virginia in the US, Cambridge, UK, the Scandinavian countries and the Silicon Valley 40 years ago by way of the memory of one of its 'father founders', Gordon Moore. Through visits, interviews and other materials, we uncovered some regularities about the determinants of success of these entrepreneurial-led models of economic growth. We find that the economic factors that give rise to the start of a cluster can be very different from those that keep it going. Agglomeration economies, external effects and 'social increasing returns' of any sort arise almost naturally after a cluster has taken off But the most difficult and risky part is to get the new clusters started. At that stage, 'old economy' factors like firm-building capabilities, managerial skills, a substantial supply of skilled labor and connection to markets were crucial for the take off of these 'new economy' clusters (including Silicon Valley 40 years ago). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution is a growing concern in India, and its adverse health effects are well documented. Climate change is likely to exacerbate this problem by altering weather patterns and increasing the frequency and severity of extreme events. This paper examines the potential impact of climate change on ambient air pollution in India and its implications for policy design. Our analysis reveals that pollution in India is highly sensitive to variation in weather, particularly in the densely populated Indus-Gangetic Plain. Using our estimated relationship between weather and pollution, we predict that changing weather patterns will increase average PM2.5 concentrations by 3.1 µg/m3, leading to a loss of 364 million years of life expectancy. To address this challenge, we propose an emissions fee calibrated to be highest in regions most vulnerable to persistently high levels of pollution and most sensitive to future deterioration in air quality due to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, community health governance structures have been established in many low and middle-income countries (LMICs) as part of decentralization policies aimed at strengthening primary healthcare systems. So far, most studies on these local structures either focus on measuring their impact on health outcome or on identifying the factors that affect their performance. In this paper we offer an alternative contribution that draws on a sociological interpretation of community health governance to improve understanding of how the government's policy vision and instrumentation translate to interactions that take place within local spaces at field level. We study 13 Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committees (VHSNCs) in Karnataka, India, from 2016 to 2018 focusing on sanitation, nutrition and hygiene which remain impediments to improving primary healthcare amongst poor and marginalized communities. Three local governance mechanisms of horizontal coordination, demand for accountability and self-help help to explain improvements that have taken place at village level and contribute to the creation of a new theory of community health governance as evolving phenomenon that requires a constant process of learning from the field to strengthen policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the role of home-host country alliances in reducing transaction costs in the internationalisation process. We test hypotheses about the role of country-level alliances and firm internationalisation with comprehensive longitudinal multi-industry data on 623 acquisitions made by Indian multinational enterprises (MNEs) between 2000 and 2007 on a panel of 65 host countries. The results show that country alliances reduce the transaction costs arising from the distance between home-host countries, thereby positively influencing the internationalisation of Indian MNEs. However, the extent of that influence depends upon the nature of the alliance. Our findings have significant implications for public policy and theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weather is a key source of income risk, especially in emerging market economies. This paper uses a randomized controlled trial involving Indian farmers to study how an innovative rainfall insurance product affects production decisions. We find that insurance provision induces farmers to invest more in higher-return but rainfall-sensitive cash crops, particularly among educated farmers. This shift in behavior occurs ex ante, when realized monsoon rainfall is still uncertain. Our results suggest that financial innovation can mitigate the real effects of uninsured production risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foldscope Instruments, Inc. creates and distributes low-cost, high-quality scientific tools to communities around the world to help advance education, research, and medical diagnostics. The Foldscope—a high-quality microscope created for less than a dollar in parts—was created in 2015. To date, the Foldscope has reached 1.6 million people worldwide in over 160 countries. A few notable uses for the Foldscope include identification of microscopic eggs of agricultural pests in India, creation of a catalog of the biodiversity of soil arthropods in the Amazon, detection of fake currency and medicine, following toxic blooms, detection of bacteria in water samples, and mapping of pollen diversity in a city landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The number of patients with visual impairment and blindness from glaucoma is rapidly increasing with wide-ranging impacts for individuals and societies. However, the disease often goes undiagnosed for a long time, especially in low- and middle-income countries where healthcare services are limited. This paper presents the results of a pilot programme, which integrated targeted glaucoma screenings of people aged ≥40 y in community-based eye care services in the Ganjam district of Odisha state, India. Methods Using routine programme data, descriptive statistics were produced for the characteristics of patients participating in the screening programme and the rate and uptake of glaucoma referrals. Bivariate analysis was used to examine associations between patient characteristics, clinical risk factors and glaucoma diagnosis. Results Out of 23 356 individuals aged ≥40 y screened for glaucoma over a period of 18 mo, 2219 (9.5%) were referred and 2031 presented for further examination. Among them, almost half (n=968, 48%) were diagnosed with glaucoma, representing a screening to diagnosis conversion rate of 4.14% (95% CI 3.9 to 4.4%). A positive diagnosis of glaucoma among suspects was associated with female sex, age >60 y, visual impairment, vertical cap-to-disc ratio ≥0.6:1, intraocular pressure ≥30 mmHg and shallow anterior chamber (p<0.001). Conclusions The importance of targeted screening for glaucoma using simple referral criteria to identify patients at high risk of vision loss who can benefit from treatment is critical to slow the progression of the disease and the prevention of blindness. Further studies assessing costs of the targeted screening, the role of technology in improving programme effectiveness and efficiency and the longer term compliance with treatment are needed to support glaucoma policy frameworks, guidelines and clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, where around 19,500 dialects are spoken, there is a great abundance of fiction quite rich in varied descriptions of old age and aging. While scholars like Pramod K. Nayar and Ira Raja have recently begun studying Indian literary texts written in English from the perspective of literary gerontology, those literary experiences of aging (which are originally in languages like Bengali, Tamil, Hindi, Oriya, etc.) are yet to be analyzed from a gerontological point of view. The present paper aims at studying the experiences of old age in 2 Indian short stories (one from Bengali Literature and another from Tamil Literature)—Bibhutibhusan Bandyopadhyay's "Drabomoyee Goes to Kashi" ("Drabomoyeer Kashibash" in Bengali) and T. Janakiraman's "The Puppet" ("Vilayattu Bommai" in Tamil). Regarding "Drabomoyee Goes to Kashi," the paper interrogates the problems in the emplacement of Hindu older widows to Kashi and explores the possibilities in Drabomoyee from ecofeminist and creatural perspectives. The discussions on "The Puppet" chiefly reflect on the social exclusion of the aging bodies of people living with dementia. Through the story of Venu, the paper shows that what the society or family generally expects from the older persons suffering from dementia may not do any good to them, and may instead lead to their institutionalization and other forms of exclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The basic story of global inequality in the last three decades has been an overall decline, but one which is composed of quite intricate patterns. There has been a decline in between-country inequality as China and India have grown relative to the US and other rich countries. This has been accompanied by an increase in within-country inequality, but this is itself composed of rising inequality in some countries such as China, India, and the US, and declining inequality in other countries, including large economies in Latin America. Section II of the paper reviews these patterns, highlighting country diversity to make the central point that policy matters. Section III addresses a normative question—what relative weight should be given to within-country and between-country inequality in making an overall global assessment? This section brings on board recent philosophical discourse, including on inequality of opportunity in a global frame. Section IV returns to the 'policy matters' theme and takes up global constraints on national redistribution policy in a globalized world: for example, a race to the bottom on taxation to attract and keep capital and talent, and possible global institutional responses to alleviate these constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Recently, the Indian government launched health insurance schemes for the poor both to protect them from high health spending and to improve access to high-quality health services. This article aims to review the potentials of health insurance interventions in order to improve access to quality care in India based on experiences of community health insurance schemes. Data sources PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE (R), All EBM Reviews, CSA Sociological Abstracts, CSA Social Service Abstracts, EconLit, Science Direct, the ISI Web of Knowledge, Social Science Research Network and databases of research centers were searched up to September 2010. An Internet search was executed. Study selection One thousand hundred and thirty-three papers were assessed for inclusion and exclusion criteria. Twenty-five papers were selected providing information on eight schemes. Data extraction A realist review was performed using Hirschman's exit-voice theory: mechanisms to improve exit strategies (financial assets and infrastructure) and strengthen patient's long voice route (quality management) and short voice route (patient pressure). Results of data synthesis All schemes use a mix of measures to improve exit strategies and the long voice route. Most mechanisms are not effective in reality. Schemes that focus on the patients’ bargaining position at the patient-provider interface seem to improve access to quality care. Conclusion Top-down health insurance interventions with focus on exit strategies will not work out fully in the Indian context. Government must actively facilitate the potential of CHI schemes to emancipate the target group so that they may transform from mere passive beneficiaries into active participants in their health. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background This study is part of a multicountry matched-cohort study designed to estimate the risk of long-term neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI) of children exposed to invasive group B Streptococcus (iGBS). The specific objective of this paper is to compare NDI across domains of iGBS survivors with a matched non iGBS group in our population. Methods Survivors of iGBS in a South Indian hospital were identified and recruited between January 2020 and April 2021. Cases were compared with age- and gender-matched non iGBS children. Participants were assessed using Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development–3rd edition (BSID-III), Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence–4th edition (WPPSI-IV), Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–5th edition (WISC-V), Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, 2nd edition (BOT-2), depending on age. Results Our cohort comprised 35 GBS-exposed and 65 matched non iGBS children, aged 1–14 years. The iGBS-exposed group had 17 (48.6%) children with impairment in ≥1 domain compared to 25 (38%) in the non iGBS group (unadjusted OR, 1.51; 95% CI,.65–3.46), 9 (26%) children with "multi-domain impairment" compared to 10 (15.4%) in the non iGBS group (unadjusted OR, 1.90; 95% CI,.69–5.24), and 1 (2.9%) child with moderate to severe impairment compared to 3 (4.6%) in the non iGBS group (unadjusted OR,.60; 95% CI,.06–6.07). In the iGBS group, more children had motor impairments compared with the non iGBS group (unadjusted OR, 10.7; 95% CI, 1.19–95.69; P  = .034). Conclusions Children with iGBS seem at higher risk of developing motor impairments compared with a non iGBS group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India with a population of 1.3 billion has a unique health care system in its different states. Mental health care varies widely across the country and this became even more apparent after the COVID-19 pandemic set in. This paper examines the various strategies in response to COVID-19 adopted by the Government of India, the health departments of the individual states, and other private players such as on-government organizations and the civil society. The cessation of many services including outpatient and inpatient care and the scarcity of medicines were serious impacts of COVID-19. The prolonged lockdown in many parts of the country impeded access to mental health care services since public transport was unavailable. This led to many relapses in persons with serious mental disorders. The emergence of new cases of psychosis and an increase in suicides were also seen. Tele consultations came to the fore and many helplines were started offering counseling and guidance regarding the availability of mental health care facilities. While these helped the urban dwellers, those in remote and rural areas were unable to use these services effectively. Many mental health wards were used for COVID-19 patients and mental health professionals were deployed for COVID-19 related duty. The severely mentally ill, the homeless mentally ill, and the elderly were especially vulnerable. Based on our experience with COVID-19, we urge a strong call for action, in terms of strengthening the primary care facilities and increasing the manpower resources to deliver mental health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a serious public health problem, with >300 000 affected births worldwide each year. About 73% of the SCD-affected people in India belong to the tribal population. The Government of India is planning to implement a programme for SCD and hence people's knowledge of SCD is crucial. This paper reports the SCD-related knowledge among the Indian tribal population. Methods As part of a formative assessment before an intervention, data were collected from 9837 adults from 24 primary health centre areas of six states. Each community's knowledge of SCD was elicited through an interviewer-administered pretested questionnaire. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. Results Overall, 32.1% (CI 31.2 to 33.1%) of participants had heard of SCD, 7.9% (CI: 7.3 to 8.4%) knew that SCD is hereditary, 19.4% (CI: 18.7 to 20.3%) knew that a blood test can diagnose SCD and 23.9% (CI: 23.1 to 24.8%) knew that SCD is treatable. Only 13.1% (CI: 12.4 to 13.8%) knew that SCD can be prevented. No more than 16% knew about any SCD symptoms. Multiple logistic regression revealed some predictors of basic knowledge (i.e. had heard of SCD). Conclusions There is a gross inadequacy of knowledge about SCD in the Indian tribal population. This study warrants implementing a health education programme as a part of the SCD programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SHRUG is an open data platform describing multidimensional socioeconomic development across 600,000 villages and towns in India. This paper presents three illustrative analyses only possible with high-resolution data. First, it confirms that nighttime lights are highly significant proxies for population, employment, per capita consumption, and electrification at very local levels. However, elasticities between night-lights and these variables are far lower in time series than in cross section, and vary widely across context and level of aggregation. Next, this study shows that the distribution of manufacturing employment across villages follows a power law: the majority of rural Indians have considerably less access to manufacturing employment than is suggested by aggregate data. Third, a poverty mapping exercise explores local heterogeneity in living standards and estimates the potential targeting improvement from allocating programs at the village—rather than at the district—level. The SHRUG can serve as a model for open high-resolution data in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sustainable Development Goals set a triple educational objective: improve access to, quality of, and gender equity in education. This paper documents the effectiveness of a multifaceted educational program, pursuing these three objectives simultaneously. Using an experiment in 229 schools in rural Rajasthan (India), the study measures the effects of the program on students' school participation and academic performance over two years, while also examining heterogeneous impacts across gender and initial learning ability. It finds that the program increased student enrollment, with the largest effects among girls (7.2 percent in the first year, 12.8 percent in the second). There were large learning gains of 0.329 standard deviations (SDs) in the first year and 0.206 SDs at the end of the second year. The learning component of the intervention targeted both boys and girls – boys and girls benefited equally from the program in terms of test score gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case‐crossover analysis is used as a simple but powerful tool for estimating the effect of short‐term environmental factors such as extreme temperatures or poor air quality on mortality. The environment on the day of each death is compared to the one or more "control days" in previous weeks, and higher levels of exposure on death days than control days provide evidence of an effect. Current state‐of‐the‐art methodology and software (integrated nested Laplace approximation [INLA]) cannot be used to fit the most flexible case‐crossover models to large datasets, because the likelihood for case‐crossover models cannot be expressed in a manner compatible with this methodology. In this paper, we develop a flexible and scalable modeling framework for case‐crossover models with linear and semiparametric effects which retains the flexibility and computational advantages of INLA. We apply our method to quantify nonlinear associations between mortality and extreme temperatures in India. An R package implementing our methods is publicly available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper generally explores the role of legislative counsel within the lawmaking process. It considers different ways that legislative counsel work to strengthen the democratic principle within that process. It also considers how the context of a small maturing government may impact this role. The case of underdeveloped instructions is explored throughout this paper as a means to investigate how legislative counsel can ensure that, in working with clients, their actions strengthen the democratic principle as oppose to weaken it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the recent effort of Indian Companies Act, 2013 to incorporate stakeholder theory approach by way of significant provisions dealing with mandatory corporate social responsibility spending and director's duty towards stakeholders. This paper identifies lack of monitoring and enforcement mechanism as major challenges in implementing the stakeholder approach in the Companies Act, 2013. This paper suggests incorporating mandatory stakeholder grievance remedial mechanism and stakeholder due diligence requirement for strengthening the stakeholder approach adopted in the Companies Act, 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the dynamic nature of rainfall insurance purchasing decisions. Customers of the Indian microfinance institution BASIX who receive an insurance payout are 9 to 22 percentage points more likely to purchase insurance the following year. This effect cannot be satisfactorily explained by trust, learning, or direct effects of weather, leading to the conclusion that it is driven by behavioral effects. Overall, low repurchasing rates even after payouts suggest that the studied rainfall index insurance products are likely to continue struggling to achieve significant sales at market prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses corporate-led jobless growth propelled by development-induced displacement caused by land acquisition by the State. It shows as its inevitable outcome an expanding informal sector which encroaches upon land-related natural resources allocated to the corporate sector. This reduces the latter's labour productivity and competitiveness along with negative impact on environment and social cohesion. Using the example of India as a multiparty democracy, the paper points to the emergence of a dangerous developmental politics of mutualism between political parties and corporations over land acquisition, which subverts the very democratic process through which political power is wielded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infant massage is a highly prevalent traditional practice in India and other parts of Asia. Clear guidance on safe and effective uses of infant massage is lacking especially in the contemporary times when the traditional knowledge is on the verge of extinction and preparations may differ from in the past. This paper presents a consensus guidance in the form of a standardized protocol for routine massage of infants in home settings. Furthermore, a feasible method to develop an integrative protocol involving traditional and modern medicine experts is described. A modified e-Delphi method was used to develop the protocol. A group of seventeen experts, including academicians and practitioners from disciplines as modern paediatrics, Ayurveda paediatrics, Physiotherapy and Naturopathy participated in three rounds of a Delphi study to evolve the consensus guidance. The present protocol for massage of infants born beyond 34 weeks of gestation and weighing above 1.8 kg is recommended for use by care givers. This provides guidance on the preparation for infant massage such as when to begin massaging the infant, checking fitness of the infant for massage, the appropriate time, environment, person and substance for infant massage and a detailed description of the procedure for infant massage. Paediatricians, obstetricians and other child care practitioners can use this protocol to guide care givers on how to peform infant massage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of 'legal pluralism' in India is conditioned and facilitated by the democratic state's commitment to protect religious freedom and uphold sociocultural diversity. Community-based adjudicating institutions such as the Darul Qaza (also known as Sharia court) function within this constitutional framework but every citizen also has the right to approach a state court as and when they deem necessary. So far, the discourse on Islam, personal law, and the secular state has revolved around parliamentary debates, judicial activism, and legislative changes where the focus has been on the question of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and gender justice. The discussion on personal law has rarely paid serious academic attention to the complexities of kinship conflicts embedded in affective as well as economic and legal matrix or more importantly how they are resolved. Drawing on an ethnographic study of the jurisprudential practices of Sharia courts in Uttar Pradesh, India, the paper offers a lens to understand how conflict resolution in family matters takes place in a legal plural landscape ensconced between citizenship rights and community practices. We argue that understanding this process also offers important insights on the shifting meaning of secularism 1,2 in contemporary India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aims to explore the transformations in the relation of global health and capitalism during the last three decades and its reflections on the nature of power relations between the state, local and transnational capital in the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Methods: In this study, the effects of the developments in the international political economy after TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) in the global pharmaceutical sector and in the Indian local sector are examined within the framework of the International Relations discipline. In this sense, a historical review of the Global Patent Regime has been made and a literature review has been conducted on the global pharmaceutical industry, drug patents and post-TRIPS agreements. Qualitative research method is used in the study in which the literature review is evaluated in an empirical and theoretical framework. Key findings: The Global Patent Regime has been constructed for the interests of the transnational capitalist hegemon and in this sense has increased inequality in the global health. However, when the changes created by the global economy in the pharmaceutical sector, cooperation between the Southern countries and state policies are analysed, it is seen that a struggle area has been formed. This struggle adds value to global health in terms of access to medicine. Conclusions: In transnational capitalism, the emergence of the state in strategic sectors such as the pharmaceutical sector in India indicates a new political and economic power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adolescents (10-19 years old) comprise a fifth of the Indian population (253.2 million), yet there is very little published information about the burden of disease and injury for this age group. This paper aims to provide a contemporary picture of the leading causes of death and disability for Indian adolescent girls and boys for 2013, and changes in deaths and disability between 1990 and 2013.Methods: Data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study for India, for the years 1990 and 2013, were accessed. Data were categorized into two age groups: 10 to 14 years (younger adolescents) and 15 to 19 years (older adolescents) and analysed separately for girls and boys.Results: The study shows that for both younger and older adolescent boys and for older adolescent girls, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries are responsible for a greater number of deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) than communicable diseases. Communicable diseases are still important causes of death and disability for young adolescents. Among older adolescents there is an increasing burden of death and disability due to self-harm, road traffic injuries, fire- and heat-related injuries and mental disorders such as depressive disorders.Conclusions: Although strategies to reduce the burden of communicable diseases among adolescents must continue to be an important focus, innovative, evidence-based strategies aimed at reducing the growing burden of NCDs and injuries must be elevated as a priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the highlights of the conference, "Tamil Cinema: History, Culture, Theory," which was held in Chennai, India, on August 15-19, 1997. The conference, organized by M.S.S. Panadian of the Madras Institute of Development Studies, showcased both national and international scholarship on Tamil cinema.

India's mass drug administration (MDA) programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (PELF) covers all 250 endemic districts, but compliance with treatment is not adequate for the programme to succeed in eradicating this neglected tropical disease. The objective of our study was to systematically review published studies on the coverage of and compliance with MDA under the PELF in India. We searched several databases—PubMed/Medline, Google Scholar, CINAHL/EBSCO, Web of Knowledge (including Web of Science) and OVID—and by applying selection criteria identified a total of 36 papers to include in the review.Overall MDA coverage rates varied between 48.8% and 98.8%, while compliance rates ranged from 20.8% to 93.7%. The coverage–compliance gap is large in many MDA programmes. The effective level of compliance, ≥65%, was reported in only 10 of a total of 31 MDAs (5 of 20 MDAs in rural areas and 2 of 12 MDAs in urban areas). The review has identified a gap between coverage and compliance, and potentially correctable causes of this gap. These causes need to be addressed if the Indian programme is to advance towards elimination of lymphatic filariasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the Indian government's Unique Identification ( UID) program, the largest digital biometric program in history. UID is intended to provide a new model of security based on a complex interrelation between welfare, identity and rights. The program resembles the kind of liberal governmentality and biopolitical imperative described by Foucault, yet it is also inseparable from the specific socio-historic conditions in India that constitute the strategic need for UID. This paper contributes to an ongoing debate as to the suitability of Foucault's thought for international studies by suggesting a productive line of inquiry: tracing the variance between the rationality of government programs and the technologies of enactment. The paper utilizes three methodological 'prescriptives' from Foucault's concept of the dispositif, which are applied to the case study. This paper argues that the concrete application of the program challenges the perception that biometric technologies can guarantee the identity and inclusion of the political subject when applied across different geographies with different socio-historical conditions. The specific discursive and non-discursive conditions present in the application of UID lead to unexpected political strategies. While India's UID program seeks to augment the population with the biometric identity necessary for consumer citizenship, frugal government and expanded surveillance, those whose bodies are not 'readable' by the biometric technology are excluded. It is exactly those subjects that the program aims to help that are most likely to be excluded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The logic of fuzzy sets derived from the mathematical theory developed by Zadeh (1965) has not only influenced the development of fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fs/QCA), but has also found entry into poverty research. The aim of this paper is to point the reader to these parallel developments. Poverty researchers necessarily have to make two methodological choices which are always contestable: the identification of a poverty line or threshold, the identification problem, and the choice of a unit of analysis as well as of a measure, the aggregation problem. Current theoretical and practical contributions to poverty research have pointed to the vagueness of the concept itself and the complexity of its measurement and have made use of fuzzy set logic to address these challenges. As shall be argued, fuzzy set theory provides a solution or at least a less arbitrary way forward to address these problems and is particularly suitable for the analysis of multidimensional poverty. Using unique household level data from two villages of Andhra Pradesh, India from 2007, the paper provides an illustrative example of what steps to take to derive a multidimensional poverty index based on fuzzy set theory and discusses the distinct advantages such a procedure offers for policy analysis and evaluation purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of physical inactivity in India is estimated to be at 34%, the highest among South Asian nations. Interventions, such as outdoor gymnasiums/gyms, aiming to promote physical activity, are becoming popular worldwide, including in India. This paper presents the first empirical evidence on outdoor gyms in India from a qualitative perspective. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews of 56 outdoor gym stakeholders—40 users, 10 non-users, 4 healthcare providers and 2 outdoor gym implementing municipality authorities were conducted in the National Capital Region of India. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed through the Framework Method. The qualitative findings present the perceived benefits, barriers/challenges to using and provide insights for further improving and scaling up outdoor gyms in India. Health enhancement in the form of improved general fitness, body weight control and diversification of physical exercise routines, social connectivity, easy accessibility, affordability, green outdoor surroundings, and a place of intrigue and attraction in respective parks were the major reported benefits of outdoor gyms. Low gym equipment to user ratio was one of the major challenges to gym use across the user group. Healthcare providers and non-users were majorly concerned about the potentially incorrect and unsupervised use of outdoor gym equipment. Major suggestions for improvement were increasing the number of equipment installed, regular equipment maintenance, and the presence of an on-site physical exercise trainer. Outdoor gymnasiums present as a viable option for promoting physical activity and should be scaled up systematically to improve the health of the populations across India and other similar nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper examines whether participating in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program (NREGA) is associated with the likelihood of smoking among program participants in India.Methods: We use two-stage residual inclusion (2SRI) estimation method and two waves of India Human Development Surveys completed before (2005) and after (2012) NREGA implementation.Results: The likelihood of smoking increased with NREGA participation. For every 10% increase in NREGA income, the likelihood of smoking bidis (but not cigarettes) increased by 0.88 percentage point. A bidi, a stick of unprocessed tobacco wrapped in temburini leaves, is a significantly cheaper alternative to cigarettes. Nonparticipants who had a comparable increase in income between the two India Human Development Survey waves did not show an increase in likelihood of smoking. The heterogeneity in NREGA treatment effect shows that smoking tendency is not influenced by caste/religion or literacy.Conclusions: NREGA, as the largest workfare program, most certainly has had a significantly positive influence on the rural poor in India. The findings highlight its small but meaningful influence of a negative health behavior, greater likelihood of uptake of smoking bidis/hookah among program participants.Implications: Existing studies have found mixed evidence of an exogenous increase in income among low-income adults and its impact on smoking. No studies to date have tested the influence of workfare programs in rural areas of developing countries, where unemployment rates are higher and a substantial share of population in those areas is poor. Based on participation in employment guarantee programs as a proxy for exogenous increase in guaranteed income among rural population in India, we find that participants in the program were more likely to smoke bidis/hookah but not cigarettes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has caused unprecedented challenge to manage the bodies of the dead. The disposal of the dead becomes a challenge as there is a shortage of coffins, and crematoriums are overwhelmed. A recent correspondence published in the Journal of Public Health highlighted the importance of performing the last rites in a time of COVID-19 pandemic. This paper argues that the bodies of those who have died because of COVID-19 should be treated with respect and dignity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Planning for mass gatherings often includes temporary healthcare systems to address the needs of attendees. However, paper-based record keeping has traditionally precluded the timely application of collected clinical data for epidemic surveillance or optimization of healthcare delivery. We evaluated the feasibility of harnessing ubiquitous mobile technologies for conducting disease surveillance and monitoring resource utilization at the Allahabad Kumbh Mela in India, a 55-day festival attended by over 70 million people. Methods We developed an inexpensive, tablet-based customized disease surveillance system with real-time analytic capabilities, and piloted it at five field hospitals. Results The system captured 49 131 outpatient encounters over the 3-week study period. The most common presenting complaints were musculoskeletal pain (19%), fever (17%), cough (17%), coryza (16%) and diarrhoea (5%). The majority of patients received at least one prescription. The most common prescriptions were for antimicrobials, acetaminophen and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. There was great inter-site variability in caseload with the busiest hospital seeing 650% more patients than the least busy hospital, despite identical staffing. Conclusions Mobile-based health information solutions developed with a focus on user-centred design can be successfully deployed at mass gatherings in resource-scarce settings to optimize care delivery by providing real-time access to field data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study of decentralised institutions for forest management brings out the varied dimensions of local institutions and politics as they interface with property rights and decentralisation. Unlike the economic literature on decentralisation that is dominated by normative and prescriptive arguments on how a shift towards decentralisation should take place, this paper makes a case for recentering of the political in the decentralisation literature. This political study of decentralisation does not prescribe decentralisation rules, but weighs the different social, economic and ecological outcomes under varied local conditions. It takes note of the diversity of local institutions and politics in the interpretation of formal rules, power relations, legal rights, moral claims, social custom, and the establishment of informal institutional arrangements. This is done in the context of questioning the typologies of neat property regimes that are broadly categorised as -- open-access, state, private and common property -- in the economic literature. These widely accepted typologies are tested at the local level and it is found that ownership does not necessarily refer to control and use of resources. The paper highlights the heterogeneity of property regimes under which the village communities manage the forests, and points out that specific state-society relations in particular villages determine the entitlements of the villagers. Importantly, the nature of collective action on decentralisation and negotiation of institutional design has an impact on the consequences at the local level. As the local reality is based on varied local resources, institutions, political processes and social capital, uniform national or state policies have very different local outcomes. This paper asks if it is possible to evolve policies that incorporate diverse institutional arrangements with a combination of different kinds of property rights under decentralised local governance management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In much of the developing world, cooking accounts for the largest share of women's time in home production. Does relying on solid fuels drive this time burden? This study revisits a clean energy information experiment in rural India to assess the time savings' potential of cleaner cooking technologies. Treatment villages were randomly assigned to receive information about negative health effects of cooking with solid fuels and about public subsidies for cleaner liquid petroleum gas (LPG). Time-use data indicate that primary cooks spend almost 24 hours cooking each week. Cleaner fuel use is correlated with about 140 minutes less cooking time each week. Yet households only reduce their weekly cooking time by about 35 minutes in response to the randomized clean energy information nudge. Factors limiting the impact of clean energy nudges on the choice of home production technologies and time use are discussed and an avenue for future research is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs the policy capacity framework to develop a multidimensional and nested policy analysis that is able to examine how different types of capacity--analytical, organizational, and political from different related levels of the health system--have contributed to both policy success and failure during the implementation of a politically significant national community health worker (CHW) program in India. Directed toward rural and urban marginalized populations in India, this CHW has become the world's largest CHW program. Launched in 2006, it has targeted communitization, strengthening of the primary health-care system, and universal health-care coverage, ultimately receiving an international award in 2022. We argue that, in a context of capacity deficits and tensions between different capacity domains, the individual political capacity has been more critical to policy success and strengthening. The analysis not only clarifies the ways in which the government took some initiatives to build up capacity but also highlights capacity deficits along different competency dimensions. This approach demonstrates the value of understanding and creating awareness concerning complex poor-resource settings and low organizational capacity while concomitantly building up the capacities needed to foster (workforce and leadership) strengthening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows that under weather variability the transformation from a rural to an incomplete market economy can increase the vulnerability of peasants to famine. This can occur even if improvements in technology have raised agricultural productivity and made production less responsive to weather variability. Indeed, negative environmental shocks can produce a drop in wages that outweighs the increase in wages due to an equivalent positive environmental shock. Consequently, the amount of grain stored increases more slowly in good seasons than it decreases in bad ones. This paper gives new insights on the catastrophic effects produced by widespread droughts in India during the second half of the 19th century. Notwithstanding the introduction of new modes of production and the modernization of infrastructures, the interaction between environmental variability and new institutional arrangements might have contributed to increase the vulnerability of peasants to famine. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports the results of formative and outcome evaluation of two ongoing community-based intervention programmes for integrated non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention and control in urban low-income settings of Ballabgarh near New Delhi, India, and in Depok, West Java Province of Indonesia. At both sites, a coalition of community members facilitated by academic institution and the World Health Organization, planned and implemented the intervention since 2004. The intervention consisted of advocacy and mediation with stakeholders, training of volunteers and school teachers, communication campaigns, risk assessment camps and reorientation of health services. The formative evaluation was based on the review of documents, and outcomes were assessed using the standardized surveys for NCD risk factors in 2003–2004 and 2006–2007. The baseline surveys showed that tobacco use, low intake of fruits and vegetable, suboptimal levels of physical activity and obesity were prevalent in both the communities. A frequent change in local administrators and lack of perceived priority for health and NCDs limited their involvement. Pre-existing engagement of community-based organizations and volunteers in health activities facilitated its implementation. The reach of the programme among the population was modest (25–32%). Health system interventions resulted in increased diagnosis and better management of NCDs at health facilities. Early outcome measures showed mixed results of change in different risk factors. The experiences gained are being used in both countries to expand and provide technical support to national efforts. This paper adds to the knowledge base on the feasibility of designing and implementing large-scale community-based interventions for integrated prevention of NCDs through modification of risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]