Search

Background: Animal studies are an indispensable part of fundamental and applied research essential for the advancement of human and veterinary health, including the current global quest for treatments and a vaccine development to combat the infectious diseases. This necessity is now clearly highlighted by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic More recently a growing number of studies are published on this theme. Therefore, a bibliometric analysis of research on "Animal models in Covid-19" research is necessary and it is likely to focus on current status of research and indicate future direction in this study. Materials and Methods: The India's originated literature is searched on "Animal Models in Covid-19" using two set of keywords related to Covid-19 and animals in "Keyword" and "Title" (Title of articles) tags to reach the relevant publications. VOSviewer was applied to perform the bibliometric analysis of these articles. Bibliographical data obtained from above search strategy was analysed by using well-established bibliometric indices. Results: The bibliometric analysis of India's literature on the topic "Animal Models in Covid-19" research indicates that there were 2343 India's publications indexed in Scopus database during 2020-21. The topic witnessed the uneven participation of more than 160 countries, where 88.63% and more than 100.0% share of the global publications and citations share caming from top 10 countries. USA leads the ranking with global publication share of 28.16% share, followed by China (13.30%, U.K. (10.67%), Italy (9.93%). India's research output on this topic registered 7.46% share to global output. The 496 organizations and 869 authors participated in India's research on "Animal Model in Covid-19", of which the top 25 Indian organizations and 25 authors contributed 46.58% and 22.60% share to India's national publication output and 61.19% and 48.8% share to India's citation output respectively. AIIMS - New Delhi, PGIMER-Chandigarh, and IVRI-Bareilly were the most productive organizations (with 118, 115 and 68 publications). IVRIBareilly, PGIMER-Chandigarh and College of Veterinary Science, Mathura were the impactful organizations in terms of citation per paper and relative citation index. K. Dharma, R. Tiwari and Y.S. Malik were the most productive authors (with 63, 35 and 27 papers). H. Harapan, A.K.Singh and A Misra were the most impactful authors (with 90.42, 88.20 and 73.31 CPP). International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Indian Journal of Medical Research and Diabetes and Metabolic Syndromes. Clinical Research and Review were the most productive journals (with 72, 56 and 50 papers). Conclusion: The paper provides a understanding of the current research on animal models presently used in Covid-19 research in India, identify key players and their collaboration patterns and key sub-fields, which may be useful to practicing scholars and clinicians to advance their future research in a more effective manner and to policymakers in deciding the area of research to be funded in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has very high rates of hospital-related transmission among healthcare workers (HCWs), mandating the need for careful intensive care unit (ICU) designing, optimization of staff resources, implementation of vigorous infection control practices, environmental disinfection, meticulous sample collection, and criteria for staff quarantine. Most of the ICUs are not designed to deal with airborne viral infections and require redesigning for the safety of HCWs and patients. Infection control practices related to the prevention of spread of COVD-19 are unique and are well described. The training of staff on infection control practices reduces the infection rate among HCWs significantly. Adequate staffing not only helps in infection control but also prevents burnout of the staff. In case of infection to HCW, the staff must be assessed systematically, and institute's infection control committee should guide for isolation period as well as return to work based upon standard recommendations. This article focuses on infection control and prevention measures required in ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is passing through a global pandemic of COVID 19. The number of positive cases has crossed over twenty thousand as of April 2020. Like everyone else, it is indeed a very challenging situation for family physicians and primary care providers as most of the guidelines presently have focused on screening, quarantine, isolation, and hospital-based management. Limited information or clarity is available on running small private clinics during pandemic times. The key concern is professional obligation versus risks of community transmission. Family physicians see routine flu-like illnesses throughout the year with seasonal variation within their practices. This document is intended to develop consensus and standard practices for the family physicians and other primary care providers during the pandemic, ensuring optimal continuity of care. This document was reviewed by the national executive of the Academy of Family Physicians of India and approved for dissemination among members. However, due to the dynamic status of the pandemic, all practitioners are advised to closely follow the instructions, guidelines, and advisories of national, state and local health authorities as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines productivity performance of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) vis-à-vis large firms in India's organised manufacturing sector in the backdrop of COVID-19. To address simultaneity and endogeneity associated with firm size and productivity, the paper applies the Levinsohn and Petrin method to an unbalanced panel to estimate the production function and calculate the total factor productivity (TFP). The results suggest that productivity levels in financial years 2012 to 2022 were comparable between MSME firms and large firms, with the latter performing marginally better. TFP growth stagnated in the pre-pandemic period for both MSMEs and large firms. Post-COVID-19, productivity increased for both large firms and MSMEs, with productivity growth in MSMEs catching up with that of large firms. [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]

This paper presents a hybrid model of teaching and learning that proposes new possibilities for exchanging tangible and intangible cross-cultural knowledge in textile craft education. The paper aims to demonstrate how online platforms can be used creatively to disseminate traditional craft knowledge and skills in new ways. The discussion centres on a unique virtual global studio between fashion and textile undergraduate students at the University of Technology Sydney and on an artisanal woodblock print studio, Tharangini, based in Bengaluru (Bangalore), India. The hybrid workshop was an adaptation of the studio in response to travel restrictions caused by the pandemic. The author argues that while the internet cannot replace the immersive cultural experience of studying in another country, digital platforms have a place alongside teaching to offer otherwise impossible opportunities. This paper explores a methodology for disseminating craft knowledge and skills across cultures through a combination of online and in-house practicum. Classes were structured around weekly Zoom sessions with Director Padmini Govind, where sustainable approaches to print production were disseminated through a suite of commissioned films and hand-carved woodblocks to explore on campus. The results show how this unique adaptation allowed students to interact with the artisan craft of woodblock printing in rich and varied ways, and it proposes that this novel hybrid model can be creatively adapted to future craft education in the 2020s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper investigates the dynamic nature of risk in pre-, during- and post-COVID duration. It investigates how commercial office portfolio stakeholders in India perceived risk during the COVID pandemic, their risk response and mitigation strategies, and emerging structural changes that would impact the commercial office portfolio (COP) in the post-COVID period. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative and applied research method is adopted for the study. Through purposive sampling, commercial office portfolio stakeholders were selected and interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire having two parts. In the first part, risk attributes were accessed on the Likert scale and in the second part there were open-ended questions. Findings: The uncertainty during the COVID period increased the risk perception significantly. There was a sense of urgency to retain the tenants, preserve the headline rentals and keep the properties operational. COP managers were forthcoming to offer rent deferments, common area maintenance discounts and upgrades in the physical office in form of touchless equipment, better air filters, etc. Post-pandemic there would be extensive use of technology and data for facility management and space utilization analytics; mainstreaming of hybrid working and flexible office spaces; increased certification of buildings; adoption of ESG and sustainability norms; and better-designed buildings with a focus on EHS and wellbeing. Practical implications: Identifying structural changes in the post-pandemic period will help the COP managers to align their portfolios to the emerging office market requirements. Originality/value: This study helps in developing an understanding of the dynamic nature of the risk across pre-, during- and post-COVID periods. And risk responses and mitigation strategies adopted during the COVID period in an emerging market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extent of COVID 19 pandemic results in closing down the universities and colleges across the world. The most vulnerable of tuition-dependent institutions, particularly the ones already facing demographically driven declines in demand, will be the hardest hit by the pandemic. The online teaching learning and assessment at this time becomes a crucial part of education. Taking the online test was crucial as lots of malpractices would happen. The developing countries like India, where the advancement of e-learning, online education, MOOC has not reached to its peak level, the assessment and evaluation of students becomes very difficult. Due to unforeseen situation like COVID-19 lockdown, the above paper shares a fruitful experience of conducting online case study-based paper and its online evaluation. The case study was conducted in the classrooms of the undergraduate class of NMIMS University for Multimedia Systems Course. This case study-based paper leaves with the message of acceptability of the online teaching-learning and its effect near the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: As Covid-19 became a pandemic, numerous people were forced to stay at home, leading to increased intimate partner violence (IPV) in many countries, particularly in developing and least-developed ones. This paper aims to highlight the IPV based on 15 different cases formed from the practical evidence of five developing countries. Design/methodology/approach: The authors interviewed 15 women from five countries who were the victims of IPV during the early periods of Covid-19 outbreak. Due to geographical remoteness, the authors conducted informal telephone interviews to collect the participants' personal experiences. The conversations were recorded with participants' permission; afterwards, the authors summarized participants' experiences into 15 different cases without revealing their original identities (instead, disguised names were used). Findings: It was revealed that the women were the primary victims of such violence, particularly from their intimate partners (husbands). In most cases, such IPV, as reported by the interviewees, originated or increased after the pandemic when they were forced to stay at home, losing their partners' jobs or income sources. Originality/value: The authors summarized the causes of IPV and put forward a few action recommendations based on the interviewees' practical experience and existing literature. This paper will open a new window for research investigations on IPV during emergencies such as Covid-19 outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines how Hindu nationalist social service organizations, specifically the Deseeya Seva Bharathi (DSB), reconfigured the religious conception of 'Seva' to advance the project of constructing a Hindu social identity during the COVID-19 pandemic in the state of Kerala. The southern Indian state of Kerala has remained an exception in the story of the rise of the Hindu nationalist movement in contemporary India, which has repeatedly failed to make any considerable political inroads in the state. However, the disastrous economic consequences and livelihood challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic in the state, which was heavily dependent on foreign remittance and service industries, have opened up new spaces of engagement for Hindu nationalists. Drawing on the fieldwork conducted in central Kerala during the pandemic, this paper will elaborate on how the DSB used the crisis moment of the pandemic to reach out to economically and socially disadvantaged communities using the language of 'Seva' to build a Hindu social identity, which imbues the influence of majoritarian Hindu nationalist politics. The paper argues that the DSB's articulation of 'Seva' as a distinct and superior form of social service that is 'self-less', 'non-instrumental' and 'non-reciprocal' is significant in understanding the growing appeal of Hindu nationalist social service in the contested political sphere of Kerala, which is marked by competing social provisions by the state as well as other secular and religious groups. The paper notes that the reconfiguration of 'Seva' as a continuous religious concept enables Hindu nationalists to attain greater acceptance and legitimacy that even the secular state welfare could not achieve, while also concealing the inherent instrumental nature of its social service towards the construction of a Hindu social identity in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: During the COVID-19 pandemic, many working mothers in India adopted involuntary telecommuting work option for the first time. However, no research explored their adjustments and experiences in the new work setting. This paper aims to gain an in-depth understanding of Indian working mothers' lived experience of involuntary telecommuting. Design/methodology/approach: A phenomenological research design was adopted. The authors conducted 14 in-depth, semi-structured telephonic and online interviews. Data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis framework. Findings: The data analysis yielded two interconnected superordinate themes in this research: (1) characteristics of involuntary telecommuting and (2) the impact of involuntary telecommuting. Under the first theme, four sub-themes emerged: long working hours, increased family demands, reduced interaction with coworkers and technology-enabled communication with supervisors. The second theme comprised five sub-themes: time-based work interference with family, time-based family interference with work, strain-based family interference with work, absence of emotional and professional support and performance management concerns. Involuntary telecommuting mothers faced challenges due to lack of control over their daily work schedule and demands, along with an increased burden of unpaid household work, leading to difficulties in managing their work schedule and negotiating their professional role identity within the family. These findings emphasize that working mothers who participated in involuntary telecommuting encountered bidirectional time-based conflicts and unidirectional strain-based conflict. Research limitations/implications: The study examines a particular subset of women telecommuters who were working mothers with young children. These potential limitations are to be addressed in future research. Practical implications: The findings suggest that managers should develop HR policies and telecommuting ecosystems in order to enhance effectiveness of telecommuting. Specifically, organizations offering telecommuting work options should create opportunities for informal interaction among peers and formal one-to-one interaction with managers. Moreover, HR managers should develop and implement employee-friendly telecommuting policies. Social implications: The research contributes to HRM and gender literature. Originality/value: The paper contributes to the discourses of work-life balance, workplace relationships and work policies within telecommuting literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recurrent stock market fall and rise sequel by COVID-19, rising global inflation, increase in Fed interest rates, the unprecedented meltdown of technology stocks, fear of trade wars, tightening of governments' fiscal policies call for a new trend in international investing. It is time for the investors to rethink, rebalance and reset their investment strategies to position and protect their portfolios during and post-pandemic period. This paper attempts to forecast the gold prices for the post-pandemic era and explores whether gold will serve as a decisive hedge during this transition period. The techniques of ARCH, GARCH, E-GARCH, A-PARCH, and GARCH-M is employed in forecasting the conditional volatility of gold spot price from Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) of India. A total of 3631 observations were collected from the daily spot prices of gold from January 2009 to December 2022. The findings show that the gold prices in India are highly persistent similar to other emerging markets and that gold will remain a safe haven for investors and institutional investors in the post-pandemic period. This paper is the first of its kind to forecast gold prices for the post-pandemic period. The forecast price of 10-gram gold is expected to trade for 65,948 ₹ in the Indian MCX by 2026 if the gold prices behold its previous momentum. This forecast will help the investors to plan their portfolio diversification for the post-pandemic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goods and Services Tax (GST) completed its four years in July 2021. It was expected that by implementing GST in the country, the governments (Central and States) would be able to solve many tax-related problems such as tax evasion, cascading effect, increasing competition among states for inviting investment, and most importantly increasing states' tax revenue, more autonomy and expenditure. Has the imposition of GST in India impacted the tax revenue of states? Has the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic impacted the GST of all the states and union territories? The paper deals with these specific questions constituting a sample of all states and some union territories for the period 2015 to 2021 categorized into pre-GST (2015-2017) and post-GST (2017-2021) period. The secondary data comprises average proportion of own tax revenue of states in their total revenue, and the data has been analyzed to find out whether imposition of GST has impacted the collection of own tax revenue of states, and whether the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the collection of SGST and UTGST of states and union territories. The tools and techniques applied for testing the hypothesis are Wilcoxon Sign Rank Test, paired t-test and Kruskal-Wallis H-test. The findings reveal that imposition of GST has no significant impact on own tax revenue of states, but Covid-19 significantly impacted SGST and UTGST. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the enactment of successive legislations in 1993 and 2013, the dehumanising occupational practice of manual scavenging still persists in India. As members of the Dalit community, manual scavengers continue to confront issues such as marginalisation and gross violation of their dignity. This paper critically examines the socio-legal status of manual scavengers in India by assessing key determinants including the legislative and regulatory measures, the role of the judiciary and civil society, as well as the widely celebrated Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Additionally, the paper provides an empirical analysis of the struggles faced by manual scavengers as frontline workers during the unprecedented humanitarian crisis of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The COVID-19 situation affected the whole landscape of retailing in India and around the world. However, some businesses have used the pandemic-related difficulties into opportunities. E-tailing is one of the ways that helped people in India to continue shopping their essential products and choosing their luxury products without making any physical visits during the lockdown. This research understands the current situation through an observation study and suggests the e-tailing model suitable during the COVID-19 and beyond. Design/methodology: We used secondary data to make the observational study. We also conducted two case studies and interviews with grocery shops and an automotive company. Findings: This research suggests a simple collaborative e-tailing model combining all supply chain players to reduce people's movement, timely delivery and enhanced service to meet customers demand during the lockdown period. Originality/value: This paper has considered two real cases for discussion and also obtained information from public domain. The proposed model has been discussed with the case companies, and it hoped to support business planning for online services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

The paper examines the investment decisions of Indian equity mutual funds during various stages of the COVID-19 pandemic with monthly portfolio holdings. We find that funds favoured firms with lower risk, higher financial flexibility, and larger size during the early months of the pandemic. The preference for relatively low-risk firms, which reverses later, suggests a reallocation towards safer assets. Funds also preferred growth firms to value firms as the latter with greater invested capital are more vulnerable to the shock. Institutional investors also favoured group-affiliated firms throughout, reflecting their lower crisis vulnerability. We find that the stocks preferred by funds during the pandemic outperform others in the long run. The paper brings out key firm characteristics that impact mutual fund asset allocation during extreme uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has left an indelible mark on societies worldwide, challenging governments to respond swiftly and effectively to mitigate its impact. India, with its vast population and complex healthcare landscape, faced unique challenges in formulating and implementing a pandemic response strategy. The article examines India's policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic and explores the valuable lessons it offers for shaping a more resilient and prepared society in a post-COVID world. It provides a comprehensive analysis of India's multifaceted approach to managing the pandemic, highlighting key elements such as lockdowns, testing and contact tracing, healthcare infrastructure, vaccination drives, and economic relief measures. By delving into both the successes and shortcomings of these policies, it seeks to extract valuable insights for policymakers and public health officials globally. As the world transitions into a post-COVID era, the lessons learned from India's experience offer a roadmap for building stronger healthcare systems, improving disaster preparedness, and enhancing social safety nets. The article underscores the importance of proactive governance, community engagement, data-driven decision-making, and international collaboration in the face of global health crises. The paper demonstrates that India's journey through the pandemic provides a wealth of knowledge that can inform policy development, foster greater resilience, and help societies better navigate the uncertainties of a post-COVID world. By reflecting on the successes and challenges of India's response, this article offers actionable insights for shaping a more equitable, sustainable, and prepared society in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This research paper highlights the economic impact on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) due to Coronavirus outbreaks. It proposes factors that influence the strengthening and survival of SMEs. Design/methodology/approach: In this research, resilience is reflected in the following aspects hope, problem resolution and persistence. This quantitative study analyses a purposive sample of 120 small and medium-sized firms in India. The study's primary data are the responses to questionnaires issued to respondents, analyzed and hypotheses formed and tested using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. Findings: The study results show that all the variables significantly reduce the impact of COVID-19 on SMEs. The presented model is expected to help researchers, business modelers, analysts and real professionals with further studies in the SME context. Originality/value: This new approach adds to the business resilience knowledge of SMEs and has practical implications for manufacturing organizations seeking to become robust during and after COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In difficult times, people turn to poetry, reading, and writing for solace and peace. In emotionally intense and traumatic times, people use poetry to process and understand the lived eyepieces. The havoc wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the emotional and psychological well-being of individuals all across the world. Poetry has emerged as a savior in these difficult times. A phenomenon, "lockdown poems", came into existence as individuals all across the globe processed and shared their lived experiences of isolation, pain, and suffering through poems. In the present paper, students of a management program process and share their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the subsequent lockdowns, and their community work experience. Poetry as a therapeutic and hope-building tool is discussed in the paper along with the original poems written by the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unexpected and sudden spread of the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has opened up many scopes for researchers in the fields of biotechnology, health care, educational sectors, agriculture, manufacturing, service sectors, marketing, finance, etc. Hence, the researchers are concerned to study, analyze and predict the impact of infection of COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many fields, particularly the stock markets in the financial sector. In this paper, we have proposed an econometric approach and stochastic approach to analyze the stochastic nature of stock price before and during a COVID-19-specific pandemic period. For our study, we considered the BSE SENSEX INDEX closing pricing data from the Bombay Stock Exchange for the period before and during COVID-19. We have applied the statistical tools, namely descriptive statistics for testing the normal distribution of data, unit root test for testing the stationarity, and GARCH and stochastic model for measuring the risk, also investigated drift and volatility (or diffusion) coefficients of the stock price SDE by using R Environment software and formulated the 95% confidence level bound with the help of 500 times simulations. Finally, the results have been obtained from these methods and simulations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, the incidence of mucormycosis reached high levels during 2021–2022, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to this, we established a multicentric ambispective cohort of patients hospitalised with mucormycosis across India. In this paper, we report their baseline profile, clinical characteristics and outcomes at discharge. Patients hospitalized for mucormycosis during March–July 2021 were included. Mucormycosis was diagnosed based on mycological confirmation on direct microscopy (KOH/Calcofluor white stain), culture, histopathology, or supportive evidence from endoscopy or imaging. After consent, trained data collectors used medical records and telephonic interviews to capture data in a pre-tested structured questionnaire. At baseline, we recruited 686 patients from 26 study hospitals, of whom 72.3% were males, 78% had a prior history of diabetes, 53.2% had a history of corticosteroid treatment, and 80% were associated with COVID-19. Pain, numbness or swelling of the face were the commonest symptoms (73.3%). Liposomal Amphotericin B was the commonest drug formulation used (67.1%), and endoscopic sinus surgery was the most common surgical procedure (73.6%). At discharge, the disease was stable in 43.3%, in regression for 29.9% but 9.6% died during hospitalization. Among survivors, commonly reported disabilities included facial disfigurement (18.4%) and difficulties in chewing/swallowing (17.8%). Though the risk of mortality was only 1 in 10, the disability due to the disease was very high. This cohort study could enhance our understanding of the disease's clinical progression and help frame standard treatment guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to measure the extent of digital financial inclusion (DFI) and examine the effect of socioeconomic characteristics on using government remittances and the adoption of digital financial services (DFS) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: The World Bank Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) database 2021 is used in this study, with a sample size of 3,000 Indian individuals. The study measured the demand-side analysis of DFI, namely, accessibility and usage of DFS with selected socioeconomic characteristics such as gender, age, income, education, being in the workforce and residential status of respondents. The dependent variable is binary in nature; therefore, the logistic regression model is used for the data analysis. Findings: The results of the study reveal that individuals' socioeconomic factors, such as female, all the age groups, tertiary education, third- and fourth-income quintile and workforce, are found to have a significant association with "accessibility," an exogenous variable of DFS. Besides, respondents' socioeconomic attributes, namely, female, tertiary education, income for all quintiles and workforce, are more likely to use DFSs in the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also finds the residential status of individuals is influencing the accessibility and usage of DFS. Practical implications: The findings of the study provide valuable insights to the service providers and policymakers regarding the rapid expansion of DFS by digital infrastructure, simplifying the banking procedures and highlighting the importance of digital financial literacy to accomplish government goals through serving the unbanked population and also design strategies for achieving the objectives of Digital India: "Faceless, Paperless, and Cashless" of DFI across the country. Originality/value: Notable studies used World Bank Findex survey data to explore the determinants of financial inclusion in general. This research is one among the few studies to explore the determinants of India's DFI. Moreover, this study measured the effect of individual socioeconomic attributes on the adoption of DFSs during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has not been included in prior studies. Therefore, this study has added value to the existing literature on financial technology innovation and DFS for the sustainable development of emerging nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of social isolation due to COVID-19 on the vulnerable geriatric population. Design/methodology/approach: Ten individual interviews of people above 70 years of age were conducted in 2021. The data was collected through interviews and observation. The authors observed the people from the age. Findings: The geriatric population faced physical challenges like poor sleep and digestive health along with neglect of their persisting ailments, which needed attention. Mental issues were also very serious, such as fear of death, anxiety, stress and depression. This paper urges the policymakers to focus on coming up with support systems for the geriatric population and finding long-term solutions to mitigate the repercussions faced by them. Originality/value: This paper attempts to underline the mostly unnoticed physical and psychological issues troubling usually neglected strata of the population as they do not make a part of an income-earning segment. [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]

Purpose: This paper reviews different media sources to understand the experiences of Indian women working from home between March, 2020 and September, 2020 during the Covid-19 induced lockdown in India. Methodology: A systematic search was conducted on Google search engine using keywords like Indian working women, work during Covid-19, work from home during pandemic, etc. Relevant data and information from 52 online print media outlets were selected to be included in this review. Findings: After careful analysis of the selected articles, three main themes emerged and were found to be repeated with gradual development across the seven months (March, 2020 - September, 2020). Originality/Value: It is hoped that this thematic and chronological analysis will help in giving a clear outlook on the problems women are facing while working from home during the pandemic, and suggest effective measures that can be taken in the coming future to resolve the same. Based on our research, such an online print media based analysis has not been conducted by other studies. This paper tries to reach out to the very core of the chosen topic by looking at online media because actual problems of real women were reported there. It tries to feel the pulse of the Indian society and the challenges that the women are facing everyday during the Covid-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Housing policies in India (last modified in 2017) define "affordable housing" on three main parameters – income of the target group, dwelling unit size and house price to income ratio. The Covid-19 pandemic has questioned the robustness of the defining parameters of affordable housing. This paper aims to study the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on housing affordability and adequacy for the urban poor and highlights how one pandemic has directly challenged the practicality of the affordable housing criteria in urban India. Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on a pilot test conducted through interviews with the consumer group. Furthermore, the affordable housing policies of urban India were studied in conjunction with the pandemic guidelines laid down by the World Health Organization. The consumer responses were analyzed in relation to the policies and guidelines to arrive at the inferences. The secondary case examples of the Dharavi slums in Mumbai and the Savda Ghevra slum resettlement colony in Delhi, along with the findings of the primary survey in the economically weaker section category, are used to formulate the conclusions. Findings: The pilot test conducted for the target consumer group clearly indicates that (i) the pandemic has severely affected the housing purchase capacity of the target consumer, thereby questioning the "affordability" of housing; (ii) proposed housing solutions are inadequate to enable livability, thereby questioning the "adequacy" of housing; and (iii) proposed housing solutions are inept to accommodate pandemic protocols. The Covid-19 pandemic and the conditions it imposed on the built environment clearly highlight the inadequacy of affordable housing parameters being followed in urban India. Research limitations/implications: Further research may be conducted on global best practices in housing, which may advise the housing policies in India. Practical implications: The study suggests key areas that need intervention and modification to make the housing policies more robust and effective. Social implications: The study explores the social sustainability aspects of housing, which are often considered secondary in policies. Originality/value: Because housing has a direct bearing on the physical, social and mental well-being of society, it is imperative to find housing solutions that are safe and resilient for a sustainable future. This paper is an original attempt by the author to question and highlight how the current affordable housing solutions adopted in urban India will continue to fail under any external adverse conditions unless modifications are considered in the existing housing parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 has affected and threatened the world health system very critically throughout the globe. In order to take preventive actions by the agencies in dealing with such a pandemic situation, it becomes very necessary to develop a system to analyze the impact of environmental parameters on the spread of this virus. Machine learning algorithms and artificial Intelligence may play an important role in the detection and analysis of the spread of COVID-19. This paper proposed a twinned gradient boosting machine (GBM) to analyze the impact of environmental parameters on the spread, recovery, and mortality rate of this virus in India. The proposed paper exploited the four weather parameters (temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, and wind speed) and two air pollution parameters (PM2.5 and PM10) as input to predict the infection, recovery, and mortality rate of its spread. The algorithm of the GBM model has been optimized in its four distributions for best performance by tuning its parameters. The performance of the GBM is reported as excellent (where R2 = 0.99) in training for the combined dataset comprises all three outcomes i.e. infection, recovery and mortality rates. The proposed approach achieved the best prediction results for the state, which is worst affected and highest variation in the atmospheric factors and air pollution level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the pain and suffering of elderly age people during the COVID-19 lockdown. It was an unpleasant experience for old age people. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, primarily, the information has been collected through interviews and observation. The researchers interviewed the older people and discussed their experience during the lockdown, and they also observed their activities during that period. Findings: The main results of this paper suggested that lockdown appeared as double-edge sword for old age and elderly people. They are not allowed to go outside to safeguard their lives, and inside the home, they are facing issues of anxiety, fear and mental trauma. They are not able to complete their daily routine, and it is hampering their mental strength. Originality/value: The paper is based on firsthand information received from an old-age couple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Triage is a dynamic and complex decision-making process to determine fair access to medical care in mass casualty situations. Triage takes place through healthcare settings including Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Triage governing principles have been subject to ethical debates for a long time specifically with the recent global pandemic of COVID-19. This study aims to revisit the ethical principles guiding patient prioritisation during recent COVID-19 disaster triage in the Indian subcontinent and attempts to look for principles with consideration of social justice. Methods: Key electronic databases such as WHO, EMBASE, and DOAJ were used to access published literature relating to ICU triage in the Indian subcontinent. Literature on and from 2015–2022 were included in this study. The SPICE framework was used to identify the literature. The Inclusion criteria were as follows: Literature with ethical connotations focusing on India and neighbouring countries, and in an ICU setting during pandemics. The Exclusion criteria were as follows: Literature focusing on other countries, without ethical foundations, hospital admissions, and non-COVID-19 ICU admissions. The PRISMA standard was applied to screen the appropriate literature. The BOOLEAN operator "OR" was used to enhance the literature search. Finally, six papers were found suitable for this study and thus were included in the literature review. Additionally, for the second time, the frequency of certain ethical phrases was reassessed in the plans and guidelines to check the changed awareness of ethical pandemic planning, if any. A thematic analysis was applied to analyse the data and generate findings and new knowledge. Results: The findings highlight gaps in knowledge around ICU triaging in the region which indicates the scope of better ethical pandemic preparation at the regional level. The findings show that there is a debate between researchers on prioritisation from available resources and ethical perspectives and principles associated with fair access to healthcare even during pandemic times. The literature also highlights enhancing the regional capacity and building equitable approaches to reduce existing health inequities and the need of the social justice framework for ICU triaging during a pandemic. Conclusions: ICU triaging in five South Asian neighbour nations was studied for the presence of a guided ethical framework. Additionally, for the second time, certain ethical phrases were reassessed in the plans and guidelines; however, usage of those terms was found to be significantly low. The discussion shows that the plans and guidelines have the scope to improve ethical ICU triaging in these countries and in the specific region. After analysing different ethical guidelines, this study emphasises that there is a need for a just and fair framework, specifically a social justice framework in ICU triage in the subcontinent to address the underlying health inequities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic, India's government instituted a severe nationwide lockdown in late March 2020. In this paper, we analyze household survey data on income from an Indian state, Punjab. We analyze the impacts of the pandemic and lockdown on total household income, as well as its components, including wages, business income and transfers. This paper innovates in this area by using Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood estimation to deal with the skewed distributions of various income components, as well as quantile regressions to examine differential impacts across the income distribution. We examine the differences between rural and urban households, differential impacts on female-headed and laborer households, and the time pattern of impacts. We find that rural households experienced more persistent income declines than urban households, and their wages suffered relatively more. Households with daily laborers were most badly affected, and this was especially true at the bottom of the income distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study focuses on examining the impact of the supply shock on the Indian macroeconomic variables during the COVID-19 period. Design/methodology/approach: Time-varying factor augmented vector autoregressive model has been employed to study the asymmetry in transmission of supply shock on Indian economy during pre- and post-COVID-19 times. Findings: The authors find that with supply shock, retail food inflation outpaced in COVID-19 times. Production levels reported by IIP fell to abysmally low levels in the post-COVID-19 times when the economy stalled. The liquidity stimulus provided by the central bank led to the negative response of policy rates to the supply shocks during the COVID-19 times. Originality/value: The study stands novel in examining the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Indian economy through the lenses of asymmetric transmission of supply shock during pre- and post-COVID-19 times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Many viral and bacterial respiratory tract infections can present with respiratory signs and progress to complicated pneumonia. In the recent Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is crucial to test all Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) patients for other microbial infections in addition to COVID-19, enabling timely diagnosis and treatment to reduce morbidity and mortality. The automated system, BioFire FilmArray, utilises multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to rapidly detect and identify multiple respiratory pathogens, including selected Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) genes, within an hour. Aim: To detect bacterial and/or viral pathogens associated with hospitalised COVID-19-negative SARI patients using the BioFire FilmArray Pneumonia Panel (BFPP). Materials and Methods: This laboratory-based cross-sectional study was conducted at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, from June 2020 to February 2021. Respiratory samples, such as sputum, tracheal aspirate, Endotracheal (ET) secretions, and Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL), were collected from COVID-19-negative hospitalised SARI cases. A total of 81 patients were included in the study. The samples were tested using the BFPP (multiplex PCR) system and processed using conventional culture techniques. Patient characteristics, clinical and laboratory investigation data, and findings of respiratory viral and bacterial agents, as well as antibiotic resistance genes detected by BioFire FilmArray, were recorded using paper case reports. The data were collected and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Results: Out of the 81 clinical samples processed, the BFPP detected 168 bacterial and 18 viral pathogens. Bacterial-viral codetection was observed in 13 (16%) samples. Atypical bacteria were detected in 3% of cases. Among the bacterial pathogens, the AMR gene for New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamases (NDM) was detected in 42 (25.9%) cases, followed by CTX-M betalactamases, VIM, and the oxacillinase group of β-lactamases. Conclusion: The BFPP test is a valuable tool for the rapid detection of a wide range of pathogens, including associated AMR genes, with high sensitivity and specificity. This can greatly aid in treatment decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, the cervical cancer screening rate dropped by 84% soon after the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges facing cervical cancer screening were largely attributed to the required in-person nature of the screening process and the measures implemented to control the spread of the virus. While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer screening is well-documented in high-income countries, less is known about the low- and middle-income countries that bear 90% of the global burden of cervical cancer deaths. In this paper, we aim to offer a comprehensive view of the impact of COVID-19 on cervical cancer screening in LMICs. Using our study, "Prevention of Cervical Cancer in India through Self-Sampling" (PCCIS), as a case example, we present the challenges COVID-19 has exerted on patients, healthcare practitioners, and health systems, as well as potential opportunities to mitigate these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of global health diplomacy (GHD), with India emerging as a key player. India's commitment to GHD is demonstrated by its active participation in regional and multilateral projects, pharmaceutical expertise, and large-scale manufacturing capabilities, which include the production and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and essential medicines. India has supported nations in need through bilateral and multilateral platforms, providing vaccines to countries experiencing shortages and offering technical assistance and capacity-building programs to improve healthcare infrastructure and response capabilities. India's unique approach to GHD, rooted in humanitarian diplomacy, emphasized collaboration and empathy and stressed the well-being of humanity by embracing the philosophy of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam," which translates to "the world is one family." Against this background, this paper's main focus is to analyze the rise of India's GHD amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and its leadership in addressing various global challenges. India has demonstrated its commitment to global solidarity by offering medical supplies, equipment, and expertise to more than 100 countries. India's rising global leadership can be attributed to its proactive approach, humanitarian diplomacy, and significant contributions to global health initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The burden of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare systems worldwide has been compromising the progress made in the fight against HIV. This paper aims to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted HIV comprehensive care service delivery globally as well as to consolidate the evidence and recommendations that may be useful in averting future crisis. Methods: This review adheres to PRISMA guidelines. PubMed, DOAJ, Science Direct and other sources like Google Scholar and citations from included studies were searched methodically to locate studies evaluating the effects of COVID on services for HIV care. The NIH and JBI quality assessment tools were used for the quality assessment of individual studies. Results: In the present review 31 eligible studies were included and the impact on HIV care cascade were summarised under six themes: Lab services, Treatment and allied services, Counselling services, Outreach services, Psycho-social impact and Implementation of sustainable strategies. The studies also presented many innovative alternatives which were lucidly highlighted in the present article. Conclusion: Current evidence depicts multiple factors are responsible for the interruption of HIV care service delivery during the pandemic, especially in low resources settings. The prospective, alternative solutions that have been used to circumvent the threat have also been addressed in this review, in addition to the negative aspects that have been observed. Transition with new innovative, sustainable care paradigms may prove to be the building blocks in removing HIV-AIDS as a public health threat. Registration: Open Science Framework (DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/74GHM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 has laid an impact on every sector of the world. Howsoever severe, vaccines have acted as the sole source of a protective guard to prevent the further spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this research, the authors broadly focus on the trends in the vaccination drive of India. The paper revolves around a prediction and evaluation approach, which depending on the past and the current trends of daily vaccinations, obtain comparable results using a self-built recurrent neural network of LSTM layers for this study on time series evaluation. Through the neural network, the study predicts the exact vaccination figures likely to be achieved 1 year after vaccine introduction in the Indian subcontinent. The gathered data from January 16, 2021, until September 30, 2021, follow effective visualization of how the model outputs resemble the vaccination numbers for October 2021 and the predictions until January 16, 2022. Finally, the paper follows an extensive data analysis keeping in mind, the analogy of the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths before and after the vaccination system was centralized, to prove how sustainable the framework has been so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This exploratory study aims to explore the operational and financial constraints faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper highlights the role of supply chain finance (SCF) in the uncertain business environment caused by the pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts an inductive approach and conducts convergent interviews with 32 SME owners and bank officials who are associated with SME-related financial transactions. The analysis of the interview data has been done through a grounded theory approach. Findings: The findings portray four key themes representing the operational and financial constraints faced by SMEs during the pandemic. Further, the study identifies four drivers of SCF adoption among SMEs, including capital constraints, high inventory turnover cycle time, high order fulfilment cycle time and long debtors' collection period. Practical implications: The study provides various insights to the managers and owners of SMEs to deal with the economic crisis and eliminate the financial pressure created by the pandemic. The study enlightens the policymakers about the struggles of the SMEs during the economic turmoil created by the pandemic and guides them to introduce the relevant policies to resolve their problems. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to identify the factors driving the SMEs to adopt SCF due to the economic chaos created by the pandemic. Also, the study theoretically contributes to the literature by developing a theoretical framework for SCF adoption based on grounded theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents several novel findings from a comprehensive analysis of about 50,000 Tweets about online learning during COVID-19, posted on Twitter between 9 November 2021 and 13 July 2022. First, the results of sentiment analysis from VADER, Afinn, and TextBlob show that a higher percentage of these Tweets were positive. The results of gender-specific sentiment analysis indicate that for positive Tweets, negative Tweets, and neutral Tweets, between males and females, males posted a higher percentage of the Tweets. Second, the results from subjectivity analysis show that the percentage of least opinionated, neutral opinionated, and highly opinionated Tweets were 56.568%, 30.898%, and 12.534%, respectively. The gender-specific results for subjectivity analysis indicate that females posted a higher percentage of highly opinionated Tweets as compared to males. However, males posted a higher percentage of least opinionated and neutral opinionated Tweets as compared to females. Third, toxicity detection was performed on the Tweets to detect different categories of toxic content—toxicity, obscene, identity attack, insult, threat, and sexually explicit. The gender-specific analysis of the percentage of Tweets posted by each gender for each of these categories of toxic content revealed several novel insights related to the degree, type, variations, and trends of toxic content posted by males and females related to online learning. Fourth, the average activity of males and females per month in this context was calculated. The findings indicate that the average activity of females was higher in all months as compared to males other than March 2022. Finally, country-specific tweeting patterns of males and females were also performed which presented multiple novel insights, for instance, in India, a higher percentage of the Tweets about online learning during COVID-19 were posted by males as compared to females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic characterizes a serious health crisis on the earth planet. It can possibly make destroying impacts connected with society and economy. There are internal migrants which are important part of India's economy which is around 20% of the labor force. There are 100 million inward migrants in India. Around 40 million of people from various states in India. This paper looks into the presence of migrant workers in the urban communities across India that have been intensely impacted by the step of lockdowntaken by the government of India. This paper finds the regional scenario of mass flight of migrant workers from the important Indian urban centers to their rural homes. This study sums up with the significance of internal migrants particular those who are workers whose contributions in different cities' economies and after the lockdown, need to provide essential help in term of social security and also to develop the data resource in the destination sources in order to link the government schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the patterns of convergence/divergence among the districts in India. Specifically, this paper investigates if the impact is heterogeneous among different cohorts of districts (based on income distribution). The differential impact may lead to heterogeneous long-run growth paths, resulting in unbalanced development across regions within the country. A study of convergence can ascertain the possible trajectory of such development across regions. Investigation of this phenomenon is the primary aim of this study. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses the panel regression method for estimation. This paper uses high-frequency nighttime light intensity data as a proxy for aggregate output. Findings: The authors observe a significant reduction in the convergence rate as a result of the pandemic. Across the cluster of districts, the drop in ß-convergence rate, compared to the pre-pandemic period, varied from approximately 33% for the poorer districts to close to zero for the richest group of districts. These findings suggest that the pandemic may lead to a wider disparity among different regions within the country. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the literature in the following ways. First, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the convergence rate. A detailed look into the possible disparity in convergence among various regions is critical because a larger drop in convergence, especially among the poorer regions, may call for policy attention to attain long-term equitable development. The authors perform this exercise by dividing the districts into four quantile groups based on the distribution of night-light intensity. Second, while previous studies on convergence using nighttime light data have used a cross-sectional approach, this study is possibly the first attempt to use the panel regression method on this data. The application of this method can be useful in tackling district-level omitted variables bias. Finally, the heterogeneity analysis using different quantiles of the distribution of night-light intensity may help in designing targeted policies to mitigate the disparity across districts due to the shock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to national wide lockdown from 23 March 2020 all educational institution including colleges and universities remain close physically and online learning has become the alternative method of teachinglearning process. In India, while this change has been come all private universities, public or government universities adapted online learning as a substitute of traditional or face to face learning method. But there have also been debates on the nature of classes, and the future of examination and evaluation, whether examination could be conducted online or not. As there was no other option online examination takes place in higher education till now and this sudden changes influence whole education system. This paper will discuss the problems faced by the students in India who are pursuing higher education during thisCovid-19 pandemic. The Investigator conducted this study to show the impact of Covid-19 on higher education and tries to find out the positive & negative impact of covid-19 on the teaching-learning and evaluation process at college and university level in India. Some suggestions have also been pointed out in this paper with regard to how we can cope up with the new method of teaching & learning process to improve the experience of both teachers and learners in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to examine how community engagement can be influenced by responsible leadership during crises. It looks at the phenomenon of community engagement and responsible leadership in India during the Covid-19 pandemic, using the collective responses of community. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses netnography, which studies community interpretations through their online social communication. The perceptions on how engaged the Indian community felt during the pandemic were studied by collecting and analysing their postings on social media. Findings: The findings suggest that responsible leadership – through the building of trust, open communication, collective consciousness and mindful action – is an effective way to positively engage stakeholders and influence community response during a pandemic. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the literature of responsible leadership and community engagement during crises. It is an attempt to link public leadership with responsible leadership and its impact on community engagement in a novel way, filling a void in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]