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We describe a research-for-development (R4D) strategy developed to address how investments and interventions in agricultural intensification as a means to achieve community development can be designed to be more socially inclusive and equitable. We draw on results from a 5-year project – Promoting socially inclusive and sustainable agricultural intensification in West Bengal (India) and southern Bangladesh (SIAGI). We reflect on a major pivot in the project’s strategy, from being primarily research-driven to placing community concerns and priorities at the centre with a shift towards Ethical Community Engagement (ECE). This became the foundational framework which guided the definition and undertaking of all subsequent activities – including a rethink of methods and concepts to develop tools and frameworks fit for purpose and local context, and inculcating a culture of reflexivity and mutual learning in the project. We show that creating the conditions for true participation, where project beneficiaries and non-government organizations are equal partners alongside researchers and government actors, and for co-learning using the ECE framework, sets the foundations for increased and potentially enduring social inclusion in agricultural intensification.

Given the detrimental impact of natural resource degradation on livelihoods and sustainability, this research critically reviews the related studies and the role of policies and community participation toward addressing the issues. It carries out bibliometric analysis of highly cited scientific research publications on natural resource management compiled from the database of Scopus and Web of Science. Here, emphasis is given on reviewing the intersections between natural resource management and the underlying challenges in policies and community participation. In addition, it also analyzes the synergies of policies and institutions with decentralization of power for resource conservation and management. The article proposes a bottom-up approach to policy making and decentralized framework based on community participation and ownership rights for resource management. Engagement with local community and bringing in their behavioral changes would be crucial for efficient integrated natural resource management.

The relationships between availability of irrigation facilities and changes in cropping patterns, especially in an agrarian economy like India, require deeper investigation for rational use of water and promoting sustainable growth of agriculture sector. The existing studies generally focus on how access to irrigation can change cropping patterns. Accordingly, policy changes and institutional arrangements are suggested to provide the farmers greater access to irrigation facilities. While this is imperative to promote inclusive agricultural growth, ensuring its sustainability requires exploring how changes in cropping patterns subsequently affect extent and patterns of irrigation. For example, cropping patterns dominated by cereals have different irrigation requirements as compared to when it has concentration of pulses and vegetables. In this perspective, the present paper attempts to understand how changes cropping patterns have affected irrigation requirements and its structures in the Indian state of West Bengal. The rationale for carrying out the study in the context of West Bengal lies in its agrarian nature with highly fragmented landholdings, existence of large number of small and marginal farmers and increasing emphasis on minor lift irrigation. The study uses both secondary and primary data to address the research objective. While the secondary data are compiled from various official sources, the primary data are collected through focus group discussions and semi-structured questionnaire. The paper finds that there has been significant shift of cultivated area towards boro paddy, although aman paddy still remains the most important crop in the state. Further, while area under high yielding paddy, jute and potatoes as proportion of gross cropped area has increased, that under pulses has declined sharply. Such changes in cropping patterns coupled with drying natural water bodies with high siltation, degraded environment and ecosystem, erratic rainfall and deterioration in quality of surface water seem to have created further pressure on groundwater level. While deeper investigation at micro level is necessary to draw more robust conclusions, initiatives should be taken towards guiding the farmers towards choice of appropriate cropping patterns for more judicious use of water. The local level institutions like water users’ association should play a crucial role in this regard.

This paper proposes to observe a day's break as the Planet Day (While the proposed day can also be named as the Gaia Day (after James Lovelock), Planet Day seems to be simpler and easier name for better understanding by the masses and greater connect of the issues with them. Hence, here the proposed day is termed as the Planet Day) every month to allow the nature to heal and ensure sustainability of the planet in the long run. Based on the concept of sustainable degrowth, the paper carries out benefit-cost analysis of the proposed Planet Day and presents a framework based on extensive literature review, secondary data analysis and stakeholders' (Here, participants are referred to as one of the "stakeholders" in the sense that every human being who lives on this planet is accountable for the harm done to it and is impacted by ecological degradation. Hence, they are supposed to contribute to healing of the nature through appropriate initiatives both individually and collectively. In addition to the common residents, there are other stakeholders of the ecology as well such as the government, the business enterprises, and manufacturing firms, etc.) perceptions through a non-random convenience sample survey. The paper finds that the net benefit from the Planet Day amounts to be USD 9002.37 billion across the world and USD 102.48 billion for India per annum. The respondents also perceive the proposed Planet Day as ecologically and economically beneficial and thus support the idea of healing time for the planet. However, a critical challenge is to take different stakeholders on board, ensure their active participation, and design appropriate institutional mechanisms for its successful implementation.

India is a sub-continent with different physiography, climate, and agro-ecology. This variability supports changes in rainfall and water resources across the country. Due to various developmental activities such as agriculture, industry, and services, the ever-increasing demand for surface water and groundwater resources is declining at an alarming rate. However, in India, water management and conservation projects occur in a clustered and irrational manner, often at the discretion of individuals or democratic organizations. This has prompted the country to re-examine and reevaluate the National Water Policy strategies and adopt artificial recharge of aquifers elongated with natural solutions. Given this background, this paper accentuates the necessity for a rigorous and integrated effort to decentralize water conservation and management activities by reestablishing the antiquity of conservation practices for natural resources in India. In addition, the present paper attempts to understand how changes in behavioral practices related to water have affected water availability through making synergies between surface water, groundwater, and energy to achieve water efficiency and accessibility in the long run. Specific policies, planning, and program level interventions in different water conservation practices are discussed to address the study's objective. Also, the role of climate variability on the spatio-temporal deviations in input (water) management of agriculture and domestic use in light of the existing discord between technology and policy is reviewed.

This research examines the implications of rainwater harvesting structure hapa in the Bankura district of West Bengal, India. The paper finds that proper management and harvesting of surface and subsurface runoffs in hapas can facilitate groundwater recharge and increase both net irrigated area and moisture in soil leading to higher cropping intensity and yield in dryland areas. However, dissected plateau and residual hillocks can reduce irrigation efficiency of hapas. Although sprinkler or drip irrigation along with cultivation of drought and lateritic resilient, low moisture crop can help in coping up with geophysical and climatic vulnerability, appropriate crop diversification is also necessary. There is also a need for regular maintenance and desiltation of hapas. The water user groups should play an active role for this, especially for hapas in common land. Further, scientific guidance is necessary for designing appropriate structure of hapas in different geo-physical conditions.

In the context of declining degrees of vertical integration in major industries of Indian manufacturing sector during the post-reform period, the present paper is an attempt to examine how such “vertical disintegration” has affected firms’ market power and its implications for competition policy. Using panel dataset of 49 majors industries of Indian manufacturing sector for the period 2003–04 to 2010–11 and applying the system generalized method of moments approach to estimate of dynamic panel data models, the paper finds that vertical integration does not cause any significant impact on average market power of firms in an industry. Instead, it is influenced by market size, and selling and technology-related efforts. While selling intensity has a positive impact on market power, the impact of market size and technology intensity is found to be negative. Notably, like vertical integration, market concentration, import to export ratio, and capital intensity also do not have any significant impact on market power. The findings of this paper, therefore, have important implications for competition law and policy in general and policies and regulation relating to technology development and international trade in particular.

With economic reforms increasing market competition, greater efficiency and productivity of factors of production, particularly of the workforce, have become important prerequisites for firms' growth and survival. Consequently, designing appropriate strategies to motivate the workforce in this direction appears as a critical aspect of human resource management. However, an important issue is if increase in wages, salaries, and other benefits can necessarily result in the desired outcomes. This chapter will examine this aspect. Estimating long-term trends in share of wages, salaries, and total emoluments in major industries, it is found that while the share of wages, salaries, and total emoluments has increased in recent years, such changes are not reflected in higher productivity. It is, therefore, suggested that, in addition to higher wages, salaries, and other benefits, enhancing efficiency and productivity of human resources requires adequate emphasis on human aspects as well.

While access to assured irrigation is a prerequisite for sustainable agricultural intensification, increasing use of groundwater for the same and decreasing areas under surface irrigation are expected to cause considerable hydro-ecological imbalance and hence serious concerns for sustainability. Importantly, the extent, nature, efficiency and impact of irrigation vary across regions depending on the geophysical and agro-climatic conditions, farming practices and socioeconomic setup. Nevertheless, it is suggested that appropriate crop diversification coupled with necessary policy and institutional supports can potentially reduce pressure on groundwater and make intensification in agriculture sustainable. Given this backdrop, this paper examines impact of irrigation and crop diversification on agricultural intensification and its implications for future groundwater dynamics in major Indian states. Using secondary data and applying panel data regression techniques for the period 1990–1991 to 2014–2015, the paper finds that both greater irrigation facilities and diversified crop basket increase cropping intensity. Similarly, use of more chemical fertilizers and higher yield also influence cropping intensity positively. However, rainfall variations and share of GSDP in agriculture have no significant impact. Based on the literature review and the above findings as well as using the insights from the informal interactions and random discussion carried out with the farmers and others stakeholders (e.g., researchers, community workers, extension service providers, NGO, etc.), the fuzzy cognitive models show that future policies and institutions should focus on improvement in agricultural systems and promoting surface irrigation. Besides, conservation and harvesting of rainwater, efficient functioning of the user groups, judicious use of chemical fertilizers and emphasis on cultivation of less water-intensive crops would also be crucial in this regard.

Acquisition of land for mining directly benefits its owners who generally belong to higher castes and are literates. However, the extent of benefits accrued may differ across the owners. The difference in benefits is dependent on their size of landholding, amount of land given up and compensation received, their education level, the provision for jobs, etc. In this context, the present chapter attempts to examine how the socially marginalised communities are included in mining-led development initiatives and explore its implications for further land acquisition. The chapter uses primary data collected from the vicinity of Talcher coalfields, the second-largest producer of coal in the country, situated in Angul district of the Indian state of Odisha. Attempts towards acquisition of land for mining in the region in recent years have faced severe protests by various social groups. The sample households were selected following a proportionate stratified random sampling procedure. Using descriptive statistics and applying the ordinary least squares (OLS) method of estimation, the chapter finds that mining-based development initiatives do not necessarily lead to financial inclusion of the socially marginally households, particularly when there is provision of employment in the mines only for the landowners. Since many of the socially marginalised households lack ownership rights over land, they suffer from limited employment opportunities in the mining enterprises. In addition, asymmetries in bargaining power, access to information and capabilities further limit the scope of reaping the benefits of mining. Hence, socially inclusive mining and smooth economic transitions require imparting higher and quality education to the members of these households, developing the skills, providing greater access to information and widening the scope of employment beyond the landowners.

Given that urbanization is considered as one of the most significant anthropogenic alterations of the environmental framework, the present study attempts to understand spatiotemporal characteristics of urban growth and its implications for the hydro-meteorological parameters in the Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) of the Indian state of West Bengal. The empirical approach of the paper is based on land use/land cover (LULC) changes and normalized difference built-up index (NDBI) computed using remote sensing and GIS techniques. Spatiotemporal satellite images and conventional data are used to characterize the urban growth process, whereas K-Means based unsupervised classification technique is used for LULC changes. Inverse distance weighting (IDW) interpolation method is applied for the spatial distribution of rainfall, temperature and groundwater level analysis. In order to examine whether hydro-meteorological (e.g., rainfall, temperature) parameters have any relationship with hydrological components (e.g., groundwater level) the Kendalls Tau test was performed. It is found that the maximum urban built-up area has increased during the last two decades with fluctuations in depth to groundwater level in northern, north-western and south-western side of the city. Notably, built-up expansions have taken place from the north-eastern to the south-eastern part. There are evidences of urban sprawl or shrinkage indicating expansion of built-up area and thus causing environmental degradation in the city area. While the methodology used in the paper has the potential for understanding the urbanization process, the findings have important implications for designing necessary policies and regulations. Keywords: Urbanization, LULC change, Groundwater, Kendalls Tau, Geographically Weighted Regression, Remote Sensing, GIS

A decade has elapsed since the inception of the MGNREGA. While this scheme has been able to act as viable source of alternative rural employment, the major challenge pertains to job demand and employment creation by as much as stipulated. The present study aims to identify factors influencing the incidence and extent of household participation in MGNREGA in Mayurbhanj and Ganjam districts of Odisha. The findings suggest that ‘clientelism’ is an overriding force under MGNREGA, indicating thereby that this scheme is a potent means to create ‘political society’. It is the awareness of the prospective benefits of a job card that motivates people to exhibit their willingness to have it and to get access. This awareness leads to creation of employment for those seeking jobs. The results also signal the possibility of ‘elite capture’. Households possessing more land holdings may possess job cards, despite demanding fewer jobs, as they seem to be influential in rural social–political milieu. However, the programme appears to be pro-poor and gender-sensitive. In order to make it more effective, it may be necessary to overcome the possibilities of ‘clientelism’ and ‘elite capture’, and improve the awareness level.

Policy initiatives and regulatory changes made during the last two-and-half decades of economic reforms have led to a considerable increase in the number of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the Indian corporate sector. Given the policy-induced flexibilities, while the domestic firms have taken the route of mergers to restructure their business and grow, the foreign firms have preferred to enter into specific markets through acquisitions and raise monopoly power therein. In this context, the present article attempts to examine the impact of M&As on market the structure in major industries of the Indian manufacturing sector during the post-reform period. Using a panel dataset of 34 major industries for the period 2001–2009, the article finds that M&As do not necessarily cause any appreciable adverse impact on market concentration. Instead, the degrees of sellers’ concentration are influenced by the growth of market, capital intensity, firms’ advertising efforts and their financial performance. The findings of the present article, therefore, suggest for a rethink on policies and regulations relating to M&A, international trade and intellectual property, as they play a significant role in enhancing firms’ competitiveness and restricting the emergence of a monopolistic power. JEL Classification: L1, L4, L5, O3

This study examines whether group heterogeneity and group structure and process predict the effectiveness of women’s self-help groups in terms of their financial performance, self-reliance of the group, members’ decision-making ability at the household level, and access to non-financial benefits. Data were collected using an interview schedule from 210 women’s self-help groups in six districts of Bihar and data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The findings suggest that the group heterogeneity directly predicts the effectiveness of women’s self-help groups and it is fully transmitted through group structure and process to positively predict the effectiveness of the women’s self-help groups. The group structure and process is found to be a full mediator between group heterogeneity and group effectiveness. The predictive accuracy of the model is found to be high. The findings have implications to bring in more diversity in members castes, education, and their reasons for joining women’s self-help groups at the formation stage and variations in members’ skills and expertise at the performing stage of the groups. The members’ awareness on group norms and trust in financial transactions, and leadership styles together with cooperation and cohesion among members, transparency in financial transactions, group attendance, and networking with the bank and the federation foster the effectiveness of women’s self-help groups.

CONTEXT In northern West Bengal and southern Bangladesh, Rabi crops, sown in winter and harvested in the spring, are an important source of income and nutrition for the target communities. In the study areas, NGOs and extension services have been engaging with farming communities on selecting suitable crops for the upcoming season. This engagement took place in the absence of quantitative tools to discuss trade offs and what-if scenarios to support an informed discussion. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to design a crop-choice model to support extension agronomists in engaging with the farming communities more effectively using a quantitative analysis tool. In this process, we explored how agricultural system models can be inclusive and allow participation and eventual application by NGO and government extension agents, using a process of gender sensitive contribution. Methods The crop-choice model includes several constraints related to available resources, including land, labour, capital and technologies to calculate optimal crop areas within the Rabi season. The crop choices are determined considering gender specific community perceptions of risks, labour use, market, price-volatility, self-consumption, water use and cash flow. The model was used to explore the consequences of different crop choices on income, gender specific labour, use of inputs and markets, and to reveal the trade-offs of pursuing different crop choice pathways in the context of agricultural intensification. The initial model was demonstrated to the farmers and the extension agents, and based on their reflections, it was fine-tuned further to make the engagement process more effective. For better communication with the participating farmers, the model related questions and findings were translated in the local language (Bengali). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS We found that the modelling process can be made more inclusive from the outset by including farmers, NGO and extension agents as co-contributors of the model at each of the modelling steps and incorporating their reflections. Such an inclusive and reflective approach provides easy-to-use interfaces and enables translation of model results in ways that more effectively benefit farming communities. The process of engagement with farmers during tool development has been very valuable to farmers and researchers alike and the use of the tool has made the farmers informed about alternative scenarios and led to actual benefits for crop choice decision making. Inclusive farming systems models need to consider the gender dimension and its critical role in farm decision making and how this can be included in models to reflect the diversity of decision process. To maximise relevance of the model for next users and farmers, it was important that these key stakeholders were part of the model development from the beginning, this study has focused on the same throughout. SIGNIFICANCE This study demonstrated that appropriate design and development principles enabled bioeconomic farming systems models to be used by NGO and government extension agents to engage with farming communities as discussion support tools in farming decisions. Such an approach would make the engagement process more convincing and effective. Besides, it would also provide useful insights to the NGO and extension agents in revising their intervention strategies.

In the context of considerable change in the use of groundwater pattern, particularly with continuously increasing demand for groundwater due to growing population, expansion of area under irrigation and economic progress, the present paper makes an attempt to delineate groundwater potential zones using integrated remote sensing, geographic information system, and analytic hierarchy process techniques. Integration of geographic information system with analytic hierarchy process can exemplify as a process that transforms and harmonizes geographical data and weightage ranking to retrieve information for accurate decision-making. Accordingly, mapping and identification of groundwater potential zones are carried out in the Ganga Alluvial Plain of Hooghly district of India. Application of the same for Indo-Gangetic plain is made (new approach) to contribute the applicability Geographic Information System and Analytic Hierarchy Process for the delineation of groundwater potential zone. Predominant criteria (e.g., land use, land cover, soil type, geomorphology, geology, elevation, slope, rainfall, normalized difference vegetation index, drainage density, recharge rate, groundwater depth) were employed for computation of groundwater potential index. Overlay weighted sum method is applied to integrate all thematic criteria to generate groundwater potential zone map of the study area. The resulting groundwater potential index map has been classified into three groundwater potential zones, namely good, moderate and poor. Finally, groundwater potential zone map is validated using average groundwater level data from 32 wells scattered over the study area. The findings of the present paper have important implications for designing sustainable groundwater plan in the area.

Efficient use of limited landholding in farming is the key to poverty reduction and inclusive growth in the agrarian economies like India that have a large number of land-constrained farmers. It is generally suggested that cultivation of horticultural crops in dry season can increase cropping intensity and help in better use of land leading to greater livelihood opportunities and higher farm income. However, limited scale of farming, market imperfections, lack of social and human capitals and failures of policies and institutions pose several constraints to optimum use of land and hence intensification in agriculture. This paper explores if collective farming and participation in value chains can potentially enhance scale of farming by the land-constrained farmers and strengthen their market linkages. The paper is based on experiences and insights gathered through repeated engagements and focus group discussions with land-constrained farmers and other stakeholders from two selected villages under the project Promoting Socially Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural Intensification in West Bengal and Bangladesh (SIAGI) and their nearby markets of West Bengal, India. It is found that collectivization and development of diversified value chains along with off-farm activities can strengthen market linkages of land-constrained farmers. Apart from distance, market assurance and market acceptance also influence choice of markets by the land-constrained farmers. Further, given the limited scope and associated risks of collective marketing, particularly in the absence of enough aggregation opportunities, diversified crop baskets aligned with market demand appear to be more beneficial. However, the choice between crop diversification and cluster development still remains a critical issue and, therefore, requires further scrutiny.

Given persistent malnutrition, especially among children and women, promoting nutrition-sensitive farming practices among smallholder farmers is often suggested as a potential pathway. However, an important question is, do the smallholder farmers in developing countries like India consider nutritional value of crops while making their cropping decisions? This paper analyzes behaviour of such households’ towards nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) in West Bengal, India. Based on both primary and secondary data, it is found that households’ awareness about NSA depends on their landholding size. The land rich farmers are better aware about the nutritional values of crops, whereas decisions for self-consumption of nutritious vegetables by female members positively influence the awareness level. Besides, land-constrained farmers prefer to sell their produce for cash income rather than self-consumption. This can potentially undermine their nutritional status, particularly when large part of income is spent on non-food items. The findings provide important directions for intervention strategies to promote NSA through land-constrained farmers.

In India, there is a long history of protest against land acquisition, which has halted a number of development interventions. The issue has been particularly serious in the state of Odisha, which is mineral-rich but backward, economically. While ongoing debates focus mainly on the price of the land and compensation for, and resettlement of, those uprooted by the proposed changes, the present paper focuses on the potential adverse ecological consequences of mining. Through analysis of primary and secondary data, the study finds that there are more negative impacts on the environment and ecology in mining districts than in the non-mining districts of Odisha. However, potential adverse ecological consequences are a dominant cause of protests against land acquisition for mining in the state.

In the context of changing farming practices, particularly with increasing use of chemical fertilizers, the present paper attempts to statistically model the implications of such input intensification for growth of agricultural production and yield and crop diversification in Hooghly district of the Indian state of West Bengal. Understanding the issue is very important for sustainable growth of the sector in the long-run. The paper uses secondary data collected from the Bureau of Applied Economics and Statistics of the Government of West Bengal for the period 1989–2010. The paper shows that greater use of chemical fertilizers has no strong correlation with growth of agricultural production and yield. It is also found that agricultural production has fluctuated during this period possibly due to improper use of N–P–K over the years exceeding the assimilative capacity of soil. Further, excessive use of chemical fertilizers has also resulted in over extraction of ground water in the area. It is, therefore, suggested that efforts should be made towards deeper understanding of inherent potentials as well as limitations of soil and designing the farming strategies accordingly. In addition, formation of farming groups and promotion of organic farming should be explored to facilitate sustainable growth of the sector. Decentralized participatory planning can play a crucial role in this regard.

While importance of cleaner cooking fuels for improving quality of life and facilitating social inclusion and ecological sustainability is well-recognized, success of the initiative depends on beneficiaries’ perceptions about the potential benefits. Here, we examine how the beneficiaries perceive about the benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), an initiative of the Government of India, which aims at providing subsidised connections of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to the poor households of the country. Perceptions are examined in respect of changes in standard of living and natural resource conservation. Based on primary data and information collected from five villages of the Puri district of Odisha, it is found that beneficiaries perceive only marginal or no change in standard of living after LPG connection in India. Further, the estimated limited dependent variable models show that such perceptions depend on household heads’ education, subsidy on LPG and changes in firewood use. However, occupation or household income does not have any significant impact on perceptions. Efforts should, therefore, be made towards raising awareness of beneficiaries, making LPG cheaper and restricting firewood use for changing households’ perceptions about the benefits of LPG toward greater success of the PMUY.

Since its inception, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) of the Government of India has provided subsidized liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to many poor households for enhancing use of LPG as a cooking fuel. However, along with such large LPG connections, it is also necessary to understand how the beneficiaries have adopted the same. This paper examines beneficiary households’ response to the PMUY in respect of actual use of LPG and identifies the underlying factors in rural areas of the Indian state of Odisha. Using descriptive statistics and estimating limited dependent variable models the paper finds significant positive impact of household heads’ education and amount of subsidy on actual use of LPG, whereas general category households have lower adoption of the same. Further, greater availability of kerosene also limits adoption of LPG. Importantly, household income does not influence adoption of this cleaner fuel. The findings of the paper, therefore, have significant implications for fine tuning of policies and institutions towards cleaner energy transition in rural India, particularly in respect of enhancing relative price and awareness about benefits of LPG and its delivery mechanisms.

The region of maxillary lateral incisor is an area of embryological importance with major and minor malformations like, gemination, fusion, cysts, dens in dente, peg-shaped laterals, talon cusps, supernumerary roots, and palatogingival groove (PGG). Palatogingival groove is a developmental groove usually found on the lingual aspect of maxillary incisors. It can be simple or complex on the basis of its connection to the pulp. These grooves act as a nidus for plaque accumulation which destroys the sulcular epithelium and later deeper parts of the periodontium. Since proper cleaning of this region is difficult by patient himself, it can lead to serious localized periodontal lesion or can communicate with endodontic lesion. Suggested treatment modalities are curettage of the affected tissues, elimination of the groove by grinding (saucerization), or by sealing with a variety of filling materials. If the groove extends beyond the middle-third of the root apex, surgical procedures are required, including use of barriers and intraosseous alloplastic graft to correct the defect. How to cite this article Devaraj CG, Yadav A, Sharma S, Meena M, Mishra P, Godara S, Kapoor R. PalatoRadicular Groove Associated Defect Resolved with GIC, Alloplastic Graft and GTR Membrane. J Mahatma Gandhi Univ Med Sci Tech 2016;1(2):75-78.

In 2009, the Government of India announced a new set of guidelines for planning of works and preparation of labour budget under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). This guideline made it mandatory for the states to ensure that at least 60% of MGNREGA related works undertaken in a district in terms of costs, is spent for creation of productive assets that are directly linked to agriculture and allied activities. This is very important considering that creation of productive assets is necessary not only for making ecological regeneration but also for ensuring sustainable growth of agriculture sector and creation of livelihood opportunities in a village economy. In this chapter, the authors analyze and document experience towards convergence of the MGNREGA work with other rural developmental schemes in the Odisha and West Bengal states of India. More specifically, the Chapter addresses the following issues: What are the different types of convergence models that have been initiated in Odisha and West Bengal? How have the joint efforts of various line departments contributed to conservation and management of natural resources? Are assets created under convergence initiatives sustainable in the long-run? How have these assets contributed to agriculture sector, particularly in respect of increase in production and yield, changes in cropping pattern, crop diversification, and multiple cropping? Can the existing institutions contribute to management and utilization of the assets created under convergence? If not, what institutional supports are necessary in this regard?

Several studies have explored the determinants of firms' innovative efforts, but a consensus on the conceptual underpinnings and empirical manifestations of these determinants is yet to emerge. This paper attempts to understand the role of several factors in determining inter-industry variations in research and development (R&D) efforts in Indian manufacturing sector. Using Arellano–Bond dynamic panel estimation technique and a panel data set of 34 manufacturing industries over the period from 2001–2002 to 2008–2009, the paper finds that firms in industries with greater R&D efforts in the past, larger participation of the multinational corporations (MNCs), higher capital intensity, and greater penetration in the international market through exports spend more on R&D. On the other hand, R&D efforts are less in industries with larger incidence of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and greater competition from imports. The degree of sellers' concentration in a market, size of the market, product differentiation,...

Retention is a biggest challenge as compare to hiring best talents and fairly described by the level of employee commitment and employee satisfaction. Both of these factors are very important for organizational success and share a favorable association however, it does not invariably signify that a satisfied employee is always being committed and thereby retain in the organization. The purpose of this research is aimed to provide a focus on the link between employee satisfaction on overall employee commitment in a Pharmaceutical Contact Research Organization based at Bangalore, India. In this study, employee commitment is viewed as the overall level of commitment including commitment to organization as well as to work and employee satisfaction is functioned by two broad constructs- organizational factors and personal characteristics, which further subdivided into nine predictors including organizational polices & support, supervisor support, job characteristics, reward & recognition, teamwork & cooperation, feedback, maximizing potential and retention intension The study adopts a multiple regression model and results suggest that out of these nine predictors, only organizational support and reward & recognition are significantly related to the organizational aspect of employee commitment (organization commitment), whereas the predictors like job characteristics and feedback have higher influence on work aspect of employee commitment (work commitment). Maximizing potential is only predictor which has significance on the overall level of employee commitment. On contrary, retention intension has an inverse relationship with the overall employee commitment indicating that the workforce is dominated by career oriented professionals having a tendency for opting better extrinsic opportunities thereby leading to organizational knowledge drain. The study tries to draw management attention on restructuring its existing strategies for maximizing the withholding capacity of talent pool which is absolutely vital for its

In the context of initiation of economic reforms in general and changes in policies and regulations of the banking sector in particular, the present paper attempts to examine the structure-conduct-performance relationships in Indian banking sector. It is observed that there have been changes in the market structure of Indian banking sector, conducts of the banks and their performance in the post-reform era, especially during the last decade, though the changes have not been significant in every aspect. Using a panel dataset of 59 banks operating in India during 1999-2000 to 2008-2009 and applying the two-stage least squares (2SLS) method of estimation, the paper finds that there exist strong inter-linkages amongst structure of the market, banks’ conduct and their financial performance. While market share of a bank depends directly on its market size, asset base, selling efforts, and past financial performance, its selling efforts vary directly with market share, asset base, and past financial performance. On the other hand, returns on assets of a bank vary directly with its market share, but inversely with its asset base and selling efforts. The regression results essentially suggest for multidirectional and dynamic SCP relationships in Indian banking sector. It is also found that the nature of ownership has significant influence on market share, selling efforts and financial performance of the banks. As compared to the nationalised banks, market share of the private banks (both domestic and foreign) is found to be lower. But private banks make greater selling efforts and have better financial performance vis-à-vis their public sector counterparts

In the context of economic reforms in general and subsequent wave of M&A in particular, this paper attempts to examine the impact of M&A on the export competitiveness of firms in the Indian manufacturing sector. By using a panel dataset of 33 industries from the period of 2000-01 to 2007-08, it is found that, the wave of M&A has enhanced the export competitive- ness of firms. The industries with larger number of M&A have greater penetration in the inter - national market. The other factors that have significantly contributed to export competitive - ness include the presence of MNCs and import of foreign technology. Export competiveness is higher in the industries that have larger presence of MNCs and greater foreign technology purchase intensity. On the other hand, industries with higher capital intensity or greater selling efforts by firms have limited penetration in the international market. However, this paper did not find any significant influence of market concentration, competition from imports, in-house efforts, or profitability on export competitiveness of firms. Therefore, the findings from this paper have important policy implications in relation to the regulation of M&A and entry of MNCs as well as the import of capital goods.

R&D Efforts by Indian Pharmaceutical Firms in the New Patent RegimeIn the context of recent amendments to the Indian Patent Act and introduction of the product patent, the present paper attempts to examine the innovative efforts of Indian pharmaceutical companies in the new patent regime. The paper finds that although R&D expenditure has increased significantly in the current decade, the increasing R&D efforts are not widespread across the firms and more than half of the Indian pharmaceutical companies do not spend at all on in-house R&D. This means that protection of intellectual property alone is not enough to encourage the firms towards innovation. Instead, it is observed that R&D expenditure varies directly the with market size of the firms, their capital intensity, exports orientation and past profitability, but inversely with their market share, selling efforts and import intensity. However, a firm's involvement in mergers and acquisition or sourcing of technology from foreign sources or variability in financial performance does not have any significant impact on its R&D efforts. Hence, the policy measures should be directed towards restricting the monopoly power of firms, encouraging exports, liberalizing imports of necessary machinery and equipment, and motivating the firms towards innovation, especially in life-saving drugs, an through appropriate incentive/disincentive structure.

Generally, public investments in irrigation projects fail to deliver the desired outcomes largely due to inefficient management and use of the assets by the local level institutions. Against this backdrop, the present paper attempts to understand how the Pani Panchayats have performed in sustainable management and use of minor irrigation structures in the Indian state of Odisha. Using primary data and information collected from selected state-funded minor irrigation projects implemented in Cuttack district of the state, the paper finds that the Pani Panchayats, being backed by The Orissa Pani Panchayat Act (2002) and following a democratic decision making process, have been successful in managing the irrigation projects efficiently, especially in respect of pricing and distribution of irrigation water, maintenance of the systems, and their expansion, leading to socially inclusive and sustainable agricultural intensification in the area.

This article examines the varied impacts of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) as a development delivery institution for the tribal communities vis-a-vis other social groups across the Indian States, using the framework of new institutional economics. A number of State-specific, socio-economic institutional factors seem to be responsible for these variations. The article therefore suggests institutional reforms and convergence of the development initiatives of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs with the NREGS in order to realise the optimal potential of the scheme, and, in particular, to ensure greater livelihood opportunities for these marginalised groups and their entitlement to productive resources with greater socio-economic and political empowerment.