ABSTRACT
Purpose: There has been a significant increase in the demand for ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investment by investors in recent years. Investors are recognizing that companies that prioritize ESG factors in their operations are more likely to be sustainable and resilient in the long term. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the ESG-responsible firms are performing better than the other firms in the pre-COVID and during the COVID periods. The paper also tried to investigate the impact of COVID-19 cases on the index movement. Methodology: The study employed the descriptive analysis on the financial data of NSE NIFTY 500 and NIFTY 100 Enhanced ESG index. The EGARCH model was applied to estimate the effect of COVID-19 on the volatility of the NIFTY 100 Enhanced ESG index. Findings: The results showed that there was no leverage effect in the ESG index in both periods. That means that the ESG Index can act as a cushion during the pandemic period. The ESG Index outperformed the conventional market index, thus acting as a COVID-19 safe asset class. This gives an opportunity to investors and fund managers to diversify their risk by acting sustainably responsible for society. Practical Implications: This study compared the performance of ESG-indexed firms with that of other firms in the pre-COVID and during COVID time period to check whether there was any difference between them. This study provided empirical evidence for practitioners, policymakers, and academicians in support of ESG investment as it showed that the ESG Index performed better than the conventional index during the COVID period. Originality: This study used secondary data to study the performance of the EGS firms in the pre and during COVID period in order to compare with the other firms. In the context of India, this study may be the first one to compare the performance of the ESG firms with the normal firms in the pre and during the COVID period. © 2023, Associated Management Consultants Pvt. Ltd.. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The COVID19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges towards the delivery of neuro-rehabilitation services across the globe. A nation-wide lockdown made the accessibility to neuro-rehab facilities especially difficult for people with disabilities. Since there was not much data available on practices of neuro rehab during the COVID-19 pandemic, a cross sectional observational study was conducted to evaluate the changes in neuro rehabilitation practices in India during this pandemic using an online survey. The pandemic affected the people with disabilities in not merely the physical domains but also social effects, participation restriction and psychological effects and yet majority of both hospital and home-based physiotherapists reported a decrease in referrals and number of therapy sessions provided to the patients. Tele-rehabilitation has emerged as a new model of rehabilitation for delivery of neuro rehabilitation. It offers an alternate way of facilitating communication between the rehab professional and the patient. This includes strategies like low cost virtual reality gaming for rehab in children, mobile based rehab, etc. However, the shift to telerehab provides a tremendous learning opportunity and a huge scope for innovation in improving its accessibility to the community, especially in LMICs. Majority of both Hospital and Home-based Physiotherapists reported a decrease in referrals and number of therapy sessions provided to the patients. Despite evidence on the need for physiotherapy for respiratory care, most respondents did not implement the same. No protocols/guidelines for therapy delivery were implemented or used by our sample of respondents. This paper highlights the needs under three main categories, (1) Development and implementation of suitable clinical-practice-guidelines, clinical-monitoring systems for Neurological Physiotherapy, (2) incorporation of evidence-based respiratory care as part of neurological physiotherapy especially during such pandemics, (3) changes in policies at government and private sectors for inclusion and appropriate implementation of neurophysiotherapy along with public awareness programmes on the need for continued physiotherapy.
ABSTRACT
EPV246/#242 Figure 1ConclusionsThere is an encouraging trend in female authorship, likely reflective of increased representation in the workforce. Nevertheless, gender disparity persists. This underlines an opportunity for the academic publishing community to participate in advocacy and decisive action to close the ‘gender gap’. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this publication gap is being assessed by our group.