Coverage of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) Booster Dose (Precautionary) in the Adult Population: An Online Survey.

Background The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic devastated public health worldwide, including India. COVID-19 vaccines and their boosters are life-saving developments that have helped prevent and control the spread of COVID-19. We conducted this study to assess the coverage of the booster dose in an Indian population (the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in India is referred to as the booster or precautionary dose), record the reasons for not taking the booster dose, and determine the effectiveness of the booster. The levels of adherence to COVID-19 precautionary behavior was also assessed.  Methods We conducted a descriptive, cross-sectional study using convenient sampling via an online survey of 550 respondents older than 18 in the second quarter of 2022. The respondents were distributed among 18 states and union territories in India. The data were analyzed as simple proportions and percentages. Results Of the 550 respondents, 152 (27.6%) received the booster dose, indicating low coverage. A small percentage of respondents (7.2%) reported suffering from COVID-19 following the booster, of whom 91% were medical professionals. The most common reported reason for not taking the vaccine was that the respondents were not yet due for their dose (48.1%). The time between the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and the booster had no impact on infection rates. Men were less likely to adhere to COVID-19 precautionary behavior than women, despite similar vaccination rates. Conclusion The COVID-19 vaccine booster had a low acceptance in our study population, with roughly one-quarter of the population receiving the booster. The booster dose has been influential in the prevention of COVID-19. Most respondents followed behavioral safety measures despite the decline of active cases of COVID-19 in India following the Omicron wave. Our results indicate a need to strengthen public strategies to affect behavioral changes, such as improving India's Behavior Change Communication program to ensure adequate booster dose coverage.

Urbanization and COVID‐19 Prevalence in India

The research questions we answer in this paper pertain to the socio‐economic determinants of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), the relationship between urbanization, urban primacy, the proportion of households in slums, urban poverty, health infrastructure, open spaces in cities and COVID prevalence, in India. We find that urbanization, higher workforce participation, higher population density and higher income lead to increased Covid prevalence. We find a positive relationship between urban primacy, slum households and COVID‐19, and a negative association between health infrastructure, parks and COVID‐19. Cities should develop and maintain not only hospital infrastructure such as beds, but also parks in the post‐pandemic world.Alternate :Las preguntas de investigación a las que respondemos en este artículo se relacionan con los determinantes socioeconómicos de la enfermedad por coronavirus 2019 (COVID‐19), la relación entre la urbanización, la primacía urbana, la proporción de hogares en barrios marginales, la pobreza urbana, la infraestructura sanitaria, los espacios abiertos en las ciudades y la prevalencia de COVID, en la India. Se encontró que la urbanización, una mayor participación de la fuerza laboral, una mayor densidad de población y mayores ingresos conducen a una mayor prevalencia de COVID. Se encontró una relación positiva entre la primacía urbana, los hogares de barrios marginales y COVID‐19, y una asociación negativa entre la infraestructura sanitaria, los parques y COVID‐19. En el mundo post‐pandémico, las ciudades deberían desarrollar y mantener no sólo infraestructuras hospitalarias, como las camas, sino también los parques.Alternate :抄録本稿では、インドにおける新型コロナウイルス感染症 (COVID‐19)の社会経済的決定因子に関連する研究課題、すなわち、都市化、都市の優位性、スラム世帯の割合、都市貧困、健康インフラ、都市のオープンスペース、COVID‐19の罹患率、以上の関連性を解明する。都市化、より高い労働参加率、より高い人口密度及びより高い所得がCOVID‐19の罹患率の増加につながることが分かった。その結果、都市の優位性、スラム世帯、COVID‐19には正の関連性があり、保健インフラ、公園、COVID‐19には負の関連性があることがわかった。COVID‐19のパンデミック後の世界では、都市は病床数などの医療インフラだけでなく公園も開発し維持しなければならない。

Current Research Trends in Commerce and Management: A Survey 2022

Current Research Trends in Commerce and Management: A Survey 2022 By K L Narasimha Murthy Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi, India, Pages: 340, Price: ?990 ISBN: 978-81-212-6475-4 (Print) PREMISE The book has covered new age concepts and approaches, in the area of environment, development, management, governance, and technology, with significant contribution in contemporary and topical scenarios, in the present world economies, and hold a great insights in approaches and applications in current research trends in Commerce and Management, for the research scholars, students, teachers, NGO sector, national and international organizations. Circular economy can play a yeoman's role in the preservation of environment, lowers emissions, consumes minimal natural resources, produce lower trash and facilitate waste to wealth, drives employment growth, innovations, and propel higher economic growth, promotes resource independence, safeguarding life and well being. The book also identified new areas of research in CSR, community development, innovative insurance strategies, AI in healthcare, cost benefit, input output analysis, operation research, new perspective in growth and development strategies, sustainability and green economy, to remain at the forefront of time and space.

Factors influencing the adoption of cashless transactions during COVID-19: an extension of enhanced UTAUT with pandemic precautionary measures

This paper aims to extend the enhanced "unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT)” model with pandemic precautionary measures (PPM) to examine the variables that influence the adoption of "cashless transactions (CLT)” during pandemic periods such as COVID-19. For this purpose, this research polled 363 people from 15 zones of Chennai City, India. Utilizing the responses, the relationship between components was explored using a PLS-SEM approach in two distinct research models to examine the influence of PPM in the enhanced UTAUT. The results indicate that the model with PPM (model 2) exhibited an improvement over the model without PPM (model 1) in the variance explained of behavioural intention from 77.3 to 82%. Further, in model 1, performance expectation is the most potent predictor of individuals' intentions to use CLT, and in model 2, performance expectations deteriorated slightly in its ability and PPM became the most potent predictor. Furthermore, these findings reveal that the PPM-included enhanced UTAUT has significantly strengthened its ability to explain behavioural intent to adopt CLT. Thus, this research model has the potential to be of great use in investigating the adoption of CLT in any epidemic period. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

Towards a Definition of Performance During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Study of Ramlila in India

This article demonstrates how Covid-19 transformed the performance aesthetics of ancient theatre traditions in India. I draw primarily on the October 17, 2020 performance of the Ramlila, the folk staging of Ramayana, produced by the Shri Ram Dharmik Leela Committee, Tri Nagar, one of the most popular theatre troupes in North Delhi. In the first part of the article, I explore the metatheatricality of the production by analyzing its camera-centric aesthetic while demonstrating how the performance divested gods of their power. In the second part, I investigate how the performance's paratextual thematic bestowed power on humans. Broadly, I show that the Covid-era performance of Ramlila marks a break from some of the traditional conventions of performance aesthetics in India.

Indian Primary Grade Teachers' Perceptions About Internal and External Barriers to Remote Instruction: A Phenomenological Inquiry

This qualitative study explored the perceptions of primary grade teachers in the Indian cities of Mumbai and Sambalpur about the barriers they faced in implementing remote instruction effectively during the pandemic. Interviews were conducted over Zoom and via phone. The findings highlighted two sources of barriers. The external barriers included lack of device availability and internet data issues, professional development issues and teachers' own efforts, time commitment to prepare materials, and classroom management challenges. Teachers' lack of positive beliefs about remote instruction surfaced as an internal barrier. The findings are consistent with studies conducted by researchers globally and bear implications for early childhood teachers, parents, programs, and policymakers. While research findings have exposed global unpreparedness to implement remote instruction effectively during the pandemic, these findings have also made the field aware of the need for harnessing the potential of technology in enhancing teaching and learning processes and outcomes. Future researchers may design mixed-method studies to identify the extent of children's learning loss and evaluate the effectiveness of intervention programs offered by schools to help children achieve their current grade level competencies by the end of the academic year. Gathering teachers' and parents' voice is critical in this context. © 2023 Childhood Education International.

Exploring Critical Factors Influencing the Usage of Video Conferencing Apps for Virtual Learning System

The COVID-19 outbreak harmed populations, was deleterious to those of the social groups most at risk, and affected all facets of the community. Because of the widespread effects of COVID-19, schools and other educational institutions had to close. Technology, here, helped to advance education by enabling virtual connections between students and teachers through online classrooms, webinars, digital tests and other means. To promote synchronous learning sessions, video conferencing apps are used in the majority of online learning activities. Many Academicians weren't used to utilizing video conferencing apps, but they were forced to use them anyhow despite their level of preparation. In this study, the authors have tried to establish a theoretical model to determine the level of awareness among Academicians and Faculty members regarding critical factors & dimensions influencing the usage of video conferencing apps for online sessions. This study further tries to identify factors that determine the usage of video conferencing apps with UTAUT Model. The study lays the foundation for future research on examining how the use of technology plays a significant role in cognitive engagement and learning process.

Challenges and Concerns of Work from Home during Covid-19 Pandemic in India: An Exploratory Study

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic forced many employees to work from home. The shift in work mode happened suddenly when people were grappling with major threats to health and life and were not well prepared for the new method of working. It resulted in greater demand on time with stay-in family members and blurring boundaries between work and life domains. This exploratory study aims at identifying the concerns and challenges of working from home during the pandemic situation. Data were collected from 155 full-time employees from the private sector, government, and semi-government organizations, who had the experience of working from home during the Corona pandemic situation. The sampling method was a combination of convenience sampling and snowball sampling. The study developed a new scale since the issues and concerns were unprecedented. Exploratory factor analysis resulted in five factors-work-life fusion, perceived organizational support, health concerns and resource constraints, reduced interactions with colleagues, and distractions of the home environment-that emerged as major concerns and challenges of working from home during the pandemic times. The study also showed that a significant difference existed between the perceptions of male and female employees with respect to only one factor, namely, reduced interaction with colleagues.

Police officers' punitiveness in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of fear, attribution and self-legitimacy

PurposeThe focus of this study is to examine Indian police officers' punitiveness toward violators of criminal sanctions attached to COVID-19 mitigation laws enacted by the Indian Penal Code. The authors draw from the conceptual frameworks and correlates typically employed in traditional crime and justice research and adapt them to the context of the pandemic. Additionally, the authors examine whether officers' punitive attitudes are related to their belief in self-legitimacy and their job assignment (civilian vs. armed personnel) in a country with inherited colonial policing legacies.Design/methodology/approachData for the study came from 1,323 police officers in a northern state of India.FindingsFindings suggest that officers with vicarious fear of COVID-19 infections (e.g. infection of family members) find the sanctions associated with the new laws harsh. Additionally, officers who subscribe to the classical attributions of offenders feel that the laws are not punitive enough. In contrast, those with deterministic views perceive the sanctions as excessively harsh. Findings also suggest that officers' self-legitimacy, and belief in the authority and responsibility vested in them, is a key predictor of their punitive attitudes. Finally, officers assigned to police lines are more punitive than those designated to patrol/traffic work.Research limitations/implicationsData or prior research on officers' punitive attitudes toward other violations (non-COVID-19 violations) is unavailable for comparison with this study's findings.Originality/valueNo prior research has examined the relationship between police officers' perceptions of self-legitimacy, their belief in the authority vested in them by the state, their belief in their role as police officers and their relationship to their punitive attitudes.

A typology of the sources of mental health precarity among migrant workers in India during the COVID-19 lockdown

When urban workplaces shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India, a very large number of migrant workers were forced to reverse-migrate to their largely rural points of origin. This article looks at the mental health implications of the period migrants spent without work, back at the low-resource places from which they had out-migrated, in hopes of a better life. Based on qualitative interviews conducted with reverse migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, this article has a two-fold aim. The first aim is to reach the experiences and voiced concerns of precarious and vulnerable migrants to those who may be in a position to ameliorate their distress. Since policy-makers tend to lack time, findings from the qualitative data have been summarized in the form of a multi-dimensional typology, open to expansion by further research. The typology sees themes in money, health, information, and isolation. Second, the article follows the issues in the typology to suggest that acknowledgment of the significant role of migrant workers in India's economy, via sensitive enumeration, would be a first, and essential step to address the multiple concerns raised by migrant workers themselves. This baseline information could then be used to build subsequent dependent steps addressing the myriad causes of mental health distress among migrant workers in India. Copyright © 2023 Mookerjee and Roy.

A Modified Artificial Neural Network (ANN)-Based Time Series Prediction of COVID-19 Cases from Multi-Country Data

The deadly Corona virus that first appeared in a seafood market in the Wuhan city of China in December 2019 has been causing global distress by claiming lives and collapsing economies. Given its serious nature, there is an urgent need to understand the virus's future trajectory. The current study predicts the next day confirmed, death and recovery cases of COVID-19 pandemic for India, Italy, Spain, and the USA by using a modified multilayer neural network (MMLNN) model. The spread of the COVID-19 data is collected from the Kaggle website for the period of 22nd January 2020 to 20th April 2020 (i.e., for 90 days). The predicted figures of the spread of the disease have been estimated and compared with the actual values. Higher precision of the estimates has been observed from the MMLNN model compared to the conventional multilayer neural network (MLANN) model. Specifically, the MMLNN model does faster and more efficient training of the data resulting in less error. The paper forecasts the next day figures (i.e., for 21st April) for all the three cases and does the comparison of the results with the actual values reported. A deviation of 6% is obtained for India, and for the other three countries the deviation is below 3.5%. Given the high accuracy predictive power, the authors recommend that the MMLNN model can be integrated into the health policy of the countries that are struggling with the spread of the virus. Specifically, a decision on health policies such as restrictions on movement can be based on the short-range predictions of the spread of the virus infection.

Using AI and ML to predict shipment times of therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines in e-pharmacy supply chains during COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeThis paper aims to address the pressing problem of prediction concerning shipment times of therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic using a novel artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) approach.Design/methodology/approachThe present study used organic real-world therapeutic supplies data of over 3 million shipments collected during the COVID-19 pandemic through a large real-world e-pharmacy. The researchers built various ML multiclass classification models, namely, random forest (RF), extra trees (XRT), decision tree (DT), multilayer perceptron (MLP), XGBoost (XGB), CatBoost (CB), linear stochastic gradient descent (SGD) and the linear Naïve Bayes (NB) and trained them on striped datasets of (source, destination, shipper) triplets. The study stacked the base models and built stacked meta-models. Subsequently, the researchers built a model zoo with a combination of the base models and stacked meta-models trained on these striped datasets. The study used 10-fold cross-validation (CV) for performance evaluation.FindingsThe findings reveal that the turn-around-time provided by therapeutic supply logistics providers is only 62.91% accurate when compared to reality. In contrast, the solution provided in this study is up to 93.5% accurate compared to reality, resulting in up to 48.62% improvement, with a clear trend of more historic data and better performance growing each week.Research limitations/implicationsThe implication of the study has shown the efficacy of ML model zoo with a combination of base models and stacked meta-models trained on striped datasets of (source, destination and shipper) triplets for predicting the shipment times of therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines in the e-pharmacy supply chain.Originality/valueThe novelty of the study is on the real-world e-pharmacy supply chain under post-COVID-19 lockdown conditions and has come up with a novel ML ensemble stacking based model zoo to make predictions on the shipment times of therapeutics. Through this work, it is assumed that there will be greater adoption of AI and ML techniques in shipment time prediction of therapeutics in the logistics industry in the pandemic situations.

Barriers to Digital Financial Inclusion during Covid-19: A Study Using Integrated Delphi – AHP Framework

The state of Kerala has made remarkable progress in the field of financial inclusion. It was among the first states in India to be identified as a 'Total Banking State'. However, the progress achieved with respect to digital financial inclusion has not been proportionate to the success it achieved in terms of account opening. This is particularly important in the current Covid pandemic and the emphasis on cashless transactions. The current study uses the Delphi - AHP Integrated method to identify, prioritise and rank various barriers to digital financial inclusion in PSBs. Using this, the study develops an index for Digital Financial Inclusion barriers. The findings of the study revealed bank officials prioritised Access related barriers (0.387) highest, followed by Awareness & Knowledge related barriers (0.352) and lastly, Attitude barriers (0.261). Further, the study finds significant variability in the Digital Financial Inclusion Barrier level with respect to gender, age, education, income and SHG membership among customers of PSBs.

Agriculture value chain sustainability during COVID-19: an emerging economy perspective

PurposeAgriculture value chains (AVCs) have experienced unprecedented disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, with lockdowns and stringent social distancing restrictions making buying and selling behaviours complex and uncertain. This study aims provide a theoretical framework describing the stakeholder behaviours that arise in severely disrupted value chains, which give rise to inter-organisational initiatives that impact industry sustainability.Design/methodology/approachA mixed-methods approach is adopted, in which uncertainty theory and relational governance theory and structured interviews with 15 AVC stakeholders underpin the initial conceptual model. The framework is empirically validated via partial least squares structural equation modelling using data from an online survey of 185 AVC stakeholders based in India.FindingsThe findings reveal that buyer and supplier uncertainty created by the COVID-19 lockdowns gives rise to behaviours that encourage stakeholders to engage in relational governance initiatives. Progressive farmers and other AVC stakeholders welcome this improved information sharing, which encourages self-reliance that positively impacts agricultural productivity and sustainability.Practical implicationsThe new framework offers farmers and other stakeholders in developing nations possibilities to sustain their AVCs even in dire circumstances. In India, this also requires an enabling ecosystem to enhance smallholders' marketing power and help them take advantage of recent agricultural reforms.Originality/valueResearch is scarce into the impact of buyer and seller behaviour during extreme supply chain disruptions. This study applies relational governance and uncertainty theories, leading to a proposed risk aversion theory.

Personal attributes and job resources as determinants of amount of work done under work-from-home: empirical study of Indian white-collar employees

PurposeEven after COVID-19 pandemic, several organizations intend extending work-from-home (WFH), to the extent of making it permanent for many. However, WFH's impact on productivity remains uncertain. Therefore, this paper aims to study personal and job factors determining the likelihood of amount of work done at home being same/more vis-à-vis office.Design/methodology/approachEmployees' basic psychological needs and job crafting tendencies;job-related aspects of task independence, technology resources and supervisory support;and several demographic factors are examined as determinants. Firth logistic regression analysis of data from 301 Indian white-collar employees is performed.FindingsDemographically, longer exposure to WFH, greater work experience and being a support function worker increased the likelihood of same/greater amount of work done at home. Being a woman or married reduced the likelihood, while being a manufacturing/services worker was non-significant. Among psychological needs, greater needs for autonomy and relatedness decreased and increased the likelihood of same/greater amount of work done at home, respectively. Regarding personal and job resources, job crafting to increase structural job resources and supervisor support increased the likelihood of same/greater amount of work done at home versus office.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the limited India-centric literature on WFH;uniquely examining influences of individual personal attributes on amount of work done by combining job demands-resources (JD-R) model and basic psychological needs theory.

The impact of Covid-19 on household poverty: examining impacts and resilience in a 40-year timeframe in rural Rajasthan (India)

To what extent has chronic poverty increased during the pandemic? In July and August 2021, we revisited seven villages of southern Rajasthan (India), where we had studied household poverty dynamics in 2002. We find that in the two decades before the pandemic (2002–2020), people's structural positions improved vastly, chronic poverty fell from nearly half to less than 20% of households. These gains in resilience helped people cope with the pandemic. The majority suffered deep income losses between February 2020 and August 2021, but there is no evidence of any substantive rise in chronic poverty. © 2023 Oxford Department of International Development.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the age-sex pattern of COVID-19 deaths in India

The SARS-CoV-2 virus (termed COVID-19) raised the mortality trends and diminished life expectancy globally. This study analyzes the age-sex patterns of COVID-19 deaths in India during 2020–2021 and how the age-sex patterns have changed between 2020 and 2021. We calculated the losses in the male-female life expectancy at birth (LEB) induced due to the pandemic by projecting pre-pandemic mortality trends into 2020 and 2021. The finding suggested that mortality rates have increased substantially due to COVID-19 in India, implying almost four years of losses of LEB in 2021. The age pattern of mortality differs by the years of the pandemic. In 2020, the disease disproportionately killed older people. In 2021, with the outbreak of COVID-19 delta variant infection, mortality also rose among younger adults. Moreover, in 2020, COVID-19 deaths were higher among males, whereas in 2021, mortality increased for both sexes. In conclusion, COVID-19 triggered a significant increase in mortality in India between 2020 and 2021, dragging the country to a lower LEB level in 2010–2011. The future impact of the pandemic is yet to be seen. Also, distinct age and sex differential COVID-19 health and socioeconomic impacts compel future researchers to include demographic heterogeneity in their study. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Asian Population Studies is the property of Routledge 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 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 . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Higher Education in India: Emerging Issues

Higher education has an important role in rebuilding a nation through its significant contribution in overall development of the human resources. However, Indian scenario is not at all encouraging in terms of gross enrolment ratio, research output or employability of university graduates. Some of the recent reforms in higher education sector ignites a little hope about enhancing the effectiveness of higher education institutions in the country. In this article, the authors have tried to look at the emerging issues plaguing the quality of higher education and provide a fresh perspective on reducing the lag.

Perceptions of undergraduate medical students regarding online classes during COVID-19 pandemic: A questionnaire survey

Conclusion: Online lectures are effective teaching method, but they cannot replace classroom teaching. [...]online teaching serves as add-on to the offline learning. Classroom Teaching;Indian Medical Graduates;Medical Education;Virtual Learning INTRODUCTION In December 2019, the world faced a new viral disease called coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which is caused by the severe acute respiratory distress - coronavirus 2. Various online learning methods were adopted at the institute through the use of different software applications such as Zoom app and GoToMeeting app to continue teaching online. With continuing pandemic and the need to maintain physical distancing, online lectures replaced the offline lectures. [...]it became imperative to evaluate the feasibility of online teaching methods and the students' perceptions regarding the same.

Gratitude and Hope as Correlates of Psychological Well-being amongst COVID-19 Survivors

The world witnessed and went through the COVID-19 pandemic for a major part of two years, the after effects of which still reverberate loudly worldwide. The psychological and emotional turmoil was felt by everyone but was accentuated many fold, especially for the COVID-19 survivors. Years of research have already established gratitude and hope to be the predictors of psychological well-being. The present research study made an attempt to explore gratitude and hope as the correlates of psychological well-being amongst COVID-19 survivors. The sample of this research study consisted of 76 survivors (N=76) from the state of Haryana, India. Gratitude Questionnaire-6 by McCullough et al. (2002);the Adult State Hope Scale by Snyder et al. (1996);and Ryffs Psychological Well-being Scale (RPWBS-18;Ryff et al., 2010) were used for the assessment of the variables. Descriptive statistics and Pearson's Product Moment Correlation was applied to explore the relationship among the variables. The findings of the study establish a significant positive correlation between both, gratitude and psychological well-being & hope and psychological well-being.