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Under Pressure: Integrating Policy Interventions to Save Distressed Indian SMEs of COVID-19 Aftershocks
The Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector has one of Indias highest employment Indexes and is the launchpad for all genres and innovators. This sector is inclusive in integrating grass root level workers into tech innovators. There are about 63 million MSMEs in India, employing 110 million individuals. According to 2019 MSME reports, the sector contributed 29% to the overall GDP catalyzing socio-economic development. The Covid-19 pandemics have left world economies and business entities to redefine and rethink policy regulations and business models. The pandemic has created socio-economic displacement across business sectors, and no country is free from the socio-economic exclusions that has triggered. The Indian economy has been badly affected by a projection of over a seven percent decline in quarterly GDP in 2021.The coronavirus pandemic has impacted MSME earnings by 2050 percent, with micro and small organizations being the worst hit due to liquidity crunch. According to the survey conducted by Endurance International Group, many MSMEs have temporarily shut their operations or laid off their staff due to the inability to pay salaries. Further, due to slip in demand and halted production, many had to vacate the rented premises where they were functioning. MSMEs seek government support to tide over the situation with policy interventions on tax discounts or exemptions and loans distributed at cheaper rates or zero interest rates. With the economic slowdown and global restrictions on business outsourcing, and border tensions with China, India revived its Swadeshi (ethnic) dream of Mahatma Gandhi. The Government launched Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission to boost MSMEs and thrust indigenous industries and processes to reduce our foreign nations resilience. Indian government policies are favourable because they have committed $50 billion to help small businesses survive and provide low-income workers with a $266 billion stimulus package of around two percent of Indias annual economic output. Aatmanirbharta which means self-reliance, has been chosen by Oxford Languages as its Hindi word of the year 2020 as it authenticated the everyday achievements of the countless Indians who survived the perils of a pandemic, as stated in one of the popular daily newspaper. The paper focuses on the issues and challenges faced by MSMEs in India due to the pandemic. Further, an analysis of changes in MSME definition presented in the Union Budget 2021 and various policy interventions by the Government and their impact on reviving in the MSME sector is presented. 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG. -
Unraveling the Interplay Between Indian Agricultural Sector, Food Security, and Farms Bill: Key to Sustainable Development Goals
Agriculture, along with its allied sectors, plays a significant role in the economic progress and expansion of any country; despite tremendous economic progress, Indias agriculture sector is in jeopardy for various reasons. Agriculture in rural areas has been the primary source of income for the poor. With the growing susceptibility, policymakers main problems are to design ways to promote sustain-able agriculture to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Sustain-able Development Goals emphasize the relevance of agriculture and the need to revi-talize agribusiness worldwide by aiding farmers, increasing investments in research, technology, and market infrastructure, and increasing knowledge sharing. It may lead to spur innovation and give farmers more power. One of the essential advantages of urban agriculture is its potential to boost social capital and civic participation in low-income neighborhoods. As a result, the most critical goal in agricultural develop-ment for food security should be to raise productivity and diversify food production. Diversification of crops should be encouraged among farmers. This would aid in the fight against starvation, but it would also assist in preventing biodiversity loss and strengthen farmer resilience. Hence, our Chapter attempts to analyze the poor food security and what strategies will contribute to the SDG goals to reduce hunger in India as well worldwide. It elucidates a variety of obstacles and opportunities for successful, sustainable, and resilient agriculture. It also covers topics such as the recent agricultural bill and its long-term implications for our growth and a few important takeaways that could help us get closer to our objectives, mainly through the application of technology. The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. -
Migrants and homelessness: Life on the streets in urban India
There has been division and segregation of urban spaces and homeless migrants highlighting urbanization's contradiction. Despite being unseen, they make up a sizable portion of urban population. Being homeless in the city is a case of minimum citizenship, devoid of the right to the city, and is subject to ongoing violence. The expanding claim for the citizen's right to various public areas like pathways, pavements, and parks challenges their very existence on the streets and sidewalks (where they live). How do they perceive the hatred and disinterest of the wealthier classes? What uneasiness does the politics being played out in the name of locals against migrants create? The study will also examine the country's approach to the homeless, including their access to housing and sources of income. The Indian government has taken some steps to address homelessness among migrant workers, including providing financial assistance and setting up temporary shelters. Still, more needs to be done to address the root causes of this issue and ensure that migrant workers have access to safe and affordable housing, healthcare, and employment opportunities. This chapter plans to investigate issues, including how frequently migrants who are homeless experience violence and humiliation. It would analyze the macromicro paradox of the dynamics of migration. As the invisibleness and neglect of migrants frequently coincide with a widespread belief that migration must be reduced, this has obvious policy implications and implications for the inclusive growth model. In addition to that, this chapter has analyzed the country's policies on the homeless and their livelihood. The data was collected from secondary sources, and extensive study was conducted on various literature available from multiple databases. 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved. -
An invisible race from exclusiveness to inclusiveness of queer employees at workplace
Queer theory has been a significant part of the field of queer studies. Its presence can be found in women's studies, gay and lesbian studies and feminist theory, and postmodern and poststructuralist theories. Many types of research came around during the 1990s. One of the significant studies was in 1991. Teresa de Lauret coined the term "queer theory" to characterize a school of thought that rejected heterosexuality and binary gender constructions favoring a more open view of identity. Michel Foucault and Judith Butler's study is widely regarded as the founding text of this philosophy. This study adopts the lens of gender and sexuality to challenge people's cultural norms and ideals. There is hesitation among people regarding the acceptance of the third gender that exists in society. The queer theory suggests how the rest sees the queer community of the world. While studying the conditions of the queer community in India, it is imperative to undertake the recently legalized Section 377. The Indian Penal Code says that it is no more a crime to have sexual conduct between adults of the same gender as people have no control over their sexual orientation. The study discusses the practices and protocols of transgender inclusion at the workplace and how to look beyond the labels of the LGBT community. There are various issues when the company wants to employ transgender people at the workplace and accept the community. Qualitative research methods will be used in this research by reading several databases and conducting a systematic review. This chapter will also highlight how trans people confront significant job and career-related problems and barriers in the workplace and the concessions employers should make to ensure that trans people have a safe and discrimination-free workplace. This chapter observes how queer theory can be used as a conceptual framework to advance research in organizational research on trans people's several and many times conflicting needs. Ways could be explored to reach their goals around gender transgression and congruency, work, and career, by laying out some of the crucial concepts associated with the study of trans people in the workplace. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022. -
Revisiting the efficacy of policies in the Indian primary healthcare sector: Interventions and approaches during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has wracked even the most modern healthcare systems worldwide and has influenced Indias healthcare sector and vastly affected the governments and corporate stakeholders healthcare reform plans; hence, this chapter is intended to unfold the paradigm shift in Indias primary healthcare industry due to the pandemic in the last one and half years. This chapter described Indias experience with the coronavirus during the first and second waves and tried examining the public health difficulties in the COVID era. It provides a timeline of significant events of the pandemics growth in India and worldwide and how India responded to the situations through their economic and healthcare policies. We also go through some of the pandemics impacts and Indias recovery approach and strategies for its revival. All possibly available secondary data like Scopus, Web of Science, Medline/PubMed, and Google Scholar search engines, newspapers, government websites, etc., were excavated to meet this purpose; secondary sources were used to analyze the data. This chapter also examined the effect of COVID-19 on healthcare workers in India. This chapter critically examined the primary healthcares role during this pandemic and the governments policies and processes to deal with COVID-19 and any other unforeseen situations which the country may encounter in the future. 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. -
Healthy healthcare systems in India: A prognosis
India has been an emerging economy which has retained its second position in the global healthcare market that has been tackling its economic gaps, shifting demographics, thereby, facing a wide gap between the demand and supply of healthcare products and services due to technology and increasing cost. Affordable treatment facilities for the economically low strata is still a dream. The government scheme of "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan" and "Ayushman Bharat Yojna" are the steps to uplift the backward community and make all the facilities available to them at the lowest possible cost directly and indirectly. Hence, the objective of this research was to unfold the three pillars of Healthy Healthcare which revolves around healthcare systems in India, Healthcare Employees' wellbeing and resultant patient outcomes. This research also tried studying various interventions that can be taken to improve the present scenario of affordable and quality service to the needy people. Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020. -
Vessel turnaround time reduction in ports: An automated lean approach
Vessel turnround time is a vital factor that determines the efficiency of ports and consequently the trade competitiveness of a country. The goal of this research is to identify the factors leading to vessel turnaround time and suggest methods to increase the operational effectiveness. The research involves gathering data, analysis of the procedures for documentation and cargo handling, analysing the historical turnaround time, the reasons or causes contributing to idle time, identifying the root causes and proposing a solution that could contribute to the reduction of turnaround time of vessel so as to improve the efficiency of port operations. Some identified factors that contribute to the idle time include inefficient cargo handling and loading and unloading process, delays in documentation and customs clearance procedures, unplanned maintenance or repairs of vessels, harsh weather conditions, insufficient coordination and communication between stakeholders involved. 2024 by IGI Global. -
Does technology drive supply chain visibility? Evidence from the FMCG sector in India
Success and efficiency of today's business depends on many factors across various industries. Among the many factors, supply chain plays a crucial role. The well-functioning of distribution system may lead to customer satisfaction, cost reduction, risk management, competitive advantage, collaboration and integration, innovation and adoptability and sustainability. Adopting technology in supply chain systems is another way of increasing business growth in the present era. The technologies used in today's business organizations are blockchain, internet of things (IoT), cloud technology, etc. To what extent technology is used to improve supply chain visibility in business is a matter of concern. With this background, the study aims to explore the relationship and impact of different technology on supply chain visibility in fast moving consumer goods sector. To meet the objective of the study, the study chose the top 20 FMCG companies based on highest market share and collected the data from 20 supply chain managers. The variables considered for the study were internet of things (IoT), blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), radio frequency identification (RFID), cloud technology and information technology. relevant statistical analysis was used to prove the results and it is evident that technology positively correlates with the supply chain visibility. Artificial Intelligence has the most significant impact on the supply chain visibility of a firm. Hence, there is a significant impact of technology on supply chain visibility and the extent impact is high. 2024, IGI Global. All rights reserved. -
Exploring the role of social media influencer marketing in the tourism sector
The growing popularity of social media influencers (SMI) increasingly encourages destinations to use social media influencer marketing (SMIM) for their promotional campaigns. SMIs demonstrate the power of an individual based on certain factors employed to influence a broad segment of audience, and when it is used for marketing purposes, it is known as SMIM. SMIM is a part of the social media marketing that exercises all the commercial marketing techniques via social media channels. SMIM has impacted many industries including tourism, but looking at the progressive growth of SMIM today, it is surprising that such little attention had been paid to this area. However, while there is increasing use of SMIM by tourism organizations, there is a lack of research and limited knowledge on the roles of SMIM in travel and tourism. This chapter sheds light on the use of SMIM in the tourism sector where existing literature on the SMIM, its factors, and the influence of SMIM on the tourism sector by distinct authors are reviewed to identify the effectiveness of SMIM in the travel and tourism industry. 2023, IGI Global. All rights reserved. -
Exploring the role of social media marketing in the education sector
The educational system across the world is undergoing a transition and is affected by numerous factors encompassing technology to psychology. The traditional model of face-to-face teacher-led learning approach has been gradually shifted to student-centric and outcome-based learning. Though the intellect and learning capacities among students differ in many aspects, personalized attention of the teacher to student and practical exposure to subjects are considered as few significant areas of concern in curriculum and pedagogy. The late 2000s witnessed the dawn of many EdTech companies proclaiming personalized attention and experiential learning through online platforms. EdTech companies make fine use of social media marketing and adopt well-thought-out strategies to reach out to the student segment and parents. The prime objective of this chapter is to study the role of social media marketing strategies in capturing student segments and the influence that makes on parents' purchase decisions. 2022, IGI Global. All rights reserved. -
The machine learning algorithms for data science applications
It is going to be data-driven insights and insights-driven decisions and actions for the total humanity. Data is being recognized as the new fuel for any individual, innovator, and institution to envisage and deliver smart and sophisticated services to its clients and customers. Data is being touted as a strategic asset for any enterprise to insightfully plan ahead and provide next-generation offerings and premium services with clarity and confidence. Newer products and solutions can be unearthed and deployed to assist humans in their everyday decisions, deals, and deeds. However, for data to be overwhelmingly beneficial, data getting garnered from multiple places have to be transitioned into information and knowledge. The process for enacting this strategically sound transformation is being continuously updated and upgraded for achieving the required optimization. That is, process excellence is gaining the attention of professors and professionals. Further on, there are scores of automated tools and enabling platforms for empowering this transition activity. Data analytics is being touted as the prime method to extract actionable insights out of data heaps. In the recent past, with the flurry of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, frameworks, libraries, platforms, accelerators, specialized engines, and highperformance processing architectures, AI-enabled data analytics is seeing the reality. Data science is the fast-emerging and evolving domain of study and research for finding viable ways and means that can simplify and streamline the activity of emitting hidden and useful knowledge out of data volumes. In this chapter, we want to dig deeper to spell out the strategic implications of data science technologies, tools, platforms, and infrastructures. Especially how machine learning (ML) algorithms are influencing the futuristic field of data science. The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2022. -
Neurocognitive aspects of mathematical achievement in children
Neurocognitive factors, including information integration and executive functioning, contribute significantly to a child's early success in math achievement, even though the significance of home and school environments cannot be ignored. There are only a few studies that have systematically examined how information integration and executive function skills impact different aspects of learning math and math achievement. Using a comprehensive tool such as the brain-Based Intelligence Test (BBIT), a brain-based comprehensive approach to the understanding of cognition, for the assessment of information integration and executive function skills can have significant implications for mathematical education and remediation (brain plasticity). The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved. -
Data science: the Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms-inspired use cases
The data science field is growing fast with the faster maturity and stability of its implementation technologies. We had been fiddling with traditional data analytics methods. But now, with Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is possible to embark on predictive and prescriptive insights generation in time. There are several data science (DS) use cases emerging with the wider adoption and adaptation of AI technologies and tools. This chapter is dedicated to illustrate various AI-inspired use cases. The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2022. -
Study on the growth of the ott platform during lockdown and its future scope
This research tries to review the growth of OTT platforms throughout the lockdown. It's vital to understand the extent of increase within the popularity of OTT platforms throughout lockdown to understand their future scope. It's evident that, since their launch, OTT platforms have solely discovered an upward curve in their usage, and because of the pandemic and lockdown there has been exponential increase in its popularity because of the modification in consumption patterns of individuals for diversion through numerous media platforms. This analysis conducted a survey and analyzed the opinions of individuals relating to OTT platforms, their consumption patterns, and its comparison with cinema to examine if OTT platforms were slowly taking on the foremost fashionable standard medium of diversion. It had been found that individuals used OTT over the other platforms outside of TV and YouTube to pass their time or for diversion. 2024, IGI Global. -
Do flexible working hours influence employee skill enhancement and productivity? Evidence from polyvalent workers
This chapter investigates the influence of flexible working schedules affect the productivity and skill development of polyvalent workers. A thorough literature analysis guided the creation of a questionnaire that was given to 153 polyvalent workers as a sample. The gathered data was subjected to statistical analysis in order to determine how flexible work schedules affected worker productivity and skill development. The results show a strong correlation between flexible work schedules and increased productivity and skill development among employees. Furthermore, it was discovered that these results were significantly impacted by flexible working hours. Flexible schedules can help multitasking employees, who are skilled in a range of jobs, improve their productivity and further develop their skills. Companies that use polyvalent labour are encouraged to think about adopting flexible work schedules as a way to improve worker productivity and abilities. 2024, IGI Global. All rights reserved. -
Do gender diversity and leadership style influence team performance and innovation among the employees: Evidence from the IT sector
The aim of this chapter is to investigate the influence of gender diversity and leadership style on team performance and innovation of potential teams in the information technology sector. A questionnaire was developed, and a sample of 403 responses were collected from the employees. The analysis of the collected data was done using statistical tests of correlation and logistical regression, in order to understand the relationship and impact of gender diversity and leadership style on team performance and innovation potential of teams. The following findings emerged from the analysis. The findings reveal that there is a positive and significant relationship between gender diversity, leadership style, team performance, and innovation. Also, the result from logistics regression evidence that gender diversity and communication have an impact on team performance, whereas organisational culture and communication have an impact on innovation potential within teams. 2024, IGI Global. All rights reserved. -
Machine learning in smart agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of the soil, the growth of crops and the raising of livestock. Agriculture is critical to the economic development of a country. Farming generates nearly 58% of a country's primary income. Previously, cultivators had accepted conventional farming practices. Because these methods were imprecise, they produced less and took longer time. Precise farming boosts productivity by precisely determining which steps must be completed at what time. Precision farming entails forecasting the weather, analyzing soil, recommending crops for cultivation and calculating the amount of fertilizer and pesticides that must be used. Precise farming uses advanced technologies such as IoT, data mining, data analytics, and machine learning (ML) to collect data, train systems and predict outcomes. Precision farming employs technology to reduce manual labor and boost productivity. Farmers have recently faced several difficulties, such as crop failure due to insufficient rainfall, soil infertility and so on. The proposed work in determining the soil, managing crops and harvesting efficiently can solve the problems caused by environmental changes. It guides a person's farming strategy to produce better results through a proper prediction process. The goal of this research is to assist an individual in efficiently cultivating crops, resulting in high productivity at a low cost. It also assists in estimating the total cost of cultivation and forecasting the likely economic barriers. This would help a person plan activities prior to cultivation, resulting in an integrated farming solution. 2023 River Publishers. All rights reserved. -
The Future of the Gig Professionals: A Study Considering Gen Y, Gen C, and Gen Alpha
This article aims to analyze the reasons behind the gig economys growth considering the present and future. From few empirical pieces of evidence, it is clear that the gig economy took shape after the 2008 great economic recession, where unemployment rose in leaps and bounds along with voluntary job leaving. In recent times, the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the primary reasons for the forced rise of the gig economy. Strategically and practically speaking, from the economic point of view, the gig economy is dominated by Gen Y and Gen C and will be dominated by Gen Alpha soon. However, there are very fragile differences between Gen Y, C, and Gen Alpha; all three generations are lashed together in the name of tech-savvy and flexibility-seekers. Thus, this article justifies the influence of technology generations and the rise of the gig economy. There is less research work exclusively on Gen Y, C, and Alpha. Still, regarding the gig economy in light of the great economic recession and COVID-19, this new work highlights originality. Future researchers working on Gen Alpha and Gen C can explore the role of digital technologies in changing routine life and its impact on their personal life and career life. Technology has been a significant reason for the sprung-in gig jobs. However, it can also have adverse outcomes, which has scope to be explored. Thus, this research may be a catalyst for future research works in similar lines. The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022. -
Filmic afterlives: Considerations on the uncanny
[No abstract available] -
A Gradational Approach for Auditing IoT Security Vulnerability: Case Study of Smart Home Devices
The world is experiencing a rapid convergence of physical and cyber systems, as objects used in day-to-day life are connected over the Internet. These Internet of Things (IoT) devices are mass produced, but ensure its usage in routine life. The impact of IoT in human life ranges from simple household equipment to life-critical devices. Owing to the diversity, both in application and nature, the security on these devices and their applications has become a major concern. In spite of having many security frameworks and compliance regulations, attacks on IoTs are exponentially growing. A handful of security frameworks are available for ensuring the security, there are very few frameworks proposed for auditing the security. Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability, which are the pillars of security in IoT, are found missing or found to have been implemented with flaws. An IoT security audit is one good solution that has proven a success in the literature but challenging as the high-level standards cannot be applied to low-level devices and applications. In addition, the challenges of audits include heterogeneity of IoT and lack of expert resources. IoT and related products reached market very quickly before it could be subjected to the complete audit procedures or, in other words, the time taken for a new IoT device or application to be developed is much less than the time taken for developing a security audit mechanism. Hence, to enable an efficient security auditing of IoT devices, a definite and dynamic framework is needed that can propose feasible policies, automatic collection and analysis of audit data and tailor-made procedures for risk assessment, risk control and risk mitigation. This chapter focuses on the auditing of security vulnerability in IoT devices. A gradational methodology is proposed for extracting the feasible security checks from leading standards and guidelines in the IoT domain. To exploit its efficiency, the proposed method is applied to a smart home with IoT enabled devices. Performance metrics such as efficiency, accuracy, and scalability are evaluated. The experiments were carried out in a simulated environment with IoT devices. The results were highly satisfying as the proposed method could do efficient and accurate auditing for seven hundred smart homes in a time of less than fifteen minutes. 2025 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.