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Irrigation facility has been identified by many researchers as one of the essential institutional factors in agriculture sector of any country, including India. Furthermore, its importance has also been admitted in the agro-productions in any provinces, districts and blocks. The equitable distribution of such facilities may lead to equitable distributions in the productivity of land for different crop productions. Under this milieu, this chapter intends to examine the trends in the different types of paddy production and irrigational facilities in the Paschim Medinipur District of West Bengal State in India and tries to correlate whether disparities in paddy production are associated with disparities in the distribution of irrigational facilities. The results show positive association between the two and prescribe inclusive arrangements of irrigational facilities to all the blocks in the district to have long-term solutions.

This paper examines Aman Ullah’s contributions to robust inference, finite sample econometrics, nonparametrics and semiparametrics, and panel and spatial models. His early works on robust inference and finite sample theory were mostly motivated by his thesis advisor, Professor Anirudh Lal Nagar. They eventually led to his most original rethinking of many statistics and econometrics models that developed into the monograph Finite Sample Econometrics published in 2004. His desire to relax distributional and functional-form assumptions lead him in the direction of nonparametric estimation and he summarized his views in his most influential textbook Nonparametric Econometrics (with Adrian Pagan) published in 1999 that has influenced a whole generation of econometricians. His innovative contributions in the areas of seemingly unrelated regressions, parametric, semiparametric and nonparametric panel data models, and spatial models have also inspired a larger literature on nonparametric and semiparametric estimation and inference and spurred on research in robust estimation and inference in these and related areas.

The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multicriteria decision support system that has been successfully applied to numerous decision-making situations, has been applied to patient assessment. The AHP was used with Timeslips™, a group storytelling program that encourages creative expression among dementia patients, to determine the optimal scale for pre and post assessment among the nine most common agitation and anxiety scales. The AHP used the six criteria identified by qualitative assessment of the nine scales: (1) validity/reliability, (2) observation period, (3) training required, (4) time to administer, (5) most appropriate administrator, and (6) accessibility/cost. The AHP indicated that the Overt Agitation & Anxiety Scale was optimal for use with Timeslips; the process and results are discussed.

We conduct a literature review on forms of organizing that address grand challenges, which are operationalized as the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, as this framework is universal and widely adopted. By analyzing the articles that match our criteria, we identify six differentiable organizational forms: movements, temporary organizations, partnerships, established organizations, multi-stakeholder networks, and supranational organizations. These six forms are differentiated based on the two following categories: organizing segment and communicational technological approach. Our analysis shows that tackling a grand challenge often starts with collectives as a protest culture without any expected goal, besides sending an impulse to others. This impulse is received by criticized institutionalized organizations that have the capacity and resources to address the problem properly. However, new challenges arise as these organizations inadequately resolve these problems, thereby leading to conflict-laden areas of tension, wherein emergent organizations complement institutionalized organizations that have created the first infrastructure. To solve the most complex problems, a trichotomous relationship between different forms of organizations is necessary. Moreover, communicational technological approaches become more sophisticated as grand challenges increase in complexity.

In recent times, mobile banking has become the best alternative for transactions associated with payments like bills, fees, and peer-to-peer payments. Therefore, the pace of adoption is increasing day after other. However, the numbers of customers are not equal to the expectations as there are several challenges and threats hindering in the way of excellence and growth of mobile banking. Therefore, this chapter has been written purposively to address all the elements that are associated with the use of mobile banking with special emphasis on Pakistan and other developing sides of Asia. In fact, concern towards Asian sides is mandatory as the continent has the massive charm to attract users towards the use of mobile banking, but there is a need for proper policy and concern from stakeholders in order to give a push to the technology, which is fruitful for society, environment, as well as economy. The study includes an in-depth discussion on factors that need attention to make the study implicative and thorough for conducting further research in the field of Fin-Tech and mobile banking.

On 20 March 2020, the four adult convicts of the 2012 Delhi rape case were executed after a long debate regarding the punishment for their crime. The Delhi rape case, unlike others, was also given to the fast track court because of the worldwide outrage India received in its aftermath. Otherwise, most rape survivors rarely speak out and if they do, their lives are often endangered and threatened, depending on the severity of the case itself and the perpetrator's rank in the society. Through the analysis of Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury's, 2016 film Pink, and Ajay Bahl's film Section 375 (2019), this chapter explores the different ways in which mainstream Hindi cinema deals with such questions, especially in its depictions of courts. Both these films foreground India's contemporary cultural systems of fear that silence the rape survivors. They also imply that in the court cases, unless the specific court case faces intense global publicity, as was the case of the Delhi gang rape, rape survivors will never want to speak out. Moreover, the rape survivors will also hesitate to file a First Information Report (FIR) – a document that records crimes by the police against their perpetrators – limiting any possibility for justice for them. The laws surrounding rape cases are obscure and complex and finding justice for a rape victim (unless it is on a global level) is not an easy venture in India. At the time of the #metoo movement, the rape laws in India are not designed in such a way to arguably encourage victim-survivors to speak up. Instead, if rape survivors do decide to confront their perpetrators, they not only face ostracisation from society but also the danger of losing loved ones and endanger their lives as well.

Purpose – This study investigates the sociodemographics, late entry to antiretroviral therapy (ART), and clinical markers associated with AIDS-related mortality.

Methodology/Approach – Applying retrospective cohort design, 960 medical records of people who died of AIDS, from October 2006 to December 2014, were accessed from the ART center at tertiary health care center of Ranchi (India).

Findings – With useable data from 889 medical records revealed that the majority of people who died of AIDS consisted of married males in the age group of 19–40 years who were truck drivers, migrant laborers, and of rural origins. The median survival period was below 3 months following the ART. Males and people on the pre-ART group had a shorter survival period than their counterparts. Early mortality was associated with lower CD4+ T cell counts, the third or fourth clinical stage, ambulatory or bed-ridden functional status, and poor medication adherence.

Research limitations/implications – This study was limited to the analysis of AIDS deceased people only; it did not compare the survival duration with living people on ART. The lower CD4+ T cell counts and medication adherence, being strong predictors of mortality, can be addressed to attain higher survival rates of people who have AIDS.

Originality/Value of Paper – This is the first study conducted in the tribal-populated region, covering a large sample of 889 cases. Unique findings of this study update the existing data on AIDS-related mortality.