scholarly journals COVID-19 outbreak and Urban dynamics: Regional variations in India

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devarupa Gupta ◽  
Dibyendu Biswas ◽  
Pintu Kabiraj

Abstract India was the second highest COVID-19 affected country in the world with 2.1 million cases by 11th August. This study focused on the spatial transmission of the pandemic among the 640 districts in India over time, and aimed to understand the urban-centric nature of the infection. The connectivity context was emphasized that possibly had inflicted the outbreak. Using the modes of transmission data for the available cases, the diffusion of this disease was explained. Metropolitans contributed three-fourths of total cases from the beginning. The transport networks attributed significantly in transmitting the virus from the urban containment zones. Later, there was a gradual shift of infections from urban to rural areas; however, the numbers kept increasing in the former. The massive reverse migration after lockdown spiked the infected cases further. Districts with airports reported more with influx of international passengers. A profound east-west division in April with higher infections in the southern and western districts existed. By mid-May eastern India saw a steep rise in active cases. Moran’s I analysis showed a low autocorrelation initially which increased over time. Hotspot clustering was observed in western Maharashtra, eastern Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and around Kolkata by the second week of August. The diffusion was due to travel, exposure to infected individuals and among the frontline workers. Spatial regression models confirmed that urbanization was positively correlated with higher incidences of infections. Transit mediums, especially rail and aviation were positively associated. These models validated the crucial role of spatial proximity in diffusion of the pandemic.

Author(s):  
Kalaichelvi Sivaraman ◽  
Rengasamy Stalin

This research paper is the part of Research Project entitled “Impact of Elected Women Representatives in the Life and Livelihood of the Women in Rural Areas: With Special Reference to Tiruvannamalai District, Tamil Nadu” funded by University of Madras under UGC-UPE Scheme.The 73rd and 74th amendments of the Constitution of India were made by the government to strengthen the position of women and to create a local-level legal foundation for direct democracy for women in both rural and urban areas. The representation for women in local bodies through reservation policies amendment in Constitution of India has stimulated the political participation of women in rural areas. However, when it’s comes to the argument of whether the women reservation in Panchayati Raj helps or benefits to the life and livelihood development of women as a group? The answer is hypothetical because the studies related to the impact of women representatives of Panchayati Raj in the life and livelihood development of women was very less. Therefore, to fill the gap in existing literature, the present study was conducted among the rural women of Tiruvannamalai district to assess the impact of elected women representatives in the physical and financial and business development of the women in rural areas. The findings revealed that during the last five years because of the women representation in their village Panjayati Raj, the Physical Asset of the rural women were increased or developed moderately (55.8%) and Highly (23.4%) and the Financial and Business Asset of the rural women were increased or developed moderately (60.4%) and Highly (18.7%).


2021 ◽  
pp. 001946622110132
Author(s):  
Astha Agarwalla ◽  
Errol D’Souza

The policy responses to Covid-19 have triggered large-scale reverse migration from cities to rural areas in developing countries, exposing the vulnerability of migrants living precarious lives in cities, giving rise to debates asserting to migration as undesirable and favouring policy options to discourage the process. However, the very basis of spatial concentration and formation of cities is presence of agglomeration economies, benefits accruing to economic agents operating in cities. Presence of these agglomeration benefits in local labour markets manifests themselves in the form of an upward sloping wage curve in urban areas. We estimate the upward sloping wage curve for various size classes of cities in Indian economy and establish the presence of positive returns to occupation and industry concentration at urban locations. Controlling for worker-specific characteristics influencing wages, we establish that higher the share of an industry or an occupation in local employment as compared to national economy, the desirability of firms to pay higher wages increases. For casual labourers, occupational concentration results in higher wages. However, impact of industry concentration varies across sectors. Results supporting presence of upward sloping urban wage curve, therefore, endorse policies to correct the market failure in cities and promote migration as a desirable process. JEL Classification Codes: J2, R2


Author(s):  
Sona Ahuja ◽  
Diksha Yadav

The present study provides a description of the model of interactive digital pedagogy for remote areas and its impact on pedagogical satisfaction and academic achievement of students. This pedagogical intervention was designed to enrich and supplement the teaching-learning experience in remote and underprivileged schools through the use of technology. An interactive online teaching-learning system was set-up using a digital pedagogy. 150 school students and 80 prospective teachers from three higher secondary schools of Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu participated in the study. Pedagogical satisfaction and academic achievement of the school students who studied in this set-up were examined. The results revealed that active learning, technological competence and learner autonomy were enhanced in an online environment when compared to an offline environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 10-22
Author(s):  
S. Appasmandri ◽  

Among the basic needs of life, food possesses ahead of everyone else as it nourishes us and able to stand which leads further activity. Tamil Nadu state is self-sufficient in food production and Nutrient availability assessment also shows the same but the consumption pattern shows inverse pattern to availability because consumption is directly related with income, education, taste and preference, cultural, ethical and etc. Food consumption patterns of rural Tamil Nadu shows that high demand of Public Distribution System (PDS) observed in earlier and gradually decreased over year. Vitamin Thiamine is coming under severe inequality category in rural areas of Tamil Nadu for both 61st and 68 rounds. Goal programming was effectively optimised the nutrient requirement with least cost and optimised to higher level of nutrient status.


Author(s):  
Shankareswari S. ◽  
Jayapriya B. ◽  
Sandeep K. ◽  
Lourdu Jafrin A.

Background: Studies show that in India, the health loss from alcohol will grow larger, unless effective interventions are implemented. Initiation of alcohol intake starts from a very early age and is higher in rural areas. The best way to reduce alcoholism is prevention rather than curing the already addicted persons. For this we need to know the magnitude of this problem. This study is aimed at estimating the prevalence, identifying the causative and contributing factors of alcoholism among higher secondary school children of Theni district.Methods: A self-administered validated questionnaire was given to the male school students of 15 to 17 years (XI and XII students) to assess the prevalence and pattern of alcohol use among them. The questionnaire was prepared with reference from the global school-based student health survey (GSHS), the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) questionnaire and the cut-annoyed-guilty- eye (CAGE) questionnaire. Data analysis was done using software OpenEpi, Version 3.Results: A total of 500 students were analyzed with a response rate of 94% (n=470). The overall prevalence of alcohol use was found to be 31.06%. Nearly 70% had the possibility of alcoholism and should be investigated further for severity of alcohol use, 30% had impaired control over drinking almost daily and 17% had injury or injured someone because of drinking.Conclusions: The mean age of initiation of alcohol consumption is decreasing and the number of alcohol consumers is increasing.


Author(s):  
Sathish Dev ◽  
Timsi Jain ◽  
Sivaprakasam P. ◽  
Dinesh Raja

Background: Diabetes, which was known to be an epidemic in the urban areas, has been found to be increasing rapidly in the rural areas too as a result of the socioeconomic transitions. Diabetes is no longer only a disease of the elderly but is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality affecting youth and middle aged people.Methods: Screening camp for diabetes was conducted by the Department of Community Medicine in three different areas in the field practice area of Saveetha Medical College and Hospital viz. Thirumazhisai, Kuthambakkam and Velavedu in Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu on 7th April 2016 as a part of World Health Day 2016 celebration. Data was collected using a predesigned interview schedule. Descriptive statistics was calculated using rates, ratios & proportions. Univariate analysis was done using Chi square test to find the association between various factors and diabetes status. A parsimonious regression model was developed to find the predictor variables for diabetes.Results: A total of 188 people aged above 18 years attended the screening camps. Majority of the camp attendees were females (62.2%). Proportion of people having diabetes (already diagnosed plus newly screened) was found to be 18.1% out of which 3.2% were screened positive for diabetes. On regression analysis, Intake of alcohol and perceived stress were found to be significantly associated with diabetes (p<0.05).Conclusions: This study highlights a significant burden of undiagnosed cases of diabetes in the community. This indicates the need for systematic screening and awareness programs to identify the undiagnosed cases in the community and offer early life style modifications, treatment and regular follow up to such individuals.


2018 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 7-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Mazur ◽  
Konrad Czapiewski ◽  
Krzysztof Janc ◽  
Michał Konopski

Sprawne funkcjonowanie społeczności lokalnych w ramach danego obszaru jest w dużej mierze uzależnione od potencjału oraz możliwości wykorzystania miejscowych zasobów. Jednym z ważniejszych zasobów i czynników kształtujących rozwój lokalny jest kapitał ludzki tkwiący w danej społeczności, a w szczególności w lokalnych władzach samorządowych. Celem artykułu jest identyfikacja charakterystycznych cech struktury władz samorządowych na obszarach wiejskich Polski. Pod uwagę wzięto zarówno przestrzenną, czasową, jak i funkcjonalną zmienność tej struktury. Opis przestrzeni zaprezentowano w aspekcie międzyregionalnym, zróżnicowania między regionami historycznymi oraz wewnątrzregionalnym w zależności od odległości od większych ośrodków miejskich. Podstawę analizy zróżnicowania w aspekcie funkcjonalnym stanowiła typologia funkcjonalna gmin z 2010 r., pozwalająca wyróżnić 8 podstawowych typów struktury gospodarki lokalnej. Zakres czasowy stanowią kadencje wójtów i burmistrzów w okresie 2002–2018. Zakres przedmiotowy opracowania obejmuje wiek, płeć i wykształcenie oraz miejsce zamieszkania i stabilność władzy. Uzyskane wyniki pozwoliły wskazać szereg prawidłowości dotyczących zróżnicowania każdej z pięciu wymienionych cech władz lokalnych. Prawidłowości te są jednak mniej wyraźne niż w przypadku zróżnicowania zachowań wyborczych mieszkańców.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. S. Selvavinayagam ◽  
Anavarathan Somasundaram ◽  
Jerard Maria Selvam ◽  
Sabareesh Ramachandran ◽  
Sampath P. ◽  
...  

Three rounds of population-representative serological studies through India's two COVID waves (round 1, 19 October-30 November 2020; round 2, 7-30 April 2021; and round 3, 28 June-7 July, 2021) were conducted at the district-level in Tamil Nadu state (population 72 million). State-level seroprevalence in rounds 1, 2 and 3 were 31.5%, 22.9%, and 67.1%. Estimated seroprevalence implies that at least 22.6 and 48.1 million persons were infected by the 30 November 2020 and 7 July 2021. There was substantial variation across districts in the state in each round. Seroprevalence ranged from 11.1 to 49.8% (round 1), 7.9 to 50.3% (round 2), and 37.8 to 84% (round 3). Seroprevalence in urban areas was higher than in rural areas (35.7 v. 25.7% in round 1, 74.8% v. 64.1% in round 3). Females had similar seroprevalence to males (30.8 v. 30.2% in round 1, 67.5 v. 65.5% in round 3). While working age populations (age 40-49: 31.6%) had significantly higher seroprevalence than the youth (age 18-29: 30.4%) or elderly (age 70+: 26.5%) in round 1, only the gap between working age (age 40-49: 66.7%) and elderly (age 70+: 59.6%) remained significant in round 3. Seroprevalence was greater among those who were vaccinated for COVID (25.7% v. 20.9% in round 2, 80.0% v. 62.3% in round 3). While the decline in seroprevalence from rounds 1 to 2 suggests antibody decline after natural infection, we do not find a significant decline in antibodies among those receiving at least 1 dose of COVID vaccine between rounds 2 and 3.


Author(s):  
Janakiram Marimuthu ◽  
A. Arul Murugan

Background: Childbirth, though a physiological process, has been associated with multiple risks and stress on the women, even before the time of conception till the post-partum. Every woman around the world has a right to receive respectful maternity care. Birth satisfaction and respectful maternal care has direct impact on percentage of institutional deliveries. There is paucity of studies conducted among the women of rural Tamil Nadu regarding birth satisfaction and intrapartum experiences.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in primary health center area, red hills among the post-partum women attending the immunization OPD at 6, 10 and 14th week after delivery during the months of March to June 2018. By simple random sampling technique 195 subjects were included. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to collect the data. Ethical clearance was obtained from our Institutional Ethics Committee. Data was entered in MS Excel and analysis was done using SPSS Software version 23.Results: The study shows the importance of maternal satisfaction and intrapartum experiences of women in rural areas. It concluded that the overall satisfaction was 85.5%. The transport facility available at the health care set up which satisfied the mothers was around 91.4%. The interaction of health care providers with mothers during delivery was around 64.5%. Cleanliness and comfort of the delivery area was around 64%. Equality of care provided at the health care set up was around 83%.Conclusions: Reasons for delivery visit, duration of labour, and mode of delivery are independent predictors of maternal satisfaction.


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