The Global Economy During COVID-19: A Study on Increasing Disparity

COVID-19 has become an ongoing issue in the present business world. The topic raises confusion and debate over many resolved issues. Not only the developing but also developed countries faced the heat-shock of this micro-infectious agent. But the power to regain and cope with the uncertainty has not been the same everywhere. To some extent, the developed nations have been able to tackle the bad days with their enriched resources, manpower and efficient system whereas this has become a total collapse for the developing and underdeveloped nations. Inefficiency and lack of social security have made life unbearable for the general people in these areas. What is the condition of the vaccination program? Whereas it is costly for the developed nations, it has simply become a dream for the developing nations. No one knows when the world will get a hundred per cent population with vaccination. In this paper we will cover these issues also we will take a look at the ravages of the pandemic in both worlds, as well as identifying the amalgamation of reasons behind the terrible second-wave in India and other developing nations.

The Role of Technology in Nigerian Catfish Production: A Review

This article examines the state of Catfish production in Nigeria and the roles technology has played over the past decades. Heightened demand as a result of increased population puts considerable pressure on production. In response to this pressure aquaculturists ramped up production activities, this demand-driven increase exposes the major gaps as the industry struggles to cope with the absence of fundamental structures like inadequate structured funding, markets, processing and preservation facilities among others. Such gaps exist in all aspects of aquaculture and technology is a viable plug for many of them. The aquaculture of developing nations has certain peculiarities which predispose it to slow development. Many fishermen and aquaculturists in low-income regions are trapped in economic systems that result in relative poverty. Many reasons have been put forward to explain the dynamics behind these consequences with technology playing a major role from the consensus. Rapid advances in hatchery, water quality and molecular technology have been identified as some of the active drivers of Catfish production in Nigeria. The article focuses on the history, progress and prospects of aquaculture technology in Nigeria. It does so by reviewing the technologies already established in Catfish farming and the impact of their roles in balancing fish demand and supply.

The Water-Waste Nexus

The management of water resources and waste is amongst the major challenges facing the majority of urban environments within developing nations due to the rapid population growth and urbanisation as well as improved lifestyles. The Greater Harare Metropolitan Province is not spared by these management challenges. This chapter proposes a number of scenarios that could be implemented in the short to medium terms to address these challenges within the GHMP from a water-waste nexus approach. The water-waste nexus approach is anticipated to significantly reduce the human health impacts and environmental impacts, specifically the water resources pollution which is responsible for the increase in cost of potable water production subsequently resulting in intermittent potable water supply in the GHMP. The study regards the recovery of energy from the waste generated in the GHMP as an integral component of the approach with the energy recovered used for water, wastewater, and waste treatment.

Smart Cities and Their Missions

Two major topics are presented in this chapter: the reasons behind adopting the choice of digital transformation into smart city and the challenges that are encountered in doing so. In persistence towards transformation, the smart city concept is explained, with a detailed view of the principles for smart development, sharing a vision for forward actions. The chapter also outlines the types of challenges faced by professionals in developing nations while implementing smart city transformation. It discusses three main types of challenges: strategic, direct, and persistent. As an overview of the transformation process, the chapter discusses the pillars of smart cities development.

COMPETENCE ASSESSMENT AND DEVELOPMENT FOR MANAGING HUMAN CAPITAL IN IT SECTOR

With ever-increasing demand for software professionals, time has come for the information technology (IT) industry to unearth competencies required for software professionals. The majority of IT companies have been employing outsourcing software projects to inexpensive hubs in developing nations. Therefore expectations from highly skilled software professionals are rising. The purpose of the study is to recognize the technical competence levels associated with software professionals in a range of profiles which are found in India's major IT organizations. There are three basic objectives of the present study. The first objective is to conduct a literature survey of description of the software engineers in IT domain. The second objective is to quantify the competency levels of the software engineers in IT sector. Finally, the third objective is to conduct a survey-based empirical study on software engineers. The professional occupation is set up through seven successive profiles.

Cross-sectional study on prevalence and consequences of screen time on physical and mental health in children in the era of COVID-19

Background: With the ongoing growth and expansion of digital media and COVID-19 pandemic, children are inclining more and more toward spending time on digital media as compared to outdoor sports, leading to poor physical and mental growth. Developed nations have already set up a screen time guideline which is yet to be established in developing nations. This study was conducted with the objectives of identifying the needs of screen time guidelines and to study the impact of screen time on mental and physical health in children. Aims and Objectives: This study aims to check the screen time in children aged 2–18 and find the health consequences both physical and psychological in those children. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study on children aged 2–18 years was conducted between 2019 and 2020. Parents were asked to fill a pre-structured questionnaire. Impact on health physical and mental were assessed by pediatrician and psychologist. Results: A total of 155 children were enrolled in the study. Mean child hours in children aged 2–5 years, 5–10 years, and 10–18 years were 4 h, 5.83 h, and 6.29 h on week days and 5.64 h, 5.76 h, and 7.69 h on weekends, respectively. More than one-third of children had age of onset of screen time below 2 years of age. About 70% of children had malnutrition. Only 18% of parents were aware of concept of screen free days. Screen time had negative impact on health (P=0.0001) and on behavior of child (P=0.001). Average increase in screen time during COVID-19 was nearly 3 times the pre-COVID era. Conclusion: This study has paved the way for the need of larger study and development of guidelines on impact of screen time on children in developing nations where screen time guidelines is yet to be set more so in era of COVID 19 pandemic.

Multimedia E-Learning Education in Nigeria and Developing Countries of Africa for Achieving SDG4

Educationally, electronic media are the communication resources for those who offer and support education and those who are participating in educational activities. Achieving the Sustainable Millennium Development Goals (SDG) with respect to UNESCO recommendations for committing 15%-25% of the developing nations annual budget to education toward realizing SMDG Goal #4, emphasis is on quality and affordable education for all human beings. Notwithstanding the substantial advancement in education, access and involvement over the past years has not been encouraging. Globally, 262 million school aged children are out of school in 2017, while a reasonable number of school children and adolescents have still not been able to meet the minimum competence in reading and solving mathematics. This research established that networked teaching and e-learning education in the academic institutions physical teachings will provide theoretical and practical significance on the learning outcomes in reshaping the face of education in developing countries such as Nigeria.

The Road to SC Transition for Cities in Developing Nations

Smart city transformation is a complex operation and comes with critical challenges that this chapter addresses in a strategic manner. The chapter clearly distinguishes between different types of cities. An overview of the most significant and crucial four qualities of smart cities is discussed. An essential part of the chapter is the review of the foundations of technology in smart cities with emphasis on indispensable types of technology such as communications, smart technology, and connectivity infrastructure. The second important part of the chapter is the issue of developing guiding principles to smart city transformation. A discussion of strategies of migration versus transformation of smart cities is followed by a review of the phases of smart cities implementation.