Critical incidents,alcohol and trauma problems,and service utilization among police officers from five countries

This study examines the relationship between critical incidents, alcohol problems, trauma symptoms, and service utilization across five countries. A sample of 1286 police officers (79% male; 21% female) from five countries (US = 838, Canada = 231, UK = 102, Australia = 58, and New Zealand = 57) completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and the PTSD Checklist – Civilian PCL-C, as well as questions regarding service availability and utilization in an on-line survey. ANOVA and chi-square tests indicate significant country differences on all variables except social stressors. Multivariate analysis of critical incidents, AUDIT, PTSD, and service utilization found negative coping and country of origin mattered. The reasons officers provided for why they felt they could not use available services (i.e., confidentiality, stigma, distrust of department, and ineffective/inadequate) also varied by country, which has important policy implications.     

Intimate Partner Violence and Female Nurses’ Employment: Disclosure and Consequences

The study examined the relationship between women’s disclosure of intimate partner violence and their experience of employment interference, work-related consequences, and work participation in 140 nurses. Participants reported experiencing at least one employment interference tactic and 40 % of them disclosed their experience. Employment interference, work-related consequences, and work participation did not differ between nurses who disclosed violence/employment interference and those who did not. Further, our participants may have chosen to disclose employment interference in order to express their discomfort rather than to seek assistance or advice. Distribution of power governed by gender is an obstacle facing women in Jordan, limiting the extent to which they can be protected from experiencing IPV in the workplace.     

Evolution of monetary policy approaches: A case study of Indian economy

The monetary policy framework of India has undergone several transformations reflecting underlying macroeconomic and financial conditions as also the dominant socio‐politico‐economic paradigm. The present study makes pertinent commentary notes on different monetary policy approaches, including, for instance, the era of development planning, the era of monetarism, the era of multiple indicator approach, and the era of inflation targeting in India along with their respective advantages and disadvantages.     

Fatal Electrocution by a Support Metal Wire

Abstract: Electrocution is not an uncommon cause of death. A case of fatal electrocution by a metal wire that was used as a support for the insulated television cable wire is reported. Electric current flowed through the metal wire when it touched the residential power line. Electrical injury caused because of contact with the live metal wire is described with histopathological findings. This case reports the circumstances that led to accidental fatal electrocution in an outdoor setting during the rainy season. Significance of death scene investigation to confirm the cause and manner of death in cases of fatal electrocution is highlighted. Public awareness programs to lay emphasis on electrical safety in domestic environment need to be introduced to prevent fatalities resulting from ignorance and/or negligence.     

Health awareness of rural households towards COVID-19 pandemic in India: Evidence from Rural Impact Survey of the World Bank

This paper aims at analysing the level of awareness of the symptoms and the methods of protection from COVID-19 based on the Rural Impact Survey of the World Bank, collected from 5200 households belonging to six states in India that is, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. Data has been analysed using chi-square test and regression analysis. Results of the analysis indicate that about 70.8% rural households are aware of the symptom of coronavirus, and 81.9% are aware of the preventive measures for controlling the spread of COVID-19. Analysis indicates a significant association between awareness level on symptoms and prevention of COVID-19 and socio-demographics and location. The study further analyses the key determinants of awareness of COVID-19 symptoms and preventive measures using the logistics regression model, indicating that age, gender, education, income, poverty status, access to information, cash relief and medical services are the determining factors of health awareness on COVID-19 pandemic among rural households in India. Considering the importance of self-protecting measures in fighting the pandemic, this paper highlights the importance of strengthening public awareness for containing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Institutional quality and economic growth: Evidence from South-Asian countries

The current study investigates the relationship between institutional quality and economic growth, focusing on South-Asian countries entailing Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, from 2002 to 2018. The data are analysed using the dynamic heterogeneous panel (panel autoregressive distributed lag [ARDL] model) approach, specifically the dynamic fixed effect (DFE), mean group (MG), and pooled mean group (PMG). Based on the findings, the three governance indicators, namely corruption control, accountability, and the rule of law, positively and significantly affect economic growth. All the nations have consistent long-run estimates but varied short-run estimates and adjustment speed for the long-term equilibrium. This is due to governance volatility that is evident in all the nations. This article offers both practical and theoretical contributions. This article contributes to the institutional quality and economic growth literature from a theoretical perspective from the South-Asian perspective. From a practical perspective, the study findings are significant for policymakers, particularly those from the countries that demonstrate major fiscal and external imbalance due to war and terrorism, low oil prices and weak trade. Hence, there is a pressing need to address economic growth issues instigated by the policymakers' negligence to ensure appropriate governance and macroeconomic management. Regulators can improve economic growth through national and regional image building by developing a stable economic and political landscape and maintaining macroeconomic stability by improving the institutional quality indicators. There is evidence that institutional quality improvement leads to better economic growth.     

Telangana and the politics of State formation in India: Recognition and accommodation in a multinational federation

This article examines the politics of State formation in India by taking up the case of Telangana. Drawing from the emerging literature on the politics of recognition and territorial accommodation in multinational federations, I argue that territorial accommodation of Telangana was made possible by the convergence of strategic interests and role of multiple actors to recognize Telangana’s distinctive territorial identity and accommodate its Statehood demand when an opportune ‘political opportunity structure’ emerged in the late 1990s till 2014. It extends the insights of ‘actor-centred’ institutionalism and contributes to an emerging literature which emphasizes the ‘multi-centred origins’ of border change and State formation in India in particular, and in multinational federations in general. By underscoring State formation as a complex process, this article cautions against a simplistic reading of the politics of State formation in India as an act of one-upmanship whereby the Centre can unilaterally make or break State borders.     

Corporate environmental responsibility,motivational factors,and effectiveness: A case of Indian iron and steel industry

This study provides an understanding of motivational factors that lead to the adoption of an environmental management system (EMS) from the perspective of resource‐based view theory. Further, the role of EMS has been examined to reduce energy intensity by estimating the average treatment effect. Therefore, different logistic regression has been estimated to find out major motivational factors. Results from the logit model validate the role of firm's size, age, and ownership in motivating firms to adopt an EMS whereas regulatory pressure does not influence the firm's adoption of EMS. Furthermore, negative average treatment effect shows the effectiveness of certification in reducing energy intensity. The comparative analysis of sustainability report indicates that TATA Steel outperforms in terms of carbon emission intensity as compared with Steel Authority of Indian Limited, Jindal power and steel limited, JSW Steel, and average Indian firms. Nonetheless, top Indian steel companies are far behind the global best practices in terms of energy, water, emission, and effluent performance indicators.     

Is the causal relation between foreign direct investment,trade, and economic growth complement or substitute? The case of African countries

This study examines causal nexus between foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth for 25 African countries within a model that also takes into consideration trade openness using more recent panel data set over the period 1980–2018. We used panel bootstrapping cointegration techniques that account for cross‐sectional dependence to test whether there is a long‐run cointegration relationship or not. The Granger causality approach is employed to conduct predictive analysis among the panel series. Our findings indicate the presence of a long‐run equilibrium nexus between the variables, and we found a bidirectional causality between foreign direct investment, trade openness, and economic growth. This study provides an insight for governments and policymakers in this region to restructure FDI and trade policies in such a way that its positive spillover would spread across the rural areas and local firms, thereby leading to an all‐inclusive sustainable economic growth and development of African countries in the long run.     

Losing the connection: party-voter linkages in Pakistan

How do political parties in Pakistan aggregate votes and connect to voters, especially in rural areas? Most explanations for party-voter linkages in rural Pakistan can be grouped into four broad categories: (a) political parties are made up of powerful landlords who use economic power to collect votes from dependent voters; (b) parties are conglomerations of clientelist networks; (c) parties are large aggregations of kinship networks; and (d) parties function by building links with specific types of constituencies across large parts of the country, and voters forge links with political parties based on ideology and party identification. These are, at best, only partial explanations. How is it that they can all co-exist? The answer lies in the level of analysis employed. I argue that when viewed in aggregated form at a macro-level of analysis, such as that of national politics, these varied explanations of party-voter linkages appear to be distinct and sometimes mutually exclusive. However, when disaggregated and examined at a micro-level of analysis, that of village-level politics, it becomes obvious how it is possible for all of these linkages to not only co-exist but often even work together. I adopt this micro-level of analysis through a longitudinal study of one village in Pakistan's most populous and politically most important province, Punjab. Using the case study of Sahiwal, I argue that the reason for the varied explanations is that the link between political parties and their voters is rarely direct. Instead, it is mediated by different types of local actors. As the national political arena changes, different actors gain precedence, leading to multiple explanations of what is really going on in rural Pakistan between political parties and their voters.