Search results

The purpose of this paper is to report the hygiene and sanitation practices of restaurant food handlers of urban Vadodara, Gujarat, India.

In total, 55 food handlers were purposively selected, to study their personal hygiene and unit hygiene practices using semi‐structured questionnaire and observation schedules, from 40 small and medium‐sized restaurants of urban Vadodara. Microbial analysis of five samples, namely, hand rinse sample, table mop cloth, towel, knife and plate swabs was carried out to determine the total plate count and presence of Staphylococcus aureus, Coliform counts, Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli 0157:H7.

Most food handlers exhibited poor personal hygiene and poor personal habits. E. coli 0157:H7 was detected in two out of three knife samples and table mop cloth samples; Salmonella was detected in one of the table mops cloths and two hand towel samples, respectively. Two of the table mop cloth samples also indicated presence of Shigella.

The survey of food handlers implies gross violation of codex guidelines laid down for safe cooking and services practices for small and medium‐sized restaurants.

Consumption of foods at small and medium‐sized restaurants of urban Vadodara poses a high risk for the consumers.

This is an original study which should act as an eye opener for the food safety officers who need to enforce the food safety laws more stringently, so as to reduce the risk of outbreaks of food borne illnesses in the city of Vadodara.

Gujarati households are known for high consumption of edible oil and fried foods. However, there is lack of information on their knowledge about its use for various preparations and associated health risks. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Guajarati housewives in the age group of 30‐65 years were surveyed from five different zones of Vadodara. Information on their knowledge about the use of edible oils and associated health risks was collected using a pre‐tested structured questionnaire and food frequency questionnaire.

Only 5 percent subjects consumed deep fried foods daily. Odds ratio showed high association (OR=4.50) between daily consumption of deep fried food and obesity. Significant association (p<0.05) and high odds ratio (5.13) were seen between daily consumption of shallow fried foods and presence of diabetes. Obesity and hypertension were seen in 54.1 and 15.8 percent subjects, respectively. About 24 percent families used hydrogenated vegetable oil (vanaspati) for cooking purposes. Butter and ghee rich in saturated fats were regularly used by most families.

Poor knowledge amongst the Gujarati housewives on the correct use of fats and oils in their daily diets calls for an exhaustive education program to reduce high prevalence of obesity and other co‐morbidities prevalent in this part of the country.

This is an original research work completed in September 2011.

The primary purpose of the present research is to assess the people's awareness level of End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) management in India. The study proposes to estimate the projected annual demand for the new ELVs over 15 years from 2020–2035 and assess the growth rate in new annual ELVs.

Employing a mixed method study, the authors obtained secondary data from the annual reports from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). In Study 1, the authors employed log-linear regression and compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) to compute the growth rates for these projections. After that, the authors collected the primary data of vehicle users (n = 920) using survey methodology, both open and closed-ended items completed the test battery (Study 2A and 2B). While open-ended items were analyzed qualitatively, the closed-ended items were analyzed quantitatively.

The estimation of annual ELV estimates and their cumulative figures over 15 years determined the market size in the future, outlining the importance of ELV management. The qualitative approach helped deduce the people's most prominent sentiments regarding decommissioning and the ELV management process. From the primary analysis, the authors concluded that people perceived the ELV management process positively; however, there are areas where the government's specific attention is warranted.

In this study, the authors have outlined how specific measures in ELV management can result in a sustainable circular economy. Additionally, the authors have designed a test battery to understand people's perception, which is first of its kind effort to understand what people think about ELV management. Studies globally considering people's perception of ELV can employ the test battery designed for this study. Additionally, countries that have ELV management in nascent stages can refer to India's experience with ELV management and the related people's perception.

After the adoption of unconventional monetary policies (UMPs) in advanced economies (AEs) there were many studies of monetary spillovers to asset prices in emerging market economies (EMEs) but the extent of contribution of EMEs and AEs, respectively, in real exchange rate (RER) misalignments has not been addressed. This paper addresses the gap in a cross-country panel set-up with country specific controls.

Fixed effects, pooled mean group (Pesaran et al., 1999) and common correlated effects (Pesaran, 2006) estimations are used to examine the relationship. Multiway clustering is taken into account to ensure robust statistical inferences.

Robust evidence is found for significant monetary spillovers over 1998–2017 in the form of RER overvaluation of EMEs against AEs, especially through the portfolio rebalancing channel. EME RER against the US saw significantly more overvaluation in UMP years indicating greater role of the US in monetary spillovers. However, in the long-run monetary neutrality holds. EMEs did pursue mercantilist and precautionary policies that undervalued their RERs. Precautionary undervaluation is more evident with bilateral EME US RER.

It may be useful for large EMEs to monitor the impact of foreign portfolio flows on short-run deviations in RER. Export diversification reduces EME mercantilist motives against the US. That AE monetary policy significantly appreciates EME RER has implications for future policy cooperation between EMEs and AEs.

To the best of the author's knowledge such a comparative analysis between AE and EME policy variables on RER misalignment has not been done previously.

This paper attempts to examine the impact of merger on the stock returns and economic value added (EVA) of acquiring firms to know if the mergers are successful corporate restructuring strategies for the firms.

In total, 108 Indian firms are studied using paired sample t-test and Wilcoxon signed rank test for comparing the EVA of acquiring firms in short, medium and long term after merger. The effect of merger announcements on stock returns is analyzed by way of event study. An event window of −20 to +20 is taken and an estimation window of 256 (-276 -20) days is used in the study.

The authors find that mergers lead to significant improvement in the EVA of acquiring firms. However, the increase in financial performance and EVA is witnessed only in long term. The authors did not find any significant impact of merger announcement on the stock returns of acquiring firms.

The study is a first of study's kind, which evaluates both short-term (using event study methodology) and long-term (using EVA) impact of value addition to an acquirer after Merger & Acquisition (M&A). The study contributes to existing literature on the signaling theory of announcement of M&As and synergy gain theory of completed M&As by providing evidence from the context of an emerging market like India.

The global economic fallout following the unexpected onset and rapid spread of COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, in early 2020, has necessitated international and national action plans towards new normal models of realignment in enterprise bottom-line and management. In 2020, ‘Supporting Small Business through the COVID-19 Crisis’ was declared the lead theme of the MSME Day – June 27 – by the UN. A ‘COVID Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs’ was launched by an affiliate of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Drawing inspiration from the ‘small business’ focus of the UN MSME Day declaration and the ‘social entrepreneurship’ perspective of the WEF, the study seeks to draw few perceptions and conclusions in the post-COVID economic recovery context of India, where Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are observed to be a key driver of development, thanks to an add-on supportive package in the wake of the COVID-19 economic crisis. It is found that the package fails to provide a direct push for promotion of social enterprises/entrepreneurship in the Indian MSME sector, as there is no focused policy approach on leveraging ‘entrepreneurship resources’. Hence, the general trend of the sector continues to be dominated by the ‘for-profit first’ concern rather than a fair blend of ‘social value creation first’, with ‘profit’. Discourse on social entrepreneurship and action-oriented rehabilitation tools proposed in the Covid context globally have failed to reorient the dominant outlook of social enterprises in India – business as a tool for achieving social impact – to social impact as a spontaneous/positive outcome from business. The study highlights the lapses on the ground, of theoretical formulations, despite their couching in Covid contexts, and the need for a more institutionalised enabling environment for social value creation, impact investment and social stock exchange in the social enterprise ecosystem.

This paper aims to explore the emerging relationship between Industry 4.0 (I4.0) digital technologies (e.g. blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI)) and the construction industry’s gradual transition into a circular economy (CE) system to foster the adoption of circular economy in the construction industry.

A critical and thematic analysis conducted on 115 scientific papers reveals a noticeable growth in adopting digital technologies to leverage a CE system. Moreover, a conceptual framework is developed to show the interrelationship between different I4.0 technologies to foster the implantation of CE in the construction industry.

Most of the existing bodies of research provide conceptual solutions rather than developing workable applications and the future of smart cities. Moreover, the coalescence of different technologies is highly recommended to enable tracking of building assets’ and components’ (e.g. fixtures and fittings and structural components) performance, which enables users to optimize the salvage value of components reusing or recycling them just in time and extending assets’ operating lifetime. Finally, circular supply chain management must be adopted for both new and existing buildings to realise the industry's CE ambitions. Hence, further applied research is required to foster CE adoption for existing cities and infrastructure that connects them.

This paper investigates the interrelationships between most emerging digital technologies and circular economy and concludes with the development of a conceptual digital ecosystem to integrate IoT, blockchain and AI into the operation of assets to direct future practical research applications

This study aims to explore supply chain resilience (SCR) and provides a unique resilience index. The work measures the resilience status of 37 organizations across 22 industries and provides insight into accessing the supply chain (SC) vulnerability in an uncertain environment.

This study involves measuring the resilience status of 37 organizations across 22 industries based on a subjective decision-making approach using fuzzy logic. Experts from industries rated the importance and level of implementation of 33 attributes of SCR, which are used to develop a fuzzy index of implementation that explains the resilience status of organizations.

A novel coexistent resilience index is computed based on mutualism to exhibit the proportion of contribution or learning of each attribute of an organization in an industry. The research will enhance the response plans and formation of strategic alliances for mutual coexistence by industry.

Evidence-based interpretations and suggestions are provided for each industry to enhance resilience through coexistence.

The work uniquely contributes to academic literature and SC strategy. The novel coexistent resilience index is computed based on mutualism, facilitating researchers to access SC resiliency.

Unmanned aerial vehicles are commonly known as UAVs and drones. Nowadays, industries have begun to realise the operational and economic benefits of drone-enabled tasks. The Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, drones, etc., represent implementable advanced technologies intended to accomplish Industry 4.0. The purpose of this study is to discuss the significant contributions of drones for Industry 4.0.

Nowadays, drones are used for inspections, mapping and surveying in difficult or hazardous locations. For writing this paper, relevant research papers on drone for Industry 4.0 are identified from various research platforms such as Scopus, Google Scholar, ResearchGate and ScienceDirect. Given the enormous extent of the topic, this work analyses many papers, reports and news stories in an attempt to comprehend and clarify Industry 4.0.

Drones are being implemented in manufacturing, entertainment industries (cinematography, etc.) and machinery across the world. Thermal-imaging devices attached to drones can detect variable heat levels emanating from a facility, trigger the sprinkler system and inform emergency authorities. Due partly to their utility and adaptability in industrial areas such as energy, transportation, engineering and more, autonomous drones significantly impact Industry 4.0. This paper discusses drones and their types. Several technological advances and primary extents of drones for Industry 4.0 are diagrammatically elaborated. Further, the authors identified and discussed 19 major applications of drones for Industry 4.0.

This paper’s originality lies in its discussion and exploration of the capabilities of drones for Industry 4.0, especially in manufacturing organisations. In addition to improving efficiency and site productivity, drones can easily undertake routine inspections and check streamlines operations and maintenance procedures. This work contributes to creating a common foundation for comprehending Industry 4.0 outcomes from many disciplinary viewpoints, allowing for more research and development for industrial innovation and technological progress.