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Climate variability, accompanied by rapid urbanization and rising population disproportionality, impacts urban poor settlements. This paper aims to analyse the climate resilience for the urban poor in Ahmedabad through the lens of WASH development strategies. To assess the adaptive capacities of urban poor communities, a framework in the form of a vulnerability matrix has been used consisting of four key parameters – tenure, basic services, mobilization and partnership and disaster management capacities. The matrix implicitly recommends area-specific interventions to boost adaptive capacities and improve resilience based on WASH services.

This paper was designed to assess the climate resilience of WASH services in the urban poor settlements of Ahmedabad city. In all, seven slums were selected using a stratified sampling approach considering topography, access to WASH services and urban heat island effect. These slums were then assessed using a theoretical framework having four key parameters – tenure, basic service, mobilization and partnership and disaster management capacities. The data for the analysis was collected from both secondary and primary sources. For the latter, semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, observational field visits and focused group discussions with the communities were done.

A ladder form of assessment matrix was derived from a thorough literature review and various pre-existing theories. This matrix consists of four key parameters – tenure, basic service, mobilization and partnership and disaster management capacities. The slums were evaluated by applying this framework, and direct and indirect relationships were established between the said parameters.

This paper was adapted in the light of various obstacles put forward by the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of the interviews with the bureaucrats and external researchers were conducted online, while the engagement with the slum dwellers was in-person, considering appropriate social and/or physical distancing norms. Implications of the Covid-19 second wave restricted the involvement of researchers with the communities at an ethnographic level.

The ladder form of vulnerability assessment framework has been developed and contextualized using the insights from literature review, field visits and multi-stakeholder consultations. It was helpful in identifying aspects that require suitable interventions for improving and imparting resilience among the urban poor settlements. The learnings from this paper are significant for planners and decision-makers in identifying and prioritizing context-specific future projects for a city.

The purpose of this paper is to holistically study barriers in the path of implementation of retirement planning, as the need is increasing with decrease in mortality. The proper retirement planning can be one of the most important tools to control financial expenses on healthcare and welfare on old age population in government budgets.

The paper is a blend of theoretical framework and practical application and uses interpretive structural modeling (ISM) analysis to draw linkage and impact of identified barriers in the path of achievement of goals of retirement planning. The study has used three different research phases: identification of barriers from the literature, interviews with experts of industry at second stage and designing an ISM impact matrix cross-reference multiplication model. The identification phase led to the selection of 15 factors from past literature and by suggestion from industrial experts.

This study seeks to identify which barrier is acting as the most dominant one for the mass adoption of retirement planning and this result is helpful for policymakers to remove the dominant barrier. The result of this analysis can make retirement planning easy by elimination of highlighted barriers on the basis of their importance in the path of achievement of retirement goals. In the ISM level diagram, barriers such as marital status, number of financial dependents at the bottom, gender, income level, educational level, financial literacy, financial dependency, policy regulation, terms and conditions, goal clarity and psychological and cultural factors are on the top. Barrier of macroeconomic and bureaucratic impediments are also very important factors for achievement of retirement goal of an individual, but they cannot be controlled directly by the associated members of industry.

The concern for providing sufficient retirement resources is growing with the increase in life expectancy for human beings. Such requirement has attracted views from not only academicians but also policymakers. This paper is one of the preliminary attempts to identify barriers in implementation of retirement planning and rank them according to their importance.

Existing business model frameworks show weak conceptual unification, a paucity of measurement focus and limitations when applied in emerging economies. The study proposes a new business model framework – “Start-up Evaluation Calculus Using Research Evidence” (SECURE). The purpose of this study is to allow the measurement of the impact of business model design on start-up performance in emerging economies.

Data collected from 713 entrepreneurs in select cities of India, Oman and the United Arab Emirates is analyzed through structural equation modeling. The study uses measurement and structural models to examine the validity of measures and additionally tests the five hypothesized relationships proposed in the study.

The SECURE’s components comprising desirability, marketability, feasibility, scalability and viability showed validity and reliability. They synergistically demonstrated a statistically significant effect on a mix of financial and non-financial start-up performance outcomes. An alternative structural relationship that examined the impact of SECURE on only financial performance outcomes showed a weaker model fit. The findings indicate that a business model framework is useful when its ex ante measures show a positive causal effect on the desired performance outcomes.

The scores obtained by the SECURE framework serve as an evaluative tool that informs entrepreneurs and start-ups on the readiness of their proposed, incubated or existing start-ups.

Replacing subjective judgments with objective assessment criteria, SECURE is one of the first quantitative and performance-driven business model frameworks that contain measures from all functional domains of a start-up business. Start-ups can evaluate their business models against the SECURE model’s research-driven quantitative criteria and assess their impact on start-up performance.