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While rapid increase in demand for foods but limited availability of croplands has forced to adopt input-intensive farming practices to increase yield, there are serious long-term ecological implications including degradation of biodiversity. It is increasingly recognised that ensuring agricultural sustainability under the changing climatic conditions requires a change in the production system along with necessary policies and institutional arrangements. In this context, this chapter examines if climate-smart agriculture (CSA) can facilitate adaptation and mitigation practices by improving resource utilisation efficiency in India. Such an attempt has special significance as the existing studies have very limited discussions on three main aspects, viz., resource productivity, adaptation practices and mitigation strategies in a comprehensive manner. Based on insights from the existing studies, this chapter points out that CSA can potentially make significant contribution to enhancing resource productivity, adaptation practices, mitigation strategies and food security, especially among the land-constrained farmers who are highly prone to environmental shocks. In this connection, staggered trench irrigation structure has facilitated rainwater harvesting, local irrigation and livelihood generation in West Bengal. However, it is necessary to revisit the existing approaches to promotion of CSA and dissemination of information on the design of local adaptation strategies. This chapter also proposes a change in the food system from climate-sensitive to CSA through integration of technologies, institutions and policies.

This study aims to evaluate the nature and extent of sustainability disclosure practices of publicly listed companies in India. Further, it investigates the impact of potential determinants on the sustainability disclosure of companies.

The study analyzes data of 75 top listed nonbanking companies operating in India included in NIFTY100 Index for the years 2014-2015 to 2018-2019. In the present study, environment, social and governance disclosure dimensions were considered to evaluate the sustainability reporting performance of companies using content analysis. Panel data analysis was conducted to investigate the impact of various factors on the extent of sustainability information disclosure.

Results indicate that environmentally polluting industries disclose significantly higher sustainability information than non-polluting industries in India. The empirical findings suggest that determinants such as company size, age, free cash flow capacity, government ownership and global reporting initiative (GRI) usage positively related to the extent of corporate sustainability disclosure. Contrary to the expectations, financial leverage and profitability were found to be negatively related to the sustainability disclosure of companies in India.

This study provides empirical evidence for regulators, practitioners and corporate strategists to assess the progress in the sustainability reporting landscape in India. The finding implies that large and established companies can reduce legitimacy costs through higher sustainability information disclosure. Interestingly, this premise did not hold in the case of high leveraged and profitable companies. Overall findings can also help policymakers to incorporate necessary reforms to improve sustainability reporting in India.

This study is one of the first studies to investigate the nature, extent and potential determinants of corporate sustainability disclosure in India. The paper adds to the existing literature on sustainability reporting by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between sustainability reporting and potential determinants such as government ownership, size, leverage, profitability, age, free cash flow capacity, industry and GRI usage.

Introduction: Skill development is crucial in developing economies by enhancing productivity and creating employment opportunities. At the macro level, it also leads to industrial development and economic growth.

Purpose: The research is to identify the types of skills required for increasing the probability of employability of labour. It also aims to define the challenges and opportunities in skill development to drive change.

Need of the Study: Studying opportunities and challenges for skill development in developing economies is essential for achieving sustainable economic growth, reducing poverty, increasing employment opportunities, and promoting global competitiveness.

Research Methodology: Some skills are recognised through research that has been published to determine the skill set needed to increase labour productivity. To draw lessons, some skill development initiatives by various companies are also identified and presented in case studies. Additionally, several government programs are available to assess the possibilities and prospects for skill development in the Indian market.

Practical Implications: The research will be valuable in micro and macro decision making. At the micro level, research is advantageous for a business person to initiate the skill development of its employees by using government schemes. Nations other than India can understand the policy framework for skill development.

Findings: The term ‘skilling’ has become fashionable. Due to the need for skill-based earnings data, only some studies examine the return on skill (ROS) of the labour market. Skill development plays a significant role in bringing change at the micro and macro levels. Hence it is necessary to exploit all opportunities for skill development.

This paper aims to explore the role of source credibility while purchasing environment-friendly products using Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behavior as underpinning model.

The proposed theoretical model was empirically tested with the data collected from 334 respondents using structural equation modeling.

The results gave empirical support to the addition of source credibility to the original theory of planned. Moreover, consumer attitude was found mediating the effect of corporations’ credibility on purchase intention. Also, attitude and perceived behavioral control were found as the most important predictors of consumer’s intention to purchase environment-friendly products.

This study provides valuable insights for the marketers engaged in sustainable business practices. Amid, ever-increasing carbon emission, promoting the use of environment-friendly products has become the need of the time. Credibility plays a crucial role while promoting and communicating an organization’s sustainable practices among its stakeholders including consumers. Therefore, the marketer should formulate appropriate marketing communication strategy to communicate the consumer about the green practices and environment-friendly products they produce. The results suggest that corporation’s credibility shapes consumer attitude and influences intention to purchase environment-friendly products. Earning trust of the consumer is pivotal to achieve success in the market. Therefore, results may help the marketers to better understand consumer’s response toward their marketing strategies and further convince and persuade them to buy their products.

The findings of this study may be useful for marketers, strategists, policymakers and government while formulating promotional strategies to make consumer aware, educate and persuade them to purchase products which do not cause harm to the environment.

The study is novel in terms of exploring role of source credibility and extending theory of planned behavior in the context of sustainable consumption.

The study focuses on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) perceptions about using Fintech instruments to meet their financial requirements.

Methodology: The research utilises a quantitative method, which entails collecting primary data from 400 participants using an organised questionnaire. Chi-square tests, principal component analysis and multiple linear regression are some of the statistical tools utilised to analyse the findings.

Findings: The study’s findings indicate that only a small percentage of business owners know that Fintech instruments can be a source of financing for their companies. In addition, the items utilised in the research led to the generation of three different aspects: banking, MSME and Fintech.

Originality: The previous study indicates that several scholars have focused on various facets of the application and utilisation of Fintech. In the category of digital payments, the total transaction value is anticipated to reach $8.49 trillion in 2022. By 2027, it is expected that the entire transaction value will have increased by 12.31 per cent each year (CAGR 2022–2027), totaling US$15.17 trillion. Digital commerce is expected to have a total transaction value of US$5.49 trillion in 2022, making it the market’s largest segment. On the other hand, there isn’t much research that concentrates on developing countries, and the standards those studies need to meet are relatively stringent. In the context of MSMEs, this is an innovative approach taken towards the State of Punjab.

Need: Fintech services have an important role in bringing about significant change by providing innovative financial services, addressing credit gaps and reshaping how financial services are delivered. Fintech instruments are gaining very high popularity in terms of functions and novelty and can be predicted as the future of operations in the financial sector. Moreover, Fintech instruments can be seen to have a close connection to the MSME-guided programmes. Thus, it would be pretty interesting to note if there lies a need for the optimum implications of Fintech in MSMEs and upcoming start-ups.

The main purpose of this paper is to: identify the views of public sector employees towards the importance of Knowledge Sharing (KS); identify the barriers to KS; and identify initiatives that may encourage KS.

The design employed in this research was mainly descriptive in nature. A survey‐based methodology employing a research questionnaire was used to elicit the views of public sector employees towards KS. A total of 320 questionnaires were randomly distributed and 170 were successfully collected, giving a response rate of 60 percent.

The results showed that the respondents were very positive in their views towards “importance of KS” and they also strongly felt that knowledge was a source of competitive advantage. However, they were of the view that the importance of knowledge sharing was not clearly communicated and many of them were not sure whether KS strategy existed in their department. The public sector employees also showed self‐serving biases when it came to their willingness to share knowledge compared with their perception of their colleagues' willingness to share knowledge. Respondents perceived organizational barriers as being more critical compared with individual barriers. Main organizational barriers were lacking in IT systems and there was a lack of rewards and recognition. Lack of time, lack of interaction and lack of interpersonal skills were identified as the main individual barriers. The most favoured KS initiatives found in this study was use of e‐mail systems; inter‐agency activities and use of information and communication technology (ICT) followed by support from top management.

The study is confined to the public sector and thus it cannot be generalized to all organizations. The sample for this study is also limited to two public sector departments: ICU (Implementation Coordination Unit) and PWD (Public Works Department) and thus the views are strictly limited to these agencies. The findings from this study can be useful in enhancing public policy towards effective management and implementation of KS programs.

Since there is limited research on KS in the public sector from developing and emerging nations such as Malaysia, this empirical contribution will further enhance the theoretical knowledge on KS in the public sector from a developing nation's perspective. Second, this is one of the few studies that examine views towards knowledge donating and knowledge receiving in the public sector. This area needs the utmost attention, since it was found in this study that employees' perceived knowledge‐sharing willingness (donating) may differ from colleagues' perceived KS willingness (knowledge receiving).

Sustainable development has now been recognised as the pivot around which development activities should revolve. Banking is an important component in the same and adoption of sustainable banking practices by various banking institutions is a strong driver to achieve sustainable development. The purpose of this paper is to study the level of adoption of sustainable banking tools and the extent to which banking institutions practice the same in India. In addition, the banking institutions have been ranked and categorised on basis of their sustainable banking performance.

The proposed framework focuses on the environmental and social conduct of the banks, who address the issues of sustainability in Indian banking sector. As there is a difference in the economic standards of developed and developing countries, the review of literature helps to figure out the gap in specific frameworks for assessing sustainable banking practices in developing countries. Previous researchers have made an attempt to develop a general framework for assessing the sustainable banking efforts of the banking sector. These studies fall short of indicators on the social dimension of sustainability specifically in the context of less developed countries like India, the social dimensions are is equally a major thrust area along with environmental indicators. Content analysis technique has been used to evaluate sustainable banking performance of the banks and Mann–Whitney U test used to determine the differences in sustainable banking performance of the banks in India.

In Indian banking sector, the adoption of the international sustainability code of conduct is still in its nascent stage. The research indicates that sustainability issues which are of the highest priority for the banks are directly related to their business operations such as financial inclusion, financial literacy and energy efficiency, and banks are more focussed on addressing social dimension of sustainability in banking rather than important dimensions of sustainable banking, namely, environmental management, development of green products and services and sustainability reporting.

The application of the proposed framework reflects the status quo of sustainable banking in India. This study is useful for the banks and all the stakeholders in understanding more about the shortcomings in integrating sustainability issues in banking. Further, the present study also redresses the extant research dearth in the field of sustainable banking in the Indian context.

This is one of the first studies evaluating the sustainable banking performance of the Indian banking sector.

Considering the dearth of industry-specific empirical research exploring sustainability reporting in the context of developing countries, this chapter aims to critically examine the extent and the nature of sustainability information disclosure of environmentally polluting industries in India.

Data are collected from business responsibility reports (BRRs), sustainability reports, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports and integrated reports of all 57 energy and mining companies included in NIFTY500 Index at National Stock Exchange of India for the year 2017–2018 and 2018–2019. Content analysis is used to examine the sustainability disclosure practices and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistical analysis is performed to test the difference across various dimensions of sustainability reporting of companies.

The results indicate low environmental reporting of the key indicators by energy and mining companies in India. It is found that state-owned companies have better social reporting practices against private sector companies. The findings also indicate that Global reporting initiative (GRI) based reporting have better sustainability disclosure practices and companies reporting based on BRR lack quantitative information disclosure.

The findings of the present chapter have several implications for policymakers, investors, regulators and management of these high environmental and social impact companies in India. The findings which coincide with the key areas of sustainability disclosure can be used for improving sustainability disclosure practices by the various stakeholders.

This is one of the first studies to investigate the nature and extent of sustainability performance disclosure of the companies from polluting industries in India. This chapter also contributes to the existing sustainability reporting literature by providing evidence on industry-specific disclosure in the context of a developing country.

The main aims of this paper include a revision of the essentials of the monetary approach to the balance of payments by constructing a monetary model, an extension of the model to explain the importation of inflation in an open economy and an application of the formulated model to the two small open economies, the Netherlands and Singapore. The most important contribution of the monetary approach to the balance of payments is its focus on the role of money as opposed to the focus of traditional approaches on the real variables and on the current account of the balance of payments. Influenced originally by Johnson (1972), there have been several theoretical as well as empirical analyses supporting the major contentions of the monetary approach to the balance of payments. Notable among these are Mussa, Frenkel and Johnson (1975), Kemp (1975), Whitman (1975), and Kreinin and Officer (1978). On the basis of common elements enclosed in the writings of these authors, it is possible to construct such a model and then solve it, first, for foreign reserves inflow, and second, for the domestic inflation rate as a dependent variable. This formulation is similar to the ones found in Bhatia (1982) and Salvatore (1983), but is broader in its implications. A check of the validity of the relationships of the monetary model is also attempted by using the annual data of the Netherlands and Singapore.

The pervasive impact of the COVID-19 virus on the food services sector in India has created conditions for fundamentally altering the structure of the industry. This paper offers a nuanced evaluation of the transfiguration of the market, explaining descriptive views supported by numerous secondary data sources.

This is a self-driven study grounded in secondary data. Qualitative and quantitative assessments are assimilated from credible market research reports of multiple agencies in the Indian context, as well as news developments during the pandemic period.

Digitally pivoted platforms such as cloud kitchens and delivery aggregators will eclipse all other formats due to the potential long-term prevalence of the COVID-19 virus. These formats would rise to a dominant position in the Indian food services sector in the coming decade.

This study is entirely driven by secondary data due to the inherent difficulties of collecting sizeable and good quality primary data as a result of the lengthy and stringent lockdowns imposed across India. Future studies should consider collecting consumer responses to get a better picture of changing dining habits in the post-pandemic scenario.

The dynamic and evolving food services in India, catalyzed by the Internet and digital technologies will help academicians study the long-term implications of this change, and how it would impact society at large. The paper provides a rich body of contemporary data and analysis in the food services sphere.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its long-term persistence would dramatically alter food service consumption across India. This will not only change how the industry is structured, but will reshape how food is consumed into the future.

The study is a holistic examination of the relationship between the coronavirus pandemic and the food services industry in India. The macro perspectives aided by news coverage and industry research would help generate potential research questions on its own merits.