Energy management in South Asia

The novel coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an exceptional drift of production, utilization, and disposal of personal protective equipment (PPE) and different microplastic objects for safety against the virus. Hence, we reviewed related literature on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA detected from household, biomedical waste, and sewage to identify possible health risks and status of existing laws, regulations, and policies regarding waste disposal in South Asian (SA) countries. The SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in sewage and wastewater samples of Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Besides, this review reiterates the enormous amounts of PPE and other single-use plastic wastes generated from healthcare facilities and households in the SA region with inappropriate disposal, landfilling, and/or incineration techniques wind-up polluting the environment. Consequently, the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) of SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in sewer treatment plant in India. Moreover, the overuse of non-biodegradable plastics during the pandemic is deteriorating plastic pollution condition and causes a substantial health risk to the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. We recommend making necessary adjustments, adopting measures and strategies, and enforcement of the existing biomedical waste management and sanitation-related policy in SA countries. We propose to adopt the knowledge gaps to improve COVID-19-associated waste management and legislation to prevent further environmental pollution. Besides, the citizens should follow proper disposal procedures of COVID-19 waste to control the environmental pollution.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management in South Asia represents one of the most pressing urban governance challenges, shaped by rapid urbanization, institutional fragmentation, and weak integration of circular economy principles. This paper undertakes a decade-long systematic and bibliometric review (2015–2025) of 592 peer-reviewed studies retrieved from Scopus applying PRISMA guidelines. The bibliometric analysis demonstrates a steep rise in scholarly output, from fewer than 30 papers in 2015 to over 130 in 2024, with India and Bangladesh accounting for the majority of contributions, while smaller states such as Bhutan, Maldives, and Afghanistan remain underrepresented. Research is concentrated in engineering and environmental sciences, with keyword clusters shifting from traditional waste disposal and landfilling toward circular economy, recycling, and governance integration. Across the systematic evidence base, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan generate over 80% of South Asia’s MSW yet recycle less than 25%, highlighting systemic deficiencies in policy coherence, financing, and informal sector recognition. This study contributes uniquely by benchmarking governance frameworks across eight South Asian countries, aligning technological and policy innovations with sustainability pathways, and advancing a regional roadmap for inclusive, circular, and resilient MSW governance.

s PLoS Medicine, Daniel Reidpath and Kit Yee Chan challenge the widely cited link between HIV-related stigma and the spread of the epidemic [1].This is an important question, given the heavy emphasis on stigma in policies of the World Health Organization, the Joint United Programme on HIV/AIDS, and other public health institutions, but in making their argument Reidpath and Chan misrepresent the connections that other authors have made between stigma and viral transmission, ignore evidence that does suggest an association, and propose a model of their own for which they offer no evidence.HIV infection establishes itself fi rst in certain high-risk groups-men who have sex with men, intravenous drug users, sex workers, mobile populations-and only later moves into the general population.In the early stages of the epidemic, stigma facilitates transmission within high-risk groups, because these already marginalized groups receive little attention from policy makers and the health-care community and are further discriminated against when they are identifi ed with HIV and AIDS [2].Stigma also prevents or makes it more diffi cult for members of high-risk groups to access preventive services, including HIV antibody testing [3].Reidpath and Chan distort this dynamic by describing a model in which stigma leads to fear which leads to unsafe behavior.We know of no one who suggests that stigma causes sex between men or intravenous drug use.Instead, there is evidence that HIV-related stigma makes it diffi cult for people to take actions to reduce their risks; for example, by accessing HIV education [4], exchanging needles [5], and negotiating condom use [6].Stigma may even lead women who know they are HIV positive to breast-feed their infants rather than arouse suspicion of their serostatus through formula feeding [7].This undoubtedly increases the risk of vertical viral transmission.Reidpath and Chan go on to propose that stigma may actually "slow the spread of infection from those [highrisk] groups to the general population."Although there is a plausible logic to this suggestion, there is no evidence for it.Even if stigma does reduce the opportunities that marginalized groups have to transmit HIV to the broader population, this would have little effect on the dynamics of a generalized epidemic.While they recognize that stigma presents a barrier to the treatment and care of people living with HIV, Reidpath and Chan fail to recognize the association this may have with increased transmission.HIV-related stigma discourages people from disclosing their status, entering care, and adhering to antiretroviral regimens, all of which represent missed opportunities for prevention.Around the world HIV capitalizes on and reinforces social stigma and discrimination, especially the low status of women.Defeating the epidemic requires an honest examination of all these phenomena and interventions that target both the virus itself and its widespread social impacts.

The chapter introduces the book that highlights various challenges and opportunities for water management and cooperation in South Asia. Taking into consideration the increasing urbanization and development in the region and related pressure on water resources, the various chapters investigate water conflictual and cooperative attitudes and gestures between countries and regions, analyse management trade-offs between nature, agriculture and urban uses, and look into water sustainable management and related policies. The chapter highlights the increasing importance of South Asia, alerts for the constraining impacts of water scarcity, and indicates challenges for improved sustainable water management. The chapter concludes with synopses of each part of the book and of the chapters that compose them.

The paper discusses different approaches of watershed management programs implemented in South Asian countries, with special reference to Nepal based on existing literature and field experiences. Watershed degradation, particularly in mountainous areas, is critical problem in South Asian countries. A participatory approach has been adopted in watershed and natural resource management during the last decade in many developing countries. The participatory community-based watershed management approach in Nepal is viewed from two perspectives. The first, success of conservation of natural resources with formation and strengthening of the local level institutions in rural areas of the country; the second, its multiplier effects in social mobilization, women empowerment, community development and livelihood improvement as well as good governance at local level. In the present context, participatory watershed management must include not only environmental protection but also supporting poor and disadvantaged segments of society in improving their livelihoods. Key words: Bottom-up approach; Empowerment; Participatory approach; Resource management; Top-down approach and watershed degradationThe Journal of Agriculture and Environment Vol:.9, Jun.2008 Page: 72-89

Several participatory forest management approaches have emerged in different countries in South Asia in the effort to develop an effective institutional framework and mechanisms for the management of forest resources. These different approaches have different features, characteristics, and degrees of participation by local forest users, and thus different implications for the management of forest resources and the livelihoods of forest-dependent people. This discussion paper makes an attempt to analyse the four participatory forest management approaches adopted in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal on the basis of primary and secondary information The models are compared and contrasted using specific criteria such as level of institutionalisation, tenurial security, degree and quality of local participation, decision-making authority, rights and obligations of stakeholders, benefit sharing arrangements, and actual practices. Measures to overcome weaknesses and to promote participatory forest management are suggested.

In this paper the authors have profiled a number of community-led conservation initiatives underway in several South Asian countries. Faced with degraded landscapes and resulting impoverishment, the local people who are most affected by the loss or increase of biodiversity are taking action. Altogether, the initiatives show that decentralized and site-specific decision-making, which considers the livelihoods of people and provides impartial information to those affected, is fundamental to success Neema Pathak is a member of Kalpavriksh, an environmental research and action group. She has coordinated a directory of protected areas in Maharashtra state in India, and jointly coordinated a project on community involvement in wildlife management in South Asia. She is currently putting together a detailed directory of community conservation biodiversity areas in India. Ashish Kothari is a founder-member of Kalpavriksh. Over the last two decades he has coordinated or worked on a number of processes relating to conservation, local communities, and development. He is the author or editor of over 10 books, and is on two expert commissions of The World Conservation Union (I.U.C.N.). He is currently coordinating the Technical and Policy Core Group of India's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan process

Daily per capita waste generation will increase by 40% and 19%, for developing and developed countries by 2050, respectively. The World Bank estimates that total waste generation is going to triple in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and double in South Asia (SA) by 2050. This article conducts a rapid review and aims to demonstrate the current waste management scenario and the potential of waste to energy generation in the developing world, focusing on SSA and SA. Although many review articles related to waste to energy (WtE) in developing countries are available in the literature, a rapid review particularly focusing on countries in SSA and SA is rarely seen. An analysis of different WtE generation technologies, and current waste management practices in developing countries in SSA and SA are also presented. The analysis shows that about three-fourths of waste is openly dumped in developing countries of SSA and SA. In terms of waste composition, on average, about 48.70% and 51.16% of waste generated in developing economies of SSA and SA are organic. Opportunities to convert this waste into energy for developing countries are highlighted, with a case study of Bangladesh, a country in SA. Major challenges regarding the waste to energy (WtE) projects in the developing world are found to be the composition of waste, absence of waste separation scheme at source, ineffective waste collection method, lack of suitable WtE generation technology in place, lack of financial support and policies related to a WtE project, and absence of coordination between different governmental institutions.

As is well-known, the seminal work of the late Angus Maddison has established that 2,000 years ago the Indian subcontinent (modern day, South Asia) and China were by far the richest regions of the world. Since the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century, the share of world GDP of the Indian subcontinent had started to decline. This trend reversed somewhat after the economic reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. More recently, however, economic growth in South Asia has softened yet once again for several reasons. This book focuses on the slowing pace of economic reforms and outlines a two-pronged strategy to jumpstart South Asian economies. First, South Asian countries should complete the economic reform process that they had begun in the 1980s and 1990s and implement the more microeconomic reforms, namely, the sectoral, and governance and institutional reforms to enhance competition and improve the operation of markets. Second, they should implement the second round of ‘Look East’ policies or LEP2 to (i) link themselves to production networks in East Asia, their fastest-growing markets, and (ii) develop production networks in manufacturing and services within their region. The book argues that the proposed strategy will lead to a win-win situation for all countries in South Asia and East Asia and reinvigorate economic integration within South Asia, one of the least integrated regions of the world. The book also identifies the unfinished policy reform agenda for each South Asian country and the components of the LEP2 that they should implement.

Public management in South Asia has been influenced by the colonial past which has resulted in the domination of administrative systems by the bureaucrats. Bureaucracies remained firmly entrenched as powerful groups and performed both administrative and political functions. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka represent cases with similar backgrounds which opted for different political and economic systems after achieving independence. Consequently, a number of issues have emerged in public management in South Asia. These include debureaucratization of the policy process, complex relationship between specialists and generalists, integration of administrative structures, reconciliation of merit and equity, choice between professional and political patronage, revitalization of management, bridging the ever widening gap between the citizens and administrators, and the establishment of a sound ethical base of administration. The success of South Asian governments in dealing with these issues will determine, to a considerable extent, the dimensions and directions of change. While some of the issues will have to be addressed in the natural course of development, others will require a substantial degree of commitment from the governments as well as the societies.

The objective of this study is to empirically examine the relationship between economic freedom and external debt in South Asian countries using annual panel data from 2000 to 2023. Short- and long-run dynamics are investigated using panel unit root tests, Pedroni and Johansen cointegration techniques, and the panel ARDL model. The results indicate a significant adverse effect of economic freedom on external debt, showing that a one-unit increase in the Economic Freedom Index decreases external debt by approximately 7.94% in the long run, with a probability of 0.01. Descriptive statistics show that South Asian economies have a moderate level of economic freedom (average score 6.13) and that debt levels vary enormously from US$0.21 billion to US$647 billion, indicating sharp differences in debt sustainability. The ARDL results also indicate that the exchange rate depreciation coefficient (2.69, with a probability of less than 0.01) and corruption (coefficient 0.24, with a probability of less than 0.05) exacerbate external debt. Additionally, political stability has a weak negative impact, with a coefficient of -2.31 and a probability less than 0.10. Trade openness exhibits an effect, with a long-run coefficient p-value of 0, but it is insignificant in the short run. The error correction, with a coefficient of -0.316 and a significance level of 0.05, supports a long-run adjustment toward equilibrium. These results suggest that institutional quality and economic freedom play an important role in external debt management in South Asia.

Talent Management in South Asia: Prospects and Challenges

Recently biometrics is merged into digitization technology to improve the credibility of the conventional watermarking techniques. The access control and authenticity verification have been addressed by digital watermarking biometric authentication systems. By embedding biometrics in the host, we can formulate a reliable individual identification system as the biometrics possesses. Hence, the conflicts and problems related to the intellectual property rights protection can be potentially prevented. Consequently, it has been decided by governmental institutions in Europe and the U.S. to include digital biometric data in future ID documents. In India, biometric based UID scheme, AAdhar is started with the goal of issuing a unique identification number to all the Indian citizens. This AAdhar number can be used in executing all the money transactions related activities including all types of purchases, sales, money transfer, hotel bills, hospital expenses and air tickets etc. Therefore, the AAdhar based smartcard system will help the South Asian countries in coming out of corruptions and improving their economies.

Talent management (TM) strategies are becoming significant to gain competitive and sustainable advantages through proper utilization of talent. The current study aims to investigate the concept of talent management along with its major strategies and to analyze the prospects and challenges of talent management in the context of South Asian countries. Using a comprehensive search of previous articles, the researchers critically reviewed the emerging strategies, prospects, and challenges of talent management. Particularly, this paper contributes to precisely defining talent, talent management, strategies of talent management, and its significance for the organizations. The study concluded that the significant challenges encompassing the talent management spheres of South Asian countries are many. They include a problematic process of identification of potential talent due to a shortage of skilled labor force, development and nourishment of talent by overcoming the bureaucratic and traditional management style, rife competition for the limited talent pools, non-existent of strong employer brand trend and ongoing brain drain. However, TM appears as prospectus towards South Asian countries as previous studies found that TM strategies contribute to improving financial and non-financial performance, employee productivity, degree of employee commitment, customer satisfaction and reduced turn-over rate. Furthermore, after analyzing the prospects and challenges of talent management, this paper provides future research direction to conduct more research in the field of talent management.

Introduction: Dentistry is the field that brings back one’s smile. It is this field that teaches about the importance of oral hygiene. Dental education varies in all Southeast Asian and South Asian countries. Aim: To compare dental education concerning fee structure, dentist population ratio, and year of graduation between South Asian and Southeast Asian countries. Methodology: This study was conducted to the comparison of dental education in South Asian and Southeast Asian countries. Southeast Asian countries were classified as Group A and South Asian countries were classified as Group B. Data was retrieved from manual and electronic databases using search engines (Pubmed, google scholar, Web of Science). In this study, the keywords were Dentistry, Southeast Asian, South Asian, Dental colleges, and Dentist population ratio used in the search. Result: This study determined the difference between dental education, dentist population ratio, and the dentist’s average salary among Group A and B. The number of Dental colleges was the maximum in India (71%) among all other Group A and B. Conclusion: Nevertheless South Asia had a plethora of colleges, and high-paying dental jobs were possible only in Southeast Asian countries. Hence substantial numbers of dental colleges with proper apportionment and job contentment is obligatory for better treatment outcome of patients.