India House Research Articles

A Study on Performance Evaluation of Equity Fund Scheme of Aditya Birla Mutual Fund, Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund ICICI Mutual Fund

In India the various investment avenues are provided by the capital market to the investors, to support them to invest in different investment tools and to make assured the profitable return. Mutual fund is subject to market risk and the mutual fund vary from fund to fund. In this context, the performance evaluations of mutual funds has become essential. Therefore, one of the main important issue is choosing profitable mutual fund for investment. This study, deals with the equity mutual funds that are offered by the various fund houses in India for investment. In the terms of risk return relationship this study predominantly selected mutual fund schemes is the main objective of this study

The Indian Women’s Premier League: confluence of business, sporting interests, and soft power?

ABSTRACT In March 2023, the inaugural version of the Indian Women’s Premier League (WPL) tournament took place in India and it was notable for several reasons: it was by far the richest women’s tournament in cricket and one could argue even more lucrative for athletes than women’s golf or football; the tournament received the financial support of the three largest business houses in India; and the tournament was seen as a major advance for Indian women, especially in the sporting world. This article examines how this tournament emerged, its impact on the global game of cricket, and whether it will add to the growing power of the Board for the Control of Cricket in India (BCCI). Further, does this new franchise add to the development of Indian soft power?

Personal exposure of women to PM2.5-bound PAH derivatives from cooking emissions in varied rural kitchen setups

The present study investigates the personal exposure of women to PM2.5 and associated chemical constituents such as Elemental Carbon, Organic Carbon and 63 Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) compounds in varied kitchen setups viz. Indoor kitchen without partition (IKWO); Indoor kitchen with partition (IKWP); Separate enclosed kitchen outside the home (SEKO); Open kitchen (OK); and Open kitchen under stairway (OK_S) of south India. The exposure to PM2.5 was found to be highest in OK_S followed by IKWP, SEKO, IKWO and OK with average concentrations of 8943.54 ± 699, 6117.80 ± 1732, 4257.85 ± 2215, 2118.07 ± 524 and 1505.89 ± 431 μg/m3, respectively. Similarly, OK_S had the greatest levels of PM2.5-bounded PAHs (∑PAH63, ∑PAH16, and BaP) due to their small size and poor ventilation. The lifetime Excess Cancer Risk (ECR) indicated the highest lifetime exposure risk per million population (400) in OK_S type of kitchens followed by IKWO (307), SEKO (151), IKWP (149), and then OK (7) using the relative potency factor (RPF) which includes nitro-PAHs as well as methyl-PAHs apart from PAHs with high molecular weight. Additionally, it was shown that the lifetime ECR of biomass fuel was six times greater than that of LPG. The current analysis recommends a complete transition to LPG and strictly avoiding open kitchens under the staircase. Thus, the findings of this study will provide valuable information to improve the quality of the indoor environment of rural houses in India.

Integration of Aluminium Formwork in sustainable and Affordable Housings

India is characterized by the presence of a vibrant construction industry that has contributed to economic growth in the country, particularly in fast-growing urban areas. The high demand for housing in India,which has the second highest urban population globally, calls for an affordable form of building that caters for the need of everyone and does not harm environment.This calls for new strategies to ensure that there are sustainable and affordable methods of building houses.The paper aims at explicating how aluminum formwork can be employed to deal with these difficulties/challenges. Aluminum Form-Work provides several advantages over traditional systems such as faster construction time;stronger structures and less environmental impact.This study assesses the effectiveness of aluminum form-work systems on sustainable & affordable housing in India through case studies and comparison The research looks into factors such as cost-effectiveness, energy efficiency and durability all of which will help us understand when and where aluminium form-work may be preferable. This paper evaluates thoroughly the analyses,casestudies,concluding how integration can be implemented in line with aluminum formwork in relation to sustainable & affordable house development.

A Study of the Prospects and Challenges of India's Government Social Rental Housing

This research explores into the complex world of social rental housing schemes run by the Indian government, looking at its prospective & challenges. It is the responsibility of the government to provide "housing for all," as this is a right incorporated in the Constitutional Directive Principles of State Policy. Social rental housing is a subset of rental housing that aims to include more people. In response, the government of India has launched several social rental housing initiatives to make affordable, good housing available to everybody. Essential components in reducing housing disparity, it assesses how well these programs foster social inclusion & sustainable urban development. Until recently, the topic of rental housing in India was mostly ignored. With the fact that there are 21.72 million urban rented houses, no legislative framework has been put in place to encourage private sector involvement in this crucial subset of housing, even though the country has been independent for 72 years.

Uncertainty in the embodied energy assessment of buildings: a case of EWS type low-cost house in India

Studies on embodied energy of buildings often present results as a single-point estimate without considering the variability in input parameters and the uncertainty it poses on results. Uncertainty analysis is useful to improve the reliability of results. This study examines uncertainty in the embodied energy of a single-storey EWS type residential building due to variability in the embodied energy intensity of materials and material wastage factors. Data quality indicator (DQI) based semi-qualitative method is used for modelling the variability in input parameters. Monte Carlo Simulation is used for uncertainty propagation. The building embodied energy is found to vary from 4 to 9 GJ/m2 based on variation in input data. The mean building embodied energy is found to be 6.3 GJ/m2. The embodied energy intensity of materials is found to cause more variation in building embodied energy in comparison with mass of materials. 'Brick’ is identified as the significant key parameter based on the relative contribution to uncertainty and embodied energy at the building level. Cement and rebar are identified as key parameters. The DQI based methodology presented in this study is useful for Life Cycle Assessment practitioners to evaluate uncertainty in the embodied energy assessment of residential buildings.

Models of Privatisation in Formal Housing in India: An Appraisal

Models of Privatisation in Formal Housing in India: An Appraisal

Analyzing the thermal performance of walling systems in low-income housing through computational fluid dynamics approach

The thermal properties of wall materials have a direct impact on the thermal performance of the indoor environment, by also influencing the occupant’s well-being. Coupled with airflow dynamics, the thermal performance of wall materials influences the indoor air temperature distribution thereby impacting thermal comfort, particularly in naturally ventilated (NV) spaces. However, defining the relationships between the wall characteristics, airflow dynamics, and thermal comfort for selecting the appropriate wall material for low-income NV buildings is still not evident in the current literature. Therefore, this study proposes a simulation-based framework that considers the relationships between wall materials, airflow dynamics, and thermal comfort using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach by spatially plotting the thermal comfort within the NV spaces.The study analyses locally accessible wall materials, subjecting them to different operating conditions within NV dwelling units of low-income housing in India. Out of the analyzed wall materials, aerated autoclaved blocks exhibited a significant indoor temperature reduction of 20.7 % compared to the compressed stabilized earth blocks, with constrained airflow exacerbating temperature fluctuations. The global implications of these findings are substantial for urban low-income dwellers experiencing excessive heat. Mass housing efforts worldwide can benefit from using thermally efficient materials in construction thereby improving living conditions, and mitigating the impact of climate change on thermal comfort and health.

The contradicting state of urban housing and neoliberal policy in India: a macro analysis

The paper evaluates the adaptation of neoliberal policies in the Indian urban housing policy sector. While completing the objectives of this paper, the article also appraises the expression of neoliberalism as it unfolds in the literature. Neoliberalism is considered a loose set of philosophical, institutional, and political principles to safeguard individual and collective freedom like private property rights, goods and services exchange, movement of capital and labor, etc. Neoliberal policies promote open markets and trade to unbound creative potentials and entrepreneurial skills through efficient utilization of resources and upbringing of human well-being. In a neoliberal regime, cities compete to attract talented people, capital, and resources to achieve newer economic and social benchmarks. However, the constant pursuit of excessive achievements lets some negativities grow within. Large-scale inequality, deprivation, social unrest, and meager quality of life affect the sustainable and holistic development of seemingly most developed cities worldwide. Referring to literature from social sciences, urban planning, and development studies, this paper focuses on the consequences of neoliberalism and its impact on urban housing in India.

Embodied Energy and Thermal Performance of Alternate Walling Materials in Affordable Housing in the Composite Climate of Delhi

Meeting the affordable housing shortage in India in a short time has its environmental and social challenges. It not only requires huge resources but is also a big social responsibility to provide economical and comfortable housing for the marginalized section of society. Improper selection of construction materials may lead to the locking up of massive energy as embodied energy of materials and uncomfortable indoor living conditions. The present study focuses on the need for consideration of both embodied energy and thermal performance in the selection of materials for the building envelope in naturally ventilated affordable housing in India. Walling materials form a major part of the building envelope and thus it's crucial to assess their performance. This paper presents an analysis of embodied energy and thermal performance of fly ash Bricks, AAC blocks, and RCC precast panels as walling options in comparison to conventional walling material of burnt clay brick in the composite climate zone of Delhi. This analysis is being carried out for the alternate walling solutions in practice or emerging for mid to high-rise EWS housing construction in this region. The embodied energy values per cubic meter are compared for each wall assembly for the lifecycle stage cradle to gate. Thermal simulation results are presented in terms of indoor operative temperatures achieved by each wall type material and compared with the comfort temperature range prescribed by the comfort model IMAC-R, 2022 to find out the ‘discomfort degree hours’. The results of the study underscore the suitability of fly ash bricks and AAC blocks as sustainable alternatives due to their lower embodied energy compared to traditional burnt clay bricks base case. Fly ash bricks even outperform the base case in terms of thermal comfort. The study discourages the use of burnt clay bricks due to very high embodied energy. The study also strongly discourages the use of RCC panels in the composite climate as they exhibit both poor thermal comfort and high embodied energy. The study findings would help government agencies to make environmentally and socially conscious decisions about the use of walling materials on a large scale in meeting the affordable housing demand.

Proportionality review and economic and social rights in India

ABSTRACT This article sheds light on three questions: (1) must we apply proportionality review in cases involving economic and social rights recognized under Article 21 of the Constitution of India 1950? (2) If so, how do we apply proportionality review in these cases? And (3) how will this impact the content of these rights and the corresponding obligations placed on the state? The article focuses on the right to housing in India. It argues that courts must apply the proportionality standard of review to check limitations on the right to housing. Applying this standard of review will change the all-things-considered content of the right to housing as beyond conditional, requiring provision of alternate accommodation in all eviction cases that result in homelessness. This article fills a gap in legal doctrine and research with regards to the possibilities for economic and social rights jurisprudence in the age of proportionality.

Understanding purchase behaviour towards green housing among millennials: the mediating role of purchase intention

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate millennials’ purchase behaviours towards green housing in India. This paper also examines the mediating effect of purchase intention between determinants of buying green housing and purchase behaviour in the real estate industry. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional research design was applied to collect data from 393 rural and 388 urban millennials. This study used “partial least squares structural equation modelling” to verify the framed hypotheses. Findings The outcomes indicate that attitude, environmental concern and green trust substantially influence the purchase intention and purchase behaviour towards green housing in rural and urban studies. However, perceived risk has an insignificant effect on purchase intention and purchase behaviour towards green housing in both studies. Likewise, innovativeness insignificantly impacts the purchase intention in study rural while substantially impacting the purchase behaviour in both studies. Additionally, a favourable relationship between purchase intention and purchase behaviour towards green housing in both rural and urban contexts. Practical implications This study provides fruitful evidence for practitioners, marketers and academicians about the drivers of purchase behaviour toward green housing. The results of this study also enable regulatory bodies to design appropriate strategies and tactics to foster the sustainable growth of nations. Originality/value This paper is a preliminary attempt to explore the decision to buy green housing in India. Furthermore, the authors targeted a specific age group, especially millennials, to gain a valuable understanding of how different factors affect green housing decisions in different areas, that is, rural and urban areas.

Exploring thermal comfort in rural houses of Chhattisgarh state, India: A comprehensive survey and adaptive model analysis

Thermal comfort studies in India are very much at an emerging stage. According to Indian codes, in the summer, the comfortable temperature range for residential buildings is 23–26 °C. The recommended Indian residential comfort range does not consider the impact of India’s enormous cultural and geographical heterogeneity. Additionally, there seems to be very little effort to conduct a thermal comfort field survey in India’s rural regions. In recent years, houses in rural India have been converted from kutcha (mud houses) to pucca (concrete houses). This work is aimed at proposing an adaptive thermal comfort model for the premonsoon season in the rural area of Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India. The model was achieved using a field study survey conducted in 80 rural area houses in the months of June and July. Regression analysis, the Griffiths method, and the Fanger method have been adopted to analyze thermal comfort. Based on the regression analysis, the comfort band (voting −1 to +1) is established in the range of 28.39 °C to 32.31 °C, with 30.30 °C as the neutral temperature. The study has been carried out to assess the influence of gender, age, controls, and fan usage on thermal comfort perception in rural households.

“This place is no better than a jail”: The geographies of surrogate houses in India

The commercial surrogacy industry in India administers in a way where the women working as surrogate mothers live in surrogate houses. It is a space deliberately designed and run by either the fertility clinics or a third-party agency, where the surrogate mothers are required to stay for the entire gestation period. The surrogacy industry in India utilizes the vulnerability of couples who do not or cannot have children, in order to prepare valuable and docile bodies which can serve as a platform for accumulation of wealth. This paper draws from an ethnographic inquiry of the surrogate housing facilities functioning in two cities in India: Anand and Bengaluru. The paper will argue that the surrogacy industry in India produces geographies of carceral domesticity by deploying disciplining apparatuses governing the day-to-day mundane activities of the reproductive laborers. The medical experts often resort to the narrative that these women cannot be trusted with the safety of the babies they carry, hence, justifying their confinement in the surrogate house. Further, the possibility that the surrogate mothers may develop emotional attachments to the babies they carry, which in turn, will endanger the surrogacy arrangements, also runs through such narratives of regulation.

Reviewing the affordability and adequacy of affordable housing in urban India: impact of the covid-19 pandemic

PurposeHousing policies in India (last modified in 2017) define “affordable housing” on three main parameters – income of the target group, dwelling unit size and house price to income ratio. The Covid-19 pandemic has questioned the robustness of the defining parameters of affordable housing. This paper aims to study the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on housing affordability and adequacy for the urban poor and highlights how one pandemic has directly challenged the practicality of the affordable housing criteria in urban India.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on a pilot test conducted through interviews with the consumer group. Furthermore, the affordable housing policies of urban India were studied in conjunction with the pandemic guidelines laid down by the World Health Organization. The consumer responses were analyzed in relation to the policies and guidelines to arrive at the inferences. The secondary case examples of the Dharavi slums in Mumbai and the Savda Ghevra slum resettlement colony in Delhi, along with the findings of the primary survey in the economically weaker section category, are used to formulate the conclusions.FindingsThe pilot test conducted for the target consumer group clearly indicates that (i) the pandemic has severely affected the housing purchase capacity of the target consumer, thereby questioning the “affordability” of housing; (ii) proposed housing solutions are inadequate to enable livability, thereby questioning the “adequacy” of housing; and (iii) proposed housing solutions are inept to accommodate pandemic protocols. The Covid-19 pandemic and the conditions it imposed on the built environment clearly highlight the inadequacy of affordable housing parameters being followed in urban India.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research may be conducted on global best practices in housing, which may advise the housing policies in India.Practical implicationsThe study suggests key areas that need intervention and modification to make the housing policies more robust and effective.Social implicationsThe study explores the social sustainability aspects of housing, which are often considered secondary in policies.Originality/valueBecause housing has a direct bearing on the physical, social and mental well-being of society, it is imperative to find housing solutions that are safe and resilient for a sustainable future. This paper is an original attempt by the author to question and highlight how the current affordable housing solutions adopted in urban India will continue to fail under any external adverse conditions unless modifications are considered in the existing housing parameters.

Growth of Art Auction Houses in India in the Last Decade

Art Auction Houses are companies that allow the buying and selling of sought-after art pieces and collectibles. Today, the popularity of auction houses is growing at an extraordinary speed all over the world. There are a plethora of reasons for this fast growth. Some of these are access to popular and desired artworks, transparency in demand and pricing, and a simple purchasing process. In the last decade, India has seen unparalleled growth in art auction houses with a rise of about 265%. In addition to the boom in sales, the prices of the artworks have almost doubled.

COVID‐19 and the urban housing affordability – evidence from select Indian cities

AbstractThe COVID‐19 crisis, globally, has significantly impacted the residential real estate market. Health concerns and lockdowns have contributed to the downturn of the sector. High unsold inventory, financial crunch, and lack of stakeholders' perspective fueled the decline in housing affordability. However, with the steady bouncing back of the economy and recovery in the market between the intermittent spikes in the pandemic, there has been a path to recovery. Housing sales, which is one of the significant yardsticks to ensure a robust economic recuperation, had an upswing of nearly 60% annually across major Indian cities during January–June 2022, as reported by Knight Frank's India Real Estate Report. Housing in India had been unaffordable even in the pre‐pandemic period, but due to several government interventions during the pandemic, the housing sector was able to recover its lost ground.This paper aims at understanding the affordability of housing in seven major metropolitan cities across India. This is discerned through the analysis of the housing price data published by NHB‐RESIDEX and the price‐to‐gross domestic product (GDP) ratios for the cities. It also examines the work from home (WFH) phenomenon and looks at the incentives and programmes from the government during the pandemic on housing in large cities in India.

Decolonizing South Asian architecture: Sustainable and community-criented cocial housing in India

Decolonization process in India involved a range of political, economic, and social changes aimed at dismantling the colonial system and building a new, independent nation. One of the most significant challenges India faced during the decolonization process was the issue of partition. The partition of India in 1947 led to the creation of two separate countries—India and Pakistan—and resulted in widespread violence and displacement. Millions of people were forced to migrate across the newly formed borders, resulting in one of the largest mass migrations in human history which created huge demand for housing. The methodology adopted for this research is based on qualitative analysis and the data source for this study are government reports, research articles, books and newspaper. Further, it examines four case studies of social housing projects designed to provide sustainable and livable solutions for low-income families in different regions of India, including Aranya Community Housing, Incremental Housing in Belapur, ATIRA Staff Housing in Ahmadabad, and CIDCO Housing in Parsik Hill in Navi Mumbai. At the core of the article lies an investigation into the dynamic nature of architecture in the aftermath of independence, coupled with a detailed examination of four distinct social housing ventures. The social housing studies demonstrate innovative and flexible approaches to social housing, with a focus on community building, energy efficiency, and social amenities. The projects have been successful in providing access to affordable and sustainable housing for low-income families in different regions of India. The case studies highlight the importance of a community-centered approach to social housing, emphasizing the need for shared spaces and amenities. The article discusses the challenges and opportunities of implementing sustainable and livable social housing solutions in India.

Endangered medicinal plants of western ghats: A review

India houses about more than a thousand known medicinal plant species. Traditional Indian medicine, also known as Ayurveda, relies heavily on the use of medicinal plants for treating various ailments. They play a major role in our daily lives. The Western Ghats region in India is known for its rich biodiversity resources including a wide variety of medicinal plants. Western Ghats is among the world’s hottest 10 biodiversity hotspots and recently has been added to the world heritage list by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). But as these days most of the important medicinal plants present in Western Ghats are facing serious extinction issues and categorized as endangered plants by IUCN due to overexploitation, deforestation and similar anthropogenic activities. At the same time these IUCN reports on threat status highlights the importance of conserving these assets of nature for the betterment of future generations. This article comprehensively reviews the details about some important medicinal plants and their medicinal uses present in Western Ghats which are classified under endangered category.

The Artist and The Construction of The Remains of The Archaeological Sites of Karkok - Toma India House for Example an Artistic Analysis Research

The construction of archaeological and heritage buildings in the city of Kirkuk, which is of great archaeological importance, is the way to access a collection of information, due to the fact that it was generally decorated and painted, and the House of Toma India in particular, and this research consists of writing and decoration of the house, which is part of the archaeological importance of the castle. This is similar to the detection of the cultural and historical aspects of this region, which have not yet received any theoretical scientific references, this research analyzes the structural developments of the house, although part of it has edited the remains of buildings, drawings and distorted images, but the broken pieces were able to collect them and reconnect them together, and this research is the first research in this area. Technically and engineeringly, we have focused on this area as an essential part of the research, subject of research in particular and the region in general.