Geographical Indications (GIs) provide legal protection to products tied to specific regions, highlighting their unique qualities and heritage. The significance of GIs has grown globally, as they serve as tools to protect traditional products, promote regional economic development and ensure product quality in the market. This paper examines the role of GIs globally and in India, emphasizing their importance in promoting sustainable production practices and protecting intellectual property rights. The study utilizes secondary data from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Intellectual Property India database, examining trends in GI registration across various product categories and states. China ranks first in the total GI share with 9785 GIs and India ranks 52nd with 530 GIs Globally in 2023. In India, Uttar Pradesh ranks first with 74 GIs and Tamil Nadu Ranks second with 59 GIs in 2024. The findings revealed that agricultural commodities and handicrafts products dominate the GI landscape in India, while globally, wines and spirits form the largest share of GIs. Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for Global (8.17 %) and Indian GIs (5.76 %) showed a positive growth rate for the period under study. CAGR analysis indicated the highest growth in the registration of GIs under agricultural commodities in India (10.63 %) and globally (12.14 %). The paper concludes that while India has made significant progress, further research and policy frameworks are needed to address challenges in promoting GIs and the support needed post-GI registration. Globally, GIs offer potential for economic growth, cultural preservation and sustainability.

Background: Soft tissue sarcoma (STS) patients undergoing surgery may experience reduced functional outcome compared to the general population. The aim of this study is to evaluate the functional outcome and to determine important predictive factors that affect the post-operative functional outcomes in patients who had undergone surgery for STS. Methods: Authors retrospectively analysed patients who had undergone surgery between January 2016 to November 2023, in our institution and assessed for post-operative functional outcomes, at the end of 6 months and one year. To evaluate the functional outcomes, Musculoskeletal Tumor Society Score (MSTS) was used. Established predictive factors like age, size of the tumor and time since surgery were analysed with Multivariate regression analysis. Results: In the study, a total of 51 patients were assessed with median age of 50 yrs. Age (MSTS score–80 versus 74, p=0.01), size of the tumor (MSTS score–79 versus 74, p=0.03). Time since surgery (significant linear association between functional scores at the end of 6 months and one year, p value=0.0004) were identified as significant predictive factors. Patients who are younger than 40 years, tumor less than 10 cm have better functional outcomes. Conclusion: Functional outcomes in patients who underwent surgery for STS, improve with time. Patients can be reassured that final functional outcome will be better than early post-operative outcome. Age of the patient, size of the tumor and time since surgery were the most consistent and significant determinants of functional outcome.

India's agricultural sector faces mounting challenges due to climate change coupled with population growth. Impact of climate change is highly pronounced in rice-wheat cropping system, which, being the staple food of the country will jeopardize its long-term food security. While agriculture is vulnerable to climate change, it also contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with carbon dioxide (CO2) from pre and post agricultural activities projected to reach 207 Mega tons (Mt) by 2030 and 231 Mt by 2035. Ensuring food security while simultaneously reducing the GHG emission is the greatest challenge of this century and Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) has emerged as a promising solution. Still, significant knowledge gaps persist regarding its implementation and effectiveness. This paper presents a critical assessment of CSA in India, analyzing current challenges, opportunities and providing strategic directions for key stakeholders, using the PRISMA 2020 criteria for a systematic review. The findings reveal that lack of expertise, insufficient policy frameworks, limited technology access, inadequate funding, low awareness and absence of site-specific practices are the major challenges. A comprehensive strategy encompassing awareness campaigns, capacity-building initiatives, financial and technical assistance (including subsidies, carbon credits by industries, access to credit, index-based insurance), inclusive participation of stakeholders and gender-sensitive policies is proposed for effective adoption of CSA. The study concludes that coordinated efforts spanning from global to local domains are crucial for promoting CSA practices among farmers, enabling India to enhance agricultural resilience, ensure food security and progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The concept of ecosystem services (ES) has garnered global recognition due to its substantial impact on human well-being. Biodiversity loss, driven by both direct and indirect factors, has led to a decrease in the lifespan of ecosystems and their ability to offer ecosystem services. On a global scale, ES assessments are increasingly utilised by academicians to develop sustainable and environmentally focused policies. In India, ES-related research has been steadily expanding to capture the various benefits, both tangible and intangible, provided by numerous ecosystems. This study analyses 71 research articles to evaluate the increasing trend of ecosystem research and examine their methodological approaches. The gaps in existing research and literature have been extensively examined. The study reveals that while ecosystem services obtained from woods have been extensively studied, blue water ecosystems have not been adequately researched. Additionally, there is a lack of research on both the immediate and long-term impacts of global warming and other environmental concerns on the availability of ecosystem services. A comprehensive evaluation of environmental sustainability necessitates the integration of interdisciplinary approaches. Future ES assessments should incorporate both conventional and indigenous knowledge systems within the evaluation framework to develop practical and long-lasting policy recommendations.

Forest watersheds, as providers of ecosystem services, are becoming increasingly vulnerable due to climate change. Urgent investigation and management of watershed parameters that are prioritized by sub-watersheds are necessary. This study provides a holistic view of the forest watershed by investigating fluvial geomorphological descriptions, land use land cover changes, Sediment parameter for better management of watershed. These factors were significantly influencing the watershed's capacity to store water, runoff, infiltration capacity, peak flow, susceptibility to erosion and landslides, etc. Morphometric analysis, Hypsometric analysis, Random Forest Algorithm, Composite Intensity Mapping Unit, Principal Component Analysis methods were utilized for the computation, extraction of watershed parameters to construct Compound parameter as a basis for watershed ranking. In this case of investigation, The Kundha River Sub-watershed with 160 km2 of catchment area of Upper Bhavani River Basin in Tamil Nadu, South India was investigated. It has 14 sub-watersheds (KSW1-KSW14) with elevation variation about 1618 to 2623 m above Mean Sea Level. The KSW14 & KSW11 are more vulnerable to soil erosion due to high basin relief. The Kundha Sub-watershed is characterized by features such as 47 % of the total area having steep slopes, 50 % of the total area belonging to the Hydrologic Soil Group (HSG) A, an 11 % reduction in the vegetation class over a five-year period, and a very high Sediment Yield Index value. The much- influenced parameters viz., vegetation class, stream frequency, drainage density and Sediment Yield Index were detected and there are strongly recommended for the prioritization of any identical forest watersheds. According to the investigation, the area of 10.09 km2 including KSW11 required instantaneous implementation of catchment area treatment measures to conserve natural resources and to ensure the water security.

The aim of this study was to compare oncological effectiveness, morbidity, and perioperative outcomes between minimally invasive surgical staging and open surgical staging for endometrial cancer. This is a retrospective analysis of endometrial cancer patients who were treated in surgical oncology department in our institute between January 2015 and November 2024 (n = 217). The oncological effectiveness and morbidity of the two groups were compared based on disease-free survival, mean operative time, blood loss, lymph node harvest, intraoperative complications, postoperative complications, duration of hospitalization, etc., and the results were analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed using IBMSPSS statistics version 25, and clinical and pathological factors were compared between two groups with Fisher’s exact test and Student’s t-test for data analysis. Survival analysis was done by Kaplan–Meier method with p ≤ 0.05 considered statistically significant. Out of 217 patients, 93 underwent open surgical staging, while 124 underwent minimally invasive surgical staging. Within the minimally invasive group, 86 patients had laparoscopic surgical staging, and 38 had robotic surgical staging. The mean operative time for the minimally invasive procedure was lower than the open procedure (115 vs 136 min, p = 0.009). Intraoperative blood loss of patients undergoing minimally invasive staging was significantly less than that of laparotomy group (60 vs 140 ml, p = 0.007). There was no statistically significant difference in nodal retrieval between the two groups (13 vs 15, p = 0.09). The mean duration of hospitalization was statistically significantly higher in the laparotomy group than the minimally invasive group (6 vs 4 days, p = 0.005). Kaplan–Meier survival curve showed that the DFS rate at 3 years was more in minimally invasive group compared to open surgical staging (95.2

Consumer preferences for food products are evolving due to various factors, promoting producers to differentiate their products through unique production methods and adhere to quality standards. Certifications, such as Geographical indications (GI), assist consumers in identifying distinct product attributes while safeguarding producers against unfair competition. Geographical indications products linked to specific regions are recognized for their unique qualities, with certifications like protected designation of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indication (PGI) ensuring quality and market distinction. However, using PGI labels on low-quality products can harm their reputation and diminish their ability to command a premium price. This study explores consumer preferences for GI-certified products, specifically Vripakshi Hill banana, Kodaikanal Hill garlic and Madurai Malli jasmine, in Dindigul and Madurai districts, India. This study surveyed 90 households to identify key attributes influencing consumer preferences. These include production method, quality and price premium for bananas and garlic. For jasmine, the significant factors are price, fragrance, flower size and shelf life. Findings show that GI certifications enhance product quality perception, with variations in attribute importance across commodities. Consumer awareness mainly comes from traditional sources, with consumption patterns differing by product. The study highlights how GI products can support sustainable agriculture, regional growth and market differentiation. It also stresses the importance of educating consumers to raise awareness and improve the competitiveness of these products.

Natural disasters, population growth, global climate change, and political instability are threatening food security, especially in South Asia. The research study aims to determine the relationship between climate change and food security in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries during the period from 2001 to 2021. The panel data technique is adopted for the empirical analysis because it addresses the time and country effect, providing accurate research findings. The Food Production Index is used as the dependent variable and works as proxy indicator for food security. Pre-estimation tests including, the Breusch-pagan test for heteroscedasticity, the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) for Multicollinearity and Woolridge test for serial autocorrelation, are conducted before panel regression estimation. The model stability is tested by post regression diagnostics of Hansen and Hausman specification test. The empirical results revealed that temperature, rainfall and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita are governing food security. In contrast, population growth has negative effect on food security, demonstrating that South Asia’s burgeoning population hinders progress towards achieving food security . Inflation and land area under cereal cultivation exhibits insignificant influence. The findings showed that both climate-related and non-climate-related variables affect food security. Hence, the development of interdisciplinary and effective food security policies is essential for ensuring social protection and address food security challenges in SAARC countries.

The aim of this study is to examine the market participation patterns of smallholder tomato farmers in Ananthapuramu District of India and identify the key factors influencing their choice of marketing channels. The analysis focuses on four channels: local wholesalers, processors, retail outlets, and restaurants. Primary data were collected from 200 farmers during the 2024 farming season. To address overlapping factors and simplify interpretation, a multivariate probit approach combined with principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to identify the main drivers of farmers’ marketing decisions. Results reveal that economic considerations—particularly price incentives, financial viability, and immediate cash flow—are the dominant motivations across all channels. Participation in Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) enhances access to structured markets by facilitating collective sales, quality compliance, and reduced transaction costs. While farm size and production surplus exert limited influence on channel choice, institutional support, infrastructure, and logistics emerge as critical determinants of market access. The study highlights that standardized procurement practices lessen the role of individual skills, and interdependencies between market choices underscore the need for coordinated interventions. Policy measures aimed at strengthening farmer organizations, improving rural infrastructure, and expanding financial support could significantly enhance the competitiveness and resilience of smallholder tomato farmers in emerging markets.

The aim is to analyze the cost and returns of curry leaf production under different irrigation methods, assess water and energy productivity and draw conclusions regarding the sustainability and profitability of drip irrigation. The study utilizes a sample of 60 respondents from two blocks in Coimbatore district, employing a multi-stage random sampling technique. Primary data was collected through structured questionnaires administered via personal interviews between June and September 2023. Cost concepts were employed to calculate cultivation costs, while water and energy consumption were assessed to determine productivity. This study investigates the economic and environmental implications of adopting drip irrigation over conventional furrow irrigation for curry leaf cultivation in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India. The results demonstrate that drip irrigation significantly reduces operational costs and improves yields compared to furrow irrigation. Gross and net incomes are substantially higher with drip irrigation, highlighting its economic advantages. Moreover, drip irrigation shows higher water and energy productivity, indicating its potential for resource conservation and sustainability. The results emphasize the importance of governmental support in promoting drip irrigation adoption to enhance water efficiency and facilitate value-added product export. In conclusion, this study highlights the significance of drip irrigation in enhancing profitability, conserving resources and promoting agricultural sustainability in curry leaf cultivation within the Coimbatore region.

This research investigates price volatility and market integration within select small onion markets across Tamil Nadu, India. Using monthly wholesale price data from the Dindigul, Chennai, Coimbatore, and Idukki markets for the period 2014 to 2023, the study employs an array of econometric methods to analyze price dynamics and market interconnections. The ARCHGARCH model analysis revealed high price volatility persistence in selected small onion markets with the Coimbatore market displaying the highest levels of volatility. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller test established stationarity within the price series, while cointegration tests indicated a long-term equilibrium relationship across the markets analyzed in Tamil Nadu. Further examination through the Granger causality test revealed that price movements in the Coimbatore market had a causal impact on the Dindigul market. Additionally, the markets in Coimbatore, Dindigul, and Chennai were shown to exert influence over the Idukki market in Kerala. The Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) analysis demonstrated that in response to disequilibrium across the Coimbatore, Chennai, Dindigul, and Idukki markets, short -run price adjustments occurred at rates of 41%, 45%, 46%, and 48%, respectively, working towards restoring long-run equilibrium. In the Dindigul market, price adjustments with a one-month lag had a notable influence on current prices within Coimbatore, Chennai, and Dindigul. These findings underscore the interconnected nature of small onion markets within the region and shed light on price behavior patterns. Insights derived from this study could inform policy measures aimed at stabilizing prices and enhancing market efficiency in the small onion markets.

This study evaluated the economic feasibility of adopting solar-powered irrigation systems (SPIS) coupled with drip irrigation for coconut cultivation across different water development regimes in Coimbatore district. Results revealed that SPIS adoption led to significantly higher average coconut yields of 18,650 nuts/ha in over-exploited regions, 19,942 nuts/ha in critical + semi-critical regions, and 20,943 nuts/ha in safe regions. Moreover, SPIS demonstrates lower operational costs, with an average annual operational cost of ?44,714/ha compared to ?65840/ha for conventional methods. The total cost was lower for SPIS users across all regimes, with average total costs of ?1,09,607/ha in over-exploited regions, ?1,05,493/ha in critical + semi-critical regions and ?1,07,396/ha in safe regions. These findings enhanced the economic benefits of SPIS with drip irrigation adoption and highlighted the need for targeted policies to overcome initial investment barriers, promoting sustainable agriculture in water-scarce regions of Tamil Nadu.

Introduction Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) is a standardised perioperative care protocol which targets the elements that delay the postoperative recovery, so as to achieve early and uneventful recovery. Use of a standardised protocol is associated with more predictable perioperative treatment process. Although, widely used in other surgical specialities, there is a paucity of Indian data regarding implementation of ERAS protocol in patients undergoing gynaecological surgeries. This study was planned to assess the feasibility and impact of modified ERAS protocol implementation on perioperative recovery in patients undergoing surgery for proven or suspected gynaecological malignancy. Materials and Methods This is a prospective randomised cohort study conducted at Surgical Oncology Department of a tertiary care hospital in India from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2021. Patients undergoing laparotomy for proven or suspected gynaecological malignancy were randomly divided into ERAS protocol group and standard perioperative care group. Postoperative outcomes data were collected in a predefined proforma and analysed using standard statistical tools. Results A total of 279 patients were included in the study, 141 patients under standard perioperative care group and 138 patients under ERAS protocol group. There was significant reduction in median length of stay (LOS) in ERAS group 3.23 days versus 5.37 days ( P < 0.0001), as compared to standard care group. Early return of bowel function 28.17 h versus 32 h ( P = 0.0021), and early resumption of normal diet was noted in ERAS group 29.74 h versus 33.87 h ( P = 0.0038) as compared to standard care group. Surgical site infection rates were significantly low in ERAS group 2.17% versus 9.92% ( P = 0.010) as compared to standard care group. No statistically significant difference noted with regards to other complications like postoperative vomiting and deep vein thrombosis. Also, there was no significant difference noted in readmission rates under 30 days in both the groups (0.72% vs. 2.12%, P = 0.624). Conclusions Implementation of modified ERAS protocol significantly reduces LOS and improves postoperative recovery in patients undergoing gynaecological surgeries without any increase in complication rates.

Transaction costs are incurred while conducting a transaction through an exchange in the open market. New institutional economics focuses on transaction costs and the institutions involved in their reduction. This study compares the transaction costs incurred by Farmer Producer Company (FPC) members and non-members in Kerala and identifies the factors affecting these transaction costs. The study revealed no significant difference in the transaction costs incurred by FPC members and non-members. This was mainly due to the significant and higher opportunity cost of time spent on information and decision-making by FPC members compared to non-members, which surpassed the lower costs incurred for selling their farm produce by FPC members compared to non-members. Based on this study, we recommend that FPCs concentrate more on the bottom-up collectivization of individual farmers to form large business organizations that facilitate market access for small and marginal farmers and reduce transaction costs.

The research on Ecosystem Services (ES) is only recent origin and has attracted researchers in many developed and developing countries for the past two to three decades and assumes one of the important components in policy agenda.The ecosystem services assume important for those communities whose livelihood depends mainly on natural systems including agriculture.The ecosystem provides number of beneficial services to human being.These are broadly classified into four major categories viz., (i) Provisioning services, (ii) Regulatory Services, (iii) Supporting services and (iv) Socio-cultural services.Ecosystem research is facing major challenges including less understanding about different ecosystem services, their interactions, interrelationships and their true values in the light of absence of markets.In this context, the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), a global initiative has been started with a focus on 'making nature's values visible'.The TEEB is aimed to mainstream the values of biodiversity and ecosystem services into decision making at all levels (https://teebweb.org/).Realising the significance of ES in policy making, a separate theme has been planned to address the issues relating to Ecosystem Services and to derive policy options for sustainable management and conservation of ecosystems across the country.Though several researchable issues have been identified and outlined in the Conference themes announcements, very few issues such as valuation of recreational benefits from wetland ecosystems and agro-ecosystem services have been addressed by few researchers.A total of five papers have been presented during the session.Of the five papers, two papers dealt with valuation of recreational benefits of wetlands (lakes) and three papers focused on farming systems.Though there are few papers presented and discussed, the discussion has brought many key issues in ecosystem services valuation, an emerging area in agricultural policy making.The key outcomes of the discussion are presented here: MAJOR ISSUES DISCUSSED: Valuation of ecosystem services may be done extensively across types of ecosystems as it informs the true value of beneficial services to the different stakeholders including policy makers so that the sustainable management of ecosystems could be achieved  The papers presented focused on specific ecosystem services such as recreation, nitrogen fixation etc.It is suggested that in order to have a holistic value, all the services including provisioning, supporting, regulating, and socio-cultural services may be assessed.

By exchanging safety-related messages, the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) technology can reduce traffic collisions. With the help of the internet, vehicles can communicate and exchange information about location and speed with other cars and with roadside devices. False alarms, improper vehicle placement, and other forms of assault become commonplace in the automotive network. Message authentication is a difficult operation since it requires distinguishing between legitimate message packets and attack message packets. This study employs a deep learning method based on binary classification to distinguish benign from malicious data packets. Starting with the publidy available KDD99 and CICIDS 2018 datasets, the training dataset is constructed, including 1,20,223 network packets and 41 features. First, an autoencoder is used to weed out any extraneous information from the one-dimensional network data. After training the model using structured deep neural networks, the Softmax classifier, and the ReLU activation functions are included into the mix, leaving just the most relevant 23 characteristics. In order to train and evaluate the proposed Intrusion Prevention model, google Colab, an open platform cloud service, and the open-source tensor flow are used. In order to ensure the suggested preventive classifier model is accurate, it was tested on a dataset created by network simulation. The experimental findings demonstrate an accuracy of 99.57%, which is better than any other RNN- or CNN-based model currently available. To further enhance the model's efficacy and accuracy, it may be trained in the future on more datasets.

A useful approach, TF -IDF (Term Frequency - Inverse Text Frequency) looks at the frequency of terms to figure out how important they are in a particular document. It's an excellent starting point for many different projects since it's a straightforward method for assigning weights to words. Constructing search engines, summarising documents, and other related information retrieval and machine learning activities fall under this category.