There have been increasing concerns regarding the meat industry due to its negative influence on the environment, such as freshwater pollution, biodiversity loss, and increased methane emissions. These concerns have sparked the public’s interest in plant-based meat, the demand for which is expected to reach USD 27.5 billion by 2025. This study evaluated the factors influencing the decision of India’s Gen Z (aged 15-25) to purchase plant-based meat by conducting an online survey using a mixed method research approach. Among the eight different factors examined, the study found environmental consciousness as one of the highest-rated factors in all the three categories of respondents—combined (vegetarians and non-vegetarians), vegetarians, and non-vegetarians—in influencing their decision to purchase plant-based meat. This finding mirrors the growing environmental awareness of Gen Z globally. Health/safety was another top-rated factor for all three groups, possibly due to the increasing concern of zoonotic diseases, such as COVID-19. Conversely, price, convenience, and food curiosity were the least influential, highlighting the Indian market's unique characteristics. As a significant majority of young Indian adults live with their parents, plant-based companies targeting Gen Zs need to consider India’s family-oriented culture and the parents’ dominant role in determining meal choices at home. While companies could incorporate plant-based meat products into traditional food and well-known dishes to appeal to parents, companies can also target the more independent Gen Zs by emphasizing plant-based meat as a sustainable alternative to traditional meat. Additional nuanced marketing strategies for vegetarians and non-vegetarians have also been discussed in this paper.

It is widely believed that body image issues affect the emotional and psychological well-being of adolescents to a great extent. In the face of deeply entrenched normative beauty standards, teenagers’ struggles with body image issues can be extremely damaging. This study assessed the impact of an interactive online workshop involving the creation and sharing of ‘self-portraits’ on the body image of urban Indian female teenagers, aged 13 to 16. Data were gathered in the form of photographs of the participants’ artworks, their comments about each other’s artworks, as well as responses to a short open-ended questionnaire. This study revealed that the workshop was helpful in encouraging the participants to acknowledge their sense of isolation in dealing with body image issues. Furthermore, they greatly benefitted from a platform that gave them the opportunity to express their feelings and understand that they were not alone in their struggles. This empowered them to move towards self-acceptance and a desire to redefine unrealistic beauty standards. Ultimately, this study validated the value of the workshop in helping teenagers deal with their body image issues through creative means. In the future, regular sessions should be held to address teenagers’ body image issues through creative means and provide them with support in facing the pressures of prevalent beauty standards. As parents could inadvertently be contributing to their children’s body image issues, this study also proposed efforts to educate parents on the promotion of body positivity in their children.

The COVID-19 pandemic has plunged the Indian restaurant industry into its worst crisis. This research study is a case study analysis on the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the restaurant industry in Lucknow, India. Data was gathered through an online survey of Indian respondents residing in Lucknow regarding the changes in their usage of restaurant services (actual and anticipated) before and after the lockdown. Variables compared included: frequency levels of dining out, food delivery, and monthly expenditure on outside food. In addition, the relative importance of three factors- the decline in coronavirus-related deaths, the easing of social distancing measures, and the lifting of mask requirements- on the dining out frequency was analysed. Based on the results, the three variables compared showed statistically significant declines. However, in the case of the three factors influencing dining out frequency, it was discovered that while the decline in deaths did have a statistically significant impact on dining out frequency, none of the factors were considerably important.  Taking the results into account, it becomes imperative that restaurants enforce safety guidelines strictly and promote their actions efficiently. Innovative ideas like incorporating bento box services and immunity-boosting dishes may enable restaurants to survive through the crisis.

India is ranked as the worst country in the world, in terms of number of people lacking access to safe water. This study examines  the socio-economic inequity of India through the lens of privileged Indian respondents’ perceptions of the water quality accessible to communities of different socio-economic status. To address this aim, a survey was conducted to measure the level of social awareness around this issue among privileged Indian respondents with regards to their ratings of the safety of the water in three different communities: their own, the underprivileged, and India as a whole.   Respondents rated their water quality to be the highest, followed by India as a whole, and then the underprivileged. The main reasons they offered for their ratings were: the government’s failure to set up an adequate infrastructure for piping water without polluting it and the inability of the underprivileged to afford water filters in India. Despite the gravity of the health problems that can ensue from the lack of access to safe water, the lack of accountability for the government, and apathy from the privileged residents, can be attributed to the deeply entrenched discrimination in India, which is founded upon its caste tradition and its pursuit  of the capitalist agenda in the ‘90s. Therefore, it is vital that the Indian government and people take responsibility for providing safe water to all by: increasing awareness amongst all communities;  provision of water filters for all, and the eventual changing of the piping system in the long term.

Since the unexpected eruption of COVID-19, travel has been heavily circumscribed by governments in an endeavour to curb the spread of the virus. This research study aimed at conducting a case-study analysis of the impact of the Coronavirus on the commercial aviation industry. It analysed changes in international passenger capacity from originally planned in a sampling of countries from different regions, from January to April 2020, to measure the impact of the pandemic on commercial aviation. The data for capacity change were regressed against days of lockdown and days of global travel ban to determine the extent of their impact. Qualitative data was also analysed to provide a multi-faceted picture. The study found that COVID-19 had a huge influence on commercial aviation during the period observed. Moreover, the restrictions implemented by governments were found to exert a statistically significant impact on the industry, accounting for 84% of the impact on the change in international passenger capacity. The equation generated provides a predictive tool for determining changes in passenger capacity in the foreseeable future if similar restrictive policies are imposed. A qualitative analysis of the context also reveals that airfares will fall in the short run as airlines compete to regain customers, but rise in the long run. The paper thus highlights the importance of government bailouts and the relaxation of specific rules to support airlines during these challenging times. Other necessary measures identified include fleet re-purposing, as well as the institution of additional safety measures to encourage air travel.