Background-The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has affected the global economy from its starting. Indian economy is also affected by the pandemic and experienced a lot of economic damages. India has become the global hotspot of COVID-19 during the second wave of the pandemic and recorded the second-highest position in terms of positivity rate after China. The present study attempts to analyze the economic issues that emerged in the first and second waves of the pandemic in India. Method/Approach-There is no econometric tools or analytical models used in the present study. This study attempts to evaluate the two research questions which are formed on the basis of some previous studies by various organizations and researchers. The research questions are as follow, First, what are the sectors those are primarily affected at the time of the first COVID-19 outbreak? Second, which economic issues and impacts emerged in the second wave of the pandemic? Results/ Findings-From the study, it is found that the second wave of COVID-19 is not much affected by the Indian economy. At this time, no nationwide lockdown was announced by the Government. But so, it was much severe in the time of the first wave of COVID-19. Many sectors were affected by the pandemic like agriculture, MSMEs, Tourism, etc., and these resulted in substantial unemployment problems in the economy. The study is trying to analyze these problems and concluding it with a few policy recommendations for the economy of India.

Purpose This study investigates the relationships of visitors’ recreational experiences and their future behavior for the wildlife destinations of Assam, a North-Eastern state of India. Design/methodology/approach Recreational experiences have been measured through the visitors’ perceptions on various destination characteristics. The future behavior of the visitors is measured by considering two indicators in the forms of revisit and recommendation to others. Primary data, collected from two wildlife destinations have been analyzed by using structural equation modeling technique. Findings The empirical results have revealed the influence of destination characteristics on visitors’ future behavior, where perceptions mediate the relationship. Practical implications The findings suggest the adoption of policies to create positive perceptions on destination attributes and product oriented promotional strategies toward making wildlife destinations more competitive. The study also provides implications for tourism literature by suggesting an integrative approach for better understanding of tourists’ future behavior. Originality/value The study is based on primary data collected from two wildlife destinations of Assam. The investigation will help to adopt policies to make wildlife destinations more competitive.

Organic tea cultivation is a most emerging farming activity in recent years. Assam is only the state of India, where the highest tea is produced. Organic tea farming is a new concept for the state Assam. The study focuses on to estimate the technical efficiency level of organic tea growers.  The Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) is used to estimate the efficiency level of the growers by conducting a survey in Dibrugarh district of Assam, where the highest organic tea growers are concentrated. The study found- Mean technical efficiency of organic tea growers is 0.91. The variables organic fertilizer, organic pesticide, manure, machine and land area under tea cultivation are found statistically significant. On the other hand the variable labour man days found insignificant result with output.

Purpose- Betel nut (Areca catechu) is one of the major plantation crops grown in Assam. However, due to inefficiency in production, the productivity of betel nuts in the state is very low. Therefore, this study attempted to measure the level of technical efficiency and the factors affecting the technical inefficiency of betel nut growers in the Nagaon district of Assam.Design/methodology/approach – Primary data were collected from 240 households in the Nagaon district of Assam. Based on the Cobb-Douglas Production function for betel nut growers, the present study uses stochastic frontier analysis to estimate the production frontier and examine the effects of exogenous variables on farm-level technical inefficiency. Findings - The findings of the study reveal that, on average, 85 per cent of betel nut growers are technically efficient in the study area. Moreover, experience in betel nut plantations and gender have a significantly negative effect on technical inefficiency. In contrast, the age of the grower had a positive and significant effect on the technical inefficiency of betel nut cultivation. The findings suggest the availability of space for an increase in the productivity of betel nut plantations in the study area and scope for increasing the level of output through technical efficiency without raising inputs.Originality/Value: This study contribute to the estimation of the technical efficiency of betel nut growers and examines the factors responsible for technical inefficiency.The dataset is original and was especially collected for the present study.