The lockdowns and restrictions imposed to control COVID-19 have made life miserable for people, especially those involved in informal economic activities. The pandemic induced financial hardships, caused financial anxiety and financial stress among informal sector participants. This study aimed to measure and analyze the financial stress and financial insecurity of one of the important informal sector elements (street vendors) in India. Street vendors in Bangalore were interviewed in this descriptive research through personal interaction and telephonic interviews. The collected primary data were processed using SPSS statistical package. The results have indicated that the pandemic inflicted financial stress on street vendors irrespective of their gender, marital status, age, education, monthly income, and type of product dealt. Financial stress levels varied depending on the number of dependents of street vendors and their business nature. Financial literacy differed according to street vendors’ marital status. A person becomes extremely sensitive and cautious in personal finance matters on getting married. Financial stress and financial literacy correlated negatively. 89.5% of street vendors perceived that they had financial insecurity in the future due to this pandemic. The results indicated that financial stress and financial literacy did not affect financial insecurity perceptions of street vendors. The predictors of financial insecurity have been marital status and the number of dependents of the street vendors (r2: 16.6%). However, marital status alone impacted the 6% variance in financial insecurity. This study concluded that the pandemic caused financial stress and financial insecurity among street vendors, but not financial stress and financial literacy.

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The widespread proliferation of the internet-of-things (IoT) has led to the shift in focus from the technology itself to the way in which technology affects the social world. Being inspired by the emerging intersection between actor network theory and co-design, this paper emphasizes the role of participation in designing IoT-based technologies by suggesting alternative ways to appropriate IoT into people's lives. It is argued that prototyping becomes crucial for designing IoT-based technologies where the invisible aspects of "agency" and "autonomy" are highlighted while still drawing on its full capabilities. In that, the value of tinkering and exploration are seen as ways to experiment with and constitute one's subjectivities in relation to IoT-based technologies. Taking these points into consideration, it is suggested that there is a need to move towards a cosmopolitics of design where aesthetics and materialisation of technology also act as inquiries into issues of performance and social meaning-making.

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