The frequency of natural disasters across the globe has increased and the intensity of each disaster has only exposed all nations to the vulnerabilities associated with the occurrence of disasters. Rapid urbanization, climate change, the growing gap between the haves and have-nots, inability of the state machinery to meet the needs of the socially marginalized communities and exponential growth in population are some of the reasons for the occurrence of natural disasters and the adverse effects associated with them. The financial burden of disasters is something that the government alone cannot handle. Therefore there is a greater need for private sector participation in disaster management more than ever before. Disaster planning is equally important as response and recovery and the private sector can play a crucial role in this area. Public private participation in disaster management is needed to encourage greater involvement of the private sector in disaster management efforts. The main challenge is to make such partnerships more productive so that disaster management can be effective. This study has reviewed the body of work in this area to highlight the challenges associated with public private participation in disaster management and the key research areas emerging from the same. Limited insurance and reinsurance capacity has led to the need to examine alternative risk transfer mechanisms to meet the financial obligations in the aftermath of a disaster. This effort addresses the public private participation in disaster management from both angles viz. the involvement of private sector in disaster planning, response and recovery as well as involvement in alternative risk transfer mechanisms. Based on experiences of private sector in disaster management in various regions of the world, this study has recommended actions that need to be taken by the state machinery to evolve a regulatory framework so that greater value can be derived from public private partnerships.Key words: Public-Private participation, disaster management, disaster, disaster recovery, reinsurance, alternative risk transfer, resilience. IntroductionIn an increasingly fragile world, climate change, urbanization, exponential growth in population in some regions and environmental degradation has resulted in increase in the frequency and intensity of disasters. It has therefore become important to get risk management right. A recent World Bank report concluded that the cost of disasters has quadrupled over the last 30 years -from an annual average of around a year in the 1980's to annual losses of some US$ 200 billion today. Unpredictable nature of environmental hazards are challenging for governments, communities and individual households as they lack the capacity to manage the covariant risk presented by droughts, floods and hurricanes (Kelman & West, 2009;Mycoo, 2011, Campbell & Beckford, 2009. Over 25 million people were affected by droughts in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel. Typhoon Haiyan in Philippines impacted over 16 millio...

ABSTRACT:The main objective of National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) is to make all government departments accessible to all citizens over electronic media. This might be a complex process for establishing all government departments with latest hardware, software with necessary networking including sufficient training to employees. This paper deals with various strategies involved in providing e-governance to various government departments with detailed study

The advent of sharing economy has led to the immense popularity of urban mobility services among riders across the world. Digital mapping of demand and supply of ride sourcing services has resulted in a win-win situation for the ride sourcing service supply chain that has fewer tiers compared to other service supply chains. Driver-partners are assured of regularity in income and a higher capacity utilization of their capital asset (the vehicle). Riders benefit from cheaper prices and the convenience of organizing a ride right from their doorstep. The transportation network companies like Ola and Uber earn a commission on every ride that provides a steady stream of revenues. Sustaining in the long run will need these companies to understand the satisfaction of riders and also the problems that they face so that service deficiencies can be improved upon. Understanding customer feedback will also enable state governments to relate to the challenges in urban mobility services. A survey was carried among the users of Ola cab services to understand their preferences and opinions about the cab services. The results of the study demonstrate that while gender-based differences do exist in matters of customer perceptions about the cab services, there is tremendous scope for improving cab services in the future.

It took almost four years for the academic effort of C K Prahlad and Stuart Hart to be recognized as fit for publication by Harvard Business Review. The path-breaking research by the duo has received wide acclaim and has led to multinational corporations using the strategy as part of their efforts to grow their business footprint by also focusing on the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) segment of the market. In their research, Prahlad and Hart pointed out the companies were losing a greater pie of the market by not focusing on developing products for the poorest of poor. They highlighted the need for a strategy to exploit the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid. The research on the BOP strategy has evolved over the years. The research has also been subject to criticism from some quarters as a strategy that exploits the poor and is imperialistic by nature. Organisations have achieved success with BOP strategy. However, there are also organizations that have faced failure with this strategy. This case study traces the journey of the evolution of the BOP strategy over the years and documents the lessons that one can learn from failure in its implementation. Understanding the BOP market and educating the poorest consumers through unconventional means is a critical success factor. Profit cannot be the sole driver for successful implementation of BOP strategy as social and environmental obligations have to be met. The trade-off between profitability, scale, and nonprofit obligations is a tightrope for organizations attempting to garner a slice of the BOP market share. Community involvement is a crucial determinant of success as well.

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