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Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in International Law: Making International Institutions Work
No full textThis book addresses sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against women from an international law point of view. It identifies the reasons behind SGBV against women with a specific focus on cultural practices that try to justify it and highlights the legal challenges related to the topic for both national and international justice systems. The seven chapters of the book are: i) Introduction ii) SGBV a global concern; iii) International legal protection; iv) Role of international institutions; v) Role of cultural factors and vi) Challenges vii) Conclusions. In the light of concerted global efforts to bring to an end, or at least severely contain SGBV against women, the book provides a future roadmap to the United Nations system, States, international institutions, multidisciplinary scholars, civil society organizations and other global actors.
The book contains a Foreword by Peter Maurer, President of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Sexual Harassment and its Vicissitudes: Jadavpur University, 2014-17
No full textThe paper chronicles three fallouts of sexual harassment cases in Jadavpur University (JU) in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, using media reports, activists’ responses to those events, and their reflections. It highlights the differential trajectories that political praxis around sexual harassment and social media takes on the ground. By chronicling three different cases of sexual harassment from Hokkolorob (2014–15) to two other cases till 2017, the paper brings to light the enmeshed nature of on-ground institutions that deal with sexual harassment and social media and the disposition of actors towards them
Estimating NOX, VOC, and CO variability over India’s 1st smart city: Bhubaneswar
No full textVolatile organic compounds including benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene (BTEX) in the atmosphere have severe health and environmental implications. These variables are trace elements in the atmosphere. There are not enough measurement and analysis studies related to atmospheric BTEX variation globally, and studies are even less in developing countries like India. The present study analyses BTEX variations over an eastern Indian site, Bhubaneswar. The continuous measurement of BTEX is first of its kind over Bhubaneswar. The study analyses 2 years of BTEX data (2017–2018), and attempts to find the relation with meteorological parameters, the significance of the ratio between components, along with the analysis of transported air masses. To account for the pattern of emissions in association with BTEX variability over Bhubaneswar, we have also developed emission details from the transportation sector for the year 2018 and analyzed the emission patterns of CO and NOx for the year 2018. The results indicated that BTEX concentrations are maintained at the site via transportation from other regions, with significant local generation of BTEX, which is smaller in comparison to the transported emission
Conceptualizing Integrated Life-Cycle Management for Sustainable and Optimal Utilization of Used Cooking Oil (UCO)
Get PDFUsed Cooking Oil (UCO) is generally viewed as waste
discarded from household kitchens in rather small
quantities. Contrary to this popular belief, UCO is
generated in large volumes from high-end food-based
operators (FBOs), amongst which fine-dining hotels and
quick-service restaurants are the major contributors. As per
the industry insights as well as several government reports,
there exists a strong market for UCO in India as it is used in
many industrial applications (biodiesel production and soap
manufacture), apart from being recycled back into the food
chain. In the face of climate change, emission reduction
from the Indian freight transport sector remains a priority.
Biodiesel has emerged as an effective alternate solution in
reducing the emissions attributable to conventional internal
combustion engine-based freight vehicles. Since the firstgeneration
feedstock for biodiesel faces a debate revolving
around ‘food vs fuel’ discussions, the second-generation
feedstocks, such as UCO become even more relevant.
Further, the biodiesel produced from UCO has been proven
to be less polluting than petro-based diesel. It has a lesser
environmental footprint as compared to the biodiesel
produced from first-generation feedstock (e.g., biodiesel
from palm stearin, for which native plant species are
destroyed because of large-scale palm tree cultivation).
However, the used cooking oil volumes emanating from
various distribution facilities are largely inaccessible by the
biodiesel manufacturers, primarily due to a lack of
organized supply chain management in India. Since UCO is
the end-of-life byproduct of edible oil as well as a raw
material for biodiesel, the present study explores a possible
conceptual template for a sustainable and integrated life
cycle of oil in India, pivoted around the supply chain management of UCO. Industry insights have been used in
this study to affirm the conceptual structure of the envisaged
integration template
The Maverick Maharaja - The Life and Times of Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar
No full textCan someone find the divine in a Carnatic Kriti and a Western Symphony at once? Can one revere ancient knowledge while being fully aware of its limitations? Can a mind steeped in Advaita Vedanta seek Spinozist counterpoints? Can one’s spirit be contemporary and classical at the same time?
His Highness the Maharaja of Mysore Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar’s life beautifully negotiated such paradoxes and impossibilities. Philosophy, wildlife conservation, philately, photography, music, statesmanship–all converged in his consciousness like perfectly fitting pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. Life spoke to him in beautiful metaphors, understood by few. It is not very often that the man emerges from the shadows of his crown. That is precisely why his story has to be told
Migrants’ livelihoods during the pandemic: Challenges and opportunities
No full textInformal migrant workers in metropolitan cities of India have faced multiple forms of vulnerabilities in the last two years of the pandemic. Linkages across schemes for such workers are absolutely critical to creating a social security net that protects them from falling into similar cycles of poverty and destitution during macro and micro economic distresses.
This is a report and observation on the socio-economic condition of the migrant labourers against the background of the government’s labour-related policy in the post-pandemic period
Advancing Archaeological and Geomorphological understanding of the Indian Coast using Old Cartographic and Visual Records
Get PDFIndian coast has been charted and mapped extensively by various European colonisers such as Portuguese, Dutch, British, and French, since the 16th century, for the purpose of navigation, guiding safe landing, and also for political and military interests. These maps and charts often depict geomorphic features such as shoals, lagoons, and coastlines, along with historical sites as landmarks. However, the geomorphic and archaeological content in these early cartographic documents is mostly unexplored and/or undervalued. The present study has explored and critically evaluated these early maps with the following objectives – 1) to provide a methodology to integrate information from the historical sea- charts, maps, paintings and satellite images using GIS to derive meaningful geomorphic and archaeological information; 2) to explore the usability of historical maps in the investigation of the lost or unidentified archaeological features with respect to the dynamic shoreline; and 3) to advance the understanding of the long-term (few centuries) coastal geomorphology. The study has made original contributions by highlighting the richness and potential of these early maps in advancing the archaeological and geomorphic understanding; this has been achieved by developing and demonstrating a coherent methodology through integrating knowledge, concepts, and methods from different associated disciplines (i.e., remote sensing, GIS, cartography, archaeology, and geomorphology). Generally, geospatial analysis of coastline changes is limited to the period of availability of satellite images (last ~50 years). However, the present study demonstrates the ability and method to use historical maps and extend the spacio-temporal analysis of coastal areas to the last few centuries. The thesis has systematically used geomorphic information from early maps to identify archaeological sites and the location of archaeological sites as a reference to understand long-term (past few centuries) coastal geomorphic processes. More specifically, the present work led to finding hitherto unexplored archaeological remains of colonial forts on coasts of Goa, Karnataka, and Kerala. The study also helped in understanding and dating the long-term dynamics of spits of central Kerala, the evolution of the Thamirabarani delta, and the formation of the Thoothukudi tombolo. The interdisciplinary approach used in this research has fetched multifaceted outcomes and pointed at directions for future research
Implications of Local Conflicts on Bilateral Relations: Cases of the Land Boundary and Enclave Conflicts on India-Bangladesh Relationship
Get PDFThe thesis argues that for long, inquiries on borders and borderland issues/conflicts have prioritised statist perspectives, whereby their representation comes to be articulated through the lens of its interests. In such discernments, inquiries into the ‘local’ interests, local productions of the space, and progressions of adaptation and resilience have been relegated to the footnotes of analysis. The problematique of the local’s non-appearance emerges within the processes of identifying, categorising and mediating in conflicts; which at the borders have predominantly remained contained by the rubrics of state power and national interests. The thesis engages with the resultant gaps which emerge between the indicated and observable outcomes of these processes in local sites of conflict, by problematising their corroborating pragmatisms and theoretical rationalisations. Moreover, by deconstructing the essentialisms of state credo which accentuate the practicalisation of its power, the research identifies the position of the local, as an integral component of a conflict setting, despite its nonappearance in analyses and dominant, discursive productions. Taking the Land Boundary Agreement (2015) as the case of review, the research explores the implications that this national-interest based bilateral action had at the local levels of its implementation. It departs from a conventional impact analysis of resolution processes, by shifting the focus of its inquiry to understanding the local and its multiple variations, evinced through negotiations between constituent actors and the state in navigating systemic and structural shifts brought about by the latter’s intercessions. Thereby repositioning the assessment of effectiveness of resolution policies upon the observable impacts these mediations render at the local levels, rather than in terms of their actualisation of abstract, national interests. By integrating the perspective of the ‘local’ in assessing the localised impacts of bilateral conflict resolution, the research brings forth certain reconfigurations in the conceptualisation of bilateralism and within larger theoretical models of comprehending state power and national interests. The focused inquiry into the local brings forth critical details which allows for the extension of understanding state power and its interactions with local socio-spatial configurations beyond their ideologised and normative renderings in predominant exemplifications.
The research therefore reconfigures the position of the local in International Relations as a static spatial disaggregation. In accounting for the adaptations evinced at different points in its direct interactions with the state and its power, or indirectly with the categorisations of identity and spatiality it imposes, the thesis situates the local as a polyvalent and dynamic socio-spatial configuration. The concomitant theoretical reconfigurations it posits, attempts to secure the local as a relevant point of inquiry and analysis in studying state power and the impacts of its interactions with other comparable units in the regional and world systems. This recognition necessitates changes in the perceptions of objectivity and normativity underlying statist categorisations of conflict and enumerations of identity and spatiality in such settings. Such a step works against binarised depictions of the local and its associated processes as existing in opposition or in diffidence to the state and the prescriptions of its power. The spatial variegations underlying the impacts of the national on specific locales or of processes of bilateral mediation on local conflicts establishes a representative relationality between the state and the local; whereby their dynamics are not textured by prevalent paradigmatic essentialisms, but upon representative assessments of local realities. The study’s engagement with the local, highlights key discernments into borderland realities, as well as that of conflict settings to understanding the different ways in which the state’s power competes with, and accommodates, more localised processes operational at these territorially disaggregated and ‘notionally peripheral’ sites. These processes comprise both cooperative and conflictual frameworks of engagement between state and non-state actors, representing a more realistic struggle between change and constancy, which constitutes an integral component of any conflict setting. By incorporating these alternative perspectives within larger theoretical paradigms of state power, the thesis interpolates the ‘local’ as a key referent in comprehending the ‘national’ and thereby shifting the foundations of the latter’s invariable categorisation in International Relations discourse to incorporate considerations of inclusivity and reflexivity
Underwater Domain Awareness: Case for India
No full textThis book presents a comprehensive analysis of the emerging underwater challenges facing India in the Indian Ocean region. With major economic powers like China, the United States, and Russia modernising their submarine fleets and building advanced unmanned underwater vessels to enhance surveillance capabilities, the competition in the Indo-Pacific underwater domain has intensified.
The book
· Focuses on the issues of detecting, tracking, and classifying submarines/underwater drones in the Indian Ocean.
· Examines the Indian Navy’s present anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities in combating underwater threats and discusses the scope for inter-agency, inter-departmental cooperation framework to monitor the undersea activity in the region.
· Studies the naval composition and strengths of India and other countries in the neighbourhood and reviews maritime domain awareness practices employed by leading navies including NATO for submarine detection.
· Assesses the technology development efforts to deal with these challenges and brings out recommendations.
An expert study of undersea surveillance, this book will be indispensable to students and researchers of military and strategic studies, defence studies, critical security, conflict resolution, intelligence studies, and security studies. It will also be of interest to governments, naval establishments, think tanks, and public policy institutes
Underwater Domain Awareness : Case for India
No full textThis book presents a comprehensive analysis of the emerging underwater challenges facing India in the Indian Ocean region. With major economic powers like China, the United States, and Russia modernising their submarine fleets and building advanced unmanned underwater vessels to enhance surveillance capabilities, the competition in the Indo-Pacific underwater domain has intensified.
The book
· Focuses on the issues of detecting, tracking, and classifying submarines/underwater drones in the Indian Ocean.
· Examines the Indian Navy’s present anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities in combating underwater threats and discusses the scope for inter-agency, inter-departmental cooperation framework to monitor the undersea activity in the region.
· Studies the naval composition and strengths of India and other countries in the neighbourhood and reviews maritime domain awareness practices employed by leading navies including NATO for submarine detection.
· Assesses the technology development efforts to deal with these challenges and brings out recommendations.
An expert study of undersea surveillance, this book will be indispensable to students and researchers of military and strategic studies, defence studies, critical security, conflict resolution, intelligence studies, and security studies. It will also be of interest to governments, naval establishments, think tanks, and public policy institutes