Space and Culture, India
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Depletion of forest cover and encroachment in Gonbina Reserved Forest in Goalpara district of Assam
Get PDFForests constitute the largest ecosystem and habitat of valuable species of plants and animals on the earth surface. The increasing size of population combined with increasing diversity of human activities is continuously degrading the forest areas of the earth’s surface causing great threat to it in respect of shrinkage of coverage, loss of biodiversity and disturbance in the ecological balance. The intense depletion of forest cover in various parts has also brought about large-scale environmental changes including disappearance of many valuable floral and faunal species. In the said context, the district of Goalpara, located in the western part of Assam, was dominantly covered with dense Sal (Shorea Robusta) forest, widely distributed in both the lowland and hills of the district. However, during last few decades the dense Sal forests of the district have experienced massive depletion because of excessive exploitations and encroachments transforming many patches of forestland treeless and now being used for other purposes. Even the reserved forests are also under acute degradation and encroachment. In this paper, an attempt is made to explore the nature and dimension of forest cover change alongside massive encroachments and associated implications in Gonbina Reserved Forest of Goalpara district, Assam during 1977-2010, with the help of Survey of India toposheet, satellite imagery, field survey and Geographical Information System
India-Pakistan: Contours of Relationship
Get PDFEven after about 70 years of separation, India and Pakistan continue to live in the prison of the past. The rhetoric of partition is still alive in the memory of the people of both the countries. They have constructed fixed, unchanging and competing images for each other. While Pakistan became an Islamic Republic, India adopted secularism, thereby, negating the two-nation theory. The ‘differences’ along with memories of partition has made Indian and Pakistani to remain in permanent hostile situation. The leaders of the two countries try to settle their disputes but fails because of lack of support from their social and political institutions. Since its coming into power in 2014, the NDA government under the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi has managed to engage the Pakistani establishment, despite many problems between the two countries. This article tries to highlight upon the contours of relationships post-2014
Changing Notions of “Ideal” Monkhood: A Case Study from a Satra of Majuli
Get PDFAll religions were initially founded with the aim of purifying men and women and helping them to lead ethical lives through prayers. However, unfortunately religion evolved to be a force reinforcing discrimination diverted from the original motive of religion. The Vaishnavite faith initiated by the 15th century Guru, Mahapurush Srimanta Shankardeva, in the region of Assam was also based on egalitarian and humanitarian values. The ideal monkhood in a Satra is to lead a life devoid of material pleasures and offer oneself to God by taking his name all the time. The various sects that have emerged after the demise of the Guru are the proofs that the main objective of an egalitarian society has collapsed. The social hierarchy is still maintained even if the Satras claim to have removed it. The unique culture of the Satra is its liturgical training, which includes dance, drama, music and poetry. The performing art forms were specifically for the monks to be performed only within the premises of the Satra, which are now staged and have become the sources of income for many monks. The monks are more known as performing artists than religious beings or leaders. The media is a socializing agent in itself, which has changed the concept of monkhood. Ideal monkhood is still a question, and this article is an academic effort to throw light on this question. It would try to bring forth the different ways as to how the ideologies of Neo-Vaishnavism has changed with time and how the monks have adjusted to the transformation. The findings are based on both primary and secondary data using ethnographic approach
Reading Syed Abdul Malik’s Dhanya Nara Tanu Bhaland Rudrani Sarma’s Lauhitya Tirar Amrit Gathain the light of Assamese Vaishnavite Hagiography
Get PDFAs part of the pan-Indian Bhakti movement, the Neo-Vaishnavite movement sought to reform the decadent modes of worship practiced in medieval Assam and, in the process, moved beyond the religious confines of the sectarian domain to influence the socio-cultural life of the milieu to which it addressed itself. An important document which enables a reading pertaining to the stated framework is the hagiography. In a hagiographic tradition, the biographical account of the saint is continually juxtaposed with the socio-cultural ethos of the contemporary spatio-temporal frameworks
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015: A Review
Get PDFThe aim of this article is to look into the provisions of the newly amended Juvenile Justice Act. The central question which this article looks at whether the article is comprehensive enough to eliminate the possibilities of crime by juveniles as it is based on principle of reformation and rehabilitation of children who are otherwise presumed to be innocent not to commit a crime. It also tries to see if the intention of juveniles involved in crimes can be differentiated from their social surroundings that can help to punish the perpetuators in the former while thinking of remedial measures in the latter
Economy and Social Development of Rural Sikkim
Get PDFThe tiny Himalayan state of Sikkim is well known for its multi-cultural and multi-ethnic identity. There is a political and historical debate regarding the identity of communities in Sikkim. Lepchas are considered as original inhabitants of Sikkim. Currently, Lepcha, Bhutia and Limbu are recognised as minor communities and have Schedule Tribes (ST) status in the state. Individual community concentration is mainly found in North and West Sikkim. Lepcha-Bhutias are found mainly in North Sikkim whereas Limbus are concentrated in West Sikkim. Community concentration is profound in rural areas. Gyalshing sub-division of West Sikkim has been selected for the present study. Purpose of this study is to investigate the Gram Panchayat Unit (GPU) level economy and social development of the rural areas based mainly on secondary sources of information. A field survey was also conducted to interact with the local people. Findings suggest that education and population density are the key determinants for GPU level disparity in social development of the study area. It has been found that the economy is primarily agriculture based and fully organised by organic farming system. Recently, homestay (eco)tourism business has been started here like other parts of Sikkim
Literacy Rates and its Impact on Birth Rates in Nadia District, West Bengal, India
Get PDFEquality in socio-economic component is essential for human development and social change. Educational inequality reduces economic growth and women\u27s empowerment on the one hand and increases birth rate on the other. In population studies, it has been established that educational level is collinearly related with demographic behaviour. This study aims to investigate inequalities in literacy rates and its impact on birth rates in Nowpara-I Gram Panchayat (GP) located in the Krishnagar II C.D. Block, Nadia District of West Bengal using a household survey conducted in 356 households among women aged 49 and above in triangulation with secondary data. The aim of this study is to explore the causes of the spatial inequalities in education and its effect on spatial variations in birth rates. The key finding suggest that in Nowpara-I, negative relationships exist between female education and birth rate because education has a positive impact on empowerment, late marriage, use of contraceptives and family size
Unprecedented Move
Get PDFIn this issue, Dr. Venkat Pulla, Coordinator, Social Work Discipline & Senior Lecturer, Australian Catholic University, Australia (Brisbane Campus), writes the editorial on denominations by Modi Government to deal the pervasive corruption in India
Urbanisation and Growth of Slum Population in Jharkhand: A Spatial Analysis
Get PDFThe objective of this paper is to examine the relation between the pace of urbanisation and growth of slum population in Jharkhand. This paper also attempts to analyse the trends and patterns of growth of slum population at the district level in Jharkhand. In terms of urbanisation process of India, slums have become an integral part of urban scenario. In India, rapid growth of slums is the result of rural-urban migration of the rural poor to the cities/towns in search of employment in the last two decades. In the absence of any affordable housing, there has been growth of slums in the urban areas of the country. In India, out of a total population of 1.21 billion, 31.30% population resides in the urban areas, but 21.68% (61.8 million) of the total urban population live in the slums. Slums are considered as a major problem within the urban areas, particularly in relation to the issues of transportation, population growth, health and safety. The developing states or regions of India are more prone to this problem due to the lack of infrastructural development and heavy urban population pressure. Like other states of India, Jharkhand too is facing the problem of slums. After its separation from Bihar in 2000, the rate of urbanisation and the rate of growth of slums had gone high. The study reveals that in 2001, there were only 11 urban centers consisting of slum population but in 2011, it reached to 31. The slum population registers 23.68% growth while the urban population growth stands at 32%. This paper is primarily based on secondary data collected from different governmental agencies, particularly the Census data of population to analyse the spatial distribution of slum population in the districts of Jharkhand. This study explores the changing urbanisation scenario in Jharkhand and the growth of slums with respect to it