Century India Research Articles

Dismembering media diversity: A tryst with two press commissions

How does the governance of the newspaper business in mid-20th century India enrich our understanding of contests over media diversity? This essay examines the anxieties of media diversity in regulatory debates in India during the decades between the two Press Commissions of 1954 and 1982. I argue the contests spawned during these debates being driven as much by normative standpoints on the press as a modern institution as by enumerations of the actual dynamics in the newspaper business. My purpose is twofold: to highlight the anxieties about media diversity expressed by both press commissions and related policy debates in the interim; and to reveal the desires to mitigate the risks to media diversity being undermined by mobilising unqualified notions of media freedom.

A papier-maché human anatomical model used in the Madras Medical Establishment in the 1830s

An untitled 2-page notice by a Madras Civil Servant John Morris sleeved under ‘Scientific Intelligence’ in the inaugural issue of the Madras Journal of Literature & Science (1834) refers to a human anatomical model built by Louis Aujoux, a French physician–anatomist–model maker. Highly likely this model was used at the Madras Medical Establishment to teach basic medicine to trainees of the Subordinate Medical Service. This was brought to Madras by Surgeon George Knox of the Madras Medical Establishment in the early 1830s, before the establishment of the Madras Medical School under the superintendence of William Mortimer. A similar model was acquired by the Calcutta Medical Establishment a little earlier. The present article, keeping the human anatomical model as the central element, refers to the development of interest in designing human models for purposes of teaching medicine in Europe. That interest stimulated using such models in India as well. The present article also refers to the medical interests of the scholar–princes of Tanjavur and Travancore of the nineteenth century India, who maintained models of full human skeletons, not of bones but made of ivory, in their Curiosity Cabinets (Kunstkammern). From the 2-page notice of Morris, we understand that the model that came to Madras from France was a gift to the Government of Madras for teaching purposes. No further details are traceable.

Poverty as the Explicit Theme in Aravind Adiga’s Between the Assassinations

Adiga is an influential voice of 21st century India. He depicts the agony of the subjugated class of India. In Between the Assassinations, Adiga presents a vivid picture of lives of the marginalized. The novel contains the theme of poverty, hunger and exploitation of poor as the main theme. The novel is a scrupulous examination of microcosm of India. It is a simmering fury at the wide gulf between the haves and have not’s. The novel provides a glimpse of the India of Darkness through its twelve stories spinning around the assorted aspects of life in the town Kittur. The novel highlights the social and political turmoil of India during 1984 and 1991 and reflects how poverty, the mother evil, gives rise to other evils in the society. The novel contains a wide array of characters from famished person to the richest person of the town, Kittur. It describes the harsh realities of poor villagers who have to but migrate to cities in order to survive and live on the streets.

Perception towards online/blended learning at the time of Covid-19 pandemic: an academic analytics in the Indian context

PurposeDuring any crisis situation like a pandemic, war or natural disaster, online/blended learning could meet the academic needs of the learners in a bigger way. The use of information and communication technology (ICT)-based technologies has converted the entire teaching pedagogy to a learner centred pedagogy, following which the skills of using technology are to be seen as the most essential qualifications on the part of both the teachers/educators and learners. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to understand the perceptions of the teachers and learners regarding the use of online/blended learning modes in teaching learning transactions. Another purpose of the paper being to find out the prospects and challenges of providing online/blended learning in a country like India, particularly during and in post-Covid-19 situations.Design/methodology/approachThe academic analytics approach was used for the study. A structured questionnaire was designed in Google Forms covering the perceptions of the teachers and learners in different Indian universities and colleges regarding online/blended services and analysis was done using Google Analytics. Further, analysis of the data received had been done by using simple statistical tool like percentage.FindingsBlended learning could be the solution for providing education in the context of the 21st century India. However, unlike in case of the conventional education, open education has widened the scope of learning adhering to the motto – “Bring your own device” to learn. The extensive use of open educational resources, massive open online courses, social media and meeting apps during the Covid-19 lockdown, has opened up the minds of the knowledge-hungry people, further enabling them to receive the necessary educational inputs, training and skills even during the current pandemic situation. This is going to have a big impact in the ways of educational transactions in the days to come.Research limitations/implicationsThe discussions in the paper are limited to a study of representative states of India, and it is a general study only. The sample size was limited to only 120 as the response rate was significantly low compared to the number of addressees to whom the questionnaire was sent.Practical implicationsThis study will help in understanding the present state of online/blended learning in a country like India. The use of online learning was no doubt intensified by the sudden outbreak of the Covid-19 Pandemic. However, the study will also help in preparing a roadmap, at the policy level, regarding the beneficial use of online/blended teaching learning models both by the teachers and learners during any future crisis-like situations in a country like India.Social implicationsThrough this paper, a new social constructivism has been visualised to know the acceptability of online/blended learning opportunities on the part of the teachers and learners across India. If that social constructivism can actually be realised through the benefits of online learning, India might emerge as one of the important leaders of education in the coming days. To that extent, the Covid-19 pandemic can be seen as a blessing in disguise.Originality/valueIt is important to examine the perceptions of both teachers and learners on the use of online learning in their regular curriculum transactions most particularly when the whole world is facing the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has adversely affected millions of learners across the world. The paper is original because it explores the current state of online/blended learning in a developing country like India to provide a practical and realistic vision of a new way of learning in the post-Covid-19 situations.

Pandemics in the past Eight Centuries: A Sociological Appraisal

The present article intends to reflect the appearance of different pandemics in different periods from sociological point of view. Earlier pandemics used to appear without being able to control them; at the historical times without medications, hospitals, motor vehicles, without communications etc. Millions of people died because of spreading unknown diseases such as flu, cholera, black death, plague and the like. Estimates show that the first 15 events killed over 85 million people. Plague in Italy during some years in the 17th century perished many people vs the least of facilities within reach. Similarly, great plague in Spain in mid 17th century took the lives of a large number of people. Great plague of London also in the second half of the 17th century killed more than 100,000 of citizens. Such events not only directly killed older household members, but created bad lives and deprivation for the younger remaining members in such households. Many of such children had to resort to orphanages. Cholera outbreak also appeared in early 19th century in India, Russia and Africa leaving behind a great number of deaths. The flu pandemic at the end of 19th century killed many people. Many countries came to know more on influenza since then. The outbreak of Coronavirus in 2020 is the worst very widespread and global affecting and infecting many people in all corners of the world. Coronavirus pandemic is wide spreading without being prevented. Despite all the existing facilities, it is killing more than the earlier pandemics in terms of time and space. As education and understanding of people are currently higher than before, they highly feel distressed and disordered.

Women’s trafficking in twenty-first century India: A quest for regional variations

ABSTRACT Trafficking of women is a serious global concern today that threatens many women’s lives and security and violates their rights and dignity. This represents a cross-border criminal trade, mainly for the purpose of marketable sexual exploitation. India has rampant and widespread trafficking of women and comprehensive studies are required to assess its dynamics for prevention. This paper attempts a study of the spatio-temporal variations of women’s trafficking in India from 2001 to 2015. It also seeks to identify underlying factors in its regional variations in the study period and highlights possible strategies for combating it. In spite of its persistence, the absolute numbers of trafficked women show a decreasing trend during this period. Historical tradition, socio-economic deprivation and cultural rigidity are major contributing factors in its regional variations. Awareness generation and empowerment of women are considered to play key roles for eradicating it apart from enforcement of legal provisions and active involvement by NGOs.

Enhancing Women Education in 21st Centuryin India: an Intense Women Empowerment and Gender Equality

Enhancing Women Education in 21st Centuryin India: an Intense Women Empowerment and Gender Equality

“Colonize and Cholerize”: an attempt to decipher the ambiguity of the literary representation of the cholera epidemics in Nineteenth Century India

The modus operandi of categorising European and especially British authors as representative of the hegemonic colonial enterprise that subjugated the Indian sub-continent for nearly two hundred years is a common analogy while dealing with the colonial era. The seemingly simplistic logic is problematised, when a British author, closely related to the ruling administrative set-up voices dissent, whereas the colonised intelligentsia fails to register minimal protest in their literary works. The article would try to decipher the anti- orientalist discourse with special reference to the literary representation of cholera epidemics in Fanny Parkes’s Wanderings of a pilgrim in search of the picturesque (1850), during the patriarchal-colonising enterprise in vogue and envisage to compare Lal Behari Day’s Folktales of Bengal (1883), which fails to express the reality of an epidemic-devastated land and displeasure of the commoners towards the ruling class for their inept handling of the epidemics.

The Pantheistic Hermit and the Sacred Forest Perspectives of Vedic Ecology

Chandamama, a monthly magazine published in 13 Indian languages, was tremendously popular in the country in the latter half of the 20th century. It played a very influential role in the life of Indian children of the time. Chandamama predominantly attempted to portray through its stories an Indian society in such a manner that it would inculcate “Indian traditions, values and culture” among children. This article observes how several stories in Chandamama reflected the problem of deforestation and the depletion of wildlife caused by increasing industrialisation and urbanisation in 20th century India. Moreover, the stories in Chandamama also constitute a call for the protection and conservation of wildlife, which is achieved through the representation of a Vedic society with the recurring image of the “holy,” pantheistic hermit residing in the pastoral forest, and also the representation of the creatures of the forest as sacred and as possessing special powers that they use for the welfare of humans who live in harmony with nature.

A Sound Framework for ICT Integration in Indian Teacher Education

This conceptual analysis aimed at preparing a sound framework for healthy integration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Indian teacher education practices. An extensive and integrative literature review was made following the inclusion-exclusion criteria. The models proposed in several previous studies were also gone through and adequately contextualised with the needs and ethos of Indian teacher education programs to build an innovative framework leveraging the optimum potentials of ICTs in educational set up. The findings of the study synthesized with a proposal to build a sound framework for an ideal ICTs integration in Indian teacher education scenario based on seven cardinal principles of good practices with a major shift in emphasis from ‘education for ICT' to ‘ICT for education', effective to accost the educational transformations for 21st century India. The implication was that by adopting such a sound framework the teacher education in the country could exploit the genuine benefits of ICTs thereby augmenting its educational outputs to the fullest.

The Advent of Ambedkar in the Sphere of Indian Women Question

Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar was a feminist at heart. Contrary to popular perception that he championed the cause of Dalits and dalit women, Babasaheb, as Ambedkar is fondly referred to, worked as a socio-political advocate for Dalit as well as upper caste Indian women concomitantly. In his quest to ensure freedom, equality, and individuality of Indian women, he resorted to the legalized mechanism and proposed sweeping constitutional provisions, famous as the Hindu code Bill, placing women at par with men in matters of inheritance and allowing them freedom to marry outside their caste. Contemplating the predicament and marginalized position of Indian women, he posited that caste and gender are intertwined. To maintain the system of caste, endogamy is a necessary condition that has an immense bearing on women. The imposition of endogamy was made compulsory by the Brahminical hierarchy, which was endorsed by Hindu religious scriptures to ensure women’s sustained subjectivity within the same caste groups or varnas. Ironically, the Bill, in Ambedkar’s own words was ‘killed and died unused and unsung’ following which he resigned from then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet in 1951 but the same bill was passed as four different bills between 1955 and 1956 during Nehru’s second term as prime minister (Elancheran, 2018). Unfortunately, Ambedkar’s contribution to the Indian women’s struggle has not been given its due. This paper attempts to explode the myth of the golden age of Indian womanhood and critiques the role of women reformist organizations in nineteenth century India as well as Ambedkar’s yeoman service to Indian women that has largely remained unacknowledged in public discourse.
 
 
 Key Words: Ambedkar, Hindu Code Bill, Manusmriti, Indian Women, Dalit Women, Indian Feminism, Caste, Patriarchy

Trends of neglected Plasmodium species infection in humans over the past century in India

BackgroundEfforts for malaria elimination in India focus solely on the more prevalent human malaria parasites of Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) and Plasmodium vivax (Pv). The three non-Pf/Pv species - Plasmodium malariae (Pm), Plasmodium ovale (Po) and Plasmodium knowlesi (Pk) are seldom studied though they are often present as mixed infections with Pf/Pv and thus may be misdiagnosed. This study provides a comprehensive landscape of Pm, Po, and Pk infections from 1930 to 2020. MethodologyWe systematically searched for published literature on Pm, Po, and Pk in India from PubMed database and collated data from 35 studies. The data, starting from 1930, were mapped decade-wise across India. The prevalence of the three neglected Plasmodium species and their proportional contribution to reported Plasmodium mixed-infection were also calculated and analysed. Principal findingsAmongst the three non-Pf/Pv species, Pm infections have been reported in greater numbers across India and were mostly mono-infections till 1980. From 1983 onwards, reports of Pm mixed infections with Pf/Pv started to emerge. In contrast, reports on occurrence of Po are still rare barring few mixed infection studies. Further, Pk mono- and mixed cases were first reported in 2004 in India and Pk now has been found reported from four Indian states. ConclusionThis is the first account of country-wide assimilation of reported malaria parasite species data that covers Pm, Po, and Pk infection profiles from 1930 to 2020. This study illustrates the need to survey all 5 human malaria parasite species in India and to target them collectively during the malaria elimination phase.

Gender, Religion and Nationalism: Locating Muslim women in Indian Nationalist Discourse in Momtaz Shah Nawaz’s The Heart Divided

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century colonial India, with the dramatic changes in socio-political scenario the nationalist discourse in India was significantly reshaped. And with the rise of a new nationalist discourse in India, the position and representation of women in Indian nationalist discourse was rethought and redefined – first, because of the rise of Goddess-centric nationalist rhetoric and secondly, the nationalist leaders’ promotion of and call for women participation in the freedom movement. Historian, critics and social scientists find women liberation movement, social reform and cultivation of feminist discourse in India intertwined with the rise of nationalism or national movement in the country. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century India witnessed the emergence of nationalist concepts of “New Women”, “Modern Indian Women” or “Mother India”. And the rise of these ideas substantiates both the subjective and objective position of women in Indian nationalist discourse. But so far as the position or representation of Indian Muslim women in Indian nationalist discourse is concerned, it has always been difficult to address the issue. While addressing this problem of the position of Indian Muslim women in Indian nationalist discourse some more points and facts need to be taken into account– first, the rise of Two Nation Theory which demanded a separate country for the Muslims of undivided India; secondly, the emergence of the secularist trend of Indian nationalism; thirdly, the significant rise of Hindu nationalism and fourthly, Muslims’ exceptional adherence to the practice of women seclusion due to their religious sentiment. In her novel The Heart Divided (1957) Momtaz Shah Nawaz, a Muslim woman writer of the undivided India, addresses all these concerns. In the novel she tries to figure out a definite role and position of Indian Muslim women in the nationalist discourse of colonial India during anti-colonial movement. My paper tries to explore the position of Muslim women in Indian nationalist discourse through a critical reading of the said novel. It attempts to find out how Muslim women had both the subjective and objective position in Indian nationalism during the freedom struggle. It also tries to address whether the nationalist terms like “New Women”, “Mother India” or “Modern Indian Women” are applicable for the Indian Muslim women.

Pahalwan Baba Ramdev: Wrestling with yoga and middle-class masculinity in India

AbstractIn the view of many people, Baba Ramdev embodies the practice of modern yoga in twenty-first century India. A tremendously successful entrepreneur, infamous ‘godman’ with political ties, and a highly visible TV personality, he is also a vocal supporter of pahalwani (Indian wrestling) as a way of life and of wrestling in India as a national sport. Beyond sponsorship of tournaments and support for a new professional wrestling league, he promotes a form of modern, nationalistic masculinity that draws on the ‘ideals’ of yoga, competitive athleticism, ‘Hindu’ conceptions of embodied power, and fetishized Vedic asceticism. In complex and often contradictory ways, Baba Ramdev's embodiment of these ideals shapes the bio-morality of wrestlers as they train, compete, and endorse his products. Critically analysed in terms of gender theory, his sponsorship of wrestling belies deep contradictions in religious nationalism, middle-class modernity, and in the gendered morality of both wrestling as a sport and yoga as a form of practice.

Entrepreneurial relationship marketing in 19th century India – The case of railway contractor Joseph Stephens

Our article is based on the diaries of Joseph Stephens, a 19th century Swedish railway contractor in British India. The Stephens’ diaries, discovered in 2008, are the only one of their kind, offering an insight into the life of a railway contractor from that era. The diaries reveal a web of networks and relationships that helped Stephens achieve success as a small-scale railway contractor. We use the theoretical lens of Gummesson’s entrepreneurial relationship marketing to analyse Stephens’ network of social and work relationships and find a connection between his networks and Gummesson’s framework. We contribute to literature by presenting a different perspective on railway contractors from that period and propose that business practices of the past can be studied vis-à-vis contemporary theories of entrepreneurship and marketing.

Ida Belle Scudder and Ketayun Ardeshir Dinshaw: The two iconic women who shaped the face of radiation oncology in India.

The early twentieth century India saw profound paucity in health care delivery and education, and the beliefs of people were ruled mainly by ignorance, superstitions and myths. Diseases like cancer and its treatment were totally unknown during that time in India. Dr Ida Belle Scudder, American woman, came to India to break all norms and sacrificed her entire life to work in a missionary hospital. Gradually she trained herself to treat cancer patients and established a fully equipped radiotherapy centre to treat such patients. Later, the field of radiation oncology was transformed and modernised by another influential woman, Dr Ketayun Ardeshir Dinshaw, who with her leadership attributes left no stone unturned to firmly establish the role of radiation in the management of cancer and bringing its benefits to the people of India.

Registering Resistance: Ambiguity of The Native Narratorial Voice and The Colonial Folklorist in Nineteenth Century India

Registering Resistance: Ambiguity of The Native Narratorial Voice and The Colonial Folklorist in Nineteenth Century India

Indian Art and European Science: Patnakalam and Colonial Botanical Drawings

This paper seeks to explore how scientific documentation fuelled by Enlightenment and indigenous art intermingled to create Patnakalam in nineteenth century India. Patnakalam, a school of painting that flourished in Patna, Bihar in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, came into existence with the complex interactions between an indigenous artistic tradition and a western visual sensibility mediated by the requirements of science. Botanists of the East India Company employed native artists to make illustrations of local plant species in an attempt to scientifically catalogue all of the natural resources of the region. This inevitably contributed to the formation of a style of painting which went on to have an enduring legacy far beyond their taxonomical albums.

Making Trans-Gender Healthcare a Priority in India- Journey towards Social Inclusion

Introduction: Transgender includes trans-men and trans-women, persons with intersex variations, gender-queers, and persons with socio-cultural identities. Any normal parent expects a binary outcome out of the nine months long pregnancy, however, for some, life changes when the expected outcome is different. Objective: The article tends to understand the life of transgender/Hijra in India with respect to specific healthcare needs along with constitutional mechanism to extend them their legal rights. Method: The researcher reviewed available literature to analyse the issues and challenges in accessing healthcare services by the transgender community. Grey literature and qualitative methods like consultation/ interviews with communities and subject experts were also done to supplement the study outcomes. Results: The study shows that after a long movement, transgender were formally given recognition in 21st century in India. Currently, we have a number to begin with. WHO’s ICD-11 included “gender identity disorders” as “gender incongruence” in its new chapter on sexual health. Interactions with key experts and community reveals different specific needs of transgender population. Conclusion: Five points as way forward to improve health care accessibility of transgender in India: Creating an enabling environment before the next Census in India; addressing stigma and other issues that make transgender people vulnerable to health risks; extending equal human and legal rights to transgender; revising the medical curriculum so as to include a chapter on transgender health; and No Me Without Me.

Potential of wastelands for carbon sequestration- A review

One of the most important issues of the 21st century in India is carbon (C) management through carbon sequestration and its long term storage. Enhancing carbon sequestration in degraded agricultural lands has direct environmental, economic, and social benefits for local people. The best practical method for sequestration of excess CO2 from atmosphere is by storing it into a biological system like plant biomass and finally into the soil. According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2000) one of the best reservoirs of carbon is soil. Soil plays a major role in global carbon cycle as it is an important pool of active carbon. Restoration of depleted soils can lead to a new SOC equilibrium over 25 to 50 years through adoption of Recommended Management Practices (RMP) (Lal et al., 1998) [15]. The average rate of carbon sequestration in uplands is 300-500 kg ha-1 (0.01- 0.02%) and in wet lands, 800-1000 kg ha-1 (0.04- 0.05%) (Lal et al., 2007) [20]. Soils with greatest potential for C accumulation are those that are severely C depleted but still retaining the requisites such as nutrients, structure and microbial population for primary production or can be suitably managed to increase the productivity in short term. Several approaches and tools are required to develop reliable estimates of changes in soil C at scales ranging from the individual experimental plot to whole regional and national inventories. Increasing the soil organic carbon pool is a long term process. Practice of combined land use system will serve the purpose. Knowledge of soils related to SOC pool sequestration and their sustainable management on priority basis is a must to increase the SOC levels for enhancing productivity and sustainability.