Discipline In India Research Articles

The Practice of International Relations Discipline in India: Obstacles and Challenges

The practice of International Relations (IR) in India dates back to the 1950s and the establishment of the Indian School of International Studies (ISIS). Despite an early start, IR in India struggled to establish itself as a discipline due to domestic and institutional issues. Prominent criticisms of Indian IR include a lack of methodological rigour, an absence of theory, and low contributions to high-ranking journals. While engagement with questions of post-colonialism and decolonization is not new to IR, its impact on India continues to be limited. This essay explores the issues and challenges associated with the practice of IR in India by taking a de-parochial and decolonial outlook. I argue that IR in India developed as a received discourse from the West with little to no engagement with India’s past, statist assumptions, and imperial underpinnings of the discipline.

Gulf studies in India: Reimagining the region

This work makes a detailed enquiry into the origin, growth and spread of Gulf studies as an academic discipline in India, which in its customary frame is profoundly grounded in the European and the Northern American experiences of dealing with the region. The question, how did/does the study of the Gulf region in India differ in terms of its focus and motivation has been addressed through a detailed survey of institutions, scholars and literature that broadly represent the Gulf studies in the country. The enquiry begins with pioneering institutions and their decolonial motivations and aspirations in establishing a tradition of area studies completely or partly independent of similar institutions in the West. Gulf studies in India now travels along a new direction in the context of a growing synergy between India and the Gulf states as both the regions share considerable symmetry in the perception of regional and global economic and political issues. The contemporary initiatives suggest an alternative way of understanding the region, its economy, geography, politics, people and cultures. The work makes an overview of the Gulf studies in India covering major institutions which promote Gulf studies, individual scholars engaged in the study of the region and seminal interventions by the people from the academic institutions, think tanks and the press.

The Ethical Thought of the Bengal Renaissance:The Neo-Hindu Conceptions (1880–1910)

A development of ethical thought by Neo-Hindu philosophers in Nineteenth– early Twentieth century Bengal is depicted in the article based on hermeneutic readings of the texts by Bankimchandra Chattopaddhyay, Swami Vivekananda, Aurobindo Ghosh. From the one hand, Neo-Hindu philosophers continue Rammohun Roy’s line of criticism of Indian society’s moral condition, consciousness and conduct. From the other hand, they formed their own ethical conceptions to present Hindu normative ethics. The research demonstrated for the first time the becoming of Modern Indian ethics in the conceptions of Bengal Neo-Hindu thinkers who are the real founders of ethics as philosophical discipline in India. Growing up from indigenous ancient tradition of exegesis of scriptures, Neo-Hindu conceptions of ethics are the new adogmatic interpretation of the native religious ethics in broad context of Modernity. The Bengal Renaissance thinkers had made an intellectual breakthrough in Indian philosophy. The result of intellectual works are following: 1) bringing morality to the fore in dharma to differentiate ethical issue-area as meaningful in thought and practice; 2) definition of universality of Hinduism’ s moral consciousness in the core; 3) normative ethics along with its imperatives and rules had presented as established and fixed in ancient Hindu scriptures; 4) the ethical ideal was found in images of sages and epic heroes as well as in their teachings; 5) ethical norms and ideal are practically oriented for the criticism of society’s morals and future development.

Growth and Development of Digital Humanities as an Independent Academic Discipline in India

This study is conducted to bring into focus the different dimensions of digital humanities as an independent academic discipline, especially in the Indian context. The data and information for the study are gathered through email communication with the pioneers in digital humanities in India, which is further enriched with evidence from institutional websites and already published literature in digital humanities. All the data and information is grouped into events, literature, programmes and courses, departments, centres, organisations and associations, projects, and practises, which also exist in other disciplines, to derive conclusions. The findings show that at this moment in time, especially in the Indian context, it would be unjustified to opine in favour of digital humanities as an independent academic discipline. In the days to come, it may emerge as an independent academic discipline, merge with information science, or remain ahumanities discipline only.

JOURNEY OF WOMEN’S STUDIES IN INDIA (1974-2023)

It is essential to critically reflect on cross cultural studies from feminist perspectives and understand the dimensions of universal standards of gender equality in different cultural contexts and interpretations. In the Indian context, women’s rights movement, women’s studies and gender studies have provided such space for reflections on cross-cultural perspectives. Women’s Studies as a discipline aims to theorise for the oppressed and direct its knowledge construction efforts for a gender transformative agenda. This article aims to provide a survey of the history of this discipline in India, and to critically present its main challenges, while underlining its most evident achievements.

Public Administration Discipline in India: Notes Towards a New Agenda

Public Administration Discipline in India: Notes Towards a New Agenda

Physics and physicists at Banaras Hindu University: circa 1916–1960

Banaras also known as Varanasi and Kashi is one of the greatest centres of education and learning since ancient times. The city has been called as ‘The city of temples’, ‘The religious capital of India’, ‘The cultural capital of India’, ‘The city of light’, and ‘The city of learning’. Philosophers, men of science and educationalists have lived and worked here, making Banaras a leading seat of learning. Long before the advent of the modern age, Banaras enthusiastically embraced the learning of mathematics, astronomy and medicine. In this lineage of a tradition of knowledge of the city, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya established Banaras Hindu University in 1916. Among many departments of knowledge at BHU, modern physics was greatly encouraged and promoted by its founder. Malaviya himself exerted to bring many scientists to BHU to enthuse the cultivation of science. Here we will see the story of the physicists appointed in the early years of BHU, who contributed to the world of physics in their own humble right. They did their own small part in physics that helped develop the discipline in India. The paper attempts to unearth a very important and formative slice of India’s history in modern science, exemplified by Banaras Hindu University as a single campus university with both teaching and research in physics.

Gynaecological Oncology in India: Past, Present and Future.

Gynaecological cancers contribute to a substantial portion of the global cancer burden. Traditionally, these cancers have been treated by generalists, including gynaecologists and surgeons. However, owing to increasing sophistication and challenges in their management, a new sub-speciality of Gynaecologic Oncology, dedicated to these women's comprehensive care, has emerged in recent times. The emergence and evolution of this sub-speciality will facilitate a holistic approach to treating women suffering from gynaecological cancers, including tailored surgical techniques, fertility preservation, precision medicine, hormone modulators, targeted therapy and immunotherapy, which can be achieved within the framework of multidisciplinary management. Hence, we decided to write this synopsis to shed light on the evolution of this discipline in India and offer current and future perspectives.

When useful knowledge is not ‘useful knowledge’: astrology at universities in Banaras (c. 1800–2000)

ABSTRACT The setting up of departments of Vedic Astrology in Indian Universities, promoted by the governing Hindu nationalist party (BJP) in 2001, aroused strong reactions and was amply debated by political and social analysts. However, no scholarly investigation has been hitherto conducted about the historical, social and intellectual context in which astrology was shaped, and is still practiced, as an academic discipline in India. This paper interrogates the processes through which jyotiṣa (the astral discipline) has been transmitted and adapted to the academic institution by focusing on two Banaras universities – the Banaras Hindu University and the Sampurnananda Sanskrit University. In both, jyotiṣa has been taught since colonial times. Based on a combined analysis of historical, textual, and ethnographic sources, this study shows that debates about the legitimacy of astrology dating from colonial times have revolved less around the question of its truth and validity than around different ways of understanding and characterizing ‘useful knowledge’.

Disability studies and the law: In conversation with Professor (Dr) Nilika Mehrotra

The field of disability studies in India is fledgling, yet burgeoning. Professor (Dr) Nilika Mehrotra is an exemplary scholar from this field, who has played a pioneering role in situating the scholarship on persons with disabilities (PWDs) in a distinctly South Asian narrative. She has not only written extensively on the South Asian experience of disability but has brought together important scholarship by several academics in this area in a recent edited work. Her research on the intersectionality between gender and disability, as well as on the contribution of the state’s schemes on enhancing the rights of PWDs, has shaped the post-coloniality of the discipline in India. As an anthropologist, she has sought to place the experiences of the disabled at the heart of her theorisation, critiquing a top-down approach to representing disability. In this interview, she discusses the inherent interdisciplinarity of disability rights studies and the evolution of disability rights movements in India.

Indian Art Education and Contemporary Art Practices

Arts education is a distinct academic discipline in India, with governmental and private institutions offering specialised training in the arts.Religious paradigms such as the Hindu Ashram and Muslim madrasas, Buddhist monastery etc., were used to build ancient Indian educational systemsuntil the British instituted schools following their system of preparatory schools under the Cambridge system to promote service to the British Empire. As a result, Indian perceptions of literacy and education, as well as the culture of learning, have shiftedincluding, in the context of the arts, the concepts of differences between art and craft, the social relationship between master craftsperson and artisan, public art and individual art, religious art and secular art, and so on. Art in India, as in the rest of the world, has undergone numerous changes that have resulted in what we see today, a unique amalgamation of sensibilities from the west as well as from across Asia. In the twenty-first century, a new era in India begun.The country's cultural diversity adds to the multi-dimensional approach, which is a direct approach and a direct contribution of various religious beliefs, languages, and the still prevalent rural culture congregating with the rapidly growing urban culture.The country's diversity, like its art, is an experience in and of itself that is difficult to comprehend.This is the core and crux of the new modern India and its emerging art. The paper will discuss about the contemporary art practices in India with reference to its practising artists.

1464Application of Webinars for popularizing Occupational Health Epidemiology during the Covid-19 Pandemic in India

Abstract Focus of Presentation The process and results of popularizing Occupational Health Epidemiology amongst Occupational Health practitioners in India during the covid-19 Pandemic in India through Webinars Findings The 25 webinars of average duration of 90 minutes, with contents relating to Covid-19 Epidemiology in India, generated immense interest amongst Occupational Health Practitioners with reference to innovative methods of data collection, analysis of data, results dissemination and integration of results in occupational Health practice during pandemic of Covid-19 in India. Conclusions/Implications Occupational Health Epidemiology is a neglected discipline in India. Innovative method of use of webinars amongst Occupational Health practitioners can be used for popularizing the methods, data analysis and results dissemination etc. It is expected that this interest shall be sustained in Post Pandemic period and the discipline of Occupational Health Epidemiology will get its rightful place amongst Occupational Health practitioners in India leading to research initiatives and application of results in the practice of Occupational Health in India.

Pothur Sreenivasulu (1950–2020): a humble virologist who made eminent contributions to virology discipline in India

Pothur Sreenivasulu (1950–2020): a humble virologist who made eminent contributions to virology discipline in India

\u201cPublic health is global\u201d: examining Indian stakeholders\u2019 perspectives on Global Health education

BackgroundGlobal health education has attracted significant attention in recent years from academic institutions in developed countries. In India however, a recent analysis found that delivery of global health education is fragmented and called for academic institutions to work towards closing the developing country/developed country dichotomy. Our study explored the understanding of global health in the Indian setting and opportunities for development of a global health education framework in Indian public health institutions.MethodsThe study involved semi-structured interviews with staff of Indian public health institutes and other key stakeholders in global health in India. The interview questions covered participants’ interpretation of global health and their opinion about global health education in India. Thematic analysis was conducted. A theoretical framework developed by Smith and Shiffman to explain political priority for global health initiatives was adapted to guide our analysis to explore development of global health education in Indian public health institutions.ResultsA total of 17 semi-structured interviews were completed which involved 12 faculty members from five public health institutes and five stakeholders from national and multilateral organisations. Global health was viewed as the application of public health in real-world setting and at a broader, deeper and transnational scale. The understanding of global health was informed by participants’ exposure to work experiences and interaction with overseas faculty. Most common view about the relationship between global health and public health was that public health has become more global and both are interconnected. Integration of global health education into public health curriculum was supported but there were concerns given public health was still a new discipline in India. Most participants felt that global health competencies are complementary to public health competencies and build on core public health skills. Employability, faculty exposure to global health and ‘sensitisation’ of all stakeholders were key barriers to offering global health education programs.ConclusionGlobal health as a concept and educational practice is embryonic in India but there is considerable potential to grow in order to ensure that education meets the needs of future practitioners of global health in the context of sustainable development.

Public administration pedagogy in India

ABSTRACT While the praxis of public administration in India is documented in the literature, its pedagogy, and the formal dissemination of its knowledge, is relatively unexamined. This study determines the status of public administration pedagogy in India through a review of the academic programs in public administration at accredited state, central, and deemed universities. After reviewing a sample of the syllabi of public administration programs, the academic context of the field, and the areas of key emphasis, this paper explores the conceptualization of public administration as an independent academic discipline in India. This study makes a significant contribution to global comparative public administration, and also contributes to developing the nascent literature on public administration pedagogy in present day India and South Asia.

The Present Scenario of Enrolling in LIS Education System in India during 2010-2017

This paper makes an attempt to present a comprehensive review of enrolling within the library and information science (LIS) discipline in India during 2010–20017. The article provides latest information relating to enrolment in universities, institutions and colleges. The objective of this study is to identify the growth and development of LIS education and training in India. The analysis is predicted on the report of ‘All India Survey on Higher Education’. In this study the situation of the future in LIS is analyzed.

A Survey of Medical Professionals in an Apex Tertiary Care Hospital to Assess Awareness, Interest, Practices, and Knowledge in Palliative Care: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

Background:Medical discipline in India focuses on cure rather than comfort care. Palliative care is concerned with improving quality of life and relieving sufferings in patients with advanced incurable terminal diseases. Palliative care in India is still in infancy stage due to lack of knowledge, attitude and skills among health care providers. The reason being lack of training in under graduate as well as postgraduate teaching curriculum and lack of sensitization among policy makers.Aims and Objectives:To assess the awareness, interest, practices and knowledge in palliative care among medical professionals working in a tertiary care hospital.Materials and Methods:All participants were mailed proforma to be filled in a fixed format including details of their qualification, demographic data, their field of work, their training in palliative care and multiple choice questions regarding awareness interest, practices and knowledge of palliative care.Results:Out of 186 respondents, 56% had not received any basic training in palliative care. 81% wanted palliative care education to be included in undergraduate curriculum. Poor program was identified as the most common barrier in learning palliative care. 77% respondents had no idea about home based palliative care services. 50.8% patients dies in hospital in their terminal stage. 88% were interested in learning safe opioid practices. Although 89.8% were aware of the need of palliative care in metastatic cancer but less than 50% were aware of the fact that palliative care is also required in MDR-TB and mental illness.Conclusion:This study reflects data of an apex cancer institute of the country. The result of awareness is not very encouraging despite a dedicated palliative care department. So, we can assume what will be the palliative care status in other parts of India where there is no palliative care at all.Recommendation:We strongly recommends that palliative care teaching should be incorporated in undergraduate curriculum to sensitize the students from the beginning. Budding residents in their learning phase can play an important role by learning and providing palliative care as the first person to come into contact with the patients are residents. There is a strong need of spreading palliative care awareness all over the country.

Fiscal Management in India: A Study of the Impact of FRBM Act

Fiscal deficit, the gap between government's aggregate receipts and aggregate consumption, gives the flag to the union about the aggregate acquiring necessary from all sources. Since these deficits had to be met by borrowings, the internal debt of the government accumulated rapidly from 35 percent of GDP at the end of 1980-81 to 53 percent of GDP at the end of 1990-91. Fiscal profligacy seen to have caused balance of payments crisis in 1991 and a reduction in the fiscal deficit was therefore an urgent priority at the start of the reforms. This paper aims at describing intricacies of fiscal deficit and to assess the impact of FRBMA on fiscal deficit in India from 1991-92 to 2016-17 by statistical techniques. The study observes a significant impact of FRBMA on fiscal deficit discipline in India and offers some valuable suggestions for effective fiscal governance and achieving targets pre-set in FRBMA.

Material Science & Metallurgical Engineering Education in India-Past, Present & Future

Metallurgy as a science discipline has been established from the beginning of stone-age. It is imperative to note as we have progressed we have added facets of material science to it and the field has evolved into a discipline of engineering. From science fiction to reality the inherent inter-disciplinary nature of this branch sets up the need of its education and training. There have been several instances in when the pivot of development has completely changed due to advancement in material science and metallurgy whether it is semiconductor industry or space industry. In this paper, we have reviewed the scope and development of this discipline in India detailing through the course of history to the present status.

Measuring Scientific Value of Indian Journals Beyond Impact Factor:A Case with Physics–Chemistry–Biology Journals

Qualitative scientific journals play a vital role in scholarly communication processes. However, during the last few years, there is a mushroom growth of journals in every discipline in India. There has been no single source of systematic advice on how to measure the scientific value of Indian journals. The present study is an attempt to minimize the gap by developing a mechanism for measuring scientific value of Indian journals. Consulting various international databases and their journal inclusion policy, a viable mechanism has been devised and tested with 100+ Indian journals in the fields of physics, chemistry and biology. The results indicate that although the quantity of yearly additions of new journals in each of the three disciplines is quite impressive, the yearly discontinuation is also alarming. Almost 29% of physics journals, 11% of chemistry journals and 21% of biology journals were stopped within a year. Although irregularity in publication, improper execution of review process, non-disclosure of article processing charges, lower percentage of foreign contributors and low citation rate were identified as some drawbacks with Indian physics, chemistry and biology journals. The percentage of predatory journals in these three disciplines is quite less till date. In order to choose a better platform of scholarly publishing, this study suggests some recommendations for prospective authors.