Groups In South India Research Articles

Hypermarketization: standardized shopping in emerging economies

ABSTRACT A hypermarket is a combined supermarket and department store that carries a large range of products. Since the opening of the first hypermarket in the US in the early 1930s, this concept has spread globally. Nowhere is this trend more visible than in India, now the world’s most populous country with a middle class that will expectedly grow to 800 million in 2030. This paper coins the theory of hypermarketization to explain why and how the hypermarket as a globalized form signifies the full integration of liberalization, retail and middle-class consumer culture in emerging markets. The argument that hypermarketization marks the point when successful economies in the Global South mature and then qualify as emerging markets is based on empirical material from fieldwork on vegetarianism and meat in hypermarkets and among middle-class groups in South India, namely participant observation and interviewing.

Positive coping strategies and HIV-related stigma in south India.

Whether perceived or enacted, HIV-related stigma is widespread in India, and has had a crippling effect on People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA). Research has shown that a positive attitude towards the illness sets a proactive framework for the individual to cope with his or her infection; therefore, healthy coping mechanisms are essential to combat HIV-related stigma. This qualitative study involving in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with PLHA affiliated with HIV support groups in South India explored positive coping strategies employed by PLHA to deal with HIV-related stigma. Interviews and focus group discussions were translated, transcribed, and analyzed for consistent themes. Taboos surrounding modes of transmission, perceiving sex workers as responsible for the spread of HIV, and avoiding associating with PLHA provided the context of HIV-related stigma. Despite these challenges, PLHA used several positive strategies, classified as Clear Knowledge and Understanding of HIV, Social Support and Family Well-Being, Selective Disclosure, Employment Building Confidence, and Participation in Positive Networks. Poor understanding of HIV and fears of being labeled immoral undermined healthy coping behavior, while improved understanding, affiliation with support groups, family support, presence of children, and financial independence enhanced PLHA confidence. Such positive coping behaviours could inform culturally relevant interventions.

Sexual dimorphism of the craniofacial region in a South Indian population

To the best of our knowledge, the sexually dimorphic characteristics of the craniofacial region among the South Indian population are not available in the current literature. We aimed to determine these characteristics using discriminant function analysis. A total of 80 recent skulls (40 male, 40 female) from the Department of Anatomy, Yenepoya Medical College, Yenepoya University, Karnataka, India, were analysed. Ten craniofacial parameters were measured and subjected to univariate and multivariate statistical analyses using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 13.0. Statistical analyses revealed that the differences in the bizygomatic, orbital and biorbital breadths of males and females were significant (p < 0.05). Direct method gave an accuracy of 68.8% for sex determination. In stepwise analysis, bizygomatic breadth and upper facial height were selected, giving a 65.0% accuracy for sex prediction. Craniofacial parameters are sexually dimorphic. The present study established several features of craniofacial morphometry that can be used for sex determination among the South Indian population. The findings of the present study serve as a foundation for future studies that aim to compare craniofacial parameters among various ethnic groups in South India.

Conceptual and Methodological Issues of Poverty and Vulnerability: An Ethnographic Study from the South

There is a great need to understand, analyse and critically apprise conceptual and methodological issues of poverty and vulnerability and its underlying relevance in the today’s fast changing rural/urban spaces of south India. To pursue this academic and epistemological endeavour, we tried to use the existing literature largely and later tried to relate it to our own regional case for argument and discussion. This has given us a scope to look at the issues and parameters involved to see how poverty and its contiguous factors reflect upon the real people’s lives and livelihoods of marginal groups in south India. Poverty should be seen in the form of loss of livelihoods, lack of access to resources, basic needs and non-availability of resources and services to the vulnerable sections of the society. Taking the case of Sugalis, one of the semi-nomadic tribe, of Rayalaseema region of south India it is argued in this paper that poverty and vulnerability coexist and strengthen each other and poverty can be understood by analyzing the real life situations and strategies adopted by the people to manage their lives. Present Paper based on an empirical research by using anthropological tools of research.

Genomic and Linguistic Affinities: A Study of Allelic and Haplotype Diversity at DRD2 Locus Among the Tribes of Gujarat, Western India

Do genetic and linguistic affinities necessarily go hand in hand? An attempt has been made in the present work to explore this dimension of population structure using three evolutionarily important TaqI sites (TaqI A, TaqI B, and TaqI D) on the dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) locus. For the first time, DNA samples from 612 unrelated individuals belonging to 11 Indo-European-speaking tribal population groups of Gujarat, western India, have been analyzed for these three sites. All the three sites are found to be polymorphic with greater interpopulation variation seen at the TaqI B site. The average heterozygosity for the haplotype system has been found to be high in the populations under study. Most of the populations share six of the eight haplotypes pointing toward underlying genetic uniformity, which is further reaffirmed by regression analysis of heterozygosity on genetic distance. The frequency of ancestral haplotype B2D2A1 is found to range between 1.9% and 15.9%. Linkage disequilibrium between TaqI B and TaqI D sites and between TaqI B and TaqI A sites is statistically significant in all but one population. Our findings reveal strong affinities between Indo-European-speaking tribal groups of Gujarat and Dravidian-speaking tribal groups of South India, suggesting that genetic affinities may not necessarily be dependent on linguistic similarities.

P.494 A case-control of epidemiological status of hepatitis B positive cases among Shirazian blood donors in 2005

The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the general population and in various high risk groups in south India was assessed. A total of 258 out of 3589 (7.1%) subjects (both general and risk groups) tested positive for HCV RNA by RT-PCR, while the third generation ELISA detected only 6.1% (221/3589). This suggests that a number of cases go unreported, as screening of blood and blood products is done primarily by ELISA. Among 124 chronic renal failure (CRF) patients with a history of renal transplant or haemodialysis, 37% were found to be positive for HCV RNA by RT-PCR. We also found a significantly higher rate of transmission of HCV among people exposed to tattooing (2.8%) and pilgrims (5.8%) (slashing a cultural practice in one sect of Muslims). In addition, our studies also reveal a high prevalence of HCV infection (44%) among patients with Lichen planus. The most prevalent genotype observed in our population was 1b (43.4%) followed by 3b (30.2%). The other genotype 1a was observed in 16.6% of patients followed by 3a observed in 3.4% of the patients. Our findings suggest that HCV may be the major cause of post-transplant hepatitis in Indian patients with CRF and indicate the necessity for stringent screening procedures for these viral infections.

Strengthening communities through women's self help groups in South India

Strengthening communities through women's self help groups in South India

High prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection and genotype distribution among general population, blood donors and risk groups

The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the general population and in various high risk groups in south India was assessed. A total of 258 out of 3589 (7.1%) subjects (both general and risk groups) tested positive for HCV RNA by RT-PCR, while the third generation ELISA detected only 6.1% (221/3589). This suggests that a number of cases go unreported, as screening of blood and blood products is done primarily by ELISA. Among 124 chronic renal failure (CRF) patients with a history of renal transplant or haemodialysis, 37% were found to be positive for HCV RNA by RT-PCR. We also found a significantly higher rate of transmission of HCV among people exposed to tattooing (2.8%) and pilgrims (5.8%) (slashing a cultural practice in one sect of Muslims). In addition, our studies also reveal a high prevalence of HCV infection (44%) among patients with Lichen planus. The most prevalent genotype observed in our population was 1b (43.4%) followed by 3b (30.2%). The other genotype 1a was observed in 16.6% of patients followed by 3a observed in 3.4% of the patients. Our findings suggest that HCV may be the major cause of post-transplant hepatitis in Indian patients with CRF and indicate the necessity for stringent screening procedures for these viral infections.

Genetic Evidence for the Demic Diffusion of Agriculture to India

Genetic Evidence for the Demic Diffusion of Agriculture to India

Role of rice and cereal products in dietary cadmium and lead intake among different socio-economic groups in south India.

A study was conducted to evaluate the concentration of cadmium and lead in rice and cereal products commonly consumed in South India. Samples from retail outlets were purchased and analysed for cadmium and lead using graphite tube atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results indicated varying concentrations of these metals in different rice and cereal products. The daily dietary intake of cadmium and lead varied among different socio-economic groups, based on occupation, and choice of consumption. The findings suggest that rice is the major source of cadmium and lead among the rural population and economically-deprived class. The source of intake of toxic metals appears to be more diverse in the case of the urban middle class and the economically privileged class of South India.

Food, Nutrition and Morbidity: Some Observations Among Four Tribal Groups of South India

Food, Nutrition and Morbidity: Some Observations Among Four Tribal Groups of South India

Śiva's Warriors. The "Basava Purāṇa" of Pālkuriki Somanātha

Here is the first translation into English of the Basava Purana, a fascinating collection of tales that sums up and characterizes one of the most important and most radical religious groups of South India. The ideas of the Virasaivas, or militant Saivas, are represented in those tales by an intriguing mix of outrageous excess and traditional conservatism. Written in Telugu in the thirteenth century, the Basava Purana is an anthology of legends of Virasaivas saints and a hagiography of Basavesvara, the twelfth-century Virasaiva leader. This translation makes accessible a completely new perspective on this significant religious group. Although Telugu is one of the major cultural traditions of India, with a classical literature reaching back to the eleventh century, until now there has been no translation or exposition of any of the Telugu Virasaiva works in English. The introduction orients the reader to the text and helps in an understanding of the poet's point of view. The author of the Basava Purana, Palkuriki Somanatha, is revered as a saint by Virasaivas in Andhra and Karnataka. His books are regarded as sacred texts, and he is also considered to be a major poet in Telugu and Kannada.

Religious Gifting and Inland Commerce in Seventeenth-Century South India

AbstractsMost accounts of South Indian commerce in the seventeenth century depend on European documents and focus on Indo-European trade along the Malabar and Coromandel coasts. This article makes use of indigenous documents to analyze the way a caste of itinerant salt traders, the Nakarattars, combined worship and commerce in the interior of Tamil-speaking South India. It focuses on Nakarattar activities in the seventeenth century before they had achieved power under their better-known name, Nattukottai Chettiars, and at a time when their commercial expansion was just getting under way and when the close association of this expansion with rituals of religious gifting was already apparent. The two main purposes of the article are to illuminate the ritual dimension of commercial activity in precolonial South India and to enrich current transactional models of the relationship between temples and small groups in South India by incorporating a mercantile perspective.

Further studies on the distribution of some serum protein and enzyme groups in South India.

The distribution of electrophoretic variants of 2 serum proteins and 5 red cell enzyme systems have been examined in 4 population groups from Tamilnadu.

The Structure of the Sinhalese Kindred: A Re‐Examination of the Dravidian Terminology

IN THIS essay I wish to examine the proposition that the main function of the Dravidian kinship categories is to regulate marriage and sexual relations inside bilateral and largely endogamous 'kindreds. The proposition is discussed mainly in the context of Sinhalese kinship, but the argument has bearing upon the kinship systems of other groups in South India and Ceylon, and the comparative evidence is examined in the last section of the essay.1 The Dravidian terminology we are here concerned with has been noted for its connection with a prescriptive, bilateral, cross-cousin marriage rule. In this respect, the terminology is highly systematic, and all the terms imply bilateral cross-cousin marriage, and such marriage is essential if the categories of kinship are to be kept in order (Dumont 1953). While the kinship categories are thus highly systematic, Sinhalese society, in particular, has been referred to as loosely (Ryan 1953:21). I suggest in this essay that the apparently loose kinship structure, while certainly permissive in many important respects, is very highly structured with regard to marriage and sexual relations. In the Sinhalese context, the kindred is not simply an amorphous group, which differs from individual to individual, but has an identity as a kin group and exhibits considerable solidarity in diverse contexts. It is the most important social group as far as the individual Sinhalese is concerned. And thus, the systematic kinship categories organize the vital relations of marriage and sex within these small groups. This argument regarding Dravidian kinship categories is supported by the relevant material from other groups in South India and Ceylon as well. If the kindred type explanation of systematic Dravidian categories, and prescriptive marriage rules, stands up to analysis, our conclusions will have implications for the Australian material. For, as is well known, the Dravidian terminology is almost identical with the Kariera type, and what is true for South India and Ceylon may also apply to some features of the kinship systems of Australia.