Study of epidemiological behaviour of malaria and its control in the Purulia district of West Bengal, India (2016–2020)

Purulia is a malaria-prone district in West Bengal, India, with approximately half of the blocks defined as malaria endemic. We analyzed the malaria case in each block of the Purulia district from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2020. As per the API, 20 blocks of Purulia were assigned to four different categories (0–3) and mapped using ArcGIS software. An exponential decay model was fitted to forecast the trend of malaria cases for each block of Purulia (2021–2025). There was a sharp decrease in total malaria cases and API from 2016 to 2020 due to the mass distribution of LLINs. The majority of cases (72.63%) were found in ≥ 15-year age group. Males were more prone to malaria (60.09%). Malaria was highly prevalent among Scheduled Tribes (48.44%). Six blocks were reported in Category 3 (high risk) and none in Category 0 (no risk) in 2016, while no blocks were determined to be in Category 3, and three blocks were in Category 0 in 2020. The exponential decay model prediction is oriented towards gaining malaria-free status in thirteen blocks of Purulia by 2025. This study will incite the government to uphold and strengthen the current efforts to meet the malaria elimination goals.

Imperial legacies and southern penal spaces: A study of hunting nomads in postcolonial India

Southern penal spaces are marked by resemblances and affinities with colonial regimes of control, yet they also reflect quite distinctive postcolonial social and political dynamics found in the global south. Here, legacies of control, forms of exile, status reductions, hierarchical social stratifications and other like forms come together in robust modes of containment suitable for managing ‘marginal’ and ‘suspect’ populations. We draw on ethnographic empirical work with two hunting nomadic groups in India by two of the co-authors who are working with the Kheria Sabar community in Purulia district in West Bengal and Pardhi community in Mumbai. The latter were subject to notification under the notorious Criminal Tribes Act 1871, marking them out as ‘criminal tribes’ until their de-notification shortly after India's independence in 1947, yet the Kheria Sabars too feel its effects. We draw attention here to the continual negotiation and (re)fabrication of both state and citizen at the point of their everyday contact. Our notion of southern penal spaces contributes to penal theory by breaking from northern societies’ focus on institutional carcerality and capturing instead both the variety and the dispersal of penal and punitive practices found in postcolonial societies of the south.

ANALYSIS OF ATTITUDE TOWARDS YOGA AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS USING CLUSTERING TECHNIQUES

Yoga is an ancient practice involving physical, mental and spiritual practices. Yoga was first mentioned in the Rigveda. Yoga is seen to bring positive and holistic changes in human lives. Yoga strengthens body and relaxed the mind and hence is appreciated for its multifarious benefits. The benefits of Yoga, can be best proven on the students, looking after its memory and concentration increasing ability, developing good physic and calm mind. Present work deals with the attitude towards yoga practice of undergraduate college students of Purulia district of West Bengal, India. Response from 570 UG students is taken by a scale of attitude towards yoga. Four independent variables like Gender, Location of College, Residence of Students and Streams; and one dependent variable score of the questionnaire (attitude towards yoga practice) are considered for this study. Data Clustering is the task of grouping a set of objects in such a way that objects in the same group are more similar to each other than to those in other groups. Two-Step cluster analysis is done and five clusters are formed to take up the present study. KEYWORDS: Two-Step cluster Analysis, Undergraduate Students, Yoga, Attitude

TRIBAL PERCEPTION IN MODERN WORLD BY TRANSFORMED SOCIAL PERCEPTION INDEX: A CASE STUDY OF PURULIA DISTRICT, WEST BENGAL, INDIA

Tribal identity has always been under tremendous challenges since the introduction of the different facets of materialistic development. The outrage of this development affects the habits and habitats of the tribal communities. The tribes have lost their soil and presently live in a multi-ethnic society. This cultural assimilation with controls of Hinduism in the rural society brings forth the transition in the life and living of these indigenous people. The paper highlights first the socio-ecological characteristics of three tribal communities of Purulia district, namely, Santhal, Kharia Sabar, and Birhor. It further investigates possible transition and transformation in the social perception among the selected tribal communities by introducing the Transformed Social Perception Index (TSPI). For statistical validation, the index has been computed based on extensive field observation and a purposive sample survey of 600 tribal households of the Purulia district. The result exhibits that despite the processes of different agents of transformation, the tribal communities restore their age-old inherent social perception. The paper in fine prescribes some measures for holistic tribal development in the district.

Rock carving on Ayodhya Hill: an avenue for geoheritage, geoconservation and environmental sensitization

The present paper aims to throw light on the environmental sensitivity illustrated through art on a hill signifying interface of nature and culture .Ayodhya Hill in Purulia district, displays an aspect of aesthetic attachment of humans with nature in the form of in-situ rock cut sculpture ‘Pakhi Pahar’which has transformed the bare hill into a piece of art. For the past three decades the hill has been sculpted by a group of local artists, creating around 65 birds.Even the boulders lying on the foot of the hill are sculpted, to save these fragile components of nature from stone quarrying and crushing machines which are demolishing and fragmenting the rocks and hills of the chotanagpur terrain to gather stone chips for commercial use. It may also be argued by a few ,that the natural environment of Matha range of Ayodhya Hill is infringed upon for the sake of art. The present researcher seeks to explain through empirical observation, narrative analysis and perception study of local people whether Pakhi Pahar is an “Aesthetic Regard” or “Aesthetic Affront” for nature . This paper also tries to bring in to focus the future potential of this cultural landscape in developing as a tourism site and giving employment to the local youth.