Changing Electoral Behaviour of Tea Tribes People in Assam: A Study of Mariani Legislative Constituency

The electoral behaviour of people is generally influenced by different socio-political and economic factors. It is more common in a diverse society like India where caste and community plays a significant role in many ways shaping the mindset of the electorates during the time elections. In Assam, these factors found to be more determined in many areas among various communities. The Tea Tribes are one of such communities in the state which has been used as vote banks by political parties since the post-independent period. But gradually this traditional conception of vote bank and trend of community voting has declined as many other factors started determining the electoral behaviour of this community.

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL FILMS: AN OVERVIEW

Environmental Films can be used to develop people’s sustainable thinking. There have been many environmental films from 1964 to 2019 focusing on environmental issues. Although these films seem to be the logistics of the environment and the digital world, they are a suitable way to educate mass people about the environment in an informal way. These environmental films are the path to environmental gates. The environmental film is actually a real-world reel experience on environmental issues. Through environmental film, people are learning sustainable environmental thinking and growing their environmental knowledge too. At present, many scientific methods are being considered to save nature, but if these environmental films are included with the course curriculum, they will be beneficial to sustainable development. Environmental issues-oriented Films are helpful for making awareness, consciousness, and decision-making process to cope the contemporary environmental issues. The Reel of environmental films can present real environmental facts on contemporary issues of the environment that are important for academicians to politicians for environmental education. This article highlights the importance of environmental films to make environmental awareness of mass people.

Understanding the relevance of Dhammapada in modern mind: A conceptual study

Lord Buddha was the great preacher of non-violence and humanism. Dhammapada is an essential treatise on Buddhism. It regards as the most concise expression of Buddha's teachings from ancient to the present day. After the passing away of Lord Buddha, Arhants were accumulating to exercise his teaching. They collected some poetic speeches and many pieces of advice of Buddha, which is known as Tripitaka. We find Dhammapada as a part of Khuddaka Nikāya of the Sutta pitaka. Dhammapada is a reflective and poetical thought in Buddhist literature. Today we are facing different kinds of challenges. Especially the new generation becomes intolerant and violent because they are confused and sometimes, they are misguided. They do not have a clear path in their lives. As a result, they become frustrated. This paper attempts to show how the Dhammapada can become a significant and essential text to reduce the aggressive manifestation of intolerance from the early to modern-day. This paper also focuses on some positive teachings of Lord Buddha, such as 'Four Noble Truths, 'Eight-Fold Paths,' 'Pratitya samudpāda,' which offer definite ways to be patient and tolerant some extent.

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.

Historical Study of Travancore -Cochin Social Relations: A Model to the Relationship between Native States during the British Period

Erstwhile Travancore and Cochin together form an integral part of sovereign India and associated themselves in a series of social endeavours. In the process of social formation, both the states underwent far-reaching changes. Travancore and Cochin, the neighbouring states; intermingled their culture and life from very long time. The social changes in Travancore directly or indirectly affected the Cochin states. While considering the relations of each State, there were diverse dimensions. Along with various disputes, they had maintained jovial relations with each other. Socially, economically and culturally they had irrevocable relations between them. Both the States had developed common art forms, performing arts, temple arts and religious festivals .From 1729 to 1949, social relations of Travancore and Cochin easily led to the formation of Travancore –Cochin Integration. The social reform movements of Travancore had great impact not only in Travancore but also in Cochin. Both states were the native states of British, maintained their own entity in their social relations. It is the model to other states. Ancient tradition of culture in the states helped to maintain a balanced and healthy social relation in the long run of its integration and finally formed as a modern State Kerala.

ANALYSIS OF EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT INDEX (EDI): A BLOCK LEVEL ANALOGY IN UTTAR DINAJPUR DISTRICT, WEST BENGAL

Education is a man-making process that nurtures an individual’s fullest development. In this sense, education is referred to as developing the intellect, essential thinking abilities, social and intellectual understanding, and acceptance of one’s self (Basics in Education, NCERT, 2014). The role of education should not cease at imparting learning and skills. It should further aim to empower a future citizen to perform expected roles and challenges with higher-order quality and perfection. Every country develops its system of education to express and promote its unique socio-cultural identity and also meet the challenges of times. According to UNESCO (1996), quality education must be supported by the four pillars of learning: learning to know, learning to do, learning to be, and learning to live together. They are still unable to avail their right to education as a fundamental right due to lack of awareness, economic provision, guidance, government support, etc. The male literacy rate is 65.52 per cent and the female literacy rate is 52.17 per cent in the district (Census of India, 2011). In this present paper, an attempt has been made to identify the education scenario and explain its basic index of the district by Principal Component Analysis Index (PCAI).

India and China at the Crossroads: The Imperatives of Reworking India’s Strategy

Any discussion on India- China relations is incomplete without mentioning that today the center of gravity of the whole world is slowly shifting to Asia. Besides, one-third of the world's population lives in countries, bordering the Indian Ocean. The security environment is uncertain and great power transitions are taking place. India and China both are aspiring powers in Asia, however, with a certain degree of asymmetries in their power and strength. In the eighties, both the economies were of the same size but today the Chinese economy is way ahead and most global supply chains run through it. China is the world's manufacturing superpower and with its technological expertise, its military expansionist ways, and its distinct footprint in India's neighborhood, both land and maritime, all make it a serious force to contend with. Over time, the relations between the two neighbors have been a cause of grave concern. The interests of both India and China intersect. They have expanding geopolitical horizons and earnestly strive for 'strategic space' in the same region. The present essay reflects upon the relations between India and China that have been oscillating from cooperation to competition and from confrontation to conflict. Further, an attempt is made to focus on the challenges that are galore and the potentiality of reworking India's China strategy.

THE SPACES OF MYTH IN KAZUO ISHIGURO’S THE REMAINS OF THE DAY: EXPLORING THE INTERSECTIONS OF MEMORY AND HISTORY

Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day (1989) reconstructs the experiences of an ageing butler, Stevens, trapped within the confined space of the house he has served in for many years. The contours of memory are drawn along the spatial dimensions of the house which serve as a space of contestation between traditional values and emergent cultural beliefs in the post-war period. Physical modifications on the architecture produce continuities and alterations within the subject, who inhabits the space. This paper seeks to explore the dynamics of remembering and forgetting which are determined by the sites of memory and which trace historical changes as well as shifts in identity politics in Ishiguro’s novel. The paper critically assesses the idea of space, its functional dimension and mythic commemoration in relation to a symbolic historical past. It examines the development of subjectivity through the expansion of memory embodied in material form and the complex relationship between history and myth-making, which complicates individual identity. This paper further proposes that these spatio-temporal expressions can be understood as not only confined to the individual but may be extended to the domain of public memory and contextualized in a post-war British cultural politics of grief.

Indian Political Democracy: A Study

Democracy means the prearrangement of governance in which people can enjoy the greatest means of life. It depends on the larger participation of people regardless of caste, gender, creed, men, and women. So far, the constitution of India shaped a democratic state and ensured the right to liberty, equal rights, the notion of justice, and fraternity for all its citizens in society. The political enterprisers who uphold the various ethnoreligious characteristics, mainly the Hindu nationalist beliefs and opinions, have shaped a lot of confusion and bewilderment about the conceptual ideas of secularism. The Liberal democracy still continues as an arrangement of human governance and structure of values that keep on unwavering for millions of people. At the lower stages, the judicial organization took a large-scale initiative in some debatable and controversial occurrences.

Political Participation of Women in Panchayats: A comparative study of Raiganj and Islampur Blocks of Uttar Dinajpur District, West Bengal, India- Issues and Trends

In recent years women empowerment has become a significant issue among academicians, social workers, and policy decision-makers in India. After the successful establishment of the Panchayat system as well as reservations for women in the local bodies, there has been a tremendous change in the number of women representatives in PRIs. But women empowerment is not an easy process rather, that needs a change in the mindset of the patriarchal society, social institutions, and far more determined effort on the part of the women representatives. Sometimes it becomes difficult to serve political duties for the women representatives in this present situation where there is a lack of proper knowledge, lack of education, lots of dependencies, family influence, and so on. In this light, the present study is an attempt to examine the socio-economic conditions and experiences of the elected women representatives of Gram Panchayats of Raiganj and Islampur Blocks and their participation in different sectors of grassroots politics. The whole study is based on empirical data which have been collected through field survey.