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This article discusses Romania's burgeoning development aid policy to the post-colonial space. By leveraging its expertise in petroleum extraction to forge a strategic relationship with India in the 1950s, Bucharest was able to gain a strategic foothold as oil assistance provider to the non-aligned countries. This text details Romania's efforts to help build India's national oil industry by bringing into focus the broad nexus of forces at play in such process. It therefore aims to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of 'the Second World's Third World' by discussing the ideological and geopolitical considerations of both East-East and East-South relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the research, various methods for developing latent fingerprints on various surfaces have been reported. This paper describes a new powdering method for the development of latent fingerprints that is simple and nontoxic and can be used on a variety of substrates. In this study, non-toxic, simple, and easily accessible turmeric powder and Neem powder were used, all of which are commercially available natural powders with a variety of domestic and traditional applications. These powders have been used to decipher latent fingerprints on ten different substrates, including glass, lamination sheet, transparency sheet, metal surface, wooden surface, plain paper, cardboard, plastic, tile, and steel. It has been discovered that it produces very clear results on most surfaces. The powders were used to give the best results on all surfaces except plain paper. The prints are clear with all the ridge characteristics present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is home to a large number of tribal or Adivasi communities. Particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) are one among them. The Indian state initiated several development programs in its affirmative action to benefit PVTGs. However, these initiatives have shown some effects on the ground, still a long way to go. After globalization, a lot of studies claim and argue that the state is slowly withdrawing from its agenda and encouraging multinational companies or corporations (MNCs) to take its role. The MNCs have started their operations by extracting resources without helping Adivasi communities. It led to large-scale protests by the tribal people and civil society organizations. The paper critically discusses development initiatives of the post-independent state to ameliorate the conditions of the PVTGs as part of their affirmative action policies. Furthermore, the paper draws inferences from secondary data sources collected from published and unpublished sources, documents, reports, and online sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participatory forms of policy-making have often been criticized for insufficiently theorizing the coproduction of publics and matters of concern. This paper seeks to investigate this relationship further by analyzing how the concept of civic epistemologies (CEs) can provide insights for understanding how political contexts shape both publics and contestable debates. Presenting fieldwork on cyclone governance in Odisha, India, based on the analysis of interviews with vulnerable fishing communities and state actors, the article shows how CEs influence the interdependent formation of vulnerable fisher and state subjectivities on one hand with representations of risk located in external biophysical atmospheric gases on the other, thereby sustaining reductive roles and futures. At the same time, the paper develops the concept of CEs by examining them as performative acts carried out by marginalized communities and state actors at the subnational level of a nonindustrialized country, thereby indicating sites at which epistemic agency can be increased and governed. Participatory knowledge production needs to understand how it is affected by CEs if it is to generate effective expertise for transformative futures in the face of increasing climatic risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper engages with the world of outdoor election campaign materials (posters, banners and billboards) and their ways of establishing developmental truths during India's general election of 2019. Offering a content analysis as well as their discursive production, the paper seeks to understand how these materials commissioned by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are loaded with development metaphors even while differing from each other in the conception and delivery of development. Contrary to the commonly held belief that posters and banners are the prehistory of election campaigning, it is proposed that they are more democratic and participatory, and so a treasure trove of developmental meaning-making. Going beyond the delivery of messages through the textual and pictorial elements of visual materials, it is also proposed that their presence and abundance signify in ways not easily appreciated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism experts have considered the local perspective as an important area of research involving the tourist sector. Residents of places where sharing and preserving their culture are essential can experience both positive and negative effects from tourism. This study examined how Indian Buddhist circuit residents felt about tourism using a benefits-based approach. The paper's primary goal is to investigate residents' perceptions of tourism development in the Buddhist circuit in India. Data were collected using a five-point Likert scale from 175 Buddhist circuit residents in India, who had 31 statements. The researcher used a convenience sampling approach. The study took place over 24 weeks from January to July 2022. According to the results, people living in Buddhist circuits are more sensitive to tourism's economic effects than its cultural and social aspects. The local community will support tourism growth if it brings about considerable personal benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Development Research is the property of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The design and manufacturing of energy storage system (ESS) are essential for human society development. India has made significant efforts to improve its energy storage infrastructure. The main elements for energy storage development are batteries i.e., lithium-ion batteries (LIB), lithium air batteries, etc. and supercapacitors. As the lithium resources are specifically located in China, Japan, USA, and Chile, to reduce the dependency on these countries for lithium-ion battery, India must think about alternative material. Sodium-ion battery (SIB) is at the forefront of the development, and it aims at providing low-cost devices less affected to resources. This review paper addresses the fundamental principles, structure and focused on the components of sodium-ion battery. This paper also helps to address the electrolytes used in sodium-ion battery with their design and modelling. Current research and future directions has been discussed in this article for sodium-ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on recent empirical research into indigenous Adivasi identities in India to explore Adivasi participation and demands for community rights within local structures of governance in a village context. I examine the multiple articulations of rights by the Adivasis that they consider crucial for community development in the backdrop of protracted violence and conflict. This paper engages with the local context of civil unrest by drawing attention to the Maoist movement, its assumed opposition to rights in official policy discourses and its relevance to the Adivasi lives. In particular, I analyse the ways in which the Adivasis engage with the local power relations with respect to the state, the Maoists and other community groups to make demands for everyday survival and gain access to resources. Linked to this, I attend to the modes of collective (dis)engagement, social and political participation of the Adivasis in governance forums to (re)claim the rights to land, forest, safety and overall community development that were denied to them as a group historically. These rights, I argue, are deemed necessary by the community in ensuring equal citizenship, social inclusion and in realising their specific struggles for human rights within the local context of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper uses illustrations from rural India and Bangladesh to develop a critical analysis of practices and experiences of poverty often overlooked in development policies. It challenges the principle measurement, calculative rationality and static representation in anti-poverty interventions that present poverty as a 'problem' to be resolved. It draws on poststructuralist ideas to express poverty differently and shift from problem-solving to problematisation. Drawing on the concept of 'rhizome' it highlights the connectivity, heterogeneity and multiplicity of poverty. Examples from interviews and photo diaries illustrate manifold poverty as a combination of heterogeneous activities, objects and affects that complicate development ethics and challenge the logic of reason in existing policies. The paper explores improvisation, experimentation, hope and repetition as mechanisms for critically evaluating aquaculture-led development and attending to overlooked objects, uncertain outcomes and untold stories of disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For achieving the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) it is very much called for the meaningful participation of the youth. The young population in India is sizable, diversified, and affected by a wide range of problems. Due to their social status and caste rigidity, youth from Scheduled Castes (SC) are vulnerable. Despite numerous laws and programs, Tamil Nadu's programs for SC youth have a lower-than-average active participation rate. Their transition and social development are negatively impacted by poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, discrimination, and the lack of opportunities. Numerous empirical studies have examined the status of SCs in terms of their involvement in work and education, but none have yet studied their participation in accomplishing the SDGs. This paper examines how SC youth in Tamil Nadu participated in the SDGs. Subsequently, it offers an inclusive strategy to increase SC youth participation in accomplishing the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Road connectivity is among the few factors which trigger the urbanisation and development process in a region. It facilitates trade, transport, social integration, economic development, socio-economic interaction and cultural assimilation. The present paper aims at analyzing the road infrastructure of Assam with special focus on the Central Brahmaputra Valley. The significance of the study area lies in providing smooth accessibility to the East Asian countries, especially in terms of Act East Policy. The study constitutes an investigation of the growth of road length, road density and connectivity in the study area in spatio-temporal context. Here, growth in road infrastructure has been compared with the growth in urban population and towns. Spatial variation in terms of growth can clearly be seen while discussing the growth of road connectivity and urban growth. Morigaon district has experienced the highest growth in terms of both road connectivity and urban population which clearly reveals that a strong positive relationship exists between the growth of road infrastructure and urban growth. The study has the potential of becoming a guideline for the policy makers to implement action plans for increasing the degree of accessibility in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social & Cultural Geography is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines discourses about sexual risk and respectability in the South Indian city of Chennai, through an ethnographic study of young women's participation in practices of public sex. Focusing on middle-class women located at the heart of neoliberal and national fantasies of the 'good life', it makes two arguments. First: the paper unpacks the ways in which urban publics have been stigmatised as 'unsafe' for respectable women. It demonstrates that in practices of publicly-located sex, young women subvert this. They instead see private and commercial spaces – which have been celebrated as the locus of their liberation – as places of surveillance and discipline. Second: the paper interrogates how spatial governmentalities produce regimes of legitimacy that accrue to particular sexual acts. It argues that what 'counts' as sex is also determined geographically: by where the sex act occurs and what geographies of discipline and imaginaries of risk and respectability it evokes in its location. Both arguments draw attention to the ways in which contemporary discourses about the 'risk' of urban publics evoke the logics of development within which the construct of respectable femininity is located. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines rural Indians’ perspectives on education and related aspects of life. This population has its own notions, practices, judgments, and opinions, which are often the results of their historical experiences, traditional living style, and cultural values and practices. With the awakening of development, education has become one of the most crucial factors of quality living. Fortunately, even rural India has started accepting the change and the wave of education and development. Yet there is a long way to go. Keeping the same in mind, this research provides an overview of the mentality, psychology, beliefs, and thoughts of the people related to education and development in rural India. The research develops around the survey conducted in a rural village of North India (Uttar Pradesh), which collected the opinions and views people hold on subjects related to education and development in rural India. The indifference for schooling because of high expenditures, gender bias on the educational front, lack of parental motivation for quality and higher education, irregular attendance at schools, and low aspirations among villages because of poverty dynamics are some of the findings that the paper discusses. Furthermore, the collected data of the survey provides a peek into the lives of rural people, who form almost 65% of the population, with an emphasis on the rural developmental factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the impasse climate‐informed development practices currently find themselves in. This is represented by the fact that while "solutions" to reduce vulnerabilities and enhance capacities for adaptation and resilience are increasingly adopted around the world, we have enough evidence to suggest that strategies adopted "from above" have been unable to engender transformations towards more just and liveable futures. Situating the paper within recent calls for a "post‐adaptation" turn in the field, I propose a generative critique of climate‐informed development through the lens of care as a place from where to begin thinking and practicing development differently. The aim of this critique is not to discard or discredit development practices as necessarily tainted or flawed but to make them accountable to a whole set of concerns and cares going into their stories of success or failures. Throughout the paper, I therefore speculatively ask the reader to think though the possibilities that may be opened when we stop treating climate‐informed development projects as neutral and undisputable "matters of fact," engaging with them instead as necessary and non‐innocent "matters of care." Thinking through a tryptic notion of "matters of care," as at the same time a neglected doing necessary for the sustenance of life, an affective state, and an ethico‐politics, I look at examples from semi‐arid areas of India to give visibility to those practices, relations, and emotions of care that have been marginalised by mainstream development circles. Through this shift in perception, a deeper understanding of vulnerability as a state of shared fragility emerges, one that grounds an ethico‐politics of climate‐informed development to concrete circumstances and becomes the foundation upon which more inclusive practices can be built upon. Situated within a post‐adaptation turn, this paper propose a generative critique of climate‐informed development through the lens of care. The aim of this critique is not to not to discard or discredit development practices as flawed but to make them accountable to whole set of concerns and cares going into their stories of success or failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing evidence of ride-hailing platforms' adverse impact on drivers. Nonetheless, hundreds of thousands of drivers continue to work on these platforms. Why? The key contribution of this paper is to show that workers in technology-mediated labour markets come to be increasingly dependent on the technology-provider in order to connect with the customers. As more and more customers choose to get various tasks done via intermediary platforms, for workers who perform such tasks for a living, this translates into growing dependencies on these infrastructuralized platforms for their livelihoods and thus increased vulnerabilities to the impact of platform design and policies. These 'new dependencies', therefore, make it critical for us not to conflate workers' continued use of platforms with their experiencing benefits. By drawing upon a qualitative study with auto-rickshaw drivers using Ola, a ride-hailing platform similar to Uber in India, the paper shows that a consequence of 'new dependencies' for drivers is that they are stuck 'between a rock and a hard place' whereby: a) on the one hand, the platform design heightens their precarity, provides them with little benefit, and often leads to tensions with customers, b) on the other, a shift of more and more customers from street-hailing to app-based hailing over time exacerbates dependencies for drivers on these very platforms, leaving them with little choice but to continue to use them for work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young caste‐class privileged gender justice workers in Delhi navigate several relations of power—with Euro‐American feminisms, and with less privileged feminisms and recipients of development work within India. Their experiences reveal that decolonial politics in India cannot be conceptualised without consideration of other axes of inequality including caste and religion. There is thus a need to broaden decolonial and intersectional analyses to include multiple spatial scales, from the transnational to the most granular interpretations of the local. By bringing intersectional analyses into greater dialogue with postcolonial feminist theory, this paper demonstrates that patterns of "outsourcing patriarchy" are observable at many scales, and that these patterns at different scales are co‐produced, each in turn shaping the other. Such a framework also explains how young caste‐class privileged gender justice workers outsource patriarchy and reproduce "mainstream" feminisms even as they seek to avoid doing so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper examines the prices of fishery products (an important source of protein for the poor) and drivers of their inter-regional variations in India, where fishery is a critical sector. By explaining regional price differences, we make an attempt to derive policy implications as to how fish price inflation can be controlled. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is primarily based on secondary data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. In the absence of data on inter-regional trade, appropriate indicators are constructed using the gravity model to capture supply side factors that may influence regional price differences. Pooled regressions are carried out for a representative marine and an aquaculture fish variety separately for the period 2011 to 2017. Findings: After controlling for income levels, it is found that marine fish prices can be reduced by improving intra-state transport infrastructure. For reducing the price of aquacultures, it is shown that it is imperative to reduce the distance between producers and consumers. Research limitations/implications: The study is limited by the availability of data on interstate trade and consumption of fish and has only used prices of representative fish varieties instead of average marine and aquaculture fish prices. Originality/value: This paper considers trade and value chain based business theories to explain regional price differences. It analyzes the drivers of relative price differences and suggests measures to control them using a gravity model of trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign Direct Investment plays a very vital role in the development of the nation. Domestic capital is inadequate for the purpose of overall development of the country. Foreign capital is the way by which we can fill the gaps between saving and investment of domestic economy. In present scenario, Indian Economy is one of the most emerging economies of the world today. In the last two decades world has been extensive inflow of FDI into developing countries. Many developing countries are in competition with each other to attract FDI. Since 2014, India has emerged as of the top foreign destination in the world with a significant rise in FDI. Foreign Investment in India started back in 1991 after implementation of New Economic Policy. During 2000s, there is a big rise in Foreign Direct Investment in India. This paper focuses on secondary data based Sectoral Analysis of the inflow of FDI in India during 2000 to 2019. This paper also focuses on FDI policy framework, country-wise, equity wise FDI inflow in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development and benefit accrued from development has always been a subjective issue because it implies the gain of one and the loss of another. With the creation of the State greater importance was assumed by public purpose since it was now the State which acquired property and created something useful for all. Throughout the course of Indian history private rights and collective rights have been pitted against each other and recently this tussle has been highlighted by the proposed Lakshadweep Town and Country Planning Regulation, 2021. The research is aimed towards firstly, to understand the ecosystem of Lakshadweep and the suitability of the regulation; secondly, to look into the implementation mechanism and whether it allows for a participatory process. Since the regulation draws powers of acquisition from the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 which is a general law to acquire land and the Regulation provides for a special scenario, therefore, the modification of public purpose for this special purpose shall become the third component of the paper. Public purpose has always been construed in the economic sense therefore towards the end of the paper the viability of this economic construction shall be examined especially with respect to Lakshadweep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent development in tourism is ecotourism. It is one of the tourism industry's fastest-growing subsectors. Ecotourism refers to any type of tourism that is focused on nature, has a little impact on the environment, includes locals in its planning and execution, and emphasises the importance of educating visitors. Ecotourism is distinct from other types of tourism because it is reliant on the maintenance of natural ecosystems so that they, and the cultural values they represent, can be experienced and appreciated by visitors. Many nations have come to rely on ecotourism as a major source of revenue. Ecotourism's ability to foster both economic growth and environmental protection in poor nations is exciting. This article will highlight the vast potential of Ecotourism in India by examining a few of the country's most popular Eco-tourism destinations. The present study also explores the emergence of ecotourism as an economic reader and the use of ecotourism as a tool for balancing environmental issues and sustainable development. This paper also includes a discussion of the government's efforts to promote ecotourism as a means of addressing modern environmental problems, as well as the results of a few studies of India's most popular ecotourism destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal mining and its unfavourable consequences have generated global attention. It has further stimulated the paradoxical debate of development and desolation in the contemporary scenario. Since the coal resources are profusely available in India and it is comparatively less expensive, the country has been largely relying on it for its essential and non-essential consumption needs. Coal resources indirectly fulfil many of the modern requirements and comforts. Consequently, mining of minerals in general and coal in particular has become the prime focus. It helps to generate revenue, augment industrialisation and promote employment opportunities in India. Despite these progressive features, the opencast coal mining activities impose serious threats to the livelihood of the local communities. Based on critical review of the relevant literature, the article seeks to exhibit the mineral reserves and coal mining activities at global, national and regional context. The paper has incorporated a special focus on Odisha—a resource-rich state located in eastern part of India. Particularly, the two existing major coalfields—Talcher and Ib valley, situated in western part of the state—have been emphasised. The manifold adverse externalities of the coal mining practices on the livelihood pattern among the affected people have been assessed. Furthermore, the paper aims to examine the mining-induced threats on different livelihood capitals which has given rise to multiple risks and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine political accountability to the voter in India by studying re-election patterns in 14 major states categorized as leading and lagging during the period 1952–2015. Design/methodology/approach: This study has computed a state-wise re-election index by taking the ratio of the number of constituencies exhibiting re-election in four consecutive terms during 1952–1999 to the total number of constituencies in the state. The time-invariant re-election index as of the year 1999 is used to estimate the impact of the re-election on per capita state income during 2001–2015. This paper has used the correlated random effects estimation procedure that considers the state-specific unobserved factors while using a time-invariant regressor to ascertain the impact of re-election. Findings: This study finds that persistent re-election does not seem to lead to better development outcomes. When this study computes the re-election index by excluding constituencies that are underdeveloped both in the economic and social spheres, this paper finds the asymmetric impact of re-election for the leading and the lagging states. The findings suggest that historical institutions in the laggings states could be driving the empirical results. The empirical findings are corroborated by the relatively poor availability of basic amenities in constituencies exhibiting persistent re-election when compared to the state average. Practical implications: The findings suggest that the provision of re-election without term limits may need to be revisited in the lagging states for better political accountability. Originality/value: First, the authors study the pattern of constituency-wise re-election to compute state-wise re-election index to capture persistent re-election. Second, the authors assess the development status of a constituency by mapping it to the development indicators of the district in which the constituency is located. This paper considers both economic as well social indicators of development. Third, the time-invariant nature of the re-election index helps to address reverse causality while studying the impact of re-election on development. Fourth, the authors use a novel econometric methodology to study the impact of the re-election on development given the time-invariant characteristic of the re-election index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to major learning about the social and economic losses that an external shock to the system can cause. In this paper, we examine some sustainability issues focusing on three key focal points of sustainable development – economic growth, poverty and inequality in the context of climate change. We focus on the inter-relationship between economic growth, investment, labour force participation, energy consumption, poverty and inequality under alternative scenarios using the global framing of Shared Socio-Economic Pathways (SSPs). An econometric model is used for estimating the relationship between GDP and its determinants along with fitting a General Quadratic and/or Beta Lorenz curve using the World Bank's Povcal software for determining the relationship between income, poverty and inequality. Alternative GDP growth paths, redistribution assumptions and poverty lines are used for simulations which reveal the extent of sensitivity of the developmental targets to scenarios up to 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In low-income economies agriculture plays an important role in promoting economic growth and reducing poverty. Agricultural growth achieved through diversification toward the higher value crops enhance income and mitigate risk. The present study focuses on one of the eastern Indian states namely "Jharkhand"; where agriculture is the mainstay for the 80% of its rural population. The state per-capita income is below the national average; however, it has registered an impressive growth, especially in the agriculture sector in the last one decade. In this study, the authors attempt to identify the components in sources of agricultural growth; the authors also estimate the determinants of overall agricultural growth. Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on the secondary data from 2000–2001 to 2015–2016. This paper first decomposes the agricultural growth into area, price, yields (technological improvement) and diversification effects through the method of growth accounting approach. Secondly, the study employs the new classical growth model through the ordinary least square (OLS) to examine the determinants of overall agricultural growth. Findings: The author's findings indicate that there has been a shift in cropping patterns from the cultivation of cereals to non-cereals in the state during the study period. Among the major crops, the area under pulses cultivation has increased by 19% from 2000–t2002 to 2014–2016. The increase in area under cultivation and the diversification in favor of higher-value crops have been the major reasons for the accelerating overall agricultural growth in the state along with improvements in technology. The study reveals that increased use of fertilizer per hectare, capital formation and road density are the main determinants of high agricultural growth in the state. Research limitations/implications: The study is based on secondary data and based on one state. A primary study to complement this could have been better. The limited data available for some of important variables related to mechanizations are also a limitation of the present study. Originality/value: Several studies have analyzed the diversification and agricultural growth in India. With our best knowledge this kind of study has not been done so far for the state of Jharkhand in eastern India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building upon Lahiri-Dutt's (2015) critique of Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) initiatives, this paper explores four ways of 'knowing' menstruation to draw out the continuities and patterns of knowledge-making and unmaking in regard to the menstruating body. It engages with paradigms of menstruation advanced by colonial doctors, Hindu reformers, early twentieth century Ayurvedic practitioners, and contemporary public health researchers, reading these alongside personal accounts by contemporary slum-dwelling women and girls. Across these very different contexts, the paper shows how the complex epistemic terrains of menstruation in India are particularly attuned not only to the ways knowledge is produced, but also to the ways in which varied forms of knowledge position bodies, cultures, and practices as different—and often deficient—in relation to a shifting set of codes signifying civilization, development, empowerment, or culture. The paper demonstrates the ways in which menstruation is rendered a technical hygiene crisis by the development industry that declares women's knowledge of their own bodies as incomplete and inadequate. Yet, instead of a simplistic teleology of knowledge as development, or experience as a 'pure' source of knowledge, by exploring 'different knowledges' this paper illustrates how both difference and knowledge are produced in multiple ways in different contexts of knowing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years, tribal identity and vicissitudes of tribal development in India have been widely contested among academicians and in the Indian legislature. However, institutional narratives on these issues are laden with prejudice and remain incongruous to indigenous aspirations for recognition, development, and autonomy resulting in continued marginalisation suffered by indigenous or Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities well into the post-colonial era. Experience of marginalisation has influenced emerging identity discourses from within the communities as manifested in claims to indigeneity, 'distinct' cultural identity, and demands for political autonomy over distinct physical territory. These complexities and their dynamics remain largely incomprehensible in the imagination of modern Indian nation-state as well as to Western literature. The narratives documented in this study aim to supplement literature on indigenous Karbi livelihoods collected through a humanistic empirical inquiry involving qualitative approaches to data collection as opposed to logical positivist, determinist or quantitative approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the pattern of urbanization and its impact on the quality and quantity of flow in the Yamuna river basin, India. The Yamuna river basin is a part of Great Ganga–Brahmaputra basin in India. During the last two decades, the basin has undergone urbanization at an unprecedented rate. The number of cities and towns in the basin has significantly increased over the last few decades, leading to an increase in water demand and reduction in water holding capacity in the basin. Urbanization has resulted in adverse impacts on the surface water drainage system that often gets clogged up due to siltation. Although the flow during the monsoon season has increased in the river Yamuna, the water availability during the dry season is still not adequate to meet various competing demands. An adverse impact of urbanization has been on the quality of river flow, which has deteriorated largely due to the disposal of untreated industrial and domestic sewage in the river. Due to urbanization, the flooding events in the basin, both in terms of magnitude and frequency, have exhibited an increasing pattern. Consequently, the vulnerability of thickly populated areas along the river has increased. Several implementable measures for sustainable development and flood risk management of the river Yamuna basin have been suggested in this paper. The results of the study presented herein could be effectively utilized by basin managers and planners to mitigate the adverse impacts of urbanization in river Yamuna basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence is being reconfigured as a set of technologies that can address poverty with precision. The impacts of AI will both exacerbate and ameliorate the conditions of uneven development. Recent debates focus on the disruptive effects of AI, particularly to replication of development trajectories that have had success in reducing poverty. In this paper we further these debates by analysing the backroads of AI. The backroads serve as a metaphor for understanding the ways AI will travel from the sites of incubation to the frontlines of uneven development. We explore dialogues between AI and development in two arenas: the World Bank's Development Impact Evaluation initiative (DIME) and the Government of India's national AI strategy, #AIforAll. We argue that both these arenas serve as hubs from which AI will travel out along the backroads to remote, poor, and fragmented polities. While the World Bank utilises AI as technology to empower experts and mobilise a techno‐political authority, what we refer to as precision AI, India seeks to function as a second‐tier AI hub, making AI cheaper and more accessible domestically and for other developing countries, what we refer to as populist AI. We conclude by discussing the interrelations of precision and populist AI along the backroads, and the potential of backroads research for mapping AI, uneven geographies of development and technology and the impacts of AI's disruptions at different scales. Artificial intelligence is being reconfigured as a set of technologies that can address poverty with precision. We further these debates by analysing the backroads of AI in two arenas: the World Bank's Development Impact Evaluation initiative (DIME) and the Government of India's national AI strategy #AIforAll. While the World Bank utilises AI as technology to empower experts and mobilise a techno‐political authority, what we refer to as precision AI, India seeks to function as a second‐tier AI hub, making AI cheaper and more accessible domestically and for other developing countries, what we refer to as populist AI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The state of being male or female especially when considered with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones is called gender. Education seeks to nourish the good qualities and draw out the best in an individual. Gender inequality in education refers to the inequality in education between females and males. The paper aims to examine the gender inequality in literacy rate, Never Att ended Rate (NAR) and investigate the impact of gender inequality in education on economic development in India. To examine the gender inequality in literacy rate across India, gender gap in literacy rate is examined for the period 1991-2011 using secondary data. To examine the gender inequality in NAR for the different age groups i.e. 7-14, 15-19, 2-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-59, 60+ and ANS (Age not stated), gender gap of NAR for 2011 is examined using secondary data. Using a regression model, the paper investigate the impact of gender inequality in education on economic development in India. For the purpose, secondary data for Human Development Index of 2015 for different states and Union Territories (UTs) and gender parity index of literacy rate for the year 2011 of different states and UTs are used. The study finds that gender inequality in literacy rate where females lag behind males exist in India as a whole and in all its states and UTs. It is also found that male NAR is lower than female NAR in all the age groups in India as a whole and in almost all the States and UTs. The regression result reveals that gender inequality in education has a negative impact on economic development in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the Mapithel dam in Northeastern state of Manipur in India as a site of contestation between the state-led development agenda and the affected tribal people. Based on discursive field experiences, the paper reflects upon the competing values in relation to land use and ownership systems and raises a question – as to whether in the name of development, is the government eroding tribal people’s right over their land and resources? The Mapithel dam issue not only invites serious deliberations beyond dam construction and its social and ecological ramifications but also contemplates on the various dynamics in and through cultural identity, politics, and natural resources. The paper addresses some key aspects of the very political closure approach which emphasizes state’s hegemony through forceful intrusion into the life, livelihood, and ‘lebenswelt’ of tribal people and infringement of their traditional rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we investigate the trend and pattern of nutritional status of women and children in North East India and explore the factors that perhaps explain the same. The analysis is based on secondary data available from various rounds of NFHS survey, Economic survey of India and other supporting secondary literature portrait the dichotomy between growth and development through the lenses of nutritional parameter. Apparently different NER states have flared differently in nutritional parameter and thereby urge to have states specific approach in identifying and targeting factors contribute the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces a symposium of three ethnographic papers on the relational work of policy implementation in the context of international development. Relational work is usually unrecognized in the policy process, creating misunderstandings and barriers as well as promoting improvisation and innovation. Implementers in the cases presented – democracy promotion in Angola, rural livelihoods in India, and birth registration in Tanzania – use interpretive labor and sometimes deceit in order to carry out the creative and interpersonal work of development. Implementers often further local development goals, but ignore and subvert the disciplinary aims of development governance that seek to remake their economic, political, and social habits. These articles identify that it is the social work of forging and managing interpersonal relationships that allows development workers and intended beneficiaries to make policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay critically examines the discourse of participation in development finance directed at the poor in the Global South from national and international development agencies. This discourse, often termed financial inclusion, posits the ability of development actors to reach the poor involving them in important economic decisions affecting their lives, provides access to products that improve their material conditions, and ensures their credit worthiness through highly nuanced information technology and social media tools. The paper presents evidence from two ethnographically inspired studies undertaken by the author in India and Kenya to ascertain the ways in which the participatory discourse in finance is understood among societal participants themselves. The paper presents relevant epistemes for analyzing what 'grassroots' actors understand as their participation in development-oriented financial inclusion projects. The study forwards two major conclusions: (1) 'habits of authority' among various development actors thwart effective participation; (2) technology platforms that allow for successive innovations and interconnections from businesses and other organizations encourage financial inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I use deconstructive theory to analyze the category of "millet" and the endangerment of food grains in India. I argue that "millet" cohered as a sign of difference from the 1960s through India's Green Revolution, which created a national infrastructure for the materialization of colonial and masculinist ideology. In the hills of Uttarakhand and through the food grain regionally known as mandua, we see how India's postcolonial success relied on the ontological-epistemic erasure of women's food/land practices and assaulted the intertwined "rootedness" (place-making faculties) of women and the crops they cultivate. Reading mandua as "millet" under erasure (millet) reveals how mixed crop systems and practices of socio-ecological reciprocity eroded in the face of Green Revolution ideology and functioned as a bulwark against it. I turn finally to the counterhegemonic potential of "millet," as Uttarakhandi seed activists link with decentralized third world networks, which are exchanging seeds and building power across and from marginalized places. This opens a potential space of visibility and belonging for Uttarakhandi women farmers in the national arena at a time when the ecological and alimentary value of "millet" has entered national and global conversations, infusing the sign of difference with new meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though nominally a secular state, under BJP rule, Hinduism in India has seen a greater prominence in politics and society than at any time in the post-independence era. As such, it is worthwhile examining how, in certain core aspects, Hinduism may affect the key variables of economic and social development. This is a neglected area that has largely been ignored by international institutions, especially by UN agencies and the World Bank. This exploratory paper provides some historical context and focuses particularly on the impact of caste on India's body politic and development. It examines the arguments of those that suggest that Hinduism may have positive effects and those that suggest otherwise. It concludes by arguing that negative effects far outweigh any putative benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development in postcolonial India remains a contested terrain where competing approaches are negotiated and operationalized. From the early days of independence, development discourse in India carried elements of Nehruvian impulse of state-led technocratic development as well as people-centric community development primarily influenced by the Gandhian notion of the village economy. The present paper aims at engaging with this Indian development complex, where conventional binaries such as state-led/community-led, national/local, top-down/bottom-up, and so forth are transcended, leading to a framework where the binaries become complementary. It traces the evolution of community development and engages with its mainstreaming in the early decades of independence as well as in the neoliberal phase of developmental governance. Although this renewed trend of involving the community in the development process presents itself to be more people-centric, it is argued that such a tendency could be as homogenizing as the narratives of national and global institutions. The paper recognizes the ambivalence of community development and proposes that the state and community, far from being autonomous spaces, mediate and produce each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The authors study the effect of access to smartphones on the socio-economic well-being in the case of rural base of the pyramid (BoP) women. While smartphone access may have its benefits, the paper suggests augmenting access with a sociotechnical intermediary (STI) that facilitates training and online community building to enhance the well-being outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a survey from three groups of women from rural West Bengal (India) – (1) who do not own smartphones, (2) who have their own smartphones and (3) who receive smartphones and STI support (over two years). The authors evaluate the effect of access to smartphones and STI support on social well-being (including structural social capital and empowerment) and economic well-being (including entrepreneurial intent and subjective economic well-being). Findings: The analysis results suggest a high relationship between smartphone ownership and higher structural social capital, empowerment (in terms of freedom of movement) and entrepreneurial intent. The authors further find these effects to be enhanced amongst women who received smartphones and support from STI. Originality/value: The authors attribute this enhanced well-being amongst women with smartphones and STI support to peer-learning and cultivation of virtual role models facilitated by the STI through creation of intra-community online groups. The results have significant policy implications for socio-economic well-being of rural BoP women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mission statement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) states that the SDGs are "A shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future" (www.sdgs.un.org Retrieved on Aug. 10, 2022). Based on the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals -- Agenda 2030 (which was adopted by 192 member nations), India's rank was 120 in 2016 -- a drop from 117 a year ago (www.businessstandard. com. Retrieved on Aug. 19, 2022). India had an overall SDG score of 60.32/100. This makes India fall behind all nations in South Asia, barring Pakistan -- which at rank 125 is four notches below India. Notably, Maldives (score of 71), Bhutan (score of 70), Sri Lanka (score of 70), Nepal (score of 66), and Bangladesh (score of 64) are all above India (https://dashboards. sdgindex.org/rankings. Retrieved on Aug. 19, 2022). As per the State of India's environment report 2022 (Centre for Science and Environment. https://csestore. cse.org.in/. Retrieved on Aug. 21, 2022), this drop in rank is primarily because of 11 of the 17 sustainable development goals (Yadav, 2022). One of the prime lookouts of the National Institute of Transforming India (NITI Aayog), India's apex economic policy think tank, is the attainment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) for 2030, and measuring and monitoring each of the 28 states' and eight union territories' progress towards the same. No wonder, NITI Aayog painstakingly firmed up the structural edifice of the first SDG India Index and its Baseline Report (https://www. niti.gov.in. Retrieved on Aug. 11, 2022). This paper is an attempt to trace the history of the UN SDGs and an attempt to understand and review India's progress on them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalisation has a negative bearing on the poor, be they the tribal people, Dalit, or women. Globalisation and economic liberalisation after 1990s in India have only accelerated the pace of displacement by taking over the productive resources of the poor in the name of development leading to livelihood crisis. Increasingly, the tribal communities are more adversely affected in terms of loss of culture, self-esteem, dignity, and identity. Tribes in India today are facing a serious crisis of their existence as a community, which was their strength in the context of adversity. Tribe as a community is on its way out. Tribal unity has been bartered for the globalisation and in its place, we now have the tribal as an individual who cannot be distinguished any more from his or her non-tribal counterparts. He or she now becomes defenceless against all odds. He or she no longer can expect his or her community to stand by him or her. This, no doubt, is leading to the death of tribe as a group, as a society and as a conception. In such an event we only can wish 'Long live the tribal' as an individual entity! Isn't it paradoxical! We continue to study tribes as unit entities, which they are not any longer. The traditional knowledge of the tribes is no longer usable for eking out livelihoods and maintaining their ecological belongingness. We now argue that the tribal cannot be denied the fruits of development. We also know how bitter these fruits are to them. My paper deals with the contradictions of globalised and 'liberalised' world on tribe as unit and the tribal as individual entity caught in the cogwheel of mainstreaming. This paper is based on review of available literature on the subject, apart from the published research papers of the author. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the determinants of stated individual support towards environmental action. The analysis is realized by means of an original Partial Least Squares Path model of Environmental Awareness-Social Capital-Action and it is based on survey data provided in the fifth wave of the World Values Survey (2005–2009) regarding 34.612 individuals from 42 different countries. Besides the global estimates obtained on the whole set of countries, the paper proposes a subsample analysis for developed and developing countries, as well as country analyses for four major economies: China, India, Germany and the United States. We find that environmental awareness and trust in not-for-profit organizations are important determinants of individual action in support of environmentally friendly policies. In general, trust in science and technology does not crowd-out individual support towards the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Government of the India is giving emphasis on 'Growth with Social Justice' with the basic objective of planning for the development of India since its independence and made significant strides in developing rural India through Five Year Plan. A Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) was introduced in the budget of 1995-96. The RBI governs this fund through NABARD with corpus from the nationalized banks. The NABARD was setup by the Government of India as a development bank in July 12, 1982 which operates through its head office at Mumbai, 28 regional offices situated in state capitals and 391 district offices at districts levels. The mandate also covers supporting all other allied economic activities in rural areas, promoting sustainable rural development. The various functions of NABARD are supervisory functions, institutional and capacity building, role in training etc. The paper analyses some of the issues that arise in the context of utilization of the fund under watershed for farm irrigation in Agra District of Uttar Pradesh, India [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to analyze the role of human capital (HC), human resource development (HRD) and vocational educational and training (VET) in the emerging Indian economy. How may we define the HC, HRD and VET in India? To what extent and how as HRD investments in India contributed to India’s recent economic development? What were the investments and what were the returns? Who invested and who obtained the returns? Is India really different from other countries? Design/methodology/approach – To achieve that goal, the authors use a model of the HC, HRD and VET national market. Specifically, they divide the analysis in four broad stages: stocks, investments and outcomes; supply, demand, price and quantity; needs; and private and public forces. Findings – The authors conclude that the India’s HC, HRD and VET have been growing and will have to grow even more, for India to become developed. Currently, the urgency is even greater in the HRD and VET side than in the education side. The government goals for 2022 are immense, and the raise in the HRD and VET in India that is aimed will effectively change India’s economy and society. Research limitations/implications – The authors only use secondary data. They believe that a deeper and very detailed study on all the States of India could be made, following this paper. Also, the analysis could be replicated for the other BRICS. Practical implications – India HRD and VET market is described as being one of the major India’s problems of today and promises of tomorrow. Social implications – Today, only around ten million of India’s citizens receive HRD and VET annually. This number is to be multiplied between 20 and 50 times. This change will change India’s economy and society. Originality/value – Also, the authors believe that the paper is original because it analyzes India’s HC, HRD and VET with a new conceptual model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Purpose -- The four Asian tigers, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan (also called Four Dragons) experienced miraculous high growth rates in the pre-1990s period and rapidly transformed their economic status from less developed "basket cases" to developed high-income countries gaining entry to the rich OECD club of countries. These countries even in the post-1990s, barring few years, have continued to grow further and are an inspiring role model for the newly emerging economies. The purpose of this paper is to adduce certain trends in these countries since the 1990s and specifically examine role of human capital and knowledge building, productivity convergence and intra-regional trade in the Asian tigers'. The authors examine these in the context of India. Design/methodology/approach -- The paper in a simple descriptive yet analytical approach explores the relevance of above factors in the Indian context. Findings -- The study observed that India ranks far below the Asian tigers in the knowledge economy index (KEI). The results at the sub-national level showed large disparities across the states in knowledge economy reflecting country's difficulties in catching up with other countries overall. Regarding labour productivity, the results show that India was moving away from the benchmark country until 1990 ( pre-reform period) and started catching up particularly due to physical capital (not necessarily human capital) since 1995 onwards. Originality/value -- The study is unique due to several reasons. First, it contributes to the literature examining contemporaneous Asian tigers and Indian economies performance as not many studies exist in this area. Second, the study also builds a unique first ever KEI at the sub-national level for India and is, therefore, a contribution in this respect. Finally, the study also contributes to the literature on Indian economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Petty corruption is normally understood to be corruption faced by citizens and the private sector on a daily basis to receive basic services such as connections to utilities, passports, admissions to school and dealing with trade-related customs’ formalities. As opposed to grand corruption that involves millions of dollars, petty corruption is largely ignored in corruption-related research. This is probably due to the belief that it does not affect development and the provision of infrastructure the way grand corruption does. The scant attention may also be driven by the view that if grand corruption is reduced this in turn would have a knock-on effect on petty corruption. As to whether this is the case is highly debatable. This paper focuses on petty corruption and argues that it also undermines development. It examines the use of information technology (IT) creatively to reduce opportunities for petty corruption using ‘Bhoomi’, a project devoted to the digitisation of land registration services in the state of Karnataka in India, as an illustration. On the basis of our analysis of a number of surveys of Bhoomi that have been carried out since its inception, this paper concludes that IT has the potential to introduce efficiency and transparency. However, this potential can only be realised when the ‘people’ component of the e-governance equation change their attitudes towards the soliciting, and giving, of bribes and public officials refrain from abusing their office. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Growing integration of economies has transformed the world economy as a global village. Globalization helped to remove all the barriers between the countries, facilitates trade expansion, foreign inflow of capital, labour and technology. In early nineties Indian government has taken major steps for the economic reforms in the form of Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization. The major steps for globalization were the devaluation of Indian currency, allowing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), removal of quantity restriction on import and financial sector reforms. It was observed that the average annual growth rate in 1990-2000 was 6%, which changed the scenario and India became the fastest growing economy in 1990s. Yet India's trade share with world economy was very low due to gradual growth of infrastructure and unequal industrial growth. The on-going process of globalization can change the scenario if it is used with some precautionary measures and implemented properly. For the purpose of analysis some economic variables have been taken which are as GDP, Foreign direct Investment, foreign exchange reserve, export and import of the country. The objective of this paper is to analyse the relationship between globalization and economic growth. Secondary sources of data are used for the purpose of analysis which is collected through government website, published journal and newspaper articles. After the analysis of economic variable it can be seen that globalisation stimulated the economic growth of India, growth rate improved, foreign exchange crunch in 1991 moved towards surplus, FDI inflows increased but there were some economic issues which created hindrances in the path of growth such as declined agriculture share in GDP, high rate of labour mobility, fragile financial market. This paper is divided into four sections. First section is dictated to Introduction, Literature Review, Objectives and Research Methodology. In Second section major steps which are taken for globalization are discussed. Third section is of result and discussion in which impact, strategy and economic issues of globalization on Indian economy are discussed and at last conclusion and suggestion are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beyond questions of transition to and backsliding from democracy, scholars are beginning to debate the contours of democratic deepening. This paper develops an account of 'dignified development' to elaborate understandings of democratic deepening through an interpretive synthesis of the secondary literature on Bihar between 1990 and 2005 when the much-maligned Lalu Prasad Yadav controlled the State's governance. At a time when democracy is under threat not only in India but across the world, reflections on democratic depth offer us lessons on how democracy might be renewed and reinvigorated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) is a regulatory framework adopted since 1994 in India to evaluate the impact and mitigation measures of projects, however, even after 25 years of adoption, EIAs continue to be of inferior quality with respect to biodiversity documentation and assessment of impacts and their mitigation measures. This questions the credibility of the exercise, as deficient EIAs are habitually used as a basis for project clearances in ecologically sensitive and irreplaceable regions. The authors reiterate this point by analysing impact assessment documents for three projects: the doubling of the National Highway-4A, doubling of the railwayline from Castlerock to Kulem, and laying of a 400-kV transmission line through the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park in the state of Goa. Two of these projects were recently granted 'Wildlife Clearance' during a virtual meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) without a thorough assessment of the project impacts. Assessment reports for the road and railway expansion were found to be deficient on multiple fronts regarding biodiversity assessment and projected impacts, whereas no impact assessment report was available in the public domain for the 400-kV transmission line project. This paper highlights the biodiversity significance of this protected area complex in the Western Ghats, and highlights the lacunae in biodiversity documentation and inadequacy of mitigation measures in assessment documents for all three diversion projects. The EIA process needs to improve substantially if India is to protect its natural resources and adhere to environmental protection policies and regulations nationally and globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]