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Pakhangba is considered to be one of the foremost deities in Meitei pantheon. This deity, especially in his lairen (serpentine dragon) form, is integral to the cultural sensibilities and rituals of the Meiteis in Manipur. Taking the centrality of Pakhangba in Meitei politico-cultural space into perspective, this paper presents a reading of (Lai)ren Pakhangba lore beyond the cosmological and cultural underpinnings. Simultaneously, it examines if the lore of lairen -- ensconced in the collective ethos of the people -- and the symbolic presence of this deity in both spiritual and secular space be explained as an expression of the 'collective unconscious'. This paper establishes Pakhangba and his lore as a psychocultural connective that binds and evokes the indigeneity and identity of the people. At the same time, it foregrounds the centrality of nurturing and promoting such psychocultural connective in -- beyond evoking a shared ancestry and pasts -- imagining a more viable and tangible polity that veers away from a single-ethnicity based or territory-oriented politics and polity that undermine the centuries-old politico-cultural history of Manipur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling party of an emergent Indian nation-state, has, from its genesis ventriloquized and brandished its exacerbating agenda of Hindu Fundamentalism in a flawed myth of an anecdotal Hindu Nationalist past where non-Hindus are conveniently ostracized. This political gambit is deployed to manufacture an overblown theory of a decline in Hindu culture, the best resonance of which is the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019, discriminating, and interrogating the legitimacy of specific communities on sheer grounds of religion. Amit Masurkar's film of 2021, Sherni (The Tigress) provides a critical insight into this brutal Racial Politics pervading an upper caste Hindu society, in the guise of a subtle subtext, camouflaged within a distracting narrative of Man versus Nature. This paper facilitates the reading of this hidden discourse of Realpolitik alongside the predominant cultural narrative of gender and natural domination. Through a palimpsestuous reading, it explores themes of racial exclusion and segregation in an Ultra-Right Hindu Nation that the film silently addresses. Furthermore, this paper challenges the dominant narrative of Ecofeminism, to instead investigate the categories of race and ethnicity that intersect gender issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) occupied a unique place in the Indian federal structure as encoded in Article 370 of the Indian constitution. Incorporating Art. 370 in Indian Constitution reflected the recognition of the unique history and circumstances of J&K's accession to India. However, the article proved a roadblock in the Indian state's march to dictate and structure the politics of the state subservient to the perceived national interest, hence the unfailing attempts to gradually dilute it culminating in its total abrogation recently. The paper attempts at deconstructing the Indian state's preoccupation with weakening Art. 370 by arguing that it represented the project of extending homogenization with the ultimate objective of exercising maximum control in a security-sensitive border state. The paper contends that the efforts at homogenization proved counterproductive; it far from bringing stability has caused more political fragility in the state, thus feeding the very dynamics that it has been seeking to contain. In conclusion, the paper offers deepening federalization as the likely pacifier for the festering conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers three moments in the treatment of data about race and identity in India. Many elements go into the development of data imaginaries as these change over time. A complete history is beyond the scope of this paper, but I develop three key episodes to explore critical but changing features of interrelations between race, identity and statistical arguments historically. One aim is to explore key features of the argument developed by two significant individuals -- Thomas Nelson Annadale and P.C. Mahalanobis -- as they sought to develop databases that could answer questions about race formation and, in the case of Mahalanobis, might also be used to develop statistical methods on the one hand and aid governance on the other hand. A second aim is to use this historically based but highly selective investigation to uncover key features of the ideology with which the government of India has presented Aadhaar, its vast biometric identification system powered by authentication technologies afforded by artificial intelligence. This enables me to identify different forms of racial or ethnic identity that could be -- and in one or two cases actually have been -- implicated in the way Aadhaar has been used in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of this paper is to investigate what factors are associated to cardiovascular disease and what differences exists between Asians living in the UK (from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing) and the Asians living in India (from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India). Methods: Logistic regression was used to investigate how demographic and physical performance factors were associated with cardiovascular disease using data from Wave 6 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and Wave 1 of the Longitudinal Study of Ageing in India, with the main variable of interest being country of residence, Asians in England or Asians in India. Results: A total of 83,997 participants were included in the analyses. In the primary analysis, 73,396 participants from LASI were compared to 171 Asians in ELSA. After adjusting for age, blood pressure, resting heart rate, sex, waist circumference, gait, handgrip strength and standing balance, there was a statistically significant difference for the outcome of CVD between Whites ELSA (reference) and the participants of LASI (odds ratio = 0.77; 95% confidence interval = 0.60 to 0.99). There were no significant differences in CVD between the LASI participants, Asian ELSA, and the Non-White but not Asian ELSA groups. Discussion: No difference was found between Asians that live in India compared to ethnic minorities living in England, including Asians, after adjusting for confounders, but was found between Whites in ELSA compared to LASI participants. A key limitation was the massive disparity in sample sizes between the ELSA subgroups and LASI. Further work is required where comparable sample sizes and longitudinal analyses allow trends to be identified and to investigate the factors associated with the difference in CVD between two similar ethnicities living in distinct locations. Conclusion: After adjusting for risk factors, there was no difference in CVD between localised Asians and the ethnic minorities in the UK, but there was a difference between the majority ethnicities in the respective countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This qualitative research paper was designed to explore Tai Phake music in Assam State, India, and examine its role in the formation of Tai Phake ethnic identity. Data was gathered from documents and field investigation. The results show that Tai Phake music can be thought of as cultural capital, which propels ethnic identity through the use of language, dress, beliefs, and traditions that help create a collective awareness among people in the community. The construction of Tai Phake ethnic identity through music is carried out via singers, musicians, dancers, traditional costumes, melodies, and the use of Tai Phake language in the lyrics. These processes reproduce Tai Phake ethnic identity through ritual music, entertainment, and traditions, helping to preserve the Tai Phake ethnic identity. The results demonstrate the power of both traditional and modern Tai Phake music in the preservation of local identity, strengthening community relationships and network building between Tai Phake people and other Tai groups in Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Popular singer-songwriter-composer Bhupen Hazarika has exerted enormous influence in shaping the aesthetics of contemporary Assamese popular music. As an artist and public intellectual who often engaged with contemporary political questions, his songs have come to be regarded as a distilled expression of Assamese linguistic-national identity in postcolonial India. This paper deals with his entry into the Hindi music market in the mid-1990s, with songs for films and two music albums. Specifically, it maps the transformation of the Bhupen persona through this period as a conjuncture overdetermined by two relatively autonomous logics – first, the emerging cassette culture of the 1980s and its effects on the market for popular music; and second, the articulation of linguistic national identity in the wake of the Assam Movement (1979–85). The paper begins by showing how Bhupen's foray into Hindi music tied together the economics of bringing a regional star into the Hindi market with the ongoing reconstitution of linguistic-national identity in the post-liberalisation Indian ideology. Then, through a reading of his live performances and the Bhupen-related fan literature appearing at the time, it looks at how these ventures came to be seen by his Assamese fans, to argue that the Bhupen persona here becomes an ambivalent figure through which the internal schisms within Assamese national identity came to be articulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

History, ethnicity, culture, and religion have played a key role in India-Myanmar bilateral relations. Whether it is linkages to Buddhism or geographical proximity, the two countries understand the significance of their bond despite the complications. The inconsistent democracy in Myanmar has created "ups and downs" in bilateral relations while posing many challenges for India. India's policy with respect to Myanmar lacks clarity and a long-term vision unlike China's strategic framework. India's patient and quiet diplomacy towards Myanmar lacks long-term visions. Hence, anything short-term necessitates punctual transitions. India must adopt a realist policy but with a smidgen of idealism. This idealism would not be against the Indian national interest and would definitely pay off in its rivalry with China. The paper focuses on how India's relation with Myanmar is influenced by the absence of a proper democratic institution. It explores the influence of Tatmadaw's rule on the Sino-Indian energy conflict in Myanmar. The paper draws insights from the history of India-Myanmar relations to analyze India's current potentiality to outplay China in gaining diplomatic advantage and reaping greater advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term 'indigeneity' and 'ethnicity' are often used interchangeably. Both tend to represent a group of people, who claim common identity based on the basis of shared experiences of marginalization, oppression and exclusion. They also tend to represent people or communities engaged in varying degrees of self-assertion, power struggle and demand for autonomy or independence. However, some ethnic minority communities in India who already enjoy a distinct ethnic identity, autonomy and rights over resources go on to claim indigeneity. Why would recognized ethnic minorities feel the need to be identified as indigenous people? What is the difference in their claim as ethnic minorities and indigenous communities? This paper closely examines the categories 'indigenous people' and 'ethnic minority'. Using case studies from South Asia, in particular Northeast India, it explores the context in which such claims are made. Finally, it argues that although these terms share conceptual similarities their usage in practice makes them distinct entities for community and individual agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurement of social well-being among deprived communities is crucial to assess the extent of marginalization and identify their needs for development and planning. In India, Scheduled Tribes are considered as one of the most marginalized and least developed communities. At the same time, their levels of well-being vary from one place to another which is relatively neglected and hardly examined. The present study is an attempt to assess levels of social well-being among tribes in Mizoram, Northeast India. It also examines the relationship between inequality, marginalization and autonomy movement in the state. Principal Component Analysis shows that minority tribes in the remote southern regions have shown relatively lower standard of living. The low level of well-being of ethnic minorities in the south is attributed to the process of peripheralization starting from the colonial period. The homelands of ethnic minorities in Mizoram coincide with the more peripheral, remote and less developed areas which are turning into 'terrain of struggle' due to inter-ethnic conflicts. The paper argued that provision of autonomous councils to the southern tribes in the post-Independence period has largely failed to reduce the gap between the dominant tribe in the north and the minority tribes in the south but rather encourages other communities to demand autonomy. Under this circumstances, it is advocated that the approach to decentralization in Northeast India and Mizoram in particular to be shifted from ethnic-based to place-based decentralization with emphasis on local development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper views Hindutva hegemony in India today as authoritarian populism. Its focus is Hindutva's cultural-ideological work to make "peoples" by "fixing" meanings around socially constructed identities. Dalits and Muslims pose serious challenges to Hindutva's project of a Hindu rashtra (Hindu nation). Whereas Dalit presence questions the existence of a "Hindu", Muslim presence questions the existence of the "Rashtra". Consequently, Hindutva constructs Muslims as an "external" Other (to be excised) and Dalits as an "internal" Other (to be incorporated). It does this through two processes – "racialization" of Muslims and "ethnicization" of Dalits. While the former emphasizes "difference" of Muslims to show them as permanent outsiders to a Hindu Rashtra, the latter represses the radical difference of Dalits to incorporate them within a Hindu multi-caste and patriarchal family. Yet, this "fixing" is unstable, rife with contradictions and tensions, that threaten the discursive suturing of a Hindu Rashtra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central concern of this paper is to examine intersectionalities between the ideals of cosmopolitanism, patriotism, ethnocentrism and nationalism in general, and their changing facets and interfaces in India. It argues that being a multiethnic and plural society, the civilisational ethos of India is conventionally founded on cosmopolitanism. The practice of patriotism and its accommodative principle of unity in diversity have provided the building blocks to this cosmopolitanism. During India's independence struggle these ideals encountered the forces of modernism, ethnocentrism, communalism and ethno-nationalism. In contemporary India the forces of economic neoliberalism, developmental imbalances and persisting social and economic inequalities, post modernism, hyper modernism, populism, and cultural politics have become part of social reality. Notwithstanding the prevalence of the ideals of cosmopolitanism and civilisational interactive processes, these encounters have brought cumulative fluidity in the social, economic and political orientations in contemporary society, and have created further space for the influence of ethnocentrism and cultural politics as a means to remain rooted in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: - Lakhwar-Vyasi Project, a significant project initiated in 1992 and finally completed in 2022; witnessed the rights violation and impacted the livelihoods of Lohari village when they were vacated without resettlement. This study analysis the interconnectedness between mainstreaming and commercialization on one hand and the necessity of preserving indigenous group for sustainable environment. Methods: - The data pool comprised 156 publications from the years 1979 to 2022, spread across eight different document categories. This study is also based on a historical and descriptive analysis of the literature on ethnicity and indigenous populations, while also undertaking a scientific investigation into the empirical research on source material regarding the construction of hydroelectric power plants. Results: - The need to determine how many dams will displace indigenous communities in the near future and how much this will affect India's ecological balance has become urgent. This is because all such projects disrupt settlement by uprooting both the local culture and its ecological balance at the same time. Conclusion: - Locating and awakening the majority of the planet will get us closer to understanding why we should protect this system, which is why protecting Indigenous Communities is crucial for the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism has evolved into a sophisticated business and an important component of the global economy, with a substantial workforce in international trade. It has had a gradual and considerable impact on both the global and Indian financial situations. The tourism sector is India's most dynamic tertiary activity and a multibillion-dollar industry. Tourism is perceived as a sector that can help drive development, generate foreign exchange, increase employability, and contribute to the social growth and development. The most significant aspect of tourism is the cultural exchange that takes place between the various ethnicities who visit the country, as well as the culturally diversified interface that will pave the way for universal peace, congruity, and harmony. Travel and tourism in the twenty-first century has a significant impact on, and is influenced by, a wide range of political, economic, socio-cultural, and environmental challenges. The sustainability of travel and tourism is at the crossroads of economic, social, and environmental parameters is one subject that has resonated strongly with public opinion, travelers, and tourism sector partners alike. The future of tourism in India is undoubtedly bright, but there is still a long and challenging path ahead of it. The key to India's full tourism potential will be the development of high-quality services and facilities in a sustainable manner. This paper looks into the future of tourism & hospitality in India, technological requirements and improvements, and the rise of the tourism industry, all of which can contribute to the molding of our society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is prepared to explore the 'ethnicity' in Mistry's major works, which get huge success in postmodern scenario. The term 'ethnicity', which is related with socio- cultural tradition of a community in the context of another major community, is profoundly discussed from the characterization and the events presented in the novels. The Parsi community, which has a 'hoary past' but declining populace, is undoubtedly a disclaimer of preserving their own ethnic identity not only in southern Asian countries, but also across the world. Being a Parsi-diaspora, Mistry's fictional sensitivity encompasses not only the Parsi ethnicity alone, but even all others who serve a live co-existence since Pre-Independence era to the present time. Mistry's works of monumental repute make a concerted attempt to analyse and validate the ethnic dimensions in multifarious contexts of Indian society, keeping in mind the post modern perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although international law grants a distinct juristic personality to indigenous peoples, this subjecthood is premised on a hierarchical reading of ethnicity and indigeneity. Through illustrations of Adivasi experiences in India, this article interrogates the prejudices of the global juridical discourse that are reproduced by the domestic jurisdiction, exposing the voyeuristic performance of legality in constructing indigenousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, there are diverse groups of races- the Mongoloid, the Austric, the Aryans, and the Dravidian. North-eastern India has had different ethnic communities for a very long time. It is recognized as a diverse place of multiethnic states. Each social group has its own definite culture, languages, and customs. As such, in North-eastern States, since Independence, Indian politics has faced ethnic -conflict and inter-ethnic mobility. Most ethnic societies have experienced political articulation in the line of ethnicity. The Bodos of Assam had struggled to attain autonomy. So keeping in view such a scenario of a sociopolitical situation, this work will focus on the causes of identity assertion and analyze the phases of the Bodo ethnic movement for self-determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study demonstrates that multi-ethnic environment—a socio-culturally diverse space which is considered an important arena for social inclusion— ironically scales up insecurity for a tribal community which during the colonial times was officially labelled 'criminal'. The poverty stricken Lodha community, found largely concentrated in a small forested tract of the Rarh region of West Bengal and the Northern Plateau region of Odisha in Eastern India continues to suffer from this stigma despite serious efforts made by them to overcome its humiliating past. One such effort has been to break their spatial isolation and integration with the neighbouring communities by resorting to a movement away from forest dwelling and settling in multi-ethnic agricultural areas. Evidences of an extensive field survey covering a total of 49 Lodha villages, however reveals that these efforts by the Lodhas has met with little success and has often produced results quite to the contrary. The study finds that ethnic othering of this stigmatized community has only exasperated through the act of an apparent, insidious apartheid practiced by the dominant castes leading to increased social insecurity and exclusion of the Lodhas. The traditional caste identity driven social structure of rural India, as this empirical study reveals, has asserted itself to nullify the attempted strategy adopted by the tribe find a place in the caste hierarchy by changing their socio-spatial context. The study however finds that the identity oriented social mobility is no longer confined to the castes in the lower hierarchy of the Hindu varna system. Subaltern tribe too use this strategy to hide their stigmatised social identity however unsuccessful they might have been. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiang Mai is home to approximately 400 diasporic Punjabis, some of whom are sixth-generation residents of Thailand. While their transnational orientation, distinct sartorial choices and cultural practices might present them as outsiders to essential Thainess, Northern Thai Punjabis transgress the national image of Thainess and subjectively consider themselves to be Northern (Lanna) Thais. At the same time, these Thai citizens avail themselves of Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) status for privileged access to economic, cultural and educational resources in India. Based on 51 in-depth interviews and 17 focus group studies among resident Hindu, Sikh and Namdhari Sikh communities in Northern Thailand, this research explores family histories, selective transnationalism, and regional Lanna identities among these overseas Punjabis. As this article will argue, while Punjabi Thais maintain their networks and cultural connections with an historic ancestral homeland, they also cultivate forms of local cultural intimacy in ways which leapfrog the linguistic and cultural hegemony of Thai national identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The New Zealand (NZ) Ministry of Health ethnicity data protocols recommend that people of South Asian (SAsian) ethnicity, other than Indian, are combined with people of Japanese and Korean ethnicity at the most commonly used level of aggregation in health research (level two). This may not work well for perinatal studies, as it has long been observed that women of Indian ethnicity have higher rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as perinatal death. It is possible that women of other SAsian ethnicities share this risk. Aims: This study was performed to identify appropriate groupings of women of SAsian ethnicity for perinatal research. Materials and Methods: National maternity and neonatal data, and singleton birth records between 2008 and 2017 were linked using the Statistics NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure. Socio‐demographic risk profiles and pregnancy outcomes were compared between 15 ethnic groups. Recommendations were made based on statistical analyses and cultural evaluation with members of the SAsian research community. Results: Similarities were observed between women of Indian, Fijian Indian, South African Indian, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnicities. A lower‐risk profile was seen among Japanese and Korean mothers. Risk profiles of women of combined Indian‐Māori, Indian‐Pacific and Indian‐New Zealand European ethnicity more closely represented their corresponding non‐Indian ethnicities. Conclusions: Based on these findings, we suggest a review of current NZ Ministry of Health ethnicity data protocols. We recommend that researchers understand the risk profiles of participants prior to aggregation of groups in research, to mitigate risks associated with masking differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In part because a single colonial project eventually formally incorporated Burma as an appendage to British colonial rule of India, Burma scholars persistently draw on historiography and anthropology of India to assert that ethnic categories in Burma were "reified" and hierarchized by colonial governmentality and ensuing postcolonial statecraft. This article disputes such assumed equivalences, re-theorizing "reification" through the concept of governmentality to distinguish modes of regulation and the kinds of social responses incited, suggesting that India and Burma stand as respective exemplars of distinct governmental forms. Specifically, scholarship represents Indian population groups (of caste, tribe, ethnicity, etc. permutations) as being reified by dense and reinforcing applications of knowledge/power. Even when these various and interlinking regulatory apparatuses "fail" to accurately describe social reality, they interpellate a response from subject populations, a process that operates to dialectically reinforce the categories. Conversely, similar governmental apparatuses desultorily implemented in Burma have operated differently. While they have succeeded in making South Asian and Muslim subjects into Burma's self-perceived constitutive outside, governmentality has "doubly failed" on its taingyintha (indigenous) subjects. Poor knowledge of these Burmese peoples has foreclosed intensive projects of knowledge production, leading to "misinterpellation," a form of metapragmatic awareness in which subjects recognize that discourses misdescribe them, and then strategically maneuver with(in) those labels. Ethnic emblems become hollow integuments navigable with comparative ease, as individuals modify their particular bodily and dispositional indices. The article concludes by encouraging comparative postcolonial governmentality studies that would delineate particularities in a concept (governmentality) that often remains unnuanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I examine the relationship between state, ethnicity, territoriality and neoliberal capitalism in the tribal areas of highland Northeast India, where I focus in particular on the socioecological and socio-political corollaries of its rediscovery as a resource and capitalist frontier. In so doing, I apply (capitalist) 'desire' and (ethnic) 'closure' as key analytics to capture the contentiously unfolding history of the region's present. This article shows how new resource and capital flows lead both to the production of capitalist 'desires' and socioecological destruction through the privatization, acquisition and depletion, mostly by ethnic tribal elites, of communal assets now embedded in newly capitalist relations, and to the intensification of a politics of exclusive ethnoterritorial belonging and rights. The latter comes in the form of volatile social processes of ethnic 'closure'; an increasing preoccupation, that is, on part of tribal ethnic communities with the protecting, patrolling and legislating of ethno-territorial rights. The upshot of this is a dialectic between new neoliberal connectivities and ethnic 'closure', one that ensues in a frame of the specifics of governance and law in highland Northeast India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low birth weight is one of the leading factors for infant morbidity and mortality. To a large extent affect, various maternal risk factors are associated with pregnancy outcomes by increasing odds of delivering an infant with low birth weight. Despite this association, understanding the maternal risk factors affecting term low birth weight has been a challenging task. To date, limited studies have been conducted in India that exert independent magnitude of these effects on term low birth weight. The aim of this review is to examine the current knowledge of maternal risk factors that contribute to term low birth weight in the Indian population. In order to identify the potentially relevant articles, an extensive literature search was conducted using PubMed, Goggle Scholar and IndMed databases (1993 - Dec 2020). Our results indicate that maternal age, educational status, socio-economic status, ethnicity, parity, pre-pregnancy weight, maternal stature, maternal body mass index, obstetric history, maternal anaemia, gestational weight gain, short pregnancy outcome, hypertension during pregnancy, infection, antepartum haemorrhage, tobacco consumption, maternal occupation, maternal psychological stress, alcohol consumption, antenatal care and mid-upper arm circumference have all independent effects on term low birth weight in the Indian population. Further, we argue that exploration for various other dimensions of maternal factors and underlying pathways can be useful for a better understanding of how it exerts independent association on term low birth weight in the Indian sub-continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

. Indian subcontinent exhibits considerable degree of ethnic heterogeneity in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks. Given the importance of ethnicity, the present multi-ethnic study was conducted to find out the differences in body composition patterning and its influence on CVD risk variables.. Owing to considerable ethnic heterogeneity among Asian Indians the study was performed to determine the association of variability between body composition and CVD risk factors at the micro-level among different tribes by sex, province, and generation Nine tribes from three different states (provinces) were considered. Anthropometric measurements, body composition, adiposity, blood pressure, and fasting blood glucose was measured using standard technique. Body composition was measured using BIA method by means of body fat monitor. Mean differences of the body composition measures were analysed by ANOVA. Stepwise multiple regressions were done with CVD risk variables as dependent and body composition profiles as independent variables to find out the significant predictors. Those were then loaded for principal component factor analyses (PCFA).. Tribal subjects of both sexes and from both younger and older generations in Gujarat had significantly higher percentage body fat, subcutaneous fat-whole body, and subcutaneous fat-trunk as compared to tribal subjects of Odisha, and West Bengal, as well as significantly lower skeletal mass-whole body and skeletal mass-trunk. PCFA showed two components: (i) percentage body fat with muscle mass; and (ii) visceral fat with resting metabolism. These two components cumulatively explained 80–90% of the total variance associated with CVD risk variables, across the nine tribes.. Tribal subjects of Gujarat had higher CVD risks with significantly higher fat mass and lower muscle mass followed by the tribal subjects of Odisha, and West Bengal respectively. The younger generation are equally at risk as their older counterparts. The CVD risks are developing at a much faster rate resulting in a serious public health threat, even in traditional societies. Body composition measures could be considered as a better non-invasive technique for early intervention and proper risk management among the Asian Indians in general and tribal populations in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality (BMMRS) is regularly used to measure spirituality and religiosity in U.S. Christian populations, although it has not been used for making comparisons with non-Western groups. This study compared BMMRS results for 109 individuals (60 in the U.S. and 49 in India) with traumatic brain injury (TBI) from different cultures (U.S., India), ethnic groups (African American, Caucasian, South Asian), and religions (Christian, Hindu, Muslim). In general, the results indicated that U.S. African Americans and Christians reported being the most spiritual, South Asians and Hindus the least. Groups differed significantly in self-reported spiritual experiences, but less in frequency of religious activities. Results suggest using caution when applying Western-based measures of religion and spirituality in non-Western, non-Christian populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hypothesis about the relative success of India's ethno-federal model in the mainland of India seems well-established in the writings on Indian federalism and ethnic conflict management. It is argued here that while this model has been responsible for relative peace and political stability in the mainland, India's North East tells us an opposite story. In this article, the author uses the case of India's North East to show that federalism in the North East has remained problematic. In conclusion, the need for paying serious attention to the question of how best to address the question of relationship between ethnicity and territory amidst complex diversity for durable political order and stability is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the concepts of 'racialisation', 'racial projects', and 'racisms' are deployed to analyse the social construction of distinctive groups and the dynamics of group conflicts in India where the white vs. non-white binary as the key element of race relations does not exist. My main argument is that in India the racialisation of specific groups constructs racial categories that intersect with class relations, to produce inequalities and struggles over material and non-material resources. A related argument is that despite the seemingly seamless braiding of race and class, it is in fact class that plays a more significant role in producing as well as sustaining racialised social inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What type of democracy is multi-ethnic India, and how has it maintained territorial unity since Independence? I argue that India is best coded as a 'crypto-ethnic democracy', in contrast to traditional 'consensual' and 'consociational' interpretations, specifically in relation to its peripheral religious/ethnic minority groups. This argument is demonstrated through three interrelated themes: (1) nation/state-building, legitimating ideology and nationality construction; (2) ethnofederalism, regional political parties and ethnic peace accords; and (3) national security legislation, human rights and state-sponsored pogroms. The new conceptual formulation of 'crypto-ethnic democracy' integrates 'control' with both 'consensus' and 'consociationalism' within democracy. 'Crypto-ethnic democracy' also adds to existing typologies of multi-ethnic democracies, including differentiating the de facto dynamics of 'control' from the de jure institutions identified in traditional models of 'ethnic democracy'. It is argued that the concept of 'crypto-ethnic democracy' has significant conceptual and comparative value for scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The genetic association studies of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) hitherto undertaken among the Indian populations are grossly inadequate representation of the ethnic and geographic heterogeneity of the country. In view of this and due to the inconsistent nature of the results of genetic association studies, it would be prudent to undertake large scale studies in different regions of India considering wide spectrum of variants from the relevant pathophysiological pathways. Given the reproductive dysfunctions associated with T2DM, it would be also interesting to explore if some of the reproductive pathway genes are associated with T2DM. The present study is an attempt to examine these aspects in the southern Indian population of Hyderabad. Methods: A prioritized panel of 92 SNPs from a large number of metabolic and reproductive pathway genes was genotyped on 500 cases and 500 controls, matched for ethnicity, age and BMI, using AGENA MassARRAYiPLEX™ platform. Results: The allelic association results suggested 14 SNPs to be significantly associated with T2DM at P = 0.05 and seven of those--rs2241766-G (ADIPOQ), rs6494730-T (FEM1B), rs1799817-A and rs2059806-T (INSR), rs11745088-C (FST), rs9939609-A and rs9940128-A (FTO)--remained highly significant even after correction for multiple testing. A great majority of the significant SNPs were risk in nature. The ROC analysis of the risk scores of the significant SNPs yielded an area under curve of 0.787, suggesting substantial power of our study to confer these genetic variants as predictors of risk for T2DM. Conclusions: The associated SNPs of this study are known to be specifically related to insulin signaling, fatty acid metabolism and reproductive pathway genes and possibly suggesting the role of overlapping phenotypic features of insulin resistance, obesity and reproductive dysfunctions inherent in the development of diabetes. Large scale studies involving gender specific approach may be required in order to identify the precise nature of population and gender specific risk profiles for different populations, which might be somewhat distinct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]