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Ideology and cinematic representation are crucially linked even though a film's positioning of itself with respect to dominant state ideology may differ thus contesting the idea that films always serve as ideological state apparatus. In this context, the paper reflects on the complex ways in which the ideological positioning – advertently or inadvertently – of cinematic representations of Partition in Hindi films of the 2000s interacts with dominant state ideology to frame the relationship between self and other with the terms denoting India/Hindu and Pakistan/Muslim, respectively. Through an analysis of the representation of the India–Pakistan border in four films – Pinjar (2003), Veer-Zaara (2004), Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) and Kya Dilli Kya Lahore (2014) – the paper argues that mainstream Hindi films are largely reflective of the state ideology, although to varying degrees and at times in spite of themselves. In contrast, a low-budget film as Kya Dilli Kya Lahore completely subverts the dominant ideology through its sensitive but incisive critique of the border. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The independence from the British rule was accompanied with partition of the Indian subcontinent on religious lines. Since partition in 1947, the two nation-states India and Pakistan have been hostile toward each other. Communalism has also been a major challenge in both these countries. The current study locates this continued hostility or the "enemy" narrative that the countries harbor not just of each other, but which also shapes the experience of a religious community within their territory. Limiting the inquiry to the Indian side, this paper explores the production of the "enemy" narrative through the discursive knowledge around partition and how it locates Muslims. The paper analyzes textbooks of two education boards in India and argues that the narrative excludes the contribution of Muslims in the nationalist movement, charts out an uncritical history of the demand for partition, and stigmatizes the Muslim community as "communal" and "unpatriotic." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No other issue has influenced the India–Pakistan relationship more adversely than the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. To understand the discourse surrounding the dispute, and how it has evolved within the foreign policies of both countries, this research undertakes a critical discourse analysis of both countries' official statements at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) between 1948 and 2020. The findings of this study are crucial to not only understanding how the two states have been internationalizing the Kashmir dispute but also what lessons can be learned from the past as both countries attempt to slowly reengage with one another. Our analysis points to the fact that both India and Pakistan's stances on the Kashmir dispute, despite their varying phases throughout the conflict, have essentially remained the same. We argue that, despite seeming to have converged toward some form of resolution during the first decade of the twenty-first century, the current context of India–Pakistan relations presents a worsening trajectory that has not been witnessed since their last major war in 1971. In highlighting the cyclical, almost scripted nature of this debate, this paper attempts to suggest ways to break free from age-old tropes and help pave the way toward more meaningful ways to redefine the issue in light of a radically altered geo-political context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, the development of cooperation among Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan with respect to the Indus and the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river basins, South Asia's major transboundary rivers, has been a cause of tension, apprehension and ongoing disputes. This paper draws attention to the hydro-politics on transference and allocation, along with the diverging positions and unique concerns of the riparians on bilateral, multilateral, national as well as regional fronts. While examining the official water discourses and the evolution of different international legal instruments applicable to the governance of water relations among the riparians, the paper also sketches the emerging concerns in their relationships, as well as their efforts to cooperate and collaborate to avert disputes and manage water sharing and governance. Citation Uprety, K. & Salman, S. M. A. (2011) Legal aspects of sharing and management of transboundary waters in South Asia: preventing conflicts and promoting cooperation. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(4), 641-661. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the response of the international press to the co-hosting of the 1996 Cricket World Cup by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The event had a troubled background: the shift of power within cricket towards the subcontinent and the consequential commercialisation of the sport were causing some dissension among traditionalists. At the same time there was some instability in South Asian politics, especially between India and Pakistan and because of the civil war in Sri Lanka. While these issues overshadowed the event, some aspects of its organisation were unsuccessful, leading to some negative press coverage. It is argued here, however, that the problems faced by South Asian countries in trying to use this sports event to promote a positive image were further exacerbated by underlying stereotypes and criticisms of South Asian cultures. As such, the paper addresses several important themes relating to major sports events and 'semi-peripheral' countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, policy focused on improving access to maternity services has led to measures to reduce cost barriers impeding women's access to care. Specifically, these include cash transfer or voucher schemes designed to stimulate demand for services, including antenatal, delivery and post-partum care. In spite of their popularity, however, little is known about the impact or effectiveness of these schemes. This paper provides an overview of five major interventions: the Aama (Mothers') Programme (cash transfer element) in Nepal; the Janani Suraksha Yojana (Safe Motherhood Scheme) in India; the Chiranjeevi Yojana (Scheme for Long Life) in India; the Maternal Health Voucher Scheme in Bangladesh and the Sehat (Health) Voucher Scheme in Pakistan. It reviews the aims, rationale, implementation challenges, known outcomes, potential and limitations of each scheme based on current available data. Increased use of maternal health services has been reported since the schemes began, though evidence of improvements in maternal health outcomes has not been established due to a lack of controlled studies. Areas for improvement in these schemes, identified in this review, include the need for more efficient operational management, clear guidelines, financial transparency, plans for sustainability, evidence of equity and, above all, proven impact on quality of care and maternal mortality and morbidity. Au Népal, en Inde, au Bangladesh et au Pakistan, la politique centrée sur l'élargissement de l'accès aux services de maternité a débouché sur des mesures de réduction des obstacles financiers qui empêchent les femmes d'avoir accès aux soins, plus précisément des transferts de fonds ou des chèques conçus pour stimuler la demande, notamment de soins prénatals, obstétricaux et du post-partum. Pourtant, en dépit de leur popularité, on sait peu de choses de l'impact de ces programmes. L'article décrit cinq interventions majeures : le programme Aama (des mères) (élément de transfert de fonds) au Népal, le Janani Suraksha Yojana (plan de maternité sans risque) en Inde, le Chiranjeevi Yojana (plan pour une longue vie) en Inde, le projet de chèques de santé maternelle au Bangladesh et le système de chèques Sehat (santé) au Pakistan. Il examine les objectifs, les justificatifs, les obstacles à l'application, les résultats connus, le potentiel et les limites de chaque projet, avec les données disponibles. Un recours accru aux services de santé maternelle a été enregistré depuis le début des projets, mais sans qu'il soit possible de déterminer les améliorations de la santé maternelle, faute d'études contrôlées. L'étude recense les domaines d'amélioration des projets qui ont besoin d'une gestion opérationnelle plus efficace, de directives claires, de transparence financière, de plans de viabilité, de preuves d'équité et, surtout, de confirmer leur impact sur la qualité des soins, et la mortalité et morbidité maternelles. En Nepal, India, Bangladesh y Pakistán, debido a políticas centradas en mejorar el acceso a los servicios de maternidad, se ha intentado reducir las barreras de costo que impiden el acceso de las mujeres a los servicios: específicamente, transferencias de dinero o programas de cupones diseñados para estimular la demanda de los servicios, incluida la atención antes, durante y después del parto. Pese a su popularidad, no se sabe mucho acerca de su impacto o eficacia. En este artículo se resumen cinco intervenciones importantes: el Programa de Madres (transferencias de dinero) en Nepal; el Plan por una Maternidad sin Riesgos y el Plan por una Vida Larga, ambos en India; el Programa de Cupones para Servicios de Salud Materna en Bangladesh; y el Programa de Cupones para servicios de salud, en Pakistán. Se analizan los objetivos, la justificación y los retos de la implementación, los resultados, el potencial y las limitaciones de cada plan según los datos. Desde el inicio de estos planes, ha aumentado el uso de los servicios de salud materna, aunque por falta de estudios controlados no hay evidencia de mejoras en los resultados. Entre las áreas a mejorar figuran: la eficiencia de la administración operativa, directrices claras, transparencia financiera, planes de sostenibilidad, evidencia de equidad y, sobre todo, un impacto comprobado en la calidad de la atención y en las tasas de mortalidad y morbilidad maternas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In rural and low-income urban households, energy is 'women's business': women are responsible for providing energy, and use it for domestic chores and productive activities. However, the poor quality fuels many women use contribute to their time poverty, ill health, and level of drudgery. Despite these negative impacts, energy policy remains gender-blind. This can be attributed to the invisibility of women's needs to energy planners, stemming from a lack of appropriate gender-analysis tools to meet the particular data requirements of the energy sector. This article analyses why standard gender tools do not provide appropriate gender-disaggregated energy data, and describes a set of tools that have been developed for that purpose. The paper concludes with an evaluation of recent experiences testing the tools in Pakistan, India, and Nepal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear deterrence theory, featuring near equal powers and positing symmetrical consequences of nuclear hostilities, is based principally on the US-USSR confrontation during the Cold War. Except for the theorizing by the French Army Generals Pierre Gallois and Andre Beaufre to provide a rationale for France's force de frappe, there has been little thinking about nuclear deterrence between two states differing vastly in size and resources. This paper analyzes the weaknesses in the classical nuclear deterrence concepts and the Gallois-Beaufre theories generally in terms of their inapplicability to India-Pakistan wars, crises and nuclear conflict scenarios. It argues that factors other than deterrence are at work, like the sentiments of a partitioned Muslim community, kinship ties, shared ethnicity and culture, and the growing clout of the Indian Muslim voter. What has evolved is a unique system of restraints and conflict containment despite gross disparities between India and Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the nuclear deterrence relationship between India and Pakistan in the context of a larger political conflict, and in the light of contemporary international relations theory. It finds mainstream deterrence theory and neorealist theory defective as the behavior patterns of India and Pakistan do not fit them in three important ways. It then examines the critiques of neorealist theory applied to the developing world and finds that a combination of a subaltern realist perspective and regional security complex theory best fits the India-Pakistan conflict, including its nuclearization. Lastly, it explores the conditions under which nuclear deterrence in South Asia can lead to a broad-based peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outlines the contents of papers on nuclear deterrence, from the University of Pennsylvania, Institute for the Advanced Study of India, presented during a conference in New Delhi, India held in August 2005. Argument of E. Sridharan regarding nuclear deterrence; Association between international relations theory and nuclear deterrence, according to Rajesh M. Basrur; Issues raised by Rasul Bakhsh Rais relating to Pakistan's nuclear stability; View presented by Bharat Karnad regarding nuclear deterrence theory.

This paper presents statistical evidence, which seems to be conclusive, that there exists a particular pattern of mortality in Ceylon, India and Pakistan where, contrary to general experience, female mortality is higher than that of the males. The sex ratios of the enumerated population in these three countries are among the highest in the world, and the age pattern of the sex ratios is such that they increase from childhood to adulthood to the old ages. Abnormally high sex ratios and selective migration cannot account for this particular pattern, but there is evidence of a higher degree of under-enumeration of females than males. The main responsible factor, however, seems to be higher female mortality, in the ages of maternity as well as in childhood. This shows the need for a regional or local approach to some demographic problems. In this case, for instance, model life tables based on average international experience are not representative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]