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Background: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic compelled the closure of educational institutions and forced students to complete nearly two years of schooling online, impacting their physical and emotional development tremendously. This exploratory study investigates the wide-ranging impact of online education on Indian students during the COVID-19 pandemic and discusses the challenges exacerbated by disparities in access to digital devices and reliable internet service. The paper also focuses on the physical and mental health issues that arose in student cohorts as a result of the abrupt shift to online learning, and investigates the relationship between students' socioeconomic status and the nature and frequency of health issues experienced by them. Methods: A total of 832 respondents completed a 40-item survey that was administered online and through interviews. The paper analysed the impact of access to digital resources and teachers' training in information and communication technology on the perception of the quality of education provided by the institutions. We further analysed the impact of the adoption of online educational platforms on students' mental and physical health. Results: The study found a positive relationship between the number of hours spent online, and the physical and mental health issues experienced by students. Participants reported an overall higher perception of stress and anxiety, loss of concentration, and dissatisfaction with the quality of education. Our data suggest that COVID-19 has exacerbated the digital divide. Discussion: Urgent investments are needed to provide universal access to reliable internet services, and to develop a pedagogy that supports an agile and adaptable educational system, capable of providing effective learning and evaluation, while supporting students' physical and mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex work is perceived as an undesirable activity in India. It is widely believed that sex workers are either the victims of trafficking or have taken up sex work out of compulsion. Furthermore, it is often assumed that people who pursue sex work live in brothels or solicit customers outside their homes. Drawing on findings from an ethnographic study of the Kanjar community of northern India, this paper argues to the contrary. Veering away from accounts of individual women as victims, this paper focuses on dhandha (sex work) as a 'legitimate' community practice. For the Kanjars, sex work is a traditional occupation with a long complex history and a distinct subculture embedded in its economic structure. For those involved, the family economy is based on the labour and earnings of unmarried women who earn income as dhandhewalis (sex workers). Sex work may not be an option that Kanjars choose, but it is certainly a practice that they are neither ashamed of, nor apologetic about. Their positive, if not defiant, attitude can be understood in the context of the specific subculture of the Kanjars. The term 'subculture' as used here being specific to the community and its traditions, as distinct from dominant mainstream Indian culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to understand the idea of criminal tribes, which was based on British belief about crime in their own country, England and later adapted and imposed upon Indian nomads. An analysis of biological criminals in England and hereditary criminal tribes in India is presented in the later part. The article discourses the idea of'caste', 'class' and 'tribe' which British officials used interchangeably in the context of Indian social structure. The discussion concludes by looking at the different debates on the making of the criminal tribes, the forces of change, which transformed certain nomadic communities of India as Criminal Tribes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A patient with filariasis, taking treatment in the form diethyl carbamazime citrate developing "de-novo" histoid leprosy during the course of the disease is being reported.

A case of lupus erythematosus profundus, with associated mastitis, but without any lesions of discoid lupus erythematosus or systemic lupus erythematosus is being reported.