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The North East Region of India, comprising Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram, is characterized by a distinctive blend of ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic diversity. Connected to the rest of the country via the Siliguri Corridor, also known as Chicken’s Neck, this paper delves into the historical context of conflicts in the region. It assesses various contributing factors such as ethnic diversity, migration patterns, resource allocation, and political interests. Given China's proximity through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to the Siliguri Corridor, India's attention to this area becomes crucial. Furthermore, the paper evaluates the socio-economic impact of these conflicts and proposes potential strategies for conflict resolution and peace-building efforts. Specifically, it focuses on analyzing border disputes between Assam and neighboring Northeastern states, identifies primary causes of conflict, and offers actionable recommendations for resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pandemic like the COVID-19 has caught everyone off-guard. The economy is in tatters, and the loopholes in the system are getting exposed. The education sector is no exception, especially in a developing country like India. With millions of students in India, the lockdown will have many unforeseen impacts. Moreover, the parents would be reluctant to send their wards to study even after the pandemic, and the actual effect of a lag in learning would be visible only in the long run. The necessity of e-learning in academia was felt only when the pandemic hit. The lack of ICT infrastructure and the absence of tech-savvy teachers have made studies an absolute roller-coaster ride for students. Apart from this, the already existing disparity between students from different economic strata would very likely broaden. Homebound is another factor affecting the students' psychology towards study. This paper ventures into the problems faced by the students, especially from economic, infrastructural and psychological factors, ranging from primary to University level. It also attempts to segregate the students based on location and financial condition and understand the specific hindrances they face. Case studies from various locations of Assam provide a cluster of stories that would act as an index in developing the system when time is 'conducive'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will attempt to map the emergence of linguistic nationalism as a direct offshoot of the language debate in early-colonial Assam. In 1836, Bengali was made the language of courts and schools in Assam. Ten years later, the Baptist Mission at Sadiya started publishing a monthly magazine called Orunodoi. Orunodoi gradually became a critical instrument in the effort to reinstate Assamese as the language of the province's courts and schools. How did the emergent public sphere react to the debate on language? What was the power dynamic between an emergent native intelligentsia, the Baptist Mission and the colonial state in earlycolonial Assam? What are the factors that prevented Assamese from being reinstated as the language of courts and schools in Assam until 1873? Was the debate on language merely about imposition of a 'foreign' language, or was the discourse more fluid with concerns like language standardisation operating as undercurrents? Can the language debate in early-colonial Assam be isolated as the first assertion of a sub-national identity based upon cultural and linguistic 'uniqueness'? Through an analysis of some articles published in Orunodoi, read along with private letters and official correspondences of the American Baptist Mission in Assam, this paper will attempt to address some of these questions and recover the context of the debate around language in nineteenth-century Assam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of enzymatic process on pulp bleaching using a potential lignolytic fungus Penicillium meleagrinum has been investigated in order to minimize the consumption of chemicals in bleaching process. Xylanase enzyme extracted from P. meleagrinum was studied and the maximum xylanase production by P. meleagrinum was recorded as 5.74 U/mL at 30 °C and at 5.5 pH. The extracted xylanase was applied to the unbleached bamboo pulp alone or in combination with hydrogen peroxide to find out the efficacy of the enzyme on pulp bleaching. Xylanase pre-treatment can remove a considerable amount of lignin from unbleached pulp which can further be reduced by giving a treatment with 2% hydrogen peroxide. Xylanase pre-treated peroxide bleaching reduces lignin content from 10.55% to 3.25% in unbleached bamboo pulp. The kappa number of pulp decreases from 13.50 to 8.50 with the increase of pulp brightness 68–69%, viscosity 8.94 cP and crystallinity of the pulp cellulose to 62.05%. Scanning electron micrographs reveal uniform fibre with occasional pores and cracks on the surface. The results of the present study have been found encouraging which may aid in the development of new cleaner and alternative method of bleaching for pulp and paper industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The North-Eastern region of India is a biodiversity hotspot and home to many endemic and rare spices. The spices endemic to this region has vast scope in the national and international market owing to their uniqueness and organic quality. Geographical Indication (GI), a tag that recognises the unique intrinsic attributes of a product arising from specific geographical origin, is yet to be explored in its truest sense by the farmers of the region togain visibility and product differentiation in the market. Importance of GI tag is extremely high for the native farmers of the region to gain recognition in foreign markets. The paper discusses the scope of using GI as a tool for brand building by the spice sector of this region of India. It also examines a few instances where endemic spice varieties from the region have successfully undergone value addition and have been effectively marketed to create a promising presence both domestic and abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of certain plant species in traditional fishing for their piscicidal or stupefying effect is widespread among many fishing communities in northeast India. Plant poisoning is one such traditional method for fishing practised in the Chirang district of Assam in northeast India. This paper identifies six different species of plants (Polygonum hydropiper, Spilanthes paniculate, Parthenium hysterophorus, Alistonia scholaris, Albizia procera, Ageratum conyzoides) belonging to four different families (Asteraceae, Apocynaceae, Fabaceae and Polygonaceae) which are used as natural poison for capturing fishes in the study area. Maximum number of species (50%) was recorded in family Asteraceae while the remaining families recorded one species each. The most common mode of application was in the form of a ground paste or an aqueous extract while in some cases the raw plant itself were used. All of these plant toxins were reported to affect the swimming and respiration of the fish on application. However, detail mechanism of their toxic action needs to be evaluated fully. This study has identified some potent natural piscicidal plants which may be further investigated for widespread application in aquaculture and allied industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the mobilisation, interdependence, and organisation of the women's movement in Assam, locating it from the landmark events of the Assam Movement through a feminist lens. Instead of positioning women as passive recipients in Assam’s conflict-ridden areas, it captures the feminist recovery in the state’s men-led political movement. The study points out that while male leadership in Assam’s movements often relied on women’s involvement, women’s specific demands were frequently overlooked, and their voices were marginalised. In response, women have sought to reclaim their agency and narrate an alternative history. However, the social basis of the women’s movement is neither class nor ethnic minority but based on shared social circumstances. Therefore, studying the women’s movement in Assam, this paper considered an essential concern of feminism: dissimilarities and contrasting factors among women, depicting that gender alone does not marginalise. With a focus on this research gap, this study underscores the importance of an intersectional approach to understanding the fractured solidarity within Assam’s women’s movement, addressing a significant gap in feminist writing.

Rohi is the popular traditional rice beer of the Sonowal Kacharis, which is typically obtained by natural fermentation. The present study aims to identify the key ingredients used in the preparation of Mod pitha (starter culture cake), detail documentation of the fermentation technology and the socio-cultural and religious significance of Rohi. Participatory approach method was adopted for data collection that included in-depth interviews and discussions with key informants and personal observations. Glutinous rice (Oryza glutinosa Lour.) is the principal substrate for the beer preparation, which is mixed with starter cakes and fermented within a heat-sterilized earthen pot for 4-5 days. Rohi is indispensable during festivals and traditional sacrificial rituals and ceremonies. The entire fermentation technology is the exclusive domain of women. It is hoped that this paper will be useful for further scientific study of Rohi in order to examine the bio-chemical and phyto-chemical composition of the different plant species used in the preparation of starter culture and the final pure product that may reveal some important nutritional properties, therapeutic pro-biotics, healthy metabolites, etc. and contribute towards development of the product as a value-added drink. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Armed conflict across and between communities results in massive levels of destruction to the people-physically, culturally, economically and psychologically. The genesis of most of the conflicts that has engulfed the north-eastern states of India is either to preserve the unique identity or due to lack of economic development and opportunities for the large majority of the people or both. Women as heterogeneous group of social actors are arguably more affected than their male counterparts in conflict situations. Armed conflict exacerbates inequalities in gender relations that already exist in society. In an ethnically divided society in Assam, women bodies are generally used as 'ethnic markers' thereby have more specific manifestations. The paper aims to analyze the multiple roles that women are subjected to and play in armed conflict in the state of Assam. The paper is going to highlight that woman in NE India with a special reference to Assam cannot be categorized just as 'victims' of conflict. Even when they are victims; they exercise their agency and survival techniques despite adverse conditions. Beyond judicial measures, how women grapple with the problem of the 'truths' of the past in post conflict scenario will also be highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to understand the political role of Assamese traditional performance 'Bihu' during Assam movement in 1979. It argues that beyond its role as Assamese cultural identity, 'Bihu' had transformed itself into a political space and fueled upon expanding the idea of Stage Bihu. While looking at the performance as medium of political messaging, the paper brings together the three specific case studies seemingly unknown in the documented cultural history and located in the rural Assam. The idea is to comprehend the larger scope of traditional performance in accommodating political events. The debates are being weaved together through theoretical frames of historian Eric Hobsbawm's 'Inventing tradition' Thomas Postlewait's 'theatre event' in order to see the transformation and changes within the repertoire of Bihu. The paper tries to resurrect an alternative historical discourse, often neglected by the dominant historical cannons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fear, insecurity and anxiety seem to be the enduring sources of genocidal impulses against the Bengali-speaking Muslim minorities of contemporary Assam, India. This paper explores how the tripartite matrix of the border, census and citizenship categories has become indispensable in inscribing fear and anxiety in contemporary Assam's body politic. Using insights from postcolonial states' practices, the paper shows how the state suffers from a persistent neurosis, characterised by an "incompleteness-anxiety", and how attempts have been made to resolve this sense of crisis by mobilising the majority to align its Assamese identity in the direction of an imagined purified "national whole". Further, the paper elaborates upon the implications of these anxieties with reference to Indo-Bangladeshi relations, in which Assam figures prominently both as a prime border state and as a place that is integral to the region's riparian borderlands as a whole. Moving away from the official discourses of contemporary Indo-Bangladeshi relations, which are guided largely by postcolonial cartographic anxiety, the paper points towards the creative possibilities of exploring the "relational registers" within the region's shared civilisational resources as an alternative, in which Assam can act as a bridge between India and Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this age of metamorphosis of cultural transition and assimilation, in this age where everyone in one sense or the other is a migrant, the issue of identity can never be resolved. Iain Chambers (1994) holds that migrancy 'calls for a dwelling in language, in histories, in identities that are constantly subject to mutation' (p. 5). 'Home' sometimes becomes a provisional location as it fails to provide assurance and security; and hence, in many instances, one witnesses an individual’s desire to break free, to migrate. Memory and narratives can be seen as symbolic ways of making homes, of negotiating different and competing allegiances. Jahnavi Barua's novel, Undertow, Arupa Patangia Kalita's novellas and stories like 'Face in the Mirror', 'The Half-burnt Bus at Midnight', stories from the Barak Valley of Assam like Moloy Kanti Dey's 'Ashraf Ali's Homeland', Amitabha Dev Choudhury's 'Wake Up Call', Arijit Choudhury's ‘Fire', among others, provide multiple perspectives on the question of identity. The paper seeks to delve into select fictional narratives from Assam and analyse the question of 'foreigners', keeping in mind the current discourses on the issue of migration, especially the issue of illegal Bangladeshi migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potato is abundantly grown in Assam and is an important source of income and employment in rural areas of the state. But the productivity of potato in the state is low as compared to other states. Among the various factors, productivity of a crop is significantly influenced by technical efficiency. This paper examines productivity and technical efficiency in potato cultivation in Brahmaputra Valley of Assam, India. The study is based on both secondary and primary data. Primary data were collected from a sample of 400 potato growers. The study applied stochastic frontier production function to estimate technical efficiency and employed logistic transformation model of regression analysis to examine the determinants of technical efficiency. The results showed that potato productivity was positively and significantly affected by seed, fertilizer and manure costs. The mean level of technical efficiency among the farmers was 78%. Technical efficiency was found to be the highest in semi-medium and large land holdings. Technical efficiency was positively affected by land size and negatively affected by capital-labour ratio. The study implies that there is a need to promote use of quality seeds and plant nutrients to improve productivity and encourage extensive farming and use of labour to enhance technical efficiency in potato cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: It is well acknowledged that India's community health workers known as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) are the bedrock of its health system. Many ASHAs are currently working in fragile and conflict-affected settings. No efforts have yet been made to understand the challenges and vulnerabilities of these female workers. This paper seeks to address this gap by bringing attention to the situation of ASHAs working in the fragile and conflict settings and how conflict impacts them and their work.Methods: Qualitative fieldwork was undertaken in four conflict-affected villages in two conflict-affected districts -Kokrajhar and Karbi Anglong of Assam state situated in the North-East region of India. Detailed account of four ASHAs serving roughly 4000 people is presented. Data transliterated into English were analysed by authors by developing a codebook using grounded theory and thematic organisation of codes.Results: ASHAs reported facing challenges in ensuring access to health services during and immediately after outbreaks of conflict. They experienced difficulty in arranging transport and breakdown of services at remote health facilities. Their physical safety and security were at risk during episodes of conflict. ASHAs reported hostile attitudes of the communities they served due to the breakdown of social relations, trauma due to displacement, and loss of family members, particularly their husbands.Conclusions: Conflict must be recognised as an important context within which community health workers operate, with greater policy focus and research devoted to understanding and addressing the barriers they face as workers and as persons affected by conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the Phonological Features in Hawar dialect of Dimasa spoken in Cachar district of Assam. Dimasa belongs to Bodo-Garo group of Tibeto-Burman language family. The paper discussed the phonological features of Hawar dialect of Dimasa into two sections: segmental and supra-segmental. The segmental section includes phonemes of vowel and consonant, description and distribution of vowel and consonant, diphthongs, consonant sequence, consonant cluster, and syllable structure in Hawar dialect of Dimasa. The suprasegmental includes two register tones: high tone and low tone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participation in politics is one of the most important elements for sustaining of any political system, particularly the democratic political system. Political participation of women of Rangia Legislative Assembly Constituency of Kamrup district, Assam (India) is comparatively analyzed with male participation in this paper since 1951 Legislative Assembly Elections. Today, women participation in politics is very low and inactive in comparison to men’s participation. But, people’s active and willing participation, whether men or women despite being any gender is very crucial for the fulfillment of the democratic political system. Rangia Legislative Assembly Constituency bearing no 57 out of 126 Legislative Assembly Constituencies of Assam Legislative Assembly, India is chosen as the study area of this paper. On the basis of secondary data, the study discloses the political status of women of Rangia LAC in terms of voting, standing in an election, receiving MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) seats in the Assam Legislative Assembly from 1st Legislative Assembly Election,1951 to 14th Legislative Assembly Election,2016. There is a need of increasing political awareness and education to secure equal, active women’s political participation so thus all the segments of society can fully be represented in the politics of a state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the secondary data, the present study has aimed at, the study of the economic impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sectors of Assam and its suggestive measures. A total of 20 papers was downloaded to study in-depth and wrote the result. From the various literature reviews, it has been found that due to COVID-19, the whole economy of the world was experiencing sluggish growth and the possibility of a severe economic downturn is very high. The results indicate that COVID-19 had hit very badly on the tourism sectors of not only Assam but all over the world. Due to the lockdown process for COVID-19 not only employment had declined but also revenue had fallen in these sectors. Consequently, the Entrepreneurs in this sector have also faced lots of problems. Since the tourism sector of Assam is one of the great contributors to the state domestic product. COVID-19 brings a big challenge to the economy of Assam by hitting these sectors. The present study also reveals some suggestive measures to overcome the problems faced by this sector during the pandemic situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of Assam tea plantations in India is well-documented, yet a gender sensitive environmental history of these colonially-introduced plantation landscapes is absent. The colonial tea planters saw advantages in a growing female presence in their plantations, in terms of increased male ties to the plantation, lower wages for female workers and the added benefit of biological reproduction that would fulfil the need for manual labour in these plantations for generations. This paper attempts to understand how this plantation structure in general and the work regime in particular relied on a particular type of gender identity, which in turn had a detrimental effect on the health of the women labourers in this new landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The North-East region of India is known for its linguistic diversity and is home to the densest concentration of languages of the Tibeto-Burman family. More than a hundred Kuki-Chin languages are spoken in and around the seven North-Eastern states. Hrangkhol is a Kuki language of the Tibeto-Burman family spoken in Assam, Tripura, and parts of Manipur and Mizoram. The present paper proceeds from recent, extensive fieldwork and discusses the numeral system of the Hrangkhol language spoken in Assam. Numerals are expressions used in daily interactions to calculate, count objects, make measurements, or transmit data of any kind. Like most Tibeto-Burman languages, Hrangkhol also has a decimal numeral system. Higher numeral values are expressed by combining items of lower numeral values through addition or multiplication. In Hrangkhol, both suffixes and prefixes are added to the basic numerals to form different types of numerals. The numerals in Hrangkhol can be classified into cardinal, ordinal, multiplicative, fractional, distributive, restrictive, and approximate. Syntactically, the numerals usually follow the head noun, as in other SOV languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If Indian intellectual history focussed on the nature of the colonial and post-colonial state, its interaction with everyday politics, its emerging society and operation of its economy, then how much did/ does North- East appear in this process of doing intellectual history? North-East history in general and its intellectual history in particular is an unpeopled place. In Indian social science literature, North-East history for the last seventy years has mostly revolved around separatist movements, insurgencies, borderland issue and transnational migration. However, it seldom focussed on the intellectuals who have articulated the voice of this place and constructed an intellectual history of this region. This paper attempts to explore the intellectual history of Assam through understanding the life history of three key socio-political figures - Gopinath Bordoloi, Bishnu Prasad Rabha and Chandraprabha Saikiani. Their engagement at the turn of the twentieth century with ideas for the future North-East region in general and Assam in partcular is parallel to the formation of the Indian nation state. Research on the writings and works of these socio-political figures is analysed to address what North-east history can contribute to the intellectual history of India and how essential is it in the field of indigenous studies?. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Travel narratives usually provide ethnographic information about a place and its inhabitants. The travelogue written in 1881 by Ramkumar Bidyaratna gives an excellent ethnographic account of contemporary Assam and Assamese society of the nineteenth century. The travelogue, which was originally written in Bengali, was translated into Assamese by Munin Sarma in 2014. The book is significant for its prudent comments on various socio-cultural aspects of the Assamese society like – condition of Assamese women, widow remarriage, commerce, religion, etc. As stated in the translated version, Bidyaratna's travelogue was probably the first travelogue on Assam written in an Indian language. There was an aim behind Bidyaratna's travel to Assam. From his experiences from his travel to places outside Bengal he had developed a belief that unless one gets associated with another culture, it is natural to have a wrong notion about that culture. His aim was to eradicate misunderstandings between the Assamese and the Bengalis. In this present study, the Assamese version of the travelogue has been used to explore and interpret the sociocultural milieu of Assam as represented in the narrative. This paper critically reviews the book, firstly, to explore the way ethnographic information about Assam has been represented in it; and, secondly, to generate an understanding of the progressive thinking of the writer as evident from it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to explore the nature of space that the women in the Marwari community of Assam endeavour to construct. The community, which is known for its strong adherence to tradition, culture and religion, has a respectable yet crucial place for women. The strict relegation of private and the public spheres in the community is somewhat making it complex for the women to cross the boundary, though a considerable amount of transformation can be observed in their status since their dwelling in the place. The first section of the paper provides a brief overview of the position of women in the community and the latter deals with the argument which seeks to establish the dynamics of space formed by women, substantiating it with the relevant feminist theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural health attributions, beliefs, and perceptions towards health and illness influence the health-seeking behaviour and practices of cancer patients. The purpose of this paper is to consider the process through which the causal health attributes and the treatment-seeking processes of tobacco-related cancer patients were studied in the Barak Valley region of Assam. Unveiling the methodological issues in conducting the study, the paper outlines the dynamics of the hospital as a research setting. The paper also discusses the researcher’s engagement with the subject, the methods and tools used in the study by unfolding the processes of fieldwork.

Background: This paper reviews the classical and some particular factors contributing to earthquake-triggered landslide activity. This analysis should help predict more accurately landslide event sizes, both in terms of potential numbers and affected area. It also highlights that some occurrences, especially those very far from the hypocentre/activated fault, cannot be predicted by state-of-the-art methods. Particular attention will be paid to the effects of deep focal earthquakes in Central Asia and to other extremely distant landslide activations in other regions of the world (e.g. Saguenay earthquake 1988, Canada). Results: The classification of seismically induced landslides and the related 'event sizes' is based on five main factors: 'Intensity', 'Fault factor', 'Topographic energy', 'Climatic background conditions', 'Lithological factor'. Most of these data were extracted from papers, but topographic inputs were checked by analyzing the affected region in Google Earth. The combination and relative weight of the factors was tested through comparison with well documented events and complemented by our studies of earthquake-triggered landslides in Central Asia. The highest relative weight (6) was attributed to the 'Fault factor'; the other factors all received a smaller relative weight (2-4). The high weight of the 'Fault factor' (based on the location in/outside the mountain range, the fault type and length) is strongly constrained by the importance of the Wenchuan earthquake that, for example, triggered far more landslides in 2008 than the Nepal earthquake in 2015: the main difference is that the fault activated by the Wenchuan earthquake created an extensive surface rupture within the Longmenshan Range marked by a very high topographic energy while the one activated by the Nepal earthquake ruptured the surface in the frontal part of the Himalayas where the slopes are less steep and high. Finally, the calibrated factor combination was applied to almost 100 other earthquake events for which some landslide information was available. This comparison revealed the ability of the classification to provide a reasonable estimate of the number of triggered landslides and of the size of the affected area. According to this prediction, the most severe earthquake-triggered landslide event of the last one hundred years would actually be the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 followed by the 1950 Assam earthquake in India - considering that the dominating role of the Wenchuan earthquake data (including the availability of a complete landslide inventory) for the weighting of the factors strongly influences and may even bias this result. The strongest landslide impacts on human life in recent history were caused by the Haiyuan-Gansu earthquake in 1920 - ranked as third most severe event according to our classification: its size is due to a combination of high shaking intensity, an important 'Fault factor' and the extreme susceptibility of the regional loess cover to slope failure, while the surface morphology of the affected area is much smoother than the one affected by the Wenchuan 2008 or the Nepal 2015 earthquakes. Conclusions: The main goal of the classification of earthquake-triggered landslide events is to help improve total seismic hazard assessment over short and longer terms. Considering the general performance of the classification-prediction, it can be seen that the prediction either fits or overestimates the known/observed number of triggered landslides for a series of earthquakes, while it often underestimates the size of the affected area. For several events (especially the older ones), the overestimation of the number of landslides can be partly explained by the incompleteness of the published catalogues. The underestimation of the extension of the area, however, is real - as some particularities cannot be taken into account by such a general approach: notably, we used the same seismic intensity attenuation for all events, while attenuation laws are dependent on regional tectonic and geological conditions. In this regard, it is likely that the far-distant triggering of landslides, e.g., by the 1988 Saguenay earthquake (and the related extreme extension of affected area) is due to a very low attenuation of seismic energy within the North American plate. Far-distant triggering of landslides in Central Asia can be explained by the susceptibility of slopes covered by thick soft soils to failure under the effect of low-frequency shaking induced by distant earthquakes, especially by the deep focal earthquakes in the Pamir - Hindukush seismic region. Such deep focal and high magnitude (> > 7) earthquakes are also found in Europe, first of all in the Vrancea region (Romania). For this area as well as for the South Tien Shan we computed possible landslide event sizes related to some future earthquake scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The greater one-horned rhinoceros or Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) faced extinction in British India at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1908, the Government of Assam established the Kaziranga Game Reserve (KGR, now Kaziranga National Park) to preserve the vanishing rhino. As the twentieth century progressed, creating wilderness -- by demonising the presence of the peasants and graziers -- became a global panacea for protecting wildlife. Contrary to that belief, this article will show how the rhino population revived amidst human existence dictated by agro-ecological interactions and bureaucratic expediencies. The rhino's ethology and its place in the imagination of rural people minimised its enemies. Moreover, in fluvial geography that constantly transformed the KGR's boundaries, peasants and graziers creatively negotiated their usufruct rights and supported rhino preservation. Locating the KGR in the historical analysis of fluvial agro-ecology, this study illuminates how a critical interaction between different actors, i.e. human and non-human and coloniser and colonised, accentuated the cultural and material contestations amidst which the rhino eventually survived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study to identify the use and awareness of research management software tools among the research scholars of selected university of Assam. The data was collected by using online survey method through questionnaire. A total number of 91 research scholars participated in this survey. The study reveals that most of the research scholars (80.21%) are aware about research management software, highest percentage of the research scholars( 61.6 %) are not attended courses or workshop on reference management software, most of the research scholars(46.1%) are using Mandeley for their research activities,most of the research schoolars(60.4%)are agree that their libraries are not providing reference management software tools in libraries, highest of research scholars(34.06%)are facing problem with insufficient training, most of research scholars (39.5%) are saving their time by using research management software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to many Hindus, travelling to Assam, in North-East India, is dangerous. The Assamese woman might trap the male outsider, using her magic to transform him into a goat and turn him back into a man at night. Unable to leave, the man would become the sex-toy of his mistress. Fear is the emotion many Hindus once felt (and still feel) about remote Assam. Still, many set off on a pilgrimage to Assam's most famous temple - the Kāmākhyā temple in Guwahati. In many narratives, Assam, though frightening, is the source of occult knowledge for those who are prepared to cope with such awe-inspiring power. Through the analysis of several narratives about Assam, the paper advances a reflection on our notion of fear and shows how the latter is often tightly connected to attraction. The narratives are taken from several field visits by the author and her research focusing on the Kāmākhyā temple, as well as common stories from Hindu folklore. Together they explore a frightening picture of Assam. To make sense of these data, the paper evokes the notion of śakti and analyses the way Assamese women are depicted in the narratives under consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The creation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam is indicative of the sharpening tensions surrounding citizenship, belonging and integration in India. Officially aimed at demarcating the "legitimate citizens", its implementation is believed to have resulted in the partial exclusion of the so-called "Doubtful Voters" and denationalisation of the "illegitimate residents". These frictions associated with citizenship identity and rights are nowhere as acute as in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, where measures of retroactive revocation, administrative erasure and withdrawal of citizenship rights have been systematically deployed against religious and linguistic minorities. Using new research with some NRC rejected applicants in western Assam and other materials, this article identifies the central aspects of the implementation gap in the crucial, albeit problematic task of locating the rightful "Assamese-Indian" citizens. Linking our work to the idea of the 'process is the punishment', we conceptualise these conspicuous inconsistencies in the NRC citizenship determination processes and their results as the "punitive gap". We have identified the distinctive contours of this gap in terms of the massive economic costs, intensification of social (including gender and religion-based) inequalities, increased control through social suspicion and unpredictable outcomes for the marginal Miya Muslim community. The article highlights how this punitive gap has constantly eroded key components of due process, of procedural and substantive protections of the rights of individuals, during the NRC determination exercise and after the release of the final draft list. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tries to determine the current Institutional Repository (IR) scenario in the central university libraries of Assam. A systematic questionnaire for the respondents was developed to capture the primary data. The surveys were handed out or sent to the target groups, and they were returned by hand or e-mail. Many conditions must be satisfied to properly establish IRs. According to the current study, the main hurdles to IRs in central university libraries of Assam are lack of technical assistance and high-speed internet connection. Why are certain academics allowed to see their work while others are not? What would make it possible for teachers to share their knowledge resources to help knowledge societies thrive? The Open Education Resources (OER) movement promotes the free and open sharing of educational resources. This study monograph demonstrates the positive attitude towards others among higher education instructors in India, which is driven to use the resources and distribute them for altruistic motives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is worldwide consensus today that problems relating to the environment have reached immense proportions and that immediate drastic steps should be taken by nations and the authorized global community to arrest the decline of our environment. The World Health Organization estimates that roughly 25 percent of the disease burden in the developing world is due to environmental factors. For this paper Environmental Human Development Index (EHDI) has been measured, which is a modified version of Human Development Index (HDI) in the pursuit of Conceptualizing a Sustainable Human Development Index in a Globalized World by Evidence from Assam and Meghalaya. This study is based on secondary data obtained from multiple sources. These are like- Census 2011, Central Pollution Control Board, India stat, World Bank, etc. The paper concludes with policy implications for the topic at hand. This study tries to search for development situation regarding the environmental condition of two sister states of North East India. After including the ecological parameters and household status, the shape of the development index is changing. Both states are increasing the development index value. But here Meghalaya increased its development value more than the state Assam. This study portrays with increasing environmental pollutants of particular state morbidity, especially cardiac diseases are growing.

In this paper, we shall examine how possession is understood in Assam, India. We are aware that the larger northeastern frontier of India retained indigenous practices, religious festivals, and beliefs in a plethora of exotic goddesses, rituals, which have continued unabated through modern times. This has resulted in cross-pollination between the Vedic or traditional Brahmanical or orthodox Hindu practices and the indigenous practices, which in turn has yielded a hybrid world of Śā kta Tantra rituals and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides new information on the two medically important snakes, Bungarus niger and B. lividus from northeastern India. Included are morphological data on both the species and for the first time, genetic data (cytb) on B. lividus and establishing the genetic relation of the species to its congeners. We also provide brief descriptions of hemipenial morphology and new distributional records for both the species, along with notes on their natural history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Operational large-scale flood monitoring using publicly available satellite data is possible with the advent of Sentinel-1 microwave data, which enables near-real-time (at 6-day intervals) flood mapping day and night, even in cloudy monsoon seasons. Automated flood inundation area identification in near-real-time involves advanced geospatial data processing platforms, such as Google Earth Engine and robust methodology (Otsu's algorithm). Objectives: The current study employs Sentinel-1 microwave data for flood extent mapping using machine learning (ML) algorithms in Assam State, India. We generated a flood hazard and soil erosion susceptibility map by combining multi-source data on weather conditions and soil and terrain characteristics. Random Forest (RF), Classification and Regression Tool (CART), and Support Vector Machine (SVM) ML algorithms were applied to generate the flood hazard map. Furthermore, we employed the multicriteria evaluation (MCE) analytical hierarchical process (AHP) for soil erosion susceptibility mapping. Summary: The highest prediction accuracy was observed for the RF model (overall accuracy [OA] > 82%), followed by the SVM (OA > 82%) and CART (OA > 81%). Over 26% of the study area indicated high flood hazard-prone areas, and approximately 60% showed high and severe potential for soil erosion due to flooding. The automated flood mapping platform is an essential resource for emergency responders and decision-makers, as it helps to guide relief activities by identifying suitable regions and appropriate logistic route planning and improving the accuracy and timeliness of emergency response efforts. Periodic flood inundation maps will help in long-term planning and policymaking, flood management, soil and biodiversity conservation, land degradation, planning sustainable agriculture interventions, crop insurance, and climate resilience studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study compared the achievements of higher secondary level students before and during the COVID 19 pandemic in five subjects-English, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. This study was conducted on higher secondary level students from Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), Assam, India. Dichotomous variables like rural and urban, tribal and non-tribal are considered for sample collection. A stratified random sampling technique is used for data collection. When five subjects are considered as a unit, the Mahalanobis Distance (MD) is used to measure the difference in dynamical character of achievements. There is a significant difference in the achievement of students between pre-COVID 19 and during COVID 19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea plantations in South Asia were notorious for the slavery-like working conditions during the colonial period. Although the factors such as the colonial state and closed economy among others that enabled the slavery-like work conditions have changed, the ‘un-free’ conditions of work still determine the social production of the tea garden labourers. The unfree conditions of tea garden labour have been the subject of many research projects. However, attempts to examine tea garden and its labouring people through the lens of precarity is limited. Drawing from in-depth interviews with tea garden workers this paper uses the concept of precarity of place and space to examine the experience of precarity of tea garden workers in Assam.

This paper presents a case study aimed at selecting suitable body gestures to represent actions that viewers of a televised maternal health information program will recognize and understand. This program is designed for pregnant women in rural Assam in India. We observed the gestures of 24 pregnant women to determine how to present the following seven computational functions that were used in the health information program: Select, Pause, Resume, Help, Activate Menu, Next, and Previous. The participants belonged to the low socio-economic strata in rural Assam, India and most had poor literacy levels. A participatory approach through a user-generated gesture collection method was used for this study. This study produced a total of 49 different gestures that participants performed to represent the seven computational functions. We selected seven body gestures based on the frequency of use, logical suitability to represent functions, the decreased possibility that the gestures would be accidently performed (false positives), and the ease of detection for the chosen technology (technical limitations). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the phonological features in Dijuwa dialect of Dimasa spoken in Karbi Anglong district of Assam and Dimapur district of Nagaland. It belongs to Bodo-Garo group of Tibeto-Burman language family. It introduces the segmental and supra-segmental which includes vowel phonemes, distribution of vowel phonemes, diphthongs, distribution of diphthongs, consonant phonemes, distribution of consonant phonemes, consonant cluster and syllable structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An initiative has been carried out through Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) and TERI for providing clean energy solutions to the unserved segments of the society in the villages of Assam. A total of 279 solar home lighting systems were deployed in the unelectrified households of villages of the Golaghat, Jorhat, and Majuli districts. This paper focuses on the smooth mechanism for the field deployment of technology in association with multi-stakeholders. It also examines the impact on the lives of people by making it more convenient in terms of quality illumination, reduced kerosene consumption, and reduced fear of wild animals and insects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how UK-based companies deal with their responsibility to respect the human rights of Assam (India) tea plantation workers. Through qualitative content analysis of publicly available corporate reports and other documents, it investigates how companies approach and communicate their potential human rights impacts. It highlights the gap between well-documented human rights issues on the ground and corporate reports on these issues. It aims to answer the following research question: in a context where the existence of human rights violations at the end of the supply chain is well-documented, how do companies reconcile their possible connection with those violations and the corporate responsibility to respect human rights under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights? This paper reveals the weakness of the current corporate social responsibility (CSR) approach from the perspective of rights-holders. It supports a business and human rights approach, one that places the protection of human rights at its core. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to decipher the digital and palmar dermatoglyphic patterns among the Ahom community in Assam's Lakhimpur district. It examines the sexual dimorphism in the dermatoglyphic characteristics of the population's fingers. Additionally, it compares current results with those from other ethnic groups previously studied to evaluate group heterogeneity. The study relies on the finger and palm prints of 100 Ahom individuals (50 males and 50 females) from Lakhimpur, using established dermatographic techniques. The male Ahom display a 'Mongoloid' ethnic affinity according to the Dankmeijer index, while the female samples slightly exceed the Mongoloid threshold. Both genders exhibit a broad variation in the pattern intensity index, characteristic of Mongoloid populations. A more comprehensive study with a larger sample size is crucial for a thorough understanding of all dermatoglyphic features related to ethnic diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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According to many Hindus, travelling to Assam, in North-East India, is dangerous. The Assamese woman might trap the male outsider, using her magic to transform him into a goat and turn him back into a man at night. Unable to leave, the man would become the sex-toy of his mistress. Fear is the emotion many Hindus once felt (and still feel) about remote Assam. Still, many set off on a pilgrimage to Assam’s most famous temple – the Kāmākhyā temple in Guwahati. In many narratives, Assam, though frightening, is the source of occult knowledge for those who are prepared to cope with such awe-inspiring power. Through the analysis of several narratives about Assam, the paper advances a reflection on our notion of fear and shows how the latter is often tightly connected to attraction. The narratives are taken from several field visits by the author and her research focusing on the Kāmākhyā temple, as well as common stories from Hindu folklore. Together they explore a frightening picture of Assam. To make sense of these data, the paper evokes the notion of śakti and analyses the way Assamese women are depicted in the narratives under consideration.