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This article examines the role of the arts in education through a detailed sharing of a research project, Hum Hindustani, on children and citizenship. Using examples of work co-created with children in art workshops for the project, the article offers an understanding of the place of the arts in the classroom to provoke a larger conversation that can lead to meaningful ways of engaging with children. It looks at questions of children's voice, authenticity and positionality to argue for a reflexive teaching practice that can challenge pedagogies that emphasise tests and results, and instead allow for the development of the whole individual.

The spatial turn in humanities and social sciences has contributed towards a significant discourse on the city and urban spaces, and street art is widely accepted to be one of the ways in which one can analyse and unravel the cityscape. The utilization of the public domain of the city, its entanglements with urban authorities and its diverse potential has sparked several debates, and I seek to engage in the same, and interrogate the role of street art in modifying the cityscape. Through the course of my paper, I seek to interrogate the changing cityscape of Delhi and the role that street art has played in the same, post the events of 13th and 15th December 2019. The walls of Jamia Millia Islamia serve as a canvas for the articulation of resistance against the State and its excesses, its personal testimony of the same, and the graffiti on the same covers a plethora of topics, ranging from assertions of revolution, encouraging slogans and ominous warnings by literary figures, and is a dynamic form of subversion of State Power, unlike the street art projects at Lodhi Art Districts that are aimed at gentrification. The murals have been painted by students but the anonymity of the artists is retained, and thus belongs to no one but the multiplicity. I seek to study the reorientation of the cityscape of Delhi by the protest sites of Jamia and Shaheen Bagh that is not just limited to street art but the rerouting and diversion of traffic, creation of temporary structures like classrooms and libraries outside the institution and on the roads through the works of Henri Lefebvre, and weigh the significance of this protest.

During an eight month period in 2019 the researchers conducted case study classroom-based observations and pursued conversations with ten study abroad participants from four Fulbright-Hays study abroad programs (India, South Korea, Israel, SeneGambia). Observing, documenting and reflecting on the translation of global to local and local to global academic, cultural and pedagogical insights in the work of the preservice and in-service teachers is the focus of the grounded theory qualitative research study. Global experiential learning for college students is repeatedly described as transformative, while research studies have indicated the difficulty in identifying specific outcomes of short term study abroad experiences. By working with preservice and in-service teachers, this qualitative case study researches new conceptual perspectives and quotidian meaning-making practices in actual classrooms. The coded grounded theory case study research details turn-key classroom activities and reflections on four select themes of multilingualism, gender/racial diversity, holocaust/genocide education/social and emotional learning, and the universal language of technology and the arts framed by conceptual understandings of cosmopolitanism and critical consciousness.

The need to improvise and take action as a practitioner draws on Schwab's notion of deliberation and the Greek concept of poiesis. Inspired by an impromptu discussion with students at a computer summer camp, the author uses the works of Sarason, Eisner, and Stenhouse to show how practitioner performance, student audience, educational inquiry, teacher as researcher, and curricular change are interrelated.

The present study is aimed to find out the level of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) of pre-service teachers. The study also finds out the effect of gender and streams on TPACK of Pre-service teachers. For this purpose a sample consist of 131 pre-service teachers of the department of Education, Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh were selected by using Simple Random Sampling technique. TPACK scale developed by Hosseini, Z., & Anand, K. (2012) was used for data collection purposes. Data were analyzed by Mean, Standard Deviation, t-test, and ANOVA. The findings of the study revealed the fact that on TPACK scale Pre-service teachers have a high mean score in Technological Knowledge and low mean score in Technological Content Knowledge. The present study indicates that both male and female differs in Technological Knowledge, but overall TPACK of pre-service teachers have no difference on the basis of gender. Similarly, there exists no significant difference in Technological Pedagogical Content knowledge of pre-service teachers among different streams (science, art, and social sciences).

This article describes and explains the development of 'organic theatre', a theatre form that blends art and agriculture, developed in Kerala, South India. This theatre is an info-tainment medium that provides information about agrarian activities and entertainment by employing folk and regional artefacts in an interactive theatre space. Organic theatre responds to global issues concerning climate change and environmental crisis. As a political form of interactive art, it attempts to make an impact upon the audience. For this, the organic theatre described here devised a character 'Kadamban Moothan' -- who became central to the way this new mode of theatre raised awareness.

Cultural Heritage means to inherent and cultivate the cultural disinclinations from one generation to next generation. It is possible by education as well as following the traditional livelihood of ours; it is conducted formal/consciously or informal/unconsciously. One of the traits of education is to hand on the cultural values and behaviour pattern of the society to its young and potential members. By this, means society achieves a basic social conformity and ensures that traditional modes of life are preserved. This has been called the conservative function of education. Handing on tradition is bound at times to be in conflict with a desire to initiate change. When a society is changing slowly, the new elements of its culture can be more easily absorbed. However, the rapid changes in the industrial society in the changing scenario have led to much conflict between old and new habits of life and thought. Here there are two contradictory functions of education which are both necessary and it can be shown that there are conditions of society under which these can be reconciled. Hence in order to emphasize the need to link education and cultural heritage, its inheritance, preservation and cultivation, I decided to have a study of awareness of cultural heritage among the teachers at university level, so that we may have come to know that our teachers, formulating the "Destiny of India" (as stated by Education Commission, 1964-66, "Destiny of India is being shaped into their classroom") are aware about the Indian culture, its heritage or not because teacher are at the core of education structure, policy, values and cultural heritage to inculcate these values among our educands. Heritage awareness is a crucial part of any heritage conservation and management. The creation of awareness is time-consuming and it requires commitment and local support. It is often the most recognizable component of a heritage management. One of the most effective ways to build and maintain respect for community's heritage is through a selection of activities that raise public awareness and increase appreciation. The success of heritage conservation initiatives depends on the understanding and participation of the local community.

Purpose: Inclusive organizations believe in integrating all toward synergistic outcomes. However, the extent to which inclusive education plays their role toward inclusive organizations requires more explorations. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical model exploring authentic leadership (AL) as a predictor of inclusive organization in an Indian school context. Design/methodology/approach: The paper theoretically develops a model to explore and establish inclusive classroom (IC) settings in emerging nations. Findings: The study further provides academic optimism (AO), a latent term comprising collective efficacy, faculty trust and academic emphasis as its dimensions to intervene the linkage between AL and IC. Since teaching pedagogies help teachers to express their real intentions, this study also posits art-based innovation pedagogy as a future-oriented art pedagogy to strengthen the effect of teachers' AO on IC. Originality/value: This study will benefit the practitioners and academicians to re-design their policies and practices in developing nation education system.

This paper reports on an investigation into middle school students' naive ideas about, and attitudes towards design and designers. The sample for the survey consisted of students from Classes 7 to 9 from a school located in Mumbai. The data were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively to look for trends in students' responses. Results show that Indian middle school students, who had no experience in design and technology education, demonstrated an incomplete understanding of what design is and what designers do. Most students considered design as some artistic rendering process where the designer is engaged in decorating or making things look attractive. Very few students suggested design as planning before making. Students demonstrated a good understanding of the skills associated with designers and showed a positive attitude towards designers and design learning. Insights from the study have implications for design curriculum development at the school level. (Contains 7 tables.)

In common conception, art is often confined to a painting, sculpture, architecture or performance; we maintain however that what enables any art or artistic practice to become aesthetic is human experience. Arts and aesthetic practices are integral to the everyday lives of the indigenous Sabar tribes of India, particularly, in ascertaining Sabar "ways of knowing, being and doing". This article describes the nature of Sabar aesthetic experience, and its educational relevance, through an empirical study employing ethnomethodology and innovative participatory tools. It examines definitions and identifies limitations considered through an indigenous lens before introducing the social actors of the study. Findings illustrates how aesthetic practices empower voice by enabling multitextual expressions, rebuilding trust with the community and generating data that other methods may render invisible. The article offers discussions on how everyday aesthetic experiences and practices are imperative to the development of an authentic being. It conceptualises an educational ecology towards the realisation of sustainable educational systems and culturally critical ideals of education. We argue for an education for emancipation, through difference not domination, through enabling aesthetic and authentic beings. Ultimately, we urge a critical and creative future citizenship that is empowered by education, not constrained by its demands.

Despite growing concern about the need to develop talent across the globe, relatively little empirical research has examined how students develop their academic talents. Toward this end, the current study explored how academically talented students from the United States and India spend their time both in and out of school. Indian students reported spending roughly 11 more hours on academics than their U.S. peers during the weekend in both STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and non-STEM topics. U.S. students reported spending about 5.4 more hours than their Indian peers on non-STEM academics during the week, leaving an approximately 7-hour-a-week academic gap between U.S. and Indian students. Additionally, U.S. students reported using electronics over 14 hours per week more than their Indian peers. Indian students also reported having control over a greater proportion of their time during the week than U.S. students did. Generally, there were far more cross-cultural differences than gender differences. These results inform discussions on how academically talented students develop within educational systems as well as what each culture supports in and out of school.

Gond painting, an integral part of the Gond cultural identity of central India, has emerged as highly appreciated and recognised tribal art form worldwide in the recent times. These traditional paintings are believed to have started with the transformation of Gond oral folklores. The Pradhan Gond, a subgroup of the Gonds, who were traditionally assigned to sing songs of the glorification of the gods, goddesses and nature with a Bana, a traditional single-stringed musical instrument, was assumed to initiate the paintings of Gond folktales. They narrated the collective beliefs, values and legends of the Gond tribe on the origin, relationship and divine powers in the form of paintings. The traditions of performing the assigned responsibilities of Pradhan Gond were believed to have lost during the Mughal era and British rule. This research paper focuses on the study of the reflections of three popular Gond folk stories, i.e. Basin Kanya, Mahua tree and Bada Dev, in the contemporary Gond paintings of Madhya Pradesh. The paintings of Jangarh Singh Shyam and Durga Bai have been chosen for the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details findings from a project on the potential for arts activities and art therapy to support the mental health and wellbeing of children living in Kashmir. The intervention engaged 30 school children over the course of one year who produced various forms of artwork and performances. In this paper, we report on project impacts, drawing on some of our qualitative measures including observations and interviews. Our research details impacts and improvements in areas of emotional expression, belonging, and agency. We also found an important role for schools to create safe, secure, and caring spaces to allow students to express themselves and work through traumatic feelings in a non-judgemental way. School-based arts interventions can play an important role in the mental health and wellbeing of children. Critical here, however, are dedicated space, time, and resources to provide a supportive environment and to sustain activity in long-term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on art productions by children participating in an art-based wellbeing intervention project in Kashmir. Drawing on feminist security studies, we conducted narrative analysis to explore how children represent in/security. The locations of in/security were the environment, the body, and the socio-political realm. Children articulated nuanced and complex representations of the natural and social world, influenced by local and global forces, and created their own meanings and practices of in/security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: HIV and tuberculosis (TB) co-infection is a significant public health challenge, particularly in resource-limited settings. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of highly active anti-retroviral drugs (ART) and factors associated with treatment failure among HIV-TB patients in an Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Centre in Southern Odisha, India. Material and Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 162 HIV-TB patients receiving ART between April 2015 and March 2021. Data were collected on socio-demographic characteristics, clinical features, treatment regimens, and outcomes. Treatment failure was defined as a switch to second-line ART due to clinical or immunological failure. Results: Most patients were aged 26-45, married, illiterate, and unemployed. Most had WHO stage 1 disease at ART initiation. Tenofovir-based regimens were commonly used for both first-line and second-line ART. Clinical failure (73.5%) was the primary reason for switching to second-line ART, followed by immunological failure (26.5%). Patients with longer TB co-infection (>6 months) had a higher rate of clinical failure. Second-line ART significantly increased the mean CD4 count from 253.32 to 339.25 cells/mm3 (p=0.000). Conclusion: Clinical failure and longer TB co-infection were associated with switching to second-line ART among HIV-TB patients. Second-line ART effectively improved immune status. Regular monitoring and timely treatment of HIV-TB co-infection are crucial to prevent drug resistance and treatment failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Indian farmers have musculoskeletal disorders as agriculture is a physically demanding occupation. OBJECTIVES: The main aim of this study is to identify ergonomic and psychosocial risk factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among different groups of farmers. The other objective is to investigate how MSDs affect farmers' daily lives and interfere with their activities. METHODS: Farmers were evaluated for the repetitiveness of work and MSDs using the standard Nordic questionnaire, ergonomic assessment tool (REBA), and ART tool. RESULTS: Low back portions were the most affected body parts, followed by the knees (OR = 0.352; 95% CI = 0.280–0.598), shoulder (OR = 0.657; 95% CI = 0.405–1.066), neck (OR = 0.510; 95% CI = 0.350–0.743), ankle or foot (OR = 0.815; 95% CI = 0.556–1.196), and upper back region (OR = 0.681; 95% CI = 0.463–1.002). The REBA method found that most of the postures in farming are very dangerous. The ART tool showed that most of the activities are repetitive. Working long hours (90%) and monotony at work (87.5%) are the main psychosocial factors, followed by pressure to finish within a given timeframe (71.4%) and injuries related to MSDs. CONCLUSION: Farmers suffer from musculoskeletal disorders in various body parts (lower back, knee, neck, shoulder, and upper back) due to squatting, stooping, and other constrained working postures during agricultural activities. rolonged working hours, repetitive movements, and MMH are ergonomic risk factors forFurthermore, p MSDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is on Kala Utsav an annual event of NCERT & MOE for children studying at the secondary level. It is an important activity for school students and aims to identify talent in the field of different forms of Arts. Since 2015 the event has given opportunity to thousands of students, artists, artisans, and administrators to help them understand the unique aspects of diversity prevailing in every region of our country, India. Kala Utsav helps in the recognition of arts and conserves, preserves, and evolves art forms. The event is also unique for its inclusive aspect as the participants from the urban, rural, and remote areas of India, differently abled are able to participate and get a platform to showcase their talent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has a huge treasure of Visual art Architecture. In recent years, more attention is done to the digitization of these Indian Visual Arts Architectures for promoting the travel and tourism of the country across the world. Digitization will create a huge repository of Visual Arts Architecture images. But there exists no methodology to explore images of these huge repositories. In this paper, two machine learning-based methods were proposed that utilize these huge, digitized repositories and try to characterize the age and sub-age of Indian architectures based on the historical ontology available in the historical books. The first method was based on classification and the second method was based on segmentation. Two different variants of convolution neural networks were combined with fuzzy logic for the proposed methods. To analyze the results of the proposed methods performance evaluation matrix classification accuracy was used. The classification accuracy of the second method was best compared to the first method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although a major public health problem around the world, the prevalence of anemia and the associated factors in HIV-infected individuals remains understudied in the Indian context. Objectives: The objective was to assess the prevalence of anemia and the associated factors among HIV-infected individuals. Methods: The records of 513 HIV-affected individuals (M: F: 244:269) aged 12 to 84 years (mean ± SD: 37.5 ± 12.1) were reviewed retrospectively for the presence of anemia and the associated factors. The anemia was defined and severity was graded per the WHO guidelines. Results: Anemia of variable severity was present in 77.7% of the individuals. The female sex(OR: 2.09; Cl: 95%; CI: 1.41--3.10; p < 0.05), CD4+ count ≤ 200 cells/microliter (OR: 2.36; Cl: 95%; CI: 1.59--3.52; p < 0.0001), WBC count < 4000 cells/mm3 (OR: 3.29; Cl: 95%; CI: 0.97--11.14; p < 0.04), platelet count < 100,000 cells/dL (OR: 0.50; Cl: 95%; CI: 0.31--0.81; p < 0.05), before ART (OR: 3.78; Cl: 95%; CI: 2.91--4.91; p < 0.0001), and tuberculosis treatment (OR: 5.88; Cl: 95%; CI: 1.38--25.04; p < 0.05) were factors significantly associated with anemia. The mean duration of highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART) was 3.15 years, with 395 (77%) individuals being on treatment for ≤ five years. ART significantly improved hemoglobin levels (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Anemia of variable severity remains a significant co-morbidity among HIV-infected individuals, especially females, prior to the initiation of ART, and those with a low CD4+ count or thrombocytopenia and on anti-tuberculosis treatment. The fact that this was a single-center study, its small number of subjects, the retrospective design, and no information on red blood cell indices and the viral load were its important limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: The number of people receiving second-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) has increased as global access to ART has expanded. Data on the burden and factors associated with second-line ART virologic failure (VF) from India remain limited. Methods: We conducted cross-sectional viral load (VL) testing among adults (≥ 18 years) who were registered at a publicly funded ART center in western India between 2014 and 2015 and had received second-line ART for at least 6 months. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were abstracted from routinely collected programmatic data. Logistic regression evaluated factors associated with VF (defined as VL > 1000 copies/mL). Results: Among 400 participants, median age was 40 years (IQR 34–44), 71% (285/400) were male, and 15% (59/400) had VF. Relative to participants without VF, those with VF had lower median CD4 counts (230 vs 406 cells/mm3, p < 0.0001), lower weight at first-line failure (49 vs 52 kg, p = 0.003), were more likely to have an opportunistic infection (17% vs 3%, p < 0.0001) and less likely to have optimal ART adherence (71% vs 87%, p = 0.005). In multivariable analysis, VF was associated with opportunistic infection (aOR, 4.84; 95% CI, 1.77–13.24), lower CD4 count (aOR 4.15; 95% CI, 1.98–8.71) and lower weight at first-line failure (aOR, 2.67; 95% CI, 1.33–5.34). Conclusions: We found second-line VF in about a sixth of participants in our setting, which was associated with nearly fivefold increased odds in the context of opportunistic infection. Weight could be a useful clinical indicator for second-line VF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collecting and scattering may seem like opposites, but they are in fact complementary, interdependent actions. To collect religious art and other objects is also to scatter them. Though collecting can sometimes be virtuous, it is always disruptive to some previous order. Reversing that kind of disruption, which occurred on a grand scale during European explorations and colonization of much of the world, is not always possible, but telling the stories of those disruptions is an important first step for museums to take. A next step is to engage in meaningful conversations with places from which objects have been collected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: HIV/AIDS is a serious public health, economic and social problem. Stigma is a common human reaction to disease and discrimination follows stigma. Stigma and discrimination act as impediments to uptake of HIV testing, treatment, care and adherence to treatment. Aim: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of the stigma and discrimination faced by HIV positive patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). Settings and Design: A cross-sectional, observational study conducted at ART center of a tertiary care hospital in an urban area. Methods and Material: Participants were selected by simple random sampling among HIV positive patients. A predesigned, pretested and self-administered, semi-structured questionnaire in local language was used to assess stigma and discrimination. Statistical Analysis Used: The data were entered in Microsoft Excel and analyzed with SPSS version 20 statistical software. Simple proportions, mean, standard deviation, median, range and inter-quartile range were calculated. Results: Of 336 participants, 170 were male, whereas 166 were females. The mean age was 36.42 years. The total mean scores for Berger’s HIV stigma scale experienced was 122.82, whereas for individual subscale Personalized stigma, Negative self-image, public attitudes and disclosure of HIV status were 38.31, 27.46, 33.09 and 23.97, respectively. The maximum participants expressed the stigma regarding disclosure concerns (58.63%) followed by negative self-image stigma (43.45%). Conclusions: Stigma hurdles the delivery of effective medical social care. People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) need to have greater involvement in their care, support and treatment. Support groups of PLWHA need to be established so that stigma and discrimination at various levels can be challenged collectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mustansar Husain tarr's novel "Bhao" is based on an imaginary hamlet. It was situated on the bank of river Ghagra or Sarsvati. The novel describes the lost civilization of pre Aryan era in sub-continent. According to this novel the first ever civilization of man on earth, was agriculture and the first model of art was utensils, made of clay. Human social and collective life, presented in this novel, is consisted of religious beliefs, social norms, passions and feelings, division of social work etc. it also shows the rituals of marriage and death. In that village polyandry was in practice in which Paroshni has two husbands, Samro and Warchan. Polyandry was an old practice in India, according to Mahabharata; Draupandi was the daughter of king Panachala who was married to five brothers. The whole life of the village on the bank of river Ghagra revolves around the waters of Ghagra and its seasonal floods, the great waters. The river was not so deep but so wide that the other shore was on the skyline [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the authors explore the sensuous and material dimensions of artworks inspired by biological science. They use Maurice Merleau-Ponty's concept of "flesh" to reflect upon the embodied processes of understanding that unfold during a viewer's initial encounter with an artwork. Using Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of perception and the work of selected artists based in India who engage with biology and botany the authors locate the sensing body in a reciprocal relationship with these artists' works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines one strand of COVID art that encodes a heteroclitic cultural imaginary – and is irregular and unsettling. Banksy's murals and paintings parody classical artworks, and are themselves parodied, so as to capture the new cultural realities of the COVID era. In the case of other artists, such as Chiara Grilli, the traditional heliotrope is parodied to convey a similar reality, like Banksy's inversion of the superhero mythology. With the employment of conventional disease-vector images, such as those of rats, Banksy brings into the human 5dwelling a "postnatural wilderness" showing the reversal of the disruption of ecosystems that had rendered animals habitat-less in India, with animals once again entering human spaces. Hence, the pandemic's inversion of spatialized distribution of life can be seen as a decolonial and decolonizing moment. Subsequently, the article highlights how COVID-19 art intervenes through its parodic, kitschy quality, in the discourses around the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The period between "liberalization," or the 1991 opening of India's economy to foreign direct investment, and the 2008 onset of the Great Recession was one of unprecedented change in the forms of Indian art and the infrastructures that supported its understanding, presentation, and circulation. This period of efflorescence—of multiplying growth in and transformation of a set of interlocking artistic and social forms—poses methodological challenges similar to those identified by George E. Marcus and Fred R. Myers in their 1995 volume, The Traffic in Culture: Refiguring Art and Anthropology. Marcus and Myers' call to focus on appropriation, boundary-making, and circulation, though meant to submit the Western art world to critique, coincides quite clearly with three particularly salient changes seen in Indian contemporary art in the period: the turn to unconventional material as artistic media (appropriation); the deliberate integration of artistic work with the materialities of everyday life (boundary); and the development of entirely new curatorial infrastructures and frameworks (circulation). The present essay examines these changes through Mumbai-based artist Navjot Altaf's post-1996, ongoing collaborative work with adivasi (indigenous) artists in the Central Indian region of Bastar. Eventually registered as the NGO Dialogue Interactive Artists Association (DIAA), the collective's activities have ranged from parallel exhibitions of "art" and "craft" to site-specific, cross-disciplinary engagements with play structures (Pilla Gudi) and water taps (Nalpar) built upon collective practices meant to bridge the considerable social distance between urban upper-class and adivasi artists. DIAA's work with water, like other artistic engagements with infrastructure, highlights the social, aesthetic, material, and political aspects of the built networks that sustain everyday life. Their critique leveraged Marcus and Myers' ABCs, incorporating critical acts of appropriation, the active violation of social and geographical boundaries, and, above all, demonstration of a concern with circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article, titled "To Our Readers," reflects on the author's personal experience visiting the Taj Mahal in India and the profound impact it had on them. The author describes being overwhelmed by the beauty of the monument and compares it to the power of art to touch the soul. The article also highlights various forms of art and creativity discussed in the issue, including poetry, visual art, and music. The author expresses the hope that readers will find beauty that resonates with them in the publication. The article concludes with the announcement of a new editor for the Jung Journal. [Extracted from the article]

In large, complex societies, assorting with others with similar social norms or behaviors can facilitate successful coordination and cooperation. The ability to recognize others with shared norms or behaviors is thus assumed to be under selection. As a medium of communication, human art might reflect fitness-relevant information on shared norms and behaviors of other individuals thus facilitating successful coordination and cooperation. Distinctive styles or patterns of artistic design could signify migration history, different groups with a shared interaction history due to spatial proximity, as well as individual-level expertise and preferences. In addition, cultural boundaries may be even more pronounced in a highly diverse and socially stratified society. In the current study, we focus on a large corpus of an artistic tradition called kolam that is produced by women from Tamil Nadu in South India (N = 3, 139 kolam drawings from 192 women) to test whether stylistic variations in art can be mapped onto caste boundaries, migration and neighborhoods. Since the kolam art system with its sequential drawing decisions can be described by a Markov process, we characterize variation in styles of art due to different facets of an artist's identity and the group affiliations, via hierarchical Bayesian statistical models. Our results reveal that stylistic variations in kolam art only weakly map onto caste boundaries, neighborhoods, and regional origin. In fact, stylistic variations or patterns in art are dominated by artist-level variation and artist expertise. Our results illustrate that although art can be a medium of communication, it is not necessarily marked by group affiliation. Rather, artistic behavior in this context seems to be primarily a behavioral domain within which individuals carve out a unique niche for themselves to differentiate themselves from others. Our findings inform discussions on the evolutionary role of art for group coordination by encouraging researchers to use systematic methods to measure the mapping between specific objects or styles onto groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buddhist art owes its origin due to the religious devotion and fervour of Buddha's followers. But it received the greatest incentive from the great Mauryan emperor Asoka through whose efforts Buddhism became a popular religion in India. He did all that was possible for the propagation of Buddhism and art which reflects 'the ideas and ideals. ambitions, joys and fears of Buddhist deity'. There were other lay devotees who generously contributed to the erection of caityas, stupas and the like to express their deep veneration to Buddha. Thus the inspiration of the Buddhist art came from religion. Indeed, it also served as a valuable means for the propagation of Buddhism. Starting from the time of emperor Asoka upto the middle of the 1 st century B. C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Poor adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is associated with poor virologic control and drug resistance in people living with HIV/AIDS. Some barriers to ART adherence are cost, lack of information, stigma, or dissatisfaction with health services. Aims and Objectives: To study the association between barriers for ART adherence and viral suppression, and explore the role of "missing ART dose" as a potential mediator in high-risk groups. Materials and Methods: Demographic, clinical, and behavioral data from 50 "virally suppressed" (viral load [VL] <1000 copies/ml) and 48 "not suppressed" (VL > 1000 copies/ml) individuals belonging to the key population in Mumbai were collected. Sociodemographic, behavioral, and other characteristics were compared, and mediation analysis was used to identify the mediator in the pathway to viral suppression. Results: Those who had missed their ART at least once in the past three months (37% versus 60%, P = 0.03) and stayed alone were less likely to be virally suppressed (31% versus 69%, P = 0.002). Individuals who had negative perception about ART (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 0.11, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.02, 0.47; P = 0.002), poor ART-related knowledge/behaviors (aOR: 0.14, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.60; P = 0.007), and poor pill taking practices (aOR: 0.10, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.61; P = 0.01) were significantly less likely to be virally suppressed. The mediation pathway "adherence theme > missed ART in the past three months > viral suppression" was significant in these themes. Conclusions: The factors associated with low viral suppression were knowledge/behaviors, perceptions about ART, and poor pill taking practices. Thus, it is important to provide correct information about ART, its effects, side effects, and potential limitations to marginalized population. Involving brothel keepers and Gurus (head of male-to-female transgendered people/Hijras clans), and technology enabled customized counseling sessions will be helpful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suboptimal adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) regimens can lead to the development of drug resistance, virologic and clinical failure, and, on the community level, the spread of drug-resistant HIV. To design effective interventions, it is crucial to understand locally specific barriers to optimal adherence. Self-report data from a cross-sectional sample of 527 adherence-challenged people living with HIV (PLWH) in the South-Indian state of Karnataka showed that they took on average 68% of prescribed doses in the past month. Large majorities of participants encountered individual (95%), social/structural (88%), and clinic/regimen (80%) adherence barriers. Multivariate linear regression analyses of past month adherence showed that disclosure to all adults in the household was positively related to adherence, as was employing a larger number of adherence strategies, perceiving more benefits of ART, and having been on ART for longer. Fears of stigmatization upon disclosure of HIV-status to friends and people at work were negatively related to adherence. These results suggest that some barriers, especially individual-level barriers like forgetfulness are very common and can be targeted with relatively simple individual-level strategies. Other barriers, related to fear of stigma and lack of disclosure may require family- or community-level interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This dossier seeks to make the Indian Caribbean more visible and more pertinent to critical debates within Caribbean discourses. Few studies have undertaken serious analyses of Indian Caribbean creative expression, and most ignore the newness and complex fusions that characterize music, dance, and visual cultures in the postindenture diaspora. We endeavor to nuance conversations around marginalized Caribbean cultural production and multilocal identity, understanding the arts as useful historical archives. An overview of Indian indentureship precedes the presentation of the articles, which provide deep analyses that critically address these issues: how Indian identity is expressed and debated in performative and artistic practices, including LGBTQ challenges to categories of race and gender; what comparative analyses reveal about continuity, change, and exchange across the Indian Caribbean diaspora; how racial and cultural alterities are resolved within an African "creole" and/or multicultural framework; and how orientations to India, citizenship, and transnational belonging are expressed and processed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural hybrids complement the richness of the visual art of Masjid Agung Sang Cipta Rasa in Cirebon. The influence of diversity can be seen in the mosque including having strong local cultural characteristics, coupled with the influence of foreign cultures such as Arabic, India, and China. This study aims to find hybrid culture crosses in elements of Masjid Agung Sang Cipta Cipta. The method used is the historical method. The historical method is the process of critically testing and analyzing records and relics of the past. This method consists of several stages, namely heuristics, criticism, interpretation, and historiography. The results of this study describe various forms of hybridity that have influenced the development of Masjid Agung Sang Cipta Rasa. The elements are considered to represent the period before Islam entered, or the influence of Hindu Buddhism, Chinese, Arab, Javanese, and European that coexist in Cirebon. The elements of visual arts in the mosque which are part of the hybrid cultural cross-identity among which are represented on the roof that gets influence (Javanese, Hindu-Buddhist, Arabic/Islamic); gate (Hindu-Buddhist); maksurah (Arabic); mihrab (Arabic, Chinese); pillars (Javanese, Arabic). This shows that the greatest influence on the building of Masjid Agung Sang Cipta Rasa, starting from the earliest development until several centuries later, is the influence of culture from outside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the free availability of antiretroviral therapy in India, one expects that the out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure would reduce and would not be a significant financial burden. However, the cost of seeking care is also dependent on accessibility of services, as well as other non-medical and indirect expenses. This study aims to analyze the OOP expenditure in availing antiretroviral therapy (ART) services and determine the prevalence and pattern of catastrophic and impoverishing health expenditure. The study also discusses the policy implications of these findings in the light of growing commitment toward universal health coverage. This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 434 patients receiving antiretroviral treatment were interviewed. OOP expenses included a measure of direct medical expenditure, non-medical expenditure, and indirect expenditure incurred in availing ART services. A threshold level of 40% of 'capacity to pay' was taken as catastrophic expenditure. Based on previous research, different demographic, socio-economic, and clinical factors were selected as independent variables to determine their association with catastrophic expenditure. Logistic regression was conducted to study the association between independent and dependent variables keeping the level of significance at <0.05. The mean OOP expenditure among patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) taking ART was Rs. 238.8 ± 193.7. Majority of these expenses were incurred on non-medical expenditure (58.1%), while indirect expenditure accounted for 29.7%. The direct health expenditure was the lowest (12.2%) type of expenditure in the total OOP expenditure. OOP spending was catastrophic in 8.1% (35/434) of households in our study. Patients belonging to nuclear family (odds ratio [OR] = 2.99; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.19–7.58), who are unemployed (OR = 2.56; 95% CI = 1.18–5.54), of lower socio-economic classes (OR = 8.46; 95% CI = 1.93–37.02), those who traveled more than 50 km for getting drugs (OR = 2.80; 95% CI = 1.26–6.23), and those having CD4 cell count lower than 200 (OR = 3.11; 95% CI = 1.32–7.32) were found to be independently and significantly associated with catastrophic OOP health expenditure among patients with HIV. A high direct and indirect expenditure was observed among patients with HIV seeking treatment in North India leading to catastrophic expenditure in a significant number of households. A service-level integration of HIV care at subdistrict levels within the Universal health coverage (UHC) framework could reduce catastrophic expenditure. • Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is given free to patients with HIV/AIDS, but the compounding costs incurred because of non-medical and indirect expenses are high. • The high out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure was found to be catastrophic in 8.1% of the households availing ART services. • Households of about two-fifth of patients availing ART services were pushed below or further below the prevailing poverty line in India, including creation of one-tenth new poor households. • Catastrophic expenditure was associated with unemployment, longer distance to treatment centre and higher disease severity. • Service-level integration of HIV care within the UHC framework could be beneficial in reducing OOP expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Th e principal aim of this article is to analyse how cultural relations between India and Poland have transformed into cultural diplomacy. For this purpose, the article traces the historical interactions of culture between the two countries that precede their creation as modern-day republics. The article analyses the various stages through which cultural engagement between India and Poland have progressed. The author presents culture as a binding factor as it is paving the way for deeper engagements between the two sides. Cultural diplomacy between India and Poland is opening new avenues of interactions which are reflected in their political and economic relationship. The article argues that the absence of a strategic partnership puts impetus on cultural diplomacy as it becomes an important foundational block on which a future relationship can be build. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: HIV-TB co-infection continues to be a dual threat worldwide. Aim and objectives: To assess impact of ATT/ART treatment on CD4+T lymphocytes counts among HIV-TB co-infected patients Material and methods: A prospective longitudinal study on a total of 104 HIV and TB coinfected patients was conducted from November, 2017 to October, 2019, in the Department of Microbiology, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Hospital, Imphal, Manipur, India . Diagnosis of HIV was made as per NACO guidelines, Govt. of India using rapid kit tests. Diagnosis of TB was made as per RNTCP guidelines, Govt. of India. Estimation of CD4 cell counts was carried out by FACS count machine. Follow up of cases done after six months of initiation of ATT/ART. Result: In this study, there were 104 co-infected patients of HIV--TB. Out of the 104 subjects, 67 (64.4%) were from the rural area and the remaining 37(35.6%) were from urban area. There were more of males (72, 69.2%) than the females (32, 30.8%). The maximum number of co-infected patients were 46(42.2%) in the age group of 35-45 years. There were 58 cases of pulmonary TB, 41 cases of extra pulmonary TB and 5 cases of both. All the patients were on ATT and ART therapy. The 2nd CD4 count (283.59 cells /mm3 ) estimations after six months of therapy increases as compared to that of 1st CD4 counts (181.90 cells /mm3) and found statistically significant (p value = 0.0001). Conclusion: In the present study, there was improvement in CD4 counts after the coinfected patients were put on six months ATT/ART therapy. However regular monitoring of CD4 counts is highly required to avoid from other opportunistic infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of surrogacy in India over the last decade has helped individuals across the world to realize their parenting aspirations. In the macro-context of poverty in India and the hierarchical and patriarchal family set-up, concerns are expressed about coercion of women to participate in surrogacy. While the ethical issues engulfing surrogacy are widely discussed, not much is known about the role women play in the decision-making to participate in surrogacy. The paper aims to addresses this gap and is based on a part of a larger ethnographic study conducted at a surrogacy clinic in Anand, Gujarat, India. We explored experiences of forty-one surrogate mothers using in-depth interviews and analysed the narratives to identify women's own perceived role in the decision-making to participate in surrogacy. Narratives describing the decision-making process were identified and treated as a preliminary unit of analysis. We examined the use of singular and plural pronouns like "I," "me," and "mine" versus "we," "us," and "our," along with the use of active and passive voice to determine whether women assumed responsibility for the decision to participate in surrogacy or they attributed the decision to others. Findings unravelled the complexities of the decision-making process and indicated that eighty-five percent of the women played an active role in the decision-making to participate in surrogacy, albeit with new avenues of exploitation in the commercial market space and raised serious bioethical concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India the concept of "folk culture", "folk literature", "folk art form" and other forms of many indigenous folk cultures seem to be considered not aesthetic but quaint, due to the dominance of "classical" art forms which are valued more. One can witness the dearth of qualitative understanding of the experience of beauty in these actions and objects which are not considered as art objects or artistic performances in Indian context. A theoretical perspective which tries to understand these genres and even ritual forms is also rare. In the contemporary academics, many scholars both from the Indian tradition and non-Indian traditions are attempting to understand a different kind of aesthetics that the art forms of these people express. Thus, in this paper, I claim that understanding indigenous art is possible using theories of everyday aesthetics rather than through other special theories of aesthetics. While not arguing for a relative view of aesthetics, this paper uses the ideas of everyday aesthetics and beauty to understand art in folk and cultural contexts in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]