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Agricultural Extension Services aim at disseminating new knowledge and skill to farmers to aid them in adopting new agricultural technologies and use their resources efficiently. Agricultural knowledge improves their skill and decision-making and enhances more efficient utilization of agricultural technologies. With a sample of 160 famers collected from Golaghat district of Assam by using multi-staged random sampling method, this study attempts to understand the impact of extension services provided by ATMA (Agricultural Technology Management Agency) in rural Assam. The Propensity Score Matching (PSM) technique is employed to control for potential sample selection biases. The analysis and findings reveal that the extension services provided by ATMA in the study area positively impacts on the income and paddy production of the small and marginal farmers. Timely dissemination of extension services which meet the actual needs of the farmers can impact the farmers income and output production to larger extent.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the pre-eminent cereal crop of Assam in term of production and cultivable area. The measurement of genetic diversity is crucial to pick up the appropriate genotypes in a crop improvement programme. Identification of traits contributing towards genetic diversity in a given population can help in formulating effective selection criteria. This study was carried out in 64 indigenous rice genotypes collected from North Bank Plains and Upper Brahmaputra valley zones of Assam during rainy (kharif) seasons of 2021 and 2022. Based on the yield attributing characters, the cultivars were categorized into 8 clusters. Cluster evaluation showed that cluster II and V had farthest distance from cluster V (431.18), followed by cluster I and II (377.62). The study on the Principal component analysis showed the traits, days to 50% flowering (DF), days to maturity (DM), filled grains per panicle (FG), biological yield (BY) and harvest index (HI) had maximum contribution towards the total variability. The genotypes from the diverse clusters having desirable per se performance could be selected for inclusion as parents in hybridization programme. Identification of component traits through the principal component analysis will help in formulating efficient selection criteria for further genetic improvement of rice.

The study presents key findings on the outcomes of psychological wellbeing in the aftermath of a flood as well as the interplay of social, institutional, and environmental processes that influence psychological wellbeing. Eight focused group discussions and 15 key informant interviews were conducted in five villages in the Bongaigaon District of Assam six months after the devastating floods occurred in August 2021. Four themes are identified that concern the presence or absence of institutions and agencies, social capital, secondary stressors, and the availability of resources. Participants bemoan the institutional inability to support a reliable early warning system and strong structural measures to protect them from flooding. The majorities of residents in the study area make a livelihood out of subsistence farming and have limited resources. Shared helplessness and the inability to mobilise assistance have led to the development of camaraderie. When it comes to sharing insurance information, the displaced people report the envious nature of the community, where members seek the best for themselves before anyone else. The limited resources restrict the scope of the profit accrued from social networks. Relocation to substandard shelters, concern for children's academic impairment, the potential loss of community properties and the burden of repairing them, and visitors coming to see their predicament are the secondary stressors that impair psychological wellbeing. It is also reported that those who were able to migrate have already left; for those remaining in the temporary shelters, migration is too costly an option, and they are seeking institutional intervention.

India’s centre-heavy federalism suffered dual downturns in the 1990s, with the tides of globalization and economic liberalization challenging the sanctity of borders and the incidence of coalition politics increasing the salience of regional equations and demands. But Indian foreign policy in the 1990s remained the almost exclusive preserve of the Centre, ruled by several coalitions of political parties like the National Front (1989-1996), United Front (1996-1998). As Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popular yet controversial regime is poised at the middle of its second term in 2022 (beginning in 2019), the continued showcasing of the Centre’s leadership in foreign policy decisions, high-profile bilateral and multilateral engagements, bold collisions with uneasy neighbours, are only matched with the unilateralism exhibited within the borders. Given the oft-reported instances of acute voices of assertions by the states on various issues ranging from illegal and forced migration, resource-sharing, or economic development involving neighbouring countries, a stock-taking is needed, to explore how genuinely federal is India’s foreign policy. In other words, the role of the constituent states in leveraging influence and bargaining for their due share of active involvement as stakeholders, merits critical academic intervention. When tested against real cases, two observations can be made. The dynamics shaping federalism and foreign policy may not just involve the Centre and the states but involve local/regional factors and influences from across international borders as well. Second, there is no causal link between the nature of the government in power at the Centre, Union-state political equations, and the imperatives across the borders between provinces and neighbouring countries. This study examines three case studies; West Bengal, Assam, and the Northeast, to reveal that foreign policy operates within the constitutionally designed structures of federalism in India by negotiating recurrent complexities of politics and deceives regional stakeholders or states with narratives of inclusiveness.

Floods are frequently occurring events in the Assam region due to the presence of the Brahmaputra River and the heavy monsoon period. An efficient and reliable methodology is utilized to prepare a GIS-based flood risk map for the Assam region, India. At the regional and administrative level, the flood hazard index (FHI), flood vulnerability index (FVI), and flood risk index (FRI) are developed using multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) – analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The selected indicators define the topographical, geological, meteorological, drainage characteristics, land use land cover, and demographical features of Assam. The results show that more than 70%, 57.37%, and 50% of the total area lie in moderate to very high FHI, FVI, and FRI classes, respectively. The proposed methodology can be applied to identify high flood risk zones and to carry out effective flood risk management and mitigation strategies in vulnerable areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural to urban migration is rampant in India. Cities that are Petri dishes for rapid neo-liberal development can be unforgiving places for the vulnerable migrant population. The question we are looking forward to answering here is, how does neoliberal development in the cities affect and shape the lived experience of the vulnerable in-migrants in the growing cities of India? To explore this question, we have taken the case of migrant women to waste pickers who originate from Barpeta, Assam, and have settled in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. These women are placed at the lowest link in the hierarchy of power and economic structures in the urban spaces. They have been working for years, contributing significantly to the waste management of cities by segregation, cleaning, and recycling waste. Under the changing forms of governance, they have been facing a threat to their livelihoods. The paper is based on qualitative data collected through a field study conducted between December 2018 and December 2020 in villages in Barpeta as well as in slums in Lucknow inhabited by these Bengali-speaking Muslim migrants from Barpeta in Lower Assam. Data for this study were collected through the survey (n = 200) including semi-structured interviews (n = 100), follow-up visits (n = 70), and focus group discussions and case studies (n = 30). This paper is an attempt to present a gendered perspective on the trials and tribulations of women waste pickers and their place in the expeditious city space. In addition to the modality of statecraft, we have also explored various social, political, and economic dynamics that further affect them. Based on the findings that emerge from the qualitative data collected from the field, the paper has concluded with some policy recommendations that will help improve the lives of these women waste pickers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

Deepor Beel is the only Ramsar Site of Assam, India. This biodiversity-rich lake supports many aquatic and terrestrial species, including some globally threatened species. The lake is important to the livelihood of the local population as it provides opportunities for fishing and collection of other wetland biological resources. As a consequence, quality of water in this lake is important both economically and environmentally. In the present study, therefore, water quality of Deepor Beel was assessed with different Water Quality Indices in each month for 3 years. Qualitative and quantitative water quality trends of the lake were assessed from those data. The overall water quality of the lake was evaluated as fair (NSF WQI 55-76) with some deterioration during summer (NSF WQI 55-69). The lake was found to be somewhat turbid (11-34 NTU) and eutrophic (Nitrate 1.46–5.75 ppm, Phosphate 0.08–0.47 ppm) throughout the study period. This study also indicated a slight gradual deterioration of the lake every year during summer and post monsoon. Water quality of Deepor Beel was found to deteriorate with time from this study. Better management plan of this lake should be implemented for its sustenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of social exclusion refers to the processes through which some groups are wholly or partially excluded from full participation in the society in which they live. In light of this concept of social exclusion, the manuscript attempts to analyze the position of women in the north‐eastern Indian states especially in the state of Assam and Manipur. Women in the north‐eastern region of India are relatively better than their counterparts elsewhere in the country in terms of mobility, life choices, space in their lives, and so on. Various indices also give us the idea of a comparatively better position of women in the north‐eastern states of India. However, albeit the north‐eastern women incline to relish a higher status in cognation to their peers in the rest of India yet the cultural and customary traditions, discriminate against women in inordinate respect, and women in this region also face discrimination on many fronts, more so in the patriarchal societies of Assam and Manipur which has been highlighted in this manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies on community-based conservation in India, while highlighting the results and effectiveness of conservation interventions fail to engage with the underlining social processes emerging from the interactions among conservation actors. This article demonstrates conservation as a social process in which the actors interact with each other daily. We use the notion of 'Everyday Conservation' to highlight that actors use their resources, skills and limitations to create a space where conservation processes are negotiated and shaped on an everyday basis. Using ethnographic work carried out in Assam (India), this article analyzes an Asian elephant conservation project to understand the various actors involved in the project, such as project managers, staff, local community, funding organization and forest department and their interactions, resulting in 'Everyday Conservation.' The inter-actor interactions were of varying intensity, depending upon which the actors negotiated, collaborated, or came into conflict, thereby producing conservation results embedded in contextual factors. We suggest that conservation needs rethinking and the framework of 'Everyday Conservation' can provide a fresh perspective on community-based wildlife conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional births increased in India from 39% to 79% between 2005 and 2015. Drawing from 17 months of fieldwork, this article traces the shift from home to hospital births across three generations in a hamlet in Assam in Northeast India. Here, too, one finds that most births have shifted from home to hospital in less than a decade, aided by multiple factors. These include 'free' birthing facilities and financial incentives offered by government schemes, idiosyncratic changes within the hamlet, such as the introduction of biomedical practices through home births where oxytocin was used, and changes in cultural belief systems among local people. The exploration reveals significant transitions between (and fluidities of) categories such as local/global, tradition/modernity, past/present and nature/technology, creating a complex and ambivalent narrative of change, in which the voices of mothers should not be ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lysimachia arvensis var. caerulea (L.) Turland & Bergmeier, a variety belonging to the family Primulaceae is reported as new to the state flora of Assam, northeastern India. The authors encountered the specimen during field survey at Kamrup Rural District of Assam in 2020. This manuscript describes taxonomy and morphology details along with pictorial illustration of the specimen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These days, the appraisal of the COVID-19 vulnerability has become a difficult errand for the whole world. The COVID-19 administration dynamic issue frequently includes numerous elective arrangements clashing standards. In this paper, we present a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) procedure based on the fuzzy VIKOR method to survey the COVID-19 vulnerability in the state of Assam, India. The trapezoidal fuzzy number is utilized to evaluate the rating of the loads for the set-up models. We have observed environment, social, and Medical factors after observing the spread of COVID-19. To study and to have comments, a committee of five experts has been formed from a different region of Assam to observe and comment to identify Coronavirus's weakest factors. For a better survey, we have divided the state into four areas namely Rural Area, Urban Area, Market Area in Rural Area, and Market Area in Urban Area. The current research looked at how the fuzzy VIKOR selects provinces for urgent adaptation needs differently than a traditional MCDM technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA), including a site-specific amplification study, is crucial to evaluate site-specific spectra of soil sites to better understand the behavioural patterns of the soils under earthquake excitation. This paper represents the results of the PSHA for Assam state, located in the highest seismic zone of India ever delineated to date. In that sense, the study area is divided into ten areal zones concerning seismicity source modelling to represent the seismo-genesis of the Assam state in detail. The earthquake recurrence parameters of each zone are obtained from Gutenberg–Richter (G–R) recurrence relation with updated homogenized and de-clustered earthquake catalogue from 1735 up to 2021. Earthquakes with magnitude greater than 4 (M > 4) are considered using eight attenuation relationships for continental active shallow crust region, subduction zone and intraplate region. Hazard curves are obtained using a logic tree structure thus minimizing the epistemic uncertainty. The peak ground acceleration (PGA) value obtained at the rock outcrop of the Assam state for 10, 5, 2, and 0.5% probability of exceedance in 50 years with return periods such as 475, 975, 2475, and 9975 years lies between 0.24 and 0.34 g, 0.3 and 0.44 g, 0.42 and 0.59 g, and 0.56 and 0.91 g, respectively. The estimated PGA value at rock outcrop level is comparatively higher than that reported in the codal provisions. Site-specific response spectra at bedrock level (Vs = 1100 m/s) for major cities (Jorhat, Tezpur, Silchar, Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Nagaon) of Assam state have been proposed for different earthquake return periods of 475,2475, and 9975 years. Finally, site amplification study is performed for Guwahati city and surface level 5% damped response spectra with PGA of 0.696 and 0.924 g are obtained for earthquake a return period of 2475 and 9975 years, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dibrugarh Health and Demographic Surveillance System (Dibrugarh-HDSS), was started in the year 2019 with the objective to create the health and demographic database of a population from a defined geographical area and a surveillance system for providing technical assistance for the implementation of programmes and formulating intervention strategies for reducing disease morbidities and mortalities in the population. Dibrugarh-HDSS adopted a panel design and covered 60 contiguous villages and 20 tea gardens. Line listing of all the households was conducted and a unique identification number detailing State, district, village/tea garden and serial number was provided along with geotagging. Detailed sociodemographic variables, anthropometric measurements (subjects ≥five years) and blood pressure data (subjects ≥18 yr), disease morbidity and mortality were collected. All data were collected in pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaires using a mobile application package developed for this purpose. Dibrugarh- HDSS included a total of 106,769 individuals (rural: 46,762, tea garden: 60,007) with 52,934 males (49.6%) and 53,835 females (50.4%). The number of females per thousand males were significantly higher (1042 in tea garden vs. 985 in rural populations) in the tea-garden community as compared to the village population. More than one-third (35.1%) of tea populations were illiterate compared to the rural population (17.1%). Villagers had significantly higher body mass index than the tea-garden community. The overall prevalence of hypertension (adjusted for age) was 29.4 vs. 28.2 per cent, respectively, for the village and tea-garden population. For both these communities, males (village=30.8%, tea garden=31.1%) showed a higher prevalence of hypertension (adjusted for age) than females (village=28.2%, tea garden=25.8%). The findings of the present study give an insight into the profile of the native rural and tea-garden populations that will help to identify risk factors of different health problems, review the effectiveness of different ongoing programmes, implement intervention strategies for reducing morbidity and mortality and assist the State health authorities in prioritizing their resource allocation and implementation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on critical feminist methodologies and approaches to focus on hypermasculinist violence against marginalized populations--specifically women--in the geopolitical peripheries of modern nation-states. It treats Assam, one of the eight states of Northeast India, as a textbook case, lending itself to a gendered study of hierarchical, hypermasculinized structures in hegemonic postcolonial nation-states. Basing its analysis on the portrayal of women's bodies in Parag Das's Sanglot Fenla--one of the most iconic Axamiyā novels written against the backdrop of insurgency and independentist violence in Assam--it discusses themes of postcolonial masculinities, relational marginalization, and the mutation of gendered relations in the context of ethnonationalist conflicts. At the same time, it also examines how the novel shows a way forward toward resistance and reclamation of power by marginalized entities, particularly women. Underscoring the article's critical analysis of the role of women (and other marginalized constituencies) in violent conflicts are the theoretical assumptions of literature as witness and the writer as chronicler. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]