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This article examines Tariq Ali’s novels The Stone Woman (2000) and A Sultan in Palermo (2005) to critique the question of identity discourse by drawing inspiration from various cultures rooted in a distinctively Islamic landscape and culture. Muslim identity, like any other, is separately constructed and determined by language, religion, sect, and various other roles. It examines the creation of Muslim identity and strives to comprehend the segregation they have demonstrated in the postcolonial context. This identity discourse emerged in colonial discursive practices that positioned Muslims as “Other” under colonial rule. This paper draws upon theoretical concepts of postcolonial theory to challenge the stereotypical representation of Islam often circulated in Eurocentric discourses. We do this by focusing on Tariq Ali’s ways of constructing Muslim identities through fictional representations. Through this discussion, we critique stereotypical tropes evident in Eurocentric discourses, which too often conflate professions of Muslim identity with religious fundamentalism.

This article examines the reconstruction of Eurocentric representations of religious minorities of post-Reconquista Spain and Jerusalem through Tariq Ali’s novels, Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree (1992) and The Book of Saladin (1998). These novels suggest that the reconfiguration of history and the analysis of the traumatic experiences of characters such as Zuhayr and Saladin challenge the essentialist notion of Eurocentrism. The paper explores the narrative approaches and procedures employed in the novels to articulate the sufferings caused by the sidelining and elimination of Muslim and Jewish minorities. The study relies on concepts formulated and explicated by postcolonial critics like Fanon, Said, and Spivak in their critical works as its theoretical premise. We argue that the postcolonial outlook has the potential to challenge Eurocentric historical accounts, as it revives the forgotten memories of the “Other” and intertwines these memories to form new compatibility across ethnocultural and religious polarization. This study demonstrates that revealing the brutality implicit in the reasonable practices of nation-building conditions causes a crisis in Eurocentric historiography.

The purpose of the ‘Qala’ movie is to diminish the cultural cleavage of gender that predicates the superiority of one gender over the other. The articulation and repetition of notions of gender are culturally constructed and enacted through the formulaic association of things and thoughts with active social participation. These interactions are spooned with anxieties and sufferings that change the whole course of ‘Qala’, an eponymous character’s life upside down. Some questions that this article attempts to answer concerning the psychological condition of Qala are how performativity of male dominance blazes the spark of mental illness, how inferior complex and the issues of bad parenting add flame to the impairment, and how little incidents in her life assimilate negative emotions that lead to the breakdown of Qala resulting in her psychosis. The present article aims to trace the neurological nexus of thoughts by using Engel’s ‘biopsychosocial model’. This study suggests that biological, psychological, and social conditions played a dominant role in shaping the psychosis of Qala.

This article takes a feminist viewpoint to highlight the lives and religious identities of Muslim women who are victims of pervasive negative perceptions of imperialist discourses and restrictive cultural practices of native males. We intend to investigate the practicability of empowerment conferred by feminism in redefining their subjectivity as represented in Tariq Ali’s Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree (1991) and The Book of Saladin (1998). Drawing on the concepts of postcolonial theorists such as; Edward Said, Chandra Mohanty, Fatima Mernissi and Riffat Hassan, we interpret the female characters as reflective of the women’s struggles to renegotiate their identity. The novels under scrutiny address the difficulties of depicting Muslim women in a cultural setting dominated by images of religious fanaticism, violence, and female subordination. Ali articulates a particular ideology regarding the construction of Muslim women’s socio-religious identity(ies) that serve the interests of Muslim clergy and patriarchy. We suggest that these representations are a powerful resource Muslim Women can draw upon in constructing their identities. Finally, it is argued that a disruption of the stereotypes of Muslim women signals the potential for the compatibility of Muslim women’s distinct identities.

The gaps in the implementation of the R&R plan and subsequent enactment have a different socio-economic impact on the people required to be displaced more than once to advance development in Odisha. The effects of displacement, which spills over to generations, need to be addressed to rejuvenate the socio-economic-cultural life of the affected people. The paper aims to find an answer to the question related to different dimensions of impact on affected families and the possible legal provisions that can be created to address these issues. For this purpose, an interactive study has been made in two different villages covering thirty-six families who were earlier displaced and are currently facing double displacement for other development projects. It is found that when the rights over the allotted land were not formalized, they were deprived of their land rights, making them vulnerable, and lives are again pushed to uncertainties. The study entices justification for the provision of special Land Right and R&R benefits for the double displaced families. The issue of socio-economic empowerment needs to be dealt with compassionate provisions of law.

Early part of 21st century saw many mega projects to enter India for business but most of them failed over time. Though it is the period of dramatic growth of technology engineering, petroleum, iron and other mineral sectors but some of the mega projects could not came to light for various reasons. Mega projects are defined as projects with a cost of US$ 1 billion and attract a large amount of public attention because of substantial impact on community, environment and budget. Mega project failure is attributed to many factors like Technology failure impacting on IRR, Finance model competitive, Clearance issues, Issues in Partnership share and funding and many times delay in regulatory clearance or sandwiched with no go conditions of the state. The situation in developing countries like India where democratic process leads to question at every point of investment on Environment and rehabilitation issues with frequent change in Policy, forces investors to relook at many stage of investment. Project failure in India on account of poor management of land acquisition-related issues (environment, compensation, R&R, failure to engage with communities etc.) has made many mega projects to either scrap at the beginning or gripping with issues and became bad investment. This paper is intended to explain two such cases in Odisha i.e. Vedanta Aluminium Limited and POSCO where the Mega investments face problem for such regulatory clearance issues and needs introspection how to face the challenge in the context of existing laws of land.

We live in a global world where our existence depends solely on our felicity of using English most often. Thus, getting well versed in English has become quite mandatory. While this does not pose a problem in metropolitan cities and towns, people in rural areas lack the skills to converse in English. There is still a major chunk of civilization devoid of the developments in terms of language and technology. English teachers teaching in rural areas often face the non-availability of required technical support and relevant atmosphere to teach English effectively. It is here that the role of innovative teachers becomes quite essential. An effective teacher, despite having limited resources, can prove himself as a tool. The present paper examines various resources and tools that can prove beneficial in teaching English as a foreign language. It will also throw light on the advantages and disadvantages of using teaching aids and will discover ways of how our pedagogical styles may work wonders at times. It has to be realized that despite all cacophony, it is ultimately the man who has to master the machines. Teaching is not only about the introduction of innovative technology but is also the desire to be created amongst our students. This desire ultimately converted into action can prompt an effective teacher to play a pivotal role in the entire process. The mere mention of teacher in a rural area reminds us of the teacher in Oliver Goldsmith’s poem “The Village Schoolmaster” whose ‘one small head could carry all he knew’. Things have changed today with the advances of science and the expectations of the global world. Today we need to have specialist teachers in every subject even in rural areas. This is because of the increased level of competition and the anxiety to survive and sustain in a fast changing world. Knowledge of English today has become a sine-qua non for getting a coveted job and hence the importance of English teaching and learning has become manifold. As regards English teachers, their roles are not confined now to a hard task master but they are expected to be facilitator, a trainer, a counselor, a manager and a supervisor. There has been a transformation from ‘talk and chalk’ and teachers today have moved from BALL to CALL and now to MALL. Key words: Technology, teaching, facilitation, rural India, learners.

Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has undergone massive modernization to increase production from the existing level of 2.18 Mt to 4.2 Mt crude steel after commissioning of one additional 4060 m3 blast furnace and a third converter of 150 t capacity in Steel Melting Shop-II (SMS-II). The increased volume of quality steel production will largely depend on shop productivity with higher converter availability along with a lower down time for maintenance. The design and refractory quality of the tap hole sleeve for the converter plays an important role in the production of liquid steel and availability of the converter. At RSP, MgO-C quality zonal lining material is manufactured at the in-house brick plant (LDBP) while the tap hole sleeve for the converter is procured from various reputed refractory manufacturers. The life of the sleeve varies between 58 heats and 100 heats with an average of around 70 heats. The frequent change of tap hole sleeves not only affects converter lining life due to thermal spalling but also decreases availability of the converter. Improved dense quality tap hole sleeves with less material segregation leading to uniform density, chemical composition and strength across the entire tap hole length were procured and tried in converter A of SMS-II. These tap hole sleeves were manufactured in small pieces, pre-assembled to the required size and delivered as single entities of varying denominations. The service life of these tap hole sleeves reached an average level of 93 heats with a peak of 130 heats and the major portion of heats fell within 5–7 min tap duration which helped in less slag carryover and suggestive of reduced consumption of deoxidants.

Despite the ill-informed ideological contention by left-wing Indians that Modi has enriched the rich and immiserized the poor, evidence shows that Indian poverty has declined significantly as growth accelerated after the 1991 reforms and the same is promised by the accentuation of these reforms since Modi took power. NDA Govt. in the last one year of their governance has focused on three issues, “Make in India”, “Jan Dhan Yojana” and “Swachha Bharat”. In social sector along with Swachha Bharat the other item which is threshed upon is jan dhan Jojana. On legislative front, focus was on amendment to Land Acquisition Act, changed to MMDR Act, Insurance Bill and Black Money Bill. Somehow opposition could accommodate all activities except changes to Land Acquisition Act. Hence Government has approached the President for third ordinance to continue enforcing the changes to the Land Acquisition Act 2013. There is a debated in Parliament, also debated outside Parliament. Lok Sabha has passed the Bill but Rajya Sabha is adamant not to through this Bill which pushed the Government to agree to constitute a joint Review Committee of Parliament members in spite of calling a joint session of Parliament. Make in India is directly proportional to changes in Land Acquisition Act. In this article, I have tried to explain how Make in India is directly proportional to changes to Land Acquisition Act. The provisions in the ordinance and its impact and how the changes are going to help Make in India a more successful slogan.

Government of India came up with Gazette Notification on 31st December 2014 amending the large awaited “Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation & Resettlement Act” through an ordinance on the ground that Parliament is not in session and the President is satisfied with circumstances existed, which referred it necessary for him to take immediate action. It was strongly objected by Congress and its allies. But the fact is that the stalemate that has occurred due to induction of new Act w.e.f 1st January 2014 will now start moving with positive direction. The ordinance will create confidence in the minds of the investors as the consent clauses has been diluted and investment atmosphere crated which will facilitate for industrial growth of the country. Even if the new NDA government in India has made a slogan of “Make in India” and has made several round of meeting with investors to attract them for investment in India the Land Acquisition Act 2013 was one of the biggest bottlenecks for the investors to think investing in large scale in India. Other than this the 2nd tailbacks is mining lease. Uncertainty in mining lease and uncertainty in land acquisition will certainly create doubt in the mind of investors, who will probably think thrice before investing in India. This article is intended to make lucid analysis of various provisions of Ordinance-9, 2014 with an intention to make it understandable to the common man and view of the investor who might be searching and surfing with a good intention to participate in make in India programme of the new government.

At the last Phase of UPA-II the country witnessed pushing of few people centric bills in Parliament, one of which is Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation & Resettlement Bill 2011. This Bill was intended to replace a hundred years old “Land Acquisition Act 1894; as amended in 1984” with new institutional Mechanism. This has a far reaching impact on the future business of India. This article is intended to give an insight to the provisions of the Bill and Act that is going to impact the business by way of cost escalation and time over run as soon as the country take up the Land Acquisition process in the new Land Acquisition Act known as “The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013”. THE RIGHT TO FAIR COMPENSATION AND TRANSPARENCY IN LAND ACQUISITION, REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENT (AMENDMENT) ORDINANCE, 2014, No. 9 OF 2014 has taken few provisions out to make the process of Land Acquisition in less time has the strength of support of law in constitution only through law of eminent domain.

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (“ New Act of 2013”) came into force from January 2014 repealing the erstwhile Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (“LA Act 1894”). There were multiple areas of uncertainties at the time the New Act of 2013 got presidential accent. One of the areas of the uncertainties is the operation of Section 24(2) of the New Act of 2013. The said provision states that fresh proceedings for land acquisition shall have to be carried out under New Act of 2013 succeeding the proceedings under the LA Act 1894, in case no physical possession of land has been taken or if compensation has not been paid five years after an award has been made under Section 11 of the LA Act 1894. Effectively, this provision makes the applicability of the New Act retrospective in that respect and the doubt arose as to how the said provision would work in the present scenario when so many LA proposals are mid-way and everybody want to close the LA Case in the old act since it has a scope to pay less and R&R was not mandatory. In same month of January 2014 a full-judge bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India (“SC”) in the Pune Municipal Corporation case held that, "in a case where an award under Section 11 of the LA Act 1894 was passed in 2008, the land acquisition proceedings had lapsed since compensation for the acquisition had not been “paid” to the landowners, as per Section 24(2) of the New Act of 2013". The SC’s judgment was based upon the fact that the Collector had not made the payments into a court, as required under the provisions of Section 31(2) of the LA Act 1894. The Pune Municipal Corporation’s decision to expedite the transition from the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 is a shot in the arm for supporters of the new act. I have tried to analyse the Pros and cons of the proviso u/s 24 of New Act of 2013 and its far reaching consequences once the LA proceedings will resume following the Rules under New Act of 2013 will come in to force in all states and union of India. Citing few Judgement s of various High courts in India I wanted to high light in my paper what should be the approach to the provisions of Law u/s 24 of New LA Act 2013.

India from pre-independence stage was going for land acquisition for developmental purpose/public purpose, following the procedure laid down by British India Government in Land Acquisition Act 1894. The Act continued to play a big role till 2003 when government of India thought to amend it to make it people centric. The Land Acquisition and Resettlement & Rehabilitation Bill was presented in 2007, 2009, however a sincere effort was made to bring the new land acquisition Bill in the year 2011 by placing a Bill in Lok Sabha known as LARR Bill 2011. After a long deliberation both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha passed the Bill and the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation & Resettlement Bill 2012 was finally passed on 4th September 2013 in Rajya Sabha also. Presidential assent got in 5th September 2013 and the Act in short RTFCLARR Act 2013 came in to force from 1st January 2014 replacing the 118 year old Act 1894. It is no doubt people centric and there is a paradigm shift from a process of acquisition to consented acquisition. In the PPT file I tried to make it more lucid and understandable with its financial impact and time for a broader understanding of the whole process and land acquisition in the new format.

With the liberalization of economy followed with policy of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India attracted many investors across the world to make direct investment in various fields of manufacturing, finance management, service and infrastructure sector. POSCO of South Korea the fifth largest steel plant in world is one of them. POSCO proposed to make an investment of 51000 Crores for 12 MTPA integrated steel plant in India. This paper contains the background of site selection, land issues, land acquisition, forest diversion and involuntary displacements as well as the frustration of people challenging such acquisition of their land; has been narrated in detailed on the basis of first-hand information.This article is intended to show the land acquisition difficulties as well as poor Resettlement and Rehabilitation benefits leading to Public frustration as well as bitterness against such investment. The incompatibility of foreign companies to the Indian culture, Indian Environment and lack of mutual trust builds breach in understanding the policy of the state has been narrated in different chapters/paras. India was ruled by Britain’s East India Company for almost 200 years. During the ruling people of India have faced various exploitation for which even after 60 years of independence there is a general mistrust on foreign companies. It requires lot of stake holders management starting from managing the people in power and people in administration as well as people on site through different media management and trust building source so that people can look the investors something different from East India Company otherwise Land Acquisition will be very difficult and may take more time than usually taken.An attempt has been made to submit all the stages of activities showing the weakness of the company and defects of the land records maintained as well as faulty policies of the Government which has impacted in the time schedule of the project plan in the state of Odisha by POSCO. It’s a purely academic presentation not intended to show any fault of any body. I wish the discussions made in the article will give insight to such land acquisition Issues in India with a scope to improve the situations and resolve the gaps in the processes to make it more people acceptance and investment friendly. I have a strong belief that there is immense and motivating opportunity for FDI in India; only it requires looking to the consequences of Investment differently not only as an Economic venture but also social and Psychological acceptance to such changes in ground and that should match to the Indian condition and people at large.

The Doctrine of eminent domain invests power in the state to acquire private land for public purpose on payment of compensation. Indian Law of Land Acquisition and the enacted Policies for Resettlement and Rehabilitation empower Indian states to acquire land for development purposes. There was such an attempt made by Odisha Government to develop and acquire land for second steel plant and associate infrastructure named as Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex (KNIC). The effort were initiated in the year 1990 resulted with acquisition of 13000 Acres of land and displacement of 1842 families as per 1991 census. The present paper speaks about the efforts of government in acquiring land for such proposal and consequences of enhancement of compensation money from time to time and framing of policy for Resettlement and Rehabilitation as well as development of Rehab colony with chronological events leading to development of infrastructure in that area. The source of information is from the government of Odisha through IDCO. The views are of Authors independent view as he is associated with land acquisition and R&R of KNIC through IDCO while heading the Land division of IDCO. Hence the result of such land acquisition leading to the displacement and thereafter is narrated with sharing of experience to speak about the gaps in Acts and Policy and scope of improvement in future acquisition for development projects of such magnitude. While focusing on the greater issues related to economic development through industrialization, the displacement and Rehabilitation issue gets neglected and the absence of nodal agency to monitor the issues resulted with resentment by people to such acquisition by any participating agencies, whereas Government gets the blame for failure during implementation of such project due to absence of strong monitoring expert agency within government. James D. Wolfensohn has rightly said "Social injustice can destroy economic and political advances." If Land acquisition for KNIC resulted in impoverishment, the looming risk in development, the challenge is to organize risk prevention and provide safeguards. This can increase the benefits of development by eliminating some of its avoidable pathologies. As Michael M. Cernea very often state that “ it may not be feasible to prevent every single adverse effect, but it is certainly possible to put in place sets of procedures, backed up by financial resources, that would increase equity in bearing the burden of loss and the distribution of benefits. It is certainly possible, under enlightened policies to protect much more effectively than current practices to the civil rights, human dignities, and economic entitlements of those subjects to involuntary relocation. Equitable policies, plus planning, financing, and implementing Resettlement with the participation of those affected can create the premises for the improvement for resettlers’ livelihood. I entirely agree with the suggestions of Prof Cernea and view that Industrialization at the cost of involuntary relocation should be looked in a strict participation of Government and developing agency who is having interest on land, not up to completion of Land acquisition but till the relocated family appear to be self-sustained within the changed environment being confirmed by independent agencies engaged by Government for study may be after 15-20 years of direct nourishment and care.

Vedanta Resources is a global diversified metals and minerals company founded by Anil Agarwal in 1976. Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL) is a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Pvt. Ltd. VAL established a 1 MTPA Aluminium project at Lanjigarh targeting Niyamgiri bauxite mine as committed by Odisha Government. Since the mines project location is in scheduled area, PESA Act is applicable and consent of Gram Sabha was taken while making land acquisition/Forest Diversion etc. in all the project sites. There was resentment by the local Dangaria Kandha on the ground of damage to the ecology of the area including threat to the existence of the deity Niyam Raja who to their belief abode Niyamagiri. Supreme Court intervene for further Gram Sabha to take the consent of the people for the mining of the area before environment clearance.Gram Sabha failed. The reason behind failure and the consequence of the failure is well analyzed in the article. The provisions of the PESA Act and the implementation of Gram Sabha have been narrated keeping an eye to the socio economic factors and Industrial pace of the state.

In a global world of today using English is no more a fashion but an essential commodity. As one has to compete globally today, the knowledge of sound English becomes a facilitator and the lack of it a disqualification. No doubt, attaining the accuracy of native speakers is more than challenging. Yet we have amongst us people who display the use of English in the same spontaneity as the English speaking people. India has produced a good number of poets and novelists who are popular world wide because of their affinity and respect for English as a language. Nonetheless, there is a majority of people who despite their best potentials cannot compete with others because of their lack of exposure to English. Today when many languages are on the periphery and near demise, English stands on the summit. It is not an exaggeration to say that this language has attained significance after much struggle since its infancy. Since the acceptance of a language depends upon its users, English has proved its majority leaving its competitors far behind. English has gained so much relevance and authenticity that present day life without it seems a dreary desert. As a language it has brought such momentum that even technically savvy countries of the world seem tempted to use it accurately. The unifying quality of this language has globalized the world and thick ethnic walls too have started eroding. It is driving the world with its wand and creating immense opportunities for everyone right from a student to an astrologer. English as a lingua franca also seems to promote other languages of the world by borrowing numberless words whose interpretations enable people to be familiarized with the mores and cultures of other nations. Native speakers of English may derive immense satisfaction to see the dissemination of varieties of English. Its authoritative acceptance the world over has made other languages jealous. The present paper will focus on how English is shaping and empowering Indian youths. In a country where the Britishers faced slogans like ‘Quit India’, the use of English has become a symbol to attract, applaud and authorize. The paper also endeavours to study the different mediums which have lured Indian minds and mesmerized both yogis and yuppies alike.

Ours is an ancient nation with traditional values. We have been groomed on the staple diet of “Boond Boond Se Sagar Bharta.” Till 15-20 years ago, children were not expected as potential consumers. How to save money was the mandatory lesson to be learnt by every kid in Indian families. After the school hours, they were after grandma to tell them a story or they went to nearby park to pluck mangoes or catch a butterfly. Children hardly received any pocket money. If they had money, it was for saving, not for spending. They would always save up for a cricket bat, football, annual picnic or school fee. But now the kids are no more the same. In fact, children rule the world of brand marketing. They have not only changed but have also had a profound effect on the way we buy, shop and live. They don’t play with their siblings and cousins but they enjoy computer games, watch Cartoon Network and do surfing. And the change is not restricted to play alone. Changes seem to have taken place in all their activities they are involved in.They avoid wearing shirts, jeans or sneakers but are proudly after branded wears like Arrows, Levis, Nikes and Reeboks. They don’t eat penny candy, drink nimbu pani or relish Sattu, rather they slurp Pepsi and Coke, eat Lays, McDonalds, Nestles and Cadburys. Children understand market well and they go to Big Bazars, Shopper’s stops, Gaps and Benettons.The paper represents the existing advertising practices and reflects the common concern that marketing communications in the context of children need to be both sensitive and responsible towards children, families and of course, society.