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The study aimed to analyze the educational participation of tribal students at the elementary stage of school education in district Ganderbal, Jammu and Kashmir. The study emphasized the enrolment of tribal students at various Grades (I, V, VI, VIII) at different points of time; compare the enrolment shares on a gender basis, and assess the change in patterns of enrolment shares from the initial Grade i.e., Grade I to terminal Grade i.e., Grade VIII of the elementary stage of school education. The study is descriptive. The official enrolment records and figures of tribal Gujjar and Bakarwal students were accessed through the concerned educational offices of the district. The investigators developed the information blank to seek Grade wise (I, V, VII, VIII) enrolment records of overall and tribal students. To analyze and visualize the collected enrolment data, tabulation, percentage statistics, and graphical representation was used. The study concluded that tribal share in overall enrolment comprises a significant portion at various Grades (Grade I 36.61%., Grade V 34.51%, Grade VI 31.57%, and Grade VIII 27.74%) of the elementary stage. The results indicate decline and gender disparity have been observed in tribal enrolment. At the elementary stage, i.e., from Grade I to Grade VIII, the tribal enrolment shares declined by -.8.87 percent (Boys -8.27 percent; Girls -9.25%).

Gojri speakers, i.e., Gujjars and Bakarwals, are the relatively deprived indigenous tribal communities and groups. The hegemony of dominant languages in significant fields such as polity, judiciary, and education accentuates the exclusion of tribal and minority languages. The study relied on secondary sources and mainly focused on Gojri speakers of Jammu and Kashmir, and India. We examined the indigenous Gojri language, its genesis, evolution, resemblance, geography, and diversity, and the plight of its neglect and exclusion from significant fields. We highlighted how Census operations, official languages of States/UTs, schedules of the constitution, parliament and judicial proceedings, pedagogical medium & school curriculum, language education policies, and initiatives contributed to such exclusion. The study expands our understanding of language landscape and diversity, hegemony and preference for dominant languages, and exclusion of minority and tribal languages. Considering the linguistic diversity of J&K and India, we believe this study can sensitize educational and language policy planners and practitioners about language bias, non-inclusive, discriminant, and unjust treatment, alienating Gojri speakers in different domains.

Disparities in educational access especially in tribal areas has been one of the grave issues in addressing tribal education. The study aimed to analyse educational access and disparities in school availability in tribal educational zones and stages of school education. The study adopted descriptive survey to understand the demographics and availability of schools; applied self-designed information blank to collect data from educational zones and analysed the data, using tabulation as well as percentage statistics. The study concluded that access to secondary education is limited in district Ganderbal, as the district possess low number of educational institutions (middle, high and higher secondary). Moreover, disparity has been found in educational institutions with respect to tribal dominated educational zones i.e., Hariganwan and Kangan. The tribal dominated educational zones lack access to schooling and possess low number of schools compared to other two educational zones i.e., Ganderbal and Tullamulla having dominant non tribal populations. This study has implications for policy planner to understand the dynamics of school access in tribal areas and increase schooling accessibility by establishing more upper primary and secondary schools especially in remote tribal zones, keeping in mind their topographical, seasonal movement, cultural underpinnings.

The study attempts to know the extent of enrolment, and retention rate of tribal students at upper primary stage and provide a comparative picture of tribal with respect to gender and educational zones of Ganderbal district. Descriptive survey has been used in present study. Using Information Blank, the primary information about student enrolment was gathered from the Chief and Zonal Educational offices of district Ganderbal. Percentage statistics was used to analyse the data. Statistical results were visualised through tables and bar graphs. The study revealed that tribals constitute 31.37% and 27.74% of aggregate Grade VI and Grade VIII enrolment respectively. The aggregate retention rate of district Ganderbal at Upper Primary stage of education was low (88.62%) while as that of tribal children also low (78.83%). The gaps/disparity between aggregate and tribal GRR were found. Gender disparity in GRR were observed in GRR of district Ganderbal. At upper primary stage, girls had low GRR (76.08%) than boys (81.48%), and tribal girls have lowest compared to boys (aggregate & tribal). Zonal disparity in GRR was observed in district Ganderbal. Zone Hariganwan had lowest GRR (Tribal and Overall) compared to zone, Kangan, Ganderbal and Tullamulla at upper primary stage.

Environmental ethics is the code of behavior for guiding and controlling human actions towards environment. This code of behavior does not depend on the presence or absence of environmental laws for the understanding, protection and improvement of the environment. It was found that the mean scores of Tribal Boys and Tribal Girls were 141.24 and 151.43 with Standard Deviations 42.13 and 44.37 respectively. The obtained 't' value between the two groups came out to be 2.02 which is more than the table value i.e., 1.646 at 0.05 level and less than 2.581 at 0.01 level of significance. It revealed that there is significant difference in both the groups. It also revealed that tribal girls secondary school students have more dispositions about the environment than the tribal boys secondary school students. Hence, the null hypothesis of the present study "There is no significant difference between secondary school boys and girls students with respect to environmental disposition" is rejected. It means that the girls at secondary school level have more environmental disposition than the boys.

The study aimed to explore the indigenous language of Gujjar and Bakerwal tribal communities of district Ganderbal of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The design of the study is qualitative in nature. The researcher employs purposive sampling in selecting the sample. The researcher surveyed 81 Gujjar and Bakerwal households and interviewed 22 (19 Male and 3 Female) members of both the communities chosen from villages of Hayan Palpora, Ganwan, Harignawan, Jara Pati, Thune, Syed Basti (Surfraw), Chount Waliwar, and Yechihama of Ganderbal district. The researcher employed semi-structured questionnaire, interview schedule, focused group discussion and observation methods to collect data pertaining to the study. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the collected data. The study concluded that the Gujjar and Bakerwal communities are multi-lingual and, their mother tongue is gojri. Variation in mother tongue with respect to mannerism, tone and symbolic meaning of things has been observed between two communities. In intra community settings, mother tongue primarily used and in inter community settings, they mostly interact in Urdu language. Furthermore, in religious observances, both Arabic and Gojri is used. Gojri language has a close resemblance with Mewari and Urdu languages. The speakers of gojri language are declining as dominant languages like English and Urdu are much preferred in school and other settings. The school going children of both the communities learn and speak these dominant language instead of their own mother tongue that becomes a threat for the survival of the gojri language. The development of content in gojri language and financial support to the writers of gojri literature will be helpful in promoting gojri. The translation of school curriculum in gojri and the inclusion of gojri as a separate language subject besides, the usage of gojri as pedagogical method in educational settings will save the language form extinction.

Objectives: Rapid advancements in information processing and technology are causing transformations in education at an unprecedented pace. The use of digital resources is becoming essential for educators to ensure the effectiveness of their teaching. There is thus a need to transform ways and means of educating teachers to meet the new challenges. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that determine teacher intention to use digital resources in classroom teaching. Method: The study adopted a single cross-sectional design, in which questionnaires with pre-established scales were completed by 276 university teachers from three major public universities in the Kashmir region of India. The collected data were subjected to descriptive, correlation, and regression analysis. Results: Findings suggest that intention to use digital resources in the classroom is significantly influenced by teachers' perceptions of their own competence, perceived usefulness and ease of use of technology and digital resources, and peer influence. Among these factors, perceived competence exerts the strongest influence. Results indicate that perceived social image has no significant impact on intention to use digital resources. Conclusions: The study supports the view that teacher competence and peer influence are two key determining factors for the use of digital resources. Additionally, it demonstrates that digital resources must be perceived to offer potential benefits and ease of use in order to gain widespread acceptance among teachers. Implications: This research advances the understanding of digital resource adoption in classroom teaching, particularly in developing countries like India. The findings provide critical direction to policymakers and digital resource developers to enhance use of digital resources in classroom teaching by prioritizing the development of useful and user-friendly resources. Moreover, universities should organize training programs to enhance teachers' proficiency in utilizing digital resources for effective teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) are the first point of contact for any health-related demands of deprived sections of population, particularly women and children who have difficulty in accessing health services. The success of NHM depends on efficiency of ASHAs in performing their duties, as ASHA is the key module of National Health Mission (NHM). The present study is an attempt to identify challenges faced by ASHAs while dispensing their duties in Jammu and Kashmir. The study is both qualitative and quantitative in nature and makes use of mixed primary-cumsecondary data sources. The study makes use of in-depth interviewing of the ASHAs from Jammu and Kashmir. The findings of the study revealed various challenges faced by ASHAs in accomplishing their jobs. Finally, various suggestions have been given to overcome these challenges in order to improve the work performance of ASHAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as prime health challenge of 21st century forcing policy makers, health experts and governance institutions world over to revisit and reinvigorate public health policies through inter-institutional collaborations. Subsequent global lockdowns caused unprecedented shock to world economies, downslide of socio-economic development, concern for public safely, emphasis on augmentation of health infrastructure, capacity building of health care providers and development of effective Corona Virus containment strategies. Health institutions world over are grappling to control spread of the infection through Symptomatic Target Testing, Cluster Testing and Phased Vaccination. Multiple vaccines have been developed with varied efficacy, cost concerns and involvement of logistic issues; leading to vaccine-multilateralism and re-emphasis on universalization of public health policies under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) mechanism. This paper aims to assess impact of this grievous pandemic on public health sector of Jammu & Kashmir, explore challenges faced by public health institutions, analyze effectiveness of government interventions and suggest measures for revival of public health care services in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was undertaken to study the relationship between the factors of Emotional Intelligence and self-actualization of Creative writers of Jammu & Kashmir. The sample of the study comprised of 80 creative writers (Sahitya, Akademi, Awardees & Award-nominees). Emotional Intelligence Scale (2011) by Hyde, Pathe, and Dhar to measure emotional intelligence and Personal Orientation Inventory by Shostrom (1974) to measure self-actualization were the tools used for the collection of Data. Correlation was computed by employing Pearson's Product Moment Coefficient of Correlation on Personality and Emotional Intelligence of Creative writers (N=80) at dimension level. The study revealed that there exists a significant relationship (Positive) between the factors 'Self-awareness and feeling reactivity, 'Emotional stability and Feeling reactivity and Intimate contact, 'Integrity and Feeling reactivity, 'Value orientation and Inner directness, Acceptance of Aggression and Intimate contact'. Significant Negative relationship was found between the factors 'Managing Relations and Time competence, Self Actualizing Value and Synergy'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic drugs are associated with adverse side-effects and rapid increase in resistance to most of them inspires to evaluate plants for their therapeutic values. We have been aimed to suggest the medicinal use of Nigella sativa seed aqueous extract to minimize the severity of liver damage via its antioxidant properties and its role in maintenance of cell ion-homeostasis. Annoyances in serum levels of some antioxidants and trace metals in human hepatitis C infected patients were compared with that from acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxic rabbits. Serum analysis of human patients and that of hepatotoxic rabbits have exhibited the same trend of incidence of liver marker enzymes, antioxidant levels, and trace metal concentrations, except for the serum levels of cobalt. Significance of pre-/or posttreatment of Nigella sativa to acetaminophen induced-hepatotoxic rabbit has also evaluated. NS post-treatment to rabbits has been found effective in normalizing the levels (P<0.001) of serum liver markers; especially the ALP levels, and the antioxidants; with significant effect on the serum catalase levels. However, NS pre-treatment has shown its role (P<0.001) in maintaining the serum nickel and cobalt concentrations. Therefore, we suggest the use of Nigella sativa seeds as pre-/or post-treatment therapy, and also as supplement to the normal medications of liver infection to normalize the status of cell antioxidants and trace metal concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue infection is rapidly spreading in most of the countries of south Asia. It is of utmost importance to explore the plants with "anti-thrombocytopenic activity" the dreadful response of dengue fever. The present study was conducted to investigate the potential of aqueous extract of Nigella sativa (black cumin) seeds in alleviating the severity of dengue disease by raising the platelet count (PLT). Serum samples of thirty patients with dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) were analysed for different biochemical parameters. When compared with control groups, the patients were found with very low PLT count (7.62 fold), reduced antioxidant levels; catalase (1.4 fold), ascorbic acid (1.1 fold), bilirubin (1.06 fold), and severe deficiency of micronutrient concentrations; cobalt (2.27 fold), iron (2.35 fold) and nickel (71.46 fold). Similar parameters were studied in albino rats to observe the changes in serum levels of biochemical markers, after administration of single dose of choloroquine phosphate (IM, 1.5 mL saline). The drug successfully induced thrombocytopenia along with significant decrease in levels of antioxidants and trace metals. Administration of N. sativa aqueous seed extract (15.25 mg/kg/bw) for 12 days resulted in an increase in PLT count (1.59 fold) as compared to control group. N. sativa post-treatment was found effective in elevating the serum levels of catalase, ascorbic acid, and bilirubin (1.06, 1.58 and 0.4 folds respectively). However, the N. sativa pre-treatment was useful in increasing the levels of micronutrients; iron, nickel and cobalt when compared to quinine-induced group. From the above findings it was suggested that N. sativa seed aqueous extract supplementation would be a promising solution for declined PLT count and associated consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of general surgical trainees regarding safe use of diathermy. Methodology: In this cross-sectional Survey, 47 surgical trainees of the Civil Hospital Karachi, comprising PGY 1 through 4, were interviewed by questionnaires made up of five close-ended and three open-ended items. Results: Majority of the trainees belonged to the first two years of training. More than 80% had no formal training in diathermy use. Most of them were found lacking in core knowledge and evidence-based practice of electrosurgery. Conclusion: There was a high level of ignorance regarding current and established principles of diathermy use among surgical trainees at the Civil Hospital Karachi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outcome variable for student's satisfaction was measured on five points likert-scale; Strongly Disagree, Disagree, No Response, Agree and Strongly Agree. The questionnaire under study was consisted of gender, faculty and 27 explanatory variables related to the satisfaction of students about the overall university experiences. To measure the student's satisfaction is an interesting work for the university's policy makers to enhance the quality of services and opportunities for students. A parsimonious model was constructed by applying ordinal logistic regression technique to see the relationship among the ordinal outcome response variables and explanatory variables. Statistically the focus of this study was to compare the parametric and non-parametric classification techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]