Arthaniti: Journal of Economic Theory and Practice

Volume 18 Issue 1, June 2019

Marxian Economics: Notes from a Neo-classical Viewpoint Anjan Mukherji First Published February 13, 2019; pp. 1–16 Abstract Preview |

Articles

On a Theorem due to Alan D. Taylor about Aggregation of Preferences Somdeb Lahiri First Published September 5, 2018; pp. 17–31 Abstract Preview |

Can Foreign Aid Dampen the Threat of Terrorism to International Trade? Evidence from 78 Developing Countries Simplice Asongu, Ivo J. Leke First Published October 29, 2018; pp. 32–55 Abstract Preview |

Aid for Trade and Recipient Countries’ Export Structure: Does Trade Policy Liberalisation Matter? Sèna Kimm Gnangnon First Published October 29, 2018; pp. 56–85 Abstract Preview |

Emerging Challenges of Rural Labour Market: Insights from Indian Villages Namrata Singha Roy, Ishita Mukhopadhyay First Published September 13, 2018; pp. 86–103 Abstract Preview |

Review Article

You Did Not Do What You Could Ranabir Samaddar First Published December 30, 2018; pp. 104–110 Abstract |

Place of Power

We have within us a place of power that contains the forces of life. Many people live their lives unaware of their great potential. Let us discover how that untapped power can change our lives, filling us with gifts far beyond our wildest imagination. Most people live their lives thinking that they are the physical body and the mind. If we analyse, most of our time is spent feeding, clothing and providing shelter to the body. When we have a family, we devote time to caring for the physical needs of our children. The next aspect of life in which most of us spend time is taking care of the needs of our mind. We develop our intelligence and our skills through many years of schooling and training. We stimulate our mind by reading, listening to the radio and television, going to movies, having discussions with friends, and in continued learning. There is a third aspect to the structure of a human being that is too often neglected, yet it contains the seeds of a power that can nourish our body and mind, and take us beyond these into infinite resources awaiting us. The third aspect is our soul. We acknowledge the existence of a soul, but few actually tap into it and identify with it. By concentrating on the spiritual eye, the gateway into the inner regions, we connect with the stream of Light and Sound, the primal manifestations of God. When the sensory currents are concentrated at the spiritual eye, we see Light and hear inner Sound, and our souls embarks on the inner spiritual journey

Source: Economic Times, 8/08/2019

ANTYAJAA: Indian Journal of Women and Social Change

Volume 4 Issue 1, June 2019

Women and Work: Understanding Participation Gitanjali Chaturvedi First Published May 30, 2019; pp. 7–8 Abstract |

Articles

Promoting Women’s Participation in Cross-border Trade in South Asia Talajeh Livani, Jennifer Solotaroff First Published April 9, 2019; pp. 9–32 Abstract Preview |

Inclusive Regional Trade: Promoting the Economic Empowerment of Women in the BBIN Region Talajeh Livani, Nadeem Rizwan, Sanjay Kathuria First Published May 16, 2019; pp. 33–50 Abstract Preview |

Planning and Budgeting for Women’s Empowerment in India: A Historical Process Sona Mitra First Published April 9, 2019; pp. 51–69 Abstract Preview |

Understanding Women’s Aspirations: A Study in Three Indian States Gitanjali Chaturvedi, Garima Sahai First Published April 25, 2019; pp. 70–91 Abstract Preview |

Women’s Work in Response to Urbanization: Evidence from Odisha Arup Mitra First Published May 30, 2019; pp. 92–106 Abstract Preview |

Interrogating Culture

Gender-transformative Approach to Societal Empowerment Malvya Chintakindi First Published May 30, 2019; pp. 107–112 Abstract Preview |

Gender Equality and Labour Force Participation: Mind the Gap Madhusree Banerjee First Published April 9, 2019; pp. 113–123 Abstract Preview |

Conversation

Sairee Chahal: For She’s a Jolly Good SHERO! Sonali A. David First Published April 21, 2019; pp. 124–127 Abstract Preview |

Photoessay

Joys of Christmas Vijay S. Jodha First Published May 30, 2019; pp. 128–136 Abstract Preview |

Copyright © 2019 by SAGE Publications

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The complexities of Naga identity

The Nagaland govt. will face many hurdles in its quest to compile a list of indigenous inhabitants

The Nagaland government’s move to compile a Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) opens up possibilities in the context of the decision to link the register to the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system without a consensus on the definition of an ‘indigenous inhabitant’.

One such possibility is of RIIN pushing the negotiators engaged in the ongoing Naga peace talks to articulate new and hardened positions on the contentious issue of integration of contiguous Naga-inhabited areas.

Though the official notification on RIIN has not mentioned a cut-off date to compile the proposed register, the authorities in Nagaland have till date issued indigenous inhabitant certificates using December 1, 1963 as the cut-off date. Nagaland was inaugurated as India’s 16th State on this date following the ‘16-point agreement’ between the government of India and the Naga People’s Convention on July 26, 1960.

Opposition from NSCN (I-M)

The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah), which has been engaged in peace talks with the government of India since 1997, has opposed the compilation of RIIN asserting that “all Nagas, wherever they are, are indigenous in their land by virtue of their common history”.

A statement issued by the ‘Ministry of Information and Publicity’ of the self-styled Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim reads: “The present move of the State government to implement [the] Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) is contradictory to the inherent rights of the Nagas. It is politically motivated to suit the interest of the groups advocating for the ‘16-Point Agreement’. The ‘Nagaland State’ does not and will not represent the national decision of the Naga people. It was formed purely to divide the Nagas.” The self-styled government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim is the parallel government run by the NSCN(I-M).

On June 29, the Nagaland government notified that RIIN “will be the master-list of all indigenous inhabitants” of the State. All those to be included will be issued “barcoded and numbered indigenous inhabitant certificates”. It added that all existing indigenous inhabitant certificates would become invalid once the process of compiling RIIN is completed and fresh certificates issued.

RIIN is different from Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC) as exclusion or inclusion in RIIN is not going to determine the Indian citizenship of anyone in Nagaland.

Three conditions

Since 1977, a person, in order to be eligible to obtain a certificate of indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland, has to fulfil either of these three conditions: a) the person settled permanently in Nagaland prior to December 1, 1963; b) his or her parents or legitimate guardians were paying house tax prior to this cut-off date; and c) the applicant, or his/her parents or legitimate guardians, acquired property and a patta (land certificate) prior to this cut-off date.

The compilation of RIIN also involves the complexities of deciding claims in respect of children of non-Naga fathers as well as non-Naga children adopted by Naga parents.

If the Nagaland government goes ahead with a compilation of RIIN with this cut-off date, then all Naga people who have migrated to the State from the neighbouring States of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh and elsewhere in India after this day will have to be excluded.

The NSCN(I-M) statement adds, “Nothing is conclusive on the Naga issue, until and unless a mutually agreed honourable political solution is signed between the two entities. Therefore, any attempt to dilute the final political settlement by justifying any past accord of treasons should be seriously viewed by all Nagas.”

This clearly indicates the opposition the Nagaland government may have to face if it goes ahead with the move to compile RIIN. The Centre and the NSCN (I-M), which is the largest among all armed Naga rebel groups, signed a Framework Agreement in 2015, the content of which has still not been made public, in turn leaving room for speculation on the contentious issue of integration of all contiguous Naga-inhabited areas of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

Unless otherwise clarified through an official notification, the proposed linking of RIIN with the ILP system may require large numbers of non-indigenous inhabitants of Dimapur district, more particularly the commercial hub (Dimapur town), to obtain an ILP to carry out day-to-day activities. Most of them migrated from other States and have been carrying out trade, business and other activities for decades. Migration also explains the higher density of population in Dimapur district (409 persons per sq. km) when compared to all the other districts in the State. The ILP is a travel document issued by the government of India to allow a ‘domestic tourist’ to enter Nagaland, and is valid for 30 days.

Streamlining ILP

The Supreme Court, on July 2, dismissed a Public Interest Litigation seeking a directive against the Nagaland government’s move to implement the ILP in the entire State including Dimapur district, which had so far been kept out of the purview of the ILP system.

A report prepared by the government, in collaboration with the UNDP in 2009, gave information on migration patterns in Nagaland. Titled ‘Rural-Urban Migration: A Thematic Report’, it said that in 2001, Assam was the State with the highest number of migrants to Nagaland (19,176 people), followed by Bihar (7,249 people) and Manipur (4,569 people). A large section of people (about 45% of them in the case of Assam, 59% in the case of Bihar and 25% in the case of Manipur) had migrated for better employment and business opportunities.

While the move to streamline the ILP system to curb the influx of “illegal migration” to Nagaland has been welcomed by civil society, public opinion is still divided on compiling RIIN without a consensus on the cut-off date.

As the Nagaland government has begun a consultation process on RIIN, it will be under pressure to de-link the work of streamlining the ILP mechanism from the proposed register and put it on hold till the ongoing peace process concludes and the final solution is worked out.

Besides this, the complexities that may arise in streamlining the ILP mechanism due to non-issuance of domicile certificates or permanent residence certificates to a large number of non-Naga, non-indigenous inhabitants could also make the task even more difficult for the Neiphiu Rio-led Nagaland government.

Sushanta Talukdar is Editor, nezine.com, a bilingual online magazine on the Northeast

Source: The Hindu, 24/07/2019

How to deal with depression among youth?

Close to 15 million individuals are battling with some form of mental health related illness in India. 10% of all children suffer from some form of mental health issue and more than 50% of these go untreated and many more undetected (Medindia, 2010)

There is no doubt that depression one of the most common mental health related illnesses. The past few years have witnessed an unprecedented increase in the prevalence of depression across various age groups and other demographic sections of the population, including children, pre-teens and adolescents as well.

Understanding Depression in the Youth

The manifestations of the symptoms of depression in children and adolescents can be very different from that observed in adults. As a characteristic of their developmental phase, they may end up keeping their emotional struggle to themselves. As a consequence, they may end up becoming irritable or angry, display a social withdrawal, have a consequent decline in academic performance, and indulge in aggressive or risk taking behavior,, along with an increase in somatic complaints like headaches and stomach aches.

Facts and Figures

The existing statistics indicate a growing prevalence of mental illnesses, especially amongst the children and adolescents. Close to 15 million individuals are battling with some form of mental health related illness in India. 10% of all children suffer from some form of mental health issue and more than 50% of these go untreated and many more undetected (Medindia, 2010). Specifically depression is found in people of all ages including children and adolescents with prevalence rates estimated to be 1% in the younger population (Kaplan and Saddock, 2007). According to the WHO, depression affects 121 million people worldwide (2011).

It is extremely common for pre-teens and teenagers to experience difficult emotions such as loneliness or extremely stressful situations which could have an adverse impact on their self-esteem and self-concept. Considering the physical and emotional changes that occur in the emerging years of adolescence, it is natural for these emotions and feelings to be experienced very intensely, thereby making such a population also susceptible to ramifications in terms of their mental health.

In addition, the lifestyle adopted by today’s youth is an additional factor to be kept in mind! Such unhealthy lifestyle choices as well as erratic routines further influences both their physical as well as mental health in the long-term, influencing their personal, social, academic as well as occupational functioning.

The following are some of the points which could be kept in mind when helping pre-teens and teens in dealing with depression:

1. Provide them with a strong system of social support. Such social support could include family, friends, peers, teachers, or even seniors. Building an effective support system is very important to help the pre-teens alleviate their emotional distress as well as improve their social and psychological well-being.

2. Be calm and supportive. As a parent or a guardian, as stressful as it might be, it is important for you not to get anxious or distressed. Be calm, and provide your support by

being there for the child. Provide support, be empathetic and a listening ear, genuinely. Give him or her a chance to express him/herself. Do not interrogate or form judgements.

3. Assess the risks. Especially in cases of severe depression, it is vital for the family, friends or caregivers to be on the alert for signs of suicidal ideation. All dangerous items that are potentially harmful including sharp objects, pills, and poisonous substances need to be removed from the reach of the teenager.

4. Encourage them to reach out for help. Do not discourage them to seek help. It is important to encourage the depressed person to seek the support of mental health experts to ensure adequate interventions and prevent adverse outcomes.

5. Remember that professional help is irreplaceable. Depression is a diagnosable and treatable illness. It is not caused due to a character weakness or laziness, which can be overcome by will-power, or can pass out over time. It is an illness with requires adequate and timely medical and psychological interventions. Professional help including psychiatric medications and psychological counselling is irreplaceable.

6. Let’s talk! We should not hesitate to initiate the conversation with the affected children, pre-teens or teenagers, as it is important to give a chance to express their feelings and release their pent-up emotions. It is the need of the hour to encourage widespread awareness about such issues, while maintaining a sensitivity as well as openness to talk about it.

(The author is is a Consultant Psychiatrist with Fortis Healthcare)

Source: Hindustan Times, 7/08/2019

All Moments are Precious

Socrates was in prison awaiting his execution. One day he heard a fellow prisoner singing a difficult lyric by the poet, Stesichorus. Socrates begged the man to teach him the lyric. “Why?” asked the singer. “So that I can die knowing one thing more,” was Socrates’ reply. There’s a Persian maxim, ‘There’s no end to learning.’ It’s never too late to learn a new thing and add to the repertoire of your knowledge. Thomas Arnold, professor of philosophy, and Allama Iqbal at the University of Lahore were on a voyage to England. Thomas Arnold was one of the three great Arnolds, who were contemporaries. The other two were Matthew Arnold and Edwin Arnold. Suddenly, an overpowering tempest threatened to sink the ship in the middle of the sea. Everyone on board was terrified, except for the great philosopher. He was reading, unfazed. The captain of the ship asked Arnold, “Aren’t you afraid of death?” “Death has its time. Why should I worry? I cannot afford to waste a single moment learning something new,” calmly answered the unruffled philosopher. The tempest eventually died down and professor Arnold learnt that the 1st-century Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna was a Brahmin, who embraced Buddhism and propounded his famous ‘Madhyam Marg’ (the middle path). Arnold also came to know that the same Nagarjuna gave the world the concept of ‘Ex Nihilo’ (nothing comes out of nothing), all during that mad scramble to save one’s life. There’re so many things to do in life. Alas, one life ain’t enough.

Source: Economic Times, 7/08/2019