Rituparna Bhattacharyya

• PhD
• Editor at Alliance for Community Capacity Building in North East India

It is well established that the countries of South Asia suffer from multi-dimensional poverty. This volume examines the issues and the challenges linked to socioeconomic and environmental indicators and the various practices entailed in evolving the notion of sustainable cities. The volume is indeed an attempt to answer the ‘big question’—the facto...

Any form of sexual assault stems from the intersection of power, patriarchal structure and gender. While different countries take different measures to tackle cases of sexual assault, cases continue to rise like a pandemic. This study is a revisit to the # Metoo Movement that took the catbird seat in 2017 after Tarana Burke founded it in 2006. Alth...

Any form of sexual assault stems from the intersection of power, patriarchal structure and gender. While different countries take different measures to tackle cases of sexual assault, cases continue to rise like a pandemic. This study is a revisit to the # Metoo Movement that took the catbird seat in 2017 after Tarana Burke founded it in 2006. Alth...

Since the year 2000, 25 November has been observed as International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to make the public aware of violence against women and girls (VAWG). Human Trafficking is one of the most brutal forms of VAWG. This brief communication in the form of an editorial discusses the despicable issues linked to human tra...

Following the announcement of the lockdown on 24 March 2020, India witnessed a mass exodus of interstate/intrastate labour migrants, who are engaged primarily in the informal sector of the economy with no social protection (such as no insurance, no job contract, affordable houses, government-mandated database) per se. This exodus is reckoned as the...

This project is a festschrift honoring the academic contributions of Professor Narendra Nath Bhattacharyya to North East India. This chapter overviews the region’s accomplishments and challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals. Alongside, this chapter attempts to pull all the chapters included in this book by dividing it into three parts—Part...

The Manas National Park (MNP) is one of the country's wealthiest reservoirs of flora and fauna. However, the Park has faced several ups and downs due to sociopolitical unrest, poaching, and illegal encroachment. It has been observed that 20.47 km2 area of the Park has been encroached from 1991 to 2004 due to the sociopolitical unrest in the region....

The cluster of the eight North-Eastern states, connected to the rest of India by only a narrow strip of land, regressed to a state of lost glory with the economy struggling to be at par with the other Indian states since independence. Constituting of 7.98% of the country’s total geographical area, the region hosts 3.77% of its population. The North...

At the heart of this review paper is about understanding the complex problem of drinking water shortage that most people in Assam, India, encounter during a crisis, e.g. floods, ethnic riots, droughts and others. Therefore, this systematic review aims at discussing the factors of drinking water treatment practices during an emergency with a view to...

This study begins with the historical understanding of race and its modern perspectives as a social construct amid social identity and critical race theories. Next, race and ethnicity are explored within the context of COVID-19, whereby those of non-white backgrounds are seeing different disastrous health outcomes and experiencing heightened levels...

On 15 August 1947, the subcontinent of undivided India was partitioned into India and Pakistan (West and East Pakistan) using the two-nation theory. However, approximately 24 years after, Bangladesh was carved out of East Pakistan. The key purpose of this study is to revisit the geographies of nationalism and national identity in Bangladesh, which...

This article is dedicated to doing a detailed review of the aforementioned book entitled Life Under Lockdown: Lived Experiences and Lessons Learnt by Professor Sanjai Bhatt, Department of Social Work, University of Delhi,3, University Road, Delhi 110007, India; Immediate Past President, National Association of Professional Social Workers in India;...

In the middle of September 2021, a female candidate wearing ‘shorts’ (the so-called ‘half pant’), hailing from Biswanath Chariali, went to Tezpur to appear at an entrance test of Assam Agricultural University (AAU) at Girijananda Chowdhury Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (GIPS), one of the agencies of AAU. While the gatekeeper of GIPS gave her...

In India, Assembly Elections were held in Assam, West Bengal, Kerela, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the first half of 2021. Driving this study is an attempt to analyse the election results of the state of Assam where Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies, Mitrajot or National Democratic Alliance (NDA), successfully defeated the Indian National...

This brief communication in the form of the editorial attempts to draw out the parallels between two grisly incidents in two parts of the world. However, the vertiginous ferocity of the incidents jostled outrage across the nations— Sarah Everard’s kidnap and murder on 03 March 2021 and barbarity on Nirbhaya through gang-rape and subsequent murder i...

This is a book review that we have received from Syeda Fahima Shahanz Sultana, Payel Saha†and DrMadhushree Das. This book, ‘Discrimination, Challenge and Response- People of North East India’ edited by V. Pulla, R. Bhattacharyya, and S. Bhatt, which forms a part of the ‘Mapping Global Racisms’ series edited by Ian Law and published by Palgrave Mac...

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the plight of India’s interstate/intrastate labour migrants that surfaced a few days after the Government of India announced the lockdown on 24 March 2020. Based on secondary literature and using GIS techniques, the study will critically analyse the D-series Census of India data to probe the predicame...

Recently the parliament of India passed a bill offering amnesty to non-Muslim illegal immigrants from three neighbouring countries: Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) specifically provides citizenship to religious minorities escaping from these countries as refugees, especially the Hindu, Christian, Sikh...

The following two chapters address the tumultuous struggles of the Nagas, covering the period up to 2019. Their saga begins even before the British colonised India, and for the purposes of this volume we have divided their narrative into two parts. This chapter accounts for the period of British rule and early post-independence, almost up to the 19...

Nehru, the first prime minister of India, was not apologetic about sending Indian Army to sort out the Naga rebellions, although in his approach he appeared to be sincerely trying to win them over. ‘His successors did not bring any major innovation in the Indian State’s Naga Policy; rather they largely continued with his policy of the carrot of aut...

The total number of migrants from North East India to other regions of the country increased from 0.4 million in 1981 to 1.1 million in 2001. Between 2005 and 2010 there were nearly half a million more, and Delhi alone received 200,000 people. This chapter is based on in-depth interviews with stakeholders of civil society organisations and individu...

The idea that India is a raceless society is a myth. India has a legal framework that assures racial equality but there is no evidence that any of these legal arrangements have been useful in preventing the incessant assaults on young North East Indians in the metropolitan cities of India. Trajectories and outcomes of racialised and dehumanised beh...

Almost the whole of India is currently witnessing a massive drought due to the relentless increase in water demand to cater its more than one billion people alongside the growing demand for water for agricultural activities, industries and other allied activities. However, there is a lack of research focusing on water scarcity in India. Central Wat...

Public spaces are those spaces where all citizens, irrespective of gender, caste, class, sexuality, disability or any other social identity have a right to access. Importantly, the geographies of public space are gendered and ‘practiced place’, where individuals use these spaces to fulfil their varied needs and aspirations of their everyday life wh...

This case study discusses the complex issues of data collection (gaining access to and recruiting participants, building rapport, translation, and transcription) and other practical challenges of conducting sensitive research like domestic violence in Sylhet, a city geo-spatially located in the northeastern part of Bangladesh, using in depth face-t...

This book explores discrimination against Northeast Indians, who have been frequently stereotyped as backwards, anti-national, anti-assimilationist, immoral, and relegated to low paying positions across retail, hospitality, telecommunications and wellness industries. The contributions draw on interviews with individuals who have migrated to other...

Background: Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is an uncommon cause of stroke with extremely varied clinical presentations, predisposing factors, imaging findings, and outcomes. We conducted a prospective study of 50 patients of CVT admitted in our department for a period of 1 year. Results: Headache was the most common presenting feature (80%) follo...

The SPG11 gene was first analyzed, revealing homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations in 30/97 (30.9%) of pro bands, the largest SPG11 series reported to date, and by far the most common cause of complex spastic paraplegia Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) is a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous neurological disorders characte...

This editorial reviews the historic mandate of India's General Election of 2019, preceding nasty campaigns and futurist agenda for Mr Modi's second term.

Ross syndrome is a rare partial dysautonomic syndrome of unknown aetiology, characterized by segmental hypo/ anhidrosis associated with Holmes-Adie syndrome (tonic pupil and hypo/areflexia). The hypohydrosis or anhydrosis is patchy initially, later it becomes segmental or diffuse. This is due to affection of postganglionic cholinergic parasympathet...

The spectre of partition narratives of 1947 and its legacy continues to haunt diverse groups of people across the nation-state including the mindset of North East Indians. North East India, also known as the ‘Land of Seven Sisters’ is home to numerous ethnolinguistic groups, consisting of 357 constitutional communities embracing 32 scheduled castes...

Watson, B. and Clarke, M. 2014:Child Sponsorship: Exploring Pathways to a Brighter Future. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 347 pp. Ä90.47 (Hardcover), Ä72.99 (eBook), Ä83.19 (Softcover). ISBN: 978-1-137-30959-4 (Hardcover), 978-1-137-30960-0 (eBook), 978-1-349-45640-6 (Softcover).

Postcolonial India is a complex and paradoxical mix of sociocultural practices and modernity. This tension is especially apparent and holds particular significance, with respect to women’s changing roles. Driving this research is a concern to probe the position of women, pursuing higher education, as daughters/daughter(s)-in-law and wife within the...

Geographies of disowned Indian widows are highly under-researched. This case study seeks to understand the lives of 21 of the many diverse widows across India. These 21 widows were driven out by their families, who sought refuge in the two Briddhha Ashrams (old-age hermitages) namely Rajkya and Birla, both located in the heritage city, Varanasi, Ut...

In-depth interviews are now an established method of qualitative research across disciplines – Geography, Sociology, Social Work and even in Medical Sciences. However, there is a dearth of discussion about the issues entailed in using semi-structured interviews in Bangladesh, especially while conducting research on sensitive issues such as violence...

ABSTRACT In-depth interviews are now an established method of qualitative research across disciplines – Geography, Sociology, Social Work and even in Medical Sciences. However, there is a dearth of discussion about the issues entailed in using semi-structured interviews in Bangladesh, especially while conducting research on sensitive issues such as...

The aftermath of the strings of sexual allegations faced by Harvey Weinstein, one of the most powerful faces of Hollywood, the #metoo movement went viral in social media. This innovative and creative movement was initially launched in 2006 by Tarana Burke aimed at helping survivors of sexual harassment. Taking examples from different countries, thi...

Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), a legislation of the Government of India promulgated in the ‘disturbed areas’ of India’s North-East since 1958 and in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) since the 1990s merits spatial and contextual analysis. This is because in these regions where AFSPA operates, the armed forces are alleged to have committed one of th...

Dear Readers, We are back again presenting before you some of the free/open access online resources.

The sociologies of India’s missing children merit spatial and contextual examination. The sociological space into which a child goes missing is highly under-researched in India. Building on overarching narratives emerging from secondary sources and existing literature on Indian children’s vulnerability and precarity, the article aims to evaluate th...

Book Reviiew

Chaired by honourable Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Damodar Modi, the Union Cabinet on 24 August 2016 introduced and approved the draft bill on Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) in India, known popularly as the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016. The bill aims at regulating the ever-proliferating unregulated surrogacy industry interalia bannin...

Dear Readers, We present before you as usual some of the free/open access online resources.

Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG4) of India targeted to diminish the under-five mortality rate (U-5MR) rate to 42 and infant mortality rate (IMR) to 27 per 1,000 live births by 2015-end. Although the country has gained some improvements in reducing U-5MR and IMR, it failed to achieve the target. Despite, the Government of India’s promises to stre...

Street violence against women (SVAW) in India is highly under researched. This article aims to understand the contextual factors responsible for the occurrence of SVAW in five cities of North-east India: Agartala, Kohima, Imphal, Shillong, and Guwahati. The aftermath of an horrific gang rape and the subsequent death of a 23-year-old woman in a movi...

Hi Readers,We are back again with our regular issue presenting before you some free/open access online resources.

Proportion of women working in the hitherto male-dominated sectors such as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) jobs are primarily low because of gender stereotyping and motherhood roles. Using the findings of the article titled Entitled to a Sustainable Career? Motherhood in Science, Engineering, and Technology published in the Journ...

The presence of domestic violence (DV) within marriages is a universal phenomenon and Bangladesh is no exception. The current study explores the nature, pattern and intensity of DV perpetrated against married women, along with an investigation into the socio-economic and cultural factors behind this phenomenon, specifically, in Sylhet, Bangladesh....

Venkat Pulla and Bharath Bhushan Mamidi (eds), Some Aspects of Community Empowerment and Resilience, New Delhi, Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 2015, 258 pp., ₹ 750, ISBN 978-81-8424-962-0 (paperback).

Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is a draconian legislation of the Government of India promulgated in the ‘disturbed areas’ of India’s North-East since 1958 and in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) since the 1990s. This presentation unravels as to how AFSPA has been committing human rights abuses for decades.

Dyson, Jane. 2014: Working childhoods: Youth, agency and the environment in India. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. 186 pp. £50.00 hardback. ISBN: 9781107058385.

div class="WordSection1"> The following are some of the new publications for the Volume 3 (1). All are freely available on the internet. </div

Domestic violence (DV) against married women is widely prevalent across Bangladesh and this merits nuanced attention. Multifarious factors are believed to perpetuate DV in different socioeconomic contexts within the country. This study aimed to understand the causes and contexts of DV in the Sylhet region (a distinct sub-culture that carries Sylhet...

p>Hi Readers, We are back again with our regular issue presenting before you some free online resources.</p

India's Northeast is a home to numerous and diverse ethnic communities, each with its own unique socio-cultural characteristics and over 80 per cent of the population live in the rural areas. Many areas within the region are difficult to access. In addition, the region shares long international borders. Economic development has been slow but there...

K.K.Varma.2013. New Delhi: Palimpsest Publishers, 131 pages, Kindle Edition: £1.87; Paperback £1.87/₹275

On August, 18, 2008, the river Kosi, located in Bihar, India burst through its banks to flow into a channel it had abandoned more than 200 years ago, drowning towns, numerous villages and rendering over a million homeless and many were reported to have died. The research is an attempt to reflect on the geographies of socio-economic impact of the Ko...

Both domestic violence (DV) and sexual assault against women (SAAW) in public spaces continue to be significant problems facing Indian society. Moreover, the link between DV and SAAW is also commonly misconstrued. Adding to this confusion is the way in which forms of violence against women (VAW) - battering, rape, molestation and sexual abuse - lac...

The horrific gang-rape and the subsequent murder of Nirbyaya (fearless) in December 2012, impelled the Government of India to pass the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013. The key aim of this article is to review this Act in the light of women’s safety in public spaces.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), launched in February 2006 was renamed in October 02, 2009 as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (henceforth, MGNREGA). It is an anti-poverty flagship programme of the Government of India. The key purpose of MGNREGA is to enhance wage employment in the rural areas by provid...

p>We are happy to launch the first issue of the Journal Space and Culture, India. This first issue is a tribute to Nirbhaya (Fearless), who was brutally gang-raped and left in a ‘vegetative state’ to die, who subsequently succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012. Alongside, we also pay our last respect to Chief Justice Jagdish Charan Verma (J...

In India, floods remain a natural recurrent event of many major rivers of the sub-continent. Most frequently, it occurs during the "monsoon season" when precipitation remains very heavy and the natural watercourses fail to accommodate excess water. The river Kosi, located in Bihar, India too bears a long history of annual floods and is often labele...

Sinuous but often slow, the Volga winds southward through the heart of Russia, giving life to a fantastic array of habitats and species.

Although this region is fairly rich in biodiversity and has a moderate number of endemic species, it suffers from inadequate management of resources, which poses a serious threat to its future

A unique coastal marine environment, this estuary hosts rich marine and avian populations, but needs every effort to turn back damage from reckless anthropogenic activities upstream.

English mechanical engineer Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine in 1884, a breakthrough in marine engineering because it made high-speed ocean liners possible. This turbine was later used to generate electricity aimed at driving an alternator.

One of the most significant current discussions is about building research capacity in resource limited countries. In India, the issue has grown its importance in the light of Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh's growing concern on the fact that India's relative position in the world of science and technology has been declining and been overtaken by...

Postcolonial India is a complex and paradoxical mix of traditional practices and ultra modernity. This tension is especially apparent, and holds particular significance, with respect to women’s changing status and role. Driving this research is a concern to examine the impact that structural reforms and neoliberalism are having on women’s everyday...

One of the core aims of economic geography is to explore people-place relationship. The geography of feminist economics, one of the sub-disciplines of economic geography, aims to study the gendered nature of economic processes, confined largely to the issues of work and labor. This article addresses the notion of work and labor that has been centra...