Child Marriage: A Blow to Human Dignity and Women’s Liberty

The current editorial discusses child marriage, a human rights violation and a chronic problem across India. Despite several laws and acts against the practice, and recent arrests made in Assam, India, the problem still persists and has been found to be dominant in the rural areas, among poor families with lower education levels. This study makes an attempt to deliberate upon various reasons leading to child marriage and the implications of child marriage which is negatively affecting the health and well–being of women and children, thereby triggering the maternal and infant mortality rate across the country. The study stresses that to achieve the target set by Sustainable Development Goal 5.3 on gender equality to eliminate child marriage by 2030, effective interventions from all quarters, along with stringent laws and proper policies are essential

Indian Coal Mines in Hundred Years Old Fiction and Now: A Geographical Analysis

This study attempts to construe the first-ever coalmine-oriented Bengali fiction from a social, historical, and geographic perspective. Sailjananda Mukhopadhyay wrote Koylakuthi (the coal miners’ office) in 1922, representing Bengal’s coal mines. This study aims to reconstruct the miners’ society from the early 20th Century with narratives from this story and examine the societal challenges and changes a hundred years apart. A comparative study of the mining geo-cultural landscape of the 1920s Bengal and its contemporary counterpart is carried out. Changed geography, technology, and community are observed. And it reveals that areal expansion of the coalfields has increased production, and technological advancement has increased the safety and security of the miner class. However, the labour structure, class and caste hierarchy, and patriarchal mindset have hardly changed

COVID-19: An Ontological Human Circus?

Geopolitical and national interests predominate, given that a war between Russia and Ukraine would result in a daily economic decline in both countries. I am convinced that countries, not their people, wage wars. People have other concerns, such as food and a virus that has apparently not yet left these countries. Several plausibility arguments are presented in the first section of the paper, which addresses the persistently debated virus's origins. In contrast, its leadership continues to flounder. Numerous healthcare workers perished on the front lines, but there was scant coverage of their deaths during the first year of the pandemic and none since. The elderly, the frail elderly, and even the young are the most severely affected by the pandemic deaths that have occurred over the past two years and continue to occur. Current ontology is concerned with the controversies, hypotheses, and theories surrounding this damned insignificant RNA and its capacity to cause such catastrophic harm to humanity. Indeed, the issue is its disputed and contested origin. After two years, it appears that the graphs, countries, and news that are updated every minute on the Worldometer have not changed. However, something has changed; for example, countries have ceased to report the incidence of COVID-19 deaths

Challenges and Prospects of Apple Cultivation in Himachal Pradesh

The present endeavour aims to ascertain the current status and recent challenges of apple cultivation in Kinnaur district, Himachal Pradesh and to explore the prospects by framing suitable strategies through quantitative SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) and QSPM (Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix) analysis. A total of 32 factors encompassing 20 internal [10 Strengths (S) and 10 Weakness (W)] and 12 external [6 Opportunities (O) and 6 Threats (T)] factors have been identified through empiric investigation and interaction with the stakeholders. Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) and External Factor Evaluation (EFE) matrices have revealed that favourable agro-climatic conditions (S1, 3.60) and prevalence of diseases of the plants (W5, 3.6) are the most prioritised internal strength and weaknesses. At the same time, the establishment of adequate cold storage facilities (O5, 3.6) and recent changes in the prevailing climate (T1, 2.25) comprise the most concerning external opportunities and threats in the area, respectively. The results further reveal that implementing a well-managed gardening system and developing of infrastructural facilities (WT1, 124.7) may become the qualified alternative action plan to cope with the negative determinants. The establishment and expansion of apple orchard-based food processing units and tourism activities (SO2, 95%) may be considered the most suitable positive (SO) strategy to ensure further prosperity of apple production, which has been supported by most of the respondents. Adapting such a strategy will enrich the horticulture economy and promote the sustainable development of apple farming in the district

G-20 and Sustainable Development: A Way Forward

In the recent G-20 meeting held in New Delhi under the Indian presidency, the world leaders raised concerns over the fulfilment of the Agenda 2030 as the global progress on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is unsatisfactory. The members expressed a dire need to put collective efforts to fully and effectively implement the 2030 Agenda for a greener planet and to lessen the socioeconomic divides among the developed and developing countries. The ray of hope for a sustainable and carbon-neutral world rests in the actions of G-20 nations.

Human Trafficking: A Call for Action Research

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 trafficking, calling for action research

Sustainable Development and Public Transport in Haryana

This study examined the efficiency of public transport in Haryana from 2015-16 to 2020-21 in cognisance of the sustainable development aspect. The depots of the state roadways are considered as decision-making units. The study employed the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique for estimating the scores of the overall technical efficiency (OTE) and pure technical efficiency (PTE) of decision-making units (DMUs) by using three inputs— fleet size, total staff and bus utilisation. The study considered the total daily passengers transported and effective kilometres covered for the output. Further, along with the efficiency measurement, each depot’s total number of accidents has been collected to measure safety. The findings estimated the mean value of the PTE score for all depots, which turns out to be 0.91, indicating that to improve the managerial efficiency of the entire public transport of the state, the depots need to increase the output by 9 per cent. The average OTE score of all selected units is 0.89, reflecting that these DMUs have 89 per cent worked efficiently from 2015-16 to 2020-21. The efficiency score is based on output-oriented issues, meaning that inputs will be constant for total efficiency. The study recommends the promotion of public transport based on sustainability and efficiency in the State of Haryana

Organic Farming in India: Evolution, Current Status and Policy Perspectives

The performance of the agricultural sector is key for the development of the economy, especially for developing economies. It helps the economy in various ways, such as increased income for farmers, employment in rural areas, and, most importantly, food security. With the growing demand for food, farmers use extensive fertilisers and pesticides to increase productivity. This irrational use of fertilisers reduces soil fertility, pollutes rivers, kills plants and animals, and is linked to many human diseases. Thus, conventional farming raises many concerns related to the environment as well as human health. The emergence of organic farming is because of certain limitations of conventional farming. In our country, organic farming practices are taking a new shape. India has 1.59 million organic producers with 2.7 million hectares of agricultural land under organic agriculture. The current paper aims to describe the evolution and status of organic agriculture in India. It also seeks to probe the impact of organic agriculture on various aspects of farming and economy. The paper also aims to identify the constraints in the growth of organic agriculture. Further, based on the findings, the paper proposes new development models for the sustainable growth of the agriculture sector in India. Through this, a perspective is provided on the current state and policy alternatives with innovative organic farming models for the welfare of farmers and people at large

Indigenous Knowledge of Medicinal Plants and Attainment of SDG3: A Systematic Literature Review

Attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a critical issue for the United Nations in the 21st Century. These 17 SDGs have specific targets to achieve these goals. To achieve a more sustainable future, 193 countries agreed to work on these 17 SDGs by 2030. Out of these 17 SDGs, this paper focuses on attaining SDG 3 through indigenous knowledge. The researchers explored previous studies by other researchers worldwide and global reports related to medical plants. They discussed the role of folk medicine in attaining the third goal of sustainable development (SDG3). Target 3.3 of SDG 3 focuses on eliminating combat hepatitis, waterborne diseases, Malaria, and other communicable diseases, and target 3.4 of SDG 3 focuses on reducing non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment. Therefore, the focus of the study is to find out the specific plants which can be used for the treatment of various types of diseases through meta-analysis protocol and systematic reviews. Ninety articles are screened by keeping in view the set criteria. The study selected 50 scientific papers after excluding some papers due to the unavailability of full papers and duplicate copies of the articles. The researchers selected those papers whose citation is good. Previous researchers discussed that some plants and their parts—folk medicines— are often used to cure various communicable and non-communicable diseases like diabetes, cancer, Malaria, COVID-19, infections, pain, liver problems, etc., by certain groups and communities due to its lesser price, effortlessness, easy accessibility and affordability. 

Microfinance and Poverty Reduction in Assam: Uncovering the Nexus between Access to Credit and Household Well-being

This study investigates the impact of microcredit access on income and multidimensional poverty in rural Assam, India. Employing a quasi-experimental design and collecting primary data, the study utilises the probit model for empirical analysis. The findings indicate that equivalence factors influence individual welfare levels. Moreover, households receiving microcredit from semiformal and informal sources exhibit a higher incidence of poverty. Informal borrowers experience a more significant poverty gap compared to semiformal borrowers. However, the study does not find statistically significant evidence to confirm a poverty impact from pooled and formal credit sources. The prevalence of income and multidimensional poverty among semiformal and informal borrowers suggests that these individuals rely on borrowing to finance their children’s education and medical expenses. This points to a failure of the government’s universal education and health policies to uplift vulnerable segments of society. The study recommends providing credit facilities exclusively for productive economic activities to rural residents, accompanied by adequate market linkages