Changing views at Banaras Hindu University on the Academic Study of Religion: A first report from an on-going research project

Given India’s vibrant religious landscape, there is a somewhat surprising paucity of depart‐ ments, centres or even programs for the academic study of religion. This article discusses this issue based on the preliminary results of an interview study conducted at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, India, in 2014 and 20 Its focus is on the views of university teachers and researchers concerning the place, role and function of religion and religious stud‐ ies at BHU. Twenty‐eight semi‐structured interviews were conducted. In the course of their analysis, six themes emerged: 1) the place and role of religion in society; 2) religion as ‘religi‐ osity/spirituality’ or sanatana dharma vs. political ideology/communitarianism; 3) religion vs. dharma; 4) secularization; 5) religion in education in general; and, 6) religion in the education at BHU. The informants agreed on the increasing importance of religion in India, and most of them viewed the meaning of secularization as being ‘equal respect for all religions’. Moreover, a majority distinguished between ‘religion’, in the Western sense, and the Indian conception of dharma, considering it regrettable that the latter, described as the common ground of all reli‐ gions, is not taught more extensively at BHU. They also considered the original ideal of BHU’s founder, Madan Mohan Malaviya, to be of signi cant importance. That ideal involved not only teaching students the knowledge and skill sets found in a standard modern university, but also equipping them with a value‐based education, grounded upon sanatana‐dharma. As our project progresses, further understanding of this turn toward dharma education is something we intend to pursue through the lens of multiple modernities, developed by Marian Burchardt et al. as multiple secularities

Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara Visiting Fellowship 2010-2011

The Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara Visiting Fellowship was established by the University of Otago in 2004 to honor the memory of Sir Ratu Kamisese Mara, the most prominent leader of Fiji and indeed of the Pacific Region and a graduate of Otago University. Prof. Biman Chand Prasad was the first recipient (inaugural) of this prestigious award in 2007, and I am the second holder of the Fellowship. I undertook my fellowship from 15 January to 14 April 2011, to work with Space Physics Group of the Department of Physics, Otago University, which is one of the most active and productive research groups at international level engaged in investigating the natural environment using Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) and Very Low Frequency (VLF) signal

Recessive monogenic mutation in grain pea (pisum sativum) that causes pyridoxine requirement for growth and seed production

A stable pyridoxine-deficient pea mutant was obtained by screening the M2 progeny of azide-treated Pisum sativum cv Pusa Harbhajan. The mutation is visible lethal. The isolation of pyridoxine-deficient mutant demonstrates directly that pea plants synthesize their own pyridoxine and that pyridoxine is an essential growth factor for pea plants. The mutant character is determined by homozygous recessive alleles, designatedpdx-1, at a single locus. Pyridoxine-deficient plants are fertile and indistinguishable from the wild type if supplied exogenously with 2 mg of pyridoxine