🔵 The risk and desire that drive dating apps - The Hindu

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/the-risk-and-desire-that-drive-dating-apps/article67588488.ece

Adding to the list of vulnerabilities of people on dating apps are queer or married men being easier sextortion targets than singles. Apps such as Gleeden and Ashley Madison, which call themselves extramarital dating sites, could put a great number of people at risk. While many cis-gendered people hide their identities with fraud or falsehood as motives, queer people may change theirs to protect themselves.

#Social_Media #Sex #Relationship #Crime

🔵 The Political Economy of Curricula in Higher Education Institutions | Economic and Political Weekly

https://www.epw.in/journal/2023/47/commentary/political-economy-curricula-higher-education.html

Three years of the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 have witnessed several regulations and guidelines by the University Grants Commission regarding changes in the curriculum. It is important to examine the implications of these curricular changes. It is noted that the curriculum, instead of evolving through scientific inquiry, is influenced by the ideology of the state and the market.

By the “political economy” of the curriculum, I mean the curiosity-based scientific basis of determining or designing the curriculum for students. It is decided through a critical examination of knowledge for the benefit of the general public at large, reflecting the aims of public education. The curriculum is determined by subject experts and the state plays a role in providing legitimacy to the whole process of curriculum design and its delivery to the students. However, if the influence of political power dominates curriculum design instead of scientific inquiry, it leads to a curriculum that is corrupted by ideology. It is important to understand the directions of change in curriculum design which are influenced by market forces rather than the interests of the people and the nation. Curriculum design is also shaped by the extent of academic freedom. If academic freedom is compromised, then the process of know­ledge generation itself gets mutilated.

#NEP_2020

🔵 Forget ‘Man the Hunter’ – physiological and archaeological evidence rewrites assumptions about a gendered division of labor in prehistoric times

Link

The myth that female reproductive capabilities somehow render them incapable of gathering any food products beyond those that cannot run away does more than just underestimate Paleolithic women. It feeds into narratives that the contemporary social roles of women and men are inherent and define our evolution. Our Paleolithic ancestors lived in a world where everyone in the band pulled their own weight, performing multiple tasks. It was not a utopia, but it was not a patriarchy.

Certainly accommodations must have been made for group members who were sick, recovering from childbirth or otherwise temporarily incapacitated. But pregnancy, lactation, child-rearing and menstruation are not permanently disabling events, as researchers found among the living Agta of the Philippines who continue to hunt during these life periods.
Suggesting that the female body is only designed to gather plants ignores female physiology and the archaeological record. To ignore the evidence perpetuates a myth that only serves to bolster existing power structures.

P. S. This is an interesting take on the sexual division of labour in the hunting and food gathering society.

#Gender #Division_of_Labour

Maharashtra Revives 'Pink Rickshaw/ for Women's Safety and Jobs

#Women #Employment

💐 Welcome December 💐

Good Morning 🌞

Take some measure like
1)Start some initiative for Girls training like karate etc
2)collaborate with ngo n civil society
3)Police k special movement
4)Coaching institute k sath some unique initiative LA skte

1) Initiative for girls training like karate boxing etc is fine but that cannot really address molestation, assault etc because generally such acts are done by an assembly of miscreants where self defense techniques etc may not be sufficient.

2) well NGO and CSO in India suffer from accountability challenges,they will work with enthusiasm for a few days and then no ground work, delayed response etc etc

Also remember security issue is direct responsibility of state, so it's better if state have direct stake in safety of students especially women.

3) Police special movement is great

4) Unique initiative with Coaching institute , can we explore what kind of initiative? For instance, a coaching institute can follow up the student movement virtually through application and AI till they reach home safely. Although the privacy factor needs to be balanced here. Also students etc should have a habit of dropping text/message/ attendance etc to their institute/ teacher once they reach home safely .

what more can we do ?
students can have GPS devices in their bags etc. This will ensure they are being tracked in case of an emergency situation.

women safety is not only women issue but also society issue that's where other stakeholders should come in the picture. For instance people in the area where there are coaching institutes etc should be sensitised about women safety issues, again this can be done by awareness campaign message/videos on Billboard, signboard at every intersection etc etc.

Good Morning 🌞

🔵 Who Does a Cyclone Actually Affect? Analysing the Impacts of Major Cyclones in India | Economic and Political Weekly

https://www.epw.in/engage/article/who-does-cyclone-actually-affect-analysing-impacts

While “natural disasters” such as cyclones cause widespread and indiscriminate devastation, their impact is much worse for vulnerable communities. Such groups face the brunt of not only the cyclone but also of inefficient government planning, caste discrimination, health problems and apathy.

India is one of the most disaster-prone areas in the world with 60% of its landmass prone to earthquakes, 40 million hectares vulnerable to flooding, 8% of its land area exposed to cyclones and 68% of the land liable to be affected by drought.
… With the advent of climate change, the incidence of extreme weather events will increase.

Natural disasters do not discriminate when they befall human beings. They affect everyone with equal and devastating force, without discrimination. The disastrous impact of nature is uniform. It is, however, the human beings and their protective capacity that creates the differential response to the natural disaster.

Cyclone Fani: Caste Discrimination
 
Evacuation during Cyclone Fani, which made landfall on the Odisha coast in May 2019, was fraught with incidents of caste-based discrimination. These highlighted, in no uncertain terms, the “complete absence of human concern on the part of the upper castes” in the response to “the Dalits’ fundamental need for safety in shelter.” 
An EPW editorial (2019) noted:

As reported in the media, the cyclone-affected Dalits from a village in the Puri district were not only barred from entering the public shelters but also forced to vacate the shelters that they had managed to occupy. The media report added that the Dalit families were forced to take shelter under a banyan tree, which was also uprooted by the cyclone and shared the fate of the Dalit families. They thus found themselves literally thrown to the mercy of the winds blowing at the speed of 200 kilometres per hour and torrential rains.

Caste-based discrimination in post-disaster scenarios is not new—it was witnessed in the process of distribution of aid following the tsunami in Tamil Nadu, and the earthquakes in Kutch, Gujarat and Latur in Maharashtra. Yet, the incidents in Puri are different.

One could have understood the upper castes’ refusal to accommodate the Dalits had it been a private shelter of the former. But since they sought to convert a public space into a private fiefdom, this, by implication, eliminated the ground on which the Dalits could have exercised their right to be accommodated in the public shelter.

#Environment #Discrimination

🔵 ‘Disinformation presents major threat to democracy, media credibility’ - The Hindu

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/disinformation-presents-major-threat-to-democracy-media-credibility/article67600772.ece

‘Mounting news avoidance’

“Surveys show mounting news avoidance and slumping trust in traditional media all the while the dominance of social media just keeps on going,” she said, citing a recent Reuters Institute report showing 30% of people across the globe now turn to social media for news.

“We know on these platforms lies travel faster than facts,” she said. “Disinformation, conspiracies and hate are poisoning our information ecosystems, driving distrust in public institutions, and generating controversy instead of creating new dialogue. With Generative AI, disinformation actors have been given a potent technology with low production costs to create high quality but fake images, audio and video content at scale.” However, “reporters with skills”, she said, “can restore balance” amid this flooding of social media by providing “accurate and reliable information”.

#Social_Media

Good Morning 🌞

68th Bpsc mains Result.. Congratulations to all those who cleared 👍

Controversial Practices in Bangladesh: Father Marries Daughter

#Marriage #Incest

Good Morning 🌞

🔵 India, disability inclusion and the power of ‘by’ - The Hindu

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/india-disability-inclusion-and-the-power-of-by/article67601986.ece

According to the English dictionary, “For” is often used when a person is receiving something and “By” is to “identify the agent performing an action”. This difference is crucial when it comes to disability inclusion, as the approach is completely different if it is “by” persons with disabilities being a part of the process and not “for” them, without them in the process.

The goal of social justice cannot be achieved without the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all spheres of development, starting with rural areas and rural resilience. Evidence shows a bi-directional link to poverty, nutrition, and hunger, and as a consequence, there needs to be more inclusive opportunities and employment in rural areas. Given the historic marginalisation of persons with disabilities and the backsliding of the progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, a fundamental shift in commitment, solidarity, financing and action is critical. It is about time that the voices and needs of persons with disabilities be prioritised at the centre of the global development agenda.

#Social_Justice #Differently_Abled #Inclusion