The protocol thus is faithful neither to the Ayurvedic classics nor to conventional diagnostic criteria. A document endorsed by the country’s Prime Minister would be expected to be clear, error-free and trustworthy. The document in question sadly has these attributes only faintly.
The single most important factor that appeared to help students is a good mentor. Sustained interaction with a mentor who provided encouraging and positive counselling, along with access to support groups (online or offline, peers or family) is what helped students overcome bias. Unfortunately, this piecemeal and highly personalized route is not sufficient if we wish to address bias at the national level, in terms of policy.
The core question I propose to discuss is “What makes the science and the scientist themselves vulnerable, en route to … discoveries in COVID times”? Everyone would agree that better funding and planning for infrastructure, along with an influx of fresh ideas, would help buffer us in times of need. Yet, the ground realities about the relationship between policy makers and stakeholders seems further than resolved. Even after seven decades of independence, why so? A large part of this discussion will focus on the qualitative learnings from history and reflect on how we can apply those in post-COVID times.
Drawing from years of experience in dealing with cases associated with sexual harassment in higher education institutes, Preeti Karmarkar examines the various challenges faced in the implementation of the existing guidelines.
The National Education Policy 2020 does not address the structural problems in higher education today. It instead merely rejigs the existing edifice, creates new institutions & reimagines the system, all in the hope that a new, creative one will then emerge.
Issues related to empowerment of women in Academia have been discussed at various forums for the last two decades. But what has been achieved and what remains to be achieved? Which recommendations were implemented and which were not? Why? Vineeta Bal examines these issues with special reference to the current socio-economic situation of India.
In a traditional classroom, the teacher acts as both an instructor and as a guide, but this changes in online teaching. A teacher is now no longer just an instructor but is also a content developer and designer of online curricula. She or he will also need skills in content-communication online. Teachers should also ensure appropriate video and voice qualities and if needed, some enrichment of the content before sharing them with students – all of which make online teachers “super”teachers!
My experience of being a person with disability and my interaction with persons with disability allow me to posit that the absence of the knowledge about the lived experiences of the disabled and the preconceived notions about normalcy allow to attach different social meanings to impaired bodies and these meanings question the knowledge of the disabled .
Existing polarizations of caste, religion, gender and class also shape the repercussions of the current crisis in many ways. The switch to online education has amplified the manifestations of caste, gender and class divisions among students. On June 1, 2020, a 14-year-old Dalit girl student committed suicide in Kerala because her family could not afford a smart phone for her to attend online classes. There are many incidents of domestic violence against women reported during the lockdown.
So how do we accomplish our research goals? There was no point pining for a lab that you could not visit. The only solution to this was to redefine our goals.
Whenever the question of juxtaposing Ayurveda with modern medicine arises, it is posited by some influential commentators as a case of placing holism side-by-side reductionism. Such a view is an overstatement of facts and this essay seeks to put things in perspective.
In a partly autobiographical sketch, V Madhurima reminisces about the time she spent as a Physics Professor in Mizoram University during 2007-2012. This essay highlights some of the unique features and challenges of being a researcher in one of the North-East states of India
