Evidence of Extinct Paleo-River Found in MP

A group of researchers in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh has claimed to have found traces of an extinct paleo-river nearly 65 million years old.

Paleo -channel or paleo river is an inactive river or water stream buried under sediment.There is an evidence of extinct paleo river which is about 6.5 crore years old in Dhar district.According to the researchers due to geological activities this river might have got covered under the basaltic lava.The researchers are also trying to find out whether this ancient stream has anything to do with Narmada river.It flowed in the same East to West direction as Narmada river.

The current course of Narmada is about 10km from the site of Paleo river parallel to it.

Taboo

The word taboo is of Polynesian origin introduced into the English language by Captain Cook who reported on the custom of human sacrifice in the Tahiti Island.The term was extended outside its original context and applied to a wide variety of ritual avoidances or prohibitions in different ethnographic environments.These include prohibitions of contact with certain kinsmen in special ritual states,eating certain foods and incest.

Sigmund Freud characterized  taboo as a mixture of desire or attraction and fear or repulsion representing a primitive psychological conflict.

The term taboo is continued to be used in dealing with incest.Claude Levi Strauss viewed incest taboo not as an irrational phobia but an expression of collective wisdom.In that it promoted social integration by regulating the circulation of marriageble partners between groups of people.

Mary Pierce considered that taboo was applicable to different kinds of ritual prohibitions.Different forms of ritual avoidance occuring in different ethnographic contexts are considered to be related to the symbolic and socio-cultural contexts in which they occur.

Individuals are directed to conform to norms in society by taboos.The purpose of taboos may be productive,protective or prohibitive.Taboos related to cultivation are productive.When people are kept away from actions and objects ,the taboos are protective.Prohibitive taboos are those which seclude a person from certain objects.

Emergence of Hominids

The Hominoidea is divided into three families - hylobatidae includes gibbons and siamangs,Pongidae includes gorillas,chimpanzees and orangutans and Hominidae includes humans.It is considered that humans ( hominids) and great aps( pongids) share a more common ancestor than either does with gibbons and siamangs(hylobatids).

Fossil evidence from Egypt suggests that hylobatids separated from pongids between 38 and 25 million years ago.The divergence between the great apes and humans took place later between 25 and 8 million  years ago ( Miocene Pliocene period).The most widespread and well known Miocene apes were seven species belongings to a fossil sub family known as Dryopithecinae.

The Dryopithecine fossils have a lower teeth cusp pattern which distinguishes hominids from old world monkeys.The upper and lower molars of old world monkeys have only four cusps arranged in two parallel rows with a deep groove between them.The lower molars in hominids have five cusps separated.

Studies suggest that rather than humans evolving from a moneky like ancestor contemporary monkeys would have descended from an early branch of hominoid line.Dryopithecus major the  largest of Miocene ape might have been the early ancestor of gorilla and chimpanzee could have descended from a small Miocene ape known as Dryopithecus africanus.

Latest Research about Neanderthal Man

The first molecular evidence that Neanderthals not only ate a range of cooked plant foods but also understood its nutritional and medicinal qualities has been uncovered by new study.Until recently Neanderthals who disappeared between 30,000 and 24,000 years ago were thought to be predominantly meat eaters.The researchers have combined pyrolysis gas chromatography with morphological analysis of plant microfossils to identify material trapped in dental calculus from five Neanderthals from the north Spanish site of El Sidron.

The research has provided first molecular evidence for medicinal plants being used by a Neanderthal individual.The starch granules and carbohydrate markers in the samples plus evidence for plant compounds such as azulenes and coumarins as well as possible evidence for nuts,grasses and even green vegetables suggested broader use of plants.It also suggest that Neanderthal occupants of El Sidr'n had a sophisticated  knowledge of their natural surroundings which included the ability to select and use certain plants for their nutritional value and for self medication.

Migration and tribal communities

Hutton a tribal anthropologist notes that most of the races and cultures in India are successive waves of migration.A majority of tribes are migrants to their present habitat.Wars have been one of the main reasons for migration of tribes to hills and forests for safety.

They generally move from one place to another in search of food.Patoralism and jhoom cultivation among tribals is still prevalent in many tribal communities of India.They migrate from one place to another in search of green pastures.They are not readily accepted in the new settlement.They might face   clash of interests with the already settled there.Many times they are even deprived of basic amenities like water etc.

Transactionalism

In primitive societies the exchange of products between the tribes could be called as barter exchange.Goods produced in excess of their own demands were given to another tribe whose products were different.This practice of transaction had three levels namely- Reciprocity,Redistribution and Commercial Exchange.

Reciprocity - The excess produce was given away as gift to another tribe or society in need.This was not in expection of any returns.But in times of need this act was reciprocated by the other tribe.There was perfect understanding between the giver and the taker.

There is another type of reciprocity as among Trobriand islanders through Kula ring.Through trade,a society can dispose of goods,it has in abundance and obtain goods scarce in its own territory.Since trade transactions between neighbouring people may be crucial to their survival,it is important to maintain good relations.

Redistribution is the accumulation of goods by a particular person or in a particular place for the purpose of subsequent distribution.In societies that have political hierarchies it has become an important mechanism.The redistribution may be within the members of a family or within a community or society where there is a political apparatus to coordinate centralized collection and redistribution.

Market or commercial exchange is referred as exchanges or transactions in which the prices are subject to supply and demand.Market exchange does not only involve the exchange of buying and selling of goods.It also involves transactions of labour,land and credit.

According to anthropologists money performs basic functions of serving as a medium of exchange a standard of values and store of wealth.Also money is non perishable,transportable and divisible so that transactions can be made when the goods being purchased  differ in value.The money described is termed as general purpose money.

There is another category of money known as special purpose money.This consists of objects of value for which only some special goods or services can be excahnged on the spot or through balanced reciprocity.

General purpose money is a universally accepted medium of exchange.It is used for commercial transactions  and for non commercial transactions (taxes,fines,gifts and contributions).General  purpose money provides a way of condensing wealth.

All the transactions whether they be reciprocities,redistribution or commercial transactions involve cultural contacts and intermingling of tribes and societies  and that is why in cultural anthropology the term transactionalism has been introduced to explain diffusion and interactions of cultures between societies.

Art in Upper Palaeolithic Period

Upper Palaeolithic population have become familiar to most people more by their art forms than the tools shaped and used.Of the art forms cave paintings are extraordinary and the earliest ones date back to 30,000 years.Typical Upper Palaeolithic paintings are on limestone walls of caves.The preservation of the paintings have been attributed to their absorption by limestone.The subject matter of pre-historic hunters of big game was their prey.The animals depicted on the walls of caves are mammoth,horses,deer, reindeer and other animals.

The most generally accepted interpretation associates the paintings with rituals and magic surrounding hunting expeditions.Figures of animals with spears sticking out of them were probably painted to ensure the success of hunting forays.Another interpretation link cave paintings with the maintenance or increase in the number of animals and plants.Even in historical times,performance of ceremonies by aborigines to ensure perpetuation of plants and animals has been recorded in Australia.

Clusters of paintings have been recorded on some cave walls.In some caves as many as three paintings are superposed on the original.It may be that a particular subdivision of the Upper Palaeolithic society used a particular area of a wall for painting.It is also possible that the paintings on the walls renact successful hunts.Designs and markings of animal bones suggest that Upper Palaeolithic people developed a calender based on the phases of the moon.

The tracing of several small fossilized footprints in an European cavern suggest that the cave could have been the site where young people received  instructions in tribal lores from their seniors.Depiction of humans in animal skins is suggestive of the presence of shamans in Upper Palaeolithic society.Spectacular multi-colored cave paintings  appeared between 17,000 and 12,000 years ago and the time coincided with the retreat of glaciers from south-western Europe.

Note on Thomas Malthus

Thomas Malthus whose essay on population in 1798 pioneered demographic studies was an English economic and political theorist.He argued that as human population increases it tends to outstrip food supply and the increase in population would ultimately lead to poverty,untile disease and hunger limit the growth of population.

It is evident that Malthus did not consider the possibility of rational methods of birth control.He dismissed artificial methods of fertility control as immoral and thought that adoption of sexual restraint by the whole population as improbable.Some social ideologies which may be considered as neo-Malthusian retain Malthus's basic premise of natural increase in population but advocate artifical methods for checking population increase.

Malthus's theories were challenged by Karl Marx who argued that poverty is not the result of rapid population growth but a specific consequence of the development of capitalism.According to Marxist theories population control programme aimed at the poorer classes of society may well reduce their reduce their revolutionary potential.

Latest Statistics on World Population 2012

The world population is the sum total of the living humans on earth.

As of today,World population stands at 7,052,562,20 .1.10% is the growth rate at which the population of the world is currently growing per year.

The average population change is currently estimated at around 75 million per year.

Annual growth rate reached its peak in the late 1960s when it was 2% and above.The rate of increase has therefore almost halved since its peak of 2.19 %  to the current 1.15%.

Global population is projected to increase from 6.28 billion to 9.2 billion by 2050 according to The State of World Population 2002 a  report by the United Nations Population Fund released.The least developed countries have the highest fertility and population growth and their populations are expected to triple in the next 50 years from 600 million to 1.8 billion.

It has been estimated that a total of approx 106 bn people have been born since the dawn of the human species making the population currently alive  roughly 6% of all people who have ever lived on this planet.Others have estimated the number to be anywhere between 45 billion and 125 billion.

India's population has crossed 1.21 billion as per census of 2011.According to provisional 2011 census report India's population is now believed to 1.21 billion an increase of more than 181 million in the last 10 years.India now accounts for world's 17.5 % population.

Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state and combined population of UP and Maharashtra is more than that of the USA.1,99,581,000 is its total population with Kanpur topping the charts followed by Ghaziabad.UP would be the world's fifth most populous country ahead of Brazil.

In India's financial capital Maharashtra ,Thane saw the highest decadal increase in population at 35.94%followed by Pune,Aurangabad,Nandurbar and Nashik.

Impact of Industrialization on Indian Tribals

On of the main problems which the Indian tribes face is industrialization of backward areas and consequent urbanization.

Read more: http://socyberty.com/history/the-impact-of-industrialization-and-urbanization-on-indian-tribals-2/#ixzz20DVJ20Fv

Birsa movement

Birsa Munda a charismatic leader of the Munda tribe headed Munda Tribal movement in 1870.He was seen as saviour who would deliver Munda Raj from the oppressive role of the British who ruled India.The movement with a religious overtone was also pitted against landlords and money lenders.

The fight was to acquire the right of the tribals on communal lands which had been taken away by outsiders towards the close of the 18th century and later.Tribals resented their loss of age-old communal ownership of land,restrictions on entering forests,heavy taxation and impoverishment of tribals by money lenders.

Birsa Munda was taken prisoner and imprisoned in the Ranchi Jail where he breathed his last.The British realised that exploitation of the tribals was at the root of the movement and therefor Chotanagpur Tenancy Act (1908) was passed to protect the tribals.

Education and Mass Media

he early impact from the late 18th century and the 19th century led to some awakening which primarily aimed at abolition of certain social practices and reinterpretation of traditional religion. In the same period were set afoot certain developments, which led to a greater awakening of India later. The response-pattern of educated Indians to the phenomenon of Westernization that occurred from the second half of the 19th century had been different from what it was earlier. During the seocnd phase, modernization increasingly meant sense of nationalism and secularism.

Read more: http://socyberty.com/education/education-and-mass-media/#ixzz2086Kpdef

The Great end of life is not knowledge but action

Knowledge is an essential pre-requisite without which no meaningful action is possible.Knowledge enriches quality of life which is why people dedicate entire lives to the pursuit and attainment of knowledge.Knowledge has been equated with enlightenment, a certain broadening of vision which has always been valued and venerated.Sometimes the level of knowledge is also highly specialised as in the fields of science and medicine.

Read more: http://authspot.com/thoughts/the-great-end-of-life-is-not-knowledge-but-action/#ixzz2084dXnX5

The World Needs more tolerance

Tolerance can be defined as the possession of a fair and objective perspective and attitude towards those people who are of different races,religions,nations or have a set of opinions,beliefs and ideas that differ from our own.The importance of tolerance lies in its ability to make a human being broad enough in mind to be receptive to all kinds of ideas.This in turn enables one to widen one’s knowledge and exercise more freedom of choice and judgement for oneself.At the same time it creates a deeper understanding of other’s views and beliefs.

Read more: http://socyberty.com/issues/the-world-needs-more-tolerance/#ixzz20846x3zv

Position of Rural women in India

What is the status  of the village woman relative to her male counterpart? Does the village woman actually have a significantly lower status than the man, or is this belief

IIliteracy and Educational Problems in India

India though is fast developing as super power with impressive industrial growth and economic development,it is falling behind on human development index.The education scenario is alarmingly dismal at the grass-root level.India’s education program is falling behind other nations.It is a country with population already touching one billion while only one third is able to read.World’s 30%illiterate population comes from India.

Read more: http://socyberty.com/education/illiteracy-and-educational-problems-in-india/#ixzz200y5I5TZ

Gender Bias in India

Gender division does not mean the biological differences between men and women.It refers to the unequal roles assigned by the society to men and women.The main responsibility of women is believe that she should perform home work and often being married one should bring up her children.

Read more: http://socyberty.com/issues/gender-bias-in-india/#ixzz200x19WtP

Syncretism

Syncretism is the blending or combination of elements from different religious or cultural traditions.It is recognized that syncretism is a general feature of the development of religious and cultural systems.

Religions and cultureswhen they come into contact with one another mutually absorb some elements and reinterpret them.

However all cultures are marked by a variety of borrowed and diffused elements.Diffusionts and ethnohistorians dealing with migrations,population movements,invasions and colonial empires have used the word syncretic in describing the evolution of new cultural and social system.The African-American culture is a blend of the elements of American,European and African traditions.

The term syncretism also holds good in situations of cultural contact which gives rise to religious systems which are a mixture of Christian and native elements.Such syncretisation enables reinterpretaion of Christian doctrine in term of local beliefs.

Theologians have used the term to religious systems like Hinduism and Buddhism which are amalgams of different traditions.

DNA Technology

DNA is Deoxyribonucleic Acid present mainly inside the nucleus of the cell and during many stages of the cell cycle remain condensed as chromosomes.

Human beings have 23 pairs of chromosomes in each of their body cells.The DNA helix has two strands like a winding staircase and each strand is made up of numerous nucleotides.

A nucleotide is formed by a nitrogenous  base ( Adenine,Thymine,Guanine or Cytosine) with a 5 carbon sugar and a phosphate.

Many nucleotide form a string or strand called a polynucleotide which is also known as Gene.Gene determines the various features and internal chemistry of organisms.

Recombinant DNA technology involves the identification,isolation and transfer of a gene from one organism to another.

DNA recombinant technology helps in producing immunological vaccines and antibodies to treat many diseases.

Pedigree Analysis

The pedigree analysis helps one to foresee possible genetic defects in the progeny and if possible to avoid them.Genetic counselling in order to create better human being in the future become possible through pedigree analysis.

Pedigree analysis is one of the best methods of analysing inheritance study.It determines the mode of inheritance of a trait whether dominant or recessive,autosomal or sex linked.It also helps in the study of linkage analysis.Pedigree is a chart or diagram representing the ancestral history of an individual.This is a schematic means of showing genetic relationship among individuals.

The pedigree pattern provides information on the Mendelian principles of segregation,independent assortment,allelism,linkage and more effectively on single factor inheritance.

Study of a particular trait in a family usually begins with an affected person who is referred to as the proband or propositus and is marked by an arrow.Generations are numbered with Roman Numerals and range from the earliest at the top pf the pedigree chart to the most recent at the bottom.If the trait is inherited it will be reflected in the pedigree generations.In case of autosomal mode of inheritance the trait will be observed in both male and female.In X linked inheritance generally the females are carriers and they transmit the abnormality  to 50% of their male children.The abnormality is manifested in the males and the trait is never transmitted directly from father to son,But in Y linked  inheritance genes and  Y chromosomes are passed down exclusively  along male  lines.In autosomal  dominant inheritance every affected person normally must have an affected parent and affected children in 1:1 ratio/

Civil Service Mains Anthropology Syllabus

Paper I

(1) Meaning and scope of Anthropology

Relationship with other disciplines: History, Economics, Sociology, Psychology, Political Science, Life Science, Medical Science.

Main branches of Anthropology, their scope and relevance

Social-cultural Anthropology

Physical and biological Anthropology

Archaeological Anthropology

Human Evolution and emergence of Man:

Organic Evolution: Theories of evolution in historical perspective, pre-Darwinian, Darwinian and Post-Darwinian period. Modern synthetic theory of evolution; brief outline of terms and concepts of evolutionary biology (Doll's rule, Cope's rule, Gause's rule, parallelism, convergence, adaptive radiation, mosaic evolution); Principles of systematics and taxonomy, major primate taxa, tertiary and quaternary fossil primates, Systematics of Hominoidea and Hominidae, Origin and evolution of man-'Homo erectus and Homo sapiens'.

Phylogenetic status, characteristics and distribution of the following:

Prepleistocence fossil primates: Oreopithecus.

South and East African hominids: Plesianthropus/Australopithecus Africaus, Paranthropus, Australopithecus.

Paranthropus-Homo erectus-Homo erectus javanicus, Homo erectus pekinensis.

Homo Heidelbergensis.

Neanderthal man-La-chapelle-aus-saints (Classical type), Mt. Carmelites types (Progressive type).

Rhodesian man

Homo sapiens-Cromognon, Grimaldi, Chancelede.

Recent advances in understanding the evolution, distribution and multidisciplinary approach to understand a fossil type in relation to others.

Evolutionary trend and classification of the order Primates: Relationship with other mammals, molecular evolution of Primates, Comparative anatomy of man and apes, primate locomotion;-terrestrial and arboreal adaptation, skeletal changes due to erect posture and its implications.

Cultural Evolution-broad outlines of pre-historic cultures:

Paleolithic

Mesolithic

Neolithic

Chalcolithic

Copper-Bronze age

Iron age

(2) Family: Definition and typology of family, household and domestic groups. Basic structure and functions; stability and changes in family. Typological and processual approaches to the study of family. Impact of urbanization, industrialization, education and feminist movements. Universality of family-a critique.

Concept of kinship: Definition of kin, incest prohibition exogamy and endogamy. Principles of descent-types and functions. Political and jural aspects of kinship. Unilineal, bilateral and double descent. Descent, filiation and complementary filiation. Kinship terminology, typology and approaches to the study of terminology Alliance and descent.

Marriage: Definition, types and variation of marriage systems. Debates on the universal definition of marriage. Regulation of marriage-preferential, prescriptive, proscriptive and open systems. Types and form of marriage Dowry, bride-price, pestation and marriage stability.

(3) Study of culture, patterns and processes. Concept of culture, patterns of culture, relationships between culture and civilization and society.

Concept of Social Change and Cultural Change

Social structure and social organization, Role-analysis and social network. Institutions, groups community. Social stratification: principles and form, status, class and power, gender. Nature and types of mobility.

Concept of Society

Approaches to the study of culture and society-classical evolutionism, neo-evolutionism, culture ecology, historical particularism and diffusionism, structural-functionalism, culture and personality, transaction-alism, symbolism, congnitive approach and new ethnography, post structuralism and post-modernism.

(4) Definitions and functions of religion. Anthropological approaches to the study of religion-evolutionary, psychological and functional. Magic, witchcraft and sorcery; definitions and functions and functionaries: priest, saman, medicine man and sorcerers. Symbolism in religion and rituals. Ethnomedicine. Myths and rituals: definitions and approaches to their study-structural, functional and processual Relation with economic and political structures.

(5) Meaning, scope and relevance, principles governing production, distribution and consumption in communities subsisting on hunting-gathering, fishing, pastoralism, horticulture and other economic pursuits. Fomalist and substantivist debate-Dalton, Karl-polyanny and Marx approach and New Economic Anthropology. Exchange: gifts, barter, trade, ceremonial exchange and market economy.

Theoretical foundations. Types of political organisations-band, tribe, chiefdom, state, concept of power, authority and legitimacy. Social control, law and justice in tribal and peasant societies.

(6) Concepts of developmental Anthropological perspective. Models of development. Critiques of classical developmental theories. Concepts of planning and planned development. Concept of participatory development. Culture ecology and sustainable development. Displacement and rehabilitation.

(7) Concept of research in anthropology subjectivity and reflexivity in terms of gender class, ideology and ethics. Distinction between methodology, methods and techniques. Nature and explanation in anthropological research. Positivistics and non-positivistic approaches. Comparative methods; nature, purpose and methods of comparison in social and cultural anthropology. Basic techniques of data collection. Interview, participant and other forms of observation, schedules, questionnaire, case-study methods, extended case study methods, life histories and secondary sources, oral history, genealogical method, participatory, learning and assessment (PLA). Participatory rapid assessment (PRA). Analysis, interpretation and presentation of data.

(8) Concept, scope and major branches of human genetics. Its relationship with other branches of science and medicine.

Method for study of genetic principles in man-family study (pedegree analysis, twin study, foster child, co-twin method, cytogenetic method, chromosomal and karyotype analysis), biochemical methods, immunological methods, D.N.A. technology and recombinant technologies.

Twin study method: zygosity, heritability estimates, present status of the twin study method and its applications.

Mendelian genetics in man-family study, single factor, multifactor, lethal, sub-lethal, and polygenic inheritance in man.

Concept of genetic polymorphism and selection, Mendelian population, Hardy-Weinberg law; causes and changes which bring down frequency-mutation, isolation, migration, selection, inbreeding and genetic drift. Consanguineous and non-consanguineous mating, genetic load, genetic effect of consanguineous and cousin marriages (statistical and probability methods for study of human genetics).

Chromosomes and chromosomal aberrations in man, methodology.

Numerical and structural aberrations (disorders)

Sex chromosomal aberrations-Klinefelter (XXY), Turner (XO), Super female (XXX), intersex, and other syndromic disorders.

Autosomal aberrations-Down syndrome, Patau, Edward and Cri-du-chat syndromes.

Genetic imprints in human disease, genetic screening, genetic counselling, human DNA profiling, gene mapping and genome study.

Concept of race in histrogical and biological perspective. Race and racism, biological basis of morphological variation of non-metric and metric characters. Racial criteria, racial traits in relation to heredity and environment; biological basis of racial classification, racial differentiation and race-crossing in man.

Ethnic groups of mankind: characteristics and distribution in world, racial classification of human groups. Principal living peoples of world. Their distribution and characterisicts.

Age, sex and population variation in gentic marker: ABO, Rh blood groups, HLA, Hp, transferrin, Gm, blood enzymes. Physiological characteristics-Hb level, body fat, pulse rate, respiratory functions and sensory perceptions in different cultural and socio-economic groups. Impact of smoking air pollutions, alcoholism, drugs and occupational hazards on health.

(9) Concepts and Methods of Ecological Anthropology. Adaptation-social and cultural Deterministic theories-a critique. Resources-biological, non-biological and sustainable development. Biological adaptation-climatic, environmental, nutritional and genetic.

(10) Relevance in understanding of contemporary society. Dynamics of ethnicity at rural, tribal, urban and international levels. Ethnic conflicts and political developments. Concept of ethnic boundaries. Ethnicity and concept of nation state.

(11) Concept of human growth and development:

Stages of growth-prenatal, natal, infant, childhood, adolescence, maturity, senescence. Factors affecting growth and development genetic, environmental, biochemical, nutritional, cultural and socio-economic.

Ageing and senescence. Theories and observations-biological and chronological longevity. Human physique and somatotypes. Methodologies for growth studies.

(12) Reproductive biology, demography and population study. Reproductive physiology of male and female. Biological aspects of human fertility. Relevance of menarche, menopause and other bioevents to fertility. Fertility patterns and differentials.

Demographic theories-biological, social and cultural. Demographic methods-census, registration system, sample methods, duel reporting system. Population structures and population dynamics. Demographic rates and ratios, life table-structure and utility. Biological and socio-ecological factors influencing fecundity, fertility natality and mortality. Methods of studying population growth. Biological consequences of population control and family welfare.

(13) Anthropology of sports

Nutritional Anthropology.

Anthropology in designing of defense and other equipments.

Forensic Anthropology.

Methods and principles of personal identification and reconstruction.

Applied human genetics-Paternity diagnosis genetic counseling and eugenics.

DNA technology-prevention and cure of diseases.

Anthropo-gentics in medicine

Serogenetics and cytogenetics in reproductive biology.

Application of statistical principles in human genetics and Physical Anthropology.

PAPER II

(1) Evolution of the Indian Culture and Civilization-Pre historic (Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic), Protohistoric (Indus Civilization). Vedic and post-Vedic beginnings. Contributions of the tribal cultures.

(2) Demographic profile of India-Ethnic and linguistic elements in the Indian population and their distribution. Indian population, factors influencing its structure and growth.

(3) The basic structure and nature of traditional Indian social system-a critique. Varnasharam, Purushartha, Karma, Rina and Rebirth. Theories on the origin of caste system, Jajmani system. Structural basis of inequality in traditional Indian society. Impact of Buddhism, Jainism, Islam and Christianity on Indian society.

(4) Emergence, growth and development of anthropology in India-contributions of the 19th Century and early 20th Century scholar-administrators. Contributions of Indian anthropologists to tribal and caste studies. Contemporary nature of anthropological studies in India.

(5) Approaches to the study of Indian society and culture-traditional and contemporary.

Aspects of Indian village-Social organizations of agriculture, impact of market economy on Indian villages.

Linguistic and religious minorities-social, political and economic status.

(6) Tribal situation in India

Biogenetic variability, linguistic and socio-economic characteristics of the tribal populations and their distribution. Problems of the tribal Communities-land alienation, poverty indebtedness, low literacy, poor educational facilities, unemployment, underemployment, health and nutrition. Developmental projects-tribal displacement and problems of rehabilitation:

Development of forest policy and tribals, Impact of urbanization and industrialization on tribal and rural populations.

(7) Problems of exploitation and deprivation of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. Constitutional safeguards for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes. Social change and contemporary tribal societies: Impact of modern democratic institutions, development programmes and welfare measures on tribals and weaker sections. Emergence of ethnicity, tribal movements and quest for identity. Pseudo-tribalism.

(8) Social change among the tribes during colonial and post-Independent India.

Impact of Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and other religious on tribal societies.

Tribe and nation state-a comparative study of tribal communities in India and other countries.

(9) History of administration of tribal areas, tribal policies, plans, programmes of tribal development and their implementation. Role of N.G.Os. Role of anthropology in tribal and rural development. Contributions of anthropology to the understanding of regionalism, communalism and ethnic and political movements.