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    Dominant bodies and their ethical performances violence of caste embodiment in higher educational institutions
    ( 2020-01-18) Thirumal, P.
    The everyday normalised brutality that dominant upper-caste bodies seem to inflict on Dalit Bahujans in elite higher educational institutions is addressed in this article. The reproduction of everyday institutional embodiment displays a direction and an intensity that allow dominant bodies to realise their undiminished being. This direction and intensity are supposedly expressed through the arts of living of the upper castes, namely the domains of cellular, intellectual, and social reproduction.
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    Quantitative and qualitative analysis of nutrition and food safety information in school science textbooks of India
    ( 2012-11-01) Subba Rao, G. M. ; Vijayapushapm, T. ; Venkaiah, K. ; Pavarala, V.
    Objective: To assess quantity and quality of nutrition and food safety information in science textbooks prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), India for grades I through X. Design: Content analysis. Methods: A coding scheme was developed for quantitative and qualitative analyses. Two investigators independently coded the data and inter-coder reliability was assessed using Cohens Kappa. The inferences were then reviewed by an expert group. Results: There was high agreement (Kappa = 0.89) between coders. Nutrition topics got 10% pages in textbooks of grades I to VII, while they were omitted in subsequent grades. Food safety got a mere 1% of page allocation only in grades I to III books. Over 25% of biology illustrations related to nutrition in grades I, II and IV but not in others. Nutrition topics in textbooks beyond grade IV were repetitive and inconsistent. Some illustrations depicted uncommon foods and had urban bias. Conclusions: Nutrition and food safety content in science textbooks is low. Important topics such as nutritional needs during adolescence, obesity, unhealthy foods and food labelling are not covered. These findings provide direction for strengthening textbook content to promote nutrition education in schools. © The Author(s) 2011.
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    Corruption as a site for contested meaning: Elite constructions in India
    ( 1993-12-01) Pavarala, Vinod
    This paper investigates the problem of corruption in India from a social constructionist perspective. The constructions of corruption among five elite groups (bureaucrats, judges, politicians, industrialists, and journalists) in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh were obtained through a total of 60 interviews. Members of these five elite groups play a critical role in constructing the problem of corruption for public discourse. These elite groups, with the possible exception of the media elite, are also primary targets of public accusations of corrupt behavior. This paper examines three major issues related to corruption: the definition of corruption, the so-called functionality of corruption, and the role of culture in fostering or inhibiting corruption. Narrow/legalistic or broad/moralistic definitions of corruption, the acceptance or rejection of functionality, and modernist or nationalist responses to the question of culture are shown to constitute the varied structures of reality constructed by the different elite groups. These constructions of the corrupt reality in India are explained with reference to specific interests of the elites and their positions in the social structure. Instead of treating corruption as an objective condition, this study seeks to view corruption as a process in which strategic elites in society, define the problem and negotiate solutions to it. © 1993 Human Sciences Press, Inc.
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    Regurgitative violence: The sacred and the profane in higher education institutions in India
    ( 2021-06-05) Thirumal, P.
    The violence against marginalised students by a teacher at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is intrinsically related to the Brahminic cultural psyche of elite higher education institutions in India. It stands as testimony that post-independence India’s modern secular education has failed to replace caste as an institution to build “character” in terms of the capacity for living with others. The vitality rather than the ideology of caste is the subject of this analysis, tracing the historical and social formation of these elite institutions and caste in them.
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    Social constructions of religiosity and corruption
    ( 2012-01-07) Pavarala, Vinod ; Malik, Kanchan K.
    Religion coexists witii what may be described as a liberalised, cosmopolitan and global outlook among Indians and remains an indispensable part of the cultural ethos and social fabric of Indian society. However, interpretations of both religion and corruption are extremely diverse. Notwithstanding the existence of deep-seated faith with strong moral values, religion is not seen as contributing to the moral or spiritual fabric of the nation in present times, while corruption is regarded as pervasive. Very few of the respondents canvassed in this study thought that we should count on religion to make a difference in people's general attitudes towards corruption. Respondents indicated that their confidence in the accountability of religious organisations is low, and it is therefore problematic to assume that religious organisations are likely to be either appropriate or effective vehicles for fighting corruption. In fact, religion is looked upon as a discredited entity by many, largely due to a sense of popular disillusionment with Its "caretakers".