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McGee in his recent writings on Asian urbanization highlights extended metropolitan regions and proximate non-urban settlement systems with an intense mixture of agricultural and non-agricultural activities. The latter McGee terms as desakota, a neologism coined in Bahasa Indonesian, to signify the fusion of desa (rural) and kota (urban). Some of the ecological preconditions for desakota are high rural population densities; labour intensive rice cultivation with agricultural labourers in need of non-farm work in the off seasons and/or labour shedding by green revolution effects. McGee however recognizes that desakota can also occur in other ecologically dense habitat of non-rice crops with high population densities. Kerala State in India is one such region with a mix of rice and non-rice crops. This study examines the urban-rural fusion that is observed in Kerala and provides an empirically informed assessment of the McGee desakota hypothesis. While basically affirming the desakota hypothesis, the study at the same time raises some caveats. First, desakota in Kerala is not dependent on any central urban system and intra-desakota dynamics are significant. While M c G e e has recognized that such desakota do occur, his writings tend to neglect this type of desakota. Second, McGee's writings on extended metropolitan regions and desakota are increasingly associated with the recent rapid e c o n o m i c growth occurring in some of the Asian countries. Desakota in Kerala blurs this characteristic as it appears to have occurred beginning in the late colonial p e r i o d of the British Raj. Third, a unique mix of factors in Kerala make the political economy central to making desakota in Kerala intelligible. Undoubtedly in the specificity of the Kerala context the political economy is important. Nonetheless this study raises a critique of the underemphasis of the political economy in McGee's work on extended metropolitan regions and desakota. The research on desakota in Kerala involved the examination of the regional geography of Kerala. Kerala with its radical politics and remarkable social development in a context of low economic growth, attracted the attention of social scientists. But in these studies the spatial dimensions were largely ignored. This study emphasizes that geography matters in understanding Kerala, and that there is an important nexus between the space and political economy of Kerala.

Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) and vitamin A and iron deficiencies are major public health problems in India. Traditional food systems are known to be sustainable, high in species variety and have rich nutrient sources. This thesis describes nutritional status in Dalit mothers and children living in villages with the Alternative Public Distribution Program (ADDS), a community food security program based on traditional agriculture, and in control villages. / We recruited 263 Dalit mother-child (6-39 months) pairs from 19 APDS and 18 control villages in the Medak District. Food frequency questionnaires and 24-hour recalls were used during two seasons in 2003. A socio-cultural questionnaire including anthropometry and clinical eye examination were obtained during rainy season. / In summer, mothers from APDS villages consumed more frequently millet (18% vs. 8%, P = 0.04) every week, and had higher intake of energy (mean +/- SD: 12,197 +/- 3,515 kJ vs. 11,172 +/- 3,352 kJ; P = 0.02) and protein (77.5 +/- 25.1 g vs. 71.1 +/- 25.2 g; P = 0.05). During rainy season, they had higher intakes of energy (11,168 +/- 3,335 kJ vs. 10,168 +/- 3,730 kJ; P = 0.04), protein (68.9 +/- 22.6 g vs. 60.4 +/- 23.8 g; P < 0.01) and iron (15.8 +/- 6.6 mg vs. 13.7 +/- 9.1 mg; P < 0.01). Overall, 58% of mothers were chronic energy deficient (BMI <18.5 kg/m2) and intake of pulses (g/day) was inversely associated with chronic energy deficiency (OR = 0.98, P < 0.01). Sorghum consumption (OR = 0.99, P = 0.03) was inversely correlated with the occurrence of clinical vitamin A deficiency symptoms which was prevalent in mothers (16%). More children from APDS villages weekly consumed millet (18% vs. 7%, P = 0.05) in summer and sorghum (76% vs. 60%, P = 0.02) every day during rainy season. The prevalence of stunted, wasted and underweight children was 33%, 52%, and 63%, respectively. / Our findings show that dietary patterns, but not nutritional status, differ between mothers from villages with and without APDS. Malnutrition (PEM, vitamin A deficiency) is a prevalent problem in these rural poor communities and traditional food consumption plays a key protective role.

This thesis examines the construction practices in the traditional domestic architecture of Kerala in India. In doing so, it identifies two vital aspects of the architecture, namely the Vedic planning principles of the Vasthushasthra and the indigenous craft practices. The thesis pays tribute to both: the theories of Vasthushasthra in the construction of houses are examined in detail; the craft practices are documented and analyzed through a field study of 24 houses in Kerala selected across the caste, class and religious structures of the society. The thesis arrives at the proposition that the construction practices in the domestic architecture of Kerala, as evident in the case studies, are the result of a simultaneous presence of both these aspects. The Vedic principles were adapted to the contingencies of the context. The craft and techniques prevalent in Kerala at that time are part of a larger picture of cross-cultural transfer of techniques that occurred in the early historic times. Thus in Kerala, practice and theory worked together towards making a traditional domestic architecture that was meaningful and relevant in the socio-cultural, political and religious context at that time.

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Around the world, scholars and politicians are engaged in a passionate debate concerning the universality of Human Rights. The problem of inequality between men and women concerning property rights is also part of this dispute. The transposition of human rights in another cultural context may create conflicts with new fundamental values. In a cultural context that differs from the western one, those rights don't always have their place or they may be reinterpreted accordingly with different cultural visions of what is a just society. / In order to get a better understanding of this problem, this research is proposing an analysis of the relation of Indian women with the courts regarding dowry death cases, especially in Maharashtra. The increasing number of those death cases are a contemporary manifestation of inequality. The apparition of this very Indian crime is linked with the augmentation of the frequency of the dowry practice despite the Dowry Prohibition Act (1961). Through the study of jurisprudence, ethnographies and some interviews conducted with Indian women living in Montreal, it is possible to identify factors influencing the relationship of women with respect to their rights and the Indian legal system. / The proposed study shows that case analysis, combined with other research techniques, is an essential tool for understanding the dynamics between laws and practices. All findings lead to the following conclusion: legal anthropology can bring light into the debate concerning the universality of Human rights.

The study is designed to carry out the impact of trade liberalization and globalisation on the Indian industry with the help of a case analysis of the Indian pharmaceutical industry. The study is broken down into five chapters in order to carry out the process of the study systematically. The first chapter presents the background, motivation and the value of the study. Focus of chapter two, the literature review, which helps in brining out aspects associated with trade liberalisation and globalisation. Chapter three provides an overview of the Indian pharmaceutical industry with references to the global industry. An analysis of the industry against the literature developed in chapter two will be the focus of chapter four. Lastly, chapter 5 is designed to formulate recommendations for the industry, incorporating government's role. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, 2003.

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