Department Of South And Central Asian Studies
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Item Public transport and urban mobility: Perception of people on services of public transport in Bathinda city, Punjab, India(ISCA, 2014) Kumar, Gaurav; Kaur Amandeep; Singh, Kiran K.Public transport as an essential part of the socio-economic and political structure of the country plays a vital role in development of modern society. Urbanization is one of the challenges in a developing country that needs planning and provisioning of adequate transport system and facilities. The availability of good road networks and affordable small private vehiclesmotivateurban and sub-urban dwellers to the use of private vehicles. Therefore, inclination of people towards the private vehicle (two and four wheelers) has been greater as compare to public transport (buses and three wheeler). Due to rapid growth in the private vehicle in the city the role of public transport in the urban mobility of people has become crucial to understand. Thus, this study is an attempt to evaluate public transport and urban mobility in Bathinda andpeople perception about quality of public transport. Apart from this the urban travel attitude and behavior of people in making choice of public transport as their means of transportation has also been studied and discussed.Item Nuclearization in South Asia: The China Factor(Central University of Punjab, 2013) Mir, Arif Mohmad; Singh, BawaItem Cantomentisation and transformation in south asia: a study of colonial military of punjab/firozpur(Central University of Punjab, 2013) Singh, Bhupinder; Varghese, V.J.Military history in general is seen as an under-researched area, though military remained important to every country from time immemorial and countries and kingdoms maintained military for protection and security as well as for satisfying their imperial designs. It is well known that military has played a major role in the making of the British Empire in South Asia/ Indian Subcontinent in which Punjab played a strategic and pivotal role. The British Indian army was heavily concentrated in Punjab with a robust of network of military cantonments, apart from converting it as one of the most important army recruitment grounds. Punjab was thus turned into a 'garrison state'. The present dissertation is an attempt to map the military landscape of Punjab under colonialism and how it impacted the geography and socio- economic life of the region. From the 1830's a series of cantonments were established in the province- Firozpur, Lahore, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Peshawar, Ambala, Kanpur, Bathinda, Rawalpindi etc. which were vital in sustaining colonialism in India and maintaining the colonial dominance over the sub-continent. The cantonments transformed the life and geography of the respective locations/areas where they were established in the terms of demography and amenities. The attempt here is to make preliminary exploration into the details of the making Punjab a garrison state with these networks of cantonments and the changes they brought to the region. The study also makes a specific exploration into the history Firozpur cantonment.Item Women explotation in contemporary south asia: Field experiences of child marriage in bathinda district(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Kaur, Manpreet; Kaushiki, NishthaWomen are exploited at every step of her life. Child Marriage and marital violence happens to be the first phase and is one of the ways in which women are exploited. The present research is an attempt to bring to the surface various underlying causes and effects of Child marriage in their life. It is also a humble attempt to recommend some measures to stop child marriages and sexual abuse of the child bride/ marital rape cases. For this purpose, case studies from Bathinda District of Punjab have been selected for the field study. The study tries to evaluate the extent to which women have utilised the legislative measures against these two activities, experiences of the victims and the socio-economic causes behind the problem. Thus, this study is of immense importance for women empowerment as it attempts to create awareness among the people on the issue.Item Obama's asia pivot policy : Implications for south asia(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Ramzan, Hilal; Kaushiki, NishthaOne of the hallmarks of US President Barrack Obama's foreign policy is the 'pivot to Asia'. This policy is aimed at rebalancing US defence policies towards Asia. The Obama administration has rearticulated its policy away from the Middle East toward the Asia-Pacific. The focus of this research is on the strategic aspect of the policy. Under this rebalancing strategy, Washington, aims to increase its naval presence from the current 50/50 split between Atlantic and Asia-pacific to 40/60 respectively by 2020. Further, the geographical scope of the Asia-Pacific has been defined as 'stretching from the Indian subcontinent to the western shores of the America's, the region spans two oceans, the Pacific and the Indian oceans that are increasingly linked by shipping and strategy. As India has been termed as a 'linchpin' of this policy; it is going to be more affected. This research is a humble attempt to analyze the consequences of the Pivot on South Asian countries, with special focus on India. The first section of the dissertation discusses the rise of China and US's relative decline in order to explain the background of the pivot. It then moves on to discuss the changing geopolitical shifts in the Asian balance of power. This part sets to explain how the US and Chinese competing interests have changed the security architecture of Asia and how South Asian countries, particularly India is going to deal with it. Finally, the study would attempt to recommend some measures that India could adopt and benefit from the geopolitical opportunity from the emerging competition between US and China.Item Democratic transformation in south asia: Emerging trends(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Gulam, Mudasir; Singh, BawaThe South Asian region has experienced authoritarian and autocratic rule since its inception. India is the only country in South Asia to become a successful democratic country after independence. Sri Lanka has also adopted the similar model with presidential type of government. While the other countries of the region like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan have experienced ups and downs in their political systems. Pakistan after attaining its independence witnessed a rapid erosion of hopes to move the new nation to a democracy. The general elections held on 11 May, 2013 in Pakistan brought the first transition between civilian governments in a country which clearly shows the transformation of democracy in the country. Bangladesh came into existence in 1971 and since then many pro- democracy movements were observed in the country. These movements led to the multi- party democracy since 1991 till late 2006. It is evident that after 2009 the country has moved towards marginal political stability in its political affairs. Nepal, a kingdom, had monarchy which kept on flip-flopping between absolute and constitutional monarchy and vice-versa for many years. Democratic regimes proved to be short lived and unstable. The Nepalese movement in 2007 created a history in the country and moved ahead towards the consolidation of the democracy and General Election 2008 was the first step towards democratic transition. This way the Constitutional Republic was adopted in Nepal with the v collapse of monarchy rule. Bhutan has transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a multi-party democracy. The growth of Bhutanese democracy has been marked since 1950s. The first democratic elections in Bhutan began in 2007, and all levels of government had been democratically elected by 2011. All this explains the transformation from an absolute monarchy to democracy in the Kingdom of Bhutan. It is now clear that the South Asian region has experienced a democratic resurgence in the recent past. All the South Asian countries now have a democratic system but this transition to democracy is still fragile and susceptible.Item China-pakistan strategic relationship : Implication for south asia(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Naiko, Ghulam Mohiudin; Kaushiki, NishthaStrategic relations between the two countries were established in 1972. Ever since then the two countries have given to each other the much required political and diplomatic support on various issues like, Kashmir, Tibet, Taiwan and Xinjiang, etc. In this study, an attempt has been made to first analyse the rationale behind the Sino-Pak relationship. How and why India is a major factor in their bilateral relations has been probed into. The study discusses the scope of their strategic relationship. The next section of this research includes the implications of their strategic relations on South Asia and particular emphasis has been placed on India. It has been analysed how strategic relation between the countries work for tying down India to South Asia?. The second part of the dissertation has dealt with the recent geopolitical shifts in the region that have further cemented their bilateral relationship, such as Indo-US nuclear deal and a ten year defense pact; Asia pivot etc. It has brought to surface the shifting Asian balance of power and how the Sino-Pak strategic relations affect India. Finally, the study is an attempt to recommend some policy measures for India that it can adopt for neutralising the affects of their strategic partnership on its foreign policy and larger strategic goals.Item Water consumption pattern in hpuseholds of urban south asia : A study of bathinda city(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Kaur, Amandeep; Singh, Kiran KWater is used by human being by different ways; mainly it is divided into three different sectors: Agriculture sector, Industrial Sector and Domestic sector. Three of them have different factors that affect the consumption level of water. Many factors like culture, food habits, working conditions, income, and technological advancement determine the requirement of water in any area. South Asia has been fortunate in having abundant fresh water reserve but the increasing population and overexploitation of surface and ground water over the past few decades has resulted in water scarcity in this region. Water availability in South Asian countries and their cities varies with area and socio-economic groups. That availability leads to varied water consumption patterns at domestic household. People in cities have access to water at all times and places which sent a wrong signal that the water is available in plenty. These type of wrong information leads to wastage of water at domestic household. While many people are known to the fact that water resources are declining day by day but their water consumption patterns at their household are not in favour of water resources conservation. More number of water appliances, bathing and washing habits, method of watering plants at home leads to wastage of water at home. On the other hand, accessibility to fresh and clean water is also a big question. This study is an effort to analyse people behaviour and perception to know the water consumption pattern at domestic household in Bathinda city, fifth largest state of Punjab. Many socio-economic factors affect the consumption pattern, perception and awareness in domestic households. The study is based on primary and secondary data. The household survey was conducted to know the v consumption, availability, access and people awareness for conservation of water in domestic households. Water consumption will be correlated to socio economic factors such as income, household size, education level etc.Item China's startegic forays in south asia : Contextualising india's concerns(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Lone, Mansoor Ahmad; Singh, BawaChina's terrific rise and all-round development in almost all fields have provided her an identity in the International system as one of the great power. China's focus has now changed and the older views are giving way to wider engagement in adjoining areas. China shares borders with many south Asian countries like India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bhutan. Therefore, within the Chinese foreign policy, South Asia is becoming an important element. South Asia's increasing strategic importance has resulted in the increasing Chinese involvement in the region. The compelling factors for China to have an increased engagement in South Asia involve; to sustain the fast growing economy by securing the resources in these countries; Containment of India's rise to become a global power so that it may not affect China's rise; to maintain territorial integrity. In order to achieve these objectives, China is cultivating relations with the countries in South Asia by giving much needed economic assistance, infrastructure building, arms and ammunition transfers and in some countries nuclear weapon technology transfers as well especially to Pakistan. The countries with which China is increasingly involved rival to India in one way or the other. Therefore, it is obvious that such engagement will automatically harm India's interests in many ways in these countries. China in order to secure the energy needs has started to pursue a strategy called 'String of Pearls' vi through which China is building port facilities in the littoral states of Indian Ocean through which most of the crude oil is imported by China. These states include Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Bangladesh. By the way, such a strategy has lead to the encirclement of India, which may be a potential danger in future. India fears that China, who has a long pending unresolved border dispute with her, could use such port facilities for military purpose in future. Thus has created concerns for India. India needs to search better policy options to cautiously counter such a strategy of China, in order to retain greater consistency in her economy, and to maintain territorial integrity.Item Connecting for energy? india's negotiation for space in central asia(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Singh, Sandeep; Varghese, V. JThe present research aims to examine the role of energy demands in determining the contours of India's new 'Connect Central Asia' policy. In a world of accelerating energy needs, possession and non-possession of energy sources are determining factors of the global economy of energy with significant impact on international relations and global peace. According to Exxon Mobil World Energy Outlook 2013 the world's population will rise by more than 25 percent from 2010 to 2040 which means growing mobility requirements and energy demand. The rising living standards of the people will also impacts energy demands. These dynamic changes demand understanding of political economy of global energy crisis as a whole and how it has become a strong factor in foreign policy initiatives. The plan of the present research is to contextualise India's energy crisis in the political economy of global energy crisis and investigate how far it is factored in its new found interest in Central Asian countries. Though, India accounts 2.49 per cent of world's annual energy production, its consumption accounts for 3.45 per cent of the global consumption. Its increasing population and enormous growth of middle class is posing a challenge to India in this regard. The research presumes that due to the insecure and unstable supply from the Middle East, India's 'Connect Central Asia' policy has a strong energy angle factored into it.