Alarming increase in crime against women particularly in the rape cases coupled with brutality and sadism continue to pose the question: why it happens and how it may be eradicated, or at least may be minimised. In this one has to know the mind of the rapist, which remains one of the darkest territories of human sexuality. The scientists focus their research on the psychological forces that drive sexual violence and brutality. But researchers think that there is no single psychological formula to explain every rapist’s psyche. However, the personality characteristics of rapists divulge that lack of empathy, hostile masculinity, aggressive and dominant and controlling personalities, impulsivity, emotional constriction, underlying anger

and power issues with women are governing forces in the acts of rape. The

important question is how to prevent such brutal crime? Of course, improving the law and order machinery is essential indeed but one can not deny that society as a whole needs to put in greater efforts for gender sensitisation and creating awareness about the equality of women and their rights to free movement.

In India, especially in the state of West Bengal, there is a tradition of environment preservation in the form of nature worship. A study has been conducted, through primary level field survey, among the indigenous people and the villagers of several districts of West Bengal in India to find out whether there exists any relation between nature worship and the preservation of the environment. The author observed that some particular trees and animals are worshiped by the indigenous people and the villagers of this state. These trees and animals were identified as sacred and people started worshiping them from time immemorial. The author tried to identify the different components of nature that are worshipped by the people residing in different regions of the state. The purpose of the study was also

to find out whether the identification of sacred grooves had any relation with the beneficial qualities such as economic and medicinal values of that particular tree.The present study revealed that only those trees which have medicinal properties were identified as sacred grooves and incorporated within the religious activities of the indigenous people and villagers of the state. The author also observed that sometimes the religious practices in this region had evolved not out of scriptures but out of necessity and have an important role in the preservation of environment. The author argues that along with the Joint Forest Management programme of the Government, worship of trees has a significant role in preservation of forest in rural areas of Bengal.

Environmental education is one of the sustainable tools being promoted to prevent further degradation of environment. Positive environmental attitude plays prominent role in enhancing its scope as well as improving the quality of the environment. Keeping this view in mind the present study was conducted to identify the level of environmental education awareness and attitude of 202 teacher educators in relation to their residential background and subject streams. Results revealed that teacher educators had average environmental education awareness and attitude level. Insignificant differences were observed in environmental  education awareness and environmental attitude in relation to residential background while significant difference was noted in relation to subject streams. A moderate positive and significant correlation was found to exist between environmental education awareness and environmental attitude of teacher educators.

The Birhors, one of the most primitive tribes of Hazaribagh in Jharkhand states, are nomadic hunters, food gatherers and rope makers. In Jharkhand, Birhor are found in different places like Palamu, Garhwa, Singhbhum, Giridih, Lohardaga, Ranchi, Hazaribagh, and Gumla. Linguistically they belong to Astro- Asiatic Mundari group and have their own dialect.

The Birhors tribe of Jharkhand consider themselves as the descendants of the

Sun. The word Birhor means man of jungles. They are fully depended on natural environment. Their economy is still traditional and mainly based on forest. Forest plays a vital role in their life. Birhor collect a number of fruits, wood, vegetable etc. from the forests. Rope and rope made articles are also the important primary occupations of the Birhor. They have great specialization in making ropes from different types of bark of creepers and trees. Hunting and trapping of animals and birds are considered as their food. Sometimes they sell these articles at the local hatts (market) for earning money. They also gather roots, shoots, leaves, fruits and other forest products from the forest. As a result all the traditional settlements of the Birhors are found near forests.

Ladakh is a high altitude cold desert located in the northernmost past of the

border state of Jammu and Kashmir. The region comprises of two districts-Leh and Kargil. While Leh is dominated by Buddhists, Kargil district is dominated by Shias Muslims. Kargil remains cut off from rest of the country for almost seven months i.e. November to May, as the only lifelong from Karil gto Srinagar remains snowbound due to heavy snowfall and extreme coldness of temperature at -40⁰C to -50⁰C. Kargil district which is situated close to the Line of Control (LoC) is a remote, rugged and geographically isolated region in Ladakh. Most of the inhabitants of Kargil are indulging in tradition farming in the river belts combined with herding and animal husbandry as the primary occupation for their livelihood. Kargil has been affected badly due to Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan in 1999.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is the central government scheme in response to the constitutional provision of

Directive principles of state policy (DPSP) and specially manifested right to work and means to promote livelihood security in India’s rural areas by providing 100 days work in a financial year. By generating employment for women at fair wages in the village, NREGA plays a substantial role in economically empowering women and laying the basis for greater independence and self-esteem. The most distinguishing feature of MGNREGA is its approach towards empowering women citizen to play an active role in the implementation of the scheme, through gram sabha, panchayat raj institution and participatory planning. But the MGNREGA

can’t turn out to be a major instrument for galvanizing panchayati raj institution

in India due to lack of mobilization of disadvantaged group like women, cultural non-acceptance of female participation in the labour force, non-parity of wages, non-availability of worksite facility, non-involvement of self help group & civil society organisation and non-implementation of an indispensable tool like Right to Information Act 2005 which are highlighted in the paper. The paper concludes with some policy suggestions by which women should be kept in forefront for planning, implementing and evaluation of the MGNREGA programme.

Mystical experiences have always been studied with a sense of awe and mystery both by the laypersons as well as the scientists. Today due to advancements in Spiritual Psychology, Consciousness studies and Meditation studies, they are being explored from a scientific perspective. As a result several features, identifying criteria, and unique characteristic of these experiences have surfaced in scientific research works. The applications of spirituality have spread into such hitherto new settings like workplaces, hospitals, and educational institutions with many studies on the impact of spiritual/mystical experiences on several important variables. However, many researchers are not aware of the research studies in this emerging area. This paper attempts to present the definition, nature, characteristics, classification, effects of mystical experiences and the impact of meditation.

One of the most marginalized communities in India vulnerable to poverty and

exploitation are the Adivasis. Despite provisions in the Constitution and enactment of several laws by the central as well as by the state governments to protect their rights and interests the Adivasis continue to remain at the bottom of the development index, suffer exploitation and deprivation in various ways. Even after six decades of developmental planning high incidence of poverty still found among the Scheduled Tribes. In the state of Odisha which contains a sizeable tribal population around 73 per cent of Scheduled Tribes were estimated to be under below poverty line in 1999-2000. In rural areas of the country they continue to face multiple disadvantages and lack access to land, education, institutional credit and markets etc. In fact since independence the main objective of the policy & planning in India with regard to the development of tribals and other backward communities has been to uplift the communities especially from oppression and backwardness in order to bring them to the mainstream of national life. The inroad of ‘alien’ outsiders in the tribal tracts, their stranglehold over the resources like land and forests in collaboration with the government and the loopholes in the laws enacted for the protection of their rights and the lack of awareness among the tribals regarding such provisions have contributed to the present plight of the

tribals in Odisha especially in making them impoverished and deprived.

Indian economy has been growing at a rate of 6-8 % annually during the last eight years which requires growth of basic infrastructural facilities at a still higher rate. Power sector being a major component of infrastructure development requires a growth rate of 9-10% during the next decade. This requires huge amount of investments and restructuring of power sector, for which Government cannot fund the entire amount independently. Hence, private participation is necessary either as an independent venture or through public-private partnership (PPP). This paper attempts to review the Indian power sector with respect to generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and identify and highlight the key initiatives and reforms undertaken for private participation in the electricity sector and some issues that are being grappled with in effort to make the sector efficient and attractive for investments.

Information is one of the important term now days. Today each and every one; including human being, organization, institutes are directly and indirectly

associated with Information. The role and value of Information is increasing day by day. Virtually for centuries the societies in their various stages and development have prospered on the basis of Information and Knowledge. Information-The term is actually deals with Latin roots and Greek origin and was readily deployed in empiricist philosophy because it seemed to describe the mechanics of sensation objects in the world inform the senses. Virtually¸ due to several input, Information has reckoned as a driving force for all human developments. This paper presents a conceptual overview of information which includes origin and historical aspects powered by information. Paper lastly highlights some aspects of information; compare to data and knowledge, which we deemed equal many times.