The teacher is one of the key factors in the transmission of curricular objectives to their students. Their knowledge and positive attitude toward students' ethnomathematics and its pedagogical approach play an important role to make classroom teaching culture friendly. This paper is intended to explore the in-service teachers’ knowledge of ethnomathematics and perception on the integration of the ethnomathematics approach in their teaching with respect to the demographic factors of in-service teachers such as gender, academic status, teaching experience, teacher training, (...) and nature of institution they associated. This study was conducted among 120 in-service mathematics teachers from 32 secondary schools in Kathmandu District. The explanatory sequential mix method was employed to carry out this study. The perception of in-service teachers on ethnomathematics pedagogy in their classroom teaching was measured with survey instruments in the first stage. For further justification of the results obtained from the quantitative data, six teachers with different demographic factors were interviewed in the second stage of the data collection process. The relationship between in-service teachers’ understanding on ethnomathematics and different demographic factors was investigated using the Pearson Chi-square test. From the statistical data analysis, it was found that there is no relationship between gender, academic qualifications, and teachers' training in their understanding of ethnomathematics. However, a significant relationship was found between the teachers' experience and nature of the institutions they were involved, and their understanding on ethnomathematics. In-service teachers have a similar understanding on ethnomathematics and their perception in the integration of the ethnomathematics approach in the teaching of school mathematics. (shrink)

The LBS National Academy of Administration, Government of India, had invited the authors to present before 30 officers of the Indian Administrative Service their views regarding the role of ethics in public administration as part of a five-day training programme on the subject. The participants' experience ranged from 12 to 31 years. The paper seeks to bring home to administrators that for carrying out the responsibilities that the Constitution of India has entrusted to the civil services there is no option (...) but to subscribe to a sound ethical framework of reference. (shrink)

The values framework of a society is best reflected in contemporary literature. This essay is an attempt to identify the values that influenced the socio-political behaviour of the people of times of Kālidāsa. How relevant are those values now? Nature plays an important role in Kālidāsa's plays. Part I of this essay deals with this aspect of his plays. This value is certainly coterminous with the growing consciousness about protection of ecology in modern times. Part II of the essay deals (...) with another important aspect of Indian philosophy—with out sorrow, without pain, pleasure cannot be achieved. Part III of the essay discusses general social values which emerge from the plays. Part IV describes the political and administrative values that guided the actions of the kings and rulers. (shrink)

According to Yoga Philosophy though the right knowledge of any phenomena is based on direct cognition, inference or testimony but the cognizance conjured up by words without any substance is devoid of objectivity. The consciousness is an aspect of the ultimate reality or substance, which is functioning, and manifesting itself in five progressive stages at five levels. What we experience or sense as consciousness is the first to five level experiences and the phenomenal cognizance in these stages, which can be (...) described in words, is instrumental one and modification of our mind. Therefore the state of consciousness as we experience is an out come of the five mental modes, viz. valid knowledge, error, imagination, deep sleep and recollection. So cognizance conforming to a word/language is devoid of a phenomenal object. Since we may speak of the unicorn though there is no real phenomenal object as such and thus the word/words may produce cognition, even though its object is nonexistent. The real consciousness and the study of consciousness cannot be instrumental one. The Yoga Sūtra suggests that the direct and unwavering awareness is required and that pure consciousness is devoid of any thing known by way of perception, memory, imagination, reasoning and intuition. The Consciousness in Yoga Sūtra is characterized as one of the four states of consciousness namely Vitarka accompanied by reasoning, Vicāra accompanied by reflection, Ānanda accompanied by bliss and Asmitā accompanied by sense of pure being. And then, after transcending these states of consciousness the one enters into the realm of real consciousness, that is the purest and non-intentional state of the self or the Knower or the Consciousness itself. (shrink)

Summary An attempt is made in this book to expound the Buddhist theory of perception as conceived by Dinnaga and Dharmkirti, especially as presented in Pramanavarttika of the latter. The study is divided into nine chapters. The first chapter deals with the Dinaga-Dharmakirti logico-epistemological sub-system within the overall system of Buddhist philosophy. The second chapter brings out the unique contribution of Pramanavarttika as a commentary to Pramanasamuccaya of Dinnaga. The third and fourth chapters are focused on the pre-Dinnaga and non-Buddhist (...) theories of perception. The fifth chapter deals with Dharmkirti’s well- reasoned addition of the term ‘non-illusive” to the definition of perception as given by Dinnaga. The sixth chapter is devoted to the main theme freedom from conceptual construction or kalpnapodham as the definiens of the term pratyaksha. The seventh chapter is about the four kinds of perception. The eighth chapter deals with the nature of the object of perception, the criteria of valid perception along with a discussion on illusion. The ninth chapter sums up the relevance of Pramanavarttika’ s contribution to Buddhist philosophy. (shrink)

This paper is about making the ethical discourse relevant to the students of technology in the present age of information. Information ethics is already a part of the present day engagement with information technology at all levels. This encourages us to carry forward the ethical discourse further by bringing in the moral thoughts of Wiener and Gandhi. Both Wiener and Gandhi lived in the age of technology, but both rebelled against it for basically moral reasons. Wiener is the founder of (...) cybernetics and communication science, while Gandhi is a humanist and moralist and a crusader for freedom of humanity. Both agreed, however, that human freedom needs check on the inhuman use of technology. That is, both shared the philosophy of human dignity and value which demand a "human use" of technology. In this paper we explore the possibility of a humanistic ethics for information technology on the basis of moral thoughts of Wiener and Gandhi and wish to present the vision of the human civilization which underlies their thoughts. (shrink)

India is home to 243 million adolescents. Two million of them belong to Scheduled Tribes living in underserved, rural areas. Few studies have examined the health of tribal adolescents. We conducted a cross-sectional survey to assess the health, nutrition and wellbeing of adolescent girls in rural Jharkhand, eastern India, a state where 26% of the population is from Scheduled Tribes. We aimed to identify priorities for community interventions to serve adolescents and their families. Between June 2016 and January 2017, interviewers (...) visited all households in 50 purposively sampled villages of West Singhbhum district, Jharkhand. They aimed to interview all girls aged 10–19. Interviewers conducted face-to-face interviews with girls to administer a survey about physical and mental health, disability, nutrition, sexual and reproductive health, gender norms, decision-making, education and violence. Interviewers also measured girls’ height, weight, and Mid-Upper Arm Circumference. Interviewers collected data from 3324 of an estimated 4068 girls residing in the study area. Their mean age was 14.3. 82% were from Scheduled Tribes. 89% of younger girls aged 10–14 and 46% of older girls aged 15–19 were in school or college. Girls dropped out of school because they were required for household work or work on the family farm or business. Over a third reported symptoms of anaemia in the past month, but less than a fifth had a blood test. The prevalence of thinness was 14% for younger girls and 6% for older girls. 45% of girls were stunted. 40% reported emotional violence in the past year, 14% physical violence, and 0.7% sexual violence. 12% had problems associated with depression or anxiety. 30% aged 15–19 had heard of contraception. Among married girls and their husbands, only 10% had ever used methods to prevent or delay pregnancy. Our study identified several priorities to improve adolescent girls’ health, nutrition and wellbeing in largely tribal areas of Jharkhand: reducing violence, early marriage and undernutrition, as well as improving mental health, knowledge about contraception and school retention. (shrink)

Most human societies exhibit a distinct class structure, with an elite, middle classes, and a bottom class, whereas animals form simple dominance hierarchies in which individuals with higher fighting ability do not appear to form coalitions to “oppress” weaker individuals. Here, we extend our model of primate coalitions and find that a division into a bottom class and an upper class is inevitable whenever fitness-enhancing resources, such as food or real estate, are exploitable or tradable and the members of the (...) bottom class cannot easily leave the group. The model predicts that the bottom class has a near flat, low payoff and always comprises at least half the society. The upper class may subdivide into one or more middle class(es), resulting in improved payoff for the topmost members (elite). The model predicts that the bottom class on its own is incapable of mounting effective counter-coalitions against the upper class, except when receiving support from dissatisfied members of the middle class(es). Such counter-coalitions can be prevented by keeping the payoff to the lowest-ranked members of the middle classes (through concessions) well above that of the bottom class. This simple model explains why classes are also absent in nomadic hunter-gatherers and predominate in (though are not limited to) societies that produce and store food. Its results also agree well with various other known features of societies with classes. (shrink)

Background: Fear of cancer recurrence or progression is a common challenge experienced by people living with and beyond cancer and is frequently endorsed as the highest unmet psychosocial need amongst survivors. This has prompted many cancer organizations to develop self-help resources for survivors to better manage these fears through psychoeducation, but little is known about whether they help reduce FCR/P.Method: We recruited 62 women with ovarian cancer. Women reported on their medical history and demographic characteristics and completed the Fear of (...) Progression Questionnaire-Short Form. They then read a booklet on FCR specifically created for Ovarian Cancer Australia by two of the authors. One week after reading the booklet, 50/62 women completed the FoP-Q-SF and answered questions about their satisfaction with the booklet.Results: More than half of the women scored in the clinical range for FCR/P at baseline. Of the completers, 93% said that they would recommend the booklet to other women. Satisfaction with the booklet was relatively high and more than two-thirds of women rated it as moderately helpful or better. However, FCR/P did not change significantly over the week following reading the booklet [t = 1.71, p = 0.09]. There was also no difference in change in FCR/P between women in the clinical vs. non-clinical range on the FoP-Q. Women high in FCR/P rated the booklet as less helpful in managing FCR/P, but overall satisfaction with the booklet was not associated with degree of FCR/P.Conclusions: These results suggest that a simple online FCR booklet is acceptable to women with ovarian cancer and they are satisfied with the booklet, but, it was insufficient to change in FCR/P levels. These results suggest that such resources are valued by women with ovarian cancer, but more potent interventions are necessary to reduce FCR in this population. (shrink)

Contributed articles presented at the National Seminar on Language and Mind held at Hyderabad in 2004.

Papers presented at a seminar held in 2011 organized by the Department of Philosophy, University of Hyderabad.

Govind Chandra Pande, b. 1923, Indian philosopher and historian; contributed articles.

The Book Focuses On Meaning And Linguistic Representations , And Links Them To Propose A Representational Theory Of Meaning. It Shows That Meaning As Truth-Conditions And As Justification-Conditions Are Equally Rooted In The Semantic Space Of Language-Use.

Papers presented in a National Seminar on "Wittgenstein's Philosophy of Language", held in Feb. 24-26, 1999, at Hyderabad, India.

Description: The book presents a systematic view of the landmark developments in analytic philosophy in the twentieth century. It highlights the development of the concepts such as language, meaning, truth, reference, necessity, analyticity, etc. which have been central to analytic philosophy. The book consists of four parts, namely: Part I The Linguistic Revolution; Part II The Logic of Language; Part III The Primacy of the Semantical and Part IV Language, Mind and Metaphysics. Part I discusses the nature of the linguistic (...) revolution and the analytic method. Part II presents a panoramic view of the fall of formal language philosophy and the rise of the ordinary language philosophy in the west. Part III brings out the semantic issues like the problems of truth, meaning, reference, etc. Part IV attempts to discuss the nature of language-reality relationship, the nature of mental representations and the concept of mind and also the metaphysical issues of realism and anti-realism. Finally, it brings out the metaphysics of freedom, value and reason. The author has attempted to bring out the issues of analytic philosophy in a systematic and coherent fashion. Analytic philosophy, in spite of the appearances to the contrary, is a systematic philosophy with a built-in metaphysics of man and the universe. The book will be of interest to the general students of philosophy as well as the specialists in philosophy working in the areas of philosophy of language and meaning. (shrink)

Papers presented at the National Seminar on "The Challenges of Postmodernism", hosted by the Department of Philosophy, University of Hyderabad during 28-30 March 2006.

This book deals with the philosophy of Daya Krishna, an Indian philosopher of the twentieth century. It discusses the central issues in Daya Krishna’s early philosophy as a synthesis of the Indian and Western philosophical methods. It presents problems of the past and the present in a holistic frame of creative philosophizing. It provides a glimpse into the issues human beings face in all vital areas of human civilization. It discusses the nature of philosophy and the philosophical method in Daya (...) Krishna’s syncretic philosophy. Issues such as self and freedom and ethics and religion are explored in the chapters. It is of interest to those who are engaged with Indian philosophy and Indian philosophers of the twentieth century and especially to those whose interest lies in understanding the cultural East and its philosophical responses to the cultural West. (shrink)

Description: This book proposes to examine the central doctrines of Wittgenstein's Tractatus from a transcendental point of view. The book brings Wittgenstein's thought closer to that of the Vedanta by showing that Wittgenstein echoes the Vedantic idea that the ultimate reality is beyond language and intellect.

This article proposes a conceptual model that explores the effect of abusive supervision on subordinates’ intention to quit the organization. We refer to several justice theories like social exchange theory and met expectations theory to strengthen our assertion that subordinates’ intention to quit the organization is high when they perceive their supervisor’s behaviour to be abusive. This article also strives to identify factors which might act as neutralizer in mitigating the pernicious effect of abusive supervision on subordinates’ decision to quit. (...) These factors are positive affect, perceived co-worker support, emotional intelligence and meaningful work which might act as buffer in reducing the deleterious effect of abusive supervision on subordinates, thereby minimizing their intention to quit the organization. We offer several research propositions which can be empirically tested, and conclude with implications of the study, limitations of the proposed model and research directions for future investigations. (shrink)