This paper challenges the academic and media consensus on the notion that India is a secular state. It does so by marshalling empirical evidence that, far from being a state practising neutrality ...between the religious affiliations of Indian society or equidistance from all religions, the Indian state is actually and directly involved in Hinduisation of the country. It does this by promoting Hinduism through 'reform' and favouritism at state expense. While the constitution guarantees educational and cultural autonomy as well as religious freedom, in practice there are widespread and systematic violations by state institutions. In public employment the state follows discriminatory policies to perpetuate the Hindu majority by restricting religious freedom. The discriminatory policies are most visible in affirmative action policies and recruitment in the army. Contrary to some academic writings, the paper establishes that the Hinduisation of the Indian state is not only associated with the votaries of Hindutva represented by a 'family', or parivar, of Hindu militant groups. The notion of India as a Hindu state pre-dates the creation of the postcolonial state in 1947, and was inherent in the militant right wing of the Congress Party, which perceived Christians and Muslims as foreigners. There is, the paper demonstrates, major continuity between the educational, cultural and employment policies pursued by the Indian state regardless of the party in power. The paper is based on primary Indian sources and interviews in India and abroad.
Malonyl-CoA is the limiting precursor for the overexpression of an array of heterologous pathways in bacteria, such as flavanones, polyketides, microdiesel and poly-unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids. ...Previously, we have been able to develop a strain with higher carbon flux to acetyl-coA and malonyl-CoA by carrying out genetic interventions predicted by OptForce framework. Here we carried out the same interventions in a resveratrol producing strain and obtained a 60% increase in the yield giving the highest titer of 1.6g/L obtained in lab scale fermentation without the addition of expensive fatty acid pathway inhibitors such as cerulenin. The positive genetic alterations involved overexpression of pyruvate dehydrogenase multi-enzyme complex (PDH), phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GapA) and deletion of fumarase (FumC). This work presents the development of an alternative source of resveratrol with possible applications in pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and food industry.
► We perform specific genetic alterations to improve malonyl-CoA availability in Escherichia coli. ► Genetic interventions predicted by OptForce increase carbon flux through malonyl-CoA. ► We improve titers of plant natural product, resveratrol by ∼60%. ► We find optimal temperature for this fermentation along with the over-expressions.
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A series of 5,7-dihydroxyflavanone derivatives were efficiently synthesized. Their antimicrobial efficacy on Gram-negative, Gram-positive bacteria and yeast were evaluated. Among ...these compounds, most of the halogenated derivatives exhibited the best antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and the Gram-negative bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The cytotoxicities of these compounds were low as evaluated on HepG2 cells using a cell viability assay. This study suggests that halogenated flavanones might represent promising pharmacological candidates for further drug development.
What is the status of Urdu literacy in India at the turn of the twenty-first century as gauged through school education? Or how many students in primary schools in various states of India are ...studying through Urdu as the language of instruction? How many students are learning Urdu as one of the subjects under the three (or four) language formula in various levels of schools? Have the various levels of government -- central, state, and local -- facilitated or obstructed learning of Urdu in various states since independence? To what can we attribute the uneven levels of Urdu literacy and education in various states? Besides schools run by the state, who are the other institutions involved in promoting Urdu literacy? This Report thus asks five critical questions as noted earlier, and answers to these questions will enable reasonable projections about the future of literacy (as opposed to orality) in and education through Urdu. Essentially, then, this Report quantifies and measures Urdu literacy in India since the 1950s. Adapted from the source document
The following article derived from an exhibit catalogue put together by Public Affairs Germany in the U.S. Embassy in Berlin and the U.S. Consulates in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf and accompanied Dr. ...Omar Khalidi’s photo exhibit “Mosques in America.” There are over 2,000 mosques in the United States, mostly housed in buildings originally built for other purposes. American mosques built in the last few decades, however, in the period in which Islam has begun to feel at home in the United States, are almost universally architect-designed.
Ethnic Arab communities in medieval India originate mainly from the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf. Among these Arabs, the ones that gained widespread fame within India and abroad were the ...Sayyids of Hadhramaut, descendants of Prophet Muhammad, through his daughter Fatima. Many of these Hadhrami Sayyids achieved rapid upward social mobility in India through their ascribed status as the Prophet's descendants, as exemplars of good Muslims, and as preachers and teachers of Islam in a non-Muslim environment. However, migration to IndiaIndia at the dawn of the modern era heralded changes in their traditional status and occupation. The sources of this article are primary works in Arabic, Persian and, Urdu, supplemented with interviews and field observations.
Recent scholarship has brought forth several works on the ethnic/religious composition of the Indian army during the colonial period, but no systematic account of its composition in post-independence ...era exists. What is the current recruitment policy? Does the composition of the military personnel mirror the religious and ethnic diversity of the Indian national population? Does the military attempt to inculcate national values and perspectives in recruit training and professional education? Does common military experience serve to reduce ethno-religious identification by building cross-ethnic pressures? Is there trans-community deployment of military personnel? Are promotions based on perceived competence rather than ethno-religious affiliation? What is the impact of the polarization of the Indian society along religious divide between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs since 1947? Answers to these questions are based on interviews with former military officers, published accounts of military and defense officials, and the writings of informed journalists and academics. The role of the armed forces has been exceptionally positive in remaining neutral peacemakers during Hindu-Muslim violence, although it is changing due to the rise of Hindu extremism.
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