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Shodhganga is a digital repository of Indian Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Shodhganga stands for the reservoir of Indian intellectual output stored in a repository set-up and maintained by the INFLIBNET Centre.

Click on the link to access Shodhganga:  http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/

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Biological Diversity Act 2002, an Implementation Challenges in India: An Experience Sharing from Sikkim

• First Online: 20 February 2023

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• Bharat Kumar Pradhan 14  

Part of the book series: People, Cultures and Societies: Exploring and Documenting Diversities ((PCSEDD))

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Indigenous and local communities are primarily dependent on forests for food and medicine. They understand that their well-being, their identity and their children’s future rely on the conservation and sustainable use of the forest resources. However, biopiracy and ongoing developmental activities are significantly threatening the biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge of the indigenous and local communities. India enacted the Biological Diversity Act 2002 with an aim of conserving biodiversity and their sustainable use and to ensure equitable benefit sharing from the commercialisation of biodiversity and the associated TK. This paper highlights on the various issues and challenges faced in its implementation especially in the state of Sikkim. The paper also articulates on how the certain state-specific biodiversity conservation policies are barring the indigenous communities from their access right to the forest resources thereby endangering their long conserved indigenous knowledge.

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Pradhan, B.K. (2023). Biological Diversity Act 2002, an Implementation Challenges in India: An Experience Sharing from Sikkim. In: Reddy, S., Guite, N., Subedi, B. (eds) Ethnomedicine and Tribal Healing Practices in India. People, Cultures and Societies: Exploring and Documenting Diversities . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4286-0_4

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Shodhganga-Repository for Electronic Theses and Dissertations: A Boon for Researchers

Universities are highly responsible for developing new theories through innovative research studies in all around the globe. Students and scholars are putting their best efforts to produce new facts and principles in these centres of higher studies. In India we have around 350 universities and every year almost more than 12000 PhDs are being produced by these universities. Avoiding duplication of research work is a serious matter of concern to all nations. Innovations in ICTs become a boon to avoid duplication as well as utilization of these studies. An electronic submission of these dissertations and theses are known as ETDs. Modern information and communication technology (ICT) acts as an effective intervener for paradigm shifting from closed access theses and dissertations to open access electronic theses and dissertations (ETD). The present study brings out grate opportunity to the library professionals to implement makes the initiatives to create the MoU from Shodhganga from INFLIBNET for the purpose of submission of electronic theses and dissertations. Nearly 202 universities from 29 States of India are registered in Shodhganga as on 25 th march 2015. It is highlighted one that among the 29 States of India, 32 universiti es from Tamil Nadu are registered in the ETD repository scheme of INFLIBNET. It is encourage one that within three months of 2015, 16 universities are register MoU with INFLIBNET for Shodhganga and it may break the earlier records of registration within end of the 2015. Among the 29 States, 202 universities were signed MoU, It is noticed that 54 universities are registered in 2013, 51 universities in 2012, 38 universities registered in 2011 and 10 universities registered in 2010, as on March 2015, 16 universities are registered MoU with INFLIBNET for Shodhganga. It understands from the table that 14 Government universities and 18 private universities from Tamil Nadu are register with Shodhganga. In the second position, 17 government and 7 private universities from Maharashtra registered for Shodhganga. Among the top 25 Indian university in these list, 5 state universities like such as follow as Anna university, Periyar University, Bharathidasan University, Manonmanian Sundarnar University and Bharathiar University are submitting more ETD to Shodhganga.

Related Papers

Dr. Shantashree Sengupta

Theses and dissertations have always been one of the most important types of grey literature for the scholarly world. However, there has always been a debate on their accessibility issues. In majority of cases, the usage of these documents is limited only to the University Level. The submission of theses and dissertations in electronic format has increased the opportunity for the user community to have access to the knowledge embedded in these works through various national and international e-theses & dissertations repositories. In India, UGC Regulations 2009, made it mandatory for every doctoral researcher to submit his/ her thesis in electronic format to the university concerned which are then deposited in INFLIBNET’s Shodhganga: a reservoir of Indian theses. The present study reports the status of ETD contributions of Universities of Maharashtra.

International Res Jour Managt Socio Human

This study is to identify the number of theses/dissertations submitted in the INFLIBNET Shodhganga ETD Repository by Indian universities till June 2016. The present study investigates the rate of successful submitted the thesis and dissertations in the field of Library and Information Science. A total number of 727 theses/dissertations were submitted in Library and Information Science by 61 universities departments. The data collected from Shodhganga website (http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/). It has been analyzed in different parameters and presented in different section I.e. date wise submission, items wise, region wise, university wise, language wise, state wise universities and so on. The aim of the study is to present the real picture of the Shodhganga ETD Repository.

Ankita Saloi

The present study attempts to evaluate the contributions made by the central universities of Northeast India to the open access repository of Shodhganga by INFLIBNET. Out of total 10 central universities of Northeast India, 9 Universities have already signed with MoU of Shodhganga repository and all are contributing their theses and dissertations to this project. North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) made the first initiative to signed MoU with Shodhganga and it has the highest numbers of 2,093 contributions in the repository and ranked 1st among all the central universities of Northeast India. Department of Education of North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) has the highest numbers of contribution in the repository of Shodhganga by INFLIBNET. English was the most preferred language for the theses and dissertations of the central universities of Northeast India.

The present paper evaluates the contribution of ETDs by State Universities in Maharashtra in India‟s ETD Database Shodhganga. Shodhganga is the flagship project of INFLIBNET, Ahmedabad which provides open access to theses and dissertations through the repository. As per the present study there are 12 State Universities in Maharashtra providing degrees in non-technical fields in Arts & Humanities, Science and Commerce. Out of these 12 universities, 11 have signed MoU for Shodhganga and only 08 universities shave contributed 181 ETDs in Library & Information Science in Shodhganga. SavitribaiPhule Pune University (Pune), Dr.BabasahebAmbedkarMarathwada University(Aurangabad) and SNDT University (Mumbai) have contributed highest number of ETDs in the repository. The top five Research Guides are also from the universities of Pune and Auranagabad. English was found to be most preferred language for theses and dissertations and Impact of ICT (21), Information Seeking Behaviour (11) and Libr...

Saroja K Panda

INFLIBNET Centre is aggressively working towards creation of open access institutional repositories and platform to support open access publishing at higher learning institutions like universities, colleges and R & D research centre in India, and imparting training in applications on various aspects of new technology to achieve such goals and encouraging library and information professionals to expand their horizon in digital content creations, process of digitization, managing digital depositories and open access etc. In the country like India, open access journals and institutional repositories are two main routes of open access publishing system now a day. This article discusses on different open access initiatives taken by the INFLIBNET Centre in serving the scholarly and scientific communities in the country. The article also reviewed the current status, benefits and its impacts on the universities and its users.

International Conference on Transforming Academic Libraries: Vision 2030

Vysakh Chingath

The deposition of ETD’s by the universities of Kerala into Shodhganga is counted in this article. Data for the study were extracted from Shodhganga as on 10th May 2019. The analysis revealed that out of 18 universities in Kerala, 7 universities contribute to Shodhganga ETD repository with a total of 10105 theses. University of Kerala and Mahatma Gandhi University with 2974 and 2769 theses respectively were the top universities to deposit RTD’s onto the repository. The study is useful to know the number of universities which are in line with the ‘UGCMinimum Standards & Procedure for Award of M.Phil. / Ph.D. Degree, Regulation, 2009’ which mandates uploading of electronic versions of theses into the Shodhganga repository for the benefit of the scholars in particular and the taxpayers across the nation in general.

India does not have a central repository in which theses are stored from various PhDs across different disciplines. This has led to various kinds of problems from lack of visibility for Indian research to duplication, repetition and even plagiarism in some cases. Most countries have created an online central database where universities as well as researchers post their theses and dissertations. With the proliferation of the Web, this has become a global showcase of research capabilities of each country. Theses and dissertations are known to be the rich and unique source of information, often the only source of research work that does not find its way into various publication channels. The UGC vide its Notification (Minimum Standards & Procedure for Award of. Phil. / Ph.D Degree, Regulation, 2009) dated 1st June 2009 provides for submission of electronic version of theses and dissertation by the researchers in universities in Shodhganga maintained by the INFLIBNET Centre. Universities that sign MoU with the INFLIBNET Centre and mandate submission of electronic version of their theses and dissertation to Shodhganga may get financial assistance from the UGC for digitizing their back-files of theses. Besides, UGC may also provide financial assistance to the INFLIBNET Centre for subscription to software tools that detect plagiarized portion of theses and dissertations. In time to come, ETDs would become more commonplace, grant-giving agencies and accreditation bodies like AICTE, UGC and NAAC would make judgments regarding innovative universities by taking note of their initiatives such as ETDs and IRs. This article aim to explain the purpose and approach of

deivam muniyandi

Theses and dissertation are known to be the rich and unique source of information, often the only source of research work that does not find its way into various publication channels. Theses and dissertations remain an untapped and under-utilized asset, leading to unnecessary duplication and repetition that, in effect, is the antitheses of research and wastage of huge resources, both human and financial. In this paper examines the Electronic thesis and Dissertation (ETDs) deposited at INFLIBNET Shodhganga project by Indian Universities. It is found that 99994 + theses have been deposited on various disciplines by 260 universities. The 3485 synopses were uploaded in the Shodhganga project. In this paper analysed top ten universities contributing electronic theses, year wise contribution and top viewed theses in the database.

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Understanding “caste” in the context of Indian democracy: The “Poona Pact of 1932” “Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar differed over how to address caste inequities through the electoral system. Their exchanges led to the Poona Pact of 1932, which shaped the reservation system in India’s electoral politics. […] Two prominent figures who have significantly contributed to this discourse are Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation , and Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Father of the Constitution . The two stalwarts of Indian politics, while revered equally by the public, had contrasting views on the caste system. Their subsequent debates have shaped the course of Indian society and politics. While Gandhi denounced untouchability , he did not condemn the varna system, a social hierarchy based on occupation , for most of his life. He believed in reforming the caste system through the abolition of untouchability and by giving equal status to each occupation. On the other hand, BR Ambedkar, a Dalit himself, argued that the caste system disorganised and ‘demoralised Hindu society, reducing it to a collection of castes ’. […]  And yet, despite their differences, they developed an understanding to work for the betterment of the marginalised .” –  Rishabh Sharma in “How Ambedkar and Gandhi’s contrasting views paved way for caste reservation” (India Today, 6 October 2023) URL:  https://www.indiatoday.in/history-of-it/story/ambedkar-gandhi-caste-system-poona-pact-1932-reservation-2445208-2023-10-06

“That upper caste groups should declare themselves to be OBCs [Other Backward Castes] and want to avail of the reservation policy is a pandering to caste politics of course, as also are caste vote-banks. It is partially a reflection of the insecurity that the neo-liberal market economy has created among the middle-class. Opportunities are limited, jobs are scarce and so far ‘development’ remains a slogan. There’s a lot that is being done to keep caste going in spite of saying that we are trying to erode caste . We are, of course, dodging the real issue. It’s true that there has been a great deal of exploitation of Dalit groups and OBC’s in past history; making amends or even just claiming that we are a democracy based on social justice demands far more than just reservations. The solution lies in changing the quality of life of half the Indian population by giving them their right to food, water, education, health care, employment, and social justice . This, no government so far has been willing to do, because it means a radical change in governance and its priorities.” –  Romila Thapar  (Emeritus Professor of History, Jawaharlal Nehru University) interviewed by Nikhil Pandhi ( Caravan Magazine , 7 October 2015) URL: https://caravanmagazine.in/vantage/discipline-notion-particular-government-interview-romila-thapar  

“ Casteism is the investment in keeping the hierarchy as it is in order to maintain your own ranking, advantage, privilege, or to elevate yourself above others or keep others beneath you …. For this reason, many people—including those we might see as good and kind people—could be casteist , meaning invested in keeping the hierarchy as it is or content to do nothing to change it, but not racist in the classical sense, not active and openly hateful of this or that group.” – Book review by Dilip Mandal for Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents ( The Print , 23 August 2020) URL:  https://theprint.in/opinion/oprah-winfrey-wilkerson-caste-100-us-ceos-indians-wont-talk-about-it/487143/

“The theoretical debate on caste among social scientists has receded into the background in recent years. [However] caste is in no sense disappearing : indeed, the present wave of neo-liberal policies in India, with privatisation of enterprises and education, has strengthened the importance of caste ties, as selection to posts and educational institutions is less based on merit through examinations, and increasingly on social contact as also on corruption. There is a tendency to assume that caste is as old as Indian civilization itself, but this assumption does not fit our historical knowledge . To be precise, however, we must  distinguish between social stratification in general and caste as a specific form . […] From the early modern period till today, then, caste has been an intrinsic feature of Indian society. It has been common to refer to this as the ‘caste system’. But it is debatable whether the term ‘system’ is appropriate  here, unless we simply take for granted that any society is a ‘social system’. First, and this is quite clear when we look at the history of distinct castes, the ‘system’ and  the place various groups occupy within it have been constantly changing . Second, no hierarchical order of castes has ever been universally accepted […] but what is certain is that there is no consensus on a single hierarchical order.” – Harald Tambs-Lyche (Professor Emeritus, Université de Picardie, Amiens) in “Caste: History and the Present” ( Academia Letters , Article 1311, 2021), pp. 1-2 URL:  https://www.academia.edu/49963457

“There is a need for intercultural education. We all need to work together to bridge these divides not only between religions and castes but also regions. It is not correct to think that one part is better than the other. Some of the limitations of India as a whole are due to our common heritage, say the one that has restricted women from having a flourishing life for themselves.” – Prof. V. Santhakumar (Azim Premji University) in “On the so called North-South Divide in India” (personal blog post in Economics in Action , 13 April 2024) URL: https://vsanthakumar.wordpress.com/2024/04/13/on-the-so-called-north-south-divide-in-india/

About Shodhganga

The Shodhganga@INFLIBNET Centre provides a platform for research students to deposit their Ph.D. theses and make it available to the entire scholarly community in open access. The repository has the ability to capture, index, store, disseminate and preserve ETDs submitted by the researchers. [Read More]

Source:  Shodhganga URL:  https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in Date visited:  17 January 2022

For additional learning resources visit the website of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) , “a public interest research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi”:

Communication for Awareness CSE’s publications and informational products have been its strength and they have always combined research and readability to get the message across.

CSE’s tools for awareness raising are periodicals, publications, films/short spots, briefing papers, exhibitions, posters and other products. CSE’s informational products reach people in more diverse ways such as features service, website and e-news bulletins. […]

Source: About CSE URL: https://www.cseindia.org Date Visited: 10 July 2022