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C H R O N I C L E CDS Quarterly Newsletter January – June 2019

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CHRONICLE Newsletter

Vol. 15 Issue 1

January – June 2019

CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES Thiruvananthapuram


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Vol. 15 Issue 1

January - June 2019

CHRONICLE Newsletter

Editor Dr. Vinoj Abraham Associate Professor Compiled by Tilak Baker Publication Officer Layout and Design Ajikumar A R Administrative Assistant and P S to Registrar

Published by

The Director

CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES Prasanth Nagar, Ulloor, Thiruvananthapuram – 695011, Kerala, India

Tel: +91-471-2774200, 2448881, 2448412, Fax: +91-471 2447137 Website: www.cds.edu

For private circulation only

http://www.cds.edu/


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C O N T E N T

SEMINARS

EVENTS

CDS LECTURE SERIES

CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS

TRAINING PROGRAMMES

FACULTY’S INVOVEMENT

STUDENT’S INVOLVEMENT AND ACHIEVEMENTS

STUDENT’S SPEAK

K N RAJ LIBRARY NEWS

PUBLICATIONS

ANASWARA NEWS

A Dialectics - a Poem by Dr N. Vijayamohanan Pillai

CDS Biodiversity – Saibabu S

4

7

9

10

9 11

18

23

24

19

12

26

25

27


4

S E M I N A R S

South Asian Immigrants in Italy: Integration and Conflict

(7 January, 2019)

*Independent Researcher, Italy)

Ibn-Khaldun’s Muqaddimah: A 14th

Century Analysis of

Long-run Dynamics,

(18 January, 2019)

*Formerly Visiting Fellow, CDS,

Measuring Science-Innovation Linkage of AI and Some

Policy Implications,’

(18 February, 2019)

*Professor, University of Tokyo

Embodied Vulnerabilities: Precarity and Body-work in Malayalam Soft-porn,

(22 March, 2019)

*University of Southern California

Internationalization of the Indian Car Industry: Some Insights

(12 April, 2019)

The making and unmaking of the coast in Thiruvananthapuram district: erosion(s),

accretion(s) and new development trajectories

(16 April, 2019)

Barbara Bertolani*

*

M. Kabir*

*

Kazuyuki Motohashi*

*

Darshana Sreedhar Mini*

*

Jatinder Singh

*

Charles Alexis Couvreur

*


5

Governing and Indian State

(30 April, 2019)

Reforming Agricultural Markets in India: Experience

and Policy issues

(3 May, 2019)

The Urbanisation-Construction-Migration Nexus: Notes

from Chennai, India

(6 May, 2019)

SEMINARS BY CDS FACULTY/STUDENTS

Human Development in Punjab: An Empirical Exploration,

(4 January, 2019)

*KN Raj Fellow, CDS

Swachh Bharat – 2019: Will Rural India be

ODF/Swachh? Commentary on India’s Economy and

Society Series-7

(January, 2019)

*Senior ICSSR Fellow, CDS

Industrial Investment in India: Broad Trends and Patterns at the State-level, Commentary on

India’s Economy and Society Series-8

(14 March, 2019)

*Assistant Professor, CDS

A. Ravindra

*

Sukhpal Singh

*

Sunil Kumar

*

Kamlesh Goyal*

*

G. Murugan*

*

Ritika Jain*

*


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Walking on Eggshells in Cyberspace: A Report on Gender

Justice, Law Enforcement, Women’s Struggles and Negotiations

in Malayali Cyberspace

(21 March, 2019)

*Professor, CDS

Role of Governance and ICT Infrastructures in Tax Revenue

Mobilisation: An Empirical Evaluation for India

(29 March, 2019)

*Associate Professor, CDS

Monetary Policy in India

(5 April, 2019)

*RBI Chair Professor, CDS

** Doctoral Scholar, CDS

Egalitarianism and Resistance in Kerala’s Plantation Frontier

(2 May, 2019)


Reforming Colonial Relics? Reflections on the Draft Indian Forest Act, 2019

(10 May, 2019)


J. Devika*

*

Hrushikesh Mallick*

*

Manmohan Agarwal* and Irfan Ahmad Shah**

*

Jayaseelan Raj*

*

Abhilash T*.

*


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EVENTS

Is R&D spending influenced by disinvestment and local political corruption? The case of

Indian central public sector enterprises

(25 June, 2019)

Quality of Tribal Education and its Characteristics: A study in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha

at primary level with using primary data

(28 June, 2019)

*Doctoral Scholar, CDS

Round Table Discussion on Kerala Flood Disaster Management

A Round Table Discussion on Kerala

Flood Disaster Management was held

at the Joan Robinson hall on 8th

January, 2019.The team met with

Professor Sunil Mani, Director, CDS.

The introductory session on the

recent floods was given by Professor

S. Irudaya Rajan. Dr Ginu Zacharia

Oommen, Member, Kerala Public

Service Commission, Trivandrum

shared his own experience with the flood.

The other members of the discussion panel comprised of Professor Manas Chatterji, School

of Management, Binghamton University - State University of New York. Guest Professor,

Peking University, Beijing, China; Professor Norio Okada, Kyoto University, Visiting

Professor of Kumamoto University, and Adviser to Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization,

Regrowth and Governance (IDiARRG), Kwansei Gakuin University, and Former President of

Integrated Disaster Risk Management (IDRiM) Society; Professor Bijay Anand Misra,

Formerly of School of Architecture and Planning, New Delhi; Professor Yoshio Kajitani,

Professor of Faculty of Design and Engineering, Kagawa University, Takamatsu City, Japan

and Prof. Yoshiyuki Yama, School and Graduate School of Human Welfare Studies, Kwansei

Gakuin University, Nishinomiya City, Japan.

Ritika Jain

*

Susama Hansdah*

*


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A Panel Discussion on “Performance of states in India on Sustainable Development Goals

as seen through SDG India Index 2018” was held on held on 19 February, 2019. The

panelists included (1) Prof. Agarwal (2) Dr. Parameswaran (3) Prof. Mani.

Canadian Delegation

A delegation led by the Ms Nicole Girard, Consul

General of Canada in Bengaluru visited CDS on

March 29, 2019 and held a wide range of

discussions with Professor Sunil Mani, Director,

CDS. The other members of the delegation

included Mr Eric Robinson, Consul and Senior

Trade Commissioner and Mr Jake Thomas, Second

Secretary, Political and Economic Affairs at the

Canadian High Commission of India in Delhi. The

discussions focused on possible collaboration of

CDS with Canadian Universities and Institutes of

Higher Learning.

Second Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Memorial Event-Lecture on “Casteist Speech: Free Speech

or injurious Acts?” 30 April

The SC/ST Cell of the Centre organised the

Second Ambedkar Memorial Event and Lecture on

Tuesday, 30th

April, 2019. The lecture, titled

‘Casteist Speech: Free Speech or Injurious Acts?’

was delivered by Professor K Satyanarayana, Dean

of School of Interdisciplinary Studies, English and

Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. The

lecture focused on the significance of the legal

conception of caste speech in the SC/ST Act, 1989

and the limitations of the liberal framework of free

speech/hate speech. The recent Human Rights

Watch Report (2016) was discussed at length as the report highlighted alleged contradiction

between free speech and casteist speech. Locating codification of casteist speech in the

context of Dalit social movements and the historic enactment of the SC/ST Act, 1989,

Professor Satyanarayana argued that casteist speech is not simply speech but it is moral and

psychological violence and it often leads to physical violence. The category of hate speech is

limited and inadequate to recognize specificity of casteist speech. Professor Sunil Mani,

Director of CDS, presided over the function.

In addition to the above the following events were held at the CDS:

Meeting of the RULSG-Programme Advisory Committee was held on 22 May, 2019

One Day Round Table Discussion on “The Implementation of Forest Rights Act”

(3 June, 2019)

2nd

Round Table Discussion on “Implementation of Forest Rights Act” (14 June, 2019)

3rd

Round Table Discussion on “Implementation of Forest Rights Act” (21 June, 2019)


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CDS LECTURE SERIES

Lectures by Dr Rory Horner

As part of the Lecture Series scheduled for the year

2018-19 by our Visiting Professors at the Centre, Dr

Rory Horner, Senior Lecturer, The University of

Manchester, delivered a series of lectures at the

CDS.

Lecture -1 was on the topic ‘Global Value Chains

and the Uneven Rise of the Global South:

Unpacking 21st Century Polycentric Trade,’ on 21

January, 2019.

Lecture- 11, on ‘South-South Value Chains: India’s

Pharmaceuticals in Africa,’ was delivered on 22 January, 2019.

Lecture-111 the last in the series was ‘From International to Global Development,’ on

Monday 28 January 2019.

All the lectures were attended by CDS faculty and students, and open to research scholars and

guests from other academic institutions.

Lecture on “Co-operation among Emerging Economies and Global Governance:

Lessons from BRICS Experience”

A Lecture on “Co-operation among Emerging

Economies and Global Governance: Lessons from

BRICS Experience” was delivered by Ambassador

Anil Sooklal, Deputy Director, DIRCO, South

Africa at the Baker Auditorium, CDS on January

30, 2019.

The lecture outlined the history of BRICS and the developing world and about the joining of

South Africa to BRICS during the 1st Summit in 2011. He said that in 2013 South Africa

hosted the summit which concentrated on economic and financial cooperation. Several

meeting had been hosted till 2018 on the international level of interaction and cooperation.

He said that cooperation of areas mainly focused on insecurity, economic cooperation, people

to people interaction and institutional cooperation. He said that the BRICS Business Council

was floated in 2013. Ambassador Sooklal concluded the lecture by saying that the

cooperation between all the members of BRICS is a very solid one, so also is the desire to

move together and impact positively on the global environment.

Lectures by Prof Sudipto Mundle

Prof Sudipto Mundle, former Emeritus Professor at the National Institute of Public Finance

and Policy, New Delhi delivered a series of lectures at the CDS. Prof Mundle delivered the

KN Raj Memorial Lecture to commemorate the anniversary of Prof KN Raj on Monday, 11

February 2019. Prof Mundle stared his reflections on KN Raj by thanking the CDS for having

invited him; he said it was exactly 40 years ago that he had spent time at the centre as a


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CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS

member of the faculty. He said that the CDS is actually Dr Raj’s memorial, a living and

vibrant centre of scholarship which he has left for all as his legacy. He said that he was

honoured to be able to pay his homage to Raj at the CDS on this day. Prof Mundle spoke

about Dr Raj as an institution builder, a teacher and a researcher and more particularly as a

family man who also had a very strong attachment and commitment to the family.

In addition to this 2 lectures were given: Lecture -1: ‘The Public Service Delivery

Performance of States’ on 12 February, 2019. Lecture -2: ‘Employment Challenge and the

Agrarian Crisis,’ on 13 February, 2019.

Lectures by Madhura Swaminathan

Lecture I - "Agricultural growth in India since Independence: pattern of growth, sources of

growth, role of technology vs institutions" 14 February, 2019

Lecture II - "Farmer incomes in India, and the farm size-profitability debate including

discussion of costs and prices and Minimum Support Price policy" 15 February, 2019

Lecture III- “Food security, the public distribution system and alternatives including cash

transfers"19 February, 2019.

Lectures by Prof J.V. Meenakshi

Prof J.V. Meenakshi, Professor, Delhi School of

Economics delivered a series of lectures on the

‘Methodology of Impact Evaluation’ at the Joan Robinson

Hall, CDS, during 10-12 April, 2019.

The lectures were scheduled for the afternoon sessions on

all three days and were attended by students of M A,

MPhil and Ph.D batches and a group of 20 teachers of economics from colleges across Kerala

who were undergoing a Teaching Innovations Programme at the Centre.

Curriculum Development Workshop for a Training Program (DBT) was held at the CDS

during 30-31 March 2019. The workshop was coordinated by Prof. U S Mishra.

Training course on the Design and Evaluation of Innovation Policy (UNU-MERIT DEIP

Programme) 4-8th

Feb, 2019

The Design and Evaluation of Innovation Policy (DEIP)

programme was conducted at the Centre during

February 4-8, 2019. The programme was organised in

collaboration with the United Nations University-

MERIT, Maastricht in the Netherlands. It was organised

through twelve lectures spread over five days. Class

room lectures were supplemented with three field visits

to better illustrate the topics that were done. The

programmme was coordinated by Anthony Arundel


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TRAINING PROGRAMMES

(UNU-MERIT) & Sunil Mani (CDS)

About 40 participants from across the country, but primarily from Kerala attended the course.

Participants included those from all institutions supporting technological change, besides

Doctoral and M.Phil research scholars plus Master’s students specialising in the ‘Economics

of Technology and Innovation’.

A Two day Conference on Economic Theory and Policy 14th

to 15th

February, 2019 was

conducted at the CDS under the RBI Endowment Unit of the Centre. The conference was

coordinated by Dr. Manmohan Agarwal, Chair Professor of the RBI Unit.

NRPPD Research Advisory Committee Meeting on

28 February, 2019.

A Discussion on ‘Universal Basic Income’ by Dr Mark

Lindley, Adjunct Professor, Mahatma Gandhi Mission

(Aurangabad) and Visiting Professor at Babasaheb

Ambedkar University was held on 14 March, 2019.

ICSSR Sponsored Capacity Building Programme on ‘Pathways of Social Research: A

Methodological Training’ 11-16 March 2019

The Center has organized a week-long capacity

building programme for doctoral candidates of

SC/ST and other marginalised groups between 11th

and 16th March 2019. This programme, funded by

ICSSR, intends to enhance the research capability

of young scholars who otherwise had limited

exposure to holistic training in data collection and

academic writing. Based on their suitability to the

programme, 40 students were selected for the training from universities cross the country.

This year’s programme has mainly focused on academic writing and field survey methods.

The programme has provided students with a concise overview of different forms of

academic writing such as doctoral dissertations, peer-reviewed articles and monographs. The

workshop has also focused on training students with developing research

questions/objectives, collection, and presentation of data, research ethics, literature review

and dissemination of research findings. The six-day programme consisted of lectures by

academics both within and outside CDS. The invited lecturers include Dr Sumeet Mhaskar

(O.P. Jindal University), Dr Bhawani Buswala (Oxford University, UK) and Mr Bikram

Sharma (Contributions to Indian Sociology/Institute of Economic Growth).


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FACULTY’S INVOLVEMENT

Teaching Innovations Programme for College Teachers in Economics (TIPE)

Under the K N Raj Training and Fellowship Programme, March 18th

–April 12th

2019

In response to a felt need to improve the

quality of economics education primarily at

the undergraduate level a month-long training

programme, Teaching Innovations Programme

for College Teachers in Economics (TIPE), for

teachers working in universities and colleges

in Kerala was organised by CDS. The

programme was organized under the K N Raj

Training and Fellowship Programme funded

by the Government of Kerala and was coordinated by Dr. Vinoj Abraham.

The course consisted of taught sessions and interactive workshops on specific topics. Four

broad topics were covered during the course, Micro Economics, Macro Economics,

Econometrics and Issues in Indian Economy. Apart from the lecture sessions, interactive

workshops aimed at improving teaching skills were conducted. All the participants conducted

short mock lectures and thereafter comments and suggestions to improve their teaching skills

were discussed among the participants.

A Curriculum Development Workshop for Training Programme (DBT) coordinated by

Prof Udaya Shankar Mishra was held during 30 and 31 March 2019.

FACULTY’S DOMESTIC INVOLVEMENT

Beena PL.

Presented a paper jointly

with Kavitha P titled

‘Growth Dynamics of

Handloom Industry: A

Case Study of

Chendamanagalam

Handloom Co-operative Society”,

“Cooperative Alternative: Spatial

comparisons” at the National conference

held on 6th and 7th May 2019 at Kannur

University, Kerala, India.

Presented a paper jointly with Kavitha P

titled ‘Business Distress in Kerala: A Case

Study of Chendamangalam Handloom

Industry" in a seminar on Society, Polity and

Economy of Kerala:Shifting Paradigm after

Flood, organised by Public Policy Research

Institute, Trivandrum, April 26, 2019.

Delivered a lecture in the National

Workshop on Research Writing and

Publication in Business at the School of

Commerce and Business Management,

Deoartment of Commerce, Central

University of Tamil Nadu during February 8-

9, 2019.

Delivered a lecture, Understanding the

Current Crisis in the Indian Industrial Sector at

the Department of Economics Central

University of Tamil Nadu on February 9,

2019.

Beena PL and Siddik Rabiyath 2019. ‘IPR

Regime and Developmental Implications of

IP Asset Intensive industries,’ Report


13

submitted to IUCAE, Kerala University,

May.

J. Devika

Delivered the Rajyashree

Khushu-Lahiri Memorial

Lecture titled Where is the

Love? : Thoughts

on Kamala (Das) Surayya’s

Affective Politics at IIT

Kanpur on March 5, 2019.

Delivered the inaugural lecture on ‘’Four

Observations on the Savarna Disturbances

around Sabarimala,’ in the Mukta Salve

Memorial Lecture Series at the Krantijyoti

Savithribhai Women’s Studies Centre,

University of Pune, March 25, 2019.

S Irudaya Rajan

Participated as an

external expert for

Doctoral Committee on

the thesis of Migration

and Political Ecology,

held at Rajiv Gandhi

National Institute of

Youth Development, Chennai on 21 January

2019.

Delivered a talk on Return Emigrants in

Kerala: Potential for Development? at the

International Conference on Restructuring

Kerala Economy: Alternative Perspectives,

organized by the Inter University Centre for

Alternative Economics, Department of

Economics, held at Senate Hall,

Thiruvananthapuram, during 21-23 January

2019.

Participated in the Panel discussion on

Economics of Ageing at the Seventh Annual

Conference on Indian Health Economics and

Planning Association, held at Gulati Institute

of Finance and Taxation,

Thiruvananthapuram during January 24-25,

2019.

Participated in the 2nd China-India

Population Ageing Forum, held at the Tata

Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai during

28-29 January 2019 and spoke on Migration

and Ageing in India.

Participated in the State Level Seminar on

Develop Road Map to Ensure Safe Migration

of Unorganized Workers: With a Special

Focus on Welfare of Women and Children in

Gujarat organized by UNICEF, Gujarat held

at Mahatma Gandhi Labour Institute during

30-31 January 2019 and spoke on the

technical session on Preventive Interventions

to Address Unsafe Migration in Children,

Adolescents and Women – Sharing Good

Practices.

Delivered a talk on Kerala Migration

Survey 2018 in the lecture series (no.5) at the

Department of Sociology,

SreeSankaracharya University of Sanskrit,

Kalady, on 31 January 2019.

Delivered a Ruby Year Celebrations

inaugural lecture on the Future of Migration

in Kerala at the Department of Demography,

University of Kerala, on 1 February 2019.

Visited the International Institute for

Population Sciences, Mumbai, to develop a

proposal on climate change and migration in

the context of Kerala floods with Institute for

Environment, Weather and Climate Risks

Group, Zurich, Switzerland on 5th February,

2019.

Attended a group meeting with the

visiting Vice President (External), University

of Guelph, Toronto, Canada at The Lady

Connemara Lounge at Hotel Taj Connemara

on 8th February 2019.

Delivered a talk to the Students of Tata

Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad, on

14th February 2019 on Migration and

Development: The Kerala Experience.


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Delivered a key note address in the

seminar on Dimensions and Dynamics of

Inter-State Labour Migration: A Discourse

organized by Nirmalagiri College, Kannur,

on 15th February 2019.

Delivered a key note address at the

International Conference on New Directions

for Research on Aging: Work, Care and

Mobility held at Manipal Academy of

Higher Education, Manipal, Karantaka, on 1

March 2019 organized by the International

Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai,

Centre for Innovative Ageing, Swansea

University, UK and Department of Human

Geography and Planning, Utrecht University,

The Netherlands.

Chaired a session on the topic Marriage

and Fertility at the National Seminar on

Population Dynamics in India and its

Implications on Health and Environment on

7th March 2019 held at National Institute of

Rural Development and Panchayat Raj,

Hyderabad organized by International

Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai.

Delivered Valedictory address at the

Second International Conference on

Migration, Diaspora and Development: An

Indian Perspective on 8th March 2019

organized by Centre for Diaspora Studies,

Central University of Gujarat and supported

by Ministry of External Affairs, Government

of India and Indian Council for Social

Sciences, Research, New Delhi.

Spoke in the plenary session of the

International Seminar on Arrangements for

Elderly Care in an Urban Context: India and

China on 12th March 2019 organized by the

Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi, held at

the India International Centre, Delhi.

Participated in the International

Conference on Ageing in Asia organized by

the Institute for Social and Economic

Change at Bangalore during 14-15 March

2019 and spoke on Migration and Ageing:

Issues and Perspectives.

Attended the Eight Technical Advisory

Committee meeting of the Longitudinal

Ageing Study in India (LASI) organized by

the International Institute for Population

Sciences, held at National Institute of Health

and Family Welfare, New Delhi, on 18

March 2019.

Spoke in the Session 4: Aging Population

and Global Macroeconomic Stability of 11th

Annual International G20 Conference on

Global Cooperation for Inclusive Growth:

Views from G20 countries in May 30-31,

2019.

K J Joseph

Made a presentation on

‘Plight of Plantation

Agriculture in India,’ in the

conference on Nation for

Farmers organised by Delhi

Science Forum, India

International Centre on March 2, 2019.

Sunil Mani

Presented a paper on

‘Non Resident Keralites, An

Analysis of their

Contribution to Kerala’s

Economy’ and also chaired

another session at the

international conference on

Indic Identity of Indian Diaspora: Its

Historical, Philosophical and Contemporary

Contributions to the World and India, jointly

organized by Organisation for Diaspora

Initiatives (ODI), and Banaras Hindu

University (BHU) at BHU, Varanasi during

January 24 -25, 2019.

Presented a paper on ‘Diffusion of

Automation Technologies and their Potential

and Actual Effects on Manufacturing


15

Employment in India’ at the International

Conference on - Future of Employment:

Challenges and Opportunities (FECO -

2019) by Symbiosis School of Economics

(SSE), Pune on February 20, 2019.

Presented a paper on ‘Agro biodiversity in

Kerala :An Analysis of Policies Favouring

Agro biodiversity’ at the Experience Sharing

Workshop, Strengthening Agriculture and

Allied Sector Contributions to

India’sNational Biodiversity Action Plan

2008 and the National Biodiversity Targets,

UN Conference Hall, FAO, New Delhi,

March 6, 2019.

Presented a paper on ‘TRIPS Compliance

of India’s Patent Regime and its Effect on

Innovation Activity at the conference on

‘Trade War – Does it affect the Global Free

Trade Order?’, Department of Commerce,

University of Kerala, March 26, 2019.

N Vijayamohanan Pillai

Research Methodology

Course for the PhD students

of Gulati Institute of Finance

and Taxation,

Thiruvananthapuram:

delivered five lecture-cum-

computer sessions on statistics and

econometrics during 24 – 28 June 2019.

Attended as an Expert in the screening

committee of Inter University Centre for

Alternative Economics for the selection of

Research Associate on 18th June 2019, at

Department of Economics, Kariavattom.

Attended as the guest of honor/expert

reviewer in the Dissemination Seminar for

Internships/Associateships/Projects,

organized by the Inter University Centre for

Alternative Economics, at Department of

Economics, University of Kerala,

Kariavattom on 17 June 2019.




Researchers under the Associate Research

Programme 2019 on 30th May 2019

afternoon, at Department of Economics,

University of Kerala, Kariavattom.




Researchers under Short Term Project, 2019,

on 30th May 2019, at Department of


Kariavattom.

Reviewed a manuscript on “Growth

Maximizing Fiscal Rule Targets in India” for

MIDS working paper series during May

2019.




Researchers under Short Term Project 2019

23rd May 2019, at Department of


Kariavattom

Two-day Workshop on Econometrics,

jointly organised by the Indian Accounting

Association, Kerala Branch and Department

of Commerce, University of Kerala, on May

21st and 22

nd, 2019 at the Department of

Commerce , School of Business

Management and Legal Studies, University

of Kerala, Kariavattom: eight lecture

sessions on Basic econometrics.

One-Week Workshop on Econometrics,

organised by the Department of Economics

and Public Policy, Central University of

Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala, Kangra,

from 13 to 17 May 2019; delivered twenty

lecture-cum-computer sessions on

econometrics.


16




Associate Researchers 2019 on 6th May

2019, at Department of Economics,

University of Kerala, Kariavattom.

Evaluated a PhD Thesis on “Exchange

Rate Volatility and the Role of RBI”,

submitted to the MG University during

April-May 2019.

Evaluated a PhD Thesis on “Education

and Inclusive Development: A Comparative

Study of Rural and Urban Bangalore

Districts”, submitted to the University of

Mysore during April 2019.

Attended the meeting of the Board of

Studies of Department of Economics, Mar

Athanasius College (Autonomous),

Kothamangalam, on 27 March 2019.


Studies of Department of Economics, St.

Teresa’s College (Autonomous), Ernakulam,

on 23 March 2019 and delivered a lecture-

cum-computer session on Gretl package.

Three-day Workshop on Basic

Econometrics, organized by the Department

of Economics, Union Christian College,

Aluva, during 20 - 22 March 2019; delivered

twelve lecture sessions on ‘Basic

econometrics’.

Workshop on Teaching Econometrics for

College teachers, organized by the Centre

for Budget Studies, Cochin University of

Science and Technology Kochi, during

March 14-20, 2019; delivered eight lecture

sessions on ‘Classical Assumptions:

Violations and Remedies’ on March 18 and

19.

Workshop on Applied Statistics and Data

Analysis for Science and Society, organized

by the Department of Agricultural Statistics,

College of Agriculture, Vellayani,

Trivandrum, during 14 – 16, March, 2019;

delivered four lecture-cum-computer

sessions on ‘Time series Analysis’ on March

14 (afternoon) and 15 (forenoon).

Three day National Workshop on

‘Academic Writing and Doctoral

Colloquium' during 7th –

9th

March 2019,

organized by the Department of Economics,

University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram;

delivered a lecture on “Interpreting

Statistical Tests and Regression

Coefficients” on 7th

and attended as an

evaluator in the Doctoral Colloquium on 9th

March.

UGC sponsored National Seminar on

“Demonetized Indian Economy – A Cross-

Sectoral Analysis; Building a Resilient

Economy?”, organized by the PG and

Research Department of Economics, Mar

Athanasius College (Autonomous),

Kothamangalam, during 1 – 2 March 2019;

chaired a technical session and presented a

paper on “Don Quixote in Utopia: Some

Reflexions on “Demonetized” Economy”;

also delivered the Presidential Address

during the Valedictory Session on March 2.

Visiting Professor at Gokhale Institute of

Politics and Economics, Pune; delivered 22

lecture sessions during February 19 – 24,

2019 on “Statistics and Operations

Research” course of M.Sc. Programme in

Economics, offered during the Semester

December 2018 – April 2019.

Evaluated a proposal on “history of

Electricity Sector in Kerala” submitted to

Kerala Council for Historical Research for

Fellowships for Post Doctoral Research

during February 2019.

Workshop on “Panel Data regression

Modeling”, organized by the Department of

Economics, St. Joseph’s College, Devagiri,


17

Kozhikode, on 14 and 15 February 2019;

delivered eight lecture sessions.

MG University Sponsored Two-Day

Workshop on “Basic Econometrics” on 31

January and 1 February 2019, Jointly

organized by the Departments of Economics

of Baselius College and BCM College,

Kottayam; delivered eight lecture cum-

computer sessions on “Basic Econometrics”.

Attended as the Chief Guest at the

inaugural session of the three-day workshop

on PG Curriculum Design and Syllabus

Revision, organized by the PG Board of

Studies of MG University on 28 January

2019 at Government College, Kottayam, and

delivered a special lecture on ‘Significance

of Econometrics and Mathematics in

Economics’.

Served as the External Expert of the

Proposal Defense of a Doctoral Scholar, Mr

Gopikumar, on the topic "Determinants of

the trading behavior of institutional investors

in the Indian context", on 23 January 2019 at

the Amrita School of Business, Ettimadai,

Coimbatore.

Presented a paper on “Energy Efficiency

in Kerala” on 21 January 2019 afternoon in

the Technical Session of the International

Conference on “Restructuring Kerala

Economy: Alternative Perspectives”,

organized by the Inter-University Centre for

Alternative Economics of the Department of


Karyavattom Campus during 21 – 23

January 2019.

Served as a Resource Person in the

Faculty Development program on Business

Analytics organized by the School of

Management of the College of engineering,

Trivandrum (CETSOM) during January 19 –

23, 2019; delivered four lecture-cum-

computer sessions on ‘Time Series Analysis”

during the forenoons of 21 and 22 January

2019.

Delivered a Guest Lecture on 18 January

2019 forenoon (two lecture sessions) for the

Economics students on the topic ‘Linear

Regression Model’ and attended as the

Resource Person in Faculty Training

Programme on 18 (afternoon) and 19

January 2019 on the topic ‘Applications of

Time Series in Research’ (six lecture

sessions), organized by the Research Centre

and Department of Economics, Lady Doak

College, Madurai.

Served as the External Expert in the Pre-

submission presentation of a Ph.D thesis on

“Structural Imbalances and Economic

Development: the Case of Kerala”, on

January 16, 2019 at 2. PM at the Department

of Economics, Kariyavattom.


Studies of Department of Economics, St.

Teresa’s College, (Autonomous),

Ernakulam, on 11-01-2019 to review the

syllabus for both UG and PG programmes.

Evaluated the PhD thesis and chaired the

Viva Voce Board for conducting the PhD

Viva Voce of a candidate on a Thesis on “An

Analysis of the Performance of Targeted

Public Distribution System in Kerala” at MG

University, Kottayam, on 10 January 2019.


18

STUDENT’S INVOLVEMENT AND ACHIEVEMENTS

FACULTY’S GLOBAL INVOLVEMENT

S. Irudaya Rajan

Visited Graduate School of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University on

22 February 2019 to deliver a special lecture on South Asia Migration to

the Gulf supported by Relational Studies on Global Crisis and

International Migration financed by Ministry of Education, Culture,

Sports, Science and Technology, Government of Japan.

Participated in the Third Annual REALM workshop held at New York

University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates during 15-16 March 2019 and delivered a talk

on Kerala Migration Survey 2018 Follow up

Kashif Mansoor PhD (2017)

Presented a paper titled “An analysis of occupational segregation among religious groups in

India”, in Advanced Graduate Workshop on Poverty, Development and Globalisation held at

Azim Premji University in collaboration with Institute for New Economic Thinking in

Bangalore, India, during June 2-15, 2019.

Shraddha Jain, PhD (2016)

Jain, Shraddha & P. Kodoth.2019. ‘Locality Specific Norms and Wage Bargaining by “Part

time” Domestic Workers in the National Capital Region,’ in Neetha N (ed.) Working at

Others’ Homes: The Specifics and Challenges of Paid Domestic Work. New Delhi: Tulika

Books.

Jain, Shraddha , & Mishra, US. 2018. ‘Demand for Domestic Workers in India: Its

Characteristics and Correlates,’ The Indian Journal of Labor Economics , 61 (4), 659-679

New Faculty

Dr. Chidambaran Gurunathan Iyer joined as Associate Professor with

effect from August 26, 2019. His Areas of Specialisation include

Technology, Innovation, Productivity, Spillovers. The Centre wishes

him all the best.

callto:61%20(4),%20659-679


19

STUDENTS SPEAK

FIELD WORK EXPERIENCES

My Field Survey Experience: Reflections by Sabhavat Premkumar, Ph.D. (1st year)

My MPhil dissertation dealt with a

comparative analysis of institutions between

the Gond and Lambada tribes of Adilabad

district in Telangana. The study was based

on a field survey of four blocks in the

district,consisting of 20 tribal villages in

total; 10 of them being inhabited by the

Lambada tribe and another 10 by the Gond

tribe. Adilabad district has been experiencing

recurrent conflicts between the tribes which

meant that I had to intimate the concerned

authorities about the purpose and scope of

the study. Hence, I had to get in touch with

the local Police stations of the four blocks

and informed them about the purpose of my

visit. Contrary to my expectations, the task

of convincing them was not that difficult. It

could be because these police officers get

frequent requests from other researchers;

hence my request was not unique.

Accordingly, the police officers of the

blocks, in turn, informed the tribal chiefs

about my visit.

After getting the necessary permission, I

started with the survey. My first job was to

find a shelter for myself. I used to stay 20km

to 30km away from the fields where it was

comparatively easier to get rooms. Since my

area of survey was vast, I had to shift my

staying lodge twice also. My survey started

on 01/11/2018. I used to set out early to

collect data and would reach the homes of

the people by 7:00 AM as most of the

tribesmen leave for their farming fields by

9:30 AM. The entire exercise of collecting

the information required for the study took

me around2 months.

The objective of the survey had two parts:

The first part was where quantitative data on

certain indicators were required, and the

second part dealt with the qualitative

information (using semi-structured

interview). For the first part, I collected

information related to education and

employment at the individual level. Data at

the household level for income, spending

pattern, type of land, credit, type of crops

cultivated, and sources of irrigation were

also collected. Our total sample size was

220; 109 were Gond, and 111 were

Lambada. The second part consisted of semi-

structured interviews which were conducted

with 10 individuals from each tribal

community and 10 individuals from the non-

tribal community who maintained close

interactions with the tribes. Out of the 10

individuals from the tribal community, five

were educated up to 10th

standard and above

Gond tribe family asked me to take a picture of their house.

Collecting information from the household head


20

and the rest of them were illiterate. The 10

non-tribal community individuals included

officials such as Sarpanch, local teachers,

and Integrated Tribal Development Agency

(ITDA) officers. The interview was focused

on some qualitative information which can

be classified under two broad heads. First, it

relates to the relationship of the tribal

community with the State. This was done by

looking at the State-related provisions and

the implementation of government

programmes and schemes meant for tribal

welfare. Second, it relates to community-

specific information like that on tribal

history, culture, economic activities,

interaction with other, and political

information were also collected.

The first part of the survey took me the most

time- around one and half months. During

this time, I had to gain their confidence and

gradually, they were getting familiarized

with me. As I started my survey, all the head

respondents of the houses (male or female)

used to ask me lots of questions regarding

the purpose of my visit and about my

background. Their questions were to check

how much power and authority I had to help

them through my work (though they

understood my “work” at best partially); and

what best can I do to help them. It turned out

that a few households were not giving

accurate answers to questions about

ownership of land-size and government jobs.

This was reported by their neighbors, who

used to inform me that they were

understating. This is especially true for the

Lambada. This is maybe because, while

responding to these questions, they were

under the presumption of losing further

facilities from the government.

One interesting observation during the

fieldwork was that the responses of the two

tribes were contrasting. Lambada tribal

community members would respond in

Telugu fluently and were confident enough

to answer the questions put forward. This

was possibly because of their regular

interaction with the non-tribal communities.

In the case of Gond, only the educated would

speak in Telugu. They were rather shy and

most of the young girls used to hide while

something was asked to them or their

parents. Another interesting fact is that even

after informing about my research, most of

them regarded me as a government official

who had come to survey their condition. This

belief was mainly held among the Gond.

This is clearly because of the lack of

awareness about independent research

initiatives in comparison to the Lambada.

Hence, to convey their grievances, few of the

Gond showed the poor condition of their

houses. Some of them also gave the

narratives related to their land documents

and asked me to forward it to collector and

police officers for immediate resolution.

Thirdly, some of the villages in deeply

forested areas do not have access to proper

road facility and mobile network

communication. To reach these places I had

to walk for almost 5 kilometers. I found that

these areas were mostly inhabited by people

of the Gond tribe.

With regard to the qualitative part, the

responses of non-tribals and tribal educated

persons contained complaints against the

community culture. Lack of education and

employment among the tribals is attributed

by them to tribal ‘cultural importance’, i.e.

economic imperatives are outclassed by the

symbolic ones. On the other hand, illiterates

- both male and female - have emphasized

the superiority of their culture to other

mainstream culture.

Overall, I found that the responses of the

Gond – who are generally poorer – made it

clear that they expected to influence

government opinion through my research

attempts. However, the responses of the

Lambada did not seem to have any such

objective, and they understood that this was

purely a research-oriented exercise.


21

Ph.D FOREIGN INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCES BELGIUM TRIP

Irfan Ahmad Shah (PhD 2016 Batch)

The intervening night of 4th

and 5th

November 2018 was quite restless for me. I

don’t know was it because of the

excitement or the nervousness. All I know

is that I was going out of my country for

the first time and that too for three months

to Europe. Thanks to CDS for selecting me

for PhD internship abroad (PIA)

programme. I was going to Belgium to do

my PhD internship at the University of

Ghent. I reached Belgium (Brussels

Airport) in the morning hours of 6th

November and had to catch a one hour train

to Ghent (Gent-Sint-Pieters) railway

station.The travel from Brussels to Ghent

was amazing. The thoughts of being inside

Europe coupled with the beauty of open

green fields, yellow flowers, scattered red

and golden leaves all around was charming.

The calmness, cleanliness and the well

maintained infrastructure was making me

even more excited to reach Ghent. As the

train started approaching Saint-Pieters

Station, a wave of disquiet spread across

me. Will I be able to fulfill the expectations

of my supervisor in Ghent? I was going to

work with Prof Gert Peersman- a world-

known researcher and an advisor to

European Central Bank (ECB) and the

Bank of Belgium. Yes, you heard it right,

advisor to the ECB and former student of

Frank Smets- the director general of ECB.

These thoughts made me a bit scared about

how to spend my three months there.

On 7th

morning I had a meeting with Prof

Gert Peersman. After a small chat with

him, I was quite relaxed. He showed me my

office space and introduced me with some

of his students. Fredrick, the German guy,

Marco, the Italian and Bruno, from

Portugal were my immediate office mates

for next three months.A few more students

like Andrez, from London, Walter, from

Belgium, Kim, from Vietnam were in other

rooms. It was for the first time in my life

that I had to work with people from

different parts of the world. To make me

more comfortable, Prof Peersman threw a

lunch party for all the students. Though I

knew Belgium is famous for chocolates,

waffles and fries, I had no idea what to

order for lunch. So, the best and easy

option was to go for Pizza. It was good but

not amongst the finest ones that I realized

later.

As days passed, I adopted the ambience and

tranquility of Ghent in general though my

officemates were quite generous and

welcoming from the very beginning. Apart

from the academic discussions which used

to be professional, serious and

brainstorming, we used to discuss about

different cultures, food habits, tourist

places and what not. It was from these

discussions that I realized how particular

Italians are about food, Germans for

professionalism and Belgic for living

within Belgium. The stories of Cristiano

Ronaldo from Bruno were always exciting.

I also got to know that Belgium, despite

being a small country, is actually a tourist

hub. A number of attractive tourist

destinations such as Bruges, Antwerp,

Ghent and Brussels were always flooded

with tourists. I got a chance to visit these

places and they were more beautiful than I

ever imagined. I visited large cathedrals,

amazing churches, big supermarkets,

roamed across the streets, sitting on the

pavements across canals and visiting old

castles was an amazing experience. The

late-night walks in the cold breezy winters,

commuting in trams and buses driven by

ladies was altogether a different experience.

So, every time I felt bored, I used to walk

around in one or the other painted streets of


22

Ghent and often lose my way while

returning back. It all used to be fun.

The best part in Ghent was cooking by

myself. I stayed in one of the university

houses (Home Gottingen)- a beautifully

well-crafted studio with an attached

washroom, Kitchenette and a bedroom.

Usually, I used to make my own breakfast

and cook something or the other for dinner,

lunch I used take from university canteen. I

used to get fresh vegetables from

supermarkets, mutton/chicken from Turkish

shops and cook them using Indian spices. It

all was a learning experience.

After around two months in Ghent, I

decided to explore some more European

countries. The first one without a second

thought was France, particularly Eiffel

Tower. However, after I reached Paris, I

found there is more than that in there. I

reached Paris on 31st December 2019 and

straight went to Trocadero metro station to

get the best view of Eiffel Tower. From

there on, I took a boat to visit world famous

Louvre Museum, Notre Dame, Arc de

Triomphe and many other places. The best

part was being there to welcome the New

Year 2019. Around hundreds of thousands

of people gathered near Champs-Elysees to

welcome 2019. Trees on the sides were

decorated in red and white. The

celebrations went on till 3 am, still woke up

early next morning to enjoy the beauty of

Paris. I spent the entire day shopping,

eating and roaming around to see the art

and well-crafted cities of Paris. Buying

French souvenirs, visiting a few restaurants

and eating French street food was

altogether an exciting experience. I finally

managed my way back to Ghent with lot of

memories from Paris.

By the time I was planning my trip back to

CDS, two more students, Shraddha and

Vineesh from CDS had already arrived in

The Netherlands for their PhD internship.

We planned a get together at Amsterdam.

Shraddha was coming from Hague,Vinesh

from Utrecht and me from Ghent. We met

in Amsterdam and luckily on that particular

day, there was a tulip festival in

Amsterdam. We all went for the flower

exhibition but it was only Shraddha who

managed to get a few tulips for her

extraordinary patience. In Amsterdam, be it

parks, Cathedrals, Museums, long-walks

besides the canals or the boating, we

enjoyed every bit of it. Though Shraddha

and Vineesh went back to their respective

institutes, I stayed back for an extra day. I

spent almost the entire day inTrams of

Amsterdam going from one corner to

another in every possible direction. Thanks

to Shraddha for providing me a full day

cheap public transport card. By the time I

was packing back my stuff, Amsterdam had

become quite known to me.

I went back to Belgium, prepared my final

three month progress presentation. The

presentation went for an hour and a half

with a lot of questions and comments.

Some I could answer and rest I

incorporated in my paper, which will be

published soon.

Thank you CDS for providing me this

opportunity to learn what is not written in

books, an experience I will cherish

throughout my life.


23

K.N. RAJ LIBRARY NEWS

During the reporting period, the library

borrowing membership increased by 8,

institutional membership by 1 and the

reference membership by 365. The library

collection increased by 447 books, and

110 e- books. The library catalogue

[OPAC] is available online at

http://cdslib.cds.ac.in:8380/opac4x/. To

access the “CDS Information Repository”

service, check out http://ir.cds.ac.in. The

"Content Alert Service” has been updated

with 802 posts and has received 9920

visits. The following is the URL

http://knrajlibrary.wordpress.com/ of this

service.

A group of 30 students each from Govt.

College, Kodenchery, Nehru Arts &

Science College, Kanhangad, Krishna

Menon Memorial Govt. Women’s College,

Kannur, Govt. Arts & Science College,

Kondotty, Govt. Arts & Science College,

Thavanoor, Nirmalagiri College, Kannur,

Christ College, Irinjalakuda, and NSS

college, Manjeri visited the library on

18th, 22 th, 23 th, 25 th, 29 th, 30 th

January, 1st, 6th February and 6th March

respectively as part of the ‘Walk with the

Scholar’ scheme of Government of Kerala.

All of the above were given tour of the

library to familiarize the library collection

and services.

V. Sriram, Chief Librarian was nominated

as a member of the Board Of Studies

(Library Science) of Rajagiri College of

Social Science (Autonomous), Kochi in

February 2019 for a period of two years.

V. Sriram delivered a lecture on the topic

“Reference Management using Zotero” at

the Workshop on Qualitative Research

Writing and Publishing, Department of

Sociology, University of Kerala. India on

February 14, 2019.

The Joan Robinson Collection at KN Raj Library

Professor Joan Robinson of University of

Cambridge has been a great friend and

well wisher of CDS who has even donated

royalties of two of her books, Selected

Economic Writings and An Introduction to

Modern Economics, to CDS. She was a

frequent visitor to CDS during the 1970s

and early 1980s and the last time that we

had the privilege of hosting her was during

December 1981 and January 1982. She

passed away in 1983. CDS has kept her

memory in more ways than one. We have

now a Joan Robinson Prize that is awarded

to best outgoing Master's student and one

of our major seminar halls where most of

the academic conversations and debates go

on is named the Joan Robinson

Hall. Recently her daughter, Ms Barbara

Jeffrey, has donated Professor Robinson's

personal library to the CDS. The collection

of books containing 110 titles has a

number of books by Professor Robinson

herself and John Maynard Keynes. This

precious collection of books add to a

distinguished collection of personal

libraries of such distinguished economists

as Nicholas Kaldor, Sanjaya Lall and K N

Raj, that the CDS library is privileged to

have. CDS is extremely thankful to one of

our Visiting Professors, Professor Frances

Stewart who took the initiative of putting

us in touch with Ms Barbara Jeffrey and

also to one of our distinguished and most

helpful alumni, Mr Gareth Wall in helping

Ms Jeffrey to ship the books to CDS from

St Albans, near London. The CDS is most

grateful to Ms Barbara Jeffrey for donating

the books to the CDS Library.


24

PUBLICATIONS

Book

S. Irudaya Rajan (Ed.), India Migration

Report 2019, Diaspora in Europe, Routledge.

2019.

Journal Articles

Beena, PL. 2019. ‘India’s Recent Inward

Foreign Direct Investment : An Assessment,’

Emerging Markets Journal, Volume 9 No. 1

(2019) | ISSN 2158-8708 (online) | DOI

10.5195/emaj.2019.176 | http://emaj.pitt.edu

| (Review article)

S Irudaya Rajan, Ashwin Kumar, Arokkiaraj

Heller. 2019. ‘The Realities of Voting in

India,’ Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.

54, Issue No. 18, 04 May.

Chapters in books

Joseph, KJ. 2019. ‘Commodity Markets,

Computers and Inclusive Development: A

Study of Marketing and Price Formation of

Cardamom with e-Auctions,’ in Raina

Rajeswari S., Das, Keshab (Eds.) Inclusive

Innovation Evidence and Options in Rural

India New Delhi, Springer, 2019.

S. Irudaya Rajan and Nikhil Panicker. 2019.

‘The Impact of Trump Administration on

Immigration,’ Chapter 17 in S. Irudaya

Rajan (ed.) India Migration Report 2019:

Diaspora in Europe, Routledge.

S. Irudaya Rajan, Benoy Peter, Udaya S

Mishra and Vishnu Narendran. 2019.

‘Impact of Demographic Transition in Kerala

on Migration and Labour Force,’ Chapter 18

in S. Irudaya Rajan (ed.) India Migration

Report 2019: Diaspora in Europe. Routledge.

S. Irudaya Rajan and K. C. Zachariah. 2019.

‘Panel Data Analysis in Kerala Migration

Surveys, 1998-2013,’ Chapter 19 in S.

Irudaya

Rajan (ed.) India Migration Report 2019:

Diaspora in Europe. Routledge.

Working Papers

K. P. Kannan, India’s Social Inequality as

DurableInequality : Dalits and Adivasis at

the Bottom of an Increasingly Unequal

Hierarchical Society, W.P. 488, June 2019.

Sunandan Ghosh, Vinoj Abraham, The Case

of the ‘Missing Middle’ in the Indian

Manufacturing Sector: A Firm-Level

Analysis. W.P. 487, June 2019.

Chandril Bhattacharyya, Unionised

LabourMarket, Environment and

Endogenous Growth. W.P. 486 May 2019

Pulapre Balakrishnan, M. Parameswaran,

The Dynamics of Inflation in India. W.P.

485, March 2019.

R. Mohan Finance Commissions and Federal

FiscalRelations in India - Analysing the

Awards of 11th to 14th Finance

Commissions. WP 484, January 2019.

S. Irudaya Rajan, K.C. Zachariah,

Emigrationand Remittances: Evidences from

the Kerala MigrationSurvey, 2018. WP. 483,

January 2019.

RULSG Lateral Studies Series

KK Eswaran. 2019. ‘Petty Production – A

Survival Strategy and its Limits: Some

observations on Kudumbashree’s Productive

Activities,’ Lateral Studies Series on

Kudumbashree -4, May.

https://www.routledge.com/India-Migration-Report-2019-Diaspora-in-Europe/Rajan/p/book/9781138602113

https://www.routledge.com/India-Migration-Report-2019-Diaspora-in-Europe/Rajan/p/book/9781138602113

https://www.epw.in/author/s-irudaya-rajan

https://www.epw.in/author/ashwin-kumar

https://www.epw.in/author/arokkiaraj-heller

https://www.epw.in/author/arokkiaraj-heller

https://www.epw.in/journal/2019/18/commentary/realities-voting-india.html

https://www.epw.in/journal/2019/18/commentary/realities-voting-india.html

https://www.epw.in/journal/2019/18

https://www.epw.in/journal/2019/18


25

ANASWARA NEWS…

Praveena Kodoth. 2019. ‘How

Kudumbashree Forged a Massive Network

of Neighbourhood Groups: Micro Politics

and the Strategies of Mobilisation of Women

in Kerala,’ Lateral Studies Series on

Kudumbashree -5, May.

Saija Väyrynen, Darley Jose Kjosavik. 2019.

‘Inclusive Development and Empowerment

of Women: A Study of Microfinance

Programmes in Kerala, India,’ Lateral

Studies Series on Kudumbashree -6, May.

Other Publications

Beena PL. 2019. ‘IPR regime and

Developmental Implications: Case study of

IP Asset Intensive industries,’ Report

submitted to ICAE, Kerala University, May

2019.

S. Irudaya Rajan 2019. South Asia, the

Migration Hub. DNA. January 15, 2019

https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-

south-asia-the-migration-hub-2707872

U S. Mishra and S Irudaya Rajan. 2019. The

State of the States. The Hindu. Opinion,

February 12, 2019.

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/ op-ed/the-

state-of-the-states/article26240864.ece

The Association for Non-Academic Staff

Welfare and Recreation Activities, CDS is

organizing a series of programme called

‘Chintha Sarani’ for sharing the

knowledge of administrative staff

themselves. The programme has been

conducting in the staff recreation room on

second Wednesday of every month at

lunch break time. It helps to update and

developing the administrative skill of the

staff members.

Shri V Venukumar, AOIO, lead the

session on Income tax rules on 15.01.2019.

and 14.02.2019. Shri Sarath V has taken a

class on IT infrastructure in CDS on

14.03.2019.

Shri Sai Babu S presented his travel

experience of Agasthyarkoodam yathra on

16.05.2019.

ANASWARA remembered Shri Laurie

Baker, the Architect of the Centre on his

death anniversary, 01.04.2019, by

exhibiting a documentary on his life and

career.

ANASWARA has also been conducting a

get together function of all the staff

members on last working day of every

month with a delicious lunch. One of our

members sponsoring the meals on each

month. Shri. G. Vijayan, Shri Suresh

Kumar S, Smt. Anitha G.P, Shri Shareef H

S, Shri Anoopkumar P P had sponsored

the lunch from January to June

respectively.

Ajikumar A. R.

Convener, ANASWARA

http://cds.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/RULSG6-Darley.pdf



https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-south-asia-the-migration-hub-2707872

https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-south-asia-the-migration-hub-2707872

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/%20op-ed/the-state-of-the-states/article26240864.ece

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/%20op-ed/the-state-of-the-states/article26240864.ece


26

A Poem by Dr N Vijayamohanan Pillai

Dialectics

An unseen presence,

Or a seen absence,

So munificently beneficent;

Or beneficently maleficent;

A dangerous track of touch;

A touching vector of danger;

A torturing scorcher; a scorching torch;

Can you forecast it?

Yes, you say.

But forecasting has a limit….

Yes, you say, the sky is the limit!

And you argue:

There is a method even in madness….

My Socrates adds:

And Vice versa!

You put equations in time;

Does time put you in equations?

You put time in equations;

Does time put equations in you?

Are you a whole of parts;

Or a part of a whole?

Forecasting a whole upon the parts,

Or, the parts upon a whole?

Or, both?

And my Socrates adds:

A dialectics!


27

BIODIVERSITY IN CDS - Saibabu S

Thiruvananthapuram is

the capital city of Kerala,

which is located in the

southern part of the state.

A very important feature

is that it is connected

with the Western Ghats

at several points. This

shows the wide biodiversity present in this

area.

Centre for Development Studies is located in

the heart of Thiruvananthapuram city,

especially in one of the highest areas of the

city. The height and greenish atmosphere

show the huge presence of living diversity in

all its areas. The 10-acre campus is abundant

in its undulating landscape with all kinds

steep curves and wetlands lavish with a

green growth of all kinds of plants and trees.

While observing the floral on campus it is

seen that there are all kinds of trees and

plants are present. Trees like mahogany,

teak, mango and a large number of coconut

trees are also present on the campus. Even

cocoa trees are present which bear plenty of

fruit during the season. There is also a wide

array of plant development on campus with

plenty of flowers and flowering plants seen

in the areas near the main building.

Proper water management and rainwater

harvesting and saving methods are also used

here which helps in channelling the water to

recharge the groundwater. This not only

helps in keeping the campus recharged but

also helps those living around the campus for

getting enough water in their wells. The

campus is abuzz with a large presence of

birds, butterflies and insects. An area has

been named as the butterfly park where one

can find special species like "Blue Tiger",

"Chocolate Pansy", "The Small White",

"Cirrochroa thais." The large variety of

flowers and plants seems to attract various

kinds of butterflies which are seen most in

the eastern part of the campus. Similarly a

huge variety of insects are also present in the

campus like "Zygaena" " Red Ants", "Dwarf

Honey Bee".

On many occasions, big honeycombs, even

wild ones, have been seen in various

buildings of the campus including

administration block and guest house area.

This points to the favourable climatic and

environmental conditions that are favourable

for natural living for these insects.


28

Our proximity to the Akkulam Lake attracts

backwater birds which appear during the

season. Some of them are "Indian Little

Green Bittern", "Paddy Bird" etc. Common

birds like "Rufous Treepie," "Asian Coel,"

"Indian Cuckoo,” "Cattle Egret," "Black

Drongo", are also seen in various parts of

campus. During the day the "Spotted Eagle",

"Golden Eagle" is quite often seen circling

atop the library tower building.

On the ground we have a huge variety of

snakes and reptiles. Several snakes like

"Indian Rat Snake", "Indian Cobra", "Indian

Crait" also found in various parts of the

campus. A large group of Kerala Mongoose

are also seen roaming the campus.

From the above, it is clear that the campus is

steeped in biodiversity. The eco-friendly

campus helps living organisms to flourish

undisturbed. The plastic and pesticide-free

environment help to keep the atmosphere

clean.

A strict rule ensures against the destruction

of trees and plant cover. Proper waste

management helps with increasing the

productivity of the land and the presence of

water. The three main wells, along with an

efficient system of rainwater harvesting

helps to maintain a green campus with a

sufficient balance of the ecosystem which

helps support the biodiversity to exist in a

perfect way.


29

CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES Prasanth Nagar, Ulloor, Thiruvananthapuram – 695011, Kerala, India

Tel: +91-471-2774200, 2448881, 2448412, Fax: +91-471 2447137 Website: www.cds.edu

Please send your contributions and responses to the editor

[email protected]

http://www.cds.edu/

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