Jural relations of middle‐class marriage and women as legal subjects in the imaginary of ‘new India’

In India's capital New Delhi, four Family Courts were set up between 2009 and 2012, and 12 mediation institutions known as Crime Against Women Cells (CAW cells) were established during the same period. The Indian state has also endorsed gender‐equalising family legislation, mutual‐consent divorce and introduced new language of and for mediation. Together with India's projection of a rising global economy, these recent legal changes have engendered perceptions of a dramatic upturn in formal divorce and of women as liberal legal subjects. In the anthropology of Asia, marital practices have crucially informed our comprehension of modernisation, family formations and moral panics. This article explores the impact of new forms of legal availability on marriage, family and kinship among the metropolitan middle classes. It ethnographically engages with important structural shifts reflected in the intimate lives of Hindu couples, but also foregrounds a cautious narrative of newly imagined jural relations.     

Rediscovery of Ellobium scheepmakeri (Petit De La Saussaye, 1850) (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Ellobiidae), a rare ellobiid in Bukit Belimbing mangrove forest,Peninsular Malaysia

The ellobiid Ellobium scheepmakeri (Petit de la Saussaye, 1850) is reported from the banks of the Selangor River estuary, 57 years after it was first collected in Peninsular Malaysia. It was found in abundance under logs in the dryland mangrove forest of a dominantly Nypa swamp at the upper reaches of the Kuala Selangor estuary where sediment pore water salinity was recorded at 6–7 ppt.     

印度－太平洋史前学会第15届大会在泰国召开

印度－太平洋史前学会第１５届大会在泰国召开新年伊始,来自２０多个国家和地区的２００多名代表云集泰国北部名城清迈,出席１９９４年１月５－１２日举行的印度一太平洋史前学会第１５届大会．在这次四年一度的学术盛会上,学者们就本区早期人类及文化、早期农业及商品...     

A Taxonomic Revision on Genus Aristolochia Subgenus Pararistolochia

Aristolochia Subgen. Pararistolochia ( Hutch. & Dalz. ) O. C. Schmidt, a smallest one among so far known three subgenera in the genus, often treated as a separate genus, is composed of only nine species from Tropical Africa (8 species)and Tropical Asia ( l species). This work deals mainly with the system and taxonomic treatment as well as distribution based on the herbarium materials form British Museum (Natural History) (BM), National Botanical Garden of Belgium(BR), Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew(K) and Laboratoire de Phanerogamie of Paris(P). Three sections in the subgenus are described as new by the number of anthers and its arrangement. Also two names, Pararistolochia zenkeri (Engl.) Hutch. & Dalz. and P. macrocarpa (Duch.) Poncy var. soyauxiana(Oliv. )Poncy, are reduced to synonyms of A. macrocarpa Duch.; andone name, A. preussii Engl., is reduced to a synonym of A. promissa Mast.     

A Revision of Aristolochia Linn. from E. & S. Asia

This revision deals with the system, evolution, distribution, cytotaxonomy and taxonomic treatment of the genus Aristolochia Linn. from E. & S. Asia, which covers Japan, USSR (Far East), China, Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Total 2 subgenera, 7 sections, 4 series, 68 species and 1 variety (cultivated species not included) are recognized in this treatment, of which 3 sections and 2 species are described as new. In addition, 13 new synonyms and some new records to this region are also included. Ystem Having estimated all the works dealing with the subdivision of the genus by the previous authors, the system of O. C. Schmidt (1935) is chosen as the basis, with a change of the sequence of the subdivisions. The subgenus Pararistolochia (Hutch. & Dalz.) O. C. Schmidt, which has indefinite stamens and gynandrous lobes, seems to be better considered as the most primitive one in the genus, while the subgenus Siphisia (Raf.) Duch., which has definite stamens and gynandrous lobes, anthers arranged in 3 pairs and more modifications of the perianth, seems to be the most advanced one. The perianth of the subgenus Siphisia has differentiated into several types, and it is more rational using this character to classify sections than lobes of the gynostemium. In this way, three new sections has been established. A suggested system of the genus is summarized as follows: Subgen. 1. Pararistolochia (Hutch. & Dalz.) O. C. Schmidt Subgen. 2. Aristolochia: Sect. 1. Aristolochia (2 series), Sect. 2. Gymnolobus Duch. Subgen. 3. Siphisia (Raf.) Duch.: Sect. 3. Pentodon Klotz, Sect. 4. Odontosiphisia J. S. Ma, Sect. 5. Leptosiphisia J. S. Ma, Sect. 6. Nepenthesia Klotz., Sect. 7. Obliquosiphisia J. S. Ma, Sect. 8. Siphisia (2 series). Evolution According to the character analysis of the genera of Aristolochiaceae, the evolutionary trends of the family are proposed as follows: 1, the perianth from double to single, from cup-like to tubular, 2, stamens from indefinite to definite, from separate from pistil to united into a gynostemium with pistil, which is a major evolutionary line in the family, 3, ovary from half-superior to inferior, and 4, fruit from a follicle to a capsule. It is evident that the genus Aristolochia, with a tubular perianth, stamens 6, a gynostemium, an inferior ovary and a capsule, is in highly advanced position in the family. The subgenus Pararistolochia, which has more stamens and more lobes of gynostemium, is very similar to the genus Thottea Rottb. and thus better considered as the most primitive subgenus in the genus. The subgenus Siphisia, which has definite stamens (6) in 3 pairs and 6 lobes of gynostemium as well as the polyploid feature (2n=4x=28), is the most advanced subgenus. As a result of the character analysis, the evolutionary trends of the subgenera in the genus, which are in accordance with those of the family, are proposed as follows: 1. stamens from indefinite to definite, and 2. gynostemium lobes from more to less. Distribution The more primitive subgenus Pararistolochia is only distributed in West Africa (except 1 species in Malesia), the subgenus Aristolochia in the tropical and subtropical regions, rarely in the temperate one, and the most advanced subgenus Siphisia occurs mainly in E. Asia, occasionally in N. America. The result of this work shows that the Hengduan Mountains is the second center of distribution after South America. The second center of distribution is of following features: 1. complex composition of taxa, among 3 subgenera and 8 sections, 2 subgenera and 7 sections have been recorded here, 2. rich in species, more than half of the total E. & S. Asian species, i.e. about 42 species have been found in this region, and 3. numerous endemics, more than 85 percent of the total number of species in the region, i.e. about 35 species, are endemic. Cytotaxonomy and taxonomic treatment The known chromosome numbers in 43 species, with 34 reported by Gregory (1956) and Fedorov (1969), together with 9 species newly reported in this work, show that Subgen. Aristolochia with 2n=2x=14, rarely 12, is apparently more primitive than Subgen. Siphisia with 2n=2x=28.     

The Lower Paleolithic of the Indian subcontinent

This broad overview highlights the Indian subcontinent as an important and exciting source of new discoveries regarding Lower Paleolithic hominins and their biological and behavioral evolution. Broadly situated in the center of the Old World, the region arbitrarily encompasses Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Bhutan; it represents the richest easternmost domain of classic Acheulean bifaces in the Old World. 1 The region comprises diverse ecological zones with complex geological and climatic histories, including a bi‐annual monsoon prevalent since the Miocene, all of which had major impacts on faunal and floral distributions and associated hominin adaptations.     

Modelling children's anthropometric status using Bayesian distributional regression merging socio-economic and remote sensed data from South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa

A history of insufficient nutritional intake is reflected by low anthropometric measures and can lead to growth failures, limited mental development, poor health outcomes and a higher risk of dying. Children below five years are among those most vulnerable and, while improvements in the share of children affected by insufficient nutritional intake has been observed, both sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have a disproportionately high share of growth failures and large disparities at national and sub-national levels. In this study, we use a Bayesian distributional regression approach to develop models for the standard anthropometric measures, stunting and wasting. This approach allows us to model both the mean and the standard deviation of the underlying response distribution. Accordingly, the whole distribution of the anthropometric measures can be evaluated. This is of particular importance, considering the fact that (severe) growth failures of children are defined having a z-score below −2 (−3), emphasising the need to extend the analysis beyond the conditional mean. In addition, we merge individual data taken from the Demographic and Health Surveys with remote sensed data for a large sample of 38 countries located in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia for the period 1990–2016, in order to combine individual and household specific characteristics with geophysical and environmental characteristics, and to allow for a comparison over time. Our results show besides gender differences across space, and strong non-linear effects of included socio-economic characteristics, in particular for maternal education and the wealth of the household that, surprisingly, in the presence of socio-economic characteristics, remote sensed data does not contribute to variations in growth failures, and including a pure spatial effect excluding remote sensed data leads to even better results. Further, while all regions showed improvements towards the target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), our analysis identifies hotspots of growth failures at sub-national levels within India, Nigeria, Niger, and Madagascar, emphasising the need to accelerate progress to reach the target set by the SDGs.     

Maritime Security Initiatives in East Asia: Assessment and the Way Forward

In the post-cold war era, especially in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, maritime security has become a priority on the national agendas. East Asian countries are concerned about maritime security given their overwhelming dependence on seaborne commerce and the vital importance of the sea-lanes of communication. This article examines the maritime security initiatives, mostly initiated by the United States, that have been adopted and implemented in East Asia.