In this book, Prema, a young girl living in Mumbai, learns about heatwaves and their devastating effects when her father falls seriously ill during an intense summer. Through her eyes, readers explore the human impact of rising temperatures and the urgent need for climate awareness.

Authors: Shrunoti Ritesh Tatiya, Santonu Goswami, Seema Mundoli, Harini Nagendra

Illustrations: Shrunoti Ritesh Tatiya

Craft new understanding in primary school mathematics with the July 2025 issue of At Right Angles. And do send in your feedback to AtRightAngles.​editor@​apu.​edu.​in

The Indian economy, despite registering high growth, is characterised by a persistent and vast informal economy. Using it as an illustration, the researchers draw lessons for characterising labour markets in contexts of high informality. They employ a group-based statistical modelling method to identify whether there exist systematic patterns in the high volume of worker transitions across different employment arrangements. Using panel data for eight points between 2017 and 2019, they identify seven dominant labour market trajectories. The trajectory capturing stable formal salaried employment, with highest average earnings, accounts for only 6.7% of the sample. None of the dominant trajectories denote a job ladder from informal to formal work, and the sorting of individuals into informal trajectories is far from voluntary, indicating an existence of formal and informal segmentation. The most populous trajectory, comprising 38.4% of the sample, with second highest average income (although half of that of the formal salaried trajectory), is stable self-employment, followed by the trajectory representing transition within different forms of informal wage work at 27.2%. Most trajectory groups associated with informal wage arrangements have high flux, indicating lack of stability. Furthermore, trajectories associated with informal wage employment have even lower earnings than those with informal self-employment. Far from suggesting a desirability of informal self-employment, this is indicative of a breaking down of the expected voluntary transition from self to wage employment in the transformation process. Additionally, access to trajectories is stratified along various correlates, especially caste. Caste hierarchy operates most starkly at the node of accessing the trajectories, while in terms of penalties or gains in earnings, traditional caste-hierarchy may not always operate uniformly. The findings disrupt the standard expectation in structural transformation models and labour market theories, while highlighting the need to foreground evolving nature of informality in labour market models for developing economies.

Authors: Rosa Abraham, Surbhi Kesar

पाठशाला भीतर और बाहर के जून अंक (24वाँ) में एफ़एलएन की अवधारणा, कक्षा अनुभव, चुनौतियाँ, आदि को केन्द्र में रखकर लिखे गए कुछ लेख हैं। बातचीत के ज़रिए विद्यार्थियों से जुड़ना और उस बातचीत का शिक्षण प्रक्रिया में उपयोग कैसे हो, बच्चों को रचनात्मक लेखन से कैसे जोड़ें, पाठ योजना बनाकर पढ़ाना कैसे उपयोगी होता है, जैसे लेख भी शामिल हैं। एक ऐसे विद्यालय की कहानी को पढ़ना दिलचस्प होगा जिसका नामांकन एकदम कम हो गया था, लेकिन कुछ ख़ास प्रक्रियाएँ अपनाने से उस विद्यालय में न सिर्फ़ नामांकन बढ़ा, बल्कि विद्यार्थियों के सीखने का स्तर भी बेहतर हुआ। 

हमेशा की तरह ईसीसीई पर आलेख है जिसमें आँगनवाड़ी केन्द्र के माहौल और गतिविधियों से जुड़े अनुभव शामिल हैं। नियमित स्तम्भ के अन्तर्गत इस बार ​‘इनसे मिलिए’ में मध्य प्रदेश की शिक्षिका से जानेंगे उनके अनुभव, कि कैसे और कौन‑सी प्रक्रियाओं के चलते सीखना बेहतर हुआ। इसके अलावा, इस अंक में ​‘शिक्षकों की डायरी से’, ​‘किताबों से दोस्ती’, और ​‘आइए, करके देखें’ स्तम्भ भी शामिल हैं।

Play and Early Learning Environment is the first in the series on Education for the Foundational Stage. This thematic volume is a collection of articles on concepts, practices and programmes on play and early learning environment. The papers in the volume provide rich insights on what playful learning looks like in the foundational years in diverse Early Childhood settings and illustrates the ways in which we can develop playful and inclusive learning environments for children.

Editors:

Jigisha Shastri & Kinnari Pandya

This article presents a historical account of emergence and development of the territorial power of Jats in Punjab through analysing three elements. First, their historical appropriation of the village as their agrarian territory, which was often perpetuated under the discourse of ​‘village community’/clans and the monopolisation of the peasant identity. Second, the often-benevolent administration in Punjab during the colonial rule. Third, the development of a discourse of caste-progressiveness of Jats. The Punjab experience in this regard is significant to understand similar processes in other states and to make appropriate strategies for social movements and policy advocacy regarding agrarian/​social reforms.

Résumé

Cet article présente un compte rendu historique de l’émergence et du développement du pouvoir territorial des Jats au Pendjab en analysant trois éléments. Premièrement, leur appropriation historique du village en tant que territoire agraire, qui s’est souvent perpétuée sous le discours de la « communauté villageoise »/​clans et de la monopolisation de l’identité paysanne. Deuxièmement, l’administration souvent bénévole du Pendjab pendant la période coloniale. Troisièmement, le développement d’un discours sur la progressivité de la caste des Jats. L’expérience du Pendjab à cet égard est importante pour comprendre des processus similaires dans les autres États et pour élaborer des stratégies appropriées pour les mouvements sociaux et le plaidoyer politique concernant les réformes agraires/​sociales.

Reflecting a longstanding intellectual heritage in Marxist political economy, contributions to agrarian studies have variously referred to the production, distribution and extraction of value. Despite this central role within the heritage of agrarian studies, the concept of value is often used inconsistently between authors and sometimes deployed without clear elucidation of the underlying theoretical tenets. As such, value often tends to be used more as a metaphor suggestive of conditions of exploitation rather than a detailed conceptual framework. In response, we must ask if there is still a robust case for value analysis forming a foundational pillar of agrarian studies? To address this challenging question, we invited three authors to give their perspective on the value of value for agrarian studies. First and foremost, we asked them to consider what value analysis does that is otherwise missed in critical agrarian studies and how we can mobilise its potential to sharpen analyses. Two further pivotal questions arise, spurred on by recent trends in the literature. First, to what extent do the categories of value enrich or hinder our evolving understanding of the dynamics of social reproduction within agrarian households and communities, including the gendered relations through which agriculture and livelihoods are performed? Similarly, are the largely anthropogenic concepts of value fit for the purpose of explaining environmental change and the more-than-human dynamics through which agricultural landscapes are produced and change over time?

Authors: A Haroon Akram-Lodhi, Srishti Yadav, Alessandra Mezzadri, Marcus Taylor

This article aims to understand the methodological position that Marx takes in Capital Volume 1 and the implications of that on the individual units in his analysis. With the understanding that Marx adopts a fundamentally holist methodological standpoint, the article outlines how the individuals within classes and the system of capitalist production are measured and contextualised. This question is answered by examining Marx’s Capital Volume 1 as the primary text. Where relevant, the author engages with Marx’s intellectual background and tradition. The individual units discussed in this study are the commodity, the worker and the capitalist.

This article examines how the concept of the representative individual emerges through averaging and how this process unfolds in Marx’s Capital, shaped by his methodological approach. The article illustrates the method of averaging in Marx, through his intellectual engagement with Quetelet as it also focusses on Hegel’s influence on Marx’s method and elaborates on the parallels and divergences between them. With the given engagement with Capital and Marx’s intellectual interactions, we arrive at a specific understanding of holism that can be attributed to Marx in Capital Volume 1.

Author: Sushmita Rama Subrahmanyam

This article aims to understand the methodological position that Marx takes in Capital Volume 1 and the implications of that on the individual units in his analysis. With the understanding that Marx adopts a fundamentally holist methodological standpoint, the article outlines how the individuals within classes and the system of capitalist production are measured and contextualised. This question is answered by examining Marx’s Capital Volume 1 as the primary text. Where relevant, the researcher engages with Marx’s intellectual background and tradition. The individual units discussed in this study are the commodity, the worker and the capitalist.

This article examines how the concept of the representative individual emerges through averaging and how this process unfolds in Marx’s Capital, shaped by his methodological approach. The article illustrates the method of averaging in Marx, through his intellectual engagement with Quetelet as it also focuses on Hegel’s influence on Marx’s method and elaborates on the parallels and divergences between them. With the given engagement with Capital and Marx’s intellectual interactions, the researcher arrives at a specific understanding of holism that can be attributed to Marx in Capital Volume 1.

Author: Sushmita Rama Subrahmanyam, Student, MA in Economics (2024−2026)

“Global learning crisis” narratives, in focusing on the ​“proximate determinants” of the crisis, represent a welcome ​“classroom turn” in international education and development. Extant learning crisis literatures are problematic, however, as their homogenizing gaze distorts how teachers and students co-constitute classrooms as locally meaningful learning spaces. Drawing on anthropological approaches in comparative education, this article addresses the ​“learning crisis” in a middle-school classroom in a weavers’ neighborhood in Kanchipuram. Constituted in an elaborate ​“notebook economy,” this classroom was an inventive response that not only accommodated students’ material cultures and social-educational disadvantages but also affected their belonging in a resource-scarce public education system. If the learning it afforded was disdained in ​“learning crisis” narratives, it was nevertheless relevant for students, readily translated into educationally unintensive assembly-line jobs. In producing contempt for such classrooms, ​“learning crisis” narratives merely distract from — and thus entrench — the deeply unequal economic and educational development that necessitated the notebook economy in the first place.

Articles featured in this issue highlight the importance of thoughtful, localised approaches to transforming India’s education system. Some examples being — Early Childhood Education: Towards a Practical Approach. The article argues for a play-based, holistic approach that supports young children as learners and individuals. A Decentralised Model of School Management explores how Rajasthan’s Panchayat Elementary Education Officer (PEEO) system strengthens local decision-making and drives school improvements. Revitalisation of Schools through Design — how smart, cost-effective design can turn classrooms into spaces that spark curiosity and support meaningful learning. AI in Public Education stresses the importance of integrating it thoughtfully, i.e., supporting educators and administrators in their work

Background

Mangrove species are vital to the ecosystems of tropical and subtropical coastlines worldwide. Despite the underexplored role of polyploidization in these species, deciphering its impact on gene expression is essential for understanding the connection between polyploidization and species diversification. Our initial investigation, integrating multiple nuclear loci with morphological and cytological data, indicates that the tetraploid Acanthus tetraploideus likely originated from allopolyploidization events involving the diploid species A. ilicifolius and A. ebracteatus. Expanding on these insights, this study utilises genome-wide evidence to confirm the divergence patterns among extant Acanthus mangrove diploids and to investigate the origin and transcriptome asymmetry of the tetraploid A. tetraploideus.

Results

Phylogenetic analysis and molecular dating revealed a closer evolutionary relationship between A. ebracteatus and A. volubilis than between A. ebracteatus and A. ilicifolius, diverged approximately 6.92 Mya and 9.59 Mya, respectively. Analysis of individual whole transcriptomes revealed that homeologous sequences in A. tetraploideus were preferentially clustered with A. ilicifolius and A. ebracteatus, rather than A. volubilis, in a roughly 1:1 ratio. The high similarity in nucleotide sequences and homologous polymorphisms between the tetraploid A. tetraploideus and its two parental diploids, A. ebracteatus and A. ilicifolius, supports the hypothesis of a recent allopolyploid origin for A. tetraploideus. Estimation of homeolog expression revealed a general attenuation of homeolog expression divergence in A. tetraploideus compared to the in silico parental mix, with 22.87% and 67.66% of genes exhibiting biased homeolog expression, respectively. Further investigation identified remarkable retention of parental expression dominance in the tetraploid, suggesting that parental genetic legacy substantially influences the reconfiguration of homeolog expression in the derived tetraploid. Meanwhile, the observation of numerous novel expression patterns between the two homeolog sets suggests that the transcriptome shock (i.e., the transcriptomic changes induced by interspecific hybridisation) associated with allopolyploidization and subsequent post-polyploid evolutionary processes also significantly impact transcriptome asymmetry in A. tetraploideus. While no strong evidence directly links transcriptomic changes to specific adaptive traits, the patterns in unbiased and novelly biased genes in A. tetraploideus suggest adaptations to stable polyploidy. Unbiased genes involved in fundamental cellular processes and novelly biased genes related to chromosome dynamics and cell cycle regulation may stabilise polyploid genomes, supporting the species’ establishment and long-term success. These findings underscore the role of transcriptomic stability in polyploid adaptation.

Conclusions

Our study sheds light on the evolutionary origins and the intricate transcriptional reconfiguration of the tetraploid A. tetraploideus. These insights significantly enhance our comprehension of the pivotal role that polyploidization plays in speciation and adaptative evolution of mangrove species.

Authors: Wuxia Guo, Achyut Kumar Banerjee, Hui Feng, Wei Lun Ng, Haidan Wu, Weixi Li, Yang Yuan & Yelin Huang 

Can textbook concepts on health and nutrition equip students with the ability to critically analyse common beliefs around the addition of eggs in midday meals? 

What can students learn about infectious diseases and the nature of science from the real-world example of the GBS outbreak in Pune? 

Explore these and related questions in our theme section ​‘Science in Action’. Find articles and classroom resources that support you in creating opportunities for your students to appreciate the relevance of textbook concepts and principles in preparatory-stage EVS and middle-stage science in their real world. 

What can we learn from patterns? Read on to find out more and send us your feedback at AtRightAngles.​editor@​apu.​edu.​in

पाठशाला भीतर और बाहर का 23वाँ अंक मार्च, अप्रैल और मई के दौरान स्कूल की ज़रूरतों को ध्यान में रखकर सँजोने का प्रयास किया है। इस अंक में आप पढ़ेंगे कुछ लेख जिनसे आकलन को कैसे देखा जाए, इसकी स्पष्टता मिलेगी। आकलन का उपयोग किस तरह शिक्षण प्रक्रियाओं में किया जाए,समर कैम्प किस तरह आनन्ददायक तरीक़े से बच्चों के सीखने के रूप में आयोजित हों,बच्चे जो वार्षिक परीक्षाओं के दौरान तय किए गए सीखने के प्रतिफलों से थोड़ा दूर रह गए हैं किस तरह उनके साथ अप्रैल और मई के महीनों में काम हो, क्या योजना हो, आदि के बारे में कुछ अनुभवजन्य आलेख इस अंक में शामिल हैं। इसके अलावा गणित, हिन्दी, विज्ञान, ईसीई पर भी अनुभव-आधारित लेख इस अंक में हैं। साथ ही हैं सभी स्थाई स्तम्भ।

How can the experience of making a simple pinhole camera with inexpensive materials help our students think more creatively and critically about light? 

How can conversations around an athlete’s record-breaking sprint actively engage our students in learning concepts around linear motion?

What do our students learn about the practice of science when we encourage them to write the biographies of scientists who appear in their textbook? 

How do we provide spaces for our students to make and manipulate new materials from old discarded or inexpensive material? 

Read this issue to explore these and many other such teaching-learning experiences in middle-stage science and preparatory stage EVS. 

Science education literature states that fostering students’ and teachers’ knowledge of NOS has shifted from being a desirable goal to an essential one. This article focuses on the development of NOS conceptions among MA Education students. To develop those conceptions, the researcher designed various learning activities in the context of ​‘research of history on DNA’. Seven students were observed and audiotaped while working in groups in this classroom qualitative study. Before the intervention, pre-test on ​‘views on science’- Chen (2006) and group discussions held with participants indicated that their NOS conceptions were basic. After 7 sessions, a post-test was administered to students asking to justify NOS conceptions. These conceptions: scientifc knowledge is tentative, laws are generalisations or universal relationships, theories are inferred explanations of nature; and that science is empirically based, socio-culturally embedded, and creative. Classroom discourses and responses to a post-test indicated that participants justifed some NOS conceptions very well and some not so very well. It also argues that HOS ofers potential for improved learning of NOS.

The fourth edition of the Mountains of Life newsletter celebrates International Mountain Day, focussing on sustainable mountain solutions through innovation, adaptation, and youth engagement. The newsletter includes the highlights of the Mountains of Life festival, held at our Bengaluru campus from 13 – 26 November 2024. We also feature inspiring stories from interns, and acknowledge the efforts of mountain enthusiasts, especially the youth, alongside select contributions from readers. Thank you for your continued support — happy reading!

पाठशाला भीतर और बाहर का 22वाँ अंक ​‘समावेशी शिक्षा विशेषांक’ है। समावेशन शब्द एकबारगी विशेष दक्षता वाले बच्चों के बारे में ध्वनित होता मालूम होता है। लेकिन इसकी परतों को खोलने पर समझ में आता है कि इसमें विशेष दक्षता वाले बच्चों की बात तो निश्चित तौर पर है ही, साथ ही बात है अलग-अलग सामाजिक‑आर्थिक और सांस्कृतिक परिवेश के विविध मनोभावों वाले वंचित समुदाय के बच्चों की शिक्षा और संसाधनों के बारे में भी। संवैधानिक मूल्यों में रचे बसे स्नेह और सम्मान जैसे मानवीय मूल्य हर बच्चे के लिए ज़रूरी हैं। 

इस अंक में आप पढ़ेंगे कि शिक्षक शिक्षा में समावेशन को लेकर किस तरह की योजनाएँ हैं; किस तरह एक विशेष विद्यालय को समावेशी विद्यालय बनाया जा सका; और कलाओं, खेलों, संगीत, आदि के ज़रिए किस तरह समावेशन को दस्तावेज़ों से निकालकर हक़ीक़त में उतारा गया। 

आप इस अंक में कुछ स्थाई स्तम्भ भी पढ़ेंगे जिनमें ​‘उम्मीद जगाते शिक्षक’ की कहानी है, ​‘किताबों से दोस्ती’ में जानेंगे 3 सुन्दर किताबों के बारे में, और ​‘आइए, करके देखें’ में समावेशन पर आधारित ऐसी गतिविधियाँ जिन्हें आसानी से कराया जा सकता है। इनके साथ ​‘शिक्षकों की डायरी’ स्तम्भ में आप पढ़ेंगे शिक्षकों के काम,  उनकी बातें,  उनके अनुभव।

Come fall in love with Mathematics! and send in your feedback to AtRightAngles.​editor@​apu.​edu.​in in English, Hindi or Kannada.

The consolidation of agricultural lands by dominant socio-economic groups is discussed in the context of contemporary debate on the land question by foregrounding market-led land transfers as a driver of accumulation in rural India. Empirically rooted in central India, the paper studies the commodification and increasing concentration of land as an outcome of the processes of agrarian change at work. 

The study explores the role of fish consumption in addressing nutrition security and malnutrition in a rural village in Telangana, India. It highlights that fish, particularly small indigenous species, provide affordable, high-quality protein and micronutrients. The study compares fish with other protein sources like poultry and livestock, finding that fish consumption significantly meets the nutritional needs of the rural population more effectively than other animal sources. India, despite being the third-largest fish producer globally, still faces challenges with malnutrition, especially among children and women. National Family Health Survey (NFHS) reports show alarming rates of stunting, wasting, and anemia, particularly in Telangana. The study demonstrates how increased fish consumption can play a crucial role in reducing these malnutrition rates by offering a cost-effective and nutrient-dense food source. The state government has encouraged fish production in Telangana through subsidies and initiatives like Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana. However, the research suggests that the fish distribution infrastructure needs significant improvement to increase access to fish for the broader population. The paper concludes that promoting fish consumption can be a viable strategy to combat malnutrition, improve food security, and provide economic opportunities for rural communities. Policy recommendations include enhancing market infrastructure, increasing fish production through scientific aquaculture, and raising awareness about the nutritional benefits of fish. These measures could ensure that fish contributes more significantly to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) related to hunger and malnutrition.

Authors: Gummadi Sridevi, Amalendu Jyotishi, Balaji Patturi, Matta Srinivas

The third edition of the Mountains of Life newsletter celebrates Himalaya Diwas (9 September). This special edition highlights the critical role of the Himalayas in safeguarding nature and the impact of climate change on this unique ecosystem. Explore the rich biodiversity, conservation efforts, and folklore of the Himalayas, alongside recipes and stories from the region. Learn about melting glaciers, shifting weather patterns, and the growing threat of invasive species.

Studies based on the Consumer Pyramids Household Survey (CPHS) in India have shown that the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on household incomes was progressive in nature — richer households suffered more. But several media reports as well as purposive surveys carried out during the pandemic suggest that the poor suffered more than the rich. We use nationally representative panel data for urban India from the official Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) to show that households that were relatively richer prior to the start of the pandemic suffered relatively less during the lockdown compared to households that were poorer. That is, the shock was regressive in nature. We also confirm that, as per CPHS, richer households did indeed experience higher drops in income than poorer ones. But we show that this progressivity is much less than what prevailed prior to the pandemic. Thus the pandemic either disrupted ongoing progressive income changes or was outright regressive in its impacts.

Authors:

Amit Basole, Anand Shrivastava, Jay Kulkarni and Akshit Arora

While the recent COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated attention to the public health challenges of our times, many of these concerns are certainly not new. There are multiple public health concerns including the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, health risks due to environmental degradation and climate change, and re-emergence of several communicable diseases. Responses to these challenges, including educational responses, have often been reductionist and hence found to be inadequate. There has been an increasing global recognition of the need for transformative education to address the complex health challenges of the 21^st century. In this article, we discuss one such effort in designing a public health education programme in India that echoes the sentiment of transformative learning that is contextual, competency-driven, trans disciplinary, reflective, and collaborative. We discuss how these aspects of learning were reflected and considered through a series of internal deliberations within the university and external consultations with different stakeholders. This process involved examining existing gaps in public health education, articulating the core competencies, developing the curriculum, and envisaging students’ contribution to public health practice in India.

Authors:

Arima Mishra, Adithya Pradyumna, Mukta Gundi, Edward Premdas Pinto and Prasanna Saligram

Poverty in India has been defined and measured in several different ways over the years. This report presents a unique way to measure rural poverty in Chhattisgarh using data from the Mission Antyodaya Survey of 2019. We construct a rural multidimensional deprivation index (RDI), composed of indicators in the areas of infrastructure, health and education. The index can be decomposed into its different sub-components to understand which of the indicators contribute the most to deprivation and can be analysed at different levels, starting from the block to the taluka, district and state level. From a policy and public action perspective, the RDI is extremely useful because it is composed of public provisioning of amenities at the village level. A high RDI reflects lack of access to public amenities and deprivation in villages. Because India has a decentralised structure where the Panchayats are responsible for taking governance at the grassroot levels.  Results from this report can be extremely useful to these institutions as they can identify which villages need provisioning of what amenities and act accordingly.

Editors: Sandhya Krishnan, Prasanna S, Sanket Gharat, Puja Guha, Amalendu Jyotishi, and Neeraj Hatekar.

This issue focuses on practices that build a school culture – practices that become so ingrained in the school’s ethos that they come naturally to everyone and do not change if those who helped develop these move out of the school. It includes several aspects of the school culture, such as creating an environment where all students feel safe, valued, and seen; where there is no fear of any subject, where there is a high level of collaboration among teachers and continuous engagement with parents.

When NASA provided free worldwide access to the Landsat data archive, scientists greatly expanded the analysis of new locations and novel topics. Of course, data democracy is not just for scientists. When citizens own the rights to generate and access data that speaks to their concerns, democracy is strengthened. Data democracy began to gain prominence in the early 2000s, with the growth of the open data movement. In today’s era of climate change, the term assumes increasing significance. Yet despite the large volume of opensource climate data, access remains largely limited to academia and business. Climate data democracy enables all sections of society to access climate data; understand how to use and interpret it; and be able to use data for climate action. Given the lack of data and severity of the crisis in the Global South, we argue that these regions must take the lead in driving conversations around climate data democracy.