The recent discourse on Indian media and popular culture indicate trends towards the tide of 'transnational identities'. In this context one may argue about the 'end of nation-state' given the rise of the transnational linkages and construction of identities which also confront the existing notions of class boundaries. This paper seeks to address the impact of popular culture in the construction of a transnational middle class identity, in an era of globalization of communication and its subsequent impact on the discourse on culture and consumption.

  An unfinished agenda of Partition was punctuated with the ratification of land Boundary Agreement (LBA) on 6th june 2015, signed between Indian Prime minister Shri Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Premier Sheik Hasina on behalf of their respective nations.

  This paper is a tacit culmination of two gigantic episodes one of these episodes can be traced back to a historical juncture and the other is in continuum, making us a part of it the repercussions of which is affecting us in more ways than one.

  Swami Vivekananda was an outstanding spiritual and intellectual luminary of the modern age. He made certain suggestions on education which are constructive, practical, comprehensive and modern in approach. In the present world of commercialization, international understanding and cultural fellowship these guidelines of Swamiji are very helpful and modern in approach. Thus these views of Swami Vivekananda have been adapted and implemented in the present educational setup with some modifications.

  The term 'biodiversity' is indeed commonly used to describe the number, variety and variability of living organisms. Biodiversity provide a number of services to the mankind mainly in the form of ecological, biological and social benefits. The human wellbeing depend upon biodiversity; bio-resources not only deliver numeral amenities as food, fodder, wood, medicine, raw materials, energy and clean water but also, a source of income generation and jobs through trade, tourism, food production etc. The loss of biodiversity and hence bio-resources and its serious consequence on economic-ecological systems is a critical apprehension. If India is considered, there has been an overall deterioration of floral and faunal species majorly due to human mediated habitat degradation and over exploitation. The problem of preserving bio-resources should be addressed very promptly, and effective ways should be implemented to protect it for the future generation. The monetary values of the services provided by biodiversity and the extent to which it can be refunded should be assessed. It should be recognized that a better understanding of the environment can only come through education, aiming to study the environment and also to mark the use of nature and natural resources in a justifiable way. Students and youths should be involved in activity based learning centred upon reducing consumption and increasing sustainable use of bio-resources.

  The question 'Can machine think?' has been addressed in 1950 by Alan Turing with a proposed test, the Turing Test (TT), where a computer is to answer questions asked by humans. If the answers from the computer are not distinguishable from the answer coming from humans, the computer passes the Turing Test. In 1980 the validity of the TT has been challenged by John Searle in his paper 'Minds, Brains and Programs' published in the 'The Behavioral and Brain Science'. In the paper Searle sets out the Chinese Room Argument (CRA), which is one kind of objection to the Turing Test. It is also an attack on Strong Artificial Intelligence (Strong AI) Theory. In this paper first I would like to discuss about the Turing Test. After that views of Strong AI are to be examined and in the third section I shall focus on The Chinese Room Argument raised by Searle.

  As far as the etymology of 'travelogue' that is, 'a piece of Writing about travel' is concerned, the first usage of the word can be noticed as late as in 1903 in the essays of the American traveller Burton Holmes(1870-1958). 'Travelogue', as delineated by Holmes, can be divided into different subcategories like 'travel literature', 'travel writing', 'travel journal', 'travel documentary', and 'travelogue- film'. However, most important to decide before the beginning of composition of travelogues is whether the writing is intended to be narrative, descriptive, or instructive.

  Swami Ramananda Bharati started his journey to Kailash and Manssorovar as a pilgrim in 1898 and he wrote his travel experiences with sacred view during 1900-1901. As a pilgrim Ramananda accomplished his long journey by foot and riding animal because more than hundred years ago modern transport was unavailable there. If we go through his book it is evident that his outlook or perspective was religious but the geographical facts and realities are present throughout his writings. His writings cover physiography, drainage, flora and fauna, local economy, settlement, society and culture of the time.

  Umaprasad Mukhopadhya, well-acquainted in Himalayan travel wrote the book 'Sherpader Deshe'.It is a book on the travel of Nepal-Himalayas. The writer travelled twice (1966 & 1975) in this region. In the first time he started his journey from Kathmandu towards Mt. Everest. After fourteen day's walk he reached the destination. Mainly, exciting experience of his journey has got a footing in his book. His travelogue has become a wonderful blending of amazing and multifarious description of nature together with the lives of local people. He has been able to give the vivid description of every halt of his travel route (as its location, altitude etc. ). Thus, his travelogue has reached the status of a geographical record.

  Some women in India have made progress and reached the highest positions in politics, sports, business and education. However the larger society remains patriarchal, feudal, traditional and male dominated and looks down upon women. Especially in north India men view women as commodities to be enjoyed and harassed at home as well as in public spaces. It is believed that almost every middle class and lower class woman in India has faced molestation and harassment at public places. Experiences of abusive and vulgar language and actions and indecent touching of sensitive areas of bodies in crowded buses, trains, markets, picture halls, roads, colleges are very common for young women living in north India. However most of these unpleasant experiences get unreported to the authorities and families as young women realize the bitter truth that if they will complain they will be blamed for wearing attractive dresses and makeup or going out all alone at odd hours etc and as a result their freedom to move around freely will be restricted by the family. However these unpleasant experiences become hurdles in the life of young women and create an atmosphere of fear among them. A study was conducted on 62 women students of M Phil studying at BanasthaliVidyapith, a university for women located in rural area of Rajasthan near Jaipur, to find out the reality in 2008.

  Rabindranath Tagore is appropriately called a 'World Poet' because both on the merit of the universality of the themes embraced in his poetry ,songs and other writings as well as for his self identification as a poet of the Earth, the above title is quite justified. Many of his poems, songs, articles short stories, novels drama and paintings together with the institution named Viswa Bharati founded by him bear a universal spirit that is distinguished from any regional, parochial, communal or sectarian mentality expressed in the contemporary cultural sphere of India. Naturally, his thoughts, and ideas transmitted through his works were not only disliked but also severely criticized by some sections of people during his lifetime. However, such opposition is quite usual against any genius of history who was nonconformist with his age.

  Informal sector in India has been a source of converting explicit open unemployment to implicit underemployment by hiring workers in units that operate at the fringe. It acts a survival strategy for countries with high unemployment rates and inadequate social security benefits. NSSO (National Sample Survey Organization) 66th (2009-10) and 68th (2011-12) rounds conducted in India to enumerate and look into the working conditions of informal sector workers indicate that there has been a steady increase in the number of labour employed in this sector for the period under consideration. Moreover the top five and the bottom 13 out of 28 Indian states have retained their ranks in the overall employment table. This paper finds out that the number of people in a particular state living below the poverty line and the state domestic product with a lag of a year have acted as the push and pull factors behind the trend in Indian informal employment.

  The diversity data generated in time and space have been valuable to communities, scientists and policy managers to formulate and implement conservation strategies of in situ, on-farm as well as ex situ conservation and management of genetic resources. West Bengal has rich rice genetic wealth. But this genetic wealth is being silently depleted due to the onslaught of the high-yielding varieties (HYVs) and neglect. There is an urgent need to document, characterize and conserve these varieties. Descriptor codes were used for the qualitative evaluation of genetic diversity among the 30 rice genotypes collected from different parts of West Bengal, following the Standard Evaluation System (SES) for rice developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

  In Indian philosophy Nyàya and Vai÷eùika schools are known as allied system. Both of these two schools admit air as a distinct kind of substance, but unlike Naiyàyikas, Vai÷eùika thinkers recognize air as an imperceptible entity. Hence, Vai÷eùikas gave various arguments to establish air as an imperceptible entity. In this paper an endeavor has been made to convey all those arguments of the Vai÷eùika thinkers.

  Green plants produce hundreds of compounds that are not involved in primary metabolism of the plants and hence are called the secondary products. The compounds (alleloehemicals) involved in interspecific chemical interactions (allelopathy) with higher plants are often phytotoxic, a herbicidal to other species or even to the species producing them (autotoxicity). The purpose of this investigation was to screen out the phytotoxicity of the leaf extracts and leaf leachates of Parthenium hysterophorus L. on the serious two weed species Crotolaria saltiana L. and Mimosa pudica L.,measured in terms of seed germination, T50 (time required for 50% germination), TTC stainability, speed of germination and metabolism were analysed by some reliable biochemical indices. The present study shows that on seed pre-treatment of Crotolaria and Mimosa with various concentrations [1:1 and 1:2 (w/v)] of Parthenium fresh leaf extracts and fresh leaf leachates, for 6 hrs, reduces percentage germination, TTC-stainability, speed of seed germination, along with increase of the T50 values and activities of catalase and dehydrogenase enzymes. It further reemphasizes the fact that a fast growing exotic invasive weed like Parthenium having inhibiting property should be treated as a potential threat to plant diversity in a natural ecosystem. Therefore, this study calls for the proper management of Parthenium and other invasive weeds showing similar behaviour.