The Tai-Khampti and Singpho tribes have been consuming tea since the dawn of time. A British army commander and East India Company official named Colonel Latter first reported about an indigenous tea type consumed by the Tai-Khampti and Singpho people in 1815 and in 1823 the tea was introduced to Robert and Charles Bruce by Maniram Dutta Baruah. This article stretches around the green gold camellia sinensis and the emergence of Miles Bronson and his input on tea for the Nocte people, his expeditions and how his attention turned towards the Noctes, who lived close to Joypyur and whose field seemed more promising to him.

Keywords: Tea, Missionary, Noctes.

The present work is based on the Kurmali language of Purulia district. The paper explores the various Linguistic Anthropological aspects of kurmlai language as well as its unique features. Kurmali is an Indo- Aryan spoken language in south Jharkhand and parts of West Bengal (Purulia, Bankura, Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, etc.), Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. The total population of Kurmali according to census 2001 (Government of India) is 425,920. However, the language has been kept under the cover term Hindi as one of the varieties by the census conducted by the Government of India. 

Kurmali is mainly spoken by the Kurmi community. In West Bengal, Bangla script is used while in Jharkhand Devnagari script is used to write Kurmali. It is also said that in Odisha, Odia script is used to write Kurmali. As the language is spoken in the vast area, it has different verities. There are some different spellings of the name itself. Some write Kudmali while others prefer Kurmali. Census 2001 (Government of India), use the spelling Kurmali, so, I also follow the same tradition in this paper.

There are various debates about the classification of Kurmali language. Grierson (Vol. 5, Part 2) classifies Kurmali as the western variety of Bangla. Verma (2007) mentions Kurmali as a sub-dialect of Magahi. Lahiri and Saha (2017) argue Kurmali is a mixed language. Ethnologue (2017) point out that Kurmali has Lexical similarity 58%-72% with Magahi and 41% - 55% with Bengali.

Kurmi community is largely based on agriculture hence the names of the months are named based on the agriculture pattern of the community. The community’s close proximity to nature can be witnessed in the names of their festivals and supernatural elements. Moreover, on the basis of their features, there are varieties of terms for natural elements like fire, lakes, ponds, etc. Kurmi community take themselves as tribal people who descended from different clans. The language has a rich collection of lexical items for supernatural elements, Beside these this paper also revealed about a comparative analysis of Kurmali and Bengla lexical items like colour terms, number, etc.

Keywords: Kurmi, Kurmali, West Bengal, Linguistic Anthropology, clan.

Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is an anticipatory measure undertaken to determine the consequences of any development. This takes into account both positive and negative impacts and aims at mitigating the negative impacts and enhancing benefits. Mandi Gobindgarh is a town in the district Fatehgarh Sahib of the state of Punjab in India. The town is not only of significance to the state but also to the country as it shelters some of the biggest iron and steel- producing factories and workshops. The proposed construction of the Road Over Bridge (ROB) and an underpass at Mandi Gobindgarh railway station, popularly known as the railway crossing 151C is a much-awaited project, anticipated by the town residents for over more than 20 years now which is finally seeing the light of the day. The present paper is a result of a comprehensive social impact assessment study conducted in the area. It maps out the challenges of the town residents in absence of ROB and provides a compendious analysis of the anticipated social impacts due to the proposed acquisition simultaneously highlighting the concerns expected to arise after the construction of ROB is proposed.

Keywords: Social Impacts, development, assessment, ROB

Social capital, a growing field in social sciences. Social capital comprises social networks, social trust, and social resources, with the latter developing in trust-characterized social networks or structures. The concept is novel in epidemiology and health research, linking networks and norms of reciprocity and trust to individual wellbeing. Understanding social capital is crucial for policy interventions, especially in culturally diverse countries like India.

This exploratory cross-sectional study, conducted in the urban slums of Firozabad city, Uttar Pradesh, aimed to assess the social capital of pregnant women. The objectives were to analyse the characteristics of these women and evaluate their social capital by examining their social networks, membership in social institutions, trust in others, and accessibility to social resources.

The mean age of pregnant women in the sample is 25.13 years. A significant portion of the sample are housewives (35.81%) or engaged in domestic work (29.71%). They are a member of any social, cultural, religious, business, or professional group, only a small minority (8.49%) of respondents confirmed their membership in these types of groups. The majority of pregnant women express a level of trust in people, with 13.8% explicitly stating that people can be trusted. Each woman is directly connected to approximately two other people for discussing personal matters related to diet and pregnancy and health in her network. The type of relationship (family, friend, acquaintance, etc.) can influence the type of resource accessed. 

Respondents are most familiar with the occupation of Daily Labourer. Respondents have a family-like relationship with these individuals.

This research provides valuable insights into the demographics and lifestyle of pregnant women in Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh. It highlights the importance of diverse social networks in accessing resources, suggesting the need for interventions to nurture these networks. The findings contribute to enhancing maternal health outcomes and fostering community resilience.

Keywords: Social Capital, Pregnant women, Urban Slums

The study of food habits helps us to understand a particular culture of a particular community. In this regard, a fieldwork was conducted in Jorhat district, in the village Monai Maji near Malow Ali, among the Assamese people. Assamese people are predominantly Hindu people in the North Eastern state of Assam, where they are found mostly in the Brahmaputra valley. As the climate of the area is hot humid sub tropical, so the study was conducted to find out the pattern of food, which are good for health in such hot humid climatic zones. The paper is based on the research work of food habit from the perspectives of environment, society and culture, with changes at present. Based on the observation and data collection, the paper has found out the relationship between food, society and culture as a whole.

Keywords: Food, pitha, economic system, health, geography, climate, society