INSIGHT

In this work, a comparative Monte Carlo simulation study of swift heavy ion irradiation effects in Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) has been carried out using the SRIM/TRIM package. High-energetic Ni (80 MeV) and Ag (225 MeV) ions are irradiated in CdTe to understand the ion–matter interaction mechanisms, including stopping power, ion trajectories, ionization energy loss, projected range, range straggling, and collision events. The SRIM results show that electronic stopping dominates over nuclear stopping for both ions, with Ag ions exhibiting higher electronic energy loss than Ni ions. The main motive of this study is to understand the influence of higher electronic energy loss of Ag on ionization profile, penetration depth, lateral spread, and displacement damage profile of CdTe.

Nano-Physics & Nanotechnology Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, TripuraUniversity, Suryamaninagar, India-799 022

Urban housing in small but rapidly developing towns is undergoing continuous transformation due to a complex interplay of socio-economic, cultural, and spatial forces. Increasing demands for housing to be compatible with evolving lifestyles have led residents to modify original dwelling configurations for personal use, rental purposes, and home-based enterprises. Rising housing dissatisfaction, shaped by socio-economic conditions, education levels, shifting perceptions, and changing needs, has further accelerated these transformations. However, the processes and factors of such dynamics in a historically significant and demographically expanding town, such as Tezpur in Assam, remain poorly understood. Therefore, this study intends to explore the tectonics behind the nature and extent of changes in housing and house types by examining variations in building materials, architectural design, spatial organization, and structural forms. In addition to analysing the causal dimensions of housing transformation, the study also puts forward a set of recommendations for future housing development in the town so that appropriate and applicable design frameworks can be constructed for economic prosperity and socially justified urban growth.

Department of Geography, Tezpur College, Tezpur-784001, Assam

Public exams are a key measure of quality and student performance. Disparities in performance are as a result of variance in socio-economic status, school facility, teacher effectiveness and learning environment. In this study non-parametric statistical approaches are used in analyzing the result of HSLC examination conducted through three selected schools of Dibrugarh district, Assam. Due to the lack of normality and the ordinal character of ranked data, overall school performance and pairwise comparisons are investigated using Kruskal–Wallis test and Mann–Whitney U test. The findings in this paper shows that there are significant differences between the schools which indicate the heterogeneity in academic outcomes and also it provides empirical evidence to support data-driven evaluation of school-level performance and can assist policymakers and educators in improving educational quality.

Department of Statistics, DHSK Commerce College, Dibrugarh, Assam, India

The increasing global demand for sustainable and nutrient-rich food sources has drawn attention to entomophagy, particularly the consumption of edible ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Ants are widely consumed in many tropical and subtropical regions due to their high nutritional value, ecological sustainability, and ethnobiological significance. This review provides a comprehensive overview of existing literature from 2010 to 2026 on edible ants, focusing on their diversity, nutritional composition, traditional consumption practices, and potential health benefits. Special attention is given to Northeast India, particularly Assam, where edible ants are closely associated with indigenous food culture and traditional knowledge. In Assam, only five edible ant species have been documented so far, among which Oecophylla smaragdina is the most widely consumed and culturally important species. Edible ants are rich sources of protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds possessing antioxidant, antimicrobial, and other functional properties. The review highlights the importance of edible ants as a promising alternative food resource and emphasizes the need for further scientific research on their nutritional, medicinal, and socioeconomic potential.

Department of Zoology, Tezpur College, Tezpur-784001, Assam, India

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has enabled e-commerce firms to adopt dynamic pricing strategies that react in real time to demand, competitive prices, and individual consumer signals. This paper examines how AI-powered dynamic pricing influences impulse buying behaviour from a behavioural economics perspective. Drawing on theoretical constructs such as prospect theory, loss aversion, anchoring, and scarcity heuristics, the study combines a literature review with a survey of 150 Indian online shoppers and quantitative analysis to explore relationships between exposure to dynamic pricing tactics and frequency of impulse purchases. Results indicate a statistically significant positive relationship between exposure to dynamic pricing cues (time-limited discounts, scarcity messages, personalized offers) and self-reported impulse buying frequency. The paper also discusses ethical and regulatory concerns including algorithmic price discrimination and transparency requirements under India’s recent data governance environment. Recommendations for responsible AI deployment and directions for future empirical research conclude the paper.

1*Department of Business Management, D.H.S.K Commerce College, Dibrugarh, Assam.

2Department of Business Administration, University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya.

The Deepor Beel, the only Ramsar site of Assam, India, is the hub of both rich biodiversity and the cultural heritage of local indigenous communities. Women of these communities play a significant role in conservation of the Beel. Though their contributions are noteworthy, their knowledge is ignored in most of the conservation policy decisions. This paper tries to find out the knowledge and contributions of the women in conservation measures of the Beel through the questions: How do women’s traditional practices contribute to Deepor Beel’s conservation? In what ways does ecofeminism help interpret women’s ecological roles and environmental agency? What are the social, economic, or institutional constraints on women’s participation in wetland governance? The paper uses Ecofeminism as a theoretical base for understanding women's roles as environmental stewards, linking their marginalization to environmental degradation. The interviews, participant observation and focus group discussion are used to gathered data. The study found that social, economic and institutional constraints hinder women’s participation in decision making process.

Department of Women’s Studies, Gauhati University, Guwahati-781014, Assam

The chapter by Michael W. Apple is entitled The Hidden Curriculum and the Nature of Conflict. It is a pioneer work in the sociology of education. The chapter is especially relevant to the researchers who study the issue of hidden curriculum, power relations, and social inequality in educational institutions. The conceptualization of the hidden curriculum by Apple is that of only norms, values, and expectations of behavior that are implicitly taught in structures of school settings, rather than explicitly taught in the formal curriculums. This chapter gives us ideas about how people learn unconsciously, understand social rules, are influenced by family and peers, and how schools help maintain existing social values and structures. Everyday school practices and formal and informal curricula combine to recreate the acceptance of the status quo of politics and economies. To scholars and educators worried about the creation of human qualities like autonomy, empathy, moral reasoning, and social justice, the chapter is a much-needed wake-up call that any meaningful educational reform cannot be achieved without considering the hidden curriculum, and not just the official curriculum.

Department of Education, Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam

Adivasi women in Assam represent one of the most marginalized and historically excluded populations in India, facing intersecting disadvantages rooted in ethnicity, gender, poverty, and limited political recognition. Health and education, as fundamental dimensions of human development and as central pillars of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3 and SDG 4), remain critically inadequate among this group. This study adopts a systematic review methodology to examine the health and educational conditions of Adivasi women in Assam. Secondary data were collected from peer-reviewed articles, government reports, census publications, and policy documents, and were analysed using thematic content analysis. The study focuses on maternal and child health, nutritional status, anaemia, literacy levels, educational attainment, and the interrelationship between education and health outcomes. The findings reveal persistent disparities, including high rates of maternal morbidity, widespread anaemia, low institutional healthcare utilisation, high female illiteracy, and significant school dropout rates. Structural barriers such as poverty, spatial isolation, gender norms, and weak policy implementation further exacerbate these conditions. The study concludes that low educational attainment significantly constrains health awareness and healthcare utilisation, reinforcing intergenerational cycles of deprivation. An integrated, gender-sensitive, and culturally responsive policy framework is urgently needed to improve the human development status of Adivasi women in Assam.

Research Scholar, Department of Geography, Gauhati University, Guwahati-781014, Assam

The Sagdeev pseudo potential method (Chen, 1984, Sagdeev, 1996, Verheest, 2000, Ahmad et al., 2013, Lakhina et al., 2014, Kian and Mahdieh, 2022) is an important theoretical tool to study strongly nonlinear wave dynamics and their structural features in astro-space plasmas environments. This method was first introduced by R. Z. Sagdeev in 1966 (Sagdeev, 1966) and he transformed the nonlinear plasma fluid equations into an energy-like equation which shows the motion of a particle in a potential field. It provides the existence and properties of nonlinear structures such as solitary waves, double layers, shock-like structures and so on. This review summarizes the fundamental concepts and basic mathematical forms of Sagdeev potential method. The physical interpretation of Sagdeev pseudo-potential and their boundary conditions for evolution of the nonlinear waves in astro-space plasma environments are also presented here. Lastly, conclusion together with applications of the technique in the various astrophysical, space and laboratory plasmas are summarised. 

1*Department of Physics, Darrang College, Tezpur-784001, Assam

2Department of Physics, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Adarsha Mahavidyalaya, Behali, Biswanath-784 184

 Assam

Food production and consumption are essential for the survival of humans and it is common that to maintain the demand and value of the agricultural product surplus, the product is processed into a value-added product. However, production and processing are highly dependent on energy and other natural resources. Agrifood systems account of about 16.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emission; therefore, it is essential to analyse the food production system to achieve the goal of sustainability. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a popular technique that studies the sustainability and carbon footprint of a product system following the principles and framework of ISO 14040.This study, reviews the beer processing system and points out the hotspot of the system. A beer-producing system is a high-energy and water-consuming system, especially in the bottle manufacturing phase, which consumes about 85% of the total energy in the system. Using Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) kegs as packing material has the least emission (64.48 kg CO2/hl). In the beer production phase, fermentation and the maturing phase consume the maximum energy. The finding of the review indicates packaging material as the major environmental hotspot in the beer-processing system. Adoption of sustainable packaging material, renewable energy and efficient waste management can significantly reduce environmental footprint.

1Department of Botany, Assam Don Bosco University, Tapesia, Guwahati, Assam.

2Department of Botany, S. B. Deorah College, Ulubari, Guwahati, Assam.

This paper aims to reveal how profoundly culture, society, and familial systems and values influence personal identity, decisions, and transformation through a close examination of the characters of Arun Athavale and Jyoti in Vijay Tendulkar’s thought-provoking play Kanyadaan (1983). It looks into the character of Arun through Henry A. Murray’s Theory of Personality and analyse the role of family as an Ideological State Apparatus (concept by Althusser) in shaping the personality of Arun and Jyoti. Arun’s behaviour characterised by violence and swings in his emotions and thoughts are result of the constant marginalisation, racial prejudices and inequality that their caste has endured. His underlying insecurities, rage, and complicated behavioural trends comes into light after his interactions with Jyoti and her family. In Jyoti, readers can see how family and its principles, values and ideologies have a crucial effect on an individual. Her journey illustrates the conflict between personal beliefs and the long-lasting effects of social conditioning. As she tries to assert her independence, the lingering influence of her upbringing and societal expectations gradually starts to clash with her idealism, exposing the frailty of individual agency in a highly stratified society. Through the lens of Personology, this paper aims to use psychological theory to gain a deeper understanding of the characters.

Department of English, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, Assam