Ambedkar made an in-depth study of the idea of nation and nationalism, and anticipated some of the conceptualization of nation and nationalism that emerged in the sociology of nationalism since the late 1960s, namely nationalism as fusion of culture and power and nation as a power homogenized modern political community. Based on Ambedkar’s examination of the Muslim League’s claim of Muslims in India constituting a separate nation, this paper explores Ambedkar’s imaginary of the nation and his views on nationalism which appears to have been influenced by Renan’s writings on nation. The relevance of Ambedkar’s views on nation and nationalism lies in providing a perspective and insight into evaluating the state of our nation today, as well as the health of our democracy.

With every passing year, decade and century; world is turning more complex, intra and interdependent and forums both at national and international levels are considered as an imperative nucleus in providing platform for bringing consensus over resolution to discuss web of multi-dimensional relations, issues and related contests among nations. G20 is one such international intergovernmental forum that deals with economic and financial agenda of which monetarist steadiness, environmental variation moderation and sustainable development are the major agenda. It’s been nearly quarter of a century since the inception of G20 took place and it shoulders a colossal turbulence mix of issues and insecurities largely non-traditional in nature and G20 an assemblage of world’s largest economies accounts for larger than three quarter of gross world product, international trade, global population and 60 percent of World’s land area is rightly considered as a forum that can facilitate in finding solutions to emerging issues and economic prosperity to the world economies. India and Russia, members of the G20 forum are the two emerging economies that have a major role to play in making the vision of the forum a reality not only in past, present but also in the years to come. Both India and Russia share a “special and privileged strategic partnership” and also shares multilateral and bilateral relations at international forums UN, BRICS, SCO besides G20. India in 2023 chairing the G20 summit along with the support of Russia and other members; will facilitate in fulfilling the vision and logo of the “One earth One Family One Future” and will move towards the path of delivering better future for the world.

Photographs have always been considered as a valuable visual source material for history. While providing us a glimpse into the past in changeless form at its face value, they also help us delve into the mindset of the photographers and their patrons. This is especially applicable in the context of Indian Subcontinent during the late 18th and 19th centuries. The art of photography in India was introduced with an imperialist superior mindset of the colonial rulers and thus, was utilised accordingly in its initial phase, i.e. to index and catalogue the natives and Indian subcontinent as the British deemed fit. However, as the craft gained popularity, it didn’t always work out as the colonial rulers intended and instead natives were also able to appropriate it to suit their purposes to a certain extent. Accordingly, the following paper focuses on the initial positive and negative effects of the coming of photography in India with the British personnel being at the forefront in the first half of the paper. It moves on to delve deeper into the underlying ideologies that shaped the evolution of photography in the subcontinent. Further, in the second half of the paper, few select photographs of the first official photographer of India, Raja Deen Dayal are analysed with a socio-cultural lens. The aim is to depict how photographs can be utilised to better understand the psyche of the old native princely elite and new British aristocratic class as they sought to legitimise their position to stay relevant and establish themselves anew respectively, in the face of changing landscape of society.

Folk art is defined as a conventional ornamental, musical, or practical artwork of various cultures or areas. It is generally specific to the human beings of a particular place and used as an expression of society as it expresses cultural identity by conveying shared community values and aesthetics and also reflects traditional art forms of diverse community groups. Folk artisans traditionally learn skills and techniques through apprenticeships in informal community settings. One such folk art is popularly known as Basohli miniature art or Basohli Painting, of a small hill town, Basohli located in Kathua district of Jammu region. The present study is based on the primary as well as secondary data. This study is qualitative and ethnographic in nature, in which the researcher participated in the Basohli community, have done participant observation to study the community’s folk culture along with some face-to-face interviews, narratives inquiries and in-depth case studies of the artisans, experts and some students who are engaged in this art form. The study seeks to investigate the socio-cultural settings of modern India during which period these paintings took cultural roots and manifested cultural expressions. The objectives of the present study are to explore the efforts that have been made by the local artisans to re-invent or revive this art in contemporary times and with what purpose and the challenges or hardships they are facing in promoting this art form. The study also tries to highlight the local, national and global popularity of the Painting and their overall cultural impact.