Presented research offers a critical analysis of the growing predominance of politics-focused news in mainstream television news channels and its impact on news diversity. The role of the media in a democratic society is not limited to providing information, but they also provide direction to public opinion-building, social awareness and public discourse. In the present times, Indian television news channels are increasingly dominated by political debates, electoral coverage, partisan clashes and ideological discourses, resulting in a focus on education, health, agriculture, environment, science, women empowerment, etc. Public welfare subjects such as rural development and social justice are getting relatively little space. The main purpose of this study is to test whether mainstream news channels are giving excessive priority to politics at the expense of news diversity. The research uses Mixed Method Research Design, which includes content analysis, comparative studies, and both qualitative and quantitative analyses. Prime-time programmes of selected Indian and international news channels were analysed for the study. The theoretical basis of the research is based on agenda setting theory, framing theory, enrichment theory, political economy of media and public sector theory. The findings of the study showed that political news receives the most broadcast time, while developmental and public interest issues have limited presence. Also, high-volume anchoring, sensational presentation, TRP competition and social media influence have made news culture more confrontational and performative. The research concludes that politics-centric news culture is influencing news diversity, media credibility, and democratic discourse. Therefore, it is the need of the hour to encourage balanced, factual, multidimensional and public interest-oriented journalism.
Human rights have become a pervasive vocabulary in Indian legal and social science research, yet the structure and direction of this expanding literature have rarely been examined systematically. This review maps 457 Scopus-indexed journal articles on human rights with at least one Indian institutional affiliation, published between 2016 and 2026, using performance analysis and science-mapping techniques. Annual output grew more than five-fold, from 14 articles in 2016 to 75 in 2025 and 82 in 2026, a compound annual growth rate of about 20.5 per cent. The literature is highly dispersed: the 457 articles appeared in 318 journals, 36 of which account for one-third of the output, and 93 per cent of the 1,516 authors contributed only one article. Citation impact is modest (median one citation; 36.3 per cent uncited; dataset h-index 22). Keyword co-occurrence analysis identifies six principal clusters: constitutional equality and discrimination; public health, pandemic and surveillance; artificial intelligence and intellectual property; climate change, displacement and the rights of nature; data protection and international law; and sustainable development and consumer protection. Thematic evolution shows a shift from trade-related intellectual property and health policy in 2016-2020 to COVID-19 and constitutional dignity in 2021-2023, and to artificial intelligence, data protection and climate change in 2024-2026. In contrast, the institutions through which rights are enforced receive very little attention: police, prisons and custody appear in about 2 per cent of articles, caste and Dalit concerns in 2.2 per cent, and the National Human Rights Commission in only three articles (0.7 per cent), none of which takes a commission as its object of study. The review argues that Indian human rights scholarship has undergone a “technological and regulatory turn” that risks neglecting the accountability of the coercive state, and proposes a research agenda centred on enforcement institutions, caste and gender intersections, and data-driven evaluation.
The study examined the relationship between Social Studies students’ awareness of the consequences of indiscriminate solid waste disposal and environmental consequences in tertiary institutions in Delta State. The study formulated and tested two research questions and two hypotheses. The study adopted a correlational ex-post facto research design. The study sample comprised 283 undergraduate Social Studies students in four government-owned tertiary institutions in Delta State, using a census sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled Students’ Awareness of Indiscriminate Solid Waste Disposal and its Consequences Questionnaire (SAISWDCQ). Experts in Measurement and Evaluation at Delta State University, Abraka, validated the instrument. Reliability was established using the test-retest method and Pearson Product Moment Correlation, yielding reliability coefficients ranging from 0.82 to 0.86 across sections. Data were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation to answer research questions, while linear and multiple regression analyses were used to test hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed a significant relationship between students’ awareness and breeding grounds for disease-causing organisms, and land pollution significantly influenced students’ awareness of the consequences of indiscriminate solid waste disposal. The study concluded that awareness of indiscriminate solid waste disposal is significantly related to environmental consequences among Social Studies students in Delta State. It was recommended that Social Studies teachers should intensify environmental education, while government and schools should strengthen environmental awareness programmes and sanitation campaigns to improve students’ environmental responsibility.
Self-help Groups (SHGs) of women are voluntary associations of economically backward women who pool savings, lend to each other, and later access bank credit as a group. They are the backbone of India's rural microfinance and the main delivery vehicle for women-led development. SHGs are now popular in rural areas of India, as millions of households are involved in economic activities. The Government of India and respective state governments have been promoting SHGs in rural India. The study was carried out at Borvav village, Talala block, Gir Somenath district of Gujarat in the first week of July 2026. It is evident from the study that if rural economically backward women under the umbrella of Self-help Groups (SHGs; henceforth, SHG will be used) are appropriately guided and supported with backward and forward linkages, they will earn income, whatever their qualification. The income is used for the welfare of the households, and with the earnings of women members, their living standards are enhanced. PRA (earlier known as Participatory Rural Appraisal) as a methodology and Group Discussion as a tool were used to conduct the survey. For this purpose, three different SHGs were selected and studied.
This study investigated the relationship between excessive social network usage and Social Studies students’ learning outcomes in Upper Basic schools in Delta State. The study stated and tested three research questions and three hypotheses using relevant collected data. The study adopted a correlational research design. The population consisted of 149,658 Upper Basic Social Studies students in 489 public secondary schools in Delta State. A sample size of 392 students was selected using Yamane’s (1967) formula. The researchers used a multi-stage sampling technique involving simple random and stratified random sampling to select the respondents. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire titled Excessive Social Network Usage and Students’ Learning Outcomes in Social Studies Questionnaire (ESNUSLOSQ) with reliability coefficients ranging from 0.60 to 0.88. The data were analysed using Mean, Standard Deviation, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation, Coefficient of Determination, and linear regression at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed a significant negative relationship between excessive social network usage and students’ learning outcomes; a significant negative relationship between excessive social network usage and students’ classroom participation rate; and a significant negative relationship between excessive social network usage and students’ critical thinking ability. Based on the findings and the conclusion, it was recommended, among others, that Social Studies teachers should guide students on the appropriate use of social networking platforms for academic purposes; school administrators should regulate the use of mobile devices in schools; and parents should monitor students’ engagement with social media to enhance learning outcomes.
