Journalism & Mass Communication

Tort law is a vital area of civil law that addresses wrongs or injuries inflicted by one party upon another. It serves as a mechanism for individuals to seek compensation for harm caused by the actions or omissions of others. Unlike criminal law, where the state prosecutes offenders, tort law operates on the premise of private disputes between individuals or entities. The underlying philosophy of tort law is to provide relief to victims and deter wrongful conduct by holding wrongdoers accountable for their actions.

The study aims to go to beyond the discourse of post-truth: some reflections on the idea of fake news based on corpus linguistics (an educational analysis). Seeking to illustrate how we deceive ourselves by attempting to understand fake news through the notion of a post-truth society. We argue that both the concepts of fake news and post-truth are not an aberration to the history of media practices, neither are they of contemporary origins. They are an intricate part of the discursive practices in which media as an institution engages. The article builds on Foucault’s approach to discursive practices and applies a meta-discursive framework to trace the genealogy of post-truth and fake news in an Indian context. The article also offers a critical reflection on some of the key strategies to contain and counter fake news. For instance, media literacy and linguistic approaches such as corpus linguistics to detect fake news.

For social change of great magnitude, people must be informed, educated, motivated and persuaded. Information must flow, not only to them but also from them, so that their needs can be known and they might participate in the acts and decisions of the nationbuilding.

Known as Parallel / Art / New wave Cinema, Realist Indian cinema emerged parallel to the mainstream films as early as the 1930s. With the advent of sound, came all singing and dancing dramas and religious epics, which grew popular with the masses, but a number of films catering to social problems and being naturalistic in their depiction also found fans despite being limited only to the classes of people who understood cinema.
The decade of art films believed in auteur theory and opened a new avenue for Indian cinema, using new techniques and cinematic language. While male directors have always ruled the film industry be it commercial or parallel films, women directors had to work it hard to be able to create for themselves a space to express. It was the decade of the eighties that saw directors like Sai Paranjpye, Aparna Sen, Kalpana Lajmi, and Mira Nair spread their wings and started off with art house cinema. It took a long time since then, for the women directors to be able to work and make a permanent and that too, notable space for themselves in both parallel and commercial cinema. Thus, the likes of Paranjpye and Sen can be termed as the women pioneers of parallel cinema and be called as a synonym of courage.
This paper aims to do a content analysis of four films which have been selected as each director’s first film from the 80’s decade. A study of these films will be done, grounded on a few parameters like the story, the depiction of female characters, their dialogues, etc.
Written as a link between the women directors and films, this study shall want to explore the auteur-ship/author-ship of women directors in portraying or showing women characters on screen and the treatment of narratives/storytelling way of women directors.

Keywords: Women Directors, Parallel Cinema, Contemporary

Indian filmmakers have always been intrigued with the theme of partition and have tried to render the tragic events in their own cinematic version. Likewise, through this research paper, I propose to examine the way female characters are discursively constructed, deconstructed and reconstructed in Partition based Indian films. Despite the vast research done, little is discussed about the proposed topic. The overall image that emerges after reviewing some of the existing literature is that the female characters are transgressing women if seen on the lines of society’s existing norms and traditions, where Transgression means an act, which goes against a set norm, rule or code of conduct. 
This paper aims to study the same through a content analysis of five films, selected randomly from each decade - 1980's to 2018 whose study will be done, grounded on a few parameters. This is a unique attempt to revisit the partition through films. Written as a crossover between history and films, this paper would talk about the uncelebrated and forgotten women heroes of the partition films, their input, and sacrifice, willingness to live on without putting their own dignity and respect on a stake.

Keywords: Partition, Transgressing, Parameters, Depiction, Traditions

Having a finger on the pulse of one’s region is not an easy job, especially if that one is a woman. Alike, it wasn’t an easy ride for Shukla, Koshti, Gandhimathi and many others like them. But now, they rule the airwaves via Community Radios (CR), which broadcasts programs in regional languages to respective villages. Women have always made their mark in every sphere of life that even CR is not alien to this. There are over 400 CR stations presently in India, out of which many are run for/by women in rural areas. CR is a participatory tool for communication which provides a platform to create awareness, provide information and education, improve skills or empower.
This paper shall focus on how CR provides an opportunity for women’s access to information and allows them to break through the shackles of patriarchy and have their voices heard. By examining the opportunities for and challenges faced by women who participate in CR, this study offers insights into how CR has the potential to reshape the lives of women.
This research aims to do a content analysis of five CR stations run by women, which are selected randomly from each zone of India i.e. North, East, West, South and Central. They will be analyzed on how they gain a voice that matters and also, how they enhance the inclusion of women in CR. Written as a crossover between gender and CR, the author looks at how the CR movement, policy, and practice in India act as a tool for rural women development and proves to be an instrument in changing their lives.

Keywords: Community Radio, Empowerment, Rural Areas

An adult applies some deodorant, the smell of which tempts another adult to run to that person - This particular sentence sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
We, as the audience has seen this enacted ‘n’ number of times and even though there is not any mention of gender in the sentence, chances are we know which gender will be put where. India remains no alien to the formula of using women in men’s grooming product advertisements, not as a co-actor but to add glamour, to raise the attention of prospective buyers and to make men believe that they can get any woman just by applying or wearing the product. These advertisements in a way convince both the genders that a product is effective only if women can be swept off their feet and be tamed. Since the advertisements are repeated many times a day, it makes a lasting impact on the viewer’s mind. In a country like India, where audio-visual medium plays an important role in shaping people’s views, thoughts and opinions, what is shown on the screen hold of much importance.
This paper aims to analyze the advertisements of men deodorant and underclothing, from the year 2010 to 2019 to check the evolution of these ads in an era when people are fighting their lives off for gender equality. It also tries to explore how the audiences perceive the portrayal of women in these advertisements via studying the comments on YouTube videos.
Keywords: objectification, television advertising, gender, stereotype, the portrayal of women, titillating, male dominance

Sustainable development goals of the UN are slated to be achieved by 2030. On the same lines, Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narender Modi, launched Digital India Initiative and Smart Cities Mission on 2015. The paper shall explore how the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT), Digital India (DI) and Smart City Mission (SCM) work together to achieve sustainable development goals in India.
Out of the 100 cities selected for SCM, this study focuses on Faridabad, which has popular industries, schools, colleges, hospitals, housing societies, shopping areas, etc. But, do only buildings and infrastructures make a city, a smart city? Certainly not. In this era of digitization, it’s people who make it a smart city, the services available in a city make it a smart city, the level of education, technological advancement, use of smart mobile applications in everyday life make it a smart city. In our country, where out of the total population, the number of youth is the most, their involvement in making a city a smart city, their educational level and usage of digital media in everyday life stands of much importance.
This paper aims to know whether the youth are aware of the concept of Smart City, what are the different purposes for which they are using the mobile apps and also to identify their attitude and perception level of these apps. The study shall be an exploratory study. A quantitative approach will guide this research, in which primary resource shall include questionnaires, which will be filled by two conveniently selected colleges of Faridabad and the age group selected will be 18-22. In secondary sources, research articles and reports will be studied.

Key-words – Smart City Mission, Digital India, Internet of Things, Faridabad, Sustainable Development Goals, Digital Media, Technology

Technology is always evolving and simultaneously is playing an important role in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). This paper shall deal with the implementation of such a technology i.e. Augmented  Reality (AR)  in managing waste or garbage which will further help to monitor climate change, public health, ocean plastic, and hygiene maintenance. In an age where the main concern for everybody and everything is the environment, various initiatives with the use of technology will prove to be fruitful and helpful in lowering the already done damage to the environment.  AR is computer-enabled software that works on top of existing reality, giving it more meaning, so much so that one can interact with and through it. It is designed via proper algorithms and commands and can be developed into applications, which is further connected through a piece of hardware like a headset, glasses or tablet. How such a technology can help in monitoring waste and ensuring a hygienic environment is what this research paper shall dwell on. Various reports and articles written and devised on the same worldwide shall be studied which shall help the researcher in analyzing and coming to a consensus as to why AR is important for waste management, how it works and how it can be used in India to keep a track on the 62 million tons of waste that is produced annually. The main aim of the paper is to understand how AR will help in achieving the SDGs that are slated to be achieved by 2030 and how much ease will it provide to the environment and the living organisms dwelling in it. The qualitative approach shall guide this study.

Keywords: - Augmented Reality, Sustainable Development, Waste Management, Health, and Hygiene

Hindi films provide the audience with images of changing society and of issues that they may not be fully aware of. It is now acknowledged more as a way of entertainment and raises those questions which are also raised in real life. In the post-liberalized time, cinema grew and became a part of society, advocating the problems of society. There have been changes in the narrative and ideals kept forward by the commercial Hindi film industry known as Bollywood, regarding the portrayal of the third gender on screen, in the recent past. The changes have not been positively drastic but are evident. The post-liberalization arena of media of the 1990s was initiated by anxiety and panic around the subject as well as the unfolding of sexual discourse. Many plays and documentaries began to be staged and screened, but it was Deepa Mehta’s Fire (1996) which was released in 1998 in India, about two women occupying the space conventionally devoted to heterosexual lovers followed by Onir’s My Brother Nikhil(2005) about two men in a relationship and their journey to defeat HIV, that started India's first public discourse on homosexuality. While commercial Hindi cinema resorted to portraying the third gender as the focus of fun and socio-cultural puppets, parallel cinema was talking about the real problems attached to it. It was with the rise in consumerism, globalization, and an increase in the multiplex audience in the country in 2009 – the same year which saw the decriminalization of sex among consenting adults –that screen space in Bollywood changed with commercial films beginning to acknowledge and portray alternate sexualities. On September 6, 2018, the Supreme Court’s judgment laid to rest the offending section, decisively shattering all the silence around queerness. The same could be seen in the films made post-2018 where they openly converse about third gender identities and relationships. The paper has adopted a qualitative method to explore how bidding adieu to Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and the emergence of identity discourses have impacted the representation of queer characters in commercial Hindi cinema. The paper adopts a discourse analysis with queer theory to study films, both preceding to as well as after the ripping down of Article 377, in order to map a change towards a post-liberal consideration of homosexual relations as a discursive subject in films. In the conclusion, it has been found that even though there have been emergences of films trying to normalize third gender portrayal and have thus led to increased visibility and acceptance, they are not very sensitive. They are still taking baby steps toward third-gender representation and, the prior customs and tropes of portrayal are revamped to find a way into the globalized discourse of identity.
Keywords: Hindi Cinema, Homonormativity, Homosexuality, Homophobia, Section 377 (IPC)