Category: News

Eduindex News is a news aggregator app developed by Google. It presents a continuous flow of articles organized from thousands of publishers and magazines.

Anti-Defection Law

The anti-defection law punishes individual Members of Parliament (MPs)/MLAs for leaving one party for another. The anti-defection law was enacted to ensure that a party member does not violate the mandate of the party and in case he does so, he will lose his membership of the House. The law applies to both Parliament and state assemblies.It aims to prevent political defection brought about by the lure of the rewards or perks offered by the other parties. The Tenth Schedule or Anti-Defection law was added to the Constitution via the 52nd Amendment Act, 1985.

How did Anti-Defection Law comes into effect ?

• In Haryana, in 1967, an MLA named Gaya Lal changed his party thrice in a day, after which the phrase “Aaya Ram Gaya Ram” became popular in Indian politics.

• Due to frequent defections of elected and nominated party members, good governance became elusive and an insecure environment was created for the functioning of the state and central governments.

• It was realized that there was a need for an anti-defection law that would seek to prevent such political defections.

• Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India(1984-1989), proposed a bill to remove the evils of defection.

• The 10th Schedule of the Indian Constitution popularly referred to as the ‘Anti-Defection Law’ was inserted by the 52nd Amendment of the Indian Constitution in 1985.

Grounds for disqualification:

A member can be disqualified if :

1. A member of a house belonging to a political party:
• Voluntarily gives up the membership of his political party, or
• Votes, or does not vote in the legislature, contrary to the directions of his political party (Whip). However, if the member has taken prior permission, or is condoned by the party within 15 days from such voting or abstention, the member shall not be disqualified.

2. An independent candidate joins a political party after the election.

3.A nominated member joins a party six months after he becomes a member of the legislature.

Power To Disqualify :

• The decision on disqualification questions on the ground of defection is referred to the Speaker or the Chairman of the House, whose decision is final, which can be subjected to Judicial review.

• If a complaint is received regarding the defection of the Chairman or the Speaker, a member of the House who must be elected within the House, shall take the decision.

• All proceedings in relation to disqualification under this Schedule are considered to be proceedings in Parliament or the Legislature of a state as is the case.

• The law does not provide a timeframe within which the presiding officer has to decide a defection case.

Advantages :

• It prevents the menace of political party members from shifting their allegiances.

• It ensures party loyalty among the elected members.

• It provides for a stable and secure Government at both national and state levels.

• It make members of parliaments more responsible and loyal to the parties with whom they were aligned at the time of their election.

• It strengthen democracy by bringing stability to politics.

• It strengthen democracy by bringing stability to politics, ensuring legislative programs of the Government are not jeopardized by a defecting parliamentarian.

Disadvantages :

• Undermining Representative & Parliamentary Democracy: After enactment of the Anti-defection law, the MP or MLA has to follow the party’s direction blindly and has no freedom to vote their judgment.

• Controversial Role of Speaker: In many instances, the Speaker (usually from the ruling party) has delayed deciding on the disqualification.

• No Recognition of Split: Due to the 91st amendment, the anti-defection law created an exception for anti-defection rulings.However, the amendment does not recognise a ‘split’ in a legislature party and instead recognises a ‘merger’.

• Subversion of Electoral Mandates: Defection is the subversion of electoral mandates by legislators who get elected on the ticket of one party but then find it convenient to shift to another, due to the lure of ministerial berths or financial gains.

• Affects the Normal Functioning of Government: The infamous “Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram” slogan was coined against the background of continuous defections by the legislators in the 1960s. The defection leads to instability in the government and affects the administration.

• Promote Horse-Trading: Defection also promotes horse-trading of legislators which clearly go against the mandate of a democratic setup.

Sources : The Hindu , Drishti IAS and Prepp

India-Vietnam Partnership

India and Vietnam are marking 50 years of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations. Rajnath Singh held bilateral talks with Vietnam’s Minister of National Defence, General Phan Van Giang, in Hanoi on June 8, 2022. A ‘Joint Vision Statement’ was signed between India and Vietnam to enhance defence partnership between the two countries.

Earlier, India and Vietnam signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to collaborate in the field of digital media, paving the way for further strengthening the partnership between the two countries. It promoted sharing of information and experience, cooperation to implement projects in Human Resource Development and also promoted enhanced cooperation of postal designated operators and service providers of both the countries.

Key highlights of the visit :

• India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030: Both the Defence Ministers signed the ‘Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030’ to bolster bilateral defence cooperation.

• Defence Line of Credit: The two ministers agreed on the finalisation of the USD 500 million Defence Line of Credit extended to Vietnam with implementation of the projects under it adding substantially to Vietnam’s defence capabilities and furthering the government’s vision of ‘Make in India, Make for the World.’

• Mutual Logistics Support: Both inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Mutual Logistics Support.This is a major step towards simplifying procedures for mutually beneficial logistic support and is the first such major agreement which Vietnam has signed with any country.

• Simulators and a Monetary Grant: India will gift two simulators and a monetary grant towards setting up of Language and IT (Information Technology) Lab at the Air Force Officers Training School for capacity building of the Vietnamese Armed Forces.

India-Vietnam relations :

• India had established the Consul General’s office in Hanoi as early as 1956.Vietnam established its diplomatic mission in 1972.
• India had stood by Vietnam in opposing US intervention in that country at the cost of embittering Indo-US relations.
• The relationship was further strengthened when India, in the early 1990s, initiated its Look East Policy with the specific objective of economic integration and political cooperation with Southeast Asia and East Asia.
• India and Vietnam agreed to strengthen their strategic partnership in line with India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and the ASEAN’s Outlook on Indo-Pacific to achieve shared security, prosperity and growth for all in the region.
• India realises that Vietnam is a potential regional power in South East Asia with great political stability and substantial economic growth.
• India is investing in development and capacity assistance for Vietnam through quick impact projects (QIP), proposals in the area of water resource management in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), anddigital connectivity.
• Vietnam is interested in India’s Akash surface-to-air systemsand Dhruv advanced light helicopters and Brahmos missiles.
• Indian Naval Ship INS Kiltan undertook a visit to Ho Chi Minh City in 2020 to deliver flood relief materials for the people of Central Vietnam (Mission Sagar III).It also participated in the PASSEX Exercise with the Vietnam People’s Navy.
• The China factor also weighs heavily in the respective strategic calculus of India and Vietnam.Both countries had fought wars with China and both have border problems with that country. China aggressively continues to encroach in the territories of the two countries.Hence, it is natural for both the countries to come closer with a view to restrain China from its aggressive actions.
• India and Vietnam closely cooperate in various regional forums such as East Asia Summit, Mekong Ganga Cooperation, Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM).

In 2016, the first time in 15 years, an Indian Prime Minister visited Vietnam signaling India is no longer hesitant to expand its presence in China’s periphery. India’s foreign policy envisages India to play an anchor for peace, prosperity and stability in Asia and Africa, deepening ties with Vietnam will only strengthen this narrative. As India and Vietnam geographically lie at the heart of the emerging Indo-Pacific construct, both would play a major role in this strategic space which is becoming a core theatre for competition for power and influence amongst the major powers. Strengthening ties with Vietnam will eventually lead a step towards the realisation of SAGAR (Security and Growth all in the region) initiative as hailed by the Indian PM. India and Vietnam both can mutually benefit each other in the arena of Blue Economy and ocean security.

Sources : The Hindu, Drishti IAS and The Indian Express.

What is Disaster Management?

We have always seen disasters taking many shapes. Human-made disaster results from human mistakes and incorporates modern blasts or design disappointments. Catastrophic events result from actual peculiarities and include quakes and dry seasons. Calamities delegated complexes can contain pestilence or outfitted clashes.

In any structure, disaster disrupts communities and can negatively affect individuals, property, economies, and the climate. They frequently stretch a local area’s ability to adapt. Debacle the executives in the course of successfully for and answering to disaster. It includes decisively arranging assets to decrease the mischief that calamities cause. It likewise consists of an orderly way to deal with the obligations of the calamity: counteraction, readiness, reaction, and recovery.

Figuring Out Risks in Disaster Management

Frequently, issues, for example, an effectively kept up with levee framework or other carelessness, can demolish the result of a calamity. State-run administration and associations can endure disaster by tending to conceded framework upkeep and other casual elements. A few communities are more powerless than others. For instance, more unfortunate networks have fewer assets to set themselves up for a cyclone or return quickly from flood harm. Disaster management likewise includes breaking down openness to misfortune. For instance, homes worked underneath the ocean level might confront more apparent vulnerability to flooding if a storm hits them.

The Scope of Disaster Management

Disaster management has a vast degree. To comprehend disaster management, it is helpful to concentrate on counteraction, readiness, reaction, and recuperation.

Counteraction

Moderation and avoidance endeavours expect to lessen the possible harm and experiencing that calamity can cause. While calamity the executives can’t forrestal disaster, it can keep them from becoming compounded because of dismissing casual elements and sensible dangers. Moderation explicitly alludes to activities that can reduce the seriousness of a debacle’s effect. Putting resources into measures that breakpoint dangers can significantly lessen the weight of calamities.

Systems that Disaster management the executives’ experts carry out to safeguard weak networks and restrict risks incorporate the accompanying:

  1. Bringing issues to light about expected dangers and how to address them
  2. Teaching people in general about how to get ready for various kinds of calamity appropriately
  3. Introducing and fortifying forecast and cautioning frameworks

Overseeing perils and dangers implies wanting to limit a local area’s weakness to fiascos. This can include:

  1. Empowering people group individuals to purchase suitable protection to safeguard their properties and effects
  2. Teaching families and organisations the best way to make viable fiasco plans
  3. Advancing the utilisation of fire-retardant materials in the development
  4. Supporting capital works drives, like the development and upkeep of levees
  5. Building organisations among areas and offices at the government, state, and nearby levels to team up on relief projects

Disaster management executives’ experts working on relief endeavours likewise centre around the accompanying:

Land Use and Building Codes

Building schools, medical clinics, and neighbourhoods in flood-inclined regions expand their openness to fiascos. Disaster management highlights these dangers and presents thoughts to involve land in more secure ways.

For instance, instead of building homes in floodplains, local area organisers can assign those regions as spots for outside diversion, natural life attractions, or climbing trails. They can likewise encourage individuals to stay away from these areas during flood season. These actions make inhabitants and their homes less defenceless against hurt.

Moreover, alleviation endeavours can do the accompanying:

Address ways of designing scaffolds to support tremors
Authorise building regulations that protect structures during tropical storms

Basic Infrastructure

Safeguarding a basic foundation during a debacle can mean distinguishing between life and demise. Basic foundation, which contains the frameworks and resources indispensable to a local area’s economy, security, and general wellbeing, merits special consideration for catastrophe the board relief.

Drawing up defensive estimates that line harm to water and wastewater frameworks or atomic plants, for instance, can forestall serious repercussions.
For instance, Japan experienced wrecking physical and mental results after a 2011 seismic tremor set off a tidal wave. The immersion of water sliced off the power supply to the cooling framework for Fukushima Daiichi reactors, prompting an enormous atomic mishap.
Readiness
Very much organised reactions to fiascos expect earlier preparation. This guarantees quick, mighty reaction endeavours and cut-off points copied endeavours.

Disaster readiness plans:

  1. Distinguish hierarchical assets
  2. Assign jobs and obligations
  3. Make strategies and approaches
  4. Arrange exercises that further develop calamity preparation

Expecting the necessities of networks that catastrophes influence works on the nature of the reaction endeavours. Building the limits of workers, faculty, and calamity supervisory groups to answer fiascos also makes the reaction attempts more successful.

Plans might incorporate the accompanying:

  1. Crisis cover locales
  2. Departure courses
  3. Crisis energy and water sources

They may likewise address:

  1. Levels of leadership
  2. Preparing programs
  3. Correspondence strategies
  4. Crisis supply conveyance
  5. Reserve needs

Reconstructing
revamping their lives after injury. This includes longer-term endeavours to re-establish:

  1. Lodging
  2. Economies
  3. Foundation frameworks
  4. Individual and local area wellbeing

Government offices and supporting associations assist networks with critical thinking and finding assets as they redevelop and rejuvenate.

Recuperation help might incorporate the accompanying:

  1. Joblessness help
  2. Lodging help
  3. Legitimate administrations
  4. Emotional wellbeing directing
  5. Calamity case, the executives
    Assam witnesses an annual flood, and the 2022 flood has affected lakhs of people while 1.08 lakh hectares of crops have been destroyed. Though we cannot entirely avoid disasters, we can prepare for and address them.

Avoidance endeavours and facilitated responses to disasters save lives and decrease their effect on communities. Experts in disaster management play a critical part in forestalling enduring, safeguarding individuals’ jobs, and assisting networks with recuperating. Now the question arises about what is disaster management? To address the inquiry, you ought to inspect how these experts manage disaster previously, during, and after it strikes.

Safeguard Communities by Launching a Career in Disaster Management

What is Disaster Management? It is a far-reaching way to deal with forestalling, planning, answering, and supporting crisis recuperation endeavours. Whether leading crises or the executives for human-made or cataclysmic events, experts in the field assume priceless parts in saving lives and lessening languishing.

SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT

Process of developing a sense of autonomy and self-confidence among Individual ,that allows them to act individually and collectively to have a say in social relationships and the institutions and discourses that exclude them,

The principle of personal and social empowerment is described as a process in which individuals or social groups come to acquire the skills necessary for taking control of their own lives. It is important for supporting and reinforcing the personal empowerment of other members of their group or community as well.

Social empowerment is understood as the process of developing a sense of autonomy and self-confidence. It also involves acting individually and collectively to change social relationships and the institutions and discourses that exclude poor people and lead to an increase in poverty.

Individual empowerment is influenced by individual assets like land, house, and savings along with social factors like health and education. Also, concepts of choice, liberty, agency, capacity, contribution, self-sufficiency and increased resources are all crucial to societal empowerment.

Social empowerment has both individual and community aspects related to it. Individual factors like self-esteem. Self-confidence, imagination, and aspirations all influence social full-fillment. People’s collective assets and capabilities such as voice, organisation, representation and identity also sway the social responsibility.

It is important that socially and economically backward classes of people get involved in local associations and inter-community cooperation mechanisms can contribute to social empowerment by improving their skills, knowledge, and self-perception.

Social Empowerment means all the sections of society in India, have equal control over their lives, are able to take important decisions in their lives and have equal opportunities. Without empowering all sections of society equally, a nation can never have a good growth trajectory.The government has been trying to empower different sections of our society by adopting a multi pronged strategy.

Social Empowerment – Women Empowerment

In the words of the current Prime Minister “empowering women means empowering the entire family.” In a country like India, a girl child faces challenges right from the time of her birth or one

can say a girl child has to fight even for her birth. Hence the Government of India has given a big focus on empowering women through various government sponsored schemes. Some of the important schemes are mentioned below.

  • Beti Bachao Beti Padhao –

Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme was launched on 22 January 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It aims to address the issue of the declining child sex ratio image (CSR) and is a

national initiative jointly run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Human Resource Development. It initially focused multi-sector action in 100 districts throughout the country where there was a low CSR.

Pradhan Mantri Vandana Yojana

It is a maternity benefit program run by the Government of India. It was introduced in 2017 and is implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It is a conditional cash transfer scheme for pregnant and lactating women of 19 years of age or above for the first live birth. It provides a partial wage compensation to women for wage-loss during childbirth and childcare and to provide conditions for safe delivery and good nutrition and feeding practices.

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana

It is a Government of India backed saving scheme targeted at the parents of girl children. The scheme encourages parents to build a fund for the future education and marriage expenses for

their female child. The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22 January 2015 as a part of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign. The scheme currently provides high interest rates and tax benefits. The account can be opened at any India Post office or branch of authorized commercial banks.

Social Empowerment – Poor and Marginalized Sections

Marginalised sections of society are people belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes  (OBC). For poor and marginalised sections, empowerment means access to basic education, livelihood, and equal opportunities for growth. Some of the Government measures to address this section of society are mentioned below.

  • Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

It is a financial inclusion program of the Government of India open to Indian citizens (minors of age 10 and older can also open an account with a guardian to manage it), that aims to expand affordable access to financial services such as bank accounts, remittances, credit, insurance pensions. This financial inclusion campaign was launched on 28 August 2014. Under this scheme 15 million bank accounts were opened on inauguration day.

  • Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana

Any Indian Citizen who has a business plan for a non-farm sector income generating activity such as manufacturing, processing, trading or service sector and whose credit need is less than Rs 10 lakh can approach either a Bank, MFI, or NBFC for availing of Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency Ltd. (MUDRA) loans under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY).

Skill India

Skill India campaign was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 July 2015 to train over 40 crore people in India in different skills by 2022.It is managed by the National Skills Development Corporation of India. United Kingdom (U.K), Japan, Oracle have collaborated with India for the Skill India Programme. One of the prominent initiatives under it is Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY). The aim of the PMKVY scheme is to encourage aptitude towards employable skills and to increase working efficiency of probable and existing daily wage earners, by giving monetary awards and rewards and by providing quality training to them. The

The scheme has a target to train 1 crore Indian youth from 2016-20.

Scholarship Schemes for Education

To meet its goal of educational empowerment of the SC population, a large portion of the budget of the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment is directed to scholarships and there has been considerable success in its distribution within the target group. Post-Matric Scholarship (PMS – SC) for SC students has been in operation since 1944 and is the single largest intervention by the Government of India for the educational empowerment of scheduled caste students. It covers approximately 55 lakh students per year, studying at the post matriculation or post-secondary stage, right up to PhD. It has had positive outcomes on literacy level of the target groups, on dropout rates, participation in higher education, and finally in achievement of excellence and building human capital for the service of the nation. Other scholarship schemes for SC students are the Pre-Matric Scholarship, Top Class Education Scheme for studying in premier educational institutions and the National Fellowship Scheme run in conjunction with UGC.

It focuses on integrated development of SC majority villages. The programme is being taken up in villages which have more than 50% SC population.

Social Empowerment – Senior Citizens

Many senior citizens feel neglected and unwanted in the twilight years of their life. Government has taken measures to enable them to lead a respectable life with economic self-sufficiency. Some of the schemes for senior citizens are listed below.

Atal Pension Yojana

It is a government-backed pension scheme in India, primarily targeted at the unorganised sector. All subscribing workers below the age of 40 are eligible for pension of up to ₹5,000 per month on attainment of 60 years of age.

Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

It is a scheme for providing Physical Aids and Assisted-living Devices for Senior citizens belonging to BPL category. This is a Scheme, fully funded by the Central Government. The expenditure for implementation of the scheme will be met from the “Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund”. The Scheme will be implemented through the sole implementing agency – Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO), a PSU under the Ministry of Social Justice and

Empowerment.

Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana

This is a pension scheme for senior citizens.This to enable old age income security and welfare of Senior Citizens.

Social Empowerment – Disabled Group

For the differently able, their disability often makes them feel that they are a burden on society. Their requirements for empowerment are very different thereby requiring programmes customised to suit their needs. Some of the schemes to help them lead quality life are

mentioned below.

1. Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation schemes

2. Accessible India campaign

Social Empowerment – Scheduled Tribes

National mainstream policies and compulsions result in the tribal communities feeling either isolated from the mainstream or losing their identity. Government has taken initiatives to handle the issues faced by the Scheduled Tribes which are listed below.

1. Forest Rights Act

2. Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Minor Forest Produce.

3. Schemes for Vocational Training

HUSTLE CULTURE A TREND OR TRENDING PROBLEM FOR THE YOUTH?

Image courtesy : thesolmag.com
http://thesolmag.com

The youth are more affected by this culture & it’s making their life miserable and the most important thing is they just don’t know how to stop worrying enough about it. 

The Orthodox or popular opinion of becoming successful and achieving it all very fast ; the ultimate respect status that comes with being the all achiever is Hustle culture, driven by the desire for more. 

We are compelled to believe that time is running out and that we must do more, achieve more in less time. The most essential goal in your life should be to prioritise achievement over anything else. It shouldn’t be a big deal to sacrifice your mental and physical health for your life satisfaction. As a consequence, the youth begins to believe. We are constantly seeking more from ourselves, others, and our life. Hustle culture arose from this constant desire for more. It’s also on the upswing.

Now wanting more isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when it becomes excessive, it’s time to act.

Signs that you are a hustler :

1. You never stop overthinking –
Overanalyzing your life and ambitions lead you to constantly put self-limiting beliefs on yourself. Resulting in dread of the judgement, and assumption of the consequences which makes it worse.


2. You want to accomplish everything in one day – Being impatient with your goals and believing that completing more tasks more quickly than others will give you greater recognition and popularity.

3.You want to attain long-term goals in the short term- You focus on making the big leap instead of comprehending that it takes time, patience, and efforts to accomplish anything. Trying to skip the intermediate phases but fail and are left feeling unmotivated.


4. Trying to do all and more at once – You multitask all the time and put your work and aspirations before your needs for rest, sleep, and self-care.


5. Validation is what matters most to you – when people appreciate your achievements and proficiencies, your desire is stoked, but when it doesn’t, you spiral into self-doubt.

6.You are a materialistic life seeker – Quality of life and ideas don’t interest you & latest trends do. You are leading a typical life because you don’t know how to live otherwise

7.You feel guilty for not being productive enough– Often you feel terrible for putting comfort before your goals. Exhausting yourself completely is part of the process towards success.

8. Being ignorant about you mental health– As you pursue a career-oriented lifestyle, believing that this is the only way to gain respect and prestige, you start comparing yourself to others who are ahead of you and the seeds of self-doubt begin to grown in you.

9.You don’t put your health first – Your health is your most valuable asset and should always be prioritised above all else. Unfortunately, people frequently disregard this and endanger it in pursuit of mediocre accomplishments.

If you think you’re hustler, it’s time to take a moment and reflect. Hope you found this helpful.

CHALLENGES OF CORRUPTION

Corruption is a global phenomenon and it’s everywhere. Corruption has increased progressively and is now spreading more and more in our society. Corruption around the world is believed to be endemic and is universal and is a important contributor to slow economic growth, to restrain investment, to inhibit the provision of public services and to increase inequality to such an extent that international organisations like the World Bank have identified corruption as ‘The single greatest obstacle to economic and social development’. Theorists believe that ”corruption is most prevalent during the most intense phase of modernization of a country and tends to decline with institutionalisation of advanced democracy”. Basically, Corruption is offence on the part of an authority or powerful party through means that are not legitimate, immoral, or not compatible with ethical standards.

In a broader sense, Corruption is not just the bad behaviour of government officials stealing off money for their own benefit. It also includes cases where the systems do not work efficiently , and ordinary people are left in a dilemma, needing to give a bribe to get a work done. The economy of the state also plays an important role in increasing corruption. Inequality of wealth distribution, exploitation by employers, and low wages and salaries provide ideal breeding ground for corruption. Corruption also violates human rights, challenges the rule of law, distorts the development process, and dis-empowers the Indian state. Corruption is a hindrance in the process of fulfilling civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

FORMS OF CORRUPTION

  • Embezzlement: The theft of resources by people itself who are put to administer it. It happens When unfaithful employees steal from their employers. This is a serious offence where a public officials is misappropriating public resources, when a state official steals from the public institution in which he or she is employed and from resources he is supposed to administer on behalf of the public.
  • Nepotism: Nepotism is typical favouritism, in which an officer prefers his proper kinfolk and family members. Many unrestricted presidents have tried to secure their power position by nominating family members to key political, economic and military/security positions in the state apparatus.
  • Favouritism: Favouritism is a tool of power abuse implying “privatisation” and a highly improper distribution of state resources, no matter how these resources have been accumulated in the first place. Favouritism is the natural human tendency to favour friends, family. Favouritism is closely related to corruption so far as it implies a corrupted distribution of resources. It can be said that this is the other side of the coin where corruption is the accumulation of resources.
  • Fraud: Fraud is a financial crime that involves some kind of deception or deceit. Fraud involves a manipulation or distortion of information, facts and expertise, by public officials positioned between politicians and inhabitants, who seek to draw a private profit. Fraud is when a public official, who is responsible for carrying out the orders or tasks assigned by his superiors , manipulates the flow of information to his private profit.
  • Bribery: This form of corruption is the payment that is given or taken in a corrupt relationship. A bribe is a fixed sum, a certain percentage of a contract, or any other favour in money of kind, usually paid to a state official who can make contracts on behalf of the state or otherwise distribute benefits to companies or individuals, businessmen and clients.

Characteristics of Corruption

  1. It is a gap between group and their individual interest.
  2. It is between two or more parties since one can hardly be corrupt with one’s own self.
  3. Consenting adults that have a common understanding.
  4. It is Beneficial in future.
  5. The Existence of power that could be grabbed, entrusted or otherwise available.
  6. The misuse of the power that often drives a wedge between intended and stated positions, for benefits that is unintended.

Corruption in India is a consequence of the nexus between bureaucracy, politics and criminals. It has been observed that in cities and villages throughout India, there is “mafia raj” consisting of municipal and government officials, elected politicians, judicial officers, real estate developers and law enforcement officials, who acquire, develop and sell land in illegal ways. Many state-funded construction activities in India, such as constructing roads, flyovers, are dominated by the construction mafia, which are groupings of corrupt public works officials, materials suppliers, politicians and construction contractors.

It is now well recognized that the State is mainly responsible for both formulating and enforcing policies relating to good governance and human rights. Good governance is a key factor. The good governance agenda includes protection and promotion of human rights and rule of law. Both these functions will not be fully accomplished if corruption is widespread in government. Major challenge is that Corruption is a strong violator of human rights, particularly the economic and social rights of individuals as well as those of the State. It not only weakens development and growth, it also hinders efforts aimed at poverty eradication, socio-economic transformation and creation of an egalitarian society in accordance with the Directive Principles of the State Policy.

CAPITALISM

Capitalism is a political and economic system where a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners and not by the state. It is basically a system where there is private ownership of property. Capitalistic ownership means owners control the factors of production and derive their income from their ownership. That gives them the ability to operate their companies efficiently. It works for profit maximisation rather than public benefit. Capitalism needs a free market to work efficiently and succeed.   In a capitalist society, the distribution of goods and services is according to the laws of demand and supply. According to the law of demand, when the demand for a particular product increases then it also leads to an increase in its price. In a capitalist society there are a number of competitors. When these competitors realise that they can make a higher profit since the demand is high then, they increase production . The greater supply reduces prices to a level where only the best competitors remain.

EMERGENCE OF CAPITALISM

Capitalism emerged during the 16th century and expanded during the Industrial Revolution, pushed forward by colonialism, the nascent factory system, and the Atlantic Slave Trade. This system generated wealth and prestige for owners, but also exploited people who had very little or no power like the workers in the factory and people indigenous to Africa and the Americas. The expansion of Capitalism in America in the 19th-century relied on economic growth and was generated through the labour of enslaved people on land that were forcefully taken from Native Americans.

The United States is one example of capitalism. The other examples of capitalist countries are: Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, Ireland , United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark etc.

HOW CAPITALISM WORKS

In a capitalist society the owner of supply competes against each other to earn the highest profit by selling the goods at the highest possible price while keeping their costs as low as possible. Competition keeps prices moderate and production efficient, although it can also lead to worker exploitation and poor labour conditions. As there are a number of options for the consumer in the market due to competition then the consumer has a lot of choices.

Another component of capitalism is the free operation of the capital markets. The laws of supply and demand set fair prices for stocks, bonds, derivatives, currency, and commodities. Capital markets also  allow the companies to raise funds to expand.

According to the  economic theory Laissez- faire it argues that the government should take a hands-off approach to capitalism and should only intervene to maintain a level playing field. The government’s role is to protect the free market. It should prevent the unfair advantages obtained by monopolies or oligarchies. It ought to prevent the manipulation of information, making sure it is distributed equitably.

ADVANTAGES OF CAPITALISM

  • It creates healthy competition in the market.
  • Due to the number of companies and products in the market consumers have more choices.
  • Since the consumer’s demands are high and they will pay more for what they want, Capitalism results in the best products for the best prices.
  • It results in efficient production. In a capitalist system, firms have incentives to be productively efficient by cutting costs to improve competitiveness and productivity. If firms don’t remain productive and efficient they will run out of business.
  • Capitalism encourages trade between different nations and different people which is a mechanism for overcoming discrimination and bringing people together.
  • It raises the standard of living.
  • As the capitalist economy is dependent on the push factor of individuals, there is no limit to the level of wealth an individual can accumulate through progression within the economy.
  • Through capitalism, firms and companies are inclined to produce with greater efficiency, by cutting cost and improving efficiency. This is done with an aim to prevent losses in an industry where competition is high, bettering the economy as a whole.

DISADVANTAGES OF CAPITALISM

  • Private ownership of capital enables firms to gain a monopoly power in product and labour markets. Firms with monopoly power can exploit their position to charge higher prices.
  • Social benefit is ignored, as the owner cares about profit maximisation, public good is ignored, the poor people who cannot afford expensive products have no option.
  • A capitalist society argues it is good if people can earn more leading to income and wealth inequality. However, this ignores the diminishing marginal utility of wealth.
  • In a capitalist system where the means of production and distribution of goods and services are owned by just a few members of the society, the wealth of an entire nation could be controlled by just a few wealthy individuals and families and hence there is unequal distribution of wealth.
  • Due to the market being profit and demand driven, negative externalities such as pollution are generally ignored until they become a serious issue within the economy.
  • Socialists and communists are people who do not support capitalism. They say it hurts workers, because businesses make more money by selling things than they pay the workers who make the things. Business owners become rich while workers remain poor and exploited. 

Source: https://www.thebalance.com/capitalism-characteristics-examples

ISSUES RELATING TO POVERTY AND HUNGER

India is a country which suffers a lot due to hunger and poverty. Hunger is very closely related to poverty as poverty is one of the main reasons for hunger. 

Indian economist and philosopher Amartya Sen said that lack of ability to pay for food is obviously caused by poverty.

POVERTY

Poverty is a condition caused due to lack of basic needs of life such as water, health care, food, unemployment etc. It is described as the low income level of people which leads them to poor standard of living. Poverty means that the income level from employment is so low that even the basic human needs are not fulfilled. The impact of poverty on children is substantial. Children who grow up in poverty typically suffer from severe and frequent health problems; infants born into poverty have an increased chance of low birth weight, which can lead to physical and mental disabilities. Poverty is a difficult cycle to break and often passes from one generation to the next. Typical consequences of poverty include alcohol and substance abuse, limited access to education, poor housing and living conditions, and increased levels of disease. 

Hunger and food insecurity are the most serious forms of extreme poverty. To eradicate these issues from society is the prime concern of international organizations.

HUNGER

Hunger is a global problem and a lot of countries are facing this problem. Hunger is a condition where both the adults as well as children do not have access to food and there is a constant decrease in food intake, nutrients, no proper diet is there and some days are even gone without food which eventually leads to their death.

Climate change is also one of the reasons for world hunger. The amount of rain determines the production of crops. Droughts also affects agricultural production and extreme rain also causes flooding that leads to destruction of crops . Use of outdated products, not using better quality seeds also leads to shortage of food and those who are capable and have money buys food even at higher prices, the ones who have to suffer are poor people. They do not have money to buy food and hence they remain hungry. Hunger has a lot of serious problems such as insufficient economic systems, climate changes, misinformation but the most serious problem of all is poverty. Many poor nations such as Kenya, Uganda etc. are in desperate need of food. The growing population is one of the major causes of rising hunger and poverty. In Indian scenario Hunger and malnutrition are closely related. The main outcome of poverty is hunger. India is a home to the largest undernourished population in the world, 14℅ of our population is undernourished, 20℅ of children under 5 are underweight, 34.7℅ of children are stunned, 51.4℅ of women in the in the reproductive age i.e. 15-49 are anemic.

DIFFERENT ISSUES RELATING TO HUNGER AND POVERTY

Overpopulation is a major issue of rising poverty. There are not enough resources to satisfy your need. Demand is more and resources are limited and this leads to no proper distribution of resources and a large amount of people are left with no food. India is a country with a large population, and hence everyone’s demand is not full and people remain hungry.

Poor health service– the health sector of India is not as efficient as compared to other developed Nations, which leads to less access to good health and sanitization and hence causes ill health and maintains poverty.

Malnutrition- It is a phenomena that occurs in a human body when it receives little or no nutrition as a result of it people easily get sick and it causes death. it is responsible for the death of people, especially young children.

Insufficient education and lack of training- due to Rising poverty children are not able to get basic education and again since they are not educated, they don’t get employed and this vicious cycle of poverty is continued. Lack of money is reason for them not attending proper School and they have to indulge in labour to provide for a minimal living also causes rise for child labour. Parents send their children to work at a very young age.

Inequality– different gender, ethnic, group and social classes face inequality due to poverty. Low rate of economic development, If a country is poor then its development is also very slow.

Rise in crime – Often due to poverty and hunger, people indulge in criminal activities. To fill their empty stomach many young children opt for wrong ways and indulge in theft and loot and its disturbance in the society.

Way Forward

To eradicate poverty and hunger from the society, there is a need for the government to implement schemes and methods. The government should spend more in health, nutrition, and education. The government should invest more in agriculture and provide the farmers with better quality seeds and advanced machineries and modern techniques for more agricultural production, Also it is necessary to decrease rural poverty. Subsidies address only short-term issues. There is a need to develop technologies, with the help of which farmers can practice all-weather agriculture. Government should focus on increasing employment opportunities creating jobs in modern sectors and promote labor-intensive industries. Reduction in corruption will lead to an overall development of the economy. A country with low poverty level will only develop in a better manner.

Sources: civilservicesindia.com

Gamma Ray Bursts

Gamma ray bursts are the most energetic and luminous electromagnetic events since the Big Bang. It can release more energy in 10 seconds than the Sun can emit in its entire 10 billion years of expected lifetime. They are the most powerful events in the universe, detectable across billions of light-years. They are high energy explosion that occurs in space atleast once everyday. They can last from milliseconds to a minute. It isn’t possible to predict the exact time and location of its occurrences.

What are Gamma Rays ?

Gamma rays are ionizing electromagnetic radiation, obtained by the decay of an atomic nucleus. Gamma rays are  penetrating form of electromagnetic radiations and can damage living cells to a great extent. They have the smallest wavelengths and the most energy of any wave in the EV spectrum. They are produced by the hottest and most energetic objects in the universe such as neutron stars and , supernova explosions and regions around black holes. On Earth , gamma rays are generated by nuclear explosions,lightning and the less dramatic activity of radioactive decay.

Gamma ray detectors :

Gamma rays can’t be captured and reflected by mirrors like optical light and x-rays. Its wavelength is too short to pass through the space.
Gamma ray detectors contain densely packed crystal blocks. As Gamma rays pass through,  they collide with electrons in the crystal.
This process is called Compton Scattering where a gamma ray strikes an electron and loses energy. These collisions create charged particles that can be detected by the sensor.

Type of Gamma Ray Bursts :

1. Long GRBs :
• They observe long bursts in association with the demise of massive stars.
• When a star much more massive than the Sun runs out of fuel, its core suddenly collapses and forms a black hole.
• Black hole refers to a point in space where matter is so compressed as to create a gravity field from which even light cannot escape.
• As matter swirls toward the black hole, some of it escapes in the form of two powerful jets that rush outward at almost the speed of light in opposite directions.
• Astronomers only detect a GRB when one of these jets happens to point almost directly toward Earth.
• Following the burst, the disrupted star then rapidly expands as a supernova.

2. Short GRBs :
• Short GRB forms when pairs of compact objects – such as neutron stars, which also form during stellar collapse – spiral inward over billions of years and collide.
• A Neutron star comprises one of the possible evolutionary end-points of high mass stars.

GRB 200826A :

• NASA’s Fermi spotted a very short, powerful Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) that lasted for about a second. It was named GRB 200826A after the date it occurred, which is 26th August 2020. It was a sharp blast of high-energy emission lasting just 0.65 seconds.
• After traveling for a very long period of time through the expanding universe, the signal had stretched out to about one-second-long when it was detected by Fermi’s Gamma-ray Burst Monitor.
• It had been racing toward Earth for nearly half the present age of the universe.
• It is considered to be the the shortest GRB till now and it is caused by the death of a massive star.
• It emitted 14 million times the energy released by entire milky way galaxy over the same amount of time , making it one of  the most energetic short duration GRBs ever seen.

Significance of GRB 200826A :
It has helped to resolve the long-standing issues related to gamma-ray bursts. Also, this study triggers to re-analyse all such known events to constrain number densities better.

Sources : PIB and Dristi IAS

ROLE OF FAMILY,SOCIETY AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN INCULCATIONG VALUES

Family, society, and educational institutions play a very major role in building one’s character or personality. These institutions impart value to an individual and help them become a better person in society. One learns what one listens. Young children very much learn what they see around them. If they see good they learn good and if they see bad they will learn that as well. The role of family is important because an individual lives there and learns from there, society influences an individual’s behaviour and educational institutions are where an individual learns. Now we’ll see how these factors help in inculcating values in an individual.

ROLE OF FAMILY

Family is a place where one grows, and learns the most. Just like the saying charity begins at home similarly an individual’s education starts from home. It is like a foundation where values are built. Values like respecting elders, honesty, justice, respect for both genders all taught at home. If within a family there are differences or if the home environment is not healthy then this also affects the individual. The values practised by the other members of the family also shapes the child’s attitude towards other people or towards the society. Values like love, care, protection all these start from family. If a child experiences love, care, comfort then he/she will have a positive attitude toward others and will behave the same with others and will inspire others as well. Family’s environment will help a child to socialise and progress in the society.

The system of joint family that is the presence of elder family members also has a great influence on an individual. It helps in developing social and moral values. They learn human values and respecting elders and this will help in eradicating negative mental tendencies when they are among elders. In a family an individual not only learns about values but also about their customs and culture and enhancing one’s culture proudly is also a very good value. The attitude of one family member towards another also affects individual behaviour. For example if child see his father not respecting his mother then he may feel that this is how it is supposed to be and he may also do the same thing with his wife but if he sees his father respecting her mother, giving her importance which she deserves the he will also treat his wife in respective manner so it is very important for a family to not just inculcate good values to the younger generation but they themselves should have good value so the future generation could learn from them.

The values that are taught in the family helps a child to learn, grow and progress in the society. Family values enhance a child’s personality and character and help them in becoming a better human being.

ROLE OF SOCIETY

When we grow older our social world also expands, now not only family but we become a part of society. Society also plays an important role in inculcating values. When a child grows it goes outside to make friends and share each other’s thoughts. Society also shapes an individual’s character. Societies follow certain traditions and customs and being a part of the society, we are also a part of these customs and traditions. These customs and traditions are being followed from generations and these are based on values such as loyalty, courage, love and brotherhood. We celebrate different festivals together which portray love and happiness and we not only celebrate festivals of one tradition or religion, but being part of such a diverse country we get to enjoy festivals and customs of different religions which shows mutual respect towards each other and toward different individuals in a society. Religion is a very important social institution in our Indian society and these religions are embedded with cultural values. Society creates social order, the diversity present in our society teaches mutual love, respect and inculcates a variety of values and holistic development of individuals. The social influence and the urge to become an inspiring personality in a society helps in developing good values in an individual. The great inspiring personalities, influencer leaders and celebrities also have a great influence in society. Young individuals learn and get inspired by them so it is also an important job for these powerful personalities to set a good example for the younger generation.

ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Apart from home, a child spends most of his/her time at school. The first formal place of socialisation and the first and foremost important value that it teaches is discipline. The educational institutions have a proper disciplined environment. In an educational institution, the day starts with the prayer which teaches gratitude. Different school activities inculcate different values such as teamwork, sportsmanship spirit, competitiveness, etc. Different programs of Community work help in inculcating values like empathy, care, unity, etc. Peer groups also play an important role, students often get feedback about their behaviour from their fellow classmates or friends. Teachers also act as role models for the students, when a teacher asks students to behave in a certain manner then they tend to take it more seriously as compared to any family member or friend. The reward and punishment system also helps as children behave in a good manner for rewards and to protect their self esteem from getting punished. Every school or educational institution has their philosophy or motto and these help in inculcation of good values.

“Intelligence plus character, that is the true goal of education”. – Martin Luther King

Value is something that is not restricted to a certain age or gender or place. It is something which is lifelong, it can be learned at any age and be practiced throughout one’s life. Good values build one character and make an individual a better human being . A man with good values is respected everywhere in the society so it is very important to inculcate good values in life. There are different characters in an individual life that add to his/her character and personality. The influence of family, society and educational institutions have the strongest influence upon an individual and thus it affects in developing an individual personality whether positively or negatively.  

Sources: diyethics.forumias.com

AGNIPATH SCHEME

On 14 June 2022, the central government launched the Agnipath scheme which is a recruitment of soldiers below the rank of commissioned officers into the three services of the armed forces. With this scheme, the central government hopes to fulfill the dream of an individual to join the armed forces and serve the nation. Various other reasons for the government to start this scheme were to reduce salaries and defence pension bill, to increase employment opportunities and higher skilled work force and to provide a youthful profile to the armed forces. One of the important reasons was also to have a large number of military trained and disciplined people in the society. The soldiers recruited through this scheme will be known as ‘AGNIVEERS’.

Under this scheme 45,000 to 50,000 youth aged between 17.5 to 21 years will be recruited annually for 4 years in the Navy, Air force & Armed forces. Enrollment will be based on an ‘All India All Class’ basis. The enrolment of the Agniveers to all the three services will be through a centralized online system, with special rallies and campus interviews at recognized technical institutes such as the National skills Qualifications framework, Industrial Training Institutes. In each batch, 25% of Engineers will be chosen for the permanent cadre in the armed services. The remaining 75% of Agniveers will receive an amount of Rs. 11.71 lakh as Seva Nidhi Package.

The salary per month of the Agniveers is Rs. 30,000 in 1st year, Rs. 33,00 in 2nd year, Rs. 36,500 in 3rd year and Rs. 40,000 in 4th year but the Agniveers contribution to Seva Nidhi will be 30% which means 30% will be deducted from the initial salary which means in hand they will receive 21,000 in first year, 23,100 in second year, 25,580 in third year and 28,000 in fourth year.

The Agniveers will also receive a non-contributory insurance cover of Rs. 48 lakh during the period.

Every demolished AGNIVEER will have a 10% reservation in CAPFs, Assam Rifle recruitment. They are also provided with the Upper age relaxation beyond the prescribed age limit for AGNIVEERS in CAPF & Assam Rifles. Other benefits include:

  • Priority in bank loan schemes in case they want to be entrepreneurs.
  • Many other states including Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have stated that agniveers will be given priority in the recruitment of state police officers.
  • Some major companies and sectors like IT, Engineering Security, etc. have also announced that they will prefer hiring skilled, trained, and disciplined Agniveers.
  • It also stated that all those wishing to study further class 12 equivalent certificate and Bridging Course of choice for further studies.

The Upper age limit for recruitment has also increased only for 2022 under the Agnipath scheme to 23 years from 21 years for the first year of the scheme for enrolment of soldiers into the Army, Navy and Air Force.

AIM OF THE SCHEME

  • One of the important aims of the scheme is to make the army a future-ready fighting force with the youth of the nation capable of meeting multiple challenges.
  • To strengthen the national security
  • To provide the youth of the nation to serve the country.
  • To cut down salary and pension bills.
  • To harness the youth potential and make them future ready soldiers.
  • They will be provided with certificates and bridge courses that will help in creating future entrepreneurs.

CRITICISM OF THE SCHEMES

After the announcement of this scheme, there were several protests held throughout the country in several states. Students from throughout the country held riots, burned trains, and caused severe damage to the public as well as private properties. This scheme is criticized on a number of basis such as:

  • The service period that is 4 years is very less and it will provide employment for just 4 years. T
  • he real skills cannot be acquired in such a short period and what about those who want to serve the nation for longer terms.
  • only 25% of the candidates will be taken permanently and the rest 75% will again be unemployed.
  • No pension will be given to these candidates that will be appointed during this scheme.
  • The candidates that will be selected will only be selected for non-commissioned ranks like Naik, Sepoy, and Lance Naik.
  • The recruitment is only for candidates of 17.5 – 23 years of age.
  • After 4 years is over, there will be no job security.
  • Unlike other governments’ jobs no extra basic benefits will be provided to the candidates.
  • The salary will also be deducted for the Seva Nidhi contribution.

With the provided advantages and disadvantages of this AGNIPATH scheme it is way forward for a reform in the Defence policy. This schemes aims to increase employment opportunities with skills and training, to give a better opportunity to the youth who choose to serve the nation and it hopes to have a positive impact on the human resouces management of armed forces and for the country’s development.

Sources: https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/agnipath-defence-policy-reforms/

GOVERNMENT BUDGET

Government is required to undertake various economic, social, and other activities in every country. It is like to pursue various policies to achieve certain objectives like economic development, reduction of inequalities of income and wealth. The government has to incur expenditure in performing these activities and in pursuing its policies. For instance, the government has to incur expenditure in maintaining law and order and in undertaking various developmental activities. As such, government has to raise necessary revenue to finance these expenditures.

Accordingly, the government has to draw a financial plan corresponding to various activities it wants to undertake during the coming year . Such a financial plan is known as the budget of the government. “Budget of the government is an annual financial statement describing in detail the estimated receipts and proposed expenditures and disbursements of the government under various heads for the financial or fiscal year. The budget is the indicator of government functioning. It also gives the actual financial accounts for the previous year and the revised estimates for the current ye . In other democratic countries ,the government budget is a constitutional obligation in India. Under Article 112 of the constitution, a statement of estimated receipts and proposed expenditures of the Central Government has to be prepared for every financial or fiscal year and has to be placed before the parliament. It is titled Budget of the central government.

Government budget is a subject of immense importance for a variety of reasons.

  • Planned approach to government’s activities: The importance of government budget arises because of the fact that the activities of the government have increased tremendously. This calls for mobilization of large resources to meet the expenditure required to undertake these activities. There has to be a definite planning with regard to the estimated revenue and proposed expenditure for the proper conduct of the government activities.
  • Integrated Approach to Fiscal Operations: All these decisions and policies are interconnected and they must form a part of the overall set of objectives which the government wants to pursue. Government’s fiscal policy as reflected in the budget is an essential part of its overall economic and social policy.
  • Public Accountability: Budget proposals are discussed in the parliament. A popular debate also takes place in the media about the budget proposals. Parliament also exercises control over the government expenditure through various committees – Public Accounts Committee, the Estimates Committee and the Committee on Public Undertakings. Thus, Budget serves as a powerful weapon of financial control in respect of both collection of revenues and their disbursement.

STRUCTURE OF THE GOVERNMENT BUDGET

Constitution of the country demands that the budget must distinguish expenditure on revenue account from the expenditure on capital account. Revenue account covers those items which are recurring nature, while capital account covers those items which are of the nature of creating or reducing the capital assets. Budget is necessarily presented in two parts:

  • REVENUE BUDGET
  • CAPITAL BUDGET

Revenue budget shows revenue receipts of the government and the expenditures met from these revenue receipts. It consists of revenue receipts and revenue expenditure. Revenue receipts of the government are all those receipts which are non-redeemable. They create no liabilities or involve no sale or reduction in the assets of the government. Revenue expenditures relate to expenditures incurred by the government on day to day normal functioning of the government and interest payment on government debts. These expenditures neither create any physical or financial assets nor reduce any liability of the government .

Capital Budget comprises capital receipts and capital expenditure of the government. It shows capital requirements of the government and financing of these expenditures. Capital receipts are the receipts of the government which create liabilities or reduce assets of the government. The main component is to borrowing of all kinds from the public, RBI and repayment of loans to the central government by state government and public sector enterprises. Capital expenditures are those expenditures of the government which lead to creation of physical and financial assets or reduction of financial liabilities.

BUDGET DEFICITS

An important issue which is raked up every year during the budget in India is the issue of budget deficit. In the past two to three decades, government spending has increased more than its receipts. As a result , budget deficits and the government borrowings have increased sharply. Although politicians regularly make fine speeches about the need to reduce deficit, cutting down spending or raising taxes so as to reduce deficit are not politically popular. In every budget , the government has been setting the target of reducing the budget deficit, but reaching the target of reducing budget deficit has been rather difficult.

Budget deficit is financed by increasing the money supply and by borrowing from public and from other countries. This involves burden both on present as well as the future generations. The present generation has to shoulder the burden of budget deficits in terms of inflationary rise in prices. Higher debt also means that interest payments eat away a large part of government expenditure, which could otherwise be used for providing various economic and social services to the public. This deficit is a liability for future generations as well. Taxes will have to be increased in future to pay interest on the debt and to repay the debt. This is the burden of the debt on future generations.

SOME FACTS ABOUT INDIAN BUDGET OVER THE YEARS

  • The budget system was introduced in India on 7 April,1860.
  • James Wilson, the first Indian Finance member, delivered the budget speech
  • The first budget after independence was presented on 26 November, 1947 by R.K.S. Chetty.
  • Yashwant Sinha, the then finance minister, moved the budget to 11a.m. in 1999, instead of 5 P.M. as was the practice till then.
  • Arun Jaitley, the present Finance minister, has advanced the presentation of the budget to 1st February from the 2017-18 Budget. He has presented 4 regular budgets till date.
  • 24 people have presented budget in independent India.
  • Morarji Desai holds the record for the most budget presented in independent India with 8 full budgets and 2 interim budgets.
  • P Chidambaram has matched Morarji Desai’s record of presenting 8 full budgets.
  • All the three Prime Ministers from the Nehru family- Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi have presented one budget each.

Sources: Frank ISC Economics Class XII

EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION ON INDIAN SOCIETY

Globalization has many meaning depending on the circumstance and on the individual who is talking about. There is one of the term of Globalization is a process of the “reconfiguration of geography, so that social space is not entirely mapped in terms of territorial distance, territorial places and territorial borders.” The simple term of globalization refers to the integration of economies of the world through uninhibited trade and financial flows, as also through mutual exchange of technology and knowledge. Ideally, it also contains free inter country movement of labor.

Indian society drastically changes after urbanization and globalization. The economic policies has direct influence in forming the basic framework of the Indian economy. The government shaped administrative policies which aim to promote business opportunities in every country, generate employment and attract global investment. In which the Indian economy witnessed an impact on its culture and introduction to other societies and their norms brought various changes to the culture of this country as well. The developed countries have been trying to pursue developing countries to liberalize the trade and allow more flexibility in business policies to provide equal opportunities to multinational firms in their domestic market. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank helped them in this endeavor. Liberalization began to hold its foot on barren lands of developing countries like India by means of reduction in excise duties on electronic goods in a fixed time Frame.

Globalization has several aspects and can be political, cultural, social, and economic, out of Financial integration is the most common aspect. India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and has been predicted to reach the top three in the next decade. India’s massive economic growth is largely due to globalization which was a transformation that didn’t occur until the 1990s. Since then, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) has grown at an exponential rate.

Indian government did the same and liberalized the trade and investment due to the pressure from the World Trade Organization. Import duties were cut down phase-wise to allow MNC’s operate in India on an equal basis. As a result globalization has brought to India new technologies, new products and also the economic opportunities.

Despite bureaucracy, lack of infrastructure and an ambiguous policy framework that adversely impact MNCs operating in India, MNCs are looking at India in a big way, and are making huge investments to set up R&D centres in the country. India has made a lead over other growing economies for IT, business processing, and R&D investments. There have been both positive and negative impacts of globalisation on social and cultural values in India.

Economic Impact:

1. Greater Number of Jobs: The advent of foreign companies led to the growth in the economy which led to creating job opportunities. However, these jobs are concentrated in the various services sectors and led to rapid growth of the service sector creating problems for individuals with low levels of education. The last decade came to be known for its jobless growth as job creation was not proportionate to the level of economic growth.

2. More choice to consumers: Globalisation has led to having more choices in the consumer products market. There is a range of choices in selecting goods unlike the times where there were just a couple of manufacturers.

3. Higher Disposable Incomes: People in cities working in high paying jobs have greater income to spend on lifestyle goods. There’s been an increase in the demand for products like meat, egg, pulses, organic food as a result. It has also led to protein inflation.

Protein food inflation contributes a large part to the food inflation in India. It is evident from the rising prices of pulses and animal proteins in the form of eggs, milk and meat. With an improvement standard of living and rising income level, the food habits of people changed. People tend toward taking more protein intensive foods. This shift in dietary pattern, along with rising population results in an overwhelming demand for protein rich food, which the supply side could not meet. Thus resulting in a demand supply mismatch thereby, causing inflation.

In India, the Green Revolution and other technological advancements have primarily focused on enhancing cereals productivity and pulses and oilseeds have traditionally been neglected.

• Shrinking Agricultural Sector: Agriculture now contributes only about 15% to GDP. The international norms imposed by WTO and other multilateral organizations have reduced government support for agriculture. Greater integration of global commodities markets leads to constant fluctuation in prices.

• This has increased the vulnerability of Indian farmers. Farmers are also increasingly dependent on seeds and fertilisers sold by the MNCs.

Globalization does not have any positive impact on agriculture. On the contrary, it has few detrimental effects as the government is always willing to import food grains, sugar etc. Whenever there is a price increase of these commodities.

• Government never thinks to pay more to farmers so that they produce more food grains but resorts to imports. On the other hand, subsidies are declining so the cost of production is increasing. Even farms producing fertilizers have to suffer due to imports. There are also threats like introduction of GM crops, herbicide resistant crops etc.

• Increasing Health-Care costs: Greater interconnections of the world have also led to the increasing susceptibility to diseases. Whether it is the bird-flu virus or Ebola, the diseases have taken a global turn, spreading far and wide. This results in greater investment in the healthcare system to fight such diseases.

• Child Labor: Despite prohibition of child labors by the Indian constitution, over 60 to a 115 million children in India work. While most rural child workers are agricultural laborer’s, urban children work in manufacturing, processing, servicing and repairs. Globalization most directly exploits an estimated 300,000 Indian children who work in India’s hand-knotted carpet industry, which exports over $300 million worth of goods a year. The many effects of globalization of Indian society and has immense multiple aspects on Indian trade, finance, and cultural system. Globalization is associated with rapid changes and significant human societies. The movement of people from rural to urban areas has accelerated, and the growth of cities in the developing world especially is linked to substandard living for many.

Sources: https://www.clearias.com/effects-globalization-indian-society/

Black box : The flight data recorder

Black box first came into widespread use on commercial aircraft after World War 2. It was invented by Australian scientist Dr David Warren in 1958. In 1960, Australia was the 1st country to make Black box mandatory for all commercial aircraft. A black box, technically known as an Electronic Flight Data Recorder, is an orange-coloured heavily protected recording device placed in a flight. Any commercial aircraft is required to be equipped with a Cockpit Voice Recorder(CVR) and a Flight Data Recorder(FDR). It is these two items which we commonly refer to as a Black box. While they do nothing to help the plane when it’s in the air ,it is vitally important if the plane crashes as it helps crash investigators to find out crucial events that led to the crash. They are usually kept at the tail of an aircraft which is likely to survive a crash. It usually takes at least 10-15 days to analyse the data recovered from the black boxes. Black boxes are also used in vehicles other than planes like railways, cars etc.

Parts of the black box :
1. Flight Data Recorder – It keeps the track of every instruction made by the pilots and records things like airspeed, altitude, vertical acceleration and fuel flow.
2.  Cockpit Voice Recorder – It records the conversations in the cockpit and general noises in their vicinity such as audible warnings.

The federal Aviation Audio (FAA) requires them to be able to record 2 hours of audio. The previous requirement was 30 minutes but investigators found that they sometimes needed details from longer period before the crash.

Technology:

• Older black boxes used magnetic tape, a technology that was first introduced in the 1960s. Magnetic tape works like any tape recorder but is no longer in making as it leaves a bit of data on the tape and as airlines begin a full transition to solid-state technology.
• These days, black boxes use solid-state memory boards, which came along in the 1990s. Solid state memory boards are much more reliable than memory tapes as they use stacked arrays of memory chips so they don’t have moving parts. With no moving parts, there are fewer maintenance issues and a decreased chance of something breaking during a crash., and are stronger.
• Data from both the CVR and FDR is stored on stacked memory boards inside Crash-Survivable Memory Units (CSMUs) which are engineered to withstand extreme heat, jarring crashes and tons of pressure.
• To make black boxes discoverable in situations where they are under water, they are equipped with locator Beacons. These broadcast their location by sending out ultrasound signals for upto 30 days even when submerged as deep as 6,000 meters (20,000 feet).

Airplanes are equipped with sensors that gather data. There are sensors that detect acceleration, airspeed, altitude, flap settings, outside temperature, cabin temperature and pressure, engine performance and more. Magnetic-tape recorders can track about 100 parameters, while solid-state recorders can track more than 700 parameters in larger aircraft. All of the data collected by the airplane’s sensors is sent to the flight-data acquisition unit (FDAU) at the front of the aircraft. This device often is found in the electronic equipment bay under the cockpit. The flight-data acquisition unit is the middle manager of the entire data-recording process. It takes the information from the sensors and sends it on to the black boxes.

Black boxes are painted in a bright shade of orange. This coloring makes them far easier to locate amid the potentially considerable devastation of an aircraft’s crash site. It has reflective surfaces to increase their visibility. But their are certain cases like the Malaysian Airlines MH370 flight where they are not found. And they still lack video recording capabilities.

It is being tried to stream all of their essential data directly to a ground-based station in realtime which would eliminate the desperate search for a box that may have been destroyed in a crash, and will be more dependable.

Sources : http://www.iasa.com.au and Dristi IAS.

Preamble : The introductory part of the Constitution

The term Preamble refers to the introduction or preface to the Constitution. It explains the constitution’s philosophy and objectives and the core values and principle of the nation. Preamble to Indian Constitution is based on the Objective Resolution drafted by Jawaharlal Nehru and adopted by the framers of the Constitution.

The preamble basically gives idea of the following things :

• Source of the authority of the constitution – It derives it authority from the people of India.
• Nature of Indian State – It declares India to be sovereign,socialistic, secular, democratic and republican state.
• Statement of its objectives – It specifies justice, liberty, equality to all citizens and fraternity to maintain unity and integrity of the nation as the objectives.
• Date of its adoption – It was adopted on November 26, 1949.

Key terms in Preamble :

1. We, the people of India – It indicates that the power to run the government of India lies in the hands of the people of India. Their views are represented by the members of legislature elected by them.
2. Sovereign – The term refers to India is not governed or controlled by any external power. It has its own independent authority.
3. Socialist –  It refers to mixed economy where both Public and Private sector co-exist side by side. Indian style of socialism is a democratic socialism where both public and private enterprises is encouraged.
4. Secular –  The term implies that there is not a single religion for every indian. They have freedom to follow any religion. All the religions in India get equal respect, protection and support from the state.
5. Democratic – The term implies that the Constitution of India has an established form of Constitution which gets its authority from the will of the people expressed in an election.
6. Republic – It explains that the head of the country, President, is (indirectly) elected by the people.

Objectives of Indian Constitution :

The Constitution is the supreme law and it helps to maintain integrity in the society and to promote unity among the citizens to build a great nation.The main objective of the Indian Constitution is to promote harmony throughout the nation.
The factors which help in achieving this objective are:
• Justice: It is necessary to maintain order in society that is promised through various provisions of Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy provided by the Constitution of India. It comprises three elements, which is social, economic, and political.
1. Social Justice – Social justice means that the Constitution wants to create a society without discrimination on any grounds like caste, creed, gender, religion, etc.
2. Economic Justice – Economic Justice means no discrimination can be caused by people on the basis of their wealth, income, and economic status. Every person must be paid equally for an equal position and all people must get opportunities to earn for their living.
3. Political Justice – Political Justice means all the people have an equal, free and fair right without any discrimination to participate in political opportunities.
• Equality: This term refers to no section of society has any special privileges and all the people have given equal opportunities for everything without any discriminations. Everyone is equal before the law.
• Liberty: This term means freedom for the people to choose their way of life, have political views and behavior in society. Liberty does not mean freedom to do anything, a person can do anything but in the limit set by the law.
• Fraternity: It means a feeling of brotherhood and an emotional attachment with the country and all the people. Fraternity helps to promote dignity and unity in the nation.

The Preamble of the Constitution is considered as part of the Constitution. The Preamble is not the supreme power or source of any restriction or prohibition but it plays an important role in the interpretation of statutes and provisions of the Constitution. So, it can be concluded that preamble is part of the introductory part of the Constitution but is not directly enforceable in a court of justice in India.
Amendment of the Preamble :
The preamble is only amended once through the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976. The term ‘Socialist’, ‘Secular’, and ‘Integrity’ were added to the preamble through 42nd Amendment Act, 1976.As a part of the Constitution, Preamble can be amended under Article 368 of the Constitution, but the basic structure of the preamble can not be amended.

Sources : The Hindu, Insights on India and Dristi IAS

Preamble is the soul of our constitution, which lays down the pattern of our political society. It contains a solemn resolve, which nothing but a revolution can alter’- Former Chief Justice of India, M Hidayatullah

Doing Yoga will not lead to serious disease

Today, entire nation is celebrating international yoga day. This day was considered such a long day.Yoga keeps our body full of energy and this keeps our colour and mind in a Normal control over the body.It makes the person active and body remains flexible.

First time, this day was celebrated on 21 June 2015 whose initiative was done by honourable PM Narendra Modi on 27 September 2014 in United Nation General Assembly during his speech he said-. “Yoga is an invaluable gift from the ancient tradition of India; it symbolizes the unity of mind and body; harmony between man and nature; thought, moderation and fulfillment; and a holistic approach to health and well-being.” It is not about exercise, but a sense of oneness within ourselves, discovering the world and nature. By becoming a consciousness in our changing lifestyles, it can help us deal with climate change. So Let’s work towards adopting an International Yoga Day.”

In 2011, the international humanistic meditation and yoga shri shri Ravishankar and it’s other mentors has representative of the confedaration of Portuguese industry and supported and tell the world to do yog together on the occasion of international yoga day which was held on 21 June and give suggestions to united nations to be announced soon.

Impact of Yoga in our life- Practicing yoga develops physical health.- It develops mental health.- It develops social health.- It develops spiritual health.- It helps in our self-realisation, etc.Yoga at the physical level comprises several postures or asanas to keep the body healthy. The mental techniques in Yoga include breathing exercises or pranayama and meditation to discipline the mind.

Governmental planning for Yoga Day 2022-

Minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi will be at the Fatehpur Sikri in Uttar Pradesh whereas Giriraj Singh will be at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar. Minister for State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal will be in Jaipur, Minister of State for external affairs V Muraleedharan will be at the Padmanabhava Temple in Kerala, MOS Road and Transport VK Singh will be at the Kochi Fort.Minister for State for Defence Ajay Bhatt will be at the Wagah border. Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh will be in Jammu and MOS Health Bharati Pawar will be at the Martand Sun Temple at Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir. It was during his speech at the Keeping the overarching theme of the 75 years of India’s independence the Ministry for Ayush has identified 75 locations for Union Ministers to participate in the Yoga Day celebration. While Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will be joining the Prime Minister from Mysore, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be performing yoga at the IAF base in Coimbatore.Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be performing Yoga in Delhi. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be present at Purana Qila in Delhi whereas Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri will be present at iconic red fort. Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy will join the Yoga celebrations from the Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabad whereas Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur will be present in Hamirpur.Law Minister Kiren Rijiju will be performing yoga at Dong village in Arunachal Pradesh whereas Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey will join the Yoga celebrations From the iconic Puri Beach.Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will be present at the Sun Temple in Konark in Odisha whereas Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be at Jantar Mantar in the national capital.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will be at the Marine Drive in Mumbai whereas Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will be at the statue of unity in Kevadia Gujrat Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi will be in Hampi while Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will be at the Gwalior Fort. Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari will be at the Zero Milestone .

This year PM Narendra Modi rejoins all the ministers on the occasion of international yoga day 2022.

Soon to be launched in India-“5G”-

In the silver jubilee celebrations of telecom regulatory, PM Narendra Modi said that 5G testbed is an important step for reliance in direction of critical & modern technologies.

It is a new global wireless standard after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks. 5G enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices.5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users. Higher performance and improved efficiency empower new user experiences and connects new industries.

The Department of Telecommunications (DOT) has confirmed that 5G services will be launched in India this year.

Broadly speaking, 5G is used across three main types of connected services, including enhanced mobile broadband, communication, and the massive lot. A defining capability of 5G is that it is designed for forward compatibility the ability to flexibly support future services that are unknown today. Enhanced mobile Broadband addition to making our smartphones better, 5G mobile technology can usher in new immersive experiences such as VR and AR with faster, more uniform data rates, lower latency, and lower cost-per-bit.Mission-critical communications 5G can enable new services that can transform industries with ultra-reliable, available, low-latency links like remote control of critical infrastructure, vehicles, and medical procedures.

wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users. Higher performance and improved efficiency empower new user experiences and connects new industries.

High Speed works faster on mobile phones and other devices when compared to 4G and 4G LTE. It allows users to download movies, videos, and music in seconds as opposed to minutes. The network has 20 Gbps speed enabling organizations to use the same for services such as automation, advanced web conferencing, etc. A recent survey says that consumers who used 5G saved nearly 23 hours per day in the downloading process.2. Low Latency has low latency when compared to 4G that will support new applications such as Al, IoT, and virtual reality efficiently. Not only that, it enables mobile phone users to open a webpage and browse things without any hassles. Another thing is it gives ways to access the internet anytime when looking for some important information Increased capacity. Increased capacity

It has the capacity to deliver up to 100 times more capacity than 4G. It allows companies to switch between cellular and Wi-Fi wireless strategies that will help a lot to experience better performance. Apart from that, it provides methods to access the internet with high efficiency. More Bandwidth of the main advantages of 5G is that it increases more bandwidth that will help transfer the data as soon as possible. Furthermore, mobile phone users can ensure a faster connection with more bandwidth after choosing a 5G network.5. Powering innovation↑5G technology is the perfect choice for connecting with a whole range of different devices including drones and sensors.

The government need to take precautions while launching 5G because it also gives harmful impact on animas and radiation in the environment.

Inflation

Inflation refers to the rise in the prices of goods and services like food, clothing, petrol, housing, transport, etc. over a period of time. When there is rise in Inflation rate, purchasing power of money decreases,i.e. same amount of goods will be purchased in higher prices. When there is fall in the price index of the items, the purchasing power of the money increases this is called deflation. A certain level of inflation is required in the economy to promote expenditure and to demotivate hoarding money through savings. The optimum level of inflation will nurture economic growth.

Types of Inflation :

1.Demand Pull Inflation : An increase in the supply of money and credits stimulates the overall demand for goods and services. The demand increases more rapidly than the economic’s production capacity. This increasing demand creates demand-supply gap as there is not the supply of products as per demand, leading increase in prices.
2.Cost Push Inflation : Demands of the  goods and services remains constant but there is increase in their prices. There are several factors affecting this pricing of goods like depletion of resources,  monopoly over market , government taxation, change in exchange rate,etc. For example, sudden increase in prices of tomatoes, onions etc. due to poor harvest, crude oil fluctuations,etc.
3.Built-in Inflation : It evolves from the past events and continues to affect the economy of the country. We often get to see blue collar worker’s protest for higher pay scales.

Causes of Inflation :

• Increase in supply of money in the market beyond a certain limit reduces the value of currency.
• Increase in prices of imported products.
• High demand and low supply of products leads to hike in price.
• People with more money tends to spend more causing increase in demands.
• Low growth of agricultural products leads to decrease in agricultural prices causes rise in price of goods through reduced supply.

Impact of Inflation :

• It causes loss of purchasing power of the money. It impacts the general cost of living as now people have the constant wages but have to buy less amount of daily products due to hike in price which ultimately leads to deceleration of economic growth.
• It reduces savings as substantial amount of income is spent on daily consumables due to increased costs.
• It also leads to consumers hoarding goods in fear of further increase in prices leading more shortage of supply and exponential increase in price.

“A New Virus Is Found In Animals-“

According to reports, the disease has been found in several Indian states like Assam, Odissa, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh etc. It is an infectious disease in cattle caused by a virus of the family Poxviridae also known as needling virus. This disease is spread over by fever, enlarged lymph nodes & multiple nodules on skin and mucous membranes.

It was first seen as epidemic in lambia in 1929. Intially it was thought to be result of either poisoning or hypersensitivity to insect bites, also in 1943& 1945 in Botswana, Zimbabwe & now in Pakistan.

Symptoms-

Infected cattle develop fever, lacrimation, nasal discharge and hypersalivation, followed by the characteristics eruptions on the skin and other parts of the body in 50% of cattle. Incubation period is 4-14days. Clinical findings of lumpy skin disease in cattle-. The nodules are well circumscribed, round,slightly raised, firm, and painful and involve the entire cutis and the mucosa of the GI, respiratory, and genital tracts. Nodules may develop on the muzzle and within the nasal and buccal mucous membranes. The skin nodules contain a firm, creamy-gray or yellow mass of tissue. Regional lymph nodes are swollen, and edema develops in the udder, brisket, and legs. Secondary infection sometimes occurs and causes extensive suppuration and sloughing; as a result, the animal may become extremely emaciated, and euthanasia may be warranted. In time, the nodules either regress, or necrosis of the skin results in hard, raised areas (“sit-fasts”) clearly separated from the surrounding skin. These areas slough to leave ulcers, which heal and scar.

Treatment and Prevention of Lumpy skin disease in Cattle-. Attenuated virus vaccines may help control spread of lumpy skin disease in recent years beyond its ancestral home of Africa is alarming. Quarantine restrictions have proved to be of limited use. Vaccination with attenuated virus offers the most promising method of control and was effective in halting the spread of the disease in the Balkans.Administration of antibiotics to control secondary infection and good nursing care are recommended, but the large number of affected animals within a herd may preclude treatment.

Lumpy skin disease is now occurred at regional problem that requires high level of awareness at technical and political level. Government need to take strict action against the disease .

Indian Farming – Protest Against Farmers Act

Indian Farmers Act Protest 2020 – 2021

In the years of 2020 to 2021, there was a battle raging over just how free market India’s economy should become. In September 2020 the Parliament of India had passed three farm acts. India has seen largest farmer protest of the modern history, where, tens of thousands of farmers across the country were demanding, that the government should revoke this series of reforms that will change India’s agricultural sector.

Agriculture and allied sectors by far are the largest employer in India providing employment to more than 50% of the population and accounting for 17.5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). India is the world’s largest producer of many fresh fruits, spices, jute, oil seeds and food staples like, rice or wheat. For decades, the government has shielded farmers from the free market by providing price supports on some crops, running wholesale markets where farmers can sell their goods on Minimum Selling Price (MSP), and rounding up buyers to guarantee sales. But when, the government planned to take a step back, with the hopes that the free market will boost an industry that has stagnated over time, farmers fear they’ll get the raw end of the deal, even if the free market helps the overall economy.

History of Agriculture in India

Agriculture has been an integral part of the Indian Economy, both in before and after Independence periods of India. In the Colonial British Era, agriculture was the only means of subsistence, as more than 85% of the Indian population was dependent on agriculture. Majority Indian peasants lived in poor conditions, due to scarcity of agricultural resources, dependency on unpredictable Monsoons for irrigation, Zamindari System and the taxes imposed by British Raj. This period is marked by several farmer protests in different parts of the country.

After independence, India adopted significant policy reforms in the National Five Year Plans, focusing on the goal of food grain self-sufficiency. It began with Several land reforms, adopting superior yielding, disease resistant crop varieties in combination with better farming knowledge and mechanization to improve productivity. A well-planned irrigation infrastructure was developed, that included a network of major and minor canals from rivers, groundwater well-based systems, tanks, and other rainwater harvesting projects for agricultural activities. This ushered in India’s Green Revolution. The states of Punjab and Haryana, led India’s green revolution and earned the distinction of being the country’s breadbasket.

The Farm Acts

  1. Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020
    1. expands the scope of trade areas of farmers’ produce from select areas to “any place of production, collection, aggregation”.
    1. allows electronic trading and e-commerce of scheduled farmers’ produce.
    1. prohibits state governments from levying any market fee, cess, or levy on farmers, traders, and electronic trading platforms for the trade of farmers’ produce conducted in an ‘outside trade area’.
  2. Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020
    1. provides a legal framework for farmers to enter into pre-arranged contracts with buyers including mention of pricing.
    1. defines a dispute resolution mechanism.
  3. Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020
    1. removes foodstuff such as cereals, pulses, potato, onions, edible oilseeds, and oils, from the list of essential commodities, removing stockholding limits on agricultural items produced by Horticulture techniques except under “extraordinary circumstances”
    1. requires that imposition of any stock limit on agricultural produce only occur if there is a steep price rise.

Farmers Protest

Soon after the acts were introduced, unions began holding local protests, mostly in Punjab and Haryana. The methods of protest were Gherao, Dharna, Raasta roko, Demonstration, Suicide. A movement named Dili Chalo began, in which tens of thousands of farming union members marched towards the nation’s capital. The Indian government ordered the police and law enforcement of various states to stop the protesters using water cannons, batons, and tear gas to prevent the farmer unions from entering into Delhi. Various domestic and international NGOs supported the protesters by providing temporary shelters, food and healthcare services. Numerous deaths and fatalities were caused during the protest. All talks between farmers and central government to agree on common grounds remain inconclusive. The Supreme Court of India put a stay on the implementation of the farm laws in January 2021. Farmer leaders cheered and welcomed the stay order

End of the Protests

In late November 2021 the Modi administrators finally repealed the All three farm bills. Hundreds of farmers danced and celebrated the victory, they began removing roadblocks and dismantling thousands of makeshift homes along major highways. The protest was finally declared to be over and the farmers started returning to their homes happily.

CAATSA

The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is a US federal law, enacted on 27th July, 2017 and came into effect from January 2018, that has imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia. This act prevents trade partners of the United States in entering into bilateral contracts with these three nations. The Act empowers the US President to impose at least five of the 12 listed sanctions on persons engaged in a significant transaction with Russian defence and intelligence sectors. Its ultimate goal is to prevent revenue from flowing to the Russian Government. The Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), aims at taking punitive measures against Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The Act primarily deals with sanctions on the Russian oil and gas industry, defenceand security sector, and financial institutions, in the backdrop of its military intervention in Ukraine and its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections.

Background of CAATSA :

The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act came against the backdrop of three events that would have serious implications regarding geopolitics. They are as follows:
• Iran’s Nuclear Missiles Program: The United States Government believed that any progress in Iran’s nuclear missile program would further destabilize the Middle-East as Iran has repeatedly made threats against Israel, a key NATO and United States ally. The CAATSA gives authority to the President of the United States to impose sanctions against any party involved in the sale and transfer of military technology to Iran.
• Curbing Russian influence: The Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and allegations of interventions in the US polls of 2016 was the catalyst for the CAATSA against Russia. Under the act sanctions can be imposed on Russia should the state or private individuals be found involved in activities such as cybersecurity, crude oil projects,  financial institutions, corruption,  human rights abuses etc.
• North Korea and weapons of mass destruction: North Korea has a nuclear weapons military program and as of 2020 it’s estimated missile arsenal includes 30-40 warheads with enough fissile materials to produce 6-7 missiles per year. North Korea has made repeated threats against its South Korea repeatedly and also against the United States.

Types of Sanctions:
The CAATSA contains 12 types of sanctions. There areonly two sanctions that may impact either India-Russia relations or India-US relations.
• Prohibition of Banking transactions: It is likely to have an impact on India-Russia relations.This would mean difficulties for India in making payments in US Dollars to Russia for the purchase of the S-400 systems.
• Export Sanction: The second sanction will have greater consequences for India-US relations. It has the potential to completely derail the India-US Strategic and Defence partnership, as it will deny the license for, and export of, any items controlled by the US.

India’s Concerns :

Seventy per cent of Indian military hardware is Russian in origin. While the US has become its second-largest defence supplier, mainly of aircraft and artillery, India still relies heavily on Russian equipment, such as submarines and missiles that the US has been unwilling to provide. The USA President was given the authority in 2018 to waive CAATSA sanctions on a case by case basis. A waiver of such CAATSA for India has been under consideration since the law had come into force. In fact, India was threatened with sanctions when it decided to buy the S-400 missile launchers from Russia and buy crude oil from Iran. What is also worrying for India is the example of Turkey who, despite being a key NATO ally, was expelled from the US F-35 fighter jet programme when it purchased S-400 missile systems from Russia. Yet India went ahead with the S-400 deal in 2018 with no negative reaction from the United States government. The delivery of the S-400s is expected to finish by 2025. However, the USA has repeatedly stated that India should not assume it will get a waiver. Now India could also face USA sanctions for purchasing the S-400 Triumf missile defense system from Russia under the CAATSA. If implemented stringently, CAATSA would impact Indian defence procurement from Russia. Lately, the United States Government has stated that although a waiver is not possible at this time, a blanket application of sanctions against India for its defence contracts with Russia is also not being considered. India stopped importing oil from Iran in mid-2019 following sanctions on the Persian Gulf nation by the Trump administration.Iran in 2017-18 was its third-largest supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia and met about 10% of total needs.Iran getting closer to China is also a serious concern for India.

India needs to balance its relation with both Russia and USA, so that its national interest is not compromised. Russia always saw India as a balancer that’s why Russia facilitated India’s inclusion into Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and formation of Russia-India-China (RIC) grouping.The defence procurement for India has become significant amid deadly clashes with China on Line of Actual Control (LAC). Further, Russia is an all weather defence partner of India.India today is in a unique position to have a favourable relation with all great powers.It needs to develop closer ties with the United States, which could balance any moves towards a strategic partnership between China and Russia. Thus, India must leverage this position to help in building a peaceful world order.

Sources : The Hindu and Drishti IAS

Another COVID-19 Pill-” Paxlovid”

Pfizer announced its investigational novel COVID-19 oral antiviral medicine , Paxlovid reduced hospitalization & death. The adminstration has also arranged to purchase 20 million corses of drug. It will be manufactured & distributed to pharmacies in weeks & months.

It is orally bioavailable drug used against HIV that is active against M*pro, a viral drug that play an essential role in viral replication by leaving the 2 viral polyproteins . It has demonstrated antiviral activity against all coronavirus that are known to infect humans. It is ritonavir , a strong cytochrome P450 ( CYP) 3 A4 drug and boosting agent that has been used to boost HIV . How may tablet are needed? After it is prescribed, Paxlovid is administered as three tablets taken together orally twice daily for five days, for a total of 30 tablets. What are the side effects? Possible side effects of Paxlovid include impaired sense of taste, diarrhea, high blood pressure and muscle aches, says the FDA. Using Paxlovid at the same time as certain other drugs may result in “potentially significant drug interactions.” Consult with your doctor. Using Paxlovid in people with uncontrolled or undiagnosed HIV-1 infection may lead to HIV-1 drug resistance, the FDA said. How did Paxlovid performed in clinical studies? Paxlovid significantly reduced the number of hospitalization or death from COVID-19 by 88 percent, compared to placebo among patients treated within five days of symptom onset and who did not receive COVID-19 therapeutic monoclonal antibody treatment.

It is developed by Pfizer and can be taken at home to help keep high- risk patients from getting so sick that they need to be hospitalized.

According to Kaiser health information it not always easy to find a prescription; one individuals told that RPR that it took an usual amount of knowledge and connections.

The medication company named Pfizer is taken a stepping towards vaccine named “Paxlovid” to reduce hospitalization and may offer to India at lower prices.

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

The OIC is the second largest intergovernmental organisation after the United Nations with a membership of 57 states. It is the collective voice of the Muslim world.These are countries with Islam as the state religion, but also those in which Muslims form the majority of the population. Occasionally, members would also be admitted in which Muslims are only a minority but play a significant role for the country.The OIC’s 57 current members are located primarily in North Africa, the Near East, and South Asia. Together they cover an area of 31.66 m km² with a population of about 1.89 bn. This corresponds to about 24.35% of the world’s population.

The organisation of Islamic Cooperation was established by First Islamic Summit Conference held in Morocco in September 1969 , to marshal the Islamic world after an act of arson at the Aqsa Mosque in Jersualem by a 28 year old Australian in 1969.Its headquarters is in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The organisation plans to permanently move its headquarters to East Jerusalem once the disputed city is liberated. It aspires to hold Israel accountable for war crimes and violations of international laws.

Objective of the OIC :

The main objective of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation is to promote cooperation between Muslim states in the fields of culture, science, social cooperation and the economy. It endeavors to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world , prevent growing dissention in muslim societies and work to ensure that member states take united stand at UN General Assembly, Human Rights council and other international fora. An essential part of its work is also the protection of the Islamic faith and the holy sites. It has consultative and cooperative relation with UN and other intergovernmental organisation to protect the interests of Muslims and settle conflicts and disputes involving member states eg. , territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

OIC Functioning :

The membership is to be ratified with full consensus at the OIC’s Council of Foreign Ministers. UN members with a Muslim majority can join the organization. All decision-making in the forum requires a quorum defined by the presence of two-thirds of the member states and complete consensus.In case a consensus cannot be reached, decisions shall be made by a two-thirds majority of members present and voting.The Council of Foreign Ministers is the chief decision-making body and meets annually to decide on how to implement the OIC’s general policies. The OIC is financed by the member states proportionate to their national incomes.Islamic Summit is the supreme authority of the organisation.Convening every three years, Islamic Summit deliberates, takes policy decisions, provides guidance on issues relevant to the organisation and considers issues of concern to the member states.

Status of India’s relationship with OIC as an organisation :

Islam is the second-largest religion in India after Hinduism, with over 200 million Muslims making up approximately 15% of the country’s total population.India has the largest Muslim population outside of Muslim-majority or Islamic states. However, India’s relationship with Pakistan, the latter being an Islamic state, has been riddled with hostilities and armed conflict since the 1947 Partition of India. The poor relationship between the two states has had a direct impact on India–OIC relations due to Pakistan’s status as a founding member of the organization. India has pushed for the OIC to accept it as a member state, arguing that Indian Muslims comprise 11% of the world’s total Muslim population; Pakistan has staunchly opposed the entry of India into the organization.Pakistan has cited its conflict with India over the Kashmir region as the reason for its opposition, and frequently accuses India of perpetrating widespread human rights abuses against Kashmiris in the Indian-administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which has witnessed an ongoing militant uprising since the 1980s.The OIC has been urged to press India on the Kashmir dispute, and has faced pushback from Indian officials for occasional references to Jammu and Kashmir as territory that is militarily occupied by India. The Muslim world has largely lent its support to Pakistan over India during any armed conflicts between the two states.

Criticism of the  OIC :

• Prioritise Rights of Muslim Minorities: The OIC had become a premise for ‘window dressing’, more interested in the rights of Muslim minorities in places such as Palestine or Myanmar than the human rights violations of its member states.

• Incompetent at investigating Human Rights Violations: Thebody lacks power and resources to investigate human rights violations or enforce its decisions through signed treaties and declarations.

• Centred around Quranic Values: The organisation is largely restricted toarbitrating in conflicts where both parties are Muslims.This is because the organisation is centred around Quranic values which believes to make it a qualified arbitrator.

• Failed to Establish a Cooperative Venture: The OIC has failed to establish a cooperative venture among its members, who were either capital-rich and labour-scarce countries or manpower-rich and capital scarce.The organization has not evolved to become a significant player either in international politics or in the area of economic cooperation.

Sources : The Hindu, The Indian Express and Drishti IAS

Scientists dicovered “Fast Radio Burst”-

According to radio astronomy, a fast radio burst is transient radio pulse of length ranging from fraction of millisecond to few milliseconds. Astronomers detected a signal from galaxy believed to a nearly 3 billion light years away called fast radio burst. This radio burst is said to be “co-located with compact , persistent radio source with dwarf host galaxy of high specific star- formation”.

It estimate the average FRB releases much energy in millisecond as sun put out in 3 days.The first FRB was discovered by Ducan Loriner and his student David Warkenic in 2007 when they were looking through archieval pulsar survey data, and it is therefore commonly referred to as the Loriner . Only a handful of emissions have been traced to specific areas of the sky, most indicating sources in other galaxies.In 2020, a source within the Milky Way – most likely belonging to a type of neutron star called a magnetar – was confirmed to be a fast radio burst emitter.The flash of radio waves is incredibly bright, if distant, comparable to the power released by hundreds of millions of suns in just a few milliseconds. This intensity suggests powerful objects like black holes and neutron stars could be involved, with highly dense bodies such as magnetars and pulsars as likely culprits.The events were once considered to be largely transient – they seemed to happen once, without obvious signs of a repeat emission. In fact, it was only in 2016 that astronomers found any evidence of multiple bursts from the Locate the perfect prospect with real-time Linked in Sales Navigator.

The events were once considered to be largely transient – they seemed to happen once, without obvious signs of a repeat emission. In fact, it was only in 2016 that astronomers found any evidence of multiple bursts from the same source.A number of ‘repeaters’ have been identified since then, with some researchers venturing that many, if not all FRB sources could routinely emit bursts in sequences too difficult to detect using current instruments. This hypothesis was supported when that a FRB observed three years previously had since repeated faintly on two more recent occasions scientists reported . Shortly after this report, astronomers with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) Collaboration published findings of the first FRB we know of that’s repeating in a distinct pattern. The FRB has a predictable pattern of hourly activity over the course of four days, followed by 12 days of quiet.With much still to learn about FRB, their mechanism is one of the biggest mysteries in modern astronomy.

India-Iran relations

India-Iran ties are shaped around energy, Central Asia and security. These are currently being influenced by hostile relations between the US and Iran. The US has imposed sanctions against Iran in response to the Iranian nuclear program and Iranian support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestine Islamic Jihad, that are considered terrorist organizations by the US. The US has recently imposed sanctions through the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which imposes unilateral sanctions against Iran, Russia and North Korea.

Iran’s economy is largely dependent on its oil exports; with the sanctions in place, the country is cut off from its main source of revenue. India has steadily cut imports from Iran as sanctions from the US and other Western countries blocked payment channels and crippled shipment routes. To offset the reduction in Iranian oil imports, India has turned to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Azerbaijan, which have sufficient crude capacity to replace Iranian crude oil imports.

Iran is a geopolitical entity in its own right. Iran has borders with a large number of countries that India could not access because of the barrier that Pakistan posed to India’s overland connectivity plans. India’s relationship with Iran has been built carefully and thoughtfully by all past governments as Iran for India is not just an energy supplier from the Persian Gulf regions. Infrastructure building activities in Afghanistan are done with support from Iran. India is worried about the situation in Afghanistan because of the larger national security concern attached to the region : Possibility of dominance by Taliban, Rise of extremist threats to India, Pakistani influence and Strategic encirclement by China. Afghanistan is particularly important for both India and China as there is a possibility of a power vacuum in the country after the US’ withdrawal. So, Iran is vital for India to secure its interest in Afghanistan and Central Asia as it can connect India to these regions.

Iran’s Chabahar port is vital for India’s geopolitical and economic interests in West Asia, Afghanistan and Central Asia, which is a part of India’s extended neighbourhood.The trade and transit corridor allows India to access these regions over land by bypassing Pakistan.The significance of this port has risen in recent years because of China’s bid to increase its influence in India’s immediate and extended neighbourhood via BRI and ‘cheque book’ diplomacy and investments in ports like Gwadar.Chabahar’s location as a gateway to the Indian Ocean makes it ideal and lucrative regional shipping hub.It offers India a geopolitical vantage point from which it can keep an eye on Pakistan’s Gwadar port. Located barely 90 km away, Gwadar port is being developed by China as the pivot of its investment in Pakistan and a key juncture in its ambitious BRI. Iran recently announced that it would initiate work on a crucial rail link between Zahedan and Chabahar Port alone. India had earlier committed to jointly develop the rail track in 2016. Iran justified this move by stating funding delays from India.India’s External Affairs Ministry clarified that it had been left to Tehran to nominate an authorised entity to finalise outstanding issues – technical and financial – after the meeting between two sides in December 2019 to review the railway project.India being kicked out of this important project may be due to India’s close ties with the US and China’s growing influence in Iran, which is facing increasing economic crisis because of sanctions.

India’s relations with Iran are often under duress due to US pressure and sanctions that are blocking legitimate financial highways to and from Iran.India is facing difficulties in balancing its relations with Iran and US as most suppliers for projects in the sanction-hit country fear their names featuring in US blacklists.It is also forced to take sides with the US despite numerous issues because it is facing an almost-war like the situation with China in Ladakh.The US is motivated primarily to protect its own interests in India and India’s neighbourhood, with little to benefit for India.Yet, India seems to be reluctant to improve its ties with Iran after the US’ withdrawal from the nuclear deal. This convinced Iran that India would not collaborate to its needs to counter the US sanctions.This makes an alliance with China more advantageous, though Beijing would not endanger its already tense relations with the US.

Iran knows the risk of close ties with China and is wary about it. However, it has a limited choice as US’ aggressive foreign policies has isolated it from the world and crippled its economy. Iran is against India’s decision to abrogate Article 370 and 35A.It has called on India and Pakistan to show restraint and prevent the killing of innocent Kashmiris, revealing possible close ties between Pakistan and Iran.Iran also voiced against extremist Hindus and their parties during the 2020 Delhi riots.Apart from these issues, Iran also sidelined India’s ONGC from exploration rights at its Farzad B Gas field, stating that it will engage the company at a later date.

As India is treading a fine line in balancing relations with the US, China and Iran while striving to augment its political influence in West Asia, embracing one country over the other is not an option for India.Therefore, a multilateral foreign policy is a way forward.India must retain its involvement in the Chabahar port development because of the geostrategic significance. In the immediate term, India should improve its multi-alignment credentials to absorb investments into the port projects from the public and private sector, boost maritime cooperation among littoral countries to enhance the transit of goods, and foster regional partnership for the Chabahar port development.Based on the mutual geostrategic and energy interests, India could collaborate with Japan under the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor.Japan’s participation would enhance the multilateral characteristics of the transit hub in the region, unlike the China-owned Gwadar port. This will further enhance multilateral investments to solidify regional economic partnerships that enable the sustainability of the port. In conclusion, India-Iran relations are economically and geostrategically important for New Delhi. A new multilateral foreign policy strategy is vital for India to maintain strategic autonomy that favours inclusive growth and national interests.

Sources: The Hindu, The Indian Express , The diplomat and IAS express.

“Education”-A Weapon For Developing Nation

The process of receiving or giving an sysmatic instruction, especially at a school or university. Education originated as transmission of cultural heritage from one generation to the next.

The formal education is usually in school, where a person may learn basic, academic, or trade skills. Small children often attend a nursery or kindergarden but often formal education begins in elementary school & continuous with secondary school.

Types of Education- Formal education- This is also known as formal learning which usually takes place within the premises of the school. It refers to the basic academic knowledge that a child learns in a formal manner.This continues from an elementary school to secondary school and further on to colleges. Such an education is provided by specially qualified teachers who are efficient enough with the art of instruction.The student and the teacher are both aware of the facts and engage themselves through a process of education. Some of the examples formal education are classroom lea Institute grading/certification, or planned education of different subjects with a proper syllabus acquired by attending an institution.

Informal education-This is the type of education wherein a parent is teaching a child things that are beyond academics like preparing a meal or riding a bicycle.People can also get informal education through books or educational websites. This is an education that is not derived in schools through a proper learning method. It is not pre-planned nor deliberate.It is an experience that an individual garners by undergoing regular pra and observing others. Some of the examples may be teaching a child witn some basic personality traits, learning a mother tongue, performing certain extracurricular activities, etc. Non-formal education – It refers to adult basic education, adult literacy education, or skill development. It can take different forms of learning, which is consistently and systematically provided in order to develop a particular skill or ability in an individual.This type of education is highly flexible and includes a wide range of activities. Some of the examples may be fitness programs, community-based adult education courses, and free course different platforms. Splato’s academy, mosaic from Pompeii Education began in prehistory, as adults trained the young in the knowledge and skills deemed necessary in their society. In pre literate societies, this was achieved orally and through imitation. Story-telling passed knowledge, values, and skills from one generation to the next. As cultures began to extend their knowledge beyond skills that could be readily learned through imitation, formal education developed. Schools existed in Egypt at the time of the Middle Kingdom. Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi in the Chinese edition of Euclid’s Elements published in 1607.

Chinese edition of Euclid’s Elements published in 1607Plato founded the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in Europe. The city of Alexandria in Egypt, established in 330 BC, became the successor to Athens as the intellectual cradle of Ancient Greece. There, the great Library of Alexandria was built in the 3rd century BC. European civilizations suffered a collapse of literacy and organization following the fall of Rome in CE 476.In China, Confucius (551-479 BC), of the State of Lu, was the country’s most influential ancient philosopher, whose educational outlook continues to influence the societies of China and neighbours like Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Confucius gathered disciples and searched in vain for a ruler who would adopt his ideals for good governance, but his Analects were written down by followers and have continued to influence education in East Asia into the modern era. The Aztecs had schools for the noble youths called Calmecac where they would receive rigorous religious and mi The Aztecs had schools for the noble youths called Calmecac where they would receive rigorous religious and military training. The Aztecs also had a well-developed theory about education, which has an equivalent word in Nahuatl called tlacahuapahualiztli. It means “the art of raising or educating a person”,or “the art of strengthening or bringing up men”. This was a broad conceptualization of education, which prescribed that it begins at home, supported by formal schooling, and reinforced by community living. Historians cite that formal education was mandatory for everyone regardless of social class and gender. There was also the word neixtlamachiliztli , which is “the act of giving wisdom to the face. These concepts underscore a complex set of educational practices, which was oriented towards communicating to the next generation the experience and intellectual heritage of the past for the purpose of individual development and his integration into the community.After the Fall of Rome, the Catholic Church became the sole preserver of literate scholarship in Western Eurono.

Elsewhere during the Middle Ages, Islamic science and mathematics flourished under the Islamic caliphate which was established across the Middle East, extending from the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Indus in the east and to the Almoravid Dynasty and Mali Empire in the south.The Renaissance in Europe ushered in a new age of scientific and intellectual inquiry and appreciation of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Around 1450, Johannes Gutenberg developed a printing press, which allowed works of literature to spread more quickly. The European Age of Empires saw European ideas of education in philosophy, religion, arts and sciences spread out across the globe. Missionaries and scholars also brought back new ideas from other civilizations – as with the Jesuit China missions who porgmissio s who played a significant role in the transmission of knowledge, science, and culture between China and Europe, translating works from Europe like Euclid’s Elements for Chinese scholars and the thoughts of Confucius for European audiences. The Enlightenment saw the emergence of a more secular educational outlook in Europe. Much of modern traditional Western and Eastern education is based on the Prussian education system.In most countries today, full-time education, whether at school or otherwise, is compulsory for all children up to a certain age. Due to this the proliferation of compulsory education, combined with population growth, UNESCO has calculated that in the next 30 years more people will receive formal education than in all Education . Importance of Education- It helps a person to get knowledge and improve confidence in life. It can help you improve in your career and your personal growth. An educated person can become a great citizen in society. It helps you to take the right decisions in life.The modern, developed and industrialised world is running on the wheels of education. To be able to survive in the competitive world, we all need education as a torch that leads the way. Mentioned below are the various features of education which outline the importance of education in human life. Safety Against Crime: The chances often educated person getting involved in crime or criminal acts are very low. An educated person is well aware of his/ her surroundings and is less susceptible to getting cheated or be fooled Women Empowerment: The empowerment of women is an essential and important pillar to optimize the good functioning .

Women Empowerment: The empowerment of women is an essential and important pillar to optimize the good functioning of our society and nation as a whole. We can break old customs like child marriage, sati, dowry, etc only by educating the men and women of our nation. The fundamental right of Right to Freedom and Expression can only be achieved if the women of our country are educated and empowered. We can win the fight against the many social evils. Removing Poverty: Education is pivotal in removing our poverty from our society and our country. The clutches of poverty are very harsh and one of the main factors behind all the problems of our society. If a person if well educated, he/she can get a good job and earn money to sustain his/her family Preventing War and Terrorism: Education teaches everyone the importance of peace and Brother, the importance of staving united and Talk to a expert.

Preventing War and Terrorism:Education teaches everyone the importance of peace and brotherhood. The importance of staying united and spreading love is the need of the hour. To achieve world peace and prevent war and terrorism, education is important. Maintaining Law and Order: A good political ideology can only be developed if the citizens of our country are educated and taught the importance of following and respecting the law and order of our country. Law abiding citizens contribute majorly in improving and sustaining the law and order of the country and the world.Importance of Education for a Country below are the reasons why education is important for our country, as well as any country in the world.Citizens of a country understand true potential through the means of Talk to an expert.

Education is always remains the backbone of the nation and the government also made changes in education policy 2020 for development of the country.

The origin of “monkey pox”-

The monkeypox is a rare and dangerous viral disease which is found in Europe and US, has raised red flags in several countries. It is rare, usually mild infection as it is contaminated from infected wild animals in Africa.

It was discovered in 1958 when two- pox like outbreaks occurred in colonies of monkey kept for research, thus leading in its name says US centres for disease controla and prevention (CDC).

It is caused by monkeypox virsuses, a type of orthopoxvirus.One of two types in humans the one is African type causes a less severe disease than central African type.This may be spread from handling bushmeat, animal bites or scratches, body fluids, contaminated objects or other than less contact with infected persons.

Symptoms-. It includes headache, muscle pains ,fever and fatigue.It may intially appar like flu.

It can resemble an chickenpox, measles and smallpox, but it is distinguished by presence of swollen glands.

They appear behind the ear, below the jaw, in neck or in groin before onset of rash.

Many cases in 2022 monkeypox an outbreak presented with genital and penianal lesions, fever , swollen lymph.

How To Prevent-

Smallpox vaccine has been reported to reduce risk of monkeypox among previously vaccinated person in Africa.

The (CDC) recommends that person who investigating monkeypox outbreak and involved in caring for infected persons should receive smallpox vaccination.

The (CDC) does not recommends pre- exposure vaccination for unexposed veterinarian, veterinary staff, or animal control officers.

The( CDC) recommends that healthcare providers done a full set of personal protective equipment.

The disease is rare and dangerous so the people must be aware of the infection and should be vaccinated timely to avoid the chance to get infected.

CAG : Chief guardian of public purse

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India is the Constitutional and Independent Authority in India, established under Article 148 of the Constitution of India.
He is the head of the Indian audit as they are authorized to audit all receipts and expenditure of government of India and state governments,including those of autonomous bodies and corporations substantially financed by the Government. 
They are entitled to audit the Consolidated fund of India, Contengency fund of India and public account so it is said to be chief guardian of public purse.

CAG is appointed by the President by warrant under his  hand and seal and provided with tenure of 6 years or 65 years of age,  whichever is earlier. They can’t be appointed twice.
CAG can be removed by  the President only in accordance with the procedure mentioned in the Constitution that is the manner same as removal of a Supreme Court Judge.
He is ineligible to hold any office, either under the Government of India  or of any state,once he retires/resigns as a CAG.

As per the provisions of the constitution, the CAG’s (DPC) (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 was enacted. As per the various provisions, the duties of the CAG include the audit of:
• Receipts and expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India and of the State and Union Territory having legislative assembly.
• Trading, manufacturing, profit and loss accounts and balance sheets, and other subsidiary accounts kept in any Government department; Accounts of stores and stock kept in Government offices or departments.
• Government companies as per the provisions of the Companies Act, 2009 Corporations established by or under laws made by Parliament in accordance with the provisions of the respective legislation.
• Authorities and bodies substantially financed from the Consolidated Funds of the Union and State Governments. Anybody or authority even though not substantially financed from the Consolidated Fund, the audit of which may be entrusted to the CAG.
• Grants and loans given by Government to bodies and authorities for specific purposes.
• Entrusted audits e.g. those of Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies under Technical Guidance & Support (TGS)

.Limitations of CAG :
• The CAG officials only see accounts that government departments want them to see.
• The CAG cannot call for particulars of expenditure incurred by the executive agencies but has to accept a certificate from the competent administrative authority that the expenditure has been so incurred under his authority.
• The CAG officials are often under pressure of time and the concerned officers says the related files are lost.

The solution to the problem is to digitize the receipts and expenditure to be audited, make government accountable for transparency and CAG get as much time as needed to make adequate audit report.

Sources : The Hindu, Wikipedia

“I am of the opinion that this dignitary or officer is probably the most important officer in the Constitution of India. He is the one man who is going to see that the expenses voted by Parliament are not exceeded, or varied from what has been laid down by Parliament in the Appropriation Act.” — Dr. B.R Ambedkar

A ” Palace of Winds”

Hawa Mahal was built by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh which was located in heart of the pink city of jaipur, rajasthan.This beautiful pink structure is predominantly a high screen wall made up of pink and red sandstone that denotes to a royal women to get an eyeful of street festivals and busy. It was built in 1979 as he was so impressed with the khetri mahal built in the town of jhunjhuna, rajasthan that he embarked constructing Hawa Mahal. It is extention of royal City palace and leads to Zenana or woman’s chambers to facilitate royal rajput woman.

Intersting Facts You Must Know About Hawa Mahal- Hawa Mahal has about 953 windows which keep the palace cool. All the Jaipur royals utilized this building as their summer retreat.The building was specially erected for the royal ladies of Jaipur.The meaningful purpose of this building was to allow Royal ladies watch the street festivals.

There is no front entrance to the Hawa Mahal. If you want to get in, you have to enter from the rear side.The Hawa Mahal has only ramps, instead of regular stairs to reach the upper floors of the building. In the present day, the “Hawa Mahal” has become a famous tourist spot and one of the spectacular sights in Jaipur.The palace has become a famous spot for the shooting of several Indian and international films.Architecture Famous for its Architectural facts “Hawa Mahal” was designed like a beehive.

As Hawa Mahal has its own significance and it is shown that how royal woman is lived in ” purdah”.

Monsoon Festival:A fanfare of rituals, customs and celebrations

A teej festival is celebrated by rajasthani people but mostly in parts like bundi and jaipur with much excitement in people.The women are adorned in fancy traditional attire,the sky is lotted with kites of variegated colors and aroma of delicious teej fingers in air.This year teej is celebrated on 30 August 2022.

This festival is celebrated because it is primarily dedicated to Parvati and her union with Shiva.Woman often fast in celebration of teej .It is traditionally observed by woman to celebrate monsoons during months of shravan and bhadrapada of hindu calendar.They often pray to Parvati & Shiva during teej.

Teej festival of rajasthan is grand view and you ought not to miss if you are in pink City.A royal procession of teej mata on an antique palanquin called teej swari,winds through lanes of the city.There is whole fanfare of dancers and brand players who accompany the processions.

It is three day celebration and each day has its own significance.On first day,”Dan Khana Di”, married woman enjoy meal prepared by their husband’s.All the ladies gather at the place and take part in following fan-filled activities. Swinging and singing– The first picture that comes to everyone’s mind is of the ladies swaying on a tree swing. Beautiful swings adorned with flowers are hung on the tree in their garden where women take their turn and sing songs about the eternal love of Lord Shiva and Goddess . Hands on Heena- Customized Jaipur One night before Teej, women put intricate designs of henna on their hands and feet. It is a part of Teej Shringar, the whole makeup thing which girls and married women do on the occasion. The married women hide their husband’s name in the design and ask them to reveal it in a playful game. ka -po-che

The festival is not all about women. Guys sure have their share of fun too. On the occasion of Teej festival in Jaipur, boys gather on their roofs and participate in a kite-flying competition. The whole sky can be seen dotted with colorful kites. You can hear them screaming Kai-po-che when someone manages to dock their rival’s kite. It is so much fun watching. Royal Rajasthan flava.

Hence, the teej festival is regarded as festival of women that brings joys and strengthen the bond between women, husband as well as her family.

What is MSP?

India is an agriculture dominated country. More than 50% of Indian workforce is employed by the agriculture. Farmers strive hard to produce high yield and quality products but their income is less than expenses. Market price is determined by supply and income demand. When there is large supply of crops but less demand , there is sharp fall in farm prices affecting farmers drastically. There is always price fluctuations in agricultural products while farmers get a decent return when there is shortage of supply,the same products fetch them poor price during bumper harvest season.
The government of India has introduced MSP (Minimum Support Price ) to protect producers against excessive fall in farm prices leading heavy loss suffered by the farmers.MSP is the minimum price a farmer must be paid for their agricultural produce as guaranteed by the government of India. If the market price falls below MSP, the government procures that crop from the farmers at MSP. MSP is announced for  22 major crops along with a Fair Remunerative Prices (FRP) for sugarcane. MSP is recommended by Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) but the final decision is taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs(CCEA) of union government.

MSP ensures profit of atleast 50% over the cost of production for the farmers.It includes cost of production, domestic and international prices, demand-supply conditions, inter-crop price parity and the terms of trade between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors.
Farmers are free to sell their products to any non-governmental parties, if they get favorable terms to sell their products or better than MSP. The government mainly buys rice and wheat at guaranteed price.

Benefits of MSP:
• It acts as a surety to farmers so that their crops get the fair amount for their produce and helps them sustain their losses and does not affect them drastically
• It helps to keep a floor price which does not let the prices fall below a certain point.
• The government can use these crops to be sold at government fair price shops at a price lower than market rate that will also help the government recover some amount and reduce the losses of the government.
• It safeguard the interest of the consumer by ensuring supplies at a reasonable price.
• Government manages food scarcity by distribution of stored grains at affordable prices.

Drawback of MSP :
• It doesn’t increase in proportion to the increase in cost of production.
• There are a lot of farmers who don’t have adequate information about MSP and are exploited by middlemen.
• There are several regions in the country where farmers can’t access to the benefits through MSP.
• Open market workings , which works on supply and demand relations is detrimental for farmers , is disrupted by government intervention.
• Maintenance cost of procuring grains is raised by MSP which affects the investment in agri-infrastructure.

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Significance of “Ganga Dussehra”

This year ganga dussehra will be celebrated on 9 June Thursday till 10 june Friday 2022.On this day devotees of godness ganga worship her holy incarnation and presence on earth. It is believed that a holy dip in ganga is equal to hundred Mahayagnas. Traditionally, this festival is also known as Gangavataran or Ganga Dashara. According to the books of Hindu mythology, it is believed that on this day Goddess Ganga descended on the planet earth. As per ancient beliefs, King Bhagirath from the Sagara Dynasty once worshiped Lord Brahma for purifying the souls of his ancestors and relive them of the curse, so that they can attain salvation. Lord Brahma asked the king to worship Lord Shiva as it was difficult for Lord Brahma to bring Goddess Ganga to earth for her rage and only Lord Shiva had the power to control it.Pleased by his prayers and dedication, Lord Shiva gave him a vardan (blessing) and he asked Lord Shiva to control the rage of Goddes Open App olding her in his Jata (hair) to save the earth from destruction. This festival is usually celebrated during Summers and it is believed that after worshiping and taking a holy dip in Ganga, donating food, fruits, vegetables, rice, flour, ghee, money, water containers etc can bring prosperity and happiness in life. It is believed that a person who stands in the holy Ganga, worships her and recites Ganga Strotam on this day finds a place in Baikunth after death. If you are unable to reach the river ghat, mixing a few drops of holy Gangajal gives the same virtue of Like any other occasion in Hindu mythology, the Ganga Dussehra festival has its own significance, values, and importance. The following blog will lead you through the journey of this auspicious event. Why ganga dussehra is celebrated? The legend has it that the king named Sagara had 60,000 sons searching for a lost horse for the Ashwamedha Yagya tied near the Ashram of Sage Kapil by God Indra. The 60,000 sons said to possess created tons of commotion that disturbed the meditating Sage Kapila and anger when the sage opened his eyes. So he burned them to ashes. He told them the touch of the water Ganga would only give them the Moksha. As per the legend, one among the descendants of King Sagara named Bhagiratha performed austerity to gratify Brahma and send Ganga on earth.Goddess Ganga then descended to earth in seven streams and washed down all the ashes of Bhagiratha ancestors, and thus, Ganga Dusshera is widely known because of the day when the river . King Sagara of the Suryavansha dynasty had decided to perform the Ashwamedha Yajna (horse sacrifice) to prove his supremacy. However, Lord Indra, considering the sacrifice results, stole the horse enlisted to perform the yajna and delivered it to the ashram of Kapila, a sage immersed in meditation.King Sagara’s 60,000 sons began to seek out the horse. Kapila snapped out of his meditation before they might do him any harm. As a consequence of their disrespect towards a venerated sage, the sons were burnt to ashes.While returning the horse to King Sagara’s grandson, Kapila revealed that the sons might be redeemed if the Ganga descended on earth and purified their souls with its water.King Sagara’s great-grandson, Bhagiratha, wished to free his ancestors from the curse. So, after much penance, he pleased the Ganges to descend from heaven, but not without a caveat: her currents would destroy the world.Anxious to deliver his ancestors, Bhagiratha prayed to Lord Shiva, who, impressed by his determination, agreed to interrupt the Ganga’s fall .

In Assam success rate of class 10 dips upto 56%

On Tuesday,The board of secondary education Assam announced the results of class 10 board examinations in which 56.49% of 4,05,582 candidates were declared successful as per the officials said.

The board states that the pass percentage of boys was 58.80 while it was 54.49 percent among the girls.

Total 2,29,131 candidates cleared the examination of class 10.Dhamaji recorded the highest pass percentage at 85.46 while chirag recorded the lowest percentage at 34.27.

In 2021,the pass percentage was 93.10 the examination could not be held last year just because of COVID pandemic and evaluation scheme was done on basis of special formula taking into the account of past performances of candidates.

In the Assam high Madrassa examination also conducted by the SEBA, the pass percentage was 54.73 with 10,454 who had appeared in it.

So, the percentage was dipped upto 56% as compared to past one.

Speaking in Public

One of the hardest and easiest jobs to do is public speaking. If you are someone who is confident enough to speak in front of an audience, then it comes on the accessible side, which one will definitely enjoy doing. But if you are on the other side then, believe me, it is quite a task to do. I feel everyone is a victim of the brutal audience sitting over there, or the fear of going down to the stage and speaking in front of people, or sometimes one’s lack of preparation also causes some serious problems. Nevertheless, this can all be covered up.

There are some techniques which can be used to overcome the fear of the audience. These are as follows

  1. Know your content- This helps in getting an insight into what you are going to speak. Which in turn would also help to grasp the content in a better and effective way. This is the very basic step to feel confident while you are up there on the stage.
  2. Practice as much as you can- It is well said that practice makes a man perfect. Practising will make you feel easy with your content. It will familiarize you more with the content. You will get to know the different pitches, when you are supposed to speak in which pitch. Practising in front of a mirror is one of the most effective ways.
  3. Know your audience- Knowing your audience, what they expect from you can be a great help. One must know what type of audience they have and should prepare accordingly.
  4. Scan audience- Scanning for friendly faces in the audience and imagining the entire as the friendly one can also boost one’s easiness on the stage, and be extremely helpful.
  5. Redirecting Nervousness- Redirect your nervousness into bodily gestures, helps you look more engaging and confident about your content and the way you are explaining becomes attractive.
  6. Focus on the bright side- Try to be focused on the bright side of the picture. This would help in keeping away anxiety.
  7. Stay focused- Being calm and focused during all your time, while on the stage would be reflected in your performance.
  8. Keep a smile on your face- Keeping a smile unconditionally help you to feel ease at any given situation. This would be a good tip in keeping you away from the nervousness and anxiety one might face. This will give a satisfactory feeling that you are having a good time while being up there.

I want to paint you

“… I want to paint you.”

She was surprised, sure enough. But she was also curious. Her face concealed nothing, and that was what fascinated me. As she walked through the gallery, each piece evoked something unique from inside her, and she did not bother to mask it.

Anyone could read the critique in her face, if they took the time. It is an artist’s dream – to clearly see the emotions we inspire with our work.Many had passed by my work since the showing began, pausing for a moment, offering a quick word of praise. I didn’t approach them. But, when she came to my painting, she lingered.

At first, she kept a sort of distance, taking in the portrait from optimum perspective.Then, she moved closer. Closer, still.

Narrowing her eyes, following the strokes of brush that formed arms and legs, and the arch of the neck. But, instead of smiling, like the others, she was disturbed. There was a distinct anxiety resting in her eyes. And that anxiety shattered me faster than any editorial the local paper had ever dished out. Editorials can be shredded with triumphant pleasure. But in the slight furrow of her brow, and the downward tug of her lips, this woman single handedly brought my heartbeat to a most uncomfortable rhythm. It was this distinct discomfort that pulled me from my place of observation and motivated me to speak.

“Something wrong?” I asked. I startled her, but she smiled and returned her attention to the portrait.“I was just looking at this dancer,” she replied.“Yes, but you seemed… upset?” I ventured. “What is it about the dancer?”

She darted her eyes at me for a moment, but only long enough to decide to continue our conversation.“It’s just, I feel sorry for her,” she explained.“Sorry?” I wasn’t sure what to think, really. “Why?”

“Because, I think she is lonely.”

That threw me off guard. I was accustomed to the usual praise.

“Beautiful.”

“Profound!”

“Truly, one of a kind.”

It grew tiresome in a way, but it was comfortably expected. The local venues were always thrilled with my offerings, but over time, my enthusiasm was reduced to contempt. When my secretary had first booked this showing for my latest piece, I almost threw my coffee at her. I was exhausted with the weekend shows at The Courtyard. True, they had conjured a good deal of business as of late, but I felt no satisfaction at the end of the day. All I could hope for were a few simple remarks, no real conversation.

No true appreciation.I had little expectation for this showing. My most recent work was a portrait of a ballet dancer. A studio had commissioned it, but agreed to let me display it at the show before delivery. It was simple in concept, but stood out amid the offerings of that particular show. Amid the bulky sculptures and spattering of interpretive study, my dancer’s clean lines were in stark contrast. Dark strokes outlined her body against white canvas, highlighting her single color.A pale violet tutu.“Please, what makes you say that?” I pressed herThis time, she turned to face me, surely intending to end our discussion, or perhaps threaten to call security. I had to save myself quickly.“Forgive me, it’s just, I am Stephen Erik,” I said. Her eyes widened, right on cue. “You mean, you’re the–”“Yes, I’m the one responsible for this… sad little dancer,” I replied, through somewhat gritted teeth.Sad. Sad was not the word I had imagined when bringing this piece to life. There was a soft laugh mingled with her smile, and I thought I saw a faint blush in her cheeks.“It’s wonderful to meet you, Mister Erik. I always hope to see something of yours here at the gallery, and I’ve never been disappointed.”At this, I felt I was able to breathe again. “And, you are?” I prodded.“Grace.”“Well now, Grace, please, indulge me? Why do you say the dancer is lonely?”For a moment, she hesitated, and I almost regretted revealing my identity as the artist. I’ve discovered that nice people are often afraid to offend the creator of the work. Perhaps they think we mix our own blood into the paint, or clay, or watercolors. I have never had such an attachment, although others surely have. More than spared feelings, I always craved true reaction. And, happily for me, Grace could not taper her true impressions.“She holds herself tightly. Like no one else has ever held her before,” she told me.I looked again at the portrait.

Yes, her arms were crossed over her chest, and her feet tightly planted in fifth position. I had sketched her hands myself, and yet, I had not quite noticed how tightly her fingers grasped. Or, perhaps I had done this.Perhaps I had subconsciously slipped my own hands into those of the dancer.“That’s quite an observation,” I replied. “Is that all?”“No,” she admitted. “The color. Purple. It’s such a lonely color.”I chuckled a little. “As opposed to, shall we say, yellow?”Her eyes darted back to me, wholly unamused. “Yellow can be lonely, too.”“Oh, really? How so? Tell me this philosophy of yellow,” I implored.“Yellow is a friendly color. It has lots of friends. Lots of people flock to yellow, because it smiles so much. And then, when yellow cries, they don’t know what to do. Because yellow is the one who smiles. So they just wait. Maybe they hand yellow some tissues or something. But it’s not what yellow really needs. So yellow is lonely, too,” she replied.

“Even surrounded by people who love them.”I was silent for a long while. I didn’t really know what to say. So much thought, so much perception into a color that rarely graced the edge of my palette. “And… purple?”She took a breath. “I think purple holds all of its feelings inside itself, until it is alone. And then, it cries. But nobody sees.”At that moment, I knew.

I wanted to paint this

Our Environment

By – Supriya

The word ‘ Environment ‘ is derived from a Greek word which means ‘ surrounding ‘. In simpler terms , we can say that environment is the atmosphere which surrounds an organism. It is in this atmosphere that an organism lives, thrives, nurtures and sustain itself. Thus, everything that we see around us – land , air ,water , flora and the fauna – consists of our environment . The environment exerts its influence upon us and thus our living conditions are indirectly controlled and affected to an extent . Any change in the environment is thus bound to disturb the harmony of the environment with its organisms. It becomes necessary for human beings not to disrupt this balance by their activities.  This inter- relationship between the organism and the environment is the Ecological Balance which should be maintained at all cost. Environment can be classified into the following categories – Lithosphere , Hydrosphere , Atmosphere and Biosphere. The land with its soil , rocks , mountains and valleys consists of the Lithosphere . The water bodies on the land – seas , oceans ,lakes ,ponds, rivers, etc – constitute the Hydrosphere . The air around us, enveloping us like a blanket is the Atmosphere and finally the plant and the animal kingdoms together make the Biosphere. In order to live in harmony with our environment , one should first acquire a deep understanding of one’s environment. The growing need to study man’s activities and their effects on the environment can be seen with the development of a seperate branch of science solely devoted to the branch of study known as Environmental sciences. This branch of study is related to the study of changes brought about in the environment either due to natural reasons or due to man – created disbalances.
Problems like air pollution, water pollution , noise pollution , green – house effect, global warming , ozone depletion , landslides , earthquakes , famines, conversion of fertile lands into deserts gradually are all due to the havoc created in the environment and the disturbance of Ecological Balance. This imbalance was created when man began to exploit and abuse the resources found in nature instead of using them. We need to give back to nature something if we want to sustain ourselves . Due to increase in population , the limited available resources fell short in comparison to the demand for them. Thus it gave rise to the exploitation of the resources available in the environment. The rate of use was much higher than the rate with which Nature could replenish its resources . This difference in the rate of consumption of Natural Resources and their rate of being renewed causes disruption of the Ecological Balance. In order to maintain the Ecological Balance, we must seek measures to control the growth rate of population and create awareness among people to upkeep the environment surrounding them. This can be done by firstly educating people about the hazards of over – population. There is also a need to make serious efforts in protecting the environment by encouraging people to plant trees, keep the rivers protecting the environment by encouraging people to plant trees, keep the rivers clean , prevent overgrazing by the cattle , judicious use of fertilizers and pesticides. A kind of mass movement should be undertaken to save and protect environment. Our survival on the planet depends upon the maintenance of the environment that protects us. Thus, it becomes our utmost need and necessity to regain the lost balance in the nature and create harmony between its various constitutent elements.

Thankyou!

Biodiversity

By – Supriya

Biodiversity means ” the variety of life on earth.” It is the variability of all living organisms – including animal and plant species  – the genes of all living organisms , and the terrestrial , aquatic and marine ecosystems of which they are part of . This , in essence , biodiversity represents all life. Biodiversity also includes the structure of the ecosystems and habitats that support essential living resources , including wildlife , fisheries and forests. It composes ecosystems that maintain oxygen in the air, enrich the soil , purify the water, protect against flood and regulate climate. Thus, it plays a great role in fulfilling basic human needs such as food , shelter and medicine. India contains a great wealth of biological diversity in its forests, its wetlands and in its marine areas. The country is one of the mega biodiversity centres in the world and has two of the world ‘s 18 ‘ biodiversity hotspots ‘, located in the Western Ghats and in the Eastern Himalayas . The total forest and tree cover of the country is estimated at 23.39 percent of the geographic area, of which forest cover accounts for 21 percent . India is estimated to have 49219 plant species representing 12.5% of the world ‘s flora and 868740 animal species representing 7.25% of the world ‘s fauna.  The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2011 as the International Year of Forests to raise awareness on sustainable management , conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests. To finance new models for high – value forest conservation in India,  through participatory approaches and mainstreaming of biodiversity conservation outcomes , the World Bank has approved financing of a US$15.36 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA) and a grant of US$ 8.14 million from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund. The project seeks to demonstrate landscape conservation approaches in the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat and Askot in Uttarakhand.
Over the last century a great deal of damage has been done to the biodiversity existing on the earth. Increasing human population , greater consumption levels and inefficient use of our resources are some of the causes that have led to overexploitation and manipulation of ecosystems. Trade of rhino horn and tiger skin etc has also led to the extinction of species. According to the latest tiger census report released on March 28, 2011 by the National Tiger Conservation Authority , the current tiger population estimated is 1706. Although the population of tiger has increased over the years, tigers face the threat of being killed for their skin . Society ‘s growing consumption of resources and increasing populations have led to a rapid loss of biodiversity , eroding the capacity of Earth ‘s normal systems to provide essential goods and services on which human communities depend. To enumerate ways of conservation of biodiversity wealth of India. The National Conference on Environment and Biodiversity of India will be held from 20 th – 22nd December 2011 in New Delhi. The conference would not only feature the beauty of the vast forest resources of India but would also discuss ways to prevent the loss of precious forest belts. It is necessary that we realise the importance of our biological resources for the continued welfare of India ‘s population.

Thankyou!

Population Explosion

By – Supriya

Next to the People ‘s Republic of China , India is the most populous country in the whole world. In 2011, India, with 1,210,193,422(1.21 billion) people is the second most populous country in the world, while China is on the top with over 1,350,044,605(1.35 billion) people. The figures show that India represents almost 17.31% of the world ‘s population , which means one out of six people on this planet live in India. India occupies 2.4% of the world ‘s land area and supports over 17.5% of the world ‘s population. Although, the crown of the world ‘ s most populous country is on China’s head for decades , India is all set to take the number one position by 2030. With the population growth rate at 1.58% , India is predicted to have more than 1.53 billion people by the end of 2030. In 1952, India was the first country in the world to launch a national programme, emphasizing family planning to the extent necessary for reducing birth rates ” to stabilize the population at a level consistent with the requirements of national economy”. The population of India at that time had been around 342 million . The population comprises 623.7 million males and 586.5 million females , according to a provisional 2011 Census report. China , the most populous nation , accounts for 19.4 percent of the global population. Among the states and Union Territories , Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state with 199 million people and Lakshadweep the least populated at 64429. The combined population of UP and Maharashtra is bigger than that of the US . The Census indicated a continuing preference for male children over female children. The latest child sex ratio is 914 female against 1000 male  – the lowest since Independence. According  to the data, literates constitute 74 percent of the total population aged seven and above. The literacy rate has gone up from 64.83 percent in 2001 to 74.04 percent in 2011 showing an increase of 9.21 percent. Concerned over the possibility of the country ‘ s population touching 1.8 billion by 2045, the government is taking various steps to rein in total fertility rates. The steps taken to stabilize population include the adoption of a National Population Policy , constitution of the National Commission on Population , registration of the National Population Stabilization Fund and constitution of an empowered action group for focused attention on eight demographically weaker states. The immediate objective of the national population policy is to address the unmet needs for contraception , health care infrastructure , and child health care. Most importantly , education is the key to greater awareness in people , which will ultimately control population . This is evident from the fact that Kerala which has an overall literacy population , while Uttar Pradesh which has an overall literacy rate of 57.36% and female literacy rate of 42.98% constitutes 16.49% of the Indian population.
The major cause of this population explosion is the widening gap between the birth and the death rate due to increased medical facilities . Another social cause in India that contributes to the growth of population in India is the low age of marriage . Early marriages should be discouraged at any cost which can be done only through various means such as the television and the cinema. This brings us to another related problem that of high illiteracy rate. Due to illiteracy , measures like family planning get defeated . Education makes people broad – minded , liberal , open to new ideas , logical and rational . It helps to keep away orthodoxy and superstitious thinking . Other causes of population explosion are joint family system , lack of responsibility of the young couples in the joint family to bring up their children, lack of recreational facilities and lack of information. The road is long and sturdy for India but it is not an impossible destination to arrive at. The government has to adopt strict measures like not recruiting the persons having more than two children, spread education and awareness among women etc. People should be made aware of the repercussions of population explosion and if that does not help, fear of law can also be used as a last resort in order to find ways to control the population of the country.

Thankyou!

Poverty in India

By – Supriya

Even after more than 60 years of independence , poverty remains the most serious problems that India faces. India still has the world ‘s largest number of poor people dwelling on its land. Of its population of more than 1.2 billion, an estimated 444 million are below the poverty line, out of which 61 percent dwell in the rural areas of the country. Most of them are daily workers, landless  labourers and self employed householders. A major percentage of this population is illiterate , with women, tribal and Scheduled Castes particularly being affected in large numbers. Today, one in every three persons living in abject poverty all over the world in an Indian. Poverty is a situation, which gives rise to the discrepancy between what one has and what one should have. Berstein Henry identifies a few dimensions of poverty such as lack of livelihood strategies , inaccessibility to resources like money , land or credit , feeling of insecurity or frustration and inability to maintain and develop social relations due to lack of resources. The three things that are usually used to define the concept of poverty are the amount of money required by a person to sustain , the life below a minimum subsistence level and the living standard prevalent at the time, and the comparative state of well – being of a few and the deprivation of the majority in the society. The first two concepts refer to the economic dimensions of poverty whereas the last one to its social needs. In terms of gratifying the basic physiological needs, poverty is measured in terms of an imaginary ‘ poverty line’. The poverty line serves as a cut – off line for separating the poor from the not – poor, given the size distribution of population by per capita consumer expenditure classes. Population with per capita consumer expenditure levels below the level defined by the poverty line is counted as poor. According to a 2005 World Bank estimate ,41.6% of the total Indian population falls below the international poverty line of US$ 1.25. The purchasing power parity (PPP) as per Indian standards is ₹21.6 a day in urban areas and ₹ 14.3 in rural areas. The Planning Commission of India has accepted the Tendulkar Committee report which says that 37% of people in India live below the poverty line.
A study by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative using a Multi – dimensional Poverty Index(MPI) found that there were 645 million poor living under the MPI in India,421 million of whom are concentrated in eight North Indian and East Indian states of Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand,Madhya Pradesh , Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.This number is higher than the 410 million poor living in the 26 poorest African nations. Presence of a massive parallel economy in the form of black (hidden) money stashed in overseas tax havens and underutilization of foreign aid have also contributed to the slow pace of Poverty alleviation in India. The poor can be classified into four groups – the destitute , extremely poor, very poor and poor. Poverty is that condition in which a person fails to not only fulfill his basic physiological needs but also fails to protect himself from diseases , get balanced nutrition , maintain good health etc. In simple terms, a person in order to survive should have proper food, clothing , shelter , health care and education. Thus poverty refers to a person failing to acquire these minimum levels of subsistence and thus suffers from starvation , malnutrition , and diseases. Poverty is in fact  not just an economic or a political problem. In order to combat this grave problem , first and foremost , there should be a strict check on population increase . Creation of employment opportunities, spread of education , elimination of black money , decentralisation of planning , helping women and youth to become self – reliant are some other ways to combat this problem . It is not due to lack of resources or technical assistance that we are failing in achieving our goals but more so due to lack of execution of these plans and programs.

The Dark Side of Electric Vehicles.

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are hailed and promoted by governments and car manufacturers as the technology decarbonizes the transport sector. In India, transportation sector emits an estimated 261 tonnes of CO2, of which 94.5% is contributed by road transport. According to World Health Organization (WHO), among the 20 most polluted cities in the world, 14 are Indian cities. Moreover, the fuel prices have increased sharply since the last year and are predicted to increase further because of the Russian invasion on Ukraine.

All these reasons have made people to turn to electric vehicles as the government has provided incentives to people by introducing subsidies. Under section 80EEB, a total tax exemption of up Rs 1,50,000 can be availed when paying off the EV loan. This tax exemption is available for both 4-wheeler and 2-wheeler EV purchases. So, the future looks bright for EVs; but this future will not arrive without an environmental cost. The market for EVs, in the developed world has increased rapidly in not less than a decade.

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The EV manufacturers market them as ‘clean and green’ technology that hides the dark side of EVs, which consists of embodied emissions, lithium, cobalt and many sustainability and ethical issues.

While EVs produce no direct exhaust pipe emissions, the production, distribution and disposal of EVs are highly poisonous. The production of an EV involves many of the same polluting processes as an Internal Combustion (IC) engine but the only difference is that it uses lithium-ion and cobalt batteries to power the shafts. The processes involved in making EV batteries is where the ‘green’ image of EVs starts to fall apart.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The lithium-ion battery supply chain stretches from Europe to Latin America and Africa. Over half of the earth’s lithium resources are found in the so-called Lithium Triangle which spans across Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. Lithium mines have an environmental impact through their destructive extraction processes. Landscapes are dug up and scarred, habitats can be destroyed, and chemical runoff can cause severe water pollution. Mining for lithium also consumes a tremendous amount of water, about 2000000 litres per tonne of lithium. This has caused water shortages in Chile, leaving them no enough water for daily-public use.

Cobalt is another key ingredient for the lithium-ion battery. Cobalt resources are concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo where numerous cases of human rights abuses have been filed in the country’s cobalt mines: unmitigated health risks from the working environment, child labor etc. Battery sustainability issues do not end there. At their end-of-life, the batteries mostly end up in in landfills. No effective disposal technique is adopted because it is currently cheaper to extract new raw materials for batteries than it is to reuse old batteries.

Putting things into perspective, EVs are much better for the environment compared to IC engines as the decarbonize transport sector, but we should be careful about their framing as a solution. So, EVs cannot be regarded as the ‘perfect’ replacement for fossil fuel-run engines in contrast to what they are advertised of being but awareness calls for the fact that the nature is letting people choose between bad and worse at this point of time in history.

Evolution of Art – Origin, Milestone and Masterpiece

Expressing oneself through art seems a universal human impulse, while the style of that expression is one of the distinguishing marks of a culture. As difficult as it to define, art typically involves a skilled, imaginative creator, whose creation is pleasing to the senses and often symbolically significant or useful. Art can be verbal, as in poetry, storytelling or literature or can take the form of music and dance. The oldest stories, passed down orally may be lost to us now, but thanks to writing, tales such as the epic of Gilgamesh or the Lliad entered the record and still hold meaning today. Visual art dates back 30,000 years, when Paleolithic humans decorated themselves with beads and shells. Then as now, skilled artisans often mixed aesthetic effect with symbolic meaning.

In an existence that centered on hunting, ancient Australians carved animal and bird tracks into their rocks. Early cave artists in Lascaux, France, painted or engraved more than 2,000 real and mythical animals. Ancient Africans created stirring masks, highly stylized depictions of animals and spirits that allow the wearer to embody the spiritual power of those beings. Even when creating tools or kitchen items, people seem unable to resist decorating or shaping them for beauty. Ancient hunters carved the ivory handles of their knives. Ming dynasty ceramists embellished plates with graceful dragons. Modern pueblo Indians incorporates traditional motifs in to their carved and painted pots. The western fine arts tradition values beauty and message. Once heavily influenced by Christianity and classical mythology, painting and sculptures has more recently moved toward personal expression and abstraction.

Humans have probably been molding clay- one of the most widely available materials in the world- since the earliest times. The era of ceramics began, however, only after the discovery of that very high heat renders clay hard enough to be impervious to water. As societies grew more complex and settled, the need for ways to store water, food, and other commodities increased. In Japan, the Jomon people were making ceramics as early as 11,000 B.C. by about the seventh millennium B.C.; kilns were in use in the Middle East and china, achieving temperatures above 1832°F. Mesopotamians were the first to develop true glazes, through the art of glazing arguably reached its highest expression in the celadon and three color glazes of the medieval china. In the new world, although potters never reached the heights of technology seen elsewhere, Moche, Maya, Aztec, and Puebloan artists created a diversity of expressive figurines and glazed vessels.

When Spanish nobleman Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola described the paintings he discovered in a cave in Altamira, contemporizes declared the whole thing a modern fraud. Subsequent finds confirmed the validity of his claims and proved that Paleolithic people were skilled artists. Early artists used stone tools to engrave shapes into walls. They used pigments from hematite, manganese dioxide, and evergreens to achieve red, yelled, brown, and black colors. Brushes were made from feathers, leaves, and animal hair. Artists also used blowpipes to spray paint around hands and stencils.

 

The Kardashev scale – Classifying Alien civilization

The observable universe is consists up to two trillion galaxies that are made of billions and billions of stars. In the Milky Way galaxy alone, scientists assume that there are some 40 billion earths like planets in the habitable zone of their stars. When you look at these numbers, there are a lot of possibilities of alien civilization to exist. In a universe that big and old, the possibilities of civilizations may start millions of years apart from each other, and develop in different directions and speed. So their civilization may range from cavemen to super advanced. We know that human started out with nothing and then making tools, building houses, etc. we know that humans are curios, competitive, greedy for resources, and expansionists. The more of these qualities that our ancestors had, the more successful they were in the civilization building process.

 Like this, the other alien civilizations also must have evolved. Human progress can be measured very precisely by how much energy we extracted from our environment. As our energy consumption grew exponentially, so did the abilities of our civilization. Between 1800 and 2015, population size had increased sevenfold; while humanity was consuming 25 times more energy. It’s likely that this process will continue into the far future. Based on these facts, scientist Nikolai Kardashev developed a method for categorizing civilizations, from cave dwellers to gods ruling over galaxies into a scale called the Kardashev scale. It is a method of ranking civilizations by their energy use. It put civilizations into four categories. A type 1 civilization is able to use the available energy of their home planet. A type 2 civilization is able to use the available energy of their star and planetary system. A type 3 civilization is able to use the available energy of their galaxy. A type 4 civilization is able to use the available energy of multiple galaxies

. It’s like comparing an ant colony to a human metropolitan area. To ants we are so complex and powerful, we might as well be gods. On the lower end of the scale, there are type 0 to type 1 civilization. Anything from hunting, gatherers to something we could achieve in the next few hundred years. These might actually be abundant in the Milky Way. If that possible, why they are not sending any radio signals in space. But even if they transmitted radio signals like we do, it might not be very helpful. In such a vast universe, our signals may extend over 200 light years, but this is only a tiny fraction of the Milky Way. And even if someone were listening, after a few light years our signals decay into noise, impossible to identify as the source of an intelligent species. Today humanity ranks at about level 0.75. We created huge structures, changed the composition and temperature of the atmosphere. If progress continues, we will become a full type 1 civilization in the next few hundred years. The next step to type 2 is trying and mine other planets and bodies.

 As a civilization expands and uses more and more stuff and space, at some they may start a largest project that extracting the energy of their star by building a Dyson swarm. Once it finished, energy has become unlimited. The next frontier moves to other stars light years away. So the closer a species gets to type 3, they might discover new physics, may understand and control dark matter and energy, or be able to travel faster than light. For them, humans are the ants, trying to understand the galactic metropolitan area. A high type 2 civilization might already consider humanity too primitive. A type 3 civilization might consider us bacteria. But the scale doesn’t end here; some scientists suggest there might be type 4 and type 5 civilizations, whose influences stenches over galaxy clusters or super clusters. This complex scale is just a thought experiment but, still it gives interesting things. Who knows, there might be a type omega civilization, able to manipulate the entire universe, and they even might be the actual creators of our universe.

Medical breakthroughs – Laproscopy

 

Treating illness b using tools to remove or manipulate pats of the human body is an old idea. Even the minor operations carried high risks, but that doesn’t mean all early surgery failed. Indian doctors, at the beginning centuries before the birth of Christ, successfully removed tumors and performed amputations and other operations. They developed dozens of metal tools, relied on alcohol to dull the patient, and controlled bleeding with hot oil and tar. The 20th century brought even more radical change through technology. Advances in fiber optic technology and the miniaturization of video equipment have revolutionized surgery. The laparoscopy is the James Bond like gadget of the surgeon’s repertoire of instruments. Only a small incision through the patient’s abdominal wall is made into which the surgeon puffs carbon dioxide to open up the passage.

 Using a laparoscope, a visual assessment and diagnosis, and even surgery causes less physiological damage, reduces patient’s pain and speeds their recovery leading to shorter hospital stays. In the early 1900s, Germany’s George Kelling developed a surgical technique in which he injected air into the abdominal cavity and inserted a cytoscope – a tube like viewing scope to assess the patient’s innards. In late 1901, he began experimenting and successfully peered into a dog’s abdominal cavity using the technique. Without cameras, laparoscopy’s use limited to diagnostic procedures carried out by gynecologists and gastroenterologists. By the 1980s, improvements in miniature video devices and fiber optics inspired surgeons to embrace minimally invasive surgery. In 1996, the first live broadcast of a laparoscopy took place. A year later, Dr. J. Himpens used a computer controlled robotic system to aid in laparoscopy. This type of surgery is now used for gallbladder removal as well as for the diagnosis and surgeries of fertility disorder, cancer, and hernias.

Hypothermia is a drop in body temperature significantly below normal can be life threatening, as in the case of overexposure to severe wintry conditions. But in some cases, like that of Kevin Everett of the buffalo bills, hypothermia can be lifesaver. Everett fell to the ground with a potentially crippling spinal cord injury during a 2007 football game. Doctors treating him on the field immediately injected his body with a cooling fluid. At the hospital, they inserted a cooling catheter to lower his body temperature by roughly five degrees, at the same time proceeding with surgery to fix his fractured spine. Despite fears that he would be paralyzed, Everett has regained his ability to walk, and advocates of therapeutic hypothermia feel his lowered body temperature may have made the difference. Therapeutic hypothermia is still a controversial procedure. The side effects of excessive cooling include heart problems, blood clotting, and increased infection risk. On the other hand, supporters claim, it slows down cell damage, swelling, and other destructive processes well enough that it can mean successful surgery after a catastrophic injury. Surgical lasers can generate heat up to 10,000°F on a pinhead size spot, sealing blood vessels and sterilizing. Surgical robots and virtual computer technology are changing medical practice. Robotic surgical tools increase precision. In 1998, heart surgeons at Paris’s Broussais hospital performed the first robotic surgery. New technology allows an enhanced views and precise control of instruments.

“After a complex laparoscopic operation, the 65-year-old patient was home in time for dinner”. – Elisa Birnbaum, surgeon

 

History of Steam Engines – Thomas Savery

Thomas Newcomen, a Devonshire blacksmith, developed the first successful steam engine in the world and used it to pump water from mines. His engine was a development of the thermic siphon built by Thomas Savery, whose surface condensation patents blocked his own designs. Newcomen’s engine allowed steam to condense inside a water-cooled cylinder, the vacuum produced by this condensation being used to draw down a tightly fitting piston that was connected by chains to one end of a huge, wooden, centrally pivoted beam. The other end of the beam was attached by chains to a pump at the bottom of the mine. The whole system was run safely at near atmospheric pressure, the weight of the atmosphere being used to depress the piston into the evacuated cylinder.

 Newcomen’s first atmospheric steam engine worked at conygree in the west midlands of England. Many more were built in the next seventy years, the initial brass cylinders being replaced by larger cast iron ones, some up to 6 feet (1.8 m) in diameter. The engine was relatively inefficient, and in areas where coal was not plentiful was eventually replaced by double-acting engines designed by James Watt. These used both sides of the cylinder for power strokes and usually had separate condensers. James watt was responsible for some of the most important advances in steam engine technology.

In 1765 watt made the first working model of his most important contribution to the development of steam power, he patented it in 1769. His innovation was an engine in which steam condensed outside the main cylinder in a separate condenser. The cylinder remained at working temperature at all times. Watt made several other technological improvements to increase the power and efficiency of his engines. For example, he realized that, within a closed cylinder, low pressure steam could push the piston instead of atmospheric air. It took only a short mental leap for watt to design double-acting engine in which steam pushed the piston first one way, then the other, increasing efficiency still further.

Watt’s influence in the history of steam engine technology owes as much to his business partner, Matthew Boulton, as it does to his own ingenuity. The two men formed a partnership in 1775, and Boulton poured huge amount of money into watt’s innovations. From 1781, Boulton and watt began making and selling steam engines that produced rotary motion. All the previous engines had been restricted to a vertical, pumping action. Rotary steam engines were soon the most common source of power for factories, becoming a major driving force behind Britain’s industrial revolution.

By the age of nineteen, Cornishman Richard Trevithick worked for the Cornish mining industry as a consultant engineer. The mine owners were attempting to skirt around the patents owned by James Watt. William Murdoch had developed a model steam carriage, starting in 1784, and demonstrated it to Trevithick in 1794. Trevithick thus knew that recent improvements in the manufacturing of boilers meant that they could now cope with much higher steam pressure than before. By using high pressure steam in his experimental engines, Trevithick was able to make them smaller, lighter, and more manageable.

Trevithick constructed high pressure working models of both stationary and locomotive engines that were so successful that in 1799 he built a full scale, high pressure engine for hoisting ore. The used steam was vented out through a chimney into the atmosphere, bypassing watt’s patents. Later, he built a full size locomotive that he called puffing devil. On December 24, 1801, this bizarre-looking machine successfully carried several passengers on a journey up Camborne hill in Cornwall. Despite objections from watt and others about dangers of high pressure steam, Trevithick’s work ushered in a new era of mechanical power and transport.

History of Motorcars – Karl Benz

It is difficult, to imagine a world without the motorcar. When German engineer Karl Benz drove a motorcar tricycle I 1885 and fellow Germans Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach converted a horse down carriage into a four wheeled motorcar in august 1886, none of them could have imagined the effects of their invention. Benz recognized the great potential of petrol as a fuel. His three wheeled car had a top speed of just ten miles (16 km) per hour with its four-stroke, one cylinder engine. After receiving his patent in January 1886, he began selling the Benz velo, but the public doubted its reliability. Benz’s wife bertha had a brilliant idea to advertise the new car. In 1886 she took it on a 60mile (100) trip from Mannheim to near Stuttgart. Despite having to push the car up hills, the success of the journey proved to a skeptical public that this was a reliable mode of transport.

Daimler and Maybach did not produce commercially feasible cars until 1889. Initially the German inventions did not meet with much demand, and it was French companies like Panhard at Levassor that redesigned and popularized the automobile. In 1926 Benz’s company merged to form the Daimler Benz company. Benz had left his company in 906 and, remarkably, he and Daimler never met. Due to higher incomes and cheaper, mass produced cars, the United States led in terms of motorization for much of the twentieth century. This kind of movement has, however, come at a cost. Some 25 million people are estimation to have died in car accidents worldwide during the twentieth century. Climate changing exhaust gases and suburban sprawl are but two more of the consequences of a heavy reliance on the automobile.

Invention of the clutch

Almost all historians agree that clutch was developed in Germany in the 1880s. Daimler met Maybach while they were working for Nikolaus Otto, the inventor of the internal combustion engine. In 1882 the two set up their own company, and from 1885 to 1886 they built a four-wheeled vehicle with a petrol engine and multiple gears. The gears were external, however, and engaged by winding belts over pulleys to drive each selected gear. In 1889, they developed a closed four- speed gearbox and a friction clutch to powers the gears, this car was the first to be marketed by the Daimler motor campy in 1890. Without a clutch, if the car engine is running the wheels keep turning. For the car to stop without stalling, the wheels and engine must be separated by a clutch. A friction clutch consists of a flywheel mounted to engine side. The clutch originates from the drive shaft and is a large metal plate covered with a frictional material. When the flywheel and clutch make contract, power is then transmitted to the wheels.

Gears in Motorcars

Karl Benz was the first to add a second gear to his machine and also invented the gear shift to transfer between the two. The suggestion for this additional gear came from Benz’s wife, bertha, who drove the three-wheeled Motorwagen 65 miles from Mannheim to Pforzheim – the first long distance automobile trip. The gears allow the engine to the maintained at its most efficient rpm while altering the relative speed of the drive shaft to the wheels. Gears originally required double clutching, where the clutch had to be depressed to disengage the first gear from the drive shaft, and then released to allow the correct rpm for the new gear to be selected. The clutch was then pressed again to engage the drives shaft with the new gear. Modern cars use synchronized which use friction to match the speeds of the new gear and he shaft before the teeth of the gears engage, meaning that the clutch only needs to be presses once.

“One thing I fell most passionately about: love of invention will never die” – Karl Benz

Optics – Application, Laser optics, Fiber optics communication

The formal study of light began as an effort to explain vision. Early Greek thinkers associated with a ray emitted from the human eye. A surviving work from Euclid, the Greek geometrician, laid out basic concepts of perspective, using straight lines to show why objects at a distance appear shorter or slower than they actually are. Eleventh-century Islamic scholar Abu Ali al Hasan Ibn Al-Haytham known also by the Latinized name Alhazen revisited the work done by Euclid and Ptolemy and advanced the study of reflection, refraction, and color. He argued that light moves out in all directions from illuminated objects and that vision results when light enters the eye. In the late 16th and 17th centuries, researches including Dutch mathematician Willebrord Snel noticed that light bent as it passed through a lens or fluid. Although he believed the speed of light to be infinite, Danish astronomer Ole Romar in 1676 used telescopic observations of Jupiter moons to estimate the speed of light as 140,000 miles a second. Around the same time, Sir Isaac Newton used prisms to demonstrate that white light could be separated into a spectrum of basics colors. He believed that light was made of particles, where as Dutch mathematician Christiaan Huygens described light as a wave.

The particle versus the wave debate advanced in the 1800s. English physician Thomas young’s experiments with vision suggested wavelike behavior, since sources of light seemed to cancel out or reinforce each other. Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxell’s research united the forces of electromagnetism fell along a single spectrum. Te arrival of quantum physics in late 19th and early 20th century prompted the next leap in understanding light. By studying the emission of electrons from a grid hit by a beam of light known as the photoelectric effect Albert Einstein concluded that light came from what he called photons, emitted as electrons changed their orbit around an atomic nucleus and then jumped back to their original state. Through Einstein’s finding seemed to favor the particle theory of light, further experiments showed that light and matter itself behave both as waves and as particles.

How do lasers work?

Einstein’s work on the photoelectric effect led to the laser, an acronym for “light amplification by stimulated emission radiation.” As electrons are exited from one quantum state to another, they emit a single photon when jumping back. But Einstein predicted that when an already excited atom was hit with the right type of stimulus, it would give off two identical photons. Subsequent experiments showed that certain source materials, such as ruby, not only did that but also emitted photons that were perfectly coherent-not scattered like the emissions of a flashlight, but all of the same wavelength and amplitude. These powerfully focused beams are now common-place, found in grocery store scanners, handheld pointers, and cutting instruments from the hospital operating room to the shop floors of heavy industry.

Future trends in fiber optics communication

Fiber optics communication is definitely the future of data communication. The evolution of fiber optic communication has been driven by advancement in technology and increased demand for fiber optic communication. It is expected to continue into the future, with the development of new and more advanced communication technology.

Another future trend will be the extension of present semiconductor lasers to a wider variety of lasing wavelengths. Shorter wavelength lasers with very high input powers are of interest in some high density optical applications. Presently, laser sources which are spectrally shaped through chirp managing to compensate for chromatic dispersion are available. Chirp managing means that the laser is controlled such that it undergoes a sudden change in its wavelength when firing a pulse, such that the chromatic dispersion experienced by the pulse is reduced. There is need to develop instruments to be used to characterize such lasers. Also, single mode tunable lasers are of great importance for future coherent optical systems. These tunable lasers laser in a single longitudinal mode that can be tuned to a range of different frequencies.

“Music is the arithmetic of sounds as optics is the geometry of light.” – Claude Debussy

Does sneezing stops your heart?

Most of us have experienced it while in our class, meeting or at any other important commitments. Yes, sneezing, especially when we were suffering from some allergies, we can’t control it, but why do we sneeze? What’s the reason behind it? Well a sneeze is officially called as Sternutation. Sneezing is an involuntary activity of our body to clear our nose. Whenever a foreign matter such as dust, dirt, germs or anything that shouldn’t be there enters your nostrils, the nose get irritated and it sends a message to your brain. Then to remove the particle your brain sends a message to all of your muscles for a sudden exhalation process called a sneeze, and it would take only milliseconds for your brain to process this. In 2002, a study at Denmark’s department of Otorhinolaryngology at Rigshospitalet showed that 95% of people sneeze four times or less each day. Worldwide, we could be sneezing upwards of 7.8 billion times a day.

Shot of an attractive young woman feeling ill and blowing her nose with a tissue at home

Cultural beliefs about sneezing

          Many people think that sneeze is a sign of good luck, while others think it’s a bad sign. People in ancient Greece, 400BC believed these sneezes are favorable sign from the gods. During the 6th century, the plague killed 200 million people all over the world; sneeze is also one of the symptoms of this disease. So people started to believe that sneeze is a sign of death and by saying “bless you” they thought it may prevent them from being infected and some used to consider as a final blessing. That’s why still some people say “God bless you” when someone sneeze.

Does really sneeze stops our heart?

        Do you know? Your sneeze can create 100,000 droplets and it can travel up to 160 kilometers (100 miles) an hour. Yes it’s more likely a faster way to spread diseases than a cough. So while sneezing, our heart stops for a second and start after that? Well it seems like it takes a break but, it’s not the case. Usually we inhale deeply before sneezing; this increases the pressure in your chest and slows down the blood flow to your heart. The heart compensates this by changing to its regular beat right after we sneeze. So it only reduces the heart rate for a short period of time rather than stopping it. Do you know? The heart can continue to beat for a short time after being removed from the body because; it has its own electrical system that can pump blood as long as it gets oxygen. So a sneeze won’t stop the electrical activity of our heart.

Is holding your sneeze dangerous?

       Most of us hate sneezing in awkward situations, it makes us embarrassed. Did you ever tried to hold your sneeze? If you did, the following incident will show why you should not. A 34 year old man has admitted to a hospital in the UK for serious neck infection. Doctors found that the pressure built from the sneeze cant able to escape as he blocked his nose and mouth. It causes rupture in the cavity that connects our nose and mouth called pharynx. It seems that he is trying to hold his sneeze every time for the last 30 years because, he feels that it would be unhygienic to sneeze into the atmosphere. He was hospitalized for a week and doctors treated him with the necessary antibiotics to cure the infection.

      Sneezing is one of the primary defense systems in our body to get rid of harmful irritants in our nose. The entered irritant somehow should have to go out. So, don’t try to hold it, just let it happen.

“I used to wake up at 4 AM and start sneezing, sometimes for five hours. I tried to find out what sort of allergy I had but finally came to the conclusion that it must be an allergy to consciousness”.     – James Thurber.

Evolution of Indian agriculture

India is the second largest producer of wheat and rice, which are the most widely used staple food. India also plays a major role in producing dry fruits, raw materials for textile industries, roots, tuber crops, pulses, coconut, sugarcane and various other vegetables. Agriculture plays a vital role in Indian economy. According to the sources, Indian agriculture began by 9000 BCE on north west India. Indians considered agriculture as their major survival and they even worshiped it and we still do.

Rise and Fall of agriculture

Farmers used to cultivate their lands with completely natural seeds and fertilize them using bio fertilizers, that is manually prepared fertilizers which consists of cow dung, dry leaves, vegetable and fruit waste and farmers even used earthworms to decompose the organic matter. Earthworms have the ability to eat and mix large amount of soil and organic matter and deposit it in the form of casts. The crops that are obtained as a result of natural organic forming were healthy but the yield was less. In order to increase the yield, nowadays lot of chemical fertilizers, pesticides are used, which increases the yield but the quality of the crop is a question mark. Over the years, the dependency on agriculture has declined to 50 percent as per the latest round of the periodic labor force survey for 2018-19, also the lockdown has severely disrupted India’s agriculture.

Digital currency and its Drawbacks.

What are virtual currencies?

A virtual currency is a digital representation of value that can be digitally traded and functions as (a) a medium of exchange, and/ or (b) a unit of account, and/or (c) a store of value, but, unlike fiat currency like the rupee, it is not legal tender and does not have the backing of a government. A cryptocurrency is a subset of virtual currencies, and is decentralised, and protected by cryptography.

What are Distributed Ledger Technologies and Blockchain?

Imagine a small group of school friends maintaining a list of transactions among themselves, but with a twist: Instead of holding this list in one single computer or in the notebook of one of the group members or authorising some outside authority (say, their class teacher) to maintain (and update) the list, all of them decide to maintain a separate copy of the list in their personal computers. Every time they transact, the rest of the members verify the transaction and once it is verified by all, they update their list. Further, to make sure that none of them changes records of the past transactions in their personal list, they decide to place each transaction as a block, and to stack it one after the other in a sequence. This way, no one can tweak the details of any past transactions because the overall sequence will not match with sequences held by others. Lastly, to make sure that no other child from the school gets to know the details, they devise a code (a cypher) for all their communications related to the list.

9 Profitable Skills that you can Learn Online

The pandemic has made us stay at home and we all know that staying at home is boring. We can kill this time productively by learning new skills online. 

  •  Coding

Technology is vast and there are plenty of job opportunities available if you know how to code. Programmers are high in demand all over the world. Learning and doing programming is an exercise for your brain that eventually improves your problem solving and logical ability. There are many apps and websites which teach coding for free.

  •  SEO 

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results. SEO is the best way to market and it can boost your public visibility. If you are a Freelancer or a business owner then you really can’t conduct online business without knowing about SEO.

  •  Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is a software program included in the Microsoft Office suite. It is used to create spreadsheets, which are documents in which data is laid out in rows and columns like a big table. Excel training just doesn’t help you get things done quicker and more efficiently it also increases the effectiveness of the reports and analysis that you do.

  •  Languages

Learning a foreign language, even as little as a handful of phrases, will make your travel experiences better. It also boosts the confidence of an individual and improves the probability of getting employed in a company. Learning a new language helps us to discover a new culture and this is an immensely enriching experience for us. 

  •  Photography

You can capture a beautiful moment by learning photography. It also increases your creativity. Moreover, photography provides an enjoyable hobby. Earning a certificate online shows that you’ve had formal training, practical experience and critical assessments. This can open doors to a broader range of job opportunities where a degree is a minimum requirement.

  •  PhotoShop

Adobe Photoshop is one of the most famous and all-round image editing software existing in the market today. Photoshop skills are often listed in a lot of job descriptions these days. Learning Photoshop gives you an added advantage over other applicants who are not skilled in Photoshop. Using Photoshop one can transform pictures to unimaginable heights of creativity. 

  •  Public Speaking

Public speaking is not just standing on a stage and speaking into a microphone to an audience. Public speaking includes speaking at meetings, with potential clients, colleagues, and customers. Mastery of public speaking will empower numerous other skills, abilities and personal enhancements will be the result.

  •  Video Editing

Video is the best marketing and promotional tool ever in the modern market. Videos attract the people to watch. They stop for a movement and see the video.  In this technological age, people watch videos as they are easily accessible. So if you want something across, pushing out your message or promotion to the people, make videos.  

  •  Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is the promotion of products or brands using electronic devices or the internet. It also includes text messaging, instant messaging, video, apps, podcasts, electronic billboards, digital television and radio channels, etc. Digital marketing gives a huge scope and multitude of job options. Digital marketing will also help you to promote your startup at very low cost.

Interview Skills

We all are nervous while attending an interview, even with full preparations our hands start sweating. Here are some tips to ace an interview and get your dream job.

Whether you are applying for an entry-level position or a senior role, you will probably have an interview with a potential employer before receiving a job offer. Since a job interview gives you a chance to show your qualifications and make a good impression on the hiring team, you should know to perform at your best during this important meeting. It is not only your qualifications and experience which matters but also your positive attitude, your ability to work in teams and positive aspirations which matters in the selection process. 85% of the interviews are decided in the first two/three minutes. So be careful about your handshake, eye contact, body language, and right posture.There are 4P’s to have success in an interview – Prepare, Practice, Present, and Participate. 

You should prepare for the interview by learning about the significance of body language. Also you should improve your public speaking and linguistic skills. Also, learn as much as you can about the company and the position.You should practice the frequently asked questions by the interviewer (I have listed those questions in the end of the article). You should also practice some puzzles because in many interviews one or more IQ based questions are asked. And finally participate in the interview; express your views confidently and don’t be afraid to share your opinions to them. On the day of the interview carefully consider what to wear and how to present yourself professionally. Here are some do’s and don’ts during an interview:

Dos

  • Organize all the required material neatly.
  • Have a good dress sense, groom well.
  • Reach the place of interview well in advance.
  • Be cheerful and expressive.
  • Have positive body posture.
  • Be honest, sincere and simple in your talk.
  • Be assertive and confident.
  • Be polite in answering.
  • Leave a good last impression by saying “thank you.”
  • Replace the chair and other things in the original place when you leave the room.

Don’ts

  • Don’t search for anything in an interview as it creates a bad impression.
  • Don’t fold arms or close palms.
  • Don’t drag the chair and make a noise.
  • Don’t be rigid. Don’t cross your legs.
  • Don’t tell lies.
  • Don’t be very submissive or aggressive.
  • Don’t argue, confront, challenge.
  • Don’t feel frustrated if you lose the interview.

Tips for great body language

Your body language expresses your confidence. Here are some tips for a great body language.

  • 1. Smile
  • 2. Don’t cross your arms
  • 3. Make good eye contact
  • 4. Keep your body pointed vertically towards your guest
  • 5. Nod at key points
  • 6. Stand up straight

Frequently asked questions:

  • 1. Introduce yourself.
  • 2. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
  • 3. Can you tell something about our company?
  • 4. Why should we hire you?
  • 5. Are you willing to relocate/travel?
  • 6. What was the toughest decision you ever had to make?
  • 7. Would you lie for the company?
  • 8. On a 10 point scale how do you rate yourself in communication skills?
  • 9. How long would you like to work for us if we hire you?
  • 10. How much salary do you expect from us?

Interview Skills

We all are nervous while attending an interview, even with full preparations our hands start sweating. Here are some tips to ace an interview and get your dream job.

Whether you are applying for an entry-level position or a senior role, you will probably have an interview with a potential employer before receiving a job offer. Since a job interview gives you a chance to show your qualifications and make a good impression on the hiring team, you should know to perform at your best during this important meeting. It is not only your qualifications and experience which matters but also your positive attitude, your ability to work in teams and positive aspirations which matters in the selection process. 85% of the interviews are decided in the first two/three minutes. So be careful about your handshake, eye contact, body language, and right posture.There are 4P’s to have success in an interview – Prepare, Practice, Present, and Participate. 

You should prepare for the interview by learning about the significance of body language. Also you should improve your public speaking and linguistic skills. Also, learn as much as you can about the company and the position.You should practice the frequently asked questions by the interviewer (I have listed those questions in the end of the article). You should also practice some puzzles because in many interviews one or more IQ based questions are asked. And finally participate in the interview; express your views confidently and don’t be afraid to share your opinions to them. On the day of the interview carefully consider what to wear and how to present yourself professionally. Here are some do’s and don’ts during an interview:

Dos

  • Organize all the required material neatly.
  • Have a good dress sense, groom well.
  • Reach the place of interview well in advance.
  • Be cheerful and expressive.
  • Have positive body posture.
  • Be honest, sincere and simple in your talk.
  • Be assertive and confident.
  • Be polite in answering.
  • Leave a good last impression by saying “thank you.”
  • Replace the chair and other things in the original place when you leave the room.

Don’ts

  • Don’t search for anything in an interview as it creates a bad impression.
  • Don’t fold arms or close palms.
  • Don’t drag the chair and make a noise.
  • Don’t be rigid. Don’t cross your legs.
  • Don’t tell lies.
  • Don’t be very submissive or aggressive.
  • Don’t argue, confront, challenge.
  • Don’t feel frustrated if you lose the interview.

Tips for great body language

Your body language expresses your confidence. Here are some tips for a great body language.

1. Smile

2. Don’t cross your arms

3. Make good eye contact

4. Keep your body pointed vertically towards your guest

5. Nod at key points

6. Stand up straight

Frequently asked questions:

1. Introduce yourself.

2. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

3. Can you tell something about our company?

4. Why should we hire you?

5. Are you willing to relocate/travel?

6. What was the toughest decision you ever had to make?

7. Would you lie for the company?

8. On a 10 point scale how do you rate yourself in communication skills?

9. How long would you like to work for us if we hire you?

10. How much salary do you expect from us?

Let’s talk over business

                             TheBusiness is something which needs patience, time and value. Technologically a proper business needs proper level of investment and thus correct percentage of profit. Initially any business needs time before expecting return that is profit. Any kind of idea which provides with money is a business. In this pandemic or post pandemic situation finding a business idea which will promise to settle itself is really difficult and so here we are listing down below few business ideas which can be taken into account.

                                 The first in the list is —

  1. ONLINE TEACHING— If you are in teaching or like teaching passionate about it and don’t know how to start it since all the educational institutions are closed now and recruitment process might take longer than usual. So, here is a fantastic idea to explore which is online teaching. Here we are listing few ideas which will help you to explore or be a teacher in online mode of education.
  2. Upload an advertisement through facebook, whatsapp and instagram of every details.
  3. Upload your profile in byju, urbanpro, shaw academy and the like where they call you and mail based on the requirement.
  4. Ask your known ones relatives, friends, parents and others that if they can arrange for students.
  5. Teaching means any kind of teaching art, craft and any kind of skill so even if you want to turn your hobby into profession you are free to do so.
  • CONSULTANT— I you know that you can guide people for the best for finance management, job idea and change and any other than you can go forward as a consultant. In India consultants are given trainings before they actually step into the job world few of those trainings are—training as a consultant, master in education, psychologist and many other even counselling is a part of the same. But in abroad there might not be this kind of rigidity. In this time of post pandemic, people have lost their jobs, clueless about education so people needs consultant service which will guide them in the right path in every way.
  • SERVICE PROVIDER—This is the third option which one can avail as a service provider. If you are multi talented or have potential managerial skill than you can provide service based on your skills and talent. Like—if you know to cook than provide service to people as a cook, if you know to stitch well provide the same to people demanding those. Here also you have to explore your own skills and talents before you start your business as a service provider.

                                         

  1. Upload your profile in byju, urbanpro, shaw academy and the like where they call you and mail based on the requirement.
  2. Ask your known ones relatives, friends, parents and others that if they can arrange for students.
  3. Teaching means any kind of teaching art, craft and any kind of skill so even if you want to turn your hobby into profession you are free to do so.
  • CONSULTANT— I you know that you can guide people for the best for finance management, job idea and change and any other than you can go forward as a consultant. In India consultants are given trainings before they actually step into the job world few of those trainings are—training as a consultant, master in education, psychologist and many other even counselling is a part of the same. But in abroad there might not be this kind of rigidity. In this time of post pandemic, people have lost their jobs, clueless about education so people needs consultant service which will guide them in the right path in every way.
  • SERVICE PROVIDER—This is the third option which one can avail as a service provider. If you are multi talented or have potential managerial skill than you can provide service based on your skills and talent. Like—if you know to cook than provide service to people as a cook, if you know to stitch well provide the same to people demanding those. Here also you have to explore your own skills and talents before you start your business as a service provider.

                  Thus these are the most easily explorable business ideas which one can practise just by being at home just one needs time , investment and involvement.

The Evolving Education of India

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”   – Nelson Mandela

Photo by Fox on Pexels.com

 It is said that education is the key to freedom, a power to change the world and make world a better place to live. Education is a continuous process which enriches our mind with the light of knowledge  and provides us the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. There was a time when India had a high illiteracy rate, but slowly with the time things are changing for the better. The Education System of India has developed gradually.

Education during British Rule

The British East India Company planned to educate a small portion of Indians for their own benefit. They wanted some educated Indians who could assist them in their work and also wanted to know the customs and laws better. Various Universities were established by Britishers to follow their purpose. Calcutta Madarsa was established by Warren Hastings for study and teaching of Muslim Law. Jonathan Duncan set up the Sanskrit College for study of Hindu Law and philosophy at Varanasi. Slowly, English was being used as the medium of teaching and learning.

Changes after Independence

Pre-Independence the education was only available for the elites, this scenery was changed Post Independence. Now Education was accessible to large number of society. After Independence India was in a very poor condition, Under-Developed India was the biggest challenge that came forth. A large number of people were illiterate ,though from 18% of literacy rate in 1951 has raised up to 73 % as of 2011.Today, India has very strong and widespread education system which is successfully competing with the world.

Committees set up

  • University Education Committee (1948) : The Commission was inspired  under the leadership of Sarvapalli Radha Krishnan, this committee aimed upon  setting up Universities to provide  education for the development of overall  personality. This Commission also stressed over the purpose of “Women should get good education as men get”.
  • Secondary Education Commission (1952-1953) : It is also known as Mudaliar Commission.The main recommendations of this commission was to provide seperate schools for girls to the places it was needed. It also focused over providing special facility to study of Home Science. Target of this Commission was to the need of training Indians in a democratic way of life.
  • Kothari Committee (1964-1966) :

Kothari Commission is also known as the Indian Education Commission .Daulat Singh Kothari  was the chairman of this committee, it was set up to formulate the general principles and guidelines which was very much needed for the development of the education system. It stressed at providing free and compulsory education to all till the age 14. It focused over the development of languages  specially by  implementing ‘three-language formula’ , and keeping in check with the quality of education being provided.

Educational policies of India

 National Policy Education (1968)

This was first such kind of policy that came up in 1968.It focused over the culture based curriculum and strengtening the structure of resource support, compulsory education for all children till the age of 14. It also aimed at better training and qualification of teachers. To promote the standardisation of language Hindi was adopted as national language and elementary to higher education was made an integral part of urban and rural India.

Education in Pandemic

Covid-19 has changed the whole chalk and duster dynamic of conventional education system. Lockdown made everything to shut down including schools, colleges and coachings.  where everything came to pause and when there was no light found at the end of the tunnel, E-learning came up and reshaped the educational system of India. Distinctive hike in e-learning have taken place due to pandemic. But to standardise education the government of India should reach out to the students who are unable to afford such technologies and devices for education and learning.

Best Places to visit in New York

What would it feel like to travel to one of the world’s most famous cities?

New York City or NYC is the most populous city in the United States and also one of my favorite travel destinations. Some people come here to enjoy the Broadway shows; others come specifically to shop and dine, and; many simply come to see the sites.

The City Tour

New York is a vast and diverse city, it has something for everyone. This city has a high-energy vibe throughout the year and that’s why some people call it a city that never sleeps. A few budget-friendly places can be:-

Statue of liberty

One of the most iconic sights, the Statue of liberty is on every first-time visitor’s list of the things to do in New York. It is spectacular to see it up close.

Brooklyn Bridge 

The Brooklyn Bridge is the first roadway to connect Manhattan and Brooklyn and it offers an easy 25-minute walk into Brooklyn and the waterfront park on the other side of the bridge which can also become a 40 minutes walk if you stop for taking Instagram-worthy photos, As you make your way across you will get to see a lot of amazing views of Manhattan which makes being there totally worth it.

Top of The Rock

The top of the rock also called Rockefeller Centre is best for views whilst exploring Manhattan as it provides you a 360-degree view of Manhattan. There are many other viewing points around the city but there’s something special about New York’s Top of The Rock.

Empire State Building 

If you want a perfect shot of the New York City Skyline then the only best place for it is the Empire State Building. This building is a historic landmark which makes it one of the top places to visit in New York.

Times Square

One of the best things to do in NYC is to visit Times Square, especially during Christmas and new year’s eve. No matter what the time is it is always crowded with people. 

Outdoor Spaces

New York has so much to see and do, with numerous world-famous museums, fantastic restaurants, historic neighborhoods but there are also a massive amount of free things to do in New York and one of them is the world’s largest city park. Yes, I’m talking about Central Park. A perfect way to relax in a bustling city is to spend your day surrounded by beautiful lakes, public art, and even a zoo with loads of open space. 

Washington Square Park

Named after United States first president George Washington, Washington Square Park would be another good option. It is a good place for hangouts.

The Subway 

If you want to get a sense of the heart of the city then you must try taking the subway. It may not be very comfortable but you will be able to see a live performance at different stations. 

Tickling the Taste Buds

Let’s be honest, one thing we all love is to eat. There are so many markets, restaurants, cafes, and bars in NYC. This city is a paradise for a foodie.

Katz’s Delicatessen

It is New York’s most famous restaurant mostly known for its classic sandwiches. It has a variety of food on its menu. You will enjoy every bite of it.

Spicy Village

Those who love chicken must try this place. Spicy Village is a small restaurant located in Chinatown in Manhattan. This place stands because of its powerful flavors and style of home-cooked food.

Pizza and Bagels

Who would mind a bit of a cheesy pizza or a freshly baked bagel? There is no “best” place for pizza or bagel. A few spots where you can try yummy pizza are Joe’s Pizza in Greenwich Village and Di Fara Pizza in Brooklyn. For bagels, Absolutes bagels hit the spot.

The Friends Experience

Another reason to visit NYC could be FRIENDS. The famous American television sitcom Friends is a huge part of many people’s lives be it teenagers or adults. Even though the series was filmed in Burbank, California; it was based on six friends living in New York. A true fan of this show would die to pose on the iconic orange couch. Grabbing a cup of coffee at Central Perk is a dream come true for every friend’s fan.

“RAMADAN”

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting(sawm), prayer, reflection and community. A commemoration of Muhammad’s first revelation,the annual observance of Ramadan is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam and lasts twenty-nine to thirty days, from one sighting of the crescent moon to the next.


Fasting from dawn to sunset is fard (obligatory) for all adult Muslims who are not acutely or chronically ill, travelling, elderly, breastfeeding, diabetic, or menstruating.The predawn meal is referred to as suhur, and the nightly feast that breaks the fast is called iftar.

Although fatwas have been issued declaring that Muslims who live in regions with a midnight sun or polar night should follow the timetable of Mecca,it is common practice to follow the timetable of the closest country in which night can be distinguished from day.


The spiritual rewards (thawab) of fasting are believed to be multiplied during Ramadan. Muslims refrain not only from food and drink, but also tobacco products, sexual relations, and sinful behavior,devoting themselves instead to salat (prayer) and recitation of the Quran.

History

Muslims hold that all scripture was revealed during Ramadan, the scrolls of Abraham, Torah, Psalms, Gospel, and Quran having been handed down on the first, sixth, twelfth, thirteenth (in some sources, eighteenth) and twenty-fourth Ramadans, respectively. Muhammed is said to have received his first quranic revelation on Laylat al-Qadr, one of five odd-numbered nights that fall during the last ten days of Ramadan.

Although Muslims were first commanded to fast in the second year of Hijra (624 CE) they believe that the practice of fasting is not in fact an innovation of monotheism but rather has always been necessary for believers to attain taqwa (the fear of God).They point to the fact that the pre-Islamic pagans of Mecca fasted on the tenth day of Muharram to expiate sin and avoid drought. Philip Jenkins argues that the observance of Ramadan fasting grew out of “the strict Lenten discipline of the Syrian Churches,” a postulation corroborated by other scholars, including theologian Paul-Gordon Chandler,but disputed by some Muslim academics.

The Origin of Glass – Unknown facts

Archeological findings suggest that glass was first created during the Bronze Age in the Middle East. To the southeast, in Egypt, glass beads have seen found dating back to about 2500 B.C.E. Glass is made from a mixture of silica sand, calcium oxide, soda, and magnesium, which is melted in a furnace at 2,730°F (1,500°C). Most early furnaces produced insufficient heat to melt the glass properly, so glass was a luxury item that few people could afford. This situation changed in the first century B.C.E. when the blowpipe was discovered. Glass manufacturing spread throughout the Roman Empire in such quantities that glass was no longer a luxury. It flourished in Venice in the fifteenth century, where soda lime glass, known as ‘cristallo’, was developed. Venetian glass objects were said to be the most delicate and graceful in the world.

How glass was made?

It all begins in the earth’s crust, where the two most common elements are silicon and oxygen. These react together to form silicon dioxide, whose molecules arrange themselves into a regular crystalline form known as quartz. Quartz is commonly found in sand, where it often makes up most of the grains and is the main ingredient in most types of glass. You probably noticed that glass isn’t made of multiple tiny bits of quartz and for good reason. The edges of the rigidly formed grains and smaller defects within the crystal structure reflect and disperse light that hits them. But when the quartz is heated high enough, the extra energy makes the molecules vibrate until they break the bonds holding them together and become a flowing liquid, the same way that ice melts into water. Unlike water, though, liquid silicon dioxide does not reform into a crystal solid when it cools. Instead, as the molecules lose energy, they are less and less able to move into an ordered position, and the result is what is called an amorphous solid. A solid material with the chaotic structure of a liquid, which allows the molecules to freely fill in any gaps, this makes the surface of lass uniform on a microscopic level, allowing light to strike it without being scattered in different directions.

How glass is transparent?

Why light is able to pass through glass rather than being absorbed as with most solids? You may know that an atom consists of a nucleus with electrons orbiting around it, but you may not know that an atom has a lot of empty space. So, light passes through these atoms easily without hitting any of these particles. Then why aren’t all materials transparent? This is because, the different energy levels those electrons in an atom can have. Consider an atom of an iron, an electron in it initially assigned to move in a certain orbit. But if it had the enough energy; it could reach the exited state and jump to a closer orbit. So, one of the light photons passing through can provide the needed energy. But there is one thing; the energy from the photon has to be the right amount to get an electron to the next orbit. Otherwise, it will just let the photon pass by, and it just so happens that in glass, the electrons are placed so far from each other, that the photons of visible light can’t provide enough energy for an electron. Photons from ultra violet light give just the right amount of energy, and are absorbed. That’s why you can’t get a suntan through glass. This amazing property of being both solid and transparent has given glass many uses throughout the centuries.

 In the 1950s Sir Alastair Pilkington introduced ‘float glass production”, a revolutionary method still used to make glass. Other developments have included safety glass, heat resistant glass, and fiber optics, where light pulses are sent along thin fibers of glass. Fiber optic devices are used in telecommunications and in medicine for viewing inaccessible parts of the human body.

Food habits

Food habits refers to eating habits of people like why do people eat? what type of food they eat? and how often they eat? First of all why do we eat food? we eat food in order to gain energy and carry on with our everyday work. It is important to know what type of food is good for our heath, the amount of food we intake. Nowadays the life is so hectic that people need everything so fast which leads to relying on fast food, packed food which contains too much of additives and preservatives. These kind of food when taken for a long time period leads to a lethal effect on our body. At the same time it is really necessary to take vitamins and other needed stuff regularly, taking vitamins less than that needed by your body could lead to vitamin deficiency, at the same time taking vitamins more than that required by your body could lead to vitamin toxicity or hypervitaminosis.

Over eating

Over eating is a term used when some person eats more than required by his/her body. What happens when a person over eats? His body slows down the process of digestion of the food he consumed, which obviously leads to fat accumulation which leads to obesity, again obesity leads to various other health complications. over eating causes nausea, bloating, sleepiness and also leads to complications like diabetes, high blood pressure and also it runs the risk of causing heart diseases. All we need to do is, eat healthy food in moderation and exercise regularly and stay fit . It is not possible to eat healthy all the time, of course we all have cravings when we see junk food, even though we know its unhealthy, but still we can eat healthy most of the time and have some cheat days to eat those junks. Always remember that a healthy person is a happy person.

Education

Education is the process of learning, gaining knowledge, skills, morals, values, habits and helps us with our personality development. Education is a powerful tool for the development of a nation. It has the power to drive away poverty, when it is provided to each and every individual of the society.

Education Then and Now

What was education back then? place where education was taught back those days were called as gurukul, students used to stay there and learn and they had strict rules to follow , one more thing about gurukul is that, only a specific set of students were allowed to learn in gurukul. After some years education was developed a lot more and students who were denied to get education were also allowed to learn. Students used to sit on ground and used slate and chalk to write and learn. Now education has reached another level of growth, students use e-books, that is all their learning stuffs are available in mobiles, pcs, laptops or tablets. Even during COVID we managed to learn through online, but the question is, was it as effective as offline schooling? Majority of us felt that offline classes were lively and more interactive, rather than watching those screens sitting, surrounded by walls.

Education being a burden

Education was fine until it was limited, when we learnt things in moderation, when competition was less. The population plays an important role in education. Since the population increased a lot the competition for getting into a school, college and job has increased a lot. In order to cope up with the competition students learn a lot of stuff than needed, push themselves so hard to prove themselves in this society. There is this trend where all of us either want to be a doctor, engineer or collector, we just forget that there are thousands of fields to learn. If each one of us find what we really need and work on it, definitely there won’t be these many competitive exams to be either a doctor or a engineer. Once our population becomes steady and these toxic stereotypes comes to an end, the education won’t be a burden to students and all of us would get a quality education.

Why Using A Financial Advisor Is The Best Choice For Your Next Investment Property?

As Benjamin Franklin accurately stated, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” You may have numerous distinct financial objectives that you want to achieve, but in order to achieve them at the ideal time in life, you must have a financial plan in place at the earliest.

Let’s face it: not everybody has the time or inclination to master finance. Nonetheless, being able to handle one’s personal and household money is becoming increasingly crucial in today’s world.

Nonetheless, don’t be alarmed! Hire finance advisors Richmond for peace of mind without constantly worrying about the ever-changing laws, economic conditions, or available financial goods.

Regardless of whether you plan to use the home as a primary residence or if you are only interested in the return on your investment, we always suggest that you engage with Melbourne finance advisors throughout your financial journey.

The Benefits Of Working With A Financial Advisor When Buying Your Next Investment Property

An investment advisor can help you make better financial decisions. A financial advisor may help you by educating and encouraging you as you strive toward your property investment objectives. Consider them your own coach and cheerleading team.

A skilled financial planner serves as a guide as you travel through life. Finance advisors Richmond essentially assist you in gaining control of your revenue, spending, and assets, making it easier to manage your funds and fulfil your dreams. 

Here are six key reasons for working with a financial advisor when buying your next investment property.

Knowledge and Experience

For those who have never invested in real estate before, the process can be daunting and time-consuming. To find the property that meets your needs and provides the promised returns on your investment, you will need the expertise of an investment property mortgage broker.

Making an informed financial decision doesn’t have to break the bank, which is what investment property brokers can help you avoid doing. They assist you in avoiding the kind of decision-related mistakes that often result in disappointment. The selection of property is, in reality, the deciding factor between a successful investment and a bad one when it comes to property investments.

Market Analysis

It doesn’t matter how many years of investment experience someone has if they don’t have correct facts to back it up. Melbourne finance advisors can estimate whether or not your home will be profitable year after year by evaluating the purchase price, including yearly appreciation considerations.

Rents that are either too high, too low, or exactly in line with your financial strategy goals may be discovered with a fast look at national, state, and local statistics. When you have the guidance of a professional who can provide you with reliable and economical advice, getting the most profit out of your home is made a bit simpler.

Voice Of Reason

A skilled financial advisor will assist you to start investing if you have been putting it off, or help you do it with more clarity if you have been doing it by yourself. They may propose an appropriate portfolio to help you achieve your objectives and explain how it suits you into the long-term strategy they have developed for you. They may also assist you with managing your finances so that you do not make judgments based on your emotions. 

Many investors sell their failing investments rashly when their properties face major losses. However, as a result, you are converting paper losses into permanent damage. The competent finance advisors Richmond will help you stay focused, diligent, and steady with the measures you need to implement to increase your fortune. They can be a voice of reason that encourages you to look at your assets with a long lens since they can stay psychologically impartial.

Investment Strategy

A normal call or appointment with a financial planner should begin with a discussion of your financial goals, problems, and patterns. Investment property brokers recognise your long-term goals and can help you manage your finances to achieve them, whether you want to buy as many properties as possible, decide which to settle off first, or what to do with the profits.

Your financial advisor will use the data obtained and analyse the state of your assets and assist you in gaining a better knowledge of where your wealth is and how to manage it. Your advisor will be able to determine the return on the equity you will need to accumulate to achieve your goals within the timeframe you have set. Finance advisors Richmond, such as an investment consultant, can assist you in not just accumulating money, but also in protecting it over time.

Accounting Guidance

Accountants are a great resource for helping you understand how to take advantage of tax reductions on your earnings. These specialists, however, are unable to provide you with guidance on “how” to boost the revenue that you already make. You may be paying more in taxes because your assets are dispersed throughout numerous jurisdictions rather than concentrated in a single place.

If you want to build your net worth, you have to consider the potential tax consequences of every investment you make. Regularly reviewing your tax returns with Melbourne finance advisors might help you identify patterns of increased taxes that could save you money in the long run.

Portfolio Management

If you are an experienced investor with a growing portfolio, you’ll benefit most from working with a financial advisor to look after your investments. Your property investment portfolio can be evaluated by a financial planner who has specialised in property investing in the same manner that they evaluate your stock or retirement accounts.

You and the rest of your team will know when it is time to expand your property portfolio and ensure that it is performing as you had hoped. Some assurance may be gained by working with an expert investment adviser, who can advise you on the best time to acquire new properties, list an asset for sale, balance your property investment holdings, and so on.

Conclusion

Finance advisors Richmond will arm you with the knowledge and opportunities you need to create, expand, and maintain a successful real estate portfolio. Hire the most skilled Melbourne finance advisors now and ensure a seamless investment experience!