Day: August 4, 2022

Horticulture

The word horticulture is derived from Latin word -‘ hortus’ meaning garden and ‘ cultura’ meaning culture or growing.

Horticulture is the branch of plant agricultural science involving cultivation of fruits, vegetables, flowers, ornamental plants, medicinal plants, gardening etc. It even involves landscaping and gardening.

It includes components like:

Olericulture : production of vegetables; Pomology: production of fruits ; viticulture: growing of grape vines for wine making and good quality grapes production; Floriculture: production of flowers and ornamental plants; production of aromatic plants, spices, medicinal plants , Arboriculture: cultivation of herbs, shrubs, woody plants for landscape and beautification. It even involves nursery management of plants by using techniques like grafting, cutting, pruning etc, bonsai etc..

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Photo by John-Mark Smith on Pexels.com
Fruits

Scope of horticulture:

It involves propagation of plants, landscaping and garden designing, cultivation of exotic and indigeneous fruits and vegetables, nursery production, topiary { it is an art of training, cutting, trimming trees or shrubs into various shape for ornamental purpose}, growing plantation crops like rubber, tea, coffee, coconut etc, production of spices like black pepper, cardamom, ginger, turmeric etc ,cultivation of aromatic and medicinal plants like patchouli, stevia, aloe vera, tulsi, lemon grass, rosemerry etc. , cultivation of flowers, involves greenhouse cultivation of crops too, bonsai ( Japanese art to cultivate small tree that mimicss large tree) , turf and lawn preparation etc.

Importance of Horticulture:

It helps us to meet the nutritional aspects through consumption of fruits and vegetables.

It provides us medicinal plants, herbs to cure ailments. It too provides spices that adds aroma and flavour.

It increases asthetic value through landscaping and beautification.

Gardening helps us to destress and relax and can be done as a habit too.

Urban gardening through use of nursery and kitchen gardening to meet everyday kitchen needs.

It can be used to beautify our indoor places in house and adds asthetic value to it.

Helps to increase income and generate employment opportunities through value addition and food processing industry.

So, it serves as an all purpose as well as recreational activities in our daily life.

Business Application Software to automate your business.

 

Many companies use various types of
business application software to automate processes, improve operational
efficiency, and gain actionable insight into front and back office functions.

 

An Adobe study found that 30% of business
owners adopting automated technology prioritized saving time, and 25% wanted
big data analytics. By saving time on standard procedures, employees can focus
their efforts on more demanding tasks and streamline their workflow. This
increased productivity and access to data reports allows companies to focus on
increasing and expanding their profits.

 

There are many types of business software,
each offering unique benefits to businesses for improved data management and
access to insights.

 

Advantages of Business Application Software

 

business software is used by organizations
to streamline communications, improve workflows, and save time, allowing
employees to invest their skills in more complex projects. The advantages of
using various business application software are as follows-

 

Quality and Consistency – System software ensures that all operations are performed
in a consistent manner, delivering consistent results. As a result,
organizations can ensure workflow consistency and expect the same results every
time. By eliminating the time spent actively monitoring processes,
organizations can focus on more demanding tasks.

Time Savings
– By automating repetitive procedures, this software allows employees to
focus their manual work on more complex tasks, reducing time and human error.

Metric Availability – This software uses real-time data from various operations.
You can collect this data and generate reports and analytics to monitor key
performance indicators (KPIs).

Optimize Operational Efficiency – Significantly improve operational efficiency by reducing the time,
labor and effort required to perform standard procedures.

Minimized turnaround Times – Software solutions ensure consistent results through
automation, process streamlining, and reduced cycle times for employees and
consumers. This drives company growth and employee satisfaction both internally
and externally.

Reduced labor costs – Performing tasks manually can be time consuming, costly, prone to
human error, and often requires additional costs to accommodate discrepancies

Therefore, project management software
allows companies to minimize the resources required to carry out basic
processes.

Types of Business Application Software

Studies show that multitasking is actually
counterproductive to operations and can reduce business productivity by up to 40%.
With an automated operating system, business owners can ensure that their
employees are getting things done efficiently by freeing them up to focus on
more focused tasks, Whatever your organization’s goals,

 

1. Human Resource
Information System (HRIS)

 

There is a software solution to streamline
almost any process, including your Human Resources Information System (HRIS).
About a management process that costs companies about $5 trillion a year. HR is
one of the most important departments in any company, so implementing an HR
software program can streamline some office tasks. Recruitment, employee
onboarding, recordkeeping, training, and payroll can all be monitored and
automated via HRIS that processes digital documents.

 

2. Inventory
Control System

As one standardized business solution, the Inventory
Management System monitors inventory levels, updates, turnover rates and
automates cycle counting. Integrate with inventory systems and replenishment
solutions to view real-time quantities of all items with automatic reorder
points and point-of-sale (POS) systems.

This software application saves time and
money by eliminating the need for staff to manually count, record and verify
inventory at multiple locations. Inventory management solutions can also notify
users immediately if they detect errors or discrepancies, so warehouse managers
can quickly correct the situation.

 

3. Communication
Software

To properly exchange data, companies need to ensure
that communication works smoothly between all departments and locations.
Web-based e-mail and communication software such as Microsoft Office are
commonly used to enhance information sharing both inside and outside the
company.

However, organizations can also use
cloud-based system integrators to connect all their existing software. This
creates a centralized database where verified users can access reports at any
time and collaborate seamlessly with other departments.

 

4. Accounting
Software

Accounting Software helps financial advisors monitor
performance by tracking expenses, income and earnings in real time. Up-to-date
information allows accountants to ensure that their books contain relevant data
and keep their business profitable.

 

5. Service
Management Solution

Customer Relationship Management Systems enhance every
interaction between businesses and consumers, such as, Transactions and
Customer Service. Effective solutions not only improve the customer experience
and save customers time, they also address their concerns in an appropriate and
methodical manner.

 

6. Reservation
Software

Cloud Computing Appointment System enables
appointment-based businesses such as clinics, salons and restaurants to
integrate in-person and online appointments. By consolidating bookings from all
platforms, businesses can avoid understaffing shifts and overbooking customers,
hurting customer satisfaction and loyalty.

 

7. Schedule
Management System

State-of-the-art cloud-based management software allows
store managers to access and modify their schedule anytime, anywhere. Some
providers offer web-based interfaces and mobile apps, as well as on-site
monitors that allow management and employees to interact and review shift
changes and vacations. This accessibility allows users to change schedules on
the fly to avoid employee confusion and absenteeism. Scheduling software manages work budgets
and salaries, monitors pay cycles and identifies top talent.

8. Demand
Forecasting Software

with the help of POS and inventory systems, demand
forecasting software can examine historical and real-time sales and inventory
data to forecast future customer demand. The data is then automatically
consolidated and generated into detailed reports and analytics to provide
actionable insights. Forecasting allows businesses to prepare for spikes and
slowdowns in demand through proper inventory management, saving inventory and
labor costs.

Regardless of company size or industry,
there are many different types of application software available to meet
different business needs. An automated project management solution saves
organizations time, capital, and effort from standard processes.

3 important railway projects recommended by Network Planning Group

 Network Planning Group constituted under the institutional framework of ‘PM GatiShakti National Master Plan’ has examined and recommended 3 important railway projects on 3rd August, 2022. These are Doubling of Gorakhpur Cantt – Valmikinagar rail line, Katihar – Mukuria and Katihar – Kumedpur Doubling and Pachora – Jamner Gauge Conversion & Extension upto Bodwad. All 3 projects are extremely important with a view to ensure faster movement of goods in the hinterland which will accelerate the logistics efficiency and bring reduction in logistics costs. 

MoR has identified ‘high density network’ of railway lines to achieve target of 3000 million metric tonne of freight movement. As part of that mission, 3 critical important projects have been identified as follows:

I.          Doubling of Gorakhpur Cantt – Valmikinagar rail line :

            To ensure freight flow, particularly food grain movement from western India to North Eastern States, Gorakhpur Cantt – Valmikinagar (95 km.) is an important stretch which was having only single railway line affecting the freight movement. From Valmikinagar  upto Muzaffarpur, work on doubling is already going on. This proposed doubling project with the cost of Rs. 1120 Crore is expected to improve the logistics efficiency significantly. 

II.        Katihar – Mukuria and Katihar – Kumedpur Doubling

 Katihar – Mukuria and Katihar – Kumedpur are extremely busy sections. Currently  this is single line and it is a Rajdhani train route. This is important link to connect  Northeast and also Howrah. Doubling of these sections will significantly help     movement of cargo from Kolkata Port to Virat Nagar. The cost of this project is Rs.942   Crore.

III.       Pachora – Jamner Gauge Conversion & Extension upto Bodwad

            This project is in the State of Maharashtra. Pachora to Jamner Gauge Conversion and extension of railway line of Bodwad. This project would be 84 km. long at an anticipated cost of Rs.955 Crore. This project will provide bye pass double line railway connectivity for Jalgaon and Bhusawal. It will provide faster freight movement from JNPT to Nagpur and eastern region of the country. 

Network Planning Group has recommended all 3 project proposals. The members of the Network Planning Group have further suggested certain components from integrated planning and synchronized implementation concept. M/o Environment, Forests & Climate Change has assured faster clearances. All these projects have been mapped on PM GatiShakti NMP. Through PM GatiShakti NMP it shall be possible to implement these projects in the next five years within estimated cost  

The Network Planning Group has the head of Planning Divisions of the infrastructure Ministries including M/o Railways, MoRTH, Power, MoPNG, MNRE, DoT, MoCA, MoPSW with special representative from NITI Aayog and MoEF&CC. Logistics Division, DPIIT functions as secretariat of PM GatiShakti. 

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National Intellectual Property (IP) Awards 2021 & 2022 and WIPO Awards

 Applications have been invited for National Intellectual Property (IP) Awards 2021 & 2022 and WIPO Awards in different categories. National Intellectual Property (IP) Awards are conferred to recognize and reward:

The WIPO Global Awards Program recognizes the central role of innovative and creative activities of SMEs and recognizes those that have used IP rights to develop solutions that have made a positive contribution to society, economically, socially, or culturally.

1. Contribution of individuals, companies, R & D Institutions, academic institutions, MSMEs, Start-ups, and organizations for their IP creations and commercialization of IP, which have contributed to harnessing the country’s intellectual capital and creating an IP ecosystem that boosts creativity and innovation and

2.  Law enforcement agency to ensure effective implementation of the IP laws and create a healthy IP ecosystem

Applications are invited for National Intellectual Property (IP) Awards 2021 & 2022 and WIPO Awards in different categories as below: 

  1. Top Indian Individuals for Patents Filing, Grant & Commercialization introducing Child (< 18 years) & Third gender also.
  • Top Indian Academic institution for Patents Filing, Grant & Commercialization
  • Top R & D institution/organization for Patents Filing, Grant & Commercialization
  • Top Public Limited Company / Private Limited Company for Patents Filing, Grant & Commercialization in India
  1. Manufacturing sector
  2. Others
  • Top Indian Private Company (MSME) for Patents Filing, Grant & Commercialization
  • Top Start-up for IP Filing, (Grant/Registration) and Commercialization
  • Top Indian Company /Organization for Designs
  • Top Indian Company for creating Global brands in India & abroad
  • Introducing Most Popular Geographical Indication (GI) in India in each of the five (05) categories by Public Opinion Poll through online voting on the official website
  • Best Police Unit (District / zone in a commissionarate) for enforcement of IP in the Country
  • Best Incubator for Nurturing the IP

Applicants are required to submit details in prescribed application forms available on https://ipindia.gov.in/newsdetail.htm?816/ on or before 31/08/2022 for consideration. The applications shall be sent electronically to the e-mail address: ipawards.ipo[at]gov[dot]in and by post to: Dr. Suneeta Betgeri, Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs, Boudhik Sampada Bhavan, SM Road, Antop Hill, Mumbai-400037 (Phone No: 022-24144127)

Notably, these awards have been given since 2009. The award carries a cash Prize of Rs. One lakh and a citation, which is conferred by the Minister of Commerce and Industry in an event organized by the Office of Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks on the birth anniversary of Late Dr A. P. J. Abdual Kalam, Former President of India on October 15, 2022. 

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India’s satellite-based navigation system, NavIC, is as good as GPS of the United States

 Government says, India’s satellite-based navigation system, NavIC, is as good as GPS of the United States in terms of position accuracy and availability in its service region.

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, with an operational name of NavIC, is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system that provides accurate real-time positioning and timing services. It covers India and a region extending 1,500 km around it, with plans for further extension.

 

Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said, 

NavIC can help in navigation on land, air, sea and also in disaster management.

NavIC satellites are placed at a higher orbit than the GPS of United States. NavIC satellites are placed in geostationary orbit (GEO) & geosynchronous orbit (GSO) with an altitude of about 36,000 km; GPS satellites are placed in medium earth orbit (MEO) with an altitude of about 20,000 km.

NavIC uses dual frequency bands, which improves accuracy of dual frequency receivers by enabling them to correct atmospheric errors through simultaneous use of two frequencies. It also helps in better reliability and availability because the signal from either frequency can serve the positioning requirement equally well.

At the time of inception, an indigenously developed satellite navigation system was conceptualized to cater to requirements of critical national applications, including those of defence and commercial establishments. Hence the coverage area was designed to cover Indian Territory and surrounding 1500 km of Indian borders. The needs of critical national applications do evolve with time and efforts are continuously made to meet these requirements, including from the point of view of coverage.

Ultimate aim of governance should be to empower the people

 The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu today emphasized that the ultimate aim of governance should be to empower the people and to move towards minimum government, which according to him, will happen only when the last mile has been traversed and the people at the bottom of the pyramid have been reached. He also said that the success of good governance lies in including and making the toiling masses equal stakeholders in the process of development.

Addressing the participants of 48th Advanced Professional Programme in Public Administration (APPPA) conducted by Indian Institute of Public Administration in New Delhi today, the Vice President said that the key to good governance lies in inclusivity, use of technology and maintaining high moral standards. “Technology fosters transparency and hence accountability, which is the basic feature of good governance, while moral standards impart legitimacy,” he added. He hoped that these two together will usher in a new political culture preparing the ground for bringing in transformational reforms.

Underlining that people’s participation is very important for inclusive and responsive governance, Shri Naidu said that reforms are only initiated by the Government but actually bear fruit only when people proactively work for the future of their country. Referring to the ongoing celebrations of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Vice President urged every Indian to work with an aim of building a happy, healthy, prosperous and developed nation when we enter the 100th year of our Independence.

Observing that the focus today is shifting from government to governance, the Vice President said that India is on the move, shedding the baggage of its past and embarking on a journey towards hope and the fulfilment of its ultimate destiny which is to lead the world.

On this occasion, Shri Naidu also stressed the need to get out of the colonial mindset and asked the administrators to use people’s language while discharging their official duties. “You should interact with the people in their own language,” he told them. Referring to the adage — ‘service to man is service to God’, the Vice President wanted all officials to make ‘people’s service’ their main motto.

Lauding IIPA’s contribution to national development, Shri Naidu said that he is happy to see IIPA today is adapting itself to the needs of a dynamic and fast changing era, and to the rapidly changing socio-economic milieu. Calling for arresting the trend of falling standards in public life, he wanted the administrators and leaders to set examples in integrity and ethics.

Referring to the concept of Ram-Rajya, so often espoused by Mahatma Gandhi, he said that in Indian tradition, it is a metaphor to define how a well governed welfare state should look like and exhorted the administrators to follow these lofty ideals to build a society free from poverty, discrimination and inequality.

5 Business Software you should know about it.

 5 Business Software you should know about it


what is business software? 

it is basically a program or an application that helps the company in its daily activities. it is installed locally. there are different types of activities performed in a company which is sometimes become difficult to manage without the help of software so now it has become an important part of any company. As in large cooperation, there are large No. of people for performing the task but in small organizations there are only a few people so it is needed a lot in small companies.  the uses of software also depend on the size and kind of work a company is catering for large cop payroll management software uses is more as compared to small because of No of people are more in large companies so to manage all data this software support these firms.

types of software?

1: Project management:

Project management software helps in managing, planning, and executing projects and daily activities in a company. usually when there is a large project comes into a company it is distributed among the people as per their expertise so here this software helps in measuring or tracking the work performed by everyone and to analyze how the resources are being used on a project .it helps in enhancing the efficiency of the people working into a company by analysis of their performance.
 

the major task performed by this software:

  • Helps in tracking Active task 
  • Helps in prevent deadlines or late work
  • Enhance efficiency & productivity of the team
  • Helps in planning the cost of the project

Examples: Airtable, Monday, and  Asana.

2: CRM Software:

CRM stands for customer relationship management. this software support managing clients and leads. it mainly performs two functions increasing sales & improving customer relations.

How CRM software helps a business:

  • it helps in managing feedback and expectations
  • get connected with clients whom you have not served
  • keep a reserve of customer information for better fulfillment of their needs

Examples: Honeybook and Salesflare

3: Accounting & billing software:


 It includes a variety of software whose functions revolve around the finances of any company like accounting and bookkeeping, invoicing, billing, and revenue monitoring.

How this software helps a business:

  • it becomes invoicing easy
  • helps in managing payments deadlines

Examples:- Quickbooks, Freshbooks, wave, etc.

4: Appointment scheduling software:


if your business revolves around meeting people then this software will help you a lot . this software offers the facility to a client to self-schedule its meeting without sending emails or phone calls.

How this software helps a business:

  • saves from double bookings
  • the charge for the meeting in advance 
  • manage the calendar efficiently

Examples: Bookafy,calandly,setmore, etc.

5: Shift management software:


this software helps in managing where the peoples work differently like at different timings and schedules. while having this software every employee knows about their working time and shift schedule. This software is very helpful in restaurant , shops and cleaning companies.

How this software helps a business:

  • helps in building and sharing schedule
  • offers facility of managing , editing meetings.
  • monitor employee presence 
Example: Sage HR , Timesphere , when I work

The Real Heroes

 The Real Heroes

‘Hero’, is a term that is very familiar to everyone. For kids, their favorite cartoon character is a real hero, for adults the main character of their favorite movie is a real hero. Whenever we listen to or read the word ‘Hero’, we just think about the movie character. But really, is it true that they are heroes? They are just celebrities who do their job in films, being an actor. The act they perform is just for entertainment purposes, not the real one.  

Hero 

If we find the real meaning of hero then according to the oxford dictionary, ‘Hero is a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities’. Then according to this definition any person who does extraordinary work in real life, that normal people don’t perform in real life is considered to be a hero. These people are known as real heroes and they live with us in our surroundings. 

The Real heroes

The real heroes are ordinary people with extraordinary thoughts and skills. They dare to do what others are afraid to do so. They dare to achieve something for the betterment of society or nation. We can relate this to anyone in our surroundings whose actions are doing well for our society. 


There are a lot of people who are working hard for the growth and change of society. They are trying to remove the roots of social evils like dowery, child labor, female feticides, exploitation, etc., from our society. We can see a lot of people who start NGOs for social welfare and working for poor people, they are real heroes.

We can proudly say that the soldiers, who are working day and night to protect our country are real heroes. They left their house and family to perform their duties and they don’t know will they met their family again or not. They are doing an extraordinary job that cannot be performed by an ordinary person.

Our freedom fighters who sacrifice their life for the freedom of our country are real heroes because their goal was just to save their nation. They didn’t care for their life or their future, they just cared for the country. Due to their efforts and sacrifices, we are living happily.

During the time of the pandemic, the doctors and nurses who work day and night to save the life of people are real heroes. The sports persons who won awards for their nation are real heroes because they are inspirations for our future generation. Our teachers who teach us to become better people are real heroes. Anyone whose acting does well for others is a real hero. 

Many people are still there in this world, who are working effortlessly for the benefit of the better nations but they don’t get consideration. They are hidden behind the ordinaries in everyday life but their acts of compassion make them special. So, if you find such people in your surrounding then consider them real heroes and get inspiration from them to do something great for your society. The more we work effortlessly for the welfare of others the more heroes we get who have the courage to change the world.

Content writing services

 

 Top-rated content writing services for websites

Today’s world is all going online. Most of the things are available online. For Example- online shopping, online work from home, online classes, online tuition, online food order etc. So online marketing is now a trend. When we do online shopping or buy some products we see the content and we should know about that brand or company. Suppose a beauty brand is available in the market and we don’t know a single thing about that brand. You will buy those beauty band products? No, you will not because you don’t know anything about that brand. Right so basically people should know the services you are providing. There are hundreds and thousands of web pages available that have similar products and services offered to your web page. Now, what makes them superior so that visitors come to your website and buy them? The answer is content because the content is the king.

Web content plays a very crucial role in making people think that this website contains genuine products because nowadays everyone is getting smarter than others.

When you copy and duplicate your content it will have a very bad impact on people and people will not buy your products. When someone buys any products from a website they need standard content to believe about that brand or the product. They researched everything and they cross-checked all the reviews before buying them.

Another thing good for web content is search engine optimization and SEO content writing because SEO is one of the most important tools that make the website visible across the internet. For these, you should consider hiring a content writing company which provides SEO-friendly and original articles. Some top-rated content writing services for websites are – Write Right, Just Words, Godot Media, Inksplore, and Coffeegraphy. 

Affordable and quality content writing services

Content is the main pillar of any website and helps a company to engage visitors as they land on any website. Nowadays many online marketing companies are there so getting affordable and quality content writing services is not a very big problem anymore. You can find it easily but the important thing is when you hire a company to handle your website content make sure that you have taken the right and wise decision.

Now affordable content writing services are available but everyone can not provide affordable and quality content writing services. There are many companies out there that provide affordable content writing services but can not provide quality content writing services. If you let this your online business will get ruined as no visitors will come to your website anymore and they will switch to the other websites available.

So, if you are planning to hire a company to take care of your website content. Make sure that the company is not only affordable but gives you quality content writing services.

Best website content writers

In India, many content writers are there who provide the best content writing services. These days competitions are very high and one needs the best knowledge for writing content. In India, many writers are available who are doing very good work and can compete globally. The content writers need more information and research a lot more than just writing an article. They acquire knowledge and do research before committing to the article. They keep their mind open about the field in which they write content.

Qualified SEO content writing companies

On every yearly basis, the SEO agency’s target is to become the topmost companies that are listed. All yeh agencies have been for several years and have a lot of experience and they do the hard work daily. These companies aid their customers with SEO needs such as social media marketing, link building, content creation and many more.

Here are some of the qualified SEO content writing companies –

Acmeinfolabs.com

Techanvi.com

Seoinc.com

Thrivagency.Com

Cardinaldigitalmarketing.com

SEO.Co

Bright edge.com

Seoinboston.com

Best services quality article writing

If you have any website or blog you need to have the best services for SEO content for all your web pages. Your content should be updated regularly. You will need always new online content which you have to upload on your site and if you can’t write by yourself or you have no time to write by yourself then you have to hire a professional article writer who will write articles for your website or blog. You need a writer who can write SEO articles and provide you regularly.

I hope I have provided all the details about content writing. I hope it will be useful for you.

India and its neighborhood- relations

India shares geographical boundary with eight countries namely Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Since the inception of our foreign policy, India has aimed at building trust with its neighbors. It aims at peaceful friendly relations and mutual economic development by enhanced trade and investments.

•Pakistan: Improving relations with Pakistan has been among top priorities in Indian foreign policy. After the visit of Pakistan former Prime Minister Parvez Musharaff in 2004, there has been a vacuum in our talks. It seems that radical groups in Pakistan took undue advantage of this vacuum and consequently there has been increased reports of cross-border terrorism activities. 26/11 attack is an unwashable strain on the fabric of friendship between India and Pakistan. But as it is said that ‘time heals all wounds’. The recently elected Narendra Modi led National Democratic alliance government’s attitude is worth appreciation. Indian Prime minister invited his Pakistani counterpart in his swearing in ceremony in New Delhi. This is a clear indication that both Nations are willing to take their relations on newer heights. In this aspect changed outlook India should try to adopt a sustainable foreign policy towards Pakistan. Smaller initiatives like Indo-Pak trade fair at Jalandhar, Punjab (India) needs to be encouraged. Healthy trade relations will help both sides equally.

•Nepal: Since the birth of democratic institution in Nepal, India has increasingly tried to have good relations with Nepal. Currently a joint hydro power project is being built on Sharda River. This power plant is thought to mutually help both India and Nepal with respect to electricity production and irrigation facilities. From the environmental perspective, there are a number of Tiger reserves along Indo-Nepal border. Both countries have identified their importance and are helping each other to sustain the existing ones and creating new ones. •China: China being manufacturing hub of world, is strategically very important to India. In fact China has become a role model for development. India needs to build strong trade relations with China. Increasing Foreign Direct Investment caps in various sectors has been one such step of India to invite investors from abroad.Apart from these bilateral relations, India has been active on various other forums as well which provides for greater engagement with its neighbors. For example India has been one of the pioneering advocate of TAPI (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India). This project aimed at bringing gas from Gulf countries and distribute it in TAPI countries.

India is an active member in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India China and South Africa). BRICS is emerging a one of the significant union in world. BRICS nations represent 40 per cent of world population and has approximately sixteen trillion dollars as its Nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP). BRICS nation contributes around eighteen per cent of world economy. The recent BRICS summit held at Brazil in July 2014.
One of the German intellectual has rightly said that ‘For economic development of a nation, peace with its neighbors is a pre-requisite’. India not only recognizes this statement but also conforms to it. Going by the mood of current Indian government in India, Union government too knows the importance of its neighbors. If India wants to be a super-power then maintaining friendly relations with its neighbors is a first step of ladder in this direction.

India has always wanted friendly ties with its neighbours, there can be no debate around it. We want to live in harmony and peace.

-Narendra Modi

Role of civil services in a democracy .

In the process of governance, which involves several sets of activities to deliver effective services to people, civil services play a pivotal role in providing shape to policies that reflect people’s needs and put their suggestive, analytical and informative roles to implement the
policies. It is recognized that civil services play a crucial role in all societies. In the modern administrative state, public administration has become so significant that our development, upliftment and progress depend mainly upon the efficient functioning of civil services that are
the bedrock of public administration. Civil services have assumed more important role in democracy to ensure good governance, both in developing and developed countries. Civil Services form a part of bureaucracy, wherein the roles of civil servants are determined by
written rules. It’s an impersonal system operating on the basis of calculable rules and staffed by full time appointed officials. Usually, the civil servants are selected on basis of their technical
qualifications, receive fixed salaries, have a defined sphere of competence and work under a clearly defined hierarchy of offices.

The role of Civil Servants across the domains of policy making and policy implementation is critical to the development process. They assist in identifying major policy areas such as preparing major policy proposals, analyzing various alternatives and solutions to societal problems requiring urgent attention, dividing the major policies into sub-policies, determining
program of action and suggesting modification in the existing policy on the basis of its experience on the implementation front.Civil services carry on the governance when governments change due to elections etc. Ramsay
Muir has remarked that while governments may come and go, ministers may rise and fall, the administration of a country goes on forever. It is needless to say that civil services form the backbone of administration. E.g. In India, when the President’s Rule is imposed in a state, the
Governor runs the state through the Chief Secretary and other civil servants.The civil servants are responsible to the ministers of the departments in which they serve. The ministers are accountable to the people through the Parliament or State Legislatures, and the civil servants are accountable to the ministers. They should ideally serve the elected government of the day, as government policies are the functions of the civil services. However, an impartial civil servant is also accountable to the Constitution of India on which he has taken an oath of allegiance.

In India, bureaucracy or civil services is permanent and does not change with the government. The recruitment is based on merit and through competitive exams. This is in contrast to the system followed in the US, where civil servants, especially in the higher echelons, change with the government. This is called the spoils system where people who are close to the government of the day get posts.

With bad laws and good civil servants it’s still possible to govern. But with bad civil servants even the best laws can’t help.

   -Otto von Bismarck.

Physical Geography

Physical geography is one of the two branches of geography viz., physical geography and human ge­ography. In fact, the study of physical aspects of the earth represents the core of spatial science i.e., geogra­phy. Most of geographers have pleaded for bifurcation of geography into physical and human geography but it is rather unwise to ignore biotic aspect of the biospheric ecosystem of the earth and hence there should be trifurcation of geography into physical ge­ography, human geography and biogeographyPhysi­cal geography in terms of its meaning and definition, scope (subject matter) and methods of study has under­gone sea-change in the past few decades. In the begin­ning, physical geography was defined as the study of only physical environment (namely reliefs, air and water) of the earth e.g., ‘the study of physical environ­ment by itself is physical geography which includes consideration of surface relief of the globe (geomorphology), of the seas and the oceans (ocea­nography) and of the air (meteorology and climatol­ogy) (Arthur Holmes).

Physical geography was considered as the ag­glomeration of different branches of earth sciences or natural sciences viz., sciences of atmosphere (meteor­ology and climatology); science of seas and oceans (oceanography); science of solid earth (geology); sci­ence of soil (pedology); science of plants (botany) and science of landforms (geomorphology).As a distinct branch of geography physical geography studies the spatial patterns and spatial relationships of environmental components of the globe in regional context, it also studies the causes of regional patterns of such spatial relationships, simultaneously it incorporates the ex­planation of spatial and temporal changes of environ­mental components and causes thereof.The study of features resulting from the interac­tions between endogenetic and exogenetic forces in­volves the discussion of mode of denudational proc­esses (weathering and erosion), hetherto termed as geomorphic processes, their mechanism of operation (machanism of erosion, transportation and deposition by running water-river, groundwater, sea waves, wind, glacier and periglacial agent) and resultant landforms.

The discipline of physical geography has evolved through successive stages of its development in terms of methodology and approaches to study. After taking its birth in the philosophical ideas and reports of ancient thinkers, philosophers and historians of the ancient seats of civilization and culture e.g., Greece, Rome and Egypt, the science of physical environment attained its present status wherein different compo­nents were added from time to time.

Geography is also memory. And loss of physical geography is also loss of narrative memory.

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is defined as fabrication of devices with atomic or molecular scale precision. Devices with minimum feature sizes less than 100 nanometers (nm) are considered to be products of nanotechnology. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter (10-9 m) and is the unit of length that is generally most appropriate for describing the size of single molecules.The nanoscale marks the nebulous boundary between the classical and quantum mechanical worlds; thus, realization of nanotechnology promises to bring revolutionary capabilities. Fabrication of nanomachines, nanoelectronics and other nanodevices will undoubtedly solve an enormous amount of the problems faced by mankind today.Nanotechnology is currently in a very infantile stage. However, we now have the ability to organize matter on the atomic scale and there are already numerous products available as a direct result of our rapidly increasing ability to fabricate and characterize feature sizes less than 100 nm. Mirrors that don’t fog, biomimetic paint with a contact angle near 180°, gene chips and fat soluble vitamins in aqueous beverages are some of the first manifestations of nanotechnology. However, immenant breakthroughs in computer science and medicine will be where the real potential of nanotechnology will first be achieved.

Nanoscience is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to bring about mature nanotechnology. Focusing on the nanoscale intersection of fields such as physics, biology, engineering, chemistry, computer science and more, nanoscience is rapidly expanding. Nanotechnology centers are popping up around the world as more funding is provided and nanotechnology market share increases. The rapid progress is apparent by the increasing appearance of the prefix “nano” in scientific journals and the news. Thus, as we increase our ability to fabricate computer chips with smaller features and improve our ability to cure disease at the molecular level, nanotechnology is herestorage (or other uses) is enormous. As first described in a lecture titled, ‘There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom’ in 1959 by Richard P. Feynman, there is nothing besides our clumsy size that keeps us from using this space. In his time, it was not possible for us to manipulate single atoms or molecules because they were far too small for our tools. Thus, his
speech was completely theoretical and seemingly fantastic. He described how the laws of physics do not limit our ability to manipulate single atoms and molecules. Instead, it was our lack of the appropriate methods for doing so. However, he correctly predicted that the time would come in which atomically precise manipulation of matter would inevitably arrive.Nanomachines can also be incorporated into various materials to make those materials respond to their environment, or to outside commands. Examples of such materials would be “smart” fabrics that respond to the environment to become warmer or cooler, or walls and furniture that can move or change shape on command. Nanomachines could also be used as tools both in industry and by consumers. Such tools could cut apart or glue together material far more efficiently than anything large-scale that is used today. Nanomachines could also repair cars, furniture, applicances, or almost anything else quickly and efficiently. Or these objects could be designed with nanomachines to repair themselves should the need arise. Life would be greatly simplified by relieving people of the need to repair objects at home or at work.

In thinking about nanotecnolog today, what’s most important is understanding where it leads, what nanotechnology will look like after we reach the assembler breakthrough.

-Eric Drexler