Category: World

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is a mental illness that brings severe high and low moods and changes in sleep, energy, thinking, and behavior.
People who have bipolar disorder can have periods in which they feel overly happy and energized and other periods of feeling very sad, hopeless, and sluggish. In between those periods, they usually feel normal. You can think of the highs and the lows as two “poles” of mood, which is why it’s called “bipolar” disorder.In bipolar disorder, the dramatic episodes of high and low moods do not follow a set pattern. Someone may feel the same mood state (depressed or manic) several times before switching to the opposite mood. These episodes can happen over a period of weeks, months, and sometimes even years.There is no single cause of bipolar disorder. Researchers are studying how a few factors may lead to it in some people.
For example, sometimes it can simply be a matter of genetics, meaning you have it because it runs in your family. When someone develops bipolar disorder, it usually starts when they’re in late adolescence or young adulthood. Rarely, it can happen earlier in childhood. Bipolar disorder can run in families.Men and women are equally likely to get it. Women are somewhat more likely than men to go through “rapid cycling,” which is having four or more distinct mood episodes within a year.

Women also tend to spend more time depressed than men with bipolar disorder.Bipolar disorder usually develops later in life for women, and they’re more likely to have bipolar disorder II and be affected by seasonal mood changes. A combination of medical and mental issues is also more common in women. Those medical issues can include thyroid disease, migraine, and anxiety disorders.Bipolar disorder can be treated. It’s a long-term condition that needs ongoing care. People who have four or more mood episodes in a year, or who also have drug or alcohol problems, can have forms of the illness that are much harder to treat.Treatment can make a huge difference. With a combination of things — good medical care, medication, talk therapy, lifestyle changes, and the support of friends and family — you can feel better. Bipolar disorder — or manic depression, as it is also still sometimes called — has no known cure. It is a chronic health condition that requires lifetime management. Plenty of people with this condition do well; they have families and jobs and live normal lives. Finding the right medication need weeks to months to take full effect. Generally only one medication is changed at a time so that your doctor can identify which medications work to relieve your symptoms with the least bothersome side effects. Medications also may need to be adjusted as the symptoms change.Treatments for children and teenagers are generally decided on a case-by-case basis, depending on symptoms, medication side effects and other factors.

You are either too happy, too sad or you just don’t care. Finding the feelings in the middle do not come naturally. You have to fight every day to find them.

SDG 2 : Zero Hunger.

In 2012, at the United Nations (UN) Conferences on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, world representatives created the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The purpose of creating SDGs was to produce a set of universal goals that meet the urgent environmental, political and economic challenges facing our world, according to the UN Development Programme. There are 17 SDGs that the UN hopes to meet by 2030, the second of which is Zero Hunger. More than 800 million people around the world are hungry. The United Nations’s second Sustainable Development Goal, Zero Hunger, aims to end world hunger by 2030.

Hunger is not caused by food shortage alone, but by a combination of natural, social, and political forces. Currently, natural resources that are necessary for human survival—like freshwater, the ocean, forests, soils, and more—are dwindling. Climate change is contributing to the degradation of precious resources, as severe weather events, like droughts, become more common and affect harvests, leading to less food for human consumption. Poverty and inequality are also two drivers of hunger, affecting who can buy food, as well as what kind of food, and how much, is available. Hunger is also a product of war and conflict. During periods of unrest, a country’s economy and infrastructure can become severely damaged. This negatively affects civilian access to food by either driving up food prices, interfering with food production, or forcing people from their homes. Some governments and military groups have even used starvation as a war tactic, cutting off civilians from their food supply. In 2018, the UN declared this tactic a war crime.

The total number of persons suffering from severe food insecurity has been on the rise since 2015, and there are still millions of malnourished children. The economic slowdown and the disruption of food value chains caused by the pandemic are exacerbating hunger and food insecurity. In addition, the upsurge in desert locusts remains alarming in East Africa and Yemen, where 35 million persons already experience acute food insecurity. Owing to the pandemic, some 370 million schoolchildren are missing the free school meals that they rely on. Measures to strengthen food production and distribution systems must be taken immediately to mitigate and minimize the impacts of the pandemic.

The world is not on track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030. If recent trends continue, the number of people affected by hunger would surpass 840 million by 2030. According to the World Food Programme, 135 million suffer from acute hunger largely due to man-made conflicts, climate change and economic downturns. The COVID-19 pandemic could now double that number, putting an additional 130 million people at risk of suffering acute hunger by the end of 2020.

Fracking

Fracking is short for “hydraulic fracturing”, which is the process of creating fractures in rocks and rock formations by injecting specialized fluid into cracks to force them to open further. The larger fissures allow more oil and gas to flow out of the formations and into the wellbore. It is easier to extract oil and gas there.Fracking has resulted in many oil and gas wells attaining a state of economic viability due to the level of extraction that can be reached. It has also allowed drilling firms access to previously difficult-to-reach sources of oil and gas.Fracking is an extraction technique for oil and gas wells in which rocks are fractured artificially using pressurized liquid. The process involves drilling down into the earth and injecting a highly pressurized mixture of water, sand, and thickening agent, also called “fracking fluid,” into a wellbore to create cracks in rock formations. Once the hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, the remnants of the fracking fluid hold the fractures open, making it easy to extract the oil and gas inside. Fractures can also exist naturally in formations, and both natural and human-made fractures can be widened by fracking. As a result, it is possible to extract more oil and gas from a given area of land.

Fracking increases the rate at which water, petroleum, or natural gas can be recovered from subterranean wells. It has also allowed the extraction of unconventional oil and gas resources from low permeability sites where traditional extraction technologies fail. Fracking as a method for oil and gas extraction is also more economically viable than conventional or horizontal drilling. In the United States, domestic oil production has grown significantly with the introduction of fracking. The process has driven down gas prices and offered gas security to both the United States and Canada for about 100 years.

Most of the opposition to fracking revolves around its potential negative impact on the environment. Fracking typically produces methane emissions, which reduce air quality. Furthermore, methane gas contributes significantly to global warming.Fracking requires forcing large volumes of water and chemicals into the ground, which can seep and contaminate local soil and water resources. Moreover, due to the high pressures involved, fracking is also associated with increased seismic activity. It also releases large quantities of methane gad and other air pollutants that can cause health problems and contribute to climate change.Fracking has allowed for the cost-effective extraction of harder-to-reach deposits of oil and gas, which has increased the supply of available fossil fuels. In general, greater supply leads to lower prices; however, several other factors also impact the price of oil and gas.

Central Bureau of Investigation

The CBI is the main investigating agency of the GOI. It is not a statutory body; it derives its powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946.
Its important role is to prevent corruption and maintain integrity in administration. It works under the supervision of the CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) in matters pertaining to the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Investigate cases connected to infringement of economic and fiscal laws, i.e., breach of laws concerning customs and central excise, export and import control, income tax, foreign exchange regulations, etc. But cases of this nature are taken up by the CBI either at the request of the department concerned or in consultation with the concerned department.Investigate crimes of a serious nature, that have national and international ramifications, and committed by professional criminals or organised gangs.To coordinate the activities of the various state police forces and anti-corruption agencies.
At the behest of a state govt., the CBI can also take up any case of public importance and investigate it.Maintaining crime statistics and disseminating criminal information.The agency is dependent on the home ministry for staffing since many of its investigators come from the Indian Police Service. The CBI also relies on the ministry of law for lawyers and also doesn’t have functional autonomy to some extent. The CBI, run by IPS officers on deputation, is also vulnerable to the government’s ability to manipulate the senior officers because they are dependent on the Central government for future postings. Since police is a State subject under the Constitution, and the CBI acts as per the procedure prescribed  by the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which makes it a police agency, the CBI needs the consent of the State government in question before it can make its presence in that State. This can lead to certain cases not being investigated and seeing a silent deadlock. Recently, states like Andhra Pradesh (consent is again given after change of government in-state) and West Bengal withdrew consent.

The CBI was not one of the organizations included in the exempted category. It was much later in 2012 that the CBI was brought in. There was a purpose as to why the CBI was not brought into the ambit of the RTI- this was because the CBI was not considered to be one of those organizations which really looks into the strategic interests of India. Section 8 of the RTI Act, which guarantees various forms of exemption, begins by saying that all the information which has a strategic significance should not be disclosed. Further, since the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the Research & Analysis Wing or RAW and such organizations which gather intelligence, are dealing with strategic matters and so they were from the very beginning kept in the exempt category. The CBI was never considered to be one which collects or maintains such information which are of strategic importance for the country.However, the CBI made out a case that they are also investigating into all kinds of cases- and that these cases include those which are of strategic importance for India and therefore, if they would be subjected to the RTI, much of that information would go out into the public domain.

CYBERSECURITY IS A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY, AND IT BOILS DOWN TO THIS: IN CYBERSECURITY, THE MORE SYSTEMS WE SECURE, THE MORE SECURE WE ALL ARE.

Inclusive growth and issues arising from it

Inclusive growth is defined as economic growth that generates job opportunities and aids in poverty reduction.
It entails poor people having access to basic health and education services. It entails ensuring equal opportunity for all, as well as empowering people through education and skill development.
To reduce poverty quickly and sustainably, people must be able to both contribute to and benefit from economic progress.
Rapid growth is required to eliminate poverty, but it must be broad-based across sectors and inclusive of a large portion of the country’s labor force to be long-term sustainable.According to the UNDP, inclusive growth is “the process and result of all groups of people participating in growth and benefiting equally from it.”
According to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), inclusive growth is defined as economic growth that is evenly dispersed across society and generates opportunity for everyone.

•Unemployment

Because of illiteracy and over-dependence on agriculture, India’s employment quality and quantity are low.The lack of quality employment is a concern because more than 80% of individuals work in the informal sector and are not covered by social security.According to the NSSO’s Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the unemployment rate for the urban workforce was 7.8%, while the rural workforce had a rate of 5.3 percent, bringing the total unemployment rate to 6.1 percent.The following factors contribute to sluggish job growth:
°The industry has a low capital utilization °Low initial budget
°Agriculture’s expansion has been slow.
°According to economists, what is being referred to as a “demographic dividend” could turn out to be a moment of crisis defined by high unemployment and social unrest.

•Backwardness in Agriculture

Agriculture employs 60% of the Indian population, either directly or indirectly. Agriculture, on the other hand, has a dismal growth rate of only 2%.
Agriculture production must be improved by policymakers and government officials in order to be more inclusive.Lack of access to capital for agriculture and small and medium enterprises, as well as a lack of social protection, have all contributed to underprivileged communities being left out of the growth picture.The following are some of the issues in agriculture:
°A gradual decrease in the employment share
°Land availability per capita is dwindling.
°Labor productivity is low.
°Agriculture yields are declining as a result of climate change, soil degradation, and water scarcity.
°Growth differences between regions and crops.

•Social Development Problems:

One of the most important concerns for inclusive growth is social development. However, it has some issues, such as:
Regional, societal, and gender differences are all significant.Public spending, notably in health and education, is at a low level and growing slowly.Children’s malnutrition – India is ranked 102nd in the Global Hunger Index.

•Disparities by Region

India’s regional differences are a key source of concern. Factors such as the caste system, the wealth gap, and others contribute to regional inequities, resulting in a society in which certain groups enjoy greater privileges than others.Kerala is the most literate state in the country, with a literacy rate of 93.1 percent; nevertheless, Bihar’s literacy rate is only 63.82 percent.

India is a vibrant nation whose strength lies in its commitment to equal rights and to speech, religious and economic freedoms that enrich the lives of all citizens. India is not only the world’s largest democracy; it is also a secular, pluralistic society committed to inclusive growth.

Cyber Security

Cyber Security is the practice of identifying the vulnerabilities and threats associated with digital systems and mitigating these risks. The term “cyber” refers to a nickname for an internet-connected computer or any other device that uses a processor, input/output and networking connections. The common threats include: viruses, worms, trojans and malware. A related term is cyber warfare which is the use of cyber tools in warfare to achieve objectives that would not be possible by using physical means such as bombs or missiles. The role of cyber security professionals is to protect critical systems and information. The main goal of cyber security is to prevent hackers from gaining access to information or using nefarious actions that would put the users’ information at risk.cyber security important because the government, military, law enforcement, and private industry use many critical resources that could be negatively affected by cyber attacks. Many of these systems are financial, such as banks, credit cards, ATMs, stock markets and networks. Government agencies use software to manage the US budget system and the military uses software to track troop movement. Because of these vital uses, cyber attacks could cripple important services or even destroy the country’s financial security.In order for companies to operate securely in today’s technological world they need to implement cyber security protections. These protections include firewall protection, anti-virus programs, encryption codes that keep hackers from easily accessing sensitive data and data backup systems in case any security breach occurs that causes damage to systems or information.

A major concern to cyber security is providing more efficient support to better protect against cyber related activities. This means an organization must have the information available to help identify possible threats including understanding what possible methods hackers may use to gain access, and how the organization can prepare for any potential attacks.
Cyber security is a constantly growing area of study and research. Some of the most recent research being done is focused on cyber security in cyber space. The purpose of this paper will be to analyze if a previous study found in 2012 correctly identified computers within an organization as well as their movement throughout the network. There are two main findings that are sought out which were: 1) how computers move across networks (e.g. LAN, WAN, etc.), and 2) how computers might behave in a network. The assumption is that computers within an organization move between locations (e.g., building or branch offices) and they may change their location(s). Also, the behavior of a computer can be tracked as observed (e.g., its IP address changes from one to another, or its Whois information changes from one domain name service provider to another).

Cyber security offers a variety of career paths depending on the level of experience you have and your area of expertise. You can be an analyst/engineer, network administrator, programmer, or data analyst and many more other positions available depending on your area of interest and experience. Some jobs a required while others are possible as long as it relates to your field in the security field such as computer science or finance. If you’re looking for a career that will pay well, then cyber security is the right choice for you because it’s relatively new and will only continue to grow.

“Security used to be an inconvenience sometimes, but now it’s a necessity all the time.”

National Educational Policy

Education is a fundamental requirement for the development of a just and just society and for achieving the full human potential for promoting national development. The whole world is passing through a rapid change in the knowledge landscape.In this context, the New National Policy 2020 was approved by the government of India on July 29, 2020 and approval was also given to change the name of Ministry of Human Resource Development to Ministry of Education. This New Education Policy 2020 will replace the 34 year old National Education Policy 1986.The vision of this New Education Policy 2020 should be to make students proud of being Indian not only in thought but also in behaviour, intellect and action as well as in knowledge, skills, values and thinking, which are important for human rights, sustainable development and be committed to the cause of survival and global well-being, so that they become truly global citizens.Built on the fundamental principles of easy access, equity, quality, affordability, and accountability for all, this New National Policy 2020 is in line with the 3030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Principles of the National Education Policy
•Flexibility: It seeks to provide flexibility to the learners to choose their pace of learning and choose their own path as per their talent.
•Multi-disciplinary: To provide holistic education in all fields like science, social science, coding, arts, humanities, sports, etc.
•Ethical and Constitutional Values: It aims to inculcate the values of empathy, respect for others, cleanliness, courtesy, scientific temper, liberty, responsibility, equality and justice. •Sustainable Policy: Formulation of policies based on regular assessment of ground reality. Keeping in mind the rich, diverse, ancient and modern culture and knowledge system and tradition of India.
•Equality and Inclusion: This will be the objective of all educational decisions, ensuring that all students can thrive in the education system.
•Life Skills: Focusing on building life skills such as collaboration, teamwork, communication, resilience, etc.
•Professional Value: All teachers and educators will be recruited through rigorous preparation. Emphasis will be placed on preparedness, continuous professional development, positive work environment & service development.
•Education as a Fundamental Right: Education is a public service and not a commercial activity. It should be available with sufficient quality to all. There must be strong and sustainable investment in a vibrant public education system as well as an ethical human and philanthropic private system.

Education is fundamental for achieving full human. potential, developing an equitable and just society, and promoting national development.

Government budget

The government budget is an annual fiscal statement depicting the revenues and expenditures for a financial year that is often moved by the legislature, sanctioned by the Chief Executive or President, and given by the Finance Minister to the country. The budget is also known as the Annual Financial Statement of the nation.In terms of Article 112 (1) of the Constitution of India, a statement of estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government of India is presented to the Parliament every year. Article 112(2) provides that the estimate of expenditure embodied in this annual financial Budget, shall show separately. This Annual Financial Statement comprises the main budget document of the government.
Whilst the budget document relates to the receipts and expenditures of the government for a particular fiscal year, the effect of it will be there in the following years.

•There is an obligation to have two accounts that are associated with the current financial year and are incorporated in the revenue account which is also known as revenue budget.
• Those that concern the assets and liabilities of the government into the capital account are known as the capital budget.
• In order to comprehend the accounts, it is significant to understand the aims of the government budget.

The two basic elements of any budget are the revenues and expenses. In the case of the government, revenues are derived primarily from taxes. Government expenses include spending on current goods and services, which economists call government consumption; government investment expenditures such as infrastructure investment or research expenditure; and transfer payments like unemployment or retirement benefits.The government may need to correct fluctuations in income and employment.
The overall level of employment and prices in the economy depends upon the
level of aggregate demand which depends on the spending decisions of millions
of private economic agents apart from the government. These decisions, in turn,
depend on many factors such as income and credit availability. In any period,
the level of demand may not be sufficient for full utilisation of labour and other
resources of the economy. Since wages and prices do not fall below a level,
employment cannot be brought back to the earlier level automatically. The
government needs to intervene to raise the aggregate demand. On the other hand, there may be times when demand exceeds available output under conditions of high employment and thus may give rise to inflation. In such situations, restrictive conditions may be needed to reduce demand.

Millets: Future Superfood

Millets are one of the oldest food known to mankind.These are group of highly variable small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food.

Types of millet: Sorghum (jowar), Pearl millet (bajra), Foxtail millet (kangni), Finger millet (ragi), Barnyard millet, Kodo millet, Little Millet, Proso Millet are amongst the healthiest millet grains available.

Nutritional value: They are good sources of proteins, carbohydrates, dietary fibre and essential amino acids.

Millets have 65% carbohydrates, 9% proteins, 3% fat, and 2-7% crude fibre.

They are rich in various vitamins such as vitamin A, C and B-complex vitamins and minerals such as magnesium, manganese, phosphorus and also iron.

Major producers include Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana.

Significance: Release of 13 High Yielding varieties including 4 bio-fortified varieties of millets. declaring 2023 as International Year of Millets (IYOM).

This proposal of India was supported by 72 countries and United Nation’s General Assembly (UNGA) declared 2023 as International Year of Millets on 5th March,2021.

Photo by Deep Malik on Pexels.com

Millets are climate resilient crop as they can be grown in rainfed area and are resistant to climatic stress, pest and disease as well. So it plays major role in sustainable agriculture.

People possess a perception of millet being poor man food but owing to it’s nutritional value it is rich in dietary fibres, amino acid, calcium, zinc, folate and various nutrients. It can even be easily consumed by diabetic people as it possess low glycemic index. Nowadays, being consumed by many more people it helps to provide food security.

They even provide economic security to farmers growing millet in dry, low fertile, rainfed area as it requires less investment and involves less cost of cultivation.

Initiatives are taken by government to promote millet production by farmers as they promote sustainable agriculture as well as generate employment opportunities by promoting value addition of millets.

Achievements of India in the field of Science and Technology

Today India’s achievements are numerous and include a strong Democracy, higher Education, Nuclear power, stunning economic growth and revival of numerous aspects of traditional Wisdom. Owing to the talent and will of the countrymen, we can see that India has reached among the top countries of the world especially in science and technology and various other fields. India has the 44th rank in technology level among the world. Also, India is considered one of the top five countries in space exploration. India has become an important source of creative and fundamental scientific development and in all the perspectives around the world. All great scientific discoveries and technical achievements have improved the Indian economic situation in our country and have created many new approaches for the new generation to develop a technologically advanced environment.
Much new scientific research and development is possible in the field of mathematics, architecture, chemistry, astronomy, medicine, metallurgy, natural philosophy, physics, agriculture, health care, pharmaceuticals, astrophysics, atomic energy, space technology, application, defence etc.
The introduction of scientific research, ideas and techniques in the field of education has brought a huge change in the new generation at large and has given a variety of new and innovative opportunities to work in their own interests. Modern science in India has made people aware of their constant and hard efforts by scientists. India’s scientist is great, who has made scientific progress of the highest international calibre.
Technical development in any area enhances the economy of any country. In order to improve the power of science and technology in India, the Government of India established the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in 1942 and the Board of Scientific and Industrial Research in 1940. India has achieved so many achievements in the field of science and technology that every Indian is proud of his country. Let’s know all your achievements in detail.

•Atomic clock by ISRO:
The atomic clock is an amazing technology developed by ISRO and it is used to measure precise location data in navigation satellites. Proudly, ISRO is one of the Few Space organisations in the world, those who have developed this amazing technology.

•Mars Orbiter Mission :
Mars orbiter mission is a great success achieved by India in the field of science and technology. India is the only nation in the world to reach Mars in the first attempt. Indian space research organisation (ISRO) launched Mangalyaan on 5 November 2013 and it was placed into mars orbit on 24 September 2014. The cost of the project was 74 million US dollars which are cheaper than anything that others can achieve.

•Chandaryaan 2 Mission
The moon landing of Chandrayaan 2’s Vikram lander is also a very special Indian technological achievement for India. Chandrayaan 2 mission marks India’s first lunar exploration mission and ISRO put lots of effort into making this mission a success. With this mission, India has emerged as the fourth country in the world to have hoisted its flag on the lunar surface. This achievement is a matter of great Honour for the nation.

•PARAM – India first Super Computer
India’s first-ever super Computer named ‘Param’ is also a great achievement for India in science and technology. Param is designed and assembled by the Centre for the development of advanced computing in Pune. Today there are 11 supercomputers in India and they are used in the development of nuclear weapons and space programmes.

Even though India has only 140 researchers per 10 lakh population this has never been a shortcoming in the development of Science and Technology. We Indians must feel proud of our technological advancements and try to utilise them in the best manner possible.

Achievements of India in the field of Science and Technology 

-Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

Indian army

The Indian Army does not need any introduction, we all have love, respect and appreciation for our soldiers and the Indian Army.As we all know that the Indian Army has a long and glorious history, therefore, it is difficult to talk about everything in such a confined space.The Indian Army is a land-based unit, while the Indian Air Force works in air defense and the Indian Navy is a naval unit.Our Indian Army is the second largest army in the world with about 1.23 million personnel on active rolls and another 9.6 lakh in reserves.The Indian Army is primarily responsible for defending the country against land-based attacks.It also helps other agencies to deal with terrorism, to deal with emergency situations in the country and to save people in case of natural disasters like floods, earthquakes etc.The current Chief of Army Staff (COAS) is General Bipin Rawat (as of 2018). As the Indian Army is very large, it is divided into regiments.
Some important regiments are Punjab Regiment, Madras Regiment, Rajputana Rifles, Sikh Regiment etc.It also has its own intelligence unit, abbreviated as “military intelligence” or “MI”.The Indian Army (under British rule) participated in World War I and II before independence. After independence, it has fought several full-fledged wars like Kargil War (1999), Bangladesh Liberation War (1971), India-Pakistan War (1965), Indo-China War (1962) and First Kashmir War (1947).
Apart from these, the Indian Army has also handled some minor conflicts like Siachen struggle (1984), Operation Polo (1948), Indo-China conflict (1967) etc.
There is no doubt that our Indian Army is one of the best armies in the world.

The main role of the Indian Army is to protect our country from external and internal threats, it has proved its subtly many times.It has fought five major wars since independence and has successfully handled many smaller conflicts and won wars even when enemies had better weapons.For example, in 1965 there were Patton tanks (gifted to them by the US) in Pakistan, it was considered invincible at the time.India had nothing that could compete with those Patton tanks, but the Indian Army was able to defeat the Pakistani tanks in the Battle of Asal North.
Hawaldar Abdul Hameed mounted his jeep and destroyed six Pakistani tanks with a rifle in the back and was killed in an attempt to destroy the seventh.
For this he was awarded India’s highest military honor – Paramveer Chakra. It is believed that the Americans came to India to learn the methods and equipment by which their invincible Patton tanks were destroyed.It is believed that India rejected his request.The Indian Army also successfully handled many riots, for example the Godhra riots, 1992 Mumbai riots, 1984 riots etc.It is also currently dealing with terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and some North Eastern state currently has around 1.23 million people on active rolls, while others have 9.6 lakh rupees.It has also produced many notable sports persons, who have brought it to our country. Some of them are Milkha Singh, Rajyavardhan Rathore, Vijay Kumar, and Major Dhyanchand etc.The Indian Army is one of the best armies in the world. It has the capability to handle any external and internal threat. Overall, we can say that the Indian Army is the soul of our country.

“There will be no withdrawal
without written orders and
these orders shall never be
issued.”

-Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw as core Commander in 1962.

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.

-K. Eric Drexler