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Indian Administrative Service Aspirant's blog
Countries with Most Land Borders

02 January 2013 01:30
China share its borders with 14 countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Vietnam Russian Federation share its borders with 14 countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mangolia, North Korea, Norway, Poland, Ukraine Brazil share its borders with 10 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, French Guianya, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Urugua y, Venezuela Congo Democratic Republic share its borders with 9 countries Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Za mbia Germany share its borders with 9 countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland,
Tips and Tricks for Quantitative Aptitude Tests

02 January 2013 01:00
Finding number of Factors To find the number of factors of a given number, express the number as a product of powers of prime numbers. In this case, 48 can be written as 16 * 3 = (24 * 3) Now, increment the power of each of the prime numbers by 1 and multiply the result. In this case it will be (4 + 1)*(1 + 1) = 5 * 2 = 10 (the power of 2 is 4 and the power of 3 is 1) Therefore, there will 10 factors including 1 and 48. Excluding, these two numbers, you will have 10 2 = 8 factors.
-> -> -> ->
The The The The
sum sum sum sum
Sum of n natural numbers of first n natural numbers = n (n+1)/2 of squares of first n natural numbers is n (n+1)(2n+1)/6 of first n even numbers= n (n+1) of first n odd numbers= n^2
Finding Squares of numbers To find the squares of numbers near numbers of which squares are known
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To find 41^2 , Add 40+41 to 1600 =1681 To find 59^2 , Subtract 60^2-(60+59) =3481
Finding number of Positive Roots If an equation (i:e f(x)=0 ) contains all positive co-efficient of any powers of x , it has no positive roots then. Eg: x^4+3x^2+2x+6=0 has no positive roots . Finding number of Imaginary Roots For an equation f(x)=0 , the maximum number of positive roots it can have is the number of sign changes in f(x) ; and the maximum number of negative roots it can have is the number of sign changes in f(-x) . Hence the remaining are the minimum number of imaginary roots of the equation(Since we also know that the index of the maximum power of x is the number of roots of an equation.) Reciprocal Roots The equation whose roots are the reciprocal of the roots of the equation ax^2+bx+c is cx^2+bx+a Roots Roots of x^2+x+1=0 are 1,w,w^2 where 1+w+w^2=0 and w^3=1 Finding Sum of the rootsFor a cubic equation ax^3+bx^2+cx+d=o sum of the roots = - b/ a sum of the product of the roots taken two at a time = c/a product of the roots = -d/a For a biquadratic equation ax^4+bx^3+cx^2+dx+e = 0 sum of the roots = - b/a sum of th e product of the roots taken three at a time = c/a sum of the product of the roots taken two at a time = -d/ a product of the roots = e/a Maximum/Minimum -> If for two numbers x+y=k(=constant), then their PRODUCT is MAXIMUM if x=y(=k/2). The maximum product is then (k^2)/4 -> If for two numbers x*y=k(=constant), then their SUM is MINIMUM if x=y(=root(k)). The minimum sum is then 2*root(k) . Inequalities -> x + y >= x+y ( stands for absolute value or modulus ) (Useful in solving some inequations) -> a+b=a+b if a*b>=0 else a+b >= a+b -> 2<= (1+1/n)^n <=3 -> (1+x)^n ~ (1+nx) if x<<<1> When you multiply each side of the inequality by -1, you have to reverse the direction of the inequality. Product Vs HCF-LCM Product of any two numbers = Product of their HCF and LCM . Hence product of two numbers = LCM of the numbers if they are prime to each other AM GM HM For any 2 numbers a>b a>AM>GM>HM>b (where AM, GM ,HM stand for arithmetic, geometric , harmonic menasa respectively) (GM)^2 = AM * HM Sum of Exterior Angles For any regular polygon , the sum of the exterior angles is equal to 360 degrees hence measure of any external angle is equal to 360/n. ( where n is the number of sides) For any regular polygon , the sum of interior angles =(n-2)180 degrees So measure of one angle in Square-----=90 Pentagon--=108 Hexagon---=120 Heptagon--=128.5 Octagon---=135 Nonagon--=140 Decagon--=144 Problems on clocks Problems on clocks can be tackled as assuming two runners going round a circle , one 12 times as fast as the other . That is , the minute hand describes 6 degrees /minute the hour hand describes 1/2 degrees /minute . Thus the minute hand describes 5(1/2) degrees more than the hour hand per minute . The hour and the minute hand meet each other after every 65(5/11) minutes after being together at midnight. (This can be derived from the above) . Co-ordinates Given the coordinates (a,b) (c,d) (e,f) (g,h) of a parallelogram , the coordinates of the meeting point of the diagonals can be found out by solving for [(a+e)/2,(b+f)/2] =[ (c+g)/2 , (d+h)/2]
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Ratio If a1/b1 = a2/b2 = a3/b3 = .............. , then each ratio is equal to (k1*a1+ k2*a2+k3*a3+..............) / (k1*b1+ k2*b2+k3*b3+..............) , which is also equal to (a1+a2+a3+............./b1+b2+b3+..........) Finding multiples x^n -a^n = (x-a)(x^(n-1) + x^(n-2) + .......+ a^(n-1) ) ......Very useful for finding multiples .For example (17-14=3 will be a multiple of 17^3 - 14^3) Exponents e^x = 1 + (x)/1! + (x^2)/2! + (x^3)/3! + ........to infinity 2 <>GP -> In a GP the product of any two terms equidistant from a term is always constant . -> The sum of an infinite GP = a/(1-r) , where a and r are resp. the first term and c ommon ratio of the GP . Mixtures If Q be the volume of a vessel q qty of a mixture of water and wine be removed each t ime from a mixture n be the number of times this operation be done and A be the final qty of wine in the mixt ure then , A/Q = (1-q/Q)^n Some Pythagorean triplets: 3,4,5----------(3^2=4+5) 5,12,13--------(5^2=12+13) 7,24,25--------(7^2=24+25) 8,15,17--------(8^2 / 2 = 15+17 ) 9,40,41--------(9^2=40+41) 11,60,61-------(11^2=60+61) 12,35,37-------(12^2 / 2 = 35+37) 16,63,65-------(16^2 /2 = 63+65) 20,21,29-------(EXCEPTION) Appolonius theorem Appolonius theorem could be applied to the 4 triangles formed in a parallelogram. Function Any function of the type y=f(x)=(ax-b)/(bx-a) is always of the form x=f(y) . Finding Squares To find the squares of numbers from 50 to 59 For 5X^2 , use the formulae (5X)^2 = 5^2 +X / X^2 Eg ; (55^2) = 25+5 /25 =3025 (56)^2 = 25+6/36 =3136 (59)^2 = 25+9/81 =3481 Successive Discounts Formula for successive discounts a+b+(ab/100) This is used for succesive discounts types of sums.like 1999 population increses by 10% and then in 2000 by 5% so the population in 2000 now is 10+5+(50/100)=+15.5% more that was in 1999 and if there is a decrease then it will be preceeded by a -ve sign and likewise. Rules of Logarithms: -> loga(M)=y if and only if M=ay -> loga(MN)=loga(M)+loga(N) -> loga(M/N)=loga(M)-loga(N) -> loga(Mp)=p*loga(M) -> loga(1)=0-> loga(ap)=p -> log(1+x) = x - (x^2)/2 + (x^3)/3 - (x^4)/4 .........to infinity [ Note the alternating sign . .Also note that the logarithm is with respect to base e ]
Schedules in The Constitution of India

25 December 2012 17:04
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First Schedule: List of State and Union Territories. Second Schedule: Salary of President, Governors, Chief Judges, Judges of High Court and Supreme Court, Comptroller and Auditor General Third Schedule: Forms of Oaths and Affirmations Fourth Schedule: Allocate seats for each State of India in Rajya Sabha Fifth Schedule: Administration and control of Scheduled area and tribes Sixth Schedule: Provisions for administration of Tribal Area in Asom, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. Seventh Schedule: Allocation of power and function between Union and States. It contains three lists: Union List (for Central Government): 98 subjects State List (for State Government): 62 subjects Concurrent List (both Union and State): 52 subjects Eighth Schedule: List of 22 languages of India recognized by constitution. Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telegu, and Urdu were in list from begining. Sindhi was added in 1967 by 21st amendment; Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali were added in 1992 by 71st amendment; Santhali, Maithili, Bodo and Dogri were added in 2003 by 92nd amendment. Ninth Schedule: Added by 1st amendment in 1951. Contains acts and orders related to land tenure, lan d tax, railways, industries. Tenth Schedule: Added by 52nd amendment in 1985. Contains provisions of disqualification on grounds of defection. Eleventh Schedule: Added by 73rd amendment in 1992. Contains provisions of Panchayati Raj. Twelfth Schedule: Added by 74th amendment in 1992. Contains provisions of Municipal Corporation.
Bicameral Parliamentary System

08 October 2012 12:09
A bicameral system is a parliamentary system of two legislative Chambers. Indian system is bicameral because both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha are involved in the process of making new laws. Bicameral literally means 'two chamber'.
Countries with Bicameral Parliamentary System:
1. Australia-ParliamentSenateHouse of Representatives 2. Austria-ParliamentFederal CouncilNational Council 3. Antigua and Barbuda-ParliamentSenateHouse of Representatives
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4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32.
The Bahamas-ParliamentSenateHouse of Assembly Barbados-ParliamentSenateHouse of Assmebly BelizeNational AssemblySenateHouse of Representatives Belgium-Federal ParliamentSenateChamber of Representatives Bhutan-Parliament (Chitshog)Bhutan will become a Democratic Constitutional Monarchy in 2008National Council (Gyalyong Tshogde) National Assembly (Gyalyong Tshogdu) Canada-ParliamentSenateHouse of Commons Czech Republic-ParliamentSenateChamber of Deputies Ethiopia-Federal Parliamentary AssemblyHouse of Federation House of Peoples Representatives GermanyBundesrat (Federal Council)Bundestag (Federal Diet) Grenada-ParliamentSenateHouse of Representatives India-ParliamentRajya Sabha (Council of States)Lok Sabha (House of People) Ireland-OireachtasSeanad ireannDil ireann Iraq-National AssemblyCouncil of Union [2]Council of Representatives Italy-ParliamentSenate of the RepublicChamber of Deputies Jamaica-ParliamentSenateHouse of Representatives Japan-DietHouse of CouncillorsHouse of Representatives Malaysia-ParliamentDewan NegaraDewan Rakyat The Netherlands-States-GeneralEerste KamerTweede Kamer Pakistan-Majlis-e-ShooraSenateNational Assembly Poland-ParliamentSenateSejm Romania-ParliamentSenateChamber of Deputies Saint Lucia-ParliamentSenateHouse of Assembly Slovenia-ParliamentNational CouncilNational Assembly South Africa-ParliamentNational Council of ProvincesNational Assembly Spain-Cortes GeneralesSenateCongress of Deputies Switzerland-Federal AssemblyCouncil of StatesNational Council Thailand-National Assembly [3]SenateHouse of Representatives Trinidad and Tobago-ParliamentSenateHouse of Representatives United Kingdom-ParliamentHouse of LordsHouse of Common
Unicameral Parliamentary System

08 October 2012 12:09
In government, unicameral is the practice of having one legislative or parliamentary chamber. Thus, a unicameral parliament or unicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of one chamber or house. Unicameral legislatures typically exist in small and homogeneous unitary states, where a second chamber is considered unnecessary. Countries having Unicameral Parliamentary System
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.
AlbaniaKuvendi BangladeshJatiyo Sangshad BulgariaNational Assembly Burkina FasoNational Assembly CroatiaSabor DenmarkFolketing DominicaHouse of Assembly EstoniaRiigikogu FinlandEduskunta GreeceHellenic Parliament HungaryNational Assembly IcelandAlthing IsraelKnesset Kurdistan RegionKurdistan National Assembly LatviaSaeima LithuaniaSeimas MaltaHouse of Representatives MoldovaParliament
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19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. MongoliaState Great Khural MontenegroParliament New ZealandParliament Norway*Storting Palestinian AuthorityParliament Papua New GuineaNational Parliament PortugalAssembly of the Republic Saint Kitts and NevisNational Assembly Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesHouse of Assembly SamoaFono SerbiaNational Assembly SingaporeParliament SlovakiaNational Council SwedenRiksdag TurkeyGrand National Assembly UkraineVerhovna Rada VanuatuParliament
Isopleths
02 January 2013 01:05
These show lines of equal values ISANOMAL Isopleth of anomaly ISARITHM Any line representing continuous value on maps. ISOBARS Lines of equal pressure ISOHYET Isopleth of rainfall ISOBRONTS Lines joining places experiencing a thunderstorm at the same time. ISOCHRONES Lines joining places located at equal travel time from a common center. ISOPHENE Isopleths of seasonal phenomena, Ex-flowering dates of plants. ISOPOTENTIAL surface to which artesian water can rise. ISORYMES Lines of equal frost. ISOTHERMS Isopleth of temp. ISOHYPSESS Lines of equal elevations or contours. ISOGONALS Lines of equal magnetic declinations ISOHELS Lines of equal sunshine ISOBATH Lines of equal depth below sea level ISONEPH Lines of equal cloudiness ISODAPANE Lines of equal transportation cost for a distance ISOCLINE Line of equal slope ISOHALINE Line of equal salinity ISOSEIMAL Line joining the equal intensity of the earthquake. by John Kanri
Winners of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards 2012

28 September 2012 13:26
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Biological Sciences
Shantanu Chowdhury Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology Suman Kumar Dhar of the Special Centre for Molecular Medicine at the JNU
Chemical Sciences
Govindsamy Mugesh Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc) Gangadhar J Sanjayan CSIR National Chemical Laboratory, Pune.
Engineering Sciences
Ravishankar Narayanan IISc, Banglore Y Shanthi Pavan Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Mathematical Sciences
Siva Ramachandran Athreya and Debashish Goswami Indian Statistical Institute
Medical Science
Sandip Basu Radiation Medicine Centre at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
Physical Sciences
Arindam Ghosh IISc, Bangalore Krishnendu Sengupta Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
Top 10 Most Populated Countries In 2012

20 September 2012 23:44
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1. China China has been topping the list of most populated countries since long. A major factor contibtuing to its vast population is its huge area. In 2011, the country boasted to have a population of more than 1,336,718,015. However, powerful economy and continued government support has made it a tough compet itor to some of the most advanced counties of the world and has also kept it away from unemployment, poverty and recession. 2. India It is interesting to note that both the neighbours (China and India) occupy top two positions in this list. India is said to surpass China in terms of population by the year 2020. The country has got a mix of various religions, ethnic groups, and cultures. Last year, the population of this country was 1,189,172,906. However unlike China, a vast majority of the countrys population lives below the poverty line. 3. United States Even though U.S. is the third most populated country in the world, the standard of living in this country is quite high. Considered as the most powerful country in the world, its population in the yea r 2011 was 313,232,044. A large land area inhabited by lots of corporate ensures that things remain in control in this country. 4. Indonesia This is not only the fourth most populated country in the world but also the most populated Muslim country. The total population of Indonesia last year stood to around 245,613,043 with majority of them being Muslims. Also, majority of the population living in this country consist of immigrants that have settled from various other countries. 5. Brazil Having won the FIFA World Cup several times Brazil is well known in the world of football. Apart from that, you will find some of the worlds most amazing beaches and valuable gold mines in this country. The population of the country in 2011 was counted as 203,429,773. 6. Pakistan It is a neighbor of two most populated countries, i.e., China and India. In 2011, the population of this country was 187,342,721 and is increasing at a higher than average rate. Even though it is often marred by poverty and terrorism, the country boasts of having some valuable natural resources along the Baluchistan region. 7. Bangladesh Once part of Pakistan, it is now an independent country. It is a developing nation with a vast section of its people live below the poverty line. The nation which is struggling with its economy is home to more than 158,570,535 people as counted last year. 8. Nigeria It is amongst the most populated country in Africa and until recently was marred by riots and civil wars. However, things improved in last few years. Majority of the population in this country consist of Black Muslims. As counted
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in 2011, the population of Nigeria was 155,215,573. 9. Russia
Russia is the largest country in the world and there is absolutely no reason why it should not feature in this list. Its territory includes more than 40% of the European region. This is also amongst the few countries whose population declined over the last decade. In 2011, the population of Russia stood at 138,739,89 10. Japan Even though Japan is a small country in terms of size, yet its name features in this list. The countrys population rose to 126,475,664 in 2011. However, a major tsunami hit it last year wiping off a large part of its population.
Indian Defence Awards

20 September 2012 14:45
For the purpose of classification, Indian honours and awards can be divided into two categories: (a) Gallantry awards. (b) Non-gallantry awards. The gallantry awards are again divisible into two categories: (a) Those for gallantry in the face of the enemy. (b) Those for gallantry other than in the face of the enemy. The first category of the gallantry awards comprises : 1. Param Vir Chakra 2. Maha Vir Chakra 3. Vir Chakra 4. Sena, Nao Sena and Vayu Sena Medal 5. Mention in Dispatches 6. Chiefs of Staff Commendation Card The second category of the gallantry awards comprise the following : 1. Ashoka Chakra * 2. Kirti Chakra * 3. Shaurya Chakra * * These were originally named Ashoka Chakra Class I, Class II, Class III Among non-gallantry awards, the following can be mentioned : 1. Bharat Ratna 2. Padma Vibhushan 3. Padma Bhushan 4. Param Vishisht Seva Medal 5. Padma Shri 6. Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal 7. Uttam Yudh Seva Medal 8. Ati Vishisht Seva Medal 9. Yudh Seva Medal 10. Vishisht Seva Medal 11. 30 Years Long Seva Medal
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12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 20 Years Long Service Medal 9 Years Long Service Medal Meritorious Service Medal Long Service and Good Conduct Medal General Service Medal 1947 Samar Seva Medal Sainya Seva Medal Videsh Seva Medal Commendation Card Raksha Medal Poorvi Star Paschimi Star Sangram Medal Wound Medal 25th Independence Anniversary Medal
Total Awards won:Param Vir Chakra 21 Maha Vir Chakra 220 Vir Chakra 1342
Important Places In India

10 September 2012 10:54
Abu, Mount (Rajasthan): Hill station in Rajasthan; contains famous Dilwara Jain Temple and Training College for the Central Reserve Police. Adams Bridge: Very nearly joined to India between two points viz. Mannar Peninsula and Dhanushkodi by a line of sand banks and rocks called Adams Bridge. Adyar (Tamil Nadu): A Suburb of Chennai, headquarters of the Theosophical Society. Afghan Church (Mumbai): It is built in 1847 known as St. Johns Church. It is dedicated to the British soldiers who died in the Sind and Afghan campaign of 1838 and 1843. Aga Khan Palace: In Pune where Mahatma Gandhi was kept interned with his wife Kasturba Gandhi. Kasturbha died in this palace. Agra (Uttar Pradesh): Famous for Taj Mahal, Fort and Pearl mosque. Sikandra, the tomb of Akbar, is situat ed here. It is also a centre of leather industry. Ahmednagar (Maharashtra): It was founded by Ahmed Nizam Shahi. It is the district headquarters of Ahmednagar district. It is an industrial town well known for its handloom and small scale industries. Ahmadabad (Gujarat): Once capital of Gujarat. A great cotton textile centre of India. Anti-reservation riots rocked the city in April 1985. Ajmer (Rajasthan): It has Mayo College and the tomb of Khwaja Moinud-din Chishti, which is a pilgrim centre for Muslims; Pushkar Lake, a place of Hindu pilgrimage, is about two miles from here. Aliabet: Is the site of Indias first off-shore oil well-nearly 45 km from Bhavnagar in Gujarat State. On March 19, 1970, the Prime Minister of India set a 500-tonne rig in motion to inaugurate Operation Leap Frog at Aliabet. Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh): Seat of Muslim University, manufacture locks, scissors, knives and dairy products. Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh): A famous and important place of pilgrimage for Hindus, confluence of three reversGanges, Yamuna and the invisible Saraswati. It is the seat of a University and trading centre. Alandi (Maharashtra): Popularly called Devachi Alandi is hallowed by the association of saint Dhyaneshwar the author of Dhyaneshwari who lived and attained Samadhi here at the age of twntyone. Two fairs are held annually one on Ashadha Ekadasi and the other Karthikai Ekadasi. Amber Palace: Deserted capital near Jaipur (Rajasthan) containing the finest specimens of Rajput architecture. Almora (Uttaranchal): This city is one the Kashaya hill. The clean and majestic view of the Himalayan Peak is breath catching. The woolen shawl of Almora is very famous in the region. It is a good hill resort. Amarnath (Kashmir): 28 miles from Pahalgam, and is a famous pilgrim centre of Hindus.
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Amboli (Maharashtra): Nestling in the ranges of Sahyadri, Amboli is a beautiful mountain resort in Ratnagiri district. The climate is cool and refreshing; and ideal place for holiday. Amritsar (Punjab): A border town in the Punjab, sacred place for Sikhs (Golden Temple), scene of Jallianwala
Bagh tragedy in April 1919. The 400th anniversary of Amritsar was celebrated with great gusto in October 1977. The city was founded by Guru Ram Dass. Arikkamedu (Puducherry): It is one of the archaeological places. It describes the relationship between Tamils and Romes (Yavanas) for trade purpose. Arvi (Maharashtra): Near Pune, Indias first satellite communication centre has been located here. Ashoka Pillar (Madhya Pradesh): It was erected by Emperor Ashoka. It is now the official symbol of Modern India and the symbol is four back-to-back lions. In the lower portion of the column a re representation of a lion, elephant, horse and bull. The pillar stands about 20 m high. Aurangabad (Maharashtra): It is one of the important towns in Maharashtra. Tomb of Emperor Aurangzeb and his attract many tourists. Ellora and Ajanta caves are reached from here. Auroville (Punducherry): It is an international township constructed near Pondicherry with the help of UNESC O. Avadi: Situated at Chennai in Tamil Nadu, it is known for the government-owned Heavy Vehicles Factory. Vijayanta and Ajit tanks are manufactured here. Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh): Birth place of Rama is situated on the banks of the river Gogwa. The famous Babri
Masjid built on the birth place of Rama by the Mughal rulers in 15 th century has been taken over by the Hindus after 400 years. Badrinath (Uttarakhand): It is a place of pilgrimage noted for the temple of Lord Vishnu for the Hindus, nea r Gangotri Glacier in Himalayas. Bahubali (Maharashtra): A pilgrim center for jains, of both Svetambar and Digambar Jains; there is a giant idol of Shree Bahubali the son of Bhagwan Adinath, the first Tirthankar. Bangalore (Karnataka): It is the capital city of Karnataka State and an important industrial centre. The places worth-seeing are Vidhan Saudha, Lal Bagh gardens, etc. The BHEL, HAL, IIM are situated here. Barauni (North Bihar): Famous for a big oil refinery. Bardoli (Gujarat): Bardoli in Gujarat State has occupied a permanent place in Indian History for no-tax payment campaign launched by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel against the British rule. Baroda (Gujarat): Baroda, (Vadodara) the capital of former Baroda State is one of the main towns in G ujarat State. Laxmi Vilas Palace is a tourist attraction. Belur (West Bengal): Near Calcutta, famous for a monastery founded by Swami Vivekananda; a beautiful tem ple dedicated to Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa. It is also known for paper industry. There is another place of the same name in Karnataka, it is a famous pilgrim centre known for Channa Keshava Temple. Belgaum (Karnataka): It is a border town in Karnataka State. It has remained a place of dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka States. Bhakhra (Punjab): It is a village in Punjab State where the Bhakra Dam has been constructed across th e river Sutlej in a natural gorge just before the river enters the plains 80 km upstream Ropa r. Bhilai (Chhattisgarh): It is known for the gigantic steel plants set up with the help of Russian Engineers. Bhimashankar (Maharashtra): One of the five Jyothirlingas in Maharashtra is at Bhimashankar. The beautiful Shiva temple here was constructed by Nana Parnavis the ancient statesman of the Peshwas. Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Capital of Madhya Pradesh. MIC gas leaked out from the Union Carbide factory in December 1984, and more than 3000 persons died. It was the worst industrial disaster in the world. Bhubaneswar (Orissa): It is the capital city of Orissa. Lingaraja Temple is worth-seeing. Bijapur (Karnataka): It was the capital of old Adil Shahi Sultan of Bijapur. Gol Gumbaz, the biggest tomb in India constructed here, is called the whispering gallery. The town is rich with the remains of palaces, mosques and tombs. Bodh Gaya (Bihar): It is situated six miles south of Gaya in Bihar State. Gautama Budha attained enlightenment in a full moon light in the month of Baisakha under the peepal tree. Bokaro (Jharkhand): The fourth and the biggest steel plant are here. Buland Darwaza (Uttar Pradesh): It is the Gateway of Fatehpur-Sikri built by Akbar. This is the highest and the greatest gateway in India. It was erected to commemorate the victorious campaign of Akbar in the Deccan in 1602 A.D. Bull Temple (Karnataka): It is situated near Bugle Hill, with a height of 6.2 m (20ft) high stone monolith Nandi Bull. The Bull is carved out of a single stone. Chandernagore (West Bengal): Situated on the river Hooghly. It was previously a French settlement. Now it has been merged with the Indian Union. Chennai (capital of Tamilnadu): It is the third largest city in India. Known for Fort St. George, Light-house, St Thomas Mount, and Integral Coach Factory. Chandigarh (Punjab & Haryana): Chadigarh the joint capital of the States of Punjab and Haryana is a planned and beautiful city. It is situated at the foot of the Himalayas. It was designed by Mont Corbusier. Cherrapunji (Meghalaya): It is the place of heaviest rainfall. It receives 426 of rain yearly. Chidambaram (Meghalaya): It is a town in South Arcot district of Tamil Nadu. It is famous for its great Hindu Siva Temple dedicated to Lord Nataraja, the cosmic dancer. It is the seat of Annamalai University founded in 1929. The name of the town comes from Tamil Chit plus Ambalam- the atmosphere of wisdom. Chilka Lake (Orissa): It is the Queen of Natural Scenery in Orissa, though separated from the Bay of Bangal by a long strip of sandy ridge, exchanges water with the sea. It is an excellent place for fishing and duck shooting.
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Chittaranjan (West Bengal): It is famous for locomotive works. Railway engines are manufactured here. Chittorgarh (Rajasthan): It was once the capital of Udaipur. It is known for the Tower of Victory built by Rana Kumbha and Mira Bai Temple. Chowpathy Beach (Mumbai): A popular beach with Lokmanya Tilak and Vallabhbhai Patel statues where the political meetings for freedom struggle took place, now the coconut day celebration and Ganesh immersion take place. Chusul (Ladakh): It is situated in Ladakh at a height of about 14,000 feet. Chusul is perhaps the highest aerodrome in India. Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu): It is famous for Textile Industry. Government of India Forest College is situated here. Courtallam (Tamil Nadu): Adjoining Tenkasi and 3 miles south is a common mans health resort. Famous for its waterfall and a good summer resort. Cuttack (Orissa): It is the oldest town and once upon a time the capital of Orissa during the medieva l period to the end of the British rules. The city is noted for fine ornamental work of gold & silver. Dakshineswar (Kolkata): It is at a distance of about five miles from Calcutta where Swami Vivekananda was initiated into religious life by Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa. Dalal Street: Stock exchange Market in Mumbai. Dalmianagar (Jharkhand): Cement manufacturing. Dandi (Gujarat): It is famous for Salt Satyagraha (Dandi March) staged by Mahatma Gandhi in 1930. Darjeeling (West Bengal): Famous for tea, orange and cinchona, fine hill station, famous for its scenic beaut y. Daulatabad (Maharashtra): The fort previously called Devagiri is believed to have constructed by the Yadava Kings in 1338. The fort is very impregnable. Dayalbagh (Uttar Pradesh): Near Agra; known for Dayalbagh Industrial Institute, shoe manufacture. Religious and cultural seat of a section of the Hindus. Dehu (Maharashtra): Dehu, a town on the banks of the river Indrayani is the birth place of the famous saint-poet Tukaram whose Abhangas have a pride of place in Marathi literature. Dehradun (Uttarakhand): It is the gateway to the Garhwal Himachal such as Badrinath and Joshimath. The Forest Research Institute is situated here. Delhi: Indias capital. The Red Fort, the Jama Masjid, The Qutub Minar, the Rajghat (Mahatma Gandhis Samadhi), the Humayuns tomb, Shanti Van (where Prime Minister Nehru was cremated), are located here. It established by Tomaras in 736 A.D. Dhanbad (Jharkhand): Famous for coal mines and the Indian School of Mines, National Fuel Research Institute. Dhariwal (Punjab): It is famous for woolen goods. Dibrugarh (Assam): It is a town in Assam and the Terminus of rail and river communications along the Brahmaputra from Calcutta. Digboi (Assam): It is known for its oil-fields and oil refinery. It is one of the oldest oil refineries which is still operative in the world. Dilwara Temples (Rajasthan): It is near Mt. Abu. There are five Hindu Temples constructed here between 11 th and 13 Century A.D. Dindigul (Tamli Nadu): It is famous for cigar, tobacco and locks. Dum Dum (Kolkata): It is a famous Air Port and Government Arsenal. Durgapur: In West Bengal in known for a gigantic steel plant set up here with the help of British Engineers. Dwaraka (Gujarat): It is one of the seven most important places of Hindu pilgrimage. Krishna the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu made Dwaraka as his centre to recapture Mathura. Eagles Nest: It is the name given to the historic fort at Rajgarh in the Kolaba district of Maharashtra where, 3000 years ago, Chhatarpati Shivaji, the great warrior-statesman, was crowned. Elephanta Caves (Maharashtra): Situated in an island 15 miles from Mumbai famous for the statues of Shiva and Parvati. The most striking statue of Trimurti, Shiva in three moods as the Creator, the Destroyer and the Preserver. Ellora and Ajanta (Maharashtra): It is in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra State. The Buddhist cave temples richly ornamented with sculpture and carved with paintings of exceptional skill attract many tourists. Ernakulam (Kerala): The back-waters in Ernakulam are a tourist attraction. The Central Institute of Fisheries Technology is situated here. Faridabad (Haryana): It is an industrial township situated at about 18 miles from Delhi. Fatehpur Sikri (Uttar Pradesh): It was once the capital of the Mughal Empire. This city was built by Emperor Akbar in 1569. It is now in a deserted condition. Ferozabad (Uttar Pradesh): Noted for glass bangle industry. Gateway of India (Mumbai): It is in Mumbai harbor erected in 1911 on King George Vs visit to India. Gangotri (Uttarakhand): This is the source of the holy Ganges. The tiny village has the temple of the Goddess Ganga on the banks of the Bhagirathi River, which eventually becomes the holy Ganges. Gaumuka (Uttarakhand): Guamukh the actual source of the river is at the base of the Bhagirathi peaks. The glaciers of Gangotri which is 24 km long, ends at Gaumukh where the Bhagirathi river finally appers. Gazipur (U.P.): Known for the government opium factory. Gaya (Bihar): It is the place where Lord Buddha got enlightenment. It is a pilgrimage centre not only for the Buddhists but also for the Hindus. Hindus from all over the country come here to make offerings and pray for the salvation of their ancestors. Gilgit (Kashmir): It is now under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. Ii is of great strategic importance.
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Golconda (Hyderabad): It is an ancient city of India situated about 7 miles west of Hyderabad. Formerly there was a diamond mine. Golconda Fort (Andhra Pradesh): The historical fort is well praised in the literature, prose and poetry. Golconda was the capital of Qutub Shahi Sultans who ruled Deccan from 1518 to 1687 A.D. Golden Temple (Punjab): It is a sacred place of the Sikhs in Amritsar. Gol Gumbaz (Karnataka): It is the biggest dome in India. Gomateswara (Karnataka): This is a 2,000 year old and very high statue of a Jain sage, carved out of a single stone. Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh): The famous temple of Gorakhpur is here which specializes in publishing Hindu religious literature. Guntur (Andhra Pradesh): It is a centre of cotton and tobacco production in Andhra Pradesh. Gulbarga (Karnataka): It was the capital of Bahmani Kingdom. Its fort is a remarkable building with 15 towers, within the fort is a large mosque built on the model of the famous mosques of Cordoba in Spain. Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh): Situated in M.P. is famous for Rani Lakshmi Bais Chaatri and Tansens tomb. Haldighat (Uttar Pradesh): A famous mountain passes where rana Pratap fought Mughal forces led by Man Singh and Asaf Khan. Hampi (Karnataka): In Karnataka State is the location of ruins of Vijaynagar. The capital of famous Vijaynagar Empire. Hardwar (UttaraKhand): It is at the base of the Siwalik Hills, where the Ganges River coming down from the Himalayas passes and enters the plains. The Daksha Mahadev Temple, 4 km downstreams in Hardwar is the most important temple. Hirakud (Orissa): Twenty six kilometers from one end to the other on the river Mahanadi is Hirakud th e longest mainstream dam in the world. Howrah Bridge (Kolkata): A cantilever spans bridge over river Hoogly connecting Howrah and Kolkata. Hyderabad-Secunderabad: Twin city capital of Andhra Pradesh. It is on the banks of the river Musi and fam ous for Salarjung museum- one of the best in Asia. It is also a famous communication centre in India as it is centrally situated. Charminar built in 1591 is located here. Imphal (Manipur): Situated in the north-east frontier, is the capital of Manipur state on the border of India ans Myanmar (Burmah). Famous for handloom industry and the Manipuri dance. Ita Nagar (Arunachal Pradesh): The capital of Arunachal Pradesh is a tropical forest region in the foothills surrounded with wild mountain stream and placid lakes with abundant opportunities for river rafting, boating and trekking. India Gate (New Delhi): A memorial in New Delhi facing the Rashtrapathi Bhavan. Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh): Standing on the river Narmada, Jabalpur is a city in Madhya Pradesh famous for Marble Rocks and Dhunva Dhar waterfalls. Jadugoda: In Bihar is famous for Uranium Ore Mill. Jagdish Temple: It is a fine Indo-Aryan temple built by Maharana Jagat Singh in 1651. A blackstone image of Lord Vishnu as Lord Jagdish is found here. Jaipur (Rajasthan): A historically important place and is famous for its handicrafts. Maharaja Jai Singh Observatory and Hawa Mahal are situated here. It is the capital of Rajasthan or called rose-pink city, a huge historic fort (Amber) is situated here. The city was founded by astrologer Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II. Jaisalmer (Rajasthan): The remote fortress city on the edge of Rajasthans Thar Desert. It is 287 km from Jodhpur. Jakrem (Tripura): It is 64 km from shilling and is known for its hot spring which is said to possess curative qualities. Jalandhar (Punjab): Situated in Punjab is the centre for surgical and sports goods industry.
Jallianwala Bagh (Amritsar, Punjab): It was the scene of Indiscriminal shooting by General Dyer on 13 th April 1919, when a meeting was being held. A Martyrs memorial has been erected to commemorate those killed in the firing. Jama Masjid (Hyderabad, AP): The Masjid lies near the North-east point of the building of Charminar, built by Sultan Mohammed Qutub Shah the fifth King of the Qutub Shahi dynasty in 1594. Jamshedpur (Jharkhand): Centre of iron and steel industry. Tata Iron and Steel Factory is located here. Jantar Mantar (Delhi): Site of the famous observatory of Maharaja Jaswant Singh built in 1899 is found in Rajasthan. Jealgora: In Bihar is known for Central Fuel Research Institute. Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh): A key railway junction in Uttar Pradesh. It is noted for the played by Queen Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi in the War of Independence in 1857. Jharia: In Bihar is famous for coal-mining. Jog Falls (or) Gersoppa Falls (Karnataka): Formed by river Sharavati, falls through a height of 830 ft. Juma Masjid, Mandu: Is in Madhya Pradesh. It depicts a synthesis of Hindu and Muslim styles in architecture. Junagadh (Gujarat): Located below Girnar Hill in Gujarat State is an ancient city in India. Gir Forest, a wildlife sanctuary famous for its lions is located here. Kailasha Temple (Maharashtra): A rock-cut temple in Ellora caves. Kalpakkam: Near Chennai in Tamil Nadu is known for Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS). Kanchi or Conjeevaram (Tamil Nadu): This was the famous capital of Pallavas and is situated near Channai. Famous ancient temples here are well-known for its architecture.
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Kandala (Maharashtra): It is a popular mountain resort in Maharashtra. Nestling in the Western Ghats it is an ideal resort for a peaceful holiday. Kandla (Guajarat): The Kandla port is the main gateway for the trade of north-west India.
Kanheri (Mumbai): Situated near Mumbai, the famous spot of the ancient Buddhist caves of 1 st Century A.D. Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh): An industrial city of U.P. famous for its sugar, cotton, woolen, soap, iron, leather, tent and hosiery industries situated on the banks of the Ganga. Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu): The southernmost tip of India where the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean meet. The sun-rising and sun-setting are picturesque scenes. Vevekananda rock memorial has also been constructed now. On the rock called Sripadaparai, a mammoth 133 ft. statue of th e unmatched Poet-Saint thiruvalluvar was unveiled on 1 January 2000. Kapilavastu (Bihar): Ancient kingdom in north India connected with Lord Buddha. Kasauli (Himachal Pradesh): A hill station in Himachal Pradesh where the famous Pasteur Institute is located. Kaveripumpattinam (Tamil Nadu): The place where the river Cauvery mingles with the ocean. Two great epics of Tamil literature Manimegalai and Silappadhikaram vividly portray life scenes of this place during Chola and Pandya period. Kaziranga (Assam): In Assam is the sanctuary of the Indian one-horned rhinos. Kedarnath (Uttarakhand): The temple of Lord Kedar (Shiva), surrounded by snow-capped peaks in one of the Hindu pilgrimage centres. Khadakvasla (Pune): Near Pune. National Defence Academy is situated here. Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh): Famous for its temples and erotic sculpture. Khindsey Talao (Mumbai): This beautiful lake is set like a gem in the green expanse at the foot of the Ramtek hill. Kodaikanal (Tamil Nadu): A hill station in Tamil Nadu situated near Madurai. Koderma (Bihar): In Bihar famous for mica mines. Kolar (Karnataka): It is known for its gold fields. Kolhapur (Maharashtra): Kolhapur posses historical as well as mythological importance. It is known as Dakshin Kashi on account of its deity Mahalakshmi or Ambabai built by Chalukya King Karnadev in 634 AD. Kolhapur was the capital of Chatrapati Shivaji in 1708. Kolkata (West Bengal): It is known as the commercial capital of India. It has a port of heavy traffic. Dum Dum airport, National Library,Diamond harbor, Victoria Memorial are well-known. Konark (Orissa): Town, north of Puri is famous for black pagodas and Sun Temple. Koyna (Maharashtra): Hydroelectri project in Maharashtra, supplies power to Mumbai and Pune. The place was hit by earthquake in December 1967.
Kundanpur (Bihar): The birth place of the 24th Jain Tirthankar Mahaveer is well-known as a pilgrim centre. Kurukshetra (Haryana): The town near Ambala. Here the great battle Mahabharatha took place between Kauravas and Pandavas. Leh (Ladakh): Capital of Ladakh; once a caravan centre of central Asia. Lothal (Gujrat): Oil wells in Cambay Basin. Madurai (Tamil Nadu): Famous Meenakshi Temple dedicated to Lord Siva is located here. Mahabaleshwar (Maharashtra): Hill station in Maharashtra is situated at a height of 4500 ft. in the Western Ghats. Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nahu): Famous for the monumental architecture of Pallavas. An atomic power station is located near at Kalpakkam. Mahabodhi Temple (Bihar): It is a Buddha temple with the Jataka stories engraved on the walls. The famous Magadha University exists beside the temple. Mahrangarh Fort (Rajasthan): Five km away from the centre town of Jodhpur. Commissioned by Roa Jodh in 1959, this fortran eyrie is a master piece of medieval defence. Mandore (Rajasthan): The ancient capital of the Rathore Marwars, the Rajputs of Rajasthan. Meerut (Uttar Pradesh): This was the first place where the 1857 Mutiny first broke out. The Suraj Khund is the most interesting temple and there is a Moghul Mausoleum, near the old Shapir Gate. Mirzapur (Uttar Pradesh): Place of Ram Ganga, famous for cutlery, brassware and mangoes. Mukteshwar (Uttar Pradesh): Veterinary Research Institute is located here. Murad (Maharashtra): Seaside holiday resort of Maharashtra. Mathura (Uttar Pradesh): It is a holy city and birth place of Lord Krishna. Meenakshi temple (Tamil Nadu): Famous Hindu temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. It is remarkable for its most picturesque 850 ft. high temple with its magnificent Gopurams. One of its principal structures is the hall of thousand pillars in which a group of figures are cerved out of a single stone. Mussoorie (Uttarakhand): A hilly resort has good rock climbing and mountaineering assets and has good fishing spots. Mumbai (Maharashtra): Called the gateway of India is the second biggest city and port in India. It is the capital of Maharashtra state. The Prince of Wales Museum, Aarey Milk Colony, film capital of the country, Centre of oil industry and Petrochemicals, etc. are noteworthy. Nagpur (Maharashtra): Former capital of Madhya Pradesh now in Maharashtra. Famous for textiles and oranges. Nagercoil (Tamil Nadu): There is a temple of snakes or Nagaraja-snake god. The temple is filled with images of snakes and the Dvarapalakas are the snakes guarding the temple. Nagarjuna Konda-Sagar (Andhra Pradesh): The reservoir is named after Buddhist Phillosopher Acharya
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Nagarjuna who propounded the Madhyamik school of Mahayana Buddhism. Naharkhatia (Assam): Place near Digboi in Assam where oil has been struck. Nainital (Uttarakhand): This lake dotted area of the Kumaon Hills, was the summer capital of Uttar Pradesh. The legend believed is that Goddess Shakti lost her eyes when Lord Shiva was curling her and the spot, where the eyes fell became a lake called naina (eyes) Tal (lake) was thus given its name. Nalanda (Bihar): Here was the famous University and Educational centre of ancients times. The Chinese traveler
Hieun Tsang visited India in 7th century had mentioned about this University. Narsobachiwadi (Maharashtra): It is a prominent pilgrimage of Lord Shree Dattatreya, situated near the confluence Krishna and the Panchaganga Rivers. Nasik (Maharashtra): Site of Security Printing Press in Maharashtra. Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu): The Blue Mountains of Tamil Nadu. Famous for tea plantation. Nilokheri (Haryana): Place in Haryana, famous community development project of Dr. S. K. Dey. Pataliputra (Bihar): Ancient name or Patna, capital of Bihar State. Famous for Ashoka edicts inscribed on rocks and pillars. Palitana (Gujarat): Famous for its holy hills. Pali (Sudhagad, Maharashtra): One of the most sacred places known for the temple of Vithoba, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, it is also called Dhakshina Kashi, a pilgrim centre. Panipati (Haryana): Historical place in Haryana, famous for the three battles in 1526, 1556 and 1761. Pawapur (Bihar): It is one of the holiest of Jain Pilgrim places. The Jal Mandir (water temple) in Kamal Sarover (Lotus pool) is most sacred. The big lake filled with lotus is a charming place and the white marble temple stands in the middle. Planetarium, Birla (Kolkata): It is a dome-shaped building where the exact panorama of the sky is depicted, and the position of various constellations is clearly shown. The second planetarium in India has been set up in Mumbai. The third planetarium was opened in New Delhi in 1984. Plassey (West Bengal): A village in West Bengal, famous for the Battle of Plassey where Clive beat Sirajud-Daulah. Puducherry : A Union Territory formerly under French possession. Famous for Aurobindo Ashram a nd Auroville International Township, built in the name of Aurobindo. Ponpadirkootam (Tamil Nadu): A village in Chingleput where a unique four hand Rama in gold is a feast for our eyes. Port Blair (Andaman): Capital of Andaman & Nicobar islands. Porbandar (Gujarat): The Birth Place of Mahatma Gandhi. It is identified with Sudamapur of the epic times and we can still see the old temple of Sudama, a friend of Lord Krishna. Pune (Maharashtra): Pune, capital of Maratha Empire during Shivajis rule, had turned to be an educational and cultural centre. Puri (Orissa): Summer capital of Orissa famous for Jagannath Temple. Pusa (West Bengal): Famous for agricultural station. Qutub Minar (New Delhi): The tallest minaret in the world (990 ft. high) completed by Sultan Iltutmish in 1232 A. D. Rajghat (New Delhi): famous for the Samadhi of Mahtama Gandhi on the banks of the river Yamuna. Rajgir (Bihar): Rajgir was called Rajgriha or Kings home in olden days. Ajatashatru named it Giribraja. It was Jarasandhas capital. Vardhaman Mahavir, who preached the Jain Religion and spent 14 years of his active life here, Mahaveer called his first Dharma Sabha or religious assembly on Bipul Parbat here. Rashtrapati Bhavan (New Delhi): The official residence of the President of India in Delhi, built by the British architect Edwin Lutyens. Ratnagiri (Maharashtra): British place of Lokmanya Tilak. It has a minor port Bhagvati and a fort belonging to
the 15th century. Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu): A pilgirimage spot in South India as equal to that of Benaras. There is the temple of Lord shiva. Red Fort (Delhi): It is a fort built of red stone by Shah Jahan in Delhi on the Banks of the river Ya muna. It consists of Diwan-i-Am, diwan-i-Khas and other wonderful crations. In 2007, UNESCO announced the Red Fort as one of the Heritage site in India. Rishikesh (Uttarakhand): It is a Hindu pilgrim centre. Rishikhesh is the starting point for treks to Himalayan pilgirimage centre like Badrinath, Kedarnath and Gangotri. Rourkela (Orissa): Rourkela is the first steel plant of India envisaged in the public sector and has been in operation since February 1959 which has set in a new era in the Steel Industry of India. Salar Jung Museum (Andhra Pradesh): It is the personnel collection of Mir Yusuf Ali Khan, better known as Salar Jung who had devoted his wealth and leisure to gather out treasures from every walk of life. Sambhar (Rajasthan): It is a salt lake in Rajasthan. Only lake of its kind in India. Sanganer (Rajasthan): It is the centre of hand block printing and handmade paper industry. Sabarmati (Guajarat): It is a place in Gujarat where Gandhiji established a Harijan Ashram. It is also the name of a river in Gujarat. Sathanur Dam (Tamil Nadu): 22 miles from Tiruvannamalai a vast forest has been turned into a huge reservoir and a dam is a tourist spot. Satara (Maharashtra): It is a glorious historical city, was capital of Shivajis empire in 1699. Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh): Famous Buddhist stupa;, the diameter of which is 108 ft. was built in ancient times. It
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is the largest stupa in India. Sarnath (Madhya Pradesh): It is a Buddhist pilgrim centre. In the Deer Park, Buddha-delivered his first sermon. Famous Ashoka Pillar is located here. Srirangapattanam (Karnataka): It was the capital of Tipu Sultan during his time. The third mysore war was fought here and Tipu died in the battle in 1799 A.D. Sevagram (Maharashtra): It is near Wardha in Maharashtra State. It is well-known for Gandhijis Ashram where Gandhi lived and worked for many years. Shantiniketan (West Bengal): About 90 miles from Calcutta, seat of the famous Viswa Bharati University founded by poet Rabindernath Tagore. It is now a Central University.
Shanti Van or Shanti Ghat (Delhi): The place where Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru was crematd on 28 th May, 1964 on the banks of Yamuna about 300 hards from Rajghat, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri has been cremated by the side of Shanti Van. Mrs. Indira Gandhi was cremated close to Shanti Van on November 3, 1984. This site is called Shakti Sthal. Shivneri (Maharashtra): It is the birth place of Chatrapati Shivaji. The hill has about 50 Buddhist caves bearing inscription of various donors. Sholapur (Maharashtra): Sholapur Chaddans are the very famous bed-sheets. Handloom and power loom industry is flourishing in this town. Near the city a fort built by Hasan Gangu who was the founder of the Bahaman dynasty stands erect. Shree Kshetra Audumbar (Maharashtra): An important pilgrim place in Sangli district, Audumbar is famous for the temple of Shree Dattatreya. There is well-known Brahmanand Swami Math. Sasaram (Bihar): It is known for Shere Shahs Tomb. Sher Shah was the famous Afghan king who drove a way Humayun. Shivapur (Madhya Pradesh): It is well-known for its national park in Madhya Pradesh. Sibsagar (Assam): 56 km from Jorhat is most interesting historical city. It was the capital of Ahom Kings who ruled Assam for 600 years. The Shiva temple called the Shivadol is said to be the tallest Shiva Temple in India. Sikandra (Uttar Pradesh): Situated near Agra, Akbars tomb stands here. It was commen ced by Akbar and completed by his son Jahangir, after 14 year at a cost of Rs. 15 Lakhs. Singareni (Andhra Pradesh): It is well-known for coal mines in Andhra Pradesh. Sindri (JharKhand): The largest fertilizer factory in India and the whole of Asia is in Sindri, 77 km from Maithan. It is built on Ultra-modern lines and manufacturing ammonium sulphate fertilizer since 1956. The factory can be visited with prior permission. Somnath (Gujarat): It is historically famous for the temple which was destroyed by Mohammed of Ghazni in 1025 A. D. Somnath Patan (Gujarat): Wedged in between the two hills of Chadragiri and Indragiri, which rise abruptly from flat plains, Sravanabelagola 100 kms from Mysore is famous for Jain colossus (17 m height) Gomateswara which is
said to be the tallest and most graceful monolithic statues in the world, erected in 10th century A.D. Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh): Indias Satellite launching station is located here. It is on the Andhra coast, in Nellore District. Sriperumbudur (Tamil Nadu): Birth Place of Sri Ramanuja, the propounder of Vishistadvaita. It was here Rajiv Gandhi; former Prime Minister of India was assassinated. Srirangam (near Trichy, Tamil Nadu): The largest temple in South India dedicated to Lord Ranganath (Vishnu). Sundarbans (West Bangal): It is the largest delta in India, housing rich forests. Surat (Guajarat): It is popularly known as Gate of Mecca. The English got trading rights from the Mughal in 1612. Most of the population is engaged in diamond cutting and polishing gold and silver. Surat is equally known for its distinctive cuisine. Taj Mahal (Agra, Uttar Pradesh): Erected by Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz. It has been estimated that the cost of it was about Rs. 3 crores at that time. It is tear drop on the cheek of eternity. It was designed by Shiraz (Iranian Architect). Over 20,000 men were employed for its construction for over twenty years. The environmentalists fear that the beauty of the Taj would be marred, with the Mathura Oil Refinery going into full operation.
Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh): It has a monastery of the Mahayana sect of Buddhists built in 17 th century. Still it is the centre of religious life and rituals in the region. It is a treasure home of old scriptures, priceless images and painted tapestries. Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu): Popularly known as granary of South India. It was once the capital of the Cholas. Famous for Brihadeeswara temple, a Hindu temple. It was built by Rajaraja, the great. Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): The Capital City of Kerala State. Padmanabha Temple is here. Thumba (Kerala): Indias first rocket launching station. Thiru Alangadu (Tamil Nadu): Thirty seven miles from Chennai to the west and very near to Arakonam is the holy place of Thiru Alangadu connected with Karaikkal Ammayar and the cosmic dancer Lord Nataraja. Thiruvalam (Tamil Nadu): Capital of Banars during the early Pallava period is famous for Saivite temple with the Nandi not facing the deity but in the opposite direction. Thekkady (Tamil Nadu): The central spot of the Periar wildlife sanctuary is in between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Mysore Palace (Karnataka): Built in 1897, it was the residence of the Ex-ruler of Mysore state is an imposing structure. It is a good example for the Hoysala art and architectures. Tiruchi (Tamil Nadu): It is an Educational Centre in Tamil Nadu. Bharat Heavy Electricals limited is established here.
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Tiruparankundram (Tamil Nadu): A cave temple near Madurai is one of the famous shrines of Lord Muruga. Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu): A famous early Chola Vaishnavaite shrine housing a huge stucco image of Varaha holding Bhudevi near Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu. Tipus Fort (Karnataka): The fort is built of mud by kempegowda in 1537; it was rebuilt in stone in 1761 by Hyder Ali. Inside the fort walls is Tipu Sultans wooden palace with enough elaborate paint work surviving on the walls, niches, and railing columns to give an idea of its former glory. Triveni (Uttar Pradesh): Here meet the rivers Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswathi. Kumba Mela is celebrated here once in 12 years when the Sun is in Aquarius facing Jupiter in the zodiac sign Leo. Trithamukh (Tripura): It is a popular pilgrim centre for the Tribal people of Tripura. Thousands of people assemble here in January-February during the festival called Uttarayana Sankranti and have a holy bath in the river Gomati. Tripolia Gate (Rajasthan): A gate with eight carved marble crunches under which the ruler was weighed on his birth day against money of equal weight distributed to the poor. The city was found in 1567 by Maharana, Udai Singh. Udaipur (Rajasthan): Popularly known as city of lakes. Pichola lake is a famous one. Udipi (Karnataka): This is the seat of Dvaita system of Hindu Philosophy propounded by Sri Madhva Changa. The beautiful Sri Krishna temple is very famous Hindu pilgrimage centre. Udayagiri-Khandagiri Caves (Orissa): These two hills are little far away from Bhubaneswar. This was a seat of a Jain saint who lived 2000 years ago. Rani Gumpha and Hathi Gumpha are the most famous; consist of the rock cut inscription in India which records chronologically the deeds of king Kharavela. Uttiramerur (Tamil Nadu): A city near Chingleput boasts of Sundara-varadaperumal temple of the period of Dandivarma Pallava is of complex design. Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): Mahakaleeswar Temple is sacred for the Hindus. Vaishali (Bihar): Vaishali has withnessed the major parts of Gautama Buddhas life. He gave his last message to his disciples at Kolhua village in the suburbs of Vaishali. On the eve of Buddhas death centenary, the 2nd Buddhist council was held here. The 24th Jain Tirthankar Vardhaman Mahavir was born at Kundagram in the suburbs of Vaishali in 599 BC. Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh): The Eternal City is an important pilgrimage of the Hindus. Lord Viswanathas temple is here. It was a learning place for over 2000 years. Kashi and Benaras are the other two names of Varanasi which means the city between two rivers Varanama and Asi. It is the seat of Banaras Hindu University. Aurangzebs Mosque is here. Vedanthangal (Tamil Nadu): A bird sanctuary in the swamps of Madurantakam lake. Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh): It is a natural and protected harbor on the eastern coast in Andhra Pradesh. A shipbuilding yard in located here. Vivekananda Rock (Tamil Nadu): Mandapam of Vivekananda is in Cape Comerin. Victoria Memorial (Kolkata): Magnificent building having an art gallery depicting the history of the British rule in India. It was erected by voluntary collections in the memory of Queen Victoria. A well laid out garden adds to the beauty. Wardha (Maharashtra): It is a cotton producing centre in Maharashtra. It is on Chennai-Delhi rail route. Mahatma Gandhi was imprisoned here. Warrangal (Andhra Pradesh): It has historical evidence about on the seat of the Kakatiya rulers. Its chief tourist
attraction is the thousand pillared temple at Hanam-Konda built by King Rudra Deva in 12th century. Yamunotri (Uttarakhand): It is the source of the Yamuna River. It emerges from the frozen lake of ice and glaciers on the Kalinga Parvat. There is a temple of the goddess Yamunotri on the left banks of the river. Below the temple there are many hot springs where the water emerges at boiling point. Yarcaud (Tamil Nadu): It is a hill station 8 km away from Salem at an altitude of 5000 ft. It is a part of Servarayan hills. Zojila (Jammu & Kashmir): It is a pass on the way from Srinagar to Leh.
Dr. Rajendra Prasad: The First President of India

19 August 2012 09:15
Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first president of India; was born on 3rd Dec, 1884. He lived 79 successful years with great zeal, strengthening the foundation of our country, in a nice way. He served the nation for a long time with
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his extremely strong leadership. The great leader contributed a lot to motivate the Indian citizens to attain freedom and live the life with full liberty. Thats why; he was admired by the people as the first president of India after freedom. He was proved as an intelligent motivator for young people and proved as a role model for them, even after being belonged to a small village Ziradei in Siwan, Bihar.
Lifetime achievements-
Dr. Rajendra Prasad contributed for the progress of India up to the great extent. He served his motherland so dearly that he dedicated all his life for the holy service of the country. Being a good leader, he was selected for various posts in the Indian cabinet. His main achievements in the series are as follows:He was chosen as the first president of India; at the age of 63 years. Being the president of the constituent assembly, he employed his intelligent views and ideas full of farsightedness in order to build a strong constitution for the country. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the president of congress, the most popular nation al party during the year of 1939 and 1943. One of the interesting facts about the political carrier of Dr. Prasad that he served as the cabinet minister in the first Indian government, after freedom.
Family and earlier lifeDr. Rajendra Prasad was a very simple, honest and intelligent leader. Being the disciple of Gandhiji, he followed his rules such as non violence, honesty, truthfulness and became one of the crucial members of the freedom struggle. His father, Mahadev Sahay and mother, Kamleshwari Devi brought him up with great love and care as he was the youngest child among his siblings. He was a scholar of Persian and Sanskrit language. His elder brother, Mahendra Prasad was admired by him a lot. He was committed for the customs and riots of his community crucially, from his childhood only. He was taught Persian by a private maulavi, at the age of five years. His great intelligence and an alyzing power made him the expert of Hindi and arithmetic. He was married to Rajvanshi Devi, at the age of 12 years.
Graduation and young lifeDr. Rajendra Prasad was an extremely brilliant student. He was the topper student in the entrance examination of Calcutta University and achieved the scholarship of Rs. 30 per month, in the year of 1902. He went to presidency college of Calcutta where he got the chance of learning science under the great India n scientist Jagdish Chandra Bose. Later, he selected arts as his subject instead of science and completed the stu dy of MA. He became master of Law and initiated swadeshi movement by the inspiration of his brother mahendra Pra sad. He became the member of the dawn society which was being run by satish Chandra mukherji and sister nivedita at the time.
Political career
Dr. Prasad came into contact with gandhiji during his arrival on the Indian national scene. He was highly influenced with the great personality and became dedicated for the freedom struggle a fter meeting father of the nation . His disciplined life and dedication for the motherland inspired Prasad in a great way that he took part in salt satyagrah and got arrested by police in 1930. When the earthquake struck Bihar in 1934, he was in jail only. As he was released from jail after 2 days of the event, he started collecting fund an d economic relief for the people who were suffering from destruction by the natural calamity. He became successful in collecting about 3.8 million Rs. in which the one third parts was contributed by the viceroy. Just after this event, he was selected as the president of Indian national congress a nd leaded the Bombay session. From this point his political carrier caught speed and he became the president of the country. After serving the country for 12 years in this highly admirable stage, he was awarded Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of India. He died on 28th February, 1963, after retirement.
Literary contributions
Satyagraha at Champaran (1922) India Divided (1946) Atmakatha (1946), his autobiography written during his 3-year prison term in Bankipur Jail Mahatma Gandhi and Bihar, Some Reminisences (1949) Bapu ke Kadmon Mein (1954) Since Independence (published in 1960)
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AGRO-FORESTRY
18 August 2012 18:30
Tress and forest were always considered as an integral part of the Indian culture not only this but trees also play an important role in all terrestrials and provide a range of products and services to rural and urban people. As natural vegetation is cut for agriculture and other types of development, the benefits that trees provide are best sustained by integrating trees into agricultural system a practice known as agro-forestry. Agro-forestry is an integrated approach of using the interactive benefits from combining trees and shrubs with crops and/or livestock. it combines agriculture and forest technologies to create more diverse, productive, profitable, healthy and sustainable land-use system. Agro-forestry is basically a land management system but in recent years its importance has been strongly felt for two reasons. Firstly, there is heavy pressure on agricultural land due to urbanization and secondly due to resource crunch agriculture is becoming un-profitable. Normally agro-forestry is a domain of agriculture where in crops the area is 80% or more and in trees it is 20% or less. Though trees occupy very less area in it but plays the dominant role. In our country, greater emphasis is being given to agro-forestry but still it has not reached to the farmer as it should be, whereas in China it has developed like an industry. Scope Of Agro-forestry Agro-forestry applies to private agricultural and forest lands and communities. These are highly disturbed, human-dominated land-use systems. Targets include highly-erodible, flood-prone, economically marginal and environmentally sensitive lands. The typical situation is agricultural, where trees are added to create desired benefits. Our goal is to restore essential processes needed for ecosystem health and sustainability, rather than to restore natural ecosystems. Agro-forestry provides strong incentives for adoption of conservation practices and alternative land uses, and supports a collaborative watershed analysis approach to management of landscapes containing mixed ownerships, vegetation types and land uses. Possible Impacts Controlling poverty through increased income by higher production of agro-forestry products for home consumption and market. Food security by restoring farm soil fertility for food crops and production of fru its, vegetables, nuts and edible oils. Empowerment to women farmers and other less-advantaged rural residents whose rights to land are insecure through better negotiations. Reducing deforestation and pressure on forest by providing fuelwood grown on farms. Increasing buffering capacity of farmers against the effects of global climate change on-farm tree crops and tree cover. Improving soil health of the farm through ameliorated micro-climate and nutrition level. Augmenting accessibility to medicinal trees for cure of common and complex diseases. Significance of Agro-forestry Agroforestry provides a different land use option, compared with traditional arable and forestry systems. It makes use of the complimentarily relationship between trees and crops, so that the available resources can be effectively utilized. It is a practice that supports the environment and has an obvious landscape benefit. Efficient, modern versions of agroforestry have been developed, that are adapted to the constraints imposed by mechanization. The agroforestry plot remains productive for the farmer and generates continuous revenue,
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which is not feasible in arable land. Agroforestry allows for the diversification of farm activities and makes better use of environmental resources. Owing to increase in population of human and cattle, there is increasing demand of food as well as fodder, particularly in developing countries like India. Each year farmers of the world must now attempt to feed 81 million more people irrespective of weather. It is important to note that there will be 19% decline in cropland per head by the end of this century due to population explosion. Therefore, there is slight scope to increase food production by increasing the area under cultivation. A management system therefore, needs to be devised that is capable of producing food from marginal agricultural land and is also capable of maintaining and improving quality of producing environment. Agro-forestry has interesting advantages from three different perspectives. From the agriculture perspective: 1. Diversification of the activities of arable farmers, with the building-up of an inheritance of multi-purpose trees, with continuous revenue from farm.
2. Protection of intercrops and animals by the trees, which have a windbreak effect, providing shelter from the sun, rain, wind, soil erosion and stimulating soil microfauna and microflora. 3. Recycling of some of the leached or drained nutrients by the deep roots of the trees; enrichment of the soil organic matter by tree litter and by the residue of the trees. 4. Possibility of combining the interest of the farmer (for an inheritance of wood) and the farm (for access to cultivated land). Possible increased remuneration for the arable farmer for the trees. 5. An alternative to full reforestation of arable land, permitting the continuation of arable activity on land whose arable potential otherwise is conserved. The tree component can be reversed, the plot stays "clean" (free from scrub) and is easy to destump when the trees are clear felled (the stumps are in lines and few in number). 6. In silvipastoral plots, fodder units can be available at different periods compared to full cropped plots, extending the grazing calender.
From the forestry perspective:
1. Enhancement in the biomass growth of the trees by wide spacing (+80% over 6 years in the majority of the experimental plantations). A large reduction in the maintenance costs of the plantation, due to the presence of the intercrops. 2. Improvement in the quality of wood produced (wide regular rings, suited to the needs of industry), because the trees are not subjected to cycles of competition and thinning. 3. Guaranteed follow-up and tree care due to the arable intercropping activity. In pa rticular, protection against the risk of fire in susceptible areas, with pasture or with intercrops like vine or winter cereals (clear bare ground in summer after stubble ploughing). 4. Agroforestry plantations on arable land allow the development of a quality wood resource that complements, rather then competes with, the products from traditionally exploited forests. It is especially important to produce wood that can substitute for tropical saw logs, which will soon decline in availability and quality. The areas concerned will remain small in terms of their absolute value, but the production of wood from them could become a critical input to the European wood supply network. Tree species that are little used in forestry, but are of high value, could be grown in agroforestry systems: service trees, pear trees, common sorbs, walnut trees, wild cherry trees, maple trees, tulip trees, paulownias, etc From the environmental perspective:
1. Improvement to the development of natural resources: the total wood and arable production from an agro-forestry plot is greater than the separate production obtained by an arable-forest separate cropping pattern on the same area of land. This effect results from the stimulation of complementarity between trees and crops on agroforestry plots. Thus, weeds, which are spontaneously present in young forestry plantations, are replaced by harvested crops or pasture; maintenance is less costly and environmental resources are better used. 2. Better control of cultivated areas of land: by substituting for arable plots, the agroforestry plots contribute to
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diminishing the cultivated area of land. The intensification of environmental resource use by agroforestry systems is not resulting in more crop products.
3. Creation of original landscapes that are attractive, open and favor recreational a ctivities. Agroforestry plots have a truly innovative landscaping potential, and would improve the public image of farmers to society. This will be particularly the case in very sparsely wooded areas, where plots are developed by planting arable land, and in very heavily wooded areas, where plots are developed by thinning the existing forest. 4. Counteract the greenhouse effect: constitution of an effective system for carbon sequestration, by combining the maintenance of the stock of organic material in the soil (the case especially with meadows), and the superimposition of a net fixing wooded layer. 5. Protection of soil and water, in particular in sensitive areas. 6. Improvement of biodiversity, especially by the abundance of "edge effects". This in particular, permits a synergistic improvement by favoring the habitat of game. The integrated protection of crops by their association with trees, chosen to stimulate the hyper-parasite (parasites of parasites) population of crops, is a promising way forwards. 7. These favorable characteristics are as coherent with the many objectives of the laws guiding agriculture and forestry, as they are with the directing principles of the Common Agricultural Policy. Benefits from Agro-forestry Environment Benefits: Combining trees with food crops on cropland farms yield certain important environment benefits, both general ecological benefits and specific on-site benefits. The general ecological benefits include: 1. Reduction of pressure on forests. 2. More efficient recycling of the nutrients by deep-rooted trees on the site. 3. Better protection of ecological systems. 4. Reduction of surface run-off, nutrient leaching and soil erosion through impending effect of tree roots and stems of these processes. 5. Improvement of micro-climate, such as lowering of soil surface temperature and reduction of evaporation of soil moisture through a combination of mulching and shading. 6. Increment in soil nutrients through addition and decomposition of litter-fall. 7. Improvement of soil structure through the constant addition of organic matter from decomposed litter. Economic Benefits: Agro-forestry systems on croplands/farmlands bring significant economic benefits to the farmer, the community, the region or the nation. Such benefits may include: 1. Increment in an maintenance of outputs of food, fuelwood, fodder, fertilizer and timber; 2. Reduction in incidence of total crop failure, common to single cropping or mono-cu lture system; and 3. Increase in level of farms incomes due to improved and sustained productivity. Social Benefits: Besides the economics benefits, social benefits occur from increase in crop and tree product yields and in the sustainability of these products. These benefits include: 1. Improvement in rural living standards from sustained employment and higher incomes; 2. Improvement in nutrition and health due to increased quality and diversity of food outputs; and 3. Stabilization and improvement of upland communities through elimination of the need to shift sites of farm activities.
Limitations of Agro-forestry An integrated food-tree farming system, while advantageous, does have certain negative aspects. Environment Aspects: (i) possible competition of trees with food crops for space, sunlight, moisture and nutrients which may reduce food crop yield; (ii) damage to food crop during tree harvest operation; (iii) potential of trees to serve as hosts to insect pests that are harmful to food crops; and (iv) rapid regeneration by prolific trees, which may displace food crops and take over entire fields. Socioeconomic Aspects: (i) Requirement for more labour inputs, which may causes scarcity at times in other farm activities; (ii) Competition between food and tree crops, which could cause aggregate yields to be lower than those of a single crop; (iii) Longer period required for trees to grow to maturity and acquire an economic va lue;
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(iv) Resistance by farmers to displace food crops with trees, especially where land is scarce; and (v) The fact that agroforestry is more complex, less well understood and more difficu lt to apply, compared to single-crop farm. Through skillful management practices, any or all of these aspects can be controlled. For example, once it is easy to adopt some or all of the following strategies: (i) Select legume trees that have small or light crowns so that sufficient sunlight will reach the food crop for photosynthesis; (ii) Select tree species that are deep-rooted so that they will absorb moisture and nutrias from the surface layer of the soil; and (iii) Space the trees farther apart to reduce their competitive effects on the food crops.
WORLD FAIR TRADE ORGANISATION (WFTO)

18 August 2012 00:07
The World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO) formerly the International Fair Trade Organisation was created in 1989 and is a global association of 324 organisations in over 70 countries. Members are fair trade producer cooperatives association, export marketing companies, importers , retailers, national and regional fair trade networks and Fair Trade Support Organisations. WFTO's mission is to improve the livelihoods and well being of the disadvantaged producers by linking and promoting Fair Trade Organisation and speaking out for great justice i the world. In 2004 WFTO launched a fair trade certification. The FTO mark identifies registered fair trade organisations world wide and guarantees that standards are being implemented regarding working conditions, wages, child labor, and the environment. The FTO mark is available to all WFTO members who meet the requirements of the WFTO Standards and Monitoring System. "Fair trade is about giving marginalized producers a chance to succeed at the market place that generally excludes them and using the purchasing power of the consumer as a tool for real social and economic change." Fair Trade is market led solution to poverty which aims to use trade, not aid. In India Fair Trade Forum India ( FTF-I) is the representative body of WFTO. Established in 2000, it has been working to sensitize the people or the consumer as a tool to strengthen the producer. A national network of 80 Fair Trade Organisations, the forum organizes workshops, lectures, talks in schools, colleges, shopping complexes using producer group case studies and documentaries to provide the soul stirring insights. Presently these 80 small and medium organizations work with more than 3500 producer groups all over India with an outreach to almost 1 lakh farmers and artisans. FTF-I members registered a combined turnover of approximately 250 crores in the year 2010-2011. 80% of this comes from the exports to various countries. Awareness Among Indian Consumers Indian consumers are unaware that by choosing fair trade products they can support development of
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socially and environmentally sustainable supply chains and thus improve the livelihoods of the producers and preserve environment. As a result, despite the market potential there is currently low market demand for fair trade products. To counter this Pro-Sustain campaign aimed at promoting sustainable consumption has been launched. Pro-Sustain activities are covered out across schools, universities, companies, corporate houses, exhibitions along with Fair Trade retail shops. Despite ample production of Indian fair trade products for export they are not readily available on domestic retail shelves. There is neither a single dedicated shop brand for fair trade products nor a way for consumers to identify the fair trade products in the mainstream outlets. As a result, fair trade products are not widely available to potential fair trade consumers. An "I Support Fair Trade" campaign has been launched in Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta, Agra and is being spread across the country with the aim to increase consumption of fairly traded products. Government's Stand The government has not adopted a policy of promoting a fair trade as an effective means to catalyze socially and environmentally sustainable production. Various govt. agencies are involved in the promotion of the agricultural produce, textiles and handicrafts. Yet, because of lack of knowledge of fair trade, using it as a tool to promote sustainable supply chains has not featured in promotional activities of the agencies like the Ministry of Textiles, Commerce, Agriculture and MSME's. Policy workshops and consensus building to lobby with various govt. agencies is one of the core focus areas.
Pollution
15 August 2012 18:13
The addition of constituents to water, air or land, which adversely alter the natural quality of our environment is known as Pollution. Pollution may also be defined as an undesirable variation in the physical, chemical or biological characteristics of our water, air and land that may or will harmfully affect human life or that of desirable species, our industrial processes, living conditions and cultural assets, or that may or will waste or deteriorate our raw material resources.
Global Aspect of Pollution

Entire world can be considered as a single vast ecosystem of the universe consisting of two parts: (I) Biotic Community (or Living Part) That is, the Biosphere in which life exists. The lack of living creatures and dis-balance in their life balance, gives rise to the crises in biological community. (II) Abiotic Community (or Non-Living Part of Physical Environment) The abiotic or physical environment of all organism existing on the earth exists in three zones: Atmosphere, Lithosphere, and Hydrosphere.
Causes of Environmental Pollution

The root cause of environmental pollution has been men's behave with the nature. Albeit, there are several reasons for environmental pollution, for example: A. Harmful Gases in the Atmosphere The concentration of harmful gases is increasing day by day in the atmosphere. Increa sing Carbon dioxide content will warm up the earth atmosphere to such an extent that it will melt the polar ice and will cause a subsequent rise in sea level. Thus low line areas will be submerged, carbon dioxide is harmful to our health. Carbon mono-oxide, Sulpur dioxide, Hydrogen sulphide, Nitrogen oxide, Ozone etc also constitute the other harmful pollutant. B. Industrial Waste (Effluents) Discharge of untreated industrial effluents (for example Breweries, Tanneries, Dying, Textile and Paper can cause
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very serious pollution indeed. C. Swage and Domestic Wastes
Dumping of tonnes of sewage, dead humans and animals and domestic wastes from cities into the water reservoirs are one of the major causer of water pollution. Discharge of untreated or partially treated sewage may cause: (a) depletion of oxygen content caused by biological oxidation of organic matter; and (b) stimulation of algae growth. The above effects affects the diverse uses of water. D. Insecticides and Pesticides Insecticides used to kill insects which destroys (damages) our corps, spread several diseases in man, after spraying are washed off to the rivers and lakes and become a part fish body and other animal t here. In the same way pollution of food grains by insecticides and pesticides and the various diseases caused by such food grains are also well known. E. Automobile/Factory Exhausts The air becomes foul by the exhaust from the internal combustion engines of automobiles used for personal conveyance, transport of goods and passenger traffic in the modern world. This polluted air is unhealthy for human and animal. Carbon monoxide is a deadly poisonous gas discharged from the autom iles and factories is a serious problem in big cities of the world. It causes headaches, loss of vision, nausea, pain, convulsions, asthmatic spasm etc. F. Fertilizers and Detergents Fertilizers applied in the fields are also washed off into streams, rivers and the seas. Here they increase the growth of algae (algae is a microscopic green plan). This algae consumes the oxygen of water much more then they returned to water in dissolved state (during photosynthesis). In short supply of oxygen the animal living in water become suffocated. Detergents also causes a serious problem to the fresh water resources. Major ingredients of most detergents are phosphates. When discharged into water they support luxuriant growth of algae.
Different types of pollution
Pollution can be classified mainly on the basis of (i) Environmental (water, soil and air etc.); and (ii) Pollutants (lead, carbon-dioxide, solid waste etc.). On the basis of these two ways pollution may be classified as: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Air Pollution Mercury Pollution Noise Pollution Pesticide and Herbicide Pollution Radioactive Pollution Soil Pollution Thermal Pollution Water Pollution
Fundamental Duties of Indian Citizen

14 August 2012 18:13
Originally, the Fundamental Duties were not provided in the Constitution. On the basis of the recommendations of Swarn Singh Committee, these duties were included in the Constitution under Article 51A of part IV by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976. Under these provisions, a citizen of India is expected to faithfully observe the following fundamental Duties. It shall be the duty of every citizen of India: 1. To abide by the Constitution and respect its ideas and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem; 2. To cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom; 3. To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;
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4. To defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so; 5. To promote harmony and spirit of common brotherhood among all the people of India, transcending religious, linguistic, regional or sectional diversities, to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women; 6. To value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture; 7. To protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, river, and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures; 8. To develop the scientific temper, humanism and spirit of inquiry and reform; 9. To safeguard public property and to abjure violence; 10. To strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activities so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavor and achievement; 11. To provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward between age of 6 and 14 years; The 11th point was adopted by 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002. The fundamental duties are inspired by the constitution of former former Soviet Union . Since, the fundamental duties are included in part IV of the constitution, these can not come into force aut omatically, neither can these duties be enforced by judicial process. The constitution, like directive principles of state policies, leaves to the goodwill of citizen to abide these provisions. According to the famous constitutional expert D D Basu, the constitution does not make any provision to enforce these duties automatically or any sanction to prevent the violation of these duties by the citizen. However, it is expected that if a law is enacted by the legislature to enforce these provisions, its shall not be declared unconstitutional on the ground of its inconsistency with the provisions of Article 14 and that of 19. According to him, these provisions would act as a warning to all those who does indulge in not paying due regard to the constitution and destroying public property. The supreme court may issue such warning to citizen to take these provisions seriously. The legislature may also enact laws to enforce these duties. In fact, there are already many laws which directly or indirect ly enforce these duties. For example, there is law for the protection of public property as well as environment an d animal species. However, the Supreme Court, in Surya Vs Union of India (1992) case, ruled that fundam ental duties are not enforceable through judicial remedies by court. In Vijoy Immanuel Vs State of Kerala (1987), the Supreme Court overruled the decision of Kerala High Court and decided that though to Constitution provides it to be the duty of citizen to respect the National Anthem, it does not provide that singing of the National Anthem is part of such respect. Even a person, while standing during the singing of National Anthem (without himself singing it) can show respect to the National Anthem.
Fundamental Rights to Indian Citizens

13 August 2012 10:36
The Constitution guarantees elaborate Fundamental Rights to Indian citizens, These are contained in Part III of the Constitution. The Fundamental Rights embodied in the Indian constitution acts as a guarante that all Indian citizens can and will lead their lifes in peace as long as they live in Indian democracy. These civil liberties take precedence over any other law of the land. They include individual rights common to most liberal democracies, such as equality before the law, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of associa tion and peaceful assembly, freedom of religion, and the right to constitutional remedies for the protection of civil rights such as habeas corpus. In addition, the Fundamental Rights for Indians are aimed at overturning the inequities of past social practices. They have also been used to in sucessfully abolishing the "untouchability"; prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth; and forbid trafficking in h uman beings and also the forced labor. They go beyond conventional civil liberties in protecting cultural and educational rights of minorities by ensuring that minorities may preserve their distinctive languages and establish and administer their own education institutions. Originally, the right to property was also included in the Fundamental Rights; however, the Forty-fourth Amendment, passed in 1978, revised the status of property rights by stating that "No person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law." Freedom of speech and expression, generally interpreted to include freedom of the press, can be limited "in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the
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State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence"
Right to Equality Article 14: Article 15: Article 16: Article 17: Article 18: Equality before law and equal protection of law Prohibition of discrimination on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment End of untouchability Abolition of titles, Military and academic distinctions are, however, exempted
Right to Freedom Article 19: It guarantees the citizens of India the following six fundamentals freedoms:Freedom Freedom Freedom Freedom Freedom Freedom of Speech and Expression of Assembly of form Associations of Movement of Residence and Settlement of Profession, Occupation, Trade and Bussiness
Article 20: Protection in respect of conviction for offences Article 21: Protection of life and personal liberty Article 22: Protection against arrest and detention in certain cases Right Against Exploitation Article 23: Traffic in human beings prohibited Article 24: No child below the age of 14 can be employed Right to freedom of Religion Article 25: Article 26: Article 27: Article 28: Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion Freedom to manage religious affairs Prohibits taxes on religious grounds Freedom as to attendance at religious ceremonies in certain educational institutions
Cultural and Educational Rights Article 29: Protection of interests of minorities Article 30: Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions Article 31: Omitted by the 44th Amendment Act Right to Constitutional Remedies Article 32: The right to move the Supreme Court in case of their violation (called Soul and heart of the Constitution by BR Ambedkar)
Forms of Writ check Habeas Corpus: Equality before law and equal protection of law
Countries of the World

12 August 2012 11:39
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A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with sets of previously independent or differently associated peoples with distinct political characteristics. Regardless of the physical geography, in the modern internationally accepted legal definition as defined by the League of Nations in 1937 and reaffirmed by the United Nations in 1945, a resident of a country is subject to the independent exercise of legal jurisdiction. Sometimes the word country is used to refer both to sovereign states and to other political entities, while other times it refers only to states. For example, the CIA World Fact book uses the word in its "Country name" field to refer to "a wide variety of dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, uninhabited islands, and other entities in addition to the traditional countries or independent states".
Nations of the world Information about some countries:

COUNTRY CAPITAL CURRENCY LANGUAGE RELIGION TIME ZONE
Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia BosniaHerzegovina Botswana
Kabul Tirana Algiers Luanda St Johns (On Antigua) Buenos Aires Yerevan Canberra Vienna Baku Nassau Manama Dhaka Bridgetown Minsk Brussels Belmopan Porto Novo Thimphu La Paz Sarajevo Gaborone
afghani lek dinar kwanza E.Caribbean dollar austral dran
Pushto, Dari Albanian Catalan, Spanish Portuguese English Spanish Armenian
Muslim Orthodox Christian RC RC, Animist Anglican RC Orthodox Anglican, RC RC Muslim Baptist, RC Muslim Muslim Anglican Russian Orthodox RC RC Animist, Islam Buddhist, Hindu RC Orthodox Christian, Animist
+4 +1 +1 +1 +1 +4 +3 +4 +8 to +10 +1 +1 +5 +3 +6 +4 +2 +1 +6 +1 +6 +4 +1 +2
Arabic, French, Berber Muslim
Andorra La Vella franc/peseta
Australian dollar English Euro manat dinar taka rouble Euro Belize dollar franc ngultrum boliviano dinar pula German Azeri Arabic Bangala (Bengali) Russian Flemish, French English, Creole, Spanish French, Fon Dzongkha (Tibetan), Nepali Spanish, Aymara, Quechua Serbo-croat Islam, Serbian English, Setswana
Bahamian dollar English, Creole
Barbados dollar English
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+3 to +4 +8 +2 +0 +2 +7 +1 +5 to +8 +1 +1 +1 +4 +8 +? 3 +1 +6 0 +1 +5 +2 +1 +1 +1 +3 +4 +4 +5 +2 +6 +1 +3 +2
Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China (Inc.tibet) Colombia Comoros Congo Costa Rica Cote d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Democratic Rep of Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany
Brasilia Bandar Seri Begawan Sofia Ouagadougou Bujumbura Phnom Penh Yaounde Ottawa Praia Verdean Bangui N'djamena Santiago Peking Bogota Moroni Brazzaville San Jose Yamoussoukro Zagreb Havana Nicosia Prague Kinshasa Copenhagen Djibouti Roseau
cruzeiro Brunei dollar lev franc franc new riel franc
Portuguese Malay, Chinese Bulgarian, Turkish French Kirundi, French Khmer, French French, English
RC Muslim, Buddhist Orthodox Animist, Muslim RC, Animist Buddhist RC, Animist, Muslim RC, Protestant RC Protestant, RC Muslim, Animist RC Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism RC Muslim Animist, Christian RC Animist, RC RC RC Greek Orthodox, Muslim RC
Canadian dollar French, English escudo franc franc peso yuan peso franc franc Portuguese, Creole French, Sangho French, Arabic Spanish Mandarin (Chinese) Spanish, Indigenous Languages French, Arabic French, Lingala, Monokutuba,, Kongo Spanish franc kuna peso pound koruna zaire kroner franc E.Caribbean dollar French Croat, Serbian Spanish Greek/Turkish Czech
French, Local Dialects RC, Protestant Danish French, Arabic English Spanish Spanish, Quechua Arabic Spanish, Nahuatl Spanish Tigrinya, TigreArabic Estonian, Russian Amharic, Arabic English, Fijian, Hindi Finnish, Swedish French French, Fang English Georgian German Lutheran Muslim RC RC RC Muslim RC RC Muslim,, Christian Lutheran
Santo Domingo peso Quito Cairo San Salvador Malabo Asmara Tallinn Addis Ababa Suva Helsinki Paris Libreville Banjul Tbilisi Berlin sucre pound colon franc birr kroone birr Fijian dollar Euro Euro franc dalasi rouble Euro
Oromo, Muslim, Orthodox +3 Christian Methodist, Hindu Lutheran, Orthodox Christian RC RC Muslim, Protestant Orthodox Lutheran, RC +12 +2 +1 +1 0 +4 +1
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Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea-Bissau Guinea Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea DPR Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia The Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Accra Athens St Georges Guatemala City Bissau Conakry Georgetown Port-au-Prince Tegucigalpa Budapest Reykjavik New Delhi Jakarta Tehran Baghdad Dublin Jerusalem Rome Kingston Tokyo Amman Alma-ata Nairobi Bairiki (On Tarawa) Pyongyang Seoul Kuwait City Frunze Vientiane Riga Beirut Maseru Monrovia Tripoli Vaduz Vilnius Luxembourg Bitolj Antananarivo Lilongwe Kuala Kumpar Male Bamako Valletta Dalap-UligaDarrit new cedi Euro E.Caribbean dollar quetzal peso franc dollar gourde lempira forint krona rupee rupiah rial dinar Euro shekel Euro Jamaican dollar yen dinar tenge, rouble shilling English Greek English Spanish, Mayan Dialects Portuguese, Creole French, Fulami English, Hindi, Urdu French, Creole Spanish Magyar Icelandic
Animist, Christian, Muslim 0 Greek Orthodox RC, Anglican RC, Protestant Animist, Muslim Muslim Hindu, Christian RC, Voodoo RC RC Evangelical Lutheran +2 +4 +6 0 0 +3 +5 +6 +1 0 +5 +7 to +8 +3 +3 0 +2 +1 +5 +9 +2 +5 to 6 +3 +12 +9 +9 +3 +5 +7 +2 +2 +2 +1 +1 +2 +1 +1 +3 +2 +8 +5 0 +1 +12
Hindi, English & 1600 Hindu, Isalm Languages Bahasa, Indonesian, Javanese Farsi, Azeri Arabic, Kurdish Gaelic, English Hebrew, Arabic Italian English, Creole Japanese Arabic Russian, Kazakh Swahili, English Muslim Muslim Muslim RC Judaism RC Protestant, Rastafarian Shinto, Buddhism Muslim Muslim, RC Protestant, RC RC, Protestant Daoist, Confusianism Buddhist, Protestant, Taoism Muslim Muslim Buddhist Lutheran Muslim, Christian RC, Protestant Muslim RC RC RC Orthodox Animist, RC Christian Muslim Muslim Muslim RC Protestant
Australian dollar I-kiribati, English won won dinar som, rouble kip lats pound loti dollar dinar franc litas Euro denar franc kwacha ringgit rufiyaa franc franc US dollar Korean Korean Arabic Kighiz Lao Lettish, Russian Arabic Sesotho, English English Arabic German Lithuanan Letzeburgesch, French, German Macedonia, Albanian Malagasy, French English, Chichewa Malay, English, Chinese Dhivehi French, Bambara Maltese, English Marshallese, English
Animist, Muslim, Christian 0
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Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru The Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Nouakchott Port Louis Mexico City Palikir (On Pohnpei) Kishinev Monaco-ville Ulan-Baatar Rabat Maputo Yangon Windhoek Yaren District Kathmandu Amsterdam Wellington Managua Niamey Lagos Oslo Muscat Islamabad Panama City Port Moresby Ascuncion Lima Manila On Luzon) Warsaw Lisbon Doha Bucharest Moscow Kigali ouguiya rupee peso US dollar leu franc tugrit dirham metical kyat rand Arabic, French English, Creole Spanish English, Trukese, Ponapean Moldovan, Ukranian, Russian Russian French Kalkh, Mongolese Arabic, Berber Portuguese Burmese Afrikaans, English
Muslim Hindu, Christian, Islam RC Protestant Orthodox RC Buddhism Muslim Animist, RC, Islam Buddhist Lutheran, Various Christian RC, Nauran Protestant Church Hindu RC, Netherlands Reform Church Anglican, RC RC Muslim Evangelical, Lutheran Muslim 0 +4 +6 +11 +2 +1 +8 0 +2 +6 +2 +12 +5 +1 +12 +6 +1 +1 +1 +4 +5 5 +10 +4 5 8 +1 +1 +3 +2 +2 to 12 +2 4 4 4 +1 0 +3 0 +4 0
Australian dollar Nauruan rupee Euro New Zealand dollar cordoba franc naira krone rial rupee balboa kina guarani inti peso zloty Euro riyal leu rouble franc E.Caribbean dollar E.Caribbean dollar E.Caribbean dollar lira dobra riyal franc rupee leone Nepali, Bilhari Dutch English, Maori Spanish, Miskito French, Hausa Norwegian Arabic
English, Local Dialects Muslim, Christian
Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Muslim English Spanish English Spanish, Guran Spanish, Quechua Tagalog (Filipino) Polish Portuguese Arabic Romanian Great Russian French, Kinyarwanda English RC Protestant, RC RC RC RC RC RC Muslim Romanian Orthodox, RC Russian Orthodox RC, Animist Anglican, Methodist
St Christopher & Basseterre Nevis St Lucia St Vincent & Grenedines San Marino Sao Tome & Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Castries Kingstown San Marino Sao Tome Riyadh Dakar Victoria Freetown
English, French Patois RC English Italian Portuguese Arabic French, Wolof English, KrioMende,, Temne Anglican, Methodist RC RC Muslim Muslim
Creole, English, French RC Animist, Muslim
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Chinese, Malay, English Slovak, Hungarian RC Slovene
Singapore Slovakia Slovenia
Singapore City Bratislava Ljubljana
dollar koruna tolar
Buddhism, Daoism +1 RC
+8
+1 +11 +3 +2 +1 +5 +2 +3
Solomon Islands Honiara Somalia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Surinam Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad & Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States of America Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City State Venezuela Vietnam Western Samoa Yemen Yugoslavia Zambia Zimbabwe Caracas Hanoi Mogadishu Pretoria/Cape Town Madrid Colombo Khartoum Paramaribo Mbabane Stockholm Berne Damascus Dushanbe Dodoma Bangkok Lome Nuku'alofa Port of Spain Tunis Ankara Ashkhabad Funafuti Kampala Kiev Abu Dhabi London
Soloman Islands English, Pidgin English Anglican, RC dollar shilling rand Euro rupee pound guilder lilangeni krona franc pound rouble shilling baht franc pa'anga Trinidad & Tobago dollar dinar lira manat, rouble Tuvalu dollar shilling karbvanets dirham pound Somali, Arabic Xhosa, Zulu, English, Afrikaans Spanish, Castilian Arabic Muslim Black African Churchs, Africaans Reform Church RC Muslim
Sinhala, Tamil English Buddhist, Hindu Dutch, Sranang, Togo, Hindu, RC, Muslim Hindi Siswati, English Swedish German Arabic Tadzhik, Uzbek, Russian English, Swahili Thai, Chinese French, Ewe, Kabiye Tongan, English English, Hindi Arabic Turkish, Kurdish Turkmen Tuvaluan, English English, Swahili Ukranian, Russian Arabic English English Spanish Uzbek Bislamay, English, French Italian, Latin Spanish Vietnamese English, Samoan Arabic Serb English Lutheran RC, Protestant Muslim RC, Islam
Various Christian & Indian +2 +1 +1 +2 +3
Animist, Muslim, Christian +3 Buddhist Animist, RC Methodist RC, Protestant, Hindu Muslim Muslim Muslim Protestant Church of Tuvalu RC, Animist, Protestant Ukranian Orthodox Muslim Anglican, RC RC, Baptist RC Muslim Protestant, RC RC HQ RC Buddhist Protestant, Congregational, RC Muslim Orthodox, Islam Animist, Anglican, RC +7 0 +13 4 +1 +2 +5 +12 +3 +2 +4 0 +5 to +8 +3 +5 to 6 +11 +1 4 +7 11 +3 +1 +2 +2
Washington DC US dollar Montevideo Tashkent Vila (On Efate) nuevo peso som, rouble vatu Euro bolivar dong
Apia (On Upolu) tala Sana'a Belgrade Lusaka Harare rial dinar kwacha dollar
English, Tonga, Bemba Animist
Clouds
12 August 2012 09:58
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'Clouds' are a sufficiently distinctive result of condensation to be discussed in some detail. They consist of tiny particle, either of water or of ice, which floats in masses at various heights above sea-level, ranging from ground level (where they occur in the form of) to the highest wisps at 40,000 feet. "Cloud is the mass a mass of tiny visible particles, usually of water (0.0008 to 0.0024 inches in diameter), sometimes of ice, which form by condensation on nuclei such as dust and smoke particles, salt, pollen and negative ions. The float in masses at various height above sea level, ranging from near the ground (fog or mist) to over 40,000 feets." Clouds are classified: (I) By Height
Low clouds upto 8,000 feet Medium clouds at 8,000-20,000 feet High clouds at 20,000-40,000 feet (II) By Form Feathery or fibrous (Cirrus) Globular or heaped (Cumulus) Sheet of layer (Stratus) Other types (see individual names) are distinguished by combination of the three form names, by adding the suffix 'Alto' to indicate height, and 'Nimbus' to signify falling rain, thus forming ten main generally. Other variation are: Lens shaped Lenticularis Turret shaped Castellatus Breast shaped Mammatus Tattered ragged clouds (Fracto-) and many more
NAME
HEIGHT
DESCRIPTION
REMARKS
stratus
0-1500ft
Whitish, grey layer, often covering hills. Huge towers of heavy dense clouds. The tops are flat, usually spreading. Detached dense clouds with sharp outlines and rising domes, mounds or towers. Grey or white rolling patches or sheets.
May give drizzle. Often bring showers and thunder. Associated with sunny weather and scattered showers. Bring dull weather, sometimes with drizzle.
cumulonimbus 1500-6500ft cumulus 1500-6500ft
stratocumulus 1500-6500ft nimbostratus altostratus altocumulus cirrostratus cirrocumulus cirrus 3000-10000ft 3000-10000ft 6500-23000ft 16500-45000ft
Dark grey cloud layer, usually diffused by Ragged patches of stratus may occur rain or snow. below the layer. Flat, thick blue-grey sheet. White or grey rounded clouds, A transparent milky veil which can be fibrous or smooth. Indicates rain or snow if associated with cirrostratus. Usually break up leaving good weather. Indicates rain later. Form on the edge of unsettled weather. An indication of bad weather to follow with strong winds at the cloud level.
16500-45000ft Thin rippled sheets of rounded clouds. 16500-45000ft Fibrous or hairlike clouds with a silky sheen.
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Mother of pearl clouds found very high over mountains, usually lit by sunlight. Very high bluish clouds, probably cosmic dust. Normally only seen in high latitudes.
nacreous noctilucent
Appointments and Nominations in 2011-12

12 August 2012 13:08
Parvin Kiran Sinclair Parvin Kiran Sinclair will be the new head of the National Council of Educational Research & Training (NCERT), The NCERT has been functioning without a fulltime director for nearly two years. Sinclair was also Chief Advisor, Mathematics Syllabus Design Committee, NCERT, in 2005 and 2006. Vinod Rai Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG), Vinod Rai has been elected as the Chairman of the Panel of External Auditors of the United Nations, the Specialized Agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency. He succeeds Mr.Norbert Hauser, Vice-President, Federal Court of Auditors, Germany. Kamal al-Ganzuri Egypt s interim leaders had appointed former premier Kamal al Ganzuri as the country s new prime minister, amid continuing political uncertainty. The national salvation government, headed by 79-year-old Kamal al Ganzuri was sworn in, with Supreme Council of Armed Forces granting the new Prime Minister greater powers except over the military and judiciary. E. Sreedharan E. Sreedharan, Managing Director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and the man behind the changing face of the Indian public transport , handed over the reins of the DMRC to Mangu Singh, after successful 16-year tenure as its chief. Sreedharan (79), fondly known across the country as the Metroman , had joined the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in 1995 spending 16 years in the DMRC. N Srinivasan N. Srinivasan would take over the reins of BCCI from incumbent President Shashank Man ohar at the Cricket Board s 82nd Annual General Meeting. Helle Thoning-Schmidt Helle Thoming-Schmidt was elected as the first female Prime Mminister of Denmark ending the far-right s 10-year grip on the Scandinavian country. She defeated Lars Loke Rasmussen of Danish People s Party (DPP) by very thin margin. Kamalesh Sharma Indian diplomat Kamalesh Sharma was reappointed as Secretary General of the 54-nation Common-wealth grouping for a four-year term beginning April 2012. India proposed 70-year-old Sharma s name for a second term to the coveted post at the concluding session of the 21st Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Perth. Pakistan seconded it. The proposal was accepted unanimously by everybody. Ashok Chawla Mr Ashok Chawla took charge as the Chairman of Competition Commission of India. Before being ap-pointed as the Chairman of CCI he has held key positions in several Ministries including the top administrative post in the Ministry of Finance. Mangu Singh As E Sreedharan prepares to call it a day after 16 years of heading the Delhi Metro, his right-hand man -Director (Works) Mangu Singh - is selected to take over as the Managing Director of the corporation from January 1, when Sreedharan s tenure comes to an end. K.V. Kamath The Board of Directors of Infosys Ltd., which met in Bangaluru on May 1,2011, decided to appoint K.V. Kamath as Chairman of Infosys after its founder, N.R. Narayana Murthy, steps down from his position as Chairman on
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August 20 when he turns 65.
Leeta Samson The CBFC, which is responsible for censoring and rating all films shown in India, recently got a new Chief when the govemmeni appointed Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer and teacher Leela Samson as its Chairperson. Ms. Samson s ap-pointment drew attention as she is the first non-film personality in many years to hold the post. Ajit Kumar Seth Senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Ajit Kumar Seth has been appointed the next Indian Cabinet Secretary succeeding K M Chandrashekhar. Seth, a 1974 batch IAS officer from Uttar Pradesh, is serving as Secretary, Public Grievances and Co-ordination in the Cabinet Secretariat. Seth will have fixed two year tenure. He has been on central deputation since January 1, 2009. Bom on November 24, 1951, Seth has Masters Degree in Chemistry. Goodluclf Jonathan Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in on May 29 following an election seen as the fairest in two decades, but he faces a divided nation after deadly post-poll riots. Jonathan was inducted amid tight security at a colourful ceremony with full military honours, including a fly past in the capital of Abuja. Yinglucl- Shinawatra The woman, who is poised to become Thailand s first female prime minister after her landslide victory in parliamentary elections, has announced she will form a five- party coalition government. Yingluck Shinawatra 's Puea Thai Party took a majority of 265 seats in the 500-seat lower house of parliament making it only the second time in Thai political history that a single party won a parliamentary majority. By a nnouncing a broad 299- seat coalition, Ms Yingluck (44) will give her government stability and head >ff fears of factional violence linked to her exiled brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Mr Abhisit, a British-born, Oxford-trained economist, stepped down as leader of the Democrat Party yesterday because of the poor electoral showing. Maria Gomes Valentim A Brazilian woman Maria Gomes Valentim, ranked by Guinness World Records as the world s oldest person died at the age of 114, Pradeep Kumar Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar was unanimously chosen Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC). The selection was made by a high-power committee headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and including Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram. The top slot in the Central government s anti-corruption watchdog body fell vacant after the Supreme Court, on March 3, quashed the ap-pointment of P.J. Thomas as CVC. Christine Lagarde France s Christine Lagarde has been named the first-ever female chief of the IMF, fac ed with an immediate crisis as violent Greek protests rocked the stability of the eurozone. The French finance minister, respected for her leadership during the financial crises that have shaken Europe over the past three years, was selected by the International Monetary Fund s executive board to take up the five-year job from July 5. Ban Ki-moon The U.N. General Assembly voted unanimously to give Ban Ki-moon a second term as Secretary-General, praising him for strengthening the world body s role and visibility in difficult circumstances. Yoshihiko Noda Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda was chosen to become Japan s sixth prime minister in five years. Noda was declared the winner after defeating his nearest rival, the trade minister, Banri Kaieda. Tony Tan Former Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan Keng Yam has been declared elected Singapore 's seventh President by defeating his nearest rival by a thin margin of 7,269 votes in the first ever four-comer presidential election campaign. Baburam Bhattarai Nepal s legislature-parliament elected Baburam Bhattarai, Vice-Chairman of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), and new Prime Minister. Bhattarai was the deputy prime Minister and finance minister in the government led by Maoist Chairman Prachanda in 2008. Bhattarai succeeded Jhalanath Khanal, who resigned in August. Dr. Bhattarai has been in the Left movement for three decades. Veerendra Kumar
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M.P Veerendrakumar, Chairman and Managing Director of the Mathrubhoomi group of newspapers, was elected chairman of the Board of Directors of Press Trust of India (PTI) after the annual gen eral meeting of the agency s shareholders. Veerendrakumar, who has served as PTI chairman twice earlier, succeeds Vineet Jain, Managing Director of the Times of India Group. R. Lakshmipathy R Lakshmipathy, Publisher of the Tamil daily Dinamalar, was elected vice-chairman. Lakshmipathy Is a leading figure in the media industry. He has been president of the INS, chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circulation and a member of the Press Council of India. He runs several educational institutions. Rohit Nandan Rohit Nandan, Joint Secretary in the Civil Aviation Ministry, has been appointed as C hairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Air India for a three-year period. Nandan was earlier Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Govt of India. Mamta Sharma Mamta Sharma has taken charge as chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW). She took over from Yasmeen Abrar, who was the acting chairperson after Girija Vyas demitted office. The NCW has been without a full time chief since April. Ms. Sharma, a Congress leader from Rajasthan, was a member of the Legislative Assembly and also the president of the Rajasthan State Women Congress Committee.
Ecology and Environment

04 August 2012 13:06
Ecology is the study of environmental systems, or as it is sometimes called, the econ omy of nature. "Environmental" usually means relating to the natural, versus human-made world; the "systems" means that ecology is, by its very nature, not interested in just the components of nature individually but especially in how the parts interact. The subject matter of ecology is normally divided into following broad categories: 1. Physiological ecology- It deals with the response of single species to environmental conditions such as temperature or light; 2. Population ecology- It usually focuses on the abundance and distribution of individual species and the factors that cause such distribution; 3. Community ecology- It deals with the number of species found at a given location and their interactions; and 4. Ecosystems ecology- deals with the structure and function of the entire suite of microbes, plants, and animals, and their abiotic environment, and how the parts interact to generate the wh ole. This branch of ecology often focuses on the energy and nutrient flows of ecosystems, and when this a pproach is combined with computer analysis and simulation we often call it systems ecology. 5. Evolutionary ecology- It operate at the physiological or population level, is a rich and dynamic area of ecology focusing on attempting to understand how natural selection developed the stru cture and function of the organisms and ecosystems at any of these levels. Ecology is usually considered from the perspective of the specific geographic environment that is being studied a moment: tropical rain forest, temperate grassland, arctic tundra, benthic marine, the entire biosphere, and so on. The subject matter of ecology is the entire natural world, including both the living and the non-living parts. Biogeographyfocuses on the observed distribution of plants and animals and the reasons behind it. More recently ecology has included increasingly the human-dominated world of agriculture, grazing lands for domestic animals, cities, and even industrial parks. Industrial ecology is a discipline that has recently been developed, especially in Europe, where the objective is to follow the energy and material use throughout the process of, e.g., making an automobile with the objective of attempting to improve the material and energy efficiency of manufacturing. For any of these levels or approaches there are some scientists that focus on theoretical ecology, which attempts to derive or apply theoretical or sometimes mathematical reasons and generalities for what is observed in nature, and empirical ecology, which is concerned principally with measurement. Applied ecology takes what is found from one or both of these approaches and uses it to protect or manage nature in some way. Related to this discipline is conservation biology. Plant ecology, animal ecology, and microbial ecology have obvious foci. Reasons to study ecology There are usually four basic reasons given to study and as to why we might want to un derstand ecology:
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1. first, since all of us live to some degree in a natural or at least partly natural ecosystem, then considerable pleasure can be derived by studying the environment around us. Just as one might learn to appreciate art better through an art history course so too might one appreciate more the nature around us with a better understanding of ecology. 2. Second, human economies are in large part based on the exploitation and management of nature. Applied ecology is used every day in forestry, fisheries, range management, agriculture, and so on to provide us with the food and fiber we need. 3. Third, human societies can often be understood very clearly from ecological perspectives as we study, for example, the population dynamics (demography) of our own species, the food and fossil energy flowing through our society. 4. Fourth, humans appear to be changing aspects of the global environment in many ways. Ecology can be very useful to help us understand what these changes are, what the implications might be for various ecosystems, and how we might intervene in either human economies or in nature to try to mitigate or otherwise alter these changes. There are many professional ecologists, who believe that these apparent changes from human activities have the potential to generate enormous harm to both natural ecosystems and human economies. Understanding, predicting and adapting to these issues could be the most important of all possible issue for humans to deal with. In this case ecology and environmentalism can be the same. Ecosystem An ecosystem consists of the biological community that occurs in some locale, and the physical and chemical factors that make up its non-living or abiotic environment. There are many examples of ecosystems -- a pond, a forest, an estuary, a grassland. The boundaries are not fixed in any objective way, although sometimes they seem obvious, as with the shoreline of a small pond. Usually the boundaries of an ecosystem are chosen for practical reasons having to do with the goals of the particular study.
Components of an Ecosystem
The parts of an ecosystem can be listed under the headings "abiotic" and "biotic". Abiotic components: Sunlight, Temperature, Precipitation, Water or moisture, Soil or water chemistry (e.g., P, NH4+) Biotic Components Primary producers, Herbivores, Carnivores, Omnivores, Detritivores All of these vary over space/time By and large, this set of environmental factors is important almost everywhere, in all ecosystems. Usually, biological communities include the "functional groupings". A functional group is a biological category composed of organisms that perform mostly the same kind of function in the system; for example, all the photosynthetic plants or primary producers form a functional group. Membership in the functional group does not depend very much on who the actual players (species) happen to be; only on what function they perform in the ecosystem. Processes of Ecosystems This figure with the plants, zebra, lion, and so forth illustrates the two main ideas about how ecosystems function: ecosystems have energy flows and ecosystems cycle materials. These two processes are linked, but they are not quite the same (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Energy flows and material cycles.
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Energy enters the biological system as light energy, or photons, is transformed into chemical energy in organic molecules by cellular processes including photosynthesis and respiration, and ultimately is converted to heat energy. This energy is dissipated, meaning it is lost to the system as heat; once it is lost it cannot be recycled. Without the continued input of solar energy, biological systems would quickly shut down. Thus the earth is an open system with respect to energy. Elements such as carbon, nitrogen, or phosphorus enter living organisms in a variety of ways. Plants obtain elements from the surrounding atmosphere, water, or soils. Animals may also obtain elements directly from the physical environment, but usually they obtain these mainly as a consequence of consuming other organisms. These materials are transformed biochemically within the bodies of organisms, but sooner or later, due to excretion or decomposition, they are returned to an inorganic state. Often bacteria c omplete this process, through the process called decomposition or mineralization During decomposition these materials are not destroyed or lost, so the earth is a closed system with respect to elements (with the exception of a meteorite entering the system now and then). The elements are cycled endlessly between their biotic and abiotic states within ecosystems. Those elements whose supply tends to limit biological activity are called nutrients. The Transformation of Energy
The transformations of energy in an ecosystem begin first with the input of energy from the sun. The process of photosynthesis captures energy from the sun. Carbon dioxide is combined with hydrogen to produce carbohydrates (CHO). Energy is stored in the high-energy bonds of adenosine triphosph ate, or ATP. The prophet Isaah said "all flesh is grass", earning him the title of first ecologist, because virtually all energy available to organisms originates in plants. Because it is the first step in the production of energy for living things, it is called primary production. Herbivores obtain their energy by consuming plants or plant products, carnivores eat herbivores, and detritivores consume the droppings and carcasses of us all. Figure portrays a simple food chain, in which energy from the sun, captured by plant photosynthesis, flows from trophic level to trophic level via the food chain. A trophic level is composed of organisms that make a living in the same way, that is they are all primary producers (plants), primary consumers (herbivores) or secondary consumers (carnivores). Dead tissue and waste products are produced at all levels. Scavengers, detritivores, and decomposers collectively account for the use of all such "waste" -- consumers of carcasses and fallen leaves may be other animals, such as crows and beetles, but ultimately it is the microbes that finish the job of decomposition. Not surprisingly, the amount of primary production varies a great deal from place to place, due to differen ces in the amount of solar radiation and the availability of nutrients and water. Energy transfer through the food chain is inefficient. This means that less energy is available at the herbivore level than at the primary producer level, less yet at the carnivore level, and so on. The result is a pyramid of energy, with important implications for understanding the quantity of life that can be supported. Food chains with green plants, herbivores, and so on are referred to as grazer food chains, because living plants
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are directly consumed. In many circumstances the principal energy input is not green plants but dead organic matter. These are called detritus food chains. Examples include the forest floor or a woodland stream in a forested area, a salt marsh, and most obviously, the ocean floor in very deep areas where all sunlight is extinguished 1000's of meters above. In subsequent lectures we shall return to these important issues concerning energy flow. There are many food links and chains in an ecosystem, and all of these linkages can be referred as a food web. Food webs can be very complicated, where it appears that "everything is connected to everything else", and it is important to understand what are the most important linkages in any particular food web. Biogeochemistry The term Biogeochemistry is defined as the study of how living systems influence, and are controlled by, the geology and chemistry of the earth. Thus biogeochemistry encompasses many aspects of the abiotic and biotic world that we live in. There are several main principles and tools that are used to study earth systems. Most of the major environmental problems can be analyzed using biogeochemical principles and tools. These problems include global warming, acid rain, we environmental pollution, and increasing greenhouse gases. The principles and tools can be broken down into 3 major components: element ratios, mass balance, and element cycling. 1. Element ratios In biological systems, important elements are referred as "conservative". These elements are often nutrients. By "conservative" it means that an organism can change only slightly the amount of these elements in their tissues if they are to remain in good health. For example, in healthy algae the elements C, N, P, and Fe have the following ratio, called the Redfield ratio after the oceanographer that discovered it: C : N : P : Fe = 106 : 16 : 1 : 0.01 Once these ratios are known, one can compare them to the ratios that one measure in a sample of algae to determine if the algae are lacking in one of these limiting nutrients. 2. Mass Balance Another important tool that is used is a simple mass balance equation to describe the state of a system. The system could be a snake, a tree, a lake, or the entire globe. Using a mass balance approach whether the system is changing and how fast it is changing can be determined. The equation is: NET CHANGE = INPUT + OUTPUT + INTERNAL CHANGE In this equation the net change in the system from one time period to another is determined by what the inputs are, what the outputs are, and what the internal change in the system was. The example given in class is of the acidification of a lake, considering the inputs and outputs and internal change of acid in the lake. 3. Element Cycling Element cycling describes where and how fast elements move in a system. There are two general classes of systems that we can analyze, as mentioned above: closed and open systems. A closed system refers to a system where the inputs and outputs are negligible compared to the internal changes. Examples of such systems would include a bottle, or our entire globe. There are two ways the cycling of materials within this closed system can be described, either by looking at the rate of movement or at the pathways of movement. Rate = number of cycles / time, as rate increases, productivity increases Pathways-important because of different reactions that may occur In an open system there are inputs and outputs as well as the internal cycling. Thus the rates of movement and the pathways can be described, just as the closed system, but a new concept called th e residence time can also be defined. The residence time indicates how long on average an element remains within the system before leaving the system. 1. Rate 2. Pathways 3. Residence time, Rt Rt = total amount of matter / output rate of matter Controls on Ecosystem Function There are two dominant theories of the control of ecosystems.
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The first, called bottom-up control, states that it is the nutrient supply to the primary producers that ultimately controls how ecosystems function. If the nutrient supply is increased, the resulting increase in production of autotrophs is propagated through the food web and all of the other trophic levels will respond to the increased availability of food (energy and materials will cycle faster). The second theory, called top-down control, states that predation and grazing by high er trophic levels on lower trophic levels ultimately controls ecosystem function. For example, if there is an increase in predators, that increase will result in fewer grazers, and that decrease in grazers will result in turn in more primary producers because fewer of them are being eaten by the grazers. Thus the control of population numbers and overall productivity "cascades" from the top levels of the food chain down to the bottom trophic levels. There is evidence from many ecosystem studies that both controls are operating to som e degree, but that neither control is complete. For example, the "top-down" effect is often very strong at trophic levels near to the top predators, but the control weakens as one move further down the food chain. Similarly, the "bottom-up" effect of adding nutrients usually stimulates primary production, but the stimulation of secondary production further up the food chain is less strong or is absent. The Geography of Ecosystems There are many different ecosystems: rain forests and tundra, coral reefs and ponds, grasslands and deserts. Climate differences from place to place largely determine the types of ecosystems we see. Mainly the dominant vegetation influences how terrestrial ecosystems appear to us. The word "biome" is used to describe a major vegetation type such as tropical rain forest, grassland, tundra, etc., extending over a large geographic area (Figure 3). It is never used for aquatic systems, such as ponds or coral reefs. It always refers to a vegetation category that is dominant over a very large geographic scale, and so is somewhat broader than an ecosystem.
Figure 3: The distribution of biomes. Temperature and rainfall patterns for a region are distinctive. Every place on earth gets the same total number of hours of sunlight each year, but not the same amount of heat. The sun's rays strike low latitudes directly but high latitudes obliquely. This uneven distribution of heat sets up not just temperature differences, but global wind and ocean currents that in turn have a great deal to do with where rainfall occurs. A schematic view of the earth shows that, complicated though climate may be; many aspects are predictable (Figure 4). High solar energy striking near the equator ensures nearly constant high temperatures and high rates of evaporation and plant transpiration. Warm air rises, cools, and sheds its moisture, creating just the conditions for a tropical rain forest. Every location has a rainfall- temperature graph that is typical of a broader region.
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Figure 4. Climate patterns affect biome distributions. Certain plants are distinctive of certain climates, creating the vegetation appearance that is called biomes. High precipitation is not possible at low temperatures -- there is not enough solar energy to power the water cycle, and most water is frozen and thus biologically unavailable throughout the year. The h igh tundra is as much a desert as is the Sahara.
Figure 5. The distribution of biomass related to temperature and precipitation.
DELHI SULTANATE
12 August 2012 13:24
The Delhi Sultanate is a term used to cover five short-lived dynasties and one sultan, Delhi based kingdoms or sultanates, mostly of Turkic origin in medieval India. The sultanates ruled from Delhi between
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1206 and 1526, when the last was replaced by the Mughal dynasty. The five dynasties were the Mamluk dynasty (120690); the Khilji dynasty (12901320); the Tughlaq dynasty (13201414); the Sayyid dynasty (141451); and the Afghan Lodi dynasty (14511526). The Slave Dynasty Slave Dynasty 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Qutub-ud-din Aibak Iltutmish Raziya Sultan Bahram Shah Ala-ud-din Masud Nasiruddin Mahmud Balban Kaikubad
Time period
1206-1210 AD 1210-1236 AD 1236-1239 AD 1240-1242 AD 1242-1246 AD 1246-1266 AD 1266-1285 AD 1286-1290 AD
Qutub-ud-din Aibek
Qutub-ud-din Aibek laid the foundation of a new dynasty called the slave dynasty in 1206 AD. He established himself as he sultan of Delhi at Lahore. He strengthened his position through matrimonial alliances with his rivals. He gave his daughter to Iltutmish the foremost of his slaves.
Iltutmish
After Qutub-ud-din Aibek his son Aram Shah succeeded the throne. He was not able to display the skill of conquests and administration shone by his forerunners. Iltutmish over threw his rule with the support of the nobles. A battle followed in which Aram Shah was defeated and killed. In 1211 AD Iltutmish came to the throne. He was also known as Shamsuddin. He spent his days in retrieving the lost territories of Qutub-ud-din Aibek and also added Malwa and Sind. During the reign of Iltutmish he fought against the rival slave chiefs Yildiz and Qabacha. At the battlefield of Tarain Yildiz was defeated. Iltutmish also faced danger from th e Mongols led by Chingiz Khan. In his diplomatic decision he avoided the conflict with the mighty Mongol by preventing Jalal-ud-din the ruler of Khawarism from coming to India. Another major threat to the power of Iltutmish was the independent Rajput rulers who in spite of their rivalry could pose a serious danger to the Sultanat. In 1226 AD he attacked Ranthambor and Mansor. He also occupied Ajmer, Jalor, Nagor. In 1229 Gwalior was occupied and the fort of Kalinjar was plundered. Kannauj, Benaras and Badaun were under his dominion. In the year 1229AD the Caliph of Baghdad recognized him as Sultan. He brought order in Rohilkhand. He suppressed the revolt of Tughril Khan, the governor of Bengal. Iltutmish was the greatest ruler of 13th century India and a wise statesman. He was generous to talented people who willingly became the pillars of the central administration.
Raziya
Raziya came to throne by overthrowing her brother Rukn-ud-din. After elevating many Tajiks to high positions Raziya appointed Jamal-ud-din Yaqut an Ethiopian slave as superintendent of the royal horses which aroused resentment in a majority of the already disgruntled Turkish nobles. Moreover sultana began to appear unveiled in public. Though the people of Delhi supported her, hostility mounted among the iqtadars. In 1239-40 she crushed some of the rebellious iqtadars but one of them Altunia killed Yakut and took Raziya prisoner. In the meanwhile the powerful Turkish nobles put Iltutmishs third son Bahram on the throne. Raziya ma rried Altunia and their combined efforts to capture Delhi failed. They were killed during an attack on their convoy. The fall of Raziya made the clique of Turkish nobles dominant in the court and they started a scramble for supremacy. Raziya's successor Bahram Shah was weak and incompetent ruler and was over thrown by the nobles after a brief reign of two years. He was succeeded by Alauddin Masud Shah who also met the same fate of Bahram Shah. In 1246 Nasir-ud-din Mahmud the grandson of Iltutmish ascended the thron e. He owed his throne to the Turkish aristocracy and the latter was bound to have tremendous influence in the administration. He places all his powers in the hands of his prime minister Balban. Balban married off his daughter to Sultan and was made Naiib-i-Mamlakat with the title of Ulugh Khan. Balban became the defacto ruler of the Sultanate. In 1266 Nasiruddin Mahmud died.
Balban
Balban had full control over sovereignty sat on the throne of Delhi in 1266 and he adopted the name of Ghiyasuddin Balban. With his accession the line of rulers of the family of Iltutmish ended. The most serious problem, which he faced soon after his succession, was the restoration of law and order in Delhi and other parts of his kingdom. Balban in his attempt to curtail the power of the nobility increased the power and prestige of the Sultan. For this purpose he introduced Persian ceremonies and etiquettes in his court and allowed no manner of
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levity there. He was a thorough aristocrat and he never gave office to any one except to well born men. He impressed upon the people that kingship was the vice regency of God on earth and in its dignity it was next only to prophethood. The king was the shadow of God and was the repository of divine guida nce and radiance. Having consolidated his authority Balban addressed himself to the task of maintaining peace and order with his characteristic vigour. He realized that a strong army was essentially necessary to cope with the internal troubles and external dangers. Hence he reorganized his army and increased his effiency. Additional officers were appointed with higher emoluments. Balban did not try to extend his empire although he had a powerful army. He instead concentrated on consolidating the territory already in possession. He suppressed the revolts in the Doab and Oudh and tracked down recalcitrant elements in the region of Rohilkhand. Mughals invaded again in 1279 and 1285 but was defeated and driven away. In 1286 the Mongols reappeared and this time Prince Muhamma d was killed. Balban could never recover from the tragedy and died in 1286. Khalji Dynasty
Rulers of the Khalji Dynasty

1. Jalaluddin Firuz Khalji 2. Alauddin Khalji 3. Qutubuddin Mubarak
Time period
1290-1296 AD 1296-1316 AD 1316-1320 AD
Jalaluddin Firoz Khilji Jalaluddin Firoz Khilji was the founder of the Khilji dynasty. He came to power after the overthrow of slave dynasty. Their ascendancy is known as Khilji imperialism because with the accession of Jalaluddin on the throne of Delhi, the supremacy of the Turks ended in India. He expanded the boundaries of his empire besides his achievements include suppression of the revolt of Malik Chhaju with the governor of Oudh. He suppressed the thuggees a band of robbers and send them off peacefully to Bengal. He adopted conciliatory policy towards the Mongols. He allowed some of the Mongols to settle in India. It was during the conquest of Bhilsa that Alauddin the nephew of Jalaluddin started realising the dream of being sultan. In 1292 AD Alauddin led an expedition to Devagiri hearing of its wealth. Devagiri was forced to pay a huge war indemnity. This helped Alauddin in buying the nobles and pleasing the soldiers who were dissatisfied by the rule of Jalaluddin. Alauddin than hatched a conspiracy and got Sultan Jalaludin killed and proclaimed himself as the sultan.
Alauddin Khilji
In 1296 Alauddin became the sultan after Malika Jan the widow of Jalaluddin and her younger son Qadir Khan left Delhi. He also exterminated the old Balbani and Jalali nobles. The reign of Alauddin Khilji marks the zenith of the power of the Delhi Sultanate. In 1297 he set off for conquering Gujarat. He sent an expedition under Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan to Gujarat. On the way Ulugh Khan conquered Jaisalmer. During th e plunder of the rich port of Cambay Alauddin's commander Nusrat Khan acquired a Hindu turned Muslim slave Kafur who later on rose to become a great military general and the Malik Naib of Alauddin. After the conquest of Gujarat Alauddin sent an expedition under Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan to Ranthambhore. However the Rajputs defeated them and Nusrat Khan died. Alauddin went to Ranthambhor and annexed it in 1301. The next expedition was sent to Mewar and after the siege of 8 months he captured Chittor in 1303. The administration of Chittor was put in the hands of Khizr Khan, the eldest son of Alauddin. Chittor was renamed as Khizrabad after the name of Khizr Khan. In 1305 Alauddin sent Ain-ul-Mulk Multani for the conquest of Malwa which was placed under the governorship of the latter. By the end of 1305 th e whole of Northern India fell into the hands of Alauddin and he directed his attention to the conquest of Decc an. Between 1307 and 1312 he began the southward expansion of his empire. He invaded Devagiri in 1306-07 AD. The immediate cause for this was unduly long delay in sending the annual tribute. In 1309 the Kakatiya kingdom was attacked and its ruler Pratap Rudra Deva accepted the suzerainty of Delhi and surrendered vast treasures. The next expedition was against Vir Ballala III the Hoysala ruler in 1311. His capital Dwarsamudra was captured. The whole of Deccan was forced to acknowledge the supremacy of Alauddin. His motives were to secure the immense wealth and to force the southern states to accept the suzerainty of the Sultanate. He had to face more than dozen invasions. These invasions started from the end of 1296 and continued upto 1308.The Mongols threatened not only Punjab,Multan and Sindh but even Delhi and the Ganga-Yamuna Doab. This grave crisis compelled him to take strong measures for the protection of the northwest frontier. The 20 years of his rule came to an end with his death on 2nd January 1316 AD.
Qutubuddin Mubarak Shah Khalji

A young son of the Sultan was placed on the throne and Malik Kafur acted as the regen t. Malik Kafur killed other members of the Allauddin's family but he was murdered and Mubarak Khan the third son became the regent. He imprisoned Sahibuddin and ascended the throne as Qutub uddin Mubarak in the year 1316. He tried to win the good will of the people. He liberalized Alauddin's rigorous administrative policies and repealed economic regulations. All prisoners were released and harsh regulations were cancelled. The lands which were confiscated
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were given back to their legitimate owners. Taxes were lowered. He was under the influence of youth called Hassan who later was called Khusru Khan who conspired to kill him. Thus Khalji dynasty came to an end. Khusro tried to strike a reign of terror to control the nobles. This was resented by the nobles particularly Ghazi Malik who captured and beheaded the sultan. He ascended the throne under the title of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq Shah. Tughlaq Dynasty
Rulers of the Tughlaq Dynasty

1. 2. 3. 4. Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq Shah Mohammad Bin Tughlaq Firuz Tughlaq Later Tughlaq
Time period
1320-1325 AD 1325-1351 AD 1351-1388 AD 1388-1414 AD
Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq laid the foundation of the Tughlaq Dynasty. The word Tughlaq was not the name of any tribe or clan but was the personal name of Ghiyasuddin. He had to face enormous problems as a Sultan. There were riots in various parts of the empire and the royal treasury was empty. He pursued a policy of reconciliation with the nobles and the people who were severely restricted under Alauddin. He libera lized administration in certain respects. He gave up the practice of physical torture in case of economic offences and recovery of debts. He also discarded Alauddin's system of measurement of land for the assessment of land revenue. He attempted to improve the finances of the state and perused a policy to encourage agriculture. His twin object was to increase land under cultivation and improve economic condition of the cultivators. He took keen interest in the construction of canal for irrigation and formulated famine policy to provide relief to peasants in time of drought. The state demand of revenue was fixed between 1/5th and 1/3rd of the produce. He furt her instructed that the land revenue should not be enhanced more than 1/11th of the estimated produce. He continued the system of Dagh and Chehra instituted by Alauddin. He built the fortified city of Tughlaqabad and gave a new touch to the architecture of the Sultanate period. In 1321 he dispatch ed the crown prince Jauna Khan to re-establish Sultan's authority in the south. He annexed Warangal. Madurai and Bengal. Mohammad Bin Tughlaq Jauna Khan ascended the throne in 1325 AD with the title of Mohammad Bin Tughlaq. He ruled up to 1351. He was a profound scholar of Persian, a penetrating critic, a litterateur of repute. He was a great scholar of Persian and Arabic. He faced many revolts and rebellions. The first of these revolts included his attempt to consolidate his empire by curbing the rebellions of 1327 by his cousin Bahauddin Garsharp in the Deccan and other of Kishulu Khan the governor of Multan and Sind in 1328. One of the much-condemned experiments of the Sultan was the transfer of capital from Delhi to Devagiri (1327). The transfer was attempted primarily due to two reasons -for its central location and secondly its close proximity to the south which was a newly conquered region. The transfer of capital involved the shifting of the army, officials, servants, tradesmen, court and shift of population. There was a widespread resentment against the Sultan who decided to retransfer the capital to Delhi. The order of going back to the old capital caused much distress to the people. Another of his novel and daring experiments was the introduction of the token currency of bronze coins in place of silver tanka in 1329-30. The value of the token coins was deemed to be equal to a silver coin. The main reason for this measure was the scarcity of silver. This measure proved useful in the beginning but later on it caused serious problems. People soon began to manufacture counterfeits of bronze in large numbers. There was a surfeit of coins in circulation. This naturally led to its depreciation and most people began to prefer copper tankas for payments and silver or gold issues for receipts. The Sultan was compelled to withdraw the token currency. He offered to exchange all the token coins for the silver coins resulting in huge losses to the treasury. He planned an expedition for the conquest of Khurasan and Iraq. He raised an army of 3,70,000 soldiers and gave it a whole year's salary in advance. But the army did not leave for the expedition and was disbanded. The scheme was abandoned when the Sultan learnt tha t the conditions in Iraq had improved and was not conducive to an expedition. Towards the end of his reign the sultan increased the land revenue in the doab. He decided to enhance the land tax in the doab because of richness of its soil. Doab was facing total famine which was followed by plague. The Sultan raised the tax from 5 to 10%. Therefore the peasants instead of paying the taxes abandoned their lands and adopted highway robbery. The tax collectors continued to collect taxes by oppression. It resulted in extensive revolts. Mohammad Bin Tughlaq died in 1351. The whole of south India became independent during his lifetime and three major independent states- the empire of Vijaynagar, the Brahmani kingdom and the Sultanate of Madura were founded in the territories of the sultanate of the south.
Quantitative Aptitude Tips & Tricks

27 July 2012 11:33
Finding number of Factors To find the number of factors of a given number, express the number as a product of powers of prime numbers. In this case, 48 can be written as 16 * 3 = (24 * 3)
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Now, increment the power of each of the prime numbers by 1 and multiply the result. In this case it will be (4 + 1)*(1 + 1) = 5 * 2 = 10 (the power of 2 is 4 and the power of 3 is 1) Therefore, there will 10 factors including 1 and 48. Excluding, these two numbers, you will have 10 2 = 8 factors.
Sum of n natural numbers -> The sum of first n natural numbers = n (n+1)/2 -> The sum of squares of first n natural numbers is n (n+1)(2n+1)/6 -> The sum of first n even numbers= n (n+1) -> The sum of first n odd numbers= n^2 Finding Squares of numbers To find the squares of numbers near numbers of which squares are known To find 41^2 , Add 40+41 to 1600 =1681 To find 59^2 , Subtract 60^2-(60+59) =3481 Finding number of Positive Roots If an equation (i:e f(x)=0 ) contains all positive co-efficient of any powers of x , it has no positive roots then. Eg: x^4+3x^2+2x+6=0 has no positive roots . Finding number of Imaginary Roots For an equation f(x)=0 , the maximum number of positive roots it can have is the number of sign changes in f(x) ; and the maximum number of negative roots it can have is the number of sign changes in f(-x) . Hence the remaining are the minimum number of imaginary roots of the equation(Since we also know that the index of the maximum power of x is the number of roots of an equation.) Reciprocal Roots The equation whose roots are the reciprocal of the roots of the equation ax^2+bx+c is cx^2+bx+a Roots Roots of x^2+x+1=0 are 1,w,w^2 where 1+w+w^2=0 and w^3=1 Finding Sum of the rootsFor a cubic equation ax^3+bx^2+cx+d=o sum of the roots = - b/a sum of the product of the roots taken two at a time = c/a product of the roots = -d/a For a biquadratic equation ax^4+bx^3+cx^2+dx+e = 0 sum of the roots = - b/a sum of th e product of the roots taken three at a time = c/a sum of the product of the roots taken two at a time = -d/ a product of the roots = e/a Maximum/Minimum -> If for two numbers x+y=k(=constant), then their PRODUCT is MAXIMUM if x=y(=k/2). The maximum product is then (k^2)/4 -> If for two numbers x*y=k(=constant), then their SUM is MINIMUM if x=y(=root(k)). The minimum sum is then 2*root(k) . Inequalties -> x + y >= x+y ( stands for absolute value or modulus ) (Useful in solving some inequations) -> a+b=a+b if a*b>=0 else a+b >= a+b -> 2<= (1+1/n)^n <=3 -> (1+x)^n ~ (1+nx) if x<<<1> When you multiply each side of the inequality by -1, you have to reverse the direction of the inequality. Product Vs HCF-LCM Product of any two numbers = Product of their HCF and LCM . Hence product of two numbers = LCM of the numbers if they are prime to each other
AM GM HM For any 2 numbers a>b a>AM>GM>HM>b (where AM, GM ,HM stand for arithmetic, geometric , harmonic
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menasa respectively) (GM)^2 = AM * HM
Sum of Exterior Angles For any regular polygon , the sum of the exterior angles is equal to 360 degrees hence measure of any external angle is equal to 360/n. ( where n is the number of sides) For any regular polygon , the sum of interior angles =(n-2)180 degrees So measure of one angle in Square-----=90 Pentagon--=108 Hexagon---=120 Heptagon--=128.5 Octagon---=135 Nonagon--=140 Decagon--=144 Problems on clocks Problems on clocks can be tackled as assuming two runners going round a circle , one 12 times as fast as the other . That is , the minute hand describes 6 degrees /minute the hour hand describes 1/2 degrees /minute . Thus the minute hand describes 5(1/2) degrees more than the hour hand per minute . The hour and the minute hand meet each other after every 65(5/11) minutes after being together at midnight. (This can be derived from the above) . Co-ordinates Given the coordinates (a,b) (c,d) (e,f) (g,h) of a parallelogram , the coordinates of the meeting point of the diagonals can be found out by solving for [(a+e)/2,(b+f)/2] =[ (c+g)/2 , (d+h)/2] Ratio If a1/b1 = a2/b2 = a3/b3 = .............. , then each ratio is equal to (k1*a1+ k2*a2+k3*a3+..............) / (k1*b1+ k2*b2+k3*b3+..............) , which is also equal to (a1+a2+a3+............./b1+b2+b3+..........) Finding multiples x^n -a^n = (x-a)(x^(n-1) + x^(n-2) + .......+ a^(n-1) ) ......Very useful for finding multiples .For example (17-14=3 will be a multiple of 17^3 - 14^3) Exponents e^x = 1 + (x)/1! + (x^2)/2! + (x^3)/3! + ........to infinity 2 <>GP -> In a GP the product of any two terms equidistant from a term is always constant . -> The sum of an infinite GP = a/(1-r) , where a and r are resp. the first term and c ommon ratio of the GP . Mixtures If Q be the volume of a vessel q qty of a mixture of water and wine be removed each t ime from a mixture n be the number of times this operation be done and A be the final qty of wine in the mixt ure then , A/Q = (1-q/Q)^n
Some Pythagorean triplets: 3,4,5----------(3^2=4+5) 5,12,13--------(5^2=12+13) 7,24,25--------(7^2=24+25) 8,15,17--------(8^2 / 2 = 15+17 ) 9,40,41--------(9^2=40+41) 11,60,61-------(11^2=60+61) 12,35,37-------(12^2 / 2 = 35+37) 16,63,65-------(16^2 /2 = 63+65) 20,21,29-------(EXCEPTION) Appolonius theorem Appolonius theorem could be applied to the 4 triangles formed in a parallelogram.
Function Any function of the type y=f(x)=(ax-b)/(bx-a) is always of the form x=f(y) . Finding Squares To find the squares of numbers from 50 to 59 For 5X^2 , use the formulae (5X)^2 = 5^2 +X / X^2 Eg ; (55^2) = 25+5 /25 =3025 (56)^2 = 25+6/36 =3136 (59)^2 = 25+9/81 =3481
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Successive Discounts Formula for successive discounts a+b+(ab/100) This is used for succesive discounts types of sums.like 1999 population increses by 10% and then in 2000 by 5% so the population in 2000 now is 10+5+(50/100)=+15.5% more that was in 1999 and if there is a decrease then it will be preceeded by a -ve sign and likewise. Rules of Logarithms: -> loga(M)=y if and only if M=ay -> loga(MN)=loga(M)+loga(N) -> loga(M/N)=loga(M)-loga(N) -> loga(Mp)=p*loga(M) -> loga(1)=0-> loga(ap)=p -> log(1+x) = x - (x^2)/2 + (x^3)/3 - (x^4)/4 .........to infinity [ Note the alternating sign . .Also note that the ogarithm is with respect to base e ]
DNA and RNA

21 July 2012 19:45
DNA stands for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid while RNA stands for Ribose Nucleic Acid. Compounds of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen and Phosphorus. Made up of Nucleotide Monomers (Polynucleotides). A nucleotide consists of a Nitrogenous base, a Pentose Sugar & Phosphate Group. Nucleoside: Nitrogeous Base + Sugar. 5 Nitrogenous Bases are there : 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Cytosine Uracil Thymine Adenine Guanine
Cytosine, Uracil and Thymine are the Pyrimidine Derivatives with a single ring structure. Adenine and Guanine are the Purine Derivatives with a double ring structure. The pentose sugars are of 2 types: Deoxyribose Ribose Thus, the Nitrogenous bases, combining with Pentose Sugars and a Phosphate Group, form 8 type of Nucleotide Molecules :
Cytosine + Ribose Sugar + Phosphate Cytosine + Deoxyribose Sugar + Phosphate Uracil + Ribose Sugar + Phosphate Thymine + Deoxyribose Sugar + Phosphate Adenine + Ribose Sugar + Phosphate Adenine + Deoxyribose Sugar + Phosphate Guanine + Ribose Sugar + Phosphate Guanine + Deoxyribose Sugar + Phosphate DNA Molecule Long and highly complex, spirally twisted, right-handed double helix, Ladder like structure formed by 2 polynucleotides strands. Base thymine is present, but never uracil. Wilkins, Watson and Crick (1953) received
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Noble Prize for DNA Structure. Adenine links with Thymine by two hydrogen bonds. Guanine with cytosine by three hydrogen bonds. A single DNA molecule has millions of pairs of nucleotide monomers. DNA contains Blue Print of life. With RNAs help, it directs the synthesis of all structural and functional proteins of Protoplasm. Difference Table of DNA and RNA DNA It usually occurs inside nucleus and some cell organelles. DNA is the genetic material. It is double stranded with the exception of some viruses. DNA shows regular helical coiling. DNA forms chromosomes of similar structures. DNA contains several million nucleotides. DNA is of only two types, nuclear and extra nuclear. It contains deoxyribose sugar. Nitrogen base thymine occurs in DNA along with three other-adenine, cytosine and guanine. Renaturation after melting is slow. RNA Very little RNA occurs inside nucleus. Most of it is found in the cytoplasm. RNA is not the genetic material except in certain viruses. e.g., TNIV, Reovirus. RNA is single stranded with the exception of some viruses (e.g., double stranded in Reovirus). There is no regular coiling except in parts of RNA. rRNA forms ribosomes. Depending upon the type, RNA contains 10-12000 nucleotides. There are at least three types of RNA-rRNA, mRNA and tRNA It contains ribose sugar. Thymine is replaced by uracil in RNA. The other three are adenine, cytosine and guanine. It is quite fast.
Hydrogen bonds tire formed between complementary Base pairing through hydrogen bonds occurs only nitrogen bases of the opposite strands of DNA (A : T, C : G) in the coiled parts. DNA It replicates to form new DNA molecules. DNA transcribes genetic information to RNA. DNA controls heredity, evolution, metabolism, structure and differentiation. Its quantity is fixed for cell. DNA controls metabolism and genetics including variations. Purine and pyrimidine bases are in equal number. It can be hydrolyzed by enzyme DNA-ase. RNA It cannot replicate itself except in RNA-RNA viruses. RNA translates the transcribed message for forming polypeptides. RNA controls only protein synthesis. The quantity of RNA of a cell is variable. It only controls metabolism under instructions from DNA. There is no proportionality between number of purine and pyrimidine bases. RNA is hydrolyzed by RNA-ase.
50 Interesting Science Facts

20 July 2012 02:34
1. The speed of light is generally rounded down to 186,000 miles per second. In exact terms it is 299,792,458 m/s (equal to 186,287.49 miles per second). 2. It takes 8 minutes 17 seconds for light to travel from the Suns surface to the Earth . 3. 10 percent of all human beings ever born are alive at this very moment. 4. The Earth spins at 1,000 mph but it travels through space at an incredible 67,000 mph. 5. Every year, over one million earthquakes shake the Earth. 6. When Krakatoa erupted in 1883, its force was so great it could be heard 4,800 kilometers away in Australia. 7. Every second around 100 lightning bolts strike the Earth. 8. Every year lightning kills 1000 people. 9. In October 1999 an Iceberg the size of London broke free from the Antarctic ice shelf . 10. If you could drive your car straight up you would arrive in space in just over an hou r. 11. Human tapeworms can grow up to 22.9m. 12. The Earth is 4.56 billion years oldthe same age as the Moon and the Sun. 13. The dinosaurs became extinct before the Rockies or the Alps were formed. 14. Female black widow spiders eat their males after mating. 15. When a flea jumps, the rate of acceleration is 20 times that of the space shuttle during launch.
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16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50.
If our Sun were just inch in diameter, the nearest star would be 445 miles away. Astronauts cannot belch there is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in their stomachs. The air at the summit of Mount Everest, 29,029 feet is only a third as thick as the air at sea level. One million, million, million, million, millionth of a second after the Big Bang the Universe was the size of pea. DNA was first discovered in 1869 by Swiss Friedrich Mieschler. The molecular structure of DNA was first determined by Watson and Crick in 1953. The first synthetic human chromosome was constructed by US scientists in 1997. The thermometer was invented in 1607 by Galileo. Alfred Nobel invented dynamite in 1866. Wilhelm Rontgen won the first Nobel Prize for physics for discovering X-rays in 1895. The tallest tree ever was an Australian eucalyptus In 1872 it was measured at 435 feet tall. Christian Barnard performed the first heart transplant in 1967 the patient lived for 18 days. An electric eel can produce a shock of up to 650 volts. Wireless communications took a giant leap forward in 1962 with the launch of Telstar, the first satellite capable of relaying telephone and satellite TV signals. The Ebola virus kills 4 out of every 5 humans it infects. In 5 billion years the Sun will run out of fuel and turn into a Red Giant. Giraffes often sleep for only 20 minutes in any 24 hours. They may sleep up to 2 hours (in spurts not all at once), but this is rare. They never lie down. There are 60,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body. An individual blood cell takes about 60 seconds to make a complete circuit of the body. On the day that Alexander Graham Bell was buried the entire US telephone system was shut down for 1 minute in tribute. The low frequency call of the humpback whale is the loudest noise made by a living creature. A quarter of the worlds plants are threatened with extinction by the year 2010. Each person sheds 40lbs of skin in his or her lifetime. At 15 inches the eyes of giant squids are the largest on the planet. The Universe contains over 100 billion galaxies. Wounds infested with maggots heal quickly and without spread of gangrene or other infection. More germs are transferred shaking hands than kissing. The fastest speed a falling raindrop can hit you is 18mph. It would take over an hour for a heavy object to sink 6.7 miles down to the deepest part of the ocean. Around a million, billion neutrinos from the Sun will pass through your body while you read this sentence. The deepest part of any ocean in the world is the Mariana trench in the Pacific with a depth of 35,797 feet. Every hour the Universe expands by a billion miles in all directions. Somewhere in the flicker of a badly tuned TV set is the background radiation from the Big Bang. Even traveling at the speed of light it would take 2 million years to reach the nearest large galaxy, Andromeda. A thimbleful of a neutron star would weigh over 100 million tons.
Boson, Higgs Boson and LHC

09 July 2012 14:47
What is Boson? The universe is made up of two classes of particles: bosons and fermions. Bosons obey Bose-Einstein statistics a collection of them can condense together into a state where the particles are indistinguishable. This theory was developed by SN Bose and expanded by Einstein. The special state of matter, called Bose-Einstein condensate, was created in 1995. All bosons can condense into the state at very low temperatures. What is Higgs Boson? There are several kinds of bosons, some elementary and other composite. A special kin d of boson called the gauge bosons mediates or carries the forces of nature. The photons (particles of light) mediate the electromagnetic force, the W and Z bosons mediate the weak nuclear force, and the glu ons carry the strong nuclear force. The hypothetical gravitation might mediate the gravitational forces but we know nothing about it.
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W and Z bosons, of which are all made of, are thought to get their masses through another mediator, the Higgs Boson. To find it, physicists need to observe it at its creation as it immediately decays into other particles. How does LHC find it? The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) whirls around protons through a hollow tube and then meets them head on. The debris that flies from these collisions would include the Higgs Boson for a fraction of seconds. Two particle detectors look for attributes of these flying particles. The data that come out of these detectors - 40 m pictures a second - are beyond what any network of computers can process. A processor farm of 50,000 computing cores selects 300 pictures a second, enough data every second to fill three million DVDs. 10,000 computers in 34 countries analyse these data, and 10,000 physicists look at the results. What did CERN announce? That they have found a particle with a mass of 125 billion electron volts that exhibits the characteristics of the Higgs Boson. Which means that it is the kind of particle that, according to the Standard Model of physics, would give masses to other particles. They do not yet know, or are not absolutely sure, that it is the Higgs Boson, officially. Unofficially, all physicists know that they have found the Higgs Boson. What Work is Still Left to be Done? Physicists would study this particle intensely for several years. The LHC will shut down next year for one year. When it comes back, it will crank up its energies to twice the present levels. Proton s will collide more intensely, computers will crunch more data, and physicists might observe more particles. Credit: ET
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-> -> -> ->

The The The The

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Pushto, Dari Albanian Catalan, Spanish Portuguese English Spanish Armenian

Arabic, French, Berber Muslim

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English, Local Dialects Muslim, Christian

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dollar koruna tolar

Various Christian & Indian +2 +1 +1 +2 +3

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