Archives November 2012

Floods comprise of another natural disaster in India which occurs year after year owing to excessive rains caused by the south-west monsoon which is the sole provider of maximum rains to India. Besides heavy rains, many a times, tropical cyclones occurring during pre and post monsoon time also cause severe damage. Sometimes silting of river beds, deforestation or change in the course of rivers too cause floods or flood-like situation. In 1979, a man-made flood occurred in Gujarat when Machhu dam bursted causing great destruction. The vast diversity of India, too geographically causes extreme situations many times. One part of the country suffers from severe famines or draughts while the other part gets destroyed due to floods and over-flow of rivers Approximately, one eighth of the total land area of the nation is considered as flood-prone area. In 2011, floods and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains, led to the more...

Introduction. Games and sports are an important factor in education. In the past there was no provision for them in Indian schools and colleges. But now no educational institution is complete without some arrangement for different games and sports. Their advantages— (i) they improve our health. Lames and sports have many advantages. They improve health and help in building up a good body. As games are played in the open air, the body gets plenty of sunshine and fresh air. The value of good health is well reseeding in the proverb-" A sound mind in a sound body". Hockey, ball and other games provide   better health than walks can. (ii) They develop a spirit of comradeship. Games have another advantage. They develop a spirit of comradeship. Students do not play for themselves only but for the team as a whole. Thus a sportsman develops a broad outlook and learns the more...

There is no place like home, as the saying goes, but I guess, it is just a matter of opinion. Nevertheless, I am sure everybody has some likes and some dislikes associated with his or her home, the amounts vary between different persons, I, for one has more likes than dislikes at home; when the weekends come, I simply love getting up late in the morning instead of having to force myself up early to go to school. Lying in bed on a sunday morning and listening to the sparrows chirping is what I consider as a pleasant change from the droning of teachers. Ah, it lifts my spirit up and makes the whole day good. Strange how the meaningless chirping can be—it is more pleasant than the intelligent droning. listening to the radio and watching TV (good programmes only) are what I like to do. especially during the weekends more...

For me, without hesitation, it is better to live a life in which risks are taken. The reasons are as follows : I am the one who subscribe to the saying "no venture, no gain," Only when we take risks, do we realize our full potential. Take learning to swim, for example. In order to learn to swim we must plunge into the water first. Initially, we might swallow a bit of water and become disoriented, but gradually our natural ability will take over and we feel at home in the water. If instead of taking the risk of plunging into the water, we elaborately study about all aspects of swimming, theorizing about it and then carefully testing things out, we would probably never get to the actual process of swimming. Even if we do learn to swim in this way, the ability obtained thus can never match a person more...

Climate change refers to a statistically significant variation in either the general state of the climate or in its variability, persisting for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Change in climate may be due to natural internal processes or external factors, or due to persistent changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use brought by humans. Due to industrialization and urbanization, presently, the global atmospheric concentration of carbon-dioxide has increased to 393.69 parts per million (ppm). Estimated averages show that the temperature increases during 2090-2099 relative to 1980-1999 may range from l.llo 6.4 C and sea-level is likely to rise from 0-18 to 0,59 meters. These could lead to impact on fresh water availability, oceanic acidification, food production, flooding of coastal areas, and increased burden of water borne diseases associated with extreme weather events. India is faced with the challenge of sustaining its rapid economic growth more...

I love badminton. I play it as often as it can be and with as many different opponents as I can find. With my group of badminton-crazy friends we have formed a team called The Young Terrors'. We are supposed to strike terror in the hearts of our opponents whenever we play a match. Sometimes we succeed, but sometimes it is we who get terror-stricken. We have a part-time coach. Actually, he is a teacher who used to represent the State in his younger days. He is very good- Though I try my best to give him a fight, he always beats the living daylights out of us. Anyone of us would consider it a great thing if he manages to get five points from our coach. Our coach trains us on the finer points of playing badminton. He also arranges friendly matches for us. It is during one of more...

To talk of honesty when corruption, chaos and cheating is rampant seems extremely bizarre and out of date. Yet the saying remains tested by time over the years and generations. Honesty still remains one of the greatest virtue in a man. Pope had once said 'An honest man is the noblest work of God." But it seems today it is not only the noblest but rarest work of God- Honesty today has become a rare thing to see. Rather it is found only in books on value education, moral stories of the older centuries and in religious books. To be honest, needs enough courage and demands a person to be true to his own self. To be true in Turn needs a lot of inner strength and courage which people generally lack. Hence, they shy away from the prospect of getting caught in the midst of a mess or being more...

In another major atmospheric challenge that has been traced to human technology/ the work of environmental scientists again has uncovered a serious problem for which there was no prior warning. Our knowledge of the workings of the atmosphere has been appallingly poor, and one consequence of that lack of understanding is the strong possibility that ultra-violet radiation will increase in intensity all over earth. Radiation from the sun includes Ultra-Violet (UV) radiation, alongwith the visible light. On penetrating the atmosphere and being absorbed by biological tissues, UV radiation damages protein and DNA molecules at the surface of all living things, This is what occurs when you get a sunburn. If the full amount of UV radiation falling on the Stratosphere reached the Earth's surface, it is doubtful that any life would survive. We are spared from the more damaging effects of the UV rays because most of the UV radiation more...

Everything that we see around - the hills, trees, plants, mountains, flowers, sun, moon. stars, clouds, bees, birds and animals constitute Nature. It is the greatest gift of God because it is this very Nature that sustains us. We cannot think of our existence without Nature. If man is the crowning glory of Nature, then Nature is the base of man's life and existence. Nature is present before us wherever we turn our eyes. It is present in every colour, shade, hue, shape and size. The air we breathe, the land we live on, the vaulted sky above our heads make life possible on earth. There are countless species of flora as well as fauna. Our seas, oceans, rivers, lakes and ponds are teeming with infinite variety of fish and aquatic plants and other kinds of creatures. Deep underneath lies a whole world which is also yet not completely discovered. more...

Buddha Purnima falls on May 26. A homage to the prince of Lumbini. "An unexamined life is not worth living," said a philosopher. Every significant contribution to enduring human thought in any field—philosophy, religion, social reform or science—has been made in the final by exceptional individuals, the flower of mankind, are fitted with a restless passion to lift humanity to higher levels of thought and action. Their only concern, prompted by love and compassion, is to raise society above 'the storm and strife of this world'. In addition to leaving their footprints on the sands of time, they cut across the barriers of time and space and leave an imprint on the minds and hearts of a countless number of people for generations. The Buddha belongs to this category of great souls. He is known by many names: Siddhartha (one who accomplishes or fulfils his purpose), Tathagata (the Perfect One), more...