Peace and Eco-Social Justice: Failed Distributive Justice, Violence and Militancy in India

Eco-social Justice which emphasizes on the need for economic and social justice along with environmental protection would bring forth peace. Peace is condition where social justice is prevalent and Social Justice is another condition based on equality. Distributive justice will ensure social, economic and political justice. Violence and militancy are primarily the result of failed distributive justice. Analysing the emergence and growth of the 'naxalite'movements in India, it could be found that the negation of distributive justice was one of the major factor the led to these militant organizations. The activities of the militants as well as the counter militant activities of the state have resulted in the breach of environmental justice India. A relation between eco-social justice and militant movements could be traced here. An eco-friendly world could not be realized without settling conflicts and establishing peace and security. Key Words: Eco-social Justice, Distributive justice, Violence, Militancy, Naxalite movement

Political Participation in Digital World: Transcending Traditional Political Culture in India

Information technology and communication has reshaped the existing socio-economic and political systems. Change in Political Participation is explicit especially among the youth and women in this age of ITC. This is because digital age provides ample opportunities for public response in a lightening pace. Public discourses taking place through website have evolved into not only a medium for personal expression and mutual support but also challenges the old political cultures.   Now citizen is not shear listener but also a speaker who can influence the public decision making. In the Delhi Rape case the public protest through internet has influenced justice Verma Committee which finally led to Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance 2013 providing death penalty in case of rape. Transforming the ways and means of interest aggregation and interest articulation, ICT has strengthened the inputs of political system.  A shift from representative democracy (prone to elitism as observed by Mitchels) to participatory democracy in the digital world is expected by certain scholars.  However, Digital divide arising out of poor accessibility and affordability of hi-tech devices and cyber crimes such as hacking create formidable challenge to digital democracy.  The future and continuing well-being of level of political participation and civic engagement falls on the shoulders of its youngest citizens. Despite the apathy of youth towards the traditional democratic practices and the cultural displacement some scholars view that the young people may become politically socialized with in the media environment. The expected change in the Political spectrum would be visible by the participation of women and youth.  Demographic reports show that by 2020 India would become the youngest country with an average age of 29. As a result of this overwhelming change in the political life a decisive shift in the political culture is certain. Key words: Digital Democracy, Political Culture, Social Network, Digital divid

CloudBots: Autonomous Atmospheric Explorers

The CloudBot is an autonomous weather balloon that operates on the principle of variable buoyancy to ascend and descend in the atmosphere. This project aims to develop a device that will collect atmospheric measurements and communicate them mid-flight. The apparatus consists of a helium-filled balloon, the robotic payload, and an air cell. The fixed-volume helium balloon at the top provides an upwards buoyancy force, while the air cell at the bottom can hold a variable amount of pressure to adjust the weight of the CloudBot. By doing so, it is able to travel in storm conditions and collect valuable atmospheric variables to help model storms and predict them faster

An Archetypal Pattern of Redemption in “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” of Robin S. Sharma

Robin S Sharma displays astonishing skill in portraying the existential problems faced by the modern man in The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari Sharma s protagonist Julian Mantle to a great extent conforms to the norms of the European and American Existentialist fiction in the individual s relations to himself to others and to the nature Julian undergoes a terrible social alienation and self-estrangement because of the influence of the materialistic world and his quest for authentic mode of living as elucidated by Martin Heidegger finally enables him to make the necessary changes in his life style The world remained the same for Julian but with conscious choice he comes out the crisis they endured This Biblical pattern of redemption can be found in literature also and this article attempts to analyse the work of Robin Sharma The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari through the archetypal pattern of redemption embedded in the Bible Redemption is a process through which a person is brought from ill-being to well-bein

Evaluation of serum anticardiolipin antibody levels in patients with chronic periodontitis and essential hypertension: A clinico-biochemical study

Abstract Background Periodontitis and hypertension, both of which are chronic inflammatory and asymptomatic in nature have a high prevalence in general population. Anti-cardiolipin antibodies are often directed against cardiolipin which is an important component of inner mitochondrial membrane. Anti-CL antibodies can increase in chronic infection and inflammation, thrombosis, stroke, myocardial infarction and atherosclerosis. Hence the study was aimed to elucidate a link between Periodontitis and systemic inflammatory status by estimating the serum Anti-CL antibodies in patients with chronic Periodontitis and essential hypertension.   Materials and Methods Sixty subjects who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected and divided in to four equal groups-  1.Healthy controls, 2. Periodontally healthy-hypertensive, 3. Chronic Periodontitis-hypertensive and 4.Chronic Periodontitis-systemically healthy. Serum samples collected from the subjects were analysed for Anti-CL antibodies by using a specific ELISA kit. Statistical method; the data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using t-test.   Results Anti-CL antibody levels were elevated in chronic Periodontitis- hypertensive patients (Group 3)  (3.7600±0.29665) compared with other groups, followed by (Group 2) Periodontally healthy-hypertensive(2.5200±0.22804)(p<0.001).   Conclusion Chronic Periodontitis results in increased systemic inflammatory burden that can further contribute to elevation of Anti-CL antibodies in hypertensive patients.   Key words; Anti cardiolipin antibodies, Chronic Periodontitis, Essential hypertension, Inflammatory markers  Serum,  Systemic inflammation.   Word count :188 words   Running title; Anti Cardiolipin antibodies and Periodontiti

Assessment of effectiveness of fetal medicine foundation calculator in predicting risk for preterm preeclampsia using first trimester mean uterine artery pulsatility index and maternal factors in Indian population

Background: Preeclampsia (PE) is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy associated with significant maternal morbidity and mortality. The outcome of the disease depends to a large extent on risk factors, maternal vascular responsiveness, screening performance and prevention effectiveness. Fetal medicine foundation has developed an online calculator that predicts the risk for PE in pregnant woman in first trimester using MUAPI (mean uterine artery pulsatility index) and maternal factors.Methods: Diagnostic test evaluation of FMF (fetal medicine foundation) calculator done using data collected from consenting 316 women with singleton pregnancy between the gestational age 11 weeks to 14 weeks+1 day who fulfilled inclusion and exclusion criteria. All cases were followed up and results were analyzed statistically.Results: FMF calculator predicted a high-risk population of 12 pregnant women. On follow up of 316 subjects 13 pregnant women developed preterm preeclampsia with an incidence of 4.1%. Among high-risk population 9 subjects developed preterm PE and among the 304 cases in low-risk group 4 patient developed preterm PE. In this study sensitivity of FMF calculator was 69.2% and specificity was 99% with a PPV of 75, NPV of 98.6, positive likelihood ratio of 69.9 and diagnostic odds ratio of 225. The area under ROC was 0.841 with 95% CI (0.711-0.972) was high indicating that the algorithm was able to differentiate between pregnant women at high or low risk for preterm PE.Conclusions: This study concludes that the algorithm used in FMF calculator in first trimester is highly specific and have high sensitivity for predicting preterm PE and can be used in routine clinical practice to identify women at high risk

Effect of Grafting Nano-TiO2 on Sansevieria cylindrica Fiber Properties

Natural fibers, which are abundant, environmentally friendly, and biodegradable, are used as a replacement for synthetic fibers. The composite strength can be increased by treating the surfaces of natural fibers with suitable chemicals, which can also improve the interface interaction between fiber and matrix. Application of a coupling agent in chemical treatment is utilized to reinforce the bonding between fiber and matrix. The objective of the study is to determine the influence of silane concentration on the Sansevieria cylindrica fiber properties. The methods included fibers treatment using ethanol and coupling agent as dissolving and TiO2 with concentrations of 0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1%. The mechanical strength testing was conducted through a single fiber test. Fiber morphology was observed using an electron microscope. FTIR analyzes the change in fiber chemical composition caused by TiO2 addition. As a result, the morphology of S. cylindrica fibers became rougher and showed a rougher surface after a silane concentration of 1%, but with the proper concentration, some fiber surfaces provided a good interface. Ti-O bonds are formed at a wavelength of 475 cm-1. The shift in a peak at 400–500 cm-1 indicates Ti-O-Ti group stretching vibrations believed to have originated from TiO2 particles. The mechanical strength increases as the concentration of TiO2 increases, with the highest fiber strength of 284.66 MPa observed at a TiO2 concentration of 1%. This represents a 26% higher tensile strength compared to the control specimen

InSAR as a tool for monitoring hydropower projects: A review

This paper provides a review of using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), a microwave remote sensing technique, for deformation monitoring of hydroelectric power projects, a critical infrastructure that requires consistent and reliable monitoring. Almost all major dams around the world were built for the generation of hydropower. InSAR can enhance dam safety by providing timely settlement measurements at high spatial-resolution. This paper provides a holistic view of different InSAR deformation monitoring techniques such as Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (DInSAR), Ground-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar (GBInSAR), Persistent Scatterer Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PSInSAR), Multi-Temporal Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (MTInSAR), Quasi-Persistent Scatterer Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (QPSInSAR) and Small BAseline Subset (SBAS). PSInSAR, GBInSAR, MTInSAR, and DInSAR techniques were quite commonly used for deformation studies. These studies demonstrate the advantage of InSAR-based techniques over other conventional methods, which are laborious, costly, and sometimes unachievable. InSAR technology is also favoured for its capability to provide monitoring data at all times of day or night, in all-weather conditions, and particularly for wide areas with mm-scale precision. However, the method also has some disadvantages, such as the maximum deformation rate that can be monitored, and the location for monitoring cannot be dictated. Through this review, we aim to popularize InSAR technology to monitor the deformation of dams, which can also be used as an early warning method to prevent any unprecedented catastrophe. This study also discusses some case studies from southern India to demonstrate the capabilities of InSAR to indirectly monitor dam health