Ethics and Spirituality of Sustainability: What Can We All Do?

This article approaches the topic of sustainability in a broad, interdisciplinary fashion − in the manner of our total footprint on the planet, not just our carbon footprint. It proposes to bring together the two allied areas of sustainability and spirituality in a dialectical manner, with ethics as a balancing force and spirituality playing the role of the proverbial invisible hand guiding our quest for sustainability. It takes the view that, in essence, spirituality and sustainability are vitally interlinked. When the spiritual dimension of our being is underdeveloped, we turn into pleasure-seeking automatons, plundering the planet in a mindless race called progress. This makes us self-centered and greedy for material wealth which leads to social disharmony and over-exploitation of natural resources. When we live a life of greater self-awareness, we tend to consume less and, more so, less mindlessly. With this understanding comes the liberating realization that there is no sustainability without spirituality. For material development to be sustainable, spiritual advancement must be seen as an integral part of the human development algorithm. Our societies are human nature writ at large; therefore, we believe that the solution to society’s current chaos lies in the spiritual transformation of each one of us. The choice we face is between conscious change and chaotic annihilation. We believe that the most important eco-spirituality struggles will be won or lost during this decade. While policymakers and governments can play their respective roles, each one of us has to do our part by consciously adopting spirituality and sustainability as a way of life. Only an individual life rooted in the continuous harmony with nature − a life based on moral and spiritual awareness − can preserve the sanctity of the planet

Stable configurations of hybrid stars with colour-flavour-locked core

We construct static and mass-shedding limit sequences of hybrid stars, composed of colour flavour locked (CFL) quark matter core, for a set of equations of state (EOSs). The EOS for the hadronic matter is obtained using appropriately calibrated extended field theoretical based relativistic mean-field model. The MIT bag model is employed to compute the EOSs of the CFL quark matter for different values of the CFL gap parameter in the range of $50 - 150\text{MeV}$ with the deconfinement phase transition density ranging from $4\rho_0 - 6\rho_0$ ($\rho_0 = 0.16\text{fm}^{-3}$). We find, depending on the values of the CFL gap parameter and the deconfinement phase transition density, the sequences of stable configurations of hybrid stars either form third families of the compact stars or bifurcate from the hadronic sequence. The hybrid stars have masses $1.0 - 2.1 M_\odot$ with radii $9 - 13.5$ km. The maximum values of mass shedding limit frequency for such hybrid stars are $1 -2$ kHz. For the smaller values of the CFL gap parameter and the deconfinement phase transition density, mass-radius relationships are in harmony with those deduced by applying improved hydrogen atmosphere model to fit the high quality spectra from compact star X7 in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae. We observed for some cases that the third family of compact stars exist in the static sequence, but, disappear from the mass-shedding limit sequence. Our investigation suggests that the third family of compact stars in the mass-shedding limit sequence is more likely to appear, provided they have maximum mass in the static limit higher than their second family counterpart composed of pure hadronic matter.Comment: 27 pages including 10 figures. Accepted in Phys. Rev.

Celebrating Diversity through Spirituality in the Workplace: Transforming Organizations Holistically

Managing diversity effectively is the key to attract and retain a productive workforce. Research demonstrates that celebrating diversity leads to greater productivity, increased creativity, and heightened morale and motivation. Organizations often benefit from the differing perspectives and rich experiences a diverse workforce provides. Similarly, organizations can enhance their creativity by encouraging diverse perspectives and opinions. Thus, issues of managing diversity, valuing diversity, and celebrating diversity have assumed added importance. This paper suggests that diversity is not a problem, but rather a solution to most of the challenges organizations face such as employee engagement and participation. Managing workforce diversity effectively transcends meeting a company’s legal requirements and complying with equal opportunity and non-discrimination regulation. Leaders need to understand and deal constructively with their own biases and prejudices that hinder diversity. Celebrating diversity is the extension of healthy spirituality that leads us to celebrate our differences and view diversity as different manifestations of the underlying Unity that permeates every phenomenon. This paper discusses key advantages of celebrating diversity, pinpoints barriers to organizational diversity, and offers some perspectives to overcome barriers to inclusiveness

Deep Foundation Construction in Bouldery Bed: An Overview

Deep foundation has been used for number of bridge piers in various parts of the world. Construction of deep foundation in case of sandy soil strata is a very easy task however to construct deep foundation in case of bouldery bed is really a challenge for bridge engineers. There are number of cases where this type of foundation has used in the form of caisson of different shapes and it has posed a challenge to bridge engineer due to heterogeneous character of the soil strata underneath. Deep foundations in such strata have been completed using pneumatic sinking based on the site requirements. A case study of a deep foundation construction on bridges over bouldery bed strata has been discussed in this paper