Traditions of Worship in Paalaitthinai

The social practice of religion and worship has continued from prehistoric times to the present day. It involves the initial stages of life in which the universe has operated from time immemorial. Ancestor worship is an expression of the fact that the present follows the past through its memories. They have performed worship as a symbol of the faith that forms the foundation of the ancient people. They had worshipped Goddess Kotravai as the inspiration for their victory. Moreover, they had performed the worship of the Sepulchral Stone for the dead, the sword worship that was the cause of victory, the worship of nature as a result of fear, and the worship of the dead on the basis of the soul

Worship Traditions in Pictorial Poetry

Praying to a deity for the sake of devotion is called worship. Tolkappiyam, the oldest book of Tamil, beautifully demonstrates that the deity has always been given priority in Tamil society. Even today, when we start an activity, it is customary for the Tamil community to start worshipping the deities of their clans and the deities of their choice. Worship arises from the lifestyle of the worshippers. Faith in God arises on the basis of the kind of social system a society has created and the system in which it receives its external necessities of life, such as food, clothing, and books. Just as the deities worshipped differed, so did the methods of worship in various ways. This can be understood from the literature created during the respective periods. That the worship of God was the first act of any action is evidenced by the fact that whatever kind of literature it may be, it began with the prayer to God. The pictorial poems, which are highlighted as one of the four poets sung together with the richness of literature combining painting, mathematics, and musical skills, are often sung in praise of God. Although there are many varieties of pictorial poems, among them, the types of pictorial poems that are in the form of bandham (a type) are the vehicles of God and are written in a form of worship associated with a God, which enriches the cult tradition of the Tamil community. In this way, the study identifies the pictorial poems arranged in the categories of Naga Bandham, Peacock Bandham, Anna Bandham, Vel Bandham, Ratha Bandham, Sivalinga Bandham, Malai Bandham, and Kamala Bandham

Enhancing herbicides sorption in sodic soils through biochar amendment : A promising approach for sustainable agriculture

This study is essential for assessing the binding capacity of Prosopis wood biochar to commonly used herbicides, Pretilachlor and Pendimethalin. Understanding their sorption dynamics at varying biochar application rates and exposure times is crucial for sustainable and effective herbicide management in intensively farming agricultural fields and for reducing environmental contamination. The Prosopis wood biochar was produced in an earthen kiln at 300-350°C. The batch experiment was conducted to study the sorption potential of biochar additions at rates of 0, 5, and 10 t ha-1. The herbicides were added to the homogenized soil-biochar mixes at zero, whole, twice, and four times the recommended dose. The sorption of the herbicides by soil biochar mixture was studied for 12 and 24 hours. The result showed that Pendimethalin sorption increased with biochar application rate, requiring 24 hours for 95% sorption at 4X dose without biochar (77.95 mg/kg soil) and 12 hours with 10 t/ha biochar (75.82 mg/kg soil). The Kd value increased with biochar application (0.57-77.95 mg/kg soil) and decreased with pendimethalin application (77.95-3.04 mg/kg soil). Maximum sorption (95%) was attained within 12 hours for 1X and 2X rates and 24 hours for 4X rates when biochar was added. This demonstrated that although pendimethalin residue in the soil can be immobilized by adding biochar within 8 hours at lower rates, more than 24 hours were required when pendimethalin was applied at higher rates or repeatedly. Biochar can be used to reduce pendimethalin leaching in agricultural fields, especially sodic soils, at higher application rates.

Database Management of Vedaranyam Taluk, Nagappattinam District, Tamilnadu using Geographic Information System (GIS)

GIS, known as geographical information system, is the latest tool, a computer system for capturing, storing, checking, integrating, manipulating, analysis in and displacing data related to positions on the Earth’s surface. Typically, a geographical information system or (spatial information system) is used for handling maps of one or another. These might be represented as several different layers each layer holds about a particular kind of feature is linked to a position on the graphically image of a map. With the help of GIS a data base management  including data or demography, occupation, education, health, drinking water, power, telecommunication, roads/transportation, banks& commercial  institutions, agriculture, sanitation, common property resources ,employment, forestry, industries,  marketing facilities, etc.The scope of the work involves  1, data pertaining to geological and geophysical resources, human resources, social and economic infrastructure, etc. should be collected, collected, updated, and retrieval on regular basis, 2, generation of real time, reliable database on natural resources, socio-economic, agro- climatic condition, financial, institutional and environmental data using geo- informatics and 3, data base to cater to the needs of planning sharing information to various user organizations with necessary data analysis, etc and would act as a centralized data base for state govt. department/ institutions/ institutions involved in  development planning

Impact of COVID Lockdown on Mental Health of Elite Athletes – A Status Study

Covid lockdown upset the whole globe to a stunning shock. Never in life had we ever faced such a crisis, complete lockdown, which all led to lonely untouchable deaths, sickness, isolation, quarantine finally ended up in disordered mental health. Though there is an increased awareness of health and using the need to stay fit, the lockdown restrictions don’t pay space for it. If this is the case for the typical athletes who dedicate their entire life, investing time, body, mind and soul into the athletic performance, have completely dislodged routines. A layman’s eyes may find a sportsman's life a fun-filled, excited, easy go. But it’s not the true colour. Ambitious and amateurish life in training has changed to a cloudy future feared min set. This study aimed to determine the mental health status of elite athletes during the covid lockdown. To cosnduct the study, data was collected through google form using Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10). Out of the 374 athletes who responded, 218  athletes (58.29%) were in extreme stress almost all the time during the covid lockdown. Thus it is concluded that in this situation, coaches and sports psychologists have to create awareness about the lockdown, contact athletes and counsel them. Athletes are the pride of every nation and need to recover from psychological setbacks. So, it is. The need of the hour is to design the best training programme suitable and possible during lockdown to protect their skills and abilities. Even from these minds, our national athletes need to recover from psychological setbacks. So, we must find the best training method for them and protect their skills

A Yoga Intervention for Stress Management of Young Athletes During Covid-19 Lockdown

This research aimed to check the effectiveness of a specially designed yogic package suitable for athletes who were in fear due to the covid-19 lockdown to test its effectiveness in bringing back their mental power. Yoga is not a new science. Centuries back, the importance of physical and psychological health and the impact of yoga has been explained in Thirumandiram by Yoga Maharishi Thirumoolar. Psychological resilience is necessary to enhance athletic performance and foster valuable life skills. Through positive adaptation to adversity and stressors in competitive performance, athletes can cultivate their ability to respond to negative stimuli, ultimately evolving personal growth effectively. For young athletes, the development of resilience is particularly crucial. Due to confinement and social isolation regulations, young athletes face distinct challenges in sport, including future fear, physical toughness, body image issues, emotional maturity, increased mental distress, and internalization of emotions during a covid lockdown. The aim of this research is to test if yoga could build resilience and discuss the implications and applications relevant to young athletes. 30 young athletes between 19 - 21 years accepted to participate in the research were accommodated. The pretest was conducted on the selected variables and selected subjects were assigned into two groups of 15 subjects each. The Experimental Group (YG) underwent yoga training and the control group (CG) did not undergo any specific training for 3 weeks (6 days a week for 2 sessions a day).  After 3 weeks of training, a post-test was conducted on resilience (self-determination, physical toughness and Emotion control & Maturity) for both groups. To find out if any significant difference exists between pre and post-training, a t-ratio was applied.  The result depicts that yoga is the best tool to work on resilience in such unprecedented tough times, securing current physical and mental health, enhancing sports performance, and helping young athletes stay navigated to life's goals

Assessment of sources and distribution metals in groundwater of Pondicherry region, India

The proposed study investigates the seasonal variation in the concentration and the source of the heavy metals like Mn, Cu, Pb, Zn and Fe in the groundwater samples of Pondicherry region. The study results reveal that, the heavy metal concentration is high during South West Monsoon season (SWM) compared to that of North East Monsoon season (NEM). The pH was near neutral and metal load representing most of the samples were low during NEM. Statistical analysis shows that the 63.7 % of the total variance is observed during NEM and 68.9% during SWM. Geographic information system (GIS) tool was considered for the study to understand the environmental pollution status of the groundwater systems of the study area and to identify the groundwater quality parameters. The multivariate statistical analysis explains that the source of trace metal in the groundwater is derived from natural origin except copper and lead as these contaminants were derived from anthropogenic activities. Based on the output of WATEQ4F, several species of heavy metals exist, in which the dominant species are Mn, CuCl2, PbCO3, Fe and Zn

Assessment of seasonal groundwater quality using CHIDAM software in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu.

Hard rock aquifer is the most predominant in the southern peninsula exclusively in Tamil Nadu, India. Virudhunagar district is situated in the South west part of Tamil Nadu, mostly of hard rock topography. Groundwater plays a major role in this area contributing to domestic, irrigation and industrial practices. Running down of groundwater by extreme consumption and less recharge in the study area has reduced the level of groundwater. On the other hand, intensive domestic, agriculture and industrial practices impacts the quality of quality of groundwater as well. Hydro geochemistry plays an important role in evaluation of suitability of groundwater for its usage in several purposes. A total of 72 samples from North East Monsoon (NEM) and Post Monsoon (POM) has been analyzed hydrochemically. The irrigation quality parameters such as sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), %Na, Residual Sodium Carbonate (RSC), Kelley’s index and Magnesium hazard were calculated using CHIDAM software 2020 in conjunction with USSL and Doneen diagrams. During NEM, EC and TDS ranges from 273 to 5869 mg/L and 194 to 4159 mg/L and during POM is from 235 to 6850 mg/L and 233.8 to 6916 mg/L. The hydrogeochemical facies represents that Ca-HCO3 and mixed Ca-Mg-Cl facies are predominant during NEM and Na-Cl and mixed Ca-Mg-Cl are predominant during POM. The higher concentration of TDS and EC in the samples reflects the unsuitability of groundwater in both seasons

4-Amino­phenyl naphthalene-1-sulfonate

In the title compound, C16H13NO3S, the plane of the amino­benzene ring makes a dihedral angle of 61.04 (6)° with the naphthalene ring system. Both ring systems form weak intra­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds with the sulfonate group. In the crystal structure, weak inter­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and a C—H⋯π inter­action are observed

A study on the defluoridation in water by using natural soil

Removal of excess fluoride (F−) from the water has been attempted by several authors by using different materials both natural and artificial. The main aim of this paper was to attempt the fluoride removal by using the locally available red soil adopting column method. The red soil was mixed in different proportion with sand in order to increase the porosity and permeability property of the medium. It was optimized for 4:1 ratio of red soil to sand and it was used for the following experiment. The experiment was conducted in 11 batches for a period of about 9,213 min. Fresh standard solution of F was used in each batch, prepared from Orion 1,000 ppm solution. The samples were collected and analyzed for pH, EC (Electrical Conductivity) and HCO3. Rate of flow of water and efficiency of adsorption were calculated and compared with the fluoride removal capacities of the medium. The medium used for the fluoride removal was subjected to FTIR analysis before and after the experiment. The variation of IR spectrum before and after treatment signifies the changes in the OH bonding between Al and Fe ions present in the soil. The variation in pH decreased during the course of defluoridation. Higher F removal was noted when flow rate was lesser. An attempt on the regeneration of the fluoride adsorbed soil was also made and found to be effective