The Influence of Indian Ancient Educational Systems on India’s Educational Strategy

The study of the nature of knowledge and philosophical traditions is the foundation of the ancient Indian education system, which aims to enable human life not only to improve personal economic conditions, but also to improve the social, moral, and spiritual aspects of life. People are not only concerned about improving human life, but also realizing the “higher truth” from darkness to light, that is, “Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya”. Therefore, education is not only a means of making money but also contributes to the development of mankind along with enriching society. Therefore, our Indian sages or masters are committed to understanding the super-smart world and the use of spiritual power and adjusting their lives accordingly. The ultimate goal of education appears in Chitti Vrittinirodha (controlling spiritual activities related to the so-called materialist world). Therefore, education is an important means to make people’s potential development in a positive direction so that people can live in a society full of dignity. In the latest “National Education Policy-2020 (NEP-2020)” issued by the Indian government, many suggestions are made to integrate the current education system into the ancient education system. The rich heritage of ancient and eternal Indian knowledge and thought has always been the guiding principle of this policy. In Indian thought and philosophy, the pursuit of knowledge (Jnan), wisdom (Pragyaa), and truth (Satya) have always been regarded as the highest of mankind

Silk-Cocoon Matrix Immobilized Lipase Catalyzed Transesterification of Sunflower Oil for Production of Biodiesel

Biodiesel from sunflower oil using lipase chemically immobilized on silk-cocoon matrix in a packed-bed bioreactor was investigated. The immobilization was demonstrated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy and activity study. The lipase loading was 738.74 U (~0.01 g lipase powder)/g-lipase-immobilized matrix. The Km (Michaelis-Menten constant) of the free and the immobilized lipase was 451.26 μM and 257.26 μM, respectively. Low Km value of the immobilized lipase is attributed to the hydrophobic nature of the matrix that facilitated the substrate diffusion to the enzyme surface. The biodiesel yield of 81.62% was obtained at 48 hours reaction time, 6 : 1 methanol : oil ratio (v/v), and 30°C. The immobilized lipase showed high operational stability at 30°C. The substrate conversion was only marginally decreased till third cycle (each of 48 hours duration) of the reaction since less than even 5% of the original activity was decreased in each of the second and third cycle. The findings demonstrated the potential of the silk-cocoon as lipase immobilization matrix for industrial production of biodiesel

Utilization of Biowaste-derived Catalyst for Biodiesel Production: Process Optimization Using Response Surface Methodology and Particle Swarm Optimization Method

In this experimental and optimization study, banana (Musa acuminata) flower petals ash has been considered as an effective catalyst in the room temperature (28 °C) assisted transesterification to produce biodiesel from waste cooking oil (WCO). The transformation of Musa acuminata flower petals to ash catalyst has been performed by simple conventional open-air burning process. Three important parameters (catalyst concentration, methanol/oil (M/O) molar ratio and time) that play significant role in conversion of WCO to waste cooking methyl ester (WCME) were investigated. In order to maximize the conversion rate these key transesterification parameters were optimized using central composite rotatable design (CCRD) of response surface methodology (RSM). A metaheuristic algorithm popularly known as Particle swarm algorithm (PSO) has been used to observe a clear picture of the global optimum points scattered around the search domain. PSO has also been used to validate the results obtained from CCRD. The chemical composition and morphology of ash catalyst has been investigated using several analytical techniques such as X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transformation Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and Hammett Indicator method. It was observed that the catalyst remained active till 4th reaction cycle. The catalyst’s reusability, renewability and robust activity in the reaction makes it efficient, economic, green and industrially applicable