Teeming Millions Research Articles

Science Journalism in India: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

Science journalism in India is need-based and happens only when the country is in crisis. There are many reasons to it including a lack of journalistic training in presenting science stories. While India has one of the largest newspaper markets in the world, its reach does not extend to one-third of its population. The vastness and vibrancy of the country, teeming millions in need of decent science stories in hundreds of different languages, and a large network of research institutions and think tanks offer enormous opportunities for the proliferation of science journalism. Journalists must tap these opportunities to promote this scientific stream.

Introduction: Seeds and the History of Science

As mobile and foundational entities, seeds mimic science and are an appropriate vehicle for examining its defining traits. Ubiquitous as they are, seeds come into the hands of teeming millions and are acted upon, saved, shared, and sold for profit worldwide. They throw up an unusually large cast of characters that are bearers of knowledge or knowledge makers who are located outside the confines of academic elite science. They allow us to understand and acknowledge that knowledge making could be far more deep, widespread, and pervasive than our excessive focus on academic scholar-scientists allows us to see. Seeds straddle the world of multiple historiographies around geography and identity. Overlapping with studies of sedentarism and deep agrarian societies as well as the current controversies over food sovereignty, seeds give access to a wide variety of claims and illuminate several pathways and methodologies for developing historical studies of science.

RNA Interference for Improving Disease Resistance in Plants and Its Relevance in This Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats-Dominated Era in Terms of dsRNA-Based Biopesticides.

RNA interference (RNAi) has been exploited by scientists worldwide to make a significant contribution in the arena of sustainable agriculture and integrated pest management. These strategies are of an imperative need to guarantee food security for the teeming millions globally. The already established deleterious effects of chemical pesticides on human and livestock health have led researchers to exploit RNAi as a potential agri-biotechnology tool to solve the burning issue of agricultural wastage caused by pests and pathogens. On the other hand, CRISPR/Cas9, the latest genome-editing tool, also has a notable potential in this domain of biotic stress resistance, and a constant endeavor by various laboratories is in progress for making pathogen-resistant plants using this technique. Considerable outcry regarding the ill effects of genetically modified (GM) crops on the environment paved the way for the research of RNAi-induced double-stranded RNAs (dsRNA) and their application to biotic stresses. Here, we mainly focus on the application of RNAi technology to improve disease resistance in plants and its relevance in today’s CRISPR-dominated world in terms of exogenous application of dsRNAs. We also focused on the ongoing research, public awareness, and subsequent commercialization of dsRNA-based biocontrol products.

Identification of Regional Disparities in the Level of Agriculture and Allied Development in North Karnataka: A Spatial Analysis

After independence India has achieved remarkable progress in the levels of socio-economic development. However, the attainment of this progress has spread highly uneven from region to region, society to society, sector to sector etc. This disparity not only rooted in developing countries but also in the most advanced countries of the world. Since, some regions are developed economically, but backward socially, whereas some other are developed socially and backward economically, therefore becomes essential to study the level of socio-economic development over different regions so as to ensure the removal of regional imbalances effectively. in the developed economics all the inhabitants have an assured minimum level of subsistence, and the problem of in front of lagging regions of such economics is just to catch up the leading one, but in the developing countries the basic problem is that how to provide minimum level of subsistence to their teeming millions (Chand,M.&Puri, V.K,1990). In the present study the regional disparities in the level of agriculture and allied development in north Karnataka has been carried out with the aiming that to study the Spatial Pattern of Agriculture and Allied Development and identify the backward blocks of the North Karnataka and an attempt is also made to find out the correlation between different factors which lead to regional disparity. The study is based on secondary data collected from Census handbook, (2001 and 2011), Dr. D M Nanjundappa Committee Report, and Economic Survey of Karnataka etc. The comprehensive composite index has applied to find the region into four groups viz, areas of developed, Backward, more backward and most Backward. Out of 60 taluks thirty taluks have been identified as developed with CI. >0.99, thirteen taluks named as Backward taluks with CI Value between 0.89 and 0.99. There were merely six taluks noticed under areas of more Backwards with CI value from 0.79 to 0.88 and twenty-six taluks have been observed under areas of Most Backward with CI value < 0.79.

Influence of coupled application of potassium and boron on growth and yield of late sown mungbean

To ensure both food and nutritional security of teeming millions of Bangladesh, cropping intensity must be increased along with nutritional food production. Mungbean, which is an important source of protein, can easily cope with the intensive cropping system due to short duration. But sometimes, to obtain maximum productivity per unit area in a calendar year, mungbean cannot be sown in optimum time. Considering this, a field study was carried out at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University to explore the effect of additional potassium and boron application to increase the yield of late sown mungbean which was sown on 25 October. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications and five treatments. Results revealed that additional potassium and boron along with recommended fertilizer dose had significant influence on growth, yield and yield contributing characters of late sown mungbean. The growth and yield of late sown mungbean is hampered due to temperature stress which cannot be overcome by recommended dose only but can be by addition of extra potassium and boron with recommended dose. The highest seed yield (1.12 t ha-1) was obtained from recommended dose along with 10 Kg K and 2 Kg B ha-1 which was 40% higher than recommended dose only. Similar results were recorded for other parameters also. So, supplementation of recommended dose with 10 Kg K and 2 Kg B may be suggested to increase growth and yield of late sown mungbean.

Strategies of Plant Biotechnology to Meet the Increasing Demand of Food and Nutrition in India

A groundbreaking application of biotechnology research during the recent past has been improvement of crop health and production. India being one of the most rapidly developing countries with an enormous population and remarkable biodiversity, plant biotechnology promises significant potential to contribute to characterization and conservation of the biodiversity, increasing its usefulness. However, India’s green revolution was noted to be insufficient to feed the country's teeming millions. Therefore, novel approaches in crop biotechnology had to be aimed at ensuring better productivity and quality of cultivars. This paper provides a comprehensive review of research undertaken mainly in the last couple of decades along with potential strategies in plant biotechnology focusing on specific grain and seed crops of key agricultural as well as dietary importance to meet the growing demand of food and nutrition in India, while also proposing potential application of relevant global research findings in the Indian context. The analysis would help address the ever-increasing worldwide socio-economic necessity for greater food security, particularly during times of crisis such as the recent Coronavirus Infectious Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Eco-restoration of coal mine overburden dump

Energy is needed for economic growth and more than 70% of the energy generation capacity in India is by using coal. The production of coal was 430.83 Mt out of which opencast contributed to around 373 Mt in 2006 with an estimated overburden removal of 600 million m3. In India, opencast mining is most prominent method of coal excavation. However, each year hundreds of acres of pristine forest and productive agricultural land are brought in the gambit of open cast coal mining. Moreover, open cast mining leaves behind a lot of over burden which is an environmental problem. Faced with a burgeoning population, agriculture in India must bring under its gambit the non-conventional or non-traditional area, to feed the teeming millions. Reclaimed coal mine areas could be the non-traditional areas. Among the two methods of restoration, physical methods are costly and not viable. Biological methods are of low cost hence most appropriate. Among biological technique using tree species to restore coal mine spoil holds great promise because it accelerate the soil-forming processes, control erosion, build up organic matter, develop microbial communities, initiate nutrient cycling, decreases air and water pollution, reduces geo-environmental disasters, maintain biodiversity and enhance overall aesthetics of the area.

Teacher’s in the Global Age: Diverse Roles

Teacher Education has always been an important component of education since time immemorial. This is because all societies in the world have always needed teachers to propagate/transmit their cultures from one generation to another. Teachers need to be seen as creators of knowledge and thinking professionals. A teacher needs to be an information provider, role model, facilitator, assessor, planner, resource and developer. Educated teachers, with wide knowledge, command the respect of fellow teachers and the people in their communities. They need to be empowered to recognise and value what children learn from their home, social and cultural environment and to create opportunities for children to discover, learn and develop. Teacher is a facilitator, is a friend, and is a philosopher. The purpose of teacher education programme should be to develop in each student his general education and personal culture, his ability to teach and educate others, an awareness of the principles which underlines good human relations and a sense of the responsibility to contribute both by teaching and leading as an example to social, cultural and economic progress. The nation building task will be performed under the leadership of a brilliant set of teacher educators and master educators who will prepare the teachers and who in turn will develop the creative abilities of the teeming millions of the country. This paper discusses the diverse role of teacher’s in the global age.

Portrayal of Traditional Indian Womanhood in R.K. Narayan’s The Dark Room

The Indo-Anglican literature is different from the Anglo-Indian literature. The former is the genre written and created by the Indians through the English language; the latter is written by the Englishmen on themes and subjects related to India. The Indo-Anglican fiction owes its origin to the translations of various fictional works from the Indian languages into English, notably from Bengali into English. The Indo-Anglican writers of fiction write with an eye and hope on the western readers. This influenced their choice of the subject matter. In Indo-Anglican novels there are Sadhus, Fakirs, Caves, Temples, Vedanta, Gandhi, Rajahs and Nawabs, etc. to are to show the interest of western audience. They represent essentially the western idea of India. But at the same time there are elements of Indianness, Nationalism and Patriotism, glorification of India’s past and sympathy for the teeming millions of the country.

The Challenge of Overcoming Schizophrenia and a True Vision for the Future

Schizophrenia is devastating ailment. There is no end to the agony and pain behind the illness. As a schizophrenic, I am keen to write a deeply comprehensive treatise on this ailment which destroyed my life. At each step of human progress, schizophrenia devastates the future vision of a human being. This is an extremely poignant article which will touch teeming millions of sufferers throughout the world. The cause, progress and the present status of my health is delineated in lucid details. It was a disastrous start of my illness. Confusion and hallucination reigned high in the midst of tremendous uncertainties. But medication with Clozapine and psychological counseling pulled me out of the catastrophe. Schizophrenia is an unending agony in my life. The vision of this treatise is to create a far-reaching awareness about the cause, progress of recovery and the ultimate vision of medicinal counseling. Advancement of science and technology, the arduous path of scientific progress and the tremendous progression of the ailment of schizophrenia will go a long way in the true emancipation of freedom from an irreversible illness and the true scientific truth. The author goes at length on the topic of the crisis of health issues, the progress of recovery and the final and true emancipation of medical science. Medical science is moving from one visionary avenue over another. The message of this treatise is towards the silent sufferers. The wide vision, the utmost targets and the process of recovery will surely open up new dimensions of hope for the silent sufferers in years to come. The message to the silent sufferers are vast and visionary. The author also with deep and intricate insight deals with the subject of neuropsychiatry relating to his illness. The wide vision is unparalleled and unimaginable. The world of challenges the author had to face is delineated with agonizing details.

Corruption of Economics, Maldevelopment and Path Towards a Just Safe World

Classical economists had their vision of a ‘stationary state’ – the ontological destination of economic growth and development constrained by population exploration, finiteness of arable land and the exhaustibility of nonrenewable resources. Neoclassical Economics has taken the necessary process of abstraction and thus excludes leaving essential aspects of the world out of the analysis. The corruption of Economics was initiated by nineteenth century American railroad oligarchy. Technical progress seemed to offset any tendency towards diminishing returns. Frederick Soddy observed in 1920s that economics a pseudoscience requiring a paradigm shift and offered an alternative perspective, rooted in the laws of thermodynamics. Contrary to mainstream belief, economy used to draw energy from outside itself and thus incapable of generating infinite wealth. Sody’s critique has been furthered by Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen in his ‘The Entropy Law and the Economic Process’ (1971). Vanguards of capitalist globalization also promote the pseudoeconomics to sustain the growth fetishism undermining its ecological limits. Fossil-fueled global warming or anthropogenic climate change leads to biophysical transformation on the global scale engendering localized stresses in the forms of ice melt, sea-level rise, barren land and deteriorating water sources. The zero-sum game has its obvious toll on wretched teeming millions of ’other’ world as the ’development of underdevelopment’ diversifies with deadlier dimensions as ‘development of necrodevelopment’. The most daunting task emerged to confront the hegemony of neoclassical economics according to which structural stability is achieved only through continued consumption growth. Foucauldian wisdom reminds us if the values and political implications underlying the ‘growth business as usual’ do not ensure how to protect the society, we can refuse to accept their imperatives and develop alternative epistemology. Creative utopia of a just safe world or, more precisely, ecosocialism can be the egalitarian alternative.

Climate Climax: Power, Development and ‘World Peace’

The Conference of Parties of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, Copenhagen December 7-18, 2009, had ended with denial of climate justice in so-called Copenhagen Accord. The industrialised North had emitted massive greenhouse gases, to promote wasteful life-style and fossilfueled economic growth and had worsened global climate to a catastrophic extent. The zero-sum game produced its obvious tolls on wretched teeming millions mostly of ‘other’ world in the forms of coastal erosion, ice melt, infertile land and deteriorating water sources. Critical Climatics is founded on just settlement of climate debt between industrialized North and underdeveloped South vis-a-vis potential climateenforced human vulnerabilities. The Nobel peace prize 2009 to Obama attained much significance in the light of forthcoming Copenhagen conference where United States, which has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol, was expected to make important announcements on emission reduction targets. Precident Obama took over the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference by pushing back the UN agencies with the complicity of the host Danish government. He then negotiated with the leaders of the wealthiest nations, some of the most important emerging States and two very poor countries and introduced a document not accepted by most of the nations.

Climate Climax: Post-Copenhagen Reflections on 'The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time'

The 15TH.Conference of Parties (COP 15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Copenhagen December 7-18, 2009 has ended with an abortive face-saver. A goal of reducing global carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent by 2050, present in earlier drafts, was removed. All references to keeping temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius - a key demand of vulnerable African and small island states - were also dropped. The smaller nations objected to the process that produced the accord, in which the United States along with China, India, Brazil, and South Africa negotiated with 20 nations. Cuban delegates said that the United States President were behaving like an emperor and claimed that the draft was a gross violation of the principle of sovereign equality. The most crucial has been the denial of climate justice in Copenhagen Accord. The rich world has been responsible for 70 per cent of the warming gases in the atmosphere - yet 70 per cent of the effects are being felt in the developing world. There is a cruel inverse relationship between cause and effect: the polluters need not pay. Anthropogenic climate change leads to biophysical transformation on the global scale engendering localised stresses in the forms of coastal erosion, ice melt, infertile land and deteriorating water sources.These stresses threaten critical minimum basic needs of vulnerable socities without the capabilities of adaption and resilence. Northern knowledge-power had set the norms to reinforce dominance over the international system that can not reflect on the environment in a broader political and cultural context of a region or a country. The industrialised North has emitted massive greenhouse gases, with increasing energy- and chemical-intensive production since the outbreak of cold war, and has polluted the environment to a catastrophic extent that is largely irreversible.The zero-sum game has its obvious toll on wretched teeming millions of other world as the development of underdevelopment diversifies with deadlier dimensions. The victimised populations become uprooted from their habitats and forced to migrate, even to foreign countries to join the researve army of lobour there and get entrapped in new conflicts and crises. The citizens of a bordered territory are entitled to fundamental rights which their fellow human beings, the irregular migrants, can never be provided. As with capabilities approach by Sen and Nussbaum, if outcome of climate degradation potentially undermine fundamental rights and human security, enshrined as global norms, policy as well as national policies of the industrialised countries, the concerns about justice should be the prime mover of global climate governance. Ultimately, a successful adaptation process has to reflect on how the command of natural resources and environmental goods has forged the plunder of climate and human habitats by the interplay of a host of historical, ecological, social and economic factors. An internationally agreed measure of ecological debt would clarify over-polluting countries' contribution towards climate change-enforced human vulnerabilities.

Critical Climatics, Forced Migration and Social Justice

United Nations Secretary General, declaring 2009 as the year of Climate Change, has called for 'responsibility to protect' in the realm of human rights and 'responsibility to deliver' in larger sphere of common international action. Anthropogenic climate change leads to biophysical transformation on the global scale engendering localised stresses in the forms of coastal erosion, ice melt, infertile land and deteriorating water sources.These stresses threaten critical minimum basic needs of vulnerable socities without the capabilities of adaption and resilence. Neither the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, nor its Kyoto Protocol has any provision of protection or rehabilitation to numerous affected poor people of less developed world. Refugee Convention does not confer refugee status for environmental persecution. Northern knowledge-power had set the norms to reinforce dominance over the international system that can not reflect on the environment in a broader political and cultural context of a region or a country. The twentieth century has spanned through two world wars, post-war recovery-boom-burst and emergence of neo-liberal globalisation .The treadmill of production is founded on classical Say's law of capitalist circulation-supply creates its own demand and drives the expansion of production and consumption synergistically. The industrialised North has emitted massive greenhouse gases, with increasing energy- and chemical-intensive production since the 'outbreak' of cold war, and has polluted the environment to a catastrophic extent that is largely irreversible.The zero-sum game has its obvious toll on wretched teeming millions of 'other' world as the 'development of underdevelopment' diversifies with deadlier dimensions. The victimised populations become uprooted from their habitats and forced to migrate, even to foreign countries to join the researve army of lobour there and get entrapped in new conflicts and crises. The citizens of a bordered territory are entitled to fundamental rights which their fellow human beings, the irregular migrants, can never be provided. As with capabilities approach by Sen and Nussbaum, if outcome of climate degradation potentially undermine fundamental rights and human security, enshrined as global norms, policy as well as national policies of the industrialised countries, the concerns about justice should be the prime mover of global climate governance. The emancipatory ideas about rights, justice and responsibility should transcend the 'bordered' confines with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This insight has definite resemblance with Derridan concepts of 'new international' and 'democracy to come'. Ultimately, a successful adaptation process has to reflect on how the command of natural resources and environmental goods has forged the plunder of climate and human habitats by the interplay of a host of historical, ecological, social and economic factors. An internationally agreed measure of ecological debt would clarify 'over-polluting' countries’ contribution towards climate change-enforced human vulnerabilities.Beyond the refugee definition contained in the Refugee Convention, the pertaining issue is to be addressed by a new legal instrument - a Protocol on Recognition, Protection, and Resettlement of Climate Refugees to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Bram Stoker: a literary life

Acknowledgements Abbreviations Editions Cited Introduction: Stoker's Book Early Life in Stoker's Fiction At the Theatre London with its Teeming Millions On Holiday The Cave Conclusion Works Cited Index

Buffalo as a social animal for humanity

INTRODUCTION Livestock is one of the important socio-economic resources for alleviation of poverty and raising the standard of living of teeming millions in the rural areas. Buffalo rearing jibes well in the social agenda because it is a triple purpose animal providing milk, meat and draught. Food security along with employment and shelter is the major concern of all the countries of the world. It is the guarantee to political stability and economic well being of the people of Asia, where food insecurity is one of the major causes of poverty. The last green revolution made substantial contribution towards improvement of livelihood of the poor. However, with the rising population and decline in per capita agricultural land available, it is predicted that the crop production alone will no longer be able to provide sufficient livelihood opportunities to the rural poor. Therefore, livestock offers immense potential for livelihood. In most of the Asian countries, livestock accounts for about 25% to the agricultural gross domestic products. The importance of buffalo in South Asia, can be gauged by the fact that it is increasing faster than cattle, although in some East and Southeast Asian countries buffalo population has declined rapidly, which is a matter of concern. The primary importance of buffalo is more for milk in South Asia and, secondarily for meat production. Therefore, its role for food security in South Asia is well established. The price of buffalo meat is much cheaper than chevon, mutton, pork and poultry and is therefore a cheaper source of protein to the weaker section of the society. Because of its competitive prices and better blending characteristic it forms a major ingredient in corn beef, hotdogs and other value added products. The meat from buffalo is mostly produced when they are retired from their productive life. Paradoxically, even the males are also not basically reared for meat production by the farmers and are allowed to die to save the milk from the dam for disposal in the market. In India, every year, about 8 million such male calves are removed from the buffalo production system due to intentional killing by the farmers to save dam’s milk due to non remunerative cost of raising male animals, thus incurring a loss of about US $ 15 million per annum. These calves could otherwise be salvaged for meat production, which will not only improve the economic condition of the farmers but would also provide quality meat for domestic consumption at competitive prices and also for export market. Raising these male calves will generate additional employment.

Technology-based information warfare: developing world perspective

The technologies of information warfare encompass intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); command, control, communications, coordination, intelligence, interoperability and precision force application. Of these, the ISR technologies are the most visible in the current combat zone. A brief survey of the status and the general direction of these technologies as pursued by the major military powers of the world has been attempted in the paper. The gap between the developed and the developing nations is quite evident. Nevertheless, all the major developing military powers are keenly pursuing the path of modernisation in this field. However, the economical and technological infrastructures of these nations are nowhere near the requisite standards in this field. At the same time, the teeming millions of these countries are desperately vying for a better standard of life. Economic strength and happy population form important ingredients of the national security in modern times. Herein lies the dilemma of the developing nations. A viable model has been suggested for the developing nations to attain a minimum level of hi-tech military strength in this field in a cost-effective manner so that other aspects of national security are not ignored.

Conflict of interest issues in informed consent for research on human subjects: a South Asian perspective.

Health research for progress in the control and conquest of disease afflicting man is unquestionable. Concerns arise when motives other than the advancement of scientific knowledge and benefit for individuals and society are the driving force behind clinical trials. These conflicts of interests become even more pronounced when dealing with populations rendered vulnerable by virtue of poverty and ignorance. South Asia with its teeming millions represents one such region. This essay examines the reasons that make this population vulnerable to exploitation. Informed consent in the process of research is an area where such conflicts are prone to arise. In order to ensure that conflicting interests of researchers and funding agencies are kept in check, the processes of informed consent and ethical review of research need to be strengthened. Suggestions are put forward to modify the consent process to match the needs of South Asia and to strengthen the ethical review process for safeguarding the rights of the study subjects. But perhaps the most important safeguard against exploitation is the virtuous researcher himself with noble intentions.

Review of African groundwater resources

Africa is bedevilled by recurrent water supply problems to its teeming millions most of them scattered in far-flung rural units without infrastructural facilities. In this paper we have attempted to elaborate on the problems facing water resources development, devoting efforts mainly to ground water resources. Based on research results of various workers and groups on the continent, we were able to show that despite the unfavourable hydrologic situation where almost 80 % of incident precipitation is lost through evapotranspiration processes, there is enough of this resource to cater for the present and future needs of the continent. The paper further identifies areas suitable for groundwater development mentioning where problems may likely be encountered and cautions care against over-development especially in arid and semi-arid regions and in coastal areas. Extensive regional aquifers which are present throughout the continent offer the best possibilities for large scale groundwater development and need to be studied in more detail. Finally, based on our work in Africa, suggestions are made to improve on problems such as man-power deficiencies, planning and management strategies, data generation and retrieval, quality control and monitoring, legislation and above all, introduction of adaptable technology.

Planning a communication research strategy for Bangladesh

Communication Research is always relevant to and dependant upon overall national objectives and communication policy of the Government. Our national objectives are to bring about economic emancipation and gradual change in the life of the teeming millions.