The Journey of a Plastic: From Making to Recycling

I originate from deep down from the Earth after millions of years. I’m picked up by the machinery which is collecting my friends and me, and they process us. I go under the distillation process, later separated from some of my colleagues. Then I go through processes like polymerization and polycondensation. Large chains of monomers make us form polymer chains and then distinguished me in two types, thermoplastics which softens on heating, and thermosets stay in the same state. I get melted to form long tubes and cut into small pellets. I get shipped to various places in different industries to make bottles commonly out of me or containers to store essential items. But, I’m sad that I’m leading to global pollution and let us know why.

This story was the plastic on its own. Now let me describe the story of plastics furthermore. These plastics are usually for single-use purposes or discarded in the open without considering the harmful effects of it on nature. About a billion or two make its way daily in the household, packaging sector, etc. Around 8 billion tons of plastic are present since the 1950s, and only 9 percent went through a recycling facility. In some countries like Kenya, the usage of plastic can lead to jail and maybe a hefty 40 thousand dollars fine. Other countries on the same track as France, where the government has been imposing taxes on single-usage plastics. The most polluted oceans, along with beaches filled with nearly 70 percent of plastic waste. Every minute, one million plastic bottles do quench the thirst, but not all the bottles do justice.

Plastic bottles captured in a net

The unfortunate fact is that the plastics every year kill over a million seabirds and animals along with us when we consume them in granular molecules unknowingly. The improper management of these plastic waste makes its way to developing countries when they discard it openly in the streams of rivers polluting the ecosystem and making it less sustainable for the aquatic species to survive. Recent research states these facts that when the final waste marked as recycled is not even destroyed or treated correctly—these results in an increase of ocean debris. Plastic pollution is going to double in the next few decades, as mentioned in a report by WWF, the World Wildlife Fund.

A seabird near an old fishing net.

In this pandemic, have you ever wondered where the masks, the gloves wore by the doctors, and the essential PPE suits end up? Although the hospitals do have an incinerator, a common man litters without any safety precaution, which may affect others if someone comes in contact with the items. However, if it finally makes its way to the water bodies, those can act as the medium to contaminate not only the virus but other diseases too.

What can we do on our end? We can follow the 3R’s or there are more: the commonly known are reduce, reuse, and recycle. By this, if we start sorting the waste and use them effectively, there won’t be a global issue when it can start with you. One step a wise man takes can save others on the way. Be that person and save the planet.

A person is sorting the bottle caps.

Online education and its challenges in India during pandemic times :

E-learning or online education is now inevitable across the world due to the havoc created by Corona virus.  Not only education that is online, but work from home and online jobs are favored by most of firms and the associations to ensure the security of workers and employees.  E-learning or online education allows individual to learn and enjoy at their own relaxation through technologies and various applications.

In India, universities and many institutions have begun to teach students online, due to Covid-19.

But we must consider the education in the time of crisis as well as the challenges faced by students while studying online.

Online Education during COVID 19:

While there’s an upsurge of corona in India, it is safe to say that online courses would serve as alternatives that are better.  Children can learn from their homes and be familiar with online learning from their relaxation spaces.  There will be no risk of exposure to the virus within the home and children might miss the essence of standard education.

Any student who aspires to achieve any courses may apply around the world like Harvard, Stanford, IITs are beginning courses that are online as well as to help students.  Students may opt for their courses from their places and within a circumstance of time and are awarded certificates.  This will help them to create a resume for their own careers.

Challenges faced by parents and guardians:

Mainly parents disagree with the choice of providing online courses to their children, while there are a few parents who agree with online education.  Since they must devote their time while the little one begins to get familiar with electronic gadgets and the internet.  They are anxious about children using the internet and the access to all sorts of information.

Connectivity issues :

We know that villages are the backbone of our nation, the big part of villages lack the internet connection.  According to Abhiroop  Mukhopadhyay of all Indian statistical institute, argues 85% of college students who belong to urban households, likely to gain access will probably have access at home.  28 percent are likely to have internet access at home.

And in states like West Bengal, and Bihar, only 7-8 % of rural households have any internet access.

Absence of traditional education:

Online education can never replace conventional type of education, where children attempt to socialize with their peer groups which will help them in developing their abilities .They lack the ability to socialize with one another and also the delight of friendship.

Physical and mental health:

It might develop health complexities like anxiety-related troubles and mental strain.  Eye ailments might be developed by the exposure to the computer or electronic gadgets and children might find it difficult to get adjusted from conventional kind of education to online education. Spending all the time studying and not having access to physical education, their physical and mental health may get upset.

Extra fees being charged by private institutions :

Colleges and many private educational institutions have begun putting burden on the parents from the name of online education and they have been charging extra fees for conducting the courses in parts of the nation.  This has been a burden on guardians and parents.

Precautions for covi d-19

The early step to protect us from the Corona virus is to wash your hands frequently. Washing your hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub kills viruses that may be on your hand. Hand touch many surfaces and can pick up viruses while you touching your eyes, nose, and mouth without washing your hand, the virus will enter into your body and make you sick. Make sure that the people around you have followed the good hygiene during sneezing, coughing. While sneezing or coughing cover your mouth, nose, and eyes with your clothes or elbow.by following good respiratory hygiene you can protect the people around you from viruses such as cold, flu, and COVID-19. When someone coughs or sneezes they spray small droplets from their nose and mouth which may contain the virus if you are too close you can breathe in the droplets including the COVID-19 virus if the person coughing has the disease. Maintain at least 1-meter distance between yourself and anyone who coughing or sneezing.

The whole country is under a very complicated situation. We have to give our participants to overcome the COVID-19. Stay with the latest information and development about coronavirus. National and local authorities will have the most up to date information on whether COVID-19is spreading in your area. They are the best place to advise on what people in your area should be doing to protect themselves. Stay home if you feel unwell if you have a fever, cough, and difficulty in breathing seek medical attention and call in advance. Follow the directions of your local health authority.

The Indian Parliament: Performances and Challenges

As the central legislative body in India, the Parliament has four main roles—it makes laws, it holds the executive to account for its actions, it allocates government finances, and represents the interests and aspirations of citizens. The Parliament is also a constituent body in the sense that it can amend the Constitution.

Functioning of Parliament

Over the years, the Parliament has been meeting for a fewer days. Figure 1 shows that the number of sitting days has declined from 125-140 in the 1950s to about 70 days in the last twenty years. Also, disruptions have further reduced the amount of time available for discussion in Parliament.

An important casualty is Question Hour. If the House is disrupted, it often sits late or through the lunch hour to make up for lost time. However, the time lost in Question Hour is never made up. As a result, only a few questions listed for oral answers are actually answered on the floor, and the rest get a written.

The shortage of time has also affected discussion on bills. Every bill is expected to go through three readings at the stage of introduction, consideration when there is a detailed discussion on each clause, and passing. The Parliament rarely discusses any bill at the first or third reading. Many bills are not discussed at the consideration stage either,

Areas of Reform

There are some structural issues that need to be addressed to improve the effectiveness of Parliament. These include the repeal of the anti defection law, recording all votes on bills and major debates, referring all bills to committees and strengthening the support system for committees.

The Anti-Defection Law
Anti-defection law when it was passed, it aimed at bringing down the political defection but due to ever increasing political dishonesty and corruption this law never developed properly and now a question arose that ‘whether achieving the goals of this law a reality or a myth ? ‘Politicians found loopholes in this law and used it for their own benefit. It is high time that a watchdog should be provided to our Parliament and there is a need for our constitutional pundits to revisit the issue to combat the menace of corruption and defection which has eroded the values ​​of democracy.

Committee System

Committee System has following disadvantages:

  1. High Cost in Time and Money
  2. Indecisive Action
  3. Compromising Attitude
  4. Dominance of a Few
  5. Suppression of Ideas
  6. Splitting of Responsibilities
  7. Political Decision

Departmentally Related Standing Committees

Of course, there is no one right answer about the benefits of standing committees. But, I do have a bias against standing committees that have been around forever without revisiting their purpose.

What is the purpose of the committee? Is their charge clear? Is it defined in terms of outcomes that benefit the organization? What has the board delegated to this committee and is the board providing oversight to assure that the assigned work is getting done? If you have a current strategic plan, is the committee assigned strategies and outcomes that support advancement on that plan?

Committees that have a long history frequently, but not always, end up acting independently of the organization’s envisioned future and strategic direction. That committee’s work may or may not support the current strategic plan. There is a comfort zone for individuals who have been on a committee and in a position to define their own work and see it as somewhat independent of the rest of the organization.

If this is true of the standing committees of your organization, it might be worth an investment of the board’s time to review all committee charges (purpose statements, commissions, whatever you want to call it) and determine how those committees can best support the strategic plan and strategic initiatives. It may mean rewriting or refining the current committee purpose statement in terms of outcomes. In my experience, when the delegation of work to a committee changes from what the committee has comfortably done over the past many years, the folks on the committee will grumble and then, when held responsible for the outcomes, will either jump in and contribute or leave.

If you decide on investing in revisiting the objective statements of all committees, it may also help the board identify the right person to be the next chair – someone who is on board with outcomes and board oversight.

Committee on Subordinate Legislation

● No parliamentary deliberation – Parliament does not get a chance to debate rules, regulations, etc. made by the executive. These are made in the ante-chamber of the bureaucrat and the benefits of parliamentary deliberations are lost.

● No prior publicity- Whereas drafts of bills are often published for public comment and criticism, prior publicity is not always possible in case of rules and regulations and the benefits of public discussion are criticism is lost.

● Not enough publicity- Everyone is supposed to know the law because statutes are, generally speaking, easily accessible. This is not so in the case of delegated legislation, where the mass of rules, regulations, bye-laws, orders, etc. often lie buried in the files of bureaucrats. Antecedent publicity, that is, publicity before enactment is often missing in delegated legislation.

● Lesser research- Since statutes are normally given greater publicity than rules and regulations, the former can reach out to a greater number of citizens.\

● Possibility of overreach and or overlapping – as delegated legislation can often be confusing, complex and difficult to understand. Moreover, it can be different (and at times, contradictory) in different states, thus leading to confusion and lack of uniformity.

● Possibility of poor drafting – Delegated legislation may not be well considered or drafted by legislative experts and may thus suffer from infirmities due to poor drafting.

● Possibility of confusion- Experiences show that delegated legislation can often be confusing, complex and difficult to understand. Moreover, it can be different (and at times, contradictory) in different states, thus leading to confusion and lack of uniformity.

Conclusion
Parliament plays a central role in the Indian system of representative governance, affecting all aspects of lives of citizens. It has done a remarkable job for nearly seventy years, helping manage internal tensions of perhaps the most diverse set of people in any country. Many social reforms and economic progress have been led by Parliament. However, there are ways in which its effectiveness can be improved. These include revocation of the anti-defection law, making recorded voting mandatory and strengthening the committee system

Life of Christopher Marlowe and his works.


Marlowe who was the son of a shoemaker was born in Canterbury less than three months before the birth of Shakespeare. He was educated at King’s School, Canterbury, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Where he acquired heterodox views on religion. After going down from Cambridge, he became a secret service agent of some kind and traveled abroad in this capacity. He settled in London in 1586 and soon joined the Lord Admiral’s Company of Players. His career as a dramatist must have begun soon after his career as an actor. On 30 th May 1593 he was stabbed in an inn at Deptford by a shady secret-service agent of the name of Frizer and died at the age of twenty-nine years and three months.
The dramatic activity of Marlowe comprises of six years starting from 1587 to 1593. During these years he has written six exceptionally beautiful plays that reflect his essential spirit and nature mainly full of passion and poetry. Each drama mainly reflects some wild intemperate passion that eventually reaches height until it destroys itself. The lust for empire, power, lucre, knowledge forms the main background of all the plays. Some of the works of Marlowe are illustrated below.
“Tamburlaine” was Marlowe’s first powerful play. It is the story of a Scythian shepherd who dreams of world conquest and achieves his aspiration magnificently. But the drama also has many drawbacks like a weak plot. The scheme seems to be nay and absurd. Tamburlaine symbolizes indomitable human will, strength, and courage. His fearless vision charms everyone Overall Tamburlaine is considered to be one of the most beautiful works of Marlowe in which the morning starts of his poetry sing together.
Then comes “The Tragical History of Dr.Faustus which is another masterpiece. The story revolves around Faustus, a scholar who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for gaining universal knowledge. The story contains conflict, failure, intense. emotions. The central theme is the loss that comes repeatedly again and again.
” The Jew of Malta” is also considered to be Marlowe’s most popular work where Barbaras, the Mediterranean moneylender with its evil dreams of wealth foreshadows Shakespeare’s Shylock. Some say that it is dedicated to the spirit of Machiavelli. Overall when compared to the previous two plays, this play is way bitter and stronger than them.
“The Massacre of Paris” is generally considered to be Marlowe’s crudest work. The play bears some magnificent speeches emotional lines and glorious touches of tragedy. But the characters are finely developed and the plot is weak.
Finally Edward the Second which is undoubtedly the masterpiece of Marlowe in which we find certain touches of his highest point of excellence. It is a great historical and political play. It is different from most of his other plays in many ways. The plot is strong and the characters are perfectly well developed. It is absolutely capable of touching our emotions and imagination just like Shakespearean tragedies. Edward the Second is the artistic beauty of an exceptionally talented writer-Marlowe.

HOW LIC STARTED?

Life Insurance is a modern form came to India from England in the year 1818. Many life insurance companies were started by Europeans during that period to look after the needs of European Communities in India . However , these companies refused to Insure Indian lives. Later, due to the efforts of few eminent Indian people, these foreign life insurance counties started Insuring Indian lives. But they treated Indian lives as sub standard and charged heavy premises. Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society heralded the birth of first Indian life insurance company in the year 1870, and covered Indian lives at normal rates.

The Swadeshi Movement of 1905- 1907 led to the birth of other Indian life insurance companies. By the late 1940’s there were too many Insurance companies and the level of competition was very high. There was also an allegation of unfair trade practices against the life insurance companies . Hence, the government of india decided to nationalize the sector .

An ordinance was issued in the year 1956 to nationalize the life insurance sector and life insurance Corporation of India (LIC) came into existence on 1st September ,1956.

LIC absorbed 154 Indian ,16 Non -Indian insurers as also 75 provident societies. Since then LIC was the only player in life insurance business till the late 1990s when the Insurance sector was reopened for the private sector .

Life Insurance Corporation was created for the objective of providing all Indians adequate financial cover at a reasonable cost. The company managed to achieve its objective and is still the dominant market leader in the life insurance business.

SONY PS5 CONSOLE AND ACCESSORIES PRICE EXPOSED – SEE THE PRICE LIST AND AVAILABILITY HERE

The anticipation regarding the upcoming Sony PS5 is growing and potential buyers can not wait for November. With the public reveal of the PS5 design as well as some of its games, we are now left with its price. Some months ago, the price speculations were simply wide guesses. However, as more features of this console comes to light, we now have some more calculated price speculations. Recently, the “recommended price” of the Sony PS5 “leaked” on Twitter. While many consider this latest price listing as a “leak”, I will prefer to call it a “speculation”.

Furthermore, not only did the price of all versions of PS5 appear in these speculations, but the Twitter user @IronManPS5 also revealed the potential prices of some of its accessories. Some of the Tweets which were in Japanese also claim that the devices will arrive in Japan on November 14. However, the tweets give the price and availability of these devices in North America and Europe. Let’s take a look at the prices and availability

Sony PS5 Game Console Regular version

  • Price: 49,980 yen ($466); Availability: Japan, November 14
  • Price: $499, €499 and £449; Availability: North America and Europe, November 20

Sony PS5 Game Console Digital version

  • Price: 44,980 yen ($419); Availability: Japan, November 14
  • Price: $399, €399 and £349; Availability: North America and Europe, November 20

Sony PS5 Vertical Stand

  • Price: 2,280 yen ($21); Availability: Japan, November 14
  • Price: $24.99, €19.99 and £16.99; Availability: North America and Europe, November 20

Sony PS5 Media Remote Control

  • Price: 3,600 yen ($34); Availability: Japan, November 14
  • Price: $29.99, €29.99 and £24.99; Availability: North America and Europe, November 20

@martin_christopher

“Time Travel And Associated Paradox”

Humans have been fascinated towards time travel and have been developing technology to make it possible one day. The advancement in science has helped humans to make ideas turn reality. Space has always been a mystery to humans and we have always tried harder to solve them at the best of their possibilities. The idea of time travel and humans’ moment to past or future seems to be very fascinating, and humans believe that it is possible. But the fact that we cannot travel back to the era or to the future lies in the Einstein Theory Of Relatively. Which states that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light or in simple words it suggests that anything which is travelling with the speed less than light will never be able to move faster in it’s coming time or else to do so it requires enormous and endless power sources which we know that is not possible. 

But different findings have led the belief of scientists to increase in this area and  make those possibilities to be true. It is believed that we can move to other planets or parallel universes through a wormhole. Which is another hypothesis as their significance is still not found. Scientists believe that by creating a wormhole we can reach other planets and even past . There have been particles like tachyons   (Hypothetical) which are supposed to move faster than light. It is believed that with the help of these we can send messages to our past and even travel one day. 

Here’s is the paradox which do makes rise a potential question to do so. This is known as the Grandfather Paradox. According to this paradox it states the idea that if any person travels to time before their grandfather or sends a message before grandfather had children and if someone through that message kills their grandfather, it would raise a question to their existence. This paradox has been in discussion since ages and is considered a proper problem which really raises the question and theories related to time travel. 

Scientists have been working in this field of developing technology and doing research so as to rediscover particles or any technology which could help us to cross the barrier of time and travel in different years. But this is purely hypothetical since scientists do know that it’s hardly possible to cross the barriers of light and travel faster than it. We need enormous sources of energy or endless sources of energy to run any machine at a speed faster than it. It is still a belief of fiction but people do believe that whatever is thinkable can be achieved so scientists are working in discovering various other phenomena happening in space so as to get the idea of how space works and utilize those knowledge in future projects. The wormhole theory is a relevant theory which does enable human travel to other planets outside our solar system without breaking the famous theory of relativity but still we hardly find any wormholes and if they exist, they are expected to be very small enough for any spacecraft to enter. 

Scientist’s have been finding out different ways so as to make their dream turn reality. It does seem to be impossible but still some people have faith in their work and theories. Science has been bringing out hidden secrets about space with every trip of humans in it. Maybe in future we may be able to do time travel with better technologies, and thus new possibilities and opportunities for mankind

Labourers and lockdown

Stained by hunger,

The splash of virus dried out to an insignificant dot on their white khadi

They can’t have more, their stomach is full— full of hunger

Their bodies are not driven by food,

Their legs tread hearing stomach’s rumble

The people crossed gutters, jumped over broken roads

The pits in the broken road are now cemented, 

Cemented by starvation,

Cemented by hopes,

Cemented by slippers that have lost the feet on which they were worn.

They who went out in the search of bread have lost their breaths

Their breathless bodies demand an answer,

An answer for their hunger

An answer for their treads,

And answer for which they had lost their breaths.

Reach out to me on instagram @ekanika_shah

Importance Of Joint Family

A joint family (an undivided family, joint family, extended family system) is a large undivided family, where more than one generation live together in a common household. A joint family is a form of family where grand-parents, father, mother and children are united together under one roof.
In such families, the son does not distance himself after getting married. Instead, he lives in the same house with his family and his family with his wife and children.
The eldest male member is usually the head of the joint family. His power and functions are like a trustee. He is entitled to take economic and social decisions on behalf of the family.
The benefits of a joint family can count more than one can.
It is the best way of life that is most conducive for development.
It is based on the principle of proper economy. It considers it a law of creation that not all men are equal. Naturally it imposes a kind of unwritten discipline that those who are more financially capable will share some of the burden of those who are not.
Combined mace, naturally, operates on an understanding of mutual adjustment. Naturally, those who benefit from the generosity of others are grateful and thankful. Similarly study groups of boys in a large joint family are formed according to their age match. Naturally the cousins ​​study together, play together, quarrel together and even get punished together. As a result there is a sense of harmony in them which is free from any discrimination compared to being full brother or cousin.
The groom becomes a concern for all the elders in the family for married girls in marriage. Even if the daughter of a junior brother is chosen by someone because of her beauty or talent, he will not agree to her marriage until her senior cousin sister is married.
The basic needs of all family members are taken care of. Each member is guaranteed minimum subsistence to survive.
It supports all family members. Old and elderly people are respected. Proper care is taken for old, widowed, physically weak and disabled family members. Subjects such as this have imposed themselves on their members in a joint family. The head of a large family almost becomes its patriarch if the family and other constituents are looking after the norms well and healthily, the family of the family will expand.
Finally, a sense of unity prevails in the joint family system.
This often creates parasites that prefer to feed on the income of another and exploit the wellbeing and theoretical behavior of their partners. Sometimes some devious member of the family conspires to torture and exploit another innocent member of the family. High-earning members often insult low-earning members.
The cost of education has increased. High-earning members often want their children to study in expensive schools, but they do not want to share the burden of the children of other family members. In large families, the most important decisions are made by the head of the family. Since, not all individuals in the family have the opportunity to participate in major family decisions, they are often lost or develop a sense of inferiority complex.

The separation of families was evident from the joint families themselves. This is when the spirit of generosity, charity and sympathy is not balanced by strong moral line, character and foresight. If members remain for each other, then joint family can be successfully run. The suffering of solidarity and selflessness is the essence of joint family.