chakravarthy

Human caused climate change is on track to make the Arctic Ocean functionally ice-free for part of each year starting sometime between 2044 and 2067, according to a study. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles in the US noted that as long as humans have been on Earth, the planet has had a large cap of seaq ice at the Arctic Circle that expands each winter and contracts each summer. Satellite observations show that since 1979, the amount of sea ice in the Arctic in September - the month when there is the least sea ice, before water starts freezing again - has declined by 13% oer decade, the researchers said. Scientists have been attempting to predict the future of Arctic sea ice for several decades, relying on an array of global climate models that simulate how the climate system will react to all of the carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere. However, the models' predictions have disagreed widely, according to the study published in the journal Nature Climate C...

More than 2.7 million miles away, Neptune is the furthest planet from Earth in our Solar System, meaning it's one of the least explored worlds. Now, NASA has revealed new findings about two of Neptune's moons, and how they must 'dance' to avoid smashing into each other. The moons called Nalad and Thalass, orbit just 1,150 miles apart, but have perfectly coordinated orbits. When they pass each other, they are about 2,200 miles apart. In this cosmic dance, Nalad swirls around Neptune every seven hours, while Thallas takes the outside track, and takes 7.5 hours to orbit. Nalad's orbit follows a bizarre zigzag pattern which NASA has never seen before. "We suspect that Nalad was kicked into its tilted orbit by an earlier interaction with one of Neptune's other inner moons. Only later, after its orbital tilt was established, could Nalad settle into this unusual resonance with Thallas", said Marina Brozovic, who led the study. [ Courtesy: The Times of Ind...

It's a paradox that has baffled scientists for years, but a new study may shed light on why some people are 'fat but fit'. Researchers from the University of Leeds suggest that people who are over-weight but have a seemingly healthy metabolism may have an especially good blood supply to their fat cells. Natalie Haywood, who led the study, said: "It's a myth that you can be overweight and completely healthy - but there may be some truth to the 'fat but fit' paradox. People with better blood supply to their fat may be more metabolically healthy and could be protected against heart and circulatory diseases". In the study, the researchers studied a receptor called IGFI-R, which is known to play a role in the growth of new blood vessels. The team removed this receptor in the cells lining the blood vessels of mice fed a high-fat diet, and found that new blood vessels grew into the fat. Amazingly, this actually led to protection against heart and circulator...

People of ancient Mesopotamia have been credited with inventing lipstick. According to researchers, they were said to be the first ones to have invented and used lipstick as a cosmetic product. Approximately 5,000 years ago, men and women in Western Asia had reportedly started smearing their lips with the dust of crushed semi-precious gems and rocks. As bizarre as it may sound, they apparently darkened their lips with red-tinted rouges made from everything they found around them, from seaweed and clay to even boiled, dried insects! Interestingly, women in the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation had also used pieces of ochre as a tool to colour their lips. [ Courtesy: The Times of India dated 19th November, 2019 (Tuesday) ].  Challapalli Srinivas Chakravarthy, 26th November, 2019 (Tuesday) . ---------------------------------------------------------

After the Battle of Chamkaur in 1704, the Khalsa founder penned 111 verses in Persian that praised God, criticised the Mughal emperor and detailed the battle. "All modes of redressing the wrong having failed, raising of sword is pious and just", writes Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru of Sikhism, in Zafarnama . It is an argument for justice written in the form of a letter to Aurangzeb, the sixth Mughal emperor, after the Battle of Chamkaur in the 18th century. The tenth Guru is predominantly known for founding the Khalsa and instituting the idea of the five articles of the Sikh faith - kesh (hair), kacchera (a specific type of undergarment), kangha (comb), kada (iron bracelet) and kirpan (small sword). But he was also a scholar and poet, well-versed in multiple languages - Sanskrit, Persian, Punjabi, Arabic, Awachi and Braj Bhasha.  Although Guru Hargobind Singh, the sixth Guru, was the one who began militarising the Sikh community, Guru Gobind Singh introduced the idea o...

From Cambridge to Khilafat, Saifuddin Kitchlew was instrumental in bridging Hindu-Muslim unity during the freedom movement. Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew, a frontine freedom fighter, an advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity and a barrister, is remembered today as the face of the protests against the Rowlatt Act that the British passed exactly 100 years ago in 1919. He was also an educationist who played a major role in the founding of Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia University. Kitchlew was the guiding force behind the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, an organisation founded by Sardar Bhagat Singh in 1926. Introduction to nationalist movement : Kitchlew was born in 1888 in a Kashmiri family of businessmen and governmentservants. A student of sharp intelect, Kitchlew completed his bachelor's from Cambridge University and obtained his Ph.D from Germany. He then returned to Amritsar and started practicing law. His revolutionary aspirations dated back to his Cambridge days, when he actively participated ...

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-1891) was as one of the pillars of Bengal Renaissance who managed to continue the social reforms movement that was started by Raja Rammohan Roy in the early 1800s. Vidyasagar was a well-known writer, intellectual and above all a staunch supporter of humanity. He had an imposing personality and was revered even by the British authorities of his time. He brought about a revolution in the Bengali education system and refined the way Bengali language was written and taught. His book, 'Borno Porichoy' (Introduction to the letter), is still as the introductory text to learn Bengali alphabets. The title 'Vidyasagar' (Ocean of Knowledge) was given to him due to his vast knowledge in several subjects. Poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta while writing about Ishwar Chandra said: "The genius and wisdom of an ancient sage, the energy of an Englishman and the heart of a Bengali mother".  Early Life and Education : Ishwar Chandra Bandopadhyaya w...

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya was the second Jana Sangh leader to die under mysterious circumstances - the first being the founder, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who also died mysteriously on 23rd June, 1953. Mookerjee too was 52 at the time of his demise. Syama Prasad Mookerjee walked out of Nehru's cabinet due to ideological differences and started the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) in 1950. When he approached the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for support, the leadership decided to second some of its best pracharaks, including Deen Dayala Upadhyaya, Atal Behari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani, Sundar Singh Bhandari and Nanji Deshmukh. Upadhyaya, who would have turned 103 on 25th September, 2019, became the General Secretary of the BJS in the party's very first session in December 1951 and worked in that capacity for 16 years. The emergence of BJS was a historic development. The BJS was not just another political outfit but a party with a distinct philosophy and programme. The Congress was th...

[ Based on an article written by Samar Halarnkar] . The marginalisation of Indian Muslims and the indifference of Hindus can be stemmed by those who defy the tide. My friend was one of those Indians who proudly waved the flag, sang the anthem and believed there were - despite its obvious infirmities - few better places on earth to raise his daughter. The first shock to a lifetime of patriotism was delivered this year by a child who taunted his six-year-old. You are a Muslim and a terrorist, said the child, who was unlikely to have understood what a terrorist was. But children only parrot their parents, so it was obvious where these accusations came from. Many Muslims, especially in North India, will tell you taunts like these are not new. At some point, they have had to endure the tired but hurtful trope of Muslim, Pakistani, terrorist. But these encounters were largely regarded as exceptions and tolerated because their country and its large majority of Hindus embraced the idea of ...

The ancient hominins shared many traits with Neanderthals: Low foreheads and wide rib cages, an elongated face and a wide pelvis; but differed in the structure of jaw and skull .  Scientists have for the first time restructured Denisovans skeletal features, using DNA methylation (chemical changes), to understand how the long-lost human relative looked like, the Nature reported. A team of computational biologists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found DEnisovans shared Neanderthal's facial features, but had a wider jaw and skull. Until now, only bone fragments and teeth were discovered from Siberia's Denisova cave, which was likely occupied by the ancient humans from more than 2,00,000 years ago to around 50,000 years ago. Earlier this year (2019), researchers discovered a jaw bone from the Tibetan Plateau and a human like finger. However, these fossils were not large or complete enough for scientists to reconstruct their facial features.  In the study, a team co-led...

Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) has tried to disassociate itself from Godse and Hindu Mahasabha. Senior functionaries of RSS contest claims of those who accuse ideological mentor of the BJP for being antithetical to Gandhian philosophy. In August 2017, 69 years after it was first banned in independent India for its alleged role in the assassination of Gandhiji, the RSS through its think tank Prajna Pravah organised a two-day meeting at Gandhi Darshan, neighbouring Raj Ghat, in the national capital. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was among those present. Critics of the Sangh fumed at what they saw as insolvence to the memory of Gandhiji, but the Sangh - accused of mentoring Nathuram Godse, who shot Gandhiji in cold blood in the evening of 30th January, 1948 - stuck to its argument. Its relationship with Gandhiji is wrongly perceived. Since its first ban was revoked in 1949 (the organisation was banned thrice since Independence, the first in the immediate aftermath of the Mahatma's assa...

Findings show Tamils were literate as early as sixth century BCE .  Archaeologists researching the Keezhadi excavations in Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu, on the banks of the Vaigai River, say the artefacts and graffiti symbolsseem pretty much similar to the signs seen in the Indus civilisation excavations. They also say that the Tamils of the Sangam period were literate, as early as sixth century BCE. Artefacts found at the site in Keezhadi, about 12 kms. from Madurai, push back the date of Tamil-Behami script to another century, i.e., sixth century BCE. These results clearly ascertained that they attained literacy or learned the art of writing as early as sixth century BCE. A report released by the Tamil Nadu Archaeological Department on 19th September, 2019 (Thursday) explaining the significance of the finding said the recovery of 1,001 graffiti sherds from Keeladi excavation recalled the preliminary writing expressions of the Iron Age people. One kind of script that survi...

The Theory of Relativity is regarded as the pinnacle of mathematical elegance, more than a century since its formulation. Can policy makers plan to make India a $5 trillion economy in five years without worrying about the basic mathematics of economic growth? Some of our leaders seem to think that wishful thinking can take us there. Albert Einstein's discovery of gravity has been invoked as a successful example for achieving seemingly unattainable goals through 'out-of-the-box' thinking. Two obvious questions arise. First, did Einstein indeed explain relativity sans any inputs from mathematics? And, two, can economic growth models be devoid of mathematics? Einstein's general theory of relativity is the most accurate theory of gravity available to us at present. True, Einstein was certainly not the first one to make contributions to our understanding of gravity. More than two centuries prior to him, Isaac Newton had proposed a universal law of gravitation. However, Net...

15th August, 1947 - Our country may have become independent that day, but at the same time 565 princely states  within India also became equally independent. Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel and his trusted secretary and famous ICS officer V.P. Menon were entrusted with the responsibility of uniting the provinces into one nation. With efficient leadership and a brilliant strategy, Sardar Patel and V.P. Menon made the impossible possible, and within a year 562 princely states were ready to merge with India. But the areas which were still not merged with India were principally Kashmir, Junagadh and Hyderabad. Among them, Hyderabad was not only the largest princely state, but its total geographical area was also way larger than the United Kingdom. The princely state of Hyderabad included many areas of states like present-day Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Chhatisgarh. Hyderabad was then ruled by Nizam Usman Ali Khan, the seventh ruler of the ...

The oldest horse-drawn spoked wheel war chariot in the world is younger than the Harappan civilisation. A study has shown that there is no evidence of Steppe genes in Harappa according to analysis of DNA found in Rakhigarhi. This has led to the claim that Harappan civilisation was indigenous, 100% Indian, not shaped by any foreign influence whatsoever. Since many Puranic historians are convinced Rakhigarhi was Vedic, it could follow that the Vedas had no foreign influence either. Puranic hisotrians have dated the Vedas, based on internal astronomical evidence, to 7000BCE (9000 years ago), the events of the Ramayana to 5000 BCE (7000 years ago) and the Mahabharata war at Kurukshetra to 3000 BCE (5000 years ago). They are convinced the Vedas shaped the Sindhu-Saraswati civilisation which, according to archaeologists, waxed from 2500 BCE (4500 years ago) and waned by 1900 BCE (3900 years ago).  Horse, Chariot and a Civilisation : But there is only one problem. According to archaeo...

The magic of DNA revealing an ancient culture is at it again. It's well known that North Africa and Eurasia have been home to many of our earliest civilisations, including Mesopotamia, Egypt's Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, Sumer, Baylon, and several notable Chinese dynasties. There have also been smaller, less well-known civilisations that have risen and fallen over the millenia. One of them is the Indus Valley Civilisation  (IVC). This civilisation, which is also known as the Harappan civilisation, was strung out along the basin of the Indus River, covering the area that is now Pakistan, Afghanistan and part of India. Archaeological expeditions in that are have found evidence of religious practices that date back to 5500 BCE, of farming villages from 4000 BCE, and of complete civilisation from 3000 BCE.  Most of the excavations have happened in two places: the old city of Mohenjo-Daro and the city of Harappa. The evidence suggests that the cities were comparable, or even ...

"'Gaumata' is neither a Hindu nor Muslim. Cows can contribute to the economic development of the country", Pratap Sarangi said. Centre is planning to bring in a uniform policy for the protection of stray coes, Pratap Sarangi said. Union Minsiter Pratap Sarangi on 07th September, 2019 said the centre was planning to introduce a uniform policy for the entire country to protect stray cows. Addressing the 29th Indian Veterinary Conference, the Minister of State for Animal Husbandry also said 'gaumata' (cow) is neither a Muslim or Hindu. "Cows cannot be termed as a Hindu or Muslim (issue). 'Gaumata' is neither a Hindu nor Muslim. Cows can contribute to the economic development of the country", he added. Later speaking to reporters, the minister called the Madhya Pradesh government's announcement to set up 1000 modern gaushalas (cow shelters) in the state as a 'welcoming effort'.  "The Centre is planning to bring in a uniform p...

Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, has been designated a terrorist organisation by Western governments and some others and has been locked out of the traditional financial system. But this year, its military wing has developed an increasingly sophisticated campaign to raise money using bitcoin. In the latest version of the website set up by the wing, known as the Qassam Brigades, every visitor is given a unique Bitcoin address where he or she can send the digital currency, a method that makes the donations nearly impossible for law enforcement to track. Terrorists have been slow to join other criminal elements that have been drawn to bitcoin and have used it for everything from drug purchases to money laundering. But in recent months, government authorities and organisations that track terrorist financing have begun to raise alarms about an uptick in the number of Islamist terrorist organisations experimenting with bitcoin and other digital government authorities and outfits that...

A tigress kept watch for two days over a dry well in Katni district of Madhya Pradesh into which her cub fell. When forest officials got to know about the incident, the cub was rescued after a day-long operation on 20th August, 2019. The incident took place at Piparia village under Barhi forest range of Katni district. The rescued cub is out of danger and has been sent to Mukundpur White Tiger Safari for further treatment. It will be released in the wild after primary aid, officials said. An adult tigress was seen in the area with her three cubs over the past few days. On 18th August, 2019, one of her cubs fell into the well. The tigress was seen guarding the spot from a nearby hill for the past two days by the local villagers. However, no one undestood why the tigress was on the hill, sources said.  It was on 20th August, 2019 morning that some shepherds, who were passing by, heard a peculiar noise coming from the well. When they peeped inside, they saw the cub, and immediatel...