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Showing posts from June, 2022

Antibiotic use in cows and carbon emissions

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  Long-term exposure to manure from cows administered with antibiotics can change soil micro-biome and decrease their ability to store carbon. It also affects soil respiration and elemental cycling. The exposure also caused changes in the soil's fungal and bacterial ratios as well as altered the bacterial community structure. The use of antibiotics in the livestock sector is widespread — they are used to boost animal growth and treat infection. These account for around 80 per cent of the consumption of medically important antibiotics in some countries. Globally, the use of antibiotics in livestock is estimated to spike by 67 per cent by 2030. “There’s no environment on Earth that is free from the effects of antibiotics,”. Soil is a major source of carbon sink. Plants soak up carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from the atmosphere, while making their food, and store it in the soil.  If the volume of the carbon in the soil is more then it is released back into the atmosphere, soils can co

The Life of Saint Kabir

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“The life of Kabir is an epitome of human virtue and his teachings are relevant today even after 650 years. Kabir’s life was an ideal example of communal solidarity. He took the initiative to remove the evils, ostentation, and discrimination and also lived the household life like a saint.” The Bhakti movement, the Nirguni tradition and Kabir The Bhakti movement, which began in the 7th century in South India, had begun to spread across north India in the 14th and the 15th centuries.  The movement was characterized by popular poet-saints who sang devotional songs to God in vernacular languages, with many preaching for the abolishing the Varna system and some kind of Hindu-Muslim unity. They emphasized an intense emotional attachment with God. One school within the Bhakti movement was the Nirguni tradition and Sant Kabir was a prominent member of it. In this tradition, God was understood to be a universal and formless being. Many of the saints of the Bhakti movement came from the r

Is the steel frame of India rusting and losing its shine?

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Who are civil servants and what is their expected role? In a modern democracy, a civil servant is an official in the service of the people and is recruited based on predetermined qualifications. Civil servants are bureaucrats who need to be familiar with the laws and regulations of the country and are expected to act in the best interests of the country and its citizens. They are responsible for managing the resources given to them by the government and making use of them efficiently and effectively. A sound parliamentary system of government requires civil servants to maintain their integrity, fearlessness, and independence. One of the most important functions of the civil service, as stated by the head of the Canadian Public Service, is to “speak truth to power.” The crisis of ethics and accountability in civil servants exposes many issues related to the structure of the code of conduct, constitutional protection, the politician-bureaucratic nexus, and their political victimisation