Author: Glam World

Kandukuri Veeresalingam Pantulu was the great Social Reformer from the state of Andhra Pradesh.

He was born on 16th of April, 1848 at Rajahmundry.

Andhra Desh and Andhra people could not be what they are if Kandukuri Veeresalingam Pantulu had not arrived to vitalize them. He brought new vigor in Telugu Literature.

Sri Veeresalingam Pantulu was one of the earliest pioneers in South India to demand and work for dramatic changes in our society. Kandukuri Veeresalingam is the greatest Andhra of modern times. Like all pioneers who are ahead of their time, he suffered misunderstanding and persecution. We owe it to his memory to work for social regeneration even as he did, braving all ridicule and danger.

Literary Activities: He wrote the first novel in Telugu Rajasekhara Charitra. He was the first to render drama in Telugu. He was the first to write in prose for women. In fact he was the father of the renaissance movement in Andhra.

Education of Women: Veeresalingam took part in the controversy by championing women’s education. To propagate his views effectively Veeresalingam started his journal ‘Vivekavardhini’ in 1874 at Rajahmundry.

He also established schools for girls.

Widow Re-Marriages: Kandukuri Veeresalingam’s pioneering work in the emancipation of the Andhra widows overshadows his achievements in other branches of social reform.

Last Days: Kandukuri Veeresalingam lost his wife on 11 August 1910. Her death was a terrible blow to him. His enemies tried to defame him by spreading wild rumors and involved him in defamation cases. He came out of the cases unscathed, but lost the zest for life. He died on 27 May 1919 at Madras.

Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya (also Sir MV, M Visvesvaraya) was one of the greatest engineer the country has produced. He was also the Diwan of Mysore during the years between 1912 to 1918. Visvesvaraya was really a ‘Bharat Ratna’ Jewel and it is no wonder that the Government of India bestowed on him the highest honour of the country, Bharat Ratna 1955.

Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was born at Muddenahalli village in the Telugu-speaking Kolar district of the Karnataka State on 15 September 1861. Visvesvaraya’s forefathers belonged to Mokshagundam village in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh and they migrated to Kolar district in the early part of the last century.

Visvesvaraya lost his father at an early age. He was therefore brought up by his uncle Ramayya who spared no effort in giving his nephew the best possible education. Visvesvaraya stood first among the successful candidates of the B.A. examination from the Central College, Bangalore which was then affiliated to the University of Madras. This enabled him to secure the scholarship of the Mysore Government to pursue further studies in Engineering at Poona. He took his degree in Engineering in 1884 securing a first class and winning the much coveted award, the James Berkeley Prize. This enabled him to join the Public Works Department of the Government of Bombay as Assistant Engineer. He retired from the service of Bombay Government as Superintending Engineer in 1908.

Visvesvaraya showed his brilliance by introducing what was known as the Block System of Irrigation. His talents were recognized by persons like Lord Kitchener, the Commander-in-Chief of India and Lord Sydenham the Governor of Bombay, when they saw the Khadakwasla Reservoir at Poona built as per the new innovation introduced by Visvesvaraya.

The services of Visvesvaraya were used by the Government of Hydera­bad to control the floods of the Musi River, which caused immense damage to life and property of the city of Hyderabad in 1908. The Hyderabad Government implemented the recommendations of Visvesvaraya and saved the city of Hyderabad from the scourge of annual floods. Again in 1922 his services were utilized while drawing up the drainage scheme to Hyderabad city.

Visvesvaraya was the maker of modern Mysore. As the Dewan of Mysore during the years 1912 to 1918 he initiated industrialization of Mysore by starting the Mysore Iron and Steel Works at Bhadravati. Earlier as the Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department of the Government of Mysore, he was responsible for the construction of a dam across the river Cauvery. This dam known as Krishnaraja Sagar Dam and the famous Brindavan Gardens attached to it are well known throughout the country and they stand testimony to the engineering skill and aesthetic sense of Visvesvaraya.

Visvesvaraya was the first to realize the importance of planning. His ideas on planning and industrialization of the country caught the fancy of no less a person than Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Speaking at a function held at Bangalore to honour Visvesvaraya on his hundredth birthday Nehru said that Visvesvaraya was a dreamer, thinker and a man of action and that the country was full of memorials of the work done by him.

Visvesvaraya died on 14th of April, 1962 at the age of 101.

Teachers’ day is celebrated to express our gratitude and appreciate the hard work of our Teachers. Teachers’ Day in India is observed on the birthday of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan that falls on 5th of September every year.

This great son of India was a teacher and later he became the Vice-President of Indian Republic. On the death of Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan became the President.

We, the students, are very proud to pay our respect to that great Teacher-President on this day. We pay our respect to our own teachers as well. Our teachers inspire us the same way as Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan inspired his students. They love us and are always anxious to help us.

Also read: Short Speech on Teachers Day by a Student

It is widely celebrated in schools and colleges. Occasionally, Students and teachers together also arrange for a Teachers’ Day Function. They also organize cultural events on this day. Teachers and students gather somewhere inside the school and the celebration begins.

We owe more to our teachers than we owe to even our parents. Our teachers help us stride forward, build our character and prepare us to face life.

On Teachers’ Day we thank our dear teachers. We express our love and gratefulness on the occasion of Teachers Day. On this day we also promise to be worthy citizens of India.

The features and characteristics of rivers in North Indian are mentioned below:

1. Source: Rivers of North India rise from the lofty Himalayan mountain ranges.

2. Loads: The rivers of North India carry maximum load as they flow over the soft rocks and alluvial plains.

3. Navigability: The Rivers of North India are navigable in their middle and lower courses.

4. Irrigation Facility: Most of the rivers of North India are useful for irrigation.

5. Flow Pattern: The Himalayan river in North India are perennial. They get water from melting of snow and rainfall.

6. Tributaries: The rivers of the north India have innumerable tributaries.

7. Length: The Himalayan rivers of North India are long. They travel long distances on mountains and on plains.

8. Human Settlement: Many towns and cities are found on the rivers of north India as they provide good transport facility since time immemorial.

9. Catchment Area: The North Indian Rivers have large basins. Their catchment areas cover extensive areas. For example, the river Ganga has a catchment area of about 8 lakhs sq. km.

10. Character of the Terrain: The Himalayan rivers pass through deep gorges and valleys, and then they descend on the plain. They have meandering course on level surface. On alluvial plains, these rivers often change their  course. Changes occur when they descend from the mountain to the plain.

In almost all societies, the usage of avoidance is observed to maintain incest taboo. A father-in-law should avoid his daughter-in-law; similarly a mother-in-law maintains avoidance relation to her son-in-law. It is also observed in the relationship between husband’s elder brother and younger brother’s wife. It accounts for the Hindu purdah (curtain) system.

Joking relationship forms the reverse type of usage to the former. The relationship between husband’s younger brother and elder brother’s wife and also between elder sister’s husband and wife’s younger sister, as found among the Hindus, and the tribals, may be termed as joking relationship. All kinds of jokes, including the vulgar sexual jokes, are permissible among the above-mentioned kins according to traditional social norm.

The maternal uncle (mama) is given an important status so far his relation with his nephew and niece are concerned. The Nayars of South India exhibit avunculate kinship usages.

Let us discuss the machinery which exists in India for the settlement of industrial disputes. In this connection, we may mention the vital role that the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947 (as amended from time to time) plays or maintenance of peace in industrial units.

(1) There is a Working Committee in every industrial unit employing hundred persons or more. The Committee consists of the representatives of both the management and the workers. Its object is to improve the employer labor relation and to secure a settlement of industrial disputes.

(2) In every factory, there are Conciliation Officers appointed by the Government to go through the nature of dispute the arises between the workers and the management and try to resolve the conflict. The Committee submits a report there on to the Government.

(3) Arbitration is an important method of settlement of industrial disputes in India. It may be voluntary or compulsory. Under compulsory arbitration, the parties are bound to refer the disputes to the adjudication board the decision of which is binding upon the parties.

(4) The Government can appoint a Board of Conciliation consisting of four members to investigate any dispute and try to settle it and the board submits a report to the Government about it.

(5) In our economy the State Governments have been empowered to set up the Labor Courts for settlement of disputes arising out of the retrenchment workers. The government may also appoint a Court of Enquiry to find out the causes of labor unrest.

(6) There are many Industrial Tribunals in the Centre the States. Such a tribunal is presided over by a distinguished jurist for the purpose of settlement of disputes relating to wages, bonus etc. There are also Labor Appellate Tribunals to hear appeals from employers and employees and also the decisions of the Labor Courts, and the Board of Conciliation.

(7) The Bonus Act has been passed for the payment of bonus to laborers. There are also Wage Boards in different industrial units for the purpose of fixation of fair wages to the industrial workers.

(8) Both at the Centre and in the States, the Industrial Relations Commissions have been instituted for adjudication of disputes of industrial undertakings. In the several industrial units, workers are allowed to participate in the management for administrating the welfare schemes and fixation of working hours and leave.

(9) In 1965, the Industrial Disputes Act was amended in order to enable a retrenched worker to raise a dispute without the help of the union. Besides, casual laborers get layoff compensation which is half of their monthly wages.

(10) The amendments of 1982 and 1984 of the Industrial Dispute Act, has fixed compensation for retrenchment and has made the serving of a notice of retrenchment, closure to the appropriate Government compulsory and have a1so forbidden any unlawful retrenchment lay off in an industrial establishment employing not less than 100 workers without the prior permission of the appropriate Government.

(11) In some industries there exists a close co­-operation between the workers and the management for avoiding the loss of man days, encouraging the growth of workers’ unions and adjudicating disputes through mutual understanding and negotiations.

The machinery existing in India for the settlement of industrial disputes is not always effective in maintaining harmony in our industrial economy. For, the presence of certain deficiencies in the machinery steps should be taken to remove them by the proper authority.

Murshid Quli Khan was the de facto Nawab of Bengal. He was probably born in 1665.

Murshid Quli Khan, who hailed from Burhanpur, was by birth a Brahmin. During his early years he was sold by an anonymous merchant of Isfahan to Haji Shafi Isfahani. Possibly around this time he was converted to Islam and his master named him Muhammad Hadi. Later on, Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb gave him the title of “Murshid Quli Khan”.

Together, Murshid Quli Khan and his master had spent some time in Persia before returning to India. After his master’s death, Murshid Quli Khan worked in the revenue department in Berar and, soon, through proficiency in this field, earned the recognition of Aurangzeb.

In 1698 he was made the Diwan of Hyderabad. And success there raised him to the posts of Faujdar of Murshidabad and the Diwan of Bengal in 1700.

He earned his reputation by thwarting the attempt of Azim-ush-Shan, the subahdar of the province, to appropriate the revenue of Bengal for his personal gain.

In the Mughal provinces, it may be noted, the post of subahdar or nazim and the diwan was never amalgamated in one person. Abuse of power was checked by the Emperor by keeping the men divided, each post serving as a check on the other. The nazim was responsible for the maintenance of law and order, the command of the armed forces and the administration of criminal justice; while the diwan was responsible for finance and taxation and administration of civil justice.

In 1701, Hadi became the faujdar of Murshidabad, Bardhaman and Midnapore. Aurangazeb, then in deep financial strain in the war with the Marathas, was overwhelmingly pleased when Hadi remitted one crore of rupees from the province. As a reward for his services, in 1702, Aurangzeb gave him the title Murshid Quli Khan.

In 1703, Murshid Quli Khan was made the subahdar of Orissa and in 1704 to the post of Diwan of Bihar. The same year Murshid Quli Khan transferred his capital from Dhaka to Murshidabad. For his services as diwan, remitting punctually revenue to the capital, Murshid Quli was by stages raised to the position of deputy subahdar of Bengal in 1713 and to the post of subahdar in 1717. There was thus a distinct deviation from the Mughal practice when Murshid Quli Khan commanded both the posts of diwan and subahdar. He took the title of Alauddin Zafar Khan Bahadur and virtually acquired for his province a semi-independent status. Murshid Quli did not challenge the sover­eignty of the Emperor and also did not stop the remission of revenue to the capital, although the dignity of the empire had been seriously damaged by then.

Murshid Quli Khan became independent Nawab for all practical purposes, but he did not challenge the supremacy of Mughal Emperor. Within the province the de facto Nawab reigned supreme and his tenure as the Diwan and Subahdar saw the development of an elaborated revenue administration.

Murshid Quli Khan died on 30th June, 1727.

The rivers in India are all holy. Our Indus, Kosi, Saryu and Yamuna are sacred to us. They all play an important role in our agriculture and promote our trade.

But this is not all. Each of them is like a temple.

For Indian, a river is like a temple. And, what is more, it is our own mother.

What is the result?

Indian rivers have produced poets, saints and philosopher.

Triveni Sangam at Allahabad is a lovely place but, more than this, it is a holy place. No wonder, out saints and thinkers of old lived and died on the banks of these rivers.

A mother, we know, has to suffer for her children. Our rivers have a similar fate. All our big rivers are born on some hill or mountain. They are fed by snow or rain or both. So, the Indus, the Ganges, the Kosi, the Narmada and the Kaveri flow all the year round. Other rivers are born only during the rains. So, they dry up in summer.

In this way, our rivers feed on ordinary water – snow water and rain water. But the water they give us is the water of life:

• They give health to our fields and forests. The silt they bring is a food for our soil. A barren piece of land is turned into a lovely garden.
• They feed not only our land and plants but also our mills and factories. River water is turned into a new power called electricity, and thus, in turn, helps our trade and industry.

How noble the Indian rivers are! How hard their journey is! But they don’t mind it at all.

They toil across all the rocks and core to us running, playing and smiling. They live their life only by giving just as a mother sacrifices all for her children.

The Second Anglo-Maratha War started in August, 1803. Arthur Wellesley captured Ahmednagar on 12 August. Wellesley’s aggressive war strategy all along kept the Maratha forces busy. On 23 September, the British got victory over the troops of Sindhia and Bhonsle in the Battle of Assaye.

One after another, Burhanpur, Asirgarh and the strong fortress of Gwalior were captured by the British East India Company. Sindhia’s forces faced defeat in Delhi and Laswari.

General Lake captured Agra and Delhi in November, 1803. The Maratha forces were com­pletely routed in every front. On 17 December, Raghuji Bhonsle II was compelled to sign the Treaty of Deogaon with the British. By the terms of the treaty, Bhonsle ceded Balasore and Cuttack of Orissa and the entire region in the Western banks of the Wardha River to the English.

On December 30, 1803, Daulat Rao Sindhia signed the treaty of Surji-Anjangaon with the English. The region between the Ganga and the Jamuna, entire area including the forts situated in the north of Rajputana, Ahmednagar, Broach and the territories in the west of the Ajanta hills were obtained by the English from Sindhia. On 27 February, 1804, Sindhia accepted the Subsidiary Alliance of the English.

So long Jaswant Rao Holkar had been observing the humiliating defeats of Sindhia and Bhonsle with apathy and indifference. But now he became active to form an anti-English confederacy of the Indian powers. He rallied the support of the Rajputs, the Sikhs as well as the Rohillas behind him and started war against the English. In the early stage of the war Jaswant Rao Holkar was crowned with illuminating success. His success so much annoyed the Court of Directors in London that the Company authorities directed Wellesley to leave India in 1805. The Court of Directors thought that the English Company’s burden of debt increased owing to the aggressive policy of Wellesley. Under these circumstances Sir George Barlow came as the new Governor General in India. On January 7, 1806, Barlow signed a treaty with Holkar. The English left their claim over Kooch, Rampura, Bundelkhand, Tonk, Bundi, and territories in the north of Chambal. Sindhia got back Gwalior. The Second Anglo-Maratha War ended.

Environmental pollution refers to the introduction of harmful pollutants into the environment. It has a hazardous effect on the natural world and on the activities of living beings.

The major types of environmental pollution are air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, thermal pollution, soil pollution and light pollution.

Deforestation and hazardous gaseous emissions also leads to environmental pollution. During the last 10 years, the world has witnessed severe rise in environmental pollution.

We all live on planet earth, which is the only planet known to have an environment, where air and water are two basic things that sustain life. Without air and water the earth would be like the other planets – no man, no animals, no plants. The biosphere in which living beings have their sustenance has oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, argon and water vapor. All these are well balanced to ensure and help a healthy growth of life in the animal world. This balance does not only help the life-cycles of animals and plants, but it also creates the perennial sources of minerals and energies without which the human civilization of to-day could not be built. It is for this balance that the human life and other forms of existence have flourished on earth for so many thousands of years.

Also read: Short paragraph on Pollution

But man, as the most intelligent animal, never stopped being inquisitive, nor was he content with the bounties of nature. His quest for knowledge and search for security succeeded in exploring newer and wider avenues of mysteries that remained baffling so long. Man’s excursions into the darkest regions of mysteries laid foundations for the stupendous civilization, for the conquests of men had ensured their domination in their world and gave them a key to control all the forces in nature.

With the dawn of the age of science and technology, there has been huge growth and development of human potentials. And, it is here that man first began losing control and became prisoner of his own creations.

Sources and Causes

The sources and causes of environmental pollution includes the following:

• Industrial activities: The industries all over the world that brought prosperity and affluence, made inroads in the biosphere and disturbed the ecological balances. The pall of smoke, the swirling gases, industrial effluents and the fall-out of scientific experiments became constant health hazards, polluting and contaminating both air and water. The improper disposal of industrial wastes are the sources of soil and water pollution.
• Vehicles: The smoke emitted by vehicles using petrol and diesel and the cooking coal also pollutes the environment. The multiplication of vehicles, emitting black smoke that, being free and unfettered, spreads out and mixes with the air we breathe. The harmful smoke of these vehicles causes air pollution. Further, the sounds produced by these vehicles produces causes noise-pollution.
• Rapid urbanization and industrialization: The urbanization and the rapid growth of industrialization are causing through environmental pollution the greatest harm to the plant life, which in turn causing harm to the animal kingdom and the human lives.
• Population overgrowth: Due to the increase in population, particularly in developing countries, there has been surge in demand for basic food, occupation and shelter. The world has witnessed massive deforestation to expand absorb the growing population and their demands.

Also read: Sources of Water, Air and Soil Pollution

Effect

Environmental pollution has negatively affected the life of both human-beings and animals. Almost all of our gains in the fields of industrial progress, science and technology had so far been realized at the cost of our health. Even our flora and fauna were found to be threatened with extinction.

All this really leaves us wondering if all our achievements and industrial civilization really help us climb the peaks of prosperity or simply take us down the blind alleys of adversity. It is not only in India, but all over the world – even in Europe and U.S.A. – that the question is being raised whether all is well with our industrial growth and progress in the field of science and technology. Many crusaders against environmental pollution are vehemently protesting against the indiscriminate violations committed daily in the name of development.

The environmental pollution is not caused by the fall-out from nuclear tests or industries alone. The smoke left behind the automobiles and other vehicular traffic, the increasing use of synthetic detergents, nitrogen fertilizers and insecticides contaminate both air and water.

• The water we drink the vegetables are all contaminated to-day. As a result of this contamination our world is afflicted with a quite a number of incurable diseases.
• Nothing in this world is immune, no life is safe and the future of this world is bleak.
• The factories are mostly built in populated areas and the smoke-emitting vehicles ply through the congested areas. Besides causing immense disturbances, there are increasing case of pulmonary tuberculosis and thrombosis and various sorts of brain and heart complications.
• Air-pollution may cause severe lungs-diseases, asthma, brain-disorder diseases, etc.
• Soil-pollution may have negative effect on farm output ratio. It can also contaminate the ground water.
• Noise-pollution have negative effects on hearing or auditory sense organs. It can also cause deafness, tiredness, and mental losses.
• The heat generated by industries and vehicles causes thermal pollution by raising the environmental temperature of the nearby areas.

The birth of mills and factories is the result of the growth of industry in this machine-predominated age. As long as they will be there, they must emit smoke, pollute the air and hasten our end by slow-poisoning.

The worst industrial environment tragedy occurred at Bhopal on December 3, 1984 as a result of toxic and poisonous leakage of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas from a multi-national Union Carbide pesticides manufacturing plant. Over 2000 people including woman and children were killed, and hundreds were severely hurt.

Solution

What then is the remedy? There surely cannot be any radical solution, for the existing factories cannot be bodily lifted to a place far from the populated zone. However, the following attempts can be made to solve the problem of environmental pollution.

• The Government can at least see that future factories are set up at a distant place, an industrial complex far away from the township.
• Researcher may find out how to avoid harmful smoke from running vehicles.
• Deforestation should be stopped and Forestry should be developed.
• Discharge of Factory wastes in rivers should be banned so as to make the river-water free from pollution.

Initiatives

1. The UN Conference on Human Environment was convened to study the profound changes in the relationship between man and his environment in the wake of modern scientific and technological developments.
2. The World Health Organization also set up an international network for the monitoring and study of air pollution on a global scale and for devising possible remedies.

Conclusion

We can very well notice the abnormal behaviour of the seasons – the cycle developing clogs in its wheels; and the worried experts fear that the disturbed balance in the biosphere has assumed such serious proportion that very soon our world would be uninhabitable like Hiroshima of 1945. But it is heartening to find the entire world aware of the menace. Some of the advanced countries have already taken some measures to meet it. If we fail to restore the ecological balance right now, it would be too late tomorrow.