Straight Line - October 2013

8/14/2019 Straight Line - October 2013

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SET INDIA FOUNDATION Page 1

Straight line 2013

Principles of Mahatma andhiNeed of the hour

Hidden India:

Tipu Sultan &

Mysorean

Rockets

Health:

Anaemia

Causes and

effects

Science &

Technology:

Ion thrusters


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Table of Contents

Cover story A Vision of a Visionary : 03SET INDIA FOUNDATION : 05

Hidden India

Mysorean Rockets : 07

Sci & Tech Ion thrusters : 09Editorial column Principles of Mahatma : 10Health Anaemia: causes and effects : 12Post Box True Indian : 14Our Earth Air pollution in India : 15Black Page Poor sanitation in India : 17


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A vision of a visionary

I visualize a prosperous India well before the year 2020. We

expect the people below the poverty line to come to near zero

and our literacy must be nearly 100%. The Human

Development Index of India will be less than 50 against the

present 127. Every Indian will have either have a good

university degree or quality training with globally competitive

employable vocational skill. E-governance would be in

position for all Government to Government (G2G) and

Government to Citizens (G2C) transactions making the

governance system transparent with a National ID card in

position. Tele-density will reach over 75%.

All our villages will have reliable, uninterrupted quality

electric power supply. 600,000 villages will have all three

connectivities such as physical connectivity, electronic

connectivity, knowledge connectivity leading to economic

connectivity through the programme of PURA. The

interlinking of rivers and water bodies and use of technology

for water collection, water recycling and water management

will result in equitable distribution of water for drinking,

irrigation, industry, navigation and as natural beauty. There

will be no shortage of water in any part of the country nor

will there be disasters due to floods, water logging etc. India

would have realized energy security and would be working towards energy

independence. Good sanitation facilities will be available in homes in every part of

India and for all Indians and tourists. We will be using more of renewable energy

such as solar energy, wind power, bio-mass, mini and micro Hydel and thorium

based nuclear reactors which are environment friendly energy sources.

Through responsive and innovative venture capital systems and entrepreneurial

training both in schools and colleges, we will have more enterprises leading to a

large number of employment generators rather than employment seekers. Before

2020, a pro-active healthcare system delivered through innovative schemes will


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provide quality healthcare access at an affordable cost to all the people including

those living in remote areas. Everyone will have an opportunity to take up and

complete courses of choice in higher education. I am sure you will all see

prosperity in the country, which will replace scarcity and controls. In addition to

the above economic, social and human development, India will also have a visibleglobal presence in strategic sectors and will contribute to world peace. All our

technological and economic advances while enhancing our prosperity would

embed our value system derived from our civilizational heritage. This unique

combination will make our growth robust and sustainable and will lead to a

peaceful, secure, happy and prosperous society. For achieving Vision 2020 from

the present ambiance, we need a measurement tool which can guide us in our

growth path. Since we are looking for inclusive growth for our one billion people,

we need a comprehensive measure of our growth in terms of the NationalProsperity Index.

The above is an excerpt from Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalams India 2020. He who

encouraged young minds to dream and dream has self dreamt about the state of

India a decade later. Dreams drive us, dreams fuel our desires and dreams imagine

the unimaginable. But mere dreams are nothing more than a broken down vehicle

that can hardly be pushed. We must cultivate the passion to pursue our dreams.

The above citation gives us an insight into this visionarys mind. Themain purposeis to kindle the young minds to dream, visualizing the growth of our Nation and

pursue the same for a better personal well being and societal improvement.

SETIF, with this visionarys thoughts in mind, we dream of bringing in a positive

change in our rural surroundings and to reach where, we plan a lot of programmes

and activities, classes for the students, renovation of heritage sites and the like.

Come; lets join hands in transforming India. Lets make our fomer Presidents

vision come true. Lets dream for a better India and tail it to success.


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First meeting: (Seated from left)

Mr.Krishnamoorthy, Mr. Kasi. Manoharan and

Mr. Sathyaseelan.

SET INDIA FOUNDATION

SET India Foundation is a nonprofit and a non-governmental organization, active

in the upliftment of the poor rural people in education and health, with active youth

participation, savouring the flavour of service to mankind.

SETIF focuses mainly on education, health and environment, providing quality

education and health to the poor rural people. This being our prime motive. Also, it

supports the students from poor background to pursue their higher studies. A

special team named, Fight Against Tobacco (FAT) has been deployed to create

awareness about the ill effects of tobacco.

Origin

What initially started as a friends

group called Young Indian Society

(YIS)on August 15, 2010, gave way

to the now SETIF. The main source

was the funds collected through the

members. The first meeting was held

in Thellar on December 5, 2010

headed by Mr. Kasi. ManoharanofPuthiya Thalaimurai. It was presided

over by Mr. Krishnamoorthy, a

High School Mathematics teacher,

who has been all supportive in all our

endeavors. More than 35 members

participated in the first meeting. All

members pledged to visualize our societys vision with utmost participation.

The member band comprises of youngsters with a passion to contribute something

back to their society that would transform it for the better. All the members are

united with this like mindedness.


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Members of Young Indian Society (YIS) participated in the meeting

For more details please visit: www.setindia.webs.com
http://www.setindia.webs.com/http://www.setindia.webs.com/http://www.setindia.webs.com/


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Hidden India

Mysorean rockets

Mysorean rockets were the first iron-cased rockets that were successfully deployed

for military use. Hyder Ali, the

18th century ruler of Mysore, and

his son and successor, Tipu Sultan

used them effectively against the

British East India Company. Their

conflicts with the company

exposed the British to this

technology, which was then used

to advance European rocketry

with the development of theCongreve rocket.

Technology and deployment

Hyder Ali's father, the naik or chief constable at Budikote, commanded 50

rocketmen for the Nawab of Arcot. There was a regular rocket corps in the Mysore

Army, beginning with about 1,200 men in Hyder Ali's time. At the Battle of

Pollilur (1780), during the Second Anglo-Mysore War, Colonel William Baillie's

ammunition stores are thought to have been detonated by a hit from one of Hyder

Ali's rockets, contributing to a humiliating British defeat.

Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan deployed them effectively against the larger

British East India Company forces during the Anglo-Mysore Wars. These

'missiles', fitted with swords used to travel long distance, several meters above in

air before coming down with swords edges facing the enemy. The British then took

an active interest in the technology and developed it further during the 19th

century. The Mysore rockets of this period were much more advanced than whatthe British had seen, chiefly because of the use of iron tubes for holding the

propellant; this enabled higher thrust and longer range for the missile (up to 2 km

range). Although rockets existed also in Europe, they were not iron cased, and their

range was far less than that of their oriental counterparts. While these hammered

soft iron rockets were crude, the bursting strength of the container of black powder


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was much higher than the earlier paper construction; thus a greater internal

pressure was possible. In battles at Srirangapattana in 1792 and 1799 these rockets

were used with considerable effect against the British.

British adoption of the technology

After the fall of Srirangapattana, 600 launchers, 700 serviceable rockets and 9,000

empty rockets were found. Some of the rockets had pierced cylinders, to allow

them to act like incendiaries, while some had iron points or steel blades bound to

the bamboo. By attaching these blades to rockets they became very unstable

towards the end of their flight causing the blades to spin around like flying scythes,

cutting down all in their path.

These experiences eventually led the Royal Woolwich Arsenal to start a military

rocket research and development program in 1801, based on the Mysorean

technology. Several rocket cases were collected from Mysore and sent to Britain

for analysis. Their first demonstration of solid-fuel rockets came in 1805 and was

followed by publication of A Concise Account of the Origin and Progress of the

Rocket System in 1807 by William Congreve, son of the arsenal's commandant.

Congreve rockets were soon systematically used by the British during the

Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. These descendants were used in the 1814

Battle of Baltimore, and are mentioned in the Star Spangled Banner.

Mysorean rockets in London museum Tipu Sultan, the pioneer of Rockets

(Courtesy: Wikipedia)


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Science & Technology

Ion thruster

An ion thruster is a form of electric propulsion used for spacecraft propulsion that

creates thrust by accelerating ions. The term is strictly used to refer to gridded ion

thrusters, but may often more loosely be applied to all electric propulsion systems

that accelerate plasma, since plasma consists of ions. Ion thrusters are categorized

by how they accelerate the ions, using either electrostatic or electromagnetic force.

Electrostatic ion thrusters use the Coulomb force and accelerate the ions in the

direction of the electric field. Electromagnetic ion thrusters use the Lorentz force to

accelerate the ions.

Ion thrusters create very small levels of

thrust compared to conventional chemical

rockets but achieve very high specificimpulse, or propellant mass efficiencies,

by accelerating their exhausts to very high

speed. However, ion thrusters carry a

fundamental price: the power imparted to

the exhaust increases with the square of

its velocity while the thrust increases only

linearly. Normal chemical rockets, on the

other hand, can provide very high thrustbut are limited in total impulse by the small amount of energy that can be stored

chemically in the propellants. Given the practical weight of suitable power

sources, the accelerations given by ion thrusters are frequently less than one

thousandth of standard gravity. However, since they operate essentially as electric

(or electrostatic) motors, a greater fraction of the input power is converted into

kinetic exhaust power than in a chemical rocket. Chemical rockets operate as heat

engines subject to the Carnot limit that applies to every heat engine.

Due to their relatively high power needs, given the specific power of powersupplies, and the requirement of an environment void of other ionized particles, ion

thrust propulsion is currently only practical in space.

Ion thruster during a hot fire test at the Jet

Pro ulsion Laborator .


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Principles of Mahatma Gandhi

The 2ndof October every year is celebrated as Gandhi Jayanthi, an InternationalNon Violence Day, globally. This year, we celebrate the 144thbirth anniversary of

Mahatma Gandhi. On this occasion, lets embrace all the values that this great soul

propagated and understand theseprinciples that maketh Our Nations Greatest

Hero.

The fi rst principle which guided all his thoughts and activities is the complete

unity and integrity of body, mind and soul in the individual human being. He was

never tired of saying that the body should be controlled by the mind and the mind

by the soul. But this control is not to be achieved by despising or neglecting either

the body or the mind or in the mystic exaltation of the soul by itself. He attached to

physical health and well-being as much importance as to plain and logical thinkingor moral responsibility. He was one of the most logical and powerful writers; yet,

he was never tired of decrying all idle and purposeless playing with words and

ideas or deification of thought as such. He was convinced that real thought must be

organically connected to moral purposes on the one side and useful and right action

on the other.

It has been claimed that the greatest achievement of Gandhi was the

spiritualization of politics. This is undoubtedly true; but he had no faith in

spirituality by itself as an abstract virtue. He conceived it as a kind of illumination

or fragrance which should accompany every thought and action. It is difficult to

define it, except, perhaps, through the verses of the Bhagavad-Gita which

constituted his daily prayer.

The second pri ncipleof Gandhian philosophy may be stated as follows: All social

action should be governed by the same simple set of moral values, of which the

main elements are selflessness, non-attachment, nonviolence and active service. It

would be too long to define and elaborate his ideas with respect to each of these;but he believed that the growth of a mans personality is proportionate to his faith

in, and practice of, these virtues. This is possible only when he identifies himself

more and more with an ever-increasing circle till it embraces all humanity and

even all living beings. He judged the value and vitality of social institutions by

their capacity to foster such growth.


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His third conviction was that no society, state or any other institution has any

worth or importance apart from its part in contributing to the growth of the

individuals of which it is composed. The State, the Nation, the community and

other traditional groupings had no intrinsic value for him. In the pages of Young

India in the earlier years, he defended the caste system as a great scheme of socialand sexual discipline; but in the light of actual experience he abandoned it as an

impractical system, though to the end he believed in some kind of voluntary and

ideal social groups based on qualifications and capacity for service.

It was Gandhi's firm conviction that means are at least as important as, and often

even more important than, ends. It is, of course, desirable that ends should be good

and reasonable. But they merely give a direction to life while the means adopted

constitute life itself. Therefore, if the means are right, that is, if they conform to the

tests of truth and nonviolence, even mistakes, errors and failures aid the growth of

the individual. On the other hand, wrong means corrupt the soul and no good can

ever come out of them. Gandhi repudiated categorically the idea that ends justify

the means. This implies the rejection of war, espionage and crooked diplomacy,

even when they are adopted for the so-called noble ends of defending the country,

religion or humanity.

Faith in God is, according to Gandhi, the foundation of all moral values. He never

defined God and was prepared to allow every person to have his own idea of God.For himself, he was inclined to think of Him as the Upanishadic Brahman. But, so

long as a person believes in some source of spiritual life and holds it superior to the

material universe, he is a believer in God. Gandhi had no objection even to a

formal profession of agnosticism, so long as a person demonstrated by his

attachment to moral values that this outlook was essentially spiritual in essence.

I believe that the influence of Gandhi in the future will depend more and more on

the realization that these fundamental principles constitute the core of his teachings

and that all his actions were merely illustrations of their application. He considered

his life as a series of experiments with truth. Therefore, it is his conception of truth

that is central to his life and work. I do not claim that the principles I have

indicated exhaust his conception; but I believe that they constitute its basic

elements.

(Courtesy:www.mkgandhi.org) -K. Santhanam
http://www.mkgandhi.org/http://www.mkgandhi.org/http://www.mkgandhi.org/


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Health & Life style:

Anaemia

Anaemia is common throughout the world.

Its main cause, iron deficiency, is the mostprevalent nutritional deficiency in the

world. Several infections related to

hygiene, sanitation, safe water and water

management are significant contributors to

anaemia in addition to iron deficiency.

These include malaria, schistosomiasis and

hookworm.

The disease and how it affects peopleAnaemia is a condition that occurs when the red blood cells do not carry enough

oxygen to the tissues of the body. Anaemia affects all population groups. However

the most susceptible groups are pregnant women and young children. In the milder

form, anaemia is silent,without symptoms. In the more severe form, anaemia is

associated with fatigue, weakness, dizziness anddrowsiness. The signs include loss

of normal colour in the skin (in fair skinned people) and also in the lips, tongue

nail beds and the blood vessels in the white of the eye. Without treatment, anaemia

can worsen and becomes an underlying cause of chronic ill health, such asimpaired fetal development during pregnancy, delayed cognitive development and

increased risk of infection in young children, and reduced physical capacity in all

people. Low birth weight infants, young children and women of childbearing age

are particularly at risk of anaemia. Women of childbearing age need to absorb 2-3

times the amount of iron required by men or older women.

The cause

The main causes of anaemia are nutritional and infectious. They usually coexist in

the same individual and make anaemia worst.Among the nutrition factors contributing to anaemia, the most common one is iron

deficiency. It is due to a diet that is monotonous, but rich in substances (phytates)

inhibiting iron absorption so that dietary iron cannot be utilized by the body. Iron

deficiency may also be aggravated by poor nutritional status, especially when it is


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associated with deficiencies in folic acid, vitamin A or B12, as is often the case in

populations living in developing countries

With regard to infections, malaria is another major cause of anaemia: it affects

300-500 million people, and in endemic areas it may be the primary cause of half

of all severe anaemia cases (WHO, 2000). Hookworm infection and in some placesschistosomiasis also contribute to anaemia. Approximately 44 million pregnant

women have hookworm infections and 20 million people are severely infected with

schistosomiasis. Anaemia can also be due to excessive blood loss, such as

gastrointestinal infections associated with diarrhoea. The most important water-

related causes of anaemia are malnutrition and water-borne or water-related

infections.

Distribution

Anaemia is a common problem throughout the world and iron deficiency is themost prevalent nutritional deficiency in the world. It affects mainly the poorest

segment of the population, particularly where malnutrition is predominant and the

population exposed to a high risk of water-related infection.

Scope of the problem

Nine out of ten anaemia sufferers live in developing countries, about 2 billion

people suffer from anaemia and an even larger number of people present iron

deficiency (WHO, 2000). Anaemia may contribute to up to 20% of maternal

deaths.Intervention

Full discussion of strategies towards anaemia prevention is beyond the scope of

this Fact Sheet. Because anaemia is the result of multiple factors, the identification

of these factors and of the causes and type of anaemia is important. Important

actions include addressing underlying causes correcting iron deficiency, treatment

of underlying disease processes (in particular nutritional deficiencies - Folic acid,

Vitamin A and B12).

In children, promoting breastfeeding and proper complementary foods areimportant in controlling anaemia.Improving hygiene, sanitation and water supply;

and improving water resource management to contribute to control of

schistosomiasis and malaria where they occur are important contributory measures

in prevention of anaemia.

(Courtesy: WHO)


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Post Box (Your suggestions are highly valuable)


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Our Earth

Air pollution in India

By Shrikanth Parthasarathy

Air pollution in India is a serious issue with the major sources being fuelwood and

biomass burning, fuel adulteration, vehicle emission and traffic congestion. India

has a low per capita emission of greenhouse gases but the country as a whole is the

third largest after China and the United States. A 2013 study on non-smokers has

found that Indians have 30% lower lung function compared to Europeans.

The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act was passed in 1981 to regulate

air pollution and there have been some measurable improvements. However, the

2012 Environmental Performance Index ranked India as having the poorest relative

air quality out of 132 countries.

Fuel wood and biomass burning

Fuelwood and biomass burning is the

primary reason for near-permanent haze and

smoke observed above rural and urban

India, and in satellite pictures of the

country. This form of fuel is inefficient

source of energy, its burning releases high

levels of smoke, PM10 particulate matter,NOX, SOX, PAHs, polyaromatics,

formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and other air pollutants. India is the world's

largest consumer of fuelwood, agricultural waste and biomass for energy purposes.

Fuel adulteration

Some Indian taxis and auto-rickshaws run on adulterated fuel blends. Adulteration

of gasoline and diesel with lower-priced fuels is common in South Asia, including

India. Some adulterants increase emissions of harmful pollutants from vehicles,worsening urban air pollution. Adulterated fuel increases tailpipe emissions of

hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and

particulate matter (PM).Kerosene is more difficult to burn than gasoline; its

addition results in higher levels of HC, CO and PM emissions even from catalyst-

equipped cars. The higher sulfur level of kerosene is another issue. The higher


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levels of sulfur can deactivate the catalyst. Once the catalyst becomes deactivated,

the amount of pollution from the vehicle dramatically increases.

Traffic congestion

Traffic congestion is severe in India's

cities and towns.At low speeds, scientific

studies reveal, vehicles burn fuel

inefficiently and pollute more per trip. At

average trip speeds between 20 to 40

kilometers per hour, the cars pollutant

emission was twice as much as when the

average speed was 55 to 75 kilometers per

hour. The average trip speed on manyIndian city roads is less than 20 kilometers per hour; a 10 kilometer trip can take

30 minutes, or more. At such speeds, vehicles in India emit air pollutants 4 to 8

times more than they would with less traffic congestion.

Greenhouse gas emissions

India was the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide in 2009 at 1.65 Gt per year,

after China (6.9 Gt per year) and the United States (5.2 Gt per year). With 17

percent of world population, India contributed some 5 percent of human-sourcedcarbon dioxide emission; compared to Chinas 24 percent share. On per capita

basis, India emitted about 1.4 tons of carbon dioxide per person, in comparison to

the United States 17 tons per person, and a world average of 5.3 tons per person.

A significant source of greenhouse gas emissions from India is from black carbon,

NOx, methane and other air pollutants. These pollutants are emitted in large

quantities in India every day from incomplete and inefficient combustion of

biomass. India's poorly managed solid wastes, inadequate sewage treatment plants;

water pollution and agriculture are other sources of greenhouse gas emissions.


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Black Page

Public Sanitation - A Hazard not so TrivialBy Aditi Ananthanarayanan

Public Sanitation, as a health hazard is one of the most critical discrepancies faced

by the nation in todays time. On one end, where we are technically developing

each day, on the other end we are ignoring basic health issues which are curbing

our overall development.

In a country like India, where more than 37% people live below the poverty line,

assuring basic hygiene for one and all is a major task for the Government. In India,

sanitation issues begin from lack

of availability of clean drinkingwater, to improper disposal of

human and other waste.

Improper sanitation leads to

various diseases such as

diarrhea, dysentery, malaria,

dengue, etc. As per the UNICEF

reports, in India, about 1000

children, under the age of 5, dieevery day due to diarrhea!

The lack of public sanitation in the country is not exclusive to the rural sector, but

it is clearly visible in the well developed cosmopolitans as well. Our top-notch

metros are overflowing with small slums crammed up in every nook and corner,

and these places are the birth place of majority of the sanitation issues being faced

by the country. As per records, about 700 million people in India, defecate openly

in public spaces! These maybe on footpaths, public gardens, open parks, open

sewage, gutters, and so on.

In order to conquer such issues, The Sanitation Act was put into action in 1993

which made dry latrine and its manual cleaning a punishable offence. This

however went in vain, as over 13 million unsanitary bucket latrines are still being

used illegally.


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Coming down to the basic amenities such as the toilets, it is shocking to reveal that

out of a population of about 1.2 billion, only 336 million have access to toilets! In

the slums of Mumbai, between 81 to 243 people share a single toilet.

Poor sanitation is something that not only affects the health of the people of thecountry, but also affects the development of the nation. In fact, women are most

affected by the hazards of lack of proper sanitation. For instance, in India majority

of the girls drop out of school because of lack of toilets. Only 22% of them manage

to even complete class 10.

On economic grounds, according to the Indian Ministry of Health and Family

Welfare, more than 12 billion rupees is spent every year on poor sanitation and its

resultant illnesses.

In fact, India is probably the only country where animals roam about freely on the

roads, excreting wherever it may seem possible! These in turn add on to the

sanitation issues of the country, and hamper its growth.

These facts and figures make us realize how crucial the situation of public

sanitation in our country is. Public sanitation has an impact on the overall working

of the nation.

The task of providing proper sanitation to the public is not an impossible feat. Dr.

Bindeshwar Pathak brought about a revolutionary change through his Sulabh

Sanitation Movement. Ever since its launch in 1970, Dr. Pathak has made more

than 1 million public toilets. A task which was seen to be impossible even by the

high ranked bodies, it was successfully accomplished by the Sulabh Sanitation

Movement. This movement has been so successfully that it has received

International acclamation as well. But this radical movement is just like a drop in

the vast ocean. A lot more is required!

Thus, there are solutions to cater to this problem, what is needed is hardcore

commitment. Its time to realize that public sanitation is a grave environmental

hazard that has engulfed the entire country. These ensnares need to be ripped apart.

Its time to offer a happier and healthier life to our citizens.

(Courtesy: The Viewspaper)

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Straight Line - October 2013