"The present book on Arsenic has painted a small portion of the vast canvas of water pollution by focusing on the specified areas of the Gangetic plain. In India, the firstcase of arsenic contamination came to light in 1980 in West Bengal. Subsequently many chemists and biologists started examining arsenic content in water in various parts of Bihar and my team started work in some new areas of Gangetic plain in Bhagalpur district. Switching to groundwater for potable water resulted in decr...

This book is an anthology of seventeen cerebral articles from well-known Buddhist scholars associated with major universities across the globe deliberating many a topic associated with Buddhist religion and its philosophies as part of our constant striving to understand the fundamental nature of what the Buddha wanted us to realize.

Matters of space, spatiality, geography, topography and place have mostly remained neglected in modern scholarship and teaching because in most modern and postmodern literary criticism history and temporality have been dominating discourses. But in recent criticism the "when" and "what" of literature yield place to "where" as Michel Foucault declared the present time as "the epoch of space". Literature reflects a spirit of place and a sense of place because place is known and given meaning...

As the constitutional body that conducts elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has emerged as a trusted institution within the shared space of democracy in India. This process has, however, been a fraught one because of contestation over the ECI’s constitutional responsibility and the power of Parliament to make laws to govern electoral matters. This comprehensive monograph discusses the history of the ECI through a study of the measures it has adopted to ensure certainty of pr...

This book comprises the select peer-reviewed proceedings of the National Conference on Renewable Energy and Sustainable Environment (NCRESE) 2019. The book brings together the latest developments in harvesting, storing and optimizing alternate and renewable energy resources. It covers latest developments in green energy technologies as well as smart grids, and their applications towards a sustainable environment. The book can be useful for beginners, academicians, entrepreneurs, and profes...

Why is life the way it is? Bacteria evolved into complex life just once in four billion years of life on earth-and all complex life shares many strange properties, from sex to ageing and death. If life evolved on other planets, would it be the same or completely different?In The Vital Question, Nick Lane radically reframes evolutionary history, putting forward a cogent solution to conundrums that have troubled scientists for decades. The answer, he argues, lies in energy: ...

Some twenty-five centuries after the Buddha started teaching, his message continues to inspire people across the globe, including those living in predominantly secular societies. What does it mean to adapt religious practices to secular contexts?   Stephen Batchelor, an internationally known author and teacher, is committed to a secularized version of the Buddha’s teachings. The time has come, he feels, to articulate a coherent ethical, contemplative, and philosophical vision of ...

What is anthropology? What can it tell us about culture and the world around us? And why do we need it?For well over one hundred years, social and cultural anthropologists have traversed the world from Melanesia to suburban England, Taipei to Wall Street, uncovering surprising facts, patterns, predilections and, sometimes, the inexplicable, in terms of how humans organize their lives and articulate their values. By weaving together theories and examples from around the world, Matth...

The increasing demand in home and industry for electronic devices has encouraged designers and researchers to investigate new devices and circuits using new materials that can perform several tasks efficiently with low IC (integrated circuit) area and low power consumption. Furthermore, the increasing demand for portable devices intensifies the search to design sensor elements, an efficient storage cell, and large-capacity memory elements. Electrical and Electronic Devices, Circuits an...

A landmark new translation and editionWritten almost two millennia ago, Patañjali's work focuses on how to attain the direct experience and realization of the purusa: the innermost individual self, or soul. As the classical treatise on the Hindu understanding of mind and consciousness and on the technique of meditation, it has exerted immense influence over the religious practices of Hinduism in India and, more recently, in the West.Edwin F. Bryant...

Specifications of Photovoltaic Pumping Systems in Agriculture: Sizing, Fuzzy Energy Management and Economic Sensitivity Analysis is the first book of its kind to discuss the physical installation and sizing of PV pumping systems, also providing a successful energy management operation and economic sensitivity analysis. In order to balance production with consumption, and to improve the lifetime of batteries, Imene Yahyaoui offers a complete study through sensitive analysis of system compon...

Oxygen has had extraordinary effects on life. Three hundred million years ago, in Carboniferous times, dragonflies grew as big as seagulls, with wingspans of nearly a metre. Researchers claim they could have flown only if the air had contained more oxygen than today - probably as much as 35 per cent. Giant spiders, tree-ferns, marine rock formations and fossil charcoals all tell the same story. High oxygen levels may also explain the global firestorm that contributed to the demise of the d...