Category: Essays

Sometimes, Social Change is confused with social evolution. However, it is certainly different from evolution in several aspects. Evolution is a slow, continuous and natural process of change taking place over a considerably long tenure of time.Social change is complex process of change of in entire community of people. The difference between Social Change and Social Evolution can be explained as follows: 1. Evolution is a slow process of change: It takes place at a slow pace and it is different from sudden or rapid and planned changes. In contrast, of Social Change can be slow or fast. It can be evolutionary as well as revolutionary. Image Source: farm4.static.flickr.com 2. Evolution involves continuous and slow changes: ADVERTISEMENTS: In other words, it does not stop at any terminal of social life.…

Caste has been a predominant aspect of social and political life of India. Its position as one of the most ancient and deeply rooted features of the Indian social system has been a major factor in the functioning of the Indian political system. Caste has been, as J.P. Narayan once observed, “the most major political party in India”.It has been a determinant of political participation, electoral process, voting behaviour and almost all other aspects of Indian politics. Despite several changes arising out of the emergence of a developing industrial society, caste continues to play a major role in Indian Politics.Rajni Kothari in his well known book ‘Caste and Indian Politics’ has aptly observed that politics is a competitive enterprise, its purpose is the acquisition of power’ for the realisation of…

Caste and Varnas are two separate concepts. The peculiarity of the Hindu theory of social organisation is its Varna-asharm organisation. The Varna organisation and Ashram organization are two separate organisations yet the two go together as they refer to the problems of nurture and nature of man.The Ashram organisation refers to the conduct of an individual in the world (nurture) in different stages of his life and the Varnasharam orgnisation refers to the work that individuals undertake in the society according to the nature and memberships of their respective Varnas.In the Rigveda (written in about 400 B.C.) only two Varnas are mentioned, the Arya Varna, and the Dassa Varna. There is also description of the division of the society into three orders. Brahmna (Priest), Kshatria (warriors), and Vis (common people).…

The triplet code or codon is degenerate i.e., there are many more codons than there are amino acids. Only 20 amino acids are involved in protein synthesis, while there are 64 possibilities or types of codons (43).Hence more than one codon can code for an amino acid. It is interesting to find out as to why the codes are degenerate? There could have been only so many codons as there are amino acids. But there is problem here.If there were to be only one code for an amino acid, what happens if there is a mutation at that site in DNA? Obviously the code changes and the amino acid cannot be incorporated in the protein leading to abnormalities. Image Source: barleyworld.org ADVERTISEMENTS: On the other hand, if there are alternate…

AUG (occasionally GUG) initiates the synthesize of a protein chain. The natural question would be which codon specifies or signals the end of termination of the synthesis of the protein chain.It has been found out that three of the 64 codons do not specify any tRNA and as such they cannot assemble any amino acid. As such these codons whenever they are found in mRNA would signal the end of the chain.They are called termination codons as they terminate the synthesis of the polypeptide chain. They are also called nonsense codons as they do not specify any amino acid. The nonsense codons are UAG (amber) UAA (ochre) and UGA (opal). Image Source: proteomesci.com ADVERTISEMENTS: Of the three termination codons UAG was the first termination codon to be discovered. It was…

In shotgun method gene cloning is a general one and not specific. As the genes to be cloned are not identified and isolated before, the chances of inserting a particular gene by this method are very rare.Another specific method of isolating gene is to first obtain the messenger RNA transcribed by that particular gene and then obtain DNA from mRNA. DNA from mRNA can be obtained by the following two methods: Image Source: i.huffpost.com 1. Hybridization method: ADVERTISEMENTS: When DNA transcribes and forms mRNA a complex is formed. The hybridization method depends on this mechanism.At the first step the total DNA from an organism is isolated and treated with heat or alkali to convert it into a single stranded form.These single strands are then mixed with the specific mRNA obtained…

Described first by Camillo Golgi in 1890 in the nerve cells of barn owl, the Golgi complex has attracted the attention of cell biologists not only by its complex structure but also by its varied functions.In fact Golgi complex was observed earlier by St George in 1865 itself. Nassonov (1923) and Bowen (19229) established the secretary function in the Golgi apparatus. Image Source: odermatol.com 1. Terminoloy: ADVERTISEMENTS: Various terms have been employed to refer to the Golgi complex. Baker (1953) described them as Lipochondria as they have high lipid content. Golgi complex found in plant cell is often refered to as Dictyosomes. 2. Occurrence and distribution: All the eukaryotic cells have a golgi complex which is absent in prokaryotic cells. Even in eukaryotic cells of some fungi, spenrmatozoids of bryophytes…

The frequency of cross between genes is basically dependent upon the distance between the two, but a number of other genetic, environmental and physiological factors are known to affect the frequency of cross over.The following are some of them: 1. Sex of the organism: In certain individuals, cross over may be reduced, suppressed or even totally eliminated altogether. The following table gives a comparison between the male and female individuals of a species with regard to the frequency of cross over. Image Source: psdgraphics.com 2. Age of the organism: ADVERTISEMENTS: Bridges (1917) in his studies on Drosophila has shown that with the increasing age in the flies, the frequency of cross over particularly of those genes close to centromere would be substantially reduced. 3. Temperature: The rate of cross over…

Any police officer may seize any property which may be alleged or suspected to have been stolen, or which may be found under circumstances which create suspicion of the commission of any offence [S. 102(1)]. Such police officer, if subordinate to the officer in charge of a police station, shall forthwith report the seizure to that officer. [S. 102(2)].Every police officer acting under sub-section (1) shall forthwith report the seizure to the Magistrate having jurisdiction and where the property seized is such that it, cannot be conveniently transported to the Court “or where there is difficulty in securing proper accommodation for the custody of such property, or where the continued retention of the property in police custody may not be considered necessary for the purpose of investigation”, he may give…

In what case a bail to be taken: Section 436, Cr.P.C. lays down that where an arrested person is accused of a bailable offence, he shall be released on bail at any time while in custody, if he is prepared to give bail, provided that the officer-in-charge of a police station detaining him without a warrant, or the court may, instead of taking bail from such person, discharge him on his executing a bond without sureties for his appearance.In every bailable offence bail is granted to the accused as a matter of right and not as a matter of favour. In such cases there is no question of discretion in granting bail, as the words of Section 436 are imperative. All that the court can do is to demand a…