Important Questions for Final Exam

S.SHAHEEN TAJ
NIST

WATER: THE ELIXIR OF LIFE

Why water is considered the true elixir of life? Or Write destructive purpose of water.
Prof. C.V.Raman, one of the greatest Indian scientists, has tried to bring about the importance of water. Water has a unique power of maintaining animal a about the constructive and of plant life. Water is the commonest of all liquids. Without water the land will be barren like the deserts in Egypt. Egypt is made by its river Nile. On one side of Egypt we see sand and on the other side, densely populated area separated by the river Nile. Water is a wonderful thing on earth. At the country side water is the most beautiful site. The rainfed tanks play a vital role in South Indian agriculture. But these tanks are often neglected. Some of them are large and it is beautiful to see sunrise and sunset in them.

The flow of water plays a great part on the earth’s surface. Water carries silt and finely divided soil and deposits in low lying areas, which even carries large amounts of solid particles. Silt deposited land is very fertile. The same water plays destructive part as it washes away the soil, which is the foundation of all agriculture. The problem of soil erosion is one of the major problems. Soil erosion occurs in successive steps. In the beginning, it may go unnoticed. But in the later stages, the cutting up and the washing away of earth is clear. Sudden burst of heavy rain causes soil erosion. The slope of the land also causes soil erosion which calls for urgent attention and preventive action. The terracing of the land, construction of bunds is essential to check the flow of water. The practice of contour cultivation and planting of appropriate plants are some of the measures suggested to prevent soil erosion.

Water is essential for the animal body while moisture in soil is equally important for life and growth of plants. Much of Indian agriculture depends on monsoon. Thus the collection of rail water and utilization of it is very important. Vast area of land, which at present has scrub jungle, could be turned into dense forest. The problem of aforestation is closely connected with conservation of water supplies. The planting of trees in every possible way and the development of forest is the most urgent need of India; such plantation would check soil erosion and provide cheap fuel. The conservation of water also serves a purpose of value to the life of country side. The cheapest means of transport is by boats and barges. There is development of rail, road transport but a few measures are taken to improve waterways. Harvesting of water supplies develops hydro-electric power. Thus water plays a vital role in both animal and plant life and we should pay the highest interest in its proper utilization.


REACHING FOR THE STARS

Kalpana Chawla was a rare combination of brilliant mind and an intensely humane spirit discuss.
Kalpana was the youngest of four children. She was born on 1st of July, 1961. She grew up in Karnal which was full of social restrictions, but her father Banarasi Lal Chawla gave importance to educate all children equally. Kalpana was a shy but cheerful girl with boundless energy and a strong inclination for adventure. She impressed everyone with her determination and commitment to work. She was fun loving and she organized picnic with her friends. She learnt to drive a car when she was only 14. She was fascinated by aircraft and making aircrafts. Moreover she loved to watch endless dark sky scattered with twinkling stars. Kalpana had an impressive academic record. She wanted to be a flight engineer and hence she opted for Aeronautical Engineering in Punjab Engineering college in Chandigarh. She was the only girl out of total eight students in class. She was very enthusiast and pleasant and unassuming who spent most time in library and laboratory. Whenever she had to make a choice she selected most challenging one. Kalpana decided to join the University of Texas of Arlington and continue her studies in USA. In Arlington, Kalpana plunged into the tightly packed routine of American M.S.Program.

In December 1993, Kalpana married French American Jean Pierre Harrison. After completing her Masters Programme, Kalpana moved with her husband to Colorado, where she completed her PhD programme. In 1998, Kalpana joined to NASA, AMES research centre in California. She applied even to NASA Space Centre, to become an astronaut. In 1993, she was given a job as Vice President and Research Scientist with Overset Methods Inc., in the Silicon Valley. She was put incharge of developing and implementing techniques for Aerodynamic optimization.

Kalpana finally attended an interview and medical evaluation to become an astronaut. She was chosen from total of 2,962 applicants, she had worked hard for the interview. She became a pride to her nation and family. In Houston, she spent months in high fidelity simulators and under zero gravity conditions. In November 1997 her dream of becoming an astronaut was fulfilled. She was one of the six crew members onboard the Columbia Shuttle STS-87 assigned the job of prime robotic arm operator. She was the mission specialist; she had to monitor experiment conducted onboard and perform extra vehicular activity.

Kalpana realised in space that our planet is really very small part of the universe. She loved nature and as a nature enthusiast, she wanted everyone to take care of their habitat. Kalpana always remembers her friends and associates. She believed in lasting relationships inspite of her hectic schedule at NASA and the pressures of life. She helped her people in different times of her life. She arranged a programme allowing two students from her school to visit NASA every year.

Before her last journey she planned to sponsor a young student to a University in South Africa. Kalpana was once again selected as crew member for STS-107 launch. The purpose of sixteen day mission was to conduct research on micro gravity. It was a perfect launch and the members carried out their assigned work. Kalpana conducted a lot of experiments. She even heard her favourite music on CD.

On February 2003, Colombia was ready to re-enter the earth’s atmosphere. Kalpana’s family and friends were waiting at Cape Canaveral. But all of a sudden all communication within Colombia snapped when it was at a height of 207,135 feet in sky, the Colombia burst leaving no survivor.

Kalpana was truly remarkable woman with a rare combination of brilliant mind and intensely humane spirit. She will remain a part of the world’s heritage for the extraordinary will power and daring that she showed in her attempt to reach the stars.

Computer Ethics


How are the hypotheses of Deborah Johnson and Krystyna Gorniak different from each other on the issue of computer revolution and ethics?
Computer ethics includes consideration of both personal and social policies for the ethical use of computer technology. Norbert Wiener is the father of computer ethics. Later many other thinkers like Johnson and Gorniak made extensive study of the applied personal and social computer ethics. Everyone had their own hypothesis.
In 1985 Johnson published her first major textbook, Computer Ethics. In it she has defined computer ethics as a field that examines new moral problems, dilemmas, old problems and application of ordinary morals in new situations. She thought that computers would not create new problems but they will give new twist to familiar issues of ownership, power, privacy and responsibility. Like Gorniak she too thought that computer ethics would disappear as a branch of applied ethics.
In the paper presented at the 1995 ETHICOMP international conference, Krystyna Gorniak predicted that computer ethics would evolve into global ethics which would be common to all cultures. It would be applicable to all human actions and relations. She predicted that all ethical theories would be replaced by computer ethics. In her view, the computer revolution would lead to a new ethical system which will be global and cross-cultural in nature.

Deborah Johnson said that computer ethics and ordinary ethics would become one. This is opposite of Krystyna’s theory. Computer revolution in her pinion would not lead to a revolution in ethics. Thus their views were different. Krystyna said that computer revolution would radically change human life style, whereas Deborah Johnson said that the current fundamental ethical theories would remain forever with a new twist. This would make applied computer ethics disappear.

Write about Norbert Weiner’s contribution to Computer Ethics.
Terrel Ward Bynum writes about the birth, growth and the probable death of Computer Ethics in his essay, “A Very Short History of Computer Ethics.” Weiner, a professor in the MIT is considered to be the ‘Father of Computer Ethics. He encountered a problem of automatic control systems for guided missiles. It required tracking and hunting of enemy aircraft and then shooting them down. he thought that the computer must be made to work like a human hunter.
Weiner observed that this gives rise to various social and ethical problems, he thus required a new branch of science related to computers which he called as “cybernetics” and digital computers would lead to revolutionary social and ethical consequences. He was sure that the integration of computer technology into society would affect every major aspect of life. Thus a new set of values and ethics were needed.
The mid 60s saw the rise of computer technology as Weiner had thought. Thus the thinkers like Donn Parker created a code of ethics for the members of the Association of Computer Machinery (ACM). The necessity of computer ethics was essential. Further, privacy became a thing of the past and George Orwell’s prediction tha the ‘big brother is watching you’ proved to be true. By mid 70s, new privacy laws and computer crime laws were enacted in many advanced countries.
Computer entered the field of medicine and psychology too. This gave rise to a set of strange ethical problems which required careful handling and thus a separate branch of applied ethics. This was nothing but computer ethics. Computer ethics includes consideration of both personal and social policies for the ethical use of computer technology. Thus computer ethics, at present is very much essential. Weiner’s contribution to computer ethics is so important that credit goes to him for conceiving the applied ethics.

THE GOLD FRAME

The Gold Frame is a short story written by the cartoonist, R.K.Laxman. In this story the writer tries to bring out the characteristics of Indian middle class. The hypocrisy and false prestige, typical to middle class are well exposed in this story. The style of the story is consistent with the theme of humour.

The Modern Frame Works is an extra-large wooden packing case placed in-between two other shops. Datta, the owner of the Modern Frame Works, is the central figure in the story. He was a lean man with silver-rimmed glasses and the colour of seasoned timber. He was a silent and hardworking man. He spoke very little and discouraged casual friends and idle gossip.

Once a customer approaches Datta to get an old photograph framed in the best possible frame. He respects, admires and praises the old man which makes one believe that the man in the photograph must have been an ideal human being. The customer is great for his ability to recognize and respect such humanity. The customer has no will of his own so Datta comes to his rescue to help him select a proper frame. With his help he selects cut mount for his photograph. The customer talks as if it were his life’s mission to get the photograph framed but he does not even likes to pay the price quoted by Datta. After getting the price and date settled he goes away.

His customers came days in advance and went away disappointed or came months later. Some never turned up at all and their pictures lay unclaimed in a box. Thus Datta would not begin his work unless his customers came twice before the date of due. His tall and rustic looking customer appeared after ten days to see the progress in work. When Datta grasped the interest of his customer in the frame he took out the photograph to frame it. Datta accidentally spills enamel paint on the sacred photograph of the customer. He tries to rub it with a piece of cloth but the figure peels off. The respectable old man’s face turned into thick black specks sticking to the enamel smeared on the piece of closth in his hand. Datta was afraid of the consequences. Every nerve in his head throbbed as if it would tear apart if he did not hold it down. Datta thought of alternate solutions like framing another photograph. Luckily he found one with which he could take a fair risk. In his confusion Datta frames square frame while the customer has ordered an oval frame. This in a way saves Datta. The customer questions the frame and not the photograph itself, thereby saving Datta. This results in humour.

This story reveals the cunning nature of Datta. R.K.Laxman depicts the cunning nature of Datta. R.K.Laxman depicts the customer as a fool. The customer agrees upon the price though he feels it to be high. After all the lavish praise, a bargain over the price would make him still foolish. So his veneration for the old man as well as his willingness to pay any price for the frame is both dubious. Data is saved by the foolishness of the customer rather than by his own experience or cleverness. Thus the story The Gold Frame has suspense, irony, and humour resulting from the theme, characterization, setting and style.