The eruption of molten material from beneath the Earth’s crust results in the geological formations of Volcanoes. Around 80%  of the world’s volcanoes are situated about the tectonic plate boundaries specially at divergent, convergent and transform boundaries.

Major volcanic zones fall under the Pacific Ring of fire, Mediterranean Asian belt and East African Rift that comprises of prominent hotspots like Hawaii, these areas promotes, subduction and continental rifting pushing magma ascent and volcanic activity.

Few reasons that explain the factors leading to Volcano formation around the Pacific Ring of Fire –

1) The subduction zones mainly force the complex tectonic activity, resulting in the formation of of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Example- The subduction of Pacific Plate beneath the North American and other surrounding plates produces magma, that goes up to form volcanoes.

2) The melting of the subducting plate produces magma which forms the volcanic arcs.

The volcanic arcs formed along the west coast of North America from Alaska to California is an example of the volcanic arc.

3) The thin dense nature of the Oceanic crust makes it more suceptible to subduction, melting at plate boundaries, resulting to the formation of magma and volcanic eruptions.

4) Apart from the Ring of Fire which is mainly associated with subduction, Volcanic Hotspots such as Hawaii significantly contribute to the volcanic activity. Hotspots tend to form volcanic islands even when mantle plumes rise, creating volcanic islands even away from plate boundaries.

Apart from the Ring of fire, there are other active Volcanic regions outside it. The regions of concentration can be broadly classified into:

• Mediterranean Asian Belt – The tectonic interactions along convergent boundaries results in the formation of volcanoes in the regions like Italy (Mount Vesuvius) and Indonesia (Mount Merapi).

• East African Rift – This is an active rift zone where continental plates are pulling apart, leading to volcanic activity.

If we summarise the concentration of volcano distribution the highest concentration is along Pacific Ring of fire due to the intense activity of tectonic plates particularly in the subduction zones. But  other volcanic regions such as Mediterranean Asian belt and the hotspots also contribute to the global volcanic distribution.

The Swadeshi movement was the outcome of the discontent that rose among the Indians due to the Britishers decision to partition Bengal in 1903. By 1905, the agitation grew resulting in boycotting foreign goods by replacing them with clothes produced domestically.

Due to its widespread appeal and participation. The Swadeshi Movement is considered a turning point in Modern Indian History. But by mid 1908, the movement eventually lost it’s momentum.

Key Factors Leading to the Decline of The Swadeshi Movement:

The major factors behind the fall of the Swadeshi Movement are :

1) The spine collapsing measures adopted by the British government caused it to be one of the major challenges faced by the masses. The Britishers banded public gatherings, press controls and inhuman police violence. Example The police forcibly dispersed the Barisal Conference gathering in 1906, to demonstrate the power of the British government.

2) The movement lacked strong administration and clear direction due to internal conflicts. The effectiveness of the movement was plagued by the altercation in The Indian National Congress popularly referred to as the Surat split in 1907, weakened the imity of the movement from within.

3) With Limited popularity nationwide and only limited to Bengal, the propaganda failed to connect with the masses.

4) Prominent leaders who ignited the movement and kept the fire burning amongst the people were often thrown into jail. Leaders such as Ashwini kumar Dutt, Aurobindo Ghosh and Bal Gangadhar Tilak were deported and received long term imprisonment during this period, eventually making it a leaderless movement.

5) The movement lacked structured organization, mass support and engagement at the grassroot level that failed to unite people at different realms. This poses a challenge as mass movement strictly requires phases of consolidation especially during severe repression.

CONCLUSION

Although the Swadeshi Movement started with great enthusiasm, fueled with ferocious fire, the movement soon lost its light in the course of time due to various reasons including both internal as well as external factors.

But it filled the young, old, rich, poor with a sense of Indian Nationalism and provoked the future generations to raise voice against the illegitimate actions of the British government by promoting self reliance anel future freedom struggle.

The Public Distribution System (PDS) is introduced by the government of India under the inte Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. To combat scarcity of food, this scheme has become an important part of government policy. Digitalization of PDS ensures transparency, ‎reduction in corruption and effortless ongoing of the process.

Challenges of Public Distribution System 

1) Deceptive ration cards are often used to divert the supply of foodgrains from genuine beneficiaries to black markets.In 2020, about 22% of the fraudulent cards were seized in Chhattisgarh.2

) Prominent loss of grains occurs through leakage and spoilage of the foodgrains due to inefficient transportation and storage. A government report of NSSO shows about 46.7% leakage in PDS (2011-2012).

3) Married women often have to undergo a tiresome process of transferring names, addresses etc. taking way longer than expected time, in detailed paperwork, eventually delaying food privileges.

4) Poor biometric authentication and dispossession of Aadhaar card bars the beneficiaries from allocation of foodgrains and other eminent services.

Role of Digital Transformation in PDS:

1) Integration of PDS with linking Aadhaar reduces the chances of fraudulent and ghost beneficiaries due to biometric authentication.

2)Electronic Point of Sale (ePOS) The government of India confirms that about 95% of FPSs have ePOS installed preventing any imitator from claiming false benefits.

3) End-to -end computerization increases the credibility of efficiency, transparency across the nation. The monitoring could be done efficiently from anywhere.

4) IM-PDS and Annavitran portals have set up centers in all parts of the country, to facilitate better data management and also easy transfer of address of any beneficiary in case of relocation across states nationwide.

5) Tracking through GPS has improved logistic support and high level reduction in leakage or theft of food grains.

6) Majority of help centers are set-up in case of any technical queries related to use of advanced digital tools or any disservice .

The digitalization of PDS in India has brought about the significant change in reducing difficulties in many folds, Making it more fair and open and enhancing services through digital tools which ultimately sets the framework for future governments to follow and prove beneficial to all the citizens.

Drug Trafficking is a trade of illicit drugs involving cultivation, manufacturer, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. The process often used airports and commercial aircraft as channel for transportation of smuggled drug accross borders.

Drugs are chemicals or substances that change the way our bodies work. Some are prescribed by the physician while the others have no medical use or benefits.

Usually taken by swallowing, inhaling or injecting abused drugs find their way into the bloodstream which acts as channel for transportation finally to the brain, where these drugs mat intensify or dull the senses, change how alert or sleepy people feel and sometimes decrease the physical pain, which eventually leads to the inability of our brain to make healthy choices leading to dangerous situations.

Based on the requirement drugs are majorly segregated inot sedatives, analgesics, tranquilizers, Opioids and narcotics.

Drug Addiction When the person’s body leads to inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or medicine.

Impact of Drug Abuse:

1. Strained HealthCare System:

Drug abuse may lead to specialized treatment, sometimes involving death, contraction of illnesses and prolonged stays at hospitals.The consequences of illicit drug use are widespread, causing permanent physical and emotional damage to users and negatively impacting their families, coworkers, and many others with whom they have contact. Drug use negatively impacts a user’s health, often leading to sickness and disease. In many cases, users die prematurely from drug overdoses or other drug-associated illnesses .

2.An overburdened justice system :

The consequences of illicit drug use impact the entire criminal justice system, taxing resources at each stage of the arrest, adjudication, incarceration, and post-release supervision process.

3. Lost productivity:

Premature mortality, illness, injury leading to incapacitation, and imprisonment all serve to directly reduce national productivity. Public financial resources expended in the areas of health care and criminal justice as a result of illegal drug trafficking and use are resources that would otherwise be available for other policy initiatives.Individuals who are employed but have chronic absenteeism resulting from illicit drug use also accrue substantial lost productivity.

4. Environmental destruction:

Impact on the Environment

The environmental impact of illicit drugs is largely the result of outdoor cannabis cultivation and methamphetamine production. Many of the chemicals used to produce methamphetamine are flammable, and the improper storage, use, and disposal of such chemicals that are typical among methamphetamine producers often lead to fires and explosions at laboratories.

Places in India from where Drug Trafficking takes place:

1. Myanmar, India’s gateway to Southeast Asia and shares maritime border with northeastern states of India such as Nagaland, Mizoram,Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, is a state infamous due to it’s hefty drug trafficking poses a serious challenge to India’s security due to the illicit flow of drugs from Myanmar. Myanmar is the second largest producer of opium poppy and the leading manufacturer of synthetic drugs forms the Golden Triangle along with Thailand and Laos. India has become one of the major markets for these drugs.

2. Nepal is also one of the major smuggling point of Hashish in India across land borders in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

3. Drug Trafficking through sea routes constitutes around 70% of the total illegal drugs smuggled in India. These maritime sea routes are used by drug syndicates based in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Problems of National Security faced by India:

The two way illegal flow of these drugs and raw chemicals not only violates India’s borders, but also poses a major threat to national security. The network formed between drug traffickers, organised criminal network and terrorist has created a force powerful enough to cause instability in the country.

Challenges faced by India in curbing drug trafficking:

1. Technological Advancements Drug traffickers are increasingly using technology to bluff law enforcement agencies. For instance use of dark net to sell drugs, unreachable internet based technology for the communication and also drones to transport drugs from across the borders.

2. Insufficient Law Enforcement despite efforts to improve law enforcement there is a perceived lack of coordination among different agencies leading to failure of effectively tackle the issue.

3.Lack of Social Awareness Indian society is stigmatized often on drug abuse and addiction. There is a need to create more awareness and promote preventive measures, need to develop more rehabilitation facilities to cater to needs of large number of people struggling with addiction.

4. Political Interference Political interference often hampers the work of law enforcement agencies and hinders their ability to tackle drug trafficking effectively.