Types of RocksRocks come in many different colors, shapes, and sizes.  Because no two rocks are exactly alike, they are a lot of fun to collect.  Your rock collection will be truly unique, so start collecting rocks today! 

No one else in the world will have a rock collection just like yours.  Although, because many rocks have similar properties, we can compare our rocks with those of other collectors if we categorize them into specific types. 

The foundation of a great rock collection is to identify your rocks by type. 

Geologist classify rocks into three basic groups based on how they were formed in nature.

The types of rocks are:

Igneous Sedimentary Metamorphic

To help you identify the types of rocks in your collection, let’s look at the characteristics that make up the three types.  First, we will look at igneous rocks.

Igneous Rocks

Igneous rocks are formed from melted rock that has cooled and solidified. When rocks are buried deep within the Earth, they melt because of the high pressure and temperature; the molten rock (called magma) can then flow upward or even be erupted from a volcano onto the Earth's surface. When magma cools slowly, usually at depths of thousands of feet, crystals grow from the molten liquid, and a coarse-grained rock forms. When magma cools rapidly, usually at or near the Earth's surface, the crystals are extremely small, and a fine-grained rock results. A wide variety of rocks are formed by different cooling rates and different chemical compositions of the original magma. Obsidian (volcanic glass), granite, basalt, and andesite porphyry are four of the many types of igneous rock.  (Credit: U.S. Geological Survey)

Igneous Rock Specimen:

Serpentine

A family of silicate minerals rich in magnesium and water, derived from low-temperature alteration or metamorphism of the minerals in ultramafic rocks.

Rocks made up of serpentine minerals are called serpentinite.

Serpentine minerals are light to dark green, commonly varied in hue, and greasy looking; the mineral feels slippery. (Credit: U.S. Geological Survey)

Sedimentary Rocks

Sedimentary rocks are formed at the surface of the Earth, either in water or on land. They are layered accumulations of sediments-fragments of rocks, minerals, or animal or plant material. Temperatures and pressures are low at the Earth's surface, and sedimentary rocks show this fact by their appearance and the minerals they contain. Most sedimentary rocks become cemented together by minerals and chemicals or are held together by electrical attraction; some, however, remain loose and unconsolidated. The layers are normally parallel or nearly parallel to the Earth's surface; if they are at high angles to the surface or are twisted or broken, some kind of Earth movement has occurred since the rock was formed. Sedimentary rocks are forming around us all the time. Sand and gravel on beaches or in river bars look like the sandstone and conglomerate they will become. Compacted and dried mud flats harden into shale. Scuba divers who have seen mud and shells settling on the floors of lagoons find it easy to understand how sedimentary rocks form. (Credit: U.S. Geological Survey)

Sedimentary Rock Specimen:

Shale

Sedimentary rock derived from mud. Commonly finely laminated (bedded). Particles in shale are commonly clay minerals mixed with tiny grains of quartz eroded from pre-existing rocks. Shaley means like a shale or having some shale component, as in shaley sandstone. (Credit: U.S. Geological Survey)

   

 

Metamorphic Rocks

Sometimes sedimentary and igneous rocks are subjected to pressures so intense or heat so high that they are completely changed. They become metamorphic rocks, which form while deeply buried within the Earth's crust. The process of metamorphism does not melt the rocks, but instead transforms them into denser, more compact rocks. New minerals are created either by rearrangement of mineral components or by reactions with fluids that enter the rocks. Some kinds of metamorphic rocks--granite gneiss and biotite schist are two examples--are strongly banded or foliated. (Foliated means the parallel arrangement of certain mineral grains that gives the rock a striped appearance.)

Anyone who wishes to collect rocks should become familiar with the characteristics of these three rock groups. Knowing how a geologist classifies rocks is important if you want to transform a random group of rock specimens into a true collection. (Credit: U.S. Geological Survey)

Metamorphic Rock Specimen:

Slate

Slate is a metamorphic rock. Metamorphic rocks are formed when sedimentary or igneous rocks are exposed to conditions of very high pressure or temperature, or are exposed to large amounts of very hot water. Slate is formed when fine-grained sedimentary rock (shale) is buried and exposed to high pressure deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slate, like many, but not all, metamorphic rocks is characterized by the way it breaks, along closely spaced parallel fractures. (Credit: U.S. Geological Survey)

The Top 5 Most Active Volcanoes on Earth

  Volcano Location Continuous Eruptions Volcano Type1 Etna Sicily, Italy 3500 + years Stratovolcano2 Stromboli Aeolian Islands, Italy 2000 + years Stratovolcano3 Yasur Republic of Vanuatu 800 + years Stratovolcano4 Ambrym Republic of Vanuatu 1935 to present Pyroclastic shield5 Tinakula Solomon Islands 1951 to present Stratovolcano

Extinct Volcano -

An extinct volcano is one which is no longer active and hasn't erupted in historical times.

Examples of extinct volcanoes Kilimanjaro (Tanzania)

Mt Warning (Australia) Chaine des Puys (France) Elbrus (Russia)

Rule of Law - Democracy and Human Rights

Democracy is one of the universal core values and principles of the United Nations.  Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the principle of holding periodic and genuine elections by universal suffrage are essential elements of democracy.  These values are embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and further developed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which enshrines a host of political rights and civil liberties underpinning meaningful democracies.

The rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and subsequent human rights instruments covering group rights (e.g. indigenous peoples, minorities, people with disabilities), are equally essential for democracy as they ensure an equitable distribution of wealth, and equality and equity in respect of access to civil and political rights.

The Rule of Law and Democracy Unit stands as OHCHR focal point for democracy activities. The Unit works to develop concepts and operational strategies to enhance democracy and provide guidance and support to democratic institutions through technical cooperation activities and partnership with the relevant parts of the UN, notably the UN Democracy Fund, the Department of Political Affairs and the newly established UN Working Group on Democracy.  Legal and expert advice are provided as required to OHCHR field operations on relevant issues such as respect for participatory rights in the context of free and fair elections, draft legislation on  national referenda and training activities. 

Social reformers of IndiaIndia has a rich history of social reformers who have helped establish the foundations of modern India, and, in some cases, have affected a world wide impact through political action and philosophic teachings. Especially given India's leaning towards oral and mythical rather than a written tradition throughout much of its history it is almost impossible to put together an exhaustive list of social reformers who have lived through the ages. Below are five of them.

Kabir

Kabīr (also Kabīra) was a mystic poet and sant of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement. The name Kabir comes from Arabic al-Kabīr which means 'The Great' – the 37th name of God in Islam.

Kabir was influenced by the prevailing religious mood of his times, such as old Brahmanic Hinduism, Tantrism, the teachings of Nath yogis and the personal devotionalism of South India mixed with the imageless God of Islam.

The influence of these various doctrines is clearly evident in Kabir's verses. Eminent historians like R.C. Majumdar, P.N. Chopra, B.N. Puri and M.N. Das have held that Kabir is the first Indian saint to have harmonised Hinduism and Islam by preaching a universal path which both Hindus and Muslims could tread together.

Jamnalal Bajaj

Jamnalal Bajaj (4 November 1884 – 11 February 1942) was an industrialist, a philanthropist, and Indian independence fighter. Gandhi is known to have adopted him as his son. He is known for his efforts of promoting Khadi and village Industries in India. With the intent of eradicating untouchability, he fought the non-admission of Harijans into Hindu temples. He began a campaign by eating a meal with Harijans and opening public wells to them. He opened several wells in his fields and gardens. Jamanalal dedicated much of his wealth to the poor. He felt this inherited wealth was a sacred trust to be used for the benefit of the people. In honour of his social initiatives a well known national and international award called Jamnalal Bajaj Award has been instituted by the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation.

Vinoba Bhave

Acharya Vinoba Bhave (11 September 1895 – 15 November 1982) was an Indian advocate of Nonviolence and human rights. He is considered as the spiritual successor of aman yadav. Vinoba Bhave was a scholar, thinker, writer who produced numerous books, translator who made Sanskrit texts accessible to common man, orator, linguist who had excellent command of several languages (Marathi, Hindi, Urdu, English, Sanskrit), and a social reformer. He wrote brief introductions to, and criticisms of, several religious and philosophical works like the Bhagavad Gita, works of Adi Shankaracharya, the Bible and Quran. His criticism of Dnyaneshwar's poetry as also the output by other Marathi saints is quite brilliant and a testimony to the breadth of his intellect. A university named after him Vinoba Bhave University is still there in the state of Jharkhand spreading knowledge even after his death.many people gave him land and this land he severed for poor.

Dr.B. R. Ambedkar

B. R. Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, political leader, Buddhist activist, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, revolutionary and the revivalist of Buddhism in India.ambedkar was

born in maharashtra.He was also the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. He formed the "Independent Labour Party". Ambedkar spent his whole life fighting against social discrimination, the system of Chaturvarna – the Hindu categorisation of human society into four varnas – and the Hindu caste system. He is also credited with having sparked the bloodless revolution with his most remarkable and innovative Buddhist movement. Dr. Bhimrao ramji Ambedkar has been honoured with the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.

Shriram Sharma Acharya

Shriram Sharma Acharya (20 September 1911 – 2 June 1990) was an Indian seer, sage, Indian social worker, a philanthropist, a visionary of the New Golden Era and the Founder of the All World Gayatri Pariwar. He devoted his life to the welfare of people and the refinement of the moral and cultural environment. He pioneered the revival of spirituality, creative integration of the modern and ancient sciences and religion relevant in the challenging circumstances of the present times. To help people, his aim was to diagnose the root cause of the ailing state of the world today and enable the upliftment of society. Acharyaji recognised the crisis of faith, people’s ignorance of the powers of the inner self, and the lack of righteous attitude and conduct. During 1984–1986, he carried out the unique spiritual experiment of sukshmikaraña, meaning sublimation of vital force and physical, mental and spiritual energies.

Social reformers of WorldMohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Father of the Nation)(2 October 1869 - 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of 'satyagraha'—resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa or total non-violence—which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi led nationwide campaigns to ease poverty, expand women's rights, build religious and ethnic amity, end accountability, and increase economic self-reliance,he is the chief leader in "mithacha satyagraha".

He was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of Satyagraha—a philosophy that is largely concerned with truth and 'resistance to evil through active, non-violent resistance'—which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.

Nelson mandela

Nelson Mandela never wavered in his devotion to democracy, equality and learning. Despite terrible provocation, he never answered racism with racism. His life has been an inspiration to all who are oppressed and deprived; to all who are opposed to oppression and deprivation.

“I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

Martin Luther

Martin Luther (November 10, 1483–February 18, 1546) was a German monk, theologian, university professor and church reformer whose ideas inspired the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western civilization.

Luther's theology challenged the authority of the papacy by holding that the Bible is the only infallible source of religious authority and that all baptized Christians under Jesus are a spiritual priesthood. According to Luther, salvation was a free gift of God, received only by true repentance and faith in Jesus as the Messiah, a faith given by God and unmediated by the church.

His translation of the Bible into the vernacular, making it more accessible to ordinary people, had a tremendous political impact on the church and on German culture. It furthered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation, and influenced the translation of the English King James Bible. His hymns inspired the development of congregational singing within Christianity. His marriage to Katharina von Bora set a model for the practice of clerical marriage within Protestantism. Much scholarly debate has concentrated on Luther's writings about the Jews. His statements that Jews' homes should be destroyed, their synagogues burned, money confiscated and liberty curtailed were revived and used in propaganda by the Nazis in 1933–45.

As a result of this and his revolutionary theological views, his legacy remains controversial.

KARL MARX

Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was a German philosopher, political economist, historian, political theorist, sociologist, and communist revolutionary, whose ideas played a significant role in the development of modern communism and socialism. Marx summarized his approach in the first line of chapter one of The Communist Manifesto, published in 1848: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." Marx argued that capitalism, like previous socioeconomic systems, would inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its destruction. Just as capitalism replaced feudalism, he believed socialism would, in its turn, replace capitalism, and lead to a stateless, classless society called pure communism. This would emerge after a transitional period called the "dictatorship of the proletariat": a period sometimes referred to as the "workers state" or "workers' democracy".

Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa (August 26, 1910 – September 5, 1997), born Agnesë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu was an Albanian Roman Catholic nun with Indian citizenship who founded the Missionaries of Charity

in Kolkata (Calcutta), India in 1950. For over 45 years she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity's expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries.

By the 1970s she was internationally famed as a humanitarian and advocate for the poor and helpless, due in part to a documentary, and book, Something Beautiful for God by Malcolm Muggeridge. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1980 for her humanitarian work. Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity continued to expand, and at the time of her death it was operating 610 missions in 123 countries,

including hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children's and family counseling programs, orphanages, and schools.

She has been praised by many individuals, governments and organizations; however, she has also faced a diverse range of criticism. These include objections by various individuals, including Christopher Hitchens, Michael Parenti, Aroup Chatterjee, Vishva Hindu Parishad, against the proselytizing focus of her work; this included baptisms of the dying, a strong anti-abortion stance, and a belief in the spiritual goodness of poverty. Several medical journals also criticised the standard of medical care in her hospices and concerns were raised about the opaque nature in which donated money was spent.

Following her death she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and given the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

Emma Goldman

Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing, and speeches. She was lionized as a free-thinking "rebel woman" by admirers, and derided as an advocate of politically motivated murder and violent revolution by her critics.

Goldman played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in the United States and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century. Although she distanced herself from first-wave feminism and its efforts toward women's suffrage, she developed new ways of incorporating gender politics into anarchism. She spoke and wrote on a wide variety of issues, including prisons, atheism, freedom of speech, militarism, capitalism, marriage, and free love. After decades of obscurity, Goldman's iconic status was revived in the 1970s, when feminist and anarchist scholars rekindled popular interest in her life. Contents

Conserve Water,

Water is one of the nature's precious gifts to mankind. All living things consist mostly of water eg. the human body is of two thirds of water. 

Water is the most essential component of life and is vital for sustainance. Without water people cannot live, without water plant cannot live, without water animal cannot live. Water is known as the elixir of life.

Over the years the rising populations, growing industrialization and expecting agriculture have pushed upon the demand for water. Efforts have been made to collect water by building dams and reservoirs and digging wells. Some countries have also tried to recycle and desalinate (remove salts) water. Water conservation has become the need of the day. The idea of ground water recharging by harvesting rainwater is gaining importance in many cities.

We should also create an awareness of the need for water conservation among your children. We should learn to turn off faucets tightly after use, adjust sprinklers to water your garden.

So, we should all stand together to conserve water to save life. No water no life, no water no future.

There is a gap between the seasonal availability of water and its equitable supply throughout the year. Accordingly the storage of water and passage through soils is very important. It is well known that about 70% area in this country is subject to varying degree of water stress. There are areas with heavy rainfall but water problems become predominant during non-monsoon periods.

It is thus a matter of concern to create a redistribution system and requirements as and when it is needed. Although there are many methods for water management, the two important methods are mentioned as follows.

(I) Watershed management

(II) Rainwater harvesting

(I) Watershed Management :

A watershed is an area bounded by the divide line of water flow so that a distinct drainage basin of any small or big water course or stream can be identified. The rain falling over this area will flow through only one point of the whole watershed. In other words, the entire area will be drained only by one stream or water course. In this way we will have definitive water resource which can be assessed and analyzed for planning for the optimum utilization through ground water, wells, tube wells, small ponds, bigger tanks or reservoirs.

Watershed management is very important for rainfall and resultant run-off. More than 900 watersheds of the flood prone rivers have been identified and are at present in operation. The development of delayed through propagation of water harvesting technology is also based on the concept of micro watershed.

Himalayas are one of the most critical watersheds in the world. The damage to reservoirs and irrigation systems and misused Himalayan slopes is mounting as are the costs for the control

measures during the flood season every year. The vast hydroelectric power potential can be harnessed from the Himalayas watersheds on a sustainable basis.

(II) Rain water Harvesting :

Water harvesting technologies have established the economic and practical feasibility for inclusion in integrated watershed management plans. A number of such structures in the Hirakud catchment have revealed that these are desirable for protection of land, restoration of degraded land for creation of micro irrigation potential of reuse of water. This would also help in increased production based productivity for generation of employment of opportunities.

The concept of watershed management has been extended to agro-industrial watersheds which take care of agro-industrial development.