Manaksha Memon

Coup d’état: The term and the memorable coups

The term ‘coup d’état’ first came to fore in the 17th century that was translated as ‘stroke of the state’ or ‘blow against the state’ implying as an overt attempt to overthrow a sitting head of state through illegal and often violent means.

This tendency to supplant head of a ruling dispensation is known to be a significant aspect of governance since time immemorial and has still not lost its attraction for ambitious individuals or groups operating in the corridors of power.

Western civilisation has tried hard to make transition of power through peaceful means but still this activity occurs periodically in the western governance process as was witnessed in America when Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the American parliament in an attempt to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory but the supposed coup did not succeed.

Ides of March is the most talked about coup that took place on 15 March 44 BCE. It took place when Roman dictator Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times by a group of senators, including his close friend Marcus Junius Brutus who achieved notoriety as ‘Et tu, Brute’.

The assassination came about due to the Senate’s fears that Caesar planned to claim the title of king and rule as a tyrant by overthrowing the Senate.

Coup of 18 Brumaire of 1799 brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power. Napoleon Bonaparte had started formulating his plans to overthrow France’s five-member Directory as soon
as he returned from a military campaign in Egypt in October 1799.

With the help of co-conspirators, including a pair of directors, he eventually managed to replace the Directory with a three-member Consulate which lasted until 1804, when he crowned himself emperor of France ushering in the Napoleonic Empire.

1911 Chinese Revolution is also famous. Two millennia of imperial rule in China officially came to an end on 12 February, 1912, following a successful revolution against the Qing Dynasty that began with the Wuchang Uprising on 10 October, 1911.

This event marked the beginning of the country’s early republic era.

1917 Russian Revolution was violently novel in content. Led by leftist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, on 7 November 1917 the Bolsheviks seized power from the unpopular provisional government through an armed insurrection in Petrograd.

The event played a key role in the Russian Revolution of 1917-23 and ultimately led to the country’s civil war.

1923 Beer Hall Putsch is perhaps the most famous coup of the 20th century in which over 2,000 Nazis led by a 34-year-old Adolf Hitler, attempted to take over the Weimar Republic government in Bavaria. It was a complete failure, as 16 Nazis were killed and many were captured and imprisoned including Hitler who was sentenced to prison for treason.

It was during this time that he dictated his political autobiography Mein Kampf.

1936 Spanish coup of July 1936 gave birth to the Spanish Civil War that involved a nationalist and military uprising against the Second Spanish Republic beginning on 18 July, 1936 with General Francisco Franco’s call to overthrow the democratically elected leftist government.

The war lasted from 1936 to 1939 and resulted in an estimated 500,000 deaths.

1948 Czechoslovak coup d’état entailed that on 25 February 1948 the country became a single-party state when President Edvard Benes succumbed to communist pressure and conceded his cabinet to the party in a bloodless coup.

The insurrection gained steam after moderates within the Czech government expressed interest in joining the Marshall Plan a US programme aimed at aiding war-torn Western European countries.

1952 Cuban coup d’état was also a memorable event. Former president Fulgencio Batista came to power once again in Cuba in 1952 by ousting outgoing President Carlos Prío Socarrás three months prior to an election.

This angered a 26-yearold lawyer named Fidel Castro who carried out an armed revolt against the military dictatorship that began in July 1953 and ended on the last day of 1958 when Castro and the rebels ousted the president.

May 31, 2023
The Climate Change Reality!

The fast-changing climate is a global issue that has put the world in a spin. Radical changes in climate conditions are now coming to a head with ever-increasing risks emerging with every coming year.

It is now very clear that in the past few years a deluge of extreme weather events and ecological disasters have been increasing alarmingly. The number of climate-related disasters has tripled in the last 30 years while the vast majority of weather events in the last five years have proven to be significant in influencing the process of climate change. There are many more events that have made it increasingly clear that habitats such as the Great Barrier Reef, the Arctic and the Amazon rainforest are on the brink of collapse.

There is panoply of events that are extremely worrying and the primary factor is that in the last seven years the world has witnessed are rated to be the hottest ever recorded on the planet. What is more, it is found out that 21 out of the 22 hottest years ever recorded had been since the millennium. It was also found that last year more than 400 weather stations across the globe had reported record-breaking heat, with 10 countries smashing national heat records and two continental records broken in Europe and Africa. Many meteorologists and climate scientists say that the extreme heat wave that hit North America in the summer, breaking records by up to 5°C (9°F) in places, was among the most alarming weather events of the year.

It is also made known that large sinkholes are becoming increasingly widespread in Turkiye with underground water levels dropping by more than six feet and seven inches in the past five years. As well as being linked to climate change, drought is worsened by urban sprawl and industrialisation, since the use of concrete and other non-porous materials limits how much water can be absorbed back into the ground. Climate scientists say that rising global temperatures led to the weakening of the jet stream – which usually keeps cold Arctic air in the Arctic – meaning that polar air was able to travel southwards to the US and resulted in the cold conditions.

The climate ravages are increasing by the day and it is widely predicted that the planet Earth is going to experience profound changes to its internal conditions in the future and that some of these changes have started to appear causing widespread jitters. An inevitable rise in sea levels imply that global warming is its cause and it is pointed out that the sea levels have risen by at least one meter during the 21st century. Many coastlines have already and will continue to be impacted around the world with irreversible consequences for coastal inhabitants. A warning issued by a futuristic research group mentioned that 300 million people could face annual floods by 2050.

In this context different scenarios are quoted that depend on the rise in sea level, the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions and how much the Antarctic ice sheet melts but 150 million people will live below sea level in all scenarios compared to 110 million today. While they are currently protected by dykes or mangroves, coastal inhabitants will have to build new developments or move away from the coasts. This uncomfortable fact shows that the race against time has already begun. By 2050, a million inhabitants in France alone could be impacted. In mainland France, a 50 centimeters rise in sea level is very likely to take place by 2080-2100, flooding a large portion of the coastline. The Channel and North Sea coasts would be hit hard particularly in Pas-de-Calais and Seine-Maritime.

It is also pointed out that the Atlantic coast is also in danger as it would not be spared either, especially in Charente-Maritime and Gironde. There are several possible coastal erosion solutions: developing the coast to monitor erosion, relocate populations towards Bordeaux, or maintaining the existing coastline with civil engineering projects. From northern France to western Denmark, and from the east coast of England to the Netherlands, rising sea levels will impact the North Sea coasts for decades to come. A significant portion of the Netherlands will have to be redeveloped in order to remain habitable and a massive effort would be required to achieve it. Venice, the magical Italian city famous for its canals will be at the forefront of the rising sea levels.

It is conjectured that Venice as is known now may disappear as the city is already facing a dilemma between keeping tourism revenue and preserving the city.

The South American Atlantic coast will also suffer the consequences of rising sea levels. French Guiana will be affected, as well as northeastern Brazil, Suriname and Venezuela. Further north, Cuba and the Bahamas will face the negative impacts of rising sea levels. Their sunny skies and sandy beaches are at a significant risk of disappearing which will impact their economies that are largely augmented by tourism. In the United States, there will be significant ramification for Southern coasts if nothing is done to curb global warming. The first victims will be Florida, a populous state that attracts millions of tourists annually and Louisiana, which has already been significantly impacted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Mozambique will be the African country that is the most impacted by rising sea levels. The country has several major cities on the coast of the Indian Ocean. But Tanzania, Nigeria, Senegal, and Mauritania would not be spared either and may face difficult consequences of adverse climate conditions. The highly populated coasts on the Mediterranean sea will have to face the rising sea levels. The regions that will face the most impact are Andalusia in southern Spain, the Libyan coast and Alexandria and Port Said in Egypt.

As far as the Persian Gulf is concerned climate scientists have declared a gigantic area north of the Persian Gulf spanning thousands of kilometers between Iraq and Iran to be at risk for flooding. Future floods will undoubtedly lead to significant population displacements. East India, particularly near Calcutta and Bangladesh, undoubtedly faces the greatest risk.

Coastal areas of Pakistan may also face the brunt of coming ravages as hundreds of millions of people live in the area and an uncontrolled rise in sea level would have significant ramifications for the region and the rest of the world. Southeast Asia is also at risk as the densely populated coasts of Thailand, around the capital Bangkok, Vietnam around Hanoi and Ho-Chi-Minh-City, Malaysia and certain Indonesian islands will also face the consequences of rising sea levels.

Chinese coastlines are among the most threatened, especially around cities like Shanghai or Tianjin. Hundreds of millions of lives are at stake. The Chinese government will have to brace up to mitigate this risk. Several regions of North and South Korea and Japan are predicted to feel the impacts of rising sea levels, especially in the Japanese cities of Nagoya and Osaka. If rising temperatures seem irreversible in the short term, it makes it all more necessary and urgent to take action in order to limit global warming and its devastating effects. The clock has started to tick and the need for action is urgent. The Weekender

May 15, 2023
Disliked Professions

Many professions are favourably looked at such as doctors saving lives, fire fighters running into burning buildings and a nurse providing dedicated healthcare.

Intriguingly some professions are looked down upon for reasons that are certainly not credible. Whether it is an unfair stereotype or misconceptions due to negative media influence, there are many professions that people just seem to dislike and it is very interesting to talk about them.

Lawyers are much-maligned but highly sought-after and lucrative career is one of the most disliked professions in the world. Lawyers are often perceived as arrogant and have a reputation for caring about money more than their clients. Many people believed that lawyers contributed little or nothing to society. It is a wrong perception as people often go to lawyers under the worst circumstances in their lives and probably that might colour perceptions just a bit.

Politicians have a love-hate relationship with their constituents and this perception spreads over to the general public. In most countries, people holding public office are elected into their career by voters so it is no wonder that voters are critical of politicians, who earn large salaries and lucrative perks. Public perception tends to see elected officials as power-hungry, inept, or corrupt. Most people believe that politicians care more about being re-elected than they do about making sound decisions.

CEOs tend to get negative impression. There has been an increasingly negative view of corporations in society and the amount of money that the leaders of these businesses make is a big factor in that. It is often shown that many people believe it is not justifiable for CEOs to make tens of millions of dollars a year.

Journalists are often viewed as untrustworthy. In fact, only a minority trusts mass media to report the news in an accurate and unbiased way. Despite this lack of appreciation from the general public, many journalists say they would choose their careers all over again. In fact that 70% said that they are satisfied with their jobs and 75% said they are proud of the work they do.

Salespeople are the stereotype of the sleazy salesperson pushing a sale no matter what lives on in society’s collective memory. Indeed, many salespeople, whether they are selling mattresses, audio equipment or a new set of wheels, are looked upon negatively by many people. However, despite the cold shoulder, many salespeople actually do not care if they are liked with 89% showing that the best-performing salespeople said they do not need to be liked.

Real estate agents are trusted by people to sell their home and help them through the process of buying a new one, and yet, many home buyers dislike realtors. Many cite ignoring the client’s best interests, over- or undervaluing tactics, and lack of communication as main reasons why they distrust real estate agents. Despite such view the public may hold, there was a record number of real estate agents working in many countries and their number keeps on increasing.

Construction workers are blamed for traffic headaches and ear-splitting noises in residential areas, so it is no wonder that construction workers are one of the most disliked professions. This dislike for the trade unfortunately has negative consequences, as more and more construction companies struggle to fill vacancies. Many companies find it difficult in hiring and some of that is due to an overall stigma attached to manual labour jobs, even though the trades can be a lucrative career track.

February 24, 2023
How To Avoid Constant Tiredness

People often complain about tiredness and these complaints keep on increasing in volume. The complaints are increasing about lack of sleep and it is often observed that this problem is not an occasional difficulty but is symptomatic of a deeper difficulty.

This discomfort usually spreads to other aspects of life and one notices lack of concentration on work and realise that it is linked to the lack of sleep.

This situation brings to fore a general state of tiredness and there are any reasons for it. It is not advisable to ignore the signs and one is required to go deep and find out the reasons for this state of discomfort. There are many causes for this malaise and it is important to go into them with a view to address them

High stress levels

A lot of stress or worry can hurt the duration and quality of sleep, which in turn can harm one’s physical and mental health. Stress can cause the autonomic nervous system to pump out hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. These raise the heart rate to circulate blood to vital organs and muscles more efficiently, preparing one’s body to take immediate action in a kind of fight-or-flight response. While this kind of preparedness is great if one is threatened by predators in the jungle, it can be overkill for a regular sleep routine.

Chronic depression

One of the common ways to tell if one is depressed is that one sign of it is insomnia or the inability to sleep. On the flip side, another sign of depression can be sleeping too much. Lack of sleep because of another medical condition, such as narcolepsy, can deepen depression. If one is not able to get a proper night’s sleep over a long period of time, it is often a telling sign that one should find a treatment for depression.

Consistent overwork

It is widely acknowledged that people are nowadays working more and sleeping less. Not only does the sheer number of hours people work, burning the candle at both ends, interfere with the number of hours sleep but the stress of work can also keep people up. That means, the next day when one is trying to pay attention in a Zoom meeting, one is fighting to keep eyes open. So it becomes a vicious, repeating cycle.

Tough exercise

Exercise is proven to make people healthy and helps sleep. But if the workout becomes intensive then it can boost heart rate, body temperature, and adrenaline levels, which in turn can lead to bad sleep and make people groggy the next day. It may also make it harder for to train again. It is imperative that exercise workouts are laid out to suit one’s requirement and should not prioritize excessive workouts over a healthy sleep routine.

Avoiding drinking water

It is now an acknowledged fact that not drinking enough water or taking in healthy fluids is one of the foremost causes of fatigue, lethargy and tiredness. Dehydration can cause low blood pressure causing mood and energy levels to plunge. But if one drinks enough fluids, then one may feel bright and energized.

Sleeping more than required

Not only does getting too little sleep make one tired but it can getting it too much. It appears that any significant deviation from normal sleep patterns can upset the body’s rhythms and increase daytime fatigue. The best solution is to figure out how many hours of sleep are right and then stick with it—even on weekends, vacations, and holidays.

Mostly sitting

Many people in modern society are not active enough, caught up in sedentary lifestyles working at desks and spending too much time on screens. They then have trouble sleeping at night, which in turn makes them more fatigued during the day, reinforcing their sedentary lifestyles. Maintaining good levels of activity helps one stay healthier mentally and physically, and may ensure one gets better sleep. TW

February 11, 2023
#ARYBLOG: Roentgen’s Discovery of X-Rays

Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen hailing from Ruhr section of western Germany but for most of his early life he lived outside Germany.

In 1868 he graduated from college with a degree in mechanical engineering and decided to go on for advanced degrees in Zurich where he came under the influence of a well-known physicist, August Kundt.

Under him, Roentgen became interested in physics and received his doctorate in that subject.

Roentgen rose steadily in his profession and in 1888 a new institute of physics was opened at the University of Wurzburg in Bavaria and Roentgen was invited to head it. It was there that he discovered his penetrating rays and won world fame.

Professor Roentgen was fascinated by the mysterious illumination that resulted when electricity was discharged in a tube from which all the air had been pumped. The eerie illumination inside the tube seemed to start at the negative electrode, or “cathode,” so the phenomenon was referred to as “cathode rays.”

When the rays hit the glass of the tube, the glass glowed with a greenish light. Certain chemicals placed near the tube glowed even more brilliantly than did the glass.

Roentgen was particularly interested in the luminescence.

On 5 November, 1895, he enclosed his cathode ray tube in a box made of thin, black cardboard and darkened the room. Thus he would be able to observe the luminescence without the interference of outside light.

He turned on the electricity. Almost at once a flash of light that did not come from the tube
caught his eye. Quite a distance from the tube, he happened to have a sheet of paper coated with barium platinocyanide.

He used the paper in his experiments because barium platinocyanide was one of the chemicals that glowed when placed near the cathode ray tube. But why should it be glowing now?

The tube was in a cardboard box. Roentgen turned off the electricity. The coated paper became dark. He turned on the electricity again. The paper glowed once more. He walked into the next room with the coated paper, closed the door, and pulled down the blinds. The paper continued to glow while the tube was in operation.

He had discovered something invisible that was felt through cardboard and closed doors. The mysterious rays that caused chemicals to luminesce through cardboard and doors were called “Roentgen rays” in honour of the discoverer.

Roentgen himself, in honour of their unknown nature, gave his rays the mathematical symbol for the unknown calling them X-rays.

He found what thicknesses of various materials could be penetrated by X-rays. He discovered that they would fog a photographic plate just as sunlight would. He published his results on 28 December, 1895.

The scientific world was amazed.

A number of scientists found that they had encountered these mysterious rays. Roentgen’s work caught the imagination of a French scientist, Antome Henri Becquerel, who in February, 1896 wrapped photographic film in black paper put it in sunlight and put a crystal of a fluorescent chemical upon the paper.

He used a chemical his father had been particularly interested in a uranium compound. Sure
enough, when the film was developed it was found to be fogged. Ordinary sunlight would
not have passed through the black paper but X-rays could.

Becquerel decided the uranium salt was giving off X-rays as it fluoresced and he decided to develop some of the films anyway.

He quickly found that exposure to sun was unnecessary as Uranium salts gave off a radiation constantly one even more penetrating than X-rays. By 1897 the nature cathode rays was established.

J. J. Thomson, an English physicist, showed that the rays consisted of tiny particles speeding at breakneck velocities. What was more these particles were much smaller than atoms. They were the first subatomic particles to be discovered and were called electrons.

When these speeding electrons (or cathode rays) struck the anode in a cathode ray tube, X-rays were produced.

These X-rays were part of the electromagnetic spectrum, of which visible light is another
part. As for Becquerel’s uranium rays, these proved to consist of three parts.

The most penetrating part, called gamma radiation, was similar to X-rays but more energetic. The rest of the radiation was made up of electrons and helium nuclei.

Roentgen’s discovery, from the standpoint of pure science, was supremely important but before that became apparent to the average man there was an immediate advance in medicine that affected almost everyone.

X-rays penetrate the soft tissues of the body easily but are largely stopped by bone and entirely stopped by metal. X-rays, passing through the body to a photographic film behind, show light gray where bones stop most of them, gray and fogged in varying degrees elsewhere.

Doctors found they had a way of looking into the human body quickly, easily and-above all-without cutting. Small breaks in bones could be discovered; disorders in the joints; the beginnings of tuberculosis in lungs and foreign objects in the stomach.

In short, the doctor had a kind of magic eye at his disposal and this point was proven when only four days after news of Roentgen’s discovery reached America, X-ray located a bullet in a patient’s leg.

X rays (and gamma rays) can kill living tissue and if focused properly can kill cancer cells which the surgeon’s knife cannot reach.

Today, however, it is known that they must be used with caution and only when necessary. In industry, too, X-rays are used. They can detect internal flaws in the structure of metals, flaws that would be invisible otherwise.

In chemistry they are used to probe the atomic structure of crystals and of complex protein molecules.

In both cases, they open new windows into what was previously hidden. Thanks to Roentgen, doctors can—odd though it sounds—use the invisible to make the invisible visible.

March 10, 2022
Heartburn due to acid reflux

Acid reflux is a common health problem and it occurs when there is a dysfunction of the valve, known as the esophageal sphincter that stops stomach acid from entering the esophagus.

It is well-known that a large percentage of the humans living in the world suffer from this affliction and face extreme discomfiture.

Acid reflux – Burning sensation

One of the most common symptoms of acid reflux is a burning sensation that begins in the stomach and rises up to the mouth, passing through the esophagus, the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach.

This pain usually occurs after a meal.

Acid reflux – A bitter taste in the mouth

Some people with acid reflux complain of having a bitter taste in their mouth. This symptom often occurs during or shortly after a meal. A metallic taste that occurs without other symptoms is generally associated with other pathologies like oral candidiasis (thrush), a virus, or poor oral hygiene.

Some medications also cause a bitter taste in the mouth.

Acid reflux – Coughing

Despite a cough being generally associated with a virus, asthma, allergies, or respiratory
problems, some patients who experience acid reflux on a daily basis suffer from a chronic
cough.

Acid reflux – Pharyngitis and laryngitis

Acid reflux, along with causing a sore throat, can cause inflammation of the larynx (laryngitis) and the pharynx (pharyngitis).

Acid reflux – Tightness in the middle of the chest

Sometimes acid reflux can cause tightness in the chest or a sharp pain between the sternum and the navel. This symptom should be taken very seriously as it can also be a sign of
heart trouble, like angina.

Acid reflux – Stress

It is common knowledge that stress is very bad for health. People with acid reflux often
say that stress triggers their symptoms by weakening the esophageal sphincter. Relaxation activities and exercise can help lower stress level.

Acid reflux – Diet

Food often triggers acid reflux. A diet consisting of acidic foods (like tomatoes, pasta
and juice) and fats (like chocolate, fast food, and fatty meats) can lead to the onset of
symptoms. If one wants to get rid of acid reflux, one should stop eating these foods.

Acid reflux – Eat dinner earlier

If one eats dinner at 8 o’clock and goes to bed at 10pm then what is required is that on should change the times of eating one’s final meal of the day if one has acid reflux at night.
It’s best to eat three or four hours before one goes to bed.

Acid reflux – Take time to chew

If it takes one less than five minutes to finish meal meaning that meals are taken quickly. Taking the time to chew food prevents one from overworking one’s stomach.

Eating more slowly can also help lose weight. It takes about 20 minutes for the brain to register that the stomach is full and if the meal is taken quickly then one does not let one’s stomach tell the brain that one eating is required to be stopped.

Acid reflux – Raise your head in bed

Acid reflux often occurs at night. To avoid a burning sensation because of acid rising into the esophagus, raise head about 15 cm (roughly 6 in.) in bed. Lying flat on back in bed can trigger acid reflux.

Acid reflux – Over-the-counter medications

At the drug store, there are lots of options for over-the-counter medications. Antacids, for instance, are specifically designed to reduce gastric acid, whereas alginates act as a protective screen against acid reflux.

Acid reflux – Prescription medications

If acid reflux is not improved by taking over-the-counter medication, then the doctor
may prescribe proton pump inhibitors. This medication reduces the amount of acid produced by the stomach. They are much stronger than over-the-counter antacids.

Disclaimer: The information provided by the blogger is for educational purposes only, and does not substitute for professional medical advice.

January 22, 2022