Blog

What is meaning of term ‘Offside’?

Football is the most popular sport in the world. Part of the charm lies in the fact that all that's usually needed to play it is a football, with even makeshift arrangements serving as goal posts when playing for fun. Additionally, the sport is very easy to understand as the rules are very simple…….. except the offside rule.

In simple terms, the offside rule mandates that an attacking player in the opposition half must have at least two opposition players, including the goalkeeper, between her and the opposition goal when a pass is played to her during a move.

Even though the rule has been around for over a century, it isn't easy to understand. The best way to get to grips with it is by watching it in action, for which you will get plenty of chances during the FIFA World Cup that begins on November 20.

Picture Credit: Google 

What is meaning of term ‘Mankad’?

In cricket, a bowler can run out the non-striking batter in their delivery stride if that batter is backing up. This form of dismissal is informally referred to as Mankad, after Indian cricketer Vinoo Mankad, who effected it against Australia's Bill Brown in a Test match at Sydney in 1947

Even though this form of dismissal has been within the rules of cricket. it always invokes a debate around the spirit of the game when it happens. The bowler and the fielding side often bear the brunt, even though the onus is on the non-striker to stay their ground till the ball is delivered.

In order to make it less taboo, those in charge of the rules of the game moved the law on running out the non-striker this way from Unfair Play to Run Out. Effective from October 2022, Mankad is now a legitimate form of dismissal and is now classed as run out.

There was a lot of furore over India's Deepti Sharma effecting a run out of England's Charlie Dean at the non-striker's end during her delivery stride, as recently as September 2022.

Picture Credit : Google 

What is meaning of term ‘Superfoods’?

Superfoods refer to a variety of foods many of them plant-based -said to be packed with nutrition The likes of blueberries, salmon, and kale are often part of what are called superfoods While discussing superfoods it is good to remember that the word is neither an official attestation by any government nor a medically proven label for the types of foods labelled so. In fact many consider the word a marketing ploy to sell specific kinds of food. Rather than try to stick to foods falling under the superfoods category, nutritionists urge us to consume a variety of foods that cover reasonable amounts of fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, fish, meat, dairy, etc. since all these together provide us with a range of nutrients. While choosing what we eat, it is always wise to go in for natural and organic foods and those free of chemicals and carcinogens (cancer-causing agents). Such foods are far kinder to both humans and our planet than their processed counterparts.

Picture Credit : Google 

What is meaning of term ‘Microbeads’?

Microbeads refer to plastic particles so tiny that they are not larger than five mm in diameter. Since they are made of plastic, they are solid and do not dissolve in water. If they are so tiny, what’s their use? You’ll be surprised at how extensively they are used-in everything from face wash and shower gels to bodyscrub as exfoliants (agents that remove dead cells from the surface of the skin). They are used in toothpastes too. Useful they are but microbeads are just as harmful. Due to their tiny size, they escape wastewater treatment systems and enter waterbodies, including rivers and oceans. There they are consumed by marine creatures, and eventually, by humans through seafood.

Picture Credit: Google 

What is meaning of term ‘Vermicopost’?

Compost is a natural fertilizer obtained using organic components such as leaves and food scrap. Vermicomposting is the process that uses worms such as earthworms to create such compost. The worms consume the organic waste and what they excrete is the manure. This manure is said to contain nutrients higher than before the composting. Vermicompost can be prepared at home, it is completely natural, puts organic waste to good use, and is also odourless. More importantly, it eliminates the use of chemical fertilizers that can harm the soil, wildlife dependent on it, and even humans.

Picture Credit : Google 

What is meaning of term ‘Environmental justice’?

Environmental justice is an effort that aims to understand how several human actions (or inaction) impacting the environment also disproportionately affect marginalised and economically disadvantaged people across the world. For instance, least developed countries may contribute the least to pollution and yet people in those regions could be more affected by pollution than developed countries. Such countries may often even find themselves dealing with floods, drought the lack of access to clean water, healthy food, medical care, or means to be compensated during crises. So, in simple terms, environmental justice can be defined as the idea that everyone deserves to live healthy on a clean Earth.

Picture Credit : Google 

What is meaning of term ‘Slow fashion’?

The clothes we wear are one of the top global polluters. Here’s why. They are produced in large quantities, making them “cheap” to buy, so we wear them just a few times, throw them away and buy new clothes all over again. Such mass production of clothing in a short while is called fast fashion. These large quantities are made by people who are paid unfairly poorly, often working long hours and in uncomfortable spaces. In effect, fast fashion causes human and planet suffering. And slow fashion hopes to correct this. It is the opposite of fast fashion-the clothes are produced in very small quantities and the people creating them are paid fairly. Such clothes are also of good quality, last long, and are more expensive than mass-produced ones. Which means, we care better for them, wear them for a long while, thus decreasing the amount of waste the clothing industry generates.

Picture Credit : Google 

What is meaning of term ‘Space tourism’?

Ever wanted to travel to outer space and watch our blue planet from the perspective of an outsider? Well, space tourism is all about experiencing outer space and the universe in all its ethereal magnificence. It is recreational space travel. It can become a reality through government-owned vehicles or through private companies. The world’s first space tourist was American businessman Dennis Tito back in 2001 when he ‘toured’ outer space. There is a backstory behind it. To generate income for the maintenance of the aging space station Mir, MirCorp, a private venture in charge of the space station decided to sell the trip to Tito. But even as he paid for the same, a decision was made to deorbit Mir. That’s how the destination changed to ISS. Following this, many joined the bandwagon and flew as a ‘spaceflight participant’ to the ISS for recreation. These were orbital space tourism. Presently, the focus is largely on suborbital space tourism. In sub-orbital rocket-powered flight, the rockets bring tourists into space but will not take a full orbit around the earth. Space tourism is still expensive. Business magnates Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson had recently travelled to outer space as tourists. Meanwhile business magnate Elon Musk’s company Spacex has started sending tourists into space already. The first space tourists sent by the company returned to Earth in 2021 after orbiting the Earth for three days. They flew 590 km farther from the planet. Further, NASA along with its private partner, has launched Starliner, a space capsule, that will take people to the Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Seen here is Richard Branson floating in zero gravity on board Virgin Galactic’s passenger rocket plane VSS Unity after reaching the edge of space.

Picture Credit : Google 

What is meaning of term ‘Space debris’?

Look up at the sky. What do you see? Apart from the many cosmic bodies that we can see through our naked eyes such as the moon, stars and the planets, it also encompasses galaxies, nebulae, black holes and so on. Now add to that the many spacecraft and satellites we put in Earth’s orbit. Any man-made, artificial materials that are orbiting the Earth which is no longer operational are referred to as space debris or space junk. They just float in space in terms of their size, they can be as big as an inactive satellite or as minuscule as the paint flecks that come off a rocket. Most of the debris can be found in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which is less than 1000 km from the Earth’s surface. At times they are also found in the geostationary orbit. The time taken by the debris to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere depends upon its altitude. The “pollution” of space due to human activities has been a concern that space faring nations must address at the earliest. Space debris can endanger mankind’s space explorations, by colliding with satellites in orbit and other missions. Seen here is a computer-generated image released by the European Space Agency (ESA) showing trackable objects in orbit around Earth.

Picture Credit : Google