Social Welfare in the Religions of Subcontinent a Critical Study

Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism are among the major religions of Sub-continent. The present study highlights the fact that public welfare is preached by all of these religions. Giving alms for the sake of public welfare is an important part of various Hindu religious practices. The role of latest reformist movements is also worth mentioning along with the Hindu literature related with social well-being. Arya Sam฀j movement did many activities for the welfare of people. The founder of Buddhism made efforts for the betterment of mankind and used his religion and teachings to propagate public welfare. Buddhism rejected the caste system and played an important and effective role to minimize the sufferings of affected community. In this regard Islam rises to the highest pedestal as the topic of Holy Quran is Man. It focuses not only on the worldly success of man but also his success in the hereafter. Islam has gone a step ahead than other religions as the activities of public welfare are considered worship in it. The rights of human beings are given great importance and they are given no less importance than rights of Allah. Moreover, the Holy Prophet (S. A. W) took noteworthy steps for the welfare of whole mankind without any discrimination and these are highlighted in this paper. Islam also gives lineaments of the methods and modes of public welfare and goes beyond the other Semitic and non-Semitic religions in this regard. This paper explores and highlights the measures taken by the mentioned religions in a comparative manner and also proves that Islamic concept of social welfare is not only limited to human beings but it also enfolds other living beings and even plants. Islam provides a complete road map of public welfare. Islamic society not only progresses financially but it also focuses on spiritual, ideological and social progress. The aim of social welfare cannot be achieved unless equilibrium is maintained between rights and duties. Islam not only stresses on the rights of the weak but also safeguards the rights of the rich.

Determination of Chlorinated Pesticides and Degradation of Chlorpyrifos in Water by Advanced Oxidation Process

Pesticides contamination is a wide spread source of environmental pollution and a matter of concern all over the world. In recent decades, the use of pesticides for agricultural purposes has steadily increased. Surface and ground water contamination due to extensive use of pesticides is a serious threat to the environment and human health. Pesticides are very toxic compounds causing various diseases. Therefore, in this research work, efforts have been made to determine various chlorinated pesticides contamination in water samples of selected areas of Khyber Pukhtoon Khwa, Pakistan. The determination of 20 chlorinated pesticides have been performed in surface and ground water samples collected from different districts (Peshawar, Mardan, Sawabi and Charsadda) of Khyber Pukhtoon Khawa, Pakistan. A total of 239 water samples (157 surface and 82 ground water samples) were collected from various locations of selected areas. The number of surface water samples, collected from Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda and Sawabi districts were 59, 42, 30 and 26 samples, respectively. Similarly, 29, 24 and 29 ground water samples were collected from Peshawar, Charsadda and Mardan districts, respectively. Solid phase microextraction (SPME) technique was used for various pesticides extraction from water samples. Chlorinated pesticides were determined in water samples using SPME coupled with gas chromatography and electron captured detector (SPME-GC-ECD) method. Using this method, the plots of chlorinated pesticides concentrations and peak areas showed good linear correlation with R2 values in the range of 0.9887 to 0.9999. The percent recovery found at 1 μg L-1 and at 2 μg L- 1 concentration of pesticides ranged from 89.9 ± 3.9 % to 106.0 ± 2.3 and 88.5 ± 2.6 to 109.2 ± 2.9 %, respectively. The lower limits of detection for all 20 organochlorine pesticides were found significantly less than their maximum contamination levels. Among the various pesticides analyzed, β-BHC, γ-BHC, heptachlor, aldrin, α- chlordane, endosulfan I, 4,4''-DDE and dieldrin were detected in most of the water samples. However, other pesticides, like heptachlor epoxide, γ-chlordane, endrin, 4,4''-DDD, endrin ketone, 4,4''-DDT, methoxychlor, α-BHC, δ-BHC, endosulfan I, endosulfan II, endrin aldehyde and endosulfan sulfate were mostly present in only few water samples in the present investigation. Chlorpyrifos and monocrotophos are very toxic organophosphorous pesticides and have more importance due to their extensive use, large distribution and persistence in the environment. They are very dangerous by all routs of absorbtion, such as inhalation, ingestion and skin contact and producing various diseases. In the present study, the irradiation of chlorpyrifos and monocrotophos in aqueous solution by gamma-rays were investigated on a laboratory scale and their degradation efficiency was studied. The GC-ECD and HPLC (High performance liquid chromatography) were used for analysis of chlorpyrifos and monocrotophos, respectively. Aqueous solutions of different concentrations of chlorpyrifos compound (200–1000 μg L-1) were irradiated to different doses (30–575 Gy). Gamma irradiation showed 100 % degradation efficiency (η) for a 500 μg L-1 solution at an absorbed dose of 575 Gy. The dose rate of source was 300 Gy h -1. The radiolysis kinetics for decay of chlorpyrifos was pseudo-first order. The dose constants determined in this study ranged from 8.2 ´ 10-3 to 2.6 ´ 10-2 Gy−1, and decreased with an increase in the initial concentration of chlorpyrifos. The radiation chemical yield (G-values) for the loss of chlorpyrifos was found to decrease with increasing absorbed dose. The gamma radiation induced decomposition of monocrotophos aqueous solution at various concentrations (60-150 mg L-1) was carried out and its removal efficiency (η) was investigated. At 1200 Gy absorbed dose of gamma irradiation, monocrotophos solution (60 mg L-1) showed 100% degradation. The dose constants investigated in this study ranged from 1.4 ´ 10-3 to 3.0 ´ 10-3 Gy-1. The monocrotophos solution prepared in tap water showed lower degradation than that solution prepared in Milli Q water. The effect of radical scavengers, such as tert-butanol, iso-propanol, H2O2, CO3-2, HCO3-, humic acid, NO3- and NO2- as well as saturation of solutions by N2, N2O or air on the degradation of chlorpyrifos and monocrotophos were also studied. The results showed that the oxidative hydroxyl radical (•OH) was the most important in the degradation of chlorpyrifos and monocrotophos, while the reductive radicals, aqueous electron (e-aq) and hydrogen radical (H•) were of less relative importance for the degradation of these two pesticides. The inorganic by-products of chlorpyrifos (Cl -, SO 4-2 and PO4 -3) and monocrotophos (NO3-, NH4+ and PO4-3) were quantitatively determined by ion chromatography (IC). The organic intermediates of monocrotophos degradation were determined by HPLC/MS and UPLC/MS/MS. A detail mechanism pathway for degradation of monocrotophos by gamma irradiation has been proposed. Keywords: Organochlorine pesticides; Chlorpyrifos; Monocrotophos; Gamma irradiation; SPME-GC-ECD; Advanced oxidation technologies; Ion chromatography; Water decontamination; UPLC/MS/MS; Degradation mechanism.