The airdeck blasting technique has been used in the past to reduce the explosive charge and to improve the rock fragmentation. However, the mining and construction industry of Pakistan has always been reluctant to use airdecks in their blasting operations. This is due to the fact that researchers and practitioners have a divided opinion about the efficiency of this technique. In fact, several attempts in the past have been made to find out the best position and optimum length of airdeck for better fragmentation. Since, in the previous studies most of experiments were carried out under varying geological conditions, it was very difficult to suggest the best possible location and optimum length for airdeck in an explosive column for better fragmentation. In order to find out the best position of airdeck in explosive column that yields better fragmentation, it was necessary to carry out all experiments on homogeneous material and in controlled geological conditions. So that research findings indicate a correlation between the concerned variables only and a benchmark research could be established. Therefore, special homogeneous concrete blocks were designed for this research. These concrete blocks eliminated the heterogeneity and anisotropy of rock material, such as the fractures, folds, faults and joints of rock. Such factors have been found to play a very crucial role in the size of debris produced from the blasted rock material. This research will address two fundamental questions; the technical and the economic efficiency of the airdeck blasting technique. All the blasting experiments in this study were carried out in two phases. In the first phase, a series of small scale experiments was conducted using homogeneous concrete blocks. In order to find out the proper position and optimized length of the airdeck, it was ensured that the concrete blocks had almost the same uniaxial compressive strength. More than 40 tests with concrete blocks were performed for this purpose. The evaluation of fragmentation by sieve analysis revealed that an improved rock fragmentation was achieved when the airdeck was placed in the center of the explosive column. Moreover, it was also observed that the mean blasted rock fragment size increased with the increase in airdeck size and the best results were achieved at 20% airdeck length. In the second phase of this research, the results of experimentation on concrete blocks were validated on relatively homogeneous limestone at two cement quarries: DG. Cement Chakwal and Askari Cement Nizampur. Several test blasts were carried out with full column charge without airdeck and with 20% airdeck length placed at middle of explosive column. The analysis of fragmentation for the benches after blast was done using Split Desktop software. Subsequently it was deciphered that at both the cement quarries, better fragmentation was achieved by placing airdeck at middle of explosive column as compared to when there was no airdeck in the full column charge. This research work also includes the use of multiple airdeck lengths placed at middle position of explosive column for the limestone quarry and the results indicate improved fragmentation. The results of this research work clearly indicate that airdeck, when placed at middle position of an explosive column produce more uniform blasted rock size distribution compared to that at other positions. Moreover, the optimum length of airdeck is 20% of the total length of explosive column and it improves environmental factors like fly rocks, air blast, ground vibrations etc. The underlying reason behind this is that the airdeck at middle position results in multiple impacts of shock wave that leads to an efficient transfer of explosive energy in the surrounding rocks. Economic analysis of explosive cost at both quarries was also conducted in this study. From economic analysis at DG Cement Chakwal, it was observed that up to 2.5 rupees per tonne of explosive cost could be saved by adopting 20% mid-airdeck length in the explosive column as compared to the cost incurred for conventional blasting techniques. By using above mentioned technique, saving per tonne can be increased by 16% and rupees 750,000 can be saved at the DG. Cement quarry monthly assuring an annual saving of rupees 9 million. Similarly, the economic analysis conducted from the results of blasting at Askari Cement Nizampur, it was observed that 2.6 rupees per tonne of explosive cost can be saved by adopting 20% mid-airdeck length in the explosive column to enhance the fragments as compared to the cost incurred for conventional blasting techniques. Therefore, using 20% mid-airdeck length in explosive column, saving per tonne can be increased by 10.4% and rupees 468,000 can be saved at the Askari Cement quarry monthly assuring an annual saving of 5.6 million rupees. By using 20% airdeck lengths in explosive column, Rs. 44.33 million can be saved annually for explosive used by Punjab, province of Pakistan. This amount can be calculated for other provinces of the Pakistan as well. There are many other minerals is Pakistan which require blasting for their production. If we could use the improved airdeck blasting technique for the production of those minerals, billions of rupees can be saved annually. Moreover, by incorporating the effect of even fragmentation from blasting on downstream processes like crushing, milling etc. millions of rupees can be saved. It is anticipated that this study will provide answers and guide lines to researchers and practitioners who were confused about best location and optimum length of airdeck to be used in explosive column for achieving the optimum fragmentation.
The Immensely Merciful to all, The Infinitely Compassionate to everyone.
71:01 a. Truly, WE assigned Noah with a Divine Mission to his people, saying: b. ‘Warn your people of the consequences of disobedience to the Divine Message before a grievous punishment would actually afflict them!’
71:02 a. Thus he proclaimed: b. ‘O My People! c. I have been assigned to you as a Clear Warner and my message is simple to understand and easy to follow.
71:03 a. The message is: b. ‘Submit in worship and reverence to Allah alone, and c. fear HIS disobedience and be reverent to HIM, d. and, thus, follow me’ in guidance.
71:04 a. By so doing, ‘HE will be forgiving some of your past sinful offenses, and grant you respite till an appointed time - the time of death – instead of destroying you immediately. b. But when Allah’s Appointed Time will come, then it would neither be averted nor delayed, if only you knew.’
71:05 a. So Noah spent hundreds of years conveying the Divine Message but he faced immense opposition, insult, and mockery. b. Thus he submitted: c. O ‘My Rabb - The Lord! d. Truly, I have appealed to my people by night and by day, as I was assigned to do,
71:06 a. but the more I would call, the farther they would run away’ from my advocacy.
71:07 a. And, truly, each time I would call them so that they would accept The Truth and YOU may thus grant forgiveness to them,
The relation between people and environment has long been documented through literary works. Edward white gives the example of Adam and Eve journey through the Garden of Eden in the Bible and Odyssey dangerous trek across the Mediterranean Sea in Homer’s Odyssey as early literary examples in which human path cross the nature and interact with the beauty of nature.
Early Childhood Education has been considered as a fundamental pillar for lifelong learning. In this regard, the teachers of early years need to play a significant role in the teaching and learning process at the classroom level. The study aimed to explore the question, "How do two early years teachers implement their learning, acquired from the Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED) Certificate in Education (Cert. Ed.), Programme 2006-2007, at the Aga Khan University, Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED), Karachi. The study was qualitative in nature. Purposive sampling method was used under the qualitative case study approach where only the trained AKU-IED, ECD teachers were selected from two private schools in Karachi. The two ECD (Class I, II) teachers' perception, their conceptual understanding regarding different aspects of teaching in the early years, their classroom practices, the factors that facilitated them in the implementation of their learning and challenges they faced while translating their learning into classroom practices were explored. The data was generated through classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, informal talks or chats, and document analysis. The study is significant at both personal and professional level. It has strengthened and deepened my understanding about child development, how children learn, the role of the teacher and the environment specific to early childhood classrooms. Moreover, it has attributed to the literature about early childhood education especially, in the developing world context. Furthermore, it has also informed ECED faculty at AKU-IED about the implementation of ECED programmes in the real school context. The findings of this study will hopefully make a contribution in designing further training programmes for ECED facilitators at AKUIED. Besides the findings will be particularly helpful in those schools, where the study was conducted. It will provide the two teachers an opportunity to reflect on their own classroom teaching practices, improve and undertake different initiatives in early year's education. The findings suggest that a change has occurred in the teachers believes and perceptions regarding the teaching learning practices in the early years. They have adapted their learning by contextualizing it in their classroom and made a shift from the previous traditional approaches of teaching towards the usage of more innovative ways of teaching. As a consequence, they look at them in a more effective role as early years teachers. They are translating their learning acquired from the programme including active learning, integrated teaching and the usage of different teaching strategies in