Ashok Sharma

Mrinal Miri has been one of the most influential philosophers in recent times, apart from also being a teacher, writer and academic administrator. He has written on a variety of topics in the areas of tribal identity and ethics, and has substantial contributions in the areas of analytical philosophy, political philosophy and Gandhian thought. The essays in this volume seek to enhance and restate these themes, especially in moral and Gandhian philosophy, ethics and questions of identity, and offer a fresh perspective on secularism, religion and politics. Miri himself comments on these essays, locating them within contemporary debates as well as within specific intellectual traditions, thus expanding their salience and contemporaenity. The book will be of interest to academics and students of philosophy, politics, religion, sociology, history, ethics and literature, as also to any interested general reader. Mrinal Miri has contributed to philosophy for the past four decades, over and above his roles of teacher, writer and academic administrator. His influence has been substantial and decisive within the formal disciplinary boundaries of academic philosophy, but also in any serious study concerning the humanities and the social sciences. This volume honours Miri's remarkable mind and outstanding qualities as an individual: not only do the contributors engage with and enhance themes in moral, political and Gandhian philosophy --- questions Miri has concerned himself with --- but Miri himself comments on the essays, locating them within specific intellectual traditions as well as contemporary debates. Miri's other areas of interest: issues of identity, politics, science and its critiques, multiculturalism, violence, human rights, memory and history, are also restated in new ways by the contributors in their essays. In the process of this conversation, the book offers a fresh perspective on topics such as secularism, religion and politics.

The analysis of the data so far available indicates that eukaryotic chromosome with splicing characteristics appeared quite early in evolution possibly parallel and not sequential to the prokaryotic system. The endosymbiotic origin of the eukaryotic cell involved a primitive undifferentiated unicellular eukaryote and a photosynthetic or non-photosynthetic microbe. Certain regulatory genes of extra-cellular organelles were transferred later through molecular hybridization to the nucleus. The evolution of multicellularity and sexual reproduction led to the origin of innumerable eukaryotic forms in the late precambrian period. This new concept of the author can account for the evolution of complex eukaryotic chromosome and harmonious functioning of extra-cellular organelles with the nucleus. The concept also explains the sudden spurt of innumerable eukaryotic fossils at the early palaeozoic era.