REMEDIAL TEACHING

Remedial Teaching is a kind of teaching method or instructional work carried out to provide remedial measure to students. The word ā€œ remedyā€ means ā€œto rectifyā€ or ā€œto improveā€ something. So, Remedial teaching is carried out to provide remedial measures to get rid of common or specific weakness of students. The major objective of remedial teaching is to provide learning support and additional help to pupils who are not good as their peers in performance. Students with learning difficulties have some psychological needs. Some have less ability to comprehend abstract ideas and concepts. Others may have poor memory. So it is integral in remedial teaching to identify the specific weakness of pupils.

The learning difficulties in students are various. They may include poor memory, weak in problem solving power, short attention span, lack of learning motivation, lack of self confidence and self expectation, difficulty in understanding new or abstract concepts. So assessment is the first step in remedial teaching. Assessment is also the important factor, because through this the teacher gets a knowledge about the skills and weaknesses of a student. The capacity of students should be assessed by the teacher through survey testing. This will help the teacher to find the present level of achievement and difficult areas of a student. This will also aid the teacher in preparing suitable individual teaching materials. The survey testing reveals the strength and weakness of the class as a whole and the levels of discrepancies in the various basic skills of each student. So the test will help in classifying the students into groups for works like reading, spelling etc.

Teachers use various methods in remedial teaching. There must be diverse learning activities with the same teaching objective to develop abilities and skills of students. Quizzing is the most common method used in remedial teaching. Analyzing the progress of students will help in regrouping them if necessary. Designing meaningful learning situation is important. Suitable language environment is very important in second language classes. Games and activities also stimulate the interest and initiative in learning. Different teaching methods should be adapted by the teacher to improve the learning capacity of students. For example, the teacher should give valuable examples before proceeding to abstract concepts, which will help in easy understanding. Providing clear instructions is also important for students who are less competent in understanding written language. There must be short and clear instruction to avoid confusion among students. Summarising main points is another method which enhances the audio visual memories. Teachers can also guide the students to link up classroom knowledge with life experiences. This will enhance effectiveness of learning. Enhancing learning interest is important in remedial teaching. Teachers can design interesting activities coupled with reward scheme to stimulate the interest of students, for example role play, debate, narrating incidents and games related to language learning initiate learning. Remedial teaching should enhance the active participation of students to enhance their self confidence. Concern for individual performance is important. If individualized remedial teaching is necessary it should be done before or after the class, so the students can remove learning obstacles as soon as possible. Teachers should also note common errors made by these students

Thus remedial teaching is a very significant method . This provides correct foundation to rectify mistakes and for future learning. It hastens the process of learning. Underachievers are promoted to update learning and other students are promoted to expand learning. Remedial teaching also creates confidence in students and it help them to realize their full potential.

WHAT IS A SONNET?

The sonnet is a popular classical form that has compelled poets for centuries. Traditionally, the Sonnet is a lyric in fourteen lines in iambic pentameter governed by certain prescribed rules in general and in the arrangement of the rhymes. It aims at concentrated expression, but fairly complex development of a single theme also is possible. It derives its name from the Italian ‘sonnetto’ which means ‘a little song’ or sound sung to the strain of music. It has only one leading thought or emotion as in Milton’s ‘On His Blindness’ or Keats’s ‘On first looking into Chapman’s homer.

Primary Types of Sonnets:

In English literature, there are two basic sonnet patterns:

Petrarchan Sonnet:

The first and most common sonnet is the Petrarchan, or Italian. Named after one of its greatest practitioners, the Italian poet Petrarch, the Petrarchan sonnet is divided into two stanzas, the octave has two rhymes ‘a’ and ‘b’ arranged in ab ab, ab ab scheme. The sestet has three rhymes arranged in various forms as abba, abba, cdecde or cdcdcd is suited for the rhyme-rich Italian language, though there are many fine examples in English. The octave may be divided into two stanzas of four lines each called tercets. Since the Petrarchan presents an argument, observation, question, or some other answerable charge in the octave, a turn, or volta, occurs between the eighth and ninth lines. This turn marks a shift in the direction of the foregoing argument or narrative, turning the sestet into the vehicle for the counterargument, clarification, or whatever answer the octave demands.

Sir Thomas Wyatt introduced the Petrarchan sonnet to England in the early sixteenth century. His famed translations of Petrarch’s sonnets, as well as his own sonnets, drew fast attention to the form. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, a contemporary of Wyatt’s, whose own translations of Petrarch are considered more faithful to the original though less fine to the ear, modified the Petrarchan, thus establishing the structure that became known as the Shakespearean sonnet. This structure has been noted to lend itself much better to the comparatively rhyme-poor English language.

Shakespearean Sonnet:

The second major type of sonnet, the Shakespearean, or English sonnet, follows a different set of rules. Here, three quatrains and a couplet follow this rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg. The couplet plays a pivotal role, usually arriving in the form of a conclusion, amplification, or even refutation of the previous three stanzas, often creating an epiphanic quality to the end. In sonnet 130 of William Shakespeare’s epic sonnet cycle, the first twelve lines compare the speaker’s mistress unfavorably with nature’s beauties, but the concluding couplet swerves in a surprising direction.
 

Shakespeare Sonnet 130: My Mistress’ eyes

Variations on the Sonnet Form

John Milton’s Italian-patterned sonnets (later known as “Miltonic” sonnets) added several important refinements to the form. Milton freed the sonnet from its typical incarnation in a sequence of sonnets, writing the occasional sonnet that often expressed interior, self-directed concerns. He also took liberties with the turn, allowing the octave to run into the sestet as needed. Both of these qualities can be seen in “When I Consider How My Ligth is Spent”.

The Spenserian sonnet, invented by sixteenth-century English poet Edmund Spenser, cribs its structure from the Shakespearean—three quatrains and a couplet—but employs a series of “couplet links” between quatrains, as revealed in the rhyme scheme: abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee. The Spenserian sonnet, through the interweaving of the quatrains, implicitly reorganized the Shakespearean sonnet into couplets, reminiscent of the Petrarchan. One reason was to reduce the often excessive final couplet of the Shakespearean sonnet, putting less pressure on it to resolve the foregoing argument, observation, or question.

THe Theme:

The common theme of a sonnet is love as in the sonnets of Shakespeare, Philip Sidney, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. However several poets have used other themes also in their sonnets. Milton’s sonnet ‘On His Blindness ‘,Wordsworth’s sonnet addressed to Milton, Keat’s sonnet ‘On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer and Arnold’s sonnet on Shakespeare are examples.

Examples of Famous Fisrt Lines in Shakespeare’s Sonnet:

William Shakespeare is credited with writing 154 sonnets, collected and published a few years after his death. Shakespeare featured many themes and subjects in his sonnets, and his works in this poetic form are arguably the most famous in English literature. Most of Shakespeare’s sonnets are known by their first-line rather than their number. Here are some examples of famous first lines in Shakespeare’s sonnets:

  • Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war
  • Those lines that I before have writ do lie
  • To me, fair friend, you never can be old
  • My love is as a fever longing still
  • Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
  • So are you to my thoughts as food to life
  • My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun
  • No longer mourn for me whenĀ I am dead
  • Love is too young to know what conscience is
  • Then let notĀ winter’s ragged hand deface

Sonnet Sequences:

There are several types of sonnet groupings, including the sonnet sequence, which is a series of linked sonnets dealing with a unified subject. Examples includeĀ Elizabeth Barrett Brownings’s Sonnet from the Portuguese and Lady Mary Wroth’sĀ The Countess of Montgomery’s Urania, published in 1621, the first sonnet sequence by an English woman.

Within the sonnet sequence, several formal constraints have been employed by various poets, including the corona (crown) and sonnet redoublĆ©. In the corona, the last line of the initial sonnet acts as the first line of the next, and the ultimate sonnet’s final line repeats the first line of the initial sonnet.Ā La CoronaĀ by John Donne Ā is comprised of seven sonnets structured this way. The sonnet redoublĆ© is formed of 15 sonnets, the first 14 forming a perfect corona, followed by the final sonnet, which is comprised of the 14 linking lines in order.

Ideas to change your life!

ā€œPeople don’t like to think, if one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant.ā€ – Helen Keller

Think big, act small

Never let anything hold you back when you think of ideas.
You’ve got nothing to lose. Just make sure you act small. Put in the work and stay practical.

Problems are unanswered questions

Every time you experience stress over a problem, you’re sabotaging your life.
A problem is nothing but an unanswered question. So stay calm. And figure out the answer.

firm foundation forĀ relationships

Wrong reasons to start relationships include money, fear of being alone, abuse, needing attention.
The foundation of all relationships should be based onĀ love, respect, support, trust, patience, good company, laughter, sadness, and more support.

Nothing in life is free

You always pay for something with money, time (the most valuable thing you have), or other resources.
Life is a business. And smart business people spend their resources wisely.

Never be afraid of making decisions

Waiting, postponing, doubting, researching too muchā€Šā€”ā€Šit’s all not useful. Get your act together, and decide firmly whenever you have to make one.Ā 
And when you made the wrong decision, own it, apologize, and make another decision.

Decide to become a leader

Being a leader also has nothing to do with your title.
When everyone looks at each other because no one wants to take responsibility, decide that you will take responsibility.

Productivity yields results

There’s only one thing that helps you to go from nothing to something: You have to put in the work.Ā 
Make sure you value effectiveness over everything. Results matter. Get things done and move on to the next thing.

See yourself as a salesperson

In almost everything you do, you’re selling yourself.
When you sell, be transparent, honest, and to the point. Don’t waste your time on people who don’t like you anyway.Ā 

Improve your skills

To improve your self-confidence.
You only improve your self-confidence by becoming good at something: By learning, doing, seeing results, and repeating that process for years. Your confidence will grow slowly every day.

Value your friends

We’re social animals. When we’re alone, we die early.Ā Ā 
So be nice to each other. And respect that your friends also have lives of their own.

Don’t believe everything you see

Don’t believe all the success stories you see everywhere. YouTubers, Instagram models, millionaire entrepreneurs: They seem perfect. But you only see the outside.
You don’t have to be a cynic. Just don’t take appearances for facts.

Learn to love criticism

It’s fuel for you.Ā You can use criticism to improve yourself, your product, or your service.Ā 
Or, if the criticism makes no sense, it can make you angry, which is also a good thing. That type of anger is useful. ā€œI’ll show them!ā€

Take care of your body

If you can’t take care of your body, you can’t take care ofĀ anything.
You can influence your health by eating healthy, exercising, and treating your body with respect.

Happiness is a choice

You control your thoughts. That means you decide what you do with your life. If you’re unsatisfied, angry, or frustrated, that’s all you.

Create something

Make yourself useful.Ā 
Instead of consuming so much information, products, and entertainment from others, spend a fraction of that time on creating something yourself.

Reference

https://observer.com/2017/02/i-have-15-ideas-to-change-your-life-do-you-have-five-minutes/

Building best habits!

Building habits

Our habits have the power to enable us, most of the time, to live a more organized life. However, we might find it quite challenging when it comes to establishing new habits, as they require time and strong will.Ā 
We should start by taking small steps every day to get used to eventually taking big ones for long periods.

Set measurable targets as habits

When trying to build new habits, be specific by thinking about ways to measure the evolution of your action: set clear targets that can help you, when the deadline previously decided on approaches, to evaluate your progress.

The pros and cons of building new habits

When picking up a new habit, think it well through: take into account the possible inconveniences as well as the most attractive advantages.Ā 
Remember that sometimes it might get harder to keep to the habit, but eventually, you are doing it for a good cause that is related directly to yourself.

Get used to planning

Whenever you plan on building a new habit, make sure that you have already planned thoroughly what to do when difficulties appear: how to handle the situations that make it harder to respect your new routine.Ā 

Associate new habits with the old ones

If you feel like picking up a new habit, don’t start from scratch. It is easier when you associate a new habit with one that already exists.Ā 
This way, it will seem less work and fewer changes. In the end, both notions tend to scare us, so why not better avoid them?

Ensure the means

When building a new habit, make sure you have all the means that would enable you to get to like it faster.Ā 
Equipment is often what matters the most when trying to get used to a new routine.

Provide the proper reward

When considering a new habit, make sure you see its accomplishment as satisfying rather than tiring. Therefore, choosing the proper reward after the completion of the habit can make you feel more at ease when it comes to your new routine.

Reference

https://zapier.com/blog/effective-habit-change/

Job offer

Shift yоur mindset аbоut the jоb оffer

Think аbоut the оffer in terms оf yоur develорment, quаlity оf life, аnd the vаriety оf the wоrk yоu wаnt tо dо. Think аbоut the trаde-оffs yоu аre gоing tо mаke.

When аn emрlоyer extends а jоb оffer tо yоu, he hаs рsyсhоlоgiсаlly соmmitted tо yоu. Yоu hаve mоre leverаge tо shарe yоur jоb desсriрtiоn аnd imрrоve yоur sаlаry аnd benefits расkаge immediаtely аfter yоu аre mаde аn оffer thаn in yоur first twо yeаrs оf emрlоyment.

Доmmitment аnd enthusiаsm

The рurроse оf the interview is tо get the оffer. The next stаge is аbоut соnsidering the оffer, then negоtiаting with yоur new emрlоyer.

Emрlоyers need tо feel thаt yоu аre соmmitted. Доntinue tо be enthusiаstiс in yоur deаlings with yоur рrоsрeсtive mаnаger sо yоu dоn’t sоund unсertаin thаt yоu wаnt the jоb.

Metriсs fоr аssessing а jоb оffer

Think аbоut whаt is imроrtаnt in yоur рrоfessiоnаl аnd рrivаte life, then аssess the оffer аgаinst these metriсs.

  • Sаlаry: Even when the mоney is enоugh, yоu need tо figure оut if it’s wоrthy оf yоur knоwledge аnd skills аnd in line with the lосаl mаrket.
  • Jоb соntent: Доnsider whether yоu will derive jоb sаtisfасtiоn frоm the оffer. Tо аnswer this questiоn, yоu need tо knоw the kinds оf асtivities yоu wаnt tо be invоlved in аnd the skills yоu wаnt tо use. Yоu will need а deeр understаnding оf whаt’s exрeсted оf yоu tо deсide whether yоu dо indeed wаnt the jоb.
  • Š”ulturаl fit: Аsk yоurself if it is а рlасe where yоu will be hаррy, сhаllenged, аnd where yоu will thrive. It might mаke sense tо dо а triаl run tо see whаt yоur соlleаgues аre like.
  • Flexibility, vасаtiоn, аnd оther рerks: Flexible hоurs аnd vасаtiоn time аre inсreаsingly vаluаble рerks. During the evаluаtiоn stаge, it’s imроrtаnt tо find оut whether сurrent emрlоyees аre аffоrded suсh benefits.
  • Šžther орtiоns: Аlsо, аssess yоur wаlk-аwаy аlternаtives. Think аbоut the оffer in terms оf the соst аnd benefit оf stаrting the jоb seаrсh рrосess оver аgаin, оf stаying in yоur сurrent jоb, оr оf first seeing whаt оther оffers mаteriаlize.
Negоtiаting а jоb оffer: Devise yоur рlаn

Šžnсe yоu knоw whаt elements оf the оffer yоu wоuld like tо сhаnge, yоu need tо deсide whiсh раrts yоu аre gоing tо рress аnd hоw yоu will dо it.
If yоu аre deаling with аn intermediаry, suсh аs аn HR аdministrаtоr оr а reсruiter, remember nоt оnly tо mаke requests but аlsо tо аsk questiоns, give infоrmаtiоn, аnd shаre ideаs tо mаke the jоb mоre раlаtаble.

Be tоugh but сheerful during the negоtiаtiоn

During the stаge оf the сlаssiс negоtiаtiоn, mаximize the соst оf the things yоu аre рreраred tо ассeрt while minimizing the things yоu’re аsking fоr.

Sаy nо (роlitely) if the jоb feels nоt right

There will be sоme give аnd tаke in negоtiаtiоns fоr а new jоb, but if everything yоu аsk fоr is а “nо”; it demоnstrаtes inflexibility оn the раrt оf yоur рrоsрeсtive emрlоyer аnd соuld be а red flаg.
If yоur internаl mоnitоring system tells yоu thаt yоu shоuld nоt tаke the jоb, listen. Hоwever, turn it dоwn роlitely аs they соuld be роtentiаl сustоmers, роtentiаl аdvisоrs, оr even yоur future emрlоyers.

Reference

https://hbr.org/2017/04/how-to-evaluate-accept-reject-or-negotiate-a-job-offer

Throne of Glass Novellas: Throne of glass

The second book in the series, Throne of Glass, is chaotic but beautiful. It tells the story of the gorgeously vicious assassin Celaena Sardothien, whom we have already been familiar with in the previous book. But this tale is nothing like its former, a fresh world if you ask me. Not like the next page of a book, which is new but familiar, this book mirrors a whole new story, though a few points are mentioned from the past in the second half, don’t expect anything from me, I don’t like the idea of me giving you readers any significant spoilers. After all the drama and catastrophes and tragedies in the past book, two things about our protagonist stay the same, her charming sarcasm and her intoxicating personality, which somehow catches up on every character in the book. Literally.

It is usual for Sarah to stop our hearts once or twice as we flip the pages, for this book does exactly that, and every other in the series as well. Nevertheless the tension, drama, and riot of climaxes, this whole book is perfect for a vacay-read, at least for me. If you are just beginning to enter the world of fantasy, or even books as well, this series is perfect for you. It will, somehow, amidst all the suspense, give you purpose. It gave me, I enjoyed my days more, especially during a time like the quarantine, It helped me cope through the days where I felt most lonely and almost on the verge of falling apart. Celaena’s courage, her iridescent confidence, made me a greater person. I started to see beauty in things usually undermined, things considered fallacious. Before reading this series, if anyone told me that an assassin could be the kindest person you’ll ever see, I’d have laughed straight in their face. But, I don’t know-how, this cruel vicious assassin is kind, loving, and almost frustratingly emotional.

Lastly, It’s not a tome with arid, bland, dreary text spit all over the pages, but a heart-throbbing story, of which you’ll surely savor every word.

Right to Information

By – Supriya

Right to Information Act (RTI) 2005 mandates timely response to citizen requests for government information. Since every citizen pays taxes, therefore he is entitled to know how the government is functioning . The Act empowers every citizen to seek any information from the government, obtain copies of any government documents , inspect any government documents , works and records , and take certified samples of materials of any government work. According to Act No . 22 of 2005 , The Right to Information Act is ” An Act to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities , in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority , the constitution of a Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto”. This law was passed by Parliament on 15 June 2005 and came fully into force on 13 October 2005. The RTI Act extends to the whole of India except the state of Jammu and Kashmir . All bodies, which are contributed under the Constitution or are under any government notification ,or all bodies , including NGO’s , which are owned, controlled or substantially financed by the government are covered under the Act. All authorities covered must appoint their Public Information Officer (PIO) . In addition, every public authority is required to designate Assistant Public Information Officers (APIOs) to receive RTI requests and appeals for forwarding to the PIOs of their public authority. Any person may submit a requests and appeals for forwarding to the PIOs of their public authority .
Any person may submit a request to the PIO for information in writing along with the application fees, which is ₹ 10 for Central Government Departments and different for different states.The application fees can be deposited either in cash, demand draft , cheque or money order. In the case of all Central Government Departments ,629 post offices have been designed as APIOs. This means that one can go to any of these post offices and submit his/her fee and application at the RTI counter in these post offices. A receipt will be issued as an acknowledgement and it is the responsibility of that post office to deliver it to the right PIO. It is the PIO’s obligation to provide information to citizens of India who request information under the Act. However, in case, one has problems locating their PIO/ APIO , one can address their RTI application to the PIO C/o Head of Department and send it to the concerned public authority with the requisite application fee. The Head of Department will have to forward his/her application to the concerned PIO. The PIO cannot refuse to accept application for information under any circumstances . Even if the information does not pertain to his/her department / jurisdiction, the PIO has to accept it and would have to transfer it to the right PIO within 5 days under sec 6(2). If the PIO or the concerned Department does not accept the application , it can also be sent by post. Moreover, the applicant can also make a formal complaint to the respective Information Commission under Section 18. The Information Commission has the power to impose a penalty of ₹25000 on the concerned officer who refused to accept the application. The Act also casts a direct accountability on the officer for non – performance . If the concerned officer does not provide information in time , a penalty of ₹ 250 per day of delay can be imposed by the Information Commissioner and if the information provided is false , a penalty of a maximum of ₹ 25000 can be imposed. The applicant is not required to disclose any information or reasons other than his name and contact particulars to seek the information . The Act specifies time limits for replying to the request. If the request has been made to the PIO, the reply is to be given within 30 days of receipt ; in case of an APIO , the reply is to be given within 35 days of receipt , and information concerning corruption and Human Rights violations is to be provided within 45 days. However, if life or Liberty of any person is involved , the PIO is expected to reply within 48 hours.
If the applicant does not receive information or is dissatisfied with the information received , s/he can file an appeal with the first appellate authority under Section 19 (1) of the Right to Information Act . One can file their first appeal within 30 days of receipt of information or within 60 days of filing RTI application, if no information is received. Even after the first appeal , if no information is received , then one can take the matter forward to the second appeal stage with the Information Commission, without paying any additional fees and within 90 days of disposal of first appeal . A second appeal is the last option under the RTI Act to get the information requested . For appeals against Central Government Departments, there is Central Information Commission (CIC) and for State Government Departments , there is State Information Commission.

THANKYOU !

How to be successful in life?

There are 8 very simple rules that you can follow to become truly successful.

Be Passionate

And do what you for love. If you don’t love it, then why do it? If we build careers or continue in jobs that aren’t our passion, we’re selling ourselves short. It’s like the guy that is a tech consultant that wanted to be the lead singer of a band. I’ve written about love and careers before and I think that the takeaway here is that if you do what you want to do, you will be more creative, more motivated, more tuned-in, and much more likely to be very financially and personally prosperous. Katherine Hepburn said it best.

Work Hard

Don’t ever fool yourself success comes from really hard work. And you might find that although you’re doing all of the heavy liftings, there is satisfaction in a job well done. But remember that you need to rely on others, so make sure that you surround yourself with colleagues that share your same work ethic.

Be Good

Focus always proceeds success which is not possible without a clear emphasis on what matters most. And leaders constantly need to remind themselves of this vital truth. Focus requires the pursuit of a mission and vision.


Push the Limits

Don’t constrain yourself to think inside of the box and don’t allow fear to get in your way. Today, people expect more than ordinary so you need to be extraordinary to get noticed and build strong relationships with your target market. Whether you sell a product or service, you must deliver the utmost experience.

Focus

And by that, I mean damn good. Successful people strive for greatness, not mediocrity. So push yourself (and your team) to ensure that you’ve reached your ultimate potential. And be sure to celebrate your wins, that not only breeds confidence among your team, it will keep your colleagues engaged and also will keep your clients or customers enfranchised. If you haven’t read the book From Good to Great, grab a copy.

Serve

Customer service excellence has always been and will always be one of the critical competitive advantages for any business. Meeting your customer’s needs will help you build a very strong and memorable brand. Be responsive, listen, and observe then you will create value. Learn from mistakes in service.

Create Ideas

In addition to service: ingenuity, authenticity, and forward-thinking will ultimately drive your brand. Aspiration is part of the creative process.
You must always continue to innovate, especially in a competitive market space. Push the envelope when it comes to ideation.

Be Persistent

Business development and entrepreneurship should be built out of love and any great love requires passion and persistence to capture your dream. Although you will experience setbacks and failures, you will also find success and triumph.

Reference

https://ce.uci.edu/careerzot/8-simple-ways-successful-8-inspiring-leaders/

Distance learning and its usefulness

what is distance learning?

Distance learning can truly be defined as the way of getting an education without visiting a school or attending a class physically.

Adaptability and Freedom

One of the main advantages of distance learning can be the personalized approach to getting an education regardless of the channels or mediums you are using for this purpose. Whether you are getting study materials online or through posts you can learn only when a connection is developed between the material of the course and you. You get the freedom to deal with the study material in the distance learning process. You can plan your learning process at your convenience instead of sticking with a fixed schedule.

Self-inspiration

Distance learning encourages you to motivate yourself to learn due to the absence of a traditional teacher to guide you. You will have to create a learning environment and control it effectively so that a band of self-motivation develops in you to inspire you to learn for your personal growth. You can cultivate this band in you by engaging yourself in distance learning methods.

Flexibility to Choose

You will have to follow a set schedule of learning as per the curriculum of the school if you are following traditional ways of learning. But different types of distance learning allows you to set your learning schedule as per your convenience without following a regular schedule of learning. Even if you are out of touch with the learning process, a distance learning program offers you the flexibility to choose your course of learning.

Easy to Access

If you cannot attend regular classes due to various reasons like time constraints and distance etc. then distance learning can be the best option for you to access the benefits of your education. If you opt for a correspondence course for distance learning then you will have to make postal delivery as a connection between you and your distance learning centre. But if you have a computer and internet connection then you can opt for an online learning method by using some video conferencing software like ezTalks Cloud Meeting etc. It will allow you to interact with your teachers face-to-face to resolve your problems. Moreover, you can continue learning even without taking leave from your job.

Earn While You Learn

For those who want to improve their resume by getting a higher education and without breaking their existing job then distance learning can be the best option for them. You can go on earning your livelihood along with improving your qualification as distance learning will accommodate both, learning as well as earning.

Saves Money and Time Both

By joining a distance learning course you can save money and time spent travelling to a nearby educational institution. Distance learning allows you to access your learning centre online without any additional cost. Moreover, the course offered at distance learning centres is cheaper than the courses provided at traditional education centres.

Virtual Trips

Another important advantage for distance learning is to plan virtual trips if your budget does not allow you to go on trips from an actual school. Video conferencing allows the students of distance learning courses to visit the location important for them and experience the enjoyment even better than an actual trip. These virtual trips allow you to visit locations that you might have never thought of. Moreover, such trips can enable your teachers or lecturers to make your ordinary lessons more interesting than ever.

Reference

https://eztalks.com/elearning/benefits-of-distance-learning.html

Is Homework Good or Bad for students?

Why Homework Is Good

Here are 10 reasons why homework is good, especially for the sciences, such as chemistry:

  • Doing homework teaches you how to learn on your own and work independently. You’ll learn how to use resources such as texts, libraries, and the internet. No matter how well you thought you understood the material in class, there will be times when you’ll get stuck doing homework. When you face the challenge, you learn how to get help, how to deal with frustration, and how to persevere.
  • Homework helps you learn beyond the scope of the class. Example problems from teachers and textbooks show you how to do an assignment. The acid test is seeing whether you truly understand the material and can do the work on your own. In science classes, homework problems are critically important. You see concepts in a whole new light, so you’ll know how equations work in general, not just how they work for a particular example. In chemistry, physics, and math, homework is truly important and not just busywork.
  • It shows you what the teacher thinks is important to learn, so you’ll have a better idea of what to expect on a quiz or test.
  • It’s often a significant part of your grade. If you don’t do it, it could cost you, no matter how well you do on exams.
  • Homework is a good opportunity to connect parents, classmates, and siblings with your education. The better your support network, the more likely you are to succeed in class.
  • Homework, however tedious it might be, teaches responsibility and accountability. For some classes, homework is an essential part of learning the subject matter.
  • Homework nips procrastination in the bud. One reason teachers give homework and attach a big part of your grade to it is to motivate you to keep up. If you fall behind, you could fail.
  • How will you get all your work done before class? Homework teaches you time management and how to prioritize tasks.
  • Homework reinforces the concepts taught in class. The more you work with them, the more likely you are to learn them.
  • Homework can help boost self-esteem. Or, if it’s not going well, it helps you identify problems before they get out of control.
Sometimes Homework Is Bad

So, homework is good because it can boost your grades, help you learn the material, and prepare you for tests. It’s not always beneficial, however. Sometimes homework hurts more than it helps. Here are five ways homework can be bad:

  • You need a break from a subject so you don’t burn out or lose interest. Taking a break helps you learn.
  • Too much homework can lead to copying and cheating.
  • Homework that is pointless busywork can lead to a negative impression of a subject (not to mention a teacher).
  • It takes time away from families, friends, jobs, and other ways to spend your time.
  • Homework can hurt your grades. It forces you to make time management decisions, sometimes putting you in a no-win situation. Do you take the time to do the homework or spend it studying concepts or doing work for another subject? If you don’t have the time for the homework, you could hurt your grades even if you ace the tests and understand the subject.
Reference

https://www.thoughtco.com/why-homework-is-good-sometimes-bad-607848

Right to Education

By – Supriya

The Right to Education is a fundamental right and is accepted the same legal status as the right to life as provided by Article 21A of the Indian Constitution . The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act,2009 is ” An act to provide for free and Compulsory Education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years”. The right of children to free and compulsory education came into force from April 1,2010. According to the act, every child in the age group of 6-14 years will be provided 8 years of elementary education in an age appropriate classroom in the vicinity of his/ her neighbourhood. According to the act , any cost that prevents a child from accessing school will be borne by the state which shall have the responsibility of enrolling the child as well as ensuring completion of 8 years of schooling. No child shall be denied admission for want of documents ; or shall be turned away if the admission cycle in the school is over and no child shall be asked to take an admission test. Section 2(o) along with section 13(2)(b) prohibits any of these screening procedures and calls for only random procedures to be used for admitting a child to school. This prohibition would apply to all schools , private or even Navodaya schools . The act restricts schools to claim special category status because it indulges in screening procedures at the elementary level. Moreover, if the number of children applying to a school exceeds the available seats, an open lottery system shall be used to fill the seats. This applies to all categories of schools. Children with disabilities will also be educated in the mainstream schools. Section (10) of the Act makes it the duty of the parents to ensure that their children go to schools, without prescribing any punishment . Special provisions are laid for children not admitted to or who have not completed elementary education; a child so admitted to elementary education will be entitled to completion of elementary education even after fourteen years. However, the implementation of the act will be arduous one as the promise to ensure education for all the children between 6 and 14 , would mean educating a whopping 22 crore children ,out of which nearly 1.1 crore are out of school. For child labour and Street children, the government would have to ensure that they are not compelled to work and provide schools for them, along with residential facilities to provide them with an appropriate environment to enable them to continue their education. This means parents and communities who traditionally forbid their adolescent girls from going to school , or indulge in child marriage would have to be persuaded , or the child marriages act would need to be invoked against them.
On the basis of the Act, no school , governmental or private , can detain , fail or expel any child at the elementary stage. On April 7,2010 , the Delhi High Court gave a verdict against St. Xavier’s School , Delhi , which had to take back all the children they had declared failed and expelled from the school. Moreover, all private schools shall be required to enroll children from weaker sections and disadvantaged communities in their class to the extent of 25% of their enrollment , by simple random selection. While no seats in this quota can be left vacant , these children will be treated on par with all the other children in the school and would be subsidized by the state at the rate of average per learner costs in the government schools. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has been mandated to monitor the implementation of this right. As per Model Rule 25, The State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) shall set up child helplines , accessible by SMS , telephone and letter for receiving and registering complaints . NCPCR also welcomes the formal notification of this Act and looks forward to playing an active role in ensuring its successful implementation. NCPCR is also expected to carry forward its initiatives of linking and networking with civil society organisations for monitoring , appointing state commissioner for the enforcement of the Act, networking with other Commission like Human Rights , Women and Minorities ,to set up helplines and set up a separate division for enforcing the Right to Education. It is important for the country to nurture their children and young talent with the right education, so that India emerges as a strong and prosperous country.

THANKYOU !

Tips to get more marks in exams!

Just knowing the answers to the questions isn’t enough. Most of the time, it matters how you present your answer sheet. The person who will check your paper probably has about 50 – 100 other papers to go through. And that is a tedious job.

So, if he opens your answer sheet and finds all sorts of gibberish in there, well, you better be making sense. On the other hand, with neat paper, the checker might just go easy. So here are some tips on how to present your answers in a theory paper:

Starting with the topics you remember well

Start by answering those questions you can answer properly. The sequence of answering doesn’t matter as long as you write the correct question number to the answer. This way you will not only boost your confidence but also the person who checks your paper will get a good impression.

Draw diagrams wherever required

This will help you form your answers better and make your answer sheet more interesting. Teachers recommend drawing diagrams, especially in subjects like biology. Draw them neatly, label whatever is supposed to, and use a pencil(and preferably a scale) to draw.

Write answers in point form

Do not go on writing paragraphs after paragraphs after paragraphs. No one is going to sit and read every word of it. It’s always better to write the main point and elaborate it in minimum sentences. Underline the keywords in every answer. In the case of numerical- write the formulas used, show the final answer and always write the units wherever required.

Write as neatly as you can

Everyone appreciates good handwriting. So try to be neat. But, don’t let that slow down your speed.

Select the questions carefully

In case you have an option between which questions to solve. Once you get your question paper, spend the first five minutes analysing the questions. Don’t freak out after seeing the questions. Read the questions carefully and try to recall the answer points. You can write down the points in short at the back of your answer sheet (to help you recall later on). Select the questions that you are confident about and try to stick to them. You might not make the right choice later during the exam.

Recheck your paper at the end

Try reserving the last 10 minutes of your exam for rechecking your paper. You can come across silly errors that might’ve cost you your marks or there might be an instance where you forgot to write a particular answer. So, it’s always safe to go through your paper before submitting it.

REference

https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-write-answers-in-exams/answer/Ritija?ch=15&oid=173888791&share=a91c3689&srid=RDpYR&target_type=answer

Infrastructure Development in India

By – Supriya

India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world and is witnessing growth , particularly in manufacturing and service sector. Therefore, to realise the full potential of the growth impulses surging in the economy , the provision of quality and efficient infrastructure services is essential. India ‘ s infrastructure includes performance and connectivity of basic systems and services such as roadways, railways , ports, airports and telecom. Over years, India’s soft infrastructure has grown much faster than the hard infrastructure. Today, the Indian telecommunication industry is the world’s fastest growing industry with 826.93 million mobile phone subscribers , as of April 2011. The market’s first operator was the state – owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) , but liberalisation led to the entry of private players such as Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices , Idea Cellular and Aircel. A large population , low telephony penetration levels , and a rise in consumer spending power have helped make India the fastest – growing telecom market in the world, and rural India is further expected to increase the growth in mobile phone services in the next four years. In comparison, performance of physical infrastructure in Indian economy has been mixed and uneven. Presently, India maintains one of the world ‘ s largest rail systems , with 18 million daily passengers, a staff of 1.4 million employees and 17,000 trains operating on 64000 kilometres of track. The railways traverse the length and breadth of the country and carry over 30 million passengers and 2.8 million tons of freight daily. India also has a far – reaching road network of over 3.314 million kilometres ,yet in comparison to telecom, performances of these sectors have been inadequate , especially when counted in terms of the country ‘ s surface area or population . While the world’s telecom market grew at a faster pace, the growth in country’s physical infrastructure like roads and railways has been comparatively slower.
For faster development of infrastructure in the country, in 2010-11 General Budget , infrastructure sector has received much priority . Special emphasis has been laid on the development of rural infrastructure development that has been allotted ₹61000 crore, while urban infrastructure development has been allocated ₹5400 crore. Allocation for road infrastructure has also been ₹ 19894 crore and a total of ₹ 48000 crore has been kept aside for Bharat Nirman. To fulfill the significant deficit in the availability of physical infrastructure across different sectors which are hindering economic development, the government is encouraging private participation in the expansion of critical infrastructure and public – private partnership to improve the viability of infrastructure projects. Since infrastructure financing have to fall back on long – term contractual savings, the government has decided to put into effect the financing of infrastructure projects through the India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) . To support this, the World Bank has lent a record $ 9.2 billion to India in 2010 , to help finance public – private partnership in infrastructure , especially in the roads , power and ports sector. A critical problem facing India’s economy is the sharp and growing regional variations and poor infrastructure in low- income states such as Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. The Bank has also financed rural credit cooperatives to fund the development of infrastructure in the backwards regions of the country.

THANKYOU !

Digital vs Handwritten Notes

An important process in studying and learning is note-taking. Almost every student does it, and it is a practical requirement to pass a class. With the large amounts of information presented in each course, note-taking helps in encoding the information and thus makes it easier to remember. It also produces study materials to refer to later for exams and projects.

TYping (computer)

Typing is a fast and easy way to take the information presented in lectures and textbooks and consolidate them for reference later. But, due to its fast nature, this method leads to the least amount of information retained and will require you to study more later.

The organization is customizable

Limitless folders can be created almost instantly so sorting is as easy as ever. Tags can be applied to files for easy access, sorting, and searching. Each file has a name so it is clear what that file is, and those names can always be changed.

Easy to share

Rather than copying or scanning notes, computers have simple share screens to instantly share with anyone. People can collaborate on the same document like in Google Docs, or files can be emailed and/or texted quickly.

Typing is the fastest

Writing can be time-consuming, especially in a fast lecture. Typing takes the least amount of time so more information can be put on the page and reviewed later.

Import lecture slides

If someone does not want to type out all the information a professor teaches, importing lecture slides is very easy and can be stored on the device.

Backups

Although it is less likely anything bad will happen to a computer since it is more valuable than a notebook, computers can backup manually (or automatically) so that your notes are safe.

Digitally Handwritten (Tablet)

The tablet (and other devices that allow digital handwriting) is a happy medium that has both benefits of the computer and those of paper notes. Sharing and customization are easy and handwriting yields greater retention while the size makes tablets as portable as notebooks.

Portable

Not only is a tablet the size of a notebook (or smaller), but it also takes the place of all of them. All your subjects can be stored on a single device.

Simple and extensive editing capabilities

Handwriting allows you to write anywhere on a sheet and not be restricted by margins or spacing and there are a variety of pen sizes and colours to use. Photos and other elements can be placed anywhere on a page and text wrapping is not a concern. If you want your handwriting to be turned into text, many apps offer that ability.

The organization is customizable

Tablets, and other such devices, offer the same organization options (and sometimes more) as computers.

Easy to share

Sharing is just as easy as with computers.

High retention

Since you are handwriting the notes on the device, there is higher retention and mental processing of the information. This yield to better acquisition of the information and less need for studying later.

Import lecture slides

Storing lecture slides is just as easy and the same as with computers.

Backups

All your notes can be stored on the device or in the cloud. Same as computers.

Paper notes


The standard modality that college students have used for centuries. Paper notes are the most accessible way to take notes. Cheaper than the other two methods, many people utilize paper notes to record information for courses.

Natural feel

Paper is what we all write on. Many aspects of our lives include writing by hand on paper.

Portable

Notebooks are easy to carry and transport. Just so long as there are not too many.

Flexible

There are no restrictions. A page is very flexible in that you can write anywhere on it.

Cheap

Unlike the other options, notebooks can cost only a few dollars or less and pencils/pens are very cheap as well. This is a great option if you do not want to break the bank.

Highest retention

Since you must be very aware of what content you are writing down as well as that erasing is not as easy on say a tablet, there is higher retention of the materials compared to the other modalities discussed.

No distractions

Computers and tablets have notifications and if someone texts you or you get emails on the device, or your favourite game sends an enticing notification to try and get you to play again can cause distractions. This disrupts your flow of learning and breaks your focus. Do Not Disturb is an option, but for a true distraction, a free distraction-free is the best option.

Reference

https://guts.wisc.edu/2020/11/19/pros-and-cons-of-typed-digitally-handwritten-and-paper-notes/

Let It Snow: A Book Review

A contented sigh. That’s it. That is what this beautifully woven book is. And so so much more at the same time. A warm, cozy, funny, bright, and snug tale, Let It Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle will spread the Christmas magic whenever you’re reading it. And I am NOT kidding about the warmness, it’s extreme. I mean, I couldn’t hide a smile away from my face while reading this beautiful tale, or tales may I add (there are 3, each by one author)

Set in the frosty ground of Gracetown, This story is about not just one but many interesting persons. Though the fun begins when we discover that these stories are interrelated, deeply. After all, what is it but a small tiny town, lumped with snow, and ice streams?

The first story, The Jubilee Express by Maureen Johnson is impeccably warm and sets the tone for the book ahead. It is a story about a girl named Jubilee. Yeah. Let that sink in. So, Jubilee is, like her name, unique, quirky, and fun. For the most part at least. As Christmas approaches, she faces a series of chronicles and perils that completely change her life. Mind it, in just one day. It is super adventurous and crazy. You would love it as soon as you read it. Also, the thing about Johnson is that she writes with relativity to her readers, so that they feel connected to the character and grow more interested in the book as the story goes. I have to say, she has done a significant job at that. I could totally relate to her, the sarcasm, the unique interpretations of things we see in everyday life(like where you can read about wherever the cat sits, we’ll build a house(understood only when the book is read)).

The next story is A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle by John Green. It lets us in Tobin’s life. A simple guy with a clever mind and succint but explanatory way of speech. He has two friends, the duke(who is actually a girl) and a Korean mate who is obsessed with the word “asshat” , JP. There monotonous life watching james bond movies gets a turning point with a call, It’s Kuen, another of the only 2 Korean guys in Gracetown. Who also works at the nearby waffle house. There is some engrossing news which makes them scurry into a frenzy. And then, as any other mushy, happy and warm holiday book, there life changes. John Green, as always, puts his charm into the book, with his use of everyday lingo, he makes the story light, fun and merry, just like a Christmas should be.

The last one is The Patron Saint Of Pigs by Lauren Myracle. In this story, we witness the life of Addie, a girl with serious emotional problems, but still cheery and fun. A barista, Her aura is full of drama and chaos, but she gets through it sailing. Though we see her a lot on the verge of emotional and mental breakdowns, her friends, Tegan and Dorrie are always by her side. Not throwing any major spoilers, I can’t resist to say that this story is touching, hilarious and absolutely breathtaking. Lauren Myracle has moulded a marvellous creation by writing this.

Christmas is a state of mind.

-Mayzie

Harnessing the Youth Power

By – Supriya

The greatest wealth and strength of any nation is its youth. The future of a nation lies in the hands of its posterity . The quality of its youth determines the kind of future the nation will have . Therefore, if we want to ensure a bright future for our country, we first need to strengthen and empower our youth. The youth of any nation and society are its potential energy. They are the powerhouse and storehouse of infinite energy. They are the ones who are the pride of the nation. It is the youth which bring laurels to their country . These are only a few examples of all the sung and unsung heroes and heroines who have left their imprints on the sands of time and have led our country forward. In fact, we owe our present to the youth of the previous generation who forsook their everything , even their lives for the freedom of their motherhood. Who can forget the great sacrifices of Rajguru, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Mangal Pandey etc who surrendered everything for their country.
Youth make up about 34% of the total population of the country. This 34% constitutes the country’s future. If we can harness this powerhouse of the nation in the right direction, then the country can reach untold heights. All we need is to direct the energy of our youth in constructive channels that lead to development and progress. The creative potential of the younger generation coupled with their zeal, enthusiasm , energy and versatility can work wonders for the country. We need to empower our youth so that they can make a better tomorrow. The best and the first and foremost way to strengthen our youth is to provide them education. Not just any kind of education , but the right kind of education which makes them scientific , logical , open – minded , self respecting, responsible , honest and pathetic . Without these virtues being developed, our youth cannot walk in the desired way and they will remain in a deep slumber of complacency. Unless harnessed and tapped in the right way, this very energy of the youth can tip over the other side and become destructive and dangerous for the society; crime is on high and violence is increasing in today’s time. If we look at the data, we realise that our youth is losing touch with a sense of right and wrong or good and bad.
This is because , as a nation , we have failed in our duty to capture their energy and mould it in the right direction. Due to increasing unemployment , we have been unable to keep our youth busy in constructive works. We fail to help them realise their dreams and hence they get lost and go in the wrong direction , as the saying goes ” An empty mind is the devil’ s workshop”. We have failed to give them the right kind of opportunities . Look at our own youth settled overseas – they are working wonders there. Why can’t they do it here, in their own country? The answer lies in the lack of opportunities , which they find in plenty in other countries. The loss is completely ours. An entire nation will, in a few years be empty of its posterity due to this increasing tendency to go abroad and get settled – called the Brain Drain of the country. It is high time we prevent our youth from leaving the country or giving into violence and terrorism by providing them better options ,by strengthening and empowering them. Let us focus on constructively using the power of the youth for the betterment of the nation. Let us frame such policies which aim at empowering our youth so that we can be assured of a better future and a brighter tomorrow.

THANKYOU !

Reservation Issue

By – Supriya

The concept of reservation was enshrined in the Constitution to allow the so – called deprived classes to come at par with the so – called privileged ones. The Constitution of India allows this kind of positive discrimination in order to bring about equality of opportunity and status to the underprivileged in the society. The founding fathers had never intended Reservation to be a temporary phenomenon. Reservations to the underprivileged were to be extended until they were uplifted socially and stabilized economically . Reservations, with the view of helping the deprived classes to gain a better footing and avail equal benefits of an independent and free nation, was introduced in the system. Yet, the various governments till now have failed to truly uplift the backward sections of the society and failed to provide them with equal opportunities even after 64 years of independence. Freedom and application of a reservation policy, has changed nothing. In reality, reservation has failed at all fronts. Not only has it failed to achieve the desired aim of bringing the non – privileged classes into mainstream , it has marginalized them all the more and deepened the caste system even more. Moreover, reservations is now used not as an effective means of eliminating discrimination but as a vile instruments for increasing vote – bank. The 93 Rd amendment and the recent declaration of the government for reservation in institutions of higher education has once again stirred the anger of the youth in general all over the country. The moral ground in favour of reservations still holds good. What is needed is to formulate a well – balanced policy of reservation, which opens equal doors of opportunity to all . Development of one section of the society should not be at the cost of the other section. Development of the society can be possible only if all the sections of the society are given equal opportunities. Opportunity for development should be judiciously distributed among all the sections of society. Development should not be an exclusive commodity of a privileged section of the society. Opportunity in education , jobs and other fields of life should be equally distributed.
If one takes a look at the issue objectively one will realise that the intention behind reservations is not faulty at all but it is the implementation and the application of it that has proved ineffective . The way reservation has been implemented all these years has deepened and aggravated the caste distinctions in the society, marginalized the poor and the needy and has benefited only the topmost layer of the so – called Backward Classes. The benefit of reservation has failed to trickle down to the lowest section of the society. Moreover, it has killed the spirit of brotherhood and healthy competition , the desire to surge forward and to work hard. Reservations based on the narrow concept of caste is, thus, fundamentally wrong and hence has proved to be a failure. Thus, it is time to introspect ,by keeping aside the greed of political mileage , and thinking objectively about where things have gone wrong. It seems that nobody really cares about the welfare of the underdog but wants to gain a bit of the large chunk of political boost for the next elections. Reservation should not be forsaken because, in fact , every one wants that society should develop as a whole and everyone should reap the benefits of development . But reservations instead of being caste – based to meet the political needs of our power hungry politicians , should be based on a more acceptable criteria through which every section of the society is benefited. For instance, it can be based on economic status or anything else that can work truly for our society and state. We should take a lesson from the United States in this regard . It is the most market – oriented country in the world and has a policy of affirmative action. US universities and the government give preference to Black and Hispanic applicants in admission as well as jobs. Yet the US economy remains among the most competitive in the world. The trick lies in undertaking affirmative action by providing incentives rather than quota – based restrictions.We need to identify the ones who are really needy, downtrodden and underprivileged . Then ,we need to provide them with proper incentives such as education, opportunities and financial backing. After that real talent and hardwork should be awarded and accepted instead of blindly guaranteeing anyone a secure future merely on the basis of caste even though he/she is least deserving . Merit should be the criteria because the country needs the best of its people in order to develop and not those who are harnessing the unmerited and undeserved benefits just because they belong to a section of society which has been luckily marked in the Constitution as underdeveloped. It is so disheartening to see a well – deserving candidate with a promising future to lose out to another less deserving candidate because he happens to be from a reserved section of the society. Why should a deserving individual suffer only because he happens to be a part of the so – called privileged class of society – unfortunately or merely because of the faulty policy of the state? Instead of encouraging this kind of lethargy, the policy should be formulated in such a way as to harness the real cream of every section of the society regardless of their caste or commodity for the betterment of the society. In view of the present scenario, it is needed to keep aside the narrow vote bank politics and think truly of the betterment of the underprivileged and honestly pursue policies and programmes for their upliftment.

THANKYOU !

References

Dehalwar, K., & Sharma, S. N. (2024). Politics in the Name of Women’s Reservation. Contemporary Voice of Dalit, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/2455328X241262562

Tips to stop mobile addiction

Pause to think before picking up your phone

Every time you’re about to unlock your phone, take a moment to think about why you are doing this right now. Because sometimes the reasons for checking your phone are much deeper than you think.

Analyze how you use your phone and set limits

With iOS 12, Apple has introduced the Screen Time feature which shows how much time you spend on your phone, what apps you use the most, and how often do you pick up your device. To see the report, go to Settings > Screen Time. Android users can try digital wellbeing which works similarly.
If particular apps take too much of your time, you can set daily limits for them. When you reach a limit, your iPhone notifies you about it.

Get rid of distracting apps

Sometimes you just can’t resist tapping a colourful icon on the Home screen. This is usually the case for games and social media apps. How can one avoid this temptation? Move all addictive apps to the second page where it’s harder to open them spontaneously. You can also group such apps in folders like Games or Social so they’re always one extra tap away from you.

Minimize notifications

When a new app asks if it can send me notifications, I usually say, ā€No.ā€ I only turn on notifications for messaging apps and email. If your app has flexible notification options, it’s a good idea to play around with them.

Keep your phone away

It’s easier to forget about checking your phone when it’s physically out of sight and reaches.

Don’t use your phone before going to bed

Constantly checking your phone throughout the day ruins your productivity, while staring at the screen before bedtime can affect the quality of sleep.

Kick your device out of bed

Don’t let your phone be the last thing you see at night and the first thing you check in the morning. By using a regular alarm clock and charging your phone out of reach, you won’t be tempted to start your day by getting vortexed into an avalanche of messages and updates.

Use speaker

One of the most valuable things about smart speakers such as the Amazon Echo or Google’s Home products is that they help you live a more screen-free life.
Since I got one, I’ve stopped turning on music or podcasts on my phone and will try to answer all basic questions via voice. Generally, using my smart speaker for as many things as possible has kept my smartphone out of my hands for long periods.

Avoid sleeping in class

Bring a water bottle to class

Every time you get that tired feeling or you start to zone out, drink some water. Drinking cold water helps keep you hydrated to keep you focused. If you don’t drink enough water, your body doesn’t function as well as it could.

Sit at the front of the class

Being closer to the teacher is a great motivator to stay awake in class. Studies have also proven that sitting in the front of the classroom, leads students to receive higher grades on exams. Win-win, am I right?
Be active
Interact with your professor! Even if they don’t provide engaging activities, you can make them. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Chew gum/bring a snack

Chewing something activates specific regions of the brain meaning your brain become more active and you stay more awake!

Take deep breaths

By taking deeper breaths, you raise your oxygen levels, slowing your heart rate, lowering your blood pressure, and improving circulation.

Go to bed early

So you can wake up early and feel well-rested.

Get some exercise before class

The adrenaline from working out, taking a stroll, stretching, or doing some jumping jacks before class will help you stay awake.

Keep a good posture

If you focus on sitting straight up in your seat, you won’t be able to fall asleep. You rest your head and you will crash and burn.

Take notes (or doodle if it helps)

It keeps you active and it helps you focus on what you’re learning in class. Even if it’s random scribbles, it’s better than being asleep.

Walkabout in the back of the classroom

If you get tired, just find a spot in the classroom where you are not distracting anyone and walk about back and forth or take notes while standing.

Reference

https://jsom.utdallas.edu/blog/sleeping-in-class-dos-donts

Types of note taking

Outline note-taking method
Outline note-taking

The outline method of note-taking uses indentation to store information in a clear hierarchy. When applicable, the outline method is one of the most efficient note-taking formats as it creates meticulously well-organized notes. The method can also be used in both deductive and inductive order.

Outlined notes are some of the easiest to review, as it’s one of the few systems that allow you to see space relationships between topics. However, the method is not always suitable for taking notes during a live lecture and outlining requires a clear lesson structure to work.

Cornell note-taking method
Cornell note-taking

The Cornell method of note-taking, developed more than half a century ago, is a tried-and-true strategy for taking effective notes. It uses two top columns (the ā€œcueā€ and ā€œnoteā€ columns), together with a single bottom row (the summary section) to record notes.

The method is very versatile, usable for most subjects, and one of the simplest yet most effective note-taking methods out there. By mastering the Cornell system, you’ll always have at least one solid note-taking skill under your belt. The Cornell system is one of the most popular note-taking strategies in the world for good reason.

Box note-taking method
Box note-taking

The boxing method of note-taking uses boxes to visually separate topics within a page. While the boxing method was designed to be used for digital devices, it’s a technique that can be easily adapted to handwritten notes.

Using the boxing strategy results in notes that are visually pleasing and easy to review. The method also takes full advantage of digital-only features such as lassoing, resizing, and moving notes after writing. Together with mind mapping, it’s one of the most effective note-taking strategies for visual learners.

mappIng note-taking method
Mapping note-taking

The mapping method of note-taking connects different thoughts, ideas, concepts, and facts together through visualization. Both Leonardo Da Vinci’s and Albert Einstein notebooks reportedly contained mapping style notes that connected drawings to words and notes.

The mapping method starts with a main topic in the center of the page, before branching out into smaller subtopics, supporting topics, and smaller details. The method provides a one-of-a-kind graphical overview of lecture content that is irreplaceable for visual learners.

Mapping is best used in content-rich college classes where the information is structured. However, it’s very rarely possible to take notes of a live class with this method due to its time-consuming nature.

Reference

https://e-student.org/note-taking-methods/

Interview preparations

What are your goals? Where do you see yourself in five years?

An interviewer will be impressed if you have considered your short-term and long-term goals. Talk about the kind of job you’d eventually like to do and the various steps you will take to get there.

Show that you have the ambition and determination to make the most of every job you have held to get where you want to be.

Always relate this back to the position you’re interviewing for and be realistic in terms of your aspirations. Avoid telling the interviewer that you want their job.

What are your strengths/weaknesses?

This question is often seen as challenging by many candidates, even those with significant experience. However, if approached correctly it is easily possible to avoid ‘bragging’ when discussing your strengths or seeming excessively negative when talking about your perceived weaknesses.

Strengths

Based on the job description, choose three examples of traits the employer is looking for and give examples of how you have used these strengths in a work situation. Ideally, include a mixture of tangible skills, such as technical or linguistic abilities, and intangible skills, such as management experience. Ā 

Weaknesses

The best approach here is to pick a trait that you have already made positive steps to address.

“Consider how you have approached your perceived weaknesses in the past and what you have done to address them,” commented Janine Blacksley, associate director at Robert Walters.

“If your IT ability is not at the level it could be, state this as a weakness before telling the interviewer about training courses or time spent outside work hours you have used to improve your skills.”

Why should I hire you?

Focus on your assets – what makes you different and where do your major strengths lie? Outline what you can offer in terms of experience, personality and enthusiasm.

“The job description should give you a good indication of what they are looking for,” added Janine Blacksley.Ā 

“Make sure you address the particular qualities the employer has stated they are looking for and provide specific examples of what you have done so far in your career that demonstrates how you are particularly suited for the role.”Ā 

Tell me about yourself / your work experience

This is usually the opening question for most interviews and can be one of the most important. First impressions are key, so keep it brief – know your CV inside out and focus on delivering a one to two minute advertisement for yourself, highlighting the key achievements in your employment history. Know what you want to say and how you are going to say it beforehand.

“Begin your answer with an overview of your highest qualification then run through the jobs you’ve held so far in your career,” added Janine Blacksley.

“You can follow the same structure as your CV, giving examples of achievements and the skills you’ve picked up along the way. Don’t go into too much detail – your interviewer will ask you to expand on any areas where they’d like more information.”

Why do you want this job?

Do your research – this gives you the chance to discuss all you know about the job and the company and why you are a good match for them. The interviewer is listening for an answer that indicates you’ve given this some thought, so do your homework properly.

“You should have a good inside knowledge of the company’s values, mission statement, development plans and products. Describe how your goals and ambition match the company ethos and how you would relish the opportunity to work for them,” advised Janine Blacksley.

What are your salary expectations?

While you should never mention salary unless asked or prompted, it’s important to understand the value of someone with your skills. Be flexible – indicate that you are willing to negotiate for the right opportunity and confirm that you value the position strongly.

“All too often, problems arise from pricing yourself out of the position or stating a figure less than the company is willing to pay. If a guideline salary has been provided with the job description, you could mention this and say it’s around the amount you’re looking for,” Janine Blacksley continued.Ā 

What skills or experience do you offer that will help you succeed in this role?Ā 

You should use the interview as an opportunity to say something interesting about your skills and experiences that relate back to the role at hand. Remember that interviewers will be looking for you to demonstrate key skills, so prepare examples in advance that you can call on when required.

Examples of the key attributes employers look for include:

  • Project management skills
  • Problem-solving
  • Managing stakeholders
  • Demonstrating sound technical knowledge, backed up by good business understanding
  • Delivering on targets or goals

Reference

https://www.robertwalters.co.uk/career-advice/interview-tips/seven-killer-interview-questions.html

BYZANTIUM : A SYMBOLIC ANALYSIS

Among the 20th century poets, Yeats is considered as the craftsman in the use of symbols and images. His poems are filled with complex system of symbols. The poem Byzantium is also rich with various symbols and images. The poem consists of five stanzas and each stanza carries a key image and symbols. Through this key image Yeats portrays the theme of the poem. The title of the poem itself do not stand for the real Byzantine Empire. It is the country or Empire of the mind which is a transcendental place out of the constraints of Time and Space. Here the empire stands for Purgation and Paradise. The poem focuses on the eternity of art and is contrasted with the sensual elements of the physical world. Through the use of complex symbols Yeats successfully presented this idea.

The poem begins with the unpurged images of the natural world. The starlit and moonlit dome of the cathedral looks down with disdain on the complexities of man.The dome is the powerful symbol used by the poetic personae. The dome is symbolic of the perfection and eternity which is opposed to the natural world of passion. The dome can also be considered as the symbol for the permanence of art. As Keats used the ‘grecian urn’ as a symbol for the eternity of art, the dome stands for the same and it scorns the complexities of man.

On another level this dome has another symbolic significance. This can also be relate to the creation of poem or art. According to Richard Ellmann Byzantium is a description of th act of making a poem. While analyzing on the basis of this, the poet is the Emperor and Byzantium is the ideal place for the poet, where all the unpurged realities disappear. The church gong is the premonition of death. As the gong sounds the realities disappear and the poet begins writing the poem. And the dome is the tower of the poetfrom where he is looking as a spectator to the world. The conflict between the real and the ideal is powerfully portrayed through the symbol of dome.

The next key symbol of the poem is the superhuman figure. This is the soul of the dead and is unwinding the memories of earthly existence. Actually the dead is the living. After death the soul liberates from the constraints of body and is living forever. So the dead is the actual living and living is really the death. The superhuman figure signifies imagination. As said before the poem can also be analyzed on the basis of creation and process of making a poem. The superhuman figure is the poet’s imagination. This purified soul will teach the poet wisdom and take him to heaven, Byzantium. In the process of creation of the poem poet attains perfect bliss. This imagination gives coherence to things and resolve all differences. What the poet saying is that the artist has to exploit the tension between the physical and spiritual worlds.

Among all the symbols used in the poem, golden bird is the most important one. Like the dome, the golden bird sitting in the golden bough also symbolizes perfection in the creative process. Through this symbol poet celebrates artificiality and changelessness of art. The golden bird is opposed to the living things and it scorns the common birds. So the perfected art looks down the nature which is subjected to time and emotions.

The flames represents spiritual realization. They are purgatorial fire. On the emperor’s pavement, fire fed by no fuel is burning and the souls of the dead purify themselves by dancing. They are ideal flames. Apart from spiritual realization the flames and purgatorial dance als represents the process of making poem. As Richard Ellmann says this poem is about the creation of art and each stanza depicts the image of imagination and art. So here the emperor’s pavement is the poet’s tower and the flames are the imagination of the poet. The blood begotten spirits are the raw material for the poem and dance is the process of creation. The raw materials gets purified and the imagination cannot be disturbed because it is independent. So here also the symbol stands for the creative genius. The golden smithies, dolphins and sea are the symbols presented in the final stanza. Dolphins are the images for resurrection and it guides to enlightenment. The poet describes the shore of ocean of life in the last lines. On the level of creation the dolphin and goldensmithies represents duality and craftsmanship of the poet respectively and it gives order to flesh and passion. Marble of the dancing floor is the imagination of the poet and it breaks the chaos.

Apart from these major symbols, Yeats presents certain images. The moon presented in the beginning stands for cycle of time and different phases in the man’s life. Mire is the cycle of birth and death. The “mummy cloth” which is unwinding clearly signifies what is inside beyond the question of life and death.Yeats used four elements of creation as symbols in the poem. The empire stands for earth, heaven for air, sea for water and flames for fire. Here Yeats attempted to bring together spiritualism, symbolism, aesthetics and mysticism. Thus he powerfully brought the themes of battle between immortality and creation, nature v/s art, human imperfection and perfected form of art and tension between life of senses and soulful life. Through the symbolic analysis of the poem it can be understood that Yeats is a craftsman in the use of symbols and images.

ECOFEMINISM

Ecofeminism or ecological feminism is the most important approach within ecocriticism and ecological activism. The writings of Annette Kolodny gave impetus to what has come to be called ecofeminism. The term ecofeminism was coined by French feminist Francoise d’Eaubonne in 1974. It is a branch of ecocriticism and feminism that examines the connection between women and nature. Eco feminism can be considered as the analysis of the role attribuntasies of the natural environment, by male authors. It also includes the study of specifically feminine conceptions of the environment in the neglected nature writings by female authors. According to Pramod K Nayar, ecofeminism argue that patriarchal society’s values and beliefs have resulted in the oppression of both women and nature. He also says that it ignores
women’s work, knowledge and situatedness. The situatedness of women is her immediate location in nature, where the relationship of woman with environment is far more intimate than that of man’s. In simple terms this philosophy examines the ways both nature and women are treated by patriarchal society. The earlier binaries in Western thought and literature was that of nature versus culture. Further eco feminists interrogate the effect of gender categories. That is the masculine culture as objective, rational, mind and public and feminine as subjective, emotional, body and private. And these binaries are used in order to demonstrate the ways in which man is equated with culture and woman with nature. Images like “mother nature” indicate two things. They are the naturalization of woman and feminization of nature. Thus it illustrates how men dominate nature and women as exploitable objects. The works of Vandana Shiva, Mary Mellor, Ariel Salleh has generated nuanced readings of the relationship between gender and nature.Ecofeminism can be classified into two, radical ecofeminism and cultural ecofeminism. One of the assumptions of radical ecofeminism is that the dominant patriarchal society equates nature and women in order to degrade both. In fact, in it’s emergence, ecofeminism tends to be radical revealing practices of patriarchal domination of both. So radical ecofeminism targets the historical and cultural
backgrounds that equates the feminine and nature with negative and commodifiable attributes, while men have been elevated as capable of establishing order. Such a socio economic structure easily facilitates the exploitation of women and nature, for cheap labour and resources.
Cultural ecofeminism promotes an association between women and the environment by focusing on the more intimate and organic relationship between them. As per the anthropologically assigned gender roles women are nurturers of family. Culture ecofeminism has roots in nature based religions, goddess and nature worship. It is a way of redeeming both the spirituality of nature and women’s instrumental role in that spirituality. The cultural myths and
spirituality of Native America, Australia and African tribal populace underscores this mutual bonding between women and nature. Because they are built on a mother goddess instead of omniscient father God.
Vegetarian ecofeminism, materialist ecofeminism and spiritualist ecofeminism are some of the new branches of ecofeminism. A major theme within ecofeminism is the belief that there is a strong connection between the domination of women and the domination of nature, and that both must be eradicated in order to end oppression. Vegetarian ecofeminism aims to include the domination of not only the environment but also of nonhuman animals to the list. Materialist ecofeminism connects institutions like labour, power and property as the source of domination
over women and nature. This belief stresses that the sphere of production that is men and factory is dependent on the production of reproduction ( women and family). Materialist ecofeminists thus call for quality in labour distribution, the recognition of the contribution of women’s work.And they suggest to expand the very definition of ‘work’ to include women’s work. In spiritualist ecofeminism, a turn to myth and theology is advocated against materialism because of the
importance given to women, nature and all forms of life. They argue that pre-modern culture have always treated nature with respect and give importance to women’s knowledge, female body and female sexuality. Thus this philosophy turned to Native American religions, godess worship in Hinduism and other native cultures. Vandana Shiva, glorifies Vedic period of Indian History, for its emphasis on symbiotic values in her work Staying Alive (1989).

Politics in India

By – Supriya

India one of the world’ s largest democratic countries , is a Union of 28 States and 7 Union Territories. The country is a Sovereign , Socialist , Secular , Democratic Republic with a Parliamentary system of government. The Republic is governed according to the Constitution inaugurated on January 26,1950. India was a dominion under the British colonial rule for a period of over 200 years till 1947.On August 15,1947, India became independent after years of struggle , under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, popularly known as the Father of the Nation . The Indian Constitution , the world’ s lengthiest constitution (with 395 articles and 12 schedules) was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26th November 1949 and came into force on 26th January 1950. The constitution created a Sovereign Democratic Republic which was officially named ‘ Bharat’ that is India ,a Union of States. India is a federal system, a system of government in which power is divided by a constitutional arrangement between national and local units of government . The Constitution provides detailed lists of division of the legislative powers between Central and State government. The residual powers of legislation remains with the Union. India has the biggest number of people with franchise rights and the largest number of political parties , which take part in election campaign . In the 2009 General Elections to the 15th Lok Sabha, 406.9 million voters actually voted out of 714 million eligible voters and an average of 15 candidates completed for each of the 543 territorial constituency seats. Elections are held at different levels. The two major election levels are at national level, after which the national government is established and at the state level, after which the state governments are established. Elections are also held for city, town and village councils. In the 2009 General Elections , the UPA was able to put together a comfortable majority with support from 322 members out of 543 members of the House. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is a ruling coalition of center – left political parties heading the government of India. The seeds of coalition governance were sworn for the first time in 1989; until then a single party rule of Congress dominated the political landscape at the Centre. The coalition is led by the Indian National Congress (INC) , which is currently the single largest political party in the Lok Sabha ( the lower house of the parliament of India).
Though in the 2004 elections , 335 members supported the UPA , as opposed to 332 in 2009 , however ,in the 2009 elections UPA alone had a plurality of over 260 seats as opposed to 218 seats in the 14th Lok Sabha. Hence the government emerged to be more stable than the previous one. External support came from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) , Samajwadi Party (SP) , Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other minor parties. Besides Congress , other political parties in India are the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP – Indian People’s Party) , the Janata Dal ( People ‘s Party) , the Samajwadi Party ( Socialist Party), and the Bahujan Samaj Party ( BSP – Party of society ‘ s Majority) which attempts to ascend to power on the crest of an alliance of interests uniting Dalits , Backward Classes , Scheduled Tribes , and religious minorities. There are different political issues in Indian politics. Some are of national level and some of regional levels. Some communities just demand more economical and social rights for their communities. While others demand more autonomy for their cultures within the Indian States. With all its problems , India survives as a single state with democratic character . But a number of political problems still exist and remain unsolved in India. On 22 May 2009, Manmohan Singh was sworn in as the Prime Minister at the Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan . Apart from being the Head of the Union ( Federal) Government, Prime Minister is also in – charge of the Ministries not specifically allocated to the charge of any Minister like Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions ; Ministry of Planning ; Ministry of Railways; Department of Atomic Energy ; and Department of Space. INC ‘s President , Sonia Gandhi, serves as the Chairwoman of the UPA. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are drawn from members of the UPA. Other important cabinet ministers are Pranab Mukherjee , Minister of Finance ; Sharad Pawar , Minister of Agriculture and food Processing Industries ; A .K.Antony , Minister of External Affairs and Kapil Sibal , Minister of Human Resource Development and Minister of Communications and Information Technology.
Political awareness should be created among the masses and this can be done by imparting the right kind of education and also inspiring the youth to join the politics. Both the tasks are great challenges , as the youth seems to be totally disillusioned by the way the Indian political system works and how education till date has failed to achieve the desired ends. Yet, the situation is not as bleak as one imagines it to be. Things are gradually changing with the way political parties are realising the need of change of leadership from the old to the young. Moreover, the voter of today is not as naive as before. The results of the past few general elections have taught the parties that the public answers and avenges their grievances during the time of elections . All we need is to persistently pursue the path of change through constitutional means and refrain from electing corrupt leaders of criminal background. We also need to promote free and fair elections . The latest instance of the elections held in Bihar in 2006 can be cited. The process seems to have begun . There are many flaws that are still remaining and a lot needs to be done. But a beginning has been initiated , all we need is to continue to travel on the road to development , education and awareness in order to stabilize and develop a mature polity in the country.

THANKYOU !

Our Neighbours

By – Supriya

India is situated in South Asia, which comprises majority of the Indian sub-continent . India has a coastline which stretches over 7000 km and shares its borders with Pakistan to the west ; the People ‘ s Republic of China and Nepal to the north; Bhutan to the north – east and Bangladesh and Myanmar ( formerly Burma) on the east. On the Indian Ocean , India is adjacent to the island nations of the Maldives on the south – west , Sri Lanka on the south, and Indonesia on the south – east . India also claims a border with Afghanistan to the north – west. The official name of the country, India , is derived from the river Indus ( known as Sindhu in ancient times) . As a growing power, India depends extensively on her relationship with the countries in and around her neighbourhood . Maintenance of peace and security within and outside its immediate borders at a satisfactory level is a pre-requisite to create the conditions necessary for one billion citizens of the country to help them enjoy the fruits of economic growth and social development. The first four decades after independence were truly difficult years. As a new nation emerging from the throngs of two centuries of colonialism , which had sapped the country ‘ s progress , the impact of centrifugal and unstable forces in the country and its neighbourhood, made the task of economic and social development a steep and arduous journey. External and internal conflicts during this period added to the burden of our nascent emerging economy designed to fulfil the aspirations of the new found freedom of our people . Despite this truly difficult situation , the country grew in slow measure and we largely avoided large – scale crisis. However, our growth was stunted in this period and this no doubt contributed to large swathes of our population remaining under grinding poverty . At the end of the Cold War period ,the country achieved moderate results in its efforts to promote education , health care and empowerment of women, and growth of all sectors of the economy , but it was clear that the country has many more miles to go. India’ s improved relation with all the major powers of the world has contributed to its relaxed attitude and ability to deal with its neighbourhood in a rational and responsible manner. Once, the rest of the world acknowledged India’s stand that it could solve its problems peacefully and bilaterally with its neighbours without outside interference , the strategic situation in the region changed for the better. Even the fear that India ‘s nuclear tests in 1998, followed by Pakistan ‘s immediate reaction, would lead the region into a nuclear quagmire , has subsided considerably on the understanding that India is a responsible nuclear power, not given to adventurism or proliferation activities. The international community now realises that India can and will do all it can to maintain and strengthen peace and security in the region. Within the sub – continent , India ‘s national security interests are closely linked to her immediate neighbours- Bangladesh , Bhutan , China, Maldives, Myanmar , Nepal , Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Her relations with Nepal , Bhutan , Bangladesh , Sri Lanka and Maldives are stable and based on friendship and understanding.
India ‘ s largest neighbour , China is working towards the goal of achieving superpower status in the new millennium. Today, China occupies approximately 38,000 sq km of India’ s territory . In addition , under the so called Sino – Pak boundary agreement , Pakistan has illegally ceded 5,180 sq km of India’ s territory to China in POK. China also claims approximately 90000 sq km in Arunachal Pradesh. It is rapidly modernizing its armed forces. According to a recent report by the Washington Post , ” China is quickly modernizing its military and has set its sights on extending its influence deep into the Pacific and Indian Oceans now that the military balance with its longtime nemesis, Taiwan , is tilting in its favor.” Today, China has the most active land – based ballistic and cruise missile program in the world. Beijing now possesses one of the largest forces of surface – to – air missiles in the world, and it has the largest force of principal combatants , submarines , and amphibious warfare ships in Asia. Also ,a recent revolution by WikiLeaks warned that, ” As China ‘ s international presence and nationalist sentiment grow, commensurate with greater political , economic and military might , Chinese analysts anticipate a more assertive Chinese foreign policy.” The asymmetry in terms of nuclear forces is strongly in favour of China which alarmingly , has helped Pakistan to build missile and nuclear capability . China is a declared nuclear power with a wide range of military capabilities. India and China have an unresolved boundary . Although the border areas have remained largely peaceful , from time to time, on account of differences of perception of the Line of Actual Control ( LAC) , tough situations have arisen on the ground that could have been avoided , had the LAC clarification been completed . The two sides have reiterated their commitment to adhere to the provision of the 1993 and 1996 Agreements. Over the sixty years since Independence, India has been able to maintain a high level of harmony , social order and security within its borders. Arising out of the redrawing of borders, the uprooting of whole communities on religious and ethnic grounds and the division of economic assets in non – economic factors, South Asia has been repeatedly engulfed with bouts of strife and instability that has at times challenged the very foundation of India ‘ s democratic fabric. Despite India ‘ s obvious pride in its democratic track record, it has also steadfastly followed the twin tenets of (a) no export of ideology and , (b) no territorial ambitions in its dealings with all countries, including its neighbours. Such a clear – cut stand has no doubt contributed to maintaining peace and stability in the region.

THANKYOU !

Capital Punishment

By – Supriya

Capital Punishment or execution as means of giving justice has become the most controversial issue , which pertains to the laws that govern our society. With the rise in demand for human rights, taking away a criminal’ s life has become the most talked about thing not only at the national level but also at the global platform. The recent hanging of Saddam Hussein , the ex – dictator of Iraq, led to worldwide protests. People and reformists have been demanding humane treatment for criminal and offenders, which is justified . In fact, the prison system was evolved keeping in mind the notion that people who go astray in their life and start providing harmful to the society should be kept in confinement for sometime and be given a chance to change and reform themselves. The prisons were supposed to be such places where the prisoners could be slowly reformed and reinstated in the mainstream of the society. But many a times, the re – conciliation remains a far- fetched frame. The idea works well in cases of theft , Robbery or other minor offences. Complications and problems arise when the offence involves brutal or inhuman acts like murders etc. The old Mesopotamian Law advocates ” a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye”. Thus, the idea of capital Punishment is not a new one regarding offences which are extremely serious. In fact, justice delivered in ancient times was brutal and inhuman. With the progress of civilization , justice started becoming more humane. Earlier, criminals were not treated as human beings. But now capital punishment stands in great controversy over the right of society at large to deny a person right to life . Some people are of the view that no one has the right to take away anyone’s life for any reason. Man cannot play God’s role nor should ever try to. When we cannot give life, we have no right to take away anybody ‘s life. On the other side, people also take into consideration victim’s right to life. The criminal too has no right to take away anyone’s life for any reason at all . So , if he could go to the extent of taking away one’s life, he too has no right to live in a civilized society. This takes us back to the – often condemned law of Moses.
Various arguments of both the sides can be cited to support viewpoints that are poles apart. When told by the opposing side that the death penalty is cruel, inhumane and degrading , most proponents argue that murder is too. In fact, some people consider execution to be more humane than life imprisonment because it is quick and instantaneous. Those in support of capital punishment feel that making the prisoner suffer by rotting in jail for the rest of his life is more torturous and inhumane than execution. To sum up the basic views of the proponents , imprisonment is simply not a sufficient safeguard against the future actions of criminals because it offers the possibility of escape and release on parole. They think that some criminals must be made to pay for their crimes. They should get the punishment they deserve . If they happen to make it out to the world, who ‘ s to say that they wouldn’t kill again. The punishment for the culprit that fits the crime would soothe the victim’s family and society would be relieved , knowing one murderer is not there on the streets. Executing a person certainly prevents recurrence of violence , or quite possibly the first occurrence of other murderous acts. More timely enforcement of the death penalty would help to reduce the crime rate by installing a sense of respect and fear of the law. Crimes carry penalties – this should be understood very well by the people. If you do something wrong , you are going to be punished , will act as deterrent to such heinous crimes. Another argument against the death penalty is that it costs less to imprison someone for life than to execute them. The argument seems to be very utilitarian but is countered by the supporters of death penalty – ” Why should the society shoulder the responsibility for feeding the hard – hearted criminals , that too for their cruel deeds?”, is what they argue. The strongest argument using capital punishment for retributive purpose, is the argument that capital punishment is cruel and completely inhuman. The methods by which executions are carried out involve physical torture. Many a times electrocution has caused extensive burns and it needs more than one application of electric current to kill the condemned. No one, not even the state , has the authority to play God. Contrary to the popular belief that the death penalty reduces the crime rate, various surveys have shown that the threat of the death penalty does not in any way reduces the occurrence of violent crimes. Capital punishment , it is argued, is a barbaric remnant of uncivilized society. It is immoral , unfair and discriminatory in practice . It is discriminatory because at times some innocent people are executed due to a faulty judgement. Another argument against the death penalty is that where does lie the difference between the criminals and the society? The society in turn commits the same offence of killing when it punishes the criminals for taking away life.
Thus, the issue of capital punishment involves determining whether the execution of criminals is ever justified , and if so , under what circumstances is it permissible and how to determine the limits of a crime demanding execution ; it also involves the issue whether the society believes in corrective justice or retributive justice. The basic assumption of retributive notion of punishment in general is that a criminal deserves punishment , and punishment should be equal to the harm done. Thus, society may punish the criminal any way it deems necessary so as to set an example for others would – be criminals. On the other hand, the theory of corrective justice believes that capital punishment should be abolished since it is undignified , inhumane , or contrary to love. Thus, the controversy still continues and legal experts debate over the fact whether capital punishment is permissible or not. Instead of debating over this, society should rather find ways of lowering crime rate so that no need of such debates arises. But as it is not possible to create a paradise in this otherwise imperfect world, the question will linger on for years to come – it seems.

THANKYOU!

How to take notes?

Preparing to take good notes in class


The first step to taking good notes in class is to come to class prepared. Here are some steps you can take to improve your note-taking before class even begins:

  • Preview your text or reading assignments before the lecture. Previewing allows you to identify the main ideas and concepts that will most likely be discussed during the lecture.
  • Look at your course syllabus so that you know the topic / focus of the class and what’s going to be important to focus on.
  • Briefly review notes from previous class sessions to help you situate the new ideas you’ll learn in this class.
  • Keep organized to help you find information more easily later. Title your page with the class name and date. Keep separate notebook sections or notebooks for each class and keep all notes for each class together in one space, in chronological order.

Note-taking during class

Now that you are prepared and organized, what can you do to take good notes while listening to a lecture in class? Here are some practical steps you can try to improve your in-class note-taking:

  • If you are seeking conceptual information, focus on the main points the professor makes, rather than copying down the entire presentation or every word the professor says. Remember, if you review your notes after class, you can always fill in any gaps or define words or concepts you didn’t catch in class.
  • If you are learning factual information, transcribing most of the lecture verbatim can help with recall for short-answer test questions, but only if you study these notes within 24 hours.
  • Record questions and thoughts you have or content that is confusing to you that you want to follow up on later or ask your professor about.
  • Jot down keywords, dates, names, etc. that you can then go back and define or explain later.
  • Take visually clear, concise, organized and structured notes so that they are easy to read and make sense to you later. See different formats of notes below for ideas.
  • If you want your notes to be concise and brief, use abbreviations and symbols. Write in bullets and phrases instead of complete sentences. This will help your mind and hand to stay fresh during class and will help you access things easier and quicker after class. It will also help you focus on the main concepts.
  • Be consistent with your structure. Pick a format that works for you and stick with it so that your notes are structured the same way each day.
  • For online lectures, follow the above steps to help you effectively manage your study time. Once you’ve watched the lecture in its entirety, use the rewind feature to plug in any major gaps in your notes. Take notes of the timestamps of any parts of the lecture you want to revisit later.

Determining what’s important enough to write down

You may be asking yourself how you can identify the main points of a lecture.Ā Here are some tips for recognizing the most important points in a lecture:

  • Introductory remarks often include summaries of overviews of main points.
  • Listen for signal words / phrases like, ā€œThere are four mainā€¦ā€ or ā€œTo sum upā€¦ā€ or ā€œA major reason whyā€¦ā€
  • Repeated words or concepts are often important.
  • Non-verbal cues like pointing, gestures, or a vocal emphasis on certain words, etc. can indicate important points.
  • Final remarks often provide a summary of the important points of the lecture.
  • Consider watching online lectures in real-time. Watching the lecture for the first time without pausing or rewinding can help force you to focus on what’s important enough to write down.
Preference

https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/effective-note-taking-in-class/

How Do Website Content Services Help in Business Promotion?

As soon as technology started taking its most advance form it became imperative for the businesses to have one foot on the online platform and one in the offline market. But to get a firm foot base is important, if the businesses want an outcome that is profitable and that base is not very easy to build. The virtual world as easy as it might seem isn’t that soft for the enterprises specially small and new. It is like a mirage until it’s held together with the reality that content services provide. Content services are like the rainbow which not only makes the sky after rain beautiful but also increases the number of the people who look at it. The different ventures with an aim of making a million need the rainbow of content services at every step of their journey. These services aren’t just fancy promoting or marketing of their ventures but it is also the shade during a rainstorm i.e. when the businesses find themselves in pit-hole of losses content services come to their rescue.

The main advantage that the content services provide is that the business becomes more cost effective. The content services usually provide quality service for lot less than some might charge offline. These services have a grip over the modern technology and use the same for the marketing and promotion of the brands that associate with them. The use of cost effective techniques for marketing and the hold of the virtual world better than the companies as their clients makes it easier for both the clients and the consumers to better know the brands. The kind of content that is to be used as the promotion technique plays an important part. Mainly the companies want the content that just not only describes their business in the best of interest but also that is relevant to the customers.

The content services provide the kind of content that boosts the interaction with the brands coming in for the promotion. They engage in SEO, which just increases the interaction with concerned company and thereby increasing its credib9lity. For individuals usually indulge in the highly credible companies. Content services aren’t just the marketing or promoting for the business in one single language rather it is about the multilingual promotion of the website. With over 22 regional languages that India has, the diversity of customers is the obvious result and for this diverse customers it is important to have marketing that is multilingual and content services provide this the best. The cost that the content services take might be seen as hefty by some but in real it is rather the most cost effective way of promoting business online. With the heavy competition, comes the opportunity to promote the business heavily and if content services got your back it becomes a piece of cake to attract consumers towards the business. It is the sought of investment that just gives you enough returns.

The Verts

All the people in the world have type of personality traits that they sometimes acquire themselves and others they get it genetically from their parents. Because of these specific personality traits they get the personality which describes them as an outgoing person or a staying in person. The kind of places they like to visit, the kind of activity they like doing while free, they way they act in front of a group of people, the fears that they have and the kind of friends they make all describe their personality type. The type of personality sometimes is very descriptive in it-self and is easy to recognize but other times it tough to the read a person and they themselves might not be aware of the kind of personality they own.

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com

Introverts=

These are the people who like to stay in their homes mostly and they do not like socialising or meeting people on daily basis. They avoid any social or public gatherings many times so as to avoid any more than necessary human contact. They like having their ā€œme timeā€ as away from world affair, like reading a book or watching their favourite movie or show rather than going out and meeting people. They have a small circle of friends and they hardly know more than names of their own family members sometimes. They have their favourite person and they are happy with just that one person most often. They generally take time in befriending someone and can still be quit in that new found friendship and they just like it that way.

Photo by Helena Lopes on Pexels.com

Extroverts=

This personality’s people generally like going out with their friends, colleges, neighbours, basically everyone. They have the gift of befriending anyone and everyone. They could talk to, hang out with everyone. They like spending time with the people outside the four walls of their home and they are mostly party animals and like socialising. They do not spend their ā€œme timeā€ inside their rooms rather they go outside in the want of exploring something new and getting to know new people. They have huge friends circle and even manage to hang out with all of them in even one day. They love social gatherings for the reason that they meet new people in them.

Ambiverts=

With a lot of introverts and extroverts, the individuals usually forget about the people who have the traits of them- the Ambiverts. They are the people who are somewhat introverts and somewhat extroverts. They like having their ā€œme timeā€ alone but also do not avoid social gatherings. They could talk to anyone if they want but also sometimes are in the want to avoid human contact. They could become friends with anyone and hang out with them but on some days they just want to be with their best friend and that is whole for them. They could roam around the city if they like but also come back home to their cup of coffee all alone gazing the stars. Ā Because of the mixed personality traits of introverts and extroverts, they usually aren’t counted in any of the two personalities. They are most often to choose either of them and in failing to do so they went the term ambivert which describes now as the third personality trait with distinct characterstics.

Career advice for university students

Seek internship opportunities

Internships are a great way to gain valuable, hands-on experience in your field. For your internship to be beneficial, it must apply to your career aspirations. For example, if you’re interested in becoming a veterinarian, it may be beneficial to work at a kennel or animal shelter where you can learn proper animal care and handling.

Grow your skills and knowledge

Employers want to hire candidates with a wide range of skills. Use your college years to expand your skills and overall knowledge. Consider elective courses relevant to your career aspirations. For example, if you’re a photographer, taking an art class can help you expand your creativity. If your school doesn’t offer classes in the skill you’re hoping to grow, consider investing in relevant software.

Get an early start

To ensure you get the most out of your career, start looking for opportunities before you graduate. Find jobs relevant to your major. For example, if you’re interested in becoming a graphic designer, consider working for a design agency. This opportunity can help you understand what daily life is like for fellow designers and help you better understand the industry. Similarly, if you’re an art major, consider working for a local gallery to gain knowledge about the art industry. The sooner you look for opportunities, the greater chance you have of getting a job.

Keep your skills up-to-date

When you apply for a job or internship, you’ll likely be competing with other candidates. Because of this, it’s important to keep your skills current regardless of your industry. This means staying up-to-date with various technology and industry trends to help you gain an advantage over other candidates and make you stand out to hiring managers. Stay current by doing online research, reading professional journals or visiting your school’s library.

Pursue your passion

The easiest way to find happiness in your career is to determine what you love doing. For example, if you enjoy woodworking or metalworking, consider becoming an engineer. This ensures you’re doing something that makes you happy every day and will help your job feel less like work and more like fun. Following your dreams can also help increase your productivity because you’ll likely be more excited about going back to work. This advice is crucial as you advance in your career because it ensures you stay encouraged and driven to be the best you can be in your industry.

Strive for excellence and stay motivated

Whether you’re in your first job or an internship, it’s important to aspire to be the best you can be. Identify your own mistakes and believe in yourself and your abilities. This can help you stay vigilant in pursuing your dreams and give you the ability to advance in your career. Ultimately, striving for excellence can help you find success.

Use your school’s career services

Before you graduate, take advantage of your school’s career services to help you jump-start your career. This campus resource can provide you with a wealth of information, from crafting a resume to getting a job. Your school’s career services can also put you in touch with alumni in your field. Your tuition also pays for these services.

Reference

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/career-advice-for-college-students

Selection of our career after school

There are some major factors which influence the selection of our career

Selecting the right course and college is a very significant decision after 12th because the right selection will lead to a gratifying career as the wrong one is equal to ending up in studying a subject or a sphere that doesn’t really interest you. Moreover, the choice made after class 12 will be the one that will decide your future.

The contemporary and highly competitive world is giving the students a tough time to choose their career. Today, students are facing with plentiful options as there are several courses all of which look almost equally lucrative and interesting.

  1. Cultural background: The cultural background of an individual plays a massive role in influencing the career.
    • Example: if the parents are doctors the child may be very much inspired by their way of life or the respect that is being paid in the society. So the child may opt to become a doctor.
  2. Bad work experience:Ā  A bad work experience of any family member in a particular field may also influence the teenage in a negative way. It may lead to loss of interest in that particular kind of job.
  3. Economic condition: It’s hard to believe that many dreams are killed every day as the economic condition of the family is one of the main reasons.
    • Example: A hefty amount is required to get admission in an architectural designing college.
  4. Potential: Different profession demand different kind of requirements.
    • Example: If you want to join the film industry and you don’t have the requirements such as height and various physical requirements than perusing a course on acting and dreaming to be actor may be a waste of time and money. Pursuing a career depending on the potential may lead to success.
  5. Parent’s dreams: Every parent has dreams and expectation for their child regarding their future. Sometimes children’s are being forced to fulfil their parent’s dream by killing their own dream.
  6. Social value of the job:Ā  Some people get fascinated towards some jobs because of the respect and social value they carry.
    • Example: Being an IAS officer carries a lot of admiration in the society.
  7. Peer pressure: Peer also plays a very important role while choosing a career. Some people choose the same career as their friend to maintain the same level of status forgetting their own field of interest.
  8. Income: The future income of the job also plays a very important role while choosing a particular career. Some time running behind money kills the field that we are really interested in.
  9. Our tastes and interests: Career should be selected depending on our tastes and interest which will help to give 100% to the job.
Reference

https://www.thehighereducationreview.com/news/tips-to-choose-the-right-course-after-12th-nid-797.html

Resume writing for freshers

What is a resume?

A resume is a formal document that serves to show a person’s career background and skills.

Pick the right resume template

The reverse chronological resume format includes employment history beginning with the most recent and then going backwards. Reverse chronological resumes show dates, as well as employers and educational institutions. It is the most common format in the resume.

Write down your contact information
  • First and last name
  • Mobile number
  • Email: Make sure it’s a professional email address (e.g. first.lastname@gmail.com) and that it’s not something like biker70@gmail.com!
  • Location
  • LinkedIn profile: Recruiters often want an easy way to see your online profile. Make sure it matches your resume (in terms of job titles, dates, roles) and it is overall impressive.

Education
  • Write the name of the college and its location
  • Add the degree you received
  • Include the dates you attended: if you’re still attending the college, you can write ā€œPresentā€ or ā€œCurrentā€ instead of listing the end date or you could add your expected graduation date.
  • List notable achievements
  • Include your GPA is 3.0 above

Experience

As a recent graduate, the recruiters knows you don’t have work experience. As long as you’re applying for a junior or entry-level position, the experience isn’t something expected from you.

Instead, the recruiter will be looking for other experiences that enrich you profile like,

  • Internships
  • Extracurricular activities
  • Projects

Skills

The two types of skills you can mention on your resume are soft skills and hard skills.

Soft skills are attributes that help you adapt to work environments, work in a team and apply your hard skills effectively. They are related to your personality, social skills, communication, attitude, etc.

Hard skills refer to technical knowledge and specific tools. They are skills that one learns and applies directly to the job. Some examples of hard skills include microsoft word, adobe photoshop, etc.

Language

If you know another language, you should always include it on your resume as it indicates to a recruiter that you’ve invested in yourself. It can also qualify you for a multitude of positions that require someone bilingual or multi-lingual.

Mention the proficiency levels like,

  • Basic / Average / Good
  • Intermediate / Very good
  • Advanced / Excellent
  • Mother tongue / Native / Bilingual

Mention optional sections
  • Volunteering: If you have some volunteering experience, make sure to include it in your first job resume. Such a section shows commitment, dedication and a sense of purpose, something most recruiters will appreciate.
  • Hobbies: You can show your genuine interest in the industry or field by listing some relevant hobbies / interests.
  • Awards and certifications: Whether it’s an award from an essay competition in college or a certificate from an online course, anything that flatters your profile should be added.

Should not include your photo on YOUR resume

Adding a picture to your resume could hurt your chances of getting the job.

  • Recruiters are careful to avoid discrimination and unconscious bias
  • Some hiring managers may consider resume photos unprofessional
  • A resume picture could distract from your skills and experience
  • Images are not ATS friendly

What is an ATS compatible resume?

An Application Tracking System is a software application that enables the electronic handling of recruitment and hiring needs. Click the below links to check your resume score!

https://resumeworded.com/

How long resume length?

A concise, targeted resume shows recruiters your ability to synthesize, prioritize and convey your most important achievements. As an entry-level candidate, your resume should be no more than one page long.

Top student resumes are between 450 and 650 words long.

Total bullet points

For context, top resumes at your career level use between 12-20 bullet points to describe their accomplishments in core sections (e.g. your work experience).

Other sections like your summary, skills or education are not counted in this check.

Unnecessary sections

While you can include a short summary on your resume, do not include an objective in your resume. It is clear to hiring managers that you are looking for a job – there’s no need to restate it at the top of your resume.

You shouldn’t include a references section in your resume. Employers will ask you directly if they ever need to contact your reference.

Repetition

Avoid repeating action verbs and phrases on your resume.

Unique action verbs and language show hiring managers that you have held different roles and skill sets. They also help your accomplishments stand out and make them more impactful.

Even when describing similar skills, try to always unique language in terms of verbs and phrases. This makes your resume less monotonous and helps you stand out.

Important tips

Use a single-column layout: A single-column resume layout allows recruiters to read it easily.

Pick a common font, size: We recommend to use readable font like times new roman or arial and set the font size to 13-14 for headings and size 12 for contents.

Resume templates

If you’re a high school student or a college student, don’t have much work experience yet or looking for entry-level jobs, these student resume templates are perfect for you. They prioritize your education by listing it first, and show you how to list your university projects and extracurricular activities on your resume. These resume templates are downloadable in Word (.doc) format or editable directly via Google Docs.

https://resumeworded.com/resume-templates

Reference

Stand-up Comedians

Laugh has always been a therapy that people rely on when they do not feel their own self or are having a tough day. Although there are a number of shows and movies that could give a hearty laugh but a new culture or profession has been gaining fans in India today and that is Stand-up Comedy. A number of individuals have become popular especially among the young generation. Their popularity has hit the sky with the fact that many of them are approached for brand works. This new coming of a community of the comedians there are certain faces that have become everyday names in the Indian households like Zakir Khan, Tanmay Bhatt, Munawar Faruqi, Sumukhi Suresh, Aishwarya Mohanraj, Urooj Ashfaq, Kenny Sebastian, Abish Mathew, Samay Raina, Kunal Kamra, Anubhav Singh Bassi, Harsh Gujral, Adar Malik, Kanan Gill, Prashasti Singh, Sumera Sheikh, Rohan Joshi and many others.

Though it has been mainly seen as the instrument for some good laughter and for relieving the stress but with emergence of new platforms everyday many stand up comedian have turned into YouTubers furthering their interest in the field.  With over a million subscribers on the YouTube, they have been able to get a fan base beyond their live shows. People with an internet connection have been able to get access to their craft and become not just their fan but someone they adore. Stand-up comedy in India has been giving rise to a new culture where the ever increasing popularity of these comedians inspires young generation to follow their footsteps. Not only they have made a name for themselves as Stand up comedians but some have even been able to get themselves into the acting industry, for instance, Kanan Gill has starred in Sonakshi Sinha’s NOOR, Adar Malik has done a YouTube Series and some advertisement commercial, Sumukhi Suresh has her own web series on Amazon titled Pushpavalli (two seasons).

The popularity although seems easy does not really come at a low cost, the struggle behind the fame remains hidden. With a number of male stand-up comedians making a mark in the hearts of the people it has become difficult for the female stand- up comedians to get what they deserve. Their gender has played a role for making them less successful while putting in the equal hard work. Although not a lot of people agree with the view that women are less funny or lack sense of humour but still we come across typical, misogynistic, sexist individuals who does not want or accept comedy as a profession for females for the reason it being surely an easy task as being just about their beauty and not jokes. As the pandemic hit the world and there was a wave of depression and misery and sadness, it was comedy that came to the rescue of the world. It was the laughs that people wanted to bring them out of their sorrows and stand- up comedians happily took on the responsibility on their shoulders, to make the world a happy place in the tiring times of the pandemic. Although there was break even for them for their losses but they bounced back and saved the world.

Time Heals Everything

Past two years have all been about deaths and losing our loved ones. It is nobody’s fault yet everybody had to pay. We might have been able to get the statics about the number of people who left us forever but there can never be the data regarding the emotions that accompanied those deaths. Some lost their parents, some their children, some their grandparents, some their brothers and sisters and others their friends and some their life partners. But one thing that is common among them is the vacuum they all feel in their lives and hearts with the loss of their loved ones. It is said that time heals everything, that people move on as time passes but can we really say that these people who lost their loved ones? One moment they were there smiling and the next moment they were in the hospital begging for oxygen, waiting for their turns on their death beds. Can we say them to be okay?

The fact that death is inevitable and the only truth of the life is all accepted but the suddenness with which individuals lost their family can never make them accept the truth of the life. They all had it in one moment and the next second they lost it altogether forever. They are left with a hole in their hearts, cried their eyes out, breath their lungs out for the people they lost to the havoc of the pandemic and with what fault? That they were not able to arrange oxygen for them in time or that they were poor to even afford an ambulance or that they just decided to wait long enough? No. Their mistake was to believe that the pandemic a conspiracy by some nation against them, their mistake was to accept the fact that covid is dangerous, their mistake was socializing when government even rolled out advisory, their mistake was that they left their home and their mistake was that they were naive enough to commit these stupid mistakes.

Now, as the world is getting towards normalcy, as the citizens are getting back at their lives as did before the pandemic hit the world, they want to believe that everything will be all fine, they want to have faith and hope in their lives ahead. Though it is difficult to even think of lives without our loved ones in it, it is far more difficult to even live the pain, but they will have to. Life has always been beautiful for one or the other reason, they had always been able to cope in one way or the other but this time it might be different but they have to for this is the right thing. They have to live on, for themselves, for their loved ones, for they live within them and live through them. They are allowed to miss them for they love them, but aren’t allowed to step back, to become fragile and lose what they are left with. They need to hang in there for it is the right thing to do, for no matter how hard one is affected, time indeed heals everything.

The Delivery That Smitten Everyone-The Flower Delivery

Introduction=

For every special occasion whether formal, informal, official, unofficial people usually find it appropriate to carry flowers with them. And as the culture where it is considered respectable and suitable gained popularity the business that flourished with florists diving into new world of trade and commerce is flower delivery. It is the service provided by many different companies both online and offline for people to order and send flowers to a distinct party to show their love, care and support.

Occasions=

The exchange of flowers usually takes place in occasions, like-

  •  Attending a party (public or personal)
  • Gifting them on special days
  • Sharing the happiness for big days (promotion, weddings, etc.)
  • Wishing good luck
  • Grieving or presenting condolences
  • Biding goodbye

History=

Very few are not aware of the fact that sale of flowers has been happening now for centuries and just the method or mode of delivery have changed with no modifications in the imperativeness that flower delivery holds. In the earlier days without the facility of any kind of mail service people took flowers themselves even for long journeys. As the progress started to happen now telegrams were being used for sending flowers on the other side. With courier service then came the dealing of flowers in the same city by phone. And currently online platform has given new heights to trade of flowers.

Modifications=

With advances in technology day after day, it became important for florists to improve their style of work as well. This modification mainly came in the field of supplying the flowers to the customers. With technological enhancement the providing of flowers through online portals became easy and efficient and in demand. It was significantly observed that consumers were now more interested in ordering online for it gave them more choices, better discounts and timely delivery all at the comfort of their homes.

Summing Up=

As there is a constant progress taking place in various fields in the contemporary world a change in pattern of getting flowers for different occasion was also destined. With the phenomenon of self love gaining fans, a new trend of getting flowers for themselves is apparent. Folks in today’s world do not wait for some being to get them flowers rather they go out and buy it for themselves. As new fads come and go the carrying of flowers to most occasions remain unaffected as it is the flower delivery that smitten everyone.

Photo by Jonathan Nenemann on Pexels.com

The Scrupulously Portrayed Erudition of Online Gambling

Prologue=

Gambling is the act of betting money on various platforms with the intention of earning more than the bet. This act is basically judging the chances of winning of a particular team or happening of an event so as to bet on that probability and make money out of it. A lot of people bet for the easy money that gambling brings in for them, while other might do it just for fun, and still others are just addicted to it after a certain period. Online gambling is the on the web, technological and virtual gambling that is fast gaining fans in the contemporary world.

Annals=

The way people betted was not always online, it was face to face in the old times where people betted with real cash to a bookie. With the improvement in the know-how of the internet, the upgrading of the gambling to the virtual space was an obvious result. It is agreed that it was in 1990s that civilians became aware of the detail that internet could be used for betting and not too late in 1996-1997 many online spaces and portals with the intention of promoting virtual betting came in existence, and since then, the fan following of this has been on a rise.

Legality=

Online gambling is a subject under the governance of the state law in India. It is not therefore illegal but there is no such act or provision relating only to it. Therefore, it is many-a-times dealt with Information Technology Act, of 2000. Various states have their own laws regarding gambling-

  • Nagaland- The Nagaland Prohibition of Gambling, Prohibition and Regulation of Online Games of Skills Act, 2015
  • Sikkim- Sikkim Online Gambling Regulation Act, 2008
  • Kerala- Kerala Gaming Act, 1960
  • West Bengal- West Bengal Gambling and Prize Distribution Act, 1957
  • Rajasthan- Rajasthan Public Gambling Ordinance, 1949

Winding Up=

In the day and age where it is becoming difficult to earn a living with rising unemployment and continuous price rise, gambling can prove to be a major source of income. Although there are reservations among some sections of the society regarding the act of betting but with expertise and experience in any field it is not knotty to earn a living through online gambling. The illegality leads to hideous betting thereby depriving government of its taxes. Legality is thus, a necessity.

Regionalism

By – Supriya

Regionalism stands for ‘ the feeling of love and loyalty towards a particular region or an area in preference to the nation or any other region’. Regionalism just like Communalism is such a conservative and parochial sentiment that it can blind people to larger , broader requirements and needs of the Nation . In a country like India where language , customs, traditions , costumes etc change every half a kilometre , regionalism , if not seen properly into national fabric , can put wrinkles on its unity and integrity. Earlier these voices got subdued under the clarion call of country ‘ s independence. But with the birth of India as an individual nation and with the creation of Pakistan , such hushed voices have suddenly become more pronounced. Three major factors contribute to the rise of regionalism. Firstly, regional inequalities have been responsible for this problem to some extent because the economic development has been differential . Some areas are more developed than the others. Therefore, it gives rise to the feeling of being left out from the mainstream. Secondly, even linguistic differences play a vital role in this regard . Language corresponds with culture, tradition and literature. In India, such primordial loyalties actually outdo national loyalties. Thirdly, the most unfortunate factor that intensifies the problem of regionalism is the political factor . Unfortunately, who have encouraged regionalism for their own vested interest of staying in power.
The first demand right after independence and partition was of a separate state for Telugu speaking people. A little spark gave rise to an infinite chain reaction of petty demands for separate identity . The result was – at the time of independence there were 11 provinces that are today divided into 28 States and 7 Union Territories . The tribals demand for Jharkhand , Uttarakhand, Udayachal, Chhattisgarh, Telangana – the list is endless. This kind of an unwanted tendency could have been checked by promoting national unity and integrity , keeping in mind the history of the country. But the selfish Ulterior motives of a few politicians have actually and successfully resulted in further disintegration of the nation with the creation of new states. Instead of focusing on the progress and development of the nation in an era where the entire world has shrunk to a global village, we are still quarreling with our own people over creating new spaces. This compartmentalized mentality is a great setback to national integration and unity. Sadly, it has become a permanent feature of our political system. In our federal society, regionalism to some extent is unavoidable and natural but to cash upon love of people to their region in bargain for power is definitely not acceptable. Probably our constitution makers feared that such tendencies would pose a serious threat to our country and therefore provided for a strong centre.
We have tried to overcome the obstacles of regionalism . Yet a lot needs to be done in volatile situations of Jammu and Kashmir , and the north – east. Keeping in mind the various contributing factors and our blotted history, the government should try to adopt a constructive approach in order to neutralize such tendencies towards factionalism and parochialism and frame policies to create balance and harmony in all regions through economic , political and social development ,in order to promote National Unity and Integrity.

THANKYOU!

The Fear of the Unknown

You woke up and you decided to choose fear. A fear that overcame you every time you decided on doing something exceptional or exiting or different from the usual. That fear even scared your shadow in doing something uncanny and that fear was so strong that you didn’t even get the time to regret what you just did. That fear made you take stupid decisions like, rejecting the people who love you or not being able to perform even the simplest of tasks or just loosing contact with everything that was beautiful in the world including the human beings you wanted to be yours. And finally when you got hold of your surroundings, of your real self again it was too late.

It was too late to say sorry, to say that you were out of your senses because you were not, you were under the spell of your own fear and that made you go for a wrong life decision. You fought well for yourself, with yourself, but you never recognised that the need was to fight the devil called unknown fear. You lost in your game, in your own life and you thought that fear of uncertainty will leave you once you could make things better or normal again but you were wrong all along. For you were not to make things okay but you were to get rid of the fear but you failed. This failure in leaving the fear behind, got you to the failure in life and even when you tried you just lost the sparkle you once owned.

It must have been disheartening for you losing it to the fear of the unknown but did that fear actually broke your heart? Or did it just get you an ache that you could not forget? You tried getting busy in the worldly pleasures only to come home to an empty room or rather a room full of despair, disappointment and rejection. That room you wished for to be filled with fragrance of flowers of your honesty, fruits of your true nature but rather there was just fear that smelled delicious to you then. You attempted and looked outside of the window seeking any light, some light of hope or optimism to teach you how to live without fear but in that moment you rather accepted defeat for you didn’t see any beam of positivity.

When your world came to a standstill for the ills you had performed or all the actions you had been proud of you believed it to be the new normal. You accepted that you had lost at life and just then, you saw what you had been waiting to see. You saw the end of the tunnel, it was not close, not near enough to even have a clear view but you knew it was there. You felt it. You finally felt the pressure being dropped off your chest, you felt lighter, much lighter than you had ever been in your life, you felt free. You assumed it to be the new beginning, a fresh start without the baggage of the past, of the fear but you were proven wrong, again, by the witch of words. The words you had hoped would clear your sky for you, didn’t tidy up even the slightest of your discomfort but rather brought you back to the starting of the tunnel, for this time the fear was even stronger than before and you were losing it all again.

You believed you stood an opportunity to make things right, but it was a thorny path to follow. The path where you knew everything, where there was no uncertainty but rather you were well versed with every inch of it. There you saw your beam again and you thought you were just in time to grab it, that finally you would be free and liberated from all the struggles you faced, from the sense of regret that hit you once in a while, but just when you were about to catch it, its tail slipped your hand and you saw it going away from you, this time forever, for you were again in the same pothole, where even if you try hard you fell again and again for you knew it was the hole of the fear of the unknown and no matter how hard you tried you were not able to leave it all behind, leave it all in the past and that’s the reason why you still live without what you asked for but with the fear of the unknown.

Scourge of Illiteracy in India

By – Supriya

With India on the verge of being the most populous country, the only gizmo that can decide the country ‘s fate now is education. Education alone possesses the power to convert the population of 1.21 billion Indians from liability to assets. Today, human asset is the most valuable and prized resource. The dire need is to provide the requisite skills to transform it’s masses into massive working force. The first step towards the arduous but rewarding journey is literacy – the ability to read and write with understanding . While the country boasts of its IT revolution the world over and churns out world – class software professionals and engineers , it is disgraceful that 1/4 th of the country is still illiterate. Today, India’s literacy level is well below the world average literacy rate of 84% . In comparison to other nations , India ‘ s education program is lagging far behind other nations and currently India has the largest illiterate population of any nation on the earth. According to 2011 census, literacy rate of India is 74.04% . Moreover, a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate can be observed as literacy rate for men was 82.14% , in comparison to 65.46% for women. The low female literacy rate in turn directly affects family planning and population stabilization efforts.
Although over the years, the country’s literacy rate has improved manifold , yet with the level far below the world average literacy, much is left desired. India ‘ s ten states and union Territories , including Kerela , Lakshadweep , Mizoram , Tripura ,Goa, Daman and Diu, Puducherry , Chandigarh , National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands , have attained literacy rate of above 85% , but states like Bihar, Jharkhand , Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh faint in comparison. While Kerela has the highest literacy rate at 93.91% followed by Lakshadweep at 92.28%, Bihar is at the lowest rung of the ladder with literacy rate of 63.82% followed by Arunachal Pradesh at 66.95% . It is an anomaly that Bihar , which gives large number of Civil Servants to the country, houses a vast population that cannot even read and write! Illiterate parents and parental attitudes , rampant corruption in Bihar ‘ s political and governmental setup to sustain reign by keeping the public illiterate and unaware , poor infrastructure , poor educational initiatives and rising population forms a vicious circle of non – progress and illiteracy. Presently, India faces many hiccups that are an impediment to our desired literacy rate. Those living in rural areas are the biggest victims as rural schools operate in extremely poor conditions . While the lack of teachers creates many obstacles for children in rural schools , another setback is the lack of resources which becomes detrimental to the learning process. Lack of books and other reading materials ; lack of proper infrastructure , basic amenities like toilets and electricity are other major problems. Besides , the availability of high – tech devices such as computers is extremely rare.
In this regard, the government has taken a number of initiatives to provide free education programs to poor people living in villages and towns through setting up new schools and colleges. Several Committees have been formed to ensure optimal utilisation of funds to improve literacy rate. 21000 Crore has been allocated in the 2011 budget for Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan to accelerate the literacy drive in India . Through judicious use of allocated amount , the fortifying scale and the requisite quality of primary education can be achieved. Literacy in India is a key to socio – economic development as it initiatives awareness in people to work towards a better living. It is thus a starting point for modernization , urbanization , industrialization growth and commerce and advanced communication . To build a nation with strong social , economic and political foundation , Literacy is indispensable.

THANKYOU !

The Perfect Body

All day all night we hear people talk how important it is to have a healthy body and heart. How companies market their products on the prospect of delivering a healthy and fit body, mind and heart. But all these advertisement, marketing etc, are they really about the healthy body? Or are they only about the perfect body? The body which is popularly accepted and appreciated view of a healthy body is taken as the perfect body. Ever since the beginning of the human life, individuals have been involved in various physical activities not just to feed them self but also to stay healthy and fit and in this light the GYM culture was born. But as time progressed and humans got an understanding of beauty and gorgeous body they started with the obsession of having and making other people know about their perfect body. This obsession could be more dangerous than any other addiction.

Bollywood Influence=

As beings grow up and realise that the bollywood culture is all about the body that could serve as the apt body for a dancer, a model, an actor, they start struggling for this body. The bollywood influences not only the perspective a person has about overall aspect of perfect body but also they serve as the base for the self complex that people face after they find out that getting the perfect body isn’t a true reality but sometimes rather a myth. The actors toil hard in getting their shape right for all the right reasons of portraying their best selves but as they devote their entire time for it, it might look effortless to achieve. But when individuals fail in getting near to that perfect body they start hating themselves and end up with their worst self, not physically but mentally.

Societal Pressures=

However blaming bollywood for every other thing isn’t the goal. But rather is to highlight the fact that bollywood gets its movies from the society around and hence, it is actually the society that manifests a type of body as the perfect body. We see older men and women commenting mercilessly on the younger generations’ body and eating habits. Though correcting them for their wrongs might be okay sometimes but completely rejecting their bodies for they do not serve rightly on their perception of perfect body is erroneous. They body shame not the ones who are overweight or underweight but even the one who discard their standard of beauty and perfectness. The uncles and aunties in the mask of wanting the welfare of the children of their ā€˜family’ stoop low to another level.

Self love=

Today with people coming out with their stories of distress and anxiety because of the kind of body they have, many organisations and individuals have been promoting the values of body positivity and self love. Body positivity is about accepting who you are and loving thee body as god made it. Though exercising might help in increasing stamina and keeping you happy and healthy but body positivity is about exercising with the love for the body and not the hate, it is about working out for own happiness and not because our body is flawed. Self love is actually the key to the perfect body- a body that is healthy, free of diseases, with a happy heart and liberated mind.

Corruption in India

By – Supriya

While India is at the threshold of becoming superpower , the rising GDP and the process of the country is getting eaten by the corrupt leeches of the country. Today , the common man is not only shocked but disgusted at the series of scams unfolding everyday – 2G Spectrum Scam , Common wealth Games Scam- the list is shamefully endless. An average Indian citizen is hard working and diligent, but a multi – thousand crore scam fumes a tax – payer as he feels heartbroken and cheated for his valued contribution of funds towards the development and well- being of the nation.

Political and bureaucratic corruption in India is the cause of major concern today. From brides to political maneuvering to misuse of authority to scandals – the average Indian daily finds himself struggling in the cobweb of political graft. The in – charge of the system, the so – called sarkari Babus, with whom the power lays, are spreading the venom of corruption , and abusing their political power at all levels. The 2G scandal scam worth ₹1.76 – lakh crore tops the list. At the heart of this scam is the former Telecom minister A Raja who evaded norms at every level as he dubiously, issued 2G licences to private telecom players in 2008 at throwaway prices of 2001. While issuing licences, rules and procedures were flouted for bribes and personal gains.

Another major scandal hit India when the great sporting bonanza, Commonwealth Games 2010, was rather turned into a playfield of frauds, deceit and unaccountability. The chief of the Games Organizing Committee, Suresh Kalmadi , is charged with corruption for discrepancies in tenders – like payment to non – existent parties, willful delays in execution of contracts, over-inflated price and bungling in purchase of equipment. Misappropriation of funds soaked this grand event in ₹8000 crore corruption scandal. After the 2G spectrum and Commonwealth Games, another massive ₹ 35000 crore Food – Grain scam to light in Uttar Pradesh , as huge stock of food grain meant for distribution under the Antyodaya , Annapurna and Mid – Day Meal schemes was smuggled outside the state and even to other neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal . It is believed that top officials of the state as well as the central government colluded to divert the food grain between 2001 and 2007. ‘ Chara Ghotala’, as it is popularly known in the vernacular language , Fodder Scam is another major scam that puts a big question mark on the integrity and honesty of our politicians. The scandal worth ₹900 crore involved fabrication of vast herds of fictitious livestock for which fodder, medicine and animal husbandry equipment was supposedly procured. The scandal is another example of misuse of authority for personal gratification and fulfillment of selfish motives. While the Indian politics is already replete with scandals like Bofors scam, Urea scam and Hawala scandal , a new blot of a bigger magnitude emerges every day. The existing cases are pending and large number of cases pile up with every passing day.
Fed up with such inadequacies , the people of India have taken initiative to bring change through the Jan Lokpal Bill. Under the leadership of Anna Hazare , an anti – Corruption crusader, who began a fast – unto – death , the mass movement of people saw an expression of their collective anger against corruption and their willingness to see the enactment of the Jan Lokpal Bill. The bill seeks for the appointment of a Jan Lokpal , an independent body, which would investigate corruption cases, complete the investigation within a year and envisage trial in the next one year. This would ensure expeditious trial and cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years. The bill also proposes to confiscate the property and recover the loss that a corrupt person caused to the country, at the time of conviction . Most importantly, it would help a common citizen as financial penalty on guilty officers would be imposed if work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any government office. The Jan Lokpal Bill is a step forward in the forward in the fight against corruption . This effective mechanism aims to bring transparency and accountability in public administration for preventing , punishing and eliminating corruption in India.

THANKYOU !

L

The Habit of Reading

We have heard people telling us to read books for improving ourselves. There are a number of different books that people read so as to be in the habit of reading. Sometimes people read to entertain themselves and other time they read to pass their time and further some might read to improve their knowledge of certain language. There can be a lot of reasons of reading books and all of them are certainly justifiable. But very often it has been observed that people don’t actually read but they just put it in their resumes to look more apt for the jobs they apply for. But why do people insist on including the reading habit in their resumes even when they don’t really read? The answer is that people know the importance of reading but they hardly care to actually read. Some people believe it to be highly boring when they have to read and thereby completely ignoring the benefits of reading.

With reading our knowledge of a certain language improves. There are examples where people who are indulged in reading are better off in communicating their thoughts in a particular language as they read in that language. When people read in one language they usually start thinking and then conversing in that language. They get a hold of a certain language just by reading in that language. Reading not only improves their vocabulary but also help them enhance their overall knowledge. Reading just not mean reading novels, or books but it might also mean reading blogs, news etc, which enhances their knowledge and makes them smarter than they were before they started reading. Reading gives a person a sought of confidence that they get because of the knowledge which they achieve as they feel more comfortable in participating in intelligent conversation for they have their own say now.

The habit of reading as some might believe or some might not but teaches the art of patience. For to complete a thriller novel you cannot skip to the end or reach to the climax as some might do in movies and web series, for you need to follow the story word by word, sentence by sentence and page by page, so as to feel the euphoria of finally getting to the end. This euphoria can be achieved only by the art of patience as taught by reading. Reading improves our level of concentration for it is important to focus only on the story while reading it for we would be lost if we lose if slightest of our attention away from it. Reading improves our attention span and gives us some major focus goals. We see people reading while travelling in metro, while waiting for someone, just before going to sleep, all of this and more proves how entertaining reading could be. The best possible thrill, excitement, emotions of happiness, sadness, love, hate and others that reading make us feel are surely something we cannot even experience through some movie or other digital works.

SYMBOLIC ANALYSIS OF NISSIM EZEKIEL’S POEM “IN THE COUNTRY COTTAGE”

This works intends to analyse the elements of symbolism in Nissim Ezekiel’s poem ”In the country cottage”. Ezekiel is considered as a master in the use of symbols and images. Symbolism is the literary device that uses symbols, like words, locations and abstract ideas to represent something beyond literal meaning. Thus the use of symbolism add emotion, imagery, themes and sometimes it defines characters present in a literary work. Nissim Ezekiel is a poet who use highly evocative and suggestive symbols and images in his poetry. The images and symbols usually used by Ezekiel are women, natural elements like hill, river, sky, sun etc. These symbols give pictorial quality to his poems. Even though he uses simple language and less use of words, it makes the work impressive and sharpens the intended meaning.

In the poem In the Country Cottage the speaker talks about a particular night in a cottage when a lizard came out at night.All the other members of the house seemed lazy and decided to go to bed early as the saw the lizard. Then Nissim Ezekiel shows the image of the lizard through his description.The gray coloured stout lizard was laying without any movements. Poets says that the lizard seems to give a lesson of patience. As the poet says, ā€œā€¦he was more alive than us in silent energy..ā€ the lizard was more alive than humans, in it’s silent energy. The lizard gave his full concentration in this act of waiting for the cockroaches. Its only intention was to kill the cockroaches and in silent energy it outed for them. The next morning the other family members woke and found that the lizard completed its job with utmost ‘cleanliness’ and left the place.

Even though the poem presents ordinary things and is shorter with lesser words, the symbol of lizard is significant. The lizard can be considered as the symbol of cleanliness, patience and dutifulness.Thus it shed light on the line of the achieves who both work hard and remains patient for achieving the goal. Thus it is a symbol of perseverance and will power. By the use of this symbol poet urges the people to save their energy for better purpose, instead of wasting time for futile activities. Thus Nissim Ezekiel places the ordinary lizard for superior to lazy humans. It can be said that he is a poet who make use of the ordinary situations and creatures and makes great poems from them. From the ordinariness of human life he emphasizes the philosophy of life. As said earlier, Ezekiel is considered as a master in the use of symbols and images. His major poems like Enterprise, Night of a Scorpion,The Professor, Philosophy and Marriage possess such symbolic and pictorial qualities. Examples from the poem Enterprise is the use of the symbol ā€œpilgrimageā€, which stands for life and ā€œsunā€ stands for hostility between nature and human aspirations.

While analyzing these symbols in his poems it can be concluded that he is a great artist. The symbolism he used in his work had deep meaning which can encourage any reader to think further about the life from a fresh perspective. By the use of images or symbols of primitive simplicity, he shows the world that poetry does not have to deal with great philosophical truths to be impressive, and ordinary situations are more than enough.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE INFLUENCE ON ENGLISH

The fact. English is not a pure language is accepted by everyone. It has borrowed many words from different foreign languages and it enriched the English vocabulary. The words borrowed from other languages are known as loan words. According to F T Wood a foreign languages influenced English in three ways. First is by the foreign invaders, who settled in England brought in their words like Scandinavian words after Scandinavian invasion. Next is by foreign contacts through trade, voyages, explorations etc. The example of words borrowed by trade are Italian and Spanish words.And the third one is through scholarship, learning and culture like the Latin and Greek words borrowed during Renaissance. Apart from these ways, various reasons like religious and political movements,colonial invasion also influenced English language. This paper deals with the influence of seven languages on English. They are Celtic, French, Latin, Greek, Norman, Dutch and Spanish. Celtic influence is the first one. The Celts are believed to have been arriving in 600 BC.

The Celtic people who invaded Britain are believed to have integrated with the people who previously inhabited the island. The land that remained dominantly Celtic are divided linguistically into two – Gaelic or Goidelic and Brythonic. The Goidelic languages are Irish, Highland Scottish and Manx. Brythonic is made up of Welsh, Cornish and Briton , of these Welsh is the one to survive most strongly in the present day. Words borrowed from Gaelic are ā€œsloganā€ which was used in Gaelic as ā€œslaugh- gharimā€ means ā€œbattle cryā€. ā€œBogā€ is another example from Gaelic ā€œbogachā€ meaning ā€œsoftā€ and ā€œmoistā€. Some other examples are trousers, beat, clan, smashing, pet etc. Examples of words borrowed from Welsh vocabulary is ā€œPenguinā€ from welsh ā€œpen guynā€ meaning white head. Celtic influence on English is apparent through the place names. The language of Celts was referred to as the British the language of the Brithons the native inhabitants of the land. Surviving names are Thames and Yare names of river and names of Roman town like
London, York and Lincoln.


The words borrowed from French constitutes twenty nine percentage of English language. The French influence can be categorized into lexical, morphological, orthographic and miscellaneous. According to Albert c Baugh and Thomas Cable the influence ā€œ. . . began slowly and continued with varying tempo for a long timeā€. The French influence began with the Norman conquest. There are different categories of borrowed words. They are related to Government and social class like ā€œrevenueā€,ā€authorityā€, ā€œdukeā€, words related to Church like ā€œreligionā€, ā€œsermonā€ ā€œprayerā€ related to Law ā€œjusticeā€, ā€œcrimeā€, ā€œjuryā€, ā€œpardonā€ War related ā€œarmyā€, ā€œbattleā€, Fashion related ā€œgownā€, ā€œ frockā€, etc Food related ā€œfeastā€ , ā€œplateā€, ā€œfryā€ and Learning related ā€œ paperā€, ā€œprefaceā€ ā€œlogicā€ etc. Next borrowing is the food pairs. In many cases French word might have existed with a German word. In this the two words use in different senses. In such pairs the first English word is about the living animal in a farm and the French word signifies the meat of the animal, as in the case of cow and beef, sheep and mutton. Next french influence in lexical level is doublets. Doublets are the same word borrowed twice, one from Norman dialect and another from Parisian dialect, like catch v/s chase, warranty v/s guarantee, etc. On a morphological level french influence had a great impact on English. The decline in the use of English singular pronouns like ā€œthou’ and ā€œ theeā€ and replacement with ā€œ yeā€ and ā€œyouā€ have been linked to the parallel French use of ā€œvousā€ in formal settings. The use of ā€œsā€ to plurals in English is also attributed to French influence. Possessive phrases such as the use of ā€œ ’s ā€ , constructions that places adjectives after the noun like ā€œattorney generalā€, and use of certain prefixes and suffix morphemes like pre, -ous, -ily, -tion are also the result of french influence. In orthographic category the used of ā€œquā€ instead of ā€œcwā€, ā€œghā€ instead of ā€œhā€, ā€œouā€ instead of ā€œuā€ are examples of french influence. The doubling of vowels tho represent long vowel sounds like ā€œseeā€ , doubling of consonants after short vowels like ā€œsittingā€ amd more use of ā€˜k’, ā€˜z’, ā€˜y’ are in this category. Normans had a strong influence on English personal names. English names such as Alfred, Harold, Godwin and Athelstan largely fell out of fashion and replaced by names like John, Peter, Simon, William, Richard and Henry.

Latin influence is considered the earliest of all the influence on English. First Latin influence on English language was when England contacted with the Roman Civilization The Latin words borrowed during this phase belongs to agriculture, war and domestic life. The loan words are wine, mint, mill, kitchen, cup, dish, pepper, cheese, butter, milk etc. There are place names came during this phase like places ending with ceaster like Lancaster, Gloucester, Winchester, Manchester etc. Next phase of influence happened with the introduction of Christianity. The introduction of Christianity was on 59AD . The loan words came during this time is related to new conceptions, religion, and faith. Words related to education,plant, domestic life were also borrowed. The words are Angel, anthem, hymn, minister, monk, disciple, silk, pea, pine, poppy, beet, pine, grammar, master,grammar, lobster etc. In the middle English period Latin came through translation of holy bible. Words related to law (conspiracy, custody, legal, prosecute), theology (scripture, incarnate,limbo), literature (allegory, genius,intellect,prosody) and science (mechanical,solar,zenith) came during this phase. In the 15 th century during Renaissance great revival of learning influenced English immensely. The words borrowed during this phase are Nouns,Adjectives and verb. Examples for nouns are radius,allusion, circus, atmosphere, bonus etc, Adjectives are appropriate, domestic, perfect etc and Verbs are assassinate, benefit, affidavit, exit etc. As a result of Latin influence, native nouns had got Latin adjectives like paternal for father, maternal for mother, royal for king etc.

Greek language influenced English immensely. Even before Renaissance English language contained a few Greek words, like geography, theology, logic through Latin. But most of Greek words passed into English during Renaissance period. Revival of Greek learning in Western Europe at the beginning of sixteenth century was the reason for borrowing from Greek. Examples for such words are irony, alphabet, drama, elegy etc. The Greek words borrowed during seventeenth century are orchestra, pandemonium, museum,clinic etc. Bathos and philander are the examples of words borrowed during eighteenth century. During nineteenth and twentieth century scientific and technical terms came from German.Those words are psychology, neurology, oxygen, halogen, telephone, microscope etc.The modern medical science is full of Greek terms because of the works of Hypocrites. Greek also contributed some suffixes and prefixes like anti-, di-, hyper-, poly-.

Norman contribution is one of the major influences on English language. Normans came into England during 1066AD . The words borrowed from Norman French can be grouped into several types like legal terms( adultery, slander), military words( surrender, occupy), names of meats( bacon) royal court ( chivalry, majesty). The use of legal and military terms are because of the influence of William the Conquerors works. Other examples of Norman loan words are accuse, archer, assault, curfew, fashion, judge, marriage etc. Dutch had a great influence in English during renaissance period and through commerce. In the renaissance period many loan words from low German from which we have dutch, Flemish and the dialects of Northern Germany came to England. These regions had close commercial contacts with England ever since the Norman conquest and many of the loan words are related to sea faring and trade. Examples are skipper, clock, cruise, smuggle, trek, smack etc.

During the middle English period quite a number of words borrowed from Spanish. Most of the Spanish words came through trade, commerce and war. Examples for such words are armada, cargo, spade, siesta, cocoa, potato, cafeteria etc. The bulk of Spanish words came into English from the middle of sixteenth century to the middle seventeenth century. These are some examples of words borrowed to English from foreign language and their influences. While analyzing these contributions, it can be concluded that , these words and usages enriched the English vocabulary.

Woodrow Wilson

Like Roosevelt before him, Woodrow Wilson regarded himself as the personal representative of the people. ā€œNo one but the President,ā€ he said, ā€œseems to be expected … to look out for the general interests of the country.ā€ He developed a program of progressive reform and asserted international leadership in building a new world order. In 1917 he proclaimed American entrance into World War I a crusade to make the world ā€œsafe for democracy.ā€

Wilson had seen the frightfulness of war. He was born in Virginia in 1856, the son of a Presbyterian minister who during the Civil War was a pastor in Augusta, Georgia, and during Reconstruction a professor in the charred city of Columbia, South Carolina.

After graduation from Princeton (then the College of New Jersey) and the University of Virginia Law School, Wilson earned his doctorate at Johns Hopkins University and entered upon an academic career. In 1885 he married Ellen Louise Axson.

Wilson advanced rapidly as a conservative young professor of political science and became president of Princeton in 1902.

His growing national reputation led some conservative Democrats to consider him Presidential timber. First they persuaded him to run for Governor of New Jersey in 1910. In the campaign he asserted his independence of the conservatives and of the machine that had nominated him, endorsing a progressive platform, which he pursued as governor.

He was nominated for President at the 1912 Democratic Convention and campaigned on a program called the New Freedom, which stressed individualism and states’ rights. In the three-way election he received only 42 percent of the popular vote but an overwhelming electoral vote.

Wilson maneuvered through Congress three major pieces of legislation. The first was a lower tariff, the Underwood Act; attached to the measure was a graduated Federal income tax. The passage of the Federal Reserve Act provided the Nation with the more elastic money supply it badly needed. In 1914 antitrust legislation established a Federal Trade Commission to prohibit unfair business practices.

Another burst of legislation followed in 1916. One new law prohibited child labor; another limited railroad workers to an eight-hour day. By virtue of this legislation and the slogan ā€œhe kept us out of war,ā€ Wilson narrowly won re-election.

But after the election Wilson concluded that America could not remain neutral in the World War. On April 2,1917, he asked Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.

Massive American effort slowly tipped the balance in favor of the Allies. Wilson went before Congress in January 1918, to enunciate American war aims–the Fourteen Points, the last of which would establish ā€œA general association of nations…affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.ā€

After the Germans signed the Armistice in November 1918, Wilson went to Paris to try to build an enduring peace. He later presented to the Senate the Versailles Treaty, containing the Covenant of the League of Nations, and asked, ā€œDare we reject it and break the heart of the world?ā€

Wilson never doubted the outcome. He mobilized a nation – its manpower, its industry, its commerce, its agriculture. He was himself the chief mover in the propaganda war. His speech to Congress on January 8, 1918, on the Ā«Fourteen PointsĀ» was a decisive stroke in winning that war, for people everywhere saw in his peace aims the vision of a world in which freedom, justice, and peace could flourish.

Although at the apogee of his fame when the 1919 Peace Conference assembled in Versailles, Wilson failed to carry his total conception of an ideal peace, but he did secure the adoption of the Covenant of the League of Nations. His major failure, however, was suffered at home when the Senate declined to approve American acceptance of the League of Nations. This stunning defeat resulted from his losing control of Congress after he had made the congressional election of 1918 virtually a vote of confidence, from his failure to appoint to the American peace delegation those who could speak for the Republican Party or for the Senate, from his unwillingness to compromise when some minor compromises might well have carried the day, from his physical incapacity in the days just prior to the vote.

REFERENCES : The White House, NobelPrize.org

Karl Marx

Who Was Karl Marx?
Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a philosopher, author, social theorist, and economist. He is famous for his theories about capitalism and communism. Marx, in conjunction with Friedrich Engels, published The Communist Manifesto in 1848; later in life, he wrote Das Kapital (the first volume was published in Berlin in 1867; the second and third volumes were published posthumously in 1885 and 1894, respectively), which discussed the labour theory of value.

Marx’s early writings are dominated by an understanding of alienation, a distinct type of social ill whose diagnosis looks to rest on a controversial account of human nature and its flourishing. He subsequently developed an influential theory of history—often called historical materialism—centred around the idea that forms of society rise and fall as they further and then impede the development of human productive power. Marx increasingly became preoccupied with an attempt to understand the contemporary capitalist mode of production, as driven by a remorseless pursuit of profit, whose origins are found in the extraction of surplus value from the exploited proletariat. The precise role of morality and moral criticism in Marx’s critique of contemporary capitalist society is much discussed, and there is no settled scholarly consensus on these issues. His understanding of morality may be related to his account of ideology, and his reflection on the extent to which certain widely-shared misunderstandings might help explain the stability of class-divided societies. In the context of his radical journalism, Marx also developed his controversial account of the character and role of the modern state, and more generally of the relation between political and economic life. Marx sees the historical process as proceeding through a series of modes of production, characterised by (more or less explicit) class struggle, and driving humankind towards communism.

However, Marx is famously reluctant to say much about the detailed arrangements of the communist alternative that he sought to bring into being, arguing that it would arise through historical processes, and was not the realisation of a pre-determined plan or blueprint.

Between late 1843 and early 1845, Marx lived in Paris, a cosmopolitan city full of Ć©migrĆ©s and radical artisans. He was subsequently expelled by the French government following Prussian pressure. In his last months in Germany and during this Paris exile, Marx produced a series of ā€œearly writingsā€, many not intended for publication, which significantly altered interpretations of his thought when they were published collectively in the twentieth century. Papers that actually saw publication during this period include: ā€œOn the Jewish Questionā€ (1843) in which Marx defends Jewish Emancipation against Bruno Bauer (1809–1882), but also emphasises the limitations of ā€œpoliticalā€ as against ā€œhumanā€ emancipation; and the ā€œCritique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right: Introductionā€ (1844) which contains a critical account of religion, together with some prescient remarks about the emancipatory potential of the proletariat. The most significant works that Marx wrote for self-clarification rather than publication in his Paris years are the so-called ā€œ1844 Manuscriptsā€ (1844) which provide a suggestive account of alienation, especially of alienation in work; and the ā€œTheses on Feuerbachā€ (1845), a set of epigrammatic but rich remarks including reflections on the nature of philosophy.

Importance Of Public Administration

The importance of Public Administration in the modern state can hardly be overemphasised. Its importance and role has been steadily increasing with the expansion of state activity in the modern states. Public Administration is now on all-encompassing factor of the daily life of individual as well as the community, an integral part of the society, which has seen the emergence of what has aptly been called the Administrative State.

Public Administration is the field of service that maintains a civil society and provides for the needs of the public. It is the activities undertaken by the government to look after its people and manage its affairs.

One of the ways people working in public administration use their problem-solving skills is by helping during a crisis. Crisis management is necessary during a crisis and it’s important to limit the way that it impacts people.

Some elements of public administration include planning, organising, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting.

As an activity, it can be traceable to the Almighty God who planned the existence of man as a being. As an academic field of study, it can be largely traceable to Woodrow Wilson.

Woodrow Wilson, the father of Public Administration first recognised it in an article titled ā€œThe Study of Administrationā€. This he published in 1887.

Public administration has a very important place in the life of people. It is that branch of government which concerns more directly and more striking than any other with the lives of the human beings. The individual in the modern society is concerned with Public Administration at every turn of his life from cradle to the grave. It is the part of the social, cultural and economic life of a nation and is a part and parcel of its life.

Public Administration is the basis of government for monarchy, democracy, communist country like China, or in capitalist country. It is the instrument for executing the laws, policies and programmes formulated by the state. It is also an instrument of national integration particularly in the developing countries which are facing the challenges of sub nationalism, secessionism, class wars, and so on. It is a great stabilising force in the society as it provides continuity when government changes either due to revolution or by election or coups.

Amendments Of Law

Introduction

Let me introduce you all to the definition of law, in other words, what is law?

It is, by definition, the system of rules that a particular country or a community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties.

Or, in the words of eminent Jurist Salmond, law is the body of principles recognised and applied by the state in the administration of justice.

Now why am I stating the facts you may think. Well, I am not giving weight to my part of the writings here, I am giving weight to the situation of the country. How conveniently we twist and turn mere facts in the grab of amendments. Some sure are in our favour but what about the others that are not?

I shall begin with the necessity of amending provisions in the constitution. Provision for amendment in the constitution is made with a view to overcome the difficulties which may encounter in the future in working of the constitution. No generation has the monopoly of wisdom nor has it any right to place fetters on future generations to mould the machinery of government according to their requirements. If no provisions were made for the amendment of the constitution, the people would have recourse to extra constitutional method like revolution to change the constitution, as held in Keshavananda v/s the state of Kerala All India Report 1973 Supreme Court page number 1461. The power of amending the law is exercised by the parliament under Article 368 of the Indian Constitution.

The framers of the Indian Constitution were keen to avoid excessive rigidity. They were anxious to have a document which could grow with a growing nation, adapt itself to the changing need and circumstances of growing people. the nature of the ‘amending process’ envisaged by the framers of the constitution can be best understood by referring the following observation of the late Prime Minister Pandit Nehru – “When we want this constitution to be solid and permanent as we can make it, there is no permanence in the constitution. There should be a certain flexibility. If you make anything rigid and permanent, you stop the nation’s growth.”

In any event, we could not make this constitution so rigid that it cannot be adopted to changing conditions. When the world is in a period of transition, what we may do today may not be wholly applicable tomorrow.

International Day Of Yoga

2021 Theme: Yoga for well-being
The Day will be marked at a time when COVID-19 pandemic continues to upend lives and livelihoods of people globally.

Beyond its immediate impact on physical health, the COVID-19 pandemic has also exacerbated psychological suffering and mental health problems, including depression and anxiety, as pandemic-related restrictions continue in various forms in many countries. This has highlighted the urgent need to address the mental health dimension of the pandemic, in addition to the physical health aspects.

The message of Yoga in promoting both the physical and mental well-being of humanity has never been more relevant. A growing trend of people around the world embracing Yoga to stay healthy and rejuvenated and to fight social isolation and depression has been witnessed during the pandemic. Yoga is also playing a significant role in the psycho-social care and rehabilitation of COVID-19 patients in quarantine and isolation. It is particularly helpful in allaying their fears and anxiety.

Recognizing this important role of Yoga, this year’s commemoration of the International Day of Yoga focuses on ā€œYoga for well-beingā€ – how the practice of Yoga can promote the holistic health of every individual.

The United Nations offers yoga resources to its personnel and others on the COVID-19 portal’s section on Wellness.

The World Health Organization mentions yoga as a means to improve health in its Global action plan on physical activity 2018–2030: more active people for a healthier world.

UNICEF says kids can practice many yoga poses without any risk and get the same benefits that adults do. These benefits include increased flexibility and fitness, mindfulness and relaxation.

2021 virtual event
The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations invites you to an online celebration of the 7th annual International Yoga Day on 21 June 2021, from 8:30 to 10:00 am EST, broadcast live on UN WebTV.

The event opened with messages from the President of the United Nations General Assembly and the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, which was followed by demonstrations of Yoga exercises (asanas) to improve physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health and an interactive panel discussion on ā€œYoga for well-being.ā€

What is Yoga and why do we celebrate it?
Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice that originated in India. The word ā€˜yoga’ derives from Sanskrit and means to join or to unite, symbolizing the union of body and consciousness.

Today it is practiced in various forms around the world and continues to grow in popularity.

Recognizing its universal appeal, on 11 December 2014, the United Nations proclaimed 21 June as the International Day of Yoga by resolution 69/131.

The International Day of Yoga aims to raise awareness worldwide of the many benefits of practicing yoga.

The draft resolution establishing the International Day of Yoga was proposed by India and endorsed by a record 175 member states. The proposal was first introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address during the opening of the 69th session of the General Assembly, in which he said: ā€œYoga is an invaluable gift from our ancient tradition. Yoga embodies unity of mind and body, thought and action … a holistic approach [that] is valuable to our health and our well-being. Yoga is not just about exercise; it is a way to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature.ā€

The resolution notes ā€œthe importance of individuals and populations making healthier choices and following lifestyle patterns that foster good health.ā€ In this regard, the World Health Organization has also urged its member states to help their citizens reduce physical inactivity, which is among the top ten leading causes of death worldwide, and a key risk factor for non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes.

But yoga is more than a physical activity. In the words of one of its most famous practitioners, the late B. K. S. Iyengar, ā€œYoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day-to-day life and endows skill in the performance of one’s actions.ā€

REFERENCE : UNITED NATONS

The United Nations

Origin Of The United Nations

The United Nations is the symbol of hope for mankind. This hope, as former UN Secretary-General Dag Hammerskjold said, is the hope that peace is possible. The United Nations is an organization of 193 sovereign states. It was set up in 1945 to replace the ill-fated League of Nations. The Allies, who were fighting the Axis Powers in the Second World War to destroy dictatorship and secure the ‘world for democracy, resolved to establish a new world organization rather than revive the League of Nations. It was in the London Declaration of 12 June 1941 that all nations then fighting against Hitler’s Germany announced their intention of working together, with other free peoples, to establish ‘a world in which, relieved of the menace of aggression, all may enjoy economic and social security.’ Earlier, President Roosevelt of the United States in a message to the Congress in January 1941, had spelt out four freedoms as being of universal importance.

These were: (a) Freedom of speech and expression; (b) Freedom to worship God in one’s own way; (c) Freedom from want; and (d) Freedom from fear.

At that time the United States was not at war. She was observing neutrality. As explained earlier, the United states joined the Second World War only in December 1941 when Japan bombarded Pearl Harbour. The Soviet Union had joined the Allies in June 1941 after Germany’s attack. Thus the Four Freedoms and the London Declaration were expressions of the desire of mankind to be free from ‘war’ and free from ‘want’. On 14 August 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill issued the famous Atlantic Charter which spoke of the establishment of a ‘peace which will afford to all nations the means of dwelling in safety within their own boundaries,’ of freedom from ear and want, and the creation of ‘a wider and permanent system of general security.’

The principles spelt out in the Atlantic Charter, and the London Declaration, were endorsed by the 26 countries who were then Allies, on 1 January 1942 in what came to be known as the United Nations Declaration. This declaration signed in Washington was mainly concerned with war, not peace. It was to emphasize cooperation in an all-out struggle against Axis and to give an assurance to each other not to make peace individually.

Objectives And Principles

Objectives:

(i) to maintain international peace and security based on respect for the principle of equal human rights and self-determination of peoples.

(ii) to develop friendly relations among nations.

(iii) to cooperate in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character.

(iv) to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in achieving these ends.

(v) to protect environment & to justify use of natural resource.

The United Nations act in accordance with the following Principals.

  1. All member states are sovereign and equal.
  2. All are pledged to fulfil their obligations under the Charter in good faith.
  3. All are pledged to settle their international disputes by peaceful means and without endangering international peace, security and justice.
  4. They are to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against any other state.
  5. They are to give the UN every assistance in any action it takes in accordance with the Charter.
  6. The United Nations shall not intervene in matters which are essentially domestic ones of any state except when it is acting to enforce international peace.

REFERENCES : V.N. KHANNA, English for students

Shri Jawaharlal Nehru : The First Prime Minister Of India

Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru was born in Allahabad on November 14, 1889. He received his early education at home under private tutors. At the age of fifteen, he went to England and after two years at Harrow, joined Cambridge University where he took his tripos in Natural Sciences. He was later called to the Bar from Inner Temple. He returned to India in 1912 and plunged straight into politics. Even as a student, he had been interested in the struggle of all nations who suffered under foreign domination. He took keen interest in the Sinn Fein Movement in Ireland. In India, he was inevitably drawn into the struggle for independence.

In 1912, he attended the Bankipore Congress as a delegate, and became Secretary of the Home Rule League, Allahabad in 1919. In 1916 he had his first meeting with Mahatma Gandhi and felt immensely inspired by him. He organised the first Kisan March in Pratapgarh District of Uttar Pradesh in 1920. He was twice imprisoned in connection with the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920-22.

Pt. Nehru became the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee in September 1923. He toured Italy, Switzerland, England, Belgium, Germany and Russia in 1926. In Belgium, he attended the Congress of Oppressed Nationalities in Brussels as an official delegate of the Indian National Congress. He also attended the tenth anniversary celebrations of the October Socialist Revolution in Moscow in 1927. Earlier, in 1926, at the Madras Congress, Nehru had been instrumental in committing the Congress to the goal of Independence. While leading a procession against the Simon commission, he was lathi-charged in Lucknow in 1928. On August 29, 1928 he attended the All-Party Congress and was one of the signatories to the Nehru Report on Indian Constitutional Reform, named after his father Shri Motilal Nehru. The same year, he also founded the ā€˜Independence for India League’, which advocated complete severance of the British connection with India, and became its General Secretary.

In 1929, Pt. Nehru was elected President of the Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress, where complete independence for the country was adopted as the goal. He was imprisoned several times during 1930-35 in connection with the Salt Satyagraha and other movements launched by the Congress. He completed his ā€˜Autobiography’ in Almora Jail on February 14, 1935. After release, he flew to Switzerland to see his ailing wife and visited London in February-March, 1936. He also visited Spain in July 1938, when the country was in the throws of Civil War. Just before the court-break of the Second World War, he visited China too.

On October 31, 1940 Pt. Nehru was arrested for offering individual Satyagraha to protest against India’s forced participation in war. He was released along with the other leaders in December 1941. On August 7, 1942 Pt. Nehru moved the historic ā€˜Quit India’ resolution at the A.I.C.C. session in Bombay. On August 8,1942 he was arrested along with other leaders and taken to Ahmednagar Fort. This was his longest and also his last detention. In all, he suffered imprisonment nine times. After his release in January 1945, he organized legal defence for those officers and men of the INA charged with treason. In March 1946, Pt. Nehru toured South East Asia. He was elected President of the Congress for the fourth time on July 6, 1946 and again for three more terms from 1951 to 1954.

History And Early Life

Nehru was born on Nov. 14, 1889, at Allahabad, India. His name Jawaharlal meaĀ»s ā€œred jewel,ā€ a name he once said he found ā€œodious.ā€ His father, Motilal Nehru, was a wealthy lawyer from the state of Kashmir. Both he and Nehru’s mother, Swarup Bani Nehru, were Brahmans, the highest caste in India. Jawaharlal had two younger sisters: Swarup, born in 1900, and Krishna, born in 1907. They grew up in a palatial home called Anand Bhawan, meaning Abode of Happiness.

India was a part of the British Empire, and many of Motilal’s friends were English. Until Nehru was 15, he was educated at home by British tutors. He also studied the Hindi and Sanskrit languages with a Brahman teacher who, according to Nehru, managed to impart ā€œextraordinarily little.ā€ The only one of his tutors who impressed the boy was a French-Irish philosopher named Ferdinand T. Brooks. Brooks imbued Jawaharlal with an enthusiasm for reading and for science.

He introduced the youth to theosophy, a mystical system of thought that claims to explain the universe on the basis of direct revelations. The doctrine fascinated Nehru, and at the age of 13 he joined the theosophical society. But his interest in theosophy soon waned.

Student in England. In 1905, Nehru’s father took him to England to enroll at Harrow, a leading English public school. Nehru’s housemaster, the Bev. Edgar Stogdon, remembered him later as ā€œa very nice boy, quiet and very refined. He was not demonstrative but one felt there was great strength of character. I should doubt if he told many boys what his opinions were. . . .ā€

Jawaharlal entered Trinity College at Cambridge University in 1907. There he studied chemistry, geology, and botany. He displayed little intellectual interest or ambition. He attended meetings of a debating society, but seldom found courage to speak himself. Nonetheless, the society’s political discussions stirred his interest in the growing Indian nationalist movement. He also became sensitive to discrimination against Indians. After completing his studies at Cambridge University, Nehru studied law in London, where he passed his bar examination in 1912.

REFERENCES : 8sa.net, pmindia.gov.in

Nazi Dictatorship In Action

Introduction

In the previous chapter a reference was made to pretensions of peace and friendship on part of Hitler in the early years of the Third Reich. We have seen that realignment of powers had taken place during 1934-35. Meanwhile, Germany had pulled itself out of the Disarmament Conference and withdrawn from the League of Nations in October 1933 on the ground that other powers had failed to reduce their armaments although they had promised to do so, when they had signed the Covenant of the League of Nations in 1919. Hitler was vigorously but secretly carrying on rearmament of Germany, but did not want to disclose it before Saar was returned to Germany. As provided for in the Versailles Treaty, a plebiscite was held in Saar in January 1935 and about 90 per cent of the people voted for reunion with Germany.

Hitler personally went to Saar to see the reunification of Saar with the Reich on 1 March 1935. As analysis of Hitler’s approach to foreign policy shows that he was always pragmatic. According to Paul Johnson, ‘Like Lenin, he was a superb opportunist, always ready to seize openings and modify his theory accordingly.’ While some historians conclude that he had no master programme, others like Johnson feel that he was always adjusting his tactics to suit the moment. He was never tempted to relax by a surfeit of autocratic power.

Actually he was ‘always raising the stakes on the table and seeking to hasten the force of history.’ Hitler was now free to unfold his true foreign policy based on Mein Kampf, i.e. anti-Communism, anti-Semitism, and promotion of German imperialism. During 1935-37 Hitler evolved and acted upon the strategy of befriending not only fellow dictator Mussolini, but also a militant Japan and even Britain who wanted ‘peace almost at any price.’ During this period, Hitler unilaterally repudiated not only the dictated Treaty of Versailles but also freely negotiated Treaty of Locarno. This period also witnessed another repudiation of international commitment-Italian aggression on Abyssinia and eventual annexation of that country into Italian Empire. These developments led to the formations of Rome-Berlin-Tokyo-Axis.

Repudiation Of Treaties

In February 1935 (after the Saar plebiscite, but before its reunion with Germany) England and France made certain proposals to Germany. These included signing of Central Pact and Eastern Pact. The former, to ensure non-interference in each other’s internal affairs and to be signed by Austria and her neighbours and the latter to be signed by France, Germany and the Soviet Union, each assuring the other against aggression by the third country. It was also proposed that the seven Locarno powers, including Germany, should promise that in case of air attack upon any of them, the others would provide assistance to the victim of attack. These proposals came to be known as ‘Air Locarno’. Germany showed willingness only for Air Locarno as that would permit her to establish an Air Force. The other two pacts were to be discussed by Hitler with British representatives, but before British ministers could go to Germany, the British government announced a programme of strengthening its armed might, a move that annoyed Hitler.

Hitler suggested that he was willing to sign a fresh treaty with France and Belgium, whereby there could be demilitarization of equal distance on both sides of the border. This was, as expected, rejected by France. Now, therefore, Rhineland was once again remilitarized and German troops firmly based themselves in the region. Hitler ha achieved one more success.

REFERENCES : International relations by V.N. KHANNA

Reparation, Debts and Economic Crisis

Reparation

Most of the peace treaties signed before the First World War imposed ‘war indemnity’ on the defeated states. It was a fine imposed by the victor on the vanquished by way of penalty. The theory was that the victor must recover practically the entire cost of a war from the defeated enemy. The defeated powers used to indemnify the losses suffered by the victors during the wars. During the First World War, it was argued in many countries that in view of heavy losses involved in the war, it would be impossible for the victors to recover the entire cost. Purely from an economic viewpoint, as Gathorne-Hardy says, ‘…the immense scale of the war of 1914-18 rendered it obvious at the outset that a claim of this description would be beyond the power of any nation to satisfy…’ Besides, there was a moral aspect also. President Woodrow Wilson was against the imposition of war indemnity on the ground of such a fine being undemocratic. As Carr also admits, ‘…democratic opinion in many countries had expressed itself against the practice…’ of imposing war indemnity. Wilson personally was not in favour of any prize for the victors and any punishment for the vanquished. However, the US President had to yield to the pressure put upon him by his European allies, and he had to agree to the imposition of a limited amount of fine to be called reparation.

The Treaty of Versailles provided for payment of an unspecified amount of reparation by Germany to the victors of the Fist World War. The demands made on Germany were to be limited to the ‘compensation for all damage done to the civilian population for the Allied and Associated Powers and to their property.’ This was supposed to be a concession, as Germany was not required to pay to recover the ‘entire cost’ of the war. Unlike in previous wars, the civilian population and their properties were not spread. Heavy damages were caused to the civilians and their properties as a result of indiscriminate attacks by the German army, navy and army force. The Allies decided not to claim military losses. Nevertheless, their greed was reflected in the fact that reparation was to cover, besides civilian losses, the separation allowances and pensions to be paid to the widows and dependents of the officers and men killed in action. The concession, therefor, was not of much practical consequence.

Germany, as we have seen, was made to admit her sole responsibility for the war and and the consequent liability for payment of reparation. Article 231 of the Treaty said: ‘The Allied and Associated Powers affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected to as a consequence of the war imposed on them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.’ Germany was called upon by the Allies to pay to them such amount of money as would be determined by a Commission to be appointed for this purpose. This money was required to enable the Allies to ‘repair’ the losses suffered by them as a result of the war ‘imposed’ upon them by Germany.

Spa Conference (1920)

Contrary to German expectations the conference did not focus on the issue of war reparations but was initially dominated by the topic of disarmament, also part of the Treaty of Versailles. Due to current events the coal negotiations then moved to centre stage.

The issue of coal pertained to shipments from Germany to France, Belgium and Italy according to Art. 236 of Part VIII of the Versailles Treaty. In a protocol signed on 19 August 1919 Germany had agreed on these deliveries, but due to the uprisings of spring 1920 (Kapp Putsch, Red Ruhr Army) and associated strikes in the coal industry had been unable to comply.

Discussion of the coal issue, which began on 9 July, soon showed that the Allied side was unwilling to compromise. At the very beginning threats about sanctions were issued, with Millerand acting as the spokesman on the Allied side. After days of tough negotiations, the talks almost broke down on 14 July. On 16 July, Fehrenbach and foreign minister Walter Simons signed the Spa coal protocol as drawn up by the Allies. Germany promised to deliver 2 million tons of coal per month for six months. In exchange for the Allied right to insist on the delivery of specifics types or quality of coal, Germany was granted 5 Goldmark per ton to purchase food for the miners. In addition, the Allies agreed to monthly advance payments for the coal. The German side did not sign up to the Allied threat that missed deliveries would be answered by military occupation of the Ruhr or other German territories.

Despite Allied financial concessions the coal agreement dealt a heavy blow to the German economy. Supply of coal had been adequate before the conference, but now domestic bottlenecks emerged that damaged output of the iron and steel industry, the railways and coal conversion industry.

REFERENCES : V.N. Khanna, wiki

Plastic Waste Management

Introduction

Plastic waste management is a collective term for various approaches and strategies used to recycle plastic materials that would otherwise be dumped into landfills, or bodies of water, or otherwise contaminate the environment. The idea behind this type of waste management is to utilize those discarded materials to manufacture new plastic products without the need to actually generate additional plastic materials. Doing so can help lower production costs as well as protect the environment.

Many different types of industries participate in some type of plastic waste management process. Some are specifically geared toward collecting plastic items for recycling. For example, many supermarkets encourage customers to contribute unwanted plastic bags into a recycling container located near the front of the store. The collected bags are then forwarded to recycling centres where the material is processed for use in the production of new products made from the recycled plastic.

Businesses that produce plastic products also engage in the task of plastic waste management. This often focuses on finding ways to recycle or reuse excess plastic that is discarded as units of different goods are produced. These plastic remnants can often be collected and ran through an internal recycling process to create additional products for sale. Not only does this approach prevent the disposal of the used materials into a landfill, it also allows the company to lower the actual cost associated with manufacturing each unit of its product line.

In some cases, businesses outsource the process of plastic waste management. Contracting with a waste management company makes it possible for unwanted plastic items to be collected and removed from the premises without expending additional company resources. Municipalities sometimes work with a waste management disposal company in creating plastic recycling programs that allow households to conveniently dispose of plastic milk jugs, broken plastic toys, and other plastic items without placing them into the trash. Depending on the nature of the arrangement with the plastic waste management company, the municipality may actually earn a small amount from the arrangement, creating another stream of revenue for the city or town that can be used to fund services offered to residents.

Any type of plastic waste management must be conducted in compliance with regulations set by local, state, and federal governments. This includes using recycling methods that are considered to be environmentally friendly, and that are not likely to create health risks for individuals living and working in the community. Since regulations regarding recycling vary somewhat from one jurisdiction to another, it is important to determine what is and is not allowed before establishing any type of ongoing program to deal with plastic waste.

References : infobloom

Climate Change

Climate change is a long-term shift in global or regional climate patterns. Often climate change refers specifically to the rise in global temperatures from the mid-20th century to present.

Climate is sometimes mistaken for weather. But climate is different from weather because it is measured over a long period of time, whereas weather can change from day to day, or from year to year. The climate of an area includes seasonal temperature and rainfall averages, and wind patterns. Different places have different climates. A desert, for example, is referred to as an arid climate because little water falls, as rain or snow, during the year. Other types of climate include tropical climates, which are hot and humid, and temperate climates, which have warm summers and cooler winters.

Climate change is the long-term alteration of temperature and typical weather patterns in a place. Climate change could refer to a particular location or the planet as a whole. Climate change may cause weather patterns to be less predictable. These unexpected weather patterns can make it difficult to maintain and grow crops in regions that rely on farming because expected temperature and rainfall levels can no longer be relied on. Climate change has also been connected with other damaging weather events such as more frequent and more intense hurricanes, floods, downpours, and winter storms.

In polar regions, the warming global temperatures associated with climate change have meant ice sheets and glaciers are melting at an accelerated rate from season to season. This contributes to sea levels rising in different regions of the planet. Together with expanding ocean waters due to rising temperatures, the resulting rise in sea level has begun to damage coastlines as a result of increased flooding and erosion.

The cause of current climate change is largely human activity, like burning fossil fuels, like natural gas, oil, and coal. Burning these materials releases what are called greenhouse gases into Earth’ atmosphere. There, these gases trap heat from the sun’s rays inside the atmosphere causing Earth’s average temperature to rise. This rise in the planet’s temperature is called global warming. The warming of the planet impacts local and regional climates. Throughout Earth’s history, climate has continually changed. When occurring naturally, this is a slow process that has taken place over hundreds and thousands of years. The human influenced climate change that is happening now is occurring at a much faster rate.

Climate change is impacting human lives and health in a variety of ways. It threatens the essential ingredients of good health – clean air, safe drinking water, nutritious food supply, and safe shelter – and has the potential to undermine decades of progress in global health.Ā Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress alone. The direct damage costs to health is estimated to be between USD 2-4 billion per year by 2030.Ā Areas with weak health infrastructure – mostly in developing countries – will be the least able to cope without assistance to prepare and respond. WHO supports countries in building climate-resilient health systems and tracking national progress in protecting health from climate change.Ā Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases through better transport, food and energy-use choices results in improved health, particularly through reduced air pollution. The Paris Agreement on climate change is therefore potentially the strongest health agreement of this century. WHO supports countries in assessing the health gains that would result from the implementation of the existing Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement, and the potential for larger gains from more ambitious climate action.

REFERENCES : WHO, National Geographic Society

The World in 1914

The First World War broke out with the declaration of war by Austria-Hungary upon Serbia on 28 July 1914. Many other countries joined the war within the next few days on one side or the other. The war was fought between the Allied and Associated powers (Allies) on one side and the Central Powers on the other. The principal allies were France, the British Empire and Russia. Italy joined them in 1915. There were many other smaller Allies also. The United States remained neutral for three years but was compelled to enter the war on the side of the Allies in April 1917.

Japan had joined earlier. Russia withdrew from the war after the Bolshevik Revolution in November 1917 (October, according to the old calendar followed in Russia). The Central Powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Turkish Empire. The war ended in November 1918 with the unconditional surrender of Germany. Formal peace treaties were signed after several months.

Events Leading To The First World War

The war between France and Prussia (the future German Empire) that lasted from 1870 to 1871 ended with a humiliating defeat for France. It lost the regions of Alsace and Lorraine, and was forced to pay a huge indemnity to Prussia. The Franco-Prussian War led to creation of a powerful German Empire with a military and industrial potential to further disrupt the European balance of power on the one hand and widespread resentment and desire for revenge among the French (revanchism) on the other.

With the accession of Wilhelm II to the German throne in 1888, the German foreign policy became more bellicose. The new German Emperor dismissed the skillful Otto von Bismarck as Chancellor. He also refused to renew the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia that maintained the fragile peace between Russia and Austria-Hungary as well as kept France isolated. That way Wilhelm II helped create an alliance between France and Russia (formed in 1892) that became the basis for the future Triple Entente.

Russo-Japanese rivalry over Manchuria and Korea reached its height with the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). The outcome of the war against the Japanese was a major blow for the Russians who lost almost entire Baltic and Pacific fleet. The defeat also provoked a serious political crisis that led to the Russian Revolution of 1905. But the Russo-Japanese War also made an end to the Russian ambitions in the Far East and as a result, the Tsarist government focused its attention to Europe, in the first place to the Balkans. This intensified the old rivalry with Austria-Hungary that also had a great interest in the Balkans.

German militarism and especially the build up of naval power convinced Great Britain that Germany may soon establish itself as a dominant power on the Continent. In order to create a counterweight to the German Empire, the British decided to enter into an alliance with France that came to be known as Entente Cordiale. In 1907, Britain also entered into an alliance with Russia that was already in alliance with France. This formed the Triple Entente which in turn became the core of the Allies during World War I.

The Moroccan Crises – the Tangler Crisis (1905-1906) and Agadir Crisis (1911) – brought the European powers on the brink of war. Both crises were provoked by the Germans with an aim to cause tensions between France and Britain that just concluded an alliance. The result, however, was right the opposite. Instead of ā€˜softening’ Britain and bring it closer to the Central Powers, the Moroccan Crises further reinforced the Entente Cordiale and increased the British hostility towards Germany.

In 1908, Austria-Hungary decided to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina that was formally an integral part of the Ottoman Empire. The annexation of the provinces that were occupied by the Dual Monarchy since 1878 was bitterly opposed by Serbia that was closely related to the provinces both ethically and geographically. Serbia was supported by the Tsarist government and the crisis persisted into 1909. Russia failed to win as firm support from France or Britain as Vienna enjoyed from Germany and accepted the annexation of the provinces. Serbia was forced to back down and the crisis ended. But it permanently damaged the relationship between Russia and Serbia on the one hand and Austria-Hungary on the other. The annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina caused embitteredness in Serbia, while the way it was carried out humiliated the Russian government that could not afford a similar humiliation during the 1914 July Crisis.

The Italo-Turkish War that took place between 1911 and 1912 did not pose any major threat to peace in Europe. But the Turkish defeat revealed the weakness of the Ottoman army and disagreement between the European powers about the so-called Eastern Questions – the fate of the decaying Ottoman Empire. The war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire was also a strong incentive for the Balkan League which would capture the Balkan peninsula from the Turks independently from the great powers.

In 1912, Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Bulgaria formed the Balkan League, a military alliance against the Ottoman Empire. Within a few months, the Balkan allies stripped the Ottoman Empire of its possessions in the Balkans and divided the conquered territory among themselves. In June, Bulgaria turned against its allies of Serbia and Greece due to a dispute over partition of Macedonia. But the Bulgarians were defeated within a month and forced to give up their claims in Macedonia. The success of the Balkan League shocked most European powers including the Russian allies of France and Great Britain. But it especially disturbed Austria-Hungary that strongly opposed a strong Serbian state. Vienna saw Serbia both as a rival in the Balkans and as a direct threat because it feared that its small Balkan neighbor may become the core of a future South-Slavic state. The Balkan Wars made Austro-Hungarian statesmen even more determined to take concrete action to prevent further strengthening of Serbia.

On June 28, 1914, a group of conspirators from the revolutionary movement called Mlada Bosna (ā€˜Young Bosnia’) carried out the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian heir presumptive, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife while they were visiting Sarajevo. Since the assassin, Gavrilo Princip and his 5 accomplices were Bosnian Serbs, the Dual Monarchy accused Serbia to stand behind the assassination. The event triggered the course of events that directly led to the outbreak of World War I but it did not cause it. Austria-Hungary was determined to eliminate the ā€˜Serbian threat’ before the assassination of its heir presumptive and it only needed an excuse to declare war on its Balkan neighbour.

On July 23, Austria-Hungary presented an ultimatum to Serbia. Vienna, however, intentionally imposed impossible demands to Serbia in order to be able to declare war on its neighbour for ā€˜orchestrating’ the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. A few days later, the Austro-Hungarian troops invaded Serbia and started the devastating World War I.

Liberalism

Introduction

The most keenly debated issue in international relations has been the pessimistic view of realism and the optimistic view of liberalism. Realism is regarded as the dominant theory of international relations, while liberalism has a strong claim to being the historic alternative. Comparing the two to the main political parties in a democracy, Timothy Dunne wrote, ‘Rather like political parties, realism is the natural party of the government, and the liberalism is the leader of the opposition.’

The liberal tradition in international relations in its is closely connected with the emergence of the modern liberal state. The focus of liberalism has been on freedom, cooperation, peace and progress. It has often been identified with individualism, as it insists on freedom of the individual, his rights and property. It is also closely associated, mainly by its critics, with capitalism. Liberalism is sometimes associated with the views of Mo Ti, who was a contemporary of realist Chinese scholar Sun Tzu. Both gave their opposing views more than 2,000 years ago.

Basic Assumptions Of Liberalism

Liberalism assumes instead portraying lust of power as the international conflict liberalism fights for the basic rights of the people. It insists on pursuing the political reforms establish democracies. It emphasizes on the value of the free trade on the basis that it will help in preventing the conflicts between nations as it reduces the national selfishness and enhances the communication.

Liberalism advocated the formation of the global institutions such as the United Nations which sees any threat to any individual nation as a threat to everyone. The institutions help in resolving the conflicts by mediating the conflicts in the event of any misunderstanding.

Basically liberals assume that states will act in a rational manner and they are a unitary actor.

The liberalists fell into three different groups as classified by the realists: The first group advocated league of the nations was formed with the objective to consider the attack on the nation as an attack on all. The second group formed the Permanent Court of International Justice that would lead to formation of judicial body capable of issuing justices to the disputes. The third group sort to avoid war by advocating ā€œDisarmamentā€œ inĀ order to reduce the international tension.

Neoliberalism

Neoliberalism is a policy model that encompasses both politics and economics and seeks to transfer the control of economic factors from the public sector to the private sector. Many neoliberalism policies enhance the workings of free market capitalism and attempt to place limits on government spending, government regulation, and public ownership.https://a6c140989941be06481216af16f29a9b.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

Neoliberalism is often associated with the leadership of Margaret Thatcher–the prime minister of the U.K. from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990–and Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the U.S. (from 1981 to 1989). More recently, neoliberalism has been associated with policies of austerity and attempts to cut government spending on social programs.

Liberalism VS Neoliberalism

At its core, liberalism is a broad political philosophy; it holds liberty to a high standard and defines all social, economic, and political aspects of society, including–but not limited to–the role of government. The policies of neoliberalism, on the other hand, are more narrowly focused. They are primarily concerned with markets and the policies and measures that influence the economy.

Realism

Realism has been the most important approach of international relations over the years. It has been the dominant way of explaining international behaviour. Realism emphasizes relations among nations, as they have been and as they are. It is not concerned with the ideal world. It is the international interpretation of human behaviour. Individuals are essentially selfish, and they seek power to serve their interests and to prevail over others. As Morgenthau wrote in the 20th century, power is the control of men over the minds and actions of other men. And, there is constant strife leading to conflicts and clashes between individuals having divergent interests and seeking to acquire power. Thus, there is an ever-present struggle for power in the society. The same is the tone of nations that are guided by the same considerations as individuals.

Political Realism

Realism, or political realism, as an approach of international relations has evolved over the centuries. Prominent among its earlier advocates were Indian scholar Kautilya, Chinese strategist Sun Tzu, and Greek scholar Thucydides. Much later, Italian scholar Nicolo Machiavelli and English philosopher Thomas Hobbes also contributed to the evolution of realism. Their ideas may be called classical realism, though Morgenthau is now considered the principal classical realist. However, according to the view expressed by Robert Jackson and George Sorensen (1999) and many others, Morgenthau’s theory may be described as neo-classical realism. But, Morgenthau was the most systematic advocate of realism. However, British Professor E.H. Carr, who wrote The Twenty Years’ Crisis (1919-39) had prepared the ground on which Morgenthau developed his theory of realism.

Carr criticized democracies like the UK and France for their failure in defeating the designs of dictators. He blamed the democratic countries for failing to recognize the power realities in the world. Carr divided the scholars of international relations into two groups. These were ‘utopians’, or ‘idealists’, and the ‘realists’. He described the utopians as optimists- children of enlightenment and liberalism. The liberals held the view that reason and morality could structure international behaviour of the states towards peace. Wilson and (his) League of Nations were cited as main examples of utopians. Carr, who himself was a a realist, described realists as pessimists, or children of darkness, who emphasize power and national interest. Commenting on Carr’s views on power, Michael G Roskin and Nicholas O Berry wrote, ‘This does not necessarily mean perpetual war, for if statesmen are clever and willing to build and apply power, both economic and military, they can make the aggressors back down…’

Political realism is a significant theory in the field of international relations that seeks to explain state behavior under a set of specific and rigid assumptions. At its core, political realism is guided by three S’s: statismsurvival, and self-help.

Statism asserts that states are the only entity on the international stage that matter and that they are unitary (acting alone) and rational (acting in its best interests) actors. Survival identifies the state’s primary goal is to survive in an international system characterized by anarchy. The final S, self-help, conveys the assumption that states cannot trust others in their pursuit of survival and must secure their security.

Political realism is further delineated into sub-theoretical frameworks, including:

  • Classical realism
  • Liberal realism
  • Neorealism
  • Neoclassical realism

While each sub-framework has its own nuance within the broader political realist theory, all forms of political realism fundamentally believe world politics is a field of conflict among states pursuing power.

Structural Realism

Structural realism, also referred to as neorealism in the academic community, is a major branch of political realism derived from classical realism. While the latter incorporates analysis of human behavior within state decision-making, structural realism focuses predominantly on the anarchic structure of the international system. In other words, structural realists see global conflict as inevitable because there is no supranational body that could prevent or mediate conflict between individual states. Therefore, structural realists assume that states must always be preparing for conflict because war could break out at any time.

Structural realists believe that understanding the international system is guided by the three S’s of political realism. However, they do incorporate analysis of inter-relationships between distinct state entities, particularly regarding power relationships. A key concept in structural realism isĀ polarity, the balance of power within the international system. Today, international theorists often describe the world as unipolar, with the United States acting as the sole superpower endowed with the ability to dominate international relations via their economic, political, and military supremacy.

REFERENCES : International Relations By V.N. Khanna

HUMAN RIGHTS IN INDIA

Human rights day celebrated in 10th December.The National Human Rights Commission of India defines human rights as provided under the Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA), 1993, as Rights Relating To Life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the constitution or embodied in the international covenants and enforceable by courts in India.Human Rights Day is observed on December 10 every year, since it was on this very day in 1948 that the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a milestone document that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings.The international document also commits nations to recognise all humans as being “born free and equal in dignity and rights” regardless of ā€œnationality, place of residence, gender, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status

7 human rights in India:-

* Origins.


* Significance and characteristics.


* Right to equality.


* Right to freedom.


* Right against exploitation.


* Right to freedom of religion.


* Right to life.


* Cultural and educational rights.

An Act to provide for the constitution of a National Human Rights Commission, State Human Rights Commissions in States and Human Rights Courts for better protection of human rights and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Ministry: Ministry of Home Affairs. Department: Department of States.Protection of human rights is essential for the development of the people of the country, which ultimately leads to development of the national as a whole. The Constitution of India guarantees basic human rights to each and every citizen of the country.The Constitution of India guarantees to all Indian women equality (Article 14), no discrimination by the State (Article 15(1)), equality of opportunity (Article 16), equal pay for equal work (Article 39(d)) and Article 42.

Human rights are important because no one should be abused or discriminated against, and because everyone should have the chance to develop their talents. Unfortunately, many people around the world don’t have these basic rights and freedoms.It is constitutional mandate of judiciary to protect human rights of the citizens. Supreme Court and High Courts are empowered to take action to enforce these rights. Machinery for redress is provided under Articles 32 and 226 of the constitution.

The most significant human rights issues included police and security force abuses, such as extrajudicial killings, disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, rape, harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, and lengthy pretrial detention.

In India, a child has the right to be protected from neglect, exploitation, and abuse at home and elsewhere. Children have the right to be protected from the incidence of abuse, exploitation, violence, neglect, commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking, child labour, and harmful traditional practices.

Planning In India In A Globalizing World

As history has shown, India’s approach to development always remains contextual. This is evident when the nationalist leaders opted for a Soviet type centralized planning as perhaps an effective means for development. The idea was widely acclaimed regardless of the ideological differences among those who presided over India’s destiny following decolonization. The Planning Commission which was constituted in 1950 was hailed as an instrument to bring about quick development in India. India’s trajectory of development however proved otherwise : instead of being instrumental in contributing to a uniform development in the country, the Planning Commission failed to accomplish the goal; it was felt that centralized planning did not appear to be effective in attaining the goal that the nationalist leadership sought to attain.

The impact of the Planning Commission on India’s development cannot be easily ignored since it had been in place for more than six decades following the withdrawal of colonisation in India in 1947 while the NITI Aayog is too new to have any sway on the trajectory of growth in the country.

What is striking is the fact that while the Planning Commission was considered to be a piece of ideological baggage borrowed from the former Soviet Union, the NITI Aayog represents an effort toward articulating India’s neoliberal endeavour for sustainable economic growth. Ideologically drawn, both the planned development of the erstwhile era and its opposite, as conceptualized by the NITI Aayog, remain important pillars of India’s growth trajectory since independence. Centralized planning may have become futile though it undoubtedly had its role in the state directed development era.

Planning And Economic Development

With the formation of the Planning Commission in 1950, India was ushered in the state-led development era in which the state became a critical economic actor. Despite its historical antecedents, the idea of the state directed planned economic development gained significant salience in independent India, especially with Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, at the helm of affairs. Given his staunch opposition to the Gandhian model of democratic decentralization, Nehru always preferred the state-driven economy as perhaps the only driving force for India’s rapid socioeconomic regeneration in the aftermath of colonial rule.

There are two fundamental questions that need to be addressed: first, has the idea of the state-driven economic development lost its relevance just because of its failure to accomplish the stated goals or due to its vacuous claim in contrast with the rising importance of a market-driven counter ideology providing an alternative to the erstwhile strategy of the state-directed economic development? There is a connected second question: whether the market – driven strategy shall be useful for peripheral societies, including India, where the proportion of the people living below the poverty line is staggeringly alarming.

The Objective Of Economic Development

The following were the original objectives of economic planning in India:

  • Economic Development: This is the main objective of planning in India. Economic Development of India is measured by the increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India and Per Capita Income
  • Increased Levels of Employment: An important aim of economic planning in India is to better utilise the available human resources of the country by increasing the employment levels.
  • Self Sufficiency: India aims to be self-sufficient in major commodities and also increase exports through economic planning. The Indian economy had reached the take-off stage of development during the third five-year plan in 1961-66.
  • Economic Stability: Economic planning in India also aims at stable market conditions in addition to the economic growth of India. This means keeping inflation low while also making sure that deflation in prices does not happen. If the wholesale price index rises very high or very low, structural defects in the economy are created and economic planning aims to avoid this.
  • Social Welfare and Provision of Efficient Social Services: The objectives of all the five year plans as well as plans suggested by the NITI Aayog aim to increase labour welfare, social welfare for all sections of the society. Development of social services in India, such as education, healthcare and emergency services have been part of planning in India.
  • Regional Development: Economic planning in India aims to reduce regional disparities in development. For example, some states like Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are relatively well developed economically while states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Assam and Nagaland are economically backward. Others like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have uneven development with world class economic centres in cities and a relatively less developed hinterland. Planning in India aims to study these disparities and suggest strategies to reduce them.
  • Comprehensive and Sustainable Development: Development of all economic sectors such as agriculture, industry, and services is one of the major objectives of economic planning.
  • Reduction in Economic Inequality: Measures to reduce inequality through progressive taxation, employment generation and reservation of jobs has been a central objective of Indian economic planning since independence.
  • Social Justice: This objective of planning is related to all the other objectives and has been a central focus of planning in India. It aims to reduce the population of people living below the poverty line and provide them access to employment and social services.
  • Increased Standard of Living: Increasing the standard of living by increasing the per capita income and equal distribution of income is one of the main aims of India’s economic planning.

REFERENCES : Public Administration By Bidyut Chakrabarty and Prakash Chan Kandpal