Author: Nikita Mishra

Career by choice and not by chance -Importance of career planning-

We come across some students who are focused, determined, and know what exactly they
want to do in their lives. These people end up with a satisfying career and life. But some
students choose their careers either because it is the only option available to them, or get
influenced by family and friends. They don’t put much effort into choosing their career.
Some also get carried away by few career options because of their alluring pay scale but later
end up remaining unsatisfied and unhappy in the long run.


Therefore, students need to follow what their hearts say. They should figure out what their
interests are and choose the career accordingly. For choosing a career, it requires planning.
Planning includes skills, interests, values, and preferences before making any decision. This
process should be continuous and should keep going in the mind of a child until the final
career is decided.


Following tips can be taken into consideration which may help in the selection:

1. A student should be encouraged to analyze their present state, i.e where they are and
where they want to be. And what all needs to be done to reach that place. Does he
possess the required skills for the career she has in her mind?
2. Before choosing a career the student should keep in mind her personal preferences.
3. A child does have multiple preferences. So they should pen down their choices and
then narrow down as per the option which is best suited.
What to avoid while selecting a career?
First and foremost, don’t choose a wrong career – a career which is not by choice but by
chance, why to even go ahead with it. Try and avoid the following:
 If someone believes they have a say in your career choice they don’t. The decision
will barely affect their life but it will drastically affect your life. So don’t get dragged
away.
 We all have our ideals or role models but don’t follow their footsteps blindly. Maybe
something that worked for them won’t work for you too. Go for that field only
because it interested you not because your ideal chose it.
 Don’t tend to avoid the future aspects of the career. See what is its growth prospects?
Will it give you a satisfactory lifestyle? These questions have a major relevance,
therefore find the answers beforehand only.

Ending on a note, it solely depends on what kind of career and lifestyle the student wants.
They have to understand whether they want to be happy in their career or remain unsatisfied
their whole life. This decision will depend on their now – NOW or NEVER. One decision
can make or break your life. So always go for the right option. Try to choose a career by
choice not by chance!!!

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4 Tips for Effective IELTS Preparation

To migrate or study in English speaking nations, one needs to give an IELTS test. The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) assesses the person’s ability to speak, write, listen, and read in English. The test is designed to understand how you will use English in your daily life such as in university, workplace, or other social situations.

Before providing the tips on how to do the preparation, here is the breakdown of the types of IELTS test. There are two types: Academic and General. The IELTS Academic test is for those willing to pursue undergraduate or post-graduation or join a professional organization in an English-speaking nation. Second, the IELTS General Training test is for those who want to train or study at below degree level, to work, or to emigrate.

The formats of these two tests are a bit different, but the test assessment will still be on four skills: Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking.

Reading Test: This will include a wide range of reading skills such as attention to detail, a general sense of the passage, meaning derived from it, understanding of writer’s opinions, attitudes, and how will you understand the development of the argument.

Listening Test: It assesses how well you recognize opinions, attitudes, the purpose of the speaker, and also factual information and general ideas.

Writing Test: The Writing test is designed to measure the wide range of writing skills including grammar, vocabulary, how you can write responses, organize ideas, and recognize mistakes.

Speaking Test: The IELTS Speaking Test assesses how fluently and accurately you communicate in English. You can be asked to speak on various topics and express your opinions.

Getting back on how to crack the IELTS exam, just like any other test IELTS to needs some preparation. These four tips can help you ace the IELTS exam.

  • First and foremost, Read! Read! Read! Whether it’s a book, newspaper, magazine, or any written material. While reading, always have a credible English-English dictionary with you. This way you will work out the meanings of the new words making sure you don’t translate back to your language. You can also read an English newspaper every morning and listen to English news channels. It will enhance your reading and listening skills as well as keep you updated about the happenings in the world. Sounds good?
  • Improve your vocabulary! The more words you are exposed to, better will be your vocabulary. Jot down the words you have heard recently or you don’t know and highlight them with a marker. Check out its meaning in the dictionary and then start putting these words into daily speech. Using new words frequently will help in making your English fluent. As a fact, it takes from 10 to 20 repetitions to make a word part of your daily speech. Do see its pronunciation online if not sure. Speak those words while talking to your parents, friends, or somebody on call. This will increase your confidence and you will be well versed on the day of your exam.
  • Listen to English radio, shows, or news channels. After that try to write them down and analyze. Also with that, separately write words or sentences that were appealing to you. Use them while you write essays or speak. Don’t watch videos online since you can pause or rewind them. This won’t help as it will break your flow of listening. Hear it once only. After you are done repeat whatever you recall from the show, use stress and intonation appropriately. Make sure you record it so that you can find out your mistakes and improve accordingly.
  • So far whatever words you have learned, phrase them into sentences and then into paragraphs. While writing always set a timer. This will keep you at pace and improve your speed during the exam. Check for comma mistakes, full stop, and grammar. See-through the sample papers and find out what is the word limit given in the writing paper. Accordingly, write if say the set limit is 200 words don’t write just 150 words. This will lead to losing marks. Generally, a person is ok reading, speaking, and listening but they have a hard time writing, in that case, while practicing start with your favorite topic. Start with as basic as possible. Suppose you like chocolate ice cream, write on that. Sooner or later, you will get used to and can start with difficult topics. When you plan your essay, always have some spare time in the end to check your work.

Taking the IELTS test can be stressful so don’t forget to put these helpful tips. It will equip you to be ready for the exam. Commit and practice thoroughly. With this, you’ll feel more confident and be able to tackle the test and get the desired score.

 

How to Handle URL parameters for SEO?

URL parameters can be problematic for SEO as combinations of parameters can create
thousands of URL variations out of one piece of content. However, URL parameters play a crucial role in the website’s user experience. Therefore, it is important to know how to use them in an SEO-friendly manner. First, let’s know what parameters are.
Parameters follow the question mark in the part of a URL. It also has other names: query strings, URL parameters, and URL variables. It includes a key and a value pair, separated by an equal sign. Multiple URL parameters can be added to a single webpage using the ampersand.

SEO problems caused by URL parameters
URL parameters cause several issues, including:
 Waste crawl budget
 Create duplicate content
 Make URLs less clickable
 Split page ranking signals

Assess the level of the URL Parameter Problem
It’s necessary to find out which parameters are used on your website. Few steps will help in understanding which parameters need handling, what is the scope of the problem, how search engines crawl, and to know the value it brings to users.
 Run a crawler to find any instance of a question mark in the URL.
 Take the help of Google Search Console URL Parameters Tool to find if Google has auto-added any query strings.
 Review the logged files and see if Google bot is crawling parameter-based URLs.
 Search using the site: URL: advanced operations to find how Google is indexing the parameters.
 Check Google Analytics All Pages report to search for question marks and how they are used by users. Also, ensure that URL query parameters are not excluded in the view setting.

All this information can help one decide how to handle the website’s parameters in a better way and address any SEO related problems.

Solutions
Few solutions to handle URL parameters for SEO:

 Rel=” canonical” link attribute can be used to find out if a page has the same content on another page, encourage search engines to merge ranking signals to the URL specified as authorized. Although this technique is not the best option when the parameter page content is not similar, it does have some benefits. That includes the ability to safeguard against the duplicate content and the consolidation of ranking signals to the canonical URL.

 Meta robots Noindex tag
This allows us to set a no index directive for any parameter page that adds little or no SEO value. Meta robots Noindex tag lets you stop search engines from indexing the page. It also has other advantages like the ability to safeguard against duplicate content, easy technical implementation, and removal of existing parameter-based URLs from the index.

 Robots.txt disallow
Robots.txt file is a great solution to block crawler access to all parameter-based URLs. It has a very easy technical implementation. This avoids duplicate content issues, allows crawl budget to be used more efficiently, and is suitable for all parameter types.

So now that you have gone through the possible solutions use the one that works best for you. Unfortunately, you can’t use all of them at one time as these SEO solutions can conflict with each other and cause unnecessary complexity.

What Bollywood has taught us?

When one hears of Bollywood, they think it’s all about dance, music, romance, comedy, and drama. But Bollywood has more to offer. Whatever we learn comes from the movies we watch. In today’s time, it triggers the minds of Indian youth. It allows them to set a thought process. Films are not just a source of entertainment anymore. Below is a list of few movies that give us real-life lessons.

– Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara: This movie taught us to push yourself out of the comfort zone and face your fears. It makes you want to pause and thank your life realizing how good it is despite all the hardships. It shows you how to appreciate true friends.

 

– Ye Jawani hai Deewani: Bunny teaches Naina that she is good just the way she is. There is no need to change herself just to fit in. We must have met a people pleaser like this at some point in our life or even we are at times. Maybe we should also embrace ourselves and live life unapologetically. Naina teaches us- no matter where we go in our lives, we will always miss out on something. So appreciate where you are at a point in time.

 

– Baar Baar Dekho: This movie has taught us to live in the present moment and appreciate the people we have in our lives. We can never get the time back, so we should always spend it wisely. In the age of gadgets, it’s a great wake-up call to disconnect from the phone every once in a while and experience life fully.

 

– Kal ho Na ho: As the title says “Kal ho na ho” meaning ‘There may or may not be a tomorrow,’ totally defines what the movie is all about. Aman teaches Naina to open up and be vulnerable, which allows her to express her emotions which she repressed for so long. Sometimes we need that confidence from someone, that yes we too can share our feelings. The biggest lesson to take away from this movie is to remember that every day we are alive is a gift. Life should never be taken for granted.

 

– Dangal: This movie is a must-watch! It shows two women breaking stereotypes and gender roles in the best possible way. It teaches us not to be full of ourselves when we become successful. It shows women can do anything that men can do.

 

Apart from these, many other Bollywood movies have meaningful lessons for us. So sit back, relax, and binge-watch a few Bollywood movies. I am sure you won’t regret it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to build a startup?

Already building a startup was not an easy task, COVID-19 has made the situation even more difficult. But not to worry, here are a few steps one can look up to launch the startup in 2020.

  • Develop an idea: This was expected isn’t it? Without an idea, there can be no startup. The development of an idea is the most laborious task. For an effective startup, many things are needed to be taken into account like the vision of the startup, needs of people. Check for the problem area that people are facing, that’s the place from where the best ideas generate. The main criteria for a successful idea are trustworthiness, durability, and sustainability.
  • Explore the market: Understand the market, do thorough research, that is the key to success. Half knowledge is dangerous, if you don’t know particular features of the business you chose, all efforts will go in vain. Make sure to stay within the area you’re familiar with. Don’t start anything that you don’t have an idea about. Figure out the consumer’s needs.
  • Be fast: React fast to the changing market needs. This is crucial for a successful startup. All great businessmen have done so, whether it is Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Andreessen, or Thoman Gensemer.
  • Always be determined: Never lose hope! Be determined and always have a willingness to continue until your startup becomes profitable. Cope with the challenges and difficulties that come your way creatively.
  • Be creative: Don’t be scared to go beyond the usually accepted business schemes. It’s your startup and you can mold it in whatever way you want.
  • Decide about the team: For the start, the number of people in the team should not be big. Find these three kinds of people: one who knows how to build technological systems to solve problems; one who understands the human factors hid by problems and can solve them; and one who knows how to reach people whose problems are to be solved.

Even if your first try of creating a successful startup fails, don’t be disappointed. It’s not necessary is that it will be rewarding always. Keep trying, don’t give up the difficulties.

What COVID-19 has taught us?

We used to watch the news and feel bad for people in China regarding COVID-19, little did we know that in a month it will hit us. Things changed drastically. The way we used to interact with people, work, shop, eat, or travel outside; it all underwent a major transformation. Due to this, we have realized what needs to be valued that we took for granted earlier.

  • We can no longer exploit nature ruthlessly. Oceans are other water bodies that have cleaned up. There has been a return of wildlife as seen by the residents. The quality of air has improved. The ozone layer which depleting rapidly has started repairing itself. We can easily save our environment just like we during the lockdown. Only we need to be cognizant of this important factor once we completely resume our lives.

 

  • Now we have started valuing our loved ones more. Not able to interact like we used to, no meetings, no parties, no concerts; all of it was a part of our mundane lives has become so important in the last few months. We still don’t know when we will be able to socialize like earlier. Hopefully, we don’t take this for granted once we are back at it again.

 

  • We realized how fragile the economy is. There immense employees lay-off, salary cuts, migrant laborers were thrown out of factories or other workplaces leaving them without money. This crisis made us realize one should save enough that if anything like this happens again, one can tackle them with little ease.

 

  • We realized how important water it, and lack of it can be troublesome. As asked by the Government to wash our hands 20 seconds at a time has revealed the weak water infrastructure. This simple act has wasted a lot of water during this time. Not just this, there were millions of people who still don’t have access to water facilities in the country. They don’t receive clean water to wash their hands in the middle of the pandemic. The bells are loud and clear. Immediate action needs to be taken. Also, people should educate themselves about water conservation and try adopting it.

 

  • It has taught us about the importance of preparation- Preparation of everything! Whether it is money, food, healthcare anything.

At last, the virus has taught us how to be patient and the benefits of silence and solitude. We could look into ourselves and explore our consciousness. Otherwise, our busy lives would never have given us this chance. We were so involved in superficial activities and never got time for ourselves. Now that we have this opportunity, use it to the fullest. This will not only uplift each individual but society at large.

 

 

Why BTS is so popular?

BTS is the K-pop band that is becoming popular in the world. Made up of seven members- Suga, Jin, RM, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, the band hails from South Korea. It was launched in 2013 and ever since that it has rocketed to global stardom. The group has produced music around various themes starting from the ‘School’ trilogy to ‘Love Yourself’ series.

Their album ‘Love Yourself; Answer’ has even managed to come on the top of US charts. This biggest K-pop group internationally doesn’t look like they will stop anytime soon.

Why BTS is so famous and successful?

  • They have grown into popularity simply because of the kind of music they make is what people want to listen. Their album ‘Love Yourself: Tear” sung in Korean became the first foreign language No.1 album in over 12 years. Not just this, many people have said that their music has played a role in their success. Unlike other K-pop bands, BTS also covers subjects that are untouched like bullying, mental health, and elitism.
  • With their amazing dance moves and extremely impressive music videos, they’ve gained a loyal fan base who have fallen in love with their music. BTS practices for hours to polish their performances. For their debut performance, they worked for 12 to 15 hours a day to get their best out. Well, it did pay off!
  • Internet- in particular social media- has played a major part in their success.
  • No band is successful without its fans. BTS has got some of the most loyal and dedicated fans in the world. They have over 23.7 million followers on Instagram and 19.4 million followers on Twitter. It was their fans only who cast 300 million online votes to make sure BTS wins the Billboard award.
  • They started with the western approach to music which most could relate to.
  • Their looks are an undeniable factor. They never look like clones of each other even if they dress similarly. Their visuals stand out. The 7 young, talented, good looking men came together in one place to awe the world with their music.
  • Not many K-pop idols are allowed to compose, but BTS writes their music mostly. When you’re are fully invested in your music, you become a lot more passionate. That’s the case why BTS is so passionate about their work and love what they do. They’re not conflicted or suppressed in any way.
  • One can’t ignore their high-concept MVs. Everything in their videos is eye-catching, whether it’s a small twitch in choreography or a tiny fashion accessory.

Records BTS has broken

  • In September 2018, BTS made the headlines on becoming the first K-pop group to speak at the United Nations.
  • The first-ever K-pop group to top the US album charts.
  • They became the first Korean artists to perform an act at the Billboard awards ceremony.
  • So many online records- they have also appeared in Guinness World records in 2019 twice.

In April 2019, BTS was invited as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live. This late-night TV show has been a staple of American pop culture for about 40 years, and it’s often considered a great achievement is one is invited on the show.

But BTS doesn’t seem to content on their laurels and have always been making rounds to other shows, making new fans. They are unstoppable!

 

Gandhi preach us more!

Have you at any point longed for world with harmony and thriving for all mankind- a world where we love and care for each other notwithstanding the differences in our way of life, religion and lifestyle?

I frequently feel vulnerable when I see the world in disturbance, an after effect of contrast between our goals. Mahatma Gandhi was the man who inspired the world with Ahimsa, his faith in peace, and non- animosity. His life was a message – a message of harmony overpower, of discovering approaches to accommodate our disparities and of living in amicability with difference and love notwithstanding for our adversary. His message was as clear to his enemies as it was to his followers. He believed we can resolve best our issues if we set out to have a constructive discussion with our enemy. “Be the change you wish to see in the world ” was the statement he gave. We frequently like to complain about the system that we need to follow. But before changing the system it’s significant that we see inside ourselves and try to fix our faults. Self- realization is one of the ways to achieve success. Pour out love and respect for every individual you come across, and don’t form biases based on their background. Each simple act matters. We are responsible for our future, whatever actions we do in present determine our future. Be a life long learner, learn as if you were to live forever.

Gandhi and our nation have suffered a lot under British, but instead of taking up arms against them, he chose the path of non-violence. See how we enjoy our freedom now. He taught us revenge is never a solution, it doesn’t lead to peace or happiness. One needs to learn to forgive.It is important to be true to yourself, no matter whatever the consequences are. Stand up for what you feel is right, even if it displeases a lot of people.

Gandhi’s musings can play a tremendous role in taking the human culture forward, towards the ideal objective. His lessons and analyses are more legitimate today than any time in recent memory, particularly when we are attempting to discover answers for overall greed, corruption, violence, and runaway which are putting a heavy burden on
the world. We as a nation continue to fail him. But like for every other thing, here is also hope. We can bring harmony to our world by spreading love and peace. Although the task is daunting, Gandhi has shown us how a fragile man can achieve incredible magnitude with a staunch belief to practice peace and harmony.
Will you take the pledge to become the change you want to see in the world?

8 habits on how one can be more productive

We all know some or the other person who is a do-er, always getting things done. They know how to do their tasks effectively and on time. The one who manages to finish 2 hours task in just 30 minutes. You could even describe them as robots because no one can work the way they do.

Ever realized what makes them so different? How come they are so productive? Well, one can’t be that in one night, it will require building certain habits.

Habits of Highly productive people

  • Always do the most important task first: No matter how difficult an important task is, always make sure to do it first. This will help in reducing your procrastination level and help you in time-management. It’s easy to spend the whole day ticking off the small tasks from your to-do lists, but it won’t help. As you might cross the deadline of the tasks that were supposed to be done urgently.
  • Be away from distractions: It is not necessary to pick every phone call. Your friends can wait but your work can’t. Make sure to cut off from social media when you are working. Turn off all the notifications if you think it can disturb you.
  • Know your work habits: Are you more capable of doing things alone? Are you more efficient in working during the night instead of the day? How much break you need in a day? Analyze it, figure things out, and do the tasks accordingly.
  • Get bored: You must have never thought in dreams that being bored can also come out as a productive habit. Being comfortable with boredom is necessary. Get more comfortable doing nothing or sit idle. This period can be helpful in thinking- can be an idea, situation, or anything. Be at ease during this time.
  • Use 80/20 rule: 80% of the results will come from 20% of the efforts. This rule is been followed by most entrepreneurs and businessmen. Highly productive people identify 20% of the most important task that they have to do in a day in increasing efficiency. Then, they look for ways to cut down the rest 80% of the task or schedule it for later, to find more time for things that make a bigger impact.
  • Break tasks into smaller pieces: Break your large to-dos into smaller ones. Set more small goals for every task. This becomes more specific, will give you the best results, and reduce your stress.
  • Work before you get inspired: There are a lot of people who come across saying they need the motivation to do the work. Highly productive people instead focus on getting the work started, no matter they are inspired or not. Taking action is what leads to motivation. Start working and the motivation will follow.
  • Don’t be a multi-tasker: When you multitask, you aren’t doing multiple tasks at once, instead, you’re switching your focus between things. Every time you switch the task, you have to refocus on others. Although multitasking is ok sometimes, try to avoid it most of the time.

 

 

Interesting Psychological facts you wouldn’t want to miss

Psychology is the science of mind that includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, as well as thoughts and feelings. It helps to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior.

Here are some interesting psychology facts that you wouldn’t want to miss:

  • The type of music you listen to affects the way one perceives the world.
  • Convincing yourself that you have slept well tricks your brain into believing it.
  • While it is true that money can buy happiness, studies show that after 49 lakhs per anum, the income does little in one’s happiness.
  • Being with happy and positive people keeps you happy.
  • 90% of people say things in the text that they can’t say face-to-face.
  • Decisions of a person are more rational when thought in other languages.
  • Smarter people tend to underestimate themselves while ignorant people think they are brilliant.
  • People from 18 to 33 are the most stressed out. After 33 years, stress reduces.
  • Singing reduces the feeling of anxiety and depression.
  • The feeling of ignored by someone causes the same pain as that of an injury.
  • Some of us are too scared to be happy as they believe something tragic might happen after that.
  • Psychology says it only takes 4 minutes to fall in love with someone.
  • The more you hide your feelings for someone, the more you fall for them.
  • 90% of times when someone says they have to ask you a question, you recall all the bad things that you have recently done.
  • No one born blind has ever developed the schizophrenic disorder.
  • Funny people or comedians are more depressed than others.
  • Whenever you cry in pain, the first tear always comes from the left eye, and in happiness, from the right.
  • People who oversleep tend to crave for it more.
  • When you’re single, all you’ll see are happy couples, and when in a relationship, all you’ll see are happy singles.
  • Closing eyes helps to remember things faster.
  • 70% of your dreams carry secret messages that have more meaning and weight than our conscious thoughts
  • People who understand sarcasm well are good at reading people’s minds.
  • The way one dresses up often links to someone’s mood. Dressing well keeps a person happy and stable.
  • Pretending to not care is generally the habit of someone who cares the most.
  • Women with higher IQs have a hard time finding a partner.
  • A person with low self-esteem is the one more likely to criticize others.
  • Acting as you own something makes you more probable to buy it.
  • Good liars are better than detecting the lies of other people.
  • People who swear a lot are better friends, loyal, and upfront.
  • The more you spend on others, the more you feel happy.
  • Men are not funnier than women, they simply joke more than women.
  • An intelligent person tends to have fewer friends than the average person. The smarter the person, the more selective they are.

Aren’t these facts interesting and enlightening? These facts are a clear indication of why things happen to us, why we behave a certain way, and justify our reactions for the same.

 

 

 

Why is Shiva so popular among millennials?

Shiva is known as being both the destroyer and a mediator. He breaks all stereotypes of that one expects from being a typical God-like figure. From his long dreadlocks that holds the holy river Ganga to a snake around his neck. To wrapping himself with a tiger skin and wears a garland of skulls. He is fearless, minds his own business, and meditates most of the time in the Himalayas. This three-eyed god is the one who lives with reptiles, demons, goblins, and demi-gods without any prejudice of race or creed. It is probably his unique and mysterious ways that make his personality even more alluring.

The kind of world we live in now, one can learn a lot from Shiva. He never discriminated between good and bad, positive and negative, or god and demon. He was never biased. Karma is what he ardently believed in. He is Mahadev for a reason.

It isn’t much of a surprise that in the last few years, Shiva has become a rave among the millennials, especially in India. One can’t deny the fact that people get attracted to strong personalities. Isn’t it? At times he seems to be an epitome of all things good, at other times he is so frightening that you would not want to be around him. He is a quintessential god who breaks all the barriers, lives by his terms, dances in the forest – taandav (his dance of destruction). No doubt he is considered the ‘Millennial God.’

Shiva is very unconventional that makes and breaks all social customs and codes to reach his state of freedom. This means one doesn’t need to worry about how you live, eat, what lifestyle you follow, which caste and creed you belong to, and what norms you practice.

It is easy to worship him. You don’t require a priest, one can simply walk to a shiv temple and offers prayer directly, or pray in your own heart. 

He has immense powers that can destroy our sufferings, removes impurities such an ignorance, delusion, egoism, pride, and attachment to facilitate our personal growth. That means if you are looking for a change of direction in life, he is the right god to worship.

Mahadev is the source of all arts, science, and creations. He is himself a good musician, singer, and dancer. There is no better guru than him in this whole universe. All knowledge flows from him, in the form of Ganga.

He loves his family as dearly as he loves his devotees. One can learn from Shiv about family values and the importance of caring and compassionate relations.

Lord Shiva is one of the most powerful, strongest, and the fascinating Hindu deities ever. He is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. Despite him being considered as God of destruction one has to understand he is the reason for rebirth as well. He possesses both the generative and destructive powers of nature.

Whenever you feel life is unfair, just remember this ultimate power and you’re good to go!

 

Should PTSD get more attention from the healthcare department?

PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a traumatic disorder that occurs in people who have experienced something horrifying in life or witnessed one. The reasons can be a road accident, natural calamity, personal assault, or death or disappearance of loved ones.

These days PTSD is affecting many lives. Other than emotional distress, it brings many other health problems like anxiety, depression, mood swings, etc. It affects a person’s day to activities and may stop them from participating in it that they enjoyed once. The stress can sometimes hamper a person so much that they slowly start distancing themselves from their loved ones. It may eventually begin amassing suicidal thoughts. Hence, it is necessary to support people affected by PTSD.

One needs to be extra cautious with these people as sometimes symptoms of PTSD start showing within a few weeks of the tragic incident while at times it may take years too. Initially, it is very difficult to find the reason behind its cause, therefore it is always recommended to see a specialist in case one experiences any signs

Why PTSD must receive more attention in Healthcare?

In our society, mental issues are neglected most of the time. Most of the families do not bring the matter into the limelight as they consider it some kind of taboo or equate them to being possessed by evil spirits.

The National Mental Health(NMH) survey states that nearly 150 million people in our country need Mental Health care, but hardly 50% receive the treatment. We rush to hospitals even at the slightest bit of uneasiness, whether it is abdominal pain or severe sickness. But when it comes to mental health, why nobody talks about it? Why nobody is rushed to the doctor in this situation the same way? We limp!

It is high time that we let go of our conservative mindset and discuss mental health issues under broad daylight. To bring mental health issues under attention, this should not be neglected:

-Survivors should discuss their stories so that others learn from it

-Doctors should share their clinical knowledge and aware people about these issues

-Society must change the negative mind and take health care seriously

 

Daily habits of self-made billionaires that can improve life

There are billions of people in the world but only a few are billionaires. Not everyone has created phenomenal businesses and changed the world in a significant manner. What makes them different from others? What gives them the energy to pursue their goals and what others can learn from them?

Despite billionaires being different in their approach, expertise, and come from different corners of the world, they have one thing in common- habits. Almost all of them share a certain set of habits that make them successful. These don’t come from one’s DNA but have been adapted with time to achieve massive success and wealth.

  • Rise early: Each and every billionaire’s success mantra has been to wake up on time. Most of them said that their day starts around 5:30 AM. It gives a person more time to think in silence, work without disturbance, and can plan the day well. Now waking up early doesn’t mean getting less sleep. It is always recommended to sleep for 6 to 8 hours to function properly.

 

  • Maintain health: Without good health, life can be terrible. No amount of success or money would able to make the difference. Whether billionaires are 40 or 80, all make sure to maintain their health by exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet. Some follow a strict workout regime, some also involve themselves in games. These sports help you teach about success and failure, which are essential skills for business and life.

 

  • Read: Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway reads 500 pages a day as he believes reading is the most valuable source of knowledge. Read books about how to do the right things, about how to behave well, how to be a good person, etc. To be updated on what’s going on in the world, read newspapers regularly.

 

  • Contemplate: Sit around and think! Daily at least for an hour give yourself alone time. In that either meditate or do some relaxing activity. Develop new ideas, organize your thoughts, and gain more clarity. It is best when done in the mornings.

 

  • Be disciplined: Set extremely high standards for yourself and the people around you. If you take an example of sports, you can’t win a game if you don’t have enough discipline to train yourself daily. Be a quick learner and don’t procrastinate. Limit all sorts of distractions that prevent you from attaining your goals. Always be eager to grow your skills.

 

  • Commit to routine: Whatever the routine you have set up, commit to it thoroughly. Typical elements of a billionaire’s routine include: waking up early, reading a lot, healthy diet, exercising regularly. Also doesn’t matter when you do your routine in a day, the most essential is that yes it is completed.

 

  • Do things differently: Many people simply follow the crowd. No matter how hard of truth this is, one can’t be a billionaire by copying others- doing what everyone else is doing. Go against the tide and make a path for your own self. If you find yourself stuck in the rat race, it may take time to get out of it but do so. Nothing comes easy and being a billionaire definitely doesn’t. Think about what you can do that will truly revolutionize your life.

 

 

 

How to become a successful Entrepreneur?

Whether you’re starting as a pro or an amateur, who doesn’t want to be a successful entrepreneur? Owning your own business gives you a sense of freedom. You become more creative, release your ideas, visions, and make decisions yourself.

So to be strong at this game, here are some tips you may need:

  • Challenge Yourself: Every day is a new beginning. Your biggest motivation should be to keep challenging yourself. No one else is going to push, it is you who has to take the charge. Learn every day. Read books, blogs, and articles on entrepreneurs. Doing this will not only increase your knowledge but also expand your creativity.

 

  • Take Risks: Successful entrepreneurs always take risks. Without this one can never figure out what is good for their business and what is not. It is dangerous but sometimes it presents opportunities that often outweigh the potential danger.

 

  • Know your goals: Rome was not built in a day! Who hasn’t heard this famous quote? Just like that, a startup also cannot be successful in a few days. One needs to be patient in their way up. You should have a proper goal plan. Work on all your plans, make mistakes, and explore.

 

  • Be passionate: Nothing in this world fuels you better than your passion does. When you’re passionate about what you do, long hours won’t even matter. But if you are not, you won’t have any motivation when you are sleepy or tired. Ever noticed entrepreneurs who get that gleam in their eyes when they talk about what they do?

 

  • Support System: Let’s be honest, achieving things on your own, will only double the trouble in your journey. One needs a supportive network to lean on. Hire someone you have great character and whom you respect too.

 

  • Put everything on Calendar: Yes, you heard that right! Put everything on the calendar. From every important meeting to working hours, meeting friends, workouts, games, etc. The reason being this will always keep you on your toes and you will have no time to waste. ‘ Time is money’ – Every famous entrepreneur abides by this rule. Follow it and no one can stop you from being successful.

 

What’s your favourite success tip for entrepreneurs? Share it in the comment section.

 

COVID-19 pandemic may lead to rise in child trafficking

The nationwide lockdown which was imposed in the nation to stop the spread of novel coronavirus can lead to a spike in child trafficking cases because of pandemic induced economic crisis.

The increased insecurity, financial constraints, and marginalization induced by COVID-19 are key drivers for families grasping onto straws of survival for pushing children into trafficking.  From states: Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Telangana, West Bengal, and Jharkhand cases have come up.

Since poignant reality has hit the migrant laborers, that poverty and hunger await them, many will be forced into a vicious debt cycle at predatory interest rates because of their dire financial situations, which will prove to be a fertile ground for child traffickers.

Children are trafficked first and then placed in labor, either forced or for a sub-minimal wage. However, the most unfortunate ones especially young girls are forced into sexual exploitation.

Ever since the lockdown has come into place, the traffickers have become active and have started approaching potential victims and families and even handling out advanced payments for their children. Not just this, once lockdown is lifted and normal manufacturing activity resumes. Factory owners will look to cover their losses by employing cheap labor and the easiest way of doing this is by employing child labor.

For this, policing alone would not be the solution and the problem of child trafficking persists because there is a ready market for child labor. The contractor who is engaged in supplying labor should be kept under strict vigilance in a bid to prevent child trafficking and child labor.

The apex court has contemplated setting up an expert committee to address this issue.

The business of commercial sexual exploitation which took a downturn due to lockdown restrictions would look for innovative ways to be back in the business and overcome the losses by engaging younger girls as they fetch more money. Underage girls will be sold into prostitution and the number of street children will be pushed into begging will also give up.

With the transportation be resumed, child laborers will be sent back home by their employers armed with fake id and documents. Children working in hazardous occupations are at a higher risk now since no employee will reveal their identities and numbers as employing them is a criminal offense.

There are reports that 136 minor girls have been married in Bengal as the agricultural class in the state had only lost the livelihood due to lockdown but was hit by Cyclone Amphan.

It has been found that in 115 districts of Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Delhi where many families were rendered jobless, child trafficking and middlemen have become active. Middlemen have started making advance payments to poor families without livelihood for taking their children in the promise of providing employment or getting them married.

Over 39 crore – of unorganized and migrant workers on the fringes or outside the socio-economic security umbrella, are the most vulnerable. This makes them the easiest target for the organized crime network. Hundreds of thousands of children will be enslaved. A large number of these laborers will be children, forced out of school, bearing the burden of sustaining their families. Thousands of children will likely be trafficked across the country to work in manufacturing units where they will be paid meagre to no wages and will most likely face extreme physical, mental, and sexual violence.

Pornhub, the largest pornography platform in the world, has seen a 20-time jump in India, from 0.9% on February 24 to 18.1% as on March 16. A large segment of this ‘content’ includes trafficked children who are exploited to create pornographic material. Adults and children who consume this content are likely to ‘normalize and fetishize’ child rape and sexual violence, which may translate into offline sexual violence.

As the central and state governments struggle to contain the immediate health and economic challenges, a great amount of planning must go into dealing with the imminent impact of this crisis, especially in terms of the safety of the most vulnerable children.

Why you should never buy Instagram likes?

After Facebook, Instagram has become one of the fastest-growing social media channels. It is considered a top platform for brands to showcase their product and services through images and videos. However, Instagram now has changed its algorithm. It no longer displays posts chronologically, rather it will showcase posts of those pages that you have interacted with, the most. This means, that for a new brand its will be hard to gain likes and followers on the platform.

This can lead to brands doing dirty tactics such as buying likes. They think this will make them look more established, whereas it’s not the case.

How to buy likes on Instagram

There are two most popular methods generally used to gain likes. One is to create multiple fake accounts and make them like your page. Some services sell likes for Instagram. Another way is to subscribe to a service that provides Instagram bots access which will follow or like posts on related accounts, then bots later unfollow those accounts to maintain an ideal follower/following ratio.

The first method to artificially increase the follower count is a tad bit tedious and doesn’t help in improving interactions. Another problem with this method is, it is easy to see that most are multiple fake account followers with no photos/ videos or interactions. This is a clear sign of suspicious activity.

The second method is to buy likes for Instagram. It works to grow followers based on reciprocity – like for like, follow for following. In most cases, the new followers have no idea that in no-time the bot will unfollow them. It is a bit of deception that some may consider being unethical. If anyone calls you out it can affect your brand image.

Some bot services will leave generic one-two word comments on photos like ‘’Nice’, ‘Great Job’, ‘Extraordinary’. It may seem a real person is interacting with the posts. But in the worst cases, the Instagram bot can result in a PR disaster as its fake positive comments might end up on some contradictory post.

Reasons why buying likes is not a good idea

-Buying likes can damage a reputation rather than helping it. If by any chance, someone calls you out, this will lead to a lot of people turning against you and your brand. This can hamper you in the long run.

-If Instagram finds out, there are high chances it will deactivate it or shut it down permanently. It will soon become a ‘goodbye-account’. Instagram encourages users to engage in real-time. Anything that is fake, or using some kind of automation, is not something Instagram takes in a positive light.

-The Instagram appearance will be bad: Although it’s a known fact, that engagement rates go down the more followers the page has. But if you come across a profile that has 1 million followers, but hardly gets 2000 likes. It won’t be difficult to tell that those followers are fake. This may give a bad impression to real followers which will make them unfollow the page.

-Engagement will below: There will be no genuine engagement from the purchased likes or followers. Most of those aren’t real people at all, merely bot fake accounts.  The best engagement can from these is generally an automated comment ‘nice post’. Some of the signs of a typical fake follower include a blank profile picture and a general lack of intelligent interaction.

-No money will be earned: Brands would not like to work with the ones who buy likes or followers as they are easy to spot. Brands do not select influencers based likes or followers, they see the engagement. Many tools are available to help brands figure out. They don’t want to be stuck with unworthy accounts.

-Not a sustainable marketing strategy: Buying likes will not lead to long term goals that go around creating deep, meaningful relationships with the audience. For brands, turning this audience into real-time customers and to ensure that customers become brand advocates is necessary. None of these will come out fruitful if the likes are from fake accounts.

All to say, buying likes may seem tempting, but it does more harm than good. Instead of increasing engagement, it can decrease the engagement, destroying all the efforts. So it is better to skip the easy way out to social media marketing and go for a more sustainable plan. After all, real people are the ones who can become potential customers. Don’t buy followers or likes to fool the audience. It’s a big NO! NO! Rather build a genuine relationship with them and engage well. Be yourself, don’t sell yourself short. Grow the followers organically. Also, follow Instagram’s guidelines to avoid the potential of your account been taken down.

Girls’ education been neglected in slums

Women and girls in slums mostly don’t get the privilege of education in India. Their families or communities don’t support them in this cause. When the family does not have enough finance to provide education to all of their children, there the preference is given to boys. This way most of the women are not educated and they are not able to provide it to their daughters as well. So, in this vicious cycle education of most of the girls gets neglected. The situation is so deteriorating that many girls even lack basic literacy and numeric skills.

“I want to study and become a teacher. But I don’t know how to read these books, says Lakshmi, a 9 years old girl in slums while sitting with a pile of books of her brothers.

Lakshmi lives in a family of six members – father, mother, and her three brothers. Being the youngest as well as a girl she gets the disadvantage over education. Where all her brothers go to school, she isn’t allowed.

While finance being one of the major issues, there are others too.

“In our community, girls get married at a very young age by 12-14, so what is the point of their education. Eventually, they will have to serve their in-laws. Even if we get pushy about continuing a girl’s education after marriage, she will be stopped,” says Shakuntala, Lakshmi’s mother.

“See our Lakshmi, she is already 9. We have started searching for a suitable groom for her.”

Her father cited other concerns. “ There is a fear of abuse, distance from school to home, known- availability of transports, and lack of toilets. Due to this reason, I don’t send my daughter to school even if I want to. Safety is a big concern for me. Who’s going to take the responsibility if anything happens to her.”

Slum girls brought up with this mindset make them believe they are not worth enough compared to their brothers.

“We want our sister to gain an education. But our parents say she will get married and go to a different family whereas we have to go to school too, later on, get jobs and be a breadwinner for the family,” says Kundan, Lakshmi’s elder brother.

These situations make women vulnerable and dependant on men in life. Men start to think about them as mere objects leading to crimes like domestic violence, killings.

Without education, women have less knowledge and less power to negotiate.

All these things indicate that there is a bleak future for girl children in slums. Thus, to address this emerging issue, girls should be linked to formal/informal schooling in slums and ensured that at least they will attain the primary level of education that enables them to read and write.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are the alternatives to Employees layoff?

Due to the sudden economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations are seeking out ways to cut costs. Out of which, employee layoff has also become one option. But before doing this, companies should consider how it will affect them in the long run. Instead, companies should find creative alternatives to layoffs to keep the business afloat.

Here are some alternatives that businesses can consider:

  • Ask employees for ideas: Ask for suggestions from staff about how to cut costs and improve the productivity of the organization. Getting employees involved can ease insecurity and promote solidarity, even if what you save doesn’t meet your shortfall expectations. By this, employees will also feel valued as their suggestions will be heard.

 

  • Hiring freeze: Some companies deploy mass lay-offs but are still placing job postings at the same time. This way, they are getting rid of valuable human capital to save money while bringing new employees at low salaries. It should be avoided, as retaining employees cost less than to replace them. Consider a hiring freeze as an alternative to layoffs.

 

  • Slight salary cuts: Explain everyone across the board that salary cut is the need of the hour. The reduction should be such, that it won’t completely shatter employees’ finances, but also give the business a bit of a financial break.

 

  • Work from home programs: Keeping employees at the workspace costs money. People consume water, electricity, office supplies, and other facilities. Sending workers home can cut costs to a large extent without dumping them.

 

  • Cut part-time staff and contractors: If crises are bigger, it’s legally easier and cheaper to end the employment of contractors and part-time workers. One can always rehire if necessary. Instead of using costly temps, consider rehiring retired employees that already know your business, to fill gaps.

 

  • Reduce employee benefits: Cut employee benefit plans and policies like medical or dental, 401(k) plans, insurance plans, leaves, and other fringe benefit policies.

 

  • Offer extra days of unpaid leave: On this most of the employees will agree, as it would be like a vacation time although unpaid.

 

  • Institute shorter workweeks: Reduce the number of working hours of the employees and proportionally decrease pay. This can be considered as a seasonal arrangement for slow periods. Shorter workweeks can cut costs by a significant margin.

 

  • Focus on Efficiency: Find out ways on how things can be done faster, less expensively, and more productively? Where can cash be saved? How to encourage staff to become more efficient in their jobs?

Are layoffs necessary sometimes? Yes, but they should be a last resort instead of a front-line option. It’s better to lay off some of the employees than to lose the business. But one should make sure, it is not the go-to solution when the business starts to slip into the red.

 

 

 

Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Indian Economy

To an economy which is already going through high unemployment, the lockdown will add more supply stress, accelerating the slowdown further and jeopardizing the economic well being of millions of people. A complete social and economic lockdown of India for 21 days has severely impacted the supply side of the economy, that is, production and distribution of goods and services, except for the essential items that are allowed. An economy that is already going through rising unemployment, demand depression and lowering of industrial output and profits, all of which is happening together for several quarters now, a supply-side constraint would deliver a big blow, affecting growth prospects and social and economic well being of a large number of people.

While it is not easy to estimate the magnitude of the impact of a complete social and economic shutdown, but it is likely to be far more severe than either the 2016 demonetization or the 2017 GST rollout. Nobody now disputes that those two events gave economic shocks from which the economy had not yet recovered when the coronavirus pandemic struck.

At current, it is a supply-side problem. Both production and distribution of non-essentials have come to a big time halt. This affects at least 55% of the economy. It can even be larger because of previous partial lockdowns by various state governments. It may take a some more months for the final production and the sales to resume.

The impact of lockdown will be felt through several channels, weakening domestic demand, disruption in the financial market, and disruption in the supply chain. All of this would result in declining production and reduction of employees.

Even though the country may not slip into a recession, unlike Europe, the US, or Asia-Pacific that have stronger trade ties to China, analysts believe the impact on India’s GDP growth will be significant. GDP growth in India, is already at a speedy low and any further dent in economy output will bring more pain to workers who have seen unemployment and their wages erode in recent times.

Moody’s Investors Service, sharply slashed its projection for India’s GDP growth in the for year 2020 from 5.3% to 2.5%. Whereas, Crisil warned that there are further risks if the pandemic is not contained by April-June 2020, or if it spreads rapidly in India, affecting domestic consumption, and investment.

What is a Surveillance society?

The surveillance society is a society that is structured and organized using surveillance-based techniques. To be under surveillance means having information about individual’s movements and activities recorded by technologies, on behalf of the governments and organizations that structure our society. This information is sorted and categorized and then used as a basis for decisions which affect our life. Such decisions concern our entitlement, work, access to benefits, products, services, and criminal justice; our health, well-being, and our movement through private and public spaces. 

Everyday encounters with surveillance include:

• Video cameras which watch us every day everywhere we go – in buildings, shopping malls, streets, and residential areas. Automatic systems can now also recognize number plates (as well as faces).

• Electronic tags that keep a check on ones who are on probation do not break their release conditions, and people arrested by police have samples of their DNA taken and kept whether they are guilty or not. 

• We are constantly asked to prove our identity, for benefits like healthcare, and so on.

If surveillance is a normal aspect of the management and governance, then what’s wrong with it?

 Using surveillance to achieve one’s aims, no matter how big or small bestows great power. Some interests will be served, while others will be marginalized. Some will receive entitlements and benefits, while others may not.

As data travel silently across international boundaries, national states, and within transnational corporations, the impact of surveillance becomes even harder to identify and regulate.

It focuses on correcting the negative also it gives a message to those who are watched that they are not trusted to behave appropriately.

The rise of technology is shattering even the illusion of privacy. Video cameras peer constantly from lamp poles, satellites and drones float through the skies, smartphones relay a dizzying barrage of information about their owners and what not.

The information of every traveler on every stop is noted and stored by Internet service providers like Google, Verizon, and Comcast. Retailers scan, remember, and analyze each purchase by every customer. Smart TVs know what we’re watching—soon they will have eyes to watch us watching them.

The future is here. Nearly everything that happens from now on has the potential to be seen by someone and also stored indefinitely. Government and the private corporations working with them, collect and store billions of records every day and they’re hungry for more. Technology makes all secrets difficult to keep.

There has been evidence that shows mass surveillance erodes intellectual freedom and damages the social fabric of the affected societies. It opens door to flawed and illegal profiling of individuals. Mass surveillance has also not helped in preventing terrorist attacks.

Other evidence shows that even the possibility of being under surveillance changes the way people think and act, causing them to avoid talking or writing about sensitive or controversial subjects. This only showcases that mass monitoring of citizens achieves only one thing that is the development of mutual mistrust between individual and state.

Surveillance society instead of beneficial has given us more non-benefits. It affects the privacy of the individual. The mismanagement of CCTV, ID cards, mobile phone data, health, and social security databases, shop loyalty cards, and other data retention technologies has an enormous potential in causing public or personal catastrophe – from criminals and terrorists hacking into or sabotaging the health care database, down to personal data being stolen or accidentally destroyed.

However, if surveillance and personal data collection are to achieve its true value then it should be tightly regulated to avoid abuse and mismanagement by government, companies, and individuals. If we are living in a society that relies on surveillance to get things done are we committing slow social suicide?

Surveillance and personal data collection have the potential to be of benefit to society but only if maintained with due care, otherwise it only risks jeopardizing the public safety it’s meant to protect. 

 

Women objectification in Indian Cinema & Advertisements

In a country like India where people worship goddesses like Parvati, Durga, and Sita, there the females who are considered mere objects. Such an irony in one go, but it’s the true state of the nation. One of the major influences is through the Cinema and Advertisements that people come across in their day to day lives. Bollywood being the power source of entertainment has largely depicted the women in a sexualized roles. Objectifying women in the name of acting is not at all justified, and actresses playing the crass role of ‘glamorous dolls’ are equally disgusting. Whereas in the case of advertisements, they have shown women in a stereotypical manner. It’s not just this if we look for things in the bigger context these issues have lead to the heinous crimes against women. ‘Item songs’ are ubiquitous in almost all the Bollywood movies. If you see any film/song shot in a very cold place, the actor would wear a jacket and pants, and the actress would be dressed in skimpy attire or a translucent saree. Why is that so? Many advertisements /show women in a submissive manner, an object of interest, wives shown as doing all the household tasks, less educated/informed than her husband. Nonetheless, the woman deemed as an accessory to the man is an idea that holds a lot of significance to the nation at large.

Advertising

Advertising began as a tool to bring into the consumer’s notice the existence of the product, why one should purchase it, what are its benefits but with time it has become a tool to express a particular set of thoughts such that they even define what society will come to accept as desirable and true. Most advertisements that promote sexual objectification of women are in plenty. A major influence that advertisements have for women across the nation is going to be the idea of the woman as the object of sexual pursuit. Taking examples of Axe and Wildstone. They have their entire advertising strategies built on the idea that the product being advertised will make the person ‘achieve’ a woman. This woman is a bodily construct who has no humanity. Here, the idea of bodily display and sexual persuasion fall together and in a combinational way. In very effective research on how the identification of men and women is undergoing it was found out that those women are identified ‘locally’ whereas men are identified globally which is again a demeaning factor.

Objectification of women is not merely sexual bodily display, which is the most obvious form of objectification but also about customization. With the increasing obsession with physical beauty, a lot of products that are advertised to ‘customize’ or change bodily characteristics fall under this category. This includes beauty products promising to change the color of the skin. Fair & lovely, a fairness cream always had its advertising strategy that builds on a woman fulfilling her dreams with a customization of skin. When particular characteristics of humans are picked and analyzed and made to change, the humanness of the person is lost to a certain extent, and the person becomes a piece of object that can be changed according to attractiveness and desirability.

Indian Cinema

Two facets in which objectification of women is done in Indian Cinema

  • Bodily characterization

Out of the 18 films, 10 have some sort of an ‘item number’ in the film. In these item numbers, the dance techniques and dressing are sexually provocative in nature, with bodily display aided with sexual movements and expressions. Firstly, it is necessary to analyze why these dances cause the objectification of women. This happens when the woman in question (the ‘item girl’) is dancing, the camera angles move across parts of the woman’s body, focusing on the sexually stimulating body parts (breasts, legs, waist, and butt). The role of the women in that particular movie is then reduced to only the ‘gaze’ of the male, hence, and there is no human-ness left in the woman at all. This happens the same in advertising when a woman’s body is all the identity she has left. This viewing of the bodily structure is done by men, as well as women themselves. While watching an item number, a person’s consciousness (whether male or female) will look for these bodily traits in every person around them, even if it is in the mirror.

  • The portrayal of sexual harassment in Indian cinema

In the movie ‘Wanted’, starring Salman Khan and Ayesha Takia, the character Salman Khan lustily stares at a woman’s yoga-pants. After a short while, says to one of friends that, ‘In jaisi ladkiyaan, ham Jaise ladko ke liye yeh sab karti hain’ meaning “These kinds of girls behave this way for boys like us.” There are several movies like Rascals (2011), Wanted (2009), Grand Masti (2013), Dabangg (2010), Rowdy Rathore (2012) that have male characters overtly pass derogatory remarks about women’s bodies. Not only that, there are several examples of the leading male characters physically ‘teasing’ the woman (who is a stranger to them) who will eventually fall in love with them. For example, it is a very common storyline where the female leading character resists the attempts of the male character to romantically pursue her and eventually agrees. Movies like Singham, Dabangg, and Rowdy Rathore have three leading actors of these times in roles that are idealized and heroic. But when the portrayal of how they deal with women is concerned, the behavior is rude, demeaning and there is a downright refusal to attempt to understand the agency of a woman’s body and consent.

Connection between the two

Drawing a connection between the Advertising and Indian Cinema the objectification of women is done to an extent that a certain understanding of women is been made. They are reduced to being sex objects, like this it is easy to view them as objects of ownership. This leads to an air of unsafety for the women. The woman now understands that others see her as a culmination of breasts, legs, and buttocks, making her believe that she is unsafe if she dresses a certain way that reveals her body parts. Since the identity of the woman is reduced to being available for sex, for men sexual harassment becomes the norm. But this does not end here only. Bodies of women themselves become an object. This plays into the larger picture of the society that if a woman dresses up, it is to fulfill the gaze of the male. The idea of ownership leads to ‘eve-teasing’, sexual harassment, and also rape. Due to the influence of cinema, a person’s manhood is defined by how heroically he can convince the girl by being  manipulative and persuasive. The leading characters of the mainstream Indian films are stubborn and have suggestions to make to the leading women of the film, and since this is not objected to by these women, it is understood to be the norm and something that the woman-object deserves. Sexual objectification is very easy to go unnoticed, but it can only be with responsible viewership that the nation can be made safe for women. Sensitizing campaigns could represent, at least for women, a powerful tool to raise awareness against unrealistic beauty ideals and sexualized images that are regularly shown on television and to motivate individuals to engage in collective action aimed at improving how media portrays women. Unless there is a complete overhaul in the arena nothing can be changed.

 

Net Generation

The Internet is a boon no doubt about that. But where we can in our digital lives draw the line between convenience and addiction. Young people between the age of 11 to 31 are smart, quicker, more tolerant of diversity than other generations, they care strongly about justice and problems faced by their society, and are involved in some kind of civic activity at school, work or in their communities. This generation is more engaged politically and sees government as a tool for improving the world.

However, this generation is reckless about their privacy. In India, 1 out of 7 people are on social networking sites every second, 75% use the internet to escape their problems or overcome burden. India’s internet user base is the second largest after China globally. By 2020, there will be 730 million internet users in India. Many young people share very personal information and pictures on the internet and social networks. 

Considering the age of 11 to 19 years, one of the biggest challenges faced by parents of teens today is the internet. Despite social media playing a positive role for most, the high use of social it can harm youth self-esteem. Where children initially began using the internet to do homework that has become an afterthought and they are much more likely to spend their time alone socializing. Social networking sites, e-mails, and text messages enable teens to have relationships with almost anyone, new technology can make it difficult for parents to know what their teens are doing and who they spend time with. And how can they even know the Internet has become a major factor in building barriers between parents and children. There has been an increased communication gap between the two. Parents should keep these things into consideration and should teach them these following points-

Protecting your personal information and knowing that it’s not anonymous

If they face any cyberbullying, let your teen know to try not to retaliate or respond, speak to a trusted adult right away, aim to block the bully and report the behavior to the social media platforms

Should be taught how to use their time constructively by doing creative activities, involving in youth programs, etc. Set limits on when and how often they use the internet

Parents need to talk to them about online predators and warn them not to invite strangers into their networks

Parents can connect with teens by asking them for help with technology: Let the child be the teacher and show you how to e-mail, text, use social networks, or various other tasks on the internet

Warn them about the dangers of chatting with strangers and establishing online relationships with people they don’t know

Make teens aware of the far-reaching consequences of their postings. Some teens share personal thoughts and feelings just as they would in a private diary or journal. Sharing too much personal information can make them vulnerable to others

The Internet contains an endless supply of knowledge and information that allows you to learn about almost any topic or question you may have. Using a search engine like Google, you can ask virtually any question and find a web page with an answer to that question. There are also millions of videos on sites like YouTube that help explain various topics and even online courses that can be taken to help teach you about many different subjects.

In the past, it would take days and sometimes even months to receive a letter from someone else. Today, with the Internet, you can send an e-mail to anyone in the world and often have it delivered in less than a minute. With the help of GPS technology, the Internet can help map and direct you to almost every place in the world. You can quickly route to your location or find businesses in your area that may sell or provide you with a service you need.

 

Still, for every pro, there is a con. Just like teens, there are certain disadvantages that adults have to face. Spending too much time on the computer surfing the Internet or playing games can also lead to obesity and an unhealthy lifestyle. Social networking sites can also lead to depression as many people tend to compare their lives with others. The Internet and online games facilitate communication with others. Although you may find new connections around the world, you may also find yourself disconnecting from those in your real life. Social networking sites can also lead to depression as many people tend to compare their lives with others. Shifts focus quickly, which affects your interactions in general, making you more impatient and less focused on your activities. The Internet can hamper workplace productivity.

 

In the end, one should know that it is a great environment as evolution is a fundamental instinct in man, so do not hesitate to learn and develop, but always be aware of the unknown that conceals technology in its depth.

The background of Pandemics

As humans have spread across the world, so have many infectious diseases. Even in this modern era, outbreaks are nearly constant, although not every outbreak has reached the level of a pandemic as the Corona virus did.

Disease and illnesses have been for ages. It was after the growth of agrarian communities that the spread of these diseases increased dramatically.

Widespread trade helped in creating new opportunities for human and animal interactions that increased the spread of  such epidemics like Malaria, leprosy, tuberculosis, smallpox,  influenza, and others. More civilized the humans have become with trade routes, larger cities, and increased contact with different populations of people, animals, and ecosystems,  the more likely pandemics occurred.

Despite the persistence of disease and pandemics throughout history, there was a gradual reduction in the death rate. Healthcare improvements and understanding the factors that incubate pandemics have been powerful tools in reducing their impact.

During the 14th century, the practice of quarantine began in an effort to protect coastal cities from epidemics- plague. The port authorities asked ships arriving from infected ports to sit at anchor for 40 days straight before landing in Venice. The origin of the word quarantine from the Italian word  “Quaranta Giorni” which means 40 days.

While the interactions created through trade and urban life play a major role, it is also the virulent nature of particular diseases that lead to the trajectory of a pandemic.

With rise in global interactions and connections as a driving force behind pandemics  from small hunting and gathering tribes to the metropolis, humanity’s reliance on one another has also lead opportunities for disease to spread.

Urbanization in the developing world is bringing more and more rural residents into denser neighborhoods, while population increases are deteriorating environment. Passenger air traffic has nearly doubled in the past decade. These macro trends have a profound impact on the spread of infectious diseases.

As Covid-19 reminds us, that infectious diseases haven’t vanished. There are more new infectious diseases now than ever: HIV, Sars, and Covid-19 have increased by nearly fourfold over the past century. Since 1980, the number of outbreaks per year has been tripled

There are several reasons for this – Over the past 50 years, the population has increased to double. So more human beings get infected and in turn to infect others, especially in densely populated cities. We also have more livestock now than we did over the last 10,000 years of domestication up to 1960 combined, and viruses can pass from those animals to us. The ability to get to nearly any spot in the world in 20 hours or less, and pack a virus along with us, allows new diseases to emerge and to grow. For all the advances we’ve made against infectious disease, our very growth has made us more vulnerable, not less, to microbes that evolve 40 million times faster than human beings do.

Why US is failing as a Superpower in tackling Coronavirus?

Now that the US has reached the top with the highest corona cases, there is a question that arises. Despite being a superpower, does the country even know how to control the COVID-19 spread?

The US has become a new epicenter of coronavirus bypassing the total number of cases in Italy and China. The first case in the United States was reported on January 20, 2020, after three weeks when China reported several cases of unusual pneumonia in Wuhan to the WHO. Being aware of the threat that the coronavirus can pose, many states started taking measures for the pandemic. The US, however, failed to take appropriate actions.

Although Global Health Security Index, which is an assessment of 195 countries on their global health security capabilities, rated 83.5 to the US, the world’s highest and also that the US spends more than any other country on its health system, COVID-19 showed us how a superpower can fail when its government does not assess a threat effectively.
On January 31, 2020, President Donald Trump restricted entry into the United States of foreigners who had been present in China. However, the restriction did not apply to U.S. citizens who had traveled to China. Similar steps were followed for foreigners arriving from Iran, Europe, Italy, and South Korea. The mandatory screening was placed for people coming from these countries.

With the coming days, the measures taken by the Trump administration were very vague. When the cases were on a rise, then only people were asked to stay at home. Similarly, schools were closed in mid-March, roughly two months after the first COVID case in the nation.

Compared to many other countries, the actions taken by the U.S. are to date inadequate. The government has not able to project its authority and adequately ensure the safety of its population. Even citizens are not content with their government’s efforts.
We all now know that in terms of the coronavirus every minute matters. But the steps taken by the US government came very late.

Many believe that Trump failed to assess properly the coronavirus threat and as a result, it became difficult to control the cases. The president himself has been very inconsistent in his announcements which resulted in confusion among Americans.
Only on March 31, did Trump accepted the gravity of the situation when approximately 4,000 Americans lost their lives as a result of COVID-19.

The U.S. needed to test as many people as possible, to trace the positive cases, and isolate them as soon as possible. The reason why the confirmed cases were at a low for approximately two months is not that the U.S. effectively controlled the situation but because enough tests were not conducted to track the infected individuals. This created a false sense of security among citizens which later hampered the country.
With all this, even hospitals found themselves unprepared with people who were ill. There was a lack of medical supplies such as masks, gloves, and medical gowns.

The US, as a superpower, praises itself as “the best, most technologically advanced society in the world, but Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic shows a different story. Meanwhile, many other smaller or weaker states seem to be handling the spread of the virus better. Seeing all this, US does need to buck up.

Can India’s economy over take China in coming years?

With the Covid-19 pandemic infecting millions of people around the world, China is facing a global backlash, especially from the United States. It has created a cold-war situation between the two, where India is siding the US. Despite the strong anti-China sentiment, the Indian government can no way stop the Chinese market.

Indian Market cannot afford to keep China out of its markets as Chinese products are fairly cheap and have helped low-income groups to improve their standard of living. The country’s products are not just cheap but also durable and well-aligned to other country’s needs. This formula has helped Chinese production experts take over even Euro-American markets. Although, China is known to be the birthplace for Coronavirus, which is uniting its enemies- India, the US, Japan, and Australia. But, there are very low chances that they can stop its goods and services all over the world, including their own countries, in the post-COVID world.

Focusing on India, it still hasn’t prepared its labor force to challenge the Chinese skilled labor force. Also, the question arises, is India capable enough to produce goods and commodities as inexpensive as China?

China has its rural industry which is that independent that it can produce goods for all sorts of cultures and commercial markets. There is no rural industry in India. While announcing plans for post- corona economy, Narendra Modi talked about establishing cottage industries. But there are no skilled laborers in rural India to produce goods for the global market’s tastes. How will this happen then?

Not to forget, Chinese growth has been driven by some of the world’s largest investment rates. This has made possible high –speed rail lines, infrastructure revolution of new cities, ports, airports, and manufacturing muscle for the country. Now, China has become the world’s factory for more than 20 years. Its ability to quickly and efficiently move what it produces domestically and around the world has played a major role in its growth miracle.

Today, India lags behind China in three dimensions: investment, infrastructure, and manufacturing. India has barely scratched the surface on all these. China invests about 50% of its GDP, while India does only 30%. Manufacturing is about is just 20% in India, while in China it’s about 30%.

India lags behind China a lot in the development. It looks like a poor country in major parts, where China has one of the best infrastructures around the world.

But, if India starts taking things seriously it can be a real opportunity. It is a known fact that by increasing investment, improving infrastructure, and growing economic output, it can be a true path to growth if the nation is patient enough to follow.

The ‘Make in India’ initiative is so promising as it does not rely on the Indian government. Launched to surpass China in direct foreign investment, ‘Make in India’ calls for global firms to increase their financial commitment to India. The innovative firms as diverse as Lenovo, Samsung and Boeing have publically supported this initiative, proving that the private sector is ready to step in.

Only thing is that private firms won’t act until it is more confident about politics and this scheme. Taking this into consideration, the government first has to give confidence to them for further progress to be made.

There is a lot of potential that India has. The raw material that the nation is so rich for any production. The challenge now is to use it effectively by all means.

All to say, to challenge China, it means unlearning many things and re-learning new things for India to take over this nation in terms of economy.

With the Covid-19 pandemic infecting millions of people around the world, China is facing a global backlash, especially from the United States. It has created a cold-war situation between the two, where India is siding the US. Despite the strong anti-China sentiment, the Indian government can no way stop the Chinese market.

Indian Market cannot afford to keep China out of its markets as Chinese products are fairly cheap and have helped low-income groups to improve their standard of living. The country’s products are not just cheap but also durable and well-aligned to other country’s needs. This formula has helped Chinese production experts take over even Euro-American markets. Although, China is known to be the birthplace for Coronavirus, which is uniting its enemies- India, the US, Japan, and Australia. But, there are very low chances that they can stop its goods and services all over the world, including their own countries, in the post-COVID world.

Focusing on India, it still hasn’t prepared its labor force to challenge the Chinese skilled labor force. Also, the question arises, is India capable enough to produce goods and commodities as inexpensive as China?

China has its rural industry which is that independent that it can produce goods for all sorts of cultures and commercial markets. There is no rural industry in India. While announcing plans for post- corona economy, Narendra Modi talked about establishing cottage industries. But there are no skilled laborers in rural India to produce goods for the global market’s tastes. How will this happen then?

Not to forget, Chinese growth has been driven by some of the world’s largest investment rates. This has made possible high –speed rail lines, infrastructure revolution of new cities, ports, airports, and manufacturing muscle for the country. Now, China has become the world’s factory for more than 20 years. Its ability to quickly and efficiently move what it produces domestically and around the world has played a major role in its growth miracle.

Today, India lags behind China in three dimensions: investment, infrastructure, and manufacturing. India has barely scratched the surface on all these. China invests about 50% of its GDP, while India does only 30%. Manufacturing is about is just 20% in India, while in China it’s about 30%.

India lags behind China a lot in the development. It looks like a poor country in major parts, where China has one of the best infrastructures around the world.

But, if India starts taking things seriously it can be a real opportunity. It is a known fact that by increasing investment, improving infrastructure, and growing economic output, it can be a true path to growth if the nation is patient enough to follow.

The ‘Make in India’ initiative is so promising as it does not rely on the Indian government. Launched to surpass China in direct foreign investment, ‘Make in India’ calls for global firms to increase their financial commitment to India. The innovative firms as diverse as Lenovo, Samsung and Boeing have publically supported this initiative, proving that the private sector is ready to step in.

Only thing is that private firms won’t act until it is more confident about politics and this scheme. Taking this into consideration, the government first has to give confidence to them for further progress to be made.

There is a lot of potential that India has. The raw material that the nation is so rich for any production. The challenge now is to use it effectively by all means.

All to say, to challenge China, it means unlearning many things and re-learning new things for India to take over this nation in terms of economy.

Why Mental Health is not something to be ignored?

Sushant Singh Rajput’s death due to suicide speaks volumes on why mental health is important. According to reports, it is believed that he was suffering from depression for the last six months and was consulting a psychiatrist. Many celebrities have come forward and talked on how society needs to take mental health as seriously as physical health, without waiting for a moment of crisis.

Researches have said that every 4 minutes, one person commits suicide in India. With the lockdown, situations have become even worse. There is an increase in stress among individuals. Reason being that people are thrown out of their jobs due to financial crunch and they have no money left, no social life, or by overthinking. Not only this, but people are also wondering how to come out of it, there may be post-traumatic stress disorders as well. Staying alone is yet another issue as there is nobody to monitor.

Experts underline that people need to watch out for symptoms for the behavioral pattern that is not normal in themselves or others. Symptoms could be – disrupted sleep pattern, sudden emotional outbursts, change in behavior such as being withdrawn, no urge to ear or overeating, consciously not maintaining hygiene, seeking solace in excessive smoking, drinking, etc.

Though we seem to have progressed as a society, we still lack the openness when it comes to mental health. This block in mind needs a change. Gone are the days when we did not have awareness about mental illness. Just like we can go to the doctor when we are physically sick, we can also go to a psychiatrist/psychologist.

There is also a lot of stigmas attached to mental health that needs to be eradicated. Society has this mindset that strong people cannot get depressed. But depression is like COVID, anyone can get affected by it. It does not come with a clause.

Mental health services in India have been highly inadequate even before the pandemic. With just 4,000 psychiatrists to serve over a billion people, the situation seems difficult to handle. But somehow it needs to be met.

The device that we throw away for our sake of mental health, we need to pick that up, call your loved ones. Sharing our thoughts and feelings always lightens up the mood. There is someone out there to hear you, always, you need to vent it out.

There are small steps that you can take to improve your mental health every day. Things like exercising, eating a balanced diet, opening up others in your life, remembering something you are grateful for, taking a break when you need to, and getting good sleep, can help boost your emotional health.

Being healthy mentally can boost your productivity and effectiveness in work, school, college. It also plays a crucial role in building your relationships and allowing you to adapt to changes.

All to say, when mental health is ultimately recognized as essential to physical health and not an extraneous element of it, then we will have access to real, complete medicine.

How to crack a job interview like a PRO!

We all know that interviews can be very stressful. All sorts of thoughts come to our minds while sitting for one. But it is a known fact that the hiring process cannot be completed without it. Therefore, it is necessary to be prepared beforehand, as it will only bring you one step closer to land the dream job. While some nervousness is ok, but make sure that it doesn’t overpower your confidence. Always put your game up!
So, to be successful in your interview here are some tips, you surely don’t want to miss out.

Research about the organization – Before attending any interview, thoroughly research about the organization. You won’t want to make a fool out of yourself, in front of the panel. Do know about the job role, company profile, core member, competitors, etc. This will help you in answering questions with much ease.

On-time – Being punctual is something one should keep in to practice. Always arrive 15 minutes before the interview. This leaves a remarkable impression. Also, it will help you settle down and relax. Avoid being in rush by any means.

Grooming – The concept of ” The First impression is the last impression” may not apply in all aspects of life. But here, it surely does! You must dress right. Wear formal ironed clothes for this day. One may go for plain colored shirts and trousers. Comb your hair neatly and be hygienic.

Study your CV – Break out your CV and do an analysis of what you have done so far, how your skills can help the organization, previous experiences, and skills. Prepare questions and decide how will you answer them. Practice them every day.

Prepare a portfolio – Invest in a good quality portfolio. This should carry all your important documents, achievements, certificates, and all the work is done until now. Although in most cases the employer does have a copy of it, this will show them that you’re an organized individual.

Project confidence – Deep down no matter how nervous you are, showcase as if you have all confidence in the world. When you’re called inside the interview room, walk with a smile on your face. Greet the interviewer. Make eye contact while you answer the questions. Don’t look down, at the wall or the clock. This can give them a bad sign.

Ask for feedback at the end – There are chances that interviewers have made their decisions about you. You may go ahead and ask them. By asking you to show interest. They might not answer your question, but they will appreciate you for asking it. The organization feels that the candidate has a positive attitude and is open to feedback.

Salary Negotiations – Never! Never do this! Don’t ask for unrealistic salary hikes as it will make them think, that you are not serious about the job and it is just about money. The normal range of hike is from 25% to 40%. If you want to, do your homework before any negotiations.

Now that all points have been covered, use them to stand out among other candidates and seem more professional. Good Luck!

Tips and tricks to crack the competitive exams

India has an extremely competitive environment when it comes to cracking the toughest of examinations, especially at the undergraduate level. The step for your preparation should be to understand the pre-requisites for it. Besides that, one must always have access to the previous years’ question papers. It will give a fair idea about the exam pattern and how to plan the study.

With such a competition, students do need some direction. Here, are some tips on how to prepare for it:

Plan and Strategize – First and foremost, before you start to study, plan everything. Get yourself familiar with the difficulty level of the test. Evaluate where you stand and what needs to be done more. Try to collect all the study material and sample question papers. Ensure that the plan is not aggressive and you don’t overburden yourself.

Set a schedule – Now that you have strategized everything and got all the resources, the second step is to set a timetable. Divide your study hours according to the subjects. Try to make sure that you give enough time for the difficult subject. Also, have short breaks in between, this will relax the mind and help in better concentration.

Minimize the distractions – Get rid of anything and everything that can distract you from studying. Avoid watching shows on Netflix during this time. Not completely, but try to reduce the hours of being on social media or using the phone. All of them can waste your time and stop you from studying.

Focus on understanding concepts – To have a better hold on concepts, don’t mug up as you may forget it soon. Instead try to understand them, analyze, and how they are interlinked. You need to be thorough with the basics as well. Revise it, before you move on to the core syllabus.

Practice! Practice! Practice! – The best way to practice is by writing. The more you write, the more you’re able to grasp the information easily. Revise what all you learned,daily, before sleeping at night. Read it four times!

Test yourself – Now that you have memorized and practiced everything. Examine how prepared you are. Once you are done with the entire syllabus, take your mock tests. Solve all the question papers. This way you’ll know all your mistakes, what is needed to be done, and what to be avoided. It will help you in planning your overall exam strategy.

Be Positive – After all, this is done, stay positive. Believe in yourself and your efforts. Don’t be in any last-minute rush and stress. Avoid studying a night before the exam, just revise your notes. Sleep on time, so that you wake up fresh the next morning. Keep yourself healthy and fit by eating the right food.

All to say, competitive exams are a hard nut to crack but with the right mindset, anybody can excel. And remember, if you don’t, that’s best for you. Something amazing is waiting for you. Don’t kill the spirit. On that note, All the best!

How to grow your business through Instagram

Instagram is a great marketing tool for any business to flourish. It has over 800 million monthly active users. Despite it being a massive platform, it is fairly easy to grow your business on it. It allows you to connect with your fans, customers, partners, and prospects. For your account, to be worth your efforts and time, the most important thing is to be active on it. 

Let’s take a look at how Instagram can help in building a brand and grow your following without spending a single penny on advertising.

  • Post images that attract the audience – A picture is worth a thousand words so make sure it counts. To get active audience engagement, offer both – great design and value. Use sites like Canva and Stencil to design the best infographics or posts. No need to hire graphic designers, these tools make your posts look extremely professional at free of cost.
  • “Call to action” a must thing – There are a lot of companies that just post on Instagram without the customers knowing what to do, where to go. One can always make use of the bio section for a strong “Call-to-action” that directs people to the sales page or the company’s website. This way it is much easier for better functioning of the business.
  • The right use of Hashtags (#) – Hashtags are extremely powerful for increasing engagement, categorizing posts, attracting followers to a certain niche and also to strengthen the brand image. Every time you make a post, make sure to write a caption with it including the hashtags ( don’t use more than 5 ). This will make your post look well put up and appealing to the audience.
  • Regularity in posting content – You don’t have to spam the audience but make sure to at least post one or two times a day. This will help in keeping the audience updated and be interested in your brand. None the less, the more the posting is done more the chances of a rapid increase in followers.
  • Engagement is the key – Engagement with the audience can be fruitful for your company. Start liking, commenting on their posts, it can often lead them to visit your brand’s Instagram handle. There are chances that they can also reciprocate by liking and following it. Purchasing followers can never be in one’s interest, so avoid it.
  • Look up to Analytics – Instagram provides an option to check the insights of the profile. One can see which post got the most engagement, which day is when people are most active, when is the best time to post. With the help of this information, plan your future posts accordingly to get the most mileage out of them.

All in all, this visual feed can reflect your brand’s uniqueness and differentiate your business from others. So with the right marketing strategy make the best use of it possible. Take advantage of all that Instagram has to offer and you are good to go.