POLITICS IN INDIA

Politics work with inthe constitution of India.India is a parliamentary democratic republic in which the president of India is the head of state and the prime minister of India is the head of government.

POLITICAL PARTY IN INDIA:-

As per 23, September 2021 the election commission of India total number of parties registered was 2858, with 8 national parties, 54 state parties and 2796 unrecognised parties.

THREE BRANCHES OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT:-

* Executive.

*Legislative.

* Judiciary.

EXECUTIVE:-

Executive type of Indian government include,

* president of india.

* prime minister of India.

* union cabinet.

* council of ministers.

* Bureaucrats.

PRESIDENT OF INDIA:-

President of India is the highest post and is the constitutional head of the country. According to our constitution, President is the first citizen of our country and a symbol of unity and integrity.President is also responsible for appointing other executives and judicial members in the country like the Chief Justice of India, Judges of all the High courts, the Election Commissioner of India and states too. President of India is also the Commander in Chief of all the Indian forces i.e. Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air force.

PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA:-

Prime Minister is the chief of the Central government of India and also acts as the advisor of President. He is also head of the Council of Ministers and is responsible for appointing or dismissing any minister from the council. In case Prime Minister resigns from his office or dies during his tenure then the cabinet will automatically dissolve.

UNION CABINET:-

Union Cabinet consists of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers. This is the decision making body in the central government.The Cabinet Minister cannot make a law concerning his department on its own, he can only propose the decision and then the Union Cabinet will make the final law.

COUNCIL OF MINISTERS:-

Council of Ministers works under the Union Cabinet. All the members of the Union Cabinet are members of the Council of Ministers and here the Minister of States appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.

BUREAUCRATS:-

Bureaucrats are selected and appointed by Union Public Service Commission and for states there is a State Public Service Commission. They are responsible for implementing the laws and all the other functions of government. Bureaucrats consist of IAS, IPS, IFS and other officials leading various government agencies.

LEGISLATIVE:-

Legislative type of government include president,lok sabha also known as lower house,Rajya sabha also known as upper house.

LOK SABHA:-

Lok Sabha is more powerful in both the houses. Members of Lok Sabha are elected directly by citizens of India. There are total 530 members from the states and 20 members from the union territories. They are elected in general election. Their term is five years.

RAJYA SABHA:-

There cannot be more than 250 members in the Rajya Sabha. Members of Rajya Sabha are elected by state legislative assemblies out of which 12 members are directly appointed by President who come from different backgrounds like Literature, Art, Social Services etc.

JUDICIARY:-

Judiciary type of government includes supreme court,high court and district court.

SUPREME COURT:-

Supreme Court is the highest judicial body of the country. The decision by Supreme Court of India is acceptable by all judicial bodies and no other judicial body has the power to change a decision by Supreme Court. Indian judiciary is an independent body and is not affected by Legislature or Executive. Supreme Court has the power to question any decision made by Legislative Bodies or Executive if the decision is not in accordance with the Constitution of India.supreme court of india consists of 34 judges maximum in which there can be a Chief Justice and 33 other judges.

HIGH COURT:-

The High Court is the highest judicial body of a state. High court functions under Supreme Court. High court maintains the rule of law in the particular state and in case of two small states there can be one common High court.

DISTRICT COURT:-

District court or sub-ordinate courts function under High court. They maintain rule of law in a particular district or locality in which they function. They look after the civil and criminal matters of that particular region.

RECOGNISED NATIONAL PARTIES IN INDIA:-

* Bahujan samaj party.

* Bhartiya Janata party.

* Communist party of India.

* Communist party of India (Marxist).

* Indian National Congress.

* Nationalist Congress party.

World Children’s Day and its significance

Photo by samer daboul on Pexels.com

Children are called as the leaders of the future generations. They are also known to be the torch bearers for the future of the human society. ย Universal Childrenโ€™s Day is celebrated every year on the 20th of November as an observance to promote children rights and welfare. Every year, the United Nations (UN) provides a particular theme for this day to improve the conditions of children and build a better environment for them. It was first celebrated in the year 1954 to encourage unity and friendliness among children across various nations. In the year 1959, the United Nations General Assembly accepted the Declaration of the childrenโ€™s rights on the 20th of November. Therefore, this day is celebrated as Universal Childrenโ€™s Day.

The theme

The theme for this year by UNICEF is to help children to recover from interruptions and learning losses experienced through the pandemic in the last two years and contribute towards the betterment of the children. Hence, the UNICEF has started a #GoBlue Campaign to highlight the issues faced by children due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic has shown us how unequal and unfair things have been for the children of the nation. From climate change to racism, many children have been deprived from their basic rights and the youngsters have been raising their voices against such injustices to lead the world towards a better future. Hence, the UNGA has requested several countries to support this cause so the children will be able to lead a better life. To support this cause, the United Nations Childrenโ€™s Fund (UNICEF) will be holding a parliamentary meeting today at 7:30 pm to raise awareness regarding such issues.  

India’s Contribution

IMAGE: ANI

India has also supported this campaign by illuminating monuments like Qutub Minar and Rashtrapati Bhavan with blue lights. The parliament buildings like North block and south block have also been lit up in the capital city of India on the occasion of World Childrenโ€™s Day.

Conclusion

This purpose of this yearโ€™s theme is to encourage children and youngsters to highlight the issues faced by them and urges adults to understand and take the required actions for the future generationsโ€™ well-being. This World Children’s Day, it is extremely important to raise awareness against the discrimination and the racism faced by little children. it is more important than ever, that the leaders listen to their ideas and demands and take actions accordingly. It is our responsibility as a human being to create and build a better world for the children and we must work extremely hard towards achieving that goal.

IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION:-

Education is one of the important thing in this world.Without education we cannot lead a good life.Education is the key to success in life.

Education plays the significant role in the human race.Educated people are responsible for the better future for Society and country.An educated person has the ability to decision making.Education teaches us writing and reading.Reading and writing is the first step in education.Education improves the person mentally to handle the difficult situation.

Education improve the humans personality.Educated person is brave, confident to face any situation.Most of the well known persons are educated.Education helps in the development and innovation of technology.

The technology,science, millitary all are improved because of the education.Without education nothing happened in this world.Education help us to acquire knowledge.knowledge can be used to make better living.Education is the weapon which cannot be break by anyone.

Education teaches us to be honest and polite.Educated peoples are always respected in the society.

Education teaches us to be civilized. Education helps us to understand the feelings.It provides the manpower like police, doctor and millitary.Education improves us mentally strong to face the hard situation in both outer and inner life.Education brings peace in the world.

IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION:-

Communication is the integral part of our life.It is the process of share whatever we want and sharing ideas,feelings. communication is the key to directing function of the management.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION:-

There are three types of communication:-

* Formal communication.

* Informal communication.

FORMAL COMMUNICATION:-

Formal communication divided into two types,

* Horizontal communication.

* Vertical communication.

Formal communication is usually takes between the manager to sub manager,sub manager to manager.Who are in the same level of post.

HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION:-

It is also called as lateral communication.It takes place between one division to another division.

VERTICAL COMMUNICATION:-

Vertical communication as the name suggests flows vertically upwards or downwards through formal channels. Upward communication refers to the flow of communication from a subordinate to a superior whereas downward communication flows from a superior to a subordinate.

INFORMAL COMMUNICATION:-

Informal communication is nothing but the communication takes place without following the formal types is called informal communication.It is also called as grapevine.

HOW COMMUNICATION IS EFFECTIVE:-

Communication is very effective tool.With communication we can able to understand others feelings And delivery of message.If false message delivered it becomes rumor and cause problems in life.

IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION:-

* Basis of Decision-Making and Planning.

* Smooth and Efficient Working of an Organisation.

* Facilitates Co-Ordination.

* Increases Managerial Efficiency.

* Promotes Co-operation and Industrial Peace.

NATIONAL PRINCESS DAY

National Princess Day comes around annually on November 18, so clear your schedule and prepare for a magical day of pampering and fabulousness. Everyone has a favorite princess (real or fake) and dreams of being treated like one (at least for a day). A dream is a wish your heart makes, and itโ€™s time to make that wish come true.

National Princess Day Wishes Images - Whatsapp Images

HISTORY

The first princess to come to our TV screens was Snow White in 1937โ€™s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, this movie was also the first full length traditional animation film as well as the earliest Disney animated feature film. When Xena: Warrior Princess came out in 1995 and Mulan was released in 1998, they showed everyone that a princess can do more than wear a pretty dress. These two iconic women let children everywhere know that a princess can also be a strong and adventurous warrior. New wave princesses like Moana and Frozenโ€™s Elsa show us that you can still be a princess while maintaining your independence.

We all grew up with animated, and live action, princesses guiding us through life. When thinking of our favorite princesses, our minds instantly go to Disney. However, when it comes to National Princess Day, Disney had very little involvement in its inception. Nest Family Entertainment, a Texas based entertainment company, teamed up with Rich Animation in 1994 to create the animated film The Swan Princess, a musical adaptation of Swan Lake. The studio wanted people of every age to have a day to celebrate like royalty, embodying the kindness and grace that we all associated with princess at the time โ€” and thus, National Princess Day was created.

The definition of a princess is constantly changing. From the 1930s until the 1990s, princesses were meant to be saved by a prince and live happily ever after. Nowadays, princesses create their own happily ever after, save the prince, and then put the prince squarely in the friend zone. So basically, embodying a princess on National Princess Day is to embody, what the kids call, the G.O.A.T (greatest of all time)

FACTS

Almost everyone is fascinated by princesses but few people know everything there is to know about some of the famous fictional princesses of all time. Thatโ€™s why weโ€™re listing some of the top facts about princesses below.ย 

  • The only Disney princesses based on a real person is Pocahontas.
  • Almost all Disney princesses wear blue.
  • Snow White is the youngest princess and is 14-years old.
  • Jasmine is the next youngest princess and is 15-years old.
  • The oldest princesses are Cinderella and Tiana and both of them are 19-years old.
  • Snow White And Rapunzel are both from Bavaria.

PATHWAY

TIME MAGAZINE RECOGNIZED THIS PRINCESS INFLUENCE – 2013

โ€‹Princess Kate made Timeโ€™s โ€œ100 Most Influential People in the Worldโ€ list for the second time.

PRETTY SMART PRINCESS – 2012

After earning a B.A. in International Relations at Sukhothai Thammatirat University and a Masters of Law and Doctor of Juridical Science degree at Cornell Law School, Princess Bajrakitiyabha of Thailand received an honorary Doctor of Law degree.

A HUMANITARIAN AWARD – 2011

Princess Ameera, a Saudi Arabian princess, received the ITP Special Humanitarian Award for her work with the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation.

THIS POPULAR PRINCESS ADVOCATED FOR AIDS – 1987

โ€‹Princess Diana opened the first hospital unit dedicated to AIDS in Middlesex Hospital. This is the same location where she famously hugged an AIDS patient four years later.

PRINCESS ANN TOOK ON CAUSE – 1970

Princess Ann of England served as president of the Save the Children organization, an non-governmental group that advocates for children rights and supports children in developing countries.

DATA SCIENCE

Introduction:-

Data scientists combine mathematics, statistics and the use of computer science to extract,analyze data from thousands of data sources in order to build creative and innovative business solutions.Data Scientist’s job involves solving the problems of his or her client by providing solutions using real time data and tools and algorithms.

Industries and Departments in which Data Scientist are hired:-

Data scientists and analysts are largely employed by IT companies, marketing, finance and retail sectors.
Companies use Data Scientists to give them a report on what their clients demands and needs and give them innovative solutions on how to cater to them. Oil, gas and telecommunication companies also have started employing data scientists to better cater to their clients.
Other sectors and departments that employ data scientists are
โ— NHS
โ— Government offices
โ— Research institutions and universities.

The roles and responsibilities of a data scientist:-

โ— To handle vast amounts of data and choose reliable sources.

โ— Developing prediction models and advanced machine learning algorithms

โ— Verifying data using data investigation and data analysis.

โ— Using data visualization techniques to present findings.

โ— Finding solutions to business problems by working with data engineers and data analysts.

Educational qualification For data scientist:-

โ— Should have a BSc/BA degree in the field of Computer Science/ Software Engineering/Information Science/Mathematics.


โ— Should have a postgraduate degree/diploma certification in Data Science/Machine Learning.

Career growth of a Data Scientist:-

The life of a Data Scientist starts from an associate data analyst and can go up to the role of Chief Data Scientist.Promotion can take two to five years it is based on the performance.After some experience they get into some higher position.

CONCLUSION:-

Data Scientists are one of the most in demand people in the world. They can skyrocket companies’ shares and make them reach new heights.Data Science is a very high paying industry thus finding a job with a seven-figure salary won’t be a problem. Data Science as an industry has a very bright future.Data Scientists have the ability to change the world’s future.

Dubal Collaboration Plans To Build ‘Food Secure Future’ Centers Around India


Food secure future is a significant issue for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) yet in addition for India. Worldwide Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), truth be told, cautions that evolving environment, developing worldwide populace, rising food costs and natural stressors will uncertainly affect food security in the coming many years. Notwithstanding, industry specialists and strategy creators accept that the UAE and India can up their synergistic endeavors to handle food security issues towards accomplishing food independence.



This is because the United Arab Emirates is India’s third largest trading partner with the bilateral trade of US$ 59.1 billion in 2019-20. Furthermore, it is a well-known fact that India wants to work very closely with the UAE as a reliable partner in food security. India’s food corridor is slated to attract investments to the tune of US$ 7 billion. Dubai can be a gateway for Indian companies in agriculture and food processing sector to take their products and services globally. This is the opinion of Dr Aman Puri council general of India.

According to him the UA should not be looked at as just a market of 10 million consumers rather it is is beneficial to the entire middle East and North African region. It is considered food secure due to its ability to import food from international markets.



The food technology valley aims at promoting innovation in agriculture to achieve food security from sustainable sources. Dubai is already adopting the new age farming technologies, vertical farming, smart farming, aeroponics, hydroponics, LOT and other new technologies have resulted in a 53% increase in output in agriculture.

The capital intensive nature of the Emirates aptly suits India which needs funding infusions for infrastructure creation. All the sovereign wealth funds have an investor bill capacity of around US$ 1.2 trillion which is growing at a rate of 18 % per annum.



India is on the threshold of a landmark change in the nature of food processing it is now moving towards value-added process and ready to eat foods. Thus, there has never been a better time for the Indian companies to tap the opportunities that the UAE and Dubai throw up. With the peceeding opportunities, both UAE and India face a common challengeas well, in the creation of value chain perspective, that is, end-to-end, farm-to-fork. So, moving forward, the two countries can deepen their collaboration and help each other in achieving this goal.

-Ananya Kaushal

GAMING ADDICTION:-

Gaming addiction is a type of mental disorder leads to insomnia,stress, pressure.Gaming is not a waste of time limited time of playing games can reduce pressure.

SIGN OF GAMING ADDICTION:-

* Thinking about game for lot of time.

* Feeling bad when you are not playing games.

* Want to spend more time in games to feel good.

* Having problems in school, office,work because of games.

ALTERNATION OF GAMES:-

In place of playing games you can replace it with:

* Arts ,dance,music.

* playing outside.

* playing indoor games like chess,carrom etc.

* you can do exercise,martial arts.

EFFECT OF GAMING ADDICTION:-

* It leads to mental disorder.

* sleepless.

* It creates lack of social interaction.

* Feeling lonely.

IS GAMING A ADDICTION:-

Gaming is not a addiction it is a type of mental disorder.It leads to psychological problems like insomnia,lack of social interaction.By research a normal healthy person can play less than 5 hours per day.

RELIVE FROM GAMING ADDICTION:-

* Schedule your time for Playing games and follow it.

* Replace the video games with the outdoor games.

* Talk to your friends, family.

* uninstall your game from the mobile or computer.

The Inspiring Journey of CHM Piru Singh

The credo of Indian Military Academy – โ€˜ The safety, honour, and welfare of your country comes first, always and every time. The honour, comfort and safety of the man you command comes next. Your own ease, comfort & safety comes last, always and every time.โ€™ – is a mantra that every Indian soldier lives by. The commitment of a soldier to his duty and his sheer determination to fulfill it is something that sets him apart from the rest of the crowd. Company Havildar Major Piru Singh, the hero of battle of Darapari,ย  was no different.

Early Life

Piru Singh was born on 20th May 1918, in Rampura village, Churu, Rajasthan.He came from an agricultural family of the warrior clan of the Rajputs. His father Lal Singh and mother Tarawati Kanwar (Jarav Devi) had seven children – three boys and four girls – with Singh being the youngest. Even as a young boy, he loved outdoor life and had an aversion to restricted environments. Singh discontinued schooling at a young age. The rest of his childhood was spent helping his father in his farm. Right from his younger days he had an inclination to join the army. Despite being rejected twice, Singh never gave up and eventually got selected on his third attempt. He joined the British Indian Army coincidentally on his 18th birthday on 20th May 1936.

Military Life

On joining, Singh was initially assigned to the 10th Battalion of the 1st Punjab Regiment at Jhelum. After completion of his training, he was transferred to the 5th Battalion of the same regiment on 1st May 1937. Surprisingly, the boy who despised school and had no interest in studies had transformed into a committed soldier who took serious interest in education. He cleared the Indian Army Class Certificate of Education and a series of other army examinations and got promoted to the rank of lance Naik within a brief span. He served on the North-West Frontier during his tenure with the 5th Battalion of the 1st Punjab regiment. It took less than a year before he was promoted from Lance Naik to the rank of Naik. In September 1941, he was posted to the Punjab Regiment Centre at Jhelum, as an instructor.

Singh was also a wonderful sportsman and represented his regiment in basketball, hockey and cross-country running at the inter-regimental and national level championships. In February 1942, he was promoted to Havildar and later to the rank of Company Havildar Major in May 1945. Until October 1945, he served the army as an instructor. He was deployed to Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force after the Second World War, where he served until September 1947. By the time he returned from Japan, India had been partitioned and therefore the Indian army had undergone reorganization. Consequently CHM Piru Singh was transferred to the 6th Battalion of the Rajputana Rifles Regiment.

Battle of Darapari : Background

It was during this time around that the tensions between India and Pakistan were escalating, over the control of the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir. Eventually in October 1947, war broke out between the two countries.The Spring of 1948 was utilised, by the Indian Army, to rid the Kashmir valley of the infiltrators. General Thimayya, General Officer commanding Sri division, decided to launch the offensive with the main thrust along the Uri-Domel road by 161 Infantry Brigade under Brigadier L.P Sen. 163 Infantry Brigade under Brigadierย  Harbaksh Singh was detailed to carry out a divisionaryย  operation towards Tithwal from Handwara. To deal with the enemy forces around the Bagh area, the Poonch Brigade was assigned to carry out a battalion operation towards Bagh. In the third week of May, Dogarpur, Trehagam and Chokibal were captured and on 22nd May, Tithwal sector was captured by the Indian forces.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Pakistan, enraged by the setback in the Tithwal sector, launched repeated counter attacks and recaptured the village of Tithwal in the hills of Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistani raiders launched offensive strikes in this region and captured a ring contour on the 8th of July 1948. The enemy pushed to seize control over the positions across the river Kishanganga and the Indian Army was forced to vacate their forward positions across the river. In the wake of this setback , in order to strengthen the advance on the Tithwal sector, Piru Singhโ€™s unit – the 6th Battalion of Rajputana Rifles – was moved from Uri to Tithwal and was assigned to the 163rd Brigade. The unit took position on the Tithwal bridge. 

The attacks commenced on the 11th of July. The operation went on for four days till the 15th of July. However, according to the reconnaissance report, the Pakistanis were still in command of two strategically important positions. The capture of these two positions was essential for making any further advancement. The task of securing these two features was assigned to the 6th Rajputana Rifles. Two companies – Charlie ( C ) and Delta ( D ) – were assigned to the operation. The C company was in charge of securing the second position after the D company had captured the first.

Battle of Darapari : The Day of Action

The D Company, of which CHM Piru Singh was a part, was sent to capture the Darapari feature in Tithwal sector. Darapari is a hill feature located at an altitude of over 11000 feet. The path leading to the position held by the Pakistanis had deep ravines on either side and was just about one meter wide. According to the intelligence reports received, the battalion was told that the enemy had not had enough time to dig-in intensively and hence could be dislodged without much struggle. This however proved to be inaccurate. The narrow path through which the battalion was advancing was overlooked by five hidden Pakistani bunkers ,which gave the defending troops a clear advantage in terms of position. The time constraints restricted the battalion from having a proper reconnaissance of the enemy position. In order to take advantage of the darkness, the attack to secure Darapari was planned to take place after the moon had set and was launched at 01.30 a.m on the 18th of July. As the attack advanced, the company was subjected to heavy shelling and within a matter of about half an hour, the casualty count had reached to a whooping 51. The platoon commander Subedar Bhika Singh was hit. A sinking feeling of panic had swept over them and there was absolute chaos amidst the rest of the team. It was then that Piru Singh rose to the occasion and took charge of the team and led his platoon with a determination that not even the raging bullets from the rival MMG posts could waver. 

The enemy medium machine guns had been sited to cover all possible approaches. The platoon led by Singh was met with heavy firing from both flanks and a volley of grenades from the bunkers. Neither the murderous firing nor the fact that half of his platoon was either dead or wounded, could falter him. With the battle cry of โ€˜Raja Ramachandra ki Jaiโ€™, he rushed forward to crush the MMG post which was playing havoc with his troops. His exceptional leadership motivated the rest of the crew to follow their leader ferociously. With the curtain of grenades tearing through him, wounding him at several places, he continued to advance. He rushed to the MMG which was causing the maximum destruction and bayoneted the men on guard and occupied the post. 

By this time the rest of his men were either dead or wounded and he was the sole survivor of his company. Alone and injured, but with a never-say-die attitude, Singh inched forward to achieve the objective assigned. While advancing towards the second MMG post, a grenade was thrown at him, which wounded him in the face. Neither the blood dripping from his face nor an empty reserve of ammunition could kill his spirits. He crawled out of the trench, hurling grenades at the next enemy post and then jumped to the next trench bayonetting two Pakistani soldiers to death. As Singh emerged out of the trench to attack the third bunker, he was hit in the head by a bullet. Just before he succumbed to his injuries, he had managed to throw a grenade into the enemy trench, which did a perfect job of wiping off the enemies. CHM Piru Singh had thus bravely and selflessly completed his mission before he closed his eyes for the final time.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Param Vir Chakra

His act of bravery was witnessed by the commander of the C company, who was directing fire in support of the D company. Inspired by Singhโ€™s actions the rest of the company put up a ferocious fight and Darapari was captured against death defying odds. 

CHM Piru Singh was awarded the Param Vir Chakra for his single-handed bravery, exceptional leadership and extreme devotion to duty, posthumously. In remembrance of this brave soldier, his unit – 6 Rajputana Rifles – commemorates the Battle of Darapari every year. 

Every soldier has a story buried under his gravestone and Piru Singhโ€™s is that of his extreme courage, supreme sacrifice, exemplary leadership and above all his unconditional love for his motherland.

ONLINE EDUCATION:-

WHAT IS ONLINE EDUCATION:-

A classroom is method of using cell phones and computers to make teacher and student in connection.This method of education is popularized during the corona.

ONLINE EDUCATION IS EFFECTIVE:-

In my perception online education is not that much effective when compare to the offline classes.Because we started schooling in offline class,Immediate change in method is not acceptable.In offline class we can ask doubts.But in online classes some not get good network.

ADVANTAGES OF ONLINE EDUCATION:-

* It reduce financial costs for students in transportation,meals.

* we can feel more comfortable than offline class.

* Another advantage of online education is that it allows students to attend classes from any location of their choice.

* online lectures can be recorded, archived, and shared for future reference.

DISADVANTAGES OF ONLINE EDUCATION:-

* Little or no face-to-face interaction.

* In online education we have to see screen more time cause headache,damage eyes.

* Another disadvantage is some have network issues unable to ask questions.

* Online courses require more time than on-campus classes.

* Online courses may create a sense of isolation.

HOW WE CAN MAKE ONLINE EDUCATION EFFECTIVE:-

* By Creating shorter content.

* Assign group and pair work.

* Take care in setting up your home environment.

* By giving break or reducing time of class.

* By creating individual learning plans.

GANGA RIVER

GANGES

INTRODUCTION

The Ganges is the largest river in India with a profound religious significance. It is known by several names, including Jahnavi, Gange, Shubhra, Sapteshwari, Nikita, Bhagirathi, Alaknanda, and Vishnupadi. Nothing can match the ever-lasting divinity of the holy River Ganga; the sacred river is a true mother by all means.

HISTORY

Bhagiratha was a legendary king of the Ikshvaku dynasty. He brought the River Ganga to Earth from the heavens because only shecould bestow nirvana to Bhagirathaโ€™s ancestors who were cursed by Sage Kapila. After years of great penance, River Ganga descended on Earth and Lord Shiva agreed to channelize her flow. Therefore, River Ganga flowed from Lord Shivaโ€™s hair. The place where the sacred river originated is known as Gangotri in present times, and since the river originated from Lord Shivaโ€™s Jata (hair) it is also called Jatashankari.ย 

While flowing, the Ganga demolished the ashram of sage Jahna who became furious and stopped her movement. On Bhagirathโ€™s appeal, the sage freed her; therefore, Ganga is also called Jahnavi. The Ganga then reached sage Kapilโ€™s ashram, where Bhagirathโ€™s ancestors were burnt to ashes and liberated to rest in peace.

HOLY RIVER

The Ganga is the only river that flows from all the three worlds – Heaven/Swarga, Earth/Prithvi, and Hell/Patala. The person who has traveled to all three worlds is addressed as Tripathaga in the Sanskrit language. 

In Hinduism, the holy River Ganga is personified and personalized as the Goddess Ganga. The followers of the Hindu religion believe that bathing in the pious Ganga can help wash all sins. People also believe that a mere touch of the river can help attain moksha (salvation) and so the ashes of the dead are immersed in the sacred river.

THE GANGA AARTI

The famous Ganga Aarti takes place at twilight every day and is an incredibly moving ceremony. All the ghats are filled with the aroma of flowers and the fragrance of incense sticks. Several priests perform this ritual by carrying deepam and moving it up and down in a rhythmic tune of bhajans. Many Sodha Travelers have communicated that the Aarti was a profound highlight of their Indian experience, and we agree!

THE GANGA GHATS

ย A ghat is a series of steps that lead to the river, and Hindus believe that bathing in Ganga is truly auspicious and will wash away all sins. Travelers often visit these ghats to bathe and witness the funeral rites. A funeral ghat is a place where families gather to cremate the bodies of their loved ones. Later, their ashes are offered to the river. The Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi is a famous funeral ghat.ย 

“GANGA TO ME IS THE SYMBOL OF INDIA’S MEMORABLE PAST WHICH HAS BEEN FLOWING INTO PRESENT AND CONTINUES TO FLOW TOWARDS THE OCEAN OF THE FUTURE”

Innovation โ€“ A Favourable Change โ€” All About Everything.

The concept of Innovation was conceived in the era of the industrial revolution in the late 19th century. This revolution created a whole new space that demanded newer and more efficient ideas to potentially lead to better results. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Innovation proves the ability of human brains to find multiple ways of doing things through creativeย [โ€ฆ]

Innovation โ€“ A Favourable Change โ€” All About Everything.

Foods with preventive powers.

There are a lot of benefits some foods serve us. Like mustard contains manganese and phosphorus, which contribute to strong bones and teeth so help prevent osteoporosis. Many other foods have similar preventive powers such as:

See the source image

Asparagus for high blood pressure.

Image result for asparagus

Asparagus contains the natural diuretic asparagine, which helps your body get rid of excess salt and fluid. For people with oedema caused by high blood pressure, eating asparagus can be very helpful. Asparagus also has B-vitamins that help fight early cognitive decline and depression.

Onions For lung cancer

Image result for onion

Studies have found that dietary flavonoids that are found in onions, reduce risk of lung cancer. Onions may also help boost your good cholesterol.

Cheese for dental health.

Image result for cheese

The fat that is naturally present in cheese coats your teeth and acts like a natural barrier against bacteria. Cheese also contains caesin, a protein that provides protection.

Lemons and limes for kidney stones

Lemons and lime contain citric acid that helps reduce the excretion of calcium in urine so it prevents kidney stones from forming. Lemon rinds are also rich in a component called rutin, which helps strengthen the walls of the capillaries, potentially reducing the pain and severity of varicose veins.

Papayas for arthritis

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Papaya is an excellent source for vitamin C. Thus help prevent the ailment, if consumed regularly.

Beets for a better brain.

Beets produce nitric oxide, which helps blood flow throughout your body and brain. Which decreases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.

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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Environmental issues harmful to human beings, animals and plants.They are environmental issues like pollution, deforestation, climate change, Ozone depletion, waste management.

MAJOR TYPES OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:-

* Climate change

* Deforestation

* Ozone depletion

* Biodiversity Loss

* Acid rain

* Human overpopulation

* Global warming

CLIMATE CHANGE:-

Climate change is the long-term alteration of temperature and typical weather patterns in a place. It is both natural or artificial.But most of the it is because of humans.By burning of fossil fuels and natural gases like oil,coal which causes the release of green house gases leads to the alternation of climate.

DEFORESTATION:-

Deforestation is defined as removal of large amount of trees from forest and destroying agricultural lands for human deforestation is one of the major problem causes soil erosion,no rain, disturb water cycle and natural habitats.

OZONE DEPLETION:-

ozone depletion, gradual thinning of Earth’s ozone layer in the upper atmosphere caused by the release of chemical compounds containing gaseous chlorine or bromine from industry and other human activities.ozone depletion cause increase in uv radiation leads to skin cancer,eye cataracts,immune defeciency.It also affect plants growth and reduce agricultural productivity.In survey of 2020 17 percentage of ozone is destroyed.

BIODIVERSITY LOSS:-

Biodiversity loss includes the extinction of species worldwide, as well as the local reduction of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological biodiversity loss is caused by habitat loss, invasive species,ove exploitation, climate change and global warming.some example for biodiversity loss is extinction of plants and animals.Redicing rate of amphibians are some examples.

ACID RAIN:-

Acid rain, or acid deposition, is a broad term that includes any form of precipitation with acidic components, such as sulfuric or nitric acid that fall to the ground from the atmosphere in wet or dry forms.Acid rain is caused due to the chemical reaction with sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides introduced in air.It pollutes air and soil.It have impact on soil, freshwater cause killing aquatic life forms.It cause corrosion of steel structures.

HUMAN OVERPOPULATION:-

Human overpopulation means that human population becoming very large.It is mainly in developing countries like India,china . Human overpopulation is because of birth rate is higher than that of death rate.Human overpopulation leads toenvironmental issues, silently aggravating the forces behind global warming, environmental pollution, habitat loss, the sixth mass extinction, intensive farming practices and the consumption of finite natural resources.

GLOBAL WARMING:-

The excess heat in the atmosphere which causes the rise in temperature is called global warming.Global warming is mainly caused by climate change, industries and the green house gases.It is serious threat to life on earth in the forms of widespread flooding and extreme weather.Reduce water supply, Decrease agricultural yields , rise in temperature and drought.It is harmful to all living organisms in the earth.

“Earth is like a pressure cooker it controls itself only to limit If it exceeds everything is destroyed”.

THE IMPACT OF COVID 19 AND LOCKDOWN IN STUDENT’S LIFE

The WHO declared Covid 19 as a global pandemic on 11th March 2020. It is obvious that we all have been affected in an adverse manner. All parameters of society was unstable as a result of the outbreak of this pandemic. But the challenges faced by each individuals different according to their social status. For example, the digital age helped a lot of people to work during this pandemic. While some people tried to adopt to the current situation, through the advantage of technology, some other sections of the society was under a huge economic and mental stress. This stress even continues even after one year of the outbreak. The situation is similar with educational sector also. Students were largely affected by the pandemic as the government decided to temporarily close educational institutions in an attempt to reduce the spread of COVID 19. Even though online mode of education is provided by majority of educational institutions, there are many limitations to this mode.

Even though online education is significant during the pandemic, it has certain advantage and disadvantage. The major factor is the access to online study materials. Most of the students, especially college students use smartphones for accessing study materials. And the use of laptops and computers are less compared to smartphones. It is obvious that some students, who are from financially backward families, find it very difficult to access online study materials in time. And this adversely affects the consistency of their studies also. So the students who learn the given study materials on a regular basis are very less. Another problem faced by students during online classes is the connectivity issues. Many of them face connectivity issues, insufficient data and unfavorable environment. Even though online education permits students to sit in their comfortable environment at home, many students do not have suitable environment at home. Many families have more than one or two students at home and this is one of the reason for unfavorable environment and lack of privacy. And as per the result majority students go through mental stress.

Some educational institutions provide recorded classes to students, so that they can access them at their convenient time. And majority students prefer recorded classes than live classes so that their connectivity issues and insufficient data will not limit their learning.

While analyzing the impact of COVID 19, lockdown and online mode of education with respect to the life of students, it is evident that most of the students prefer offline education. It is good for learning, knowledge and mental health. Many students suffer from stress which is increased than pre covid times. More than learning offline classes helps the students to attain social skills by learning with their peers. To tackle this mental stress interactive counseling sessions with students, systematic scheduling of class hours and classwork will help.

Council raises GST on low-cost footwear, garments to 12%

In its first physical meeting in two years, the GST Council on Friday effected several long-pending tweaks in tax rates including an increase in the GST levied on footwear costing less than โ‚น1,000 as well as readymade garments and fabrics to 12% from 5%.



The new rates on these products, a decision on which had been deferred by the Council over the past year owing to the pandemicโ€™s impact on households, will come into effect from January 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

The Council approved a special composition scheme for brick kilns with a turnover threshold of โ‚น20 lakh, from April 1, 2022. Bricks would attract GST at the rate of 6% without input tax credits under the scheme, or 12% with input credits.

While this will please States like Uttar Pradesh that had sought a special scheme for brick kilns, a decision on extending such a scheme for other evasion-prone sectors like pan masala, gutkha and sand mining was put off.


The Council also decided to extend the concessional tax rates granted for COVID-19 medicines like Amphotericin B and Remdesivir till December 31, but similar sops offered by the Council at its last meeting in June for equipment like oxygen concentrators will expire on September 30.

The GST rate on seven more drugs useful for COVID-19 patients has been slashed till December 31 to 5% from 12%, including Itolizumab, Posaconazole and Favipiravir. The GST rate on Keytruda medicine for treatment of cancer has been reduced from 12% to 5%.

Life-saving drugs Zolgensma and Viltepso used in the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy, particularly for children, has been exempted from GST when imported for personal use. These medicines cost about โ‚น16 crore, Ms. Sitharaman said.

Food delivery tax shift:
The Council also decided to make food delivery apps like Swiggy and Zomato liable to collect and remit the taxes on food orders, as opposed to the current system where restaurants providing the food remit the tax.

Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj stressed this did not constitute a new or extra tax, just the tax that was payable by restaurants would now be paid by aggregators. Some restaurants were avoiding paying the GST even though it was billed to customers.

โ€œThe decision to make food aggregators pay tax on supplies made by restaurants from January 1, 2022, seems to have been done based on empirical data of under reporting by restaurants, despite having collected tax on supplies of food to customers,โ€ said Mahesh Jaising, Partner, Deloitte India.

โ€œThe impact on the end consumer is expected to be neutral where the restaurant is a registered one. For those supplies from unregistered, there could be a 5% GST going forward,โ€ he added.

Aircraft on lease:
The GST Council has exempted Integrated GST levied on import of aircraft on lease basis. This will help the aviation industry avoid double taxation, the Finance Minister said, and will also be granted for aircraft lessors who are located in Special Economic Zones.

Goods supplied at Indo-Bangladesh border haats have also been exempted from GST.

What are Carbon Markets ?



Carbon Markets: Carbon markets facilitate the trading of emission reductions. Such a market allows countries, or industries, to earn carbon credits for the emission reductions they make in excess of their targets. These carbon credits can be traded to the highest bidder in exchange of money. The buyers of carbon credits can show the emission reductions as their own and use them to meet their reduction targets. Carbon markets are considered a very important and effective instrument to reduce overall emissions.



A carbon market existed under Kyoto Protocol but is no longer there because the Protocol itself expired last year. A new market under Paris Agreement is yet to become functional. Developing countries like India, China or Brazil have large amounts of carbon credits left over because of the lack of demand as many countries abandoned their emission reduction targets. The developing countries wanted their unused carbon credits to be transitioned to the new market, something that the developed nations had been opposing on the grounds that the quality of these credits โ€” the question whether these credits represent actual emission reductions โ€” was a suspect. A deadlock over this had been holding up the finalisation of the rules and procedures of the Paris Agreement.


The Glasgow Pact has offered some reprieve to the developing nations. It has allowed these carbon credits to be used in meeting countriesโ€™ first NDC targets. These cannot be used for meeting targets in subsequent NDCs. That means, if a developed country wants to buy these credits to meet its own emission reduction targets, it can do so till 2025. Most countries have presented climate targets for 2025 in their first NDCs.

The resolution of the deadlock over carbon markets represents one of the major successes of COP26.

Achievements of the Glasgow Summit 2021




What was achieved?

Mitigation: The Glasgow agreement has emphasised that stronger action in the current decade was most critical to achieving the 1.5-degree target. Accordingly, it has:

1. Asked countries to strengthen their 2030 climate action plans, or NDCs (nationally-determined contributions), by next year.

2. Established a work programme to urgently scale-up mitigation ambition and implementation.

3. Decided to convene an annual meeting of ministers to raise ambition of 2030 climate actions.

4. Called for an annual synthesis report on what countries were doing.

5. Requested the UN Secretary General to convene a meeting of world leaders in 2023 to scale-up ambition of climate action.

6. Asked countries to make efforts to reduce usage of coal as a source of fuel, and abolish โ€œinefficientโ€ subsidies on fossil fuels
Has called for a phase-down of coal, and phase-out of fossil fuels. This is the first time that coal has been explicitly mentioned in any COP decision. It also led to big fracas at the end, with a group of countries led by India and China forcing an amendment to the word โ€œphase-outโ€ in relation to coal changed to โ€œphase-downโ€. The initial language on this provision was much more direct. It called on all parties to accelerate phase-out of coal and fossil fuel subsidies. It was watered down in subsequent drafts to read phase-out of โ€œunabatedโ€ coal power and โ€œinefficientโ€ fossil fuel subsidies. But even this was not liking to the developing countries who then got it changed to โ€œphase down unabated coal power and phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies while providing targeted support to the poorest and the most vulnerable in line with national circumstancesโ€ฆโ€. Despite the dilution, the inclusion of language on reduction of coal power is being seen as a significant movement forward.



Adaptation: Most of the countries, especially the smaller and poorer ones, and the small island states, consider adaptation to be the most important component of climate action. These countries, due to their lower capacities, are already facing the worst impacts of climate change, and require immediate money, technology and capacity building for their adaptation activities.

As such, the Glasgow Climate Pact has:

Asked the developed countries to at least double the money being provided for adaptation by 2025 from the 2019 levels. In 2019, about $15 billion was made available for adaptation that was less than 20 per cent of the total climate finance flows. Developing countries have been demanding that at least half of all climate finance should be directed towards adaptation efforts.


Created a two-year work programme to define a global goal on adaptation. The Paris Agreement has a global goal on mitigation โ€” reduce greenhouse gas emissions deep enough to keep the temperature rise within 2 degree Celsius of pre-industrial times. A similar global goal on adaptation has been missing, primarily because of the difficulty in defining such a target. Unlike mitigation efforts that bring global benefits, the benefits from adaptation are local or regional. There are no uniform global criteria against which adaptation targets can be set and measured. However, this has been a long-pending demand of developing countries and the Paris Agreement also asks for defining such a goal.



Finance: Every climate action has financial implications. It is now estimated that trillions of dollars are required every year to fund all the actions necessary to achieve the climate targets. But, money has been in short supply. Developed countries are under an obligation, due to their historical responsibility in emitting greenhouse gases, to provide finance and technology to the developing nations to help them deal with climate change. In 2009, developed countries had promised to mobilise at least $100 billion every year from 2020. This promise was reaffirmed during the Paris Agreement, which also asked the developed countries to scale up this amount from 2025. The 2020 deadline has long passed but the $100 billion promise has not been fulfilled. The developed nations have now said that they will arrange this amount by 2023.

What does the Glasgow Agreement say?

Following are the major observations of the Glasgow Summit :

1. A deal aimed at staving off dangerous climate change has been struck at the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

2. Expressed โ€œdeep regretsโ€ over the failure of the developed countries to deliver on their $100 billion promise. It has asked them to arrange this money urgently and in every year till 2025.

3. Initiated discussions on setting the new target for climate finance, beyond $100 billion for the post-2025 period.

4. Asked the developed countries to provide transparent information about the money they plan to provide.

5. Loss and Damage: The frequency of climate disasters has been rising rapidly, and many of these cause largescale devastation. The worst affected are the poor and small countries, and the island states. There is no institutional mechanism to compensate these nations for the losses, or provide them help in the form of relief and rehabilitation. The loss and damage provision in the Paris Agreement seeks to address that.


Introduced eight years ago in Warsaw, the provision hasnโ€™t received much attention at the COPs, mainly because it was seen as an effort requiring huge sums of money. However, the affected countries have been demanding some meaningful action on this front. Thanks to a push from many nations, substantive discussions on loss and damage could take place in Glasgow. One of the earlier drafts included a provision for setting up of a facility to coordinate loss and damage activities. However, the final agreement, which has acknowledged the problem and dealt with the subject at substantial length, has only established a โ€œdialogueโ€ to discuss arrangements for funding of such activities. This is being seen as a major let-down.

What are Carbon Markets ?

Glasgow Summit 2021



Carbon Markets: Carbon markets facilitate the trading of emission reductions. Such a market allows countries, or industries, to earn carbon credits for the emission reductions they make in excess of their targets. These carbon credits can be traded to the highest bidder in exchange of money. The buyers of carbon credits can show the emission reductions as their own and use them to meet their reduction targets. Carbon markets are considered a very important and effective instrument to reduce overall emissions.



A carbon market existed under Kyoto Protocol but is no longer there because the Protocol itself expired last year. A new market under Paris Agreement is yet to become functional. Developing countries like India, China or Brazil have large amounts of carbon credits left over because of the lack of demand as many countries abandoned their emission reduction targets. The developing countries wanted their unused carbon credits to be transitioned to the new market, something that the developed nations had been opposing on the grounds that the quality of these credits โ€” the question whether these credits represent actual emission reductions โ€” was a suspect. A deadlock over this had been holding up the finalisation of the rules and procedures of the Paris Agreement.


The Glasgow Pact has offered some reprieve to the developing nations. It has allowed these carbon credits to be used in meeting countriesโ€™ first NDC targets. These cannot be used for meeting targets in subsequent NDCs. That means, if a developed country wants to buy these credits to meet its own emission reduction targets, it can do so till 2025. Most countries have presented climate targets for 2025 in their first NDCs.

The resolution of the deadlock over carbon markets represents one of the major successes of COP26.

A MACBETHIAN ANALYSIS OF JOJI

Malayalam movies are getting wider audience attention since the development of OTT platforms. Even before that Malayalam film industry was also considered as one of the best industries among Indian film industries. Joji (2021) is one of such movie which gained worldwide attention through its plot, making and casting. This 2021 film was written by Shyam Pushkaran and directed by Dileesh Pothan. In the title itself the makers said it is ” inspired from Shakespeare’s Macbeth”.

The plot revolves around a wealthy family of three sons, their father , daughter in law and grandson Poppy in Kerala. Joji , the character played by Fahad Faasil is the youngest son of the family is the protagonist of the movie who has a negative shade. Joji along with his elder brothers Jomon and Jaison lead a submissive life under their dominating father Panachel Kuttappan. Bincy (Unnimaya Prasad) is the daughter in law of the family. Though the father of the family is old, he is fit and active in the family affairs. The elder sons aids him in agriculture and business, but Joji is financially dependent on the father and running unsuccessful ventures, where Bincy, wife of Jaison manages the household chores and is always in the kitchen. As the movie progresses Kuttappan meets with an accident while engaging in affairs in pond and become paralyzes. However Kuttappan returns home bed ridden and unable to speak. Joji was happy for this but his other brothers arrange for his last rites. But after a surgery the father’s condition gets improved. At this all both sons ask money from him for their ventures , but he rejects. Here, we can see that Bincy is the brain behind these actions by Joji and Jaison. Bincy shares her frustration and also triggers Joji by saying that ” your good days will be wasted on this kitchen slab”. Joji finally decides to kill the father. Then Joji replaces father’s daily medication, and this is witnessed by Bincy. Bincy and Jaison too secretly wishes for the death of their father. Finally the father, Kuttappan dies soon. After the death, Dr Felix, a family friend presides for the partition of the dead father’s estate. After this an encounter with an employer of the plantation results in the death of Jomon. This was also a murder by Joji. Over the next few days the family members finds that Joji is the killer of Jomon, but Joji denies the claim. Towards the end Joji attempts suicide by firing the same air gun he used for killing Jomon. In the suicide note left by Joji he blames the family members and society for all his acts. In the final scenes we can see that Joji survives in the hospital bed , while the police officer asks Joji to confess his crime by blinking his eyes, Joji forcefully does not blink and at this the movie comes to an end.

While analyzing Joji in the light of Macbeth, Joji can be identified as Macbeth, with his aim towards power. The tragic flaw of Macbeth was over ambition. Here Joji’s character also shows this same ambition and power and he needed independence from the dominating power of his father. Macbeth’s ambition began from the moment, when he witnessed and heard the witches. Their prediction was one of the reason for his change. In the same way Dr Felix addressed Joji as “rich” and this triggered Joji. Whereas the character of Bincy (Unnimaya) who is Joji’s sister in law, resembles all the characteristics of Lady Macbeth. By being a mute witness to Joji’s acts, she agrees to all his acts. While Joji longs for power and money, Bincy’s motive behind these acts are independence from the patriarchal family. Like Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, Joji and Bincy are the powerful characters who shares same dependence. Bincy clearly knows the state of mind of Joji. That’s why she says to Joji in his father’s funeral to “wear a mask and come”. Whereas other son Jomon is loyal to their father like Banquo, who was loyal to King Duncan, and in many ways Macbeth’s opposite.

After the murder Joji feels the same kind of frustration and confusion, which Macbeth felt. But on the other hand Bincy is portrayed as powerful than Joji. The dream of dead father, resembles Macbeth’s three apparitions and visions. His soliloquies in the closed room (Joji’s Palace) also resembles that of Macbeth’s. But he was not ready to reveal and confess his crime, that’s why he blamed the society for all his acts. There is a slight deviation in the characteristics of Joji from Macbeth. Macbeth is the one who always was the winner, and this made him greed. He believed that with his greatness in the battlefield he deserves the throne of Scotland. But on the other hand Joji is the one who is an engineering dropout, who doesn’t have any ambition, but only greed.

Towards the end Macbeth is stripped of “honor, love, obedience, troops of friends” and there is a kind of sympathy towards Macbeth in the end. But in this film, the police says to Joji that “you didn’t die, so it is trouble for you and us as well”. Even though Joji resembles the plot and narrative aspect of theatre, there are a lot of variations. With the praiseworthy performance of Fahad Fasil, Unnimaya, Sunny and other casts, Joji fits in the universe of Macbeth. Dileesh Pothan brilliantly fits Macbeth in the twenty first century universe with Joji’s palace. The music and cinematography makes this film a classic one.

Five terms that came up at the climate change conference in Glasgow 2021


The main task for COP26 was to finalise the rules and procedures for implementation of the Paris Agreement. Most of these rules had been finalised by 2018, but a few provisions, like the one relating to creation of new carbon markets, had remained unresolved.

After two weeks of negotiations with governments debating over provisions on phasing out coal, cutting greenhouse gas emissions and providing money to the poor world, the annual climate change summit came to an end on Saturday night with the adoption of a weaker-than-expected agreement called the Glasgow Climate Pact.



The Glasgow meeting was the 26th session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP26. The main task for COP26 was to finalise the rules and procedures for implementation of the Paris Agreement. Most of these rules had been finalised by 2018, but a few provisions, like the one relating to creation of new carbon markets, had remained unresolved. However, due to clear evidence of worsening of the climate crisis in the six years since the Paris Agreement was finalised, host country United Kingdom was keen to ensure that Glasgow, instead of becoming merely a โ€œproceduralโ€ COP, was a turning point in enhancing climate actions. The effort was to push for an agreement that could put the world on a 1.5 degree Celsius pathway, instead of the 2 degree Celsius trajectory which is the main objective of the Paris Agreement.

Positive news about Global Warming.

With increasing awareness and demand for drastic measure to avert the crisis of climate change. It might actually be possible to keep the impacts well below disastrous. The world is making progress in the right direction as we join hands and unite with agreements such as the Kyoto protocol, Paris agreements to a name a few.

Plant Based Meat.

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Although, the biggest culprit in global warming is deemed to be carbon dioxide. Other gases such as nitrous oxide and methane are a lot more potent and thus are a cause of major concern. Methane is largely released during livestock farming. As demand for meat has exponentially increased in the past years, it is without a doubt that if things went on the same as they are. The hope to keep temperature rise well below 2c will merely remain a dream. But with a new innovation of plant based meat. The turnover to eating largely plant based may not seem impossible. A faux meat – made entirely out of plant based ingredients- is intended to taste and look exactly like meat. It is believed that in 30 years or so, all meat and dairy will be replaced and only plant based products will triumph. These plant based substitutes have close to negligible carbon footprint and therefore, it is a sound solution.

Renewable Energy

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The demand for energy is ever on the rise. But this demand is being fulfilled mainly by renewable energy sources. In the past years, renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind turbines have been a lot cheaper to install than they used to be a decade ago. Thus, more and more countries are looking to utilize mainly renewable energy sources to fulfil their energy demands. India, also, has promised to increase share of renewable energy to 50% by the year 2030 in the conference held at Glasgow, COP26.

Afforestation.

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Deforestation of forests for farming, timber production etc alone contributes to about 15% of greenhouse gas emissions. The amount of trees cut has roughly doubled since the past decade and this a cause for major concern. But steps in the right direction are talking place. Countries like Brazil and Indonesia have invested money to fund agricultural subsidies. And with the efforts of China, India and South Korea alone have managed to sever close to 12 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Electric Cars

Electric cars have also been on the rise as a green solution to reducing pollution cause by cars. Countries have also announced future bans on fossil-fueled cars. Car companies like Jaguar, Volvo, Land rover are all looking to end production of fuel based cars.

There is a lot of hope that countries will follow through and estimated control will be very much possible. Green economic growth is the only long term goal.

THE TOP 6 COMPANIES WITH THE BEST CSR REPUTATION

By: Moksha Grover

Image credit: Relocation Africa Group

WHAT IS CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR)?

Its been six years of the advent of the Companies Act, of 2013 that obligated companies to contribute over a specific size and profitability, a portion of their profits or benefits towards societal development, discourses about corporate social responsibility, or CSR, is all over the place. There have been workshops, seminars, meetings, newspaper articles, and award distribution ceremonies galore on the matter.  Today, CSR has become an important aspect for all companies in contributing towards both, society as well as increasing the brand value reputation of the companies. As corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not compulsory, many companies might not prioritize it or engage in it. However, there are many companies ranging from middle-class companies to highly valued companies who have contributed a lot to CSR and continue to contribute, knowing its importance. The top 6 companies with the best CSR reputation are:

INFOSYS LIMITED

Image credit: Alamy

Infosys Limited is ranked as the top company in India, contributing the most towards CSR. Being an early adopter of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, its contributions to the environment and society have been key factors in the holistic growth of its business.

The company spent nearly Rs. 360 crores on various CSR schemes in the financial year 2019-20[1]. It has contributed to many covid relief works and among its main CSR initiatives in the financial year, 2019-20 were a 100-bed quarantine set up in Bengaluru in partnership with Narayana Health City, and another one which had 182 beds for COVID-19 patients for Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College & Research Institute[2]. This company has also established the Infosys foundation— a nonprofit nodal body aimed at contributing toward community and society development and betterment and also fulfilling its CSR commitments. Infosys Foundation has worked with many non-government organizations for implementing its projects. Highlights of the Foundationโ€™s interventions in the past include the introduction of Aarohan Social Innovation Awards, restoration of water bodies in Karnataka, enabling the pursuit of access and excellence in sports through the GoSports Foundation, and disaster relief efforts in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala[3].

Image credit: The CSR journal

The above graph shows CSR spending of Infosys Ltd. in the last 5 years[4]

ROLEX WATCH CO. LTD.

Image credit: prezi.com

Rolex has been on the top 10 list of the most reputable companies in the world for four consecutive years. Rolexโ€™s success is attributed to the authenticity and longevity of its charity work. By investing in and committing to long-term social enterprise projects, Rolex has an impressive record of over forty years of philanthropic work[5]. The Rolex Awards for Enterprise which were established to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Oyster Chronometer is a great example of CSR activity carried out by the company. All the individuals who demonstrate leadership and entrepreneurialism in the areas of technology, applied sciences, and the environment are presented with these awards. Since the inception of the Awards, 33,000 people from over 190 countries have applied, and 140 laureates have been selected[6]. These laureates have worked on projects benefitting millions of people in 60 countries across the globe[7]. Several initiatives under the Rolex Perpetual Planet have been taken up for upgrading our environment. These include watching over the Earthโ€™s blue heart, Heroes of the Oceans, and Paula Kahumbu: defending rights for elephants.

MAHINDRA AND MAHINDRA LTD.

Image credit: Avinash Chandra

Mahindra and Mahindra ltd. is known for its contributions to climate change and sustainable business practices. The company spent INR 93.50 crores on CSR initiatives during the financial year 2018-19[8]. The biggest CSR project for educating girls in India known as Nanhi Kali was conducted by Mr. Mahindra. This project provides free education to girls, who belong to low-income backgrounds and also empowers their families. The group works closely with non-profits like Naandi Foundation, which feeds over 1.3 million government school children every[9]. This project also encourages environment-friendly farming practices by working with many small farmers. Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. has also won the award for Indiaโ€™s best CSR project in the Environment and Sustainability category for its green initiative of project Hariyali, which aims at planting 1 million trees on Indiaโ€™s green cover every year. In the financial year 2019-20, Mahindra & Mahindra planted 1.32 million trees, taking the total tally to 17.93 million trees[10]. Of these, 10.78 million trees have been planted in the Araku Valley, which besides greening the environment, also provides livelihood support to tribal farmers growing coffee in the region[11]. The companyโ€™s other CSR projects include Mahindra Pride schools: a unique 90-day livelihood training program for youths from socially and financially disadvantaged communities, Integrated Watershed Management Programme, saving a life with safer roads, employee social options, and covid-19 releif[12].

Image credit: The CSR Journal

The above graph shows the CSR Spends of Mahindra and Mahindra Limited for the last five years.

WALT DISNEY COMPANY

Image credit: Money Inc

Considering the Walt Disney company CSR report, it can be said that it is well organized, and consistent, and is in connection with the global reporting initiative (GRI) too.  The company has contributed a lot towards renewable energy, workforce investment, community engagement, charitable giving, and diversity and inclusion. In the financial year of 2019-20, Disney brought online a massive 270-acre, 50+-megawatt solar facility onsite in Orlando, in collaboration with the Reedy Creek Improvement District and Origis Energy USA[13]. The facility generates enough power from the sun to operate two of the four theme parks at Walt Disney World annually[14]. This, along with other initiatives, helped to reduce the net emissions by 47% in FY19 from 2012 levels[15].

Disney has also donated a lot towards workforce investment, supporting the long-term career goals of its employees through education.

The company is investing $150 million over the first five years to cover 100% of employee tuition, books, and education fees[16].

Disney also gave $338.2 million in cash and in-kind donations to non-profit organizations that bring comfort, inspiration, and opportunity to kids, families, and communities around the world[17].

Image credit: Slideshare

COCA- COLA COMPANY

Image credit: India Frontline

Coca-Cola aims to create a sustainable and better future. For this, they follow various activities like Focusing on a World Without Waste, Maximising water conservation, reducing carbon footprint, etc.

In addition to this, all the countries where coca-cola has its market, have increased employment and helped to raise the standard of living which has, in turn, helped to strengthen the national economy.

The company has also launched its project known as the last mile, which aims to expand access to HIV and malaria medicines across Africa. The Coca-Cola Foundation recently awarded a $2 million grant to Project Last Mileโ€”$1 million for South Africa and $1 million for additional countries across the continentโ€”as part of the foundationโ€™s $20 million โ€œStop the Spreadโ€ fund[18]. An additional $500,000 grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation has supported COVAX, a program co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccine tests and treatments in the worldโ€™s poorest countries[19].

The company also aims at making all its packaging 100% recyclable and also reduce its carbon emissions 25% by 2030 from a 2015 base year[20]

Image credit: research-methodology.net

TATA CHEMICALS LTD.

Image credit: csrbox.org

The CSR model of Tata chemicals limited is very unique. Although the prescribed CSR for 2019-2020 was 21.39 Crores, the company went on to spend 37.81 crores on community development projects[21]. Tata Chemicals spends INR 12 crores on CSR annually, and wildlife conservation accounts for 30% of the budget of the TCSRD[22]. The company has also established the Tata Chemicals society for rural development. The companyโ€™s CSR agenda also focuses on empowerment, inclusionโ€”especially of women and socially backward communities, volunteering, technology, innovation, etc. At Okhai, the company provides sustainable livelihood to 900 rural women artisans by applying their traditional handicraft-making skills to create marketable products[23].

Blossom: Promotion and development of native handicrafts โ€ขEnhance: Overall enhancing the quality of life, Aspire: Education and vocational skill development, Conserve: Investment in Bio-diversity, natural resource, and climate change management leading to increase in environmental sustainability, Nurture: Health care, sanitary solutions, and safe drinking water are some of the other projects taken up by Tata chemicals ltd[24].

Image credit: Tata Chemicals

[1]  Kasmin Fernandes and Hency Thacker, โ€˜Top 100 companies in India for CSR in 2020โ€™, The CSR Journal (November 3,2020) < https://thecsrjournal.in/top-indian-companies-for-csr-in-2020/> accessed 18th October,2021

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4]  Hency Thacker, โ€˜The Ultimate Report on CSR of Infosys Limitedโ€™, The CSR Journal (May 18,2021) < https://thecsrjournal.in/infosys-csr-report-india-2020/> accessed 18th October,2021.

[5]  GivingForce Team, โ€˜Rolex: CSR Business Model Analysisโ€™, GivingForce (July 18, 2018) <https://www.givingforce.com/rolex-csr-business-model-analysis/ > accessed 18th October,2021

[6] Felix Scholz, โ€˜LIST: 5 times Rolex helped to make the world a better place (for more than just your wrist)โ€™, Time Tide (September 26,2016) < https://timeandtidewatches.com/list-5-ways-rolex-helped-change-the-world/> accessed 18th October,2021.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Kasmin Fernandes and Hency Thacker (n 1)

[9] Ibid.

[10]  Hency Thacker, โ€˜The Complete CSR Report of Mahindra and Mahindra Limitedโ€™, The CSR Journal (January 27, 2021)< https://thecsrjournal.in/mahindra-csr-corporate-social-responsibility-activities-report/ > accessed 18th October,2021.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Ibid.

[13] โ€˜Disney Publishes its 2019 Corporate Responsibility Reportโ€™, The Walt Disney Company (March 12,2020)< https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-publishes-its-2019-corporate-responsibility-report/ > accessed 18th October,2021.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Ibid.

[17] Ibid.

[18] โ€˜Iteration, for Good: How Project Last Mile is Supporting Covid-19 vaccine distribution in Africa and Beyondโ€™, The CocaCola Company (September 20,2021)< https://www.coca-colacompany.com/news/project-last-mile-covid-19-vaccine-distribution > accessed 18th October,2021.

[19] Ibid.

[20] โ€˜Sustainable Businessโ€™, The CocaCola Company <https://www.coca-colacompany.com/sustainable-business > accessed 18th October 2021

[21] Kasmin Fernandes and Hency Thacker (n 1)

[22] Ibid.

[23] Alka Talwar, โ€˜Championing CSRโ€™, Tata (March,2018) < https://www.tata.com/newsroom/alka-talwar-championingcsrtatagroup#:~:text=Tata%20Chemicals%20works%20closely%20with,technology%20and%20innovation%2C%20and%20volunteering.> accessed 18th October,2021

[24] Amit Khurana, โ€˜Indiaโ€™s Top 10 Companies for CSR Initiatives in 2018โ€™, Cross Barriers (November 8,2018)< https://crossbarriers.org/indias-top-companies-for-csr-initiatives-in-2018/ > accessed 18th October,2021.

BRIHADESWARARAR TEMPLE

The big temple, Thanjavur, Unesco classified monument. | Flickr
BRIHADEESWARAR TEMPLE

INTRODUCTION

Built by Raja Raja Chola I in 1010 AD,ย ย is an ancient temple at Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. The deity of the temple is Lord Shivaโ€”in his dancing poseโ€”who is called the Nataraj. The temple is also known as Rajeswara Temple, Rajarajeswaram and Periya Kovil. The temple was built, like a fortress on the shores of a river, by the king to grace the Chola Empire. This thousand-year-old temple is now part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site adding to its exceptional historical and cultural value.

FEATURES

The Big Temple of Tanjavore is a stunning monument that speaks oodles about the ย architectural mastery of the Chola era. ย This 212 ft (64.8 meter) towering Shiva temple is home to ย one of the largest Shiva Lingas of the country. ย A majestic Nandhi (bull), measuring a gigantic 19.4 โ€˜ x 8.23โ€™ x 12โ€™ (5.94 x 2.51 x 3.66 in meters) stands guard over the temple. ย This is the second largest ย Nandhi in India and is carved out of a single stone. ย Everything about this temple is big, majestic. ย No wonder it is referred ย as The Big Temple.

King Raja Raja Cholan had the main temple built completely with granite. ย It is hard to imagine how, in ย that age, more than 130,000 tones of granite was brought to the temple site, especially given that ย there is no granite quarry within a hundred kilometers of the temple site. ย Another stunning ย architectural feat is the Vimana / Shikhara – the spire atop the temple. ย The beautiful lotus shaped stone of ย the Big Temple weighs a stunning 80 tons. ย We can but marvel at the engineering mastermind who ย managed to hoist an 80 ton carved rock up a 212 feet tower back in the 11th century.

The chief architect of the temple was Kunjara Mallan Raja Raja Perunthachan. ย The layout of the ย temple is based on the principles of Vastu Shastra, the ancient Hindus science of architecture and ย construction and Agamas, the ancient scripts that define principles behind temple construction. ย The ย central temple site is surrounded by a rectangular boundary 885 โ€˜ x 450 โ€˜ (270 m by 140 m). ย The ย temple boundary holds many sub shrines besides the main temple and the Nandi.ย 

The niches on three sides of the temple hold images of Shiva, Vishnu and Durga. ย The southern wall ย has sculptures of Ganesha, Vishnu with his consorts Sridevi and Bhudevi, Lakshmi, a pair of ย Dvarapalas, Vishnu anugraha murti, Bhikshatana, Virabhadra, Dakshinamurti, Kalanta and Nataraja. ย  On the west side there are images of Harihara, Ardhanarishvara, a pair of dvarapalas and two ย Chandrasekharas, one with and the other without halo. ย On the north, in the lower series, the ย depiction of Adhanarisvara, Gangadhara, a pair of dvarapalas, Virabhadra (with a sword and a shield), ย Alingana Chandrasekhara, Siva holding a Sula (spear), a pair of dvarapalas, Sarasvati, ย Mahishasuramardini and Bhairava. ย The north series shows a number of Tripurantakas repeated in ย each niche. ย In the small circular space of the top niches are present the carvings of Ganesha, ย Vrishabavahana, Bhikshatana, Narasimha and Varaha.

Besides these, each wall of the temple and the surrounding architecture are filled to the brim with ย carvings and paintings depicting the rich history of art, culture, mythology and science of the era.

“IF HAD A TIME MACHINE ,I WOULD GO BACK 1000 YEARS FOR CHOLA PERIOD TO SEE HOW THEY BUILT A BRIHADEESWARAR TEMPLE(BIG TEMPLE)

SOLAR ECLIPSE

A solar eclipse occurs when a moon is directly between earth and sun. which fully or partially blocks sunlight.During this earth,moon and sun are in a alignment. Such alignment coincides with a new moon indicating the Moon is closest to the ecliptic plane.

TYPES OF SOLAR ECLIPSE:-

* Total eclipse

* Annular eclipse

* Hybrid eclipse

* Partial eclipse.

TOTAL ECLIPSE:-

A total eclipse occurs when the dark side of the Moon completely observe the bright light of the Sun.During total eclipse totality occurs at only in a narrow track on the surface of Earth. This narrow track is called the path of totality.

ANNULAR ECLIPSE:-

An annular eclipse occurs when the sun and moon are exactly in line with earth but one side of the moon is smaller than that of sun.so that region looks very bright.

HYBRID ECLIPSE:-

It is very rare type of eclipse shifts between the total eclipse and the annular eclipse.sometimes it appears as a total eclipse on other side it appears as annular eclipse.A hybrid eclipse occurs when the magnitude of an eclipse changes during the event from less to greater than one.

PARTIAL ECLIPSE:-

A partial eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are not exactly in alignment with the Earth. One partial side of the moon observe the bright light of the sun.The phenomenon is called partial eclipse.It seen most part of the earth.

HISTORICAL SOLAR ECLIPSE:-

The first appearance of a solar eclipse can be found in the Rig Veda, the oldest document from India dated to between 1700 and 1400 BC.

The longest solar eclipse in history is 6 minutes 53 seconds on July 11,1991.

IMPACT OF SOLAR ECLIPSE:-

When in total solar eclipse moon is between earth and the sun. It creates unusual weather conditions.It cause drop in temperature and lack of light.It have impact on weather, animals and plants.

Effect in plants

IMPACT ON HUMAN:-

Eye injury: Viewing the eclipse with naked eyes can damage your retina and even lead to blindness.

Digestive issue: The eclipse is believed to disturb the digestive system. For the reason, eating or drinking during the eclipse is to be avoided.

SAFETY MEASURES:-

Projecting the Sun through a box projector, or we can see using binoculars or telescope, or simply 2 pieces of card is a safe and easy way to view a solar eclipse.

Bio-diversity and climate change (Nature’s cries for assistance)

Bio diversity is the biological variability of life on earth. It is the variation of animal, plants, fungi and microorganisms like bacteria. Biodiversity is a variation in the genetic, species, and ecosystem level. Terrestrial biodiversity is usually greater near to the equator. Biodiversity is not equally distributed on earth. There are only 10% of tropical evergreen forests on earth but they contain about 90% of world species. Marine Biodiversity is greater is usually higher along the coast in western pacific where the sea temperature is highest. Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in hotspots and has been increasing through time. Biodiversity supports everything in nature that we need to survive: food, clean water, medicine, and shelter.

But as people put expanding weight on the planet, utilizing and devouring more assets than ever some time recently, we hazard disquieting the adjust of biological systems and losing biodiversity. Quick natural changes regularly cause mass terminations. More than 99.9 percent of all species that ever lived on Soil, producing to over five billion species, are evaluated to be terminated. In 2006, numerous species were formally classified as uncommon or imperiled or undermined; in addition, researchers have assessed that millions more species are at chance which have not been formally recognized. Approximately 40 percent of the 40,177 species surveyed utilizing the IUCN Ruddy List criteria are presently recorded as undermined with extinctionโ€”a add up to of 16,119.

The factors affecting the biodiversity are Residential & commercial development, Farming activities, Energy production & mining, Transportation & service corridors and human activities. Pollution is an another major cause of loss of biodiversity causing habitat destruction. Territory devastation has played a key part in terminations, particularly in connection to tropical woodland pulverization. Components contributing to living space misfortune incorporate: overconsumption, overpopulation, arrive utilize alter, deforestation, contamination (discuss contamination, water contamination, soil defilement) and worldwide warming or climate alter.

Climate change is the long-term alteration of temperature and normal climate designs in short. Climate alter might allude to a specific area or the planet as a entire. Climate alter may cause climate designs to be less unsurprising. These unforeseen climate designs can make it troublesome to preserve and develop crops in districts that depend on cultivating since anticipated temperature and rainfall levels can now not be depended on. Climate alter has too been associated with other harming climate occasions such as more visit and more seriously tropical storms, surges, deluges, and winter storms.

Effects of climate change are Hotter temperatures Nearly all land areas are seeing more hot days and heat waves; 2020 was one of the hottest years on record. Higher temperatures increase heat-related illnesses and can make it more difficult to work and move around. Wildfires start more easily and spread more rapidly when conditions are hotter. More extreme storms Changes in temperature cause changes in precipitation. This comes about in more extreme and visit storms. They cause flooding and avalanches, pulverizing homes and communities, and costing billions of dollars. Many more effects like Droughts, Rise in the level of oceans, shortage of food and more health problems.

Securing biodiversity could be a exceptionally complex errand since most of humanโ€™s activities have a negative impact on biological systems by overexploiting them. For occurrence, human exercises create contamination that influences living species. Deforestation crushes the living space of numerous animals, reptiles, and plants. Limiting deforestation Reducing the artificialization of natural environments and preserve natural areas as much as possible Reduce air pollution (by limiting our use of transport and our energy consumption, by switching to renewable energies) Fighting global warming by creating regulations for activities that contribute to the greenhouse effect. Making changes in the way industrial agriculture works and using more agroecology methods.

NATIONAL DONOR SABBATH

Donor Sabbath invites faith leaders to encourage organ donation โ€“ Jagwire
GIVE THANKS,GIVE LIFE

Each year, National Donor Sabbath is observed two weekends before Thanksgiving Day, from November 12 to November 14 this year. The concept behind this day is to unite the different people of different religions, while learning how to save a life by donating vital organs to those in need. America is a land of great diversity โ€” there are people from different races, backgrounds, and nations. There may be huge differences in their lifestyles and ideas, but one thing all these people have in common is belief in humanity or human kindness. National Donor Sabbath is a three-day observance of prayers, worship, and coming together of the leaders of different faiths to participate in services, programs, and initiatives. Time is taken to talk about the importance and public need of saving lives through organ and tissue donation. Organ donations transfers life to others via transplantation so that the recipient has the chance of a full, long life, free of diseased organs such as kidneys, hearts, and even eyes. These organs are donated by the families of loved ones who pass away in accidents and the like, with their organs intact, thus giving people with organ problems a second chance in life.

HISTORY

The National Donor Sabbath spreads awareness on the topic of organ donations. The concept of organ donations comes from a century old goal of healing patients and saving lives by transplanting organs from a donor to a recipient. Starting off as a minor side study pursuit, it soon began to expand as cases of people needing organ transplant started surfacing. In 1906, doctors were able to perform the first ever successful cornea transplant in a patient who was completely blind in one eye. This proved to be a major milestone in the history of organ transplant and paved the way for future transplant to happen. As medical advancements were made, doctors started performing effective transplants of lungs, liver, kidney, bone marrow and other vital organs from deceased donors.

By 1968, the first initiative to register donors and give them a donor card was made under the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. This led to the first-ever observance of the National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week, which is dedicated to spreading awareness of the need to donate the organs after death to save the lives of others. Soon, another act was passed by the Congress which made the sale and purchase of organs illegal in the U.S. This act was the National Organ Transplant Act. Organ donations are voluntary, free and usually based on decisions made to be a donor ahead of time, and communicated with family members or in the written last will of a person.

Finally, in 1997 as part of the national donation initiative, National Donor Sabbath was announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and since 1997 it has been celebrated every year when leaders of different faiths stand together to spread awareness about the campaign.

PATHWAY

THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL CORNEA TRANSPLANT – 1906

This is the first success story of organ transplant,which in future would pave the way for more successful and advanced transparent procedures.

ORGAN PROCUREMENT AGENCY IS FORMED – 1968

The organ procurement organization(OPO) is established in New England,Boston.

FIRST ORGAN AND TISSUE DONOR AWARENESS WEEK – 1983

Congress declares the first National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week, meant to spread awareness on the need of registering oneself as a donor.

NATIONAL ORGAN TRANSPLANT NETWORK – 1984

A system of Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (O.P.T.N.) is launched to make sure that the organs are being allocated fairly and to the people who need them.

NATIONAL DONOR SABBATH IS LAUNCHED – 1997

The theme of “GIVE THANKS.GIVE LIFE” is main focal point.

*******DONATING ORGANS IS A GESTURE OF LOVE*******

Hobbies. You can never have enough.

We all enjoy doing certain things in our free time. What you choose to do with you free time directly reflects on what kind of person you are. Your hobbies and interests define the kind of person you are and the personality you have. It is really good to pickup a new hobby.

Learn how to draw.

Drawing, for example is a great hobby to pick up. If you donโ€™t already, I suggest you start drawing. It doesnโ€™t matter whether you are good at it or not. Just draw. Drawing is a medium to express oneself. At first you might be bad at it. You might want to give up and abandon the drawing. But donโ€™t. Work on it, look at things more objectively and use your skills to figure out how to improve. In doing so you will be fully engaging your mind and learning how to draw better, practicing will make you feel more content. Enjoy the learning experience. It will take time but it will be fun. When you look back at how far youโ€™ve come. You will feel a sense of accomplishment and looking back at old drawing will be a lovely feeling.

Learn a new language

Learning a new language is of course difficult at first. But once you get into the flow of it and start leaning more and more vocabulary it becomes enjoyable just as fast. Being able to communicate with people of a foreign nation, appreciate their culture, art would make things a lot more interesting once you learn a new language. Thatโ€™s what adds spice to life. It is a great exercise for your brain as well, as it is challenging to properly converse in new language. Thus, you improve your memory and thinking skills.

Play a new instrument.

Image result for person playing the guitar

There are numerous benefits of picking up a new instrument. Not only does it increase your cognitive ability and mind-body coordination. It is also extremely fun. It makes you more creative and makes you appreciate other things even more. Learning a new instrument also improves memories. And it is also a pretty impressive skill to have. Learning how to play an instrument also requires patience and determination to excel at it. Which will teach you so many things once you start.

Joining a new sport.

Image result for person playing tennis

Sports as we know it is great for your physical health. Not only does it keep your body fit, but your mind too. As it requires strategizing and devising game plans in order to win. It is also a great way to socialize and meet other people. Collaborate and play with others. Occupying your free time with sports is immensely fun.

Pursuing a new hobby helps you cultivate curiosity, and engages your mind and keeps you happy. It also makes you a more interesting person. A lot of people usually give up when they donโ€™t do so well in the beginning. But if you can make it past the initial failure and work on improving, thatโ€™s where the fun begins. Besides no one has ever really gone far with just natural talent. A little effort is required in all domains of life. Thereโ€™s a lot to learn and a sea of options to pick from!

Social media marketing

What is social media marketing?

Social media marketing means selling or promoting the products of the company by using social media.For example social medias like Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest etc.

Uses of social media marketing:-

* It is used to sell or promote the products in the world level.

* With a strong social media strategy and the ability to create engaging content, marketers can engage their audience

* social media marketing allow people to get what they want.

EFFECTIVE TYPE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING:-

* Facebook advertising

* Twitter advertising

* Instagram advertising

* you tube advertising

* Pinterest advertising

* LinkedIn advertising.

BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING:-

* Grow your sales and your fanbase.

* Use customer generated content for ads (which perform better, too!).

* Better target new and regular customers so the waste can be reduced.

DISADVANTAGES OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING:-

* The main disadvantage of social media marketing is highly rely on ads.

* No direct interaction with the people to solve problems.

* One of main issue is security and privacy policy.Many of us can be faced.

CONCLUSION:-

There is no better marketing strategy for selling and promoting products than social media advertising. No other strategies can deliver consistent, scalable, quality leads and customers from day one that can supplement any promotional marketing.

Handling Criticism Like A Pro

Everyone of us, at some point in our lives, would have faced criticism in one form or the other (except of course if weโ€™ve chosen to shut ourselves up in a room and not attempt anything at all in life). It might be about anything – about what you have said or done or not done or the way you dress or about your work, the list just goes on. Criticism pops up everywhere. Itโ€™s as much a part and parcel of our lives as the air we breathe, and hence learning how to deal with it gracefully is an important life skill to have.

Is Criticism good for you ?

Criticism, wrapped up and delivered even in the best of the packaging, is not something that anybody actually enjoys. The instant reaction to it in most cases is to close ourselves up and get into defensive mode. So identifying whether itโ€™s constructive or destructive is a key step thatโ€™ll help you in figuring out whether it’s good or bad for you.

Photo by Liza Summer on Pexels.com

So, what exactly is Constructive and Destructive criticism ?

Constructive Criticism is a way of giving feedback with an intention of helping you improve yourself. It not just points out your mistakes and weaknesses, but also includes suggestions for improvement and the actions that need to be taken. It can be considered as that much needed reality check which we all need from time to time. 

Destructive Criticism on the other hand is given with the sole intention of tearing you down. The reasons for doing that may be many – jealousy, insecurities, ignorance, complexes, boredom etc. Here, instead of commenting on the actions of a person, the focus mainly is on attacking the person and pulling him down. The critic in this case, is not in the least interested in your well being or improvement.

So, as you might have figured out by now, constructive criticism more often than not, represents an opportunity. It helps you in identifying your weaknesses, which you might otherwise be unaware of and enables you to see things from a different perspective. Whereas destructive criticism is more or less an attempt by a person to let his steam off at the expense of others. 

How do you identify them ?

Honestly, when you are out there at the receiving end, identifying whether itโ€™s constructive or destructive would probably be the last thing on your mind. But before you pounce on your critic, just pause and take a deep breath. Wait, what ? Yes you read it right. Pause and take a deep breath (Remember, deep breath not an annoyed sigh ! You donโ€™t want to worsen the situation, do you ?) Let the emotions flow through you. Do not restrict it but also do not take it out on the other person.Itโ€™s not easy but itโ€™s definitely doable. If you find it hard to refrain yourself from blowing a fuse, excuse yourself and take some time out before responding. Setting your emotions aside and getting into a frame of mind where you are calm enough to analyse the situation rationally, is the most difficult but important step to take, while facing criticism. 

Once you have calmed yourself down, listen to the other person without interrupting. By listening, I meant active listening and not just nodding along while thinking about ways on how to attack the critic back. Allow the other person to share their thoughts and comments completely. While listening, focus on the content of the comment and not on the tone. Sometimes even the best intended criticisms may sound harsh or even worse, the most toxic comments may be presented in the most tactful manner. So itโ€™s very important that you detach the content from the tone.

At this point, you can try and  repeat back what you have heard and understood. Be careful to do that in a non aggressive tone. By repeating back, you are not only making sure that you arenโ€™t misinterpreting their comments, but also helping yourself understand the comment better. When you take a step back and remove yourself from the equation and focus just on the comment, chances are that you may be able to view it through a different lens. At this stage, by analysing it objectively, you will be able to figure out the intention behind it – whether you are actually being attacked or is it just your ego playing tricks on you.

If you are still confused, seek clarification. Break it down and  ask questions. When you are asking questions, do it with an open mind and not with an intention to prove the other person wrong. You can ask for specific examples to get better clarity on the issue raised or ask for suggestions on how the situation could have been handled differently. Be genuinely curious in finding the intention. If the critic actually means well, heโ€™ll be able to give you answers or suggestions or atleast give you valid and logical reasons to back his comment, which might help you to see things from the criticโ€™s perspective. Destructive criticism shatters under scrutiny – no logic, no reasons, nothing but just a set of toxic statements thrown at you with the sole intention of hurting your self-esteem and  pulling you down.

Photo by SHVETS production on Pexels.com

How to deal with criticism ?

So now that you have calmly analysed the issue and identified whether the criticism was meant to help you or to tear you down, itโ€™s time to take action. 

Okay, but before that, you may now take a moment to appreciate yourself for successfully pulling off the I-Can-Be-Calm-No-Matter-What version of you. A little bit of self appreciation always helps to put that vulnerable little child inside you in a better mood. 

Alright, now that you are slightly in a better mood, letโ€™s get to business. Letโ€™s say you have identified the criticism to be toxic, what do you think you should do next ?  Tell them that their points are baseless ? Make them understand that you are right and argue until you prove your point ? Or give them a taste of their own medicine and criticise them ? Well, the best course of action here would be to ignore. Ignore ? Seriously? But how can you just walk away when somebody is attacking you and challenging your self worth?   

Well, it might sound all philosophical and seem like something that only people roaming about with a halo around their heads can do. But trust me, it is the most logical thing to do,ย  given such a situation. Think about it, here is a person who is trying to derogate and destroy your self-esteem, confidence and reputation using some baseless and illogical set of arguments. Do you think if that person was logical enough he would have stooped to this level ? No matter what you do, understand that he has come with a closed mindset and a fixed agenda, that is,to insult you. Nothing you say or do is going to knock sense into that personโ€™s head. And moreover itโ€™s not even your responsibility to do that.Thereโ€™s no point in wasting your time and energy on such people, so just let it go. Politely excuse yourself, thank the person for the feedback and move on with your life.ย 

Now, letโ€™s come to constructive criticism. When you receive it, ask yourself โ€˜Does this align with my priorities ?โ€™ For example, you might be criticised for not making that perfect pasta or for being lousy at tennis. Ask yourself, does it really matter ? Is this really a priority in your life ? Well, depending upon your goals, it might or might not be. In any case it is important that you identify that. And if the suggestion doesnโ€™t align with your priorities, even though it is constructive, there is no point investing too much of your time in it. So, take note of it and ask for suggestions on how to improve, if you feel a need for that and move on.And hey, donโ€™t forget to thank your critic !

Now, what if it aligns with your priorities ? Then set your ego aside and  ask yourself – โ€˜Deep down, do I agree with what is being said ?โ€™  If you canโ€™t bring yourself to agree to it, respectfully disagree. Present your side of the story. Engage in a constructive discussion.Chances are that when you do it, the other person may understand your perspective or vice-versa.Either way itโ€™s a win-win. However, there are chances that you both might not come to a conclusion at all. Accept the fact that everyone is entitled to have their own opinions and perspectives and itโ€™s perfectly okay not to be on the same page always. So just agree to disagree and peacefully move on.

Finally, letโ€™s say that the little voice inside your head secretly agrees to all the charges that you are accused of. In that case, buckle up, itโ€™s time for action. If you find that there is truth in what the other person has said, then do not shy away from acknowledging it. Analyse the comment, deconstruct it and figure out what needs to be addressed and what measures need to be taken to learn and evolve from your mistakes. You may even take suggestions from your critic on the steps that need to be taken. Accepting your mistakes and learning from them is a great way to kick-start your journey of self improvement. 

Bottom Line

Criticism comes in all shapes and forms. Neither can you avoid it nor can you control the way others perceive you. The only thing you have control over is your attitude towards it and the way you choose to respond to it. It is important that you identify the intent behind it and take action accordingly. And depending on it, you can either use the criticism as a foundation to build a better future for yourself or choose to ignore it if itโ€™s not worthy of your time and energy. Having said that, I also want you to know that developing a positive attitude towards criticism is not something that comes easy. It takes time, patience and hell a lot of practice. So be gentle with yourself; take it one step at a time. And while you are at it, donโ€™t forget to acknowledge and celebrate even the smallest of your milestones. Good Luck !

Metaverse. Sounds interesting, but will it make real life less interesting?

What is metaverse?

Metaverse is a frictionless integration of various technological components that include virtual reality, as well as augmented reality and videos. All intended to create a digital world, which users can exist in. This allows the user to be almost anywhere they want, but of course, digitally.

Companies like Meta (formerly known as Facebook), Microsoft, Roblox, Epic Games and more are already looking into building this immersive experience and creating this digital world of tomorrow. As impressive as it sounds, to what extend does it stop being glorious and fascinating and only contribute to decay our society?

The metaverse brings us closer to the dystopian future weโ€™ve until now, only heard and read about. A world where users are free to create any identity they please through characters and virtual possessions. Making it easier to escape reality. ย It is highly possible that individuals will use this as a way to escape their real life, avoid the problems and emerge into a state of ignorance. They will want to completely immerse themselves in this virtual world as it much nicer than real life. It can distort our sense of reality. We will grow to become unable to perceive reality, lose the ability to talk to people and all in all, become lazy and unimaginative. Kill our creativity and lose our sense of curiosity to explore the real world and our openness to new experience. As we allow algorithms to do their magic, collect data and perfectly curate personalized suggestions for us. Basically, letting our past dictate our future. Users will gladly accept this false reality a third-party fabricates.

Itโ€™s also bound to make us more anxious, irritable and paranoid. We are already slaves to our devices. Indulging in a system that makes it even harder to step away from and have real-life interactions will only make us more miserable. Social isolation is inevitable, when one can create their own personalized individual bubble. It will create a vast divide.

โ€œYouโ€™ll be able to hang out with friends, work, play, learn, shop, create, and more. Itโ€™s not necessarily about spending more time online โ€” itโ€™s about making the time you do spend online more meaningful,โ€ โ€“ Meta

But? Whatโ€™s wrong with the way we already do those things? The only difference is true quality is snatched away and replaced by a sense of distorted glory.

Technological advancements are an integral part of our future and the reason for it is to make our lives easier, simpler, better. Of course, there are domains that benefit wonderfully by these advancements. For example, using VR for training pilots or using integrated virtual augmentation system to train the soldiers is a great economic and efficient way to tackle insurance of quality training. If used properly technology is a great tool. But it is just as easy to drown in itโ€™s quicksand.

SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE

INTRODUCTION

Subhash Chandra Bose
SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE

Subhash Chandra Bose is fondly remembered as one of the greatest freedom fighters of India, and popularly known by the name of ‘Netaji’ (Respected Leader). He was strongly influenced by Swami Vivekanandaโ€™s teachings, and also believed that the Bhagavad Gita was a great source of inspiration for the struggle against the British. Bose was an Indian nationalist, and a prominent figure of the Indian independence movement. He was superior head for Indian National Army during World War II. He always pitched for complete and unconditional independence of India from the British Rule.

CHILDHOOD

Subhash Chandra Bose was born to Prabhavati Devi and Janakinath Bose on January 23 in 1897 in Odisha. He took admission into the Protestant European School which was run by the Baptist Mission. He did B A in Philosophy from the Presidency College in Calcutta, and was later expelled for assaulting Professor for the latter’s anti-India remarks. After the incident, Bose was considered as one of the rebel-Indians.During his college days, he gradually developed nationalistic temperament, and became socially and politically aware.ย 

POLITICAL LIFE

18 Subhash Chandra Bose Books Which Prove Massively Impactful
THE GREAT FREEDOM FIGHTER

After a few years, Bose returned to India as he resigned from his civil service job in April 1921, and later joined the Indian National Congress to fight for the independence of India. Subhash Chandra Bose started the newspaper known as ‘Swaraj’, and took charge of publicity for the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee. In 1923, Bose was elected as the President of All India Youth Congress and as the Secretary of Bengal State Congress. He was also editor of the newspaper called ‘Forward’, founded by his mentor Chittaranjan Das, and he served as the CEO of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation. By December 1927, Bose was appointed as the General Secretary of the INC.

In November 1934, he wrote the first part of his book ‘The Indian Struggle’, which was about nationalism and India’s independence movement during 1920โ€“1934, but the British government banned the book. By 1938, he agreed to accept nomination as the Congress President, and presided over the Haripur session. However, due to his strong differences with Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, he resigned in 1939.

ROLE IN INDIAN INDEPENDENCE

S C Bose was always in favour of armed revolution in order to expel the Britishers from India. During the time when the Second World War took place, Bose form the Indian National Army (INA) with the help of the Imperial Japanese Army, and also founded an Indian Radio Station called ‘Azad Hind Radio’.

A few years later, he travelled to Japan, where more soldiers and civilians joined the INA. Even when faced with military reverses, Bose was able to maintain support for the Azad Hind movement. In Europe, S C Bose sought help from Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini for the liberation of India. Bose had struck an alliance with Japan and Germany as he felt that his presence in the East would help India in the freedom struggle against the British.

MEMORIAL

Bose was featured on the stamps in India from 1964, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2016 and 2018.Bose was also featured in โ‚น2 coin in 1996 and 1997,ย โ‚น 75 coinย in 2018and โ‚น125 coin in 2021. Netaji Subhash Chandra Boseย international Airport at Kolkata,ย Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Island, formerly Ross Island and many other institutions in India are named after him. On 23 August 2007,Japanese Prime ministerย visited the Subhas Chandra Bose memorial hallย inย Kolkata. Abe said to Bose’s family “The Japanese are deeply moved by Bose’s strong will to have led the Indian Independence Movementย from British rule. Netaji is a much respected name in Japan.

In 2021, theย Government of India declared 23 January as Parakram Divasย to commemorate the birth anniversary of Subhas Chandra Bose. Political party, Trinamool Congressย and the All India Forward Bloc demanded that the day should be observed asย DESHPREM Divas.

*****MY HERO IS SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE THIS ARTICLE IS DEDICATED TO YOU*****

JAI HIND” this slogan is said by Subhas Chandra Bose .

Srinagar designated a creative city by UNESCO

On November 8, 2021, UNESCO designated Srinagar a creative city. Srinagar became the sixth city after Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Varanasi, and Jaipur to achieve such distinction. With this, the capital city of Jammu and Kashmir has entered the club of 295 creative cities network across the world.

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network is a project launched by UNESCO in 2004 to โ€œpromote cooperation among cities which recognized creativity as a strategic factor in their urban developmentโ€. According to UNESCO, the cities designated as creative cities work together towards a common objective of โ€œplacing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international levelโ€.

On Monday, UNESCO designated 49 cities as part of the creative cities network. With this, the total number of creative cities in the world has reached 295 across 90 countries. The Srinagar city had applied in 2018 also but the application was rejected then.

UNESCO designates the creative cities in seven fields โ€” Craft, Folk Art, Media Arts, Film Design, Gastronomy, Literature, and Music. The Srinagar city has been designated the creative city in Crafts and Folk Arts โ€” the only second city in India in this category after Jaipur. While Mumbai has been honored in the film category, Chennai and Varanasi have been made part of UCCN for their music. Hyderabad is a UCCN city in the gastronomy category.

DONโ€™T QUIT-DONโ€™T STOP๏ฟผ

Do you know, What is the easiest thing to do in the world? Think a bit. What is the easiest thing to do? It is to say these two words,โ€I Quitโ€. A few decades ago. There was a young man, who saw a big dream. He wanted to climb, the worldโ€™s highest mountain. The mighty Mount Everest. Everyone told him, it cannot be done. It was impossible to climb Mount Everest. No human has never done it before. However, the young man was determined. His name was Edmund Hillary. And on 29 May 1953.. he achieved his dream. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first humans to reach the top of Mount Everest.People across the world, lauded their triumph. They both accomplished what was the earlier called as โ€˜impossibleโ€™. But what happened a few days later puzzled the newspapers. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay had taken 7 weeks to climb Mount Everest. But can you guess. How many weeks they took to climb down from the to pand return back to the base? They tookโ€ฆ 6 weeks? 5 weeks? Or 3 weeks?โ€NOโ€. They took only 3 days to return to their base camp. A 7-week journey while climbing up. Was done in mere days, while they were coming down. Few journalists were shocked.How is this possible? How they came back in just 3 days? Edmund Hillary repliedโ€ฆThe most important factor of him reaching the top and returning early, was not climbing. It was โ€œMOTIVATIONโ€.ย In his 7-week journey, here were days he felt scared. There were days, he doubted himself. He thought about, what others had told him before, How Everest was unconquerable. But, amidst all this internal turmoil. He did one simple thing. He kept himself motivated to keep on moving forward. Even with all self-doubts, and all the fears. He didnโ€™t stop. And once they reached the top, all the fears and doubts, went away, As their mission was now complete. While coming down, the journey which took 7 weeks to climb up was reduced to only 3 days not only because now they were climbing down,But also because, now they were climbing down without the burden of fears and doubts. They were climbing down without the burden of failure. In our lives, we also carry the burden of fear and self-doubt. That burden makes it harderโ€ฆ to continue.

That burden makes us want to say..โ€I Quitโ€.

But let me tell you one important fact from my own life experience. We often quit by justifying to ourselves, that there were obstacles, there were the problems and I had to quit. But the fact is, No obstacle has the power to stop you. No problem has the strength, to make you stop. Before leaving just remember , this simple life lesson.It is very easy to Quit anything. But real courage is when even after facing all the challenges you stand tall. Real courage is when even after facing failures again and again, you keep on trying harder. Real courage is ย when you DONโ€™T STOP moving ahead. Thatโ€™s real courage. So please.. DONโ€™T STOP.

โ€œOnly you can stop yourself. If you continue, you might fail or succeed. But if you stop, turn back from your goal you will fail 100 %.โ€

BREAK FREE FROM YOUR MIND

Far away, there was a village, A โ€œCURSEDโ€ย village. It was known to everyone that whoever will cross this village boundary will โ€œDIEโ€ย instantly. Generations passed, and no one crossed the boundary of the village. One day an innocent little boy mistakenly crossed the village boundary. His mother screamed at the sight of losing her beloved child. Hearing the scream all the villagers gathered at the spot and they were all SHOCKED. โ€œThere they saw the little boy was standing across the boundary and he was safe and smiling back at them. That was the moment, they all realized. There was no curse on the village.โ€ It was all a LIE. But in reality, there was one CURSE on their village. The curse, which made them FEAR the unknown. The CURSE which TRAPPED each of them inside the village. That curse was only in their MIND and Nowhere else. Your MIND is a symphony of thoughts. Your MIND is the valley of wonders. It can visualize your greatest dreams. It can conceive the greatest ideas and make the biggest discoveries. But sometimes, It also LIES to you. It scares you makes you afraid. Your mind tells you, you are wrong. Your mind tells you it cannot be done. It tells you, you are NOT GOOD ย enough. It tells you to STOP and quit. Your mind wants you, to not take any chances. To never try anything new. It tells you, you will FAIL if you will hurry. You will FAIL if you take action. Your mind DEMANDS you to take time. To achieve perfection, even before trying. You know one thing, Your mind is LYING all along. Not because it is our enemy. But because it is filled with fear. It is fearful of all failures that might come. It is fearful of what others might say. It is fearful that your hope and dreams shall be shattered. It wants to stop you from taking any action. Because if you donโ€™t act, you will never fail. It wants an existence without pain, grief, and failures. But whatโ€™s life without taking action towards your dream. Whatโ€™s life without tears and joy. Whatโ€™s life without its ups and downs.

ย So tell your mind NOT TO WORRY.ย Tell your mind to NOT TO SCARED. To NOT OVERTHINK your worst fears.ย โ€œJust take ACTION towards your goal and BREAK FREE from the clutches of your fearful mind. โ€œ

โ€œIf you spend too much time thinking about something.. youโ€™ll never be able to make it, a REALITY.โ€

A GLASS OF WATER๏ฟผ

Once upon a time, a psychologist was teaching stress management to the audience. She raised a cup of water and asked everyone. How heavy do you think this glass of water is? Expecting another half- full/half empty questions, The crowd gave various answers from 50 gm to 400 gms. But she said the absolute weight of the glass doesnโ€™t matter. It actually depends on how long I hold it. A minute wonโ€™t be a problem. After an hour, I might feel a dull ache. If I hold it a day, my arm would feel paralyzed. But, The weight of the water never changed the longer I hold , the heavier it felt. Then she said, the stresses and worries of our life are just like the cup of water.Think about them all day and youโ€™ll feel paralysed and helpless. Itโ€™s important to remember to let go of your stresses. Donโ€™t carry them for hours and days and months. Remember to put down the glass!

Moral:โ€Think about them for a while nothing happens. Think about them longer, it starts to hurt.โ€

A TRUE STORY OF A CARPENTER

Mr.Chris Myler, an elderly carpenter who was ready to retire. He told his employer of his plans to leave the house of building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoyed his extended family. He would miss the pay cheque each week but he wanted to retire. The employer was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favour. The carpenter agreed and started working on the last project of his life. Since it was his last project, he worked half-heartedly. He said goodbye to overtime. He did not consider to find the best cement mixture. He did not consider having a ย swimming pool in this project. He did not use quality wood for doors. The furniture was not good quality. The employer called the carpenter in his office and gave the keys of this newly built house to the carpenter saying, โ€œ This is my gift to you for your such a commendable service over 15 years. The carpenter was shocked. What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. So it is with us. We build our lives a day at a lime, often pulling less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock we realise we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently. But you cannot go back, you are the carpenter and every day you hammer a nail, place a board or erect a wall. Someone once said, โ€œ life is a do-it-yourself projectโ€. Your attitude and the choices you make today, help build the house you live in tomorrow. Therefore, build wisely!.

10 MINUTES TO START YOUR DAY RIGHT๏ฟผ

Unless you take risks. Nothing. Nelson Mandela said: โ€œ There is no passion to be found playing small, in settling for a life thatโ€™s less than the one youโ€™re capable of living. I am sure in your experiences in school in applying to college. In picking your major, in deciding what you want to do with life, people have told you to make sure you have something to โ€œfall back onโ€. Make sure you got something to fall back on, honey. But I never understood that concept have something to fall back on. If Iโ€™m going to fall, I donโ€™t want to fall back on anything except my faith. I want to fall forward. I figure at least this way Iโ€™ll see what Iโ€™m going to hit. Full forward, this is what I mean. Reggie Jackson struck out 2600 times in his career the most in the history of baseball. But you donโ€™t hear about the strikeouts. People remember the home runs. Fall forward. Thomas Edison conducted 1000 failed experiments. Did you know that, I didnโ€™t either because 1001 was the light bulb. Fall forward. Every failed experiment is one step closer to success. Itโ€™s good for you to go take your place in the world, have some ambition; have a vision; have a goal; have a strategy. Try to be a good person and not because itโ€™s your duty precisely because thatโ€™s the proper way to live. Weโ€™re in danger of undermining all of that. And itโ€™s not good for people. One of the things that Iโ€™ve really learned, for example, recently, is that learned to articulate better is that thereโ€™s a very tight relationship between aspiration and responsibility. So letโ€™s say, well, the first question might be do you need to aspire to something? An answer is, well, yes, because you have to do something. If you just sit there, youโ€™ll die. You canโ€™t just sit there. You have to go act out in the world. Ok, so act towards what? Well, thatโ€™s whatever your aspiration is. You have to have an aim. Ok, well, what should the aim be? Well, it should be something worth doing, letโ€™s say. Why do something that you donโ€™t feel is worth doing? What do you thinkโ€™s worth doing? Well, if you watch other people and you judge when theyโ€™re doing something worthwhile, usually judge them positively, if you see that theyโ€™re taking responsibility at least for themselves. What do you want to be completely useless so other people have to take care of you? Thatโ€™s pretty pathetic and may be you could get your act together. So youโ€™re taking care of yourself and your family and maybe you could even do better than that and your family and your community. I know Iโ€™ve gone on stage infront of 10000 people and I thought I should have more PowerPoint. I should have more reminders, and I just remember walking out and saying, Iโ€™m here to help rise these people up, to give them capabilities to change their life. Itโ€™s my vision, itโ€™s my goal. Itโ€™s my obligation to use my unique ability to just help these people and live for my heart. All I think is changing these peopleโ€™s lives. And when I got out there, I wasnโ€™t perfect on stage. I wasnโ€™t robotic and say the right things, and I didnโ€™t have the crisp, clear PowerPoint. But when I spoke from the heart, it overcame all of that and I get to be one of the best presenters wherever I go because I speak from the heart. Now you might say that, Deen thatโ€™s your unique ability and may be that is. But I know for you in life there are circumstances where you have to prepare. You have to do a PowerPoint, you have to do presentation and I want to tell you passion and from the heart. Always wins over over prepared and thinking from the head. Well, let me just ask you something right now in the crazy presidential race, the GOP race. You know, Ben Carson is probably the smartest guy when it comes to Booksmart out of the whole group. And I donโ€™t watch the news a lot, but I just read a lot. And somebody said this the other day and it just hit me. Someone said, Man, Ben Carson is probably the smartest guy in that GOP race thatโ€™s going on. Whatever Iโ€™m going to share my opinion. But you know that, the guy said when he was done, heโ€™s like, We all know the smartest guy never wins. And I was like, Wow, we all know that the smartest guy never wins. And what does that mean. And itโ€™s kind of what Iโ€™m sharing today. Iโ€™m not saying you shouldnโ€™t be smart. Iโ€™m sure, so many of you were probably way smarter than I am. But what I want to tell you is enthusiasm and passion and living from your heart. To me, one hundred percent of this time. Outweighs being over-prepared and robotic and trying to think what to say. I hope Iโ€™m getting the right message across today. Iโ€™ve had this question from so many people. How are you so easy to talk on camera on stage? And I never have a good answer, and I really fought through it. And thatโ€™s the answer. I am here right now doing this video for you because each week I want to delivery you a nugget that you can just place into your life and make a tiny shift towards a better life. So I donโ€™t need a teleprompter. I donโ€™t need a script. I come here and just want to deliver, and itโ€™s coming from your heart. Now I have practise. Iโ€™ve been on video for 15 years. Iโ€™ve been doing these for 7-8 years, and maybe thatโ€™s not what you do, but youโ€™re still going to have these circumstances where you have to talk to your children, talk to your owner, talk to your employees and talk to your employer. And if you get stuck in your head, thatโ€™s when you get worried. Thatโ€™s when you try to remember what to say and you leave and go, Oh, why did I say that? Or why didnโ€™t I say more? Well, if you can go in and say, Why am I going in and live with passion and have it come from your heart, then thatโ€™s truly you, and youโ€™re giving the answers youโ€™re supposed to do from the real you, not the facade that sometimes life makes us where. One of the challenges I think many people have is really the discernment of information. Itโ€™s really difficult to know whatโ€™s the truth anymore just because information is so accessible. And I used to say that in an age of information, ignorance is a choice. And now we have to confront a whole another level and that is the information that weโ€™re getting. It is actually supporting us or is it something that really is an incentive to to cause us to make choices? So for me, I think the biggest challenge has been ust really an awakening to what kind of information I want to expose myself to. And I think itโ€™s now more than ever a challenge for a lot of people in the world. You donโ€™t have to be perfect to inspire others. You can inspire people by how you deal with your imperfections. Donโ€™t feel that you have to have it all. Know it all to make an impact? You donโ€™t. You just need a soul full of desire and compassion, right? It was Martin Luther King who said, โ€œ You donโ€™t need a college degree to serve. You donโ€™t need to know how to fill a sentence to serve. All of you need is a heart full of soul, right? And a half and have compassion. Thatโ€™s all thatโ€™s needed. Thatโ€™s what we need to focus on. Letโ€™s not be limited by feeling. We need other resources apart from love and compassion to make an impact. Because we donโ€™t right? You actually donโ€™t need them. We are going to create a baseline for ourselves thatโ€™s based on intention. This is around 1989, when Iโ€™d read Gary Zuka book called The Seat of the Soul, and that book was life changing for me because in it, he talked about the power of intention and that cause and effect. What goes out comes back is determined by your intention. The energy of your intention is what determines your life. Most people donโ€™t think about their intention, they just think about what they want to do. Most people donโ€™t think about why they want to do it, but whatโ€™s going to come back to you? The energy thatโ€™s going to come back to you is the real why of why you did it. And so I then said to my producers, weโ€™re not going to do any shows that are intentional. So donโ€™t bring me an idea. Unless you have an intention for the show that you want the outcome to be, and weโ€™re going to strive to see if we can live up to our intentions. And so around the late 80โ€™s, we started a pre-show to talk about what the intention was. And then it polls show, after every single show to say, Did we fulfill that intention? And thatโ€™s about the time I realize this is bigger than me.

The Awe-Inspiring Journey of Captain Lakshmi

The era of Indian Independence Struggle is one of the most painful and shattering phases in the countryโ€™s history. But it was also a period which saw the emergence of some of the finest leaders of the country.

Captain Lakshmi Sehgal is one such leader who ardently fought for the freedom of India. At a time when most Indian women rarely stepped outside of their society approved roles, here was a woman who not only broke all the social conventions but also aced her roles as a firebrand revolutionary and a medical practitioner.

Source: thetalentedindian.com

Early Life

Born to a progressive family in Madras, to S.Swaminathan, a criminal lawyer at Madras High Court and A.V Ammukutty, a renowned social worker and activist, Lakshmi Sehgal aka Captain Lakshmi was an iron lady who dedicated her entire life to public service in various capacities. She wore many hats: she was the commander of Rani of Jhansi regiment – the all-women regiment of the Indian National Army, a doctor,  social activist and a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Right from her childhood, she never missed a chance to voice her opinions or rebel against the social evils. She came from a family of active Gandhi supporters who had strong nationalist leanings, so it was only natural that she was drawn into the ongoing freedom struggle.

Lakshmi Swaminathan to Captain Lakshmi – The Journey

In 1940, she left for Singapore, where she set up a clinic with a focus on making medical treatment and facilities available for people from all walks of life. Meanwhile, she also joined the Indian Independence League, formed by Rashbehari Bose. It was around this time, in 1942, that an army for Indian independence was formed by Captain Mohan Singh and a few other Indian war prisoners in Singapore. The army was slowly losing its initial momentum due to the lack of a firm commitment from the Japanese side regarding their participation in the war. It was the arrival of Subhash Chandra Bose which proved to be a real game changer for the Indian independence movement in Singapore.

Captain Lakshmi was one among the many who had gathered to listen to Bose while he addressed the crowd in 1943 at Singapore. He was keen on forming an army not only composed of Indian war prisoners but also of civilian Indians settled in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. He also wanted to create an all-women regiment.

Rani of Jhansi Regiment

The turning point in Lakshmi Sehgalโ€™s life came when she was asked by Netaji to form and lead the all-women regiment. Whether it was healing wounds or holding firearms, she always put her heart and soul into whatever she did. This young woman took charge and managed to mobilise around 25-30 women for the regiment. These were mostly second or third generation Indian women who had grown up in South East Asia, who were fighting for the freedom of their motherland that they hadnโ€™t even seen. Her ability to galvanize such a group of civilians, train them and form a regiment speaks volumes about her determination and charisma.That was the beginning of the Rani of Jhansi regiment and her life as Captain Lakshmi.

Source:edtimes.in

The INA marched to Burma in 1944, but before they could enter Imphal they had to beat a retreat and she, along with others, was captured by the British army. She was placed under house arrest in Burma and was later sent to India in 1946. 

She was a woman of mettle and nothing could ever dampen her spirits. She continued to fight for the freedom of the country once she was back in India and actively campaigned for the release and rehabilitation of the imprisoned INA personnel. Her fight for freedom continued even after the release of the war prisoners, including Col.Prem Kumar Sehgal, in March 1947. Later she got married to Col.Prem Kumar Sehgal and moved to Kanpur.

Later Life 

For a person as enthusiastic and passionate as her, every day was a new opportunity to serve her country and its people. She continued her medical practice in Kanpur and was actively involved in providing aid for the refugees pouring into the country following the partition.

In the early 1970s, through her daughter Subhashini who had joined CPI(M), it was brought to her attention the need for doctors and medical supplies for the refugees from  Bangladesh. She didnโ€™t have to think twice before packing up enough supplies, clothes and medicines and leaving for Calcutta to provide her service in the Bangladesh refugee camps along the border areas.Her ideologies were inherently communist, and hence, she joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in 1971 and represented the party in Rajya Sabha.

Source: penbugs.com

She never shied away from going out onto the streets of Kanpur during the anti-Sikh riots of 1984,  to confront the anti-Sikh mobs and to ensure the safety of the Sikhs and Sikh establishments near her clinic. She participated actively in the restoration of peace during the riots.

She was rightly called Captain Lakshmi for she was a born leader. Be it leading the campaigns and activities of the All India Democratic Womenโ€™s Association or the medical camps in Bhopal  following the Gas Tragedy, she conducted it all with ardent passion and dedication. 

Her charisma, dedication and undying spirit to fight for what she believes in were a few of the many reasons why she was selected jointly by all four leftist parties as the sole opponent of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam in the 2002 Presidential elections. In spite of knowing that her chances of winning are slim, she took that as a golden opportunity to scrutinise a political system that allowed the weeds of poverty and injustice to grow by feeding divisive and irrational thoughts to the society.

At an age when most people retired to the comforts of their homes,  she regularly treated patients at her clinic. Service to humanity was the motto of her life and she never let her age get in the way of service.

She was honoured with Padma Vibhushan in 1998 and was also bestowed with an honorary doctorate by Calicut University.

source:thebetterindia.com

Captain Lakshmi was one such person who was hard to box in by the conventions of the society. During the course of her entire life, which was only a couple of years short of a century, she had seen it all – the colonial rule, Indiaโ€™s struggle for independence and the post-independence nation building and transformation of the country. And through it all, she had been an active contributor to the society, who always positioned herself firmly on the side of the oppressed and needy. 

Captain Lakshmi passed away on 23rd July 2012 following a cardiac arrest, but not before leaving behind her a legacy of sheer will, compassion and valour, which continues to inspire thousands of people across the country.

A man called Ove: Review

A book beyond the principles of judgment and society, barring the barriers of age, this masterpiece will remold your soul towards the kvetches in your life. A man called Ove, Created and written miraculously by Fredrick Backman, is a thin but infinitely everlasting book that will always stay with you once you turn the last page. As described on the cover page, it is a story about a man called Ove, and the short but satisfactory chronicles of his life. Being a cranky curmudgeon, he has a big habit of floccinaucinihillipilliphication. Big word, isn’t it? Google it (secretly gushing). He basically thinks every new technological thing that he cannot understand is paltry. His neighbors, His friends, everyone thinks he is an old trout. Well, when you are always seen with disgust and disappointment searing in your eyes, you wouldn’t expect much. But if you get to know the man who is called ‘the sorehead’, there is something irresistibly beautiful about Ove.

The story starts with a pouty old man who is seen buying an IPad or at least trying to buy an IPad, with a ‘you just broke my most precious possession and now I am going to kill you’ look. At that moment, the bewitching chronicle takes its first step into a beautiful tale about love, lived and lost.

Ove is a man who believes in practicality. Inaccuracy. In reality. Having a mighty adoration for tools, he was a straightforward man with no tolerance for nonsense, contrasting opinions, or even a happy sunshiny personality. Even after all this, there were so many things about Ove that were magnificent and adorable. That man’s life was simply great, he was arrogant, but down to earth. A man with a heart too big.

You’ll only feel the inklings of dismay and somewhat a sigh as the right side of the gem grows thinner page by page. The words start to reach the deepest core of our hearts, the dark noir on the crisp paper seems like the only world to exist. This little infinite tale will make you laugh out loud, and cry till you can’t breathe. My heart goes out to the author who has created such a magical fable, such an everlasting magnet of love and appreciation. Thank you. Fredrick Backman. Well done. Overall, I recommend this book to you, and I will do it again and again. Believe me.

it is worth it.

About the author: L.M. Montgomery

the creator of thoughtful grins on little souls, the molder of a legend, the light of an eye-blinding ray of literature, Lucy Maud Montgomery, or better known as L.M Montgomery is one of THE most phenomenal and unparalleled authors I have ever known. the beauty of her writing is miraculous, the plot of her stories is out of this world. She is honestly my crush and will be lifelong. Bloomed into this world on the 30th of November, 1874 in the chilly town of Clifton to Clara Woolner Macneill Montgomery and  Hugh John Montgomery. Hardly had she reached her 2nd year in the world, when her mother, Clara, passed away suffering from Tuberculosis. Since then, she was lonesome and quiet. A blessed child, the seven-year-old lucy, moved to Prince Albert to lead her childhood with her grandparents, when she found her imaginary friends holding her hand, later, that time of her existence was credited as a development and expansion of her creativity. In 1887, the witty and bright lucy of 13, wrote in her diary that she had, quoting, “early dreams of future fame”, she didn’t know that fate took her ‘early dreams’ very seriously.

the year 1883 was spent with her attending the Prince of Wales college to get a teacher’s license, and slowly, her love for Prince Edward Island grew as she strolled solitarily through the tranquil and starry paths down the countryside. Remarkably extraordinary as she was, Lucy completed her two-year teaching program in one year, clearly a prodigy. After, she explored the fields of literature at Dalhousie University, Halifax, nova scotia.

A part of her life was spent teaching in various schools located in Prince Edward Island after she left dalhousie university. Though Not a fan of teaching, it lent her the time to write, a hobby she loved more than herself. The spree of resplendent writing began in the year 1887 when she started publishing her short creations in several newspapers and magazines. And look how it turned out, over a hundred stories were published and hence started her journey to endless fame and love.

A gorgeous beauty, she was known to own her ‘good looks’. Those good looks resulted in many love interests in Lucy’s life. At the blooming age of fourteen, a boy named Nate Lockhart gained her affection, In response, she got the same too. Their liking turned into a relationship, for lucy, the relationship meant merely a humourous and witty friendship. Unfortunately, the love between the two birds ended abruptly when she refused his proposal.

The year 1908 can be called THE BIG BREAK for Montgomery. It is the divine and holy year ANNE OF THE GREEN GABLES was published. No surprise an immediate success, by November 1909, It had accomplished more than 6 printings. Still alive in the shelves of bibliophiles and the history of literature, We can still feel each emotion throbbing through every page we turn in the book. Every sentence is magical, some parts of the story representing real circumstances in Montgomery’s life, it is partly fictional, The plot of it almost real. This light, funny, and beautiful story is the epitome of a relax read with fun and philosophical expressions. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll have a new perspective of seeing things. The readers can feel the author’s soul which is put into it.

So many years have passed, so many revolutions the earth has taken, and still, here I am, writing about this miraculous phenomenon whom we know as our beloved L.M Montgomery.

Remembering Savitri Khanolkar, The Designer of Param Vir Chakra

Param Vir Chakra is Indiaโ€™s highest gallantry award.From Major Somnath Sharma to Captain Vikram Batra, 21 brave hearts of the Indian Armed Forces have so far received the prestigious Param Vir Chakra award. When Major Somnath Sharma, the first recipient of this award, laid down his life while defending his motherland, this award actually did not exist. It was later, when India became a republic in 1950, that the award was introduced, but with effect from 15th August 1947.

Iโ€™m sure most of you might have heard about this award, but what many are unaware of is that Indiaโ€™s highest military decoration was designed by a Swiss-born woman Eve Yvonne Maday de Maros aka Savitri Bhai Khanolkar. 

Image source: dnaindia.com

Life as Eve Yvonne Maday de Maros

Eve was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland, to a Hungarian father Andre de Maday and a Russian mother Marthe Hentzelt, on the 20th of July 1913. She was raised by her father, after her motherโ€™s death. She spent her early childhood in Geneva. As a child, she loved nature and liked being outdoors. 

A turning point in her life was when in the winter of 1929, on a skiing holiday, she met Vikram Ramji Khanolkar, a young Indian Army cadet. Vikram, at that time was undergoing training at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and was holidaying in  Switzerland during a team break. The meeting was just the beginning of what later blossomed into a cross country love story. Neither Vikramโ€™s age nor her fatherโ€™s disapproval stopped her from pursuing her love. She moved to India a few years later and got married to the love of her life in 1932. She converted to Hinduism and adopted the name Savitri Bhai Khanolkar after moving to India.

Life as Savitri Khanolkar

Savitri Khanolkar was a European lady with an Indian soul. She loved everything about India and its culture, which made her cross-cultural transition rather smooth and comfortable. She picked up Hindi, Marathi and Sanskrit within a couple of years and could converse fluently in all the three. She was keenly interested in Indiaโ€™s history and culture and devoted herself to learning more about the countryโ€™s mythology, traditions and religious scriptures. She was a talented artist and made a series of paintings depicting the various ideals and principles of Vedanta and Hindu philosophy. She also wrote two books – ‘Sanskrit Dictionary of Names’ and ‘Saints of Maharashtra.’ Those who knew her personally described her as a warm and compassionate person with a great passion for the Hindu philosophy.

Maj General Vikram Khanolkar and Savitri Khanolkar | Image Source: indiatimes.com

Designer of Param Vir Chakra

After India became independent in 1947, especially in the light of the Indo-Pak war that had broken out, there was a pressing need to create new military honours and awards for independent India. Adjutant General Major General Hira Lal Atal had been assigned this responsibility. Major Atal hardly needed to think twice before choosing Savitri Bhai for the task. Her passion for Indian culture and Vedanta philosophy, talent as an artist  and her in-depth knowledge of the countryโ€™s ancient history and traditions made her an ideal candidate for the job. Her military association as an army wife was an added bonus. She was asked to design the Indian equivalent of the British Victoria Cross – the Param Vir Chakra.

Param Vir Chakra : Design Inspiration

Savitri Bhai took inspiration from Indiaโ€™s ancient puranic literature and legends to design the Param Vir Chakra medal.She selected Indraโ€™s weapon, the Vajra, which was made from the bones of Maharshi Dadhichi for the design. Maharshi Dadhichi was known for the ultimate sacrifice that he had made by giving up his body and thereby enabling the Gods to fashion the deadly weapon Vajra from his bones. The presence of Vajra in the medal is symbolic of the power and the selfless sacrifices of our legendary war heroes. 

The final design consisted of the National emblem embossed in the centre, surrounded by four replicas of the double Vajra imprinted on the medal face and the rear side had the words โ€˜Param Vir Chakraโ€™ inscribed both in English and Hindi, separated by Lotus flowers.The medal was cast in bronze and held by a purple ribbon.

Apart from the Param Vir Chakra, she also designed other gallantry medals including Ashok Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Vir Chakra and Shaurya Chakra.

Coincidentally, the first PVC recipient turned out to be Savitri Bhaiโ€™s future son-in-lawโ€™s brother, Major Somnath Sharma.

Image Source : twitter

Later life 

During the course of her life, Savitri Bhai always found time to engage in social work. She was a follower of Sri Ramakrishna and she immersed herself in numerous social activities through Ramakrishna Mission. She also worked for the welfare of Jawans and their families and refugees who had been displaced during partition. She lost her husband to a heart attack in 1952, after which she found solace in spirituality and retired to Ramakrishna Math.

The life of Savitri Bhai Khanolkar was truly a remarkable one. Be it joining the North India Flying Club or learning Indian classical dance and music or attending Patna university, she enjoyed every bit of her life as an Indian woman. She passed away on 26th November 1990, after leading a full life.

Things to know before taking up Mass Media and Communication courses.

Photo by Caleb Oquendo on Pexels.com

Letโ€™s begin by knowing what Mass Media or Mass Communication is. Mass media refers to the media technologies such as movies, songs, news, podcasts, advertisements and photos, that are utilized to carry information to the masses. 

Importance of Mass Media

This blog you are reading is helping you gain knowledge about Mass Media and communication. Hence this blog becomes a media technology and educating you in the field of Mass Media defines its importance. From applying for a job to reaching out to a friend on your phone, everything becomes a portion of Mass Media as they help users pass on information from one place to another or one person to another. 

Here are some advantages of Mass Media to highlight its importance. 

  • It becomes a voice for the voiceless: Mass Media provides every individual with an opportunity to practice their freedom of speech and spread their ideas among the world. YouTube is a great example of Mass Media. As a platform in this 21st century it helps both small and large creators publish their videos for everybody to watch. 
  • Enables widespread communication: Today, the world is often referred to as a global village. This is made possible due to several types of mass media technologies such as social media, internet, and other digital content. It helps governments, businesses and organizations to communicate with each other and stay connected. 
  • Diversifying culture: Mass Media helps in diversifying languages and cultures beyond its place of origin. A good internet connection and a mobile phone or a computer is all you need to learn a new language or gain knowledge about a new culture. You can even take a peek around the world without leaving your home. 

The Evolution of Mass Media

Mass Media can be traced back to the 800 AD which consisted of prehistoric arts, writings and some basic printing technology. The introduction of Gutenbergโ€™s printing press in the 1450s helped art and literature gain a wider reach among the people.The year 1605 witnessed the publishing of the first weekly newspaper in Antwerp, known as โ€˜Relationโ€™. This was followed by the inventions of radio and television in 1895 and 1925 respectively. Finally in 1990, the world wide web was introduced by Tim Berners Lee. 

The number of people benefiting from these media technologies witnessed a steady growth from a handful, to thousands, and millions with the introduction of newspapers, radios and televisions. Today, due to the internet, these numbers are reaching billions. In 2018, the number of  World Wide Webโ€™s users was estimated to be 4 billion. 

The 21st century has introduced the ability for even individuals to broadcast a customised message for thousands across the globe. You no longer need to be a part of some huge networking channel to do so. A good internet connection and a hand held device can do the job. 

The functions of Mass Media

Mass Media, in the form of writing, podcasting, and publishing, has a significant effect on the masses. Commercials on television, billboards and social media influence the audience into buying a product or availing a service. Hence companies across the world look for suitable mediums such as social media, blogs, forums, or video streaming platforms to convey their messages based on their businesses. Once they find the right mass media technology, they conduct campaigns to communicate their ideas. 

Majority of the companies today create and maintain their social media pages, maintain blog posts on their websites, and run advertisements on video streaming platforms to educate viewers about their products or to entertain them. These define the functionality of Mass Media. 

Courses in the field of Mass Media and communication

Photo by Redrecords u00a9ufe0f on Pexels.com

After addressing the โ€˜Whโ€™ questions of Mass Media, let us dive into the courses one can opt for in the field of Mass Media and communication. There are three kinds of courses available for aspiring students in the field of Mass Media and communication. Courses at undergraduate, postgraduate and diploma levels.

Both the course levels familiarise students both practically and theoretically in the field of Mass Media and Communication. 

Eligibility for courses in Mass Media and communication (UG PG) 

A student aspiring to seek admission in a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication course, he or she must fulfil some eligibility criterias. 

  • The applicant should have completed senior secondary schooling (10+2) from a recognized university. 
  • The applicant must have scored a minimum of 50% from the aggregate in their senior secondary schooling. 

Similarly, students aspiring for seeking admission in the Master of Arts in Mass Communication course must fulfil the following eligibility criterias. 

  • The applicant must have a Bachelorโ€™s degree in any stream from a recognized university. 
  • The applicant must have scored a minimum of 50% from the aggregates in their Bachelorโ€™s degree. 

Institutes may also require you to give an entrance exam to fulfil the admission process.

Hereโ€™s what you will learn from Mass Media and Communication courses

Courses in Mass Media helps you get acquainted with subjects such as Public Relations, Design and Graphics, Digital Media, Reporting and Editing for Print Media, Data Journalism, Photojournalism, Event Management, and Media Law and Ethics. The courses are inclusive of Computer based learning, Guest Lectures, Seminars, Workshops, Massive Open Online Courses, Individual and Group projects, and community based projects. 

Scope for Mass Media courses under employment prospect.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

With an increase in media technologies following new inventions and establishments such as Television Channels, Radio Stations, Advertising Agencies, PR Agencies, etc. Scope in this field is also parallely increasing. Here are some of the job profiles candidates can look out for upon completion of the course. 

  • Journalism
  • Public Relations
  • Advertising
  • Media Planner
  • Broadcasting and Production
  • Event Manager

Conclusion

Mass Media and Communication as a field in academics has a great scope in India and overseas. Freshers with expertise in specific areas and sufficient experience will be hired by prominent media companies for different job profiles. Individuals with good communication skills, writing proficiency, and passion for learning can pursue an undergraduate or a postgraduate course in Mass Media and Communication. 

References

Ritika Shrivastava, May 17, 2021 09:36 IST, shiksha.com

Akanksha Sirohi, July 15 2020, collegedekho.com

https://www.careers360.com/courses/mass-communication-course

THIS RACE CALLED LIFE๏ฟผ

Once upon a time, there was a young athletic boy hungry for success for whom winning was everything and success was measured just by winning. One day, the boy was preparing himself for a running competition in his small village, himself and two other young boys to compete. A large crowd had gathered to witness the sporting spectacle and a wise old man, upon hearing of the little boy, had travelled far to bear witness also. The race commenced, looking like a level heat at the finishing line, but sure enough the boy dug deep and called on his determination, strength and power. He took the winning line and was first. The crowd was ecstatic and cheered and waved at the boy. The wise man remained still and calm expressing no sentiment. The little boy, however felt proud and important. A second race was called, and two new young fit, challenges came forward, to run with the little boy. The race was started and sure enough the little boy came through and finished first once again. The crowd was ecstatic again and cheered and waved at the boy. The wise man remained still and calm again expressing no sentiment. The little boy, however felt proud and important. โ€œAnother race, another race!โ€ pleaded the little boy. The wise old man stepped forward and presented the little boy with two new challenges an elderly frail lady and a blind man. โ€œWhat is this?โ€, quizzed the little boy. โ€œThis is no raceโ€ he exclaimed. โ€œRace!โ€, said the wise man. The race was started and the boy was the only finisher, the other two challengers left standing at the starting line. The little boy was ecstatic, he raised his arms in delight. The crowd however were silent, showing no sentiment toward the little boy. โ€œWhat has happened? Why not do the people join in my success?โ€ he asked the wise old man. โ€œRace againโ€, replied the wise man, โ€œ this time, finish together, all three of you, finish togetherโ€ continued the wise man. The little boy thought a little stood in the middle of the blind man and the frail old lady, and then look the two challengers by the hand. The race began and the little boy walked slowly, ever so slowly, to the finishing line and crossed it. The crowd were ecstatic and cheered and waved at the boy. The wise man smiled, gently nodding his head. The little boy felt proud and important. โ€œold man, I understand not! Who are the crowd cheering for? Which one of us three?โ€ asked the little boy. The wise old man looked into the little boyโ€™s eyes, placing his hands on the boyโ€™s shoulders, and replied softly.

HOW TO DEVELOP SELF CONFIDENCEย 

Confidence isnโ€™t walking into a room thinking that youโ€™re better than anyone. Itโ€™s walking in knowing. That you donโ€™t want to COMPARE yourself to anyone. Comparing yourself to another person that isnโ€™t even in your system. Thereโ€™s no thought of comparisons. There is no competition with any other human. You are not below anyone thatโ€™s confidence. When you can get to the place in your life. Where comparison is dead. When you are good enough not to others. But to yourself that is confidence and you can be good enough right now. Because you are good right now. You might just need to change your mindset.โ€ CONFIDENCEย โ€œcan be developed in many ways. You can start with your physiology, your posture. If I asked you what a confident person looked like would you be able to tell me? Of course you would they look strong, sure of themselves. How are they standing? They are standing TALL. How are their shoulders? They are BACK, upright. They make eye contact their head is up, not down. Now a SHY or introverted person might say. Yeah, well thatโ€™s all good for outgoing people but I will never be confident. Anyone can develop confidence. Some might have to work on it harder than others because they have conditioned themselves into a lack of confidence for much of their life but anyone can develop confidence. Even the majority of shy people have moments where they arenโ€™t shy like around people they trust may be family, friends or their partner. Moments where they can be themselves fully. So the shyness is selective which means you can make confidence permanent. If you CONSCIOUSLY decide to be the person and do the things you do not just around those you trust the most, but all the time. Being confident doesnโ€™t mean you are LOUD. It isnโ€™t about being the one that has to be noticed. Iโ€™s the opposite, itโ€™s knowing youโ€™re great, without having to be seen. Itโ€™s the silent winner. Itโ€™s the humble champion. If you lack confidence, you can change. If you lack anything, YOU CAN CHANGE. You can be anything in life including radical personality change. IF you are COMMITTED to finding the answers. โ€œUNLOCK THE GREATEST VERSION OF YOURSELFโ€. Your true nature of confidence of pure positive energy. Unlock your authentic power today.

Major Somnath Sharma – The Hero of Battle of Badgam

The day November 3rd 2021, marked the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Badgam. This battle was one of the most prominent defensive encounters which took place at Badgam in Kashmir valley, between troops of the Indian Army and Pakistani tribal raiders, on the 3rd of November 1947.

On this occasion, letโ€™s take a look at the life of the legendary war hero, Major Somnath Sharma whose name has become synonymous with the Battle of Badgam. Major Sharma was martyred in action during the battle, while repulsing the infiltrators. He made history by becoming the first recipient of Param Vir Chakra, Indiaโ€™s highest military decoration, for his exemplary leadership and gallantry.

Early life

Major Somnath Sharma was born on 31st January 1923 at Dadh, Kangra (present day Himachal Pradesh).He was a second generation army officer. His father Amar Nath Sharma was an Army Medical Corps Officer and several of siblings have also served in the military services. His uncle Captain K. D Vasudeva, who had died during the Malayan Campaign in World War II, was also a great influence throughout his career.

Somnath, fondly called as Somi, and his brother, called as Tindy in the army circles, were sent  to Hampton Court Convent Mussoorie at a young age, as their father was sent to England for a medical course. The brothers then went on to pursue their studies together in Sherwood College, Nainital. Somnath was enrolled in Prince of Wales Royal Military College in Dehradun after his schooling. After passing out from there, he joined the Indian Military Academy, in 1941 but the military training program had to be stopped in between due to the World War.

Major Somnath Sharma. Source: Honourpoint

“The enemies are only 50 yards from us. We are heavily outnumbered. We are under devastating fire. I shall not withdraw an inch but will fight to our last man and our last round.”

Param Vir Chakra Citation

Military Life

After a rigorous training of 9 months, in February 1942, he was assigned to the 8th Battalion, 19th Hyderabad Regiment(which later came to be known as 4th Battalion, Kumaon Regiment), at the age of 19.

Arakan Campaign

Under the command of Col. K.S. Thimmayya, he saw action against the Japanese in Burma. Once during a deadly combat with Japan, when a saw a wounded Kumaoni soldier who was stranded on the field due to his injury, Somnath picked him up and carried him on his back through the Japanese shelling to a safe place. He was mentioned in dispatches for many such acts of bravery exhibited during the Arakan campaign.

Battle of Badgam

On the 22nd of October 1942 the Kashmir valley was invaded by Pakistan. In response to that, on 27th October 1942, a contingent of troops of the Indian army was airlifted to Srinagar. Around this time, Major Somnath Sharma had returned to India and was an adjutant in 4 Kumaon, where he had picked up his duty to ensure internal security of Punjab. That and his experience in working with the police and administration during the 1947 unrest, qualified him to be chosen as a commander of D company of the 4th Battalion of Kumaon Regiment. Somnath at this time, was recovering from an injury sustained previously on the hockey field and his left hand was still in plaster cast and hence initially, the commanding officer of 4th Battalion  Kumaon was hesitant in sending Somnath along with the troops, but ultimately had to give in to Somnathโ€™s persistence.On 31st October, D Company of 4 Kumaon Regiment was flown to Srinagar.

On November 3rd 1942, a batch of 3 companies – A and D company of 4 Kumaon, led by Major.Sharma and 1 Para Kumaon commanded by Captain Ronald Wood –  was deployed to Badgam to search for the infiltrators and stem their advance towards Srinagar. 

Major Somnathโ€™s company had taken position and dug trenches on a hill west of  the village and 1 Para Kumaon had positioned themselves  in the south east part of the village. According to the Majorโ€™s report, the village seemed calm and eerily quiet. Detecting no enemy movements, 1 Para Kumaon was instructed to take a round of the east and go back to the airbase in Srinagar. By around 2 p.m, A company was also removed from the field and D company was instructed to stay in position until 3 p.m. 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the border, the Lashkar, under the leadership of a Pakistani major was planning an attack on the Indian soldiers patrolling the area and was accumulating in small units, to avoid suspicion.

Half an hour after the withdrawal of A company, a group of villagers who had gathered around a nala (water body), began to move around and disperse in different directions. Little did the Kumaonis know that these were the infiltrators disguised as civilians with their weapons hidden inside their loose cloaks.The company was hence shocked when firing commenced from the houses in the village. In order not to endanger the lives of innocent civilians, counter-fire was not ordered. While Major Sharma was reporting the changed situation in the village, a large group of around 700 odd raiders barged in and surrounded the company from three sides. The enemy opened heavy mortar fire on the company.

The company suffered heavy casualties from the attack and were vastly outnumbered by a ratio 7:1. Realising that the city of Srinagar and the airfield would be vulnerable if they failed to engage the raiders, Major Sharma held onto his position and urged his men to fight tenaciously. Even when he knew that his company wouldnโ€™t be able to stop the enemy for long, he and men fought ferociously. It was a real challenge to keep up the spirits of his men alive in the given circumstances. This is when he displayed his exemplary leadership skills by rushing from one post to another boosting the teamโ€™s morale and motivating them to put up a brave defense. He laid out panels to guide the Indian aircrafts, which were coming for their aid, to the enemy targets. On realising that his companyโ€™s firing power had been adversely affected as a result of the heavy casualties suffered, he took up the task of filling the magazines and issuing them to his men operating on light machine guns. While he was at it, a mortar shell exploded on a pile of ammunition right next to him, leading to his death.

His exceptional courage set an example for his men, who continued to fight even after his death with all the vigour that they had. However, by the time reinforcements arrived, the company had suffered severe damage including the death of Major Somnath Sharma, one Junior Commissioned Officer and 20 other soldiers. Sharmaโ€™s company was successful in inflicting much heavier losses on the enemy. The raiders had lost over 200 men and their leader had been incapacitated, which resulted in their movement losing its momentum. The fierce resistance of Sharmaโ€™s company delayed the enemy for 6 crucial hours, thus giving the Indian Air Force enough time to get into position and thus preventing the infiltrators from gaining the airfield.ย 

For his exceptional valour, exemplary leadership and supreme sacrifice, Major Somnath Sharma was awarded the Param Vir Chakra posthumously, on June 21st 1950.

On the 75th โ€˜Battle of Badgam Dayโ€™, November 3rd 2021, the Indian Army paid tribute to this brave son of India who laid down his life to defend his motherland.

THINK LIKE A BILLIONARE

โ€œIf you follow the crowd, you will certainly be lost in it. If you think like everyone, how will you create your own identityโ€. Why many entrepreneurs get confined to just a street corner? And why only a few, move ahead to create massive business empires? There is only one difference between these two groups. โ€œThe difference is thinking!โ€. Thinking has the power, to transform a blank page into a new invention. Thinking has the power to transform a blank page into the night sky.So stop blaming your luck or destiny.ย Business is a race where winning companies are miles ahead. But still, there is a strategy that can defeat these masters of business. This strategy is taught at Stanford, Harvard, IIMโ€™s. If you can master this strategy, success will certainly follow you. Business is not just a ladder of success, it is also a bed of thorns. No new restaurant can beat McDonaldโ€™s 65 years of experience. No new IT company can compete with the 52 year old TCS.ย There is only one chance for these new companies to succeed. Instead of competing, the new company can make the competition irrelevant. Do something that you will change the rules of business. In the mobile network industry, there is a long queue of salesman to get every new customer. In the same industry, Jio adopted the strategy of Business Model Transformation. Jio changed the rules of the mobile network industry. Where other mobile networks were focussed on phone calls. Jio came and made the whole story about Internet Data. By bringing transformational change in the industry, If you also want to create transformational change, donโ€™t think what business you will do. Rather think, how can you transform the whole industry, iTunes transformed the music industry. Netflix brought changes in the television and film industry. As time changes every moment. Evry industry can also be changed, just changemakers are required. Transforming the industry can be very easy and the most difficult just find out the unfulfilled needs of the customers, and fulfill them. The need to get an instant taxi was fulfilled by Uber. The need to shop at home was fulfilled by Amazon. Similarly, in every product round you. There is a possibility of new business. Just open your eyes. Donโ€™t participate in the competition. Create something new. Because on a crowded street, you will never reach far. Move ahead in the path, which no one has chosen. In the end, this new path will make you reach the pinnacle of success. Therefore, think different from the rest. People who think differently from the crowd Make History.

โ€œWinners donโ€™t cry and give in to the fateโ€.

START BELIEVING- IT HAPPENS FOR THE BEST

Once upon a time there were two college friends they formed a new company and soon their business started growing but both of them had other plans they wanted to study, travel and not spend the rest of their lives running a business one day they approached a big company and asked for one million dollars to sell their successful startup that big company was not interested they simply said no later the friends approached other companies but all of them declined the friends felt sad they thought why their wish is not coming true they just want to sell their venture and start a new life but they were unaware that destiny had already made other plans for them later they both continued running their business and with each passing year the company kept on growing bigger and bigger their business reached every part of the world now after two decades the company which they failed to sell for one million dollars is now worth over one trillion dollars we all know their company as โ€œGOOGLEโ€.ย In your life you always make plans, you always make goals, you desire some things to happen as per your wish but sometimes itโ€™s better if your wish does not come true because there might be something better coming your way something better beyond your imagination.That reason causes a change ย in youโ€ sometimes this change hurts sometimes,this change will make you cry,but do remember in the end;this change will make you stronger, this change will make you move forward,this change will make you grow in life,this change has the power to make you rich and this change has the power to make your dreams come true.โ€

Therefore whatever happens  in life do remember itโ€™s all for the best.  

โ€œBecause in life-Everything happens for a reasonโ€

Delhi: JNU VC made appointments โ€˜without authority’.

HC restrains chairpersons from taking major decisions.


The division bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher and Justice Talwant Singh said that the power to appoint chairpersons is expressly conferred upon the executive council and not the vice-chancellor. Rejecting the varsityโ€™s argument that the VC had exercised the powers under Statue 4(5) of the Statute of the university, the court said that the VC can exercise such powers only when immediate action is required โ€œon account of emergent situationโ€, which then is reported to the concerned authority for obtaining its approval.

Observing that Sood had objected to the agenda for the 296th meeting of the executive council and informed the latter that the appointments made by the VC are flawed, the court said therefore prima facie the authorities were put to notice that the course on which they were proceeding was perhaps not the correct one.


โ€œDespite this, respondent no.2 (VC), it appears, went on to appoint the Chairpersons of the concerned Centres/Special Centres,โ€ reads the order.

The division bench also noted a submission made by Soodโ€™s counsel Abhik Chimni that after a single bench of the high court refused to stay the nine appointments made by the VC, he went ahead with the appointment of another person as chairperson of Centre of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Latin American Studies/School of Language, Literature & Cultural Studies on October 08, again exercising the emergency powers vested in him.

Observing that the vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is not vested with the power to appoint chairpersons of centres, the Delhi High Court has restrained the nine chairpersons appointed by Prof M Jagadesh Kumar from taking any major decisions, including those relating to the convening of selection committees or carrying out selections concerning the centres or special centres.

The division bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher and Justice Talwant Singh said that the power to appoint chairpersons is expressly conferred upon the executive council and not the VC.


โ€œTherefore, prima facie, respondent no.2 could not have exercised the power to appoint Chairpersons of Centres/Special Centres,โ€ said the court, adding that the appointments made by the VC prima facie are without authority.

The court was hearing a matter relating to the appointment of professors as chairpersons of the centres or special centres by the VC. Professor Atul Sood has approached the court with a petition challenging the approval granted by the executive council to the nine appointments made by the VC. It has been argued before the court that the appointments cannot emanate from the VC.

Written by: Ananya Kaushal

JOB CHARACTERISTIC MODEL

In the 1960’s, a research conducted by industrial psychologists and management theorists stated that repetitive tasks given to employees were leading to demotivation in them and the mundane technique of production line work was resulting in lesser productivity among the workforce. Hackman and Oldham, designed a corporate psychology model named – The Job Characteristics Model, based on this research. These two psychologists proclaimed that job tasks are itself a motivation for the employees. Their theory also approved the fact that, monotonous job work causes dissatisfaction among people, whereas a challenging job enhances motivation. The Job Characteristics Model incorporates five core constituents – Skill Variety, Task Identity, Task Significance, Autonomy and Feedback.

  • SKILL VARIETY – It incorporates questions related to, job variety, if the job is challenging enough and whether the job profile monotonous and too easy for the employee. Generally, an employee does perceive a benefit if he/she gets a job profile consisting of various skills sets. A variety in skills at a workplace helps one to work better, learn more, create a happier corporate environment and also encourages one to get creative while tackling different situations.

For Instance – A construction site painter has a lesser skill variety than a corporate event planner who regularly gets in touch with new people, plans and executes several events.

  • TASK IDENTITY – Being able to identify with the work given and taking pride in outcome of the work completed, is essential to build a satisfied employee. Rather than constantly rendering employees with a single portion of a project, allowing them to handle the entire project, results in a happier employee. The degree of noticeable work completed by a single employee and him being identified by it, is an essential component of Task Identity.

For Instance – The Aston Martin cars designed by Ford Motors in England, has its every engine handmade and autographed by a single craftsman after 16 weeks of completion of the model.

  • TASK SIGNIFICANCE – It refers to the degree to which a worker feels his/her job contributes to the overall efforts of the organization and to the world at large. The workers perceive their job as meaningful when the significance of the task performed by them is high and vice versa. Research explains how increasing task significance is connected to enhancement of job performance.

For Instance – A web designer who curates a corporate web profile for XYZ firm single handedly, experiences a greater task significance than a worker working in a product assembly line.

  • AUTONOMY – It is associated with the freedom that a worker gets in an organization. The independence to plan the workday and set up new procedures that one would like to follow, increases the sense of responsibility in employee, which in turn contributes to a greater motivational force. Allowing the employees to decide their pace of work, order of task completion or even letting them have a greater control over their tasks encourages them to work better. So, as long as the standards of work are met and the work gets completed within the stipulated period of time, it is upto the individual employee to decide how the work can be carried out.

For Instance – The firm ‘Google’ is known for the autonomy that it provides to the staff. This has helped them to foster a happier work environment by ensuring that the staff feels valued.

  • FEEDBACK – It is a constructive method to ensure a steady development in the work. Effective feedback given by seniors is essential for employees to understand their current level of performance, provides a sense of engagement and activity and lets them know what can be done by them to reach a higher level. It helps promote positive changes, set new bars for the team, and gives an individual an overall realistic view of the happenings in the firm.

For Instance – Employing Positive, Negative or Corrective forms of feedback is said to create a clear and honest flow of communication between various levels of employees.

Several companies face the issues of employee absenteeism, higher rates of employee turnover, late marks and at times lower levels of employee productivity. The only modus operandi of tackling these issues is – ‘Employee Satisfaction’. Job Satisfaction helps the employees to work passionately, deliver their level best and stick to the organization even in the worst case scenarios. Doug Conant has rightly said, “To win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace”.

The Unknown

What is the unknown and why is one so afraid of it?

We humans are usually afraid of the dark, of what we cannot see and in the physical world tend to set boundaries and limitations. We often have second thoughts about things before we do or perform them, subconsciously making our mind think twice whether it would be a right decision or not. This is where most of us are often wrong because sometimes there are no right or wrong. They say โ€˜take a leapโ€™ or โ€˜you never know until you tryโ€™ because life really is unpredictable. Some things that you thought would be difficult might not always be. But how would you know if you never give it a try?

If you ask an old aged man about his life he will probably tell you he doesnโ€™t know how he get there but he sure is happy of all his experiences. To paint a bigger picture, Who are you? And what do you want in life? Can you be 100% sure of what your life would be in 10years? Can you guarantee that your love life will straight up perfect, a lovely family with beautiful little children?  

You need to understand and accept the fact that nobody is perfect in life. Or else you would have a miserable life, a lemon that you make yourself take.

One should never be too hard on himself and blame himself for the regretful things he have done. Nay, do away with what is called โ€˜regretโ€™. Life is to go on and you gotta carry on living it. Donโ€™t make it complicated for yourself

Teal Swan, a well ย known mental and spiritual counselor once said โ€œYou donโ€™t feel the unknownโ€. Its true, one cannot touch or know the feeling of what is not known. Its human nature that some days we donโ€™t feel confident. Some days we isolate ourselves because we think nobody understands us and some days we become aggressive to everything that we came into contact with. And I understand some days we feel that all the ones around us donโ€™t care about our feelings. But โ€œThe unknown is unknown, its nothingโ€ she says. One should not be afraid to take the first step and not be afraid if people are gonna take advantage of you or not. This is life, we need to learn how to bypass the pangs of life, hold no grudge for others.

If people can do it, why canโ€™t you?


SIX THINKING HATS

Edward Charles Francis Publius de Bono, a Maltese physician, psychologist, philosopher and consultant, scripted the book ‘ Six Thinking Hats’. The conceptualization of this book has helped many organizations to boost their firm’s productivity by dividing the job profiles of the employees based on their styles of thinking. Each person takes up the role of a hat ensuring that all viewpoints and styles are covered efficiently. Accordingly, people can cohesively pool in their thoughts based on their area of interpretation. Often, firms arrange for activities wherein employees are divided into teams of different hat colours and are asked to speak about the firm’s newly launched product or idea based on the colour of their hat. This provides stimulus for gathering opinions.

WHITE HAT – It is also called as the Factual Hat. The white hat is associated with facts and information. It represents gathering of information. Discussions related to information available, information needed, missing facts, source of information are conducted. It deals with knowledge and insights at the beginning or end of a session.

GREEN HAT – It is also known as the Creative Thinking Hat. It represents growth and movement in an organisation. Lateral thinkers metaphorically wear this hat to show that they are looking for new ideas and solutions. It deals with openness to ideas, proposals, suggestions, ways to solve difficulties, and other alternative opinions.

BLUE HAT – It is also known as the Director’s Hat. It symbolizes limitless performance, calmness and control over oneself. It is generally worn by the facilitators during a discussion. It deals with management and organization. The blue hat wearers ask for summaries, decisions, conclusions and are the ideal people to set the agenda of thinking. Therefore, analyzing the information and reaching a logical conclusion is the central idea of this hat.

RED HAT – It is also known as the Hat for the Heart. It represents feelings, emotions, and instincts rather than logical reasoning. When one is involved in this arena of though process, he may express his feelings without having to give a logical reason behind it. It is a complete opposite of the White Hat which is entirely fact based. While working, employees do experience intuitions about another colleague as disloyal to the firm. The red hat allows a person to voice such sixth sense emotions with an appropriate label.

YELLOW HAT – It is also known as the Optimist’s Hat. Yellow hat thinkers reflect positive attitudes and scope for new opportunities. Such thinkers assess a plan and notice the benefits in it. Entrepreneurs and risk taking employees are involved in the group of yellow hat thinkers. The hat focuses on value, benefits and the positive speculation of why a venture may work.

BLACK HAT – It is also known as The Hat of Caution. It prevents an individual from indulging into immoral, illegal or unprofitable ventures. Employing a critical judgement to assess the risks involved in a plan is the task of black hat holders. It is often regarded as the most powerful hat because it assists in spotting shortcomings, giving reasons as to why a plan may not workout and giving out suggestions to overcome the drawbacks.

The concept of Six Thinking Hats developed by Edward de Bono, can be used as a powerful tool for inculcating the ideas of being more productive, focused and mindfully involved in the working of an organization. This tool can help an organization, to develop leadership skills, creative thinking, critical analysis and improve the overall performance of the establishment.

THE ART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING

Man is not born with the latent ability of oration, it is developed over a significant period of time with experience and practice. The act of speaking face to face with a live audience is included in oratory practices. It is one of the most essential skills that an individual must imbibe within himself. Public speakers do have the potential to bring about a revolution in a society. Speakers from various places across the globe have played a crucial role in motivating their audiences in dark times. It can be called as an art that is used for teaching, persuasion or entertainment of listeners. Speakers who communicate with audiences to teach them something, often make use of jargons and anecdotes which will boost the learning ability and performance of the audience. Whereas speakers who wish to persuade their niche audience into doing something, put hyperbole, metaphors and persuasive literary tools into their speech.

Fortunate ones are immune to the fear of public speaking, but there are people with poised personalities and good literary skills and are yet low on confidence if made to face an audience. One need not feel worried about how to tackle the anxiety that builds up while delivering a speech. There are certainly a few tips and tricks that one can carry up his sleeve.

KNOW YOUR NICHE AUDIENCE BEFOREHAND

One needs to use alternative speaking styles while interacting with listeners belonging to different age groups, genders, societal strata, etc. Crafting the speech based on the type of audience which will be attending the session, will certainly help to maintain cordiality and smoothness in the oration.

FOR INSTANCE – While delivering a speech for a formal session, with businessmen and industrial expertise as the audience, one does not make use of comical references or satirical expressions.

USE OF APPROPRIATE GESTURES

Making sure that your bodily gestures do not portray that you are anxious from within, is important. Clasping of hands, standing in the same stance for a longer time, rubbing of palms, tapping of feet should be avoided. Standing in an erect stance, with an amiable expression and making eye to eye contact with the audience present is essential. Simple confident hand gestures and displaying counting of points on fingertips from time to time, will attract the audience to follow along. An appropriate body language helps the speaker to engage well with the audience.

FOR INSTANCE – Distracting hand gesture such as fidgeting prevents the audience from absorbing what the speakers is trying to explain.

VOCABULARY BUILDING

To attain a sufficient level of mastery in usage of words and arranging them into sentences, reading does play a major role. Getting your hands on various genres of write-ups, hunting for meanings of less comprehensible words and jotting down those words on flashcards or sticky notes is one of the techniques to improvise on your vocabulary. Attempting to communicate with people possessing admirable literary skills, will help one to carefully pay attention to pronunciation of a plethora of words. Not everybody gets the privilege of interacting with literary expertise, but one can definitely listen to podcasts, songs, speeches and other audio visual means of learning.

FOR INSTANCE – Glancing through the Thesaurus such as the Oxford Dictionary on a regular basis, is beneficial to improve the vocabulary.

ENDLESS HOURS OF PRACTICE

We have all come across the quote, “Practice makes a man perfect.” One does not necessarily require an audience to practice public speaking. Many present day orators must have practiced their speeches in front of the mirror as newbies. Including personal experiences, explanation of real life stories, subtle humour can be used to craft a speech. After the script has been finalized, beginners can practice speaking against the mirror or a small group and record what is being spoken. But, one must not constantly make use of the mirror as a tool because the concept of public speaking in itself states that a speech has to be delivered in front of an audience. Hence, a mirror cannot create an audience like impact for the speaker. Thus, regular practice will help one to analyse his/her shortcomings and can make alterations accordingly.

FOR INSTANCE – Practicing in front of a mirror, will help an individual to focus on his gestures and he can thereby try to eliminate under confident bodily motions.

Man cannot gain absolute perfection in all the tasks throughout his journey of life. But one can definitely attempt to minimize the flaws or shortcomings within oneself. This blog strives to highlight the methods through which one can build up spoken skills and the confidence required to conquer the fear of Public Speaking.

PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN INDIAN MEDIA

Media plays such a major role in the lives of human beings. Over the last decade, media has become a powerful tool that mirrors social life of commoners and celebrities. However, the role that media plays in portraying gender democracy is still a matter of debate. Media has a significant impact on how social and cultural norms relating to women form and evolve. Over the past couple of decades audiences have been exposed to women in strong and independent roles in the media. This propagates the sense that western modernity and increased presence of free market promotes gender equality in a India.

PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN DAILY SOAPS

  • It does seem a little bizarre to see contemporary TV serials and soaps projecting women more as models of expensive costumes, jewellery or heavy sarees. 
  • Moreover, the stereotypes used such as a wronged wife, a dominating mother-in-law, bitter relationships between sister-in-laws, portray women in conflicting roles.
  •  Also, daily soaps fail to include all the career options that are now being taken up by Indian women, new modes of lifestyle being adopted and remain stuck up in certain deep-rooted notions that are hard to be erased.
Mother-in-laws are often portrayed as ill wishers of the daughter-in-laws

PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN ADVERTISEMENTS

PAST SCENARIOPRESENT SCENARIO
1. In the past, women were portrayed as subjects of mockery and were allotted with submissive roles in television commercials. 1. In the present scenario, women are often shown playing lead roles in television commercials.
2. Women were deliberately depicted subordinate to their male counterparts. 2. Males and females are equally portrayed in brand endorsements.
3. The looks of a women were made use of, to endorse a product. Hence, females were said to be openly objectified in advertisements. 3. Women are rarely seen doing stereotypical roles, instead they are shown as heads of a family, position holders at workplace, achievers of glory in sports and ultimately independent.
TVC IN THE PAST ‘Stereotypical role’
CURRENT TVC – ‘Portrayal of gender equality’

PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN MOVIES

  • Bollywood has shaped and expressed the changing scenarios of modern India.
  • It has influenced the way in which people perceive various aspects of the society. 
  •  Despite the progress that bollywood films have made and the, things haven not changed much for Indian women, as objectification of women still continues in most of the Indian movies.
  • In many movies of present times, female characters are needlessly under represented. Also, publisizing vulgar lyrics and dances in the name of item songs is very derogatory for women.
  •  Women are shown as helpless victims or cunning villains. Generally, the lead hero is the one who solves everyoneโ€™s including heroineโ€™s problems.
  • Movies depict actresses as unrealistically beautiful. This causes a lot of trauma and insecurity in the female audience. Laymen are generally unaware about the number of beautification surgeries and make up procedures which the actresses undergo to look perfect.
  • In movies, stalking and eve-teasing is depicted as love in Indian movies. In many movies, female characters are attracted towards these abusers. Due to this, several young men indulge into harassing women in the name of love.
Stalking and eve teasing is often normalized in Bollywood movies

In conclusion, we can say that media has successfully stereotyped women in a negative way. It is true that womenโ€™s participation and presentation has advanced in various dimensions of social and political life but we still have a long way to go. It is high time that we learn to voice our disapproval against such practices and stand up for positive portrayals of women. The real women inspirations of India shall be depicted on all such platforms.

The admirable women of India

EVILS OF BULLYING

All of us may have been a part of or may have experienced subtle or extreme bullying in our lives. Now, what exactly is the idea or thought process behind bullying ? It is the use of force, psychological abuse, threats or aggressive domination on another person, mostly the vulnerable ones. It involves a hostile intent of a person over a period of time. This can impact a person negatively, taking a toll on their mental, emotional or physical health. It may be done by a single person or a mob. Such a culture generally develops at school, workplace or in a neighborhood. Several types of Bullying are prevalent in the society.

PHYSICAL BULLYING

It is one of the most common methods of bullying. It involves usage of physical actions which are disliked and highly unappreciated by the victim. Use of actions such as hitting, pinching, shoving, pushing, or causing damage to the property of an individual comes under Physical Bullying. The attacker, better known as the bully is in a dominating position, thus the victim remains vulnerable in such cases.

VERBAL BULLYING

It does not involve any physical contact or harm, but the scars of physical bullying are deeper and generally go unnoticed. Use of verbal techniques such as speaking or displaying a demeaning body language is a part of Verbal Bullying. Victims are made to face threats, rude tone of voice, mockery of oneself, insults, slurs, or constant criticism. According to a study, females are more likely to bully an individual verbally, in order to display superiority.

CYBER BULLYING

This new era method of bullying is coming into the spotlight day by day. Laymen are well informed with the term Online Bullying. Using Internet as a tool to harass somebody has become a typical behavior among the teenagers. Lack of courage to let out derogatory remarks about somebody, pulls these people towards devices which can aid to bully someone. The culture of Cyber Bullying involves spread of rumours, stalking, hate speech, defamation through leaking of audio or video clips without permission or shaming.

AFTERMATH OF BULLYING ON THE LIFE OF AN INDIVIDUAL

  • Mental disorders such as anxiety, inferiority complex or depression that creeps gradually into adulthood
  • Low academic performance among students
  • An individual may indulge into alcohol /smoking / drugs to escape from the negative reality of life
  • Persons who have been victims of bullying skip school or workdays and prefer confiding themselves within their homes
  • Emotional turmoil leading to low self esteem and loneliness
  • Isolation of oneself from peers or even family members
  • Experience of physical problems such as muscle aches, nausea, head aches
  • Extreme experience of bullying may ultimately even lead to self harm or suicidal attempts

We can conclude by stating that bullying must not go unnoticed. Anti-bullying related values must be imparted from the grass root levels. Schools must employ specialized counsellors and mental health professionals to combat the evils of bullying. Moral values of harmony, team building and co-existence must be advocated at all times.

All about self care: Therapy by yourself(bonus motivation!)

Self care, A topic most ignore amidst the hustle-bustle of their worlds is a vital part of your life, whether you know it or not. There are astonishingly few people in the globe that understand how vital it is, and ironically, the cruelly competitive GEN-Z, get it the most. Otherwise, the beings of other generations have daily routines that do not involve any time for themselves. Its all Work, Family, and more work, a worn drill. However busy your routine is, you need to provide justice to yourself and your mind. should you not, lest you’ll go mad. seriously. it is important to understand how much your body gives you, how much your body tries to not burn yourself in this society of lunacy. Your mind is the one of the most important organs of your body, it functions all the other organs including itself, WITHOUT A BREAK. you at least could steady it with some specific activities. For exactly that, I am here to guide you through the process of rejuvenating yourself.

So let’s get straight to the point, we all know that life is an endless cycle of goals and desires, but to calm our agile mind, we can do some simple activities for an hour or even a handful of minutes per day and we’ll get so much clarity in our spry intellect. Meditation, art, affirmations, dance, music, reading, journaling, talking to people, doodling, even scribbling can calm your mind. there are unfathomable options. You just need to find your thing, and live in it. Believe in it. But remember, it is something that cannot be forced. you will have to have full faith in yourself that it will work, it will make you better. Better in life, better in mind.

Dance is personally, the best for me. grooving to the beat, jiving to the music is just my thing. If you are anything like me, just do it. Feel your body make beauty, make art. tap to every beat, jump to every song, close your eyes and just dance. swing your leg, twirl your hip, create stars in the air, and just dance.

Art, is something I have seen as a therapy for most of the people I know, I am trying it too! And you know what, it works magically. Though I am still a newbie and have a lot to learn about it, I can say that whether my drawing is beautiful or miserable, no matter what the result it, the process through it calms me beyond words.

journaling is just writing your thoughts to your best friend, informally and honestly, without striving for the ‘appropriate’ or fancy words. Write just as if you’re talking to your most favorite person in the world, fantasy or reality. describe your thoughts without hesitation and insecurity. make a diary and start journaling every night before bed. Describe the perils and chronicles of your day, slander if you want to, just relieve your brain of all those flurry contemplations out of your head. let it breathe. deeply.

My personal and most common advice to you would be to just take a break. you do enough. believe that. you are enough. see who you are, set your limits and work upon yourself. this is your life, and only you can decide how to live it. no one else will do it for you, know that. No angel is going to come to make your life all unicorns and rainbows unless you believe that there is a future of hope and light. Until you live for it, Until you thrive for it. Just go on, take an hour out of your day just for yourself, do nothing. Absolutely nothing. sit idle, concentrate on that tired thing inside you. let it rest, after a good long sleep, wake it up, give it motivation, give it confidence, give it courage, and say, get up. get up, get up, get up. You can do this, you are confident, valiant and breathtakingly strong. GET UP. You are made to be you, to be unique. it’s okay to have breaks, it’s okay to rest, but do not give up. never give up. No matter how much you are shattered, how much of you are just tape and glue. own it. Hang in there. everything’s temporary. Just smile and do what you love. I assure you, it is going to be okay.

เคฆเฅเคจเคฟเคฏเคพ เค•เฅ‡ เคšเคพเคนเคจเฅ‡ เคชเคฐ เค–เคคเฅเคฎ เคนเฅ‹เค—เฅ€ เคฎเคนเคพเคฎเคพเคฐเฅ€: WHO


เคตเคฟเคถเฅเคต เคธเฅเคตเคพเคธเฅเคฅเฅเคฏ เคธเค‚เค—เค เคจ เค•เฅ‡ เคชเฅเคฐเคฎเฅเค– เคŸเฅเคฐเฅ‡เคกเฅ‹เคธ เคเคกเคจเฅ‹เคฎ เค˜เฅ‡เคฌเคฐเคฟเคฏเคธ เคจเฅ‡ เคฌเคฐเฅเคฒเคฟเคจ เคฎเฅ‡เค‚ เค†เคฏเฅ‹เคœเคฟเคค เค…เคชเคจเฅ‡ เคเค• เคตเคฐเฅเคฒเฅเคกเคนเฅ‡เคฒเฅเคฅ เคธเคฎเคฟเคŸ เค•เฅ‹ เคธเค‚เคฌเฅ‹เคงเคฟเคค เค•เคฐเคคเฅ‡ เคนเฅเค เค•เคนเคพ เค•เคฟ เคœเคฌ เคธเคญเฅ€ เคฆเฅ‡เคถ เค‰เคชเคฒเคฌเฅเคง เคธเฅเคตเคพเคธเฅเคฅเฅเคฏ เค‰เคชเค•เคฐเคฃเฅ‹เค‚ เค•เคพ เคชเฅเคฐเคญเคพเคตเฅ€ เคขเค‚เค— เคธเฅ‡ เค‰เคชเคฏเฅ‹เค— เค•เคฐเคจเคพ เคถเฅเคฐเฅ‚ เค•เคฐ เคฆเฅ‡เค‚เค—เฅ‡,เคคเคฌ เคœเคพเค•เคฐ เค•เฅ‹เคฐเฅ‹เคจเคพ เคฎเคนเคพเคฎเคพเคฐเฅ€ เค–เคคเฅเคฎ เคนเฅ‹ เคœเคพเคเค—เฅ€เฅค เค‰เคจเฅเคนเฅ‹เค‚เคจเฅ‡ เค•เคนเคพ เค•เคฟ เคœเคฌ เคฆเฅเคจเคฟเคฏเคพ เค‡เคธเฅ‡ เค–เคคเฅเคฎ เค•เคฐเคจเคพ เคšเคพเคนเฅ‡เค—เฅ€, เคคเคฌ เคฏเคน เคธเคฎเคพเคชเฅเคค เคนเฅ‹เค—เคพเฅค เคฏเคน เคนเคฎเคพเคฐเฅ‡ เคนเคพเคฅเฅ‹เค‚ เคฎเฅ‡เค‚ เคนเฅˆเฅค เคตเคน เคธเคญเฅ€ เค‰เคชเค•เคฐเคฃ เคนเคฎเคพเคฐเฅ‡ เคชเคพเคธ เคฎเฅŒเคœเฅ‚เคฆ เคนเฅˆ,เคšเคพเคนเฅ‡ เคชเฅเคฐเคญเคพเคตเฅ€ เคธเคพเคฐเฅเคตเคœเคจเคฟเค• เคธเฅเคตเคพเคธเฅเคฅเฅเคฏ เค‰เคชเค•เคฐเคฃ เคนเฅ‹ เคฏเคพ เคชเฅเคฐเคญเคพเคตเฅ€ เคšเคฟเค•เคฟเคคเฅเคธเคพ เค‰เคชเค•เคฐเคฃ,เคœเคฟเคจเค•เฅ€ เคนเคฎเฅ‡ เค…เคตเคถเฅเคฏเค•เคคเคพ เคนเฅˆเฅค เคชเคฐเค‚เคคเฅ เคฆเฅเคจเคฟเคฏเคพ เคจเฅ‡ เค‡เคธเค•เคพ เค…เคšเฅเค›เฅ€ เคคเคฐเฅ€เค•เฅ‡ เคธเฅ‡ เค‰เคชเคฏเฅ‹เค— เคจเคนเฅ€เค‚ เค•เคฟเคฏเคพเฅคเคเค• เคธเคชเฅเคคเคพเคน เคฎเฅ‡เค‚ เค•เคฐเฅ€เคฌ 50 เคนเคœเคผเคพเคฐ เคฎเฅŒเคคเฅ‡เค‚ เคนเฅเคˆเค‚ เคนเฅˆเค‚ เคคเฅ‹ เค…เคญเฅ€ เคฎเคนเคพเคฎเคพเคฐเฅ€ เค–เคคเฅเคฎ เคจเคนเฅ€เค‚ เคนเฅเคˆเฅค



เค‰เคจเฅเคนเฅ‹เค‚เคจเฅ‡ เคธเคฎเฅเคฎเฅ‡เคฒเคจ เคฎเฅ‡เค‚ เคฌเฅ‹เคฒเคคเฅ‡ เคนเฅเค เค•เคนเคพ เค•เคฟ เคตเคน เค•เฅ‹ เคญเฅ€ เคจเฅ‡ เคŸเฅ€เค•เคพเค•เคฐเคฃ เค•เฅ‡ เคฒเคฟเค เคเค• เคตเฅˆเคถเฅเคตเคฟเค• เคฐเคฃเคจเฅ€เคคเคฟ เคถเฅเคฐเฅ‚ เค•เคฐเคจเฅ‡ เค•เฅ‡ เคฒเคฟเค WHO เคชเฅเคฐเคฎเฅเค– เคฎเฅ‡เค‚ เคถเคพเคฎเคฟเคฒ เคนเฅเค,เคœเฅ‹ เคธเคญเฅ€ เคฆเฅ‡เคถเฅ‹เค‚ เคฎเฅ‡เค‚ เคฒเฅ‹เค—เฅ‹เค‚ เค•เฅ‹ เคŸเฅ€เค•เฅ‡ เคตเคฟเคคเคฐเคฟเคค เค•เคฐเคจเฅ‡ เค•เฅ‡ เคฒเคฟเค เคเค• เคฒเคพเค—เคค เค”เคฐ เคตเคฟเคถเฅเคตเคธเคจเฅ€เคฏ เคชเฅเคฐเคญเคพเคตเฅ€ เคฏเฅ‹เคœเคจเคพ เค•เคพ เคธเฅเคเคพเคต เคฆเฅ‡เคคเคพ เคนเฅˆเฅค

WHO เคชเฅเคฐเคฎเฅเค– เคจเฅ‡ เคœเฅ€ 20 เคฆเฅ‡เคถเฅ‹เค‚ เค•เคพ เคชเคนเคฒเฅ‡ เคธเฅ‡ เคนเฅ€ 40% เค…เคชเคจเฅ€ เค†เคฌเคพเคฆเฅ€ เค•เฅ‹ เค•เฅ‹เคตเฅˆเค•เฅเคธ เคคเค‚เคคเฅเคฐ เคฎเฅ‡เค‚ เคธเค•เฅเคฐเคฟเคฏ เคฐเฅ‚เคช เคธเฅ‡ เคธเค‚เคฒเค—เฅเคจ เค•เคฐ เคฆเฅ‡เคจเฅ‡ เค•เฅ‡ เคฒเคฟเค เคญเฅ€ เค†เคตเฅเคนเคพเคจ เค•เคฟเคฏเคพเฅค เคฐเคตเคฟเคตเคพเคฐ เค•เฅ‹ เคธเค‚เคฏเฅเค•เฅเคค เคฐเคพเคทเฅเคŸเฅเคฐ เคฎเคนเคพเคธเคšเคฟเคต เคเค‚เคŸเฅ‹เคจเคฟเคฏเฅ‹ เค—เฅเคŸเฅ‡เคฐเฅ‡เคธ เคจเฅ‡ เคœเฅ€-20 เคฆเฅ‡เคถเฅ‹เค‚ เคธเฅ‡ เคชเฅ‚เคฐเฅ€ เคฆเฅเคจเคฟเคฏเคพ เคฎเฅ‡เค‚ เค•เฅ‹เคตเคฟเคก-19 เค•เฅ‡ เคŸเฅ€เค•เคพ เค•เคพ เค‰เคšเคฟเคค เคตเคฟเคคเคฐเคฃ เคธเฅเคจเคฟเคถเฅเคšเคฟเคค เค•เคฐเคจเฅ‡ เค•เฅ‡ เคฒเคฟเค 8 เคฌเคฟเคฒเคฟเคฏเคจ เค…เคฎเฅ‡เคฐเคฟเค•เฅ€ เคกเฅ‰เคฒเคฐ เค‡เค•เคŸเฅเค เคพ เค•เคฐเคจเฅ‡ เคฎเฅ‡เค‚ เคฎเคฆเคฆ เค•เคพ เคเคฒเคพเคจ เค•เคฟเคฏเคพเฅค

เคฌเคคเคพ เคฆเฅ‡เค‚, WHO เคชเคนเคฒเฅ‡ เคธเฅ‡ เคญเฅ€ เค•เฅ‹เคฐเฅ‹เคจเคพ เค•เฅ‹ เคฒเฅ‡เค•เคฐ เคชเฅ‚เคฐเฅ€ เคฆเฅเคจเคฟเคฏเคพ เค•เฅ‹ เคšเฅ‡เคคเคพเคตเคจเฅ€ เคฆเฅ‡เคคเคพ เคฐเคนเคพ เคนเฅˆเฅค เคเค• เคฌเคพเคฐ เคซเคฟเคฐ เคธเฅ‡ เคญเคพเคฐเคค เคฎเฅ‡เค‚ เค•เฅ‹เคฐเฅ‹เคจเคพ เคธเฅ‡ เคฎเคฐเคจเฅ‡ เคตเคพเคฒเฅ‹เค‚ เค•เฅ€ เคธเค‚เค–เฅเคฏเคพ เคฎเฅ‡เค‚ เค‡เคœเคพเคซเคพ เคฆเฅ‡เค–เคพ เค—เคฏเคพ เคนเฅˆเฅค เคชเคฟเค›เคฒเฅ‡ 24 เค˜เค‚เคŸเฅ‹เค‚ เคฎเฅ‡เค‚ 443 เคฒเฅ‹เค—เฅ‹เค‚ เค•เฅ€ เคฎเฅŒเคคเฅ‡เค‚ เคนเฅเคˆ เคนเฅˆเฅค เคตเคนเฅ€เค‚ เคเค• เคฆเคฟเคจ เคฎเฅ‡เค‚ 14,306 เค•เฅ‹เคฐเฅ‹เคจเคพ เค•เฅ‡ เคจเค เคฎเคพเคฎเคฒเฅ‡ เคธเคพเคฎเคจเฅ‡ เค†เค เคนเฅˆเค‚เฅค

เค…เคจเคจเฅเคฏเคพ เค•เฅŒเคถเคฒ เคฆเฅเคตเคพเคฐเคพ เคธเค‚เคชเคพเคฆเคฟเคคเฅค

SIMPLE LIVING HIGH THINKING

Haven’t we all been a part of the mad rat race to acquire money? Humans keep running behind wealth throughout their lives and eventually when they reach old age, they realize the importance of peace in life. Not always, luxury is based on looks or garments. Real richness is reflected through a person’s values and mannerisms. Bringing positive changes in the lives of others shall be taken into consideration more than bringing materialistic changes in one’s lives. It is not money that is of utmost importance but generosity and the act of giving back to the society is important. Life resembles a steadily flowing stream of water and what we do while being a part of that flow of water will matter in the end. In our day to day living we may notice the amount of clutter that is spread on our study desks inspite of the fact that, the only commodity that we use daily might be a laptop or a book, at the dining table, many food items are often seen lying for days together which later on get disposed off, in our wardrobes, numerous clothes often remain unused. What does this tell us? We humans keep running in the blind race of materialism without even considering whether something is really needed by us or not.

Siddhartha Gautama better known as a Gautam Buddha, renounced his life as a wealthy prince and instead left his palace to seek inner peace as an ascetic. He gave up on his comforts because at the age of 29, he realized that mere wealth cannot bring home happiness. He also came across the sufferings of people, hence wanted to find out ways on how human suffering can be ended. According to Buddha, ‘Desire’ is the root cause of suffering. In today’s times, eliminating desires is not quite possible but limiting them certainly is. The Wisdom of Frugality, states how living a simple living leads to good virtues and ultimately good virtues lead to happiness. In simple words, if a person chooses to live life without any extravaganza, he may not have to take up a stressful job. When he does not experience stress and overtime at his workplace, he gets more time for leisure, which in turn generates happiness.

A minimalist lifestyle involves living with fewer resources whether in terms of a house or possession. Minimalist livers prefer to have a simple lifestyle and yet be satisfied in life. A minimalist lifestyle is by no means a radical lifestyle but rather an optimal one. Minimalistic living involves a high thinking. For instance, rather than buying an expensive television set, a phone or an air conditioner, buying a cheaper one and spending rest of the money on buying basic necessities for the underprivileged displays the real wealth that a man possesses. Pioneers such as A.P.J Abdul Kalam, Sudha Murty, Mahatma Gandhi and many more idolizing personalities have opted to live in a simple manner and possess a benevolent, generous and humane disposition.

Are more women dying of Covid-19 in India?

New research by a group of scientists in India and US shows that although men make up the majority of infections, women face a higher risk of dying from the coronavirus than men.



The study, based on Covid-19 deaths in India until 20 May, shows early estimates that 3.3% of all women contracting the infection in India were dying compared to 2.9% of all men. (India had a caseload of more than 110,000 with 3,433 deaths and a fatality rate of 3.1% when the study was conducted.)In the 40-49 age group, 3.2% of the infected women have died, compared to 2.1% of men. Only females have died in the 5-19 age group.

Five key questions about India’s rising Covid-19 infections
I asked SV Subramanian, a professor of population health at Harvard University and one of the leader authors of the study, what this implied.


He told me that the narrative of calculating the Covid-19 fatality rate by groups has conflated two key metrics – mortality risk and mortality burden.

Mortality risk measures the probability of death in a specific group- in this case, total number of deaths of women divided by confirmed infections among women.

On the other hand, mortality burden gives you the number of deaths among women as a percentage share of the total deaths, both men and women.Prof Subramanian says for the large part, the statistics have looked at the latter – men having a greater share of total deaths (63% in India, hewing to international data) – but “inferred the former risk”.



“Our overall conclusion is that, when infected, women do not seem to have any specific survival advantage [in India],” says Prof Subramanian.

“How much of this can be attributable to biological factors and how much of this is associated with social factors is unclear. Gender can be a critical factor in Indian settings,” he says.

The ‘mystery’ of lndia’s low Covid-19 death rates
But the findings are certainly striking because they run counter to what has been observed elsewhere in the world.

For one, men are more likely to suffer from co-morbidities or underlying health conditions, like cardio-vascular disease and hypertension, says Kunihiro Matsushita, a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Men also smoke more than women in many countries, and some studies have shown that men wash their hands less frequently than women.

Prof Matsushita says that studies he had participated in had shown that male patients have a higher risk of contracting severe Covid-19 infection.

Scientists also believe that women have a lower mortality risk because of sturdier immune defences. And have hormones like oestrogen which has “beneficial effects on upper and lower airways and is associated with stimulation of the immune response to upper airway infections”.

“In that regard, a higher case fatality rate in women than men in this report is certainly unique,” Prof Matsushita told me.

But he says the research data needs to be scrutinised in the context of how Covid-19 is diagnosed in India. “For example, is the opportunity to get a test same between men and women?” he wonders.There could be more to this puzzle than what meets the eye.

Women outlive men in India and there are more older women than men. Is this leading to more deaths among women, as elderly people are vulnerable to the infection?

Also, women in India are more likely to delay going to doctors, and often self-medicate at home. And a woman’s health is more likely to be ignored in a household. So are women arriving late for testing and treatment?

Homemaker caregivers are more prone to contracting the infection – during the 1918 Spanish flu more women in India – relatively undernourished, cooped up in unhygienic and ill-ventilated dwellings, and nursing the sick – died than men.


“We need to dissect the gender data to find out more about what’s going on,” says T Jacob John, a retired professor of virology at Christian Medical College, Vellore.

Researchers agree. “We will keep a close watch and keep updating the results,” Prof Subramanian says.

Written by: Ananya Kaushal