Child Marriage

The Beginning

God resides in the heart of a child. Child is as pure as water. When dirt enters in water it becomes impure. When a child is married the child loses the inner purity. To fulfill some “so called” rituals and respect their tradition people get ready to tie their children’s knot with someone even before the appropriate age. To prove our traditions, to respect them do we really need sin like child marriage? On one hand we talk about children and on the other hand we talk about marriage, how come we are living with this contradiction? We are living in a society where a separate section of society feels marrying their children after 18 is as dangerous as nuclear bomb. The actual nuclear bomb is child marriage. Because of this many children have died or let me say they have martyred. And here we are crying over GST; high price of tomatoes. This is the culture we are living with, this is the nation we are residing in.

The Middle

What actually child marriage is? Child marriage is a human rights violation. Despite laws against it, the practice remains widespread, in part because of persistent poverty and gender inequality. In developing countries, one in every three girls is married before reaching age 18. Child marriage is related to child espousal and court approved early marriages after teenage pregnancy. In many cases, only one marriage-partner is a child, usually the female. Child marriages were common throughout history for a variety of reasons, including poverty, insecurity, as well as for political and financial reasons. Today, child marriage is still fairly widespread in developing countries, such as parts of Africa, South Asia and Latin America. The incidence of child marriage has been falling in most parts of the world. Somewhere child marriage has given rise to teenage pregnancy. In poor countries, early pregnancy limits or can even eliminate their education options. This affects their economic independence. This makes girls more vulnerable to persistent poverty if their spouses die, abandon, or divorce them. Girls in child marriages are more likely to suffer from domestic violence, child sexual abuse, and marital rape.

Picture Credit: http://shorturl.at/afpCZ


The United Nations, through a series of conventions has declared child marriage a violation of human rights. Child marriages violates a range of women’s interconnected rights such as equality on grounds of sex and age, to receive the highest attainable standard of health, access to education and freedom from violence. The society is interlinked with each other. If one factor gets effected the whole system is disturbed. Then in which world we thought that child marriage would not create any change in our surroundings? Or the objects encircling us wouldn’t have any effect on child marriage? Factors that impact child marriage include poverty, gender inequality, protecting family honor; tradition and culture; and insecurity, particularly during war, famine or epidemics. Other factors include family ties in which marriage is a means of consolidating powerful relations between families. Why have we made marriage a form of business? Why always dowry has to be included in marriage? Why bride’s price is to be paid? Providing a girl with a dowry at her marriage is an ancient practice which continues in some parts of the world. These difficulties pressed families to betroth their girl, irrespective of her age, as soon as they had the resources to pay the dowry. A bride price is the amount paid by the groom to the parents of a bride for them to consent to him marrying their daughter. In some countries, the younger the bride, the higher the price she may fetch. Hence, the rise of the menace like child has become so popular all around the globe.

The End

Some of these marriages could have been stopped, in fact they should have been prevented only if people were well aware? No, only if we were all aware. We as a society need to come together to stop this gruesome crime. We need to stand against such traditional practices that endanger the lives of young kids, which lead to the creation of a dark cloud over these kids’ future. We just don’t need an end to this practice but we need an end to the thought process that lead people to think crimes like this to be okay in the name of traditions, we need an end to this totally aggravated legacy of ruining children’s life.

About that author James Baldwin

An American essayist and novelist, born in 1924 in Hampton, James Baldwin who addressed the issue of race in 20th century america. He grew up poor, in a black ghetto and in the 1930s, during a time when racism encompassed the whole of America and Baldwin too was subjected to it all his life.

His work revolves around the racial and social issues that existed in 20th century america.

Early life

James Baldwin never knew his biological father who was a drug addict, owing to this reason his mother left his father and moved to Harlem where she gave birth to James baldwin. Baldwin was the eldest to his 8 siblings. Baldwin figured out his affinity toward writing at an early age and was exceptional at it too. He wrote his first article when he was only 13, this article was published in his school magazine. Throughout his teenage years Baldwin published short stories and essays in local literary magazines. In his young teenage years Baldwin was a youth minister at the church. Bldwin was a devout christian, this could be because his father was a baptist minister. In later years of his life, he refused to being religious however his religious attitude shaped his perception to a great extent.

Throughout his life he faced incidents of racism, some of which he addresses in his work as well. 

Career

In 1943, he moved to Greenwich village to pursue literature and work with other writers and literaries. During his time at Greenwich he was also able to secure a writing fellowship. At this time Baldwin’s short stories were being published and not in local but well recognized and reputed magazines.

About 3 years later Baldwin emigrated to France under another fellowship where he would not be treated with the racist remarks of the American and would be able to make a name for himself beyond his african -american community. In France he was met with his sexual conflict and hoped to come to terms with it and understand it better.

Work

Baldwin wrote his first novel Go Tell It on the Mountain which was published in 1953. a near autobiographical novel which revolves around a young teenager growing up in Harlem, New York and his relationship with his father and the church. The book deals with several issues that prevailed in america. It talks about racism, poverty, Harlem, New York, basically all the things that Baldwin endured in his childhood are mentioned in this work through the eyes of another character.

Giovanni’s Room, was his second novel released in 1954, which deals with the sexul ambivalence of a man, and his relationship with other men  living in paris. Homosexuality was a tabboo during that time and who else could have talked about a topic so contreversial if not Baldwin.

Baldwin’s subsequent novels Another Country and Tell Me How Long The Train’s Been Gone, talk about race and homosexuality.

James Baldwin is known for his thought inducing essays. He had the ability to write about an issue giving the reader another highly intellectual way to look at it. In addition to being an important literary figure of the 20th century he was also an important figure in the Civil Rights Movement.

Baldwin in 1987 died in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France due to stomach cancer leaving his work enriched with revolution behind.

Beloved School

I was too young to understand how and why you were so important to the people who already had passed out from you. But the day I got my farewell and had tears in my eyes, I guess I knew then why you were so important to me, to them, to all of us. My education, my confidence, my surviving power, my friends and life long memories, I owe them all to you. I joined your forces as a three year old kid and left you as an adult. All those years I lived, learned, fell, rose, in your lap of wisdom and you let me. You taught me to be me. You made me, me. You have been the destination of my firsts, and you are just as special as those firsts. I wore your name on my badge for years and no day even after all those years did I feel any less of you as a family. You became my religion for the only praise I know was for you, to you, about you. I didn’t give fourteen precious years of my life to you instead you gave fourteen life changing years of yours to me. I stumbled and you held my hand and walked me to the ladder of success, you became my rainbow after days of rain, I prayed and will continue to pray for you are the divine power to me, my beloved school you gave me everything.

Though I cannot thank you enough for what you have done to me and what you are doing and will continue to do, to many more like me, but here is a thank you note as I try to be a little less emotional and a lot more of your student by reliving my days within you.  I thank you for making me believe that teachers are really next to god, that they are the candles that lighten up your way and that you can reach places with their support. I thank you for giving the stupid, idiotic, smart, beautiful friends whom I now bank upon for any and every life problem. I thank you for introducing me to the world of books, debates, speeches, writing, and many more. I thank you for bringing the PICASSO inside me out to the world for now I rock at creativity. I thank you for teaching me perseverance, courage, honor, respect, harmony, dignity, bravery, discipline, consistency, commitment, ambition, care, kindness, loyalty, service, forgiveness, integrity, hard work, gratitude, humility, trust, self respect and most important of them all LOVE. I thank you for not only building my character but also securing my future. I thank you for preparing for the cruel world with your soft feather like deeds. I thank you for crowning me with your presence. I thank you for residing within me. I thank you for building me, for encouraging me, for guiding me, for loving me. I THANK YOU for everything as I bow to you and will continue to do so till I breathe my last.

Signing off,                                                                                                                    Yours Truly….

Don’t misspend your teenage time

We are very well know how important teenage life is important and the most crucial part of life. It is the time you make the most important decisions in life and realize your goals and dreams. It is really a small age wherein, we are asked to make decisions on how our next 10yrs of life should be or wish to be. It is not acceptable and stressful to take such huge decisions in a confused state of mind. Do we never know what we really want to ask ourselves what do you really want? most of us don’t get the answers. We all are streamlined to travel in certain paths in life as others did or elders did and that is what we should be doing irrespective of interests, likes, or talents. It is ruthless to have pressure on teenagers to decide on their life. But, we definitely know that we have enough time to build a proper career and assemble the stones properly to see the view behind those huge rocks. This time you will never ever get it back never set back to relax keep running with mild breaks but do not lose the consistency and zeal to run to succeed in the race. We have enough time to gain experience in our interests, skills, and talents.

Most of us really don’t know what to do with so much idle time and misspend it on other unwanted things. But using it in the right way will lead to the best life. Use this time to hustle, learn, grow, ask, think, restructure, reframe, understand and be honest to your work. It is okay to make mistakes that’s when you learn how to face the next and prevent making another one. Mistakes teach you so much than one could ever. They shouldn’t be intentional but if it is accidental it should help you open your eyes and grow from the mistakes. Learn new skills, and improve on your interests they help a lot for your future.

These may sound boring and exhausting now but few years down the line you will be thankful to your past self for not misspending time and using it for career building. Even such small things help a lot in resume building. The users look for other qualities in your resume alongside your degree. They improve your chances of getting jobs and may experience an increase in stipend for the qualities you possess. This may sound so much now but taking slow-steady steps will add so much. Develop these qualities in this time and your experience has a lot of value in the future. You never know what really happens and people your age may waste their time partying and hang out with friends limitlessly. But, it is your option to choose whether to misspend or use it wisely. Because it is not their future or career, they are there today and not tomorrow but, your time never comes back to you. Your future your time is completely in your hands. Know what you need to spend time on at the end of the day it is you who is hustling hard and strongly wanting to have the best life. Find your stones and build them wisely.

Women Empowerment: It’s Meaning and Why is It Important?

“I rise up my voice- not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard…we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.”

Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai

And that sentiment precisely outlines the basis of new age women empowerment. Discrimination against women is rampant all over the world even in this 21st century. Even though about 50% of the world’s population consists of women, but unfortunately most of them are denied basic rights education, freedom of speech, voting power and even independent identity.

In India, in theory, women enjoy a status of equality with the men as per constitutional and legal provisions. Arguably, our country has taken enormous strides towards inclusion of women with the fairer gender excelling in diverse fields, from literature to astrophysics to finance. But with headlines about dowry killing, female foeticides and domestic violence still making the newspapers, put a silent question mark behind the two words.

Meaning of Women Empowerment

If it is to be elucidated beyond the two self-explanatory words, ‘Women Empowerment’ refers to complete emancipation of women from socioeconomic shackles of dependancy and deprivations. Often made synonymous to gender equality, the term women empowerment encompasses a much larger set of principles that needs whole-hearted attention.

Empowerment of women would mean encouraging women to be self-reliant, economically independent, have positive self-esteem, generate confidence to face any difficult situation and incite active participation in various socio-political development endeavours. The growing conscience is to accept women as individuals capable of making rational and educated decisions about them as well as the society, increasing and improving the economic, political and legal strength of the women, to ensure equal-right as men, achieve internationally agreed goals for development and sustainability, and improve the quality of life for their families and communities.

The various facets of women empowerment that needs to be addressed for a rounded out development are listed as:

Human Rights & Individual Rights:

A woman has the right to express her thoughts and opinions freely, without any restriction. Individual empowerment may be achieved by imparting self-confidence to articulate and assert the power of independent decision making. Women should be aware of their rights and social positions that they are entitled to constitutionally.

Social Empowerment of Women:

The most critical aspect of social empowerment of women is the promotion of gender equity. Gender equality implies that in society women and men enjoy the same opportunities, outcomes, rights and obligations in all spheres of life.

Educational Empowerment of Women:

It means enabling women to grab the knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process. Giving preference to the girl child for educational opportunities is a start.

Economic Empowerment of Women:

It means reducing the financial dependence of women on their mate counterparts by making them a significant part of the human resources. A better quality of material life, within the family as well as for the overall society, can be achieved through promotion of sustainable livelihoods like cottage industries, small entrepreneurial efforts owned and managed by women.

Empowerment Through Legal Knowledge:

Not only does it suggest the provision of an effective legal structure which is supportive of women empowerment, there also is the need to spread awareness among women about their legal rights and laws preventing their exploitation. It means addressing the gaps between what the law prescribed and what actually occurs.

Political Empowerment of Women:

The existence of a political system encouraging the participation of women in the political decision-making process and in governance. Indian constitution has provided the bulwarks for gender equality in the country in the following articles:

Article 14: Equality before law “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India Prohibition of discrimination on groups of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth”.

Article 16 (2): Equal opportunities “No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect or, any employment or office under the state”.

Article 23: Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour.

Article 39(a): The citizen, men & women equally have the right to an adequate means of livelihood.

Article 40 (after the 73rd Amendment): 1/3rd of seats in panchayats shall be reserved for women.

Article 42: State shall make provisions for just and humane working conditions & maternity relief.

Article 51 A (e): One of the duties of every citizen is to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of woman.

Government Laws and its subsequent amendments have seen larger inclusion of women with respect to their standing in the society and also there many acts which are preventing polygamy and bigamy, and their strict enforcements has to a large extent contributed towards lessening women exploitation. Various government schemes like Rastriya Mahila Kosh and STEP (Support to training cum Employment for women) have managed to bring financial development of rural women through self-sustainable employment. Also “Kanyashree” scheme which is in West Bengal, has been ranked 1st globally for women empowerment. The National Policy of Empowerment of Women (2001) is aimed at addressing all forms of violence against women including physical, mental and that arising from customs and traditions.

Why Woman Empowerment is Important?

A strong patriarchal society with deep-rooted socio-cultural values continues to affect the progress of women’s empowerment in the country. The need of the hour is an egalitarian society. Where there should be no place for gender superiority. Aim of government policies should be to identify and eliminate forces that are directed towards keeping the tradition of male dominance over its female counterpart alive.

Women empowerment in its actually is synonymous with complete development of the society. An educated woman, with knowledge about health, hygiene, cleanliness is capable of creating a better disease-free environment for her family. A self-employed woman is capable of contributing not only to her family’s finances, but also contributes towards increment of the country’s overall GDP. And many things which can be achieved.

All we need is an organized approach from the Government and law enforcement agencies of the country focussed in the right direction that would rest only with the liberation of women from all forms of evil.

About that author- Sylvia Plath

If the moon smiled, she would remember you. You leave the same impression of something beautiful but annihilating.

This quote is from one of my favorite Sylvia Plath poems “The Rival”. 

If you read Sylvia Plath you would find that her poetry wasn’t about the beauty that surrounded her, the fruity aroma of the garden flowers or blistering sun shining on her face or the wind sweeping her way. No, it was about none of that. Her poetry style was confessional.

LIFE

Sylvia Plath was born on october 27 of 1932 in Boston Massachusetts. She was a poet and a novelist who shaped American literature to a great extent. Plath published her first poem at the age of 8 in an American newspaper under the children’s section.From then on Plath went on to write  and publish multiple poems in different magazines and newspapers. At the age of 8 Plath also faced a great deal of personal loss, her father passed away due to untreated diabetes. Her father was also a subject for a lot of her poems that she wrote in her later years.

Plath was a good student, she excelled in academics and attended the Smith’s College in Massachusetts. Plath also suffered from depression, which she elaborates in her poems. She underwent electrocution therapy for her depression. We are talking about the year 1950, when mental illness was not a socially acceptable concept. No points for guessing that the electrocution therapy did not work in fact it made matters worse for plath. In 1953, at the age of 21, the feeling of which she describes in one of her works as “blissfully succumbed to the whirling blackness that I honestly believed was eternal oblivion.” plath made her first suicide attempt by taking her mother’s sleeping pills. After this incident she remained in psychiatric care for months. 

Career 

In 1960, Sylvia Plath released a collection of her poems, entitled the colossus and other poems.. In this collection she talks about death, suicide, her father, and her depressive periods and thoughts.

Sylvia Plath’s poetry wasn’t particularly happy and that is because it was confessional or even autobiographical in a sense and Plath herself was deeply depressed. Here is an excerpt from one of her poems called Lady Lazarus;

“Dying is an art,

like everything else. 

I do it exceptionally well. 

I do it so it feels like hell. 

I do it so it feels real. 

I guess you could say I’ve a call”.

If it wasn’t clear until now, then these lines give us an idea of the intensity of torment that her own mind was subjecting her to.

Marriage and the aftermath

Plath married Ted Hughes, a poet and writer in 1956. They had 2 children together. The two later separated in 1962. The couple did not have a great relationship, some controversy and rumors surrounded Hughes even after Plath’s death.

During the last few years of her life Plath published exceptional work, some of the best work ever written. This vey period of Plath’s life is the one that shaped literature and inspired the future confessional poets. Plath poured her heart out on the pages during these years. She published a novel “the bell jar” in 1963 which did exceptionally well. But her career was cut short when at the age of 30, in 1962 after what is described as “a burst of creativity” she took her own life. Her posthumously published collection of poems “Ariel” also attracted a lot of readers and to this day transcends her.

About that artist- francis bacon-2

Saying that Francis Bacon’s life was tragic would be an understatement. He went through a great deal of emotional and mental trauma. 

Tough love

In the 1950s Bacon was moving around a lot, living ephemerally he became romantically involved with and that was Peter Lacy who was an English pilot. His relationship with Lacy was toxic in every way, shae and form to say the least. Their love was fervent and extremely passionate that perfectly enveloped the vicious and destructive side it possessed. Bacon was somewhat of a masochist and Lacy, the opposite. Peter lacy would beat Bacon and abuse him throughout their relationship. Now, an ordinary person would have been appalled by the actions of peter lacy, but this was bacon he was no ordinary man. He loved Lacy with all his might, he was obsessed with him and was blinded by this very love that was, inch by inch devouring his very existence. In fact it was so destructive that once, Lacy threw him out of the window of his house over an argument they had. Bacon’s face was disfigured owing to the assault on him by Lacy. This also affected Bacon’s artisan.

Around this time Bacon’s paintings changed dramatically, his style was much more different than the one’s he made previously.

Evolution of his work

The paintings he made in the 50s were characterized by the use of a combination of blue, black and green colors which could be attributed to the changes occurring in his life.

Francis Bacon’s series of seven paintings Man in Blue I-VII, 1954 shows men in black suits present in a murky, grey almost alien landscape seemingly estranged and bewildered.

His paintings Two Figures, 1953 and Two Figures, 1953 see two men in a rather strange setting with one on top of the other. These paintings vividly point towards the relationship between him and lacy.

A few years later lacy moved back to morocco and bacon followed him there. Francis Bacon had achieved a lot more by this time. He held multiple exhibitions and his paintings were being displayed in reputed museums and art galleries. Just before one of his exhibits in London, he was told that Lacy had passed away. This deeply scarred him.

After a little while he met George Dyer, and became involved with him too, who was a subject for a lot of his subsequent paintings. His relationship with Dyer was not as eventful as his previous relationship except just a few incidents. Dyer was found dead in the bathroom of a hotel where Bacon and Dyer were staying. His painting figure at a washbasin, 1976 resembles a man lying in the bathroom which could be about Dyer.

Over the next years Bacon’s work kept on evolving and his paintings became more polished but his desires didn’t falter. He continued to act the way he used to. In 1992, Bacon succumbed to a heart attack. His art was esoteric and he still maintained that cryptism in his art even though there was a lot that he was going through beyond his colors and canvas.

ABOUT THAT ARTIST- Francis Bacon-1 

A lot of you might think of the philosopher, but that is not who we are going to talk about in this article. 

There was another Francis Bacon, who was named after the philosopher and British Chancellor who, as the artist’s father claimed, was their ancestor born in 1909 in Dublin, Ireland an artist known for his unorthodox, borderline disturbing paintings.

A lot of his paintings were portraits of faces disfigured from some form of emotional suffering which his life was certainly full of. He derived inspiration for his paintings from an array of landscapes. For example he derived inspiration for one of his paintings from a nurse screaming in the movie battleship potemkin molded with his own fascinating imagination.

Humble beginnings 

Bacon was asthamatic and from a young age was very much in touch with his feminine side, his homosexuality was beginning to transpire and his family, especially his father considered it an abomination and Bacon, at the age of 16, was dismissed from his house. He went to London afterwards, where he did a couple of odd jobs just trying to make ends meet. Francis Bacon later started living with an art connoisseur, in France whom he met at an exposition. It was in France where the idea of becoming a painter started to grow on him. The Spanish painter Pablo Picasso was a major influence for Bacon, he was extremely in awe of the way Picasso’s ability to imagine and the uncanny geometry he used, the fragments of which can be slightly seen in Bacon’s work.

Early career 

Francis Bacon completed his first painting called crucifixion in 1933 and this brought him some success. But things did not run so smoothly for him after his artistic debut, his career saw a decline from here. His subsequent paintings did not receive critical or commercial success, instead his paintings were being criticised at this time.

Bacon did not release any of his work to the public for a while after this. During this time he was extremely self critical of his work, and was dissatisfied with almost all of it until he released his painting Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion in 1944 at an exhibition which enticed a lot of attention back to him. From this point onwards Bacon saw substantial success.

Bacon went on to make paintings such as Painting, 1946, Head I, 1948, Head VI, 1949 and perhaps his most famous, a painting inspired from Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X by the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez. 

All his paintings till now had very similar color scheming, he used quite dark, gloomy colors for a lot of his work and all of them possess an enigmatic whiff to them. His paintings seem like a hybrid of something so familiar yet something that can still manage to evade one’s imagination.

During all this while Bacon’s transformation could be seen through his paintings, his work was evolving as the years passed by and was being deeply affected by his personal experiences as one would expect.

Do we have to sacrifice good economy for healthy environment?

Be the change you wish to see in the world. Take a pledge to protect Mother Earth this World Environment day

Past decade has handed over much benefit to human kind and the one to suffer is environment exposing environmental degradation that costs…….. per year worldwide.

“While the overall policy focus should be on meeting basic needs and expanding opportunities for growth, they should not be on the expense of unsustainable environmental degradation.”-muthukmara mani(senior environmental economist).

Using natural resources as fuel to the economic development many have curbed themselves over the poverty, it providing employability and many new opportunities to individuals. With excess greed and overuse of all these resources there has been excruciating effects on environment overall degrading forests, scarring natural resources these are overall affecting the economy in return.

Tony Abbott said his govt. won't "put the environment ahead of the economy". RT if you think he's got his it wrong.

Poverty remains cause of either of both consequence and cause of environmental degradation. Needless mining and overuse of resources that are on first hand limited to us which is quiet evident over degrading agriculture yields per hectare as livestock is overgrazed grassland and forest deplete for human settlements.

            The question that arises is our economic benefit so crucial that it costs us worsened environmental quality, depleted resources, extinct habitats and other impacts?

Something that emerges out is environmental stability, low emission resource efficient greening of the economy should be possible at costs of terms less to that of GDP of each country, valuing the available natural resources and taking policy decision accordingly.

To avail this issue the natural environmental growth be necessary, affordable, desirable, and measurable.

  • If not now it’s going to be a challenge to turn the pages around to covert the damages done to nature with hefty economical costs in future and also proving deadly not only to the flora-fauna but eventually to humans too, hence it’s necessary to avail it at the very moment.
  • Policies such as environmental taxes can positively help minimize the cost and pressure over governments hence making it affordable to all.
  • With so many diversifies ecologies and habitat all over the globe the policies and laws needs to be designed such that it preserves and nourishes these natural gems.
We think cutting edge technology is essential in delivering environmental and economic gains.

What can be done?

Particulate emission reduction can effectively help decrease GDP modestly even reducing 10%.

Making more tractable efficient commitments and following them religiously, look through the environments vision and then make other end decision regarding the communities, societies, business and governments. Science can be at its most use when it’s accessible to every person who wishes to use it. Every person taking this as a personal responsibility the awareness would make it up to history pages. We need to turn around the current situation and consider it as a need of an hour if we wish out economy our trades our families to thrive in peace without draining our economies.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

A group of cognitive psychologists, curriculum theorists and instructional researchers, and testing and assessment specialists published in 2001 a revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy with the title A Taxonomy for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. This title draws attention away from the somewhat static notion of “educational objectives” (in Bloom’s original title) and points to a more dynamic conception of classification.

The authors of the revised taxonomy underscore this dynamism, using verbs and gerunds to label their categories and subcategories (rather than the nouns of the original taxonomy). These “action words” describe the cognitive processes by which thinkers encounter and work with knowledge.

A statement of a learning objective contains a verb (an action) and an object (usually a noun).

Using Bloom's taxonomy to help write lesson plans is the best way to start to differentiate your lessons. It can be tricky for new teachers and trainee teachers to plan lessons and differentiate effectively but I found using Bloom's taxonomy is a great help. This infographic shows exactly the differentiation possible.  #teacherofsci  #adviceforteachers #teacheradvice #teachertips #teachingtips #teacher #teachers #teaching #education #writinglessonplans #lessonplan #bloomstaxonomy #blooms
  • The verb generally refers to [actions associated with] the intended cognitive process.
  • The object generally describes the knowledge students are expected to acquire or construct. (Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001, pp. 4–5)

The cognitive process dimension represents a continuum of increasing cognitive complexity—from remember to create. Anderson and Krathwohl identify 19 specific cognitive processes that further clarify the bounds of the six categories. 

The Cognitive Process Dimension – categories, cognitive processes (and alternative names)

..

Remember

recognizing(identifying)

recalling (retrieving)

Understand

interpreting(clarifying, paraphrasing, representing, translating)

exemplifying(illustrating, instantiating)

classifying(categorizing, subsuming)

summarizing(abstracting, generalizing)

inferring (concluding, extrapolating, interpolating, predicting)

comparing(contrasting, mapping, matching)

explaining(constructing models)

Apply

executing (carrying out)

implementing (using)

Analyze

differentiating(discriminating, distinguishing, focusing, selecting)

organizing (finding, coherence, integrating, outlining, parsing, structuring)

attributing(deconstructing)

Evaluate

checking (coordinating, detecting, monitoring, testing)

critiquing (judging)

Create

generating(hypothesizing)

planning (designing)

producing (construct)

The knowledge dimension represents a range from concrete (factual) to abstract (metacognitive) (Table 2). Representation of the knowledge dimension as a number of discrete steps can be a bit misleading. For example, all procedural knowledge may not be more abstract than all conceptual knowledge. And metacognitive knowledge is a special case. In this model, “metacognitive knowledge is knowledge of [one’s own] cognition and about oneself in relation to various subject matters . . . ” (Anderson and Krathwohl)

 The Knowledge Dimension

Factual

  • knowledge of terminology
  • knowledge of specific details and elements

Conceptual

  • knowledge of classifications and categories
  • knowledge of principles and generalizations
  • knowledge of theories, models, and structures

Procedural

  • knowledge of subject-specific skills and algorithms
  • knowledge of subject-specific techniques and methods
  • knowledge of criteria for determining when to use appropriate procedures

Metacognitive

  • strategic knowledge
  • knowledge about cognitive tasks, including appropriate contextual and conditional knowledge
  • self-knowledge

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy Model

Note: These are learning objectives – not learning activities. It may be useful to think of preceding each objective with something like, “students will be able to…:

The Knowledge Dimension

Factual

The basic elements a student must know to be acquainted with a discipline or solve problems in it.

The Knowledge Dimension

Conceptual

The interrelationships among the basic elements within a larger structure that enable them to function together.

The Knowledge Dimension

Procedural

How to do something, methods of inquiry, and criteria for using skills, algorithms, techniques, and methods.

The Knowledge Dimension

Metacognitive

Knowledge of cognition in general as well as awareness and knowledge of one’s own cognition

The Cognitive Process Dimension

Remember

Retrieve relevant knowledge from long-term memory.

Remember + Factual

List primary and secondary colors.

Remember + Conceptual

Recognize symptoms of exhaustion.

Remember + Procedural

Recall how to perform CPR.

Remember + Metacognitive

Identify strategies for retaining information.

The Cognitive Process Dimension

Understand

Construct meaning from instructional messages, including oral, written and graphic communication.

Understand + Factual

Summarize features of a new product.

Understand + Conceptual

Classify adhesives by toxicity.

Understand + Procedural

Clarify assembly instructions.

Understand + Metacognitive

Predict one’s response to culture shock.

The Cognitive Process Dimension

Apply

Carry out or use a procedure in a given situation.

Apply + Factual

Respond to frequently asked questions.

Apply + Conceptual

Provide advice to novices.

Apply + Procedural

Carry out pH tests of water samples.

Apply + Metacognitive

Use techniques that match one’s strengths.

The Cognitive Process Dimension

Analyze

Carry out or use a procedure in a given situation.

Analyze + Factual

Select the most complete list of activities.

Analyze + Conceptual

Differentiate high and low culture.

Analyze + Procedural

Integrate compliance with regulations.

Analyze + Metacognitive

Deconstruct one’s biases.

The Cognitive Process Dimension

Evaluate

Make judgments based on criteria and standards.

Evaluate + Factual

Select the most complete list of activities.

Evaluate + Conceptual

Determine relevance of results.

Evaluate + Procedural

Judge efficiency of sampling techniques.

Evaluate + Metacognitive

Reflect on one’s progress.

The Cognitive Process Dimension

Create

Put elements together to form a coherent whole; reorganize into a new pattern or structure.

Create + Factual

Generate a log of daily activities.

Create + Conceptual

Assemble a team of experts.

Create + Procedural

Design efficient project workflow.

Create + Metacognitive

Create a learning portfolio.

Stress Busters

Our daily routine can have a toll on our mental health. Work pressures, exam related stress, house responsibilities, overtime with no rest can cause serious health problems and therefore needed to be taken care of. Our human bodies need rest to reset for further work, and when that is ignored we end up getting sick or stressed. As sickness could be treated with medications, we need stress bursting activities too. These activities not only reset our brains for a fresh start but also help us develop the capabilities we never actually cared enough about. These activities help us in getting relaxed after a hectic day or two. There are a number of these activities that can and are helpful in relieving stress.

Hobbies

Every person has at least one or two hobbies that can come as a savior while having a stressful day like, painting, writing, reading, cooking, watching movies, art and craft, singing, dancing etc. With heavy work or studies load people end up paying zero percent attention to their hobbies, but these might help in taking the head out of work for some time and just relaxing while exploring their lost hobbies further. Mostly a person’s hobbies relate to its right part of the brain, which is also responsible for creative development of a being, thus these hobbies can prove to be beneficial in many unexpected ways. Any sort of art form can relieve the stress from a heavy work day.

Music

“My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.”

― Martin Luther

Music is to have a magic effect on us while trying to survive through a tiring day. The soft and slow music is to act as a meditation, keeping us at peace and relaxing us. The slow paced music helps us clear our mind and ease up while in a stressful situation. The fast paced music is proven to make us happy or excited while in a low mood. Our brain responds to the happy waves generated by music and helps us loosen up better.

Strolls

With most of the work being desk related or requiring hours of sitting in front of the screen, can be hectic and have unhealthy effects on our mental health. Such a situation calls for a stroll or a walk for at least an hour or so to breathe fresh in park and walk to stretch out our muscles. Walking reduces the strain caused by hours of sitting, thus freeing us from part of our undeserved stress.

Conversations

People sometimes forget the power of conversations. Having work related problems? Talk to your work best friend. Having relationship problem? Talk to your best friend. Having life problems? Talk to your mother. The conversations with right person have the healing power to take you away from a rough, awful day. It might seem like a waste of time to a lot of people but in reality, these conversations hold the power cut off the distress and calm us down.

Breaks

Just like we need an interval in between of a movie or a break in the middle of a show, we sometimes need a break from our daily routine. Little tea or coffee breaks while still going strong with work can be a short term solution but breaks such as- visiting parents, going back to hometown, taking on a vacation, meeting friends, celebrating without any particular reason, can all charge us up to the level that of a fighting war and holding up with pressures then a becomes the easiest task in the world.

Father of western philosophy- Socrates

Socrates is one of the most prominent philosophical figures in the history of western philosophy. He laid the bricks for the very same idea on which philosophers like Plato and Aristotle built upon in the coming years.

Firstly let’s dissect the term “philosophy”, it comes from the Greek word philo- meaning love and sophia- meaning wisdom, i.e., the love for wisdom. 

Socrates’s lifestyle

Socrates followed his love for wisdom/knowledge for as long as he lived, he pursued knowledge in it’s absolute true sense, he thought that pursuing knowledge was the ultimate purpose of life and Socrates didn’t just think that he lived by these words, his actions reflected his ideas in the purest form. But he was born in 469 BC in Athens during a time when court trials were on the basis of the intensity of the arguments made and not facts, so no points for guessing that Socrates’s ideas were not received well by the Athenian population. 

And you can’t really blame them, that was a long long time ago, a time when women were thought to be inferior than men, it was a time when slavery was normal. On the other hand socrates did not do a very good job at dealing with people either, he was not the most hygienic person of that time, he did not shower for days and would go around the city asking random people questions and if that wasn’t enough he would tell them they were wrong. This is what Socrates loved to do, question and not because he knew more than an average Athenian citizen or that he wanted to massage his own ego; on the contrary Socrates admitted that he knew nothing. There is a very well known quote by Socrates that goes “One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing”, that is why he went around Athens asking everybody questions hoping to one day find some answers, spoiler alert he didn’t. The Athenian population wasn’t very fond of him, and found him to be annoying.

Socrates- the martyr

And just to make it more clear, he annoyed the people so much that they united together and eventually he was put on trial. At this point you might think that Socrates would have given up on his unapologetic attitude but he didn’t. He stood by his principles even though he knew it would lead to his death. Socrates was a smart person, he could have very easily won that trial by making a strong argument but if he did then all his ideas and all his actions would have been in vain. In that trial, Socrates said that the people of Athens should be thanking him for asking them questions and showering upon them his own wisdom, this did not sit well with the jury and about many more dialogues later the jury declared Socrates guilty and was later sentenced to death by drinking poison.

Socrates died a martyr, a martyr for philosophy, he died defending his ideas. Socrates might have died but he made sure to immortalize his ideas.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR – AGATHA CHRISTIE

Known Mysterious Incident About “the queen of crime” except her famous novels.

Born in Torquay in 1890, Agatha Christie became, and remains, the best-selling novelist of all time.

She is best known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, as well as the world’s longest-running play – The Mousetrap. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation.

Agatha Christie is one of the greats of mystery literature. For eleven days, she was at the center of her own mystery, that got international headlines. Unlike the plots in her brilliant books, the motives underpinning this particular storyline are rather vague.

The characters of this real and known incidents were the Two of Britain’s most famous crime writers, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, and Dorothy L. Sayers, author of the Lord Peter Wimsey series and herself (Agatha Christie” the queen of crime”).

AGATHA CHRISTIE’S DISAPPEARANCE CASE

WHAT DO WE KNOW-

On the December night of 3rd,1926 she drove away from her home in Berkshire and vanished completely. Her car was found abandoned and a huge manhunt was launched. Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes mystery stories and Dorothy L. Sayers, author of the Lord Peter Wimsey series, participated in the search. Their specialist knowledge, it was hoped, would help find the missing writer.

Her disappearance would spark one of the largest manhunts ever mounted. Agatha Christie was already a famous writer and more than one thousand policemen were assigned to the case, along with hundreds of civilians.

Agatha Christie’s disappearance prompted a nationwide search and for the first time in UK history, aeroplanes were employed as part of the search effort.

Newspapers offered rewards for information and her husband Archie was suspected of foul play.

The Home Secretary, William Joynson-Hicks, urged the police to make faster progress in finding her.

It didn’t take long for the police to locate her car. It was found abandoned on a steep slope at Newlands Corner near Guildford. But there was no sign of Agatha Christie herself and nor was there any evidence that she’d been involved in an accident.

Not until 14 December, fully eleven days after she disappeared, was Agatha Christie finally located. Eventually, it was revealed that Christie had absconded to Harrow gate via train, where she spent eleven days hobnobbing with the young social crowd under the name of her husband’s mistress. Christie, upon being discovered, says she had no memory of the events.

The Speculations

  • Agatha Christie rarely talked about the incident, simply putting it down to about of temporary amnesia caused by a blow to the head.
  • The consensus of opinion at the time was that the whole affair (no pun intended) was an act of revenge aimed at her erring husband.
  •  Recent researches on her medical condition suggest that she was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia. She died of natural causes in early 1976.

About that artist- Van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh perhaps, one of the greatest artists to have ever lived, was born in 1853, in the Netherlands. He was the eldest of six children to his parents, and was only in touch with 2 of his siblings later in life. His brother Theo Van Gogh was the closest to him.

 Van Gogh is considered as the greatest post impressionist (post impressionism is a French art movement, mainly characterized by vivid hues and exuberant brush strokes). Unfortunately, His artwork did not receive much success while he was alive

Van Gogh died at an early age of 37 and was not around to witness his work being recognized and appreciated.

Introduction to art

At the age of 16, he apprenticed at the art dealers Goupil and Cie at The Hague branch through his uncle. He worked at the Goupil in London and Paris as well in the following years. The everyday exposure to art seemed to intrigue him. Artists such as Frans Hals, Jean Francois Millet started to grow on him and greatly inspired him throughout his life.

He became extremely successful during his time at the Goupil but art dealing did not satisfy him at all, in fact he despised it and was dropped off from the Goupil during his time in Paris after which he took up a couple of different jobs and had to experience some unfortunate events led him to become devout and extremely pious. During his time back home he used to translate the verses of the bible in English and French.

One of his jobs included working as a missionary among the less privileged section of the society at a coal mining region, where he lived among the poor and gave away his possessions, this did not sit well with the religious authorities, and the church later banished him.

This left him feeling dejected and out of sorts. He felt abandoned by society and isolated himself. It was during this time that he used painting as a form of expression.

He moved to Brussels to learn drawing, and then later he moved to Hague to work under the guidance of Anton Mauve, a Dutch painter.

Van Gogh and Mental Health

Van Gogh went on to produce great paintings in the subsequent years, these years also saw his artwork evolve greatly. He worked with Paul Gaugin for an ephemeral time of about two months.

This was a time of absolute distress for him, he was tortured by his own head and his solitude did not side with him.  In fact he was so troubled that one night he cut off his own year with a blade.

After this event, he was hospitalized where he kept experiencing psychotic episodes and yet was able to give the world some of the best paintings like The Starry Night, Olive Trees, Garden Of The Asylum and many more.

Van Gogh made his best paintings during the last two, extremely disturbing years of his life. Consumed by loneliness and the voices in his head, Van Gogh succumbed to his own mind. At the age of 37, he shot himself.

Vincent Van Gogh was a highly inspirational artist who had the ability to express emotions through a simple stroke of his brush. He expressed his pain through his brush which gave birth to an alluring piece of art that can make you feel emphatic emotions. And keep in mind that he was able to do this despite his ill mental health.

76th Session of UNGA

“Assembly of hope and resolutions”


United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations (UN). Each 193 member state has equal power to vote, providing a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the International issue by comprising all the member states.


Each year in September the Assembly meets for regular sessions; thereafter as required. Through the dedicated agenda items or sub-items discussion of certain issues is done which leads to the adoption of resolutions. Amid covid-19 when all in-person meeting was not possible UNGA included virtual platforms to conduct meetings and other novel means to guarantee business continuity.


Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives opened the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 14 September 2021 as he was sworn in as General Assembly President. Over 100 heads of state and government are expected to attend in person. The size of delegations allowed into the General Assembly Hall has been limited. Due to the global pandemic, UN Member States were encouraged to provide pre-recorded statements instead of travelling to UN Headquarters.

Pandemic is not the only problem the world is facing right now. The world has been facing the challenges such as Racism, intolerance, inequality, poverty, hunger, armed conflict, climate change and other ills for decades. General Assembly is an important opportunity for all to come together and work for the future that is different from today.


The theme for the 76th session is “Building Resilience through hope to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people, and revitalise the United Nations.”


SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDG)

Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries- poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. It is also an outline for fighting poverty and hunger, achieving gender equality, confronting the climate crisis and much more, within the next ten years.


In unpredictable times, the SDGs show the way to advance towards a strong recovery from COVID-19 and a better future for all on a safe and healthy planet. Sustainable Development Goals are a global pact to create a future where nobody is left behind. These 17 goals were adopted by all countries at the United Nations in September 2015.


DECADE OF ACTION
In the aspect of human and planetary well being ‘Decade of action’ is a universal call to action to end poverty, to protect Earth and ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
In September 2019, the secretary-general called on all sectors of society to mobilize for a decade of action on three levels:
Global action to secure greater leadership, more resources and smarter solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals;
local action implanting the needed transitions in the policies, budgets, institutions and regulatory frameworks of governments, cities and local authorities; and
people action, including by youth, civil society, the media, the private sector, unions, academia and other stakeholders, to generate an unstoppable movement pushing for the required transformations.



Progress is being made in several places but action to meet the Goals is not yet developing at speed that is required to meet the achievements. The Decade of Action calls for accelerating sustainable solutions to all the world’s biggest challenges — ranging from poverty and gender to climate change, inequality and closing the finance gap.


The pandemic became the unprecedented wake-up call that demanded urgency in actions and ambition. The progress that was planned and had been achieved for the decade of action got shaken in the very first five months of the pandemic, spreading the vary that then SGD moment is going off track.


Covid-19 began as a health crisis and quickly become a human and socio-economic crisis. It also urged everyone to see the importance of the preservation of the achieved progress.

“We need to turn the recovery into a real opportunity to do things right for the future.”
– UN Secretary-General António Guterres.


Some of the event highlights

• On 20 September the second SDG moment took place with leaders from over 30 countries addressing the theme ‘Plans, pathways and partners for Recovery and beyond.’ In inclusion of four focal topics Gender equality; Connectivity; Youth in Action; and Localising the SDGs.

• On 23 September, the first-ever food summit will take place completely virtually to mobilise the actionable commitments to transform food systems.

• On 24 September, the first global gathering on energy under UNGA auspices since the UN Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy in 1981, ‘High-level Dialogue on Energy’ will be commenced.

• On 28 September, the High-Level Event on Jobs and Social Protection for Poverty Elimination event will be conveyed virtually.


2021 remains a crucial year to bring back the balance with nature, take measures about the climate emergency, and get ahead of the pollution crisis while making sure that no one is left behind. The topics that have been discussed and are to be discussed in the 76th United Nations general assembly are a reminder of what must be done for the future so our dreams won’t be lost forever.
Only by being together, we can tackle the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness that many of us are currently feeling. As long as we are united we can make a difference for the sake of our planet and each other.



‘One person can hope for change and two can make it come true with the support of each other.’

Continue reading “76th Session of UNGA”

He said, she said- Psychology of manipulation.

“Fake it until you make it” has been a life mantra for many. It’s a scenario where you create a lie for yourself and keep believing that lie until it becomes your reality. But what if we are not the ones creating the lies? What if someone else lied to us and we made it our reality?

Hello readers, I welcome you to a new age of MANIPULATION. *cue evil laughter*

The lies we believe-

The term for this is Self fulfilling prophecy given by Robert Merton. The name itself is self explanatory but still I want to give some insight on it. This psychological term in short can be named as misconception that later becomes true cause at first we believed it to be true. So essentially a lie we believed in and subconsciously we commenced our work towards that lie and made it our reality.

Now what if somebody lies to us like “I know what you did last summer.”  Pretty vague.  No one’s a psychic here. But subconsciously we already start reminiscing what haphazard thing we did last summer hence giving into the manipulation and believing a lie.

Classic manipulation, isn’t it?

The lies made me do it-

Security dilemma is caused by Self fulfilling prophecies. It can lead to people not being able to distinguish between the actual truth and the prophecy discussed above. In general it is a political term which happens only 40% of times in a case of self fulfilling prophecy.

Take it like this, there’s a person, 2 parties A and B and an old age rivalry. So this person who favors none of these parties and wants to stir up some trouble. He goes to party A and says “Hey there, I found these filled water balloons near B. Weird right?” Now that A has evidence that B might be preparing for a water balloon fight they start packing their own balloons and Nerf guns. B part sees the ammunition. And voila blow the toot for a full fledged WATER FIGHT!!!

Now imagine this scenario going on a bigger level and let the realization dawn upon you that how everything is just psychology.

The lies I am-

Talking about Behavioral confirmation, it is a very special kind of self fulfilling prophecy where we change our personality according to someone’s initial belief about us.

Let’s make it clear with an example. Some random person comes up to you and says “When I first saw you I thought you to be a little aggressive.” Now remember this is a person whom you have met only 2-3 times and you are anything but aggressive. Now whenever this person come around you’ll start acting a little aggressive and sometimes even when the person is removed from the equation.

Leading a belief/expectation to turn into reality just like in the 2 cases mentioned above.

All these scenarios are derived from self fulfilling prophecy. A very basic way of controlling human brain according to our wishes. These psychological ways can be used positively too but if you decide to go for manipulation then I didn’t tell you this. Jokes apart, it’s still quite wondrous how a little he said she said shenanigan can be used in our favor.  

Booktok made me read it. – Review on the book ‘We were liars’

Yes, you read it write. This book has been trending on Booktok (book recommendation tiktoks) under the titles of “books that I would sell my soul to read for the first time again”, “books that will make you sob” or something as simple as “must have books”. But this particular book made many heads turn.

So, what’s all the hassle about? That’s exactly what we are here to find out.

Book history-

This book was written by E. Lockhart in 2014 and did a commendable job. The real hype began when in 2019 this book made an appearance in Booktok and ever since it’s still in the lists of many.

Popular sites like Daily Trojan recently added “We were liars’ on their must read pile. Publishers weekly too has named it as one of the most discussed book on TikTok.

Plot check.-

Nope, sorry can’t say. My lips are sealed.

 But still for the sake of our lovely readers I will give you some insight. The plot is everything. It’s about a family, a rich one, whose story is narrated by a girl who can’t remember the last summer she spent on that island. No literally she can’t remember what happened. And believe me when I say that’s the only the start of the mysteries that revolve around the great Sinclair family.

Next up comes the plot twist. The suspense of this book will make you question reality. It will toy with your brain. But this book make every misery it puts us through worth it.

Theme park.-

The themes portrayed by the author E. Lockhart is quite literal slap on the society. The book challenges social norms head on. Ranging from racism to rich/poor and everything in between this book has it all. It also deals with psychological disorders which I might add is a very sensitive and controversial territory. But E. Lockhart sashayed her way into it quite elegantly.

This book can be added in our school syllabus and no one would question it. Cause that is life. Real one not the Shakespearean where people die unnecessarily or take unfinished revenges.

Why are Tiktokers hyped about it?

The reason behind this is one word “narration”. The lines can be stolen, plot can be copied, hell even if entire idea of this book is plagiarized, still no one can copy the way the author narrates this book. The narration keeps you on edge, makes you restless and leaves a mark right on your soul. The ending will have you wailing in a corner of your room and question life and the entire credit goes to how beautiful the story has been narrated.

And that’s right I would personally sell my soul to read for the first time again.

Not just luck-

‘We were liars’ made I to the popular list mainly due to Booktok but what makes this entire ordeal a little disappointing is that why such a great book written by a very talented author need a social media platform to get popular and sell some copies. It’s been a long time since I have been a reader, whilst social media is a great advertising platform, I still feel books should have a separate platform where we can find genuine books which are of our interest and not just the books which were lucky enough to reach Tiktokers.

‘We were liars’ is like a ride on emotional rollercoaster. It takes you to another level of epiphany. This book has the capability to change one as a person and I am so not exaggerating.

Booktok made me read it but I hope you can say the review made you read it.

MOST APPRECIATED DRAMA OF DIFFERENT LANGUAGES IN INDIA

Being one of the most viewed programmes on Indian channel and getting good TRP with desi viewers many different dubbed shows were appreciated from pakistan, turkey, korean, ukranian etc.

1. ZINDAGI GULZAR HAI(PAKISTANI)

This serial was a phenomenon that made its stars insanely popular in both Pakistan and India, boosting the steady trickle of cultural exchange into a river of cross-border friendship. Powerful performances from Sanam Saeed, Samina Peerzada and Fawad Khan made this serial an international favourite.

ZINDAGI GULZAR HAI (2012)(2014 in India)

This was the show that made Pakistani actor Fawad Khan a popular face in India. The show that premiered in 2012 on Hum TV in Pakistan was based on a novel by Umera Ahmad and was also inspired from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It was a love story of Kashaf played by Sanam Saeed and Zaroon played by Fawad Khan. It was a classic poor girl and a rich boy love story and focussed on women’s struggle in the orthodox Pakistani society. The show instantly became a hit in Pakistan. And when the show travelled to India two years later, it re-created the history. The charms of the male protagonists, played by Fawad Khan floored TV Ji and many Indian female fans.

2. DESENDENT OF THE SUN(KOREAN)

 Korean heartthrob Song Joong Ki plays the role of a Special Force Officer. He is considered to be one of Korea’s hottest actors with a huge fan following across South East Asia. The series will premiere on Indian television on 8 February 2017 and became one of the first K-dramas to be available on a widely known Indian cable network.

DESENDENT OF THE SUN(2016)(2017 in India)

‘Descendants of the Sun’ is the story of Special Force Officer and a surgeon who fall in love at first sight. Their contrasting ideologies and values (as one kills to protect lives while the other one saves lives to protect them) makes them shy away from one another. Destiny plays an interesting role and after almost a year of having parted ways, they meet at a warzone ‘Uruk’, a land far from Seoul. Now, circumstances bring them face to face where they must work closely together driven by their principles.

3. FERIHA(TURKISH)

The first Turkish drama on Indian television was aired on 15th September 2015, Adını Feriha Koydum (Feriha) which had become a huge success. And from that time the Turkish TV Series has been very popular in India.

FERIHA(2011)(2015 in India)

It is a story of a young ambitious girl, who belongs to a poor family. But with the dreams of making it big out in the world. Beautiful, intelligent, and young, and with the thirst to see and travel the world, Feriha works hard to secure a scholarship to a private university.

But the new life at the university, where she goes to study on a scholarship, which awaits Feriha, about which she has no clues, wraps its arms around her and spins her around. Coming from a poor family and intimidated by the riches of the people around her at the university, Feriha soon entangles herself in a whirlwind of lies and made up stories. Emir Sarrafoglu, a rich son of a rich dad soon becomes the center of attraction of Feriha’s world, and telling lies, her new lifestyle.

4. SNOWDROP(UKRAINIAN)

“Snowdrop” was premiere in India on January 16 , 2017. This captivating story of love and revenge from the heart of Ukraine will not only enchant viewers with its superlative content but also give the audience an experience of a global palate.

SNOWDROP(2015)(2017 in India)

The show revolves around Nadya, an innocent, good hearted and hard working girl, who gets wrongly framed for an accident. Irina, her beautiful, spoilt and manipulative step sister and the man that both of them are in love with is Igor. He is the heir to a cosmetics empire. A tragic accident kills Igor’s beloved sister. Igor, who loved Nadya loses all his trust in her after the ill-fated incident. Irina, takes advantage of the situation and convinces Igor to marry her. The drama starts with a very exciting jail break. In first episode, Nadya will be seen escaping prison and rushing to a hotel where she confronts Irina as she is getting engaged to Igor. The confrontation ends with the stepsisters handcuffed to each other, falling off a roof. As they fall, Nadya wonders how they came to this juncture in life and remembers her past. The show depicts Nadya’s fight to prove her innocence and get the real culprit punished.

5. BOYS OVER FLOWER

This is the most popular K-Drama that dubbed in Hindi and become famous in the whole subcontinent. This drama didn’t only get popularity but the whole cast get popularity from this drama. This is another High school story with rich boy and the poor girl but intense triangle love story.

BOYS OVER FLOWER( 2009)(2017 in India)

Geum Jan Di comes from a poor family who owns a dry-cleaning shop. One day, she visits Shinhwa High School, a prestigious school for the wealthy, and saves a student trying to commit suicide because of bullying. For her heroic act, Jan Di receives a swimming scholarship and starts attending the school. In school, she meets the notorious F4, the most popular and powerful group of boys at the school, consisting of Gu Jun Pyo; the leader of F4 and heir to the Shinhwa Group, Yoon Ji Hu; the grandson of a former president of Korea, So Yi Jung; a skilled potter who comes from a family that owns the country’s biggest art museum, and Song Woo Bin; whose family runs the country’s largest construction company. Her life at school starts out miserable, as she doesn’t fit in with other students because of her status, and later becomes worse when she is labeled as the new bullying target of the F4.

these are the some international shows which was well appreciated with the Indian desi viewers and become hit and was trend setter for the other drama of different countries.

About that author- Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka is regarded as one of the greatest writers of all time who gave birth to a new manner of writing all while being tormented by his very existence.

Early life 

Kafka was born in 1883 in Prague, the capital city of what is now known as Czech. He was the eldest son to an acquiescent mother and a strong, assertive and highly dogmatic father.

Kafka’s father had an assertive and sturdy personality, his presence alone was enough to intimidate Franz or his mother.

Neither Kafka nor his mother could ever gather enough courage to contradict his father. For even if Kafka did gather it, it would lead to consequences that Kafka was extremely familiar with. His mother too, was too timid to ever try and protect her son. Much of Kafka’s personality is profoundly shaped by his relationship with his father. Kafka grew up with profuse self hatred,anxiety and despair. He was nothing like his father, in fact he was the exact opposite, and for that he was always a target for criticism.

Even as a young child, he had a particular inclination towards writing and literature, he wanted to write but this dream of his was highly detested by his father and his mother too failed to comprehend the intensity of his dreams or preserve them.

Kafka’s relationship with his father 

Kafka did not have a good relationship with his father and the same is well reflected in his novels. In his novels, Kafka often created an authoritative figure that cannot be vanquished.

In his unfinished work, The Trial,he talks about the bureaucracy, politicians and businessmen that hold the power to oppress and push around an office worker, Josef K., whose personality awfully resembled that of Franz’s. In The Trial Josef .K, one morning was arrested for reasons he was unaware of, and didn’t even attempt to find out because in his view he deserved every tiny bit of it. He doesn’t try to protest or push back and is ultimately pronounced guilty.

Relationship with self

Kafka’s most famous novel, The Metamorphosis, published in 1915 acts as a great mirror to understand his relationship with himself. In The Metamorphosis, a salesman, Gregor Samsa, one morning wakes up only to find out that he has turned into an insect. The novel revolves around Gregor’s struggles after this significant change. 

The metamorphosis represents the hatred and disgust that Kafka held towards himself.

Franz Kafka’s most notable works include The Judgement, A Hunger Artist, and a series of short stories, and much of them were left incomplete. Kafka would burn down more than half of what he wrote because he did not like his work. The trial was written in 1914-15 but wasn’t published until after his death by his friend, Max Brod. Kafka left all of his work to Max Brod, instructing him to destroy all of it, but luckily Brod disregarded his wish and went on to publish his work which attracted attention and was regarded as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

LEGACY 

Franz Kafka’s most notable works include The Judgement, A Hunger Artist, and a series of short stories, and much of them were left incomplete. Kafka would burn down more than half of what he wrote because he did not like his work. The trial was written in 1914-15 but wasn’t published until after his death by his friend, Max Brod. Kafka left all of his work to Max Brod, instructing him to destroy all of it, but luckily Brod disregarded his wish and went on to publish his work which attracted attention and was regarded as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

Franz Kafka, in 1924 at the age of 40, succumbed to tuberculosis, leaving behind some of the best novels ever written. Kafka was a great literary figure, who inspired writers such as Albert Camus, and Jean-Paul Sartre.

Kafka’s world is often characterized by dark but very real themes. His work has a certain melancholy associated with it. It almost seems like a dread filled dream that sticks with the reader and leaves an everlasting impression on them. His work became so profound that it went on to inspire a style of writing called “kafkaesque”, which is often used to describe something with nightmarish, oppressive and despair-like qualities. His world is a place where most people at some point in their life find themselves, and most of them get out of there too but Kafka stayed there for as long as he lived, giving the world something that transcends their imagination.

Test your ‘MYTHS VS FACTS’ knowledge

Isn’t it amazing when your friends are talking about something that is a myth but you know the real fact about it and you can actually brag about it. Everyone thinks you are a genius but you know that it is something you read somewhere. It’s hard sometimes to think about thousands of myth and facts which we just don’t know and continue to believe what we know about it. When I was small my mother once told me that if you see your face in the mirror at night your face will get wrinkles. Yeah… like that doesn’t even make sense but she told me anyway because she was getting ready and I was In the way. And I know you too have come across some bizarre myths that I believe are made up. But there are myths that people actually believe and are common to everyone like black cats are unlucky. They are not!! I have a black cat and I love her the most.

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It’s modern time and people want facts if you want them to believe something. Science has progressed and has answer to almost everything but there are things which even science is unable to answer for e.g., why are women always right? And how moms are able to find anything when we ask them and we can’t. How?? Okay, I will pull my hair out and still won’t get any answer so let’s move on to our myths vs facts quiz. I will give you some common beliefs and you will have to identify it as a myth or a fact and at the end I will answer them.

READY, SET, GO…

  1. You have to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
  2. Bulls get angry when they see red color
  3. Only animals that blush are humans
  4. Dogs only see black and white. Poor doggos. (Simple huh?? Real questions start now.)
  5. If you swallow gum it will sit for 7 years in your stomach.
  6. Pineapple is a natural meat tenderizer.
  7. To boil water faster add salt to it.

Answers

(Myth) No you don’t have to. There are many factors involved as of how much water you should consume. Drink when you feel like drinking. Not too less not too much. 3 to 4 litres work perfectly fine. According to The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the adequate intake of fluids for men is 3.7 L and for women it is 2.7L. about 50 to 70 % of our body is made up of water and it is important for:

  • Keeping temperature normal.
  • Getting rid of body waste

(Myth) I’ve spent my life getting scared and hiding my red clothes whenever I saw bulls. Whoever made this myth hated red color. Everyone believed this because of that red cloth used by matadors in bull fights but American science guide says that bulls are red green colorblind. The actual reason for bulls’ anger was the movement of the cape. Feeling stupid? Yeah me too. We are in this together.

(Fact) Isn’t it amazing how our cheeks turn red when someone compliments us or when we are embarrassed of saying something stupid. humans are the only animals who are capable of blushing, and as Darwin states “the most peculiar and the most human of all expressions.” It’s still unknown how it happens voluntarily but in terms of science it is caused by the dilation of blood vessels in the facial skin.

(Myth) Here is a good fact dogs don’t see in black and white. Our friend is actually capable of seeing colors not many but can distinguish between them. The can see blue, yellow and some shades of grey. They may not see the true color of an object but they definitely see the color of love. Dogs are pure souls.

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(Myth) “Oh my god! I just swallowed a gum, it will get stuck to my intestines now. (screaming in fear).” You can understand this, right? From fruit seeds to chewing gums we have avoided gulping them. But you will laugh after knowing that neither plants were going to grow from your stomach nor the gum will hijack your guts because your gut can’t digest it. If you anyhow swallow it, it will pass through you in a couple of days. Although a large amount of gum can result in intestinal blockage.

(Fact) Bromelain enzyme in pineapple is digests protein and softens the tissues in meat, hence, goes well with beef, pork and some types of fish. This is the reason why it stings our tongue, it breaks down the surface tissues thankfully our body regenerates cells and repairs the tongue. If you want to soften it you can bake it or soak it in salty water.

(Myth) Adding salt to water will increase the temperature of water fast but it’s boiling point will remain same. Even if you add a spoonful of salt the boiling point will change from 100° to hardly 100.4°.

I hope you enjoyed the quiz, if you know some more myths and facts do tell in the comments below also tell me how much you scored today.

Say ‘YES’ to these habits

Internet has made our lives easy, everything is available there from assignments to math problems but can internet do Everything for us? No, ultimately it’s us, students, who have to study, write for exams and get through this phase of our life. It’s very easy for all of us to get distracted with just one notification on our phone, or thought of our crush😉.
Not everyone can study with all that is going around and concentrate, so many students opt for night time as their study time. But you won’t disagree with fhe fact that it affects our daily routine, makes us feel exhausted for the rest of the day. Night time is for dreaming!! It’s important to rest for our body and our mind. If you are not satisfied with your daily routine, change it. Start with small changes like waking up early, eating healthy and being productive etc,. You don’t have to have a very strict routine, chill you are just a student few ‘habits’ are enough for you.

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START FRESH🐓

You must have heard your parents saying that you never forget whatever you learn in the morning, can’t bet on it’s authenticity but it’s true that mornings are good to start learning. From my experience it is because there is no or very less disturbance with your family sleeping peacefully it’s easy to concentrate. And you know when you start early most of your work is done by the time others wake up. Your reasons for not exercising are eliminated. It also helps in protecting you against:

  • Stress
  • Respiratory issues
  • Obesity
  • Bad mood

DISTRACT THE DISTRACTION 🥷

Do you find it hard to concentrate while studying? Everytime you open your book your phone calls you and asks to scroll for 5 more mintues? Or your mind starts wandering to some wonderland? Well, it’s normal but it makes the study time difficult. Thankfully you can actually eliminate these small distractions. Let’s start with phone. Keep you phone one silent or block the apps for the time being, download website and app blockers from playstore. Keep your away from the place you’re studying so that you don’t pick up your phone everytime you have the urge to check msgs.
Start with the topic that you find most interesting and make a time period for every subject. Don’t include the boring ones together and study when you feel it.

Make good habits and they will make you

Parks Cousins

TAKE A BREAK

It’s so important to just forget about everything and enjoy for a moment. You can plan a family trip to some nearby hill station or a dinner or you can ask your friends for a weekend reunion. It will help you in keeping your study tension side for a day or two. You will stay up to date with your loved ones and you will have people to share your story. You can explore new things like, a dish, a new restro or a new friend you met online. Just get out of the house feel free, dump everything from your head make it ready for the next week. You don’t wanna start your week burdened with stress of the last one.

SLEEP ON TIME😴

As students we often ignore the importance of sleep and how much it affects us. Lack of sleep can cause many serious issues affecting our brain function and body. It will cause you to feel exhausted all day long and lower your productivity. It can lead to stress and a greater risk of heart attack. A good 7 hour sleep is a must as our brain and body rest at that time. In simple words you have all the reasons in the world to get a good sleep. To keep you healthy, working, efficient, happy. What else reason do you need?? It is the ultimate solution to all your problems. Start sleeping on time and you will discover the ultimate change in your lifestyle. You will have all the time to do you daily chores and still have time in your sleeves to relax.

Reference : https://www.helathline.com

LINKAGE

We all have studied in our junior standards about cell. Cell is the the structural and functional unit of life, from them the origin of life takes place. The cell contains a nucleus which contains th genetic material for the survival of the organism DNA. DNA contains the chromosomes. There are .any several genes present on the chromosomes. As the chromosomes are the carriers of heredity they have the tendency to be inherited together, such genes are called linked genes. The tendency of two or more genes present on the same chromosomes that are inherited together is known as linkage. This phenomenon was discovered in plants by Bateson and Punnett and in animals by T.H. Morgan.

MORGAN EXPERIMENT

Morgan used Drosophila melanogaster for his experiments. He carried out many dihybrid cross experiment on drosophila melanogaster to study genes that are sex linked; for example, he and his group crossed yellow-bodied, white eyed female to the wild type with brown-bodied, red eyed males and intercrossed their F1 progeny. He observed that the two genes did not segregate independently of each other and F2 ratio deviated very significantly from 9:3:3:1 ratio. Morgan and his group knew that the genes are located on X chromosome and stated that when when two genes in a dihybrid cross are situated on the same chromosomes then the proportion of the parental combination is much higher than non parental type. This occurs due to physical association or linkage of the two genes, he also found out when genes are grouped on the same chromosomes some genes are strongly linked and some are loosely linked.

COMPLETE LINKAGE

The linked genes which are closely located on the chromosome do not separate and inherited together are called completely linked genes and the inheritance is called complete linkage.

INCOMPLETE LINKAGE

When the linked genes which are loosely located on the same chromosome and have chances of seperation by crossing over are called as incompletely linked and their inheritance is called as incomplete linkage.

MANAGEMENT CHARACTERISTICS

1) IT IS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS

It is a never ending process. Continuity is an important part of management. It is necessary throughout the life of organization. Management is essential to begin the activity, to run it smoothly and to control the activity.

2) MANAGEMENT IS GOAL ORIENTED

Every business organisation has their own set of goals which is decided prior to the execution of the goal. When the management achieves the goal it is called success. Success depends on proper management skills and a manager takes a lot of efforts to achieve this goals. So management is a goal oriented activity.

3) MANAGEMENT IS DYNAMIC

Management is dynamic and not static in character. It deals with human efforts different situations and activities. It embrace changes in form of technological change, socio-economical change, political changes and many more.

4) MANAGEMENT IS UNIVERSAL

Management is universal in character. The principles and theories of management are equally applicable to everywhere and in every field like defence, business, education, etc. These principles are guidelines which are flexible and capable of adaptation to every type of organization.

CARL ROGERS THEORY OF SELF

CARL ROGERS

He was an American psychologist born in 1902 , who took the humanistic approach to psychotherapy. According to Rogers every individual has tendency to actualize himself. According to him mentally healthy individuals have congruence between self and their experience.

According to him every person has the tendency to actualize themselves and a mentally healthy individual have congruence between their experience and their self concept. Neurotic individual deny their sensory and emotional experience. There are two concepts related to this;

REAL SELF

Real self is what we truly are. It is important for good psychological health. Self image directly affects how a person feels, thinks and acts in this world. Real self is our inner personality who is aware about their strength and weakness. It may not be perfect but it is our real part.

IDEAL SELF

It is what desire to be. It represents our ambitious and goals. By ideal self , Rogers meant some goals which are beyond our capabilities. This causes gap between real and ideal self.

If ideal self and real self are alike our self concept is accurate. High congruence between real self and ideal self leads to greater sense of self worth and a healthy productive life and if there is incongruence between them it leads to maladjustment.

7 spices of India

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India is the biggest producer, consumer and exporter of spices in the world. India exports about 180 different spices to 150 countries of the world. A wide variety of spices are grown in different parts of the country many of which are native to these places. Others are imported and cultivated locally. Spices have been used in Indian kitchens for centuries, they are one of the most important thing in our daily diet. Spices are added to food to give it flavor, aroma, and to preserve it, also spices are said to be really good for health. Several spices are blended together to give food the known Indian taste. Not only in kitchens but spices play a vital role in pharmaceutical products, medicines, cosmetics, etc. Spices are known to help in curing many deseases like arthritis cancer, diabetes.

Spices add a twist to our foods. Without spices food looks, smells and tastes dull and lifeless, a pinch of common spices is what we all need. Be it cardamom in our tea, turmeric in lentils or curry leaves in curry, all the spices offer something different and are an essential part of our lives. They are known to be effective in gastric problems, blood disorders, infectious diseases. There are 7 spices which are a must to have in indian households. These spices are used for their aroma and spices and for their potential health benefits.

TURMERIC

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Turmeric has been used since ancient times as a healer, coloring agent and most importantly to give a yellow shade to our food and all the health benefits it provides us with consuming just a small amount daily. It is like a sack of nutrients. It has many benefits including, it’s antioxidant and antispetic properties. It has been a prominent ingredient in cosmetic industry as well. Face creams, face washes, etc with the goodness of turmeric are found in abudance. It is grown as a rhizom and can be used as fresh or dried. Cucurmin is the main component of turmeric. It is also helpful in stopping blood for minor cuts. Also known as golden spice or indian saffron. It helps relieve pain, aids digestion and supports immune system. A glass of milk with turmeric can be very effective at night for better sleep and digestion. It is known to provide warmth to the body, clean blood and cure skin realted problems.

CUIMIN

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Cumin consists of oil that provide a particular aroma to the seeds. It is the basic and one of the first ingredient used while cooking. Smal boat shaped seeds is an ancient spice used as whole or powder and is infused with the hot oil or lightly roasted to bring out the flavor. It has an earthy aroma, and is beneficial for heart related diseases due to its antioxidant properties and has various vitamins and minerals in it. Cumin seeds improve taste and craving. Cumin oil posesses antifungal and antimicrobial properties. It is helpful in toothache and jaundice as well and is widely used in pharmaceutical industries.

FENUGREEK

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India accounts for the major production of fenugreek and is derived from various states out of which Rajasthan alone gives 80% of the indian output. The majority is cultivated and consumed in India itself. It is used as a herb dried or fresh in cooking, it possesses bitter taste which is reduced by roasting the seeds. Fenugreek plant is about 2-3 feet tall, it’s green leaves and pods that contain small, golden-brown seeds. For many years it has been used in Chinese medicines to treak skin problems many other diseases. And for similar reasons it has long utilized in households and can be found in shampoos and soaps as well. For it’s nutritious value and sweet nutty taste it has been a must to have spice in Indian kitchens. Fenugreek may be helpful in aiding diabetes and is also taken as supplement.

CORIANDER

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Coriander is one of the most used herb to flavor dishes, the seeds known as Coriander and the leaves as cilantro. Commonly known as dhaniya in india, It is also known as chinese parsley. Used in soups, currie masalas in India, middle, eastern and asian meals. While leaves and dried or ground seeds are used, coriander is useful in lowerin blood sugar, boosting immune system, lower heart related deseases. Both seeds and leaves of coriander are very different in taste. Whole seeds are added to vegetables, pickes, lentils and baked goods. Their aroma is released by warming. While leaves are used to garnish dishes. Coriander seeds are toasted and ground before eating as their texture can be hard to chew. A bright shining green plant. Surprisingly it has several skin benefits. It slowly absorbs the sugar in stomach and stimulates insulin and is found effective in lowering blood sugar levels in diabetic patients.

CLOVE

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Clove is grown in Asia and America, its oil, stem, dried flower buds and leaves are used in making medicines. Clove is very effective in dental problems and can cure toothache when applied directly to it. Also used as a flavoring in foods and beverages, toothpaste, perfume, soaps and cigarettes. It resembles a nail in shape. It’s use in culinary is mainly for flavoring as it blends both with sweet and savory dishes. Clove oil has antispetic and antibiotic properties and is used especially in dentistry. Clove is often found in indian cuisine for it aroma and flavor and is a part of garam masala, which is a mixture od different spices.

CINNAMON

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Cinnamon is a spice extracted from bark, leaves, flowers, fruits, and roots of the cinnamon tree and has been a part of traditional medicine for thousands for years. It has many health benefits and is also used for flavoring and fragrance. It is effective in blood sugar levels, lower cholesterol, stomach issues and obesity. It has antioxidant, antibiotic and anti inflammatory properties and has traces of nutrients in it. In india it is used in making chutneys, meat or rice dishes. Sometimes while cinnamon sticks are also used.

CARDAMOM

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After Saffron and vanilla, cardamom is the most expensive spice in the world. This versatile pod is used in teas, spices and many sweets are garnished using cardamom. In indian cuisine whole pods of cardamom are used in making curry, milk deserts and many other dishes. It is widely used in making chai as it for its aroma and flavor. It benefits in gastric problems, cardiovascular issues, controlling cancer and cholesterol and is rich in nutrients. It is also included in garam masala as an essential ingredient. These small green and black pods have a wide range of uses added to their list.

POVERTY

POVERTY IS THE WORST FORM OF VIOLENCE – MAHATAMA GANDHI.

Poverty can be defined as the condition where an individuals basic necessities are not fulfilled like; shelter, clothing, education. Today world is heading towards globalization, but still poverty remains a prime issue in many countries. Poverty has become a complex problem. It leads to other problems. A poor person is not able to get education which causes increase in illiteracy. An illiterate person is not qualified for jobs roles which leads to unemployment and in many cases humans exploitation and child labour. An unemployed person is not able get proper nutrition diet leading to power health and no energy for work. Most of the underprivileged class lives in slum areas. They lack in proper sanitation and drinking water, eventually leading to an early death. We can say that poverty is the root cause of other problems in society. There are various causes of poverty and one of the chief cause is population explosion. Rising population is putting load over the resources and budgeting of the country. In some countries past civil war had made poverty widespread. Natural disaster has also contributed to countries poverty. Today the rich are getting richer and poor are getting more poor. Government has come up with many plans to eradicate poverty but we can get better by joint efforts of government and people.

PSYCHOLOGY – DEFENSE MECHANISM

What is defense mechanism? How psychology looks into this aspects? Defense mechanism are something that is studied under topic stress. What do you do when you are stress? You meditate, or listen to your favourite music, etc your some how try to divert your mind or make your mind and fight it. According to psychology defense mechanism are the unconscious strategies used to protect the ego from shattering due to unacceptable and harsh reality, it’s a face saving device. Excessive used of defense mechanism leads us to a habit of escaping from the reality and indulge in falsehood about’s one own self which causes lack of concentration eventually leading to symptoms of mental disorder. Let’s see some of the defense mechanism described by Dr. Sigmund Freud;

1) REPRESSION

Suppose a person has underwent a traumatic experience it’s called repression. It’s an unconscious mechanism devise by the ego to keep disturbing the thoughts outside our conscious awareness. Thoughts that are often repressed are those that would result in feelings of guilt from superego.

2) DISPLACEMENT

Displacement is the redirection of an impulse onto to less powerful target. In this case the person can’t retaliate against the actual source of their impulse and that person redirects it to a less powerful target. Example if your working parent is scolded by the boss in the office they come n vent out that anger on you.

3) SUBLIMATION

It is considered to be the a more adaptive defense mechanism in that it can be transform the negative thoughts and emotions into a more positive energy. It’s like redirecting your emotion into a productive endeavour.

4) DAYDREAMING

A person day dreams to escape the reality. It’s when life appears to be tough and unfair a person often uses fantasy to escape the reality. Adolescent is a stage when they get more into this defense mechanism which can be dangerous for their mental health. If they day dream excessively they may lose touch with the actual world and surrounding.

SOME OF THE MAJOR PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

1) ANXIETY DISORDERS

The word anxiety is derived from Latin word ‘Anxietas’ which means uneasy or troubled mind. When a person feels nervous without any obvious reason for a long time and it affects the person daily life it is termed as Anxiety Disorder. There are many types of Anxiety Disorder let’s look at few;

GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER

Humans feels tension in their daily life it can be termed as a a good pressure as it compels us to face difficult situation in a systematic and planned manner like studying for exams or some responsibilities. But when this pressure becomes too intense and start to interfere with our daily routine it can be called as generalized anxiety disorder.

– PHOBIC DISORDER

The word phobia is derived from Phobos the name of a Greek god of fear. When an individual has an intense and irrational fear of some object or situation which they are not able to overcome it is termed as phobia; there are many types of phobia like fear of heights, fear of water , social phobia, etc.

2) DEPRESSIVE DISORDER

When a person experiences an extreme feeling of sadness as well as guilt due to some negative incidences or some other external factors for atleast two weeks it is called depressive disorder. People may experience suicidal thoughts, feeling of hopelessness, lack of sleep and many more.

3) BIPOLAR DISORDER

This is also called Manic depressive disorder. An individual experiences alternate phases of extreme sadness, hopelessness, stress at one time and extreme happiness, enthusiasm, and elation at other times. In some cases this conditions happens one after the other. Genetic factors, imbalance in neurotransmitter in brain, mainly norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine are found to be the main causative factors.

BEST COLLEGES IN MUMBAI

A college assists a student in building their career. Colleges are necessary for converting the thoughts into action. The institution acts as a bridge for their career pathways. In college we are taught how to make into the society and working industry and progress in life, the institution boost our overall development. A college provide with many activities, fest, placement, etc so that an individual growth is secured. It’s on us to work hard and achieve our dream; here are few of the best colleges in Mumbai.

1) IIT BOMBAY – INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

It is a public technical and research university, located in Powai. It was established in 1958, the Chairman is Dr Pawan Goenka and the Director is Subhasis Chaudhari. The institute has physically expanded to include more than 584 major building. The institute grant’s admission through JEE and Advance. It offers many courses such as bachelor of technology, bachelor of science. It offer courses for post graduate, doctoral and postdoctoral level. The centre has five primary research areas. It offers a great campus area and an awesome student life.

2) ST. XAVIER’S COLLEGE

It is a private Catholic autonomous higher education institution run by The Society of Jesus in Mumbai, located in the Fort area of South Bombay. It was established in 1869, the Chairman is Fr. Arun de Souza, SJ and the Principal is Dr. Rajendra Shinde. The college was greatly expanded in 1930s and is built in Indo-Gothic style. The college is equipped with modern amenities and has a large common library. It also has a leisure space area known as ‘The Woods’. The college is affiliated with the University of Mumbai, offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Arts, Science, Commerce and Management. One can opt for this college for a better career development.

3) MITHIBAI COLLEGE OF ARTS, CHAUHAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND AMRUTHBEN JIVANLAL COLLEGE OF COMMERCE AND ECONOMICS

Mithibai college is affiliated by the University of Mumbai and was granted the status of autonomous in 2018. The college was established in 1961 by Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal as a part of the trust’s Silver Jubilee Celebration, located in Vile Parle. The principal was Dr. Rajpal Hande. It has 50% reservation for gujrati speaking community. It has been consistently featured on the top 5 ranks in India Today College rankings. It offers an undergraduate and postgraduate courses in commerce. Other courses include bachelor of management studies, bachelor of science and master of science courses in biochemistry, biotechnology and computer science.

4) JAI HIND COLLEGE

Jai Hind College is an autonomous college affiliated by the University of Mumbai, located in Churchgate Mumbai. It was established in 1948, the Principal of the college is Ashok Wadia. The college offers both junior college and regular degree college. The college provides bachelor degree in science, commerce and arts and also offers MSc in Big Data Analytic. It offers great students life and hosts big college fests every year. Once can consider this college if they have to enjoy their college life along with their studies.

BRANCHES IN PSYCHOLOGY

Today psychology has evolved to much higher level, it’s an important science in modern day. Now a days more than 50 branches of psychology are existing to study human behaviour from various points. Let’s know few of them;

1) CHILD PSYCHOLOGY

Child psychology is the study of subconscious and conscious childhood development. It deals with the biological, psychological and emotional changes that occur during childhood. A child psychologist uses standardized psychological test to measure intelligence, etc. They perform researches on effective child practice, etc.

2) COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of the mind as an information processor. It focuses on higher mental processes like thinking, reasoning and decision making. It concern about the study of attention, perception, language development, thinking, memory and problem solving.

3) CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

Clinical psychology looks into the area of diagnosis and treatment of emotional and behavioural problems like mental illness, alcoholism, etc. To do the diagnosis a psychologist takes the detailed information of the patient by different test and interview. They use proper psychotherapy to help the patient to deal with the problem.

4) CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY

Criminal psychology deals with the study of criminal mind and their personality and the causes of this behaviour and suggesting effective methods to prevent this criminal behaviour and implementing it. A criminal psychiatrist plays an important role in forensic department to understand and detect the scene of crime place and interpreting clues for investigation. They generally work with law enforcement department or in a criminal rehabilitation centre or other departments of this field.

13 REASONS WHY?

As a student it is important to have a balanced lifestyle, for the better physical and mental well being. It’s important to find things that your enjoy and it’s possible only when we keep our body, mind and ot⁸her factors in control. We go through several changes at this age, socially and personally so, to be able to sustain a good life we need to check our overall lifestyle. We don’t have to go overboard for it simple habits can make a huge difference.


I have listed a few reasons as to why we should…

1 Wake up early

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Every parent has told their child to wake up early in the morning and we all have ignored it like we ignore assignments on holidays. There are ‘n’ no. of reasons to turn into an early bird. It gives us a lot of time for our work, helps in getting a good sleep, decreases stress and respiratory issues. It motivates us to get fresh air and meditate. Gives us enough time to eat our breakfast, most important meal of the day. Girls got a bonus reason for it as it gives a healthy, good skin to flaunt.

2 Drink water

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Although water is tasteless but only real drinkers know the taste of water. Water carries oxygen and nutrients to the cells of our body. Drink at least 3 L water daily to get the toxins out of our body, to get a healthy skin and a glow on the face. Helps in flushing bacteria from our bladder and helps indigestion. Water level affects energy and brain function of our body so, drinking a good amount of water is beneficial and it’s the best thing to prevent kidney stones. There are so many health benefits of water that the list can go on and on.

3 Read books

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One of the most important habit in a person’s life is reading, from a very young age we are taught it’s importance as it helps in developing the mind. It reduces stres and helps us in escaping the stressful world for a moment. It gives power to our imagination, improves vocabulary and helps us learn new things. We should read everyday even if it’s for few mintues. Every night before sleeping ditch your phone and television with books. It will help you to develop reading habit.

4 Take a walk

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After a busy day of studying and scrolling memes on your phone it’s important to give your mind and body a break and what’s better than going out for a walk. A brisk walk for half an hour can be effective in burning a hell lot of calories. It will boost your mood and for your next session of studying you will be as fresh as a new rose bud. You can discover new things as you walk in your neighborhood. It also helps in lowering blood sugar level and will keep the weight in check.

5 Eat healthy

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Eating healthy food is important for students to keep their health as well as mind in proper state. Our mind will work properly only if our body is working properly and to get all the valuable nutrients one should eat vegetables, fruits and lentils in good quantity. Follow a balanced diet and eliminate the unhealthy food. Eating junk once in a while is okay but it should be avoided on a regular basis.

6 Write a journal

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With the onset of digital world we have almost forgotten how to write. The only time we take up a pen is while writing our exams otherwise everything including notes are available on mobile phone. Writing has been included as one of the must to have skills. It helps you improve vocabulary and clarifies your thinking. Writing is a powerful skills that can help you get a wider perspective on thing and to influence other people. It gives you the power to frame your creativity and imagination on a piece of paper.

7 Do internships

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Internships play an important role whenever you apply for a job after all you need to have some experience and also it helps you learn new things related to the respective field. Big companies prefer students with a good number of internships over students with less or no experience in internships. So, take a Internship whenever you can.

8 Take a online course

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Apart from school and college, there are so many online course available online, you can find and enroll yourself in any of them as per your interests. They will not only enhance your skills but they will provide you with a certificate as well that you can add in your resume. You can easily complete these courses while sitting in your home, you can turn your free time into a productive one.

9 Be socially active

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Maintaining social relationships is equally vital as scoring good marks. You can’t excel in your life without relations. You need people to grow at times and being active socially helps you in a lot of ways like enhancing your communication skills, being up to date. If you are isolated from the outer world there are chances of you to feel depressed. So, for your mental, physical and social well being going out of the house once in a while is crucial.

10 Take up a hobby

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Hobbies are always our best friends. They bring out the best in us, they give us way to express our creativity. They de-stress us and boost our mental health. Hobbies encourage us to have some ‘me-time’ and are like a mental escape from our daily routine. We don’t have to be perfect in something, we can always enjoy our hobbies as we like.

11 Watch series

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Series or movies are not just for entertainment, many series are educational, motivational and good for mental health. They are a great stress relievers, and you can choose any genre from the heap of series like FRIENDS when you want to feel good, THE OFFICE when you want to laugh.They are also helpful in refining language skills. You can also connect with the characters and also you can write a review of the series it will upgrade your writing skills.

12 Listen music

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Music has proven to be mood uplifter. When we listen to our favorite music, our brain releases dopamine which promotes positive effects on mood. It reduces stress, anxiety and produces a positive effect on mind. You can even do you homework while listening to music on a low volume. Music is one the best way to kill boredom.

13 Take proper sleep

Photo by u0410u043bu0435u043au0441u0430u043du0434u0430u0440 u0426u0432u0435u0442u0430u043du043eu0432u0438u045b on Pexels.com

A full 8 hour sleep is as important as eating healthy and doing exercise. If the body doesn’t get proper rest all the above mentioned things will be in vain because improper sleeping schedule will affect your body and ultimately your studies. It will affect the brain function as well which will lower your concentration level. So, Keep all your electronics away at night and also eat light food to get a peaceful sleep.

CHALLENGES ESTABLISHING PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE.

Wilhelm Wundt a German physician and philosopher in 19th century set up the first psychological laboratory at Leipzig University in 1879 to study human behaviour, through his rigorous experiment, work and efforts made psychology emerged as a science.

However, establishing psychology as a science was a challenge. People still didn’t knew how the mind work and functions. There was still a massive amount of data yet to be gathered. Thought it emerged as a science it was into many controversies and criticism; let see what were they.

1) PSYCHOLOGY IN PRE PARADIGMATIC STATE

According to American philosopher, Thomus Kuhn psychology has not succeeded in producing a cumulative body of knowledge that has a clear conceptual core. It contrasts with other sciences.

2) PROBLEM RELATED TO OBJECTIVITY AND VALIDITY

Methods such as introspection and psychoanalysis are inherently subjective, so in some extant psychology falls short on the criteria of objectivity and validity.

3) OBJECTIFYING HUMANS

Since many experiments on humans and their behaviour some of the scientist from the same field criticised the work. They said it treats human as an object, it sometimes portrayed as dehumanizing.

4) ISSUES RELATED TO PREDICTABILITY AND REPLICABILITY

In psychology making exact prediction is difficult and major goal of psychology is to predict human behaviour and humans respond in different way in different situations thus causing more difficult to understand human behaviour. Therefore causing the test results in psychology are more varied, harder to control and difficult to replicate.

FRIENDSHIP

Friendship is one of the greatest treasure bestowed on a person by time , it’s one of the significant bond one can ever wish for. A friendship stands on the pillars of trust like other relationship. The bond has to be cultivated for years so that it’s roots become strong and it can stand through every thick and thin of life. Friendship has no age, gender or cast. The most important part of this bond is acceptance, there is no judgement. And it’s them with whom u forget all the worries of your life as you know they will be the one to whom you will go to seek shelter in the rain of pain and difficulties.

Let me dedicate a poem to friendship;

THE THING I AM CURIOUS ABOUT; FRIENDSHIP.

A bestfriend say’s hastag forever!

But who know’s what future beholds,

Today you might be as close as winning a race,

But within a blink the future may change.

Yes! I am curious about my friendship.

I fear, I might lose it in a second:

Friendship is supported by the pillars of trust,

But trust is as delicate as glass.

Friendship is a circle that never ends,

But what if friendship takes 360 degree spin.

The circle can be broken into an arch,

But you can’t lose, only mourn.

The longing can be as painful as knife through heart,

I hope the crescent moon phase never arrives;

The crescent moon is a beautiful sight, but not in friendship.

The friendship circle shines like a moon in the darkest night.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

The term emotional intelligence was termed by Michel Beldoch in 1964. The term means “it’s the capacity and ability to understand and manage your own emotions in a positive manner. People with high emotional intelligence are well adjusted individual as their emotions are in tune, they can co-up with their stress and panic and are able to handle the situation in an appropriate way. As a result they are able to com up with proper solution in a crucial situation.

Emotional intelligence have five components;

1) Self awareness: It’s an ability to perceive and understand your own emotions. A well adjusted individual is aware of their emotions; like their strength and weakness?

2) Self regulation: It’s controlling the expression of our emotions, an ability to express ourselves appropriately at right place and time; like controlling your laughter when some one can feel bad at.

3) Self motivation: It’s one’s motivation to change , you are setting an aim to achieve it and u are determined to do it; liked getting succeed in your career.

4) Empathy: It’s an emotion of putting yourself into someone’s else shoes. Understanding their situation and their point of view and feeling their pain; like helping a helpless person keeping your biases aside?

5) Social skills: It’s an ability to interact well with others which includes active communication, leadership skills and many more.

LAST DAY OF MY SCHOOL

Have u ever felt anxious about starting a new phase of your life? Leaving the secure portals of your school where you have spent the years of your life? There were your parents, teachers, friends yo have your back , protect your and guide you to tackle your problems; but now you have to leave your comfort zone and venture out in this world to play your part and make a name out of yourself in a play called “LIFE”.

The last day of my school was the last chapter of my memeroable book of my student life, but this time flows away quickly. Let me dedicate a poem(not best, but written with heart) to my school life;

I still remember the last day of my school.

Walking down the memory lane;

My mind was flooded with the departing thoughts,

Constraining back the tear of emotions;

Asking a question why time has to fly?

There was abrupt ache in my heart,

For the longing of the friends I made here.

My ears will be free from this annoying bell!

My school uniform will be kept away,

But still I will miss those wonderful days.

Those days were precious!

The only problem was our homework;

The regular faces which our eyes perceive,

Will be lost in the mist of forthcoming future.

The joy will be gone away with my departing friends.

There will be no argument between the two groups,

My friends will not gather together for a single tiffin.

There will be no discussion at the Rialto.

This valuable moments will be taken away by time.

Cherishing this beautiful moments till my last breath;

The only last wish if I get to make!

To live that dusted away life again.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND FILM REVIEW.

What will be your response if your dreams become your reality? Wouldn’t you be delighted to live your alternate reality! What it’s a goofy fantasy? Let me take you all in the world of fantasy; Alice in Wonderland is a movie directed by Tim Burton, is a 3-D blend of live action and animation of Lewis Carroll novel Alice in Wonderland.

SYNOPSIS

The story starts with a girl named Alice who has a reoccurring dreams since her childhood. She has turned 19 year old mourning over the death of her father. She is attending a garden party at Lord Ascot’s estate, she is confronted into an unwanted marriage relation with Ascot’s son. Taking some time to take a decision she in haste follows a rabbit to a rabbit hole under a tree, unintentionally falling into it. The story takes a drastic turn by that incident and opens a portal to her recurring dream world from where she begins her journey to the Wonderland and also finding her true self. On her journey she meets the different characters of wonderland ; the Caterpillar (played by Alan Rickman), Mad Hatter (played by Johnny Depp), White Rabbit (played by Michael Sheen), Red Queen (played by Helena Bonham Carter), White Queen (played by Anne Hathaway) and many more. The destiny unfolds the secret of her presence in Wonderland. She was brought her to fulfill the pronounced Oracle. This adventure helps Alice to overcome her fears, insecurities and emerge as victorious. The adventure helps Alice to realise her potential and follow her own will and doesn’t get lost in the society rituals or let them decide your potential and future.

Overall the movie is pretty good, it’s a bit intense and scary at times for younger children who could not understand the film depictions just because of the scary secens. As it’s the Lewis Carroll bizzare imagination not many can match that level of fantasy creativity. The cast was great, everyone perfectly fits into their allotted characters. Their costumes, the makeup, the dialogue delivery everything was perfectly done. My personal favourite would definitely be The Red Queen I feel her presence on screen always keep’s the audience jolly and entertained. Her carzy acting her weird dressing sense everything just speaks confidence it just creates a feeling of nostalgia. I love everything about her in my opinion well sorry on advance for being baised! I feel the cinematography was substantial thr visual effects makes a person experience the scenes. According to me the story unfolds quite briskly. The direction was great but the writer could have added more parts of the actual novel, the film can be more descriptive. But what can we say after all it’s Tim Burton film who is unique in his work. So it’s a must watch movie .

DEEP LEARNING SERIES- PART 10

This is the last article in this series. This article is about another pre-trained CNN known as the ResNet along with an output visualization parameter known as the confusion matrix.

ResNet

This is also known as a residual network. It has three variations 51,101,151. They used a simple technique to achieve this high number of layers.

Credit – Xiaozhu0429/ Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-4.0

The problem in using many layers is that the input information gets changed in accordance with each layer and subsequently, the information will become completely morphed. So to prevent this, the input information is sent in again like a recurrent for every two steps so that the layers don’t forget the original information. Using this simple technique they achieved about 100+ layers.

ResNet these are the three fundamentals used throughout the network.

  (conv1): Conv2d (3, 64, kernel_size= (7, 7), stride= (2, 2), padding= (3, 3))

  (relu): ReLU

  (maxpool): MaxPool2d(kernel_size=3, stride=2, padding=1)

These are the layers found within a single bottleneck of the ResNet.

    (0): Bottleneck

  1    (conv1): Conv2d(64, 64, kernel_size=(1, 1), stride=(1, 1))

  2    (conv2): Conv2d(64, 64, kernel_size=(3, 3), stride=(1, 1), padding=(1, 1))     

  3    (conv3): Conv2d(64, 256, kernel_size=(1, 1), stride=(1, 1))    

      (relu): ReLU(inplace=True)

   Down sampling   

   Conv2d(64, 256, kernel_size=(1, 1), stride=(1, 1))

    (1): Bottleneck

  4    (conv1): Conv2d(256, 64, kernel_size=(1, 1), stride=(1, 1))

  5    (conv2): Conv2d(64, 64, kernel_size=(3, 3), stride=(1, 1), padding=(1, 1))     

  6   (conv3): Conv2d(64, 256, kernel_size=(1, 1), stride=(1, 1))     

      (relu): ReLU(inplace=True)

    )

    (2): Bottleneck

  7    (conv1): Conv2d(256, 64, kernel_size=(1, 1), stride=(1, 1))

  8    (conv2): Conv2d(64, 64, kernel_size=(3, 3), stride=(1, 1), padding=(1, 1))

  9   (conv3): Conv2d(64, 256, kernel_size=(1, 1), stride=(1, 1))

   (relu): ReLU

There are many bottlenecks like these throughout the network. Hence by this, the ResNet is able to perform well and produce good accuracy. As a matter of fact, the ResNet is the model which won the ImageNet task competition.

There are 4 layers in this architecture. Each layer has a bottleneck which comprises convolution followed by relu activation function. There are 46 convolutions, 2 pooling, 2 FC layers.

TypeNo of layers
7*7 convolution1
1*1, k=64 + 3*3, k=64+1*1, k=256 convolution9
1*1, k=128+ 3*3, k=128+1*1, k=512  convolution10
1*1, k=256+ 3*3, k=256 + 1*1, k=1024 convolution16
1 * 1, k=512+3 * 3, k=512+1 * 1, k=2048 convolution9
Pooling and FC4
Total50

There is a particular aspect apart from the accuracy which is used to evaluate the model, especially in research papers. That method is known as the confusion matrix. It is seen in a lot of places and in the medical field it can be seen in test results. The terms used in the confusion matrix have become popularized in the anti-PCR test for COVID.

The four terms used in a confusion matrix are True Positive, True Negative, and False positive, and false negative. This is known as the confusion matrix.

True positive- both the truth and prediction are positive

True negative- both the truth and prediction are negative

False-positive- the truth is negative but the prediction is positive

False-negative- the truth is positive but the prediction is false

Out of these the false positive is dangerous and has to be ensured that this value is minimal.

We have now come to the end of the series. Hope that you have got some knowledge in this field of science. Deep learning is a very interesting field since we can do a variety of projects using the artificial brain which we have with ourselves. Also, the technology present nowadays makes these implementations so easy. So I recommend all to study and do projects using these concepts. Till then,

HAPPY LEARNING!!!

DEEP LEARNING SERIES- PART 9

This article is about one of the pre-trained CNN models known as the VGG-16. The process of using a pretrained CNN is known as transfer learning. In this case, we need not build a CNN instead we can use this with a modification. The modifications are:-

  • Removing the top (input) and bottom (output) layers
  • Adding input layer with size equal to the dimension of the image
  • Adding output layer with size equal to number of classes
  • Adding additional layers (if needed)

The pre-trained model explained in this article is called the VGGNet. This model was developed by the Oxford University researchers as a solution to the ImageNet task. The ImageNet data consists of 10 classes with 1000 images each leading to 10000 images in total.

VGGNet

I/p 1     2   3     4     5        6       7         8      9          10     11            12       13   o/p

Credit: – Nshafiei neural network in Machine learning  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

This is the architecture for VGGNet. This has been found for the CIFAR-10 dataset, a standard dataset containing 1000 classes. This was used for multiclass classification. Some modifications are made before using it for detecting OA. The output dimension is changed into 1*1*2 and the given images must be reshaped to 224*224 since this dimension is compatible with VGGNet. The dimensions and other terms like padding, stride, number of filters, dimension of filter are chosen by researchers and found optimal. In general, any number can be used in this place.

The numbers given below the figure correspond to the layer number. So the VGGNet is 13 layered and is CNN till layer 10 and the rest are FNN.

Colour indexName
GreyConvolution
RedPooling
BlueFFN

Computations and parameters for each layer

Input

224*224 images are converted into a vector whose dimension is 224*224*3 based on the RGB value.

Layer 1-C1

This is the first convolutional layer. Here 64 filters are used.

Wi =224, P=1, S=1, K=64, f=3*3

Wo =224 (this is the input Wi for the next layer)

Dim= 224*224*64

Parameter= 64*3*3= 576

Layer 2-P1

This is the first pooling layer

 Wi =224, S=2, P=1, f=3

Wo=112 (this is the input Wi for the next layer)

Dim= 112*112*3

Parameter= 0

Layer 3-C2C3

Here two convolutions are applied. 128 filters are used.

Wi =112, P=1, S=1, K=64, f=3

Wo=112 (this is the input Wi for the next layer)

Dim= 112*112*128

Parameter= 128*3*3=1152

Layer 4- P2

Second pooling layer

Wi =112, P=1, S=2, f=3*3

Wo =56 (this is the input Wi for the next layer)

Dim= 56*56*3

Parameter= 0

Layer 5- C4C5C6

Combination of three convolutions

Wi =56, P=1, S=1, K=256, f=3*3

Wo = 56 (this is the input Wi for the next layer)

Dim= 224*224*64

Parameter= 64*3*3= 576

Layer 6-P3

Third pooling layer

Wi =56, P=1, S=2, f=3*3

Wo =28 (this is the input Wi for the next layer)

Dim= 28*28*3

Parameter= 0

Layer 7-C7C8C9

Combination of three convolutions

Wi =28, P=1, S=1, K=512, f=3*3

Wo =28 (this is the input Wi for the next layer)

Dim= 28*28*512

Parameter= 512*3*3= 4608

Layer 8-P4

Fourth pooling layer

Wi =28, P=1, S=2, f=3*3

Wo =14 (this is the input Wi for the next layer)

Dim= 14*14*3

Parameter= 0

Layer 9-C10C11C12

Last convolution layer, Combination of three convolutions

Wi =14, P=1, S=1, K=512, f=3*3

Wo =14 (this is the input Wi for the next layer)

Dim= 14*14*512

Parameter= 512*3*3= 4608

Layer 10-P5

Last pooling layer and last layer in CNN

Wi =14, P=1, S=2, f=3*3

Wo =7 (this is the input Wi for the next layer)

Dim= 7*7*3

Parameter= 512*3*3= 4608

With here the CNN gets over. So a complex 224*224*3 boil down to 7*7*3

Trends in CNN

As the layer number increases,

  1. The dimension decreases.
  2. The filter number increases.
  3. Filter dimension is constant.

In convolution

Padding of 1 and stride of 1 to transfer original dimensions to output

In pooling

Padding of 1 and stride of 2 are used in order to half the dimensions.

Layer 11- FF1

4096 neurons

Parameter= 512*7*7*4096=102M

Wo= 4096

Layer 12- FF2

4096 neurons

Wo= 4096

Parameter= 4096*4096= 16M

Output layer

2 classes

  • non-osteoarthritic
  • osteoarthritic

Parameter= 4096*2= 8192

Parameters

LayerValue of parameters
Convolution16M
FF1102M
FF216M
Total134M

It takes a very large amount of time nearly hours for a machine on CPU to learn all the parameters. Hence they came with speed enhancers like faster processors known as GPU Graphic Processing Unit which may finish the work up to 85% faster than CPU.

HAPPY LEARNING!!

Is the world becoming a meme?

I feel in today’s time, you are truly successful if a meme is based on you.

brainyquote.com
Made this meme as soon as I decided to write on this topic.

What is a meme?

The word meme is the short form of greek word mīmēma which means ‘imitated thing’. According to Wikipedia, a humorous image, video or text that is copied and rapidly spread by the internet users. It has become a lifestyle through which people give out their creativity. The reason it has become so popular is the connection viewers feel between them and the events portrayed.
With the rise in meme culture, meme makers that are known as memers have increased incredibly since, its not a tough task to make a meme, but being consistent and up to date is an important and must to have skill. With the decline in humour of COMEDY industry memes have come as life saviors.

How it came into existence

Memes have literally evolved with the internet and they became a thing in the mid 1990s. Memes in the form of short clips were shared by peope in usenet forums. People put their humor into the right place or as we see a right template. Earlier they were shared via mails, messages or even newspapers and as the electronics took over social media became a meme hub. It has become an important aspect of marketing strategy. Whenever a movie is about to be released, memes related to it are all over the internet, a very smart move by the marketing people because what’s better than meme when you want your stuff to be known by the audience.

Pros of meme

Meme shared by Dominos_india on twitter.
  1. Gives us a reason to SMILE: Feeling bored? Scroll through social media memes. Sad? Obviously memes!! Sometimes we are feeling down and really have someone to talk to, thats when people start looking for relatable things and memes provide them the feeling of satisfaction that there are others just like us, who go through similar things. They are meant to be funny even with the darkest of humor.
  2. A source of income: Big brands like Domino’s, IPL, are hiring professionals memers for their marketing. It helps them in popularity and also gives their fans a chance to interact with them via internet. Not only brand but celebrities share memes nowadays. Big meme pages get paid promotions regularly. Meme accounts, which these people started a few years ago have become a good source of income for them.
  3. A link between friends: You can’t talk to your friends everyday but you can share memes. Sharing memes has become a trend. There are groups for this single purpose where this small happiness is shared everyday and people connect to each other without having a proper conversation.
  4. Free of cost! This is the best thing about memes. You can get them anywhere and anytime without spending a single penny. Who doesn’t like to get things free?
pic courtesy: pinterest

According to psychologist paul Thagard in a 2013 web article, memes are not a good way to express extreme thoughts.

Cons of memes

  1. Offensive: memes that are funny to some might be offensive to others. With time they have become controversial, though hurting other’s sentiments should be avoided but you never know what can hurt people. This offensive side of meme culture gets unnoticed. People don’t understand the depth of it.
  2. Negativity: lately everything that goes viral becomes a meme and with it goes hate. People hate on others who they dislike or disagree with. For example, few days ago a lady was seen slapping a guy and soon as the matter was discovered, people got their fresh meme material much of which was funny but a small portion if it was purely bad taste. Abusing or hating should never be considered right in memes.
  3. Short lived: memes get famous for a short period of time and are replaces by others as soon as something new comes in market. They are forgotten easily and sometimes you just get bored of them because there are so many similar memes they don’t appeal to us the same way others do.

Conclusion

Despite the pros and cons, it’s important for the public especially youngsters to understand that memes are just a means of making people laugh but within the limits. We need to understand that mocking others or using the memes to laugh on sensitive topics should be avoided. There have been many incidents in the past where people have made meme without acknowledging the seriousness of the matter. Just yesterday I saw a meme on people who got killed by clinging to the plane in Afghanistan.
On the other hand there have been cases where memes have saved people in their gloomy days. And they have also been helpful in spreading information on a wide scale. We get the news of an earthquake from meme fater than the media. Funny but true.
Meme culture can have repercussions on our mental well being, it affects the way we see our society and sometimes stops us from changing by approving our toxic traits.

Let’s not make this world a meme and keep it real. Laugh at funny but be serious when required. Laughing about negative aspects of human life is not ok. Making memes on suicide, depression and other such matters is not ok. Turning these serious matters into trivial ones is not ok!! Let’s enjoy memes that are really funny and within the limits.

On a lighter note…

Pic courtesy: HumorNama

Reference: https://smeharbinger.net

https://www.wikipedia.org

DEEP LEARNING SERIES- PART 8

The previous article was about the padding, stride, and parameters of CNN. This article is about the pooling and the procedure to build an image classifier.

Pooling

This is another aspect of CNN. There are different types of pooling like min pooling, max pooling, avg pooling, etc. the process is the same as before i.e. the kernel vector slides over the input vector and does computations on the dot product. If a 3*3 kernel is considered then it is applied over a 3*3 region inside the vector, it finds the dot product in the case of convolution. The same in pooling finds a particular value and substitutes that value in the output vector. The kernel value decides the type of pooling. The following table shows the operation done by the pooling.

Type of poolingThe value seen in the output layer
Max poolingMaximum of all considered cells
Min poolingMinimum of all considered cells
Avg poolingAverage of all considered cells

The considered cells are bounded within the kernel dimensions.

The pictorial representation of average pooling is shown above. The number of parameters in pooling is zero.

Convolution and pooling are the basis for feature extraction. The vector obtained from this step is fed into an FFN which then does the required task on the image.

Features of CNN

  1. Sparse connectivity
  2. Weight sharing.

    

    Feature extraction-CNN              classifier-FNN

In general, CNN is first then FFN is later. But the order or number or types of convolution and pooling can vary based on the complexity and choice of the user.

Already there are a lot of models like VGGNet, AlexNet, GoogleNet, and ResNet. These models are made standard and their architecture has been already defined by researchers. We have to reshape our images in accordance with the dimensions of the model.

General procedure to build an image classifier using CNN

  1. Obtain the data in the form of image datasets.
  2. Set the output classes for the model to perform the classification on.
  3. Transform or in specific reshape the dimension of the images compatible to the model. The image size maybe 20*20 but the model accepts only 200*200 images; then we must reshape them to that size.
  4. Split the given data into training data and evaluation data. This is done by creating new datasets for both training and validation. More images are required for training.
  5. Define the model used for this task.
  6. Roughly sketch the architecture of the network.
  7. Determine the number of convolutions, pooling etc. and their order
  8. Determine the dimensions for the first layer, padding, stride, number of filters and dimensions of filter.
  9. Apply the formula and find the output dimensions for the next layer.
  10. Repeat 5d till the last layer in CNN.
  11. Determine the number of layers and number of neurons per layer and parameters in FNN.
  12. Sketch the architecture with the parameters and dimension.
  13. Incorporate these details into the machine.
  14. Or import a predefined model.  In that case the classes in the last layer in the FNN must be replaced with ‘1’ for binary classification or with the number of classes. This is known as transfer learning.
  15. Train the model using the training dataset and calculate the loss function for periodic steps in the training.
  16. Check if the machine has performed correctly by comparing the true output with model prediction and hence compute the training accuracy.
  17. Test the machine with the evaluation data and verify the performance on that data and compute the validation accuracy.
  18.   If both the accuracies are satisfactory then the machine is complete.

HAPPY LEARNING!!

DEEP LEARNING SERIES- PART 7

The previous article was about the process of convolution and its implementation. This article is about the padding, stride and the parameters involved in a CNN.

We have seen that there is a reduction of dimension in the output vector. A technique known as padding is done to preserve the original dimensions in the output vector. The only change in this process is that we add a boundary of ‘0s’ over the input vector and then do the convolution process.

Procedure to implement padding

  1. To get n*n output use a (n+2*n+2) input
  2. To get 7*7 output use 9*9 input
  3. In that 9*9 input fill the first row, first column, last row and last column with zero.
  4. Now do the convolution operation on it using a filter.
  5. Observe that the output has the same dimensions as of the input.

Zero is used since it is insignificant so as to keep the output dimension without affecting the results

Here all the elements in the input vector have been transferred to the output. Hence using padding we can preserve the originality of the input. Padding is denoted using P. If P=1 then one layer of zeroes is added and so on.

It is not necessary that the filter or kernel must be applied to all the cells. The pattern of applying the kernel onto the input vector is determined using the stride. It determines the shift or gaps in the cells where the filter has to be applied.-

S=1 means no gap is created. The filter is applied to all the cells.

S=2 means gap of 1. The filter is applied to alternative cells. This halves the dimensions on the output vector.

This diagram shows the movement of filter on a vector with stride of 1 and 2. With a stride of 2; alternative columns are accessed and hence the number of computations per row decreases by 2. Hence the output dimensions reduce while use stride.

The padding and stride are some features used in CNN.

Parameters in a convolution layer

The following are the terms needed for calculating the parameter for a convolution layer.

Input layer

Width Wi – width of input image

Height Hi – height of input image

Depth Di – 3 since they follow RGB

We saw that 7*7 inputs without padding and stride along with 3*3 kernels gave a 5*5 output. It can be verified using this calculation.

The role of padding can also be verified using this calculation.

The f is known as filter size. It can be a 1*1, 3*3 and so on. It is a 1-D value so the first value is taken. There is another term K which refers to the number of kernels used. This value is fixed by user.

These values are similar to those of w and b. The machine learns the ideal value for these parameters for high efficiency. The significance of partial connection or CNN can be easily understood through the parameters.

Consider the same example of (30*30*3) vector. The parameter for CNN by using 10 kernels will be 2.7 million. This is a large number. But if the same is done using FNN then the parameters will be at least 100 million. This is almost 50 times that of before. This is significantly larger than CNN. The reason for this large number is due to the full connectivity. 

                                                 

Parameter= 30*30*3*3*10= 2.7M

HAPPY READING!!

INSPIRATION LEADS TO SUCCESS.

Inspiration can come from anywhere, it’s something that makes you want to change in your life for the better, or someone who pushes you or set’s an example, or someone that makes you think about your life and how you want to change it.

My inspiration was my envy! Yes you heard it right. Growing up as a student was a challenging task. A child is vulnerable during this stage of life. The influence which the social sphere lay’s on them is very overwhelming. A child is born as an empty slate with capabilities; that child becomes a well adjusted individual by manifesting the potential they possess in a right way.

Let me share my piece of story. My experience as a student was, I lacked the quality of confidence and was not motivated enough to perform well in my desire area of interest, Literature. Every year mu school use to host English Recitation Competition in which I wanted to participate and win, but didn’t had the grit to admit my self into the competition. My teacher who always encouraged every student to exploit their potential advised me,“Winning doesn’t matter, what matter is participating”. That piece of encouragement was sufficient to to kick start my journey in search of my confidence aand winning that competition. I participated in the competition but I lose I was disheartened but was determine to win next year, but again success was not on my side and that’s when envy came into the frame. I was envious towards the winners and compared myself with them not releasing I was demotivating my own self. Consequently I observed the winners in the following years analyzing their ploy and instructed myself if they can do it why can’t I! I worked on my language skills and hand gestures evently advancing in the reciting tactics. I made the winners my model and changed my envious attitude into a matured one, which helped me to boost my motivation. This changes helped me to win the competition after a consistent failures in the past years. That’s when I learnt “INSPIRATION LEADS TO SUCCESS”

DEEP LEARNING SERIES- PART 6

The previous article was about the procedure to develop a deep learning network and introduction to CNN. This article concentrates on the process of convolution which is the process of taking in two images and doing a transformation to produce an output image. This process is common in mathematics and signals analysis also. The CNN’s are mainly used to work with images.

In the CNN partial connection is observed. Hence all the neurons are not connected to those in the next layer. So the number of parameters reduces leading to lesser computations.

Sample connection is seen in CNN.

Convolution in mathematics refers to the process of combining two different functions. With respect to CNN, convolution occurs between the image and the filter or kernel. Convolution itself is one of the processes done on the image.

Here also the operation is mathematical. It is a kind of operation on two vectors. The input image gets converted into a vector based on colour and dimension. The kernel or filter is a predefined vector with fixed values to perform various functions onto the image.

Process of convolution

The kernel or filter is chosen in order of 1*1, 3*3, 5*5, 7*7, and so on. The given filter vector slides over the image and performs dot product over the image vector and produces an output vector with the result of each 3*3 dot product over the 7*7 vector.

A 3*3 kernel slides over the 7*7 input vector to produce a 5*5 output image vector. The reason for the reduction in the dimension is that the kernel has to do dot product operation on the input vector-only with the same dimension. I.e. the kernel slides for every three rows in the seven rows. The kernel must perfectly fit into the input vector. All the cells in the kernel must superimpose onto the vector. No cells must be left open. There are only 5 ways to keep a 3-row filter in a 7-row vector.    

This pictorial representation can help to understand even better. These colors might seem confusing, but follow these steps to analyze them.

  1. View at the first row.
  2. Analyse and number the different colours used in that row
  3. Each colour represents a 3*3 kernel.
  4. In the first row the different colours are red, orange, light green, dark green and blue.
  5. They count up to five.
  6. Hence there are five ways to keep a 3 row filter over a 7 row vector.
  7. Repeat this analysis for all rows
  8. 35 different colours will be used. The math is that in each row there will be 5 combinations. For 7 rows there will be 35 combinations.
  9. The colour does not go beyond the 7 rows signifying that kernel cannot go beyond the dimension of input vector.

These are the 35 different ways to keep a 3*3 filter over a 7*7 image vector. From this diagram, we can analyse each row has five different colours. All the nine cells in the kernel must fit inside the vector. This is the reason for the reduction in the dimension of output vector.

Procedure to implement convolution

  1. Take the input image with given dimensions.
  2. Flatten it into 1-D vector. This is the input vector whose values represent the colour of a pixel in the image.
  3. Decide the dimension, quantity and values for filter. The value in a filter is based on the function needed like blurring, fadening, sharpening etc. the quantity and dimension is determined by the user.
  4. Take the filter and keep it over the input vector from the first cell. Assume a 3*3 filter kept over a 7*7 vector.
  5. Perform the following computations on them.

5a. take the values in the first cell of the filter and the vector.

5b. multiply them.

5c. take the values in the second cell of the filter and the vector.

5d. multiply them.

5e. repeat the procedure till the last cell.

5f. take the sum for all the nine values.

  • Place this value in the output vector.
  • Using the formula mentioned later, find the dimensions of the output vector.

HAPPY LEARNING!!

DEEP LEARNING SERIES- PART 5

The previous article was on algorithm and hyper-parameter tuning. This article is about the general steps for building a deep learning model and also the steps to improve its accuracy along with the second type of network known as CNN.

General procedure to build an AI machine

  1. Obtain the data in the form of excel sheets, csv (comma separated variables) or image datasets.
  2. Perform some pre-processing onto the data like normalisation, binarisation etc. (apply principles of statistics)
  3. Split the given data into training data and testing data. Give more preference to training data since more training can give better accuracy. Standard train test split ratio is 75:25.
  4. Define the class for the model. Class includes the initialisation, network architecture, regularisation, activation functions, loss function, learning algorithm and prediction.
  5. Plot the loss function and interpret the results.
  6. Compute the accuracy for both training and testing data and check onto the steps to improve it.

Steps to improve the accuracy

  1. Increase the training and testing data. More data can increase the accuracy since the machine learns better.
  2. Reduce the learning rate. High learning rate often affects the loss plot and accuracy.
  3. Increase the number of iterations (epochs). Training for more epochs can increase the accuracy
  4. Hyper parameter tuning. One of the efficient methods to improve the accuracy.
  5. Pre-processing of data. It becomes hard for the machine to work on data with different ranges. Hence it is recommended to standardise the data within a range of 0 to 1 for easy working.

These are some of the processes used to construct a network. Only basics have been provided on the concepts and it is recommended to learn more about these concepts. 

Implementation of FFN in detecting OSTEOARTHRITIS (OA)

Advancements in the detection of OA have occurred through AI. Technology has developed where machines are created to detect OA using the X-ray images from the patient. Since the input given is in the form of images, optimum performance can be obtained using CNN’s. Since the output is binary, the task is binary classification. A combination of CNN and FFN is used. CNN handles feature extraction i.e. converting the image into a form that is accepted by the FFN without changing the values. FFN is used to classify the image into two classes.

CNN-convolutional neural network

The convolutional neural network mainly works on image data. It is used for feature extraction from the image. This is a partially connected neural network. Image can be interpreted by us but not by machines. Hence they interpret images as a vector whose values represent the color intensity of the image. Every color can be expressed as a vector of 3-D known as RGB- Red Green Blue. The size of the vector is equal to the dimensions of the image.

                                                  

This type of input is fed into the CNN. There are several processing done to the image before classifying it. The combination of CNN and FNN serves a purpose for image classification.

Problems are seen in using FFN for image

  • We have seen earlier that the gradients are chain rule of gradient at different layers. For image data, large number of layers in order of thousands may require. It can result in millions of parameters. It is very tedious to find the gradient for the millions of these parameters.
  • Using FFN for image data can often overfit the data. This may be due to the large layers and large number of parameters.

The CNN can overcome the problems seen in FFN.

HAPPY LEARNING!!!

GUANO ISLANDS

Guano islands were discovered on a series of islands off the coast of Peru. These islands are rocky and barren and have no vegetation owning to lack of rain in the area.

The word ‘GUANO’ originated from the Andean indigenous language Quechua, which refers to any form of dung used as a fertilizer in agriculture. So what is guano? Dropping of certain fish eating birds are called as guano. Three birds are primarily producers of guano- white breasted cormorants, grey pelicans and white head gannets or piqueros. Millions of this types of birds reside on these islands because of this island isolation from natural predators and large reserves of anchovy fishes. Due to lack of rain their dropping gets baked in the dry atmosphere preventing nitrates in these droppings from evaporating make it a good fertilizer. Over the course of years guano reserves have accumulated into a thick layer of 100-150 feet guano fertilizer.

Guano has valuable agricultural benefits as it’s a natural fertilizer the crop yields improved which made it high prized commodity during 19th century. It was heavily traded by the European and American traders. It helped to build Peru economy. It Haas been estimated that around mid 1800’s Peruvian excavated over 20,000,000 tons of guano making a huge profit. Eventually Peru suffered a loss due depleted guno and introduction of artificial fertilizers.

Since 1909, the Peruvian government has taken measures to conserve guano reserves by establishing the GUANO ADMINISTRATION COMPANY . The methods includes;

. Keeping the islands off limits to reacumulate their guano reserves and not disturbing the natural habitat of these birds.

. Controlling the commercial fishing industry and setting measures to conserve guano birds feeds.

. Establishing preservation parks on the main land where some birds can migrate so that they can be safe from predators.

. Limiting guano exports and preventing disruption of ocean ecosystem.

SWATCH BHARAT SWASTH BHARAT

SWATCH BHARAT SWASTH BHARAT
Whether the Sun shines or it Rains; Cleaning the India should be our aim.
Pledge for cleanliness to show your keenness to clean India. India will teach us the tolerance and gentleness of mature mind, understanding spirit and a unifying, pacifying love for all human beings.” – Will Durant
India is in dire need of a cleanliness drive like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to eradicate dirtiness. It is important for the overall development of citizens in terms of health and well-being. This a scheme to help us amd to make India healthy and clean and to make India swatch and swasth.

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is one of the most significant and popular missions to have taken place in India. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan translates to Clean India Mission. This drive was formulated to cover all the cities and towns of India to make them clean. This campaign was administered by the Indian government and was introduced by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. It was launched on 2nd October in order to honor Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of a Clean India. The cleanliness campaign of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was run on a national level and encompassed all the towns, rural and urban. It served as a great initiative in making people aware of the importance of cleanliness. This helped in making the message reach wider. It aims to build sanitary facilities for all households. One of the most common problems in rural areas is that of open defecation. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan aims to eliminate that. Generally, in these areas, people do not have proper toilet facilities. They go out in the fields or roads to excrete. This practice creates a lot of hygiene problems for citizens. Therefore, this Clean India mission can be of great help in enhancing the living conditions of these people. When we will dispose of waste properly and recycle waste, it will develop the country. As its main focus is one rural area, the quality of life of the rural citizens will be enhanced through it. Similarly, they also wanted to make people aware of health and education through awareness programs. After that, a major objective was to teach citizens to dispose of waste mindfully. Most importantly, it enhances the public health through its objectives. This helped in making the message reach wider. It aims to build sanitary facilities for all households.
Every small step towards sanitation will bring a big change for the nation.
Heaven could be on earth, Cleanness is something which has priceless worth.

The main objective of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is to aware the citizens of the country of their utmost priority and responsibility towards cleanliness in the nearby surroundings and the spread of filth and infectious parasites. The campaign primarily focuses on eradicating the unhealthy practices of open defecation and provide basic sanitation facilities by constructing toilets, solid-liquid waste disposal systems, supplying clean drinking water, etc.

“Let’s make this our plea; we will make India open defecation free.
Cleanness can provide us inner peace, clean India mission is something that we need.
For cleanness we still have hope, because Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has a big scope.”


Swatch Bharat Abhiyan is a great accomplishment and proved out to a one of a kind project in the history of India. We must carry forward the practices of cleanliness with the same enthusiasm and zeal and help each other by keeping our Mother India clean and beautiful.
There are lots of schemes made for us by our government. These Abhiyan tries to make our beautiful India more beautiful and to make us healthier.
We can make our country beautiful; by participating in Swachh Bharat mission we can achieve something fruitful.
Let’s work on cleanliness from our side, and make India feel pride and clean your houses, roads and street, Cleanliness is our basic need. Make India great again, participate in Swachh Bharat mission to bring new reign.
Due to waste lying in the streets cause dangerous diseases which hampers our health and may cause dangerous diseases. These Abhiyan is a kind initiative to help us and to free us from these dangerous diseases. These are some examples how these Abhiyan help us and gift us a healthy life.
Clean India mission is something which we need for progress of our country.

Contaminated water causes many water-borne infections like diarrhoea, and also serves as a carrier for vectors such as mosquitoes spreading epidemics. Open defecation means no sanitation. It fouls the environment, and spreads diseases. According to WHO-UNICEF report (2010), India has the highest rate of open defecation. Access to safe drinking water and good sanitation are vital for family well-being. It results in control of enteric diseases, and boosts child health. A healthy child has better learning and retaining ability. Girls avoid going to school where there are no proper sanitation measures. Sanitation makes a positive contribution in family literacy. One key goal of sanitation is to safely reduce human exposure to pathogens. Pathogens are excreted by infected individuals and if not properly contained or treated, may present a risk to humans who come in contact with them. These individuals can also be exposed to pathogens through drinking water or eating food contaminated with pathogens found in human excreta. According to a UNICEF study, for every 10 per cent increase in female literacy, a country’s economy can grow by 0.3 per cent. Thus, sanitation contributes to social and economic development of the society.
Improved sanitation also helps the environment. Clean drinking water and good sanitation would not prevent infections without practicing good hygiene. A simple habit of washing hands goes a long way towards preventing diseases. The stored water supply may also serve as a source of infection in the absence of hygiene. Sanitation envisages promotion of health of the community by providing clean environment and breaking the cycle of disease. Sanitation systems aim to protect human health by providing a clean environment that will stop the transmission of disease, especially through the fecal–oral route. For example, diarrhea, a main cause of malnutrition and stunted growth in children, can be reduced through adequate sanitation.

If we follow the sanitation system then we can create a healthy world . If we live healthy then we can be wealthy. Swatch bharat is swasth bharat is a true word. If the world become clean then everyone become healthy.
If we want to make India a developed nation then clean India mission is the necessity.
Let’s take oath; by participating in clean India mission we will make our country proud.
Clean India mission is something which we need for progress of our country.
Working towards sanitation will bring a significant positive change for the nation.

DEEP LEARNING SERIES- PART 4

The previous article dealt with the networks and the backpropagation algorithm. This article is about the mathematical implementation of the algorithm in FFN followed by an important concept called hyper-parameter tuning.

In this FFN we apply the backpropagation to find the partial derivative of the loss function with respect to w1 so as to update w1.

Hence using backpropagation the algorithm determines the update required in the parameters so as to match the predicted output with the true output. The algorithm which performs this is known as Vanilla Gradient Descent.

The way of reading the input is determined using the strategy.

StrategyMeaning
StochasticOne by one
BatchSplitting entire input into batches
Mini-batchSplitting batch into batches

The sigmoid here is one of the types of the activation function. It is defined as the function pertaining to the transformation of input to output in a particular neuron. Differentiating the activation function gives the respective terms in the gradients.

There are two common phenomena seen in training networks. They are

  1. Under fitting
  2. Over fitting

If the model is too simple to learn the data then the model can underfit the data. In that case, complex models and algorithms must be used.

If the model is too complex to learn the data then the model can overfit the data. This can be visualized by seeing the differences in the training and testing loss function curves. The method adopted to change this is known as regularisation. Overfit and underfit can be visualized by plotting the graph of testing and training accuracies over the iterations. Perfect fit represents the overlapping of both curves.

Regularisation is the procedure to prevent the overfitting of data. Indirectly, it helps in increasing the accuracy of the model. It is either done by

  1. Adding noises to input to affect and reduce the output.
  2. To find the optimum iterations by early stopping
  3. By normalising the data (applying normal distribution to input)
  4. By forming subsets of a network and training them using dropout.

So far we have seen a lot of examples for a lot of procedures. There will be confusion arising at this point on what combination of items to use in the network for maximum optimization. There is a process known as hyper-parameter tuning. With the help of this, we can find the combination of items for maximum efficiency. The following items can be selected using this method.

  1. Network architecture
  2. Number of layers
  3. Number of neurons in each layer
  4. Learning algorithm
  5. Vanilla Gradient Descent
  6. Momentum based GD
  7. Nesterov accelerated gradient
  8. AdaGrad
  9. RMSProp
  10. Adam
  11. Initialisation
  12. Zero
  13. He
  14. Xavier
  15. Activation functions
  16. Sigmoid
  17. Tanh
  18. Relu
  19. Leaky relu
  20. Softmax
  21. Strategy
  22. Batch
  23. Mini-batch
  24. Stochastic
  25. Regularisation
  26. L2 norm
  27. Early stopping
  28. Addition of noise
  29. Normalisation
  30. Drop-out

 All these six categories are essential in building a network and improving its accuracy. Hyperparameter tuning can be done in two ways

  1. Based on the knowledge of task
  2. Random combination

The first method involves determining the items based on the knowledge of the task to be performed. For example, if classification is considered then

  • Activation function- softmax in o/p and sigmoid for rest
  • Initialisation- zero or Xavier
  • Strategy- stochastic
  • Algorithm- vanilla GD

The second method involves the random combination of these items and finding the best combination for which the loss function is minimum and accuracy is high.

Hyperparameter tuning would already be done by researchers who finally report the correct combination of items for maximum accuracy.

HAPPY READING!!!

DEEP LEARNING SERIES- PART 3

The previous article gave some introduction to the networks used in deep learning. This article provides more information on the different types of neural networks.

In a feed-forward neural network (FFN) all the neurons in one layer are connected to the next layer. The advantage is that all the information processed from the previous neurons is fed to the next layer hence getting clarity in the process. But the number of weights and biases significantly increases when there is a large number of input. This method is best used for text data.

In a convolutional neural network (CNN), some of the neurons are only connected to the next layer i.e. connection is partial. Batch-wise information is fed into the next layer. The advantage is that the number of parameters significantly reduces when compared to FFN. This method is best used for image data since there will be thousands of inputs.

In recurrent neural networks, the output of one neuron is fed back as an input to the neuron in the previous layer. A feed-forward and a feedback connection are established between the neurons. The advantage is that the neuron in the previous layer can perform efficiently and can update based on the output from the next neuron. This concept is similar to reinforcement learning in the brain. The brain learns an action based on punishment or reward given as feedback to the neuron corresponding to that action.

Once the final output is computed by the network, it is then compared with the original value, and their difference is taken in different forms like the difference of squares, etc. this term is known as loss function.

It will be better to explain the role of the learning algorithms here. The learning algorithm is the one that tries to find the relation between the input and output. In the case of neural networks, the output is indirectly related to input since there are some hidden layers in between them. This learning algorithm works in such a way so as to find the optimum w and b values for the loss function is minimum or ideally zero.

The algorithm in neural networks do this using a method called backpropagation. In this method, the algorithm starts tracing from the output. It then computes the values for the parameters corresponding to the neuron in that layer. It then goes back to the previous layer does the computations for the parameters of the neurons in that layer. This procedure is done till it encounters the inputs. In this way, we can find the optimum values for the parameters.

The computations made by the algorithm are based on the type of the algorithm. Most of the algorithms find the derivative of a parameter in one layer with respect to the loss function using backpropagation. This derivative is then subtracted from the original value.

Where lr is the learning rate; provided by the user. The lesser the learning rate, the better will be the results but more the time is taken. The starting value for w and b is determined using the initialization.

MethodMeaning
ZeroW and b are set to zero
Xavierw and b indirectly proportional to root n
He w and b indirectly proportional to root n/2

 Where n; refers to the number of neurons in a layer. These depend on the activation function used.

The derivative of the loss function determines the updating of the parameters.

Value of derivativeConsequence
-veIncreases
0No change
+veDecreases

The derivative of the loss function with respect to the weight or bias in a particular layer can be determined using the chain rule used in calculus.

HAPPY READING!!

AN IDLE LIFE IS AN EARLY DEATH

An idle life is an early death. It means wasting time and doing nothing, life without an aim and lack of ambitions. Scientifically it’s proved that an idle life leads to physical incapabilities and mental disorders.

“A SOUL WITHOUT A HIGH AIM , IS LIKE A SHIP WITHOUT A RUDDER.”

The meaning of the above quote is , a ship has a rudder which helps it to turn it into a particular direction, same way a person should set a high aim in life and should be courageous enough to achieve that goal through the path they choose. Each one of us have been equipped with unique abilities and sensibilities, they have the power within them they just need to manifest that power to achieve their desired goal. To contribute something positive in the society one needs to understand they just don’t need to be active but to be proactive to display the difference they have and make in the community.

Mankind has always been inclined towards growth, but only a significant individual are able to leave their footprint on the sand. Their capabilities reflects in their personality, who didn’t choose to live an idle life but are capable to make difference in life to benefit the future generations. Our great leaders, freedom fighters, philosophers, scientists and many more who contributed to the humankind. They didn’t get dusted away in the flow of time but become immortal by their virtues , rightly termed as ‘live in deeds, not in years.’

We the present generation should look upto this great pioneer and get aspirations from them so we also don’t lead an idle life and contribute great work to humanity so we don’t get lost in the flow of time.

Butterflies🦋

Have you ever seen a baby butterfly? Me neither because they don’t exist🤭. Butterfly is the adult form of caterpillar. But who gave butterflies the right to be this beautiful🥺, they are a treat to eyes. All the colors they display with so much variety in shapes and patterns is just breathtaking. They indicate biodiversity but sadly the change in climate and the shift in weather is slowly making these creatures to go extinct. Since, they are known to react quickly on climate change and to see them struggling to survive is a serious indication and warning of global warming.

Photo by Madison Inouye on Pexels.com

let’s look at some amazing facts about butterflies.

Butterflies can fly with a speed of 12 miles per hour.Their size can differ from as tiny as 1/8 inch to a huge 12 inches.

Their wings are made up a substance called chitin and are transparent in real. All the colors we see are a reflection of various colors through the thousands of scales present in them.

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

There are about 24,000 butterfly species on this earth. Antarctica is the only place to be devoid of their presence.

The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve is located in Mexico. Millions of butterflies travel from Texas. The trees are filled with butterflies and appear orange in color. The goal of reserve is to protect the butterfly species and their habitat.

They have their taste receptors on their feet. Their legs help them in locating the best plants and are evn used by them to choose plants for laying eggs.

Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels.com

Their average lifespan is of a 3-4 weeks. One species of butterfly lives only upto 24 hours and some migratory butterflies can live for about 8 months.

Butterflies are cold blooded hence, require ideal settings. They can’t fly if their temperature is less than 85 degrees. Some species migrate to warm places when the temperature begins to drop.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Butterflies are health conscious and so they follow liquid diet. Lol. Actually they don’t have the necessary apparatus that helps in chewing instead they have a straw like structure that helps them in sucking nectar from flowers.

Their wings are a great defense against enemies. All the color and patterns are actually to scare predators away. And also they have 4 wings not 2. Forewings, that are close to the head and hindwings, at the back.

Photo by Aenic Visuals on Pexels.com

Pets And Humans

By Anshiki Jadia

A few connections can’t be depicted in words and one of them is human and pet relationship. This relationship can’t be portrayed in words and the sensations of creatures are so unadulterated their blamelessness simply wins your heart. Pet presence at home might bring about sure, glad environmental elements, prosperity in individuals and abilities in youngsters.

Individuals generally keep felines and canines as their pet. Individuals pet different creatures too like parrot, fish, ponies and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Be that as it may, proportion of keeping felines and canines as their pet is high when contrasted with others.

People and pets relationship is normally valuable and moment and dynamic relationship. People are constantly benefitted and content with this relationship as from numerous years creatures have been an extremely cheerful and accommodating piece of human existence. The association which you share with your pet is profound to the point that it can’t be depicted in words. Our pets can detect our joy, pity, temperament, disappointment in your life. They even can detect the opponents which are near you and which individual is doing useful for you and which not.

As it is helpful for people it is valuable for creatures as well, as they get great safe house, great food , great consideration, colossal love and love.

HUMAN-DOG RELATIONSHIP –

Human canine association is a standout amongst other organization. Canines comprehend human so well by taking a gander at their temperament. Canines are known as the people closest companion. Canines are so glad to see their proprietor back in the home and are so glad to welcome them. It is otherwise called human-canine holding. Canines are so useful and keen that they are use in examinations for tackling case quicker. Canines regularly watches your home, go on long strolls with you, comprehends you well, and has been there as a decent ally to whom you can share anything.

As indicated by advisors likewise, creature human relationship is extremely useful for the two of them, similar to you can converse with them, hit the dance floor with your canine, partake in specialized canine care exercises so your canine additionally feels better. Canines can recognize great and awful. They can undoubtedly recognize among companion and enemy. Canine and human can bond together by straightforward exercises like playing or through a walk. They can make bond simply by doing an eye to eye connection like people. People love cushioned things and love to have them and canines are that way. Canines can unmistakably get what you are saying and love to invest energy with you.

HUMAN – CAT RELATIONSHIP –

Human and feline relationship is not the same as human canines relationship. Felines show love towards their proprietor uniquely in contrast to canines, however as per late examinations felines can rapidly bond with human actually like canines do. Felines are less receptive to human clues than canines. Felines now and then didn’t go to people for their assistance and they react to circumstances simply their proprietors do like panic or glad.

Felines are delicate to human mind-sets, they are less inclined to move toward people who are pitiful and bound to move toward people who are garrulous and outgoing. Felines are excessively generally receptive to their proprietor’s voice actually like canines do. Felines also love to invest energy with their proprietor and don’t remain with outsiders for long time.

However long human considers felines their partner you can bend over backward to improve their life and great and can give them great consideration and haven.

Keeping pet can diminish your pressure, can improve your state of mind, make you all the more truly dynamic, helps in making social associations as you go out with them and meet your companions and new individuals uncommonly it is better for senior residents or any other individual who is less friendly and pets offer the enthusiastic help and don’t anticipate much consequently your adoration.

Music As A Therapy

By Anshiki Jadia

As we say great music can mend anything. We as a whole love to listen music while working, driving, running, in exercise centers and then some. We pay attention to you that identifies with us, that we love tuning in a wide range of circumstances. Great Music is a fixation. Music can change somebody’s state of mind, can make them loose, can make them energized or can help in quieting. Music is a significant part as it is a language of feeling that addresses various sentiments and gets into soul without any limits or restrictions. It interfaces us to various pieces of the world. Individuals from various district can associate with one another by means of music. As indicated by research it has been shown that music can lessen tension, circulatory strain and torment also as it can further develop rest quality, emotional well-being and memory.

As per research, music goes about as a treatment for different emotional wellness conditions like gloom, injury, and schizophrenia. Music goes about as a medium that reflects feelings, torment, injury, and so on and can be utilized to quiet an individual, lessen their tension and cause them to feel unwind.

It’s undeniably true’s that while paying attention to music we work all the more successfully and truly appreciates it. Music is a language that is cherished by all and it interfaces us to individuals everywhere. With music we can communicate all the more viably.

Mending force of music is without a doubt the best and is applauded by everybody. Music treatment is propelling step by step and is zeroing in on in general wellbeing model. Music treatment utilizes music to further develop physical, mental and prosperity of people.

Ever, music was utilized as a treatment apparatus to fix issues identified with mind, including actual issues like sensation and development. Previously, then after the fact both the universal conflicts, heading out music bunches used to visit patients in emergency clinics and played music for them, seeing this specialists came to understand that music powerfully affects patients and can assist them with recuperating, and mentioned clinics to employ artists. This came out to be the music treatment meetings. Indeed, even in schools and universities music is incorporated as extra curricular exercises.

Music treatment can both assess and upgrade social, enthusiastic, psychological and engine working of a person. This treatment can likewise be utilized in therapy of actual sicknesses like hypertension and malignant growth. Music treatment are restricted to mental or actual issues as well as it can benefit in different circumstances or issues.

Music treatment can be coordinated face to face or with gatherings, and music can be pick by any of the party for example specialist or individual in treatment. The specialist will guarantee what sort of music the individual is picking and at what time to accomplish the objectives and answers for the issues of the person. In the start of music treatment advisors by and large prescribe music to people that matches to their present circumstance.

Music is adored by all age gatherings and that is the reason it is the most significant associating factor between individuals.

Music treatment results are practically acceptable and positive however it isn’t suggested as the last choice for genuine ailments and mental circumstances.

Impact of music in music treatment relies upon people music decision and how it will help them. To accomplish objectives and necessities in music treatment, advisors need to guarantee the people music inclinations and their present circumstances.

Let’s Communicate

By Anshiki Jadia

Have you at any point been in that abnormal circumstance with somebody where you were unable to move beyond the short discussions? Starts with the good tidings and afterward a total full stop? The underlying driver of this load of issues is ill-advised relational abilities!

WHAT EXACTLY IS COMMUNICATION?

Indeed, the course book might characterize it as “the demonstration of giving, getting, and sharing data” But it is significantly more than that, and when placed into straightforward words, it’s essentially trading thoughts and considerations, being liberal about one another’s point of view and being somewhat weak enough to trust the individual that you address.

HOW TO GET BETTER AT COMMUNICATION IN THE PROFESSIONAL SECTOR?

A few group might confront issues when they need to fire up the discussion, they are normally clear initially, don’t have the foggiest idea how to begin the discussion, however when they get into it and open up, they discover no issues in proceeding with the discussion.

Have some ‘profound’ ice breakers close by :

You can’t anticipate that topics should just snap in your psyche, so perhaps it is smarter to set yourself up ahead of time. To do that, you should initially have to accept that, the individual you are conversing with likewise coordinates with a similar excitement as yours. In any event, when uncertain, step up, it might wind up knocking your socks off!

Pose inquiries about subjects the other individual is keen on :

Extraordinary compared to other approaches to proceed with the protection is talking on the subjects the other individual is keen on, so to do that, you should essentially know something’s about him/her, which should either be possible by a little historical verification, assuming the individual you are addressing has direct impact over you, it is smarter to know things about him/her to dazzle. Else you can get by their non-verbal communication with respect to where their inclinations may lay.

Try not to push individuals to see your point of view :

We all are special in our own specific manner, likewise outlooks differ from one individual to another. At the point when you are discussing a specific subject ensure you are simply bringing up your considerations and sentiments yet not pushing them. They will have their own point of view, pay attention to it, not the entirety of our realities should be right as now and then when you go further into the subject you might understand that there is plausible to investigate the matter contrastingly as well! So rather than pushing your considerations, keep the discussion light and end with “What are your viewpoints about it?”

Try not to discuss the climate :

The subject of climate essentially implies that you are either not intrigued by the discussion or don’t have a clue what else to talk about. So I recommend you not take up this theme.

Uncover something somewhat close to home about yourself :

Rather than straightforwardly leaping direct, you can discuss your own insight with regards to why you have the assessment that you have. At the point when you disclose to them more about yourself they get a reasonable thought as well! Rather than asking them inquiries and anticipating answers, you can request their accounts, rather than posing inquiries like, “Did you have a good end of the week?” or, “What’s happening?” have a go at inquiring “What was the most amazing aspect of your end of the week?” or “What are you anticipating this week?”

Never back down, feeling that you talking or that your inflection isn’t adequate. You need to commit errors to learn! Step up and accept circumstances for what they are!

DEEP LEARNING- PART 2

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The previous article gave a brief introduction to deep learning. This article deals with the networks used in deep learning. This network is known as a neural network. As the name suggests the network is made up of neurons

The networks used in artificial intelligence are a combination of blocks arranged in layers. These blocks are called an artificial neurons. They mimic the properties of a natural neuron. One of the neurons is the sigmoid neuron.

This is in general the formula for the sigmoid function. Every neural network consists of weights and biases.

Weights- The scalar quantities which get multiplied to the input

Biases- the threshold quantity above which a neuron fires

NotationMeaning
XInput
YOutput
WWeight
BBias

Working of a neuron

This is the simple representation of a neuron. This is similar to the biological neuron. In this neuron, the inputs are given along with some priority known as weights. The higher the value of the weights, the more prioritized is that input. This is the reason for our brain to choose one activity over the other. Activity is done only if the neuron fires. A similar situation is seen here. The particular activity is forwarded to the next layer only if this particular neuron fires. That is the output must be produced from the neuron.

Condition for the neuron to fire

The neuron will produce an output only if the inputs follow the condition.

As mentioned before, the bias is the threshold value and the neuron will fire only when the value crosses this bias. Thus the weighted sum for all the inputs must be greater than the bias in order to produce an output.

Classification of networks

Every neural network consists of three layers majorly: –

  1. Input layer
    1. Hidden layer
    1. Output layer

Input layer

The input layer consists of inputs in the form of vectors. Images are converted into 1-D vectors. Input can be of any form like audio, text, video, image, etc. which get converted into vectors.

Hidden layer

This is the layer in which all the computations occur. This is generally not visible to the user hence termed as a hidden layer. This layer may be single or multiple based on the complexity of the task to be performed. Each layer processes a part of the task and it is sent to the next layer. Vectors get multiplied with the weight matrix of correct dimensions and this vector gets passed onto the next layer.

Output layer

The output layer gets information from the last layer of the hidden layer. This is the last stage in the network. This stage depends upon the task given by the user. The output will be a 1-D vector. In the case of classification, the vector will have a value high for a particular class. In the case of regression, the output vector will have numbers representing the answer to those questions posed by the user.

The next article is about the feed-forward neural network.

HAPPY LEARNING!!

DEEP LEARNING SERIES- PART 1

Have you ever wondered how the brain works? One way of understanding it is by cutting open the brain and analyzing the structures present inside it. This however can be done by researchers and doctors. Another method is by using electricity to stimulate several regions of the brain. But what if I say that it is possible to analyze and mimic the brain in our computers? Sounds quite interesting right! This particular technology is known as deep learning.

Deep learning is the technique of producing networks that process unstructured data and gives output. With the help of deep learning, it is possible to produce and use brain-like networks for various tasks in our systems. It is like using the brain without taking it out.  Deep learning is advanced than machine learning and imitates the brain better than machine learning and also the networks built using deep learning consists of parts known as neurons which is similar to biological neurons. Artificial intelligence has attracted researchers in every domain for the past two decades especially in the medical field; AI is used to detect several diseases in healthcare.

Sl.noNameDescriptionExamples
1DataType of data provided to inputBinary(0,1) Real
2TaskThe operation required to do on the inputClassification(binary or multi) Regression(prediction)
3ModelThe mathematical relation between input and output. This varies based on the task and complexityMP neuron(Y=x+b) Perceptron(Y=wx+b) Sigmoid or logistic(Y=1/1+exp(wx+b)) *w and b are parameters corresponding to the model
4Loss functionKind of a compiler that finds errors between the output and input (how much the o/p leads or lags the i/p).Square error= square of the difference between the predicted and actual output.  
5AlgorithmA kind of learning procedure that tries to reduce the error computed beforeGradient descent
NAG
AdaGrad
Adam
RMSProp
6EvaluationFinding how good the model has performedAccuracy
Mean accuracy

Every model in this deep learning can be easily understood through these six domains. Or in other words, these six domains play an important role in the construction of any model. As we require cement, sand, pebbles, and bricks to construct a house we require these six domains to construct a network.

 Now it will be more understandable to tell about the general procedure for networks.

  1. Take in the data (inputs and their corresponding outputs) from the user.
  2. Perform the task as mentioned by the user.
  3. Apply the specific relation to the input to compute the predicted output as declared by the user in the form of model by assigning values to parameters in the model.
  4.  Find the loss the model has made through computing the difference between the predicted and actual output.
  5. Use a suitable learning algorithm so as to minimize the loss by finding the optimum value for parameters in the network
  6. Run the model and evaluate its performance in order to find its efficiency and enhance it if found less.

By following these steps correctly, one can develop their own machine. In order to learn better on this, pursuing AI either through courses or opting as a major is highly recommended. The reason is that understanding those concepts requires various divisions in mathematics like statistics, probability, calculus, vectors, and matrices apart from programming. 

       

HAPPY READING!!

Historical facts about India

  • India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.
  • India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
  • The World’s first university was established in Takshila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
  • Sanskrit is the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software, reported in Forbes magazine, July 1987.
  • Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast regaining its rightful place in our civilization.
  • Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on earth until the time of British invasion in the early 17th Century.
  • The art of Navigation was born in the river Sindh 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from Sanskrit ‘Nou’.
  • Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart.; Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century)365.258756484 days.
  • The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians.
  • Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India; Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th Century;The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 10^6(10 to the power of 6) whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10^53(10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 BCE during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera 10^12(10 to the power of 12).
  • According to the Gemological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source for diamonds to the world.
  • USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion in the world scientific community that the pioneer of Wireless communication was Prof. Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.
  • The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.
  • According to Saka King Rudradaman I of 150 CE a beautiful lake called ‘Sudarshana’ was constructed on the hills of Raivataka during Chandragupta Maurya’s time.
  • Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.
  • Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipment were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology,digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.
  • When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)
  • The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.

[These facts were recently published in a German Magazine, which deals with World History Facts about India.]

Need For Women Safety In India

By Anshiki Jadia

Ladies in India, today, are turning into the most weak segment all things considered. Ladies are the best strength of our general public and it is so debilitating to see that they are getting risky step by step as the quantity of violations against them are expanding. As indicated by a survey by Reuters, India has been positioned the most perilous country out of the world’s 10 most noticeably awful nations for ladies. At the point when we turn the pages of a paper, we go over many title texts revealing instances of attack, badgering, dealing, abuse of ladies in houses, brutality against ladies in distant regions and so forth Ladies feel risky and unstable and feel that their opportunity and freedom are open to hazard. It is excruciating to envision the predicament of ladies who are victims of such violations. It is a shake on the certainty of the ladies of the general public and on our legal framework.

As indicated by the National Crimes Records Bureau(NCRB), India recorded 88 assault cases each day in 2019 and wrongdoings against ladies expanded by 63.3% in the initial a half year of 2021. NCRB report features that assault weakness of a young lady or lady has expanded up to 44% over the most recent 10 years. According to the most recent NCRB information, KOLKATA dominates the competition in security, for ladies, however generally speaking also. To shield ladies from aggressive behavior at home THE PARLIAMENT OF INDIA passed ‘The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005’.

Significance OF WOMEN SAFETY-

Security of ladies is vital in this pitiless and fiendish society. As the quantity of bodies of evidence are emerging against ladies, practice the laws and get the criminal captured and rebuffed straightaway. It assists ladies with being more settled, comprehension and they feel ensured. They will trust the public authority if the criminal gets required discipline on schedule. It will foster body and psyche control in them. They will take dynamic part in all things if appropriate wellbeing is guaranteed to them. There are laws yet there ought to be appropriate wellbeing estimates which we need to follow rigorously to shield the ladies from savagery.

We for the most part look for someone else to take the blame for any such occurrence and henceforth have not prevailed to arrive at the underlying driver of this issue. A successful execution of misfortune ensuring ladies’ privileges is the initial phase toward this path. There ought to be rigid misfortune and the crooks of such wrongdoing ought to be seriously rebuffed.

Violations AGAINST WOMEN-

In India, lewd behavior, assaults, aggressive behavior at home, settlement cases and murder are normal types of brutality against ladies. It is found in certain spots that even today, there is a practice of taking share from the young lady’s family and the dad forfeits and loses everything to pay it. Abusive behavior at home is likewise expanding seriously where one accomplice or a man mishandles another accomplice or a young lady in a relationship. It prompts discouragement and suicides. It’s anything but an immediate homicide yet it is the reason for homicide without a doubt. Cheating in a relationship and giving separation is likewise a wrongdoing against ladies which annihilates the entire existence of a ladies and the man effectively tracks down another young lady and weds her. Corrosive tossing is viewed as the most horrifying wrongdoing against ladies which ruins the excellent young lady’s life and left her in a condition of shock.

HOW Might WE SAFEGUARD WOMEN OF OUR SOCIETY?

We likewise need to make social mindfulness about these issues and exclude the individuals who carry out such wrongdoings and not the people in question. Ladies security is a vital worry in India and a great deal of associations began chipping away at it after Nirbhaya’s case. Ladies ought to be shown some self-preservation tips and deceives in schools, universities, workplaces and private provinces, so that in the event that anybody attempts to hurt them, they can apply these stunts to ensure them and hurt the individual attempting to assault her. Likewise, different recordings of self-protection methods are transferred on the web, on different online media stages for instructing ladies’ wellbeing. Ladies should consistently put some cold powder, ginger-garlic glue or some hurting materials while going out to hurt the assailant. To guarantee the security of the ladies in the country, the whole populace ought to be knowledgeable and the laws ought to be exceptionally extreme against each sort of wrongdoing. Both the people of the general public ought to be engaged with appropriate schooling and pay so they can battle against any mischief to them. There are likewise different helpline numbers for guaranteeing ladies security in India. Just when these actions are taken, India can turn into a lighthearted and charming spot for ladies when they can go any place they like to with no dread of being gazed at, attacked or segregated.

CONCEPT OF THE RENAISSANCE

WHAT do you mean by Renaissance?

REBIRTH

  • Renaissance is a French word meaning “rebirth.” It refers to a period in European civilization that was marked by a revival of Classical learning and wisdom.
  • The word “Renaissance,” whose literal translation from French into English is “Rebirth,” appears in English writing from the 1830s. The word occurs in Jules Michelet’s 1855 work, Histoire de France.
  • The word “Renaissance” has also been extended to other historical and cultural movements, such as the Carolingian Renaissance and the Renaissance of the 12th century.

The Renaissance was a period in Europe, from the 14th to the 17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a cultural movement in Italy, specifically in Florence, in the late medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe, marking the beginning of the early modern age. 

Beginnings

Various theories have been proposed to account for the origins and characteristics of the Renaissance, focusing on a variety of factors, including the social and civic peculiarities of Florence at the time; its political structure; the patronage of its dominant family, the Medici; and the migration of Greek scholars and texts to Italy following the Fall of Constantinople at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.

Many argue that the ideas characterizing the Renaissance had their origin in late 13th-century Florence, in particular in the writings of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) and Petrarch (1304–1374), as well as the paintings of Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337).

Cultural, Political, and Intellectual Influences

  • As a cultural movement, the Renaissance encompassed the innovative flowering of Latin and vernacular literature, beginning with the 14th-century resurgence of learning based on classical sources, which contemporaries credited to Petrarch; the development of linear perspective and other techniques of rendering a more natural reality in painting; and gradual but widespread educational reform.
  • In politics, the Renaissance contributed the development of the conventions of diplomacy, and in science an increased reliance on observation. Although the Renaissance saw revolutions in many intellectual pursuits, as well as social and political upheaval, it is perhaps best known for its artistic developments and the contributions of such polymaths as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who inspired the term “Renaissance man.”

IMMUNOLOGY SERIES- PART 9- VACCINES

The previous article was all about the process of inflammation. This article is about vaccines.

The vaccines fall under the type of artificial active acquired immunity. This is artificial because we are giving the vaccine externally and this is active because the body is generating the antibodies/response and it is acquired because we are getting the immunity and it is not present by birth. You must have known what immunity is at least by now.

A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins, or one of its surface proteins (antigens). So these vaccines are nothing but the pathogen itself but it cannot cause any disease, instead, it triggers the immune system.

This is a quick recap of the principle of working on vaccines. The vaccine contains the pathogens as a whole or the surface antigens only. These antigens stimulate the immune system. If the immune system had a memory about this antigen, then it would immediately produce an antibody, and phagocytosis of the antigen occurs by the macrophage aided by the antibody. In this scenario, the antigen is new and there is no memory, therefore the immune system struggles and takes time to produce the antibody.

So the antigen reign over the body and this can lead to inflammation. As a result, some of the symptoms of inflammation like fever, heat, pain in the area of application, and swelling may appear. The chances of them are rare and also severity is less (last for a few hours/days) since the pathogen is attenuated.

Once the immune system produces the correct antibody, phagocytosis of the antigen occurs and hence the causative agent is eliminated from the body (primary response). So if the same or similar pathogen which has disease-causing ability enters into the body, the memory triggers the immune system to produce the correct antibody. So a heightened and rapid response is generated in order to kick away the pathogen quickly (secondary response).

There are three types of vaccines:-

Live- infection is caused without any harm – measles & polio

Dead- doesn’t last long, requires booster dose- cholera

Microbial products- involves non-infectious pathogen, capsule and toxoid- anthrax, diptheria

Hence using the vaccine as a stimulus, the body is able to generate a response that is stored and can be useful for preventing the disease caused by the pathogen.

There might be an idea to generate vaccines for all diseases so that all humans are protected. But there are some difficulties in this which are listed below:-

There are new microbes being discovered every day and no one knows which microbe can cause disease. There can be multiple microbes causing the same or similar disease. So being immune to one microbe doesn’t mean being immune to the disease

The disease-causing microbe can undergo mutation meaning that there can be changes in the genetic material and hence the antigen can change. In this case, the antibody which was stimulated by the vaccine won’t work. A suitable example is a common cold, it is impossible to produce a vaccine that covers all mutants of viruses

The pathogen has to be genetically modified so as to remove its disease-causing ability which is easy to say but difficult to implement

Also, it is important that the antigen chose for the vaccine must be close to that of the original causative agent of the disease. If the original pathogen is not so close to that of the vaccine, then it will not work

Hence all these above points explain the difficulties in producing a vaccine. Despite these many research organizations in many countries have produced vaccines especially for the pandemic and dreadful diseases like the COVID-19, hepatitis, polio, etc. in which some vaccines provide lifetime immunity to some of the diseases. We must take a minute to appreciate those who have done immense work and their contribution is stopping some of the dreadful diseases.

With this, we come to the end of the series. I hope that all the concepts explained in this were simple and clear and also would have inculcated an interest in immunology. By now, it would be clear how the immune system protects us from several microbes and diseases.

HAPPY LEARNING!!

IMMUNOLOGY SERIES- PART 8- INFLAMMATION

The previous article dealt with the types and functions of immunoglobulin. This article provides a complete explanation of the process of inflammation.

Inflammation is the process of protection which was seen as one of the six mechanisms of innate immunity.

Inflammation is one of the body’s responses to the invasion of foreign particles. This is an important process in the human body that occurs to drive away from the pathogen. Inflammation is one of the stages seen in healing. Some of the changes that can be seen in the target site are:-

  • Changes in blood flow (mostly blood loss)
  • Increase in platelets (to plug the damaged vessel)
  • Increase in immune cells
  • Supply of nutrients

The word inflammation refers to a burning sensation. Hence there are five cardinal signs in inflammation namely:-

  • Rubor (redness)
  • Tumor (swelling)
  • Calor (heat)
  • Dolor (pain)
  • Functioleasia (loss of function)

These cardinal signs as well as the changes occur due to some mediators which are basically chemicals and also due to the action of various immune cells.

Mediator nameIt’s effect
Bradykinin, histamine, serotoninIncrease permeability
ProstaglandinDecreases blood pressure
CytokinesProduce fever
Toxic metabolitesDamage tissue

This inflammation can be either acute or chronic. As seen earlier, acute stays for a shorter time but produces more vigorous pain whereas chronic stays for a longer time with less vigorous pain. If the causative agent has been driven away then healing occurs either by complete restoration or scar formation. There are chances that the acute inflammation can become chronic which can be worse. It can lead to several diseases and complications.

The pathogen in order to establish its supremacy in the human body, it has to pass through the epidermis which is the outermost layer of the human body. This is known as SALT skin-associated lymphoid tissues. Hence T and B lymphocytes are prominent in the skin. Most of the pathogens get destroyed in this stage. Let us assume that our pathogen is strong and it had passed through it. The next layer it encounters is the dermis. As we go deep inside the skin, more and more immune cells get involved. In the dermis the following immune cells are seen:-

immunity in the skin
  • Macrophage
  • NK cells
  • Mast cell – produce histamine and serotonin
  • T helper cells – it provides help to other immune cells

The next stage is the hypodermis which has a large number of macrophages and neutrophils that phagocytosis the pathogen. Hence these following processes help in defending against the pathogens.

When a particular pathogen say a virus enters the cell, the immune system will get alerted through signals and they immediately send the correct immune cell to the target site. This occurs since either the immune system gets information naturally or artificially through previous infection or vaccine. This leads to the classification of immunity in humans.

So now we will consider a new and strong pathogen that has not been recognized by the immune system and has dodged those barriers and has entered inside the skin. Now it multiplies at a rapid rate and colonizes that particular area. Hence the cells in that area start to die and they release several signals like TNF, cytokines, interleukins. This gets combined with other signals like histamine, serotonin released from immune cells. Some of these signals produce direct effects on the target site as seen in the table.

An array of these signals triggers the immune system and it, in turn, starts the inflammation process and the cardinal signs are observed. This process lasts for some time and as it occurs; the pathogens decrease in number through phagocytosis and subsequently vanishes from the body. This can be observed by a decrease in the signs. After this process, the targeted site starts to heal and the immune system learns how to defend the pathogen when it enters the next time.

Now the damage caused by the pathogen has to be repaired by the process of healing.

  1. Haemostasis
  2. Inflammation
  3. Proliferation
  4. Maturation/Remodelling

The pathogen will rupture and damage the outer layer of blood vessels known as endothelium resulting in blood loss. Hence the blood vessels start to contract to prevent further loss. Also, a plug is formed at the site of leakage by the platelets. Then the process of inflammation occurs; clearing out the dead cells and the pathogen. In the proliferative stage, new blood cells are formed by a process known as neovascularisation and the new epithelium is formed. In the last phase, the newly formed cells become stronger and flexible. Hence the combination of these steps brings the affected area back to normal.

Hence the inflammation is an essential process in the immune system and it has to occur to prevent the conspiracy of the microbes. The next article is about vaccines and their principle of working.

HAPPY READING!!!