There is a huge need and a huge opportunity to get everyone in the world connected, to give everyone a voice and to help transform society for the future. The scale of the technology and infrastructure that must be built is unprecedented, and we believe this is the most important problem we can focus on.
– Mark Zuckerberg
To accomplish sustained poverty reduction, nations like Indonesia should seek financial development that includes and benefits the poor. The development of the poor is a necessary aspect in order to meet the UN (United Nations) Development Goal (MDGs) which has a set focus fo various difficulties in varied sectors (agriculture and income, education, health, water and sanitation). Although infrastructure hasn’t been distinguished as a direct MDG target or indicator, the arrangement of infrastructure is essential in facilitating financial growth and local development. Without sustainable infrastructure development, a large number of MDG targets may not be met. Investing in infrastructure might be a source of livelihood for many people. The development and upkeep of such infrastructure needs labour and this creates opportunities for people to get a job. The utilization of local resources also bring about the betterment of the economy of the neighbourhood. Although India is the world’s fourth largest economy, lack of good infrastructure is a cause of major obstruction to a huge amount of growth and development. Physical infrastructure has a direct impact on economy and may cause people to invest money in India.

While infrastructure in India is still developing, there are a plethora of issues which need to be addressed in order to curb poor infrastructure. A few of such examples are:
• A stark division between production and demand of electricity detrimenting both manufacturing and overall growth
• Roads are a popular means of transport. They are cheap and easy to avail and can take us to most places in our daily lives. Roads act as a backbone for transportation in India. The poor conditions of the roads thus effect the quality, speed and the wide reach of transport here.

It turns out that advancing equal opportunity and economic empowerment is both morally right and good economics, because discrimination, poverty and ignorance restrict growth, while investments in education, infrastructure and scientific and technological research increase it, creating more good jobs and new wealth for all of us.
– William J. Clinton
India’s ambition of keeping in pace with its extremely fast pace of growth depends largely on infrastructure. The infrastructure available in India is till date inadequate and insufficient for such a growing nation. Infrastructure development is the main priority for improving India’s manufacturing competitiveness and as a result cause higher growth. Even for budgeted projects, timely execution is a challenge for many. Although things such as power generation and transmission is on the rise, the declining condition of transportation infrastructure forces a limit onto corporate performance and investments. If developed successfully, good infrastructure may benefit a myriad of sectors and be an overall boost to the country’s economy. However, large sums of money are necessary for such infrastructure to take place. It is important to first fill up the infrastructure deficit before thinking about going for better infrastructure for future growth. The cost for transport in India (around 15% of the country’s GDP) as well as China(around 18-20% of the country’s GDP). The GST (goods and service tax) aims at fixing the negative effects of different layers of taxes across the state and the central governments, causing much help to logistics and infrastructure companies.

There are over 200 million illiterate women in India. This low literacy negatively impacts not just their lives but also their families’ and the country’s economic development. A girl’s lack of education also has a negative impact on the health and well-being of her children.
– Sachin Tendulkar

Education is the future of man. In the 20th century, education is necessary for everyone. Like uneducated people live under the shadow of the educated, illiterate nations live under the shadow of literate nations. Even today, education remains a dream for many. Millions of children enrolled in a primary school are not able to attend regularly, while the millions of uneducated parents lack the knowledge required to earn money to be able to improve living conditions for both themselves and their children.

The reasons why people lack education are numerous. The following are some reasons:
• Gender based inequality contributes to lack of education, even for children in the same household
• Physically disabled children are often judged when they study in the same classroom as other children
• Poor health often doesn’t let children attend school
• Cultural background such as ethnicity, language or religion
• Poverty doesn’t allow them to avail education
• Unemployment of parents doesn’t allow regular payment of fees to educational institutions
• Often they cannot take part in various activities due to illnesses
• Illiterate parents do not understand the necessity of education and hence think that it is better to make their children work rather than go to school
• Lack of adequate number of schools
• Unavailability of proper schooling materials such as books
• Improperly trained teachers
• Girls are given work at home whle boys are allowed to study for a better future

Education had been a great gift for him [Ziauddin]. He believed that lack of education was the root of all the Pakistan’s problems. Ignorance allowed politicians to fool people and bad administrators to be reelected. He believed schooling should be available for all, rich and poor, boys and girls.
– Malala Yousafzai
Lack of education has long since transformed into a global issue. It causes the lack of jobs and does poverty, and in turn, this poverty doesn’t allow their children to study. Most private schools cost a lot of money. Government schools are rarely well-equipped enough to provide quality education. Most developing countries suffer from such lack of education. Parents often impose upon their children a field of study which the child may not like to study. This creates issues in the long run and the child may drop out of school or not gain education at all. Getting a degree without being properly educated causes frustration in the long run. Parents should not impose their will upon their children and instead let them decide for themselves. The most that they can do is to provide proper education and inspire their children to study. Lack of knowledge about different fields of studies due to unavailability of proper career council often leads them into studying for over-saturated careers which may be hard to succeed in.

Education is often poorly measured and their statistics do not show properly in surveys. Children not attending schools goes largely unreported and their parents prefer not to inform the authorities. In many households, family members themselves may discourage the child from studying since they themselves had not attended school. Deprivation from education doesn’t allow children to develop basic mathematical and cognitive skills which are required in order to survive. Strict and immediate actions should be taken by the Government in order to eradicate this problem. The young generation of today is the future of tomorrow.

“Fresh, clean water cannot be taken for granted. And it is not – water is political, and litigious. Transporting water is impractical for both political and physical reasons, so buying up water rights did not make a lot of sense to me, unless I was pursuing a greater fool theory of investment – which was not my intention.”
– Michael Burry
The advantage of having a clean water source to drink from, good sanitary procedures and decent hygiene practices can only be identified when all three of these are available together. Beyond the few obvious and immediate effects available, these practices have a wider effect on women and girls. For the implementation of these facilities, well – resourced capable institutions are required.
A person without access to clean drinking water is forced to depend on other sources. These sources include surface water, contaminated water bodies or unverified sources of supposedly clean water. These might contribute to several diseases. Drinking contaminated water may result in several diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid and polio. Without proper treatment, most of these diseases may prove fatal in the long run.
I started off with a company, InfoSpace, with my own funding. The company was listed among the most successful companies and I went on to start Intelius and Moon Express. Now, I focus my time on using the skills of an entrepreneur to solve many of the grand challenges facing us in the areas of education, healthcare, clean water and energy.
– Naveen Jain
Without access to proper sanitary facilities, people are forced to use improper sources. Defecation is performed in either community latrines which are inherently dirty, or have to defecate in the open. Exposed faecal matter in the environment may be recycled back into people’s food, making open defecation extremely dangerous. Cholera is expressly spread through these practices. The lack of water disposal systems and sewerage systems contaminate the environment and cause diseases.
To most people in need, hygiene is quite a foreign concept. They are unaware of good hygienic practises and their contributions in protecting us from diseases. Even people who do possess such knowledge are unable to maintain proper hygiene due to lack of necessary supplies. Such supplies include things such as lack of soap, clean water and washing facilities. These are important to protect themselves and people around them.
UNICEF works towards improving such conditions through several actions like the following:
• Empowering communities
• Supporting schools
• Humanitarian actions
• Responding to COVID-19
• Increasing focus on sustainability
• Partnerships
Hundreds of thousands of children die every year from diseases such as diarrhoea. Around 88% of deaths from diarrhoea are due to these contributing factors. Millions of people worldwide are infected with tropical diseases that arise from these factors. These diseases include the Guinea Worm Disease (GWD) which is an extremely dangerous disease. The infected is attacked by parasitic worms which painfully spread out through the body. GWD is usually caused due to drinking contaminated water. Other diseases include Trachoma, a disease caused due to facial uncleanliness. This disease characteristically causes poor vision or blindness. The Government should identify these problems and work towards improving these. With proper attention, education and provisions for clean water, these diseases can be easily avoided. People in rural areas should be informed about poor hygiene practises and on how to improve the same. Banners and hoardings can be put up. Advertisements on national television may spread this information far and wide. Sanitary supplies such as soaps and tissues can be made free for the public and distributed periodically.

“It’s not that the world hasn’t had more carbon dioxide, it’s not that the world hasn’t been warmer. The problem is the speed at which things are changing. We are inducing a sixth mass extinction event kind of by accident and we don’t want to be the ‘extinctee.’”
– Bill Nye, ‘The Science Guy’
Changes in environment worldwide has had an effect on climate. The amount of ice whether on streams or lakes have vastly reduced throughout the ages. Researchers have anticipated several effects of changes in worldwide environmental changes. Among them are contraction of icy masses, separation of ice in streams and lakes, moving plant and creature ranges and early growth of trees. Other such effects include loss of ocean ice, sped up ocean level ascent and warm ocean waves. Worldwide temperatures are expected to rise soon and are expected to keep rising to a great extent mainly due to human by-products that effect the ozone layer of the atmosphere.
“One can see from space how the human race has changed the Earth. Nearly all of the available land has been cleared of forest and is now used for agriculture or urban development. The polar icecaps are shrinking and the desert areas are increasing. At night, the Earth is no longer dark, but large areas are lit up. All of this is evidence that human exploitation of the planet is reaching a critical limit. But human demands and expectations are ever-increasing. We cannot continue to pollute the atmosphere, poison the ocean and exhaust the land. There isn’t any more available.”
– Stephen Hawking, Physicist & Author



Some of the future effects of climate changes are:
• Changes will continue in the future – the extent of these changes across the following years relies principally upon the measure of heat-trapping gasses discharged globally amd how sensitive the Earth is to these emanations.
• Since it is human-induced, warming is superimposed on a naturally varying climate. Thus the temperature rises across countries will not be level over time.
• Frost-free season will lengthen – This will effect the ecosystem and agriculture. As globally emissions will increase much slowly if the emission of heat-trapping gases are reduced.
• Changes in precipitation patterns – changes in precipitation patterns contribute to sudden heavy precipitation
• More droughts and heat waves – Summer temperatures are expected to continue rising and hereby reduce moisture in the soil. This reduces heat and projected and contributes largely over long time periods.
• Hurricanes – The frequency and duration of hurricanes are increasing with time. Although the contributions of humans towards increasing intensity of hurricanes has been unknown, it recent hurricanes have been quite intense.
• Rise in sea levels – The global sea level has risen by about 8 inches since starting record keeping since 1880. This is due to the melting of ice and polar ice caps. With combined effects, storm surges and high tides cause massive floods in many regions. Rise in sea level will continue and this rate is estimated to rise in future. With such occurences, the arctic ocean will essentially become ice free in summer before the mid century.
Frequent climatic changes are highly damaging to the country’s economy. Several people cannot work properly in these harsh climatic conditions. Businesses are also effected in such conditions. We must take care of Nature in order to prevent such harsh climatic conditions and such frequent climatic changes. The only way to do so is through education of young people in these topics. Schools and colleges should make these topics compulsory in their curriculum. Seminars and practical sessions should be held on the topic of the conservation of Nature.

Habits of pessimism lead to depression, wither achievement, and undermine physical health. The good news is that pessimism can be unlearned, and that with its removal depression, underachievement, and poor health can be alleviated.
– Martin Seligman
The future of society depends upon the health of the children of today and their mothers. Every kid has the right to a sound and healthy start to their life, and their mothers ought to receive quality medical services and medicines during pregnancy and labor. Too many children continue to die prematurely day after day in spite of so many advancements. Poorer children are almost six times more likely to pass away before their fifth birthday in comparison to their wealthier counterparts. New-borns in poorer countries are in much higher risk of death than in richer countries. Although for a family with sufficient money, the birth of a child is a thing of great joy, for families without sufficient opportunities, it is often a period of dread. Accodring to the World Health Organization (WHO), pregnancy and childbirth cause the deaths of nearly 800 such women every day. It is possible to avoid such circumstances with the introduction of proper and timely healthcare. Healthy children are a prime asset of the human world, while hunger and malnutrition often cause reduced cognitive development and intellectual performance in most children.
Occurrences of deaths due to pregnancy and childbirth are mostly prevalent in rural areas, where proper facilities are not available. These pregnant mothers mostly need to travel long distances in order to avail such services. The journey in these situations is long and arduous, and more often than not is not possible to be undergone by most. Even when they arrive at the medical facilities after a difficult journey, they often find these facilities to be understaffed and underprepared, not capable to carry out such procedures. Minority communities often face discrimination at local healthcare facilities which contributes to a higher-than-average fatality rate for such people. More often than not, medical knowledge is not put into good use due to the unavailability of a necessary number of facilities to perform such procedures. Poverty, cultural traditions and legal affairs often forbid mothers from seeking proper healthcare for themselves and their offsprings. Provision of water and decent sanitation must be done. Newborns must be kept away from indoor pollutants like the gas produced when coal is burnt in order to cook food. Mothers often are unaware of proper maternal procedures due to lack of education. Timely introduction of properly complementary foods according to a child’s age must be taken care of.
Joblessness is a weapon of mass destruction. Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction. Hunger is a weapon of mass destruction. Poor health care is a weapon of mass destruction. Poor education is a weapon of mass destruction. Discrimination is a weapon of mass destruction. Let us abolish such weapons of mass destruction here at home.
– Dennis Kucinich
With modern scientific and technological advancements, it is very well possible to treat any complications with regard to pregnancy and childbirth. Spending money on such healthcare services by the Government is a very rational decision and is in the interest of the nation. Adequately staffed hospitals should be available in close proximity of even sparsely populated rural areas. Medical representatives must be well educated about humanity and minority communities in order to reduce discriminatory acts which are quite prevalent in today’s age. Health check-ups and medicine could be made free for such young mothers in need. Working together, the World Health Organization and the World Bank are advancing towards the practise of proper healthcare practises throughout the world.

“Close to a billion people – one-eighth of the world’s population – still live in hunger. Each year 2 million children die through malnutrition. This is happening at a time when doctors in Britain are warning of the spread of obesity. We are eating too much while others starve.”
-Jonathan Sacks
Malnutrition is the lack of nutrients in the body necessary to grow and stay healthy. Doctors check for the following when testing for malnutrition:
• a person’s height and weight or body mass index (BMI) to check if he is healthy
• for other underlying diseases that usually occur as a side effect of malnutrition
• blood tests to check for deficit of vitamins and minerals
• physical and medical history to look and instruct the patient to do some tests on that basis
Some of the effects of malnutrition are:
• lower levels of observed energy
• dizziness
• weak immune system which makes it hard for the body to fight off minor injuries or infections
• swollen and bleeding gums
• other dental problems such as tooth decay
• slower than average reaction time
• difficulty in paying attention for extended time periods
• low body weight
• slow physical and mental growth
• muscle weakness
• bloating of stomach
• brittle bones
• problems in various organs
• difficulty memorizing information
“Our foremost priority is the removal of poverty, hunger and malnutrition, disease and illiteracy. All social welfare programmes must be implemented efficiently. Agencies involved in the delivery of services should have a strong sense of duty and work in a transparent, corruption-free, time-bound and accountable manner.”
-Pratibha Patil
The Government can provide loans free of interest to people in dire need. Educational loans should also be made free of interest as it is one of the primary needs of mankind. The Government could also try and spread information about hunger and malnutrition in order to educate the youth of our nation. New schemes could be developed to aid disaster-stricken citizens. India ranked 94 among 107 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) in 2020. According to reports, 14 percent of India’s population is malnourished. Severe rates of stunting and malnutrition still plague our country to this day.
Very often more than not, extremely poor people rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. They face several challenges like drought that do not let crops grow for extended periods of time. Sometimes all their crop may go to waste due to heavy showers of rain or flooding of rivers. Often their crops suffer due to improper usage of fertilizers and pesticides. This occurs since they have no education on how these things work, since the majority of the population suffering from poverty is uneducated. Farmers do not get any benefits while taking loans and they mostly lack the capital to spend in order to buy seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and other farm equipment necessary to feed their crops. Educating people on proper nutrition, a balanced diet, sanitation and hygiene is an important step towards eradicating poverty. Poverty is the root cause of hunger and malnutrition. For communities depending upon natural resources for their livelihood, it is important to identify that they depend on a perishable source. Thus it is important for them to prepare for calamities and to save up on natural resources and use them wisely. Sometimes, families are suddenly struck with crisis. In these situations it is extremely important for humanitarian assistance to be provided to them, so that they do not fall victim to hunger and malnutrition. Hunger and malnutrition also does not let a person work properly which in turn becomes a cause of poverty and ultimately contributes to the same.

“Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can’t buy more hours. Scientists can’t invent new minutes. And you can’t save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.”
― Denis Waitley
Procrastination is the act of deferring or delaying a task or a set of tasks. Regardless of what it is called, it prevents us from concentrating and completing our work. We now know that the world today is conducive to procrastinating and learning how to overcome it is, therefore, one of the most important skills you can learn.
Research has uncovered a particular phenomenon known as “time inconsistency” which tells us why procrastination wins even when we have sincere goals. Time inconsistency alludes the human brain to value immediate rewards much more than long term future rewards. One must remember that although thinking about our future self might bring about solid objectives, only our present self is capable of taking the action necessary in order to fulfil those objectives. This is why humans often fall asleep while thinking about thinking about future improvements, and then wake up the next day finding themselves back into their old routine, without implementing any changes even after so many thoughts.
Examples of procrastination are:
• Browsing social media instead of doing important tasks or work
• Putting off homework assignments until the last date of submission
• Delaying getting started with gym or diet or similar physical exercises to get fit
• Looking at unimportant information instead of relevant information
• Going to work on a project and then instead looking up inspirational material
• Ignoring household chores
• Ignoring regular studies and postponing them for later on
•
“I’ll think of it tomorrow, at Tara. I can stand it then. Tomorrow, I’ll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day.”
― Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind
Procrastination is a major cause of people missing out on quite a number of things they want to do. Sometimes all our opportunities seem to be on our fingertips, but we can’t seem to reach them. It is one of the most important topics in today’s modern era. When we procrastinate, we waste time that could be invested in something meaningful. If this fierce enemy can be overcome, we can accomplish more and in doing so better utilize the potential that life has to offer. It causes depression in millions of people each year. Procrastination is the primary cause of severe psychological disorders in teenagers of today’s age. It is a common trait for people having ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and OCD(obsessive compulsive disorder).
The easiest way to stop procrastinating is to make it as easy as possible for our present self to start doing our work. One of the most reasons for procrastinating is the fact that we don’t have a clear path about what we want to do. Hence, the way out is to have a clear idea about our path and then get to work. It is also extremely important to realize that we are procrastinating in order to get relief from it.
Children and young people should more often be educated about procrastination. Teachers should be asked to have a talk with their students about this topic in order to optimize their student’s study routines. We should get inspired to put in actual effort into our work, rather than waste time procrastinating about what we are going to do.

“There are a lot of great technicians in advertising. And unfortunately, they talk the best game. They know all the rules … but there’s one little rub. They forget that advertising is persuasion, and persuasion is not a science, but an art. Advertising is the art of persuasion.”
– William Bernbach
Advertisements are known to be the spreading of information about a particular brand, product or service in order to engage customers and increase sales. Advertisements have been characterized as the most remarkable, influential, and manipulative instrument that organizations need to control buyers everywhere on the world. It is a type of correspondence that regularly endeavours to convince expected clients to buy or to devour all the more a specific brand of item or administration. Advertisements have had a profound effect especially in today’s day and age. Impacting individuals’ propensities, making bogus requirements, twisting the qualities and needs of our general public with sexism and women’s liberation, publicizing has become a toxic substance snake prepared to chase his prey. In any case, then again, publicizing has had a constructive outcome as an assistance of the economy and society.
Nowadays, it is very hard for a brand or company to spread news and sell their product without advertising. The amount of sales of a product is highly dependent on how much the product is advertised. Brands are using different techniques nowadays to advertise their products. Popular celebrities are often used to advertise their product. New marketing strategies and ideas are being researched every day. Traditionally, advertisements used to be through means such as banners, posters, hoardings, radio or television. With the growth of social media, especially after the internet boom in India, a large amount of advertisements is online nowadays. Most popular social media stars use their social media handles to promote a particular product. This lets them earn vast amounts of revenue from these brands. Brands also try to conduct more and more advertisements through social media since they gain a lot through such means. The main reason to use famous people for such advertisements is that they have a much higher power to convince in comparison to an unknown brand advertising their product, claiming it to be very good. Celebrities have the power to transform their image into the product that they are advertising. It is almost as though they share their personality with the product and with this personality comes the trust of the buyers. However, the selection of a correct person to endorse a brand is prudent. This selection must be done carefully in order to achieve maximum results.

“There is a great deal of advertising that is much better than the product. When that happens, all that the good advertising will do is put you out of business faster.”
– Jerry Della Femina

Fake advertisement is a malpractice and should be done away with. Some examples of such are thing such has hidden fees, changing standard units of measurement to hide downsizing, incorporation of fillers in food and consistently comparing the product to only the competitors that it can beat. Some other example of such fake advertisement is the use of artificial colours to change appearance of food, advertising a high number of vitamins even though it is way under the Dietary Allowance, bait and switch of a discounted product with a product costing far more and permanent acceptance of a product until the consumer manually opts out of accepting it. Unfortunately, such malpractices are very common in today’s world. Harsh penalties are incurred by companies performing such false advertisements and several millions of dollars are lost in lawsuits. The government should be on the lookout for such malpractices and strict actions should be instantly taken to protect the common man.

“Child labor and poverty are inevitably bound together and if you continue to use the labor of children as the treatment for the social disease of poverty, you will have both poverty and child labor to the end of time.”
— Grace Abbott, social worker
Poverty is normally characterized as having less than than 60% of the median household income. Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime. It is defined as the inadequate supply of items that are essential to live a healthy and comfortable life. In western developed countries some people are poor not because they lack food, clothing or shelter but because the person may not have car,tv,computer etc. But in India, poor people means those who do not get two square meals a day, they sleep on others pavements and live bare bodied and bare footed. In India, poverty is primarily caused by unequal distribution of wealth. Furthermore unemployment and an increase in urban population is drastically increasing the rate of the country’s population. To aggravate the condition, the jobs that these individuals work pay woefully low wages. This is because these individuals do not possess the required qualifications and are not employable. Also, corruption is one of the biggest factors contributing to poverty followed by illiteracy. Poverty in India is from the ancient times when people who were poor weren’t allowed to enter religious places. The main causes of poverty are unemployment, lack of education, poor utilization of resources, corruption and poor government policy. Poverty is a man-made issue and can be removed by efforts from fellow human beings. Poverty in India can be reduced by providing amenities such as education, family planning etc.
India is currently known as one of the most fastest developing countries on the planet, with around 18 Indians getting past the poverty line according to the World Poverty Clock. As indicated by Oxfam, India’s top 1% of the populace presently holds 93% of the abundance, while 670 million residents, containing the country’s most unfortunate half, saw their abundance fall by 60%. The National Council of Applied Economic Research assessed that 48% of the Indian families procure more than ₹90,000 yearly. As indicated by NCAER, in 2009, of the 222 million families in India, the totally helpless families represented just 15.6% of them or around 35 million (around 200 million Indians). An additional of 80 million families were said to have pay levels of around ₹45,000 to ₹90,000 each year. These numbers are like World Bank assessments of the “underneath the-neediness line” families that may add up to around 100 million. Another reason is the lack of education. Education is a major reason for joblessness which contributes to poverty. Millions of people are jobless right now in India.
“When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed.”
— Mother Teresa, Roman Catholic nun
One of the root causes of poverty is marginalization. When a country or a group of people are trying to come out of poverty, all classes should have a say in how things are going to work. Diseases and poor climatic conditions may also contribute to poverty since they may prevent people from earning money. Also,

The government could put up banners and posters. Hoardings could be put up across streets. The national television is an excellent place to advertise such things. This would bring about knowledge and information to the youth of India. The common man would definitely benefit from the circulation of such information. This could be supplemented by free education schemes by the government. The poor and needy could be offered education free of cost so as to support them in their educational endeavours. Overall, poverty is not a problem that can be resolved overnight. However, implanting these solutions over a long tenure may help alleviating this issue.

“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Body shaming is referred to as the act of humiliating someone by making unsolicited rude remarks on their bodily appearance. Ideal body shapes for genders have existed throughout the ages, with one coming back in vogue only to result in the others slowly becoming unpopular. While this is uplifting to people of some body type, it is demeaning to the people on the other side of the spectrum. It almost appears as though one cannot be lauded without the other being demeaned. One can even body shame themselves by comparing their body to another person. Obese people in general generally have a worse social life than the normal person due to them being much more prone to being bullied, humiliated or ostracised. Due to these factors, in turn, they are also most likely to engage in similar bullying behaviour. Obesity is generally the act of having excess fat in the body. The main causes of obesity are as follows:
• Excessive calorie intake.
• Poor diet containing high quantities of junk of processed food, eating larger quantities, drinking high quantities of alcohol or fizzy drinks, or eating to feel better from low self-esteem or depression.
• Lack of periodic physical exercise doesn’t allow the body to burn any fat.
• Some people are just genetically more prone to gain weight – this is uncommon but not rare. However, obesity is most likely due to environmental factors and poor eating habits picked up as a child.
• Medical reasons such as an underlying disease such as hypothyroidism or cushing’s syndrome.
• Some medicines taken to cure other diseases such as corticosteroids, epilepsy and diabetes may contribute to weight gain. This includes antidepressants and medicines for schizophrenia.

The use of phrases like “you should put more meat on your bones” or “you should start a better eating routine” are both belittling and still used widely throughout the world. People who fall outside social standards of body proportions face criticism regularly. They’re often called “brave” for getting a gym membership, while a person could work out for a multitude of reasons other than losing body fat, similar to how some people may not be able to work out due to a multitude of reasons. Clothes are often used as objects of criticism for such people. The failure to realise that gain or loss in body fat may come from various factors such as physical or mental health conditions is also one of the reasons why people choose to pass remarks on another’s body.

Body shaming has been attributed as the key contributing factor to several disorders like anxiety, depression and anorexia. Children who grow up looking at photo shopped celebrities on newspapers and magazines try to resemble them and believe them to be perfect, when in reality their body is completely fine. These fake pictures create mostly unachievable standards for teenagers and thus are a cause of degradation of mental health over time.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever” – Mahatma Gandhi
Educational disparity refers to the act of unequal distribution of academic resources among people. This can be through things like limitation in funding of government educational bodies, lack of skilled teachers and shortage of books and other technological means that aid education. It is one of the most important problems plaguing developing third world countries such as India. The education quality of a state may vary even when moving from city to city. Good education is a necessary thing in modern times in order to make it get a job or become successful. Schools containing a large number of minority students often have fewer and lower quality books, bigger class sizes, no labs, inexperienced teachers and less access to better learning materials overall. Thus students with a high potential but no money are unable to surpass the well-off. Inequalities among such students include:
• Regional inequality
• Inequality on the basis of gender
• Caste based inequality
• Household income
Many students in our country still lack a proper internet connection even in areas outside villages. This is a major drawback, due to most of education shifting online nowadays, especially due to the worldwide outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vast amounts of free educative material is available online for free, but cannot be accessed by most children due to the lack of an internet connection. Students coming from a wealthier background often do better in their studies. Although it is not impossible for a child from a poorer economic background to match up with him, it is quite a commendable job and for many, it is often not possible. In many rural areas, little or no schools exist which does not even give children the option to get educated. In metropolitian cities, education comes very costly and it isn’t possible for all parents to send their children to an expensive private school. Government schools still lack the guidance and infrastructure that is most likely present in their private counterparts. Most children in such schools have no access to labs and thus are never exposed to the practical side of education. Even in these modern times, we are unable to see ourselves under the lead of a woman. Girls are often denied education and are thought to be more appropriate to perform household chores. Men are expected to be better educated in comparison to women. Backdated mindsets and thoughts are the root cause of such problems. Reservations of seats in educational institutions have recently increased leading to the drop in the number of seats for meritorious children. There still exists a serious gap in education between the more privileged and the under privileged sections of the society.
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” – Benjamin Franklin
The Government could teach young parents about the necessity of education and explain to them why they should educate their child instead of putting them to work. More encouragement can be given to children to study by providing awards to exceptionally brilliant students, even from a small age. Banners and posters could be put up and made attractive to attract people’s attention to the importance of quality education. The anti Ragging helpline is 18001805522 and the helpline for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is 1800117002.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act engraves the importance of free education (that the child will not have discontinue his education due to lack of funds) and compulsory education (that the Government are liable to pay the charges for him to complete his education). The Government is now encouraging students towards higher education by offering various grants and scholarships to meritorious students. An increasing number of Government educational bodies has been observed in the last few decades. The Government is also now carefully monitoring the educational qualifications of teachers and emphasizing on quality education.
In recent times, there has been a disproportionate amount of rise in private school enrolment. A 2020 news article from the Hindustan times narrated that the students from the richest 20% of the society are 17 times more likely to be studying law from the poorest 20%. A huge percentage of India still craves English medium education, the lack of which is apparent in most cities and towns. In a 2011 Census, it was discovered that 73% of the Indian population was literate, out of which 81% were males and 65% were females.
The absence of constistent standards of education among educational bodies and the high cost of education are huge contributing factors to educational disparity. Without quality education, it is almost impossible for most people to become successful. This in turn makes them unable to provide their children with education, and this continues in a vicious cycle.

“An over-indulgence of anything, even something as pure as water, can intoxicate.” – Criss Jami, Venus in Arms

Drugs often alter the way our mind perceives reality. Substance abuse is generally attributed to improper or excessive use of alcohol, medicine or other substances (legal or illegal). Drugs particularly affect an individual’s ability to perform usual actions by delaying them. Teens commonly take drugs due to peer pressure and eventually get addicted. If left untreated, it can result in a myriad of complex problems which may affect an individual’s life down the road. Some common examples of drug abuse are tobacco (nicotine), marijuana, painkillers, cocaine, heroin, benzodiazepines, stimulants, inhalants and sedatives. A few indications of ongoing substance abuse are:
• Sudden lack of money
• Disturbance in sleeping patterns
• Lack of common sense or understanding
• Secrecy about personal life
• Not talking to friends
• Sudden mood swings
• Lapses in memory
• Change in body weight and facial appearance
• Poor eating habits
• Negligence of personal hygiene

Although the consequences of drug and alcohol abuse vary, there are a few common ones which happen to most people. Among them are increased diabetes-related issues, sexual problems, birth defects, loss of bone density, loss in vision, weaker immune system and a higher than average risk of cancer. Early exposure to drugs or alcohol is generally attributed to poor outcomes in adulthood. However there exist some people whose bodies are much more susceptible to get addicted to drugs or alcohol than others. Often people may fall into bad company, which may induce them into taking drugs. Pre-existing mental health issues also contribute to addiction. Troubles in personal life can be a major cause of a person taking drugs. Excessive drug or alcohol abuse can stem from a toxic or broken relationship and this can turn into abuse in the long run. It is very important to keep a check on such habits during troubled times. Children who have exposed to any of their parents or loved ones being under the influence are far more likely to get addicted than the normal teenager. Things seen during childhood often leave a lasting mark in their brain.

The most widely used drugs in India include alcohol, cannabis, opium and heroin. Buprenorphine, propoxyphene and heroin rank the highest in the list of injected drugs. 62.5 million people in India use alcohol, 8.75 million use cannabis, 2 million use opiates while 0.6 million use sedatives or hypnotics. Around 26% of these people require urgent help. Most drugs are illegal and likely will leave the person with a criminal record. India’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) was passed in 1985 and was underwent amendments in 1989, 2001 and lastly in 2014. The NDPS Act offers strict punishments to people for drug trafficking. In order to aid the NDPS Act, India released the Prevention of Illicit Trafficking act in 1988. This act contains provisions related to preventive detention of anyone who is associated to or performs drug trafficking. Such drugs are only allowed to be used under scientific purposes. Some of India’s drug law enforcement agencies include the Narcotics Control Division, Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), The Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) as well as other agencies like the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Central Bureau of Investigation, Customs Commission and the Border Security Force.

“Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don’t have the strength.” – Napoléon Bonaparte

Resources to prevent and diagnose substance abuse exist in order to help people in need. The first priority of such an addicted person should be to talk to a doctor. Other options include going to a rehab facility or participating in local support groups. The Indian Government currently has no national or local system of monitoring drug misuse. The Government could put up banners and posters to spread awareness about drug abuse. Advertisements on television and radio channels could be put up to gain a much higher reach. Schools and colleges may include programmes to educate young minds about the horrors of alcohol and drug usage. The national toll free drug de-addiction helpline is 1800-11-0031.

Reasons as to why addiction occurs are still undergoing research. Among the most commonly proved reasons is the release of a chemical substance in the brain called dopamine. This element is commonly released by the brain during occurrence of pleasure. However, the artificial induction of dopamine release far out shadows the natural release of dopamine in the brain. Thus individuals try to derive pleasure from the drug instead of other natural social activities. People who are addicted may need the drug to feel normal. Their body often feels sick and unwell whenever they cannot take the drug.

Alcohol and drug abuse can be prevented if the Government and today’s youth should work for the betterment of the society. Education should be the primary step which would lead us to such goals. Together we can hope to dream of a better tomorrow.

“Cyber bullies can hide behind a mask of anonymity online and do not need direct physical access to their victims to do unimaginable harm.” – Anna Maria Chavez

Cyberbullying is known as the act of using laptops, mobile phones, computers or other digital technology in order to anger, shame or hurt others. It is quite a prevalent topic in today’s day and age. This form of bullying is known to be quite different than the other “traditional” forms of bullying. Traditional bullying includes bullying which is mostly physical or verbal within close proximity of the victim. Cyberbullying has much harsher levels of harassment due to anonymity offered by the internet. Thus the bullies can continue without any fear of reciprocation. While traditional bullying occurs only when the victim is in close proximity with the bully, cyberbullying can happen anytime, anywhere. Online privacy is quite a rare thing these days. This can cause the victim much more grief since he is being bullied in public. There is a popular saying-“what goes online, stays online”. This is quite true in this case and this form of bullying thus causes massive psychological damage. Cyberbullying is also hard to discover, and mostly depends on the victim coming forward, requesting for help. This is especially rare in children who do not have the maturity to do so and thus is quite a potent threat to children online.

Examples of cyberbullying may include the posting of an individual’s private pictures on the internet, verbal abuse such as in online videogames, cyber stalking, impersonating a person online, or spreading hateful messages through multi-accounting. The main places where these occur are social media, through emails or through text.

The effects of cyber bullying are huge, and can contribute in massive humiliation of the victim. It can also be a cause of the victim isolating himself from the outside world, which in turn may make him further susceptible to various mental illnesses. Anger and frustration may also stem from such practices which have a further negative impact on health. This form of bullying may particularly render the victim feeling powerless which can cause mental consequences like depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and cause the victim to want to perform self-harm, have academic issues and suicidal thoughts.

In these modern times, it is very important to know how to react to such problems. The easiest way to get help is to open up to someone by telling them about your problems. Another simple way is to just walk away from the bully and this requires much less mental stress. An individual getting bullied online should ideally take a break instead of working on immediate retaliation, as decisions are best taken with a clear mind. Protection of oneself online is very important and this can be done by staying aware of such people at all times. An antivirus is a necessary application to have and can often save individuals from attacks like phishing and malware, or even simply block them from accessing a malicious site, which in turn prevents their data from being leaked and used as a source of ridicule or blackmail. Awareness should be spread regarding resources to fight cyberbullying. The anti-bullying helpline of http://www.childline.org for children in India is 1098. These are quite frequent occurences and more resources should be developed to fight these actively.

Very few laws exist in India pertaining to cyberbullying. Among them, the most eminent ones are the section 354A, 354D, 507 under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Indian Internet Report from 2019 suggests that 2 in 3 internet users (66%) are between the ages of 12 and 29. 1 in every 10 adolescents (10%) in India are victims of cyberbullying. A large percentage of teens have already been victims of cyberbullying. A large number of cases like these are estimated to be unreported which causes the number seem to be lower than the original. Reports should be instantly sent to online service providers, law enforcement and to educational institutions in case of students. Friends and family should be well-informed to intervene in such cases instead of allowing it to occur. Seminars and meetings should be conducted on this topic to further spread awareness. The Government could put up banners and posters in order to encourage citizens to actively fight cyberbullying.

The reason people perform cyberbullying is much debated among researches. There is quite the possibility that it is accidental and occurs during friendly banter or ridicule. However, the most recognised reasons are the ability to stay anonymous on the internet, the ignorance of the consequences of such deeds and also social pressure. Many teenagers may simply think it to be “cool” to bully an individual, just because their peers are doing the same.

As technology progresses, more and more people continued to become victims of cyberbullying every day. It should be our job to offer them a helping hand in order to eradicate this problem for once and for all.

COVID 19 here to stay or leave?
India has been experiencing a second wave in the COVID-19. Patients have been rising particularly in the state of Maharashtra, Karnataka,parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh and resonable restrictions and night curfews have been put into place.
According to the experts the main reason behind the surge in the cases has been the ignorance of the pandemic protocols such as wearing of masks social distancing frequent sanitisation and taking other effective measures.
Some relief has come since the severity of the cases and mortality rate have now gone down in comparison to those during the first wave of the pandemic hit. According to the experts the reasons for this dip could be that the medical fraternity has come to know of the ways to deal with the patients and the situation. Another plausible reason can be a herd immunity which has been acquired by the people living in India but this remains to be a matter of research since there is no conclusive evidence to prove this.

What is the road ahead for India?
According to the researchers and doctors involved in the medical fraternity a compete lockdown is not the answer to tackling this situation because COVID 19 cannot simply be done away with by locking people at home.
The way forward is to follow the pandemic rules and to speed up the immunisation process but this does not mean that after getting the first dose of vaccination one is immunised completely and cannot acquire COVID 19 again, therefore, the people who have had the first shot also have to follow the COVID 19 protocols.
According to Dr Parker a senior pulmonary consultant, the COVID-19 vaccines must be made available in the free market and the people of the upper middle class and above should pay and get the vaccine whereas the people belonging to the lower income group and below should get the vaccine for free using the money that has been collected by selling the vaccines.
But according to Dr Mehta of Medanta Critical Care ,this is not feasible right now taking into consideration the capacity of production of vaccines and availability of only two types of vaccines in India. This might be taken up after a few months when more options are available with us.

Some takeaways or possibilities in the near future :
The government alone cannot tackle the situation unless it has the cooperation from the people. The government also has to keep in mind while making policies that the people are facing COVID 19 fatigue, are frustrated because of low income and inflation and also because of unemployment and lack of human interaction.
The government instead of going for a complete lockdown should call for certain restrictions like closing down of the community spaces for example religious places, regulate the functioning of physical market places and food joints, provide people with jobs to venture out and boost production to tackle inflation and occupied people will have less time about unnecessarily which might prove effective against slowing down the pace of rise in COVID 19 patients.

Source used : NDTV’s “COVID-19 News : India’s Second COVID Wave Milder than First?Experts Answer” dated 17/03/2021 .

Greenery may refer to any foliage of a plant, either live, freshly cut, or artificial. The term is used in the landscaping, interior design, and florist industries. Greenery is referred to nature. Nature is the natural, physical, material world or universe. Nature can be referred to as phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. Nature is very important for our living. It would be very difficult to live without nature. The study of nature is large.

Human beings are considered to an important part of nature. Human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of the several expansions of the original notion.

Nature can refer to the general realm of living plants and animals, and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects-the way that particular types of things exist and change of their own accord, such as the weather and geology of the Earth. It is often taken to mean the “natural environment” or “wilderness”-wild animals, rocks, forest, and in general those things that have not been substantially altered by human intervention, or which persist despite human intervention.

Greenery or Nature is very important for our living, life and our souls. We should take care of our surroundings and nature.

Chocolates are love. People just love consuming chocolates as they are very sweet and delicious. Chocolates are a preparation of roasted and ground cacao seeds that is made in the form of a liquid, paste, or in a block, which may be used as a flavoring ingredient in other foods.

The process of preparation of chocolates is that the seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste and must be fermented to develop the flavor. After fermentation, the beans are dried, cleaned, and roasted. The shell is removed to produce cacao nibs, which are then ground to cocoa mass, unadulterated chocolate in rough form. Once the cocoa mass is liquefied by heating, it is called chocolate liquor. The liquor may also be cooled and processed into its two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter.

Chocolate is one of the most popular food types and flavors in the world, and many foodstuffs involving chocolate exist, particularly desserts, including cakes, pudding, mousse, chocolate brownies, and chocolate chip cookies. Many candies are filled with sweetened chocolate. Chocolate bars are either made up of solid chocolate or other ingredients coated in chocolate, are eaten as snacks. Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes are traditional on certain Western holidays, including Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, and Hanukkah. Chocolate is also used in hot and cold beverages, such as chocolate milk and hot chocolate, and in some alcoholic drinks, such as creme de cacao.

The US House of Representatives is set to vote on whether to strip firebrand Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments, after several of her past social media posts and comments sparked a furore within the Democratic Party. This comes after top Republican leader Kevin McCarthy condemned her controversial remarks, but failed to take action against her.

Before she won a US House seat representing Northwest Georgia last year, she was known to have made a number of racist, anti-semitic and anti-Muslim statements on social media. She notably courted controversy for supporting a host of conspiracy theories, including the since-debunked QAnon theory.

In recent weeks, several old comments resurfaced where the Georgia Republican claimed school shootings were staged and even liked posts that called for the execution of top Democratic leaders, such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Lawmakers on either side of the aisle have slammed Greene for her comments, and several Democrats have demanded her resignation.

But on Wednesday, McCarthy declined to take action against her — a decision that has angered both House Democrats as well as a growing number of Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. In a lengthy statement, McCarthy condemned her past comments but accused the Democratic Party of trying to carry out a “partisan power grab” by pushing for Greene’s resignation so vehemently.

Who is Marjorie Taylor Greene?

Greene co-owns a commercial construction and renovation company with her husband in Georgia. In November last year, she won a US House seat from Georgia’s 14th congressional district, where she ran unopposed after her Democratic opponent Kevin Van Ausdal dropped out of the race in September.

Greene is no stranger to controversy. Over the last few months, she has been widely criticised for some troubling social media posts and statements that have recently resurfaced. She has publicly endorsed the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory and has even repeatedly expressed racist views in public.

Despite this, she was a favourite of former President Donald Trump who praised her and once even called her a “future republican star. Trump himself has repeatedly refused to denounce the since-debunked QAnon theory, which suggests that the former President is secretly fighting a highly-placed child sex-trafficking ring.

But after she was criticised by several Republican leaders for elevating the warped theory during her primary race against fellow Republican candidate and neurosurgeon John Cowan, Greene distanced herself from QAnon conspiracy, without explicitly denouncing it.

In January, the political newcomer was once again in the spotlight when she introduced a measure attempting to impeach US President Joe Biden, accusing him of abuse of power and corruption. Late last month, another set of old social media posts surfaced, prompting the Democratic Party to file a resolution to strip her of her committee assignments.

Why are Greene’s social media posts causing outrage?

In January, Greene took down dozens of Facebook posts dating back to 2018 and 2019, where she publicly endorsed a number of fringe conspiracy theories and showed her support for executing Democrats, CNN reported.

She has been slammed for claiming that mass shootings are “false flags” used to justify gun control. In one video shared on social media, she is seen harassing David Hogg, a survivor of a school shooting who now advocates for gun control. In another video shared in 2017, just days after a gunman shot and killed 58 people at a music festival in Las Vegas, she suggested that the incident was staged by gun control activists to promote their agenda.

She has also previously claimed that the 2018 wildfires in California were started by “Jewish space lasers”.

A CNN review of Greene’s activity on Facebook found that apart from filling her feed with extremist content and conspiracy theories, she also indicated her support for executing prominent Democrats. In January, 2019, Greene liked a comment on her post that advocated “a bullet to the head” of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

On Monday this week, a group of House Democrats introduced a resolution to remove Greene from her committee assignments in the House Education & Labor Committee and the House Budget Committee. Her appointment to the Education & Labour Committee caused tremendous friction between Republicans and Democrats, with the latter questioning how she could possibly be placed in the panel given her history of troubling posts and statements, particularly about school shootings.

“I think that the focus has to be on the Republican leadership of this House of Representatives for the disregard they have for the death of those children,” Pelosi said at the time, according to NBC News. “You’re just going to have to ask them why they thought that that raised itself to the level of something appropriate to do in the Congress of the United States.”

How did the Republican Party respond to the Democrats’ demands?

In a statement issued on Wednesday, top Republican Kevin McCarthy condemned Greene for endorsing conspiracy theories and making bigoted statements, but did not take away her posts on the two congressional committees.

“Past comments from and endorsed by Marjorie Taylor Greene on school shootings, political violence, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories do not represent the values or beliefs of the House Republican Conference,” he said. His statement was issued following a closed-door meeting of Republican leaders, where they debated whether to strip Greene of her leadership posts.

They were also deciding the fate of Wyoming Republican Representative Liz Cheney after she voted in favour of impeaching former President Trump. Finally, Cheney, the third-highest ranking Republican, survived a secret ballot to oust her by 145-61.

Meanwhile, there is more of a divide within the party as far as Greene is concerned. Several top Republican lawmakers have been vocal in their criticism of her past comments. Florida Senator Marco Rubio called her “either deranged or a sadist”. Mitch McConnell accused her of embracing “loony lies” that were a “cancer” to the party. Senator Todd Young of Indiana said she was “nutty” and an embarrassment to the party, BBC reported.

During the meeting, Marjorie apologised for her past statements. She said that she did, in fact, believe school shootings were real and called them “awful”. Greene told her colleagues that she had made a mistake by being curious about QAnon, The Hill reported. At the conclusion of her address, several Republican leaders gave her a standing ovation, the report stated.

Some Republicans have argued that Greene cannot be published for comments she made before she was elected.

What next?

Nancy Pelosi announced that the House would proceed with a vote on Thursday to decide whether Greene will be removed from the education and budget committees. To pass, the measure needs a simple majority in the Democrat-controlled House.

“McCarthy’s failure to lead his party effectively hands the keys over to Greene – an anti-Semite, QAnon adherent and 9/11 Truther,” Pelosi said in a statement. Republicans are responding to the Democrats’ push to expel Greene, by trying to remove Democratic lawmaker Ilhan Omar from her committees for statements they have alleged were anti-semitic.

Why not remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from Congress altogether?

Democratic Congressman Jimmy Gomez Wednesday announced that he was introducing a resolution to expel Greene from the Congress for her comments.

“As if it weren’t enough to amplify conspiracy theories that the September 11 attacks were an inside job and the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was staged, a string of recent media reports has now confirmed that Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene had previously supported social media posts calling for political violence against the Speaker of the House, members of Congress, and former President Barack Obama,” he said in a statement.

“Her very presence in office represents a direct threat against the elected officials and staff who serve our government, and it is with their safety in mind, as well as the security of institutions and public servants across our country, that I call on my House colleagues to support my resolution to immediately remove Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from this legislative body,” he added. But is it possible for Greene to be expelled from the Congress altogether? Experts say that it seems unlikely.

For the first time since the 2005 Ashes, England Test cricket returns to Channel 4. On Wednesday, the free-to-air terrestrial channel confirmed that it had secured the rights for the four-match series between India and England from Star Sports.

What is the history of cricket broadcast in England?

The BBC covered all England home games for 60 years until 1999, when they lost the rights to Channel 4. The matches were on free-to-air television till England’s Ashes win over Australia in 2005 before all international cricket broadcast in the UK moved to Comcast’s pay-TV operator Sky.

While before anyone with television could see England’s home games, the move to Sky made a subscription necessary.

Sky did share the rights with Channel 4 in a one-off deal for the 2019 World Cup final between England and New Zealand — and the hosts’ thrilling Super Over win over New Zealand at Lord’s attracted 15.4 million viewers over the course of the day.

What is the new deal?

According to the deal, all four Test matches along with highlights will be available for free on Channel 4, as well as its dedicated streaming platform: All 4.

Channel 4 will get the Star Sports’ live world feed commentary from India. An in-house, London-based panel of former England captains Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss will provide the expert analysis, along with presenter Rishi Persad

“We’re delighted to be showing live Test cricket on Channel 4 again and given the recent performances of both sides this series is set to be a cracker,” Channel 4’s head of sport Pete Andrews told Variety. “We’re thrilled to have struck this deal with Star Sports.”

The UK radio rights, meanwhile have gone to TalkSport, and the BBC Test Match Special team will opt for the ‘Cricket Social’ format of online discussion instead of ball-by-ball commentary by pundits.

How did Channel 4 pip Sky Sports and BT Sport?

Citing sources in India, The Times reported that Channel 4 may have paid as little as £5 million to Star Sports, which had initially been seeking more than £20 million for both the Test and limited-overs UK rights. Sky and BT Sport may have had to pay more due to a smaller potential audience than Channel 4. While the Test deal has been finalised, Star Sports might look for a more lucrative deal for the limited-overs matches.

Sky and BT Sport have also been in cost-cutting mode since the Covid- 19 pandemic hit, and are expected to battle it out for the Premier League football rights later this year.

The early-morning start also adds a wrinkle. The matches will begin at 4am England time, except for the third Test — a day-night match with a 9am start.

What has been the response?

England captain Joe Root hoped Test cricket’s return to terrestrial television will “inspire the next generation.”

“You look at the stuff Sky do and the reach they get, they do a wonderful job and they give great content for all the viewers. [But] this is a great opportunity to reach out to a new audience, to grow the game as we keep talking about and for it to be more accessible for everyone else,” Root told the Guardian. “So it’s a great thing for the sport and hopefully people will tune in and watch us and have something to smile about at the end of it.”

Jonathan Trott, England’s batting consultant in India who played all his 52 Tests career behind Sky’s paywall, called the development “exciting.”

“I think the more people we can get watching the game is a great idea and fantastic for the sport,” Trott told The Times. “I’m sure it’s going to be exciting for everybody. For people in lockdown, hopefully they can watch it and we can get the nation behind the side and give a little bit back in what is quite a testing time all around the world.”

For the Telegraph, historian Simon Heffer wrote: “Perhaps teenagers won’t flood back to county grounds this summer after watching India play England on free-to-air television: but it will spark the imagination of some. If a way can be found to keep showing serious cricket on free-to-air channels, it will remind the young generation that it is there.”

In the couple of months since governments took up vaccination against the novel coronavirus, the number of vaccine doses administered worldwide has crossed the number of Covid-19 cases detected in the one year since the pandemic began.

Until February 3, a total of 107.34 million vaccine doses had been administered across the world, according to the online resource Our World in Data, which collates data from various government and educational institutions. This does not reflect the number of people vaccinated, though: every dose administered is counted and, depending on the vaccine, some regimens require multiple doses.

The number of Covid-19 cases detected until February 3 was 104.38 million (10.44 crore), according to Our World in Data citing Johns Hopkins University. By February 4 night in India, JHU had updated the count to 104.60 million.

With 44.5 million doses administered until February 3, India is fourth on the list, behind the US, UK and Israel. In terms of doses given per 100 population, Israel is on top at 1.39. India, owing to its large population, is far behind on this count, at 0.02 doses per 100.

The government on Monday announced that two public sector banks and one general insurance company will be privatised and LIC will be listed on the bourses in the financial year 2021-22 as part of the consolidation in the banking and insurance sectors. It has also announced Rs 20,000 crore recapitalisation of PSU banks.

What privatisation of PSU banks means?

The government will start the process of privatisation for two public sector banks in the coming financial year, Finance Minister Finance Minister said in her budget speech. However, the Minister did not disclose the names of the banks. The government currently holds majority stake in PSU banks. The government is expected to bring down the stake in the two PSU banks below 51 per cent or sell the entire stake to private ownership. Bank unions are likely to oppose the government’s initiative to privatise PSU banks.

Which bank will qualify for privatisation?

Banking sources say that smaller and middle level banks are likely to be privatised by the government. It’s unlikely to change the structure of big banks like State Bank of India and PNB. “The privatisation of two public sector banks and the stake sale of LIC should help the government meet the disinvestment target and reduce the fiscal constraints,” said Raghvendra Nath, Managing Director, Ladderup Wealth Management.

Is IDBI Bank on the privatisation list?

IDBI Bank is unlikely to be in the list of the government. Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) currently holds majority stake in IDBI Bank. LIC is supposed to reduce the stake in IDBI over a period of time. LIC is unlikely to give up control over IDBI Bank in the near future.

Which general insurance company will be privatised?

The government has not disclosed the name of the public sector insurance firm that will be on the privatisation block. There are four PSU general insurance companies: New India Assurance, United India Insurance (UII), National Insurance Company (NIC) and Oriental Insurance Company (OIC). The government had earlier dropped its plan to merge UII, NIC and OIC and decided to recapitalise them. Besides, the government also owns reinsurer General Insurance Corporation (GIC Re).

What does LIC IPO mean for the government?

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitamaraman has said Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) will go for an initial public offering in 2021-22. This is likely to be a mega IPO going by the Rs 32 lakh crore assets under management of LIC. The government is expected to mop up a sizeable amount from the LIC IPO, making the life insurer one of the largest firms in market capitalisation. LIC has already started the spadework for the IPO.

On January 31, Stardust 1.0 was launched from Loring Commerce Centre in Maine, US, a former military base, becoming the first commercial space launch powered by biofuel, which is non-toxic for the environment as opposed to traditionally used rocket fuels.

Sunday’s launch marks another historic first for Maine since Stardust 1.0 has become the first commercial rocket launch for the state located in northeastern US.

So, what is Stardust 1.0?

Stardust 1.0 is a launch vehicle suited for student and budget payloads. The rocket is 20 feet tall and has a mass of roughly 250 kg. The rocket can carry a maximum payload mass of 8 kg and during its first launch carried three payloads. According to a report in Politico, the payloads included a cubesat prototype built by highschool students, a metal alloy designed to lessen vibrations, which is developed by Kellogg’s Research Labs and a cubesat from software company Rocket Insights.

The rocket is manufactured by bluShift, an aerospace company based in Maine that is developing rockets that are powered by bio-derived fuels. Stardust 1.0 is being developed by the company since 2014 when the company was founded by its CEO Sascha Deri.

These rockets will help to launch small satellites called cubesats into space in a way that is relatively cheaper than using traditional rocket fuel and is less toxic for the environment. Other rockets being developed by the company include Stardust Gen. 2, Starless Rouge and Red Dwarf, which is a low-Earth orbit (LEO) vehicle and is designed to fly a maximum payload of 30 kg.

There are other companies working towards making access to space easier. One of them is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s space company called Blue Origin. Last year in October, the company tested a rocket system called New Shephard. The rocket system is meant to take tourists to space eventually and offers flights to space over 100 km above Earth and accommodation for payloads. Such efforts are a part of a growing number of commercial space companies that are working to provide easier and cheaper access to space to laypeople and also to make access to space cost-effective for purposes of academic research, corporate technology development and entrepreneurial ventures among others.

Significantly, the accommodation of mini payloads provides easier access to space to not only experienced researchers but also to students who are part of educational institutions and are working to develop their own space programs “for less than the price of new football uniforms” as Blue Origin has put it.

Another company founded by British entrepreneur Richard Branson called Virgin Galactic signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA’s Johnson Space Center in June 2020 to encourage commercial participation in orbital human spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) and help in the development of a Low Earth Orbit economy.

What is biofuel?

What the biofuel used for Sunday’s launch is made up of is not yet clear, but as per media reports it can be sourced from farms around the world. Deri told Politico that the biofuel is a blend of substances that can be had from any farm across the US and that it is nontoxic. “My two young daughters could eat the fuel and no harm would come to them with the exception of constipation maybe,” the report quoted Deri as saying.

But broadly, biofuels are obtained from biomass, which can be converted directly into liquid fuels that can be used as transportation fuels. According to the US government’s office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the two most common kinds of biofuels in use today are ethanol and biodiesel and they both represent the first generation of biofuel technology. Ethanol, for instance, is renewable and made from different kinds of plant materials. Biodiesel on the other hand is produced by combining alcohol with new and used vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled cooking grease.

After the test series lost against India, Justin Langer’s coaching style has come under scrutiny. Sources close to the team told The Sydney Morning Herald that the Australia head coach style of management “wore thin” with players. According to the report, Langer’s intensity and mood swings have drained experienced players, who have spent months on end in either quarantine or bio-bubbles.

The reality sandwich

According to the report, during the final Test in Brisbane, Langer ordered a player to stop habitually stuffing a toasted sandwich in his pocket before walking onto the field.

“You’re walking on against India, we’re trying to win a Test match and one of our players walks on with a toasted sandwich in his hand,” Langer — whose contract as a three-format coach and selector lasts another 18 months — was quoted as saying. “I spoke to (the player) about it at length yesterday. I said, ‘How do you reckon it looks, mate?’ Is that not something I should say?”

Micro-managing bowlers

SMH also reports that some senior players are frustrated by the micro-management, with Langer bombarding bowlers with statistics and instructions during lunch breaks.

Langer denied the accusation: “It’s actually the opposite of what happens. I never talk about statistics to the bowlers, ever. I don’t go to any of the bowlers’ meetings. That’s what the bowlers’ coach is meant to be doing. And the learnings of the last few months are I should start looking at that more.”

Langer’s response

On Friday, Langer said any suggestion of deteriorating relationships with players “couldn’t be further from the truth” but added, “leadership isn’t a popularity contest”.

“If players just want someone to tickle their stomachs all the time then I’m not doing my job.”

Not the first time

A previous confrontation between Langer and his players over his coaching style — after Australia failed to regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy two years ago — was a prominent theme of the Amazon-produced documentary The Test: A New Era for Australia’s Team’.

The coach was given a stern message during a team meeting after the 2018 Boxing Day Test drubbing. Captain Tim Paine wanted Langer to be more positive and batsman Usman Khawaja asked him to not make things “too complicated”.

“We can’t always control the result. You get better as individuals, players, staff, everyone, be in better control of that emotion, be more level-headed, without trying to make it too complicated,” Khawaja was seen saying. “I think that’s what the boys are trying to say. Does that make sense? If it doesn’t then…”

When asked where the message was coming from by Langer, Khawaja replied: “Um, I think the boys are intimidated by you, Alf. I think there’s a bit of the walking-on-eggshells sort of thing. I feel like I think the boys are afraid to say it.”

An old New Year’s Resolution

After the 2-1 defeat in 2018-19, Langer resolved to be more mellow for the ODI series in India. Changing his approach, he allowed players to take more control over the training. The team came back from a 0-2 deficit to win a five-match series.

“(The Test series loss to India) was a massive wake-up call and a really tough time in my life,” Langer said on a podcast. “I’ve got no doubt in 10 years’ time, I will look back on that period and it will be the making of my coaching career.”

After the 1-wicket defeat in Leeds during the Ashes, Langer waited a day before conducting a post-mortem to avoid an emotionally-charged feedback session. Australia struck back to win at Old Trafford and, while they lost at The Oval, managed to retain the Ashes.

All seemed well last year. In October, after the opening round of Sheffield Shield matches was dominated by fringe players, Langer called it a tell-tale sign of a glorious era when “it’s harder to get into the Test side than out”.

Then India came visiting again…

Earlier this week, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar released a book published by the state government, titled ‘Maharashtra-Karnataka Seemavad: Sangharsh Aani Sankalp’ (Maharashtra-Karnataka Boundary Dispute: Struggle and Pledge). The book is a collection of articles, news, and other material on the demand that Marathi-speaking areas in Karnataka should be integrated into Maharashtra.

Until the Supreme Court gives is verdict on the dispute, the areas should be declared Union Territory, Thackeray said.

Pawar was more circumspect, saying that the government must make all legal efforts to ensure a favourable verdict in the apex court.

The matter has been in the Supreme Court since 2004.

The dispute

This long smouldering inter-state dispute resurfaces from time to time, rather like the issue around the demand for the renaming of Aurangabad. Maharashtra has staked claim to over 7,000 sq km area along its border with Karnataka, comprising 814 villages in the districts of Belagavi (Belgaum), Uttara Kannada, Bidar, and Gulbarga, and the towns of Belagavi, Karwar, and Nippani. All these areas are predominantly Marathi-speaking, and Maharashtra wants them to be merged with the state.

The genesis of the dispute lies in the reorganisation of states along linguistic and administrative lines in 1956.

The erstwhile Bombay Presidency, a multilingual province, included the present-day Karnataka districts of Vijayapura, Belagavi, Dharwad, and Uttara Kannada. In 1948, the Belgaum municipality requested that the district, having a predominantly Marathi-speaking population, be incorporated into the proposed Maharashtra state.

However, The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 made Belgaum and 10 talukas of Bombay State a part of the then Mysore State (which was renamed Karnataka in 1973). While demarcating borders, the Reorganisation of States Commission sought to include talukas with a Kannada-speaking population of more than 50 per cent in Mysore. But the opponents of the region’s inclusion in Mysore have maintained that in 1956, Marathi-speakers outnumbered Kannada-speakers in those areas.

Political parties in Maharashtra are united on the merger of the border areas with the state. The dispute features in every election manifesto of the Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena, and BJP Over the last six decades, every Governor’s address (which outlines the state government’s policies and programmes) to the joint session of the Maharashtra Assembly and Council has mentioned the border dispute to loud applause from members across parties.

Recent incidents

This is not the first time that this matter has arisen in the last 13 months of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government.

Bus services between Kolhapur (Maharashtra) and Belgaum (Karnataka) had to be suspended for a few days following tensions that flared on both sides of the border after Chief Minister Thackeray referred to the contentious areas as “Karnataka-occupied Maharashtra” in the Assembly.

He also named two senior ministers, Eknath Shinde and Chhagan Bhujbal, to a co-ordination committee to oversee the expeditious resolution of the case in favour of Maharashtra in the Supreme Court.

Late last year, the Maharashtra government asked all ministers to wear a black band on November 1, which is celebrated in Karnataka as Rajyotsava or state Formation Day, to express support for Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka.

Thackeray reiterated his commitment to redrawing Maharashtra’s borders to include areas that now lie in Karnataka on January 17, which is observed in Maharashtra as Martyrs’ Day, while paying tributes to those who died in the 1956 border struggle to join Maharashtra.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar echoed the pledge.

The Mahajan Commission

The BJP government in Karnataka has accused Maharashtra of seeking to incite violence on the border dispute, and Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has vowed he would “not part with an inch of land”. The Mahajan Commission had “long ago settled the dispute”, Yediyurappa said, condemning Maharashtra.

The Mahajan Commission was set up by the Government of India in October 1966 to look into the border dispute. In its report submitted in August 1967, the Commission, led by former Chief Justice of India Mehr Chand Mahajan, recommended that 264 villages should be transferred to Maharashtra, and that Belgaum and 247 villages should remain with Karnataka.

Maharashtra rejected the report, calling it biased and illogical, while Karnataka welcomed it. Despite demands from Karnataka, the Centre never implemented the recommendations of the report.

Earlier this week, Sharad Pawar said the report was “100 per cent against Maharashtra”.

The BJP’s dilemma

At a time when the BJP has tried to corner Thackeray on the issue of renaming Aurangabad, challenging him to act on the old promise, the border row has handed the Shiv Sena an opportunity to hit back at its former ally.

The Maharashtra BJP had lain low for long, shying away from saying anything that would pit it against its own government and party in Karnataka. However, former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has now said that the Maharashtra BJP wants that the predominantly Marathi-speaking border areas should be merged with Maharashtra.

“Irrespective of the party in power, both states have from the beginning struck to their positions. The Maharashtra BJP’s stand remains unchanged,” Fadnavis has said.

To address the threat posed by new and more infectious variants of the novel coronavirus, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Friday unveiled a fresh set of Covid-19 restrictions for travellers who are planning to visit the country. “New variants of Covid-19 pose a real challenge to Canada,” Prime Minister Trudeau said at a press conference. “That’s why we need to take extra measures.”

The new restrictions are aimed at minimising the impact of the deadly disease ahead of the upcoming holiday season.

From suspending flights to a number of popular destinations, to making Covid PCR tests mandatory upon arrival — the Trudeau administration announced a slew of strict new measures to crack down on the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

What are the new travel restrictions Canada PM Trudeau announced?

Prime Minister Trudeau announced that the country’s main airlines — Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing, and Air Transat — are suspending all flights to the Caribbean and Mexico from April 30. The airlines are in the process of “making arrangements with customers who are currently on a trip in these regions to organise their return flights,” Trudeau said at the press conference on Friday.

In addition to this, all international flights will only be permitted to land in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, and Toronto from next week onwards. Travellers arriving in the country will also have to take compulsory Covid-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests. While awaiting their results, they will be required to quarantine in a government-approved hotel at their own expense. According to Trudeau, the cost for this is “expected to be more than $2,000.”

“Those with negative test results will then be able to quarantine at home under significantly increased surveillance and enforcement,” he added. But those who test positive, will have to quarantine in a designated government facility to ensure that they are not carrying “variants of potential concern”.

He also urged Canadians to avoid all forms of non-essential travel. Trudeau said that nonessential travellers will soon have to present a negative Covid-19 test before entering the land border with the US.

“By putting in place these tough measures now, we can look forward to a better time, when we can all plan those vacations,” the Canadian Prime Minister said.

Non-essential travel to Canada by foreign tourists has been banned since the country first began reporting coronavirus cases in March, last year. Earlier, anyone entering the country for essential travel was required to undergo a mandatory self-quarantine period of two weeks. Travellers had to provide a negative Covid-19 test, taken within three days of their departure time, before boarding a Canada-bound flight.

What has led to the new restrictions?

Trudeau’s recent announcement follows weeks of furore in Canada’s provinces, where local authorities have been urging the Prime Minister and his administration to introduce stricter travel regulations to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

According to latest statistics from the Canada Border Services Agency, over 6.3 million travellers who entered the country since the onset of the pandemic did not have to complete the mandatory 14-day quarantine, Global News reported. The figure includes truck drivers and others involved in cross-border transportation of goods. A number of these workers travel to and from the United States — the world’s
worst-affected country — regularly.

But during his press conference yesterday, Trudeau noted that only 2 per cent of Covid-19 cases in Canada are due to incoming travellers — which he claimed was evidence of the effectiveness of the country’s strict coronavirus restrictions.

What sort of travel is permitted and what is not?

While tourism has not been allowed since the very onset of the pandemic, visitors are permitted to travel to Canada for ‘family-reunification’ in some cases. Most permitted travel is exclusively reserved for Canadian citizens and permanent residents only. Foreign nationals will only be permitted to enter if they are protected workers, asylum claimants, or if they have applied to travel to the country on other compassionate grounds.

While healthcare workers have strongly advised against non-essential inter-provincial travel, residents are permitted to visit most Canadian provinces, other than the Atlantic provinces and Arctic territories. Here, authorities have banned the entry of people from the rest of Canada, unless they are travelling for essential reasons, such as for school or work.

So far, Canada has reported over 7.74 lakh Covid-19 cases and 2.2 lakh deaths.