Blessings that will melt your heart❤️

We are living in this world full of blessings. Yes, we love when someone bless us but what if someone special gives you a blessing….. That will obviously melt your heart and definitely you’ll get happiness. We always listen up that never hurt anyone that will converted into a curse. Yaa it doesn’t sound good but never deceive someone you’ll be cursed by god. And that sometimes occurs naturally and that too break your heart.

“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.” – Camille Pissarro

The above quote is absolutely correct and I totally agree. These people see the world with a beautiful nature and never wondered that I wish I could have this. On the other hand there are some people who are selfish, greedy and yes nothing to shame we all are best suited in these words.

Today my topic is of blessings that’ll melt your heart. And this is based on my real situation. We see that poor people who are always looking up for money for food for shelter for clothes but how do we help them by giving some money or some people just drag them out. But they are also a human being they also have a right to live happy and they also need a respect.

Source: internet

Today, morning when I woke up. I saw an old man begging for food. He was moving from one house to another house but no one try to help him also there was a heavy rainfall no one try to gave him a shelter. Then he came to my door he asked for some food and water soo I gave him one bottle full of water and some food. He sat down under mu house shed and started eating. This literally maked me happy and then he started giving me blessings and a smile on his face has given me a strength for life. Believe me helping these poor people will definitely give you a happiness and that too you’ll fell happy. Seeing these smiles on their face will melt your heart.

Another incident is that helping those transgender. Yes, they are also a human being they too need a respect. People start making faces when they see them or they don’t sit beside them. Why? This should be stopped. They are transgender and there is nothing to shame about or making faces and it’s not written anywhere that they are bad omen for anyone. This is a god gifted. Helping these people will give happiness to your life.

Source: Internet

They are too having all the rights that a normal people have. Government gave them every beneficial and every right to live. So try to help others god will definitely help you and believe me their blessings are full of love and it’ll definitely bring a happiness to your own world.

Generation gap between parents and children

: In contemporary world, the widening gap between the age of parents and their offspring has become a common feature. While I accept that this phenomenon can bring certain disadvantages, I believe that they are definitely outweighed by advantages.

The main drawback of the increasing distinction in age is the generation gap which will absolutely result in several serious consequences. Due to diffreneces in lifestyle caused by age, parents may find it difficult to penetrate into their children’s lives and offer them with emotional supports which are fundamental for their cognitive and mental development. For example, if children can sense a devoid of sympathy and encouragement from parents because of age difference, they will show a propensity for disintegrating themselves from their parents. Therefore, undeniably, age can extend the existing gap between parents and children, hindering their efforts to gain a mutual understanding. In addition, the difference in age can potentially pose threats to the balance of population. As adults have a tendency to start a family later in their life, this issue can lead to a reduction in birth rate while the number of senior citizens continue to increase. For example, in Japan, that couples show less interest in giving birth has not only resulted in age gap but increasingly aging population as well, putting more pressure on labour market.

Despite some shortcomings mentioned above, I believe that there are far more benefits. Firstly, embarking on parenthood later means that parents have spent more time focusing on their careers, making better financial preparations for their offspring. For instance, if young people devote more time to moving up career ladder, they will find it easier to lead a stable life and have the means to cater for their children’s demands with the highest quality. Secondly, parents at higher age are bound to have distilled myriad experiences from reality, resulting in their giving more thorough and mature advice for their children. This will definitely make children feel more prepared to enter adult life and avoid from turning to crime.

Generation gap is the major reason today why parents and children are moving away from each other. As we all know, the environment has changed, so has the life style and with that changes the mind of children. Today’s generation doesn’t like others interfering in any of their personal matters, they don’t like parents ordering them, and if they try and tell them what’s wrong for them, they misbehave with their parents. The question arises that, what is the reason behind all this. It is the parents’ mistake or is it cause of the generation gap. Generation gap is basically created by the people themselves. They don’t talk to their children and share their own points of views with the children. The point is that the parents are just so busy with their work and jobs that they don’t have time for their family and their children. And they realize it when there has a huge distance between the kids and the parents. The point is if parents give their children some time from their busy schedule then there would be no such problem. At times you need to act as a friend to your children in order understands them more nicely.

Generation Gap is nothing but certain psychological and emotional gap between parents or elder people and younger ones. Creates misunderstanding and lack of attachment between parents and children. The success of parenting lies in how effectively they avoid the generation gap r ignore the differences with kids.

In my opinion generation gap is the result of the fast paced development of the society. In earlier times two or three generations liven in the same lifestyle and environments as the development was so slow. But, today nearest past is very much outdated and the world is more advanced each day. Parents do not even know many of the modern technologies and equipments children use. Basically the recent developments in technology has accelerated overall development in every field and with very short time things which seemed to be considered impossible are now the usual things. Our parents lived in a bit slower society and they adjusted to that as well but now the pace has inceased considerably but they have same patterns what they used to have. The things which were considered luxuries at some time are now needs of today. People who are already adjusted to a particular lifestyle find it very difficult to adjust to new trends and requirements. The new generation is learning and adopting fast to the needs of the fast growing society which is sometimes a concern for elders. heir work patterns, jobs enjoyment and every other living pattern is very different. I believe the new trends are hard for them to adjust and we the present generation find it hard to make them understand. People have less time now are no time to relax upon things and work patterns are very quick. On the other side our elders are more of slow decision takers. I would suggest parents are more in commanding position and they should try to get acquainted to new trends if not then at least try to understand their children needs and remove age or parent children relation ship and give space without getting out the respect factor.

Understanding parents can always help a lot and its very easy for an elder to initiate than a younger one. Things change by the passage of time and in the same way requirements of life also change during that duration. It is not necessary that people like those things, which their parents used to like 20 or 30 years back. In the same way trends, behaviours, fashions, attitudes, liking and disliking also change by the passage of time. So far your question that why is there a generation gap between parents and children can be narrated in the following terms. As I told you above that things change by the passage of time and in the same way demand and requirements of life also change. People have to adopt those things, which are currently required by the people and they are bound to adopt those requirements. Sometimes parents feel ill on the habits, attitudes and behaviours of their children but they don’t realize the current requirements of their children. They go on giving examples of the past and irritate their children for nothing. I think parents should only guide children properly and let them enjoy their present. By these conflicts, which take place between parents and children, it is said there is a generation gap. Dissimilarity stuck between the opinions and views of young people and their parents can be termed as a generation gap. The reason of generation gap is the dissimilar scale of priorities of both these generations. Parents talk on the basis of all those experiences that are results of the events and dealings they had faced in their lives while kids argue according to their surroundings and fantasies. When kids and parents are unable to make them agree with each other then this situation leads them to the state of disappointment. As a result of this situation kids avoid to talk to their parents and parents quench that their kids do not listen to them. Kids do not consider their parents in any matter and parents in certain situations leave their kids with their own good and bad while some situations lead both the parents and kids to the states of frustration and aggravation. The problem of generation gap is getting a value as a very serious issue for both the children and parents. This situation does not only make suffer these two parties but it affects the surroundings as well. In order to cope with this problem parents must think in a sharp and tactful manner because the kids are blameless and they do not adopt the things forcefully in a happy and satisfied manner.

These differences are so common in the tastes too. My generation has overly embraced the western influence in all forms of art to which there is a strong opposition from the earlier generation. My parents are admires of local traditional art forms and fear about the future of their existence. These traditional art forms are no doubt are very rich in their value and are essential features in our culture.
The ages between parents and their children are often large enough that they experienced their most impressionable years during a different culture than each other. Adolescence is often the time when people are most influenced by society around them and as our world keeps developing and changing, things rarely stay the same, causing generation gaps between parents and their children


What Is A Generation Gap?
Since time is ever moving forward and change is inevitable, the values, tastes and outlook on life are different with each generation. It is this difference that is called a generation gap. This often causes a lack of communication and understanding between the two generations since their view of the world was coloured by how society functioned during their adolescence.

Why do Generation Gap Exists Between Parents And Children?


Here are a few causes of generation gap between parents and child:

: 1. Lack Of Understanding
Different generations sometimes seem to speak a different language. Due to the changes in society from when parents were growing up, to how it is in the time of their children, even their way of thinking and what they deem to be normal tends to be different
2. Mistakes Are Rarely Tolerated
Parents often do not tolerate mistakes and tend to tell their children off. Children need to make mistakes to learn and grow in life, but if they only get punished for it, it widens the gap and creates a lack of proper communication.
3. Children Are Expected To Be Replicas
Parents often have dreams for their kids, and a lot of the time tends to force them in that direction without taking into consideration what their child wants.
: 4. Too Many Comparisons
Comparing children to each other or even to how you were as a child is another reason the gap becomes wide. This often causes them to lose confidence in themselves and can destroy any enthusiasm they may have previously had.


5. Not Enough Interaction
Due to the responsibilities of being an adult and the stress that comes from work life, parents often find themselves too tired to spend enough time with their kids every day. This causes a lack of communication and interaction that widens the generation gap.

How to Bridge The Generation Gap Between Parents And Their Children
Here are a few tips to help bridge the generation gap between parents and their children:

1. Keep An Open Mind
The way that kids think is different from how parents do. Parents often feel like because they have already been the age their child is currently, that they understand how their child thinks. The truth is, the world and way of life was different then than it is now and their mind-set will be very different and can also be shocking for some parents. This is why keeping an open mind and not assuming that they must be just like you were at their age is very important. You must also understand that there are some things that are acceptable in society and therefore acceptable to your child that may not have been acceptable when you were the same age. It is especially in those areas where parents need to try and keep an open mind so they can better understand their children.

  1. Communicate
    Making the time to communicate with your kids every day is very important. The simple act of talking about each other’s day at the end of the day can help you get to know each other and make it easier to speak freely around the other. Children need to know they can approach their parents with anything, something that can ultimately give parents peace of mind since they do not need to worry about their children hiding things that are important.


3. Listen
Parents need to allow their kids time to talk without interruption and listen to what they have to say. Learning your child’s thoughts and opinions makes them feel like what they want or feel matters to you, which in turn makes them feel much closer to you than before. Having a parent who listens as well instead of only talks and lectures will give your child more encouragement to listen to you in return.

  1. Understand
    With listening comes understanding and this means that you have to learn to put yourself in your child’s shoes and trying to understand how they feel and what they want from what they tell you. If you are able to understand where your child is coming from, you will be able to close that generation gap to some extent.


5. Unconditional Love
Love has a way of crossing boundaries and bringing people together if acted upon. So show your children how much you love them. This unconditional love and support that they get from you is very encouraging and makes children more inclined to show that same love and understanding back.

  1. Compromise
    People can disagree on things, no matter how close to each other they are. Parents and children are no different; however, rather than forcing them into your way of thinking or forcing them to do what you want them to do when they don’t want to, learn to compromise when possible. There are times when you need to put your foot down with your children, but coming to a compromise instead of dictating their every move will make them closer to you and make that generation gap a little smaller.

CHILD LABOUR SHOULD BE STOP!

Child labour is a term you may have found out about in news or motion pictures. It alludes to a wrongdoing where kids are compelled to work from an early age. It resembles anticipating that children should perform duties like working and battling for themselves. There are sure approaches which have put limitations and impediments on kids working.

The normal age for a child to be fitting to work is viewed as fifteen years and that’s just the beginning. Youngsters falling beneath this age limit won’t be permitted to enjoy any sort of work mightily. For what reason is that so? Since kid work accepts away the children open door of having a typical adolescence, appropriate instruction, and physical and mental prosperity. In certain nations, it is unlawful yet at the same time, it’s a far route from being totally destroyed.

Reasons for Child Labour

Child labour occurs because of various reasons. While a portion of the reasons might be regular in certain nations, there are a few reasons which are explicit specifically regions and areas. At the point when we see what is causing youngster work, we will have the option to battle it better.

Right off the bat, it occurs in nations that have a ton of destitution and joblessness. At the point when the families won’t have enough winning, they put the offspring of the family to work so they can have enough cash to endure. So also, if the grown-ups of the family are jobless, the more youthful ones need to work in their place.

Also, when individuals don’t approach the instruction they will eventually give their youngsters something to do. The uneducated just consideration about a transient outcome which is the reason they set kids to work so they can endure their present.

Besides, the cash sparing demeanor of different businesses is a significant reason for kid work. They recruit youngsters since they pay them lesser for a similar work as a grown-up. As kids work more than grown-ups and furthermore at less wages, they incline toward kids. They can without much of a stretch impact and control them. They just observe their benefit and this is the reason they connect with kids in production lines.

Destruction of Child Labor

In the event that we wish to kill kid work, we have to figure some powerful arrangements which will spare our youngsters. It will likewise upgrade the eventual fate of any nation managing these social issues. Regardless, one can make various associations that exclusively work to forestall kid work. It should help the youngsters enjoying this work and rebuffing the individuals who cause them to do it.

Besides, we have to keep the guardians tuned in order to show them the significance of training. In the event that we make training free and the individuals mindful, we will have the option to teach an ever increasing number of youngsters who won’t need to do kid work. Also, making individuals mindful of the destructive outcomes of youngster work is an absolute necessity.

Furthermore, family control estimates should likewise be taken. This will lessen the family’s weight so when you have lesser mouths to take care of, the guardians will be sufficient to work for them, rather than the kids. Indeed, every family should be guaranteed a base salary by the administration to endure.

To put it plainly, the legislature and individuals must meet up. Business openings must be given to individuals in wealth so they can procure their job as opposed to giving their children something to do. The youngsters are the eventual fate of our nation; we can’t anticipate that them should keep up the monetary states of their families as opposed to having an ordinary youth.

Climate change:A serious concern

Global warming and climate change are two terms that have been used interchangeably in recent times. While they are related, two concepts are not exactly the same thing. Global warming can be seen as a subset of climate change.

Global warming is the general increase in the temperature of the world. Climate change, on the other hand, includes variation in world temperature. However, it goes beyond just that. It is the general change in the climatic conditions of the world which includes wind patterns and precipitation.Climate change in the world can be caused by various activities. When climate change occurs; temperatures can increase a dramatically. When temperature rises, many different changes can occur on Earth. For example, it can result in more floods, droughts, or intense rain, as well as more frequent and severe heat waves. Oceans and glaciers have also experienced some changes: oceans are warming and becoming more acidic, glaciers are melting, and sea levels are rising. As these changes frequently occur in future decades, they will likely present challenges to our society and environment.

During the past century, human activities have released large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Most of the gases come from burning fossil fuels to produce energy. Greenhouse gases are like a blanket around the Earth, trapping energy in the atmosphere and causing it to warm. This is called the greenhouse effect and it is natural and necessary to support life on earth. However, while greenhouse gases buildup, the climate changes and result in dangerous effects to human health and ecosystems. People have adapted to the stable climate we have enjoyed since the last ice age which ended several thousand years ago. A warmer climate can bring changes that can affect our water supplies, agriculture, power and transportation systems, the natural environment, and even our own health and safety. There are some climate changes that are unavoidable and nothing can be done about it. For example, carbon dioxide can stay in the atmosphere for nearly a century, so Earth will continue to warm in the future.

Global warming has really taken effect in the world over the last century. It is the unusually rapid increase in the Earth’s average surface temperature over the past century primarily due to the greenhouse gases released as people burn fossil fuels. Global warming is due to the enhancing greenhouse gases emission and build-up in the Earth’s environment. The gases that have an influence on the atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, dinitrogen-oxide, and methane. Almost 30 percent of incoming sunlight is reflected back into space by bright surfaces like clouds and ice. In the other 70 percent, most is absorbed by the land and ocean, and the rest is absorbed by the atmosphere. The absorbed solar energy heats our planet. This absorption and radiation of heat by the atmosphere is beneficial for life on Earth. Today, the atmosphere contains more greenhouse gas molecules, so more of the infrared energy emitted by the surface ends up being absorbed by the atmosphere. By increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases, we are making Earth’s atmosphere a more efficient greenhouse. Climate has cooled and warmed throughout the Earth history for various reasons. Rapid warming like we see today is unusual in the history of our planet. Some of the factors that have an effect on climate, like volcanic eruptions and changes in the amount of solar energy, are natural. Climate can change if there is a change in the amount of solar energy that gets to the Earth. Volcano eruptions can really affect climate, because when it erupts it spews out more than just lava and ash. Volcanoes release tiny particles made of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. These particles get into the stratosphere and reflect solar radiation back out to space. Snow and ice also have a great effect on climate. When snow and ice melts Earth’s climate warms, less energy is reflected and this causes even more warming. There are many different ways that plants, animals, and other life on our planet can affect climate. Some can produce greenhouse gases that trap heat and aid global warming through the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide is taken out of the atmosphere by plants as they make their food by photosynthesis. During the night, plants release some carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. Methane is made while farm animals, such as cattle and sheep digest their food. Cars and trucks can effect climate by releasing carbon dioxide when fossil fuels are burned to power them. When wildfires occur, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. However, if a forest of similar size grows again, about the same amount of carbon that was added to the atmosphere during the fire will be removed. Some effects that scientists have predicted in the past would result when global change was occurring: loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise, and more intense heat waves. Scientists have confidence that global temperatures will continue to rise for decades to come, largely due to greenhouse gases produced by human activities. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that the extent climate change effects on individual regions will vary over time and with ability of different societal and environmental systems mitigate or adapt to change (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). This has been the warmest decade since 1880. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2010 and 2005 has been the warmest years on record. The earth could warm by an additional 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit during the 21st century if we fail to reduce emissions from burning fossil fuels (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). The rising of temperature will have great effects on the earth’s climate patterns and on all living things. Industrial activities that our modern civilization depends upon have raised atmospheric carbon dioxide from 280 parts per million to 379 parts per million in the last 150 years (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

Global Warming – Main Factor for Climate Change:

The climate of Earth has become warmer over the last two million years and the most important reason for it is identified to be Global Warming. The unusual increase in the atmospheric temperature leads to various repercussions which even causes a shift in seasons.

Causes of Global Warming and Climate Change:

Burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and other human activities are cited to be the most important reasons for global warming which causes a variation in Climate.

Impact of Global Warming and Climate Change:

Melting of ice, floods, forest fire, intense rain are all impacts of global warming and all these causes change in weather conditions. Unusual Climate changes brings several health-related problems and unavailability of natural resources.

How Can We Stop Global Warming?

Global Warming can be prevented if we lead a simple and environment friendly life. Planting of trees and avoiding excess use of fossil fuels are better solutions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we need to take part and try to stop global warming and other effects on climate change. If the earth’s temperatures continue to rise in the future, living things on earth would become extinct due to the high temperatures. If humans contribute to control global warming, this world would be cooler and the high temperatures we currently have would decrease. If everybody as one take stand and try to end most of the climate changes that are occurring, this world would be a safer place to live on.

Will Newspapers Disappear in the Future?

It has roughly been two decades now since Newspapers began their descent. This talk has pervaded the hypothetical in Canada; the government has published a report that speculates on what the democracy in Canada might look like in a post-newspaper world. Britain now has approximately 200 fewer regional and local newspapers than it had in 2005. In the United States the picture is analogous. Lately a scenario once inconceivable has become grimly probable.

Print Is Not Dead - Insights

Throughout the United States, the weekly print circulation has fallen from almost 60 million throughout 1994 to 35 million for combined print and internet circulation. Horrible as it had been, things deteriorated a lot lately. While new digital subscriptions at The Washington Post and The New York Times have surged since the 2016 election, digital subscriptions and advertisement sales have not compensated for the industry-wide deterioration of print ads. And on the digital subscription model, local newspapers across the country have not been nearly as successful as the Post and Times. Once-promising digital-first news sites like BuzzFeed and Vice have lately missed financial objectives and Mashable, valued at around $250 million in March 2016, ended up selling for under $50 million.

And what, then? Social media platforms make information sharing omnipresent and non-stop, but where will that information come from in the first place when all the reporters are let go? What happens when the newspaper model—what the government commissioned report published by the Public Policy Forum called “the model of journalistic ‘boots on the ground’ backed up by a second peloton in the office that upholds such holy standards as verification and balance”—is no longer generating that content at all?

According to a report, Canadian newspapers lost three-quarters of a billion dollars annually of reliable classified advertising revenue to eBay and Craigslist. And from there, slice by slice, the list of promotional losses goes on: “Why would the car enthusiast turn to the automotive section of the newspaper when there are innumerable specialty websites with a richer content? What’s the allure of an entertainment section of a paper in a world of Rotten Tomatoes, Flixster and IMDb and a celebrity gossip sites online industry? How well will the food segment compete with other digital culinary resources like Epicurious, Yummly etc.?

The role of the news media as the last defensive system of democracy was brought to light by the many snarling attempts by President Donald Trump to disparage newspapers in both Canada and the U.S., such as labelling the “failing” Times and the Post as “fake news.” Combine this common American antagonism to newspapers with the prediction of fatal haemorrhage in ads and you are potentially having a forecast of imminent death.

Conclusion:

Perhaps we need a paradigm shift for newspapers in the face of considerably reduced resources; maybe we cannot cover every meeting and try to cover every bit of news. Perhaps we need to aim higher and generate more original and exclusive investigative reporting — which may take longer but will have more lasting effect. Reader polls indicate that people trust the investigative reporting more than anything else, and it makes little sense to cut back on these main research. The best stories aren’t coming to you after all: you have to go and find them.

How to Spot Real and Fake News

What is Fake News?

  • News articles that aren’t true. These are entirely concocted stories designed to get people believe something wrong, buy some product or visit some website.
  • Stories that still have some truth, but are not reliable. A journalist, for instance –, quotes only a part of what a politician says, giving a false perception of its meaning. Again, this may be clearly intentional, to convince readers of a certain point of view, or it may be the result of an innocent error. It attracts an audience quickly and can become entrenched as an “urban myth” anyway.

Where does Fake News originate:

Fake news is generally nothing new. But, what’s new is how easy it is to tremendously share the information – true as well as false. Social media platforms allow nearly anyone to publish their opinions to the world or share stories. The trouble is that most people don’t confirm the source of the material they view online before sharing it, which can lead to faster disinformation, or even “going viral.” At the same time, the original source of newspaper articles is becoming more difficult to identify, which can make it difficult to analyse their correctness.

FAKE NEWS: Spain's government warns against deluge of online ...

That has given rise to a tsunami of fake news. In fact, one study revealed that during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, more than 25 per cent of American citizens visited a fake news website in a six-week period. Yet, there aren’t just fake news reports online. Co-workers who chatter through the cubicle or while browsing print publications, for example, failing to check their facts, are also guilty of spreading misinformation, even if accidentally.

The Impact of Fake News at Work:

Studies suggest that 59 per cent of people are worried about, and for good reason, the impact fake news has on the workplace! Some people would start thinking, for example, that they no longer need evidence to back up their contentions. Some are all starting to distrust the facts. They stop paying attention to industry reports, and withdraw from official communication in the workplace, slowing their professional development and growth. Ultimately, that can destroy the learning culture of an organization.

Fake news also can influence behaviour. It allows people to concoct excuses, reject suggestions of others, exaggerate the facts and spread rumours This can create partitioned, anxious places of work where individuals are cynical and undecided who to trust.

They may even begin to resent you if they believe that people in authority have lied to them, or that they suspect the information they are working with. It can drain the excitement, passion and ambition people need to work and succeed. Likewise misinformation and fake news can harm your business. For example, fabricated reviews of your goods or inaccurate financial reports can cause serious damage to your reputations.

Ways to Detect Fake News:

  1. Developing an Analytical Mind-set:

Which means keeping your emotional reaction to these stories in check is important. Instead, approach logically and critically what you are seeing and hearing.

Ask yourself, “Why was this story written? Is it to persuade me of a certain view point? Is it selling me a specific product? Or is it trying to get me to go to a certain website? Am I being triggered?”

  • Check Who Reports the Story:

Has anybody else caught up on the story? What other sources are saying of this?

Avoid hopping to the conclusion that all output from main stream media (MSM) is fake. This may be as imprudent as following any rumour or conspiracy theory. Professional global news agencies like Reuters, CNN and the BBC have rigorous editorial guidelines and extensive networks of highly trained reporters, so they’re a good starting point. But nobody is impartial and anybody can make a mistake, so keep on looking.

  • Examine the truth :

A reliable news report should contain plenty of facts – such as expert interviews, survey results and official statistics. Or thorough, coherent and substantiated eye-witness accounts of on-scene people. If these are missing, then ask!

Does the facts show certainly something happened? Or, were the facts chosen or “distorted” to back up a particular perspective?

Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Indian Economy

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

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

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

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

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

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

Still in denials!

Art of discovering!

On Tuesday, within one day, the highest number of new cases of coronavirus was recorded in the U.S. The stretch of this pandemic has marked off over 100 days and during this period, 23 million people in America have got the infection, out of which about one lakh twenty thousand people have lost their lives. More than any other country in the world. The situation of the primary centres like New York and New Jersey is now under control. But in the meantime, multiple new hotspots have emerged such as Florida, Texas, and Arizona.

Here, the number of daily cases is increasing and the whole world is also taking cognizance of this. European Union is deeming such restrictions on travelling, which will obstruct the access of Americans in any country of the European Union because America has proven to be a failure to deal with the pandemic. But any of this chain of events, could not stop the denial of the White House.
White House is in this state from the very beginning.

Last week, in an article, written for the Wall Street Journal, vice president Mike Pence termed the second wave of the infection as ‘exaggerated’.
On Tuesday, Dr Anthony Fauci, a leading specialist in the contagious disorders told a House panel that America is yet to overcome its first wave and second is coming anytime sooner. It’s possible that we may not be able to deal with it.
We are still in the midst of the transition-explosion.

President Trump’s statements are no longer shocking. They spent weeks in underestimation and risked the virus, and said that it will fade away with the arrival of Spring!
But the facts and figures are in front of everyone now. Some companions of the President are also acknowledging reality. But Trump still appears to be in the mood for gags and jeering at the note to cut down on the testing of cases.
If the number of tests is lessened, the number of cases may be recorded less but the number of demises will undoubtedly increase.

FEMINISM: need to understand the meaning

Women everywhere throughout the world are still in obscurity about reality of woman’s rights: while naming an individual, do we ever consider their meaning of woman’s rights or our very own, misshaped feeling of it? Rather than accepting that women’s activists are largely ladies who hold feelings of spite against all men, we ought to expect that any individual who marks themselves as a women’s activist are tired of the excessively visit sexual orientation pay hole, irregularity in regard and unadulterated segregation as a result of their sex. In spite of the fact that as a country we are extremely mindful of woman’s rights, there still isn’t sufficient being done to help the individuals who battle for equivalent rights and afterward are continually scorned for it.

In June 2018, a worldwide Thomas Reuters study proclaimed India as the most hazardous nation for ladies. While this may have been brand new information to the remainder of the world, on the off chance that you happen to be a lady living in India, it shocked no one, did it? This review was rarely really required, for where it counts, this was something we definitely knew. All things considered, we know about, witness, or are exposed to profound established sexual orientation imbalance and viciousness almost each day of our lives. What’s more, the occurrences are just increasing after some time.

Numerous individuals imagine that Indian ladies got this thought of strengthening and balance in their minds in light of western culture. This is an unjustifiable claim since woman’s rights has been around years before Westerners attacked the place that is known for the brilliant sparrow. Individuals just love to censure the West for this “issue” and afterward they dismiss it with the notorious xenophobic stock expression “this is against our way of life.”

Wake up and smell the espresso, women. From Savitribai Phule to Ishmat Chugtai, frank women’s activists have been living in India for a very long time. Also, for men who are against equivalent rights, here’s a little piece of information for you: the women’s activist development in India was first enlivened by men. So in addition to the fact that feminism is a characteristic piece of Indian culture, it is the motivation behind why social wrongs like Sati were canceled, and why we would now be able to concentrate on worldwide issues like the sexual orientation pay hole. While woman’s rights in India was and is unquestionably affected by the West, it certainly didn’t start in the West.

Secularism And Us

Our Constitution doesn’t acquire its secular character merely from the words in the Preamble, but from a collective reading of many of its provisions, particularly the various fundamental rights that it guarantees.

There was a point of time, perhaps, when we might have taken the idea of a secular, pluralistic India, tolerant of all sects and religions, as a position set in stone. But, incidents, especially since the early 1990s, have radically altered both reality and our imagination. That certain groups, including many within the political party presently in power at the Centre and in many States, actively believe in a different kind of India is today intensely palpable.
Secularism and us
“Secular people,” he declared, “do not have an identity of their parental blood.” “We (the BJP),” he added, “are here to change the Constitution,” making it quite clear that in his, and his party’s, belief secularism was a model unworthy of constitutional status. Since then, the ruling government has sought to distance itself from these comments, and Mr. Hegde himself has, without explicitly retracting his statements, pledged his allegiance to the Constitution and its superiority. But the message, as it were, is already out, and its discourse is anything but opposed to the present regime’s larger ideology. Indeed, Mr. Hegde’s comments even mirror those made on several occasions by people belonging to the top brass of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, who have repeatedly stressed on what they view as their ultimate aim: the recognition of India as a Hindu state, in which secularism lies not at the Constitution’s bedrock, but entirely outside the document’s aims and purposes.
Inbuilt freedoms
Now, it is certainly true that the Constituent Assembly explicitly rejected a motion moved by Brajeshwar Prasad from Bihar to have the words “secular” and “socialist” included in the Preamble. But this was not on account of any scepticism that the drafters might have had on the values of secularism. Quite to the contrary, despite what some might want us to believe today, the assembly virtually took for granted India’s secular status. To them, any republic that purports to grant equality before the law to all its citizens, that purports to recognise people’s rights to free speech, to a freedom of religion and conscience simply cannot be un-secular. To be so would be an incongruity. Secularism, as would be clear on any morally reasonable analysis, is inbuilt in the foundations of constitutionalism, in the idea of a democracy properly understood. In the case of our Constitution, it flows from the series of fundamental rights guaranteed in Part III.Our Constitution doesn’t acquire its secular character merely from the words in the Preamble, but from a collective reading of many of its provisions, particularly the various fundamental rights that it guarantees. There was a point of time, perhaps, when we might have taken the idea of a secular, pluralistic India, tolerant of all sects and religions, as a position set in stone. But, incidents, especially since the early 1990s, have radically altered both reality and our imagination. That certain groups, including many within the political party presently in power at the Centre and in many States, actively believe in a different kind of India is today intensely palpable. Secularism and us “Secular people,” he declared, “do not have an identity of their parental blood.” “We (the BJP),” he added, “are here to change the Constitution,” making it quite clear that in his, and his party’s, belief secularism was a model unworthy of constitutional status. Since then, the ruling government has sought to distance itself from these comments, and Mr. Hegde himself has, without explicitly retracting his statements, pledged his allegiance to the Constitution and its superiority. But the message, as it were, is already out, and its discourse is anything but opposed to the present regime’s larger ideology. Indeed, Mr. Hegde’s comments even mirror those made on several occasions by people belonging to the top brass of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, who have repeatedly stressed on what they view as their ultimate aim: the recognition of India as a Hindu state, in which secularism lies not at the Constitution’s bedrock, but entirely outside the document’s aims and purposes. Inbuilt freedoms Now, it is certainly true that the Constituent Assembly explicitly rejected a motion moved by Brajeshwar Prasad from Bihar to have the words “secular” and “socialist” included in the Preamble. But this was not on account of any scepticism that the drafters might have had on the values of secularism. Quite to the contrary, despite what some might want us to believe today, the assembly virtually took for granted India’s secular status. To them, any republic that purports to grant equality before the law to all its citizens, that purports to recognise people’s rights to free speech, to a freedom of religion and conscience simply cannot be un-secular. To be so would be an incongruity. Secularism, as would be clear on any morally reasonable analysis, is inbuilt in the foundations of constitutionalism, in the idea of a democracy properly understood. In the case of our Constitution, it flows from the series of fundamental rights guaranteed in Part III.

Source – The Hindu

MP HC Impose Planting Of Saplings As A Bail Condition

In an interesting, refreshing and fresh development, the Madhya Pradesh High Court Bench at Gwalior in a notable judgment titled Tilakraj Rajoriya Vs State of M.P. in M.Cr.C. No. 11643/2020 that was delivered on June 24, 2020 has in its recent order while granting bail to a person accused of assaulting a minor girl with intent to outrage her modesty has directed him to plant saplings along with tree guard, as one of the conditions for bail. The accused had been booked under Sections 354 of the IPC and 7/8 of POSCO Act. The court allowed his bail application in view of the Covid-19 situation, on his furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000/- in addition to the condition to plant saplings.   

                                   To start with, this latest, landmark and extremely laudable judgment authored by Justice Anand Pathak of Gwalior Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court sets the ball rolling after noting that the matter is heard through video conferencing that, “The applicant has filed this second bail application u/S. 439 Cr.P.C for grant of bail. Applicant has been arrested on 22.01.2020 by Police Station Dehat, District Ashoknagar in connection with Crime No. 27/2020 registered for offence under Sections 354 of IPC and 7/8 of POSCO Act. His earlier bail application was dismissed as withdrawn vide order dated 12.02.2020 passed in MCRC.No.6214/2020.”

                                           To put things in perspective, it is then brought out that, “It is the submission of learned counsel for the applicant that false case has been registered against him and he is suffering confinement since 22.01.2020 whereas charge-sheet has already been filed. Now, applicant learnt the lesson hard way and would not commit the same nature of offence in future and would not involve in any criminal activity and become a better citizen. He undertakes to cooperate in trial and would not be a source of embarrassment or harassment to her and her family in any manner and would not move in the vicinity of prosecutrix. Applicant who is young/middle aged/able bodied responsible citizen undertakes to become corona warrior for social cause looking to the Covid-19 Pandemic situation. He further undertakes to perform community service and serve the national cause by making contribution in PM Care Fund and install Arogya Setu App. On these grounds, prayer for bail has been made.”

                                          As anticipated, the counsel for the State opposed the prayer and prayed for dismissal of bail application as pointed out also in this judgment. After hearing the learned counsel for the parties at length through video conferencing and considering the arguments advanced by them, it is then pointed out that, “Considering the facts of the case in detail, however, considering the fact that in view of Covid-19 pandemic, without commenting on the merits of the case, it is hereby directed that the applicant shall be released on bail on his furnishing personal bond of Rs. 50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand only) with one solvent surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of trial Court and that he will have to install Arogya Setu App, if not already installed. He will not move in the vicinity of prosecutrix and would not extend any threat, intimidation or allurement to the victim or her family. He will not involve in any criminal activity otherwise benefit of this bail application shall be immediately withdrawn.”

                                        As it turned out, it is then envisaged that, “In view of COVID-19 pandemic, the jail authorities are directed that before releasing the applicant, his preliminary Corona Virus test shall be conducted and if he is found negative, then the concerned local administration shall make necessary arrangements for sending the applicant to his house, and if he is found positive then the applicant shall be immediately sent to concerned hospital for his treatment as per medical norms. If the applicant is fit for release and if he is in a position to make his personal arrangements, then he shall be released only after taking due travel permission from local administration. After release, the applicant is further directed to strictly follow all the instructions which may be issued by the Central Govt./State Govt. or Local Administration for combating the Covid-19. If it is found that the applicant has violated any of the instructions (whether general or specific) issued by the Central Govt./State Govt. or Local Administration, then this order shall automatically lose its effect, and the Local Administration/Police Authorities shall immediately take him in custody and would send him to the same jail from where he was released.”    

                                           Be it noted, it is then laid down explicitly and elegantly that, “This order will remain operative subject to compliance of the following conditions by the applicant:-

1.  The applicant will comply with all the terms and conditions of the bond executed by him;

2.  The applicant will cooperate in the investigation/trial, as the case may be;

3.  The applicant will not indulge himself in extending inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him/her from disclosing such facts to the Court or to the Police Officer, as the case may be;

4.  The applicant shall not commit an offence similar to the offence of which he is accused;

5.  The applicant will not seek unnecessary adjournments during the trial; and

6.  The applicant will not leave India without previous permission of the trial Court/Investigating Officer, as the case may be.

7.  The applicant will inform the SHO of concerned police station about his residential address in the said area and it would be the duty of the Public Prosecutor to send E-copy of this order to SHO of concerned police station for information.

8.  Applicant shall deposit Rs. 2500/- within a month in PM CARES Fund having Account Number : 2121PM20202, IFSC Code: SBIN0000691, SWIFT Code : SBININBB104, Name of Bank & Branch : State Bank of India, New Delhi Main Branch from the date of release of applicant.  

9.  The applicant through his counsel undertakes that applicant shall register himself with the District Magistrate concerned [Ashoknagar] as “Covid-19 Warriors” by entering his name in a Register named as COVID-19 WARRIOR REGISTER to be maintained in the o/o the concerned DM who in turn shall assign work to applicant of Covid-19 disaster management at the discretion of District Magistrate, by taking all prescribed precautions. The nature, quantum and duration of the work assigned is left to the wisdom of District Magistrate, concerned. This Court expects that the applicant shall rise to the occasion to serve the society in this time of crises to discharge his fundamental duty of rendering national service when called upon to do so, as per Article 51-A(d) of the Constitution.

10.                   As per the undertaking given by learned counsel on behalf of the applicant, it is hereby directed that appellant shall plant 1 sapling (either fruit bearing trees or Neem and Peepal) alongwith tree guards or has to make arrangement for fencing for protection of the trees because it is the duty of the appellant not only to plant the saplings but also to nurture them. He shall plant saplings/trees preferably of 6-8 ft., so that they would grow into full fledged trees at an early time. For ensuring the compliance, he shall have to submit all the photographs of plantation of trees/saplings before the concerned trial Court alongwith a report within 30 days from the date of release of the applicant. The report shall be submitted by the appellant before the trial Court concerned on 1st of every month.”

                                     Importantly, it is then directed by the Court that, “It is the duty of the trial Court to monitor the progress of the trees because human existence is at stake because of the environmental degradation and Court cannot put a blind fold over any casualness shown by the appellant regarding progress of the trees and the compliance made by the appellant by placing a short report before this Court every quarterly (every three months), which shall be placed under the caption “Direction” before this Court. Any default shall disentitle the appellant from benefit of bail.”

                                            More importantly, it is then further directed that, “The appellant is directed to plant these saplings/trees at the place of his choice, if he intends to protect the trees on his own cost by providing tree guards or fencing, for which appellant shall have to bear necessary expenses for plantation of the trees and their measures for safeguard.”

                                 Most importantly, it is then also made clear that, “This direction is made by this Court as a test case to address the Anatomy of Violence and Evil by process of Creation and a step towards Alignment with Nature. The natural instinct of compassion, service, love and mercy needs to be rekindled for human existence as they are innately engrained attributes of human existence. It is not the question of Plantation of a Tree but the Germination of a Thought.”

                                        Furthermore, it is then held that, “The District Magistrate concerned is directed to intimate this Court in case condition No. 9 is not complied with and on receipt of any such intimation, Registry is directed to list the matter before appropriate bench as PUD.”

                                  Finally, it is then held that, “E-copy of this order be sent to the trial Court concerned for compliance, if possible, for the office of this Court. Certified copy/e-copy as per rules/directions.”

                                               In conclusion, it may well be said that the exemplary condition imposed for bail of planting saplings along with tree guard is quite laudable and must be applauded in no uncertain terms. Just recently, we also saw the Orissa High Court imposing similar condition of planting hundred saplings as a condition of bail. This itself proves that it is a good, bold and innovative way of imposing conditions for bail by which our environment also will gain immeasurably! No denying it!      

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,

s/o Col BPS Sirohi,

A 82, Defence Enclave,

Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,

Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.

Living Root Bridges

Once upon a time there lived a magical bridge.  The bridge was alive and breathing just like you and me. Oh wait! It’s not a mere figment of my imagination or a story I cooked (though I’m pretty good at that).The living roots bridges do exist in reality.  Thriving in the north eastern state of Meghalaya, these century old bridges have grown from tangled roots.  The Ficus elasticia plant produces roots which can grow high from the trunk of this tree and penetrate through rocks and boulders.

Now how did these roots turned into bridges?

The credit for these bridges goes to the war sub tribe of the “Khasis “in Meghalaya. The khasis observed these roots and channeled them through hollow trunks of trees in the direction of the riverside. When these roots reached the other side of the river, they were covered by soil allowing them to penetrate deeper into the ground. Then these roots were engraved with stones and side railings were attached to them. Voila! That’s how these mesmerizing structures came into existence. Would you believe if I told you that these bridges grow stronger as the time passes by?

Here are some interesting facts about these marvelous natural structures:

  • Living Root Bridges in Meghalaya are recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Sites.
  • There is a double -decker living Root Bridge in Cherrapunji and a single decker bridge in Shillong which are prime tourist destination of Meghalaya.
  • Some of these roots last up to 500 years while others may decay gradually.
  • These bridges are quite sturdy and have the capacity to hold more than 50 people.
  • These living root bridges take more than 10-15 years to grow. How intriguing, isn’t it?
  • Out of many living root bridges found in Meghalaya only 11 are functional.
  • These bridges are a legacy passed on from one generation to the other in Meghalaya.

Double Decker living root bridges

This picturesque double decker bridge is located in the Nongirat village. You have to undertake a steep trek in order to witness this surreal view. Yes, this trek isn’t an easy one but definitely worth the effort.  The trek is amidst lush forest and rains accompany you wherever you go. That’s because Cherrapunji once held the record of receiving highest rainfall in the world.

Umshiang, the double decker living Root Bridge, is quite close from the village of Nongriat.

Tips for travelling:

  • Make sure to carry an umbrella/raincoat with you.
  • Plastic bags would come in handy. But ensure not to litter around

And after a strenuous trek, you will experience a landscape like never before. Nature; at its ever best.  This view will make sure your tiredness fades way into nothingness.

Restoring Living root Bridges

Villagers in Meghalaya came together to restore these 200 year old living root bridges which faced a threat from tourists. These root bridges were getting damaged as people lined them up with heavy stones to make it easier from them in crossing the bridges. Consequently, it weakened the roots making the bridge fragile.

Villagers used dead wood from jackfruit trees mixed with a light layer of soil serving as a great source of nutrients for the roots. The Khasi tribes also planted Areca nut trees on top of this layer so that people could walk on the bridge without stepping directly on the roots to prevent damage.

Lessons from the Khasi Tribe

While the world is facing ecological crisis, griped by issues such as mass extinction, environmental threats and global warming. The Khasi Tribe presents an excellent lesson in environmental conservation. We don’t Environmental summits or protocol if we realise our responsibility towards nature. Villagers of Meghalaya treat these bridges as a part of their heritage and take good care of them that too without any external pressure.

“Charity begins at home”. We can’t just wait for the governments to come with protocols. For the nature is not a place to visit, it is our home.

P.S. Make sure the Living root bridges do find a spot in your travel Bucket list .

How technology can help in solving challenges faced by schools during this pandemic…

The COVID-19 pandemic is prompting many colleges and universities to abruptly and comprehensively adopt online learning, remote work, and other activities to help contain the spread of the virus. In the past decade, institutions have recognized the importance of advising, early alerts, degree planning, and other services to help students attain their academic goals affordably and efficiently. A wide range of applications and new technologies to support student success are now available. It may prove invaluable to help students adapt to fully remote learning. EDUCAUSE data reveal that all institutions, students, faculty, and staff are ready and able to use these technologies during the pandemic.1

This research summary is one of a series of reports outlining higher education’s readiness to adapt in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

How Many Institutions Are Using Technology to Support Student Success?

Core technologies that support student success include advising center management and an advising case management system that tracks student interactions (70% partial or institution-wide deployment).

Other data and analytics technologies and practices support managing, sharing, and decision-making related to student success.

Some types of institutions are more prepared—or less prepared—than others to use technology to support student success.  Bachelor’s institutions, which typically place the strongest emphasis on campus-based learning, are least ready to use data and technology to support student success, while associate’s institutions, which generally adopt learning and instructional technologies more rapidly, are the most prepared.

Are Faculty, Staff, and Students Able to Use Technology to Support Student Success?

Having technologies and analytics is one step. Providing students, faculty, and staff with the access and training to use these systems is a critical additional step. More than half of institutions take steps to facilitate the adoption and use of student success technologies by faculty, advisors, and other staff. Six in ten institutions provide applications that enable students to access data such as current academic standing and resources including tips for improvement. Students at institutions that don’t provide such access might struggle to track their progress during times when it’s difficult to get such feedback, and faculty, advisors, and other staff may lack sufficient training or even access to use tools to help students.

Do Institutions Have Technology to Help Students with Credential Planning?

Students need to develop, monitor, and adjust their academic plans to ensure they are on track to attain the credentials they seek as expeditiously as possible; sometimes that entails managing academic credits across multiple institutions. This need may be even more pressing given the current disruption and uncertainty brought on by the pandemic. Fortunately, most institutions have a core set of applications to help students plan their educational programs and manage credits, even across institutions. However, fewer than half of institutions have technologies that can recommend courses or degree programs for students based on their academic record or other factors. Most students who have used these technologies find them very or extremely useful

The COVID-19 Corona virus global pandemic is creating a global learning crisis in addition to a global health crisis. 82% of the world’s learners are no longer in traditional schooling or education programs and UNESCO is recommending online learning and education technology to to reach learners remotely.

All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development developed a list of nine ACR GCD-funded solutions to respond to educational needs during the global COVID-19 Digital Response. I’ve added a 10th edutech solution. I invite you to add more in the comments.

Each solution is available for free in multiple languages and, once downloaded, does not require a continuous Internet connection. Ministries of Education, educational development organizations and parents can leverage these tools to support children’s educational needs during school closures.

Edutech Solutions for COVID-19 Response

1. Global Digital Library

This open source digital library offers free accessible eBooks in more than 40 languages readable on the web, mobile, or for downloading and printing. The books can also be translated or localized directly on the platform.

2. Feed the Monster

A winner of ACR GCD and Norad’s EduApp4Syria prize to support the education needs of out-of-school Syrian refugee children, Feed the Monster is an early literacy digital gaming app that teaches children reading and writing fundamentals while collecting and growing their pet monsters. Available in more than 50 languages on Google Play, and in Arabic on the App Store, research shows the app improves children’s early literacy skills and psychosocial wellbeing.

3. Antura and the Letters

Also a winner of an EduApp4Syria prize, Antura and the Letters is available in English and Arabic on Google Play, the App Store and Windows download. Designed for children age 4 and older, the app enables children to catch letters hidden around the world, solve puzzles and earn gifts, alongside Antura the dog. Like Feed the Monster, the research conducted on use of Antura and the Letters shows improvement in children’s early literacy skills and psychosocial wellbeing.

4. Bloom

The winner of ACR GCD’s Enabling Writers prize, Bloom enables teachers, parents and children to easily create leveled and decodable children’s books in any language. Books can be adapted from shell books, or new resources created using Bloom software’s templates for basic books, picture dictionaries and wall calendars, with images available from its free illustration library. Don’t want to create the books yourself? Access the Bloom Library, with basic leveled and decodable books available in more than 220 languages.

5. eKitabu

Winner of multiple ACR GCD prizes, eKitabu offers dozens of books for free download and readable via free e-reader software. eKitabu’s Studio KSL (Kenyan Sign Language) and Studio RSL (Rwandan Sign Language) also offer several sign language videos and sign language storybooks to support accessible, early grade reading.

6. World Around You

Funded through ACR GCD’s Sign On For Literacy prize, WAY enables communities to create content in local and national sign languages and share it in WAY’s open content digital library of folktales. The digital libraries are viewable from any web browser and can be remixed by anyone, including children, with simple text and video editing tools.

7. Bookshare

Children and adults with disabilities such as blindness, low vision, dyslexia and cerebral palsy can access thousands of accessible books on Benetech’s Bookshare platform. Benetech was a winner of ACR GCD’s 2014 grant competition, using the Bookshare platform to provide students who are blind in India access to accessible reading materials. The library is provided to individuals with disabilities for free or low cost, depending on the support of local partners in your region.

8. Kit Kit School

A finalist of ACR GCD’s Sign On For Literacy prize, Kit Kit School is a tablet-based early learning program that includes a suite of games, books, videos, and art and music tools in Swahili and English to support children in learning literacy and math skills independently.

9. Sema

A finalist of ACR GCD’s EduApp4Syria prize, the Sema package of apps enable children to teach themselves how to read, write and do basic numeracy. The curriculum was designed in collaboration with pedagogy experts and teachers in Africa.

10. Worldreader

I don’t know if Worldreader received ACR-GCD, yet Worldreader is a standout educational resource and needs inclusion on a list like this. Worldreader provides people in the developing world with free access to a library of digital books via e-readers and mobile phones. Since 2010, over 13 million people across 47 countries have read from Worldreader’s digital library of thousands of e-books and they have a special COVID-19 effort. Main image is copyright Worldreader.

Sleeping Beauty…..

So you must be wondering why does this guy wrote about beauty are we gonna know about the effects of sleep on someones looks yeah if you are thinking that you are right and also we are gong to learn something about the most peaceful time we experience in a twenty four hour we spent in a day in these recess of immortal time and battles. Well to be blunt honest I think the capability to sleep is the best thing we can experience by having this human form and some other pleasures added I admit which we are not going to discuss in this article about tranquility of sleep and about not excitement XD. But whatever we are doing in a day the best days are experienced only if one had his fill of a good night sleep. On an average we all know let’s hope we do that a human needs to have six to eight hours of sleep on an average in any given day not more than that and definitely not less than that as such with a sound eight hours of sleep anybody will feel good both mentally and physically as proven by personal experience and definitely by science through sleep specialists and psychologists and many more medical practitioner who are specialists in many fields of human physiology and anatomy. Our body takes a massive toll without a good nights sleep as you will feel restless and dull as by having a zeal less day and you will have some traces of nausea, migraines and in worst cases this process of hostility in your body may lead insomnia and other endocrine and digestive disorders which definitely are something which everyone would be happy to avoid so yes sleep has ample amount of importance on our health well beind and as we know “health is wealth” so we better keep ourselves wealthy at all times. So now lets talk about the beauty part as in a manner your body boosts blood flow to the skin while you snooze, which means you wake to a healthy glow. Skimp on sleep and your complexion can look drab, ashen, or lifeless. Sleep deprivation causes a decrease in blood flow to the skin surrounding your face due to which you start having dark circles below you eyes, a visible increase in acne, darkening of skin areas and hair fall as well.

Now let’s talk about how can we sleep better as such the main reasons of sleep deprivation are depression, workload, obesity, excessive drinking of alcohol(especially hard ones like beer, scotch,tequila, vodka), smoking, excessive exposure to blue lights on your different electronic appliances and irregular eating habits and lack of hygiene these are the factors responsible for causing sleep deprivation which leads of acute insomnia. Therefore to live a better life we should get rid of these habits as such reduce the usage of alcohol, totally avoid smoking as it is fatal, maintain good body hygiene as such bathe at least twice a day if you wanna do more it’s better, definitely have at least an hour of workout in your whole day let it be gymming or any kind of sports activities, yoga or even a plane jogging will do, then avoid using cell phones laptops and use them for a maximum of two to three hours a day and if your work is related to these exposures then make sure you buy special protective glasses available in the market or nowadays there are special blue light filters in smart phones which also you can use, a healthy diet and try making yourself stress free by keeping yourself busy in your day to day works and with that avoid eating anything a bit over oily or spicy or meat in general should be eaten only at lunch and if you are eating it at night make sure you have some starch with it as potatoes or rice will do the best in a manner prefer eating vegetables which are good for your bowels and a bowl of rice with some bread and some sauce or curry or liquid is also good with that always remember to eat at least one hour prior to your sleep or if it is quick then make sure you have sufficient amount of water close to you. Then finally try making a favorable condition for sleeping as a human body sleeps like a baby as in reference in the most comfortable manner at a temp of around twenty degree Celsius to eighteen degrees or twenty one will also be perfect, next thing is the amount of lighting it should be low to nothing also is an option and if that’s a problem try using an eye mask whenever you sleep, try avoiding any bright or dark colors in your bedroom both in the walls or in the bed sheets or in any kind of object as represented in your bedroom as studied by researchers colors like light blue, yellow, pink, teal, lilac, light green, white are the best colors to have in your bedrooms, then the outfit which you are having while sleeping should be breathable and made up of comfortable materials like cotton or better sleep naked or with as less clothes as possible if you have that much amount of privacy, and again if you have troubles sleeping try listening to different kind of soothing piano tunes or even sound of nature as such rainfall, waterfall and sea or even the sound of rain forests before or during your sleep with a certain timer on it which should end after an hour or so as you will fall asleep by the help of that but your ears will have a bit of rest they deserve and it really does helps in sleeping and lastly try sleeping with another person near you as a presence of another person gives us a sense of security and especially the presence of someone we love makes a sense of tranquility even when we are sleeping. If you can’t do all of it as I know that not everyday is a perfect day so at least try doing some of it and trust me there no such thing in this world in comparison to a good sleep sleep and there is no better wealth than health which can only be maintained by you and only you not by any doctor and nobody. So finally Good Night And Sweet dreams……….Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Climate change

Climate Change is the defining issue of our time and we are at a defining moment. From shifting weather patterns that threaten food production, to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in scale. Without drastic action today, adapting to these impacts in the future will be more difficult and costly.

Climate variability includes all the variations in the climate that last longer than individual weather events, whereas the term climate change only refers to those variations that persist for a longer period of time, typically decades or more. In the time since the industrial revolution the climate has increasingly been affected by human activities that are causing global warming and climate change.

The climate system receives nearly all of its energy from the sun. The climate system also radiates energy to outer space. The balance of incoming and outgoing energy, and the passage of the energy through the climate system, determines Earth’s energy budget. When the incoming energy is greater than the outgoing energy, earth’s energy budget is positive and the climate system is warming. If more energy goes out, the energy budget is negative and earth experiences cooling.

What is carbon emission?
There are both natural and human sources of carbon dioxide emissions. Natural sources include decomposition, ocean release and respiration. Human sources come from activities like cement production, deforestation as well as the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.

Due to human activities, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has been rising extensively since the Industrial Revolution and has now reached dangerous levels not seen in the last 3 million years. Human sources of carbon dioxide emissions are much smaller than natural emissions but they have upset the natural balance that existed for many thousands of years before the influence of humans.

Global warming refers to the long-term rise in the average temperature of the Earth’s climate system. It is a major aspect of climate change, and has been demonstrated by the instrumental temperature record which shows global warming of around 1 °C since the pre-industrial period, although the bulk of this (0.9°C) has occurred since 1970.A wide variety of temperature proxies together prove that the 20th century was the hottest recorded in the last 2,000 years. Compared to climate variability in the past, current warming is also more globally coherent, affecting 98% of the planet. The impact on the environment, ecosystems, the animal kingdom, society and humanity depends on how much more the Earth warms.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report concluded, “It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.”

Measures to reduce climate change
Fortunately, there are always things that we can do to fight against climate change. Saving the environment starts with us and it is our responsibility to act against these terrible changes to preserve the planet for future generations.

1. Make Your Commute Green

Millions of people drive to work every day. It is simply unavoidable in our modern-day society. However, the downside to this is that millions of cars emit greenhouse gases that destroy our atmosphere. Vehicle emissions are a close second when it comes to the top causes of climate change. There are always other options that you can utilize to make your commute to work eco-friendly. For starters, taking public transportation to work is a great way to cut out emissions. Riding your bike to work is also incredibly helpful to the environment and is a great method to get exercise.

 

2. Be More Conservative with Energy Usage

Becoming more energy efficient is a great way to prevent pollution. It causes the power plants to expend less energy that can lead to the production of greenhouse gasses. This means that you should do what you can to cut down on energy usage in your household. Make sure to turn off lights and unplug devices that you are not using anymore when you are done with them. Replace your light bulbs with energy-efficient light bulbs to help you save electricity too.

 

3. Get Active and Vote

One of the best ways to improve climate change to is to help those who will fight against it get into office. This means voting for legislation and politicians that aid against the detrimental effects of climate change. Many corporations have politicians on their payroll and use them to lobby against legislation that would require more regulations against them. Voting the right people into office will help pass legislation that allows us to fight against these corporations that are mainly to blame for climate change.

 

4. Recycle

Manufacturing plants emit a large number of greenhouse gasses per year. It is unavoidable in the production of goods that we use on a regular basis. However, a cleaner alternative would be to invest in recycling. Recycling is a cost-effective and eco-friendly process that eliminates waste and doesn’t emit greenhouse gasses into the environment. Be sure to collect your discarded paper, glass, plastic, and electronics to your local recycling center. The professionals will take these items to a processing plant where they will be remade into other recyclable materials again.

 

5. Educate Yourself and Others

The importance of educating others about climate change cannot be overstated in our modern society. There are many platforms for us to utilize that can allow us to spread our message easily. Whether you use word of mouth or social media, there are always ways to educate others on what climate change is doing to our planet. You can help protect the planet by educating others about the dangers of climate change and how to act against it.

 

6. Encourage the use of renewable energies

Focusing your efforts to spread awareness about renewable energy is the best way to create a positive impact in your community. By informing others about how renewable energy is better than utilizing fossil fuels, you will sway others into investing in the idea.

Finding my pace

Have you ever looked around yourself and wondered how everyone seems to be way ahead of you? You all have been trying to reach the same goal but you seem to be lagging behind or everyone has picked up speed whereas you seemed to have slowed down. I used to feel the same and still experience the same when I see others.

I have always felt as if there was a rush to accomplish something. I understand that you can’t always wait around for good things to happen to you and you need to be quick enough to achieve your goals, but sometimes this notion feels so foreign to me. This maybe because I was the one who always felt left behind.

In this highly competitive world, everything has become a race and not being able to keep up with your peers can be a huge disadvantage. I used to view it in a negative light as well and blamed myself for being incompetent. It used to lower my self-esteem and filled me with self-doubt. I often felt as if I wasn’t trying hard enough even though I was doing the best I could at the moment. But I have grown to realize that it is alright for me to take my own time to achieve my goals. Everything isn’t for everyone. I don’t need to indulge myself in activities just because everyone else is doing it. Getting out of my comfort zone is important but I don’t have to force myself to be a part of something that I may not be ready to do as of now. Again, it doesn’t mean pushing my fears and never dealing with them, rather promising myself to deal with them at my own pace than to meet someone else’s demands. If I won’t be doing it to better myself and only to fulfill someone’s expectations, then I won’t be able to learn anything at all. I will constantly remain paranoid about not being good enough.

There was a haste to be productive all the time that I couldn’t even enjoy my free time without feeling guilt of not doing enough. Now, learning at your own pace shouldn’t mean that you miss the deadlines given to you by your company or that you aimlessly end up procrastinating but the deadline that you set for your personal targets should not be so rigid that you find it unable to breathe. This can be very suffocating and you my even end up losing interest in your work. Afterall, it will be just another task to do. Moreover, it feels very sad to feel worn out of something that you used to love so much.

You need to recognize your individual pace of doing things. You should motivate yourself to be better but the pressure to be better faster is quite unnecessary. Every individual holds himself to the highest standards but these standards may seem unreasonable at times. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Continuously taunting yourself or criticizing won’t take you anywhere. I know feeling left behind is the worst but the realization that you are not behind anyone is must.

Look at the colossal heap of things that you want to learn or achieve and try to take them one at a time. Even I made an attempt to juggle many things at a time but ended up learning nothing. Some people are good at picking up multiple things at the same time and some may even master it but for others, why not take up things one by one so you learn better.

This has been deeply engraved in our minds that the faster we may achieve something, the more successful we are. This abstract clock needs to stop ticking because in the real world, you still have time. Learn at your own pace, follow your interest and grow better. Enjoy your journey.

Student Wins Big at National Leadership Conference

Students from the state of Wisconsin made quite a showing at this year’s Phi Beta Lambda National Leadership Conference in Chicago, but none more so than Herzing’s own Daniel Pulliam, who won first place in the category of project management.
Out of the 18 Wisconsin students who attended, representing schools such as University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Milwaukee School of Engineering, Pulliam was the only one to take home the top prize in his category.
To top it off, Diane Sigler, academic advisor in charge of Herzing Kenosha’s Phi Beta Lambda chapter, won the 2015 Wisconsin Outstanding Chapter Adviser award as well.

Pulliam’s road to victory

Winning the national competition was no easy feat. Pulliam first had to qualify by beating out Wisconsin students from several other universities. When he traveled to Chicago, he and academic advisor Diane Sigler were introduced as the “Who’s Who” from the Badger State.
Pulliam took on students from across the country representing schools such as University of Pittsburgh, UCLA, University of Alabama, Rutgers, Penn State, Oklahoma State and the University of Nebraska.
The project management category challenged competitors to answer 100 questions in under one hour, with the student answering the most correctly walking home with the grand prize. Pulliam not only got to hoist the first-place trophy but also won a $700 cash prize.
Besides pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Business Management at Herzing, Pulliam also serves as an admissions advisor and president of the Phi Beta Lambda Herzing Kenosha chapter.
Four other students from Herzing’s Kenosha campus – Jessica Olle, Nicole Braun, Stephanie Dillon and Ben Sauceda – also competed in the event.
Jennifer Paugh is the Campus President of Herzing University’s Kenosha and Brookfield Campuses. She brings 17 years of experience in higher education to her role, including experience in teaching, admissions and student services. In her free time, Jennifer and her partner, Rob, enjoy traveling and hiking with their three pups, Porter, Hudson and Etta.

TERRORISM: stop this!

Terrorism is a demonstration, which intends to make dread among normal individuals by illicit methods. It is a danger to humankind. It incorporates individual or gathering spreading viciousness, riots, robberies, assaults, kidnappings, battling, bombings, and so on. Terrorism is a demonstration of weakness. Likewise, fear based oppression has nothing to do with religion. A fear monger is just a psychological oppressor, not a Hindu or a Muslim.

Sorts of Terrorism

Terrorism is of two sorts, one is political terrorism which makes alarm for an enormous scope and another is criminal terrorism which deals in kidnapping to take ransom money. Political fear based oppression is significantly more urgent than criminal terrorism since it is finished by all around prepared people. It therefore gets hard for law authorizing offices to capture them in time.

Fear based oppression spread at the national level just as at worldwide level. Provincial psychological warfare is the most rough among all. Since the psychological oppressors imagine that withering as a fear based oppressor is holy and sacred, and in this manner they are eager to do anything. All these fear monger bunches are made with various purposes.

Reasons for Terrorism

There are some primary driver of fear based oppression advancement or creation of enormous amounts of assault rifles, nuclear bombs, nuclear bombs, atomic weapons, rockets, and so on fast populace development, Politics, Social, Economic issues, disappointment of individuals with the nation’s framework, absence of training, debasement, bigotry, financial imbalance, etymological contrasts, all these are the significant components of psychological oppression, and psychological warfare thrives after them. Individuals use fear based oppression as a weapon to demonstrate and legitimize their perspective. The uproars among Hindus and Muslims are the most well known yet there is a contrast among position and fear mongering.

The Effects Of Terrorism

Psychological warfare spreads dread in individuals, individuals living in the nation feel uncertain as a result of fear mongering. Because of psychological militant assaults, a great many merchandise are demolished, the lives of thousands of honest individuals are lost, creatures are additionally executed. Mistrust in mankind raises subsequent to seeing a fear monger movement, this brings forth another psychological militant. There exist various sorts of psychological warfare in various pieces of the nation and abroad.

Today, psychological oppression isn’t just the issue of India, however in our neighboring nation additionally, and governments over the world are putting forth a great deal of attempt to manage it. Assault on world exchange place on September 11, 2001, is viewed as the biggest fear monger assault on the planet. Osama canister Laden assaulted the tallest structure on the planet’s most remarkable nation, causing a large number of losses and passing of thousands of individuals.

Psychological militant Attacks in India

India has endured a few psychological militant assaults which made dread among general society and caused enormous pulverization. Here are a portion of the significant psychological militant assaults that hit India over the most recent couple of years: 1991 – Punjab Killings, 1993 – Bombay Bomb Blasts, RSS Bombing in Chennai, 2000 – Church Bombing, Red Fort Terrorist Attack,2001-Indian Parliament Attack, 2002 – Mumbai Bus Bombing, Attack on Akshardham Temple, 2003 – Mumbai Bombing, 2004 – Dhemaji School Bombing in Assam,2005 – Delhi Bombings, Indian Institute of Science Shooting, 2006 – Varanasi Bombings, Mumbai Train Bombings, Malegaon Bombings, 2007 – Samjhauta Express Bombings, Mecca Masjid Bombing, Hyderabad Bombing, Ajmer Dargah Bombing, 2008 – Jaipur Bombings, Bangalore Serial Blasts, Ahmedabad Bombings, Delhi Bombings, Mumbai Attacks, 2010 – Pune Bombing, Varanasi Bombing.

The ongoing ones incorporate 2011 – Mumbai Bombing, Delhi Bombing, 2012 – Pune Bombing, 2013 – Hyderabad Blasts, Srinagar Attack, Bodh Gaya Bombings, Patna Bombings, 2014 – Chhattisgarh Attack, Jharkhand Blast, Chennai Train Bombing, Assam Violence, Church Street Bomb Blast, Bangalore, 2015 – Jammu Attack, Gurdaspur Attack, Pathankot Attack, 2016 – Uri Attack, Baramulla Attack, 2017 – Bhopal Ujjain Passenger Train Bombing, Amarnath Yatra Attack, 2018 Sukma Attack, 2019-Pulwama assault.

Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY)- A Government Scheme

Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) was launched by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India in June 2011 as a restructured version of Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna (SGSY). The Mission aims at creating efficient and effective institutional platforms of the rural poor enabling them to increase household income through sustainable livelihood enhancements and improved access to financial services. In November 2015, the program was renamed Deendayal Antayodaya Yojana (DAY-NRLM).

Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY) with an aim to uplift the urban poor folks by enhancing sustainable livelihood opportunities through skill development. Keeping in view the objective of Make in India, Skill Development is essential for socio economic betterment. The scheme is integration of the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) and National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM).

National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) is renamed as Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana-(DAY-NULM) and in Hindi as – Rashtriya Shahri Aajeevika Mission. Under the scheme urban areas extends the coverage to all the 4041 statutory cities and towns, there by covering almost the entire urban population. Currently, all the urban poverty alleviating programmes covered only 790 towns and cities.

Eligibility

The scheme is targeted at both urban and rural poor and includes those beneficiaries above the age of 18 years who were part of the earlier *Aajeevika program.

* The Aajeevika – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) seeks to provide effective and efficient institutional platforms to enable the rural poor to increase their household income by means of sustainable livelihood enhancements and better access to financial services. The scheme is now renamed the Deen Dayal Antyodaya – National Rural Livelihoods Mission scheme.

http://nulm.gov.in/ESTP/ESTP_Application_AddNew.aspx

The above link will provide the application form fill up all the details to proceed further with the next step.

Arctic Circle and Climate Change

Remember the times when we used to get ” Global Warming” as a topic for writing an essay or in multiple debates? Well, seems like climate change was always real and is now becoming more visible. With the smartphone users rising exponentially due to advancement of Technology, issues like climate change have become the topic of discussion and people are now talking about it openly and become more conscious towards such sensitive issues.

Though some of the prominent world leaders have said that climate change is not an issue to be discussed but news about Arctic Ocean to be warming twice as fast as the global average is something that cannot be neglected. Yesterday, it was observed that the temperatures in the Arctic Circle are likely to have hit an all-time record on Saturday, reaching a scorching 38C (100F) in Verkhoyansk, a Siberian town. The rising and Hot summer weather is not uncommon in the Arctic Circle, but recent months have seen abnormally high temperatures.

arctic

Every year, Earth is experiencing change in weather and rise in temperature but the intensity is quite more when it comes to Arctic Circle. It is an alarming situation as Arctic is warming faster than anywhere on this Earth. In fact, most scientists agree on the fact  that over the past 30 years, the Arctic has warmed at a rate of twice the global average.

Changes observed in Earth’s climate since the early 20th century are primarily driven by human activities, particularly fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere, raising Earth’s average surface temperature. These human-produced temperature increases are commonly referred to as global warming. Natural processes can also contribute to climate change, including internal variability (e.g., cyclical ocean patterns like El Niño, La Niña and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation) and external forcings (e.g., volcanic activity, changes in the Sun’s energy output, variations in Earth’s orbit). (NASA Article)

Global warming is a part of climate change. According to a report by BBC, warming in the Arctic is leading to the thawing of once permanently frozen permafrost below ground. This is alarming scientists because as permafrost thaws, carbon dioxide and methane previously locked up below ground is released. These greenhouse gases can cause further warming, and further thawing of the permafrost, in a vicious cycle known as positive feedback. The higher temperatures also cause land ice in the Arctic to melt at a faster rate, leading to greater run-off into the ocean where it contributes to sea-level rise.

Though climate change deniers have argued that there has been a “pause” or a “slowdown” in rising global temperatures, but several recent studies shows that is the not the case. The situation in Arctic clearly indicates that the steps have to be taken on a global stage with strict actions. Countries have come together and have discussed about the same in G-20 and other summits but there is still a long way to go. Measures must be defined and followed by the masses to change some aspects of climate change.

 

Extrovert or introvert?

We often have heard people being categorised as extroverts or introverts. A friendly and open person is the one we label as extroverts, and the shy and reserved individuals are often labelled as introverts. Recent times have also witnessed the emergence of another group labelled as ambivert, who form the middle ground between these two extremes.

This is not a recent topic. Theories of extroversion and introversion have been a part of psychological literature for over a century now. According to many theories, an individuals level of extroversion and introversion form a major characteristic of personality.
Extroversion and introversion has a wide range of spectrum. Both has their fair share of pros and cons. It is important for us to understand where do we fall in the spectrum, so that we can address the areas where we are lacking.

What is an introvert, extrovert or ambivert?

Carl Jung was the one who proposed the idea of exploration of personalities, including the construction of extroversion and introversion. He described extroverts as “outward turning of libido” and introverts as “inward turning of libido”.

Introverts think, feel and act in a way that the subject is the prime motivating factor. On the other hand, extroverts think, feel and act in relation to external environment rather than subjectively. Jung also agreed that there is a third category which lies in the middle of the spectrum. The individuals in this category are known as ambiverts, and draws its energy from both the two extremes at varying degrees.

What is extrovert introvert spectrum?

People usually do not exhibit extreme traits and rather show qualities of both and fall somewhere between the two. The extrovert introvert spectrum is a continuous dimension within psychology where we can classify personalities based on their position between the two extremes.

The extrovert introvert spectrum is a bell shaped curve, just like the normal distribution curve. With absolute extroversion at one end of the scale, while absolute introversion at the other end. Individual exhibiting ambivert trait will be at the middle.

The difference between personalities

Introverts are usually perceived as reflective, private and thoughtful individuals whereas extroverts are perceived as happy, assertive, adoptive individuals. Extroverts are usually associated with risk lovers whereas introverts with risk averse.
Being more of an introverted person means you strive to spend more time with your thoughts and ideas. Whereas being more of an extroverted person means you thrive on the energy of the people and thing around you.

Common introversion traits include:
• Enjoy solitude time
• Not wanting to be the centre of attention
• Not usually talkative
• Values close relationships
• Seemingly reserved
• Enjoys quiet and independent working environment
• Deeply focused and thinks about specific interest
• Need alone time to recharge and reflect themselves

Common extroversion traits include:
• Has a large social network
• Enjoy being the centre of attention
• Usually impulsive
• Enjoys being around other people
• Outgoing and free spirited
• Thrive for team oriented and open work settings
• Tends to be loud about opinions and interest
• Enthusiastic individuals

An individual usually does not have traits of a total introvert or total extrovert, rather have traits of both. Individuals usually possesses trait of both the ends in varying degrees. Some may have more of extroversion traits and less of introversion one, while others may have just the opposite. Both the ends have their equal share of advantages and disadvantages. It is important to know our personalities to fix the traits where we are lacking and be a better version of ourselves.

Brand Awareness

Can you recognize the brand from the following pictures? Can you identify the food product in one go? I am quite sure most of you know these pictures and the brand I am talking about.

Well, that is the impact of the name that they have created in the industry. McDonald’s blurry billboards demonstrate just how instantly recognizable the fast food chain’s offerings are, as this innovative campaign has taken a global approach. The campaign that was titled as ‘Say No More’ featured multiple print and billboard images, all of which feature a blurred image of a popular McDonald’s menu item. “Brand awareness” is a challenge for every company, specially for a new company and marketers look for innovative and out-of-the box strategies to create visibility and awareness.

What exactly is Brand Awareness?

Brand awareness is a marketing term that describes the degree of consumer recognition of a product by its name. Creating brand awareness is a key step in promoting a new product or reviving an older brand. Ideally, awareness of the brand may include the qualities that distinguish the product from its competition. (Investopedia)

The products and services that are popular among the masses are mostly the ones due to brand recognition. For instance, if one remove the labels and packaging of soft drinks bottles, many of them will become indistinguishable. To reach out to the masses, the giants in the industry such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi rely on brand awareness to make their brands famous. Over the years, these companies have employed advertising and marketing strategies that have increased brand awareness among consumers, and that has directly translated into higher sales.

The term and the concept is extensively used by Facebook for its Brand Awareness Advertisement. Though it is a challenging task to predict how many people remember the ad, there are few algorithms for the same.

If we talk about the advertisement field, traditionally, it has been using various “ad recall surveys” to measure whether people remember their ads. Now with big data, machine learning is used for the same. For example: Facebook choose target audience on the basis of:

  • Behaviour: measure more than a thousand signals including the existing relationship that someone has with your Page, their likelihood of interacting with the ad and demographic characteristics.
  • Polling:  constantly calibrating our predictions by running thousands of polls on a random sample of campaigns each day that ask people if they recall an ad.

Now, with the advent of technology and rise in the smartphone users, social media has become a relevant platform for companies to create brand awareness. As social media allows one to share experiences, opinions and views, brands are anticipating the attitude of online users and creating strategies to reach out to the masses.

 

Benefits of gross motor skills and physical activity

Even acute bouts of physical activity have been shown to improve cognition. One study revealed that preadolescent children who completed 20 minutes of treadmill training at a moderate pace responded to test questions on reading, spelling, and arithmetic with greater accuracy and had improved reading comprehension compared to children who had been sitting. In addition, the children completed learning tasks faster and more accurately were more likely to read above their grade level following the physical activity

How do gross motor skills/physical activity affect concentration?
Teachers know all too well how much effort is spent on trying to get and maintain students’ attention. Teachers try frequent questioning, moving about the room, changing tone of voice and many more techniques. An alternative method for teachers to increase attention, concentration and on-task behavior may be to incorporate bouts of physical activity throughout the school day. Research has shown that some children who participated in an in-class physical activity program improved their on-task behaviors by 20 percent. Additional research regarding physical activity and school performance revealed that physical activity may improve concentration (Taras, 2005). Active lessons that require more coordinated gross motor skills such as balancing, reaction time, etc. were associated with better concentration on academic tasks (Budde, 2008).

Suggestions to increase gross motor skills/physical activity during the school day
There are many ways to incorporate more physical activity and movement breaks into a school day. One of the easiest ways to increase physical activity time is to add physical education classes and recess. However, this can be the most difficult to accomplish within a school day since so much time is already devoted to structured learning. If additional physical education and recess time is not available, work on incorporating physical movement throughout the school day with brain breaks. During transitions from one subject matter to another, perform short bouts of exercises such as jumping in place, dancing to music or jumping jacks. Help teachers develop multisensory lessons that incorporate movement with academics. Not only will the multisensory activities increase movement time, but they may also assist kinesthetic learners to improve academically. By teaming up with members of the school and community, physical and occupational therapists can help make active changes to children’s patterns of physical fitness, health and cognitive function!

They help us move and do everything from lifting heavy items to typing on a keyboard. Motor skills and motor control begin developing after birth, and will progress as children grow. Having good motor control also helps children explore the world around them, which can help with many other areas of development.

Benefits of gross motor skills and physical activity

Recent research indicates that regular participation in physical activity may improve academic performance. Schools that have added physical activity into their curriculum showed a 6% increase in student’s standardized test scores when compared to peers who had inactive lessons . One comprehensive research review included 59 studies, indicated a significant and positive effect of physical activity on children’s achievement and cognitive outcomes, with aerobic exercise having the greatest effect . Ninety minutes per week of cardiorespiratory fitness has been associated with improvements in the cognitive control of working memory in preadolescent children. Children who participated in 90 minutes/week of moderate to vigorous physical activity during an after school program displayed improvements in working memory . Physically active lessons including physical activity breaks have been shown to reduce time-off-task (20.5%) and improve reading, math, spelling and composite scores . In another study, children who participated in physically active lessons had significantly greater gains in mathematics speed test, general mathematics, and spelling scores although no changes were seen in reading scores .

Physical education classes and recess offer opportunities for students to increase physical activity throughout the school day. Although, at times children are sedentary even during these periods. Research indicated that children who participate in physical activity during physical education lessons may facilitate immediate and delayed memory . Many studies show that the more vigorous the physical activity is the larger the effects on academic performance.

Role of school in child’s life

Role of School in a Child’s Life. … Schools provide growth and development conducive environment for children. They not only learn academic skills, but also learn many other life-skills. Sitting in the classroom in the company of peers they learn faster.

School is an integral part of child’s life
School can be an integral part of a child’s life. A child goes to school not just to gain knowledge or information but to learn the essential threads of group dynamics, adjustment, developing interpersonal skills to live in a connected world.

In the words of Aristotle, “man is by nature a social animal”. Since birth, he is in constant need of human interaction. The first human contact in a child’s life is his mother. But as the child grows and develops, his needs and requirements evolve.The home cannot provide all these requirements. Thus comes the role of school. It equips a child to face all experiences necessary for his growth and development till he reaches level of maturity to face the world.

School can be an integral part of a child’s life. A child goes to school not just to gain knowledge or information but to learn the essential threads of group dynamics, adjustment, developing interpersonal skills to live in a connected world.

Schools provide a plethora of platforms through scholastics, co- scholastic activities, values through life skill education, personality development, sportsmanship spirit and team abilities, which help any child to evolve as a responsible individual.

Our school life is always the best time of our lives. Furthermore, it is the only time where we can meet our friends. Our School time is the only time which we all enjoy a lot. We get to play many games. Also, we get to study my favorite subject. Above all, we get to play with my group of friends and spend a good time with them.

Schools are the second home for children. The way in which their personalities mould depends not only on the parental upbringing but also on the way they are evolved in their school lives. Imparting just the bookish knowledge makes the student dumb and insecure when it comes to challenging the competitive world. Steps are being taken in some private and missionary schools, but reaching out to every corner of the country is a matter of concern. Now the question arises that what reforms can be brought about to inculcate the triggering of child personality development at school.
Firstly, one needs to realise the apparent meaning of child personality development. Personality means the set of qualities which makes a person distinct from the other. When such qualities emerge in the growing age of children, it is known as child personality development. Now when the pace of the world is advancing, it has become very crucial to make your child stand out from the rest and be unique. So how can this be achieved? The answer is simple. It has got to be worked out at the root level to bring the best out of them. Therefore, the development of a child in a way he/she becomes socially, morally, and ethically progressive is the need of the hour. The way in which schools respond to this context matters a lot. If the focus is just on grades and marks, there is a possibility that the quality of students would be limited. An ideal school is the one which focuses on both the studies as well as co-curricular activities to enhance their thinking ability. It’s not important to tell them the answers to the problems; rather it’s important to teach them how to hunt for the answers. Incorporating the logics in the mind of children would make them smart and productive.
Some of the strategies that can be undertaken by the schools to help achieve overall development of children are as follows:

The pre and primary school role:
The roles played by the preschools and primary schools have great significance over a child’s personality development. It is therefore required to improvise the method of imparting knowledge in them. Apart from games, organising cultural programs, learning disciplinary tasks, clay modelling, celebrating national and international festivals at school and upholding various competitions, there are points which often go neglected. These include the assessment of children based on how they are able to interact with their teacher and also among themselves and helping them understand the perks of learning things so that they become active participants. Sports activities which build up their presence of mind must be part of their regular activities. Children must be taught to get rid of their stage-phobia from the very childhood.


The Secondary education role :
After a child finishes the primary education, most of the developments will have already taken place. But there are certain things which can only be taken care of during this phase. Here, it the role of the schools to make the children self-confident and motivated towards their prime goals. Regular workshops and seminars can be used as a platform to gain and share information. The ethics taught in school remains lifelong. So things like valuing life, caring for animals, respecting cultural diversity and religions should be positively fed into their hearts and minds.

Some basic qualities like being humble, polite, non-gullible and generous should be taught in special classes of value-education. A period should be separately allocated for group discussions on various topics which can improve their intellectual skills and groupism. Lessons on music, art, craft, yoga and physical education should be given to one and all, right from the kindergartens. Proper nurturing by the school faculty can do wonders to the child development from a very appropriate age. It’s high time that the school administrations adopt the effective learning to ensure the quality development of its students and hence the future of our country.
Most school staff are already aware of the physical benefits of exercise, such as strengthening of the heart and lungs, preventing weight gain, healthy bones, good posture and more. However, many are not aware of the potential brain-boosting benefits of physical activity with regard to school performance. How does physical development affect learning? What does the research say?

Many students are missing out on opportunities to accomplish this important physical activity. For example, years ago kindergarten was meant to teach children how to play, listen, follow rules and interact with peers. Now kindergarten teachers, and even preschools teachers, are forced to spend more time on structured, academic instruction. This frequently translates into more seatwork time and less movement and active free play time.

Physical education class and recess are usually the first things cut when more academic time is required for remediation in reading and math skills. At the end of the day, the children are spending too much time in a sedentary mode. Research indicates that this sedentary lifestyle has a negative effect on cognitive development.

How does physical development affect learning?
What is the importance of gross motor skills? Gross motor skills are completed by using the larger muscles in the body to roll, sit up, crawl, walk, run, jump, leap, hop, skip and more. Regular participation in these types of physical activities has been associated with improved academic performance and important school day functions, such as attention and memory. Even a baby’s ability to sit up unsupported has a profound effect on their ability to learn about object.

One of the greatest brain gains of exercise is the ability for physical activity to improve actual brain function by helping nerve cells to multiply, creating more connections for learning .Research has shown that an increase in physical activity has a significant positive effect on cognition, especially for early elementary and middle school students .As an added bonus, being physically fit as a child may make you smarter for longer as you grow old.

LEADERSHIP STYLES

1. Coach

A coaching leader is someone who can quickly recognise their team members’ strengths, weaknesses and motivations to help each individual improve. This type of leader often assists team members in setting smart goals and then provides regular feedback with challenging projects to promote growth. They’re skilled in setting clear expectations and creating a positive, motivating environment.

The coach leadership style is one of the most advantageous for employers as well as for the employees they manage. Unfortunately, it’s often also one of the most underutilised styles—largely because it can be more time-intensive than other types of leadership.

Example: A sales manager gathers his team of account executives for a meeting to discuss learnings from the previous quarter. They start the meeting by completing an assessment together of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats regarding the team’s performance. The manager then recognises specific team members for exceptional performance and goes over the goals achieved by the team. Finally, the manager closes the meeting by announcing a contest to start the next quarter in order to motivate the sales people to reach their goals.

2. Visionary

Visionary leaders have a powerful ability to drive progress and usher in periods of change by inspiring employees and earning trust for new ideas. A visionary leader is also able to establish a strong organisational bond. They strive to foster confidence among direct reports and colleagues alike.

This type of leadership is especially helpful for small, fast-growing organisations or larger organisations experiencing transformations or corporate restructuring.

Example: A teacher starts a group at work for colleagues who want to help resolve anxieties and issues students have outside of school. The goal is to help students better focus on and succeed at school. He has developed testing methods so they can find meaningful ways to help students in a quick and efficient way.

3. Servant

Servant leaders live by a people-first mindset and believe that when team members feel personally and professionally fulfilled, they’re more effective and more likely to produce great work regularly. Because of their emphasis on employee satisfaction and collaboration, they tend to achieve higher levels of respect.

A servant leader is an excellent leadership style for organisations of any industry and size but is especially prevalent within nonprofits. These types of leaders are exceptionally skilled in building employee morale and helping people re-engage with their work.

Example: A product manager hosts monthly one-on-one coffee meetings with everyone who has concerns, questions or thoughts about improving or using the product. This time is meant for her to address the needs of and help those who are using the product in any capacity.

4. Autocratic

Also called the authoritarian style of leadership, this type of leader is focused almost entirely on results and efficiency. They often make decisions alone or with a small, trusted group and expect employees to do exactly what they’re asked. It can be helpful to think of these types of leaders as military commanders.

This leadership style can be useful in organisations with strict guidelines or compliance-heavy industries. It can also be beneficial when used with employees who need a great deal of supervision such as those with little to no experience. However, this leadership style can stifle creativity and make employees feel confined.

Example: Before an operation, the surgeon carefully recounts the rules and processes of the operation room with every team member who will be helping during the surgery. She wants to ensure everyone is clear on the expectations and follows each procedure carefully and exactly so the surgery goes as smoothly as possible.

5. Laissez-faire or hands-off

This leadership style is the opposite of the autocratic leadership type focusing mostly on delegating many tasks to team members and providing little to no supervision. Because laissez-faire leaders do not spend their time intensely managing employees, they often have more time to dedicate to other projects.

Managers may adopt this leadership style when all team members are highly experienced, well trained and require little oversight. However, it can also cause a dip in productivity if employees are confused about their leader’s expectations or if some team members need consistent motivation and boundaries to work well.

Example: When welcoming new employees, Keisha explains that her engineers can set and maintain their own work schedules as long as they are tracking towards and hitting goals that they set together as a team. They are also free to learn about and participate in projects that they might be interested in outside their team.

6. Democratic

The democratic leadership style (also called the participative style) is a combination of the autocratic and laissez-faire types of leadership. Democratic leaders ask for input and consider feedback from their team before making a decision. Because team members feel that their voice is heard and their contributions matter, a democratic leadership style is often credited with fostering higher levels of employee engagement and workplace satisfaction.

Because this type of leadership drives discussion and participation, it’s an excellent style for organisations focused on creativity and innovation such as those in the technology industry.

Example: As a store manager, Jack has hired many brilliant and focused team members who he trusts. When deciding on storefronts and floor design, Jack acts only as the final moderator for his team to move forward with their ideas. He is there to answer questions and present possible improvements for his team to consider.

7. Pacesetter

The pacesetting leadership style is one of the most effective for driving fast results. These leaders are primarily focused on performance. They often set high standards and hold their team members accountable for hitting their goals.

While the pacesetting leadership style is motivational and helpful in fast-paced environments where team members need to be energised, it’s not always the best option for team members who need mentorship and feedback.

Example: The leader of a weekly meeting recognised that an hour out of everyone’s schedule, once a week, did not justify the purpose of the meeting. To increase efficiency, she changed the meeting to a 15-minute stand-up with only those she had updates for.

8. Transformational

The transformational leadership style is similar to the coach style in that it focuses on clear communication, goal setting and employee motivation. However, instead of placing majority of the energy into each employee’s individual goals, the transformational leader is driven by a commitment to the organisation’s objectives.

Because these types of leaders spend much of their time on the big picture, this style of leading is best for teams that can handle many delegated tasks without constant supervision.

Example: Reyna is hired to lead a marketing department. The CEO asks her to set new goals and organise teams to reach those objectives. She spends the first months in her new role getting to know the company and the marketing employees. She gains a strong understanding of current trends and organisational strengths. After three months, she has set clear targets for each of the teams that report to her and asked individuals to set goals for themselves that align with those.

9. Transactional

A transactional leader is someone who is laser-focused on performance similar to a pacesetter. Under this leadership style, the manager establishes predetermined incentives usually in the form of monetary reward for success and disciplinary action for failure. Unlike the pacesetter leadership style, transactional leaders are also focused on mentorship, instruction and training to achieve goals and enjoy the rewards.

While this type of leader is great for organisations or teams tasked with hitting specific goals such as sales and revenue, it’s not the best leadership style for driving creativity.

Example: A bank branch manager meets with each member of the team bi-weekly to discuss ways the team can meet and exceed monthly company goals to get their bonus. Each of the top 10 performers in the district receives a monetary reward.

10. Bureaucratic

Bureaucratic leaders are similar to autocratic leaders in that they expect their team members to follow the rules and procedures precisely as written.

The bureaucratic leadership style focuses on fixed duties within a hierarchy where each employee has a set list of responsibilities and there is little need for collaboration and creativity. This leadership style is most effective in highly regulated industries or departments such as finance, healthcare or government.

Example: Managers at the office of the department of motor vehicles instruct their employees to work within a specific, defined framework. They must take many steps to complete a task with strict order and rules.

Remember, most leaders borrow from a variety of styles to achieve various goals at different times in their career. While you may have excelled in a role using one type of leadership, another position may require a different set of habits to ensure your team is operating most effectively.

By understanding each of these leadership types, and the outcomes they’re designed to achieve, you can select the right leadership style for your current situation.

Social media and its impact in relationship

Modern world is revolving. And each and every individual is having modern gadgets and are using them all day. And they are getting drowned in the flavored items in the mobile. Each and everyday, the amount gets increasing. And it is not going to end until everybody changes. It causes a major impact in the relationship in the family and many are broken due to this impact of the media.

Reduction of connectivity with people

Since everybody is using their own gadgets, there is no one to connect with others in the family. And it causes gap in the family and it also causes the break in the relationship. Every time the person involves in the social media thinking that they are going to be united, but in reality the person is going far from that person. And that’s the truth.

Anger when one cannot use

When the person is unable to use the gadget, the anger and the tension of that person is unpredictable and when one oppposes at that place, then there will surely be a break in relationship. Since the teens love the gadget and media more than their own family. So try to make the teens to control their own gadgets and emotions for the everyone’s well being.

Conclusion

“BE HAPPY WITH YOUR FAMILY, AT ONCE THEY ARE GONE, YOU WILL BE SUFFERING A LOT IN THIS LIFE!!!”

The 8 Types of Intelligence

What is artificial general intelligence (general AI/AGI)? – TechTalks

There is a boy who is good at math and science. He can play with numbers and understand  technical concepts with ease so he scores well and is the topper of the class. He is not good at sports whatsoever and spends most of his time studying. There is another boy who is the sports captain and he plays a variety of sports. He takes pride in the trophies and medals that he has won in several sports fests. Now there is a third boy who plays piano so well his concerts are attended by famous people. Out of all three boys, you might say that the first boy is the intelligent one but Mr. Gardner will disagree with you.

Howard Gardner authored a book called ‘Frames of the Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences’ in 1983 in which he has pointed out that the intellect and cognitive abilities are not the only qualities that should make a person get called intelligent and that there are 8 different types of smarts a person can exhibit. This theory is useful as people can now work on their intelligences and understand their capabilities better now. Educators can segregate children according to their smarts and direct them towards complementary careers.

Following are the eight types of intelligences defined by Howard Gardner are explained briefly-

  1. Visual-Spatial Intelligence “Picture Smart”

The individuals that have an exceptional vision and their capabilities include memorising what they have seen and making a visual in their head when something is described to them. This type of intelligence can be seen in graphic designers, architects, artists and map readers.

  1. Musical Intelligence “Music Smart”

Like the name, the music smart are sensitive to tunes and rhythm in nature and oftentimes these people learn how to play an instrument with ease. Music attracts them and they learn it by heart just from hearing it once. People who play an instrument or make music show this type of intelligence.

  1. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence “Body Smart”

These people have a very strong control on the movements of their body and they can easily use their body to communicate like when a dancer’s moves express the message that he tries to convey or simply the gestures that serve as non verbal cues. Dancers, athletes, mimicry artists and doctors are body smart.

  1. Interpersonal Intelligence “People Smart”

The individuals that are people smart always have their way around with people and this intelligence is also called social intelligence. They are efficient in conveying their message and understanding the other person and their message so they are excellent communicators with empathising capabilities. People like politicians, managers and psychologists have this intelligence.

Read about Emotional Intelligence here.

  1. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence “Word Smart”

The word smarts are good at playing with words and they have a deep understanding of whatever is read by them. The can even read between the lines. They make a great use of words to convey their thoughts and are good at writing composition and oral communication. Writers, poets and anyone who is good with words have good verbal intelligence.

  1. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence “Number Smart”

Finally, the people who are good at math and logical reasoning are number smart. These people also exhibit analytical thinking, deduction skills, making strategies and reasoning capability. This intelligence can be seen in anyone who effectively deals with numbers on a regular basis.

  1. Naturalistic Intelligence “Nature Smart”

Nature attracts the people who are eager to understand all the living organisms present in their environment, be it a plant or an animal, and their interpretation is accurate. Being out there, in the greens, energises them and they enjoy learning the workings of mother nature. Botanists and people who are passionate about gardening show this intelligence.

  1. Intrapersonal Intelligence “Self Smart”

The individuals that know their own self inside out exhibit intrapersonal intelligence. They know their strengths and weaknesses and can predict the results of whatever happens to them. Whatever they want to do, they know if they can do it or not deep inside so they take calculated steps and achieve success.

Ways to improve Your Personal Development Skills

Personal development can contribute to your maturity, success and satisfaction. Many people build personal development skills throughout their lives to better themselves and reach their goals. They can do this through education, advice from a mentor, self-help and more. In this article, we will describe some of the most important personal development skills.

What are personal development skills?
Personal development skills are qualities and abilities that help you grow both personally and professionally. Understanding and improving these skills can help you maximize your potential. This process is also known as self-development or personal growth.

You can use personal development skills to:

Reach goals
Advance in your career
Improve your strengths and talents
Better yourself
Find fulfillment

Examples of personal development skills: Examples of personal development skills
Personal development skills can be traits or qualities you already have or ones you can gain through education and training. People will value different personal development skills depending on their goals, but here are some examples of skills people commonly aim to develop: Interpersonal
Organization
Problem-solving
Self-confidence
Adaptability
Integrity
Work ethic
Leadership
Communication
Communication includes your ability to speak, write and listen. With these skills, you can understand what others are saying and feeling and also convey your own ideas and feelings. Good communicators can speak clearly and confidently, using a tone that is positive and appropriate for the situation.

Interpersonal
Also called people skills or social skills, interpersonal skills are the verbal and nonverbal behaviors and reactions to interactions with other people. They affect your ability to build relationships and make impressions on others in social situations.

Organization
Organization skills include the tidiness of your physical and digital spaces as well as your ability to plan, schedule and prioritize. Good organization can help save time, prevent miscommunications and improve efficiency.

Problem-solving
Problem-solving is your ability to handle challenging or surprising situations. Good problem-solvers can stay calm when they encounter obstacles and assess all their options to find the best solution.

Self-confidence
Self-confidence is the belief in your abilities, actions and decisions. If you have confidence in yourself, you might be more likely to pursue ambitious goals, try new things and believe you can succeed.

Adaptability
Adaptability is your ability to adjust quickly and easily to new things. People who handle change well often get along with a variety of personalities and thrive in any environment. They can remain calm in surprising situations.

Integrity
People tend to trust those who are honest and stand by their values. Integrity means doing what is right and telling the truth, even if it is not what they want to hear. Having integrity can lead to a good reputation and opportunities for advancement : Work ethic
Work ethic includes not only hard work but also reliability, responsibility, quality, determination and discipline. People with good work ethic tend to be productive and have a positive attitude.

Leadership
Leadership is the ability to guide people. Good leaders can motivate others and help them reach a shared goal. They build confidence and improve morale.

How to improve your personal development skills
You can enhance your personal development skills by taking classes, learning from the people around you, gaining new talents and improving upon existing ones. Follow these guidelines to develop yourself personally:

Overcome your fears. Fear can prevent you from growing and progressing. If you are afraid of public speaking, for instance, take a class or join a group that helps people become better public speakers. If you are afraid of taking risks, find a mentor who can help you make good decisions and build your confidence. Grow and learn by trying things you might not be comfortable doing. If you are shy, try starting a conversation or introducing yourself to new people at a reception or workshop.
Read. Reading expands our knowledge and vocabulary and keeps us informed. It stimulates our minds and can improve our critical thinking skills. Try setting a goal to read at least one educational or motivational article a day, or one book a month.
Learn something new. Learn a new skill or topic, whether you do it yourself or sign up for a class. You might, for instance, take courses to learn another language, a new software program or how to write creatively. Consider watching a webinar on professional development topics such as entrepreneurship or social media marketing.
Ask for feedback. Approach a family member, friend, colleague or manager, and ask them to give you feedback on a recent project or accomplishment. Use their positive comments as well as their constructive criticism to find ways to improve. Sometimes you need an outside, unbiased opinion to get a different perspective.
Observe others. Watch and learn from the people who inspire you. This could be someone you know, such as a supervisor, family member or public figure. Identify the qualities you admire in them, and try to replicate those in yourself.
Network. By interacting with many types of people, you can learn new ideas and understand how to communicate and work with different personality types. You can also meet people and develop relationships that might help you in the future. Network through industry organizations and shared interest groups, or attend conferences and events on topics that interest you.
Keep a journal. Writing in a journal every day or week can help you gain self-awareness and reflect on recent events, decisions and conversations. You might keep a hand-written, private journal, or you might choose to share your thoughts and experiences by blogging. Use it to set and assess goals and progress.
Meditate. Many people meditate to gain clarity and awareness and to reduce stress and anxiety. Meditation can help you focus on your self-development and goals in a healthy, positive and calm way. Even scheduling a break from work or quiet time to yourself can help you relax and focus.
Get a mentor. If you need help identifying ways to build your self-development skills, talk to a mentor. This individual could be a manager, professor, someone you admire or a professional personal growth mentor.

Personal development skills at work place
While personal development skills can benefit all parts of your life, these may be useful in the workplace and help you advance your career:

Be an active listener. Be an active listener. Part of being a good communicator is paying attention to what other people say. Concentrate on understanding what your coworkers and clients are saying so you can remember that information and respond well. Use effective and professional listening and communication skills in everything from phone conversations to job interviews.
Work well with others. Good people skills make you a valued team member. You should be able to collaborate with and motivate others. Have the social skills to build relationships with colleagues, clients, customers and acquaintances of all types and backgrounds.
Organize your time, work and
: Organize your time, work and materials. Plan out tasks so you can complete them quickly and easily. Know what projects to prioritize if you are handling more than one. If you are well-organized, you may be better able to meet your deadlines.
Work through challenging situations. When dealing with a problem, assess your options and determine the best solution. Know when to ask for advice or research different scenarios. People who can think critically and work through complex problems are more likely to make good decisions both in life and work.
Believe in yourself. If you have confidence in your decisions, others may be more likely to believe in you as well. This positive energy can help motivate and instill confidence in those around you. You are better able to handle challenges and reach goals if you approach them with confidence rather than doubt.
Adapt to change. Be flexible so you can deal with changes in work and life easily. Adaptable people can work well both alone and on a team, manage multiple projects, work under a variety of conditions, accept new ideas and more. Being able to respond well to change can also make these situations less stressful for everyone involved.
Be truthful. Honesty is the foundation of a positive relationship with colleagues and supervisors. Practice good ethics and stand by your values. Integrity can bring you respect, satisfaction and a good reputation at work.
Be committed to and passionate about your job. People with good work ethic tend to be productive, reliable and determined to do quality work. This dedication can help you complete tasks on time and motivate your peers.
Guide those around you. Being a good leader requires confidence, vision and communication. People with these natural leadership skills can help their team progress and be productive without being controlling.

Impact of social media in teens

There are over millions of teens across the globe. Mostly everyone will be having mobiles for sure. And minimum of 3 hours everyone will use the mobile for nothing. For various gaming apps and social medias, the children are getting more addicted and are using it continuously. Every usage of these things have a huge side effects and impacts on students.

Wastage of time

The main thing that every teen has to concentrate is time. And here due to the over usage of the gadgets, the children have no time to study. And more over, the teens are already drowned in medias and hence the productive time of these children and the future minds of the world are getting distracted. The utmost goal of most of the teens are not achieved due to this wastage of time.

Finger and Eye pain

Prolonged usage of gadgets leads to the irritation in the eye and continuously touching the screen causes the pain in both the thumbs. Eye is a pure gift given to see the wonders and adventures of life. If it gets wasted in such small age, consider the life of those young ones. And regarding fingers, the important ones to achieve greater heights. If that is spoiled, the life of the teens are horrible and tough.

Conclusion

There are various other side effects of the usage of these things. But these are the main ones. Please don’t efficiently use this. Try to control.

“BE YOU, THE MEDIA IS NOT GONNA CHANGE YOU, BE YOURSELF AND ENJOY THIS LIFE!!!”

How Social Media Usage is affecting Teenagers

Many parents are concerned about how developmental cultural background could affect infants. We know that our elementary school students are gathering new social and cognitive skills at a stunning pace, and we don’t want hours spent glued to an iPad to hamper that. But puberty is an equally critical time of rapid growth, and very few of us are paying attention to how our teenagers’ use of technology—much more concentrated and intimate than a 3-year-old playing with dad’s iPhone—is influencing them. In reality, experts worry that the social media and text messages that have become so central to teenage life are fostering anxiety and reducing self-esteem.

The Negative Effects of Social Media on Teenagers, Youth or ...

Young people say there might be fair grounds to concern. A report commissioned by the Royal Public Health Society asked UK ages 14-24 whether social media sites have an impact on people’s health and well-being. Results of the study showed that Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all resulted in heightened feelings of depression, anxiety, negative picture of the body and isolation.

Indirect Communication:

Teens are specialists of staying engaged in the hours after school until long past bedtime. When they’re not doing their homework and when they are, they’re either online and on their mobile, messaging, tweeting, trolling, browsing, you name it.

Of course, before everybody had an Instagram account teens still kept busy, but they’re more likely to do their talking on the phone or in person while they were chilling out at the supermarket. It may have sounds like lots of aimless hanging around, but what they were doing was interacting, engaging with talents, and thriving and failing in lots of tiny real-time experiences that children are missing out on today. For one thing, while looking at a screen, modern teens learn to do the majority of their communication, not another person.

Reducing the Risks:

Talking implicitly, it definitely poses a barrier to effective contact but that’s not all. Understanding how to make friends is a significant part of growing up, as well as a certain amount of risk-taking is needed for friendship. That’s true in making a new friend, but it’s also true in keeping friends. If there are things that need to be answered — big or small — it takes the confidence to be truthful about your thoughts, and then hear what the other person has to say. Trying to learn to traverse these bridges efficiently is part of what makes friendship fun and exciting, and also scary.

But when friendship is done online and through text, children do so in a context that is robbed of many of the most personal – and sometimes terrifying aspects of communication. It’s extremely easy when you’re texting to keep your guard up, so there’s less at stake. You don’t hear or see the effect your words have on someone else. Because the conversation doesn’t take place in real time, each party can take more time to consider an answer. No wonder kids say it’s “too intense” to call someone on the phone — it requires more direct communication, and if you’re not used to it, it may be scary.

Conclusion:

The first thing parents can do to reduce the dangers of technology is first to limit their own use. It is up to the parents to set a clear example of what appears to be safe computer use. Some of us check our phones or emails too often, either out of genuine curiosity or out of a nervous habit. Kids would be able to see our faces, not to see our heads bent over a phone. Establish technology-free zones in the house and technology-free hours when nobody, including mom and dad, is using the devices. Get up a half hour earlier in the morning than your parents, and then check your messages. Pay them full attention before they are out of the house.

Is Social Media Changing the Parent and Child Relationships?

Social media is increasingly changing in front of our eyes and this modern medium of communication is almost difficult to ignore and shield from. Not only is it an integral part of social circle socialization but it is now used to advertise and inspire people in becoming part of a larger society. Many websites that provide communication through their website or apps such as Whatsapp, Hike, Snap Chat, Instagram, Facebook Messenger etc.

Social media behaviour of parents affects relationship with child

Relationships in so many families have changed today in the era of social media, as social media affects those connections in a number of unanticipated and sometimes negative ways.

With the latest mobile application such as dating apps or online matching apps, our relationship with family seems to be more affected. Whether social media is a blessing or a curse, it is one of the most contentious issues in today’s world for sure.

A finding from the research team at Kaspersky Lab says social media is affecting the relationship between parents and children significantly. It has been found that approximately twenty-one per cent of parents admit that relations with their children were damaged as a result of their being seen in a compromising social media circumstance.

With people preferring to post photos of themselves or others under the influence of alcohol, wearing something provocative or even nude to get more ‘likes,’ it’s clear that social media will harm offline relationships. But while we’d expect parents to disapprove of the online behaviour of their children, it seems to be the other way around.

More than a fifth of parents admit their connection with their children worsened after seeing their family members in compromising social media conditions. Just 14 per cent of parents, on the other hand, said they were irritated by online actions of their children. Additionally, about one in five (16 per cent) people have said their relationship with their spouse or partner was harmed as a result of being seen in a compromising social media situation.

Thanks to social media, interactions with families, acquaintances and employers are shifting as people connect less face-to – face. A substantial third of people agreed that they now interact less with their parents (31%), children (33%), spouses (23%), and friends (35%), because they can see and engage with them through social media.

Although people communicate less face-to – face, roughly half of respondents believe their relationship quality does not suffer at all and is even better as a result of being attached online with their loved ones.

Conclusion:

The quest for “likes” and social recognition causes people to post growing quantities of private information on social media sites, placing their peers, families and employers at risk as well as themselves. The irony of missing a lifetime of digital memories like images and conversations will make it difficult for those who want to cut themselves off from social media. Humans need to be more careful and cyber-savvy about the information they share on social media to protect themselves and their relationships.

Heads- I Stay, Tails- I go

Advice for making taxing decisions about friendships, and not by tossing a coin on google.

Most of us, at some point in our lives, have been in friendship limbo- a weird patch of uncertainty where we don’t know whether to stay in or leave a friendship. There are several catalysts that can lead us to limbo land, and the tricky part is that the only way to get out of it is to make an ultimate decision. Like Marilla Cuthbert choosing whether to keep Anne or not, you may feel torn about the outcomes of two completely contrasting options. Unlike Marilla’s initial quick judgement, I definitely recommend taking just enough time decide what you want to do. 

If you’re unsure about your text move, don’t stress about it. Take the time you need. Are friendship breakups terrible? yes, but so are unhealthy and toxic friendships. Whether your friendship limbo is a result of the ever changing dynamics, circumstances or conflicts, it is worth gaining some perspective on the friendship and checking in with yourself by asking questions like these: 

  1. Does this friendship bring joy to me? 
  2. Does this person make my life better by being in it? 
  3. Is this person treating me with love and respect?

For now, with these three questions in mind, let’s get going.

Should I stay if the circumstances are bad?

Sometimes, the choice to end or continue a friendship only comes down to the current circumstances. Maybe your friend is moving to a different city. Maybe you’re both in the same city but are attending different schools or colleges. Either way, most friendships begin only because the circumstances were favourable. You were both in the same class, shared the same interests, watched the same movie & shows or maybe you were neighbours since childhood. But, circumstances change, it’s life as we know it.

To help you bring clarity to the situation, you can start by referring to the questions above. If this is friendship makes you feel valued and loved, you have your answer. However, there are more things to think about as well, like how much energy and time you’re willing to spend on maintaining a long-distance friendship. Long-distance friendships are no doubt tough, but can also be insanely rewarding. 

Make an effort to call and text them at least once a week. Be understanding during the weeks where you don’t talk to each other. From time zone differences to hectic schedules, remind yourself that you won’t be able to be in contact with each other every day. This can at times seem like a lot, if you’re not cool with putting this much effort into maintaining your friendship, then that is completely alright. Similarly, if the friend hasn’t been particularly a positive person in your life, think about the new circumstances as a sign to let go of the friendship. 

We’re growing apart, but should I stay?

When you realize that things just aren’t the same. There, again, can be several catalysts behind this realization: the negative comments that they passed and later laughed them off but you can’t stop thinking about, an unsatisfying meetup or stumbling upon something they said before that now deeply hurts you. The important part here is that you can’t get this new information out of your head, you can’t undercut the blatant incompatibility and are now left to decide which move to make next. Do you give the friendship a shot and try to save it, or do you let it slip away? How do you know that this isn’t just a phase? 

Growing apart is distressing, perplexing and often destabilizing, which can often cause resentment and anger. However, feelings like these are negative, we want to avoid holding onto them and instead, advocate open and honest conversations with the friend. If, after referring to the above questions, you conclude that your friendship with your friend is worth recovering and working upon, here are some things to keep in mind:

  • Growth is usually a good thing, people changing usually means they’re growing into the person they want, like or are supposed to be.
  • This could just be a phase. Often in long friendships, there are periods you don’t talk for days and days, even weeks, because your personalities were, point-blank, totally incompatible and contrasting. But only temporarily. 
  • Before you make the decision to cut off a close friend, consider openly communicating with them. Call them and say, “Hey, I feel like we’re not on the same page right now. This friendship matters a lot to me and I want to maintain it, even if that means it’s going to be different.”

When I think about changing relationships, I think about this quote that I found on tumblr- “People change and forget to tell each other.” Just like you’re not trying to hurt anyone when you change, no one else is intentionally trying to hurt you when they change. We have to let the people we love and care about do what’s best for them, and sometimes, that means letting them do their own thing while we do ours!

Living through a pandemic during the social media age

Wuhan Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), woman and man in suit with blue medical face mask. Concept of coronavirus quarantine

In the face of the coronavirus, social media is a great way for individuals and communities to stay connected even while physically separated. With the advent of social media in the 21st century, not only are we learning the latest news updates, but we’re also using platforms like Facebook and Twitter to provide personal and business updates. For businesses, this means leveraging social media to support employees and customers like never before. For the government, it means doing its best to efficiently share factual and up-to-date information.

Taking a look at how individuals, businesses, and government agencies have been sharing information and interacting with others on social media in the past few weeks, here are two important roles that social platforms are playing during the COVID-19 outbreak:

An influence on public response to the outbreak

Billions of people are free to publicly share their opinions on COVID-19 across various social platforms. In the past few weeks, we’ve seen individuals, organizations, and businesses use social media to spread awareness of COVID-19, as well as the public actions that can be taken. 

Here are a few of the most distinct ways social media has influenced the public since the virus reached epidemic and pandemic levels:

Social distancing and home quarantine are trending

Until a few weeks ago, many of us hadn’t even heard of “social distancing,” which refers to staying at least 6 feet away from others to help prevent the spread of infection. Now, social media users, from friends and family to celebrities and governments, are regularly calling for social distancing.

Boasting and shaming panic buying 

Many people have been excessively purchasing household goods, sanitization products, and food in fear that necessities will no longer be accessible — just like they do when there is a hurricane or some other natural disaster. This over-purchasing has become so commonplace that social media users have coined a phrase to describe it: panic buying. 

On social, panic buying is being discussed in two distinct ways: 1) people are posting about their own panic buying, showing images of carts filled with toilet paper, water bottles, and frozen meals; and 2) people are posting pictures of empty shelves or other people’s carts as a way to shame supposed panic buyers.

A source of information as well as misinformation

Never have we had more realtime information available at our fingertips in the face of a worldwide event. Such information can help keep us safe, providing us with a better understanding of what is occurring and how it might impact us and those we love. Yet, social media can also spread falsehoods, including miracle preventative measures, false claims about the implementation of martial law, conspiracy theories, and more. 

Finding trusted sources of information regarding COVID-19 is extremely important.

Social media companies are working to combat misinformation on coronavirus

At a time where many of us are grappling for as much information as we can get our hands on, the public is especially susceptible to false and sometimes hazardous claims, which are then passed on to others.

untrustworthy sources on social media

The best rule of thumb for making sure information is accurate is to check original sources and make sure that (a) those sources are indeed trustworthy, and (b) the information was relayed accurately. Just because someone claims to have learned something from a reliable source doesn’t mean they’re relaying that information accurately. 

If you’re the one presenting information, whether on behalf of a business or your personal account, it’s your responsibility to cite and fact-check your own sources. Be wary of using verbiage that is alarmist or absolute. There are still so many unknowns about the virus, and nobody is sure what the coming weeks and months hold. It’s always best to be cognisant of this and avoid unnecessary bold statements.

SEM Strategy in Digital Marketing


SEO ( Search Engine optimization) displays the search results in such a way that websites with rich content and has relevant keywords that match the user’s search query. The websites get a ranking based on the above factors( top search results). The most important factor to remember about SEO is that it is “organic” or “free”. The businesses need not pay any money when the website is listed in the search results in SEO. Those websites occupy the central part of the search page.
SEM

The websites displayed at the top of the page and the rightmost end are paid ones (marked as Ad – advertisement). This is called Pay per click advertising or marketing ( PPC). The combination of SEO and paid services together is called SEM ( Search Engine Marketing). Nowadays, it solely refers to the paid search. When the user takes any action, either make a call or click on the link, then the businesses have to pay for it.
Steps in SEM

The keyword research is conducted and the most relevant keywords related to their product or service are chosen ( keyword planner tools can be used too). The particular geographic location to display the ad is finalized (especially, the special discounts for locals). A text-based ad to display in the search results is created. The brand or businesses bid on a price they are willing to pay for each click on their ad.
The ABCs of SEM

To drive more traffic to the website, the businesses take part in AUCTIONS (to position their website) and bid for their keywords. They purchase ads on search engines ( Yahoo !, Bing ) using keywords that are relevant to their website visitors. When their website ranking is high, it appears in the top search results ( above the organic or free search results). The active buyers will immediately click on the link and reach the landing page of the website or make an instant call. They can browse the products in different categories, add it to their shopping cart and purchase it online using the web-based payment software. During peak time, the companies have to bid for a higher price. They have to see that it is within their affordable limit – BUDGET. Therefore, SEM gives immediate results whereas SEO gives long-lasting results. SEM offers commerciality.
Paid Ads: These advertisements must be clear and concise, to the point. They can consider several factors – depending on the location, specific time duration, etc. They enter a topic or main headline, text for the body of the advertisement, a call-to-action, and a URL for the hyperlink.
A click-through event happens whenever a visitor in a search engine clicks on a displayed ad from the search result.CTR or Click-Through-Rate is calculated based on the clicks and converting it as a percentage. The PPC network fixes the minimum CPC that the businesses need to bid before the ads can run or show up on the publisher site as paid search results.CTR and CPC are the important performance indicators that a brand or advertiser uses for deciding future marketing investment.
PPC Networks: Google Adwords, Bing Ads, Yahoo! Search Marketing are the top three PPC networks in use.
The big companies afford to advertise in large Ad networks and startups stick to small Ad networks. The conversion rate is expected to be higher in SEM compared to SEO. The success or failure of a search engine marketing campaign depends on how products or service companies create and classify keywords. They attract targeted traffic and are more likely to convert them into potential customers or clients.
We shall discuss social media marketing and content marketing later.

Diesel being costlier

Crack in the limping bone!

Prices of petrol and diesel have been increasing continuously for 18 days and it was drawing attention but what alarmed more was diesel’s price.

In Delhi and its nearby areas, diesel is now about 12 paise costlier than petrol. Why did this happen?

The biggest reason for this is the unevenness of the tax. Petrol is still expensive than diesel in the country but due to a higher toll on diesel in Delhi, the price has outpaced petrol. For now, we should endeavour so that the difference between petrol and diesel remains unchanged. We need to think back to the time when the price between diesel and petrol used to have a marginal gap between 20 to 30 rupees. The difference was because the use of diesel usually occurs in heavy vehicles for irrigation, riding or freight. The prices of diesel were handled by the governments because the price of diesel and the upshot of its hike was on the farmers and inflation. It is favourable for the economy to keep the gap between these two fuels.

It should be noted that private passenger vehicles that run on diesel also cost more than petrol vehicles, owing to the same reason the similarity between petrol and diesel’s price is even against our own vehicle policy.
By keeping the prices high in Delhi, customers can turn to states like Uttar Pradesh. In that case, Delhi itself will have to uplift the loss of revenue. Delhi and it’s neighbouring U.P has the difference by rupees 8.

So the effort should be to create a logical difference between the prices of petrol and diesel. It is also to be seen that there should not be much difference in the state-wise prices.
Seeing India as a whole economic unit is needed. In industrial sectors, even the difference between 10 and 20 paise counts. So the difference in state-wise prices should not exceed 50p or 1 rupee.

People do not understand the tax planning of governments but they definitely get upset to see that in Delhi if it is 79.76 rupees, so how is it for rupees 86.54 per litre in Mumbai?

The government should also notice oil companies. After keeping the prices stable for up to 82 days these companies are increasing the prices continuously from June 7, and there is a possibility of a hike in the coming days as well. International oil prices have already begun to rise.

It should be taken into consideration that in just 18 days, increment in the price which is approx rupees 10 is not good for the economy, hoping for improvement. The subsidy which is being given to the industrial world in this crucial time, it may so not happen that a large amount of economic support through petrol and diesel, gets snatched away from people.

At this time revenue is necessary for the government but that should be logical. Oil companies have been given the power to decide the price according to the cost but the increment should not happen in such a manner that everyday budget starts deteriorating.
It is important to take care of that selling oil for profit is not their only job, they will also have to think about the stability and strength of the economy of our country.

PETS.

Almost all pet owners are clear about the immediate happiness that comes with sharing their lives with companion animals. Nevertheless, many of us remain unaware of the physical and mental health benefits that can also accompany the pleasure of snuggling up to a furry friend. It’s only recently that studies have begun to scientifically explore the perks of the human-animal bond.

Pets have evolved to become acutely accustomed to humans and our behavior and emotions. Dogs, for instance, are able to understand many of the words we use, but they’re even better at interpreting our tone of voice, body language, and gestures. And like any good human friend, a loyal dog will look into your eyes to measure your emotional state and try to understand what you’re thinking and feeling (and to figure out when the next walk or treat might be coming, of course).

Pets, specifically dogs and cats, can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, ease loneliness, encourage exercise and playfulness, and even improve your cardiovascular health. Looking after an animal can help children grow up more secure and active. Pets also offer valuable companionship for older adults.

STudies have found that:

  • Pet owners are less likely to go through depression than those without pets.
  • Pet-parents have lower blood pressure in stressful situations than those without pets. One study even found that when people with borderline hypertension adopted dogs from a shelter, their blood pressure declined remarkably within five months.
  • Spending time with a dog or cat can elevate levels of serotonin and dopamine, which calm and relax.
  • Pet owners have lower amount of triglyceride and cholesterol levels (indicators of heart disease) than those without pets.
  • Heart attack patients with pets tend to survive longer than those without.
  • Pet parents over age 65 make hardly any visits to their doctors than those without pets.
  • While people with pets often experience the greatest health benefits, a pet doesn’t have to be a dog or a cat.

One of the causes for these therapeutic effects is that pets fulfill the basic human want for touch. Even hardened criminals in prison show long-term changes in their behavior after interacting with pets, many of them experiencing mutual affection for the very first time. Stroking, hugging, or otherwise touching a loving animal can swiftly calm and soothe you when you’re stressed or anxious. The companionship of a pet can also ease loneliness, and most dogs are a great stimulus for healthy exercise, which can considerably boost your mood and ease depression.

How pets can help you make healthy lifestyle choices

Opting for a healthy lifestyle plays an important role in easing symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress,  and PTSD. Taking care of a pet can help you make healthy lifestyle changes by:

Increasing exercise. Taking a your dog for a walk, hike or run are fun are rewarding ways to stay fit. Studies have shown that dog parents are far more likely to meet their daily exercise requirements—and exercising every day is healthy for the animal as well. It will deepen the connection between you, get rid of most behavior problems in dogs, and keep your pet fit and healthy.

Providing companionship. Companionship can help prevent diseases and even add years to your life, while isolation and loneliness can trigger symptoms of depression. Caring for a living being can help make you feel needed and wanted, and take the focus away from your problems, especially if you live alone. Most dog and cat parents talk to their pets, some even use them to work through their troubles.

Helping you meet new people. Pets can be a great social lubricant for their owners, helping you start and make new relations. Dog parents frequently stop and talk to each other on walks, hikes, or in a dog park.

Reducing anxiety. The companionship of an animal can offer comfort, help in curing anxiety, and build self-confidence for people anxious about going out into the world. Because pets believe in ‘carpe diem’—they don’t worry about what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow—they can help you become more mindful and help you live in the moment.

Adding structure and routine to your day. Many pets, especially dogs, require a fixed feeding and exercise schedule. Having a consistent schedule keeps an animal balanced and calm—and it can work for you, too.

Providing sensory stress relief. Touch and movement are two healthy ways to handle stress. Stroking a dog, cat, or other animal can lower blood pressure and help you quickly feel calmer and less stressed.

Unlocking India

The pandemic got us all by its horror. While the Indian government continues to miserably fail at actually governing the nation with its highly communal and primitive ideas, unlocking India has gotten worse than the lockdown itself.

The Jagannath Puri Yatra has commenced and a person whopwho was of the yatra has already tested positive for the deadly virus. I remember when we were locking down the country here, the government continuosly blamed the Tablighi Jamaat for having worsened the country’s situation. Our Islamophobic government continued to attack the muslims for having deliberately planned this entire thing to attack Indians. They were kept all sorts of names by the media especially the channels supporting the right wing. Now what? Isn’t the Puri yath ratra also going to lead to the spread of the virus? Isn’t this fatal? Just because the yatra us being lead by the majority religion of this so called secular nation, shouldn’t the government be questioning this too? Who is going bro be responsible if the whole of India gets the virus due to this yatra. I do not mean to disrespect Lord Jagannath but isn’t it common sense to not allow a thousand people to roam around with no physical distancing whatsoever? Trust me, I’m waiting for the government to put the blame of this foolishnes on the Gandhis. In the last 6 years of their highly inefficient and ineffective regime, all I’ve understood is that if their is a problem, the opposition is responsible and if there is something passingly going fine in the country we must hail Modi.

The leading party is poisoning the body politic of India. The unlocking isn’t going fine. The Economy is dying, there are as always issues related to electricity and water, people don’t have food to eat, the diesal prices are going over the roof, people are dying, hospitals are ineffective, employees are losing their income. In such a situation how can the home minister even dare to say that things are going fine? The only thing the government knows is how to attack students who are trying to raise their voice. It only knows how to attack and suppress people. It only knows oppression. This country is no more a democracy and it will be too late before people realise this. Sad, we are in a sad state.

Why tact is important?

Tact is the ability to keep your point across assertively without being inconsiderate of people’s feelings and reactions, especially when the said point can come off as rude. It enables you to give a difficult feedback and convey sensitive information. Tactful speech can be very helpful, especially in preserving relationships.

Tact involves emotional intelligence, being self-aware as well as socially aware, thoughtfulness, honesty, courtesy and diplomacy.

The ability to apply tact in your speech can provide added benefits to the speaker, in personal as well as professional settings. When a person communicates tactfully, they are able to build credibility and are often perceived as being very polite and honest individuals.

Having a tactful communication skill is usually based on good judgment and a clear understanding of others’ emotions. It is not always easy to be mindful about others, especially while stating some critical thought. If not done right, it can create misunderstandings and even spoil relationships. The best outcome of tact is development of mutual trust and respect.

Every setting is unique and requires dealing with it differently. Though it may come off as a tedious job, people can still inhabit tact and diplomacy if they follow certain practices:

Being attentive to what others are saying and how they are saying will help you understand the tone of the conversation as well as the emotions of the person saying it. When you will hear and analyze the points stated by the said person, you will be able to respond to them better in a coherent manner.

Emotional intelligence and an empathetic nature will lead you to have a better understanding of your emotions as well as others. Additionally, qualities such as compassion and politeness can be used in avoiding an argument.

Assertiveness: The main reason behind using tact is to be assertive without sounding condescending or rude. It is often used to be influential. Being polite shouldn’t negate one’s ability to be assertive.

The key is to understand what is the appropriate behavior in a conversation. Sometimes it is best to withhold your opinions and sometimes it may be necessary to keep a direct stance. Your motive behind a conversation should not be the one where you just want to prove yourself right and the others wrong to such an extent that you may make others’ points feel invalidated. The end of any conversation should be one where all the individuals involved feel represented and respected.

Having great communication skills help you to get out of difficult situations and you end up with a win-win situation.  This may not be easy for all but is certainly attainable with practice just like any other skill.

Female Foeticide

Female foeticide is the abortion of a female foetus outside of legal methods. The frequency of female foeticide in India is increasing day by day. The natural sex ratio is assumed to be between 103 and 107, and any number above it is considered as suggestive of female foeticide. According to the decennial Indian census, the sex ratio in the 0 to 6 age group in India has risen from 102.4 males per 100 females in 1961, to 104.2 in 1980, to 107.5 in 2001, to 108.9 in 2011.
The child sex ratio is within the normal natural range in all eastern and southern states of India, but significantly higher in certain western and particularly northwestern states such as Maharashtra , Haryana , Jammu and Kashmir (118, 120 and 116, as of 2011, respectively). The western states of Maharashtra and Rajasthan 2011 census found a child sex ratio of 113, Gujarat at 112 and Uttar Pradesh at 111.
The Indian Census data suggests there is a positive correlation between abnormal sex ratio and better socio-economic status and literacy. This may be connected to the dowry system in India where dowry deaths occur when a girl is seen as a financial burden. Urban India has higher child sex ratio than rural India according to 1991,2001 and 2011 Census data, implying higher prevalence of female foeticide in urban India. Similarly, child sex ratio greater than 115 boys per 100 girls is found in regions where the predominant majority is Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian; furthermore “normal” child sex ratio of 104 to 106 boys per 100 girls are also found in regions where the predominant majority is Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian. These data contradict any hypotheses that may suggest that sex selection is an archaic practice which takes place among uneducated, poor sections or particular religion of the Indian society.
There is an ongoing debate as to whether these high sex ratios are only caused by female foeticide or some of the higher ratio is explained by natural causes. The Indian government has passed Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PCPNDT) in 1994 to ban and punish prenatal sex screening and female foeticide. It is currently illegal in India to determine or disclose sex of the foetus to anyone. However, there are concerns that PCPNDT Act has been poorly enforced by authorities.
Reasons For Female Foeticide

Various theories have been proposed as possible reasons for sex-selective abortion. Culture is favored by some researchers while some favor disparate gender-biased access to resources. Some demographers question whether sex-selective abortion or infanticide claims are accurate, because underreporting of female births may also explain high sex ratios. Natural reasons may also explain some of the abnormal sex ratios.

Cultural preference

One school of scholars suggest that female foeticide can be seen through history and cultural background. Generally, male babies were preferred because they provided manual labor and success the family lineage. The selective abortion of female fetuses is most common in areas where cultural norms value male children over female children for a variety of social and economic reasons. A son is often preferred as an “asset” since he can earn and support the family; a daughter is a “liability” since she will be married off to another family, and so will not contribute financially to her parents. Female foeticide then, is a continuation in a different form, of a practice of female infanticide or withholding of postnatal health care for girls in certain households. Furthermore, in some cultures sons are expected to take care of their parents in their old age. These factors are complicated by the effect of diseases on child sex ratio, where communicable and non communicable diseases affect males and females differently.

In our society, a handful of successful women enjoy freedom on par with men, there’s a huge majority who have not yet even learnt to dream of possessing such freedom either at home or outside. Mindset of the people needs to be changed and women should be empowered. Then only social evil like female foeticide can be cured.

Need for school to go Digital

With brands like Microsoft, Google and Apple working their way into school systems across the world. Apple most recently extended their ‘Everyone can code’ course, which has been integrated into some schools and educational institutions across the UK and Europe. They are also aiming to bring out a new cheaper version of their iPad, which is targeted at schools and for use within them. Microsoft have multiple programs aimed at students and teachers to bring technology into the classroom and Google have awarded grants to Raspberry Pi. They also support a wide variety of coding programs, all of which offer free teacher training on their products. It’s no surprise that people are wondering the same as us.

Digital natives

Of course, today’s children are more familiar with new technologies, computers and social media. They are commonly referred to as ‘digital natives’. However this doesn’t mean they possess the skills that required to make it in a digital based jobs market. In fact, Education Secretary, Damian Hinds, has said that the schools are need to prepare young people for a digital revolution and a fast-changing jobs market, going on to say that the young people would need to be able to ‘write apps’ as well as use them.

This isn’t purely raising future workers, who are able to build the apps and programming code, instead it is about creating a familiarity with digital working. From job search through application to everyday workplace, digital has become integral to almost every step of recruitment and work journey. Even signing up for benefit support when you are unable to find work requires basic computer literacy and an email address (an issue all in itself and a conversation for another day).

As time goes on it’s becoming clear that the digital is set to be intertwined with modern working, hence why we offer digital transformation as a service to our clients, and the burning questions is how can we make classrooms themselves more digital? Is the potential to take the fundamentals of the digital transformation and apply them to the schools in order to have students working paperless for the majority, if not all, lessons and subjects?

Digital sector growth

In a recent Tech City report (2017), it was reported that; “today more than 2.0 million people are already working within the digital sector, or in digital tech roles across another sectors, while the number of digital technology jobs across the UK has grown at more than twice the rate of non-digital tech sectors.

This factors highlighting the scale of the digital opportunity from a career perspective. But, there are more positives to equipping our younger generations with the digital knowledge they need.

Of course, as a company who work entire digitally, we may be a little biased on the benefits of working this way! However, in contexts where digital is a possibility, that we have identified for schools undergoing digital transformation. 

Three Reasons Students Want Your School to Go Digital

For high school and college administrators, transcripts are a measurement of output; a sort of receipt of learning services rendered. Students aren’t so transactional. For them, transcripts are the first professional documents they’ll need for a lifetime in and around the workforce.

Here are three ways students are using transcripts today, and why easy access to them matters more than ever:

  1.               Employers are taking a greater interest in college performance. A 2013 survey of more than 200 institutions from the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that two-thirds of companies screened candidates by their grade point average (GPA)1. Yet they don’t stop there. Facebook is among the top-tier employers who look at the level of coursework students have completed in both high school and college before even considering them for a position2. Having access to an accurate transcript can be the key to getting hired. Kansas State University can attest to the need. The university switched to eTranscripts three years ago in order to better serve current students, yet it’s “former students who take the most advantage of the [system],” said Barbara Nagel, KSU Assistant Registrar for Office Operations.
  2.               Higher education has changed. While some are heeding investor Peter Thiel’s advice to skip college and start a company, others are staying in school longer and switching institutions to find the best fit. Overall, the rate of individuals enrolled in undergraduate and post-baccalaureate programs jumped 52 percent between 1990 and 2014, the National Center for Education Statistics reports.3 Fast-shifting and interrupted collegiate experiences aren’t easily tracked, which explains why students want online access to academic records at all times.
  3.               Students are already going digital. Young people aren’t waiting around for institutions to meet their demands. Instead, they’re hacking solutions — just what you’d expect from a generation that’s grown up with technology that’s built for on-demand service. (Think of Netflix and Google, for starters.) According to a recent Parchment survey, 55 percent of students say they scan paper transcripts in order to create shareable copies. Some went so far as saying they want to share their records on social media.

Serving Beyond the Classroom

All three points should serve notice to credentialing universities, yet a majority aren’t getting the message. The same Parchment survey in which students said they were already scanning transcripts to share online found that only 43 percent of awarding institutions will issue these documents digitally within the next five years, and that’s despite a majority of students — 58 percent, to be specific — saying that they want to access and share transcripts digitally.

University administrators need to be mindful of this gap. Registrars need digital tools if they’re to serve a generation of students who, thanks to technology, have never had more options when it comes to higher learning.

Care and COVID…..

I think Robert Frost once said that it doesn’t matter what happens but life goes on, which quite makes a lot of ripples in the recess of our conscious mind if we think about the present scenario so is it just me or everybody thinking that we should take COVID-19 a bit more seriously than the way we are considering it right now as by taking into account the amount of riots happening, people still doing all sort of careless things amidst the massively increasing numbers of corona virus cases with a cure or a vaccine nowhere to be seen. So yes this is a good optimistic mentality that we should live on no matter what but being this callous at a time when a virus is reaching it’s peak is not decisive and wise at all if you are wondering what I’m talking about I’m speaking about the raising number of cases this world is seeing because of covid but still people are not taking it serious enough as by roaming without masks, eating outdoors and also in places where hygienic condition are not even close to the mark which are set by govt for outdoor eateries. Well I’m not saying that to stop the riots which is supposed to eradicate an issue which is like a dark spot on the canvas of humanity but people should take care of themselves amidst the adrenaline and the patriotism in a riot for humanity.

To be frank I think there is not a single soul in this whole wide earth who is feeling good about this lock down even though everybody used to like holidays but this pandemic has shown us something more powerful than anything existent in this universe that’s our humanity and our conscious choices which we used to make, are making and let’s hope we will always make in the future not only for ones own betterment but for all people who we feel as our near and dears. This pandemic taught us that humanity can face anything if we fight it together with unity determination and a sense of patience and the most important thing that we learnt that our beloved mother nature can heal from any atrocities and damage as life will always find a way through any gospel walls of terror if you give it a chance to heal and recover. So after like three to four months of this drama I think we all need a break to restart what we left long ago as it doesn’t matter from where you belong to or who you live with we all have that routine which we used to follow before lock down which I’m pretty sure had some parts of outdoor and nature in it so the only thing which we can do right now is to look after ourselves and to protect ourselves because that is the only way how we can protect others too as in manner avoid public gatherings which are not made by respecting the social distancing norms, use a mask regularly as it helps a lot if you don’t have any then a clean handkerchief will also do the trick, use and carry a sanitizer at all times and when you come hope wash your hands for at least twenty seconds with any kind of soap or hand washes, if gymnasiums are open then take proper care of yourself and make sure the gym owners are following all of the safety norms for the safety of the gym goers as workout is necessary not only for leisure but for a good lifestyle so do go to the gyms, if you are eating outdoors then make sure social distancing is maintained and if delivery is your cue then order from restaurants who are maintaining a proper hygiene and if you wanna support local business then educate them about the govt’s norms and safety standards so that they can help themselves to help you to get really tasty street food and the rest like a place’s tourism industry and other entertainment industries and all have to wait for sometimes as of now every country’s economy is in smithereens so it will take some time to recover but we will get through this together as one big, bold and happy family.

Colours or cure?

All of us are enchanted by colours. None of us can discount how a bright colourful painting or a vibrant coloured room has uplifted our mood at some point or the other. Just try to recall how mesmerized you were to see a beautiful flower bloom or the sudden bliss you felt on seeing a pretty butterfly in your garden. The one thing which is common between the flowers and butterflies is that both are colourful.

Colours are all around us. Whether or not we pay attention to it, but colours have a profound impact on us. Colours can have a major impact on our physical and mental health. Different colours have different affect and understanding that can help to deal with various mental and physical conditions.

Colour Therapy

Colour Therapy is an idea which believes that, the colour one is surrounded by has direct impact on their physical as well as mental health. Different colours have different impact on the person. According to the colour theory, every colour hue ranging from white to black has different affects on how an individual thinks, behaves and interacts with the world around them.

Researches has showed that different colours have different healing power. This is the major reason why we usually find a pattern of colours in hospitals and health care centres. White and green are used in common ward because of their calming effect, whereas children ward has bright colours to give them a moral boast.
Colour Therapy is also known as chromo therapy. It is the use of different shades and hues to affect the wellbeing. Since each colour has unique light and wavelength, colour therapy principal uses the energy of each shade to improve your mental and physical wellbeing.

Common colours and impacted

• White is a colour which is mostly associated with purity and clarity. This colour helps the body by purifying it and the mind by providing it much needed clarity.
• Red: The colour red stands for passion. Red helps strengthen, stimulates and adds passion to your work. Adding red in your outfit can improve your confidence level on a daily basis.
• Yellow: Surrounding yourself with the colour yellow can help you boast your inner power, positive and level of happiness. For physical health, the colour yellow has positive impacts on nervous and digestive system.
• Blue: Blue is a colour which has a great impact on physical and mental wellbeing. It is a colour which is associated with intelligence, trust and ability to find tranquillity in life. Blue also helps people who suffer from hiccups, sores and even asthma.
• Green: The colour we usually associate with nature, green is highly effective to restore a sense of balance, harmony, security and safety. It helps in reducing our anxiety level and at the same time has positive effect on heart health.
• Orange: The colour orange is extremely helpful in boasting confidence and energy. It is a colour that encourages. It helps to improve the condition of your liver. It also has antidepressant qualities. It also help in pumping up our creativity level.
• Purple: Purple can give a sense of power, increase peace of mind and strengthen spirituality. This colour is also related to relaxation and creativity.


Every colour has a great impact on your lives and we need to incorporate each effectively.

7 Must-Read Tips for New Grads

In celebration of Herzing University’s 50 year anniversary, we asked 50 graduates to share their story. Some made us laugh, and some made us cry. But they all had a couple of things in common: resilience against the odds and an unwavering faith in the power of a college education.
One of our favorite questions to ask our alumni is, “What’s your advice to new graduates?” We loved the responses we received. Read on and be inspired!

1) Follow your passion

“If your career fills you to the brim and over with compassion, passion, a desire to help someone else, a sense of fulfillment, happiness and gratitude, then you’re in the right place…keep following your dream,” says Carla Harrison, Therapeutic Massage graduate and owner of The Massage Center in Omaha, Nebraska. 

2) Don’t be afraid to start at the bottom

Amber Hill Reese, Legal Assisting graduate and Paralegal at Stewart, Seay & Felton Trial Attorneys, gives this raw (and real) advice: “Intern as much as possible and be willing to start at the bottom and work your way up!”

3) Find a company that aligns with your career goals

“Never stop looking for new opportunities,” says Dan Scrivner, Healthcare Management graduate and Inventory Specialist at Fairview Health Services. “Getting a degree is hard work, but executives and people successful in their chosen careers don’t achieve anything by being stagnant.” And, like the cherry on top of the ice cream: “Look for companies that will allow for healthy career advancement and won’t put a limit on your dreams.”

4) Have a winning mindset every day

Julie Glassmoyer, Surgical Technology graduate and Certified Surgical Technologist at the Toledo Hospital, says, “Treat each day as an interview. You never know who is around!”

5) Take advantage of university resources

Here’s a piece of advice that we like LOVE from Craig Harmel, Electronic & Computer Technology graduate and a Sr. Open Systems Analyst at WPS Health Insurance: “Take advantage of Herzing’s Career Development Department.”

6) Be proud of how far you’ve come

Natascha Long, Business Administration graduate and Service Delivery Analyst at Covance, inspires us with: “Be proud of your accomplishments, you’ve worked hard to get where you are today. Now empower yourself to get where you aspire to be. Don’t be afraid to embrace new challenges and change.”

7) Make finding your dream job a full-time job

“Be relentless with applications, follow-up letters, etc.,” says James Flagerdebenavente, Medical Assisting graduate and Certified Medical Assistant at the University of Toledo Medical Center. “Never forget that everyone you meet may one day become part of your professional circle and write a glowing letter of recommendation. Always wear your game face!”
To learn more from our amazing graduates, check out our 50 Years 50 Grads Project. If you’re a grad with a story to share, fill out our survey here
Amy Chastek is the former Director of Graduate and Community Relations at Herzing University. You can reach the Career Development Team at careerdevelopment@herzing.edu   

Most Sought-after Skills at this very second

Article: Is Skill Development the Right Choice? — People Matters

There was a time when the only choice the Indian teenagers had when it came down to an engineer or a doctor. Anything else was looked down on. The parents picked one of two options right when a child was born and made sure that he or she got into the field of their choice at any cost. It was a difficult time, no doubts but the good news is that time is over now. Most teenagers pick their own fields and profession and what they want to learn is their choice. 

There is a huge variety of fields that can be picked by an individual and having a government job isn’t the basic necessity anymore. People join corporates, do freelancing and start their own businesses everyday. Everything starts on a small scale and everything has the potential to shoot up and become a global success. The stories of self made people become an inspiration to many who are yet to enter the field of their choice.

New technologies are introduced that make our lives better and these technologies also bring with them an array of new skills that need to be learnt to support the new technology. Learning these skills can fetch you a good job and you can also make your place as a popular freelancer. These skills could also become your USP and make you stand out from the crowd.

Read about Personal USP here.

Given below is a list of skills that have high demand in the market as of now.

  • Project Management

It is time to hone your leadership skills. Courses in project management can last from a year to six months and once you become certified, you can lead a team of people through a project. The main challenge of a project manager is to achieve the goals in specific time.

Read about Virtual Teams here.

  • Coding

New and more efficient computers are getting developed everyday and the demand of people who can speak the language of computers is ever so high. The job of a coder is to tell a computer what task it needs to perform. Coders also play an important role in the development of beautiful websites and interesting apps that we come across in daily life.

  • Copywriting

All the advertising and the marketing efforts that makes you buy a product or service has been done by a copywriter. He is the creative mastermind and can make or break a brand. As long as there will be selling, there will also be a requirement of a copywriter.

  • Public Speaking

You have to have the skill of public speaking, regardless of your profession, in order to rise to heights. This skill is tested when you are a speaker in a conference, you have to present your work in front of your bosses or when you want to convince a group of investors into funding your startup. 

  • SEO and Google Analytics

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is important because what is the point of having a beautiful website if it doesn’t get viewed by potential customers. SEO makes your site more visible when a person looks up keywords that are relevant to your sites, on search engines like Google. With the knowledge of Google Analytics, one can use the data about the audience of the site and make important decisions accordingly.

Read about IoT and Big Data here.

  • Digital Marketing

Social media has become the new playground for businesses to aggressively advertise their offerings at. Most people use Facebook and Instagram, instant messaging apps like Whatsapp, email and browse through internet pages for both work and fun. Using these mediums for selling has become very important.

  • Excel Knowledge

Excel is something that almost all of us have already come across in school when we learnt its basic functions. With exceptional Excel skills one can get hired as financial analyst, sales manager, accountant and information clerk. Even things like data entry in spreadsheets require people with knowledge of Excel.

  • Web Development

Almost all organisations, from government to private, have a web page that has been developed by a professional web developer but that’s not his only job. A web developer makes all kinds of sites like social networking and e-commerce sites for both the internet or the intranet.

What is your USP?

Sameness or Uniqueness? Designing effective brand experiences ...

The competition is getting fiercer with every passing day as new things are introduced and the world population is on a rise. Living a good life isn’t as easy as it used to be years ago when unemployment wasn’t as high as it is now. Every man fights several men everyday to make his place in this highly competitive world and fights even more to safeguard his place from the new entrants and improved competitors. There’s no end to this struggle. 

Unique Selling Proposition or USP in short, is a business term for a quality that sets your business apart in a market full of competitors that are more or less similar to you but they too cannot copy that quality of yours. It is what differentiates your business and makes the consumers want to try and buy what you are selling and choose your brand over competitor brands. 

Tata Group is one of top Indian Companies and the USP of Tata Motors is that they are fuel efficient and easy to drive. An environmentally conscious customer might buy a Tata vehicle because oil is a nonrenewable resource and an economical person might buy it because of fluctuating prices of oil. Ease of driving will please any and everyone. This is what sets Tata motors apart from the other automobile companies of the country.

The business term ‘USP’ is not specific to just businesses anymore because every single person is competing against the world full of people for a seat, a job, a promotion, for power and a variety of other things. The fact is that there will never come a time when the competition will lower or become steady and ‘survival of the fittest’ is actually ‘survival of the best’ now. Every person who is fighting out there needs to have an eccentric weapon of some sort – a quality that is impossible or extremely difficult for other fighters to imitate – to have any chance at winning the everyday battle that the world is. 

Read: Most Sought-after Skills at this very second

When you are trying to get into anything, be it an interview for a job or starting a new venture, ask yourself what sets you apart? It is possible to not find a unique skill or quality in yourself when you start looking but it is also not impossible to develop a few. Hard work can do wonders. Start with making a list of all the skills and qualities that you have and be honest to yourself. You can’t just say that something like overcoming challenges is one of your qualities without actually embodying that passion and zeal. There could be some skills in that list that you could work on further and master to make them your USP. You can also pick a skill randomly that you think you can master and others cannot but it should be consistent with the place you want to enter for it to differentiate you from other entrants. 

I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.

Elon Musk

Vidya Lakshami Portal

The Government of India has brought various financing schemes for higher education, a significant one being the Vidya Lakshmi portal. Students can apply for education loan to multiple financial institutions with one application on this portal. Vidya lakshmi Portal is a Central IT-based Education Loan portal to provide student finance services for young Indians. It is an interface that helps students to apply for student loan online through a centralized website. Vidyalakshmi Portal is a one stop solution for students looking for study loan information. Not only can you apply for Education Loans on Vidyalakshmi Website but also compare student loan services, apply for education loan interest subsidy and even refinance your studebt loan.

Under this scheme, students can apply for an Education Loan through a common application form CELAF. Track your application status online at this portal. Or, find the government scholarships through the National Scholarship Portal link it provides.

Register on the portal first to apply for this loan. Proceed with Vidyalakshmi login details, and fill up the common application form. Apply to a maximum of three financial institutions with that same application form depending on the eligibility and needs. On approval, loan disbursal happens directly from the concerned institution.

The Vidyalakshmi Education Loan interest rates offered by various institutions follow the guidelines issued by the RBI and IBA, concerning the standard lending rates. It may vary from one institution to another.

While the Vidyalakshmi Loan is a convenient financing option for higher education, it may not always suffice the cost of education. Seeking admission to overseas universities may be far costlier.

How to apply for Educational loan through Vidya Lakshmi?

  • The applicant must register and login to Vidya Lakshmi portal and then fill-up the Common Education Loan Application Form (CELAF) by providing all the necessary details.
  • After filling the form, the applicant can search for Educational Loan and APPLY as per his/her needs, eligibility and convenience.
  • Alternatively, the applicant can also search for Educational Loan after login and apply for the suitable Educational Loan by filling the *CELAF.

*What is Common Educational Loan Application Form (CELAF)?

The Common Educational Loan Application Form is the single form which students can fill to apply for Educational Loan to multiple banks / schemes. CELAF is the application form prescribed by Indian Banks Association (IBA) and accepted by all banks. This form is provided on Vidya Lakshmi portal to apply for Educational loan.

Vidyalakshmi Portal is a Central IT-based Education Loan portal to provide student finance services for young Indians. It is an interface that helps students to apply for student loan online through a centralized website. Vidyalakshmi allows students to apply for multiple banks with a single Vidyalakshmi common education loan application form (CELAF). This is also helps students in managing their Education Loan Status on Vidyalakshmi Portal and keeps the information of applicant/student/parents safe with the government. All of it can be done without visiting the bank and online.

Vidyalakshmi Portal is a one stop solution for students looking for study loan information. Not only can you apply for Education Loans on Vidyalakshmi Website but also compare student loan services, apply for education loan interest subsidy and even refinance your studebt loan.

VidyaLakshmi Education Loan Portal: Banks List

Almost all Indian Banks that are member of Indian Banking Association are obligated to provide loans to students. This includes Government-Private Banks, and even NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Institutions) and other entities.

Currently there are 36 Indian Banks enlisted with the Vidyalakshmi Education Loan Schemes providing 96 different types of loans for education of students. The different schemes appeal to the needs of students from different region, education levels, institutions and courses.

A detailed list of all these schemes and banks is mentioned belowVidyalakshmi Banks ListVidyalakshmi Education Loan Schemes (Each Bank)

Abhyudaya :- Cooperative Bank Limited Educational Loan Under The Scheme Of Abhyudaya Gyan

Bank limited :- Vardhini

Allahabad Bank :- Education Loan

Andhra Bank :- Dr. Pattabhi Vidya Jyothi Scheme

Axis Bank :- Axis Bank Education Loan Scheme

Bank Of Baroda :- Baroda Gyan
Baroda Scholar Baroda Education Loan To Students Of Premier Institutions Baroda Vidya
Baroda Education Loan For Executive Development Programmes (India)
Baroda Education Loan For Executive Development Programmes (Abroad)
Skill Loan Scheme

Bank Of India :- BOI Star Education Loan Scheme

Bank Of Maharashtra :- Model Educational Loan Scheme

Canara Bank :- IBAS Model Education Loan Scheme For Study In India And Abroad IBA Skill Loan Scheme

EXAM STRESS MANAGEMENT!

Stress is the body’s normal reaction to a compromising circumstance, and stress causes the arrival of hormones, for example, adrenaline, that set up the body for its instinctual reaction to a danger: flight, battle or freeze. The adrenaline makes forms in your body change, for instance, your breathing and pulse animate, your faculties hone, muscles fix and your circulatory strain is raised. These progressions permit your response time to build, which could mean the distinction among life and demise. In any case, numerous individuals, including understudies, live in distressing circumstances consistently, and this has a negative impact of their wellbeing. Stress is normal for understudies. The progress from secondary school to school can become distressing on the grounds that they’re choosing what they need to accomplish for their future. The absence of groundwork for adulthood while picking the correct major for somebody can get unpleasant. When somebody picks their degree, at that point they should take classes to get them to the degree. At the point when understudies step into reality recognizing what classes to take can get overpowering. Undergrads must realize how to perceive and oversee worry in these circumstances to get fruitful at what they need to accomplish.

Components causing test related pressure: One of the fundamental driver of test related pressure is the… show increasingly content…

There is a dread of frustrating an individual, for example, a relative with helpless scholarly outcomes from tests, or not being acknowledged into a tertiary foundation. This dread inspires the understudy to progress admirably, yet additionally makes pressure due to the idea of not accomplishing good grades or being dismissed from their optimal college in light of low test results.

Deficient test planning is a significant reason for test related pressure on the grounds that the understudy feels like there isn’t sufficient opportunity to consider everything, thus they lose rest in light of stress or concentrating late into the night. There are sentiments of dejection and a feeling of being overpowered by the measure of work to examine. Likewise, a minute ago examining brings down the opportunity of the realities being recollected, which builds tension and worry during test time. An absence of rest before a test, just as not having an appropriate breakfast or nutrient enhancement additionally expands feelings of anxiety in light of the fact that the understudy is worn out, fractious, stressed and the understudy’s safe framework debilitates during unpleasant occasions, for example, tests, expanding their opportunity of becoming ill.

Examination stress can be a genuine issue, particularly when the pressure arrives at a tallness where anxiety dominates and the up-and-comer can’t concentrate on the test questions and put forth a valiant effort. Be that as it may, there are steps you can take to keep worry at a reasonable level.

Conventional techniques, for example, creating improved considering and assessment taking abilities can have a critical effect. Stress the board and physical human services empower the victim to decrease his feeling of anxiety.

Examination stress is regularly rewarded utilizing ordinary physician recommended medication. While there is a spot for professionally prescribed drug, thought and alert ought to be taken in regards to conceivable symptoms.

Pride month in India

India is a country where prejudices takes time to establish their identity. Article 377 took many years to decriminalize it. Many LGBTQ community were proud and now this July they celebrate pride month. People who belong to this community took years to come about pf the social norms and took pride in it. Many baba are telling they can provide cure of homosexuality and are influencing people in wrong way. Thus many people are spreading awareness to the society so that people who belong to the community do not feel discouraged

Every year, during the month of June, the LGBT community celebrates in a number of different ways. Across the globe, various events are held during this special month as a way of recognising the influence LGBT people have had around the world. Why was June chosen? Because it is when the Stonewall Riots took place, way back in 1969.

As well as being a month long celebration, Pride month is also an opportunity to peacefully protest and raise political awareness of current issues facing the community. Parades are a prominent feature of Pride month, and there are many street parties, community events, poetry readings, public speaking, street festivals and educational sessions all of which are covered by mainstream media and attracting millions of participants.

Even though mental health professionals consider homosexuality as a normal variation of human sexuality, society still fails to accept them and as a result, people of these communities strive to survive in this predominantly heterosexual world.
Gay men and lesbians are human beings and they have the same needs and desires as heterosexuals. God or any superpower has got nothing to do with it. It should be up to individuals to decide if he or she wants to follow what their religion says or whether the individuals prefer to remain as homosexuals.

Furthermore, the Indian Government is already facing both domestic and international pressures. In a nation where neoliberalism is on the rise, the ‘homosexual question’ cannot be avoided for a long time and it should recognise both sovereignty and sexuality together.

The right approach to deal with same-sex marriages is still oblivious. Here, one needs to observe that society criminalising same-sex relationships is not the ideal situation. The fact is it helps nobody, least of all the LGBTQ people.


INTRODUCTION TO DEPRESSION!

Depression or sadness is the regular cold of mental issue — a great many people will be influenced by despondency in their lives either legitimately or by implication, through a companion or relative. Disarray about depression or sadness is ordinary, e.g., with respect to what gloom precisely is and what makes it not quite the same as simply feeling down.

There is additionally disarray encompassing the numerous kinds of discouragement that individuals experience — uni polar sadness, natural despondency, hyper misery, occasional successful issue, oppressed world, and so on. There have been such a significant number of terms used to depict this arrangement of emotions we’ve all felt at once or another in our lives, it might be hard to comprehend the distinction between simply being blue and having clinical wretchedness.

Depression or sadness or discouragement is described by various regular side effects. These incorporate an industrious pitiful, restless, or “void” disposition, and sentiments of misery or negativity that endures almost consistently, for quite a long time. An individual who is discouraged additionally frequently has sentiments of blame, uselessness, and weakness. They no longer enjoy intrigue or leisure activities and exercises that were once delighted in; this may incorporate things like going out with companions or even sex. Sleep deprivation, early-daytime arousing, and sleeping in are largely normal.

These emotions aren’t only a passing state of mind that disappears in a couple of days all alone. Rather, they remain with an individual for a considerable length of time (at any rate fourteen days, all together it to be analyzed). The indications of wretchedness don’t simply create out of nowhere, either. They for the most part please an individual through the span of half a month, a tad at once. It very well may be deceptive in the unobtrusive manner that downturn begins to surpass an individual’s life. A few people even experience the ill effects of mellow manifestations before it turns out to be out and out gloom.

Hunger as well as weight reduction or gorging and weight addition might be indications of despondency in certain individuals. Numerous others experience diminished vitality, weakness, and a steady sentiment of being “eased back down.” Thoughts of death or self destruction are normal in those experiencing serious sadness. Fretfulness and crabbiness among the individuals who have sadness is normal. An individual who is discouraged likewise experiences issues thinking, recollecting, and inconvenience deciding. Also, at times, tireless physical manifestations that don’t react to customary medicines —, for example, cerebral pains, stomach related scatters, and incessant torment — might be indications of a burdensome sickness.

How to develop your skill set to advance your Career

A skill set is a combination of abilities, qualities and experiences you can apply to perform tasks well. These can include soft skills such as interpersonal skills, organization and leadership as well as technical skills such as research, computer programming, accounting writing and more.

Spending time on improving your ki skills can help you achieve personal career goals such as earning a promotion or becoming an expert on a certain topic. Your skill set can be applied to progress in your current career or expanded to earn a job in a different field or industry.

What is a skill set?

A skill set is a collection of skills and abilities. Each person has a different skill set depending on their interests, natural abilities, personal qualities and technical skills. Skills can expand your professional competency and allow you to perform your job well.

You can gain and improve skills with education and experience. The more advanced you are in performing certain skills, the more likely you are to get or progress in a job.

Types of skill sets

There are two main types of skills that make up your skill set—soft skills and hard skills.

Soft skills generally pertain to interpersonal skills and other personality traits that allow you to communicate and work with others. Soft skills are also transferable, which means they are valuable for any job no matter the industry.

Examples of soft skills

Adaptability
Communication
Conflict resolution
Creativity
Decision making
Leadership
Motivation
Teamwork
Time management
Hard skills, also known as technical skills, are capabilities you use to perform a task related to a specific job. You can gain or improve these skills through training, tutorials and practice.

Examples of hard skills

Accounting
Copywriting
Data analysis
Event planning
Foreign language fluency
Graphic design
Information technology
Mathematics
SEO/SEM marketing
Read more: Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills

One considerable difference between hard skills and soft skills during the hiring process is that you can list and verify hard skills, while soft skills are typically displayed during in-person interviews. If certain soft skills are relevant and required for a certain job, you might consider listing these on your resume alongside your technical skills.

Hard and soft skills can be further broken down into the following groups:

Hybrid skills are a combination of hard and soft skills—many employers expect individuals to have both to succeed. A good example of a hybrid skill is customer service. While you need to have exceptional soft skills such as communication and conflict resolution, you might also be expected to be proficient with spreadsheets or a specific customer service management system.
Transferable skills are skills that apply to any job, no matter the level or industry. Transferable skills are typically soft skills such as problem-solving and communication, and sometimes hard skills, such as mathematics and writing.
Job-specific skills are the capabilities required for a certain position including both hard and soft skills. You usually gain these through education or on-the-job experience. Pay attention to the job description when searching for jobs to understand what job-specific skills the employer expects from their ideal candidate.

How to determine your skills

When searching for a job, displaying your most advanced, relevant skills on your resume will help employers understand why you are a good fit for the job. If you are not sure what skills you have, consider spending time answering the following questions:

What do you enjoy? The tasks that come easily to you or that you enjoy often translate into useful skills. For example, teaching people or those around you solve problems can translate to strong communication, active listening and problem-solving skills.
Do you receive praise or compliments on certain abilities? Consider the skills your managers or colleagues have noticed or complimented in the past. For example, you may have received high scores for teamwork on a performance review. You should also take note of what people come to you for help on.
What previous accomplishments do you have? Consider the times when you accomplished something at work, big or small. You might have won an award or simply completed a project that had better-than-expected results. What skills helped you to do those things?

How to develop new skills

If you want a job in an industry that requires different skills than those you currently have, there are many ways to expand your skill set or to develop your current skills for a better chance at promotions or raises.

Here are several ways you can develop professional skills:

Set goals for yourself. Setting specific goals to improve your career helps you stay on track with your development. Make sure your goals are measurable, achievable and relevant to your profession or your goals. Then, consider organizing a timeline to achieve your goal by setting a beginning and end date, as well as smaller goals to achieve along the way.
Find a mentor. A professional mentor is typically a superior you respect and trust. Once you find your mentor, you can reach out for informal meetings, which can then naturally develop into a professional relationship.
Seek feedback about strengths and weaknesses. You can ask superiors, colleagues or even friends or family about your strengths and areas for improvement. It is important to seek feedback from people who will give you honest critiques rather than automatic praise. Once you identify your weaknesses, you can focus on developing those skills.
Review job descriptions for positions you want. These job descriptions will give you an idea of the transferable skills you have, as well as the job-specific skills you will need. Once you identify the skills you need, you can research job shadowing or education programs that can provide you with the necessary skill set to transition into that position.
Enroll in an online degree program. Companies often encourage employees to further their education with a degree, and some offer tuition assistance or reimbursement. If you are advancing your career with a related program, such as accounting and finance, you may also find that many of your credits are transferable.
Take continuing education courses in career-related fields. These courses are often taught by professionals with experience in their field. For some professions, continuing education courses are required to stay current in the industry. Many colleges and universities offer continuing education courses in a variety of fields.
Take advantage of company training. Many companies use independent training departments with experts in different fields that train on specialized skill sets. Check in with your supervisor about what your company has to offer and which courses would be especially beneficial for your professional growth.
Participate in job shadowing. Job shadowing is a great way to learn more about the day-to-day responsibilities of another profession and to learn new skills. Generally, it is best to choose individuals who are experienced or perform well in their positions. Job shadowing usually involves following a professional while they perform their job duties and learning about different skills.
Join a professional association in your field. In a group setting, you have the opportunity to converse with colleagues about your industry and to discover skills you may want to develop. These professional associations are usually available on local, state, national and international levels.

Which skills to include on your resume

To determine which skills to list on your resume, carefully review the job description. This will include both the technical and soft skills the employer is looking for in their ideal candidate. It is important that you include the technical skills they list if they align with your own personal skill set. Technical skills show your potential employer that you have the necessary training or education for a particular role. Depending on the role, you might also list relevant soft skills on your resume.

You should also include any skills that you feel set you apart from other candidates. For example, you might include that you have strong relationship-building skills. While this skill might not necessarily be required for an IT job, for example, IT administrators can be even more successful with strong interpersonal skills.

Your resume should only include the most relevant skill sets for the job role you seek. Remember to consider your skills in each of the following categories:

Job posting skills: Skills, qualities and traits listed in the job description. Include accomplishments that verify these skills in your professional history section.
Transferable skills: These are the key skills that can be used in multiple jobs, such as basic computer programs or team building.
Job-related skills: These are the skills that are required for you to perform a certain job, such as accounting or computer programming.
Adaptive skills: These are the personal traits or skills you use in daily life, such as patience or confidence. Example of adaptive skills includes relationship building, the ability to learn quickly, flexibility, coachability, responsibility and more.
Skills from others in the industry: Find more skills by looking at examples of other professionals who are in the same field. This will give you an idea of what skills and abilities are valued by employers.
Universal skills: These may include skills like critical thinking or punctuality. It is typically good to add a few of these, but do not oversell yourself. Only a few universal skills are needed. If you have more technical skills relevant to the position, put those down instead.

TECHNOLOGY AND CREATIVITY

World runs fast. From nothing to everything, various changes are made quickly. There is nothing impossible these days. All these are done by one thing and that is technology. Due to the continuous development and discovery of several things, mostly everything can be seen and learned by us in our home itself. It is a huge achievements of all humans. But when there is something, there will always be some disadvantages. This technology of today may give many things we need but it fails to improve creativity.

ADDICTIVE

People over millions are using gadgets everyday. There is no person without a single electronic item. Hence automatically the gadgets and equipment are slowly dominating us and it is making us addictive to it. Even a single hour, one cannot resist himself from seeing the gadgets. Moreover people are playing games in the gadgets and over millions are fond of playing those. And hence automatically the brain and thinking ability of most of us are decreasing. Its tough job to be in control of using the gadgets, but one has to be in control.

OVER USAGE CAUSES PROBLEMS

People are continuously using the gadgets for about hours. Even tough the gadget gets heated, the user continuously uses the equipment. This is the power of addiction. And when one effectively using these products, the creativity and the thinking ability decreases. So be in control, know the hours of using gadgets and make sure that you sleep 8 hours a day and read books. Because if you practice at least these two , the imagination can be increased.

CONCLUSION

“BE HAPPY IN THE REAL WORLD, COZ IF YOU DON’T YOU WILL LOSE THE REALITY”.

Art of Forgiving and Forgetting

Life is short. Many chapters and episodes have to be experienced and enjoyed you. If you struck in one episode then life will be incomplete and it will not be a good ending. If you need to enjoy life, you have to know about two things, Forgiving and Forgetting. If you master it, then you will no longer experience the pain and sufferings. You will lead a happy and healthy life and you will also finish the life series.

Forgive

Life is just a examination. All will not succeed. There will be errors and mistakes in everyone and it is nature. You cannot live a life without mistakes. And you have to accept others mistakes also. If you don’t accept others mistake then there will be no happiness inside you. There will be sufferings alone. If you cannot live without mistakes then how you expect others not to do mistakes. So don’t take too seriously to your heart and take pain. Just leave it, forgive the person and lead a happy life from this second!

Forget that

The first part ends there nicely. But it will come along you until you forget that. So from now on, try to forget that and be happy. Because if you don’t forget, the memory will follow you until your deathbed. Hence make your mind, be strong, and delete that memory. Be a happy person. Look worls in a different manner.

Conclusion

“ONE LIFE MAN, DON’T FIGHT ANYONE, BE HAPPY, LIVE HAPPY!!!”

Likes or life ?

We are all aware of the satisfying feeling we get when our post gets increasing number of likes. Most of us are guilty of posting everything on social media, be it a good picture, meal at a fancy restaurant, an achievement, an artwork, almost everything. Scrolling through your feed, checking the number of likes on your recently uploaded picture and finding that is has more likes than the previous one, gives immense happiness, and no we cannot disagree to that.

Researches have shown that the part of brain that get activated when we get a reward, say a chocolate or money, also gets activated when we see a large number of likes on our posts. Psychologist Emma Kenny explain, “ It’s a reward cycle, you get a squirt of dopamine every time you get a like or positive response on social media.”

Impact of social media validation

Most of us have at some point or the other deleted pictures from our social media. Not because we didn’t liked the picture, but because we were unhappy with the number of likes it received. More than our opinions what mattered was the social media validation.

Social media likes have made us less confident as individuals. As a generation we have started believing that others opinions are facts. More than posting for our happiness, we post for the likes and comments of others. We are all aware of the sudden hit of insecurity when our post do not get the amount of like we expected.
Social media has started affecting the self esteem of individuals, especially teenagers. Instead of being confident of our growth, we seek people’s approval. If you belong to that part of the population who constantly delete posts depending on the number of likes they get, then social media has negatively impacted your self esteem.

How much does others care about your post?

Not everyone who likes our post are actually concerned about the content. For most clicking the like button is a thoughtless action. We ourselves do the same while liking others picture, but then what makes us so insecure when our post gets less likes?
Psychologist Emma Kenny has related it to the inbuilt narcissistic instincts of an individual. We perceive the things that affect us differently than what affects other. We subconsciously do believe that our posts are better and interesting in comparison to others, and as a consequence we believe that the likes we receive are authentic.

Impacts of social media

Just like a coin, social media too has two faces. Social media connect people, give people opportunities and helps people deal with loneliness. However in recent times it does more bad than good. Using social media in wrong way has led to a multitude of mental health issues.

People using social media have reported more cases of loneliness. Reports suggest using social media for more than two hours can increase loneliness rather than reducing it. People especially women are likely at higher risk of mental issues resulting from overuse of social media. They display greater level of insecurity and paranoia. It can also result in depression and anxiety disorders.

Conclusion

Instead of using social media as a tool of inspiration, motivation and aspirations, we use it against ourselves. If social media is making us feel vulnerable, then it is worth taking break from this virtual world. We as individuals hold the steering wheel of our life, if we let social media to dictate us directions, it will most definitely backfire. We need to live a life for ourselves and not just for likes.

Is Technology Limiting Creativity

The term imagination is a hard word to describe. It can have a range of meanings, but creativity refers in its sense to the act of creating something original, creative or special through the use of thought. Creative thinking is often seen as the opposite of functions or disciplines requiring logic or being constrained by facts. Of course this is not necessarily true. But creative fields are widely believed to require creativity, while scientific fields do not. People often think that creativity is a chaotic, unforeseen, man-made phenomenon, while scientific research, math and machinery are bound by a set of substantive rules.

This has led to people sharing the paranoia that increasing society’s reliance on technology will limit creative thinking. When the question is presented, ‘Technology is limiting creativity,’ many people agree – yes, it is. In a recent report, Is Technology Killing Creativity, the author asserts that the point of the argument is often that we sacrifice original thinking to keep oneself constantly captivated.  Then the writer goes on to say, if we can find anything online anywhere, we don’t give ourselves opportunity to solve problems and invent on our own.

Technology Enhances Creativity - Lauren Cho - Medium

Although it’s undeniably true that most people use smartphones and the Internet to flood their lives with idle time, the other side of an argument, though, is that technology actually redefines innovation. Of course, the concern is that adolescents have replaced conventionally imaginative hobbies such as painting, creating, and playing with passive computer behaviours such as gaming. Yet, given the fact that contemporary children do have higher media consumption levels than any previous generation, it is not necessarily true that imagination is lacking in their computer activities. Many kids use the internet to write blogs, create websites or dabbling in coding.

The emergence of technology and smartphones in particular has led to many specific recommendations that our dependency on these tools is killing creativity. This is not a new thought-people suggested that technology had long ago extinguished creative impulses. This was television and video games when I was a kid that were to bring down imaginations everywhere.

What’s the deal, then? Back in 1932, Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World, where he proposed a future in which living beings sat a constant desire for technological distraction. Thought could be kept at bay, because by trying to distract ourselves with our electronic gadgets we would simply zap any boredom. Often this is the crux of the argument – that we’re sacrificing original thinking to keep ourselves constantly captivated. It’s also argued that if we can find everything online somewhere, then we don’t give ourselves room to solve the problems and foster an innovative solution on our own.

Scientific research tells us that daydreaming requires time, as daydreaming enhances our imagination. When we fill some downtime with scrolling through screens, is the daydream time being inhibited? Creativity is often called a discipline of “use it or lose it.” You may be employed in a creative job position, but you can also strangle your creativity by being constantly fastened to a computer.

Technology has broadened the limits of what is possible with artistic practices like animation, music and graphic design. This has given creativity more definition, possibly even enabling more participants to join in. Taking a look at YouTube videos or even content present on Instagram-these are open platforms that allow everyone to participate and develop content.

Take the example like CGI in movies or platforms created to make graphic design more available for practitioners, the online outlets to promote the content. The openness extends the spectrum of artistic activities. On the Internet, only those considered by “experts” to possess artistic talent would have been revealed to the public. The curtain is lifted with the internet, and more people are noticed online every day. Artists like Bach and Van Gogh were not known in their own lives, though they would be well known if they were alive today.

Conclusion:

You can have a fair discussion free for both sides to disagree, but where does that leave us? Technology is here to stay and just continues to advance, and maybe one of the more rational reasons is for a healthy use of technology and knowledge, just like how we interpret our diets. There is the idea that our ancient ancestors benefitted from having as much information as possible – it would have been important for survival to know anything about their environment. The challenge now is that our brains need to be conditioned in an age of information overload to minimize the excess and just filter what is needed. It ties in with what we think the right climate requires to be nurtured

How Globalization affects the World Economy

Globalization is dominating the traditional economy, opening up new prospects for countries around the world. This is seen by some researchers as a catalyst for economic growth. Others blame it for the harm to the world which we face today. One thing is clear: this mechanism enables national economies across the globe to spread across boundaries and establish mutually beneficial ties.

Globalisation and Economic Policies

Undertakings around the world are no longer limited to country borders. They can widen around the globe, diversify their operational efficiency and reduce their costs by moving their manufacturing production to countries with cheap labour resources or better availability of raw materials. Burgeoning trade and rising economic connectivity are helping money to travel more than ever. Corporations can now operate across national boundaries and attract more customers, leading to higher profits and eventually economic growth.

How Does the Global Economy Affect the Meeting Planning Industry ...

With globalisation, a business in one country can now sell their goods halfway around the globe in another country. In addition, it can construct there stores and factories, invest in goods and contribute to the local economy. For example, Ford Motor Company had its call centre agents moved to India. Cisco opened a Bangalore Research and Development Centre.

In 2010, Microsoft developed a strategic 3 year contract to monitor its inbuilt IT operations with Infosys Technologies in India. By subcontracting its services to developing countries, businesses can save money and change the lives of people. Because of this, the rates of poverty have declined in the past decades worldwide.

Global Employment possibility:

Globalization enables people to consider moving and start their own business or find work in wealthier countries. It translates into a higher salary and better life chances. Furthermore, migrant workers can send money back home without paying outrageous fees. The free circulation of information and technology also empowers trade unions worldwide to combat for workers ‘ rights. Labour rights expanded as new laws and legislation were implemented. Furthermore, critical topics such as fair pay and gender equality are gradually becoming less common.

Multinational companies such as Google, IBM and Accenture are continually expanding and recruiting workers in their countries of operation. Others introduce exchange programs to give their workers the opportunity to work outside the country. Boston Consulting Group, L.E.K. Consulting and Edelman are just a few instances. This further speeds up globalisation, and fosters economic growth.

Additional Free Trade

One of globalisation’s primary advantages is free trade in goods and services. A country that specializes in motor vehicles, for example, would manufacture cars and parts at a place that maintains the lowest possible cost and sell them on local and international markets. That means more people living in other countries can buy those vehicles for less. They will have access to a broader array of brands and models at the same time.

Since 1945, after the development of economic globalization, world trade has increased by about 7 per cent. Countries that export goods have a competitive advantage and pay lower shipping fees.

Disadvantages of Globalization:

Globalization has its disadvantages, as does anything else. Free trade in goods, services , and information is placing the global economy in a phase of growth in income and employment. The main drawback is that it has also led to lower cash flows and tight credit across the local and national borders.

In fact, since 2008, more than 1,200 restrictive trade policies have been introduced by G2O countries such as the US, Brazil, Germany , France and Japan, which contribute for over 86 per cent of the global economy. This leads to higher taxes for companies importing and exporting goods, and stricter laws.

Conclusion:

Despite the downsides, there’s globalization here to live. The result is a smaller world, that is more interconnected. Socially, globalization has facilitated the interchange of knowledge and cultures, leading to a perception of the world in which individuals are more accessible and compassionate of one another.

NECESSITY, IMPORTANCE, OBJECTIVES AND FUNCTIONS OF MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT

Necessity of Maintenance Management:

Maintenance activities are related with repair, replacement and service of components or some identifiable group of components in a manufacturing plant so that it may continue to operate at a specified ‘availability’ for a specified period.

Thus maintenance management is associated with the direction and organisation of various resources so as to control the availability and performance of the industrial unit to some specified level.

Thus maintenance management may be treated as a restorative function of production management which is entrusted with the task of keeping equipment/machines and plant services ever available in proper operating condition.

The minimization of machine breakdowns and down time has been the main objective of maintenance but the strategies adopted by maintenance management to achieve this aim have undergone great changes in the past.

Maintenance has been considered just to repair the faulty equipment and put them back in order in minimum possible time.

In view of the utilization of mostly general purpose/conventional machines with low production output, the demands on maintenance function were not very high. But with fast developments in the design, development and mechanisms of control such as electronic, NC and CNC in machine tools the manufacturing scenario has changed a lot.

The stringent control of dimensional tolerances and surface finish of the product have increased the tendency to adopt standardization and interchange-ability of parts/components of machines.

In the current production setups even a minor down time leads to serious production problems both technological as well as economical. All this is due to tough competition in the industrial market. Under the present circumstances effective and objectively designed efforts to update maintenance management has become a necessity.

Importance of Maintenance Management:

Maintenance management is responsible for the smooth and efficient working of the industrial plant and helps in improving the productivity.

It also helps to keep the machines/equipment in their optimum operating conditions. Thus plant maintenance is an important and inevitable service function of an efficient production system.

It also helps in maintaining and improving the operational efficiency of the plant facilities and hence contributes towards revenue by decreasing the operating cost and improving the quality and quantity of the product being manufactured.

As a service function it is related with the incurrence of certain costs. The important component of such costs are — employment of maintenance staff, other minor administrative expenses, investment in maintenance equipment and inventory of repair components/ parts and maintenance materials.

Absence of plant maintenance may lead to frequent machine breakdown and failure of certain productive centres/services which in turn would result in stoppages of production activities, idle man and machine time, dislocation of the subsequent operations, poor quality of production, failure to meet delivery dates of product supply, industrial accidents endangering the life of workers/ operators and allied costs etc.

However, the importance of plant maintenance varies with the type of plant and its production but it plays a prominent role in production management because plant breakdown creates problems such as:

(i) Loss of production.

(ii) Rescheduling of production.

(iii) Materials wastage (due to sudden stoppage of process damages in process materials).

(iv) Need for overtimes,

(v) Need for work subcontracting.

(vi) For maximum manpower utilization workers may need alternative work due to temporary work shortages.

Hence, the absence of planned maintenance service proves costlier. So it should be provided in the light of cost benefit analysis. Since plant maintenance is a service function, it should be provided at the least possible cost but it is very important as discussed above.

Objectives of Maintenance Management:

The purpose of maintenance management is to optimize the performance of productive facilities of an organization by ensuring that these facilities function regularly and efficiently. This can be achieved by preventing the failures or breakdowns if any, as far as possible and by minimizing the production loss due to failures.

The main objectives of maintenance management are as follows:

(1) Minimizing the loss of productive time because of equipment failure to maximize the availability of plant, equipment and machinery for productive utilization through planned maintenance.

(2) To extend the useful life of the plant, machinery and other facilities by minimizing their wear and tear.

(3) Minimizing the loss due to production stoppages.

(4) To ensure operational readiness of all equipment’s needed for emergency purposes at all times such as fire-fighting equipment.

(5) Efficient use of maintenance equipment’s and personnel.

(6) To ensure safety of personnel through regular inspection and maintenance of facilities such as boilers, compressors and material handling equipment etc.

(7) To maximize efficiency and economy in production through optimum utilization of available facilities.

(8) To improve the quality of products and to improve the productivity of the plant.

(9) To minimize the total maintenance cost which may consist of cost of repairs, cost of preventive maintenance and inventory costs associated with spare parts/materials required for maintenance.

(10) To improve reliability, availability and maintainability.

Functions of Maintenance Management:

The important functions of maintenance can be summarized as follows:

(1) To develop maintenance policies, procedures and standards for the plant maintenance system.

(2) To schedule the maintenance work after due consultation with the concerned production departments.

(3) To carry out repairs and rectify or overhaul planned equipment/facilities for achieving the required level of availability and optimum operational efficiency.

(4) To ensure scheduled inspection, lubrication oil checking, and adjustment of plant machinery and equipment.

(5) To document and maintain record of each maintenance activity (i.e., repairs, replacement, overhauls, modifications and lubrication etc.).

(6) To maintain and carry out repairs of buildings, utilities, material handling equipment’s and other service facilities such as electrical installations, sewers, central stores and roadways etc.

(7) To carry out and facilitate periodic inspections of equipment and facilities to know their conditions related to their failure and stoppage of production.

(8) To prepare inventory list of spare parts and materials required for maintenance.

(9) To ensure cost effective maintenance.

(10) To forecast the maintenance expenditure and prepare a budget and to ensure that maintenance expenditure is as per planned budget.

(11) To recruit and train personnel to prepare the maintenance workforce for effective and efficient plant maintenance.

(12) To implement safety standards as required for the use of specific equipment or certain categories of equipment such as boilers, overhead cranes and chemical plants etc.

(13) To develop management information systems, to provide information to top management regarding the maintenance activities.

(14) To monitor the equipment condition at regular intervals.

(15) To ensure proper inventory control of spare parts and other materials required.

In terms of plants operations the functions of maintenance are:

(a) The plant must be available as and when required.

(b) The plant must not breakdown during actual operation state.

(c) The plant must operate in an efficient manner at required level of plant operation.

(d) The down time must not interfere with production runs.

(e) The down time due to breakdown should be a minimum.

To accomplish these conditions there must be complete cooperation and mutual understanding between maintenance and production departments. There must be an effective maintenance policy for planning, controlling and directing all maintenance activities.

The plant maintenance department must be well organized, adequately staffed sufficiently experienced and adequate in number to carry out corrective and timely maintenance with the efforts in minimizing breakdowns.

THE NEED FOR PLANNING IN ORGANIZATIONS

Planning helps an organization chart a course for the achievement of its goals. The process begins with reviewing the current operations of the organization and identifying what needs to be improved operationally in the upcoming year. From there, planning involves envisioning the results the organization wants to achieve, and determining the steps necessary to arrive at the intended destination – success, whether that is measured in financial terms, or goals that include being the highest-rated organization in customer satisfaction.

Efficient Use of Resources

All organizations, large and small, have limited resources. The planning process provides the information top management needs to make effective decisions about how to allocate the resources in a way that will enable the organization to reach its objectives. Productivity is maximized and resources are not wasted on projects with little chance of success.

Establishing Organizational Goals

Setting goals that challenge everyone in the organization to strive for better performance is one of the key aspects of the planning process. Goals must be aggressive, but realistic. Organizations cannot allow themselves to become too satisfied with how they are currently doing – or they are likely to lose ground to competitors.

The goal setting process can be a wake-up call for managers that have become complacent. The other benefit of goal setting comes when forecast results are compared to actual results. Organizations analyze significant variances from forecast and take action to remedy situations where revenues were lower than plan or expenses higher.

Managing Risk And Uncertainty

Managing risk is essential to an organization’s success. Even the largest corporations cannot control the economic and competitive environment around them. Unforeseen events occur that must be dealt with quickly, before negative financial consequences from these events become severe.

Planning encourages the development of “what-if” scenarios, where managers attempt to envision possible risk factors and develop contingency plans to deal with them. The pace of change in business is rapid, and organizations must be able to rapidly adjust their strategies to these changing conditions.

Team Building and Cooperation

Planning promotes team building and a spirit of cooperation. When the plan is completed and communicated to members of the organization, everyone knows what their responsibilities are, and how other areas of the organization need their assistance and expertise in order to complete assigned tasks. They see how their work contributes to the success of the organization as a whole and can take pride in their contributions.

Potential conflict can be reduced when top management solicits department or division managers’ input during the goal setting process. Individuals are less likely to resent budgetary targets when they had a say in their creation.

Creating Competitive Advantages

Planning helps organizations get a realistic view of their current strengths and weaknesses relative to major competitors. The management team sees areas where competitors may be vulnerable and then crafts marketing strategies to take advantage of these weaknesses. Observing competitors’ actions can also help organizations identify opportunities they may have overlooked, such as emerging international markets or opportunities to market products to completely different customer groups.

GENDER EQUALITY: need of today!

Equality or non-segregation is that state where each individual gets equivalent chances and rights. Each person of the general public longs for equivalent status, opportunity, and rights. In any case, it is a general perception that there exists heaps of separation between people. Segregation exists on account of social contrasts, geological contrasts, and sex. Imbalance dependent on sex is a worry that is predominant in the whole world. Indeed, even in the 21st century, across globe people detest equivalent benefits. Sexual orientation uniformity implies giving equivalent chances to the two people in political, financial, training and wellbeing perspectives.

Significance of Gender Equality

A country can advance and achieve higher improvement development just when the two people are qualified for equivalent chances. Ladies in the general public are regularly cornered and are shunned getting equivalent rights as men to wellbeing, training, dynamic and monetary autonomy as far as wages.

The social structure that wins since long so as to not get equivalent open doors as men. Ladies for the most part are the parental figures in the family. Along these lines, ladies are for the most part engaged with family exercises. There is lesser support of ladies in advanced education, dynamic jobs, and positions of authority. This sex dissimilarity is a prevention in the development pace of a nation. At the point when ladies take an interest in the workforce builds the financial development pace of the nation increments. Sexual orientation uniformity expands the general prosperity of the country alongside monetary success.

Sexual orientation Inequality in India

According to the World Economic Forum’s sexual orientation hole positioning, India remains at rank 108 out of 149 nations. This rank is a significant worry as it features the massive hole in circumstances in ladies with correlation with men. In Indian culture from quite a while back, the social structure has been to such an extent that the ladies are dismissed in numerous zones like instruction, wellbeing, dynamic territories, budgetary freedom, and so forth.

Another significant explanation, which adds to the oppressive conduct towards ladies in India, is the settlement framework in marriage. In view of this share framework, most Indian families think about young ladies as a weight. Inclination for child despite everything wins. Young ladies have avoided advanced education. Ladies are not qualified for equivalent openings for work and wages. In the 21st century, ladies are as yet favored sex in home overseeing exercises. Numerous ladies quit their place of employment and quit from positions of authority on account of family duties. Nonetheless, such activities are phenomenal among men.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT!

Women enpowerment or ladies strengthening alludes to making ladies incredible to make them fit for choosing for themselves. Ladies have endured a ton during that time on account of men. In prior hundreds of years, they were treated as nearly non-existent. As though all the rights had a place with men in any event, something as essential as casting a ballot. As the occasions developed, ladies understood their capacity. There on started the upset for ladies strengthening

As ladies were not permitted to settle on choices for them, ladies strengthening came in like a much needed refresher. It made them mindful of their privileges and how they should make their own place in the public eye as opposed to relying upon a man. It perceived the way that things can’t just work in support of somebody due to their sexual orientation. In any case, we despite everything have far to go when we talk about the reasons why we need it.

Requirement for Women Empowerment

Pretty much every nation, regardless of how dynamic has a background marked by abusing ladies. As such, ladies from everywhere throughout the world have been insubordinate to arrive at the status they have today. While the western nations are as yet gaining ground, underdeveloped nations like India despite everything need behind in Women Empowerment.

In India, ladies strengthening is required like never before. India is among the nations which are undependable for ladies. There are different explanations behind this. Initially, ladies in India are at risk for respect killings. Their family thinks its entitlement to end their lives on the off chance that they carry disgrace to the notoriety of their inheritance.

Besides, the training and opportunity situation is backward here. Ladies are not permitted to seek after advanced education, they are offered early. The men are as yet ruling ladies in certain districts like it’s the lady’s obligation to work for him perpetually. They don’t release them out or have opportunity of any sort.

What’s more, abusive behavior at home is a significant issue in India. The men beat up their significant other and misuse them as they might suspect ladies are their property. All the more in this way, since ladies are hesitant to shout out. Essentially, the ladies who accomplish really work get paid not exactly their male partners. It is out and out of line and chauvinist to pay somebody less for a similar work in light of their sex. In this manner, we perceive how ladies strengthening is the need of great importance. We have to enable these ladies to support themselves and never be a casualty of shamefulness.

Why ‘social distancing’ is arduous to follow?

How it’s hard, the history of human civilization has one clear picture to reflect

At times, we see catchphrases behind the trucks. One of them we catch the most is ‘Keep distance’.
During this period of the pandemic COVID-19, we are coming across the same consistently- Keep Distance!
We are seeing that people are averting the crowds, staying at a distance in gatherings and advising the very thing to follow.
As we know that it’s a global threat and in such case, the only way to avoid it is following the sole idea of being distant.

For the management of any contagious malady, apart from the medications and treatments, the idea of social distancing has been prevailing in nature and historical human civilization for a long time.
Even animals like chimps, bats and various insects become remote from the ailing of their own species.
It is believed that in the history of humans, to isolate the ailing person was first and foremost cited in the Bible (Leviticus 13:46) –  “46as long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.”

In human history, every epidemic witnessed ‘social distancing’ and it has traditionally been followed in human civilization.
When the past record and nature, both exhibit the same convention, then why it’s so difficult for us to obey it now?

History asserts that human beings have always existed in groups, have cared for each other and shared with each other.
We, humans, are developed to be designated as administrators on the Earth because of our patterns of working together, in communities and helping out each other to perform a certain task.
This is why we are yearning for such activities, to do whatever we used to do before the current scenario. Like school, college, hanging out with friends, movies, restaurants or travelling.

In this epoch of social distancing, the sentiment of staying close to people and staying together seems far off. We are even apart from the ones who need us. Social distancing is contrary to our core tendency hence it’s strenuous.

We have swivelled towards the Internet and social media in the wake of this new normal!
Nevertheless, we aren’t detached socially even if we’re sequestered.
Previously, we were condemning Internet for making people anti-social but currently, it has brought us together. Be it via video conferences or chat groups.

This isn’t the world we’ve been living in, not the habits we’ve been living with, we wouldn’t even have any intention to be in such a world for the unpredictable stretch.
With this hope that all adversities will culminate one day, we need to follow the tagline truly that we often find behind the truck!

History and Nature, both imply that social distancing is the absolute best way to deal with such a wave.
However, this foisted ‘social distancing’ will thrive the value of human interactions and propinquity within us.
Hopefully, it will prevail as it’s forever legacy.