Is internet the new crime scene?

Cyber Crime is an unlawful act where the computer is used as a tool or target or both. These days Cyber Crime is a fast-growing area of crime. As the technology is advancing man is becoming dependent on the internet for all his needs as it gives easy access to do shopping, gaming, online studying, social networking, online jobs etc. everything at one place. Apart from other countries, India is also not far where the rate of incidence of cybercrime is increasing day by day.

The bane of the internet, cybercrime refers to any illegal activities carried out using technology. Cybercriminals — who range from rogue individuals to organized crime groups to state-sponsored factions — use techniques like phishing, social engineering, and all kinds of malware to pursue their nefarious plans. Cybercriminals buy and sell malware online (generally on the dark web) while also trading in services that test how robust a virus is, business intelligence dashboards to track malware deployment, and tech support (that’s right — crooks can contact a criminal helpline to troubleshoot their illegal hacking server or other malfeasance!).

The professionalization and proliferation of cybercrime adds up to countless costs in damages every year, impacting individuals, businesses, and even governments. Experts estimate that cybercrime damages will reach $6 trillion annually by 2021, making it one of the most lucrative criminal enterprises.

Criminals are mostly exploiting the speed, convenience and anonymity of the internet, commit various criminal activities and pose the real threat to victims all over the world. These crimes can be phishing, Fraud due to credit card, debit card, bank robbery, illegal downloading, child pornography, distribution of viruses etc.

New technologies create new criminal opportunities but few new types of crime. What distinguishes cybercrime from traditional criminal activity? Obviously, one difference is the use of the digital computer, but technology alone is insufficient for any distinction that might exist between different realms of criminal activity. Criminals do not need a computer to commit fraud, traffic in child pornography and intellectual property, steal an identity, or violate someone’s privacy. All those activities existed before the “cyber” prefix became ubiquitous. Cybercrime, especially involving the Internet, represents an extension of existing criminal behaviour alongside some novel illegal activities.

Most cybercrime is an attack on information about individuals, corporations, or governments. Although the attacks do not take place on a physical body, they do take place on the personal or corporate virtual body, which is the set of informational attributes that define people and institutions on the Internet. In other words, in the digital age our virtual identities are essential elements of everyday life: we are a bundle of numbers and identifiers in multiple computer databases owned by governments and corporations. Cybercrime highlights the centrality of networked computers in our lives, as well as the fragility of such seemingly solid facts as individual identity.

Cyber Laws in India

Cyber Crimes, in India are registered under three main heads, The IT Act, The IPC (Indian Penal Code) and State Level Legislations (SLL).

Cases of Cyber Laws under IT Act:

Tampering with computer source documents – Sec. 65

Hacking with Computer systems, Data alteration – Sec. 66

Publishing obscene information – Sec. 67

Un-authorised access to protected systems – Sec. 70

Breach of Confidentiality and Privacy – Sec. 72

Publishing false digital signature certificates – Sec. 73

Cases of Cyber Laws under IPC and Special Laws:

Sending threatening messages by email – Sec 505 IPC

Sending defamatory messages by email – Sec 499 IPC

Forgery of Electronic records – Sec 463 IPC

Bogus websites, Cyber Frauds – Sec 420 IPC

Email Spoofing – Sec. 463 IPC

Web- Jacking –Sec. 383 IPC

Email abuse – Sec 500 IPC

Cyber Crime under special cells:

Online sale of Arms Act

Online sale of Drugs under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act

Clean India!

Pure India is a necessity for an hour. Garbage and filth are serious threats to the nation. It really undermines the beauty of our country. In addition, several diseases can be caused. Many Indians get sick from improper garbage disposal. Therefore, this article discusses the topic of pure India in detail.


How to clean India?
People can make India clean in many ways. First of all, carrying a small poly bag is a must. Most notably, a recycled paper bag is the best option. The Indians certainly should use them to dump garbage in dust bins. Indians probably throw rubbish on the road because they don’t like to carry it. However, a used paper bag makes it easier to carry waste. Therefore, Indians can carry this bag in a dust bag for garbage disposal.
Dissolving dirt is also very important. It is something that many Indians ignore. Most importantly, the separation of waste at home should be in three separate bins. These 3 figures are Biodegradable, Recyclable and others. The waste management department should assist with the implementation of this plan.
Indians must learn to recycle plastic antiques. Most Indians probably simply discard such items after using them. One has to make creative things with these old plastic items in order to reuse them.
Another remarkable way to clean India is a manure pit. A compost pit helps to make compost. To build a compost pit at home, some things are needed. These items are kitchen dirt, leaves, grass, etc. As a result, the tiny organisms that convert this organic material into compost.
Public drive is another good way to keep India clean. It has psychological benefits. This is because it is easy to do something when others are doing it. For example, Prime Minister Narendra Modi started Sachach Bharat Abhiyan.
Indians should use cloth bags instead of polythene bags. Indians should stop getting vegetables from a polythene bag from a retailer. Therefore, Indians should carry their cloth bags when shopping.


The Problematic Attitude of the Indians
The Indians are probably very attentive to cleansing themselves. However, the same Indians do not care much about cleanliness. Almost all Indians like to keep their houses clean, but don’t worry about the country. Unfortunately, many Indians avoid or neglect to clean up the country. This is indeed a sad situation.
Indians also do not care about garbage disposal. Almost many Indians dump garbage on the streets. Thus, it is not uncommon to see Indians dump garbage in the streets. This pollutes the roads. Indians are not interested in polluting different types of habitats.
One encouraging example of Indians would be Thailand. Thailand is a third world country like India. However, despite being poor Thailand is still very clean. On the contrary, India looks dirty. The state of the Indian people to suspect that. In India, the negative situation is that “make sure I am safe”. Thai’s status – “make sure others are safe”.
In conclusion, clean India is a very important issue. Public awareness about it must be disseminated. Pure India should be the cry of the nation’s recruitment.

Time and Tide Wait for None.

There is no time and waiting because this medal is ready for today’s world. As the world moves faster, no one has time to stop. Plus, time never stops, the clock is always ticking. So to use our time we have to work hard every second. Because when the time is up, we can’t find you again. It is the most precious possession a person can have.

Over time everything is possible, just that you have to dedicate yourself to using it. Also, various successful people are able to manage their time. And that is why they are so successful. You can earn money through time but you will never earn time through money.


Story in Time and Waiting Rate None
Since we all know the story of the rabbit and the tortoise, this story is good for a saying. But if you don’t know anything about the story let me tell you. Once upon a time there was a tortoise that was slow in running and he was constantly criticized by others for his speed.
But instead, there was a rabbit in their community that used to run fast. In addition everyone was praising him for his speed. So showing off his skills and humiliating the tortoise and the rabbit challenged the race. The Witness accepted the challenge because he did not want to be embarrassed.


The race was scheduled two days later. To win the race, the rabbit practiced hard. Moreover, he began to celebrate his victory ahead of time. The tortoise was humble and never thought of winning the race. Still, he was willing to contribute what he could.


So the race started on Wednesday with a day of challenges. Everyone knew that a rabbit would win. So the rabbit was overconfident. The rabbit ate too much before the race thinking that if he just walked with him he would win the race. But the tortoise was willing to give as much as he could.
After a while the race started the tortoise was slow but he kept going. The rabbit, on the other hand, was running very fast.


So he managed to reach the race track distance in a few minutes. After reaching that point he thought he should rest. So he lied under a tree to get some rest. But he soon fell asleep unconscious because he had eaten so much before the race. While he slept, the tortoise was always on the move. And he never stopped and never rested.


Thus he was able to cross the rabbit while he slept. When he got to the line the rabbit woke up. She hurried to the finish line. But it was too late until the tortoise was in front of him. So you skipped the finished line in the first place. The rabbit cried after losing the race. While the tortoise was celebrating the victory.

After reading this story you should make sure that ‘time and waves are waiting for nothing’. Because the tortoise worked hard and wasted time, he was able to win the race. Also, our life is just like that, in order to be successful we have to work hard over time. Moreover, we must always make the best use of our time. Only then will we be able to find success in life.

What is Virtual learning?

Visual learning is often associated with online courses or online sites, but has a larger scale. In this article, we will consider its meaning, its features, and its benefits. We have also compiled a list of the most common methods of real learning, which explain the different aspects of the learning and teaching process.

Visual learning is the learning of learning that is improved through the use of computers and / or the Internet outside and within the institutions of the educational institution. Teaching takes place mostly in the online environment. Teaching activities are done online where the teacher and students are physically divided (depending on location, time, or both).

Visual reading – reading ideas

The quality of online education depends on the proper use of digital technology in terms of modern educational ideas:

BEHAVIORISM

Behahlanguism examines how students behave while studying. It observes how students respond to specific stimuli. When a teacher repeats this admiration, they can observe, control, and change each student’s behavior. Students do what they are told to do and are ready to produce basic facts and perform tasks automatically. Behavior does not mean testing minds or cognitive processes.

In practice good learning can be used with step-by-step video tutorials, game-based activities, general and constructive feedback, build, game, etc.

COGNITIVISM

Comprehension focuses on the role of the mind and cognitive processes in learning. It describes how the brain works and the levels of mental development that form the basis of learning. Comprehension lessons help teachers understand how people learn and how to teach effectively.

In the context of visual learning it can be used in the areas of customized learning, compatible and customized learning programs, AI, learning analytics, etc. It is important to provide content tailored to your readers’ comprehension skills, such as text, images, multimedia, etc. ., where students can choose how the lessons are presented.

PUBLIC BREAKING

Teaching and learning are defined as the complexities of communication that takes place between teachers and students. Learning activities focus on information sharing, collaboration, and collaborative learning.

Social constructivism finds good use in group discussions, mindfulness, problem-based learning, and small group activities. A good environment for these types of activities is the live classroom for online teaching and practical tools such as web conferencing, meeting, online whiteboard, exit rooms, screen sharing, etc.

Visual learning – basic qualities and benefits

• Remote access to unlimited members of educational services (topics and educators) offered worldwide

• An individualized learning process that looks at the individual’s level of ability, individual needs, and different learning styles

• A safe and secure learning environment

• Learn to adapt to time, place, and speed

• Cost effective, efficient time, easy disability… and much more

Visual reading – a list of related words

Visual learning has many ways and related goals. These seem very similar but represent different aspects of learning and teaching and can help us understand the context of “visual learning.” Here are the most commonly used:

Reading

Learning about E in its broadest sense refers to:

Electronic technology is used to teach and teach.

Learning activities take place in whole or in part online. They can be operated electronically without using the Internet.

• Web-based learning

Web-based reading means using a web browser to read.

Learning online

Online learning is associated with the provision of electronic / mobile content. It may include internet usage, but web browser usage may be preferred.

Online learning can be done through programs or applications installed on your personal device, which can be used and offline.

• Learning grade

Graduation does not require the use of electronic and web-based technology. It means distance learning; in other words, participants are physically segregated.

Grade reading is related to:

Provide instruction to the local student and at a different time for teachers and other students

Today, with the advent of digital technology, grade learning is increasingly associated with online learning. The use of classrooms seen through live online teaching brings distance learning closer to the traditional form of learning by reproducing its advanced features in the online environment.

• Integrated reading

This type of learning combines existing and traditional teaching methods. Content to be read should be digitally and available online. Therefore, students are able to control the learning process over time, location, template, and learning style.

The conclusion

Visual reading covers all of the goals outlined above. It can overcome many obstacles of the physical environment such as time, facilities, space, etc. Online sites allow teachers to work with large numbers of students and perform their normal tasks. Visual learning also brings new teaching techniques through traditional educational methods and makes learning customizable and easy.

Peru and COVID19: My Experience in Peru

Dear Prof. Shankar, thanks for the article. It reminds me of those places, the Montara valley in the Andes Mountain, the Ica region, organic cotton farmers you are referring to and the potato value chain which had impacted positively on the rural communities courtesy of FOVIDA and the research institute. The Peruvian infrastructure especially power in the rural areas and very nice roads as well as the inclusiveness especially women’s involvement in decision making in some of the farmer groups visited was incredible. Surely, it is almost 7 years ago but it is as if we went to Peru just yesterday. Thanks to UKAID and GRADE which gave us an opportunity to showcase the South-South Cooperation. Your article is an outcome of this 10 day study and information sharing trip. Congratulations once again.

James Kizito-Mayanja

Market Intelligence & Information Manager
Uganda

AI and ADs!

Summarizing Artificial Intelligence – If you ask 50 various professionals what artificial intelligence is, you’ll possibly get 50 different opinions. But one simple definition comes from Demis Hassabis, CEO of DeepMind, an AI startup acquired by Google. According to Hassabis AI is the “science of making machines smart.” We can give machines the potential to see, hear, speak, move, and write. Of course, we can make them learn and improve themselves. The best example is Alexa. This virtual voice makes predictions on its own. Science geeks who loved the AI technology in the series of Iron Man which made this movie much popular. Also, the AI technology in the series of End-Game (Jarvis, Vision) made the movies a “buster hit”.

Advertising and Artificial Intelligence.

AI creating virtual models for advertising and fashion. A Japanese company named DataGrid developed high-resolution images that can be used as virtual models. Their deep learning algorithm could develop a body that does not exist using Generative Adversarial Networks(GAN). It supported full-body visualization with complete hair, face, and can be used by fashion sites without paying the models. Artificial Intelligence instructs how your funding gets used, who sees your ads, and how beneficial your overall campaigns are. For example Facebook ads, you would have come up with popping ads asking for feedback. Ad frequency and relevance score are key pieces of data that Facebook’s algorithms use-without human involvement-to dictate how much you pay and how your ads are displayed. Advertisers’ campaign performance and budget effectiveness are likely authorized by the complex interplay of data points used in the AI systems that energize today’s ad exchanges. 

  • Optimize budget targeting – Artificial intelligence tools exist today that can automatically optimize advertising spend and targeting. AI can process your ad spend and targeting data, look at your results, then learn what actions (spending changes, targeting changes, etc.) will generate better performance.
  • Ad creation and management – Creating ad, managing, and building ad campaigns also uses AI. AI-powered tool Phrasee actually writes Facebook and Instagram ad copy for you, from scratch, and the ads are developed to convert into clicks based on what’s done in the past. The tool gets better over time on its own, as it learns from each new ad what language directs the better performance. Other AI-powered tools also help in saving time in overall ad campaign surveillance.

“That’s where we stand in the AI today”.

Another Kanpur Case

In another case of Kanpur after the encounter of the goon Vikas Dubey, a lab technician was kidnapped and held captive for a week after which he was killed.

The man’s family claimed that Rs.30lacs ransom was paid for his release in the presence of police whereas Circle Officer Vikas Pandey said that the allegation is not true.

Senior Superintendent of Police (kanpur) Dinesh Prabhu told that suspects have been grilled intensively and two of the accused out of five confessed to the crime.

SSP said that the accused at first tried to mislead the police but later disclosed the kidnappingof the 27 year old S Yadav and killed him on either 26th or 27th june and disposed off the body in Pandu river. One of the accused had worked with Yadav in another pathology lab.

The UP Govt. asked the the ADG V.P Jogdand to immediately reach Kanpur and look into the matter.

According to an official spokesman in Lucknow, the government has suspended SP Aprana Gupta and then CO Manoj Gupta in public interest. Besides the SSP suspended former SHO Ranjit Rai and chowki incharge Rajesh Kumar for laxity in investigation, the spokesman said.

Competency Mapping

Competency is your ability to do something successfully or efficiently. Therefore, competency mapping is simply a process of matching your competence with the job role and/or organization. Furthermore, it is also about matching people to the job role and hence used even in selection.

Every individual and employee is unique and it’s also true with modern organizations. It is very important for organizational success that we identify key skills required by its people to succeed in the ever-changing market environment. Competency mapping is one such technique that makes use of a more systematic and organized approach to define key behaviors that will lead to organizational or project success

To be honest, it’s not easy to scientifically and objectively define behaviors, that’s where competency mapping proves to be such a powerful tool in the hands of the human resource and key stakeholders within the organization. We will cover the applications of competency mapping, the process to doing competency mapping and developing a competency framework, and how to interpret competency profiles.

What is the meaning of Competency Mapping?

At the forefront, the modern HR professionals have a job that every employee performs to the best of their abilities by identifying a role that is best suited for them. This matching of jobs and people to facilitate excellence in performance can be achieved .

Furthermore, it is very important that each competency is defined properly with the use of the competency definition that makes it very clear what these competencies mean. Also, what all behaviors the employee needs to demonstrate (called Behavioral Indicators or BI) that would allow us to ascertain that the concerned employee possesses these skills in varying degrees (called Proficiency Levels or PI).

This essentially standardizes the process so that anyone looking at the competency framework developed through the competency mapping exercise can interpret it easily.

This standardization is extremely important as the competency mapping is at the heart of the human resource development of an organization this post, we will be covering all the aspects of competency mapping with the actual competency mapping method and you will no the entire process till developing framework and its application.

Human Resources: Risk Management and Worker Protection

A large part of working in human resources (HR) is managing employee risk. It is HR’s job to keep employees safe and make sure the company isn’t liable for any employee injuries. Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world so it is impossible to completely remove all risk, but HR’s goal is to minimize risk as much as possible and act swiftly when accidents do happen. While managing risk is a lot of preventative work, you also need communication skills to explain accidents to employees/superiors when they arise. When you think of worker safety many people believe that this is only representative of jobs that require manual labor. However, every type of office has to consider their employees’ safety. For example, carpal tunnel syndrome (a syndrome in which you lose sensation in your hands/fingers and is caused by long periods of typing) currently affects between 4 and 10 million Americans a year (Rheumatology.org). All different types of work environments require HR to manage risk and make sure that employees are protected.

The first step in identifying risk management is to identify the hazard. Some common hazards include wet floors, falls from heights, or dangerous equipment. Once your risks are identified, you must evaluate and decide how to prevent the risk from becoming an accident. In order to evaluate which risks are to be prioritized you should rank the risks on a scale of 1-5 based on the likelihood of an accident happening, and severity of the accident. Next, make sure to use what you learned from the first two steps to control the problem from recurring. Finally, make sure to review your assessment of the problem in order to see if there’s any way you can improve upon it next time.

Making the workplace safer is an essential part of keeping employees happy and productive. If employees feel unsafe, they are less likely to be productive. HR bears this responsibility, and it should not be taken lightly. When HR departments ignore workplace risks, it is very evident and has a direct effect on everyone involved. When HR departments focus on maintaining a safe work environment, they tend to be much more respected by their coworkers and respected by their superiors. Overall, if you follow the formula for solving risk’s, your employees will feel much better coming into work every day.

Union Minister Shekhawat attacks CM Gehlot

With every passing day, the tussle for gaining power in Rajasthan is getting more intense. Starting from CM residence and hotel, the fight has now reached to RajBhawan.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is furious on Governor Kalraj Mishra as he has denied the permission of calling special session in the Vidhansabha. Not only is Gehlot furious but also has crossed limits by saying that ‘he would not be responsible if his supporters abutt the RajBhawan.’ To this statement, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Saturday said “In a state where the Chief Minister himself makes the Governor ‘feel unsafe’, it is futile for people to ask him for their safety.”

Accusing Governor Kalraj Mishra of not calling the assembly session under political pressure, Gehlot along with several MLA’s had staged a ‘dharna’ at the RajBhawan in Jaipur on Friday.

The Congress and Shekhawat have been involved in an intense war of words since then.

Success

In today’s world everyone wants to be successful but what is a success. The perspective of success varies from person to person. For the record, the people before us have a different view on success and the person after us will have a different view on success. Moreover, people compare different people performance to evaluate their success. But success is not something that you can copy from others. You have to make your own path to achieving success. In modern-day, people are obsessed with success because of the glamour and lifestyle of successful people.

What formulates a person successful?

There are many ways in the world to be successful. But most people think of celebrities, artist, politicians, and businessmen whenever they heard the word success. Moreover, they think doing what they will make you successful but that not the case. They forget the most basic thing that makes a person successful that is their hard work, dedication, and the desire to achieve their dream. More importantly, they what they like to do not what that others told them to do. Successful people do what they like to do also they do what they feel correct for their business. If you look in the dictionary for the meaning of the word success then you will find that it means the achievement of one’s goal or aim. So, basically, anyone can achieve success by simply achieving their aim or goal.

What is the harm of success?

We all knew that we can’t achieve something without sacrificing something. Success also demands various things from you. But these sacrifices will not go in vain if you achieve your goal.

Certainly, many people achieve professional success but in doing so they fail in achieving mental, social and physical success. The tension of lacking behind in other things pulls them apart.

Also, there are cases where people became so obsessed with success that the people around them start to feel uncomfortable around them. In some cases, they have gone mad. Apart from that, people also get depressed if they can’t achieve success like others. So, we can say that there is much harm to success.

Success and hard work

It may sound unfit to some peoples but success depends a lot of hard work. Without it, you can’t become successful. Hard work does not mean that you do laborious work or the work that make you sweat. Hard work means having a healthy body, strong mind, willpower and positive attitude towards things. And for all those things you need energy. So, be attentive to your body and soul. Besides, do not just work on your program, push your limit, take charge of other things, improve your skills and most importantly keep learning. Apart from that, be with positive peoples, develop positive habits, and do exercise not only for the body but also for your mind.

To sum it up, we can say that success is like a seed that needs a balanced proportion of all the elements of life. And no one can achieve success in a day they have to go through and face different conditions in life for being successful. Above all, success is the feeling of fulfillment that you feel when you achieve your goal.

Lockdown

The term is used for a prison protocol that usually prevents people, information or objects from leaving an area. The protocol can usually only be initiated by someone in a position of authority.

A lockdown can also be used to protect people inside a facility or, for example, a computing system, from a threat or other external event. In buildings doors leading outside are usually locked so that no person may enter or exit. A full lockdown usually means that people must stay where they are and may not enter or exit a building or rooms within it, needing to go to the nearest place designated safe if not already in such a place. A drill lockdown may be held in the absence of a threat, to familiarise people with what they must do.

What effects has the lockdown had on the evolution of Covid-19 in India?

The Indian government argues that lockdown has successfully reduced the spread of the novel coronavirus epidemic, while some critics argue that it has largely failed. Where does the truth lie? What exactly does the available data coupled with modelling tell us?

The politics of lockdown

The effects of lockdown on disease cannot – and should not – be looked at in isolation. They are entwined with its political and humanitarian effects, including unemployment, hunger, an unprecedented migrant worker crisis, and widespread loss of access to healthcare. These crises could have been averted or lessened with planning, but they are now an essential part of India’s lockdown story. So what might have motivated the hasty decision to lock down?

When a complex and unclear threat is unfolding, you can see the appeal of a lockdown to those in power. It reframes disease control in terms of restrictions on movement and contact. Messy narratives about health infrastructure, testing, tracing, monitoring, probabilities, education, research and so forth, are replaced with a list of rules, responsibilities and consequences. The relationship between authorities and people is simplified: the authorities enforce the rules, the people comply.

Moreover, it is almost self-evident that a sufficiently rigorous lockdown must “work” – if we are willing to ignore all the realities of what such rigorous lockdown would entail. There is now an obvious culprit for any failure to control disease – the lockdown violator – and the narrative of lockdown helps build support for solutions based on surveillance.

A second effect of lockdown – also convenient for the central government – is that it “localises” both disease and politics. Because people, and hence infection, cannot move freely, the epidemic takes very different paths in different regions. Consequently, responses to it need to be local, and the responsibility for day-to-day disease control passes to state governments or municipal corporations.

As the national picture becomes increasingly complicated, the Centre takes on a more symbolic and supervisory role. Dashboards of “performance” in different states shift perceptions of responsibility and place pressure on state governments. It is they who become the villains when there is failure to control the disease, even where national policy may be to blame. The blame game encourages states to manipulate data including finding ways to underreport Covid-19 infections and deaths.

Lockdown and disease spread

Lockdown has two overlapping effects on disease, and modelling suggests that distinguishing between them is important for understanding the situation in India. First, lockdown slows the transmission of the virus by enforcing physical distancing. Second, it slows the geographical spread of disease – the localisation discussed above. Neither effect is absolute, of course. Poor lockdown planning led to panic and overcrowding, probably accelerating transmission for a while. And within some localities, for instance in Mumbai, hindering freedom of movement might actually have accelerated disease by stopping outflows of people which could have reduced population density.

The first lockdown effect, a slowdown in transmission, occurs via a reduction in those day-to-day events which spread disease. This can be modelled simply as a reduction in the probability of infection events occurring. It should manifest in the data after a delay. If transmissions are cut in half today, and testing typically occurs 10 days after infection, then 10 days from now recorded infections will start to slow. About 18 days from now, we will see deaths start to slow.

Ganesh chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the most prominent festivals of India. People of India wait the whole year for this festival eagerly. Although it is celebrated all over the country, in the state of Maharashtra it is celebrated with the most enthusiasm. Ganesh Chaturthi is a Hindu festival which holds utmost importance in the religion. This festival is celebrated following the Hindu Mythology which says that Ganesh Chaturthi is the birthday of the Lord Ganesha. Hindus refer to Lord Ganesha as the remover of all obstacles. People believe that Lord Ganesha comes every year with prosperity and success. Furthermore, they welcome Lord Ganesha in their homes with this festival with the belief that he will remove all their sufferings. Ganesh Chaturthi sparks joy all over the country and unties people with celebrations.

The specialty of Ganesha Chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated for a whole 11 days. It begins on the Chaturthi when people install the statue of Lord Ganesha in their homes and temples. This festival ends on Anant Chaturdashi with Ganesh Visarjan. The devotees of the Lord Ganesha offer their prayers to God. They sing devotional songs for him and recited various mantras in his praise. They perform aartis in favour of the lord and seek his blessings on them.

Most importantly, they offer Lord Ganesha sweets. Ganesha Chaturthi especially calls for Modak. Devotees offer Lord Ganesha with Modak, which is the lord’s favorite dessert. Modaks are sweet dumplings which people make with a filling of coconut and jaggery. They either fry them or steam them. People at homes and sweet shops make this sweet delicacy. They are seen around Ganesha Chaturthi mostly and are a huge hit amongst children

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Celebrations of Ganesh Chaturthi

This 11-day long festival begins with people getting up in the morning and bathing. They buy new clothes for this festival and wear these clean clothes in the morning after bathing. They follow the traditional rituals of chanting mantras and songs. Early on, Ganesh Chaturthi was celebrated in a few families. Later on, it spread all over and thus began the installation of idols and immersion in the water. This marked the beginning of making Ganesh Chaturthi a larger than life festival. In other words, the idol immersion denotes freedom from evil and sufferings. People set up pandals make glorious statues of Lord Ganesha. Towards the end of the festival when the visarjan is about to take place, people carry out a full-fledged procession. People come out in hundreds and thousands and dance their way to the rivers and oceans.

When Ganesh Chaturthi ends, they pray for the return of Lord Ganesha every year. They look forward to this festival every year. The final immersion of Lord Ganesha’s statue in the river or ocean marks the end of Ganesh Chaturthi.

In short, Ganesh Chaturthi is a fun-filled festival in honour of Lord Ganesha. People all over India thoroughly enjoy it. All the devotees of Lord Ganesha come together irrespective of their differences of caste and colour. Ganesh Chaturthi spreads joy and unites people all over.

11 members of Sikhs and Hindus communities arrive in India from Afghanistan

Around 11 members of minority Sikh and Hindu communities of Afghanistan arrived in New Delhi after India granted them visas and facilitated their travel. They include a Sikh community leader Nidan Singh Sachdeva, who was kidnapped and later released. The External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi appreciated Afghan government’s efforts in extending necessary support for their safe return.

MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had last week said that there has been a recent spurt of attacks on the Hindu and Sikh communities in Afghanistan and these attacks have been done by terrorists at the behest of their external supporters. He said, the MEA  has been receiving requests from the members of these communities to move to India and settle down here. He said, Indian Embassy in Kabul is providing them with the necessary visas to come here.

India had earlier expressed concern at the “targeting and persecution” of minority community members in Afghanistan by terrorists. Concerns among Afghanistan’s Sikh minority have increased after the terror attack on a Gurudwara in Kabul in March that left 25 people dead and several others injured.

AMUL – Anand Milk Union Limited

Anand Milk Union Limited, a brand so distinctively Indian has been a part of our lives for nearly five decades now and still is able to touch a chord in our hearts. Brand Amul has grown as a dynamic factor which protects the interests of producers and consumers of Indians and it is a symbol of many aspects of high-quality products sold at reasonable price, of the genesis of a vast co-operative network, of the marketing savvy of a farmers’ organization, and of a proven model for dairy development.

In 1946 the colonial government of Mumbai had the rights of the procurement of milk from the villages of Kaira district. The milk was to be supplied to the government for distribution in Mumbai. The firm, Polson dairy in turn appointed contractors for collecting milk from these villages. The farmers found the contractors entirely unreliable in collecting the daily milk supply and paying them what they considered to be unfair and insufficiently remunerative price. This state of affairs was not tolerated by the farmers; they retaliated and refused to supply milk. Hence they formed a co-operative under the guidance of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Morarji Desai and eventually won the right to collect milk in the district and also sell it to the Government.

The co-operative was  started with an initial collection of just 250 liters a day. This was the beginning of the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union, which is now better known as AMUL which was formally registered on December 14, 1946.

Amul inspired ‘Operation Flood’ and credited to bring the ‘White Revolution’ in India. It began with two village cooperatives and 250 liters of milk per day and it distributes over a million liters of milk per day, collects and processes various milk products. By managing milk supplies from the cattle farmer and sending it straight to the factory, it’s been able to eliminate the middleman. Amul has become a symbol of the aspirations of millions of farmers.

With  ‘White Revolution’, we cannot ignore the remarkable contribution of Dr. Verghese Kurien who is better known as the “father of the white revolution” in India and his name is synonymous with the Amul brand. He is also called as the Milkman of India. For his outstanding input he has earned many accolades and awards that include: Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, Padam Shri, Padam Bhushan, Krishi Ratna Award, Wateler Peace Prize Award of Carnegie Foundation and many more.  

The Amul Model is a three-tier cooperative structure. This structure consists of a Dairy Cooperative Society at the village level affiliated to a Milk Union at the District level which in turn is further federated into a Milk Federation at the State level. Three-tier structure was set up in order to delegate the various functions; milk collection is done at the Village Dairy Society, Milk Procurement & Processing at the District Milk Union and Milk & Milk Products Marketing at the State Milk Federation. Three-tier structure was first developed at Amul in Gujarat and thereafter replicated all over the country under the Operation Flood Programme, it is known as the ‘Amul Model’ or ‘Anand Pattern’ of Dairy Cooperatives.

The effects of Operation Flood Programme are more appraised by the World Bank. An incremental return of Rs. 400 billion annually have been generated by an investment of Rs. 20 billion over a period of 20 years. This has been the most beneficial project funded by the World Bank anywhere in the World. One can continue to see the effect of these efforts as India’s milk production continues to increase and now stands at 90 Million Metric Tonne.

 AMUL is recognised as the country’s largest milk producing cooperative. Based in the village of Anand, it expands exponentially. Originally marketed by the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union, Anand, it was taken over by the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) in 1973 and further it joined hands with other milk cooperatives and now covers 2.12 million farmers, 10,411 village level milk collection centers and fourteen district level plants (unions) under the overall supervision of GCMMF (Gujarat cooperative milk marketing federation ltd). 

Amul has a wide spread supply chain network across the country. Its products are available in over 500,000 retail outlets across Indian through its network of over 3,500 distributors. There are 47 storehouses with dry and cold warehouses to buffer inventory of the entire range of products.

Amul network follows an umbrella branding strategy i.e a common brand for most product categories produced like liquid milk, milk powders, butter, ghee, cheese, cocoa products, sweets, ice-cream and condensed milk. AMUL is considered as India’s best known local Brand across all categories.

In fact, it is not just the core values at Amul that have remained the same; since long the core team associated with the brand is still the same. Even the advertising agency hasn’t changed, and Da Cunha and FCB Ulka, have played a pivotal role in the growth of Amul.

Amul’s unique marketing strategy is really surprising. Despite of the fact that in today’s business world advertising plays a vital role to marketing a product, Amul does not spend more than 1% of total turnover for marketing, compared with 7-8 % spent by most of food and consumer product companies. 

With top of mind  use of its jingle, Utterly Butterly Delicious and animated Amul girl, campaign- Amul brand has set a longest running advertising  Campaign and it is a world record that got registered its name in Guinness World Record and has won the many accolades.  Amul features in top 100 Brands of Asia.Competing with other international brands like Nastle, Dutch Lady, Dumex etc it has been ranked as the best and number one dairy brand from India. 

From a sales turnover of Rs 1,114 crore in 1994-95, Amul’s sales have risen substantially to Rs 9,774.2 crore in 2010-11. Amul is all set to fight in the global arena and has entered overseas markets such as Mauritius, UAE, United States of America, Bangladesh, Australia, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and a few South African countries.

The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. cannot be viewed simply as a business enterprise. It is an institution created by the milk producers themselves to primarily safeguard their interest economically, socially as well as democratically. Business houses create profit in order to distribute it to the shareholders. In the case of GCMMF the surplus is ploughed back to farmers through the District Unions as well as the village societies. This circulation of capital with value addition within the structure not only benefits the final beneficiary – the farmer – but eventually contributes to the development of the village community. This is the most significant contribution the Amul Model cooperative has made in building the Nation.