Day: August 3, 2020

THE REAL YOU

“We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be.” — May Sarton

We as humans are curious creatures. We explore, invent, discover and compose. But when it comes to knowing ourselves we are unfortunately lagging.

There are different expressions you might have come across in your readings about self-growth. Some call it the “fear of success”, while others term it as the “fear of failure”. However, I would like to name it the “Fear of Exploring Yourself”.

Now I am using the phrase “Exploring Yourself’ as opposed to “Knowing Yourself”. This is for the reason being that different experiences in your life would require a different version of you and one can’t really ‘know themselves’ unless they have undergone all the encounters and life incidences that shape their existence. Exploring oneself would then be a pre-requisite to know your true self.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” — Marianne Williamson

Deep down inside of us, we all are aware of our light its hidden glory. But its gleam is so bright that we are terrified to embrace it. Instead, we prefer to stand in the distance contemplating, procrastinating, making up excuses and taking solace in the fact that our holy grail is inside of us, within reach, yet unreachable.

We are too scared to dive into that deep ocean, too anxious to unravel and unearth its boundless depths. So we cling to predictability. Certainty and the delusion of control is the only thing that keeps us sane. It is in our very nature to hold on to what is familiar as a way of exercising control over the capriciousness of life. By confirming to others, getting a degree you are not passionate about, getting married, sticking to the job whose satisfaction is worth the paycheque credited every month, we end up shielding ourselves from our magnificence.

Procrastination, perfectionism and not taking risks are the expressions fabricated by someone who is trying to rationalize their avoidance approach for the goals that overwhelm them or burns them with such passion that they are afraid to lose sight of the shores. Yet these burnings are our inner calling that has receded into the depth of our oceans waiting to be discovered.

Logotherapy states that every human contains a will to find meaning and purpose in their life. And those who are aware of this ‘why’ can endure almost any life stressors. The purpose of the existence of human life is not only different for each being, so is the way you stumble upon it. That being said, the sole way to find your motive in life is to explore your true self.

6 Steps to Discover Your True Self

1. Be quiet.

You cannot and will not be able to know yourself until you take the time to be still. Many people don’t know themselves because any sort of silence scares them; it’s too uncomfortable to be alone with every flaw staring back at them. But it isn’t until you get alone, evaluate yourself and are completely truthful with yourself that you will be able to see every facet of your life—the good and the bad. Be quiet and discover your true self.

2. Realize who you truly are, not who you want to be.

I know you already have a set idea of who you desperately want to be, but it might not be who you were designed to be; this is why knowing who you are is so important. When you know who you are, you will finally see where you and your specific gifts fit into the bigger picture.

3. Find what you are good at (and not good at).

This might be the most difficult step in the process of finding who you are, but it’s a necessary one. Sure, it takes trial and error to find what you’re good at, and no, I don’t want you to give up before you’ve had more than enough attempts, but knowing when to quit is a gift that everyone needs to learn.

4. Find what you are passionate about.

Following the passion of any kind is a good thing, and you need to pay attention when it comes because it indicates an area of life that you need to pay more attention to. If we’re talking about following your passion in work, it’s a good thing. And if we’re talking about having more passion for life, it’s a good thing. Focus more on passion; understand yourself in better ways, and you’ll make a bigger impact. Passion produces effort and continuous effort produces results.

5. Ask for feedback.

If you don’t know yourself, hearing what others have to say about you is a helpful practice. Ask them two simple questions: “What strengths do you think I need to develop further?” and “What weaknesses do you think I need to work on?” Of course, their opinion isn’t going to be perfect, but their feedback will probably indicate a few areas you should at least take a second look at. This step is especially important for those who are stuck in finding themselves. Sometimes those closest to us can see something we might not be able to see in ourselves.

6. Assess your relationships.

A large aspect of knowing yourself can be found in your relationships. When you realize you’ll never truly know anyone else until you discover yourself, the importance of knowing yourself becomes even more apparent. This truth especially rings true for business leaders, because if you don’t know the people on your team, then you will be lost as a leader. But this rule also applies to any relationship in your life. Almost as much as you need to know yourself, other people also need to know who you are. People need you—the real you.

Personality Development:

Development of personality also plays an significant part in our lives. And everywhere we go our attitude significantly influences that everything. As the attitude of an individual determines their behaviour and tends to decide their attributes that people look for. In order to be successful in today’s environment one must still be clever and quick-witted.It’s not only about how much commitment you bring into your job, but it’s also about how much confidence you have to do about what you do. Let’s talk about someone you respect. What kind of attitude do they possess? They should typically hold certain decent and appropriate personality characteristics to adopt.

So lets talk about the tips used to develop our personality:

Know yourself:

While shaping our personalities One must proceed by having a close look at themselves, examining their qualities, strengths and shortcomings and everything that needs to be improved on. One does not steer away from acknowledging their faults and seek to improve as best as possible.

Bring positivity in your outlook:

While improving personality, you should learn to put optimistic environment around you and the more optimistic your thoughts and behavior can be, the more your personality will be attracted. The way we perceive impacts a lot on the way we behaved.If one thrives in his mind with optimistic thinking so it always gives him a boost of trust and strengthens his personality. Life situations and circumstances will still be complete ups and downs.

 Have an opinion:

Never be afraid to place your opinion or view in front of people, it really impacts greatly on your personality. Never shy away from projecting your opinions even if they happen to conflict with those of other people.Getting a perspective and being willing to bring it out with conviction not only serves to keep the discussions engaging, it also lets you seem more confident and informed towards other individuals. It’ll make you feel important too

Meet new people

Meeting new and varied styles of people is a positive step towards widening your horizons and opening yourself to more things. You have a opportunity to know more about different communities and behaviors and that has a profound impact on your own personality.

Be a good listener

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”  True it is. Being a good listener may not seem like but it is an important step towards achieving a more likable personality.  Listen with curiosity while someone is talking to you, and show them all the respect and significance. Keep a direct eye contact so should not get separated from the environment. It can allow you to get to learn a lot about individuals and to properly attend them.

Read more often and develop new interests

A person with very few interests would have very least to think about. Yet if you do something really well maintain a variety of interests, more people tend to appreciate you. Rather of being predictable and boring, you might start up engaging discussions. You don’t have to worry about what to do when you meet new people, when you can express your experience or your desires and have them indulged

Be a little fun

Oh yes, this is necessary! Being able to find a humorous side in otherwise terrible situations and bringing a little quirkiness of your own is appreciated by one and all. Everybody loves a person who can make them laugh and bring a funny perspective to the regular things of life. One does not need to be all serious and sober all the time but adorning your funny hat (not literally) every once in a while will turn you in to a more charming personality.

Be courteous

Being courteous is never out of fashion and is well appreciated and respected by everyone. Be humble and greet everyone with a smile. Never shy away from helping or supporting your peers and being available to them whenever they need you.Playing spontaneous acts of kindness will not only improve someone else’s day but will also help you come along as an pleasant human. It’ll also offer confidence boost to your personality. Be respectful to your juniors and senior citizens alike, and down to earth.

 Work on your Body Language

For your personality the body language is just as critical as your verbal communication skills. It says a lot about yourself and makes people create correct speculation about you. Anything like walking, sitting, interacting or eating has an impact on the people around you and developing a good body language can do wonders for your personality. Walk in an upright position with shoulders straight. Do not droop. Sit in a relaxed posture and make always eye contact while speaking.

 Check your attire

I am not abruptly beginning to emphasize about your exterior self instead of your skills and abilities but one’s attire has an important role to play while making a desirable impression. And not just that, but it also gives yourself a confidence boost knowing that you look good and are dressed appropriately. Dress up in a decent manner and keeping your surroundings in mind. While flashy colors and too much body tattoos or piercings convey an unprofessional attitude, neatly ironed clothes make you look presentable.

Be yourself

While one can always look up to other people and draw influence from them, you can always be your own unique self. Each of us is special, we have our own sets of talents and weaknesses so pretending to imitate someone else doesn’t get you anywhere and just backfires. Trying so much to blend into or desire to be part of a new community will never take away the individuality and uniqueness. Never try moulding into another person but instead work on being the best version of yourself.

 Be confident

Yes, that’s the key.The most critical advice for personality growth is to feel positive in who you are and what you are doing. Never question your ability, and if there is something you need to improve on, bring all the energy into it so that you can conquer your doubts and build trust.Read stories of accomplishment or fill yourself with positive thoughts or “encouragements” that will improve your self-esteem and help you maintain a strong personality. Only all you do is have confidence in yourself and throw your good work into it. Within your temperament there can be nothing more attractive than incredible confidence.

Sports shoe industry in India

Indians are becoming health conscious, and this is evident in the number of gymnasiums and sports centres that have mushroomed in the last one decade. The media is partly responsible for spreading the fever of health consciousness, and it has benefitted the Indian society. One sector that has benefitted the most from the growing health consciousness of Indians is the sports shoe industry. One cannot take part in sports related activities without proper footwear and this has pulled up the revenue of sports shoe companies greatly.   

The sportswear industry in India is valued at between Rs 3,500 crores and Rs 5,000 crores. And the unchallenged market leader in sports shoes is Reebok. In fact, Reebok holds a 46% market share in India and India is the only country in which Reebok’s brand value has surpassed that of both Nike and Adidas. In fact, Nike has a mere 11% market share.   The top four sporting brands in India are Reebok, Adidas, Nike, and Puma. There are other brands that manufacture sports shoes such as Bata, Liberty, Woodland, Fila, and Lotto, but their brand value is not as strong as the four leading brands mentioned earlier. India’s footwear segment in general caters to men, women and kids, and men’s footwear comprises 55% of the entire industry, followed by women’s footwear at 30% and kids’ footwear at 15%.   

Studies have shown that there is not much brand dilution in the sports shoe industry but there is brand confusion among consumers. The average consumer, who is not extremely knowledgeable about shoe technology, finds it difficult to distinguish between shoes produced by Nike, Adidas and Reebok. In fact, Puma is the only brand that has managed to carve out a space for itself as a fashion brand too. In fact, the design of Puma shoes is slightly different from the rest – Puma shoes are sleek. In India, people do not just wear sports shoes while taking part in sporting activities; they wear them with casual attire too, which is why Reebok has managed to garner a huge market share. Reebok shoes are designed in such a way that they can be worn with casual attire too – the designs and colors are not as flashy as other brands.     

Another reason why Reebok has made its way into so many Indian households is because Reebok shoes are relatively more affordable than the other reputed brands. Indians, especially those in the middle class, are conscious about the price. Given such market conditions, Reebok has an advantage over other brands because it has a wide price range for shoes, from Rs 1,200 to Rs 7,000. This way, consumers have more options while choosing Reebok shoes as opposed to Nike, Puma or Adidas shoes, whose prices start at a much higher level.  

The sports shoe industry in India is definitely going to grow, given people’s awareness and how conscious they are about their health. One of the selling propositions of sports shoe brands in most parts of the world is the technology behind the shoe. At present, the average Indian consumer is not as aware of these technologies as he should be, which is why brands such as Nike, which develops shoes with unique technologies, are not very popular in India. However, this will soon change with greater publicity and awareness.

The footwear industry is one of the most rapidly expanding industries globally. Increasing demand for new and innovative footwear and the emergence of various global as well as regional brands across segments in the category is primarily driving the market. Innovative and trendy footwear is being consistently manufactured by leading market players due to advancement in the footwear manufacturing process, technological innovations, and development of new material.

India is globally the second largest footwear producer after China. India’s footwear production accounts for approximately 9% of the global annual production of 22 billion pair as compared to China which produces over 60%. Key production centres in the country include Kanpur and Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Ranipet, Vaniyambadi and Ambur in Tamil Nadu. The sector is fragmented and close to 75% production comes from the unorganised sector including very small, small and medium enterprises

With the expanding market, the needs of the consumers are also fast changing. Rapid urbanization, higher disposable incomes and greater penetration of media have led to changing fashion needs of the consumers. The footwear industry in India is highly labour intensive and currently employs close to three million people. Out of this, almost 30% are women. Kanpur, Agra, Ranipet, Vaniyambadi, and Ambur are the top footwear production hubs in the country. Today, urbanisation, higher disposable incomes and media influence are changing the needs of consumers and dictating the types of footwear these hubs produce for brands.

Dominant players in the organised market include international brands Bata, Nike, Adidas, Nike, Puma, etc. But customers’ tastes are changing so rapidly that scores of Indian footwear brands, both old and new, are innovating their products and trying to capture the unorganised market.

Woodland, a highly sought-after brand for a lot of millennials, has Indian roots. Aero Group, the parent company of Woodland, was founded by Avatar Singh in Quebec, Canada, in the 1980s. At the time, the company manufactured winter boots for Canada and Russia. Aero Group’s business was at its peak until the 1990s when the Russian market went down with the disintegration of the Soviet Union. In 1992, Aero Group decided to enter India after seeing the developing market conditions and the opening up of exclusive retail outlets and mall culture. Woodland was thus launched under Aero Group.

The raw materials used for shoes, including soles, are manufactured in-house. Italian machinery is used for tanning and finishing the hand-picked Italian hides. German technology is used to manufacture tough rubber soles. Woodland has over 600 EBOs across the country along with shelf space in 5,500 multi-brand outlets (MBOs). The company now clocks a turnover of Rs 1,250 crore.

FORD – The Brand Story

Ford Motor Company, commonly known as Ford, is an American multinational automaker that has its main headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand, and most luxury cars under the Lincoln brand. Ford also owns Brazilian SUV manufacturer Troller, an 8% stake in Aston Martin of the United Kingdom and a 32% stake in Jiangling Motors. It also has joint-ventures in China (Changan Ford), Taiwan (Ford Lio Ho), Thailand (AutoAlliance Thailand), Turkey (Ford Otosan), and Russia (Ford Sollers). The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is controlled by the Ford Family; they have minority ownership but the majority of the voting power.

Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines; by 1914, these methods were known around the world as Fordism. Ford’s former UK subsidiaries Jaguar andLand Rover, acquired in 1989 and 2000 respectively, were sold to the Indian automaker Tata Motors in March 2008. Ford owned the Swedish automaker Volvo from 1999 to 2010. In 2011, Ford discontinued the Mercury brand, under which it had marketed entry-level luxury cars in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Middle East since 1938.

Ford is the second-largest U.S.-based automaker (behind General Motors) and the fifth-largest in the world (behind Toyota, VW, Hyundai-Kia and General Motors) based on 2015 vehicle production. At the end of 2010, Ford was the fifth largest automaker in Europe. The company went public in 1956 but the Ford family, through special Class B shares, still retain 40 percent voting rights. During the financial crisis at the beginning of the 21st century, it struggled financially, but it has since returned to profitability. Ford was the eleventh-ranked overall American-based company in the 2018 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues in 2017 of $156.7 billion. In 2008, Ford produced 5.532 million automobiles and employed about 213,000 employees at around 90 plants and facilities worldwide.

Ford is a popular name when it comes to automaker companies. The brand has it branches spread all over the world and is a leader among automobile manufacturers. Ford Motor Company better known as simple Ford produces the best cars and trucks under its name. Ford has been pleasing customers of all strata with its wide range of cars and commercial vehicles. The brand has everything from luxurious cars under the Lincoln brand to economy and commercial vehicles under Ford brand. The constant innovation of designs and technology keeping in mind the currents demands and desires of its customers has enabled it to build a strong rapport among target market.  

Key Strategy of Ford :  

Ford Motor Company has carefully examined the needs of customers and derived its marketing strategies accordingly.   

• Ford Mission statement and goal has always been one Ford, one team, one plan and one goal. The statement clearly signifies that the brand believes in establishing itself as a brand that has a team dedicated to single goal of delivering high performance vehicles to its customers.   

• Ford has also been a brand that is very well established strong relationship with the communities it serves. The brand has been involved in campaigns like ‘breast cancer awareness campaigns’.   

• The brand also endeavors to be as protective of nature as possible with its efforts of making fuel efficient cars, electric vehicles, donations and Ford raiser programs for environmental protection.  

• Due to its worldwide presence the company has strong brand recall and reputation. It also gives them edge over other competitors because they can very well determine the needs of different market segment and manufacture efficient vehicles accordingly.  

• The biggest strength of the brand is its unmatched technology and designs that has helped the company to develop a strong portfolio of quality products.    

• Ford’s marketing and advertising tactics involves everything from promotions on social media platforms like twitter, blogs, flickr, press releases, television commercials etc.   

• Ford has a very strong rapport with its employees, suppliers, dealers etc that helps him to stay focused on its mission statement of ‘One Ford’.  

• Ford’s most popular vehicles include Land Rover, Lincoln, Aston Martin, Volvo etc.  

• Ford has cars for every customer. It has luxurious cars as well as mid-size cars to cater needs of every customer. Some of the popular mid-range cars include Ford Figo, Ford Fusion etc.  

Ford has been an age old company that has gathered the trust and loyalty of customers all over the world. The multinational automaker has proved to be innovative and efficient when it comes to vehicle needs of its customers.    The company has been sensitive to its community and has been involved in events that are held in favor of the community. The company tries to view their business from consumer’s prospective to come up with products and services that are full worth in terms of money, comfort and luxury.

Most powerful weapon; our thought

Cognitive abilities like thinking, reasoning and problem-solving may be considered to be some of the chief characteristics which distinguish human beings from other species including the higher animals.

The challenges and problems faced by the individual or by society, in general, are solved through a series of efforts involving thinking and reasoning. The powers of thinking and reasoning may thus be considered to be the essential tools for the welfare and meaningful existence of the individual as well as society.

On this definition, thinking simply equates to conscious cognitive processes. I think this definition is too broad, and we make more scientific and philosophical progress if we tighten it up a bit. 

People of a psychodynamic persuasion might even want to talk about “unconscious thinking,” but I think that makes the term so broad as to be quite useless. Of course, there are tremendously important unconscious cognitive processes shaping the way we make sense of the world, but “thinking” seems to me to be quintessentially conscious.

Thinking can be classified as follows:

1. Perceptual or Concrete Thinking:

This is the simplest form of thinking the basis of this type is perception, i.e. interpretation of sensation according to one’s experience. It is also called concrete thinking as it is carried out on the perception of actual or concrete objects and events.

2. Conceptual or Abstract Thinking:

Here one makes use of concepts, the generalized objects and languages, it is regarded as being superior to perceptual thinking as it economizes efforts in understanding and problem-solving.

3. Reflective Thinking:

This type of thinking aims in solving complex problems, thus it requires reorganization of all the relevant experiences to a situation or removing obstacles instead of relating with that experiences or ideas.

This is an insightful cognitive approach in reflective thinking as the mental activity here does not involve the mechanical trial and error type of efforts.

In this type, thinking processes take all the relevant facts arranged in a logical order into an account to solve the problem.

4. Creative Thinking:

This type of thinking is associated with one’s ability to create or construct something new, novel or unusual. It looks for new relationships and associations to describe and interpret the nature of things, events and situations. Here the individual himself usually formulates the evidences and tools for its solution. For example; scientists, artists or inventors.

5. Critical Thinking:

It is a type of thinking that helps a person in stepping aside from his personal beliefs, prejudices and opinions to sort out the faiths and discover the truth, even at the expense of his basic belief system.

Here one resorts to set higher cognitive abilities and skills for the proper interpretation, analysis, evaluation and inference, as well as explanation of the gathered or communicated information resulting in a purposeful unbiased and self-regulatory judgement.

An ideal thinker is habitually inquisitive, well-informed, open-minded, flexible, fair-minded in evaluation, free from personal bias and prejudices, honest in seeking relevant information, skilled in the proper use of the abilities like interpretation, analysis, synthesis, evaluation and drawing conclusion and inferences, etc.

The critical thinking is of a higher order well-disciplined thought process which involves the use of cognitive skills like conceptualization, interpretation, analysis, synthesis and evaluation for arriving at an unbiased, valid and reliable judgment of the gathered or communicated information or data as a guide to one’s belief and action.

6. Non-directed or Associative Thinking:

There are times when we find ourselves engaged in a unique type of thinking which is non-directed and without goal. It is reflected through dreaming and other free-flowing uncontrolled activities. Psychologically these forms of thought are termed as associative thinking.

8 Common Thinking Mistakes Our Brains Make Every Day and How to Prevent Them

1. We surround ourselves with information that matches our beliefs

We tend to like people who think like us. If we agree with someone’s beliefs, we’re more likely to be friends with them. While this makes sense, it means that we subconsciously begin to ignore or dismiss anything that threatens our world views, since we surround ourselves with people and information that confirm what we already think.

2. We believe in the “swimmer’s body” illusion

The “swimmer’s body illusion” occurs when we confuse selection factors with results. Another good example is top-performing universities: are they the best schools, or do they choose the best students, who do well regardless of the school’s influence? Our mind often plays tricks on us and that is one of the key ones to be aware of.

3. We worry about things we’ve already lost

No matter how much I pay attention to the sunk cost fallacy, I still naturally gravitate towards it.

The term sunk cost refers to any cost (not just monetary, but also time and effort) that has been paid already and cannot be recovered. So, a payment of time or money that’s gone forever.

4. We incorrectly predict odds

Imagine you’re playing Heads or Tails with a friend. You flip a coin, over and over, each time guessing whether it will turn up heads or tails. You have a 50/50 chance of being right each time.

5. We believe our memories more than facts

Our memories are highly fallible and plastic. And yet, we tend to subconsciously favour them over objective facts.

6. We pay more attention to stereotypes than we think

The funny thing about lots of these thinking mistakes especially related to memory is that they’re so ingrained, I had to think long and hard about why they’re mistakes at all! This one is a good example—it took me a while to understand how illogical this pattern of thinking is.

IPL 2020 to be played from September 19 to November 10 this year

IPL 2020 will be played from September 19 to November 10 this year. The decision to this effect was taken at a virtual meeting of the IPL Governing Council last night.

The meeting was organised to give a final shape to the schedule and discuss other arrangements for the eagerly-awaited event to be held in the UAE this year.

Taking note of the prevailing COVID-19 situation in India, the IPL Governing Council decided to stage the tournament in UAE and the matches will be played in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi subject to necessary clearances from the Government of India.

The final will be played on 10th November this year. The 53-day tournament will witness 10-afternoon matches starting at 3:30 PM Indian time while the evening matches will start at 7:30 PM.

The Governing Council also discussed the comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), which will be finalised and published in due course, including the agencies to execute and deliver a bio-secure environment for safe and successful conduct of IPL 2020 Season.

The Governing Council also reviewed the Player Regulations for replacement players for the 2020 season.

Women’s T20 Challenge will also take place in the UAE and will comprise three teams with four matches to be played during the IPL Playoff week.

Meanwhile, Indian cricketers including ODI captain Mithali Raj has welcomed BCCI President Sourav Ganguly’s announcement that the Women’s IPL will take place during the men’s league in the UAE.

While it is expected that most of the franchises will send their recce teams to the UAE to check out the facilities as well as the bio-secure environment that can be created, there are concerns that remain, including accommodation plan and catering services.

Monsoon to get active over parts of central and western India from tomorrow

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) says the monsoon will enter an active phase over parts of central and western India from tomorrow bringing heavy rains over the next three-four days.

It said, a low-pressure area is likely to develop over the north Bay of Bengal and move into Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, and then to central Maharashtra and Gujarat, bringing heavy rainfall. Jharkhand and Gangetic West Bengal may also receive moderate rainfall on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A monsoon trough is likely to shift southwards and strengthen during the next three to four days and lash Goa, coastal Karnataka and Kerala with widespread rainfall.

The weather department has issued a red warning for coastal Maharashtra and Goa for tomorrow. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected today over Mumbai and isolated extremely heavy showers on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Raksha Bandhan being celebrated across country today; Local rakhis completely replace Chinese rakhis this year

Raksha Bandhan, the festival of special bond between brothers and sisters, is being celebrated today across the country. On this occasion, sisters tie colorful rakhi around the wrist of their brothers and pray for their prosperity, health and well-being. In return, brothers pledge to protect and support their sisters and present them gifts.

Rakhis made by Indian companies and Self Help Groups have completely replaced Chineses products this year. Shopkeepers and people have totally rejected Chinese Rakhis this year following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for Atmanirbhar Bharat and Vocal for Local.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu have greeted the people on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. In his message, Mr Kovind said, Rakhi is the sacred thread of love, affection and trust that sisters tie on the wrists of their brothers.

He said, this is a unique festival that strengthens the will to protect the interests of women and work for their well-being. He asked everyone to take a pledge to stand for the honour and dignity of women so that they can contribute their best for the nation and society.

In his message, Mr Venkaiah Naidu said, across India and worldwide, the sacred bonds between brothers and sisters are honoured on Raksha Bandhan day and this festival reaffirms the strong ties of love and affection that bind brothers and sisters together.

He added that on this auspicious occasion, let us also resolve to uphold the dignity and respect traditionally accorded to women in the society and empower them to reach their true potential. Mr Naidu expressed hope that this festival will bring peace, harmony and prosperity in the country.

In a massive show of love, solidarity, brotherhood and national bonding, sisters from North-East tied Rakhi on Jawans from armed forces and paramilitary personnel deployed in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

On the auspicious occasion of Raksha Bandhan, Self-help groups from the eight North-Eastern states also sent Rakhis, tri-coloured bands and facemasks to Jawans posted in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh – bringing together the eternal emotional bond between the various cultures, States and people of the country.

A symbolic Rakhi ceremony was also held in New Delhi yesterday in which sisters from North East states tied Rakhis to DoNER Minister Dr Jitendra Singh.

In Madhya Pradesh, a special type of rakhi has been prepared  following the Prime Minister’s Vocal for Local appeal. Eco-friendly rakhis have been made from cow dung along with silk, paper and seeds of the plants.

Chhattisgarh Governor Anusuiya Uike has sent Rakhis made by tribal and rural women of the state to the President, Vice President and Prime Minister.

DCGI gives permission to Serum Institute of India to conduct phase 2 and 3 human clinical trial of Corona vaccine developed by Oxford university

Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given nod to the Serum Institute of India (SII) to conduct phase 2 and 3 human clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University.

The approval for conducting phase 2 and 3 clinical trials by the SII was granted by DCGI Dr VG Somani late last night after a thorough evaluation based on the recommendations of the Subject Expert Committee on COVID-19.

The expert panel at the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) had on Friday recommended granting permission for phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the vaccine – Covishield on healthy adults in India.

The firm has to submit safety data, evaluated by the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), to the CDSCO before proceeding to phase 3 clinical trials.

Currently, phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the Oxford vaccine are going on in the UK, phase 3 clinical trials in Brazil and phase 1 and 2 clinical trials in South Africa.

Centre asks states and UTs to allow smartphones and tablet devices for hospitalised COVID-19 patients

The Central Government has written to all states and Union Territories asking that smartphones and tablet devices should be allowed for hospitalised COVID-19 patients so that they can interact with family and friends through video conferencing.

This is expected to provide the patients psychological support. Though mobile phones are allowed in hospital wards, the letter was issued following some representation from the kin of patients alleging that mobile phones are not being allowed by the hospital administrations.

In the letter to the Principal Secretaries of health and medical education of States and UTs, Director General of Health Services in the Health Ministry, Dr Rajiv Garg said, appropriate protocols for disinfecting devices and allocating time slots can be developed by the hospital concerned to facilitate contact between patients and their family.

He stressed that administrative and medical teams should be responsive to the psychological needs of patients admitted in COVID-19 wards and ICUs.

Raped in Chitrakoot: Minor Girls are forced to trade bodies for Rs. 150-200 daily during lockdown

In Chitrakoot, minor girls (aged 12-14) from poor families are forced to work in illegal mines but the contactors and middlemen don’t pay then daily wages easily. These girls have to trade off their bodies in exchange for their wages. “We are helpless, we agree to it. They give us a job, exploit us and then don’t pay us our wages full. When we refuse their sexual advances, they threaten they will not employ us any longer. What will we eat if we don’t work? We eventually agree.” – A resident of Karvi. Another victim, a resident of Dafai says, “The contractors don’t reveal their names and if we refuse their advances they threaten to throw us down the hill.” Their parents are aware of this exploitation but say they are equally helpless to do anything. Feeding the family is daily struggle. “They have put some beds behind the hill near the mines. They take us down there and take turns to exploit us. We have to go there one by one. When we refuse they beat us. It pains, we scream but we bear it. What else can we do? We feel sad about all this and think of dying or running away.”
“If we go to the mines without make-up, the contractors ask what we do with our wages. What can anyone do with Rs. 100?”- Another girl of Karvi.
The provisions on the Indian Penal Code do not reach these hills in Chitrakoot, neither do laws whose sole purpose are to protect children from sexual abuse.
Fed up with the rampant, many women have stopped working and sending their daughters to the mines. Dr. Vishesh Gupta, chairperson of UP Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said, “We have taken note of matter and we will send a team to investigate this.”
RS Pandey, ASP Chitrkoot, said, “We have not heard of any such incident. We are fully alert ad have asked the village guards to remain vigilant and report every incident in the villages. We are gathering information.”

Femicide in Turkey

A social evil infesting our harmonious society
19 years old university student, Ozgecan Aslan was killed 5 years ago, by a minibus driver who attempted to rape her on her way home. Following Aslan’s death, a petition demanding an end to reduce sentences for perpetrators of gender-based violence gathered more than 1 million signatures. Despite the protests and petitions, there was a considerable surge in femicides. The “we will end femicide platform”, a women’s rights group, said almost 2000 women have been killed since February 2015, often by husbands or boyfriends. In 2019, 474 women were stain in turkey. Women’s rights activists said the necessary legal tools for the protection of women against violence already exist. Turkey was the first country to ratify the council called the ” Istanbul Convention”. This council focused on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence. In 2011, a treaty was introduced specifically targeting violence against women. Law number 6248 which was passed to Protect the Family and Prevent Violence Against Women and introduced gender equality policies.
However, the problem is with the implementation of existing laws. The general attitude in society has not changed. Women are still urged to stay at home to serve and obey. In some cases, violence against women is still acceptable.” Ekin also mentioned that many kinds of violence against women weren’t even taken in consideration which includes psychological abuse or some different kind of degrading treatment. Measures stipulated by the Istanbul Convention, such as the provision of enough women’s shelters and rape crisis centres, were not being met, Ekin said. During a speech at an international women’s rights summit in 2014, Erdogan said women were not equal to men and that manual labour was not suitable for women because of their “delicate nature.” He has criticised women who chose work over having children as “half-persons” and equated abortion to “murder.” Numerous women’s rights NGOs were closed by emergency decree following the 2016 coup attempt. Despite mounting difficulties, the resolve of Turkey’s women’s rights activists has grown stronger and Ekin stressed that this yielded important successes. Due to close monitoring of femicide court cases by activists, courts rarely hand down reduced sentences for “unjust provocation,” a widespread practice until a few years ago. This is the result of our struggle and we will continue to fight for justice for women,” Ekin said.

India likely to miss target of eradicating AIDS by 2030: IMCR Study

Since The covid-19 pandemic several health care related programmes have been put on hold which is why the ICMR has warned India might not achieve the target to end AIDS by 2030. The warning comes in a study by the ICMR-National Institute of Medical Statistics, Division of Strategic information – Surveillance and Epidemiology, and the National AIDS Control Organization under the ministry of health and family welfare. Also achieving the goal might be difficult because of the annual decline rate between 2010-2017 was found to be 27% as opposed to expected 75%. An estimated 2.1 million people were living with the AIDS virus, HIV, in 2017, with Maharashtra estimated to have the highest number. Telangana accounts for the largest share of new cases in the 88,000 that have been reported.
States with the highest number of people living with HIV in 2017 were Maharashtra (0.33 million), Andhra Pradesh (0.27 million) and Karnataka (0.24 million). Telangana, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar had between 0.2 and 0.1 million such patients.
The study highlighted that 15 states accounted for 87% of the total population of HIV-infected persons in 2017.
Another critical target to be achieved by 2020 was prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV virus. As per latest studies out of all cases 58.2% are on treatment as of 2018.
Rise of cases has been observed in low burden states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Uttarakhand in 201y compared to 2010.

Uttarakhand to generate electricity from waste

The Uttarakhand government has decided to convert waste generated in the state to electricity under an initiative titled ‘Waste to Energy’. The government is ready with the draft and the chief minister would hold a meeting regarding it soon.
The hill state is said to produce about 900-tonnes of waste everyday. Out of which half is organic in nature while 17 per cent falls in a recyclable category followed by 21 per cent biomedical waste and 11 per cent of inert nature. The above amount of waste is speculated to generate 5 megawatts of electricity and the scheme also aims to solve the problem of unavailability of land fills to dispose of waste across the state.
Earlier, in January this year, Dehradun city featured as almost 11 times more polluted than prescribed standards of World Health Organization standards and worse than Kanpur according to a Greenpeace report. That is why Last month, UEPPCB approved the state fuel policy to reduce air pollution in the coming years including ban on the use of petroleum coke as fuel in a few years, which has a large-scale impact on air pollution. Petroleum coke also known as petcoke is a final solid by-product that derives from the oil refining process and is very rich in carbon. Given its high carbon content, it contributes more pollution, greenhouse gases. According to a meeting that was held in second week of June the government has set a deadline to ban the use of petroleum coke and furnace oil as fuel in the state which is March 2024.

Keralite braveheart is a national hero in Croatia

Biju Raveendran a Malayali from Pullukulangara has managed to become a national hero in Croatia because of his bravery and quick thinking. Without bothering about his safety, Biju rescued a local woman and her two children stuck inside a three-storey building which had caught fire. He was feted by the local government for the act of bravado. The event took place on 10th July at 2am according to Croatian time. The top floor of the building in which Biju lived at ground floor caught fire. Biju was woken up due to the loud noise and scrambled out of the building with hs 2 Malayali friends.
After realising a family was trapped in the building, Biju borrowed ladder from another resident and scaled the building. After getting in through the ventilator the trapped woman, Helena Roobilu handed over her children while Biju passed her small ladder to help her get out. He later used the big ladder to get her out to safety. He was assisted by his friends Varghese and Jobi from Pathanamthitta with whom he shared the apartment.
Biju had come to Croatia 14 months ago from Gulf. His wife and daughter live in his native village. After the incident he is being offered jobs by many Croatian company.
Dario Hrebak, Mayor of Bjelovar, invited him to his office and felicitated him.