Things To Keep You Going When You Are Stressed At Work

‘Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.’- Charles Swindoll.

I remember working during the online classes now-days-days. Working from home has because a stress factor for me during these days. You have send four to five hours of your day in zoom meetings and submit a tons of assignment within a particular time.  Half of day is spent online due to classes. You get the picture, right?

But unfortunately, after the tiresome day, I do not get time to find time for myself or neither I can spend the weekends or weekdays.

It has become impossible for me to give my undivided attention online and I feel stressed all the time. No forms of refreshment are there during these days. Sitting in front of laptop and mobile phones have become a daily part of our life. Many problems are occurring due this, sleeplessness, eye-itching etc.

A nonstop busyness surrounded me and I was losing myself in this digital world. So I decided to take out some time for me because I need fresh air and oxygen to live. My emotions were almost gone and I am becoming stone-hearted person. Emotions are melting too.

Let us scroll down to look at the 4 factors that kept me going during this stressed period:

  1. Control your thoughts: We can control our thoughts. When we are surrounded by negativity, we must try to do positive things and bring positive thoughts in our mind. From ‘what I am doing’ to ‘what can I do’ must be the mind set during these times. It will help to gear our positive thoughts and absorb the negative thoughts.
  2. Meditation for the peace of mind: We must spend time in doing meditation for the peace of mind. It is very helpful because it helps to reduce the stress factor and it prepares the mind for the day. It helps us to cope up with the rest of the day and work.
  3.  Get charged up: Before stepping into any work get yourself charged up. You can listen to your favourite songs. This keeps your mind fresh. This can also be the song that you can play in your laptop or desk to keep you charge. Two of my songs that keeps me charged are ‘Give me some sunshine’ and ‘My heart will go on’.
  4. Accept what it is:  You have to accept the things that you cannot control. It will save your energy. It will help you to concentrate on the things that is in your own hand. You will end your day with happiness.

When you find yourself in a situation, where you are not able to work properly or just cannot accept the stress, it is better for you to leave the job and find another possible job where you can work on your own choice and your stress level will be at controlled. It is the time for change. Your response to these kinds of tough situations can also motivate others and help others.

Horrible Job I Hate Might Just Change My Life

‘What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.’- Ralph Marston.

Before coming to university, I worked as social worker in the Presidency Correctional Home in Kolkata.  I hated that thing. Working with the criminals? Am I really made for that? These are questions that came into my mind.

Seriously I have to work with criminals. My life was at stake. I was terribly upset with this. It totally sucked.

First day when I went there, I saw prisoners in a terrible condition. They were like searching for a moment of peace and light. Spending a lot of my time, I gained with conclusion, criminals are not born but they are made due to certain shortage of their life. I was empathising with themselves. A feeling was gratitude was coming from within.

Let’s be honest. What do we really understand by criminals? We only know that they are bound by law due to their criminal activities. They are put behind the bars just because law has proved them to be guilt. A stigma gets attached to these people. I really got the opportunity to know them.

That day, I realized that God has a bigger plan for me and that very moment I thanked God, and said Oh My God that is why you have chosen me.

It taught me how to be compassionate towards the people, work with criminals, even in their difficult times. They become lonely, angry, disturbed and how I have to control them to bring peace in their mind, it had taught me. This work taught me that there will be haters, there will be naysayers, there will be disbelievers, and then there will be YOU, proving them wrong. Truly, God’s plans are bigger than your plans for yourself.

I never thought that the job or the work that I hated too much will one day become my main priority. It changed my life completely. The definition of life has changed in my dictionary. 

If you think that your life is hard and you are giving up on that because you think your life is unfair, THINK AGAIN.  We have this amazing fantasy about life, this is how things should work, this is my plan it should go as per my plans. If that does not happen, we give up. I never wanted to be a social worker in a correctional home or never thought of being there.

This life is test and a trail, tests and trails are never supposed to be easy. So when you are expecting ease from life, and life gives you lemons, then you make the lemonade and then do not blame life for that because you were expecting ease from a trail. There are many people  in the world who are dreaming to live a life that you are living right now. You have no idea.

Embrace each and every breathe that you are taking. Celebrate your life, live it. Do not die before your death. Live your life fully. Real happiness lies in gratitude. Live every moment of your life.

So do make a change. Do what you love. When people say that she had worked with inmates of correctional, I repeat to them, ‘These are my scars and I wear them with pride’.  You know what connects me with this correctional home, my imperfections. I am really glad that god has chosen me for serving in correctional home. The things you do today can change everything, even if you cannot see it yet.  You might not love the horrible job at first, but who knows that it might become your main concern and might change your life fully.

Hope you all enjoyed reading. Stay connected for more updates. Till then goodbye and have a nice day.

India

Indian Culture and traditions are something which has now become renowned all across the world. We all refer to India and its culture as something very diverse and unique. But seldom do we give a thought to why things are done in certain specific ways. Indian Culture is full of several unique customs and traditions, which outsiders might find really intriguing. Majority of the population following Hinduism, around 29%-40% of the people are vegetarians,meaning vegetarian travelers are never far delicious dal (lentil), sabzi (vegetable), or paneer (cheese)-based dishes. (Vegans will have more trouble, as dairy products are used in abundance. The country is the world’s biggest producer and consumer of mangoes, accounting for more than 40% of the world’s supply. In fact, Indians love mangoes so much they made it their national fruit. 

Although around 80% of Indians are Hindus, the country is home to large, well-established communities of all the major world religions, as well as some smaller ones. Christian communities and churches are visible throughout Kerala and Goa, the latter housing the remains of Catholic Saint Francis Xavier at the Basilica of Bom Jesus. The long history of Judaism in India can be seen in the Jewtown area of Fort Kochi in Kerala. Parsi Fire Temples and Towers of Silence are spread throughout Mumbai.
The number of English speakers in India is second only to that of the USA. English is one of the 22 official languages of India, and the joint official language (along with Hindi) of the Central Government. Only around 10% of Indians know English, and just a minority know it as a first language, but in a country with such a huge population, English-speaking travelers can count on being able to communicate almost everywhere they go.Indians are used to hearing a variety of accents and language capabilities, so no one will be perplexed if you don’t pronounce words perfectly or mix up your verb endings and postpositions. Chances are, the person you’re testing your faltering Hindi on speaks Bengali at home and English at work, and is used to bending their ear to the different sounds.

Uttar Pradesh has a population of more than 200 million — that’s more people than in Japan, Mexico…even Russia. UP is home to the Taj Mahal and Varanasi, but it’s so large (at almost 94,000 square miles, it’s about the size of Michigan) and densely populated that so much more can be enjoyed here: There’s the old Mughal city of Fatehpur Sikri, wildlife sanctuaries, the imambara complexes of Lucknow, the Buddhist sites at Sarnath…

India has the largest postal network in the world with over 1, 55,015 post offices. A single post office on an average serves a population of 7,175 people. The floating post office in Dal Lake, Srinagar, was inaugurated in August 2011.At an altitude of 2,444 meters, the Chail Cricket Ground in Chail, Himachal Pradesh, is the highest in the world. It was built in 1893 and is a part of the Chail Military School.

The namaste is one of the most popular Indian customs and isn’t really just restricted to the Indian territory anymore. You have Barack Obama, who has been seen doing it on various occasions, or you had Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, greeting everyone with a namaste at the Times’ Square in New York on the first International Yoga Day. But, what’s the significance? The Namaste, or ‘namaskar’, or ‘namaskaara’ is one of the five forms of traditional greetings mentioned in the ancient Hindu scriptures, the Vedas. It literally translates to “I bow to you”, and greeting one another with it is a way of saying “May our minds meet”, indicated by the folded palms placed before the chest. The word ‘namaha’ can also be translated as ‘na ma’ (not mine), to signify the reductions of one’s ego in the presence of the other.

India also sees a large number of festivals, mainly because of the prevalence of diverse religions and groups. The Muslims celebrate Eid, the Christians have Christmas, good Friday and so on, the Sikhs have Baisakhi (harvesting of crop), and the birthdays of their Gurus and the Hindus have Diwali, Holi, Makar Sakranti, the Jains have Mahavir Jayanti, the Buddhists celebrate the Buddha’s birthday on Buddha Poornima, and quite honestly, the number is endless. All of these translate to holidays in our book, of course.

India used to be an island more than 100 million years ago? About 50 million years ago, it collided with the Asian continent and thus was born the Himalayas. Fascinating, isn’t it? With over a billion people from all kinds of religions and ethniciti

Compile-time and Run-time Errors

Programmers, while executing their code of any language will come across two terms, compile-time and Run time errors. Let us briefly know what they are.

Compilation Errors

Every code must be syntactically correct to pass compilation. The compilation is the process that compiler checks for syntaxes in the user-written code. Syntaxes are not just special characters but they do have some meaning. For example, semicolon (;) in C means the end of the statement, the opening and closing curly braces ({,}) defines the opening and closing of a block or scope respectively. So, syntaxes should not be missed to avoid compilation errors.

Let us see some examples to demonstrate more clearly.

#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
int a=10 // semicolon missed
printf(“%d”,a);
return 0;
}

In the above code, we have missed a semicolon at the end of the declaration of ‘a’ variable. This is syntactically incorrect. So, the compiler results in an error, error: expected ‘,’ or ‘;’ before ‘printf’

#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
int a=10,b=5;
if(a>b)
    {
       printf(“%d”,a);
    }
else
   {
      printf(“%d”,b);
   //closing brace for else part is missed
return 0;
}  

Here, the closing scope brace is missed for else part. So, there will be a compilation error saying error: expected declaration or statement at end of input

Run time Errors

after the successful compilation of our program, we’ll take the next step. We will run our program. This is where after the success of which, you will get your output. The errors that occurred during this run-time are called Run-time errors. Let us see some of the run time errors.

A run time error means that the program is compiled successfully, but it failed due to run time error or crashed. There are different types of run time errors. Let us learn them properly.

  1. SIGSEGV

This error means ‘Segmentation Fault’. Some of the causes of this error are, by an out-of-scope array index causing a buffer overflow, an incorrectly initialized pointer, etc. this error occurs when the program trying to access the outside the memory allocated for it.

2. SIGXFSZ

This error says “output limit exceeded”. Your program has expected too much data as output.

3. SIGFPE

This indicates a “floating point error”. This is the most famous error. Usually demonstrating run time errors start with this error. This error usually occurs when you are trying to divide a number by zero, or trying to take a square root of a negative number.

4. NZEC

This means “non-zero exit code”. This error means that the program exited returning a value other than 0. This may simply mean that we have forgotten the ‘return 0’ statement in c/c++ languages.

In interpreted languages like python, this error usually means that our program either crashed or raised an uncaught exception.

5. SIGABRT

This error occurs when the program is aborted in the middle of the execution. This error is raised by the program itself.

6. OTHER

This error is generated when we use too much of memory. For example, a very large sized array.

7. MLE

This indicates “Memory Limit Exceeded”. This error is generated when you try to allocate memory beyond the memory limit indicated. This can occur if you declare a very large array or some other data structures.

Online Shopping vs Offline Shopping

With online shopping, you have the luxury of being able to shop the world from the comfort of your home (or wherever you are) with internet connection. Furthermore, your purchases aren’t limited, and you can switch between different websites within a click.In terms of offline shopping, it takes more effort than just waking up and logging onto your laptop. With this method, you put in more effort which takes up money (petrol costs/public transport) and time (getting ready/travel time).Due to the increasing noise of technology and online shopping, we at times forget to appreciate the fun offline shopping offers! Right from groceries to accessories, we find everything online.Online shopping is on the rise, which is leaving brick and mortar stores struggling to keep up with the loss of salesWhen comparing two different ways of shopping most people do not even think about the difference, they do both and not even realize it.

In today’s society people shop while at work, after work and on the weekends, whenever time permits. Stop and think how can I get more time in the day for family or just myself? The best way to figure that out with all the recourses we have is to go into a store and spend time looking through racks and waiting in endless lines to just purchase something. I compared going into a store verses online shopping; to see which one will save you time and money. There are many reasons for choosing to go into a store to purchase items needed.For instance, having someone assist you in finding what you need.
For the draw backing for in-store shopping is; you do spend hours looking for the right product or in the lines trying to just purchase it. Or listening to all the people around you and all the additional noises you hear in stores. Not to mention stores have set hours on when you can shop and when you can not, this is something which can change with a sign on the door. Online shopping has been growing since businesses put the first online store on the web, now you can shop from anywhere around the world and have it shipped to you directly.

Comparing the product against other online store competitors; making it easier to find the best price on the web. You can research the product and make sure this is what you need before buying it. The internet is a twenty-four hour shopping center, you can shop at whatever time you want and wherever you have time for it, making it more convenient to use online shopping. Using it can create more time for the things you would like to do. The negative side of online shopping is you have to wait until the product is shipped to you. The shipping and handling charge is increased for more expedited shipping.

Here are a couple of reasons why we think offline shopping is incomparable:

1. The happiness of offline shopping and spending time with loved once
Wasn’t shopping supposed to be a ‘feel good’ activity? Do you remember the satisfaction you felt while shopping from a brick and mortar store? That feeling has no match. Online shopping is overshadowing the tiny perks of traditional shopping. Instead of trying on the dresses, clicking a selfie, and taking your best friend’s suggestion, we check the products on the internet and imagine how it would look on us. Where is the delight in it?

2. No need to wait for the delivery
In offline shopping, you look around for dresses, pick the ones you like, try them on, buy the best ones and leave feeling content with the purchases made. Whereas when shopping online, you browse through the dresses, add the ones you like to the cart, contemplate if they would look good on you, purchase it and wait for it to be delivered home. Basically you do not get the pleasure of walking home with shopping bags in online shopping.

3. You can actually experience the product
People who shop online will agree that sometimes the product they received was either too big or too small for them. Sometimes the colour of the dress in the product image is slightly different from the one that’s been delivered. When you purchase products from an offline store, you can be sure of the size, color, defects, etc. Online shopping can at times be disappointing, but not offline shopping.

4. Personalized recommendation from sales staff
Don’t you love it when a sales representative picks a few dresses or tops saying how they would look fabulous on you? And we cannot forget the times when we really needed a suggestion from sales representatives and they have been kind enough to ensure you have a comfortable shopping experience. Right from the size of the dress to understanding your fashion preferences, you need a human to suggest the right outfit, shoe, or accessory.

5. No need to keep looking for discounts
While purchasing online, we often feel the need of waiting for a day or two more… because just in case the prices drop. Due to the changing prices, we never know the real cost of the fabric. Thank God, there is no sudden fall in the cost at an offline store. You can be assured that you have received the best and sensible deal!

6. Can’t rely on online for immediate purchase needs
Your school friends have planned a reunion tomorrow and you are eager to attend it. But, you do not have the right outfit for the get-together! Of course, you are meeting these guys after years and you want to look your best. So, can you rely on an online shopping website during such a time? No! But, you can go to a store and purchase a beautiful dress.

Let’s Promote Child Education


“Education begins the moment we see children as innately wise and capable beings. Only then can we play along in their world.”
But unfortunately, there are many children in our country who are yet far away from education. Yes, I am talking about those little buds that must be withering somewhere today. There are still 72 million children in India who are far away from education which is the most important and basic right of a child. And the main reason for which they are deprived of education is their economic circumstances. Because of which they have come so far from education. For this reason, they have to do work like begging, stealing, and what we do later is that we badly abuse them. Friends, we all must have seen the children spreading their hands on the road for the sake of some money. But have you ever thought that why they want to do this or they have some compulsions?

So let me tell you today what their compulsion is – society today stands at a level where education is called a mirror. And this thing is a great example in itself to explain the importance of education. A survey by Child Welfare found that most of the children are deprived of education because the condition or situation in their houses are not good due to which their parents send them to earn wages for living. Their father’s one-day earnings could not even complete the ration. In a poor family, a girl child is assigned household chores and the boy child is sent to work outside. Government’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan runs but may not reach the children who need it. “A human becomes a demon without education” and in today’s era, we are well aware of this. Those little hands simply dry up in someone’s house washing dishes and cleaning the dirt.

There are many noble people who are giving free education to poor children by spreading and sharing their knowledge to serve society. There are many great people who are sharing knowledge with poor children and giving free education to them so that those children can grow up and serve for the welfare of the country. So, why can’t we take a step from our side to promote the education of poor children, to motivate them and to make them aware of their rights? so that the lives of those innocent children can be improved and filled with happiness. Even if you start with one child then he or she can improve many lives.

India’s unemployment rate rises to nine-week high of 9.1%

 Since then the rural unemployment rate has been on the rise to stand at 8.37% for the week ended August 9 and further to 8.86% in the week ended August 16.Compared with a week earlier, the employment rate and labour participating rate (LPR) also increased to 38.4% and 42.2% from 37.09% and 40.62%, respectively, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said.“There is a big increase in rural India in both employment and unemployment rates. This reflects increased agricultural activities,” CMIE’s managing director and CEO Mahesh Vyas said.Buoyed by hectic sowing activity and jobs offered under rural employment guarantee scheme, MG-NREGS, the unemployment rate in rural India steadily plummeted to 6.34% for the week ended July 12 from 17.92% for the week ended May 31, but it again headed north to 7.10% for the week ended July 19 and further to 7.66% in the very next week; but fell to 6.47% in the week ended August 2.In urban India, the unemployment rate has been steadily decelerating from 25.14% for the week ended May 31 to 8.73% for the week ended August 2; but since then the graph is on the rise to 9.31% for the week ended August 9 and further to 9.61% for the week ended August 16.India’s unemployment rate was a tad higher at 24.3% for the week ended May 24 compared to 24% in the preceding week or the average unemployment rate of 24.2% in the past eight weeks of the lockdown. The unemployment rate stood at 8.8% in March.“A combined factor of demand and supply, lack of opportunities in rural India, crop seasons coming to an end will increase the unemployment scenario in the short to medium term. The micro-lockdowns imposed by stated to curb the spread of covid-19 are having their impact as well,” said K.R. Shyam Sundar, a labour economist and professor at XLRI Jamshedpur.“The economic adjustments via scheme jobs like national employment guarantee scheme will not be able to solve employment problems. Because works provided through those schemes has a wage and skill mismatch for many workers who had returned,” explained Sundar.


EFFECT OF AI ON DIGITAL MARKETING

AI (artificial intelligence) concept.

Artificial intelligence has became the word of mouth these days everyone is wishing that their job should not get affected by Artificial intelligence. No doubt artificial intelligence is changing the equations in the business world and cutting down the manpower in various businesses. But what is Artificial intelligence ? what is it’s use? Basically Artificial Intelligence is a Method In Computer science where it is taught to understand and mimic human conversation and human behaviour.

USES OF AI IN DIGITAL MARKETING

  1. UNDERSTANDING CONSUMERS BEHAVIOUR- The whole marketing revolves around the the consumer behaviour it is the pivot of the complete marketing plan. Researching and analysing the consumer behaviour is a tough and time taking process still the accuracy is not guaranteed but AI has made it very simple and least time consuming. It provides accurate data about buying patterns and latest trends of the market which are very important to lay down the marketing strategy.
  2. MORE EFFECTIVE- AI has increased the effectiveness of marketing. Digital marketing has become more laser focused targeting only the potential buyers and neglecting the others. AI helps the marketers in scrutinising the audience base.
  3. RISE IN ROI- Increasing ROI is the prime duty of any marketer the amount spent in marketing should give maximum return in the form of sales and conversions.

APPLICATIONS OF AI IN DIGITAL MARKETING

  1. CONTENT CREATION- Content lies at the center in the Web of digital marketing you need content to promote your business on which ever platform. Making a high quality content is a time taking process but with the help of text AI it can be done in a very less span of time for example contentcal.
  2. PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION– Many emails commerce sites like Amazon uses AI for recommending products to its visitors. The AI tracks the interest and behaviour and recommend products according to it.
  3. CHATBOTS- Many business use chatbots to handle customer enquiry it is a very good way of providing a high level of customer service The AI itself reads the query and give reply according to it. Customer get enquiry settlement 24×7 which increase the prestige of the company.
  4. DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT- You can save yourself from hiring expensive designers and developers if you have good access to AI. AI can do Web design and development in comparatively less time and expenses.
  5. PREDICTION- Like a human mind have tendency to make predictions the AI also have the characteristics of making predictions on the basis of past record and current circumstances it is used in weather forecasts and aviation industry to know about atmospheric conditions. It is also used in digital marketing to predict the upcoming trends in the field.

CONCLUSION-AI is the 8th wonder on this planet it is bringing a new revolution not only in business but in almost every field Digital marketing is going to have a great impact of it marketers will be able to make more effective and efficient marketing plans AI will reduce the time and cost and will definitely speed up the process.

The art of Volunteering.

“The only way to change the world is to quit thinking it’s a job for Superman. Real power lies in your own hands.”

― Richelle E. Goodrich, 

VOLUNTEERING- A skill not everybody possess. And as the name suggests it has to be voluntary that is it should come from within to take a responsibility ,to manage a work, to guide someone through. Many do not do it because they feel that it is an unnecessary burden,it will consume their time and energy but they forget that in order to grow yourself and your personality it is very important to be an “Initiator” and also to take up activities that will add to your personality. Once, you are in a crowd you need to make your space, you need to stand out. And, if you possess a skill of volunteering it helps you in the process. It is the first step of turning into a leader. The application of soft skills you have, the showcase of your motivation and persuasion skills , all apply here.

Just as the quote you read in the start of this article : That, The only way to change the world is to quit thinking it’s a job for Superman. Real power lies in your own hands. One needs to stop thinking that there would be somebody who would come and help you or others .One needs to stop being dependent ,you need to take your own responsibilities and also encourage others to take theirs. One needs to help those in needs. Everybody wants to take, but the happiness lies when you give. When somebody smiles because of you that is the most priceless moment you can feel.

Let me also state some benefits you will get whn you start to volunteer. First and the foremost, is you start inculcating leadership qualities or may be a manager’s . When you start brain storming,when you start convincing others,when you motivate people, when you communicate, when you start building relationships , it all helps you grow as a leader.

Secondly, you build relationships. Suppose you have taken up a task of volunteering a very big project coming up. You team up and meet a lot of people you have never seen or met before . But,with time you gel up with them you are comfortable and communicating and expressing your thoughts with them .And,it all becomes easier !

You come out of your comfort zone. Nobody wants to leave their space. But,if you really want to male space for you in the real world the forst thing you have to do is step out of your comfort zone. And, volunteering helps you there.

Volunteering can help you advance your career. Everybody is very ambitious now, and wants to reach heights in their respective fields. Through volunteering you can advance your skills and grow in your career domain.

Volunteering is good for your mind and body . Volunteering teaches you stress management.You start counteratting anxiety and tension you would get all the time you take up a task. It turns you into a more patient person. It boosts your self confidence,you feel accomplished.

You build your own network. In the times like today,building your network is very necessary so that in any contingencies you can ask through your network and find jobs or help in which ever way you need.

You become empathetic,you start keeping yourself in the shoes of others and think about them and then take your decision.And oh! it also helps you build your decision making skills.

So, there are so many advantages of volunteering and taking up a responsibilty. So stop asking “WHY and saying “I WILL”

Models of Public Policy

The idea of models that provide a discourse of analysis came into use in the 1970s and 1980s. They were thought as modes of organizing problems and giving them a form and coherence. A model essentially involves the notion of constructing a boundary around reality which is held common and while studying public policy, it is important to note how these models clash and shift around and solve problems.

SYSTEMS MODEL FOR POLICY ANALYSIS

The systems model is associated with David Easton, who defines the political system as that part of the society which is engaged in authoritative allocation of resources. He regards the policy process as a black box and thus this model is also called ‘the Estonian black box model’. The political system for Easton consists of inputs, environments, policy making process, output and feedback.

INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH

This approach focuses on the relationship between public policy and government institutions as policy making majorly depends on the interactions of institutions created by the government. One such institution is the state which is a web of government structures and institutions. It performs various functions like adjudicating between conflicting social and economic interests, guarding the interests of all the sections of the society by accommodating and reconciling them. It also includes the legislatures, executive, bureaucracy, etc.

RATIONAL POLICY MAKING MODEL

Rationality is considered to be the ‘yardstick’ in policy making and this approach emphasizes that policy making is making a choice among policy alternatives on rational ground. In other words, rational policy making means to ‘choose the best option’. A rational policy is designed to maximize net value achievement. This model is associated with Herbert Simon.

LINDBLOM’S INCREMENTAL APPROACH

This model is associated with Charles Lindblom who proposed it as an alternative to the rational model of policy making. His incremental approach, majorly focused upon in his ‘science of muddling through’ involves a process of continually building out from the current situation, step by step and in small degrees. This is the branch approach which is the basis of his approach and is in contrast to the root approach of the rational model wherein the policy makers start anew each time, building on the past experiences. Lindblom rejected the root approach because he believed that constraints on time, intelligence, and cost prevent policy makers from identifying all the alternatives and consequences. Rather, he suggested that successive limited comparison is both more relevant and more realistic in a condition of ‘bounded rationality’.

DROR’S NORMATIVE OPTIMUM MODEL

Dror’s model was an alternative to incrementalism for he believed that incrementalism increased the gap between those who had more power and those who had less power which made it difficult for the latter to bring about change. Thus, as an alternative to this, he proposed a model which seeks to accept the need for rationality, management techniques for enhancing rationality of decision making at low levels, policy science approach for dealing with complex problems and the need to take account of values and irrational elements in decision making.

These models as discussed above, emphasize public policy as an important area of politics and public management and can be understood in terms of policy analysis and through political public policy. Therefore, policy making is a mixture of all these models combined to form a crucial aspect of the political system.

Civil Disobidience Movement

The observance of the Independence Day in 1930 was followed by the launching of the Civil Disobedience Movement under the leadership of Gandhi. It started with the well-known Gandhi Dandi March. In Ahmadabad on the west shores of India, Gandhi left the Sabarmati Ashram at a walking distance of around 385 km from Ahmadabad, with 78 additional Ashram members for Dandi, a town. On 6 April 1930 they arrived in Dandi. The Salt Law was broken by Gandhi. Everyone produced salt illegally as it was a monopoly of the government. By collecting some salt which had formed from the evaporation of the sea, Gandhi challenged the government. In defiance of the salt law, the Civil Disobedience Movement spread across the country. In the first step of the civil disobedience movement, salt distributed across the world became a sign of popular government resistance.

C. Rajgopalchari led the march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranyam in Tamil Nadu, which was close to the Dandi. In Dharsana in Gujarat, in the march to the government’s salt depots Sarojini Naidu, the well-known poet, a leader of the congress and chair of the congress, led nonviolent satyagrahis. More than 300 satyagrahis have been critically wounded and two have been killed by police in a violent case. Demonstrations were held, hartals were held and international goods were boycotted, and taxes subsequently denied. The movement involved lakhs of people, many of them women.

At the first round-table meeting in London in November 1930 the British Government summoned the legislation suggested by the Simon Commission to discuss the change. It was boycotted by the congress, which struggled for the country’s freedom. The Indian kings, Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha, and others attended. But the members were there. Yet it came out of nowhere. The British government understood that no decision on constitutional amendments would be appropriate to the people of India without the approval of the Congress.

Viceroy Irwin tried to convince the congress to attend the second roundtable conference at the beginning of 1931. There is consensus on the release of all political prisoners for whom no violence is claimed, between Gandhi and Irwin, according to which the government agreed. The convention was intended to postpone the campaign of civil disobedience. This agreement was frustrating for many nationalist leaders. The Congress agreed to accept the agreement and to participate in the second round table conference at its karachi meeting held in March 1931 under Vallabhbhai Patel.

No one was interested in India’s independence, either by princes or by the community leaders. Consequently, no agreement was reached and the second round table conference was broken. The Civil Disobedience Movement resumed. Gandhi returned to India. Also as the conference began, and now it is strengthened, government repression persisted. Arrested were Gandhi and other leaders. The actions of the government to counter the movement can be seen from 120000 individuals sent to gaol in approximately one year. In 1934, the campaign was suspended. A new resolution was adopted by the Congress in 1934. It requested that an adult franchise constituent assembly should be called by the people. He said that for India only a constitution would be drawn up for such an assembly. It therefore confirmed that only the people had the right to decide on their own form of government. The Congress failed to achieve its goal, however, but in the second great mass struggle in the country it managed to mobilise large segments of the people. It also had ambitious aims to change the Indian community.

Machiavelli

Niccolò Machiavelli was the first thinker to take an unequivocal stand in regard to the relationship between religion, morality and virtue on the one hand, and politics, on the other. A brief introduction is necessary to acquaint us with this highly debated person in all of political thinking.

Machiavelli was born in Florence in 1468 in a family that was traditionally seen as belonging to middle aristocracy. Machiavelli’s life became more relevant after the year 1498, when he, although barely 29, managed to secure an important job of chief of the second chancellery. He was one of the top policy-makers of the state. His famous work- The Prince was published in 1532. It explored the causes of the rise and fall of states and the factors for political success. It became a constant reference point and inspired different avenues in political research.

To comprehend the full importance of Machiavelli’s writings and their context, it is important to understand the series of political, social, cultural changes that began in the fourteenth century called the Renaissance. It signified a rebirth of the human spirit in the attainment of liberty, self-confidence and optimism. At the centre of the Renaissance was the emergence of the new human who was ambitious and relentless, he motivated by self-interest, and his aim was to seek glory and fame. Alongside the development of the modern individual was also the beginning of the modern state.

Machiavelli saw stable political authority and order as a basic criterion for social cohesion and moral regeneration. It was for this reason that he stressed the need for a unified polity. According to him, the individual was wicked, selfish and egoistic. He was fundamentally weak, ungrateful, fake, anxious to avoid danger and always greedy for gains. Thus, since the individual was lacking in honesty and justice, he was ready to act in a manner that was detrimental to the community.

Machiavelli’s state was a secular entity, with no relation to the church. It was independent and isolated, with no obligation to anything outside itself. A state was necessary, as it existed to fulfil the desire for security of person and property. His ideal was a republic.

Machiavelli’s attitude towards religion was thoroughly utilitarian. It was seen as a social force and did not have any spiritual connotation. As a social force, it played a pivotal role by inducing a kind of behaviour and conduct that was deemed necessary for the well-being of a society. Religion determined the social and ethical norms and values that governed human conduct and actions.

Machiavelli did not condone the use of immoral ways. To him, the end was important, which could be attained by any means. He contended that a ruler need not always adhere to conventional morality.  He was convinced that the use of violence although could be controlled, it cannot not be altogether eliminated. However, he recommended the cautious and judicious exercise of such violence, because otherwise it would create widespread distrust and hostility towards the government, which would result in instability.

Reference- A HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT: PLATO TO MARX. By SUBRATA MUKHERJEE & SUSHILA RAMASWAMY

International System and Environmental Issues

Environmental issues arose across the world after the Industrial Revolution, during the 19th CE, there was a wide need for a change and development at that time. People desired for a speedy process of production and because of this, it set into motion changes which were unexpected.

Smoke was released across Europe and North America. Plains had turned into deserts, and various other issues had cropped up in USA and Canada too. It was only by the half of the 20th CE, there arose a concern for air and water pollution. The same cannot be said for land pollution, it only came into limelight after the introduction of pesticides. People were overjoyed with the agricultural revolution that they forgot to notice its defects, it was Rachel Carson who brought in the negative impacts of the usage of pesticides in her book ‘Silent Spring’. This gave the environmental movement a boost too. It paved way for a great number of researches across the world.

This made the people the need to have a world wide conference to discuss about the environmental issues and a need to change them. And thus the first global conference was held, it is named as Stockholm Conference. This conference was a pivotal event in the growth of the global concern for environment. This was the first time, countries of the world came to discuss the problems and make up good measures to correct them.

These were the following outcomes of the Stockholm conference

  • Firstly, people were of the perception that humanity and environment were different and had no connections. This was not the case. After the conference it was made sure that such a thinking has to be shifted off people’s mind in order to save our environment.
  • Stockholm created a comparison between the developed and developing countries. There were arguments from both sides but it was considered and decisions were made too. The least developed and developing countries were given priority in determining the international policy.
  • The importance and role played by NGO’s gave more importance to governmental and intergovernmental organizations.
  • The introduction of United Nations Environmental Program. This program was the best possible solution to the problems of the global world.

         After the 1980’s there was a second wave of the environmental movement. This movement focused more on the complex issues and highlighted unresolved ones. Immediate action was taken for this, and this time it was more suitable and better understood than the previous times. Examples are World commission on Environment and Development(1986), Rio Conference(1992), Kyoto Protocol(1997) and the Johannesburg summit (2002).

The World Commission on Environment and Development is popularly known as Brundtland Commission. The commission focused on Sustainable development. The commission wanted to put forward new  ideas that could create growth and sustainable development across the country. This promoted the Earth Summit of 1992 Rio de Janerio.

Major outcomes of Rio Summit are

  • The Framework Convention on Climate Change
  • The Convention on Biological Diversity
  • Agenda 21
  • The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
  • Forest Principle

The Rio conference gave birth to the Kyoto Protocol, which was signed in 1997. 160 countries, especially the developed ones came together and promised to cut off their level of emission of greenhouse gases. But this wasn’t the case for every countries, the United States of America withdrew due to its pressure. The next Summit was held in Johannesburg, its main focus was also on sustainable development, many new policies and timetables were made but nothing was quite effective as they had calculated it to be.

Nation states wanted a plan which would help their self- interest rather than the interests as a whole. If we look closely we can see that the globe is divided into two, one set of countries are developed and they add to most of the greenhouse emissions, while the other set of countries are struggling to feed their citizens. And so when policies are to be made, it is to be ensured that it is accordingly to their interests.These were the recent changes brought in by the international systems

Sex Education: A way to prevent the Productive Youth from falling into a hole of darkness

Article by – Shishir Tripathi

Intern at Hariyali Foundation
In collaboration with
Educational News.

In this fast evolving world, advancements are there along with crimes increasing at a double speed. In the age when puberty arrives into the life of a youngster, there are various changes happening in the body. There are bodily (physical changes) and a lot of mental changes too. It’s a time for evolving of a kid into a well developed individual with good presence of mind and the sense of what is wrong or what is right.


Particularly talking about India, such topics are never discussed seriously and openly neither in family nor at schools. But still growth of an individual will not wait for the society to have a discussion on it; it will take place at the right time with the right person. Many youngsters just can’t handle that what is going on in their body and eventually curse and start hating their selves. It is considered that it’s not all good to talk about such topics openly. Everyone gets so uncomfortable when one has to talk about it or to give some information regarding the same.

Though, it is such a natural process that happens with everyone, discussions on such topics in India are always considered as a taboo.


According to SIECUS, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, 93% of adults they surveyed support sexuality education in high school and 84% support it in junior high school. In fact, 88% of the parents of junior high school students and 80% of parents of secondary school students believe that sex education in school makes it easier for them to talk to their adolescents about sex. Also, 92% of adolescents report that they want both to talk to their parents about sex and to have comprehensive in-school sex education.


There was lot of expectations from the new education policy that has been introduced recently. Students and psychologists wanted the New Education policy to get included into the course curriculum in schools all across the Nation. But sad it is that there was no such inclusion of education for the students.


Adolescents are always curious to know about what is sex, what is their sexuality and similar topics about which they are never told. After the arrival of social media and its reach to a large group of young children, there are high chances of a child landing into problems like online bullying, indulging into forced sex, addiction to pornography and masturbation, mental disorders because of an uneducated mind, problems like depression and self regret, etc.


Even after regulations by the government there are still a lot of sites filled with dirty videos of pornography that are eating up the future of a productive individual and ultimately a very big loss to the nation and to the person himself. Many crimes against the teenagers take place daily. And also at the same time, many incidents of rapes by teenagers are heard in news and in newspapers too. In most of the cases the convicts and the victims say about a watching inappropriate content on the internet or being forcefully exposed to such content. In this all process, an individual kills himself or herself. They ruin their own future and time because of lack of awareness and knowledge about sex education.

Now, one can estimate how important it is to involve sex education into the course curriculum. There is need of support both from the side of school and from parents too.


The objectives of sex education are to help children understand the body structures of men and women and acquire the knowledge about birth. Teaching children to establish and accept the role and responsibility of their own gender by acquiring the knowledge of sex. Understanding the differences and similarities between two genders in terms of body and mind will set up a foundation for the future development in their acquaintance with friends and lovers and their interpersonal relationship. Sex education is a kind of holistic education. It teaches an individual about self-acceptance and the attitude and skills of interpersonal relationship.

It also helps an individual to cultivate a sense of responsibility for him and the acts what he or she are doing. Its role is similar to like that of power booster; as it gives more power to the jogger to jog long without any difficulty. Similarly, after the bookish knowledge, when an individual knows about his sexuality, healthy sex, sex at the right age, good and bad touch, hormonal changes, the individuals gets completed in himself / herself and becomes into a productive work personnel with proper balance of mind and the sense of responsibility towards his nation, his economy.


Hence, inclusion of sex education into a person’s life will bring stability, peace of mind and the sense of responsibility and help in the wholesome development of an individual.

The Story of Parijata

We see millions of  dazzling flowers in our life. We recognise them by their colour, their fragrance and their appearance. But do we know the deep meaning behind them? Do we know what exactly  the flower symbolises..?  

  • Hindu Mythology

Mythologies make us   see the world from a different perspective. From a different point of view. A rather interesting one . Mythologies make us see a simple flying bird from a different frame of reference. Similarly, in the Hindu mythology many flowers and many objects which we see in our daily lives have a greater meaning to it. One of them is  the Parijata flower.

  • The Story

Once upon a time, there lived a princess named Parijaat. She was exquisitely beautiful and delicate. It is believed that she saw the Sun God( Surya Dev) riding in his chariot from east to west and immediately fell in love with him. Many warned her that the relationship of a God and a materialistic person is not possible, but she was blinded and completely devoted to the Sun God. Even the Sun God was swayed by her devotion and had to descend on the earth to stay with Parijaat for a while. Soon, the summer season arrived. With time, the Sun God’ s energy intensified due to staying on earth and yearned to go back to the heaven. When he stood up in his chariot, to return to heaven, Parijaat tried to follow him. The Sun God’s energy was excessive to its most at that time, and Parijaat being a human, burned due to such a force of energy. The Sun God stood helpless and asked help from the other gods. The Gods, seeing the love of Surya and Parijaat, gave princess Parijaat another life. Hence, she embodiments as a tree of Parijata 

In her next life. The Parijata flower was of the purest shade of white,with the bright orange delicate stem like structure. The Parijata flower embellished the love of Parijaat and Surya. But even as a plant,it was affected by the Sunrays. It cannot even stand the first stroke of  the Sun and therefore sheds, symbolising the story of Princess Parijaat and Surya. The shedding releases a heavenly scent of the flowers. It has the sweetest scent, because it was believed to be kissed by the Sun God  himself. 

 By Rajatkanti Bera from Shutterstock

Parijata became one of the purest flowers.One of the five divine flowers in heaven. Later, during the time of Samudra Manthana,the gods found a Parijata flower, deep in the milk ocean. Indra declared to have it for himself in his own empire, the gods finally agreed after a lot of thinking. According to them, if Indra did not get the flower, either he would bring droughts in every land or flood every region heavily. Indra’s wife Indrani(Sachi) cherished the flower like her own child with love and affection. 

After many years, Narada once visited Krsna and offered him a Parijata flower. He wanted to see who would Krsna give the flower , amongst his wives. Krsna gave the Parijata flower to his first wife, Rukmini. Narada immediately goes to Satyabhama, the second wife of Krsna with a grieved face. Upon Satyabhama asking what the problem was, Narada said about the Parijata flower. Now, Satyabhama ,being a human became furious with jealousy. When Krsna arrived and asked the reason about her anger, she demanded Krsna to give her not the flower but the whole tree of Parijata. 

Hence, Lord Krsna set out to the empire of Indra, who was believed to be residing in Amravati. As Lord Krsna worked to root up the tree,the king of Gods, Indra arrived at the place. In some scriptures, it is said that , Indra being intoxicated, challenged Krsna for a combat and was defeated in the most humiliating way,whereas in some scriptures, Indra, understanding that it was Lord Krsna who came to take the tree, allowed him to take the the Parijata. In this way, the Parijata flower descends to the earth. Hence,it is still believed to be the flower which incarnated from heaven.

Not only this, but Parijata leaves also have many medicinal properties!  According to indiagardening.com, the Parijata leaves have the properties like,

  1. The leaves having an anti aging property and is often used by people
  2.  Helps in the curing of fever, with being anti- malarial.
  3.  Usually considered beneficial for dry cough.
  4. The leaves are meant to be good for diseases like Arthritis.
  5. It is also a natural laxative

Source: Pinterest

Parijata leaves have so many more medicinal properties in the branch of Ayurveda.The flowers? Well, as the flowers taste a bit bitter, it is used for ophthalmic disease. It is also said to be very useful for constipation in children. And also for the various treatments like snakebites, antidotes, etc.

Many flowers have deep and  philosophical meaning behind them. Which is why mythologies are read.  So that we know we should not repeat what happened in the Deut Sabha in Mahabharata. And what happens in the Trojan War

Fact: Parijata flower is the only flower which can still be offered to the gods after falling to the ground.