Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has assured Bangladesh of complete cooperation in ensuring barrier-free trade between the two countries.
 
Addressing India-Bangladesh Digital Conference on Agriculture Sector on Tuesday, Mr Goyal said, India has offered duty-free market access to Bangladesh on many products, including, agri-exports.
 
He said that together we can aspire for a better and brighter future for the people of both the countries, particularly for the farmers of both countries to benefit from economic prosperity.
 
The Minister said, both the countries share warm and cordial relationship, based on mutual trust and friendship which goes beyond the arithmetic of economic gains and losses.
 
He said that this partnership stands out as a role model in the region, for good neighbourly relations.
 
Mr Goyal said, the ties between the two country’s have witnessed an upswing in the last six years.
 
He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina share a common vision and pro-business policies which have enhanced governance in the two countries. 

In Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory, out of 280 District Development Council DDC constituencies, result  of 276 seats has been  declared. 

BJP is leading the tally with 74 seats followed closely by J&K National Conference with 67 seats. 

Independents have won 49 seats, Mehbooba Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party 27, Indian National Congress 26 while J&K Apni Party has bagged 12 seats and J&K People’s Conference 8 seats.

CPI(M) has got 5 seats while JKPM  bagged 3 seats  and J&K National Panthers Party and PDF  won two seats each.

Bahujan Samaj party(BSP) has won one seat.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that Indian scientists have done path-breaking research and the Indian tech industry is at the forefront of solving global problems.
 
Delivering the inaugural address at the India International Science Festival, IISF 2020 last evening through video conference, Mr Modi said India has data, demography, demand, democracy to achieve world class scientific solutions.
 
He said, India has a rich legacy in science, technology and innovation and all our efforts are aimed at making India the most trustworthy centre for scientific learning.
 
At the same time, Government wants the scientific community to share and grow with the best of global talent.

He asserted that the New National Education Policy will help in fostering scientific temper from an early age.
 
The Prime Minister said now focus has shifted from outlays to outcome, from text books to research and application.
 
Mr Modi emphasized the importance of making the benefits of  science and technology to all.
 
He said, Science and technology is connecting the poorest of the poor with the government.
 
He said, with digital advances, India is becoming a centre of evolution and revolution of global high-tech power.
 
The Prime Minister said there are many challenges in our country like water scarcity, pollution, soil quality, food security, for which modern science has a solution.
 
He said, science also has a big role in rapidly exploring the water, energy and food resources in the sea.
 
Mr Modi said India is running Deep Ocean Mission for it and has achieved success. 
 
The Prime Minister said reforms have now been undertaken in the Space Sector to encourage the youth and the private sector to not only touch the sky, but also the heights of the deep space.
 
He said the new Production Linked Incentive Scheme also focuses on sectors related to science and technology. 
 
The Prime Minister said, what is called science today, becomes the technology of tomorrow and an engineering solution later.
 
He said for attracting good talent into the science domain, the government has announced scholarships at various levels, but it needs a big out-reach from within the science community as well. 
 
The Prime Minister gave a clarion call to the global community to invest in Indian talent and innovate in India.
 
He said, India has the brightest minds, and celebrates a culture of openness and transparency.
 
The Government of India stands ready to address any challenge and improve the research environment.
 
He lauded the scientist for keeping India ahead and in a better position in the fight against Corona.
 
Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan was also present on the occasion.
 
Ministries of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences in association with Vijnana Bharati conceptualized the IISF to promote scientific temper in the society.
 
Launched in 2015, the aim of IISF is to engage the public with science, celebrate the joy of science and show how science, technology, engineering and mathematics can provide solutions to improve lives.
 
The goal of the IISF 2020 of the 4-day long festival is to help youth develop 21st century skills, with a focus on scientific knowledge, creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork.
 
A long-term objective is to encourage students to study and work in scientific fields.

The Process for Producing Plastic Water Bottles

The production of plastic water bottles requires up to 17 million barrels of oil each year. This amount of oil has the ability to maintain up to one million cars fueled for an entire year. The water bottle production process utilizes the petroleum product polyethylene terephthalate (PET), this product requires an extremely large amount of fossil fuel to both make and transport. Furthermore, the manufacturing of a water bottle requires three times the amount of water needed to fill it. That large amount of water becomes unusable and is wasted due to its exposure to chemicals during the production process.

Harmful effects of plastic

In landfills, floating on oceans, or rivers and on sidewalks. It was approximated that 46,000 pieces of plastic trash are floating on the ocean per square mile. This plastic is killing animals, leaking chemicals and disrupting ecosystems. Moreover, sixty million plastic bottles are disposed of in one day in the Unites States alone, and eighty percent of those bottles end up overflowing landfills. Each bottle can take up to one thousand years to decompose, leaking dangerous and harmful chemicals during the process. Some toxins leaked could cause cancer and reproductive disabilities.

The disposal of plastics is one of the least recognized and most highly problematic areas of plastic’s ecological impact. Ironically, one of plastic’s mostdesirable traits: its durability and resistance to decomposition, is also the source of one of its greatest liabilities when it comes to the disposal of plastics.

What we has responsible citizens can do?

Following a simple reduce, reuse, recycle, lifestyle does not only mean that you are actively saving the environment, it also means that you are benefiting yourself by possibly saving hundreds of dollars using reusable bottles or water fountains. Moreover, you can also go the extra mile to ensure that any plastic you happen to use is indeed being recycled. Additionally, it is crucial to learn to identify false advertising that is promising healthier or cleaner water by doing your own research and understanding the characteristics that make consumable water you can avoid falling victim to large organizational propaganda. Finally and most importantly, you can speak up and spread the word on just how much plastic bottled water is impacting the environment.

Successful Case Studies on Plastics Ban within India:

Case Study: Operation Blue Mountain in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu

 Operation Blue Mountain campaign was led by Supriya Sahu, the district collector in 2001 to ban the use of plastic in the district. The campaign was crucial to unclog the river sources and springs in the popular hill station of Nilgiris. The experiment has been documented by erstwhile Planning Commission and UNDP as the best practice on governance from Indian States. In order to make people understand, the campaign used pictures of choking animals. They also explained how plastic clogs drains and also seeps into the lake and other water bodies.

Case Study: Maharashtra- Ban on Plastics

Maharashtra will be the 18th state in India to ban single-use disposable plastic. Maharashtra has banned disposable products manufactured from plastic and thermocol (polystyrene). Maharashtra plastic ban carries penalties starting at Rs. 5,000 and goes up to Rs 25,000 and 3 months of imprisonment. The government has played a major role by bringing in the law, mechanism of imposing it, the fines and the paraphernalia that goes with the implementation. Now, flower vendors are sending flowers to people’s home in cloth bags. Vegetables are being sold in cloth bags. Women in self-help groups are looking at making jute or cotton bags as a major source of income. Medicines are coming in small paper pouches. Tea and coffee stalls, college canteens and restaurants are doing away with plastics. Also, the corporates like Starbucks, Coca Cola and Bisleri have risen to the occasion and taken up responsibility of collecting waste plastics from Mumbai and recycle it or up-recycle it to different use. People participation can be seen as NGOs, schools, celebrities, industrialists have begun campaigns to beat plastic pollution.

Life is complex. One day you’re happy, working on your daily tasks, and the next day you wake up, thinking: “What the fuck should I do with my life?”

Am I right? We’ve all been there. When one of my friends talking to me last week, I asked her: “How’s it going?”

She said: “Am doing well. Been interesting times figuring out which direction to go to next in my life journey.”

Last week I talked to a collegeau who was in the same position. And everyone will face the same challenge one way or the other over the course of a long career.

I’ve been there many times as well. No one is immune to being confused. Let’s face it — there are literally a million things you can do with your life.

And most of us realize that we can’t do everything we want.

Great health, wealth, and happiness don’t happen by themselves. If you want good things to happen, you must take massive action.

But what type of action? What should you do?

I want to share 2 strategies with you that I’ve personally used in the past to figure out my next big move.

1. Burn Your Bridges

Look, I can’t tell you to want to do with your life. No one should decide that other than you.

But I can tell you about ways that help you to make a decision. People are lazy by nature. If it was up to us, we would protect the status quo, sit at home, and eat cookies all day.

We must realize that without a reason, we will never change.

“But what if I don’t have a reason?”

Force a reason.

You can’t expect good things to happen when you’re living a cushy life. You need a spark. Sometimes that happens from the outside (a family loss, being fired, dumped, etc).

But if nothing happens, you have to create the spark by burning your bridges.

Instead of wanting to change, you must change.

You can also burn the bridges in your mind. To grow, we must say goodbye to old beliefs.

2. Do Nothing

I don’t mean ‘eat cookies all day.’ No, I mean don’t try to force anything. It’s the exact opposite strategy of burning your bridges.

So? Life is full of contradictions. Get used to it.

Look at your life. Have you tried burning your bridges? Didn’t work out? Try a different strategy.

I never get why people get all hung up on opposing strategies. Life is dynamic and requires you to adapt all the time.

And that’s the most important thing about figuring out your next move. It’s called ‘figuring it out’ for a reason. It’s not called ‘here’s your life path served on a platter.’

Just be okay with that. It’s about the journey anyway. You better enjoy every step along the way. Especially the difficult ones.

Everyone Can Get Started—Few Persist

The way I see it; there are only two options. You either learn or die. Within an instant, you can decide to invest in your education for the rest of your life.

Abraham Maslow put it best:

“You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety.”

I’ve got my mind made up. Which one do you choose?

Yes,don’t we all just want to achieve our to do list of tasks at the end of day and have a good night sleep …………knowing that there will be no pile of tasks of today’s to achieve tomorrow. With increasing distractions that is becoming a herculean task to achieve everyday !!!! So here are some pointers that would help all of us:

Productivity is a concept that’s widely misunderstood. The main reason is that we use the word productivity on a macro and micro scale. Based on the above, there are two types of productivity:

1. Workforce productivity: The total amount of goods and services workers produce in a certain period.
2. Personal productivity: The relevant output of an individual in a certain period.
3. We need to focus on the most important of the two – Personal Productivity – which will help us achieve all our tasks on time.

• There are three additional benefits of improved productivity:

Innovation: our increased productivity leads to more innovation and new technology. The more productive we become, the more we can innovate.

Higher engagement: The more involved and passionate someone is about their work, the higher their levels of work engagement is.

Self-confidence: The more productive you are, the more competencies you can develop. Hence, the more confident you will become.

Productivity obstacles

Distractions — The modern-day workplace is an inherently distracting place. Enter any office building and you’ll see countless people in meeting rooms, walking around, drinking coffee, or chatting about the latest episode of a popular entertainment show.

Personal reasons — Life is demanding. Some of us work 10 hours a day (or more). That leaves us only a few hours of spare time in the evenings.

Not enough training — We want to be more focused at work. We want to be more calm in our personal lives. We want to make sure our lives matter. But we don’t see productivity as a skill one can learn. 

Widely Used Productivity Tips

1. Have a journal for self-improvement – If you looking for self-development – Journaling is a must.

2. Pomodoro Method: Take Strategic Breaks To Improve Productivity -This method instantly improves your focus. It’s been highly researched.

3.Goals don’t replace systems — Changing our perspective on our goals will change the way we work. This is an essential article about using systems to become more consistent at work.

4.Time blocking – Improve your focus — This article proposes a structured way of working. I’ve been using this method for years.

5.You can achieve anything if you work on one thing — Productivity doesn’t mean doing more work. It means working on the right things. And when you focus on one right thing after the other, you can achieve pretty much anything that’s humanly possible

Best Productivity Books

1.The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker: This book provides a  practical perspective on productivity that I think every knowledge worker should read. The most important lesson I’ve learned about work is this:

2. Essentialism by Greg McKeown – Productivity is about doing the right things. And this book helps you to focus better on what matters to you, personally. Once you know what you’re after, it’s easier to get there.

3.The Power Of Habit by Charles Duhigg-Forming new habits is a practical skill that immediately impacts the quality of your life. Want to lose weight? Be more productive? Exercise regularly? One thing is sure: Without habits, those things will be extremely difficult to pull off.

European Union has approved the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. The first phase of the 27-nation bloc’s mass vaccination programme to begin later this week.
 
The EU’s executive commission gave the green light just hours after the European Medicines Agency said the vaccine meets safety and quality standards.
 
The Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said doses will be available for all EU countries, at the same time and on the same conditions. She added that the first batches of the vaccine will be shipped from Pfizer’s manufacturing site in Belgium in the next few days, with vaccinations starting on 27th of this month.
 
European Union countries including Germany, France, Austria and Italy have said they plan to start vaccinations shortly after Christmas as Europe tries to catch up with the US and Britain, where inoculations began earlier this month.

National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested 17 SDPI and PFI leaders and activists for their involvement in the violent attack and large scale rioting in Bengaluru in August this year. The violence took place after a Facebook post by the nephew of Congress MLA AS Murthy. The case was originally registered as FIR in KG Halli Police Station on 12th August this year and it was later reregistered by NIA on 21st September.
 
NIA said, the investigation so far has revealed that the SDPI leaders – Md. Sharieff, President, Bengaluru District SDPI; Imran Ahmed President KG Halli Ward; along with other senior leaders like Rubah Waqas, Shabbar Khan and Shaik Ajmal had conducted meetings at Thanissandra and KG Halli wards in Bengaluru in the evening of 11th August. Wherein they conspired, mobilised and led the crowd gathered at KG Halli Police station to attack the police personnel, causing huge damage to the public and police station vehicles.
 
 Similarly, accused Abbas, SDPI President of Nagwara ward had also mobilised large crowd at the KG Halli police station through his associates Azil Pasha, Irfan Khan and Akbar Khan. The investigation also revealed the use of social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp to spread terror among people and mobilised people from far away places to gather at the Police Station.  
 
Accused Saddam, Sayed Sohel, Kaleemulla alias Shahrukh Khan were active social media users who participated in riots as well as instigated others to gather at the Police Station. NIA said, in the case, so far, 187 accused persons have been arrested and further investigation is continuing.

The country’s COVID-19 recovery rate has reached to 95.65 per cent. During the last 24 hours, more than 30 thousand COVID patients have recovered. Health Ministry said, the total number of recoveries has gone up to over 96 lakh 36 thousand.
 
The actual caseload currently comprises only 2.90 per cent of the total positive cases. Presently, the total number of active cases in the country is around two lakh 92 thousand.
 
During the past 24 hours, 19 thousand 556 new cases were reported taking the total number of positive cases in the country to over one crore 75 thousand. The Ministry said, that effective implementation of the strategic and graded Test, Track and Treat approach has led to higher recoveries and lower fatality.
 
Currently, India’s Case Fatality Rate is at 1.45 per cent, which is one of the lowest globally. During the last 24 hours, 301 deaths were reported taking the toll to one lakh 46 thousand 111.
 
According to Indian Council of Medical Research, more than ten lakh 72 thousand tests were conducted during the last 24 hours. The total number of samples tested so far has reached 16 crore 31 lakh.

US President Donald Trump presented the prestigious Legion of Merit award to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership in elevating strategic partnership of the two countries and emergence of India as a global power.
 
India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, accepted the award on behalf of the prime minister from the US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien at the White House.
 
Mr Modi was presented with the highest degree Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit which is given only to the Head of State or Government. Mr Modi was given the award in recognition of his steadfast leadership and vision that has accelerated India’s emergence as a global power and elevated the strategic partnership between the United States and India to address global challenges.
 
The US President also presented the Legion of Merit to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The awards were received by their respective ambassadors in Washington DC.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver the inaugural address at the India International Science Festival (IISF) 2020 today through video conferencing. Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan will also be present on the occasion.
 
To promote scientific temper in society, Ministries of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences in association with Vijnana Bharati conceptualized the IISF. Launched in 2015, IISF is a celebration to promote science and technology.
 
The aim is to engage the public with science, celebrate the joy of science and show how Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics can provide solutions to improve lives. The goal of the IISF 2020 is to help youth develop 21st century skills, with a focus on scientific knowledge, creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork. A long-term objective is to encourage students to study and work in scientific fields.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed all to come forward unitedly to make New India through Atma Nirbhar Bharat .He said that we all should come forward with forgetting our differences and make a new nation.
 
Mr Modi was speaking virtually at the Aligarh Muslim University hundred year celebrations. He said that his government it is committed and doing the development of all without any discrimination on the basis of caste and religion.  He appealed the students of Aligarh Muslim University to work for nation building.
 
Prime Minister admired Aligarh Muslim University for providing helping  hand in containing covid-19 .Prime Minister said that union government it is doing a lot of in the direction of education of Muslim girls several welfare schemes in this direction have been launched.