Month: February 2021

How an Escape Room Supports your Mental Health

 

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

The ongoing pandemic has largely impacted our mental health. The stringent social distancing norms and the constant fear of contagion before stepping out of the house have been undeniably hard to deal with. Once described as social beings, we are even beginning to forget how to carry a simple conversation. The continuous work-from-home cycle has left us thirsty for caffeine and hungry for recreation. While initially, people thought that working from home comes with comfort, it is now evident that most of us are turning less productive because of the grinding routines. Procrastination has made an unwelcome arrival in our lives.   

Mental health, directly and indirectly, affects our lives and relationships. It is as important as our physical health. Having a perfectly healthy body is of no use if we have a low and unhappy mindset. If we stop liking things we used to love doing, we lose our purpose and motivation in life.  

However, millennials have brought these issues to light by openly talking about the importance of a healthy mindset.  

But how are escape rooms making any difference to our mental health? People argue that they are just another source of live entertainment! How are they even related to improving our thought processes and intelligence? Keep reading this article to find out!  

What Happens in an Escape Room and How it Impacts you?  

What happens when you sign up for an escape room? Your first requirement is the presence of a team consisting of at least 2 to 8 members. So, you approach your friends, family, or colleagues to find out who is up for a unique and exciting challenge!  

Even the first step encourages the player to open a conversation with their loved ones. Communicating and getting in touch with people to build stronger bonds helps in forming positive interpersonal relationships. Therapeutic relationships encourage stable mental health.  

Decision-making  

Establishing and maintaining relationships is very important in our daily lives. It helps us know others better and realize that we are all different individuals with distinct perspectives, choices, and opinions.    

When team members deliberate on their choices for escape themes, they learn how to compromise and cooperate so that everyone is satisfied with the final decision.   

When we are around people who are willing to cooperate and compromise, we do the same for them. Biologically speaking, our brain releases serotonin, which modulates our mood positively and makes us pro-social.  

Competition  

When an escape enthusiast is locked up in the room, they are on edge with adrenaline rushing through their veins. They have a goal that has to be completed in under 60 minutes. They have a ticking clock and unforeseen obstacles in their path. It is when our competitive side reveals itself.   

Not only are the players motivated enough to solve the task at hand, but they are also committed to a bigger goal of escaping.  

Healthy levels of competition boost our self-esteem and enjoyment in life. It also stimulates our motivation to keep working hard.  

Motivation  

When commencing the hunt for the clues, we start moving around scour every nook and cranny. We might have moments when we feel like we can’t figure anything out. Our creativity dies down, making us feel uninspired. That is when you motivate yourself or seek inspiration among your teammates.  

Escape rooms challenge your insights about yourself. With only 60 minutes on the clock, the only thing that will help the players escape motivation and perseverance. Virtues like perseverance and endurance are the elements for a fulfilled life.  

Accepting Failure  

When you enter an escape room, the resolve of your team is to win and emerge victoriously. You put your best foot forward in every phase of the game. However, there still are escape games that might catch you off guard, and the odds of losing might become more lavish. Here you are exposed to the concept of trial and error.  

Winning gives you a sense of achievement, something we all love to hold on to. It makes us feel good about ourselves and improves our self-esteem.   

On the other hand, players are also encouraged to understand that it is okay to lose sometimes. Failure doesn’t mean you haven’t done well enough. Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.   

Want some dopamine rush?  

Playing escape rooms advances your brain to release dopamine (the happy chemical). How? When your brain is deeply-rooted in solving a creative puzzle, areas of alertness and concentration are activated. When you finally reach your Aha! -moment, the sense of accomplishment puts you in a better mood. This chemical is also great for relieving stress and making you think more creatively.   

Book a mind-twisting escape room and experience the rush of dopamine!  

Escape Room Puzzles Can Improve Your Mood 

Confronting difficulties wherein you need to accumulate your brains and join mental aptitude with your colleagues can advance positive pressure, which is the thing that spurs you to win or develop yourself. The surge of adrenaline can trigger endorphins’ arrival, which can upgrade short memory and even fill in as a fantastic jolt of energy. 

Tackling the issues can convey more euphoric outcomes, wherein the feeling of fellowship, difficulty, and considerable achievement leads to satisfaction.

Conclusion  

While our mental health affects everything we do in our lives, what we do in our lives affects our mental health. Therefore, mental health is a two-way road, and one should always be prepared for a long journey.   

Engaging ourselves in exciting and immersive social activities enfolds a positive chain reaction. When we are happy and positive, we tend to work and organize better. When we collect better, we stay productive and well ahead of time.  

That is precisely what escape rooms provide you. We are put in an environment where socializing and coordination are one of the main requirements to win. They keep you happy and involved, hence improving your mental health.   

While escape rooms keep you pleased as punch, they also help you connect and develop meaningful bonds with people.  So, if you are planning on hosting a social activity with friends and family, ditch the cliché game nights and book an exciting escape room!  

Government to issue laws to regulate content on Social media

The central government is set to curb the arbitrariness of social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter. The government is engaged in enacting laws to make them accountable to the Indian Constitution. The government can bring a bill related to it in the second phase of the budget session or the monsoon session.

Actually, there is no law to remove controversial content and bring social media under the purview of the constitution. Social media companies are taking advantage of this.
At the same time, sources say that the government wants to introduce the bill only in the second part of the budget session starting from 8 March. If it is delayed for any reason, the bill will be introduced in the monsoon session. Another cause for concern is that social media is being used by a large number of people.
Around three billion people around the world use Facebook. Among them, its number of users in India is around 32 crores. If we add all the mediums of social media, then this number is more than 500 million, in which Indians topped the number of social media users.
In such a situation, it is difficult to see that there is neither legal nor effective way to monitor the reliability of these platforms.
A court case hearing is going on in the Supreme Court in this dispute case. During the hearing, the government has warned against the threat of social media. The government has said in the apex court that it should be justified to ask to write everything in the name of freedom of expression. The government has also asked the apex court to continue discussions on making laws in this regard.

The Supreme Court has also issued a notice to the Centre and Twitter on a plea, seeking to regulate hate content and to make a law as per which action can be initiated against Twitter and their representatives in India for promoting anti-India tweets and penalize them.
Google is also on target
Australia, in particular, is going to make a law soon to decide the payment in the use of media content on Google. Last week, Australia’s PM Scott Morrison, after talking to PM Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, had emphasized the law against Google.

Upcoming Elections in India

In the new year 2021, as India comes out of a year of lockdown and paused public life, it is going to, by degrees, go back to the pre-coronavirus normalcy. This involves conducting regular elections as well. We can’t expect the new elections to be as difficult to organise and conduct as the Bihar elections of 2020, but elections in a pandemic are yet a new phenomenon and it has to be observed how their handling can impact their results.

This year, we have legislative assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal (in April) and later Jammu and Kashmir. There are also a few bye-elections scheduled. Politicians have already begun campaigning aggressively for all these elections – large crowds in West Bengal attend rallies as the top contenders have a fight of ideologies, and Assam sees an increase in the wages of the tea-growers in light of the upcoming election. The field has gotten even more competitive as E. Shreedharan, also known as the ‘Metro Man’ of India, has joined the BJP in light of the upcoming Kerala elections.


The public and media discourse has also greatly moved on from other political challenges and the coronavirus debates to this – and so have the priorities of the political leaders. Even in the union budget of 2021, there was a major allocation of funds to these states for highway projects and other things. Now the only thing left to see is how these very unpredictable elections turn out for all the political actors involved.

Green nanotechnology and Sustainability

Everybody knows what is nanotechnology, it is the study and control of matter at the nano-scale, rearranging atoms and molecules. Nanotechnology has made marvelous contributions in the world of science especially in computer science and medical science.

But have you heard of green nanotechnology? The name itself suggests that it has something to do with greenery. It is the study of how nanotechnology can benefit the environment, such as by using less energy during the manufacturing process, the ability to recycle products after use and using Eco-friendly materials.

It builds on the principles of green chemistry and green engineering, and focuses on using the unique effects that occur in nano-scale materials.

Green nanotechnology can help to provide clean water to billions of people via novel filtration techniques, and has the ability to decontaminate dirty water. It can help in increasing the use of renewable energy and help in waste management too.

It can also influence the design of nano-materials and products by eliminating or minimizing pollution from the production of these materials.

It is all about making green nano-products and using them in support of sustainability. Sustainable development refers to a development that meets the needs of the present of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It will aim at producing nano-materials without harming environmental or human health.

Nanotechnology can help reduce agricultural waste and bring down pollution levels. Scientists are working on nano-engineered enzymes that will allow simple and cost-effective conversion of cellulose from waste plant parts into ethanol.

Another example is rice husk that can become a source of renewable energy with nanotechnology. When rice husk is burned into thermal energy or bio-fuel a large amount of high quality nano-silica is produced, which can be further utilized to make other materials such as glass or concrete.

Nano sensors dispersed in the field can also detect presence of plant viruses and the level of soil nutrients.

Nanotechnology can reduce manufacturing costs for solar cells as a result of using a low temperature process.

Nanotechnology is being hailed as the next sunrise industry for India. The Department of Science and Technology of the Central Government has announced a national initiative in nano-materials, while the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, has pioneered the study of nanotechnology in India. Prof. C.N.R Rao and the center has done world class research in nanotechnology using state of the art equipment.

A stream of nanotechnology-based products is beginning to emerge in India, with applications in the security realm. Besides D.R.D.O. (Defense Research & Development Organization) serious researches are also taking place in institutions like IIT, and Madras University.

Hopefully, in the near future as we advance further in the field of green nanotechnology, it will help us in replacing existing products with Nano-products that are more environment friendly.

Cognizable and non-cognizable offences

Often, in the coverage major trials, we hear the legal terms cognizable and non-cognizable offences. But legal knowledge of the average Indian is average at best and it prevents us from understanding our rights and privileges. Hence, everyone should know what these terms mean.

Under section 2(C) of the CrPC, a cognizable offence is an offence in which a police officer may arrest a person without a warrant issued by a magistrate. Section 2(I) details the converse, i.e., a non-cognizable offence in which a police officer has no authority to arrest without a warrant.

It can be checked whether an offence is cognizable or not by checking the first schedule of the code. However, they are also classified by gravity of the offence – serious offences like rape and murder punishable with imprisonment for not less than 3 years are considered cognizable, and less serious offences like nuisance punishable with imprisonment for less than 3 years are considered non-cognizable.

There are some exceptions to this rule, wherein offences related to marriage and perjury are punished with more than 3 years of imprisonment despite being non-cognizable, and cognizable offences like outraging modesty of women being punished with less than 3 years of imprisonment. 

Every citizen must know which offences he can be arrested with or without a warrant for and the rights he has that the constitution bestows upon him. It only helps us to contribute to making the criminal justice system more accountable, transparent and efficient.

Groundwater crisis in India

Ever since the Green Revolution, farmers’ dependence on intensive inputs like water and fertilizers has resulted in the serious depletion of the underground water table, in many states across the country. 

Farming is becoming increasingly unsustainable in these regions, as the map shows, and there is a heavy need to switch to more sustainable alternatives. However, the reverse has happened. Policymakers have only incentivized more groundwater usage through credit and subsidies for groundwater extraction equipment as well as low electricity tariffs that lead to excessive water usage. This is catastrophic – good for short-term profit, but soon the marginal output of farms will start decreasing and the environment would be beyond recovery. 

The choice of crops is also important – being water-abundant, the east is more suited to growing water-intensive crops like sugarcane and paddy. But differences in electricity supply have ensured that such crops have not found a place in their natural habitat. On the other hand, electricity subsidies and tariffs in the south and west India, regions with low water tables, encouraged sugarcane and paddy cultivation, draining these regions of their already low groundwater.

The need of the hour is to switch to surface water irrigation and other sustainable alternatives to groundwater depletion before it’s too late, and to prioritize crop growing according to what is most sustainable. The government must realize that short-term revenue cannot be the altar at which nature is sacrificed, and that it is for the benefit of all parties involved that unsustainable farming practices are discouraged.

 

Exams coming up? Here’s how to battle examination anxiety

With the examination schedules being declared its hard not to get anxious about our exams. Examination anxiety is a fairly common among students of all age groups, you would think a grown-up would know how to prepare for exams without being stressed out given all their previous experiences but that’s not the case. It is the uneasiness that occurs before, during, or after an examination and is not age-restricted.

Many people experience feelings of anxiety around examinations and find it helpful in some ways, as it can be motivating and create the pressure that is needed to stay focused on one’s performance. Examination nerves or fear of failure are normal for even the most talented student.

However, stress of examination results in such high degrees of anxiety in some students that they are unable to perform at their full potential, like they have shown in less stressful situations.

Sometimes it can result from the pressure to perform well in examination so that they don’t get judged by others (relatives, classmates, teachers), which is often the root cause for their negative thoughts about themselves, feelings of inadequacy, helplessness, and loss of status and self-esteem.

High stress can interfere with the student’s preparation, concentration, and performance so it is very important to manage it effectively so that it doesn’t get in the way of you giving your best performance in the exams. Just like other stressful situations, it is very easy to cope with examination anxiety and here are some ways to do so-

  • Prepare well– Plan it out and give yourself enough time to familiarize yourself with the content and the pattern of the question papers.
  • Multiple rehearsals- Practice as many mock papers as possible, when you are with your friends’ test each other by asking each other questions on the examination topics.
  • Inoculation- When practicing for examinations try to do so in an environment that is similar to the examination hall to prepare yourselves physically and mentally.
  • Think positive- Have faith in your abilities and emphasize on your strengths and try to think positively to motivate yourself.
  • Seek help- When facing a problem, do not hesitate to ask for help from your friends, seniors, teachers or parents. It will help you to feel stress-free and also give you an insight into the problem.

While preparing for examinations, exercising regularly even if a little bit and resting properly before the exam will be really helpful. Overview and weigh one’s strengths and weaknesses, plan a revision timetable, space out revision periods, and most importantly on the examination day concentrate on staying calm.

Coronavirus's Impact on Mental Health

Coronavirus has put the world into a stage it has never seen before – where all activity has to be done without human contact, which is a staple of life. Even though the strict lockdowns have started to ease up and life is gradually coming back to normal, we must acknowledge the impact the pandemic has had not just on people’s physical health and daily routines but on their mental health.

Withdrawing from all social interaction and using electronic gadgets for performing the most basic tasks, as well as the inevitable immobility that accompanies a lockdown, has taken a toll on people’s mental health. Additionally, most people have experienced the effects of the global economic recession which has worsened their condition. A KFF Health Tracking Poll from July 2020 found that many adults are reporting specific negative impacts on their mental health and well-being, such as difficulty sleeping (36%) or eating (32%), increases in alcohol consumption or substance use (12%), and worsening chronic conditions (12%), due to worry and stress over the coronavirus.

There are certain groups that are disproportionately affected by this: the people with low incomes or unstable jobs, and people that have lost close ones to the coronavirus. It is incredibly difficult to be high-functioning in such a scenario which is why many are resorting to substance abuse, because even mental healthcare is inaccessible.

In a situation like this, we must realize that we cannot be as harsh with people as we could before the pandemic. Being productive in such a gloomy and confined atmosphere is difficult, and this is the time in which everyone should stand together in solidarity against the virus and understand each other’s misgivings.

Gradescope: Assessment Platform by Turnitin

 To cope up with the increasing reliability of technology we have a new and advanced tool for grading & assessment which will reduce the manual workload of assessing papers and will provide valuable feedback to the students which will have a learning curve for them. The time saved by the instructors in checking papers manually will help them utilize their time more productively & this will also help the institute to keep records for easier accessing with intuitive reports & analysis.

 

Gradescope  is  a  leading remote assessment  and feedback platform that will be a step forward in this new digital world.
Leveraging the digital rubrics and AI in Gradescope will help instructors cut grading times by up to 80%, increase grading consistency and quality of feedback, and dramatically improve instructor/TA workflow vs. traditional grading.

Gradescope provides actionable feedback to both the students & the instructors.Here are 10 ways Gradescope can help your institute turn grading into learning:
 
1. Gradescope Modernizes Traditional Grading
Gradescope was founded with the belief that there has to be a better way to evaluate student work. By combining deep instructor expertise with the latest machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), Gradescope leverages modern technology to dramatically reduce the pain and time associated with traditional grading.
 
2. Gradescope Streamlines the Workflow
By creating a digital record of student work, Gradescope restructures the traditional grading workflow. Gone are the logistical nightmares associated with transporting and returning stacks of paper, marathon grading parties, and lost in-class time; gains are efficiencies that enable high-quality assessment from anywhere at any time.
 
3. Gradescope Promotes Student Equity
Gradescope helps mitigate opportunities for unconscious bias in two key areas:
By helping graders focus exclusively on the content of an individual answer rather than the students’ overall submission or identity.
By helping teams of graders to build, maintain, and apply one aligned grading standard for all students
The result is a fairer learning experience for students and greater consistency across graders.
 
4. Gradescope Enhances Scoring Flexibility
Built in advance or created on the fly, Gradescope’s Dynamic Rubrics can be constructed collaboratively and adjusted at any time, automatically applying changes to previously graded work and creating a reliable real-time standard for all students. Keyboard shortcuts can help speed up the workflow, helping cut grading time even further.
5. Gradescope Promotes Meaningful Feedback
In addition to quick and consistent feedback, Dynamic Rubrics ensure students receive detailed insight into how points were awarded or deducted. With a richer understanding of evaluation criteria and guidelines around concept mastery, instructors can direct students to the best resources for their individual needs.
 
6. Gradescope Systematizes Grading Patterns
Answer groups and AI-Assisted Grading deliver a more methodical approach to reviewing student work. Gradescope helps instructors digitize student submissions and identify patterns, subsequently arranging them in assessable groups. This process helps eliminate redundancies, saves time, and produces higher quality and consistent feedback at scale.
 
7. Gradescope Accelerates Feedback Loops
Once assessment is complete, graders can immediately publish and notify students with a single click, either directly via Gradescope, emailed, or exported to their institutions’ LMS. Students can then review the feedback and quickly manage confusion or disagreement by initiating a Regrade Request. With the Gradescope workflow, feedback can be timely, detailed, and developmental.
 
8. Gradescope Supports Existing Assessments
The breadth of compatible assignment types is wide-ranging – from paper-based exams, quizzes, and homework, to online assignments, programming assignments, and multiple-choice. Gradescope can accommodate assessment preferences, existing assignments without adjustment, and a variety of disciplines, from humanities to the sciences.
 
9. Gradescope Highlights Student Learning
Gradescope produces meaningful and detailed student performance data to help identify knowledge gaps. Per-question and per-rubric item analytics deliver insight into which concepts were mastered and which were misunderstood. Graders can also measure course-level progress and align to key learning objectives with assignment statistics.
10. Gradescope Helps Refine Instruction
The Gradescope data can also inform improvements to assessment and course content. With targeted visibility into students’ areas of strength and weakness, instructors can address potential roadblocks in real-time and scaffold new concepts appropriately. Gradescope also surfaces insights that can guide long-term curricular improvements and refined lessons that ensure critical learning objectives are truly understood.

Medical seat business in Karnataka for 'medical colleges'

The Income Tax Department has busted the medical seat business in Karnataka carried out by ‘medical colleges’ in which they offered seats to NEET unqualified or NEET qualified candidates with low score for higher package/fees. Evidence has been found  that these institutions have made more than Rs 400 crore in the name of capitation fees.

According to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the raid was reported after investigation was conducted at 56 locations in Karnataka and Kerala of nine major trusts running educational institutions in Bangalore and Mangaluru, including the Medical College. Documents found in the raids have yielded evidence of Rs 402.78 crore being illegally collected in the name of capitation fees. 
This fee was raised through recruiting the students as per the problems involved in the online admission process. The details of this capitation fee were not given to the Income Tax Department. During investigation documents of 2.39 crore undisclosed foreign assets of the trustees have also been found in Ghana.
There was a politics of qualifying the examination after admission. Apart from admissions to these management quota students in medical colleges, a ‘package’ was also being given to pass the examination, for which one lakh to two lakh rupees were being taken.
High ranked students in NEET also joined the racket-
Trustees and directors of medical colleges  found a loophole in the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET). Some students who got high rank in NEET were added through agents. These students used to get admission in these institutions through counseling, however they had already taken admission in any other college. Later, they would withdraw their names from these institutions and this seat would become vacant for the college management.
The National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), formerly the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT), is the qualifying test for MBBS and BDS programmes in Indian medical and dental colleges. It is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). NEET qualified students are offered admission for 90,000 seats in MBBS and BDS Colleges of India, the examination is conducted in the month of May every year.

Medical seat business in Karnataka for 'medical colleges'

The Income Tax Department has busted the medical seat business in Karnataka carried out by ‘medical colleges’ in which they offered seats to NEET unqualified or NEET qualified candidates with low score for higher package/fees. Evidence has been found  that these institutions have made more than Rs 400 crore in the name of capitation fees.

According to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the raid was reported after investigation was conducted at 56 locations in Karnataka and Kerala of nine major trusts running educational institutions in Bangalore and Mangaluru, including the Medical College. Documents found in the raids have yielded evidence of Rs 402.78 crore being illegally collected in the name of capitation fees. 
This fee was raised through recruiting the students as per the problems involved in the online admission process. The details of this capitation fee were not given to the Income Tax Department. During investigation documents of 2.39 crore undisclosed foreign assets of the trustees have also been found in Ghana.
There was a politics of qualifying the examination after admission. Apart from admissions to these management quota students in medical colleges, a ‘package’ was also being given to pass the examination, for which one lakh to two lakh rupees were being taken.
High ranked students in NEET also joined the racket-
Trustees and directors of medical colleges  found a loophole in the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET). Some students who got high rank in NEET were added through agents. These students used to get admission in these institutions through counseling, however they had already taken admission in any other college. Later, they would withdraw their names from these institutions and this seat would become vacant for the college management.
The National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), formerly the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT), is the qualifying test for MBBS and BDS programmes in Indian medical and dental colleges. It is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). NEET qualified students are offered admission for 90,000 seats in MBBS and BDS Colleges of India, the examination is conducted in the month of May every year.

What are the farm laws?

Everywhere in the news, there are different refrains about the protests and opinions for and against the new farm laws. But what exactly are these laws and how do they change the status quo? These laws are: The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act. They were passed in June as ordinances before being approved by Parliament during the Monsoon Session by a voice vote.

The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act provides for setting up a mechanism allowing the farmers to sell their farm produces outside the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs). Before this law, they could only sell it in the government APMCs or ‘mandis.’ Now, any licence-holding trader can buy the produce from the farmers at mutually agreed prices, which will be free of the ‘mandi tax’ imposed by state governments. Some think this will allow agribusinesses to monopolize the market through initially low prices and exploit farmers, and some think it will result in better prices for the farmers and a more efficient agricultural market because of more choices.


The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act allows farmers to do contract farming and market their produces freely. Some think it will result in the wage slavery of farmers but others think it will increase investment in the agricultural sector.


The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act is an amendment to the existing Essential Commodities Act. This law freed items such as food grains, pulses, edible oils and onion for trade except in extraordinary situations. As such, it is not as contentious as the previous 2 laws.


The main grouse of the protesting farmers with these laws, especially the first one, is the lack of an MSP (minimum standard price) assurance. They believe they will suffer because of big businesses reducing prices after monopolizing the markets. However, the people that oppose this idea believe that the MSP system is inefficient and only results in wastage. Only time can tell who will win this battle of ideas and what will happen to the agricultural sector.

Women have the right to register a complaint against harassment even after decades

Former Union Minister M.J. Akbar has received a setback in the criminal defamation suit against Priya Ramani, a journalist who accused of him sexual harassment, when Delhi Court acquitted Ramani on Wednesday. Dismissing Akbar’s plea, the court said that a woman who has been tortured has the right to register a complaint even after decades. The court said that women who raise their voice against such crimes cannot be punished. Akbar alleged that Ramani’s tweet during the #me_too campaign has defamed him.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate(A.C.M.M.) Ravindrakumar Pandey dismissed the plea of ​​former Union Minister Akbar saying that no allegations against Ramani were proved. The court reserved the verdict on February 1. Apart from Ramani, Akbar was accused of harassment by around 20 women journalists.
Previously, Ramani accused Akbar during the Me too campaign.
ACMM, Ravindrakumar Pandey, added that this crime is shameful in the country of Ramayana-Mahabharata. He said crimes against women are shameful in a country where great texts like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana have been written, which teach women how to respect them.
Akbar rejected the allegations and had filed a complaint against Priya Ramani on October 15, 2018, for defaming him after she accused him for misconduct. However, on October 17, 2018, Akbar was accused of misconduct and had to resign as Union Minister.
No one’s reputation should be protected at the cost of women’s dignity-
The court said in the judgment that no one’s reputation can be saved at the cost of a woman’s life and dignity. Under Article 21 of the Constitution this has been guaranteed. At the same time under Article 14, the right to equality before the law and the right to equal protection have also been guaranteed.
Any invisible hindrance cannot stop Indian women from moving forward for equal opportunity in society. Now, the time has come for society to understand the hardship of sexual harassment. Society must see the victim just like any other common person and not discriminate. A victim should be able to  lead a life like a dignified person in society.

Wealth Creation through Equity Investing

Wealth creation through equity investing is an intensive exercise requiring special skills and knowledge backed by extensive market and company research and thorough understanding of the subtleties of the market behavior. Whereas equity investing beats the inflation and is an ideal instrument of investment for growth by delivering higher rate of return compared to fixed return instruments, the associated risks must be kept in view that equity is a volatile instrument whose prices change every day and any negative sentiment/news/adverse happening would erode the principal investment. It is only the intelligent and perceptive investor who makes money in both rising and falling markets.

With a view to understand the nuances of equity investing, how equities create wealth in the long run, understanding the difference between growth vis-à-vis value investing, why high quality companies trade at high multiples, the capital market experts will guide the readers with their experience. The underlying reasons why PSUs have not performed in spite of their inherent strengths will also be discussed in different chapters.

Submit your book chapter for publication in this book to 

editor@pen2print.org 

Random Acts of Kindness

Humanity has gone down a downward slope over the recent years because of the growth of consumerism and capitalist selfishness. Being considerate of the welfare of others is almost an anomaly, especially in urban environments where the concepts of privacy and individualism have eroded the natural human instinct to care for fellow human beings. 


In such a scenario, we must take it upon ourselves to be kind to others and to not let our lives turn into a crude competition of self-service. Every act, every gentle word and every tangible contribution to someone else’s life with no desire for self-enrichment is a way to regain the lost selfless character of humanity. 

This random acts of kindness day, we should all pledge to go out of our way to aid our fellow human beings in any way we can. This can be done through helping our someone with their work, donating to the underprivileged, helping an old woman cross the street and so many other ways! Even the smallest contribution to someone else’s life will not just enrich their life but have a softening impact on our own character. To do so is a favor towards humanity and to ourselves.