The new era has ushered in a lot of modernization and technology. This has brought drastic changes to our lifestyle, resources and social conventions. Gone are the days when business had very narrow options, too many restrictions, was very risky, and people with billion-dollar ideas and great potential had to leave their entrepreneurial dreams due to lack of finance, support and funding. Doing business is still risky and markets are still volatile, but today’s smart minds are able to implement their mind-boggling and zealous plans to brick, stone and mighty structures, thanks to the foundation base here – venture capital firms, angel investors, government organizations and policies, and big multinationals in search of innovative technologies to modify the good old operating procedures of their voluminous businesses.

The startup culture in India has taken highway speed and numerous new ideas are turning into success stories every year. A reason for this may be the support that today’s budding entrepreneurs are receiving, the belief and motivation that they can be first generation innovators and the comfort of investments that they secure (though comfort is a euphemized word here; in reality, these enthusiastic people are made to go through tedious processes of convincing their investors to load fuel into their new models (why not! Putting money into their powerful plans is a matter of high trust and equal risk), and public outreach is a different process altogether, very unpredictable and inestimable). In the big picture, we realize how these people thought ahead of time and converted their simple ideas into stupendous businesses, caught the eyes of the public and commercialized their offerings. A large part of their hugely positive reviews can be credited to their excellent market research, reaching out to the right target audience, personalizing and customizing their products and services according to the trends in town and customer needs, revamping their strategies and product range, efficient marketing and social skills. The best part of many of these good startups is that they either innovated into a booming sector, thought out of the box or renovated an existing product or service in the market in a much better way. A large online presence of these companies has also contributed to their connectivity with the consumer directly, resulting in better camaraderie, companies understanding the expectations of their customer and delivering better with time. Technological tools have hugely impacted the way these companies work, which is where local and small-scale ideas are getting the big push to enter a bigger world of opportunities and development.

India has been having its own league of startup unicorns and soonicorns in the recent years. Unicorns are privately held startup organizations with a market value of over 1 billion dollars. India is slowly but strongly transforming into a motivating tech startup ecosystem. The last year of COVID-19 pandemic was expected to be a big disaster in the corporate arena, but entrepreneurs have made huge transitions in their strategies and have played on big risks to make up for an unforeseen, unpredicted situation. Last year rather witnessed the addition of many unicorns into the elite startup club. These companies are mostly active through online mode, including startups in online pharmacies, social media platforms, e-commerce websites, digital and computer technology, digital education apps, online banking and fintech, cryptocurrency, stock market trading, enterprise tech, online dating sites and other technology sectors. They have paced smart, swift and risky to turn an unprecedented lockdown situation conducive to their way and have made an intelligent entry into India’s booming startup hub. A recent report in financial newspaper Business Line suggests 35 soonicorns – soon to turn unicorns are to bag the unicorn title by the end of this year. These companies are establishing their hold into fintech, edtech, healthtech, foodtech, agritech, SaaS, logistics, digital gaming and e-grocery sectors.

The new world is revamping the face of entrepreneurship, paving the way towards digitalization and those identifying niches and turning them into opportunities in this sector have made it well and big. This is a fair opportunity for those brainiacs who have it in them, the ideas and potential to make a change, a place for themselves in this highly competitive and demanding world, and are actively seeking for the experienced bigwigs and believers to power their brave shot.

It’s quite enthralling to watch Detective Charles Boyle’s character from the famous comedy show Brooklyn Nine-Nine defining his love for ‘genuinely satisfying’ food with the help of his gifted sensory characteristics and his incredible ability to rate the overall acceptability and rank of a restaurant’s special food dish. Truly, the art of rating a food item based on various sensory parameters like taste, smell, flavour, aroma, mouthfeel and numerous other qualities which make up a food connoisseur’s review of what how good and proper dish is, is delicate as well as intriguing. This also covers identifying the aspects and suggesting near-exact methods used to prepare the dish to perfection. The amount of a particular ingredient in the food item, the time for which it was cooked, if it was cooked in the right temperature and heat, if the procedure or recipe of the item was perfectly followed, whether and if yes, what innovation was added to the dish, whether that enhanced the sensory appeal of the dish, and if yes, what particular characteristic of the added component elevates the overall score of the complete dish, how different spices blend in together to bring out a pleasant taste to the dish, how their quantity affects the palatability of food, and oodles of other intricate but important factors that come into play when we ‘sense’ a dish. Identifying and judging all these complex parameters, separating each parameter and combining different flavours that generate one bite of the food is extremely arduous. This is when sensory evaluation experts come into existence. These members are highly trained till they develop consistent and accurate results of the sensory aspects of any food item. They are expected to rate a new food product to estimate how general public’s sensory appeal to the product might be. Their ratings and scores are also helpful to spot loopholes in a food item’s recipe, design or product packaging and improve them to get a good acceptability score. Why is sensory evaluation such an important part for consumer foods? A lot goes into a dish from when a product idea is conceived in the kitchen to its design, creation and finally large-scale production for commercial consumption. Thus, its sensory properties are critical in establishing its potential and continued success, apart from brand and product acceptance and outreach in the market. A sensory panel performs objective tests for the evaluation of sensory attributes of a food item.

What is sensory evaluation?

According to an article in Nature journal, ‘Sensory evaluation is a science that measures, analyses, and interprets the reactions of people to products as perceived by the senses.’ Another article in Elsevier defines it as ‘a systematic study of human response to physico-chemical properties which make it possible to obtain information about the sensitivity of human sense and about the four dimensions of sensory perception, that are, quantitative, qualitative, temporal and hedonic dimensions.’ A sensory panel performs objective tests for the evaluation of sensory attributes of a food item. These include discriminative, descriptive, scoring, preference, sensitivity tests. Qualitative tests are based on aroma, appearance, flavour, oral texture, geometry, fat content characteristics, while quantitative tests follow descriptive panels to measure a product’s sensory characteristics and are preferential and acceptance-based.

Thus, a sensory panel is trained to be intelligent and serious, possess discriminative stimuli, express sensory perceptions verbally, work as team and be flexible and memorize sensory information. Sensory perception of a product throws light on its important but unnoticed characteristics which go a long way to make its place in the market and be liked and sought after by the common consumer for its special and peculiar attributes.

Corruption refers to a form of criminal activity or dishonesty. It refers to an evil act by an individual or a group. Most noteworthy, this act compromises the rights and privileges of others. Furthermore, Corruption primarily includes activities like bribery or embezzlement. However, Corruption can take place in many ways. Most probably, people in positions of authority are susceptible to Corruption. Corruption certainly reflects greedy and selfish behavior.

Methods of Corruption

First of all, Bribery is the most common method of Corruption. Bribery involves the improper use of favours and gifts in exchange for personal gain. Furthermore, the types of favours are diverse. Above all, the favours include money, gifts, company shares, sexual favours, employment, entertainment, and political benefits. Also, personal gain can be – giving preferential treatment and overlooking crime.Embezzlement refers to the act of withholding assets for the purpose of theft. Furthermore, it takes place by one or more individuals who were entrusted with these assets. Above all, embezzlement is a type of financial fraud.The graft is a global form of Corruption. Most noteworthy, it refers to the illegal use of a politician’s authority for personal gain. Furthermore, a popular way for the graft is misdirecting public funds for the benefit of politicians.Extortion is another major method of Corruption. It means to obtain property, money or services illegally. Above all, this obtainment takes place by coercing individuals or organizations. Hence, Extortion is quite similar to blackmail.Favouritism and nepotism is quite an old form of Corruption still in usage. This refers to a person favouring one’s own relatives and friends to jobs. This is certainly a very unfair practice. This is because many deserving candidates fail to get jobs.Abuse of discretion is another method of Corruption. Here, a person misuses one’s power and authority. An example can be a judge unjustly dismissing a criminal’s case.Finally, influence peddling is the last method here. This refers to illegally using one’s influence with the government or other authorized individuals. Furthermore, it takes place in order to obtain preferential treatment or favour.

Ways of stopping corruption

One important way of preventing Corruption is to give a better salary in a government job. Many government employees receive pretty low salaries. Therefore, they resort to bribery to meet their expenses. So, government employees should receive higher salaries. Consequently, high salaries would reduce their motivation and resolve to engage in bribery.Increasing the number of workers can be another suitable way of curbing Corruption. In many government offices, the workload is very high. This provides an opportunity to slow down the work by government employees. Consequently, these employees then indulge in bribery in return for faster delivery of work. Hence, this opportunity to bribe can be removed by bringing in more employees in government offices.

Tough laws are very important for stopping Corruption. Above all, strict punishments need to be meted out to guilty individuals. Furthermore, there should be an efficient and quick implementation of strict laws.

Applying cameras in workplaces is an excellent way to prevent corruption. Above all, many individuals would refrain from indulging in Corruption due to fear of being caught. Furthermore, these individuals would have otherwise engaged in Corruption.

The government must make sure to keep inflation low. Due to the rise in prices, many people feel their incomes to be too low. Consequently, this increases Corruption among the masses. Businessmen raise prices to sell their stock of goods at higher prices. Furthermore, the politician supports them due to the benefits they receive.

To sum it up, Corruption is a great evil of society. This evil should be quickly eliminated from society. Corruption is the poison that has penetrated the minds of many individuals these days. Hopefully, with consistent political and social efforts, we can get rid of Corruption.

Everyone is fond of chewing gums for their taste, keeps you active, and stays away from mouth odor. Some people keep chewing to get rid of laziness but there are talks that chewing gums are harmful and lead to many health hazards. Many research studies have proved the benefits of chewing gums and how it helps in building your metabolic functions. Here are some true facts on the health benefits of chewing gums.

Builds your memory power – Chewing gum does a great job as far as your brain function is concerned. The sugar-free gum when consumed can easily enhance your memory power and makes you active. The flow of blood to your brain is improved and helps in boosting your brain skills.

Lowers ear pain – For ear pain, chewing gums are found to be a great reliever. Especially when you are flying or moving to high altitudes, you suffer ear pain. Chewing gum can release air from your ear and lower your ear pain.

Decreases anxiety – Along with stress, chewing gum also handles anxiety. It can easily bring down your anxiety level by enhancing oxygen flow to your brain.

Reduces Fat Face – The fat accumulated around your face can result in a fat face. Chewing gum can reduce fats on the cheeks and the chin area by burning the fat content.

Relieves you from stress – Chewing gum does an excellent job of reducing stress. We have seen many stress releasing methods but the most simple and instant relief is achieved in the chewing gums. It increases oxygen flow in the brain and releases tension in nerves. Cortisol is the stress hormone that is well reduced in the blood.

Relieves Constipation – Constipation problems occur due to disturbance in bowel movements or hard in passing stools. Chewing gum can very well resolve this problem. The extra saliva secreted helps in soothing the bowel movement and also lubricates your intestines.

Boosts your energy level – To find the best energy booster then go for chewing gums. They can reboot your energy and makes you active. Chewing gums can improve your blood flow and supplies enough oxygen to the brain.

Reduces Weight – Chewing gums can reduce your hunger pangs and prevent unnecessary eating. It can make you feel less hungry and aids in weight reduction. Avoid chewing gum with a high sugar content if you look for weight loss.

With liberty, comes responsibility.

These words are well said by the person who knew the real meaning and would have gone through the responsibilities of being elder.

One ponders, when the word ‘ELDER’ comes to the mind, and associates it with wisdom, liberty and responsibilities.

Parents expect their elder child to be more wise than younger one, scolds him or her more than younger child for they know that the elder child can understand and is wise enough to differentiate between everything, whether it be vice over virtues or good over evil. But the fact cannot be denied that they love the elder child more than younger child. There is a sudden fun of being elder sibling at home, for we know the weakness of younger brother or sister and can move him or her or rule over him or scold him whenever we like. Apart from all these, being elder, we have to fight for him, protect him and help him in every phase of his life alike Balarama did for Lord Krishna, Lord Rama did for Laxman or Raavan did for her sister. Each example depicts the patience and wisdom of elder sibling.

Being elder, it is our responsibility to guide the younger one on right path, open doors of success from him, leaving behind all the fights or hatreds.

Money material or fame should not intervene the blood relationships.

Every mother wants both of the child to be together forever.